|
"Hey Sis, could you help me out with your hair magic? I got blasted pretty good by those splinters," Gallix says as he wipes blood from his neck and face.
"Perfect!" he exclaims, back to his usual, jubilant self. "Now to put up the extra defenses again. Peppers, I gotta admit, this magic stuff if pretty damn useful!" Gallix retrieves his wand of false life and waves it over himself once gain.
|
"What do you mean what is our destination!" Gelviel balks. "We just escaped the Emissary, but it's probably still following! We're leaving the ship, and now! It's time to explore this strange new world!" He shuffles around the bridge impatiently, nearly knocking into the orrery as he does.
When Sirettis tries to hex him, the toad-faced Captain gets very agitated. "HEY! What is this, a mutiny?! Come on, it's time to leave, now!"
|
"Captain. We need time to gather our personal belongings and supplies before we can disembark on this journey. The ship's library is far too important to leave behind to vandals and thieves!"
He eyeballs the orrey "We should take the orrery as well, just in case we need it for the return trip home and navigation." Mr Peppers begins to cast detect magic to see if it, or anything else around the room tickles his magical senses.
|
|
D. doesn't find any sort of traps in the cracked floor or broken furniture. When Mr. Peppers turns on his Magical Sensor 3000, however, the orrery glows with a bright, strong aura of every magical school he knows. Each of the spheres attached to it represent a school, though the orrery is missing four spheres. The remaining seven spheres all look similar to the sphere of Aballon that Leeara had, and the three spheres found with Abtaroh. It isn't clear how to activate the orrery from a first glance.
"Our destination? This is Lirgen's Glory, or was! We sail the stars and explore the cosmos, and we've crash landed on an alien planet!"
Yet as soon as Mr. Peppers even mentions taking the orrery, Gelviel bears his sharp, mutant-like teeth. "Get away from that thing! Now this is just insubordination! Try that one more time and I'll have to discipline you!"
|
Glad that the encounter has not devolved into combat, uncertain if the man(?) is cursed or an alien. Kai spends a moment to study him.
His attention, however, shifts quickly to the orrery, fascinated by its representation of the solar system.
Finally he turns to the creature that would be captain. "Come, come now. We mean no harm. In fact, if what you say is true, it would seem that you would need some help to escape this Emissary. Whatever could help would be useful!"
|
|
Elkas shakes his head. "It's no use... It seems Gelviel also has this disease." Sonarisa and Valar just look on, too confused in their mutated state.
Sirettis has a closer look at Gelviel, and it's pretty clear he's showing the same half-animal, half-humanoid attributes that the rest of the crew has. The toxin has likely also affected him, and it looks too late to break the curse. Kai and Sirettis examines the orrery from where they stand, but the object is a little too complex for them to really get a sense of how it might be used.
The toad-man leans over and sputters nonsense at this point, foam forming in his mouth. "Never has my crew asked me as many questions as this! If you're staging a mutiny, you will not take me alive! And your lies... Next you're going to tell me we're still on Golarion!"
-- Bold is up --
D., Mr. Peppers
Gelviel
Gallix, Uesugi, Sirettis, Kai
|
|
"We are indeed still on Golarion..." Mutters Mr Peppers as he anticipates things going poorly. He reaches into his pouch and tosses some glitter in the man's eyes, hoping they can resolve this as nonlethally as possible.
"Try not to kill the Captain, he's as addled as the rest of them!" Calls out the Elf as he backs away, eyes on the man in case he starts slinging spells.
|
|
15 NL
The toady Captain ducks behind his arms, shielding his eyes from the shimmering dust tossed by Mr. Peppers. D. aims at the ankles and wrists of Gelviel, hoping to damage him but not kill him.
The Captain peeks from behind his arms. "Treacherous mutineers... Stay away!"
He starts casting a spell, but it isn't clear what happens just yet..
Suddenly, everyone feels repulsed by the very sight of the captain and his mutated appearance.
-- Bold is up --
D., Mr. Peppers
Gelviel (25 NL)
Gallix, Uesugi, Sirettis, Kai
|
|
"Repulsion." Sirettis repels the urge to stay away from the frog man.
I should put him to sleep- wait, he's an elf.
She puts her Slumber Hex to the side and casts Hold Monster instead, hoping to stall for time. "Captain, please do not make this worse than it already is."
|
|
Shaking off the enchantment with ease, Kai closed in quickly while keeping the path clear for the rest of his team. "I apologise for this indignity but this in indeed for your own good." That said, he swings his spear, attacking not with the spearhead but the butt hoping to knock the cursed man unconscious.
|
|
Mr Peppers watches with practiced eyes as the man weaves his magic. Those eyes grow large as he realizes the level of skill the man's magic possesses. "He is a very powerful caster indeed! Be wary, but I will do what I can to protect us from harm."
Instead he launches a barrage of magical missiles at the man, hoping it won't be enough to do any major damage.
|
|
66 NL
Despite Sirettis' best attempts to paralyze Gelviel, the mutant Captain shrugs off the spell. D spins another torrent of sand up and sends it at Gelviel's less-vital limbs, and Kai uses the back of his spear to bruise the Captain. Mr. Peppers aims his force missiles and lets them fly, hoping to cause just enough damage to knock Gelviel out... But the mutant fights on!
-- Bold is up --
D., Mr. Peppers
Gelviel (86 NL, -17)
Gallix, Uesugi, Sirettis, Kai
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Uesugi merely shuts his eyes as he charges through the repulsion spell, nodding at D. on his way through. .. Yet he finds he's less accurate by using his weapon backwards, and misses the mutant.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
**GALLIX BOT INITIATED**
The slugger grins as he pushes forward through the miasma of bad juju towards the Captain. "Ok Cap, I got one for ya... here it comes!"
Knockout (Ex): At 4th level, once per day a brawler can unleash a devastating attack that can instantly knock a target unconscious. She must announce this intent before making her attack roll. If the brawler hits and the target takes damage from the blow, the target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw (DC19 = 10 + 1/2 the brawler's level + the higher of the brawler's Strength or Dexterity modifier) or fall unconscious for 1d6 rounds. Each round on its turn, the unconscious target may attempt a new saving throw to end the effect as a full-round action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Creatures immune to critical hits or nonlethal damage are immune to this ability.
|
|
Mr Peppers quickly converges on the fallen Captain, eager to see if his spellcasting ability was innate or studied. If he has a spellbook it will be on his person! He helps to secure the man by removing anything that seems to be tied to spellcasting from him, as well as binding his mouth to prevent speaking.
|
|
Mr. Peppers pokes around Gelviel and the bridge area for a spellbook, and though it's hard to locate at first, he finds peeking from underneath a broken table. It contains the following spells:
The orrery looks foreign and strange to Sirettis, and she can't quite figure out its strange planetary configuration and otherworldly mechanisms. But Mr. Peppers takes a quick look at it, and figures out exactly how it may work.
Gelviel also wore or carried the following magical goods: mwk dagger, cloak of resistance +2, headband of vast intelligence +2, ring of minor fire resistance, ring of protection +2, spell component pouch, a pair of canine statues worth 50 gp, diamond dust worth 500 gp.
|
|
"HA! Found it." Screams tall, dark and focused as he locates the spellbook and proceeds to carefully check it for all manner of traps and protections before finally popping it open to the back end of the book and smiling as he reads.
"Oh excellent. A shame he has only transcribed sixth sphere spells, but no matter. I'll work on borrowing them this evening!" With great reluctance he closes the book and stows it away for safe keeping in his haversack, turning his attention to the Orrery.
"Well, THIS is no ordinary bit of magic. Quite the contrary really, and something the Society's factions will be sure to fight over for some time... at least if the Concordance ever parts ways with it..." He says to no one in particular.
"Let's get those planets we recovered out and slot them as they should be so we can take this with us." As he starts reducing the Orrery down in size he explains its function to those of lesser Arcane training in the room.
"The question is, now that we've gotten the most important piece of the puzzle on this ship, what's next? Are there more of these crazy cultists hiding around to deal with? Should be even 'think' to attempt to use this thing and risk contacting that which started this mess?" Again he is mostly just speaking aloud to no one in particular.
|
|
"Well," Gallix says as Peppers explains the magic of the Orrery, "This thing really does sound impressive! I'll leave it to you to figure out transport for it, Peppers, but let me know if you need me for anything."
Picking over Gelviel's belongings and not finding anything he feels a particular need to take for himself, the brawler turns to the rest of the Red Arm. "Did we need to worry about the water supply still? I know that was one of the issues we were gonna deal with. I just wanna make sure it actually got handled. The other thing we have to think about is this Emissary that the captain mentioned. Who or what is it, and is it still following the ship?"
Gallix turns to the dominated crew-members and asks them, "What do you know the Emissary? How long has it been following you, and do you think it will come here?"
|
|
Nightmarish visions of tentacled monstrosities fill your minds. You all begin to hallucinate. Where the charred landscape around the ship was now rises an enormous mass of eyes, tentacles, and protoplasm, its tentacles extending a thousand feet over the ship as it looks down on you as a dragon would an ant. Thick clouds of green vapor shroud off its body and create a fog impossible to see through. Mr. Peppers, Uesugi, Gallix, and D. feel it the worst - they're sure they feel the creature looking back at them. Next, you all watch as the vision suddenly shifts, and you're standing in Dustpawn, where hundreds of mutants march through the streets, Dalviss and his barkeep included, all walking.. running.. and then sprinting towards you, growling disturbingly just before they jump at you with their teeth bared.
... And then it's all gone, and you're standing on the ship once more. Except there's something different in your mind. You feel something coming - the tentacled alien thing you saw in your vision - and you're sure it's the Emissary.
The Emissary will arrive in Dustpawn in 2 hours.
|
|
Mr Peppers wakes up in the fetal position on the floor of the Captain's bridge. His hand still rests on the orrery where he inserted the last sphere.. before all hell broke loose. Nethys help us, we don't have much time
Mr Peppers drags himself from the floor and wipes the drool from his face, looking around confusedly to get his bearings. "We need to move, and quickly. This is coming to a head, and in only 2 hours. I must warn you, I have expended much of my arcane power for the day."
|
D. was experiencing something entirely new to him. A growing anxiety with the knowledge something unspeakable is coming to the world, something he had now seen.
"That was, an unwelcome experience.
Yes, we have to stop this, if even possible. A source of mutant expansion is not something to look forward to happening."
|
|
Even as Kai stands guard with his weapons drawn over his new-found teammates while the vision takes its toll on them, he feels a sense of despair grip his heart. "How do we face such a monster?" he mutters.
Finally though, he summons up courage from within. "Face him we must. Come, we need to return and prepare the villagers."
|
|
Uesugi leans over and puts the Captain over his shoulder, while Sirettis' thralls shuffle around, unsure of what to do. Even they were affected by the vision. Then there's the orrery, mysterious and magical, and potentially dangerous having brought on such a terrifying vision just upon reattaching the spheres to it. But Mr. Peppers there must be more to that orrery...
|
|
In a very deliberately measured tone, Kai appeals to Mr Peppers. "Yes, this is a most marvellous creation. But can any artifact, no matter its value, be worth the life of even one innocent?" In a bid to find a compromise, he continues to propose, "How about we use the limited time we have left to study this item, and only when the Emissary is near arrival do we destroy it?"