Game Thread, Chapter 2: Down the Rabbit Hole

[VennDygrem]

"Well, I was never a participant in the Weeping War. If memory serves, I was taken with certain duties in fiery Calimport..."

In actual fact, Cade was taken with a fiery-haired maiden whom he spent several summers pursuing off-and-on flings with. Cade maintains that this is when he learned the truest art of diplomacy. He can't remember exactly where this happened, as his mind was elsewhere at the time.

[Bozwevial]

"Raoul, you're an obvious first choice for the advance party. Perhaps we ought to send one more person...Ris-Janna or myself, if stealth is required. Xuuvosic, you and your, ah, "bitches" would probably be best remaining outside the portal at first--if we require a surprise attack, you would make excellent cavalry. If, however, other iterations of ourselves await, it would be prudent to have as few people present as possible. From what I understand, the effect would only be compounded the more duplicates come into contact with each other." Marlowe smiles faintly. "Try to imagine every inch of your body exploding instantaneously. That said, our advance party will need a way to signal the rest of the group--we can hardly stick our heads back through the gate. I would recommend locating landmarks before entering the portal and marking them--if the landmark is not destroyed in the interim period, the mark should persist and appear in the present day."

[spoiler]I don't suppose anyone has a way to use Arcane Mark? Or we could try something more mundane.[/spoiler]

[VennDygrem]

[spoiler]Something tells me something more mundane might be better than arcane mark. A seemingly harmless carving in stone, likely to be over-looked. A shape that's simple but recognizable to us. Of course, we won't know that it hasn't already been here this whole time, but we won't know what it is until we decide what it is. [/spoiler]

[Bozwevial]

[spoiler]Something tells me something more mundane might be better than arcane mark. A seemingly harmless carving in stone, likely to be over-looked. A shape that's simple but recognizable to us. Of course, we won't know that it hasn't already been here this whole time, but we won't know what it is until we decide what it is. [/spoiler]

[spoiler]But what happens when we get there and the mark's there before we've entered the portal? [/spoiler]

[Kuroimaken]

"Well... therein we hit a snag. The only reason I'm an obvious choice there is because I fought in that conflict, so I know my way around the place. However, I can't get close to myself without jeopardizing the entire effort - in fact, that goes for all of you. I'd likely work best as ranged support and providing intelligence. Even if we COULD just take my past self further away, I wouldn't be of any use then."

[HeadofVecna]

"I know that a causality breach would be real fucking bad, just like you said Marlowe. But we can avoid that shit if we're real careful, using the Pit. And splitting up, then using time capsules sounds real fucking hit-or-miss to me. But before we even get to that, I wanna know every motherfucking detail you can remember about the battle, Raoul."

[Bozwevial]

"Very true. To be frank, an advance party would be useless anyway--if it wasn't safe for the group, they'd be stuck waiting around for 650 years or so." Marlowe tilts his head. "I, for one, don't have that kind of time."

[VennDygrem]

"If it wasn't safe for the group, Marlowe, I don't think they'd get 650 years to wait around. Anyway, so what now? Do we just all make a leap of faith?"

[spoiler]a Quantum Leap of faith, that is.


 

[/spoiler]

[PhaedrusXY]

[spoiler]So... what Raoul remembers. Let me see...  [/spoiler]

Raoul was near the edges of the city most of the time. The elven defenders made liberal use of their mythal to try and repel the demonic invaders, of which Raoul was one. They consecrated the entire city as Hallowed ground with a Dimensional Anchor effect, through the Mythal. So the demons couldn't teleport into, out of, or within the City. The defenders could still use any of their teleportation powers, though. So that took a huge advantage away from the demons. They also used a lot of weather control to interfere with many of the demons abilities to fly, taking away another advantage.

So it was absolute chaos, with legions of demons trying to penetrate the city outer wall on foot, and being destroyed before they could even get close to it by the magics of the defenders. Of course... heavy losses aren't that much of a problem when you have near-infinite "troops" to replenish your ranks... So eventually they did penetrate the city. Then the battle became even more chaotic, with pockets of resistance holed up trying to defend against the near limitless numbers of invaders pouring in.

The defenders then stopped holding back, and started unleashing magics so powerful that they had dared only use them as last resorts. Massive explosions gutted whole city districts, destroying anyone and everyone there. One of the most spectacular of them was when the Crystal Palace, where the ruling council met, collapsed in on itself. Raoul was in a nearby part of the city, and he heard some kind of strange tearing sound, and then the battle sounds in the area became even more intense for a few seconds, until they were drowned out by the sounds of the enormous palace falling. Seconds later, Raoul felt a terrible pain in his head and collapsed, and when he woke up over a century had passed.

[spoiler]Let me know if you want to "remember" anything else. Feel free to make up minor details about other things, or even bigger details, if you want.[/spoiler]

[Kuroimaken]

"Well, our options are limited to which point of the battle we enter at, and where we do. Given that the portal was erected by the defenders, we can safely assume we'll be within city walls. The magics within the city prevented all kinds of teleportation as long as it came from demons - so we're out of luck in that respect. We'll have to search the place on foot, as well, due to the magics they used to impede flyers. The place is going to be more chaotic than any war zone you can conceive - expect entire city blocks to be leveled. The main palace, as well, depending on how long it takes us to get there. I don't expect the package to be within city walls once the main gate is breached, if anything because that would provide a tactical advantage to the defenders. On the upside, my commander wasn't the kind to take to the front, so that means the likelihood of the package being within the rear flank of the demon army increases. By the time the main palace collapsed, I was within city walls, which means I won't be able to provide any support until we're at least a mile away from there, to be on the safe side."

Sighing softly, Raoul summarized, "So we're going to have to play this more or less by ear. We'll need to make our way to the rear flank from within the city walls. It shouldn't be difficult if we join the injured, but there's no garantee they won't be attacked on the way back. The good news is there'll be enough confusion in the place to cover our movements."

[Bozwevial]

"One minor point, if I may. Does the ward against teleportation effects merely negate those inherent to a demon, or would it extend to items used by demons? In either case, I may be able to help--I have no fiendish ancestry."

[PhaedrusXY]

[spoiler]Made a minor modification to what I said above, because Forbiddance doesn't work exactly as I thought... Instead of Forbiddance, we'll say it was a Hallow with a Dimensional Anchor effect embedded in it. It would have been effective against creatures who adhered to a different cause (that's close enough to faith, right? They were pretty fanatical... )than defending Myth Drannor.[/spoiler]

[VennDygrem]

"Do they have any protection against appearance-altering spells? I'm just wondering how easy a time we will have hiding the more... blatantly fiendish of us from being outright attacked." Cade glances at Xuuvosic, who would look out of place even if he weren't of demonic blood.

[Bozwevial]

"Or perhaps even those of us who are not elves. From what I have heard, the defenders were unwilling to take chances." Marlowe absently traces the shape of pointed ears over his own rounded ears.

[Kuroimaken]

"One minor point, if I may. Does the ward against teleportation effects merely negate those inherent to a demon, or would it extend to items used by demons? In either case, I may be able to help--I have no fiendish ancestry."

"No demon was able to teleport into, out of, or within Myth Drannor. As for appearance-altering spells, I can't say for sure, but I don't think they'd have made such a major oversight. Given the powers involved in the conflict, that's not outside the realm of possibility."

[VennDygrem]

Cade takes the opportunity to take the form of an elf, specifically a moon elf.

"Some of us may be fine among the tumult, but Xuuvosic is likely to stand out, even disguised."

[HeadofVecna]

Xuuvosic's expression darkens at Raoul's news, No porting? Fucking flower eaters! The only good thing about this whole bullshit situation is that we get to watch the Horde stick their feet up their pansy asses." The choker's form shimmers into a rather good likeness of an elf; a short elf, but not too short to be an elf. "Don't worry too much about my ass standing out though. Given some time I can swing this look without illusion magic. The lackeys would have to stay in the Pit. But I'd want that anyway, in case we walk into daylight. So Raoul, did you actually see your superiors with the package? I'd be real pissed off if we got to them, only to find out that them having it was just some crazy fucktard notion of yours."

[spoiler]Taking 10 for a 32 total on disguise.[/spoiler]

[PhaedrusXY]

[spoiler]Raoul saw what he thinks must have been the Lochnar in the hands of a balor named Fruuzberglag, who was the general over the whole army he served in.[/spoiler]

[Kuroimaken]

"No, I'm fairly sure of it. I know that the demons were calling in reinforcements from across time with a powerful artifact, and I saw what seemed to be the Lochnar in the hands of general Fruuzberglag. It had to be that."

[spoiler]Jeeze, Phaedrus, couldn't you come up with a name that sounded more like a demon and less like someone drowning in jell-o?[/spoiler]

[PhaedrusXY]

[spoiler]Jeeze, Phaedrus, couldn't you come up with a name that sounded more like a demon and less like someone drowning in jell-o?[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Like I said, I was in a hurry.  [/spoiler]