Amitola, with slight worry in her eyes, looks upon the others, then back to Jek with a slight smile to show her thanks. The kind gesture was very appreciated.
Now looking back to the others, knowing they are right, going back to her softer spoken self, she nods, and then begins to speak. "Thank you all, I trust you and your judgment, you all want to do what is best for the people around you, and I admire you all for that. Thank you. I hope we can still reach them through a message, and that they listen to that message, it is up to them to do what they choose with the information given to them."
Letting her brain move to another topic of discussion to hopefully stop her fretting for the others, she begins with another question. "So, we now have the possibility of getting a new amulet, we wait for them to arrive and go from there about getting a new amulet since the Chlidlike Empress said they should be able to help?"
An eyebrow raised, Dageron adds, "When exactly was this new amulet bearer, Atreyu, supposed to arrive? We aren't to just sit here waiting for them, are we?"
Turning to their hosts he says, "Is it possible for your people to bear our message of a traitor to our allies? They would have to seek them out quickly, with no certainty as to where they can be found. Do you have sufficient people you could entrust with such an important mission? A cohort of at least five fliers would make good strategic sense. I assure you, each team of AURYN bearers play a critical tactical part in the broader war we all fight in. Stopping a traitor could mean ultimate victory, and failing to do so could mean ultimate defeat, regardless if our team succeeds here. We cannot be in two places at once, and it cannot be mere coincidence that this information comes to us at the very moment we are amongst a nation of highly mobile allies as of yet untouched by the wars."
"Atreyu. I know not." Skraih says to Jek Utinni. "Given time, I will find. Him."
She shifts her look to Dageron as she stands and steps away.
"A cohort, could be, assembled." Skraih says, nodding. "Ask Krille, of this."
The room shimmers, and golden energy crackles along the rafters, along the corners of the walls and through the sigil. Wind stirs. Electricity pops through the air...and suddenly there are five more people in the room...
A young female human Samurai, crouching and looking ready for battle...
A male Tabaxi monk, poised and defiant...
A male half-Elf half-Dwarf wizard in heavy armor, holding a strange, oblong device in his hands as he sits on the floor...
A male Gnome with pipes and a fresh wound...
And a male-attributed Warforged wielding a Javelin and facing off with the Gnome...
Jek blinks at that, then laughs a little. "Well that saves some time! That's much quicker. I really like this room, we are getting a lot done quickly here! Everyone, this is the Twilight Embers.... Well, I don't know the Samurai or the Warforged. Wait? Where's Greko and Lelith and Yam? OH OH OH, WE NEED TO WARN YOU, we just learned that there is a traitor among you! The Bright Lady just told Amitola.... She's new. Umm, I guess they are all new. Should we introduce ourselves?"
The young samurai, in a bright flash of steel, withdraws her daisho blades in a flurry, and looks startled and confusedly at her new surroundings.
”What treacherous magic is this? Where am I? And who are you?! Speak now, strangers, or I shall cut your tongues out and speak for you…” she utters in a low growl, belying her young age.
Amitola, stern faced in order to appear calm, begins to walk forward. Carefully looking upon each of them, then she begins to speak, "It is I, who Jek speaks of, I am Amitola, and it is true of what Jek speaks of. I must warn you, I was informed that there was a trader amongst your group. I also must inform you that if you try to stop Ganondorf now, you will not make it out with your lives. I have seen each of your fates if you do not listen to the warnings we give you. I beg of you to listen to the warnings I have brought forth to you. Now, to what Dageron said, who is traitor amongst you?"
Getting is a slight defense stance, as well as having her hands ready to grab a weapon if needed, she waits for some form of confirmation, and for someone to speak.
In his excitement of seeing old friends, Jek didn't take in the situation. He really looks around the room and the state of everyone. Jek puts his hands up in a non-threatening manner. To the Samurai, he will say "Okay, let's all calm down. I'm Jek Utinni, the rest of the Twilight Embers know me. We are the Order of the Phoenix. We are also some of the chosen of the AUYRN."
He will then yell out "Rum, what's going on here? You aren't the traitor, right? What happened? Why is that machine thingy attacking Tuto? What do you need?" Quieter, he says. "Please don't be the traitor, we're friends."
Ro teleports into existence. His black hair matted to his face with sweat and his unnaturally purple eyes staring off into the far distance. The elf-dwarf in full plate armor, knees on the ground looks up to the sky and lets out a painful wail, "FATHER NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Ro then brings his head back down, staring into the ground beneath him as he curls into a ball. With no regard to his new surroundings or those around him, the elf-dwarf simply sits on the ground defeated. His eyes stare aimlessly straight ahead and his shoulders falls and rises irregularly as he breathes heavily.
The elf-dwarf's mind races with a flurry of thoughts, Greko’s dead. Father's dead. We were like insects to him. Twilight Embers? More like moths to a flame. I couldn't do anything in the face of darkness. The power the darkness holds, it has no end! False Knight? False Mage now too. My only truth is weakness. What must I do to become stronger? What must I... ah...
Ro's breathing begins to regulate all too quickly. Still sitting on the ground, the elf-dwarf straightens up his back, curling out of his ball to reveal a strange device in his hands. *Click*
Rum stands frozen in place, his feline eyes slightly wide and the remnants of a snarl on his face. His paw reaches slowly to the unfamiliar object around his neck as his mind is processing what he has just witnessed. And more than that, there had been a presence trying to invade his thoughts, trying to control them. He has never been so grateful for the training he received at the monastery in that moment, as his mental fortitude was tested to it’s limit.
He breathes out as if for the first time in hours and looks down to the familiar, yet unexpected, figure of his friend Jek Utinni.
Taken aback, he wonders whether his mind did break in that moment.
“Friend Jek?”, he says, confusion apparent in his tone.
He looks around at the figures now surrounding him, his senses starting to come into focus.
He sees the stern faced Dragonborn approach him.
“Blood of Dragons, blessed of the Great Dragon”, he whispers almost in awe. He remembers saying a prayer to the Great Dragon in the moments before…
“By the Great Dragon, no! Friend Greko, he’s….gone!”, he exclaims.
Something Jek says in that moment catches his attention. Something about a traitor.
“Traitor? Lelith”, he almost spits the name. “She was working for the Lord of Darkness all along, we didn't have a chance”, he says just as Ro starts to shout.
He turns to Ro, sees the False Knight reach for the device and in turn he stretches out his own arm.
“Friend Ro, it’s what the Lord of Darkness wants, don’t do…..”
The large warforged appears with his bloodied javelin poised to strike Tuto. Even as the the tip thrusts forward, Oten's glowing red eyes dart rapidly from side to side, registering all the new threats in his unexpected new environment.
*Click*
The red glow disappears from Oten's eyes, and just as the tip of javelin is about to plunge through Tuto's face, it retracts into Oten's mechanical arm with a *snick*, leaving the little bard looking at a metal fist just an inch shy of his nose.
Oten opens up his fist and pats Tuto on the head. "My grave apologies. I was not myself. May this act of physical comfort serve to partially salve the damaged trust between us. Now..." Oten stands up and turns around to stand between Tuto and the others in a defensive posture as his javelin slides back out into his hand slowly. "Who are these people? And where is Greko?"
The witcher Shirin stands defensively as this new group warps into the space before him. His cat like eyes dart from each new face from behind his wisps of white hair, examining their features as they begin to conversate with the rest of his crew.
"Now now, let's not do anything stupid. Lower your weapons." He recommends, looking at anyone with a weapon wielded. Then he continues, "Where is this Lelith, and how long ago were they removed from your party?"
Rum shakes his head at Ro and turns to face all those present in the room. The Auryn hanging heavily on his neck.
Out of the seven that entered Hyrule Castle, only five remained. Of those five, two had been under the influence of mind control, one is mute and one just plain unlucky and not really aware of what and why things went down. He notices the red glow fade from Oten's eyes and watches the Warforged take up a protective stance, assuming both he and Ro are now in control again. When Oten asks after Greko he realises though, that he and Ro might not know what actually happened.
It was up to him to explain, and he had to be quick.
"I am Rumble of Hunger", he says, his posture becoming more erect as he looks at the assembled members of the Order of the Phoenix, the remaining Twilight Embers and Lady Kaede. "Now Auryn bearer of the Twilight Embers", he says sadly.
"All here are allies, there is no conflict between us, no weapons need be readied against each other. But mistakes have been made and we need to be prepared for what is to come", he says pointedly looking at Ro and the device.
"The Twilight Embers were led into a trap only minutes ago by our former member, Lelith, who has been working for the Lord of Darkness the whole time. The Lord of Darkness was waiting for us at the Temple of Time and took control of both Ro and Oten's minds, an effect that seems to have worn off now. He had both Ro's father and our former Auryn bearer Greko at his mercy to stop the rest of us interfering. He forced Ro against his will to solve the puzzle you see before you, a puzzle we found in the Great Deku Tree and unwittingly brought right to him. Before Ro could finish, Greko sacrificed himself to send the rest of us here. Make no mistake, Greko the Green is...was... a true hero!", he says whilst placing his fist over his heart in a sign of respect to the old druid.
"Now Ro has completed the puzzle, whatever the Lord of Darkness wanted to happen will come to pass. May the Great Dragon have mercy on our souls", he concludes, looking down at Ro with sympathy and compassion mixed with a hint of disappointment.
Slade pops his head out from under Jek's robes long enough to whisper in his ear.
"Pst, Jek! If these.... Embers had a mole, what's to say we don't? I'm finding meself more then a little suspicious of our.... 'reformed' stormtrooper there."
Skraih only has a moment to look surprised before things take a major turn.
Unnatural darkness began to fall over the room, soaking up all of the light that permeated naturally. The sky darkened outside, and there was a rumble of thunder and purple flash of lightning outside as the gathered bands are enshrouded in the gloom.
There is a bell. At first, it sounds like the bells tolling for the Hall of the Celestial's itself, but it becomes clear that it's not. Another toll, and it seems like the bell is something unearthly, its note all wrong and echoing through time.
Ro works the cube, the Lament Configuration, through its final stages as the cube elongates, the becomes an almost diamond shape, then begins to return to its cube shape as his hands work. The patterns on the outside of the box are different as it returns to its original shape...and then two long spikes spring from either side of the cube and pierce through Ro's hands. The wizard only winces as he blood flows free. The box soaks the blood up, drinking it into its form...
The room begins growing. Literally growing. The walls are stretching, the floor broadening, widening. A door begins to form against one wall. The air smells like ozone as lightning crackles overhead again, and purple light begins to peak out from around the as it breaks and comes open.
A thing steps out of the door and into the room.
It's skin is probably purple in color, but presents as a light lavender as its skin is smeared in white ash. Tentacles drape down from its face, and its body is a tapestry of leather and pain; the leather clothing that it wears is woven into its skin, with the bloody wounds on display for all to see. Its head is scared with cuts that run laterally and horizontally, and at the intersection of each of the scars a nail has been driven into its head.
Those gathered behind it a similar in appearance, though each sporting some new variation of depravity and mutilation. One's head is peeled open, its skull exposed and the skull spread open with a series of metal wires. One's tentacles have been cut off to tiny, twitching nubs, exposing a beak that continuously chatters up and down below eyeless sockets.
Chains whip from the darkness near the door, streaking across the room as if of their own volition. The first one hooked into the side of Ro's neck. Blood spurted. The next caught his arm, piercing its way between the radius and ulna. Another worms between a gap in his armor and hooks into his ribs. Ro screams.
-=Ah, the suffering. The sweet, sweet suffering.=- The pin-headed creature says without using its mouth. Its voice is heard in the heads of everyone in the room as it moves forward with its entourage. -=The box. You opened it. We came. Now you must come with us, taste our pleasures.=-
The spikes retract to the inside of the configuration, and it drops out of Ro's bleeding hands and to the floor. The lead creature holds his hand out, and the box flies from the floor and to his grasp. As this happens, the chains pull taught, with eight, then nine, hooked into Ro's flesh. He is pulled forward, closer to the door, foot by foot, inch by inch, agony by agony. The lead creature steps close to him, leaning in, speaking directly to him.
The creatures are suddenly in everyone's minds as they take control of the room.
-=It is not the hands that call us.=- The creature says. -=It is...desire. We have such sights to show you.=-
The chains haul Ro to the door, amidst the creatures gathering there, allowing him to fully see, fully take in what is happening, and the strange beings, all flayed flesh, mutilations, amputations, and horrific piercings, gathered about him...
Darla sees these newest creatures arriving, and does not give a rats ass about their threats. All she knows is the leader has a lot of worm like appendages hanging out and she is HUNGRY. Puffing up her feathers she begins hooting loudly and scratching the floor with her webbed feet. Then, she charges.
"What have you done Ro?"a voice calls from Ro's waist. It was Kazek, the wizard's sentient spellbook. The wizard ignores his friend's remark.
Ro listens carefully as the bell tolls, observes intently as the room's dimensions warp, and tracks each tentacled oddity as they appear into the room. The sight of them and their masochistic styles typically would have put Ro aback, but the elf-dwarf was far from his typical state of mind. The first chain that hooked Ro's neck caught him off guard. He didn't expect it, but he welcomed the pain. A small price to pay for power.Greko and father endured far worse, he thought to himself. As a second, third, ninth hook pierces the elf-dwarf's body, Ro can't help but scream from the pain. Yet still, his eyes watched the scene intently. Though his body seemed ruined, his mind was sharper than ever. He observed the craftsmanship of the chains, clung to every word the pin-headed creature spoke, and internalized every sensation he was feeling. Though his body was the victim; Ro was the student, and the cube was a teacher. One that promised him power. And he would obtain it without fail.
Ro screamed as the hooks tugged and pulled him across the floor, yet his mind was thrilled. Excited for the promise of power to be fulfilled. In that regard, Ro found himself not to dissimilar from these creatures that seemed to relish in their own pain. At the lead creature's last statement, Ro responded in haggard breath.
"My hands solved your cube."He lifts his hands weakly, a large hole at the center of each palm bleeding profusely. His hands trembled in pain... or was it excitement?
"My desire has called for you. A desire for power. My eyes are open, show me."
Amitola, with slight worry in her eyes, looks upon the others, then back to Jek with a slight smile to show her thanks. The kind gesture was very appreciated.
Now looking back to the others, knowing they are right, going back to her softer spoken self, she nods, and then begins to speak. "Thank you all, I trust you and your judgment, you all want to do what is best for the people around you, and I admire you all for that. Thank you. I hope we can still reach them through a message, and that they listen to that message, it is up to them to do what they choose with the information given to them."
Letting her brain move to another topic of discussion to hopefully stop her fretting for the others, she begins with another question. "So, we now have the possibility of getting a new amulet, we wait for them to arrive and go from there about getting a new amulet since the Chlidlike Empress said they should be able to help?"
An eyebrow raised, Dageron adds, "When exactly was this new amulet bearer, Atreyu, supposed to arrive? We aren't to just sit here waiting for them, are we?"
Turning to their hosts he says, "Is it possible for your people to bear our message of a traitor to our allies? They would have to seek them out quickly, with no certainty as to where they can be found. Do you have sufficient people you could entrust with such an important mission? A cohort of at least five fliers would make good strategic sense. I assure you, each team of AURYN bearers play a critical tactical part in the broader war we all fight in. Stopping a traitor could mean ultimate victory, and failing to do so could mean ultimate defeat, regardless if our team succeeds here. We cannot be in two places at once, and it cannot be mere coincidence that this information comes to us at the very moment we are amongst a nation of highly mobile allies as of yet untouched by the wars."
Slade listens to the debate for a time.
"So, why is this Auryn so important then? It's just a communications device right?"
"Atreyu. I know not." Skraih says to Jek Utinni. "Given time, I will find. Him."
She shifts her look to Dageron as she stands and steps away.
"A cohort, could be, assembled." Skraih says, nodding. "Ask Krille, of this."
The room shimmers, and golden energy crackles along the rafters, along the corners of the walls and through the sigil. Wind stirs. Electricity pops through the air...and suddenly there are five more people in the room...
A young female human Samurai, crouching and looking ready for battle...
A male Tabaxi monk, poised and defiant...
A male half-Elf half-Dwarf wizard in heavy armor, holding a strange, oblong device in his hands as he sits on the floor...
A male Gnome with pipes and a fresh wound...
And a male-attributed Warforged wielding a Javelin and facing off with the Gnome...
Even Skraih looks surprised and confused...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
With the sudden appearance of these strangers Slade makes like a leaf and blows his scrawny ass to the nearest cover he can find.
18 to stealth
Jek blinks at that, then laughs a little. "Well that saves some time! That's much quicker. I really like this room, we are getting a lot done quickly here! Everyone, this is the Twilight Embers.... Well, I don't know the Samurai or the Warforged. Wait? Where's Greko and Lelith and Yam? OH OH OH, WE NEED TO WARN YOU, we just learned that there is a traitor among you! The Bright Lady just told Amitola.... She's new. Umm, I guess they are all new. Should we introduce ourselves?"
Dageron raises the other eyebrow. Then he purposefully draws his sword. "So then, who's the traitor?"
The young samurai, in a bright flash of steel, withdraws her daisho blades in a flurry, and looks startled and confusedly at her new surroundings.
”What treacherous magic is this? Where am I? And who are you?! Speak now, strangers, or I shall cut your tongues out and speak for you…” she utters in a low growl, belying her young age.
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Amitola, stern faced in order to appear calm, begins to walk forward. Carefully looking upon each of them, then she begins to speak, "It is I, who Jek speaks of, I am Amitola, and it is true of what Jek speaks of. I must warn you, I was informed that there was a trader amongst your group. I also must inform you that if you try to stop Ganondorf now, you will not make it out with your lives. I have seen each of your fates if you do not listen to the warnings we give you. I beg of you to listen to the warnings I have brought forth to you. Now, to what Dageron said, who is traitor amongst you?"
Getting is a slight defense stance, as well as having her hands ready to grab a weapon if needed, she waits for some form of confirmation, and for someone to speak.
In his excitement of seeing old friends, Jek didn't take in the situation. He really looks around the room and the state of everyone. Jek puts his hands up in a non-threatening manner. To the Samurai, he will say "Okay, let's all calm down. I'm Jek Utinni, the rest of the Twilight Embers know me. We are the Order of the Phoenix. We are also some of the chosen of the AUYRN."
He will then yell out "Rum, what's going on here? You aren't the traitor, right? What happened? Why is that machine thingy attacking Tuto? What do you need?" Quieter, he says. "Please don't be the traitor, we're friends."
Dageron flashes a look at Amitola. "You saw their fates? Then tell us young one, which survived? For surely, that one is the traitor."
Ro teleports into existence. His black hair matted to his face with sweat and his unnaturally purple eyes staring off into the far distance. The elf-dwarf in full plate armor, knees on the ground looks up to the sky and lets out a painful wail, "FATHER NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Ro then brings his head back down, staring into the ground beneath him as he curls into a ball. With no regard to his new surroundings or those around him, the elf-dwarf simply sits on the ground defeated. His eyes stare aimlessly straight ahead and his shoulders falls and rises irregularly as he breathes heavily.
The elf-dwarf's mind races with a flurry of thoughts, Greko’s dead. Father's dead. We were like insects to him. Twilight Embers? More like moths to a flame. I couldn't do anything in the face of darkness. The power the darkness holds, it has no end! False Knight? False Mage now too. My only truth is weakness. What must I do to become stronger? What must I... ah...
Ro's breathing begins to regulate all too quickly. Still sitting on the ground, the elf-dwarf straightens up his back, curling out of his ball to reveal a strange device in his hands. *Click*
Ro Aleron (Ro the Red) -> Illithid, Wizard 8 (Chronugist) // AURYN
Rum stands frozen in place, his feline eyes slightly wide and the remnants of a snarl on his face. His paw reaches slowly to the unfamiliar object around his neck as his mind is processing what he has just witnessed. And more than that, there had been a presence trying to invade his thoughts, trying to control them. He has never been so grateful for the training he received at the monastery in that moment, as his mental fortitude was tested to it’s limit.
He breathes out as if for the first time in hours and looks down to the familiar, yet unexpected, figure of his friend Jek Utinni.
Taken aback, he wonders whether his mind did break in that moment.
“Friend Jek?”, he says, confusion apparent in his tone.
He looks around at the figures now surrounding him, his senses starting to come into focus.
He sees the stern faced Dragonborn approach him.
“Blood of Dragons, blessed of the Great Dragon”, he whispers almost in awe. He remembers saying a prayer to the Great Dragon in the moments before…
“By the Great Dragon, no! Friend Greko, he’s….gone!”, he exclaims.
Something Jek says in that moment catches his attention. Something about a traitor.
“Traitor? Lelith”, he almost spits the name. “She was working for the Lord of Darkness all along, we didn't have a chance”, he says just as Ro starts to shout.
He turns to Ro, sees the False Knight reach for the device and in turn he stretches out his own arm.
“Friend Ro, it’s what the Lord of Darkness wants, don’t do…..”
*Click*
The large warforged appears with his bloodied javelin poised to strike Tuto. Even as the the tip thrusts forward, Oten's glowing red eyes dart rapidly from side to side, registering all the new threats in his unexpected new environment.
*Click*
The red glow disappears from Oten's eyes, and just as the tip of javelin is about to plunge through Tuto's face, it retracts into Oten's mechanical arm with a *snick*, leaving the little bard looking at a metal fist just an inch shy of his nose.
Oten opens up his fist and pats Tuto on the head. "My grave apologies. I was not myself. May this act of physical comfort serve to partially salve the damaged trust between us. Now..." Oten stands up and turns around to stand between Tuto and the others in a defensive posture as his javelin slides back out into his hand slowly. "Who are these people? And where is Greko?"
The witcher Shirin stands defensively as this new group warps into the space before him. His cat like eyes dart from each new face from behind his wisps of white hair, examining their features as they begin to conversate with the rest of his crew.
"Now now, let's not do anything stupid. Lower your weapons." He recommends, looking at anyone with a weapon wielded. Then he continues, "Where is this Lelith, and how long ago were they removed from your party?"
Rum shakes his head at Ro and turns to face all those present in the room. The Auryn hanging heavily on his neck.
Out of the seven that entered Hyrule Castle, only five remained. Of those five, two had been under the influence of mind control, one is mute and one just plain unlucky and not really aware of what and why things went down. He notices the red glow fade from Oten's eyes and watches the Warforged take up a protective stance, assuming both he and Ro are now in control again. When Oten asks after Greko he realises though, that he and Ro might not know what actually happened.
It was up to him to explain, and he had to be quick.
"I am Rumble of Hunger", he says, his posture becoming more erect as he looks at the assembled members of the Order of the Phoenix, the remaining Twilight Embers and Lady Kaede. "Now Auryn bearer of the Twilight Embers", he says sadly.
"All here are allies, there is no conflict between us, no weapons need be readied against each other. But mistakes have been made and we need to be prepared for what is to come", he says pointedly looking at Ro and the device.
"The Twilight Embers were led into a trap only minutes ago by our former member, Lelith, who has been working for the Lord of Darkness the whole time. The Lord of Darkness was waiting for us at the Temple of Time and took control of both Ro and Oten's minds, an effect that seems to have worn off now. He had both Ro's father and our former Auryn bearer Greko at his mercy to stop the rest of us interfering. He forced Ro against his will to solve the puzzle you see before you, a puzzle we found in the Great Deku Tree and unwittingly brought right to him. Before Ro could finish, Greko sacrificed himself to send the rest of us here. Make no mistake, Greko the Green is...was... a true hero!", he says whilst placing his fist over his heart in a sign of respect to the old druid.
"Now Ro has completed the puzzle, whatever the Lord of Darkness wanted to happen will come to pass. May the Great Dragon have mercy on our souls", he concludes, looking down at Ro with sympathy and compassion mixed with a hint of disappointment.
Slade pops his head out from under Jek's robes long enough to whisper in his ear.
"Pst, Jek! If these.... Embers had a mole, what's to say we don't? I'm finding meself more then a little suspicious of our.... 'reformed' stormtrooper there."
Skraih only has a moment to look surprised before things take a major turn.
Unnatural darkness began to fall over the room, soaking up all of the light that permeated naturally. The sky darkened outside, and there was a rumble of thunder and purple flash of lightning outside as the gathered bands are enshrouded in the gloom.
There is a bell. At first, it sounds like the bells tolling for the Hall of the Celestial's itself, but it becomes clear that it's not. Another toll, and it seems like the bell is something unearthly, its note all wrong and echoing through time.
Ro works the cube, the Lament Configuration, through its final stages as the cube elongates, the becomes an almost diamond shape, then begins to return to its cube shape as his hands work. The patterns on the outside of the box are different as it returns to its original shape...and then two long spikes spring from either side of the cube and pierce through Ro's hands. The wizard only winces as he blood flows free. The box soaks the blood up, drinking it into its form...
The room begins growing. Literally growing. The walls are stretching, the floor broadening, widening. A door begins to form against one wall. The air smells like ozone as lightning crackles overhead again, and purple light begins to peak out from around the as it breaks and comes open.
A thing steps out of the door and into the room.
It's skin is probably purple in color, but presents as a light lavender as its skin is smeared in white ash. Tentacles drape down from its face, and its body is a tapestry of leather and pain; the leather clothing that it wears is woven into its skin, with the bloody wounds on display for all to see. Its head is scared with cuts that run laterally and horizontally, and at the intersection of each of the scars a nail has been driven into its head.
Those gathered behind it a similar in appearance, though each sporting some new variation of depravity and mutilation. One's head is peeled open, its skull exposed and the skull spread open with a series of metal wires. One's tentacles have been cut off to tiny, twitching nubs, exposing a beak that continuously chatters up and down below eyeless sockets.
Chains whip from the darkness near the door, streaking across the room as if of their own volition. The first one hooked into the side of Ro's neck. Blood spurted. The next caught his arm, piercing its way between the radius and ulna. Another worms between a gap in his armor and hooks into his ribs. Ro screams.
-=Ah, the suffering. The sweet, sweet suffering.=- The pin-headed creature says without using its mouth. Its voice is heard in the heads of everyone in the room as it moves forward with its entourage. -=The box. You opened it. We came. Now you must come with us, taste our pleasures.=-
The spikes retract to the inside of the configuration, and it drops out of Ro's bleeding hands and to the floor. The lead creature holds his hand out, and the box flies from the floor and to his grasp. As this happens, the chains pull taught, with eight, then nine, hooked into Ro's flesh. He is pulled forward, closer to the door, foot by foot, inch by inch, agony by agony. The lead creature steps close to him, leaning in, speaking directly to him.
The creatures are suddenly in everyone's minds as they take control of the room.
-=It is not the hands that call us.=- The creature says. -=It is...desire. We have such sights to show you.=-
The chains haul Ro to the door, amidst the creatures gathering there, allowing him to fully see, fully take in what is happening, and the strange beings, all flayed flesh, mutilations, amputations, and horrific piercings, gathered about him...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Darla sees these newest creatures arriving, and does not give a rats ass about their threats. All she knows is the leader has a lot of worm like appendages hanging out and she is HUNGRY. Puffing up her feathers she begins hooting loudly and scratching the floor with her webbed feet. Then, she charges.
10 to intimidate
"What have you done Ro?" a voice calls from Ro's waist. It was Kazek, the wizard's sentient spellbook. The wizard ignores his friend's remark.
Ro listens carefully as the bell tolls, observes intently as the room's dimensions warp, and tracks each tentacled oddity as they appear into the room. The sight of them and their masochistic styles typically would have put Ro aback, but the elf-dwarf was far from his typical state of mind. The first chain that hooked Ro's neck caught him off guard. He didn't expect it, but he welcomed the pain. A small price to pay for power. Greko and father endured far worse, he thought to himself. As a second, third, ninth hook pierces the elf-dwarf's body, Ro can't help but scream from the pain. Yet still, his eyes watched the scene intently. Though his body seemed ruined, his mind was sharper than ever. He observed the craftsmanship of the chains, clung to every word the pin-headed creature spoke, and internalized every sensation he was feeling. Though his body was the victim; Ro was the student, and the cube was a teacher. One that promised him power. And he would obtain it without fail.
Ro screamed as the hooks tugged and pulled him across the floor, yet his mind was thrilled. Excited for the promise of power to be fulfilled. In that regard, Ro found himself not to dissimilar from these creatures that seemed to relish in their own pain. At the lead creature's last statement, Ro responded in haggard breath.
"My hands solved your cube." He lifts his hands weakly, a large hole at the center of each palm bleeding profusely. His hands trembled in pain... or was it excitement?
"My desire has called for you. A desire for power. My eyes are open, show me."
Ro Aleron (Ro the Red) -> Illithid, Wizard 8 (Chronugist) // AURYN