Fleur smirks slightly behind her hand held over her mouth. Like Kers, she shifts her weight slightly, her blade still held lightly in her other hand, never having sheathed it after threatening the legate. How does he know her name? Does he know all our names then?
She looks to Israfel's cloak when he mentions her hands and then to the others, trying gauge how they are taking the legate's words. He sounds reasonable, rational, and perhaps he believes what he is saying, but I don't. Will we have to kill him to continue our quest?
Perhaps noticing the fidgeting, the Legate smiles at Fleur and Kers. "I do indeed know you all, Fleur and Kers. I know your mission, I know your intent. Killing me will only kill me, and lose you an ally. I am on the same side as you: I wish to see this world prosper. I only differ because I know far more of the truth than you do. Your revolutionaries seek to overthrow a God. Tell me, elf, what is their sucess rate?" He turns and looks straight at Allain, who pales visibly, his hood up to cover his ears. Allain mutters something about lies and liars, as the Legate continues. "Your elven comrade, has he told you his mission? I think not, or I wonder how welcome he would be among you. He's off to kill himself, to sacrifice his own life to destroy the Black Mirror of Anghorn. It's the largest mirror of its kind, a direct conduit to Izrador Himself. Destroying it would weaken my Lord slightly. It would also kill over 100,000 innocent souls. Simple, ordinary men and women, going about their lives, trying to eke a living for themselves. Gone, snuffed out when the Mirror is destroyed, as the awesome power contained in that artifact is released in an uncontrolled blast of energy. Now, believe me or not, attack me or not, I really think you should do something about that!" He points toward Israfel's cloak, where a crack of ice shattering is followed by the cloak tearing and revealing a great six fingered black hand, as large as a small dog, that leaps at Kers like a terrible spider!
Initiative!
Init:
25 Kers
20 Israfel
10 Thing!
9 Allain
8 Fleur
5 Xochtli
Startled by the monstrous hands sudden attack, Israfel draws her dagger and attempts to stab it before it can reach Kers.
Israfel's dagger slices deeply into the thing, opening a rift in its flesh, which seems boneless and gel-like. The thing quivers but makes no effort to stop.
Kers smiles slightly. He knows what to do and he does it well.
Swinging his shield in front of him, he attempts to damage and deflect the spiderous hand.
Ker's shield crashes into the thing as it flies, squashing it against the shield. It slides down from the shield, leaving a trail of viscous black oil on the shield that smokes slightly. The creature lands on the ground at Ker's feet and seems to collapse in on itself, become less like a hand and more like a blob of phlegm. It quivers and begins smoking itself, small blue flames erupting all along its form. A pseudopod extends from the thing like a tentacle and lashes out at Kers, moving with surprising speed.
The thing lashes Ker's leg, dealing damage and burning him for fire damage. In addition the pseudopod wraps around his leg, attempting to latch onto him. It gets a terrible grip on him and squeezes, dealing another damage. As it squeezes, Kers feels the thing attempting to slither under his skin, entering his body.
Fleur draws her blade and slashes at the monstrosity, trying to hit the base of the pseudopod where it attaches to the thing's body.
Xochtli curses softly, glancing at the legate briefly to see what he is doing before pulling her bow out to fire an arrow into the thing.
Kers feels the thing pressing into his leg as a brief wave of some outside awareness sweeps into his mind...
Fleur's blade strikes the thing, further injuring it. Xochtli spares a glance for the Legate, whose hands are moving in a complex series of movements as he murmurs words in a fluid tongue. Still, her arrow flies true, striking the thing, which seems to begin absorbing the arrow into itself.
Round 2:
Init:
25 Kers
20 Israfel
10 Thing!
10 Legate
9 Allain
8 Fleur
5 Xochtli
Kers makes an effort to not run. It talked! he says with revulsion.
Swinging hard he hopes to stop it.
"Talked? What did it say?" Fleur asks, curious, but no less hostile to the thing attacking her friend.
We can talk to it after it stops trying to burrow into your leg Kers. Now hold still.
Israfel attempts to cut the thing loose from Kers leg with her dagger,
Kers' swing cuts deeply into the thing, opening another fissure in its skin, while Israfel's attempt to scrape the thing loose is unsuccessful. She's trying so hard to avoid hurting Kers that the thing is mostly unharmed.
The thing squeezes again, attempting to ooze its way into the fighter! . This time, however, Kers is able to wrench his leg free of its grip and the thing's pseudopod retreats back into its body.
The Legate hisses a final syllable and a dark energy flows from him to whip around the creature, then expands outward. A circle of symbols, made from some glowing purple runes, appears around the creature and Kers. "Get out of the circle! It cannot cross the boundary! Get out!"
Fleur ignores the legate for now, not thoroughly trusting him, but still not trusting the creature... she holds her attack for the moment and turns to Kers. "Now that you're free of it, what did it say? I heard nothing."
She keeps her weapon to bear between the creature and herself however, ready to attack it if it makes a hostile move.
Nodding to the legate, Israfel steps outside the magic circle.
Kers looks thoroughly disgusted. "It said it wanted to be in me."
"That sounds... disgusting... and that seems to have been rather obvious from it's actions."
"Well that sounds unfriendly... are we sure we want to talk to it?" Xochtli asks, looking at it from the outside of the circle warily.
The hand thing slinks around the perimeter of the circle, testing it with a pseudopod. After a moment it slides to the center of the circle, quivers and forms what appears to be a set of shoulders and a head from itself.
The voice that emits from it is thin and reedy. "Greeeetings from your godssss. I commmmme asssss an emissssary."
"Maybe we do want to hear what it says... " Fleur speaks softly, watching the Legate's face carefully as she does so to gauge his reaction to this new development.
The Legate looks disgusted as it stares at the thing in the circle. "It lies, girl. It is a foul thing and it lies."
"Let's hear it, if we don't like what it says then we kill it. I think that is fair... assuming it does not attempt to enter one of us again while we hear it out."
Xochtli looks over at the legate, ready to take action should he decide not to agree with their plan.
Convenient for an emmissary of a corrupted god to seek us out at this moment in time. Which god do you claim to serve?
"I sssserve all the goddsss. I wassss ssssent through the Veil to bring you greeetingsss and hope. The godddsss ssstill wait for you and love you. Join with me and I ssssshall sssshow you how the veil might be cccccasssst assssside and the godsss may return. Mere wordssss cannot convey the plan. Thoughtssss mussst be exchanged. No harm will come to you if you invite me in willingly." The thing seems to be having trouble maintaining this speaking form and quivers, the outlines of the head and shoulders becoming softer.
Fleur looks to the others expressionlessly... Her gaze falls on each of her companions in turn and remains on each one for only a single moment. Then she turns to the Legate, tilting her head to one side as she studies his reaction to this 'offer'.
After a long moment of consideration, she sheathes her blade and steps back inside the circle, her face still a mask of no expression. She walks forward towards the being. Her heart is pounding, as she is not without fear in this but she does her best not to show it to the others.
I hope the others follow suit and let the emissary decide for itself... but if not, I will be the conduit. I wish to know what the gods have to say. If for no other reason than the Legate does not wish us to know.
Kers reacts quickly! The creature is using it's mind powers to pull Fleur in the same way it tried to seduce him!
Xochtli glances to the others, noting Fleur and Kers she puts her bow away and steps forward herself. It wants to say something the legate doesn't want us to hear... someone has to get to it... hopefully they will be too distracted stopping Fleur to stop me.
"Talk to it Xochtli - find out what the Legate doesn't want us to hear.. quickly!"
Seeing Xochtli making a similar attempt, Kers will try to stop her as well if possible. Damn and damn again he seethes all the while glaring at the Legate for his devil tricks.
Fleur attempts to free herself from Kers' grip and get back in the circle, hopefully out of Kers' reach this time.
Free once more... she leaps back in the circle with Xochtli...
"He can't get us both at the same time... one of us has to hear what this thing has to say to us."
"Kers, let it speak through one of us. If the legate doesn't want it to speak then its WORTH hearing what it has to say, surely you realize this?"
Watching the scuffle taking place at the cirlce, Israfel keeps a sharp eye on the Legate and his reactions.
Odd is it not that such a hideous emmissary of the banished gods would reveal itself to us at the very point in time we seek heal the rift. One would think that if the gods had indeed fallen they would only have to remain silent and permit us to continue our efforts.
Before Kers can stop her, Xochtli steps into the circle and near the creature. In a flash it flows into her, merging with her as she gasps in surprise. For a brief moment she is outlined in light, then it fades and leaves on Xochtli in the circle.
The Legate watches with a mix of pity and scorn as you fight to enter the circle, though he does not move to stop you...
Kers grabs his ax, and spins on the Legate. If this goes badly for her, it goes worse for you! he growls.
Fleur just watches in fascination, waiting inside the circle for Xochtli to report what the thing has to say.
"...time of devouring?...what... peace of the void... are our old gods dead?" Xochtli asks, suddenly seeming concerned
"...I see... guys... we... we probably have a lot of research to do... assuming we can find books." Xochtli says hesitantly, unsure of what else to say to the entity.
Yes, I believe we do
You will excuse me legate, but I still have a great deal of difficulty believing you. This is simply too convenient to change my mind. What Xochtli describes sounds far more like the works of Izrador than the gods I remember.
The Legate sighs and shakes his head sadly. "I assure you, girl, that my Lord has no interest in anything that ...thing has to say. It is an abomination and its words will only lead to terrible things. I will not stop you, as I have pledged good will. But if we meet again and you are seeking to further that thing's ends, I will be forced to destroy you." The Legate sits down, hard on the ground, letting the circle spell end. He looks momentarily much older than he seemed a moment ago.