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Dashing past Henri, Xizoh whirls his chained spike over his friends' heads in an attempt to finish off the shadow. "I DON'T FEAR THE DARKNESS!"
Cel gasps slightly and tries to catch his breath after such a violent Blast, then sees Terry...the man who betrayed him with all of his sweet, sweet lies...and prepares to attack again.
Elioden flinches but keeps singing. He makes a few feinting lunges and keeps channeling magic into his longsword, watching Terry closely. He is ready to strike if Terry tries to use magic.
Xizoh's aim is dead on, but his chain passes straight through the shadow with no apparent effect.
"F*ck," Henri curses when Dara and Alaina disappear. "دش من اللهب!" She fires again, spewing a cone of bright, hot flames from her revolver toward the remaining shadow.
The shadow recoils in the bright, burning light and looks far smaller when the flames recede. The papers on the right side of the desk next to it have caught on fire.
S1 -15
S2: super super dead
T -0
Meanwhile, still struggling to breathe, Major Kijel falls to their knees.
The shadow slips close to Henri, trying to make contact.
Henri dodges its advance.
"Stop that infernal noise," Terry snaps at Elioden, pulling a small pouch out of his sleeve. "It's annoying."
Terry begins to chant an incantation.
Elioden smirks and lunges forward, slicing at Terry.
He then bellows out the next line of his song. "And PÆGA shines light for ALL!" A burst of pale radiance flashes around the Major as the song stops.
Major Kijel continues to struggle against the invisible force.
Terry smiles as he dodges Elioden's attack. "Playtime's over, bard." He shoots two blue-hot rays of flames from his fingertips at Elioden.
Elioden feels the first ray of flames sear through the same shoulder.
Terry's second ray strikes Elioden in the chest, and Elioden falls to the ground. Terry turns to face the rest of the party with a manic grin.
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As the fire leaps towards Elioden he makes a desperate stab.
A vindictive smile flickers on Elioden's mouth before he lapses unconscious, the light from his sword guttering out.
Cels face clinches up in anger and he tries to do to Terry what he did to the shadow...
Elioden's last stab strikes Terry in the side. Terry grimaces and puts a hand over the wound.
Cel's blast flies over Terry's head.
S1 -15
S2: super super dead
T -15
"أكل الرصاص السحري !" Henri cocks her revolver and fires a glowing bullet into the shadow.
The bullet strikes the shadow, forming glowing cracks in its darkness that grow until it disappears in a flash of light.
S1: dead
S2: super super dead
T -15
After Henri dispatches the shadow, Xizoh charges headlong towards Terry.
Xizoh's chain flies above his opponent's head.
Meanwhile, the party hears Major Kijel coughing behind their desk.
"Nice try Doctor," Terry smiles at Xizoh. "This won't take long." Terry aims two blue-hot rays at Xizoh.
Xizoh easily sidesteps the first ray, but the second strikes him in the chest, burning through muscle and making it feel hard to breathe.
Even through the pain, Xizoh is surprised that Terry seems to know who he actually is.
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Roaring as his flesh erupts into fleshy globs that rush to his chest, forming sections of lungs to replace the damaged section. Spinning low with his chain, Xizoh snarls, "Still think this won't take long?"
Terry's eyes go wide at Xizoh's transformation. Xizoh's chain catches him behind his knees and he stumbles and falls.
Xizoh spots Terry drop the small pouch he was holding as he falls.
Cel giggles a little as the man gets up-ended, he again goes for broke on his shot, tryin to take aim through the flailing limbs of the now-beast Xizoh
Cel's blast tears into Terry's injured side. Terry grimaces and clutches at his wounds.
Henri whips her revolver around and fires a glowing bullet at Terry. "موت ,دودة."
Henri's shot strikes Terry in the arm that's protecting his wound. Blood seeps into his guard uniform and he starts to shiver.
T -15 -22-7 = -44
Major Kijel stands up behind their desk, still coughing. They tear a gold pin from their uniform and toss it to the other side of the room. "Don't kill him. We need to find out what happened to your friends," they call to the party.
Still on the ground, Terry throws his head back and laughs. "My dear Major," he chuckles before his face twists into a snarl. "It's too late. This time tomorrow everyone in this abominable city will be dead. You’ve already lost.”
Terry takes aim at Major Kijel, but as his spits a few guttural words, a few blue sparks fly from his fingers instead of a ray of flames.
After his failed spell, Terry looks up at Xizoh towering over him and starts to try to crawl away.
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Laughing as he approaches the crawling Terry, the half elf's scar dances with his chuckles. "انظروا إلى دودة صغيرة تحاول أن تذبذب بعيدا عن المطر الذي يهدده."
Taking a moment to reach for the scruff of his prone foe, the fleshbeast adds with a growl, "Too bad this storm doesn't like you." Glancing to the side, Xizoh comments dryly, "He dropped a pouch."
Terry struggles as Xizoh lifts him off the ground by his shirt collar. His eyes go wide when he sees Xizoh’s wriggling flesh up close. “What… are… you…” Terry chokes out, straining against Xizoh's grip.
After Xizoh points it out, you spot a small pouch lying on the ground near where Terry fell.
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Smiling, distoring the patchwork scars and stitches across his face, Xizoh asks patronizingly, "What, didn't know what the healer of Oranis was? And here you seemed so well informed."
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The barrel of Henri's revolver glows blue with the magical energy she has poured into it, alighting her hand with a blue, dancing light. She cranks back the hammer of the revolver, nodding at Xizoh's mention of the pouch that Terry has dropped. "Don't see why you're laughing," the elf responds, weakly stepping forward, the deep pain of her damaged strength making it difficult to move as quickly as she'd like. She holds the revolver up high, aiming at Terry as she goes to examine the pouch. "You gotta death wish, دودة?"
She tries to keep her composure, the idea of the entire town's death in the near future affecting the elf a bit more than she'd like to admit - It's probably just because all of my friends are here. And, well, I should definitely feel a little bad if everyone dies. Even if they are crawling bluebloods. "I'm surprised they haven't told stories of this handsome face." Henri smiles genuinely at Xizoh, though it transforms into a smirk as she turns to stare down Terry.
Cel also cautiously approaches Terry and Xizoh with his hands raised, ready to fire a blast if necessary.
You don't see anything remarkable about the small pouch.
Henri doesn't see anything immediately alarming about the small pouch. It reminds her of pouches she has seen Altiendel casters use before during spells.
Major Kijel jogs over to Elioden and kneels down next to him.
Terry squirms, trying to loosen Xizoh's grip, but otherwise offers little resistance.
Major Kijel gently turns Elioden over to check if he is breathing. They then press a ring to Elioden's skin, which flashes brightly four times.
Terry chuckles. "Killing Kinghaven with their own arrogance. The irony of it," he flashes Henri a crazed smile. "It's funny. You'll see."
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Cel eyes the pouch with growing curiosity, "Should...should I pick it up?" He doesn't drop his firing stance, but it is clearly more and more challenging to keep his eyes off of the mystery pouch the closer he gets to Terry.
"Hm." Henri shakes her head at Cel, before crouching to pick up the pouch herself, gun still brightly glowing. "I think it's just his components for spells." She smirks as she rises and takes a step back to examine what might be inside the pouch more closely, to confirm her suspicion. "Now he's even less intimidating. I really didn't think that was possible."
Elioden blinks awake and groans. He raises his head enough to look at Terry and Xizoh, then lets it fall back to the floor with a thud.
"Major." Eldioden croaks out. "Were you aware of some small amount of elicit activity amongst the guard?"
Major Kijel glances at the pouch. "A summoning pouch. What were you planning to summon, Furler?"
Terry stops squirming, looking nonchalant. "More of the same. Shadows," he says.
Inside the pouch Henri sees a small candle and slightly crushed raven feather.
She remembers Dara mentioning some kind of raven cult.
Xizoh can feel Terry twitch as he speaks. Xizoh is sure Terry is lying.
Cel isn't sure if Terry is lying, but he notices the change in Terry's demeanor.
Major Kijel's gives Elioden a serious look. "Tell me everything you know," they lean over to better hear Elioden.
"The bard knows nothing, don't listen to him," Terry twists in Xizoh's grasp, trying to wriggle free.
Xizoh holds him fast.
Cel takes on a look of confusion again, "Components for spells? What do you mean?" He flashes red again, Not the time for these kinds of questions, Cel, then clamps his mouth shut and tries to look intimidating again.
"You're lying, دودة," Xizoh clenches his grip on Terry.
Terry laughs. "Oh I'm not lying, Doctor. I know all about you and your friend the bard here. A useless cast out, left singing for scraps."
Elioden knows that Terry initially mis-identified the party. Either he was lying then or has heard new information. From Terry's gloating tone, Elioden suspects the former.
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"For his... shadowy ways, little Rabbit," Henri smiles cooly through gritted teeth back at Cel.
Henri's face becomes less calming and more angry as she peers inside the bag, before recklessly tossing it behind her. She surreptitiously uncocks the hammer to the revolver, before raising its glowing blue barrel and pressing it, hard, to the side of Terry's head, dramatically pulling the hammer back again with her thumb - clik! The blue of the barrel shines against his fresh wounds. "All right, دودة, I'm done f$@%ing playing around. If you aren't going to tell us about whatever Raven's guild you're a part of, however the f##! you're planning on killing this town, or how you now suddenly know how to match our names to our faces," she closes in, putting her face close to Xizoh's and growling (though she doubts that anything about her could add something to what the Doc looked like right now), "Then you're of no use to us, and I'll send you into darkness right godsdamned now."
Terry winces when Henri cocks her revolver. He glances towards Major Kijel, who crosses their arms. "Don't look at me, I'm not going to stop her," they say.
Still twisting his head away from the gun, Terry closes his eyes and mutters to himself, "And the followers of the messengers shall bring a darkness upon the land, and be rewarded by the True Gods."
Terry is still for a moment, then he calmly opens his eyes and smiles at Henri. "We knew all along, كرة نارية. We've been keeping tabs on you and that Order b!tch since Mount Oranis," he chuckles and leans into Henri's revolver. "And she'll get what's coming to her. Same as the dwarf and the fighter. He has them now."
Fireball
Cel remembers Dara said something about some kind of raven cult once. He's pretty sure Elioden means Dulae, but he doesn't know what 'Order' means.
The way Terry emphasizes 'he' reminds Cel of the way Dara spoke of the person she thought was summoning her in her dreams.
Xizoh remembers Dara mentioned a Cult of Raven.
Xizoh thinks Terry is saying that Dulae is a member of the Order of Reclamation.
Henri is sure 'Order' means Order of Reclamation. From his goading tone Henri thinks Terry is baiting them by revealing something true that would come as a blow, trying to distract the party from the immediate threat facing Kinghaven.
Elioden knows Major Kijel is bluffing - they wouldn't stand for Henri murdering Terry in cold blood.
Cel blurts out, "Who he?! Dara was scared by a he! Who is it?!"
At Terry's mention of the darkness, Xizoh began to chuckle, a low, throaty noise more akin to the choking gurgles of the dead than laughter. "The darkness, that's your threat?" The half elf hoists the useless spellcaster higher into the air, tightening his grip on Terry.
"I confronted the darkness, and beat it into submission. I traversed the darkest abysses it could throw at me, and never wavered even as an ancient god attempted "
Pulling his prey within a hair's distance, the magic spurned doctor roared, "I DID NOT FEAR THE DARK THEN, NOR WILL I NOW!" With that, he buried his fist in Terry's stomach.
Elioden, still on the ground, holds up his hand with a rude gesture at Terry. "Eat $!@^ Terry." To the Major he adds. "Furler and his men have been playing around in the waterworks upsetting Forth lately. Wouldn't put poisoning everyone past the evil peacock." He glances over to Henri. "Shoot him somewhere non-lethal would you? I intend on feeding him to Forth after all this is over."
Terry ignores Cel’s question, still sneering at Henri.
As Xizoh hoists Terry higher in the air, Terry chokes and gasps for breath. After Xizoh delivers a strong blow to the gut, Terry’s body recoils and goes limp. He dangles from Xizoh’s outstretched hand like a ragdoll, his blood dripping on the floor and his breathing very shallow.
T -44 -8 = -54
Xizoh can tell Terry is very close to death.
“That’s enough, Mr. Shadelock,” Major Kijel says in a firm but not unfriendly tone. They put a hand on Xizoh’s arm. “Put him down, please.”
The major holds their ring to Terry’s body. It flashes.
Terry’s eyes flick open. He draws a long breath and starts to cough.
The major walks to their desk and pulls a pair of metal shackles from a drawer. They cross back over to Terry and force his arms behind his back. Terry struggles weakly, still coughing. As Major Kijel puts on the restraints, Terry hisses in pain and the shackles start to glow with a faint white light.
You notice that the shackles have several sharp looking barbs on the inside that you think would easily pierce the skin of the person wearing them.
You recognize the shackles as the type the Altiendel military uses to restrict magical powers of its prisoners through direct contact with their blood.
Terry looks at Henri in alarm at Elioden’s suggestion. Moments later, a few streaks of blood seep out from under the shackles. Terry’s eyes roll up and he slumps over again.
“He should survive for a bit, but please do not shoot him,” Major Kijel says to Henri. “I want to find out what in Norah’s name he’s done.”
The major walks back to their desk and flips the ledger they were referencing earlier to a different section. “Waterworks… waterworks…,” they drag their finger down the page, searching for an entry. “There. Mr. Furler has requested waterworks duty for the past few weeks. Reservoir number 3 on High Street." They tap the page thoughtfully. “A few others in his unit have maneuvered their schedules in the same way. That’s a good start for hunting them down, thank you Mr. Aubergine.”
You notice the major seems familiar with Elioden.
The High Street reservoir is where Elioden remembers seeing Terry, the guard who approached him last night, and a few other guards spending a lot of time nearby.
The major sighs heavily and looks up at the party. “I recognize you must be very anxious to find your friends, but I would like to ask you to investigate Furler's threat. I don't yet know who else here we can trust with this, and I’d like to see to the prince’s safety myself.”
With all of the excitement dying down and the major's comment about finding friends, Cel's brain finally starts to settle in that Alaina is missing. His face squinches up, turns bright red, and tears begin to form. He clenchs his fists, inhales as deep as he can, and creates such a Valsalva that if he had an aneurysm it would almost assuredly rupture, .
He screams out, "Where is she?! " He inhales again, grunts in pain, and raises his hands in firing stance, and he screams, "" He yells in pain this time, the swirling like a tornado around him, he walks up to Terry with his hand an inch from his face, and one more time screams, ""
"He can't hear you," Major Kijel says gently. "When we wake him up, I think I can convince him to answer. But I if we're going to stop whatever he has planned, I need your help."
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Cel drops to his knees, tears starting to stream down his face, and says in a defeated voice as he lets the air out of his lungs, "Anything you need."