Dan had been following quietly, keeping his voice down and doing what his class does best; look out for traps and the fastest way he could cheeze it. Most of the rest of his companions had taken it upon themselves to start talking some wierd language, probably elven or spanish. Then they came upon zombies. All in all a marvelous time.

Wait... zombies... Ah, suprisingly tame compared to the rest of the transformations, but still enough to make his legs shake. He tried to push all his pop culture knowledge of zombies to the back of his mind as he moved a bit closer towards the twin undead and heard the disembodied voice talking.

It said it wanted to kill them. Normally in this situation the heroes would carve down enough enemies to fill a small slaughterhouse quota, but then again thesen were not heroes, these were a couple of mates who got together to play a nerdy game and only have to worry about running out of fat snacks.

Immediately Dan did what he usually does; talk at length for no apparant reason. Luckily this was essential to Bards... usually. He perked up towards them "Wait! Wait! Wait!" He exclaimed, moving towards the voice, behind the elven swordslingers no less. "Let's not be too hasty! How would you know if we are not part of your plans? We might be an essential part that the dying would ruin" He attempted to reason, hoping his high charisma would somehow pay off. You probably shouldn't talk to ultimate evil but... how often do you get to talk with ultimate evil? How should you know what to do? Talk at length was Dan's answer, as it is for most things.

"Definately NOT a magic mouth."

Sarah draws her daggers with a flourish, throwing one at the nearest of the two zombies.

"Ultimate evil?  Oh that doesn't sound good." Cassander muttered, letting Dan take over.  Talking was what Bards did best so she'd gladly let him do the talking.

"Are you ready to do some turning, Aliana?" she said, giving Greg a pat on the shoulder as she stepped behind the other elf.  "Zombies should be right up your alley."  Cassander might sound calm, and in a way she was.  She was confident that the Cleric could turn the zombies and that they were not in any immediate danger, unless there were thousands of the undead down here.

"That voice mentioned a portal to another world.  You don't suppose that they might be trying to get to our world?  Naw that wouldn't make sense."

John shrug "About as much sense as us turning into our characters?" she pointed out retorically. She dropped to a low crouch, keeping on the balls of her toes, so others could see over her. Even if she had been a ranged ranger she would have drawn her blades for this, of course she wouldn't be in the front either. She held the swords in a ready stance in front of her and seemed to slip into the shadows by reflex, though it probally wouldn't have much effect on the undead, if anyone was with them it could be useful.

Greg nodded to Cassander, bringing out her holy symbol.  You read my mind, 'girlfriend', she thinks, the lame joke helping to somewhat stem the fear that was curdling her insides like milk in the hot sun.

Holding the 'sunrise over the open road' design on the oaken disk aloft, Greg opened her mouth to give the very melodramatic speech she'd been preparing (at least with the, small, unterrifed part of her brain) ever since seeing the walking dead things.   They used to do this back in the day, in the old gaming group, compete for who could give the more dramatic 'turning' speech.  He'd even used various IDs as his 'holy symbols'  when playing different clerics, like Red Cross card for the god of healing, a veteren's benefit card, sent to him accidentally when he was ten, for the god of war, and so on.   He.....she... used to be pretty good at it.
She froze.
What the HELL am I doing?   Jesus, I'm a...person who stopped going to church when I was eight!   And, NOW I"m going to channel...what?  A REAL god, untamed magic power, maybe even Chris?  It didn't make any sense, none of it did.

No!  They needed you, you spineless jackass!   You can do this!  But, was 'this' even possible?  Could Greg really be a 'conduit' for divine power?   The new elf tried desparately, her mind suddenly blank, to think of something, anything, to bolster his confidence.

Then, he remembered the flying spell.

Jesus Christ Jumping on a Pogo Stick!  That's right!  I....I can fly.
I can fly!
I can Honest to Christ, God-Damn, MOTHER-FUCKIN' FLY!!!!
I can do ANYTHING!!!!

The elven cleric strode forward, holding out her holy symbol, not noticing the faint shimmer of light coming from it.

BACK!!!!    REMOVE YOUR FOUL, PUTRID BODIES FROM THIS WORLD OF THE LIVING!!!!    CRAWL  BACK TO THE STINKING PITS, FROM WHENCE YOU WERE SPAWNED!!!!  BY THE POWER OF THE GREAT LORD OF ROADS, YOUR JOURNEY IS ENDED!!!!


of  course, she mused, this is where i usually roll a '1'

Fortunately, Greg didn't roll a 1.

Sarah's dagger stabs into the zombie, before it pulls itself out and returns to her hand. The zombie doesn't even flinch, but that's not exactly surprising.

The holy symbol begins to glow and give off a holy aura, pushing the undead back. They stagger back and away from the party, before turning tail and shuffling away into the darkness as fast as they can.

Cassander smiled.  "Nicely done, Gr...Aliana.  I was even feeling the urge to run away myself."  The Elf gestures, sweeping her arm in front of her in a graceful manner.  Her glowing orbs of light shot forward illuminating the tunnel ahead of the group.

"Shall we?" she asked the rest of the party.

holy fuck. it actually worked.
Greg seemed to realize what she'd said, almost amused at the random curse word so soon after a holy pronouncement.

Wow. That was pretty cool.  Remember everyone, zombies are immune to stabbing and bashing, so cutting weapons only.
She paused.
Heh. I can't believe I remembered that with dead guys staring at me.

Sarah deftly catches her dagger as it flies back, then resheathes it.

"Ahh... I forgot. At least now we know our equipment is as it was on our sheets..."

Greg, still a little buzzed with success, nods to Cassander.
Sure thing...Tizona.
She smiled, the new name was coming to mind more easily.  That actually might be a bad thing, but she'd worry about it later, when they weren't being killed by dead guys.

Greg draws his elven longbow and nocks an arrow with a fluid and practiced motion that makes her stop and stare in confusion at her hand for a moment.  Then, holding her magical torch awkwardly but securely in her left hand, she follows Sarah.

She figured her bow might be better from the back of the party,and she could just drop the torch, as it woudn't go out.

Sarah begins to move along the passage, carefully checking for signs of traps, tripwires, or movable tiles on the ground. She slowly moves her hands along the walls, feeling for oddities or imperfections...

Dan seems a bit peeved they just pissed off ultimate evil. Granted the evil didn't seem to respond to his plea so it probably would've ended the same either way. He sighed with slight annoyance and fear, hopefully zombies would be the extent of what they would face.

wow.  Greg thought.  wow.  I turned the zombies!   wow. wow. wow. WOW!

Greg felt really jazzed, almost as good as she'd felt when she was flying earlier.
Althought, she thought, I REALLY hope we don't need a fly spell later on, and everyone gets pissed because I wasted my only one today.
i turned the zombies!

Greg was having trouble hiding the grin on her elven face.  She knew that the situation was serious.  ("invading another world" , like maybe OUR world?  Are you KIDDING me?!?)  But she couldn't help feeling wonderful.

It was like that in many games, too, ironically.   Greg was a pretty good roleplayer, and gamer, but always felt outclassed by many of the obsessed rules-lawyers and others who seemed to have nothing else to do but pour over piles of rulebooks, creating optimized characters or planning out solutions to every possible scenario, like a real life general preparing for a real life war.    The more casual gamer, Greg always seemed to be on the proverbial sidelines, while "greater minds" came up with answers, or when Greg just rolled badly, which was often.

There were times, though, when he would shine.   A good idea, an inspired speech to an NPC, or, hell, even a critical hit, and he felt like a true gamer as good as any of them.

Granted, Greg kind of hoped that those obsessed players were here now, among this new group.  As much as she wanted to have a chance at the spotlight in a game, THIS was real life, and Greg didn't give a rat's ass WHO solved the puzzle of how to fix it, just so long as it got fixed.


She still couldn't believe she turned those zombies.  That was so cool!

As she basked again in her inner glow, however, the implications started nagging at the edges of her mind.
She turned the zombies, by channeling the power of a GOD.
Ok, she thought to herself, THAT was kind of a sobering thought.

What did it mean?   Was it more magical smoke and mirrors (relatively speaking, or course), or was Fharlanghn......Real?    For that matter, was God real?   Greg wasn't a true agnostic, but he certainly didn't take his native christianity very seriously.  Too many hypocrites on TV and in his own family.
But, then again, their current experience was pretty much proof in the existance of, at the very least, really weird shit.

Was that all there was?  Or was there more?

Greg shook her head to clear it, stlll trying to ignore the blond hair that fell to either side of her face.
Stop acting like a stoner with too much time on your hands, she berated herself, you friends need you.
She settled in to walk down the hallway, ready (in theory) for anything.

Holy crap, she  thought, I can't believe I actually turned a real zombie.

"Anyone else find it really odd that some mysterious voice controlling zombies has a clue to where our...the princess might be, just happens to be beneath the tower that we're taking shelter in?" Cassander asked as they walked along.  "It seems a little too convenient."

She had to resist the urge to tug at the top of her skirt as they walked.  It felt like it could slip down her hips at any moment.  Cassander had drawn Tizona's clothing according to the fantasy tradition, so it was more eye candy than anything else and very impractical to go traipsing through a dungeon in.  Thank you, Vallejo and Boris.  At least I didn't give her the classic chainmail bikini.  God how embarassing would that have been?

She was spending too much time worrying about what she was wearing than concentrating on the task at hand.  This was all only temporary so why worry about it?  Because it might not be temporary?

Cassander shook her head and turned her attention back to guiding her floating orbs of light through the dark passage.  "Was any of this in your plan for the tower, Dan?  Do you think that Chris just took your idea and ran with it?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:35, Thu 23 Apr 2009.

Greg was jarred from her adrenaline induced daze by Cassander...that is, Tizona.

Glancing back, she shook her head, letting out a breath of frustration.
There's just so many possibilities, once you realize that you can't reject something because it's
"not possible".  I mean, assuming that this isn't just some shared hallucination, or just my own personal halluncination, than it could... almost be....ANYTHING.  There could be a world where magic exists that's like our D&D world, and some "cult of weirdos" used that magic to connect to our world because of that mental connection.  Chris could be part of it, or he could be a victim like us, just trapped somewhere because he doesn't have a 'character' and is trying to use his 'DM powers' to give us clues.  He could even be subtly influencing probability so that the 'princess' IS here, instead of a hundred miles away.

She gave a cynical chuckle, which quavered a little, betraying her frayed nerves.
Although, Tizona, it actually kinda makes sense for this kidnapped princess to be in this town, given the reaction we got and the fact that there seemed to be someone in town ready to 'silence' anyone who talked about her.  Those were always 'classic' clues that you were close to the answer.

Y'know, yesterday, if you'd have mentioned that something like this could happen, I would have directed you to the 'call-in' numbers for the "Coast to Coast" radio show and wished you the best.  Now, though.....(sigh) personally, my mind is getting a little over loaded with the 'possibilities'.   It's like something my friend used to say whenever we'd try to figure out a mystery in a D&D game.  "In a world where trees talk, NOTHING can be taken for granted".

The elven woman grinned, remembering simpler times, when you could play D&D without the chance of getting eaten by zombies.  Of course, that brought up the uncomfortable image of "Greg the Hot Elven Chick" returning to their world and walking into a gathering of her old gaming friends.
She pictured the conversation.
"Hi guys!  You wouldn't believe what happened to me over the weekend!"
"Yo Greg, what's up?  Something is different about you....Wait, don't tell me!  You got contact lenses, didn't you?  Yeah, that's it.  I'm not sure that it's a good look for you, man.  It makes your eyes look all big and 'almondy'.
Plus, and don't take this the wrong way, but a nice pair of glasses would go a long way towards distracting people from your new boobs."

The elven girl suppressed a laugh at the awkward situation.  Greg had always used humor as a defense against stress, but maybe she'd be better off thinking about the task ahead.  Besides, dwelling on the possibility (there was that word again) that they'd somehow get back to their own worlds, but still in these new bodies, was WAY too much to think about right now.

Dan thought. "No, I didn't really think past 'big scary tower in the rain'" He said simply. The fact that he made those chairs on the floor above had given him a multitude of questions that only the human brain could contain, or perhaps a very large computer.

Why did they appear? How did they appear? Was it my thoughts? Or Chris's? All these different thoughts swirled around in his head, giving him thoughts that might be a tad evil. He shook these off though. If he could control space, thank god Kenjinn wasn't evil. Mind powers on Neutral Dan are one thing, but evil Dan? best to run away very fast in that situation.

He noticed that everyone else didn't seem to be dwelling on his apparant mind powers very much. Nah, it wasn't that big of a deal was it? I mean, they could shoot fireballs and fly! I could only create anything with my mind. Dan guessed that the others were more concerned with their new bodies, expecially the guys, since they weren't that anymore.

The fact that these might linger over wasn't bothering Dan. Being musically gifted, having a huge hat and cosmic mind powers weren't that much of a hamper to him. He saw how the others might find it bad though, boobs as the number one issue. "If the evil does know about the princess we can assume Chris has no sense of originality and thank him for that, as it should be a straight-forward quest"

As you continue down the tunnel, you eventually run into the undead again. This time, however, your combined might reduces them to a fleshy pulp.

Half an hour later, maybe more or less, you see a glimpse of light and the sounds of many people moving about. The tunnel continues on, but there is a grate in the ceiling. Above you can make out a dimly lit room, with cloaked figures. It is much larger than what you can see, so you cannot see more than a fraction of the room.

If Sarah is still periodically checking the walls, she finds a unnatural protrusion on one of the walls near the grate.

Sarah whispers to the group, "Got something here."

She carefully feels the protrusion, judging what it does- probably opens the grate above.

After walking what seemed like a mile (and might have been), Greg was almost happy to see something dangerous.
Almost.

Greg spoke quietly, holding her bow at the ready, pointed at  the grate.
So, do we wait for them to leave, or burst through now?
"Cloaked figures did NOT sound good.  Were they waiting for them?  Or just having some kind of meeting up there?

True to form, Greg was kicking herself for 'wasting' the fly spell.
She keeps the others in mind, as well as her aiming technique.


OOC:  I'm not sure if Greg would have forgotten about the possibility that Dan "created" the chairs from upstairs.  It's been several days in real time, not game time, so the incident would be fresh in Greg's mind, but then again Greg's been really distracted.  I"m going to just say that it's slipped her mind, in lieu of stranger things.  If someone else mentions it, she'll certainly remember it.

Cassander spends a few minutes looking up through the grate.  "Heh.  'Whip the Thuggi guards'." she giggles softly (Giggles?) turning back to the rest of the party.  "Sorry.  Temple of Doom flashback."

"Let me think here." Cassander furls her brow in concentration, which, with her elven features, somehow looks cute.  "We still have the element of surprise so lets not waste that, although how much surprise we can still have after fighting zombies, who knows.  I should be able to cast invisibility on everyone but that will take up a spell slot that I'd rather save for something more powerful.  I know Tizona has a charm spell, but I've never used it so I don't know how effective it'll be, but I could combine that with Alter Self to appear as someone else, do the 'distracting servant while party sneaks up behind' trick.  There is the Knock cantrip, no it was Ghost Sound, which we could use to distract the guards, have them turn away while we climb out."

"I don't suppose you can tell if the grate is locked, Sarah?"

"Lemme see..."

She tries to scale the wall to check if the grate is movable as it is.

Greg's delicate elven brow furrows with thought.
Ok, my spells that might be useful here are Obscuring Mist, and Detect Thoughts.  (thank you Knowledge Domain).   I could try to read some minds to find out more about them, as long at the floor isn't a foot thick or more.

The protrusion turns, just like a door handle. It seems to open a secret door into the side of the tunnel.

The grate is heavy, but perhaps it could be moved.

(Detect Thoughts could be used)

Sarah pushes at the grate a bit, to see if it will shift.

Greg brings the spell to mind.
'wow', she thinks, 'first flying, and now reading minds!'  She feels a shiver of excitement.
'holy crap, it's like having superpowers or something'.
Greg will hold off on the spell until they explore the area more, though.

She hold her bow to cover Sarah.