[Taocow PBEM] Chapter VII - Into the Land of Mists

[Aaron Clausen]

> > [GM]
> > The top of the stairs, a rather dizzying sixty feet up end at a wooden door that,
> > strangely,  is not burned.  There are a few slight dints and one small scorch mark,
> > though the stone beside the door is blackened with soot.  There are some faint
> > symbols on the door, which Rod recognizes as some sort of wizard symbols.  There
> > is no keyhole, nor door ring or knob.
> >
> > "I am uncomfortable about sleeping in or near a house with a door like this." Phaeton
> > murmurs.
> > [/GM]

> [Talas]
> Talas turns to Rod and says "Mr. Black can you sense any inchantment on the walls
> surrounding this door?"
>
> "For if not I would suggest that we ask Mr. Bongo to send his spectral form through
> the wall to see what lays on the other side."
> [/Talas]

[Rod]
Rod seems to concentrate for a moment, and then looks at Talas. 
"There is magic being
used here." he says.
[/Rod]

> [Lady Frost]
> "Um, I know I don't know much about your kinds of magic, but I do know enough to
> think that if those things were enough to secure the door against whatever
> trashed this place, I'd bet it's secured against astral projection as well."
>
> Frost walked back down the stairs and looked around for a place to rest that could be
> at least made to be comfortable.
> [/Lady Frost]

[GM]
There appears to be no place of any particular comfort, though at
least the cold air is
somewhat less oppressive inside the ruined house.

As Lady Frost goes down the stairs, Lena says "I'm beginning to agree
with what the
others were saying.  Maybe we should carry on."
[/GM]

[...]

> > [GM]
> > Bongo passes through the stone tentatively, and  there sees the lizard man Griz
> > bowing before the flames.  Griz is  chanting "Kuzah kalah mizal dezoth nimur" over
> > and over as he throws flecks  of some white powder into the fire.  Soon a figure
> > appears, shaky at  first, but becoming clearer.  It is the pale man, the demon that
> > they  had fought on the ship, and his eyes are burning redder than the  fire.
> >
> > "It is I, Lord of the K'murd-faka." Griz says, lowering his  head.  "I have done as you
> > instructed and I have brought the wanderers  into the Land of Mists as your message
> > commanded."
> > [/GM]

> [Bongo]
> A scowl spreads across Bongo's astral muzzle.  He immediately zooms  back to
> his physical body where he 'comes to' with a sharp breath.
>
> Looking around at the others, he lets out a soft growl.  "We've been  had, everyone.
> Griz is working for that pale-skinned monstrosity we met on the boat -- who apparently
> told our little scaly friend to lead us here."
> [/Bongo]

> [Alex]
> Alex asks, "What can we do?"
> [/Alex]

> [Kyle]
> Kyle snorts in frustration.  "Hey Bongo give me some directions,  I have had enough of
> this.  I am going to go and visit our friend and try and throw him off guard and maybe
> force him to react to us before he is ready."
> [/Kyle]

[Bongo]
Bongo points in the direction where his spectral form came from.
[/Bongo]

> [Kyle]
> Once Kyle gets the direction he moves to his SAMAS and suits up.
> [/Kyle]

[GM]
Those with Sixth Sense suddenly get a feeling of danger, but it is
Lady Frost who first
begins to feel the strange effect when she feels a great weariness
start to wash over
her.  Before she can control it, she is drifting off to sleep.

Bongo and Kyle are next, Bongo falling to the ground and Kyle starting
to snooze in his
power armor.  Rod, Talas and Arden the collapse themselves.  Lena is
last, so that only
Alex and Osiris outside and Phaeton on the inside are asleep. 
Phaeton, making sure that
everyone is safe, runs down the stairs.

"What's happening?" he cries out to Osiris and Alex.  As if to answer
his question, the fog
parts to reveal a column of lit torches, perhaps some twenty strong,
marching up the
hill towards the company.

Then, even more surprising, a bolt of red lightning leaps from the
tower, and tendrels reach
out, touch the ground and hit the sleepers, who suddenly awaken with a
yawn, feeling quite
refreshed and each feeling as if a gentle woman's voice had coaxed
them out of their
unconsciousness.  Inside the tower, Osiris, as the only one in the
tower awake, sees the
red lightning leap up from Arden, blowing the door off its hinges.

Inside Osiris and those just waking up see a small room with another
set of stairs leading
downwards at the other side, although a quick glance shows that there
is no other stairwell
*beneath* the room.
[/GM]

[Osiris]
Osiris gives Arden a queer look, but then looks to Talas and Rod. 
"Keep an eye on that
room, I'm going to tell the others."  He runs down the stairs and says
"We've got something for you to see.

Then Osiris sees the approaching torches and says "Oh!"
[/Osiris]

--
Aaron Clausen   mightymartianca at gmail.com

Palladium Rifts PBEM:
http://test.alberni.net/taocow/rifts_pbem/