"Before we open it up, a little cautionary magic..." Altai taps everybody with two wands, before applying a third to himself. "Now, let's kick in that door."
Beldan pushes the door open and stands aside.
There's a large room; with a high, domed ceiling
(note: I gotta do a bit of building yet; maybe be ready in a couple days....it was a gnarly weekend).
You guys are entering from the south, and in the middle of the room is a crew of efreeti. They are in chains, chained to an anvil, and surround another efreeti, huge instead of large; he has one eye and is hammering......on a massive (huge sized) hammer.
Behind him, there's a gnarly looking....huge.....frost giant(?) on a throne. His jaundiced eyes stare hard at the hammer hammering efreeti.....
Near him, there's a dwarf, modsognir...and near him is the female efreeti whom this little side jaunt is all about.
"aah!" says the Linkboy; "so you've made it. How goes it for you gentlemen then?....."
Beldan shrugs. "S'lright. Nice place you have here. So, what's the deal with the fire genies?"
"They serve me. They building me the Stormbreaker. For Jyangral, son of Kostchiechie.......and with it, he will break THOR!!!"
the ugly bald yelloweyed frost giant in the throne smirks a bit....one lower canine protruding from twixt his lips.
"Oh, okay ..." Beldan eyes the big ugly frost giant looking creature warily. "Well, I see you've got these guys working the forge and all that ... you don't really need the princess though do you? I mean, she's a little tall for you, all I'm saying ... give her over to us and we'll be out of your hair. What do you say?"
"She's too tall for you too." His little beetly brows twitch up and down at his cleverness.....
"Yes, but less so. Who's the smith, by the way?"
"Oh Ah dunno. Ah lahkes a guud clahmb." Elgan murmurs with a straight face.
He looks with interest at the work the chained Efriit are doing, but takes a serious look at the unchained ones in the room. They are the ones more likely to give the group trouble.
He gives a little half-bow to the lady in question.
"Yes, but less so. Who's the smith, by the way?"
Nothing invisible.....
"He is Abazzan Ibn Bazzid. A great smith among the efreeti. His blows focus the wishmagic into the artifact-in-creating."
"Oh Ah dunno. Ah lahkes a guud clahmb." Elgan murmurs with a straight face.
He looks with interest at the work the chained Efriit are doing, but takes a serious look at the unchained ones in the room. They are the ones more likely to give the group trouble.He gives a little half-bow to the lady in question.
She is, like fire, beautiful and frightening......and she seems in general to be perturbed to the point of a seething boil.
"She's too tall for you too." His little beetly brows twitch up and down at his cleverness.....
“Oh, she’s hot, but she’s way out of my league. Maybe she’d warm to me if she knew me, but I wouldn’t things to heat up too much – I’ve been burnt before.” Now who’s clever biatch.
Elgancan't help it. He snorts at Beldan's comment.
But any semi-clever quip he may have wanted to add (and you KNOW he did!) Dies on his lips at seeing the look on the Lady's fiery face.
"Ah, 'eh'cuze me dere miss. But ahm ah raight in perzumin' dat yew ah being held agin' yer wishes? Cuz if sew, wahl, ah cants stands dem whut don' know how ter treat a laydee."
Pip takes in the bizarre scene. He starts a ringing northern-style skalding, accompanied by Lucille and his singing sword Mezzaluna.
Perform (for bluff/ and or diplomacy):
"Fair is the hope of war
And seeing thy enemies fall
But foul is the deeds of those
Who trade honor for power
Wyrd cannot be cheated
Through kobold craft
Or witchmen's magik
For the Norns have beckoned thee
And we are their instrument."
Pip noodles off into some guitar riffs
Still snickering from Beldans jibes, Altai addresses the smith. "How much is he paying you, master smith?", he hisses in Ignan. "We are here on behalf on the Vizier himself. Surely the stunted one's gold pales in value next to the gratitude of the master of the City of Brass?"
"She's too tall for you too." His little beetly brows twitch up and down at his cleverness.....“Oh, she’s hot, but she’s way out of my league. Maybe she’d warm to me if she knew me, but I wouldn’t things to heat up too much – I’ve been burnt before.” Now who’s clever biatch.
He rofl's on that point......a little more than is warranted; hell, a lot more.....but you can tell he's actually pleased and not poking fun.....
"Oh, touche! Touche!!!"She continues to seethe. If it is at you......or at the Linkboy,.....or hell at the dungeonmaster of reality for placing her in this situation,....you can't tell exactly.
Elgancan't help it. He snorts at Beldan's comment.
But any semi-clever quip he may have wanted to add (and you KNOW he did!) Dies on his lips at seeing the look on the Lady's fiery face.
"Ah, 'eh'cuze me dere miss. But ahm ah raight in perzumin' dat yew ah being held agin' yer wishes? Cuz if sew, wahl, ah cants stands dem whut don' know how ter treat a laydee."
She replies snippily.
"we all are here against our wishes. Only the Linkboy knows the way out," and then she stares daggers at the sooty dwarven wizard.
Still snickering from Beldans jibes, Altai addresses the smith. "How much is he paying you, master smith?", he hisses in Ignan. "We are here on behalf on the Vizier himself. Surely the stunted one's gold pales in value next to the gratitude of the master of the City of Brass?"
The hammerer stops for a brief moment. Eyes like molten steel gaze uponst Altai; the mage has to remember how utterly badass a caster he is to, like, not feel like a little bug.
Then the smith continues his work.Linkboy:
"Heh. He won't give up his task. See, he's NEVER had the chance to make something as bodacious as yon STORMBREAKER.
The efreeti don't pool their wishes as readily as what we have available here in Kakishon.
They're too political in their ways.
I've given this great smith the opportunity of a lifetime.
To build the hammer that will be fated to break Mjolnir......Hammer of Thor....."
Beldan looks at the efreeti princess. “My apologies your highnessness, I’m just naturally impertinent, I don’t mean to offend your goo – um, fine self.” He turns back to the dwarf. “Well, you heard the lady, she’s here against her will – if you hand her over and tell us the way out, you’ll save everyone a lot of unpleasantness. If these other guys want to stay here with you to make some weapon that’s their call. But let the princess go.”
"I'll be making any and all demands thankyou," he says cheerfully.
"See, here's the thing, man. If we fight, and you kill me, you'll still be trapped here forever."
he looks around at the efreeti;
"so will they,"
and then at the frost giant,
"and,.....so will he.
And so will so many damn things I've summoned here over the years,.....it's not even funny.
I hold all the cards."
Beldan shrugs. “So start making demands for us to consider, player. We’ll weigh them up against the fact that we’ve got some pretty smart magic using folk with us, who can no doubt figure out a way out of here if you could. Now, the rest of us aren’t that good when it comes to magic, but we are good at killing bad guys. Like, really good. Now, I’m not making any threats or anything, but I’m just saying ... your tall friends here might well be able to defeat us, but I guarantee that we could kill you first. It’s not a threat man, I’m just saying like it is. So if the big guy on the throne and your master smith here want to be sure of being able to get home, they’d do better to convince you to let us and the princess go, rather than gamble that they could kill all of us before one of us killed you. Make sense?”
"Yeah, but think about it.
Unless you're crazy, all of these demons, and devils, and demodands, and daemons, and all this stuff I've summoned? They'll blame you for damning them here for all eternity.
And hell, I might have a trick or to up my sleeve regarding that Mr. Death Inevitable kid."
"Yew wuud cheet death?!" Elgan blurts out, obviously surprised.
He recovers, a little embarrassed. And continues calmly.
"Dat's jest deh nat'ral ordeh uv t'ings chere. Naw ahm not sayin' dat ah wuuden min' a lil' he'p frum a fren'lee Reincarnation, If'n ah t'ought it wuz too suun. But ah wooden go 'roun' tryin tah cheet it outraght. Dat haz a way uv cuumin' back an bitin yeh in deh kahoonies. Yeh know whut ah'm sayin?"
"If you do, you've got a better ear than me," says Beldan.
"Your planar metaphysics are off, runt. Your devils, demodands and sundry other unpleasant guests can simply just kill each other, and their essences will reform at their home planes. They are only trapped here in their current skins, so to speak. Once you die, there will be pandemonium, quite literally, for a few minutes, after which I will be free to puzzle out the exit."
"hmmmm,....interesting theory, human. Would you be willing to risk being mauled by that mob of sundry bastards, or, eternal entrapment, to find out if it is true?
Or, here's a corollary: they may first take out their frustrations on you, then destroy eachother.
And,......I don't know if you've noticed, but......since the Graz'zt business of late, well......demons and devils have become a bit less interested in destroying eachother........in favor of different targets."
The black square in the middleis an anvil, on which a massive hammer is being hammered.......
The big black square is a massive throne, and the linkboy is on top of the back of it now, 15 feet above the ground.
The chained efreeti are getting out of the way; they slink off to the corners of the room, with no dog in this fight; the hammerer is done working and limbering up his muscles and has a big axe out.
The giant also is pulling a great sword and standing up from his throne.
The group is in or immediately touching the big yellow rectangle below.
The linkboy sighs, and says "I can see these negotiations are going absolutely nowhere......"
call a position, and say, or do, whatever suits you.
Huzzah!!!
Elgan facepalms.
"Negosheeashuns? Aw cum on naw fella! All we'se dun so fur is trade a few fren'ly insults. Yew ain' gonna giv up on tawkin' dis ees'ly air yuh?" He asks wiht a friendly elvish grin. His grin droops decidedly at teh sight of the massive muscles limbering up for action. He looks at Altai.
"Why do dey alluss' have teh dew it deh hard way?" He sighs.
"So then you admit the....futility of your situation, and accept that the.....better man has won?"
he looks perplexed and slightly peeved.
"Of course not. I'm just debating whether to transform you into a newt or a gerbil. Maybe we'll just rub you out and then reincarnate you as a hedgehog instead. You can live in my back yard, where I'll give you saucers of milk and the occasional earthworm."
Having sneakily set up his singing sword before hand, Pip lets Mezzaluna go and casts Haste on the group. He then begins his Inspiring song
"Black clouds on the horizon
Great thunder and burning rain
His chariot pounding, I heard the heavens scream his name
I watched as he shouted
To the giants who died that day
He held up his hammer high and called to Odin for a sign
Thor the mighty, Thor the brave
Crush the infidels in your way
By your hammer let none be saved
Live to die on the final day
Gods, monsters and men
We'll die together in the end."
"Of course not. I'm just debating whether to transform you into a newt or a gerbil. Maybe we'll just rub you out and then reincarnate you as a hedgehog instead. You can live in my back yard, where I'll give you saucers of milk and the occasional earthworm."
"Brave words, humon. I will enjoy besting you, then placing a sack of well-shaken ice weasels over your head. They will enjoy your saucy tongue....." and he makes the Hannibal Lecter slurping liver sound....
Having sneakily set up his singing sword before hand, Pip lets Mezzaluna go and casts Haste on the group. He then begins his Inspiring song
"Black clouds on the horizon
Great thunder and burning rain
His chariot pounding, I heard the heavens scream his nameI watched as he shouted
To the giants who died that day
He held up his hammer high and called to Odin for a signThor the mighty, Thor the brave
Crush the infidels in your way
By your hammer let none be saved
Live to die on the final day
Gods, monsters and men
We'll die together in the end."
The frost giant taunts; "Do you know Dancing Queen, by Abba?"
The frost giant taunts; "Do you know Dancing Queen, by Abba?"
Pip grins a sly grin.
"I never made the acquaintance of you father, ser."
The frost giant taunts; "Do you know Dancing Queen, by Abba?"
Pip grins a sly grin.
"I never made the acquaintance of you father, ser."
HA!
I bet Kostchiechie's never been called THAT before....He's kinda a dumbass, so he just sits there and seethes.
Right on.
The frost giant taunts; "Do you know Dancing Queen, by Abba?"
Pip grins a sly grin.
"I never made the acquaintance of you father, ser."
Heh heh....
Elgan snorts at Pip's cheekyness. Then grins. He taps his toe in time to Pip's singing.
"Awrigh' Chere'! NOW iza pahtee!"
Yeah; kinda twilighty. Not too dark; not too light.
Huzzah!
Let's kick some taint!
Huzzah!!!