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Mindsiege · #61 Oct 6th, 2022, 07:48 PM

Tactical Retreat

It took a mere moment for Jimmy to gather his faculties as he spied the gnarly darkling that was looking back at him while he shared the eyes of his familiar. Giving his telepathic order for retreat, it took the half-elven warlock a few seconds to get back into his body, but he had already prepared his party for the eventual possibility of a raised alarm and an ensuing engagement. Boanagh was visibly pained to move into formation with the purpose of possibly slaying his own brethren, yet the darkling elder did Jimmy's bidding as the group of five fell back slightly into the tunnel and awaited those that would give them chase. With the curve and a chokepoint in front of them, the Hexblade was prepared to fight his way out of his scout having been spotted. Just as he noticed that there weren't immediate steps running after them, it occurred to him that he had the time to strew multiple of his bags of caltrops into the tunnel in front of his frontline. About five bags in he strained his ears but still didn't hear further enraged voices and still no steps that would signal any darklings running after his fled familiar. Ilala was the first to look for the party's de facto leader to assert what he thought this meant, keeping her own voice quiet according to the tension in the air. "I don't hear them running. Just faint noises in the distance. What is your plan, rootless?"

secretID · #62 Oct 6th, 2022, 09:44 PM

Jimmy broke the tense silence with a sigh of exasperation. "Loch, watch our rear," he whispered, and immediately regretted his phrasing. "I guess we'll have to do this at a distance. Take it away, Big B," he said. "Let 'em know we come in peace, and see if you can find out what the heck they're doin' out here." Tinkerbell now an invisible imp on his shoulder, Jimmy returned to watching and waiting with the others.

Mindsiege · #63 Oct 9th, 2022, 11:49 AM

Welcoming Committee

Despite the tension in the air after the party had swiftly barricaded their current tunnel, Loch couldn't help but give sly smile at Jimmy's phrasing. But he never said anything out loud. It would have been too easy, and this wasn't the right audience. Regrettably. Instead, Boanagh was the first to speak, and although he held his blade in hand and looked ready to fight, his whole body language spoke of his reluctance to treat his fellow darklings this way. The tunnels of the colony usually allowed sounds to travel fairly easily, and as such the darkling elder called out as Jimmy had suggested. "Brethren! We come in peace!" Somehow the mere mention of this fact seemed to pain Boanagh, considering that it should have gone without saying. "We are... surprised to have you precede us like this!" The darkling guide visibly struggled to find the words. His next frantic call sounded almost like a plea. "What is going on?!" There was a small pause in the faint sounds of conversation which the party could hear coming from the campsite, and then fairly audible steps began to echo through the tunnel, apparently coming closer. "Is this you, Elder Boanagh?" From behind the bend that Jimmy and his party had been keenly watching, ready for combat, a female sylvan stepped into open view with an almost carefree attitude. The warlock and Boanagh could recognize her fairly easily as they had met her not too many days ago during the elder council. Her gaze drew in the sight of dryads and the half-naked satyr at their rear, and then also coursed over the floor where the ground was covered in a concerning amount of caltrops. Even from this distance, they could see her raise an eyebrow. "I can see that you did not expect us to await you here. But I do not understand the meaning of this." Jimmy vaguely remembered that she had been introduced to him by the name of Glynn, but for the moment the female elder didn't seem ready to approach any further. The other, smaller darklings appeared to have stayed behind at the campsite, and now it was only Glynn who gave Boanagh a questioning look. "We deemed that you shouldn't face the danger of your quest alone, Westhaven mercenaries aside. But has something disturbing happened on your way here? Again, what is the meaning of this?" She gestured vaguely in the direction of the party, and Boanagh subtly flinched before he shot Jimmy a look that conveyed both his confusion and a trace of his guilt to be standing before his fellow elder so hostile and distrustful as they had arrived.

secretID · #64 Oct 13th, 2022, 09:33 AM

"You let 'em know where we were goin', heh?" Jimmy quietly asked Boanagh rhetorically, disappointed but not entirely unsympathetic of the darkling's resilient trust of his fellows.

"Hey there, ah, Glynn - right?" Jimmy called across the cave. "Nice to see a friendly face. Don't take alla this personal; it's - actually, gimme a sec. I gotta disarm somethin'." After pausing for Guidance on self for coming Insght check.a gesture and a mumble, Jimmy returned to the conversation. "Like I was saying, these are whatchacall troubling times. We can't rule anything out, y'know? Illusions...doppelgangers...Anyway, that's great that you came ta help. You didn't say nothin' about that in the meetings, though - what made you decide ta come?"

Mindsiege · #65 Oct 18th, 2022, 09:45 PM

Invitation

Boanagh exchanged a look with Jimmy as the foreign warlock concluded that he hadn't kept the location of this campsite secret from his fellow darklings, but the pained caution on the elder's face suggested that he had grown uncertain about who to trust since they had left the northern outpost. When Glynn stepped in front of the party and Jimmy addressed her back from a distance, Boanagh firmly kept his words to himself and just awaited the female darkling's answer to the inquiry about her presence here. Glynn on the other side must have been keenly aware of the tension that hung over the party of five, yet she remained calm as she considered the adventurer's question before giving a shrug and giving him a long, sideways glance. "It caught my ears that your fighting force dissolved, and certain voices arose that we should not simply leave the fate of our colony in the lap of outsiders." Glynn gave the party another judging look, before turning her face to the side to look down the tunnel where she had come from. Then she turned back with a polite smile. "We barricaded the other two pathways into the cavern, expecting that you would come this way. Speaking of which, we are quite stocked on provisions and you look like you've been walking for a while." She gestures down the tunnel bend. "Let us take a seat as we discuss this further. Your familiar was only a small surprise, and I think it would serve us all better if we were slightly less on edge." Although Boanagh was standing at the front of the grouping, Glynn's gaze swiftly passed back over him and moved to hold Jimmy's as she had singled him out to be calling the shots. It was clear that the other elder meant to exude a sense of calm when the tension in the tunnel was still clearly there, but otherwise her collected expression didn't give much more away.

secretID · #66 Oct 23rd, 2022, 06:01 PM

"Sounds good," Jimmy said, and began slowly sweeping up the caltrops. "So how many came with you?" he asked. At Jimmy's silent command, Tinkerbell lifted off the warlock's shoulder to lazily flap past Glynn and into the area beyond.

OOCJimmy sweeps slowly enough to get her answer, then Tink's preliminary report of numbers and anything unusual (like an apparent ambush), well before he finishes. I don't think Jimmy's close enough to the chamber to use Tink's senses, but if so he will. Otherwise, he'll just wait for Tink's report on return.

A little thought: While I would expect most modestly experienced adventurers to know how familiars work, judging from Boanagh I wouldn't think the relatively sequestered darklings to know much about such things. It could matter going forward.

Mindsiege · #67 Oct 30th, 2022, 02:30 PM

Recovered Campsite

Glynn didn't pay much heed to Tink as Jimmy had ordered his familiar and sent the imp flapping past her, and without turning away from the party she answered the adventurer's question while his servant flew around the tunnel bend and toward the campsite. "I've brought eight men with me to secure this camp, four of them even practiced in riding spiders. We've brought their mounts as well." The female darkling elder remained at the same distance as before while regarding Jimmy who had begun to sweep up his caltrops. The warlock took a momentary pause once he received Tink's telepathic message that he was about to exit the tunnel, and then together the two of them shared the imp's senses looking out for any traces of an ambush. Without his line of sight restricted by the tunnel, they could now see most of the campsite's arrangement in front of them, which amounted to a bigger cavern with a few natural stone columns in between which supported a few of the darklings' usual encampment stands that featured their dark, silken tarps to create little roofed areas.

Close to the tunnel's opening, but a few further steps away than their sentry had stood previously, there were seven darklings somewhat in the same vicinity as if they had been listening to the conversation in the tunnel together, but when they now noticed the flying imp, they began to eye him somewhat suspiciously. Jimmy could recognize through his familiar's senses that none of them had drawn any weapons, and there were none waiting behind any corners that fell into view immediately. Incidentally, they had somewhat of a respectful distance from the tunnel, at least far enough that they stood out of the woven roof which warded the cave entrance against any moisture dripping from the cave ceiling. It looked like everybody was just calmly waiting for the new arrivals to follow after Glynn as proposed, but just when Jimmy's suspicions had been appeased, he spotted a small billowing motion that went through the cloth that was spanning across Tink's head. A momentary bulge in the tarp that almost disappeared immediately as if it had never been there. While he was blinded from seeing the caltrops he had been sweeping moments ago, the female elder's voice interrupted his thoughts. "So, these are the sylvan allies that you were able to convince into aiding our kind. I am surprised, I will say. I hadn't imagined that any of our neighbors would be concerned. Any support we receive in these trying times is quite the boon. If you ask me, this holds true, whether bought or not." Glynn's smile remained polite while she observed the group with intelligent eyes. Loch wore a broad smile as well, but almost as if denying himself to act on an impulse, the bearded satyr waited and left answering to somebody else.

secretID · #68 Nov 4th, 2022, 08:29 PM

"Yeah, well," Jimmy responded to Glynn's last conciliatory comment, "I 'preciate it. Even heroes gotta make rent, right?"

But Jimmy's improved feelings toward the darkling stemmed less from her words than from Tinkerbell's findings. He passed his familiar a last mental message. Those are probably the spider mounts she was just tellin' us about back here, he informed Tinkerbell. But take a peek on the top of the tent to make sure. You see anythin' more suspicious than that, you lemmee know quick, 'cause we're headin' that way. An' watch out fer webs!

"Well, ahright," Jimmy said to Glynn, and nodded reassuringly to his companions. "I think I got all the little spikes. Let's meet your crew. Watch yer step, though," he tells the others. "I ain't perfect." With that, Jimmy moves to follow Glynn back to the large chamber, though at a restrained pace.

Mindsiege · #69 Nov 9th, 2022, 07:14 PM

In The Details

Dissuaded about the intentions of the darklings who had beat him and Boanagh to this campsite, Jimmy ordered his familiar to go and check above the tarp while he and his party of sylvans began to approach Elder Glynn who was waiting for them placidly at the tunnel bend in front of them. While Tink was looking out for any spider webs that might have been barring his way hidden in the cavernous darkness to even the eyes of an imp, at the same time Loch broke formation as he fell into step with Jimmy and leaned toward him conspiratorially to speak in a dimmed voice. "Reluctant as I am to admit, I've yet to weave any tales in my personal epos in the company of darkling women. Ach, the stunted ones certainly aren't quite my taste, but this elder has some elfin fairness to her, I'll say. What is your read on her? I'll not go against the grain on this one. Am I safe to let my charms fly merrily?" The bearded satyr's dark eyes were gleaming at Jimmy as he gave him his usual confident grin, and by the grace of his pact, the Hexblade could see in full color that Loch was never even blushing while making his intentions blatantly clear. Sashaya who was walking nearby shot a look of disdain over at the two men, her own beautiful features twisted into an expression that Jimmy hadn't really seen her make before.

But before the half-elven adventurer had much of a chance to respond to the social dynamics of his current outing, as he kept walking down the tunnel his own thoughts were interrupted by the telepathy of his flying servant. "Yeah, err... I'm calling suspicious right now, boss! Can't see any spiders, but it's tough to describe. Like, whatever's in there is covered by more of that black cloth. So if there's anything inside, it's trapped right now!" Having gotten close enough for Boanagh to be in a more comfortable talking distance with the other darkling elder, Jimmy's guide and companion picked up on Glynn's previous comment about buying help from outside the colony. He spoke to her in elven so that the adventurer in question could understand as well. "There's much aid to be found within the friendship. Maybe not as much as we'd like in these dire times, but it takes a certain resolve and recklessness to abandon your home and face an evil such as the one that has found its way into our realm. I am fortunate to have found a man of Jimmy's ilk to answer my call. I'll maintain that lives are far more important than silver." With Tinkerbell's strange warning fresh on his mind, Jimmy didn't have any time to be thankful for Boanagh's compliment. But before he could turn his sight inward to look through his familiar's eyes and confirm matters for himself, he was still looking at Glynn who kept waiting for them politely in the same spot, now only a rough dozen feet away from Boanagh. Suddenly, while looking at the other elder Jimmy's inner alarm bells started ringing. The female darkling wasn't doing anything suspicious at all, but still, something occurred to Jimmy as decidedly odd about her. He just couldn't put his finger on what it was.

secretID · #70 Nov 17th, 2022, 03:40 PM

Jimmy stopped suddenly and turned to Loch, who was still leaning in. “You kiddin’ me?” he said. “Now?” Before the satyr had a chance to respond, Jimmy took his arm and began pulling him away from Gwynn. “I tell ya, it’s like a mobile daycare here, always somethin’.” Jimmy gave Loch a wink before he turned back toward Gwynn. “I’m real sorry, Elder,” he said without breaking stride. “We just gotta take care a’ somethin’ a little personal here for a sec.”

While the two walked, Jimmy quickly communicated with his familiar. Go dark, Tink – I’m bringin’ ya back. After giving the spirit I couldn't remember his current state.a moment to turn invisible, Jimmy transported Tinkerbell to a spot The point is to get out of darksight range.some forty feet from Gwynn.

After walking several meters, apologetic eyes over his shoulder the whole time, Jimmy paused and gently pushed Loch ahead. “You just go ahead and get started,” Jimmy told him. “I’ll catch up.”

When Loch continued, Jimmy turned fully back to the others, sighed, an looked down for a few seconds. “Ya know what?” he said. “I think we all better have a quick little meeting about our friend here,” he told them, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. “Huddle up, wouldja?” Jimmy waved his hands to summon his companions closer. “Sorry, Elder Gwynn,” he said. “Shareholders only. It’s nothin’ serious – just a little fam’ly matter. We’ll be right with ya.”

Once the party, minus Loch, had gathered out of earshot, Jimmy filled the others in. "Look: It doesn't look like an ambush or nothin', but Tinkerbell found somethin' up ahead that don't look quite kosher. Like maybe they got some kinda prisoner or somethin'? I got a bad feelin' here. Maybe you can give a little detail, Tink..."

OOCJimmy wasn't clear on what Tink saw; he wanted to act quickly. If you'd rather clarify OOC, that's good with me.

Mindsiege · #71 Nov 21st, 2022, 08:44 PM

In Confidence

There was a clear moment of surprise on the bardic satyr's face as Jimmy initiated his diversion strategy, but once the half-elven adventurer gave him a wink, Loch caught on to the act and quickly adopted a slightly apologetic expression as if he was embarrassed for some reason or another. As he and Jimmy turned away from Glynn and took some distance, Loch quietly mumbled from the corner of his mouth. "Hmm, Jimmy. I hope you have a good reason for making me look bad. A no would have worked just fine." But the bearded fey did play along otherwise, trusting that Jimmy was a better wingman than that and that this ploy was really necessary. Both Boanagh and the dryads turned around to look at the display in perplexion as well, and for a moment there was no conversation as Jimmy recalled Tinkbell and sent off Loch to go further down the tunnel alone. On his following request for privacy for him and his remaining companions, the female darkling elder only gave him a discerning look while the sylvans from Jimmy's party exchanged some looks as well and then approached Jimmy to huddle up at some distance due to how well the sound traveled inside of this tunnel when it was otherwise quiet. But even as they were walking away, Glynn seemed to reach some sort of conclusion and called after them. "Certainly. I shall inform the others that you will be with us shortly. Take your time, we can talk after your matters are settled."

With a slight nod, the female elder excused herself before disappearing around the tunnel bent which would lead her back into the campsite. Jimmy's party appeared to have all the privacy that they needed, and so the adventurer explained to his companions in their shared language of elven that Tinkerbell's scouting had discovered something concerning or at least inexplicable. After being asked to clarify a bit better, the warlock's impish familiar had already been excluded from most conversations for the last few days and thus formulated his response telepathically rather than risk being overheard in a language that the other party members didn't understand anyways. "I'm not exactly sure myself, boss. If I had to describe it, I'd say it looks like the roof is multilayered, kinda as if someone got half a tent up there secured against one of them stone thingies. Whatever you saw through my eyes would be inside that there, but I didn't really get close enough. Not sure if there was even an opening to peek inside, boss, it seemed to go up to the wall." Boanagh's eyes rested on the familiar's crouched posture on the floor, but due to his invisibility that veiled Tink from their sight, the two dryads kept looking at Jimmy instead. Through some manner of instinct, Ilala seemed to guess correctly when Tink's silent explanation had ended. "What is it, rootless? What has your slave found? Prisoners?" Both Ilala and her sister looked more uncomfortable than Jimmy had seen them previously, and Sashaya's gaze flitted over to look at Boanagh for a brief moment. The darkling elder himself only kept a deadpan expression as he awaited Jimmy's explanation.

secretID · #72 Nov 26th, 2022, 07:07 PM

“Yeah, maybe prisoners,” speculated Jimmy. “And, ah, Tinkerbell ain’t a slave; he’s more of a…well, let’s just say we’re colleagues. Hold on one sec,” he said, then used that pause to fetch Loch. After catching the satyr up as well, Jimmy passed on his familiar’s clarification to everyone. “An’ I didn’t see any a’ those spiders,” he told Boanagh, “though they coulda been further in.

“Whatddya make a’ all this, B?” Jimmy asked. “This ringin’ any bells for ya? Maybe the spiders are up there? – or is this just some darkling thing I ain’t seen yet? Like I said, it wasn’t like they were about to ambush us, and then Gwynn didn’t seem to mind lettin’ us talk like this, even though she might suspect that Tink was scoutin’ for us…”

Mindsiege · #73 Nov 27th, 2022, 02:13 PM

Shadows on the Walls

Ilala maintained a skeptical expression even when Jimmy corrected her about his relationship with his familiar, but her younger sister kept searching the half-elven adventurer's face as if trying to confirm something. The matter was dropped for the moment as the dryads and Boanagh waited for Jimmy to fetch Loch who returned with a raised eyebrow as if he was still concerned why this had to have been the first impression for him to leave on Glynn. It was almost as if the sylvans weren't imagining this situation to be a serious complication to their quest, however Boanagh wore his doubts visibly on his face as he awaited for Jimmy to relay his findings and the reason why they hadn't followed the other darkling elder when she had meant to welcome their group. And the details didn't seem to alleviate his concerns in the least. "There is nothing customary about what you've described to us. Our spiders wouldn't like to be confined in such a way and even then I have never heard about such a thing as your familiar has seen."

It didn't take a sage to see through Boanagh's emotions right then as his paranoia was once again stoked by the peculiarity of what Tinkerbell had reported. He kept looking disconcerted as he spoke. "Even as an elder, it does not mean that I know every dubh sidhe in our colony personally. Glynn... I have never met or heard of her before our return. If this is a trap..." The darkling elder clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. "...then I can't see through it!" The dryads and even Loch looked at the elder with worried faces. The mood had certainly shifted as the sylvans considered what was being said. "I don't know, Jimmy. Am I still sane to start doubting my brethren like this?!" Boanagh kept his voice low enough that the tunnel shouldn't carry his voice into the campsite, but there was still some desperation in it. "What should we do? Confront her?"

secretID · #74 Nov 27th, 2022, 09:35 PM

“Wait – you didn’t even know her?!” Jimmy exclaimed. He shook his head ruefully. “Nah, you ain’t paranoid, B, though I can understand why you might be a little paranoid…about all the paranoia…

“I don’t get it,” Jimmy complained. “If she is up ta no good, what’s her plan? I guess it could be as simple as ‘kill ‘em in their sleep.’ But why talk about spiders if there are none? I mean…I couldn’t say for sure, but I really don’t think they’re in there – ’less they’re hidin’.”

Jimmy rubbed his chin. “You ever hear a’ doppelgangers? I’ve been thinkin’ about them. Hey, Loch – I know you said that Zone of Truth spell a’ yours works on things other than humanoids. Maybe we oughta get Gwynn in that. ‘Course, we’ll have to get her back out here for that.

“Alright,” Jimmy finally said decisively. “Tink, ya gotta go back in. Same as before, but just get yourself up to that weird place as soon as you can. I’ll be taggin’ along. Dependin’ on what we find,” Jimmy told the others, “maybe we’ll try to call her back out here again. But while Tinkerbell is out, you all stay ready, in case she starts trouble. Just slap me to bring me back here if she does.”

OOCInvisible raven form, please. Straight up to the roof as soon as he enters the clearing – maybe that will take him out of blindsight range. Jimmy will use his senses the whole way. If it becomes necessary - e.g., to manipulate the cloth - Jimmy will tell Tink to switch back to imp for the opposable thumbs.

Mindsiege · #75 Dec 3rd, 2022, 04:36 PM

Contraption

Through Jimmy's assertions, his party members became just as disconcerted about the situation with Elder Glynn as their leader. Alas, they unfortunately didn't have any particular expertise with the subject of doppelgangers either. Both dryads as well as Boanagh confirmed that they knew next to nothing about them and even Loch only hinted at rumors which didn't really tell Jimmy more than he already knew about such creatures. If Glynn was a doppelganger, then she was certainly canny, an expert impersonator that was not to be underestimated. "But I don't see why a zone of truth wouldn't work even if that's what she was. It's not my favorite kind of magic, but it has its uses. Unfortunately, it also has its weaknesses. Once I play the melody, the enchantment will only hold within the vicinity of her original position, and it may affect us as well. It won't make her answer if she doesn't want to, and unless we hold her down she could leave the spell if she understands that it's tied to a location. Not that I would expect her to figure out that trick, but I wager that we won't stay on friendly terms if we don't go about this diplomatically, eh Jimmy?" The bearded fey gave the warlock a self-satisfied look, but even then it seemed like Loch had already become more serious and was thinking more about the quest than about his habit of engaging in dalliances.

Deferring the decision about creating a zone of truth for the moment, for the occasion Jimmy preferred gathering a little more intelligence as he convinced his party that they should maintain their position in the tunnel for now as he sent Tinkerbell ahead of them and shared his familiar's senses. Continuing to put their trust or as much as they had of it into Jimmy, the sylvans remained behind while Tink shifted his shape into an invisible raven and flew once more towards the campsite. At the mouth of the tunnel where it opened up into the cavern, the familiar and his master as a passenger noticed that there was no way to escape the darklings notice as they had fanned out a little, still taking a respectable distance from the entrance where Glynn had joined them as she was now sitting casually on a low formation of dripstone. Looking upwards from the edge of the tunnel opening, Jimmy and Tink recognized that the tarp ceiling above them had been spanned in a way that it connected tightly to the cavern wall where they had come from. Inadvertently, Tink was forced to fly deeper into the cave to circumvent the makeshift roofing. It seemed like the darklings had indeed noticed his arrival as they were watching silently, but once Tink flew above and out of their view, both he and Jimmy could hear the raised voice of Glynn as she called out after them. "I wouldn't fiddle with that if I were you, little one." Her voice didn't sound tense but it certainly was a warning. "Won't you call your master over for me? Let's talk about this." At the same time as the darkling elder was making her proposal, Jimmy could now see for himself the contraption which Tink had found difficult to put into words before. Apparently there were hooks driven into the solid stone and there were ropes holding up the black cloth in a way that created a hollow room against the cave walk, similar to half of a tent. The cloth looked as if it was spanned tightly, but it wasn't a single piece of fabric and Tink could go for one of the edges and pry them apart to get a peek inside if he wanted to.

Are you confused and wondering what is going on here? Check out this YouTube video to get the scoop.

Explosive Runes #34: EVIL EDITION is out!

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