Even after the cutlery has all fallen to the ground, it takes a few seconds for Hinagiku to let her guard down. Though her eyes are closed, her readied stance suggest she is still paying close attention to her surroundings.
Then, once she is satisfied, her muscles visibly lose their tension and she turns to Fenton and Nordvick.
"Sorry, I did not think the spirits would react this way." she says, approaching the two wounded and, after querying their consent with a brief look, applying her glowing hand to their wounds.
Ehren relaxes somewhat when he sees that the immediate threat has passed, but does not let down his guard. It is only a matter of time before something else in the inn tries to kill them again. While Hinagiku tends to the wounded, he approaches the innkeeper, hoping to gain more insight into their current situation.
"Do you recognize this crate, Nordvick?" Ehren asks the dwarf, gesturing to the large box that Unafe retrieved from the basement. "It was rather well hidden, buried beneath the waters in the bottom of the well."
The druid considers asking outright whether more bodies might be in the crate, but decides not to broach the matter. They could find out for themselves, after all. Nodding to Unafe, the druid approaches and looks the crate over carefully before attempting to open it.
Li'an moves towards the open door, and once she steps in, she unleashes a blast of energy to attempt to clear out the haunt, as she had in the bathroom earlier. A wave of shimmering energy expands outward, briefly filling the room before fading away.
"Lets try to avoid people going off alone or even in small groups without us. The safest thing to do is to keep everyone in the main room while we try to figure out the location of the candle," she says to the others, concerned that drawing all the crusaders into a house-wide hunt could result in an unintentional bloodbath. The house itself seemed to be a foe, regardless of what the imp was lying about. "I can't countermand you, Myrna, but sending everyone out to search seems exceedingly dangerous right now."
With that she turns her attention to the chest that Unafe had managed to return from downstairs. "Hidden? Or disposed of?" She takes a look at the Chest, attempting to note any kinds of markings or clues to its origins or purpose.
Nordvick mutely shakes his head at Ehren, his head craning up to look up the immense silvery earth elemental. Ehren bends over and opens the waterlogged chest. A large amount of water spills out. The contents are muddy and wet. There is a waterproof scroll pouch, several ruined manuscripts, a pair of simple grey robes made of fine fabric, though otherwise unadorned, a small leather pouch which contains a human finger bone, around which is a single red-tinted ring, and finally, a locket holding a lock of coarse black hair. It is evident from the hair’s almost metallic texture—and the slight smell of rotten eggs— that the hair is not from a natural source.
With Ehren's unceremonious opening of the chest, Li'an's attention turns to the open chest. First she takes a moment to carefully take out the wet manuscripts, using magic to dry them off and setting them aside carefully. "Perhaps we can find something useful in these," she says once they're set aside carefully. Even if they were completely ruined there might be some useful clue in them nevertheless.
"Lets see what we have here," she says as she returns to the remaining contents. She uses detect magic studying the scroll pouch, the robes, and then finally the leather pouch with ring-bearing finger bone and locket. "Once we dry out the chest we should search it closely in case something is hidden within it as well," she remarks to no one in particular as she works on identifying the items they'd found.
Once she is done healing both Nordvick and Fenton, Hinagiku stays by their side while the others search the chest. As she does, the monk ponders whether the haunt were awaked by their actions... it did seem that mentioning the candle or Linnaeus might have had an effect.
[smaller]"Everyone, something within the house might be listening to us and working against us... the forks started acting on their own once I mentioned the candle.... and the basement changed when I called to Mr. Narikopolus. If we need to speak, maybe we can whisper... or use some form of magic not to be overheard."
"Yeah, my guess is the imp. We know he's been upstairs before the ghosts, and we know he's in the pipes. There was an attack in the bathroom, and now one in the kitchen. Pretty sure he's playing merry havoc from inside the walls." Sana responds into the message.
"I can kind of just innately sense magic and traps and things. Just whenever something feels off. Sometimes it's a resonance thing, sometimes it's just a caster making little ripples. Because of that, I'm pretty sure I would have noticed us passing by something extremely magical." she says, glancing over the objects to see if any stood out to help speed Li'an's search along - pointing out any that were magical that she noticed - then pauses to look at Nordvick. "So, has there been an unextinguished flame somewhere in the house since you arrived, or that otherwise hasn't gone out since you lit it?"
Ehren peers at the contents of the chest curiously, particularly those that did not appear to be utterly ruined after being submerged in water. A telltale sign that they might be more than they appear to be. Given Nordvick's lack of recognition, however, it was entirely possible that the chest had no connection to their current predicament at all. Leaving the objects in Li'an's capable hands, he turns to face the dwarf again, regarding his recently healed wounds with a frown. Despite his complicity in murdering several innocent people, it simply wouldn't do to have him die on them - especially when he might still know something of value.
"This should ward you from harm," the druid says, gently resting a large, earthen hand on Nordvick's shoulder in a manner that is not at all imposing. He imbues him with a portion of his nature magic, imperceptibly hardening the man's skin. Enough to repel any more murderous tableware, hopefully. "Now please, if you can tell us anything at all about this flame, then do so. The sooner we find it, the sooner we can all get out of this accursed place."
Li'an opens the scroll case. There are several parchments in there, all written in infernal, as well as what appears to be 7 magical scrolls.
Li'an experiences a piercing and sudden headache - everything within her cone of view is so powerfully magical that it is difficult for her to even look at the world without squinting her eyes.
Nordvick eyes the cutlery on the floor warily. His shoulders are still tense, visible even underneath his bindings. "Eh? A flame that doesn't go out? Well, we have several continual flames going throughout the inn - and they're not those government-issue ones from Nerosyan, they're imported and made with real rubies! Yeah, even in the bathrooms! Pretty extravagant for an inn in a Crusader fortification, I know, but I've heard the guy who built this place was a wealthy Chelish-type, so they can afford those kinds of things. You can put them out though, er, well, you can cover them."
Without taking his eyes off Nordvick, Ehren nonchalantly kicks one of the knives aside, sending it skittering across the floor.
"Do any of these imported flames stand out from the others?" he asks, hoping that this is a lead and that the dwarf isn't just choosing now of all times to brag about one of the inn's premium features. With so many luxurious magical flames present to camouflage it, it seems entirely possible that the Covetous Flame is hidden in plain sight. Assuming, of course, that anything they think they know is true. "Think carefully."
"Ugh," Li'an grunts as the magic of the area overwhelms her senses, causing her to throw one hand up over her eyes until she can dismiss the spell. In retrospect, the fact that the entire house was an evil entity created through a wish should've been a red flag. "So much for that," she says as she begins flipping through the scrolls and parchment trying to get an idea of whose it was and what the documents are.
"Yes, Mr. Nordvick, you were about to say something earlier when I asked about a flame." Hinagiku says after Ehren, trying to encourage the dwarf.
Unafe had scored you a great find with her amazing speed - these seem to be the schematics of the Covetous Flame, an artifact which can grant an infinite number of wishes. It was created through complex contractual dealings with a devil referred to as Kuruhul, the Bloodsurge.
It would take an investment of time of hours to really understand them - but you understand that its final form was in the shape of a candelabra.
Additionally, after briefly skimming the contents, you understand that the Covetous Flame is activated verbally, by calling out to it by its Infernal name: вутщИ, before stating one's wish.
Finally, you understand that the only way to truly destroy the Covetous Flame is to place it inside of its nullification box and then bury it in Elysium.
There is a scroll of Limited Wish, mixed within the schematics.
The heroes stand around inside of the ruined kitchen. Cutlery and broken plates are left in shatters all around. The door has been exploded off of its hinges by Li'an, so they are in full view of the crowded common room - most of whom are staring curiously their way. Nordvick adjusts himself again - unable to find a way to stand comfortably in his restraints. Sana flits behind him, silent and unseen while all others are so distracted by the current events, appearing to suddenly manifest behind of the dwarf crusader. She tries to help loosen the ones around his legs. Just in case they needed him to be able to move faster than a hobble.
Nordvick coughs and clears his throat and says, "As I was about to explain, I don't know anything about a hidden candle, but whenever I brought people to Zirzip, he always insisted I bring the silver candelabra, lit, for his guests. The one that's over on top of the fireplace in the common room."
”Thank you Mr. Nordvick” Hinagiku says with a kind tone as the dwarf unveils what might be crucial information. ”Let us go back to the main room where you can be safe. ” Hinagiku continues once the innkeeper is released from his feathers.
As they walk out of the kitchen together and face the gaze of the crusaders, Hinagiku simply adds: ”We faced more spirits, but I think they will be quiet for some time.”
After this brief explanation, Hinagiku gives one more look at Nordvick to make sure he is alright before going to fetch the aforementioned candelabra. She calmly walks across the room eyes on the candelabra until she is at the foot of the fireplace. There, reaching for what might be an unholy artifact, she cleanses her mind of a hint of fear with a single exhalation, and grasps it. Bringing it to the others, she looks at them and simply asks: ”Is this it?”
While the others dealt with spirits and interviewed the innkeep, Myrna had been searching the inn with the rest of the Crusaders for any sign of mystical haunted candles or fireplaces. So it was that when Nordvick pointed out the silver candelabra for the others to retrieve, one of the Crusaders had already piled it on the table with every other random candle or flame source that could be found.
When it seems that Nordvick had something useful to say, and the chest was opened, Myrna comes out of the broom closet where she had her head stuck. Although she had been standing there for a full minute scanning the floor for any sign of a candle, she had missed the small box marked 'candles' in the corner of the broom closet's upper shelf, a box which was retrieved by a Crusader shortly after she withdrew herself.
She moves to join the others in the kitchen, noting the pile of random belongings. Scrolls, robes, a finger-bone bearing a bejeweled ring, and a locket containing some kind of unnatural hair.
She takes one look at the scattered Infernal scrolls before she tosses them back down with a snort. "Beatrix!" she calls, "The awful byzantine language of your birth calls. I need your help reading it."
Myrna takes especial notice of the locket containing the hair and the finger-bone bearing the ring. Holding them both in the palm of her meaty hand, she lifts them to eye level. "These seem significant," she murmurs. "Anyone have any ideas about what these might be for? Necromancy, perhaps?"
When called, Lieutenant Medici comes from the common room, where she was tending to the injuries of Crusaders accosted by the various spectral entities of the inn, into the kitchen. Her well-groomed exterior has been muddied and messed a bit, with blood and dirt under her fingernails and her robes ruffled by activity. Her pants are dirty at the knees where she knelt to bandage people. She wipes her forehead of sweat and then approaches the table to examine the scrolls and documents.
"They're in Infernal, yes..." she mutters, shifting through them with some frustration, furrowed brows, and a frown. "But they're very difficult to understand, even for a native speaker. All I understand is that somewhere in here, mixed in with the rest of the documents, is a scroll of limited wish. It's some kind of schematic."
She sifts through the scrolls next, noticing that there are several besides the supposed limited wish scroll. She scans them over with read magic, hoping to identify them.
She looks up. "Any other arcane experts fluent in Infernal here?" she asks, not expecting a positive response.
Unafe looks on with interest at Myrna and Medici looks though the the chest.
"I'm not scholar, but I'll wager Li'an could help puzzle this out. Li'an?"
Seeing Sana helping Nordvick with his bindings, Unafe leans toward Myrna, "Myrna, I don't believe Nordvick is a threat right now...but he may well continue to be a target. Could we at least remove the bonds on his legs?"
"I can have a look, if you don't mind," Li'an says, taking the papers from Beatrix. "A schematic?" she asks, pondering as she begins to pore over the notes. Auraelia takes the opportunity to sit on Li'an's shoulder again taking a look at the notes herself. As the two continue to study the pages, the Lyrakien takes a moment to imbue the elf with a blessing from Pulura, having a feeling these were quite important to understand.
"Ooh, these are schematics, Beatrix! For a candelabra... This must be for the Covetous flame!" Auraelia remarks, herself fluent in Infernal and able to understand basic details of arcana.
"You're right," Li'an says as she studies the schematics more deeply, her magic and the azata's blessing augmenting the her own knowledge and the insights her companions had gifted her. "They detail not only how it was created, but how to properly dispose of it," she continues, neglecting to mention that the papers contained details on how to operate the candelabra. "For now we should close it in the nullification chest." She then hands everything but the pages relating to the activation of the artifact to the Lieutenant. "Would you mind holding these? They are the only relevant pages in the text." The others she folds twice before snapping her fingers to create a spark, catching the remaining pages on fire, blowing on it to spread the flames as quickly as possible, watching them consume the accursed parchment with great pleasure.
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Ehren follows after Hinagiku, lugging under his arm the magical chest that might nullify the Covetous Flame's power. Shattered ceramic crunches beneath his stone feet, impervious in a way that his callused human feet are not. After years of running barefoot through battlefields littered with broken glass, sharp rocks, and literal teeth, he is thankful not to add haunted cutlery to the list. On their way to the fireplace, Ehren points out the pile of everlasting torches.
"気をつけて、菊," the druid warns unnecessarily, his voice a very low rumble. There was no telling how the inn - or rather, the spirits within it - might react were it to discover that the Flame is in imminent danger. For all they knew, the artifact itself might have some means to protect itself. All things that Hinagiku might have already considered, obviously, but he is concerned nonetheless.
The heroes all stand in the common room of Devil's Rest. Ehren carries the nullification room, trudging after Hinagiku as she comes to find that the candelabra must be somewhere hidden inside of the huge pile of various candles and lanterns which the Crusaders had dutifully gathered together at Myrna's behest. It takes a moment for her to shift through the pile, but a piece of gleaming silver catches her eye. She pulls it out from the pile and holds it up to bring to the others, asking, simply, "Is this it?"
There is an evil outsider in this room.
Nordvick, who was in the process of being untied by Sana, looks up at Hinagiku. His eyes light up in recognition. "Aye-" he begins, but is cut off as Dehliana's voice suddenly shrieks across the room - "вутщИ, I WISH TO COMMAND GODLY DIVINE POWER!" The Crusaders standing watch over her look down at her, alarmed - the gag that had been around her mouth has fallen to the ground, somehow cut off from around her lips.
The candelabra in Hinagiku's hand bursts into black flames at each of the three tapers. Dehliana's triumphant laughter rings through the air as a violent earthquake wracks the trading post, sending objects clattering to the floor as a rapidly expanding chasm rips the building in half.
Crusaders cry out as the ground between the heroes splits and heaves, separating them across the room. The room's familiar furnishings seem to melt and disappear into the ground, replaced by rising walls of warped stone. A massive stone dais crowned with a flaming pentagram towers where the fireplace once stood. Enlarged human skulls sprout like a ring of macabre flowers around the podium, and the wails of the damned echo in an unearthly choir.
A transcendent being of hooves and leathery wings surveys their domain from atop the throne. They produce a fire-wreathed mace from their outstretched hand and speak in a strange, polyphonic voice: "Behold my ascension and despair!" cries out Dehliana from atop a podium. Six total structures jut out twenty feet above a coursing chasm of lava. Down below, closest to Hinagiku's podium, are the Crusaders, Nordvick, and Annavinia, standing on a small island that raises out of the lava. The coursing molten rock encroaches around them as the chamber continues to shake and expand outwards.
Dehliana's wish transforms the inn into an infernal throne room fit for an ascending deity. The vaulted ceiling soars to a height of 50 deet above a plateau of craggy gray stone. In the center of the chamber, a fiery pentagram blazes between five sculptures of human skulls within a raised, circular dais.
Initiative
Initiative Order
1. Dehliana Ascendant
2. Myrna, Lt. Medici
3. Devil 4, Devil 2
4. Unafe
5. Hinagiku
6. Devil 1, Devil 3, Devil 5
"For my first act as a living god, I shall create new life!"
Dehliana races her mace and from the lava small clawed hands jut out, pulling themselves out from the stony sludge below. Five demonic women fly out from the chasm below, each wielding bows and long, swaying whips that appear to have been woven out of human hair.
Her first act as a god done, Dehliana then extends her free hand towards Hinagiku. A powerful force rips the candelabra out from her hand and into Dehliana's.
Round 1!
Myrna and Lt. Medici are up!
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For the whole of the investigation, Myrna was frustrated and upset. She had felt dumb, loath as she was to ever admit such a thing. All the contrary evidence, all of the different agendas, and the Worldwound's superstars cruising around intimidating her had all at once conspired to stymie her every effort. Just as she thought the investigation was coming to a satisfying conclusion, everything was changing. The sudden appearance of pools of lava and a squadron of fiendish beings causes her to cry out, eyes wide with surprise and her hands instinctively going for her weapons.
By instinct, her blood boils with the magic of her ancestors. In her surprise, Myrna swells in size and strength, her skin tinging blue, like the frost giants that interbred with her family generations past. Her horns curl forward and around into a full circle. Her muscles bulge with strength, and her eyes take on their own fiendish glow. Now at her full size, with only moment passing since Dehliana shouted her wish, Myrna reappraises the situation.
She stood upon a stone platform. Above her stood Dehliana -- a situation she couldn't countenance. Despite the surprise and the danger, Myrna smiles. This was a situation she could understand. Soft people desired to avoid violence. Myrna knew when it was necessary. At least now she could pummel that smug medium's face in without the appearance of unfairness. She looked forward to a good fight.
With the ease of powerful muscles and a massive frame, Myrna leaps up towards the center platform. Her shield in one hand, she grabs the platform lip with one hand and hauls herself up in one smooth motion. Once she is on the level with Dehliana, she pulls her axe from its loop and points it at the medium, narrowing her eyes with a sneer. "It was always going to come to this, wasn't it?" she bellows, "Come on then, show me what you got!"
Lt. Medici, in her unruffled robe and with the bodies of the recent dead still on her mind, is completely unprepared for what was to come. She shouts aloud, "Whoa, what??"
Not knowing what they faced, and without most of her magic available to her, the lieutenant stays back behind her Captain. She couldnt climb well, but she might be able to offer some support later on.
Lt. Medici has no idea what Dehliana had transformed herself into, only that it reminds her of religious illustrations in a children's book she had once read in Cheliax of the "Dukes of Hell". She only watches as her Captain leaps across to the center platform, then climbs up to her level. Dehliana sneers, her body continuing to shudder, ripple, and contort. Ribbons of dark power course from the candelabra clutched in her hand and enshrine her.
Meanwhile, further away, the flying devil women draw their bows and open fire on Li'an and Beatrix with flaming arrows.
Unafe, Lann, and Hinagiku are up!
Unafe's teeth clench as Dehliana transforms herself.
By Dolok's teeth, are we too late??
No! Unafe looks around at her mighty companions. We can do this. I can do this.
The Demetae champion crouches to leap...when she sees Myrna grow to huge and beat her to the platform. "Oh yeah, Sarkorian sister! I knew I liked you!!"
Unafe jumps up as well, landing with a shove. She attempts to follow it up with a punch and grab in quick succession.
Lann recalls a book he had flipped through during his brief visit to the Library of Harmonious Scripture. Its title escaped him - or rather, he had not thought to ask for a translation of it - but the large volume was filled with page after page of masterfully colored drawings that depicted alien landscapes both beautiful and bizarre, all in excruciatingly realistic detail. Peering through the pages, he could vividly imagine himself visiting strange worlds, traveling vast distances that he could never hope to cross in his wildest dreams, let alone in his short lifetime. Unfortunately, not at all of the places depicted were pleasant - some were best left unvisited.
Sword and shield drawn, the crusader takes in the miniature hellscape, grimacing at the memory of a page that evoked the heat of a vast inferno and the acrid scent of brimstone. A place deeper and darker and more unpleasant than any cavern in the Darklands. The fact that anyone could sincerely wish for this disgusted him in a way that a scant few things could.
"I've got your back, Ehren!" he says to his friend, interposing his shield between himself and the devil woman right by them. Not knowing what to expect, Lann swings his blade at her experimentally, intent on testing her defenses.
Upon hearing Delhiana say wish, Hinagiku’s grasp had immediately tightened around the candelabra. Guarded yet impassive, she stood still as she sensed the very nature of existence change within and around Dehliana change in the most unnatural way. Yet, for all her precautions, the nascent devil’s power was too much for Hinagiku and, after drawing her a few feet, the candelabra had flown from her very hands.
Before the monk can even float through the ley to recover it, Unafe and Myrna are already on it. Without the shortest pause, Hinagiku’s mind shifts to the next issue, defending her companions. In one swift motion she wraps invisible ley around her arms and propulses herself towards the one who seems most in need of help, Beatrix.
[ooc][/ooc]
Actions
Swift: -
Move: move
Free:
Standard: move
Full round action: -
Defense
**+3 dodge AC vs first attack at her, she gets AoO if foe misses.
***uncanny dodge
Saves:
CMD:
135/175 hp
0/40 delayed damage pool
Offense
Reach: 5 (10 for AoO)
Precogniscient smite: +3insight hit/dg
Points
4/19 ki (spell points)
11/11 mythic
1/1 m.foc.
4/4 AoO
Others
Senses: 35’ blindsight, blindfolded oracle, battlefield sense, .
Immaculate hands (2 essence) (mercy: fatigued)
The nimble Erinyes devil deftly out-maneuevers Lann's attempt to strike her down with his blade as Hinagiku, Unafe, and Myrna regroup on the central pillar to face Dehliana. Unafe shoves the woman? god?, punches her in the leg, and then grabs roughly onto what remains of her tattered dress, the fabric undulating around her of its own accord. Two of the Erinyes react immediately, firing a barrage of arrows towards the center pillar in an effort to protect their creator. Hinagiku's facial expression is unaffected as she effortlessly dodges each and every arrow. Unafe's thick saurian hide manages to protect her from most of the onslaught, though one lucky arrow manages to land square in her back, its tip molten-hot.
Back on the platform where Lann and Ehren stand, the Erinyes finds an opening and manages to make space between herself and the Underfolk warrior. She raises her free hand and an oily, black miasma swirls out from the centre, engulfing both the druid and his friend.
Ehren and Li'an are up!!
Just when they thought they'd almost dealt with the problem, Dehliana manages to use the candelabra to grant herself power. Li'an's reaction to the transformation of the room quickly moves from shock to rage as she watches the woman transform into some form of devil and summon a group of Erinyes into the room.
She breaks off the arrow shot into her by the nearest devil as she drifts up into the air. While she was eager to teach their new guests what burning entailed, she needed to aid Myrna and Unafe with the thing Dehliana had become. Drawing upon one of the divine spells she was able to cast innately, she sanctifies Unafe and Myrna's weapons to strike at the devils.
"The devils are Erinyes," she calls out to her companions through the message spell, explaining what she knows of them quickly.
Ehren merely shakes his head when Dehliana proclaims her godhood. Over the years, he has stood shoulder to shoulder with friends and allies who had just begun to tread the domain of nascent divinity. Their might had been cultivated through trials that no ordinary beings could possibly hope to overcome. He would be damned if this murderer had just managed to ply that same kind of power from a candlestick, of all things. As though out of pure spite, he shrugs off her servant's magic without so much as a grunt of discomfort.
"We need to recover the Flame," he reminds everyone unnecessarily, eyeing the candelabra in Dehliana's grasp. If the box he carries truly possesses wish-nullifying magic, then it is the surest way of putting an end to this nightmare. Obviously, accomplishing that would be easier said than done.
The druid abruptly closes the gap between himself and the erinyes and throws a mighty punch. As his fist sails through the air, he can feel the wardstone shards merged with his form pulsing; the power he had managed to eke out of them was anathema to demons, but it seems that it would work just as well on devils.
Dehliana laughs maniacally as the dark energy from the candelabra continues to encircle her and infuse her with infernal power. Her skin ripples and contorts as she grows to Myrna's size, making it more difficult for Unafe to hold on. She chants a spell in Infernal, deep and guttural, but the saurian woman jerking her around is enough to cost her concentration from her spell. She shrieks in rage, "Get away from me, you b!%%+!" Her enormous, bat-like wings beat heavily in a frenzied motion, creating a powerful blast of wind that threatens to knock the heroes off of her platform.
You watch as Dehliana's skin bubbles like a boiling pot, the skin occasionally rupturing and seeping out blackish ooze. Her body cannot contain her immense power. If she were to foolishly make another wish, she would likely simply explode.
Myrna and Lt. Medici are up!
Myrna throws her shield up and digs her feet in to the platform as hard as she can, managing to keep her feet without being swept into the lava.
Then, swept up in melee with a large devilish creature, she cries out with the song of her people. Her song, a battle poem written during the time before the First Crusade, taught by her grandmothers, about the importance of resisting fiendish influence. Learned Sarkorians knew, of course, that many of their countrymen were demonic cultists during the early days of the rift. It was doubly important then that they redoubled their efforts against fiends.
Her song having invigorated her lust for battle, she roars, raises her axe, and swings it at Dehliana's neck.
Beatrix holds herself where the flaming-hot arrows pierced her, grimacing with the pain and the humiliation of her uselessness. She didn't wish to die, so she incants a prayer to Iomedae, and releases a burst of fog to obscure her from the predatory gaze of the erinyes devils.
While Dehliana’s devilized form trashes to get out of Unafe’s grasp, the cursed candelabra swings once, twice, even three times close to Hinagiku’s grasp. In the midst of the titanic battle going on above and around her, Hinagiku tempts her chance and reaches for the cursed artifact. But, just as her fingers brush against the silver, she is blown away by the sudden and first blast of air created by Dehliana. Caught off guard, Hinagiku is only able to grab on into a crack in the dais thanks to a line of ley which happens to guide her grasp.
Actions
Swift: -
Move: -
Free: Use mythic surge on save
Standard:-
Full round action:
Defense
**+3 dodge AC vs first attack at her, she gets AoO if foe misses.
***uncanny dodge
Saves:
CMD:
139/175 hp
0/40 delayed damage pool
Offense
Reach: 5 (10 for AoO)
Precogniscient smite: +3insight hit/dg
Points
4/19 ki (spell points)
10/11 mythic
1/1 m.foc.
4/4 AoO
Others
Senses: 35’ blindsight, blindfolded oracle, battlefield sense, .
Immaculate hands (2 essence) (mercy: fatigued)
Unafe feels the gale pull at her but clutches on to Dehliana.
"You won't get rid of me that easily!"
Unafe holds Dehliana still enough to allow Myrna a clean swing right into her neck. It lands with a juicy thud, red and black viscous material dripping down her body and onto her clothes. Her neck remains at a ninety degree angle from her body, her eyes wide open and her mouth leering unpleasantly at the tiefling Crusader.
Sana, seeing that the civilians below are being forced to gather closer and closer together to avoid the encroaching lava, flits down with Amber, leaving her there in the center of exposed island. "When I whistle, just walk into the light, okay?" she says, offering a small reassuring smile and a wink. She then flies back to the top of the pedestal she was on previously. One by one, a small group of civilians and crusaders pass through Amber and up to safety near Sana on the pedestal. They huddle near each other, peering down at the bubbling molten flow below.
"Che," hisses one of the devils, breaking the silence. Li'an feels the word repeat itself over and over in her head, as if she were in an echoing chasm. Her heart rate begins to rise and beads of sweat dot her brow.
Meanwhile, inside the fog on Lt. Medici's platform, the tiefling crusader paces in a small circle, unable to see anything going on in the greater chamber. From the periphery of her vision a new fog appears, inky and black. It feels greasy against her skin. She tries to move away from it as a burning sensation overtakes her, but there is no use. She is soon surrounded by the stuff.
Unafe, Lann, and Hinagiku are up!
Li'an shakes off most of the effect of the Devil's fear spell without much effort.
"هل هذا كل ما تستطيع الشياطين إدارته من أجل السحر؟" she calls to the Erinyes in celestial not quite as flawless as Isilme's, but sharing many of the lilting tones of the Azatan dialect.
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The power of Myrna’s ancient Sarkorian song fills Unafe, and she suddenly feels inside as though she’s grown as large as a tyrannosaur. The ancestor spirits that swirl around her seem to thrum in harmony with the sacred music.
”I’m afraid your reign is going to be a brief one, ‘god’.”
She tightens her hold on the false god, and then attempts to pummel her into oblivion.
Beatrix cries out in pain for a second time as the devil's evil spell courses through her spirit and across her skin, leaving her burned and sickened.
Li'an looks over at the battle between the newly devilish Delihana and her three companions. Immediately she can tell that the woman/devil's body was unable to contain the power she had called out to the candelabra for. Whispering through their magic connection, she advises the others "Mae hi'n cwympo'n ddarnau, a'i hannog i ddefnyddio'r candelabra eto!"
Goad Dehliana? That was not Hinagiku’s forte, but she could always try.
”Things don’t seem to be going your way Mrs. Dehliana. The power of your wishes does not come close to the strength of my companions.” Hinagiku’s soft voice clearly rings across the hellish landscape.
After ascertaining that everyone is safe, with a quick peek around and a call to Lt. Medici, Hinagiku’s mind sets back on the task of stealing the candelabra. Taking advantage of the brawl between the giants, Hinagiku waits until the artifact passes right above here. She jumps, grasps it, swings the rest of her body up, and with her leg, gently kicks the ascendant devil’s fingers.
Actions
Swift: Giant physique stance
Move: -
Free: 5’ step
Standard: steal combat maneuver
Full round action: -
Defense
**+3 dodge AC vs first attack at her, she gets AoO if foe misses.
***uncanny dodge
Saves:
CMD:
139/175 hp
0/40 delayed damage pool
Offense
Reach: 5 (10 for AoO)
Precogniscient smite: +3insight hit/dg
Points
4/19 ki (spell points)
10/11 mythic
1/1 m.foc.
4/4 AoO
Others
Senses: 35’ blindsight, blindfolded oracle, battlefield sense, .
Immaculate hands (2 essence) (mercy: fatigued)
Lann winces when the miasma rolls over him but emerges no worse for wear, his mind having resisted the worst of its unholy power. As he prepares to retaliate against the erinyes, the crusader finds himself conscious of Myrna's sonorous voice and the sudden pounding in his chest. Her voice, as he found out during their battle against the scorpions, had its way of rousing a different side of him.
Taking advantage of the opening created by Ehren, Lann shifts his stance and darts in. Gripping his sword tightly, he lets out a cry as he looses two gigantic swings, his blade falling upon the devil like a leaden weight.
Hinagiku wrests the candelabra from Dehliana's iron grip, as Unafe, empowered both by Myrna's song and Li'an's magic, pulls Dehliana towards herself by the fabric of her dress and pummels her into submission with her free hand. The false god crumples in her grip, but dark power continues to course from the candelabra in Hinagiku's hands into the woman unhindered.
Further away, Lann's blade cuts deep into the erinyes in front of him. She turns and attempts to flee from the two the best she can. Dark, oily miasma continues to fill the room, afflicting all save for Sana and Li'an. Sana's fingers dart to hover over her starknife, and she eyes the nearby devil warily, waiting for the tell-tale signs that she would try the same.
'Che-'che-'che-'che' - the same whispered sound rattles inside of Ehren and Unafe's minds, causing their hearts to quicken and their minds to race. Panic threatens to overtake their senses.
Ehren and Li'an are up!
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With two devils closing on the civilians and Sana below her, Li'an finds herself having to delay her personal gratification to deal with the issue. Waving her hand at the demon who had attempted to instill fear in her, she calmly states, "ابتعد عن عيني أيها الشيطان"
She then immediately turns to the other devil closing with them, her eyes burning with anticipation. "اسمحوا لي أن أعلمك معنى النيران ، إيرينيس!" she calls out to it as she draws upon her powers deeply, causing a torrent of holy flames to crash down upon the unprepared devil.
Unafe breathes a sigh of relief as the false god falls limp in her arms, but she sees the writing devil-magic continue to pour from the candelabra and grimaces.
When the erinyes turns its tail to flee, Ehren swings out with his stony arm once more, all the while subconsciously resisting more devil magic. Without much care for whether his attack landed, he looks over to the central platform and finds that Unafe has already subdued Dehliana. Evidently, the woman had vastly overestimated the power the candelabra had given her - not that many could withstand a brutal beating from the saurian clan-liege in the first place.
With the nullification chest still tucked under his arm, Ehren's body transitions from earth to air in the blink of an eye. The vaguely humanoid tornado zips through the air, blowing away lingering miasma as it makes its way to Hinagiku's side. The lid of the chest opens, ready to seal away the insidious artifact.
Hissing in pain as the unholy blight eats away at him, Lann angrily swings his blade at the fleeing devil, only for his blade to go wide.
While Li'an banishes one Erinyes to Hell, she sets the other alight in Heavenly flames. The devil shrieks and screams as her flesh sizzles - an utterly novel sensation for the hellspawn.
Meanwhile, Dehliana somehow stirs awake, despite her body being battered and bruised from Unafe's onslaught. Her flesh bubbles as she swells to an even greater size. Now as large as Unafe, she screams out and attempts to beat her down with the flaming mace that she wields in her free hand, but her strikes are too weak for the Demetae warrior to register them. Her wings beat heavily, causing gusts of wind that threaten to blow the heroes off from her throne.
It seems that the Covetous Flame has imbued Dehliana with the power of a god.... and only someone with god-like power could truly kill her.
'Che-'che-'che-'che' - the same whispered sound rattles inside of Beatrix's mind, causing her heart to quicken and her mind to race. Panic threatens to overtake her senses.
Myrna, Lt. Medici, Unafe, Hinagiku and Lann are up!
Li'an turns her attention to the fight going on for the candelabra, and watches as Delihana returns from nearly fatal wounds. Noting her link to the candelabra's magic, she realizes that the wish was at least delivering on the promise of making her godlike. "Normal weapons won't kill her! Only a god can kill her directly right now!" she calls out, warning Unafe. "Focus on keeping her down and get that candelabra sealed away!"
Caught off guard by Dehliana's abrupt revival, Ehren grips the open chest tightly as he is blown away by the beats of her wings. The gust sends him flying over the edge of the platform, but thankfully, gravity has no hold over an air elemental.