The Eye of Anubis: Book Four

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia's world seems to come to a screeching halt as she sees Ulsaon bitten and slammed into the floor. 'Not again. Hell's Bells, not again! I never even saw it coming for Allikhain, this must not happen again!'
Seeing Andre come for the downed half-elf, the undead smilodon temporarily held fast, Lia's eyes narrow and she hurtles magic at it. 'If I can help take it down, or at least distract it, it will give Andre a chance to reach her. If only ...'

'Sphaera frigi minor, volete!' a voice chants, seemingly out of nowhere. A tiny, icy ball of light appears and shoots forth to impact with the struggling skeleton.

(OOC: Cast Lesser Orb of Cold, ranged touch attack 29, 16 damage if it hits.)

[lostboy]

A scream resonantes through Khalils mind, piercing the veil of panic. Someones in trouble, I should help..... No,no,no I cant face that room again. The desert guide hugs his knees tighter and sinks further into the darkness.

Then somehting warm and wet runs over his face. Blinking he starts and relaxes a little as he sees the large yellow eyes of Small-star inf ront of him. Hesitantly he reaches out and strokes the Wolfs pelt, the simple action providing him an anchor on reality.

Resolve floods through him "I must be stornger than this" he mutters as he climbs shakily to his feet. "Other need my help, and I will not leave them to die, Anubis grant me strength!"

With that he moves carefully at first then swifter , until he reahes the entrance to the room. The sight is as awful as he remembers but there are more pressing concerns. Drawing both glittering blades, he grimly surveys the scene.

[OOC: woo fear effect over! Khalil will move as close to the room entrance as he can with a full round move, and he'll draw both weapons. Right now whos been a bad kitty?]

[The Whistler]

A flash of movement from the skeletal lizard--a glint of yellow eyes spinning from one foreleg to the other. (Capture the scene in your mind in a half-millisecond; analyze)

Woman DOWN woman DOWN CURSE it all hold ON hold ON--

Noises:

-The rustle of leather.
-Another "pop." A different one.
-That's odd...sand? Like someone turning an hourglass.
-More rustling; a small, inorganic "squeak."
-The sound of someone standing up.

[DocBeard]

Huh, some crazy part of Tomas percieves, the thunderous attack works. Thunder. Why does that feel-oh, hey, claw in my gut.

The sane part of Tomas goes, "Arrgh!" feeling his insides slide unpleasently, as he stumbles backwards, trying to focus on staying on his feet. It's not that bad, he insists to himself, it just feels that bad because every part of you hurts ow ow ow ow ow I really, really, really hate this thing...

"Usalon!" Tomas exclaims, as the thing goes after her, and that's about it for the same part of Tomas as the little kernel of madness that allows him to be, well, Tomas, kicks into full gear, as he hurtles himself forward, his voice like thunder as he takes two savage swipes at the bony beast! "Leave! Her! Alone!"

(OOC: Full attack, Divine Vengence. First: 28. Second: 10. If the first attack hits, 14 damage. I forget if I can change any divine attack, or just smite evil-if it's the former, I'd like it to be sonic damage. If it matters, my sword did 7 damage, and Divine Vengence did 7.)

[Kaitou Kage]

"Vakrtund Mahakaya Surya Koti Samaprabha
Nirbhignam Kurumedaya Sarva Karyashu Sarvada."

Kuzan quietly intoned the mantra, a spell he'd practiced repeatedly during the years. Nothing seemed to happen, but few people, even those who knew Kuzan was there, actually noticed him moving forward. It was as if he was there, but not worth any attention.

Casting sanctuary and moving up to "flank" Andre with Tomas as the End of Round Two map shows positions.

The mantra is an invocation of protection to Ganesh.

[NeoTiamat]

The Muzeavh, The Academic Quarter, Phiraz
May 24th, 761, 2:12 AM; Day 68 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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[Player Actions:

Kuzan casts Sanctuary, moves towards the Smiler.
Andre moves next to Ulsaon, muffs the Defensive Casting.
Charles throws a Tanglefoot Bag, Smiler flubs its reflex save, is glued to the floor.
Lia cast Lesser Orb of Cold, hits Smiler, does no damage thanks to skeletal Cold Immunity.
Khalil stops cowering, runs back towards the fight.
Tomas dishes out the hurt, deals 14 Sonic Damage to Kitty.
Otto does more mysterious things.
Ulsaon bleeds closer to death.

Holy Storm deals 6 damage.
Tanglefoot, 1st/3 rounds.]

"Again, again!"

But there was no again, even as al-Shirazi yelled at his Confessors. Courage failed them, and to a certain extent, you could sympathize. Usings whips against the beast from beyond time was not your idea of a good strategy. Even as the two Confessors broke and ran, the Judge grimaced and raised a hand to cast more sonic magic at the undead smilodon.

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The cat, for that matter, was not having the finest day of its long and honorable career as apex predator. First came the orb of elemental cold splashed against the skeleton's toothy face. It was surprising, certainly, but not particularly hurtful to these old bones. The great cat screeched its death-cry...

...Only to be cut short as a bag of glue, of all things, hit its face again. Someone would pay, preferably with much screaming, even as the ugly green goo stuck it to the floor of the Muzeavh. When the metal-clad man hit it with the sword, it was just adding injury to insult.

And then the undead monstrosity from a bygone age looked out, and it saw Andre, even as the magic fumbled. With inhuman joy, the joy of the kill, of death, the Smiler rushed at Andre, knocking him about with its great paws and evil, curved teeth. The scholar didn't have a chance.

It was like Pumpkin with a catnip mouse, save that the professor screamed as the heavily taloned claws ripped across his back, shredding the scholar's back and exposing bone. The fangs sunk deep into his shoulder, trying to sever the spinal cord and finish him, and the other claw tearing open his leg. Were it not for the unnatural, magic-born vitality, Andre would have been reduced to so many bloody shreds.

As it were, the man was breathing, albeit barely, as the cat was forced back by its glued feet. Still breathing, and still moving, though there was so much blood staining the tiled floor of the Muzeavh.

....So very much blood.


NPC Actions:
Judge al-Shirazi casts Sound Burst on the Smiler, deals 4 more damage.
Two Confessors run away.
Carter shoots it a third time, gives up and moves closer.

Smiler Action: Full Attack Routine on Andre.

• Bite (hit) for 15 damage.
  Claw (hit) for 12 damage.
  Claw (hit) for 16 damage.

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Player Status Report:
All: Dark Knowledge (+2 to hit)
Kuzan: Protection from Evil (+2 AC, +2 Saves), Sanctuary
Tomas: Divine Favor (+2/+2 Attack/Dmg), 20 damage
Charles: Shield (+4 AC)
Ulsaon: Mage Armor (+4 Armor AC), 28 damage, Dying
Otto: Barkskin (+3 AC)
Lia: Greater Invisibility
Andre: 19 damage
Khalil:

NPC Status Report
Judge al-Shirazi:
Confessor One:
Confessor Two:
Prof. Carter:

Smiler: 75 Damage, -2 Attack, -4 Dex, Half-Move, Entangled, Glued to the Floor.

[DocBeard]

Tomas doesn't blame them: They're only human-and you're not?-and becides, it isn't their fight-and it's yours? that maniac has obviously been hired by a political enemy of one of the professors. how is this your problem?-It just is, o..oh shi-oh shi-

"Professor Andre!" Tomas manages, as images of carnage play through his head, his friends and enemies taking the place of these poor, innocent bystanders, murdered for a joke, they're all going to get murdered for the amusement of a few old pigs in Dementeliu, his friend, the man he owes his stupid life to, is being evicerated in front of his eyes and

let me out I don't know how! let me out Tell me, damnit, I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask to be a freak! I didn't want to! stop lieing and let me out I DON'T KNOW HO

There's a crack in the air and the stench of ozone as Tomas's hair stands straight up, sparking as though he were being electrocuted, his body shuddering with repressed energy, as whatever Eisenwald's screaming is lost in the horrible burst of thunder...talk about a sudden storm...and a flash of lightning that strikes a tree in the courtyard of the building into tiny, burning cinders! As he falls back to earth, Tomas fruitlessly takes another swipe at the beast, as if his savage charge wasn't enough to appease whatever demons in the cheerful Lamordian's soul were disrupted by the "art" and his friends falling like wheat before a thresher!

Tomas Eisenwald does not believe in any specific diety. But, for the first time, it's occured to him on a level that he can...put into words, instead of just emotion, he seriously wonders if a diety hasn't decided to believe in him.

(OOC: Full attack: Part 1: 26 to hit, 24 points of sonic damage, Part 2: To Hit: 8. Lucky I only smited the first time. Down to 2 turning/Divine Vengence attempts.)

[Rock of the Fraternity]

'Curse it to the Abyss! Curse it to the Mists!' a voice sobs in the back of Lia's head as her magic fails her. The rest of her ... goes cold. 'Very well, then,' she thinks, raising her hands once more in the gestures of magic as her mouth hisses arcane phrases. 'Very well, then. There are other things that I can do.'

"Septiens aliquis acceleram!" Lia's voice suddenly shouts from empty air. "Ego et socii mei! Incipe!"

Andre, Charles, Khalil, Kuzan, Tomas -- and even poor Ulsaon, if she feels anything at all at this point -- can feel icy tendrils of power curling about them, sinking into their bodies. Oddly, a smell of licquorice root briefly wafts around them. The next moment, the world feels like it slows down, or as if they have speeded up.

Praying under her breath, Lia starts to move towards Ulsaon as fast as she can go. 'Should have cast protective spells should have cast protective spells please let him focus on what is attacking him please,' Lia thinks as she moves to the fallen half-elf, searching her pockets for a flask of healing potion.

(Haste spell in effect. All beneficiaries receive: 1) an extra attack with any weapon they're holding at full BAB if they put in a full attack action, 2) +1 to attack rolls, AC and Dex. rolls, 3) movement speed increases by 30 ft.)

[yalenusveler]

Pain. That's all that Andre's world consisted of for a few agonizing seconds. No sight, no sound...just utter, unbearable pain. Teeth cracking into bone, claws tearing flesh. It was a small blessing that he couldn't view himself, or he probably would've passed out right then and there.

I should be dead right now.

He tried to bring a prayer to his lips, bring some sort of spell up to bear against the Smilodon skeleton, but a wracking gout of bloody coughing brought his concentration to naught, the spell dying on his lips.

I'm bleeding badly, possibly leaking spinal fluid, and my leg is a shredded mess

He took a moment..as much as he could manage through the haze and pain, and finally all but stumbled out the words "someone take care of Ulsaon..I'm...I'm ok..." Lying to himself as much as he was to anyone else who was listening as he moved out of the cat's range.

I should be dead right now. The moment this magic ends, I'll die if I don't get hea..Josette? No..not now, not yet. Just..wait for me, Ok?

It was hard not to focus on the hazy figure he swore was his wife, holding their daughter, untouched by the rain. But then again, he was fairly certain he was the only one who saw it.


OOC Missed another concentration check on a CMW, taking a 5 foot step back out of attack range

[Kaitou Kage]

Kuzan quickly stepped into the space vacated by Andre and channeled the power of his magical belt. Infused with the power of life and bolstered with Kuzan's own divine energies, the belt projected his own healing power through another item. Each movement seemed faded, muted, as if he were just another part of the background. Quietly, he reached out and placed his hands on Ulsaon, channeling the life energy into her.

"Stay quiet, stay still," the priest said in a quiet, harsh tone, "wait for a distraction, and then back out when the opportunity presents itself."

Healing belt, 2 charges, 12 hp healed.

[The Whistler]

...At which point, an opportunity presented itself.

As Otto bolted out from behind the lizard skeleton's foreleg, careening around the grisly display in the center of the room towards Carter's position--and towards the Smiler.

Holding...well, holding what must have been a glass jar full of what must have been gunpowder, with what must have been (previously) a strip of the gunsmith's shirtsleeve, trailing from its mouth--soaked in what must have been oil.

Holding, in short, what must have been a bomb.

"Everyone, get out of the way!"

OOC: Moving to the square directly to Carter's lower right, between him and the exhibit. And so long as the Smiler's stuck to the floor, it might be a good idea to stay a square or two back from it if you can--I don't want to get anyone with splash damage if I miss.

[Nathan of the FoS]

A small voice somewhere in the back of Charles' head says, This is quite insupportable. He doesn't recognize it, but it has just a hint of the asperity of his mathematics tutor. Dear old Professor Deschamps. I wonder what he's doing these days? And really, it's not fair that Cavendish, murderous whoreson knave that he is, should have the pleasure of seeing anyone die for his perverted amusement, much less a nice girl like Ulsaon, who is showing signs of life after Kuzan's ministrations...

Apparently this is some sort of dissociative fugue, because Charles has no memory of the next few seconds. Suddenly he is pushing desperately at the door, which is opening ridiculously slowly, and shouting at Ulsaon to move, move, get out of here while the cat's claws descend...

[Rock of the Fraternity]

'The priest is in the way,' Lia thinks. For some reason, her thoughts seem to come at a crawl, appearing one by one at this crucial time. 'The priest can heal her, right? Right? Why isn't she moving? Why ...'

At this point. Otto comes charging up, holding his makeshift bomb. New thoughts arrive: 'Bomb. Bomb! Have to get out. Have to ...' Lia's seems to momentarily freeze in time, like a fly caught in amber, when she sees Kuzan kneeling down next to Ulsaon. ''The priest put his hands on her and she is still not moving. The bomb is coming ...

No time.' Cold, cold thoughts, a lacework of ice before the threatening shadows and the roaring fire looming behind them. 'Save what you can. Get away from here.'
Lia skids to a halt next to Andre, hand still clutching a vial of healing potion.

[NeoTiamat]

The Muzeavh, The Academic Quarter, Phiraz
May 24th, 761, 2:12 AM; Day 68 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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[Player Actions:

Kuzan uses his Healing Belt, 2 charges, to cure Ulsaon 12 hp.
Andre muffs another Defensive Casting, moves back a bit.
Charles runs past to try and open the door, dodges an AoO
Lia casts Haste, moves towards everyone.
Khalil stays back and watches the fight.
Tomas smites most awesomely, dealing 24 damage.
Otto moves over, ready to bomb the kitty cat.
Ulsaon attempts to Tumble away from the cat through the open door... fails her Tumble check, gets another AoO from the Combat-Reflex-Templated Smilodon, and does not survive.

Holy Storm deals 8 damage.
Tanglefoot, 2nd/3 rounds.]

Even as Andre hobbled away, a hand rested on his shoulder, the Judge al-Shirazi coming over, though still keeping a wary eye on the undead smilodon. "Peace of the Prophet be with you, friend."

And for a moment, the professor's wounds closed. It was not, perhaps, the most permanent healing, but it would last. And perhaps death would not claim him immediately.

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Meanwhile, lightning struck through the window, illuminating the undead smilodon in a blaze of white-hot electricity. Aged, stone bone cracked under the intense heat, the stone melting in some small places, elsewhere cracking open.

Through the blazing fury of Tomas's attack, the Smiler glimpsed a running figure and an opening door, lashing out wildly. No avail. And then another shape tried to crawl away... With a maddened yowl, the skeletal monster slashed at the crawling shape with another forepaw, and you could hear with the crack of the spine, and the slump of the half-elf.

Wheeling, the beast seemed to pause for a moment, cocking its head as though listening to orders from beyond. And then it lunged at Tomas. Again one paw battered uselessly against the dove-deviced shield, but the twin fangs pierced the paladin's shoulder, the other stone talons ripping into his sword arm once more. With a demonic screech of bone, the cat began to drag Tomas back to itself, trying to shake him like a rag doll, even as its hind paws were still glued to the tiles.


NPC Actions:
Judge al-Shirazi approaches Andre, casts Cure Light Wounds for 7 damage.


Smiler Action: Full Attack Routine on Tomas.

• Claw (hit) for 15-1=14 damage. Improved Grab: 20 vs 26, Tomas wins.
  Bite (hit) for 13-1=12 damage. 28 vs. 17, Cat wins.
  Claw (miss).
  
  Tomas is grappled and next round will be pulled into the Smiler's square.

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Player Status Report:
All: Dark Knowledge (+2 to hit), Haste
Kuzan: Protection from Evil (+2 AC, +2 Saves), Sanctuary
Tomas: Divine Favor (+2/+2 Attack/Dmg), 46 damage, Grappled.
Charles: Shield (+4 AC)
Ulsaon: Deceased
Otto: Barkskin (+3 AC)
Lia: Greater Invisibility
Andre: 12 damage
Khalil:

NPC Status Report
Judge al-Shirazi: Aid
Confessor One:
Confessor Two:
Prof. Carter:

Smiler: 107 Damage, -2 Attack, -4 Dex, Half-Move, Entangled, Glued to the Floor.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia sees Ulsaon go down for the last time.

'No.'

Sees the lithe body slammed into the floor and sees the claws tearing into her.

'No!'

Hears the brutal sound of splintering bone.

"Nooooo, you filthy, undead piece of scum!" Lia's voice roars out of empty air. "Kill, kill, kill, kill, destroooy!
Ex manu ignes due evolant!!"
Two bolts of burning energy spark into life from that same empty-seeming air and leap, howling, towards the Smilodon, briefly tracing crackling rays of energy between the invisible and the intolerable. Both strike, the fiery energy arcing through the beast's skeleton, burning and sparking fiercely.

"Go back to the Hereafter!" Lia shrieks, her voice full of rage. "Go, I command it!"

(34 points of damage.)