Luckily, Otto's third-to-the-right vest pocket had a shaving mirror in it.
Steady... The gunsmith narrowed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable blast from the opposite roof, then brandished the silvered glass like an agnostic holy symbol.
Ka-pwinnnng!
"Ha-HaaAAAGH--" Sight still retained, but hand burning from superheated glass and side scored by the assassin's blade, the gunsmith reeled backward, steadying himself on Harris' shoulder, and desperately searching for a decent angle on the undead killer in front of him. Too close--way too close-- Biting back a burgeoning panic as he caught sight of Snefru's advance, he aimed right-handed and fired--
Made the Blindness save but failed the one against Snefru's Aura, since I'm in range of it now. Moving diagonally northeast (assuming that still counts as being on the roof); with all the bonuses and penalties totaled up, that's 14 to hit, 5 pistol damage, and 2 electricity damage. This marks maybe the third time I've rolled under a five to attack in the past three days...really hoping Harris can save my bacon on this one.
The Eye of Anubis: Book Ten
-
NeoTiamat
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 4119
- Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Re: The Eye of Anubis: Book Ten
Muhar Town Square, Har'Akir
August 28th, 761, 6:39 AM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PC Actions:
Lia casts another Orb of Force at Snefru, deals 41 damage.
Kuzan heals Vedarrak for 45 HP.
Otto shoots Snefru,
Charles swaps weapons and inspires Greatness in Tomas.
Tomas hits Chesterton three times, deals 15 damage after DR.
Sascha charges Snefru and whiffs magnificently.
Andre deals 45 damage to Lebendtod 9, blowing it to bits
The lebendtod approaching Andre exploded, flying apart in a fine spray of bone chips and ichor. The only thing that remained was a slight haze and a tiny crater in the sand.
"Geez, Prof, overkill much?" Dieter asked, pouring gunpowder into his musket. Sarari calmly stepped back from the approaching zombie, pointing her arrow straight at its eye and firing. The body tumbled to the ground as Dieter finished loading. The Lamordian carefully took aim at the final Akiri villager, just as Carter did the same from across the square. There was a loud crack as both men fired. Dieter hit the lebendtod squarely in the chest, which showed no sign of slowing it down; Carter's rifle slipped through his numb fingers even as he pulled the trigger, the bullet catching the lebendtod across the shoulder. The lebendtod continued forward, undaunted.
"So much for superior firepower," Dieter sighed, shouldering his rifle and drawing his sword.
"Forget him, Andre," Carter tried to call out, though it was little more than a cracked whisper. The archaeologist slowly picked up his gun in his shaking hands. "The others need your help more than us."
=============================================
Harris grunted in annoyance when he saw the blood on Otto's shirt. The guard captain turned to the lebendtod, a thunderous expression on his face. With two powerful, heavy swings, he tore the Akiri apart, watching stormily as the man fell in pieces to the ground below.
Harris reeled as the false Banafrit's energy struck him again, reaching out to sear Otto with it's swirling tendrils. "Get off the roof," he said through gritted teeth. "We can't fight her clumped together. I'll stay up here and keep her fire on me." Harris sheathed his sword, backing towards Marchand-Renier. "You too, Professor. The way that stuff spreads, you're safer off this roof than on it."
Marchand-Renier waved Edmund's hand away, shakily walking to the roof ladder. "I can manage that, at least."
True to his word, the linguist managed to climb down, despite the obvious effort it took him. Edmund pulled a small hunting musket from his back, lifting it to his shoulder. "Used to hunt rabbits with my nephew back home," he said, smiling grimly. "Let's see how well I've kept in practice."
Sarari five-foots back and full-attacks Lebendtod 8. Hits three times, 17 damage. Kills him.
Dieter attacks Lebendtod 7, hits for 11 damage.
Carter attacks Lebendtod 7, hits for 3 damage. Today is a bad day for musket damage rolls.
Edmund power attacks for 3 and full-attacks Lebendtod 5. Hits twice, for 20 and 15 damage, kills it.
Rioter 1/Lebendtod 7 double-moves towards Andre & Co.
Khait casts Beshadowed Eldritch Chain at Harris, hits for 19 damage, bounces to Otto, hits for 19 damage. DC 20 Fort Save or Blinded for 1 round. Harris makes his save.
"Thank you... Kuzan was it?" Vedarrak said, then called for the order. "Attack! It's just a thing of magecraft and bones, it can be destroyed as easily as any zombie. I know, I've done it, now attack!"
The Falkovnians, certainly, were not lacking in courage, or in skill. They shifted into positions around the huge cat, dashing in and slicing at the ancient bones with their swords, occasionally trying to knock at it with shields or point-blank crossbow bolts. They didn't do much, admittedly. A chip of fossilized bone here, a small fracture there. But it added up. It added up.
For an idiosyncratically-named abomination and affront to all that was holy and good, Chesterton also showed a disturbing singularity of focus. In this case, the focus was on turning Tomas from a stinging annoyance into a sack of edible dead meat.
The great cat sat back on its haunches for a moment and battered Tomas with its paws, the rending talons backed up by limbs and bones that were literally made of stone. It wasn't that the smilodon's limbs were excessively sharp, though they were. But they were backed up with blows of granite.
Then the undead smilodon leaped forward and brought its teeth around to bear on Tomas, twisting its head to try and ram two sabre-lengths of stone into his upper back, ripping out the spine in the process. If not for his armor, it was very likely that Chesterton would have succeeded.
Falkovnians attack in melee Chesterton, deal 21 damage after DR.
Vedarrak rides up and attacks Chesterton with a Channeled Shocking Grasp, then rolls a 1. There have been better displays of martial expertise.
Falkovnians shoot crossbows at Snefru, deal no damage due to Incorporeality/Lack of magical crossbows.
Falkovnians shoot crossbows at Cavendish who makes the save, deal 13 damage.
Schrodinger swarms around, deals 28 damage to various Falkovnians in the area.
Chesterton full attacks, hitting Tomas with two claws and a bite. Deals 45 damage to Tomas.
The Necromancer, in the meantime, had abandoned his search for the vial in the face of entirely too many incoming crossbow bolts, and now crouched behind the parapet of the wall. Cavendish was many things, but he was not to proud to seek cover when confronted with numerous sharp, pointed objects.
"Snefru, stop playing with your pet Falkovnian and do something useful, please." Cavendish said, shaking his head for a moment to try and get his ears to stop ringing from that blasted explosion. "Chernoluch!"
The same dead-black rays shot forth from Cavendish's hand, striking Kuzan and Charles repeatedly. With it came a darkness, the same suffocating, spiritual emptiness that characterized Cavendish's magic. The University of Dementlieu taught that magic was an impassive force, no more good or evil than gravity, or conservation of motion. There was no such thing as inherently evil magic.
This was hard to remember when hit by one of Cavendish's rays.
Cavendish casts Fell-Drain Darkbolt. Three rays hit Kuzan, dealing 19 damage and one negative level. Kuzan must also three DC 22 Will Saves or be Dazed for 1 round. One ray hits Charles, deals 14 damage and one negative level. Charles must make a DC 22 Will Save or be Dazed for 1 round. There is no penalty for multiple failures.ance
"Yes, Slave-Master." Snefru said in annoyance, flitting back from Sascha's blade. "A moment, knight, my master calls."
The priestess of Set raised a hand, lifting up another one of the sharp, wooden stages in the square. She put a little twist to her gesture, and the stake began to spin, end over end, like a discus. Then she cast it at Kuzan.
Even on a trip where one could be burned, eviscerated, and de-souled on a regular basis, having several rips broken by a spinning log was a new experience. It was also one Kuzan could've probably gone without quite happily.
Snefru five-foot-steps back, and picks up a stake via Telekinesis and throws it at Kuzan. Hits AC and Blur, deals 53 damage.
Black Spell - Blacklight: an area of total darkness. The darkness is impenetrable to normal vision and darkvision, but you can see normally within the blacklit area. Creatures outside the spell’s area, even you, cannot see through it.
Purple Spell - Black Tentacles: It's in the SRD. http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/blackTentacles.htm
Green Music - Inspire Courage: +2 morale bonus to saving throws vs. charm and/or fear, to attack rolls, and to damage rolls
Red Aura - Aura of Despair: If you enter the aura, make a DC 24 Will Save or take a -4 penalty to attacks, saves, skills, and ability checks. This is removed if you leave the aura. If you make your save, you cannot be affected by that ghost's aura for the next 24 hours. If you fail yoru save and leave the area, you are no longer affected, but are affected again if you enter the aura. [This is my reading of the rules, but if you can find something that explains how these auras work otherwise, I'm all for it]
Blue Aura - Horrific Appearance: You guys have all gone through this already.
================================================
[Buff Suite: Recitation (+2 Luck to AC, Attack, Saves), Mass Aid (+1 Morale to Attack, +9 Temp HP), Mass Align Weapon (Good), Mass Conviction (+3 Morale to Saves), Mass Bear's Endurance (+4 to Con)]
PCs:
A - Andre Theroux: 79/35 Buff Suite, Amulet of Tears
L - Lia Mournswaithe: 42/46, One Negative Level Buff Suite, Shield, See Invisibility, Greater Mage Armor, Superior Resistance,
T - Tomas Eisenwald: 2/107 Buff Suite, Divine Favor, Eagle's Splendor, Protection from Evil
K - Kuzan: 18/89, One Negative Level Buff Suite, Blur (20% Miss), Hide from Undead (DC 17), Ebon Eyes (See through Darkness), Call Lightning, Fly, Greater Resistance, Protection from Evil
S - Sascha Dzemianovitch: 30/101, One Negative Level Buff Suite, Protection from Evil, Inspire Greatness
C - Charles Martel: 44/63, One Negative Level, Blur
O - Otto Schultheiss: 18/62 Bite of the Werewolf, Blur
Expedition NPCs:
D - Dieter Haulfstead: 80/60 HP, Buff Suite,
C - Thomas Carter: 31/59 HP
Mr - Sebastian Marchand-Renier: 33/33 HP
H - Edmund Harris: 91/115 HP, Buff Suite,
Sr - Sarari: 52/70 HP
Falkovnians:
V - Marcos Vedarrak: 45/87 HP, One Negative Level, Shield, Greater Resistance, Contingent Energy Resistance (Electricity), Resist Energy (Fire), Greater Mage Armor, Greater Magic Weapon
L - Lebrecht Schiffer: 81/81 HP
N - Niklas: 51/51 HP
Lu - Luther: 51/51 HP
Cavendish and Company
Portrait - Cavendish: -27 HP, Deafened, True Seeing, Armor of Darkness
Big C - Chesterton: Cat-Form, -60 HP
Big S - Schrodinger: Sand-Form, -79 HP
L - Lebendtod 1: -58 HP, DEAD
L - Lebendtod 2: -51 HP, DEAD
L - Lebendtod 3: -56 HP, DEAD
L - Lebendtod 4: -53 HP, DEAD
Osirans and Mob
K - Khait: -34 HP
Akiri Assassin/Lebendtod 5: -52 HP, DEAD
Akiri Assassin/Lebendtod 6: -58 HP. DEAD
B - Badri: -67 HP, DEAD
Akiri Rioter 1/Lebendtod 7: -31 HP,
Akiri Rioter 2/Lebendtod 8: -52 HP, DEAD
Akiri Rioter 3/Lebendtod 9: -62 HP, DEAD
S - Snefru: -80 HP
August 28th, 761, 6:39 AM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PC Actions:
Lia casts another Orb of Force at Snefru, deals 41 damage.
Kuzan heals Vedarrak for 45 HP.
Otto shoots Snefru,
Charles swaps weapons and inspires Greatness in Tomas.
Tomas hits Chesterton three times, deals 15 damage after DR.
Sascha charges Snefru and whiffs magnificently.
Andre deals 45 damage to Lebendtod 9, blowing it to bits
The lebendtod approaching Andre exploded, flying apart in a fine spray of bone chips and ichor. The only thing that remained was a slight haze and a tiny crater in the sand.
"Geez, Prof, overkill much?" Dieter asked, pouring gunpowder into his musket. Sarari calmly stepped back from the approaching zombie, pointing her arrow straight at its eye and firing. The body tumbled to the ground as Dieter finished loading. The Lamordian carefully took aim at the final Akiri villager, just as Carter did the same from across the square. There was a loud crack as both men fired. Dieter hit the lebendtod squarely in the chest, which showed no sign of slowing it down; Carter's rifle slipped through his numb fingers even as he pulled the trigger, the bullet catching the lebendtod across the shoulder. The lebendtod continued forward, undaunted.
"So much for superior firepower," Dieter sighed, shouldering his rifle and drawing his sword.
"Forget him, Andre," Carter tried to call out, though it was little more than a cracked whisper. The archaeologist slowly picked up his gun in his shaking hands. "The others need your help more than us."
=============================================
Harris grunted in annoyance when he saw the blood on Otto's shirt. The guard captain turned to the lebendtod, a thunderous expression on his face. With two powerful, heavy swings, he tore the Akiri apart, watching stormily as the man fell in pieces to the ground below.
Harris reeled as the false Banafrit's energy struck him again, reaching out to sear Otto with it's swirling tendrils. "Get off the roof," he said through gritted teeth. "We can't fight her clumped together. I'll stay up here and keep her fire on me." Harris sheathed his sword, backing towards Marchand-Renier. "You too, Professor. The way that stuff spreads, you're safer off this roof than on it."
Marchand-Renier waved Edmund's hand away, shakily walking to the roof ladder. "I can manage that, at least."
True to his word, the linguist managed to climb down, despite the obvious effort it took him. Edmund pulled a small hunting musket from his back, lifting it to his shoulder. "Used to hunt rabbits with my nephew back home," he said, smiling grimly. "Let's see how well I've kept in practice."
Sarari five-foots back and full-attacks Lebendtod 8. Hits three times, 17 damage. Kills him.
Dieter attacks Lebendtod 7, hits for 11 damage.
Carter attacks Lebendtod 7, hits for 3 damage. Today is a bad day for musket damage rolls.
Edmund power attacks for 3 and full-attacks Lebendtod 5. Hits twice, for 20 and 15 damage, kills it.
Rioter 1/Lebendtod 7 double-moves towards Andre & Co.
Khait casts Beshadowed Eldritch Chain at Harris, hits for 19 damage, bounces to Otto, hits for 19 damage. DC 20 Fort Save or Blinded for 1 round. Harris makes his save.
"Thank you... Kuzan was it?" Vedarrak said, then called for the order. "Attack! It's just a thing of magecraft and bones, it can be destroyed as easily as any zombie. I know, I've done it, now attack!"
The Falkovnians, certainly, were not lacking in courage, or in skill. They shifted into positions around the huge cat, dashing in and slicing at the ancient bones with their swords, occasionally trying to knock at it with shields or point-blank crossbow bolts. They didn't do much, admittedly. A chip of fossilized bone here, a small fracture there. But it added up. It added up.
For an idiosyncratically-named abomination and affront to all that was holy and good, Chesterton also showed a disturbing singularity of focus. In this case, the focus was on turning Tomas from a stinging annoyance into a sack of edible dead meat.
The great cat sat back on its haunches for a moment and battered Tomas with its paws, the rending talons backed up by limbs and bones that were literally made of stone. It wasn't that the smilodon's limbs were excessively sharp, though they were. But they were backed up with blows of granite.
Then the undead smilodon leaped forward and brought its teeth around to bear on Tomas, twisting its head to try and ram two sabre-lengths of stone into his upper back, ripping out the spine in the process. If not for his armor, it was very likely that Chesterton would have succeeded.
Falkovnians attack in melee Chesterton, deal 21 damage after DR.
Vedarrak rides up and attacks Chesterton with a Channeled Shocking Grasp, then rolls a 1. There have been better displays of martial expertise.
Falkovnians shoot crossbows at Snefru, deal no damage due to Incorporeality/Lack of magical crossbows.
Falkovnians shoot crossbows at Cavendish who makes the save, deal 13 damage.
Schrodinger swarms around, deals 28 damage to various Falkovnians in the area.
Chesterton full attacks, hitting Tomas with two claws and a bite. Deals 45 damage to Tomas.
The Necromancer, in the meantime, had abandoned his search for the vial in the face of entirely too many incoming crossbow bolts, and now crouched behind the parapet of the wall. Cavendish was many things, but he was not to proud to seek cover when confronted with numerous sharp, pointed objects.
"Snefru, stop playing with your pet Falkovnian and do something useful, please." Cavendish said, shaking his head for a moment to try and get his ears to stop ringing from that blasted explosion. "Chernoluch!"
The same dead-black rays shot forth from Cavendish's hand, striking Kuzan and Charles repeatedly. With it came a darkness, the same suffocating, spiritual emptiness that characterized Cavendish's magic. The University of Dementlieu taught that magic was an impassive force, no more good or evil than gravity, or conservation of motion. There was no such thing as inherently evil magic.
This was hard to remember when hit by one of Cavendish's rays.
Cavendish casts Fell-Drain Darkbolt. Three rays hit Kuzan, dealing 19 damage and one negative level. Kuzan must also three DC 22 Will Saves or be Dazed for 1 round. One ray hits Charles, deals 14 damage and one negative level. Charles must make a DC 22 Will Save or be Dazed for 1 round. There is no penalty for multiple failures.ance
"Yes, Slave-Master." Snefru said in annoyance, flitting back from Sascha's blade. "A moment, knight, my master calls."
The priestess of Set raised a hand, lifting up another one of the sharp, wooden stages in the square. She put a little twist to her gesture, and the stake began to spin, end over end, like a discus. Then she cast it at Kuzan.
Even on a trip where one could be burned, eviscerated, and de-souled on a regular basis, having several rips broken by a spinning log was a new experience. It was also one Kuzan could've probably gone without quite happily.
Snefru five-foot-steps back, and picks up a stake via Telekinesis and throws it at Kuzan. Hits AC and Blur, deals 53 damage.
Black Spell - Blacklight: an area of total darkness. The darkness is impenetrable to normal vision and darkvision, but you can see normally within the blacklit area. Creatures outside the spell’s area, even you, cannot see through it.
Purple Spell - Black Tentacles: It's in the SRD. http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/blackTentacles.htm
Green Music - Inspire Courage: +2 morale bonus to saving throws vs. charm and/or fear, to attack rolls, and to damage rolls
Red Aura - Aura of Despair: If you enter the aura, make a DC 24 Will Save or take a -4 penalty to attacks, saves, skills, and ability checks. This is removed if you leave the aura. If you make your save, you cannot be affected by that ghost's aura for the next 24 hours. If you fail yoru save and leave the area, you are no longer affected, but are affected again if you enter the aura. [This is my reading of the rules, but if you can find something that explains how these auras work otherwise, I'm all for it]
Blue Aura - Horrific Appearance: You guys have all gone through this already.
================================================
[Buff Suite: Recitation (+2 Luck to AC, Attack, Saves), Mass Aid (+1 Morale to Attack, +9 Temp HP), Mass Align Weapon (Good), Mass Conviction (+3 Morale to Saves), Mass Bear's Endurance (+4 to Con)]
PCs:
A - Andre Theroux: 79/35 Buff Suite, Amulet of Tears
L - Lia Mournswaithe: 42/46, One Negative Level Buff Suite, Shield, See Invisibility, Greater Mage Armor, Superior Resistance,
T - Tomas Eisenwald: 2/107 Buff Suite, Divine Favor, Eagle's Splendor, Protection from Evil
K - Kuzan: 18/89, One Negative Level Buff Suite, Blur (20% Miss), Hide from Undead (DC 17), Ebon Eyes (See through Darkness), Call Lightning, Fly, Greater Resistance, Protection from Evil
S - Sascha Dzemianovitch: 30/101, One Negative Level Buff Suite, Protection from Evil, Inspire Greatness
C - Charles Martel: 44/63, One Negative Level, Blur
O - Otto Schultheiss: 18/62 Bite of the Werewolf, Blur
Expedition NPCs:
D - Dieter Haulfstead: 80/60 HP, Buff Suite,
C - Thomas Carter: 31/59 HP
Mr - Sebastian Marchand-Renier: 33/33 HP
H - Edmund Harris: 91/115 HP, Buff Suite,
Sr - Sarari: 52/70 HP
Falkovnians:
V - Marcos Vedarrak: 45/87 HP, One Negative Level, Shield, Greater Resistance, Contingent Energy Resistance (Electricity), Resist Energy (Fire), Greater Mage Armor, Greater Magic Weapon
L - Lebrecht Schiffer: 81/81 HP
N - Niklas: 51/51 HP
Lu - Luther: 51/51 HP
Cavendish and Company
Portrait - Cavendish: -27 HP, Deafened, True Seeing, Armor of Darkness
Big C - Chesterton: Cat-Form, -60 HP
Big S - Schrodinger: Sand-Form, -79 HP
L - Lebendtod 1: -58 HP, DEAD
L - Lebendtod 2: -51 HP, DEAD
L - Lebendtod 3: -56 HP, DEAD
L - Lebendtod 4: -53 HP, DEAD
Osirans and Mob
K - Khait: -34 HP
Akiri Assassin/Lebendtod 5: -52 HP, DEAD
Akiri Assassin/Lebendtod 6: -58 HP. DEAD
B - Badri: -67 HP, DEAD
Akiri Rioter 1/Lebendtod 7: -31 HP,
Akiri Rioter 2/Lebendtod 8: -52 HP, DEAD
Akiri Rioter 3/Lebendtod 9: -62 HP, DEAD
S - Snefru: -80 HP
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
Sascha's blood rises as he watches the stake fly at Kuzan, "One more mark against you dead one, for this you shall not evade me....Schnell!""Yes, Slave-Master." Snefru said in annoyance, flitting back from Sascha's blade. "A moment, knight, my master calls."
Pushing himself forwards into the arc of his last heedless swing he flashes the black sword in vicious cuts once, twice and a third time.
"Feel the wrath of the Ashen Cross!" He roars in triumph as he feels the blade bite deeply into the spectre.
[OOC:
swift action to trigger haste effect on armour
5 foot step to AB21
Full attack with Momentumn Swing (Combat Brute):
1) 14 + 17 + 2 for bulls str + 2 for Buff Suite + 2 Inspire courage + 2 inspire greatness + 1 haste - 7 for PA = 33
2) 18 + 12 + 2 for bulls str + 2 for Buff Suite + 2 Inspire courage + 2 inspire greatness + 1 haste - 7 for PA = 32
3) 12 + 17 + 2 for bulls str + 2 for Buff Suite + 2 Inspire courage + 2 inspire greatness + 1 haste - 7 for PA = 31
Miss Chance 61 / 50 / 81
Damage: 1d10 + 10 + 3 for bull str + 2 for Inspire Courage + 21 (7 x 3) for 2H momentumn swing Power Attack = 42 / 44 / 39
Total 125hp damage ]
"I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space..."
The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space..."
-
Kaitou Kage
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 2115
- Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:53 am
- Location: Here and there
- Contact:
Kuzan gurgled as the fel magic pounded into him and he turned just in time to get whacked by a five-million-pound stake. Or at least, it felt like five million pounds. The priest reeled, but for all his injury, he knew Tomas fared far worse. And so he dove once more.
Made all the Will saves, no problems. Mobile spellcasting to cast cure moderate on Tomas (sorry, that negative level took away my last cure serious).
12 (dice) + 10 (caster level) + 4 (augment) = 26 hp.
Nobody ever got back to me on whether my ring was recharged. If so, add another 8 healing for 34 hp.
I'm almost dry, folks :/ Hopefully someone doesn't die.
Ending my movement in V 37 (three squares behind Tomas), at ground level.
Made all the Will saves, no problems. Mobile spellcasting to cast cure moderate on Tomas (sorry, that negative level took away my last cure serious).
12 (dice) + 10 (caster level) + 4 (augment) = 26 hp.
Nobody ever got back to me on whether my ring was recharged. If so, add another 8 healing for 34 hp.
I'm almost dry, folks :/ Hopefully someone doesn't die.
Ending my movement in V 37 (three squares behind Tomas), at ground level.
-
Nathan of the FoS
- Fiendish Enforcer
- Posts: 5246
- Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 3:39 pm
- Location: San Francisco CA
Charles shakes his head as a dazzle of dark energy flows over him, but in the general scrum (and the subconscious agony of Snefru's presence) it's hardly noticeeable. edges nearer to Chesterton, dagger in hand, and then sees a small tree fly over and strike Kuzan, who falls out of the sky--no, wait, he's moving to help Tomas. Good show. He could use it.
Charles puts his cat-cutting plans on hold for a moment to call a word of encouragement. "You're doing well, Kuzan, keep it up, they're near the end! Marteau-ennemis!"
It is devoutly to be hoped that this is true, in addition to making good copy.
Will save 24, so no daze. Five foot step to Y33, using Inspire Greatness on Kuzan to give him 10+2xCon mod hit points, 2 HD, +2 competence bonus to attack, +1 to Fort...you know the drill.
Charles puts his cat-cutting plans on hold for a moment to call a word of encouragement. "You're doing well, Kuzan, keep it up, they're near the end! Marteau-ennemis!"
It is devoutly to be hoped that this is true, in addition to making good copy.
Will save 24, so no daze. Five foot step to Y33, using Inspire Greatness on Kuzan to give him 10+2xCon mod hit points, 2 HD, +2 competence bonus to attack, +1 to Fort...you know the drill.
[b]FEAR JUSTICE.[/b] :elena:
"Hurrk." Tomas's eyes go glassy as he gets pierced in the chest, slumping back and stumbling over himself. Barely able to stand, only one thing saves the day-Kuzan! Feeling his pain and suffering lift, Tomas gasps for air a few times, looking grimly back at Kuzan. "T-thanks."
He then looks up at Chesterton, and over at Cavendish. He's not sure which one he hates more. Eisenwald points his sword at the monster's head, catching the evil wizard's eye and silently indicating 'I am going to rock your pet's damn world.'.
Tomas then lifts up to his feet, takes a few quick steps forward, and hurtles into the air. "Thunderbolt-"
Thunder CRACKS in the air, as a bolt of sizzling lightning hurtles down from the heavens, catching Ivorsen mid-swing and electrifying it, shining light over Tomas's enraged features as he brings the sword up to bare. "-CUT!"
The force of Tomas's blow CRACKS in the air, as he violently slams his weapon into the monster's skull once, twice, three times, before finally succumbing to gravity and landing with an unpleasant thump on the ground. If this doesn't finish it, Tomas isn't sure if he can hold out against Chesterton for another volley of attacks...
(OOC: Full attack. First was a smite and sacred vengeance, second was a -2/+2 power attack, third was just sacred vengeance.
Attack One
3+15+4+5+2: 29
Damage: 8+5+1+10+2+5+2: 33 lightning
Attack Two
20+13+4+2: 39
Damage: 8+7+1+2: 18
Attack Three
11+15+4+2: 31
Damage: 3+5+1+2+5+6: 22)
He then looks up at Chesterton, and over at Cavendish. He's not sure which one he hates more. Eisenwald points his sword at the monster's head, catching the evil wizard's eye and silently indicating 'I am going to rock your pet's damn world.'.
Tomas then lifts up to his feet, takes a few quick steps forward, and hurtles into the air. "Thunderbolt-"
Thunder CRACKS in the air, as a bolt of sizzling lightning hurtles down from the heavens, catching Ivorsen mid-swing and electrifying it, shining light over Tomas's enraged features as he brings the sword up to bare. "-CUT!"
The force of Tomas's blow CRACKS in the air, as he violently slams his weapon into the monster's skull once, twice, three times, before finally succumbing to gravity and landing with an unpleasant thump on the ground. If this doesn't finish it, Tomas isn't sure if he can hold out against Chesterton for another volley of attacks...
(OOC: Full attack. First was a smite and sacred vengeance, second was a -2/+2 power attack, third was just sacred vengeance.
Attack One
3+15+4+5+2: 29
Damage: 8+5+1+10+2+5+2: 33 lightning
Attack Two
20+13+4+2: 39
Damage: 8+7+1+2: 18
Attack Three
11+15+4+2: 31
Damage: 3+5+1+2+5+6: 22)
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The Whistler
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 1454
- Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2007 7:38 pm
- Location: Southshore
-
yalenusveler
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 1266
- Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2007 10:44 pm
- Location: Pennsylvania...or Baator
OOC:Will edit in glorious and dramatic fluff text later, either way. Moving to I9, and eating an AoO most likely on the way, then IF Chesterton was not taken down by Tomas' display of swordplay, soundlancing Chesterton as a display of "Bad Kitty, no Paladin snacks for you" for an unimpressive 29 with a DC 18 fort save for half. If Tomas dropped Chesterton, instead readying an action to Sound Lance Cavendish if he starts casting a spell. If you want me to use the same roll or a different one, please let me know.
"Sometimes, Mr.Liquor cabinet is my only friend"
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NeoTiamat
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 4119
- Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Re: The Eye of Anubis: Book Ten
[quote="NeoTiamat"]Muhar Town Square, Har'Akir
August 28th, 761, 6:39 AM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PC Actions:
Kuzan heals Tomas
Otto am-scrays, heals self for 18 damage.
Charles Inspires Greatness in Kuzan
Tomas hits Chesterton three times for 53 damage.
Sascha hits Snefru twice, deals 81 damage, destroying her.
Andre hits Chesterton with a Sound Lance, destroying it.
Sascha cleaved through the spirit's undead flesh, and with it he tore away the veil that masked the Lady Snefru's soul. Beneath the spectral flesh you caught a glimpse of something foul, a whisper of something vile. Snefru's true form was not a sight for the weak-stomached.
"No..." Snefru said softly, disbelievingly, as the sand began to race in a circle about her feet. Sascha had severed the ghost's connection to the land of the living, and now Snefru had no excuse not to advance to her just rewards. The sand swirled higher, swiftly obscuring her from sight. "No."
In a heartbeat, the whirling wall of sand left only the sillhoette of the spectre visible. Just Snefru trapped with a preternatural well of whipping winds and airborne dust, just Snefru.... and someone else. The tall stranger put a hand on Snefru's shoulder.
Then the sand fell to the ground, as though the wind had never been. Snefru, and whoever had come to collect her, were gone forever now.
Elsewhere, the other minions of Cavendish were having comparable issues. Khait was shredded by a flurry of crossbow bolts, impaled in no fewer than eleven places before she fell. The great cat was cleaved nearly in half by Tomas's blows, and then finished off by a swift bolt of sound from Andre. The fossilized smilodon shuddered once, and then the bindings of magecraft that kept it animated came entirely undone. It exploded into a myriad shards of bone, most no larger than a splinter, all settling down around the huge skull.
================================================
Meanwhile, on the flame-scorched wall of the Falkovnian compound, Cavendish stood up and surveyed the scene of carnage that stretched out across the square. There were at two dozen dead, both Falkovnians eviscerated by Chesterton or Schrodinger, or Lebendtod murdered and reanimated to serve Cavendish. Entire sections of the square were smoking ruins.
"Fire, panic, and copious dead people. My work here is done." John Lancaster Cavendish favored you with a grin. "Still, it's sunrise, and I haven't had tea yet. Toodle-oo!"
Then with one strangely-graceful movement, Cavendish vaulted over the edge of the masonry. Schrodinger surged forth to catch his master, a cloud of sand and grains of fossilized bone. They met in midair, and were gone, disappearing with a gust of air and the faint scent of necrotic magic.
They were gone. Muhar was hardly the best place in the world right now, with no government beyond the Falkovnian occupation, with the main religion destroyed by Snefru's alignment, with a small battlefield in the main square. But Cavendish was gone, and that made Muhar just a slightly better place.
================================================
With all their foes now gone, the Falkovnians began to form up around their commander. A great weight seemed to have been lifted from the atmosphere, and some of the soldiers began to talk among themselves in relief. There was no cheering or laughter; far too many lay dead for that. With a nod and a quick word to the Kommandant, Lebrecht gestured to the nearest squad, beginning the solemn task of gathering their fallen comrades.
Tomas felt a hand on his shoulder. Niklaus was there, along with all the other Falkovnians who had faced down that nightmare of magic and bones. The soldiers seemed to huddle protectively around the knight, ensuing that he would not die and could stay on his feet, before respectfully retreating back into their squad formation.
"That was amazing, Herr Eisenwald," the young soldier said. The others nodded slightly in agreement. As one, the Falkovnians raised their swords to their chests in salute, before retreating to follow their Kommandant.
================================================
"Whoooooohooooo!" a shout came from across the battlefield. Dieter ran down the city square, grabbing Chesterton's cracked skull from where it sat among the shattered fragments of bone. "That was awesome, Prof!" The mercenary set the fossilized skull over his head like a helmet, striking his best impression of a heroic pose. The skull, proving far too large for such a purpose, fell down over his eyes.
"You look like hell," Dieter said to Kuzan, tipping the makeshift hat back up and struggling with it to stay in place. "Be careful, be careful, you always tell me. I don't have a scratch." The Lamordian drew himself up, smiling cheekily. "I'll just have to protect you from now on." The helmet fell back over his face.
Sarari walked past him, having walked much slower than Dieter had, but moving with a more direct purpose. The elf-maid's back still bled, and so she held her bow in her hand, her eyes fixed on Charles. She said nothing, simply taking Charles' hand in her own and squeezing it tight.
"Quite a battle," Lebrecht said, also riding towards Charles. "Hopefully the last we'll see here. It could have been much worse, and I think you had quite a bit to do with it not being so." The Lieutenant sighted, surveying the damage. "I hesitate to ask you to do more after all of this, but are any of you trained in magic? We're going to do as thorough a sweep of the compound to ensure the imposter didn't leave any parting shots. Given the situation, we should probably secure the area and get behind walls as soon as it is safe to do so."
==============================================
Otto could hear Harris coughing as the guardsman climbed down the ladder, waving imaginary smoke out of his eyes. "Stuff stings your eyes," Edmund said, looking slightly impressed. "Let's see if we can get you some medical attention. Coming, Professor...? Professor?"
But Marchand-Renier had already gone, slowly limping across the battlefield. The professor was moving on little more than willpower alone, but willpower was something that Sebastian, for better or worse, had plenty of. Despite the pain that marked every movement he made, he showed no other sign of discomfort as he finally reached his goal: Professor Thomas Carter, lying slumped across the barricades he had been kneeling behind. The linguist cleared his throat, slightly annoyed, and nudged Carter with his foot.
"Mm'jus' resting my eyes," Carter reflexively said. He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to clear them of the sand. A second later, he performed some approximation of sitting up, then immediately regretted it. "I feel like I want to die."
"Well, that's rather too bad," Marchand-Renier said rather dryly, "since despite your best efforts, it seems you aren't going to."
"No?" Carter rubbed his eyes, looking around hazily. "You're not dead," he said, rather obviously, though he sounded surprised. "Andre's not dead. Are we actually all still alive?"
"At the risk of encouraging this sort of behavior in the future..." Marchand-Renier sighed, "It seems that we are."
Carter actually laughed, though it was a parched, cracked sound. "What did I tell you, Sebastian? Lunacy! It works for everyone else, why not us?"
"You told me we'd end up staked in the backyard, you idiot," Marchand-Renier said, though this time, he couldn't quite hide his smile.
August 28th, 761, 6:39 AM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PC Actions:
Kuzan heals Tomas
Otto am-scrays, heals self for 18 damage.
Charles Inspires Greatness in Kuzan
Tomas hits Chesterton three times for 53 damage.
Sascha hits Snefru twice, deals 81 damage, destroying her.
Andre hits Chesterton with a Sound Lance, destroying it.
Sascha cleaved through the spirit's undead flesh, and with it he tore away the veil that masked the Lady Snefru's soul. Beneath the spectral flesh you caught a glimpse of something foul, a whisper of something vile. Snefru's true form was not a sight for the weak-stomached.
"No..." Snefru said softly, disbelievingly, as the sand began to race in a circle about her feet. Sascha had severed the ghost's connection to the land of the living, and now Snefru had no excuse not to advance to her just rewards. The sand swirled higher, swiftly obscuring her from sight. "No."
In a heartbeat, the whirling wall of sand left only the sillhoette of the spectre visible. Just Snefru trapped with a preternatural well of whipping winds and airborne dust, just Snefru.... and someone else. The tall stranger put a hand on Snefru's shoulder.
Then the sand fell to the ground, as though the wind had never been. Snefru, and whoever had come to collect her, were gone forever now.
Elsewhere, the other minions of Cavendish were having comparable issues. Khait was shredded by a flurry of crossbow bolts, impaled in no fewer than eleven places before she fell. The great cat was cleaved nearly in half by Tomas's blows, and then finished off by a swift bolt of sound from Andre. The fossilized smilodon shuddered once, and then the bindings of magecraft that kept it animated came entirely undone. It exploded into a myriad shards of bone, most no larger than a splinter, all settling down around the huge skull.
================================================
Meanwhile, on the flame-scorched wall of the Falkovnian compound, Cavendish stood up and surveyed the scene of carnage that stretched out across the square. There were at two dozen dead, both Falkovnians eviscerated by Chesterton or Schrodinger, or Lebendtod murdered and reanimated to serve Cavendish. Entire sections of the square were smoking ruins.
"Fire, panic, and copious dead people. My work here is done." John Lancaster Cavendish favored you with a grin. "Still, it's sunrise, and I haven't had tea yet. Toodle-oo!"
Then with one strangely-graceful movement, Cavendish vaulted over the edge of the masonry. Schrodinger surged forth to catch his master, a cloud of sand and grains of fossilized bone. They met in midair, and were gone, disappearing with a gust of air and the faint scent of necrotic magic.
They were gone. Muhar was hardly the best place in the world right now, with no government beyond the Falkovnian occupation, with the main religion destroyed by Snefru's alignment, with a small battlefield in the main square. But Cavendish was gone, and that made Muhar just a slightly better place.
================================================
With all their foes now gone, the Falkovnians began to form up around their commander. A great weight seemed to have been lifted from the atmosphere, and some of the soldiers began to talk among themselves in relief. There was no cheering or laughter; far too many lay dead for that. With a nod and a quick word to the Kommandant, Lebrecht gestured to the nearest squad, beginning the solemn task of gathering their fallen comrades.
Tomas felt a hand on his shoulder. Niklaus was there, along with all the other Falkovnians who had faced down that nightmare of magic and bones. The soldiers seemed to huddle protectively around the knight, ensuing that he would not die and could stay on his feet, before respectfully retreating back into their squad formation.
"That was amazing, Herr Eisenwald," the young soldier said. The others nodded slightly in agreement. As one, the Falkovnians raised their swords to their chests in salute, before retreating to follow their Kommandant.
================================================
"Whoooooohooooo!" a shout came from across the battlefield. Dieter ran down the city square, grabbing Chesterton's cracked skull from where it sat among the shattered fragments of bone. "That was awesome, Prof!" The mercenary set the fossilized skull over his head like a helmet, striking his best impression of a heroic pose. The skull, proving far too large for such a purpose, fell down over his eyes.
"You look like hell," Dieter said to Kuzan, tipping the makeshift hat back up and struggling with it to stay in place. "Be careful, be careful, you always tell me. I don't have a scratch." The Lamordian drew himself up, smiling cheekily. "I'll just have to protect you from now on." The helmet fell back over his face.
Sarari walked past him, having walked much slower than Dieter had, but moving with a more direct purpose. The elf-maid's back still bled, and so she held her bow in her hand, her eyes fixed on Charles. She said nothing, simply taking Charles' hand in her own and squeezing it tight.
"Quite a battle," Lebrecht said, also riding towards Charles. "Hopefully the last we'll see here. It could have been much worse, and I think you had quite a bit to do with it not being so." The Lieutenant sighted, surveying the damage. "I hesitate to ask you to do more after all of this, but are any of you trained in magic? We're going to do as thorough a sweep of the compound to ensure the imposter didn't leave any parting shots. Given the situation, we should probably secure the area and get behind walls as soon as it is safe to do so."
==============================================
Otto could hear Harris coughing as the guardsman climbed down the ladder, waving imaginary smoke out of his eyes. "Stuff stings your eyes," Edmund said, looking slightly impressed. "Let's see if we can get you some medical attention. Coming, Professor...? Professor?"
But Marchand-Renier had already gone, slowly limping across the battlefield. The professor was moving on little more than willpower alone, but willpower was something that Sebastian, for better or worse, had plenty of. Despite the pain that marked every movement he made, he showed no other sign of discomfort as he finally reached his goal: Professor Thomas Carter, lying slumped across the barricades he had been kneeling behind. The linguist cleared his throat, slightly annoyed, and nudged Carter with his foot.
"Mm'jus' resting my eyes," Carter reflexively said. He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to clear them of the sand. A second later, he performed some approximation of sitting up, then immediately regretted it. "I feel like I want to die."
"Well, that's rather too bad," Marchand-Renier said rather dryly, "since despite your best efforts, it seems you aren't going to."
"No?" Carter rubbed his eyes, looking around hazily. "You're not dead," he said, rather obviously, though he sounded surprised. "Andre's not dead. Are we actually all still alive?"
"At the risk of encouraging this sort of behavior in the future..." Marchand-Renier sighed, "It seems that we are."
Carter actually laughed, though it was a parched, cracked sound. "What did I tell you, Sebastian? Lunacy! It works for everyone else, why not us?"
"You told me we'd end up staked in the backyard, you idiot," Marchand-Renier said, though this time, he couldn't quite hide his smile.
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
-
Nathan of the FoS
- Fiendish Enforcer
- Posts: 5246
- Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 3:39 pm
- Location: San Francisco CA
Knocked back a bit by Andre's sound lance (fine stuff, but not very comfortable when one is at close quarters with the target), Charles finds himself facing Snefru as Sascha gives her her quietus. He is transfixed by the apparition of the second figure...the dawn light makes it hard to tell, but could that have been a flash of green?
A blink, to clear the eyes, but when he opens them again the pair (if there ever was a second person there) are gone.
"That reminds me," Charles mutters. "I promised a contribution."
Then Sarari is there, and for a few minutes nothing matters but that they are alive and together, after so much fear and blood.
"What? Oh, Cavendish popped me once with his arrow trick, but other than that, just a little hoarse. I'll be right as rain by tomorrow. Oh, the wand? Well, certainly, then."
Thus rejuvenated, Charles turns to the Falkovnians, gathering their dead. After a moment's discomfort (Falkovnians! And Vedarrak must still be dealt with), Charles puts it to one side and goes to help bring the fallen into the compound. "We've got people," Charles says to the lieutenant. "M'selle Mourneswaith, Professor Theroux, at least...some of the other professors are bound to know something...there's always the Kommandant. Kuzan knows something of it, I'll wager. We'll give it a good scouring."
A blink, to clear the eyes, but when he opens them again the pair (if there ever was a second person there) are gone.
"That reminds me," Charles mutters. "I promised a contribution."
Then Sarari is there, and for a few minutes nothing matters but that they are alive and together, after so much fear and blood.
"What? Oh, Cavendish popped me once with his arrow trick, but other than that, just a little hoarse. I'll be right as rain by tomorrow. Oh, the wand? Well, certainly, then."
Thus rejuvenated, Charles turns to the Falkovnians, gathering their dead. After a moment's discomfort (Falkovnians! And Vedarrak must still be dealt with), Charles puts it to one side and goes to help bring the fallen into the compound. "We've got people," Charles says to the lieutenant. "M'selle Mourneswaith, Professor Theroux, at least...some of the other professors are bound to know something...there's always the Kommandant. Kuzan knows something of it, I'll wager. We'll give it a good scouring."
[b]FEAR JUSTICE.[/b] :elena:
-
Rock of the Fraternity
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 6077
- Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2007 1:16 pm
Lia watches from the darkness, red eyes and all unseen in the shroud of her own power. She eyes the Falkovnians celebrating, watches them praise Tomas. She sees Dieter with the Smilodon skull. Hears Vedarrak speak. Her lips compress tightly. And behind her lips, her teeth momentarily click as she clenches her jaws.
'Fool Lamordian,' she thinks acidly, looking at Dieter. '"Not a scratch", indeed. Acting the fool like that, someone should make sure he hasn't come unhinged in his fool head.'
The wizard's eyes flick up to the section of wall she so recently inundated in flame. Click. Scrape.
'Mustn't grind my teeth,' Lia reminds herself, very deliberately forcing herself to unclench her jaws. Hands moving very deliberately, she pulls a piece of tough jerky out of her belt pouch and bites down on it. And down. And down. Chewing mechanically, trying to focus only on chewing, because ... 'It is only right that they praise Tomas and Sacha both, they did well, they did well, they did welldidwelldidwelldidwell-
'Hatehimhatehimhatehimhatehimhate -'
The jerky is sheered in half by small, wickedly sharp fangs, and Lia's eyes burn in the sockets. Her fists clench as she fights down seething hatred, fury that threatens to unhinge her. 'Cavendish got away again. Got away to do who-knows-what to who-knows-who. Again. I had him squarely in my sights but again -'
"I should kill you all." Lia barely recognizes the sound of her own voice, and fortunately it is but a whisper, but still, it is her voice. "Kill you all. Destroy you all." Her eyes burn as she looks at the Falkovnians, her teeth tear the remains of the jerky to shreds -- and she spits with disgust. Waste of food. Bad taste, though, must have gone bad. Must have done. Must ...
"I should kill you. Kill you all. All."
'It was Cavendish who caused all this. But it was your inclination to crush, conquer and murder that he used. Falkovnian scum! Filth! Kill you all!'
"They kept him pinned down," Lia gasps, fists clenching and unclenching. "He could have done ... worse, if not for the -"
'Falkovnian filth! Brotherhood scum!'
"But they kept him pinned down," Lia reminds herself, forcing her hands open, seizing her head as if to prevent it from flying apart. "He could have done so much worse, if he hadn't needed to duck and cover from those quarrels. They might be ... usef -"
'Myheadmyheadmyhead!'
Lia Mourneswaithe falls to her knees and weeps. Her head hurts. Her body hurts. Her very soul hurts. So many dead, so much misery, so much malice, ever since Dementlieu ... and not just from Cavendish. So many enemies in the shadows, so many evil acts from monster against man, and that is bad enough. But also so much evil perpetrated against man by man.
'Am I going to see those stakes in my dreams? Those pitiful corpses? I should kill! I should kill! I do not want to be allied with such filth! Kill! Kill! KILL!'
'You have to watch, wait and choose your moment.'
Shivering, crying, Lia mutters something incomprehensible. The cool voice in the back of her head continues to speak, insistent: 'Yes, you do. You are not just responsible for yourself, here. Regardless what they think of you, the others have been your companions. They saved your life, you've helped to save theirs. And worse, the whole world hangs in the balance. The Falkovnians can wait. The one who must die is -'
"Beherith." The word falls from Lia's lips like a wad of foul, spoiled jerky.
'Yes. First the demon. Then-'
"Cavendish." Lia Mourneswaithe rises to her feet, dusting off her robes with calm, measured movements.
'And when they're dead, or at least dealt with -'
"I will use you all, then," Lia whispers, watching the Falkovnians with emotionless eyes, her voice bland and cool. "I will use you to destruction if I can. Cavendish stirred the pot, but you handed him most of the ingredients. I set no value to any of your lives, apart from your potential as a screen against Cavendish. Cavendish made this place into a warzone, but... Patterna: you are the ones who rode in and stamped the people who actually live here down because you could, and because you wanted to be masters of their town. For that, I condemn you."
Lia starts to walk forwards. Soon, the others can see her coming out of the bubble of perfect darkness. She skirts the writhing, chittering tentacles without even granting them a glance, walks past the remains of the finally truly dead and approaches professors Carter and Marchand-Renier. "Can I offer you a hand up, sir?" she asks, voice coolly polite as she offers Carter the appendage in question.
'We can use them. Use them to protect what is important. Who knows, one or two might have something to them that is redeemable. And if none of them do ...'
'I can use you all to destruction. I have no pity for you. Cavendish tormented you, but after what you did here, you are more deserving of it than others he misused so. And if you are not used up at the end of this road, and there are yet any left ... You do not all possess the magic to shield yourselves from flame.'
"I don't suppose we could convince the Falkovnians to have the bodies of the slain Akiri returned to their kinsfolk?" Lia asks out loud, a tone of regret in her voice. "It would be a kindness to them to be able to bury their own and know they will be at rest now. ... Also, it might be good to check that the temple of Isis and our one-eyed merchant friend remain unmolested."
'Fool Lamordian,' she thinks acidly, looking at Dieter. '"Not a scratch", indeed. Acting the fool like that, someone should make sure he hasn't come unhinged in his fool head.'
The wizard's eyes flick up to the section of wall she so recently inundated in flame. Click. Scrape.
'Mustn't grind my teeth,' Lia reminds herself, very deliberately forcing herself to unclench her jaws. Hands moving very deliberately, she pulls a piece of tough jerky out of her belt pouch and bites down on it. And down. And down. Chewing mechanically, trying to focus only on chewing, because ... 'It is only right that they praise Tomas and Sacha both, they did well, they did well, they did welldidwelldidwelldidwell-
'Hatehimhatehimhatehimhatehimhate -'
The jerky is sheered in half by small, wickedly sharp fangs, and Lia's eyes burn in the sockets. Her fists clench as she fights down seething hatred, fury that threatens to unhinge her. 'Cavendish got away again. Got away to do who-knows-what to who-knows-who. Again. I had him squarely in my sights but again -'
"I should kill you all." Lia barely recognizes the sound of her own voice, and fortunately it is but a whisper, but still, it is her voice. "Kill you all. Destroy you all." Her eyes burn as she looks at the Falkovnians, her teeth tear the remains of the jerky to shreds -- and she spits with disgust. Waste of food. Bad taste, though, must have gone bad. Must have done. Must ...
"I should kill you. Kill you all. All."
'It was Cavendish who caused all this. But it was your inclination to crush, conquer and murder that he used. Falkovnian scum! Filth! Kill you all!'
"They kept him pinned down," Lia gasps, fists clenching and unclenching. "He could have done ... worse, if not for the -"
'Falkovnian filth! Brotherhood scum!'
"But they kept him pinned down," Lia reminds herself, forcing her hands open, seizing her head as if to prevent it from flying apart. "He could have done so much worse, if he hadn't needed to duck and cover from those quarrels. They might be ... usef -"
'Myheadmyheadmyhead!'
Lia Mourneswaithe falls to her knees and weeps. Her head hurts. Her body hurts. Her very soul hurts. So many dead, so much misery, so much malice, ever since Dementlieu ... and not just from Cavendish. So many enemies in the shadows, so many evil acts from monster against man, and that is bad enough. But also so much evil perpetrated against man by man.
'Am I going to see those stakes in my dreams? Those pitiful corpses? I should kill! I should kill! I do not want to be allied with such filth! Kill! Kill! KILL!'
'You have to watch, wait and choose your moment.'
Shivering, crying, Lia mutters something incomprehensible. The cool voice in the back of her head continues to speak, insistent: 'Yes, you do. You are not just responsible for yourself, here. Regardless what they think of you, the others have been your companions. They saved your life, you've helped to save theirs. And worse, the whole world hangs in the balance. The Falkovnians can wait. The one who must die is -'
"Beherith." The word falls from Lia's lips like a wad of foul, spoiled jerky.
'Yes. First the demon. Then-'
"Cavendish." Lia Mourneswaithe rises to her feet, dusting off her robes with calm, measured movements.
'And when they're dead, or at least dealt with -'
"I will use you all, then," Lia whispers, watching the Falkovnians with emotionless eyes, her voice bland and cool. "I will use you to destruction if I can. Cavendish stirred the pot, but you handed him most of the ingredients. I set no value to any of your lives, apart from your potential as a screen against Cavendish. Cavendish made this place into a warzone, but... Patterna: you are the ones who rode in and stamped the people who actually live here down because you could, and because you wanted to be masters of their town. For that, I condemn you."
Lia starts to walk forwards. Soon, the others can see her coming out of the bubble of perfect darkness. She skirts the writhing, chittering tentacles without even granting them a glance, walks past the remains of the finally truly dead and approaches professors Carter and Marchand-Renier. "Can I offer you a hand up, sir?" she asks, voice coolly polite as she offers Carter the appendage in question.
'We can use them. Use them to protect what is important. Who knows, one or two might have something to them that is redeemable. And if none of them do ...'
'I can use you all to destruction. I have no pity for you. Cavendish tormented you, but after what you did here, you are more deserving of it than others he misused so. And if you are not used up at the end of this road, and there are yet any left ... You do not all possess the magic to shield yourselves from flame.'
"I don't suppose we could convince the Falkovnians to have the bodies of the slain Akiri returned to their kinsfolk?" Lia asks out loud, a tone of regret in her voice. "It would be a kindness to them to be able to bury their own and know they will be at rest now. ... Also, it might be good to check that the temple of Isis and our one-eyed merchant friend remain unmolested."
I almost died out there, Tomas reflects, rubbing his still damaged chest and frowning at the strange, hollow feeling inside of him. The tinny taste in his mouth doesn't help, electricity having its usual painful after effect on him.
Reflecting on opportunities lost for a moment, Tomas deduces that the gnawing feeling in his chest isn't just old scars and stitches acting up again. His body is struggling, rebelling against something that's been building since he reached the desert. Maybe the sand and sins of this land are both starting to wear him down, Tomas reflects, maybe I'm going to die anyway, when the little bits of grit stop my heart from beating.
I wish I had Charles's courage, Tomas admits to himself, hating the faint, jealous feelings Charles and Sarari's happiness stir in him. He's such a coward...but who can blame him? There's a reason Maribell decided to join the pearl corps, after all. And this whole train of thought is just a distraction from...
Closing his eyes, Tomas forces a sigh out, trying to calm his rebellious body down. For a moment, trying to talk to the others appeals to Tomas, but ultimately he decides that he wouldn't really be wanted. It was the negative side of his carefree idiot act, and the price he paid for his borrowed existence. Feeling frozen despite the heat and the sun, Tomas looks for where the group is retreating to, hoping to possibly get an hour's sleep in before plans to move on are made and he has to pretend to be happy again.
Reflecting on opportunities lost for a moment, Tomas deduces that the gnawing feeling in his chest isn't just old scars and stitches acting up again. His body is struggling, rebelling against something that's been building since he reached the desert. Maybe the sand and sins of this land are both starting to wear him down, Tomas reflects, maybe I'm going to die anyway, when the little bits of grit stop my heart from beating.
I wish I had Charles's courage, Tomas admits to himself, hating the faint, jealous feelings Charles and Sarari's happiness stir in him. He's such a coward...but who can blame him? There's a reason Maribell decided to join the pearl corps, after all. And this whole train of thought is just a distraction from...
Closing his eyes, Tomas forces a sigh out, trying to calm his rebellious body down. For a moment, trying to talk to the others appeals to Tomas, but ultimately he decides that he wouldn't really be wanted. It was the negative side of his carefree idiot act, and the price he paid for his borrowed existence. Feeling frozen despite the heat and the sun, Tomas looks for where the group is retreating to, hoping to possibly get an hour's sleep in before plans to move on are made and he has to pretend to be happy again.
Muhar, Har'Akir
August 28th, 761, 6:41 PM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"Hmm...?" Carter looked at Lia's hand with a slightly confused expression before her intentions finally registered; his hand was about halfway to his pocket to give her some imaginary item she was requesting before he shook his head and took the proffered aid. Carter was currently something akin to a sack of wet cement, and it took some good effort on Lia's part to help him up. The archeologist seemed impressed by the mage's hidden strength. "Thank you, Lia."
Marchand-Renier tried to speak, then cleared his throat slightly. The linguist's voice seemed to have become rather gravelly in the interim since you had seen him last. "Yes," he said, slightly above a whisper. "Thank you."
"Honestly, we could probably just take the bodies," Carter said. Marchand-Renier made a small noise that sounded like a snort. Carter continued, undaunted. "The Falkovnians have their own problems. Even if they notice us taking them, just call it a peace offering to the Akiri. Ezra knows they could use it right now."
"A taste of trouble and you've become addicted," Marchand-Renier rumbled. His attempts at levity were rather hamstrung by his voice, which made him sound even harsher than when he was attempting to be cutting. "The insidious stuff has already infected my student, and now all of my colleagues have fallen. Nevertheless, he's probably right, Miss Mourneswaithe, despite the astonishing lack of judgment he's shown with everything else today."
Carter seemed to sober slightly at that, running his flayed hand across the scars on his cheek. "Sebastian..." he began, but Marchand-Renier cut him off with a wave of his hand, urging him to think nothing more of it. Carter obeyed, walking slowly back towards the compound. "What's at the temple of Isis?" he asked Lia.
"My student...?" Marchand-Renier asked, in a very low voice. Twisted by his hoarse and battered throat, the words came out as a growl.
August 28th, 761, 6:41 PM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"Hmm...?" Carter looked at Lia's hand with a slightly confused expression before her intentions finally registered; his hand was about halfway to his pocket to give her some imaginary item she was requesting before he shook his head and took the proffered aid. Carter was currently something akin to a sack of wet cement, and it took some good effort on Lia's part to help him up. The archeologist seemed impressed by the mage's hidden strength. "Thank you, Lia."
Marchand-Renier tried to speak, then cleared his throat slightly. The linguist's voice seemed to have become rather gravelly in the interim since you had seen him last. "Yes," he said, slightly above a whisper. "Thank you."
"Honestly, we could probably just take the bodies," Carter said. Marchand-Renier made a small noise that sounded like a snort. Carter continued, undaunted. "The Falkovnians have their own problems. Even if they notice us taking them, just call it a peace offering to the Akiri. Ezra knows they could use it right now."
"A taste of trouble and you've become addicted," Marchand-Renier rumbled. His attempts at levity were rather hamstrung by his voice, which made him sound even harsher than when he was attempting to be cutting. "The insidious stuff has already infected my student, and now all of my colleagues have fallen. Nevertheless, he's probably right, Miss Mourneswaithe, despite the astonishing lack of judgment he's shown with everything else today."
Carter seemed to sober slightly at that, running his flayed hand across the scars on his cheek. "Sebastian..." he began, but Marchand-Renier cut him off with a wave of his hand, urging him to think nothing more of it. Carter obeyed, walking slowly back towards the compound. "What's at the temple of Isis?" he asked Lia.
"My student...?" Marchand-Renier asked, in a very low voice. Twisted by his hoarse and battered throat, the words came out as a growl.
"No, but evil is still being — Is having reason — Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
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Kaitou Kage
- Evil Genius
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- Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:53 am
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Kuzan did look like hell. His clothing was singed and torn all over from magic and mundane forces. His hair stuck out almost every which way thanks to the magic he'd been struck with and the lightning he'd conjured. Dark bruises showed under his dark skin where the giant stake had struck him. His eyes, still blackened from his spell, had dark circles under him from lack of sleep and the tremendous amount of energy he'd expended. The adrenaline rush from the fight was beginning to fade, but he knew his day was far from over. There were wounded. Lots of wounded, and a doctor's work was never done. For what felt like several minutes after Cavendish left, the priest stood, slouching forward, his head buzzing unpleasantly.
Then Dieter approached with the ridiculous-looking cat-skull on his head and Kuzan couldn't help but grin. He stood up straight and laughed, and then wiped the sweat and dust off his brow. The Lamordian had a knack for raising Kuzan's spirits even at the worst of times. His goofyness and good cheer were both exceedingly charming and excessively infectious.
"My hero!" the priest put his hand on his forehead and made a mock swoon. "Will you protect me forever so we can live happily ever after?"
Kuzan reached out and held the skull down on his friend's head. "Keep that on!" the priest taunted, "It looks better than having to see your ugly face all day!" Then he let up and punched Dieter gently on the arm.
"Glad you're okay," he said more soberly. But the mischief between the two couldn't be kept down forever, and the grin spread across the priest's face once more. "And since you got through this without a scratch, that means you're well enough to help me make my rounds before we go to bed, mister! I'm just far too beat up to do a good enough job on my own." Again, he made the mock swoon. "I need a strong, handsome man with a ridiculous-looking cat skull on his head to support me!"
Then Dieter approached with the ridiculous-looking cat-skull on his head and Kuzan couldn't help but grin. He stood up straight and laughed, and then wiped the sweat and dust off his brow. The Lamordian had a knack for raising Kuzan's spirits even at the worst of times. His goofyness and good cheer were both exceedingly charming and excessively infectious.
"My hero!" the priest put his hand on his forehead and made a mock swoon. "Will you protect me forever so we can live happily ever after?"
Kuzan reached out and held the skull down on his friend's head. "Keep that on!" the priest taunted, "It looks better than having to see your ugly face all day!" Then he let up and punched Dieter gently on the arm.
"Glad you're okay," he said more soberly. But the mischief between the two couldn't be kept down forever, and the grin spread across the priest's face once more. "And since you got through this without a scratch, that means you're well enough to help me make my rounds before we go to bed, mister! I'm just far too beat up to do a good enough job on my own." Again, he made the mock swoon. "I need a strong, handsome man with a ridiculous-looking cat skull on his head to support me!"