...and at the same time...



OOC: FYI, the party have not been in her room yet. The party was out on the mezzanine floor the whole time, although Angati has peaked her head inside.

Both Logan and Angati scan the tavern and manage to spot Victor in the crowd. The silk-clad man is heading through the entre and leaves the building as they watch. It looked like he was in a hurry.

The rogue and the oracle notice something else as well.

[Private to Angati: They hear the sound of a thump and muffled cries coming from within the room.]
[Private to Logan: They hear the sound of a thump and muffled cries coming from within the room.]

...at the same time...



Celene spends the first round of her detect magic spell carefully scanning Amarilde and then the crowd. She spots no sign of any magical auras at all.

...and then...

Rather than turning right and walking down the stairs, Amarilde suddenly leaps over the balustrade around the mezzanine floor and falls to the ground floor with her greasy hair trailing behind her. She tries to land on her feet in the middle of a large table, but slips on an ankle that twists painfully beneath her. Her momentum carries her down and she falls hard on her ass into a gigantic pile of dried and powdered Zzonga root that a group of dwarves were busy snorting. The diminutive men are frozen for a second as the expensive white powder billows out in a big wave and covers their sweaty faces and beards.

Their mouths hang wide open until the powder starts to settle, then the dwarf facing Amarilde twists his face up in rage and screams, "That cost us ten frakken thousand gold crowns you dirty wench! I'm gunna..." *CRACK!* The dwarf's response is cut short as Amarilde lashes out with a booted foot and connects with the ridge of the little man's nose, causing it to shatter and blood to splurt out. Amarilde wastes no time to scrambling to her feet and climbing over the top of the shrieking dwarf. The noble girl pushes the little man hard so he tips back on his chair to land with a thump on the floor, then she hits the ground and hobbles off in the direction of the exit.

As Amarilde makes her painful way through the tavern, she points back behind her towards the party. "Help! Help me please! Those people are trying to kidnap me!" The effect is not huge since few of the pub's patrons hear her, but a few dwarves look up at the party with hard looks on their faces.

As Amarilde heads past the spot where the bouncer is helping Avner to his feet, she jostles a dwarf and sends him spinning into two more diminutive miners who spill their drinks on each other who then start a fight with the next groups... The bouncer has just about restored order in the place when he looks up and sees things start spiralling out of control again. "Oh frac! Not again!" he pleads, but is then buried in a wave of small sweaty bodies as dwarves dogpile across him to get at each other.


19:40, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 6 using 1d20+5. Amarilde acrobatics DC10.
Ahh! For real?! Should've been DC 12 anyway.
19:42, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 5 using 1d6. Amarilde non lethal damage.

So begins the Mermaid's Secret Chase Game. Here are the rules (assuming that the party want to chase her down).

• The party must get EIGHT point before Amarilde gets THREE points.
• This is an 'open skills challenge' with a DC of 12, so the party can get points by making skill checks against DC12.
• You can decide yourself which skill to use, you just need to write about how you use it (and it needs to be at least a little bit logical!)
• Remember to use Angati's misfortune, except Alohan who has already used it today.
• If the party get's to 8 points, they capture Amarilde. If she gets to 3 points first, then she makes it out of the door to freedom.
• Remember, no reward unless you return with her!
• Note that you can investigate the room (using your skills) instead of chasing after her and that also gives points.
• Be creative! Obstacles that you have overcome that might be used in skill checks are: the balustrade, getting through the crowd, furious zzonga-stoned dwarves, investigating the room, overcoming dwarves who are trying to help Amarilde, yelling at people to get out of the way...
• If you fail a skill check I will decide if there are (minor) consequences like maybe loosing a couple of HP's.

CURRENT SCORE
AMARILDE      0
PARTY         0


This message was last edited by the GM at 18:32, Fri 08 May 2015.

"I get de girl!" Alohan yelled, grabbing the banister. He hauled himself up and over, dropping down to the cluttered masses below. But in similar fashion, Alohan's graceful fall intercepted a drunken patron -the same patron the (false)Amrailde had savagely kicked. The native fell upon the man's shoulders, causing him to violently twist and impact the floor awkwardly. "Tukai..." he muttered, rolling off the dwarf. By the time he was able to gain his feet, his prey was already deep in the crowd. Cursing his misfortune, Alohan braced himself for what was to come.

---

14:53, Today: Alohan Nuari rolled 11 using 1d20+7. Acrobatics.
14:58, Fri 08 May 2015: Alohan Nuari rolled 5 using 1d6 ((5)).
Failure: Whelp, the sucked.

Dude! So close. I feel your pain. NB that is non-lethal damage he has taken.


CURRENT SCORE - ROUND ONE
AMARILDE      0
PARTY         0

AMARILDE   <TURN TAKEN>
ALOHAN     <TURN TAKEN>   <MF USED>
ANGATI
CELENE
KASSIUS
KIBETI
LOGAN
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:06, Fri 08 May 2015.

Without a second thought, Logan flings himself over the ballustrade in pursuit of Amarilde.  "I don't even know if you're the real noble or the fake one," the rogue calls out as he flies through the air, "but I'm going to catch you either way!"  Unlike his quarry, the half-elf spots the landing, tumbling over the table and into the empty spot left by the fallen dwarf, trying to plot a route through the rioting dwarves towards the exit.

16:36, Today: Logan rolled 24 using 1d20+8. Acrobatics vs DC12.

Well done.


CURRENT SCORE - ROUND ONE
AMARILDE      0/3
PARTY         1/8

AMARILDE   <TURN TAKEN>
ALOHAN     <TURN TAKEN>   <MF USED>
ANGATI
CELENE
KASSIUS
KIBETI
LOGAN      <TURN TAKEN>

This message was last edited by the GM at 10:18, Sat 09 May 2015.

Angati looked around, seeing that all his companions were busy in the pursuit of Amarilde or whomever that one was, she decided to check into the room that the woman was occupying. Before doing so though....

Angati shrieked like she had seen something terrible and pointed a finger to Amarilde "Ahhhhhh  Stop that woman there... there is a dead child here !!!!".... things were bound to get complicated later... that was for sure... but, well... they would have to worry about that later... and if the bi*** thought she could lie her way around... well, she still had to learn she had met her peer.


20:14, Today: Angati rolled 14 using 1d20+8. Bluff.
OOC: MF is a conscious decision from Angati, and I don't think she could do it with you guys out of her sight, much as she would love to... :) So profit while she is there looking if needed.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:15, Sat 09 May 2015.

<Chuckle> Nice one!


CURRENT SCORE - ROUND ONE
AMARILDE      0/3
PARTY         2/8

AMARILDE   <TURN TAKEN>
ALOHAN     <TURN TAKEN>   <MF USED>
ANGATI     <TURN TAKEN>
CELENE
KASSIUS
KIBETI
LOGAN      <TURN TAKEN>

Wincing at Angatis shriek, Celene realises she cannot contribute anuthing meaningful to the chaos below, and she still feels something atrange is at the bottom of this. Maybe a clue is in Amarildes room?

Going in the door and quckly to the side to stay far from any nasty surprise behind it, she scans the room for any threats and obvious clues first, ready to warn or call in the others as needed.

Holding on to her spell, she ponders her findings. So this woman did not show any magic, excepts if it was a particularly veiled disguise. That confirmed that the woman seen leaving the Secret yesterday likely wore a disguise. And likely a magical one. Leaving through the window, she avoided the magic dead zone from ruining the disguise! Celene smirked, thinking herself clever for figuring that one out.

OOC: Oh, vanity is not only in the body...

08:15, Sun 10 May 2015: Celene rolled 13 using 1d20+3 ((10)). Perception dc12

This message was last edited by the player at 08:07, Sun 10 May 2015.

Celene looks around the room but sees no sign of any magical aura. There is very little space to hide anything in the dirty little room, and nothing useful is visible.



OOC:  :D Yeah, you're on the right track buddy.




Celene turns to leave but she stops abruptly when she hears a dull *thud* and a muffled cry coming from the trunk in the room. The small chest sits at the foot of the bed, and might just be large enough to have somebody inside it if they weren't too big.

OOC: So there is a problem with opening the chest. As to what that problem is and what skill is needed to get around it, that is up to you.


Kassius stands on the balcony, and sees that Kibeti is in the perfect position to stop Amarilde from getting away as the great cat is still positioned by the front door. Realising that he has no chance of giving a verbal command over the noisy ruckus being made below, he uses a complex series of hand signals to tell Kibeti to stand guard and not let anyone pass. Unfortunately the interdimentional albino super-cat is too busy licking its own ass clean and misses the whole thing.


CURRENT SCORE - ROUND ONE
AMARILDE      0/3
PARTY         3/8

AMARILDE   <TURN TAKEN>
ALOHAN     <TURN TAKEN>   <MF USED>
ANGATI     <TURN TAKEN>
CELENE     <TURN TAKEN>
KASSIUS    <TURN MISSED>
KIBETI     <TURN MISSED>
LOGAN      <TURN TAKEN>


<Next Round>

Meanwhile, Amarilde hobbles on her twisted ankle through the crowd towards the exit, hindered by a few of the patrons who have listened to Angati's cry from the mezzanine floor. She manages to weave her way through and almost reaches the entrée, but then a frustrated look flashes across he face and she turns with a snarl.

Logan is making good progress through the crowd, so Amarilde only has seconds to dash into a nearby thicket of warring dwarves. As she moves through them her skin moves like water and changes colour to a pale grey, then Amarilde seems to get smaller with each step. A couple of the dwarves notices, and cry out in shock, but before they can do much the creature has finished the transformation and a young female dwarf is what emerges from the other side of the dwarven group and climbs onto the stage with the other dancers. Those few dwarves not yet fighting greet her arrival with catcalls, and then add lewd sounding cries in their native tongue as Amarilde's now too big dress starts to fall away - the 'Amarilde dwarf' tries to clutch it to herself and looks around desperately for a way out that won't involve getting mauled by a horny dwarf.

OOC: Hmm, weird. Not at all what I planned... Maybe I should change this game to mature?! I promise things will calm down a bit once we leave this location.

21:48, Sun 10 May 2015: Dungeon Master rolled 34 using 1d20+21 ((13)).
No point in using MF on this one...


CURRENT SCORE - ROUND TWO
AMARILDE      1/3
PARTY         3/8

AMARILDE   <TURN TAKEN>
ALOHAN                    <MF USED>
ANGATI
CELENE
KASSIUS
KIBETI
LOGAN

This message was last edited by the GM at 19:54, Sun 10 May 2015.

This message was deleted by the player at 10:02, Mon 11 May 2015.

In reply to Celene (msg # 150):
Oh, i forgot to say, you can't use the same skill twice in the challenge. So Celene can't use perception again. Got any other ideas? Maybe it isn't locked, just latched from the outside but there is a different problem?

Angati noticed a strange magic device that was probably used during the shows to better illuminate the dancer, it was shaped like a pivotant cone fixed to the hand guard at the mezzanine. Her smile was almost evil as she dashed to it. She quickly found the trick to it, after all it seemed to be made to be used by almost anyone...

With a grin, she focused the light of the cone on the fleeing female "Amarilde Dwarf" making her an easy target to be spotted by everyone becoming the 'star' of the moment.

08:33, Today: Angati rolled 15 using 1d20+8. Use magic Device.
I hope I am not getting too creative here... but not being able to use same skill twice, kind of forces one to.

I'd go help in the room Celene, but I think I am better here in case someone out here needs to use MisFortune.

OOC: Oh, that is evil :D  And no, in an open skills challenge pretty much anything goes, so that is a great post.

As the magical light pivots onto Amarilde-dwarf she freezes in terror, wondering why she has suddenly been picked out. The dwarves around her raise a cheer and some dwarves even stop fighting in order to watch. The bongo drummer, who had been faithfully maintaining a syncopated rhythm despite no-one paying any attention to him, pauses and then starts a staccato drum roll starting quiet and building in intensity. The bag-piper follows his lead and starts a gentle wailing on his instrument as the other dancers back off a little, happy to have a break.

"Waaaah!" wails Amarilde-dwarf. "I just want to get out of here!"


CURRENT SCORE - ROUND TWO
AMARILDE      1/3
PARTY         4/8

AMARILDE   <TURN TAKEN>
ALOHAN                    <MF USED>
ANGATI     <TURN TAKEN>
CELENE
KASSIUS
KIBETI
LOGAN

Of course - in the coffer. Celene starts forward to quickly open the latch. But wait, something's not right. If not for the dirty floor, all grimy and cluttered with soil, she wouldn't have noticed. But the trunk has been moved, first away from the bed, then back again. Why would anyone do that? And who - those foot tracks next to the chest are positively odd. A suspicion starts to grow in her head. Could it have been tampered with on the backside, as a simple means to avoid detection? She goes to get behind the coffer for a better look...

"Hold on in there, we'll get you out. But we just need to be careful", Celene comforts the prisoner."Can you hear me?"


11:32, Today: Celene rolled 15 using 1d20+4. Tracking (survival).

OOC: blatant overuse of skills, but hey, anything goes, eh? :-)
DC for indoor floor is normally 20, but since you pointed out how dirty it was, adding a bit of grime and dust make the DC12 more probable.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:54, Mon 11 May 2015.

OOC: I like it, but I do think it is mean that you have left it to me to decide exactely what Celene has found ;) Nice use of a secondary skill though.

Celene carefully looks between the side of the trunk and the wall, and sees that the side of the chest is actually a door on hinges that is held closed with some sort of latch. Maybe the big lid is just a decoy and is probably trapped!



A muffled cry answers Celene's question and the kicking inside the chest begins again, more vigourously this time.

OOC: I've left things a little open so there is something for Celene to do if she needs to roll again next round.


CURRENT SCORE - ROUND TWO
AMARILDE      1/3
PARTY         5/8

AMARILDE   <TURN TAKEN>
ALOHAN                    <MF USED>
ANGATI     <TURN TAKEN>
CELENE     <TURN TAKEN>
KASSIUS
KIBETI
LOGAN

This message was last edited by the GM at 10:36, Mon 11 May 2015.

Logan skids to a stop as Amarilde changes forms.  The half-elf quickly recovers his composure, watching as the woman he's chasing clambers up onto the stage.  "That's a neat trick," the rogue mumbles to himself.  "There's a few times that would have come in handy."  As the newest dancer start to draw attention, courtesy of Angati's light and the new music, Logan begins to work his way quickly around to the side of the stage nearest the exit, take care to hide himself from Amarilde's sight.  If she tries to make a break for the exit, Logan will be perfectly placed to intercept her.

10:23, Today: Logan rolled 16 using 1d20+8. Stealth.

OOC: Good plan...


CURRENT SCORE - ROUND TWO
AMARILDE      1/3
PARTY         6/8

AMARILDE   <TURN TAKEN>
ALOHAN                    <MF USED>
ANGATI     <TURN TAKEN>
CELENE     <TURN TAKEN>
KASSIUS
KIBETI
LOGAN      <TURN TAKEN>

"Get outta da way!" Alohan yelled, hobbling towards the stage. Coincidentally, the roar of the crowd erupted in cheers over the Amarilde-Dwarf and Alohan's pitiful attempt to move the crowd left him being shoulder by several envious dwarves making their way forward. His frustrations were mounting but at least his prey was in an equally unfortunate position. Yet if she wanted to flee via a window, Alohan would be hard pressed to give chace with the amount of dwarven mass between him and her.

---

20:30, Today: Alohan Nuari rolled 6 using 1d20+5 Intimidate the Masses.
Failure: Whelp, the sucked even more.

OOC: Bad luck.

Kasssius curses as he realises that it is going to impossible to attract Kibeti's attention from where he is. The hunter sprints down the stairs and off in the direction of the cat.


CURRENT SCORE - ROUND TWO
AMARILDE      1/3
PARTY         6/8

AMARILDE   <TURN TAKEN>
ALOHAN     <TURN TAKEN>   <MF USED>
ANGATI     <TURN TAKEN>
CELENE     <TURN TAKEN>
KASSIUS    <TURN MISSED>
KIBETI     <TURN MISSED>
LOGAN      <TURN TAKEN>


Meanwhile, Amarilde-dwarf is fixed in the spotlight and realises with a despairing moan that thanks to Angati's medling there is no way out now - too many dwarves have taken an interest in her. With a sigh she starts moving to the music while still clutching her oversized green dress to herself. She gains more confidence as she goes, and catches the beat.

Angati closes her eyes and concentrates, trying to sift through the multiple possibilities and pick out one where Amarilde fails. But it is not possible, every alternate that Angati sees has the young lady/demi-human performing this act well. Angati gives up, opens her eyes, and sees Amarilde dancing wildly on stage to the furious encouragment of the dwarven crowd.

10:01, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 16 using 1d20+3. Amarilde-dwarf perform vs DC12.
10:01, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 23 using 1d20+3. MF Reroll.
OOC: Wow! That girl really knows how to dance! Now it is going to be tough for you to come up with scenarios where you get those two last points without pissing off a bunch of agro dwarves....



CURRENT SCORE - ROUND THREE
AMARILDE      2/3
PARTY         6/8

AMARILDE   <TURN TAKEN>   <MF USED>
ALOHAN                    <MF USED>
ANGATI
CELENE
KASSIUS
KIBETI
LOGAN

OOC: Lol.. let's see how this works.

Damn the woman had resources... she danced way better than anyone else she had seen tonight... and she had all the attention of the dwarves....

A smile started forming on Angati's lips as she thought about the dwarves... an evil thought taking shape in her devious brain.... dwarfs really were a touchy lot who avoided like hell speaking about religion, and if anything they only talked about their Immortal Kagyar, patron of crafts and artisans to keep it safe.... anything to avoid talking of Abagvar, the Betrayer... now... imagine, dancing to it.

She happened to remember Abagvar's sigil from the boring religion lessons that she conducted at the Shrine... being amongst so many books had some advantages after all, so she picked up the make up she used to cover a bit of those crevices that some people called wrinkles, and drew with it the sigil on the projector lens... focusing it again on Amarilde.

She wouldn't even know what hit her.... problem was... with so many dwarves around... well, it might get out of control easily, but at this point, it had gotten to be somewhat personal.

OOC: 09:45, Today: Angati rolled 15 using 1d20+6. Knowledge religion.

OOC: Wow! Creative and extra points for name dropping in an Mystara immortal! Kagyar that is, not Abagvar, which I assume is one you took creative liberty with ;)

The dwarfs freeze as the dwarven rune of Abagvar, the great betrayer, appears super imposed as a dark shadow across the chest of the dancing Amarilde. The girl remains unaware and continues wiggling her body and ass to the beat, only understanding that something is wrong when the drummer and bag-piper slowly come to a halt. All the onlookers are starting at her in hushed silence, a stunned look on their faces as though they are unsure about how to respond to the blasphemy.


CURRENT SCORE - ROUND THREE
AMARILDE      2/3
PARTY         7/8

AMARILDE   <TURN TAKEN>   <MF USED>
ALOHAN                    <MF USED>
ANGATI     <TURN TAKEN>
CELENE
KASSIUS
KIBETI
LOGAN

Angati, slowly moved away from the light in case someone turned to see who was conducting the business.

OOC: Yes, I took the liberty with the second one, I searched the internet, but not much came up with regards to dwarven religion in Mystara.

Sighing, Celene stared at the telltale signs of magic on the side of the chest. The obvious frontal lid was likely trapped by mundane means. This trunk was definitely not meant to be opened anytime soon. Seeing no chance at disabling a mechanical trap, Celene focused on her element - magic.

Her active spell aided her magical mastery in deciphering this enigma. With it, she came to a surprising conclusion: A wordcaster had been tampering with this chest.

Celene had been taught of these masters of the arcaic pure words of magic that had presumably been the origin of todays complex magical spells and effects. These word smiths were excedingly rare, and Celene had never tried word effects herself, as she, like so many others, found it too hard to grasp - but the possibilities intrigued her. The presence of a wordcaster, however, worried her. They were seen as a sign of ancient and often evil powers disturbing the newer civilised world...

Fortuitously, this trap appeared not to be deadly, but simply deterring. Beneath the overlaying obvious binding word, lay another word of dread, meant to fill any who tampered with the latch with uncontrolable terror.

Knowing this beforehand gave her a distinct advantage in fighting the effect. And time ran out soon, she had to try. Reaching for the latch, she held her breath.

OOC: a will saving throw at e.g. +4 for knowing the spell? Your call John.

quote:

13:28, Today: Celene rolled 18 using 1d20+7. Spellcraft on bound chest.