Hort whispers to everyone "Guys, I think we should just do what he says for now. There isn't much we can do in this situation. It'll get us off this floor a lot quicker anyway."
"You're indeed not telling any lies. I can see that. I can also see from your aura you're an evil person. Doesn't surprise me. You admitted we're assets to you, so I take it that means we will help further your goals. What I know about your Cult makes me pretty hesitant to do anything to help you. I understand it's at the moment in your best interest to let us proceed, but like I told these people here, I am not about to hand you Dredmor's power on a silver platter and walk away. What are you to gain from all this? And also, how do you intend to pay us for being your asset? A few portals aren't going to cut it." Rantic holds up his hands in a gesture of peace. "Not that it's not appreciated." The tiniest smile curls around the corners of his mouth. "After you answer those, how about these: Dredmor is powerful, we indeed all want him gone, why don't you go first and we will follow. If you happen to fail, we would consider it our honour to finish your good deed. Deal? Also, and this is just me being curious, what do you know about this dungeon? The way you speak and how your man teleported tells me you have some base of operations here. How much have you explored? How does the magic in this place work?" ((Ok... kinda rushing because I go to bed, in tabletop I would wait with in between questions. If he seems inclined to answer my first question I pose the next question after the answer, not all in one go, but if he remains silent I do indeed ask them all, so up to you how you want to play it))
((oh also, I use Diplomacy +15 to kinda influence him to answer my question and to make him like me (if that's the right skill, if not, ehm, dyrynify, can you take the right one then? I have multiple in the talking business)))
"What am I going to get? I will become a God. The God of Death. This world, in all its glory, is flawed. There are only 3 major gods, and they don't even cover all of the necessary aspects of life! Don't you see? We are doing something important here." He seems to work at regaining his composure. "Look, I like you. I am giving you free advice, and rapid transport to the next floor. All I ask is that you keep doing what you are doing now. I am not asking for you to sign over your souls. I don't want to kill you. I don't want anything from you that you went going to do anyway. Just keep going where you are going. I would argue that I have given you a lot for nothing so far." He opens his mouth and makes a sound that must be laughter, but it just creeps you out. "Heh, you are funny. That wont work because I need to be at full strength to handle all the power I will be absorbing." Well, we have explored 275 floors total. Let me explain. When a person or party enters the gate above Slemdal, the dungeon assigns them a 'sequence'. That is the list of the nine floors they will go through to get to the only floor that never changes, the tenth floor. It seems to be determined by relative power levels of the individual or party. We are not sure, but we calculated that there are just over 9000 individual floors, arranged all over the planet, deep underground. Currently, we are about 400 miles south of Slemdal. Why the dungeon was made this way has been lost to time, but what it means is that no two people or parties ever see the exact same dungeon. And we do have a base of sorts. Actually, several. we sent agents down four at a time, and ordered them to set up a base on the second level. They all know Sending, and that is how we communicate. I can tell you one interesting thing. On some of the levels, there are tiny little towns. People actually live here." He looks around. "Well, use my portal or not. Defeat Dredmor or not. I cant force you one way or another. All I can say is that we are fighting for the same goal. The only difference is what our reward will be. If you succeed, I will become a god. You will have the thanks and debt OF a god. Good enough payment, Rantic?" With that, he turns and walks through the wall behind him.
As the man disappears in the wall, Torma stays immobile. Then he slowly raises his hands and starts massaging his forehead. " They give me headaches... Those endless wizards speeches." " TEN minutes of GIBBERISH and I dont think the creep even gave his name, by saint Ortonde ! He sighs and takes his hands off his head. " Well at least the man's pretty honest, hah ! What a moron."
"Doesn't seem like there's very much we can do to stop them right now." Hort seems much more serious than usual. "We can't let them succeed though. I imagine a world ruled by an evil 'god of death' like that wouldn't be a world worth living in. Especially not if he's supposed to be stronger than Dredmor. We should focus on getting stronger before even consider taking that guy on. What better way to do that then going to check out those alters yeah? Let's get going!" Hort looks around the room for a bit. "Where's the portal?"
Torma becomes a bit paler and seems uneasy " Wait you guys plan to go through his portal thingy ? I, understand he apparently told us the truth but still... " "Oh and before I forget." He takes out a small piece of paper and start scribbling some words with a piece of charcoal. He shows the paper to the rest of the group, the horrible writing is barely legible: " He was dUmb enough to expose tHey control the area and can pRobably listen to us. Any strAtegy against him should not be spoKen. Also: he explained he needs full strEngth for that god rite, if we can just weaken him beforE we take Dredmor out we're good." He scratches his head and adds "Sorry, I was missing space near the end on the paper."
"Torma, I am impressed. Good thinking there. I was about to say something similar and can think of one more safe spot, courtesy of a greedy salesdemon. As to the guy, it's interesting... He might actually have a point. The debt of a god isn't bad. Maybe we should just let him become it." Rantic winks and points to his ears indicating he's just saying that for potential listeners. "Onwards then? If nothing else I am pretty glad we don't have to be too afraid of that Cult, and the information about how this works and 'Sequences' and all is interesting... must think more about that." When everyone's ready Rantic steps through the portal.
While he understands the weight of the situation, Danton has an almost childlike glee that he will find an Inconsequentia statue soon. "I can't wait to show you all how helpful Her Magnificence is!"
Berz, who has been very quiet and patient letting the magic-people talk their talk, hops to his feet and start following Hort. He has an expression of deep, deep concentration on his face. "mumblemumblemumbledid he say absorbed?mulblemumble..." Berz scratches his head. "mumblemumblewriting on PAPER? Seriously, guys, I can't freaking READ mumblemumlble..." As he walks through the portal, he suddenly has an epiphany. "Hey, guys! I think that Hogwarts-wanna-be douchebag is a bad guy! Like, I think he might even want to become the next Lord Dremor! We totally need to figure out a way to kick that guy's ass!" Berz blinks at the sea of faces staring back at him. "...What?!?"
And with that, everyone goes through the portal. *Generic portal noises* And you are standing in a 25'x25' room. There is a door to the south, roughly in the center. The portal you came through is by the west wall, and there is another one by the east wall. Oh, and there is a statue of a beautiful woman on the north wall. Suddenly a voice rings out. It sounds comforting and lyrical, but somehow stern. "Greetings adventurers! I am Inconsequentia, Goddess of questing and good works. Here in this dungeon, my shrines are here to aid you in your quest to destroy Dredmor. But, I wont just give you equipment without your proving yourself worthy. And so, I will give you a short quest. Complete it, and you shall be rewarded." The statue does not move, but somehow it is looking at Danton all the same. "Danton, my child, do not dispair. Samuel does like you. The problem is that no-one knows you cant leave. The rest of the order just believes that this highly dangerous dungeon kills everyone who is sent inside." The unmoving statue addresses the whole party again. "Your quest is simple. There is a monster coming to this room from the west, and you need to kill it. Do so and be rewarded." The voice fades.
" Perfect. Your goddess seems like a nice lady Danton. And The Creep irritated me quite a bunch with his speech, a good old fashionned beating sounds like an excellent remedy to that." " Since the monster is coming here by himself, I hope you guys dont mind if you stay near the north wall and I hide near the entrance? Give him a little surprise when he comes in." Torma wields his two swords.
" So... From the West ? Is the monster supposed to come through the portal ?" If there is enough darkness Torma tries to hide (+8) 5 feet south of the west portal.
