[Game Thread] Chapter 1: Fractured Reality

[Timeless Prophet]

[Ophelia]
You traverse the hallway. It drags on and on, seemingly endless in nature. The torches seem to almost react to your presence, occasionally flaring up as you pass by while others seem to die down to only embers. Eventually you come to four way intersection. The chanting seems to have become only a whisper that haunts you. You are unable to pinpoint what direction the chanting is coming from.

Suddenly the eerie mood is broken by the startling sound of stone scraping on stone behind you. After the screeching of the stone you notice a loud moan of pain coming from behind you and then the sound of heavy feet and metal scraping across stone.

[EnixH]

Originally Posted by LordJecks

Groaning from his rather turbelant landing Brother Damian looked up to see Allan. "Seems you faired better on your little trip to wherever we are." he said in his usual neutral tone. "Any idea where this is?" as he scanned the room noticing the staircase on the lefthand side.

Before waiting for an answer he turned round to see if he could see through the portal back to the wrecked inn he had just left, hoping that Ophelia would be able to see him and see it was safe.

Allan turns as he hears the thump of the landing, and wheels around, grabbing his staff as he did so. But he was relieved to see it was only the cleric. He speaks as he looks around the room as well,his eyes catching on the staircase as well. "No idea...I was studying the maelstrom after our other compatriot went through...before I knew it I was here...some kind of workshop..." He sighs. "Speaking of which...where could he be...?"

[Jinx_Greyflower]

[Ophelia] AC 17; HP 13/13

The young elf freezes at the strange new sound. Turning slowly, she faces the direction of the noises, crouching and heading towards the shadows between torches to mask her presence.

She watches and listens, attempting to determine whether or not the source of the noise is in motion or not, and does her best to silently close the distance between them, to get a closer look.

[private=danthedebater]
STEALTH:

Dice Roll:

(as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code)
d20+9:	(12) + 9	Total = 21

PERCEPTION:

Dice Roll:

(as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code)
d20+4:	(16) + 4	Total = 20

[/private]

[LordJecks]

Brother Damian turns to face his remaining companion, rather curious about what he saw on the other side of the portal. Did that mean the portals only showed the other side as they were on its initial opening? If so he doubted Ophelia would ever come through of her own volition.

"Agreed, perhaps he decided to see what was beyond these walls. Have you tried re-entering the portal? he asked as he went back to studying the subject of his questioning.

[Timeless Prophet]

[Ophelia]
As the young elf crouches she notices a strange pattern emerging in the torches. They seem to extinguish and reignite themselves randomly making finding shadows impossible. You slowly crouch to one side of the hall and spot what is making all the noise. As the the torches flash their light, you see a monstrosity progress down the hall.

This figure towers a good head or two above your own stature. The thing has mottled gray skin. Several sections of its exposed chest and arms are covered by a slightly lighter gray scar like tissue. A few bands of a shattered black leather harness hang loosely tied to the top of the creatures shoulders. Its face is clad in a dark iron helm made to resemble what you would guess to be some demon's skull. Massive black gloved hands carry what appears to be a butcher's meat cleaver and a wicked-looking and twisted almost long sword type blade. A large iron ring hangs around its waist. From the ring protrude several chains that connect to various points along the creatures torso. The creature's legs are covered by a what appears to be a black leather kilt or apron of some sort.

It lurches forward and you hear the horrible sound of metal scraping across the stonework. The creature snaps its head around with a great rattling of the chains that connect the helm to the iron ring around its waist. The thing seems to be looking in your direction as you hear a low ominous moan.

[Jinx_Greyflower]

[Ophelia] HP 13/13; AC 17

Ophelia steps into the middle of the corridor. "Hey there, fella," she calls out in what she hopes is a plain, pleasant, unquavering voice. "I lost my friend. Dwarvish chap, about this tall, robes, gruff, grumpy, mutters a lot. Have you seen him?"

She speaks cordially, but is ready to bolt in the other direction if the creature's reaction warrants it.

[Timeless Prophet]

[Ophelia]
The creature turns toward Ophelia acknowledging her presence with a deep moan. Suddenly a cold wind blows through the hallway and something strange begins to happen. The walls begin to warp and change and the creature appears to fade in and out. The creature lets out a moan of tremendous pain. Suddenly the area around Ophelia goes black but slowly the same familiar wood work fades in.

However, instead of being a long passage that ends in an intersection, that hallway comes to an abrupt end with a single wooden door. You stare down the other end, your gaze is met by the stairs you came down when you left the Teary Eyed Maiden.

[EnixH]

Allan looks into the portal again for the first time since the landing and sees an intact inn ehind them, and stared confusing at the swirling vortex. "This is...strange...we came through as the vortex was tearing it apart...now its completely...like nothing happened."

He approaches the vortex and gently slides his right hand in,his left hand holding his staff,hoping to judge whether or not he'd be maimed or...sent back somehow... "I haven't...but now is a good time...not doing much else anyways". He pulls his hand back as he attempts to walk through the vortex...

[Jinx_Greyflower]

[Ophelia]

"Unsafe wherever I go, apparently," she comments to no one in particular.

She steps up to the door. Wary of traps, she knocks, calling out loudly to make herself heard through the thick door, "CoooEeeee. Hey there short stuff. You in there? You decent?"

[Timeless Prophet]

[Sydney]
You open the door to the Grizzled Den but you are shocked by what you see. A red vortex swirls before you, and clearly visible on the other side is something you could only describe as one of the Nine Hells. All sorts of horrible creatures sit around tables and chairs made from what you guess to be human bones. Several of the beasts are feasting on obviously humanoids parts.

You go to slam the door but your limbs won't move. Suddenly you feel a tremendous pull on your chest and are pulled from the street into the vortex. You black out as hear all sorts of horrid screams.

You suddenly awake with a tremendous thud, as you smash into cold stone. You slowly rise to your feet and see all sorts of work benches and a human man standing next to you. You look down and notice that another man appears to have broken your fall as you were flung from the vortex.

[Allan, Damian]
As Allan inspects the vortex suddenly it crackles to life and a body comes flying through the portal. It crashes into Allan with a tremendous thud, knocking the young mage to the floor.

[Ophelia]
"Dear girl, do you know many dwarves who wander around their place of work unclothed?" A sarcastic yet familiar voice calls back. "If so and the number of women far exceeds that of the men, then you should definitely show me this place. HARR!"

OOC If Broken, Enix and Jecks would describe themselves in their next posts that would be awesome.

[BrokenPlayer]

Words cannot begin to describe the terror that filled Sydney Rose's body once a vision of one of the Nine Hells filled her view. Her body began to shake with uncontrollable fear once her eyes rest upon the dismembered remains of another human. She can see each beast in its entirely, watching as the foul creatures rip and tear at the flesh as if it was the most delicious food they have ever eaten. Terrified, Sydney reached out to close the door but found her limbs unable to move, as if she was paralyzed. But it didn't matter; a sharp pain to her blossoming chest knocked the wind out of her and sent her body backwards with great force. The last thing she remembered before passing out was the horrific screams of ..some thing, or some one.

A moment later, Sydney lands hard upon a cold, hard surface, one that woke her from her temporary blackout. It took a few moments but the beautiful young woman manages to scramble back onto her feet. Upon looking down, Sydney notices that a man had broken most of her fall.

"Sa.. sorry," Sydney stammers as she moves a piece of her red hair out of her eyes, "I.. I didn't see you." Her body still shakes slightly as her mind races with images of the red vortex and the foul creatures. Be strong.. be strong, Sydney..

Trying to shake her fear off, Sydney checks her person to make sure that nothing is broken. Sydney has long, flowing, dark red hair with eyes the color of the sea, an unusual combination to say the least. She wears the remnants of a beautiful white gown, one that has been modified to be more of a 'battle' garment than anything else, giving her plenty of movement in a battle (which she truly has yet to experience). Black boots round-out her clothing attire, but the greatsword strapped to her back stands-out amongst her appearance.

"Wha.. where am I?" she asks, looking around.

[Jinx_Greyflower]

[Ophelia]

"Well, I was just being cautious," she retorts with a wink. "Everybody knows wizards love nothing more than to handle their staffs. Why else would they put knobs on the end?"

"But that's neither here nor there. You should come upstairs and have a look at what's going on. Magical portals, shifting architecture, weird creatures shuffling about. I was hired for the sneaky-sneaky and the stabby-stabby. The arcane is your milleu."

[EnixH]

As Allan's hand passes the opening of the vortex,he hears the crack,and before he has a moment to react,finds himself knocked to the ground of the workshop with incredible force,his staff flying across the room,ending up at one of the sheet-covered ornaments on one of the walls. His eyes remain closed as he breathed heavily before opening them as the weight is lifted.

He sits up as he gets his bearings and his vision clears,and looks up,and realizes what has happened...that the female in the white dress before him had been flung through the vortex with such force,that it sent him to the ground. "That was...a nice landing...don't worry about it,no way you could've known...". His eyes meet hers briefly before looking away,as his right hand scratches behind his head,before he stands.

Before you stands a twenty-two year old Human male, around five feet and ten inches tall. His hair is black and shoulder length,his eyes a dark green. Currently he is clad in a rich-colored,blue and gold robe over his slender form. His quarterstaff (also displaced by the impact of the red-haired woman) was ornately carved as well.

He looks back over at the newcomer and sighs,looking around the workshop quietly before turning to her again,to answer her question. "Not sure exactly...we were thrown into this same room...some kind of workshop,judging by the tools hereabouts...".
Allan's look became inquisitive. "Did you come from the 'The Teary Eyed Maiden'? Is it destro....". He went silent for a minute before cursing loudly. "...my spellbook! Oh dear,I've had it for ages...I hope it didn't get destroyed in the vortex...I should've kept it with me!"

((EDIT: I forgot my character's name in the first paragraph))

[LordJecks]

Brother Damian merely shakes his head as the foolish wizard sticks his hand into the portal. He thought a studier of the weave would know better than to mess with an unknown portal... twice. What it was a one way portal? He might lose his hand. A loud crack echoes through their chamber.

Great so I'm stuck with a one hand wizard in a potential foriegn plane...

And out flew a woman in white knocking over the intact mage. "And yet another seems to have been sucked through space and time to join us." he says politely and neutrally. "My name is Brother Damian, a priest dedicated to the service of Pharasma, and my associate here is called Allan. Who might we have the pleasure of sharing this foriegn place with?"

He turns to Allan, "As for your spell book it seems you shall have to find a replacement as it seems this portal only brings things here."

[Timeless Prophet]

[Ophelia, Beau]
"My dear who taught you to speak with such a filthy tongue?" The dwarf asks as he unlocks door and opens it for the young elven maiden. "Because I need to shake their hand because it brings joy to my heart so. But enough about what please the dirty old dwarf. *Hic*" He ends his sentence with a drunken hiccup from which the scent of liquor and beer assails Ophelia's nostrils. "Come in Come in."

As the elf woman enters she notices shelves and shelves filled with odd vials, knickknacks, strange skulls, odd caged creatures, and strange objects you've never seen before. He leads you through the passages of shelves. Eventually you come to a small common area that has a deep fireplace, several tables with chairs, a workbench covered with alchemical equipment, and a bed with a slumbering gnome resting atop.

Karlon walks over to the work bench and shouts over his shoulder, "Time to get up Beau! I need to introduce you to someone!"

The gnome sits up with a start and gets tangled in one of the bed sheets before tumbling out of the bed and onto the floor.

"That, my darling elf, is Beau and he just came through the wall magically a few days ago. Tell me what has been happening the bar for the last week?"