The Cranstonian Expedition (RPG)

[Vince]

"Someone up there loves me," Xypheus muttered under his breath. He quickly began an incantation, his voice lowering and rising with a rhythmic cadence as he made slight hand gestures in front of him -- finishing with a loud shout "Loop and knot!"

[Poli]

Reod stood and watched in wonder. In all his years, he had never came across something quite like, well, this. Reod had dispatched a few mages and wizards in his time, and worked with and for mages and wizards as well. This sort of thing shouldn't have had such an effect. Nevertheless, there was Reod, staring into the geen and ebony form. His eyes darted up and down in amazement. It could only be compared to the amazement a young child has with a toy. Reod was oblivious to his surroundings.

Reod had raised Hellantic to more of a fighting position by the time Xypheus' rope landed near Nightion, though he was oblivious to the rope at all. Slowly, he tried to circle the, well, whatever it was. Still, even while trying to circle this thing, he couldn't take his eyes off of it.

It showed immediately as he stumbled along trying to circle Nightion and the magical form.

[Raven Hawk]

Jadrich sucked in a short breath as the funnel grew brighter in tune with his chant.

"Hmmm . . . that's not good."

Jadrich looked over at the mage and noticed that he had thrown a rope to the base of the vortex. Quickly understanding the mage's intention, Jadrich ran over to the mage and picked up some slack at the end of the rope behind the mage. He set himself and was ready to tug the rope when Xypheus gave the command.

[MacroGuru]

Still standing and staring at the vortex of light, Brayden has thousands of thoughts flutter through his mind, the one that stands out the most, was the boarding, pillaging and destruction of a ship.

He had lead the boarding crew, nothing great, however, bad information on what the ship was running. It was supposed to be money for the purchase of building equipment, and trade items of grain, and iron.

However, it turned out to be fire oil, immediately upon capture, the first mate of the ship, ran to the cargo hold with a torch, lighting it all/

Luck shone on him that day. As he had managed to cross upon boarding, he slipped and was pushed over board. The concussion of the ships explosion, knocked him senseless, but the light...strangely resembles this.

[Vince]

Bump

[MacroGuru]

*Taps on the glass*

'Ello, anyone around?

[Vince]

Start of the week bump.

[WSUCougar]

With an animated jerk, Xypheus’ rope sprang to life, coiling its end into an oval shape and then twisting to form a firm knot at the base of the loop. It then began to gently sway back and forth, snake-like, awaiting further commands from the wizard.

Yet the Cranstonian mage, with Jadrich and Reod now in close proximity, rapidly became distracted by a deep, pulsing ache at the base of his skull. Unlike any headache he’d encountered before, the sensation was closely akin to nausea, but would perhaps best be described as an intense feeling of something being “not right.” Intertwined with his normal magical aura, it raised concerns that bordered on panic.

The other members of the group were oblivious to Xypheus’ state, however. Eyes locked upon the rotating form of Nightion as well as the bizarre vortex that held him, they remained transfixed.

[MacroGuru]

Brayden shakes himself out of the awe, that the magic imposed scene had transpired upon him.

Looking around, he attempts to find the source of the magical energy. One thing he has always realized. When there are pretty lights, there is a wizard or witch involved.

[Raven Hawk]

"Oooh, pretty lights . . . " said Jadrich as the swirling vortex now had his full attention. "That looks like an interesting way to dry one's clothes after washing them. Now if only I could harness that and sell it . . ." The idea quickly left his mind as he awaited Xypheus' command to pull.

[Blade6119]

Dereth approached the scene with awe, but attempted to pull his attention away. He tried to think what it could possibly be, and noticed his companions attempting to pull the body with the rope. Dereth was mounted on his steed and had a higher view then the others of the surrounding area. He scanned the surroundings in hope of finding the source of this power, and if not, would move to help pull the rope, be it by attaching to his horse or by dismounting.

[Vince]

Thoughts raced through Xypheus' clouded mind, as he fought to retain control of the rope and withstand the growing feeling of nausea. The completely vile feeling he had about the vortex of energy would not go away, and now he faced physical revulsion as well as mental revulsion. Looking to lady luck one further time, the mage mustered all of his will into one more command towards the rope before breaking off his magical connection with it as quickly as possible: "Snare!" Praying the rope would latch onto the ranger's foot, Xypheus quickly shouted to the bard. "Pull, barkeep! Pull with all your might! I know not how the vortex will effect the rope, and time is short!"

[Vince]

Originally Posted by Vince

Start of the week bump.

Just keeping the trend going -- early Monday morning bump.

[WSUCougar]

At the wizard’s sharp command of “Snare!” the rope quivered taughtly, and then obediently began to reach its looped head toward the circling foot. There was an eerily calm quality to the drama now, as all eyes held on the loop as the vortex twirled the ranger’s form round and round…round and round…

To Xypheus, the vortex had become a great, vomitous cone; a swirling mass of rotten power contesting his own enchanted rope. And oozing with greenish puss…yes, green, the opposing sphere to his own Dark magic, but beyond that, much worse…GAH! The bile ran high into his throat, and he had to throw himself away from the sight of the thing.

Kallash, Brayden, and the Rhyllans stood close now, willing the rope onto the foot. So close now. There? Yes! The snare had caught on Nightion’s foot!

Yet now Jadrich bore the brunt of the supernatural whirlwind, tossing him from side to side as it battled for the body. Rising and falling in height, the vortex began to cavort about with gestures that resembled a child throwing an angry fit, and emitting a loud howling sound like a brisk wind through a cave even though the air all around was quite still. The orangish light began to seemingly burst from portions of Nightion’s flesh, such that his skin looked in places as the surface of a dried leaf igniting on fire.

“Will it rend him apart?!?” shrieked Kallash, to no one in particular. He looked aghast, his face gripped in a tight grin of fear.

[Raven Hawk]

Jadrich twisted the rope about his left hand and made sure that it looped about his wrist. When he felt comfortable that he had control of the rope with his left hand, he gave some slack to the swirling vortex. Then with one smooth motion, he unsheathed his kukri, dropped to one knee and planted the kukri blade first into the turf. Jadrich quickly swung his left foot to the base of the long, curved knife and used the flat of the blade as a foothold. He then regrasped the rope with his right hand, sat back, and pulled with all his might.

[Vince]

Coughing and sputtering, Xypheus fell to his knees. His hands at his temples, trying to massage away the memory of contact with the foul energy, he kept his gaze averted from the whirling vortex out of necessity.

"Blast this exertion, and on the first day of the journey. Surely this does not bode well."

[WSUCougar]

Guys:

I'd like to continue with this RPG thread but if so we need to get a flow going again. The holidays are over and we should be able to proceed. I think responses within a couple days is a reasonable expectation. Is everyone on board with that? Or has this withered on the vine?

[Raven Hawk]

On board here.

[Poli]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

Guys:

I'd like to continue with this RPG thread but if so we need to get a flow going again. The holidays are over and we should be able to proceed. I think responses within a couple days is a reasonable expectation. Is everyone on board with that? Or has this withered on the vine?

I'm onboard. Sorry, I've had a few other things racking my brain lately. I was actually thinking of this when I was at GNC today...so I'll be posting later today.

[JeffNights]

Hoo-Yah!

[Blade6119]

Im certainly up for it...im just not sure how bg of a role dereth can have with this situation, so im just trying to keep him from running trying to kill the vortex...Dereth is ready for any pace needed

[Poli]

Reod snapped out of his daze and ran over to help Jadrich with the rope. In the process he dropped Hellantic to the ground so he could get there faster and not worry about sheathing his sword.

He hoped he could get there in time.

Monster Energy drinks rule.

[MacroGuru]

Im on board

[Vince]

I've been a might busy the last few weeks (I've been in Santa Barbara approximately 32 hours since Wednesday the 2nd), but I'm definitely still interested.

[Blade6119]

bump bump bump bump bump....please????

[Blade6119]

tear...i still miss this...Dereth misses it

[Vince]

Yeah, this was a blast. Pity it ended.

[WSUCougar]

I just re-read the last few pages of the adventure, and really enjoyed it. If we can reassemble the gang I'd be willing to pick up the story where we left off.

[Raven Hawk]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

I just re-read the last few pages of the adventure, and really enjoyed it. If we can reassemble the gang I'd be willing to pick up the story where we left off.

I'm in.

[Poli]

In.

[MacroGuru]

In.

[sachmo71]

can I join this one, then?

[Blade6119]

WOW, im sooo in!!!!! MY GOD MY BUMP ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING!!!!!

[Vince]

Definitely in.

[Raven Hawk]

Originally Posted by Blade6119

WOW, im sooo in!!!!! MY GOD MY BUMP ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING!!!!!

Good bump, Blade!

[JeffNights]

I'm still in the Vortex dammit.

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by JeffNights

I'm still in the Vortex dammit.

Arent you dead and in the vortex??...i mean, the thing is burning your skin and all...unless your ranger just became a demi god role, things arent looking too good for ya...im still on my horse though, so i might have to dismount or just attach the rope to the horse

[Blade6119]

quick question, how do we resolve skills? i no longer have the PMs you sent out, and i doubt others do as well with what skills we had...i know i had 3rd level ride by, and i think i could swim...but i dont know for sure...

[Vince]

Yeah, with all the werewolf games, I ended up nuking all my Cranstonian PMs. If Coug knows where we stand (especially with my spells...I think I was out of spells for the current day, but I'm not sure), enlightenment would be appreciated

[Blade6119]

and were dead again...i got my hopes up for nothing

[WSUCougar]

I just need to try and dig up the old info. I'm not averse to continuing without out (playing it as a narrative RPG based on the characters as they were intended).

[Raven Hawk]

*ehem*

Jadrich cleared his throat and began to sing a tune. The melody was sharp and catchy, but the rythym was quite cumbersome:

Avail ye rabbit whose moves reflect
The actions of those I can affect.
Merge your spirit with their own
To speed their muscle and their bone.

Upon completing the verse, Jadrich looped back to the beginning of the verse picking up the tempo slightly.

Avail ye rabbit whose moves reflect
The actions of those I can affect.
Merge your spirit with their own
To speed their muscle and their bone.

Jadrich continued to loop the song, successively increasing its tempo in hopes of hastening some external force.

[JeffNights]

Nightion, the spirit form now, sighed discontently as he watched his fellow comrades stare at the rope flung amiss in the swirling vortex. After all, it had been nearly four years, surely SOMEONE should have pulled the rope by now.

[Poli]

Raven Hawk's play of the bard was so incredibly impressive. It's the reason I chose the bard in the "Dungeon" game.

[Poli]

I would totally like to get this thing rolling again.