Dark Machinations (( A side thread of The Rescue, closed )) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Dark Machinations (( A side thread of The Rescue, closed )) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Xerneth Karjen
02-24-04, 12:27 AM (( This thread will be closed to those character taken by Xerneth Karjen from The Rescue. It will deal with what happens to them while they are removed from the adventuring party. Let the fun begin. :devil: ))

The sky is dark, an oppressive atmosphere hangs on the wind that would chill the bones of the living, and there is nothing to see beyond desolation. The ground is black as pitch, and is upon closer inspection dried tar that has solidified and cracked to the point of becoming gravel. Massive hills rise in many directions, seemingly made up entirely of the tar gravel, high enough to make a human feel small. There is no sun, only the haunting glow of a large magma pit visible far off in the distance of the east that makes this entire place overly warm and cast with the orange light.

The air is dense, thick with smoke and acrid fumes that result from the meeting of tar and magma. There are no signs of life anywhere; no plants, no animals. It is a vast wasteland reminiscent of the landscapes of the Abyss, and there is a strong forboding prescence that reeks of chaos and evil. Yet there is another aspect that makes this place unusual.

It is completely silent.

A cloaked figure clad in white that quickly fades to black enters this place through a portal. His long cloak covers his form entirely, though occasional bits of his web armor can be seen, along with a heavy looking sickle and a fair number of daggers. He has another figure wrapped in his arms, which he quickly releases and steps away from before muttering, "Care to play a little game? Run one way they're all the same, you'll find yourself back here again, and if you find the right way 'round, through horrid pain, your freedom may be found."
Ariadne
02-24-04, 01:18 AM Ari lands on her hands and knees with a soft thud, looking around. She stands, hunched over, looking around.

"Where is Ari? Is this where Mister Garak Sir is? Ari is supposed to be where Mister Garak Sir is! Yes yes yes. Are you taking Ari to Mister Garak Sir? Black Lord says Ari must find him. You take Ari there?"

She, in fact, tries to grab part of Xernath's cloak of something with which to cling to as she questions him.
Xerneth Karjen
02-24-04, 01:43 AM The figure looks downward at Ari as his cloak is latched onto and smirks. Gone is the mask worn in the clouds, revealing his blazing red eyes, as bright as flames and as evil and malevolent as the lanscape around them. He chuckles a bit as he speaks, "Perhaps in time you'll find what you seek, but for the moment Garak is nowhere near. Heed the words that I speak, and enjoy the realm of eternal fear."

He fades suddenly, his form dispersing into a strange half-corporeal black mist and drifting first around Ari, then past her and up along one of the large gravel mounds, where he reforms in a low crouch muttering to himself, "Now to see what breaks this will, if not blood rain or bitter chill, perhaps the fires of chaos may, have some impact this day."

With a grin he points in the distance and a flare of flame erupts from the gravel roughly twenty feet behind Ariadne with an odd roar and hiss. The jet goes roughly ten feet into the air and is about three feet in width, lasting only instantaneously and leaving a small patch of liquified tar and more of the ever present acrid smoke.
Ariadne
02-24-04, 12:23 PM Ari watches Xerneth disappear then reappear, her face drawing into a wide expression of fascination.

"Ooooo...neatsie magicks trick!" She raises her voice, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Hey Mister Red Eyes? Ari has questions! If this is realm of ee-tuhr-nahl fear, then which way does Ari go to find Black Lord?"

She tilts her head sideways, studying Xerneth as the flame erupts behind her and she quickly turns to see it with a mutter of "Oooooooh". She turns completely and starts to walk towarsd where the flame erupted with a completely fascinated expression smeared on her face.

Then something odd happens. She stops mid-step as a clear, steady voice, undertoned in anger, hatred, and malice emits from her throat, simply saying, "No!"

Ari blinks as if confused, but replies to the voice. "Why?"

Then she is seen speaking again to herself. "Because I said so Ariadne."

This continues on as follows:

"But Ari wants to see the pretty magicks. It was pretty."
"It could be dangerous. We're not going."
"But Ari wants too. She waaaants!"
"No...I said no, and I meant it. We're going the other way."
"But pretty magicks are this way!"

This continues on like this, Ari turning away from the tar stain as she speaks steadily and turning back as she speaks, well, "normally"...normally for her that is. Then a third, sing-song voice chimes in halfway between her turning.

"Perhaps 'tis time that we should see where Black Lord wishes us to be?"
"But Ari wants to go this way!"
"And I wish to go away from that direction."
"Relax, then, sit back, take your leisure. There's no need to have a seizure. Our direction I'll simply ask and set us right upon this task."

With that Ari sits down, pushing her blood encrusted hood back off her face, the streaks of blood from the blood rain almost forming some sort of odd pattern over her face as if perhaps she painted the streaks there herself. She closes her eyes and begins what can best be described as praying. The tongue is foreign...or perhaps is just babble, it's hard to tell. She continues babbling this way for many minutes. About 5 minutes into the casting she opens her eyes, which appear to be almost glazed over in some fashion and removes her holy symbol from the folds of her cloak, armor, and clothing. The symbol, which appears to be made of a silvery metal, begins to color, the fist depicted turning a cold black and the shafts of light between the fisted fingers illuminating to a greenish-white, casting flickering shadows over the loon's face as she chants, weaving her hands around in the air. It's as if she's contacting her god himself...perhaps she is trying to.

((She's casting Discern Location, looking for Garak to figure out which direction she should travel in to reach him. If she's not interrupted in her casting and if it's successful of course.))
Blackguard
02-24-04, 04:08 PM ((had to do this))

Somewhere, a large frozen minotaur in full plate armor sighs.
Xerneth Karjen
02-24-04, 06:55 PM (( Ari> The spell reveals the location as the place the party was headed towards. It seems to suggest going East as the fastest way out, yet somehow, a second voice seemingly stronger than the first suggests a Western route.

Blackguard> :D ))

The cloaked figure raises a slim white eyebrow as he witnesses Ariadne's conversation with herself. He allows her to complete her spell, then smirks as he mutters in a low and measured voice, "Chatter all you like and babble on, little will you know what choice will be wrong. Soon you shall see and soon you shall feel, that in the end here only pain is real."

He seems to count off and again points, and again a jet of flame bursts from the ground, this time about five feet away from Ariadne. It disappears just as suddenly and leaves another patch of molten tar on the ground. If she looks to the distance, she will notice that jets of flame appear all across the desolate wasteland and not simply on command.

He rises from the crouch and smirks as a large bank of moving smoke comes rolling across the planar landscape, dense and dark it blocks all light within. He looks at her, "Enjoy the world I set upon you, but wrong choices have their bane. Select the direction and go right through, or face worse things than eternal pain."
Ariadne
02-24-04, 11:08 PM ((This could get interesting...two different directions. *watches Garak roll over in his "grave". Poor git...:P ))

"Ah ha...this way is what I see. Our Lord lays out the path to me. If we but travel towards sunrise we'll find where Mister Garak Sir lies," Ari chants out in that sing-song voice.

Good...let's go.
"...but"
"We're going...now"
"...but!"
"NOW Ariadne."

Face contorted with anger she takes about two steps before she stops, that sing song voice rising to the surface again.

"Hold tight...that way a voice doth say. We must take flight...but...which way is right?"

She brings her hand up to her face.

"We don't have time for this. Which way is it already?"

"Well, the voice of the first said towards the sun, but the second was louder than the first one. One must be our Lord, it just must be, but I can't say for sure which one was he"

She mumbles, "Useless Seer..." then chimes up in that "normal" voice, "Well Ari wants to go thisaway."

"Ugh...we really don't have time for this... Come on. let's go this way."
"...but..."
"NOW!"
"Yes maam, that way as you command lest we should die here where we stand!
*mumbled* "At least one of you has some sense."

She starts taking two steps towards the East, then stops again.

"No! Ari wants to go thataway! Ari wants!"
"No."
"...but Ari wan--"
"NO! No no no no and NO! We're going this way because I say. End of story."
"You rhymed! You rhymed your words this time!"
"Shut up, Seer!"
*far too happily for her own good* "As you wish, if that's your will then I will go. 'Tis a done deal"

"...Finally... One down."

And so she continues on eastward, stopping and turning as if trying to pull herself the opposite direction every now and again, at which point shrieks of "...but Ari wants pretty magicks!!" erupt, promptly followed by "Why me?" or mutters of "If I could kill you and live..." as she trudges on.

((This will be a loooong journey ;) -))
Xerneth Karjen
02-25-04, 02:19 AM The figure smirks dryly and walks slowly down the slope of the gravel hill, eyeing the smoke cloud before looking up to the lightless sky above, "Looks like rain...."

He fades from view, once more becoming the black mist and seeps into the ground beneath him, vanishing from view.

It does indeed begin to rain, but not ordinary rain to be certain. Small motes of glowing orange and yellow fall from the smoky air, along with small flakes of a dark grey; cinders and ash. The wind picks up as well, bringing with it more acrid smoke roiling across the wastes. The jets of flame continue to burst upward at seemingly random locations, but a steady interval is seen of one set every thirty seconds.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Xerneth Karjen 02-24-04, 12:27 AM	(( This thread will be closed to those character taken by Xerneth Karjen from The Rescue. It will deal with what happens to them while they are removed from the adventuring party. Let the fun begin. :devil: )) The sky is dark, an oppressive atmosphere hangs on the wind that would chill the bones of the living, and there is nothing to see beyond desolation. The ground is black as pitch, and is upon closer inspection dried tar that has solidified and cracked to the point of becoming gravel. Massive hills rise in many directions, seemingly made up entirely of the tar gravel, high enough to make a human feel small. There is no sun, only the haunting glow of a large magma pit visible far off in the distance of the east that makes this entire place overly warm and cast with the orange light. The air is dense, thick with smoke and acrid fumes that result from the meeting of tar and magma. There are no signs of life anywhere; no plants, no animals. It is a vast wasteland reminiscent of the landscapes of the Abyss, and there is a strong forboding prescence that reeks of chaos and evil. Yet there is another aspect that makes this place unusual. It is completely silent. A cloaked figure clad in white that quickly fades to black enters this place through a portal. His long cloak covers his form entirely, though occasional bits of his web armor can be seen, along with a heavy looking sickle and a fair number of daggers. He has another figure wrapped in his arms, which he quickly releases and steps away from before muttering, "Care to play a little game? Run one way they're all the same, you'll find yourself back here again, and if you find the right way 'round, through horrid pain, your freedom may be found."
Ariadne 02-24-04, 01:18 AM	Ari lands on her hands and knees with a soft thud, looking around. She stands, hunched over, looking around. "Where is Ari? Is this where Mister Garak Sir is? Ari is supposed to be where Mister Garak Sir is! Yes yes yes. Are you taking Ari to Mister Garak Sir? Black Lord says Ari must find him. You take Ari there?" She, in fact, tries to grab part of Xernath's cloak of something with which to cling to as she questions him.
Xerneth Karjen 02-24-04, 01:43 AM	The figure looks downward at Ari as his cloak is latched onto and smirks. Gone is the mask worn in the clouds, revealing his blazing red eyes, as bright as flames and as evil and malevolent as the lanscape around them. He chuckles a bit as he speaks, "Perhaps in time you'll find what you seek, but for the moment Garak is nowhere near. Heed the words that I speak, and enjoy the realm of eternal fear." He fades suddenly, his form dispersing into a strange half-corporeal black mist and drifting first around Ari, then past her and up along one of the large gravel mounds, where he reforms in a low crouch muttering to himself, "Now to see what breaks this will, if not blood rain or bitter chill, perhaps the fires of chaos may, have some impact this day." With a grin he points in the distance and a flare of flame erupts from the gravel roughly twenty feet behind Ariadne with an odd roar and hiss. The jet goes roughly ten feet into the air and is about three feet in width, lasting only instantaneously and leaving a small patch of liquified tar and more of the ever present acrid smoke.
Ariadne 02-24-04, 12:23 PM	Ari watches Xerneth disappear then reappear, her face drawing into a wide expression of fascination. "Ooooo...neatsie magicks trick!" She raises her voice, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Hey Mister Red Eyes? Ari has questions! If this is realm of ee-tuhr-nahl fear, then which way does Ari go to find Black Lord?" She tilts her head sideways, studying Xerneth as the flame erupts behind her and she quickly turns to see it with a mutter of "Oooooooh". She turns completely and starts to walk towarsd where the flame erupted with a completely fascinated expression smeared on her face. Then something odd happens. She stops mid-step as a clear, steady voice, undertoned in anger, hatred, and malice emits from her throat, simply saying, "No!" Ari blinks as if confused, but replies to the voice. "Why?" Then she is seen speaking again to herself. "Because I said so Ariadne." This continues on as follows: "But Ari wants to see the pretty magicks. It was pretty." "It could be dangerous. We're not going." "But Ari wants too. She waaaants!" "No...I said no, and I meant it. We're going the other way." "But pretty magicks are this way!" This continues on like this, Ari turning away from the tar stain as she speaks steadily and turning back as she speaks, well, "normally"...normally for her that is. Then a third, sing-song voice chimes in halfway between her turning. "Perhaps 'tis time that we should see where Black Lord wishes us to be?" "But Ari wants to go this way!" "And I wish to go away from that direction." "Relax, then, sit back, take your leisure. There's no need to have a seizure. Our direction I'll simply ask and set us right upon this task." With that Ari sits down, pushing her blood encrusted hood back off her face, the streaks of blood from the blood rain almost forming some sort of odd pattern over her face as if perhaps she painted the streaks there herself. She closes her eyes and begins what can best be described as praying. The tongue is foreign...or perhaps is just babble, it's hard to tell. She continues babbling this way for many minutes. About 5 minutes into the casting she opens her eyes, which appear to be almost glazed over in some fashion and removes her holy symbol from the folds of her cloak, armor, and clothing. The symbol, which appears to be made of a silvery metal, begins to color, the fist depicted turning a cold black and the shafts of light between the fisted fingers illuminating to a greenish-white, casting flickering shadows over the loon's face as she chants, weaving her hands around in the air. It's as if she's contacting her god himself...perhaps she is trying to. ((She's casting Discern Location, looking for Garak to figure out which direction she should travel in to reach him. If she's not interrupted in her casting and if it's successful of course.))
Blackguard 02-24-04, 04:08 PM	((had to do this)) Somewhere, a large frozen minotaur in full plate armor sighs.
Xerneth Karjen 02-24-04, 06:55 PM	(( Ari> The spell reveals the location as the place the party was headed towards. It seems to suggest going East as the fastest way out, yet somehow, a second voice seemingly stronger than the first suggests a Western route. Blackguard> :D )) The cloaked figure raises a slim white eyebrow as he witnesses Ariadne's conversation with herself. He allows her to complete her spell, then smirks as he mutters in a low and measured voice, "Chatter all you like and babble on, little will you know what choice will be wrong. Soon you shall see and soon you shall feel, that in the end here only pain is real." He seems to count off and again points, and again a jet of flame bursts from the ground, this time about five feet away from Ariadne. It disappears just as suddenly and leaves another patch of molten tar on the ground. If she looks to the distance, she will notice that jets of flame appear all across the desolate wasteland and not simply on command. He rises from the crouch and smirks as a large bank of moving smoke comes rolling across the planar landscape, dense and dark it blocks all light within. He looks at her, "Enjoy the world I set upon you, but wrong choices have their bane. Select the direction and go right through, or face worse things than eternal pain."
Ariadne 02-24-04, 11:08 PM	((This could get interesting...two different directions. watches Garak roll over in his "grave". Poor git...:P )) "Ah ha...this way is what I see. Our Lord lays out the path to me. If we but travel towards sunrise we'll find where Mister Garak Sir lies," Ari chants out in that sing-song voice. Good...let's go. "...but" "We're going...now" "...but!" "NOW Ariadne." Face contorted with anger she takes about two steps before she stops, that sing song voice rising to the surface again. "Hold tight...that way a voice doth say. We must take flight...but...which way is right?" She brings her hand up to her face. "We don't have time for this. Which way is it already?" "Well, the voice of the first said towards the sun, but the second was louder than the first one. One must be our Lord, it just must be, but I can't say for sure which one was he" She mumbles, "Useless Seer..." then chimes up in that "normal" voice, "Well Ari wants to go thisaway." "Ugh...we really don't have time for this... Come on. let's go this way." "...but..." "NOW!" "Yes maam, that way as you command lest we should die here where we stand! mumbled* "At least one of you has some sense." She starts taking two steps towards the East, then stops again. "No! Ari wants to go thataway! Ari wants!" "No." "...but Ari wan--" "NO! No no no no and NO! We're going this way because I say. End of story." "You rhymed! You rhymed your words this time!" "Shut up, Seer!" far too happily for her own good "As you wish, if that's your will then I will go. 'Tis a done deal" "...Finally... One down." And so she continues on eastward, stopping and turning as if trying to pull herself the opposite direction every now and again, at which point shrieks of "...but Ari wants pretty magicks!!" erupt, promptly followed by "Why me?" or mutters of "If I could kill you and live..." as she trudges on. ((This will be a loooong journey ;) -))
Xerneth Karjen 02-25-04, 02:19 AM	The figure smirks dryly and walks slowly down the slope of the gravel hill, eyeing the smoke cloud before looking up to the lightless sky above, "Looks like rain...." He fades from view, once more becoming the black mist and seeps into the ground beneath him, vanishing from view. It does indeed begin to rain, but not ordinary rain to be certain. Small motes of glowing orange and yellow fall from the smoky air, along with small flakes of a dark grey; cinders and ash. The wind picks up as well, bringing with it more acrid smoke roiling across the wastes. The jets of flame continue to burst upward at seemingly random locations, but a steady interval is seen of one set every thirty seconds.