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August: You see smoke coming out of the paper-making factory. In the doorway is a monk with his robes on fire in a panic. Several of the monks around the courtyard are looking in horror at the scene.
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Watts comes bursting out of the meditation room blade in hand. His form is more awkward than before with his limb unnaturally lengthened and his face stretched forward.
He stops dragging the blade against the ground for a moment to appraise the fire and then the surrounding building before screeching in a furious tone.
"Move monks! Act unless you wish to ponder on piles of ash! We need lines of water to eradicate the flames. If we give it time, it is going to spread to the library and nothing will stop it!"
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A small flask is pulled from the investigator's side as he chugs the contents quickly and casts aside the container the ground. The skin beneath his feathers changes color slightly, but is far less noticeable than the effects of the mutagen.
Watts recalls a time years ago where the Master of Scrolls has asked the tengu to test the implementation of various response techniques for fighting fires. He brushes at some phantom burns that have long since been healed, but recalls just enough to help in this situation.
"August! Crush the connecting wall! It will hamper the spreading flame!"
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The monk in the paper workshop comes running out in a panic, robes ablaze as the fire spreads, igniting the front gate of the monastery.
The remaining monks, including the cook, can be heard scrambling in their rooms for anything to use as a bucket and return to the courtyard in a hurry.
Suddenly from the center of the courtyard you hear a scream. "Stay AWAY from my tree!"
An arc of energy comes bolting out, catching Fahd, August, and Pradnyara along with the corpse of one of the Bulettes. When the smell of ozone dissipates, you see the ghost standing at the origin of the bolt with a twisted expression of anger on her face. She appears now in her full form, no longer hidden by the roots of her trees, as a translucent dryad, lithe, graceful, and obviously once beautiful, but now horrifically disfigured - her skin tattooed with mutating words, and impaled with nails and quills. She carries a crooked wand.
Pradnyara grimaces in pain after suffering a major wound, but maintains a clear focus towards her task to extinguish the flames.
Initiative:
Jathyl
Fandral
August (Pending reflex save)
Watts
Fahd (Pending reflex save)
Diri
Pradnyara (27 dmg)
Burning monk (4 dmg)
Other Monks
Fire
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This is just like in Alkenstar and Jinin and Bloodcove and the Verduran Forest, Diri recalls as the flames begin to creep around.
"Our ability to save your tree from yourself will be greatly enhanced if you relocate to a place where we can toil unaffected," Diri calls out to the apparition, closing distance and holding up a small mask-shaped symbol engraved with a handful of physics formulas. An arc of energy pulses towards the dryad.
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"You may have mistaken our passive nature for weakness. You will find our blades to be efficient solutions to the problem you present!"
Watts then glances at the burning monk and runs at poor soul, blade dragging against the ground as the investigator's body twists forward.
"There may be nothing for me left to fight dealing with these annoyances!"
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Jathyl screams and flies forward, reaching out to Diri with a corrupting spectral hand. Fandral, deciding this most definitely appears to be an aggressive move, fires off a shot at the ghost. While the bullet passes through her, the magic properties of the bullet seem to tear at her being.
A couple of the monks empty buckets of water on the fire, and are able to prevent it from spreading much, but the tremendous power of Jathyl seems to be making them have second thoughts about lingering in the courtyard. Many of them begin to scatter.
The burning monk dives to the floor and begins rolling, attempting to extinguish himself.
The flames go out, and while injured, he seems much calmer now.
Initiative:
Jathyl (3 dmg)
Fandral
August
Watts
Fahd
Diri (pending fort save)
Pradnyara (27 dmg)
Burning monk (7 dmg)
Other Monks
Fire
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Diri recoils from the brunt of the ghost's touch. Pressing her heels together , she dematerializes into a stoke of lightning, flowing throught the ghost, and appearing on the opposite side of the room. She moves to the door where more monks await, and shouts in, "Focus on the firefighting and we'll stop the ghost."
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Watts confirms a moment that the monk is stable before giving a dark glare at the spirit. He then turns that rage upon the monks. "This is what you learn from the teachings of Irori? When faced with adversity you huddle in the refuse and pray for safety?"
"What are we fighting for then? This is your sanctum! Fight for it now or surrender your history to ash!"
Watts throws himself into the doorway of the workshop and checks the status of the hanging trap. If either it endangers him or if he could use it to smash through and smother the gluttonous flame.
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August's swings his greatsword, and with a single stroke crumples a small section of the wall. The resulting rubble forms a clean firebreak that should give you plenty of time to deal with the ghost before the library is at risk.
Fandral's thrust manages to pierce rend at the energy of the ghost, but once again, the blade is not nearly as effective as it would be on a corporeal target.
A few of the monks grit their teeth and begin working their hardest to douse the flames, regardless of the dangers around them. Pradnyara responds to Watts' call to arms with a grim tone. "Sprits unable to find enlightenment are to be pitied or aided, never fought. This sanctum may fall but our teachings will persist."
Watts, as you approach the workshop, it is quite apparent that the trap has already collapsed. The room is a raging inferno of sawdust, paper clippings, and the wood workbench. There is not much fuel here to sustain the fire however and if contained it should burn itself out quickly. So long as the monks keep a few buckets moving towards the east side of the workshop, you can be relatively certain that the fire will burn itself out. Even if the eastern wall does catch fire, the lack of nearby rooms will impede it such that it will take several minutes before it reaches the temple, and even then will be easy to contain.
Fahd moves forward to unleash a flurry of blows, but between the agile moves of the ghost and the strange auras that hold her together, he is only able to land one of his strikes.
Jathyl glowers at Fandryl and laughs. "Your blade is bothersome! Let me relieve you of it!"
Fandryl, you feel a sharp tug at your blade and notice it twist and veer in your hands, but you hold tight and refuse to relinquish your weapon.
Pradnyara and the monks begin to focus on the fire on the temple side since August's barrier seems effective at preventing the flames from spreading.
Initiative:
Jathyl (19 dmg)
Fandral
August
Watts
Fahd
Diri
Pradnyara (27 dmg)
Burning monk (7 dmg)
Other Monks
Fire
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Jathyl screams at diri "Thief! Murderer! You are an abomination on this land!" and she unleashes another lightning bolt at Diri and Watts.
The monks that have heeded your call to fight the fire are managing a very efficient bucket chain to douse the east side of the building. The fire is being held at bay.
Initiative:
Jathyl (39 dmg)
Fandral
August
Watts
Fahd
Diri (Pending Reflex save vs knockout)
Pradnyara (27 dmg)
Burning monk (7 dmg)
Other Monks
Fire
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August's swing is incredibly obvious and Jathyl makes an easy drift to avoid the blade, but Fahd and Fandral manage to get a few more blows in. Jathyl appears to be unimpressed by your show of force. Watts begins to work deft moves with his swordcane, and manages to draw Jathyl's eyes from August's position.
The monks brave enough to remain on the battlefield begin a bucket brigade, passing buckets back and forth in a line to hold down the flames in the workshop. Their efforts seem to be paying off, and the flames are contained to the workshop alone.
Initiative:
Jathyl (57 dmg)
Fandral
August
Watts
Fahd
Diri (Pending Reflex save vs knockout)
Pradnyara (16 dmg) (Leading the firefighting efforts)
Master (Filling buckets)
Monks (In an organized bucket brigade)
Fire (Contained)
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"Stop it... Stop it!! STOP IT!!! Your power is an abomination of life!"
Jathyl drifts up to catch Fandral, Watts, and Diri in another lightning bolt.
Initiative:
Jathyl (57 dmg)
Fandral (Pending AoO at Jathyl and Reflex save)
August
Watts (Pending Reflex save)
Fahd
Diri (Pending Reflex save)
Pradnyara (16 dmg) (Leading the firefighting efforts)
Master (Filling buckets)
Monks (In an organized bucket brigade)
Fire (Contained)
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Jathyl screams in agony as August's blade leaves an ectoplasmic tear in her form. She gracefully hops back, narrowly evading the second blow, but finds her self sliced neatly three times by Fandral's blade. As her wounds mount she appears to begin to take this fight more seriously...
Initiative:
Jathyl (87 dmg)
Fandral
August
Watts (Pending Reflex save)
Fahd
Diri (Pending Reflex save)
Pradnyara (16 dmg) (Leading the firefighting efforts)
Master (Filling buckets)
Monks (In an organized bucket brigade)
Fire (Contained)
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Your geometry lecturer would be disappointed, Diri thinks to herself as the dryad proves via electricity that three of them are colinear.
"The probability of weathering this onslaught is inversely proportional to the duration elapsed while fighting hence it would be efficient for a decisive strike," Diri states with a hint of worry creeping into her otherwise academic tone.
She closes distance to the Dryad and channels again, trying to hold on to her consciousness as long as possible.