D&D 5E [D&D 5e] Planescape - In Through the Out Door

[Shayuri]

"Bix," says Shard tersely, "The inn is under attack by demons coming through...holes. We were sent here, to escape I think. The innkeeper didn't have time to give details."

 

[Unsung]

OOC: Identifying beholder subtypes would be an Arcana check, but if there's something I think your character would just know (that goes for everyone, not just Shandrizar @Quickleaf), I'll usually just tell you outright, unless there's some situational reason where time is a factor or getting the exact right answer is crucially important. In Shandrizar's case, I think the problem is one of too much knowledge rather than too little, hence the following...

[sblock=Shandrizar]Bix has at least seven intact eyestalks that you can see from this angle, and counting eyestalks is one of the ways of telling the various beholderkin subspecies apart. Of course, there are other possible explanations for why a beholder might be missing an eye, and even among 'true' beholders there are many apparently minor features that can make a world of difference between separate hives (size, skin colour and consistency, number of teeth, eyestalk reticulation and functionality of various optic rays, comparative buoyancy...), leading to ostracization and outright civil war within the species, let alone between beholders and other creatures. The mere fact that Bix isn't overtly suppressing its instinctive territorial aggression and is seemingly well at home in this humanoid bar marks him out as an eccentric, and likely outcast, among his own kind. You'd almost guess he was a spectator, but he definitely has too many eyes for that.[/sblock]

[sblock=Wisdom (Perception) DC 12]
A poster has been wheatpasted onto the creature's chitinous side, emblazoned with a rather distinctive symbol.

[/sblock]

The huge central eye widens at Shard. "Demons? What kind of demons?" A faintly sick expression twists the broad maw, and the thing shrinks away from the door. Perhaps until the mention of demons Bix was content to hide in his room until the trouble blew over. Its eyestalks seem to be trying to retreat behind the curvature of its own bulk. "Barstle wants...me to take you?"

 

[Shayuri]

"Yes," Shard replies. She has no idea that's what he wanted, but why else would he send them here?

"The demons are large and...like the scarab beetles, a little. Shelled and black, with..." she makes a gesture with her hands at her head, trying to imply wiggly feelers and jointed legs. "...that sort of thing. Can we come in, to discuss the matter a little more safely? Much longer and you may have a chance to see them for yourself."

 

[Unsung]

Bix doesn't answer, and neither does he protest-- it doesn't seem to occur to him-- but retreats fretfully into the room, a messy little hole-in-the-wall apartment only slightly larger than a closet. There's a cot-frame in the corner with a bedsheet lying in a twisted heap over it, but no pillow or mattress-- why would there be? --instead the cot seems to have been repurposed as a repository for a collection of dirty plaster plates from the bar downstairs.

[sblock=Passive Perception 11]The walls are bare, as are most of the shelves, but various objects hang from the ceiling: glass fishing floats and floating bladders, and a small brass orrery, dented and corroded.[/sblock]

 

[Pembinasa]

...And Graydon just shuffled inside with the rest, intent on getting the help that was meant to come through this bizarre flying eye-ball. It didn't seem hostile and had at least some magic, but that was nowhere near as reassuring as it should be with those magic-resistant insects popping around! Seriously, how do you just RESIST the forces that hold all of existence together concentrated and channeled into precise destruction? What, do you just spend a few years getting shot with magic to develop a TOLERANCE?

Honestly, the very existence of those bug-things with their fancy 'resisting' was just offensive to Graydon, and he meant to discuss circumventing such things with Shandrizar when he had the chance- at least, once the book stopped trying to sucker him with claims about how a completely mechanical contraption was excreting biology at him. The so-called 'archmage' really needed to up its game at least a little already.

Where was he? Oh, right, bug-beasts and eye ovoids! Well, once he murmurs some thanks for the strange creature's hospitality and everyone gets themselves into the spare little room, he can hurriedly get the door shut (and locked if possible). Precious few fools were willing to chance the dangers of teleporting blindly, so an enclosed space was one of the best temporary defenses that could be hoped for.

OOC: sorry for not freaking out, but- well, beholders just don't exist in Mystara. Several classic monsters never made it over there, including drow; he just thinks of Bix as 'another freaky planar thing, apparently harmless if treated with respect.'

 

[Quickleaf]

Shandrizar, the floating spellbook bobbing along nearby Graydon, chimes in, chatting away at Bix, "I can see why the bartender asked you to keep an eye out for folks fleeing the inn..."

 

[Fenris]

Shandrizar, the floating spellbook bobbing along nearby Graydon, chimes in, chatting away at Bix, "I can see why the bartender asked you to keep an eye out for folks fleeing the inn..."

Oz snickers "Did you come up with that on your own or did you exchange binding fluids with a thesaurus? Don't worry though if it falls flat I will cover for you. Oh, oh! And if you don't have the spine to support your joke, I will get you out of the gutter!" Oz is practically doubled over in laughter at the book-based puns.

 

[Shayuri]

Shard brings up the rear and closes the door behind her. She gives Bix a frowny look.

"What...are you?" she asks.

She ignores the levity entirely, focusing entirely on the strange creature before her.

 

[Unsung]

OOC: No worries about not freaking out, @Pembinasa. Sorry for not posting! It's not so much that freaking out was a thing that had to happen, but if it was going to happen, I didn't want to just gloss over it. Freaking out at the various freaks of the planes is only appropriate for newcomers to the vastness of the planes, and a part of the whole Clueless experience not to be missed, says I.

Bix smiles weakly at the jokes. You get the impression that he's a little awkward around crowds, or maybe he's just heard that one before.

But from a direct question there can be no escape. "Uh. W-well," he stutters at Shard's question. "Most people around here would tell you I'm a beholder. Most beholders I've met said I don't count, for various reasons. They say that about...most other beholders, though.

"...If they say anything at all," he trails off, looking around at the party, anxiously. He blinks at you, which takes some time.

 

[KirayaTiDrekan]

Rusty contents itself with finding a corner in the beholder's room and folding itself up in a box (more or less) so as to stay out of the way. It doesn't even occur to Rusty to think that the beholder is odd in any way.