BAAAAAAHHH! says Uni.
Feeling somewhat silly, Ianez gets into the peculiar cart and buckles the belt on the seat (after arranging his various armaments and items).
I wonder if arcane energy has some strange effect on the human mind? It cannot be a coincidence that so many of the more powerful masters of the arcane end up so strange.
Caromarc quickly gets in the cart next to Ianez
"You have impressed me, sir. How did you get so good at puzzles?"
I watch at their antics, puppets serving some puppet master... but it is madness and I can make no sense of it.
La Siréene reclaims the items stolen, and then climbs into the cart, handing Caromarc the Word Bottle and Void Dust before taking a seat and buckling herself in.
"Would you kindly identify the properties of these items, Caromarc?
La Siréene then takes out and considers the Dragonbane Divination Sticks.
As Quinn enters the strange vehicle, she hands him the bundle of eight sticks.
"Place these on your person, darling - I believe they will be of help."
The monk asks a question to Dungeon, "Master Dungeon, have you seen a dwarf come by recently?"
Quinn looks at the sticks."How will these sticks aid me? Remember, any aid that I receive to negate this dark magic" Quinn lifting up the dark bracer. "will rebound to one of you."
The monk takes any seat available.
La Siréene reclaims the items stolen, and then climbs into the cart, handing Caromarc the Word Bottle and Void Dust before taking a seat and buckling herself in.
"Would you kindly identify the properties of these items, Caromarc?
Ianez smiles slightly. "My avocation drove me to learn of such things, or die. It would not, I am certain, surprise you to learn that many tomb builders included puzzles in their defenses against intruders (such as myself, I must admit). I'm sure the thought of a robber dying knowing that they could be free if only they were not so stupid amused the builders to no end."
Blackacre gets onto the ride warily. Very warily.
In response to Quinn's inquiry, the small man shakes his head. "No, I'm sorry I haven't seen a dwarf recently."
This fragile glass flask encloses a single scrap of worn parchment held in place by a taut metal wire threaded through its cork stopper. As a full-round action, a spellcaster can cast a targeted language-dependant spell of 3rd level or lower into the flask as a full round action, which covers the parchment with magical writing and charges the flask with power. The flask cannot be used with spells that have a casting time longer than 1 full round. Any of the spell's variables that are determined by its caster (such as commands given to the spell's target) are decided when the spell is cast into the bottle.
The charged flask can be thrown as a splash weapon with a range increment of 10 feet. The flask shatters and is destroyed upon impact, releasing the stored spell. A creature struck by the flask is subject to the effects of spell contained within, just as if it had been the target of the spell. Creatures within 5 feet of the flask when it breaks hear whispery echoes of the spell's words and are also subject to its effects, though they receive a +5 bonus on their saves to resist the spell. If the spell does not ordinarily allow a save, creatures caught in the splash radius may still make a Will save to negate it (with the +5 bonus).
Everyone seated and buckled in, the cart starts off down the track. Chk...chk...chk...chk...
"The ride has started. Fare thee well, adventurers!" calls the little man. He waves goodbye. BAAAAHH! bleats Uni.
Your cart enters a dark tunnel, lined with animatronic monsters. Within seconds, time and space fold in on themselves, like origami. Everything drains into a single point, in a giant swirl. Then, three-dimensional space snaps back to normal. You're all thrown from the cart and fall through empty space.
You land on a hard surface. It is very dark. It is cold.
A light. The face of the flame oracle. Behind her, in the darkness, the shiny metal man and the octopus. "Good thing Agnes acclimated you to time travel."
"Welcome back, by the way."
You all hear a buzz. Welcome to the third level of the Tower Out of Time. Beware! Beware! You are now time displaced.
The vehicle looks like it could restrain you within the passenger compartment. I don't like this...
I share my thoughts after I'm seated.
Quinn awakens and looks at Pheobe, Elspeth and Man Servant. "Glad you guys can join the party. We had some fun at the carnival."
"Indeed I believe I can. The dust appears to be some form of powdered void, essence of destruction. When sprinkled on an immaterial arcane physical effect - like my wards, or my arrows or..." Caromarc trails off then very carefully hands over the dust "It will destroy them. It is stoppered well, yes?"
As for the bottle, it enables one to store a few words and release them when the bottle is destroyed. It appears potent enough to store quite a powerful word, perhaps as powerful as Segathiel's Suggestion."[/b]
The lantern archons bob behind the Mechanical Manservant, chirping in Celestial. They're still with you, at least for now.
It's very cold, and you realize that the ground under you is actually wet and covered in snowdrifts. You're in a huge indoor cavern. You're on a small ledge. The weight of your newly-arrived party presses it down, and it starts crumbling beneath you. You're able to scatter backwards a few feet...straight into soft, crunchy piles of snow. The ledge tumbles down into an icy ravine. You hear the chunks of rock crash into the ice 50 feet down.
The wind picks up, and you're all hit with whirling blasts of snow. You're in a snowstorm!
Ahead of you, is a narrow ledge covered in snow, five feet across. To your left, there is snow. To your right, it drops into the chasm, but beyond a short jump there is more snow.
The Olivia's Heart pendant, worn by La Siréene, glows bright blue.
Blackacre's forehead and hand have returned to normal. Volst's mouth and eyes are nowhere to be seen.
Phoebe shivers. She holds her flame up to see into the snow beyond. A strong gust of wind blows it out. "Hey!" she cries in frustration. Suddenly, she falls silent. Her face contorts into an odd expression. Her eyelids and the corners of her mouth twitch. For a snap second, her features are obscured by a gray blur. Then they reappear. She straightens her shoulders, lifts her chin, and inhales deeply, looking around.
"There!" she says with exaggerated braggadocio, quite different from her usual gruff and childish manner. "That's better. Hitching a ride with ol' Blackacre was giving me a real headache. Get it? Ha, ha!" Volst, now in Phoebe's body, marches around in a circle in the snow, waving his arms with mock pageantry.
"Earl Caromarc, do you happen to be able to cast a protection from evil spell at the moment?"
The Earl appologises "I am afraid not, Ianez. I can cast this however."
With a shrug of her shoulders, she replaces the sticks in her pouch until they are claimed by another. A strange conundrum.
"Hello again, Phoebe. Hello again, Volst."
I see Phoebe and find Volst's presence repulsive.
Quinn goes into his bag and removes his rope. He ties one end to his waist and he hand the other to Sandru and Gaston. "There is a path before us. I will test it out. The rope is a precaution. Anyone else have any better ideas before I head out?"
Blackacre accepts the end of Quinn's rope with a raised eyebrow. Be careful. There may be ice under that snow.
There are tracks in the field of snow off to the left. They look like they were left by a large humanoid. Large bones are embedded in the walls of the icy chasm. Based on these observations, it's likely there's a bone golem somewhere in the area.
There are tracks in the field of snow off to the left. They look like they were left by a large humanoid. Large bones are embedded in the walls of the icy chasm. Based on these observations, it's likely there's a bone golem somewhere in the area.
Blackacre points to his left. There are large humanoid tracks over there, and large bones in the walls of the chasm - that may mean a bone golem in the area. Be on your guard.
"Does any of you hear crying from across the path? Wait a second....there is a form....I can't make it out"
The monk pauses and looks around the path. "Bone golem. Check out the large bones in the walls." Quinn points out the bones embedded in the walls of the icy chasm.
Quinn starts off moving slowly forward to sure what Gaston said is not the case. He occassionally kneels to check what is under the snow. The zen archer moves across with bow and arrows, ready for the bone golem.
Up ahead, across the narrow ledge is a formation made out of ice, a platform resting on a pillar. Quinn sees a woman hovering in the air above the platform. She wears a black dress edged with bone and lace, and a silk blouse. She wears a fashionable hat with a silk band, and a mother-of-pearl & copper clockwork hat-pin which holds fastened a black ostrich feather. She carries a ripped parasol and weeps into a silk handkerchief.
As Quinn approaches, the lady points to a small stone tablet lying on the ice platform, forlornly half covered with snow. There are words engraved on it.
It reads -
Olivia Nym b. (with the date), d. (today)
"No rest...no rest for me..." she murmurs.
_____________________
There's a rumble from the chasm down below...and a shriek. The bone golem? Or just icy winds shrieking through the ravine? The bone golem is somewhere...maybe down there...maybe upon the snowy fields...
Caromarc looks at the ledge, then takes a shortcut to get closer. It is almost a relief to spend the brief time in the space between worlds and out of the cold blowy snowstorm.
What is up with the girl - illusion, spell, ghost? Also, what does Jornel know of Bone Golem's... specifically weaknesses and strengths.
I believe you roll initiative for me?
- A bone golem is a construct used to guard the dead, made out of bones from at least a dozen medium or larger skeletons. The bony body has damage resistance that can be bypassed by adamantine weapons and/or bludgeoning weapons.
A bone golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and abilities function differently against the creature, as noted below.
• Magical effects that heal living creatures slow a bone golem (as the slow spell).
• A magical attack that deals negative energy damage breaks any slow effect on the golem and heals the golem.
• A raise dead, resurrection, or true resurrection spell negates its DR and immunity to magic for 1 minute.
In addition to melee attacks, bone golems are able to magically duplicate their bones and create a bone prison, which traps and attacks those it contains. These can be destroyed, but this has no effect on the golem itself.
La Siréene holds her clockwork heart. Olivia.
"Olivia! What do you want? Do you want it to end? Do you want "rest"?"
"Baron! Can you relay what we're seeing to S? Quickly!"
Ianez was about to point out the sound, but was preempted by the others. He follows, bow out and arrow on the string.
- You've heard of undead incorporeal spirits...vulnerable to fire, dependent upon snow...beautiful and alluring, yet eternally jaded by their unjust departure to the afterlife. Beings of ice and snowstorms, with powerful frost attacks (both melee and spell), and a bewitching gaze like the northern lights that stops adventurers dead in their tracks.
If Olivia has become one of these things, she is immune to cold, but staggered when her snowstorm is suppressed or otherwise not functioning.
"Stay back from her, and do not look into her eyes! She may have been cursed into unlife, bound to the snow."
Volst speaks into his shoulder for a moment, nods a couple of times, and seems to be listening to S's response. "Yes...yes...as I supposed," he says. "This is some sort of 'soul chamber' where Dr. Grey has locked up his lady love." He surveys the area, raising Phoebe's arm to shield her eyes from the stinging snow. He gives a low whistle. "Amazing. This is really advanced necromancy, if I do say so myself."
"Olivia is driven mad. S says that she has become...what they call in the Eastern lands...the Yuki-Onna. Incorporeal undead that control snowstorms and have powerful frost attacks. If indeed Olivia is this thing, she is immune to cold, but staggered when her snowstorm isn't functioning."
"La Siréene, can you influence the weather here?"
Olivia turns and looks up at Quinn and Caromarc with despair. Her irises glow phosphorescent blue against sclera of black. When La Siréene addresses her, she leans forward, throws her arms back, and hideously screams.
"Oh" says Caromarc quietly "That's not good. That's not good at all."
Quinn looks over to Caromarc and listens to what he just said.
The monk grits his teeth on what is coming next.
Blackacre puts a hand to his sword hilt.
