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Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo


Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Gain 4 XP for advancing the story and another 2 for killing the Formori, for a total of 6. You can spend this now, or bank it for later.

The formori seemed slightly conflicted, but answered after a moment. "There are none of my brethren near." He answered the repeated question without hesitation. "We sought to track the leviathan. We would not fight it-" the repeated answer was cut off by the separation of his head from the rest of his body.

Amber swam a ways from the blood - it would attract predators, and while she could deal with easily it would be annoying to be awoken by a shark looking for dinner.

The mermaid awoke early, adequately rested, and started the remainder of her journey. The tides didn't fully cooperate, and the old man's description had been a little off, but she found the island at about noon. Or, she thought it was the island. The landscape was as the man had described it, unkempt grass, lots of birds, little else. But the tower was... more impressive. A lot more impressive. It thrust from the center of the island, more than a hundred feet into the air and perfectly straight. It was made of a dark stone polished to the point of reflection, gleaming a blueish purple where the light struck it just right.

The doorway was an arch jutting out from the face of the tower, no actual door or barrier of any kind in the way. As amber got closer to the tower, it became clear that this was indeed the abode of a powerful wizard, and not just some rich and eccentric human. The whole thing hummed with power, with an intensity she'd never felt before, even from barely off the shore.
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Will spend on 4 mind, 2 spirit, and I'll let you know when the sheet reflects said changes.

It was grim work, executing a dominated foe, but such was war. She couldn't risk leaving him alive to report her movements to the Fomori, and to perhaps return with more and better trained soldiers to hinder her, or even allow him to leave and perhaps harm one of her brethren in battle.

Resting for the night, Amber awoke the next day ready to find some more answers. However, she was also somewhat wary of the wizard she was about to encounter. She had no illusions about what would happen should she fight one capable of sealing away Elric.

When finally she reached the island, she remained offshore a ways. She could feel the magic in the air, even where she was. Such power was formidable indeed. Swimming slowly and cautiously towards the island, if she got to shallow water without incident, she would shift into the same human form she had taken at the port. She would wait outside for a bit, observing the tower, and if nothing made itself apparent, she would walk through the archway, with no small degree of apprehension.

It occurred to her that she could disguise her clothes with illusory magic, however a wizard as powerful as the one said to dwell here would likely see through such simple tricks, so she opted to not waste her power on such things.
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Inside, the tower seemed almost completely hollow. There was a thin, railless pathway up to the top, which seemed to be made of glass, and a much sturdier and railed pathway down through the stone floor and beyond. The walls inside were the same polished stone as outside, and this close to noon the sun shown all the way down to the floor through the glass ceiling, illuminating half the crystal fountain in the center of the ground floor room.

Far more impressive then the mere architecture was the magic. This close, the well glowed like the sun to Amber's arcane senses. The power stored in it was immense, so much so that she couldn't quite tell how or to what purpose it was intended to be tapped. As she looked, someone did tap the power, though, making the glow subside a tiny fraction.

With some effort, Amber could also see that the interior walls weren't quite the same as the exterior ones. Inside, they were marred by hair-deep scratches in curving and geometric patterns. They were terribly complex and magically active runes, and with a minute's study - nothing seemed to be changing inside the tower aside from that one slight decrease in the power of the thing in the middle - she could make out what these at least were doing. They were leeching tiny amounts of power from the air, and sending them to the crystal fountain. From the entire tower the draw was significant, but spread out enough that it didn't overpower the natural regeneration of the magical aura.

Other than the fountain and the runes, there didn't seem to be anything of interest in the above-ground portion of the tower. She could see the entire path up and even, by virtue of the glass, seemed able to see the whole top of the tower. It might offer a magnificent view, but if it offered anything else then it was invisible. Down below... the stairs spiraled out of sight, a wooden door set into the wall just before the floor blocked Amber's view.
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

This tower...its very construction was awe-inspiring, the air humming with magic as the runes collected power for the fountain, though to what end she could not say. All it really did was confirm that whoever constructed this place possessed power far beyond anything she was capable of.

Looking up, she decided that she couldn't help herself. She had to go see what this place looked like from the top, and get one last good view of the ocean, before she began her decent.

After sating herself on the magnificent view of the ocean stretching off into the horizon in every direction, she sighed and went back down. It was time to descend into the depths of the tower, come whatever may come.

Almost getting around to adjusting numbers... Done! Numbers adjusted!
 
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Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

The walk to the top of the tower satisfied Amber that the runes went all the way to the top, all of them gathering minute amounts of power and sending it to the fountain. No two seemed exactly identical, nor did there seem to be any sort of pattern about them. The top of the tower was fairly plain. The same stone, with no more runes above the glass. The glass floor itself was capable of supporting Amber's weight without any sign of stress. The view was of course magnificant, showing the sea on all sides of the island. There were no other structures on the surface of the island, nor any other land visible even from this high vantage, though Amber knew that the coast wasn't far beyond the horizon.

Walking downward from the fountain was a totally different experience. Below the ground level floor there was no more of the shiny dark stone, only a more mundane grey stone. The door she had seen from above was solid wood reinforced with iron, extremely heavy but apparently not magical. There was a sturdy latch, but no lock. The stairs continued downward in a spiral as wide as the tower above. The first door had been a quarter turn down the stair from the ground, and by the time she reached it Amber could see a second door another quarter turn on.

And she could hear voices down below. Too faint by far to make out words, but one was probably male and the other female. Their tone was calm, sometimes with extended pauses between brief conversations.
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

The walk to the top of the tower was gratifying, the sight of the marvelous oceans giving her some strength, though the ruins continued to defy her attempts at deciphering.

Finally beginning her descent, the tower's construction abruptly changed from strange magical stone to plain, grey rock. When she heard the voices conversing, she decided she wanted to get closer to hear what they were saying before she decided what to do. Though she did use some illusory magic to bend light around herself, assisting her efforts to hide herself from whoever might be down the stairs. Of course, if there were wards in place to alert the occupants to magic then this was a bad idea, but if their were wards in place she was likely already detected, making it a moot point.

Invisibility: +20 stealth and causes character to blend into surroundings.
CC: 20 BC: 32
EP: 4, costs 1 upkeep
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Continuing to descend revealed the second door to be the same as the first, and a third door another quarter turn down. This door in turn was distinguishable from the first only by the pattern in the wood grain, and reaching it let Amber see the fourth door. Beyond which the stairs ended in a flat wall. The voices were coming from behind the fourth door.

The door presented something of a problem. There didn't seem to be a lock, physical or magical, but it also wasn't going to open accidentally. Opening it could well lead to detection even if she was invisible and didn't trigger any wards. And as she got closer to the door, she did feel wards. They weren't complicated or even especially powerful, but they lay around the frame on the other side of the door.

Even a few feet from the door, the mermaid couldn't make out the conversation, though she was now sure that there was one man, and one woman. Getting within about an inch briefly got her a snatch of conversation, but the source seemed to be getting quieter, perhaps moving away from the door.

"I know you'd help if you could, but the numbers won't be pure. The ... will interfere and invalidate the results." There had been a word in the middle there that Amber couldn't make out, but it had definitely been the man talking. And he at least sounded old.

63/67 EP; invisibility (+20 stealth, 1 EP upkeep)
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Well...shoot

This was a problem, but Amber wasn't quite ready to give up on the stealth approach just yet. She'd hate to open the door only to get blasted in the face with whatever spell someone might throw her way without any warning. She used her magic to make a fairly believable copy of herself, her human-looking self that is, and had it stand in front of the door.

Taking a breath, she stood to the side of the door, twisted the knob, and pushed it open.

Lv. 4 light: CC 30 Greater Illusions (Utility) [Can be used to create more powerful illusions, including large numbers of creatures with sound, create images of oneself that can spread out and seem to
costs 6 EP
Upkeep invisibility 1 EP
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

The door opened on what was at first glance a mundane scene. A elderly man in dark robes sat at a table with a number of glasses on it. Across from him sat a woman wearing a pale purple gown. She was sniffing one glass, full of a white liquid, and seemed to like what she smelled. "And I suppose it does have to be fresh?"

The man was already looking at the door when it swung open, but responded anyway. "Yes. At least until we can make a proper comparison. And I see our visitor has decided to join us. Isn't that lovely?" On closer inspection, the room wasn't all that mundane. Fire heated a pot normally enough, except that there was no fuel. And now that the door was open, Amber could see that the wards set into the frame were simply an extremely durable alarm that would go off under conditions that she couldn't quite determine.

The woman gave a non-committal smile, and sipped from her glass.

Disbelief check: ???

The old man gave Amber's illusion a hard look. "And she appears to be made entirely of light and magic! Most unusual! Ori didn't mention that!" He continued addressing her illusion. "Tell me, what can I do for you today, Miss...?"

56/67 EP; invisibility (+20 stealth, 1 EP upkeep), Greater Illusion
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Getting her first look inside the room, Amber saw the older man, who she assumed to be the wizard, with a younger woman as well. It seemed she had come upon a meeting, though she still wasn't sure what they were discussing.

The wizard looked over, and immediately seemed to see through her illusion, unless there were beings made of light and magic and she just hadn't heard about them. Crap.

Well, the door was rigged to set off an alarm, she probably wouldn't be sneaking around invisible, so she figured that both spells were pretty much a waste at this point and released both of them, her real, human-disguised, self standing in the doorway. "I guess I expected as much. Please forgive the deception, one can never can be too careful opening doors in an unfamiliar house of magic."

The man confirmed that he had already known about her presence anyway, she supposed that wasn't much of a shock either. And now he had asked her name. She contemplated making up a name, but she saw no harm in giving her first name, better to save any attempts at deception for things that actually mattered. "Amber, my name is Amber. I was hoping to speak to the powerful wizard said to reside here. I presume that is you? I apologize for intruding, I hope I am not interrupting. It was probably a good idea to be polite to this man. He seemed nice enough now, but the old sailor had said he was a little off after sealing Elric. That assumed of course that there was truth to the man's story and that this wasn't the abode of some other powerful wizard of no affiliation to Elric. But that all remained to be seen. She waited a moment to see if the wizard or the woman in the room had anything to say.
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

"Hahahahaha. True." The man laughed loudly at the mermaid's first comment. He wiped a tear from his eye. "Yes, I can see that."

"Yes. I am a powerful wizard, and I do reside here. Not exactly an amazing deduction for one with even a minor gift in the magical arts, but true nevertheless. If you are Amber, then I shall be Victor, and my assistant will be Natalie." He gestured at the woman, whose dress seemed to be showing significantly more cleavage then Amber had noticed in her initial impression.

She smiled at the visitor. "My, you're a pretty one. And I'm sure that we seem not to be doing anything important right at the moment. What was it that you wished to speak to the Doctor about?"

The man coughed. "Not a medical Doctor. If you have some sort of medical complaint or women's issue you've... come a long way for nothing. But if you have another sort of question I'll give it some measure of consideration."
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Well...Amber wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but so far Victor seemed friendly enough. Did he really have a hand in the sealing of Elric?

"A pleasure to meet the both of you..." A slight frown of concentration crossed her face as the woman, Natalie, addressed her. She was attractive to be sure, but there was something about her...was it the way she spoke? Amber couldn't help feeling something was off here. And what was that about 'I will be Victor, and my assistant will be Natalie?' Did they just have an odd manner of speaking, like she did, or was there more to this than just words?

"Well Doctor, the nature of my visit is neither medical or women's issues. I am here to inquire as to the fate of a powerful individual, a god. I believe you would call him a greater deamon." Amber watched the pair carefully, surely Victor didn't know very many greater deamons.
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

The man looked curious, and slightly worried. The woman looked intensely at Amber... and there was an oval cut out of the side of her dress, which Amber hadn't noticed before. The old wizard made his face go neutral, and answered offhandedly. "A god, eh? I've known a few, and more than a few daemons as well, over the years. Not sure how many I'd call 'greater', though most aspired to it. Which particular individual do you want to know about?"
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

This woman...she may be attractive, but there was definitely something off here. Regardless, Amber could not, would not, let herself be tempted or led astray. Her burning desire to save her people had led her to shelve her love life years ago. Still, was that another new hole? Despite herself, she took a second to burn a picture of the woman's dress in her mind, the apparent disappearance of fabric bothering her.

As had been more or less expected though, the wizard looked somewhat worried before a neutral look came over him. Not surprising given that when one comes asking about daemons, the stakes are already quite high.

"The leviathan known as Chisei made an appearance near a small port a few days ago. Multiple boats ran aground on his exterior before he moved on to deeper waters and destinations unknown. There is one who prevented such occurrences in the past. Maybe you could tell me why such a thing would happen now?"

I don't remember if Chisei is a him/her/it, I'll edit accordingly, but just presume Amber knows which to call it in the meantime :eek:

Also, that wouldn't be semen in the glass that woman was drinking from...would it?
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Chisei is a male, insofar as that makes sense. And what kind of person would drink a cup of semen!

Natalie seemed to notice Amber's attention, and grinned. She took another sip from her glass, and turned, adjusting her stance in such a way as to put her impressive rack on full display. And while the mermaid was certain it hadn't changed shapes since she had studied it, something else did seem slightly different. Not the color, exactly, but... it was very nearly transparent.

The old man seemed oblivious to all this. "A leviathan, eh? Sailor's myths!" He stared at Amber more intently then when he'd discovered the nature of her illusion. "At least as far as most people are concerned. And in any case I don't know of any gods or daemons who made it their business to prevent leviathan attacks. How was your journey over here, anyway? Pleasant?"

The man seemed distracted for a second, eyes distant, then he snapped back into focus on Amber. "I hope so, because the weather won't hold out for long." A few seconds later, distant thunder rumbled.
 
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Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Well, Amber wasn't sure what she had expected to find on the island, but this woman, Natalie, was definitely not it. As the woman began to put herself more and more on display, her dress now seemingly on the edge of transparency, Amber began to wonder if the woman wasn't trying to distract her from something, or put her off balance. There was more going on with her than simply flirting...

Returning the wizard's gaze evenly, she responded to Victor's assertions of leviathans as myths by stating simply, "Well I am not most people, and neither are you."

But when he said what he did about gods not preventing leviathan attacks, a certain hardness tinged her eyes briefly before her composure returned. "Maybe most people have forgotten the times when it a journey across the waves was a death sentence, but we are not most people. Or have I misjudged you, Doctor?"

Hearing the thunder, Amber remembered her brief encounter with the Fomori, "Well, that would depend on who you ask, wouldn't it?"
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

"Oh, enough of these games. My experiments may be a bit stalled at the moment, but that doesn't mean my time is valueless. The sea has always been dangerous, but I'm sure it's been safer since we locked Elric away. At least for humans. Ori tells me that there hasn't been a ship in sight in months. You swam here. What do you really want, mermaid?" He crossed his arms with a satisfied smile.

His assistant, meanwhile, nearly dropped her drink jerking upright, and when Amber looked at her again her dress was opaque again, and almost resembled armor, even gleaming slightly in the light.
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

Amber got a far more serious look about her, though she did at least get some peace of mind as she confirmed the Natalie's clothes could change after all. Well that was one mystery solved at least.

Her eyes sharpened, and her words took on an icy tone at this man's apparent satisfaction with what he had done. "You couldn't be more wrong. I have no doubt you are a wise man, this very building seems testament to that. But you are and always will be a shorebound, and I daresay you know as little of my world as I do of yours. I don't know what you think Elric did to merit sealing him away, but I can assure you that he was the only force keeping the Leviathans in check. Even now they grow more and more restless. It won't be long before the seas once again run red with the blood of your precious sailors. As much as I would like to see the look on your face when you realize you are responsible for the deaths of more sailors in the coming months than have been lost in generations, my time is valuable as well. Where have you sealed him? And how do I release him? And who is this Ori who seems to know so much about me?"

Full defense mode
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

"Your people may be worse off without their god, but the rest of the world can sleep easier knowing that there isn't an angry god running around and making the sea a dangerous place. I don't expect you to understand. We sealed him away more thoroughly then you can possibly imagine. I couldn't free him myself, and you most certainly could not. And why would I tell you where he is? I can assure you that whatever it might mean for the rest of the world, Elric escaping would not end well for me." The old man looked angry, and raised his hands. His sleeves fell back allowing Amber to clearly make out his hands, along with the ring around each finger.

"Ori is the sentience in Doctor Saben's well. She watches the Island for him when he can't be bothered. Among other things."

The doctor beamed, and his beringed hands fell below the table again. "Yes, one of my more impressive creations. Making the well as a fountain, incorporating crystal as its primary structure, gave the Emergence a form of sight. A carefully shaped collection of little mirrors suspended about a hundred feet above the tower and she can see every inch of the land, including right up against the outside of the tower! Plus of course her base work of holding and allotting the power gathered by my runes."

He wore a faintly malicious grin suddenly, though it didn't seem to be actively directed at the mermaid. "Within my own home, I could discharge all of that power in under a minute, in nearly any form I liked, and still not have touched my own personal reserves in the slightest."

Natalie nodded with a slight shudder, and finally Amber saw her dress change, seeming to flow like liquid over her skin. It changed to another low-cut arrangement, but this time the woman was eyeing the old Doctor.
 
Re: Trouble in the Deep (sturm) GMed by thetwo

"The only ones who had anything to fear from Elric were those who would harm our people. Though I can't speak for his state since his imprisonment." She tensed as the wizard raised his hands, taking on a far more threatening tone, though Natalie defused the situation by explaining what Ori was.

When Victor described Ori, and what he could do in the tower, she suppressed a shiver. She would not win a fight in this place. With his constant change of expression, she was forced to recall the warning that he was somehow off since his sealing of Elric.

And then Natalie changed her dress again, of course. Amber began to wonder if she wasn't some sort of social barometer, her dress a gauge for the man's mood. Or maybe she was a neutralizer, helping keep Victor's mood in check.

Amber decided to change tack, approaching this from a different angle. She wouldn't get anything by being overly confrontational with the wizard. Time to swallow her pride and pander.

"You mentioned an experiment earlier? You can understand my curiosity, wondering what someone such as yourself would be studying."
 
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