"Hmm...there shouldn't be any reason that the power would split between five seperate creatures, I mean, what if one were to die? Regardless, this is probably our best course of action."
She gets ready to leave, packing a small pack to begin the search, and while she's at it, she also plucks anything you've stolen from her lab and puts it on a particularly high shelf with her mental energy.
"Ready to go?"
The crowd is screaming their heads off as Phaerlin lies near death on the ground. Vraknel raises his weapon in victory, not even bothering to move as the dart Vitrius throws whizzes by his head. And then...
The crowd falls silent.
Vitrius's gaze follows the crowd and it eventually stops on the woman in charge. She has one hand aloft, palm up gripping tightly on air. Before you is Phaerlin, encompassed in some kind of spectral energy. He seems frozen, neither getting better or worse, but a voice soon breaks your concentration.
"Such a disappointment." the woman says, using her other hand to stifle a yawn. "And I had hoped you would provide more entertainment before we handed you off."
An idea crosses her face, and she smiles as she commands Vraknel to stand down. He kneels, and bows his head to her.
"I'll tell you what vampire," she says to Vitrius. "I could let this one die right now." she tightens her grip on Phaerlin who begins to show discomfort on his face, as if his entire body is being compressed tightly. With her other hand she motions what she proposes.
"Kill the remaining slaves, the more gruesome the better. Or, you could rip off one of this one's arms. Six lives or one arm, I'll let you decide."
If you cast it once more, the first one will dissipate as Hold person is a concentration spell.
"That's the plan. Just need to remove this and we'll be off."
Zapley removes the large device from her head, the intellectual manner she carries herself instantly returns to the active jumpiness and jitteriness you originally knew her by.
"Itchy itchy!" she complains, scratching the top of her head.
She grabs your hand, leads you outside, and surprisingly starts scurrying down the road.
"Big boss no like me use zap zap mover unless big reason!" she calls back if you ask why she isn't teleporting you with lightning.
It takes about an hour and a half before you reach the hotel you were staying at, occasionally stopping for a snack, and find a large pit with pieces of debris around it. Your friends and the hotel are no where in sight.
The woman seems to consider you for moment, but begins to laugh, and instantly and wave of uneasiness spreads across the stands and yourself. Even Vraknel takes a step back, an unsure look on his face.
"I am the master here." she states, but there is still a smile on her face. "But you must either be a courageous warrior or a fool for weaving words like that here. That kind of courageous foolishness deserves some kind of reward."
The energy in the hand that surrounds Phaerlin begins to glow and you can watch as his wounds begin to close and his face becomes relaxed. The magical hand brings his now stabilized form to you, letting you help support him up as he returns to consciousness. It seems almost to good to be true.
And it is.
With a swift motion, Phaerlin screams out in pain, as the hand morphs into a spectral blade and slices through one of his calves, the severed foot falling to the ground, limp. Even now his bloody stump is regenerating shut and he maintains consciousness.
"Take them back to their cells. Make sure they do anything stupid until its time." And with that, the woman leaves from your sight.
Vraknel, the champion, leaves as well, leaving over ten armed guards to escort your injured selves back to a cell, bare stone floor, no window, and heavy iron bars.
It doesn't take long before an apartment head arrives, he only takes a brief look at your containers, before he frowns.
"The specimen's are awake." he announces. He moves over to the control panel. "We need to render them unconscious quickly."
Though he tries not to give the woman the satisfaction, shock pulls a scream from his lips as his foot is severed. As he is drug away, Phaerlin is forced to watch as his booted foot is left in the arena.
Now put into cell, Phaerlin simply repeats the same phrase over and over again, trying not to pass out from the pain: I am going to kill her.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Phaerlin will stop his reverie and say to Vitrius "Do you have a plan to get out of here? I can summon my sword. I can provide a distraction for your escape, but I don't think I'll be of much use in a fight."
Once the scientist makes that announcement, Tes attempts to push towards the top of the tank to freedom!
Strength check to get the lid off -
"Now is not the time my friend, and we are both getting out of here or we are both dying. Let's see what this person wants from us and go from there." Vitrius will tend to Phaerlin's wound as he can.
Zapley shakes her head.
"Me and you go zip-zip with lightboom!" she explains. "Lightning no dig in tunnel, dat project still in design parts.."
She looks around the scene, but as her talents lie in the lab, it seems she's not picking up on much to figure out what happened here.
A guard drops by with some bandages and a tin tray with two loaves of stale bread. He drops all of these through the cell with relative uncaring. He moves out of sight from where he came, up some stone stairs to god knows where. You hear him grunting and soon he reappears with one of the prisoners who was killed during the fight. He's headless, and the guard pushes and shoves the body until it squeezes through the bars. Lots of coagulated blood spills everywhere and when the guard is done he looks more like a butcher's apprentice.
"Eat up," he orders, and he turns to leave.
Tes begins to thrash in the tank, trying to pry the lid off the tank so she and Kala can get to freedom. Unfortunately, it seems that she can't get enough traction to bring the entirety of her strength upwards.
"What'd I tell you?" the head scientist said in a matter of fact way. "Darn budget cuts are going to make a zoo out of this place."
He presses a button and soon a warm, woozy feeling begins to pass over both of you. You try to fight it, but eventually you both drift off again.
You're dreaming again. You know it. Is this how it ends....alone....and drifiting....
The world comes into focus....more like two worlds, with you at the center....To one side.....you and your kinsmen fighting tooth and nail against the eldrazi menace. Its a bloody fight, and losses are massive, but in the end of the day you are triumphant, alone, a pile of kor and eldrazi corpses, blood tears streaming from your face.
The other world....you are alone, but you walk with the power of untold eons. Your skin cracks, and some flakes off revealing a massive void inside yourself. As Eldrazi swarm you, a mere touch renders the completely immobile, a different touch renders them to dust. And like this you dance through the hoards of enemies. In the end, you have one, you body seemingly breaking at the seems. You fall to your knees, triumphant, but empty in this desert of frozen Eldrazi and endless dust and sand.
What do you do...?
This is slumber...you're sure it....it has to be....I mean....what nightmares could exist like this?
On your back it itches and burns, and as you reach for it, you can feel what appears to be small nodules growing, getting larger and larger. The nodules spring to life and you can feel them possess some of your mana as they hurry to detach themselves from you to scurry off on their own.
Under you, the earth hisses at you, as if it has come to reject you. Afraid to let it go, you cling to the ground tightly so it can't escape. As you touch it, you can feel the ground scream in pain, a dying scream, as its life essence flows into you. It burns, it makes you writhe, but their is some kind of sick pleasure to it as you experience the purest form of green mana you have ever felt. And all it took was to make this one spot of ground barren, forever.
Your mind is swirling in pain, pleasure, and agony. You feel one of these two are about to overwhelm you.
Which is it and what do you do?
Vitrius looks over at the 'food' in disgust. Sighing, he goes to work on Phaerlin's wound with the bandages. "You need your strength friend, eat as much as you need."
Pain. As Kala absorbs the mana of the earth, she shudders with revulsion. It is natural to feed, but this is annihilation. As pain fills her, Kala desperately tries to cast off the crumbling earth. The waves or the sky, surely anything is better than this. Somewhere she won't hurt, or be hurt. She pushes away.
Kick-Lick scurries around looking for clues, drawing the attention of some pedestrians.
You take a good 15 minutes, but don't turn up anything solid. The structure was definitely gone all the way down to the sewer system. That bug was tasty though.
Zapley has returned from chattering to a few people who were nearby, pointing emphatically to the missing hotel location.
"People say big demon come by, and also giant slug. Probably Rakdos and Simic guilds want you friends. Simic like me Izzet, but more fleshy and poky. Rakdos maybe take for slave but no make sense."
Zapley makes sure she has all her instruments on her.
"You pick, and I show you way."
Several things happen at once.
The tank that contains you to starts to glow before the hardened glass and metal disintegrate into nothingness. Tes lands on the ground, ready for a fight, and her head clearer than it has ever been. Who were these lesser life forms to face you? There were nothing, mere specks in the wind before your power. But as you try to focus on them, you realize that the power you used on the tank isn't reaching the scientists in the same way. Curses.
Kala falls to the ground in a much less graceful way, slamming into the floor as she convulses almost as if she trying to push the horrors away. Slowly but surely, some kind of creatures begins pulling themselves from Kala's back. These creatures scuttle over to the scientists before latching onto them and exploding in a mass of spiky, alien vines that coil around them and render them unable to move or speak.
You are both free, a bit short of breath from your sudden transformations, and before you all three scientists remain immobile for now.
Whether you fill your stomach or not, you find the rest of the day uneventful before you fall asleep.
No food is brought to you in the morning and leaves you nothing left to do other than talk.
Phaerlin eats, but does stops after a bit and drops the body in disgust.
"I swore to protect this man, but in the end he did more for me than I him."
After a moment, Phaerlin shakes his reverie and says [b]"We haven't known each other very long sir Vitrius, but perhaps we could tell each other a bit of our stories? It might help to pass the time, if not nothing else."[b]
Kala sputters as she spits up the last of the tank's goo. Her eyes quickly pass from the bound scientists to Tes. If she were thinking clearly, she'd be tempted to try Emeria-Creed guile like she did against the Selesnyans. But after waking from her vision only to find it become a reality, her breaths are short and panicked.
"Let's...let's go." She calls numbly to Tes, then focuses her will to slip into another body, one that isn't home to tiny Eldrazi. Thinking of a time when everything was alright, she recalls the woodland companion of her Joraga tutor, and takes the form of a Dire Wolf.
Kala barely holds back the urge to rush off on her own, waiting for Tes.
Key characteristics of a Dire Wolf for this scenario: Large, speed 50ft, +4 Stealth, Keen Hearing/Smell = Advantage on Wis (Perception) checks which rely on hearing or smell.
Zapley looks at the gadget she has on her wrist, moves your hand slightly to the left and nods. Both of you set off in search of your friends.
Eventually, you find yourself outside a large domed building that looks equal parts intricate and alive. It is currently dark and probably, by Zapley estimation, night-time. You see the odd person in a labcoat walk by, but security seems pretty lax.
And then an alarm starts sounding.
You both hurry from your prison, but you have no idea where you are, and no idea which way is closer to "out."
It does seem luck is on your side however as Kala is able to move quicker and scout out promising passages, before returning to Tes to inform her it was a dead end.
An alarm starts sounding, and you find yourselves in what looks to be a display room full of small specimens. There are lots of glass enclosed displays and two exits, one leading up into a hall that goes upstairs, and one that seems to lead to a series of offices.
Wolf-Kala's snout twitches, hoping to catch a whiff of fresh air for guidance.
If she can't sense anything, she bounds towards the upstairs area rather than the offices.
Vitrius nods. "Fair enough, but I warn you, there isn't much to tell. I grew up in the coattails of my older siblings, in the Girsen House. Though noble born, I was to inherit little. That was fine with me,as I had no interest in being a plaything of the Great Houses. Instead,I chose to become a Lorekeeper, sworn protector of our race's combined knowledge and history. Eventually my training brought me to work with you and the others. Now, we're here and the others are missing." Vitrius pauses, as if forming his words carefully. "Our race seems to be reviled in other realms, if not hunted down. I intend to find out why. What about you? Surely your skills would have you chosen for one the House armies."
Phaerlin chuckles and says "No, I am widely considered a source of disappointment amongst my family and their friends, even if they don't think I know. My family is one that revels in their power, scheming against those more powerful then them and abusing those weaker then them." Phaerlin shakes his head, then continues "we have stories of knights and paladins in our household, but they are all painted as either maniacal murderers or bumbling fools who were attempting to stop vampires that were much more wise and noble than they. At the same time I was reading those books, I watched my mother beat one of our house slaves to death with her bare hands for dropping a serving dish. When I asked about that later, I was told that 'lions do not concern themselves with the opinions of sheep.' I did not say anything then, but I knew that was wrong. It was about then that I decided I wanted to be a holy knight, and help the humans of our lands be free."
Phaerlin pauses for a moment as if lost in thought, then adds "When I was 15, I was sent into the wilderness to take my trials to swear an oath to serve the king in yellow, who is the patron 'saint' of my family. I did meet a being who worked in the service of the king, but I rebuked him and continued making my way into the wilderness until I stumbled, exhausted, onto the vestibule of a small temple, where I collapsed. When I awoke, I was laying in a bed and there was an old priest who was tending me. When he asked me what I was doing in the woods, I told him everything about my life. When I finished my story, he smiled and said 'why don't you just make a pact with me?' and then revealed himself to be an archangel. Of course, I agreed and pulled out my atheme, intending to perform the ritual to show my obedience. He stopped me and told me that all he wanted was my word and my oath that I would defend those who could not defend themselves, defeat evil where I could, and generally attempt to make the world a better place."
Phaerlin stood up and began stretching, balancing on his working leg, then finished his story with "and so I began a campaign of subversion amongst my family. I treated our 'cattle' with just enough respect to not seem out of place (when asked, I told my parents that the king in yellow had commanded me to do so), and I began learning the arts of channeling magic and wielding a blade. My pact gives me power, but I must continually strive to do good. When the Eldrazi began stirring, I was as ready to leave my family as they were to see me gone. The rest, you know."
finishing stretching, Phaerlin hopped over to the wall and used it to lower himself back to the ground .
Vitrius pays attention to Phaerlin's story, nodding and approving. "I shall have to add this to my notes. It is a great thing that you have overcome our race's predilections towards depraved violence. Together we should be able to bring a change about our kind. Now if only to get you back in one piece."
"About that. I would like your oath that, given the choice between leaving me and you escaping, you will choose the latter. While I certainly have no desire to either remain here or die, I will not allow my existence to prevent the freedom of others. I want your word that if you have to make a choice, you'll leave me."
Before Vitrius can respond, the sound of heavy footsteps start echoing down the stone staircase. It seems the jailer's returned.
"Clean yourselves up." he commands tossing you both some somewhat clean rags. "You're being called on by the Mistress."
Roughly twenty minutes later, you have both been led to an opulent room that screams wealth and desire. There are gold trimmings on furniture, shapely statues and buttresses, jewels that sparkle like the brightest oceans blue hanging off the chandelier high above.
Reclining on a posh couch is the woman who held such influence at the games you were fighting in earlier.
Clink.
With a quick motion, the jailer takes off both your restraints and leaves the room leaving you with this woman. She eyes you both with a look that could be interest or boredom, it's hard to tell.
As you both head up the stairs, you find yourselves on the other side of a large wall of glass. On the other side....the outside world! You quickly take off down the corridor in hopes of finding a door. Both of your keen passive perceptions pick up that there seems to be heavy steps coming towards you. There is a side corridor you could duck into that leads towards another different laboratory, or you could charge ahead.
Like a lava frog from the native plains of Zendikar, Kick-Lick has no problem scrambling up anything be it nature, man-made, or alive. He considered it one of his finer points.
As you scramble up you are able to see through the glass fairly well. And you realize this fact just quick enough to catch the sight of Tes and what appears to be Kala in a Wolf aura dart down a hallway into the facility. Doesn't look like they noticed you.
To Te's disspointment, this seems more of a laboratory of chemistry than biology. There are a variety of colorful flasks that line the shelves, some books on a desk ,and several burners actively heating some test tubes. From this room you can return back to the main hallway, or continue further into more laboratories as you work your way deeper into the facility.
"Dammit!" you can hear a guard yell in frustration. "Can they phase though objects? What the hell did the tall one do?"
"Find them!"
You hear a flurry of steps.
She stares back, expectantly and raises one hand, palm down in an elegant fashion.
"Well?" she asks, simply.
"What is it you want whore?"
You quickly make your way inside and even with the alarms blaring, it doesn't seem like anyone is concerned with the outer hallways quite yet. Zapley struggles to keep up, a bit of huffing and puffing as she tries to match your pace.
"Hold on for Zapley!" she shouts loudly, not really payin gmind to how loud she's shouting or the trouble that might cause.
"I think I heard something back here!" a voice shouts from further down the corridor. You could head to the shouting guards, down the hallway you saw Kala and Tes disappear into, or exit the building.
The footsteps start echoing away.
Ten seconds.
Ten more seconds.
They seem to be gone, having run down the other corridor.
A look crosses the woman's face. At first, it looks almsot like sadness. But then it sets in.
It's disappointment.
"You still haven't realized it yet, you stupid creature." she says, a hand covering her mouth as she stifles a yawn.
She doesn't even register Phaerlin, simply waving her hand over in his direction. In an instance, several spectral hands emerge from nowhere and grab onto his body and force him face down onto the ground. There about ten of them in total, focusing mostly on the joints to make throwing them off extremely difficult. An eleventh hand, flies over to what look like a display case, carefully opens it, and pulls out a lovely artisan dagger, one made to look beautiful rather than actually be used in combat. It is then swiftly plunged into Phaerlin's leg, the one that is already missing a foot.
"I am Razda Alrain, and I have no masters. Only clients. And I have an interested party who would pay for you both handsomely."
Even from the kneeling position, Phaerling still laughs and then says "Everyone, from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs, has a master that they serve. Based on your surroundings, I would say that yours is greed, which is as low a master as you can get. As I said before, you are a whore. You debase yourself for money, and no amount of supposed torture that you can inflict on me or anyone else will change that fact."
[spoiler=Tes & Kala] Tes follows Kala back to the hallway, "Let's head up the way they came down. I fear my little trick can't be used again, wherever it came from... There must be some way out of this place".
Miraculously, Phaerlin fights against the hands holding him down and even pulls up against the dagger wielding hand as he spits insults at Razda.
But the woman takes no notice, as if he was merely a cricket chirping against a lion. Instead she answers Vitrius.
"Tests? Masters? Are you so deluded that these are the solutions you've arrived to?"
She shakes her head.
"I act for the interest of Guild Rakdos, and to stave off this eternal boredom that we all face. I'm sorry to disappoint, but I act to create a show my people and I would relish to watch. As long as I desire it, it is Rakdos's will. As for your other concern..."
Two daggers appear from seamingly nowhere, and bury deep into Phaerlin's flesh.
Razda frowns.
"Odd, I meant for that to kill him." she says as she manifests 4 more daggers that float in the air at the ready.
"Easily rectified."
You guys outmaneuver the guards looking for you and quickly run back to the outer hallway and into the last person you expected to see in a scientific facility.
Kick-Lick, with another Goblin (female) panting and gasping behind him.
Phaerlin will hobble his way up to the woman and stand with his hand thrust in the air. As it descends, his blade appears in his hand.