• Graded • Mixed Messengers

Part II of The Global

The Misty Miasma is known best as a dark bedtime story, but others know all too well that the stories of this mystifying, deadly place are undoubtedly true. Adventurers keep wary eyes upon the horizon, wondering if and when they'll run into the stanch waters of the misty miasma. No one knows when they'll come across it. All they can do is hope they are prepared and pray they never find themselves within this place...

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Robin Stark
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Mixed Messengers

Robin watched the orbs hovering. They swayed just above the group. Ink blots with lazy tar wings.

" - "

Silence was foreign. He could feel a gentle breeze, damp with morning, but it said nothing. The earth, sprouting grass and strange trees, sturdy with soil and stone, said nothing. His legs wobbled under his weight; the ground didn't move to balance him. He dared a step, slow, slowly, moving under the sphere's shadow.

And then he noticed Finn.

He was explaining, his arms fluttering around, pointing at the bugs and then at the idiot and the bird. The bugs fluttered, shiny bits of color, hovering over something he couldn't see. He didn't care. The bugs seemed to be important. The group, the boy, the blond, and the wings, talked a bit before the the man reached towards the dazzling sprite-bugs and smashing one into his arm.

And then he started screaming.

He looked at the marks on his own arms. Purple splotches that ran down his body like a rash.

Did Finn have the answer? Even the strange woman with the delicate wings seemed put together.

"Finn! FINN," Robin yelled, waving his arms, stumbling towards the youth. "How -- Can you give me the elements back? How did you know?"

Robin would listen to the boy who'd become his friends. They'd been sent by the same god; of course, so had Nir'wei and Robin wasn't thrilled about that.
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Maltruism
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It was fortunate that Tio had aided Navyri in regaining her true identity and restoring her owl before he reached into his pocket for his orb. He was entirely correct that it was "his" orb. If he had not been entirely sure already, the elusive effort the orb now spent thrashing around in its tight space to avoid the man's hand would confirm his suspicion.

The reason that it mattered about Navyri was that she too, was drawn up into the effect of a winner being decided. After informing the newly awakened Davic that he could keep the marbles, so long as he used them to help the others, Tio reached in to take hold of the orb. Where the slippery little sphere had been pulling the pocket of Tio's jacket to and fro to break free, it now grew to engulf Tio, jacket, pocket and all. It then shimmered internally, flashing distorted reflections of an hundred different, distant locations, and then vanished in an implosive fashion.

This same effect extended suddenly to Navyri and Curio, who would have remained switched had Tio not helped them switch back first. Her orb, previously doing everything in its power to avoid her, suddenly rushed in upon her, expanding as it arrived, to swallow her into its depths, as its internal patterns swirled and coalesced in seemingly random patterns. It too, then, shrank in a blink into apparent nonexistence.

Zana was also swiftly encapsulated within her orb and whisked off to the same distant location. She however, had not been relieved of the curse she'd gained from Tio. The same curse that had been placed upon him by Delroth, who, in his infinite patience and benevolence, was sure to be immensely amused by this turn of events.

The remaining four men - well, three men and Finn - may have spent the next few moments in alternating states of fascination and dread as they awaited the same fate at the hands of their orbs. But their orbs simply sat where they were. Handor, still in Finn's body, explained to Nir'wei, Robin and Davic what he had previously explained to Tio about the bugs and their colors, and took more notes as they went through a similar routine to restore their Defier magic correctly.

He was, however, unable to shed any light on why their three orbs did not behave in the same manner as had Tio, Navyri and Zana's. He could only assume they shared some connection outside of the orb contest itself. One of the orbs that he'd been holding had turned out to be Navyri's. It had sprung free from him the moment Tio had ended the contest, to react with Navyri and her owl. The other had the image of a mountain shimmering in its depths.

That orb had not tried to win free of his hold. He offered it to the three others to see which one it would react with. When Robin touched it, the orb melted into a liquid form and poured from Handor/Finn's hand to pool at Robin's feet. Any initial disappointment, at what might have seemed like a complete shut-down of whatever magic had empowered it, was quickly dispelled when the this pool of dark liquid rose up to shift through a number of bodily forms.

It stopped at that of a large burrowing rodent, and immediately dug into the soil. Robin would suddenly be connected to this entity through his defier tie with the earth, as it surged like a robust worm through the dirt. A strong flash of rejoicing sang in Stark's mind as the entity flew through layers of soil and stone. And then, all at once, it composed an intelligent series of images, displaying how the four of them needed to return to "the structure" to be able to go home. It then flashed a vision of it returning to its orb form and being picked up and held as it went with its new friend back to the world. The worm-like form rose from the soil, its trailing length following the inertial flow to pour back into a single sphere again, lying at Robin's feet.

Nir'wei's orb sank into its inner squirrel image, to become opaque and solid. The creature then displayed the same celebratory attitude as it rushed through the trees as if newly freed from some prison. Nir'wei might suddenly experience a dizziness similar to when the insects had bitten him to "inflict" Robin's magic upon him. But this was in concert with an unexpected visual viewpoint that the Sev'ryn realized was his being able to see through the dark squirrel's eyes.

It bounded around for some trills before joining, literally, with Archailist's shadow. Nir'wei's long-term companion did not seem to be upset by this connection, and even went so far as to suddenly confirm that returning to their chambers would allow them to go back to sleep, whereupon they would awaken back in the regular world.

Davic would have been taking care to keep the midges enrapt with the marbles as the others settled their imbalances. He'd find that he'd need to leave four of the truly mesmerizing "Siren" marbles behind to keep the bugs from creating new chaos. But he was able to keep the other six, as well as the ten simply "glowing" ones, and the four "Mood" marbles.

When his orb burst to display some purpose, all it did was engulf him, much as the three Delroth contestants' orbs had done. But instead of whisking him off to some new phase of adventure, it just seemed to sink into him, leaving no outward trace of its presence, but also giving no indication of what the man had gained by this. Davic could tell, however, that he could compel the presence to leave him and reform into an orb that he could then carry separately, so he knew there must be some effect. Perhaps some future incident would reveal what this effect was.

As the three returned to their rooms in hopes of finding that they really would reawaken in the real world, Handor sighed and pulled the insect containing Finn's identity from his pocket. "Well, I guess there's no reason to keep you stuck here. I know how I can leave, but you probably need to leave with them. Besides, your orb won't respond until it's you." He "injected" himself with the bug's stinger, and Finn found himself restored to his body.

When the youngster picked up the orb, he could feel a connection of sorts form, but there was no immediate reaction. He followed the familiar figures of Nir'wei and Robin, as well as the unfamiliar figure of Davic, back to the odd circular structure. It was not until he found the door to his section of the structure locked that the orb reacted. It suddenly formed the shape of a key that fit perfectly into the lock to spring the door. There were no other locks to try it out on, but when he awoke back in the world, that would change.
 ! Message from: Maltruism
Okay folks, this ends round two of the global. Work has been a flood lately and I need to hit the sack. I will get around to the additional details I need to address in a day or two. Those of you who have gone on to the next round were sent there by the power of your orbs, and will not be getting the little "consolation prizes" the others got. But you will ALL get a special opportunity to make some slight one-time adjustments to your PC's character sheets. I will explain later. goodnight. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Come and get your Loot!

(There's plenty more where that came from)

BE SURE TO READ MOD NOTE AT THE BOTTOM


TIO SILVER:
XP Rewards: +20

These points can NOT be used for magic.

Knowledges:

  • Acrobatics: Leaping to Grab a Hovering Orb
  • Deception: Offering More Reward Than You Can Afford
  • Detection: Focusing on a Single Thing Makes Others go Unnoticed
  • Detection: One Orb for Each Person Present
  • Handor: The One That Explained How To Restore The Midge Bites
  • Intelligence: How To Restore Needle Midge Bites' Confusion
  • Intelligence: The Orbs Avoid Their "Target" Contestant
  • Leadership: Calm Down the Ones Losing Their Composure
  • Leadership: Trying to Get Competitors to Cooperate
  • Location: The Misty Miasma
  • Misty Miasma Creature: Needle Midges
  • Needle Midges: Their Bite Gives or Takes a Person's Characteristics
  • Needle Midges: The Color of Their Bite Indicates What Was Changed
  • NPC: Handor: An Entomologist That Got Put in Finn's Body
  • PC: Davic: A Man Who Got Control of the Midges With Your Siren Marbles
  • PC: Finn O'Connor: A Kid Who Also Got His Identity Stolen
  • PC: Navyri: Black-Haired Girl with Wings and an Owl Companion
  • PC: Nir'wei: Sev'ryn Man With a Wolf Companion That Bites
  • PC: Robin Stark: A Mixed-Blood Wind Mage at Least
  • PC: Zana: Conceited, Narcissistic Blonde Woman
  • Psychology: The Anxiety of Not Knowing Who You Are, or Were
  • Psychology: The Realization that Your Curse is Gone
  • Psychology: Restored identity Gives a New Appreciation of Self
  • Running: Chasing a Flying Orb Through a Forest
  • Tactic: Grabbing Another's Orb to Encourage Trading

Loot:

A chance to compete in Round 3 of the Global


Loss:

Your Bag of Marbles


Injuries:

a Bunch of Bug Bites


Fame: +5

Assuming You tell stories of this in future taverns

___________________________________________________________

NAVYRI:
XP Rewards: +20

These points can NOT be used for magic.

Knowledges:

  • Acrobatics: The Painful Ordeal of Learning to Land
  • Deception: Feigning Cooperation While Plotting for Personal Gain
  • Detection: Recognizing The Look of the Misty Miasma
  • Detection: One Orb for Each Person Present
  • Discipline: Refraining From Killing the Wretched Midges
  • Flying: Chasing a Small Orb Through Tree Branches
  • Handor: The One That Explained How To Restore The Midge Bites
  • Intelligence: How To Restore Needle Midge Bites' Confusion
  • Intelligence: The Orbs Avoid Their "Target" Contestant
  • Location: The Misty Miasma
  • Misty Miasma Creature: Needle Midges
  • Needle Midges: Their Bite Gives or Takes a Person's Characteristics
  • Needle Midges: The Color of Their Bite Indicates What Was Changed
  • NPC: Handor: An Entomologist That Got Put in Finn's Body
  • PC: Davic: A Man Who Got Control of the Midges With Tio's Marbles
  • PC: Finn O'Connor: A Kid Who Also Got His Identity Stolen
  • PC: Nir'wei: Sev'ryn Man With a Wolf Companion That Bites
  • PC: Robin Stark: A Mixed-Blood Wind Mage at Least
  • PC: Tio Silver: A Human Who Helped You Restore Your Identity
  • PC: Zana: Conceited, Narcissistic Blonde Woman
  • Persuasion: Keeping Your Owl From Turning Your Head Too Far
  • Psychology: The Anxiety of Having Your Body Switched with Another
  • Psychology: Restored identity Gives a New Appreciation of Self
  • Tactics: Offering Flattery to the Orbs, in Case Delroth is Listening

Loot:

A chance to compete in Round 3 of the Global


Loss:

Nothing really


Injuries:

Lots of Bug Bites


Fame: +5

Assuming you tell stories of this in future taverns

___________________________________________________________

ZANA:
XP Rewards: +18
(Sorry, only 3 posts.)
These points can NOT be used for magic.

Knowledges:

  • Breath of Life: Doesn't Work Well in the Misty Miasma
  • Detection: One Orb for Each Person Present
  • Discipline: Staying Cool When Nature Doesn't Accommodate You
  • Endurance: Suffering the Indignity of a Natural Setting
  • Intelligence: The Orbs Avoid Their "Target" Contestant
  • Intelligence: The Orbs Can Bite
  • Location: The Misty Miasma
  • Misty Miasma Creature: Needle Midges
  • NPC: Handor: An Entomologist That Got Put in a Kid's Body
  • Needle Midges: Their Bite Gives or Takes a Person's Characteristics
  • Needle Midges: The Color of Their Bite Indicates What Was Changed
  • PC: Davic: A Man Who Got Control of the Midges With Tio's Marbles
  • PC: Navyri: Winged Girl with an Owl Pet
  • PC: Nir'wei: Sev'ryn Man With a Wolf Companion That Bites
  • PC: Robin Stark: Might be a Wind Mage (You don't actually know his name)
  • PC: Tio Silver: A Human Who Helped Navyri
  • Psychology: Self-Indulgence is the Right of Superior People
  • Tactic: Combining Your Vanity with Delroth Shrine for Dual Flattery

Loot:

A chance to compete in Round 3 of the Global


Loss:

You have gained Tio's gold-eating curse. :lol:


Injuries:

A nasty squirrel bite.


Fame: +5

You will probably tell distorted, self-glorifying versions of this tale to impress those beneath you. :roll:

___________________________________________________________

NIR'WEI:
XP Rewards: +20

These points can NOT be used for magic.

Knowledges:

  • Acrobatics: Not Falling When you Awaken on Your Feet
  • Detection: One Orb for Each Person Present
  • Detection: Thetros' Candle Worked
  • Discipline: Get Fully Prepared Before You Begin
  • Endurance: Having a Strange Wind Elemental Pestering You
  • Intelligence: Some Magics Don't Work Well in the Misty Miasma
  • Intelligence: The Orbs Avoid Their "Target" Contestant
  • Intimidation: Trading Threats with Robin Stark
  • Location: The Misty Miasma
  • Misty Miasma Creature: Needle Midges
  • NPC: Handor: An Entomologist That Got Put in Finn's Body
  • Needle Midges: Their Bite Gives or Takes a Person's Characteristics
  • Needle Midges: The Color of Their Bite Indicates What Was Changed
  • PC: Davic: A Man Who Got Control of the Midges With Tio's Marbles
  • PC: Finn O'Connor: Got His Body Switched with Some Entomologist
  • PC: Navyri: Winged Girl with an Owl Pet
  • PC: Robin Stark: A Wind Mage That May be Crazy
  • PC: Tio Silver: Human That "Finn" Helped Figure it Out
  • PC: Zana: Conceited Blonde Bitch
  • Psychology: Competitive Cooperation Can Not be Trusted
  • Psychology: Easy to Blame Robin for the Wind Problem
  • Tactics: Holding Back to Gauge the Wits of Your Competition First
  • Tactics: Every Additional Set of Eyes is an Advantage
  • Zana: Tried to Mind-Control Robin

Loot:

"Forest Orb" - Allows Nir'wei to "connect" and see through the eyes of squirrels within 1 mile of himself. Use of this orb, however, has a cumulative nature-corrupting effect that spreads from any squirrels so targeted.


Loss:

A place in the Global :(


Injuries:

Nothing to speak of


Fame: +5

Good for a story in some future tavern

___________________________________________________________

ROBIN STARK:
XP Rewards: +20

These points CAN be used for magic.

Knowledges:

  • Defiance: Air Dancing: Whirling Tunnel
  • Defiance: Sending the Wind to Gather Orbs
  • Detection: One Orb for Each Person Present
  • Detection: Thetros' Candle Worked
  • Finn O'Connor: Grabbed for More Than One Orb
  • Handor: Helped You Get You Defiance Back
  • Intelligence: The Orbs Avoid Their "Target" Contestant
  • Location: The Misty Miasma
  • Meditation: Zana's Failed Mind Control Gives You Confidence
  • Misty Miasma Creature: Needle Midges
  • NPC: Handor: An Entomologist That Got Put in Finn's Body
  • Needle Midges: Their Bite Gives or Takes a Person's Characteristics
  • Needle Midges: The Color of Their Bite Indicates What Was Changed
  • PC: Davic: A Man Who Got Control of the Midges With Tio's Marbles
  • PC: Finn O'Connor: Acted Like a Different Person, Because He Was
  • PC: Navyri: Winged Woman with an Owl Pet
  • PC: Nir'wei: Sev'ryn That Was Grouped With You by Thetros
  • PC: Tio Silver: The Guy That Knocked Your Orb Away
  • PC: Zana: The Beautiful Woman That Got Bit by an Orb
  • Psychology: Easy to Blame Nir'wei for Your Loss of Defiance
  • Psychology: Seeing How the Wind Misses You When Lost
  • Psychology: The Terror of Losing Your Defiant Connection
  • Tactics: Offering to Trade Orbs Brought Down by The Wind

Loot:

"Mud Spirit Orb" - A playful elemental entity of earth and water.


Loss:

The chance to compete in Round 3 of the Global


Injuries:

Lots of bug bites


Fame: +5

assuming you will tell stories of this in future taverns

___________________________________________________________

FINN O'CONNOR:
XP Rewards: +15
(Sorry, only 2 posts)
These points can NOT be used for magic.

Knowledges:

  • Detection: One Orb for Each Person Present
  • Detection: Others' Strange Behavior is a Good Reason to Leave
  • Detection: Thetros' Candle Worked
  • Field Craft: An Impromptu Walking Stick is Still Helpful
  • Field Craft: The Smell of Rot is Never a Good Sign
  • Intelligence: Get a Lay of the Land
  • Intelligence: The Orbs Avoid Their "Target" Contestant
  • Location: The Misty Miasma
  • Misty Miasma Creature: Needle Midges
  • Needle Midges: Their Bite Gives or Takes a Person's Characteristics
  • Needle Midges: The Color of Their Bite Indicates What Was Changed
  • Nir'wei: Sev'ryn That Was Grouped With You by Thetros
  • Psychology: Being Swapped With a Personality called "Handor"
  • Psychology: The Terror of Feeling Your Identity Fade
  • Robin Stark: Claimed He Had his Magic Stolen by Midges
  • Running: Maintaining Inertia is Vital in Mud

Loot:

"Magic Orb Key" - This orb will transform into a key that can unlock any non-magically-charged lock. However, it leaves a magic aura of its own that is unique and memorable to those that have some reason to take note of it.


Loss:

A chance to compete in Round 3 of the Global


Injuries:

Bug bites


Fame: +5

Surely you will try to one-up Zipper with exaggerated tales of saving the entire group from giant man-eating insects. :lol:

___________________________________________________________

DAVIC:


Comments:

Davic Specifically: I'm really sorry dude, but I have PMed you a couple times about needing to get your CS approved before you can get grades and awards. You even responded to other parts of those PMs but never addressed this issue. I will hold grades and such in hopes you will get this done, and am certainly willing to help you work out whatever details are holding this up.

The Rest of You There is a last part of this Round to settle amongst the three members of the Delroth group. I gave knowledge of each other, with only a few exceptions, figuring you'd recognize each other if nothing else. Finn was still out of body when Tio, Navyri and Zana were whisked away, so he did not gain this, and Zana stated not knowing a name or two. Other than that, I figured the four remaining guys would most likely exchange names before returning to their chambers to fall asleep. They will wake back up wherever they were before this began.
I enjoyed this tremendously. I think you all played your shock, confusion and desperation very believably. I took it for granted that Nir'wei and Robin ultimately realized their accusations toward each other were unfounded. But that was great! :lol: PM me if you feel I overlooked anything.
 ! Message from: Maltruism
Okay, so here's the deal - On the basis that there were midge bites that were not immediately noticed, what with the shock of some of the major switches that needed to be corrected, you have all "suffered" some changes to your skill sets and/or languages and/or memories (knowledges). Some of the bites took aspects of your characters, and some bestowed aspects stolen from past victims of the misty Miasma. You can all switch up to 10 points worth of xp from up to 3 skills to up to 3 others. The ones you put these mobile points into CAN be something entirely new to your PC. You must take into account the point-cost ratio of the higher skill tiers, if these points put a skill into a higher tier. Also, you must have sufficient knowledge to move up to a higher tier.

With this in mind, as an alternative to skills, you may switch knowledges instead, or combine the two to a total of 10 total changes. Maybe you need a couple more knowledges in a skill to unlock the next tier. Well, now is your chance. Now, I know what you're thinking...what a great chance to dump a bunch of crappy, non-skill-related knowledges in exchange for something awesome! I mean, why keep "Linika: A Real Bitch", when you could have "Battle Axe: Decapitation Swing", right? Well, I sympathize, but that kind of exchange will cost you twice the non-skill type knowledges, if exchanged for skill types. This means up to 10 non-skill types to gain only a maximum of 5 skill types.

As an example, Finn O'Connor chose to "cash out" 8 non-skill knowledges for 4 "Acting" skill knowledges:
  • Old Fred: When will he ever give up + Robert (NPC): Unscrupulous employer => Acting: imitating an old man.
  • NPC: Magge, Orphanage Care Giver + Magge: Middle-Aged, Sweet, but Stern => Acting: imitating an old woman
  • Fridgar: can only count to ten + Fridgar: Thinks you should fight with Tunawa => Acting: Remembering Your Lines
  • Immortal: Ilaren: Does not like to be irritated + Immortal: Ilaren: You irritated her. => Acting: feigning irritation.
And as yet another alternative, you may take up to 2 new languages at a cost of 5 points placed into each. These will, of course, be "Broken", but they can be rare and difficult if you wish. OR you can place points into languages you already have, in hope of increasing your fluency all the sooner.

PM me with what you propose to change, and I will either approve it, or advise an alternative.

Ooh, ooh! One last detail brought up...The skills and such you are awarded from this very thread are NOT available to be switched. They are part of where you stand after what the midges did to you.
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