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| TM and © 2017 Monte Cook Games, LLC. |
The crew of the Toybox take mysterious shadow paths and experience interesting scenes. Are they memories of the crews' past? Are they dreams? Are they something else altogether?
What follows is an account of the events during a session of my Toybox Campaign. This summary is written out in a prose format which may, for the sake of telling a story to a wider audience, take liberties with the events.
Any internal thoughts I portray the characters as having are my assumptions rather than confirmed by my players. Any future conflicts of personality are more likely a result of my assumptions, rather than actual player inconsistency.
If you want to stay updated on the events of the Toybox crew, but don't want to read through the whole prose write-up, a summary follows at the end.
If you want to start the story from the beginning, check out the first episode.
If you want to see what just happened, check out the previous episode.
If you want to continue the story, check out the next episode.
For more information on the Toybox Campaign, check out the Toybox Homepage.
Episode Main Cast
Episode 108
Shadow Play
"We're over here!," Jack called out to the figure that appeared to be Alal.
"It's not him," the blue-clad man said.
"It's not?" Jack asked.
"No," the blue-clad man answered.
"Oh," Jack said.
"Is it not?" User questioned.
"As far as we know," the blue-clad man said. "Since there were two of them, I'm assuming it's not him. But, you never know; it could be him from the future."
"Two of him?" Jack asked, scratching his head. "Oh."
"Or the past," User offered.
"True," the blue-clad man agreed.
"Or the present!" Scarlet suggested.
"What if our Alal is future Alal?" Jack asked.
"That's what I was wondering," Clio said.
"Or past Alal," Jack continued. "Oh my gods! Why did we have to find that time traveling faerie friend?"
"So what did we miss?" Sara asked.
"Apparently there's two Alals," Jack said.
"Assuming they're not the same person, actually," the blue-clad man said.
"I only see one right now," Jack said.
"The other one just went back in the Toybox with Katrin," the blue-clad man explained.
"Has he said anything to you?" Jack asked.
"Many things!" the figure answered. "Well, not to them, of course."
"He said stuff, then he blasted Alal and Clio with shadow..." the blue-clad man started.
"With shadow energy?" Jack asked.
"Yeah," the blue-clad man answered.
"I think that means we don't like him," Jack said.
"Well, it didn't seem to hurt," the blue-clad man said.
"What's going on, Ilyas?" User asked.
"Ilyas isn't here right now," the figure answered. "It would be tough to say if Ilyas is or isn't real right now anyway. It's a very complicated issue. But, you're here, you have sought me out, and for what purpose?"
"So...Alal's real name is Ilyas?" Jack questioned.
"Well...real?" the blue-clad man asked.
"Apparently, that's complicated," Sara said.
"That's what Vinka's people think his name is," the blue-clad man explained. "Whether that's his real name or not..."
"Or if he doesn't remember that person, is he really that person?" Clio asked.
"Okay, now we're just getting to details that don't matter," the blue-clad man said.
"This stuff is all very confusing to me," Jack said. He turned to the figure. "So, we sought you out, apparently?"
"You came here, didn't you?" the figure asked.
"We didn't seek you out, we came for what's in the cave," User said.
"And here I am."
"Alright, so, come with us," User said.
The figure looked to User, a gleam in its eyes. "Would you accept me coming with you?"
"Why is Vinka looking for you?" Clio asked.
"Vinka believes that I will be useful to her objectives. She believes that she can use me to bring about her vision of the world."
"Can she?"
"I believe that Vinka and I will come to an agreement, of sorts."
"Are you and Alal the same person?" Clio asked.
"I would say that Alal participates in me."
"Where do you come from?" Clio continued.
He looked to the tube of shadowy material moving in the tube that stretched from floor to ceiling, and made a vague wave of his arm towards it. He then turned back to the group.
"The one known as User had said that he wished for me to go with you," the figure said.
"Where are we taking him?" Jack asked.
"User, is that still your wish?" the figure asked.
"I think you should walk with us," User said.
"Can you leave this room?" Clio asked.
"I can leave this room with people, but I can't walk out of it."
"Do you have to possess someone?"
"Possess is a rather hard word," the figure said.
"But, not inaccurate?" User questioned.
"My energy can be carried out within people," the figure said.
"Can it be carried within things?" Jack questioned. "Does it have to be a person?"
"It depends on the nature of the thing. I'm aware of a box that you have that I could travel in if you would let me into it."
"How do you know about it?" Scarlet asked. "What makes you think that you could travel in it?"
"I sense it," the figure answered.
"What do you sense?"
"Energy. Power. Rules and structures."
"I don't trust this thing," Scarlet whispered. "I think it's a trap."
"I wouldn't let him into the box," the blue-clad man whispered. "Not that we could if we wanted to."
"Would you be able to get in and out of the box at will?" Jack asked the figure. "Because we can't."
"I don't think we want him in the box," User said.
"I agree," Scarlet concurred.
"If one of you willingly invited me into the box, I would be able to freely pass into it," the figure said to Jack. "But, what would you ask of me? You have come here, and I am..."
"What's keeping you from leaving on your own?" the blue-clad man asked.
"I do not very well interact with your world, within itself," the figure said. "So, in order to reside within your world, I need valid energies with which I can coalesce in order to..."
"Host?" User suggested.
"Sure," the figure said. "If you would like that word."
"If one of us were so inclined to let you come with us..." the blue-clad man started.
"Why would you do that?" User asked.
"Well, I'm just asking," the blue-clad man said. "That is why we came here, afterall. I'm just asking if it would be necessarily safe for us."
"What do you mean by safe?" the figure asked.
"I mean, if you're going to reside within us, would that cause any physical harm to us?" the blue-clad man asked.
"Or any lasting effects to the mental, psychological, emotional...anything," Sara added.
"Don't all of your companions cause some effect to who you become?" the figure countered.
"Yeah, but if you're energy, bringing energy into one's body is not necessarily a safe thing to do," the blue-clad man explained.
"It's true," the figure said. "I agree. I think there are some who have not survived it."
"Who would be in control?" Clio asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Who would control the body?"
"The existing entity would," the figure answered.
"That was almost vague enough to not answer the question," the blue-clad man said.
"Would you control it, or would the person who originally had the body control it?" Scarlet asked.
"The two would be potentially inseparable," the figure said. "But, you seem disinterested in this deal, so is there anything else I can do for you?"
"We're not disinterested," Scarlet clarified. "We're uninterested."
"Very well."
"You could not help Vinka," Clio suggested.
"Vinka may be able to provide me with things that I have interest in," the figure answered.
"Why do you even want to interact with this world?" User asked.
"Would you have me show you?" the figure asked, looking at User.
"You might as well," User said.
The figure raised its hand, and shadows poured out, covering User. User could see before him a desolate desert world, filled with darkness. The sky stretched on with nothingness forever. Fountains of shadows burst from the ground. Then the vision ended.
"User, what did you see?" Clio asked.
"A desolate world," User answered. "Empty. Brown."
"This is, of course, the best that I might hope for," the figure said. "I will never be able to restore things to how I believe they once were."
"So desolation is what you want?" Jack asked.
"Of course," the figure answered. "I mean, not desolation for desolation's sake. This world is offensive."
"Well, as offensive as it may be, I live in it," Jack said.
"And I'm not telling you to stop," the shadow Alal said. "I'm not telling you to bring about what I wish for. I am asking if there is anything I can do for you."
"Not bring about desolation, thank you," Jack said.
"I understand there is a place you are trying to get to," the figure said.
"Yes..." the blue-clad man said, hesitantly.
"I can help you reach that place more quickly," the figure answered.
"How do you know where we're going?" Scarlet asked.
"I have seen it," the figure answered.
"Where is it?" Scarlet questioned.
"Physically, according to your world standards..."
"Rather, what is it?" Scarlet asked.
"You are seeking a tower, and an artifact that resides there," the figure answered.
"How do you see this place?" Clio asked.
"You've all thought about it," the figure answered simply.
"Can you read our minds?" Clio asked.
"I can see things," the figure responded. "I can't see everything."
"Why do you want to be in this world, and not in your own?" User asked.
"Do I have my own?" the figure countered.
"We don't know, do you?" Scarlet asked.
"Well, you just said that where the tower, in this world, is different than in your world," User said.
"No, I simply state that for me the measurements of distance are not the same. It's not a matter of worlds, but there are shadowpaths that connect my various places of residence and I can send you down one of these, which will bring you closer to the place that you seek."
"You exist in other places?" Clio asked.
"Yes. Where did you think we met before?"
"Is Alal your only host currently?"
"That would be telling."
"So, if we were to invite you out, what benefit do you gain from that?" the blue-clad man asked.
"I have more places. I exist in more spaces."
"If this is the same thing that has influences with Alal, then he seems to be, more or less in control of that," the blue-clad man reasoned.
"To be fair, we don't know what happened with him before," Clio said.
"That's fair," the blue-clad man said.
"The question is, how long can he contain such a force?" User asked.
"There are questions you may wish to ask him," the figure said. "Of things that he may or may not be coming to know, before you make a decision about my presence or lack thereof. If you take the shadowpaths, then the place where they let out will be another place I reside. If your friend comes across during that time, then you would be able to discuss with him before or while you're at that place, so that you could make that decision."
"Or we could just not take the shadowpaths, and wait till he comes out of the box later, and discuss this with him," Jack suggested.
"Well, it's still better than sitting here," the blue-clad man said.
"We don't have to just sit here," Jack said. "Is there only one way out of this cave?"
"Yes," the blue-clad man answered. "Back towards the giant shadow creature that's attacking the army outside."
"Blue, what did the army want with the Cave of Shadows?" User asked.
"Presumably the power that he's offering," the blue-clad man said.
"I think we should take the shadowpath," User said.
"Yeah, that sounds like a better idea than the monster," the blue-clad man agreed.
"That's fair," Scarlet said. "It couldn't get any worse."
"Take us to the place," Jack said.
The figure put out his hands, and shadows poured out, crashing over the Toybox crew. For one moment before the shadows overtook them, Alal vanished and they could see a larger humanoid shadow creature standing in his place. Then, everything went dark.
Shadowpath and Black Building
The shadowpaths were dark and cold. In the light of User's torch, they could see swirling grey mist moving through the black void. So far as they could tell, the path seemed open in all directions."Let's just think of a happy place, and start walking towards where we think this happy place is," Jack said.
As they began to walk, there was a great resistance against them, like walking along the bottom of an ocean floor against the tide.
Slowly, a hard stone path seemed to emerge from the void beneath them. The stone was flat and solid, but thin and direct enough to be a clear path. As they contined to walk, they could see grass emerging from the dark alongside it.
A pain shot through Clio's left hand. She looked down at it, and noticed a blood-scar starting in the middle of the palm of her hand and spiraling outward, stretching all the way up to her elbow. The pain dissipated once the scar had fully appeared. The scar looked like it had been long-scarred over.
"Is something wrong with your arm?" Scarlet asked.
"I have a scar that starts on my hand and goes up my arm," Clio answered.
"I don't see anything," Scarlet responded.
"Now I just sound crazy," Clio lamented.
"I believe you," Scarlet said.
"I don't!" Jack inserted. "Arm looks pretty normal to me."
As they continued to walk along the path, a clearing emerged from the shadows.
"I know that this is supposed to be a shortcut, but I think we should keep moving as fast as we can," User said.
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| TM and © 2017 Monte Cook Games, LLC. |
One of the creatures began to move towards the group. They could see in the front of the hood, where there would be a face on a normal person, was a vertical metal and glass disk.
The group began to move faster along the path, but the creature swept up alongside them, gliding over the clearing.
When it spoke, its voice was mechanical and in a language that, of those present, only Clio could understand. "You are in error."
"What did he say?" Scarlet whispered.
"He said 'you are in error,'" Clio translated.
"Is that like the place, or are we doing something wrong?" Scarlet asked.
"Why?" Clio asked of the creature, using the same language it had addressed her in.
"You are different than you are were," the being said.
Clio began to wonder if she understood that correctly.
"When you were here right now before," the being explained.
"It's talking about time travel stuff," Clio said.
"Of course it is," the blue-clad man sighed.
"I will give you a gift," the being said. "And you will return to this place when the time is right."
"Okay," Clio said.
A metallic arm extended from within the robe, holding out what appeared to be a key. Clio took the key from it.
"Do not forget to return here when the time is right," the being insisted. "But before that time, you must go to the world beyond the Great Reach. Find Chandra."
"It gave me a present," Clio explained for the others. "It told me I must return here when the time comes, but before that I must go beyond the Great Reach and find Chandra." She turned back towards the enigmatic being. "How will I know when the time is right?"
"When the apples meet the leaves," he said.
"When will the apples meet the leaves?" Clio asked.
"When the fire is begun on the face, but is not reached the edges," the being answered.
"So much more clear now," Clio said. "Thank you. I'll be going. Oh, wait, what is the key for?"
"Opening the way for the child's building blocks," the being answered.
With this answer in hand, the group continued on along the path. Eventually, they found that the path faded once more into shadow. The scar along Clio's arm disappeared as they did so.
"What's the Great Reach?" Sara asked, as the group walked through the shadows.
"It's a hole in Vendernovem," Clio explained, recalling the facts, but no memory of the place or any experiences she may have had concerning it. "I think it's relatively new. Within the last fifteen years or so. It's a pathway between two different civilized areas that were completely separated before."
Aquatic Puzzling
The shadows gave way for an underwater environment. Despite that water surrounded them, they still felt that they were able to breathe. Jack waved his arms around to see if he could swim, but walking seemed to be the way forward. The blue-clad man found that he was wearing a different blue outfit, but he said nothing of this to anyone else.Scarlet did not emerge with them into the underwater world. She had either been sucked into the Toybox, or had been lost to the shadows. Either way, they would not be able to find the truth until they escaped the shadowpath, so they kept moving.
They came to an underwater cave with a dark entryway. Flanking either side of the entrance were statues that looked exactly like the figures that were on the odd building in the last gap in the shadow path. Like the being that spoke with Clio.
"Is one of you going to tell us that the other lies?" Jack asked.
The statues didn't answer.
"Well, there goes that idea," Jack said. "Someone throw...well...I guess there are no rocks here, are there?"
"Even if there were, I think we should leave them alone," the blue-clad man said.
"Well, if we wait until we're right between them, then they could crush us," Jack suggested. Jack poked one as they moved past, but it didn't move.
In the cave, the group came to an underwater chamber. On the wall across from the hall where they came in, there were three doors. On the ground in front of the doors was etched writing of an unknown language.
Clio moved towards it, and began to decipher it in her mind. "It says something like, 'the water must be moved from one evenly to two.'"
Looking through the door on the left, they found a room that was 40 feet across and 100 feet long, filled with water. On the left-hand wall, there was a bronze lever. On the right-hand wall was a silver one. The center door led to a room that was 25 feet across and 100 feet long, but there was no water here. Even the water from the room they'd come from seemed to be held back, as if by an invisible force field. In the middle room, along the left-hand wall was a golden lever, while on the right-hand wall there was a bronze one. The third set of doors led to a room that was 15 feet across and 100 feet long, also empty of water. The left-hand side of this room had a silver lever, while the right-hand side had a gold lever.
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| 1 square=5 feet |
To begin with, the group pulled the silver lever in the leftmost room. 25 feet across in the room of water drained, filling the middle room. The remaining 15 feet stayed in the room, mystically supported. The group pulled the bronze lever, and this water drained, filling the rightmost room.
They then pulled the gold lever in the rightmost room. This water drained back into the leftmost room.
They then pulled the bronze lever in the center room. 15 feet of water drained into the rightmost room.
Pulling the gold lever in the rightmost room, the water there drained into the leftmost room.
Pulling the bronze lever in the middle room, the water there drained into the rightmost room.
Pulling the silver lever in the leftmost room, 25 feet of water drained into the middle room.
Pulling the bronze lever in the middle room, 5 feet of water drained into the rightmost room.
Pulling the gold lever in the rightmost room, the water here drained into the leftmost room.
A doorway formed in the wall of the middle room. The group passed through it, and found a key floating in the middle of the next room. Jack tried to grab the key, but his hand passed through it. The blue-clad man reached out and grabbed it. The key stayed within his hand. As he took the key, a hole formed in the wall, leading back into the shadows.
"Hold on," Jack said. He pointed to Clio. "So, you had some weird goings-on with the robot things in the last place we were in. Now you," he pointed at the blue-clad man, "can grab the keys. I wonder if these shadows are taking us to individualized little pocket realms."
"Well, there's only one way to find out," the blue-clad man said, moving through the hole and back into the shadows. His alternate outfit faded back to his normal one as he did so.
Assassination Schemes
Eventually, the shadow parted and the group found themselves walking on nice tile floor. Windows lined the wall to their right, but so far as they could tell beyond the windows was only shadow. Sara noticed a silver signet ring appear on her finger, but no one else noticed it. The group continued to walk, wary of their circumstances.Dark figures leapt through the windows, shattering them and drawing weapons on the Toybox crew.
Clio sprang into action and fired an arrow on one of their assailants. Her arrow struck true, jabbing into the side of one of their assailants.
One of the attackers rushed towards Sara, another towards User. These attackers swung their blades at the Toybox crew, but Sara and User were too deft for these attacks.
The blue-clad man moved forward and swung his staff at one of the attackers, but the attacker evaded the attack. User moved so that he was standing between two of the assailants. He swung his clubs around, striking twice against the attacker that Clio had hit. With the collision of his second club, the attacker fell to the ground.
Sara moved forward with her rapier, but could not hit her target. Clio notched another arrow and struck at the attacker standing by Sara. Her arrow found it's mark, and the man let out a cry of pain.
The man swung his dagger at Sara and sliced along her arm. Then a small throwing knife came out of the shadows and hit Sara along her side.
The blue-clad man ran to the aggressor who had been standing next to User, bashing him with his staff. User took off towards the shadows, trying to find who had thrown the blade at Sara. He found the attacker-a dark figure wearing black robes. User swung his batons at the figure, but the robed man was too fast.
Sara moved away from her attacker, getting away from Jack. Jack reached out with his mind and struck at the attacker.
"Die asshole!" he shouted.
Clio lit another torch, helping to illuminate the attackers around them. She then fired another arrow at the same attacker that Jack had just hit with a nanotech blast. The figure fell.
"That's right!" Jack said. He turned towards Clio and whispered. "My mind-blast totally got him before your arrows."
The blue-clad man attacked the one of the remaining aggressors with his staff, knocking him to the ground.
The robed figure swung his shortblade at User, leaving a nasty gash across his chest. User responded by swinging his batons once more at the figure. His first attack made contact, but the figure managed to evade the next one.
Jack aimed another mental assault at the remaining brute that still stood by the blue-clad man. The nanotech proved to Jack's favor, pressing in on their foe. Clio fired an arrow at the robed figure, striking him with an arrow. The blue-clad man ignored the lesser aggressor next to him and then charged at the robed figure. Unfortunately, his strike was not as true.
The lesser aggressor moved towards Sara, waving his dagger at her. However, she moved away with ease.
User swung his batons once more, this time hitting twice against the robed figure. Sara swung her rapier at the attacker near her, but failed.
"I told you to die!" Jack shouted, aiming a mental blast at the attacker by Sara. It dropped under the pressure of Nanotech. "Yes! Mind fried!"
"Just the ninja now," the blue-clad man said.
Clio fired an arrow at the robed figure, but the figure leapt aside.
The robed figure swung his short sword around again, this time jabbing the blue-clad man in the side. The blue-clad man swung his staff at the figure in response, but the robed figure dodged aside.
User swung his batons at the figure, striking it twice. The figure fell to the ground.
Jack kicked the body of one of the attackers.
The crew continued on in the hall. It ended in an ornate double door.
"Why does this path go through a building?" User asked. "We really should have asked more about this before we went in here."
"It's a little late for that now," the blue-clad man said.
User opened the door. Inside was a nice looking study. There was an older woman there, dressed in nice clothes.
"We don't have much time," she said, looking to Sara. "I can't explain it to you now, but our family is in grave danger."
"Oh yeah?" Sara asked. "I'm in grave danger."
"You are, yes," the woman said. "The Horges have hired mercenaries and placed bounties on all our heads, but that's only the start of it."
"Take this," the woman insisted. "Find Olabode. He can take you to your cousin who can provide you with answers and help you with what to do next."
"Olabode, huh?" Jack asked.
"Uh huh," Sara said.
"Who's Olabode?" Jack questioned.
The woman didn't seem to acknowledge his question.
"How will I know Olabode when I see him?" Sara asked.
"You've met him before, you know Olabode," the woman said.
"I don't remember him," Sara said.
"Nonsense!" the woman cried. She then turned to another bookcase and moved one of the books. The bookcase slid into the ground, revealing a secret pathway. She turned back towards the crew. "Go, go now, hurry!"
Sara looked in the box and saw that there was a key within it.
"Oh! Okay, everyone has gotten a key so far," Jack said. "Ah, that's...okay...."
The group went down the secret hall which went once more into shadow. The signet ring on Sara's finger vanished.
Ancient Codes
They found themselves in a place with a worked stone floor of flagstone. Jack found a paper within his hands, that had depictions upon it.
Eventually, the path came to a three way fork.
"I don't think we should forward or to the right, I think we should go to the left," Jack said.
"Why?" User asked.
"Well, based on how she was looking at her hand earlier," Jack explained, gesturing towards Clio, "means that I think we're all seeing things in these that we're only seeing ourselves, and right now what I'm seeing is a paper in my hand telling me that there's only bad things forward, and there's nothing but death to the right. So, I say we should go to the left."
"Okay," User said.
"I thought you didn't believe me," Clio said.
"Well, now I believe you. I apologize for not believing you about your hand being weird," Jack said.
They came to a room with a large door at the end of it. Along the walls were eight levers, spaced too far for anyone to reach more than one lever.
"What's behind the door?" User asked.
"Well, that's a good question. I'm not entirely sure," Jack answered.
"Your map doesn't say?" User asked.
"No, the map only said that bad things were that way and that nothing but death was the other way, so..."
"WELL, WHAT KIND OF MAP IS IT?" User shouted, incredulously. "WHAT KIND OF GOOD MAP..."
"THE BEGINNING OF ONE!" Jack shouted back. "I wish I had more map, but that's all the map I had. I mean, look at it."
Jack held it up. "You can't see it, can you?"
"What map?" User asked.
Some time passed while the crew looked around the room.
"Do you think we need to operate all these levers at once?" User asked.
"I don't see how that's possible," the blue-clad man said.
"I can activate any machine I see that's close enough to me," User said.
"Get them all," the blue-clad man said.
User waved his hands, and the levers flipped. The door swung open. The room on the other side had a large chest within it. On the front of the chest were eight buttons, arranged in two rows of four, each labeled with a different symbol.
"Okay," Jack said, looking down at the paper in his hands. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. The first one is 'O.' What's that second one? It's weird. 'L.' O, L..."
"Wait, are you going up and down or across?" The blue-clad man asked.
"Across," Jack answered. "S...err...hmm? O, L, S, Z? And... P, N... E... C. Yes! O, L, S, Z, P, N, E, C."
Jack reached forward and pressed the button he'd translated as O. Then the one below it, which he'd translated as P. Then the one two over from that, which he'd translated as E. Finally, he touched the one he had translated as N.
There was a clicking sound as the chest unlocked. Jack opened the lid and saw within that there was a key.
"Key for me!" Jack cried out, taking ahold of it.
The crew passed once more into the shadows, and Jack's paper vanished.
Hero and Villain
While the group walked through the shadowpath, they discussed theories about the experiences they were undergoing within it. "They're just shadows of our past," User proposed. "The shadow guy could read our thoughts, and therefore the shadow can read our thoughts...subconscious...""He can find things that we don't know we know," Jack pointed out.
The shadows parted and the crew found themselves on a city street. As drew near a building, they could hear a loud cracking sound followed by a cry of pain or surprise.
"Someone's in trouble, we need to go rescue them!" Jack called out.
"I'm...yes, that," User said. "Good, Jack."
"Way to be a superhero about it," the blue-clad man said.
"I can blow things up with my mind, I'm pretty much a superhero. Come on," Jack said.
"You can be my sidekick, Jack," User said.
"I'm okay with this," Jack agreed.
"I mean, you can attack people," the blue-clad man pointed out. "Can you actually do anything else?"
The crew ran between a set of buildings and towards the source of the sound. There, they found a city square. There was a mechanical carriage along the road. A large hole seemed to have been blown in the back of it, and two dead bodies laid alongside the cart which was not moving.
Standing near it, there were four figures. One carried a bow. Another wore dark robes. The other two had short swords. They seemed to be robbing the cart, and they looked at the Toybox crew with hostility.
Jack concentrated and directed a nanotech blast at the archer. The archer flinched, and then fired an arrow at the Toybox crew. The arrow came near Clio, but didn't quite hit. The robed figure raised two fingers to his forehead. Clio felt a sharp pain strike her as her mind went fuzzy for a moment. One of the figures with a short sword ran towards the blue-clad man, but his strike failed. The other ran towards User, and landed an attack against him.
The blue-clad man rushed towards the man in the robes, swinging his staff at him. His staff made contact with the figure, but only barely. Clio fired an arrow at the enemy archer, but missed her mark.
User turned towards the attacker near him. "Why do you think you can get away with this?"
"You're no match for him!" the attacker spat.
"He's not as tough as he thinks," User declared.
Sara began to speak encouragingly to her allies, boosting their morale against these criminals.
Jack directed a mind-blast at the archer. The archer collapsed to the ground.
The robed figure in front of the blue-clad man reached out towards him. The blue-clad man dodged out of the way. The attacker that had been speaking to User swung his blade at User, but User leapt out of the way. The other swordsman struck at Jack, cutting across Jack's side.
The blue-clad man swung his staff at the robed figure, striking him once more. Clio fired an arrow one of the swordsman, striking it at point blank range. User swung his batons at the attacker he had been dealing with, successfully bashing him with both batons.
"If he's so tough, why doesn't he show himself?" User demanded, as the figure fell to the ground.
"Not going to get any answers from him," the blue-clad man said.
Sara swung her rapier at the remaining swordsman, but he deftly moved out of her way.
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"Oh, you wanna steal that?" Jack asked.
"Where's that sleeping powder when you need it?" the blue-clad man asked.
Jack directed a mind-blast at the swordsman standing by him. He might have been too intimidated by the Ravage Bear normally, but Sara's encouraging words helped him to have the focus to land the attack. The figure flinched and spun with his blades, cutting Jack once more.
The robed figure reached out towards the blue-clad man once more. Ropes poured from his hands, binding the blue-clad man into place.
"He's going to sacrifice you to the ravage bear," Jack pointed out.
The blue-clad man struggled against the ropes, but was still bound.
"I'm going to come cut you free!" Clio shouted.
"Can I be cut free? They're not real ropes, I assume," the blue-clad man shouted, nodding towards robed figure.
"They're as real as anything is in this world right now," Jack said. "That's not a real ravage bear."
"Well yeah, but it'd probably still be able to kill us," the blue-clad man said. "But these ropes seem like conjured stuff."
Clio fired an arrow at the robed figure. The arrow struck him in the chest, and he fell. As he did so, the ropes binding the blue-clad man vanished.
User used his nanotech powers to lift the sword of the fallen swordsman off the ground, driving it towards the ravage bear. The sword passed through the creature, seeming undeterred by the ravage bear's form at all.
Sara swung her blade at the remaining swordsman, but still failed to hit him.
The ravage bear let out another roar and began to paw at the ground.
Jack backed up a few steps before mind-blasting the remaining swordsman. The swordsman fell to the ground.
The blue-clad figure ran ahead towards the front of the cart.
Clio fired an arrow at the ravage bear. The arrow flew through it, uninterrupted by the bear's body.
User, now realizing that there was not actually a ravage bear there, moved up through the illusion, looking inside the cart.
Inside the mechanical cart was the form of a person, waving their hands around. The person wore a
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"Alright, that's enough," User said.
"So, we meet again," he said to User.
"It seems inevitable," User said.
The illusion of the ravage bear vanished.
"So, I don't suppose you'll let me just go this time," the other blue-clad man said.
"Why would I ever?"
The figure sighed. The figure leapt towards User, trying to get past him. User tried to grab the figure. The figure slipped loose of User's grasp, but the box fell out of his arms as he continued to run. The other blue-clad man ran off into the shadows and vanished.
"Coward," Jack called after him.
User opened the box and found a bronze key within it.
None of the members of the Toybox crew noticed the figure watching them from the rooftops as they walked back into the shadows.
Putting the Puzzle Pieces Away
When they emerged once more from the shadow, the crew was surprised to see Katrin, Alal, and Scarlet standing there. However, none of these three figures seemed interested in, or capable of interacting with the crew. All three seemed deadpan. Each of them had a key.The crew came to a door, alongside which were numerous key slots. Katrin, Alal, and Scarlet placed their keys in slots by the door. The other members of the crew followed suit.
The door opened into a large room with numerous nanotech devices in it. In the center of the room was a cube, about 9 feet to any side. The cube was one that they all recognized as the Toybox.
"Wait," Jack said, turning to User. "I thought you were carrying the Toybox."
"I am," User said.
Another figure, a woman in Aeon Priest robes, rushed past them. She looked at the box and turned back to the crew before saying, "Good. Now we have a chance."
"Fantastic!" Jack said.
Shadows poured in around them. The crew felt themselves being sucked out of shadow and put into another place-a place outside the shadowpaths.
Episode Summary
- The Crew of the Toybox converses with the other Alal. It asks them what help they want, while claiming that its own goals are to bring about desolation. The other Alal offers to travel with the Toybox crew, but reveals that it only can if one of them acts as a host for it.
- The other Alal opens up a shadowpath for the Toybox crew, claiming that it will help them get to Yrkallak Tower faster. Taking the shadowpath, the crew experiences many different experiences.
- First, within the shadowpath, they come to a clearing in which there is an impossibly warped building. Strange robed figures climb across it. One of them addresses Clio in a language that only she speaks. It gives her a key and tells her to cross the Great Reach and find Chandra. It tells her to return "when the apples meet the leaves."
- Next, the crew finds themselves underwater. They enter an underwater structure guarded by statues of the same creatures from the previous experience. After some testing, the blue-clad man claims a key.
- The next experience has the crew ambushed as they walk along a hall in what seems to be a fancy mansion. Surviving the ambush, a woman tells Sara that their family is being hunted. She gives Sara a key and tells her to find Olabode who will take her to her cousin and give further directions.
- The next experience brings the crew through a series of puzzles for which Jack finds himself with a guide to solving. This leads to a key that he claims.
- In the penultimate experience, the crew find themselves on the streets of a city, where a mechanical cart was being robbed. It turned out that the robber was none other than another version of the blue-clad man-and that the target of the robbery was a key. User took this key while the other version of the blue-clad man ran off.
- In the final experience, the Toybox crew found themselves, alongside their companions, inserting keys that opened a doorway-leading to the Toybox. Upon finding it, an Aeon Priest declared that now they had a chance. Then the shadows overtook the group once more.
If you want to start the story from the beginning, check out the first episode.
To continue the story, go to the next episode: Episode 109: The Champions Eight
If you want to see what happened immediately previously, check out the previous episode.
For more information on the Toybox Campaign, check out the Toybox Homepage.
Things seem to be heating up! I love the puzzle aspect of it. :) Have you played any of the Tomb Raider games? The water levels specifically reminded me a lot of those types of puzzles Brandon and I always find fun. :)
ReplyDeleteBrandon and I played through one that was multiplayered. Guardian of Light, I think?
DeleteI've generally wanted to have more puzzle type things in my games, but I've not been determined enough to do so in the past. Given that much of our group (especially that session) is non-combat oriented, it provided encouragement to me to figure out something more puzzle-like.