Used Scenes
First post:
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Sekarand's Tower was not even two decades old, but it was widely know to be the most haunted structure in all of Theft. The liches howled wildly every night and could be seen wandering in the tower and the grounds. By the time Sergeant Guld retired from the city watch and had the liches cease their howling, every home and store for ten blocks around the Tower had been abandoned. Rumours that the liches had stopped screaming eventually spread, but the citizens of Moll were too interested in their continued survival to move back into the Tower's neighbourhood. The same quality cannot be applied to the many adventurers, treasure hunters, scholars and other riff raff who came from across Theft and beyond to delve what the High Sorceror left behind.
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Having not been a particularly good sorceror, Sekarand's mysteries were largely disappointing to scholars, fortune seekers and practitioners alike. One by one the travellers departed to seek their fame elsewhere. Only about a dozen were left when the secret barrow was found beneath the tower's lowest sub-basement. Oddly, there was no trap door or other entrance into the barrow, just a crack in the floor that gave away its existence. How then did Sekarand get into it? Leaving that question for later, the remaining adventurers dug their way into the barrow, each expecting to find buried beneath the tower the gold, ancient scrolls, magical artefacts or other treasure they sought. Jumping down through the crack brought the adventurers into what seemed to be an empty storage closet. Torches were lit, warrens were probed and the adventurers set off through the open closet doorway. Beyond, a short hallway soon became a labyrinth of rooms, stairs and passageways, all pitch black and deserted.
Onwards and downwards they went, each Adventurer sure that someone else would remember the way out, until the last torch died and still no treasure had been found. Surrounded now in darkness, they could see light streaming around a corner ahead. Running towards the light in a panicked mob, they rushed into a domed chamber, lit with blue and red light, every wall covered in arcane glyphs. In the chamber's center was a raised shallow basin, or perhaps an altar of sorts. Sitting in the basin, its contours matching the bowl's curvature, sat a crystalline sphere made of red and dark blue translucent crystal. A close inspection of the sphere revealed it to be hollow and filled with a pulsing purple mist which floated and flowed randomly. It was this orb which lit the room, casting the walls in slashes of red and blue which deepened and flared randomly.
The adventurers stared transfixed at the sphere for several minutes, until a grizzled old treasure hunter cleared his throat and said "That's a shiny rock, how much ya think we can sell it for?"
Path-Shaper, on 04 July 2012 - 01:48 AM, said:
The adventurers had been reluctant at first to get too close to the crystalline ball, but it had not reacted when the young boy from the group ran up and placed his bare hand upon it. After that they had all stepped forward to touch it and agreed they would share its sale, but even with a pair of muscled treasure hunters, a Jheck warrior and a fully-grown Fenn they couldn't move the sphere so much as an inch. For half a bell they tried every trick to dislodge it and then another half a bell trying to break the altar under it, but not a scrap of progress was made. Those who had struggled with the orb sat panting in the center of the room while the rest of the crowd mingled around the domed chamber chatting and examining the wall panels.
Among the adventurers was a man of very dark skin, wrapped in a black cloak, who wore black gloves and black boots. His hair was - you guessed it - black. No one had yet spoken more than a few words to him, since he sneered at anyone who approached. Now his eyes fixated on a young Theftian girl in tattered clothes who was chatting away near the orb. He stepped forward, threw back his cloak (revaling a black shirt and black pants) and shouted a short stream of words too fast to understand. The girl understood enough to take it as a flirtation and immediately rejected the man. Confused, the man babbled incoherently for a few moments before pulling out two long knives from his belt sheaths and lunging forward. The girl was surprised and didn't react for several heartbeats. A master assassin would have used those moments to plant the knives, re-sheath them and disappear before any reaction was possible.
This man was not a master assassin.
He awkwardly swung himself forward so slowly that the girl nearly had enough time to throw herself to the side and out of the killer's reach. The assailant pushed himself far enough forward that his leading knife sliced through the girl's's stomach and then lost his balance and stumbled forward while the girl fell to the ground clutching her gaping chest wound. Arms and knives flailing helplessly, legs tangled in his victim's, the killer stumbled forward for a few frantic steps until he crashed into the crystal sphere. As his body was suddenly halted his arms flew forward, one gripped long-knife swinging around to slice a deep gash across the side of his own neck, the other long-knife jamming itself to the hilt in the pulsing ball of rock.
Fener is dead. He was Mekin Zikulka.
Eloth is dead. She was Amee Najayin.
The onlookers had the time between one heartbeat and the next to stare at the scene in complete silence and then the sphere exploded outward. Shrapnel flew, knocking to the ground those too slow to have ducked. Through the flying shrapnel and through closed eyelids, and even through hands covering faces, the adventurers saw three bright flashes of light - one blue, one red and the last a deep, sickly purple. After the final flare of colour faded away, the adventurers lay wounded and moaning in complete and utter darkness...
Path-Shaper, on 04 July 2012 - 04:27 AM, said:
Everyone lays on the ground, hands covering their faces, as shards of glass and stone ricochet overhead in a deadly hail. Most are silent, but one member of the group shrieks loudly and audibly.
"GHOST! GHOST! THERE'S A SHADE ATTACKING ME!"
Some concerned adventurers peek around between their fingers, but they don't see any ghosts. Well, that shrieking woman seemed pretty weird anyways - darker skinned than seems possible and dressed in desert robes despite the cold winds that come to Moll from the Stormrider straits? Yup, definitely just a crazy, they thought and went back to huddling in the fetal position.
Path-Shaper, on 04 July 2012 - 12:46 PM, said:
It is Day 1. 0 minutes left
12 Players still alive: Anomandaris, Barghast, D'riss, Kalse, Kaschan, Liosan, Osseric, Rashan, Serc, Sheltatha Lore, Telas, Tellan
8 votes to lynch.
15 Votes for Kalse ( Anomandaris, Osseric, Rashan, Serc, Sheltatha Lore, Silanah, Telas, Tellan, Barghast, D'riss, Eloth, Fener, Kalse, Kaschan, Liosan )
---
Darkness all around, and the echos of hammering stones slowly fell to silence. Moans of pain, the rustling of crawling bodies, a woman screaming and cursing like a sailor, then falling silent, and then finally an orange globe of light appeared in the center of the room, illuminating the adventurers. "Not anotha' one!" cried the little boy. "Relax," spoke a man in white robes, "this is just a light source. Is everyone okay?"
Near the empty altar, a large man sporting numerous scars climbed to his feet and kicked at the corpse of the dead assassin. "This guy sure ain't okay. And that sliced up teen lass looks pretty dead, too."
"There's a young woman over here who's cut up to shreds," called an old woman.
The white-robed man went over to examine the injured woman, who's streaked hair was now soaked in blood, and soon pronounced her dead.
Kalse is dead. She was Luvaya Fiodethel
"So what now?" asked one man.
"What do you mean 'what now'? By Dryjhna's dead teats, we get out of here!" This from a sandy-haired woman who had wrapped herself around a hairy barbarian in fear, though her eyes did not seem as shocked as her gesture indicated.
"We are all too exhausted to make the journey back," responded the scarred man. "If we try now, we'll get lost and collapse in some random chamber and spend the rest of our lives wandering around here. Let's find a room and get some rest, first."
Wearily, everyone agreed, so they shuffled off to the nearby side chambers and each collapsed into fitful slumber.
---
It is now Night 1. 2 hours remaining.
Path-Shaper, on 04 July 2012 - 03:22 PM, said:
After leaving the altar room, they had shuffled off alone or in small groups to nearby small rooms. Exhaustion defeated fright, so one and all they each fell asleep.
No rays of sunlight reached the tunnels, so they did not all awaken together. A lanky, purple-haired woman thought she was the first to awaken as she padded through the halls, but then saw torchlight flickering from the altar room. Within she found the scholar, his face pressed so close to the glyphs on the walls that he was blocking the light of the torch he held. She tapped a hand against the wall to alert him and he glanced over. Ritual morning greetings were exchanged, then he turned back to the wall.
"You can read these?" asked the woman. Without looking back, the scholar replied "Vaguely. These glyphs are vaguely similar to the script used in Jaghut writings. Not enough to decipher their meaning by that alone, but considering the difference between most Jaghut writings and the known excerpts of Gothos' Folly, it looks to me like these glyphs are an even older Jaghut writing system. So, by extending the differences between Jaghut script and its Folly incarnation even further, I can guess at some of the meaning here."
"What does it say?" the woman interjected, cutting to the point lest the scholar continue blabbering all morning.
A flash of irritation on the man's face, then he continued, pointing to various glyphs. "The overlined symbols are phonetics, for proper terms. This recurring group should sound something like 'ba-ha-mud'. Then these proper nouns here would sound like 'se-kel-in', here 'feen-nis' and here 'boll-ad'."
"Yes, yes, but what does it actually say?!"
"It's a warning."
"A what? A warning? About what?"
"About this 'bahamud'. It says 'bahamud' went out of control and destroyed - or maybe corrupted? - the 'se-kel-in' and 'boll-ad' sent to - or maybe sent after? - it. That it couldn't be... held? contained? by a 'feen-nis'. This part here is easily translated: It says, simply, that releasing 'bahamud' will bring a fate worse than death. It says it over and over and over again."
"I didn't think Sekarand was into dire pronouncements..."
"In ancient Jaghut glyphs? No, I don't think Sekarand had anything to do with this. He probably never even knew these halls existed."
Several pairs of footsteps echoed from the hallway, then a few other adventurers stumbled sleepily into the room.
"Good morning everyone. The scholar here sure has some great news for us all..."
---
It is Day 2. 33 hours and 59 minutes remaining
12 Players still alive: Anomandaris, Barghast, D'riss, Kaschan, Liosan, Osseric, Rashan, Serc, Sheltatha Lore, Telas, Tellan, Thyrllan
8 votes to lynch.
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After assembling in the altar room, the adventurers set out to find their way back to the surface. They wandered, argued and gossiped all day, with rumours circulating through the group of a terrible creature stalking them amongst the ruins. Each time they reached the altar room, someone new would take charge of navigating, and each leader's fool-proof method lead them right back to the altar room.
The last person to try leading the group had the mages summon a illusory map, suspended at waist level, which would turn to orient itself in the direction they traveled and grow as they traveled. They found their way back to the altar room several times, but each time it was by a new route and soon they had mapped a large portion of the area around the altar chamber.
Spotting a hall branching out of a less familiar area, the adventurers rushed towards it and there finally found the staircase leading up, and eventually out. Everything looked as it had been the day before, except now a seris of amber beams barred the way, from the steps to the ceiling. The bars shone with the glow of magic, illuminating on the walls glyphs that the adventurers had missed the first time through.
The mages warily approached the shining bars while the group's scholar began working out the glyphs. "I do not sense much power coming from these bars," said one of the mages. "If it is Jaghut work, we may be unable to." replied another. "Despite the many artifical glaciers and ice fields across the world, Omtose Phellack can be subtle when the wielder wants it to be."
Some of the other adventurers had gathered around closely and overheard the mages. "So how do we know if they're dangerous or not?" asked the scholar, who had stepped up beside the mages. Behind him, the giant Fenn woman grinned, shouted something incoherently and kicked the man headfirst into the bars. Every piece of the man which touched the magic barriers disintegrated instantly, leaving nothing behind. The Fenn women had begun to laugh, but also had lost balance from her own kick. She tried to reach out to grab the shoulders of someone to steady herself, but reached at her own shoulder height rather than down. She slipped, tripped and fell, her own head tumbling straight into the magic bars and disintegrating, as well.
Kaschan is dead. He was Iddil Miratus.
Serc the Bahamudite is dead. He was Mekin Zikulka, the Eager Ninja.
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Shaken by the Fenn woman's actions, the adventurers backed away from the magic beams. Some turned to face the glyphs on the wall opposite. "Scholar's dead" muttered the old hag. "Can anyone else read Jaghut?" asked the attractive almost-blonde woman, looking around for a response. No one replied. The hairy barbarian wasn't even listening, and was in fact staring openly at her curves.
A hand lashed out and struck the barbarian open-handed, sending him flying thirty paces down the hallway. A tall, sinuous woman stepped forward, cracking her elongated fingers. "I hate to admit it, but I can decipher a small bit of meaning from these symbols. In short, it seems to be a warning that we will not be allowed to leave until the monster Bahamut is no longer among us.
A pasty white man stepped up onto the stairs. "What are you doing?!" cried the robed mage. The rock-like, muscled figure replied "That Fenn was clearly tainted by the Apostl'ey. I do not know else who among you may be similarly tainted, but I am not. I have just come back to life, I will not squander it in these catacombs!" With that he turned to run up the stairs, but when he reached the magical bars they turned a fiery red. The bars surged as waves of power traveled up them to hammer into the ceiling. The roof cracked and then collapsed, flattening the chalky man and showering the rest of the group - who ran away screaming - in debris. The dust doused torches and the panicked flight scattered the adventurers, beginning a terrifying night of wandering alone and lost in the dark.
Thyrllan is dead. He was the Exalted Ectoplasmic Etyno.
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Some ran headlong into walls. Some crawled along the corner of the halls. Some curled up and shivered uncontrollably.
One and all, the adventurers passed a night of terror. For some it was the frantic terror of flight, for others the despairing kind as the realization that there was no way out sank in. There are, indeed, many kinds of terror.
As the faintest hints of light arose in the ruins, signaling morning above, the adventurers were each struck by a single, uniting kind of terror. An icy claw gripped their spines as a single piercing scream of pain, of horror, of abject violating wrongness wailed throughout the ruins. A single scream, and nothing more.
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Some adventurers found each other in the dark and have regathered in the main chamber, where a heated argument is occurring.
"If there's some terrible creature down here, we need to find another way out of here as fast as possible!"
"No! We must not unleash this force upon the city above!"
"I don't care about the city above, but what if we're all now cursed by the fancy clouds, and the only way to beat the curse is to kill them, and if we don't kill the clouds then they'll follow us, and in ten years the clouds will suddenly turn into swarms of capemoths that rip off all our toenails and slash our necks with them! We gotta kill the clouds now before they can get away!"
Everyone stared at this last speaker in confused silence, which was broken by a shout from across the room. The adventurers all turned to see the man in white robes, who was usually so calm, turning all about and flailing his arms about. He regained his focus and the other adventurers shrank back as he flung waves of glowing energy towards the corner and ceiling.
"Togg's teats! What are you doing?" The man turned to the companion who spoke, his dark luminous eyes wide in fear.
"Didn't you see it?! There was a terrible ghost!"
More confused silence, but there wasn't a ghost in sight, so they all turned back to arguing.
"You can't stab a cloud fools! We need to go on a quest to find the noble pink, green and yellow clouds which will destroy these
ones for us!"
And so on...
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(see post 751)
In a secluded chamber, a few adventurers are gathered. On one side of the room, the Jheck barbarian is tending a fire. He and the two others beside him are watching what looks like a large pile of rags.
From the mishapen bundle, a gnarled, covered hand appears and lays down three cards. Orb, upright, is laid side-by-side Obelisk, inverted. Sideways, bridging the two, The Apocalyptic.
The hand withdraws into the rags, and the three others watching wait impatiently. After a minute, the hand returns with nine more cards, which it flings down haphazardly. The cards bounce and fall in a scatter around the center three, but all land face-up: Priest and Weaver of Life. Herald of Death. Builder and Maiden of Light. Soldier of Dark. Consort, Cripple and Fool in Chains. Hunter and Mercenary. On each card, a single figure is depicted, most of them human-looking. As the trio lean forward to look closer, the rag bundle's hand re-emerges and casts down three small stone cards, which each land upon one of the outer cards.
"What's this? These aren't Cards!" says one of the onlookers. The bundle of rags does not reply, as usual. But the Jheck, who himself rarely speaks, answers.
"Blocks? Slates?" he asks, looking at his companion as he tries to find the right word. "How do you say... Tiles." Realization dawns. He leans over the field and points out each one. "The Frozen Hold. Here, Bearer. This, Walker. And this..." He looks up at his companions while making a series of warding gestures.
"Shaper."
"Is that bad?"
"Bad."
The group is silent for a few moments, until the green-eyed Fistian woman asks "There were nine cards, but there are ten of us still alive, aren't there? Shouldn't there be one more?"
A hand emerges again from the rag-wrapped creature and places a card directly into her hands. Virgin of Death. Her green eyes widen as a knife tip bursts out of her chest. Behind her, the scarred and battered Capustanii man laughs. And he continues laughing, until the Jheck barbarian leaps to his feet and slices off the man's head with an obsidian sword.
Anomandaris is dead. She was Lilly Garamonde.
Barghast (Brujah) the Bahamudite is dead. He was Mekin Zikulka, the Eager Ninja and not an Esper.
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By the next nightfall, the whole group had finally found each other and gathered together again. A mage summoned a weak light, which allowed the group to scavenge amongst some collapsed chambers for enough wood to build a small fire. They assembled around the fire and discussed the situation.
"Seems clear enough to me," spoke one woman, who was wearing only her underclothes as she shook vast amounts of sand out of her outer clothes. "We need to find this Bahamut thingy the walls were talking about. Then the stairs will open and we can get out."
"How do you know the stairs will open?" accused the purple-haired woman beside her with a menacing stare. "The scholar didn't say anything about them opening again. You know something we don't...?"
"Sorry, I just assumed, I guess," came the reply. No one was satisfied but they let it rest for the moment. The group fell silent, except for the teenage girl sitting in the back corner who was engaged in a very one-sided conversation with another adventurer who couldn't get a word in.
The little boy, not understanding the tone of the conversation, asked curiously "What do we do with the Bahamut when we find it?"
In reply, the bare-chested savage beside him tapped his shoulder, pulled out an obsidian knife and mimed slicing it across his throat. This conveyed their intent perfectly.
Everyone sat in silence for a few minutes, except for the girl in the back. Suddenly, she cried "Hey wait a minute! You said you were in the west-side caverns all day, but we found you wandering around the east-side caverns this morning!"
Everyone immediately turned to the girl's companion, a figure completely enclosed in cloth and very foul-smelling. It had no discernible features, and if it was human it was very short. There were no discernible hints of what gender, species or ethnicity it may be behind the miscellaneous tatters that shrouded it.
"Got a hole in your story?" asked the Styggian darkly, emphasizing the question with a noisy spit. Uncharacteristically, the figure spoke: "My memory of events may be a bit out of sequence, but the timeline isn't impor-" "GET IT! IT'S BAHAMUT!"
The group fell upon the creature, tearing it to pieces. Even when torn apart, it was impossible to tell what it had been.
Osseric is dead. It was Pang.
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"Whaddaya want kiddo? Get outta my way!"
"But wise one, I'm ever so hungry."
"I gave you a heapin' bowl of soup not two minutes ago you little urchin!"
The old lady, eyes dark and leering from beneath her blue shawl, stared down at the little boy. Undaunted, the little boy held out the empty bowl in front of him.
"Please madam. I'd like some more."
"More? You want MORE?"
"Please madam. I'd like some more."
Styggian witches love invitations like that. "Very well. You shall have... MORE!"
The with waved her arms, then disappeared. The little boy looked into his bowl and saw it now full of boiling hot soup, rising and rising up the sides. The bowl overflowed and cascading soup burned his hands. He tried to drop the bowl but couldn't release it, and so he screamed in pain for several minutes, after which he looked down and saw no bowl or soup at all.
Night 3 is over.
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The old woman watched from the shadows as the little boy ran away screaming. Further around the corner, watching her, was the Arak woman. She saw the old hag giggling maniacally, then abruptly gasping and backing away in fear from something else around the corner, that the Arak woman could not see. The Arak woman rushed forward to see, but there was nothing there...
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The same old arguments were being repeated...
"Sorry, I still don't get it. Why can't you just open a gate out of here?"
"I told you!" replied the old woman. "Because The Lady would notice! Stupid foreigners, none of you understand, and all the Korelians who would are dead!"
"Hey, I'm from Korelian!"
"I wasn't talking about you, little girl. And besides you're clearly from Theft."
"So? Theft is part of Korel!"
"Yes, but it doesn't count. Blood Follows is completely different from Stoneiwelder."
"That's it! You guys are arguing about hair and skin colour AGAIN?! Grizzin Farl fend, give it up already..."
"Ha! Says the one with purple hair and who's paler than a ghost!"
"...and on top of that, you're breaking the fourth wall again, too!"
"Look, this scene is getting us nowhere, can we just skip to the CF?"
"Fine!" echoed everyone else.
Liosan is dead. She was Namka Taltari.
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He was cautiously crawling through the tunnel, trying to redistribute his weight as slowly as possible. Shifting forward another hand's span, his face suddenly brushed a pile of sand. Panic overcame him, and he scrambled backwards as fast as possible. He scanned upwards, but the ceiling was too dark to see where the sand was falling from. He bumped into a pair of legs, got to his feet and ran, dragging the person with him. She protested but he held tight until they were five hundred paces away.
"What are you doing?" she yelled.
"Saving your life," he replied. "That tunnel was going to cave-in, and even if it was small, you don't want to be in THAT tunnel when it shakes."
"I didn't hear anything. What makes you think there was going to be a cave-in?"
"There was sand leaking from the roof. Happens all the time right before a cave-in." Suddenly the man saw another pile of sand at their feet. "Another one, run!"
"Shut up!" the woman burst out, sinking to her knees. "It's not my fault! I've tried everything!" As she continued ranting, the man noticed sand leaking out of her clothes, piling up around her feet. "I tried Seti dirt burials! I spent three straight days in the Cragg Sea! Nothing works! It just won't go away!"
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The Jheck barbarian was freaking out - running around in circles trying to shrug off a spectre that was chasing him. As usual, nobody else could see the ghost, but they were all getting pretty used to this situation so it hardly phased anyone other than the Jheck.
Path-Shaper, on 12 July 2012 - 02:25 PM, said:
The robed, dark-eyed man had been foraging for supplies in a partially collapsed storage room. Gathering up a bundle of candles and sealed food jars, he headed for the hallway. Suddenly, a dark figure stepped into the entranceway. Long dreadlocks hung from a dark-skinned head. A large, all-black cloak billowed over black boots.
"That's- that's not possible!" the dark-eyed man stammered.
The assassin grinned, lifted his crossbow and fired. The assassin hadn't braced properly for the recoil, and the bolt only grazed the target's shoulder, but it was enough for the white paralt to seep in and immediately take effect. Fiery pain spread all along the man's veins. He fell to the ground and died in agony.
The assassin stood and watched the writhing man for a time, his back to the entranceway. He didn't notice someone sneaking up behind him until a knife was thrust straight up between his legs. A push from behind sent him to his knees and a hand covered his eyes as he tried to turn around. A voice whispered "That's one." and then another knife was shoved through his throat.
Sheltatha Lore the Bahamudite is dead. She was Amee Najayin, the Schizo Lover.
Tennes (Brujah) the Bahamudite is dead. He was Mekin Zikulka, the Eager Ninja and not an Esper
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It is Day 5. 15 minutes since time out
6 Players still alive: D'riss, Emurlahn, Rashan, Ruse, Telas, Tellan
8 votes to lynch
15 Votes for Rashan ( D'riss, Kalse, Sheltatha Lore, Tennes, Thyrllan, Tellan, Telas, Kaschan, Liosan, Fener, Osseric, Ruse, Emurlahn, Anomandaris, Rashan )
Julok, the little boy, was bored. After many days stuck in the labyrinth, the adventurers had all fallen into mutual distrust, and now kept their distance and spoke little. Thus, Julok devised a game, entitled "Annoy the adventurers until they lashed out, then run like hell laughing." So far, he had annoyed the Arak woman so much that she threatened him with the dead assassin's poisons and terrified the scarred Capustanii man by surprising him while he was digging up part of the floor in a secluded hallway.
His latest target had been the Jheck barbarian, but the savage had simply stared at him, seemingly immune to Julok's pestering. When Julok gave up and made his way to the purple-haired woman instead, the Jheck man followed at a distance.
Julok merrily danced around the woman shouting annoying taunts in a sing-song voice for several minutes until her arm suddenly uncoiled into a blurringly quick punch. Her fist connected directly with the boy's face and flung him across the room to embed him into a wall. The Jheck shouted down the halls to summon the others then rushed into the room.
"What have you done? He was just a child!" he screamed at the woman. She ignored him, and was staring intently at the body of Julok. The Jheck lifted a glowing blue arm towards the dead boy and advanced towards him, but the woman suddenly grasped his hand - which was colder than ice despite the heat of the caverns - and pulled him back. "Sabira, what are-" he tried to ask, but she cut him off. "It's him." A red aura was glowing from behind her eyes.
In the entranceway, the other adventurers had just arrived and had heard her last words. All turned to face the little body held in the wall, which suddenly exploded in a wave of dark purple magic sweeping outwards. The wave knocked everyone from their feet and tore large gashes of flesh out of bodies. Sabira and Ut'gau were back on their feet immediately, while the boy Julok re-formed his body and advanced from the far side of the room.
Sabira and Ut'gau charged into battle while the others slowly recovered. Julok, his whole body emitting an amethyst aura, dodged the furious strikes of Sabira's fists and Ut'gau's obsidian sword while lashing back with short bursts of energy, which Ut'gau blocked using his sapphire-infused arm.
A dive between Ut'gau's legs gave Julok a brief moment of respite. He flung to each side a ball of actinic energy and then rejoined the fight against the other Espers. While the trio fought, the balls resolved themselves into the forms of Mekin Zikulka, not-so-master assassin, and Amee Najayin, the hyperactive orphan girl. Mekin advanced towards Ut'gau's back with long-knife unsheathed, while Amee covered him with a crossbow. He was about to attach Ut'gau's back when Zahska, the Arak woman, tackled him to the ground. She made contact for only a moment and then quickly dashed away, taking Mekin's long-knives with her.
Mekin hopped to his feet and advanced on Zahska, but came to a halt seeing that she had taken his throwing knives, too, and was ready to fling them at him. Mekin scanned the room, and smiled upon seeing Amee aiming the crossbow at Zahska. He readied himself to leap forward after she fired. But instead of firing upon the desert woman, Amee turned to him and shot the bolt straight into his gut. The impact flung him to the floor and blacked out his vision for a few moments.
When his vision cleared, he saw nothing but a pair of bright green eyes above him. Realization dawned - Lilly had been reborn in Amee's body and must have wrested the crossbow from the real Amee who was covering him. "We're on the same side..." he pleaded. "Maybe, maybe not, I don't really care," whispered Lilly. "You killed me. Twice. And I've killed you, once. I still owe you one." Then she stood up and slammed down her heel, crushing his throat.
The three Espers continued to duel in the center of the chamber, with the occasional burst of red, blue or purple energy flying off to dent the walls. Stook, who had run off after being struck by the shockwave, had returned and was frantically waving the others back to the entranceway. Lilly and Zahska joined Stook, who pulled a melon-sized box out of his bag and passed it to Lilly. He went digging through his bag again, but couldn't find what he was looking for. The other two turned to stare at Zahska, who timidly pulled a ring of keys out of her robes and passed it to Stook. The Capustanii selected a key, unlocked the box and withdrew a round clay ball slightly larger than his fist.
Lilly was intrigued, while Zahska, who had spent much time in the Malazan Empire, immediately backed up twenty paces.
Stook strode into the chamber and shouted at Ut'gau and Sabira to get clear. He gave them a second to comprehend, then flung the cusser and dove back towards the entranceway, while watching the grenado's arc from under his arm. Too high, he realized - Stook had thrown as if Julok were the height of an adult. "Fener's foreskin! I missed!"
Julok saw that the cusser would sail harmlessly over him, and so made no attempt to evade it. Behind him, the ghostly form of Etyno appeared as it had many times before, almost impossible to see. Sabira, her perceptions enhanced by the Apostl'ey Maduin, saw the lich easily, but Ut'gau did not. She summoned Akhrast Korvalain and shouted "REVIVIFY" at Ut'gau, who's mind immediately bent to her will. His arm shot forward, emitting a beam of sapphire energy which struck Etyno and began restoring him to life. The ghostly illusion of flesh became solid less than a moment before the cusser struck, smashing into Etyno's new face and breaking open, resulting in a deafening explosion which shook the whole labyrinth.
As the dust settled, Ut'gau revived his own broken flesh and then crawled to Sabira, who was surrounded in a pool of blue blood, while Stook, Zahska, and Lilly stared down into the crater which now filled most of the room. At the bottom, small amethyst fires burned smaller and smaller, until finally no trace of the Esper and Apostl'ey were left.
Rashan is dead. He was Julok Jokul.
---
Eight bells later, the five survivors stepped out of Sekarand's Tower and began limping their way across the nearby bridge which led over a canal into the heart of Lamentable Moll. Mid-way across, Amee shuffled over next to Ut'gau and beamed him a wide smile.
"So, Ut'gau, where are you planning to go next...?"
"Opals and shards, Lilly," Sabira cut in, "you never quit do you?"
"What?! You knew?!"
"Of course," replied Sabira. "I'm very perceptive. Amee had bright blue eyes, but yours are green like before. I thought being trapped in Amee's body would be punishment enough, but since you're already up to your old tricks, I think a little swim might be necessary, too."
Lilly, in Amee's body, turned and ran, but Sabira shouted "HALT" and Lilly did. Sabira shouted "JUMP OFF THE BRIDGE" and, tears streaming, Lilly did that, too.
The game is ended. The Bahamudites are defeated. The Adventurers have won.
---
The Adventurers were:
Iddil Miratus (Gust Hubb), the Harbringer (Kaschan), a scholar of Lamentable Moll
Stook Calbrit (HiddenOne), the On/Off Reactionary Vig (Barghast, Ruse), a grizzled old Capustanii treasure hunter, toting some moranth munitions
Luvaya Fiodethel (ansible), the Ectomancer (Kalse), a Marese mage of Hood's Path
Pang (Emperor of Magus), the Necrotic Finder (Osseric), a mysterious creature and reader of the Deck of Dragons
Zahska Taraq (Azathmaster), the Default Dictator (Tellan), an Arak tribeswoman turned thief, who frames people she doesn't like and always has sand everywhere
Elaidaruta (Tattersail), the Guard (Serc, Fener), a shy Fenn woman
Namka Taltari (HoosierDaddy), the Hostage Taker (Liosan), an old Styggian woman and mischievous mage of Shadow
Ut'gau Rok (Shinrei), the Action Finder (Telas), a Jheck man from the Iceback Range. The Esper of Kirin, reviver of the dead.
Pazali Tene (Blend), the Healer (Sheltatha Lore), a Shal-Morzinn man and mage of Denul
Sabira Annora (Vengeance), the Redirector (D'riss), a solitary Watered who uses Akhrast Korvalain to turn her foes upon each other. The Esper of Maduin, master of perception and investigation.
The Exalted Ectoplasmic Etyno (Mentalist), the High Priest of the Lich King (Silanah, Thyrllan), a lich sent to help the Adventurers and get rid of all these nuisances in Sekarand's Tower
---
The Bahamudites were:
Julok Jokul (Berkevolence), the 3x Immune (Rashan), a little Mollian boy. The Esper of Bahamut, enslaver of life and death.
Amee Najayin (Tapper), the Schizo Lover (Eloth, Emurlahn, Anomandaris), a young Fiskan girl
Mekin Zikulka (Brujah), the Eager Ninja (Fener, Serc, Barghast), an incompetent assassin from Hissar
Lilly Garamonde (Lizra), the Symp/the Finder (Anomandaris, Emurlahn), an attractive Fistian woman who aims to control the most powerful figures by seducing them
This post has been edited by Path-Shaper: 18 April 2013 - 08:21 PM
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