"If I die doing this, my ghost shall both be vengeful and in full possession of my spellcasting abilities," Natasha growls.
Very deliberately, she sets her foot on the tile marked with the sign of Water.
Razan curious moves over and tries the earth tile, fondly imagining turning into some sort of lava elemental.
Razan is rebuffed from his attempt to stand on the tile. It repels him in his current form.
Natasha's form seems so shimmer, and quake, and rapidly looses all cohesion. The woman collapses into a clear blue pool of water.
For the near future, you will function as a Large Water Elemental save for you still are technically medium sized.
as far as RP goes, it may take her a moment to acquaint herself with her new form. So on your next post, you can move normally.
"Not your thing Khol? I suppose I could see what happens to Salt? No, better if it is me." Zahur steps onto the final tile.
"Aieeeee," Razan says sadly, "hmmm, wonder if I can cast spells like this?"
He attempts to cast his light spell, patting his fiery form in search of his component pouch...
Sand the fox leaps clear of the pool of water and shakes himself furiously, a huff of annoyance leaving his throat.
The pool starts to swirl clumsily, rises up into a temporary waterspout and slumps back. After a brief series of motions that look almost as if the water were boiling, it rises into a feminine shape that closely resembles Natasha, save for the serpentine aspect of her lower half.
Grumbling acquatically, the watery figure flows forward and slaps a hand against the appropriate gemstone.
Khol visibly shuddered as Natasha reconstituted herself, "It took me well over fifty years to learn the ins-and-outs of my current body, I've no interest in a new one."
Zahur moves on to the Earth tile, and instantly freezes in place. Petrification slowly creeps up the man's body, rendering him into a perfect statue.
Which then crumbles away into a pile of jagged stone shards.
Zahur now functions as a Large Earth Elemental save that he only occupies a medium space.
Natasha touches the third jewel and it vanishes.
Razan's spell activates as normal.
Zahur rumbles off the tiles and looks over his new limbs. With thundering steps, he stomps over to the door and presses the final gem.
The door cracks open, revealing a larger square room. Almost twice the size of the current one, this one is dominated by a raised, round dais in the center. Something glitters from the dais, catching the light of the four stone braziers that surround it.
Zahur takes a moment to adjust to his new senses and before entering takes a look into the room, extending both eyesight and a strange new ability to feel motion in the floor to determine if he can perceive anything in the room.
"I can not wait for this stupidity to be over," Natasha rumbles, her voice like the roar of waves crashing upon the shore. "I feel so... loose."
The wizard-shaped elemental (or is that elemental-shaped wizard?) throws up a pseudopod and mutters an arcane phrase.
On the dais a sits a golden lamp.
Strong Conjuration magic emanates from the dais.
From the stone and earthen creature a deep, rumbling voice like the sound of rocks grinding against one another echoes, "There is a lamp on the dais. Another puzzle or a trap?"
"Whatever is up there, it is blazing with the power of Conjuration," Natasha reports.
"Well, unless someone has a better idea, let's see what we've got." In his new form, Zahur begins a lumbering circuit of the room, looking for any other items or doors and finishing near the dais at the center.
Khol gingerly steps into the new room and narrows his eyes at the golden lamp.
"Hmm, I know how this story ends. We are all to be afflicted with ironically twisted fates."
"Not if the first wish is 'grant all following wishes in the exact spirit in which they are intended by the wisher'," Natasha says, liquidly.
Ajkanir whooshes to the center of the room and floats above the dais, speaking to his companions, his voice seeming to be borne around the room on a strong wind that does not belong indoors, "Shall I rub the lamp and see what comes out?"
"Can you even 'rub' anything? You do not have solid hands at the moment," Natasha sloshes. "Khol, you should try. You are the only one who still has their natural form."
A deep thunderous rumble comes from the pile of rocks and earth. "I might be able to use these." he says raising stony fists. "But, I might crush the lamp. I suppose Salt could always use his claws."
"I suppose if I must," Khol said, glancing around at his elemental companions. Gingerly he picks the lamp up and examines it.
"Aiiieeeeeeeeeeeee, wait, there are four braziers and four elements. If we have remained in these forms there must be a point to it, no? I say we try seeing if they correspond to our elements somehow. Can anyone see any markings on them?"
When Khol takes the lamp up, a thick smoke begins to pour forth from the spout.
It settles to the ground, surrounding the dais and obscuring the floor. It spreads out several feet from the center of the room.
A massive, kneeling figure coalesces in the smoke, and stands, taking solid form, and shrinking to a roughly human-size. Its muscular upper body is bare, below the waist it wears loose fitting pants. Totally bald, but with a long goatee, it crosses its arms and grins.
Laughing heartily, it barks a few words in Ancient Osirion:
Ajkanir hears the watery wizard woman speaking to the creature of the lamp, and says in his windy voice, "I feel I can almost understand what you're saying, like it's a language I've known but forgotten. What's he saying, Natasha? And what are you saying to him?"
"Aieeeeeeee, you speak common Master Djinn? I don't have a clue what you are gabbling about.," Razan crackles, his voice sharper and modulating with the flickering of the flames that now make up his form.
"The Djinn expressed pleasure at having company," Natasha replies. "I have asked him the rules of this... encounter, and have made it clear that we do not intend to stay in this place."
The creature looks at Razan, and grins. When Natasha mentions the term 'djinn,' it glares at her. Then says a few words, in imperious sounding common.
"Djinn?" he throws his head back and laughs. "I was a Janni once, before being bound here. Now I know not what I am anymore."
"Aieee, alright so why are you bound here? And to what purpose? Also you got a name? I'm Razan Tresh."
"I intended no insult," Natasha murmurs. "A Janni, you say? Bound here against your will? How vile..."
"And to what purpose?"
As the others question the Janni about why he has been bound into the lamp, Ajkanir pursues Razan's idea, about there being four braziers and four elements. He flies to the nearest brazier and examines it closely, before moving on to the others.
Sometimes a brazier is just a brazier. This would appear to be one of those times, Ajkanir gathers from his investigation.
"The Usij worked foul magics upon me, and bound me here against my will to act as a guardian. It is exhausting, boring, and ever-so predictable, isn't it? And to make it worse they trapped me in a bottle? Fanatics are so predictable."
the genie stretches and groans with relief.
"So what brings you here?" he says with a smile.
Zahur listens to the genie's words and attempts to discern whether he is being truthful.
"An interesting purpose. We are here to undo the foul magics of the Usij. What are you being forced to guard?"
"That, I do not know, my earthen friend. And you haven't answered my question!"
The Janni walks a slow path among the party, examining each of them in turn.
"But I have. We are here to undo the foul magics of the Usij. They intrude upon the outside world."
"Psh. You are certainly here for treasures, wealth and power. Why else would such as you undertake such a thing as this place? I ask you twice in hopes of gaining the truth."
The Janni strides back to the center of the room, and turns back to the party.
"The truth now, children, all of it. I would know your purpose, I would know how it is you've come to open this place, and what you intend to do with what you find."
"Aieeeeee, well basically everything is about sex. So I'd like fame, wealth, and credit with the gods because women love heroes, and if the heavens are anything like they should be angelic women have got to be gorgeous. If I save many lives everyone will love me, which I can translate into certain shapely personages making love to me, preferably many of them at the same time. Then perhaps I will get bored and settle down with one beautiful intelligent well endowed woman and have fifteen sons or so. Of course I will need not to be fire for this."
"Bah!" Natasha sloshes. "My quest is one of knowledge of the past! Also, it did not hurt that the knowledge I seek is in a place where the family's assassins are not. Other than that, I am affronted by the idea of this Usij-spawned plague ravaging innocent people. Their blight shall be undone."
Khol valiantly resisted the urge to try and pummel Razan.
"I would ask my earthen friend to show you his holy symbol, but the magic binding him to this form seemed to have denied him access to it," Khol mused.
"We were in the area trying to investigate reports of plague and possible conspiracy to spread it. During our investigations we came across a nobleman's pig-headed efforts to excavate this structure despite the illness thinning the ranks of his slaves. The entrance opened in response to an infected individual. This, in conjunction with other clues, indicated the parties interesting in killing goat herds with black pustules might be involved. We convinced the nobleman to let us do the initial exploration in the hopes that we may find out what the plague-bringers were so interested in." Khol saw no reason to lie to the Janni and personally had no interest in fighting him.
"My intent is to prevent the sowers of sickness access to whatever this ruin holds and possibly see you freed as well if given the opportunity. We are not common thieves if that is your concern."
Razan grins,
"But if we happen to come across anything that isn't nailed down and nobody is going to miss... I mean even if they are going to miss it they are weird dead plague lovers screw them."
Zahur continues to ignore Razan, "Genie. I was once bound as surely as you to the Usij. Now I serve Gozreh. Now I am an instrument of their doom. Treasures? Wealth? Power? No. The eradication of the cult and everything they stand for. That is what I seek."
The Janni throws his head back and laughs at Razan's forthright answer.
"Oh my, there is little funnier than truths thusly spoken." to the rest he nods, "Your honesty is welcome, and I value the conversation. As you can imagine, it has been a long time since I had anyone to speak to."
A wicked scimitar appears before the Janni and he grasps it.
"It is a shame, though, and know that it is not personal. I am bound by the directives of my binders, and take no pleasure in this..." he stares at the blade, for a moment, and sighs before looking up at the party, smiling as a way of an apparent apology.
"Blast," Khol mutters before charging the Janni, clawed hands ready to rip and tear
"Aieeee, well since there is no rancor could you maybe tell us how to regain our normal forms?" Razan asks, in his crackling flame voice, even as he and Elreem begin to move.
Ajkanir air elemental:
Khol:
Natasha water:
Zahur earth:
Razan fire:
Elreem:
Janni:
http://pyromancers.com/media/view/main.swf?round_id=30622
Elreem hurls himself forward his charge ending in a blur of claws fangs and horns.