corneredbliss

Beginner's DnD 5e Game - Group 2

The air was heavy still, even with the old man's irritating gripes and Peony's prayer. It was almost a feeling of relief when Yvah stepped up to take the reins of the situation, finally filling the weird silence with something substantial. However, Araerys was quick to notice that it was ultimately a mere front; it wasn't like the kurjian was trying very hard to hide the fact. Or perhaps she was.

Regardless, the bard looked upon her with melancholy eyes. Indeed, her body was pleading for rest, and as the prisoners clambered into the boat, it nearly pulled her to join them. Yvah was right, and she had really no more stake in staying with the group, having paid off the previous fumblings with the ruffians above ground threefold by now. Gods, has it only been a day or so since their initial encounter? It seemed ages that she'd been with these people, and the half-elf felt it in whatever it was that kept her feet firmly in place, even as she was receiving her pardon. After a moment of silence, simply watching the excess of their party board the vessel, Ary gave a small shake of her head, resolution spawning from somewhere in her conscience.

"Don' be so dramatic," she said in a similarly hushed voice, though hers maintained a tone of finality to it as she continued, only looking to Yvah towards the end of her thought. "I didn't come this far with you all to not find any conclusion to whutever the hell it is yer after. Call it curiosity." Araery's face shifted into the softer expression she'd held as she played for them all in the cathedral, and her volume dropped just slightly lower as she spoke only to the lass now. Her eyes responded to the feline's guilt with an inexplicable, nurturing gaze. "Besides. I won' let your friend have died fer nothin'. We go on."

Beginner's DnD 5e Game - Group 2

At Yvah's 'psst'ing, Araerys made her way toward the kurjian and was probably not as surprised as she should have been to find even more prisoners. Because of course there would be more prisoners down here. Why not? For all she knew, they'd find a whole civilization of fish-people prisoners around the next crap-filled corner.

She was getting really tired of the underground, really quickly.

The bard hung back a little by the fountain as Peony successfully unlocked the cell with the key, eyes speedily darting over each of them as they passed through the door to check their person with her arms folded idly over her chest. There was a lot of them - too many, actually. Eight, she counted. How were they going to get this many people to safety if they keep running into fights like they've been doing? Concern colored her tone, perhaps for a different reason than would be expected, as she asked the group: "What happened to you all? How long have you been in there?"

As they answered, Araerys stepped through the now crowded hall to enter the cell for herself, and suddenly there appeared on the ceiling of the room a few twirling, dancing lights that cast visibility on whatever else was in there with her. Wasn't much; just two empty tanks and a drainage grate, which looked as if someone had tried to pry it open to no avail. Her eyes lingered on the grate for a few moments before turning back to the bodies in the hallway, her shoulder finding purchase against the door frame as she once again took count of them all with her eyes.

> Minor Illusion for a disco ball.

Modular Pathfinder

---

The sea breeze was easy and refreshing as it toyed with the ends of Elora Wim's hair, making the strands dance as light hazel eyes watched the waters rush past at the railings of the ship. She stood near Maiko and Natsumi, not very involved in their conversation so much as she was nodding idly at random intervals to seem participatory. Her mind was elsewhere and nowhere in particular, partially distracted by attempting to discern the exact rhythm of their bumping on the ocean.

With her bow and belongings secured on her back, she stood comfortably against a post in her forrest green garb, lithe fingers tapping on the wood at seemingly random moments to coincide with the rising and falling of the ship. On to a new adventure they went; she and this motley crew that she's grown to care for, off to fight alongside each other again. Though this time, it seemed they were off to to fight a different kind of enemy.

One such enemy approached, and were it not for her announcement of her involvement with the tournament, the elf would have thought her just another hand on the vessel. She could already hear the more excited two of their group chattering away, unable to help the little roll of her eyes at their apparently new title. Though, she bore a little smile as she straightened from her place at the edge of the boat and followed the others around the stranger, having grown used to their strange personalities. Before speaking, she moved toward Ming and her lunch basket, slipping a hand inside and wrapping her fingers around one of the plump buns. Nodding her head to the girl in thanks, she raised it slightly into the air in greeting toward Risha and finally spoke, her alto voice breathy but definite. "Name's Elora. Pleasure," was all she had before she took a bite from the bun, sure that someone else would jump in and entertain the conversation further.

WIRED - 1x1 MxF Gritty Cyberpunk/Mystery Adventure - OPEN

Your graphics are gorgeous! And the check reads like a video game, so very intrigued. If you're still seeking, I'll shoot you a PM.

Beginner's DnD 5e Game - Group 2

After the burst of showy victory, Araerys was quick to sift through the coffin for anything of interest or use. For everything that's just happened, and the life they had just lost for venturing down into these tunnels, the bard refused to accept that they would gain nothing to show for it. She unceremoniously tossed the lifeless bones aside until she found something, finally something to give them any sort of direction again.

She extracted from the opened casket a wooden box, seemingly normal upon first glance. It appeared to be a solid piece of wood with no obvious way to open it, and just as she was about to announce the thing to the rest of the party, a closer inspection found three words inscribed on its side in Sylvan: Skiff. Rower. Return.

With brows furrowed she turned to the room, fairly lost in her theories that she missed most of what the new girl said. "Yeah, yeah..." came her absentminded response to the monologue, before she held up the box for the group to see, engraved side facing out. "Happen to see any boats on yer way in here?" Then, realizing not everyone probably spoke the language, she pointed at each of the words respectively and listed them in common. "Skiff. Rower. Return. What d'you think about that? These skellies were probably here to keep whomever from finding this thing." She shook the box a little next to her ear, curious if anything would rattle around inside. Nothing.

Araerys took another look over the box. She knew that magic items were triggered by words more often than not, and gathering by the big wad of nothing that happened when she listed them in common, decided to try again in its written language. "Skiff," she said in Sylvan, and before she could get any of the second word out the box seemed to tumble from her hand of it's own accord, suddenly and rapidly expanding from its humble wooden origin into a boat that looked like it was growing to be a size big enough to fit the party.

Araerys, eyes wide, tried to scramble out of the way of the swelling thing, but it was nearly impossible in the already cramped room. The ladies within would begin to feel it pushing them back towards the walls of the chamber, getting impossibly bigger than what size it had been. "Rower!" the half-elf shouted into the room, hoping it would quell the situation. But nothing happened other than a slight shimmering of the boat, and as soon as Araerys realized this, she shouted the last word in Sylvan, and breathed a huge sigh of relief as the water skiff immediately responded and began shrinking back into its original form.

Soon it was as if nothing had happened; the wooden box sat innocently in the middle of the floor and was nothing other than what Ary had pulled out of the coffin. "What," she breathed, pointing an accusing finger at the thing, "in the nine hells. Was that?"

Beginner's DnD 5e Game - Group 2

"By the Raven's feathers, if someone doesn't get me out of here soon, I'll scream! You hear how loud I am now? Just wait!"

The loud - and very sudden - proclamation jolted the bard from her thoughts, urging Araerys to peel her attention away from the caskets to Yvah and the girl in the tank. A bit miffed at having jumped so easily from paranoia, she called back to her, "Don' get yer panties twisted, now! Be patient, lest we up an' leave ya in there!"

She seemed to have been freed thanks to the kurjian's skill, but still needed to be lifted out of the tank somehow. The cat looked to be starting the process of attempting to heave the stranger up and out of the chamber, but was having some difficulty; and so Ary moved to help her, only to realize that the one way she would be able to give aid was to step onto the unnecessarily spooky coffin for the added height.

Frowning slightly, she gave the thing one last suspicious look before carefully climbing on top of it. She straightened up slowly, as if expecting at any moment to be thrown off by whatever might be beneath its cover. When nothing came, she exhaled with some annoyance and positioned herself to help Yvah lift the girl out. "One, two, three-!" Together, the two females succeeded in carrying what looked to be a young, humanoid girl up and out of the chamber and onto the ground.

Now with wet arms from the endeavor, the half-elf hopped down from the coffin and turned to take a good look at her. She looked to be just a wee babe of a person, and could easily appear to be harmless - but the previous booming demands suggested there was something more to the lass. Throwing back whatever hair had fallen into her face, she furrowed her brows together and placed her hands on her hips, assuming the air of what could only be described as a reprimanding mother. "What's yer name, girl?" she asked, slightly out of breath from the exercise.

We lift, kind of.

Yvah rolls 15 for Athletics to pull girlie out with Ary's help.

Beginner's DnD 5e Game - Group 2

Araerys knew how hard it must have been for Yvah to paint that broken smile on her face. She knew the delicate balance of composure could be shattered by any touch or show of affection meant in support. And it took every ounce of willpower in the half-breed not to walk over and simply envelop the girl in an embrace, urge her to take whatever time she needed to grieve... Imagine? Losing a close friend like that, especially after the episode she'd just had in the cathedral. Empathy was a weakness that the bard was usually in control of, but at the moment, she was drenched in the kurjian's sorrow.

So when she caught Yvah's sidelong glance, Ary followed the girl like a magnet into the room across the bridge. She entered at the tail end of the omnipresent voice's sentence, taking in the tanks and the coffins, the humanoid girl who'd spoken, and most importantly, the dead end. Before any of the rest of the group came inside, Araerys reached out, gently wrapped her fingers around the feline's wrist, and briefly squeezed. She waited a beat, then released it, cleared her throat a little, and murmured, "Time fer more lockpickin', I think..."

As Ellina entered behind them, Ary wiped her cheeks free of any lingering tears as she more closely examined their surroundings - namely, the coffins. They seemed to be made of some sort of stone, though what, she really couldn't make out. They looked valuable, but way too heavy to move. It was a really strange place for them to be; coupled with the fact that she knew these things were not above keeping living creatures in water tanks, Araerys was fairly certain whatever these stone caskets held were going to be bad news. Even worse was the fact that they seemed to have no layer of dust on them, meaning they were probably handled in some way, and recently.

She shivered slightly at the many possible meanings that held, and said, "I don't know... I've got a weird feelin' abou' them."

Spoopy coffins, mebbe?

6 Investigation tells Ary that:
1) the coffins might be stone? maybe marble?
2) probably valuable, too heavy to move.
3) the lids have no dust on them.

Beginner's DnD 5e Game - Group 2

As the excitement subsided and the reality of the situation began to sink in with Yvah's shaking of the body, Araerys had no words. She stared at the scene, at her new friend, wanting to look away but willing herself to keep her gaze steady out of respect. There was no doubt about it; their tiefling companion was dead. The acid of the cube had burned the green girl's face into something unrecognizable, and it seemed the group knew nothing could be done to fix this nightmare. Blame could be pointed at the gelatin monstrosity, or even at themselves for being too late to save her. But it did not change the fact that what lay in Yvah's grasp was a corpse.

Ary felt a few tears bubbling into her eyes, pushing for which would win and fall first onto her skin as Ceria stood from beside the feline and escaped the tunnel the way they had come. The bard watched but didn't do anything to stop her, knowing she would be useless in trying to cope with her guilt and grief in tandem with consoling the reckless fullbreed. She searched her mind for something appropriate to say to the remaining party, having not known Daisy as long as they have but still wanting offer her condolences. Araerys came up empty and so kept quiet, allowing the hot droplets to roll freely down her cheeks.

Beginner's DnD 5e Game - Group 2

Araerys nodded her head in agreement with the she-gnome, nonsensically mumbling as she followed along after her, "Right. Magical."

Figuring the grate merely led to the sewers or somewhere equally unpleasant anyway, the bard heaved herself up and through the tunnel after Eilina, dusting off her person as she straightened up to the suggestion of the southern route. "Wait," she said, speaking more to herself than to anyone else, really, "there was a room down this way..." Ary padded all the way to the middle of the eastern hall, the one she had initially wanted to search before Yvah had discovered the tanks holding their newest members. The source of the sound of water was finally revealed in the form of a river, running vertically from where she stood - which turned out to be a bridge, leading toward her hopeful destination. Araerys stopped in the middle of the walkway and took in her bearings, noting that what she assumed to be sewer water because of the unfortunate smell that surrounded her took a sharp turn on either side of her, as if the room was sectioned off by the dirty waters.

She covered her mouth and nose with a piece of fabric from her sleeve as a shiver ran down her spine; the horrible thought of more 'floundering flippers' spawning from somewhere down those paths struck her, until her attention finally landed on the entryway of the eastern room. The dim lighting suggested a number of possibilities, and unfortunately the half-elf couldn't resist the lure of potential prizes. And even with the lack of response to the group's loud announcement of their presence, she wanted to be as sure as she could be that there weren't any (too) crazy surprises waiting for her inside. Even a little closer than she had been when she initially glanced at the room, she couldn't really make out much of anything. A sweep of her hand toward the entrance and there appeared somewhere near the doorway a static image of herself, seemingly waiting for... something. Anything? The real version waited with bated breath to see if there would be any sort of reaction to her illusion.

What's hiding in the dark?

Ary casts a Minor Illusion version of herself into the room to see if anything or anyone would react to it.

Omega Station / Boop!

Janetta, having personally experienced Lillian's aggressive libido a few times during checks, knew enough to let Ryobi handle the situation. Which he was, and were it not for the gravity of it all, she might have poked fun at him for his flirting with this ridiculous super-fan of his. There was no competing with his influence over her, she knew this; so she kept quiet and watched, muscles tensed, finger itching for a reason to pull the trigger on this bitch.

Practically purring with delight at Ryobi's attention and concern, Lillian was eager to respond to this newly interested version of the Officer. "Oh, it wouldn't mind getting hurt," she growled assuringly, "by you, at least. You can do anything you'd like to me, remember?" As if to prove her point, she brought the pistol up to her mouth, and with both eyes locked on Ito's, she flicked out her tongue and dragged it along the barrel. The taste of metals mixed on her buds as she grinned a now blood-stained, toothy grin, obviously enjoying it.

"Ugh." An involuntary, disgusted grunt escaped Janetta, and just like that, the switch went off and Lillian had the gun pointed toward the Captain. "What?" she snarled. With her eyes narrowed like that, she had transformed from a kitten to a snake. "Jealous, Pryce?" And again, another switch, as if she were remembering that Ito was still there and definitely also still had a gun. Softening ever so slightly, she added, "Maybe we'll let you in on the fun, too - but only if you're a good girl."

Her gaze threw daggers toward Jan before sauntering back toward Ryobi, to whom she grew sweet towards once more. "Anyway. Sorry to say, honey, but there's no trade. I don't want that thingy - it's not even mine. I thought it was yours. Maybe calling me to you for some fun." She snickered happily, before something dawned on her and her voice grew angry again. "Or so you can lead me here to trap me, put me back in my fucking cell, huh?! Is that it?!"