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Dervak can see the rage in Kat's eyes at these words, and says, "One moment. Stand back."
Assuming the party gives him some space, he casts Enlarge Person, Str-rages, and kicks the door down.
Theophilus--and the White Rabbit--look at each other.
Oh s@$#! He done f!++ed up now!
Dervak lowers his massive shoulder and slams into the door sending it flying open along with the heavy table placed behind the door. This room is in disarray. An alchemist’s lab is set up on one of the tables, and a few of the shelves have been cleared of books. Throughout the room, a chaotic swirl of yellow hues has been painted, daubed, and scratched into the walls, on the spines of books, and across the floor. Not one but two versions of Mun populate this corner of the Mysterium.
Miacknian Mun wears thick layers of soiled clothing. He has wild blonde hair. From behind his glasses, Mun’s beady eyes seem almost ready to pop from his skull. He is lithe and pale, and his body shows signs of recent injury and past self-abuse. His actions are furtive, and his eyes dart about like those of a hunting lizard. The version of Mun in the back of the room has sharp spines protruding from his skin.
The Mun standing near the door when it’s busted down clambers over the table and swipes at Dervak with razor sharp claws, but Dervak able to step back just in time.
"How many Muns are there?", Mara exclaimed. She stepped to the side, gave the closest Mun the evil eye, and started to chant.
The giant Dervak swings his falchion at "Akie."
The mun with the thorn skin drinks something. Dervak slices Akie with a sweeping arc but it does little to slow it down. Cutting through Akie feels like cutting through a mass of rubber, it doesn't bleed nor does it appear to have any discernible organs. Akie is clearly a construct and cares little for Mara's curse.
Theo will Fortune Hex Dervak.
Kat enters her fighting style, then dashes into the room past Akie in the doorway. She wants the real one.
She takes up a position near Mun and stares him down, flashing a grin that is nothing but bitter and vicious. "Eh, bruv. Been looking for you. You've got a lot to answer for, and I'm here to collect." She spins her spear over her shoulders and swacks his legs out from under him.
She scowls at him on the ground. "No escape."
Kat isn't fooled by the false Mun projected 2ft from his actual location and he tumbles to the ground. Akie continues its assault against Dervak, it rips into Dervak's sword arm with its teeth.
Mara moved up beside Dervak, drawing out her wand, and healed him.
Theophilus Fortune Hexes Kat.
He Crackles.
Mun picks himself up and staggers toward Kat with the look of a cornered rat. He swings at her but Kat ducks easily sending his fist into a nearby bookshelf, it develops large crack from the impact. Kat can see arcs of electricity jump from his fist to nearby books singing them.
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As he moves up to her, Kat sees that her position does not offer her many opportunities to keep dancing around him with her spear. That's just fine for her, though. She stands back and upright. "Oh, that how you wanna go, bruv? I can do that." She drops her spear. She cracks her knuckles and sizes him up. "Yeah, I really think I should do this with my bare hands, don't you?" She suddenly ducks down and sweeps his legs out from under him
She then kicks at his skull.
And punches right for his gut.
Dervak lets Kat handle the other Mun while he fights the construct.
Kat trips the man and then brutally beats him. It feels like she's kicking adamantine spikes. Kat feels like his face should look like a hot-headed mule kicked him but he only looks like he's been in a barroom brawl.
Dervak, used to fighting Mun's constructs, tears the one standing in his way to ribbons. It doesn't die per se but it is so badly damaged that it can't move in any meaningful way.
Theophilus Misfortune hexes Kat's Mun.
He Cackles.
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Mara healed Dervak again with her wand, and moved into the room to support Kat. She wondered if this last Mun was the real one, or yet another homunculus. Copies upon copies upon copies; maybe the real Mun dies a long time ago, and duplicates were all that was left?
Mun’s eyes go wide when Kat drops her spear in front of him, he quickly scrambles for it and then stands up, ignoring her taunting. Mun’s nose sets itself before Kat’s eyes and he isn’t holding his side as much.
Theophilus wonders into the room. He fancies the wall within 30' of Mun.
He Cackles.
Kat shakes her head, disgusted at Mun’s refusal to even give her a decent fight hand-to-hand.
”You really are just a bloody arse all the way through, eh?”
As he reaches for the spear, she snatches for it back.
While Kat and Mun were fighting over the spear, Mara went around behind Kat and attacked the alchemist from the other side, hoping to provide a flank for Dervak. "You won't be doing any more of that kind of 'research'!"
Dervak takes a 5' step, uses his Pugnacious trait to increase his reach to 15', and attacks.
Kat gives Mun another kick in the head and then manages to grab her spear back as he stands. Mara sneaks around the perimeter while Dervak closes. Mara has little luck penetrating the layers of liquid protections he has imbibed but Dervak's strength punches right through.
With her spear back in her hands, Kat takes a step back and scowls at him, the side of her lip turning up in absolute disgust.
"By the way? That kitchen wench you were whining and moaning about? She's why you're going to die. Ain't that funny? Bloody barrel of laughs, I say. Make you feel like you've got needles in your stomach."
She thrusts towards his stomach, knowing that injuries to that area are among the most painful.
She pulls back, pauses, then suddenly jumps forward again with another thrust, hoping he feels every bit of it.
And then once more before he can react, another needle in the gut.
Kat brutally disembowels Mun, her spear sharp enough to cut through stone. He sputters and coughs up blood before the light of his crazed eyes goes out forever.
Dervak end his Rage and looks at the carnage.
Gorum would be pleased. But I think Kat's motivation was more the domain of Calistria. Vengeance.
As the party looks over Mun's remains, Dervak says, "When we are done here, should we go around the corridor to the other side of this wall? I think there is one more area we have not explored. Might want to make use of my giant size while we have it."
Mara examined the body of the last 'Mun', trying to figure out if this was the 'real' Mun, or just another copy.
She also scanned the room to see if there were any notebooks or journals lying around.
She replied to Dervak's suggestion, "Might as well while the spell is still running."
Kat is still breathing heavily through her nose as she stares at the dead Mun. All this in the name of what he called "science." B#*@$&*s. This was all about him just getting to do whatever he wanted. His bloody ego.
Kat is actually happy at the suggestion to keep going for now. She doesn't have to stop and talk about anything that just happened.
"Whatever is fine by me. Just need to heal up first and look this wanker over for anything useful first."
Mara tended to Kat's injuries with the healing wand.
Theophilus seems ready to continue.
Dervak catches his breath in the time that Mara is healing Kat, and is ready to continue.
Mara is certain that the Mun that Kat killed was human or an incredibly good fake.
Mun's Formula book: A loose collection of formulae held withing a wood-backed cover bound in a strange skin. It includes the following formulae: Cure critical wounds, cure serious wounds, cure light wounds, darkvision, elemental touch, invisibility, remove disease, resinous skin, restoration, skinsend, arcane eye, freedom of movement, stoneskin, displacement, haste, thorn body, barkskin, bull's strength, cat's grace, resist energy, disguise self, expeditious retreat, longshot, polypurpose panacea, shield, stone fist.
The other items on Mun and in the room: An alchemist's laboratory, a lacquered fan depicting soldiers fighting demonic cockerels, a paperweight that shows a black rose held aloft by a trio of devil's coach horses, wand of make whole (9 charges), mwk leather armor, mwk chain shirt, returning club, 5gp.
Laying on top of the set up alchemist's lab is a map of Katheer.
Mara studied the map carefully to see if there were any annotations that might have been added recently. "We should take this with us."
Dervak looks at the paperweight and tries to determine if it has any significance. Does it represent anything he recalls from a story or legend? Is it religious in nature? Or just some artist's whimsy?
He will use another charge of Shield when the party is ready to move around down the corridor to the remaining unexplored area.
Kat scowls as she begins to suspect what the formula book may be made out of. She makes sure to not put it in the same section of her haversack as Mari's jar. "Yep, let's get on with it, then."
Kat examines the art objects carefully and notes the maker's mark, Chesme. She doesn't know the artist but does know the works are quite good and would fetch a fair price to an art collector. The meaning behind the depictions don't bubble to the surface of her mind immediately.
The party ventures to the only place they haven’t explored on this level of the mysterium. Knocked-over shelves are stacked upon one another as a makeshift barricade preventing entrance to the final chamber. It stands 8 ft high, but Dervak easily looks over the top. The inside of this room is utter chaos. Shelves are torn from the walls, books are shredded, and the place smells of nervous sweat and human waste. Six guards huddle in the room clearly distraught and sickened by the horrors here. One yells out in Kelish spying the out of proportion bloodrager, ”Go away!”
Mara greeted the guards, shouting over the barrier, and tried to reassure them. "Hello, we're here on behalf of Elder Thyrr. Are you trapped in here? We've cleared a path to the entrance!"
Theophilus giggles.
Nothing left here but us and you...now.
You gentlemen have any pertinent information concerning other level?
Dervak looks over the barrier with some curiosity. He does not try to look threatening, and replies in Kelish.
"Yeah. We've cleared a path for you. Killed a lot of nasty stuff. Those damn Hounds, probably the most helpful for you. I broke the mirror.
Are any of you hurt?"
Arcane words form around the guard's lips and a golden ray of fire scorches the wall near Dervak's head, a warning shot.
Dervak sighs, sits down on the other side of the barricade, and tries to talk.
"Look... we are here to help. If you want to leave this place now, we can escort you out. It should be safe.
If you want to stay here until we've reset the wards, and then leave, you can do so. But that's not going to be for quite a while. It would be better to come now.
I swear to you that we bear you no ill will. We are here to help.
Elder Thyrr would be pleased if we could bring you safely out. Is Elder Lythiin with you?"
The voice becomes a bit more deranged, "Stop it! We're not falling for your trickery. You want to find the Elder he's not here, he abandoned us knowing that Khorvash would dissolve and attack us. He's probably dead on a lower level."
Theophilus shakes his head sadly.
Do you remember that time--way back when--we were at the Asylum; and we first confronted those nice, but really scared folks, who eventually we became friends with? This is like that.
Dervak nods.
"Well I tried.
Maybe these folks will survive until we can reset the wards."