A Wizard Did It (Part 4)

With the last of the 'owlboars' defeated, you are set across a workshop protected by some kind of energy field with a very irate goblin wizard.

"You... you insufferable curs," he yells, "not only did you let them loose, you let them loose and SLAUGHTERED them!"

Toha's red pupil, slides along her eyeslit to align with the wizard and, still dripping, begins to lumber that way, snatching up her glaive in the doing.

Zeke immediately steps between Toha and the mage, staff outstreched to further block access between these two individuals. "Peasssce. We did not come here to kill your animals, but they attacked usssss." He looked at the mage calmly, blinking slowly. "Pleassse underssstand."

Skribbles points to herself and says, "Did you just call me an insufferable girl?" She points at the wizard and says, "You are a zazzlesplat, sir. A zazzlesplat I say and your creations were abominations just like your breath!"

Toha's chin lowers, the glowing ruby mote central in her eyeslit as her attention is drawn to Zeke, though her forward travel stops cold. There is the soft creak of her motive straps drawn to load against each other, like rope being twisted, but the golem doesn't make any immediate action to forcibly clear her path.

"EXCUSE ME?" says the goblin, offended deeply by Skribbles' words. "Did you just call me, a wizard who could snap his fingers and turn you into the insect your mind so clearly resembles, a ZAZZLESPLAT?" His eyes go towards Zeke, then, studying him for a moment. "YOU OPENED MY DOOR! RUDELY!" He's still behind the force field, though, and has made no effort to come out.

Zeke nervously flicks his tail, looking from his companions to the wizard and back again. This is not where he'd like to be. "Peassssce on your nessst sssir. Thissss one issss sssorry to have opened your door, and thisss one apologizesss for any rudnessss. It hassss been a long day for usss all." He settles his staff down and makes a small calming motion toward his companions. "We are here to help yesssss?"

Skribbles points, "I call them like I see 'em. We protected ourselves and had you been upstairs, you would have realized we knocked." She looks at Zeke and nods, "We knocked..."

Toha could... knock some more, but, she's still holding, tensely, at her position for the most part, though her chin lifts slowly and her 'eye' focuses again on the wizard making anger noises.

"Zazzlesplat! ZAZZLESPLAT! How /dare/ you/," he jabs a stubby finger, "If I wasn't locked in here, I'd..."

He then looks at Zeke. Then at Skribbles. Then Toha.

"Shit," he says after a moment.

Zeke's eyes narrow somewhat. "Are you locked in there sssir? We might be able to free you." He keeps his tone reasonable, helpful even.

Skribbles blinks and points, laughing out loud. Yeah, the Gobbo has a serious lack of etiquette and diplomacy here as the mighty wizard is stuck. "Now that...is a Zazzlesplat move." She laughs again and shakes her head as she walks over to the wizard, "So Zazz, you want out or not?"

There isn't any dialogue from Toha. Her pupil turns toward Skribble's laughter and the creaking of her motive straps ceases as the red light goes out and the golem sags momentarily.

"...shut up! If the master was here I'd... shit."

The older goblin sighs.

He just sighs and /glares/ at Skribbles for a moment like it's all HER fault.

"...there's a rune somewhere in there. You can deactivate the force field there," he mutters.

"Masssster?" Zeke asks curiously, green eyes more on Toha than on the wizard now that the one has proven itself mostly harmless. "Are you well?" He asks, his voice more quiet as he draws toward Toha.

Toha nods a little bit, her voice soft, "Droppin' the Whitefire takes a little outta me's all." She gives him a little thumbs up, then, "Keepin' still ridin' it does, too, but..." A shrug, "We helpin'm out, then?"

Skribbles looks at the others and points towards the wizard, "So we need to find this switch if you want or we can leave him inside the thing if you want." She starts looking around the room, seeing if she can find the switch.

GAME: Zeke rolls perception: (2)+2: 4
GAME: Toha rolls perception: (17)+6: 23
GAME: Skribbles rolls perception: (10)+10: 20

There is some searching around the blood-soaked room full of owlboar bits.

Eventually, you're able to locate a singular rune inscribed into the baseboards along the wall leading into the /other/ room where the goblin sits behind the force field.

He is scowling.

Though he is not the one that found the rune, Zeke approches it none-the-less, he motions the others back before eying the rune in question and then hesitantly shifting his staff to sit beneath his arm he touches it gently with his claw.

Skribbles walks over and looks at the rune, raising an eyebrow. She watches Zeke touch it and immediately turns, raising an eyebrow as she watches what happens to the wizard. Toha regrets leaving her typical remodeling tools at home. Her Earthbreaker would likely make short work of such a thing, but, she edges back as Zeke indicates that it should be so. She looks at the wizard now and then, but waits to see what happens with the rune.

"Well, what are you waiting for? You know how to disarm a simple /rune/ don't you?" mocks the goblin, stroking his white beard. "If you don't, well, that's kinda...zazzlesplatish, really."

Zeke, looking tired looks at the mage. "We are trying to free you, if you would prefer to remain there, thissss one will leave well enough alone. It issss your choice."

Skribbles looks at the wizard and rolls her eyes, sighing, "You're so unimaginative, wizard. Just shush." She looks at the others and sighs, "I want to apologize for my people. We try and prevent zazzlesplats from becoming adults by castrating them."

Toha seems to notice some bit of beakon on her knuckle spikes and almost daintily plucks it free with her other hand, "What do you use?" she asides.

"..you!" A finger is point4ed at Skribbles and there's ANNOYANCE in his eyes of the deepest order. But then he sighs and nods towards Zeke. "Just scrape the rune, would you? " he offers. "That should disable it without catastrophe."

Without delay Zeke does as he is bid, eager to free the wizard and be done with this. Afterwards, he takes a few quick steps back, dipping his head slightly.

Skribbles turns her head towards the wizard as the rune is scraped, pointing to herself with an innocent look in her eyes. "Me? What'd I do?"

Toha sets the butt of the glaive against the floor and stares at the wizard, half wondering if he's going to do something.... regrettable. She would hate that. Hard.

"You know exactly what you said, girl,"

But then the force field winks out and the Grand Goblin Wizard steps forward out of the area into the midset of the dead owlboars and lets out a sigh, "Such a pity. It took entirely too long to craft them from scratch." He lets out a lengthy sigh.

GAME: Zeke rolls sense motive: (19)+2: 21
GAME: Toha rolls sense motive: (2)+-3: -1
GAME: Skribbles rolls sense motive: (12)+6: 18

Zeke looks at the man and blinks his green eyes. "You ssssaid that there wassss a masssster here. Did they not make the creaturessss?" He does not add the 'not you' aspect of that thought process, he's far too polite to, but he's clearly suspicious of the soft-skin wizard.

"...what are you talking about? I'm the master here!" The goblin puffs himself up. "I must have been referring to /my/ old master, yes. Slip of the tongue, indeed." He looks back and forth.

Skribbles has a think-thought for a moment as Zeke mentions the Master, then she turns and looks at the wizard, shaking her head. "You're right, he's not smart enough to make those things. That requires skill on a level this Lupnik can't muster."

Toha's feet shift slightly, and it seems her colleagues are distrusting of the fellow at present. She doesn't close the distance, but, she is wondering if things are about to get juicy again.

"Lupnik!" bristles the 'wizard'.

"Lupnik." Reiterates Zeke, sounding slightly confused and finally shifting his staff back into his hand. "Can you take us to thissss Lupnik?"

Skribbles walks towards 'Lupnik' and takes out her hammer, pointing it at the Wizard. She takes a few more steps towards him and says, "You ain't a wizard, are ya? And mind you, I am a Forge of Reos and he will know if you're lying...and the fires of the Great Forge are made hot with the tongues of liars."

Distressing. She considers the two goblins for a moment, then takes a step forward, just in case things do get messy and Skribbles needs a hand with Lupnik.

"....all right FINE. I'm his apprentice." He takes off the fake beard and moustache he was wearing, all greyed up, and tosses them to the ground. "Lupnik got bored, made a bunch of owlbears, locked me in the force field, and then said he was going to go have tea with 'Basil'. He hasn't been back since. I don't know where he is, but as you can see, he's up to no good. Now, I have an idea of where this 'Basil' might be. We can go ask him, I guess." What he means is YOU can go ask him.

The cleric of Daeus looks at his companions and then rolls his shoulder. "It sssseemss more like that you were up to no good, to thisss one. Thisss one sssuggessstss we take you back with ussss, and retire thissss misssion." Zeke nods once. This whole mission seems odd to him now really. "We were only assssked to look into a disturbance, and it isss taken care of now yesss?"

Toha thumps the glave against the floor a couple times, "-Why- did he lock you in?" she asks firmly. This mission seems to be more or less taken care of, though... hmmm....

Skribbles nods her head and says, "I think you're right. It seems our work here is done." She looks at the apprentice wizard and shakes her head, "Your mother would be ashamed of you."

"...because he wanted to let the boars have the run of the place. He took a couple with him," oh no. He glances at the cleric of Daeus, then the cleric of Reos. Back and forth. Uh oh.

Zeke considers this for a long moment, but doesn't seem overly concerned. If the boars went /with/ the wizard he must have had some kind of control over them that the apprentice had lacked. "Perhapsss the lock wassss for your protection then." The cleric nods. "Come, we sssshould return our way. Peasssce on your nesssst." Another low nod to the apprentice.

Toha looks between her companions, then gives a shrug and starts to turn away, "Sorry about the mess." What else is there for her to say, really?

Skribbles walks over to the apprentice and nudges him with her hammer, "You better hope he's not causing a mess with those boars or so help me I will cut off your ears and sell them to a greckel." She narrows her eyes and then turns back to the others as it appears they are done, "Who's up for noodles?"

"OH, YOU MEAN THE DISTURBANCE YOU ALL WERE ASKED TO INVESTIGATE, THE ONE THAT WHO KNOWS WHERE MY MASTER IS COULD BE CAUSING THAT YOU JUST DECIDED YOU WANT NO PART OF?" yells the apprentice at your departing forms, as you turn to go.

"... I don't even have an animated mop. I DON'T EVEN HAVE A MOP."

GAME: Toha rolls sense motive: (11)+-3: 8

"What are noodles?" asks Toha over her shoulder. Then the Lupnik (Zazzlesplat?) chimes in again. Hmmmm. She turns back toward the apprentice, "So. An idea, you said."

The poor, tired, and really not used to being in charge of things cleric stops in his tracks. His claw lifts to touch his forehead. Do sith-makar get headaches? He looks like he has one. Green eyes slide toward the apprentice. He mumbles something under his breath in draconic, something hurried that's quiet enough that it's not heard, but it doesn't sound very polite. "The disssturbance isss not here? It isss elsssse-where?" His voice is strained, his confusion evident. "Why would ssssomeone call about a disssturbance here..." He holds up his staff and shakes his head. "Where issss thisss plasce?" It seems that their task is /not/ over.

GAME: Zeke rolls sense motive: (16)+2: 18
GAME: Skribbles rolls sense motive: (16)+6: 22

Skribbles looks at Toha and says, "Nood...you haven't had noodles. Oh, my friend, you are in for a tre..." She then looks at Zeke and then back at the apprentice. She raises a brow and readjusts the grip on her hammer as she walks over, "It's a good thing you didn't have a mop or you might have accidentally cleaned something by accident. What are you going on about. Spill it."

"To be honest, I wasn't expecting anyone to come," admits Lupnik's unnamed apprentice. He sits down.

"I try to pass as him when the master is away. Scares people off, for the most part, which is how he likes it." He leans against the wall, eyeing Skribbles warily, a dirty look following her comment about the mop, then he adds, "...did you just offer a golem noodles? They can't eat! They go no mouths!" He's never met Munch. In any event, he turns to Zeke and gives him a plaintive look. "He's... he's /bored/, you see. He's been telling everyone about his wondrous new projects and what not, bragging, and I guess somebody got spooked when they heard the squealing. I do hope he's not getting in much trouble -- he's.. kind of losing it up here," he admits, sadly, tapping the side of his head.

Meanwhile, at a small grove within the city limits.

"You see, it was around two o'clock when I came to, missing my purse and many of my valuables but thankfully they had not seen fit to purloin my undergarments, which as you already know were made for my specific orthopedic requirements because unfortunately, and not that I haven't tried, I'm not getting any younger! You must imagine, I say, imagine, my spry forty-something year old self wandering the streets of Alexandria in a daze, this was of course prior the the whole, ahem, five year debacle. Sorry bit of business, that. That's what happens when you make deals with entities from beyond the veil, or so I assume. Anyway! Rather. More tea? I shall have some of course, of course. Oh yes and some of those little biscuits! Where was I? Oh right. Undergarments. And thus I did manage to obtain some manner of clothing though not of the class to which I, of noble bearing, am accustomed, but unfortunately beggars can't be choosers, as I found out that very night when I asked a beggar in the pursuit of clothing why they wore such smelly sacks. The smell, I say, was godawful. It was like a first year student mixing an acid vial and a healing poultice!"

"HAHAHAHAH," is the wizard's shrill laughter, followed by the squeals of the owlboars. "OH BE QUIET, YOU NINCOMPOOPS, ITS FUNNY! That was lovely. I've been /so/ bored. What do you make of the beasts? They're MAGNIFICIENT! I thought perhaps I ought to start a side venture... How does monster breeding go these days?"

-TBC