The professor's focus is violently brought back to the here and now. He instinctively casts Blade Ward on himself as he assesses the situation. "What in blazes is going on here? Have you all lost your infernal minds?! This is a laboratory, not a zoo!" and he'll look to Cordelia for an explanation, as this is more her area of expertise.
Gordra’s clawed right hand traces through the air, the burning sigil of the blade ward following his fingertips. Even before it is completed, however, the floating symbol begins to warp and writhe mid-air. The arcs and lines grow, twin, intertwine. In the space of seconds it has formed an incredibly complex, shield-sized emblem, softly burning orange and white like a sun-lit bouquet of orchids and lilies.
Suddenly, the same symbol appears in the air in front of each person in the room. The sparkling energy dancing along the glass bubble redoubles, and a beacon of light appears at the room’s center.
“NO!” A cry echoes across the room, and Vasht is there- caught and suspended by the same burning lines that form the intricacies of the strange glyph.
Amaruve, you try to shift your weight, you try to shove Perspicacious.
But you can't move. Nothing moves. You and everyone sees the image of the room as it was a moment ago before the symbol traced itself in fire in front of your eyes.
Papers are suspended in mid-air where the professor crashed against a bookshelf, their motion stopped partway to the ground. Perspicacious and Amaruve, Cordelia and Jean, the professor alone - all of you are entirely still and silent.
Then the air is filled with a crisp, clean light. Small, sparkling motes of crystalline power drift upward and outward in happy, lazy streams from the device at the center of this quiet scene. And it is quiet. In the space of this moment, the sound of scuffling on floorboards is not to be heard. So, too, for the scratching of pen on paper, or the murmured recitations of a scholar, or the thousand other sounds that might frequent this unfortunate place in the backwaters of the tower. In the space of this moment, there is nothing to hear and only six to hear it.
While the Professor's body remains motionless, his mind is a flurry. He tries to take in everything his senses can give him, while at the same time cursing himself for not paying more attention to the events leading up to this incident. He will attempt to pay more attention to detail in the future, but no time to worry about that now, right now he must study this... whatever it is that's happening. He must know everything there is to know about it, so that he can do it again.
Amaruve takes a deep breathe, No... He closes his eyes, No... He was furious he howls, No... If he could howl...
A sense of calm comes over him. The sane piece of his mind returns. The truce of the tower, and the unbroken law. He takes the moment. A meditation. A single instant that stretches for eternity. Is this the end? Would the rest of time hold Prespicacious face, twisted with frustration, anger, and fear?
... She wasn't the worst thing to look at for eternity...
The glaring white light from the hovering stone set at the heart of the novascope slowly pulses outward. Then, as if its surface tension is broken, the light falls to the ground and splashes against the interior of the bubble like water. The crystalline barrier, though several inches thick, cracks at once- breaking into a jigsaw puzzle of man-sized shards. The liquid light flows between the cracks and outward, enveloping the five frozen forms and lapping upward at Vasht, restrained but moving slowly still against his bonds.
I would like everyone to roll a single d20, no modifiers.
(Thank you for your patience and participation, and thank you what has been (for me, at least) a very enjoyable few days. The Prologue is complete and I'm ready to relinquish control of the story to you guys. I'll explain what the rolls are for as soon as they're complete!)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
16
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM: Adventures in Phandalin [Khessa], The Dread of Strahd[Darya], Dragons of Stormwreck Isle [Rook], Baldur's Gate Mysteries [4-Player] Player: Oona in MO's Icewind Dale Ru's Current Status
Out of the darkness we hear the smallest of sounds. A soft, regularly repeating beep-beep... beep-beep... beep-beep
Accompanying the sound is a pulsing point of red light. Who knows how long it has been sounding? Maybe minutes, maybe days, maybe...
The light resolves itself into a blue screen, and now the entire device is visible. Arcane symbols, floating golden lines, appear hovering once again in front of the screen of Cordelia's device (The STR-DST, which she has nicknamed "Dusty"). We see it lying now on a smooth black surface, inches from the outstretched hand of Cordelia's unconscious body.
She stirs, now. The sound of her device awakening her as it has done countless times at home.
Home...
Without thinking, Cordelia rises stiffly, adjusts her glasses, and lifts Dusty to her face to peer at its screen.
The information it presents make no sense. Unrecognizable outputs and data tables are displayed, and a single, bizarre measure simply reads: "Local Potentiality: 0.0%"
The professor's focus is violently brought back to the here and now. He instinctively casts Blade Ward on himself as he assesses the situation. "What in blazes is going on here? Have you all lost your infernal minds?! This is a laboratory, not a zoo!" and he'll look to Cordelia for an explanation, as this is more her area of expertise.
Gordra’s clawed right hand traces through the air, the burning sigil of the blade ward following his fingertips. Even before it is completed, however, the floating symbol begins to warp and writhe mid-air. The arcs and lines grow, twin, intertwine. In the space of seconds it has formed an incredibly complex, shield-sized emblem, softly burning orange and white like a sun-lit bouquet of orchids and lilies.
Suddenly, the same symbol appears in the air in front of each person in the room. The sparkling energy dancing along the glass bubble redoubles, and a beacon of light appears at the room’s center.
“NO!” A cry echoes across the room, and Vasht is there- caught and suspended by the same burning lines that form the intricacies of the strange glyph.
“OUT!” He screams, “You must… get out!”
But it is too late.
Imani Jones - Lv 11 Warlock of The Living City - Variant Human| Fate/False Revelation
Wick Stumbleduck - Lv 4 Lore Bard - Forest Gnome | Elustran Days
Khurah - Lv 3 Star Druid - Half-orc | Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians
Dale Swanson - User of the Sound of Silence Stand - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Sunset Investigations
Ayaci Vikerfjell - Lv 8 Rune Knight | Variant Human | Storm King's Thunder
Amaruve plants his feat to shove down Perspicacious. The force of his instincts drive him to press on and escape... But it's too late...
Extended Signature
Amaruve, you try to shift your weight, you try to shove Perspicacious.
But you can't move. Nothing moves. You and everyone sees the image of the room as it was a moment ago before the symbol traced itself in fire in front of your eyes.
Papers are suspended in mid-air where the professor crashed against a bookshelf, their motion stopped partway to the ground. Perspicacious and Amaruve, Cordelia and Jean, the professor alone - all of you are entirely still and silent.
Then the air is filled with a crisp, clean light. Small, sparkling motes of crystalline power drift upward and outward in happy, lazy streams from the device at the center of this quiet scene. And it is quiet. In the space of this moment, the sound of scuffling on floorboards is not to be heard. So, too, for the scratching of pen on paper, or the murmured recitations of a scholar, or the thousand other sounds that might frequent this unfortunate place in the backwaters of the tower. In the space of this moment, there is nothing to hear and only six to hear it.
Imani Jones - Lv 11 Warlock of The Living City - Variant Human| Fate/False Revelation
Wick Stumbleduck - Lv 4 Lore Bard - Forest Gnome | Elustran Days
Khurah - Lv 3 Star Druid - Half-orc | Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians
Dale Swanson - User of the Sound of Silence Stand - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Sunset Investigations
Ayaci Vikerfjell - Lv 8 Rune Knight | Variant Human | Storm King's Thunder
While the Professor's body remains motionless, his mind is a flurry. He tries to take in everything his senses can give him, while at the same time cursing himself for not paying more attention to the events leading up to this incident. He will attempt to pay more attention to detail in the future, but no time to worry about that now, right now he must study this... whatever it is that's happening. He must know everything there is to know about it, so that he can do it again.
Amaruve takes a deep breathe, No... He closes his eyes, No... He was furious he howls, No... If he could howl...
A sense of calm comes over him. The sane piece of his mind returns. The truce of the tower, and the unbroken law. He takes the moment. A meditation. A single instant that stretches for eternity. Is this the end? Would the rest of time hold Prespicacious face, twisted with frustration, anger, and fear?
... She wasn't the worst thing to look at for eternity...
Extended Signature
The cracking of glass ends the silence.
Imani Jones - Lv 11 Warlock of The Living City - Variant Human| Fate/False Revelation
Wick Stumbleduck - Lv 4 Lore Bard - Forest Gnome | Elustran Days
Khurah - Lv 3 Star Druid - Half-orc | Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians
Dale Swanson - User of the Sound of Silence Stand - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Sunset Investigations
Ayaci Vikerfjell - Lv 8 Rune Knight | Variant Human | Storm King's Thunder
The glaring white light from the hovering stone set at the heart of the novascope slowly pulses outward. Then, as if its surface tension is broken, the light falls to the ground and splashes against the interior of the bubble like water. The crystalline barrier, though several inches thick, cracks at once- breaking into a jigsaw puzzle of man-sized shards. The liquid light flows between the cracks and outward, enveloping the five frozen forms and lapping upward at Vasht, restrained but moving slowly still against his bonds.
Imani Jones - Lv 11 Warlock of The Living City - Variant Human| Fate/False Revelation
Wick Stumbleduck - Lv 4 Lore Bard - Forest Gnome | Elustran Days
Khurah - Lv 3 Star Druid - Half-orc | Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians
Dale Swanson - User of the Sound of Silence Stand - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Sunset Investigations
Ayaci Vikerfjell - Lv 8 Rune Knight | Variant Human | Storm King's Thunder
You are, each of you, enveloped by a slow-moving tide of burning white light.
And then there is nothing but the dark.
Imani Jones - Lv 11 Warlock of The Living City - Variant Human| Fate/False Revelation
Wick Stumbleduck - Lv 4 Lore Bard - Forest Gnome | Elustran Days
Khurah - Lv 3 Star Druid - Half-orc | Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians
Dale Swanson - User of the Sound of Silence Stand - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Sunset Investigations
Ayaci Vikerfjell - Lv 8 Rune Knight | Variant Human | Storm King's Thunder
THE NEXT LEAP
Imani Jones - Lv 11 Warlock of The Living City - Variant Human| Fate/False Revelation
Wick Stumbleduck - Lv 4 Lore Bard - Forest Gnome | Elustran Days
Khurah - Lv 3 Star Druid - Half-orc | Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians
Dale Swanson - User of the Sound of Silence Stand - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Sunset Investigations
Ayaci Vikerfjell - Lv 8 Rune Knight | Variant Human | Storm King's Thunder
I would like everyone to roll a single d20, no modifiers.
(Thank you for your patience and participation, and thank you what has been (for me, at least) a very enjoyable few days. The Prologue is complete and I'm ready to relinquish control of the story to you guys. I'll explain what the rolls are for as soon as they're complete!)
Imani Jones - Lv 11 Warlock of The Living City - Variant Human| Fate/False Revelation
Wick Stumbleduck - Lv 4 Lore Bard - Forest Gnome | Elustran Days
Khurah - Lv 3 Star Druid - Half-orc | Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians
Dale Swanson - User of the Sound of Silence Stand - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Sunset Investigations
Ayaci Vikerfjell - Lv 8 Rune Knight | Variant Human | Storm King's Thunder
12
18
Extended Signature
3
16
DM: Adventures in Phandalin [Khessa], The Dread of Strahd [Darya], Dragons of Stormwreck Isle [Rook], Baldur's Gate Mysteries [4-Player]
Player: Oona in MO's Icewind Dale
Ru's Current Status
49 and counting...
Imani Jones - Lv 11 Warlock of The Living City - Variant Human| Fate/False Revelation
Wick Stumbleduck - Lv 4 Lore Bard - Forest Gnome | Elustran Days
Khurah - Lv 3 Star Druid - Half-orc | Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians
Dale Swanson - User of the Sound of Silence Stand - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Sunset Investigations
Ayaci Vikerfjell - Lv 8 Rune Knight | Variant Human | Storm King's Thunder
6
(Edit: Here's hoping an even 50 is a good thing. :D)
Holy crap. Awesome
Imani Jones - Lv 11 Warlock of The Living City - Variant Human| Fate/False Revelation
Wick Stumbleduck - Lv 4 Lore Bard - Forest Gnome | Elustran Days
Khurah - Lv 3 Star Druid - Half-orc | Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians
Dale Swanson - User of the Sound of Silence Stand - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Sunset Investigations
Ayaci Vikerfjell - Lv 8 Rune Knight | Variant Human | Storm King's Thunder
50
Imani Jones - Lv 11 Warlock of The Living City - Variant Human| Fate/False Revelation
Wick Stumbleduck - Lv 4 Lore Bard - Forest Gnome | Elustran Days
Khurah - Lv 3 Star Druid - Half-orc | Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians
Dale Swanson - User of the Sound of Silence Stand - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Sunset Investigations
Ayaci Vikerfjell - Lv 8 Rune Knight | Variant Human | Storm King's Thunder
Out of the darkness we hear the smallest of sounds. A soft, regularly repeating beep-beep... beep-beep... beep-beep
Accompanying the sound is a pulsing point of red light. Who knows how long it has been sounding? Maybe minutes, maybe days, maybe...
The light resolves itself into a blue screen, and now the entire device is visible. Arcane symbols, floating golden lines, appear hovering once again in front of the screen of Cordelia's device (The STR-DST, which she has nicknamed "Dusty"). We see it lying now on a smooth black surface, inches from the outstretched hand of Cordelia's unconscious body.
She stirs, now. The sound of her device awakening her as it has done countless times at home.
Home...
Without thinking, Cordelia rises stiffly, adjusts her glasses, and lifts Dusty to her face to peer at its screen.
The information it presents make no sense. Unrecognizable outputs and data tables are displayed, and a single, bizarre measure simply reads: "Local Potentiality: 0.0%"
Imani Jones - Lv 11 Warlock of The Living City - Variant Human| Fate/False Revelation
Wick Stumbleduck - Lv 4 Lore Bard - Forest Gnome | Elustran Days
Khurah - Lv 3 Star Druid - Half-orc | Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians
Dale Swanson - User of the Sound of Silence Stand - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Sunset Investigations
Ayaci Vikerfjell - Lv 8 Rune Knight | Variant Human | Storm King's Thunder