[Game Thread] Final Round

[GleefulNihilism]

"So if I tried to go in further I'd have to give up my physical body," Archie thinks, pondering the possibility, "Could it all be that easy?"

The dream comes back in vivid detail, some unsuspecting town busy with trade when he would feel waves of heat throughout his body. The waves refusing to listen to his demands to stop, their strength gaining until it feels like molten pain is flowing in his veins. Then the sudden rush as the inner fire spreads in all directions, refusing to be contained within the Burning Sorcerer any longer. At first the roar, flames, and smoke always block what he sees and hears, but after the initial burn they always die down just enough to see what's left of the ones that happened to be close by, and the sound of screams of those not lucky enough to have died right away. . .

"No, that's just a dream Archie- it's all in your head. Besides, that would make a couple demon lords way too happy."

Never one to block other people in the pursuit of "happiness", of course remains cordial but stays out of Blazbert's way- socially speaking.

"Well, that's a bit of a let down- but can't say it doesn't make sense. I'll hang on to my body thank you very much. Still, we're supposed to meet our comrades at a fort that was a two day ride from the last place we saw them. Personally, I'd appreaciate a few hours to kick our feet up and a few drinks for the road- but if we could be dropped off at this, oh what was it called, Fort Hold when we leave I'd be much obliged."

A quick puff on a half-burned out cigar, and Archie graciously bows out of the conversation between the the short beings in the room.

"Sound okay to you guys?" he asks, looking toward Lyssa but not aiming the question at anyone in particular.

[Zhefonyll]

She actually curtsied for Archie.

For a moment, Blazbert had to wage a quiet war with his hormones as the well-rounded woman before him... displayed herself further. You can always tell the healthy ones when you see them in motion, and this girl was in good shape. Several pleasing shapes, actually. Darn it, Oceaneye, pull yourself together! She could be an assassin as easily as the last one.

Yeah, but where would she hide the knife?

Probably spelled right into her body, balls-for-brains.

It's a good thing others don't usually peek in on Blazbert's thoughts, because they may well declare that his tendency to talk to himself, even mentally, is a sign of insanity. Blazbert, however, was fairly sure he was sane, and that this sort of behavior is more common than people like to admit. At least, he didn't think that having two perspectives to his internal monologue was that odd.

As suspected, the woman before him said they couldn't actually visit Winesong. It was a real disappointment to the Halfling who wanted to see the afterlife that he might one day get, and it certainly didn't help Shadowthorn's hatred for those who sent the good people to an early grave like seeing that those people actually got a better afterlife would have. What was unexpected, however, was hearing that this was a full-blown lockdown of the Demiplanes. For the first time thus far, Blazbert's eyes widen at the magnitude of what's been set into motion. He quickly grins to hide it, as though he'd only been feigning surprise, and his grin only grows as the girl goes on to proposition him. At least, he's pretty sure she did.

When Malyssatryx's companion goes on to babble at her, saying most the same things the gnome-girl had, Blazbert half-mumbles to himself. "Gods closing their doors? Wow, I didn't think we'd kicked that big a hornets' nest. Maybe these demon-lords are stronger than I thought. Nah, if that one-handed, one-eyed mage could kick them around, they can't be that amazing." Mike goes on for a bit longer before his gambling-partner silences him, and finally introduces herself while apologizing that Blazbert and his companions aren't allowed in unless they want to die.

Archie, good friend that he is, picked up on the cues directed at Blazbert and, while declining the opportunity to die and go to paradise this minute, suggested that they could stay for a few hours. Blazbert made a mental note that he might owe the mage a favor. "Yeah, now that you mention it, I haven't had any beauty-rest of late. I think I need to go check into a room for a while. Besides, Tryx clearly needs time to catch up with her old friend."

Blazbert's eyes don't leave Tinka's while he speaks, and he winks at her when he mentions 'beauty-rest.' With a grin, he holds out his arm for her to take, turning toward the stairs. "Lady Knikkerbock, would you be so kind as to show me the guest-rooms upstairs?"

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Shadowthorn was well aware that this girl might be trying to distract him so that she could end his life, but that only made things more interesting for Blazbert...

[RonarsCorruption]

"Yes, I can. But again, nothing that could do more than stall a devil lord" Lian grumbles again, feeling less than useful. "I'll say again, we need a plan. Not just a 'you two stand in front' plan, something real, and we should count on the other three arriving, too. They did say they'd be here."

Lian looked at the massive structure, it would be interesting to have visited here when the war was on, he would have loved to have wreaked havoc, painted all the arrows pink for instance, something that wouldn't result in any more people being killed, but enough that they'd know someone had slipped in and out under their noses.

"Oh, and look, we're missing a wall!" Lian gestured to the destroyed section of the courtyard, "We have another route of attack, assuming they don't just knock down the walls to begin with." Lian may be complaining, but it was only because he had seen virtually no combat in his non-violent, yet so far short, life. He wasn't particularly happy about what might be the first fight he's in where both parties know it's happening from the start.

[Nimlos]

"They won't come with an army, Lian," Hala tells the young man gently. "The fort doesn't matter so much, really, because three - or even six - of us can't man the walls or properly defend it. My guess - and it's really just that, though I do have some experience - is that they'll send one or two small groups of powerful demons. Who will likely have wings anyway, so the wall doesn't do much good there. And yes, I'm sure the other three will be here, likely sooner than they intended, unless they actually are allowed into Lyssa's plane*."

She pauses, brushing her fingers across her chin as she looks at the fortress around her. Here, in this place, preparing for a battle, reminds her so strongly of her youth. And the welcome warmth of the chulu root seeping through tired muscles and aching joints, giving her mind that slightly giddy feeling it always brought, like the effects of a glass of good wine. And the company of these youngsters. Combined, they all make it so easy to forget the long march of years behind her. For a moment, she lives that age-old fantasy; the chance to revisit youth while armed with the wisdom of age, to correct all the mistakes made through ignorance, inexperience, fear. Then a glance at the back of her hand reminds her it's just a mirage. Impatient with herself for indulging such a silly fantasy, she shakes her head in self-reproach and forces her mind to the task at hand.

Lian is right about one thing for certain, a plan was needed. One that didn't involve her standing toe-to-toe with a cadre of demons. She'd always felt only a fool stood and traded blows; certainly she could (and had when necessary), but she preferred to attack from any side but the front, fade away and come back from another side altogether. Her father had taught her to use speed and stealth in combat, and those lessons had only been reinforced over the years. Summoning up her memories of the fort to complement what she can see of it, she turns her rogue's eye on the place, looking for possibilities for ambush, for misdirection, for sudden strikes. The problem was a lack of information. Though she could guess they would face small groups of powerful creatures, she had no idea what kind, or how they would come, or, for that matter, what was happening in the city and whether this indeed was just a means to get six powerful people out of the way.

"And the sooner they get here, the better," she continues at last. "We need their help."

OOC *Nope, not player knowledge and not metagaming. Hala said here that given the circumstances, planes like Winesong would likely be closed.

[TheDarkFuzz]

Lyssa sighs, then throws her hands up and walks over to the bar. "Of course He would do this to me." she says to no one in particular, smiling and shaking her head while she rummages through the stocked drinks. "You know, after all I've done for Him you'd figure He could be a little accommodating. Still, it could be worth staying here for a little while if - ah!" She grins triumphantly at finding the drink she was looking for, a wine distilled from one of His ageless vineyards. Coming back up, bottle in hand, she nods at Blazbert making his way upstairs with the gnome, That was, after all, what being here was all about. Turning to Archie and smiling, she pours a glass for herself and then offers one to him. "Just the thing. If you've never drunk in Olidammara's realm before, prepare yourself. Though I warn you - you may feel like you could never stand to drink tavern swill again."

Coming back around to the other side of the bar, she picks up her glass and raises it in mock toast. "Here's to Him anyways, the damnable rascal, and the next one I drink will be in Winesong when we're done with these fiendish nuisances." The sip she takes after the toast turns into a drink, which turns into a gulp, and then the whole glass is gone. She giggles, then burps in embarrassment. She had forgotten how delicious the drink was up here. "Alright, I lied, I'm having another." She quickly pours herself another glass, then walks over to the table where Mike and Tinka had been playing and sits herself down. "So Mike, are you gonna deal me in?"

[Embrodak]

Vanai looks at the scars of the little keep. The missing wall with dripping acid. The failed bombardment with the large rock. Though trained in the martial arts, trained more so than his companions, the Paladin was one who preferred to work out ones problems through words giving compromise to a rational request, not at the business end of a sword. With demons though there was no compromising and the only way to protect innocents was his sword.

Vanai looks to his two companions.. His two strange companions, a woman who could easily the thirty year old's mother if not grandmother, and a strange flamboyant man who seemed very adverse to actual combat. "I am all for an honorable combat, if an honorable opponent can be found. The problem is we will not be dealing with honorable foes in the days to come. We will be dealing with those who's sole purpose is to destroy us so they can then be free to cause havoc on those who can not defend themselves. To beat these foes we need to use every dirty nasty trick in the book. One of those tricks is they would not expect me, a Valiant Paladin to resort to trickery. If they believe in that stereotype than we can exploit that. Set me up as bait and as they approach me on the field of our choosing we spring the trap. We'll fight as dirty as we need, as the bottom line at the end of the day is that we crush them. Crush the life from them, so they can not harm another innocent."

[RonarsCorruption]

"That's so... viscous. But, as loathe as I am to admit it, you are right. We cannot fight fair, for neither will they. But my question is thus; devils and demons are not slain on this plane, merely banished. Are we setting ourselves up for an endless battle? Should we not find someone capable of binding demons, should they come here, so that even if we cannot kill them, we can trap them?"

Lian rested his fist against his mouth, thinking. "I think, we will have to hole ourselves up in the mercenary barracks, as Hala suggests." He speaks through his fist, his words becoming slightly mumbled as they roll through his fingers, "I suggest that we use it to our advantage. There is only one door into it - there." Lian's hand moves from his mouth to point at the obvious door on the small structure, "And two windows. There isn't a back door, because it's against the fort wall. Archie should stand at one of the windows, and Tryx at the other nearer the door, because from there they can see and cast spells, but still come out and aid us if we need it in a more literal sense."

Lian then turned around, to point at the fort, singling out one of it's windows that had caved in decades ago from a poorly aimed catapult ball. "During the fight, I can stand there, and antagonize the force, setting them against eachother, or at least distracting them while You two, " now turning again to gesture at both Hala and Vanai, "will be near the door. Vanai, since you seem eager to be bait, you will wait at the door, so you can step just inside and be toe-to-toe with only a single demon at once, and not be overwhelmed. Hala, you and Blazbert will be nearby, and invisible. Once the battle is joined, you will attack from the flank, pinning in whatever force there is, and giving us the advantage. By then, Archie and Tryx, potentially also invisible, should have targeted any devils foolish enough to attempt to attack in force with explosions. If we need to, I will come down and lend a hand to the battle, but I hope it should not be nessicarry."

Lian finishes talking and gives a sigh as if he had planned hundreds of such battles. He hadn't but analyzation of risk was one of his strong points - as a catburgalar, it had to be. He had to know where the guards were going to be, where the wards were going to be set up. If he got into a fight, who would he be up against, and where would they come from. Guard routes, vantage points, kill holes. Every thing made a difference to an approach, everything made the difference to an exit. Even though he had the power to bend the world to his will, and walk through walls, fly over traps, and vanish without a trace - he always remembered to keep his old skills sharp, using them instead of his magic whenever he could.

Awareness was the greatest virtue, even over power or knowledge. The wisest man could be struck down, if he fails to notice a breach in his defenses - and the strongest can be defeated by the correct application of force. All it took was a steady eye and as much planning as possible before. The more planning before, the less one finds oneself suddenly unprepared. The less one finds oneself unprepared, the less one is at a disadvantage.

[GleefulNihilism]

"I don't know, I kind of appreciate him not spoiling the suprise of the great beyond," Archie begins to comment, "Would you want to know how a mystery story ended before you were done reading it?"

Of course this line of reasoning immediately heads to the back burner when Lyssa produces the wine.

"So it'll be like nothing I've ever had before? With a name like Winesong, anything less would be an insult." The cigar goes to his hand as he takes a long dreg. The whole glass is almost gone before she offers the toast, and it takes incredible will to rip his lips away long enough for that.

"Cheers. Fortunately I could barely stand tavern swill in the first place."

Finishing off the glass, he's in the mood for a second himself, "Let's keep passing that around. You weren't kidding, makes you almost want to die. After converting of course."

Oh, that was an awkward thing to say.

"Anyway, deal me in too Mikey. What's the game? You know what, nevermind- I'll learn as we go along."

[Amy]

A Brief Side Event

Note 1 For the benefit of this aside I think it would be best if all characters were at Fort Hold. I hate to disrupt the flow of the game, but something would happen to force that to occur anyway.

Note 2 For the benefit of the existing game, I am making a side thread for this ‘encounter’, located here. Please do not post in this Round 3 Game Thread again until an actual DM gives more direction.

Note3 The link is locked until we figure out what to do...

[RoBi]

 

The bare naked gnome curtsies once again then motions for Blazbert to follow her. She leads him up stairs to room room marked with the numeral 1. She opens it for him. Here is your room good sir. I will take my leave now. Unless you need or want something else. The gives him the "look".

Mike follows the gnome upstairs with his eyes. Once the gnome is out of site Mike sits back down that the table. Just like her to try and weasel out of losing her next hand. Mike picks up the gnome's cards from the table and examines them. He frowns slightly then begins to shuffle them back into the deck. The game is Dragon ante fours and whores are wild who's in?

 

It is getting late. The court yards and surrounding builds have been searched and cleared of inhabitants. The only two structures that appear stable enough to spend the night in is a small guard house located in the "killing field" to the left of the gate and the keep which has yet to be explored. The guard house while small is large enough to house the 3 of you for the night.

 

Anyone in winesong wishing to play cards will need to make an opposing wisdom check for every hand they wish to play. A hand lasts 15 minutes and you can play all night or until you run out of close which ever happens first. So you could potential roll 32 wis checks for the 8 hours of "night".

Anyone one at Fort Hold may make a str check to remove the bar locking the Keep. That is if you guys wish to explore it.

[GleefulNihilism]

"Well, I'm betting on a card game I've never heard of before in rogue heaven? What could poosibly go wrong?" he chuckles, welcome to the new experience. Probably the only thing he'll do wisely is that if money is involved he'll bet modestly.

"So, how do you play this game? I assume I get to keep my clothes even if I'm not allowed to wear them."

[Zhefonyll]

Blazbert barely glances into the room that's offered, chuckling softly as the formalities are observed. "Well, then, now that you've shown me to my room, maybe you'd like to show me the room you're staying in? I'm betting it's much more fun than the guest room I'd get. Oh, and I find it very difficult to rest beauties if they don't stay with me..."

 

I really can't do a lot with this here.
Please, just have a door-scene (Tinka leads Blazbert into her room, and what happens behind the closed door is glossed over as we move the story along) or have the gnome turn Blazbert down (what a frikkin' tease!). You can freely assume that he tries to get into her room and spend some quality time with her.

I could refer back to what happened to build on my character, but actually going through RPing the entire scene would simply mean more posts of the party not together.

[RonarsCorruption]

"Right, so that's settled." Lian rolls up the parchements that the group had been looking over, and tucks them into the large chest that he conjured out of nowhere only to dissapear just as suddenly "We need only to wait until the others arrive, assuming they do, and well will begin with Plan A. If they never show up, we'll be forced into the much less pleasant Plan B, but if they're in the arms of a different, uninvolved god, I can't imagine why they wouldn't come back."

Lian walked around the small guardhouse where they were currently sitting. The beds were all moldy, unused for years, and there weren't enough windows or other escape methods to his liking, which meant he would be sleeping with his cloak on, in case a hasty escape was needed.

Selecting one of the few empty rooms, Lian closed the door, and stripped down for the night, laying everything inside his magical chest, save for the replica, which he tied to a string on his cloak so he would have it, and under the cover of his magical cloak, and his magical powers, he fell quickly into a light sleep, ready to wake if any noise from the other room became too loud, or anyone so much as teleported into the room he was sleeping in. Tomorrow, hopefully, they would begin baiting the devil lords, and they would go from there.

 

So, I know we took some liberties with the fort, but you never mentioned the 'mercenary barracks' at all, which is where we had been hanging out the last... ten or fifteen posts. I'm going to assume that the small guard house is the mercenary building we've been talking about thw whole time.

[TheDarkFuzz]

Lyssa smiles as she takes a seat, a predatory look slowly coming over her face as Mike deals out the cards. Drow did not play Dragon Ante, as a rule. They didn't play any card games at all. Some of the wizards played strategic games, designed to sharpen their minds and relieve some of the boredom of everyday life, but gambling without putting your life at risk had no place in Menzoberranzan. Of course, as with many things "not done" in the drow city, Lyssa had experienced the card game for her first time during her first visit here, and while she did not find it as much fun as dancing, she was much, much better at it.

Her first hand had, of course, been stacked to lose. Her second as well. Understanding the game didn't mean much when a group of seasoned cheaters wanted to see your shirt off. The first time she played, she was out in five hands, all losses. She hadn't cared, of course, and besides going back out to dance entirely nude she doesn't even remember much about that night. Other games followed that one, games where she wasn't being cheated, and (while she wasn't terribly drunk) she found that she could win more often than not. In fact, beyond that first occasion she never had to take more off than her shoes before the whole rest of the table was naked. When they played for money, she was responsible for many a hopeful thief's descent into poverty.

It had been a while since she last played, and she grins at the familiar feeling coming over her - the same feeling that a spider gets when it sees flies making a beeline for its web. Lyssa had shed much of her drow heritage, it's true, but there were some feelings you could never lose. That sweet sensation of power sends an electric thrill up her spine. Sitting down across the card table, she feels much as she did fighting demons the day previous. This was her battlefield, her game, and she would teach these boys why there were few even in Winesong proper who would meet her eyes across a card table.

"Fours and whores, huh? I guess we're playing by girly rules tonight. Five card hands, one draw, ante five and something you're wearing to start sound good to you boys?"

[Embrodak]

Vanai moves with the group to the bunks finding the sturdiest of the bunch and removes his back pack, quiver and bow from his shoulders releasing a sigh of relief as the weight, insignificant as it was, is removed. He place his shield in an up right position the straps in easy reach and he removes his sword. Fully armored he sits down on a bunk testing to be sure it is sturdy enough to hold a three hundred pound half orc in full plate armor. Yes it was made of Mithral, but it was still heavy.

"I learned long ago to sleep in my armor, hells I almost feel naked if I'm not sleeping in it. That's why I had the suit commissioned as it is light enough for me to sleep in comfortably enough to remain armored while I sleep. You should see the look of surprise when a group sneaks up on what they think a defenseless man sleeping, only to be confronted by a pissed off half-orc fully armored and ready for battle." Vanai says with a snort at the thought. "Believe me it's come in handy, in one of my early days of adventuring a group of bandits came upon my group. They took out our sentry with a simple sleep spell. One of the bandits, a scrappy little dwarf, came up to me being the biggest of the group. He raised his axe in an overhand chop planning on slicing me in two while I slept under my blanket. His aim was true and his axe hit me dead center in the chest, right at the strongest part of my breastplate. His axe pierced the armor, but only a little bit giving me a small gash and the needed wake up call. I swept him from his feet causing him to fall in the nearby fire. I rose grabbed my sword and managed to fight off the intruders long enough for my friends to be roused from the magical sleep. It was only after we fought them off did I find that the axe was still lodged in my breastplate. I had to take it off and it took three of us to hold it in position to get the leverage to yank it out."

He smiles a strange smile at the recollection. [b]"If you are ever in the town of Haven at the Northern edge of the Hool Marshes make sure you stop at the beardless dwarf tavern. My breastplate, gash and all, is displayed over the Vanai Company booth.

With his reminiscing over with he looks to Lian and Hala. "So if we are going to bunk down and rest, how do we want to go a watch?"

"Do either of you have any way of putting up any defensive wards or a sanctuary spell?"