Scenario: The Door, the Dabus, and the Doomguard - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Scenario: The Door, the Dabus, and the Doomguard

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Feb 11, 2005 10:13:50 Back in the pre-FW days, the final test one had to take in order to join the Doomguard was to prevent the Dabus from trimming the razorvine off a select building for an entire day. With combat a rather unfavorable method for undertaking this task, creativity was required.

So, let us say that a prospective Sinker has thought of a plan for getting the Dabus out of the way: The building he is to "guard" happens to have a portal in or nearby it, to which he knows and can acquire the key. So, our Doomguard in training reasons, if he can just knock or trick the Dabus through that portal he will have solved his task. The portal leads to a reasonably safe corner of the Multiverse (say, Elysium, or a quiet portion of the Outlands), so he figures he will not risk facing whatever blame would fall on him if the Dabus is killed once it is through the portal. All it will be subject to is some minor suprise and a long walk-flight home.

The test begins, and the first Dabus arrives (for simplicity, we assume that there will only be one, or at least that the others are not working nearby enough to be of consequence). By hook or by crook, the test-taker gets it to the portal, and has it activated around the Dabus...

And then what happens?
#2
sildatorak
Feb 11, 2005 12:03:31 It wouldn't surprise me if the Dabus are unable to use portals. I don't have a lot of time to expound on this idea so I'll leave it at that.

I also have to say my favorite way of keeping the Dabus from trimming the razorvine is to do it yourself. For the more "slow decay" minded Doomguard that would be an excellent expression of philosophy...everything promotes entropy, even the things that seem to do the opposite.
#3
ripvanwormer
Feb 11, 2005 12:45:23 The dabus can enter and leave the Lady of Pain's mazes at will, so they can use some portals, at least. I mean, somebody has to keep them in good condition when they're not in use. They can also probably use portals from one part of the city to another.

I don't think they're necessarily trapped in Sigil like the Lady presumedly is, but I've never heard of one going out. Even Fell is still there, and he has good reason to feel unwanted. Some think they're part of the city like white blood cells are part of a human body. I would expect them to be able to instinctually know where a portal leads, and what the key is, in order to be able to avoid it. They might even be able to control portals and make them go where they want them to go. Maybe they could use any portal in the city as a shortcut to take them to any other part of the city, with no key.

That's all speculation, though. Maybe they'd just be stranded in Elysium until they find a new portal. There's no other way to get into Sigil.

Other ways to keep the razorvine from being trimmed:

- surround the building with a wall of force (what if the dabus uses a portal to bypass it? Any building is full of potential portals.)

- Keep moving the building.

- Hide the building inside another building. Build a wall. Build a greenhouse. Or an illusion of another building with no razorvine on it. Or just make it invisible. Or just make the razorvine invisible.

- Keep warning the dabus off with a sharp stick. In all likelihood, they'll just decide to wait the barmy entropy-lover out. It's not like they love trimming razorvine so much that they need to risk their hides over it, Lady's protection or no. There's plenty of other things to do.

- Hide the razorvine inside ordinary ivy (but how do you get ivy to grow in Sigil? Magic?) Hide the razorvine inside a thick coat of Norwegian Blue parrots.

- Pretend to be doing the job yourself. Run around the building all day with a pair of clippers, trimming the air a few millimeters away from each leaf.

- Move the building to another plane.

- Use props to make it seem like the building is on another plane. Paint a backdrop with the Spire on it or a Bytopian landscape. Maybe the dabus will think the building is on the other side of a portal and go away.

- Find a really small building that you can keep in your pocket. Don't actually put it in your pocket, since razorvine is rather sharp.

- Keep distracting the dabus by setting other buildings on fire. While they're busy putting the fires out, your razorvine is free to grow. Be careful, since razorvine is flammable! This works best in the Hive, where the Harmonium doesn't much care what you do. Beware of angry squatters, though.

- Distract the dabus by using plant growth spells to make the razorvine on other nearby buildings grow at a ridiculous rate. Keep them busy with that razorvine and leave your razorvine alone.

- Block the dabus with your own body. Keep stepping between them and the building. You might need some friends to help. Be careful you don't back into the razorvine!

- Hire some fiends to keep the dabus away. Tell them not to attack the dabus. If they're stupid enough to actually attack the Lady's Handmaidens anyway, it's not your problem. Or is it?

- Confuse the dabus with really fast rebus-speak.

- Confuse the dabus by dressing as one. Or dress as the Lady of Pain.

- Confuse the dabus with random and bizarre actions, like putting a manes on your head and reciting the complete works of Jeena Ealy backwards naked while making armpit farting sounds in front of an audience of monadic devas.

- Confuse the dabus with a confusion spell.

- Put a big sign up that says PLEASE DO NOT TRIM in rebus-speak.
#4
Cyriss
Feb 11, 2005 14:18:29 Wouldn't interfering with the Dabus technically be "harming" the city? The LoP has put the Dabus in charge of the cities upkeeping; so there's a reason she wants them to perform specific tasks for Sigil. If you stop them, wouldn't that make you a threat to the city and be a reason for the LoP to flay you?

Maybe that's a stretch, but I wouldn't get in the way of a Dabus for any reason.
#5
ripvanwormer
Feb 11, 2005 15:34:12
If you stop them, wouldn't that make you a threat to the city

Only if letting the razorvine grow wild on one building is a threat to the city. The Lady of Pain has better things to do than pick on every barmy with a hard-on for foliage.

The Doomguard have been making every new member do this for centuries. If an initiate balks for fear of being a minor annoyance to creatures working for a mysterious entity who's almost never seen anyway, they're not Sinker material. To be a good Doomguard warrior by Pentar's standards you have to be a lot more annoying to the Lady than that. Working for multiversal oblivion implies taking some risks.
#6
sildatorak
Feb 13, 2005 18:05:17
- Keep distracting the dabus by setting other buildings on fire. While they're busy putting the fires out, your razorvine is free to grow. Be careful, since razorvine is flammable! This works best in the Hive, where the Harmonium doesn't much care what you do. Beware of angry squatters, though.

Or just burn down the building you are keeping the dabus from trimming. If you want to get on Pentar's good side you should stock your building full of smoke powder and then do the side fires to make sure that you don't accidentally blow up any of The Lady's servants when you set off the explosives.
#7
zombiegleemax
Feb 23, 2005 16:37:02 Psst. I'll let you in on a little-known Doomguard dark. This little challenge is a trick, and if you don't shine to it, you can start looking for another faction to join.

Fact is, with a little creativity and luck, you can temporarily keep the dabus from trimming the vine for a day. Most (but surprisingly not all) Doomguards have successfully done so. But eventually, the dabus will get around to cutting the vines. And if he doesn't then the vines will die eventually anyway. It's inevitable. EVERYTHING falls in its own time, including razorvine, and there's nothing you can do that will stop that.

I've known many a berk who's returned to Pentar to report his success at fending off the dabus, only to be denied access to the faction because he didn't understand the true lesson.

Enzo
Section Manager, Cutters
www.planewalker.com

"Populating the Planes, one Cutter at a time."
#8
zombiegleemax
Feb 28, 2005 0:46:50 Well, in my campaign if the PCs attacked or hindered the dabus in any way, they would get what was coming to them. An endless dabus swarm, followed by a possible flaying, depending on how many dabus they successfully kill. In my campaign at least, the PCs would have to use a trick. A couple of good ones that I saw were trimming the razorvine yourself, or just burning down the building, although you could just burn the RAZORVINE and not be subject to punishment by the hardheads or red death.
-Aphyosemion
#9
ripvanwormer
Feb 28, 2005 0:59:32
Well, in my campaign if the PCs... hindered the dabus in any way, they would get... an endless dabus swarm

I would think that would be more annoying for the dabus than just being hindered.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Feb 11, 2005 10:13:50	Back in the pre-FW days, the final test one had to take in order to join the Doomguard was to prevent the Dabus from trimming the razorvine off a select building for an entire day. With combat a rather unfavorable method for undertaking this task, creativity was required. So, let us say that a prospective Sinker has thought of a plan for getting the Dabus out of the way: The building he is to "guard" happens to have a portal in or nearby it, to which he knows and can acquire the key. So, our Doomguard in training reasons, if he can just knock or trick the Dabus through that portal he will have solved his task. The portal leads to a reasonably safe corner of the Multiverse (say, Elysium, or a quiet portion of the Outlands), so he figures he will not risk facing whatever blame would fall on him if the Dabus is killed once it is through the portal. All it will be subject to is some minor suprise and a long walk-flight home. The test begins, and the first Dabus arrives (for simplicity, we assume that there will only be one, or at least that the others are not working nearby enough to be of consequence). By hook or by crook, the test-taker gets it to the portal, and has it activated around the Dabus... And then what happens?
#2 sildatorak Feb 11, 2005 12:03:31	It wouldn't surprise me if the Dabus are unable to use portals. I don't have a lot of time to expound on this idea so I'll leave it at that. I also have to say my favorite way of keeping the Dabus from trimming the razorvine is to do it yourself. For the more "slow decay" minded Doomguard that would be an excellent expression of philosophy...everything promotes entropy, even the things that seem to do the opposite.
#3 ripvanwormer Feb 11, 2005 12:45:23	The dabus can enter and leave the Lady of Pain's mazes at will, so they can use some portals, at least. I mean, somebody has to keep them in good condition when they're not in use. They can also probably use portals from one part of the city to another. I don't think they're necessarily trapped in Sigil like the Lady presumedly is, but I've never heard of one going out. Even Fell is still there, and he has good reason to feel unwanted. Some think they're part of the city like white blood cells are part of a human body. I would expect them to be able to instinctually know where a portal leads, and what the key is, in order to be able to avoid it. They might even be able to control portals and make them go where they want them to go. Maybe they could use any portal in the city as a shortcut to take them to any other part of the city, with no key. That's all speculation, though. Maybe they'd just be stranded in Elysium until they find a new portal. There's no other way to get into Sigil. Other ways to keep the razorvine from being trimmed: - surround the building with a wall of force (what if the dabus uses a portal to bypass it? Any building is full of potential portals.) - Keep moving the building. - Hide the building inside another building. Build a wall. Build a greenhouse. Or an illusion of another building with no razorvine on it. Or just make it invisible. Or just make the razorvine invisible. - Keep warning the dabus off with a sharp stick. In all likelihood, they'll just decide to wait the barmy entropy-lover out. It's not like they love trimming razorvine so much that they need to risk their hides over it, Lady's protection or no. There's plenty of other things to do. - Hide the razorvine inside ordinary ivy (but how do you get ivy to grow in Sigil? Magic?) Hide the razorvine inside a thick coat of Norwegian Blue parrots. - Pretend to be doing the job yourself. Run around the building all day with a pair of clippers, trimming the air a few millimeters away from each leaf. - Move the building to another plane. - Use props to make it seem like the building is on another plane. Paint a backdrop with the Spire on it or a Bytopian landscape. Maybe the dabus will think the building is on the other side of a portal and go away. - Find a really small building that you can keep in your pocket. Don't actually put it in your pocket, since razorvine is rather sharp. - Keep distracting the dabus by setting other buildings on fire. While they're busy putting the fires out, your razorvine is free to grow. Be careful, since razorvine is flammable! This works best in the Hive, where the Harmonium doesn't much care what you do. Beware of angry squatters, though. - Distract the dabus by using plant growth spells to make the razorvine on other nearby buildings grow at a ridiculous rate. Keep them busy with that razorvine and leave your razorvine alone. - Block the dabus with your own body. Keep stepping between them and the building. You might need some friends to help. Be careful you don't back into the razorvine! - Hire some fiends to keep the dabus away. Tell them not to attack the dabus. If they're stupid enough to actually attack the Lady's Handmaidens anyway, it's not your problem. Or is it? - Confuse the dabus with really fast rebus-speak. - Confuse the dabus by dressing as one. Or dress as the Lady of Pain. - Confuse the dabus with random and bizarre actions, like putting a manes on your head and reciting the complete works of Jeena Ealy backwards naked while making armpit farting sounds in front of an audience of monadic devas. - Confuse the dabus with a confusion spell. - Put a big sign up that says PLEASE DO NOT TRIM in rebus-speak.
#4 Cyriss Feb 11, 2005 14:18:29	Wouldn't interfering with the Dabus technically be "harming" the city? The LoP has put the Dabus in charge of the cities upkeeping; so there's a reason she wants them to perform specific tasks for Sigil. If you stop them, wouldn't that make you a threat to the city and be a reason for the LoP to flay you? Maybe that's a stretch, but I wouldn't get in the way of a Dabus for any reason.
#5 ripvanwormer Feb 11, 2005 15:34:12	If you stop them, wouldn't that make you a threat to the city Only if letting the razorvine grow wild on one building is a threat to the city. The Lady of Pain has better things to do than pick on every barmy with a hard-on for foliage. The Doomguard have been making every new member do this for centuries. If an initiate balks for fear of being a minor annoyance to creatures working for a mysterious entity who's almost never seen anyway, they're not Sinker material. To be a good Doomguard warrior by Pentar's standards you have to be a lot more annoying to the Lady than that. Working for multiversal oblivion implies taking some risks.
#6 sildatorak Feb 13, 2005 18:05:17	- Keep distracting the dabus by setting other buildings on fire. While they're busy putting the fires out, your razorvine is free to grow. Be careful, since razorvine is flammable! This works best in the Hive, where the Harmonium doesn't much care what you do. Beware of angry squatters, though. Or just burn down the building you are keeping the dabus from trimming. If you want to get on Pentar's good side you should stock your building full of smoke powder and then do the side fires to make sure that you don't accidentally blow up any of The Lady's servants when you set off the explosives.
#7 zombiegleemax Feb 23, 2005 16:37:02	Psst. I'll let you in on a little-known Doomguard dark. This little challenge is a trick, and if you don't shine to it, you can start looking for another faction to join. Fact is, with a little creativity and luck, you can temporarily keep the dabus from trimming the vine for a day. Most (but surprisingly not all) Doomguards have successfully done so. But eventually, the dabus will get around to cutting the vines. And if he doesn't then the vines will die eventually anyway. It's inevitable. EVERYTHING falls in its own time, including razorvine, and there's nothing you can do that will stop that. I've known many a berk who's returned to Pentar to report his success at fending off the dabus, only to be denied access to the faction because he didn't understand the true lesson. Enzo Section Manager, Cutters www.planewalker.com "Populating the Planes, one Cutter at a time."
#8 zombiegleemax Feb 28, 2005 0:46:50	Well, in my campaign if the PCs attacked or hindered the dabus in any way, they would get what was coming to them. An endless dabus swarm, followed by a possible flaying, depending on how many dabus they successfully kill. In my campaign at least, the PCs would have to use a trick. A couple of good ones that I saw were trimming the razorvine yourself, or just burning down the building, although you could just burn the RAZORVINE and not be subject to punishment by the hardheads or red death. -Aphyosemion
#9 ripvanwormer Feb 28, 2005 0:59:32	Well, in my campaign if the PCs... hindered the dabus in any way, they would get... an endless dabus swarm I would think that would be more annoying for the dabus than just being hindered.