Into The Strange: The Eschatology Code

[Firanis 'Fi' Flux]

Salvator's dark glare was returned with rolled eyes and a snort. "As good as, if she isn't," Faerinia muttered to herself, eyes scanning the horde before and behind them. "Learn to move on, woman."

 

But Fae's annoyance was tempered by the tock-tick she felt more than heard emanating from the pendant around her neck, which she intuitively knew sounded in counterpoint to the one around the Lore-Child's, two pendants that were in some impossible way the same one. There was.... not a compulsion, but an insistence, coming from the watch, encouraging Faerinia to move. As Sophia moved to scale her Knight, Faerinia found herself sheathing her shamshir and moving just a step behind her.

 

"Hold still, stone-girl!" Fae shouted at Juno as the Golem bent over to pummel more homunculi.

 

Her long legs carried her forward with almost blurring speed, drawing her crossbow from over her shoulder along the way. She planted one foot on the Golem's hip, using it and momentum to propel her higher, until she was balancing on Juno's broad shoulder and back with an easy grace. When Juno began to straighten up, Fae slammed her heel against her granite back. "Still, I said!"

 

Aiming swiftly, just after Sophia's arrow found the fleeing Clear low in the back, making it stumble to its knees for a moment, Faerinia pulled the triigger of her crossbow, the stock thumping against her braced shoulder. Not even waiting to see her bolt slam into the back of the Clear's thigh, making sure it stayed on the ground, Faerinia was hooking her crossbow back onto her pack. She patted the Juno-Golem on the head, then flipped forward off her shoulder and back into mid-air, tucking herself into a tight ball.

 

"Thanks for the vantage, Stone-girl!" Faerinia chimed, landing amidst of the horde.

 

She rolled smoothly to her feet, her shamshir already drawn and slashing left and right, weaving a sharp-edge net around her that severed limbs and cut throats of the homunculi around her, her buckler covering any gaps in the deadly net they tried to exploit. Where the Golem fought like an indomitable mountain, absorbing blows and crushing her enemies, the Stranger to all the others fought like wind and water.

 

She moved with flowing, elusive grace, slipping between the attacks of the homunculi or deflecting them with blade and buckler, and counterattacking with an uncanny speed and accuracy, striking for eyes, vitals, anything to down or disable them. With each arrow Sophia shot, Faerinia seemed to move even faster, taking the gap offered - with each strike Faerinia made, Sophia found another arrow already on her bowstring and a homunculi leaving itself open.

 

"Come on! That way!" Faerinia exhorted, pointing forward with her blade and praying the rest followed. "Let's find out where the Clear was fleeing to! We can't just stand here and hope to repel them all!"

[Ravenhurst ST]

Splattered with the blood of their fallen foes the Strange companions begin moving fighting toward where the Clear had fallen, the homunculi filling in behind them unrelenting in their mindless assault.

 

The great Stone Woman seized them and hurled them from the walkway into the abyss many fell to their doom smashed hundreds of feet below but some few who were thrown far out into the center of the chamber died in a flash of fire which left nothing not even ash.

 

Swords slashed, arrows flew, and fists crushed and the more they killed the more their numbers seemed to grow. But now the adventurers could see that the unending flow of homunculi came from the other tiers, rising or dropping from the holes spaced about the tiers. ti was a hole such as this that eh Clear had been making his dash for a Hole mere yards away from Faerinia.

 

 

Game Info

One last round of Free form so make it count

Just so you all have a sense of where everyone is. FAe and Ian are leading the push, Curtis and Lexi are following and striking where needed with Juno handing the rear guard.

any questions you know how to reach me

[z011]

Sophia found herself paired next to Curtis, flowing in circles with him as they moved through the room, doing her best to keep as many of the creatures from reaching their front-line fighters as possible. She silently agreed with their new companion about the need to get to a more defensible ground or flee the area, but the sphere....it had to be the Ardeyn side of the bridge, and that needed, must be, destroyed. She split her attention between her bow and the glowing orb, trying to discern something, anything, that could help her disarm or destroy it in the time they had before they must flee or be overrun. Her eyes widened as her mind gave her the cruel truth of the situation. 

 

"Salvatore," Sophia called to her Knight. "The sphere must be destroyed. We are either in Lotan's prison, or, the Maker willing, the Betrayer's stronghold. Either way, we must fight to either the top or bottom of the chamber and destroy the shield around the sphere, or search for the controls." She glanced at her protector, then turned back to release another arrow into the homunculi. "Which shall we do? Either way has dangers and and advantages, as does splitting up. If anyone has a better idea or a reason to go one way or another, say so." 

[Rorx]

Slicing one homunculi from shoulder to opposite waist Klanth spun into place next to the Golem lady to aid in covering the groups back. Kicking the remains to one side he thrust into the throat of another, and chopped the weapon arm from a 3rd as Sophia spoke.

 

"Well Lady," Klanth replied to the archer woman, " it's easier to drop through a hole in the middle of a fight than to try to climb up while being attacked."

 

Stepping back a pace to keep pace with the others moving forward he paused briefly wanting for the next victim to step up for its death.

[Firanis 'Fi' Flux]

"Fine!" Fae shouted, using her buckler to shove one homunculi into the path of Salvatore's twinned blades, ducking low under a blow, and when coming back up, severed one of them from groin to shoulder. She pointed towards one of the holes, gore dripping from the edge of her blade. "We head towards that hole, the one the Clear vermin was heading towards."

 

Fighting the last several yards towards the indicated hole, Fae glared over the heads of the homunculi, studying the ones emerging the holes with any free moment she had. They weren't just climbing from the holes, but rather seemingly rising or falling smoothly, standing on empty air. Hmm, some sort of gravitic or magnetic manipulation field? Soul sorcery summoning invisible spirits to lift or lower people through the holes? No manner, if they can do it, we can as well. They don't seem to bear a key in common to utilize the movement field...

 

Covered by Sophia, their rear guarded by the Golem woman and the Qephilim, Salvatore and Faerinia broke through the last line of homunculi separating them from the hole. With a flick of her wrist, Fae shook her blade clear of the worst of the gore and blood staining it, then wasted no time, jumping right into the empty air circumscribed by the circular opening of the hole.

 

"Ki-yay! Let's go!" Faerinia exclaimed, laughing as she jumping into the hole.

[SalmonMax]

"Maybe I should go first," Juno said, distracted as she was by smashing the weird 'not-people' with hammerblows from her fists. "I mean, then I can try to catch you, and I don't have to worry about landing..."

 

She realized, too late, that the initiative had been seized.

 

"Well shit. Okay then, everyone go! I'll keep these fuckers off of you, but leave me a clear spot to come down in!"

 

True to her word, the police officer-turned interdimensional agent-turned giant stone warrior started lashing out with long sweeps of her arms and smashing stomps that buckled the platform in front of her and sent a wave of the clone-things stumbling. She was wading in, knocking them off and away, and out in droves...but there was an apparently unending supply of them.

 

It was a good thing, Juno reflected, that she didn't seem to get tired. This was a nightmarish enough experience as it was without slowly but surely starting to succumb to fatigue.

[z-Ian]

The Knight Companion nodded to Sophia, subtly changing his fighting style. “Together,” he said simply, trusting that she could wave the best path through the madness for them. He continued to guard his ward, her safety paramount in his mind as he fought.

 

Slowly, the homunculi became more of an irritation than an actual danger. They were weak and easily killed, and it was simple for Salvatore to fight them. He wanted to wipe them all away so that he could draw Sophia away to speak with her. The longer he went without apologizing to her, the deeper the knife in his heart plunged.

 

The knife you put there. Salvatore felt his cheeks burn once more as he remembered that Ian was the cad who had treated his Sophia so abysmally. How could any part of me be that man? How could I be so scurrilous, especially to my darling Sophia?

 

He snuck another glance at her, even as he cut through the flesh of a being’s chest. The splash of gore joined the others on his clothing, though he barely noticed. The hole that they were jumping down was in front of him, and he hesitated. What if I get separated from her?

 

That was unbearable. He took a quick step to her side, sheathed his swords, and said, “My pardon, Lady.”

 

Startled, she looked up at him. “What?”

 

He didn’t answer her aloud; he curled his arms around her waist and drew her back into the hole. For a second, it was the same as it had been: the two of them together, fighting as one. For a moment, her age and the loss of his innocence and honor didn’t matter anymore. It was everything normal and comfortable for him.

 

Then the desire came, just as they dropped down out of sight of the others. His time as Ian left his mind with plenty of inspiration about what to do with that desire and he relentlessly pushed it away.

[Curtis Shane]

For a pausing moment at hand, Korthos/Curtis took a long look at the interactions - and close embrace between Salvatore and Sophia. What Curtis wondered, was: would it be wrong to tinker with the translation mechanisms in such a way so that Salvatore overwrote Ian? Because all right, the heroic knight companion thing was cloying, but still far more preferable to the seedy, lascivious and mentally unbalanced man he had first met.

 

He sighed and then took the drop down as well. One thing for certain the two aspected men (Curtis and Korthos) had in common was how they'd seen it all. Or so it felt - homunculi were nothing special. Or taking this sort of leap. 

 

The Maker gives, and the Maker takes. Now, that there was a difference. Curtis would never consider such a thought. Despite the gestalt of knowledge, Korthos still believed in the Maker and the Incarnations. Curtis sneered at faith. A shame.

[z011]

Sophia leaned against her Knight, taking momentary comfort in the midst of the battle as they plummeted down. Then a voice called to her, one she hadn't heard in years and her heart ached for. "Alexandra, Destroy the tier above once you are clear," it told her softly, love etched in every word. Four arrows appeared knocked along her bow and she immediately knew what they were: the Arrows of Amdimar, a great hero of Ardeyn's past that destroyed the Great Temple in the city of Meshar, and then the city itself. Both had been monuments to and bastions of power for Lotan and the evil god's followers.   

 

The drop ended suddenly, as they usually do, and she and Salvatore parted just soon enough to come up of the floor in graceful rolls. As soon as her other companions were clear of the tunnels, she pulled back her bow and fired the arrows, aiming upward and trusting the magic of their nature to find their targets. 

[Ravenhurst ST]

The magical arrows fly from Sophia/Lexi's bow sailing into the open air they streak unerringly toward four points where the tier above connects to the wall. Led by the tall blue haired Girl the Strange companions battle to the next hole and drop down the Homunculii seem lesser in numbers as they six unusual beings continue battling their way down tier by tier.

 

Above them the arrows embedded into the walls crackle and spark with mystical energy the energy shoot through the tier causing cracks to appear then as if attracted to the current the sphere in the center begins to pulse and waves of coruscating magic reach out to touch the currents of energy from the arrows. At the contact of the two forces a mystical THRUM is felt through the bones and the two energies combine cascading upward flowing through the tiers causing them to begin to crumble and shatter the Humonculii and Clears touched by the Strange force instantly vaporize. The rubble from the broken tiers does not fall but instead begins to rise as well carried upward by the pulsating energy.

 

On the floor of the chamber the companions look in awe at the the destruction above them the last of their foes fallen dead at their feet. They watch as the energy and debris rises to the top of the chamber and collects there growing into a second sphere this one pulsating and swirling with destructive force. As they watch it grows and grows and the keens eyes can now see the wall of the immense chamber cracking and fissures growing . Suddenly halfway up there is a huge explosion of purple light as the gate through which they appeared here implodes and adds its destruction to the cataclysm coming. Debris now begins to rain down upon them. As one they run to the edge of the chamber seeking shelter feeling the hopelessness of their situation for where the beam of energy from the original sphere peirces the floor through an arcane alter of some sort the begins to crack and shift . First the alter crumbles, the six heroes desperately seek an avenue of escape, the the floor begins to fall inward down into darkness.

 

Then the sphere explodes.

 

It isn't seen it isn't heard but it is felt as the center sphere, the source of the quantum bridge erupts. Th e walls shatter and turn to dust as the force of the explosion is directed upwards. Upwards into the second sphere.

 

The world explodes.

 

The floor disappears.

 

And they fall.

 

As consciousness returns the quickened find themselves suspended over a second chamber on a bed of webs far below the first. In the distance they can see what looks like bridge spanning the emptiness. What looks like torches moving to and fro. Below in the dim black lit space they and feel a malevolent presence.

 

 

Game Info

you all are bruised and cut but only for descriptive purposes.

You are on a huge Krey web

you see no Krey nearby

you do see the stone bridge several hundred meters away and the torches moving on the bridge the bridge extends from the unseen wall into the center of the new chamber where it opens up into a large platform.

[Renata Hodges]

Juno's eyes start glowing again, and she shifts position slightly. She looks around, feeling a bit muzzy...though she quickly realizes it's not so much that she actually feels muzzy as much as her mind feels like it ought to.

 

"Was that it?" she asked. "Did we do it? How do we get...back..."

 

Her voice trailed off as Juno realized just what they were on. A net of weird, coarse, bristly 'silk' arrayed below them in broad spiderweb. It was oddly comfortable, flexing like a hammock under them. Immediately Juno thought it would be really unpleasant trying to fight on this. It'd be like trying to have a boxing match on a trampoline. Not much traction, no footing.

 

"Jesus...do I even want to ask? What is this?"

[Rorx]

Klanth gets carefully to his feet taking in his surroundings. Quickly checking himself for injuries he finds surprisingly few considering their fall, he gulps slightly as he looks up and realises it looks like they have fallen for miles. Spotting the torches he dims his mythlight as far as possible.

"I'm not sure, but we need to investigate that platform, and that bridge seems to be the only way out. Since those torches suggest it is occupied perhaps we should try to move with some stealth?"

Putting deeds to his words Klanth gathers his dark cloak around himself, tucking his shamsir beneath it as well to guard against reflections and starts to stalk in the direction of the platform.

[Firanis 'Fi' Flux]

"Huh." Lying on her back on top of the faintly giving platform of strange webbing, Fae looks up, way up at the faint glow that hangs above them an almost incalculable distance away. "Not what I was expecting."

 

The tall, young woman flips to her feet, balancing with unconscious ease on the vaguely swaying web. Patting herself down, making sure she hasn't lost any of her weapons of gear, Faerinia glances over at the towering female-shaped golem with a wry smirk. Well, I'm definitely someplace I've never been before.

 

"Well, whatever the Lore-Child has done, it did something. As for what this is, at a guess. it appears to be a dangerous foothold of the Kray." Faerinia looks down, peering between the interweaving threads of webs at the darkness below them. There was the sense of.... something below them, something of incredible mass and ineffable menace and malignancy. "Falling off would be bad, I think."

 

Holding her curved blade down by her side, Faerinia gives the Qephilim a nod, moving up to flank him, her buckler held before her. If she doesn't have particular skill in being stealthy, still, she moves with enviable smoothness and grace, her steps sure and soft on the webs. "Agreed," she says with a fierce grin. "If nothing else, we'll find more answers over there than we will here. Probably more questions too."

[Ravenhurst ST]

Rousing them selves the Quickened began stealthy moving toward the distant bridge, Klanth taking the lead followed closely by Faerinia with the rest of the group following at a short distance. The closer they got to the bridge the less the torches moving to and fro seemed less like torches and more like bobbing balls if fire each the about two to three feet across.

 

At twenty about twenty meters Klanth motions everyone to stop and stay put as he masks himself in shadow and continues on alone.

 

 

Game Info

Klanth make Speed stealth Defense Test Lvl 4

if succesful make a Intellect Scouting test Lvl 3 to recon the bridge

either inform me of the results in chat or PM or make a short post

[Ravenhurst ST]

Klanth covers the remaining distance to the bridge rapidly and unseen. He frowns but is not surprised at what he sees, the movement of the "torches" had given them away. But even of greater concern was the Homunculus, of a type he was not aware of this ones flesh was Pure white, it standing alone on the Platform guarding something he could not make out. With a sigh Klant began working his way back to the other quickened.

 

Drawing the around he quickly explained what his scouting mission revealed.

 

"The bridge is guarded not by Homunculii but rather by Fire Wolves* at least 2 Packs, I couldn't get a precise count because of the way they are moving along the bridge and the fact that you cannot tell one from the other. There does appear to be a door at the far end of the bridge where it meets the cavern wall but I could see no mechanism for opening it from my vantage point, I fear that it may be sealed by magic and the only means to open it may lie upon the platform."

 

As he explains things he points them out and makes many strange gestures almost as if his hand movements are a separate language which indeed it is. Sophia is in fact watching his hands more than she is listening for of all those presents Including the Qephilim himself she is the only one who understands the full meaning of the unconscious gestures he is making.

 

"On the bridge guarding something is a White Homunculus. I have never seen a white one and have no knowledge of its capabilities. I fear we must defeat it before we can find our way out of this unholy place."

 

 

INFO

I am moving ahead with this since it is the last battle of this adventure.

I will NPC anyone who does not wish to continue or can't because of RL but i can't keep the players who are present and ready hanging indefinantly.

rest assured if you are npc'd for this adventure you are more than welcome to hop back in when teh adventures continue.

*Fire Wolves - these are identical to Fusion Hounds found in the Strange Bestiary on page 58. They are creatures which have only recently been imported to Ardeyn from their home recursion, but unlike the Kray their introduction added them to the Myth History of Ardeyn - Agents who may recognize them will know that the introduction of a creature from one recursion to another does not normally rewrite them into the new recursion .. the new creature would be an alien anomaly.

[Rorx]

"So", says Klanth eyeing the rest of the group, "Anyone have a decent plan or do we just charge in there and let rip?"

[SalmonMax]

Juno shook her head ponderously.

 

"I have literally no idea what the fuck any of this is," she grumped. "Just tell me what to punch, I guess, until I figure this out."

[Firanis 'Fi' Flux]

Faerinia smirked as she slammed the pommel of her shamshir on the steel rim of her buckler. The runestone affixed to the pommel shattered and arcane runes of blue-white light blossomed along the length of her blade. The runes seemed to writhe and shift along the blade, making them hard to read.

 

"You can't learn about something without engaging it and studying it," Fae said with a fierce grin, readying her sword and buckler. "So let us aggressively question this bleached minion of the Betrayer and see what it is guarding." Fae swept her blade around in arc indicating herself, the Qephilim, the Golem, and the Knight. "We attack in melee, staying abreast, while the Lore Child and the Priest cover us from behind with ranged attacks."

 

Actions

Activated Ejection Nodule on her shamshir

[Curtis Shane]

Suddenly, Korthos looked bowed over, weighed down older, far older than his age. He knew the unholy place for what it was. "This is Lotan's prison. Below is his heart.We already know why the Betrayer intends this. We cannot indulge him." Korthos shook his knife and rivulets of burning light flowed up and down. "Slay them all, but fight with care!"

[Ravenhurst ST]

The quickened ready themselves then retraced the path Klanth had taken to close in on the bridge. They chose the far end of the bridge to give them a better chance of defeating the wolves before having to deal with the unknown Homunculus.

 

Drawing nearer it was almost impossible to keep as quiet and true to this a wolf heard something, stopping in its stalking path, the strange creature with it's fiery head dripping plasma peered over the edge of the bridge onto the vast net. It had yet to sound an alarm as it hadn't seen what had disturbed it but there was something out there it knew...

 

The three arrows slammed into the wolfs chest and head almost as one so fast had Sophia let them loose and before the first had covered its flight-path into the hapless creature the rest of the quickened had broke into a silent run then a charge the at the bridge before the first wolf collapsed dead , the still burning plasma spreading from its head and chest.

 

The other Fire Wolves all turn at the Quickened's arrival and the death of their pack mate the fiery heads flaring like silent dogs barking.

 

 

GAME INFO

There are 7 Fire-Wolves (Fusion Hounds) on the bridge , not counting the dead one, there are two more on the platform with the homunculus.

3 are in immediate range and can be attacked and can attack anyone wishing to engage these must roll initiative level 3 (9)

the other 4 are at long distance and can be engaged without initiative this round, they will however charge this round an they are fast enough that they will be able to attack at the end of the round

The Wolves are level 3 creatures with armor 1 and 10 health

The homunculus and the other 2 wolves are not in combat range and will require at least 2 turns to close to range assuming that they do.

[Firanis 'Fi' Flux]

Initiative Roll

[Asarasa] 9:15 am: Initiative roll for The Strange
Asarasa *rolls* 1d20: 7: 7 FAIL!

 

Two Wolves Attack (Level 3). Faerinia's Defense Tests (Specialized in Speed Defense and has a shield [Asset to Speed Defense]) - Difficulty modified to 0.

 

[Asarasa] 9:27 am: Fire Wolves Attack
[Asarasa] 9:28 am: Rather, Faerinia's Defense Tests
Asarasa *rolls* 1d20: 19: 19 - Miss + Minor Effect!
Asarasa *rolls* 1d20: 1: 1 - Miss!
[Asarasa] 9:28 am: Hmm, made a good roll, so that should have had a minor effect
[Asarasa] 9:32 am: First Fire Wolf is Dazed (All tasks modified one step to its detriment for the next round)

 

[Asarasa] 9:40 am: Faerinia's Attack
Asarasa *rolls* 1d20: 13: 13
[Asarasa] 9:40 am: Hit! 4 Damage - 1 Armor = 3 Damage

 

Ejection Nodule causes creature or item hit for damage to teleport to a random location with a radius of 300 feet. First Fire Wolf is teleported... somewhere.

 

Using Extra Effort (1 Speed Pool): Activating the Time-Maker, giving Faerinia another action

 

[Asarasa] 9:51 am: Faerinia's attack
Asarasa *rolls* 1d20: 18: 18

Hit!  4 damage +2 (rolled 18)  - 1 Armor = 5 damage

 

Faerinia flowed forward in the wake of Sophia's arrows, her long legs propelling her in a long leap onto the bridge with athletic grace. Her voice rose in a fierce shout, buckler held before her, her curved blade down by her side, ready to strike, but the rippling heat emanating from the Fire Wolves made her skin prickle and she pulled up short.

 

In that instant of hesitation, two of the Fire Wolves darted forward, snapping at her with their flame-wrought jaws and teeth of burning plasma. Faerinia pirouetted away so swiftly and fluidly, the first Fire Wolf was dazed when it bit down on nothing save empty air. The other Fire Wolf lunged faster and further, but the tall, young adventurer jammed her buckler in its gaping mouth and shoved it aside.

 

Faerinia darted back the other way, her gleaming shamshir sweeping around in a great arc to strike the first Fire Wolf, still seeming surprised it had missed its leggy quarry. Fae's blade struck it in the shoulder and glowing sigils marked down its length flared even brighter. The Fire Wolf appeared to collapse into tiny ball of intense, blue-white light, and with a soft poink! it was gone!

 

Fae didn't let that satisfy her. She called upon the Time-Maker hanging about her neck, and an echoing tick-tock-Tick-Tock-TICK-TOCK rang in her ears for a moment. Time seemed to slow, all about her appeared to be moving sluggishly, like moving through air the consistency of tar. To them, Fae moved with blinding speed, completing her spin and circling back to the second wolf. Her blade came in high, dipped low, then ripped upward, cutting a deep gash across its chest and the underside of its jaw.

 

"Yajje!" Faerinia shouted with victorious excitement, her strange, violet eyes reflecting the flames of the Fire Wolves. Her alabaster skin was beaded with sweat from the intense heat radiating from the Fire Wolf before her.

 

Combat Status

Fire Wolf #1: Health 7, teleported somewhere within 300 feet

Fire Wolf #2: Health 5

Fire Wolf #3: Needs to go

 

Faerinia: MP - 13/13, SP - 15/16, IP - 13/13, Used Extra Effort