52: No one hit wonders, here!

[Ebiris]

[13:58] <@Ebiris> With the curtain descended, there's time to prepare for the next act while the visbaronetess sings her unearthly aria to keep the crowd interested. "It's been easy up till now," Robahl remarks, his thick mustache quivering nervously as he rubs his hands together seeming to have lost his bombastic edge as the tension of the real performance ebbs at him.
[13:58] <@Ebiris> "This next act could well see our first death of the show. Are you all ready?" he asks as the two safe actors hang back - Calseinica seems quite nervous and worried, but Thesing all but crows with the prospect of seeing someone dead on the stage.
[13:58] <@Ebiris> Of course Millech is on hand to actually unshackle Tobin, Rudy, and Lucie from their torture post, shuffling it off the stage afterwards.
[14:00] * @Lucie stretches for a moment, free of bonds. "People've tried to kill me before. I'm still here. Let's do this."
[14:00] <@Rudy> Rudy cricks his back, rubbing the sore spots with a degree of wincing. "Gotta be quick with the knives, he says," he mutters, waving a hand and activating a shielding spell.
[14:01] <@Ebiris> "Should I get my armour back, now?" Tobin asks, receiving a shake of the director's head.
[14:01] <@Ebiris> "You won't be fighting yet, and it would just get in the way. Next act, though... if you survive."
[14:03] <@Henrietta> "It would be very ignoble to die without so much as a fight," Henrietta notes quietly. "Are the three of you alright?"
[14:03] <@Ebiris> "I'll live," Tobin assures Henrietta cockily. "Never knew you were so handy with a whip!"
[14:04] * Joins: Mistvalken (~Madeline@203-206-227-61.perm.iinet.net.au)
[14:04] * Quits: @Rudy (~Madeline@203-206-227-61.perm.iinet.net.au) (Killed (NickServ (GHOST command used by Mistvalken)))
[14:04] * Mistvalken is now known as Rudy
[14:04] <Rudy> "I could be better," replies Rudy. A summoning spell occurs a moment later, and a viper coils its way around his arm, beneath the folds of his ensorcelled outfit. Hopefully nobody will notice...
[14:05] <@Lucie> "Fine," Lucie says. "Nothing that won't heal up."
[14:05] <@Ebiris> OOC: make a sleight of hand check, Rudy?
[14:05] <Rudy> roll 1d20+5
[14:05] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+5 and gets 25." [1d20=20]
[14:06] <@Ebiris> Luckily for him, no one notices Rudy's stealthy summoning. Or seems to, at least. Outside the aria seems to be reaching its close, and Robahl quickly hisses, "Remember, once the flukes burrow inside you must act as if you are in exquisite ecstacy, no matter how much it hurts!"
[14:07] <@Ebiris> OOC: 22 minutes for spell durations
[14:07] <@Lucie> "I--what?!"
[14:08] <@Ebiris> "Trial by *pleasure*," the director re-asserts once last time before he rushes off stage and the curtain rises!
[14:08] <Rudy> Every act is a new way to feel like less of a man. But Rudy's snake is surely much larger than any fluke.
[14:10] <@Henrietta> This, too, is part of being an adventurer. Isn't it?
[14:11] <@Ebiris> Thus the crowd falls appreciatively silent as the whipscarred forms of Larazod, Dentris, and Tybain are joined by the imposing torturer Drovalid. Ilsandra continues to lounge sensually by the magistrate's throne, and Haanderthan draws himself up to speak as a silent and hooded bailiff enters from off-stage bearing four elaborate sacrifical knives and four jars. One of each are handed to the players in turn as the magistrate begins his speech.
[14:11] <@Ebiris> "It is said that a liar's pain is easy to bear, but pleasure steals truth from even the most well-tended fortress. So let it be with ye, Larazod. Here before you now are the Flukes of Aphrodite. Their bite more pleasurable than the caresses of a thousand succubi. Taste of their deep burrowing bliss. Their rapturous journey through your body shall explore the deepest, darkest pleasures any mortal has ever known. Their soul-shuddering wanderings end in your skull, where they plant their young who consume you in an orgiastic frenzy - leaving you an empty husk of a thing - a spent lover, drooling in blissful oblivion forever. Unless, of course, you can resist these god-bending pleasures. Who shall be the first to die in spasms of ecstasy?"
[14:12] <@Ebiris> A few women at the front of the audience are seen fanning themselves and looking at Thesing with rapt interest, but the crowd as a whole seems quite intrigued by the potential of this trial. "Oh, how I long to face such judgement!" Ilsandra croons artfully, giving Larazod a smoky look.
[14:12] * @Lucie decides maybe she can take a moment to watch how someone else deals with this before suffering through it herself, and maintains a silent facade of stony determination for now.
[14:13] * @Henrietta is scared, now that she is faced with such terrible prospects. But she could hardly leave this to someone else and cower elsewhere. "Do your worst!" she declares, stepping forward defiantly.
[14:14] <@Lucie> "See how our struggle inspires dear Drovalid," Lucie says to the magistrate. "I wonder who will join us next?"
[14:14] <@Ebiris> "Your courage is beyond question, Drovalid!" Larazod calls approvingly, "Show this lickspittle magistrate the meaning of devotion, my friend!"
[14:16] * Joins: Mistvalken (~Madeline@203-206-227-61.perm.iinet.net.au)
[14:16] <@Ebiris> "Hmph," Haanderthan sneers, "So be it, traitor. Your doom awaits in that jar you now hold. Even now a dormant fluke curls within, waiting for its first taste of sweet living flesh. Allow it to partake of you, and we will see if you still possess the will to cut it out before your wits are addled and your body ruined!"
[14:17] * Quits: Rudy (~Madeline@203-206-227-61.perm.iinet.net.au) (Killed (NickServ (GHOST command used by Mistvalken)))
[14:17] * Mistvalken is now known as Rudy
[14:18] <Rudy> ""Such worms are pale things compared to true love! Friend Drovalid, whatever pleasure this might give you, let me tell you- the real thing is better by far, little as Ilsandra might know!"
[14:19] <@Ebiris> "Hah, the boy paladin jests at scars that never felt a wound!" Ilsandra laughs gaily, covering her mouth.
[14:20] <@Lucie> "Certainly not with the magistrate as her companion. From the look of him, I daresay she's never felt a thing."
[14:20] <@Henrietta> This is for Lady Lavinia! Henrietta ignores the boasts of her friends, and removes the jar's cap. She lets it drop to the floor, and tilts the jar towards her outstretched left arm.
[14:21] <@Ebiris> "Nor will he ever, if dear Drovalid justifies my faith," Ilsandra asserts as a slimy elongated maggot-thing with a circular maw of tiny sharp teeth tumbles out of the jar to land on Drovalid's bare arm! It wastes little time before burrowing into her flesh as if it were water, chewing and biting its way into her!
[14:21] <@Ebiris> OOC: fort save Henri, first of all
[14:22] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+4 (+2 vs poison)
[14:22] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+4 (+2 vs poison) and gets 19." [1d20=15]
[14:22] <@Ebiris> OOC: pass, no effect. Carry on.
[14:27] <@Henrietta> Henrietta clutches her stomach with her now-free hand, the jar discarded. Her expression of surprise hardly needs to be feigned. Then, a shudder passes through her spine and she sinks to her knees as if her feet could no longer support her weight, haltingly drawing that hand up her front slowly until it comes to rest over her face, fingers splayed.
[14:28] <@Lucie> On watching this display, Lucie suddenly thinks going first might've made this easier--it's less the act than it is seeing something actually burrow into Henri's body.
[14:28] <@Ebiris> A few gasps of revulsion come from the audience at the sight of Drovalid being infested so, while Larazod takes a half-step towards her. "Be not defeated so easily, brave Drovalid! The knife, use the knife!"
[14:29] <Rudy> Rudy's hand strays towards his own dagger, gasping with unease that is all too real.
[14:31] <@Henrietta> Henrietta's eyes dart towards Tobin, and her hand reaches out jerkily towards the ceremonial blade. She needs two attempts to grasp it by the handle, but once it is firmly in her hand Henrietta wastes no more time in trying to cut out the hideous worm burrowing into her flesh!
[14:31] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+8 heal
[14:31] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+8 heal and gets 12." [1d20=4]
[14:32] <@Ebiris> It's no good, though - with her shaky hand, the once steely torturer cannot make a proper cut where her skin bulges from the fluke's ingress, only managing to nick herself!
[14:32] <@Ebiris> OOC: fort save
[14:32] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+4
[14:32] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+4 and gets 16." [1d20=12]
[14:32] <@Ebiris> roll 1d2 con damage
[14:32] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d2 con damage and gets 2." [1d2=2]
[14:34] <@Lucie> "Resist, Drovalid!" Lucie calls out. "Throw aside the shackles of pleasure!"
[14:34] <@Ebiris> Up her arm it travels, past her elbow and towards her shoulder it burrows and devours flesh in its path, visible as a gross bulge on her skin!
[14:35] * @Henrietta gasps, breaking out into a cold sweat. She squeezes her eyes shut in a desperate attempt to focus, and then they fly open and her dagger cuts out a length across her left shoulder!
[14:35] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+8 heal
[14:35] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+8 heal and gets 25." [1d20=17]
[14:35] <@Ebiris> OOC: success. Feel free to describe how you cut it out and what you do with it
[14:37] <@Ebiris> roll 2d6 damage as well
[14:37] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 2d6 damage as well and gets 9." [2d6=6, 3]
[14:40] <@Henrietta> Her skin parts before her blade, perhaps too deeply than what was required. But her strike is true, for Henrietta can see those vicious teeth poke out of the wound, ever-seeking more of her flesh to eat. This time, the only food they find is the cold blade of the ceremonial dagger, as Henrietta impales the fluke and then hurriedly tosses the knife aside across the stage, looking away. Her hands
[14:40] <@Henrietta> continue to shake, but after a moment she raises her head towards the magistrate. "The real thing," she says laborously, forcing herself to go on, "is better by far indeed. Was this your worst?"
[14:42] <@Ebiris> Haanderthan smiles maliciously. "More trials await, traitor. But we shall see how well your new friends fare... who will be next?"
[14:42] <@Lucie> "I cannot be shown up by our new companion," Lucie says with an attempt at inspired defiance. "I will undertake the trial next!"
[14:43] <@Ebiris> "Be strong, Dentris," Larazod gives his support to the sorceress. "Not even these unearthly pleasures could pierce your dour wit, I am sure!"
[14:44] <Rudy> "One look at what Dentris is made of, and the slugs will by scurrying away in fear!"
[14:45] * @Lucie opens the jar and allows the creature inside access to her right arm. Let the foul little thing choke on her diseased flesh!
[14:47] <@Ebiris> The slimy wriggling grub tumbles out onto Dentris' arm, and shows little hesitation in burrowing into her skin... and yet, it does seem to have slower progress than the other one had through Drovalid's softer flesh.
[14:47] <@Ebiris> OOC: fort save, bonus vs disease applies
[14:47] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+7 total, then
[14:47] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+7 total, then and gets 27." [1d20=20]
[14:47] <@Ebiris> OOC: no con damage, carry on
[14:48] <Rudy> Whilst Lucie's body does battle with parasitic invaders, Rudy takes a step next to Henri and lightly lays his hand on her shoulder for just a moment.
[14:49] <@Lucie> Lucie drops to her knees, mouth open and eyes shut in a display meant to mimic one in the throes of ecstasy with a lover (or as close an approximation as her imagination can grant her here). As long a show of struggle as she feels the audience needs to believe it, and then it's time for the knife!
[14:51] <@Ebiris> OOC: heal check, then
[14:51] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+8
[14:51] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+8 and gets 28." [1d20=20]
[14:51] <@Ebiris> OOC: success, same deal as Henri had
[14:51] <@Ebiris> roll 1d6 damage
[14:51] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d6 damage and gets 1." [1d6=1]
[14:54] <@Lucie> Lucie gouges the thing out from where its progress had stalled, flings it to the floor and stomps on it viciously. "'More than a thousand succubi?' Hah! More like a two-copper whore, I say. Is that what you call pleasure, Magistrate? I weep for Ilsandra, then."
[14:55] * @Henrietta struggles to her feet, using the nearby Rudy for support. Just what sort of training did Lucie put herself through to shrug this horrible thing and its effects off so easily?
[14:56] <@Ebiris> "I cannot let all my friends suffer before me. I will face the trial next," Larazod announces as Dentris proves her mettle. He raises his arm aloft after opening the jar, allowing the maggot thing to fall onto his impressively curled bicep where it proceeds to try and worm its way into the thick corded muscle of the warrior!
[14:56] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+8
[14:56] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+8 and gets 15." [1d20=7]
[14:56] <@Ebiris> roll 1d2 con damage
[14:56] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d2 con damage and gets 2." [1d2=2]
[14:58] <@Ebiris> "Ahh, such bliss!" Larazod winces and stumbles as the creature worms into his flesh. "But I sing only of the joy of supplication to our Dark Lord! This pleasure is a gift from Him, but my work here is undone!" he doesn't try to cut it out immediately, instead giving an impassioned speech in the throes of bliss as the fluke burrows upwards!
[14:58] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+7 fort save
[14:58] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+7 fort save and gets 23." [1d20=16]
[15:00] <@Ebiris> "This pleasure..." he now takes his knife just as the grub reaches his neck, bulging out horrifically as it wriggles and devours, "I scorn it with a bleeding blade! I shall not relent until your lies are exposed, foul magistrate!" so finishing with that, he brings his knife up as if to stab even through his neck to excise the parasite!
[15:00] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+7 heal
[15:00] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+7 heal and gets 27." [1d20=20]
[15:00] <@Ebiris> roll 2d6 damage
[15:00] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 2d6 damage and gets 5." [2d6=3, 2]
[15:01] <Rudy> "Larazod's purity is such that even under Aphrodite's caress, none would stop his voice from speaking justice!"
[15:01] <@Ebiris> With a deft flick, he skewers the fluke and pulls it out of his neck, flinging the knife to the ground where it strikes the wooden boards impaling the grub in its death throes!
[15:02] <@Ebiris> "Oh, to have been that fluke, to have tasted such sweet flesh! Even in its demise I am envious!" Ilsandra croons, making loving eyes at Larazod despite Haanderthan's mounting ire.
[15:04] <Rudy> Rudy flexes his palms. "I'll not break either, my friends. Apollo's lyre plays for us now; he understands pleasure as he understands virtue. We are blessed!" He steps forward towards the last jar, reaching to twist it open and upend it on his arm!
[15:04] <@Henrietta> "I was wrong to doubt him," Henrietta agrees, shaking her head in remorse. She looks towards Haanderthan once more. "Would you not reconsider, Magistrate? How much more proof do you need? Stop yourself from making your mistake even greater!"
[15:05] <@Ebiris> "Hah, we'll see how the young 'hero' finds his first taste of real pleasure," the magistrate scowls venomously as the fluke falls onto Tybain's arm, eagerly diving into the succulent flesh it finds there! "You allow yourself to be deceived too easily, Drovalid. Mark my words, the truth will out."
[15:05] <@Ebiris> OOC: fort save, Rudy
[15:06] <Rudy> roll 1d20+4
[15:06] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+4 and gets 16." [1d20=12]
[15:06] <@Ebiris> roll 1d2 con damage
[15:06] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d2 con damage and gets 2." [1d2=2]
[15:10] <Rudy> Rudy's eyes widen in shock, with his face twisting in an awesome grimace as he sinks to his knees. "It is... it is not enough!" he calls, a tremulous hand reaching for his face. "For a man like myself, this-!" He clutches the dagger in his right hand, and clenching his teeth. "I will test you, Aphrodite!"
[15:12] <@Ebiris> "Ah, Appolo's servant always seeks a challenge. But hold true, my dear friend! Aphrodite's wiles, and those of our treacherous magistrate, are not to be underestimated!" Larazod calls in support of Tybain.
[15:12] <@Ebiris> OOC: another fort save if you're waiting
[15:12] <Rudy> roll 1d20+3
[15:12] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+3 and gets 19." [1d20=16]
[15:13] <@Ebiris> The vile fluke wriggles distressingly under Rudy's skin, working its instinctive path upwards, towards its preferred nesting ground in the brain... for now it's still on his upper arm, but it keeps pushing and devouring its way forward!
[15:13] <@Ebiris> OOC: no con damage
[15:13] <Rudy> "It is nothing!" declares Rudy, reaching for his dagger and driving it into his flesh!
[15:13] <Rudy> roll 1d20+7 ow
[15:13] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+7 ow and gets 25." [1d20=18]
[15:13] <@Ebiris> OOC: success, describe as is your wont
[15:13] <@Ebiris> roll 2d6 damage
[15:13] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 2d6 damage and gets 11." [2d6=5, 6]
[15:16] <Rudy> Pulling it free, he eyes the fluke stuck at the edge of his dagger with disdain. The snake in his arms receives a silent command, and slithers down his shirt proper.
[15:16] <Rudy> "You wanted to taste this, Illsandra?" he yells, turning about and flinging the fluke-holding dagger just past her, so that it might stick to the throne between her and the magistrate! "I tell you, it was nothing! As you can see-" He thrusts his hips, allowing everyone to see a tremendous bulge below the waste. "I am still strong!"
[15:16] <@Ebiris> OOC: make a charisma check, Rudy
[15:17] <Rudy> roll 1d20+5
[15:17] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+5 and gets 25." [1d20=20]
[15:18] <@Ebiris> Rudy's display receives a few lusty catcalls from the audience, and even Calseinica has trouble maintaining character in face of that display, only blushing and half looking away while keeping one eye on Rudy in appalled fascination.
[15:18] <@Ebiris> Up in her box, Lavinia covers a nervous titter while the female members of the Jade Ravens and Trucy all look down at Rudy with newfound respect.
[15:19] * @Lucie laughs along with Rudy's display. "There, you see, Magistrate? Relying on such pitiful worms to deal out pleasure--it must be your own is not up to the task!"
[15:20] <@Ebiris> "Curse your persistence! And curse your unseemly virility, young paladin!" Haanderthan scowls and shakes his fist. "All lies eventually reveal their ugly fangs. I shall draw them as venom from a wound!" It seems that he gets that last word, too, since that's when the curtain begins to drop on the Trial by Pleasure.
[15:21] <@Ebiris> After the curtain has dropped and a somewhat shaky chorus begun by the narrator, Tobin can only ask, "What the hell is that all about, Rudy?", looking at him in horror.
[15:22] * @Henrietta would be doing that very same thing, but that would require actually looking at Rudy. Her eyes remain firmly averted!
[15:22] <Rudy> "It's acting. Improvisation," replies Rudy, allowing the snake to vanish without fanfare. "Is this meant to be a classy thing, all of a sudden? These people are here for sex and violence, not a distillation on law."
[15:23] <@Lucie> "Jealous, are we, Tobin?" Lucie wonders with a laugh, shortly cutting herself off. "Apologies. That was Dentris speaking."
[15:24] <@Ebiris> "Hey, it's what you do with it that counts!" Tobin retorts to Lucie.
[15:24] <@Henrietta> "Umm." Henrietta shakes off her hesitation. "We have little time, so could you all come closer?"
[15:25] <@Ebiris> "I think the crowd approved, anyway," the director approaches. "Good job on surviving, all of you. The next act will be even worse, though."
[15:25] <@Lucie> "Yes?" she says to Henrietta curiously, moving closer as requested.
[15:25] <@Henrietta> "They all get even worse," Henrietta mutters quietly.
[15:26] <Rudy> "Of course they do," replies Rudy, shaking his head and stepping forward. "Risking our lives is one thing. This is... something else."
[15:27] <@Henrietta> "About that, well, that risking thing?" Henrietta voices quietly. "Remember that scroll we had? This is the time to use it."
[15:27] <@Ebiris> "Hey, I better get my armour on. Give me a hand, Calseinica?" Tobin asks the leading lady, who eagerly hurries over to start garbing Larazod in his dark plate-mail.
[15:27] <@Lucie> "What, did you think it wasn't going to be ugly or something, Rudy?"
[15:29] <Rudy> "Well, I- I didn't think whips and flesh-eating worms would be involved," retorts Rudy, grimacing. "Bloody hell. No going back now, I know!"
[15:29] <@Lucie> "Bloody hell, too right. No way it can be anything but given the story." A nod to Henri. "Right, on with it, then."
[15:30] <@Henrietta> "Then you really are bothered about the whip?" Henrietta asks sadly. "I-- I apologize for that!"
[15:30] <Rudy> "Oh- geez, Henri, I don't blame you," replies Rudy, awkwardly. "Better you than Lucie with that thing, anyway."
[15:31] <@Lucie> "What?" Lucie narrows her gaze on Rudy. "What's wrong with me, now?"
[15:31] <@Henrietta> "I suppose it is true," Henrietta muses. She takes a moment to retrieve their scroll of Spider Climb. "A weapon is always best in trained hands. All right, is everyone ready?"
[15:32] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+5 CL
[15:32] <@Ebiris> "Better put it behind you," Robahl suggests, "You'll want to work together to escape the Beast."
[15:32] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+5 CL and gets 25." [1d20=20]
[15:32] <@Ebiris> OOC: who are you casting that on, Henri?
[15:32] <@Henrietta> OOC: I'm spreading a communal spider climb between us four.
[15:32] <@Ebiris> OOC: okay
[15:33] <@Ebiris> "What's that?" Calseinica asks as Henrietta casts her spell, just finishing helping Tobin put his greaves on.
[15:34] <@Henrietta> "Well, I am really a sorceress, you know, so this was my way to help everyone!"
[15:35] <@Ebiris> "Oh... wish I could do that," the young actress pouts. "I suppose if I'm the last one in and the first one out of the beast I should be safe. You'll all help me, right?"
[15:36] <Rudy> Rudy tosses the girl a small vial. "Drink it for luck," he replies, with a wink.
[15:36] <@Henrietta> "Of course!" Henrietta vows. "I would never leave someone behind! I swear upon my honor!" She wilts slightly. "Appearances nonwithstanding."
[15:36] <@Ebiris> She deftly catches it and trustingly uncaps it and drinks it down in one go!
[15:37] <@Lucie> "Ah, but your part's all about finding honor, isn't it, Henri."
[15:37] <@Henrietta> "I do think it is quite thoroughly lost."
[15:38] <@Ebiris> "You make quite a good repentent villain," Calseinica grins, tossing the empty vial off stage and moving back to her place. "Think we're about to go back on, now!" Indeed the song outside seems to be closing...
[15:38] <@Ebiris> OOC: 31 minutes for spell durations
[15:40] * @Henrietta is ready for her part, hoping it would not be the last!
[15:42] <@Ebiris> From before the stage comes the narrator's smooth voice, announcing just as the curtain rises. "Act the Fourth. Trial in the Belly of the Beast." From rehearsals, sadly absent a beast, the actors at least know that the beginning of this act is not a fiery speech from the magistrate, but instead a rumination on the events of the previous trials and what they can expect from the ones ahead by the accused.
[15:44] <@Ebiris> "Such horrors we've seen already," Larazod shakes his head grimly, standing tall now in his armour. "What next, I wonder?"
[15:45] <Rudy> "They've been but the slaps of children compared to what the harpy and her paramour would have in store for us," intones Rudy. "Their minds concoct nothing but viciousness."
[15:46] <@Lucie> "Feeble creatures with naught but petty tortures for us," Lucie says dismissively. "Perhaps next the MAgistrate will have small children pelt us with stones."
[15:50] <Rudy> "What say you, Drovalid? 'tis you who is most familiar with their depredations."
[15:50] <@Henrietta> "There was once a vile Titan," Henrietta speaks, positioned as she to address her friends and the audience both. "The greatest of them all. It is with his foul gift that the Magistrate will test you now, Larazod." She gives Rudy a sharp look of warning. "Be not so eager to dismiss the dangers, Tybain, for this horror comes not from the mind of a man! As Chronos would devour his children, lest
[15:50] <@Henrietta> they oppose him, so does his loyal beast, the one he bribed Hades with to make good on his escape from the Underworld!" Oh, what nonsense is she saying? Will her common sense ever forgive her? "It is not enough to avoid its sharp teeth, for terrible serpents lay within its stomach, spewing poison and acid! Only the purest of heart, those truly honest and bearing truth within them, only they will
[15:50] <@Henrietta> escape such horrors!" Henrietta looks at Larazod resolutely. "But I believe in you, and in your innocence! As long as you hold onto that belief, you will be alright! You, and Tybain--" She glances at Lucie, winces visibly and then moves on, "--all of us!"
[15:54] <@Ebiris> The audience seems quite rapt with Henrietta's tale, on the edge of their seats with eagerness to see this fabled Beast!
[15:56] <@Ebiris> "Hold fast, my friends. Have faith in Hades," Larazod asserts bravely to bring heart to his companions in the face of this threat!
[15:57] <@Henrietta> "I held doubt once," Henrietta vows before him. "Never again! I am ready!"
[16:00] <@Ebiris> Speaking his first lines of this act with bombastic presence, Haanderthan announces, "The next trial demands a great sacrifice. Ye, who speaks for the fallen one, the lone traitor on the council who speaks against my august personage. You must brave this trial, and all that follow, alongside the accused," concluding his speech by pointing accusingly at the seductress by his side.
[16:00] <@Ebiris> Ilsandra laughs gaily and draws herself up. "Gladly! I stand at this knight's side, or at his back, or him at mine, or perhaps I should bolster him up from below or allow him to do the same to me. You shall see how devotedly I attend his pleasure, for he speaks the truth!"
[16:00] <@Ebiris> "Then burn with him," the magistrate intones darkly.
[16:00] <@Ebiris> Seeming undeterred, Ilsandra flounces over to join Larazod, embracing him with a fiery kiss!
[16:02] <Rudy> "Have a care, Larazod! She thinks of you as not a man, naught but a prize to be claimed!" Rudy recoils from the woman in horror, crossing his arms over his chest!
[16:03] * @Henrietta merely casts her eyes aside sadly.
[16:03] <@Lucie> "Would you complain so were that prize you, Tybain?" Lucie jests.
[16:04] <Rudy> "Do you think so little of me, Dentris? That I would lie with vipers? I am a purer man than that!"
[16:04] <@Lucie> "I think perhaps you know a great deal about snakes, eh Tybain?"
[16:06] <@Ebiris> That doesn't stop him from giving as good as he gets when his lips meet Ilsandra's. But when they part and she drapes herself over him, she casts Tybain a disparaging look. "No man can compare to Larazod, and I gladly recognise him as the greatest of them all," she declares, before starting in alarm. "But soft, what terror approaches? Our pleasures must wait..." Indeed as she speaks, a group of figures dressed from head to toe in black appear from behind the rear curtain, wheeling with them a massive sculpture of iron, wood, and green glass. The huge serpentine Beast opens its carved maw wide enough for a man to walk through its long neck into a body much like a vast green bottle of thick glass, acid bubbling within!
[16:06] <Rudy> "If I did not before, it seems I am about to learn," replies Rudy, with a faint tremor.
[16:09] <@Lucie> "I've naught to fear from serpents," Lucie proclaims boldly, striding forward to prove it!
[16:09] <@Ebiris> The sculpture is wheeled to be placed side on along the stage, giving the audience a good view into its transparent body where the action will soon occur. Clambering inside, Lucie finds herself assailed by fumes and forced to scramble up the side of the body to try and avoid having her ankles melted!
[16:09] <@Ebiris> OOC: fort save and then reflex save, Lucie
[16:10] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+3 fort
[16:10] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+3 fort and gets 11." [1d20=8]
[16:10] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+3 ref
[16:10] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+3 ref and gets 10." [1d20=7]
[16:10] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4 acid damage and you're sickened (-2 to attacks, damage, skills, saves for one round)
[16:10] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d4 acid damage and you're sickened (-2 to attacks, damage, skills, saves for one round) and gets 2." [1d4=2]
[16:11] <@Ebiris> OOC: feel free to describe your entry with that in mind, then it's Tobin's turn
[16:12] * @Lucie slips and slides into the interior almost out of control, gasping as acid laps at her. She keeps up a strong front, though! "But the serpent's venom is a sweet balm compared to the Magistrate's prattling!"
[16:13] <@Ebiris> "Come horror, I shall tear my way from your gizzard with the white-hot blade of truth!" Larazod announces as he strides after Dentris into the belly of the beast!
[16:13] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+7 fort
[16:13] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+7 fort and gets 15." [1d20=8]
[16:13] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+3 reflex
[16:13] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+3 reflex and gets 15." [1d20=12]
[16:14] <@Ebiris> He's a good bit more nimble than the wizard even in his armour, bracing himself against the side and keeping himself moving to avoid immersion even as he slides!
[16:14] <@Ebiris> OOC: same saves for Lucie, round 2
[16:14] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+1 fort
[16:14] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+1 fort and gets 18." [1d20=17]
[16:14] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+1 ref
[16:14] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+1 ref and gets 3." [1d20=2]
[16:15] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4 damage but at least you're not sickened
[16:15] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d4 damage but at least you're not sickened and gets 1." [1d4=1]
[16:15] * @Henrietta steps fearlessly inside, saying clearly, "Where you lead, Larazod, I will follow."
[16:15] * @Lucie slides into the acid up to her knees, clawing at the side of the glass to try and pull herself up.
[16:15] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+3 fort
[16:15] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+3 fort and gets 20." [1d20=17]
[16:16] <@Ebiris> OOC: fort and reflex saves, Henri. Same for Lucie and Tobin, round 3.
[16:16] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+4 ref
[16:16] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+4 ref and gets 23." [1d20=19]
[16:16] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+3 fort
[16:16] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+3 fort and gets 14." [1d20=11]
[16:16] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+3 ref
[16:16] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+3 ref and gets 13." [1d20=10]
[16:16] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+7 Tobin fort
[16:16] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+7 Tobin fort and gets 12." [1d20=5]
[16:16] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+3 Tobin reflex
[16:16] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+3 Tobin reflex and gets 10." [1d20=7]
[16:16] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4 acid damage for Tobin and Lucie
[16:16] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d4 acid damage for Tobin and Lucie and gets 4." [1d4=4]
[16:16] * @Henrietta strides forward with such confidence and conviction that it almost seems as if the acid parts before her and her purity!
[16:17] <@Ebiris> Larazod slips a bit, dipping his foot in the acid and quickly scrambling up with a pained hiss. "I will not relent, even inside this mindless beast!"
[16:18] <Rudy> "Forward, friends! We will force our way through, even if it kills us!" It really might, at this rate, but Rudy tries to ignore that small detail as he rushes into a tube of foot-melting acid.
[16:18] <Rudy> roll 1d20+4 fort
[16:18] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+4 fort and gets 17." [1d20=13]
[16:18] <Rudy> roll 1d20+6 ref
[16:18] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+6 ref and gets 15." [1d20=9]
[16:18] * @Lucie grimaces, composure failing her as her grip slips and she slides down the wall on her belly.
[16:18] <@Ebiris> OOC: same saves for everyone inside, round 4, Rudy passed
[16:18] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+7 tobin fort
[16:18] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+7 tobin fort and gets 8." [1d20=1]
[16:18] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+3 tobin reflex
[16:18] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+3 tobin reflex and gets 14." [1d20=11]
[16:18] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+3 fort
[16:18] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+3 fort and gets 15." [1d20=12]
[16:18] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+4 ref
[16:18] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+4 ref and gets 8." [1d20=4]
[16:19] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+3 fort
[16:19] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+3 fort and gets 19." [1d20=16]
[16:19] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+3 ref
[16:19] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+3 ref and gets 13." [1d20=10]
[16:19] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4 acid damage for Tobin, Henri, and Lucie. Tobin is sickened
[16:19] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d4 acid damage for Tobin, Henri, and Lucie. Tobin is sickened and gets 3." [1d4=3]
[16:20] <@Ebiris> Larazod coughs and chokes, stumbling into the acid as he loses his coordination!
[16:20] <@Henrietta> The acid hisses against her boots, eating through them, but Henrietta endures stoicly. As Larazod stumbles, she is there to offer him a hand and keep him steady.
[16:23] <@Ebiris> Ilsandra now takes her turn in the belly of the beast, clambering daintily inside. "For Larazod!" she says to compose herself as she enters the maw!
[16:23] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+1 ilsandra fort
[16:23] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+1 ilsandra fort and gets 11." [1d20=10]
[16:23] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+4 ilsandra fort reflex
[16:23] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+4 ilsandra fort reflex and gets 8." [1d20=4]
[16:24] <@Ebiris> OOC: same saves for everyone else, round 5
[16:24] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+5 tobin fort
[16:24] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+5 tobin fort and gets 11." [1d20=6]
[16:24] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+1 tobin reflex
[16:24] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+1 tobin reflex and gets 15." [1d20=14]
[16:24] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+3 fort
[16:24] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+3 fort and gets 15." [1d20=12]
[16:24] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+4 ref
[16:24] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+4 ref and gets 9." [1d20=5]
[16:24] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+3 fort
[16:24] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+3 fort and gets 12." [1d20=9]
[16:24] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+3 ref
[16:24] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+3 ref and gets 17." [1d20=14]
[16:24] <Rudy> There are many pithy lines Rudy could deliver at Ilsandra's expense, but he just can't bring himself to taunt someone getting a shoe full of acid. Instead, he focuses only on making his way across...
[16:24] <Rudy> roll 1d20+4
[16:24] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+4 and gets 20." [1d20=16]
[16:24] <Rudy> roll 1d20+6 ref
[16:24] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+6 ref and gets 26." [1d20=20]
[16:25] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4 acid damage ilsandra, henrietta, ilsandra and tobin are sickened
[16:25] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d4 acid damage ilsandra, henrietta, ilsandra and tobin are sickened and gets 2." [1d4=2]
[16:26] <@Ebiris> With everyone now inside, the black-clad stage hands run around the sculpture, pulling down on its upraised tail which seems to act as a lever making the head ascend upwards on a long neck, presenting a formidable climb upwards to safety! It's narrow enough to brace on, but the only handholds are tiny vicious looking hooks studded about its insides!
[16:29] <@Ebiris> "Someone give me a hand," Ilsandra whispers hopefully as she starts to climb up... but finds it's a lot easier than she expected with Rudy's potion, clambering up into the beast's maw with ease! But as she does so, everyone else must suffer the acid inside!
[16:29] <@Ebiris> OOC: fort and reflex everyone
[16:29] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+5 tobin fort
[16:29] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+5 tobin fort and gets 8." [1d20=3]
[16:29] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+1 tobin reflex
[16:29] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+1 tobin reflex and gets 13." [1d20=12]
[16:29] <@Lucie> "Onward and out, brave companions!" Lucie says, pointing up the neck. "I've learnt enough about serpenet anatomy for one lifetime!
[16:29] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+3 fort
[16:29] <Rudy> roll 1d20+4 fort
[16:29] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+3 fort and gets 6." [1d20=3]
[16:29] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+4 fort and gets 14." [1d20=10]
[16:29] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+3 ref
[16:29] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+3 ref and gets 12." [1d20=9]
[16:29] <Rudy> roll 1d20+6 ref
[16:29] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+6 ref and gets 13." [1d20=7]
[16:29] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+3 fort
[16:29] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+3 fort and gets 12." [1d20=9]
[16:29] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+4 ref
[16:29] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+4 ref and gets 5." [1d20=1]
[16:30] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4 acid damage to Tobin, Lucie, Rudy, and Henrietta. Tobin and Lucie are sickened
[16:30] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d4 acid damage to Tobin, Lucie, Rudy, and Henrietta. Tobin and Lucie are sickened and gets 4." [1d4=4]
[16:31] <@Ebiris> Larazod coughs and sputters as he stumbles and falls into the acid, crying out and pushing himself back up on burnt hands! An unappealing fleshy scent is barely registered amidst the foul acrid fumes of the acid, though.
[16:33] <Rudy> Rudy lunges for the handholds, ready to beging pulling himself to safety! Of course, with the magic they're using, he doesn't really need to work too hard to avoid the spiky bits as he begins making his surge to the top.
[16:34] <@Ebiris> Ilsandra has already moved out of the way and down to the ground as Rudy makes his grand escape to an oooh from the crowd!
[16:34] <@Ebiris> OOC: fort and ref everyone left inside
[16:34] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+5 tobin fort
[16:34] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+5 tobin fort and gets 10." [1d20=5]
[16:34] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+1 fort
[16:34] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+1 tobin ref
[16:34] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+1 fort and gets 4." [1d20=3]
[16:34] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+1 tobin ref and gets 19." [1d20=18]
[16:34] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+1 ref
[16:34] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+1 ref and gets 8." [1d20=7]
[16:35] <@Henrietta> "Larazod!" Henrietta calls out, offering him her hand. "Go next! Your innocence must be proven, above all else!"
[16:35] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+3 fort
[16:35] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+3 fort and gets 6." [1d20=3]
[16:35] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+4 ref
[16:35] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+4 ref and gets 18." [1d20=14]
[16:35] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4 acid damage Lucie. Tobin, Lucie, and Henrietta are sickened.
[16:35] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d4 acid damage Lucie. Tobin, Lucie, and Henrietta are sickened. and gets 2." [1d4=2]
[16:36] <@Ebiris> "Thank you, my friend! I will see you soon!" Larazod clasps his former torturer's hand in his gauntleted grasp, a heartwarming touch of solidarity before he pushes himself out of the acid and up to freedom, earning a cheer for his efforts!
[16:36] <@Ebiris> OOC: another round of saves for Lucie and Henri
[16:36] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+1 fort
[16:36] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+1 fort and gets 2." [1d20=1]
[16:36] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+1 ref
[16:36] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+1 ref and gets 4." [1d20=3]
[16:36] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+1 fort
[16:37] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+1 fort and gets 4." [1d20=3]
[16:37] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+2 ref
[16:37] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+2 ref and gets 16." [1d20=14]
[16:37] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4 acid damage Lucie. Both are sickened
[16:37] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d4 acid damage Lucie. Both are sickened and gets 2." [1d4=2]
[16:38] <@Lucie> With an apologetic glance towards Henri, Lucie moves forward to take the next climb out to safety!
[16:38] <@Henrietta> "Go!" Henrietta gestures, coughing terribly between her words. Her other hand rests on the glass to steady her. "May this... may it clear some of my debt to you!"
[16:39] <@Ebiris> There is a muted cheer for Dentris's successful escape, but the attention of the crowd is fixed on the plight of the repentant torturer choosing to excise her sins by remaining to the last inside the Beast's cleansing acid!
[16:39] <@Ebiris> OOC: last saves for Henri before fleeing
[16:39] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+1 fort
[16:39] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+1 fort and gets 19." [1d20=18]
[16:39] * @Lucie makes enough a show of struggling up the rungs for it to be believable before escaping!
[16:39] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+2 ref
[16:39] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+2 ref and gets 14." [1d20=12]
[16:39] <@Ebiris> roll 1d4 acid damage Henri
[16:39] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d4 acid damage Henri and gets 2." [1d4=2]
[16:40] <@Henrietta> With a final glance back, as if to ensure everyone else had fled to safety, Henrietta grabs onto the handholds and slowly pulls herself out, dripping acid all the way. Spider Climb makes the process a lot easier than it would otherwise be, and as she gets a bit of height her head also clears of the fumes, allowing her to think clearly during her escape.
[16:41] <@Lucie> With a lingering look of discomfort, Lucie kicks sizzling drops of acid off her limbs. Given the prolonged exposure inside eating at her costume, she's showing a fair bit of leg by this point.
[16:42] <@Ebiris> The drama of Drovalid's last minute escape earns a thunderous cheer and applause from the crowd, clearly excited by the much more visible deadly danger of a vat of acid than the previous trials, and approving of the group's brave survival! But before anyone can milk it, the curtain lowers on this deadly trial and the fourth act!