Chella Heartfire's page

Chella has a spheres power (Pouncing Teleport) that lets her make a single attack after a teleport. She can use it at up to medium range if she spends her spell point and increases the casting time by one step (a move and a standard action). I wasn't sure when I built her if this was the sort of thing that you were suggesting players not take, and if that messes up your plans I'm fine with there being some reason it doesn't work as I primarily chose it for flavor (it's the only magical thing her infernal heritage gives her).

Chella is still unsure about how the hivemind works, and has never responded to it before, but now decides that she must give it a try. ::Hello? Hello? This is Chella?:: ::AND THIS IS PERI!:: ::Owww, Peri, that's much too loud. Can you think more quietly?:: ::i will try:: (Peri's voice sounds embarrassed and a little hurt.) ::We are happy to join your expedition to rescue the hostages if you think the mission can spare us from our duties in the library. I will prepare myself for the teleport?::

(Assuming she is teleported in too...)

Chella looks over the enemy. ::Well, me and Peri could just wade in there and attack. It would be dangerous, but we didn't sign up for this just to translate tablets. Maybe some of us attacking them would distract them enough that others could sneak in and free the hostages, as Terexaltherin suggested?::

"The undead are not permitted in the city, much less the library stack. Please make me a detailed report on your observations and include your name and where in the library you are employed. I will see that it reaches my superior..."

A little nervous that this rule would mean Peri is not allowed in the library, Chella immediately does some mental gymnastics and reasons that most of the time, Peri is part of her club and not manifested as one of the undead, so she doesn't count. Then she proceeds to describe what she saw and deduced about the creatures with as much detail as she can manage. "For my own records," she asks, "will you tell me who is your superior? I may need to follow up with them myself."

Chella is wide-eyed innocence personified as she talks to the library phantom. "Have you seen or heard of any undead zombie creatures traveling through the stacks? Possibly escorting a large cube full of weapons? I saw some the other day and I was sure they did not belong here, but I did not know the proper procedure for reporting them. If only I had known that was your job!"

Chella goes wandering through the library until they have an opportunity to pass one of phantom in a large, deserted and dimly lit corridor two levels below the South Wing. And it turns and says "Who are and by what right do you walk the closed stacks of the library?" The voice sounds somewhat mechanical...

Chella: Sense Motive: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (8) + 27 = 35

"That mechanical-sounding voice sounds like it might be an extraplanar creature, like us," she whispers through her message spell to her half-sister. "But I think it's from a purely lawful plane rather than good or evil."

Peri: Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (20) + 21 = 41
Chella: Knowledge (planes) to aid: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Peri considers her knowledge of such creatures and tries to identify it. She shares what she knows with Chella.

"I am one of a group of specialists who has been hired by the librarians to translate some of the texts," Chella responds, stalling for time. "Having earlier been threatened by a being that looked similar to you, I have been hoping to meet one of your kind so that I can discover what you are and what you are doing here, in order to keep the books safe. Do you mean to harm us, or perhaps worse yet, the contents of the library?"

Chella considers. "Peri and I are interested in the library phantoms. We will try to encounter another between texts while we keep working at our task. Perhaps they can be frightened into giving up information, or befriended once we know more about what they are or what they do." She looks at Arlo. "Would you like to help me? If they become difficult, having another person along would certainly come in handy."

My best wishes on a speedy recovery, Arlo's player.

Chella motions to Arlo and backs away from the room with the undead. Then she casts message on him (and Peri) so that they can discuss quietly. "Are these creatures waylaying boxes and bringing them back to this place? And then awaiting new orders? Or is their task more benign? Perhaps they have been commanded to escort items here for the people who run the project."

"I AM WARY OF ADVISING YOU TO ATTACK THEM IF THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THEY DO NOT MEAN US HARM," lilts Peri's ghostly voice. "GRANTED, THEY ARE EVIL CREATURES, BUT I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY HOW THEY DO THINGS HERE."

Can Peri make some guesses about the undead's role in this complex, based on their behavior and their equipment, etc.?
Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (6) + 22 = 28

"At least some of us should continue to track the creatures," suggests Chella. "Before we lose the trail."

Once the group has decided who is going where, Chella tries to pick up the signs of the zombies' passing again.

Survival, heroism: 1d20 + 18 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 18 + 2 = 23

"Fascinating," Chella says, while Peri studiously takes mental notes. "I wonder what would happen if Peri were to inhabit the door instead of my weapon? She explains it better than I can, but I would think she could prevent it from triggering its trap the same way we can hold our breath. Would that be worth attempting, Terexaltherin?"

Chella also steps into the hole, recognizing the signs that Arlo has preceded them there. She watches carefully as Gift examines the door, and whistles softly when she describes its defenses. "That's a dangerous trap to accidentally spring," she says. "How bad do you think the disintegration damage is? We could try to weather it if we can't get past any other way. I do think it is important, based on what you've told me about these creatures." She shrugs as if to say But what do I know?

Chella attempts to track the undead, assisting Arlo's efforts.

Survival, heroism: 1d20 + 18 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 18 + 2 = 40

"Tell me everything, and most of all about Peri, I know your there Peri, I can see your mind"

Chella's face is a mask with no reaction, but there is a sharp intake of breath from the direction of Chella's greatclub, that turns into a low chuckle. "I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU WOULD BE THE FIRST TO SEE ME," Peri's disembodied voice echoes in the hallway. "WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW? I'M JUST CHELLA'S GUARDIAN ANGEL." she says with an ironic twist to her voice, like a sepulchral wit.

"We've been together for a long while," Chella says. "We're like sisters, we know each other so well."

At the sound of the boom, you hear feet approaching from several directions and leave before they arrives.

Chella is torn, as she is sure she could lift the heavy chest (or block carved in the shape of a chest) and is very curious about it. She starts to set herself, intending to pick it up and carry it in the same direction the two figures were going, when the sound of approaching feet and Gift's warning causes them to flee.

The exhilarating feeling of almost being caught is infectious, and she giggles when they are out of sight, even though she doesn't believe they were doing anything wrong. "We should go back!" she laughs. "Maybe those phantoms were stealing that chest! Or maybe they found something interesting and were ferrying it to a central location to examine it?" Her beady eyes seem very wide with curiosity. "Hmm. I wonder what was in it? It looked very heavy, but I'm no slouch when it comes to lifting heavy things." She looks sideways at Gift. "We could run up like the others, because we heard a loud noise? Come on, let's go!"

"Let's explore! I want to see what else is in this place," Chella suggests.

In between the various tasks Chella has been diligently taking care of, she explores the area surrounding her workspace, hoping that she will stumble across another one of the phantom-like creatures she can question, or make other discoveries that would help the group figure out the state of things here. If she is caught wandering, she will claim she heard a noise, and describe the encounter they had with the phantom previously. Since finding others in the complex would be good for her goals, she doesn't attempt to be stealthy.

Chella smiles and laughs at the discussion of band names. "I see you've done this before," she says admiringly. "My suggestion is 'The Footnotes.'" She chuckles wholeheartedly.

"Well, if you want to try and play a set together in town, I'm game. Otherwise, I am happy to keep at the work while the rest of you gather intelligence. And who knows, perhaps that creature that accosted us on our way to the site will appear again and I can try and glean some information from it."

::"Its nice to have another woman in the party. The old grumpy men don't really get shopping"::

Chella laughs, a rich sound. "Well, it will be nice to have access to the funds again to be able to do some serious shopping. My sister Peri has picked out things for me to wear since as far back as... well, as far as I remember."

Peri speaks from inside Chella's club. "YOU'VE NEVER COMPLAINED!" she chides gently, her voice echoing slightly like it is not entirely there. "IN FACT, YOU SAID I HAVE A GOOD EYE FOR FASHION!"

Chella laughs again. "That's because it's MY eye!" she jokes. To Gift, she continues: "Well, it's nice to be working with all of you. I didn't really get the chance to tell you when we were introduced, because of-- well, you know, what happened-- but I've not worked with others much in the past. Just Peri and Herbert and me. You seem to work together well! Maybe that's because you're family?"

::"Well I am glad your here and can read magic script, its all just gibberish to me. Rollo would always explain to me when he was with us. As you can tell, I don't get on with magic much. Always seems so overly complicated. All that waving hands around, drawing on the walls. Or you like dad, your forever bending down at a temple begging some higher power to lend you some. Much neater just using your own mind to do things."::

"—" says Peri. Then her echoing silence becomes more intense, if that's possible, as she examines Gift from beyond the veil. "FASCINATING," she mutters. Chella shrugs.

::"So what do you like doing when not saving reality?"::

Chella stares into the middle distance for a second. "I quite like playing my drum," she suggests, as if she's not sure how to answer. "I find it soothing. And it's nice that other people sometimes want to dance or give me money. I like to be appreciated in, you know, that kind of impersonal way. And when we get back to Sigil there's some fancy eateries I'd like to try, if I can afford it on my new reality-saving hero's budget. What about you, Gift?"

::Anybody leaning a certain way?::

"I don't know how well I can pretend to be a noble," Chella says, "but I'm willing to give it a try. I guess I could disguise myself... I'd be more comfortable in the common district, though."

We sort of blew past introductions, but we can always fill them in later through flashbacks. :)

Chella smiles at both Gift and Azzim, her cow-eyes softening and her entire demeanor changing instantly. "Oh, do not worry," she says comfortingly, "for it is simply an act-- a form of performance. I've learned through the years how to pitch the tone of my voice and the weight of my steps as much as if I were playing an instrument. Unless we must actually engage in battle, I do not intend anyone harm-- certainly not anyone on our team!"

"I'm happy to help," she responds to Terexaltherin. "Even if it's simply providing a distraction. I have some skill with decoding magical texts, but I am sure I am not so fast or competent as others here. Still, it may be useful to have me obviously working away at the job while others among us do things that we would prefer go unnoticed." A thought strikes her. "Was that creature that I threatened undead? I am not sure what it was. But perhaps it would know more about secret undead armies, and now that we know it can be intimidated, perhaps we could convince it to share its knowledge?"

Chella accompanies the group, being very quiet as she is still getting to know everyone, playing the Big, Dumb Fighter until it benefits them for her to reveal her true self.

Sense Motive, heroism: 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 27 + 2 = 40

She easily sees through the creature's ruse, but also recognizes that the others have the bullying well in hand. Nevertheless she growls at it to show solidarity if nothing else, curling her lip and flexing her muscles in a frightening display.

Intimidate, heroism: 1d20 + 41 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 41 + 2 = 53

I gathered that Gift is Arlo's child. :) But do you mean to say that Gift is not odd when she isn't with Arlo? I guess odd is relative, but still, she's an android born of pure psychic energy. That's got to put up some barriers to interpersonal interactions. ;)

Sorry for the double post! I tried several times to post last night and kept getting Bad Gateway errors. So I saved my post and planned to submit it again today. But it looks like it went through twice! Too late to delete one of them, unfortunately.

Chella is surprised and left a little off-balance by the appearance of Livonia, but she only hesitates a moment before bowing politely and asking "Thank you for the most generous offer. May I consult with my partner before I accept?"

Livonia makes a magnanimous gesture, and watches the bull-headed woman retreat several paces away and cast a spell. "Tell me you knew this was going to happen?" she whispers through her message spell. "I'm beginning to suspect that maybe you aren't infallible after all!"

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND, THIS INTELLIGENCE WAS FIRST-HAND, CHELLA!" Peri wails through the magical tunnel between them. "I SAW THE ORGUANIONS MYSELF-- THEY MET WITH SEVERAL GROUPS OF POTENTIAL HIRES RIGHT HERE."

Chella chuckles, a rich snorting sound that wrinkles the end of her muzzle. "Well," she muses, "I don't suppose you've heard of the Organization, then?"

Knowledge (local): 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (6) + 19 = 25
Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (17) + 22 = 39

"POSSIBLY. I'VE READ THE NAME ON DISPATCHES FROM OTHER WORLDS, BUT I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS REFERRING TO SOME KIND OF CRIME FAMILY. PERHAPS THEY ARE ANOTHER ORGANIZATION? IF THEY ARE A SECRETIVE MAGICAL SOCIETY, I MIGHT HAVE HEARD RUMORS OF THEM OPERATING HERE ON SIGIL. I SUPPOSE YOU SHOULD ASK HER!"

Chella looks over at Livonia, who appears to be patiently waiting. "I can't really afford to turn down a job. Unless they're planning to murder me and take all my possessions, I'm certainly willing to give it a try. And it would be nice to be part of a group again instead of doing everything with just us. What do you think, should I accept?"

"I WOULD RATHER YOU DIDN'T STARVE TO DEATH. THEN WHAT WOULD I DO? YOU'RE ALL PAID UP WITH THE HANDS, RIGHT? THAT WAS A WISE MOVE, DROPPING YOUR WINDFALL ON THE PRINCIPAL TO GET AHEAD OF THE INTEREST. IF THIS JOB BRINGS ENOUGH COIN YOU COULD FINALLY FINISH OFF THE LOAN. CAN YOU IMAGINE? MAYBE THEN THEY'D GIVE YOU A JOB INSTEAD."

Chella scowls. "I'm not joining the Hands," she whispers flatly. "I may be a monstrous creature spawned of evil and darkness, but even I have standards. Hey! Herbert! Wake up, I want to ask you something."

The toad dozing on her horns mutters something in their shared language.

Chella casts the spell again to include him. "If you don't listen, you don't get a say," she warns.

"OH, HOW WOULD WE MANAGE WITHOUT IT," Peri's voice sniffs.

Chella pesters her familiar again. "Come on Herbert." she whispers. "I'm thinking of taking a job that involves a new group. The Organization. What do you think?"

"They gonna take a body part? Or make you swear an unbreakable oath?" the toad murmurs sleepily. "If there's a contract I'll take a look at it for you, but you know I don't remember much from those days. Try not to sign anything if you can manage it." He turns around on Chella's head and closes his eyes again.

Chella sighs. "All right, I've stalled long enough. Let's go convince this woman to hire me. I'm sure everything will work out fine."

After a semi-long discussion of terms of employment and things like room and board, working hours, training, and of course wages, Chella seems willing to accept the deal. Throughout the process she is friendly and charming, a tone that is much at odds with her appearance. At one point she asks if The Organization will require her to disguise herself. She is willing to do so for the job, but she prefers to have time every day where she can be herself, if possible. "This curséd visage was a gift from my father," she confides, "and I have made it my own. So I'd rather not hide its light under a bushel, if you understand?"

Finally Chella receives permission to make arrangements for an extended absence from Sigil, and she leaves her last two weeks' rent with her landlord's factor. Then she accepts the teleport, and finds herself in a strange complex with faint sounds of magic and machinery blended together. She waits in a comfortable meeting room until the Organizers (as she has begun to think of her employers) bring the other members of the team she will be working with. She is nervous, but excited, and desperately wants to make a good impression. They should start arriving any minute, she thinks. Does that mean they all live here, too? How fascinating!

Chella is surprised and left a little off-balance by the appearance of Livonia, but she only hesitates a moment before bowing politely and asking "Thank you for the most generous offer. May I consult with my partner before I accept?"

Livonia makes a magnanimous gesture, and watches the bull-headed woman retreat several paces away and cast a spell. "Tell me you knew this was going to happen?" she whispers through her message spell. "I'm beginning to suspect that maybe you aren't infallible after all!"

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND, THIS INTELLIGENCE WAS FIRST-HAND, CHELLA!" Peri wails through the magical tunnel between them. "I SAW THE ORGUANIONS MYSELF-- THEY MET WITH SEVERAL GROUPS OF POTENTIAL HIRES RIGHT HERE."

Chella chuckles, a rich snorting sound that wrinkles the end of her muzzle. "Well," she muses, "I don't suppose you've heard of the Organization, then?"

Knowledge (local): 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (5) + 19 = 24
Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (20) + 22 = 42

"POSSIBLY. I'VE READ THE NAME ON DISPATCHES FROM OTHER WORLDS, BUT I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS REFERRING TO SOME KIND OF CRIME FAMILY. PERHAPS THEY ARE ANOTHER ORGANIZATION? IF THEY ARE A SECRETIVE MAGICAL SOCIETY, I MIGHT HAVE HEARD RUMORS OF THEM OPERATING HERE ON SIGIL. I SUPPOSE YOU SHOULD ASK HER!"

Chella looks over at Livonia, who appears to be patiently waiting. "I can't really afford to turn down a job. Unless they're planning to murder me and take all my possessions, I'm certainly willing to give it a try. And it would be nice to be part of a group again instead of doing everything with just us. What do you think, should I accept?"

"I WOULD RATHER YOU DIDN'T STARVE TO DEATH. THEN WHAT WOULD I DO? YOU'RE ALL PAID UP WITH THE HANDS, RIGHT? THAT WAS A WISE MOVE, DROPPING YOUR WINDFALL ON THE PRINCIPAL TO GET AHEAD OF THE INTEREST. IF THIS JOB BRINGS ENOUGH COIN YOU COULD FINALLY FINISH OFF THE LOAN. CAN YOU IMAGINE? MAYBE THEN THEY'D GIVE YOU A JOB INSTEAD."

Chella scowls. "I'm not joining the Hands," she whispers flatly. "I may be a monstrous creature spawned of evil and darkness, but even I have standards. Hey! Herbert! Wake up, I want to ask you something."

The toad dozing on her horns mutters something in their shared language.

Chella casts the spell again to include him. "If you don't listen, you don't get a say," she warns.

"WHAT A SHAME THAT WOULD BE," Peri's voice sniffs.

Chella pesters her familiar again. "Come on Herbert." she whispers. "I'm thinking of taking a job that involves a new group. The Organization. What do you think?"

"They gonna take a body part? Or make you swear an unbreakable oath?" the toad murmurs sleepily. "If there's a contract I'll take a look at it for you, but you know I don't remember much from those days. Try not to sign anything if you can manage it." He turns around on Chella's head and closes his eyes again.

Chella sighs. "All right, I've stalled long enough. Let's go convince this woman to hire me. I'm sure everything will work out fine."

After a semi-long discussion of terms of employment and things like room and board, working hours, training, and of course wages, Chella seems willing to accept the deal. Throughout the process she is friendly and charming, a tone that is much at odds with her appearance. At one point she asks if The Organization will require her to disguise herself. She is willing to do so for the job, but she prefers to have time every day where she can be herself, if possible. "This curséd visage was a gift from my father," she confides, "and I have made it my own. So I'd rather not hide its light under a bushel, if you understand?"

Finally Chella receives permission to make arrangements for an extended absence from Sigil, and she leaves her last two weeks' rent with her landlord's factor. Then she accepts the teleport, and finds herself in a strange complex with faint sounds of magic and machinery blended together. She waits in a comfortable meeting room until the Organizers (as she has begun to think of her employers) bring the other members of the team she will be working with. She is nervous, but excited, and desperately wants to make a good impression. They should start arriving any minute, she thinks. Does that mean they all live here, too? How fascinating!

Hi everyone! Thanks for inviting me to join your game. I'll fill out my character sheet as soon as I can and hopefully I'll be up to speed on everything I need to know, but if you think of anything important that I might not be able to find in skimming the threads, please let me know! :)

Chella frowns, her beady eyes staring intently past her long muzzle as she attempts to puzzle out the words on the page in front of her. "What am I looking at, Peri?" she grumbles, addressing her steel-banded greatclub and the faint image of a woman in the metal's reflection. "It just seems like a lot of numbers and letters. Is this another one of your 'cross-sword puzzles'? You know I'm no good at any of that." She tries to keep the frustration out of her voice, since she knows her half-sister means well, but she hated these kind of mind games.

Peri's image in the metal winks. "IT'S DELVONIAN SCRIPT," her ghostly voice proclaims, drawing out the words like she is giving a clue, the sound echoing slightly in the small corner of the eatery where Chella waits for her meal. "GO ON, TRY AND DECODE IT-- THERE'S A POTENTIAL JOB OFFER BEHIND IT IF YOU CAN MANAGE IT!" She laughs, a bright and giddy sound that is both right next to Chella and also very far away at the same time.

Chella sighs and begins examining the magical nature of the text, adjusting the letters in her mind and cross-referencing them with her own sorcerous understanding based on musical theory. Despite herself, she does become interested as she works, so much so that she doesn't notice when the server brings her a bowl of watery soup and bread, leaving it on the table. "Oh, it's a poem!" she says suddenly. "The text can be adjusted into four lines, and the first and third both resonate in the same way, as do the second and fourth. That's neat." She looks over at the greatclub with narrowed eyes. "Is that close enough, or do I have to do more to learn about the job details?"

Peri laughs again. "WELL DONE! ACTUALLY, I DO NOT KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE DETAILS, ONLY THAT A GROUP OF HUMANS AND GNOMES FROM ORGUANION ARE LOOKING TO HIRE OFFWORLDERS TO HELP THEM WITH A TASK. ORGUANION IS AN OLD-WORLD SOCIETY BASED ON GUILDS WHO ARE NORMALLY VERY HOSTILE TO OUTSIDERS. HOWEVER, THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE BOOKBINDER'S GUILD DO OCCASIONALLY HIRE EXPERTS FROM AS FAR AWAY AS SIGIL FOR EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES THAT REQUIRE SPECIAL HANDLING." She smiles, a glorious image inexplicably bathed in light. "A GROUP OF THEM ARE SHOWING AROUND THAT PAGE IN THE GUILDHALL WARD, DESCRIBING IT AS A SORT OF TEST TO SEE IF THEY WANT TO HIRE PEOPLE. MOST OF THE MERCENARIES THEY HAVE MET WITH SO FAR DON'T LOOK AS BRAWNY AS YOU, SO YOU WOULD BE A DISTINCTIVE CANDIDATE. YOU SHOULD GO OVER THERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, CHELLA DEAR."

Chella sighs again. She starts to protest that she hasn't even gotten her dinner yet, when she notices it sitting on the table. She pauses. Peri's advice was usually sound, though sometimes a bit delayed because of her unorthodox methods of obtaining information. And despite her initial misgivings, she was a little intrigued. "Veewell," she says after a moment's thought, "But let me finish the food first." Her purse was lean enough that she couldn't afford to waste a meal, and she had been scaling back to only two a day since work had dried up. Really shouldn't have upset the Harmonium, she thinks to herself for the umpteenth time, scowling at the memory. She slurps the bowl down in three gulps and grabs the roll to eat on the way, taking her club and leaving coins on the table. "I hope this isn't a waste of time," she mutters, eternally optimistic despite her gruff exterior.