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Tarak Tales Shake-down: Terror Down Below!

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Unsatisfied with the amount of coverage her shield gave, Cersei concentrated on trying to increase the size of it. If she was lucky, she'd be able to increase its size enough so that it would cover all three of them once she got down from this suspended cart. That would be her next order of business, this was more important.
 
((Fire's been working well, and I don't recall putting a number of use or frequency of use limitation on Chay's goggles, even though I possibly should have, so he's going to use them again. He's also got his weapons out, so he'll pre-emptively declare a Melee Parry against any tentacles that come his way.))

((You folks have declared already, so I should let the monster declare before I resolve any rolls. As Chay is the biggest threat this round, the creature will indeed try and attack him. It will drop the invisibility spell and fire an energy bolt in the form of freezing ice at Cersei before attacking Chay with a tentacle. Now, Cersei's got excellent Strength, and she's got Mystic Shield up and running, and taking a Dodge action would impair her spellcasting, so I'm going to go ahead as if she's not going to Dodge; any injury modifiers won't take effect until after her casting, anyway.))

((Since Koh is declaring 2 dice-rolled actions, his Dodge can't be a full Dodge; that should be OK, because the ricochet wheel isn't, like, tracking him or anything. No Dodge skill, so 4D Dexterity, -1D multiple action, 5, 4, 3 = 12. Then he's trying to take stealthy cover; it's not true invisibility, of course, but it helps him be unnoticeable, and in the confusion of battle he's got the chance. 6D Stealth, +3D cloak, -1D multiple action, 3, 5, 4, 5, 6, 6, 5, 4 = 38! The monster will have to beat that to notice Koh's there... or use some other ability that he can't hide against, like Receptive Telepathy or something.))

((Cersei is just expanding the dimensions of her Mystical Shield; 2D Energetics, +1D Amulet, +2 fast ritual (why not?), 2, 3, 6 +2 = 13, and I'd set my difficulty at 5 + 2 per "person size" desired, so she has a shield space large enough for 5 people to stand behind in safety, now.))

((Chay, again, has no straight Goggles skill, so it's 4D Dexterity, -1D multiple action, 5, 3, 4 = 12. His 5D Melee Parry, -1D multiple action, 2, 5, 3, 5 = 15.))

Koh flips nimbly out of the way as the runaway wheel zings through the space he was in and embeds itself in a support timber. While he presses himself against the wall, behind an irregular outcropping, Cersei mutters a few mystic words, and the distortion field in front of her expands. This happens just as an icy blue bolt that sucks heat from the very air lances toward her. The shield flares as the bolt flashes through it, but it smacks into her chest all the same, making her stagger back just a step.

((Cersei's 3D Strength, +2D shield, 6, 3, 2, 2, 3, reroll 4 = 20 for resistance. Monster's Procreatics roll was 5, 6, 4, 1, 1 = 17. Cersei's hit, but takes no damage.))

A hard chill flashes through Cersei's entire body, making her teeth chatter involuntarily. Her joints stiffen momentarily, as if she'd been out in the winter snows for a while, but she shrugs it off with little more than a shiver and a shake of her head.

Chay's goggles lance out another stream of fire as the tentacled monster becomes suddenly visible in all its horror, flames from before still licking at its body. The fire caresses it, and it shrieks again in pain, but doesn't seem hampered as it flicks a mighty tentacle at the Guardsman. Chay just barely ducks out of the way, bringing his longsword up to deflect the swing, and letting the tentacle's own movement do most of the cutting work.

((Monster's running on 5D Strength, 4, 2, 4, 3, 3 = 16. Since Chay is using a Melee Parry against what is essentially a Brawling attack, he does weapon damage as a function of his parry: 4D Strength, +1D Longsword, 3, 2, 6, 5, 2 = 18. That equates to a "stun" result, -1D to all rolls for next round; it's hurt, but not enough to be considered "wounded" so it has just a temporary penalty.))

A bright red line of blood splashes from the wounded tentacle, and the creature fixes its tiny, baleful, humanlike eyes on Chay with such a look of vengeance...
 
Kohdeki slithered along the rocky wall, trying to get within range of the terrible creature.

He already had one of his throwing knives ready, and he wanted to stick it in the monster's eye.

((Sneak into throwing knife range))
 
Cersei looked down at the monster, thinking about what to do next. She closed her eyes and focused her mind before chanting the short ritual to empower her weapon with a fiery energy.
 
((Chay is going to basically keep doing what he's doing, since it seems to be reasonably effective so far. So that's an attack with the fire goggles and a Melee Parry of anything that comes at him.))

((The beastie knows it's out of sorts, and it remains focused on Chay for another attack, but it's going to fire another energy bolt at Cersei, and now is when I pause to let Cersei decide whether she wants to reaction-Dodge. I'd recommend against it, in part because she's already facing a penalty for the action of maintaining the Mystic Shield (which I forgot to include last round, but remember from the basic magic description; if the effect doesn't happen immediately, it must be maintained at some mental effort), but I want to start the habit of asking to be certain.))

((Since Koh isn't being attacked, in large part because he's not drawing attention to himself, I'll resolve him anyway right now: 6D Sneak, +3D cloak, 6, 2, 2, 2, 1, 3, 4, 6, 4, reroll 3 = 33, monster is distracted and therefore not using Search, so straight 3D Perception, 5, 3, 2 = 10. Koh could serve tea and crumpets and still not be noticed.))

((So, Cersei, let me know here or in PMs... or on the chats, whichever is fastest.))
 
((Cersei is not dodging. She Empowers her weapon first: 2D Energetics, +1D Amulet, +2 fast ritual, -1D multiple actions (maintaining the shield), 6, 5, reroll 3, +2 = 16, so success! Now let's resolve the Energy Bolt, while we're at it. The monster rolled enough to hit, and Cersei has to beat a damage roll of 18. 3D Strength, +2D shield = 5, 4, 1, 6, 5 = 21.))

((Chay and the monster repeat their actions. Chay's goggles: 4D Dexterity, -1D multiple action, 5, 6, 3 = 14. Chay's parry: 5D Melee Parry, -1D multiple action, 2, 1, 4, 4 = 11, not great, but better than the base 5 difficulty the monster has for basic tentacle-to-hand combat. Monster rolls Monstery things... including a Strength roll of 24 for damage. Chay's got 4D Strength, 1, 3, 6, 6 = 15 ... I actually don't know that the Wild Die is supposed to result in a complication on a Strength roll, but since a penalty would put him Mortally Wounded, I'm gonna allow it. Chay will end up Incapacitated, but can stay conscious (if unable to do much without titanic effort) with a Difficult Willpower or Stamina roll; he has neither skill, but his 4D Strength is his best bet: 3, 6, 4, 4 = 17, which is within the low range of "Difficult." So he's groggy but aware.))

While Koh blends into the walls, edging closer to the front of the creature as it flails at Chay, Cersei holds her bastard sword in front of her, concentrating. The blade seems to glow with a red light, and then eldrich flames burst out along its length, ghostly signifiers of the energy coursing through the weapon. She has time to smile before another bolt of pure cold shimmers through the broad field protecting her and makes her shiver, almost double over again. But once more, she shakes it off. This time, however, it's with a grim satisfaction.

Chay shoots yet another jet of flame, which hits, but he's a little worried that the creature seems to be shrugging off a lot of practical damage. Oh, it's in pain, not moving as well as it ought to, but a lot of that seems to be superficial. He's so worried that fire isn't doing what he wants it to do, he almost misses the tentacle whipping out at him. His sword lifts just a shade too late, and the meaty thwack of the slimy membrane lifts him completely off his feet, flinging him away. By instinct alone, he manages to keep a grip on his sword as he lands on his back in the bed of a mine cart. Barely clinging to consciousness, wheezing for air and hearing things inside crack as his chest moves, Chay at first thinks that his head is spinning, but then he notices the ceiling of the mine tunnel moving... or more accurately, the cart is moving, edging slowly away at first, but picking up speed on the slight down-slope of the tunnel leading off into the mine...

((End of round. New declarations? When is dready going to be able to take over Chay? Not that he can do too much, I just like his input.))
 
Cersei's eyes widened in fury when she saw the grotesque monster bat Chay away like he was nothing. A furious energy built up inside her (trigger hero point) causing her to tremble with power as she planted a foot on the lip of the suspended cart. She vaulted up and off of it, holding her sword covered in the eldritch flames in her hands, aiming to stab down into the monster, hoping for its death or at least mortal injury. Regardless of what would happen, Cersei would use a final burst of magical energy to assist her in aiding Chay. (trigger character point to enhance Assistive Telekinesis) "Koh!" She called out after attempting to use her spell to slow the cart as much as possible. "Get Chay!"
 
Watching Chay get smacked into a cart made Kohdeki's heart leap in his chest, but he figured it had given him the opening he needed.

Kohdeki flung his throwing knife with all the accuracy he was well-known for, aiming at one of the monster's eyes.

((called shot on one of the monster's eyes))

Then, with swift feet, he attempted to carry out Cersei's demand.

((attempting to retrieve Chay from the cart))
 
((Hero point is spent and doubles Cersei's statistics; there's a mechanic that a Hero Point and a character point can't be spent in the same round, which I didn't mention because it hardly ever comes up, but Cersei is enthusiastic. It's also unnecessary, because the Hero Point ought to be enough.))

((The monster can't realistically Dodge, given you're leaping right on top of it and it was just circling to actually see you when you leapt (said circle bringing its eye into Koh's view, incidentally). Instead, it will flail two large tentacles at you, if it gets the chance.))

((Cersei's using 3 skills: Climbing/Jumping to leap to the monster, Melee Weapons to attack it, and Energetics to affect the mine cart; I'll figure her dialogue is a free action, so her multiple skill penalty is -2D. The Hero Point means all her personal statistics are doubled. So let's resolve each one in turn.))

((She has no specific Climbing/Jumping skill, so it defaults to 3D Strength, doubled to 6D, -2D multiple actions, 3, 4, 6, 2 = 15, which is adequate for that particular jump.))

((She has 5D Melee Weapons, doubled to 10D, -2D multiple actions, 3, 3, 2, 3, 2, 2, 5, 6 = 26, or over 2.5 times the difficulty. Damage is going to be 3D Strength, doubled to 6D, +1D+2 bastard sword, +2D Empowered Weapon effect, 4, 5, 5, 6, 1, 4, 2, 4, 1 +2 = 34 flaming damage for it to try and resist.))

((She has 2D Energetics, doubled to 4D, +1D amulet, and I'll go ahead and give +2 for a quick ritual just before she calls out to Koh, so it's 5, 6, 1, 3, 3, +2 = 20. The spell difficulty is 15+modifier for size, and yes, the mine cart + Chay is pretty big, but on the other hand, it hasn't picked up a whole lot of speed just as yet. She's stopped the movement, and can keep it stopped for as long as she wants to maintain the spell (let's see how the round plays out). But Chay should be gotten, because he's vulnerable and has no cover to speak of where he is.))

((She doesn't have any Parries or Dodges declared, but her Strength this round outweighs the monster's, so she could just weather any assaults. That is, unless the monster spent a Hero Point...))

((In this instance, for Koh, it's two actions: throwing the knife and beating feet to Chay. That would be Thrown Weapons and Running (which will break cover, but the monster has other things on its mind right now). Dexerity skills control the accuracy, but Strength controls the power of the thrown weapon. 4D+2 Thrown Weapons, -1D multiple actions, 3, 5, 6, +2 = 16 to hit. By the called shot rules I posted, an eye is 1-10 centimeters in size, so the standard difficulty of 10 is added to with 4D: 2, 3, 4, 1 = 10, so the difficulty to hit the eye is 20. He hit the monster in the face, but missed the eye in specific. Throwing blades are small enough, their damage is only his 3D Strength, 6, 5, 2, reroll 3 = 16 damage. And no Running skill means the roll defaults to 4D Dexterity, -1D multiple actions, 6, 5, 1, reroll 3 = 15, which, over reasonably smooth terrain with only one major obstacle (the monster itself), is enough to reach the mine cart by the end of the round.))

((Monster rolls to resist Cersei's damage, and burns its last 2 character points for extra dice, but can't quite manage. Given it's 5D Strength, it isn't hampered by Koh's knife embedded in its cheek, though, sorry to say. But more on that in the color text...)

The thing swung around to fix on Cersei, but she was already in the air, and as she landed, she drove her long blade deep into the center of the thing. Cersei was aware in the corner of her eye of the spinning flash of Koh's blade, but she was focusing on her sword and on reaching out mentally to the rolling mine cart. Tentacles flailed around her, grabbing at her legs, her clothes, but she pushed harder, and the blade bit deep until the creature's scream echoed ear-splittingly through the chamber.

While Koh reached the cart, grabbing it by the hand brake and gazing at the prone, broken-looking man who, amazingly, blinked back at him, Cersei found herself holding on to her bastard sword's pommel just to keep her footing as the monster lurched and stumbled, its various tentacles seeming to lose coordination, some failing, some trying to move, some just going spastic. She finally rode the creature down as it collapsed and rolled on its side, allowing her to jump safely to the floor as she felt the last of her adrenaline fading. Bright red blood gushed out from around the edges of the still-embedded sword, pooling around Cersei's boots.

((There doesn't need to be another combat round; the creature is Mortally Wounded, and its only a matter of time before it expires. It won't be attacking again. If you're going to take an action against it, though, we'll continue combat structure for convenience's sake.))
 
Cersei fell down on her butt and panted from the extreme exertion. Her robes soaked up the thick blood that poured from the monster, but it wasn't a big deal, she could dry them out magically when she had the chance. She felt good to be able to beat the thing, but its scream seemed almost human. It shook her mentally. The experience would be embedded in the back of her mind for a while, but she couldn't let it keep her from completing the mission. The whole commotion with this creature practically made her forget what it was they were doing down here exactly. (>.> Seriously, I kinda forgot *covers her head in defense of random flying objects*) "Is...Is everyone o-okay?" She asked between heavy breaths.
 
((Check the first post for the summary of the mission...))

The thing trembles as more blood flows, and a hissing, cracked parody of a voice echoes through the space. "You... wizards... did... this... to... us..." it gasps as the tentacles start to recede, shrink like waterskins and the water is leaking out fast. The whole creature is starting to deflate, shrink into itself.

Chay cannot walk, but he can groan "I'll live," weakly as Koh goes to help him out of the cart.
 
Cersei stared at the deflating monster in horror, wondering what it had meant by its final words. She would have to ask once they got back, but for now she felt it was best if she refrained from mentioning it. She stood up, thick monster blood dripping from her robes. She used the hem of her robed to wipe off the blade of her sword and sheathe it before moving to go help Koh get Chay out of the cart. "Well, I'm fairly satisfied now that that was what we came down here to deal with. What do you guys say to heading back to the surface so I can clean the blood off of my robes, hmm?"
 
As the monster deflates, it starts to come apart. With a wet ripping sound, parts of it simply separate, leaving trails of tentacles and interconnected tissue where they were joined. The twisted, melted faces that Koh saw so clearly on the sides of the creature resolve into misshapen, stretched-out heads, as twelve roughly dwarf-sized masses resolve into the flesh-reshaped remains of the missing miners (as it will turn out), and one more, another dwarf, whose stretched out, cut-apart face now shrinks down into that of a female of the mining folk, her arms and the entire lower half of her body still tentacled, gobbets of flesh and sinew and nerves hanging from her back where she was connected to all the others, and the strange marks on her face now resolved into marred and distorted facial tattoos.

This one, this lead dwarf, the driving force behind the mass that was the monster, stirs even still, though her lifeblood pools around her, interrupting Cersei's words. "There's more... out there... than you can know... locked up here. Too safe... to find strength... but... learn caution... from my... example..." She starts to laugh, a horrid gasping chuckle, until something metallic falls out of her throat, literally opening up her chest cavity, and she dies. The metallic plug? A twisted, misshapen mass that still bears just a few recognizable sigils of a Wizard's Guild amulet.
 
Kohdeki's gaze narrowed as he listened to the words the female dwarf coughed up.

"Sounds like the council is gonna' have more than just a single night creature on their hands." He said as he helped Chay out of the cart. "Also, I call dibs on the shiny thing that popped out of the crazy dwarf woman."
 
"N-no. I have to take it. It's a guild amulet." She pointed out before going and picking up the misshapen piece of metal that lied on the blood-soaked ground. She put the amulet in one of her many pockets and sighed. "I need to take it back to the guild, sorry Koh." Cersei was visibly shaken up by the entire ordeal. She had never seen anything like what they had fought before in either textbooks or real life. She wondered if the dwarf woman's words mean that there were even more like that down here, just waiting to escape and wreak havoc on Tarak. She knew that they couldn't let that happen, but she wasn't sure if she could handle any more of those things screaming and dieing only to disintegrate into its baser components consisting of former miners. In an attempt to put her mind at ease, she pulled out her wand and began using a long ritual to cast Healing on Chay since they were in no immediate danger.
 
Though Kohdeki was quite shaken on the inside, his demeanor was casual. It was his usual smirking poker face he had trained himself to put on when concealing high emotion.

He thought about Cersei's words. There was no doubt that the Wizard's guild would be reprimanded, in some way, if the council found out that this incident was, in a way, related to the Wizard's guild. That meant the twisted medallion was blackmail gold.

At least, that was how Kohdeki saw things.

((unfinished post))
 
((continuing))

"We need to get out of here when you're done. I don't like the idea of more than one of those things running around in here." Kohdeki said as he took a brief look around.

((end post))
 
Cersei nodded nervously. "Once we get out, the counsel is probably gonna seal this place up for good. Let's get out as quickly as we can."
 
"Hmm. Maybe we can get out using one of the winches." Kohdeki said as he began his search for a way out.

((looking for... a quick way out? Maybe a winch that can lift us all the way to the surface.))
 
((At this point, we can hand-wave a fair amount of stuff; in a film, they'd cut right to the interesting parts, and I want to do it cinematic if I can.))

After Cersei's healing magics flow through his body, Chay straightens up, shuddering. He'd been healed with magic a lot -- a LOT -- over the years, but it never failed to make him shiver a little bit. It wasn't bad, it was just... weird.

"I agree, let's get out of here ASAP." He risks uncapping his personal glowing stone to check the map. "If we hustle up, we can just follow the ore ramps on the way out. I'd rather not get caught in midair like Cersei did..."

WIPE TO:

INTERIOR: COUNCIL CHAMBERS - AFTERNOON

Chay and Cersei stand before the assembled City Council, with three high-ranking Guild representatives seated nearby. Cersei had stopped off at the Guildhouse (it was on the way) and learned the department head of Amulet Identification was meeting with the Council, who had wanted an immediate report, anyway, so it was just more efficient to meet everybody at once. Luckily, the Council agreed, and brought the young people in. Sunlight streamed in through the windows of the Council Chamber, which always seemed so strange to the Warren-dwellers.

((Koh can be there, feeling uncomfortable and unable to be all stealthy, or he can be cooling his heels outside, maybe even out in the Park, not wanting to show his face to the politicians who might recognize him later if he gets caught thieving from them; his call.))

The Chairman looked at Chay. "So, your report, Guardsman? Clearly you found something."
 
As the meeting of the council proceeded, Kohdeki relaxed in the serenity of the Park.

No matter how hard he tried, Kohdeki couldn't wipe from his mind the disgusting horror he had beheld, and the words the dying(sp?) dwarven woman had imparted upon the three.

What has been seen cannot be unseen. It was a rule he had come to know a little more often than most.
 
Cersei decided to speak for him after pulling out the mangled amulet from one of her many robe pockets. "We encountered a large monster deep in the mines, sir. It took a little doing, but we had managed to slay it. Though, before it expired it spoke to us, though I believe its message may have been more directed to me." Cersei repeated the monster's message word for word. "Then as it continued bleeding, it seemed to disintegrate into something else. The many faces on the hideous thing went back to the way they were, that being the missing dwarf miners. They were the monster, with a dwarf guild wizard seeming to act on behalf of all of them. At the end of her speech, she laughed. It was a horrid sound, then this fell out." She held up the amulet by the leather rope that held the pendant part. It was still crusted with the dwarf woman's blood, but it had dried and clotted. Just looking at it made her feel like she needed a long bath.
 
Guild wizard Tambor Innoreck, the late-middle-aged man of the Guild representatives in the room, leaned forward. "Let me see that, if you don't mind?" He turned the amulet over and over in his hands. "If I hadn't been consulting the records just this morning, I wouldn't have recognized it. But I think this may be what's left of the amulet of Wurra Stonesmasher, one of the more infamous of Rogue Wizards. We recovered the amulet of her mate, Arran Shieldbiter, just this morning."

They listened to a more detailed account of the creature, and what it turned into, and the three representatives conferred together. Finally Innoreck turned and addressed the Council. "There are transmogrifying magics that could lead to that kind of body-reshaping. It was a unique adaptation to draw the other bodies of the miners into her own. We have feared that Shieldbiter and Stonesmasher have continued their forbidden research, but it appears that their magic got away from them, at least one of them. It... may have been a blessing to have killed her. But Shieldbiter appears to still be at large. We will send a team of battlemages down at the Guild's own expense to sweep the mines both with all possible senses and telepathically. Once we have determined the mines to be safe, you can send your clean-up crew for the miners; we will take possession of Stonesmasher's body for analysis. We will also volunteer our stoneshaping services to open up that ramp they mentioned was closed."

"The Council will gladly accept the assistance of the Guild of Wizards. Guardsman Wytphire, please talk to your captain for the usual compensation for you and your compatriots; we will authorize the appropriate expenses. I believe that should be all..."

While the Council rustles about in preparation for their next order of business, Innoreck waves Cersei over. "Incidentally, we'd like you to mention to your friends a bit of extra compensation the Wizards are offering. We'd rather nobody spread the details of this particular transmogrification." He names a more than fair amount, but adds the stipulation, "the cash will come with the usual geas, you know, if the deal is broken, there will be a compulsion to donate twice the amount to the Orders, and so forth. Just offer it to them. And consider it yourself, if you please." He nods and smiles, and then is called back to his companions.
 
Everybody receives fair payment for their afternoon, plus a tidy bonus for keeping quiet about any specifics of what they saw.

Everybody also receives 4 character points, and since nobody actually spent any CP during the adventure, everybody ought to have 9, now.

That's enough to buy up a pip in any skill you have, and several in some of the lesser skills. The brief summary of improving skills is in the description of character points, but if you need further description/explanation, I'm happy to provide it in the OOC thread.

This adventure is officially done.
 
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