[Day: Tuesday, July 6th. Time: 11:30 p.m.] * Pocky-kun has joined #BESM [You are outside the crystal citadel. Lazar is carrying the tray with the big ward on it. And Maria isn't with you; you have no idea when she wandered off.] [Action!] * Asanjya consults the directions, since she's a control freak and all. * Chomei walks along. * Lazar mutters. "Knew I no should have let go of her shoulder..." * Chie sighs. "She'll find us sooner or later. She's good at that." What's the worst she could do? Grab another ball thingie and summon a couple more gods who want us to do things that will probably get us in trouble, thus enacting the most elaborate, divine plan to execute a bunch of outsiders in existence? * Asanjya shudders. * Rei blinks. "Maybe I should stop answering my own questions. Are we there yet?" Yes, and no. * Rei pouts. [According to the directions, you're nowhere near 'there' yet.] I wonder how much I'd have to barter away to a demon to make him work as an answering service when any of you contact anything vaguely demonic or holy. Probably one of my lungs. Asanjya, we *are* vaguely demonic and holy. Well, anything vaguely demonic or holy and more powerful than us. Point. For instance, the gods of random people who live in caves. How was I supposed to know she was a goddess and not just some random cave-dweller? * Chomei shrugs. And when we found out she was a goddess, did I say I didn't believe in her? No, I did not. But she zapped me anyway! I think she was just lookin' for someone to zap. But then you zapped people. Maybe it's contagious. Gods testy. Lucky she no turn you into salt lick. * Asanjya rolls her eyes. "It's like dealing with an aged grandmother. It's not always what you say, it's what you don't." Three times, even! But then she channeled her power through me, so I don't know what she ended up thinking. She's a goddess. Trying to figure that out leads to madness. Or what you do but don't, then retract and reassert, or sometimes if you blink it pisses them off. Gods, when *was* the last time I talked to my grandmother? I dunno, but it sounds like you need a pause button on your remote control. Probably right before I left. This is why I don't DEAL with gods. Demons are easy once you get them inside the circle. ...okay, my relationship with any of my living family members is *not* a good one to base any sort of communications off of. Okay, yeah, what were we supposed to say? We don't want to deal with you today. Good bye? They're _gods_, Rei, not just random people. They expect asskissing. Yeah, well, I'm more than happy to let you handle the talking from now on. Point. Why think first Commandment is "Honor no other god but God?" I mean, you can't just expect people like the Bhodditsavas to be happy when you call them up and chat about which restaurant has the best sushi. Not that I ever did that. * Chie smirks. "Course not." * Rei thinks. "Chocolate sushi?" And then she makes a face. "Maybe not." No, I don't think so. I wonder if I can get negotiator rates from Interpol for this. Chocolate is good, and sushi is good, but they were not meant to be together. And yes, you should certainly ask. It can't hurt, and you need to get on the payroll anyway. Not likely. You know how much Interpol really helps. Not very much. But they do still give us money. ( Technically, asanjya's working for free. ) I was hoping Mr. Shigeru was working on that, but maybe I'll have to visit them. (You can bet your ass she'll have backpay in the contract.) [Eventually, you come to a gate (not the one you entered from.). There's only one guard there, and she looks very bored.] Well, taking care of pay isn't really his job. That's a different department. He's a field agent like us, and stuff. Hi! * Rei waves at the guard. * Asanjya looks up from the directions at the guard. "Hello." * Chie stares at the guard. "Yo." [The guard yawns and drones out, "This is a restricted area. No unauthorized- *yawn* personel allowed."] * Chie looks briefly at Asanjya, then fixes the guard with a level stare. We're on our way to seal the Dark Lord. "Huh?... oh." [She opens the gate. "Ok, go on."] * Asanjya gestures to the rock. Holding the rock. Thank you! * Asanjya walks on through, directions in hand! * Chie blinks, then follows Asanjya through. * Lazar nods at the woman, then walks after the others. * Chomei shrugs and walks in. Tbat was decidedly easy. Perhaps not many people come this way. Think about it. [You are now in a cave.] How many people do you think seal the dark lord? I'm beginning to wonder. Well, no, actually I've been wondering all along, but this just increases it. * Rei walks along, tail twitching behind her. "It happens every other Tuesday." (Alternating with RSP!) And I'd say not very many. But if I were guarding a dark lord's domain, and some people came along claiming they were here to seal him up, I'd ask a few more questions. Often enough they charge for the wards. * Chomei shrugs. "It's something to do." * Chie shrugs, too. "I might as well give up trying to make even the remotest bit of sense out of this." It's usually the best plan. [The cave (which is actually a tunnel, but cave is easier to type) turns right and begins spiralling downward.] * Chie fishes around in her bag and pulls out one of the new wards. "I just hope these work like mine do." * Asanjya looks down the tunnel. "Feels like this is right." Onward, then? Onward. Onward and downward. Okay. * Chie turns the ward over in her hand, examining it. "It's even similar in style to mine. Writing's different, though. I guess it's whatever language they use." Heavens are always up and hells are always down. It's some kind of rule. Except for the general times when it's not. * Rei walks along, humming a tune from the Wizard of Oz. You know which one. I just like to repeat first thing I learn when join Mystery Club... it always trap. Always. * Chie glances briefly in Chomei's direction, then tucks the ward back in her bag. "Of course it is, Laz." Of course. We didn't get a contract, thus we're screwed. * Chomei doesn't seem to mind. But we're more screwed if we don't, probably. True enough. [After some walking, you find that the path decends into water.] * Chie stops. Okay. Not going there. (Like, submerged?) * Rei blinks, then stops, too. And she looks back. "But you're our sealing expert. Sealing's like stopping water and stuff, y'know?" ( How deep's the water? ) ( It flattens out ) ( About waist deep. ) * Chomei frowns. "Man, and I liked my pants being dry." * Chie shakes her head, her eyes wider than they normally are. "I can't, Rei." (The directions say through here, right?) ( Yep! ) * Lazar lifts Chie with his free hand, and puts her up on his shoulder. "There. No even get wet. Just close eyes." * Asanjya looks over at Chie. Then back to the water. * Rei frowns a little, then jumps in, showing her just how deep it is. "See! Your face doesn't even touch the water." She raises her hands. "Not your hands, either!" She pauses, and her eyes sparkle. "I know! I could try carrying you again!" Whoa! Okay. Thanks, Laz. Or Lazar could carry you. He's good at that. You don't need to touch- yeah. * Chie clutches his shoulder tightly. It probably hurts her hands. "All right. Let's keep going." * Asanjya sweeps her cloak up around her shoulders so it doesn't get wet, and forges on! * Lazar grins up at Chie, and keeps a hold of her with his free hand as he walks through the water. * Chomei walks in. * Chie takes a deep breath. "It's not that bad, it's not that deep, on the way back when we're not in such a hurry, maybe I'll try walking through." * Rei wanders back out of the water, flicks it off her tail, and just walks this time instead of jumping. She ends up walking *on* the water. * Asanjya looks over at Rei. "Nice." * Rei blinks, then looks down, and giggles. She runs ahead. "Who's the Christ figure now! Huh? Huh?" Spin in a circle. "Wheeee!" ( Everyone but Rei and Chie, gimme a soul roll ) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6) and gets 11. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chomei (2d6) and gets 10. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Asanjya (2d6) and gets 8. * Chie looks at Rei. "Rei, how are you doing that?" (( "To run across water, you must move really fast." "You're incredible." "No. I'm better than that." ) (Pfft.) It's like walking, but on water! [You're walking along. Suddenly, the ground apparently stops, and everyone falls under water. Especially Lazar. He sinks like a stone.] * Asanjya surfaces, and treads water. "What the .... ohno. Chie!" * Chie SCREAMS. * Chie screams and flails and hopefully isn't still being held by Lazar. * Chomei surfaces as well. "Chie!" He swims over and tries to keep her up too. * Rei yelps. "Hey, no sinking! No sinking!" She runs across the surface and tries to grab for Chie. * Chie is grabbed by Chomei and *clings*. (Chie makes Chomei sink. ;P) (Yes. Bad, panicky Chie.) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chie (2d6) and gets 7. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chie (2d6) and gets 10. * Lazar grabs Chie with his free hand, and tries to toss her onto dry land before she's in the water too long. * Chomei winces, but tries to keep both of them up. I hope? * Lazar can't, though, because he's in a 12-foot hole. 2d6-8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6-8) and gets -5. [Chie panics and climbs on top of Chomei, using him as a flotation device and forcing him under water instead.] [And Lazar rises out of the sea! ... er, not sea... but water, yeah.] (...nice job, me. -_-;) * Rei 's eyes widen at that, and she grabs Chie by the arm and yanks, trying to pull her off of Chomei. * Lazar climbs up out of the hole, grabs Chie/Chomei with his free hand, and tries to drag them to dry land. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6) and gets 10. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rei (2d6) and gets 3. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chie (2d6) and gets 7. * Asanjya floats back and tries not to get in the way. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chomei (2d6) and gets 7. * Lazar growls, goes to the shore, puts down the tray, goes back into the water, and grabs Chie and Chomei in a bearhug. ( Non-crushing variety. ) [Lazar can't manage to get a grip on Chie, but Rei does! She pulls him off Chomei.] [Chomei does not drown!] * Lazar then walks back with the two to shore. * Chomei is not drowning, because he's actually decent at swimming! Yay? * Chomei swims back to shore. [Lazar gets ahold of Chie, at least, preventing her from drowning Rei.] * Lazar walks Chie to shore, puts her down, then picks the tray back up. "Well, that exciting." * Chie is eventually brought to shore, where she curls up in a little ball and shivers for a few moments. Then she lifts her head and stares at the water. "That's it. That is *fucking* it. I am going to LEARN HOW TO SWIM if it KILLS me!" * Asanjya swims back. * Rei lets go when he does and takes a few breaths, eyes still wide. She looks at Asanjya, then runs to shore. * Chomei smirks. I would offer to teach, but... no is best swimmer. * Chie looks over at Chomei. "And I'm sorry, and you're okay, right?" * Rei just sorta stands there and rubs at her annoyingly dry hair. * Chie looks at Rei. "And you're okay, right?" * Chomei nods. "Yeah, of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" * Asanjya takes off her cloak with a spray of water and wrings it out. * Chie sighs, still sitting. "Because I might have almost drowned both of you back there." * Asanjya unfurls her hair, releasing Xaphan. She whispers to him and he flutters off down the tunnel. It's okay, Chie. Nah, I was doing just fine. * Rei shakes her head. "You wouldn'tve drowned me. It's okay." I can't keep dragging us down like this. Which is why I'm going to get over this *stupid* fear, so we can never have things like this happen again. * Chie stands up. And look, if you need me to help you on how to swim, I'd be glad to. No way. Water was no that deep, and I no need breathe under water. * Chie smiles at him. "Thanks. I'd really, really appreciate that." If was really bad, could have just tossed to shore. But that probably hurt. * Asanjya uses her hair to wring out most of the rest of the water out of her cloak. ( And you'll get to see me in a bathing suit. Yeah, you win.) If you really wanted to get rid of it for good, we could try selling it in a Hell's Bazaar. * Chie blinks at Asanjya. "They *buy* fears?" They buy lots of stuff. You never know who's looking for what. Well, it's pretty strong, but I'd rather overcome it than sell it off. * Rei shrugs. "Maybe you could get something cool for it. Like a talking hairbrush or something." * Asanjya turns her head as Xaphan flies back. He settles on her shoulder and listens to him whisper. * Chie shakes her head. "No, it's something I need to deal with." Xaphan says the water goes for a fair distance before there's ground again. On the ground there are slimes. He was quite amused. Slimes? * Chie blinks. "Slimes?" As in, slime? Or slime creatures? That's what he says. I believe he means creatures. That's just silly. * Asanjya swirls him up in her bun again. * Rei blinks, and she pales. "Uh, slimes?" Like... The kind that bite you? * Rei gestures. "With the teeth? And the eyes? Or just the teeth?" I don't think they have teeth. They're slimes. But they could! I guess? I don't know. No eyes or teeth, he says. They could! They could be like the kind from Dragon Warrior and just smile at you until RAR! KILLER ATTACK SLIME! Smile back at them. No thanks I'd rather just... uh... * Rei looks around. "Do we *have* to go that way?" * Chie blinks. "I get it." ... no think slimes be too big threat. Rei, you feel the same way about slimes as I do about water, don't you? * Rei bites her lip, and she blurts out, "I don't drown in slimes they eat me instead!" * Chie walks over to Rei and gives her a hug, possibly getting her wet. ... is okay. You can fly in back. I step on slimes, Chomei shoot. * Asanjya frowns.. This is like... like a gauntlet or something. We all have to face our fears. [Rei gets wet.] Chie slash, maybe Asanjya blast if no is too big waste of spells. * Rei eeps. It's okay, Rei. The slimes will *not* get you. Not while I'm around. * Asanjya pales slightly. "I fear as much as well, and it does not bode well for future travels down the tunnel." But they- they could squeeze through! They can squeeze through things! Like cracks, and people, and they could ooze into people! ( What if the slimes spit water? ) * Rei flails, poorly. Chie hugging her gets in the way. Let them ooze into golem. What they going do, tickle me? ... okay, if acid, maybe melt me. So we'll just have to stop then *before* they can ooze. But is no big deal. * Chie briefly glances at Lazar. "Laz, you're *not* helping." ... oops. Sorry. Okay... we've got to work through this, some how. * Rei cries. "They could spit acid! Or maybe stick to your feet and keep you from going anywhere until they descend from the- the ceiling and eat you." * Lazar shrugs, and starts moving foward again. "Might as well keep going... burn bridge when come to it." * Chie hugs her tightly. "Rei, have you ever *seen* any of this happen?" Hold on, Laz. * Asanjya rips five strips off her cloak. * Asanjya hands one to everybody! * Chie lets go of Rei long enough to take a strip. "What's this for?" Blindfolds. It might not help all the way, but it's a start. If it is a gauntlet, then we each wear it at the appropriate time. * Lazar stops. But it could! I saw it once, when I was in the tower, they were everywhere, and it wasn't real, but what if it is, and that's not gonna help! * Rei flails with her blindfold in hand. ... being no able to see attacker no good. And I no have eyes. One at a time, Lazar. * Chie sighs. "I wish I could say it's gonna be all right, Rei, but I know how you must be feeling right now. Would you trust that I'm *not* gonna let anything bad happen to you?" ... * Rei stares at Chie, her knuckles white as she grips the blindfold. "... Promise?" Promise. * Rei looks down at the blindfold, then back to Chie. "Double promise? Pinky promise? On your heart, with... sprinkles? And chocolate shavings?" On my heart with sprinkles, chocolate shavings, whipped cream, and a cherry. * Rei bites her lip, then starts to tie her blindfold around her eyes. She fails; her hands are shaking too badly. "Make it two cherries." * Chie takes the blindfold and gently ties it around Rei's eyes. "Three cherries, even." [Rei is blind!] * Rei grabs Chie's arm once she does that. "'kay. It- it's a deal." * Lazar starts walking again, once all that's done. * Chie puts her free hand on Rei's and squeezes, then lets go and begins leading her after Lazar. * Rei is tugged along. * Chomei nods and walks along, ringing water out of his clothing. * Asanjya looks over to Chie. "Not wearing it?" * Chomei does not ring the clothing onto Chie. <.< * Lazar hefts Chie back onto his shoulders with his free hand. "This probably best." Admire bravery, but now not time to try get over fear. [You walk for a little while, only to find... More water!] * Chie eyes it. "Hell. More water?" (And now Laz can lift me. And Rei, too.) * Chomei frowns. "Joy." Water? Not slimes? I am blind and cannot see. Eep! Just keep hold on Rei. When get close to land, in shallow water, I let down so can deal with things. No slimes yet. * Asanjya ties her cloak on top of her head! * Rei is lifted, and she hovers in the air, because she's good like that. * Asanjya swims. Swimmity. * Lazar wades into the water a big more carefully this time, trying to feel for the depth as he walks. * Chomei swims too! He's good at swimming. Tell me if there are any slimes. There aren't any slimes, right? They're not here? Did we already pass them? No slimes yet. Not yet. * Yu-Mei is now known as Maria [Laz, soul roll, -3] 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6-3) and gets 4. [Lazar manages to adjust every time he finds himself about to step into a pocket, and you make it to the shore without much trouble. Of course, on the shore await multi-colored slimes... They look like Jell-O!] * Asanjya pokes one with her stick. (Staff! It's more than a stick! ;_;) * Chomei looks strangely at them. "I wonder if they taste good." Okay, now we have slimes. Laz, put me down. (If it had metal, it would be a spear!) (STICK + STICK = STAFF?) (Sure!) [Asanjya's stick gets stuck.] ... * Lazar puts Chie down into the shallow water, then steps onto the shore and eyes the slimes. * Asanjya yanks on it. ( Body roll, +2! ) * Chie tries to both watch Asanjya and keep an eye on Rei to make sure she's okay. 2d6+2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Asanjya (2d6+2) and gets 9. [Asanjya can't pull it out!] Anybody got any salt? No, I think I have this. Hold on. Maybe they're like slugs. * Asanjya casts Freezing Lance at the bastard. * Maria pokes her head out of a hole in the cieling. "I could find some if you need it." * Chie does jump this time. "Maria! Where were you?" Tunnel in the cieling. What, you think I'm gonna get anywhere near all that water? [Asanjya freezes the slime. She now has frozen slime onna stick.] * Rei screams at Chie's jump and lets go, still in the air. Now you just break it off, right?> How far's this tunnel go? Rei! It's okay! Maria just startled me, that's all. * Asanjya smacks the PopsiSlime against the wall. (( It goes until it stops )) (Slimesicle!) ( Is Chie falling? To the water? ) [The slime shatters!] The slimes are here, Asanjya said they might taste like Jell-O and they could be poisonous! I said no such thing. ( 'Cause if she is, I'm gonna have to, like, save her. ) (No, she was holding on to Chie, who's now on the ground. In the shallows, I think.) You were thinking it! (Chie nearly drowned earlier. You missed that part.) * Lazar sighs at Maria, eyes Asanjya's Slimesicle, then steps a bit farther onto land, to see how the slimes respond. * Asanjya lets out Xaphan again, and sends him ahead to scout! She wasn't, I was. 2d6-1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6-1) and gets 9. ( Wow. Bad rolls tonight ) (Seriously.) (Cross your fingers.) [The slimes come for Lazar. In no time, they've wrapped around his legs. It's kinda cute, kinda disgusting at the same time.] 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Asanjya (2d6) and gets 7. Uh, Laz, you need some help with that? I think those things like you, Laz. ( Does this hurt at all? =P ) ( No ) * Lazar looks down. "... hmm. * Asanjya watches Xaphan come back and report. "Uh. He says it's a dead end." * Rei screams. "They're eating him! They'll dissolve the rock and all that'll be left is a slinky, and then they'll eat that, too!" ... (Rei, I thought you still had the blindfold on.) ... they no dissolving me at all. (She certainly can hear you guys. ;P) [The slimes make squishy noises.] * Chie blinks. "A dead end? Are you sure about that? Tell him to go look again." They just... very friendly. That bodes... They're *not* eating him, Rei! Eek! Why would they -- Rei, why are you blindfilded? * Chie looks at Chomei. "Poorly?" * Asanjya whispers back to him, then sends him off! It sounds like it! 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Asanjya (2d6) and gets 8. * Lazar moves to one side of the land. "Everyone, walk past while slimes busy making whoopie with my toes. I going see how they like water." Hm. Still a dead end, he says. Guess we go find out. * Asanjya walks on! I don't want to go back yet. So let's keep going. Rei, c'mon. Laz'll be okay. * Chomei shrugs. "It's gotta be more entertaining than the rest of the city." Maybe they dissolve in water. ( Y'know, if you need a scout you can, y'know, ask. ) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Asanjya (2d6) and gets 11. ( Oh yeah. BEcause Maria going ahead to scout ALWAYS WORKS OUT SO WELL. =P ) * Rei cries and hovers there. "They're gonna eat his toes, and then his ankles, and if he had any blood they'd suck it out, and- and then they'll come and get us, too, and then we're all gonna die." (I asked you earlier how far the tunnel went and you didn't answer. ;p) [Once Asanjya steps onto dry land, some of the slimes leave Lazar for her instead.] [They wrap around her legs and feel like Jell-O.] * Lazar scowls, and starts trying to stomp on them. ... hm. Not entirely uncomfortable. Perhaps marketable, even. * Asanjya keeps walking. ...shit. * Chie does not go forward yet. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6-3) and gets 7. [Lazar squishes one in half! There's now two smaller slimes hugging his legs.] ... hmm. What, they're harmless? Cool. Okay. Maria? That tunnel you were in. How far does it go? ... Rei, keep floating. No can come off ground. I dunno. Probably all the way? Laz, can you pass people up here? All we have to do is get past the slimes. * Lazar eyes the slimes, the looks up at Maria. "Small problem in that plan. Golem." Uhm... the slimes don't go into the water. Try splashing them? They can't? * Rei sounds a little more calm. "They can't? Promise?" 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Asanjya (2d6) and gets 4. ... one second. Will test. No, Rei, they're really stuck to the ground. * Lazar holds his hand about two feet off the ground, over the slimes. What about walls. Can they go up walls? Maybe they'll drop from the ceiling! Well, there's none in the tunnel up here. That I've seen, at least. [The slimes do not seem interested in Lazar's hand.] I think they just like feet. No is going off ground. * Lazar goes close to the water, scoops up some with his free hand, and sprinkles it onto the slimes. * Chie pulls a pen out of her bag and flings it at the nearest wall, to see if a slime will chase it. d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Brett (d6) and gets 6. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Maria (2d6-4) and gets -1. [The slime ricochets around the room when it's splashed, very nearly colliding with Maria. But she manages to get out of the way in time and it winds up on the floor.] [It crawls back towards Lazar.] ... okay. It no like water. ... (*snerk*) (Hehe.) (Those'd be awesome to play with if Rei weren't so afraid of them.) Chomei, you have fire arrow, right? * Asanjya walks back around the corner. * Asanjya is still wearing slimeboots. * Maria sighs dejectedly. "Well, there's my brilliant idea for the day." * Chomei shrugs. "Yeah. Fire, ice, lightning, etc..." You name it, I can probably do it. ( Potato arrow? ) (If you let me spend some of my CP, sure. :P) I'm gonna go ahead and see where the tunnel ends up. Back in a sec. (He said etc. Lame point!) It is a dead end, but it looks like there's a door, but I can't figure out how to open it. Okay. Asanjya, stay there. Chomei, shoot fire arrow at golem feet. Stone no burn, so no should hurt much. Want see if kill slimes. Well, we already know ice works. Why not do that? ... because it kind of hard to walk with big ice cubes on feet. Because you don't want to accidentally freeze Laz's feet to the ground? ... then again, can just break away. ( Fire kill slimes? Sure. Works in D&D.) * Chomei shrugs. "Fine, fine." True. * Lazar shrugs. "Try fire. See what happen." * Chomei draws Rownal and unloads a fire arrow on the slimes that are Lazar's feet. [The slime burns! It slowly turns into an oozing puddle.] Okay, it melted. Now what? I don't think Chomei's got enough fire arrows to get us through all of this. * Chomei eyes the rest. "Yeah, I can't handle that much. It takes a little too much out of me for all of it." Okay. Asanjya, walk back towards water. Slimes should come back to golem. * Maria comes back. "Okay, tunnel dead-ends not far from here. Sorry, Chie." Blast. There goes that idea. No openings beyond the slimes, I take it? * Maria walks out onto the cieling. I think Chomei just got most of slimes. Rest on Asanjya feet. Asanjya can go back into the water, which'll send the slimes over to Laz. * Asanjya walks back into the water. Well, Lazar could just walk around, grab *all* the slimes, and I can waste them all at once. * Asanjya also looks up at Maria. It doesn't dead-end, really. [The slimes leave Asanjya as she steps into the water, and go over to Laz instead.] Ceiling tunnel, Asanjya, not what we're in. Bit more sedate than last time. Well, it sure looks like it does. You wanna come up here and look? Hey, Maria? Do me another favor? Yes? Ah. You're fast. Could you move across the ceiling? I wanna see if the slimes even notice you. Sure. Yooo Asanjya, any more slimes down towards door? (( Gah ) ( Sorry. ) (And from down the hall, a mysterious echo! ^_~) * Maria strolls casually along the cieling. How high is the cieling? (Egads!) [Apparently, one slime does notice Maria and says "Yooo."] * Rei shrieks. "They TALK!" They do have mouths! They talk! ... With teeth! Right. [The ceiling is maybe 12 ft. high. ... no teeth. Just noice. Like bunny. Rei, I don't *see* any teeth. It just sorta... echoed. Not that I saw, Lazar. * Chie "Yoooos" back at the slime. SLIME BUNNIES! * Maria keeps walking. Any more reaction from the slimes? [The slime does not respond to Chie. Must have been a fluke.] * Lazar shrugs. "Okay, fire or ice, Chomei. You choice." [The slimes do not come after Maria.] Rei? Maria's going across the ceiling, and she's fine. The slimes aren't even paying attention. They're not coming after me, Rei. It seems safe on the cieling. Uhm... lemme test something real quick. * Chomei unloads ice on Lazar's feet this time! * Maria hops down to the floor, briefly. If slimes come after her, she hops back up. ( Wait. These are like the Zelda slimes. ) ( Cool. ) (Hee.) ( ... Bad image ) ( Zelda slimes? ) [Chomei freezes a slime!] Go ahead and break'em off. * Maria blinks. No slimes coming after her? [Slimes do come after Maria!] * Maria hops back up! [They go back to Lazar!] Okay, safe on the cieling. Ceiling, ceiling, safe... * Rei floats up, eventually letting go of Chie's hand as she reaches for the ceiling. * Chie lets go and watches Rei go up. * Maria takes Rei's hand to guide her, once she's close enough. * Lazar eyes the frozen slime, then shrugs. "If want to use fire again, fine. If no, I can deal. Can you carry the three of us across, Laz? * Rei touches the ceiling and turns, standing on it. She lets Maria guide her. "You're sure they're not here, right? What if they're big enough to get my tail? Or the tips of my hair!" Well, they can't get my hair, and mine's longer. They no big enough to go above my ankles, Rei. * Lazar eyes Chie, Chomei, and Asanjya. "It no going be comfortable, but..." * Maria guides Rei along. "They're just little things. Wonder if they taste good? I'll bet you could make 'em taste good." [They probably taste like Jell-O.] * Lazar goes to the water's edge, hefts Chie up onto his right shoulder, Chomei onto his left, and Asanjya up onto his head. But Maria can get Rei across, and you can get us across, and then we- just like that!" Woop, there we go. Gah! Well, I suppose this works. * Maria has probably never had Jell-O. * Lazar starts lumbering foward slowly, towards where Asanjya said there was some sorta door-like thing. [In that case, they probably taste slimey.] I bet they don't taste good and I'm not gonna try cooking them they'll probably dissolve my hand or something. [You walk along until you come to a dead-end!] ( Awareness checks! Except Asanjya ) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chomei (2d6) and gets 5. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rei (2d6) and gets 11. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Maria (2d6-2) and gets 6. * Asanjya points over at the end. "See it?" 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chie (2d6-2) and gets 3. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6) and gets 8. [Everyone who made it notices a part of the wall that seems a little out of place, like there's a secret passage there.] * Chie points at the wall. "Okay, that looks suspicious." What? Are they gone? It's not a suspicious slime, is it? Secret passage, maybe. Yup. I couldn't get it to open. * Maria reaches out to touch the wall. * Chomei nods. "Definetly." [It feels like rock.] Reminds me of a bad TV show. Laz, put me down. What TV show? Just a bad TV show. * Maria frowns and presses hard against it, to see if it has any give. No yet. [It does not!] Well, it feels like rock. But it doesn't look right. * Rei moves, peeking out from under the blindfold, and eventually takes it off. She lets out a sigh of relief. [Rei sees slimes at Lazar's feet!] * Rei shrieks and drops her blindfold. Chomei, Asanjya? Get rid of those? * Rei points unsteadily up at the slimes. She is on the ceiling. "They- they- they-" Rei? It's okay. They no do anything to me, little one. And they no can reach you on ceiling. Look at this rock, tho. Doesn't it look weird? You care to do the honors, Asanjya? Actually, I'd ragther save my energy, if it's alright with you. * Maria turns Rei's head towards the rock. Yes, well, so would I... Split them? * Rei stares at rock. If I thought Spirit Stream'd do anything to 'em, I'd do it myself. You could probably get both with one attack. Not really? Actually, who says normal attacks won't hurt them? * Chomei draws his bow and shoots both slimes with energy bolts. [The energy bolts pierce the slimes, but they reform like nothing happened.] They do, apparently. * Asanjya casts Freezing Lance at the slimemass! Oh, but something is up with this rock, Rei. Trust me. I'm a thief. We know these things. [The slimes file for suit.] [Just kidding. Asanjya freezes a slime.] d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Brett (d6) and gets 5. ( 5 more slimes to go! ) ( I have 100% in 'detect illusions'. ) It might be like... like... it could have teeth! Like the slimes! ... hmm. * Rei backs away from the rock. Or tries. * Asanjya freezes another. ( 4 to go! ) * Asanjya splurges and freezes them ALL! The slimes don't have teeth, Rei. [Lazar's feet are now in ice cubes.] They could! * Chomei helps out with a pair of them before Asanjya has all the fun. :P But they don't. * Chie eyes Asanjya and Chomei. "Geez, first you two don't want to do it, now you're fighting over who gets to." * Asanjya smiles sweetly. ... hmm. Lemme down, Laz, and I'll smash the ice with my sword. Unless you wanna break it yourself. * Lazar makes it a point not to move, for fear of sliding and crushing the poor squishy people on top of him. ( So Asanjya got 4 and Chomei got 2? Keeping track of EP here. ) Hey, if you're actually going to waste them, I might as well help out. Once all frozen, I'll take care of it. * Chomei has already gotten down, I think. (4 + the one earlier. I used 1/9th of my EP. ;_____;) (Heh, I use up more than that per shot. Those arrows are expensive EP- wise. ^^;) [At any rate, the slimes are frozen, and you're staring at a wall that looks like it should move or something to most of you.] * Lazar lets the others down off him, then gets to chipping the ice off his legs with his fists. * Chie hops down and walks over to the wall, trying to get a better look at what might be up with it. "See, Rei? Slimes all gone!" Hey, Lazar. Door. Open. Yes? Nothing bad happened to you, like we promised. * Rei looks away from the rock. "Huh?" She blinks. "Yay!" * Asanjya is looking in the directions. So, uh, what's the usual way to get a magical door to open for you, Asanjya? Ask it nicely? I'm not up on my magical doors. And the directions just say to go through it. Lazar? Can you go through it? Well, is one way that usually works for me... Go to it, big boy. * Lazar clears away the ice, takes a step back, and tries to shoulderblock the "door". 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6-2) and gets 5. [Wham! Lazar makes a good sized dent in the wall!] 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6-2) and gets 0, a CRITICAL SUCCESS!!! "I wish I got to hand out more of these, really." * Lazar grunts, and rears back again... [The wall crumbles before Lazar's might.] That worked. Looks like the dead end is deader. Impressive. * Chomei chuckles. "Very dead." * Asanjya waits for Lazar to move through! Lacking in subtlety. [Beyond, the tunnel continues, but about 15 ft. in, there's a blue mist.] It's a wall. It's not very good at subtle cues. * Lazar gets his balance back, then steps through the door... "Stay back. There some kind of... blue air." * Maria walks in. Along the cieling. * Chie hangs back. * Maria doesn't go into the mist, tho. * Asanjya looks. Then looks back at the group. "Nobody afraid of blue mist?" I'm not afraid of it, but I'm not about to go charging right into it, either. ( It could be water in gaseous form! ) (So is part of the atmosphere. If they were afraid of that, they'd be in serious trouble. ;p) It looks mysteeeerious. Probably mess up your driving! * Lazar walks slowly into the mist. "I no need breathe, so no *should* be problem..." ... Yeah. Well, it could. If we were drag racing in these here tunnels, anyway. But we aren't, so it's not. Anything, Lazar? Right. But it's a blue mist in a society rich in shit I don't understand at *all*. So I'm leery. [The mist actually receeds when Lazar enters, staying about 15 ft. away from him.] ... interesting. Huh. Shall we? * Asanjya walks in, about 16 feet behind. Slowly. Stay behind me... * Lazar keeps walking foward at a slow, steady pace, so the others can maintain a good, constant distance from him... * Maria follows Lazar. * Chie stays at that good, constant distance and slow pace. ( You're all behind Lazar, then? How far? ) * Chomei continues at that slow, steady, constant, distancy, pace. Doubt mist is scared of golem... no can do much against air. Maybe... hmm. Scared of big rock I carrying? * Maria is about ten feet away from Lazar, at current. (I _said_ how far. >_>) * Rei falls off the ceiling, hovering after them. ( Yeah, you did. But everyone else didn't :P ) (I figured I was with Asanjya.) (I'm right behind Maria. ;P) ( So it's Lazar -> Maria -> Rei -> The rest of you all together? ) (Think so.) ( K. ) [The area ahead widens into a large room.] ( Which probably means I die soon, but that's okay! ) * Lazar keeps on lumbering on slowly... "Okay, Asanjya, what now?" * Asanjya consults... THE DIRECTIONS * Jexless is now known as Jex Continue forward. There's a tunnel at the other end. * Lazar nods, and continues his slow, steady lumber. * Chie keeps going! [The mist very quickly begins to encircle Lazar.] Weird. ( Encircle how? ) ( 15 ft radius ) ( Aaaaaaah. ) * Rei eeps and flies backwards, maybe running into Asanjya. * Lazar eyes the mist. "Make sure no get too far behind... ward only seems to keep mist so far." (What about the rest of us?) ( You're within the 15 feet ) (Um, no?) ( Actually, they're 16 ft back. ^^ ) ( Oh. Then they're boned. ) * Chie moves forward a bit. "Ack!" * Rei stops before she hits the mist behind her and moves forward. "Hey! You guys- uh, damn." * Maria is inside the radius. "Weird. I wonder how we'll get out without the ward?" * Chomei moves forward too. [When the mist touches Asanjya and Chomei, they get a slight- but continuous- shock. Chie is fine for now.] ( Because she moved forward. :P ) * Asanjya blinks, then moves into the clear circle. (Hey, I said I moved forward!) ( Too late. =P ) (But probably while he was typing that. ;p) (Bah.) ( Yeah :P ) ( It doesn't matter. Didn't do any damage. ) ( Awareness checks, hearing or sight. ) * Lazar slows for a moment to let the others get a coupla feet closer to him, then continues on at his previous pace. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Asanjya (2d6) and gets 6. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6) and gets 5. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chomei (2d6-4) and gets 4. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chie (2d6-2) and gets 0, a CRITICAL SUCCESS!!! "I hate these guys. Give 'em one for me." * Chomei is closer, yeah. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Maria (2d6-2) and gets 3. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rei (2d6) and gets 9. [Whoever made it notices lights in the distance and hears high-pitched noises.] (Maybe there were drugs in the mist! ;p) Ghosts! ( Or maybe there were... GORRILLAS IN THE MIST! ) Ambulence ghosts! Could be? Not ghosts. ... huh? Ambulence police ghosts! * Asanjya hmms, and keeps walking. They're saying... What you talking about? It sounds like a word. Over and over again. From a bunch of places. * Asanjya frowns. I can't make out what it is, though. And they're definitely *not* ghosts. Don't listen. Don't listen? Weird. Don't listen to it? It's just a generally good idea to not listen. Oh. Uhm, I'll tune it out then. Right. Hope it's not important. ... hmm. Okay. [You continue onward!] * Lazar keeps on walking, looking a bit more cautious. ( Awareness check! ) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Asanjya (2d6) and gets 7. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chomei (2d6) and gets 10. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chie (2d6-2) and gets 4. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Maria (2d6-2) and gets 5. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rei (2d6) and gets 10. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6) and gets 3. [As you walk on, some people notice the source of the lights when they see two critters that look like short, pudgy blue lizardmen with fish-tails. They wear brown cloaks and carry flashlights in one hand, steak-knives in the other. One is apparently performing surgery on a third.] ( Ohcrap. ) (Tonberries?!) ( Oh, my. ) * Chie does not have a good feeling about this. (No. Tomberries are green and carry flashlights and butcher knives ^_^_v) ( We're sooooo screwed... wait! If Rei attacks them, she won't take any damage, since she's never killed anything! =P ) ( Lanterns. They carry lanterns. ) ( He knows this because they're next week's mooks. ) (Imitation Tonberries made in Taiwan?) * Asanjya pales whiter than usual. * Lazar mutters. "The hell..." ( Pugs. That was the Woosley name for them, back when they were blue in ff6. ^.~ ) * Asanjya also stops dead. (I am in awe of your rememberance of FF trivia. Have a gold star!) ( Ok. They are Pugs! ) (*hands Maria a gold star!*) ( With flashlights instead of lanterns. ) * Chie stops and is, remarkably, silent. ( I got a gold star! XD ) * Maria blinks. "Ick." ... Right. * Lazar stops when he notices the others have stopped, and moves back to keep them well within the radius of the protection. * Asanjya swallows. "Chie....?" Yes? ... mmm. Seem bit familiar. Called pugs, I think. Like to cause pain, do surgery. Blindfold. Now. * Asanjya has a white-knuckled grip on her staff. Right. * Chie walks over to Asanjya and ties the blindfold around her eyes. * Chie then gently takes her hand. "Okay. I've got you." [The 'pugs' finally notice you and start shuffling towards you. As they approach, they raise their knives and give out a high-pitched yell. "OWNED!"] * Rei looks at them blankly. "Eeew. They... uh..." She turns to see Asanjya. "Oh. You'll be okay!" [Session End!]