Clutches of Evil - IC: Chapter Two

[Nonlethal Force]

The figure lets out an amuzed chuckle - although it is a grating raspy chuckle that hurts the ears. "I assure you, the priests have returned. They are no longer here, and there is no place to go from here except the foul surface from which you all come!"

The raspy laugh returns, the Recipient clearly amuzed by the predicament of the party. The tone of the Recipient grows strangely somber only an instant after the laugh ceases to come from her lungs.

"You are welcome to stay as long as you desire. But you should know something about us. Ellayna ... STEP FORWARD!"

The command almost magically reaches forth and snatches Ellayna into motion. Ellayna seems to desire to resist the compulsion to approach the recipient but is unable to resist. After taking two steps forward the air around Ellayna crackles and hisses with an apparent electrical energy. Bursts of blue light emit from Ellayna's body and she falls to her knees with a look of worried panic upon her face. As soon as the blue sparks seem to leap from her body her figure changes instantly to match that of the Recipient. Her skin is gray and her features are elongated. Her eyes lose all color and become great black unblinking orbs. Her clothes are assumed into her skin and the figure that used to be Ellayna is now a sexless, gray skinned, androgynous figure.

The Recipient does not appear to have any emotion regarding Ellayna's transformation. She neither enjoys it nor is repulsed by it.

 

[unleashed]

Keryth, Male Drakontos Cleric

“I can’t say I’m surprised, after meeting you Recipient... though that display was unnecessary, when a simple explanation would have sufficed,” Keryth offers impassively, glancing only briefly at the androgynous figure that was Ellayna.

“So the other tunnel which branches from where the miners dug through, also leads into your realm then? They could have gone that way if it does not... Hmm, I don’t suppose Recipient, you could give us an estimate of how long ago the priests left, and how long they stayed, as your people seem to have difficulty with time?”

 

[Nonlethal Force]

"Our peope do not keep time the same as you do.We have no rising of the sun to mark our time. It has been some time, however. Given the violent reaction that has trapped two of our kind on the surface we have little desire to further our contact, so we have not tried to estimate the passage of your time."

"As to the other tunnel, I can say that there have been many access points to our realm created. I would be surprised if the tunnels led anywhere but to places of access for our domain. Otherwise we certainly would have come across other beings besides those who enter through the rift in the mine."

 

[jkason]

Byntrou, roguishly sorcerous barbarian

Byntrou frowns, then asks a question of his own.

"Did any of your kind witness the priests leaving through the force barrier, or do you know only that they left the door Markie guards?"

 

[Nonlethal Force]

The Recipient replies, "Since the two have not returned I have forbade any to leave through the stones that belong to us. I know the priests left our compound and that is all that I particularly care to concern myself with. Surely they have returned by now and perhaps have remained hidden?"

 

[unleashed]

Keryth, Male Drakontos Cleric

“Well, they are hiding particularly well if that is the case. As the miners say they haven’t seen the priests since they allowed them to pass through the force barrier from the mines to your domain, and no one in the village has seen them either...” Keryth offers.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

"Yes, well. It seems that we can be of little help in the matter. They were allowed out of our domain and it has passed out of our hands."

 

[unleashed]

Keryth, Male Drakontos Cleric

“I guess not, though we may be able to help you, in regard to your people trapped on the surface,” Keryth offers.

“So did you have any questions you wanted to ask the Recipient,” he asks, looking at Byntrou, “or are you satisfied with the display we were given earlier.”

 

[jkason]

Byntrou, roguishly sorcerous barbarian

“I guess not, though we may be able to help you, in regard to your people trapped on the surface,” Keryth offers.

“So did you have any questions you wanted to ask the Recipient,” he asks, looking at Byntrou, “or are you satisfied with the display we were given earlier.”

Byntrou opens his mouth, then closes it. He turns to Keryth, saying simply, "I have no further questions to ask here."

[sblock=Nonlethal]Dunno how far you might be planning to skip, so I'll say this now: Byn will check for traps when they get close to the force barrier, especially in the area where "the token" is supposed to be hidden. It's unclear to him which group is lying, but he figures if the shapechangers aren't lying, then it's possible the miners did something to the priests, and this "call us and we'll get you" magic item might be how they did that.[/sblock]

 

[Nonlethal Force]

[Sblock=Byntrou]No problem, jkason. Thanks for the note. I don't know how far ahead Unleashed or Daz will want to go, either. If they want to explore the community before heading back, this would have plenty of time. If they want to deal with the miners again to try and resolve this issue quickly it may go forward a bit. I'm taking your reply here as a statement saying that your opinion could go either way.[/Sblock]

Destiny steps forward and asks, "So, you people can take any form you desire?"

The Recipient replies, "Indeed. We can take any form that has been sent telepathically to me via the mind-torcs. We cannot take a form of anyone we do not touch. Once we have quite literally made contact, the information becomes part of who we are and can be transmitted to me through the mind-torcs. I then store the information and give it telepathically to anyone within this compound. That is why I am called the Recipient."

Her dark orbs for eyes appear to roll back as though she were rolling her eyes in deep thought. As she does, some of the orb that is normally at the bottom of the socket is brought forward. While still dark, it is much more of a slate gray in color than a pitch black color. After only a second she returns her orbs to normal and adds, "In fact, there are a few in our community who are already learning what life is like with each of your forms."