Oddestsey V: The Seven Lords

[StevenMcG]

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>Quote:</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>There are currently 12 members including himself. There are entry requirements for joining the society which currently stand at - kill, cripple or mentally break a C-list super-hero or higher. Steal and present to the Guild one item deemed to be uniquely valuable. Have your outfit judged at least a 9/10 by a panel of imprisoned fashionista demons.

Their current leadership is a triumvate:

Ingvar Ingotson IV - said to be the richest mortal on the planet. Frequently named Most Lawful-Evil being on the planet.
Baron Perseus Intalio - The dapper swordmaster and master of nefarious schemes.
Darksein - The Mysterious Mentat Master of all that is Malicious. He rarely speaks.

What they would specifically like his help with, is hi-jacking this entire tournament for themselves, and gaining all the power of Doomforall's Castle itself. [/quote]

"...Well, well. And only six seconds to spare.

It appears, young man, that your after-school club and I are after one and the same thing. Perhaps there's a chance we could pool our resources. Heaven knows things are getting pretty hairy out there.

My criminal record can be found in the museum/cathedral dedicated entirely to me, my outfit practically invented the need for your club's little fashion show and behold- 100% genuine miniaturised mammoth, chock-a-block with fresh DNA ripe for the cloning&#33; I'd call that uniquely valuable, wouldn't you say?

(George, get a sample of the mammoth's genetic code on file, pronto. I'll be damned if these amateurs get a leg-up with my own bargaining chips&#33;)

I have just two questions I left, young man. How in God's name did you actually find me...and what is your name?"

[Alexjh]

RICHFIELD
Richfield asks for a hat, and from the machine springs:

Depleted Hat of Festive Giving A Santa hat that looks like it has seen better days, it looks ancient and weathered, and most of it's magic gone, but there is still a slight bit of power in there. While wearing this hat, any numerical values involved in loot of those in your immediate party are 10% higher. The values are permanently higher, even after the hat is removed.

DURG
Asking for a bottle, Durg receives:

A Bottle of Angelic Shampoo Angels like to give the impression that they are naturally radiant all the time. This is not the case. It involved a lot of product, including this shampoo. It's ingredient list includes "Unicorn Tears" "Happy dreams of puppies" and "Dawn's First Light". How these were combined into the golden shampoo within remains unclear. When used, regardless of the quality or quantity of the hair it is used on, you will be able to have people think you are divine, even if all other evidence is to the contrary. There is not much left, maybe enough for three washes.

TELLU
Tellu seems to have misunderstood that she only gets one item, so the machine remains invert until she decided which of the three to get.

SCARLETT
Scarlett delivers the books and the ball to Telemachus, and both Jeffers and Telemachus himself are ecstatic at the delivery. Telemachus reveals he has focused a bit of his research on the Sword of the Purifying Tides and thinks he may have a more direct way of breaking the curse. It doesn't have to necessarily be drawn - if someone else were to lay their hands on it and declare that this parasitic device existed, it should short circuit it - the sword couldn't cope with two opposing statements both being true at once, and the actual false one would break first as the magic reaches out to find the correct choice. The downside is that whoever did this would been to be prepared - exposure to the raw truth might be a very difficult process.

VENGEANCE
The Mercenary, whose name is revealed to be the Jackdaw is mortified that Vengeance thought he was asking for his resume. The Professor's reputation as villain is beyond reproach&#33; There is no need for him to undergo the trials - that's just to keep the riffraff out. George nonetheless samples the genetic code of the Mammoth, just in case you decide to use it later for something. As for how he found you - he was given directions directly from the triumvirate, although he doesn't know which of them was the one to discover this location. All three of them are known to have extensive skills in finding out secrets through various means.

(QUINN?), TELLU, CYRUS, DURG, RICHFIELD BEAR IN MIND

Ziggy decides to interject a little at this point.

"I am wondering, I couldn't help but overhear earlier that you did have some previous location data on the final lord? While I can appreciate you are in no great rush to trust me, I hope we can all agree the fact that a combatant has managed to keep concealed this long is deeply suspicious? I have access to much of the technology of the city - perhaps if you were to show me where this Lord popped up, I might be able to find some surveillance footage of the scenes?"

[NWOWWE]

Richfield looked uncertaintly at the hat but put it on. He turned to Tellu.

[That Kode Guy]

[OOC: "Only one each for now" led me to believe one of each category. Please be a little clearer next time. Sorry.]

Tellu scowls, but decides to go with the bustier. [OOC: It WAS the highest d20 roll after all. :V]

[Venice Queen]

Cyrus hooks the carabiner to one of the belt loops on his jeans for now. He considers his options... need information... the one thing I am sorely lacking right now...

"I've got nothing of value on location info of this last lord," he started to Ziggy. He wasn't sure if he wanted him to know about them if he did, but it seemed a reasonable excuse to not have access to any of it anyway. "But I am curious as to what this city has in the way of freedom of information laws. Specifically if there's a way I can gather a large amount of information about SONA completely legally and without arousing suspicion - other than asking the police. I was planning on that eventually anyway."

[MadBull]

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>Cha0sFerret</dt><dd>Mar 7 2018, 01:04 PM</dd></dl><div>
<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>Quote:</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>Oh and one other thing - there may be a way to have one single competitor leave the tournament without dying or winning. But it needs a consensus of at least 6 arbiters to pull off.[/quote]
"Let's get Lissa out&#33; She's not into the whole tournament thing anyway. Poor girl's been holed up in the library ever since this started."[/quote]"I vote Lissa as well, and I have new arguments to add&#33;

Listen fellow arbiters, I have been working on a plan to infiltrate the tournament as an official contestant. Having an inside man, or bear, would certainly have benefits in our work. I have been making preparations for me to be that mole, but I need resources. One of those, is a third mage, besides the Sea Wizard that stands by my side and Anjushree. I already promised the Sea Wizard here that I would not do Lissa any harm, this get out of jail free card is a fantastic way to be true to my word. Furthermore, Lissa is a mage herself, and can help us perform the infiltration... If we give her a way out of this, we may just give ourselves a powerful ally...

What do you say?"

[Alexjh]

TELLU

Tellu requests a bustier and receives...

The Sea Maiden's Bustier - This bustier is technically made of wood - it was stolen from an enchanted ship's prow of a rather busty young woman. It feels and behaves like a fabric on most ways, but is far tougher, giving some physical protection, and if it receives an impact it sounds like the wood it is made from. It also includes several more esoteric powers including the ability to walk on water, an inability to drown and the ability to talk to seabirds.

CYRUS
Ziggy seemed a little perplexed - it seemed to think that the tracker Bear in Mind had built had some data on the final Lord and that Sexy Grammar Robot could access it?

If that's not the case, so be it. As for gathering data about SONA legally and without arousing suspicion... doing either of those on their own would be easy. Ziggy itself could easily bust through their defenses to find out anything you wanted to know, but it wouldn't strictly speaking be legal. Generally finding out anything they don't want you to know probably won't be. Also depends very much on what exactly you want to know? If it's any consolation, given a city like Melded has an extensive history of superheroes, there is an unspoken agreement that any info that stops evil found out through technically criminal means will only gain you a stern finger wagging if you are right.

(OOC: Why not just contact Hortense as she's on the inside?)

[That Kode Guy]

Tellu examines the Sea Maiden's Bustier with interest, then looks down at her dress.

You know, this actually goes well with the jacket. If only I could find some decent lower wear now, though. I'm going to look silly with these things that clash with green bright leggings...

Won't be a problem if you transform.

F-FUCK OFF&#33;&#33;&#33;

Trying to shake away her inner Daimon's thoughts, Tellu inquires about showering rooms, and bedrooms. She hasn't had a good rest since falling into this world, and a good night's sleep may refresh her mind for the upcoming trials that are sure to come.

She can hear Richfield talking. Stealing a quick glance at the dimetrodon, Tellu replies, "...friend, in a world with floating gel skeletons and sentient rice bowls, the hat being outlandish is a bit of a stretch."

[Cha0sFerret]

The old paradox trick. Scarlett's surprised that something like that would even work. She thanks Telemachus for the info and gives Jeffers a parting head pat before setting off to do... something.

Is that really everything on her to-do list taken care of? She scarcely believes it. All that's left is to deal with DeMerFrall's sword, and she knows she's blown any chance she had at pulling that off herself. She checks her communicator to make sure she's not forgetting anything. Lots of stuff from the other arbiters that she read already, one from some Zeezee Max about who should win - funny, even in this bizzaro world, she can't escape junk mail.

There's still one competitor she knows absolutely nothing about: the man who kills with words. That sounds fun. Unfortunately, she has no starting point. Her first guess, though, is that someone who kills with words does so by telling others to do his dirty work for him. If her theory is correct, whoever it is has underlings who get into trouble regularly.

Time to go looking for trouble.

[NWOWWE]

"I suppose you have a point there." Richfield said, and shook the weathered fuzzy end of the hat out his eye. "I also definitely agree about having a place to freshen up a bit."

As a matter of fact he still had a few faded splotches of bat blood here and there and he didn't like staying dirty longer than he could help it.

[Alexjh]

TELLU, RICHFIELD (AND EVERYONE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER)

Ziggy apologises profusely - and has several small hovering robots go and prepare guest rooms for all of you should you want them. They will be available free of use to any arbiter at any time as long as Ziggy is in control of the castle. And you don't try to murder it or anything. The rooms all have large en suite bathrooms and room service and are lavishly furnished.

SCARLETT
Scarlett wanders around looking for trouble, and finds some kind of bar fight going down at an establishment called "The Fighting Avocado". It looks to be a bit of a dive, and there are 3 brawlers on each side, all drunk and currently all unarmed.

[That Kode Guy]

While still not really happy with Ziggy about the whole Doomfauxall thing, and not at all believing he didn't warp them all here, nonetheless Tellu is intensely grateful for the service. She thanks Ziggy and immediately heads off to one of the bathrooms.

Once there, she changes her mind a little and decides to have a bath instead of a mere shower. Unfortunately for her, she really wasn't aware of how exhausted she was until the moment she stepped into the water, and a minute later has suddenly succumbed and actually fallen asleep in the bath. Thankfully she wasn't completely submerged.

[StevenMcG]

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>Quote:</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>The Mercenary, whose name is revealed to be the Jackdaw is mortified that Vengeance thought he was asking for his resume. The Professor's reputation as villain is beyond reproach&#33; There is no need for him to undergo the trials - that's just to keep the riffraff out. George nonetheless samples the genetic code of the Mammoth, just in case you decide to use it later for something. As for how he found you - he was given directions directly from the triumvirate, although he doesn't know which of them was the one to discover this location. All three of them are known to have extensive skills in finding out secrets through various means.[/quote]

"I see. No offence meant, Mr, ah...Jackdaw, was it? Just a little perfectly normal paranoia on my part, you understand. It has been a very trying few days for us. Or however long it's actually been down here. Time seems to have its own sense of direction in this place.

Very well, Mr Jackdaw. I accept your guild of calamitous intent's invitation. I will grab my essentials and ask you to lead me to your base of operations. I'm sure I don't need to inform you that any potential deception or double-handedry will not be countenanced. So I shan't. K?

(George, pack our inventory, finish off your updates and put the windmill on Triple-Lock Omega shutdown. If these bumbling brutes could find us, I don't want anyone with actual brains looting the place in our absence.

And let us keep a close eye on the Jackdaw. He could well be telling the truth, but the intentions of his felonious friends may be another matter...)

[NWOWWE]

Now this is relaxing&#33; Richfield thought as the water from the shower cascaded over him. He became away just how worn out he was, and once he managed to dry off he walked back to the bedroom. He laid down on the bed, which promptly collapsed under his weight, but he didn't mind too much. He turned on the television, and dozed off.

[Alexjh]

(QUINN?), TELLU, CYRUS, DURG, RICHFIELD BEAR IN MIND

Tellu and Richfield (and, retroactively, anyone else who wants one) have a glorious rest and wake up later to find themselves feeling by far the best they have since they arrived here.

VENGEANCE

George informs you that he is fairly confident that he has plugged the gaps that caused the security breach, but with a few small but minor sacrifices for doing so - the teleport will remain on a 2 minute lead in time, and it'll take him longer if you need him to extract data from secure systems - just to make sure that he doesn't take shortcuts that let him get reinfected. He engages all the security systems he can think of, and they exit to find a blacked out tele-limo outside. They step inside, and the limo immediately jumps to a new location with a blur of black and red energy.

They exit the car and Vengeance finds himself in some kind of undersea base. He inspects his surrounds and generally finds it fairly decent. Not the best underwater lair he was ever been in, but at least a solid 8.5/10. Ushered down a corridor, past various stolen paintings, some of which he recognises, some less so until eventually a rather nice set of double doors are thrown open before him and he enters one of those darkened chambers where people sit around a table where everyone is dramatically back lit to make them look more evil. Nice red carpets on the ground with a big emblem involving a skull and the globe sat on the back wall, illuminated by flickering torches. The whole effect is traditional but well executed, though the emblem leans a little more to the cartoonish than he'd have personally gone for. Overall the impression is of high standards but just lacking that edge that would take it to the real top tiers.

All the shadowy figures stand and bow at your presence, and remains so - presumably waiting for permission to sit down.

Jackdaw chimes in at this point - "We have prepared extensive dossiers on just about every relevant subject to our cause that you might need, and have it hooked up to the holo-screen, which is voice activated. Everything we know about the competitors, your fellow arbiters, and details of the city for just about every eventuality"