TG502

Oracle WIPP

Episode Number: (TG502)
Original Airdate: 10/2002

The Sendant (and possibly Tierney) rescue party continues their journey through the planes. They leave the ribbon world and enter a realm of gears, patrolled by mechanized stone rhinoceroses. After defeating a pack of rhinos (which had petrified two-thirds of the party), the group continues on to the land of the Oracles.

Watch For:

• Arly not turning to stone.
• Gryffid having bonuses equal to the DC of the Fort save, and still rolling a 1 and turning to stone.
• Tim activating his armor and beating the crap out of a rhino.

Plot Points

• Some heavy alignment changes occured when the party transitioned between planes.
• Tim can turn stone to flesh now.
• Arly retrieved Tierney's ring when it fell off as he was petrified. He wasn't too forthcoming about that.
• The Oracles, when they speak, sound a lot like an earthquake. It even feels like one.
• The party gives up Tierney's ring (the Ring of Fate) as a sacrifice to the Oracles. Or rather, it gave itself up.
• According to the Oracles, the Penumbral Lord's domain lies at the root of the Rose -- not in the stem nor in the earth, but in between. Travelers there must pass through fire and shadow. When the waters change, take the door to the left. [Ed. note: am I remembering this right?]
• "Tierney" thinks that the Oracles do not want the party to succeed, though they probably gave very accurate information.

Unanswered Questions

• What did the glyphs on the stones mean? Were they some sort of warning?
• Who was "Tierney" talking to when he said "I don't approve"? He wasn't taking to Arly, even though he was looking in his direction.
• What did the bloated demon dude want from the Oracles?
• How would the Oracles profit from the party's failure?
• Why did Gryffid try to be almost diplomatic when facing the rhinos?

Analysis

• Fifteen levels of Fort good and Great Fortitude don't help when you roll a natural 1.
• The markings on the chests of the people depicted in the pillar glyphs resembled those on the stone found in Salin's Keep. The triangle symbol could have a certain meaning across the planes.

Gryffid Speaks

I've realized that I've probably been rather cavalier about my life up until now. In particular, I've had this bad habit of not giving a flying spider's turd about things that don't involve me personally.

Pity I had to travel to another dimension to figure this out.

Notable Quotes

Patrick describes the pillars of stone jutting out of the ground at odd angles, and presents a sketch to the group.
Geordan: Oh, the nuclear waste site thing.
Colin: Oh, yeah, neat.
Patrick (not expecting anyone else to have read the WIPP report): ...YES, the nuclear waste site thing.

Kazek: I'm gonna go graze on some of this unnatural ground.

Dave (reading the description of the Ring of Fate): Bah... Eh... Uih!
Patrick: I think that should be the name of the item.

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