Tentacle Lair Evolution!

[tora]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

1 – Follow the energy source!
…Overlord TentanariX commands, “Proceed, but proceed cautiously!”

Current Status:

Spoiler

Tiny Black Tentaclespawn
Health: 25/25
Energy: 10/50 -low energy warning!-
Overlord Energy 100
Abilities: Stealth I, Infest I, Symbiosis I

Without energy it will be hard to further your plans. Deciding that the obvious solution may be best, you follow the path of the energy you sensed earlier. Gliding silently through the darkened corridor, you’re careful to take note of the small details.

The stone is old, older than the woodwork in the last room, and its cool dampness birthed a proliferation of moss along its walls. Better still, small cracks in the walls provide spaces to hide in.

Finally you reach your goal, a small inlet in the passage permeated with a dark aura. Approaching, you can feel the energy pulsing just a stone’s throw ahead.

You turn into the inlet, coming face to face with a metal door engraved in runes. Halting to examine it, you feel its aura flowing, dark but also comforting. You realize that the runes are in the same abyssal script used by your kind!

So the question now is how to proceed…
1.) Attempt to decipher the runes. They are often the key to opening such magical gateways.
2.) On second though, runes can also be a trap – you’d used the trick more than once in your previous reign. Move to examine the door, but don’t read the runes. Maybe there's another way in...
3.) So close, but all for naught! Continue exploring forward in search of something else.
4.) Maybe the dissenting voices have merit. Backtrack and follow the wounded humanoid.

Yeah, short post, I’ll be back tonight with more.

 

[freeko]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

Blargh, since you went this way may as well see it through.

1.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

1.
However, most such magical traps that require reading of the runes to activate require that they be read in order. As such, read them out of order, and piece together the meaning afterwards. Much safer that way.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

1! What Shrike said.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

I prepared explosive runes today.

Anyway what Shrike said, 1 out of order.

 

[TentanariX]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

4. Commit them to memory but do not read them. Also try to remember where this was should we possibly need to return later. We need food. Energy. The humanoid is wounded and likely weak as we are so we may have fair chance of subduing her and taking her energy. Be as stealthy as we possibly can! Use our talents to the best of our ability.

 

[freeko]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

Why change your thinking now Tenta? If the last move would have been to pursue the injured party then that would have been the play to go with, now you made a move and essentially want to undo the move. I disapprove of moving on from this.

Its like playing a game of bumper cars but all you do is smack into the walls.

 

[DeMatt]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

Bah, I'll chime in and vote 1 as well.

 

[tora]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

Sorry for the delay, power failure last night

1 – Read the runes, but out of order first
Dissent has overthrown TentanariX! Shrike7 is the new Overlord!

Current Status:

Spoiler

Tiny Black Tentaclespawn
Health: 25/25
Energy: 10/50 -low energy warning!-
Overlord Energy 100
Abilities: Stealth I, Infest I, Symbiosis I

After coming this far, you’re not about to be foiled, but you need to be careful. Reading runes here and there, careful to avoid sequences, you slowly assemble meaning from the arcane markings. The door does indeed contain a trap, but only for those unsuspecting mortals. One who touches it would find there will slowly, almost imperceptibly sapped while they struggle with the door or its runes, until no longer can they persist above the clamor of their other desires.

For you, that’s not an issue. This is a familiar trick, and you bypass the pattern easily. The remaining sigils come alive as you invoke the word of opening, glowing with magical power. The hinges groan as they awaken, swinging he portal open just long enough for you to enter the room.

The room looks like a crypt of some sort, with similar doors to your left and ahead of you and a gem-studded At its center you see the source of the energy, a mana fount emblazoned with your sigil. Before you can react an electric jolt wracks your body, drawing energy towards it, and a ghostly figure appears before you.

The ghost’s visage is that of an old man swathed in robes, head completely bald save for his pointed brows. You recognize him – it is your vizier of old, Hul’jet!

He kneels before you.

“So good to see you master! Know that I, your humble servant, never lost faith in this long wait.

“It was I who helped conceal the body you now inhabit and the other spawn in preparation for your revival. And now that you’re here, I believe we can help each other once more.

“This room is my own body’s sepulcher, a shrine to your glory made with the last of my mortal power.

It is at your disposal, my lord, as is my accumulated knowledge. You need but give the command.”

You listen as he describes your options – it’s a modest store of power, but immensely useful right now. His only condition is that you renew the pact that bound him to you originally – In return for a small portion of the energy you absorb, he will vow service to you.

As you consider the options you hear a rush of air followed by a clacking sound outside. Cautiously approaching it, you realize if you focus you can see through the runic doors while the fount is active. And what you see makes you smile wide.

A Harpy is rushing down the hall! She rounds the corner in a flash and continues past the room you spawned in, a look of worried determination on her face.

And what a specimen she is! You observe hungrily as her lithe form hurtles past the second door, muscles twisting subtly beneath the soft curves of her form. Grey-black eyes match her feathers, a pleasing contrast with her lightly-tanned skin. And her sweet scent! The same as you had sensed earlier, now in full force it’s even more tempting!

But first things first, you have energy right in front of you!

Choose your boon! (one-time bonus)

A.) You absorb the fount’s energy, taking it for your own all at once. This will give you a large boost directly to Overlord Energy but exhausts the fount (200+, without Aura Sense you can’t tell exactly).

B.) Bind yourself to the fount, using it as a safe place of recall. Hul’jet will invoke it if you are in danger, and you can do so if you are in one of the nearby rooms – extending your reach requires evolution. Each recall will drain the fount until it is exhausted.

C.) Invoke a dark blessing that will increase your odds of success, especially where your natural aptitudes are involved. This will restore some energy now, and will last until the rest is exhausted unless you return and order Hul’jet to cancel the spell.

What’s your next action?
1.) Opportunity just knocked, and who are you to deny it? Follow that Harpy!
2.) Tempting, but you hate going in blind! Ignore the Harpy for now and explore the area around you.
3.) Knowledge is power. Ask Hul’jet about the dungeon and strategies you might use (or other questions you may have).
4.) [for A only] Why trust a former servant when you can create new ones? After absorbing the fount, use the energy to absorb Hul’jet’s residual spirit.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

B or C... hard to say. We're sneaky already, which is kinda like a means of preservation... C3.

Tell him to give us the short version, so we can get dat fukken bird. Can he magic us up a mental map or something? That might be handy. Not dark-blessing-replacing handy, though.

 

[freeko]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

Status please. I could go blind, but knowing where things are with power levels helps a bit. 3 is the obvious choice, however I am unsure if B or C is the proper play. I am leaning toward B, but if it is not very effective then C would be the proper call.

3 is the clear option right now. The first question is if there is guidance that can be provided toward restoring overall power. The second would be if the other spawn that were not chosen initially if they are still available as a source of energy to be absorbed. Lastly the question of if Hul'Jet has any influence over the rooms outside the "crypt". Would he know what may have transpired in the room where the person was injured. So many questions to ask with this, and I think knowing just how effective the recall spell would be makes the difference

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

C and 3
Increasing our odds of success at stealth seems like a good enough self-preservation option, espicially since it is one of our natural aptitudes, and we've been decent at it so far.

Hul'jet will be sticking around for a while, he'll be answering many questions, but the one I would like to know first is if he knows where that Harpy nests. Chances are we're not gonna be able to grab her when she's winging around like that, best to lie in wait and get her when she thinks she's safe.

 

[TentanariX]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

I say B. or C. B because save points and hideouts are always nice. C. For all the reasons Shrike stated. Also agree with Shrikes choice of 3. Better to lie in wait till we have more information and more energy.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

C and 1!

 

[freeko]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

I would not go so general with where the harpy nests, but if there is knowledge of where anything nests and bring the harpy up as part of the question. If there is a harpy then there is a likelyhood that other things, and not so much just humans are out and about.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

I agree with Shrike, C3

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

Good point, but speed is a factor. We should be finding a host at some point, sooner the better really, and the harpy is a good choice. We have a chance to settle in and trap it when it thinks it's safe, should make it painfully easy to sneak up on. Our servant will still be there when we get back, we can take the time and ask him all the questions we want once we have a continual source of energy secured, I don't like this source-to-source way we've been progressing so far.

 

[freeko]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

Its a matter of taking what you can get. Of course in a perfect world you want to set up a sustainable source of energy. I would also love to have something else potentially fighting along with us so that potential domination via simple force would be a viable optiion. The problem is that you have to start somewhere and have a plan moving forward. Obviously all of that cannot happen within one single move so something has to have a priority over others.

The question then becomes what exactly is the highest priority?

 

[tora]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

C3 – Invoke the dark blessing, follow up with a quick Q&A!

Current Status:

Spoiler

Tiny Black Tentaclespawn
Health: 25/25
Energy: 25/50
Overlord Energy 200
Abilities: Stealth I, Infest I, Symbiosis I
Status: Dark Blessing

DATA:
Time: Midnight
Allies: Hul’jet (Floor 1 Sigil Crypt)
Known Entities: Human Male (North), 3 ?? Humanoid Males (South), Harpy (North), Runestone (Floor 3), Purple Spawn (Floor 2), Green & Blue Spawn (South)

Invoking the words of the ancients, you call down the blessings of the dark beyond. You feel the energy flowing into you from the fount, infusing you with an aura of power. For the first time since reviving you feel a taste of the strength you once had! Now what to do with it? Hul’jet would be helpful here.

“Hul’jet!” you command.

“Yes my lord?

“I need to know anything you can tell me about this dungeon, and in particular where that Harpy may nest. Give me the broad strokes now and let the details wait! Once I obtain a viable energy source we can plan further.”

“Please understand, my lord, my knowledge of the Labyrinth is limited due to my unearthly convalescence. Still, I will tell you what I know.

“Of the Harpy I know little. It is unusual, especially to see one coming from the second floor. Of her species, enough to be of use. As an aerial species it is unusual to see one in a dungeon, and so I surmise that if she nests it would be on this floor, or above in one of the towers. There are two, one in the north and one in the south. A wise choice though, since harpies have good energy potential.

“Before you act, however, you must know two things. First, there is a runestone located two floors below, stong enough that I can sense it from here. Second, beings with aura sense can also feel this. The purple spawn must know; it has already reached the second floor. The other spawn are also alive, both on the southern half of this floor. None have evolved past spawn, but if one has a host it may prove troublesome.

“Also, if I may offer a suggestion as well, my lord?”

“Speak your mind Hul’jet,” you say, “I have much to consider, and more knowledge will aid my swift action.”

“If you remember the ways of mortals, we have needs that an illustrious being like yourself does not. When we sleep or eat we are less vigilant, and if you go undetected it may be easier to manipulate them.”

You have much to consider. How best to proceed next? The harpy’s trail is still fresh, but on the other hand the purple spawn could become a true threat if it absorbs the runestone.

The decision is up to you now…
1.) Follow the harpy’s trail. A host is the first priority.
2.) Move down to the second floor, stealth in full force. If you evade fights that the purple spawn must battle through you might reach the runestone first.
3.) Head south looking for the wounded humanoid and a chance to absorb blue or green.
4.) Ask Hul’jet more questions, particularly about what might be on the second floor of the labyrinth.

**********

Mechanics: Absorbing another tentacle spawn has a chance to steal their evolutions, but they can try to absorb you if they get the upper hand.

OOC: the long hallway you started in ran North to South, with the first room on the West, so going left from the start, or right from the shrine, will take you North. I’ll try to get a map uploaded when I have time

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Tentacle Lair Evolution!

We've had the most evolutions so far, and looking at the others...

Green is the only one that can really use a host, though latching on may grant it energy to become a problem faster. Blue is similar, with the two of them competing for the same victim(s), we should be safe to ignore them for now, though I would love a chance to absorb the blue one, we could use those abilities so well...

Purple is an issue, but we've been avoiding fights like they'd be the death of us, I hope it is the same for it as well. Hence, if it has to fight, especially multiple times, then chances are it may simply die, and we will be rid of it. Is it possible to absorb a corpse?

The runestone is a rather tempting target, but what does it do, exactly. Do we know, or would we have to spend the turn asking Hul'jet in order to find out?

We aren't sure exactly where the harpy lairs, so laying in wait for it may not be the best idea after all, with this new information. Once again, we seem to be set on a time limit of some sort.

EDIT: Also, before i forget again, I'm privy to a couple other evolutions that may be helpful. They're all rather expensive now, though, so I'll leave it at that. I think we should save the energy for the time being, if we run into an obstacle, we can sit there and evolve a means to get by it, if we have the pool necessary to do so.

I'll hold my vote for now, hopefully we'll get some answers for free before we have to decide, if not, i'll either edit it up here, or post again, depending on circumstance.