(5E) D&D/Moorcock Multiverse Inspiration PBP

CharlotteOz

Explorer
"Aloe! Look! They can come but they'll fare just as well as ice cubes on a hot summer day in the fey-wild. I'm pretty sure the storm's gonna destroy everything around here..."

The lady, old or young, looked serious.

She kept muttering to herself, then cried out.

"They can come! Fine! You figure it out!"

The lady sniffed loudly. Almost reverting into sobs.

"Let's ALL go!"

She tried to compose herself. It wasn't easy. She kept fumbling around, fidgeting with anything in sight.

Alan didn't know what to think at all.

* * *

"But if they won't survive, how will I? I mean I'm - "

Alan paused a long moment, working it over in his head. As he thought, all that could be heard were her sobs and the lashing of the rain.

"I'm from the Feywild?"

Alan look out the window, at his neighbors and friends, and frowned. "We can't leave them. If we can take them, then we have to try. I'll - if I - if we can survive here, maybe we can figure out a way to help them survive there. Or if we have enough time, we can try and stop it before it gets out of hand... I heard rumors that time in the Feywild passes differently..."
 

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Steve Gorak

Adventurer
Selythin rested after his battle.

Fires still burned in the distance. The heavy scent of death hung in the air.

Slowly, images came to the elven prince.

It was, similar to astral-projection, as if Selythin traveled through space and time.

He dreamed of the city. The palace. The throne room. The dungeons. The vaults.

Behind a giant, sturdy door lie the blade. The black sword.

The outcast prince heard a whisper in the dark.

"Go to the river. Not the one below, but above. Your heritage awaits thee."
Selythin pondered on the vision he just had. The river above... Is this a riddle or instructions, or both?
He wondered if he was being called back to the city, or if the request was more subtle.
In any case, he decides to fly upwards, perhaps the river above is in the clouds, or refers to rain. He goes slowly, carefully, with weapon and shield ready, in case he has to face more chaos beasts.

Once up above the clouds, if there is nothing of interest, he will travel towards the directions where the beasts seem to have come from. The river above...Perhaps this is the river of beasts?

http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=232717
 

JharyOConnah

Explorer
Ralph Crenshaw sprinted into the storm toward the old man, yelling as he got nearer.

As soon as Sir Ralph approached the hunchbacked guy stopped, eyes wide, visible even in the dark and rainy haze.

The old man fumbled with his over-large cloak, pulling it aside to draw a longsword.

It was hard to see his expression, but as Ralph squinted, suddenly the blade the old man held aloft started to glow.

It lit up the man's wrinkled features. He was staring intensely at Ralph, muttering something to himself under the whistling wind.

Then the old man spoke louder: "You! It is you! Finally, at long last, I've found you!" He started to move toward Crenshaw at a quicker pace.

Ralph hadn't considered this guy to be a threat at all before, but...maybe...

* * *

The horses grumbled, but they listened to Eovin. "Can't find the damn road little lady!" "How're we supposed get fed if our master is missing!?" They led the cart back toward the way the caravan had come from or so they thought.

Bo kept standing up on the front of the wagon, shouting into the dense woods all around. "Jim! Pop! We can't see you! We can't see the road even!" The young man was panicking.

Eovin couldn't find the path either. The horses were just going in circles.

Just then the whole lot of them heard a tinkling voice, small but clear over the noise of wind and rain. It trilled lightly and said: "This way!"

A ball of light appeared to one side of the wagon.

It hovered in place for a moment then headed slowly into the nearby woods.

* * *

Kaylee, body inhabited by Infiri, sighed and stood up with the knife.

She kept looking Josiah Jones dead in the eye. A long silence.

"This world...cannot be saved...as it IS. It, and many other worlds, will be remade in the fires of this troubling time. As for the innocent..."

Kaylee/Infiri sighed again.

"There is no perfect answer. Many will surely perish...although I've tried to give the good people of this realm every possible chance of survival. My influence on this sphere is waning...hence my need for escape...and your assistance..."

Kaylee stabbed the knife into the wooden table for emphasis. Then she reached over and extinguished the only lamp in the tiny shack.

"Rest, gatekeeper. We still have a long way to go..."

* * *

Alan Oak kept staring at the woman and he was getting good at seeing both versions at once. It was almost like he knew the person underneath the costume really well.

Before he had a chance to speak further the woman blew her nose loudly again.

"Fine! Bring them all! But-but we...you... gotta get outta here! That's what I'm trying to say! And-and you didn't even recognize me or ask my name-name. Oh-golly-deary-no-no."

She looked sad but all the tears had dried.

In fact, both her and Alan were fairly toasty after their conversation near the fire.

Just then, they both heard a loud crashing sound outside and some people screaming above the whipping wind.

Through the window the pair could easily see.

The damn had broken.

* * *

Prince Selythin tried to puzzle out his vision while taking to the sky. He operated on pure instinct. No inspiration beyond "look up there" was needed however because as the demon-tainted elf drifted upwards he spied exactly what he was looking for.

There above. Was it a river of flying beasts? The ripples were chaotic, but not living. This was just a violently babbling brook running briskly along an unseen landscape.

As the elf climbed higher, what was up became gradually down. Down seemed to drift higher, until Selythin's bearings were all topsy-turvy.

He tried to focus on the running river. For all its chaos it was the steadiest landmark within eyesight.

Far ahead, an extreme squinting was necessary, Prince Selythin spotted something in the churning water.

Was it a creature?

A boat?

The prince dared not fly lower/higher in fear of losing sight of the thing in the distance.

* * *
 

Steve Gorak

Adventurer
Prince Selythin tried to puzzle out his vision while taking to the sky. He operated on pure instinct. No inspiration beyond "look up there" was needed however because as the demon-tainted elf drifted upwards he spied exactly what he was looking for.

There above. Was it a river of flying beasts? The ripples were chaotic, but not living. This was just a violently babbling brook running briskly along an unseen landscape.

As the elf climbed higher, what was up became gradually down. Down seemed to drift higher, until Selythin's bearings were all topsy-turvy.

He tried to focus on the running river. For all its chaos it was the steadiest landmark within eyesight.

Far ahead, an extreme squinting was necessary, Prince Selythin spotted something in the churning water.

Was it a creature?

A boat?

The prince dared not fly lower/higher in fear of losing sight of the thing in the distance.

What is this madness? Selythin thought to himself as he saw the river and the flipping of the sky and ground.

Undeterred, he flew closer to the boat. He sheathed his sword, as a show of good faith but kept his shield.
 
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"That's usually something you don't want to do," Eowin says. "Following a light of unknown origin. But at this point, I doubt going that way is any better or worse than wandering around in circles. Follow the light, faithful horses."
 

Mark Chance

Boingy! Boingy!
Then the old man spoke louder: "You! It is you! Finally, at long last, I've found you!" He started to move toward Crenshaw at a quicker pace.

Ralph hadn't considered this guy to be a threat at all before, but...maybe...

Ralph tensed, his hand moving toward his hip. The lack of contact prompted the thought, Left my sword in the barn. Ralph clenched his fist, twisted his body just slightly. As the old man grew close to enough to see, Ralph realized he'd seen him before.

Well, drawn him before, to be precise, and not while in this world. The old man's face had taken form during lunch a few days ago, sketched out in light pencil before being inked with a Sharpie.

"Salve!" Ralph said as he gestured toward the barn. "Let's get out of this storm!"
 

CharlotteOz

Explorer
Alan Oake kept staring at the woman and he was getting good at seeing both versions at once. It was almost like he knew the person underneath the costume really well.

Before he had a chance to speak further the woman blew her nose loudly again.

"Fine! Bring them all! But-but we...you... gotta get outta here! That's what I'm trying to say! And-and you didn't even recognize me or ask my name-name. Oh-golly-deary-no-no."

She looked sad but all the tears had dried.

In fact, both her and Alan were fairly toasty after their conversation near the fire.

Just then, they both heard a loud crashing sound outside and some people screaming above the whipping wind.

Through the window the pair could easily see.

The dam had broken.

"Oh no..."

Alan was out the door like a shot, and ran towards the others, shouting. "Listen! She says she can get us out of here! It - it might not be what you're used to but it's got to be better than here! Ma'am, whatever I can - "

He paused, and looked downcast. "I'm sorry. I should have asked your name. What's your name?"
 

tglassy

Adventurer
Josiah had one thing he had always been good at. Sleeping. He could sleep anywhere, at any time. Sitting up, laying down, on a horse, it didn’t matter. He could just tell himself “it’s time to sleep”, and he’d fall asleep. Thankfully, he woke just as easily, but he’d never had trouble sleeping.

Blissfully, tonight was the same. Despite knowing the world was ending, the understanding that there was nothing he could currently do, and that his master, who saw more than he did, had told him the best thing to do was rest, gave himself permission to...just...

...sleep...
 

JharyOConnah

Explorer
Selythin flew toward the river in the sky.

The water got closer and the mountain that had been below receded into the clouds.

It was a boat.

Selythin felt as if he were descending toward the small craft even as he tried to maintain his altitude.

He sniffed. The air here smelled of smoke.

He could see a lone figure lying down flat inside the little rowboat. A black sword was also lying there, next to the person.

It looked like the figure was waving and Prince Selythin could hear laughter wafting through the smokey air.

* * *

Jim nodded and shrugged at Eovin as she commanded the horses to follow the ball of light into the woods.

The younger son of the caravan leader kept shouting periodically. "Pop! Bo! Where are you?"

(Minor confusion. It really doesn't change anything...but! We switched which brother was with you accidently. It says the incorrect name in my posts too. Oops! 😬 Just to be clear. Laynard was on your cart first, but was dragged away by two monsters after he fell. Eovin and the horses rescued Jim by killing the third chaos creature. You never saw Bo or his cart after the wagons were separated. Whew. 🤓)

After a minute of repeated yelling from Jim, the ball of light stopped abruptly. It bounced gently in place.

Eovin swore she heard someone, over the rain and storm, shush them.

"Sssshhhh!"

Jim instinctively clasped his hands over his mouth.

Then the ball of light flew off quickly, curving through the trees in a semi-circular direction.

(Go ahead and give me another Perception check along with your actions.)

* * *

"Brutta nottata..."

The old man muttered as he followed Ralph into the barn, still holding the glowing blade aloft. He immediately went to a stack of wet haystacks and almost collapsed.

Ralph could see a trail of blood leading from the door in a line to the fella clutching at his side underneath his large cloak.

He groaned then said: "Found you just in the nick of time."

He gritted his teeth and pulled the cloak aside. The wound looked bad.

"Maybe not... Damnit. I'm getting too vecchio for this merda. We've gotta do this quick. They could be right behind me..."

He tried to stand up, but he was too weak.

* * *

The lady who was somehow old and young at the same time ran after Alan Oake, out into the storm. She was still huffing and puffing into her make-shift hanky.

(Confusion #2. This doesn't change anything either, but I forgot the lady already said her name was Page. Oops! 😬)

"M-my-my name's P-p-page...but that's not important! I'm sorry princess Aloe! I shouldn't have gotten upset about that... Oh no! The poor little humans! I-I-I don't know what I can do, but maybe lead you all away from here b-back home..."

Water was rushing through the streets. Panicked people were screaming and running from their homes. Many buildings down main street were already collapsing from the crushing waves of water. Large chunks of debris floated by.

Men and women were carrying children to higher ground. It seemed most of the town was heading for the cemetery, which stood on a large hill overlooking town.

Just then they heard a cry. "Help!" Some burbling. "Heeellp!"

It was the burly bully from before. He was clinging to the lip of the well. Alan could only see his hands clinging to the stone.

Water was rushing so intensely over him he was about to be lost inside.

* * *

Josiah Jones woke in the early morning. It was still dark outside, rain rattling against the tin roof of the small shack.

Kaylee was nowhere to be seen. But, before Jones could even worry, he heard hooves clacking along the gravel path outside.

The door swung open slowly and there was Kaylee holding the reins of two horses.

"Good. You're awake. Come, we have a long, wet ride ahead of us..."

She looked around warily.

"If you're wondering. I procured these mounts from the men we murdered." She said it very matter-o-factly. "We are JUST in our actions, gatekeeper, but Bartleby Pile's 'friends' might not agree. Best to make haste."

* * *
 

Mark Chance

Boingy! Boingy!
He groaned then said: "Found you just in the nick of time."

He gritted his teeth and pulled the cloak aside. The wound looked bad.

"Maybe not... Damnit. I'm getting too vecchio for this merda. We've gotta do this quick. They could be right behind me..."

He tried to stand up, but he was too weak.

"Relax," Ralph said. "You're hurt. Orland, get back to your family. Bar the doors."

The farmer hesitated until he saw the look of steel in Ralph's eyes, and then he bowed and rushed out of the barn. Ralph grabbed his armor and started putting the pieces into place, making sure his sword was in arm's reach.

"Who could be right behind you?"
 


Steve Gorak

Adventurer
Selythin flew toward the river in the sky.

The water got closer and the mountain that had been below receded into the clouds.

It was a boat.

Selythin felt as if he were descending toward the small craft even as he tried to maintain his altitude.

He sniffed. The air here smelled of smoke.

He could see a lone figure lying down flat inside the little rowboat. A black sword was also lying there, next to the person.

It looked like the figure was waving and Prince Selythin could hear laughter wafting through the smokey air.

Selythin chose not to question the madness that was happening to him. Certainly, powerful magics were involved, but he believed that the creature on the boat could provide some answers, if not guidance to him.

He put his shield on his back, and landed about 15 feet from the figure. Laconically, he said simply “You have summoned me, and I have come”
 

CharlotteOz

Explorer
The lady who was somehow old and young at the same time ran after Alan Oake, out into the storm. She was still huffing and puffing into her make-shift hanky.

(Confusion #2. This doesn't change anything either, but I forgot the lady already said her name was Page. Oops! 😬)

"M-my-my name's P-p-page...but that's not important! I'm sorry princess Aloe! I shouldn't have gotten upset about that... Oh no! The poor little humans! I-I-I don't know what I can do, but maybe lead you all away from here b-back home..."

Water was rushing through the streets. Panicked people were screaming and running from their homes. Many buildings down main street were already collapsing from the crushing waves of water. Large chunks of debris floated by.

Men and women were carrying children to higher ground. It seemed most of the town was heading for the cemetery, which stood on a large hill overlooking town.

Just then they heard a cry. "Help!" Some burbling. "Heeellp!"

It was the burly bully from before. He was clinging to the lip of the well. Alan could only see his hands clinging to the stone.

Water was rushing so intensely over him he was about to be lost inside.

Alan hesitated for a moment, and then felt a stab of guilt at the fact that he had hesitated. The man was a bully and a jerk and an awful person, and Alan hated how much all that reminded him of himself.

All the same: he was a person in need, and he had his decent moments, and more than anything, Alan couldn't just let him die.

And so, Alan ran towards him, hand outstretched to try and keep him from going under.
 

JharyOConnah

Explorer
"Chaos..." the man said in response to Ralph Crenshaw, "Please, I can barely stand. The...plan was to run away with my dear, sweet Ursala...But...I don't think I'm long for this world...Please approach and kneel, Dreaming Knight. You have been chosen by the Grail to succeed me..."

He winced again, still resting on the pile of soggy haystacks. He held the glowing sword up with his right hand. As he raised the blade the barn was illuminated a bit more.

Shadows played against the rafters, but Ralph caught something else out the corner of his eyes. There was a small open window over the loft of the barn and the Dreaming Knight spied something sinister approaching through the air.

Lit by a flash of lightning, it looked like a beast from the depths of the abyss, half bear and half lion with the wings of a vulture.

It would be inside the barn within moments.

* * *

Eovin didn't see the small glade ahead of them until the horses had already entered it.

Jim and the pixie heard a high-pitched squeak as the light flew up above the center of the small clearing in the woods.

Laynard's son screamed as the horses stopped suddenly. "No! Pop!"

The pack animals grumbled too. "Whoa, lady! Scary things up there!" "Boss!? Uh oh! Who's gonna feed us now?"

Up ahead, the area bright because of the mysterious ball of light, was a ring of mushrooms in the middle of a little tree-less hill.

Also, in the middle, were the two scary, chaos creatures with strange animalistic features. Laynard was lying on the ground, a dagger in the grass near his hand.

(Roll for initiative!)

* * *

Selythin landed on the bank of the weird river, slightly ahead of the rowboat that drifted downstream through the churning water.

The smoke was thicker down here. The elven prince could see burned trees scattered about. Down river, in a great distance, was some sort of large stone keep or ruin. Fires burned in that direction and Selythin assumed that's where the smell came from.

The mountain above, and the realm the prince knew as home, were gone. He definitely wasn't in "kansas" anymore.

Yet still, the voice that called out, that particular chuckling, Selythin recognized it.

"Hahaha. Cousin! You've managed to survive too, eh? What a stroke of luck for the both of us... Can't say I've seen a single other living soul since I narrowly escaped."

It was the elven prince's cousin, Zenythin. He stood in the little boat waving and smiling a sarcastic smile as it flowed past.

"Not sure where we might be, though. Don't recognize any landmarks at all..." He spoke louder and louder as the rowboat gained distance.

He kept laughing as the boat continued along, carried by the current, getting further and further away.

* * *
 


JharyOConnah

Explorer
The burly bully in trouble blubbered at Alan as he approached. "Oh-- Please! Halp!"

The water was hard to fight against as Alan crossed the square toward the well.

(Gain an inspiration for choosing to help anyway, even though this guy's a dick. I need two STR ability checks. One to fight the current. One to assist pulling the jerk outta the well. 🤞)

* * *
 

JharyOConnah

Explorer
(Eovin gains an inspiration as well for being incredibly brave in helping the dumb humans.)

The horses charged as per instructions, but not before Jim leapt from the side of the wagon and ran at one of the two beasts.

He struck with his shortsword. Black blood clung to the side of the blade. The beast was hurt.

One of the horses connected as well, just as Eovin flew up and poison sprayed, smashing into the same strange beast, crushing it into wisps of shadow and muck beneath its hooves. (All damage going to the same monster kills it. One remains.)

The remaining chaos creature turned and clawed at Jim, drawing bright red blood from his arm.

Laynard's son, though, was undeterred, holding his ground against the thing. He slashed at the beast again, but this time missed.

(Into the next round now. Jim was first and missed. Then Eovin and horses go. Then the last monster.)

* * *
 


JharyOConnah

Explorer
Unfortunately, Eovin's second puff of magical poison didn't faze the last remaining creature.

The horses continued to kick at the thing as well, but struggled as they were still attached to the wagon. One of them managed to connect without much result.

The damage only seemed to make the chaotic beast more angry. It batted wings, which the pixie puzzled over, swearing they weren't there before, and flew into the air.

That gave Jim an opportunity to strike. The caravan leader's son drew more black blood, but the thing made it up to Eovin swiping at her small frame.

The little pixie flew barely out grasp.

Since the creature was in the air, and out of reach, Jim dropped to his knees to attempt to help his father. "Nooo! Pop! Why!?" (The young man sucks at medicine and fails.)

The situation didn't look good.

The little ball of light still hung above the mushroom ring on the hill.

(I'm going fast because I'm chilling at home tonight. No pressure to anyone, but I'll probably keep my 👁 here for a few hours if you ARE inspired and want to keep progressing tonight. 😁)

* * *
 
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Mark Chance

Boingy! Boingy!
Lit by a flash of lightning, it looked like a beast from the depths of the abyss, half bear and half lion with the wings of a vulture.

It would be inside the barn within moments.

Ralph cinched the last of his armor into place and readied his crossbow, moving so that he was between the injured man and the approaching beast.

"We're about to be attacked, dude," Ralph said, dropping to one knee and taking aim. "If you got something to say, say it quick."

OOC: Ralph is Ready to fire at the beast if it enters the barn with hostile intent. He then drops his crossbow and gets his shield into position.
 
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