"I entered that 'mirror world' thru a mirror I found in the basement of a castle. That mirror world is *really* big, with many 'mirrors' on the inside, all looking out on different parts of the real world."
This woman, Doxie, now has Paradigm’s full attention. ”Other parts of the world, you say? You have piqued my interest, I should like to know all about this giant mirror.” His curiosity in full bloom here, Paradigm nearly forgot why they were here in the first place. ”Tell me, did you happen to find a crown in your journeys?”
"Ummm...there's no treasure or anything that's useful in the mirror world. And I haven't come across a crown in my travels so far. Why do you ask?"
Knowing full well that Dr. Destruction was listening, Paradigm plays it safe. ”Curiosity more than anything. I am looking to gather a set of artifacts for my own collection. The crown is one of them.”
"Mind if I tag along until I can figure out where I am so I know how to get home?"
Paradigm looks at his companions and then tries to remember if Dr. Destruction mentioned anything about stragglers. If his companions seem not to be worried, he will acquiesce. ”We can certainly use more eyes on the matter, plus, I want to pick your brain about what you have seen so far. It would seem to be a beneficial arrangement for all involved.
"No problems here," Biohazard says, casting an eye in the girl's direction. "We need some curves in this sausage-fest!"
What do you do now?
Paradigm raises his brow at Bio’s comment, but only focuses his efforts forward instead of a snarky response. ’We have attempted to catalog and map this level and have yet to come across any other artifacts except that mirror. Perhaps we should seek a different level?” He says this to no one in particular, rather looking for a consensus.
Biohazard shrugs his shoulders, having no better ideas.
"There were a few areas on this level we hadn't explored yet when we encountered the mirror, but either way we are just searching at random. It would be nice if we could question a local."
Doxis says "Did you guys start at ground level? Was there any way to go down? If not, it seems we must go up. How is this floor laid out? Let's go look at anything you haven't checked out yet."
Paradigm shrugs and looks towards the nearest door. ”Other than Doxis and some rather angry statues, we haven’t really met anyone else to ask. Let’s check the doors as we have been. If we want to get done faster, we can split into groups of two.” He then heads towards the door across the hall, refreshing his force field.
Biohazard obediently follows the Professor.
Enkidu is still in his beastman form, shrugs, and takes a path down an unexplored hallway.
"Keep in mind the shortened radio range. Circle back every few minutes."
I'll shorten this up a bit by saying that in the third room you haven't checked yet, you find a flight of stairs leading upwards.
Assuming you go up, as your head reaches the floor level of the room above you, you can see 6 large suits of armor, bigger than any of those before. Just peeking at floor level doesn't seem to get their attention.
What do you do?
"Ya know they're gonna come to life, right?"
"So, we come up with a plan. Ummm...anyone got a plan?"
Professor Paradigm looks at the six statues arranged before them. "Of course they are going to come to life and try to kill us and based on historical encounters, they will be significantly stronger, as they seem to adapt to our abilities. However, there are several unknown factors that could weigh in our favor. For one, we do not know the capabilities of our new companion. Two, we are also all together. Three, they don't know that this whole time, I have been casting a spell."
"Well, I can create illusions, and can use that to make myself harder to see, but it's still pretty easy to spot me. If these statues react to sight, I might be able to fool them, but if they can sense living things, my illusions won't work."
"I can do creatures of all sizes, so I could try to sneak past as a mouse or a fly, but for some reason I doubt they'd fall for something so simple, and at that size, I'm pretty squishable."
"I got nuthin' but these here," Biohazard raises his gloved hands.
Seeing his magery not working, Paradigm shifts gears. ”Hmm.. I wonder, since they haven’t seen us, if we can actually slip past them unnoticed. Maybe if we concentrate on an illusion together, we can get them to go running somewhere else, while these two go and see what’s ahead.” He thumbs towards Bio and Enkidu.
"What kind of illusion do you have in mind?"
Paradigm thinks for a brief moment. "Perhaps something along the lines of another group of intruders running towards them. Something for them to chase while we go on our merry way."
Enkidu shrugs, "The Atlanteans use magic and are quite familiar with it. Their technology is just as advanced as anyone on earth, so they are also familiar with Holographic. Long story short, I'd be surprised if their security systems fell for such a trick, but it probably worth a shot, all the same."
Raising an eyebrow, Paradigm looks at Enkidu. He was smarter than he let on sometimes. For a child. "You are correct, but you must also understand that their magic is not my magic. They may not have defenses against it. I realize it is a risk, but barring any other ideas.." He trails off, looking at Doxis. "Shall we?"
Enkidu stands ready, claws beared, and waits to see how the statues react.
"Why don't you try try your kind of illusions and we see how they react, then I'll try mine and see how they react?"
Paradigm creates an illusion of a person, and has it walk into the room. The statues don't react.
Doxis creates an illusion of a person, and has it walk into the room. The statuses don't react.
"Can any of you make yourselves invisible? Altho, depending on how the statues perceive things, that may not work either..."
Paradigm grimaces. Invisibility, true invisibility, eluded him. This was not something he was willing to admit to himself, let alone to anyone else. "You may be on to something. Let's blind them with static. "
Paradigm starts drawing runes in the air in front of him..
"I can create partial invisibility, maybe between that and what you've done I can sneak in there. Ummm...what exactly am I looking for?"
”We are looking for some regalia of rulership. Specifically a crown or scepter or the like.”
Doxsi concentrates for a moment, then you see her turn slightly transparent. Looking at her as it happens, it doesn't seem like much, but it would probably keep you from seeing her out of the corner of your eye.
She walks up the stairs into the room.
You hear nothing for a couple of minutes, and then she comes back down and returns to normal visibility.
"I found a crown and a scepter, but they were on a large statue of what looks like a king. Given that the armor statues can come to life, I didn't want to touch it for fear that it would come to life too. Any ideas?"
A rare smile appears on his face. "As a matter of fact, I do. I need these two to run interference for the guards and you and I will go and retrieve the objects." He looks at Enkidu and Biohazard. "Think you can play keep away while we get the toys?"
"No problem."
"Huh. Grunt work. Yeah, okay, I kin play tag wit the statues."
"Huh. Grunt work. Yeah, okay, I kin play tag wit tha statues."
”Excellent. See you on the other side.” Paradigm launches himself into the air and flies past the six statues towards where Doxis said the items were. He just needed to get close enough for his Gravity Manipulation to work….
The statues do not move as Paradigm enters the room.
What is everyone else doing?
"Time fer tha cavalry," Biohazard says, moving out and towards the statues.
The statues start to stir, but do not walk yet. You could move over and attack one on your next round.
Enkidu?
Enkidu will continue to stand ready. Other than rpreemptively attacking the statues, there is not a lot he can do.
Round 1
Biohazard - 10S
Enkidu - 7H
Statues - 6C
Doxis - 5S
Paradim - 5C
Biohazard and Enkidu are up!
Biohazard lumbers up to the nearest statue, removes his gloves, and takes hold of it, attempting to disintegrate as much of the statue as he can.
Biohazard - is there a roll involved?