previously... Chapter 1 — The Horror of Awakening

[iantruesilver]

 

Domino Only

Awaking from your bizarre nightmare, the first thing you notice is a mild irritation, perhaps even pain.  Still in a haze, you focus your attention to the sensation, it feels as though something is repeatedly pinching, hurting your fingers.

Quickly moving your hand, you blindly swat at whatever was provoking your senses.  The contact felt damp, yet bristly and kind of gross all at the same time.

 

Your eyes snap open, and you take in your surroundings for the first time.  The environs are much different from that of before, still dark and cold, but with a certain solidity of weight to it.  This place feels... real, by comparison.

 

You find yourself laying on a table, inside a circular section of a room, adjoined by what might perhaps be a library of sorts.  There are other tables on the stone floor, along with some shelves at a distance, most of which empty save for a few odd volumes here and there.

 

Across from you in this part of the room, there is another being, similarly laid on a table, completely bare, and there is a rather large rat nibbling at a lock of her hair.  Her face looks familiar for some reason.

 

It's only now that you realize that you are missing the majority of your clothes and your gear, you seem to be wearing only your underthings.

Barhuce, Rain, T'Sarra, Val and Vri

Whatever began as a couple rounds of drinks at a local tavern in Hajoth Hakados, probably couldn't possibly have explained the way you're coming to right about now.

 

The dream...  It all felt too real.  The creature's voice, the pain from the devices, the woman's defiance...  It was as though you were each of you personally living those bizzare moments.

 

And yet, now that you've been brought out of that indescribable nightmare, you find yourselves perhaps waking into yet another.  The surroundings are completely unfamiliar to you, obviously being nothing like that of the inn's room you might have expected.

 

The floor and walls supporting your body is of stone.  Cold, and perhaps slightly damp with a hint of condensation at places.  The regularity of the walls belie the antrhopogenic nature of the place however — it is not so much a natural cave as it is something that was deliberately constructed by man.

 

Looking up, you see bars criss-crossed overhead though which filters a flicker of light, so you surmise this might be some kind of a holding cell.  To one side, beyond a similar situation of bars, there is a set of stairs leading up from beyond your immediate confines.

 

Though missing a majority of your clothes and all of your gear, at least you're alive for a start.

 

 

[[ Map — Location Unknown ]]

Edited January 22, 2023 by iantruesilver (see edit history)

[Wiz]

Val awakens, feeling confused.  The dream still echoing in her mind, and yet... this isn't the inn where she was when she came to Hjoth Hakados.  Was that dream real?  The young woman looks around and sees four others, some she knows, others not, but all of them were in the dream... which means, perhaps some of the dream was real... which means Domino might be here somewhere!  Val slides off the platform she is one and quicly moves to the one where T'sarah is stirring and whispers.  "T'sarah!  Did you have that same dream, with Domino in it?"

[madMonk]

Rain-in-Summer

HP: 10/10

AC 11, Touch 11, FF 10 (Unarmoured)

Fort 1 Ref 2 Will 7

Init 7

---

Rain sits bolt up-right and scans the cell intently. She is quite clearly panicked, but as Jerry hops over and snuggles into the crook of her arm, the shaman visibly relaxes.

"Did you dream of the four of us, and two more, in a room with a giant machine?" Rain asks Val.

 

---

About Rain (because I forgot to send this earlier):

Locals to Torch will know Rain as the weirdo who camps outside the town, only rarely entering in the company of Khonnir Baine.

 

Those who work closely with Khonnir would recognise Rain as a colleague of the mage, who regularly joined him on research projects. On such trips, Rain would neither show off or hide her capabilities, and would happily help Khonnir with both her mind and her ability to heal. Rain is generally friendly, but also very strange- she spends a concerning amount of her time talking to herself, or to Jerry, her Jerboa.

 

[Wiz]

Val nods and whispers, "Yes... Rain.  One of those two others was Domino, my sister.  Did you ever meet her?  She left us about three years ago."

[ccanary]

T'Sarra Khonnor 

HP 11/11  | AC 14(+1 vs robots) |  Fort (2) - Reflex (3) - Will (2) 

 

 

 

 

---

T'Sarra got up slowly, groggy, but with a look of panic in her eyes.

"Sounds pretty similar to mine as far as I can tell. Damn it! I think they found me, the Technic League. They've been sending robots after me for a while, but it must be them that's captured us. I'm sorry you all got caught up in it."

She sounded insane, mad, raving. Her eyes darted around the chamber, studying it. She moved to test the bars, pulling hard on them, hoping against hope that they weren't sturdy, or had a weakness.

Those who knew Khonnir would know T'Sarra as a sometimes guide and companion on exploration expeditions around Torch. They'd also know that she hated and feared the robots you sometimes came across in the surrounding country. She claimed they were hunting her, and hated and feared them. Not androids though, curiously. She had no animosity to the partly mechanical. They had souls, they had free will. No, it was the fully mechanical that she had her problems with.

[Roughtrade]

Putting Post in Privacy Tags because I find them easier to edit than the spoiler ones.
 

Hokey Smokes.  I just realized I won't be able to roll dice inside privacy tags when I import my game here.  I'm gonna hate that.

[madMonk]

3 hours ago, Wiz said:

Val nods and whispers, "Yes... Rain.  One of those two others was Domino, my sister.  Did you ever meet her?  She left us about three years ago."

Rain shakes her head. "I did not. I know little about your sister, but if she was in the dream, perhaps she too is nearby. You may yet be reunited, Val."

[farothel]

statblock

Vrilundass 'Vri' Arund

Female NG Half-elf Swashbuckler, Level 1, Init 3, HP 11/11, Speed 30ft
AC 16, Touch 13, Flat-footed 13, CMD 15, Fort 0, Ref 5, Will 1, CMB +2, Base Attack Bonus 1   
silversheen, MC rapier +5 (1d6+1, 18-20/x2)
cold iron dagger +4 (1d4+1, 19-20/x2)
shortbow (20)+4 (1d6, x3)
Studded Leather (+3 Armor, +3 Dex)
Abilities Str 12, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 15
Condition None 

 

Vri slowly awoke.  She always had the same problem.  At night she had trouble getting into bed and in the morning trouble to get out of it.  But this clearly wasn't the bed she had gone in at night.  While she had drunk something, she hadn't drunk so much that she wouldn't remember anything from last night.  Opening her eyes she noticed that she was on a cold floor and not a bed.  And this certainly didn't look like the inn she had been in last night.  When she noticed that she wasn't alone, the dream also came back to her.  She did recognise most people as having seen them before, but except for Val she didn't know most by name.

"Anybody knows where we are and how we got here," she asked, "And where our gear and clothes are?"

 

[iantruesilver]

Domino Only

The nibbler in this case, and its accomplice currently assessing the culinary viability of the other woman's hair are, now that you are fully aware, each about the size of a small dog.  These scraggly, vicious looking rodents look perhaps somewhat more frightening than your average garden variety of rat, bristly and unintimidated by your attempts to shoo them away, the rat rears back a short distance before turning to face you again, alternately huffing and hissing some aggressive vocalization.

 

At this, the other rat turns its attention upon you as well, backing up from the other woman some, who has by now winced slightly and flinched from the mild annoyance she's been caused.  At length, she jolts up from where she was, sitting bolt upright as she takes a sharp inhale, her eyes shot wide with an expression of shock and incomprehension on her face.

 

(( Roll Initiative please ))

Barhuce, Rain, T'Sarra, Val and Vri

There's no indication so far as to what had happened the night before, how drunk you were, how you got here, or anything that had perhaps transpired in between.  Besides the obvious at the moment alluding that you're in some sort of manmade cell, perhaps underground or inside some sort of cave structure, there's no telling where you are or who's you've detained by, why they've done it, or where any of your belongings are.

 

As far as you can tell, the five of you are the only ones in this cell or anywhere near it, as far as prisoners go.

 

T'Sarra's initial attempts at forcing her way out fail to bear fruit, the bars are too sturdy, the metal just wouldn't give.  However it doesn't take long for some hooded figure to come down the short flight of stairs and stand in front of the gate after that, all black robe with a yellow lapel, covering his true physique.

 

When he gets close enough, the face is partially obscured by a weird looking mask in front of his features, roughly arachnoid in shape, which you could only surmise serves a primary function not so much as to conceal one's identity so much as to perhaps identify something else.

 

"Keep it down in there."  Short with his words, the man tilted the butt end of his ranseur against T'Sarra's abdomen and shoved her back, away from the bars.

 

 

(( Perception checks please ))

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by iantruesilver (see edit history)

[Inash]

 

Barhuce

 Bahruce wakens slowly and painfully. "I didn't think I drank anywere near enough to wake up in the hoosgow with no memory and weird dreams. wa'the heck happened last night?" His grogginess clears enough to take in the guard shoving an ... interesting looking young woman away from the bars. "Hey buddy, yeah, you with the spider. Pipe down eh? You woke me up. I wasn't ready to be in this little pit yet."

Statblock

[Roughtrade]

(( Rolling Init here because I may not get time to write until the morning.

 

hit 30 instead of three and tried to correct and it rolled twice.

 

First roll was a 16 plus 3 should be 19 ))

 

 

What are the red and black things?

[ccanary]

T'Sarra Khonnor 

HP 11/11  | AC 14(+1 vs robots) |  Fort (2) - Reflex (3) - Will (2) 

 

 

 

 

---

T'Sarra staggered back from the blow, more offended than injured. She crouched down and looked at the guard, studying him. Was he flesh? Or was he iron? She had no idea, but it hurt little to assume and turn on the charm a bit.

 

" Sorry! Sorry I shouldn't have done that. It's just .. we're all kind of panicked in here, we have no idea where we are or why we're here. We'll go easy, cooperate just if you could maybe give us a little information. About where we are? Who is holding us and why?"

Her voice was softer now, cooperative as she was promising. Hoping to get something from the guard.

[farothel]

statblock

Vrilundass 'Vri' Arund

Female NG Half-elf Swashbuckler, Level 1, Init 3, HP 11/11, Speed 30ft
AC 16, Touch 13, Flat-footed 13, CMD 15, Fort 0, Ref 5, Will 1, CMB +2, Base Attack Bonus 1   
silversheen, MC rapier +5 (1d6+1, 18-20/x2)
cold iron dagger +4 (1d4+1, 19-20/x2)
shortbow (20)+4 (1d6, x3)
Studded Leather (+3 Armor, +3 Dex)
Abilities Str 12, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 15
Condition None 

 

Vri kept silent for now, looking around and at the guard showing up.  While she had been in bar brawls before and could fight with her fists, she preferred her weapons, especially when the others did have weapons and armour.  She hoped that some of the others could throw spells and she could defend them while they did.

[madMonk]

Rain-in-Summer

Rain quietly studies the newcomer, as Jerry hides behind her.

 

 

 

---

OOC: Knowledge Local on the man and his robes, Engineering on the thing on his face.

 

[iantruesilver]

Domino Only

You begin to piece together the world around you.  The room doesn't look much something specifically designed for surgery at all.  Just a few rickety wooden tables cobbled into a corner somewhere, and lacking any of the proper tools that might normally be in a cleric's healing kit.

 

That said though, out of the corner of your eye you do spot a small dagger, sitting on top of the circular table beside Belinda, just across from the other rat.  That's probably the only actual weapon in the immediate vicinity.

 

Your attempts to intimidate the thing finally works, between spreading your limbs to make yourself appear larger and a couple sudden feints, the rat seems to have been shaken somewhat, and it's sounds have turned into a mix of hisses and squeaks momentarily.

 

The other being looked blankly at the rats, then at you.  But then when she laid eyes on your face, her features scrunched up a little bit into a bit of a mild grimace, "I, I know you..."

 

 

(( The smaller red and black tokens are the rats.  I presume that's what you're asking. ))

Barhuce, Rain, T'Sarra, Val and Vri

Rain, T'Sarra and Vri

Through the dim light of the nearby torches filtering in, you can see that there is another similarly dressed figure just above the stairs, possibly another guard of sorts.

 

Rain Only

As far as you can tell, the town of Hajoth Hakados, nor any nearby settlements or tribes sport any symbols consistent with the designs that adorn the yellow border running down the lapel of this person's robes.

 

The mask however, is clearly shaped out of tanned leather, perhaps made to resemble a spider over the person's face.  There is a pair of black feathers dangling off each side from a small length of cord that must have been tucked just behind the ears.

 

T'Sarra and Vri

 

There's a hallway leading out of this chamber ahead of the cell's gate.  Down some distance you can barely make out the sounds of some muted and indescript chanting.

 

"Hurry it up Drabek, just grab her already."  Another male voice from atop the stairs urges, sounding somewhat impatient as he came halfway down the stairs behind the other man.  From where he stands, you can see he is similarly attired as his cohort.

 

Unlocking the gate and moving through, this Drabek character came just inside of the bars, pretty much ignoring T'Sarra entirely.  Nodding his chin in Rain's direction, he grunted, "You, in the corner.  The Mistress has summoned you."

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by iantruesilver (see edit history)