Remove ads

Nyctohylophobia (Perma-death Quest)

Reader mode
[X] Refuse the Gift.

We don't need no stinking gift! The real power is the one in your heart anyway!

Besides, who wants to end up like those statuettes? We'll make our own pose, our own RPG class and carve our own statuette!
 
Remove ads
Chapter 24: Trial of Horrors
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Accept the Gift.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    You nod to Orphiel and reached over to the altar, placing your hand on the orb of light. The moment you touch the orb the light of it starts climbing up your arm and is soon washing over you. It takes only a few seconds for the light to have covered your entire body. The sensation of it felt warm and comforting, putting you at ease. Soon the light receded, leaving you with a new found sense of power you couldn't quite describe.

    You look to Orphiel, giving the mist-being a gentle smile. But your smile soon faded to a frown, the mist-being looking even worse than before as its light was now even more faded.

    "Are you, okay?" You ask, taking a tentative step towards it.

    Orphiel shakes its "head" in a twitchy, jerky manner.

    "neGAtiVE." It groans over, its voice sounding like it has a filter of static over it. "SEVeRe damAge SUStaINeD."

    "Was it because of that thing back at the tower?"

    It nods its "head".

    "FaREweLL, MEDeA pARth." It groans as its human shape starts degrading further. "THOu WiLl cARRY On wIthOUt mY-"

    Before it could finish its statement, Orphiel's lights on its "face", its aura, and its rainbow ring fade out completely and whatever force kept its inky black mist body together failed, its mist losing whatever semblance of a human form it had as it began to spread out across the floor of the room. You stared shocked at what was unfolding before you. You rush to the other side of the altar where Orphiel once stood, but now there was naught but the fleeing wisps of mist that were once Orphiel.

    "Wait, don't go!" You cry as you tried to chase after the smoke. "What am I supposed to do now?!"

    No response.

    "Orphiel!"

    Silence.

    "ORPHIEL!"


    You gasp as you find yourself springing forward awake. You breathe heavily as you tiredly scan around the dark room. You breathe a sigh of relief as you begin rubbing your tired eyes.

    "Just a dream..." You muttered. "Just a dream..."

    Though you say that you don't quite believe your words. That dream... it felt real. And you had an odd sense of power. A power you feel like you could tap into to bend the world around you to your whim. You weren't really sure why you felt that way, but that... dream. You should wake Sierra and talk to her about it. Although she is no doubt tired you wanted her opinion.

    So you reach over to the side and began patting at the hay next to you to-

    Wait.

    Hay?

    Slowly you move your head to look over where Sierra is supposed to be... and see nothing but hay on a stone ground. Your eyes widen and your heart beats with a newfound sense of terror. You push yourself up from the ground and look down at where you were lying down, seeing a large pile of old hay. Panicked you look and see you were no longer in that bedroom. You were in a cell.

    The cell was about as big as the bedroom, made in a style not too dissimilar to that of a medieval dungeon, with a stone floor and walls, shackles dangling from the walls, and steel bars that looked into the rest of the dungeon. You approached the bars, gripping them as you look out into the rest of the dungeon. You see about two other cells from your perspective, both of which had their doors wide open, and by the look of things, didn't have anyone in them. For a moment you wonder why you were here, but then you realize... That old man... he put you in here. He must have waited until you were all asleep and he took you from your bed and put you here.

    You move over to the door of you cell, shaking it violently to hopefully get it to open, but you knew that wouldn't happen.

    "Let me out!" You screamed as you shook the bars of the cell door. "Let me out you old fuck!"

    How though... how did he do it? How did he take you without waking you? Without waking Sierra?

    "Please..." You whisper as you sank to your knees. "Please... Let me go..."

    This was all too much... You couldn't help but cry. Tears welled up in your eyes, falling from your face and to the floor.

    "Somebody... save me..."

    But... nobody will. You realize this. You were all alone. You don't know where you were, or how far away your friends were... But you knew they weren't going to just show up and save you.

    You cried for a while. You weren't sure how much time passed, but you sat there crying for a good while, begging fro someone, anyone to come and save you. Sierra. Lucas. Danielle. Eli. Mom. Dad.

    Orphiel.

    That last name caused you to stop crying. You weren't sure why, but... You've heard it before. In your dream. Why would you want something that only existed in your mind to come and save you? But for some reason the thought of it made you wonder what it would think if it saw you here crying. Crying for it to help. Crying for your friends to help. Crying for your mommy and daddy for help like some little girl instead of an adult woman.

    "Pathetic..." You muttered as you wiped your eyes. You can't just sit here and wallow in your own misery expecting some white knight on a shining steed to rescue you. No, you need to escape.

    You pushed yourself back up and look back into your cell to see if there was anything you can use. Immediately you spot a table with a record player with a note that read "Play Me" in front of it, next to it there were the clothes you took off before going to bed as well as the stuff you had been carrying. In your panic you completely over looked it.

    You move to the table and go through the process of putting your clothes back on, putting away your stuff. But something was missing: Sierra's knife. You clicked your tongue in frustration and anger. That old man must have took it. Obviously to deprive you of a means to defend yourself.

    Pushing down you anger for a moment you reach over to the record player and move the riddle onto the record.

    "Are you listening?" You hear the old man's voice come from the record player speakers. "Good. From now on, when I speak, you pay attention!"

    "Fuck you!" You scream at the record player, knowing full well it wasn't going to do anything.

    "Now, since you are my guest I should relieve you of your worries before I explain your situation." The old man chuckles. "Your friends are alright. They'll find themselves in a similar situation to yourself once they awake."

    He took your friends too?! What does he want with all of you?!

    "As you've no doubt noticed I left you with your belongings, but I took the liberty of taking your weapons. No need for those in this game." The old man explains. "Here's how this works: I'm going to let you and your friends try to escape. Get out of this predicament, go through the forest and return to your camp. If you manage that, I will let you go. I will let you all go." Another chuckles from the recording. "Of course, that's easier said than done. The chambers ahead have seen their fair share of corpses. Some killed by the dangers here, others by me. Others... turned on each other. But let's start with your situation."

    You hear a loud cacophony of noises coming from the recording before it clears up with the sound of someone coughing to clear their throat.

    "Above you, you'll notice a hatch on the ceiling," You look up, and sure enough there is one. "Once this recording ends the door to your cell will open up. You'll have a few minutes to find a key to open the door in the room outside your cell. Should you fail to find the key before the time runs out, the hatch will open and... well... I don't want to spoil the surprise. Good luck."

    "Oh shit." You say as your eyes widen.

    Suddenly the door to your cell unlocks and swings open. You turn and rush out of the cell into the room outside.

    "Shit, shit, shit!"

    You take in your surroundings; Outside of your cell there is another cell to the left in addition to the two on the opposite side of the room. There were two torches, one between your cell and the one next to it, and one between the other two. There was a single wooden door in the room on the far wall to the left of your cell with a metal frame.

    The only way out of here was to get that key, but... where was it? Where do you look?

    [5 minutes remaining]​

    [ ] Search your cell - Write in

    [ ] Search one of the other cells - Write In

    [ ] Search the main room - Write in

    [ ] Attempt to force the door open. (Roll 2d100)

    [ ] Cast a spell - Write In (Secondary action may be chosen)
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Remove ads
    Magic For Dummies / Medea Spell List
  • Informational
    1. When casting a new spell, players will roll a 1d100, requiring a 51 46 or higher to successfully cast.
      • More detailed procedures and/or rituals can improve chances of success. The steps used in the spell casting will be broken down step-by-step and assigned values, which will then be added to the overall cast roll.
    2. Failing the initial roll the players will roll another 1d100 to see what negative outcome comes from their failure. Higher rolls result in worse outcomes, where as lower rolls will result in bad but otherwise more manageable result. Example: A roll of 10 could result in the players knocking themselves out, where as a roll of 70 could result in the player ripping their soul out of their body.
    3. If succeeding in the initial roll the players will roll another 1d100 to see how effective the spell is, with higher rolls being a more powerful version of the spell. Example: A roll of 1 in a healing spell will result in healing minor wounds like small cuts and bruises, where as a roll of 100 can be used to heal mortal wounds.
    4. Once a spell has been successfully cast it will be added to Medea's spell list (see below), where players will be free to use it without needing to re-roll for it. However, if the players want to use the same spell but with a better result they will need to re-roll.
    5. Since Medea has just gotten this ability and doesn't have the proper training for it, merely trying it on the fly, attempting to use clearly powerful magic for someone of her skill level will always be lethal even under a successful roll. The strain of using such abilities would be too much for her to handle. Example: Trying to use a mass teleport spell to a distant location.

    • Light: Creates an orb of pure light to illuminate the area around you.
      • 64: The orb of light is as bright as a flashlight, illuminating the area around it. The orb can exist up to an hour and a half before fading.
    • Empower Object: Heal: Through use a rituals of inscribing the word "Raphael" in blood on an object and incanting the words "Heal and mend that which is broken" you can empower an object to heal yourself or others.
      • 89: Injuries are healed in a matter of seconds, with serious wounds only leaving behind faint scars. Object empowerment lasts for three hours.
    • Detect Malicious Intent: Through use of a ritual of invoking the Archangel Michael and incanting the words "Locate and show those that would seek to harm me" you can cast a spell to locate and identify potential threats.
      • 9: Your sense of danger is greatly increased and you become aware of threats, even if they aren't immediate. However, the location of said threats are generally vague.
     
    Last edited:
  • Informational
    • [JK] Cast Fist on the door

    Seriously though, the old man's Jigsaw but not with a warped sense of justice and just a cold blooded killer?

    And about spells... Maybe an intense magical fire to melt the lock?
     
    Last edited:
    Guessing the old man (if he's the same one that was torturing Rebecca) is going to try and possess one of us to hitch a ride out of here. That's the only reason I see him playing this game instead of, you know, just killing us. Also guessing that Orphiel was a magic AI that came along with Rebecca but was trapped here.

    Also, with the rules of magic and how that organization captured Rebecca? Let's use magic only as a last resort. We should probably stick to simple spells as well, like instead of one that bursts down the door, cast a spell that detects key-shaped things near us. Or just metal.
     
    Zhade said:
    Guessing the old man (if he's the same one that was torturing Rebecca) is going to try and possess one of us to hitch a ride out of here. That's the only reason I see him playing this game instead of, you know, just killing us.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    If he could, he would have sailed off with one of his earlier victims. He said there are corpses around, and we might yet see them. Nah, he is either bored, or will be forcing us to try and find the key Rebecca stole, thinking that it would save us.
     
    [X] Cast a Spell: Shatter (Target: Door)

    @TheLordofAwesome Do the consequences of spell failure relate to the power and type of spell being attempted?
     
    Last edited:
    Higure said:
    @TheLordofAwesome Do the consequences of spell failure relate to the power and type of spell being attempted?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Yes and no. Some of the negative effects I have are context sensitive to the type of spell being used (example: a healing spell will end up doing damage), but there are others that just happen as a result of failure (example: cast a heal spell, end up creating a miniature black hole).
     
    Mostly want to knock the door down so that we'll have some kind of combat spell in our inventory: Whether that's "Fist," or something else, I just want to make sure we have something to throw at our enemies.

    That said, we should search the area: There's supposed to be something useful in the basement.
     
    From the example it seems that every time we cast a new spell, we have a chance of at least 15% of dying horribly. We should use magic only as a last resort.

    So here is a vote that tries some other stuff first.

    [] Search your cell
    - [] Burn the hay. And check your pockets.
    - [] Count the seconds.
    [] If you haven't found anything after three minutes: Attempt to force the door open.
    [] If this doesn't work: Cast a Spell: Shatter (Target: Door)

    I am uncertain about burning the hay. It is the most efficient way of searching it, but creating a fire in a closed room could be problematic. The room seems quite big and I don't think a quick straw fire will create all that much smoke, but I am not really sure.

    Edit: changed my vote.
     
    Last edited:
    [X] Search your cell
    - [X] Burn the hay. And check your pockets.
    - [X] Count the seconds.
    [X] If you haven't found anything after three minutes: Attempt to force the door open.
    [X] If this doesn't work: Cast a Spell: Shatter (Target: Door)
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top