FRIGGING FINALLY.
Note to self, addendum: Next dream sequence, don’t require
Inception style methods to leave it.
- Turn 24: Riding the Dragon -
You’ve been still for too long. It’s time to move, very soon…"Stubborn, aren't they?"
Keep trying! This stuff would make amazing bait for woodland creatures.
“Stubborn, aren’t they?” you remark to anybody listening before crouching and getting a really good grip on Thuun’s tibias.
"Goddamn it. Can we hurry up and get the hell out of here before more of those demons show up?" Baldur growls from behind you.
"Be right there, just have to make sure there's no flesh left behind!" You focus back on the bones. You heave! (1) The tibias shatter and you stumble backwards, still holding jagged shards of bone. The sudden lack of resistance makes your hands fly up, releasing the bones.
(6) The bones tumble through the air before one jaggedly stabs through your right foot like a knife through butter. The other tumbles through the air towards Felice as he exits the surrounding forest!
Congratulations.
Your right foot is punctured and bleeding! you’re going to have trouble walking, running or doing much of anything foot related. Good thing you already have a staff, hm? You won’t bleed out quickly, but the pain is also damn distracting."Jackpot. This reminds me somewhat of home."
Put on the bracelet, then go stand next to cyrus and also watch our surroundings. Ask him how he's doing
“Jackpot!” you crow, slipping the bracelet on. It tingles like mad. “This reminds me somewhat of home!” As it slips on you feel almost as though your mind is expanding. It’s weird. You can hear the rustling of the leaves in the trees.
Each individual leaf.Shrugging, you turn and head back through the bush. As you push aside a branch, a ragged, sharp-looking blade comes slowly tumbling through the air towards you. You reach out and catch it effortlessly. “What the hell?”
You eye the destroyed legs and the bleeding priest before it clicks that it’s Thuun’s
bone that just flew at you. “UGH!” you yell, dropping it. You cautiously edge around the priest before sidling up next to Cyrus. “Hi there,” you greet as you survey the surroundings..
He nods in greeting to you. “Nice bracelet. Never noticed you wearing that before…?”
You chuckle. “It’s new.” You slip it off and hand it over; the tingles fade. The world feels slightly smaller.
Cyrus’ eyebrows rocket up. “You just casually found a magical artefact, lying in the
bush?” he asks incredulously. He angles the bracelet to show you the designs. “Limerete magic.” He goes off on a tangent, guessing at the meaning of the different runes. He taps one mark, the one he calls the ‘master’ rune. “I don’t recognise this one, though.”
You glance at it. It’s Limerete, not some magical rune. “
Kidzuku. It means
Perceive.” You chuckle at his bemused look. “It’s a Limerete character. Of course I can read it.”
He hands it back and you slip it on, allowing your mind to open once more. “If I’m right… Well, you notice the world better, don’t you?” You nod, gloriously taking in the world around you.
Artifact gained! Kidzuku is a bracelet that enhances your perceptions of the world. You passively gain +1 to dodging or otherwise neutralising any ranged attack. You can also focus your senses on your surroundings (+1 to search/noticing rolls), although to do so can be quite distracting, so this bonus doesn’t apply unless you specifically mention it.Baldur sighs, sits in the carriage and places his head in his hands.
You sigh as yet another party member manages to injure himself. “Rampel grant me strength,” you mutter, invoking the patron angel of Cylenia.
Ekoka joins him.
"I know. Idiots. All of them."
Ekoka rises from the carriage, before climbing on top of it. This probably wasn't needed, but it would certainly be more dramatic. And you never know. He then prepares a spell that would let them get out of this hellhole.
Focus on casting a spell similar to Alacrity, which will propel the carriage rather than accelerating my movements.
“Idiots, all of them,“ you mutter to Baldur, waving a hand at the rest of the party. He grunts in response and looks pointedly at the spot where you sank Thuun up to his waist in the ground. You reply by patting Thuun’s leg, just above where Baldur severed them.
Moving on, you climb on top of the carriage that somehow doesn’t give way under your weight, even though the roof was never made to hold people. You adopt a mystical-looking meditative pose as you focus on modifying Alacrity to move the whole carriage.
(4) Pieces fall into place. You rise to your feet, the air around you tingling with power. You can do this.
Well screw it, TIME FOR SLICING AND DICING! That is, yknow, if I have a weapon. If not then just run away again 
“SCREW THIS!” you yell at the dragon. You knock the man’s table over, sending his top flying; in one sharp movement you snap a leg off and brandish it like a club at the dragon. The giant lizard inches closer, his long, snakelike neck contorting as his head - which is the size of a horse - glides towards you. Fire spills from around the monster’s lips. Razor-sharp fangs as long as your arm gleam with saliva as the dragon’s jaw opens slightly. Is… is it drooling? Ew.
“RAAAARGH!” You scream, more in fright than in rage, and bravely leap at the dragon. Somehow you avoid its snapping jaws; you grab one horn and swing up on top of its head and begin laying into its snout with your club. The dragon roars in pain and shakes its head viciously; you whip through the air, but manage to cling on tightly.
In an effort to dislodge you the dragon’s wings snap out and within seconds you’re airborne. The beast lurches beneath you and suddenly the ground is rushing away; a wave of vertigo tears through your stomach. You continue beating the dragon furiously with your stick, savaging the beast’s snout.
The ground is almost a mile away now. You try and not pay attention to the fact that you are now in the clouds. You focus solely on the dragon, not even questioning the wisdom of beating the one thing keeping you alive.
“I shall release your mind back into the web of dreams...“ The words tumble through the back of your mind for a moment. Dream? really?
This is a dream? Then…
“SWORD!” You bark at the stick. Suddenly it’s no longer a stick but your bronze sword, gleaming in the golden sunlight like the day you forged it. The dragon’s head whips around dizzyingly; you almost fall. As it is, you slide backwards down its neck. You wrap your arms around the neck as well, barely staying on.
You growl and stab your bronze sword deep into the dragon’s neck. The beast roars, a roar so loud that the reverberations knock you loose. You tumble through the air and away from the only thing keeping you aloft. The ground is far, far below you. A screech above you; you look up only to catch a blast of fire as the dying dragon swoops down towards you. All-consuming heat wraps you in blazing pain. You feel your skin charring, your flesh burning, even your bones crumbling…
All that is left is your soul. As a bright spark of light, you continue to plummet downwards. Above you the dragon itself finally dies as well, its body too burning away until all that is left is a blazing comet. The comet smashes into you with the force of an avalanche and again you are consumed by burning light.
You feel a voice in your being once more. ”You rose to my challenge, young mage. I give you my strength for the trials ahead.” The voice - and the comet of fire - fades, leaving you and the rapidly-approaching ground. The ground fills your vision… and you startle awake. You remember the dream so vividly, so clearly. It’s astonishing. You can remember the strength of that dragon, the strength of its soul as it collided with you… In fact, you can still feel its furious strength, burning inside you.
Ability Gained: Dragon Aspect (Level 1)! The strength of the dragon that you beat the stuffing out of burns inside of you. Gain +1 to strength and fire- and light-magic rolls. This ability fades if you become very cold.
Lyu Brak (Harry Baldman)Profession: Priest
Status: Stabbing himself.
Inventory:Staff (Bronze-Capped)
Religious Necklace
Warm Priestly Robes and Pants
Warm Priestly Shoes
180 gold
10 Jimsonweed Fruit
Bits of Thuun’s legs
Jagged shard of bone (In foot)
Wounds/Status: [Stabbed and Bleeding Foot][/abbr]
Abilities: [Boundlessly Cheerful] [The Good Priest] [Not that faithful] [Righteous Litany (2/6)]Baldur Bergfalk (USEC_OFFICER)Profession: Mercenary
Status: Sticking Life mages in strange places
Inventory:Broken greatsword
Worn leather jerkin (and normal clothes)
Worn leather boots
Bear fur cloak300 gold
Wounds/Status: [Burned Left Hand (Palm) (3/8)] [Slashed left eye] Abilities: [Skilled Bargainer] [Guileless] [I'm Not Right Handed] Lao Thuun (BFEL)Profession: Warrior Mage
Status: Beating the snot out of a dragon
Inventory: Blunted bronze sword
Leather armour and boots
Acolyte's SuncloakReligious Necklace
210 gold
Wounds/Status: [Totally Mutilated Legs]Abilities:[Enduring] [Dragon Aspect: 1] [Atoner] [Spellsword] Spells:[Life Spell: Wisp] Magical Experience:[Ea: 0] [Wi: 0] [Fi: 0] [Wa: 0] [Li: 2] [Fo: -1] [Lt: 0] [Sh: 0] Felice Nasib (Pancaek)Profession: Seaman
Status: Finding shinies
Inventory: Repaired Shortbow
Eighteen Arrows
Razor-sharp DirkNautical Longcoat and Boots
313 gold
KidzukuWounds/Status: You're perfectly healthy!
Abilities: [Fearless] [Kidzuku: Arrowtime] [Not a Landlubber] [Trick Shot] [Kidzuku: Comprehension]Ekoka (GreatWyrmGold)Profession: Wanderer
Status: Meditatin’
Inventory: Cracked shillelagh
Wanderer's Cloak
Sturdy Clothes and Boots
Length of Rope
Flint and Tinder
380 gold
Wounds/Status: You’re all good!
Abilities: [Survivalist] [Dual Focus] [Slow Cast] [Maladjusted to heat] [Guiding Spirit] Spells:[Wind Spell: Alacrity]Magical Experience:[Ea: 0] [Wi: 1] [Fi: 0] [Wa: 0] [Li: 0] [Fo: 0] [Lt: 0] [Sh: 0] 
Author
Topic: Roll to Go Mad: Turn 44 - The Markets (Read 131989 times)