[IC] New Crobuzon & the World Beyond

[Selina Parcellus]

Selina begins shaking her head, looking at the hand with blood on it and flexing it a few times.  That hand, along with the wrist and the entire arm up to her antecubitis (elbow cavity) was covered in green snake scales.  It was her most closely-guarded secret.  Amber eyes were a mutation, an oddity, but an intriguing one to most Humans, to the point that most people felt either attraction or interest in them.  Sibilant phonemes could be hidden or passed off as training to overcome a speech impediment.  But no Human had skin like a snake's.  With eyes widening suddenly in dread, she remembers what happened last time.  When she'd retired to her tent alone, removed her plate armor and found scales and soft flesh mottling together on her other arm!  It had been like a nightmare, and now she was living it!

"I...I cannot do this.  I have to get off this plane."

[GM Marvel]

[Bump!]

"Selina, I don't understand what's going on but you need to keep it together," Tomeal whispers in her ear while giving her a supportive hug.  "It's this place that's affecting our minds and bodies.  The longer we stand around, the more the Torque is affecting us.  We have to get out of here.  Nang said there's a house nearby.  I don't know why a house would be under a mountain range but if there's someone there it's possible they know how to resist the Torque or they know a way out of here."

[Selina Parcellus]

Selina looks like she's in some considerable distress or pain as she returns Tomeal's hug. Closing her eyes to ward off the perceived pain that is to come, she slowly disengages and unbuckles the left gauntlet of her plate armor, revealing a silken glove that covers up to her elbow. She cringes as she can already see the slight hint of green peeking out around the hem. She slowly slides it down, revealing not soft flesh but rigid green scales. Snake scales. A glance up at Tomeal tells the tale. This is the source of her fear.

[GM Marvel]

[OoC: Where is everyone?  Except for Selina, no one has posted for 8 days! ]

[OoC2: This last week has been a little crazy because the end of year document turnover coming up.  But I'm happy to say that I'm now on vacation! With the exception of a few pick up shifts to help out over the holidays (Which I'm sure I will regret), I'm off until Jan 4th!    ]

If there was such a thing as a World Capital City, the City-State of Cantus, which Tomeal lived in all of his life would be it.  A world with seemingly endless portals to pretty much anywhere you can dream of exposes you to a lot of different people from all over the universe.  Perhaps only Sigil could boast of being more cosmopolitan.  So Tomeal is rather climatized to bizzare physical appearances.  Even so, he's a little taken back.  But not because he thinks Selina is a monster.

"When did this happen?" Tomeal asks while gently taking her arm into his hands, and examining the shiny green scales.  "Did the Torque do this to you?  Why wouldn't you tell us?"

[Kubo]

"Not to rush ye, but we should move on before we end op like thiese mushroom mwn!", says Kubo while clearing his throat.

[Selina Parcellus]

Selina closes her eyes, not really wanting to be here anymore.

"Since I was born?  Perhaps?  I'm really not certain.  I don't know how I came to be, nor who my parents were, nor how such a thing could happen.  I really don't know anything, honestly, except that I am a freak.  Why else would I be named 'Parcellus'?  What I do know is that this has grown steadily over my 20 years of life while my eye color and tongue have been there since the first moment I can remember.  Whatever else may occur, I'm afraid that the Torque is increasing the pace at which my scale growth is occurring..."

She snaps out of it as Kubo mentions the need for haste and nods.  "Right.  We need to go now."

[Ningalu Baal'urki]

Ningalu was moving ahead through the mushrooms.

[OoC we were sorta waiting on the DM i guess]

[Betimi]

Betimi merely watches with interest, absolutely no hint of judgement, only curiousity and a little confusion. Since motation is so common among her kind as to be the norm not the exception, it confuses her why Selina feels the need to conceal it from friends. She knows that the common folk did not react well to anything different, she learned that enough in her foray from the underdark to Cantus. But one should be safe among family.

Family, the thought was alien to her, but she found she liked it. It made her feel warm for some reason.

[Crozar the Sunspot]

Crozar nodded in agreement to the statements about needing to move on.  He understood the panic of Torque induced terror, but once its effects took hold there was nothing to do but see what the end result would be, and try to avoid it impacting anyone else.  He looked to Selina with sympathy and plucked a pale white flower from his chest.  He stepped closer to her and said, "You have my sympathies, Selina.  At least they are a pleasing color and sheen." He held out the flower to her as the group began to move forward.

[GM Marvel]

[OoC we were sorta waiting on the DM i guess]

[OoC: Not sure why.  A companion is having an existential breakdown and next to Piper, she's the closest thing you have to a friend.  Expecially since she helped rescue from the Spider-beast, Unreth.  Both Kubo and Crozar are different because they just met the group within the last 24 hours. ]

[OoC2: Selina, are you having a private conversation with Tomeal or are you speaking loud enough for others to hear you?]

Tomeal lets out a deep breath of relief.  "Thank Selune this is not the result of the Torque.  If it's accelerating your birthright then we will simply have to pick up the pace to find this other source of energy.  Lets hope Simon was right about the presence of this second energy source being able to possibly help cancel out the worst of the Torque's affects on living things."

Simon has already made his way to the top of the passage and is looking behind to column of water pouring out of the ceiling.  "There is a small ledge behind here that leads to another passage.  Since the pool below never seems to fill up, I believe there are probably holes or just a hole, under the water that leads to another cave.  We would just have to let ourselves get sucked into it.  Which is not something I like the sound of. Since we have no idea how far the hole travels, we could drown before finding a pocket of air."