The words of the Dark One echo in your minds. His declaration of challenge lingers in your foggy, death blasted minds:
"Pathetic creatures! Welcome to Eisenschloss. Your task is simple. I will grant you bodies to challenge what is ahead. Amuse me with your feeble attemps - for if you can reach my Throne, I shall grant you freedom and a wish. You shall even has as many bodies as you need for this. You'll need them."
His rumbling, sulphurous roar sends fear down even the spine of the most valiant spirit. Be that as it may, there seems to be a convergance in this star dotted void - three souls coming together. Are they drawn together or merely attracted to something else besides endless night? They themselves are not entirely sure, only that the reality of it is thus. As they approach, orbs of white are overlaid by faint, ghostly images. Of bodies remembered, never again to be inhabited?
OOC - Go ahead and intro yourselves and have fun, I'll give you some leeway for now and some direction after a few posts.
"So... this is death?" Corwin muses, looking down at his ghostly form, before observing his fellow spirits with outwards disinterest.
One of the lantern-like spheres is overlaid with the image of a young-looking half-elf, clad in a dominating robe and wearing mostly black and blue.
"Death is just one more stepping stone," he sighs, in a light, but hard-edged voice. "It seems that the journey never really ends. Sa-Sha was indeed correct."
The disembodied spirit of Aesop floated towards them. "Of course not! Well, at least, as far as we know."
An older human with a wide face dressed in a purple toga somewhat overlayed the excited ghost. "Mmm, others though, well, that may or may not ruin the challenge. Mmm, is this all? At least it's not a horde." The man seemed semi-absorbed in his own thoughts.
Dracos
Tchaner looks with some disdain at the babbling spirit, before trying to will his spirtiual form to move about, and orient itself to face the other two in a more useful fashion.
"It seems we are companions in whatever afterlife awaits us," he says, in a broad, engaging tone. "And that the Dark One still holds sway over us, no matter what trickery he used to gain it. If we have no choice to be his playthings, then so be it- but he'll rue the day that he allowed us even a mockery of life."
"We were always so obsessed with life, granted with so much of it we never gave aging a second thought...." Corwin shakes his head, his hand coming to his short beard. "We did not think of existence after death." He turns to look at the others. "Do we believe this Vile One, then? Can he restore us to our former glory? Has he the power over death itself?"
Movement happens slowly - the orb under you lightly moving about. Not that it seems to matter much, you can only see this black abyss of stars as far as your eyes work.
"To be raised from the dead is no impossibility," snorts Tchaener. "But he has possession of our very souls. Until we can release ourselves, the breath of life is something we may as well forget about.
To play games with a defeated foe! There is no respect in him, only mockery and foolhardiness."
Around you the winds of space stir - a feeling of movement around you. Yet your ghostly forms are not stirred by it visibly. Instead a chill goes down your spirits, a distinctly barren and vulnerable feeling.
"Hmph. Foolish mortals." This voice swirls in the air around you. A man's voice - oh so very human, yet covered in contempt and hatred. Floating above you appears a masked helmet, a skull motif with empty, black eyesockets of metal. "The Dark One said you were pathetic, but this is too much! A degenerate thinker, a petty warmonger, and a piddling royal? You won't even manage the first tier of Eisenscholss!"
"Out with your message and be done with it, servant," snarls Tchaener. "Your skill at mockery is beyond pathetic when set aside your masters. No doubt the respect due you is of similar comparision."
"Yes, yes. But what a game it seems to be." The philosopher's eyes gleamed. "Mm, you're a soldier aren't you? Or at least a warrior. I know the type, always yammering on honor or glory or such." He concluded. "Mmm, I wonder what the true rules of the game are. We have bodies, but surely he's not set us to a task we cannot ever lose. Mmm, I suspect the lose would be to bore it."
Dracos
"Degenerate? Away with you metal cask!" Aesop shoo'ed.
Dracos
"Cease and desist thy bleating, minion," Corwin commands the masked helmet, nodding in approval at Tchaener's words. "All scores shall be settled on this tier of Eisenschloss, should thee find thyself brave enough to face your better in single combat!"
A sneering laugh echos all around you. "You, Aesop, are nothing but a foolish old man. But you two..." The helmet's eyes catch aflame with green light, as agony floods the senses of Corwin and Tchaener. Unlike anything felt in life, as if they are being torn apart strand by strand in spirit!
"I am the Lord and Warren of Eisenschloss! Suffer an eternity if you dare forget it, spirit dogs." As the orbs of white turn blood red and swirl in time with the pain of the two spirits, "When you are ready and have worked up the courage to face your eternal failure, focus the power you have into a form and you shall enter Eisenschloss."
Tchaner's spirit-scream echoes through the cosmos! It transforms into a shout of mingled fury and agony, a stream of vicious words in a knife-edged language spewing forth from empherical lips!
"Mmm, so we're to create bodies to assail it," Aesop considered, somewhat ignoring the suffering of his companions, though glancing to see if they were still intact. "Mmm, I wonder what the point of a warden would be though if we were to clear it out."
Dracos
Memories of the hot pokers, his eyes, oh gods above, the pain! Corwin focuses all of his will on staying conscious, fighting, clawing, climbing up form the bottomless pit of agony!
Like a veil the pain lifts from the two afflicted souls.
"Because, as you go, I get you." A laughing smirk can be imagined on the fact under the helmet, voice taunting. "I'll be waiting as you progess. Don't fail to entertain me, mortals. The Dark One will not be amused should you fail at that. He will punish those that do not most...severely."
With that the helmet vanishes, leaving thet hree with his messages.
"Well, that settles it. How utterly roman of it all. Tsk, well, let's see, are you two still alive?" Aesop turned towards the screaming spirits.
Dracos
"Sadistic brute," snarls Tchaner, eventually regaining his composure and wits. "Pain, a cheap substitute for true dominance. Were I to still have my own flesh.."
A look of emotional pain crosses over the bitter face, flying away as soon as it appears.
"We're dead, you simpleton," Corwin spits out, the aftershock of his pain shooting through his system.
"True enough, I suppose. I guess here should be a better term. Anyhow, shall we proceed? I suspect we dare not wait." The man pragmatically noted.
Dracos
"I don't think there is a rush," replies Tchaner. "The bastard mentioned that we're here for an eternity. Rather, I would prefer to know who I go to the challenge with."
"Before we proceed, it is common courtesy to introduce oneself, as we find ourselves in the same boat, so to speak," Corwin says, and his spirit form gives its best approximation of a bow. "Though I've gone by many names over the years, the one I was born with is Corwin. If you are to be my comrades in arms, I wish you to address me as such."
"As you wish, Corwin," replies Tchaener, returning the bow. "My name is Tchaener. Once, I held title, but it seems pointless to use worldly position beyond life."
"Indeed," Corwin agrees, before he turns to the third ghost. "And you, who spoke of Romans?"
"Aesop Coeus, Senator, albeit I doubt it matters much now," The spirit impatiently replied.
Dracos
"And now we know each other," speaks Tchaener. "For what it is worth. What brought this madman's wrath to you?"
"A reflection of fair Avalon, where I was living in self-imposed exile, was attacked by his fell forces," Corwin says sadly. "Ah, to see Camelot in ruins for the second time... there must come retribution for this vile act!"
"He has done many things he will answer for," vows the half-elf. "His goals are of chaos, not order, and he saught to bring down all I had accomplished.
But no matter what he destroys, it can be rebuilt once he is gone."
Corwin's mood brightens visibly at Tchaener's words. "Indeed," he agrees, "for if Avalon could stand twice, why not a third time as well, stronger and more beautiful than ever before?"
"Avalon. I have not heard of it," replies Tchaener, sounding curious. "Nor Camelot, nor Romans. From where do you hail? Are, or perhaps were you a wizard?"
"Some have called me that, or a sorcerer," Corwin says, his lips twitching. "The adjective 'foul' usually preceeded those terms."
"But, of course, such a word has no bearing on your true self," snorts Tchaener, smirking.
"I was a traveler, first and foremost," Corwin tells the half-elf. "Reality bent to my whim, and I would go where I wished, never quite settling down at any place... except Avalon, the land of wonder, and magic, and knights and high-rising towers, gleaming silver in the sunlight...."
"That was the place that most pleased you, then? Yet, not wrought by your own hand?" Tchaener looks thoughtful, raising a ghostly hand to his metaphorical chin.
"The Avalon of legend, the very first one, was likely a creation of mine," Corwin muses. "It is a long-standing, philosophical debate amongst my family, of whether we create the very things we seek, or find them. The difference between discovery and invention... perhaps it is only semantics, in the end."
He shakes his head then, and looks at Tchaener with curiousity. "And you, friend? From whence do you hail?"
"The wizards would tell you I hail from the plane Andaril," replies Tchaener, gazing literally through Corwin's form, towards the distant stars. "But to me, it is simply The World.
"Wonder, magic, knights and towers... in all measure these existed. The long battle between chaotic freedom, and lawful obedience- the priests tell me that my world was a staging ground for one of many fights. But to me, it was home. A place I seized and shaped with words and a sword..."
"We had our fair share of clashes between Order and Chaos," Corwin admits, rubbing his chin. "Which side did you belong to?"
"Order, as Sa-Sha willed," replies Tchaener, reverently, eyes gazing upwards, even if it's hard to tell which way is up.
"The matron of tyrants and conquest sees a place for chaos- but only in stripping away old regimes to permit the crafting of the new."
"Athens, Greece is where I hail from, the most learned city of the known world," The man proudly responded. "Such strange things the two of you speak of though. Magic and wizardry? I suppose there's plenty of proof for them here. I never would've believed in them while I was alive."
Dracos
"You do not know of these forces, or believe in them? Truly, your plane must have been a sheltered one," replies Tchaener, dubiously. "Though it was an eldricht discipline that few could master, it was certainly present."
"Order," Corwin repeats in satisfaction. "Yes, the triumphant choice." He glances at the resident of Athens with a modest amount of curiousity. "Did you not have the wonder of technology to compensate for your lack of magic?"
"Technology is an odd term for it, but our temples were the most majestic in the world and our understanding of philosophy grew by leaps and bounds for the betterment of all. There was no finer city in all the world."
Dracos
"A claim held by almost every capital," replies Tchaener, dryly. "Oh, I've no doubt it was a glorious place..."
"Technology, meaning gundpowder," Corwin clarifies. "First and foremost that. The guns using it were called Firewands on some worlds. Perhaps you would know them under this name?"
"Gunpowder? I have seen it in action," replies Tchaener, frowning. "It did not seem terribly useful- though it was capable of impressive results. Results better acheived through magic."
"From my experience," Corwin muses, his eyes slightly distant, "every world has a certain mix, a balance of magic and technology. Technology tends to be widely available and usually cheap, except its cutting edge, while magic is individually more powerful and versatile, but is, like you said, only reserved for those precious or lucky few." He smirks, then. "And gunpowder is usually only the basis for technology, not the end all and be all of it. Some technological wonders can easily create horrors the likes of which high magic sometimes tries to imitate, forever failing."
"Perhaps. At my home, 'twas more by circumstance than design that magic was a rarity," replies Tchaener, sighing. "Though any with a quick mind could learn mystical skills, only those lucky few with gold and access to learning could hope to uncover the secrets.
"Though, I wonder how Order can be maintained if all people possess power..."
"I've never heard of such things," The man waved it off.
Dracos
"The bastion of Order across Reality, Amber, is opposed by the Courts of Chaos, the two appearing at both ends of it," Corwin relates to Tchaener. "I suppose this is also a form of order or, at least, balance. And this situation repeats itself through most worlds, on smaller scales."
"I suppose it is for the best," replies Tchaener, thoughtfully. "Though, as an experiment, it would be interesting to view what occurs on worlds where the balance is shifted."
"Yes, yes. More relevant, shall we begin? We can't really solve such a quandry here, though I suspect the easy answer is simply change."
Dracos
The fallen souls can feel the power just in grasp, ready to be taken. A weak power, to be shaped by the will into forms. Such is not a great power yet, but perhaps it shall become as such?
OOC - Lemme know when you guys are good here.
Tchaener closes his spiritual eyes. "Let us go, then," he states. His mind focuses on solidity, flesh, bone, things that are real.
----
Corwin's mind returns. Such is the first impression as he finds himself amid the stars again. So much lost has now come back! But something has been lost as well - reality and his body, back to being a unclad spirit.
From somewhere near you hear faint chuckles.
"Kindness, be thee mine enemy," he mutters angrily to himself, gathering his thoughts and memories.
Corwin can remember through a haze of lowered intellect, but he can remember by and large.
"Fooilsh mortal!" Those words are like a sharp rapport, before the chuckling fades into nothingness.[/i]
----
Corwin notes the scream first of all. The scream of a half elf remembering the last moments of pain in his life, a spiritual mass appearing in the starry wastes.
Tchaener is aware of the pain being gone in an instance, his real mentality returning. Ow.
"Heh...heh..." That taunting voice of your warden chuckles darkly. "How easily the mighty fall!"
Refusing to validate such a response by squealing like a newborn, Tchaener concentrates on reforming his spiritual mass.
"Urgh..."
"Welcome back to the nothingness," Corwin greets him, drifting closer. "Were you stricken down by the treacherous wands as well?"
Tchaener is able to make his body!
So they have time to talk(Rat and Corwin, did you guys do this on IRC or something since you nicked there?), but as time passes, the third spirit back joins them! Aesop's soul appears, freed from halfling bonds!
"So close..." Your foe chuckles tauntingly.
"Ow..." Aesop whimpers. "Dying is not pleasant. Bloody spiteful fellow."
Dracos
[02:12] <Corwin> "Welcome back to the nothingness," Corwin greets him, drifting closer. "Were you stricken down by the treacherous wands as well?"
[02:13] <Tchaener> "No. I discerned the method of bypassing the trap," replies Tchaener, sighing. "I was slain by a bored snake-woman."
[02:14] * Corwin raises an eyebrow. "Indeed?"
[02:16] <Tchaener> "Yes. She appeared too powerful to fight, and demanded that one of us amuse her." The spirit frowns. "In retrospect, it was a stupid idea. But with our minds not left quite intact by this manifestation..."
[02:18] <Corwin> "Yes, our minds," Corwin laments, brushing off his bangs. "Ah, to be reduced so low, a pale mockery of my former, mortal glory...."
[02:19] <Tchaener> "I was unable to see how my plans may end in failure, only the possibility of success," muses Tchaener, to himself. "Ah, how pathetic. It is as costly to forge a body capable of warfare as it is to retain an able mind."
[02:20] <Corwin> "Tell me, friend, what lies beyond the rooms I saw? And how did you triumph over the trap?"
[02:22] <Tchaener> "The trap could be defeated by covering the wands and orb with a spell of darkness," replies Tchaener. "I traversed through the river, too- at the other end was equipment. A shield, a two-handed sword, a pair of scrolls and a potion, if I remember correctly. And a great purple orb, that shattered when I touched it. Yet, I believe it has given us more strength for our next jaunt. The other room, to the right- it contained the snake-woman."
[02:25] * Corwin nods slowly, taking that in and drawing a mental map of the grounds. "Clearly, unless our magically-deprived comrade deals with this snake-woman that fell you and triumphs, we are to repeat this. Have you given thought to which body you would aim for?"
[02:26] <Tchaener> "I only just reformed," replies the half-elf, shaking his head. "Allow me a few moments to consider, and in the meantime, have you any ideas for yourself?"
[02:27] <Corwin> "Before I heard of this, the archer archetype seemed like the way to go," Corwin admits. "Yet your words of magical scrolls and swords might make me reconsider."
[02:30] <Tchaener> "An archer... I believe melee is a superior choice," he replies. "See, the layout of the dungeon? There is no great range involved, and it is a simple matter to close with an opponent, whilst extremely difficult to stay away." Tchaener nods. "For my sake, I am considering a soldier, or a mage."
[02:31] <Corwin> "A warrior mage might also work," Corwin muses, rubbing his beard. "They exist in this mockery of an afterlive, do they not?"
[02:33] <Tchaener> "Yes... but we do not quite have the might to make it a viable choice, as of yet," responds the clean-shaven warlord. "As a mage, I would intend to design a body that was both intelligent and charismatic. Perhaps the kobolds can be set against the mages, and perhaps I will then be able to charm the snake."
[02:34] <Corwin> "Perhaps," Corwin agrees, but his voice is hesitant. "Or, perhaps, the basics of magic could augment a strong fighter."
[02:38] <Tchaener> "Possibly. I intend to capitalize on magic, however," replies Tchaener, nodding.
[02:44] <Corwin> "I suppose we shall have to wait and see," Corwin says, frowning.
[02:45] <Tchaener> "Perhaps our companion will devise a method of getting by her," replies Tchaener, sighing. "The last thing I saw was a dagger through the snake-womans eyes. Perhaps he can dispense with the other one, and that will be that."
"I was forced to kill her obviously, charm lacking and all. That said, I think the obvious solution of actually being able to provide proper entertainment is the answer. The correct solution to the dungeon is...simple as is follows, we head north from the start stopping at the door room. There our most charismatic member enters the snake lady's room and proceeds to entertain her, encouraging enough that she at least spares a few of her gold coins. From there that person continues on to the next room where there is four passageways. At this point in the puzzle, the solution would be the white passage, as no one has been killed and we would have been good to all we met. Going across, they would find a room with a broken floor, a spike pit below and a black gem floating a bit above the ground. There are two arrow traps on either side of the gem that fire if anything gets near it. They can likely be disabled and are easy to see by tossing something near it, that said, I did not even bother and just attached a small net to a rope and tossed it over capturing the gem and yanking it over the pit to me. Easy enough for anyone with a good eye and throwing arm. We probably want to bring a sack and rope for it to create such. Anyhow, from there, now that our companion returns and we have some excess gold we go and address those wretched kobolds, with the gold and promises of friendship and fortune we pass by without a fight and without leaving them ready to stab us. We deal with clerics in much the same method as before. Jellyfish immunity will let us go down and fight the sea monster reasonably enough, as well as gathering the entire stash on that side. We know the solution to the wand puzzle, so we just use that. That should provide everything we need to get all the way safely with as little damage as possible to main door again... and from there I'll explain the rest of the plan."
If you have any chatting or planning you want to do IC in here, do it now.
"I see," replies Tchaener, chewing his metaphorical lip. "Then all is settled. Let us begin!"
OOC: Haha such a copout
Lameness, Carthrat. LAME. O_O