Wayward Transit (OOC, Open)

[Cubist]

Jubatus is obviously tryna hit the Duke of Oily where it lives; Jube will be very surprised if the Duke buys it, but it was worth trying regardless. And hey, if it does work, Jube ain't gonna complain!

Not sure if a Diplomacy roll is called for or not...

[felicitousFolly]

I wasn't criticizing for the accent, it made the character a lot more distinctive, and it was interesting trying to figure out what he's saying. I was just using it as an (extra) excuse to why Brian was not talking Directly with the half-shadow emperor spawn.

EDIT: 6.17 1833 pm cst Added the following:

Brian's taking a ready action to hero point off his water control to create a hard water force field around the interior of the bus (everyone inside gets it versus the mist or anything outside) if there's any change/disturbance in the mist.

[Ari]

Cubist: yeah, a Diplomacy roll would be good, it may well work, after all. The bit of flattery Jubatus put in here and there will be a definite +1 modifier for his chances.

felicitousFolly: I didn't think it was a negative critique, actually. But I was getting tired of thinking how to pseudo-phonetically write a heavy German accent, and I wanted to write at least a couple posts of this guy without having to worry about that.

[Cubist]

Okay... Diplomacy, that's a CHA skill, so Jube's +1 CHA modifier comes into play. That, plus the +1 for flattery, makes it... Diplomacy roll vs Duke of Oily (1d20+2=3)

...not a friggin' prayer. Oh, well...

[Ari]

That's a blasted shame, like to re-roll? Or would you prefer to go with it?

[Cubist]

Hmm. A roll of 3 only makes a difference when the NPC starts out Unfriendly, because the 3 makes them Hostile instead. Re-rolling obviously won't result in a worse roll, but there is the possibility of raising the NPC up to a more-congenial attitude...

Okay, I'll burn one HP for a re-roll: Re-roll on diplomacy (1d20+2=8) -- and since a re-roll adds 10 if the die comes up low, this makes the re-roll 18. No effect if the Duke's attitude is Hostile or Helpful, but should hopefully adjust his attitude one notch in our favor if he's Unfriendly, Indifferent, or Friendly.

[Ari]

ALrighty, here's the Duke's Sense Motive Check: (10) = (10).

Successful on your part, Cubist! Target now Friendly.

[Azuth65]

For those of us too poor with our German, can we get a translation of his speech?

[Ari]

Sorry about that :? .

Basically he's saying that he's sorry for acting the way he did earlier, but he was trying to play up to the expectations of people living in the Light World, that he hasn't any kind of issue with his dad, but that his attempt to get information about where the criminals(as he calls them...) are is genuine and partially an attempt to allay the gloom his father has been in lately. Also, the so-called 'Radiance' won't hurt anyone, and that if neither Zap nor Wisp know anything he'll be happy to send everyone home. Also Apep of the Egyptian pantheon is a brother of his, and the ancient sun gods burned the living daylights out of him when he came to haul his brother home.

Sorry again for that, I'll tone down the Gratuitous German and make his lines more phonetical, and thus easier to understand without Google Translation.

Also, Sense Motive Check time! DC 15.

[Azuth65]

It's cool Ari, it's just I failed German... Anyway, sense motive result is 1d20+15=24.

[Ari]

Alrighty, I'll put in spoilers below what people who pass the check observe and what those who do not observe.

Passed:

The creature isn't exactly the most persuasive being in the universe. It's actions conflict so direly with its words that it almost staggers belief that he would expect you to believe it.

Failed:

He seems honestly contrite, and his quick turnaround lends weight to his claims. After all, he has everybody pretty much totally in his power, why would he need to lie?

[Cubist]

And here's my Sense Motive on the Duke of Oily (1d20+31=50) -- That so-called "+31" is a heinous typo; Jube only has the basic Wisdom modifier going for him here, because he doesn't actrually have Sense Motive, just Jack of All Trades. However, the rolled 19 is okay, so that figure ends up being 19+3=22 for real.

[Ari]

Sorry for the delay, here's Marcy's Sense Motive check:(3+2) = (5)

Dang.

[Lone Star]

Dos.

[Ari]

Alright chums, I'd be very appreciative of it if you would now make a Notice check, DC 14, to see if you character notices that the bus is still moving after its landing.

[Cubist]

Does Jube notice the bus is moving? (1d20+9=26) says that yes, he does.

This is not good for the Duke of Oily, because Jube was already suspicious of the Duke, and why the heck is he moving us around now? THe instant Jube realizes what's up, he's going to upshift to his top tempo of 40 and get in the Duke's face with his UV flashlight. If this doesn't persuade the Duke to put everything back where he found it, Jube's encore will involve his cutting torch, with a side order of claws.

Jube's basic melee attack roll (1d20+12=20) with the flashlight may or may not hit. Depending on how the UV light interacts with Jube's Time-field, there may or may not be other effects than the obvious, I dunno. [shrug]

Yes, Jube fully intends to hit the Duke while he's still jawing away. As in, before he leaves the bus for Erebus-only-knows what evil reasons.

[Azuth65]

1d20+14=20 Not as good as what Jube sees but it should do...

[Cubist]

When Big Daddy Darkon approaches the bus, Jube's immediate reaction is to shut the friggin' door as fast as possible -- which is pretty darn fast, for him. Will it do any good? Who knows? There's a fair number of stories about supernatural Things which cannot enter an inhabited structure without being invited in, so closing the door might help. Maybe. Can't hurt... probably...

After shutting the door, it's back to chatting with Marty the Geek from ASTRO Labs, and trying to work up some sort of way to return the bus, and its contents, to where it ought to be. Even if the Geek doesn't have anything useful in his pockets, Jube carries a bunch of stuff in the pockets of his vest, so perhaps we'll be able to improvise something. With Jube's power to pull at the space/time continuum, and Zap as a power source, we may have a chance... hope hope hope...

[Ari]

Alrighty then. Slight retcon here because for some insane reason I wrote that Marcy went outside into the world of nameless horrors, which is an awful idea on Earth, let alone here.

[Cubist]

Since Baron Blackbody has grabbed hold of the bus, Jube will whip out his UV-light and zip around the bus, running on its windows, with his blacklight continually aimed directly outside. With any luck, this will hurt BB's "hand" enough that he lets go of the bus long enough for the CHanneler to take us home!

Since Jube's player -- me -- is an evil-minded soul, it occurs to me that agonized or not, BB might well interfere with the Channeler's operation, thus sending us off to some other dimension entirely. The plot-question is, do we want to end the 'excursion' now, or should we let the adventure continue a bit longer?

[Ari]

I sorta get the idea that most of the players want to get past this obstacle and get back to the inter-character interaction, so this basically the last few minutes(if that) we're going to spend in the Schattenwelt[/i

Also, the Big Knockoff isn't actually covering the bus, he's just removed the landscape that was there a moment ago, hence his comment about the hills. The 'hand' thing is metaphorical, not like that bit in Journey to the West when the Jade Emperor tested Sun Wukong. Though I admit it isn't exactly obvious just what's going on outside, and Jubatus can't see through solid darkness to discover this.

[Cubist]

And Jubatus starts 'feeding' his Timeshift into the Channeler, so to speak!

[Cubist]

Jubatus is suspicious of this odd person. He might be everything he seems, sure... but what's the deal with putting up an image of Freedom City at first? Jube will ask Marty what the heck happened with the Channeler; did it spontaneously glitch, was it working fine and then an external force interfered with it, or what?

[Ari]

If you'd like the reason for this odd(andshort-livedIsweartoyouguysbyallpermissable) turn of events spoiled infallibly, check the spoiler below. If you'd prefer for Jubatus to be as suspicious as all get-out of this new apparition based on his own experience and not what he knows of Yellow Eyes' true nature, ignore it.

The Dimensional Channeler worked perfectly, but the Fatherdark grabbed the bus as it was leaving, burning itself horribly in the process, and began to drag the bus back when it arrived at Freedom, thus the film, a sign of the Schattenweltkaiser's power. Yellow Eyes really did save you, and has the power and inclination to help you get back safely.

[Cubist]

If you'd like the reason for this odd(andshort-livedIsweartoyouguysbyallpermissable) turn of events spoiled infallibly, check the spoiler below. If you'd prefer for Jubatus to be as suspicious as all get-out of this new apparition based on his own experience and not what he knows of Yellow Eyes' true nature, ignore it.

Hm. What does Jube know of Yellow Eyes' true nature? Jube's player certainly doesn't have a clue -- the provided description just doesn't ring any bells, I fear -- but the character's Knowledge: Theology and Philosophy 5 (+9) skill should give him a decent chance of recognizing the dude. I hope.