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Yorad gives the ladies a slow clap during the performance. He shakes his head in disappointment as Sheela stops her prancing. I would not mind a taste either...
"Ahhh...good show there ladies! Maybe we can have another one once this business is finished!" Yorad applauds heartily as the curtain is drawn.
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Seeing the last agent fall Mort breathes a heavy sigh of relief I can't believe I made it through this wearing this god awful armor. This stuff must be made to look menacing or keep overstuffed lords alive... But I guess plate mail must be better right? I mean its so damn expensive! Why if I was ever able to afford it, man. Oh look the curtain just went down? Were they talking about bees?
Mort bows awkwardly as the curtain closes, but the only ones who see it are Yorad and the ladies. "Glad that's over! Did someone mention bees? And please please help me take this thing off!"
A crowd of black-robed mourners gathers in a small, grassy square near the edge of the cemetery. The assembly forms a procession, which winds through the cemetery to one of the oldest and most opulent plots. There, the entrances to an entire row of aging marble mausoleums stand open. Before each rests a coffin.
The procession stops, and a woman in the robes of a Pharasmin cleric steps forward. She approaches the various groups of mourners and, speaking in a solemn tone, requests each of them to hoist a casket and carry it into one of the mausoleums. Then she adds the following instructions: “This next competition is the final one of the qualifier. The Emissary lies somewhere in the catacombs below. All you must do now is seek him out and touch his robes. Good luck.” Then the woman nods and leaves, without further explanation.
The tengus had happily taken your robes, returned you your gear, and given you black robes to wear over your garments, along with directions to the catacombs in the Petal district where you are now.
The stairs empty into a long hall of cool gray stone. On both sides of the smooth, polished walls open deep, narrow arches that recede into straight, dark hallways. A gold-skinned humanoid sits in a trancelike state in the middle of the room like a great silent statue. With his gleaming tusks, he appears to be another Oni, like the one that tossed the rubies into the bar, or the esteemed personage that you entertained in the theater. Across his lap is a massive spiked club. Behind the creature, on the far side of the hall, a small brass gong hangs still upon a lacquered wooden frame. Beside the gong rests a large mallet, its beater wrapped in cloth.
He waits, staying in his trance, until you cautiously enter the room.
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Mort slowly steps down into the hallway from above, walking quietly and cautiously now that his regular armor moves along with him instead of against him. He stops when he sees the person? ahead, he holds up his hand for the others to stop and begins watching and focusing on the individual. What is that thing...
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Like Sheela, Sophia wasn't too much in the color black.
"Black is lacking mood, aside from sad that is."
When the group enters the crypt, and the figure sits in the middle, Sophia executes serpentine caution.
"The coach for the stars, rides at consciousness' faintest time.
The experience of its beauty, on your memory will shine.."
She also focuses her hypnotic stare at him.
To Yorad:
"Since we've been doing lots of fighting, that oni may be our last opponent. Maybe hit the gong, while we are at it?
Musical instruments usually lie around to be used..."
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Tiffany pulls the black robe around her body, quickly realizing its slightly too big for her. She suddenly looks like a child who hasn't yet grown into their clothes. "Guys, do I look spooky in this?" She pulls the hood over her head. "Who's the golden guy? Look at him just sit there and not even greet us! How rude."
She looks ahead for any sign of traps.
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The golden Oni's eyes flutter open. “Greetings, esteemed competitors. Allow me to introduce myself. I am called Heng—the Sifu’s Judge. Within this room you see eight arches; however, only one leads to the final competition. While I can show you the correct path, you must first prove yourselves worthy before I reveal the answer.”
The oni nods and without warning, all eight entrances erupt into impassible whirlwinds of lashing sword shards and colored smoke. Calmly, he continues.
“Beyond me hangs a small gong. In order to pass freely, you must properly sound the gong using the nearby mallet. While this task sounds easy, I assure you it is not, for it must be struck perfectly in order to get it to sound. Hit it too softly and it will fail to echo, too hard and it will crack. Furthermore, I shall do my best to prevent anyone from sounding it.”
The judge bows, his heavy gaze relentless. Then slowly his body coils into a combat stance as he signals the start of the fight with a simple nod.
The whole party is up!
The Oni's body uncoils and he reaches out a claw casually to hit the rogue as it goes by.
Yorad misses the Oni, and notices right away that the Oni is not using non-lethal attacks.
The rest of the party is up!
Judge Heng is demoralized by Mort's gruesome attack! "Aaaack! Who ARE you?"
The ladies are up!
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Sheela has no idea what that thing is. She's certain her brother Darius is laughing at her for skipping Studies of the far Planes class.
Sheela pulls out her fancy mace in one hand and approaches the oni. She taps it on the golden shoulder with the other hand, hoping to get him to laugh.
"The gong will go bong by song or tong, not before long!"
Sophia successfully manages to cast her lullaby on the Oni, making him even more heavy-lidded than before. Then her acidic kiss hits him, and his eyeballs pop, skin noticeably sizzling as he gasps more than the small amount of damage should warrant. Eyes narrowed, he says, "I will get you for that, snake-eyed witch!"
Sophia triggers extra damage for herself and Mort!
Meanwhile, Sheela tries to laughing touch the Oni.
The Oni doubles over, laughing almost hysterically. "Oh gods that hurts! Oh ho ho ho! It burns! Bwahahahaha! What's next?"
Then Tiffany acts, whacking the Oni solidly with her staff!
Corona is up!
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Laughing Touch (Sp): At 1st level, you can cause a creature to burst out laughing for 1 round as a melee touch attack. A laughing creature can only take a move action but can defend itself normally. Once a creature has been affected by laughing touch, it is immune to its effects for 24 hours. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier. This is a mind-affecting effect.
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"Fight a guy and bang a gong? That sounds pretty straightforward at least," Corona shrugs as she waves at her friends up ahead. "New Friends, here's some help since my legs seem to be sleeping again! They always pick the worst times..."
"Oh wow...you look like the guy throwing rubies around yesterday! Are you all related? Is this some sort of a family operation?"
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Corona knows that it is a Kuwa Oni, a humanoid shapechanger native outsider, but she gets no additional information.
The Oni spends this turn laughing. "Oh ho ho ho, I'm about to die, aren't I? Me, a powerful Oni, killed by a bunch of beginners! Ha! That's hysterical! May you contact leprosy! May your skin broil off your body! May you feel what it is like to suffer from gout! Ha!"
The whole team is up, and they have Bless.
This time, Yorad tumbles under the Oni's guard, managing to get into position without being attacked himself.
The Oni gasps with the attack, and still laughing, holds up his hands. "I surrender! You have beaten me! Hahahhaha! Now, do you want to sound the gong yourselves, or have me do it, you miserable miscreants? Hahahahahaha!"
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Corona draws her longspear and hustles forward, ready to offer backup to Mort...but then stops and looks the Oni curiously as he claims surrender. "Er...is that it? Really?"
She looks curiously at her companions. "Should we ring the gong ourselves, New Friends? I'm almost afraid that asking our Laughing Friend to do it might get us in trouble!"
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"See? A joke or two livens things up." She frowns a bit. "I will avoid the leprosy, however."
Seeing the Oni has surrendered, Sheela shrugs and grabs her wand of Cure Light Wounds. "We should let mister peel our skin off here do the hard work. That's my motto, anyway."
Sheela's first application heals some of Yorad's bruises . She continues trying to use it until she feels a spark shoot up her arm and she drops the wand. " Ah, pardon my language. That's all I can do for you today, Yorad. Corona or Princess Tiffany should be able to heal you, though. I'll let them hold onto it."
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Yorad enjoys the presence of the enchanting woman near him, though he does get a confused look on his face as she attempts to activate her wand.
Explain to me again why my instructor said wands are so important? I think potions are a tad more reliable...
"Ehhh don't worry about it Sheela, it is but a scratch. As for who should ring the gong," Yorad nods towards the Oni, "Seems appropriate he should be the one to ring it for us."
Once he stops laughing, Judge Heng bows. "You have defeated a celestial magistrate. This is no easy task." He picks up a very well-wrapped mallet and hands it to you. "If you wish the honor of striking the gong yourselves, you have earned it. Much though it makes me grit my tusks to say so."
He glowers at Sophia. Before your eyes, the Oni is healing back from the grievously wounded state he had been in. The great sword slash down his chest is healing, with the skin seamlessly knitting itself together. The only thing that isn't healing is the crackled and seared skin where Sophia blew her acidic kiss.
"The gong needs to be warmed before being struck. Rub the mallet gently on the gong, and perhaps sing or tap your foot to establish a rhythm... Then you may strike, but don't strike too hard."
Does anyone wish to examine either the gong or the mallet?
What a lovely mallet it is! Exceptionally well-balanced and padded, and yet with enough hard material inside to make a resounding echo.
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"Elysian Onions? That actually sounds kinda tasty," Corona remarks as Sheela has some trouble activating her wand. "Don't worry New Friend Sheela, I'll finish the rest," she adds as she produces her own healing wand.
"And I don't want to hear anything about scratches! Even scratches can add up, especially if we have more things to fight. You too, New Friend Tiffany - just hold still..."
"There! All better," she smiles. "Now we can see what happens with the gong, right?" She looks at the rest of the group and the Laughing Oni expectantly.
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Mort lowers his weapon as the Oni calls out his surrender Well that was surprisingly easy, this crew is much more formidable than I first guessed, especially that little frog girl.
"You fought honorably, there's no shame in losing when you're so far outnumbered, especially when I'm involved..." He smiles a bit at his fine swing.
"I can make a swing if necessary, but yes, it would be more fitting if you did it Judge."
Tiffany notices only that the gong is another beautiful, though somewhat fragile, instrument.
The Oni bows, takes the mallet back, and hums. Tapping his feet to establish a rhythm, he rubs the gong to warm it up. It resonates in the same manner that a champagne glass would when someone runs a wet finger lightly around the rim.
Finally, and with an almost trancelike reverence, he sounds the gong.
At that, the whirling blades and colored smoke dissipate into mere wisps. He bows, and indicates an alcove in the middle. "Your path to the emissary is this way."
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Sheela stays near the back, but she doesn't want to back up the rear. "These rules... oh well. One step closer. I wonder if we'll have to deal with more assassins, or another Oni guardian. OH! Maybe we'll get to sing again!"
Sheela's back to her peppy self again.
"By the way, Yorad. If we live through all of this, there are these two twins sister you simply have to meet! I have a party set up later this week and you are certainly invited- well, all of you are invited, but I don't have anyone in mind for the rest of you!"
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Tiffany stares in entrancement at the colorful smoke. "OoooOoooh, did you see that? SooooOo pretty." When Sheela mentions a party, she's quick to jump at the opportunity, literally hopping around the room. "Oh, I'm so there, Sheela! I'm not looking for anyone, or at least, no one could possibly fit my standards. Haha! Come on," she says as she moves up behind Yorad, "Let's meet this... emissary?"
The group travels slowly down the tunnel. At first Mort is distracted by all the talk of parties but as the tunnel winds further and further down, he notices an abrupt drop off and... a very slippery floor starting just beneath one of his feet.
What do you do?