The Ghastlands began to, thankfully, open up after we fended off the eldritch troll and the cannibals. Something, somehow, had truly tainted this land to the point that there was no evidence at all of either the Crown, the Creed, or the Dawnhammers - long defunct. Only a plague that had transformed everything we saw into horrible twisted organic horrors. We had reach an area of Gloam that was truly alien in appearance - the Darkness had an undeniable grip on this part of the land. It was as if everything we saw and stepped on was made of dark wet flesh which slowly moved and writhed at our presence.
Stretching to the limits of our sight, cancerous dark mutated hills flesh rolled beyond farther than we could see, on a trail that led in one direction. Above, a burning hot red sun beat upon us. Were we even on Gloam anymore? We weren't sure - everything we saw tested our senses and sanity. No landmark but the trail steered our way, and the silence was eerie and uncomfortable. The land was covered with slow moving tentacles, slowly wiggling imperceptibly as if they were all keeping a watch on us.
Off in the distance, we saw something. A massive gate, it looked like. Rising up out of the fleshy ground, huge twin tentacles of hard flesh like shadow stood slanting at odd angles, their surfaces pockmarked and wet. Odd inscriptions were faintly visible on the surface of the tentacle gate, not written in Common. Surrounding the gate on all sides (except through it), and miles down on each side, appeared to be sinkholes made of flesh itself.
Arcana DC15: ????? Vulcan has a +10 with advantage to read this correctly.
As time passed on and the party traveled to the Ghastlands, Villanelle felt fury building inside her. Everything had gotten under her skin. Constantly fighting to defend villages full of weaklings who couldn't defend themselves. Forced to tolerate a group of individuals that she found hardly better than the monsters they were killing. She honestly felt that it was a struggle to not rip someone's head right off.
Dia frowned as she flew above the group. The succubus was furious and miserable. She couldn't keep an ounce of food down. After the third rush to vomit somewhere discreet, she'd stopped bothering to try. Hopefully this wouldn't last long, but until then, she was hungry as hells.
She alighted in front of the gate with the others, looking at the symbols with some curiosity and flatly ignoring the more disturbing aspects.
LeBlanc would putter along in silence with the others. She wouldn’t have much to say or talk about with them. They Are dark, cranky and obviously have their own agenda’s which seem to line up with the darkness rather than battle against it. Or so it seems anyway. This is why she’d take frequent solo trips away to do her own thing away from the group. I have my own path. For now it aligns with theirs, but should it ever cross...
As the group slowly hiked that day, it gave Freya plenty of time to think. Think about where she had been. Think about what she had become. And Freya was happy. She never felt more powerful in her life. Gone were the feelings of helplessness, destitution, and despair. Having to steal anything and everything she saw, in order to make enough money to put some food in her withering body. Now, with this new blood coursing through her, she felt more alive that ever (which was fascinating, she pondered, as she was technically more dead than ever)...
The darkness of the first half of the trail gave her great comfort. She felt the blackness course through her like a smooth silken sheet. She could see for miles in the pitch black. But then the group entered the sun beat area, and she discovered a new ultra weakness - she was suddenly hypersensitive to light. It literally burned her (10 radiant damage, by the way). After huge red welts started to appear on her skin, she suddenly felt the urge to cower under the nearest shade. Polymorphing into a small flying bat brings some relief, so Freya quickly transforms and follows the group along in the air. <squeak> <squeak> <squeak>
Tora had walked relatively under where Dia was flying for most of the travel in some silent thoughts, glancing at the others and at her newly elongated nails. Her slotted eyes would bounce from her nails to the upcoming gate with curiousity, looking at the symbols and markings with thought, thinking with some effort if she recognized any of them.
Arcana: 8
With an annoyed growl Tora rolls her eyes and shrugs, stepping back to allow the more adept to look at the symbols.
"I like it here," Father casually mentions, looking about the area as they made their way through. "How do you think the real estate is here? I could probably make another church..." He rubs his chin as they approach the gate, eyes squinting at the symbols. "Probably need to learn the language..."
Aeydof the Dragons || Wood Elf / Way of the Ascendant Dragon Monk Demetrios Zalaoras || Protector Aasimar / Paladin of Torm Hawke || Kalashtar / Circle of the Moon Druid Morticia || Half-Aasimar Rogue Yvan || Goliath / Path of the Wild Soul Barbarian | Paladin of Helm /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\
Vulcan paid little mind to the horrors of flesh that entered his vision, instead focusing on the distant gate, curious to it's creation. As he walked, he would often mutter to himself in alien phrases and tones.
Madison walked up to Vulcan, tried to see what he was seeing. The flesh of the gate almost..seemed to move. It made her flesh crawl. She saw the look in Villanelle's eye and didn't like it, or the fact that ******* Freya just transformed into a bat, and drank blood recently, or that sunlight burned her. She had emerged from Driftchapel mentally sound, but now they were all on a path to..someplace. The fact that the sun was now red was extremely unnerving. Father seemed to love this place.
On the Umbral gate, Vulcan read a message:
"Dive down through the black abyss, and in that place one shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever"
On the right and left sides of the gate, and stretching as far as the eye could see, was liquid flesh, moving almost imperceptibly like quicksand. Madison stepped near it, just the mere sight of it cause anxiety inside her, and she backed away.
"What the **** is this place.."she mumbled. "This is no part of Gloam that i've ever seen.."
A path went through the gate and onward towards whatever else laid beyond the eldritch landscape. From this distance, we could see the road continuing on, and every direction we looked was like an alien, tentacled landscape, wet, and dark. The sun was a red color that was difficult to describe in nature. Off in the distance, we heard the low rumble of what sounded like an enormous heart, beating, slowly, methodically in our minds - most of us were on edge. What was most strange was there was no sounds of life at all. Nothing made a sound except the rhythmic rumbling.
We came to a fork in the path, lying here half buried under black liquid flesh was a fallen obelisk, it's top pointing towards the southwest. Carved runes are visibly on it's surface. Vulcan could read them. It was in a language he knew, now.
ARCANE: DC15 +10 with advantage, go.
While the alien red sun was high in the sky, the atmosphere was beginning to darken, and we slowly stopped feeling heat from the star..even though it wasn't setting. Even though it was not hot, Madison began to sweat slightly. How did Vulcan know how to read this language? Where WERE we all?
Vulcan once more stared at the runes, giving them a long look before rereading them outloud in some alien language. He gave no additional explanation, but pulled out his book and began writing down the runes he had seen thus far, attempting to see if there was more to them then he could see. More so, he wanted to see what it could do for his guns.
Vulcan without further ado, mutters a few more alien phrases, then begins to walk the "way" to the Monolith. He glances back for a brief moment to the rest of the party, then motions with his head in the direction he had begun walking towards.
Dia raises an eyebrow, wings rustling softly as she watches Vulcan. After a moment, the succubus took to the air after him, resolutely pushing away the deep uneasiness in her mind and heart. No going back now.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
In bat form, Freya finds that she cannot speak! Anything she tries to verbalize comes out as mere <squeeks>. That's okay, though, since at least being in this form stops the sun from physically burning her skin. What's up with that?! She'll have to remember to ask Father about this, for he seems to be knowledgeable about freak conditions like that.
For giggles, and more to take a break from flying, Freya landed on the fallen obelisk, and attempted to read the runes before Vulcan did (wanting to know if any of her weird new powers included the ability to read strange, foreign language (Arcana: 7).
OOC: For some strange reason, I had Freya learn Abyssal and Infernal as some of her languages when I created her.....are all these various runes written in either of those languages?
And the march continues on....Freya simply follows Vulcan's lead, flying to and fro, high above them.
LeBlanc would step away from the gate with a furrowed brow. It was definitely something she didn't recognize, but then again, there isn't much left of this world to recognize. Standing back, Exelda would take a moment to scan the area again as Vulcan approached the gate. The more time she spent analyzing this reality, the more paranoid she'd become and the more she wanted to retreat into herself. Trust no one, for there are only shadows.
As Vulcan muttered phrases unbeknownst to her and pressed forward, LeBlanc would fall back, unsheathing her blades from their hidden slots in her leathers. Her eyes would bounce from him and to the others, one by one. As her eyes returned their gaze ahead, they'd expand wide taking in the unfolding landscape. And step by step, she'd follow.
At first Exelda thought it was her own heart beating loud in her ears. When the group stopped at the fork in the road, she started focusing in on its sound and with each beat, her own heart would flutter with anxiety. It was not her.
Weak knees. Arms heavy. Palms sweaty. LeBlanc would swallow, pushing down bile that's bubbled up in her throat. She would shake her head as if trying to shake the sound out of her mind. Her pride would kick in, not wanting to show signs of weakness. She'd straighten herself up, keep her head held high and continue following the group led by Vulcan.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
just an unstable unicorn.
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Exelda would dart to Vulcan's target (or what ever's remaining) and continue her strikes
Attack 1: Dagger 1: 26 Damage: 7 Dagger 2: 23 Damage: 7
Attack 2: Dagger 1: 26 Damage: 6 Dagger 2: 8 Damage: 7
just an unstable unicorn.
Updating tonight
Father’s church
THE GHASTLANDS
The Ghastlands began to, thankfully, open up after we fended off the eldritch troll and the cannibals. Something, somehow, had truly tainted this land to the point that there was no evidence at all of either the Crown, the Creed, or the Dawnhammers - long defunct. Only a plague that had transformed everything we saw into horrible twisted organic horrors. We had reach an area of Gloam that was truly alien in appearance - the Darkness had an undeniable grip on this part of the land. It was as if everything we saw and stepped on was made of dark wet flesh which slowly moved and writhed at our presence.
Stretching to the limits of our sight, cancerous dark mutated hills flesh rolled beyond farther than we could see, on a trail that led in one direction. Above, a burning hot red sun beat upon us. Were we even on Gloam anymore? We weren't sure - everything we saw tested our senses and sanity. No landmark but the trail steered our way, and the silence was eerie and uncomfortable. The land was covered with slow moving tentacles, slowly wiggling imperceptibly as if they were all keeping a watch on us.
Off in the distance, we saw something. A massive gate, it looked like. Rising up out of the fleshy ground, huge twin tentacles of hard flesh like shadow stood slanting at odd angles, their surfaces pockmarked and wet. Odd inscriptions were faintly visible on the surface of the tentacle gate, not written in Common. Surrounding the gate on all sides (except through it), and miles down on each side, appeared to be sinkholes made of flesh itself.
Arcana DC15: ?????
Vulcan has a +10 with advantage to read this correctly.
2
As time passed on and the party traveled to the Ghastlands, Villanelle felt fury building inside her. Everything had gotten under her skin. Constantly fighting to defend villages full of weaklings who couldn't defend themselves. Forced to tolerate a group of individuals that she found hardly better than the monsters they were killing. She honestly felt that it was a struggle to not rip someone's head right off.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
Dia frowned as she flew above the group. The succubus was furious and miserable. She couldn't keep an ounce of food down. After the third rush to vomit somewhere discreet, she'd stopped bothering to try. Hopefully this wouldn't last long, but until then, she was hungry as hells.
She alighted in front of the gate with the others, looking at the symbols with some curiosity and flatly ignoring the more disturbing aspects.
Arcana: 8
Stella Diamant, Human Rogue 17 (Swashbuckler), The Exploits of Misfit Company
Kat, Medtech, Cyberpunk: Red
Shi, Changeling Bard 4 (College of Spirits), Tyrant's Grasp
Dani, Human Artificer 9 (Armorer), Skulls and Starships
DM, Project Point (Teams Scimitar and Longsword)
Everything Else!
LeBlanc would putter along in silence with the others. She wouldn’t have much to say or talk about with them. They Are dark, cranky and obviously have their own agenda’s which seem to line up with the darkness rather than battle against it. Or so it seems anyway. This is why she’d take frequent solo trips away to do her own thing away from the group. I have my own path. For now it aligns with theirs, but should it ever cross...
Exelda would try her hand at reading the gate.
11
just an unstable unicorn.
As the group slowly hiked that day, it gave Freya plenty of time to think. Think about where she had been. Think about what she had become. And Freya was happy. She never felt more powerful in her life. Gone were the feelings of helplessness, destitution, and despair. Having to steal anything and everything she saw, in order to make enough money to put some food in her withering body. Now, with this new blood coursing through her, she felt more alive that ever (which was fascinating, she pondered, as she was technically more dead than ever)...
The darkness of the first half of the trail gave her great comfort. She felt the blackness course through her like a smooth silken sheet. She could see for miles in the pitch black. But then the group entered the sun beat area, and she discovered a new ultra weakness - she was suddenly hypersensitive to light. It literally burned her (10 radiant damage, by the way). After huge red welts started to appear on her skin, she suddenly felt the urge to cower under the nearest shade. Polymorphing into a small flying bat brings some relief, so Freya quickly transforms and follows the group along in the air. <squeak> <squeak> <squeak>
Arcana: 11
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Updating tonight.
Tora had walked relatively under where Dia was flying for most of the travel in some silent thoughts, glancing at the others and at her newly elongated nails. Her slotted eyes would bounce from her nails to the upcoming gate with curiousity, looking at the symbols and markings with thought, thinking with some effort if she recognized any of them.
Arcana: 8
With an annoyed growl Tora rolls her eyes and shrugs, stepping back to allow the more adept to look at the symbols.
Nina Wildvale|Changeling|Wild Magic Sorcerer|Rise of The Reunelords|Active
Kai Loire|Water Genasia|Life Cleric|Road To Phandalin|Retired
Willow Twilight|Swiftstride Shifter|Blood Hunter|Ebberon|Retired
Meephylia Polliwog|Grung|Dragon Sorcerer|Descent To Avernus|Retired
Ashryn Rairs|Changeling|Hexblade Warlock|Out Of The Abyss|Dead
"I like it here," Father casually mentions, looking about the area as they made their way through. "How do you think the real estate is here? I could probably make another church..." He rubs his chin as they approach the gate, eyes squinting at the symbols. "Probably need to learn the language..."
Arcana: 11
"Nope!"
Aeyd of the Dragons || Wood Elf / Way of the Ascendant Dragon Monk
Demetrios Zalaoras || Protector Aasimar / Paladin of Torm
Hawke || Kalashtar / Circle of the Moon Druid
Morticia || Half-Aasimar Rogue
Yvan || Goliath / Path of the Wild Soul Barbarian | Paladin of Helm
/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\
Arcane: 27
Vulcan paid little mind to the horrors of flesh that entered his vision, instead focusing on the distant gate, curious to it's creation. As he walked, he would often mutter to himself in alien phrases and tones.
THE UMBRAL GATE
Madison walked up to Vulcan, tried to see what he was seeing. The flesh of the gate almost..seemed to move. It made her flesh crawl. She saw the look in Villanelle's eye and didn't like it, or the fact that ******* Freya just transformed into a bat, and drank blood recently, or that sunlight burned her. She had emerged from Driftchapel mentally sound, but now they were all on a path to..someplace. The fact that the sun was now red was extremely unnerving. Father seemed to love this place.
On the Umbral gate, Vulcan read a message:
"Dive down through the black abyss, and in that place one shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever"
On the right and left sides of the gate, and stretching as far as the eye could see, was liquid flesh, moving almost imperceptibly like quicksand. Madison stepped near it, just the mere sight of it cause anxiety inside her, and she backed away.
"What the **** is this place.." she mumbled. "This is no part of Gloam that i've ever seen.."
A path went through the gate and onward towards whatever else laid beyond the eldritch landscape. From this distance, we could see the road continuing on, and every direction we looked was like an alien, tentacled landscape, wet, and dark. The sun was a red color that was difficult to describe in nature. Off in the distance, we heard the low rumble of what sounded like an enormous heart, beating, slowly, methodically in our minds - most of us were on edge. What was most strange was there was no sounds of life at all. Nothing made a sound except the rhythmic rumbling.
We pressed on.
FORK IN THE TRAIL
We came to a fork in the path, lying here half buried under black liquid flesh was a fallen obelisk, it's top pointing towards the southwest. Carved runes are visibly on it's surface. Vulcan could read them. It was in a language he knew, now.
ARCANE: DC15 +10 with advantage, go.
While the alien red sun was high in the sky, the atmosphere was beginning to darken, and we slowly stopped feeling heat from the star..even though it wasn't setting. Even though it was not hot, Madison began to sweat slightly. How did Vulcan know how to read this language? Where WERE we all?
Arcane: 27
Vulcan once more stared at the runes, giving them a long look before rereading them outloud in some alien language. He gave no additional explanation, but pulled out his book and began writing down the runes he had seen thus far, attempting to see if there was more to them then he could see. More so, he wanted to see what it could do for his guns.
"Here lies the (path) of darkness to the (city) of (PzZar), whilst there lies the (way) to (TrbKoBr), Keeper Of The Monolith"
The road either continues "on" to the "city" of PzZar, or heads towards the "west" to the "monolith".
Choose your way.
Vulcan without further ado, mutters a few more alien phrases, then begins to walk the "way" to the Monolith. He glances back for a brief moment to the rest of the party, then motions with his head in the direction he had begun walking towards.
Villanelle shrugs and follows Vulcan, although she really wonders why he didn't say anything. "Did you forget how to speak?"
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
Dia raises an eyebrow, wings rustling softly as she watches Vulcan. After a moment, the succubus took to the air after him, resolutely pushing away the deep uneasiness in her mind and heart. No going back now.
Stella Diamant, Human Rogue 17 (Swashbuckler), The Exploits of Misfit Company
Kat, Medtech, Cyberpunk: Red
Shi, Changeling Bard 4 (College of Spirits), Tyrant's Grasp
Dani, Human Artificer 9 (Armorer), Skulls and Starships
DM, Project Point (Teams Scimitar and Longsword)
Everything Else!
In bat form, Freya finds that she cannot speak! Anything she tries to verbalize comes out as mere <squeeks>. That's okay, though, since at least being in this form stops the sun from physically burning her skin. What's up with that?! She'll have to remember to ask Father about this, for he seems to be knowledgeable about freak conditions like that.
For giggles, and more to take a break from flying, Freya landed on the fallen obelisk, and attempted to read the runes before Vulcan did (wanting to know if any of her weird new powers included the ability to read strange, foreign language (Arcana: 7).
OOC: For some strange reason, I had Freya learn Abyssal and Infernal as some of her languages when I created her.....are all these various runes written in either of those languages?
And the march continues on....Freya simply follows Vulcan's lead, flying to and fro, high above them.
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
LeBlanc would step away from the gate with a furrowed brow. It was definitely something she didn't recognize, but then again, there isn't much left of this world to recognize. Standing back, Exelda would take a moment to scan the area again as Vulcan approached the gate. The more time she spent analyzing this reality, the more paranoid she'd become and the more she wanted to retreat into herself. Trust no one, for there are only shadows.
As Vulcan muttered phrases unbeknownst to her and pressed forward, LeBlanc would fall back, unsheathing her blades from their hidden slots in her leathers. Her eyes would bounce from him and to the others, one by one. As her eyes returned their gaze ahead, they'd expand wide taking in the unfolding landscape. And step by step, she'd follow.
At first Exelda thought it was her own heart beating loud in her ears. When the group stopped at the fork in the road, she started focusing in on its sound and with each beat, her own heart would flutter with anxiety. It was not her.
Weak knees. Arms heavy. Palms sweaty. LeBlanc would swallow, pushing down bile that's bubbled up in her throat. She would shake her head as if trying to shake the sound out of her mind. Her pride would kick in, not wanting to show signs of weakness. She'd straighten herself up, keep her head held high and continue following the group led by Vulcan.
just an unstable unicorn.