The Mwangi grimaces as he chuckles dryly "The tokoloshe in the mask is an evil spirit, tainted and impure. The ritual seeks to cleanse it and reclaim it for the green of nature. I know not it's name... but you may find it if you combat it."
Sentis sat and was again thankful that he wasnt doing this alone. Sunny's had wise questions and confirmed their choice of him as alpha. Grusk gave him hope that it could be resolved peacefully but the shaman cut through that.
How will you initiate the ritual grandfather? Will we tavel to the spirit world or will you pull the tokoloshe here to ours?
Bom smiles and hurries inside, before being struck dumb and speechless for a few moments by Doc's pimp-wagon. Glassy eyed and slack of jaw he looks upon it for silent seconds before seeming to raise himself from the reverie and ask Kaavel "Umm... I brought the stone... thingy... do you have the other stone... thingies..." clearly distracted by what is before him. He then asks "Who made this thing of beauty?"
Sliding out from underneath the wolf-wagon on a dolly, Doc sat up and pulled his goggles off and spat out the but of his cigar.
"That'd be me. Got t' see ye 'gain, Bom. Glad yer here. Ah got some weapon systems Ah've been workin' on tha' Ah cannae quite git t' work out right. Maybe ye c'n show me where Ah'm goin' wrong. Schematics are on th' bench there."
Standing up and dusting himself off, Doc takes a swig from his flask and offers it to Kaavel and Bom.
Team Nekkid:
"I will prepare the field, though you must begin the fight. You will be within a spirit circle... a precaution lest the tolokoshe take your body for it's own and you need be restrained. The passage between the worlds will be thinned by the circle also. Beyond that you must wear the mask and will the tolokoshe into the world material... where it will be open to your thoughts and will... have you doubts? We could destroy the mask, though that will release the tolokoshe to be bound by another." the Mwangi asks earnestly, not wishing to force Sentis or any other to walk the path if unwilling.
Team Boom:
Bom welcomes the invitation and moves to the schematics to look them over... after a few minutes he realises that he is looking at them upside down and rights his mistake "Makes much more sense now". Questions begin to boil up within his head, though he remains relatively reserved for the moment - merely taking several trips from schematic to pimp wagon and either hmms or hurrumphs or aahs appreciatively.
Pointing at the Grusk launcher he queries "This is most interesting... will it really throw one of your friends? That I would like to see..." lightbulb moment "Or can I try?!!"
Sentis considered the shaman's warnings and took into account Blaze's objections but he knew in his heart that he had to do it...to set things in balance...
I wait to enter the circle and then don the mask to begin the battle of wills. I understand...and Im ready.
"I, too, freely enter the circle. Nature requires balance, and sometimes balance requires pain and sacrifice."
Pulls out the stones and hands them to the gnome.
"Heh. Well, we should prob'ly test it wit' somethin' that ain't livin' first. Ah havn't set it off since we installed it. If'n the chute ain't lined up right it might rip ye a new one when it fires. Kaav, haul that practice dummy up the ramp and onto the big X witht eh circle around it."
Once Kaavel had positioned the heavy burlap dummy, Doc closed the ramp, reached down to grab a pair of handles depressed into the sides of the circle and yanked up on them.
From above a cylinder swung down on it's axis above the rear hatch, the edge of it clicking into place on the floor. At the same time the circle on the ground raised up on one edge, angling to match the chute. The two snapped together audibly trapping the practice dummy inside. A moment later the entire wagon shook with the force of the mechanism releasing.
The targeting dummy shot up the chute and exited the rear of the wolf-wagon in an arc that sent it nearly 15 feet at it's apex, and 30 feet away from the wagon. It landed with a thud and tumbled into a crumpled heap.
"If it ain't ripped up, I'd say we're ready for a live test."
"So is Sentis tah enter tha circle alone err ken we all enter."
Choose the form of the destructor...
....Mr. Staypuffed...
nevermind ;)
Team Nekkid:
The mwangi shaman nods before turning to Blaze and settling eyes upon him... clearly waiting for his thoughts before moving to complete the preparations.
Team Boom:
Bom gratefully accepts the ioun stones and watches with childlike curiosity as the targeting dummy flies and lands... mostly intact at least... I mean it's only missing three fingers a foot and it's head is half as long as it used to be - but Bom doesn't seem too perturbed.
Though first he brings Kaavel over to the partial golem suit and gets him fitted into the harness and adds the ioun stones to the contraption. Kaavel finds it unwieldy, but the strength and balance offered by force of the stones sets to make it more manageable. A quick jog around the barracks shows that while his speed is not affected, his footfalls are far heavier and veritably pound the ground as he moves.
Bom then taps his lips thoughtfully and proposes "Let's test both at the same.... Doc - fire me at Kaavel, and Kaavel try not to squish me" clapping at his thoughts. Not waiting for approval Bom lunges towards the Grusk-launching mechanism and straps himself in.
"It ain't really a precision instraument, but Ah'll see what Ah c'n do."
With a thump the gnome is ejected from the wolf's rear end.
Blaze nods his agreement "I too shall join my packmates in their battle to cleanse this foul spirit."
Ggrrrrr!...rrrrwoof!...woof!
Baran understood that an important decision had just been made and he was determined to be part fo the pack involved. He bit at Sentis's leather leggings.
Sentis smiled ear to pointy ear when his all of his brothers present pledged themselves to the cause and this meant the young pup tugging at his britches. He reached down to scratch Baran's ears and to release the teeth.
And the wolf too. Let's begin grandfather.
Team Boom:
The mechanism lets fly with a thump and the gnome flies through the air with a high pitched giggling scream towards Kaavel...
Team Nekkid:
The mwangi nods and stands achingly from his position to lead you within and through. Behind his shack a courtyard of sorts has been covered with a canvas and the roughly twenty foot square patch of dirt raked smooth. A circle of crumbled chalk has been laid around the exterior of the courtyard and a fire of twigs with green and dried herbs upon it set into the center.
"Skyclad or not, take your place in the circle." as the Mwangi beckons you forward. He removes his own clothes and begins to daub his skin with ochre paint by way of preparation. He then continues the instruction "Once you all step within, I will close the circle... from that point you will be bound until I open it again. You will be alone with the tolokoshe." gesturing to the herbs "The ikhambi will open your mind and sharpen your sight to let you visualse what you must."
"The tolokoshe will force you to conflict... but it is bound by your thoughts and will." driving a ochre forefinger to each of your brows to leave a smudged spot behind "Focus your will, force the tolokoshe to meet you on your chosen field and perhaps luck will side with you."
Darkbiter strips down, his impressive arsenal mostly back at the barracks, so he leaves a much smaller than normal pile behind him as he steps toward the circle, only his clothes and a number of his smaller weapons along for self defense on the streets. His toughened body betrays no sign of fear as he steps into the circle.
Likewise Grusk enters the circle
Grusks mind focuses on the practice arena of the roguish acrobats where he first recieved instruction in the arts of acrobatics.
The area is secluded a patch of ground much like the circle of the shaman, with no distractions.
He waits the coming of his instructor.
Sentis regarded the circle and knew the time had come to face this challenge. He called on the Green Faith to give him the wisdom of the venerable owl and to give Dark the strength of a bull.
He stepped closer to the circle and focused his mind as the shaman had directed and burned an image into his psyche to be his anchor as he quaffed the potion Doc gave him.
and then followed his brothers into the ring.
Blaze will strip his shirt off, but otherwise stays clothed. He summons mystic energy to help protect him He then enters the circle.
Blaze is riding a horse, in the sprawling lands of Qadira, the sun beating down on him. His long hair is flowing wildly, and he's laughing. His sister is riding next to to him, on a gorgeous white horse.
This is his favorite memory, before their lives changed forever and they entered the service of Sarenrae.
Team now still mostly clothed:
As you take your positions within the circle, the shaman mutters and blows across his opened palm and the ikhambi at the circle's core flares into burning and begins to issue forth numbing fragrant smoke. The mwangi then crosses his palm with bladed steel and lets the warm blood drip onto the circle of chalk. You feel the area around you shimmer and there is a sense that your world has become closed, and the smoke begins to intensify.
The mwangi calls to Sentis "When you are ready Green one... don the mask and let the tolokoshe come forth..." and he takes a crosslegged seat by the circle, binding his hand with cloth to staunch the wound. His voice begins to morph and fade as the smoke of the ikhambi fills your nose and lungs "May Shimye-Magalla shine on you today..."
And with that you feel as though within a calm that precedes the storm... the air is electric and your thoughts blend into and become indistinguishable from your focus...
The half elf regarded the moon and a shiver ran through his spine. Though it was hard to tell if it was the cold or the mournfull howl that caused it. He looked briefly at the mask before donning it as the shaman had instructed.
Memories abound...the young wolf didnt like being back in the cage and thought he had been freed already...where are my packmates?.. as the door swung open he bared his teeth and prepared for fight or flight.
Kaavel moves to catch the gnome missing horribly as he sees what happens to the poor gnome.
will save
Team Boom:
Bom arcs majestically through the air... though Kaavel misses with his grab and the gnome cannons into the monk's belly to knock the wind from his sails.
Team Spirit Circle:
As Sentis dons the mask, a tangible presence coalesces within the confines of the spirit circle... though you cannot see it with your living eyes. The air grows oily, the scent mustier and tainted with the smoky fragrance of the burning herbs.
Each of you feel that presence seek to press and invade into your own thoughts... though each of you manages to repress the invasion without allowing it engagement with your mental image and vision. However an intangible grey and black figure shimmers into form above the central fire.
A hiss of pain is not heard, but thought and the shifting features of the tolokoshe flick between each of you worriedly.
Blaz shakes his head, trying to clear his mind "That was, uh, interesting. So now what? This is your mission Sentis, lead on"
"Tha spirit hast no bastion tah run. Purge it now Sentis!"
Dark just watches the spirit with a look of pity.
Sentis had felt the intrusive attempt before and was ready for it. His skin felt slick and made him want to bathe but he discarded these eroneous thoughts and stepped closer to the shadowy figure in the center of the circle.
Im not entirely sure Sunny. This is my first time doing such a thing. Id hazard a guess that he tried to enter your thoughts like he did mine and failed...perhaps now we'll have to fight him...if he doesnt give us a chance to talk first...
Baran issued a low growl in challenge to the pressure on his head and followed his pack brother.
and while the druid hoped fervently that this could be solved diplomatically caution prevaled and he prepared for a fight.
He called upon the Green Faith to harden his fists into stone
"Aye wrest tha spirit from tha mask."
Re-Cap of Team Boom:
Bom rolls around more gleeful than hurt on the ground after having bumped off Kaavel's stomach.
Re-Cap of Team Not Quite Nekkid:
The mwangi shaman outside the circle calls to Sentis and the group "You have the spirit vulnerable now... force it to yield to you..."
Sentis had defeated the tolokoshe's mind intrusion several times now and did not fear it any longer so he stepped closer to the spirit. That it hadnt attacked again in any manner spoke volumes and the druid could almost sense its vulnerability.
Its over tolokoshe. My pack is too strong and your will too weak. You have been defeated. Submit and be cleansed or be destroyed.
the half elf raised his enscorcelled fist in case the spirit chose to fight on and waited for its answer.
The spirit strains and you feel a further pressure on your minds as it attempts to force it's way in but your defences hold firm and it is left without a refuge to flee to. The blackness of it's form fades and the malevolence fades as the spirit is drawn back into the mask... both diminished and strengthened by the ordeal. The smoke from the burning herbs gradually fades and the Mwangi shaman eyes you appraisingly for a moment before breaking the circle with one foot. A breeze blows through the room and the group feels a chill upon their skin.
Blaze shivers as the cold hits him, and puts his shirt back on. "I'm guessing we won? or close enough?"
"That wasn't so tough. Must not have been one of the stronger spirits." Dark speaks as he puts his clothes back on, being careful not to offend other spirits, lest they take it as a challenge.
Sentis welcomed the chill. Cold air always made him feel more alive for some reason. He removed the mask.
It is done my friends. The tolokoshe submitted after its initial attack. The Steel Woves were just too strong for it.
The last was said with a grin.
Thank you, my brothers; for standing with me in this trial.
The ahlf elf walked towards the shaman.
And thank you grandfather for your wisdom and for setting the stage.
"Aye we faced it down wit our steel willpower!"
"I once heard spirits err fearful o masks an Dark an I err wearin ours all tha time...."
The mwangi shaman smiles as your words confirm that your minds are your own "Hee hee, you gave him a good thrashing dere.. no more trouble you be getting from de mask now. Luck or skill de result was de same." and he warmly thanks you for allowing him to help
Once dressed, "I suppose we should go see if the others have managed to kill themselves or anyone else with that death contraption."
Sentis held the mask for a moment before slipping it into his pack. He'd have to figure out a way to keep it handy. He finished getting dressed and ruffled Baran's fur while muttering praises on the wolf for being...so brave... and then followed the other's back to base.
You all arrive back to the base just as Bom is finishing up fitting Kaavel with his golem suit. The piecemeal wood and stone creation looks unwieldy to the eye, but Kaavel seems to manage it well enough. After another hour or more of testing Bom takes the suit away for some final adjustments and you are left to your own thoughts and desires.