<blockquote><div><cite>Dagnyr wrote:</cite>"You know this man, watchman Niberos?"</div></blockquote><br/>"Not personally," Alyssa replies. "But I've dealt with him in custody several times, and I studied his criminal record as part of my training. He and his partner Wobble are well known to the Watch, I'm afraid." Shifting her attention firmly to Botch, she returns his glare with a pitying expression. "I'd like to add as few charges as possible to that record," she says, her gaze resting steadily on a set of eyes not much older than her own. "So if you'll share the names and whereabouts of you're accomplices, I'll see to it that your sentence is reduced accordingly. However, if you continue to kick Constable Thuror in the shins, I'll be forced to add battery charges to the list."<br/><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Diplomacy: 1d20(7) + 14 + 2 (Patient Optimist) = 23, failure (and no time to retry <img alt=":(" src="./images/smilies/sad.gif" title="Sad"/> )<br/>Perception: 1d20(5) + 15 = 20, failure</div></div></div><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Knowledge (history): 1d20(6) + 20 = 26, success<br/>Knowledge (planes): 1d20(20) + 20 = 40, success<br/>Perception: 1d20(11) + 15 = 26, success<br/>Sense Motive: 1d20(18) + 15 = 33, success<br/><br/>Initiative: 1d20(1) + 4 = 5 &gt;_&lt;</div></div></div><br/>If Botch replies to her offer, Alyssa doesn't hear it- her attention is drawn to the strange sounds and lights spilling from the Prometan gate and its surrounding runes. There's something worrisome about the way the portal's surface is moving, and after a moment of thought, she quickly realizes why: in every account she's read of the Crossing Night festival, the opening of the celestial gateway was always described as a parting curtain of light; a steady glow accompanied by the soft murmur of heavenly voices. The great stone ring's behavior now is far from steady or soft, and most certainly not heavenly; if anything, the roiling surface of the portal looks like something from the Maelstrom, or...<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">No. It couldn't be.</span>An icy knot begins to tighten in Alyssa's stomach as she scans the gate, identifying the warped symbols dancing across its surface... Abyssal script, without a doubt.<br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Dagnyr wrote:</cite>"Watchman Niberos, stand ready. Unless I am gravely mistaken, something has gone terribly wrong. And a paladin's senses do not lie."</div></blockquote><br/>Alyssa nods slowly, her eyes never leaving the now wildly malfunctioning gate. "I feel it as well," she says. A hundred other thoughts and questions buzz in her head, but she voices none of them; they're mere distractions now, and whatever is coming will require her undivided attention. Clenching her fists, she mutters a few words to herself as she shifts into a defensive fighting stance. Her skin and clothing shimmer faintly in the torchlight, as if covered in a thin layer of oil.<br/><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Alyssa casts <span style="font-style: italic">grease</span> as a spell-like ability, targeting herself. (+5 to CMD versus grapples, +5 to escape checks)</div></div></div>