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Marduke’s restful crouch behind the shrubbery is cut short by an abrupt thought: Arweil!? I’ve never heard of ‘em! But Tal certainly knows the fellow…doesn’t look much like a trained killer to me – more like some sort of nancy tree-hugger! Best get back out there before Tal cuts him down in cold blood. Friggen clerics always cutt’n down the heathens!
Marduke clambers out of the foliage, making as if he’s closing his britches. “That one fought me good – shouldn’t have had venison last night…always stuffs up me ol’ culvert…heh! What ho there!?” Marduke looks at Arweil as if he’s seeing him for the first time. “Who’s yer friend?”
Damn this fellow's questions. At least he has stopped his cowering in the brush. "Er, just a fellow I've heard speak of. Knows Driven's band, I believe," says Tal, giving Marduke a sidelong glance. Tal turns his gaze on Arweil, his face indicating a question mark, "I believe he goes by the name Arweil Webfeet."
Tuggle moves to Cupric's side and tosses off a "Learn Heritage" to make sure that this is the same being we saw before. "My Gods, he's in such agony...is something seriously wrong with the Portal system? Did we do this?" Maybe I should grab the "arm" that we stole and try to give it to him to see if it helps...but I'm not getting near that thing!
Artemis and Cupric both approach the shimmering man.
Cupric strums his lute, playing a lilting melody with soothing tones, and walks towards the figure with a helpful expression on his face. Between verses, he comments to Artemis about the shimmering man's arm, keeping an eye on the glowing form the whole time.
Though his song has power behind it, the drawn-out shriek does not abate, nor does the being's expression change.
Artemis responds back that he doesn't think the arm is related to the one they're carrying. Trying to block out the noise of the continuing scream, the wiry barbarian notices that he doesn't feel any different after the pulse passed through him.
When he shouts a question at the shimmering man, Artemis might as well be speaking to a wall: there is no change in his posture, and no sign that he has noticed the Follies.
Tuggle comes up beside Cupric and casts learn heritage on the shimmering form -- receiving the same result as in the past: his race is "portal network," and he has no family or ancestry. As he continues to writhe, it's clear that he isn't trapped in the wall per se: it seems as though that's simply where he happens to be, and his limbs pass freely in and out of the stone.
OOC: Cupric and Artemis only:
Just at the edge of your hearing, you catch a snippet of speech: "Uroboran will be pleased. Tell him we have found the fifteenth gate, and --" The voice is sibilant and muted, and sounds as though it is coming from very far away.
Even focused as they are on the shimmering man, Tuggle, Cupric and Artemis all notice something odd: Jaehn, Olo and Milo have not moved since the pulse passed through them -- it's as if they're frozen in place.
Olo is the easiest one to see, and it's clear that something is happening to him. Where he stood moments ago there is now an Olo-shaped outline in the air, limned around the edges with pale blue light, and Olo himself appears to be shrinking -- or receding -- into this space.
Stranger still, the outline seems to be a portal of some kind: through it, the Follies can see a collection of slender spires of elven design, set against the backdrop of a glittering sea. Olo doesn't appear to be falling into this landscape so much as he is transitioning into it.
A quick sidewise glance confirms that the same thing is happening to Jaehn and Milo -- and everyone has heard enough Harper tales to recognize the spires in the background: Evermeet.
To make matters stranger still, a gleaming wall of energy has popped into existence at the end of the hallway opposite the door-panel. It is partly translucent, and through it the Follies can see...Tal? Tal and a dwarf standing on road with the sun shining and a forest behind them?
Arweil looks nearly as surprised as Tal when Marduke hauls himself to his feet, somewhat unconvincingly cinching up his pants and making crude remarks. They both recover quickly, Arweil's eyes narrowing and Tal responding to Marduke's question as though nothing odd had just taken place.
As Marduke comes abreast of Tal, the cleric says Arweil's name -- and the man's eyebrows shoot up.
"I've a tremendous memory for faces, friend priest, and I'm certain I'd remember yours. But I don't," he adds, his hand straying back to the base of his ponytail. "And by-the-by, that's strange company you keep -- venison, eh, friend dwarf? Offloading that greasy tripe, I'm surprised you weren't shaking those bushes a bit more --"
-- at which point Arweil is cut off by a low, sonorous bzzzzrrrmm noise from just behind Tal and Marduke.
As all three of you glance around to see what it was, you're faced with a surprising sight: a giant-sized "doorway" of glowing energy, sunk partly into the road (where it dispappears seamlessly) -- and through it, a blue-litten stone corridor -- in which you can see what looks like several figures, caught in a strange tableau.
To Tal, the surprise is compounded by recognition: it's Tuggle, Artemis and Cupric, as well as the enigmatic figure of the shimmering man, dancing or writhing half-in and half-out of one wall.
Marduke recognizes none of them, of course, and has never seen anything quite like the shimmering man before. There's far too much going on for him to take it in completely, at least all at once -- but one thing's for certain: that doorway is an active portal.
Behind them, Marduke and Tal both hear what sounds like the scuffle of Arweil's feet as he breaks into a run. No sound whatsoever emerges from the portal.
OOC: Marduke only:
Given the nature of Driven's carnival, some of his Players have knowledge about portals. Based on your experience, it's a safe bet that Arweil knows what this one is and what it does, if nothing else.
----
Tuggle's Listen check was a 5 ([1]+4) (from the first post).
Marduke's Bluff -- to convince Arweil that he'd been crapping in the bushes -- was a 4 ([2]+2).
“By Krom’s deviated septum - a portal!” Marduke loosens Grok-Thu and hefts the Urgosh. “I’d bet your soul that that ol’ henchling a’ Driven knows what this one does…and he ran!”
Ah, frig! I see a Gnome in there. This looks like trouble.
OOC: Marduke is going to drop a “Know(planes) bomb” on the portal to see what he can come up with. Hey Book, you’ve been doing the rolls…you want to keep that up or should I start rolling?
Hope this one is something like the last one we went through, Tal thinks to himself as he twists his body at the waist to dislodge his pack and lower it to the ground. He uses a foot to push the pack slightly away, while his eyes search for where Arweil has gotten off to. Surrounded by cowards! "Here, Marduke, drop that hatchet and take hold of my tunic - these things make me dizzy." Not waiting to see if Marduke complies, Tal strides over to the doorway and pokes his head (and only his head) through. "You guys coming or going?" Tal shouts.
"I hear someone else speaking." Artemis holds his hand up and bends his head down slightly to show he is trying to listen. Artemis then walks over adjacent to the shimmering man (M-18), and listens closely to see if he can hear any more of the overheard conversation.
OOC: I stand just outside of flailing arm range. Listen: 17.
Successfully assessing that "gnomes = trouble," Marduke squints at the portal as he hefts Grok-Thu. Tal is in the process of unseating his pack when both he and Marduke glance behind them to see where Arweil is going -- and find out that coming would be more accurate: he's running straight towards you.
Arweil is still at least a hundred feet from you, and he's reaching into his belt pouch with one hand. His attention seems completely focused on the portal.
OOC: Xen, does the fact that Arweil isn't running away change Tal's mind about sticking his head through the portal? (This seemed like a good case to pause the action while asking for clarification.)
glincaelin, I answered your queston about rolling dice over the OOC thread. I made this one: Knowledge (the planes) 26 ([16]+10). Here's the skinny, for Marduke only:
The portal is either very old, or damaged in some way -- it's manifesting partly underground, which also means it probably hasn't been used in ages. The milky translucence and the darts of energy along the edges suggest a malfunction, and it might have been activated randomly by some sort of magical surge. You've heard of that happening, but never actually seen it before -- and it's likely that the surge is happening on the other side. Without the aid of a spell, you can't tell any of its properties.
