Coming out of the hotel early on the morning of the fourth day after
a good night's sleep, you glimpse a glowing, spectral form moving
through the trees of the park across the street, towards you. As the
form gets closer you see that it has the outline of a female elf, her
features distorted with hatred and evil.
"Why are you hesitating?" asks Amalda1, apparently oblivious to what is approaching.
"Can you not see the spectral female elf?"
"No, I cannot," says Amalda3. "Where is it and what is it?"
Darian fires his blaster at it. He then follows that up with a magic missile.
Tully says, "Is that a banshee or a spectre?"
He blasts it with his blaster rifle as many times as he can and once he has shot 6 times, he changes his cartridge.
Zanax says, as he fires his blaster, "Does it matter? It's toast."
The blaster rays pass right through the thing without affecting it. Trees and bushes behind it explode and burst into flames.
It continues to advance.
Darian uses a magic missile spell to see if it has any effect.
His spell passes right through the spirit without affecting it.
Zanax quips, as he pulls out his holy symbol to turn the female elf, "Perhaps we should have brought some magic weapons with us."
Zanax then holds forth his holy symbol and says, "Back foul creature!" as he attempts to turn the female elf.
She continues to drift closer.
Tully casts entangle, hoping to slow it down, then he will pull out his mandolin to play a tune, trying to charm it.
The entangle has no effect.
At this point your nerve gives out, and you all flee back into the hotel in terror.
When you regain your senses you find yourselves hiding under a table in the dining room...where you recently finished your breakfast. Black-eye is licking Zanax's face.
A waiter is standing over you, a pot in his hand.
"Another cup of coffee, perhaps?" he asks.
There is no sign of the banshee.
Darian rubs his neck and shakes his head, his tremors of fear finally dissipating. "I don't understand. If the technology didn't affect the Bain Sidhe, why didn't our magic do it?"
Tully shrugs his shoulders as he stands. "Maybe it takes certain magics to affect them. Either way, we should probably learn to run more until we find some more magic. Especially if we face magical creatures."
Zanax frowns, "If that's the case, perhaps we should procure some magic weapons before venturing out again. We're bound to run into that banshee sooner or later. Perhaps it would be wise to send the robot back in Jupiter 1 to Occa's mansion? I may be able to send a message to someone at the mansion to let them know he's coming and obtain the weapons for him to bring to us."
Tully says, "I don't think we should just send robot on his own. If we need magic, then let's go back. We can return as soon as we find some."
Zanax nods and replies, "Sounds good to me, but do we know what caused our magic items to become...ummm, non-magical? Was it the teleporter???"
Tully nods, "Yes. My current working theory is that the systems didn't know how to handle the 'magic' elements. The systems have no definitions for such things and so that is not transported with everything else. If it is transported, it isn't reassembled correctly. Either way the net result is that all magic is destroyed during the transportation process."
"Then I had better avoid going through another teleporter. I'm wearing my backup magical chain. And I also have my flametongue." Darian reaches behind and draws his longsword, willing it to burst into flame.
Zanax looks incredulously at Darian, "Why didn't you draw that when the banshee appeared?"
"Because when my magic missile went through it without affecting it, I lost my ability to think. Did you fare any better after you failed to turn it?"
Amalda3 giggles.
Zanax frowns at Amalda3 and then turns back to Darian, "Nope, I lost my resolve after discovering I could not damage the banshee."
Darian nods. "If the magic missile had succeeded, I would've kept using spells until it got to close and then engaged it with my sword."
Tully says, "I have never faced a Banshee, so I don't know how you can affect them. Either way, though, we need to gear up, I suppose."
Zanax nods, "We should probably head back to Occa's mansion, but first..."
Zanax turns to Amalda2 and asks, "Is there a way to see various parts of this station without having to be there?"
"Of course."
Tully says, "Although there are tens of thousands of rooms here, correct?"
He looks over at Zanax and says, "I don't think we can observe them all. However, we might want to use it to scout them out next time, although I wonder if their cameras would pickup the banshee at all."
He says, "Almada1, can you show us any captured video you might have from the last ten minutes in which we seemed to be scared by something? If you have multiple views of the room that would be great."
Zanax grins, "Heck, you're thinking small potatoes, Tully. I'm thinking of tracking every creature on this station so that we can figure out exactly what we're up against before we head back to the mansion. That way we can stock up on the right items."
Zanax turns to Amalda2, "Can you just show us rooms that have creatures in them?"
"Certainly. But the vermin do tend to move around."
Zanax smiles and then adds, "And is there a way we can see these images later in the Jupiter II?"
"I am sorry. It uses an incompatible file format."
Tully nods, "Great idea, Zanax."
He turns to Almada2 and says, "Actually, it would be good to identify each unique creature and then cross reference that with location and number. Of course, we will see if they can pick up magical creatures."
"Would you like us to download that information, Tully?"
Tully says, "Sure, that would be great. We can then review it on our trip back to Earth."
Zanax nods and adds, "Or at the mansion. It may take a while to identify all of them...and we may need to bring some back up, such as a powerful cleric, to deal with some of them, like that banshee."
Tully nods. "True. Let's go once I have the info." He looks over at Almada and asks, "I am assuming I should be able to interface with the X class ship so that I can give them a visual of the data?"
"Of course."
Tully says, "Ok, let's go, guys!"
Zanax nods and follows Tully to the X class ship.
You return to the hangar. This time you walk over to a different ship: a smaller model but more sleek. It appears to be made of platinum. As you approach a door opens in the side of the ship. You enter, finding yourselves in a cabin furnished with comfortable chairs, divans and sofas in white leather. The walls are a soothing grey in colour with metallic accents. A low table in the centre has a single touch wheel in its middle. The lighting is soft and low.
"Welcome aboard the X class scout Steve Jobs," says a voice out of thin air. "I already know where you want to travel to. Please take a seat if you like. Would you like drinks? A light Vegan snack? Recreational drugs?"
The door behind you vanishes as if it never existed.
You take seats and refreshments. Black-eye has a Vegan bisonburger and white powder on the side. The robot has a pint of antifreeze.