You awake to find yourselves each lying on a stone platform or appropriate size to your form. You are all on nearby platforms within what appears to be a long hallway filled with thousands of platforms of various sizes, from barely large enough to be called platforms to large enough to seemingly hold the largest of dragons. The hallway extends unbroken as far as you can see in both directions, still filled with untold numbers of platforms.
The light is dim, and the ceiling disappears into shadow far above you. There is enough light, however, to see that the entire hallway seems to be constructed of cyclopean blocks of stone nearly too weathered to tell if they are blocks or if the hallway has just grown up in this location over ages. The walls seem rougher than the floor. The entire vast space is unnaturally silent, seeming to deaden even the sounds that you make.
Wazoo opened his eyes again. Fire was pretty, but it hurt as well when it hit him. Maybe next time should not come so close. Or let fire get to him. But here, no fire. So it's safe. Wazoo lucky he not be dead! Or is he? No, Wazoo must think! Crossbow... Check! Armour... Check! Money... No. Cursed book... No. Good, no need for bad mojo now. Now, dead or alive? He squeezed his arm.
AW!
This is real. So alive. But was lots of fire... Dead and back to life or still alive? He went with his hands over his large head. Hm. No soft skin as before. Dry. As if burned meat... Ah, Wazoo was ugly already, no difference. So, probably dead. But why weapons and why the wizard ring? And what is the place? Wazoo has idea! Sing a song and concentrate!
Goblins Chew eta goblins ziztadak
Goblins moztu eta goblins borroka
STAB txakurra eta zaldia moztu,
Goblins jan eta indarrez hartu!
Goblins lasterketa eta goblins salto egin
Goblins barra eta goblins erliebe
Burn larruazala eta Mash burua,
Goblins eta hemen duzu hildako izan!
Chase haurra, catch pup.
Bonk burua itxi arte.
Bones izan pitzatu, haragi gisatua,
Goblins izango gara! Janari izango duzu!
Goblins cut and goblins fight
Stab the dog and cut the horse,
Goblins eat and take by force!
Goblins race and goblins jump
Goblins slash and goblins bump
Burn the skin and mash the head,
Goblins here and you be dead!
Chase the baby, catch the pup.
Bonk the head to shut it up.
Bones be cracked, flesh be stewed,
We be goblins! You be food!
While singing, Wazoo thinks about where he could have end up (planes, religion) and if any magic is at hand (arcana).
Traveler awoke with a start. He opened his eyes, but instead of the vastness of the Astral Plane, a normal world, or even the Chamber of Second Chances in the Elan enclave, Traveler was in a new place. A stone arch became a ceiling high above him in the dim light. Traveler felt he was resting on a stone platform or bench.
The red-headed, human-appearing person sat up, noticing both his Headband of Vast Intelligence on his forehead, and the blue-white crystal the size of a child's fist in a golden necklace around his neck. "Well, Direction, where are we now?" Traveler asked his psicrystal. Location unknown. Time unknown. This is not a place we have been before. came the answer in Traveler's mind. Runner's right hand brushed something, and a familiar cacophony filled his mind . Traveler looked down, and saw what looked like a jagged piece of red-brown crystal with a exquisitely decorated wrapped-gold hilt and pommel lying next to him on the stone. "At least you're here too." he told Chaos Bringer as the weapon's music blared in his head. "Some help you were. You didn't even scratch those astradaemons." the redhead accused the sword as he gripped it. Wait. His charges. Traveler had died, releasing the hand of the other psion in his Astral Caravan chain, dropping the people into a random demiplane so that the astradaemons who were fighting them could not kill them nor follow them. Traveler had been by himself, fighting the horrific creatures in the hope that he could keep them from following the others. His last memory was feeling the astradaemon rip into his chest and touch his soul with the same vicious contact...
Traveler looked around him, and he was surprised to see other stone platforms similar to the one he had awakened upon. To his left and right, stone blocks of various sizes extended beyond his sight. Those nearest him, however, held what appeared to be live beings. Traveler saw what looked like a goblin on one side and a human...no, a human with thornish protrusions growing from its forehead. A half-breed, then.
The goblin on the platform began screaming in a high-pitched keeling.
"So... this is the afterlife." Jerrie finds himself thinking. "Not what I expected. Pretty bland.
When the goblin starts screaming however, Jerrie bolts upright and pulls his hunting dagger from his belt, fearing one of the things that killed him was coming for more. Strangely enough though, it was a singing goblin that looked like it had been burned horrifically. Dead though he may be, he was not about to let his guard down around a goblin.
Your clothes and equipment that you have are the same as you remember, but upon further inspection, you can see that they do not bear the signs of wear and tear that you seem to remember your possessions having, instead appearing brand new for the most part.
If this is not the first time, it comes to pass as no other time has. What time is it, I wonder.
With a stiffness he cannot recall having before, Byarsh levers himself and rearranges the amulet that has grown quite cold in this environment. He double-checks his pulse and looks for signs of warmth.
Circulation only recently started... or restarted?
Sparing a wince for the strange singing, he investigates his surroundings with only a glance at others rousing from their stone slabs.
Good to see you again.
Byarsh begins reading names as best he can, focusing first on golden names before moving on to silver.
Akasha felt a pull, more solid than before, more insistent. She felt as if she were being condensed, focused into one spot, the scattered fragments of her broken soul drawn to each other, drawn to be collected in....a vessel.....her body.
Eyes that had almost forgotten how to see opened, skin that had forgotten touch pebbled at the cold stone slab beneath her body. If I can feel this then I'm....alive?
A moment of terror struck through her, her mind reaching out desperately searching for the familiar contact that had become a part of her very being.
I AM HERE SISTER..... The voice rang strong in her mind, full of the familiar primal energy she knew so well.
Her ears could hear the chirping trill as Hrrsskk shifted next to her, body rising from the stone platform along with her own.
Sitting up she looked into her familiar's eyes, .......brother, companion, teacher, Hrrsskk was all of these, and knowing he had follower to whatever afterlife she ended up in made all the difference.
A loud disjointed chanting broke the gaze, bringing her to a reality of a massive chamber fillid with slabs like the one she was on. On those nearby others seemed to be stirring all in response to the odd little creature singing at the top of its lungs.
Instinctively she reached for a weapon, glad to discover that both her sword and her athame were with her along with her armor. The air around her responded with a whirl of motion, barely perceptable entities creating a flurry of supernatural movement, that made drawing the weapon take longer than it should.
Spirits. And not happy ones.
Traveler put his hands over his ears as best he could, with one hand still holding his longsword. "Shut up!" he yelled at the annoyance on the stone platform. When the caterwauling continued, he tried his other languages. "Halt die Klappe!" he tried in Dwarven. No response. "σκάσε!" in Elven next, then "Håll käft!" in Celestial. Still the little green creature kept screeching. "Заткнись! ಅಪ್ ಶಟ್!" Traveler tried in Abyssal as well as an Elemental tongue, Terran.
The redhead turned away and began looking at the walls, the other...people beginning to stir on the platforms. You try. Traveler told Direction. Not feasible. If the goblin does not understand Common, nor any of your other languages, then I will not be able to telepathically communicate with it either. I suggest using your translation power. "Not yet." Traveler mumbled. The half-breed next to him was already off of his stone platform, looking at the names on the walls around them. Others were starting to stir, one man down the line giving them all a wary look, holding his dagger ready. Watch that one for me. the Elan told his psicrystal, getting an affirmative in response.
Dropping his hand with Chaos Bringer to his side, to appear less threatening, Traveler said loudly in accent-less Planar Common "Is anyone a mage? With Silence? To stop this goblin from...whatever it is doing?"
The redhead with the silver headband turned back to the creature on the stone slab, and concentrated, manifesting his translation power "Itzali gora!" he yelled over the goblin's screeching.
Hegar woke up. All he did for a few seconds was just sit there and look up at the ceiling. Then he remembered what had just happened to him and he jumped up. He checked himself looking for where the sword had entered his body and found that nothing was wrong. I thought that I was dead, but I don't feel dead. Maybe that was just a dream. Hegar thought to himself.
Then Hegar heard the terrible singing coming from nearby. looking over to where the song is coming from he sees a small creature. "Shut up you pest" Hegar yells at the goblin.
Singing puts mood up. And clearly moods of creatures around him as well, all woke up! He sang even louder, but some human disagrees. He shouts in strange languages. Unknown languages, but human uses several. Smart human! Now he uses Planar Common. Human wants to silence Wazoo? Good, see what happens, Wazoo continues!
Wazoo went on for a while, but as the Human suddenly spoke Goblin, he ceased. He looked carefully upon the human, and put up a smile again. Still rhyming and sometimes even singing, he answered the human.
Giza song beldur?
Giza nahi djembe ordez?
Wazoo batera jokatuko du!
Zoriontsu ez hildako lur!
Tranquilo areto me sad
Baina Lurrazpiko mundua ez da hemen edo han
Horrela bizi izan dut hildako I
Musika egiten dut, ez dut zaindu!
Human wants djembe instead?
Wazoo wants to play along!
Happy not in land of dead!
Quiet halls make me sad
But Underworld not here or there
So be I living be I dead
I make music, I don't care!
Xor'zel's eyes would snap open as the commotion brought him to. Deftly he would roll off his pillar to land crouched upon the floor opposite the side of the others, while his hand went instinctively for his blade's hilt.
Is the house under attack? He would think to himself, misinterpreting the situation he was in.
However, as his hand closed upon the leather wrapped handle, the memories of his death would awaken in his mind. As quickly as he had grabbed the blade, he would release it in revulsion as his eyes shot to the wound that should lie in his abdomen.
What is this trickery? What has Azrael done to me? Where am I?
Silently he would take in his surroundings as these questions and many others crossed through his mind.
Unfortunately many of them would remain unanswered, including where he might be.
Your commotion upon waking almost seems to defile the silence of this place as the goblin continues with his improvisational poetry.
It seemed that everyone was reacting to the chanting of the little creature, some with more annoyance than others. What was even odder was that the red headed man shouting in what must be multiple languages, none of which were familiar except for his last words.
She mulled the words over, odd in their structure, new and yet she understood them. What was more was that if she thought about it, she could convert the words of her thoughts into the language.
"I believe the creature is...singing." she said slowly, gaining a grasp for the form of the words.
She stood up completely, taking a few steps forward, Hrrsskk hopping down from the slab to stand at her leg, intelligent eyes studying the chanting creature.
Traveler turned away disgustedly. Ignore it for now. he thought to himself. Everyone else on the stone platforms was awake now. The goblin's singing was still distracting him.
The heterogeneous mix of people were alternating between looking at him, the goblin, the walls, and each other. They all appeared dangerous. His power still active, Traveler took the initiative. The hobgoblin yelled at the goblin to shut up as well; Traveler could communicate with him, good. "Can all of you understand me? Does anybody know why we are here?" he asked in Planar Common. The woman mumbled something, her lizard-like pet at her side. "I need you to talk before I can translate your words with my power." Traveler said gently, looking at her. His right hand still held Chaos Bringer pointed at the floor. I need a scabbard and a sword belt. Traveler thought.
"That's singing?" Jerrie asks, apparently shocked. "Now I know I'm dead."
"Yeah, I can understand you." He tells the red-haired human, lowering his hunting knife but not loosening his grip on it's hilt. He wasn't letting his guard down around all this... strange people.
"Yep, I can understand ya. All I know is that I died and this must be some kind of bad after life." Hegar replied back to the human.
Wazoo shakes his big head when the human turns back. He keeps on humming while listening to the conversation but when the hobgoblin speaks, he stops. He jumps off the platform and bows to his audience. Then he looks at the Hobgoblin.
Bad afterlife? Hobgoblin has pain? Hobgoblin sees god of dead? Land of dead is with shadows, grey and black stone. Hobgoblin sees it? Wazoo does not. So Wazoo is happy and Wazoo sings!
Then, he points at the tiefling.
Maybe smart human should try devilspeak. Or demonspeak. Or something that makes fiendman speak so he tells what he be reading.
Hegar just looks at the goblin who completely missed the fact that Heger was insulting him. At least he stop talking, now I can actually focuse. Hegar thinks to himself.
He starts to look around the hallway they had found themselves in. Then talking to the tiefling in infernal.
"היי אתה יכול השמות האלה?"
It seems we all remember....dying. Interesting. It seems my mother's stories of i. gök, mutluluk, gökyüzü, sema, cennet were just stories.
Heaven
As the goblin's singing came to a stop, Xor'zel's attention would turn to the sound of other voices. Some spoke in languages he knew, while others in he did not.
Quietly as he could, Xor'zel would make his way to the end of the platform in an attempt to better hear the words they spoke.
Holding up a hand to acknowledge goblinoids that are jostling for attention, Byarsh concentrates on the golden name.
Wazoo cheers.
Woohoo! Hobgoblin smarter as he looks! He speak devilspeak! Now hobgoblin only needs to think of better insults. Wazoo has for him, will teach him!
Now only need to speak black elf who hides and hear what curses devilman reads on wall. Smart human wants to use powers? Smart human uses them on sound that comes from there. Wazoo goes hiding in case Human has not enough power!
He points at the direction the dragging sound is coming from and then quickly returns to his stone platform to go hiding.
Traveler added the language the woman was speaking to his translation power . "Well," he said to everyone in Planar Common "let's see if we can figure out why we are here. This is not the afterlife - I still feel alive - but we were brought here from some reason." Traveler pointedly ignored the gobin talking behind him. He touched his Headband with his free hand, and looked down at himself. "And where is all of my equipment? I had more than this." Traveler added.
Perception:
Jerrie checks and finds that a lot of his hunting gear is gone too. "That's not good." He thinks, then remembers that he's dead and doesn't need to eat anyway.
*sigh*
"Anyone know what the goblin is talking about? Even if it's crazy this is a place we aren't familiar with."
"Hey, you're right, must of my stuff is gone too. Lucky I still have my gun." Hegar says gripping the handle of his pistol.
Hearing a strange noise in the distance, Hergar then draws his gun. "I think I know what the little pest is taking about. I hear something coming in the distance." Hegar says to the the rest of the group.
Now that Wazoo and Hegar have pointed it out, you can hear a sound approaching from down the length of this vast hall. It sounds like something being dragged along the rough stone floor. Due to the strange acoustics of the room, it is difficult to tell how far away whatever is producing the sound is.
From his stone platform, making himself as small as possible, Wazoo tries to spot whatever is coming.
When he gets a view, he tries to determine what it is and attempts to measure the distance between them.
Black elf still hiding. Or maybe vanished? Must not forget him, no need for stab in back. Stupid human not watching. Maybe creature punishes him? Or black elf? Hobgoblin with him. Strange Hobgoblin, not appreciate warsongs and use gun. And speak devilspeak. Devilman be interested in curses on wall. He know about Wazoo curse? Or he be like Canvarians and say no curse? Human female with lizard interesting. Must try if lizard is nice. Small man is strange. Looks most dead. Most dangerous as well? Questions, questions... Ooh! Creature! Was watching creature! What is creature doing? What is creature anyway?
Hegar tries to see what is approaching.
"Yeah, something's coming, it looks like it's a humanoid"
Perception:
"This place..." Jerrie says as he slides off his platform slowly. "Do you think he or she could be dangerous?"
"The names can be read, but I do not recognize these few. Keep an eye out for whoever is approaching. There is more to read."
Byarsh lowers his hands and begins to rise up higher to read the other gold name he saw.
Out of the gloom emerges the figure of an ancient and wizened man, so old that you cannot tell to which species he belongs. He is wearing layers of tattered robes and coats and is stooped beneath a basket worn as a backpack and nearly as large has he is. He is shuffling along slowly, dragging a walking stick along, which was producing the noise you heard. He does not seem to notice you, which is odd, considering the godawful racket that the goblin was making just minutes ago.
Traveler kept his attention on everyone else. "Let's introduce each other." he said. "Call me 'Traveler'." He saw the half-human start to levitate on his own, still peering intently at the walls. Interesting to know. Direction murmured to his red-headed master. Then Traveler finally turned around and saw the strange old man coming into their midst. "Well, hello, friend." he told the latest stranger. "Are you newly arrived like we are?"
"People who knew me before... before all this" the grave looking halfling says, gesturing to the chamber they are in, "called me Jerrie Yrrum."
"Call me Hegar." Hegar says to the Traveler.
Xor'zel would remain in his position as he took in the array of languages these strangers spoke in. He could make out little. However, as the hobgoblin spoke in infernal, he would turn his eyes towards the walls.
Names? What names?
However, as he turned to take in the writing upon the walls, his eyes would come to rest upon the ancient figure as it came into sight.
"I am Akasha, and this is Hrrsskk," the white haired woman says indicating the lizardlike creature at her side.
She studies the old man warily, sword held firmly in hand, though lowered.
The old man approaches, only seeming to notice you at the last moment. Ah...more visitors. He pipes up querulously. And seven of you today.
When he hears the old man saying "And seven of you today", Wazoo stops hiding. He still remains on his platform tough.
Names? Wazoo knows names. Much songs, much stories, much names. Should he help devilman with curses? Or see what happens next with old man? Old man knows more? He not confused like others. Bah, questions!
Helping devilman may be interesting. Maybe old man knows much too. But smart human already talking, and he be talking much. He be ignoring Wazoo too. Maybe devilman nicer.
Wazoo makes a decision and approaches Byarsh.
Devilman speak Planar, yes? Words on walls be names? Wazoo knows many names from many worlds, he be travelling a lot! If Devilman says names, Wazoo thinks if he knows them.
"I do speak the Planar tongue, and these words are names," Byarsh says while floating and scanning the walls in the vicinity. "I do not recognize them, but I suspect these written in gold are of particular importance. They are like trophies on a wall. Do the names Xor'xel Zer'lam or Caius von Tywyn mean anything to you?"
If there are no others immediately visible he floats back down.
Unable to understand the old man that just arrived, Hegar says to the traveler in goblin, "Hey, agure zer esan?"
Traveler faced the new arrival, and heard the goblin pipe up in Planar Common, surprising him. A planar-traveling gobin? he thought to himself. The half-human, a Tiefling?, talked about the names on all the walls. I would like to know what those are as well. Traveler told Direction.
The one calling himself Hegar asked a question about what the old man had said. "He said we are visitors. Seven of us today." Traveler replied, loud enough for the woman Akasha and the hobgoblin Hegar to hear him. He addressed the old man again, keeping a nonthreatening pose. "Do you know how we got here?" Traveler asked, one arm indicating the stone platforms and walls. "Or where this is?"
Still missing most of what was being said, two words would catch Xor'zel's attention.
How did any of these beings know his name.
With a flourish, Xor'zel would stand up straight and stare the lot down as his hand came to rest, yet again, upon the hilt of his wakizashi.
"איך הגעת על השם הזה?"
The old man seems to have been nodding off since he greeted you, and his head jerks up when Traveler addresses him. I don't know how anyone ever gets here. This is my home, but it is always good to have visitors...even if they are always unannounced.
Wazoo goes trough the collection of songs he has memorised, looking for the names Caius von Tywyn and Xor'xel Zer'lam.
Hmmm. First sounds human. Second elvish. Maybe black elf knows? He be coming! He speaks!
Wazoo looks at Byarsh.
But what he be saying?
I made a history check (result 20) in my last post for the name Caius von Tywyn. Does it have any result?
Akasha's eyes narrow as she realizes that though the red haired man seemed to be speaking Sharrim, the others understood him, yet when she replied, his face was the only one that reflected comprehension.
Come...come...come The old man dodders around and heads off in the direction from which he came, clearly intending for you to follow him.