[Game Thread] Princess For Sale, Very Cheap

[Morathor]

Terri is a little overwhelmed by the... everything... but she tries to keep focused. And what she manages to focus most easily is the suspicious little gremlin wandering around. Normally a pick-pocket is not something Terri thinks of as that big a deal, but Falaschi would want to do something. Paladin and all. And if she's right and playing the game is the answer, then this is probably the first step. Or, even if it's not, she wouldn't want to compromise whatever powers she may or may not have picked up from her character...

Terri slips through the crowd; although she is still not very used to them, she finds that her small goat-feet make it pretty easy to maneuver between people. She can set them down just about anywhere. She notices that Gui is doing the same, although being a big winged creature he tends to stand out more than a little goat-man. Terri gives him a quick nod before turning her attention back to the little thief. She wants to wait for evidence before making any accusations...

Wait, isn't detect evil a thing I'm supposed to be able to do? Can I actually do that? How would I do that? I mean, not all thieves are evil but if he is I could be a bit more confident on accusations. Oh, wait, is it something others would notice? That would have to be rude, flashing detect evil at the guests all the time... Terri decides to stick with mundane methods of observation for now.

[Muggins]

'Play the game.'

Those words shook Gabrielle a little more than was probably necessary. She'd played games before, of course - she did so every day, at the behest of her computer - but that was different. Dungeons and Dragons was a wholly unique experience to her, played about a table with acquaintances and companions. She scarcely knew the rules of the game, and even less about how to play it properly. Her memories of her character sheet were blurry at best. Worse, she wasn't even playing around a table anymore; instead, she was in the game. She was the slithery goofolk at a royal party, and she had to learn. There option of getting up and leaving was no longer there. Instead, it was sink or swim.

Since sinking didn't seem like a terribly good option either, Gabrielle decided to swim. It wasn't as though stacking and moving wine pots as a group was a terribly difficult task. Movement, on the other hand, had grown no easier. Lacking any preordained wisdom in the use of her tail, she had no other choice than to hobble around with support from either a wall or one of her companions. She was sure that, one day, she'd figure out the whole slithery naga shtick. Just not yet.

Movement because even more painful after they'd delivered the pots. After explaining away their short absence, her possible walking partners began to disperse; Gui and Terri both vanished into the crowd, chasing after some hooligan-looking fellow. Her only remaining companion was Miles. Unfortunately for her, Miles was currently a shell-shocked female gremlin who was shorter than her waist. He/She wasn't exactly a viable option for transport.

Even so, she did feel some sense of sympathy for the poor guy. After all, she'd been changed too - and probably just as drastically, at that. Taking Miles' hand, Gabrille leaned over awkwardly so that her voice wouldn't be lost amongst the crowd. "Hey Miles, let's go have fun," she said, "there's a magician over there; we'll go there until they're done." It seemed like a good idea at the time. She wasn't particularly thrilled herself, but the magician was nearby and Miles was still a child. At least he'd be amused.

[Aerandor]

Miles stared around in bewilderment. He still wasn't used to his new height, and looking at the crowd of people from this low of a perspective was terrifying. Not to mention all of the different races he saw mingling amongst the crowd. Terri and Gui took off right from the beginning, apparently feeling right at home with their new forms. The snake-slime girl seemed to be feeling at least something like Miles was. In fact, her suggestion of watching the magician sounded far safer than anything else at the moment. "Uh, uh- sure.." he readily grasped her hand, the first girl's hand he had held since his mother would help him cross the street as a small child, but thought little of it since the experience was wholly different from what it would have been if they were still human. He walked alongside her, stopping a bit shy of the Magician's show so as not to bump elbows with the small crowd watching intently. Almost unconsciously, Miles found himself

Dice Spellcraft:

d20+5

(17)+5

Total = 22

analyzing the magician's tricks, using thoughts or memories that he didn't even know he had.

[Fragmaster01]

GooTerr: You wander after the scamp.

Dice Percieve!:

1d20

9

He stoops, but only to pick up a coin that fell from someone trying to tip a winewalker. "Here, dude, you dropped this." How nice. The human pats the gremlin on the head, and hands him some wine, which is taken with style. Glug glug. He might be roguish, but you aren't seeing rogue-like behavior. If he is pickpocketing, he's good.

Gabgab: Well, your body seems to know how it works. It's like pushing off something with your hand, except it's pushing with a tail, and you wiggle your butt as you do so. You get a frightening level of speed with your wiggle, before people look at you and cause Severe Self Consciousness. Ah well. You are the best wiggler, and that's what matters.

Orabear "Cmon, just a little bit." "You don't need wine. You're not even 1/4 my size." "So? You're my wingbear, and I want to get sloshed." "Not gonna happen, Secret." "Sure it will! I'll keep badgering you, and you'll give in, and then we'll remember my comical antics fondly." "That is how it goes, isn't it." *sigh* "Now you're catching on!"

Pooka and Prince(ss) "So where is Revart, then?" "The Marquis is unfortunately ill. I say unfortunate because he made with all the whining." "Odd. You'd think he'd be glad to skip a social event like this." "Indeed. I'd half guess you'd ask to be sent in his stead more often." "But of course! There's wine, women, and all manner of entertainment. And I get paid, too."

Lizard Wizard His antics are truly deft. He proceeds to pick himself up by the seat of his pants, and waggle around a bit for the kiddos. Any requests? Any? Ahh! A new guest, and quite beautiful too. Not that Miles appreciates being called beautiful, but correcting would take time- and... there! He proceeds to pull a sweet roll right out of your open mouth, which he offers back to you. There you go. Food goes down, not up, silly. The crowd loves it, and wants some sugary treats of their own. No repeats, no repeats!

[Andramal]

Well, the sort of conversations going around were certainly...festive? Gui, or in this case, 'Kedrith' couldn't help but shake his head a little as he picked up this and that. He should put his

Dice Perception:

1d20+12

(11)+12

Total = 23

eyes to full use though, in case of any other hidden details of worth.

And a bit of food, something small, easy to slip into his beak and work out the whole swallowing food thing.

At that point, Kedrith switched his watch to focus in on the Pooka and the Prince(ss). Things seemed peaceful enough for now, and he might learn some other interesting things. Hopefully the others were doing alright...wait, did that wizard just pull a sweet roll out of that Gremlin's mouth1? That was kind of creepy...oh, wait, that was Miles. Awkward moreso.

[Morathor]

Well, okay. He seems to be behaving himself. Unless he's just to slick for me to notice, do game rules still apply here? What's my spot check again? Assuming that I have my character's, I bet in real life I'd have like a two... Whatever the case with that may be, Terri decides that the gremlin is a dead end for now. Gabby and Miles are investigating the magician... well, just checking out his act, really, but that's close enough she supposes. And Gui seems to have homed in on some important looking people. Although Terri is tempted to join him and to check out what the royalty are up to, she finds herself more interesting in the striking pairing of oracle child and her protector.

With the brightest smile she can muster, Terri approaches the blind girl and her guardian while racking her brain for a good Blind Guardian quote. While most of them are too gloomy for such a cheerful occasion, she finds one that is suitable. "Well sons and daughters, she says, still a little surprised by the sound of her own voice, "joy is in the air. I'm Terr... er..." Wait shouldn't I introduce myself as Falaschi? That would make sense right? "I'm terribly excited to be at such an occasion as this. Are you both having a good time?"

[Muggins]

With a little bit of practice and a high amount of self-consciousness, Gabrielle soon discovered that wiggling wasn't so hard after all. Having appearances to keep up only provided further incentive to not look like a freaky freak of a naga. Sure, it was a tad hard to stop after she'd built up a good pace, but it was probably just a matter of acclimatisation. Probably.

"Not fond of sweetrolls, Miles?" she queried, perplexes. She plucked it from the now-gremlin's fingers, chewing away at the treat herself. "Really, this mage is all smiles. You're being a drag, a sook!" she chimed, "look at the bright side; it's like living in a book!" A story book, to be precise, but a book all the same. Although it wasn't the most uplifting speech she'd ever given, it was certainly better than just letting the poor guy give in. There were upside to the whole 'I am now the member of a fantasy race and of the opposite gender' thing, honest!

[Fragmaster01]

Gui: Your keen eyes detect the jelly rolls. Mmm... lemon.

Gab: The mage pulls out a deck of cards, and invites you to pick a card. Any one will do!

Terri: "We're gallivanting!"
"It was an invitation sort of deal. It makes people feel better if everyone is present, and we drew short."
"You're just sad there isn't entertainment yet. Come come! I spy dudes over there!" The little girl grabs her bugbear by a claw and starts leading her towards a bunch of satyri in the corner.
"You don't need dudes."
*offense* "Of course I do! They will hug me and poke me and say I'm adorable. Then you can pull a practical joke while they're distracted."
"We did that last time..." Ah, the perils of being a bodyguard to a The feminine of goober, you understand.goobress.

Gremgrem The rogue has wandered off. You were distracted by the jelly rolls.

Pooka and Paladin "I think you'll be disappointed in the entertainment. The guards didn't want anything too rowdy." "Now that IS a tragedy. Something crawl up their pants?" "The usual mutterings. Nothing tragic. Still, they said we weren't to have anything exciting happen, at least until everything's sorted out." "Well that's no fun at all! We shall have to disappoint them, yes?" This last line is a bit pleading, as if begging for something comical. A winewalker falling and spilling glasses, or a drunken brawl. Something entertaining.

 

	Secret		Humanoid
Class	Oracle/Manadancer	Type	Human
Threat	???	Magic	Divine/Laser Beams
Size	Small	Speed	30

PRC	SLA	BLG	FIR	ICE	LIT	ACD	SON	HOL	DRK
								Abs

Mana Bolt	Class	Shoots laser beams with frightening speed. Pew pew!
Gremmy's Miniature Deathcap	Major Item	Adds +1/die to elemental damage, to a maximum of her CHA mod.
Foolish	Innate	She can pass Wisdom checks, she just chooses not to.

A young prodigy of the realm. She means well, but has poor taste.

	Fuscate		Humanoid
Class	Magus	Type	Bugbear
Threat	???	Magic	Protective
Size	Medium	Speed	25

PRC	SLA	BLG	FIR	ICE	LIT	ACD	SON	HOL	DRK
Res	Res	Res						Abs

Molehands	Racial	Digdigdig.
Creations of the Master	Major Item	Belt. Increases the defensive stats of her forcefields.
Ponderous	Innate	Poor initiative, because she's lazy.

A bodyguard assigned to protect Secret. Secret fits in her inventory, like a cloak of sorts, because she is big and strong.

[Aerandor]

Miles was a bit flabbergasted by the magician's feat. Primarily because it hadn't been some trick of the light or redirection type thing like what magician's back in 'reality' did. No, something told the gremlin that this had been real magic. Truthfully, his poor teenage mind was still trying to cope with the mental transitions he was dealing with. His grasp of the fundamental aspects of his existence (for example, the knowledge that he was a human male) was so tenuous at that moment that he felt rather disconnected from the feedback his senses were sending him.

He stared at the sweet roll dumbly until Gabby pulled it out of his hand. "Wha- what? Why are you talking like that?" Miles had forgotten about the speaking condition Gabby had blessed herself with from back at the game table. He realized that his bluntness may have been offensive. "Sorry.. I guess, it is kind of like a book.." Miles absently patted his stack of comics, the one thing he still had of his old self, as if the mere act somehow grounded him, kept him from accepting this as his new reality. The gremlin's mind turned, trying to process events into something manageable as he watched the magician offer a card to his friend.

[Andramal]

Guiles can't help but be distracted by those jelly rolls. Normally, he wasn't a sweets sort of guy - one or two, sure, but jelly rolls were a bit much.

Not true, apparently, for Dear Kedrith.

The gryphon procured several of the dandy items on a plate, made with way (with decent dignity for walking on three legs now) to a spot that wasn't in anyone's way, then sat back on his haunches, legs carefully tucked a bit closer together, and starting dining.

Hoooo Lordy these are delicious~ Guiles tried his best not to make a moaning pig of himself, nibbling and gulping down the jelly rolls.

Poor Kedrith - a victim of sweetness.

[Muggins]

Gabrielle growled, glaring down at the gremlin by her side. To any observers, it must've been quite the sight; a slinky, snaky mother figure looking grumpy with a child whose sweet roll she'd just stolen. Contrary to public belief, however, she wasn't truly to bully Miles into not crying about it. It was far more accurate to say that she was annoyed, not just by his ignorance but also by her earlier choice to note down 'rhyming' as a character tic on her character sheet. It'd seemed like a good idea at the time.

She opened her mouth to speak, only to notice the magician looming beside her. His cards were ready, and his grin was wide. What did he want her to do? Pick a card, like one of those complicit audience members in most real-world magic shows? No thanks.

..Then again, she was trying to keep Miles occupied, and the kid was clearly quite enthralled by the mage's tricks. Besides, unless she'd done so without knowing, she didn't recall ever signing up to be a magician's off-stage partner. "Fine, fine," she said, giving in, "I'll pick one, Miles, don't whine." She tapped her finger on one of the cards, then followed them man's lead; she was ready to retrieve, check, shuffle, eat and/or return the card, as he requested by either word or gesture.

Addendum: As an additional upside to being stuck in a fantasy land, the magicians were actually magicians. Gabrielle could take pleasure in that, if nothing else.

[Morathor]

Terri is a bit surprised to find the oracle so lively. She had expected someone a bit more somber... but it a welcome surprise, she supposes. "Ah, the inspiration I've looked for, the spirit of youth appears. But if you want to play practical jokes, I don't think those are the dudes you want." She looks over at the group of satyri. "Not nearly stuffy enough. You should find some old, important looking people. Think we can get on the balcony?" She glances up at the upper levels with all the fancy folk. Gui may be checking out the situation up there, but a second pair of eyes and ears couldn't hurt. Besides, it would be much more funny to see a joke played on somebody old and stuffy...

[Aerandor]

Miles seemed to be getting into the spirit of things as he watched the magician perform his tricks. He waited excitedly for the magician to conclude his card trick and then tugged on Gabby's arm to get her attention. "Look, look! I can do tricks too!" Miles held out his tiny hands close to Gabby's face so she could see and instantly a burst of bright light flashed within his palms. Miles himself was so shocked that he fell back on his newly padded rump. "So cool!"

OOC Casting Flare. Gabrielle needs to make a DC 13 Fort. Save or be dazzled for 1 minute. Sorry Muggins!

[Fragmaster01]

Miles: You draw a card, and prepare for your antics. It is... A Black Joker, with horrible fangs and vicious knives all over it. Touching. "That's... I didn't put that in the deck." Well how would you know? You're not even looking at it... oh right, magic. "Which one does that mean again?"

Pooka "I hope that doesn't mean you're planning on some. He'll be very cross." "No dancing on the tables, no matter how adorable." "Haha, no. I was thinking something more like... this!" There's a scream from the upper level, and as your gaze turns, you see the last moments of the princess being vortexed into a ring on the pooka's finger. "Sorry, but the first night goes to me. Gotta dash!"

Several purple spellglyphs appear out of thin air around the plaza, and large cats of prey leap out. They're not Earth cats, that's for sure, though they compare favorable to leopards and lions. You imagine they're not here for the jelly donuts. "Now let's have a party!"

The mage is perturbed, in that mildly stimulated sense. "Oh right, imminent doom. That's the card."

 

	Eldridge		Humanoid
Class	Sorcerer	Type	Pooka
Threat	High	Magic	Projectiles
Size	Small	Speed	30

PRC	SLA	BLG	FIR	ICE	LIT	ACD	SON	HOL	DRK
			Res		Res			Abs

Gambler Charm

Major Item

Amulet. Ignores Attacks of Opportunity for spellcasting shorter than 1 round. All magic ranges are halved.

Some punk who is having a great kick kidnapping the princess. How rude.

 

OOC Dice Init: 1d20+2 (7)+2 Total = 9 Round 1, Fight! Enemy init is 9, so go forth! The Peace signs are civilians.

[Muggins]

Gabrielle barely caught a glimpse of the stolen princess, but even then it wasn't too hard for her to figure out what was going on. As if the black joker wasn't enough of a clue, there was the laughing pooka and the pack of big cats that had just poofed in. There was obviously something very, very wrong going on. The only question was what she wanted to do about it.

After all, Gabrielle had never hurt a soul in her life. The thought of harming something was outrageous to her, even if her foes were a bunch of ravenous felines who had no such qualms about eating her. Luckily there was another part to Gabrielle. Something that wasn't exactly hers, even if it was. The part of her fantasy self that she'd dubbed Globule.

"Kitty!" she squealed, lurching forward with arms outstretched. Gabrielle had hated cats, loathing their very being, but Globule had no such qualms. She dove at the nearest fuzzball, seeking to smother it in her arms and sow goo through its fur. "Hello Mister Scruffles, I see you there!" she chimed, "I bet you'll never get me out of your hair!"

Stuff Initiative: Dice Initiative: 1d20+2 (15)+2 Total = 17 (17) Move Action: Schlorping over to Dire Kitty 4 (10ft east, 5ft southeast). Hello kitty! Standard Action: Initiating a grapple on Dire Kitty 4. If an attack roll of Dice Roll: 1d20+12 (2)+12 Total = 14 (14) is successful, the kitty is grappled. This does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Swift Action: If the grapple is successful, Gabrielle deals Dice Roll: 1d8+7 (4)+7 Total = 11 (11) constrict damage.