Re: Luna's Command: The Wibbly-Wobbly Saga

Xel Unknown Tue Apr 16, 2013 6:00 pm

Lunar nods and gets to work hinding as best he can...

stealth check are go:

Dusk Raven Tue Apr 16, 2013 6:35 pm

Wandering Eye smiled as Shimmer disappeared from view. Try though he might, he couldn't detect her position any more. "You're clear, Shimmer." He chuckled. "Reminds me of some of my own magic..."

He closed his eyes and focused. After a moment an indigo light glowed around his horn. A feeling overcame him like cool water running over him, and when he opened his eyes, the world swam in a soft blue light, through the filter of his invisibility spell. But of course, there were more senses than just sight, as he knew well... so he followed Luthier, Plug, and the others as softly as he could.

Spoiler:

AProcrastinatingWriter Wed Apr 17, 2013 12:51 am

The party passes through the woods relatively quietly, the occasional creaking of wood or snapping of a branch reminding them that they were not all Nightbounds, until they eventually stumble upon what might be called a clearing if not for the overshadowing of tree branches overhead.

It is there where they come upon a timberwolf looking a bit dazed, looking confused at a nearby stone that seems to be gently humming in the night air, odd as it seems. The timberwolf has one of the metal collars around its neck.

**Paper Shadow** Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:27 pm

Scorch gets ready to pounce the timberwolf, and looks to the rest of the group, waiting for someone to confirm the order...

Retrokinesis Thu Apr 18, 2013 1:10 am

The amazing, invisible Brilliant Shimmer places a hoof on Scorch's scaly shoulder and whispers, "Hold your hooves there. There's more to this than meets the eye..." She closes her eyes and reaches out with her finely-honed thaumaturgic senses, probing the humming stone in particular for any magic.

Spoiler:

Curunir Thu Apr 18, 2013 12:19 pm

Luthier nods silently in agreement with Shimmer holding off Scorch... for the time being at least, and waits for her analysis of... whatever was going on here. He listened to the humming of the stone to see if he could find any patterns or variations in the sound that would indicate it perhaps as a mode of communication- or whether it was a constant drone, merely a byproduct of magical energy. He also tried to watch the timberwolf to try and figure out what it was doing.

Perception:

AProcrastinatingWriter Thu Apr 18, 2013 4:12 pm

Retrokinesis wrote:She closes her eyes and reaches out with her finely-honed thaumaturgic senses, probing the humming stone in particular for any magic.
Spoiler:

The stone is indeed producing a low-level magical field - and not a strong one, but one that seems to flip between "frequencies" as fast as you can process it, if not faster. If one type of magical energy is hit by one of an opposing frequency (most famously with Light and Dark magic), they tend to cancel each other out, at least momentarily. This stone could theoretically negate any type of magicial energy, though considering the breakneck pace at which the frequency is swapping out not very long at a time. Longer than the laypony might think, though.

Curunir wrote:
Perception:

The timberwolf was sitting there, confused, mostly, seeming almost...a little scared of the stone in front of it? The stone's humming is very quiet, but also rapidly shifting in pitch, climbing from low to high frequencies and freefalling back down as fast you can identify the notes involved.

Dusk Raven Thu Apr 18, 2013 6:06 pm

Wandering Eye examined the stone as best he could from a distance... was it something he'd encountered before? Might the Beyond hold the key to whatever magic was happening here?

Spoiler:

AProcrastinatingWriter Thu Apr 18, 2013 10:29 pm

Dusk Raven wrote:Wandering Eye examined the stone as best he could from a distance... was it something he'd encountered before? Might the Beyond hold the key to whatever magic was happening here?

Spoiler:

You notice nothing peculiar going on by looking around, and learn nothing more about the magic emanating from the stone than Shimmer did. That being said, you learn nothing less, either.

Retrokinesis Fri Apr 19, 2013 7:52 pm

"That stone... it's... " Brilliant was struggling to explain it to a laypony. "It's harmonizing through multiple different magical frequencies rapidly. I've never seen any type of magical object do that before. If I had to guess, I'd say it's a countermagic focus designed to temporarily negate magic by cycling through every possible thaumaturgic alignment until it finds the opposite and they cancel each other out".

She had no idea why it would be affecting the timberwolf, though. It was an impressive feat of arcane engineering, certainly, but it shouldn't be causing that kind of terror effect in a sentient creature. She whispers to nopony in particular, "How do you want to approach this? I can capture him if we can disable him but I'm not sure what the stone might do if we get close".

Dusk Raven Sat Apr 20, 2013 1:06 am

Wandering Eye frowned, though the gesture was lost on his companions in his invisible state. "I'm not sure, he whispered. "If it's designed to negate magic, what's it doing so close to a controlled Timber Wolf? It might be having a negative or positive effect for all we know. Also, if your analysis is correct - and it's my conclusion as well - then any plan of attack should rely on as little magic as possible." It would be logical to assume that even the magic of the Beyond could be countered given the right energies. Although... "...Although it remains to be seen how effectively it can counter multiple sources of magic."

Retrokinesis Sat Apr 20, 2013 1:37 am

"That might not be a half bad idea. Hit it with every spell we have and see what happens? It's clearly doing something to the timberwolf and I can't imagine it's anything good..." She didn't mention any potential fallout of that action. Oh well, it would be acceptable. Probably.

AProcrastinatingWriter Sat Apr 20, 2013 2:11 am

"Or maybe that stone broke the enchantment on the collars, thereby freeing the timberwolf from its control," Grizzle breaks in suddenly, then took a brief pause. "Just something to keep in mind."

Out near the stone, the timberwolf suddenly darts its head up, looking around. It seems a tad less confused now judging by its facial expression, but the movement in its head is still sluggish and slow.

Spoiler:

Retrokinesis Sat Apr 20, 2013 2:21 am

"Yes, but then why would it be stari-" Brilliant starts to respond to Grizzle but sees the timberwolf rise and tries to make herself scarce. She's not particularly successful.

Spoiler:

Curunir Sat Apr 20, 2013 2:24 am

Luthier nods at Grizzle's statement. "I was just thinking that... although I feel like the odds of this rock appearing independently of everything else seems pretty low, we might want to do something about it. Hear that humming? If that's important I wonder if I could..." Luthier was suddenly silent, not even breathing as he saw the timberwolf listening for something.

Spoiler:

Dusk Raven Sat Apr 20, 2013 3:36 am

The stone having a disruptive effect on the collar was precisely what Wandering Eye was getting at when he suggested it might have a "negative or positive effect." But before he make it perfectly clear he'd thought of that, the Timber Wolf seemed to wise up... and with that, Wandering Eye was silent.

Spoiler:

**Paper Shadow** Sat Apr 20, 2013 6:51 am

Scorch makes a rather impressive, at least for someone of his size, attempt at remaining unnoticed...

(Stealth Roll: 11 (Roll) + 5 (Skill) = 16)

AProcrastinatingWriter Sat Apr 20, 2013 2:57 pm

Spoiler:

casey1859 Sat Apr 20, 2013 7:34 pm

Cobbled dives into the surrounding foliage, doing his best to surrounding himself with leaves and hide best he can.

Spoiler:

deonte9109 Sun Apr 21, 2013 11:52 pm

Iggy, wishing to avoid unecessary fighting, flew up into the thick foliage above. "Seriously this is getting ridiculous. It's like somepony just keeps putting stuff in our way to distract us."

Spoiler:

Xel Unknown Mon Apr 22, 2013 11:03 am

Stealth Check: 1d20+5+1(dragon) => 11+5+1 = 17

AProcrastinatingWriter Mon Apr 22, 2013 5:29 pm

After a brief period of looking around, the wolf sharply shakes its head and branches off into a different direction than the one wherein the group is settled-in. As it leaves, Wander (taking the opportunity to watch it) notices that the clearing seems to be a crossroad of pathways of sorts, one path heading in six of the eight cardinal direction (East and West having no immediate pathways heading to/from them).

As a corollary, the timberwolf is headed down the Southwest Path and the group is hiding in the bushes to the east of the Southern Path.

**Paper Shadow** Mon Apr 22, 2013 8:25 pm

Scorch waits until the timberwolf is gone before speaking. "Well, now what?" he asks the rest of the group...

Retrokinesis Mon Apr 22, 2013 10:57 pm

Spoiler:

AProcrastinatingWriter Mon Apr 22, 2013 11:59 pm

Spoiler:

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