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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 625155" data-attributes="member: 1210">Norman from BormanHow long has it been since he came into this cursed mountain with his friends?  How long since the tentacles writhing in the dark claimed them all?  How long since his mind was his own?And where are his friends?  What's happened to them all?  A few short hours ago, Norman came to his senses.  Something was happening, something that caused the iron will that gripped his mind to loosen its grasp, at least long enough for him to slip away from them- the glistening monsters.  He can't remember what he's been doing here, or for how long.  He doesn't know where his friends are.  He doesn't know anything about what's happened to him.  He's hungry, cold, tired; his head has been shaved and powdered and perfumed.  He doesn't remember much of anything- except a dull pleasure at the idea of serving the creatures that held him prisoner.  Now it seems like madness, but he was ready to offer himself up- to allow them to... to... He can't think about it.  Is... that what happened to the rest of his band of adventurers?Norman from Borman has never seen things like this before- strange, tentacle-faced creatures with moist slime dripping from them, with lamprey-mouths and huge, lidless eyes.  They stand upright like men, but they are no men.  He shudders as he eases down the stairwell, its steps covered with salt, towards what he hopes is freedom- then freezes as the guardians at the bottom come into view.  They're some sort of monstrous agglomeration of leeches.  He shudders, both from the cold and the horror.  He can imagine them sucking him dry of blood in a few short moments... There's only a crack leading out of the chamber, and it's through that crack that he must sneak.Norman moves slowly, stealthily.  He tries his best to make absolutely no noise, to kick no pebbles.  He slowly inches through the crack, seemingly undetected.  But what if the masters- no, his former captors- notice he's gone??  What if they come for him??  He can't stand up to them, especially not alone!  He has to get out of this horrible stinking mountain!He has to force himself not to run, but running would give him away- and then, as he eases out of the gap, he finds himself standing above a small drop into a pool of bile.  Taking a deep breath, he climbs along the wall above it, trying desperately to avoid the frothy yellow fluid.  Soon there's a dry hall he can drop onto, and he does, then continues moving stealthily down the hall.  He comes to a four-way intersection and pauses to listen, smell for fresh air, look for a way out.  There's no light here, and his vision- somehow enhanced by the masters (no, his captors)- is fading.  He almost panics as he realizes that he soon won't be able to see at all!Then he realizes there's a flicker of light coming from ahead, and voices: "...the L makes a habit of killing people and then taking their stuff," comes the first, a male voice, probably human or half-elven."You shouldn't kill things needlessly," a feminine voice, strangely metallic, responds, and a few others join in a confusing rumble of conversation.  Norman shudders, realizing that he hasn't heard a voice in- how long?  He doesn't know.Slowly, he inches forward, praying that these people can help him, that they're adventurers- that they can take him out of this gods-forsaken place!Next Time: The party meets both Norman and another (apparent) potential ally!  Can they use diplomacy to defeat a ghost?  What about the leech-things?  Will they ascend the salty stairs?  Will they meet Norman's former masters?  Will they end up with shaved and perfumed heads?  And what was in jail here anyway??  Find out soon!</blockquote>

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