Vines creaked and dust fell, as his once-in-a-century 'exercise' came upon him. The noise above was hardly worthy of note, but it did prompt him to ensure that his basic functions weren't shot from the idling. A short walk to the opposite side of the cramped twenty-foot room he was in reassured him that movement was still within his ability.
A marking on his forehead shimmered as he came close to the wall, the same marking responding to his presence, and words found themselves in his mouth without thought: "Lego". He only barely paid thought to the fact that the words were more than just a check of his speech function.
Speech...I will find the source.
This was most certainly not something to ignore. The symbol in his forehead ceased its glowing, and he leans forward to touch three fingers to the wall. "Per tenebras." His entire body seems to melt into black and he 'falls into' the wall.
I have found it.
Moments later, his form reshapes and recolors itself several yards behind the wandering paper-mages.
"Query. Who, why?" he speaks in Draconic, voice echoing clearly through the hallways.
"For the next several days I expect you to not give answers to those that do ask questions," Ryleh said crisply. "We are making plans that will help minimize risks to both sides of this. It would be irresponsible to provide information before those measures are in place. I was under the impression that you cared about the welfare of your students?"
"For the next several days I expect you to not give answers to those that do ask questions," Ryleh said crisply. "We are making plans that will help minimize risks to both sides of this. It would be irresponsible to provide information before those measures are in place. I was under the impression that you cared about the welfare of your students?"
"You are reading too much into my answer. More succintly, I have minded my business about it up to this point, and I see no reason to not coninue. Ergo, your secret is safe with me.
I do care about my students, as I do all sentients. Do not presume to use guilt to persuade me into doing what you've asked, when logic will do. On this path you will find...folly."
"Then do not presume to give obfuscating answers in order to trick others into giving you the moral high ground. It causes me to sympathize with your grandson a great deal as my own grandfather was all too prone to that particular irritating habit."
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Aananda watched open-mouthed. She'd never seen her mother acting so....so....normal before.
He chuckles
"Morality is subjective. Wisdom does not require it.
My grandson has his own path to walk, sympathize with him if you wish. He has never been one to be 'pinned down' by my wisdom. He is and always will be a free spirit, caustic and biting as he is.
I do not seek to control anyone's destiny."
"What was it you said about an ambush?" Oniero asks as he stops in his tracks.
"I seek to control my own destiny," she said with a wry smile, "and have a positive effect on the destinies of those around me."
"I'm done with sitting by and just watching."
"What was it you said about an ambush?" Oniero asks as he stops in his tracks.
Ori pulled paper out of her pack, whirling around to face the direction the voice came from.
"Do any of the rest of you know what it just said?"
"Good news for all, I'm sure. May we move on to the task at hand?"
Enre shrugs at the whole conversation "I have DNA from pretty much every race that could be useful for combat. None of this really bugs me anymore."
"Query. Who, why?" he repeated himself, this time in Common since it was the language that the intruder spoke in.
Both hands remained motionless at his side, though his sunken eyes were aimed directly at Ori. His body was only faintly lit by the lantern: Blue tinged metal made up most of his body, where it wasn't wood and stone, and etchings covered nearly every inch of it. With each flicker of the light, the etchings glittered all different colors of the spectrum.
"Er....who are you or who are we? And why what?"
Not all know all, I must adjust.
He takes a step forward, his frame towering over the mage's as he stretches his arms forward, palms up. He hoped that this show of no harmful intent was understood.
"You enter a place untouched for centuries. Why have you entered? Do you seek something unattainable outside?"
Though he was certainly not this place's guardian, he felt as if this place was home...a place for him to remain forever uninterrupted in his thoughts.
Ori kept the paper in her hands, surreptitiously folding to be ready in case he went nuts like the jeweled dweomercat.
"We're looking for a book. We're not even sure that it's here. Er, my name is Ori Reading. I'm a professor at Avalon Academy. These are my students. We're uhh...having a bit of a field trip."
She worries. I am not understood, I must adjust.
He drops to a knee, now forced to look up to meet Ori's eye, an elbow resting on his bent knee.
"What is the book? It is here or it is not, I will know."
His voice hasn't seemed to have any discernible emotion behind it before, it was simply words being spoken. Now there is an obvious sense of curiosity...As if interaction was something alien to him.
"After I answer and assist...I would have knowledge from you."
"Morality is subjective."
Enre shrugs at the whole conversation "I have DNA from pretty much every race that could be useful for combat. None of this really bugs me anymore."
He gives Enre and evil grin
"Built for war will come in very handy."
"What else is there to discuss? We need to wait for Jim to finish his device before we can do anything else, right?"
"Morality is subjective."
"We're... looking for the Book of Pulsing Flesh. Honestly, if it's here we can find it on our own."
The sunken eyes flashed for a quick moment before he nodded his head towards Oneiro.
"I know this book. Guardians keep it from thieves hands..."
It was rather obvious that he had something further to say, but was reluctant to do so.
"I will guide you to them." he said firmly, taking to his feet again before raising one hand and turning ninety degrees to point down the hallway behind him.
"Um, lead the then, I guess." Oneiro tells the construct with a wary glance to Ori.
Ori nodded. "We'll be right behind you."
"Prepare yourselves, I must also. Please wait."
He immediately presses his hands together, parting them after a moment with a flash of light and a booming voice: "IUBAR PERVENIT"
The room glows brightly and a second later, an impossibly tall and dark skinned human male forms out of the light. As the room darkens again, and the figure turns to Ori and Oneiro with a nod, you catch sight of feathery wings folded against his back and a glowing hammer in his hand.
"I am ready. Please follow me."
Query turns his back to you all and begins to walk down the hallway towards the destination, the angelic figure following close behind.
Protective Aura (Su) Against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures, this ability provides a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus on saving throws to anyone within 20 feet of the angel. Otherwise, it functions as a magic circle against evil effect and a lesser globe of invulnerability, both with a radius of 20 feet (caster level equals angel's HD). The defensive benefits from the circle are not included in an angel's statistics block.
Works up a sweat tearing things up in the gym, but throughout his training he chooses not to use his dragon form, knowing he's being observed. He's thought alot about this upcomming 'reveal' Aananda has spoken of, and has seen how the student body acts over a minor conflict, especially the lycans. A look of concern passes across his face. He doesn't think this will go well, but he will keep his word. It's all he has here. 'I certainly don't have any privacy' he thinks, looking around, knowingly in vain, for nanite cameras. He grabs his towel and gym bag, and heads back to his room, pondering the future. Or more importantly his future.
Ori looks a bit taken aback by the angelic creature, but follows as requested keeping a wary eye on both their guide and their surroundings.
"Well, I think that if Mom is staying then you don't really need me here, so Fi and I will be with the plane of air team if it's all the same to you guys. I suspect that's where most of the action will be anyways."
Nala was confused. She was sure she had been standing in front of an altar....wait, why was she standing in front of an altar? Everything seemed so...distant. And now she was standing in an office. People were rushing to and fro. There was a sign on the door that said 'Department of Redundancy Department'. Was someone trying to be funny? None of this made any sense.
A short chubby balding man hurried up to her. "Ah, there you are. You're late! Come with me, there's so much to do, so much to do."
Nala looked at the stacks of files in dismay. The strange man had shooed her into this place and told her to get to work several times and then hurried away without stopping to let her ask questions. She wasn't even sure what she was supposed to be doing.
She tentatively reached for a file.
The entire pile of files started to fall over on her, knocking over the other piles like stacked dominoes.
[i]Nala dodges being crushed by the falling files by diving underneath a desk. She breathed a sigh of relief and then realized that she was completely buried with no way out.
As panic started to set in she noticed that the back of the desk was actually a trapdoor. Not having anywhere else to go, she opened the door and crawled through.
She heard a chime as she crawled through the door, although she wasn't sure what that meant.
On the other side of the door was a room made of ice. She fought down panic as she looked at the familiar terrain. And then everything went strange. She was whisked onto a chair beside the throne by selkie guards and the chamberlain demanded that she pass judgment on a maid who was being dragged in front of the throne by the guards. She knew this maid. This was her mother's favorite handmaiden. She had carried out the queen's orders without question, no matter how much Nala got hurt in the process, seeming to enjoy the princess's suffering.
"What is your decree?" the chamberlain intoned.
She bit her lip. She had ideas. Lots of ideas. She had more than enough reason to hate this woman. But as she looked at the yuki-onna chained before her she realized that they were not so different. On the other hand, this was a woman who enjoyed the suffering of others. She couldn't just set her loose on the world. People would get hurt. She needed to find a way to stop that.
"E-exile," she said hoarsely. "Exile from the court until she has helped one hundred travelers through her domain. But if she harms a traveler then she has to start all over."
There was another chime and the scene around her melted away.
With Query and his 'preparation' leading the way through the decrepit temple, it's easy to see that he(it?) is saving you a lot of time. When the group enters a filled with what was probably a library, the first thing they see is a glass case in such perfect condition that it looks brand new. Inside it is a book...
"Jeran, you smell any dweomercats?"
Jeran sniffed the air carefully. He shook his head.
"We're the first alive things that have been here in a very long time."
dust and mildew.
first alive things
"Four-Hundred and Seventy Three since I have last entered. Unlikely that another entry has passed my notice."
He allows the others to advance in front of him to inspect if they wish, though he is most certainly on his guard.
Guardians do not appear to be present, perhaps disabled. thought processes ticked away at many possibilities for what could have happened to the things he knew were supposed to be here.
"Well, Oneiro, would you like to pick up the book, or would you rather I did it? Since there might be traps."
"Honestly, chances are I've got less to lose." Oniero says as he close to look at the book in the case. "This isn't it..."
"Does anyone else hear that rustling sound?" He asks as he looks deeper into the library.
"Guardians are present as predicted. Prepare to defend."
Though he tells you to prepare, he stands there just as he was before: as relaxed-looking as a warforged can get.
Ori sighs. "So predictable," she said, preparing for trouble.
Ori sighs. "So predictable," she said, preparing for trouble.
"Well, I think that if Mom is staying then you don't really need me here, so Fi and I will be with the plane of air team if it's all the same to you guys. I suspect that's where most of the action will be anyways."
"I think I have a spell that will help people resist lightning attacks, but I'll have to practice it first." Vai looks worriedly at her brother and sister-in-law. She knew that they had come to fight Aegythrax, but they weren't immune to lightning like she was. They had no Champion abilities to protect themselves.
"Gotta score already..." Anthony breathes as he slides toward the ball. He almost had, he was going to score a point! Then he spotted the elven boy from earlier and slid right past the ball. It couldn't be...?
Finally a bit of luck! Ehos had swooped in and nabbed the ball right before it was about to get shot into his net and then hugged the outside of the field as he slid down the length. He smashed the ball from the outside into the center right in front of the net, but no teammate was able to get their broom onto the ball to deflect it in.
1d20+23
"Well, I think that if Mom is staying then you don't really need me here, so Fi and I will be with the plane of air team if it's all the same to you guys. I suspect that's where most of the action will be anyways.""I think I have a spell that will help people resist lightning attacks, but I'll have to practice it first." Vai looks worriedly at her brother and sister-in-law. She knew that they had come to fight Aegythrax, but they weren't immune to lightning like she was. They had no Champion abilities to protect themselves.
"Don't look so worried, sis. Remember what I can do too, huh?" he said with a wink.
"Cut her some slack, James. She hasn't seen what you can do. You've been really subtle with the reality bending the last few months. If other-me is to be believed, and I see no reason to doubt her, subtle is a new thing for you," she said, dryly.
1d20+23
"Two or more big guys incoming," he growled.
"But... it should help a little. Doesn't that... bending... it takes alot out of you, right? I remember when we got Ephebe back the first time, you practically collapsed. Fi was really worried about you." Vai says earnestly. She hadn't seen James around the school for days after that incident.
"Let's give them a warm welcome then."
Stepping to the side, Oniero pulls out the charred paper from yesterday and flings it into the darkness the rustling sound was coming from. It lights just before it leaves the light, and a fiery explosion can be seen.
"Well, let's hope that-" He's cut off by three dark red beams shooting from the darkness and striking him right in the chest. The scent of burned flesh fills the air as a creature clothed in rune covered scrolls and broken items charges into sight and swings a powerful fist at Jeran.