Running from the armor would just spread the flames, so Sierpinski threw himself to the side and tried rolling away, in hope of dodging further blows and extinguishing his sleeve. It wasn't his best idea ever.

---

10:47, Today: Sierpinski rolled 2 using 2d6.  Defy danger (Dex). Mark XP.

Uri crashed hard onto the wooden box.  It hurt like hell, but at least his armor kept the shards from cutting into him.  He tried to roll away but couldn't break the leg lock.  However, he did move enough to see the cursed gauntlet that had been inside the box.  He grabbed it and shoved it into the armor's "face," hoping this would do something to throw it off.

Uri rolled 4 using 1d4.  Damage

Uri rolled 11 using 2d6.  Defy Danger.  Now that's more like it!

When Uri pulled the cursed gauntlet from its destroyed container, even as he struggled against the enemy armor, he could tell that the hand-protector had an odd craftsmanship. The spot where one was supposed to put their hand in was as one might expect it. In the place where fingers should have been, however, there was a big metal maw. Almost like a duck's mouth, but fiendish, and with metal teeth. Uri didn't have time to admire its quirkiness though as he pushed the item onto his assailant's face.

There was a sickening crunch of crushed metal as the wrist guard of the gauntlet slid over the animated armor's head. It should not have fit, but the gauntlet almost seemed to consume the armor's headpiece as it was slid all the way to its shoulders. Uri got the feeling that if he had tried to wear the gauntlet himself, he would have lost his hand.

But now, the enemy armor's entire head had been replaced by the cursed gauntlet. The read glow of its eyes was replaced by a sickly black-red aura surrounding its now bill-like mouth. The armor's grip loosened enough for Uri to slip out of its grip, but then it started gnashing its metal maw around like a starving crocodile. It bit into the leg of the animated armor standing next to it. It ripped a few bites out of the carpet. It took a bloody bite out of Sierpinski as the wizard tried to roll out his flames. It even swallowed one of the flaming flails that had been knocked to the ground.

The maw-gauntlet armor was ravenous. It was insatiable! And it was also drawing the attention of the other armors, who seemed to now view it as another enemy.

What do you do?

---

Everyone
Tobias and Brynn are still sparing with their respective armors, but not really making headway. The armors seem to view Uri's creation as another enemy now.

Uri
The cursed gauntlet (the maw-gauntlet) replaced the head of the armor you put it on and took over its body. There is now a mindless ravenous armor biting everything in sight. You are not currently being specifically targeted by anyone.

Sierpinski
Uri's new creation took a bite out of you as you rolled by. It is a messy wound too. Take 1d6+2 damage. Armor counts. Take an additional +1 XP if you have it bite off an entire hand or foot.

You are not currently being specifically targeted by anyone.

Once he sees that the remaining armors are distracted, Uri grabs the sword he dropped earlier and sprints toward the far end of the hall.  He shouts to his companions to do likewise.

Sierpinski tears free with a strained cry and snap of shattered magic. He moves after Uri, still trying to put out his flames and apparently seeing if he can either douse them with his blood or cauterize his wound.

---

Run after Uri, trying to put the flames out. When they're out, he'll fish out a healing potion and drink it.

09:33, Today: Sierpinski rolled 5 using 1d6+2.  Bite damage. Telepathy ends and spell defense reduces the damage by 1 to 4. 11/ 17 HP remaining.

Uri and Sierpinski rushed away from the armors as fast as their feet could carry them. Sierpinski's burning sleeve was mostly just cinders now thanks to his rolling, but blood still dripped from his messy wound and left a red trail down the carpeted hall. The bleeding immediately stopped when he drank his potion, but even his magic liquid couldn't completely mend his grizzly bite. He would surly have a noteworthy scar on his arm for quite some time.

"Figure out which way to go! We'll hold them off!" Brynn called out as she and Tobias continued to spar with the armors. "Or try to anyway." The two warriors seemed to be fighting a losing battle.

Unfortunately, just as soon as Sierpinski and Uri reached the spiral staircase at the far end of the hall, they heard a click beneath their feet. The sound of a trap being activated. The ground beneath their feet fell away as a trap door opened and the two adventurers found themselves in a freefall.

The pit the two adventurers found themselves falling into was deep and dark. Long after Uri and Sierpinski would have expected to his a floor, they were still falling. A light down below got brighter and brighter as they approached. When they finally reached the light, they found themselves falling through the sky instead of a pit.

Or rather, it was an enormous cavern with a ceiling made to look like the sky. As the two fell, they could see the cavern was tall as a mountain and its walls were vertical and smooth. The walls curved gently, like an arch or a ring, leading the mile-wide expanse of sand below out of sight in both directions. Far-far in the distance, they could just make out a shadow on the wall of the cavern, taking up nearly half the wall's height, and it was moving.

But then they had reached the ground and all thoughts of their surroundings were supplanted by thoughts of surviving the incredible fall. The only reason they probably didn't die outright from the fall was because the heat from the sand dunes below them created powerful updrafts to slow their descent. That, combined with the fact that they landed on an angled slope of soft sand to dampen the force of their impact. Still, it was not a pleasant landing.

What do you do?

---

Normally I would give a chance to react to the floor opening up, but in this instance I railroaded you a bit in order to combine groups one and two. Hopefully you can forgive me.

You both take 1d10 damage from the fall, ignoring armor. You may try to roll an appropriate Defy Danger to try and lessen the damage if you would like, so long as it is convincing. 10+ and you roll twice, taking the lower damage. 7-9 same as 10+ but an item of your choice gets broken in the process. 6- you roll twice and take the worse result.

You find yourselves in a massive cavern, at the base of the shady side of an enormous sand dune.

The long fall gave Sierpinski an opportunity to consider his predicament. The wind of their passage would make talking difficult, so his first step was to reach out and form a telepathic bond with Uri.

His fear flowed across the link, along with the wizard's apologies for that and for not being able to do more against the armor. When they entered the area of warmer air and felt buoyed, Sierpinski had an idea, which he also conveyed across the link. He did his best to lay himself flat, allowing his clothing to catch the upwelling air. The fall slowed noticeably. He was still falling at a prodigious rate, and he might have just changed his fate from a sudden one to slow, agonizing one but at least he had taken some control. A modicum of his fear with replaced with satisfaction.

At what he judged to be the last moment, Sierpinski did his best to swoop along the ground and then protect his head. It was not a pleasant landing, but he sensed that it would not be the end of him, especially if his healing potions survived. The impact had broken his link with Uri, preventing the wizard from learning his ally's condition, but he would see to him as soon as possible. For a moment, he just wanted to lie there.

---

10:04, Today: Sierpinski rolled 12 using 2d6+2.  Cast a spell (telepathy).
10:07, Today: Sierpinski rolled 10 using 2d6+2.  Defy Danger (Int).
10:10, Today: Sierpinski rolled 8,4 using 1d10,1d10.  Falling damage. 4 damage, -1 from spell defense. 3 total. 10 from potion brought him to full, -3 from fall for 14/17.

Uri flailed uselessly as he fell, until he felt Sierpinski's thoughts connecting to his own.  He saw what Sierpinski did to try to further slow his descent and, for lack of any better ideas, did the same thing himself.  His clothes were not nearly as billowy or, well, windbreaking as the wizard's robes, however, and he smacked hard into the soft sand.  He lay still with his face in the sand.

Sierpinski rolled against Int, but since I'm copying his idea it feels like it should be Dex for me.  So...
Uri rolled 6 using 2d6.  Defy Danger.  Crap.
Uri rolled 18 using 2d10 with rolls of 8,10.  falling damage.  Picking the 10, that brings me to exactly 0 hp.  Which means...
Uri rolled 3 using 2d6.  Last Breath.

Sierpinski rolled down the sand dune's slope as he landed, causing the sand to absorb much of the impact. He was battered and bruised, but alive. Uri, on the other hand, was much worse off. He landed with a dull thud and puff of sand. A handful of his arrows that had come loose in the fall landed point-first into the sand around him, just barely avoiding impaling the young man. When the dust settled, the bard's groans indicated that he was not dead just yet, but he was not far off.

Aside from the fall itself, no other dangers appeared to be present. Although most of the horizon was blocked by the looming sand dunes. The two adventurers were on the shady side of one such dune at the moment. Perhaps a good place to catch their breath and regain their bearings.

What do you do?

---

Uri
As noted in the OOC thread, you still have 1 HP. You are able to move as normal, although it probably does not feel good to do so. Add +1 XP for your failed Defy Danger, but not for your Last Breath roll. Note that your sword was left behind with the armors, so note that on your sheet.

Sierpinski
You are a bit battered, but more or less alright. Also, I believe all of your magic items you collected have been left behind except for the magical machete, so make sure you note that on your sheet.

Eventually Uri gets enough strength together to stand up and stumble down the side of the dune.  He looks around, trying to get his bearings and to see where there is to go from here.

As Uri attempted to get his bearings, It occurred to him that there was no sun in the sky. The entire area above them was just bright, like high noon. Which only really raised questions as to how they were in a sand dune's shadow at the moment if there was no definitive direction their light source was coming from. But then again, the world inside the tapestry was known to be weird like that.

In the end, Uri realized there were only a few options available to them in this desert waste. They could head toward one of the two impossibly high walls in either direction. Or they could follow the path of the sands. Which meant they could either head toward or away from the enormous shadow they had spotted while Uri and Sierpinski were falling.

What do you do?

---

If either of you would like more information about your surroundings, feel free to give me a Discern Realities roll. It isn't a necessity though.

"Well, not much for it. I say we make for that moving shadow. We might at least see some more interesting sights before we expire here." The wizard resettles his pack and sets off as well as his fall-loosened limbs and the sandy ground will allow.

Uri nods and mumbles something inaudible (he's not even entirely sure himself what he says), and follows along after Sierpinski.  As he builds up momentum he is able to keep pace with the wizard, more or less.

The two magic men began their journey across the dunes without much experiencing much excitement. At least not at first. The only thing to see were countless mounds of sand, each as tall as a two story building or taller. There were no cacti or animals, no buildings or roads, and no discernible landmarks. Just sand. Each time they crested a dune they could catch a glimpse of the enormous shadow they had spotted from the air, but they could not see what was casting the shadow.

Until they could.

As Uri and Sierpinski crested one of the biggest dunes they had come across yet, they each felt a pit form in their stomachs as their eyes took in the sight before them. A nearly unfathomably large beast stepped into view.  It had to be nearly a mile tall and just as wide. It was reptilian and walked on four legs, but supported most of its weight on the rear ones. A long tail stretched out behind it. Its head had two hons and there were long spikes that went down each side of its back.

It was a creature spoken of only in legends. A terrible beast known for its unrelenting destruction. And this one was much larger than any either adventurer had ever heard about in a story. It was a dread tarrasque.

Probably the one thing more shocking than finding such a legendary beast in the flesh, was the fact that the tarrasque appeared to have a city built atop it. As it lumbered forward, Sierpinski and Uri could see the shapes of buildings rising up on its back. It seemed there were even structures hanging on its sides and suspended underneath its belly. A truly bizarre sight to behold, for sure.

Then, before Sierpinski and Uri could fully regain their senses, a spot in the sand nearby began to glow with a mysterious magical blue light. And then another spot in the sand did the same. And then a third spot. They each grew steadily brighter, but at staggered intervals in the order they had appeared.

What do you do?

---

The giant shadow was from an enormous city-bearing tarrasque that is slowly approaching across the sands. Also, mysterious glowing spots in the sand have appeared nearby. They are getting brighter in the same order that they appeared.

Uri takes a few steps back.  He mainly keeps his eyes on the blue spots, but glances at the beast-city every so often as well.  And he swings his lute around front so it's ready to play, just in case.

"See, I knew we'd find something interesting."

Sierpinski picks up a handful of sand and tosses onto one of the glowing spots. He looks for larger objects if the sand doesn't trigger anything.

Sierpinski, it sounds like you are trying to Discern Realities by "closely studying a situation or person." Go ahead and give me a Wis roll. Ask a question even if you get a 6-. It helps me know which move to make in response.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 138):

20:55, Today: Sierpinski rolled 10 using 2d6.  Discern Realities on the glowing spots.

The phase that typifies true discovery isn't "Eureka!" it's "Huh. That's funny." Something about his experimentation has just given Sierpinski reason to utter the latter; what is it?

"Huh. That's funny," said Sierpinski. Then he shrugged and walked over to stand on one of the spots of light. There'd be no point in them being dangerous, given their proximity to Tarrasqueburg.

As Uri stood atop the dune and kept his eyes on their surroundings, he saw Sierpinski's experiment play out. The sand the wizard threw ended up hovering just above the ground and slowly rose higher the longer it stayed there. Then, when Sierpinski himself stepped into the blue light, it got brighter. Much brighter.

Inside the blue light, Sierpinski quickly recognized the familiar tangy odor common among translocation magics. Whatever this blue light was, it was bringing something to them. And probably from below the sands too, seeing as how it had lifted his feet off the ground exactly as it had done with the sand he had thrown.

A few seconds later, the magic reached its crescendo then quickly faded. When the wizard's feet landed back on the sand, he stood towering over a familiar face. It was the gnome woman who had entered the tapestry with one of the other groups...

What do you do?

---

Twessa has appeared in the blue light Sierpinski stepped into. Nothing else of note happened when he did so. The other two lights are still getting brighter and will presumably do something similar.

Whatever may have been noted of Twessa at their earlier meeting (do humans even look at gnomes?), the dimming blue light revealed a changed woman. Armorless, and no longer carrying her fishing spear, the cleric instead sported a gleaming, scratchless shield, a function short sword, and what looked like a particularly nasty scar across her face. And a couple of missing fingers!

Squinting in the brighter light, Twessa took in the strange piles of sand (such as she'd only heard of in tales of the Emberstorms), and looked up at the human in front of her. A threat, maybe.

Twessa raised her prize shield and took a step back. "Stay back!", she demanded, giving her sword an emphatic wave. "And know I'll never surrender my loyalty to Sagrae and her kin!"

Uri watched as Sierpinski experimented with the blue light, trying to take everything in as it happened.  The appearance of the gnome still caught him off guard though.  Of course, judging by her reaction she was as surprised as he was.  Once he got over that, he said to her Hey, it's cool, we're not here for anything like that.  We don't even know why you showed up here.  Well, I don't, anyway, maybe my friend here does.  I'm Uri, by the way.

"Naturally not, as Uri says. Now me, I'm Sierpinski, I don't know if we met properly before. Say, do you happen to know if that giant lumbering city is likely to decide to eat us? Or where there might be some more hospitable surroundings?"

Even as Sierpinski asked his question of Twessa, the other two blue lights revealed people of their own. The Emberstorm people, Gania and Istvan. Gania carried a serpentine glaive and had a person slung over her back. A person with sandpaper-like skin, three arms, and no legs...

A short distance off, two more areas of blue light had begun to glow. They would presumably bring even more people to this location. In the far distance, Tarrasqueburg continued to approach. It would likely arrive at their current location in a few hours time.

What do you do?

"Twessa Dumdellin", the gnome replied, lowering her shield and sword as a show of good faith. "And uh..." Twessa frowned. "...I don't think things that big rely on eating things as small as us? Maybe if we just move out of the way it'll be fine?"

As Gania and Istvan appeared nearby, Twessa relaxed significantly, heartened not just by seeing familiar faces, but faces that might have some understanding of the desert environment they found themselves in. She hefted her shield to show it off. "Hi, these two seem all right so far, what did you two win?"