On a cold winter sunset in OffTopic, all was normal. That is, a chaotic mess of crusaders, owos and assorted people were fighting, drinking and otherwise living life naturally. Some gunfights, brawls and illegal races were occuring around the assorted taverns, but all in all gave a good impression of what a sample OffTopic evening was.
[b]Perfect.[/b]
Clouds swirled and spun above the center of OffTopic, almost like a tornado. Purple lightning sputtered and stroke between them, forming a gathering storm. The clouds split, and revealed a massive iris, scanning the city below. It stood, unmoving, unwavering, taking in the city. Alarms blared and defenses scattered to protect their proud city.
[b]Foolish, foolish mortals. [/b]
The eye blinked, and everyone within the city limits felt a wave of energy pulse through them. It did not damage, disorient or heal, but felt like their entire anatomy, every atom, was scanned, held in place, and put back right where it was. A single moment passed as the eye blinked once, then all was back to normal. But the eye remained.
[b]Delicious, every morsel. [/b]
A hundred weak minded citizens died in the first minute, a thousand over the course of an hour, and almost 25,000 by the time night had fallen. All that could speak rambled and ranted about a horror with a thousand-sources said a million, billion and even more, could not be confirmed-heads, all gazing from beyond a veil they could not pass. The predator had tasted its prey: the minds of men.
[b]But of course, the pavilion. [/b]
The eye closed, and did not open. Purple lightning struck once more, and the clouds dispersed, leaving an empty, ominous, starlit sky above. Who knows what horrors lay beyond in the vast, black sea above? Very few sensors even functioned for the time the eye was up there, but those that could detected not one, but countless energy signatures within the single ocular device.
As night took over, witnesses reported seeing abominations of skin, metal carapace and fur running through people and walls like ghosts, liken to ethereal horrors. They scared many, but did not cause any damage. Illusory fires burned through the night, and explosions echoed throughout the city. Insanity had come out to play, and was going to plague this city until it was fully dispelled.
However, one, single piece did turn corporeal. A small, pink lotus flower appeared in the center of capitol mall, with a tiny root system surrounding it. A thin veil of purple energy shielded the flower, and forensic investigation determined the veil would dissipate the next day about noon. All who approached the purple barrier went insane, even began vomiting and twitching. Those who survived choking on their own vomit died hours later from unknown causes.
[spoiler]Welcome to the OwOutbweak! RP starts tomorrow, touch/enter the purple veil before that and I will force you to roll death saves until you succeed five times or fail 3 times. Basically, I know a lot of you play as thick skulled characters that would rather shoot first and ask questions later, but here, death is entirely possible and has consequences.
That is not to say I don’t want you to have fun. Kill the bosses, grab loot and outwit traps together, have a blast! But these will be more along the lines of Dark Souls bosses, or Call of Cthulhu. You have fun when you defeat the hard boss, not mowing down hordes of adds. So keep that in mind: mortality is real here, so play smart. [/spoiler]
[spoiler]Why am I doing this, you might ask? I’ve put hours and hours and hours into fine tuning Poly into what they are today. I’m not letting them die because I fudged a handful of dice rolls in your favor allowing your dreadnought to nuke the eldritch plant horror. If anyone is gonna beat Poly, they’re gonna do it the hard tough way, and hopefully after this those who survive and bear the scars can feel a sense of accomplishment.
Basically, I’ve put time and effort into this, the least you can do is perform likewise. Inspiration is drawn from advice given in the Throne of Bloodstone adventure-which is pretty cool and I highly recommend a looksie-which goes as follows: 100th level characters are not 10 times as powerful as 10th level characters, apply all the rules strictly and never give a 100th level character an even break. Admittedly many of you are not 100th level characters, but if you act like it, oh Nelly…
My apologies if this sounded rude, but I had to get it off my chest. Good luck tomorrow, and may the Uwu be in your favor...[/spoiler]
[spoiler]Forgot to add: if the image ain't showing up for you, tell me. [/spoiler]
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Bump!