The Closed Eye (DM: Halford, Judge: garyh)

[KenHood]

Event occurs before going to Arnest...
Palindrome clutches the book to his chest, soaking some measure of comfort from it.

[sblock=To Atriden]Yep. I'm of a mind to go back and count all the 1's that Palindrome has rolled. I've probably got a record of some sort. I don't think I've rolled a 20 in a couple of months...or more![/sblock]

 

[nerdytenor]

Tander has been through so much today, it takes him a few minutes before his mind is fully awake.

"I have had enough of mysteries," he says to no one in particular. He walks straight over to Arnest, and his face grows dark, darker than his allies have seen it. His supressed fury is unsettling to behold. "Tell us what you know, Arnest. Tell us!" He calms himself a bit and continues. "We have no intention of harming you further." He looks at his companions and corrects himself. "Well, at least I don't. Help us understand what is going on here, and we can clean up this mess together."

OOC: Initimidate 14. Diplomacy 14.
Sorry been crazy busy lately. I'm glad to see that hasn't stopped anyone from moving things forward.

 

[Dunamin]

Though he does hear the commotion stirring up nearby, Woe remains gleefully obsessed with his newly upgraded toy. Electric sparks dance off the floor as he swings it about haphazardly, and a faint smell of ozone spreads rapidly throughout the ceremonial chambers.

“Oh yes! Yes you are! The hottest piece in town!”

He goes through a series of training routines, stabbing the air with force and leaving scorch marks at least half a dozen feet away. More than once a careless bolt leaps through the air and strikes the orc’s still warm corpse, making it spasm uncontrollably on the ground.

“Ha! Hahahaaa! Sizzlingly beautiful! None shall withstand the Penetrator!”

Holding the spear all too suggestively half-way between his legs, Woe laughs madly at the top of his lungs. Lightning jolts make his bundles of curly hair stand-up on their own, adding to the number of erect parts on his body.

“I - got - the POWER!”

***

Eventually he settles down… enough to focus on the task of interrogating prisoners, at least. Joining the others, Woe crouches down by Arnest and lends weight to Tander’s words.

“Listen to the man, boyo. Spill it all and there won’t be need for you to play hide-and-seek with your limbs. We’re not here on behalf of the bugbears, we’re here for answers… mostly.”

“Look,” Woe pulls out the bugbear eye he extracted back when they were ambushed. “No love lost. We have a mutual enemy and mutual interest in sorting this mess out.”

Cooperative Diplomacy: 13

 

[Atriden]

Once again he is interrupted and he does not look pleased but then a sudden smile comes forth when he hears the others speaking to Arnest. " Is he awake? Good, for he should listen!"
He moves to stand in front of Arnest and bows over him. With lightning speed, he grabs his collar with one of his hands and pulls him up to his face while pointing his new dagger, with the other hand, at his throat.
" Where I am from, a man caught like you have been now, would likely already be in some unknown damp cellar filled with mad tools, which only purpose was to make you squeal like a pig " he stops to stare coldly into his eyes as he continues " Not even wealth, position or rank could save you from it and every man in your situation would know that there lay endless series of torture before him, resulting in his own wretched death " suddenly Atreus drops him and lets him fall down the floor, slamming his back and head in the ground. " My comrades might stop me from doing all this do you, but they won't have any remorse for letting me use my art against your lady here " and points at the snake lady. " Now, Speak! And answer my companion's questions! Or I will force you to witness when I butcher her with your knife and cut out her heart ! ". With these words he moves next to the snake lady and plays with his dagger while awaiting Arnest's reply.
OOC: 21 in intimidate

 

[KenHood]

Palindrome scowls. "Oh, NOW you decide to interrogate the prisoner."

He stands and fires a magic missile from his left hand, blowing apart one of Snake Lady's feet. "Whoops. Silly me. Looks like I can't tell what this thing is going to do nowadays." He holds up his left hand, points at it, and shrugs.

"Call me when you realize the pansy, let's-all-hug techniques won't work."

He goes over to the dead orc, searches his remains and adds an eyeball to his collection.

"'Squeal like a pig'," he mutters in a snide tone, "How about you make him scream like a man, whose only hope is death..."

Then, he walks out into the sewers, exploring how far it goes and if there's anything of importance at its end.

"Or are you going to keep me from doing that, too?" he asks his left hand.

[sblock=Natural 1's]By my count, I've got 14 of them. About 1/4 of all my rolls.[/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

He crawls over to Arnest and sticks his finger in the wizard's ear, increasing the temperature to painful levels. As Arnest comes to awareness, Palindrome leans in and whispers, "Looks like my 'friends' are busy elsewhere and can't keep a 'watch' on me at the moment. I bet that I can stick my finger in your little girlfriend's ear and pop a magic missile into her brain before they even notice that I'm over here. I'd prefer to skin her alive, so you can listen to her screams, but I just don't have that much time available. You could always distract me with conversation, if you wish. But I must say that you must speak very interesting things indeed to divert my attention from your true love's murder."

Arnest jerks and squirms against his bonds. "Ow! That hurts! I'll..."

Tander has been through so much today, it takes him a few minutes before his mind is fully awake.

"I have had enough of mysteries," he says to no one in particular. He walks straight over to Arnest, and his face grows dark, darker than his allies have seen it. His supressed fury is unsettling to behold. "Tell us what you know, Arnest. Tell us!" He calms himself a bit and continues. "We have no intention of harming you further." He looks at his companions and corrects himself. "Well, at least I don't. Help us understand what is going on here, and we can clean up this mess together."

"Okay, I'll..."

“Listen to the man, boyo. Spill it all and there won’t be need for you to play hide-and-seek with your limbs."

"I'm trying, tell them to..."

"We’re not here on behalf of the bugbears, we’re here for answers… mostly.”

“Look,” Woe pulls out the bugbear eye he extracted back when they were ambushed. “No love lost. We have a mutual enemy and mutual interest in sorting this mess out.”

"Ugh, that's disgusting! What kind of freaks are..."

He moves to stand in front of Arnest and bows over him. With lightning speed, he grabs his collar with one of his hands and pulls him up to his face while pointing his new dagger, with the other hand, at his throat.
" Where I am from, a man caught like you have been now, would likely already be in some unknown damp cellar filled with mad tools, which only purpose was to make you squeal like a pig " he stops to stare coldly into his eyes as he continues " Not even wealth, position or rank could save you from it and every man in your situation would know that there lay endless series of torture before him, resulting in his own wretched death "

"I'm trying to talk, if you would just shut up..."

suddenly Atreus drops him and lets him fall down the floor, slamming his back and head in the ground.

"Ouch! Oh, that smarts!"

" My comrades might stop me from doing all this do you, but they won't have any remorse for letting me use my art against your lady here " and points at the snake lady. " Now, Speak! And answer my companion's questions! Or I will force you to witness when I butcher her with your knife and cut out her heart ! ". With these words he moves next to the snake lady and plays with his dagger while awaiting Arnest's reply.

"I believe you! Don't hurt her! By the gods, you people are insane! I'll tell you whatever I..."

Palindrome scowls. "Oh, NOW you decide to interrogate the prisoner."

He stands and fires a magic missile from his left hand, blowing apart one of Snake Lady's feet. "Whoops. Silly me. Looks like I can't tell what this thing is going to do nowadays." He holds up his left hand, points at it, and shrugs.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! You bastards! You're sick! Sick! Tsasha!" Arnest thrashes wildly, trying to get to the snake woman's side, heedless of his captors. He shouts curses, spittle and tears flying as he tries without success to escape his bonds.

Meanwhile, Tsasha's foot is a smoking, bleeding ruin. Her breathing becomes shallow and labored, though she does not regain consciousness. She will not last long without assistance.

[sblock=Whoa!]Man, I go quiet for a couple of days and things go nuts. I can't take you guys anywhere, can I? [/sblock]

 

[Atriden]

Atreus is for a moment startled by Palindromes actions but quickly regains his indifferent attitude " That was... unnecessary ". He look's at the parties cleric " Luckily we have one among us that can aid her " Atreus points at Tander with his finger " So, you better keep still Arnest, if you want her to live! " he orders darkly and stands ready to aid Tander in anyway he can.

[sblock=OOC]
Now, that took me by surprise... and welcome back from the weekend Covaithe

I can't believe I am saying this, but lets save the snake lady. I am afraid that we won't get anything out of arnest if she doesn't live.

I rolled a bunch of aid another checks to help Tander with heal checks
Aid Another Check 1: Fails
Aid Another Check 2: Succes
Aid Another Check 3: Succes
[/sblock]

 

[KenHood]

[sblock=Oh, oh, my aching sides...]I'm weeping from laughing so hard. Good post Covaithe![/sblock]

" That was... unnecessary ".

"Possessed hand," explains Palindrome in an even tone, as he leaves the room, "Beyond my control. Blame Doddoddod."

 

[nerdytenor]

Tander's eyes swirl with darkness, fueled by fury at Palindrome's reckless actions. He begins to raise his arms in anger at the departing wizard, before catching himself. Fool! he thinks. Can no one control him?

Tander, still quite weak himself, moves to fix what he can after Palindrome's latest outburst. Turning to Atreus, he says quietly "What hope do we have if we can't control ourselves?"

OOC: Bring on the chaos! Heal check on Lady Snake 15 not including aid

 

[KenHood]

[sblock=Out of Character]Hey, Palindrome just got Tander angry! Isn't that worth like a bajillion experience points? [/sblock]