DMDM's Strange Aeons

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

Kyleen's mouth hangs agape as she sees the young woman nonchalantly slit the creatures throat. While Kyleen may not recall who she is, she still has many memories of reading books and studying many subjects. Thus, as the corpse deflates and deforms into the pale form of a dead doppleganger, she tries to sort through her memories to recall who, or what might be able to perform such an clean kill . . . murder?

Knowledge(local): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14 <-- same roll for arcana, dungeoneering, nature, religion . . . all others are 4 less

Yordan stars in amazement as the prey runs toward the hunter and just ... accepts death without struggling. What madness is this?

Knowledge: dungeoneering 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

'Rocksauce, how did you accomplish that ?'

"It's Offspring Rocksauce. I'm the smart one. I solve problems." She scowls in your general direction, but does not quite meet your eyes. "And these guys are easy. They're not even, like, real doppelgangers."

Yordan stars in amazement as the prey runs toward the hunter and just ... accepts death without struggling. What madness is this?

To be fair, it did look like it was trying to attack her. It just slipped on the water, spoiled its charge, and ended up in front of her with a lost round.

Seems like she did us a fav'r Vitae. Does it really matr how's it dun. I'd seen many a competent blade kill as quickly.

@ the girl, The better question is cun we help you find what you were looking fer in the office? Now we have a third skinwalker were headin back to what is hopefully some safety.

Just making sure you saw my question to the girl.

"Solving problems is fantastic. And despite our companion's statements, I echo the Pale One's question. How did you know that would happen? That seems a rather..simplistic..solution with no actual bearing in magical theory."

Fritz takes a moment and hits the little girl with a detect evil

i know most likely nothing happens, but can't be too safe

Fritz takes a moment and hits the little girl with a detect evil

i know most likely nothing happens, but can't be too safe

Nothing happens.

Ghelik the Sly wrote:

Seems like she did us a fav'r Vitae. Does it really matr how's it dun. I'd seen many a competent blade kill as quickly.

@ the girl, The better question is cun we help you find what you were looking fer in the office? Now we have a third skinwalker were headin back to what is hopefully some safety.

Just making sure you saw my question to the girl.

Did see. Hold that thought...

Yordan continues to watch Rocksauce very carefully. He can't think of anything else to do at the moment.

"That seems a rather..simplistic..solution with no actual bearing in magical theory."

The girl's eyes narrow. She splashes barefoot through the water to stand in front of Mrakala.

"'Magical theory'? What, you're like a... wizard, or something?" Her lip curls in contempt. "You look like a wizard. And you sound like one. 'Simplistic solution'. Yeah." She pulls out one piece of string. "You're so smart, wizard. Can you dance? You know, like... dancing?" She begins to weave the string back and forth between her fingers. In a few moments she's made a complex cat's cradle. She holds it up in front of Mrakala, glaring at him through her curtain of hair. "Or sing? Play an instrument? Juggle? Calligraphy?" She suddenly wiggles her fingers and pulls... and the string collapses into a complex symmetrical knot.

"There. You see? Look at it." She dangles the knotted string in front of Mrakala's face, scowling at him. "You see? Now --" she takes the other piece of string, balls it up into a clump, and throws it at him -- "you do it. Go on. Wizard." Her tone has shifted from mildly irritated to hostile.

-- Uhh... okay, I take the string and try to copy the knot. If you have Escape Artist or Sleight of Hand, this will be a fairly easy check! Otherwise, it's a lot harder: DC 17 INT check to follow what she did, then a DC 22 DEX check to copy it on the first try or two without tangling.

-- No, I take the string but don't try to copy the knot.

-- No, I let the string bounce off my chest and fall into the water.

ruh roh

'Offsping, he meant no offsense, that's just how he talks to all of us, I am guessing he actually rather likes you.'

Diplomacy how about assists my fellow dopes: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

first - Lovely, our Wizard is from a Red State.

second - I'm attempting to clam a walking caricature of every Japanese horror film stereotype. Pansy says what?

Take the string, hand it back to her, and acknowledge her superiority...

Don't listn' to the old man, Rocksauce, he's bout as grumpy as a shark outta wader. Now I love riddles...

He takes out a fate coin weaving it around his fingers before making it disappear...It's over here. and makes it reappear behind Mrakala's ear...trying to distract the girl.

sleight of hand: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

I am learning to play an instrument...

Fritz takes out his viola and tries to play something soothing

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

Arrogant wizard is what the original player mentioned!

”Juggle? Singing? Do I look like a traveling minstrel to you?” Mrakala sneers as the knot bounces off of his chest and falls into the water. As an aside, I would like to note that Jax had a random Craft skill in painting or sketching or something like that.

”You don’t alter the temperature ratio of surrounding materials with dancing. Well…I suppose there are some Bantu tribes that may do something similar. Vrothes’ Theorems on Traditional Garundian Arkana mentions a particular bit of insight about the Nei-uhm tribe where their shamans would tie braided rope around their ere—“ He frowns and shakes his head.

”That’s besides the point. You do not, little bard, undo the shapeshifting nature of an eldritch horror by cutting string! That makes no sense in any of the sixteen Arckanical Laws of Methusula nor the Nine Philosophies of Nex nor any other magical theory.”

Seeing the growing scowls on the little girl and the others. He frowns and sighs. ”Now…you obviously have a rather peculiar penchant for unique capabilities. And regardless of your…string-based theorems..I am interested in the actual mechanisms of success with exposing these creatures.

Mrakala pauses as Ghelik and Fritz attempt to entertain the child. "She's obviously somewhat learned or at the very least incredibly intuitive. There's no need to debase her intellect by entertaining needless foppery."

He turns his attention back to the girl. " How did you come to your solution and what makes it actually function? Is there something about the cutting of cotton string that disrupts the mental state of these creatures?”

DMDM can Vitæ make a Perception check to hear if there are random encounter dice being rolled?

"This /could/ get ugly, get away from the knife-child."

Keeping one eye on the brewing conflict, Nameless crouches to see if any documents or clues of importance are on the corpse of Girl/Thing One. She then stands and approaches the arguing pair.

"No, no, no, foolish woman. AWAY."

Clearing her throat through the tension between Mrakala and Rocksauce, Nameless asks: Offspring Rocksauce - can I ask why the last Rippler you slew - the oracle gestures to the corpse at the doorway to the hall - stood there and let you kill it without resisting? I ... saw ... that happen. Throat cut from ear to ear without it moving a muscle. Does it have to do with your most skillful cradle-dreamcatcher creations?

"She's going to get us all killed. If I had hands to throw into the air in frustration, I would be doing it."

Nameless picks up the string Rocksauce threw at Mrakala, and hands it back to the young girl.

Kyleen watches and listens to the young woman and the old man, finally deciding that stopping the arguing before someone got hurt, or their throat cut.

I can help you look through the papers while the others gather the doppleganger corpses. What were you looking for? Once we have found it, we are going to head back to the people behind the guarded barrier. Would you head back with us? I know that they know you as the guards mentioned your name.

He turns his attention back to the girl. " How did you come to your solution and what makes it actually function? Is there something about the cutting of cotton string that disrupts the mental state of these creatures?”

The girl has stood still through Mrakala's ill-tempered rant. As he speaks, her expression fades from outright hostility to a blank look. When he's done, there's silence for a moment. Then:

"Ohhh... you're not Carl. I thought you were Carl, come back to get his spellbook and stuff! Huh." She shakes her head. "Doesn't make sense. The ghouls got old Carl."

"Anyway..." she turns away from Mrakala, "I learned this when I was, like, five? Doppelgangers, even real ones, can hear your thoughts. But they don't really read minds. Not like a... yeah. They're, like, only so-so." She bends down and pokes the grey corpse with one finger. "So they know what you're thinking... and if they have enough time to hang around with you, they'll soak up some deeper thoughts, under-mind stuff, and maybe some personality, feelings... but they never get to the really deep-down stuff. Like..." she takes the kitchen knife, wipes it on her shirt, and flips it into the air. It spins exactly twice, and she catches it by the handle.

"...muscle memory."

"So if one of them is copying you, you do something that's hard, but that you have practiced so much that you can do it without thinking."

"Like, you dance? Sing a song. Juggle. Write some calligraphy. Or tie a really tricky little knot. And then you look at them and you," she suddenly shouts, startling you, "THINK, really LOUDLY"

"BWAAAAA YOU CAN'T DO THIS BWAAAAA EVERYONE WILL KNOW YOU NOW BWAAAA YOU'RE SO STUPID BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

This last part is at the top of her lungs. The room rings with it. The echoes take a moment to die away.

1d6 ⇒ 2
1d100 ⇒ 5

So instead of being completely unpredictable, be completely predictable. Do what you are good at and they will not be able to keep up. Interesting.

"Now, a real doppelganger will probably just run away. They're mostly, like, scavengers. They might murder you if they get you alone, or something, but they're not stupid. But these guys -- " she pokes the grey corpse with a grubby finger again "these guys are, like I said, crazy and stupid. Well," she pauses for a moment, "most of them, anyway. Doctor O isn't stupid. But anyway," she pokes the corpse again, "the change made most of them super arrogant and super, what's the word," she frowns for a moment,"say thin-skinned. So you bait them and maybe they'll just, like, crack."

"The ghouls got old Carl."

Maybe these were the singing ones the guards mentioned. Also, we have no Elves in the party. Lovely.

Keeping one eye on the brewing conflict, Nameless crouches to see if any documents or clues of importance are on the corpse of Girl/Thing One.

Nope.

Offspring Rocksauce - can I ask why the last Rippler you slew - the oracle gestures to the corpse at the doorway to the hall - stood there and let you kill it without resisting? I ... saw ... that happen. Throat cut from ear to ear without it moving a muscle. Does it have to do with your most skillful cradle-dreamcatcher creations?

Rocksauce shoots you a sidelong, not-quite-eye-contact glance. "I told you, they're easy to bait. And they don't really know what they're doing yet. They got to change shape and hear thoughts and they think that makes them, like, gods or something. Stupid." She shrugs. "I just dared it to read my mind."

Nameless picks up the string Rocksauce threw at Mrakala, and hands it back to the young girl.

"What." Rocksauce shrugs and turns away. "It's just, like, string."

Yordan, still holding his glaive, says "Impressive technique, Rocksauce. So, what are you doing here, and what are you searching for?"

Hearing Rocksause's explanation, Kyleen tries to surf back through her amazingly knowledgable memory to see if she can recall anything of this sort that she might have read somewhere.

Knowledge(dungeoneering): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

@ the girl, The better question is cun we help you find what you were looking fer in the office? Now we have a third skinwalker were headin back to what is hopefully some safety.

"That wasn't me in the office. Though I did go in there before. It's just files and stuff." She pauses for a moment, seeming lost in thought. Then she adds, "If you go in there, don't pick up the mammoth paperweight."

Don't listn' to the old man, Rocksauce, he's bout as grumpy as a shark outta wader. Now I love riddles...

He takes out a fate coin weaving it around his fingers before making it disappear...It's over here. and makes it reappear behind Mrakala's ear...trying to distract the girl.

[dice=sleight of hand]1d20+7

Nice rolling!

Rocksauce gives you one of those sidelong glances but doesn't otherwise respond.

I am learning to play an instrument...

Fritz takes out his viola and tries to play something soothing

1d20+3

Wow, more nice rolling!

Rocksauce gives you one of those sidelong glances but doesn't otherwise respond.

Yordan, still holding his glaive, says "Impressive technique, Rocksauce. So, what are you doing here, and what are you searching for?"

Her lip curls. "Urrrr questions." She twiddles one strand of lank hair with her fingers, staring at a point somewhere over and behind your left shoulder.

"Maybe I was wondering where Dori wandered off to, and if he'd found a way out. Maybe I wanted to see if I could talk to the shifters -- which, yeah, sometimes. Maybe Winter was chafing my ass. Or maybe I just wanted to see where old Carl stashed his wand and his spellbook." She shrugs. "You know I'm crazy, right? And I lie a lot. All the time. So why ask questions?"

Mrakala listens to the explanation and frowns. He almost says something quite rude, but rather instead he just shakes his head and makes several mental notes based on the girl's explanation. There was something there.

"Right. Dori and Carl. Such a shame." Mrakala goes to the open Director's door and takes a peek inside.

Directing his words to the rest of the group, he calls back over one shoulder as he walks over to the door. "From what the girl says and our previous discoveries this place is not only an asylum but was, until recently, an asylum that had actual people in it. I suspect this Doctor O, or someone else, was using the location to experiment on people. Somehow they managed to create dopplegangers...the process of course warped their already warped minds even further. I dread to think that we were not kidnapped but were patients here ourselves."

maybe we should grab the bodies and be bout' our business, I don't want ta find out what the flyin' thing was.

"Right. Dori and Carl. Such a shame." Mrakala goes to the open Director's door and takes a peek inside.

It's quite dark in there. You can see a few feet past the door; there's the edge of a rather nice carpet. You can see a few papers scattered on the floor.

Mrakala listens to the explanation and frowns. He almost says somet"From what the girl says and our previous discoveries this place is not only an asylum but was, until recently, an asylum that had actual people in it. I suspect this Doctor O, or someone else, was using the location to experiment on people. Somehow they managed to create dopplegangers...the process of course warped their already warped minds even further. I dread to think that we were not kidnapped but were patients here ourselves."

Rocksauce makes a sound that's not exactly a snicker. A contemptuous snort, more like.

Yordan's head comes up a bit, and he looks directly at Rocksauce, ignoring the doors for a minute. "Even a false trail says something about the one who made it; even a lie reveals pieces of the truth. I want the people who put us here. I want the people who are torturing us here and trying to EAT OUR FACES! I want them badly." He grimaces in pain, and his hand reaches down to his belt pouch. "So far, you're the only person who's been willing to talk to us at any length. And you hunt successfully. You're worth talking to."

Yordan's head comes up a bit, and he looks directly at Rocksauce, ignoring the doors for a minute. "Even a false trail says something about the one who made it; even a lie reveals pieces of the truth. I want the people who put us here. I want them badly."

Rocksauce seems mildly interested. "Put you in here? Really?" She cocks her head. "So, were you guys like Red Ward or something?"

"Oh, I get it. Your friend's like a crazy old evil wizard? And they put him in Red Ward for like demons or something? And that's why he's chasing after Carl's stuff instead of going back to Winter." Rocksauce frowns, then shrugs. "Well, if he can figure a way to get it out of the mirror, good for him. I couldn't. And I'm the smart one. And even if he does, it's not like old Carl was the Lost Heir of Nex or something. Dude was like, hedge."

"Don't ... remember." Yordan lifts his hand, rubs the side of his head. "But I don't think we volunteered to get our faces eaten or someone go to work on us with pruning shears, so someone must have put us here. Never heard of Red Ward -- "

Or have I? Knowledge (local) (untrained): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

"-- or maybe I don't remember. What is this 'Red Ward'? I'm not a demon-whatever. I hunt things that need hunting." Why am I here?

Looking over his shoulder at Rocksauce, Mrakala raises an eyebrow as he listens. He doesn't bother to respond, frowning again in a way that is quickly becoming familiar to everyone present. With a shake of his head, he looks to the others. "May I have some light, please? I'd like to look around in here."

He pauses for a moment and, if a light is offered, he turns to Rocksauce first. "Where is Carl's magic mirror? I need to know...for demons."

"May I have some light, please? I'd like to look around in here."

Nameless recasts Light on the end of a stick or plank lying about in the detritus of the room, and hands it to Mrakala. You should really learn to summon a light. Maybe Carl could have taught you? Or this Winter? Hopefully you'll find a useful book. The woman then turns to their would-be savior.

"That's going to go over well ..."

She shrugs. "You know I'm crazy, right? And I lie a lot. All the time. So why ask questions?"

Sometimes, it's not only us who asks the questions. Myself - I can't even remember before the quake. And, as for ... 'crazy' ... The oracle non-threateningly steps closer to Rocksauce, glancing around at her companions. Looking back to the girl, leaning in with eyes wide, she whispers to her, as if to confide: Can you hear them, too?

"'Can you hear them, too?' Really?"

"Does anyone here remember the THROAT-CUTTING?"

"If ShE cAn, PeRhApS wE sHoUlD ..."

"Absolutely not. No. /This one/ is who we want. ... Right?"

Intently staring at the girl, and trying in vain to not listen to her arguing 'friends', Nameless bites her lower lip.

Not a music fan then. The long and short of it Ms. Sauce is that we do not remember most of the details of how we got where we are. Perhaps you would be interested in serving as a guide of sorts for us?

Kyleen nods in agreement:
Not only do I not recall what happened before we woke up in the cells down below, where some doppleganger disguised as a doctor was slicing and dicing our companion. Nodding toward Fritz. I cannot even recall who I am. I have no gear that would give me some inkling of who I was before, or what I did. I know what I can do, I recall many facts, and can use some magic, but who or what I was before, of that I have no clue.

"Don't ... remember." Yordan lifts his hand, rubs the side of his head. "But I don't think we volunteered to get our faces eaten or someone go to work on us with pruning shears, so someone must have put us here. Never heard of Red Ward -- "

Or have I? Knowledge (local) (untrained): 1d20+1

Nope.

"-- or maybe I don't remember. What is this 'Red Ward'? I'm not a demon-whatever. I hunt things that need hunting." Why am I here?

"Huh."

Looking over his shoulder at Rocksauce, Mrakala raises an eyebrow as he listens. He doesn't bother to respond, frowning again in a way that is quickly becoming familiar to everyone present. With a shake of his head, he looks to the others. "May I have some light, please? I'd like to look around in here."

The Oracle's light shows what was once a rather nice office... now quite thoroughly destroyed. Two large cabinets have been tipped over and smashed. Papers are strewn everywhere. An oil lamp, knocked to the floor, has made a large stain on the carpet. The large desk is still intact intact, but the chair behind it has been hurled across the room, and the drawers are all pulled out and appear to be empty. The only thing on the desk's surface is a stone paperweight -- a carving of a mammoth, made out of some sort of brown stone.

A light gleams back at you from the far side of the room. It takes you a moment to realize: it's a tall mirror, reflecting your light spell. It has an ornate wooden frame and is free-standing, separate from the wall.

He pauses for a moment and, if a light is offered, he turns to Rocksauce first. "Where is Carl's magic mirror? I need to know...for demons."

Rocksauce cocks her head. "If you look in that mirror over there, what do you see?"