(Before skipping down in) " They don't seem bad, I go check. "
Maarten you gun-toting, xenophobic fae scum, I want to meet these people, Caek say I would like them.

That's what you get for chilling with an Elvin assassin. Political assistant.

That's a minor action, anything else you would like to do? Remember, your normal abilities are mostly liked while in this form.

Send my clone in for surveillance. Acquire as much information about the humanoids and cavern as possible.

maart3n pls

We can't sneak in; there is one entrance. Someone is facing that entrance.

Also, some people might be intensely frightened by Foa's demon form, which currently appears to the Rollers to be walking down their stairs. Maybe it would be a good idea to shift back.

>Alter the scanning pattern to dump most of my reserve energy into intensive pinging of the four surrounding the table, hopefully at a frequency of pulses high enough to build a picture of their movement.

(Not sure, De-Demon Form the Real Orange, and then think about some other things)

If you drop out of the demon form your decoy will do so, too.

Whatever, let's do it, I don't feel like trouncing around like a succubus. They have to pay for that.

Otherwise, unannounced, unabashed walk in. Hello dudes, I heard you were waiting for people from outside.
And maybe talk to the pact spirits about how they feel about Alarais, and the doppleganger I have.

CC, action please. Maart3n, have you seen the map? It might help with planning.

Foa, are you sure you want to walk in there? Also, please bold and underline your action. It helps me tell what you are trying to do.

I don't think I can mind-read someone I can't see yet, and I don't want to go busting in and blowing whatever chance we have of stealth, nor do I want to kill any potential information sources, so -

> If for some reason fighting breaks out, get in between my allies and danger. Else, do nothing.

Okay, since it seems most people support entering the room, I'll deal with that later as a post on it's own.

Here it is.


Orange drops out of her Control form and hears the whispers of the pact spirits. Remember, each time you activate that pact, you'll start going insane. Well, even more insane. Sanity is a ladder and all that. Yeah. I think you've got four more uses before you start going bonkers. Then another five before your friends have to tie you to a tree while you babble strange tongues. Just, uh, getting that out there.

The armour falls to the floor and starts to bubble and boil away into nothingness as the claws seem to disintegrate with the wings. The tail vanishes with an abrupt popping sound, leaving Orange in her humanoid form. Her decoy stands perfectly still. Orange gestures down the stairs and the decoy nods. I'll control the decoy, don't worry. She feels a strange tingling sensation as the Shadow seems to leave her body and take control of the decoy proper. The decoy stretches and says, "Now this is better. I'll head down and parley. I'll be back in a minute." With confidence, the Shadow walks down the stairs, whistling a tune that no one in the party has ever heard before.

I've got a bad feeling about this. Well, as you can see, we can take over your decoys. Still can't fight with them but it pretty much lets you send them off talking to people.

As the Shadow descends down the stairs, there is a crash as the people at the table stagger to their feet. "Dice sake, Saril you almost knocked the table over." Saril shrugs, "My legs were asleep." The Shadow looks around, seeing an Elf woman, an old human man, a young male dwarf and a second human. Only the dwarf and the second human are wearing armour, the Elf and the old man are wearing only cloth and carry no weapons. Draped across the walls are the symbols of their faith. With elaborate care, dozens of die are depicted, as well as decks of cards and branching maps depicting strange worlds and lands. The robes of the two priests is covered in black dots on a white background, seeming in the groupings you would find on a dice. On the woman's chest is a large, single black circle, on the old man, two large circles in a diagonal. They both keep a leather bag tied to their waists by a belt but are otherwise completely unarmed.

Bob, the old man, reaches for the bag while asking, "Who are you? I'm armed!"

"He's not the only one." says the human as he pulls his sword from it's sheath. The milky-glass blade gleams in the light from the torches.

The Shadow smiles at them reassuringly, putting on it's friendliest face and says, "Hello, friends! My name is Purple. Mayhaps you could tell me if the Temple is open?"

The woman bursts out laughing. Bob shakes his head at the sight of the young priestess and says to "Purple", "I'm afraid not. The DM has closed it for today. There was a break in."

"I still don't get why they would steal the -" The old man stares at him. "...Oh, right."

The Shadow sighs at the motley team that is guarding the temple and asks, "Is there not some way my collegues can tour the building? They are...theologians. They're doing a study on the different religions." The old priest nods and says with pride, "I am sure that can be arranged. We are very proud of our temple and our faith." There is a bang as something hits the ceiling of the floor below. A faint voice can be heard weakly, "Hey! Get me out of here!"

The priest looks at the Shadow and says with a hint of annoyance, "You heard nothing."

"Right. Anyway, I'll send them down in a minute or two, if you don't mind."

"Not at all! Please, bring them in." says Saril, the Elven woman with a smile. The Shadow turns and heads up the stairs to report back to the party.

"Okay, they are willing to let you guys go inside. But this place is suspicious. They're definitely holding some people against their will and probably hiding something, too."

The Shadow rolls it's eyes and says to everyone, "That and it absolutely screams trap."

"Might as well do as we're told and kill the lot of them now. I'll leave it up to you lot but that's my point of view here."
Decent stairs, do not kill everybody just yet. Leer at the human with the sword.

Also sorry for not changing previous action in time.

With a flash of light and a ground shaking bang, Alaris dropped from his immense speeds, crossing the vast distance between Warhome and the frontline in less than a second. He looked down over the battleground, his keen sight showing every man and woman in the fight perfectly. Three full legions. CM is starting to throw more at me, now. Thirty thousand troops against his own forces who looked to number only a fifth of that number. There was the mournful bellow of warhorns as a cavalry charge slammed into the side of the army, crushing the flank against the centre. Alaris dove into the fight and decelerated so fast the sonic boom turned men to liquid in their armour. He switched from his Dragon from to his human one, to allow him to manoeuvre across the battle on foot all the easier. Clad from head to toe in draconic plate armour, he shouted to his men, "Rally on me! We're outnumbered but we can win this!" He raised his sword into the air, channelling entropic magic into the blade itself. It's surface started to give off thick black smoke, a symbol for all his troops to see. As they regrouped on him, he advanced forward. He tried to find the general, the one who would have command of his forces, but succeeded in finding her shattered body next to the fallen banner. He grabbed it and lifted it into the air, the tattered dragon flying once again as he held it in his left hand, his sword in the right.

When the banner raised into the sky, it seemed as though the entire enemy host came to Alaris to bring it down once again. As dozens of mounted knights, heavy infantry, archers and all the other dregs of the enemy forces came down on him, he shouted, his voice booming across the field, "Come on then! Come and kill me if you can!" He waited for them to get close, only a few feet from him before he swung his sword. In an instant, it's entropic charge was vented in the form of a cloud of smoke blacker than night. The smoke spread from his blade in a line, carrying the momentum from the swing into the crowd. Horrific screams filled the air as the flesh of the men disintegrated, as their armour and bones turned to dust in the wind. For fifty metres in front of him, everything was dead. His forces cheered as he rushed into the melee. A foolish young Canisean Centurion tried to fight him in the heart of the battle, leader against leader. Alaris rammed the banner into the ground, driving it a foot into the soil. He walked over to the Centurion, his cloak moving only slightly with each step. He must've only been in his early twenties. Alaris shouted to him, "Run home, boy. You are too young to die on a battlefield." The Canisean laughed in defiance. "And miss out on the eternal honour and glory coming from killing a Dragon? No."

"Only Death is eternal." Alaris ran forth, his blade ready for a finishing swing. The Centurion swung his sword down, the blade glinted in the sun for only an instant before it was shattered against Alaris' own blade. With the Centurion's sword dealt with, Alaris rammed his claws into his chest. They cleaved through his well decorated steel breastplate as though it wasn't even there. The tips of each blade jutted out the back of the Centurion as he gasped and bled. Alaris pulled the claw from his chest and the Centurion fell to the ground, fatally wounded. Alaris sheathed his weapon and stepped over to the dying man. His death was quick and painless, the claw having severed his spinal cord. Alaris knelt down next to his body and closed the young man's eyes before returning back to the fight. "May you find some peace in death, Centurion." Many of the enemy men had ran after seeing their leader slain in a single blow. When Alaris changed to his Dragon form and stretched his huge black wings across the centre of the battlefield, the rout spread from man to man, all of them choosing to flee. He could see now that only a few of them were Caniseans and those few had stayed on the field to die a warrior's death. He roared, something to encourage the enemy to run faster. But he did not chase them down, no, he had little interest in hunting down a fleeing enemy. If they even think of harming a non-combatant, though... His army cheered and shouted with him as the enemy force shattered into the countryside.

No doubt some of them will reform the army in the next few days, though many will think twice.