The Grey Man nods: correct, right down the corridor.
Jack and the Grey Man walk down the hall in mostly dark for nearly a half a mile. Jack sees two doors to the left and two doors to the right of them as they walk, at equidistant points down the hall. The doors are lit with that same dull red light from underneath, and have what appear to be a pull handle to open them near the center(they are of very strange design, but seem to Jack to be unlocked, if he had to guess). The doors bear no uniquely signifying marks.
The Grey Man seems to very much enjoy listening to Jack…as you both walk along, he engages and tries his best to answer your questions (he seems either desperately lonely, or very naïve)
At Jack’s question of how long he’s been here, the Grey Man shows you five fingers.
At Jack’s question of how someone could build this place, the Grey Man hesitates for a moment…with a single clawed nail, he turns to you and mimics the act of digging at a wrist. Pantomiming the exposed vein, Grey Man waves his hands at the walls in a way that makes it look like he’s either painting, or mimicking magical movements very badly…
At Jack’s question about hag magic, the Grey Man raises his broad shoulders and head and suddenly stares off into space (he seems to have learned something new, or made some sort of mental connection). Finally…he shrugs. It doesn’t matter, he seems to say. You’ve arrived. A large door stands in front of Jack, similar to the ones before, but twice as big, and perpendicular from the dais you arrived in (as opposed to along one of the walls)
The Grey Man swings his arm towards the door, as though presenting it to you. You’re expected he seems to imply.
[DARK GLEN]
Pipes the Chameleon tries to shield his face and self away from the radiant damage, but can’t move an inch from Oak’s grip. With a final *shriek* at Arno’s Moonbeam spell, the chameleon rears his head back in exaggerated pain…before slumping back into Oak’s arms, unconscious.
[But then, he *IS* an admitted and accomplished liar…anyone here can make a Wisdom Check (DC 13) to make sure he’s not only pretending to be knocked unconscious…]
Nope, not faking it this time. The breathing is measured and consistent, and no amount of stimuli gets more than a slight reaction from the chameleon: he is legitimately unconscious
[The large lake in the center of this place begins to emit an eerie shimmer from underneath once again. The small pool the chameleon had tried to flee to continues to glow at the bottom. Please let me know what you guys choose to do with Pipes and Mister Fusspot if you choose to descend]
Jack 'listens' intently, fascinated by the person guiding him along. "Five? Oh, you might actually be younger than me, that's unusual." He bumps their shoulder good-naturedly, "Hang in there, kid."
He resumes his humming, which transitions into a quiet song as the corridor just seems to go on and on. He pauses as the doors curiously, but doesn't resist when hurried along. People to meet and all that.
Finally they arrive at their destination and he looks over the door curiously. He gives his escort a look, then nods, "Right. Thanks for the talk then, nice meetin' ya!" He digs through his pockets and pulls out a pair of carved&polished gambling bones he'd been carrying around for many journeys now, "This feels fitting." He hands them to the grey man, then grins to them before turning around and pushing through the doors.
Arno checks the pulse, respiration. "He's down for the count. I think you can let go now Oak. Urixes, I'm not sure what you vote, live or not. He seems very serious about hunting us down. Either way, seems we need to follow Jack and find Fair Will to get out of here alive. Unless there is something else around here. Oh, I have the hilt, FYI, not Jack."
The Grey Man looks down at the gambling dice Jack has handed him with bafflement and awe…it turns to Jack overwhelmed, not quite sure what to (not) say. He is still looking down on the dice in his palm as Jack pushes through the doors and it swings closed behind him, emerging into something very different…
Jack steps through and finds themselves somewhere that appears to be a…Master Hunter’s trophy room, in someone’s extravagant cabin. Exquisite red velvet carpet, intricately stitched, line the floors of a circular room. Delicately carved and stained wooden planks line the walls and the ceiling overhead. Comfortable looking, giant couches, grandfather chairs, and chaise lounges, *all* covered in the finest leather, sit in a circle around the center of the room, and lead to a roaring fireplace. And heads... familiar...alien...and some, very familiar...stare at you from nearly everywhere in the room.
There are three doors at the ends of this place that are identical the doors you’ve already seen: to the Left of you, Right in front of you, and to your Right.
From one of the biggest grandfather chairs a figure gets up, clothed in a delicate looking red dress and clutching a large glass of what appears to be Mulled Wine. As Jack makes eye contact with her, her eyes light up and she smiles, with the overwhelmed ferocity of a fangirl meeting their celebrity hero:
“Jack, just Jack…Scourge of the Seven Seas. Oh *MY*… I can’t believe you’re actually, finally here!!” Evvdia titters like a schoolgirl; gets up from her seat to walk over. “You know, we’ve never met even once, and yet I feel like...*I’ve known you my whole life*…you know? Do you ever feel like that??”
“Oh god, my manners, you must think….I’m Evvdia, the Keeper of this place. And *YOU*, are Lucky Jack!. You’re Urixes’s new Lycanthrope friend aboard the Whispered Curse! I’m so glad to meet you…welcome to my home!”
Evvdia steps forward, having put her drink down on a nearby maple sidetable. “My manservants…I think you already met #73…can get you anything you’d like, anything at all…," Evvdia stares at Jack with sudden, deadly seriousness...,"while you’re here, my Jack...you’re family. *And*,” Evvdia opens her arms and smiles at Jack. “family *hugs*!
[Jack, please give your demon hostess a big hug, or find a way to avoid doing so...]
Oh, well isn't this something! After spending the past week in forests, rivers and on the bottom of whirlpools, to finally go somewhere nice is a pleasant surprise. Every part of Jack that is wolf is yelling caution, but the human part, the part that's been sleeping in the rain and slogging through swamps? Oh, the human is just glad for some creature comforts.
He walks into the room slowly, looking this way and that, the warnings from the wolf slowly sinking in when some of the trophies make themselves clearer. Okay, so maybe it's -not- all cakes and hams, but a Jack can dream, can't he?
Movement makes him stop and he watches the lady rise and approach. Oh, Keeper? He's heard of her. Hm. What did he hear. The compartment in his head reserved for people he'd heard of, but not met, just says 'scary lady'. Oh dear, is she a hag? Better be on his best behaviour then.
"Oh, um, hi!" Maybe she's a nice hag? Bad hags don't hug, surely? He returns the hug happily, clearly she cannot be a bad person. If she is a hag, well, it might be nice to have one on his side for once! "I wouldn't mind something warm to eat? A pie, if you have one? Careful, I'm dripping..."
He secretly peers at some of the more familiar looking trophies. Not someone he knows, hopefully?
"He is treacherous, that much is certain. I wish I could remember more," Urixes says, frowning at Pipes' crumpled form. "A part of me says to kill him now before he can wreak any havoc, but another tells me that's exactly what this damn place wants. Look beneath your feet. We stand on the countless remnants of death. I have no doubt that some of them were by my hand. Perhaps we can secure him, then leave his fate to be decided by his kin."
Turning back to the lake, Urixes growls his usual growl. "We should go after him. Nothing good waits down there. I can remember that much."
Oak pulls out some rope and looks around, finding a suitable tree that he drags the Chameleon over to. Sitting him upright against the trunk, he wraps the rope around him a few times, then loops it around the Chameleon's hands and feet before tying a knot in it. "There. About as good as we gonna get."
He walks back over to the pool, staring down into it. "Urixes, any warnings 'fore I jump in?"
He checks to make sure that he has all his gear (minus the rope of course), cracks his neck, and then dives into the pool, heading for the light where Jack disappeared into.
"Don't trust the demon, got it. [chirping and growling] Mr Fusspot, your on guard duty. Pipes can't get bigger if he's tied up, but can get small. Prey sized. Rip out his throat the minute he makes a sound or moves. If you don't put him down in one bite fly away as fast as you can. He'll be too much for you otherwise. I know you've been talking a bit game, time to show us your place in the pack."
Jack gives the strange, pretty demoness the hug she requested. She smells almost overwhelming of flowers and summer rain from any sort of distance…but up this close, Jack realizes that must be a perfume to cover up her real scent. As arms squeeze him lovingly, Jack’s senses are nearly overpowered by the clinging stench of death and decay on this woman. She nearly reeks of blood and bile, to the point where Jack almost starts to cough in her arms. The demoness pulls away, smiling down at Jack with sharp teeth, pleased at your warm greeting…
As the crush of the woman’s form recedes and she goes back to sit on her chair (gesturing warmly for Jack to do the same across from her on a nearby couch), Jack gets an opportunity to look around the room at the different skulls and stuffed heads...
It’s…quite a large and varied assortment. You recognize a stuffed Flumph near the table your hostess sets her drink upon…there’s a Taxidermy Slaad near the fire… there’s a Bugbear head just on the wall here, and oh, is that a Illithid head just behind it? There’s dozens more beside...
And then, as Jack goes to sit down on the leather couch Evvida had pointed out…oh no. Just behind to the side of your seat, in clear view between you and Evvdia, a pair of wolves lie entwined around each other on the floor, apparently posed as though trying to keep warm. The female of the pair stare up at Jack with lifeless glass eyes.
Returning to take a final gulp of her Mulled Wine, Evvdia nods effusively at Jack’s request “A pie! But of course! Let me just…#73! GET IN HERE!” After a few moments, the Grey Man stumbles back in to stand at Evvdia’s side. “Tell the Cook our guest requested…a warm pie, you said? A warm pie, and then tell him to refill this as well…” she hands the Grey Man her emptied drink. Grey Man warmly acknowledges Jack as he leaves the room, and heads back down the hallway you came in from.
As he departs, Evvdia crosses her legs and leans in conspiratorially towards Jack, giving him her *biggest* grin. “Now! We have some time alone. And I. Wanna. Know. ALL. About, you! How are you enjoying the Expanse? How are you enjoying being human? Are Urixes and the other two treating you right?”
“Also, what are you guys even doing out here? If I remember right, Urixes said he’d come back to this place “over his dead body”…so it has to be something important!”
You are all standing on a cold metal dais, sitting at the end of an impossibly long hallway. You can already sense that something about this place is… different. The walls seem to press in on you all. As you look around yourselves, you see the place is made of strange steel, interwoven with bones throughout: some small, but some *MASSIVE* and a part of the overhead infrastructure.
A window of what seems to be colored glass sits just behind the dais, woven through entirely with bone and metal. Looking at the sky beyond is beautiful (unless you stare too long...which makes your head hurt...)
Overhead, a strange lamp hangs, the light having gone out shortly after your group arrived. From down the single giant hall, the group can make out the echoing sound of lumbering footsteps from an unknown distance, cutting through looming silence. You can hear something like a door opening from far away...and then the footsteps disappear, and the door shuts.
As you three arrived, the steel floor leading down the hall lit up blood red, similar to the spears of the Chameleons. A single pulse of color heads down the hall slowly in front of you...
[Oak and Arno can make Investigation Checks if they wish to learn further. You may choose to inspect the lamp or the window in particular. You may also start down the hall in the direction of the sound of the door...]
URIXES
You can remember: you stand now on board Evvdia's floating cargo ship, carved from the body of a celestial whale and held together with red steel and blood magic. The ship is also Villam (wait, that doesn't make sense...) But yet..the fact stubbornly reasserts itself to Urixes. This place, too, is Villam somehow...
The sight out the window informs Urixes that this place is currently drifting aimless through strange space. You can see a view of the Far Realm out the window...best not to stare too long...
"I remember this," Urixes says as he takes in the scene, "This is Evvdia's ship. It's ... in a strange place. We don't belong in this realm. I fear Evvdia may have gone mad if she's been staying here. Well, more mad I suppose. We shouldn't linger. Let's find Jack and get out."
Jack's hackles would rise, if he had some. Instead he merely gets goosebumps, even his diminished human nose enough to parse those scents. No. No, this is not a good hag. Even the hag that transformed him still smelled of life, but her, she is death, rot and decay. Fitting, then, that death is on full display around the room.
He's uncharacteristically quiet as she talks and moves back to her couch, taking a jerking step to get himself moving and walking slowly to the couch. He looks over the stuffed wolves sadly, unfortunately not a sight he'd been spared even in the outside world; he never blamed humans who wore wolf pelts for warmth, their owners were already dead, but to turn them into a display of excess never sat right with him.
Still, he sits down, giving the grey man a warm nod of recognition, then returning his attention to the demoness. There's an attempt at a smile there, but Jack is used to wearing his heart on his sleeve and he's not had much practice with pretend.
"Oh, it's been... exciting? Lots happening, for sure. Feels like we've been stumbling from one excitement into another since we landed. Um. Are you the one the worgs were working for? Only I heard someone mention the Keeper is all." He looks at the side doors, "How do worgs get here?"
Evvdia tilts her head to the side, a playfully guilty look coming over her face. “The Worgs? No, not…well not exactly. The Worgs, worked for and were bred by the Red Witch; you may have heard her called the Lady of the Wood? She was using them to...well, throw the balance of power on the island around, and introduce just a*bit* of chaos.”
“You see, she’s part of a Coven that worships the She-Witch Faye…have you heard of her?...Well, Faye was an Ancient Witch of some reknown. She was one of the original champions who sealed Sess’innek, and accidentally created the Twilight Expanse. Now, this Coven tries to spread grief and strife in her honor. And Villam…the island, that is… is of specific significance to the She-Witch Faye, as it was the chosen home of her hated rival Fair William...”
“I believe the Lady of the Wood was trying to…get the Witch’s attention. Foolishly, I might add! You see, there’s a prophecy, and *many* parts of it seem to be coming true…an ancient treasure map has been found. The legendary items used to seal the Expanse, broken and lost for millennia, have begun to reappear. A gem long buried has been unburied from the mines of Far Aeston.” She turns and looks directly at Jack, her manner quickly shifting to deadly serious as she seems to stare into the Jack’s soul with a subtle venom. “…some believe the Metamorphic have arrived in the Expanse….”
“As to how the Worgs got there,” (here the “did I do that?” look teases across Evvdia’s face again), “Well…originally, I brought them. *giggle* The Witch had something valuable to trade me: information. You see, I’m a bit of a collector...that’s how they have come to call me the Keeper. And this place,” here she waves around the walls of the massive structure. “This place is a collection. Animals. Books. Artifacts. Weapons, Armor, and the means to make them. Other…more unique items,” The demon wags her eyebrows suggestively (Jack almost *certainly* doesn’t want to know what those other items are).
“The Witch told me what I wanted to know, and I provided her with a pack of Worgs, (which have only spread and grown, so I’ve heard!) The Worgs I procured for a different price, from another realm. And I brought them aboard this vessel. You stand now, Jack, upon a ship *much* like the Whispered Curse…” She gestures at the walls of the structure, “…it slowly travels in rips among the planes, drawing from an endless power source! And here, I keep the animals…I keep the lore and stories…I keep the keys and the ways and the means…”
The Demon ends her speech standing with arms extended, having given each new revelation a dramatic flourish. She turns to take in Jack’s reaction to the grand revelation
[Jack, please make a Wisdom Check (DC 14) to determine something about the Demon’s speech…]
It was highly, overly rehearsed, and she’s probably given some version of it a thousand times before. And, despite her rather ongoing manic nature, there was something else about it…she almost seemed rather bored and detached during it, as though her heart wasn’t really in it…
Oh. That sounds like a lot of hags around here. Perhaps he'd made a mistake coming on this trip after all... he tries to absorb all the names and information coming his way, but it feels like trying to hold a pack of cats in a small box. Still, he tries.
He blanches at her glare, "Ma'am, I assure you I have _no_ idea what metromorphic means." This is no lie. Jack looks around at the mention of ship, tilting his head and listening intently. He hears no creaking, no wind, feels no rocking. If this is a ship, it is an odd one indeed.
"This prophecy. How does it end?" In his experience prophecies are like bad stories, mostly filled with fluff and the only interesting bit is the conclusion.
((OOC: Huh, who knew they already made a video game based on us!))
The Demoness smiles widely at Jack's question. She recites, "Those who can sustain the Change will cross the Expanse, on a Prayer and a Curse. They will seek what was long lost and long sought...." there's much, much more, I won't bore you with it all...*anyway*, at the very end, the Metamorphic find the treasure, but it wasn't the one they thought they sought, they lose something along the way, and the people of the Expanse see a change the likes of which hasn't occured since the Paling rose over the Sea, yadda yadda..."
She looks wistfully down the hall to her right. "...a lot of people have wondered what "sustaining the Change" meant for a very long time. Why *I* chose to use the doppelgangers in the first place...", She almost seems to be saying that last sentence to herself...
Urixes was once *very* familiar with this place…as he stares down the long hallway, the pressing silence feels like an old friend, and memories come flooding back to him…
MAP OF “VILLAM, INFERNAL SPELLJAMMER”
A- Arrival Point on the Dais-*YOU ARE HERE*
B- Trapped Chamber- This entire chamber is lined with foul wards and mechanical hazards (Pipes was attempting to trick you into the gate which led here)
C-Brig- A prison. Occasionally, a place where Evvida would go to “blow off steam”
D- Storage Room- A large storage room, containing crucial supplies for the ship and crew, as well as trade goods of various natures
E- Kitchen- A large space containing everything one needs to produce a good meal, including an onsite butcher shop
F- Doppelganger Vats/Crew’s Quarters/Gun Deck
G- Forge/Armory/Gun Deck
H- Evvdia’s Trophy Room- Evvdia’s favorite place on the ship: a room of exquisite beauty, clothed in death. It’s the central hub to and from most places on the ship
I- The Heart of the Ship- …but Urixes doesn’t want to think about that…
J- Ship’s Bridge/Wheel…The seat of power in this place, although rarely used…
K- The Zoo
L- The Library
M- Evvdia’s Room-Evvdia’s secret Personal Quarters, hidden below the trophy room, triggered by a hidden switch somewhere in the Trophy Room…
N- Urixes’s Former Room- You had your own space on board here once, also triggered by a hidden switch in the Trophy Room…
"Yes, yes finally I remember!" Urixes is almost excited as the memories start to fall into place. Almost, because many of the memories are not pleasant...
(( Urixes will share this knowledge with Oak and Arno so that we aren't wandering blindly ))
[Urixes shares his memories of Evvdia's ship with Oak and Arno...including his *unshakeable* suspicion that this place has some sort of innate, sinister connection with the island of Villam and Fair William...]
[Arno senses the lamp overhead was lit recently: it smells of crackling arcane energy. The light you saw (briefly, before it dimmed) resembled the same light you saw at the bottom of the Dark Glen. It seems to have strange wires running out of it, threaded into the steel and bone running towards the ceiling(this device is controlled from somewhere else...)]
[Bear*Arno can smell Jack's distinct odor headed straight down this hall, not too long ago (the scent stops at Point H on the map: Evvdia's Trophy Room). He was accompanied along the way by a humanoid: what type of humanoid, Arno couldn't say, as the scent lacks distinct feature besides itself (it's like trying to explain the taste of water)]
[The Wild Bunch heads down the long and darkened alien hallway towards Jack's scent, Bear*Arno leading the way with Urixes and Oak coming up close behind.
The group passes several strange doors along the half-mile hall, a single catch in the center used to raise them. As Bear*Arno passes the second door on the right (which Urixes has told you leads to some sort of kitchen area...), they get a sudden strong whiff of hundred different scents (most very unpleasant, some even toxic) which have wafted out into the hallway (the door leading to the kitchen was opened recently...the scent of the humanoid accompanying Jack goes in, but doesn't come out.)
The group eventually comes to a door at the end of the hallway, twice as large as the others you've seen. A booming, feminine voice seems to be trying to tell a funny story. Jack's trail leads here]
OOC:Please let me know of any preparations you make before entering Evvdia's Trophy Room, and the manner in which you plan to enter
OOC: Wasn't sure if maybe Arno wanted to not be a bear- my mistake
Urixes, please let me know if Evvdia will be seeing the New Urixes, or if you will be attempting to enter presenting as the Old Urixes (Charisma Check DC 14)
(( False Life isn't because it's an invocation, not a regular spell. The invocation makes it essentially a cantrip for me, but the trade off is that it's at 1st level. ))
Jack's proverbial ears perk at the mention of the Curse, that name being on the nose enough for even him to pick up on. "Oh, not what they seek? That's a shame." He looks at his palm, looking momentarily regretful before looking at his host once more, "Why do you care, though? You in it for the treasure? Doesn't seem that great, from the sound of it..."
((OOC: I figure with them just outside anything I do now should be kept short ))
Evvdia laughs: it starts as a annoying titter, and turns into a deep, soulful belly laugh, as Jack seems to have said something very funny to her. “Oh, my darling…*I* don’t want the treasure! You still have so much to learn, don’t you sweet dear?”
“Granted, there is more than enough of it, where you’re going…*if* you all can make it to the center of the Expanse, you’d find treasure enough to live extravagantly for twenty lifetimes. Can you even imagine what you can *do* with that sort of treasure, mortal one? You could….purchase power, like (*laughs*) your favored shipmate the Governor! You could simply drink, smoke, drug it all away… just like your rival Rax! Of course, you could always use it to build to a purpose…like the Queen of Chaff…”
“But no, my naïve friend, I do not desire the…treasure.” She gives a mournful, heavy sigh. She suddenly appreciates the wolf couple sitting between you two, and stoops down on the carpet to pet the stuffed she-wolf. As Evvdia does so, she looks up in a confessional manner towards Jack. “…I’m just an old Alpha Female, grown tired of the pack, and ready to move on to something new. You understand...”
“Wait…did you hear something at the door just now?”
[Jack, please roll Wisdom Check to call bullshit on that: (DC 11) lets you open the first spoiler, (DC 15) lets you open the second one…]
Oh, *fuck right off* with that wolf nonsense, Jack might think to himself. The demon is *definitely* telling some kind of half-truth, designed to throw Jack off and distract him…but he’s not sure which part of what she tells is the truth and which part is lies. The only part he knows for sure is that she tells the story of the treasure matter-of-factly and almost dismissively (there is a good chance the Tales of the Governor, Rax, and The Queen accruing vast riches are True)…
…but she betrays herself with her mention of wolves, and the *spark* that comes into her face as she attempts to manipulate you. Evvdia clearly sees herself as some sort of Alpha of her kind, and definitely doesn’t have plans to just fade quietly away...but, you feel like when she talks about being ready to move on to something new…maybe she’s telling the “Truth”? She almost seems like a Demon experiencing a sort of mid-life crisis...
[EVVDIA’S TROPHY ROOM]
Bear*Arno, Oak readied, and Urixes at the front of the group lifts the handle, and storm into Evvdia’s place of prized possessions….
You stand in a beautifully constructed room which resembles a fancy woodsman’s cabin. Exquisite red velvet carpet, stitched with subtle artwork, line the floors of a circular room. Delicately carved and stained wooden planks line the walls and the ceiling overhead. Comfortable looking, giant couches, grandfather chairs, and chaise lounges, *all* covered in the finest leather, sit in a circle around the center of the room, and lead to a roaring fireplace. And heads... familiar...alien...and some, very familiar...stare at you from nearly everywhere in the room.
There are exotic animals in full taxidermy along the floor; recreated skeletons propped along the walls; heads (big and small; both skinned and not) upon plaques on the wall, and beautiful wood furniture besides.
All three of the Wild Bunch which enter can see doors to their immediate North, South, and East out of here.
Seated near the fireplace, your friend Jack is sitting (very uncomfortably, looking like he wishes he could squirm away somewhere) upon a leather chair (made of dubious material…), while across from him, petting dead, stuffed wolves on the rug in front of him, squats a Lilitu demoness in a *brilliant* red dress. Her face alights as she sees the newcomers enter the room, and she quickly springs to her feet and runs over to greet you…
“*ARNO*! *OAK!* My goodness, I wondered what was taking you all so long! Welcome, me and Jack have been waiting for you!”, The demoness smells like she wears an overpowering amount of sweet smelling perfume. Evvdia doesn’t hesitate for a single second at the sight of Arno’s transformed self, and rushes up to try to hug the Bear and the Shifter both…as the fiend attempts to get into your space, Arno and Oak can both make out several stuffed bears just over her shoulder, among her taxidermy trophies near a corner of the room…
[OAK and ARNO can choose to accept the presumptuous hug or not, at your prize or peril. If you choose to accept…]
…ewww, gross. The perfume is a cover: she smells up close like rotting meat and aggressive mold; as though she bathed in blood, and rolled in sickness before applying her perfume…
Regardless of whether or not they receive her physical affection, Evvdia begins to pepper Oak and Arno with a stream of questions afterwards: “Arno, are you enjoying everything our different cultures have to offer out here? Changelings seem to be just drawn to the Expanse, I’ve found, don’t you think so? And…(leans over and whispers not-so-secretly) I’ve heard the Expanse seems to be rather drawn to *you*!
As she turns to Oak, “Oak…strong, braveOak. You’ve gotten this group far, haven’t you? Do you find as I do, that the burden of leadership hangs heavy? You seem to wear it well!”
Evvdia finally makes contact with Urixes after her warm reception for all the others: her manner seems considerably cooled from all her other interactions, and slightly venomous as she walks towards him. And then…a slight smile touches her lips, and Urixes isn’t sure it wasn’t all an act (he never was back then, either…). “Was just telling your friend Jack here…the last time you were here, you said you’d come back over your dead body.”
“So....what could have *possibly* dragged you back here in front of me again, after what happened last time?” she spits at Urixes.
Rushing in, Oak prepares himself for a threat that doesn't materialize, at least, not immediately. This room is strange, it's contents are strange, the woman who is running towards him is strange. He is uncomfortable from all of this, and so when she attempts to reach out for a hug, Oak steps backwards. He likely wouldn't have accepted the hug from someone that he actually knew, so this overly enthusiastic demoness didn't stand a chance.
She rattles off all sorts of questions at him and Arno, almost simultaneous. Oak says nothing, eyes narrowing in suspicion, shooting his gaze over to Jack to try and quickly assess their companion's current state, but mostly he is just keeping his distance from this woman. His hand is still gripping his sword, he meant it when he told Urixes that he wasn't about to trust anything or anyone down here.
Jack visibly relaxes as the demoness moves away from him, giving the arriving Bunch a timid wave. At this point he's figured out it wasn't Oak telling him to jump in the pool and he'd just done a Jack. "Hey guys."
As she starts to flit around them he stands up, slowly walking towards whomever looks like they are carrying his gear with a casual pace. Dum dee dum, he's just rejoining his friends, nothing to see here.
Posts
Jack and the Grey Man walk down the hall in mostly dark for nearly a half a mile. Jack sees two doors to the left and two doors to the right of them as they walk, at equidistant points down the hall. The doors are lit with that same dull red light from underneath, and have what appear to be a pull handle to open them near the center(they are of very strange design, but seem to Jack to be unlocked, if he had to guess). The doors bear no uniquely signifying marks.
The Grey Man seems to very much enjoy listening to Jack…as you both walk along, he engages and tries his best to answer your questions (he seems either desperately lonely, or very naïve)
At Jack’s question of how long he’s been here, the Grey Man shows you five fingers.
At Jack’s question of how someone could build this place, the Grey Man hesitates for a moment…with a single clawed nail, he turns to you and mimics the act of digging at a wrist. Pantomiming the exposed vein, Grey Man waves his hands at the walls in a way that makes it look like he’s either painting, or mimicking magical movements very badly…
At Jack’s question about hag magic, the Grey Man raises his broad shoulders and head and suddenly stares off into space (he seems to have learned something new, or made some sort of mental connection). Finally…he shrugs. It doesn’t matter, he seems to say. You’ve arrived. A large door stands in front of Jack, similar to the ones before, but twice as big, and perpendicular from the dais you arrived in (as opposed to along one of the walls)
The Grey Man swings his arm towards the door, as though presenting it to you. You’re expected he seems to imply.
[DARK GLEN]
Pipes the Chameleon tries to shield his face and self away from the radiant damage, but can’t move an inch from Oak’s grip. With a final *shriek* at Arno’s Moonbeam spell, the chameleon rears his head back in exaggerated pain…before slumping back into Oak’s arms, unconscious.
[But then, he *IS* an admitted and accomplished liar…anyone here can make a Wisdom Check (DC 13) to make sure he’s not only pretending to be knocked unconscious…]
[The large lake in the center of this place begins to emit an eerie shimmer from underneath once again. The small pool the chameleon had tried to flee to continues to glow at the bottom. Please let me know what you guys choose to do with Pipes and Mister Fusspot if you choose to descend]
He resumes his humming, which transitions into a quiet song as the corridor just seems to go on and on. He pauses as the doors curiously, but doesn't resist when hurried along. People to meet and all that.
Finally they arrive at their destination and he looks over the door curiously. He gives his escort a look, then nods, "Right. Thanks for the talk then, nice meetin' ya!" He digs through his pockets and pulls out a pair of carved&polished gambling bones he'd been carrying around for many journeys now, "This feels fitting." He hands them to the grey man, then grins to them before turning around and pushing through the doors.
Jack steps through and finds themselves somewhere that appears to be a…Master Hunter’s trophy room, in someone’s extravagant cabin. Exquisite red velvet carpet, intricately stitched, line the floors of a circular room. Delicately carved and stained wooden planks line the walls and the ceiling overhead. Comfortable looking, giant couches, grandfather chairs, and chaise lounges, *all* covered in the finest leather, sit in a circle around the center of the room, and lead to a roaring fireplace. And heads... familiar...alien...and some, very familiar...stare at you from nearly everywhere in the room.
There are three doors at the ends of this place that are identical the doors you’ve already seen: to the Left of you, Right in front of you, and to your Right.
From one of the biggest grandfather chairs a figure gets up, clothed in a delicate looking red dress and clutching a large glass of what appears to be Mulled Wine. As Jack makes eye contact with her, her eyes light up and she smiles, with the overwhelmed ferocity of a fangirl meeting their celebrity hero:
“Jack, just Jack…Scourge of the Seven Seas. Oh *MY*… I can’t believe you’re actually, finally here!!” Evvdia titters like a schoolgirl; gets up from her seat to walk over. “You know, we’ve never met even once, and yet I feel like...*I’ve known you my whole life*…you know? Do you ever feel like that??”
“Oh god, my manners, you must think….I’m Evvdia, the Keeper of this place. And *YOU*, are Lucky Jack!. You’re Urixes’s new Lycanthrope friend aboard the Whispered Curse! I’m so glad to meet you…welcome to my home!”
Evvdia steps forward, having put her drink down on a nearby maple sidetable. “My manservants…I think you already met #73…can get you anything you’d like, anything at all…," Evvdia stares at Jack with sudden, deadly seriousness...,"while you’re here, my Jack...you’re family. *And*,” Evvdia opens her arms and smiles at Jack. “family *hugs*!
[Jack, please give your demon hostess a big hug, or find a way to avoid doing so...]
"Now what?" he says after a moment. "In after Jack?"
He walks into the room slowly, looking this way and that, the warnings from the wolf slowly sinking in when some of the trophies make themselves clearer. Okay, so maybe it's -not- all cakes and hams, but a Jack can dream, can't he?
Movement makes him stop and he watches the lady rise and approach. Oh, Keeper? He's heard of her. Hm. What did he hear. The compartment in his head reserved for people he'd heard of, but not met, just says 'scary lady'. Oh dear, is she a hag? Better be on his best behaviour then.
"Oh, um, hi!" Maybe she's a nice hag? Bad hags don't hug, surely? He returns the hug happily, clearly she cannot be a bad person. If she is a hag, well, it might be nice to have one on his side for once! "I wouldn't mind something warm to eat? A pie, if you have one? Careful, I'm dripping..."
He secretly peers at some of the more familiar looking trophies. Not someone he knows, hopefully?
Turning back to the lake, Urixes growls his usual growl. "We should go after him. Nothing good waits down there. I can remember that much."
He walks back over to the pool, staring down into it. "Urixes, any warnings 'fore I jump in?"
He checks to make sure that he has all his gear (minus the rope of course), cracks his neck, and then dives into the pool, heading for the light where Jack disappeared into.
Arno jumps into the pool.
As the crush of the woman’s form recedes and she goes back to sit on her chair (gesturing warmly for Jack to do the same across from her on a nearby couch), Jack gets an opportunity to look around the room at the different skulls and stuffed heads...
It’s…quite a large and varied assortment. You recognize a stuffed Flumph near the table your hostess sets her drink upon…there’s a Taxidermy Slaad near the fire… there’s a Bugbear head just on the wall here, and oh, is that a Illithid head just behind it? There’s dozens more beside...
And then, as Jack goes to sit down on the leather couch Evvida had pointed out…oh no. Just behind to the side of your seat, in clear view between you and Evvdia, a pair of wolves lie entwined around each other on the floor, apparently posed as though trying to keep warm. The female of the pair stare up at Jack with lifeless glass eyes.
Returning to take a final gulp of her Mulled Wine, Evvdia nods effusively at Jack’s request “A pie! But of course! Let me just…#73! GET IN HERE!” After a few moments, the Grey Man stumbles back in to stand at Evvdia’s side. “Tell the Cook our guest requested…a warm pie, you said? A warm pie, and then tell him to refill this as well…” she hands the Grey Man her emptied drink. Grey Man warmly acknowledges Jack as he leaves the room, and heads back down the hallway you came in from.
As he departs, Evvdia crosses her legs and leans in conspiratorially towards Jack, giving him her *biggest* grin. “Now! We have some time alone. And I. Wanna. Know. ALL. About, you! How are you enjoying the Expanse? How are you enjoying being human? Are Urixes and the other two treating you right?”
“Also, what are you guys even doing out here? If I remember right, Urixes said he’d come back to this place “over his dead body”…so it has to be something important!”
Evvdia awaits Jack's response...
You are all standing on a cold metal dais, sitting at the end of an impossibly long hallway. You can already sense that something about this place is… different. The walls seem to press in on you all. As you look around yourselves, you see the place is made of strange steel, interwoven with bones throughout: some small, but some *MASSIVE* and a part of the overhead infrastructure.
A window of what seems to be colored glass sits just behind the dais, woven through entirely with bone and metal. Looking at the sky beyond is beautiful (unless you stare too long...which makes your head hurt...)
Overhead, a strange lamp hangs, the light having gone out shortly after your group arrived. From down the single giant hall, the group can make out the echoing sound of lumbering footsteps from an unknown distance, cutting through looming silence. You can hear something like a door opening from far away...and then the footsteps disappear, and the door shuts.
As you three arrived, the steel floor leading down the hall lit up blood red, similar to the spears of the Chameleons. A single pulse of color heads down the hall slowly in front of you...
[Oak and Arno can make Investigation Checks if they wish to learn further. You may choose to inspect the lamp or the window in particular. You may also start down the hall in the direction of the sound of the door...]
URIXES
The sight out the window informs Urixes that this place is currently drifting aimless through strange space. You can see a view of the Far Realm out the window...best not to stare too long...
He's uncharacteristically quiet as she talks and moves back to her couch, taking a jerking step to get himself moving and walking slowly to the couch. He looks over the stuffed wolves sadly, unfortunately not a sight he'd been spared even in the outside world; he never blamed humans who wore wolf pelts for warmth, their owners were already dead, but to turn them into a display of excess never sat right with him.
Still, he sits down, giving the grey man a warm nod of recognition, then returning his attention to the demoness. There's an attempt at a smile there, but Jack is used to wearing his heart on his sleeve and he's not had much practice with pretend.
"Oh, it's been... exciting? Lots happening, for sure. Feels like we've been stumbling from one excitement into another since we landed. Um. Are you the one the worgs were working for? Only I heard someone mention the Keeper is all." He looks at the side doors, "How do worgs get here?"
“You see, she’s part of a Coven that worships the She-Witch Faye…have you heard of her?...Well, Faye was an Ancient Witch of some reknown. She was one of the original champions who sealed Sess’innek, and accidentally created the Twilight Expanse. Now, this Coven tries to spread grief and strife in her honor. And Villam…the island, that is… is of specific significance to the She-Witch Faye, as it was the chosen home of her hated rival Fair William...”
“I believe the Lady of the Wood was trying to…get the Witch’s attention. Foolishly, I might add! You see, there’s a prophecy, and *many* parts of it seem to be coming true…an ancient treasure map has been found. The legendary items used to seal the Expanse, broken and lost for millennia, have begun to reappear. A gem long buried has been unburied from the mines of Far Aeston.” She turns and looks directly at Jack, her manner quickly shifting to deadly serious as she seems to stare into the Jack’s soul with a subtle venom. “…some believe the Metamorphic have arrived in the Expanse….”
“As to how the Worgs got there,” (here the “did I do that?” look teases across Evvdia’s face again), “Well…originally, I brought them. *giggle* The Witch had something valuable to trade me: information. You see, I’m a bit of a collector...that’s how they have come to call me the Keeper. And this place,” here she waves around the walls of the massive structure. “This place is a collection. Animals. Books. Artifacts. Weapons, Armor, and the means to make them. Other…more unique items,” The demon wags her eyebrows suggestively (Jack almost *certainly* doesn’t want to know what those other items are).
“The Witch told me what I wanted to know, and I provided her with a pack of Worgs, (which have only spread and grown, so I’ve heard!) The Worgs I procured for a different price, from another realm. And I brought them aboard this vessel. You stand now, Jack, upon a ship *much* like the Whispered Curse…” She gestures at the walls of the structure, “…it slowly travels in rips among the planes, drawing from an endless power source! And here, I keep the animals…I keep the lore and stories…I keep the keys and the ways and the means…”
The Demon ends her speech standing with arms extended, having given each new revelation a dramatic flourish. She turns to take in Jack’s reaction to the grand revelation
[Jack, please make a Wisdom Check (DC 14) to determine something about the Demon’s speech…]
He blanches at her glare, "Ma'am, I assure you I have _no_ idea what metromorphic means." This is no lie. Jack looks around at the mention of ship, tilting his head and listening intently. He hears no creaking, no wind, feels no rocking. If this is a ship, it is an odd one indeed.
"This prophecy. How does it end?" In his experience prophecies are like bad stories, mostly filled with fluff and the only interesting bit is the conclusion.
((OOC: Huh, who knew they already made a video game based on us!))
He eyes a lamp and a window but his interest is set on the hallway. "I'm sure Jack wandered. We should go."
She looks wistfully down the hall to her right. "...a lot of people have wondered what "sustaining the Change" meant for a very long time. Why *I* chose to use the doppelgangers in the first place...", She almost seems to be saying that last sentence to herself...
Urixes was once *very* familiar with this place…as he stares down the long hallway, the pressing silence feels like an old friend, and memories come flooding back to him…
A- Arrival Point on the Dais-*YOU ARE HERE*
B- Trapped Chamber- This entire chamber is lined with foul wards and mechanical hazards (Pipes was attempting to trick you into the gate which led here)
C-Brig- A prison. Occasionally, a place where Evvida would go to “blow off steam”
D- Storage Room- A large storage room, containing crucial supplies for the ship and crew, as well as trade goods of various natures
E- Kitchen- A large space containing everything one needs to produce a good meal, including an onsite butcher shop
F- Doppelganger Vats/Crew’s Quarters/Gun Deck
G- Forge/Armory/Gun Deck
H- Evvdia’s Trophy Room- Evvdia’s favorite place on the ship: a room of exquisite beauty, clothed in death. It’s the central hub to and from most places on the ship
I- The Heart of the Ship- …but Urixes doesn’t want to think about that…
J- Ship’s Bridge/Wheel…The seat of power in this place, although rarely used…
K- The Zoo
L- The Library
M- Evvdia’s Room-Evvdia’s secret Personal Quarters, hidden below the trophy room, triggered by a hidden switch somewhere in the Trophy Room…
N- Urixes’s Former Room- You had your own space on board here once, also triggered by a hidden switch in the Trophy Room…
Arno takes a look at the lamp.
Geth roll 1d20-1
"Wait, Jack first, then Fair Will. Oak, hold the hilt please."
Arno takes the shape of a black bear, and sniffs about for Jack.
AC 11, HP 19, and keen smell
Geth roll 1d20+6 for sniff survival or perception to find Jack fast
Geth roll 1d20+6 for advantage
(( Urixes will share this knowledge with Oak and Arno so that we aren't wandering blindly ))
[Arno senses the lamp overhead was lit recently: it smells of crackling arcane energy. The light you saw (briefly, before it dimmed) resembled the same light you saw at the bottom of the Dark Glen. It seems to have strange wires running out of it, threaded into the steel and bone running towards the ceiling(this device is controlled from somewhere else...)]
[Bear*Arno can smell Jack's distinct odor headed straight down this hall, not too long ago (the scent stops at Point H on the map: Evvdia's Trophy Room). He was accompanied along the way by a humanoid: what type of humanoid, Arno couldn't say, as the scent lacks distinct feature besides itself (it's like trying to explain the taste of water)]
Arno points in Jack's direction and begins following the scent, but alert and trying to avoid any possibility of running into patrols.
The group passes several strange doors along the half-mile hall, a single catch in the center used to raise them. As Bear*Arno passes the second door on the right (which Urixes has told you leads to some sort of kitchen area...), they get a sudden strong whiff of hundred different scents (most very unpleasant, some even toxic) which have wafted out into the hallway (the door leading to the kitchen was opened recently...the scent of the humanoid accompanying Jack goes in, but doesn't come out.)
The group eventually comes to a door at the end of the hallway, twice as large as the others you've seen. A booming, feminine voice seems to be trying to tell a funny story. Jack's trail leads here]
OOC:Please let me know of any preparations you make before entering Evvdia's Trophy Room, and the manner in which you plan to enter
Urixes, please let me know if Evvdia will be seeing the New Urixes, or if you will be attempting to enter presenting as the Old Urixes (Charisma Check DC 14)
OOC: it's like you don't even know him.
Also, apropos of nothing, my mental image of how me Fusspot talks
Geth, roll 1d4+4 for Temp HP
(( False Life isn't because it's an invocation, not a regular spell. The invocation makes it essentially a cantrip for me, but the trade off is that it's at 1st level. ))
((OOC: I figure with them just outside anything I do now should be kept short ))
“Granted, there is more than enough of it, where you’re going…*if* you all can make it to the center of the Expanse, you’d find treasure enough to live extravagantly for twenty lifetimes. Can you even imagine what you can *do* with that sort of treasure, mortal one? You could….purchase power, like (*laughs*) your favored shipmate the Governor! You could simply drink, smoke, drug it all away… just like your rival Rax! Of course, you could always use it to build to a purpose…like the Queen of Chaff…”
“But no, my naïve friend, I do not desire the…treasure.” She gives a mournful, heavy sigh. She suddenly appreciates the wolf couple sitting between you two, and stoops down on the carpet to pet the stuffed she-wolf. As Evvdia does so, she looks up in a confessional manner towards Jack. “…I’m just an old Alpha Female, grown tired of the pack, and ready to move on to something new. You understand...”
“Wait…did you hear something at the door just now?”
[Jack, please roll Wisdom Check to call bullshit on that: (DC 11) lets you open the first spoiler, (DC 15) lets you open the second one…]
[EVVDIA’S TROPHY ROOM]
Bear*Arno, Oak readied, and Urixes at the front of the group lifts the handle, and storm into Evvdia’s place of prized possessions….
You stand in a beautifully constructed room which resembles a fancy woodsman’s cabin. Exquisite red velvet carpet, stitched with subtle artwork, line the floors of a circular room. Delicately carved and stained wooden planks line the walls and the ceiling overhead. Comfortable looking, giant couches, grandfather chairs, and chaise lounges, *all* covered in the finest leather, sit in a circle around the center of the room, and lead to a roaring fireplace. And heads... familiar...alien...and some, very familiar...stare at you from nearly everywhere in the room.
There are exotic animals in full taxidermy along the floor; recreated skeletons propped along the walls; heads (big and small; both skinned and not) upon plaques on the wall, and beautiful wood furniture besides.
All three of the Wild Bunch which enter can see doors to their immediate North, South, and East out of here.
Seated near the fireplace, your friend Jack is sitting (very uncomfortably, looking like he wishes he could squirm away somewhere) upon a leather chair (made of dubious material…), while across from him, petting dead, stuffed wolves on the rug in front of him, squats a Lilitu demoness in a *brilliant* red dress. Her face alights as she sees the newcomers enter the room, and she quickly springs to her feet and runs over to greet you…
“*ARNO*! *OAK!* My goodness, I wondered what was taking you all so long! Welcome, me and Jack have been waiting for you!”, The demoness smells like she wears an overpowering amount of sweet smelling perfume. Evvdia doesn’t hesitate for a single second at the sight of Arno’s transformed self, and rushes up to try to hug the Bear and the Shifter both…as the fiend attempts to get into your space, Arno and Oak can both make out several stuffed bears just over her shoulder, among her taxidermy trophies near a corner of the room…
[OAK and ARNO can choose to accept the presumptuous hug or not, at your prize or peril. If you choose to accept…]
Regardless of whether or not they receive her physical affection, Evvdia begins to pepper Oak and Arno with a stream of questions afterwards: “Arno, are you enjoying everything our different cultures have to offer out here? Changelings seem to be just drawn to the Expanse, I’ve found, don’t you think so? And…(leans over and whispers not-so-secretly) I’ve heard the Expanse seems to be rather drawn to *you*!
As she turns to Oak, “Oak…strong, braveOak. You’ve gotten this group far, haven’t you? Do you find as I do, that the burden of leadership hangs heavy? You seem to wear it well!”
Evvdia finally makes contact with Urixes after her warm reception for all the others: her manner seems considerably cooled from all her other interactions, and slightly venomous as she walks towards him. And then…a slight smile touches her lips, and Urixes isn’t sure it wasn’t all an act (he never was back then, either…). “Was just telling your friend Jack here…the last time you were here, you said you’d come back over your dead body.”
“So....what could have *possibly* dragged you back here in front of me again, after what happened last time?” she spits at Urixes.
She rattles off all sorts of questions at him and Arno, almost simultaneous. Oak says nothing, eyes narrowing in suspicion, shooting his gaze over to Jack to try and quickly assess their companion's current state, but mostly he is just keeping his distance from this woman. His hand is still gripping his sword, he meant it when he told Urixes that he wasn't about to trust anything or anyone down here.
As she starts to flit around them he stands up, slowly walking towards whomever looks like they are carrying his gear with a casual pace. Dum dee dum, he's just rejoining his friends, nothing to see here.