After snapping off the arrows embedded in his shoulder at the haft, Vermundr scowls and glances back in the fiend's direction. "I can weaken her but not enough to finish her off. Vala, can you conjure another one of the lightning blasts?"
"We have to force her to come to us. Get behind cover or get deeper into the castle to some place where she must come inside to constrained territory to attack us."
Not disagreeing, Vermundr retreats with the others.
Constantin Ionescu! the devil exclaims, seemingly in genuine pleasure. I can feel you pathetically rattling around in my brain, even if you can't feel it yourself. Like a boy groping at a woman for the first time.
The accidental voyeur! Haha! Peeping through the window of the mind. Well remember that a window looks both ways, psychic! she screams, using an archaic phrase. Oh I have wonderful, awful things to show you!
Constantin grits his teeth and his hands tighten around the haft of his spear. "I can't stem the tide," he says gruffly. "I'm trying to keep her out, but my control is limited."
The group backs off further, tucking behind what cover they can find in the destroyed lab. Vermundr twists his grip eagerly on his blade as he hopes the devil will fly in through the door and leave itself vulnerable.
Instead it swoops around onto the narrow stone bridge connecting the manse to the lab.
Kazamir turns with a look of surprise in time to see a single flaming arrow streaking toward him through the still open door.
Hit
Zed sees the creature get within range and quickly bolts out the door. As he gets close he leaps in the air and brings his tetsubo down with a snarl!
Following on the vampire's heels, Vermundr slashes at the fiendish woman.
Zed delivers an utterly sickening blow with his tetsubo. The weapon fairly crushes the skull of the devil, leaving it an almost unrecognisable mass of blood and smashed bone.
Remarkably... incredibly... whether through sheer force of will or pure muscle memory, the thing remains standing - though barely.
Vermundr dashes up but squeezing past Zed his slash is cramped and he misses with what surely have been the killing blow.
Constantin takes several sharp breaths, then lets out the final one in a slow, smooth cadence before he focuses and his hands stretch into an odd-claw like position on the haft of his longspear. Once again he launches etheric manifested force at the devil.
Before the devil is able to react, Constantin puts an end to it.
Pain. Searing pain from the ily blackness of the devil's power.
Blood. Running in his eyes.
Water. The roar from below.
Voices. Emotions. Constant in his mind.
...
..
.
.
He blocks it all out.... and breathes.... and holds that breath.
The balls of force glisten in the fading rays of the evening sun and streak like shooting stars across the gorge. They thuds into what is left of the Erinyes' head. The Devil's hand moves to the wound instinctively and she slaps her forehead as if she had had a sudden idea or realization. But the only realization is her imminent return to the depths of Hell.
She tumbles like a bird, blood and feathers drifting down and getting lost in the waters of the falls.
There is a small eruption of Hell Fire as she falls and with a final whiff of sulphur - the Devil is gone.
Constantin sags and slides down his spear to fall to his knees, with sweat beaded onto his forehead. "I... I think we should get some rest," he finally says. While in the trial he looked like an image of Professor Lorrimor speaking at lecture, now he's like the Professor in his old age, wearied and weakened.
"Yes, we've had some difficult fights today." Zed quickly blows through some of his healing spells, watching the area for any other threats.
Vala sighs in relief as the devil vanishes in a cloud of malice and brimstone. "A wise idea. If this Auren Vrood is powerful enough to bind devils to his service and leave them in his wake to waylay us, then we'll likely need all our strength for whatever other surprises he's left behind."
She glances back over her shoulder to the first portion of the estate they'd already cleared. "Let's double back. We can secure ourselves in some of the guest chambers we visited earlier. We'll at least be putting them to their proper use that way."
She touches Zed's shoulder at this, offering him another small burst of restorative magics.
"Some rest couldn't hurt", Vermundr admits as Hazel mends the wounds left by the she-devil's flaming arrows. "It would give me time to mend what's left of my poor armor."
The team retreats back to the safety and undeniable comfort of the manse. With the fire perpetually burning, the ingenious plumbing that seems to draw water from the falls to provide running water and the abundance of food - albeit mostly dried - in truth the manse is a far cry from the alternative of camping in the gatehouse or on the road.
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Constantin sits in one of the chairs in the dining room, with his spear left leaning against the wall. He gives Hazel a wan smile. "It's a bit... complicated," he says. He sighs and tries his best to explain.
"When I developed this, ah, mental sensitivity, I found that I could expand my mind to do things - to pull on the ether to create forces, sense the emotions of people around me, and so on. But it's, um, it's like when you're in a room and you can hear conversations through the walls. Sometimes it's just this murmured noise; sometimes people yell and you can hear everything. And when you get up and move around or say things, they can hear you too. So... when I focus I can control things, but in the background it's always there, this... pressure that my presence puts on the astral plane."
"I was afraid that this might happen - that we'd encounter something that could feel my presence like that. I can't always keep things out. Remember when that hostile spirit was trying to possess one of us? I could feel it clawing at my mind. The more these talents develop, the more it, ah... distorts astral space. The old analogy of throwing a rock in the pond and making ripples? As my... power grows, the rocks get bigger. More things see the ripples. And some things don't like it when you make waves."
Constantin glances back over at Hazel and says, "It's really hard... you saw how angry Vala got when I mentioned knowing what she was feeling. But I can't help it, any more than you can help hearing someone having an angry argument next door. Anything sensitive to psychic impressions, like spirits and devils and such, well, to them I'm a giant beacon, like a lighthouse, and I can't shutter the light."
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Vala stiffles a chuckle from the door and sighs, a soft and genuine smile on her face. "I got angry because you told me how I was feeling instead of asking me, Constantin. People don't like that, you know. Especially women." She pats him lovingly on the arm, in a reassuring way as she winks at Hazel.
"Sometimes it's a kindness to ask a question even when you already know the answer, dear. I am sorry, though, for snapping like I did. That was beneath me and you deserved better." She then takes a seat beside Constantin and waves one of the invisible servants off as it brushes the seat before she can sit down. Settling into the chair with a steaming mug of tea, she looks at the pair and offers a small grin.
"There's tea if either of you care for some. Dark and earthy, like I've never had before. It's quite good."
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"Some tea would be just the thing. Thank you," Constantin says. "I'm sorry that I upset you, Vala. It's... it's like if someone's wearing a red shirt and I say, 'Oh, your shirt is red,' instead of 'Is your shirt red?'. Sometimes when something catches me off-guard it just blurts out - in that case it's like seeing that your friend is on fire and just saying, 'Oh, you're on fire!' instead of 'Uh, hey, are you, um, on fire there?' Sensing things that other people don't means that sometimes I wind up just... reacting to things that other people don't see. It's not because I'm trying to hurt anyone or make anyone angry. It was just... a bad moment."
He sighs and says, "I keep hoping I will figure out how to control this, how to tamp it down and make it manageable, but it seems like the more I expand my knowledge, the more it sort of... bleeds out and spirals out of my control."
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"If someone's shirt is on fire, dear, I think it's a fair bet to say they don't want to be told or asked if they're on fire. They want to be helped. Asking, 'are you ok?' is one way you can help people who are hurting. Then again, sometimes saying anything at all is as likely to get you in trouble as insulting them to their face. But, I do think it's safe to say, when dealing with people and feelings, it's always going to be better to ask then tell, sweetie."
"That reminds me of the time I first really met Petros. I mean, we'd been cordial and civil prior to this, but after we were the fastest of friends. I'd thought I'd done quite well after my first year at the school but I'd crossed one of the uppity-ups above me at some point, probably by correcting them in front of a crowd no doubt. I was a prideful devil in my youth, I'm afraid. Anyway, instead of the shining marks for my first year review, the headmasters were instead particularly harsh with me, going so far as to read a nasty letter. They didn't say who it was from, but I knew all the same."
"That was a hard day. I wondered, seriously and deeply, if I'd made a horrible mistake coming to Leipstadt. Petros was there during the review though and saw how it crushed me." She pauses at this as a wistful smile drifts across her face and her eyes glaze over with memory. "All he did was put one arm around my shoulder and offer in that impish voice of his, 'Let's go get some dinner, shall we?' He didn't press or dig, he just somehow knew that I needed a friend more than I needed any kind of verbal encouragement he might have offered to counter those of that silly little letter."
She chuckles and shakes her head briefly before taking another sip of tea. Turning her eyes back to Constatin, she smiles. "He'd have been proud with how you're adapting, Constantin. I know it's difficult though. Is there anyway we can help you? Perhaps exercises or something of the like?"
Eventually the sun creeps over the horizon, bringing with it the most spectacular rainbow that stretches dramatically across the waterfall like a halo.
Thick black clouds sit on the horizon like giant spiderwebs though, threatening ill weather to come.
With a bit of cordage, some patience, and time Vermundr is able to patch his mail together well enough to absorb half a blow again. With his armor serviceable again he moves on to cleaning and sharpening the edge of his mighty blade.
Constantin sips at the tea and says, "This really is quite good."
He thinks for a moment about the question posed to him, then says, "I seem to be able to just... tune everything out and focus when I'm reading. I focus all of my thoughts on whatever I'm reading and it blocks out everything else. Just uh... I appreciate your patience and your friendship. I know things have been difficult and we've all been on edge lately. I don't want to make more problems... I'm glad to have friends in spite of all of this."
A secret compartment in Volkstag's bed contains a ledger detailing customers who have purchased stolen cadavers and anatomical parts from Volkstag and Grine. Many of the names are local doctors and scholars, but two names stand out due to their frequency: Doctor Brada of Sanctuary, and someone named Auren Vrood.
You fall into a deep sleep, your muscles more weary from the journey and the battles you have fought than you recall.
Images swim through your mind; the sewers, the ghoul that bit you that fateful day, your brother entering that warehouse only to be caught and beaten so badly he was unrecognisable when your mother came to identify the body. And then her too, the sickness that set into her bones and took her that winter, your father lying crushed beneath that beam...
Then there is a figure standing beside the beam. You watch as the figure, somehow desperately familiar, slowly bends down and with no effort whatsoever raises the beam and then, incredibly, offers a hand to your father who reaches up and takes it. Standing shakily but alive. From out of the shadows your mother and brother step.
You cannot see his face but know that somehow he is smiling at you as he raises his hands and one by one the radiant, glowing spirits of your mother and siblings rise from their bodies. They glow like moonlight and look at you with a fearsome love.
Why did they have to die Constantin? the figure says, though it is impossible to determine race or gender. Why does your mind fracture so? But there is another Way, Constantin. What if you could be shown the deepest secrets of your mind? What if all the pain you and they suffered in life need not ever happen to anyone else you cared for...?
Slowly you watch as time reverses itself, the spirits of your family are drawn back into their bodies, which in turn sink back into the shadows. And as you wake the last words of the figure are the ones that stay with you...
Re: Previously...
IN the morning...
"Shall we see what further surprises our elusive M- Vrood has left for us today?"
"Why don't I take the first walk out onto the bridge? I'll see if I can sniff out any more surprises like yesterday's "
If no-one objects...
+3 for traps, magical included.
26 total
Vala shakes her head, "Who knows, dear. First warden Hawkran's spirit and now this seasage effigy? Whatever his game, I have the feeling it's one we need to stop him at."
HP: 45/45
Negative Energy Resist 5
AC: 14 (10 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 15
F/R/W: +5/+2/+9 (+2 vs death effects, energy drain, negative energy, & necromancy)
Monstrous Insight used: 0/7
Healing Hex targets:
Current Wandering Spirit: ???
Prepared spells
Orisons (4) | DC 14: dancing lights, disrupt undead, identify, read magic
Level 1 spells (4+1+1*) | DC 15: inflict light wounds [ ], know the enemy* [ ], magic missile [ ] [ ] [ ], produce flame (CL7) [ ]
Level 2 spells (3+1+1*) | DC 16: glitterdust [ ], lesser restoration* [ ], spiritual weapon [ ] [ ] [ ]
Level 3 spells (2+1+1*) | DC 17: fly [ ], lightning bolt [ ], locate object* [ ], spiritual weapon (extended) [ ]
Level 4 spells (1+1+1*) | DC 18: dismissal [ ], legend lore* [ ], greater magic weapon [ ]
Ongoing Effects
Constantin seems a bit rough in the morning, as if he's had a terrible night.
"Um. Vrood may be involved in the body business because of Bland? Connecting him to the castle? Random guess," says Constantin as he wipes bleariness out of his eyes. "Kaz, you're the detective - how do you think these puzzle pieces fit together?"
Despite the intense day prior, Vermundr wakes feeling and looking stronger than ever.
He follows closely as the party approaches the bridge that marked the end of their exploration yesterday. "I hope there's no more surprises like yesterday's. Those flaming arrows f$@&ing hurt."
"Vrood has a goal, and I feel it is incidental or tangential to our involvement. I cannot think that we have not come to his attention, particularly in the wake of Bland's trial...but if his goal was the acquisition of the warden's shade and the effigy, we have not stopped him. They are obviously a part of a larger picture, but what that may be..." he shakes his head in frustration. "We need more clues."