Joe, replused by the creature he now faced, backed toward the door, but tripped over a rotting cow corpse and landed on his back. The creature drew nearer and nearer, as Joe struggled to get back up from the pile of rotting flesh he was engulfed in. He swung wildly with a chunk of leg he picked up from the floor, but it became embedded in the creature, slowly dissapearing beneath its surface, it's many jaws opened forebodingly..
Elianus paused as he saw the houses. He had assumed they were Elderling homes, but on closer inspection, they differed from what little he knew about the creatures. Curious, he stepped closer to the nearest building. Every detail the elf made out served to further convince him that these were not Elderling homes.
"Had others taken up residence here after the Elderlings were gone?"
Elianus looked behind him for a moment, noticing the large pillar in the center of the square. Filing it away under "To Examine Later", he stepped inside the nearest house, much more curious as to who else had been here before him.
Get up, and begin to stroll into the town, labelling the gate on the way past, while strolling through the town looking around casually for somewhere to eat and sleep.
This is the interior of one of the residential homes. It appears that this room never housed furniture, as there is no debris left over like there is in most of the other buildings. Instead the room houses several statues, carved from the black and silver stone. They rest on a thick metal plate in the center of the room. The floor itself is plastered inside the building.
The three statues were once identical, or so it can be presumed. Each one is seated on the balls of it's feet and it's knees. Arms are rested on stone thighs and the heads are bowed. The third statue has half it's head missing. the First is missing both it's arms and a chunk of it's torso. The third is intact. In the center of each one's chest is a small circular indentation. The two that still have heads have very simple features. A single smooth piece that has been pegged on for a jaw and two round holes for eyes.
The statues are humanoid in porportions, but thickly built. Rather than appear crude they seem more primal. Their clean lines are polished to smoothness. Grace of form rather than beauty of details.
Hanging on the back wall is a book, made from metal plates and iron rings. The plates have engraved runes and illustrations similar to the statues, except these creatures are currently engaged in battle.
Other than this the room is bare. There is one door, and one skylight in the ceiling.
As the caravan of adventurers is the only civilized gathering in any direction for many days travel the only place to get food and drink would be here. The servants seem surprised to see a stranger in their camp. They are unaware that the man had been following them.
The Heroes patrolling the camp ignore him, assuming him to be a servant and thus completely unremarkable. (Heroes have an odd tendency to ignore anything that isn't actively trying to kill them or currently holding treasure.)
One of the kitchen staff hands him a bowl of meat stew with lentils. Filling, but bland. Which kind of meat is in the stew is a matter of debate. It once belonged to some creature or another the heroes killed and then brought back to camp, their only instruction was "cook this."
Why they did so is a mystery, the camp has perfectly serviceable supplies of salted pork and fish.
The book wasn't actually important, I just put it there for you to label. By rp more I mean don't just list a bunch of actions. Look at the other posts for an example of what you should be doing.
I know what rp is, but as it would be meta gaming to walk up to the plot characters
"Ummm I don't suppose I could have some of that please ?"
All the mean time labelling people around him, and their possessions
" I am Awfully hungry . . .WOULD YOU HOLD STILL WHILE I FINISH"
Right now I believe all the other plot characters are out and about. Any inconsequential NPCs are open to your control. But what I mean was rather than posting things like
"Get up and begin to stroll into town" you could instead post something more coherent. "Lyitanom rises from his resting place and puts the discarded book into his satchel. He walks past the guard house, labling as he goes, and enters the town."
Try to actually add length to your posts, describe things that you do. Roleplay.
What you're giving me now sounds more like the log of a text adventure.
Erin took a step forward, interested in discovering what sort of hidden secrets that the high priests of this city once held. Erin continued to move forward, taking a few more stepps before...
*Crash!!!*
Erin plummeted through the broken floorboard, he fell for what appeared to be two seconds before he smacked into the ground again. Erin got to his feet, looking around. He saw a metal door to the west. Undoubtadly this door lead him to the sanctuary where he was before. He looked around a little more to discover that he was now in a cript of some sort.
It was a dark cave, and strangely enough... there were lit candles in the walls. odd considering how long it had been since anybody had even been around to keep them lit or replace the candles. Erin could'nt help but grin, he could sence that he had stumbled (Quite literally) apon one of the towns greatest secrets.
His instinct and personall desire took over again. he stepped forward, almost desperate to discover what sort of hidden knowledge this dark and well hidden crypt held.
Okay 'heroes' the next time I post... I'll be turning into your worst nightmare
It took a few seconds for Fiddeus' alcohol-sodden (Some would say "pickled") brain to put two and two together. I have a container... and there is liquid to be contained!
Fiddeus took one of the flasks and placed it under the still's spout, then attempted to operate the still in order to get it to spill its glorious bounty into the flask. Bring on the alcohol!
A strangely unpleasant smell emanated from the still as it began to spark dangerously, shuddering and creaking. Then, all of a sudden, it froze -- and discharged a colourless liquid into the flask. The smell grew in intensity, causing even Fiddeus to want to gag.
What IS this stuff? There's certainly a beer smell *to* it, but the rest smells disgusting!
His lust for alcohol overriding his common sense, Fiddeus took a sip of the mysterious liquid.
As the strange liquid passed his lips he realizes that he may have made a horrible mistake. If he had even a passing knowledge of magic runes he would realize that the ones on the Still translated to enchantments of enchanced fermentation and distillation. The ones on the flask were runes of containment.
Usually this still was used to brew potent alchohol in relatively short amounts of time. But this batch had been left in the still for more than four hundred years. Which would usually mean all he would get was pure alchohol.
The magic of the still continued to try and ferment the beverage even after it reached 200 proof. It was successful.
The liquid now contained in the still is 450 proof, which means it is 225% alchohol. This liquid is so potent it actually extends into the fourth dimension in order to get enough room to store all it's alchoholic kick.
It also has a pleasant taste of Oranges.
Nonetheless, were anyone other than the alchohol deadened Fiddeus to attempt to drink such a beverage would be instant suicide. For Fiddeus it registers as a powerful burning sensation deep in his gullet and a blast of steam out both ears. With a belch a plume of flame pours from his mouth and melts one of the broken stills. Pained by his burned mouth and aching innards he lowers the flask.
You my friend just found Scorch, the most potent alchoholic beverage in the multiverse.
Beneath the Cathedral is an extensive network of tunnels and chambers, used as catacombs and burial places by generations of Elderling Priests. The bones on the crypt shelves are oddly lengthened. Too thin and lanky to have come from a human, the skulls are longer in the back and slope down into a rounded cone. The eyesockets are abnormally large.
This catacomb appears to have been sealed at some point, the stariway leading up has been bricked and mortared over from the outside. There is a tangible crackling of magic in the tomb, sparks dance at the edge of his vision. Erin can feel something pulling him forward into the crypt.
He stumbles through the dark corridor and suddenly emerges into a dead end, a tomb. There is a carved likeness of an Elderling Priest on the sarcophogus. Strangely enough the tomb is chained shut with aged rusty chains.
With no furniture or other domestic objects, the room Elianus now stood in sure didn't look like any home he'd seen before. Still, who was he to judge how the Elderlings, or whoever had made this building, lived? Elianus quickly noticed the statues in the middle of the room and, his interest piqued, walked over to them.
As he moved closer to the statues, his attention was drawn to a book hanging on the nearby wall. Heading to the book instead, he picked it up and examined the cover. On it were figures that much resembled the statues.
"Excellent, perhaps it contains some of the Elderlings' lore!"
Grinning at his discovery, Elianus opened the book and began to read.
Erin's mind tells him that now would be a good time to back away... but his mind is currently locked in a soundproof room in his brain. Erin takes a diffacult step forward, even his legs were telling him to back down, that continuing would be a mistake. But Erin refused to listen, he stepped forward...
Upon opening the metal book Elianus finds that the pages are filled with precise illustrations and measurements of a statue quite similar to the ones in the room. Much of the text seems mathmatical in nature, and is thus completely obtuse.
One strange difference between the stautes in the book and the ones in the room is that all the ones in the book have a spherical object where these other statues have an indentation.
Also in the book the material of which the statues (and most of the city) are composed is called Skill Stone. The very first sentence in the book is
"Do not allow an unfinished Construct to come in contact with any active Skill Stone."
The reason for this is unclear, but the book stresses this at several points. It also describes the spheres in the center of the Construct's chest as "Soulstone." There is no description of how to construct this soulstone. It does however have a layout of the residential district. It lables this house as the Workshop. There are also a group of buildings labled Storage and one labled Empowerment. There are several other buildings also labled Workshop.
The rusted chains snap after a few good tugs and fall away from the sarcophogus. With a grunt of effort Erin pushes aside the cover to expose the interior. Inside are the skeletal remains of an Elderling High Priest. The body has also been chained. Clasped to the skeleton's rib cage is a tome, bound in black leather. Without the shielding influence of the coffin (which now that it is open can be seen to be lined with lead) the book's power beats on the air like a living presensce.
Within the coffin the eyesockets of the skeletal priest suddenly flare with unholy life.
"Dreav!! Ev E luimt suja E fuimt pinh oui du y lehtan, esbandyhahd uha!" The Lich shrieks. "Namayca sa! E lussyht oui!" It attempts to lunge at Erin, but is restrained by it's chains. "Dra puug ec seha! Oui lyhhud ryja ed!"
The sturdy metal blade smashes the Lich's skull easily. Being locked in a box for several centuries had made him quite brittle. The Lich gives one final shriek before it's eyelights go out and it's body crumbles into dust. The book slips free of it's grasp and lies in the sarcophogus. Ready for the taking of anyone brave enough to reach out and grasp it.
I'm not really sure what you're going to do now. Have anything in mind or are you just returning to camp? I'll probably throw a general event at you all in a few more posts.
Erin sood there, looking at the book. His mind was having a horrible and grusome battle with everything else that made up Erin Dormav. His heart, spirit, gut, even personal instinct... all fighting his mind in hopes of preventing the next action from taking place. as though some unknown part of Erin was telling him that having anything to do with that book was a horrible... horrible Idea. The battle inside of Erin was long and brutal, but eventually...
His mind won
He reached down and collected the book, he could feel everything in him that didd'nt want to involve itself with the book submit. Erin could feel that the book was at home in his hand. Now that the battle was over, he had but one thing left to do. Before everything that he could have ever hoped for, mabye even more, to come into reality
Erin opened the book
He began to read, some unknown language of mystic runes and cymbols covered the aged, yet suprisingly well preserved, tome. It was almost some sick joke to Erin, who could'nt read this odd and unknown language. He rose to his feet infuriated... yet something about the book prevented his eyes from averting... as though they saw something in those undecipherable scribbles that the rest of Erin didd'nt. He continued to flick through the pages, and then it hit him.
Knowledge
Knowledge of every living thing in this world. Knowledge of deminsions beyond his own. Knowledge of forbidden power, and demons, and dark rituals performed by the accult. Every question that Erin had ever asked in his entire life was now answered. and there was even more. More information then Erin could even fathom hit his mind with such force and fury that it would have sent any sane human completely mad.
But Erin was no regular human
Where any normal human would be sent insane by this amout of knowledge, Erin welcomed it. Where any normal human would think that their mind had literally exploded from knowledge, Erin thought of it as sacred enlightenment. He took a few seconds to sort out this new infromation. And he was done, his mind made up
"the world outside is braindead... braindead and sick, and I-"
he turns around, with the power of his mind he rose his hand, palm out, and a red beam roared out and crashed into the wall, he then used the power of his mind to fix the damage before the crypt came down
"I have the power to cure it!!!"
prepare you fools! I shall make you suffer for having the inconvienance of being on the same caravan as me, prepare to endure the power of my wrath!!!
Now that Erin has acheived Plot Villain Status I won't be leading him around by the nose anymore. I'll probably throw a Lietenant your way sooner or later.
Having seared his body and melted some of his surroundings, Fiddeus could only stare in wonder at the magic still. This... this truly is -- or *can be* -- the Best Pint! Thoughts of keeping this incredible brew for himself soon gave way to mischievous thoughts of just what would happen were certain deserving members of the Heroes and Guards to drink some of this.
All I have to do is tell them it's an orange-flavoured health potion!
Pouring as much of the liquid as he could into the available flasks, Fiddeus made a mental note to take both the flasks and the still with him when he leaves. He walked towards the door that might have said "Manager" on it, a flask of Scorch in his hand in case he wanted a drink while he was busy searching.
"Now... What to call it? 'Surge' sounds good enough, and would certainly convince at least some of the Heroes that it's good for them..."
Disappointed that he could gather no useful information from the book, Elianus snapped it shut. Sticking it in his pack with the rest of his books, he took one last look at the statues and left the building.
Outside, Elianus headed for a building on the other side of the district, which he remembered had been labeled "Empowerment" in the book. He had no idea what was being "Empowered" there, but he intended to find out. He quickly made his way to the door and stepped inside.
Out little "adventures" seem kind of unimportant now that we have a new Lich walking around...
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