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Hey shadow person. I thought you were upset and jealous of me for being one of Kaneepoo's favorites? Why then do you run away and take out your angst on my elven friend?
Nicky pulls out his sword, and moves into position and swings.
◆ Interaction
◆ ◆ Cautious 5 foot step stride
◆ ◆ ◆ Strike!
Low Light vision as a Tiefling.
Odikoi reloads, fires, and steps away.
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Onye pulls himself up, drawing a javelin as he stands. Leiko shifts into teh shadows as Odioki fires, missing the Shae. Daehalya isn't able to tumble through but does manage to trip Leiko as she exits the shadow once more.
Nicholo draws his rapier and closes in on the Shae as she slips through the floor to end up south of Onye once more out of reach.
Ezgara turns and tosses a ball of flame to where Leiko comes up out of the floor, unfortunately with the table in the way and Leiko lying on the floor she is too difficult to target precisely.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Nicholo
Ezgara
Leiko
Onye
Odioki
Daehalya
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Nicholo fires fore fire beams from his eyes. This time they seem to be getting less and less painful. The flames burn into her side as she shrieks in pain behind her mask.
Leiko's dagger jabs out at Nicholo for hurting her. "It will be me if you aren't around."
Leiko begins to repeatedly stab Nicholo in the gut. Onye tries to help as he tosses a spear her direction but misses as she slips into the shadows, appearing next to him once more as Nicholo collapses to the ground.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Ezgara
➤ Nicholo
Leiko
➤ Onye
➤ Odioki
➤ Daehalya
Ezgara continues bolstering there rogue.
He tries to battle medicine his fallen ally
But fails. He guidances Odioki.
"Nicholo is making it difficult for Onye Dinta to protect Nicholo," the amurrun laments as he draws a javelin and throws it at the shadow figure. He draws out another javelin from over his shoulder.
HP 16/24
AC 19 (+1 vs. traps)
Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +6 (+1 vs. traps), cold resistance 1
Effects: tale spun (+1 status bonus to attack rolls and saving throws against the villain)
"You can continue to run, but the Guiding Hand will always lead us to you," Daehalya instructs as she again tries to trip the shae.
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With a good amount of blood pouring out of his belly, Nicky has come to the determination that he doesn't like this shadow girl. Not one bit. See, if we were youngsters at the same boarding school, you're the type of person I'd make certain to prank at least once a week. You know, glow moss stuffed into the bedroll. Torch sticks with flint and tinder as a holiday gift. Maybe even sabotage the shutters on all the school's bullseye lanterns so they can't shut.
Yeah, just freestyling pranks on you has improved my mood.
Alas, we are adults now, so let me prank you with a short sword swishing away at your shadow bits.
◆ Devise a Stratagem of light based pranks
◆◆ strike
◆◆◆ Strike
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Ezgara tries to performa bit of battle medicine and fails as Leiko contiues to shank and keep on the move.
Nicholo gets stuck again as another javelin stabs through the doorway into Leiko as she tries to put some distance between you all. The javelin stabs through Leiko's chest, the tip just barely sticking out of her back as she collapses.
Nicholo
Ezgara
Onye
Odioki
Daehalya
Onye Dinta steps forward and kneels as he lays his hand upon Nicholo. Translucent, golden feathers bloom over the amurrun's hand as the tiefling's wounds begin to heal.
Nicholo sees a pair of golden eyes watching over him in his dreams before he wakes.
"Nicholo should try to keep the insides inside," he says before standing and walking away to collect his javelins. The catfolk then kneels next to the shadow being to inspect her.
Daehalya moves to stand over Leiko, a sad look in her eye. [b]"There was another way out of this, but perhaps you couldn't see it. As we say, "a weak foundation wastes the work.' "
She waits to see if the woman has any final words before going to get her own wounds bandaged and looking around the room.
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Onye works on getting Niholo back on his feet while Daehalya lays Leiko to rest in her final moments that is little more than a sneer of contempt.
Looking around you gather in total 15 daggers from the Shae as well as a syringe containing a minor healing potion.
Looking through the notes in this room find carefully illustrated diagrams of Leiko’s bizarre experiments on Kaneepo’s victims. Sketches show test subjects with radically elongated limbs, faces stripped of muscle and fat, and other grotesque transformations.
While studying the sketches you recognize one with a wooden septum piercing. This sketch matches the description of the missing Oaksteward, Varna. Venturing into the cockroach pit and sorting through the remains there, you find a half‑skeletonized corpse of the same individual.
★ -- ★ -- ★ -- ★
To the north is a small bedroom. This chamber looks like a noble’s bedroom. Yards of pastel fabric hang on an elegant, but dusty, four-poster bed and nearby vanity. A large painting on the wall depicts two slender black-and-white creatures with skull-like faces and huge teeth. In a grotesque parody of a familial portrait, the figures hold hands and grin terribly toward the viewer.
At the north end of the room, scattered candles, crystals, and other occult accoutrements suggest a spell or magical project in process.
Sifting through the occult tools on the floor finds an onyx dog statue about 1 inch in height among the detritus.
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Nicky rolls over trying to get to his hands and knees. Mostly looking to get his body out of the pool of blood that has collected below him. His clothes are sticky with his own blood, and the coppery smell fills his nose because he's so close to the source.
His arms and legs shake at the exertion of operating a couple pints low, and juxtaposition of how much adrenaline is still in his system.
Golden eyes. Golden eyes. Those are the only things he says as he starts standing up.
He reaches for a potion to help cure his woes and replace some blood in his body.
Thank you to whomever helped me. I owe you some civil service.
*******
He pulls out the magnifying glass to look over the diagrams. Handing it to any who need the device too.
mag glass +1.
*************
I think I may have found proof the Oak Steward Varna was experimented on - and probably killed. Let us check out this nasty pit with the creepy crawley bugs. Yup. I see half a skeleton that might match Varna's description.
"A sad ending, but at least we can let those who cared about her know what happened," Daehalya says.
She glances over the dog.
"A powerful item. It can come to life at the command of an owner," she observes of the dog.
"What kind of experiements were they conducting?" Odioki can only imagine. "I hope this puts an end to them."
"Onye Dinta has a terrible wondering if this is what was done to the tribe," the amurrun says, staring grimly at the books from behind his wooden mask.
Ezgara considers the figurine and then dismisses it. Will Dog obey or be an Ass?
After healing everyone he points at the next door.
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This large chamber splits into two levels. A wide staircase connects the room’s western half to the eastern half, which is a full twenty feet higher. The ceiling rises forty feet above the lower floor. Worktables covered in books, beakers, and strange reagents crowd the lower floor.
On the room’s raised half stand two ten-foot-tall amber pods like empty bug cocoons, each glowing softly with orange light. A miniature gray tree with white leaves hangs suspended in the air between the pods, its roots twisting around each pod.
This room is the heart of Kaneepo’s twisted experiments. Each of you notice a colorless fetchling clinging to the ceiling. As it tries to hide you watch as a pair of googles extend out to a humorous length as if to spot the finest of details from a distance.
Ezgara looks up and grimaces at the fetchling. None can outwit Ezgara, he locates all ceiling-creepers!
The catfolk slinks to the far side of the doorway.
"Hello," Daehalya calls, wondering if this fetchling might be able to be reasoned with. "We are looking for Kaneepo."
"Onye Dinta does not trust this one," the amurrun whispers to Ezgara.
I will have a looksie too. No, I did already; I see all. Ommatophore? I need none. My vast mind gazes fore, aft, port starboard! Navigating the treacherous tides of inanity like a wise whelk of wisdom. Determined as a gastropod. Inexorable.
He grimaces at the creature. We are friends. Yes… will the mucopolysaccharide-coated machinist on the ceiling believe me? How could he not? We are such nice people. Here to see machines, yes. We love viscid oils. Breathe the foul, close air like perfume. Mechanistic order in all its brutality. Yes, this is what we are here for Show us. Show us now.
"Come down and tell us more about your machine."
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The fetchling seems to hesitate for a few moments but eventually decides to show off his machine as he seems very, very proud of its design. "It is one of a kind! Look at this..." He strokes the pulsating amber pods. "I can run it for you." He looks at you eagerly. "I will make you greater. Two of you each get in a different pod and it will transfer traits to each other."
The catfolk growls softly, deep in his throat. "This is a trick to weaken us."
Odioki politely declines.
"I don't want to risk my good looks."
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Your machine sounds amazing. I for one have always had an inquisitive mind. I'm up for being a part of the process. But, it takes two to tango and I'm not certain we have "two" here to do the dance. But, I want to at least tell you how intrigued I am. Can you tell us about your earlier experiments, and how you learned from the times the machine didn't work as efficiently as it does today? I'm a person that likes to know a story from the beginning to the end.
He's trying to get information on what happens when the machine MALFUNCTIONS.
"Findeladlara has made me the way I am, and while this may be impressive, I do not wish to change what She has made," Daehalya says. "If others wish to, though, I won't stop them."
She considers the kayal.
"Do you have a name, friend?"
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What? Traits? Societal constructs, ethereal mirages of persistent misconception projected upon the ganglions. Neverending performances in the theater of self. At best mythologies of the self, perpetuated by the self, for the self. At worst, insidious inventions to exert control. Neither real. Neither. Ezgara again pierces the veil.
As he speaks crude illusions spring up around the old elf, as tends to happen whenever he rambles of late. Rudimentary images of the D'ziriak's paintings hang crookedly in the air. Is it a painting of a donkey, or a donkey painting? He sits in the pod opposite Nicholo. An assinine question.
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"Can someone please swap ganglions with this old man so he'll shut up," Odioki says, gesturing dismissively toward Ezgara.
"Ezgara is as Ezgara is," the catfolk says cryptically. "Onye Dinta agrees with Daehalya. The spirits of creation wove us with intention."
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"I am called the Looksee Man." he smiles as his strange eyes extend out about a foot from his sockets as he looks to Nicholo. "Looksee, the initial trials didn't go so well. Some died, most were disfigured." He mostions with his hand next to his cheek. "Nothing life-threatening. Fingers from cheeks. Ears five times their original size. I can see that being a problem for you elves." He smiles to Daehalya.
While speaking with the Looksee Man you look around the room. Many of the materials scattered about the worktables are valuable reagents produced from First World flora.
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Where Odioki was annoyed, Nicky has been inspired. He didn't really understand any of the meaning that Ezgara was saying. It was highly philosophical and Nicky would have to digest it later (as he doesn't like things he doesn't understand or at least attempt to decrypt).
But like poetry, sometimes you don't get the exact word composition-- but you get the cadence, the tone, the overall message but as YOU interpret it.
Just like Poetry Ezgara. Just like Poetry. Your theatre of self comment reminds me of the tenets of the circus. Constantly innovate and improve on your act. Push the fold. That is what Looksee Man brings - he is pushing the fold. How can the audience be stunned and awed if you only show them the mundane? I AM IN.
He moves to the pods and puts himself in as a willing victim. He crossed his fingers. Whispers a message of forever love to his beloved Fiametta and waits for another body or a signal from the others that they are not up for this.
If they aren't, he gets back up and looks ready to progress to the next room. If one is interested in joining him for a jaunt of insanity, he waits for the contraption to start working.
"You're serious?" Odioki watches in disbelief as Nicky sits in a pod. "You're going to trade traits with Ezgara of all people?"
Odioki tries to recognize the fauna on the worktables but has no idea what they are.
The amurrun recognizes several of the valuable plants, seeds, and nectars. However, he is distracted by a statement. "Onye Dinta is saddened to learn that Nicholo only views himself as mundane."
Ezgara gets in the rightmost pod.
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Ezgara gets in the right most pod as Nicholo gets in the left as the recipient. The Looksee Man crawls down and eagerly gets to the controls to make sure everything works right.
The pods fill with a strange mist as Nicholo emerges with ears three times larger than they were when he entered. His appearance even appears a bit more youthful, though he has a bit more of a dour look that before.
The Looksee Man wipes some sweat from his brow. "Looksee, nothing to it." He seems to be the only one to realize how close he was to really disfiguring the Tiefling.
Ezgara stares at Nicholo’s new ears for long seconds. ….Donkey ears? Being an ass is one of my traits!? WHAT!? No, it cannot be. Long ears, long years. Hard-won wisdom attained through centuries of donkey ears.
Odioki has a coughing fit as he tries not to laugh when Nicky steps out of the pod.
”This can only get better.”
"Onye Dinta agrees," the catfolk says. "Ezgara can only ascend."