Silver Tower II

WELCOME, FOOLISH ADVENTURER! I mean, BRAVE adventurer, uh, yeah...I will be your Tower Master(think Dungeon Master) for this session.

This is another Silver Tower Roleplay. The other died. A really horrible death. My fault. I will post randomly, putting up riddles and inserting monsters, and describing new floors and some events. If you all think I post too much, please tell me and I will lessen. When the monsters appear, once I put them into 'play', you may control them.


The Silver Tower is explained here.

In this roleplay, literacy is a MUST. I don't mean eighth grade literacy, I mean type like you are an adult and capable of more then 'omg! lolol! tacos! D: ohnoes scary thing!'.

Example of a good post;

Quote :

Clutching his arm, Kevin dashed through the hallway. Thick water splashed into his pants leg and boots. Behind him Kevin could hear the distinct noise of the serpent sliding through the muck and hissing, ready to take another bite from his flesh.

I would like it to be longer then that, but you get the general idea, right?

This is not a good post;

Quote :

'ahhhh screned Kity asthe monster bit her finger using her magic she made it explode.

Some people actually consider that good roleplaying.

Some rules, and then setting. Please bear with me people, I haven't done this in awhile and I want to cover all the bases.

1. Literacy, as mentioned above. I also define literacy as being able to make a four sentence paragraph.

2. No God Modding.

3. No Powerplaying.
(Note: Once you give your character reasonable abilities and such, that's it. There is NO discovering new powers at the spur of a moment, whipping out an unmentioned rifle, or anything like that.)

4. Keep arguements in the PM's.

Please send me profiles of your characters and they will be posted.

Setting

The Silver Tower. Inside of it. It's not night time yet, but VERY close to it. The only door outside has just locked and there is a slow rust spreading on some of the walls from the floor up...

Collette
Miaxa
Height: 5' 5”
Appearance: Short light brown hair, petite frame, blue-tinged insectoid compound eyes. Short black antennae. Her lower bee half is yellow-brown and has very fuzzy bright yellow hair, mostly around the front of the section where her upper torso connects. She typically wears darker-colored clothing on her upper half that's been acquired from either trade or from capturees. She, as the rest of her hive's sisters, wears a sort of leather 'holster' secured over her stinger with straps around the middle of the bee half.

History and Personality: Collette worked tirelessly in the larval nurseries of her hive for most of her life, but eventually she was burned out from the constant taxing job that was larvae care. Luckily she was able to be transferred to the hive's hunting and gathering force, and though of slightly smaller stature than most of them which were naturally born for the job, she worked diligently at this new task, which granted her new sights and the fresh air outside. However, she understands that it is perilous to fly around the Felarya jungle; sometimes she isn't quite as wary as she should be, but she's learning. Her group's main task is to search to acquire food to bring back to their ravenous queen. She has had to toughen up a lot, seeing as they have to bring live humans and demihumans to the Queen alive. This, and the danger that goes with not having the protection of the hive hasn't dispelled her choice to stay at her task. Like her sisters, she has a strong sense of duty to her hive and queen, and carries pride in both. However, she does feel that their expectance to be loyal, the monotonous tasks that take place in the hive, and the, from her perspective, narrow-minded thinking that most of the other miaxi exhibit, means that something is lacking. She enjoys little victories for herself, mostly fairly inane things to the others in her group. Collette is zealous in a task set before her, and it is not uncommon for her eagerness to complete the task set for her to make her give way to recklessness.

Other members of Collette's group are

Ritida
Height: 5'6”
Hair: Orange
The designated leader of the troop. She has few words, carries a number of scars and has a missing middle leg on her left side. Around her, you simply don't question loyalty to the queen in any form or gripe about the task at hand. She is indeed strict in her ways, but she sees all hive members as equals and never gave Collette a hard time about transferring from the nurseries. In fact, it was her who made it possible. She also doesn't give Melitta any slack.

Melitta
Height: 5'
Hair: Black and blonde
Cold in her words and behavior, Melitta keeps her compound eyes and most of her face wrapped in cloth, having been blinded some years ago when an attempt to capture a human wizard went very wrong. She confidently claims she is not handicapped, and adamantly insists she should stay in the hunting troops and can be useful. She can make relative sense of the world around her by using her sense of smell to great extent, and to utilize the ocelli on her forehead (Three faint dots that sense changes in light) along with her hairs to feel air pressure. When in fight, her sisters will spray a special scent onto the target that helps Melitta pinpoint them. She is proficient with stabbing weapons. Melitta is donned with a fair amount more leather armor than the others, since close encounters can still be quite clumsy for her.

Podai
Height: 4'9
Hair: Blonde
Is soft-spoken to the others except Ritida. She is versed well in illusion-based magic and is valued greatly for it. Because of an illusion that her lower half is actually human, she has been able to successfully trick fairies in the past, only to strike at them in close range with a fast- paralyzing poison-tipped blade. Their queen happened to find the fairies quite delicious. With some adjustment to her spell, Podei can look completely human for a time. She wears a pendent around her neck that she won't let anyone touch- it is possible that this is actually the source of her magic. Regardless, the spells she has don't last for very long. While somewhat timid in conversation, she is lacking none in conviction and doesn't hesitate to accomplish her task.

Halikti
Height: 5'5”
Hair: Dark brown

A miaxa a little younger than Collette, Halikti is still more of a veteran of hunting and gathering than she is. Halikti usually sticks close to Melitta, and wields a bow and arrow for long-range assault. She is straight-forward in how to handle things, and is obviously irked by Podei's 'unnecessary and sneaky' methods. Though she considers such dishonorable, she wouldn't say it out loud. After all, Podai has more favor of the Queen than she does. Halikti tends to grumble about things more than the others, which has gotten her reprimanded by Retida fairly often. She doesn't question orders though, only how to do them more 'efficiently'. While the others hunt bite-sized animals most often, Halikti wouldn't mind eating any animal she could shoot with an arrow and chew on. Collette thinks her eating habits are disgusting but likes her relative open-mindedness.

Reserved

Extra things may be posted here.


Have fun! ~ <3



~~~~~~~~~~~

A trio of 'bandits' were waiting outside the tower's entrance. Each was carrying a projectile weapon of some sort - the first a repeater crossbow magically souped up to fire bolts fast enough to pierce even chainmail from a hundred paces away; the second a compound bow with barbed arrows coated in an unknown toxin with obviously lethal consequences; the last a long jezail focused at the center of the door. They were all there waiting, fools having come out in a steady stream from the doors with loot. And each time the three were there waiting, cutting them down in seconds and making off with the spoils.

Originally there were six in the group, but half had gone off carrying the most recent 'earnings'. Unlike the last runs, this time they would not be returning - too dark to bother such. Any looted items now would have to be stuffed in their own pockets & sacks.

Suddenly, the door burst open and a group of adventurers - young all - came through the door smiling and patting each other on the shoulders. They looked happy at what they accomplished in a day's work. Until the first one fell over with his head splattered and another collapsed with a pair of bolts in his stomach. Before the other two could even work their weapons free they had fallen, one silenced by an arrow and the other shot first in the thigh and then throat with the bolts. Their prey down, the three rushed from their concealed positions. Their prey lay at the base of the door, fine clothes ruined by their blood yet less exquisite treasures ripe for the plucking.

"Frak, and I liked that shirt," muttered the tallest of the bunch, feline ears poking against her hood. She was standing overtop a body and prodding it with her foot, the red shirt punched in two places and soaked so thoroughly no amount of washing would get the stains out. "You couldn't have shot this one instead of the robed one, could you Martin?"

"He had the look of a wizard, thought it best to hit him with a good ol' ball of lead before he had the chance to do anything." The man with a Jezzail bent down and fumbled with the pockets of his kill for a bit before turning up a book. Rifling through the pages, he then threw it over to the Neko. "Here Sarah, sure you can make better use of a Spellbook than me."

With a double-twang, the two turned to look at the final member of the group. He was pointing his repeater crossbow inside at the fourth body - the man who had been shot in the throat earlier. "N'ther o' y'too c'ld both' t' louk?" Usually the Gnome was quite understandable, but when heavily frustrated or 'off' he would slip into his native accent. Evidently the man had dragged himself away from his comrades back inside, trying to flee the scene of the attack. And neither of the others noticed his presence missing from the body set. They had been sloppy, and Marc was not pleased. "Now," he sighed, calming himself down. "Grab what you can, and let's bolt. We should have just enough time to get back to camp before the path's as black as Slyte's hair."

Quickly pilfering the bodies pockets, the trio grabbed various odds and ends: Pouches of platinum coins, exquisite utensils and platters, a solid gold letter opener, all kinds of loot. In short while, the three outside were stripped down. All that was left then was the sod who tried to escape. "Just leave him, Sarah, it's getting late."

"But I saw his weapon when he went in the first time - it's magical! That's got to be worth something at least." With that she rushed in, pillaging everything she spotted on the body that had a hint of a magical glow. Sighing, the two others followed her.

"Just make it quick, bef-" Mid-sentence, Martin was interrupted as the doors slammed shut - even though the bodies should have forced them to stay open. Looking back to the door, the only sign of the body bits that would be inside was the red stains along the floor. "That can't be good." Running full tilt at the door, he tried to barge them open - instead only coming close to dislocating his shoulder.

“Tchk... Now what?” Halikti muttered to herself, the youngest miaxa in her troop. They'd come across this odd floating tower thing earlier that day. Seeing some humans come out of it, Podai had suggested they go in and wait for some more, catch them inside to take back to the Queen. Halikti had felt a deep-set sense of unease about the structure when she'd tried to approach it. Instead of going in, she'd elected to keep watch outside. Since then, groups of humans had entered and left. It could very well have been that her troop had gotten into a fight. It didn't help any that the humans which had raided the place had been ambushed and killed. She kept an arrow and bow together, unsure to act on her own. Most likely, that wouldn't be a good decision. But she had no idea if they'd try the same to her troop when they finally came out of there. Then she saw the bandits enter, and heard a sound from inside. From the muffled pounding on the door, it seemed as if they were having trouble getting it open again.. The feeling of unease made her jittery- she stayed on the tree branch she was stationed to, keeping a close eye on the tower and its entrance. Something told her that there was simply something that wasn't right going on...

On an upper floor of the Tower, the others were gathered in a small room, each armed with a close-combat weapon, though they hadn't bloodied them yet from an encounter.

“Well, I think they're gone...” Melitta said, referring to the humans which had raided most of the tower. Her troop had been ready to handle a few, but it was clear there had been too many to risk a confrontation. Melitta knew this all too well, having been blinded years back when she'd underestimated a human she'd intended to bring back to the Queen. Her hearing was excellent, however, and the others trusted her judgement from it.

“I think you're right. Sounds like that group's already taken everything they could and ran off.” Collette commented, looking to Ritida for orders. She wasn't sure about coming in this odd tower in the first place. It was Podai's idea originally, after having scouted the place out. She'd seen some small groups of humans, no more than three or four, approach the place and leave. She believed that would have been good reason to get some humans as they came in. There was some neat stuff in it sure, but it didn't sit well with Collette how the place was so easy to pilfer. Or how it floated above the ground, obviously. Ritida, though wary, had agreed to give it a try. Now it was clear she was looking at this as a bad tactic, seeing as they had confined themselves to a room within and not gone through with what they'd intended to yet.

“We'll go back down, we'll probably have better luck picking some raiders off from the outside.” the older miaxa concluded, opening the door. It wasn't locked, but luckily the small room they'd entered hadn't been poked around in, thanks to Podai's illusion spell, which had the effect of covering the door with an image of a section of wall next to it. The group, one short since they'd left Halikti outside, crawled out into the hallway outside.

All of them now had a greater sense of hurriedness about them, as the vague whims of their Queen was apparent to each, and they all were quite aware they she was getting peckish. And they each knew very well that she expected to be fed soon. Since it was unlikely that they would be able to round up some suitable prey at the moment, they hoped they wouldn't be relying on another troop to find something instead. If they encountered another group of humans, they would simply have to take their chances.

Ritida walked ahead of them on her five legs- having lost one to an unknown adversary a long time ago, while Podai followed with Melitta close in tow with her. Collette brought up the rear as they approached the stairwell they'd climbed up a ways to reach the floor they were currently on.

Then they all stopped, silently, for no discernible reason at first. Collette and Podai each started looking about, blinking, as if there was something startling about. Melitta gulped, leaning against the nearby wall. Ritida gave each of them a look that hardly masked her own stupefication. Their hearts were all racing as each realized how wrong the situation had become. Melitta asked, “You've all quit moving. Can you not sense our Queen either?” she asked in a shaky voice. It wasn't natural for this to happen- there was always the Queen in the back of your mind, letting you know what you're duty is. What your purpose is. This was suddenly absent, and it felt completely wrong.

“Everyone, we need to leave... Now.” Ritida got out, before starting down the stairs, setting a fast pace for the other half-bee women to follow. As they descended the stairs, it occurred to Collette that her very mind was suddenly a frightening place, and she was starting to feel sick. Glancing at the others, it was clear that none of them were taking the unexpected cutting of their connection to the Queen well at all. Each was counting on the fresh air outside to bring back their connection to the Queen. It was their singular, solely seeable goal of the moment.

A very soft, almost inaudible noise gently rose in the rooms and stairs. It sounded somewhat like the final burbles of water going down a drain. The very air itself seemed to become darker and more oppressing.


Another noise, a trickling, had what seemed to be a source. The walls around the group of bandits seemed to have water going down them, as though a floor above was leaking. The water left behind grey trails, but when the water reached the floor it turned into a more opaque color. The door showed no sign of letting anyone out into the open either, but a different door on the other side made a clicking noise as it opened up to a flight of stairs illuminated by torches.

The stairs around the miaxi seemed to become rotten and moldy. The walls too gradually seemed to fall into a state of disrepair with holes appearing in random spots, and strange scratching could be heard behind the walls if one listened closely enough, and it was getting louder.