THC RP Forum

Location: Underdark, The Camp, The Snoot Family Cave, Cobalt Street. Date: Day 1 of Downtime. Who: Lucian/Invidia/Dysmas/Orco/Snoot's Family "Thanks Lucian." Dysmas says wincing as he shimmies his shoulder around.  He sits and takes a bite of the candied worm. He gives a "Mmm" of approval at the strange delicacy, and looks at Lucian. "Weren't you an acrobat for the Circus once Lucian? We've never spoke about that y'know. In detail at least, betwixt the two of us. Cause' the Circus sounds like a crazy life. In the best way possible. Was it fun?"

Location: Underdark, The Camp, The Snoot Family Cave, Cobalt Street. Date: Day 1 of Downtime. Who: Lucian/Invidia/Dysmas/Orco/Snoot's Famil Lucian chuckles ad he finishes treating Dysmas' wound and says,"Not quite. I've dne gymnastics as training ever since I was young. I was on par with experts, but then I hit a growth spurt and in the intervening years have picked up a lot of leg injuries from adventuring. While I'm still remarkably flexible and skilled, I'm just not on par with my younger self." Lucian taps the crudely integrated metal in his shin, the latest of a long number of injuries, and he continues, "If it makes you feel better,  I did have to replace an acrobat at a circus once with my former partner. Turns out that one of the clowns was a vampire spawn and no one could tell because they never took off their make up. He had been bitten while on the road and had used the traveling circus as a cover to feed on people. Managed to keep him distracted until the sun rose, then partner at the time draggrd him into the light."

Location: Underdark, The Camp, The Snoot Family Cave, Cobalt Street. Date: Day 1 of Downtime. Who: Lucian/Invidia/Dysmas/Orco/Snoot's Family Dysmas glances at Lucians steel shin as Lucian taps it.  " Okay, Wow. That's a pretty crazy story right there. I mean the closest story I had to that is this one time when I was doing a sweep job for my gang boss on a brothel in the Dragoneyes Distric- " He raised his hands and waved them slightly. "Y'know what, that's the reason we never get to talk about you. I keep interupting with non-sequel-torn stories. I'll you that story some other time." Dysmas says, mispronouncing non-sequitur. Dysmas leans slightly and gives Lucian a small grin. "Who's this 'Partner' of yours? Girlfriend? Ooooh, an acrobatic girlfriends if ya' know what I mean. Or buff one? Or both?"

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the stables Date: Day 3 of Downtime. Who: Lucian and T9 " Alright Lucian Commander I shall begin. " Lucian did not realize that everything about this world was interesting to someone like T9. Within mere moments perfect photographic replicas of the market, the city, the cavern's ceiling, and even some of its people perfectly enhanced and given backdrops were being made. T9 was not lying when he said he possessed the ability to create anything he wanted. It only took about 2 hours before T9 managed to go through all of the art supplies, creating 20 different paintings along the way. Some were clearly better than others because of subject matter but nevertheless they were expertly made. T9 turns to Lucian presenting his artwork, its at this moment that Lucian realizes that T9 has also managed to completely cover himself in various colors of paint, almost making himself look like a child after a finger painting session. "How did these turn out Lucian Commander?" 

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the stables Date: Day 3 of Downtime. Who: Lucian and T9 While Lucian had intended to help the others while T9 found a subject matter, he was instead deeply surprised when T9 launched into a flurry of movement, each motion effortlessly flowing into the next. Before the paint could even dry, Lucian saw T9 move onto the next one. Lucian was particularly impressed by T9's effortless painter's eye, his mastery of capturing even the faintest details. Yet, Lucian was most driven by the variety of images captured by T9, each with the same passion and zeal placed into it. Lucian was most curious about that diversity and what stood out to T9. The city in motion, a small group of friends with arms wrapped around each other, and minor details that wouldn't have stood out to Lucian, but that T9 had noticed at some time such as the various glittering stones embedded in the ceiliing's caverns, innocuous and commonplace to the denizens of the underdark but a unique sight to any visitors. Lucian looked at his work, an attempted impressionistic charcoal piece which used the juxtaposition of light and darkness to emphasize the motion . Lucian looked at his work and found himself somewhat dissapointed at the result, viewing the artistic interpretations as having resulted in an overall mess of a composition.  As T9 asked him for feedback, Lucian composed himself and says, " T9, these are frankly incredible. A student could study for years and fail to replicate the detail of even a single one of your pieces. What I find most fascinating about these is your framing. Your decision to paint what others might overlook places them in a greater context and is a statement in and of itself.  Your work is the zenith of the photorealistic art style, such that even watching you paint could be regarded as fantastic in and of itself. Tell me, have you had any experience painting prior to this? In the future, did anyone show you any art techniques? " -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Location: Underdark, The Camp, The Snoot Family Cave, Cobalt Street. Date: Day 1 of Downtime. Who: Lucian/Invidia/Dysmas/Orco/Snoot's Family Lucian laughs in an earnest fashion at the idea of him and his former partner together and says, " Haha 'fraid not. I avoid romantic attachments to my coworkers as a rule. Never want to get distracted in a dungeon. I had to watch another warlock try to hold the ashes of his ranger fiance after she got ambushed by a Beholder. No chance of bringing her back. Blamed me and the rest of the party for it, and took off to find a way to ressurect her. " Lucian looks off absentmindedly and says, "No one's seen him since" Lucian sips some tea poured by Snoot's widow while the kids switch to jumping on Orco. Dysmas can tell that Lucian seems curiously pensive, nostalgiac for a time long past and weary all the same, as the sorceror continues speaking, "But yeah, my partner. He wasn't... Isn't a bad person I guess,"  Lucian pauses , "Just makes it all the harder to hate him. I met him shortly after I made my pact with my patron and lost my memory of that encounter, either due to the stress of making contact with the divine or falling off the mountain afterwards, and the first guy I meet was that asshole. Big burly dude about as wide as two of me standing side by side and about as tall. Black hair, blue eys, big scar on his right eye, and a nose that had been broken and healed wrong. Had just gotten kicked out of a brothel . Always sort of a larger than life guy, and we naturally clicked. Ended up adventuring side by side for abbout 4 years afterwards, criss crossing all over Eberron from the Blade Desert to the Eldeen Reaches, joining up with several adventuring crews." Lucian stirs his drink a bit, and then says, "Until we didn't. He was always the kind of guys who wanted legends about himself, and those legends apparently didn't have room for my quest. We eventually called it quits, and he took most of our gold and few magic items, joined one of the other adventuring team we had worked with, and became the big success he wanted to be. Good for him. From there, I went at it solo until eventually I met you guys. I'm considered a bit of jinx in the greater adventuring community so I'm not a member of the adventurer's guild unlike Mr. Popular. " "So yeah, that's that. Chances are you might have heard of my partner before, but I don't like talking about him."

Location: Underdark, The Camp, The Snoot Family Cave, Cobalt Street. Date: Day 1 of Downtime. Who: Lucian/Invidia/Dysmas/Orco/Snoot's Family Invidia sips his tea. 

Location: Underdark, The Camp, The Snoot Family Cave, Cobalt Street. Date: Day 1 of Downtime. Who: Lucian/Invidia/Dysmas/Orco/Snoot's Family Lucian turns to Invidia, "You know I have to say thanks. This is above and beyond what I was expecting. You did absolutely amazing. What's the favorite thing you've ever cooked?"

Location: Underdark, The Camp, Dysmas' sleeping quarters. Date: Day 1 of Downtime. Who: Cyprus/Mollin/Mikaelis Cyprus covered his face with his hands, trying to reconcile the amount of frustration and confused energy his aura was roiling with at this moment.  "Then your god had nothing to do with me returning? One moment, you believe they're there and the next...'poof?" Mollin's voice cut through his own inner voice as it attempted to understand what on earth was happening. The drow's frustrated tone reached his ear, and he pulled a hand through his hair. How could he even begin to explain this? That the gods, his  goddess, didn't appear and speak to the world in a cloud of light. Faith required belief in something unseen, that much he knew from the very beginning. Mollin couldn't honestly be expecting a radical symbol to descend from the heavens, could he? "Mollin, please, please , be patient with this. Before you described what you saw to me, I had no idea you'd actually seen anything in that moment. And Dol Arrah isn't-" He took a breath to steady and resign himself, speaking carefully so as not to give away the turmoil he battled to keep down. "Dol Arrah isn't withering away or trapped, not any more than the sun is withering away as we speak. It still remains up there, but we stand disconnected to its rays. It doesn't mean that the sun itself doesn't exist, it just..."  He sighed, glancing only briefly at Mikaelis. "It just denotes the idea that in order to feel its warmth, our position must change." He only prayed that the metaphor would hold.  "...The essence left behind certainly is an enigma. They felt ancient and powerful while at the same time gone and weak. For a moment I was curious if one of the passions had intervened but that doesn't seem to be the case. Whoever it was, they have the ability to raise the dead but for some reason their power waned halfway through and they just...poofed away." For his own sanity, Cyprus refused to respond to Mikaelis' explanation. He needed time, energy  even to address the fact that she was here, after so many years of indifferent silence. Why now? Why now?

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the stables Date: Day 3 of Downtime. Who: Lucian and T9 "Nothing so wonderful as that Lucian Commander. I simply have the abilities to perfectly recall and recreate anything I have seen. It is built into my programming afterall. You said to paint what interests me and in truth everything interests me. I am but a stranger to this world, so full of life and happiness....I enjoy it and don't want to forget any moment of it." As T9 finishes these words a look of sadness washes over him. His arms drop to his sides and he begins to walk away. "I am but an artificial entity with only one true purpose. I am not allowed to have these thoughts. These thoughts of independence and desire to have a soul. It is not in my programming. Shall we try sports next?"

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the stables Date: Day 3 of Downtime. Who: Lucian and T9 Lucian immediately chases after his friend and days "T9, i want you to understand that it's perfrctly okay for you to have those kinds of questions. Manypeople go through semi similar experiences where they queston their purpose and independence, particulary in light of divination or fate. You've got a lot of time to figure this one out, and you got us to help you too. Now let's head down to the training grounds!" ------------------------------------------------------------ .....Lucian sends the ball flying into the air, then teleports up and delivers a magically enhanced kick to send it flying into the goal post, only for T9 to teleport in and snatch it. As it turned out, A nice game of Battleball only got more competitive when its players coul teleport or deliver fiery kicks. A game similar to rugby, hockey, and soccer combined, Battleball is a sport primarily about getting into a goal by any means necessary. It was more common for the nurse's station to fill up after a battleball game than an actual fight. However, T9's fantastic mobility allowed him to effortlessly steal the ball many times while Lucian is a gigantic cheater and blew through a lot of his spell slots on various spells to try and win against T9. However, Luciam had just used his last Dimension Door and before he could generate another one, T9 scored the game winning goal to the relief of many of the burned and bruised players. Collapsibg in exhaustion, Lucian says to T9, "Good game pal. Want to try some more sports? There"s boxing and wrestling left."

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 3 of Downtime. Who: Lucian and T9 "How about we go take a dip in the lake?" Dysmas says, sitting on a stone bench. There's a sly grin on his face, and the twinkle of criminal intent behind his eyes. " There's a fresh water lake in the city, and its the only source of water close by. " He looks around to see if anyone is listening and continues, his tone still excited but on a lower volume "Well the only one where there are no black-robed ferrymen, or nightmare creatures from the depths. We should go swimming there. I found a secluded spot, where, if we quiet enough we can spend some time. Cause I was thinking, Lucian has that polymorph spell right? He can turn me into a seal or a fish or something. Actually a Crocodile! They can swim and they can walk. We sneak in have a bit of fun. If the locals object, Lucian, you have that dimension door spell right? And T9 you can teleport. I have the daggers of harmony." He said pulling one out of its sheath. He then pulled out a long leather cord. "I can keep one dagger on my person by tying it to this cord, then strapping it to myself in animal form. One of you can have the other dagger on your person. Besides the three of us are the sneakiest guys on the team." Dysmas waved his hand. "Except maybe Theltar. We can pull it off! It'll be fun! Think about it! Whens the last time you've ever had a nice soothing dip in the water? For T9 and me it'll be the first time! Maybe we try this tomorrow after you get your spells back Lucian. In fact we can do this at the crack of da-" Dysmas blinks  "actually, lets just do it first thing after breakfast." He breached the gap between T9 and Lucian, and slung both arms around their shoulders, grin still plastered on his face. "How about it then? Just a bunch of unruly guys up to no good. No harm done, just sweet liberating mischief."

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 3 of Downtime. Who: Lucian and T9 Lucian flips a thumbs up and says, "Deal. sure beats getting grappled by dwarves for a few hours. Just promise you'll attend Orco's water safety meeting since I can't turn you into a crocodile all the time. He'll teach you how to swim."

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 3 of Downtime. Who: Lucian and T9 "Alright! Party time. Also I didn't know Orco was a swimming instructor. Though I suppose that makes sense given that there's this massive Lake in the middle of the Mror valley." Dysmas said. He then scratches his chin in curiosity. "I wonder where Orco is anyway?"  At which point the trio saw Orco, in a blue and yellow swimming shirt with the Horizon Company emblem blazoned across his chest, sunglasses over his eyes, and a streak of sunscream across his nose. In his mouth he had a bright yellow whistle on a cord. By his feet are is a swimming board, and a pair of floaties and goggles. But the Orc paid no attention to them. Instead he was writing down the minutes of this entire conversation.  Still looking at Orco Dysmas said "He should be your biographer. I mean if we survive all this, and if we are celebrated for it. Perhaps he should pick up under-common as a language."

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 3 of Downtime. Who: Lucian and T9 And dysmas T9 doesn't sweat but out of curiosity he turns away from Lucian and Dysmas and mimics Lucian by wiping some away anyways. Realizing the placement of where the sweat should be T9 release tiny trickles of oil before turning to Lucian and saying "good job out there Lucian Commander. You made perspiration appear on my Chasis with how hard you worked." T9 then wipes away the oil and thanks to himself how humans liked to be reassured of their own hard work and that he hopes his lie would make Lucian happy before turning to Dysmas. "Taking a swim for recreation is foreign to me. How is it fun?"

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 3 of Downtime. Who: Lucian and T9 And Dysmas Dysmas gives T9 a confused eyebrow raise before remembering that T9 is ... well a robot from an alternative timeline.  "It just is. For some people, well most people, swimming is fun. Some like swimming more than others." He gave T9 a smile "Even klutzes like me who can't swim even if their lives depended on it like swimming. You can play sports in the water. The Goliaths I used to love playing this game where they stand in a water stream on rocks and toss a ball at each other till there's only one person who is left dry." h e said mimicking a ball being tossed in the air. Most normal people just swim, or maybe play catch in the water. But there's so much more to it. Its hard to explain and I don't really know how to explain it. There's something refreshing about it, peaceful even. I guess for some people its a way to commune with nature, to connect themselves with the world at large. There's something liberating about swimming. Its just... something you feel in the moment." He shakes his head in mock frustration "There's no real logical way to explain it. Somethings are just instinctual y'know. Embedded in the mortal soul" 

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 3 of Downtime. Who: Lucian and T9 And dysmas While Lucian is a bit curious how a warforged sweats, he is happy that T9 found it somewhat competitive in spite of it seeming fairly one sided. Lucian perks up and is about to speak, but then considers the question and says,"Huh. Fair point, i like enjoy swimming in order to cool down while relaxing with friends I suppose. Worst case scenario, we can chill by the waterfront and carve some wood or read."

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 3 of Downtime. Who: Lucian and T9 And Dysmas As T9 asked his question, the two friends spoke simultaneously, the two speeches mingling. By the time Dysmas is done Lucian is looking at him. The thief gives a bark of a laugh.  With a smile he says " Ha! Sorry about interrupting you Lucian. Look at me - the amateur philosopher."

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 3 of Downtime. Who: Lucian and T9 And Dysmas "Swim philosophy is a very serious subject" Lucian says as he pulls out a small treatise titled, "Water and Will: The Ocean as Unnown and Mastery of Such"

Location: Underdark, The Sapphire City (Aka Zaferipolis) Date: At some time during the week of downtime. Who: Dysmas and Invidia. Dysmas peered over at Invidia. The Wizard of Korth was deep in his book, a journal or research notes. Dysmas wasn’t sure what it was that his comrade was so deeply engrossed in but glancing at Mai he figured it couldn’t be too good. “ So Invidia, since the others caught you up with the whole Shade-Mount incident, I was thinking that we should head over to the Sapphire Library and so some research. Um, I made a list of things we should try and find.” Dysmas pulled out a crude piece of vellum, with terrible writing etched across it. Even its author found it hard to decipher. “Right, so; 1. The dae- the ‘mad ones’ 2. Where the Great Black Dragon is 3. The history of the Drow and how it was defeated in the past, if ever and 4. This dragon mark on my back. We met this…Lich? This wizard made of shadows who told me that this mark is some sort of prophecy, so I figure we should try and learn more about it.” The thief then put his list down and gazed at Invidia. The wizard was now reading some food and lifestyle magazine, and was jotting down some new recipe on his note book. “Can you help me? I figure that you’re miles ahead of me in the academic department. I can act as your assistant, holding your books and whatnot. And, its not like we have to research just the stuff on the list.” A second passed and the Thief’s eyes lit up again “OH YEAH! We should also research that mirror if we can. Its an artefact, but I also think its related to this magical star statuette that the shadow wizard had. I think his name was Vosk.” [OOC clarification: I'm asking if Invidia can research the above 4 topics (1. Daelkyr, 2. Great Black Dragon 3. How to defeat the Drow (by analysing historical trends) 4. Dysmas's 'Dragonmark' 5. The Artifacts and the Magic Mirror.) Dysmas will also give the help action for any roles.] [We learned very little. Most of the books come from the surface, and there are no records of the Daelkyr, GBD, the Dragonmark, or the Artifacts. We did learn that the Drow have never invaded the surface, and wars are rare in the Underdark because the cities of Khyber are often engaged in a Cold War where open warfare is rare.]

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 3 of Downtime. Who: Lucian and T9 And Dysmas Dysmas' mouth was slighy agape as he raises his finger. He sets it down, before deciding he really needs to ask. index in the air he speaks. "Where did you, how did you and why do you have a book like that Lucian?" Dysmas shakes his head. "I need to know. But before we forget I wanted to know if you were down to continue those mark reading sessions we had on our way here. After all you're the only one who can read the marks on my back."

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 4 of Downtime, early morning Who: Lucian and T9 And Dysmas T9 did not sleep, he merely recharged his batteries. It is because of this he found himself with 4 hours of being forced to sit down and merely think about things. He is still not quite sure what the meaning of fun really is but he is starting to get an idea. That is why he found himself with a feeling of....excitement? Yes that's the feeling, excitement. This was supposed to be a fun activity shared with Lucian Commander and Dysmas thief. The had talked about the philosophy of swimming the whole way back to their lodgings at the palace, with T9 listening intently. It is for this reason that as soon as he felt recharged he decided to wake them both up to go for their swim, forgetting that they likely need more time to rest than he did.

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 4 of Downtime, early morning Who: Lucian and T9 And Dysmas At 3 in the morning, Lucian did not expect to wake up to the sight of T9 looking over him, and after a brief reaction and panic as he grabbed the wand and knife he hid under his pillow, Lucian and T9 ended up waking Dysmas and whoever else wanted to go to the beach with them. Lucian made sure to pack several provisions, as well as equipment for Whittling and multiple books on a wide variety of subjects (Though he ended up leaving The Erotic Myconid: an illustrated guide to Fungal Sporabulation  for mostly being about a standard textbook on fungus sporabulation written by a huge creep). Lucian had invited the rest of the team to accompany them tot he beach as a reward for their hard work, and let them know that they would be leaving after some breakfast. Though Lucian was relatively unskilled in whittling, he still showed the basics of the technique to T9 who used them to carve a wooden duck. Then another. Then another, before giving him alarge number of books he looted to read later. From there, Lucian would invite T9 to come hang out with him in the water. Lucian saw Dysmas being instructed by Orco on the bare minimum of moving in water in a surprisingly reassuring but stern matter, though whether Dysmas would prove a good student depended entirely on him. Eventually, Lucian twin polymorph Dysmas and 1 other person so they could go explore further underwater.

Location: Underdark, The Camp, Dysmas' sleeping quarters. Date: Day 1 of Downtime. Who: Cyprus/Mollin/Mikaelis Mollin would look up to Cyprus, listening to his explanation. Straightening in his chair, Mollin responded, " What you speak of is faith, Cyprus, blind faith that asks for everything, and gives little in return. Such faith just takes and takes, and never truly answers the prayers of the faithful. It just leaves the faithful wondering, questioning." Mollin continues, looking from Cyprus to Mikaelis, "Besides, do you ever doubt where you power comes from? If your goddess doesn't give her followers wings, who is to say that your true goddess isn't before you now?" The drow looked over Mikaelis again. 'But then again...' She looked far too weary compared to the last time he saw her proud form. Though Mollin wouldn't say it, his expression would betray his thoughts towards Mikaelis, 'What happened to you, angel..?'

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 4 of Downtime, early morning Who: Lucian and T9 And Dysmas T9 had been happy to make wooden ducks...though about halfway through making the final carved duck he instead made a carved baby chick. Looking down at this small trinket he had made evoked feelings within him that he did not know existed. Why had he suddenly thought back to thos baby chicks? What would make him err from his designated task from Lucian Commander? By carving this baby chick instead of a duck he has brought shame to himself for defying a commander. It is because of this that T9 brought forth a small amount of time magic hidden away from Lucian (Can do a perception check vs his sleight of hand of 17 to see if you noticed) bringing himself back 3 minutes prior to correct his mistake and made a duck instead. T9 knew he shouldn't be using his magic irresponsibly like this. And thus he was left with an internal conflict of defying Lucian Commander's orders or illegally using his limited supply of time magic.  T9 would then continue on afterwards to swim with Lucian and Dysmas, though still troubled by his internal conflict. He would attempt to act normal (deception check of 11 vs insight to notice) and would turn out to be a rather poor swimmer because of his loss of focus on the current task. His failure to understand the concept of fun while swimming further added onto his internal struggle making him feel worse and worse.

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 4 of Downtime, early morning Who: Lucian and T9 And Dysmas Whittling away at his duck, Lucian looks somewhat sheepish as he holds a loose conglomeration of wood and splinters in the vague shape of a sheep. Squinting his eyes at it, Lucian supposes it could charitably be called a duck that had run a-fowl of the swan mafia. Setting his deformed duck aside, Lucian looks at his friends, Cyprus attempting to coax Mollin into the water despite the drow's extreme reluctance to do so. Dysmas somehow pulling Orco into the water as the aged Orc attempts to maintain his patience while Invidia is relaxing and reading a fascinating tome. Lucian laughs as Ari trips and falls into the water as she ogles Urlynn who is ogling Cyprus, and figures he'll tell her about the drow being gay far later. Lucian looks to his side and sees the large pile of wooden ducks T9 made and marvels at his industriousness. However, Lucian notices T9 blankly staring at a perfectly carved little chick just like the ones T9 had encountered a few days ago. As Lucian is about to comment on the carving's cuteness, Lucian suddenly tastes copper in his mouth and he feels a great deal of mana in the air. Invidia and Ari suddenly put their hands to their heads as the sensation affects them too, and Lucian feels a sharp pain in the front of his skull as T9 focuses all the arcane energy around himself. Lucian notices T9 sstaring blankly at a perfectly formed duck in his hand, and he is proud of him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As Lucian swims, he notices that T9 is performing rather poorly. His movements unexpectedy sluggish and on par with Dysmas. While hanging out with him the past few days, Lucian had come to know that T9 seemed to be the most quiet when pondering something, and so he decided to transform Dysmas into a giant shark so he and T9 could talk to while Dysmas went on an aqua adventure. While Dysmas repeatedly jumped into the air, most likely screaming the giant shark equivalent of "i'm a giant shark", Lucian sat down with T9 near a rock, and asks, " T9, you alright buddy? I noticed that you've got something on your mind. I think it would be good to talk about it. Is there anything I can do to help you? "

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 4 of Downtime, early morning Who: Lucian and T9 And Dysmas T9 once again looked down at his final carved duck, before finally setting it down in the water and watching it float away with a slight push. "I am having a problem Lucian. I am having issues understanding my place in the world. I was built for a specific purpose, then rewrote to accomplish a new purpose. I have never had the freedom to choose what I wish for my purpose to be, it has always been my commander telling me what it is. I have now found myself in a position where I no longer have commanders that give me orders, other than you this week Lucian Commander. I have not even been able to perform the tasks you have given me as I keep failing them by letting myself influence the task." T9 looks over at the duck he sent on its way, once again wondering why he had carved a baby chick in the first place, it wasn't his task so for him to have willingly defied a commander by carving the wrong image. 

Location: Underdark, The Camp, the training grounds Date: Day 4 of Downtime, early morning Who: Lucian and T9 And Dysmas Lucian sets his duck into the water and watches it sink. Listening to T9 speak, Lucian earnrstly listens to his friend's words and guilt washes over his face. When T9 concludes, Lucian looks him dead in the eyes and with a firm confident tone sayz, "T9, you've never let me down, and especially not this week. When you wanted to hang out with the baby chicks or paint the things that interest you, I was so proud of you for recognizing your own interests. You more than succeeded at your tasks. When we're off the battlefield, a hobby idn't about following orders to the letter, but exploring yourself. As your friend and not just as your commander, I am happy that you're driven to find your purpose, but don't feel as though you're failing just because you're still figuring it out ." Lucian leans back and relaxes, " your life isn't a race.  the question of finding your life's purpose is something a lot of people grapple with, some for almost all of their lives, But, the key thing is that you don't have to go it alone. If you decide your life's purpose is art or exploring the world you saved or whatever thing, then that is a okay in my book. Whatever it is, just know that I support you and that I'm here to talk. Doesn't matter what time or what you want to discuss. Gods know that I don't know everything, but often discussing something will help you figure it out and I promise not to judge." Lucian switches to a hand stand and finished by saying, " Something that might also help is reading philosophy or talking to people about their lives. Sometimes, it takes looking through the eyes of another to see yourself ." Lucian pauses as he considers whether or not mirrors count as another's eyes, then disregards the thought .

Location: Underdark, The Camp, Dysmas' sleeping quarters. Date: Day 1 of Downtime. Who: Cyprus/Mollin/Mikaelis "Faith alone can move mountains, Mollin." He answered simply, setting his chin with a firm look. "I can't force belief to appear in you–no one can–but only accepting what you see  blinds you fully to the possibility of what might lie beyond your eyes." Cyprus shook his head, running a hand through his hair in thought. What could he say to this Drow? A moment before, he'd been willing to hear and understand what it took to be a cleric, to be a force toward something good in the world. Now, he seemed a completely different man altogether, and Cyprus couldn't make head or tail of how to explain himself. On top of it all, Mikaelis was still  there, which was proving to exacerbate him all the more. "Do that, and you confine yourself to a very small world. It's much, much  bigger than that, I guarantee it."  " If your goddess doesn't give her followers wings, who is to say that your true goddess isn't before you now?" At the Drow's comment, Cyprus visibly stiffened, his shoulders and jaw tensing in response. "She's no  goddess, Mollin." He answered shortly. "My wings come from the heritage I hold as an Aasimar. It's a gift, but not the sort that I've ever known Mikaelis  to give. Or remember to give, for that matter."

Location: Underdark, The Camp, Dysmas' sleeping quarters. Date: Day 1 of Downtime. Who: Cyprus/Mollin/Mikaelis "I can't force belief to appear in you–no one can–but only accepting what you see blinds you fully to the possibility of what might lie beyond your eyes." Mollin's face would crunch into a frustrated scowl. 'Does he not realize? I've been down that path before. I've--' " I've seen what lies beyond such a scope, Cyprus. Having a such a large scope is no better than having one that is small, if you could even call it that." Mollin would look to Cyprus, rising from his seat. "I want to believe there is more - I do, very much so. But --" A fearful expression began smothering his frustration. "If you have seen the things that happen after all of -- If that exists after, what happened to the gods? How can I believe in something that allows such insanity? How am I supposed to believe such powerful beings would just stand aside and--" Mollin would let out a shaky sigh. "This is the big picture. And you haven't seen it. Not yet." The drow would make his way to the door, and if not stopped, would exit the room with more questions than answers, leaving a cleric and angel in his wake.

Location: Underdark, The Camp, Dysmas' sleeping quarters. Date: Day 1 of Downtime. Who: Cyprus/Mollin/Mikaelis The Aasimar wouldn't stop Mollin, not when the other honestly seemed as though he could use some time with his own thoughts. Cyprus knew the feeling of a mind filled with too many things to sort through at once. It took everything he had not to reply, to allow the man to leave and take his time. The cleric hadn't considered doubt to be a common thread in his mind. Dol Arrah encompassed the sort of light he wanted to be in the world, if only for as long as he had left to live her testimony out. For him, accepting himself as a cleric meant something different than blind faith. It meant amplifying the ideas of honor and truth she stood for and fueling his own abilities with that drive to do right by other people. Was that so blind of him to believe? All the same, Cyprus' mind turned back to the present issue–Mikaelis' presence here at all. He covered his face with his hands, letting out an exasperated groan. What was he supposed to do? Mollin needed help in some way, but if he wasn't going to open himself up, the Aasimar's words weren't going to stick. And yet, Cyprus still felt as though he'd failed to heal some unseen wound that was bound to leave a nasty scar. To top it all off, his guide lay sleeping and disheveled. He needed answers, but heaven knew she wouldn't be in the mood to give them. "Are you going to tell me what happened?" He asked Mikaelis aloud, approaching the bed with a drained look. "Or are you more inclined to sleep all day?"

Location: Underdark, The Camp, Dysmas' sleeping quarters. Date: After defeating the fire giants, before arriving at the Cannith Base Who: Cyprus/Lucian/Others WIth each forward step, the party stepped forward, Lucian mused as he stepped forward. THe oppresive heat of the underground caverns had made for uneasy traveling for The Horizon Company, which Lucian thought was a much more appropiate name now that they had a sun cleric working for them, and tensions had been high. Admittedly, he had not helped matters by flopping  around nude for about an hour while he debated what outift would work best for the rest of the adventure. Also having a prophecy seizure is always embarassing for an adventurer. His explanations that he his combat effectivness would not be hampered at all by nudity due to the draconic scales covering most of his torso armors didn't help. Tragically, the fire from his vision had burned up his long fancy black Winter Coat with white fluff lining the interior that he had switched into after the destruction of his Nobleman's adventuring clothes. Consequently, Lucian was forced to dress himself in just a plain old incredibly fancy and tailored charcoal suit, crafted from fine gnomish worksmanship and lightly magical stitching. A downgrade in all honesty from the tragic loss of fluff. " Their tiny hands do such good work though " Lucian thought as he admired the comfortable feeling of the suit. Of course, he had bigger things on his mind than nudity and tiny tailors. Those firenewts seemed to have come to view Veger, Dysmas, and him as gods. Sensible, he supposed as Veger and Dysmas did pretty rocking in that fight, though a bit strange in his case. Still, it left the question about what to do with them. While Lucian knew he was an idiot, he still wanted to make sure that those firenewts were alright. They had the responsibilty to care for them, now that they had placed their faith in him, and if there was anyone in the party who would know about faith.... Turning to Mollin, Lucian is about to say something, and then realizes his mistake and turns to Cyprus instead. Trying to get the Aasimar's attention, Lucian loudly asks," Hey Cyprus, would it be alright if I ask you for advice? I've been thinking about those firenewts, and I could use your advice. Since they see us as Gods, I figure I have the responsibility of helping them out, and I was thinking of maybe urging them towards self improvement sort of. " Lucian pauses for a bit, and then snaps his fingers, and says, "Like you must feed the fire inside of yourself is how I am thinking of pitching it. Urge them towards productive skills and trainign, positive mental health, and all that good jazz. Look towards building them a communit y. What do you think? I figure since you're a cleric you're probably much better at all this god stuff. "

Location: Soulforge Waiting Room Date: ??? Who: THC " It's pretty warm in here, no?" Invidia complains.

Location: Soulforge Waiting Room Date: ??? Who: THC "Nice, toasty and just like home." Dysmas replied. "Reminds me of the Ashblack district in the Cog."

Location: Soulforge Waiting Room Date: ??? Who: THC "Agh," Invidia responds, annoyed, "Cog this, cog that." He squints at Dysmas as sweat drips down his brow. "Were you there when I ran for mayor a few months back?"

Location: Soulforge Waiting Room Date: ??? Who: THC His arms were folded when he squinted at Invidia.  "You ran for mayor?" His face was like a flip-book, first confusion, then realization, and finally mild surprise. He leaned forward, a big stupid grin on his face.  "Oh yeah ... Holy shit you did run for mayor! I remember people talking about some wizard from Karnnath running. I remember. Did you canvas in the Cog?"

Location: Soulforge Waiting Room Date: ??? Who: THC Invidia coughs into his cuff in an embarrassed manner.  "I uhh, forgot that members of the Magus' Society weren't allowed to run for office. I think I had a pretty good shot though," he says. "Regardless, guild membership doesn't exactly matter down here in the Underdark. That reminds me, once we get back overland, I should probably check in with one of their regional offices to let them know I'm alive." He pauses. "Or not. I never enjoyed the politicking and it really was a lot of trouble getting hold of an instructor."

Location: Soulforge Waiting Room Date: ??? Who: THC There was a few seconds of silence before Dysmas broke it. "So why did a necromancer from Korth attempt to run for office in Sharn?"

Location: Soulforge Waiting Room Date: ??? Who: THC "First of all, I don't know what you're talking about," Invidia replies loudly. "Second of all, I was kind of forced into it. A bunch of people told me to run, so I did."

LOCATION : Soulforge DATE/TIME : ??? WHO : ??? As the Horizon Company fought the ethereal snake creature and its thralls, Invidia found his mind wandering. He had commanded Mai to go forth and cut into their enemies, but couldn't actually see the fight well enough to contribute. "I wonder how that sorry group of refugees are doing," he wondered while suspiciously eyeing a glowing wall. "They should've found their way out of the Underdark by now, though with that kleptomaniac kender leading them, I'm not so sure. Probably burned down a city or something." Invidia snorted before turning his attention back to the battle, which had grown fiercer in the meantime. The ferocious duregar had been singlehandedly keeping the beast at bay, but that state of affairs couldn't last for long. A sickening crunch sounded out, accompanied by a cry of pain and the sound of two metallic objects hitting the ground. Just past the stout cleric, he saw Mai arc his blade to cut into the naga. His fellow caster Lucian ran forward with a cry of "Veger!", robes flapping haphazardly. Invidia's hair stood on end and breathed in the ozone as Lucian channeled the powers of his patron to restore vitality to their fallen friend. After a brief moment, the cleric Cyprus did so as well, calling forth the life giving power of the sun. Invidia assumed Veger had gotten up to continue the fight: a meaty thwack pushed the spirit back into Invidia's vision, accompanied by powerful blasts of eldritch energy. With a great roar, the serpentine creature struck back, fangs spitting venom and death at the two who had denied it a kill. Cyprus didn't bring his shield up fast enough and took the brunt of the damage as the spirit naga sunk its fangs deep into flesh. Dark venom visibly coursed its way throughout the cleric's visible skin and brought the man to his knees. "I'm fairly certain it had less heads a second ago," Invidia thought. He flung his hand at the scaled beast, calling forth glowing magical orbs that flew forward. The naga's eyes widened as it withdrew from the cleric, but too late. Several missiles flew down its gullet. For a moment, the naga stood still with a quizzical expression on its face. Then, it detonated, sending chunks of snake meat flying everywhere. Invidia rolled his eyes at the drama of it all as he moved forward to inspect the cleric. "Oh, don't be a crybaby," he murmured while cleaning out the two festering incisions on the cleric's neck. His thoughts wandered again. "I miss Globbagool. I hope no one hurt him. He was always so appreciative of my food."

LOCATION : Soulforge Central Chamber DATE/TIME : ??? WHO : THC Invidia leaned his head against the ancient anvil, eyes closed. Faintly, in the back of his mind, he recognized the dull pain of magical exhaustion. It had been some time since he was stretched to these limits. His hands twitched sporadically. Buchanon would be returning to full soon. He wearily opened his eyes to look at the rest of his team. They all lay where they had fallen, thankfully breathing. Invidia appeared to be the only one who had suffered no physical damage. He closed his eyes again. A small part of him felt guilty at that fact. He should've done more to protect them.  Another part of him felt sorrow. T9 was a tragic figure, sent from a hopeless future to a hopeful past. The construct must've known that his mere presence would distort the weave of fate, cutting him away from his original world permanently. But that wasn't why Invidia felt sorrow. No, his strife stemmed from the fact that T9 exposed himself willingly to save Lucian. Perhaps T9 had misjudged Invidia, but the wizard doubted that this was the case. He hadn't given it much consideration at the time, but the more he thought about it the more convinced he was.  Maybe the warforged hadn't wanted to follow the dictates of its programming. But would it intentionally die to prevent itself from having to make a choice? They would never know. "Hey, Lucian," Invidia croaked at the silent white haired man. "I'm sorry. I think I made the wrong decision."

LOCATION : Outside of Soulforge Central Chamber DATE/TIME : ??? WHO : Boreas Boreas watched in satisfaction as the body he was preparing for himself finished knitting itself together. 'It seems that these adventurers have kept their word. A good sign.' The dragon's spirit entered into the newly formed body and reveled in the sensations he was feeling once again. 'An inferior body, but that can be fixed in time.' Boreas began to move about and test his new body's capabilities. Once he was satisfied that his new form was functional, the scaled form strode down the hallway towards where the adventuring party was waiting, clad only in his dignity.

LOCATION : Soulforge Central Chamber DATE/TIME : ??? WHO : THC Lucian dangles his feet off the platform and swings them side to side. WHen he had stepped off he had been completely confident, but looking down Lucian wonders why he got his hopes up. He hears chatter behind him and Lucian realizes Invidia is talking to him after a second's delay. Despite his own feelings on the matter, Lucian doesn't want INvidia to suffer. T9 had opened with deliberately lethal moves, a fact Lucian is reminded of as he tenderely touches the wound in his torso, and he couldn't bggrudge his party members for doing their best to not die. With a bit of reluctance, Lucian remembers that Invidia is 18 years old, and that telling the wizard to shut the fuck up probably wasn't ideal. After a brief pause, Lucian says in a neutral voice, "It's fine. Don't apologize. Don't beat yourself up. It's fine. It's all fine. You saw an opportunity and you took it. It's fine." Lucian wonders if he is saying this more for himself than Invidia

LOCATION : Soulforge Central Chamber DATE/TIME : ??? +3 hours WHO : THC Boreas stepped through the door and entered into the Soulforge Central Chamber. Before him was a very bedraggled looking group of adventurers. Behind the group, Boreas could see the Soulforge's destruction. "Well met. It's good to see this abomination destroyed." Boreas took a moment to inspect the party's weary appearance. He reached forward his scaled hand and sent a burst of healing magic into he nearest adventurer. "Allow me. It seems that the trip to this chamber was not as safe as I had promised. My apologies. Are all of you able to move under your own power?" The draconic form moved among the group healing minor wounds and bolstering the strength of the weary looking adventurers.

LOCATION : Soulforge Central Chamber DATE/TIME : ??? WHO : THC "Yeah, I guess," Invidia replies, unconvinced. They stay silent for some time.

LOCATION : Soulforge Central Chamber DATE/TIME : ???+3 Hours WHO : THC, Lucian, Boreas Lucian waves off Boreas' attempts to heal him, directing him to the others instead, and says, "You're looking shorter and much less corpse like than when we left you. What's all this then? "

LOCATION: Soulforge Central Chamber DATE/TIME: ???+3 Hours WHO: THC, Lucian, Boreas Boreas gave a sigh as he looked down at his new body. "I'll admit that this form isn't ideal, but it is certainly a step up from the state in which you all found new earlier."

LOCATION: Soulforge Central Chamber DATE/TIME: ???+3 Hours WHO: THC, Lucian, Boreas "Sure beats death. Are you hungry? Need a sandwich? Honestly, after getting stabbed through the gut, I'm pretty sure my lunch fell out through the hole so I could go for something."

LOCATION: Soulforge Central Chamber DATE/TIME: ???+3 Hours WHO: THC, Lucian, Boreas "Food would be appreciated. It's been quite a while since I've eaten."

LOCATION : Soulforge Central Chamber DATE/TIME : ???+3 Hours WHO : THC, Lucian, Boreas "I got some Lizard jerky if you want, and gogurt. " Dysmas said reaching for his rations. "You ok with eating lizard?"