The Misadventures of the Missed Adventurers

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ooc:[didn't we decide it was an unstable sphere of change that the labrynth was keeping stable?]

D "as long as narp keeps talking, i think it'll keep sleeping."
narp "...and then there's the lost king of kentovia and the ancient scrolls of encilada and have you heard of the enchanted axe of entilda? the old kingdom of hincidia is particularly interesting to and..."
D "lets wait a bit more."
after a few more minutes, loud snores can be heard coming from the minotaur.
D "i think it's safe." pulls the lever. the grate moves up, with much creaking and groaning. the minotaur is so dazed he doesn't even twitch. narp notices though.
narp "hey, when did we decide to open the grate?"
the minotaur's eyelids twitch and he stops in mid-snort.
D "what was that about the search for the hyncida?"
narp is off again. the minotaur subsides.

[Jack Simth]

ooc:[We did decide that was it, yes - however, we haven't decided what we will DO about it when we get there - destroy the spheres, repair the unstable sphere of alteration, fix a problem with the stabilization that is possibly causing the shifts in the region, et cetera. If we leave things there, then we also need to decide if we are going to reset the different traps on the way out, make new ones, or leave everything open - such decisions probably need to be taken care of with in character conversation and a little narration. If we choose to destroy the spheres, we could even tie in Katchoo's character's reason for not following the party, with a small amount of creativity (source of the instability, perhaps - perhaps the spheres were built using energy harvested from a few continents, and the energy fought back, damaging the enchantment for the sphere of change, causing the instability in the first place).]

The party quietly walks past the minotaur (dragging Narp, who is still talking), and reach the door with no apparent difficulty.

Back in the mage's cave, the mage's viewing spell finally fizzles out completely.

Mage "Hmm, it seems there is nothing that can be done until they return this way."

Back in the Labyrinth

D "Now that is proof positive that no learning is ever wasted."

After a quick check for traps, the party opens the door, steps into the room beyond, and blocks the door behind them.

The Sphere Room is suprisingly plain - the room itself is shaped as a pentagon, there is a large pentagram inscribed in the floor. At each vertice of the pentagon formed by the pentagram rests a stand, four of which have silver spheres on them, the fifth of which has fallen over, with the matching silver sphere resting in a corner of the room.

In the exact center of the room, there is an identical pedastal, only this one is supporting a black sphere that shimmers very slowly.

Jack "This entire room seems to be a focusing lens, pushing the effect of the silver spheres on the black one. Come to think of it, the entire labryinth was arranged in a pentagon as well. The entire complex seems to be focused on keeping that one black sphere under the influence of the silvers. As the silver spheres aren't changing any, and there is more than one of them, I would suppose that they are the Spheres of Stability the mage was referring to."

D chuckles
D "Most likely - but think for a minute: what do you suppose could still shimmer at the center of all that?"

Jack "Well, the pentagram is incomplete at the moment, but is still rather functional, so it would just about need to be a Sphere of Change. Even at that though ... it has to be unstable. There's scarecly any other way. Four focused Spheres of Stability and it's still shimmering. It's unstable."

D "That is my conclusion as well. So, what are we going to do about it?"

[ June 16, 2003, 11:25: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[David E. Gervais]

Hi people,

Just wanted to let you know that 'time' is at a premium right now so don't expect me to contribute to this RP thread. I will however look in from time to time to follow the story.

Cheers!

[narf poit chez BOOM]

narp "and then the king of...huh, what? we're in the sphere room? when did that happen? where did the minotaur go? you know, he was a good listener. is that an unstable sphere of change? maybe we should put the tripod back up."
going around the room to the fallen tripod, narp puts the protection gloves on, then picks up the sphere, pulls the tripod up, and puts the sphere on it. unfortunatly, his hasty action damages some of the protections.

in the mage's lab, the image clears for a second. the mages eyes widen. "FINALLY!" he says "the sphere of change will be MINE!"

he dismisses the image and quickly begins casting the spell to take him to the entrance to the maze.

as a few of the runes in the room develop cracks, narp says "oops"

ooc:[i think we could have him arrive in the sphere room just in time to barely contain the bLast using all the protection spells in the labrynth, which comes after some tense moments as we run around trying to fix the protections, jack teleports us out, for the purpose of wolf continuity, we could have jack's teleport spell latch onto the remnants of the teleport spell that got us here, then we watch wherever the labrynth is under go up in smoke because it doesn't have to be that far, giving the mage a fate unkown. what do you think, jack? i see some cliches. or we could have the mage teleport the sphere to a wasteland area, maybe in another dimension, which creates the bLast.]

[ June 16, 2003, 23:16: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Jack Simth]

ooc:[Actually, with the protections damaged, it makes sense that the teleport block might be sorely weakened. I was thinking more along the lines of we pump all the energy back out of the spheres - remember how way back I said it was life energy that stabalizes things? Suppose it wasn't simulated life energy, but the real thing; harvested from the area permanently taking energy that is supposed to cycle forever (it would explain Katchoo's wolf's strong aVersion to magic, and the flaw in the sphere of change - the life energy objected to being used so) we let the energy back out (the energy itself will aid us in this - it wants to get back out) which will probably cause a very dense jungle to form above our heads as the local flora and fauna feeds on the superabundance of life energy - still a bit cliche, but slightly less so. Besides, if we clear the spheres safely, we get to face off against the mage.]

Jack quicly tosses some glowing green bands at the spheres, and they are momentarily bottled up
Jack "That should hold things for a moment, but they won't hold out long."

Jack looks at the spheres and blinks
Jack "Whoever built these was a total idiot. That isn't clean energy. Every bit of energy used in making those things was drained from the environment; you're not supposed to do that. At that level of drain, it not only kills most of the local life and render the area barren for centuries, but you can't control it well; the energy objects and can't be forced into the tight energy bands needed for good runes. That seems to be what caused the instability in the first place. However, I think we can fix this. Retarde Le Charme"

Jack quickly produces six of the same glowing half-spheres he caught D's dispel with at the dragon-head room

Jack "D - dispel these. I can then use your dispels to break the spheres in a controlled fashion, releasing the energy back to where it belongs. Had those spheres been made right, that wouldn't work; however, the energy will be our ally in this."

D quicly casts dispel at each of Jack's half-spheres, and each time the dispel is caught. Jack quicly runs around and places the glowing orbs near the spheres - one each for the stability spheres, and one for the sphere of change - and then backs away.

Jack "Dégagement"

With that, the six glowing spheres dissappear, and the dispels hit the five silver spheres and the black sphere. Immediately, thick bright green bands of energy start rushing out of the spheres and going through the cieling. Everywhere they touch, green plants spring up.

Jack "It's time we leave."

D "Agreed."

The mage chooses this exact moment to enter the sphere room...

Mage "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!"

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ooc:[ok, running with this. animation...hmm.]
mage "YOU'VE DESTROYED IT! I WORKED MORE YEARS THAN ALL OF YOU HAVE BEEN ALIVE, AND YOU DESTROYED IT! YOU WILL ALL PAY DEARLY FOR THIS!"

"ANIMANTRIX GEOLOGIX EMPOWERERST"
the rock underneath their feet rumbles, then shifts. a mound raises up in front of the mage, then spears upwords eight feet and forms into a vagly humanoid shape three feet across. roots and bits of rock stick out here and there. drawing his sword, narp charges toword the golem and swings. a dispel spell from D flashes over his head. a glowing sphere from jack pops up around the golem. narps sword and D's dispel bounce off, and the golem bashes through jack's sphere with one punch.
narp says "uh-oh"...

ooc:[ok, you get this one and i defeat number two. it was either another golem or tenticles coming out of the floor, and i didn't want to do tenticles. david, i was just thinking D. could use a few more spells. anyway, i've arbitrarily just given him scrying, as it's a wise and mysterious kind of spell. if you think of any others he wouldn't have used yet, load our stuffed dummy up, jack.]

[ June 17, 2003, 01:54: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Jack Simth]

ooc:[Remember that book on time bending? Despite the lifespan, Jack is a very fast learner.]
Jack "Langsame Zeit"
With that, a thin green web stretches over the golem, and it slows down to the point where its motion cannot be seen at all. After a moment, the web fades, but the golem is still quite stuck.

Mage "I won't be thwarted so easily!"

"ANIMANTRIX GEOLOGIX EMPOWERERST"

Another golem rises up to do battle, this one a bit larger, as the mage is throwing more energy into it.

ooc:[Sorry narf, but I can't really see him making a weaker golem after the first goes down...]

Jack (whispering) "Come on, just once more and I think I will have it down."

Jack "Hey, Narp, would you like to try out the speed and strength spell I mentioned earlier?"

ooc:[The magic words: Vitesse et force - If you accept, just remember: after combat's done, you'll have quite the hangover from it. Till then, however, you will be a very hard target to hit, and your sword should rend stone (although the sword may suffer for it).]

ooc:[Do you think all the noise will wake the minotaur? If so, which side do you think he'll attack first? I suspect the mage, as he is closer to the door....]

ooc:[D is probably a good candidate for stealthy spells too. He should probably have invisibility. Perhaps he should also have a silence spell for stopping mages that still require speech for their spells.]

[ June 17, 2003, 05:28: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]