[IC]Secrets of the Fire Swamp

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 1:56 am

Mal takes a look at the hammer as well with his detect magic.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 2:05 am

Mal focuses on the spell, the aura pops into focus. As he stares at the warp and weft of the aura, he gets the disconcerting feeling that it's staring back--although that could be a trick of the mind, for the feeling quickly passes. Moderate strength aura, school of...enchantment.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 6:23 pm

"I'll see if anything's changed underground."

Orr will see if the pool water exists in the ethereal plane. If not, he'll stop blinking and go underground and take a look from the ethereal plane.

If it does exist in the ethereal, he'll try to guess where the pool water ends and then move underground.

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 5:46 am

"Careful with that hammer, it's running enchantment magic for some reason. Power enough to mess someone up for quite a while."

Mal scans the pool just to make sure, and the rat for kicks.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 10:50 am

The pool radiates strong magic (conjuration), while the white rat has the faint fading aura of a just-cast conjuration spell or effect.

The black rat which has been traveling with you gestures, and the new rat with silver eyes crawls down the handle of the hammer and kneels before it.

"Does anyone mind if I call dibs?" The dark rat asks aloud, stroking its chin-whiskers.

Meanwhile, below ground, in the ethereal.

Orr slips once more into the ethereal, the world being washed out in gray tones. The water seems confined to the material planes, and without a thought the fey slips beneath the ground. There is an ancient piping coming from deep below... After a hundred feet, Orr pauses, unsure of how deep the pipe goes - possibly straight down to bedrock. An impressive feet of engineering.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 5:13 pm

Orr ponders following it all the way but decides to turn back for now. He'll go back to where his teammates were and then resume blinking.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 8:04 pm

Archimedes sniffs in the direction of the silver-eyed rat carefully.

Duly noted, Archimedes tells Malagos.

Dibs on the hammer or the silver-eyed rat? Archimedes asks the (non-silver) rat. Assume you mean the hammer. Have a way of carrying it?

Assuming Orr arrives without any trouble, Archimedes will ask him what he saw down there, and fill him in on what's happened back on the material plane.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 8:58 pm

Darth Rabbitt wrote:Archimedes sniffs in the direction of the silver-eyed rat carefully.

Smells like a rat. Female-type. Perhaps a year old.

Dibs on the hammer or the silver-eyed rat? Archimedes asks the (non-silver) rat. Assume you mean the hammer. Have a way of carrying it?

"Oh, I meant the young lady," the rat says, as flickering white fire crackles along the length of the hammer. "I doubt it would allow me to bear it."

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 6:13 am

"It's intelligent then?" asks the necromancer.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 6:37 am

"The pool water comes in from a pipe that goes pretty deep. More than a 100 ft, adding itself to the list of things I'd like to investigate once we deliver this thing. Wonder if it's been contaminated from up here or at the source, wherever that may be."

To the new rat, "Hello. Are you Sapient? Do you remember anything? What can you tell us about the hammer?"

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 10:25 am

CapnTthePirateG wrote:"It's intelligent then?" asks the necromancer.

The rat strokes it's chin-whiskers. "In a manner of speaking. There was a...popular experiment, some time ago, when artifice was reaching its peak. An effort to move beyond the limitations of command words, towards a rudimentary sentience and bond. This key," the rat taps the hammer, which has shifting to glow rosy pink, "is probably about as intelligent as a dog. And like a dog, it is strongly empathic, and forms a bond with its owner. It loves you."

radthemad4 wrote: To the new rat, "Hello. Are you Sapient? Do you remember anything? What can you tell us about the hammer?"

The new rat cowers, and runs to hide behind the other rat.

"Sorry, she's not sentient...yet. Quite a young thing, you know, and the whole experience has probably been a bit of a shock for her."

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 1:15 pm

"You can have her, but you say she's not sentient 'yet?'" Archimedes asks the old rat. "And do you know which of us the hammer has bonded to, or has it somehow bonded to all of us?"

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:39 pm

"I was just curious about whether she er... has existed for long. Anyway, we should probably get going. Do we go on foot or by air? I'd rather not abandon the box but I can't carry it over the skies. Would you be okay with carrying it if we strapped it to you or something Archimedes?"

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 8:57 pm

Darth Rabbitt wrote:"You can have her, but you say she's not sentient 'yet?'" Archimedes asks the old rat.

The rat raises one eyebrow as the younger rat skitters behind it protectively. "Don't children of your own species take a little while to grow into their intelligence?"

"And do you know which of us the hammer has bonded to, or has it somehow bonded to all of us?"

"Just you." There is another small puff of pink smoke around the head of the hammer. As the smoke clears, it reveals another white rat with silver eyes. "A bit like a puppy. I think it likes the attention. Dibs again, by the way."

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 11:48 pm

Sure, Archimedes replies to Orr.

...Probably? Archimedes tells the rat. Certainly minotaurs do, and dragons do, and humanoids do, but I'm not sure what I am exactly. Pretty sure there's some devil in there, and they're supposed to be immortal. And now I'm made of metal, too. I'm not really sure I have a species beyond 'magical experiment.' But you're right that we all learn and grow. He pauses and looks at the second silver-eyed rat. You know how many of these things it's gonna make?

At the rat's mention that the hammer is like a puppy, Archimedes strokes the magic weapon, half-expecting a response from it.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Mar 03, 2016 10:23 am

Darth Rabbitt wrote:Archimedes pauses and looks at the second silver-eyed rat. You know how many of these things it's gonna make?

"I don't know if it's doing it on purpose, or if it's happy for the attention."

At the rat's mention that the hammer is like a puppy, Archimedes strokes the magic weapon, half-expecting a response from it.

Archimedes suddenly feels a deep sense of love and warmth from the hammer, like his brain has been wrapped in a warm blanket.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Thu Mar 03, 2016 5:42 pm

"Okay, I'll just fill it up then, in case we find a way to decontaminate the water later on, or if we run into someone who might be able to tell us more about it."

Orr will push the box to the fountain and use Control Water to fill it up.

To everyone, "Do you think the hammer is summoning them or creating them?"

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Mar 04, 2016 1:24 pm

The rat seems pretty sure they're being created, given that he's waiting for them to grow.

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Sat Mar 05, 2016 3:39 pm

Hammer is triggering the pool would be my guess. Pool's conjuration magic, hammer is enchantment. A subtle but possibly important distinction.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Mar 06, 2016 10:51 pm

The two new rats kneel before the old one, who places its paws on their foreheads and utters some strange squeaks. When it removes its paws, the new rats are marked with blood-red pawprints on their heads.

"Not every explanation need be magical," the rat says aloud. "The Yellow Druids are masters of biological warfare and illusions. The pool is obviously poisoned with some drug; typical of their work. But the fact that we saw one of their illusions, and the dog, suggests a trap. Perhaps we might circumvent the open road, and take a different route?"

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon Mar 07, 2016 2:32 am

Still recommend we travel by air. Pretty sure I can carry both the box and the necromancer.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Mon Mar 07, 2016 10:34 am

"What route did you have in mind? Is it one we can take by air? Do you think the poison could be separated from the water if we made it evaporate?"

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Tue Mar 08, 2016 1:55 am

Dangerous. Then we have poison fumes everywhere and I need not state the obvious.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 1:32 pm

"Hmm... that could also be useful."

To the rat, "What route did you have in mind? Is it one we can take by air?"

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 2:59 pm

The rat looks over its shoulder, at the Zone. There is still the occasional burst of flame in the distance.

"We would have to backtrack, and it is not by air. I've warned you about that. As I see it, we either continue along this road, or we skirt the open ground and seek our own path to the north or south."