JimBee

"Well Immortalis is probably in the Judgement Chamber... as dramatic as that sounds."

"Looks like a piece of paper. With an M followed by a dash," he replied gruffly. "So are you gonna order a drink or what? Solicitors aren't welcome here." Ellaria leads the others into the tunnel. It's pitch dark. The sounds continue to echo off the walls, but it's impossible to tell where they're coming from.

OOC: Check your PMs "What makes you think spellcasters are the only ones who can have fun around here?" Hybros brandished his sword.

Hybros couldn't resist: "Finally some action, hehe. It seems we have found our demons. Byblos, I think now would be a good time to put as many as you can to sleep." The imp draws his Hollow Dagger and quickly swallows the Nostrum stored inside it before slashing at Glasya-Lobolas the Demon of Primal Fears. He follows up in a fluid motion by drawing Iustitia in a backwards grip, turning to stab towards Furfur the Inevitable Lightning. He is careful to keep his distance. For his next trick the marauder drops his Hollow Dagger and swings Sword of Ancestral Hatred at Cimeries the Bull Demon and Iustitia at Vepar the Demon of Drowning from the back row.

QM Note: Again, please bold your actions to be definitive. Kid heads off to the Sluice while the rest of the team follows Sigil's directions to the drill site. Two dwarves converse at the bar while another pair and a rockling sit around a table to the side. The bartender grunts. "Another hero, eh? Or maybe a traveler. You got gnome blood in you, boy?" --- The dig site should be very familiar to Ellaria. The huge drilling machine sat where it was left, now rusted over and covered in dirt. The control panel met the same fate. A large wooden structure sat in between, rotting away like an old pillar representing quests of old. What sounded like growls and whimpers could be heard echoing from the hole in the wall. What will the party do?

"...You're right. It is no different than back in Moone. It's just that somehow it all seemed so straightforward back then. I think a good battle would serve me well at this point. Nothing like combat to get your head together. And not just the minions again. Next time we see Charon I want to put an end to his games." She let out a sigh and looked up with newfound strength. She even managed a small grin. "No. But that's a part of who I am now. And one day when I'm done slaying egotistical dragons, I'll find that angel bastard Lucifuge and stick my sword through his back. See how he likes it."

As the heroes discuss among themselves the imps stand by idly. Sigil seemed satisfied with their progress and was content to let the heroes talk it out before deciding their next move. "Very good. It seems you have made fine progress on the investigation. As I said, you will probably need more proof about the cause of death if you are to challenge the accusations against us. Perhaps the sounds coming from the old dig site would be the next place, though I advise caution there. Or you could try to revisit any of the places you have already been to see if there might be new evidence to turn up. Of course, you are also welcome to stay here and speak with us. The choice is yours." What will the party do?

Jinnipher frowned, her concerns unanswered. She sidled over to Gabriel, one of the few people she could trust in this party. "I'm getting really tired of these theatrics. Charon's games, Immortalis' visions, us jumping through hoops... I said earlier that most of this party is incompetent. I stick by those words, but I wonder. Maybe the past is rosy, but I don't remember things being this complicated. You can't just take a crew of good sword arms and slay a dragon anymore. You have to have all these doubts and little complications, some sort of moral ambiguity mixed in before you can make any move. Immortalis is smarter than he looks. He knows what will wear us down and cause us to fight each other. We might not accomplish anything by our own faults." She suddenly withdrew and massaged the bridge of her nose. "Look at me, even I'm worn down. Of course I know what we have to do, no matter what. Slay the dragon. Right."

"We are what you might call 'magical' beings, though it is not quite the same as the way you surface folk use it." Sigil pointed at Ezeran. "Your magic comes within. I believe you call it... aether? Our magic comes from around us. In the earth, the trees, the water... the very air surrounding us. Have you ever wondered why Olegaia is so full of intelligent lifeforms? Even animals, while some consider mere beasts, have extraordinary cognitive abilities that can be seen by those who bother to look. Most do not, which is why people like us are tossed aside or feared by others. But Olegaia is teeming with life because of the magical presence all around us. Or perhaps the life is the cause and the magic is the effect." Visibly excited, Sigil tried to reel in a bit. "Ahem, at least, that is the faith of our people. I believe your scholars and scientists would write it off as a mere theory... Anyway, yes, it has been our suspicion from the beginning that we are being framed." More shrugs and confused looks from the imps. It appeared no one really knew what the scroll was for. "Your investigations have turned this up, but I fear it will not be enough. Anyone with eyes could see that those claw marks would not have matched those of the imps. The gnomes are obviously still not convinced. You will need to find more substantial evidence if you are to challenge the Baron." "I see... so perhaps Maggie's murderer was looking for something? I would have guessed that the mess was from the struggle, but locks do not just break on their own." "We appreciate th--" "Sympathy only gets us so far. We need action if we are to retake our rightful home!" "We are not 'retaking' anything, child. The people who live on the surface have now lived there far longer than we have. I do not believe many surfacers know of our race's existence to begin with... I am unsure if 'dickish' is the correct term, but I am also unfamiliar with such colloquial jargon."

"That was a quick turnaround. Just because it's your friends in danger instead of someone else's doesn't change the situation. You let him get the best of you again. And you caved." Jinnipher crossed her arms.

Sigil let out a sigh. "Then it will be very difficult gaining the town's favor. We are aware of the Crimson Crown's reputation, and mark my words it is no coincidence that she is here at a time like this. She may well be a snake whispering into the Baron's ears. But without a way to prove it we are in the same position." Another sigh escaped though clenched fangs. "Though I may be wrong still and there is another reason for this mess." Tyrfrix takes the sketches in his hands. "Hmm... It is hard to tell from these sketch marks, and I am no expert on the world's fauna... or weapons. I can assure you that these markings are from no imp claws, however." He held up a clawed hand side-by-side with the sketch. The heroes could see that an imp's hand consisted of three skeletal-like fingers, evenly spaced at 120 degrees from each other. The claw marks were four large slashes spaced parallel and close together. "What I cannot tell you is whether these markings were from an animal, another species, or a tool or weapon of some sort." Sigil simply shrugged while Tyrfrix offered, "It appears to be a recipe of some sort. Or perhaps a spell? We only use the magic that surrounds us in nature, and have no use for foreign magic captured in writing." "I have no idea what this note could mean. M for Maggie, perhaps? Was there anything special about the chest, something that would indicate what was inside?" "Certainly, Miss Ellaria. As you already know our people spent some time in the void. Before that our home was the forest, or the forest that was once above, and now below us. We were there long before humans arrived, and we were gone long before your wizards sunk it into the sea. I was able to watch the latter, and I was among the last of the imps to see those forests." A few smaller imps lacking horns and wings crept up behind Tyrfrix. " 'Gone' is a nice way of saying it. teacher. Our land was taken from us!" "Grywios, we weren't supposed to interrupt..." "We're not children anymore, Fyrnas. It's time we were treated like it." "Now, now. You both still have much to learn before your wings." He turned to the heroes. "Time passes differently in the void. Physically these two are still children, though they are technically older than most living creatures on Olegaia. All of the imps here are from before our people were banished to the void." Party: Kid Reddson (dum) 19-year-old Male Human (1/4 Leprechaun) Ranger Level 5 *Aims become Hits* Power Bonus: 0 Health: 10/10 Gold: 2 Equipment: Crossbow (WP 3), Quiver of Homing Arrows (Rolls of AIM become HIT; can only be used with a bow or a crossbow; backwear.) Inventory: 3 Smoke Bomb, 2 Potion, Phoenix Essence, Venom, Fire Bomb, Sterile Gloves (Grants Immunity to Poisoned and Bleeding effects, Handwear), Bedroll Ezeran Yavarr (MysticModulus) 42 year old male human Mage Level 14 *Immune to wood and fire* *Absorbs Darkness* *Enemies that hits Ezeran become slowed* Power Bonus: 0 (+2 spellpower) Defense: 3 Health: 18/18 Ether: 18/18 Gold: 3 Equipment: Ancient Sapphamber Staff (WP:8, doubled against Ancient enemies, Wind-elemental; staff), Sneezing Demon (SP:2; enemies that hit the wearer becomeslowed; immunity to wood and fire; suitable to Ezeran only; bodywear.), Hood of the Elementalist (SP:1, *Absorbs darkness*; headwear, suitable to anyone), Inventory: Emerald (Wood), Ruby (Fire), Remedy X3, Bedroll, Smoke Bomb, Pick Axe, Trickster’s Baubel (WP:6, each hit causes one random effect: stunned, poisoned by 1, asleep, blinded, sealed or confused; wand), Grand tonics X2, Potions X5, Nostrum X2, Feather of Lithe (grants Nimble-effect for 3 rounds) Hunkan Silvertoss (BountyBeast) 53 year old male dwarf Rogue *Immune to Blinded* Level 7 Power Bonus: 0 Health: 13/13 Gold: 166 Equipment: Ebony Scorpion Dagger (WP: 5, deals Poisoned-by-3), Goggles (Provides immunity to Blinded effect, Headwear) Inventory: Potion, Phoenix Essence, Nostrum, Remedy, Fire Bomb, Wooden Sword (WP:7; Suitable to Anyone), Shovel, Pickax, Scroll of Blindness (Enables casting the blinded-effect to the target, making it unable to use a physical attack for the next three rounds. Each casting has a 50% chance of success and costs 1 ether) Ellaria Arbour (Sandy) ~Party Leader~ 25 years old female human Alchemist Level 34 2/4 *Immune to Fire* *Three rolls for Mixture* *Transfer poisoned and bleeding upon being hit* *No Free Hits for 3 rounds* *Encouraged* *Immune to Ice: 1 battle* Power Bonus: 0 Defense: 6 (1+5) Health: 55/55 (9+33+10+1+2) Gold: 189 Equipment: Mythril Mallet (WP: 20, wood- and darkness-elemental; Hollow [-]; hammer), Rubber Gloves (For Mixture, the die is rolled three times instead of twice, and the highest two results determine the created item; suitable to alchemists; handwear.), Robe of the Magi (SP:1, suitable for mages, clerics, alchemists, chi monks, decamon drafters, necromancers, regulators, scholars and weather mages; bodywear.), Spider Helmet (SP:5, passes poisoned and bleeding effects to the enemy when the wearer is hit; immunity to fire; headwear), Spirit Robe (Renders wearer invisible to the enemy for the first three rounds of battle so they do not take free hits; backwear) Inventory: Weapons Ignis Fatuus (WP:13, permanently poisoned by 15, fire- and lighting-elemental staff), Sylvania's Crossbow (WP:10, wood-elemental crossbow), Pan Flute (WP: 7, instrument), Wizard's Staff (WP:1, fire-, wind-, water- and earth-elemental staff), Wormtail Whip (WP:15, earth-elemental, whip) Artifacts: Ranger's Quiver (WP: +1 to bows and crossbows, suitable for rangers, beast warriors, infiltrators, and winged warriors; backwear), Robe of the Archmagi (SP:3, Max Ether +5, protects from sealing; suitable for mages, clerics, necromancers, scholars and weather mages, bodywear), Cherokee Rose (Doubles potency of both incoming and outgoing restorative consumables and healing; suitable for Ellaria only; accessory.) Spell Items: Scroll of Inspiration (Inspired for rest of battle, 10 ether, 50/50 chance) Scroll of Sealing, Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Weakening, Serenade of Water (Causes Water damage equal to the minstrel's level to all enemies per round for as long as the song is sung. Costs 10 ether per round. Battle Song) Consumables: 10 Grand Potions, Health Core, 4 Tonics, Diluted Arc Tonic (Restores 10 ether to all allies), 3 Grand Tonics, Ether Core, 2 Hyper Arc Tonics (Restores full ether to all allies), 2 Elixirs, Arc Elixir (Restores 60 health and 15 ether to all allies and removes negative effects.), 2 Remedies, Neutralizer, Tiger Balm, 3 Phoenix Essences, Last Resort (revives all knocked allies to 1 health), 3 Meads, 3 Smelling Salts, 2 Nostrums, 2 Soma, 2 Mulled Wines, 2 Smoke Bombs, Hot'n'Cold Bomb (Causes 30 fire- and ice-elemental damage to all enemies), Holy Rain Bomb (Causes 20 water-, wind- and light-elemental damage to all enemies), Bad Breath (Poisoned by 1-effect to all enemies), Feather of White, Demon Repellent Tools etc.: Bedroll, Shovel, Pickaxe, Telescope, Magic Compass, Magnifying Glass, Chemistry Set (Allows the user to use Mixture outside of battle, costs 2 Gold Bars/un-modified roll, suitable for alchemists; tool), 3 Gold Bars Paladin Petaldan Parfenius (Played by Palathadric) 5-year-old male "wonder" Knight Level: 11.5 *Immune to Stunned, Bound, Petrified and Earth* Power: 16 Defense: 9 Health: 22/22 10+10+2* Gold: 153 Equipment: Brine Blade (WP: 5, 1/6 chance to trigger a Flood (see Weather Mage) when dealing damage, Longsword), Shield (SP: 5; Shield), Gloves of the Boy Wonder(SP:2; immunity to *Stunned*, *Bound*, and *Petrified*; suitable to Petaldan only; handwear), Really Hard Helmet (SP: 2, Immunity to Earth) Inventory: Weapons: Slimy Sword (WP:12, can be split into several weaker Slimy Swords or combined with other Slimy Swords to increase WP and split apart again at any time, Longsword) Gems: Emerald Consumables: 2x Potion, 2x Grand Potion, 2x Remedy, Phoenix Essence, Ambrosia, 2x Smoke Bomb, Fire Bomb Tools: Bedroll Goliath (Goliath) Automaton Barbarian Level 1 Power: 4 Defense: 0 Health: 10/10 (8+2) Gold: 0 Equipment: Ebony Scorpion Spear (WP:5, deals Poisoned-by-3; spear) Inventory: Potion x4, Mead x3, Plasma Cutlass (WP:3; Greatsword), Magma Maul (WP: 6, 1/6 chance to trigger an Inferno (see Weather Mage) when dealing damage, hammer), Tonic x2, Bunch of 10 Cherries (Each cherry restores 1 ether when eaten), Smelling Salts, Nostrum, Blind Bomb, Dirt Bomb, Bedroll, Shovel Debts: 20 Gold (Torald)

"Tch, just typical. I'm getting really tired of your threats, and the fact that you think your above Nephilim. Innocents will die no matter what if you succeed. A riot is no concern of mine."

OOC: I think we're all very prepared. Happy birthday! "It looks like you have some competition Atramor, heheh... I suppose we will have to seek this baby out, trap or not. It seems we have been doing that a lot so far."

"We need to get out of this room first. But even then, I doubt he will cooperate."

QM Note: In the interest of time I'm having everyone meet up at the imp settlement. Both parties head back to the imp settlement, where they are all greeted by Sigil and another imp he was conversing with. "Welcome back, heroes. Tell me, what did you find? And this is Tyrfrix. Where I am something of an expert in magic and portals, he is our High Scholar." "Heroes," he said with a nod. His horns and wings were graying with age. "I can tell you just about everything there is to know about imp history and culture, if you would care to seek that knowledge out."

QM Note: I'll give a proper update once Party A decides where to go. "I hope you find what you're looking for." There are a few long brown hairs on the sheets and pillowcase, presumably belonging to Maggie. There isn't anything of interest. --- "A very nice woman, yes. I couldn't really tell you if she had gotten mixed up in anything, though her boy Wally has been missing for some time. No one has seen head nor tail of him since he left."

"Indeed... Atramor, I seem to remember you having some impressive lock-picking skills, heheh... If that does not work, maybe Namyrra or Althior could make us a new door. Or we could just sit here and wait..." Hybros inspects the leather bag and its contents for anything of value.

Jinnipher's voice seemed to shake slightly. "Since you seem to know everything about this, tell me. Where is Lucifuge, the angel who doomed Heroica five years ago with his Nephilim? And the entirety of Mercution before that." She watched Vaermina fly off again with a look of frustration.

It's been pretty slow in this forum lately, so I looked at some numbers just for fun. As of Quest #150, the overall average of the number of quests started per month is 2.58. The average number of quests each year are as follows: Year 1 (August 2011-August 2012, Quest#1-43: 3.58 Year 2 (Quest #44-79): 2.91 Year 3 (Quest #80-109): 2.42 Year 4 (Quest #110-140): 2.5 And I'll throw out an estimate that three more quests will start between now and August 11th, which will round out a group of Quests #141-154 for Year 5, an average of about one quest per month. So things have definitely slowed down a lot. I'd certainly like to keep this game going, so I guess I'll encourage the newer players to consider hosting. I'm guilty myself of not hosting very much - 151 is my fourth quest hosting (first in about 100 quests or three years), and I have been one of the most active players since the game started, which means I've been taking up quest slots consistently for five years. My excuse is that I don't have the time or access to bricks to do it. The first is valid but the second one is not. 151 uses 90% recycled pictures, and I actually didn't need my bricks for any of it (shoutout to Sandy for the imp pictures!). It's not ideal, but doable. You could also use LDD like Endgame. And hosing is fun. It really is! New players should take the dive and try it. It's not as hard as it looks and it's okay to make mistakes. We're all here to have fun, after all.

There is a small bed in the corner. It is unmade. "I don't imagine the murderer would be careless enough to leave his scroll behind, let alone stuff into the bottom of a pile. But I'm not the expert here." Shelby rolled her eyes a little. "Fine, if you think it'll help then take it." "I don't see why those would help you solve this murder..." --- Petaldan's diplomatic tone seemed to have little effect on the already-friendly digger. Perhaps the talent would be useful in other situations, however. "Ahem, why yes. Surely you must've heard about all the troubles we've had down here recently. Moon Elf Shades, Blue Assassins, Sewer Wolves... Tis not a safe place when people come here sticking their noses where they don't belong. Me, I'm careful. I stay away from anything that could lead to trouble. If everyone followed that rule then we would all be much safer. Like that buffoon inventor, U'Reeka... boy did he cause us a lot of trouble." Rollo goes on muttering to himself. The dwarf named Melvin seemed a little taken aback by Goliath's appearance. "Oh, uh, as I was just tellin' the young pretty lass here, there be a lot of strange events happenin' down here lately. Surely ye must'a heard by now? Anyway, if ye ask me, every place has it's troubles. Here is no different, 'cept the fact that we're sittin' on top of a lotta history and old magic and stuff. Trust me lad, I seen it first hand. All the strange an' unnatural-like seem to be drawn here." Thimlin shook his head. "..." "Thimlin's a sailor through and through, jus' like me. Ye probably met him on the high seas somewhere. I haven' been beneath Mt. Ulysses since I was a wee lad, but I'm sorry te hear of their troubles. I certainly hope Maggie didn't suffer fer a pile a' gold or mythril. Aye, the Crimson Crown lady... I've run into their kind on a couple occasions... Sometimes it seems like they want te kill ye, others they want te help ye. They helped Heroica with our Moon Elf problem down here, and they did help me crew one time with blowin' a ship full of zombies te Hel." "Yeah, they're okay in my books. It's good to see that the Baron is finally putting an end to all this magic stuff that keeps happening down here."

Jinnipher drew Beheader. "Nephilim?! You have the power to create those godforsaken bastards?!" She pointed the blade at Charon. "Tell me. Tell me everything you know about the Nephilim."

Hybros crunches his nose at the chamber pot and peeks over Namyrra's shoulder to read the letter. "Hm, well perhaps our large-hatted suspect is manipulating Marquis, and maybe anyone else in the castle. We know for certain he is here. And it seems that whoever was in this room last left in a hurry. We must be on our guard... and wait for this feast, I suppose." The imp peeks out into the hallway.

The box appears to be for food storage. None of it looks very fresh or tasty, save for a few delicious-looking apples. 2x Healthy Apple (permanently raises maximum health by one) The papers appear to be shipping manifestos. Various mechanical parts are listed, though none appear to be present in the room. Shelby shrugged. "Your guesses are as good as mine. Like I said before, it looks like she died from something biting her. I don't know what it is, but it is most certainly not natural. Why don't you ask your imp friends if they know? Hmpf." "Boy, you are full of questions. Listen, I don't like being asked so many things all at once. It makes my head hurt. But if you must know, I dig around looking for minerals or anything else of value. There's plenty to explore down here, I don't think all of the tunnels have been mapped out yet. I'll tell you one place I won't go, though. I've heard some strange sounds coming from the dig site to Nu Mercution. I hear that's where the last group of heroes that came down here went. Glad it caved in, but I dunno if anything got out..."

"I have a feeling Atramor was right... Either that man is being possessed by a demon, or perhaps he is a demon in disguise. There may be only one way to find out, which is to play along with his game for now, heheh..." Hybros inspects the bed and peeks underneath it.

"Not that I know of. It may be that the scroll was simply a collector's item." The bartender grunted and slammed a horn of water on the counter. "As I said, this is no place for your kind." The dwarf shrugged but replied halfheartedly to Goliath. He at least seemed slightly friendlier. "I was never one for much thinking, but there sure is something off about this whole thing. Tis a real tragedy about Maggie, but this sort of thing is nothing new around here. I mean, murder is new but strange events coming out of nowhere? Seems like the M.O. for... just about everything around here. I'm Rollo, by the way. Town digger." The crowd seemed to lighten up and took the drinks appreciatively. Ellaria herself felt a warm, tingly feeling from the drink - rather encouraged to converse with the table. "Quite generous of ye, miss...?" The tricorned dwarf pointed at Ellaria. "..." "...Oh, Thimlin here seems to recognize ye from somewhere. Have ye met before? Ahem, so about Maggie... Aye, it be a damn shame 'bout her. Such a fine lass. I'll tell ye, every time I visit down here something strange be afoot. Zylstra's nice and all, but there's somethin'... off about it." "That's just because you live in the Sluice whenver you visit here, Melvin." "Gotta make the most'a shore leave, Rodney."