The Eye of Anubis: Book Five

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Hell's bells!" Lia curses when she sees the pale shape. "It's huge! I shall raise some protection around myself, if you all don't mind ..."
Lia takes a few steps back, hands slashing the air around herself while she chants: 'Neque vis, neque infortunium me tangete! Lorica magi me vela!' A brief shimmer surrounds the Mordentishwoman as she continues to back up. "I will attack it with a Fireball the instant it rises above the water," Lia announces, "or use Magic Missile if it stays beneath but comes within range. Stand ready!"

Meanwhile, Grimmric is flying around the expedition members, chittering rhythmically. Within moments, those within the bat's loopings feel a sense of strength and confidence suffusing them. Briefly, Grimmric lands on Kuzan's shoulder, shrieking at him as if asking confirmation, but then he flutters back to Lia.

OOC: Lia casts Extended Mage Armor on herself (Grimmric shares in the effect), moves back 30 ft. from the edge and stands ready to cast either a Fireball or Maximized Magic Missile, depending on whether the snake rears from the water or stays underneath. Grimmric releases the Bless effect this round and moves back with Lia. In the next round, he will release Divine Protection.

[Nathan of the FoS]

"Hoplon," Charles mutters, and in almost the same instant his pistols appear in his hands. Moving just a few steps to one side, he kneels by the waters edge and takes aim.

Free action to draw. Standard action to cast Shield, and then move to some point near where the beast is headed (within 30 feet, by choice) but not directly in its path. If some very brave person--Ishaq? Tomas?--can provide flanking that would help a lot.

[yalenusveler]

Andre's hand went reflexively to the pendant around his neck, channeling the protective energy of Marilena's gift through his body. Though what good it would do against a gigantic serpentine evil remained to be seen. He then backed off a bit, reading himself to cast as soon as the serpent made itself a clearer target.

OOC: 3 charges from the Amulet of Tears, and then reading to cast sound lance when it shows itself

[lostboy]

Khalil hisses something in akiri under his breath, sendnig Karsh wingin away into the darkness above. Then gritting his teeth he draws two long bladed knives, and waits in readyness.

[OOC: sent karsh off to find a safe vantage point, then drawing weapons as I havent got any fancy magicness...]

[DocBeard]

Bling!

Tomas was just pocketing a small box that was his share of the loot, when the thing in the Cistern made a decision for the party. "Well, that was convienant." Tomas observes, finishing pocketing said Benjamins, re-drawing his sword, and taking a moment to focus on the coming battle...

...his form almost seems to glow, slightly, as Tomas enters a defensive pose, waiting for the beast to attack!

(OOC: Casting magic weapon on myself.)

[steveflam]

Instantaneous rage, Jump total = 24, BAB on creature 29 total, Damage on creature 27 total.

Ishaq eyes the form moving in the water. Timing his jump just right he offers up a prayer to Diamabel[sp]. Moving back, and taking a running start, he jumps across the water, landing on the water creature and swinging his greatsword!

[NeoTiamat]

The Cistern, Sub-Level One, Dežbār Keep
May 29th, 761, 6:42 AM; Day 73 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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Round One Actions:
Otto is happily away.
Kuzan cast Water Breathing on everyone.
Charles casts Shield.
Lia casts Extended Mage Armor.
Andre activates the Amulet of Tears and readies a Sound Lance.
Khalil draws his weapons.
Tomas casts Magic Weapon.
Grimmric is actually relevant for once. He casts Bless.
Ishaq shows off his Tarzan prowess, hits the creature for 27 damage.

The creature is not amused.

Ishaq eyes the form moving in the water. Timing his jump just right he offers up a prayer to Diamabel[sp]. Moving back, and taking a running start, he jumps across the water, landing on the water creature and swinging his greatsword!

No creature in the world, can take three hundred pounds of greatsword-swinging suicidal madman with equanimity. Massive serpents with insane eyes were not an exception. Ishaq landed astride its wide back, the water reaching up to his ankles as he swung the overgrown blade at the serpent.

It penetrated the smooth, hard scales just beside the spinal cord, at a guess, and it bit deep, though the muscle of the beast kept the wound from being fatal. At a guess.... the creature was nothing but muscle.

It was also highly enraged muscle. With a sinous twist, the serpent tossed Ishaq off his feet and into the water, and the pale shape disappeared deeper below the water for a moment. Not for long, however...

Ishaq barely felt the first blade tear into his leg. It was hard to make out what was going on beneath the water and the splashing, but the thing hit him almost like a scimitar, a long, viciously sharp blade that sliced him almost to the bone.

Then another one.

And then what could only have been the thing's mouth clamping around his foot, for how the thing burned. The crawling pain was impressive, and the water around Ishaq was stained with blood as the serpent, satisfied with this vengeance, dove down deeper into the water.

Full attack on Ishaq. Three attacks, all hit, dealing 12, 12, and 17 damage respectively for a total of 41 points worth of bloodletting. Then a five foot action to get some more depth.

The Cistern Serpent hasn't moved far yet, but it is also about 8 feet below the surface of the water. Any melee attacks on it will require a swim check.



Player Status Report
ALL Bless (+1 to attacks and Fear saves)
Ishaq: -41 HP.
Khalil:
Kuzan:
Charles: Shield (+4 AC)
Lia: Extended Mage Armor (+4 AC)
Tomas: Magic Weapon (+1 AB, +1 Dmg)
Andre: Amulet of Tears (+24 Temp HP)
Otto: Hiatus Immunity

Enemy Status Report:
The Cistern Serpent: -27 HP

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia hisses under her breath, eyes straining for a hint of the serpent. "Someone pull Ishaq out!" she shouts, even as she raises her hands in the first gestures of spellcasting. The moment she catches a glimpse of the serpent, she will chant: 'Sagittae omne errore vacuae, volete!' -- and four bolts of force will fly unerringly to strike its pale hide.

(OOC: Lia keeps her distance from the edge, but with a range of 170 ft., that shouldn't put snaky longkins outside of her reach, I trust. ^^ Or at least she won't cast unless she is certain it's within reach. This is a Maximized Magic Missile, so that's another 20 points of damage to the snake.)

[yalenusveler]

Andre saw his shot, and took it "CLAMO!" shouted as he made the gestures necessary, a lance of focused sound striking the snake. He saw the hit impact..but then saw something he rather didn't like, besides of course it apparently deciding Ishaq was a chewtoy.

"It's disruptive to magics...spells might not always affect it!" Was announced with a bit of a curse in pharazian that would REALLY have insulted the thing, if it had a great grandfather, as he started to line up another shot.

OOC: 7d8=31 damage with a save for half, and a 26 to overcome SR. Casters, please include caster level checks with any spells cast on snakey, for the DM's sake.

[steveflam]

Ishaq grunts under the impact of the damage the serpent does. Sheathing his greatsword, he swims back to the others as fast as he can.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Charles curses--as long as the thing stays underwater his pistols might as well be a pair of pop-guns for all the good they're going to do. He curses again as Ishaq jumps on to the creature, sword flashing, and is promptly masticated for his troubles. "Holy Ezra...get back here, man!" he shouts. Setting the pistol in his left hand down he reaches a hand out for Ishmael to help him onto the causeway.

Unless he actually jumps in, which seems a little premature, Charles doesn't have much to do. He'll help Ishaq out and consider what to do next...I guess a quick review of the spell list is in order.

[Kaitou Kage]

"Bloody idiot!" Kuzan shouted, then belted out a prayer, moving toward the edge where he anticipated Ishaq emerging. "Get over here and get out!"

Scrapping 3rd-level spell for cure serious wounds, holding the charge until Ishaq gets over here.

15 (spell) + 10 (caster level) + 6 (augment) = 31 hp healed when Ishaq gets out.

[DocBeard]

"Verdamnit!" Tomas shouts, not bothering to think about better ideas before leaping into the fetid water and kicking his feet forward. Brief flashes of a lightning storm are ignored, as he swings his weapon wildly at the monster...

...and hits the damn wall! "Auch!" Tomas swears, struggling with said wall, while pulling his shield up and waiting for the inevitably incoming painful crunch!

(OOC: My swim check went really well. My attack roll was a 2.)

[The Whistler]

Otto's vision blurs slightly as he books it up the causeway, as fast as he can without elbowing anyone else into the water; a ripple of greenness surges out from his core. He skids to a halt midway down the length of the bridge, jockeying for a useful vantage point--just in time to see Ishaq riding shotgun on several tons of aquatic death.

This is disconcerting.

Maybe it's the sheer cognitive dissonance of seeing a human trying to bring down a top-tier predator; maybe it's adrenaline, or mental strain. All Otto knows is--for a split second--that he would very much like to do exactly what Ishaq is doing, except maybe using his teeth, and with ten allies running a swift pincer attack on both side by way of backup, and...well, there's a brief thought approximating <Snake's good eatin'!>, except translated into growls and barking noises.

A second portion of Otto's psyche is quite pleased to see the Shepherd's Gift providing such a robust brand of motivation in a crisis. That same portion also decides that what Otto has just thought is not quite as practical as it could be.

I still get to keep to the spirit of the thing, though. This is a hunt. This is my quarry.

...And the great thing about it is, no matter how big the target, a human is always at the top of the food chain.

In his hand, instantaneously, is a wheel-lock pistol.

"Stay attentive, all--he will come around again."

OOC: Barkskin's up, and (since Neo was nice enough to let me use the round I missed out on) so is the gun.

[NeoTiamat]

The Cistern, Sub-Level One, Dežbār Keep
May 29th, 761, 6:42 AM; Day 73 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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Round Two Actions:
Otto has cast Barkskin and drawn a bomb.
Kuzan healed Ishaq for 31 hp.
Charles helps Ishaq onto the causeway.
Lia casts a Readied Maximised Magic Missile. [Fails to Pierce SR]
Andre casts Sound Lance. Snake saves, takes 15 damage.
Khalil does nothing.
Tomas does valiant battle with the Forces of the Architect.
Ishaq is mildly shredded, but gets out of the water.

In the interests of speediness, I rolled Spell Penetration for Lia's Max Magic Missile. It did not pass.

Tomas could feel the prickle of his skin, that peculiar, rare fear that something is considering you not as a foe or an inconvenience or anything so civilized, but simply as lunch. Humans aren't often in the position of being below someone else, Ishaq's attempted rough riding notwithstanding.

The pale, sinous body moved through the water with a speed that was literally frightening, a quicksilver movement utterly without jerkiness or stops and starts. It came closer to Tomas.... at which point the bolt of concentrated sound hit the creature somewhere along is fish-belly pale body. There was a brief amount of splashing, and then the serpent withdrew, not caring to bother the Lamordian any more as it withdrew into the deeper, safer water.

Out of sight.

For a moment, you all gave a sigh of relief, but you knew it was still far too soon. Perhaps it was truly no more than an animal, and like any animal that found its prey too difficult to defeat, elected to find an easier supper. But it was not to be.

Out of the water, between the ruined ends of the causeway, the monstrous serpent thrust its head from the water. Its head, and a good chunk of its upper body, it seemed, while the rest remained in loose coils below the water.

It was hideous, but also awesome. A massive head, not significantly smaller than Lia in her entirety, had the classic, arrow-like shape of a serpent, like a sleek and sinister viper writ monstrously large. For all its size, it had small, smooth scales, and it was almost not a reptile but some great worm, only a worm that could swallow you down whole. And the eyes... large as dinner plates, and soft, menacing red color.

Lia let loose with a stream of varicolored energy at the monstrosity of scale and sinew then, but as the missiles hit the creature, they bounced off its hide like over-ripe fruit. You weren't sure if the serpent even noticed.

And then it did something you didn't quite expect. Opening its mouth wide, wider than any mammal ever could, you saw the four viper-like teeth. If you had been more aware of snake physiognomy, maybe you'd have had warning. Most likely, it wouldn't have helped.

With somekind of squeezing of the internal muscles, the serpent forced a great stream of its venom through small holes in the tips of its fangs. Small being relatively speaking, as several gallons of viscous, colorless liquid sprayed through the air.

Where they touched stone, it sizzled and burned, digging little wholes in the already unstable causeway. Where it touched, cloth or leather it worked through them with ease. And where it touched skin...

Oh how it burned.

All the while, the serpent watched like a dark god its supplicants, watching, waiting, judging...thinking? It was watching your pain... and your fear.

Serpent lets loose with a spray of venom as a line breath weapon (convenient that you're all in a line, eh?). Everyone except Tomas is in the area effect. You recieve 20 Acid damage. Next round, you will recieve 10 Acid damage. The round afterwards, you will recieve 5 Acid damage. DC 22 Reflex Save for half, subject to all the usual and fun Evasions.

Secondly, everyone (including Tomas, since this is an (Ex) effect instead of an (Su) effect) must make a DC 20 Fear check or else be shaken for 17 rounds. Don't forget that Bless provides a +1 vs. Fear Saves.



Player Status Report
ALL Bless (+1 to attacks and Fear saves)
Ishaq: -10 HP.
Khalil:
Kuzan:
Charles: Shield (+4 AC)
Lia: Extended Mage Armor (+4 AC)
Tomas: Magic Weapon (+1 AB, +1 Dmg)
Andre: Amulet of Tears (+24 Temp HP)
Otto: Barkskin (+2 AC)

Enemy Status Report:
The Cistern Serpent: -42 HP