A Strange Hero in a Stranger Land (Pathfinder/Mutants & Masterminds)
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Arrival 1.5
Arrival 1.5
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
It's not a new concept for you. You've been at this for a while now, and you've known for a long time that sometimes things just go wrong. You'd expected it. Your illusions were imperfect, and they'd been pierced by those with a strong will before. You'd explained as much to Joadric as you watched Ekkie scamper off into the tunnels. Your powers would let you get closer, but sooner or later, someone would see through your illusions and you'd need to fight.
You just hadn't expected that someone to literally be the first goblin you met.
Whether it was because he possessed a strong will or simply a random twist of fate, the first goblin to lay eyes on you as you rounded the bend had immediately shouted "Longshanks!" and loosed an arrow downrange. You twisted out of the path of the arrow easily enough, your danger sense giving you ample warning, but still you couldn't help but feel a stab of irritation. Your illusions weren't that weak, were they?
Still, at least the other two goblins seemed to be of weaker will than their counterpart, and instead of joining their ally in shooting at you, they were instead demanding to know why he had shot at a fellow 'goblin'. It was only a momentary respite – once people started to question an illusion, it became much easier to unravel – but it gave you a chance to dart forward and close the gap.
Or rather, to dart forward and then abruptly stop as you spotted the outline of the pit trap a mere fraction of a second before it was too late. You frantically waved for Joadric to stop, even as you moved to hug the wall, shuffling along the narrow edge at the edge of the pit as the goblins shouted at each other.
As you finished crossing the pit, the cannier goblin had just about convinced his companions that you were a "sneaky longshanks" when you decided to end the argument by dropping the illusion and plunging a two foot spike of psionic energy through one of his compatriots skulls. Unsurprisingly, this caused a great deal of shouting and cursing in goblin, but it was short lived as Joadric put an arrow through the throat of the smarter goblin and you removed the last goblin's head from his body.
"Well, so much for stealth." You winced a little internally at the remark, but as the fighter continued, he didn't actually sound unhappy about it at all. "I guess we'll just have to fight our way through. I bet I can kill more of them then you can."
"Wait, what?"
"I'll wager I can kill more goblins then you. Winner gets first pick of the loot."
You frowned. "That doesn't sound very professional to me-"
Any further comment was cut off as another trio goblins came screaming around the corner. Belatedly you realized they were the three the other goblin had sent to search for you, but then Joadric was screaming a war cry and rushing to meet them.
The clash was over almost before it even begins, the goblins not even having enough time to realize just how outmatched they are before they were brutally cut down. Joadric's face bursts into a wild grin as the last one hits the floor. "So, that's two more for me, and one for you. That means we're tied now!"
You scowl, and start stalking towards the door of the sleeping quarters. "And thanks to all your yelling, everyone in the base probably knows we're coming. You've probably woken up every sleeping goblin in this facility. "
The axe-wielder fell in behind you, but didn't seem overly concerned. "Let them come. We can take them."
You ignored him as you reached the doorway, instead summoning your blade before darting around the corner...only to be greeted by the sight of the last goblin running off down the escape tunnel.
"See? No problem at all. Goblins are cowards." Then your companion moved towards the bedrolls and debris and began rifling through them.
You stare for a moment before asking the obvious. "What are you doing?"
"Looting, of course." He pulled out a few coins, dropping them into an empty pouch at his belt. "You'll get your half at the end, don't worry."
You open your mouth to object, but then think better of it. While looting and trophy taking wasn't something you had ever really engaged with back on Earth, you had no local currency, and your current lodging depended entirely on the kindness of strangers.
A few minutes later, the pair of you were advancing down the hallway once more, moving towards the laboratory you had observed later. You could feel four minds inside, and unlike their compatriots, these didn't seem interested in running.
Indeed, the moment you crossed the threshold, you were greeted with some sort of molotov cocktail. Even with preternatural reflexes, you didn't quite make it out of the flames unscathed, but you pressed on, darting towards the goblins, desperate to close the distance before someone hurled another incendiary at you.
You make it, and jump over a clumsy slash of a crude axe before driving your blade through the goblin's skull, then turn just in time to see another goblin go down with an arrow to the heart. The last goblin eyes you nervously, it's eyes darting back and forth between you and the door, as if it's gauging it's chances of escaping.
Unfortunatley for the goblin, his counterpart above seems to have little concern for friendly fire, and a moment later you were leaping backwards as his nominal ally hurled a bomb at the both of you. You hit the ground and rolled, grabbing the body of the dead goblin and interposing it between you and the bomb, then winced as a wave of heat washed over you and a wave of shrapnel dug into your impromptu shield.
But then it was over, and you were still standing. You spared a look at the other goblin (he was very, very dead) before turning your attention towards the bomb thrower above and snatching him in a telekinetic. It was a little harder than you expected; there was something oddly slippery about the goblin, but your mental grip held fast as you dragged the goblin off his perch before finally letting go. The goblin tumbled to the ground with a dull thud, and you began to advance, your blade held at the ready. The goblin stood shakily, fumbling towards it's belt before abruptly stopping as it suddenly sprouted an arrow in it's left eye.
You shot a look at Joadric. "I had that under control."
He shrugged. "Maybe. But he was going for another vial of alchemist's fire, and I like not being on fire. Also, now that he's dead, I have the lead."
You stared at him. "Seriously? That's what that was about?"
He nodded. "You killed one, he killed one, and I killed two. That means I have the lead."
"Oh for fucks sake. Really? I mean, I just dragged him off his perch, dropped him fifteen feet, but that's your kill?"
"I finished him off. That makes him mine."
"Yeah, after I did most of the work for you!"
"But I still killed him. And technically, since I killed him, that means I could claim his kill as mine too, which would put me two ahead of you."
"Okay, that's just absurd. If anything, I should get credit for the kill, since he killed the other goblin trying to get to me."
"Now that's just silly."
You open your mouth to respond, then stop yourself, and force yourself to take a deep breath. "Forget it. This isn't worth it. Just search the bodies, I'm going to look upstairs."
Most of what you find is little more then crude chemistry equipment and dirty jars filled with unfamiliar regaents, but in the corner you find a crate filled with dozens of vials of Alchemist's Fire.
Someone, it seemed, was interesting in starting a lot of fires.
You pocketed a few for personal use before you heard Joadric shout "Sayaka! You need to see this!" As you headed back down, you saw that Joadric was peering at something that had been written on the far wall.
"What is it?"
"Just look."
You frowned, but moved closer, taking a second look at the wall. Someone had taken charcoal to the wall, sketching out a map of some kind, with little bits of stylized orange flame scattered around. "Is that a map of the city?"
"Aye, it is. Not a good one, but that's Magnimar, and it looks like the little bastards were planning to set fires all across the city."
"Ambitious of them. Any idea why they'd want to do something like that?"
He shrugged. "All goblins like setting things on fire, but something on this scale...it's ambitious. I thought the Venture-Captain was just jumping at shadows here, but perhaps she's right. Maybe there is something else behind these goblins."
"Well then, I suppose we'll have to ask their leader some pointed questions before we take him down."
He grinned at that. "Aye, that we will."
With that agreed on, the two of you pushed deeper into the complex, edging around an already triggered pit trap some unfortunate goblin had tripped before coming to the room with the channel that you had been scrying before you were detected. The goblin with the hat had not been idle, and six goblin archers were scattered around the other side of the room, and the bridge had been thoroughly covered in caltrops. The goblin himself (hadn't Ekkie called him Versevosh?) had found a mount that was either an extremely ugly dog or an extremely large rat, and upon seeing you enter the room, he began to...sing?
You'd been exposed to bad singing before. You still remembered the clusterfuck that had been karaoke night. But this was something worse. Grating and off-key, the goblin's song seemed to be centered entirely on mocking you, accusing you of...liking dogs?
You were going to assume that something had been lost in translation there.
You shook it off, ignoring the music as a half a dozen arrows scythed through the air towards you, diving forward and rolling before snatching the singing goblin with your mind, dragging him off his mount and towards the moat that divided him from you. The song shifted as he struggled to get free, turning into little more then a chant of "Kill the longshank!" but you didn't relent, dancing through the hail of arrows as his fellows tried to turn you into a human pincushion before finally he was floating right in front of you, eyes bulging in fear.
You stared at him for a moment, then dove into his mind, probing for information, only to get little of value; Inkolar (for that was the leader of the gang) seemed to be playing her cards extremely close to her chest, and the Bard knew little beyond there were a number of trinkets the boss wanted for their own reasons, and had been too terrified of the boss to delve deeper.
You hissed in pain as a goblin archer managed to capitalize on your distraction and graze your arm before dodging out of the way of two of his fellows follow up shots. before you drove your psi-blade through the bard's face. The song ended, and there was a moment of silence as all the goblins all momentarily lowered their bows to stare at their dead leader.
"Well? Who's next?"
The goblins exchanged a look with one another, then turned and ran away screaming. You don't feel particularly interested in chasing after them, though you do roll your eyes when Joadric shouts out "That only counts as one!"
Ten minutes later, you've looted the corpse, cleared the bridge, and have moved still deeper into the base. There's been no more resistance, as what few goblins you have encountered turned and ran as soon as they saw you, but both you and Joadric remain on edge. Neither of you think Inkolar is going to go down without a fight.
Which is why you're so surprised when she asks to parlay.
"Adventurers! You have invaded my guild and killed my men, but I am not unreasonable! Send one person to parlay and we can end this without further bloodshed!" She stands at the opposite end of a long hall some hundred feet away, flanked by a series of columns that run the length of the hallway. She appears to be alone, but she's far enough away that you can't be sure you would feel it if their were goblins hiding behind the columns or the crude throne besides her.
What do you do?
[]Just attack
It's a trap. Just attack them directly.
[]Play along
It's probably a trap, but you might be able to get Inkolar to divulge her plans if you play along. Supervillains do love to monologue, after all.
[]Mind Probe
Try to pull the info from her mind. She'll notice and attack almost immediately, but you may be able to pull key information about her plans before she does.
[]Write-in
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
It's not a new concept for you. You've been at this for a while now, and you've known for a long time that sometimes things just go wrong. You'd expected it. Your illusions were imperfect, and they'd been pierced by those with a strong will before. You'd explained as much to Joadric as you watched Ekkie scamper off into the tunnels. Your powers would let you get closer, but sooner or later, someone would see through your illusions and you'd need to fight.
You just hadn't expected that someone to literally be the first goblin you met.
Whether it was because he possessed a strong will or simply a random twist of fate, the first goblin to lay eyes on you as you rounded the bend had immediately shouted "Longshanks!" and loosed an arrow downrange. You twisted out of the path of the arrow easily enough, your danger sense giving you ample warning, but still you couldn't help but feel a stab of irritation. Your illusions weren't that weak, were they?
Still, at least the other two goblins seemed to be of weaker will than their counterpart, and instead of joining their ally in shooting at you, they were instead demanding to know why he had shot at a fellow 'goblin'. It was only a momentary respite – once people started to question an illusion, it became much easier to unravel – but it gave you a chance to dart forward and close the gap.
Or rather, to dart forward and then abruptly stop as you spotted the outline of the pit trap a mere fraction of a second before it was too late. You frantically waved for Joadric to stop, even as you moved to hug the wall, shuffling along the narrow edge at the edge of the pit as the goblins shouted at each other.
As you finished crossing the pit, the cannier goblin had just about convinced his companions that you were a "sneaky longshanks" when you decided to end the argument by dropping the illusion and plunging a two foot spike of psionic energy through one of his compatriots skulls. Unsurprisingly, this caused a great deal of shouting and cursing in goblin, but it was short lived as Joadric put an arrow through the throat of the smarter goblin and you removed the last goblin's head from his body.
"Well, so much for stealth." You winced a little internally at the remark, but as the fighter continued, he didn't actually sound unhappy about it at all. "I guess we'll just have to fight our way through. I bet I can kill more of them then you can."
"Wait, what?"
"I'll wager I can kill more goblins then you. Winner gets first pick of the loot."
You frowned. "That doesn't sound very professional to me-"
Any further comment was cut off as another trio goblins came screaming around the corner. Belatedly you realized they were the three the other goblin had sent to search for you, but then Joadric was screaming a war cry and rushing to meet them.
The clash was over almost before it even begins, the goblins not even having enough time to realize just how outmatched they are before they were brutally cut down. Joadric's face bursts into a wild grin as the last one hits the floor. "So, that's two more for me, and one for you. That means we're tied now!"
You scowl, and start stalking towards the door of the sleeping quarters. "And thanks to all your yelling, everyone in the base probably knows we're coming. You've probably woken up every sleeping goblin in this facility. "
The axe-wielder fell in behind you, but didn't seem overly concerned. "Let them come. We can take them."
You ignored him as you reached the doorway, instead summoning your blade before darting around the corner...only to be greeted by the sight of the last goblin running off down the escape tunnel.
"See? No problem at all. Goblins are cowards." Then your companion moved towards the bedrolls and debris and began rifling through them.
You stare for a moment before asking the obvious. "What are you doing?"
"Looting, of course." He pulled out a few coins, dropping them into an empty pouch at his belt. "You'll get your half at the end, don't worry."
You open your mouth to object, but then think better of it. While looting and trophy taking wasn't something you had ever really engaged with back on Earth, you had no local currency, and your current lodging depended entirely on the kindness of strangers.
A few minutes later, the pair of you were advancing down the hallway once more, moving towards the laboratory you had observed later. You could feel four minds inside, and unlike their compatriots, these didn't seem interested in running.
Indeed, the moment you crossed the threshold, you were greeted with some sort of molotov cocktail. Even with preternatural reflexes, you didn't quite make it out of the flames unscathed, but you pressed on, darting towards the goblins, desperate to close the distance before someone hurled another incendiary at you.
You make it, and jump over a clumsy slash of a crude axe before driving your blade through the goblin's skull, then turn just in time to see another goblin go down with an arrow to the heart. The last goblin eyes you nervously, it's eyes darting back and forth between you and the door, as if it's gauging it's chances of escaping.
Unfortunatley for the goblin, his counterpart above seems to have little concern for friendly fire, and a moment later you were leaping backwards as his nominal ally hurled a bomb at the both of you. You hit the ground and rolled, grabbing the body of the dead goblin and interposing it between you and the bomb, then winced as a wave of heat washed over you and a wave of shrapnel dug into your impromptu shield.
But then it was over, and you were still standing. You spared a look at the other goblin (he was very, very dead) before turning your attention towards the bomb thrower above and snatching him in a telekinetic. It was a little harder than you expected; there was something oddly slippery about the goblin, but your mental grip held fast as you dragged the goblin off his perch before finally letting go. The goblin tumbled to the ground with a dull thud, and you began to advance, your blade held at the ready. The goblin stood shakily, fumbling towards it's belt before abruptly stopping as it suddenly sprouted an arrow in it's left eye.
You shot a look at Joadric. "I had that under control."
He shrugged. "Maybe. But he was going for another vial of alchemist's fire, and I like not being on fire. Also, now that he's dead, I have the lead."
You stared at him. "Seriously? That's what that was about?"
He nodded. "You killed one, he killed one, and I killed two. That means I have the lead."
"Oh for fucks sake. Really? I mean, I just dragged him off his perch, dropped him fifteen feet, but that's your kill?"
"I finished him off. That makes him mine."
"Yeah, after I did most of the work for you!"
"But I still killed him. And technically, since I killed him, that means I could claim his kill as mine too, which would put me two ahead of you."
"Okay, that's just absurd. If anything, I should get credit for the kill, since he killed the other goblin trying to get to me."
"Now that's just silly."
You open your mouth to respond, then stop yourself, and force yourself to take a deep breath. "Forget it. This isn't worth it. Just search the bodies, I'm going to look upstairs."
Most of what you find is little more then crude chemistry equipment and dirty jars filled with unfamiliar regaents, but in the corner you find a crate filled with dozens of vials of Alchemist's Fire.
Someone, it seemed, was interesting in starting a lot of fires.
You pocketed a few for personal use before you heard Joadric shout "Sayaka! You need to see this!" As you headed back down, you saw that Joadric was peering at something that had been written on the far wall.
"What is it?"
"Just look."
You frowned, but moved closer, taking a second look at the wall. Someone had taken charcoal to the wall, sketching out a map of some kind, with little bits of stylized orange flame scattered around. "Is that a map of the city?"
"Aye, it is. Not a good one, but that's Magnimar, and it looks like the little bastards were planning to set fires all across the city."
"Ambitious of them. Any idea why they'd want to do something like that?"
He shrugged. "All goblins like setting things on fire, but something on this scale...it's ambitious. I thought the Venture-Captain was just jumping at shadows here, but perhaps she's right. Maybe there is something else behind these goblins."
"Well then, I suppose we'll have to ask their leader some pointed questions before we take him down."
He grinned at that. "Aye, that we will."
With that agreed on, the two of you pushed deeper into the complex, edging around an already triggered pit trap some unfortunate goblin had tripped before coming to the room with the channel that you had been scrying before you were detected. The goblin with the hat had not been idle, and six goblin archers were scattered around the other side of the room, and the bridge had been thoroughly covered in caltrops. The goblin himself (hadn't Ekkie called him Versevosh?) had found a mount that was either an extremely ugly dog or an extremely large rat, and upon seeing you enter the room, he began to...sing?
You'd been exposed to bad singing before. You still remembered the clusterfuck that had been karaoke night. But this was something worse. Grating and off-key, the goblin's song seemed to be centered entirely on mocking you, accusing you of...liking dogs?
You were going to assume that something had been lost in translation there.
You shook it off, ignoring the music as a half a dozen arrows scythed through the air towards you, diving forward and rolling before snatching the singing goblin with your mind, dragging him off his mount and towards the moat that divided him from you. The song shifted as he struggled to get free, turning into little more then a chant of "Kill the longshank!" but you didn't relent, dancing through the hail of arrows as his fellows tried to turn you into a human pincushion before finally he was floating right in front of you, eyes bulging in fear.
You stared at him for a moment, then dove into his mind, probing for information, only to get little of value; Inkolar (for that was the leader of the gang) seemed to be playing her cards extremely close to her chest, and the Bard knew little beyond there were a number of trinkets the boss wanted for their own reasons, and had been too terrified of the boss to delve deeper.
You hissed in pain as a goblin archer managed to capitalize on your distraction and graze your arm before dodging out of the way of two of his fellows follow up shots. before you drove your psi-blade through the bard's face. The song ended, and there was a moment of silence as all the goblins all momentarily lowered their bows to stare at their dead leader.
"Well? Who's next?"
The goblins exchanged a look with one another, then turned and ran away screaming. You don't feel particularly interested in chasing after them, though you do roll your eyes when Joadric shouts out "That only counts as one!"
Ten minutes later, you've looted the corpse, cleared the bridge, and have moved still deeper into the base. There's been no more resistance, as what few goblins you have encountered turned and ran as soon as they saw you, but both you and Joadric remain on edge. Neither of you think Inkolar is going to go down without a fight.
Which is why you're so surprised when she asks to parlay.
"Adventurers! You have invaded my guild and killed my men, but I am not unreasonable! Send one person to parlay and we can end this without further bloodshed!" She stands at the opposite end of a long hall some hundred feet away, flanked by a series of columns that run the length of the hallway. She appears to be alone, but she's far enough away that you can't be sure you would feel it if their were goblins hiding behind the columns or the crude throne besides her.
What do you do?
[]Just attack
It's a trap. Just attack them directly.
[]Play along
It's probably a trap, but you might be able to get Inkolar to divulge her plans if you play along. Supervillains do love to monologue, after all.
[]Mind Probe
Try to pull the info from her mind. She'll notice and attack almost immediately, but you may be able to pull key information about her plans before she does.
[]Write-in
OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
Did our illusion roll suck that badly? xD
Honestly, Sayaka's illusions just aren't really that hard to resist. The Save DC is just 10 + the Illusion rank, which is only 6 for her. And the first goblin rolled a 19. Combined with the way the feedback flaw works (anything that hurts the illusions hurts Sayaka) it actually makes mental illusions a pretty limited power.
OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
[X]Play along
Who knows, maybe this will work. We can always mind probe her brain dead later if she doesn't act like a super villain, which she kinda is acting like one here.
So what your saying is that we need to get swell to be at Aizen levels of mindfuckery.
Who knows, maybe this will work. We can always mind probe her brain dead later if she doesn't act like a super villain, which she kinda is acting like one here.
So what your saying is that we need to get swell to be at Aizen levels of mindfuckery.
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While I was planning to be pretty generous with power points - Sayaka will get five at the end of this little adventure - You'd probably have to hit PL12 before you can even begin to approach Aizen level mindfuckery. That said, I was planning to let you pick an extra power to add to Sayaka's telepathy or telekinetic array to give her a few more options at the end of this.
OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
That would be great. ^.^
- Location
- Canada
[X]Mind Probe
Time to take a risk
Time to take a risk
