Tanzy/Prizzard: pm

Raknesh: PM

pm

PM

PM

ooc: Since you're almost all together now, I can go ahead and start posting normally. Bryon will be joining you guys soon, but for now this is basically for Raknesh/Tanzy/Prizzard.


IC: Prizzard and Tanzy follow the frog as he hops merrily along through the halls, humming happily to himself. Just follow me for now. he answers Prizzard's request to help. Perkins seems to know exactly where he's going. Eventually you find yourselves in the bowels of the place where cell after cell line the walls. You come to a particular closed door and Perkins steps through it as though it didn't exist, bidding you to follow. You find yourselves in a cramped cell, the walls littered with scratches and writing and tallies of days, or perhaps years. On a cot in the corner lies a man in rags, his hair and beard long and unkempt, looking up quietly at the ceiling, his face deep in concentration. Then Perkins calls his name. Raknesh. Oh Raknesh! It takes a few tries and the man seems to hear him miraculously. Looking around wildly but obviously not seeing you yet. Perkins has you join in and your friend closes his eyes in concentration, the worn, weary face focusing intently before he finally opens his eyes and seems to see you. Perkins claps with delight. Easiest one yet! Wanna get out of here Rak?

Tanzy runs a hand over the scratches on the wall hoping they were made by a previous prisoner and not Raknesh. “This place is terrible.” She’s relieved that it didn’t take their friend as long to hear them, but she’s concerned about the possible emotional damage that could come with being locked in a cell like this. “Are you alright Raknesh?”

Raknesh opened his eyes slightly then closed them again.

you can hear him muttering.

"This is new...   A step further?  Another maze... another trick..."
His voice, very low, a bit croaked and very tired showed cracks, getting less and less calm with the words and the implications for his mind.

"Do not falter. You are not here.  This is a trap! Remember... they tricked you for years.

But this is new...  NO !  They did not change. It is a trick !

No...

I can't do it all again...

No... no... no..." and he started to shiver and to rock backwards and forwards.

First taking in the surroundings for a moment, hearing out Raknesh, and approaching him slowly while considering how to act, he tries to act the way Raknesh might remember him after a long time apart: "Of all of us your mind is the strongest, so why are you the last one stuck in an illusion? Come on, we'll be out if the underworld soon enough with more terrors to face." At this he shifts his stance, guarding his back almost as much as his front. "We can talk about these trials later."

It is hard for Rakensh to let go of the mental walls he had draw to protect himself.

His hope of freedom had been destroyed so many times...

But Prizzard's rebuke ignited a spark of defiance.

There was one thing he could do to get his proof.

For the first time in years, on his point of view at least, he summoned his power to materialize his mind blade.

The shinning blade materialized instantly, despite being flickering at first.

Then it shinned even brighter and with the light, Raknesh felt his mind free itself of it's prison too.

Being really bad at reading people and situations, Prizzard kept up his guard and seemed ready to strike with the blunt end. Before he tries to talk down Raknesh, I assume the illusion fades.

ooc: I'm going to move things along pretty soon. I assume you leave the cell but if for some reason you choose not to, let me know. Feel free to have any finishing conversations etc as Perkins gets Bryon. I figured I'd give you a chance before moving further.

Oh dear. This one really got to you didn't it? Perkins shakes his little froggy head. But you still had a lot of fight in you, to come out of it so quick! Very impressive! Do you remember now, Raknesh? About the trials? It probably feels so long ago...Come on, we'd better get out of here eh?

And then Raknesh does remember suddenly. The trials. Of course! It's hard to believe and a small tiny part of him wonders if this isn't some other trick but the mind blade brings clarity, hope, that has long been missing. Perkins gestures and a door appears in the center of the room. Should you go through it you'll all find the mother witch, leaning against the wall in a large dimly lit room. She looks incredibly bored. The masked man waits next to her. Ah. Finally! Well, I'd say you're all back! Shall we get on with it?
Wait! What about Bryon!? Perkins protests. The witch makes a face. Leave her. A short argument ensues and Perkins wins, hopping off through another doorway to fetch her and leaving you alone with the witch and the man. Well. You all look like hell. she notes. Raknesh, you also notice that upon exiting your cell (assuming you did so), your facial hair is gone and your hair is back to its normal length. It's wonderful.

Raknesh looks at his hands and rubs his face a few times.

"This was a very potent illusion.  I knew something was amiss from the start : I remembered you but not the Trials. So I build walls to try and protect my mind... It was not enough..."

He paused and shook his head, eyes closed.

"I was on the verge of losing hope many times in the many years the illusion created...

 My masters would have been disappointed with their student."

He then heard the argument about Byron.

"What do you  mean, leave her?"

"Pragmatism, I think. But we aren't leaving anybody here, we all wake up together."

“This place is evil. I don’t believe your masters or anyone else could have done any better,” Tanzy assures Raknesh with sympathy. She shoots the Mother Witch a glare at the idea of leaving Bryon behind and is relieved when Perkins leaves to retrieve her.

The motherwitch smiles wickedly at Raknesh's question. Eh. She's just useless dead weight I say. Besides, I don't tolerate brats. But if you're all going to have a fit then fine. she rolls her eyes.

You all wait with the witch and Emeric until at last a doorway appears and a haunted looking Bryon emerges, followed by Perkins, hopping along as always. Well! Now that we're all back together we can go to the stone court and start waking up allies! I am sorry you all had to go through the trials. I know they're nasty. If you need a few minutes to gather yourselves you're welcome to it, but the sooner we get to the stone court the sooner we can get out of here right? he beams, his little froggy cheeks round and smiling.

When everyone is ready, the way to the stone court is closer than you realized. Just a short hallway off and you find yourselves in a large room with a high ceiling and a couple hundred statues of people and creatures, all twisted in different positions of torture, the last moments before they were frozen in time, skin hardening to granite but the faces are just as lifelike and real as if they were flesh. Some look to have faces of demons themselves, others have a bearing of innocence. If Emeric feels guilt for his creations, his black mask hides it. Instead he turns to the motherwitch. Well. This could go badly. If we release them all at once they'll probably swarm me. Someone will need to convince them to help. A great many may rather try to escape than to face the dark king again. I don't suppose any of you are particularly good at convincing an army of pissed off vengeful hellions they should help us?

ooc: Ok, go ahead and decide if you're going to have a spokesperson and whoever that is will need to roll diplomacy. On top of that, please everyone roll a spot check...

“Start with the gentleman you froze in front of me.” Tanzy suggests as her eyes drift over the statues of horror in the room. “I already promised we would free him and since we’ve already met he’s the least likely to run” She shivered remembering the incident. Tanzy was by no means volunteering to inspire the rest to follow them, just merely pointing out the one she was fairly confident who would.

Spot:24

"Perhaps.. if it looked at first as though we had him captured?" Prizzard knew well enough that he, at least, was not a sight to set people at ease. Add that to the location and Emeric being hard to miss..

rolled 17 using 1d20+3.  Spot.

Bryon emerged arms around herself. She doesn’t look merely haunted, but dead inside. She keeps touching her face, as if half believing it wasn’t there at all. She barely acknowledged the others were even there. Bryon seemed broken somehow.

Raknesh tries to focus his mind to their current predicament to prevent the -false?- memories of his 'trial' to submerge him again.  He can's stop himself from trying to grasp his now vanished barb.

The looks of pain and terror in all the statues are, more than enough, a good argument in favor of the 'it could go badly'.


"If you think you can prevent him from screaming out loud in fear or anger, let's try.  I don't think the others would listen to complete strangers... especially if those strangers are accompanied by their torturer."

Emeric agrees to the plan, warming his hands up and placing them on the statue of the man Tanzy pointed out. Once the man is free, Emeric will step back and let the rest of you take point, allowing you to explain to the poor soul what you will. As he's doing this though, Tanzy spots a statue that catches her eye. At first she's sure she's imagining things, but as you look closer and examine the petrified woman, you nearly drop to your knees in shock. It is Ezran!

"Welcome back. We need to free the rest and get out of here." At about this time he would notice a lack of Tanzy and seek what distracted her. Oblivious as usual: "Are you.. feeling well?"

“This one gets changed next!” Tanzy orders, adding “Please” as an afterthought. She points out Ezran to Prizzard and the others still not quite believing what she’s seeing.

He is silent for a moment, recognizing the woman immediately but thinking.. "Where can these souls go when they leave here? I assume most of their bodies are long-dead by now." Spoken more to the general group than any one person.

"How did she end here?" he asked incredulously.

"She was possessed once, how would it impact her in this realm?" he asked their most recent companions.

The motherwitch listens to your questions with a nod. If someone is possessed it does not affect their soul when they die. They become themselves once more, it's only the body that was tainted and upon death that bond is broken anyway. As for what would happen to this woman if she left here, she'd end up in her body again, wherever that may be. If she's been buried it may pose a problem. It's not uncommon for that little oversight to spoil a resurrection attempt. Poor fools suffocate where they are buried only to return here once more. But it can be done, she turns to nod at Tanzy. Obviously.

Meanwhile Emeric waits patiently for you all to sort things out. When he feels you're ready he will awaken the man Tanzy had pointed out, simply placing his hands on the statue and concentrating a moment. The stone morphs into flesh and the man falls to the floor, screaming. He looks up at Emeric and staggers back, already trying to run but his legs are not awake enough and he simply falls again. Stay away from me vile one! he points at Emeric, looking around wildly. Stay back all of you!

ooc: If you're going to talk to him please roll a diplomacy :) And let me know if/when  you want him to awaken Ezran.