The Reliquary of Ahazi, part 7
Log Info
- Title: The Reliquary of Ahazi Part 7
- Emitter: Whirlpool
- Characters: Dax, Paenitia, Aryia, Davienne, Venom, Ravendar, Seyardu, Lyme
- Place: Farmlands of Alexandros
- Time: Wednesday, July 21, 2021, 8:57 PM
- Summary: The adventurers recover after having been steam cleaned, and ponder what else to do with the cauldron. Something must be done, but what is not clear. Equally disconcerting, there seems to be less mural than there was before. No one can remember which pieces are missing. Which is fine because it's missing a lot of pieces no one has ever seen before, so what's the problem exactly? Everyone discusses more food ingredients, but the best guess of the wall readers is perhaps something personal. Venom slips in her pistol, Aryia tries some things she uses. Paenitia has most of her significant items back on Ramirez, so she tosses in her pole arm. Dax donates her bra, which she sorely needs to restrain her bounteous bosom and protect her from chaffing. Lyme balks at adding his underwear, and everyone is glad he does not. Seyardu puts in a book she wrote herself. Ravendar contributes some sheet music and that seems to be enough. In a rainbow explosion, the cauldron sinks into the grown. Everyone follows, discovering a huge amphitheater. Paenitia mounts the platform while Aryia and Venom explore the stands. A phantom audience appears. Undeterred, Paenitia declares herself Mistress oF Ceremonies, and tells the spectres of Ahazi that they are about to be enter-TAINED!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Appearing, in Order =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Dax 5'0" 110 Lb Human Female A 5' tall red haired human with piercings and tats. Paenitia 3'0" 34 Lb Halfling Female A Lucht knight, dark skinned in bold feathery finery. Aryia 4'8" 110 Lb Shadow Elf Female A heavily scarred mul with a curious look about her. Davienne 5'1" 101 Lb Half-Elf Female A ranger with a cat. Venom 5'6" 130 Lb Human Female A woman(?) about 5'6" in a ragged black veil and poncho. Ravendar 3'1" 40 Lb Halfling Male A red-haired Lucht Siuil man. Seyardu 5'6" 150 Lb Sith-Makar Female A friendly silver sith-makar with a perpetual squint. Lyme 7'2" 435 Lb Orc Butch Black-skinned oruch of suitable stature. =-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As the GM =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Whirlpool Otyugh I am stinky! =-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
Previously
After delving deep underground, playing a magical drum not once, but twice, and emulating a ritual shown in the Murals of Ahazi, the adventurers are rewarded with a boiling hot watery hand to the face. Battle ensues! Paenitia leaps back, using her Lucern Hammer and landing at least one decent blow. Venom fires shot after shot, some quite effective. Dax and Aryia go into direct melee with the boiling water elemental, doing damage but receiving scaldings in return. Lyme and Davienne strike with their swords. Good, solid, precise strikes that find no weak spots in the watery opponent. Ravendar keeps up everyone's moral with jaunty renditions on his fiddle.
Raising her warhammer, she brought it down on the area. And continuing down, the water elemental that was fit to burst resisting with every inch as it tried to keep pulled together despite being nearly ripped in two now. Almost halfway through the elemental burst, and the force of the swing sent the hammer ringing against the side of the stewpot as the watery stew-elemental could no longer hold together, exploding in a shower of scalding water. Seyardu wasn't graceful at the best of times, and as close as she was, it was basically impossible to dodge the boiling water. Drenched, it did a lot more. Seyardu staggered to regain her balance, but she gave the group a smile. "That was not that bad, thankfully. Does anyone need any assistance?" She asks.
Davienne lets out a yelp as the elemental explode. Splattering her from head to toe with boiling liquid and leaving red hot patches and blisters quickly rising. It made her take a couple steps back, blade up defensively, as her other hand gingerly touched the reddened skin of her face. "Sssss..." She hisses in pain, looking around as she slowly moves to sheathe her sword. "Everyone mostly ok?"
Ravendar does his best to dodge out of the way of the scalding wave for water, but he twists to protect something more valuable to him than his own life, his instrument. He takes the bunt of it and it's the worst pain that he's felt in his life. He takes a couple steps as he feels his hot wet clothes clinging to his skin. "No...but I will be soon, I hope." He starts to slowly play again, a soothing song to heal his wounds.
The deathblow on their enemy has an effect Venom hadn't quite considered, and she ends up getting a face full of hot for her trouble as she hastily tries to get out of the splash zone. The oilcloth stops some of the soak through, but not so the transfer of heat, nor does it keep the water from suffusing her veil.
Her hair.
She staggers away, turning from the party as she lets the dragonspitter clatter to the ground and hastily removes her veils, exposing an underlying patchwork of leather and buckles that allows her hair to spill from the back of her head, sight and the use of her nostrils but naught else.
With continuing haste, her gloved hands rise to wring the lingering heat out of her hair, exposing the bottom of an odd pack, and the holster for a much longer weapon.
It troubles her reasoning mind to no small measure that hot water hurt so much more than something so clearly pedestrian as being set on fire.
At some point, there comes a gesture of what was almost a thumbs-up, then settles into a wavering so-so.
Just as Aryia saw the hammer swing down, the pugilist tilts her head to the side. Doesn't steam explode outwards when... Without waiting, she dives off behind the cauldron to the other side away from the charged elemental, her scuffing her elbows and knees along the stone ground.
She looks up to see Venom scrambling with her veil and hair, Aryia making a small noise of worry and jogging over towards her. She holds out a waterskin towards her, something to cool it off while she does her best to not look at the partially unveiled Venom.
Paenitia is caught in a wave of hot water, that completely washes over her. Her shield deflects it. Unfortunately, her shield is on her back, and the deflection is down her back.
"Ai! Eeeei! Hot hot hot!" The Dark Lucht jumps and dances around, feet slipping on flagstones. She is used to the heat, but as they say, used to a dry heat.
A wet one is much, much worse. She ends up doing another dance, one where she attempts to shake out all the water. It's not quite like a bee, dancing directions to a flower, but she does clank up a storm.
Now
The heat is a bit to absorb as it were for the silent gunslinger, as pinkened fair skin parts behind the boundaries of rough stitched leather to catch a sidelong glimpse of the proferred waterskin with a dark eye. A hand signs a quick "Thanks." then closes around it to pour over the parts of Venom that are still steaming.
A deep breath, and a long, quavering exhale through the nose holes of that mask, and the skin, about half full yet, is held back Aryia's way before Venom sinks to her haunches to grab the fallen 'spitter to make sure the short fall didn't cause any damage to the mechanism. The veils are allowed to continue wafting steam while she's about that, there isn't much risk of damage, there.
Ravendar finishes casting the healing spell on himself and then he casts a cantrip to starts to rid the water from his clothes. He slowly moves his hand over his clothes to dry them out. "Well that monster certainly wasn't in the frescos. Maybe now we can make a proper stew and solve this riddle."
Paenitia keeps shaking the water out. It has slicked her hair down. She now trails a long clump behind each foot, sweeping the floor. This does not please her. She fans her mask quite a lot.
"Okay. I am ready for the other ideas."
Aryia takes the waterskin back with a smile and a thumbs up. She offers a hand to help Venom up.
Dax waves her hands about, maneuvering her claws to be in their not-wielded state and she cringes. "That was hot, an' not in the kind of way of some sailor dancin' at a tavern, more in the flesh singin' sort of way." She then looks around and wonders, "Should we try feedin' it again?"
Seyardu took a moment to brush off more of the water, and she stepped out of the large puddle now on the ground.
"I am glad you are all alright, for the most part. It seems the worst has passed, does anyone need any first aid? I have healing magics, should any need, and it would be easier than first aid, especially for those who do not wish to be seen." They offer.
The cauldron, at least, seems to still be present and functional. For the moment.
"Hola Friend Dragon, yes, I am in need of the healing magics." Paenitia admits, having decided to sit on the comparatively cool ground.
Ravendar finishes drying himself off with prestidigitation, "I could use some healing as well. I have a few healing spells and I've used one all ready but more healing would be welcome." His skin is still beet red from the scalping hot water.
Venom seems satisfied the weapon is functional and slips it back into it's holder, glancing sidelong at the offered hand. She snatches up the veils with her other hand, and accepts Aryia's aid, pushing up to her feet.
She shakes the veils out off to one side, then starts to reaffix them in their proper place. Having nothing to say during the job, it's only after she's finished that she signs another, "Thank you.w" then, turning back to survey the room and team, "Fire hurts less. When did the first growl start?" <handspeech>
Aryia nods, her looking away as the veils are messed with before glancing at hands. "When we first put something in there." <Handspeech>
Looking up as others are getting healing, Dax looks over her hands which are rather pink and a little swollen, she asks, "If ya'd be so kind? I could as well, though... I've been in worse waters 'fore. Make sure others get their injuries tended ta first." Her own injuries mostly self-inflicted by attacking a hot water elemental.
<OOC> Seyardu says, "Using two charges of channel energy" GAME: Seyardu rolls 4d6: (13): 13
"It is alright. I have magic that should tend to the others. Please let me know if any of you have injuries which persist." She says, clutching the collar of her breastplate. "Celestial mother, pray ease the burdens of your children, who have been injured in serving to help others through their actions. Through your aid, allow this one to mend their wounds, to cease their pain, and allow them to carry on." They offer in brief prayer, a gentle energy suffusing those present, and mending the worst of their wounds, easing flesh angered by the boiling water. <Draconic>
"Thank you, Friend Dragon, I am feeling better now." Paenitia says, getting up to wander around and shake her wet feet. She approaches the cauldron, examining it from a distance, and then turns to look at the mosaic on the wall.
With an eye toward the cauldron, and a look around Dax pulls out some jerky. She looks at it, then looks over towards the cauldron, and fake tosses it in the direction, then wonders, "Should I try feedin' again? Maybe it was jus' hungry?" She looks around to the smarter folks, after all, she's willing to just feed it again.
Venom nods twice to the observations, then gives a little bow as Seyardu invokes her divine healing. That feels so much better, already. She ventures then to examine the cauldron once more, a little more studiously, seeking additional clues of what went wrong.
"Well that was my original suggestion." Ravendar says after he gets healed. He bows his head to Seyardu, "Thank you for the healing." He moves towards the cauldron to look it over to see if there is any writing on it and to check out the coals that are inside.
"Perhaps it requires something from everyone present. I do not know if that elemental was supposed to be part of the ritual or not. The magic may be unstable, or it may have been in place if we did anything wrong, and this one is unsure." Seyardu muses, joining in looking at the murals. And finding little from the color of them, but she tries.
Aryia gives a small sigh of relief as the healing hits her, though she never truly got injured by the water. She puts her hands in her pockets and leans on her back foot, letting the others sort out things as she tries to muse on her own.
GAME: Venom rolls perception: (13)+10: 23 GAME: Aryia rolls perception: (10)+12: 22 GAME: Paenitia rolls perception: (1)+4: 5 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Seyardu rolls perception: (18)+3: 21
There really isn't anything new that can be learned from the murals, per say. Too much is missing. Is more missing than there was a moment ago? It sure *feels* like it, but then, is not history always in the process of being lost?
Still, there's a group, th8ey each put something in the cauldron. The cauldron does ... something.
There's no clear indication of waht comes next, but it's clear that each 'thing' is different. Perhaps it's some kind of sacrifice? The Ahazi seem quite about the inevitably of loss and destruction.
GAME: Seyardu rolls knowledge/Arcana: (8)+5: 13
"Maybe we try again," Paenitia suggests, "We get some wine and the ingredients we leave outside, do the dance and throw them in."
"Unless the sacrifices is weapons or babies. I cannot tell. This fall apart as we look at it."
The sith-makar found little helpful from the murals, so she gave up with a sigh, and trudged back through the water to investigate the cauldron some more. She seemed to look at it for a few more minutes, before she chuffs and turns around to the group.
"I do not believe the elemental was some defense mechanism for the cauldron." She speaks up. "It was a build up of, something, to do with the actual purpose over the years, most likely. But I do not believe we were on the right track with the food, either. Do any of you remember any stories, or notes on things the Ahazi may use as offerings?"
Aryia shakes her head, vexed about the current situation. "I don't even know how to spell their name." <Handspeech>
Chewing on jerky, Dax is kind of smirking. She slides down to the ground and just sits in some of the water, leaning against a wall, chewing on jerky. She looks at some of the murals and then to the others, to herself mostly, she says, "Well, ain't tha' just a kicker. This is why I don't like books, filled wit' all sorts of confusin' things. Ain't never done no one any good if ya ask me..."
"Try the drumming and dancing again?" Paenitia suggests, "if it books or spells, there only one of us with those."
"Or what if it's just stuff we use?" Aryia brings up with a shrug. <Handspeech>
"It is a sacrifice of something to pot, I believe." Seyardu adds as she listens to what was said. Perhaps something related to music in some way, or something else culturally significant? It is not the dancing or music again, but that may be the right track for some form of offering."
She turns to Ravendar, and a moment passes before she speaks again. "Is it possible you have some sheet music on you that you would be willing to part with? It may be worth an attempt, And I can give you gold for a replacement."
Venom considers the theories being tossed about and gives a little shrug before she draws her dragonspitter anew. A product of artifice after a fashion, a touch of the mystical in it's own way, perhaps it may be enough.
The load is a little Morbid, and, to prevent extra complications, she breaks open the action with a thumb release and withdraws the steel projectile, returning it to a slot in her belt.
She stares into the pot for a moment, idly cleaning the last of the floor dust from the weapon then sets it inside.
The shadow elf of the group looks pensive for a long while, rubbing her chin. After a moment, she pauses. Opens up her small bag, and pulls out a palm sized compass. It has a few years on it, the glass cracked and a little waterlogged, the dial spinning idly around before centering on north. First compass she was given after leaving Charn.
She glances to Venom, clutches her compass, and walks forward as well. Aryia breathes deep and sets the navigator's tool inside as well.
Ravendar looks at the cauldron and then back to the murals and then back to the cauldron and back to the murals. His pondering is broken by Seyardu's request, "Um...maybe, let me check my pack. I normally don't use sheet music, but I may have some." He takes off his pack and opens it up. He digs a bit before at the very bottom he finds a crumpled piece of sheet music. He pulls it out and carefully smooths it out the best he can, "Here you go." He offers it to Seyardu.
The Red Knight watches the veiled woman, then the shadow elf make sacrifices. She doesn't have a lot with her and her Lucerne hammer is in her hands. She up-ends that into the cauldron, careful not to smash either of the two items that went before.
She says, "It want something more personal I make, we going to have to set up a forge or wait three months for the beer to brew."
"Thank you, Ravendar." Seyardu nods as she accepts the paper offered, and gently drops it into the water. And she thinks for a moment, and out of her bag she pulls out a small, cloth bound book, which shortly joins the cauldron.
There's a look around, "Wait, are we putting stuff into there that's more ... than just food? I ain't too sure I got anythin' on me it'd want." She looks over herself, there's her flask of course, food, bow, arrows, definitely won't be throwing her claws in there, and she shrugs. Littered with metal all through her ears and nose and eyebrow but she just shrugs, "I ain't got no books or paper, or the like."
Aryia points to the flask with a flat expression.
Paenitia looks thoughtfully at Dax as she makes her protests. The woman does have an awful lot of metal on her. An earring, a stud, potentially almost anything would do. She ponders what to suggest.
She snaps her gauntletted fingers, places her hands on her hips and looks all the way up the taller woman. "Throw in the bosom support. It will be a marvel of engineering support the cauldron has not seen the like."
As the more ... relevant things begin to get poured in, there are flashes of light. It would appear that it recognizes this. The murals begin to light up, one by one, all around you. A sort of ongoing, aural presence begins to build. A low, musical hum.
The pointing to her, gets a raised eyebrow, then Dax is patting around herself. Trying to figure out what Aryia is pointing at, and she practically explores her entire torso, then looks again, till she's lowering her gaze and she gets a confused look on her face, "My pants? No, that's not gonna work. I need those ta walk..." Missing that her flask, on her belt is what was being pointed at, then there's the little knight's suggestion. "Oh, that's easy I got loads of these. Wear through 'em fast, what wit' all the fire, hot water creatures, creatures jus' in general, an' well... the occasional fergetfulness what wit' never knowin' which tavern yer sleepin' in." And so she starts to work herself out of her 'bosom support' without removing her upper armor and completely exposing herself.
And, if no one stops her, it takes a few minutes, there's a bit more chafing and less coverage, but she tosses in her undergarment into the cauldron while desperately needing to tighten up the front leather portions of her top. Let's hope there's not a hopscotch challenge next...
Dax is giving up her 'Suspension of D's-Believe!'
Aryia blinks at Dax's contribution, her perplexed at the action before shaking her head, moving closer, and pointing directly at the flask. But she shrugs and sighs, walking off to the other side of the room.
Perhaps Tarienites should not be trusted for translations or directions.
"It seems something is going correctly, and there have been no noises of discontent from the pot, this time." Seyardu notes as she glances to the walls. "It seems incomplete, though. Perhaps some of the offerings are incorrect, or more are needed?" The silverscale suggests. "This one knows not the importance of such garments, but perhaps it is correct. Perhaps it needs something. Is it perhaps related to art? Or is it correct in the meaning being the most important factor?"
"Ohhhhhhhhh, my flask?" As Dax returns to her sitting position with a bit more bounce in her step, "That'd of probably worked, but it didn't like the jerky. An' sides, I won this flask fair an' square. I suspected a fella was cheatin' at a game o'chance, so I punched him in the face an' took it. No one cheats meh and walks away from it unbloodied." She uses her thumb to point back at herself to emphasize 'meh'. On Seyardu's comment though she kind of looks down, "I got some more underthings I could put in. Just take a bit ta get these darn things off then back on."
Venom turns and looks at the little Knight for a good long while after the suggestion she throws to Dax. She might be blinking behind the veil, it's kinda hard to tell. Then Dax is doing her dance and Seyardu is posing question that she just... no. No, she's not touching that. She might need both hands in a hurry.
Paenitia gazes innocently back at Venom, as innocently as she can from behind a grinning mask.
Lyme stares, having mentally drifted off, then returned. His mind is flooded with thoughts: Wait, what are we doing? And why are we getting naked?
...there is a rumble. The cauldron flares once more and then begins to sink into the ground, slowly, belching up prismatic displays of power. Yes, it's belching color in gouts of flame towards the ceiling quite suddenly.
Lyme looks pro-founding confused. "Wait, what are we putting in there?" He looks down. "...I'm not sure I want to go commando under this kilt down here." Can orcs blush? Well, you're engaging in empirical experimentation RIGHT NOW.
Aryia gives a tiny huff and shakes her head as her point gets across Dax, right in one eye and out the other. Though, as the cauldron shakes, the elf takes a few quick safety steps back.
"I agree with this sentiment." The waist high Knight says, taking her warhammer in hand, stepping back from the flare of colour, "there may be no need. See, the cauldron, he go places."
Seyardu joins the group stepping back and away from the cauldron, watching carefully.
"No more offerings necessary, hopefully. We may still need to fight things, and ill fitting armor is asking for an injury, or worse. We still know not what awaits us further down, though I feel we have made much progress."
Perhaps the torch would have sufficed.
She'll have to trawl Goblintown for replacement parts it seems.
Venom edges back as the Cauldron does something more interesting and less immediately harmful, but why invite another bath this soon? Even she isn't sweating quite -that- much.
She glances about the room, eyeing the lit portions of the mural to commit to memory in case it becomes important later.
There's a look from Dax though over toward Lyme, then the cauldron seems to be responding and she quirks her mouth, shaking her head a little, "Damn witches, always the worse timin'." She states and pushes herself back up from the ground and looks around. "Well, it looks like we made it do a thing that wasn't the other thing again." She takes a few steps, pauses, and looks down to herself for a moment then sighs, shaking her head, "Well, all that weight a bouncin' about is gonna be a bit distractin', but... should hold. Should." She grips her claws of attack, the little light still bobbing about her head, "Goin' in first lil' knight?"
Lyme opens his mouth, looks at Dax, closes his mouth. He reaches for his falchion, as things open up. "Let's find out what's next?"
The cauldron continues its descent and then finally there is grinding 'clank'.
Then several more. A series of steps unlock themselves and unfold, leading the way down.
"Okay, now it ready to go down." Paenitia declares, and does so. Clank-clank-clank, shield first, warhammer ready.
Letting out a sigh through her nose that ruffles the veils, Venom quickly trots over to catch up to the enthusiastic little Knight. She resumes her checks as best she can from second place, though it seems this far in the hazards are more... procedural.
Lyme starts towards the opening as well, following closely. "So let's go down together!"
Dax follows after Pae, and probably also behind Venom at this point, right near Lyme if the space will let her, she mentions with a bit of a scoff, "I bet the next trap is gonna be where we all have ta piss at the same time. Only thing left..." Clearly.
Aryia sighs in relief that progress was being made, and she delved deeper with the others.
Lyme pauses. "I think, when it comes to the gods, there's always something else that we haven't thought of yet." He keeps going, looking down at Dax. "I'm just glad you took off the claws before you did that trick."
Seyardu continues behind, taller than most and seeing over them from the back, and letting her take her time to avoid stumbling too much. Who knew what was in store in such an aged area, and any tripping threatened to have the silver scale bowl over those in front of her.
Down you go.
Finally, you emerge into a larger chamber than any before you've seen. No murals, this time, but it seems you're in some sort of amphitheater, now, with a central platform, the stairs leading down beside it, and rings of seating raised up out of carved stone in a staggered arragenement, intricately set up. It's all stone.
It looks like this was some sort of performance center, to besure, and that whoever completed the ritual was expected to, well, take a position on the stage. Perhaps perform.
But there is, for a change, no mural to guide you.
Venom has a sinking feeling as the group descends, and she takes in the decor and lack of... guidance. Her notepad returns, and in her pidgin of trade and Kulthian, starts taking stuff down. This seems like a job for the more performance inclined amongst them. She steps aside at the base of the stare and looks between the Knight and Bard.
Looking around the entire place, Dax lets out one of those 'impressed' whistles that is long, and probably reverberates through the entire space if it was ever meant as an actual amphitheater. Then she stops when she hears the reverberation sort of echo, and she winces a bit, "Whoops."
"See!" Lyme looks at Dax brightly. "It can get so fucking worse!"
To Lyme, she chuckles a bit, "Who knows, maybe it is a place fer hangings? Then it ain't so bad."
"No more murals." Seyardu notes, with a touch of relief. She was starting to get frustrated picking out the colors. "There may be something here, though. Check around the seats, perhaps there are clues left by those who watched whatever was here, that may give insight? Or the stage itself, scratches or such in the floor?"
Aryia blinks as the room is revealed to them. In a rare show of her naivety, she asks with her hands. "What is this? I've never seen something like this." She does shoot Dax a glare at the suggestion, however. <Handspeech>
The Red Knight marches down to the center platform. She hops up on it, a task for one her size in heavy armour, then bangs her warhammer on her shield. She listens as the sound echoes, then points at Ravendar.
Venom lets out another ruffling breath, then glances to Aryia's hands as they form her query.
Her own flex, wiggle and contort as she frames her reply, "A special stage, designed for large crowds, when all must hear the performers."
She glances to Seyardu and gives a thumbs-up on the suggestion before she starts to examine the seating, even going so far as to ignite her own everburning torch. -<handspeech>
Aryia scratches her head at the answer, nods, then does the same. Looking around.
Lyme looks confused at the gesturing, and goes to sit down on the bottom bench. "Someone please tell me where to stand, and when."
"Ha! I am not the gnome to be able to recite plays by heart. I can only tell the stories of hot romance and cold betrayal." The Red Knight laughs cheerfully, "You want the Ceinaran, not the Tarienite up here."
With the thumbs up, Seyardu continued onwards, while Venom looked at the seating, she took the time to investigating the floor of the stage. She was good at finding cracks, what with how she was always tripping over them. Hopefully her search would be less hands on, though.
Dax follows after Lyme, and then sits down on the bottom bench nearby sipping from her flask, then offering it in his direction. Though she shakes it a little and sighs, she's running on low. With a long intake of air she lets out a slow sigh and mentions, "If I gotta do some kind'o act, it better not be when I'm sober!" She calls out to no one in particular, grumbling, "That'd be a real shame. Fightin' sober is bad 'nuff."
GAME: Venom rolls perception: (14)+10: 24 GAME: Dax rolls perception: (17)+0: 17 GAME: Paenitia rolls perception: (8)+4: 12 GAME: Aryia rolls perception: (15)+12: 27 GAME: Seyardu rolls Perception: (2)+3: 5 GAME: Lyme rolls perception: (6)+4: 10
Lyme takes the flask with a nod, and sips it minimally. He wouldn't do that to her and actually take a good drink. He acknowledges the gesture, though. "I think acting while sober is for other people."
It's hard to miss.
Phantasmal individuals begin to appear, one after the other, sitting in the audience. Their eyes are beginning to focus on you. A dozen, two dozen, three dozen. Your audience.
They're watching you, intently, staring at the auditorium. They're illusions, right? Half-transparent. They're a mix of human, elves, and gnomes, as well, men and women. Even some children.
Phantasmal Audience is apparently a spell.
Dax claps and then stays in the audience.
Venom straightens from her examination of a bench when company suddenly manifests out of the ether around her. There's a moment where her hands come up, locked into fists, but, with a cant of the head and a look about, they lower once more.
She lifts a hand in a tentative wave, then edges back, noting the the tracking of her movements, and her hands busy themselves anew.
"Not illusions." they say, hesitate for a couple beats, then continue:
"Remnants of the faithful." <handspeech>
Aryia freezes in place as the audience fills in. Magic. This had to be magic. But then he dawns on her with the catching of her breath. Her attention slides to Venom, her grey facr paled to ash, and she gulps. A shudder leaves her as her hands shake as she signs to everyone. "Yes. These are real..." The shadow elf looks incredibly unnerved. <Handspeech>
Seyardu stopped her investigation of the floor from the ground as she picked herself up.
Great, now there was an entire audience that saw the silverscale trip. If she had been capable of blushing, she would have been beet red.
She picked herself up off of the stage, and looked around, before quickly hopping off. "Well, I was not expecting this. Did I do something? Or are they waiting for something now that we are here?" She asks the group, trying to move past what had just happened.
Paenitia does not understand the handsigns. She does see the audience appear, and waves happily to them, "Hola! I am Sister Paenitia Snapdragon del Haranna, Knight of the Pillar and the Mistress of Ceremonies tonight"
"We have the great show! The ensemble acts of the uncoordinated. The great orations of the silent, and the amazing adventures of the friend Dragon. Yes."
The little Lucht points dramatically at Seyardu, who happens to be closest.
Lyme stiffens as people materialize all around him, and his hand reaches out for Dax' flask once again reflexively. Then he looks around again, and blinks. "Huh."
