Vass rolls over, brushing dust from his eyes. He glares at Aref and Pulsifer.
"How dare you, old man. You have no idea who you are fncking with."
Vass rolls over, brushing dust from his eyes. He glares at Aref and Pulsifer.
"Don't trifle with me, demon."
"How dare you, old man. You have no idea who you are fncking with."
Rackham's face hardens.
"Oh, but I do. And the only reason I haven't KILLED you yet is that you'd only try to possess one of US. Don't even think of crossing me, because YOU WILL regret it."
He plants the end of his staff on Ryor's midsection.
"Old, you say? Some day, I might just *forget* to stop Cordoba from spitting you like a roast pig."
"I always remember those who cross me," it mutters.
Seven massive 50 foot two sided shelves fill the room except for 3 study tables at the southermost end . Books are crowded in from knee to well above your heads. From where you stand, beside the study area, you can already see that the book are organized by topic first and language second, and a good many languages there are.
It doesn't take long to see that a good many of the titles concern topics either divine or profane.
"I always remember those who cross me," it mutters.
As do ve, demon.
As Jon, Syd and Cordoba stand around Vass as Aref and Pulsifer browse through the library.
Several interesting patterns emerge: the dates on the most recent of the books end a little less than 115 years ago and the collection seems to be dominated by an exhaustive encyclopaedia of demons and devils.
Other books that interest Pulsifer and Aref include:
Aref finds 3 more books radiating magical auras, in languages he can't read.
The Deceiver's eyes immediately falls on the Book of Abominations. He takes it and looks over its binding, trying to divine the book's authenticity.
For Kruelaid
Rackham gives Vass one last glare, then attempts to decipher any of the books that Aref can't.
<Gets up.>
"Bullies."
<Brushes himself off.>
The Deceiver's eyes immediately falls on the Book of Abominations. He takes it and looks over its binding, trying to divine the book's authenticity.
The book Cordoba holds contains a catalog of "outsider" beings both horrific and incomprehensible. The illustrations and explanations were either created by a madman or the beings he studied defy sanity.
You have no way to know if it's authentic, and it occurs to you that if you did know it was authentic you'd probably want to be as far away from it as possible.
<Gets up.>
"Bullies."
<Brushes himself off.>
"You are not as strong as you claimed, are you?" Jon mutters with a sneer.
The Deceiver looks for a table of contents.
The Deceiver looks for a table of contents.
In the list of titles above there is An Explication of Channeling which presents the accumulated knowledge of the Clerics of Aroden on the mechanics of the transmission and reception of Aroden's divine energies. It also contains a considerable amount of theoretical thinking on the nature of this energy and some essays on the Starstone itself.
"You are not as strong as you claimed, are you?" Jon mutters with a sneer.
"You can rip little Ryor to pieces and wouldn't that be fun? Me, I can tear your soul apart."
Rackham picks up a book enititled An Explication of Channeling, and begins to read intently. However, he is sure to keep track of Vass' actions and whereabouts, lest the fiend try something.
Aref pulls out a rope and a scroll and watches the Demon to see if he needs to react.
Vass pulls out a dagger and starts cleaning his nails.
Jon takes on a glazed look, staring off as if into nothingness.
Rackham picks up a book enititled An Explication of Channeling, and begins to read intently. However, he is sure to keep track of Vass' actions and whereabouts, lest the fiend try something.
The book is as dogmatic as you might expect but the essay at the back are fascinating are farther along in the study of divine metaphysics than you would have imagined so long ago. Several of them might be regarded as groundbreaking even today.
Vass is smiling about something as he cleans his nails. He paces the ends of the shelves.
For those watching him, DC 19 sense motive:
He paces at the ends of the shelves at the books being pulled in a manner that suggests suppressed concern.
"who turned off the light? " Jon feels really weak and tired.
"What are talking about, Jon?"
To Jon: "You like the view, oaf?"
"What have you done to Jon, demon?"
"Reverse it!"
Jon:
"You the demon, I won't forgive you." Jon shouted.
Jon covered his eyes with hands because of the strong light.
The Deceiver moves behind Vass, a dagger in hand.
He slips the dagger across Vass' neck. "If you do not remove whatever you did, demon, I'll be more than happy to give you a new smile."
"It will probably ease your guilt over crimes committed in years past to know that getting your throat slit isn't as painful as it looks. Mostly it's just surprising, although you've blown that, haven't you."
"So as you contemplate this, rest assured that it will be Ryor who bleeds out on the floor and not me. And if you heal him I'll be stepping right back in."
"Also, you should consider that as you have prevented me from picking the books I want in this library, it would right now suit me more to either pry my way into someone else or find another victim out in the desert somewhere."
"So I'm willing to let you play this out Cordoba."
"Or, you could let me pick the books I want and I'll let Jon see again."
"You the demon, I won't forgive you." Jon shouted.
Jon covered his eyes with hands because of the strong light.
Jon:
"No deal, demon. Reverse it." The Deceiver presses his dagger closer to Ryor's exposed neck.
"This is what is going to happen. You are going to cut. I'm going to laugh. Then I'll leave the body. Once I'm satisfied that Ryor is dead I'll take the oaf or the halfbreed. I'm not even going to be sneaky about it. Are you going to cut their throats, too?"
"You're problem is that you can't understand a being for which life is something totally different than it is for you. You've never seen something you can't kill with a knife or a fireball. And you've probably spent too much time bowing down for that b*@@#, Pharasma. She has no sway over me. She may have the power liar, but I'm older. I've forgotten more than your god will ever learn."
"And I think the only guy who understood this was Bohdan, and where's he? Where's he?"
"Cut, Deceiver, cut."
"Friends, start burning the library! Now!"
"HAHAHAHAHahHAhaHA! Can I help?"
A heavy silence falls in the room, pregnant with suspicion and bad ideas.
So quiet it is that the sound of a just turned page resting down into its tome can be heard across the room. Pulsifer soundlessly puts down his book.
The clatter of Jon's armor breaks the silence as he rubs at his eyes and utters what must be virulent cursing in his native language.
"Nah, why dun we all just calm down, eh?"
"Shut up, Syd. People with brains are working."
<A tiny stream of blood blossoms from his skin where Cordoba is holding the dagger.>
"HAHAHAHAHahHAhaHA! Can I help?"
Pulsifer:
It occurs to you that he probably wants something in here burned both because of his look and the plain fact that here there are books written by people whose life's work is killing devils and demons; and if there is a book Vass wants, that getting rid of those that threaten him is probably a priority.
"Friends, start burning the library! Now!"
"NO! That's exactly what the demon wants, can't you see? The people whho built this place dedicated their lives to eradicating his kind, and, by burning the library, we would destroy any means to exorcise the fiend! I cannot let you do such a thing."
"Trying to deceive me, demon! No way!" The Deceiver presses his dagger closer to the skin drawing a drop of blood.
Vass is doing nothing. He just stares through Pulsifer.
I agree, Pulsifer. Dese one wants dis too much......we need to find what he seeks.