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Post by Moriya on Jul 23, 2016 23:17:53 GMT
As the masked man shifts his weight while attempting to blind Jackson, a few leaves crinkle under his feet. This familiar sound alerts Jackson to the man's movements, and he throws up his arms to protect his eyes. As the outdoorsman brings his arms down, he grabs the man, intent on preventing any further trickery. He uses his size and the familiar terrain to his advantage as he attempts to secure a hold on the magician. While Jackson is dealing with the man, Junior evades the flames emitted by his foe. He uses the momentum of his maneuver to turn around and scratch at the creature, determined to land a proper blow this time. Junior's avoids Hidden Power due to 2 speed evasions.
Junior's Scratch: AC 2: htSUKhTg1d20 DB 6: 2d6+21
Jackson's blind save, with Forest bonus: 2d6+2
Jackson's grapple attempt: AC 4: 1d20 Athletics check with Forest bonus: 3d6+2
1d20·2d6+21·2d6+2·1d20·3d6+2
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Post by ProfHemlock on Jul 27, 2016 23:16:51 GMT
Masked Man's Athletics check: T6RkSywQ1d6
The man was doubtless expecting his trick to catch Jackson unexpected, so he has no response to the larger man's arms wrapping around him other than to struggle helplessly. His ally fares little better- the combined forces of Junior and Franklin see the creature fall to the ground, a fresh wound on it's torso leaking more of it's green blood. Seeing this the man quits his struggling and falls still.
"Alright, alright," he says, doing his best to shrug in Jackson's iron grip, "You've got me. I'll play nice." His statement is barely out of his mouth before Leviathan takes the chance to swoop at him, scratching up the upper part of his suit and no doubt some of him as well.1d6
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Post by Moriya on Aug 4, 2016 4:14:19 GMT
Seeing that the man has stopped resisting, Jackson slowly releases his hold on the man, fully prepared to react to any sudden moves. The magician knows that he can't win a fight, and Jackson knows that he can run the man down in the forest. Staring the man straight in the eyes, Jackson asks two sharp questions. He needs to know if there's a threat, either to this place or to himself. "What do you know? And what were you planning?"Jackson pays close attention to the man, looking for any sign of deception. Intuition: detecting lies CIa_7PO_4d6+2
4d6+2
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Post by ProfHemlock on Aug 9, 2016 1:41:16 GMT
The man seems nonchalant towards Jackson's aggressive interrogation. Rather than immediately answer, he looks around and finds himself a spot just near the edge of the clearing and sits down, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back comfortably. "Me? Why should I know anything? I just know this place is dangerous, and my employers want me to make sure that if I find anyone wandering around," he gestures towards the two women, "who don't look like they can handle themselves, I pick 'em up and bring them to a safe drop off zone."He raises his hands. "Now I suppose I could've let you take them back home, but then I don't actually get paid. I may be a good Samaritan, but I still need to eat."Guile: Misleading statements b_hmvQOK4d6+2 His words sound plausible enough, but Jackson is able to discern a certain level of deception in them. Perhaps not outright lies, but it is certain this man's actions are far less noble and selfless than he's making them out to be. 4d6+2
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Post by flarnith on Aug 10, 2016 5:53:48 GMT
Sienna snorts at his words but the only thing she can do at this time is glare until her mouth can be re-loosened. Is she fooled?[spending AP to boost skill] (Intuition):WhIhjhtR3d6+2 3d6+2
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Post by Harbringer of Insanity on Aug 10, 2016 8:04:27 GMT
Nathan calms down quickly after the battle is over, quickly regaining his composure. How in the hell did I do that... he wonders I'm pretty sure I couldn't do that before... Was that because I entered... whatever this place is? He shakes the thought off for now as he sees his two companions talking to (or glaring at) the masked man. He doesn't pay too much attention to what they're saying, instead focusing on the two women the man was dragging along. He walks up to them, smiling kindly. "Are you two alright? No injuries or anything?" he asks, concerned. Intuition to tell how the women are doing: d4ig1f7U3d6 3d6
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Post by Moriya on Aug 14, 2016 3:44:05 GMT
Jackson stares the man straight in the eyes, clearly having none of his lies. He fought the guy to avoid playing this sort of game. "I didn't let go of you to hear half-truths and evasions. You're selling women to a mysterious source, and claim to not know why they're buying. Try again."
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Post by ProfHemlock on Aug 16, 2016 0:10:03 GMT
Given that they seem to have had absolutely no reaction to the fight that had just taken place in front of them, Nathan can tell that the two women are still not entirely there, but neither seemed to have gotten caught up in the fight and they don't seem to have any pre-existing injuries apart from a few scrapes and bruises. The older woman doesn't answer Nathan's question at all, she simply continues to gaze off into the distance, but the younger does at least attempt to focus her attention on Nathan. She opens and closes her mouth a few times, and even makes a few soft noises, but her ability to speak appears to be absent for the time being.
The man's expression sours once again. "Hey, don't make me sound like a pervert. I'm selling people, these two just happen to be who I found." He resumes his more relaxed expression and stance again once clearing up this point of contention, though he has apparently dropped any pretense of trying to play himself as any sort of good Samaritan. "And as for who, can't rightly say. You understand names generally aren't exchanged in this sort of business. I meet with a representative, get any assignments I need, and get paid. Honestly, I don't need her name with the paycheck I'm getting. And it ain't like I'm doing any real harm. The people I pick up, the ones who wander in here, they're the sort that would end up disappearing on their own anyway. They'd either die on the street or die here. I can tell you whatever I'm sending them to has got to be better than those options."
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Post by flarnith on Aug 22, 2016 1:57:49 GMT
Sienna would walk up the the ladies, putting what power she can to awaken their minds. occult to undo any mental contamination: uvghlfgQ4d6 4d6
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Post by Moriya on Aug 23, 2016 4:29:48 GMT
Jackson eases up on the man slightly once he drops the act. Perhaps the man really does think that he's doing the missing ones a favor, but Jackson can't trust mysterious buyers of people to treat this place with the proper respect. From a logging and mining operation to a blood ritual straight out of the old stories, there are many ways a group of humans could harm the forest. With that in mind, Jackson pushes for one more piece of information. "I'll believe that you're professional, and I won't ask for things you can't answer. But about the place you leave people. Has... whatever they're doing with these people changed the land?"
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Post by Harbringer of Insanity on Aug 27, 2016 18:21:41 GMT
Nathan is concerned now. The women were barely responding, and didn't really seemed to be getting better either. He turns to the man. "What's wrong with them? Did you do... whatever it is that's wrong with them or was it ... this place?" He doesn't sound aggresive or demanding, just concerned.
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Post by ProfHemlock on Aug 30, 2016 2:19:08 GMT
While his eyes can't be seen due to the mask, at Jackson's question the magician somehow manages to make it very clear that he's rolling his eyes. "Oh please tell me you're not one of those crazy tree hugger types. I've had enough talking about flowers already, ok? Besides, this place is nothing. A stopover to more interesting places, or haven't you managed to figure that out yet?"
The man makes an overblown show of being offended at Nathan's question, despite the innocuous way it was presented. "Me? Well, I never! No magician worth their salt would stoop to drugging someone, that'd just cheapen the trick. What do you take me for, a bad stand up comedian? Most folks who end up here are like that. Turns out the likes of you and me are just special."
Sienna's attempts seem to bear some fruit. The older woman seems to briefly resurface from her stupor, only to return to only a slightly more alert level than before, while the younger finally seems to regain enough thought process to finally begin understanding something of what's going on around her. "W-what's going on? Who are you people?" She's very quick to back away from everyone, but not so frightened that she doesn't realize that running off into the woods would be a terrible idea, so she simply retreats to put her back to a tree. Seeing Sienna's success, the Professor is quick to join her side and try and observe what exactly it was she did, offering a few actual words of commendation in the process.
The magician decides that now is the time to stand up and brush himself off. "Well, are we done here? I'm going to have to figure out how to make rent this month now, and I'm sure you all have things you have to take care of." He gestures at the women with one hand, while the other he extends towards his fallen ally. The creature, which had been lying still but still moving slightly, dissolved into mist which quickly gathered into the form of a card again in the man's hand. This startles Junior and Franklin, who had been watching the prone figure in case of any tricks.
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Post by flarnith on Aug 30, 2016 6:13:55 GMT
" My lady has a special hatred for abyss trawlers like yourself sir and a half-mind to toss you to the wolves. But we shall abstain from entering that level of viciousness to deal with the matter at hand." Leviathan speaks out as he starts lazily flying back to sienna. " Might I suggest finding more honest employment if next we meet? Else we might rescind our mercy. " He finishes by landing on her shoulders.
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Post by Moriya on Sept 10, 2016 6:51:11 GMT
Jackson purposefully doesn't respond to the man's bait. Helena had said that this forest would take you to other places, but none of the environments seemed natural. If the magician can't understand the value of the woods at the center of reality, Jackson has no desire to convince him.
Instead, Jackson turns to the professor. "How long until we get taken back? I don't want... whatever you did to take me by surprise."
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Post by ProfHemlock on Sept 19, 2016 0:12:50 GMT
The magician tips his head towards Leviathan. "Your mercy knows no bounds, sir," he says with a smile. He turns and walks away from the group towards the other end of the clearing, but pauses and calls back over his shoulder. "Some advice: stay out of things from here on out. The people I'm working for can handle little things like this, but get in their way too much and they won't rely on people as nice as me to handle it." With that he takes a few more steps and disappears into the darkness of the branches.
The professor seems surprised at Jackson's words towards him. "What are you- oh I see. You misunderstood, myself and Sienna are the only one's who will be pulled back automatically. The rest of you wandered in here, so ordinarily you'd have to find a way to wander back. However..."
He drops down to his hands and knees and shuffles through the leaves, trying to clear a space. Eventually he finds what he needs: a circle, dug into the soil (or, as you have come to realize, debris that has decomposed enough to resemble soil) and glowing with a faint bluish light.
"Excellent, I suspected this seal would be recreated on this side as well. I'd wager it will naturally degrade in about fifteen more minutes, but I can manually shut it down before then. I should be able to incorporate the rest of you into the ritual, but it will require a bit of material so that it can recognize you." The professor picks himself up and brushes himself of. He rummages around in his pockets and then pulls out a box cutter, extending the blade a few notches.
"A small amount of blood aught to do the trick. Now, who's first?"
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Post by Moriya on Sept 24, 2016 21:45:03 GMT
On being told to 'donate' some blood, Jackson raises an eyebrow. A blood-fueled magical ritual isn't the strangest thing he's seen today, but he hadn't expected the professor to be doing something so blatantly magical. He doesn't want to trust the academic, but he doesn't exactly have a choice in the matter. He lacks the knowledge and experience to live in the local forest, let alone a completely new one full of hungry, sentient creatures.
Jackson approaches the man and presents the back of his left hand and forearm to the man. "Don't have a choice, I guess."
Jackson lets out a hiss as the professor takes the needed blood. When the man seems done, Jackson pulls a wad of gauze out of his first aid kit and presses it on to the wound.
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Post by Harbringer of Insanity on Sept 28, 2016 14:12:59 GMT
Nathan had been quiet as the others spoke, finally overwhelmed by all the ... insaneness of the whole thing. Hidden worlds, weird creatures appearing out of nowhere, heck, attacking people with your mind, this kind of stuff didn't happen in real life. Still... it all seemed so... real, so uncannily fitting that it really couldn't be anything but real life... could it? No dream could be this detailed, and he certainly didn't feel like he was hallucinating...
Absentminded, he follows Jackson's lead and offers his arm for the professor to cut (not that he's fully aware of that fact). He's struck out of his reverie at the sharp pain as the doctor takes some of his blood. Still, apart from a hiss, he stays quiet, just waiting to see the show for now. He'd (hopefully) get some answers later.
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Post by flarnith on Sept 28, 2016 16:50:05 GMT
Sienna helped the two ladies put in their contribution to the attunement as leviathan spoke up " The Full story is a bit long but as we Traverse, I'll try to fill you in as much as I can. This side that we are in is known by those who know of it as the Far Side, a sort of between realm of life and death. It's no afterlife or hell but closer to the collective unconscious of humanity. Other names it's known by are the sea of souls where humanity's old legends reside and the Abyss." Leviathan waits for the ritual to finish and deposit them back onto the earth of the normal side to continue " There are a scattered handful of groups you'd find there and here with knowledge of it. Researchers of the occult like the professor. Minions like sirrah Magician we ran into and practitioners like my dear Sienna here. All came into the knowledge of the other side and eventually had our fates tied to it." Leviathan looks a bit sad. " Sadly, my knowledge wanes as I know as much my dear Sienna and more then a few of her memories about the far side remain locked by the trauma inflicted upon her. The Professor should be able to que you in from here."
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Post by ProfHemlock on Oct 1, 2016 20:43:31 GMT
The Professor makes quick, efficient incisions on the offered arms of Jackson and Nathan, cleaning the blade with disposable wipes between cuts. Junior grips himself to Jackson's leg in sympathy to his pain, while Franklin is quick to try and apply what pressure he can to the cut himself, to admittedly little effect. Perhaps because she is a small girl herself, the younger of the two women who Sienna is attending to, the one who appears to have more awareness as to what is going on, follows, albeit with some confusion and complaints. "Seriously, what- who are you people and- ow!" She hardly notices until after it's done that the professor made an incision on her arm, but she is quick to back away once she does so. "Son of a-" she begins, but is quickly silenced when she sees the circle, now sprinkled with everyone's blood, lighting up even brighter in response to whispered words uttered under the professor's breath. The light flares to blinding levels and fades, and once it does the scene around everyone gathered around it has changed, subtly in that they are still surrounded by foliage but noticeably enough that they can realize that they are once again in the "real world". Perhaps they had ceased to notice the feeling of wrongness while in that place, but once it has vanished it is immediately apparent, like a rubber band being allowed to snap back into place after being stretched out too far. "Ahem," the professor says, cleaning his blade one last time before putting it away. "While there were some unexpected turns, I would categorize this as a fruitful evening. I have long been gathering evidence that the barriers between worlds have been weakening, or perhaps fluctuating is a better term, in the area surrounding Adamsgrove, but to have ventured to the other side and returned... relatively unscathed is marvelous. Though... ah yes." His attention is caught by Leviathan, but similar effects can be seen with Junior and Franklin as well: all three of the creatures seem to have become ghost-like, translucent once they have been exposed to this world. "Yes, I expected as much. I suspect that once we venture away from this area and the interdimensional anomaly here, they will be unable to maintain materialization. There is some precedent for such in my research. Never fear, I expect they shall be quite comfortable in their contained state for the time being." "Sienna, I would like to return to my study as quickly as possible, to compile and research what we have discovered." The professor turns to the two women first, both of whom seem to be coming back to full consciousness now that they are home. "The two of you should be safe as long as you avoid this place for the time being. I expect you would not want anything to do with this place again in any case." He then turns his attention back to the other two, Jackson and Nathan, pulling out a notepad and writing on it. "As for the two of you. You both seemed able to handle yourselves excellently. I wouldn't dream of making demands, but should you be interested I would wish to call on your services again. There is still so much we don't know about this phenomenon, what dangers and benefits it might represent. I know I will be making more excursions, or at least sending my protégé here." He pats Sienna's shoulder, though awkwardly, like someone not sure if this was the right sort of thing to do. "She does seem far more capable in the field than myself, I'll admit." He tears off two pieces of paper from his notepad and hands them to each of the men. On it is contact information for himself, headed by his name: "PROFESSOR WALTER HEMLOCK". "Please consider it. I would of course be willing to offer compensation." Having managed to survive your first excursion to The Other Side, each member of the party has reached a milestone and gained a trainer level!
Also, for defeating the Magician and his familiar, each trainer gains 20 experience to distribute among their Pokémon which participated in the battle, and 1 trainer experience!
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Post by flarnith on Oct 1, 2016 21:30:57 GMT
Leviathan gives a sad nod to Sienna before they head out. The night's rigors had taken a toll on them all. Yet as the professor and Sienna headed back into the lab a slight pain in her chest flared up. The professor looked worried at his companion's pain but she waved him off with a smile. She felt fine minus that little flare up of pain, now if only she could get this hollow feeling in her chest to go away...
((ooc: Sienna hits TL3 gains and permanently binds Silent Assassin, Levithan becomes Lv 7: +1 SPD, +1 ATK))
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