The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

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The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by WearsHats » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:41 pm

This is my first forum game. And I'm doing it wrong.

(Note: The rest of this is me rambling about how I don't know what I'm doing. If you want to skip to the actual game, it starts in the next post.)

For one thing, I have no idea what's on the next level down, let alone the broader scope of things. You know how Lost and Battlestar Galactica set up these complex plots with a central mystery and then, as things went on, it became more and more clear that really they were just making it up as they went along? That's me. It's stupid, and you always end up with a disorganized and disappointing mess.

For another thing, I just told you that.

Also, I'm not entirely certain how this is all going to work. I've got two main characters. I think what I'm going to do is let you guys post suggestions for them and have them do their best to follow those suggestions. Sort of like the way Thinks works her Escape game. I may or may not change that along the way. (The other way I was thinking of doing this was having them as NPCs and then having an undecided number of directly controlled PCs. I may yet add new characters as we go down.)

You should also know that this game will have no set update schedule. My hours and health vary from day to day and week to week. I'll take your suggestions and write up what happens when and as I'm up to it. And I won't be posting images of what you see. (At least, for now. I may start sprinkling images in if I feel they'd add something that's worth it. But, for the most part, I prefer painting a picture with words.) You're just going to have to deal with a wall of text.

But, hey, I think this could be fun. So I'm just going to give it a shot and see what comes of it. Hopefully, with your input, something cool will develop. (By which I mostly mean the suggested actions you post. But if you have ideas for things or levels I can add, or if you want to help me write/run this thing, send me a PM.)

So that's the deal. This post and the next one make up pretty much everything I know so far. If you're interested, the story starts just below. Read it, post your suggestions, and we'll take it from there. :)

This is all a huge mistake, isn't it?
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by WearsHats » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:42 pm

"Look, all I'm saying is that you can't just take a few lines out of context and make a whole new thing of it. That's not even what the song was about, and..." Dillon paced back and forth along the stone floor. His words trailed off, and he gave a sigh of disgust. This wasn't helping. He jumped up on the wall and capered about on the crenellations, cartwheeling with careless ease a handsbreadth from the 200 foot drop to the ground below. The bells on the ends of his jester's cap tinkled and jingled cheerfully. But even this failed to distract him from the problem at hand. Soon, he gave up and came to a stop, sitting perched on the wall. "There must be some kind of way out of here!"

Hendricks, who had been quietly watching his friend with stoic patience, walked over and put a gentle hand on Dillon's shoulder. "No reason to get excited. You and I, we've been through worse. We'll get through this." He spoke barely above a whisper, both in an attempt to calm his companion and because of long habit.

The two were a study in contrasts. The dark material of Hendricks's clothing, which blended seemlessly with nearly any shadow, made Dillon's motley look even more garish in comparison. While both were natural acrobats, Dillon was all about energy and theatrics while Hendricks's fluid economy of motion could make you doubt that you'd seen him move at all. Yet somehow they found that they worked well together, each playing off the other's strengths.

Dillon took a deep, calming breath. He stilled. But, of course, only for a moment. Then he jumped up again. "We'll get through this? How? We're stuck up here. The only way I see down is the hard way, and we'd never survive that." He flung his arms out, then dropped them dramatically down. Then, mercurial as ever, he spun around on tiptoe and came back looking pensive. "There's so much confusion. How did we even get up here? Last I remember, we were down there, riding towards the tower and there were all sorts of people crowded together up here."

"A wizard did it." Hendricks's shrug was almost imperceptable.

"What?"

"Well, a witch, I guess. The people we saw were an illusion. There's no reason they'd all be up here. There's no reason anyone would be here. There's nothing for miles around. But there's magic at work here." He gestured towards the axe he wore, which glowed with a faint purple haze. "I think this may be the work of the Red Witch. I don't know what reason she'd have, but, whatever it is, that girl put a spell on us."

"Great! So we're stuck at the top of this tower, everything we see may be an illusion, and we've probably fallen into a trap set by a witch for no reason we can name." Dillon's hands and arms were flying in all directions.

"Like I said: You and I, we've been through that."

Dillon stopped, standing nearly as still as his friend. "So what do we do?"

"We ask for help."

"Ask for help? Ask whom?" Dillon exploded into motion again. "I don't see anyone! Do you see anyone?" He put a hand to his brow and peered across the empty plains below. "Well, there's that creepy red eye thing in the wall over there," he added, waving his arm towards one of the few decorative features around, "but I don't think it looks too friendly or helpful." He whirled back to face Hendricks. "So just whom, exactly, do you think we can..." He stopped, smacking his head with his hand. "Oh. You mean the magic mirror. Why didn't I think of that before?"

The ghost of a smile appeared on Hendricks's lips, but he said nothing.

Dillon pulled the magic mirror out of his bag of tricks. He muttered an incanation under his breath and the mirror's surface changed, displaying a bunch of text. "Goblins forum? Goblins?? I ask you for help, and you give me GOBLINS??!" He shook the mirror, but it didn't change. He sighed. "Fine. Be that way. Let's see what a bunch of goblins can figure out that we can't."
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by nikohl » Wed Jan 15, 2014 1:29 am

"Show us the creepy eye, guys. Look closer at it."

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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by WearsHats » Wed Jan 15, 2014 5:50 am

"Oh, great. Just what I wanted to do!"

"What is it, Dillon?"

"The goblin lady wants us to take a closer look at the creepy eye thing. Did I mention it's creepy? Because it is."

"She's got a point," Hendricks said. "It is about the only interesting thing we've seen here."

"Sure, take her side." Dillon sighed. "Oh... fine."

As the pair walked closer to the eye, it lit up. The now glowing red eye started sliding back and forth along a narrow track. Hendricks stopped, wary. But now Dillon's curiousity was piqued. He walked closer. When he was almost close enough to touch it, the illusion faded. The glow vanished and the eye was still. Closer inspection showed it wasn't an eye at all, but rather some kind of brightly-colored egg. "Hey, I think there's some text here, too. Hard to be sure. It's pretty faded. Something about a... pylon, maybe? I don't know. I can't make anything else out."
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by GathersIngredients » Wed Jan 15, 2014 6:14 am

What else do you have on you, or in your bag of tricks?

You're acrobats, could you climb down the wall of the tower?
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by nikohl » Wed Jan 15, 2014 6:21 am

"You said your axe was magically worked on - didn't it do that glowy thing before? Also, you should poke the egg."

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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by ThroughTheWell » Wed Jan 15, 2014 11:41 am

Examine the egg while muttering an incantation together (yes both of you) of the following form: "Pylons, I can't make pylons because of...", insert an excuse here, "Go see the Red witch instead, she's great at making pylons." No really, it will work. After all, it's magic.

I suggest an excuse of "I'm a freaking acrobat! I don't make pylons." But feel free to invent your own excuse.
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by thinkslogically » Wed Jan 15, 2014 11:54 am

Try and read the text before poking the egg :)

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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by WearsHats » Thu Jan 16, 2014 2:04 am

"You want to know what's in my bag of tricks? Heh. You and every kid in every town I've ever been through. Well, let me tell you, no one has ever seen everything that's in here. Maybe not even me. But I guess I can show you some of it. Let's see... I've got my lute, of course. And some finger puppets. Linking rings. Throwing knives. Flute. Magic handkerchiefs. Juggling knives. Whistles. Harp. Bags of flash powder. Marionettes. Juggling torches. Storybooks. Change of clothes. Potion of firebreath. Tinderbox. Spyglass. Jester-headed baton. Healing potions. Makeup. ... I could go on, but you get the idea.

"My taciturn friend over here prefers his privacy, but you can probably guess the basics of what he's got on him. Lockpicks and other such tools. (No need to get into specifics there, you get me?) Fifty feet of braided silk rope. (And before you ask, remember that this is a two hundred foot tall tower. And no, not even Hendricks can climb down the side of this thing freehand.) Bag of Holding (which is kind of like my bag of tricks, but much less interesting). A couple of healing potions. Goggles of Darkvision. And so on. The usual tools of one in his profession."

Hendricks scowled, but he didn't really mean it. Probably. One would hope.

"Moving on! You asked about the axe. It's a magical weapon of moderate power. It won't break, never needs sharpening, and cuts better than any ordinary axe. It can, when triggered, do a bit of lightning damage when it hits. And, as you've seen, it glows faintly in the presence of certain magical effects. It can't tell us what's an illusion and what isn't, but the fact that it's glowing tells us that there is magic around.

"Now, let's see. What else have you got? ... You want me to invoke a magical incantation of some sort about pylons. ... Oookaaay. Have you heard of any such thing?"

Hendricks shook his head. Then, after a moment, he added, "But we did ask for their help. It can't hurt to try, can it?"

"I suppose not. Okay, then. *ahem* Hello, creepy glowing eye thing. (I can't believe I'm doing this.) I can't make pylons because of insert an - er, sorry. I can't make pylons because I don't have the proper tools. Go see the Red Witch instead."

The egg glowed. A metallic voice responded. "Repair request acknowledged. Freighter dispatched. Arrival in 2.35 yahren. By your command." The glow faded.

"... Well. Uhm. I don't know what that was, but I don't think it's what we needed." Dillon took another moment to compose himself, then looked back at the mirror. "What else have we got? Poke the egg? Are you people...? Well, you're goblins. I guess it's... Poke the egg." He muttered for a while.

Hendricks, seeing that his friend was out of sorts, and having heard the suggestion, stepped forward and deftly removed the egg from its holder.

"Hendricks!! What the heck do you think you're doing?? What have you done??"

Fortunately, removing the egg did not seem to have any effect. Hendricks looked at it more carefully. The large end, which had been facing outwards, was dyed bright red. The smaller end, which had been hidden by the holder, was dyed in a colorful, almost festive pattern. The egg seemed to be significantly lighter than one would expect, though heavier than an empty shell.

Dillon gaped for a minute, shook himself, and looked back in the mirror. "'Before you poke the egg...'" He smacked his forehead. "I really should have read that first, huh? It's just... when that thing talked back to me... I've had worse, you understand, but... this has not been an easy day for me, okay? ... Right. Try reading the text again. There isn't much to read. It just says 'YLON.' That's about all I can make out. The rest is too faded."

Dillon knelt down to take a look at the rest of the patch of wall. It did seem less creepy with the egg gone. Less like a malevolent staring eye. "Hey, wait! There's more text down here on the floor. It says: 'The key to getting inside cannot be seen.' Well, that's helpful. But of course there has to be a way inside. This is a very tall stone tower. You don't just climb up and down the sides to get to the top of a watchtower. There have got to be interior stairs somewhere..."
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by nikohl » Thu Jan 16, 2014 2:13 am

"Give the egg a little shake, see if there's something inside. And if your axe glows within a certain radius, try playing "hot and cold" with it to find out where exactly the source of this illusion is."

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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by WearsHats » Thu Jan 16, 2014 3:04 am

Hendricks shook the egg. It cracked open. Inside, he found a small herring. It, like half the egg, was dyed red.

He also tried moving around the top of the tower, but the faint glow did not perceptibly change. The whole tower seemed to be imbued with ambient magic.
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by LAYF » Thu Jan 16, 2014 3:09 am

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"So.. something is misleading.... yes... well, that was nothing new.... hmm... you said that the egg was one of the few decorations... what else can you find? use the spyglass for more detail"
-Best regards LAYF

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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by nikohl » Thu Jan 16, 2014 3:29 am

("Red Herring" is like a false dead-end clue, LAYF. So yes, the fish, but it's a play on words. I don't know if it translated well to another language!)

Is there anything useful in your Bag of Holding?

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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by WearsHats » Thu Jan 16, 2014 4:31 am

"The Bag Of Holding contains roughly what you'd expect an adventurer to be carrying. It's also useful for carrying away the things that weren't in it when we arrived, if you take my meaning. If there's something you think might be useful, ask for it and we can look. But nothing springs to mind for this particular situation."

Taking a closer look around their surroundings didn't seem to yield much. The stone was chipped in places. Mostly from age. There were a few holes here and there, indicating that once, long ago, something or other had been mounted here or there. Looking through the spyglass yielded a view of... quite a lot of grass. Miles and miles of it.

But it was while looking through the glass that Dillon tripped over something. His toe had gotten caught in a narrow groove in the floor which, had he been paying slightly more attention, he would probably have just avoided. He turned it into a showman's tumble, then popped up with a flourish of his arms and a smile on his face.

Hendricks ignored his friend's antics, and instead set about clearing the dust off the area to find that the groove ran in about a three foot square. Text written inside the square (visible now that the dust had been brushed away) read "Look sharp, lest you fall flat!"
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by nikohl » Thu Jan 16, 2014 5:50 am

"Can you poke inside the groove with any of your tools? Maybe it's a trap door."

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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by thinkslogically » Thu Jan 16, 2014 5:59 am

Agree with that, but have Hendrick check for traps first.

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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by LAYF » Thu Jan 16, 2014 5:59 am

"Yea, try using a knife... or look for sharp edges... something sharp.. damn I'm not good at this..."

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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by ThroughTheWell » Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:13 am

Cool! I knew the incantation would work. :D

I have to agree with everyone else. Check for traps on the likely trap door, and then probably open it with something sharp. That, however, is boring.

Try this first! You have a lute, you are on top of a watch tower, this is an opportunity not to be missed. Play this song as closely as you can. Think of it as bard magic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJV81mdj1ic Try to strut, sing, and move All Along The Watchtower as you imitate this song. I also suggest using your magic Axe as IF it was another lute. (Invert the handle, strum where the strings ought to be.)

For convienience, here are the lyrics to be sung:
"There must be some kind of way out of here,"
Said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion,
I can't get no relief.
Businessman they drink my wine,
Plowman dig my earth
None will level on the line, nobody offered his word, hey"

"No reason to get excited,"
The thief, he kindly spoke
"There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late"

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too

Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl
*buisness man there, drink my wine,
Come and take my herb.

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Last edited by ThroughTheWell on Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:52 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by nikohl » Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:34 am

"The acoustic version by Bear McCreary is better, and suits a lute better. But that's just personal preference."

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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by ThroughTheWell » Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:55 am

nikohl wrote:"The acoustic version by Bear McCreary is better, and suits a lute better. But that's just personal preference."
I have never heard of McCreary. I have heard of Jimi Hendrix. They have a magical Axe (guitars are often called axes). I'll stick with the popular verion by Jimi.

Still, you intrigue me. Care to post your acoustical verion as a link?
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by GathersIngredients » Thu Jan 16, 2014 10:18 am

examine the holder where the egg/eye was previously in.

(at the back of the eye -> key can't be seen; maybe the key is behind the eye, where one usually can't see?)
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by nikohl » Thu Jan 16, 2014 11:01 am

ThroughTheWell wrote:...
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by Patdragon » Thu Jan 16, 2014 11:45 am

i agree with gathers ingredients as propylon could be the word we're after.
Only other word that seems more likely is maybe daylong but can't see how that's relevant at the moment, maybe something will happen at sunset? As the key can not be seen in the dark.

As a secondary option, tie a rope to one of the crenelations and see if you can find a window lower down to go throw.

third option something for see invisibility?
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by WearsHats » Thu Jan 16, 2014 11:53 pm

Hendricks checked for traps and then pried at the groove. The square shifted slightly. Just enough to show that it was, indeed, a trapdoor. But clearly a locked one.

Dillon looked at the song he was supposed to play. "... There's a song over there about us?? That's so surreal. ... But, huh. You know, I really like those lyrics. Could do with a little changing here and there, but I could really work with that." He started muttering to himself, trying to arrange the song.

Hendricks nudged him.

"What? ... Oh, right. Getting off this tower. The song can wait. (I really don't like that line about the herb. And the last line of the first stanza should rhyme and... Right. Later.) Okay, I'm supposed to play this song? But all you've given me is a line of gibberish. Is that the goblin language? Doesn't look like any music I've ever seen.

"... Still, you think music may be the key? It does have a key that you can't see. And it fits with the text on the trapdoor." He took out his loot and strummed a few notes. As he hit C Sharp, the door unlocked and opened. As it did, sparks danced across Hendricks's axe, and it pulsed with a purple haze.

A stairway was revealed, leading down into the darkness.

"You did it! You got us into the tower! Thank you, strange goblin people!"

The pair walked down to the next level. At the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves in a vast open space. There was a wood floor that seemed to consist of impossibly large planks. Looking back, the staircase they'd just come down seemed to climb into the open sky.

"It's like someone is building a stairway to Heaven," Dillion remarked.

"Yeah, but we're trying to go down. Does that put us on a highway to Hell?"

"I sure hope not. But, from the looks of things, it's going to be a long and winding road."

They looked around. There was a teapot the size of a house, cups the size of carriages, an equally enormous plate of teacakes, and other such things. Off in the distance, there appeared to be a gigantic metal bird, and, sleeping nearby, a mouse the size of an elephant.
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Re: The Watchtower (Anyone can play!)

Post by Davecom3 » Fri Jan 17, 2014 12:07 am

Try nibbling on the teacakes. You seem to be in some sort of wonderland. In any case, those things aren't big; you're small.

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