Heroica RPG - Quest #56: The Stealer of Senses

[joeshmoe554]

Not hearing any objections, Jeaux heads deeper into passage with the rest of the party.

Em seemed to be inspecting the ground for tracks, perhaps he was worried about what the spider had said or simply being paranoid. Either way it never hurt to be a little extra careful, an unseen trap can be quite dangerous and checking your environment <OOC>Especially the ceiling</OOC> before making a rash decision can mean the difference between the spoils of victory and the shame of defeat.

OOC: It seems the majority of the group is ready to move on, if you find anything emjajoas, I doubt it will be time sensitive so we should be able to figure out what it means later.

[Emjajoas]

OOC: (I actually did move forward slightly and break away from the group with my post. "Scouting ahead," if you will. Sorry for not making that clear.) /OOC

I rejoin the group, eyes darting around cautiously for any signs of activity. "What's the plan?"

[Shoker86]

. I've heard about you actually, the guy that cheated the monks, right?"

"Yeah, that is correct my lady, in my younger days i was more, restless"Arnulf sighed for amoment. "I stole a lot of things from them, some things that i'm proud of, and some things that i'm ashamed of, but i've paid my price". "It is good to see that you aren't so rebellious anymore, it makes your judgment clearer". Arnulf started to laugh at mere thought of giving advices, he has done some real atrocities in the past. He continued to walk beside thief and knight.

And Arnulf, friend, it is just 'Em.' There is no need for formalities such as 'master,'" he said, somewhat uncomfortable with the idea that someone would portray him as having enough class to be called "master."

"Nice to meet you Em," Arnulf also inspected grounds for some clues

Edited February 7, 2013 by Shoker86

[Endgame]

QM Note: Lets get this show on the road, shall we?

Em scouts ahead, but still does not get any visual of their employer, Allen Lias. The footprints ahead seem to be nearly exactly the same shape and depth as the party's - clearly, whoever had passed by here was human. Finding no other notable evidence, the party regroups and presses forward, wondering who they'll meet ahead. After about 5 minutes of walking through the tranquil passage, their eyes dazzled by the natural light show around them, the heroes come across the man the spider described...

Perhaps "hood" was a bit of an off descriptor, though; whoever this was, he was wearing a complete mask, even his eyes obscured by a black mesh. The huge, dual-pronged weapon he carries thrums softly, like a heartbeat. It glows, the two glowing disks on the front illuminating the weapon's deadly looking blades. The man himself was of average build, clad in green from head to toe. He chuckles softly at the sight of the heroes, then speaks. His voice almost sounded arrogant, and he had an an unshakable hint of malice laced into his words...

"Excellent, the test subjects arrive. Bit more than I had originally asked for, but the more the merrier I suppose."

What will the party say or do?

[Kintobor]

Rule of Rogue #17: Never trust the employer.

Karie stares at the hooded figure with intent and says to him:

" I must ask, Mr. Hooded Figure, what does that large thing in your hand do ( and if your going to do a demonstration, do it on one of the rangers first)."

Edited February 7, 2013 by Kintobor

[Brickington]

"Yeah, I agree with Karie." Sir Brickington was getting a little suspicious of their employer. But as a knight, Sir Brickington try's to see the good of everyone,

Edited February 7, 2013 by Brickington

[joeshmoe554]

Jeaux was taken aback by this new development. It seemed his instincts were right after all, the man the spider had described was not a friendly soul. Though he did not seem to be your common thief either. The weapon he held was unlike anything Jeaux had seen before and appeared far too unwieldy for untrained hands. The suspicious individual also made no mention of robbing them as most criminals one encounters at night seem to do, he instead wanted to run "Tests"?

"I'm guessing your name is not Allen Lias and you have no affiliation with the town watch. Did you fabricate a story and pose as an employer of Heroica just to lead us to an ambush? And what pray tell would we be test subjects for?"

Jeaux then addressed the party,

"Perhaps my questions would hold more weight if our resident knight were to ask them with an air of diplomacy."

[Brickington]

"Good plan, Jeaux." Brickington turned to the mask person using diplomacy, "Tell me 'hooded' man, what does that weapon do? Who are you? What do you want. Are you our employer? And what do you mean by test subjects? If you may, can you please answer my question one-by-one?"

Edited February 7, 2013 by Brickington

[Emjajoas]

Em keeps a hand close to his bow, ready to draw it if need be. He stands ready for battle, though tries to stay at ease to not offend the employer.

"Well, that's certainly an interesting little tool," he mutters, mostly to himself. "Wonder if I could get my hands on one, if it's a weapon."

[Shoker86]

Arnulf keeps looking at the man with green mask, while preparing his weapon if diplomacy fails. "Em, this man makes me uneasy, calling us test subject, i'll try to look around while ser Briickington talks" Arnulf is looking closely near the hooded man for some sort of anbush.

Edited February 7, 2013 by Shoker86

[Endgame]

"I'm guessing your name is not Allen Lias and you have no affiliation with the town watch. Did you fabricate a story and pose as an employer of Heroica just to lead us to an ambush? And what pray tell would we be test subjects for?"

"Correct, correct, and you guessed it, correct. It is remarkable you fell for it, though! Allen Lias? Alias? My master will be most pleased with your assistance, so to speak."

The green clad fiend snickers as Em checks behind him, the rogue expecting an entire team.

"It will be 1 versus 5, but I will be the victor nonetheless! Oh, I've waited so long... me and Master toiled on this blade for nearly 2 years now, you know. Face the might of The Harvester!"

With that, the man - seemingly an apprentice of sorts - rushes towards the heroes. The 5 raise their arms, but their weapons are ineffective against The Harvester's power. With a powerful swing, the dual-pronged weapon grazes the entire party in one feel swoop. The blades seem to leave a blue trail as they slice, as if leaving gashes in the air. The heroes hardly take any damage from the feeble graze, but they notice their vision beginning to fade... rapidly. In a matter of moments the party finds themselves completely blinded, their sense of sight swiped by The Harvester. Although their vision had vanished, the party retained their sense of hearing. As they stumble around, confused and shocked, they here the sense-snatching fiend speak...

"Far, far too easy. My master will be most pleased... Please don't unnecessarily thrash about, there is nothing you can do. Just let me subude you like the good little lab rats you'll soon be."

With that, the green menace begins to pummel the blinded party. He thrusts the Harvester into both Jeaux and Brickington at the same time, kicks Em in the gut, performs a nerve pinch on Karie, and slams Arnul's head into a tree. By the end of the beatdown the party is knocked unconscious, helpless against the sense stealer...

When they stir awake, they find themselves in a completely different setting.

Gone is the lush beauty of the Luminous Passage. Instead, when the heroes regain their vision and their consciousness, they find themselves in a dank prison cell. Made of dark stone and tar, the cell was a dismal place. A musty smell lingered as water periodically drips from the ceiling, and even mold grows in some corners. The green clad man who had assaulted them earlier still carries the formidable Harvester, the blade now thrumming with power. He makes mental notes as he observes the trapped party.

"Hmm. They were out for 6 hours, so one can assume they had lost their vision for 4... Adequate, but not good enough for the final build. Seems the Harvester needs a bit more fine tuning, but at least now we have easily accessible lab rats, hm?"

The man snickers and leans in, observing the caged heroes from the other side of the bars.

"You'd like some answers, you daft little things, wouldn't you?"

[Kintobor]

Karie attempts to get up and stumbles a bit, not noticing her hair is all askew and that parts of her makeup have rubbed off. She was still groggy from the blow, making her feel a little tipsy. She stumbles towards the bars of the cell, then clenches them. Surprisingly, she chuckles.

" "Alias"? HA! Laughable mate, absolutely laughable! HAHA! I gotta say though, I'm more than a little curious. On more than one thing too. That blade, prong thingy-mah- whiz, what's it do, and how does it run? Second of all, loving the outfit. Who you working for, and how do I get one. Thirdly, I'm a little peckish. Got any chicken?" She gives a rather foolish smile.

Edited February 8, 2013 by Kintobor

[Brickington]

Sir Brickington got up and was surprisingly calm, he walked up to the bars to talk to this strange person. Using diplomacy, "I would like to speak with your master."

Edited February 7, 2013 by Brickington

[Shoker86]

Arnulf didn't like situation he was now. Made him look foolish. He turned around to his mates and whispered,"Any suggestions?"

Edited February 7, 2013 by Shoker86

[Kintobor]

Karie, still a little groggy, stumbles backward and trips into Arnulf, and gets close enough that only the two of them can hear what Karie says:

"Don't try anything hasty. Be patient."

[Shoker86]

"I agree Karie, i noticed that he loves to talk, he loves the sound of his own voice" He continued to whisper to Karie "He will lead himself down, we' ll play along for now, i hope that knight doesn't mess up"

[Kintobor]

"Good lad!" She responsed, and with a pat to his back, she stumbles back to the bars to exact same spot she left. The bars were cold again when she clenched them, even after a few seconds from leaving them.

Edited February 7, 2013 by Kintobor

[Emjajoas]

Em groans slightly as he wakes, rubbing his head and glaring at their captor. "An interesting turn of events, to be sure," he muttered, angry that he was cheated.

[Brickington]

Brickington turns around and looks at Arnulf who overheard him talking about him. "I know we may all be a little inexperienced but do have faith." He went back to looking over at where the strange person was standing. For some reason Sir Brickington still was calm as could be.

[Endgame]

That blade, prong thingy-mah- whiz, what's it do, and how does it run? Second of all, loving the outfit. Who you working for, and how do I get one. Thirdly, I'm a little peckish. Got any chicken?" She gives a rather foolish smile.

"And you say I'm chatty?

As I said before, this beautiful blade is the Harvester. Though I will spare your addled brains the displeasure of hearing how it works, lets just say it can rob you of your senses. You learned this firsthand.

And yes, this custom made uniform is quite nice! Who I work for is an odd subject. I suppose you could call him the Stealer of Senses. I am his apprentice, the Apprentice of the Stealer of Senses. Do bear in mind, however, we have not committed any wrongdoings quite yet. We wanted to test out the Harvester on somebody before we got to committing misdeeds. Thus, this is why we rounded up you sad lot to test out the Harvester on. When Master comes to collect the test data we've gathered, we can fine-tune the Harvester and continue to use it on you people. Get used to being a good little lab rat, my dear.

Meals come at 12 PM and 12 AM sharp. Black leftover slop, anyone?"

[Shoker86]

"I must say that i'm impressed how this machine works, mister Apprentice" Arnulf clapped his hand without any false sentiment in his voice, he really felt machine was impressive.

" I'm absolutly sure that your master will be pleased with your results, so far" , Arnulf made a smile "i don't suppose you want to kill us with bad food, dead rat is bad rat, i would like some proper meal if you don't mind"

OOC: I really like the quest so far, i definietly didn't expect this

Edited February 8, 2013 by Shoker86

[joeshmoe554]

Jeaux awoke with a start, He and his party had been kidnapped by the green-clad man in the forest and were now locked in a kind of prison. Though listening to their recent captor, a cage would be a more apt description. As Jeaux got to his feet the pearl white surface of his face began to darken. A shadow was appearing, though unlike before it was not forming a discrete shape. Instead it began to cover his entire form, until his surface was the color of night.

I suppose you could call him the Stealer of Senses. I am his apprentice, the Apprentice of the Stealer of Senses.

"Seriously? you call yourself the Apprentice of the Stealer of Senses. Have you ever thought of just referring to yourself by the acronym to save time? Or perhaps come up with a good name like "Padawan of Pandamonium exclamation point" or even the "Poacher of Passion exclamation point". Try to use some aliteration and definitely include the exclamation point. Those make everything better."

Do bear in mind, however, we have not committed any wrongdoings quite yet.

"Oh, I suppose we weren't decieved, attacked, and kidnapped. You just invited us over for brunch and must have misplaced your copy of Edna's guide to ettiquite. In that case I'd like some tea and a couple of those little cucumber sandwitches. No Mayo though, makes my gears itch."

Meals come at 12 PM and 12 AM sharp. Black leftover slop, anyone?"

"That's not going to work for me. I demand 3 meals a day and a 30 minute smoke break or we're going on strike, or didn't you know. I happen to be a proud member of the local Lab Rats Union #403, and good luck trying to convince some non-union laborours to do the work. They all took off when the cheese rations switched from Gouda to Blue."

The dark shadow seemed to disappear as Jeaux's mock skin shifted back to the white color it had been before. He looked around somewhat groggy and confused. "Where are we?" He asked his other party members, hoping they had managed to gather some information while he was still coming to.

OOC: Yet another crazy hero to join the ranks

[Kintobor]

Karie begins to wreath in pain, she moves back from the steel bars.

"But I'm sooo hungry!" She stares into the Apprentice's eyes, crawled into a heap on the floor, giving him the most pitiful face in all of Eubric, the white paint smearung of and her askewed hair and mask complimenting this dishreveled heap on the floor..

"Surely your master wouldn't want one of your test subjects to be malnourished? Please, one chicken drumstick! Please?"

Edited February 8, 2013 by Kintobor

[Emjajoas]

Em huddles himself into a corner, examining the area as best he can, looking for some form of animal or insect life with which to communicate. While doing so, he makes it seem as though he's merely pacing, angry with the situation, in order to avoid suspicion.

[Brickington]

Brickington looked around at his fellow quest members. He didn't look so calm anymore, in fact he look quite annoyed. "I shall not lose my patience here, but if there is a way out of here, I'm going to find it. As for megablocks, I say your a pretty generous kidnapper, yes kidnapper, to let us have that many meals. We'll survive, these conditions are for sissies. If men from tales of long ago can survive for days only with one piece of bread and a couple of drops of water, why can't we?"