The Psionicle: Animus' Quest

[Creamsteak]

"Vastly too easy. Well... now we need to figure out how to get her out of the cell, and past the guard at the doorway. Any ideas? I guess we should wake her, perhaps?"

If there is no objection, Animus will make a little noise by perhaps knocking on the wooden door a bit.

 

[GnomeWorks]

Amaryllis shrugs. "Don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead."

The form stirs as you knock on the door, and then gets up. As it does, your suspicion is confirmed.

It is Tori'shel.

"What..." She says, her voice still thick with sleep.

She yawns. As she does, you notice a pair of eyes gleaming from inside one of the other cells. They are very small eyes, like those that belong to a small animal.

 

[Creamsteak]

Animus tries to take cover from the eyes and sends a message to Amaryllis. "Something is watching us. I wish with everything I have that it isn't something of Rathequar's."

Animus tries his hand at hiding (using the best cover he can find, including positioning himself out of sight. He draws the knife and takes a readied action to strike anything that comes out of the cell where Animus spotted the eyes.

"We need to get her out. Can you blow the lock off the door and explain that I came here to rescue her? We are deep enough that I hope we won't be heard by the guard."

 

[GnomeWorks]

The eyes seem to follow you as you maneuver about outside the cage; you have to leave their line of sight to hide from them, and whatever it is doesn't follow you.

Animus
"We need to get her out. Can you blow the lock off the door and explain that I came here to rescue her? We are deep enough that I hope we won't be heard by the guard."

Amaryllis nods. She takes out her gun, points it at the lock, and pulls the trigger. There is a deafening crack, followed by the clang of iron hitting the ground.

"A gun?" Tori'shel asks suddenly, wide awake.

"Yeah." Amaryllis replies, opening the door to her cell. "This guy here, he wanted to rescue you. His name's Animus."

"Animus..." Tori'shel repeats, evidently deep in thought.

"Anyway, we need to get out of here. Something's watching..."

As she speaks, the door at the end of the hall opens. From your vantage point, you can see three figures standing within, all who look very familiar.

Jirlai, Ratheqar, and Larkalth.

"Good of you to join us, Animus." The githyanki says slowly in a pleasant tone. "We were hoping you'd show up."

"Looking forward to it, actually." The goblin growls, drawing a dagger.

"And now that you've done us the favor of locating yourself, why don't you stay here with us. As you can see, there is plenty of room for you." Ratheqar says grandly, gesturing to the cells. His gaze then turns back on you, hard and cold. "There is no chance you can escape this time - to use a Coldlander phrase, you're outgunned and outmanned. No priestess to save you this time." The githyanki sneers at you.

[color=white]           |JRL |   
        |--|-[]-|--|
        |  |    =  |
        |  =    |  |
        |--|    |--|
        |  |    =  |
        |  =    |  |
        |--|    |--|
        |  |    =  |
        |  =    | c|
        |--|   A|--|
        |  |   M  T|
        |  =    |  |
        |--|-SS-|--|

Every space is 5 feet.

J  Jirlai	=  Locked door (iron bars)
R  Ratheqar	[] Open Door (solid wood)
L  Larkalth	S  Stairs
A  Animus	T  Tori'shel
M  Amaryllis	c  Animal Eyes	[/color]

All walls are made out of stone, roughly half a foot thick. All the bars on the cells are made of iron, and less than an inch thick.

 

[Creamsteak]

Animus thinks to himself,

"Damnit... I've failed Torishel, this new woman Amaryllis, my friends, and now even myself. There's no way I can take Ratheqar. I'd have a chance with either of the other two... but now..."

Animus holds up his hands to heads height and drops the knife, hoping for mercy, and perhaps they will let Amaryllis go.

 

[GnomeWorks]

Ratheqar smiles. "Smart decision."

The githyanki and the goblin head for you, while Jirlai hangs back in the doorway. The sorcerer's expression is grim.

Suddenly, Jirlai gestures to the pair. A sphere of ice coalesces between them, then shatters and showers Ratheqar and Larkalth with sharp shards.

"Get out of here, Animus!" Jirlai calls. "Don't let them get the girl!"

Ratheqar turns angrily to face the sorcerer. "Damned sorcerer." He says with disgust, vehemently. "You've outlived your usefulness." He looks to Larkalth. "Deal with them. I'll be there shortly."

Amaryllis looks to you. "What do we do?"

Initiative, please.

[color=white]           |  J |   
        |--|-[]-|--|
        |  |    =  |
        |  =  R |  |
        |--| L  |--|
        |  |    =  |
        |  =    |  |
        |--|    |--|
        |  |    =  |
        |  =    | c|
        |--|   A|--|
        |  |   M  T|
        |  =    |  |
        |--|-SS-|--|

J  Jirlai	=  Locked door (iron bars)
R  Ratheqar	[] Open Door (wooden)
L  Larkalth	S  Stairs
A  Animus	T  Tori'shel
M  Amaryllis	c  Animal Eyes[/color]

 

[Creamsteak]

[dice]

(Tell me when a good time to resolve this would be. I'm pretty busy till 5 PM tonight, but I should be available after that, or earlier tomorrow).

Initiative: 11

The stairs lead down, right? That's going to heavily influence my actions if they lead up or down.

 

[GnomeWorks]

OoC: My online time is limited right now to a little less than a couple hours Monday through Friday from 10:35 or so to 12:45 or so.

The stairs lead up. You were on the ground floor, and came through two levels of cells to get to the one you're on.

[color=white]	Ground Floor
           .
	    .
	     Basement 1
                      .
	             .
           Basement 2
	   .
	    .
             Basement 3 
              ^
              |
              You are here[/color]

 

[Creamsteak]

If Animus acts before Torishel, he will grab her by the arm and try and pull her towards the stairs, moving as fast as possible. He tells Amaryllis, "Let's hope Jirlai can handle Rathequar, and get out alive. Let's get out of here. If the goblin follows, I'm sure we could take him alone."

If Torishel acts first, and she tries to flee on her own, Animus will pick the dagger up off the ground and fling it at the goblin (taking a 5 ft. step back) in an attempt to bait Larkalth away from Jirlai. Animus still sends the same message to Amaryllis.

 

[GnomeWorks]

Rescue Tori'shel, Round I

Initiatives
Ratheqar - 22
Larkalth - 21
Jirlai - 20
Amaryllis - 19
Animus - 11
Tori'shel - 8

Ratheqar looks to the sorcerer and tilts his head at him. Jirlai is blasted by an invisible force, visibly shaken (18 damage).

The assassin looks at you, walking towards you, and throws his dagger at you. It passes through your armor like a hot knife through butter, and you feel the sting of the all too familiar poison (Fort: 7 + 5 = 12, failure). You feel its effects almost immediately (6 strength damage).

Jirlai, though shaken by the concussive force, steadies himself and begins chanting. He throws a pinch of dust in the air, and flicks a few droplets of water from his hand into the dustcloud. As he does so, a stormcloud grows in the ceiling above you, and begins pelting the length of corridor from you to the door with hailstones. Ratheqar and Larkalth are both pummeled by the storm (24 damage).

Amaryllis shoots at the goblin (17 + 6 = 23), and the shot is a solid one (7 damage). The goblin falls without a sound. She then runs back up the stairs, pausing for a moment to wait for you.

You run into the cell, grab Tori'shel, and head for the stairs. You dash up them, Amaryllis running once more when you reach her.

You, Amaryllis, and Tori'shel are now near the stairs on the second basement level.

[color=white]        |--|-SS-|--|
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        |  |    =  |
        |  =    |  |
	~	   ~
	~  100 ft  ~
	~          ~
        |--|    |--|
        |  |    =  |
        |  =    |  |
        |--|    |--|
        |  | M     |
        |  = AT |  |
        |--|-SS-|--|

J  Jirlai	=  Locked door (iron bars)
R  Ratheqar	[] Open Door (wooden)
L  Larkalth 	S  Stairs
A  Animus	T  Tori'shel
M  Amaryllis	c  Animal Eyes[/color]