[Game Thread] Chapter 1: Fractured Reality

[OwenQuillion]

"Nope, can't say as I've been here. Well, I may have been. I can't really say, as I don't remember much of what I've been doing here - well, in the city, I mean, not here - , aside from the ol' dwarf's study," the gnome prattles off non-chalantly, not even seeming to notice they weren't moving.

"Say, you have an idea about where to go?" he adds as he watches her actions.

[Timeless Prophet]

[Damian, Sydney, Allan]
Debris flies out at the lot of you striking all of you. Damian and Sydney only sustain a few minor cuts yet Allan is hit square in the mouth with a brick. Damian, however, isn't so lucky when it comes to the scythe exploding from the wall. The blade finds the opening around his shoulder and rends the young priest. Blood pours from the exceptionally large gouge in his shoulder as the blade comes to a stop.

Sydney seems shocked by the happens and Damian is distracted by the now large gash in his body. Allan, however, takes note that when the blood dripping from the scythe hits the ground that it appears to form the image of a grinning face. This image is there one minute and gone the next. A scream from above breaks Allan out of his almost trance like stare at the pattern of blood on the floor.

OOC Allan take 4 damage from the brick to your cranium. Sydney take 2 damage from the minor cuts and bruises you sustain from the bricks. Damian take 7 (2 from the bricks and 5 from the scythe).

[Beau, Ophelia]
Ophelia isn't able to garner any sort of idea where she may be. The architecture serves to be a deterent.The gnome and the elf dance around each for a few moments. A few witty comments are exchanged and a few minor details revealed to each other but they are still quite clearly standing at the intersection. A small breeze begins to pick up through the tunnel leading eastward. Both the gnome and elf are able to detect the scent of sweet flours and blossoms on the air.

However, the wind shifts and the smell of rotting flesh and freshly dug soil pervade into the the intersection. Ophelia snaps her head around to the west, almost swearing she can hear the moan of the creature that pursued her before but she cannot be certain. The north appears vacuous and cold, as no sound emanates from it nor do the lights appear to burn all that brightly.

[Jinx_Greyflower]

[Ophelia]

The elf shares a quick glance with the little man. "That way?" she asks, indicating the direction the freshly-scented air had come from. She waits to see if he concurs before moving in that direction.

[OwenQuillion]

"Lady elf, I said we should head east from the start. You really should trust me on these things, you know. And, Garl knows, whatever's that way is certainly better than whatever else is around us," he says as he flaps his hand in front of his nose in response to the smell of decay. "Well then, we're off!" he says cheerily, stepping quickly down the eastern corridor. Ophelia's quick glance west and her widened eyes at whatever she perceived in that direction were a good enough clue for Beau that there might be something worse behind them than whatever lay in front.

[Timeless Prophet]

[Beau, Ophelia]

OOC Extra super bonus post for prompt response

The gnome and the elf head off together. The passageway leads on for about fourty feet before dropping down a narrow staircase. When you head down the stairs you are met with a sound of metal falling into place most likely in stone some way off in the distance in front of you....or maybe behind you.

Ophelia suddenly feels light headed and whoozy and a few moments later so does Beau. When this begins you note that around thirty feet down the passage there is a wooden door.

[LordJecks]

Perhaps dropping to the ground like a stone wasn't a good idea thought Brother Damian as the scythe ripped through his shoulder followed by a brick to the ribs. Gathering his inner strength he manages to get to his feet albeit wobbly. Looking down at his shoulder he can see a nice large gash from collar bone to shoulder.

Drawing forth on his connection to Pharasma, was he playing tricks on his disciple?, Brother Damian infused his body with the powers of life granted by his god. "You two alright" he asked as the magic worked its magic healing his wound.

[BrokenPlayer]

A loud scream escapes Sydney Rose's lips as pieces of debris pummel her body. She can feel the sharper edges cutting into her skin and causing some blood to fall onto the floor. Once the horrible ideal ended, however, Sydney turns to find that the two men had suffered worse wounds than she, with one staring at his own pool of blood on the floor. Coughing from both the sight of another's blood and the dust in the air, Sydney stumbles forward until she hears the scream again.

Be strong, Sydney.. be strong..

"We.. we need to [cough], to get moving," Sydney says as he turns back towards the others.

[OwenQuillion]

"What th-the blazes was that?" Beau says awkwardly. "Did we just get cut off? Or was th-that behind us?" he touches a hand to his head. "I-I think we should go. D-door's right there, after all," he finishes as he begins a strange mix of cautious-yet-quick strides towards the door. Assuming he gets to it before there's a cave-in or something, he takes a quick listen at the door and opens it if there's nothing particularly threatening going on either around him or behind it.

[Jinx_Greyflower]

[Ophelia]

"You felt that, too?" she inquires. "Between you and me, I'm liking this situation less and less with each passing moment." Warily, she puts away her dagger, and draws her rapier, testing the weapon's weight in her grip and finds herself feeling slightly more secure with the larger, heavier blade between her and whatever danger awaits them.

"My guess is we set off some sort of device. A trap, or something. We should keep going, but go cautiously."

[EnixH]

Allan just wasn't fast enough as he caught that large brick with his face, but as he moved to the side,he saw the scythe miss him,however it hit the cleric and tore into his shoulder. He looks down at his feet,a small bit of crimson dripping from his mouth, but then looks up and sees the large pool of blood form underneath the scythe,and stares in shock as he sees it form into a grinning visage. He again draws upon his knowledge of the arcane arts to determine what may cause such a phenomenon.

"I...I'm fine...but there may be sorcery afoot...there was a face here a moment ago,formed by the blood pooling from your very wounds Brother Damian...but then it disappeared.". The wizard spoke, before going back to his gazing...

[LordJecks]

"Maybe Pharasma is having fun at my expense..." mutter the Cleric, thinking aloud more than talking..

Lifting his head to face the wizard he merely shakes his head at Allan, "Portal travel probably shook up your senses and having scythes flying at you didn't probably help. I'm sure it was nothing. Shall we continue on? A little more careful this time?" says the Cleric seeming distracted.

[Timeless Prophet]

[Sydney, Damian, Allan]
The lot of humans travels upward and upward for roughly 2 minutes. They stop for a moment as Allan declares he has some brilliant insight into the arcane workings of what is happening around them, only for him to clam up when the party's attention turns on him. The party collects itself once more before deciding to head off again. However, as Damian takes one step forward his foot and leg realize something that his mind catches onto a few microseconds later: Oh bother....there's no floor here.

Damian plunges into the floor beneath him only to be followed by Sydney and Allan who were unable to escape what appears to be...well quite oddly enough a vanishing stair case. The group plunges through the darkness for what seems like hours...or was it minutes...none of the collective minds of the humans seems to be able to put a finger on precisely how long they were falling but it did seem like a great while. However, eventually on the horizon appears a small golden gleam. This gleam grows and grows until Damian, Sydney, and Allan are quite sure they are staring as a curved rectangular piece of glass. And well that proved problematic as they were headed right toward it.

With a calamitous crash Damian and Allan hit the window at roughly the same time followed shortly there after by Sydney. Much to their surprise the chamber beyond the window appears to be a lush forest with birds, flowers, and even a running stream that runs from one end of the glass dome to another. Of particular notice are doors at either end of the woods and a large rock formation toward the center of the chamber. However, gravity eventually dictates that the group fall into the trees and so they do, becoming entangled in vines and branches as the fall. This arboreal canopy serves to slow the decent of the adventurers enough that when the reach ground it is only with a slight thud.

The three humans cut the wayward vines from their bodies and dust themselves off and look around their crash site. The forest extends in all directions and a few minor critters run by while a small bird flutters past. There is no obvious path nor any markers to indicate which way one might take to reach any of the things they observed in their fall. The fiasco of falling through the canopy has only worsened the situation by disorienting all three from their sense of direction. So the three adventurers stare out into the woods amidst a pile of glass, iron rubble, vines, and tree limbs.

[Ophelia, Beau]
Beau carefully opens the door before him and takes a step back from what he sees. The dingy passageways that surround him appear to vanish on the other side of the door, instead replaced by a wonderful garden. And not even really a garden at that. On the other side of that door appears to be the insides of a free standing glass and iron dome. It extends what the two adventurers can only guess is hundreds of feet into the air and a dense tropical foliage fills the sky, allowing only the occasional glimpse to the ceiling of the structure beyond. The pair can hear running water and the pleasant chirps of small birds in the chamber beyond.

The sweet fragrance only seems to intensify once the door has been opened. Both Ophelia and Beau become intoxicated off the scent, and much to their surprise find their bodies lurching forward to seek out the source of the scent. The gnome crosses the threshold of the door first followed by the young elven maiden who practically falls into the room. Once both have crossed into the chamber the door behind them slams shut and with that the scent almost seems to drain from the room immediately.

Both adventurers are almost immediately snapped by in reality when the scent leaves their nostrils, however, a little confusion enters their minds as to why they ever felt the need to enter the room in the first place. A quick look around reveals a ruddy and worn path in front of them leading deeper into this botanical paradise and off to one side of it there appears to be a felled road sign.

The silence and beauty of their surroundings are destroyed by the sudden sound of glass shattering in the distance. Both Ophelia and Beau's eyes turn to the heavens to discern the location of the disturbance but they only thing they note is one of the glass panes...appears to be magically restoring itself.

[Jinx_Greyflower]

[Ophelia]

After shaking her head quickly to clear the last few tendrils of whatever effect had overtaken her, she turns around in a slow circle, trying to understand what kind of place she has landed herself into.

"This is not at all what I had planned for myself today," she comments to the gnome. "So what do you think?" she asks. "Do we continue forwards, or do we see if we can force the door and we can try another direction?"

[BrokenPlayer]

Wobbly, Sydney Rose pushes herself onto her feet after her traumatic fall. Numerous cuts and scrapes were all over her body, adding to those she received from the debris just moments earlier. Still, she noticed her injuries could have been a lot worse, and the only thing that happened was that her greatsword got lodged from her back and landed next to her knapsack just a few feet away.

After gathering her belongings, Sydney begins to take in her surroundings. For a few moments, however, she chooses not to speak.

[LordJecks]

First scythe's flying in from nowhere and now disappearing staircases... though the priest as he tumbled downward, and shattered through the glass window, ... and now glass... What is going on?

Brother Damian continued to fall, shards of glass embedded and accompanying him in his free fall into the lush forest. Least I'll die with a nice view Then his vision became a blur of green as he tumbled left right and center through a mass of, fortunately, small branches and vines, landing with an unceremonious thud on the ground below a massive tree. Shaking his head, to clear his thoughts and hair of its new vinal fashion accessories, he looked about.

"Portals..." muttered the priest getting to his feet dusty off his robes, and removing the few pieces of glass embedded into his skin. Looking back at the mess of trees and vines that slowed their decent he got an idea. Remembering the rock and the doors on either end of this strange giant glassed in forest he turned to the others, both seemed miraculously as uninjured as him, "Either of you decent climbers? Figure we could use the tree to get a better view and our bearing before we decide which way to go."