The Forest - Chapter One

[Nioca]

"Now this is very interesting indeed..." Vualn says, sounding amused. Looking up at the ceiling, he scrutinizes the patterns within the aura of the magic, attempting to determine more precisely what sort manner of magic is at work, although to little avail.

Vualn Spellcraft: 15 [3+12]

"I would advise caution before advancing any further," Vualn intones. "This chamber is not what it seems; the tunnels ahead and the ceiling above are enchanted, although to what point and purpose is currently proving difficult to ascertain."

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I keep telling myself that those ranks in spellcraft are going to be useful.

Aaaaany day now.

[spiderwrangler]

"But the wax itself is not enchanted?", Kast asks Mr. GlitterwingsÔäó while using the tip of an arrow to pick at the wax nearest at hand.

[willpell]

"You worry too much, darlings," the mystery voice echoes from no apparent source. "The tunnels are enchanted for acoustics, that's all. And the wax is purely decorative. A red carpet, as it were. For our honored guests."

[Amara]

(I should give up on rolling for Rían hahaha. I attempted a roll to see if I could see through anything... No, no the dice love my bear. Definitely. And yet I can roll multiple 20s in a row with Elevar or Isaac. If I ever roll above 10 for this poor man again, I will be impressed at this point.)

At the mention of enchantments, the bear stopped and narrowed his eyes, squinting down the tunnels (and the main room,) again. It didn't seem to do him much good. He produced a sound quite akin to a sigh, and moved a bit closer to the tunnels. Maybe he'd be able to see something, anything down them. (Spot, so I'm sure a resounding nope.)

[spiderwrangler]

Kast gingerly steps out onto the red wax, holding his bow low, but at full alert. "If we are your honored guests, perhaps you should introduce yourself?", he muttered under his breath.

[willpell]

"We will, happily! As soon as it can be in person....assuming you pick the right tunnel. If not, well, that would be a tragically wasted opportunity for us to get to know each other better."

[Nioca]

"Well... Guess we just pick one at random." Vualn comments dryly. He stands near the back of the group, prepared to follow the two meatshields warriors deeper within.

[spiderwrangler]

Kast approaches the tunnel entrances, looking to see if there is any difference between them that he can discern.

[Amara]

Assuming none of the tunnels smell any differently whatsoever, the bear approaches the center path.

[willpell]

Quiet enough that only Rian can hear it (he's closer, and his own bulk absorbs much of the sound, the voice whispers from deep inside the tunnel, "I can hardly bear the suspense...c'mere, big boy, lemme run my fingers through your hair." Quite in spite of himself, the paladin finds the words physically exciting (in a shiver-down-the-spine sort of way, to be perfectly clear). His mind might consider the extremely personal entreaty more than a little creepy, but on a gut level, he experiences a profound urge to follow the summons.

Kast spots something down the tunnel to the right which catches his attention.

As he announces resolve to pick a tunnel at random, Vualn feels himself drawn, as if by serendipity, toward the tunnel on the left.

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Each of you gimme a Will save.

[Amara]

(It's a miracle, my first time rolling over a 10! (God help me.) 23.)

[Nioca]

Vualn Will Save: Ôê× (Vualn's immune to Enchantment spells and effects due to his fey nature. On the off chance this isn't enchantment though: 8 )

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Also, infinity symbols don't look right in this font. I had to do all sort of manipulations just to get it looking like an actual infinity symbol.

[spiderwrangler]

I rolled twice for Kastrail, one without (13) and one with (12) his racial bonus against Enchantments. That's some Rian level rolling right there.

[willpell]

(It is in fact not an enchantment spell; Vualn's fey heritage, and the diluted version thereof which all elves enjoy, offers no particular protection against it.)

Vualn decides to follow his hunch, and Kast's predatory curiosity is drawn to the thing he half-glimpsed down the tunnel. It only occurs to Rian to notice that the party has apparently decided, without any planning or discussion, to split up and follow all three tunnels separately, something that he realizes might not be that wise. Then again, there is an alluring voice coming from up ahead, who seems to want a bit of alone time with him....

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Rian may choose to abort his current plan and try to join one of the other two in their current tunnel; both elves are intrigued enough to follow their respective attention-getters, without consciously realizing they're behaving uncautiously. They are not hypnotized completely or anything; they retain their ability to react to obvious dangers, but have merely been lulled into a state of un-paranoia, so they aren't exercising the restraint they might.

[spiderwrangler]

Hunting instincts on alert, Kast raises his bow, peering down the right-most tunnel as he side-steps along the wax covered floor towards the entrance to the tunnel.

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What is Kzri doing during this?

[willpell]

I assume that your last orders to her were to follow you, so that's what she's doing.

[spiderwrangler]

Yup, that's what I figured... mostly was wondering if she was being similarly drawn in, or was just following Kast's lead. Not sure if it will end up mattering, but if he's distracted, she may be able to detect trouble coming while he's chasing imaginary friends.

[Amara]

(I will reply as soon as I can, but after three flights (including a transatlantic) and a long train ride, I'm rather exhausted and not yet fully unpacked. )

[spiderwrangler]

I'll be traveling to see family next week, so my forum use may be somewhat intermittent. I do get email notifications on this thread though, so will try to post actions for Kast in a reasonable time frame if we have any further plot developments in the coming week and a half.

[willpell]

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Amara? Nioca? Anyone?

[Amara]

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So in summary;
I arrived in the UK, was horribly sick for over a week (several days of a high fever followed by a residual sinus infection that left me grumbly and unable to do much...) when I started feeling better, I got out my laptop to hopefully get back to work and...
...it's fried. Pre-London trip, the fianc├® needed his laptop, and so now that we're back from London I can borrow said laptop to get online. I've been with nothing but my phone otherwise since arriving. :C

The bear was quick to double back. Certainly he couldn't reach both of his companions in time; the path forked in three directions, and he doubted either individual would stop moving. Who to stop? Kast at least had his spider friend; the bear set his jaw, and sped after Vualn. But how was he even going to stop him? He couldn't exactly shout his name, or any other such thing while stuck in this form. As it was, current attempts of communication were little more than a grumbly roar of irritation at best.
Perhaps he could grab him...

(I'll go ahead and roll a grapple. Current base speed is 40 ft, and he has run which means he can sprint at a 5x.
BAB (5) + STR (10) + size (+4) = 19, he also has improved grapple (+4), so grapple checks would be at a +22
And I rolled a 10. )

[spiderwrangler]

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Ugh... sorry your last few weeks have been so rough!

[willpell]

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Yikes. Glad you survived all that, and welcome back. Are you in England to stay or just visiting?

Ah, what every DM loves to see, intra-party conflict. Don't mind me if I stir the pot just a little and hope for the "best".

I'm pretty sure Vualn has no chance of beating a 32 grapple without casting a spell or SLA for the purpose, and needing to do something like that would be enough to snap him out of his fugue, as would finding himself bear-hugged and unable to proceed (it's a very light hypnotic nudge, doesn't take much to thwart it). So whenever Nioca gets around to posting, you two can roleplay while SW deals with the actual encounter...I'll get to that later, as I'll need to take some actual time to deal with it, and that's not on the agenda for today.

Vualn comes to his senses to find that the bear is physically restraining him from making further progress down the tunnel. Now that he thinks of it, he's a little unclear on why he was heading down said tunnel all by himself anyway...abandoning one's bodyguards to venture into the unknown is not generally regarded as prudent among sorcerers (particularly not ones with pixieshly frail physiques).

Rian seems to be in his right mind, and will likely let you go if you simply ask him to, assuming you don't feel too offended at him having presumed upon your person, and decide to make your displeasure known. (But that's entirely up to you; whatever force could have been acting on your mind has vanished, leaving you completely unaware that any such thing might ever have existed, past an extremely vague sensation of having perhaps acted imprudently for no visible reason. The compulsion was subtle enough that it can easily be mistaken for a passing whim, of the sort mercurial fae-types and adventurers in general get all the time.)

[Amara]

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Just visiting for the holidays, though I'm trying to work out studying abroad for my master's; I only have one semester left to finish up my bachelor's, and with luck I'll be able to continue my master's here in Lincoln, since I can just stay in my fianc├®'s flat.

[willpell]

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If I could manage to continue this, would you all still be interested?