Communicating in Gaseous Form is ridiculously impossible. And I always felt that you aren't immune or invulnerable as a gas - just really really hard to affect. Lannis learned that here.
Follows:
FOUR HUNDRED THIRTY SIX
(I/C)
“Perhaps we can play Charades with the Lannis?” Brendon asked. “Lannis can let us know what’s going on IF we ask the right questions.”
Abraxas grew very excited. “Si Señor Lanimbus. Es un.... lobo? Un drogo?” He was watching the cloud as it struggled to change shape, altering its outline very slowly.
Meanwhile Brendon was trying to give the misty form directions as it split itself down the center and struggled to make a shape. “Lannis we will ask you a few questions. You move to the corresponding person that is the answer. For instance Abraxas is YES and Kovid is NO. Alright?”
“I don’t think he can answer all these questions this fast,” Kovid muttered, watching the Magic User as he continued to move around. “I think…I think that’s an…’H’?”
The Fighter meanwhile was looking at the cloud from a different angle and was getting into his interpretation. “Un jackal, es un jackal, un jackal, es una jackal?.... Yo creo es una jackal!"
*Holy fuck nuts!* Lannis was struggling hard. *This is NOT easy!* He started to change into another shape.
The Scout though was still trying to give directions, indicating to Lannis, “If I ask are we in immediate danger you move to the person that corresponds to the yes or no. If it’s no then we ask another question.”
“What is Big Brain up to now? “H”?” Kovid shook his head. “Stop messing around as a magic fart.”
As he changed his outline to that of a “G” next, Lyra was thumbing through the game rack and shaking her head. “You know... maybe we can just find a window and open it. Is there a window around here? It’s getting a bit stuffy.”
“Dats a “G”,” Wyn assured the group as Lannis changed into another letter. “So we ‘ave H and G, Oui?”
“What are we supposed to do?” Kovid asked the cloud, “Stay here all day?!”
“HG?” Brendon asked.
“Hugs? Huge? Hang?”
“No Senors, those are missing letters. He did not make a ‘U’.”
“Merde... do we ‘ave time fer charades? I guess we ‘ave no choice.”
“It’s taking him forever to do anything,” Brendon frowned. “And he’s not listening to my directions> Like are we in danger? HG?! What the hell is that?”
“Well now he looks like a ‘W’,” Kovid noted. “H. G. W.”
“War of the worlds?” Lyra asked.
“What?”
“Never mind, stupid meta idea.”
“And now ‘e looks like an 8.” Wyn noted, meanwhile Lannis was exhausted in his attempts at making himself adopt letter forms.
“H. G. W. 8.” Brendon tapped his chin. “Hmmm, I don’t speak acronym, abbreviation, or l33t.”
“Where the fuck is he going now?” Kovid asked as Lannis sieved out the door again. “Thanks for being useless, Big Brain.”
“W. 8. Could that be wait?” Lyra asked?
“No, Senora. There was no ‘e’, ‘s’, ‘p’, or ‘r’s’,” Abraxas assured her.
“Mon amis, in de interest o’ tryin’ to unnerstand de inner workin’s o’ de Lannis, we’ll assume it was wait and wait for now.” Wyn rubbed his chin, “H... G... W... 8... we’ll see second ting is wait. Like he must want us to wait. “
“Man, I hate waiting,” Lyra grumbled.
“Oui, Did he look worried to anyone else?”
“He was certainly transparent in his feelings,” Kovid chuckled.
“Well, I tink de only ting h en g could be is hobgoblins.”
Lyra shook her head. “This is Lannis. I have some other ideas about that.”
Lannis went back into the hall and pushed his way north, going slowly. He proceeded along until he arrived at the Hobgoblin location, noting that they were still pretty much in the same position as they were earlier. He then made an attempt to force himself to be more dense and humanoid shape, floating slowly west and then north.
“Kaptarn Zealotry! Ac tarn as!”
The hobgoblins all were watching Lannis, a few of them swinging at his mist form, and more of them waving their cloaks through his body, breaking it up. *Whoa. WHOA! Knock it off!* he said, pushing his consciousness to the end of the hall and then north. There were lots of excited noises from the hobgoblins but the one in platemail was rubbing his chin and motioned his people to stop.
“Gor kackta. Fuego.”
“Aye aye!”
*Well. That looks promising. Follow me you fuckers.* Lannis could see a few were trailing under him but a few came back with some torches and others ran north to the alchemy hall and Lannis could hear some noises. He continued along slow, approaching the “T” intersection as the hob’s returned with LOTS of loose bedding, pillows, sacks, and other soft sleeping material the goblins had used in their warrens. They were spreading it all over the floor under Lannis’ slow moving form as well as ahead and behind where he was traveling. The platemail wearing hobgoblin was smirking as three of his followers applied oil liberally to the stuff on the floor.
*Um…*
And then they lit it.
The oily rags, blankets, pillows, and whatnot caught quick and spread along the entire 25’ run of trash on the floor, sending fire running up and spreading fast.
*What the fuck? OOOHFFF!!!* Lannis felt like his entire body was suddenly superheated and SLAMMED into the ceiling (take 1 INT and WIS Damage - disoriented). *Oh…Oh you fucking fucks!* The rising hot air and flames drove his misty form into the crevices there, breaking them up and inundating them with heat and flames.
*Got…to…get…out…of…this!* (<Int check -4 penalty, Pink 4) He could feel microscopic cracks in the wall to his left, the west, and he shoved and twisted his fragmenting gaseous form in that direction. It was VERY rough going and took the better part of (1d3+1, Pink 3: 2+1=3 minutes!) 3 minutes for him to get through the seemingly solid wall (take 1 more INT and WIS Damage) but he eventually left the superheated hall and flames and found himself in the garden again.
*Well…fuck you you hobgoblin fucks. Shitty trick.* He looked around *Got to get back to the party.* He pushed himself south, moving through the garden, feeling his gaseous form stretching behind him, ragged and tired. *This is the kind of stuff a Scout is supposed to do. Brendon is a real lazy shit for forcing me to drink the potion and doing this by myself.*
It took a few minutes to find the door along the east wall and he quickly moved through it back into the hall, where he turned south and left the hobgoblins behind, his mind relaxing finally. *This is so peaceful, I owe some apologies. Why am I so mean all the time?* he wondered. He could feel the potion was coming to its end and he pushed on faster until he could make it to the end door at long last. Once there he went through the portal to see the group still discussing his actions.
“Wait, wait! He’s back!” Brendon alerted the group.
“HGW8.” Lyra snapped her fingers “Horse. Girl. Weight.” She stomped her feet. “Even as a gaseous fart cloud, you’re still a dick, Lannis. Stop picking on me.”
“Oui, Monsieur Offop. Dat took too long to spell out de letters an den you left again. All for a Lyra joke.”
“Dirty Pool, Senor Luscious.”
Lannis remained there a few more minutes just floating before the potion wore off and his body quickly swelled up from the inside out, dropping to the ground and turning solid once again, the Magic User lowering himself to his knees and breathing deep. He coughed a few times and then wiped his nose and said, “Sup fart knockers?”
“Ugh.”
“Hobgoblins. Wait.” He pointed back down the hall. “Although the Horse joke is on point so I forgive you for making that mistake.” He rubbed his head and sat down hard. “Whew! And I’m going to say they’ve gotten a good plan on dealing with Gaseous forms, probably from Stab-it Girl spying around the castle too many times.”
He proceeded to tell the group everything he had seen, how long it took, and what was waiting for them at the end of the hall. When he was done the party could tell that the normally sharp Lannis seemed a bit more muddle headed than usual after his adventure as in Gaseous Form. As they began to put a plan together on what to do next, Wyn summed up his feelings in the matter with an apt, “I hate dis castle.”
Time now is Day 10, 10:45 AM
(OOC)
Lannis, your ability score minuses will return on their own at the rate of 1 point every 4 hours while adventuring or 1 point every 2 hours while resting. Ok! What’s the plan guys!!??
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