o4 . february catchall

[necrolord]

Who: necrolord and you!
What: Local necromancer is networking. Archives research, healing for lockjoint and self-mutilation, and more.
When: February.
Where: Archives, Lumenwood, streets of Trench.

Content Warnings: Skeletons and mentions of the self-mutilation curse. Note all the usual warnings of this character.

(1) research.

You've probably seen him around, by now. The man is something of a fixture in the Archives: he settles at an unremarkable table and proceeds to drown it in open books, scattered pages, notes, journals. He seems intent on skimming his way through half the library. Sometimes there's a girl, scrawny and dour with her face painted up like a skull, hovering at his elbow. Today, he's on his own.

He doesn't look like much. Simple clothes; bare hands, which suggests he's either confident or reckless, in a town that will titter at anyone who doesn't wear gloves; he looks fortyish and plain. Only one thing about him is remarkable: his eyes, black as oil from edge to unpleasant edge.

Today, he's amassed an odd collection of vials, bloodstones, and shards of bone. You might catch the sudden reek of Beast blood, which is alarmingly toxic to handle even with gloves; you might catch him weighing a huge, inhuman bone in the palm of his hand, looking thoughtful. If he notices your attention, he'll speak without looking up.

"Six months, and I'm still trying to puzzle out the basics."

(2) the skeleton plow.

[ On the 9th, a blizzard blows in. It leaves the town blanketed in a heavy weight of snow, and Trenchies come out with shovels and resigned expressions to scrape the streets clear.

God, who has places to be, finds this a touch inconvenient. He's meant to be in Lumenwood just now, playing Jesus on everyone's frostbite and having a generally pleasant morning. So he claps his hands, watches a dozen skeletons claw their way free of the frozen earth and pop out of the snow ("like daisies," he says to whoever is nearest) and then sets off across town with his helpful new posse.

Each skeleton moves as smoothly and politely as a human servant, with a speck of red light in each empty eye. God makes a little gesture, like a conductor with an orchestra; his servants' fingerbones fuse and spread. Their arms distort and lengthen. They each now wield a broad bone scoop, which looks somewhere between silly and horrifying.

The skeleton army sets to work shoveling snow, heedless of appalled bystanders. ]

(3) healing.

[ Maybe you're still suffering from Lockjoint, Sleeper. Maybe you've begun scraping your own skin away under this month's curse, trying to resist temptation, trying to resist the urge to confess.

It doesn't matter whether all the damage is hidden by your clothing, or whether you think you're doing a good job of masking your pain. Today you're near the gates of Lumenwood - maybe to get help for your own issues, maybe not - and there is a man here, who has just waved away a grateful Trenchie making conversation. He turns, tips his head in hello, and considers you. ]

Want a hand with that?

(4) wildcard.

[ Happy to match formatting! ]

Comments

[forwantofahorse]

[Truth be told, Sayo only spoke up because it felt like she couldn't contain herself anymore—if the response from the two old men was any less receptive, she's be incredibly mortified rather than moderately mortified. She was ready to make her apologies for interrupting them and leave, but she blinks rapidly when they ask her to sit down instead, taken aback.]

U- Um... I'll do my best. I just have a talent for games, I guess...

[She awkwardly maneuvers herself into the seat next to John, folding her hands under her chin as she stares at the map with her brow furrowed.]

...I know the lava—or magma, since this is underground—is probably supposed to be set dressing, but... if you hop across it here and then use your lightning lure on this opponent, you could drag them right into the path of the magma. Even if that doesn't kill them, it should do incredible damage.

Right?

[cryptograms]

[ The thread of being ganged up on just makes Ford grin, even without the look to suggest John is only being half serious. He's not exactly going easy on John, but he's only played a few sessions with the other man. Ramping up the difficulty has been a gradual process, and perhaps it won't need to be so gradual anymore.

Ford nods when John changes his chosen move for the round and makes the corresponding attack roll - which misses anyway. His attention goes to Sayo next and her eventual conclusion gets another grin from him. ]

That's right. It'll open you up to fire from ranged attacks, but any creature that falls into the lava will take significant damage.

[necrolord]

[ She's clever. He budges over to allow her more room at the table, and passes her the player's guide in silent invitation. ]

We'll give it a try.

[ Once Ford has played out the enemy turn and rolled attacks— nothing dicey yet, but he's about to leave cover, so there's time for it to go downhill yet— he follows her advice. Jumps the lava-or-magma, checks the text for the cantrip, but with an addendum.

God clears his throat. He leans in, voice low and intent, and declares: ]

Squiddle, I choose you.

[ He turns to the DM. ]

I bowl my octopus familiar across the gap, and he veers into the enemy, which constitutes a Help action. I roll twice, eh?

[ Ford should never have let him build his own character. ]

1/2

[forwantofahorse]

[Sayo may not understand the reference, but she silently holds her hand up for John to hi-five regardless.]

2/2

[forwantofahorse]

[As the fight continues, Sayo pages through the player's handbook with great interest and almost superhuman speed—after cranking out almost a dozen hundred thousand word mystery novels over the course of a month, she's gotten very, very good at reading and writing at an alarming pace.

Her eyes light up when she reaches a page around midway through the classes section, and she asks,]

Er... would it be possible for me to join? This looks awfully fun.

[A pause.]

Oh, right, what should I call you? I just realized I was being rather impolite... [Sayo chuckles nervously.] You can call me Shannon.

[cryptograms]

[ Both of the references, perhaps fortunately, go right over Ford's head. He can only assume they are references because Sayo seems to understand them, but maybe she's just excited by the prospect of bowling a squid. It is, in her defense, an oddly charming prospect.

Ford nods at John's question about the Help action, though he only bothers to explain the process if John seems like he still needs the help - though Ford suspects he won't. He doesn't interrupt Sayo while she reads through the handbook, and he's not surprised when she eventually asks to join in. He'll glance to John to make sure he seems alright with the idea, but assuming there's no protests: ]

I don't see why not. This combat encounter is almost done so it's a good time to add a new character.

[ As for introductions: ]

Standford Pines, though you can call me Ford. It's good to meet you, Shannon.

[necrolord]

[ He high-fives her.

And silently adds another to his growing count of daughters. There is a lot going on there. ]

I find myself with an abundance of titles, but we've got a good pair right here. [ He holds up his sheet, which has Wizard - Necromancer in cramped and messy handwriting along the top. Beside him, Ford's bloodstone dice pick themselves up off the table and throw themselves neatly down for his rolls, because watching Ford Pines get excited about baby's first thalergetic tissue manipulation will never stop being funny. ] 'The Necromancer' is very stylish, I think. Very intuitive.

[ To Sayo, he adds warmly: ] I won't survive this dungeon long on my own. [ Debatable. ] Who are you adding?

[forwantofahorse]

[There is absolutely nothing strange going on behind the curtain, John. Pay no attention to how one part of Sayo's soul is partitioned off, hollowed out, and twisted with blood magic toward a singular purpose.

Her eyebrows raised (which is slightly more dignified than the excited gawk she clearly wants to have) at the dice rolling themselves, and contents herself instead with the good ol' fashioned tactile rolling of 4d6 drop one six times.]

Oath of Vengeance Paladin. It seems like a blast to play, and would certainly make up for some of your weaknesses, Necromancer.

[cryptograms]

[ Yes! He's doing the dice thing again! Ford watches with delight for a moment before Sayo's comment about her class of choice registers. ]

-- Oh, yes, that should make for a potent combination.

[ Ford flips to a new page in his notebook and starts adjusting the new few encounters to account for two players. ]

Will your characters be meeting coincidentally, or is this planned?

[necrolord]

[ He hums in approval. ]

Has a nice ring to it.

[ To the question, he cracks a smile, first to Shannon and then to Ford. ]

Oh, no, we've got a long and storied history together. It's her vengeance quest, actually, I've just been swept into it through a series of comic mishaps. [ He taps gravely upon his octopus familiar. ] Squiddle and I belong by the sea.

[forwantofahorse]

This time, it's all because someone, [she levies an exaggerated glare at The Necromancer, humor twinkling in her eyes despite her fierce expression,] misheard Cythonre, the evil wizard that's my best lead to finding my target, as cthonic and got far too excited for his own good. Now I'm chasing after him to make sure he doesn't do anything to Cythonre before I can get information out of them, and debating whether it's worth it to add him to my oath of vengeance with all the messes that I've had to clean up after him as I've followed his trail. This dungeon is where I've finally caught up with him.

[Sayo can yes-and with the best of them, "Necromancer." Now the ball's in his court.]