Dungeon Raiders: The Wolf's Den

[tuxgeo]

[OOC: While we're waiting: "The Few, The FUBAR, and The Foint"]

Aeiyan comments distractedly, "So, as I see it, there's some agency in this room that imposed the form of centipedes upon three furtive intruders?"

He disclaims, "I never expected to encounter such a thing."

Then he adds, "Nobody expects the Centipede Imposition!"

"Shall we all go out of this room and, as they say, Come In Again?" He looks doubtfully at the others. "It wouldn't work, would it?"

 

[Shayuri]

Sulannus looks over her shoulder to give Aeiyan an owlish look, then shakes her head and with her spell plucks the shield back away from the dead body. She lets the sentient bugs crawl back off of it, then drops it to the floor.

"All I can think of now is breaking it."

She pauses, then clarifies. "The shield, I mean. The curse may be tied up in the shield itself, and it seems like it's fixed on thieves. Break the shield, it loses its focus and disappears. I can't be sure that will free the ones who've already suffered from it, but it's the only other thing I can think of we can do right here and now. Otherwise I'd need...books and time to research."

 

[Kobold Stew]

Since this adventure has begun, Bartleby has sensed his connection to nature grow sand develop. The spell he cast when he first entered this room was an expression of that: he was able to feel the mould on the ceiling, like he had a connection with it, and when his spell was cast instinctively, it was like for a moment that expression of nature became an extension of himself.

He's feeling that again now. He has been angry, contemptuous, impatient, and indeed rude with his colleagues, and that is wearing thin. As he stands at the edge of the room, wanting more than anything to find a way through or to leave or to quit, he finds himself relaxing as he watches the skittering creatures, and wonders how all those legs coordinate with each other as the creatures move. It's almost peaceful. And as Bartleby watches it, he begins to relax as well, and he soon finds himself skittering on the floor alongside the others.

The dwarf is as startled as anyone else by his transformation. He runs around the room, testing his many new pairs of legs. Feeling new nerve endings up and down his carapace, and tingling with delight. Forcipules extending from his jaw snap for the first time, and he feels each torso segment bend with a flexibility that reminds him of a dancer he once saw in the Thirsty Toad.

Having stretched his legs he approaches the other centipedes in the room. Bartleby has never changed his form in this way before; nor indeed did he intend to do so now. But here he is, skittering over the stone cold floor. Can he speak to the others in this form he wonders? He hisses, spins in a circle, and hisses again in greeting.



[OOC: Wild Shape into Giant Centipede, armour etc. all melding into his form.]

 

[Li Shenron]

He hisses, spins in a circle, and hisses again in greeting.

[OoC: the following communication is intelligible only to Bartleby, but everyone is free to read it]

[sblock]As they see the druid turn himself into a centipede, the two centipedes immediately crawl towards him and attempt at communicating...

"Nooo!!! You too have been cursed! You fool, now we're doomed forever!"[/sblock]

 

[Kobold Stew]

Hiss. Hiss hiss. Hiss.

[sblock="Common when spoken through mandibles"]Bartleby stretches his jaws and finds them moving in ways he normally could not, lateral hinges and dry clacking chitin connected with his exoskeleton, inflexible cheeks. He is surprised at his new form, not fully aware of how it has come to be, and yet he knows he is somehow still himself, and not really a centipede. That he retains his mind. And as he does so he hopes that the others might be in a similar situation, that they have their "HUMN" minds and are trapped. When he sees the others skittering towards him, he hears their voices, and tries to speak.

"I don't think so. Hello. What can you tell me about your condition? How did you become this way? I'm here to help."[/sblock]

 

[Jimmy Disco T]

"My goodness! Bartleby has been cursed too!" says Tock in an agitated voice. He gets down on his hands and knees close to where he can see the insects gathering.

"Bartleby... Bartleby! Which one are you? Can you hear me? Can you understand me?" he asks, glancing at each centipede in turn.

 

[Li Shenron]

[sblock="Centipedes conversation"]The two centipedes who were on the shield appear quite agitated: "It's the curse, this tomb is cursed!" "Shut up idiot, he already knows that. They want to help us." "But he's cursed too now, and so the others will be soon..." "They aren't yet, they can still find a way out" "We're doomed, we're gonna be centipedes forever" "Not for that long if I kill you first" "How dare you, it's all your fault, remember?" "I remember someone talking about a safe and simple job in a tomb, and that wasn't me"...

While the first two centipedes start arguing and scuffling with each other, the third one who was wiggling around Tock's arm slides down and approach Bartleby firmly but calmly and asks: "The scroll. Did you read the scroll?"
[/sblock]

 

[Kobold Stew]

[sblock="Centipedes conversation continued"]"We read the words -- a short rhyme -- but not aloud. Were there more words than that?" Bartleby answers the most focused of the centipedes, and wonders if the confusion of the others is a product of their having spent so long in this form. "I am not cursed, but I am seeking to know how you came to this circumstance, and if you know how to break the curse on you."
[/sblock]

 

[Li Shenron]

[sblock=Centipede Conversation]The "calm" centipede continues the conversation with Bartleby while the other two keep quarreling. "What do you mean, you are not cursed? You just turned into a centipede! You said it yourself, you read the cursed scroll... what I don't understand, is why your friends are still themselves. When Derrek read the scroll, it transformed all the three of us into these horrible shapes."
[/sblock]

 

[Kobold Stew]

Hiss hiss. Skitter.

[sblock=Centipede Conversation pt 4]"I cannot explain to you why I am not cursed. I possess an affinity with nature, and this form seems to be an extension of that. I can leave this form, but then we would no longer be able to communicate. So tell me what I need to know to help you. If you do not, we will have no choice but to leave you in this state.

It's possible the curse had but a single use. What I need to know is what specific actions took place to transform you: did you touch the scroll, or any of the skeleton's panoply? Did Derrick read the scroll aloud? Was there more writing than the four lines of verse that are visible now? Perhaps the magic can measure intent -- were you here to steal, or for some other purpose?

I know these questions seem irrelevant, but unless we know how the curse took effect, we will be unable to help you. Any details might be relevant. We want to reverse its effects, for your sake. How did it feel when the shield was moved? Why were you unable to leave the room? Any details would be helpful."
[/sblock]