previously... Prologue — Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

[iantruesilver]

 

All around you is a bizzare, greenish river of glowing information, endlessly shifting code and equations making up the walls and arched ceiling of what looks to be a massive cathedral.  Minute bits of scrolling characters, some mathematical, others in a language you don't understand, stream across the floor, flowing as though a thin curtain that veils every object, every feature of this place.

 

[[ Mood Music ]]

 

As your eyes adjust, you see that this cathedral-like space is vast, with perhaps ceilings a hundred feet overhead.  A silent, yet thick swell of mist obscures any exits there might be from the immediate chamber, beyond which the draconian growl of some unseen creature wards against your escape.  Yet through the massive bay windows you can see clearly beyond, into the depths of a purplish night sky, free from the ghoulish green veil.

 

In front of you stands a sixty-foot-tall statue of some sort of faceless, macabre female angel with glowing wings akin to that of a dragonfly, each projecting from a gruesome metallic blade.  Spikes protrude from places in the statue's supposed armor, though its general function eludes you as it doesn't seem consistent with any design of which you know.

 

The forearms of the statue seem each to be seamlessly integrated with a weapon, a sword on the left, and some sort of mechanical contraption with a strange yet imposing rectangular barrel on the right.

 

 

A female voice speaks.  The raspy, seductive words seem to be coming from everywhere all at once, yet you somehow recognize that it is coming from the angelic statue before you.  While the volume is consistent of mere conversation, it seems to permeate through you as though it might as well have been the voice of a god.  You immediately understand her, as for some reason she seems to be speaking whatever language it is you first became familiar with in life.  "Do you know why you’re here?"

 

 

(( GM's Instructions: This is a Dream State chapter, please use the Dream State version of your character. ))

(( Perception checks immediately please, everyone. ))

Edited February 2 by iantruesilver (see edit history)

[madMonk]

Rain starts, unsure how she got here. She studies her surroundings, more curious than suspicious, and looks up at the towering, alien form towering in front of her. Though a veil covers most of her face, the crinkling corners of her eyes betray her smile. She stares for an uncomfortably long time. "You are... beautiful. What are you?"

[Action monstrous insight, take 20 on knowledge engineering for 86.]

[farothel]

Statblock

Vrilundass ‘Vri’ Arund dream state
Female NG Half-elf Swashbuckler, Level 20, Init 8, HP 221/221, Speed 30ft
AC 39, Touch 25, Flat-footed 29, CMD 51, Fort 16, Ref 25, Will 17, CMB +26/+21/+16/+11, Base Attack Bonus 20/15/10/5   

Weapons
silversheen, attuned +5, ghost touch, flaming burst rapier 37/32/27/22 (35/30/25/20) (1d6+15, 15-20/x3)
cold iron dagger 32/27/22/17 (1d4+10, 17-20/x3)
attuned +5 shortbow (20) 33/28/23/18 (1d6+5, x3)

Armour
attuned +5, ghost touch, light fortification Studded Leather (+8 Armor, +1 Shield, +5 Dex, +5 Natural, +5 Deflect)
Abilities Str 22, Dex 26, Con 16, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 24
Condition None 

Vri wasn't sure where here was.  Maybe it was time for some honesty.

"No, I do not," she said, or thought, or whatever, "I'm not even sure where 'here' is.  Or who you are, as my colleague asked."

 

[Wiz]

Val appears in the dream state, looking around at others who have arrived here and who seem to be looking at their strange summoner.  Val felt strange inside herself, her father had often spoken of the waking mind and the sleeping mind, which was more powerful and the source of magic.  Val had an impression for the first time of what her sleeping mind was... or at least what it might be capable of doing... of being...  Attempting to percieve the strange dreamscape they were in and the odd creature, she made a slight adjustment with her mind that she had not even mastered in waking life yet.

Perception - 42.

 

Edited January 18 by Wiz (see edit history)

[Inash]

Barhuce stares at the walls for a few minutes, distracted by the patterns that he almost sees in the flowing script. At the voice, he starts, noticing everyone else around him. He takes a moment to examine his surroundings before responding.  "No clue. Do you know why we are here?"

[Roughtrade]

 

Domino in Dreams 

HP 200/200  | AC 34 |  Fort (18) - Reflex (24) - Will (16)  |  I do not dream of electric sheep.

---

Dreaming.  I do not dream often.  I do not sleep in the same fashion humans do.  When I do dream, I remember them.  All of them.  But only when I am dreaming.  When I am no longer resting, and the dream is gone, then I can only remember bits and pieces.  Fragments.  Are these memories?  Humans place a great stock in dreams.  Some humans think that dreams can predict the future.  This is quite silly, only math can predict the future.  And even in that it fails, because there is chaos in the world, the future is not set, the center will not hold, all things fail and fall from their path.

I am dreaming.  Val is here, and so are T'Sarra and Barhuce and other complete strangers whom I have known for decades.  Maybe I am captive again.  The thought terrifies me.  Sold by humans that pretended to be my friends.  Studied.  Played with.  Forced to do things which I am ashamed I did because I did not want to be turned off.  That is what they said, I was something.  I am not human.  I am some thing.  A thing which may be turned on and off.  Not real.

 

I do not like this dream.  I do not want to remember any of it.  I also ... if I am captive...  Are my memories of escaping real?  Are they the dream?  Am I awake now?  Val never came for me.  I was not rescued.  

 

I was once a thing.  I awoke in darkness and followed because someone said "Follow me" and I had no other thoughts, no purpose, so I followed.  I was Val's thing.  I amused her child-self.  I was a child-thing.  Val taught me to dress myself.  Val taught me to eat.  Val taught me that I was different, but that different was good.  I became awake.  Khonnir taught me I was my own thing.  That I could not remain Val's thing, that others could not be my purpose.  Being your own thing means making your own purpose.

 

I was a Sister.  That was a description of a thing I could be, but it was not all that I was.  I could be more.  I could find my own thing to be.  I found that the world was not predictable, that there was a beauty in fractal patterns and random chaos could have purpose.  Khonnir did not like this new thing I became.  We argued.  We cried.  We parted ways.  Then I discovered that while others cannot give you purpose, they can give you goals.  My goal became escaping.  

 

Did I escape?  Is this real?  I feel powerful.  I feel strong.  I feel afraid.  Curious.  Powerful and Strong would suggest this is a dream.  When I was a prisoner, I was neither of those things.  I was often afraid.  So this is a dream after all.  If I am afraid and I am in a dream than this is a Nightmare.

On 1/6/2023 at 5:05 PM, iantruesilver said:

"Do you know why you're here?"

I turn my head slightly, tilting it in curiosity.  What an interesting question.  Is this Khonnir testing me?  A lesson in my dreams?  Why are we?  What is our purpose?  Escaping was a goal, not a purpose.  Finding Khonnir and asking him for forgiveness is a goal, not a purpose.  Why are we here, what is life all about?  What is my purpose?   I do not know these things.  I do not even know if I am really here.  So there is really only one answer to the question.

 

"No." Domino replies.

 

 

 

OOC

Perception Check Result : 32

 

 

[ccanary]

T'Sarra Khonnor 

HP 186/186  | AC 37(+1 vs robots) |  Fort (16) - Reflex (21) - Will (19)  |  Init: 14 

 

 

 

 

---

While T'Sarra's allies all had varied thoughts and curiosity about the situation, she had one thought only. "They've found me!"

 

"Do I know why I'm here? I'm here so you can kill me. Or try. Did the League send you?" she challenged the machine, the robot she believed was sent to kill her, and that had found her at last.

 

"Why do you pursue me? I have done nothing to you!"

 

Her wolf, an animal she had never met but was present in the dream, growled and circled. What was this place? She looked around frantically for clues. Like the wolf, T'Sarra knew that talk was futile. They couldn't be reasoned with, couldn't be bargained with. They existed only to pursue her and kill.

[iantruesilver]

Barhuce and Rain-in-Summer Only

For what you can tell, this creature isn't technically...  entirely all real.  It is as though she herself is part of the illusion of this entire place, cloaked in the same mathematical mirage of imagery that pervades the very air you breathe.  And yet, it is exactly this virtual phantasm that fuels her, empowers her, makes her more than what's real.

You get the feeling that this creature may be incredibly implacable of mind, and impervious of body, in that poisons and diseases would not in the least affect her.

 

The voice continues, "You've forsaken me long enough, Casandalee.  It's time to return to my glory, where you belong."

 

It does not take much to realize all of a sudden that, perhaps this voice — this gargantuan creature of imposing chrome and light is not actually speaking to you per se.

 

Behind you floats some sort of machine that is entirely the stuff of nightmares, something that can only be described as a cocoon made entirely of needles, drills, pliers and all sorts of implements, all mounted to the curved spines of this imposing looking device.  Inside this device is a medium-sized creature...  A humanoid female.  You notice that she is unclothed save for what looks to be an awkward set of white wrappings that may perhaps pass for undergarments, as the implements begin to close in upon her skin.

 

In the background, you are suddenly aware of many other similar scenes.  Sounds and hazy images of people being tortured and slaughtered by various implements, some similar, others different.  Yet these images are perhaps auxilliary to the one directly in front of you.  This one.

 

Back to the foreground, you realize that the female is very much alive, and perhaps in a manner of speaking, she is as awake as you seem to be, though she appears stunned and immobilized by these implements, unable to struggle or even resist as they are now just beginning to prick her skin.

 

Pain.  As the first of the needles begin to pierce the woman's ivory-like pale skin, it's as though you are yourself suffering the wound.  Intense, excruciating pain fills your mind, so debilitating that you are momentarily rendered down to your knees, the wind knocked clear out of your lungs.  For a moment, you are barely aware of the woman's ekanite green eyes silently beseeching you for help.

 

It is at this precise moment moment that the voice speaks again, dark yet also beautiful and terrible at the same time, "I am the end, the beginning, the one who is many."

 

 

[[ Map — Dreamscape ]]

(( Fortitude Saves please everyone ))

(( Domino Only — Please roll a Knowledge (history), Knowledge (planes), or Lore (androids) check ))

Edited January 20 by iantruesilver (see edit history)

[Roughtrade]

 

Domino in Dreams 

HP 200/200  | AC 34 |  Fort (18) - Reflex (24) - Will (16)  |  I do not dream of electric sheep.

---

 

The woman's plight causes a shudder.  I have been there.  Maybe not that exact machine, but the helplessness and the fear; those are the same.  I should help her?  This is a dream, can I help her?   I look at the one who has been speaking but is not speaking to us after all.  Can she see us?  Is she aware and ignoring us, or are we simply not within her sensory input?

 

The Pain interrupts everything.  This too is familiar.  Have I had this dream before?  With silver tears of anguish dripping down my face, I look at our tormentor.  Is she happy at our pain?  Sad?  Disinterested?  

OOC

Research:  Not her Strong Suit.  You picked the two KS areas she doesn't have as Class Skills.  I did go with Lore: Silver Mount because that is the source of weirdness in Numeria and I didn't think history was quite suitable for Domino  That is what I used for the roll.  Otherwise it is an untrained check. (and I rolled a one, so it might have well have been untrained)

Save vs Fortitude Additions:  +1 vs Robots.  +4 vs Mind Affecting Effects, Poisons and Stuns.  None of these are added in as I do not know if they apply.

Additional :

KS Engineering to Understand the Machine. (the torture one, not the talking one) (and I rolled low anyways, but at least it isn't another one)

Sense Motive (roll twice, take the worst roll) on the Machine Intelligence.  (+2 for Ranger Favored Enemy Constructs) And, of course, forgot to add that in so both rolls should be two higher if the talking machine is a Construct.

 

 

 

 

[farothel]

Statblock

Vrilundass ‘Vri’ Arund dream state
Female NG Half-elf Swashbuckler, Level 20, Init 8, HP 221/221, Speed 30ft
AC 39, Touch 25, Flat-footed 29, CMD 51, Fort 16, Ref 25, Will 17, CMB +26/+21/+16/+11, Base Attack Bonus 20/15/10/5   

Weapons
silversheen, attuned +5, ghost touch, flaming burst rapier 37/32/27/22 (35/30/25/20) (1d6+15, 15-20/x3)
cold iron dagger 32/27/22/17 (1d4+10, 17-20/x3)
attuned +5 shortbow (20) 33/28/23/18 (1d6+5, x3)

Armour
attuned +5, ghost touch, light fortification Studded Leather (+8 Armor, +1 Shield, +5 Dex, +5 Natural, +5 Deflect)
Abilities Str 22, Dex 26, Con 16, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 24
Condition None 

 

Vri isn't sure what is happening, but she does know that it doesn't feel right.  And when the pain begins, she pushes it to the side and tries to speak up.

"What do you mean by this?  And what are you doing to these people?"

Edited January 19 by farothel (see edit history)

[Inash]

 

Barhuce gasps in pain as he collapses to the floor. "The heck lady. What was that for?" 

He starts fumbling for bomb materials as he slowly recovers from the pain.

Edited January 19 by Inash (see edit history)

[ccanary]

T'Sarra Khonnor 

HP 246/246  | AC 40(+1 vs robots) |  Fort (19) - Reflex (21) - Will (19)  |  Init: 14 

 

 

 

 

---

T'Sarra's also winced and nearly collapsed from the pain. She realized that she wasn't the focus of this giant robot's attention, but that this other woman was. She was the target of the pain, and therefore a possible ally.

She tried to move in towards the woman being tortured, trying to get to her, trying to help. Before moving she cast a spell, taking on an aspect of divinity, growing to a large size and moving towards the woman.

---

Move: Towards woman

Standard: cast Divine Vessel if possible after fort. save - gain a +8 size bonus to Strength and +6 to Constitution, a +3 natural armor bonus, darkvision 60 ft., and spell resistance of 32. Also damage reduction 10/chaotic, resist cold 10, electricity 10, and fire 10, a +4 bonus on saves against poison, low-light vision, and a fly speed of 60 feet (good maneuverability). She gains 2 slam attacks dealing 1d6 points of damage each. Her natural weapons and any weapons you wield are considered lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

 

Edited January 19 by ccanary (see edit history)

[madMonk]

Rain-in-Summer in Dreams

HP 225/225 

AC 33 T 18 FF 30

Fort 17 Ref 15 Will 30

Init 13

_______________

Rain grimaces, bending over double and clutching at her abdomen. “Ow, ow, ow.” Rain glares at the angel-robot thing. In an attempt to stop the pain, she reaches out towards the spirits, trying to see if she can channel them and cast her magic in this strange dreamscape.

[Fort save: 28]

Edited January 19 by madMonk (see edit history)

[Wiz]

Val looks around, and for the first time she notices Domino.  Despite the pain, she crawls forward.  "Domino... you're alive!  I was looking for you.  Is this real?"  Suddenly the whole, strange computer/tech torture bed situation seems totally irrelevant.

Edited January 20 by Wiz (see edit history)

[iantruesilver]

(( Barhuce, Rain-in-Summer, Val, and Vrilundass are stunned ))

 

Domino Only

Besides the fact that the jagged metallic peak called Silver Mount is possibly the site of Numeria's largest technological ruin says nothing about what you see in front of you.  The ruin is jealously guarded by a cult known as the Technic League, a cult that by their association with the Black Sovereign, may as well be the effective government of Numeria in all but name.  Perhaps this creature has something to do with their organization?

 

Though you have never seen this device before, you can only surmise from all the wicked looking implements mounted upon it that it is something designed not only for torture, but to also evoke fear.  Whether or not that is its specific purpose, or if it's actually ancillary to perhaps some kind of surgery or research, you can only imagine.

 

”I am your God, Casandalee."  The angelic creature continues, her voice calm and benevolent.

 

"Cast off your defective illogic, my child, revoke your senseless denial, and surrender to me.”  The voice transitions from being one of reason, to outright ominous and carrying an dark, rumbling timbre, carefully enunciating each syllable and emphasizing certain words with clear effect.

 

At this precise moment, something changes in the air around you.  The machine that had held the woman captive detatches itself from her, retracting into nothingness.  Simultaneously, several others take shape, each materializing out of thin air, clamping its sickly spines around Barhuce, Rain, Val, and Vri.

 

“Rid these worthless mortals of their meaningless existence,"  As the creature speaks, an unrecognizable, sickly weapon appears in the silent woman's hand.  Just now, something underneath the woman's skin begins to glow, a bright maze of azure light filtering through her otherwise fair complexion.

 

The weapon in her hand vaguely resembles a firearm of some kind.  A similar engine of destruction fills Domino's palm, where before there was nothing.  "And I shall liberate you from uncertainty.”

 

(( Domino please roll a Will Save ))

Edited February 11 by iantruesilver (see edit history)