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Numair finally enters the room, waiting to see if there is a reaction for the missing Felrin or if the plate causes anything to occur. He'll try to approach the bar Timeon indicated, while avoiding stepping on the pressure plate or the spot where Felrin went through. "You think this'll help release you, Timeon?" perception
Numair acts frightened of what could happen, and then adds "Can anyone see what may have happened to our friend?"
"Now, good Mulam, you must have faith that all will work out for the best. It's obvious to me we are all being tested. This Thorn, if that is his real name, is putting us through this and it's up to all of us, working together, to show him that we will not be bested. If we can find good Timeon's master, then we will truly be able to enact justice and give Thorn the reward he so justly deserves. Timeon, be patient with Mulam, he has had a very rough time of it lately, and is not as strong as the rest of us. Now, we must test our friend's efforts, and see if we have been able to stop this horrible trap. And then recover our other friend."
"Twigs, can you try and jam that stone block? Maybe we can keep it so it doesn't let the snakes out."
"Yes, Timeon, these are my companions. We all got put down here by that Thorn fellow. We'll work together to get free and then maybe try and bring him to the reward he deserves. Looks like my friends found what might trigger the trap. Patience, friend." Numair remains just at the doorway while Twigs and Felrin do their thing.
"As it happens, I know who this Timeon is. From my times in the Mitran 're-education' camps; he was one of the preachers who devoutly preached the party line. He was called away before I finished my time, in order to apprentice himself to a noble in the north. Apparently I now know which one."
"I will talk to my companions. Patience, good Timeon!" Numair withdraws back into the room. "I am humoring him as I thought he may know how to get through. Now, we may have an even better reason. What is our play?"
Numair's eyes darken ever so briefly as he realizes who the man is; only his companions may have noticed his brief change in expression. "Oh, jeez, we won't leave you, but let me talk to my companions here. We're gonna try and come up with a plan. Don't worry ... sorry, who are you? I'm Jendel. And is your Lord here, too? Was he captured?"
int check "By Mitra, he got you too?! Oh, we are surely cursed! Yes, all of us have found ourselves down here without our choice. We won't come in, but how are we to free you? Do you know what will release the snakes?" bluff
"Actually, perhaps I would be of some use here. My father had diplomatic leanings, and some of that rubbed off on me. Mind if I speak to him?" Assuming a positive response from his leaders, Numair will creep forward to the door, and peer in. He will not yet enter the room. In his guise as a humble peasant, and making sure the others are out of view, he will try and get the man's attention. "Umm, ah, ex-excuse me, sir? Wh-who are you? Can you help me? I-I-I don't know where I am and me and my friends are t-trying to find our way out. Please help!" Numair carefully observes the man and room as talks, trying to ascertain who he might be as well. perception
Numair holds back near the rear, as usual. He keeps himself ready for whatever may be behind ...
"An excellent idea, Gil! Now that's the teamwork I believe Thorn was talking about." Numair calls back, although even he thinks his praise comes off sounding a bit too ... cheerleader-ish, and he grimaces inwardly. Shocked he came up with it and not me, though. Oh well, every dog has his day I suppose.
Numair simply shrugs, and will follow along, but will wait and follow at the rear.
"Or perhaps our master is merely having some fun with us. Or one of servants. Either way, we should still be on our guard." Numair steps in behind most of the others; he will attempt to go second from last.
Numair shakes his head and follows after the rest. "We're missing something, but what?"
"This just seems like a waste of more time. As if these 'tests', if that's what they are, are merely trying to keep us from succeeding at our main task. Felrin, Twigs, if you find nothing else, then I think our dear leader had the right idea and perhaps we go back and choose a different path."
"'Some battles are not meant to be won. Shed thy pride and pull thyself from the depths of despair. Have no regrets on treading the path not chosen.' Felrin, Gil, see if you can remove the gratings on the floor! That may keep you from getting crushed and perhaps use the chains to cross the way!"
Humbled by the fact that his spells were mostly useless in a situation like this, and unable to think of anything else, Numair makes a meek suggestion to Twigs. "Maybe try pulling the lever again?"
"Well, if we're going to pull the lever, let's do it and get on with it. I don't have any other suggestions." Still, Numair will back up as far as he can ...
"Yes, I believe we will need to go under the chains by kneeling or crawling along. That much seems ... if not obvious, at least it makes sense it light of the instructions. My guess is the 'crushing' comes into play with the blocks from the ceiling coming free."
Once the wall has been brought down enough to get a better view, Numair will once again use detect magic on the hall and the environs as Gil and Isabelle begin going through.
"If there's no obvious danger, maybe we can remove the rest of the wall to get a better look. We can all investigate and give this setup a good look. I know we don't have unlimited time, but as we have no idea what's going on, we should also be cautious. And I wonder if the blank plaque itself is a clue of some sort. Such as needing to remain unseen as if the writing was invisible."
Haven't been on much since I've come down with a nasty stomach bug. Soon as I feel better I should be back up to the regular posting schedule.
"If I may suggest, why not remove just a few bricks, and then Gil can send his dancing lights through to look in the room behind? At least before bringing the whole thing down and letting whatever nasty surprise could be there through."
Numair also quickly moves through the door, stopping only when the others do. "I think that had we not wasted most of the crystal, it would have likely killed the entire thing. But be that as it may, we are through."
"I agree, dear leader. Gil, perhaps try to get it near the handle and keyhole, so that we are able to hopefully clear that spot first." Numair hangs back a bit, behind Malum but not as far back as Twigs.
"I agree. Cold is the most logical form of attack. Unfortunately, our dexterous friend destroyed much of that crystal. We should help him transport what's left. Hopefully, it's enough to bypass this hazard." Numair retreats to the previous room to see what the rogue is up to. "Twigs, we need whatever is left of that crystal to get past a door in the next room. How much is left?" Numair will try and assist him as best as possible in safely transporting it to the mold.
"I would think this eastern door should be our focus, especially as our warning earlier mentioned, 'not following the herd'. As no tracks go to that door, selecting it would be not following, I think?" Looking at the mold thing, Numair adds, "I apologize, but my knowledge of the natural side of things is also a bit limited. However, if the cold is indeed coming from it, the second part of our message says to 'fear not their icy derision'. Perhaps with the correct key, we can proceed with fear."
"Gil, my friend, do you see anything that might be causing the cold? This seems quite unnatural. If you'd like, I can scan for magic before we enter." If given the room, Numair will stand at the door and scan the room with detect magic.
"Or perhaps we are not to blindly just follow each other into the room? Gil, what are you able to see?"
"Remind me to brush up on my sarcasm, my friend," Numair replies to Malum with a grin. "No, I don't think she's his concubine in a literal sense. But as she likes to watch us every moment, I thought it might be fun to rile her up a bit."
"Did the writing hold anything of value, Gil? Any words of wisdom from our Master, or just the taunts and slurs of his concubine?"
I've read some of them, but not played. Looks like a lot of fun, and it's been an enjoyable read so far.
Numair involuntarily shivers as the cold mist wraps around him. [b]"Please be more careful in the future, Twigs. You're a thief; you should know better than anyone to thoroughly check those things out before just grabbing. And definitely hold on to them a little better."[/b[
Numair was about to answer Felrin in the affirmative, but at Isabelle's words, he frowns and quiets himself. As I suspected, she's a fool. Nothing should be overlooked in this place, it is all a test. She will leads us to our failure; perhaps I should start looking for ways to supplant her with Felrin.
fort
As he sees Twigs reach for the gem, Numair makes a quick lunge to try and stop him. initiative "Wait! We don't know what this really is, you fool!" grapple
"Of course, we could also check for the obvious first, since illusions could be masking something nasty." Numair begins using detect magic on the room, first targeting the pedestal, then moving the other parts of the room (floor, walls, door).
"I believe you are correct, Sabel. However, if I may also suggest that this is also more of the Master's instructions as it is a warning. I believe he may be trying to give us some tactics; perhaps some of the foes have been given our descriptions or some of the traps work off of appearance. Maybe we should all activate our amulets, so that we appear to be much less than we are? A group of trapped peasants or slaves, for instance." Numair will not await a response before activating his amulet to appear non-descript and non-threatening. His fine clothes give way to an illusion of a dirty laborer's tunic and breeches, while his well-groomed face becomes unshaven and greasy. His fine, jet-black hair becomes a reddish-blonde, and he now looks more like a native Talirean.
Numair, having stepped out briefly to gather his equipment, seems to appear as if from nowhere. "Ready and awaiting your orders, my captains!" he exclaims with a mock salute and broad smile.
Good to hear you're up and around; hope you and your family get 100% quickly!
No rush. FYI, we have a funeral tomorrow, then are leaving to drive to Florida Sunday morning. It's about a 19 hour drive, so I may be scarce until sometime Monday or so.
Well, if you do end up with Craft Wondrous, I'll definitely go with arms and armor at 5th. I think we can get by pretty well without needing to duplicate.
Numair continues his smile. "And so, the Nessian Knot is truly born. Thank you for the gifts, Master Thorn. But I think we need something else before we can even begin our training on the morrow. We should take a cue from the White Ravens - we need a name. Something to unify us, to stand behind. To take pride in. The Pawns of Perdition? Knights of the Pit? Hell's Angels? Or, better yet, acknowledge where we came from ... where this group was spawned. Perhaps Heaven's Forsaken or the Scarred Host? What say you, Sabel and Felrin?" Once a decision has been made, Numair will then do something else. He will take his new pendant, and hold it over one of the lit candles until it is very hot . Numair then rolls back the sleeve of his clothes, and presses the symbol right over the scarred "F" already present, leaving the Asmodean symbol pressed over the Forsaken one. "While I acknowledge where I started, that symbol no longer has sway over me. It is that of my Ultimate Master that defines me now."
Numair smiles, a broad, genuine smile. "I would be most honored, Felrin." He lifts the pendant on the steel chain, and slowly places it around the tiefling's neck. "May Lord Asmodeus guide you and give you steel in your soul. Let the might of Hell lead you, and us, to victory!" Once that is complete, Numair looks over the pendants and notices one on a bright golden chain. "If you would be so kind as to return the favor, my friend and co-leader." Numair displays his pendant proudly (at least until he needs to hide it, of course). When the 'ceremony' is complete, he turns to the Cardinal. "Master Thorn, will you be leading any services this evening? If so, I would very much like to attend, and while I certainly won't speak for him, I have a feeling Felrin may also like to."
Still very much having fun! I'm having a blast plotting and scheming, most lately about how Numair might take his vengeance on Blackerly. Which WILL happen, I assure you. Since we're speaking of next levels and such ... wanted to get with the other spellcasters in regards to crafting feats. I was thinking of grabbing craft wondrous items at 5th level, but as for others, do we want to spread them around a bit? Maybe someone else grab craft magic arms and armor, and someone else wands? Although a second person with wondrous items might be useful to double our output. Any more than that probably isn't needed, and it would probably be more helpful for us to craft our own items. Might be difficult finding unholy weapons for purchase in this country! :-) What do you think? FYI to everyone, I'm leaving next Saturday (Dec. 14th) for Florida, and will be there for about three weeks (coming back on Jan. 4th). I will have access to the internet, so while I may be a little less frequent, it shouldn't be a significant drop at all.
"Yes, Master Thorn. I am well aware that I owe my continued existence to Sabel and Twigs. Though from my understanding of the events, I may be beholden to Twigs more so for not leaving my comatose body behind. But I have already agreed to serve you, and Isabelle is my leader as you have commanded. Thus, so long as she serves you and the Dark Prince, I serve at her disposal. You will have no argument or question from me." An observant individual might notice that at his mention of 'so long as she serves you and the Dark Prince' seemed to be a qualifier.
"Blood, tears, tooth, and claw have been satisfied. That leaves me either sweat or fur. For some reason, I suspect our fearless new leader," Numair says with only the barest traces of sarcasm evident in his voice, "will do better at providing fur. And so, I shall endeavor to provide the sweat." Numair approaches one of the candles on the table, and begins holding his hand over it, palm side down. It isn't long before he begins showing discomfort, but he holds his hand in place. Eventually, his face turns quite red, and beads of sweat begin to form from the pain of the flame. He steps away, and allows the sweat to drip into one of the corresponding holes in the cube.
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I am trying to download the Starfinder Core Rulebook as a single file PDF which I purchased a few minutes ago. After clicking on the "Download" link and waiting a couple of minutes for the PDF to personalise, I am left with a link to a 143 bytes file. When the file downloads, it's just an empty .zip file with no contents. Just to clarify, I can download the "One File per Chapter" version and some other books from my Download Library just fine. I have tried resetting the operation with the "Problems downloading this file?" link a number of times now and always get the same result. Many thanks for your help! |