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The Bloodrager felt magic pulse through the thin scratch the blade left, threatening to cause far more harm.
Despite everything, Median laughs.
Joseph, didn't I reject you thoroughly enough before? You're still trying to get a date when I look mostly dead, and we're this close to obliteration? Points for persistence, but still no. And please don't call me "girl." I'm sure you don't mean it that way, but it sounds like you are encouraging your pet or something.
Somewhat less morose after Joseph's amusing attempt at bringing her back from the brink, and encouraged that her body was still functioning well enough to knit itself together at least a little, she tries to focus on what is going on around her.
She admired the soulfire attack, which looked like it was far more effective than the rest of them had been, and wondered if there was anything more effective that she could do. A Fireball? She was worried that it would hurt more than she intended. Lightning bolt? Would it work underground?
She decides to conjure some Magic Missiles. At least those things never missed, right?
She sends all four of her missiles into the creature attacking Jennifer.
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Zaoth chuckles, a terrible thing, and looks the woman dead in the eyes as he tries to twist his telekinetic tendrils ever tighter. Into his words, too, he twists magic. Full of dread and anger and a thirst for vengeance he says, ”No.”
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Jennifer glances at the small wound in her torso the rapier left, and then back up at her attacker.
"While your sword is very cute, I wish you had talked to us instead of resorting to your tricks."
With a wildly inappropriate yell, she lashes out with two tricks of her own.
Jennifer's attacks both missed there mark, and the Fey smiled. "I wish your blood would feed our-" the flurry of magic missiles caught her in the side of the head, quietening her down.
She continued her attack as she got her balance back, however, her rapier moving with shocking speed.
The other Fey broke free of Zaoth's grip and his spell, while it seemed to shake her confidence, didn't result in the horrible terror it might otherwise have evoked.
Baring teeth that looked filed, the fey flew directly at - and past -Zaoth, her own sword appearing and lashing out.
The third fey came out of the illusion, from out under a spell of invisibility, and blasted Midian with fire.
Seeing a fey woman come out of invisibility to attack her, Median shoots at her.
Joseph switchjes targets and attacks the fey that burned Median.
Ope, sorry. Wrote something up and then closed the tab. I’ll get my action up tomorrow or Sunday.
Zaoth easily powers through the fey's spell, and manages to dodge such that the worst of her strike misses him, though it still hurts without a doubt.
He steps back and tries to take a shot at the fey woman but isn't great with a gun and misses.
Joseph's shot hits, but the other attacks fail to find there target. The fey grimances, and then vanishes again as they use Invisibility again.
The other two continue to press there attacks.
Hissing in pain as the fey lady's blade leaves a series of nasty wounds in Jennifer's torso, she tries to take more careful aim with her next strikes.
Joseph fires at one of the remaining visible fey.
Median casts See Invisibility.
Median able to spot the third sister, moving up behind Jennifer with her sword at the ready and clearly ready to aid the one already pressing her. They certainly didn't seem to be getting anywhere hitting Jennifer normally as Jennifer shredded the one before her with her first attack, the soulfire burning especially bright. It did not look great, but attacked back with it's magic, shifting away to give herself space and then blasting away.
The third continued to hit Zaoth with the sword, or at least trying to.
Jennifer, invisible one behind you!
Median moves into a better position to shoot from.
Joseph, knowing his physical senses are useless right now, closes his eyes and focuses his breathing to locate the invisible fey.
Median able to spot the third sister, moving up behind Jennifer with her sword at the ready and clearly ready to aid the one already pressing her. They certainly didn't seem to be getting anywhere hitting Jennifer normally as Jennifer shredded the one before her with her first attack, the soulfire burning especially bright. It did not look great, but attacked back with it's magic, shifting away to give herself space and then blasting away.
[ddice=Spell Resistance]1d20+11
[ddice=Cold Damage (DC 17 Reflex to Half)]11d6
Jennifer shrieks in surprise before collapsing to the ground, dead.
Seeing Jennifer go down, Median's fears seem to be confirmed.
She isn't happy about the death, but perhaps it was better to go that way than to be smashed in a dimensional collapse. She wasn't sure.
Median able to spot the third sister, moving up behind Jennifer with her sword at the ready and clearly ready to aid the one already pressing her. They certainly didn't seem to be getting anywhere hitting Jennifer normally as Jennifer shredded the one before her with her first attack, the soulfire burning especially bright. It did not look great, but attacked back with it's magic, shifting away to give herself space and then blasting away.
[ddice=Spell Resistance]1d20+11
[ddice=Cold Damage (DC 17 Reflex to Half)]11d6[dice=Reflex]1d20+4
Jennifer shrieks in surprise before collapsing to the ground, dead.
The Fae screamed in triumph as Jennifer fell. "Surrender, and your friend can still be saved. Fight us and die as she has."
The Fae screamed in triumph as Jennifer fell. "Surrender, and your friend can still be saved. Fight us and die as she has."
"Yes. Because you have done everything to endear us to you." Joseph sighed. "I wish we were dealing with pixies. At least, pixies have a sense of humor."
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Zaoth sees Jennifer fall. It was a shame, but at the end of the day it was like seeing a power tool break. It would be hard to replace this one, but Zaoth felt little towards mortal life.
He doesn't have long to think, though, as the fey woman hits him with her sword and drops him to the ground.
When Zaoth fell, Ross was waiting, [i]"Good job. Look where you've gotten us now. This wouldn't have happened if I was in control."[/b]
Zaoth huffs. Ross was a little right. Maybe.
With Ross and Jennifer down, the others turn there attention to Joseph and Median. Since it had worked well for them previous they unleashed a wave of fire at each. The third of the sisters hung back, her invisibility still up but aware she could be seen my Median.
Joseph flips backward, avoiding most of the fire's burn.
"Target! I need a target!" The godling growls as he looks for invisible foes, magic gun at the ready!
Median growls back.
Joseph, the invisible one is back there, but you HAVE two targets that you can see already... unless one of them blinded you? Why aren't you fighting THEM? Kill the one that looks weakest... the one Jennifer already mangled!
Median is sure none of them is making it out of this alive, so she figures burning everything to the ground is probably acceptable. She casts Fireball, placing it carefully to encompass the fae and not touch any of her friends, including the bodies, on the off chance they could be saved.
Joseph, the invisible one is back there, but you HAVE two targets that you can see already... unless one of them blinded you? Why aren't you fighting THEM? Kill the one that looks weakest... the one Jennifer already mangled!
Joseph turns his gun on the fae standing over the fallen Jennifer.
The three sisters move with Fey like grace, but the one already mauled by Jennifer went down in a smouldering heap.
Her sister screamed and ran to her, while the invisible one moved away from the battle towards the door. The illusion collapsed with a flicker.
Joseph takes aim at the fae sister who ran forward.
Fireball, again.
The Fey shudders under the impact of the bullet, and screams under the impact of the fireball, slumping as the other sister goes still in her arms. The youngest sister flees with a sob, but moving almost as a blur.
I'm sorry, the voice of the grail said sadly. That place is not for you. Not yet. The cost of this life is that you must live. It is not an easy as we might hope. Just seeing this place changes you...
Grateful that the fey have been vanquished, Median goes over to Jennifer to see if she is still breathing, and if there is anything she can do to help, like basic first aid, since she doesn't have any magical healing ability.
After assessing the condition and doing what she can for any fallen associates, she makes sure the fae are all the way dead, and retrieves any useful items from the bodies.
We might be able to escape through that same door. I'm assuming it leads away from this collapsing pocket dimension. No idea where though, but I think it is our best hope.
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Joseph kneels down before Jennifer's prone body. "I don't have any kind if healing skill, just this.."
The godling reaches down to see if his Arcane Battery trait can shock Jennifer back to consciousness.
If there are any healing items on the fallen fae, she uses them on Ross and Jennifer.
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Median is able to hunt down a potion and several scrolls on the fallen Fey, and gathers from the label that it is intended to cure an injury. Maybe that was the intent, before the fireball. Either way, it's enough to help Ross back to his feet.
Jennifer is another matter. Jospeh's shocks are unable to restart her heart, as it's hideous damage. It is clear that the spell froze her to the bone, literally. Flash freezing has caused hideous and massive tissue damage which resulted in her death. She has a strange, greenish-grey hue beneath the ice. Her features were also oddly distorted benath the ice.
Suddenly, power flared through her body and the ice flashed away in a burst of steam. Jennifer's eyes, full of the power of the grail and soulfire, flashed open too.
Joseph, what are you doing to her... is it supposed to do that?
When she sees the changed form she asks
Uh, Jennifer? Is that you, or have you been taken over by some alternate-dimensional monster that we are now going to have to kill or avoid as we run for the exit? My guess is the latter, but I figured I'd ask.
She gets ready to run for the doorway where the last fae escaped.
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Ross staggers to his feet. His voice is it's normal human self as he says, "God, my head. Oof, just..wow. Never been out of control for that long. Sorry about Zaoth and, well, you dying Jennifer. But, well, glad you're back."
He gives a meek smile to Median, "Well, if it's another alternate-dimensional monster then Zaoth would have some company at least."
Jennifer slowly sits up, brushing off chunks of frost from her legs and torso.
"What are you two talking about? I'm fine. The angels that granted me the Soulfire have said that--
"They've said that--"
Jennifer stops and brings her fingertips to her lips to discover two inch-long tusks protruding from her lower jaw and jutting up over her upper lip. Her eyes widen as she realizes the implications of what has happened to her, and her voice fades away as she gazes at her hands, her arms, and then down along her body.
Everything about her was... broader. Her jaw, her fists, her biceps, her shoulders, her hips, her feet. As she stands up, her flexing muscles split the sleeves of her brown leather overcoat along the seams. She now stands a few inches over six feet. She plucks at her hair to find that her long mousy-brown hair has been replaced by even longer dark gray hair that drapes over pointed ears. As her body continues to warm, her skin tone shifts from a greenish-gray to a darker forest green. And as the light of the Soulfire fades from her eyes, the others realize that her once very human eyes have been replaced by dark orbs with deep red pupils.
She takes several deep breaths as she takes all of this in. She's neither upset nor amused at her fate, but she also struggles to understand how she feels.
"It would seem that even though the angels that granted me the Soulfire feel that I have not wielded their gift long enough, they also feel that I could better do so with a more powerful form."
She flexes slightly, causing the arms of her leather coat to split further. She reaches up, rips the sleeves off, and tosses them aside.
Median looks at Jennifer for a couple of minutes, but she's a shapechanger herself, so she isn't too shocked. She backpedals a little, and realizes that this is just a normal shapechange which everyone has to be talked through the first time.
When I said monster I was just joking of course. It would be par for the course today, but you obviously are Jennifer.
... You know, that look is really different than what you had before, but I think it suits you. We're going to have to get you a good hat of disguise or something so you can continue to function in human society, but look at all that power. Good lines, really good ears. I like it.
That said though, we should really get out of here.
She tries to gather everyone up and get them through the door.
... You know, that look is really different than what you had before, but I think it suits you. We're going to have to get you a good hat of disguise or something so you can continue to function in human society, but look at all that power. Good lines, really good ears. I like it.
Joseph nods behind Median, trying to make Jennifer feel better. "She's right. It's different, to be sure. But you still look great."
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Jennifer's been through a lot of changes today.
She doesn't really like museums, any more.
"Thanks," she says to the others. She turns and leaves the same way that the surviving fey lady did.
Median makes sure that everyone gets through and goes last.
Thankfully the door remains open as the group passes in, with no obvious way to close them other than main strength. The corridor down leads to a small chamber, with three sets of iron manacles on the wall, now broken. Runes above the manacles flitter and flare and snap, there magic spent or broken by the ritual in the anti chamber.
Beyond that a small crack in the rock leads to a precipice and...nothing. A hole that stretches far beyond what can be seen with the naked eye, darkvision or not, stretches out and down. The walls are smooth, with the exception of four long gashes in the rock leading up far above your heads - where there should be the museum - and down. Far too far down. It's with possible concern that it's noted that the gouges seem to be claw marks, and the each gouge would be quite big enough for someone to lay in.
Four plinths sit here on the precipice, each with a crystal above it, three dark and one bright and strong.
So, no way out after all? Where did the woman who ran this way go then?
Median examines the plinth with the crystal on it.
And what is this? Another captured soul besides the fae?
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Ross and Zaoth examine the crystals, pondering through the vast amounts of forbidden lore that Zaoth knows.
Joseph also examines the plinth. "Not sure."
The panels are effectively the magical equivalent of a diagnostic for this prison. Whatever is trapped below, and assumedly made the claw marks, is still bound by a single set of wards and seals. This is probably related to the two empty plinths in the earlier chamber although a question remains as to why there are two of them empty and only one seal.