Spinning in the middle of the circle, Dmitri stopped suddenly, placing the sickles against his skin which at that point had been serrated in plenty of areas with surprisingly symmetricality.
Slowly pulling the sickles away and making a deep gash, they had been stained entirely red, and dripped slowly onto the ground, along with the rest of his body. The only part of his body not soaked in life's crimson tears were his cheeks. His long hair had been stained at the base of the length, and every bit continued to bleed fruitfully.
Swinging the scythes, Dmitri began to bathe the room in droplets, effectively pouring himself across the length of the room. As he pulled them back, he put them to his back, and sank them into his shoulders and waited as the gout poured, effectively symbolizing wings.
He was an angel for just a moment, and the ecstasy of the situation sat in. Looking around the room, everything had been stained, and his blood was draining off. His body shook, and ached, and hurt, but it all felt so... right.
As the intense bit of the ritual waned, and his juices spread among the room, the sent and taste of metal, as if lightning were in the air, appeased him. He closed his eyes, and opened his arms as the blood trickles to the floor in the fashion of some kind of sick curtain. He simply stood there and waited, testing his fortitude as he bled.
The feel of the invisible, yet, all too real unholy energy in the room was something palpable, and inviting. It seemed to promise new pleasures in the future, as well as many other things. A weight was on his shoulders, though he wasn't sure if it was his deity's favor embracing him, or simply the blood loss becoming more apparent.
For the next hour, Dmitri would stand there, on the verge of death, closer to his beloved Lilith, the pool ever expanding, soaking him to the marrow.
His allies would no doubt deal with the bird, rather, the question was, how would they deal with this? He enjoyed the thought of the encounter.
Passing Kori, Apollo gives out a quick response.
Well, I asked why he was here and had a joke for a response, so I figured he was harmless and I'd just get back to what I was planning on doing. Now, where is my egg?
Angmar's exposure to and learning of magic items has brought him a realization: the mithral tube he's found earlier is a magic item, and he knows what it is!
As the group has light conversation and errands running, there is a...slight disruption.
Plonking down the stairs of the main church is a horrendously fat pugwampi, dressed in tiny breastplate and carrying a gnome's hammer in a two-fisted grip. Two more pugwampis follow him, somewhat more typical members of their race. Their unluck aura envelops the nave as they step closer to the members of the group.
"You invade me home? You kill me servants? I'm gon' smash your legs in!", shouts the big pugwampi before yelling a pitifully high-pitched war cry and charging the group.
So it's...
1- Apollo
2- MokkNokk
3- Angmar
4- Pugwampis
5- Hatim
6- Kori
Angmar still not really awake was about to scold Kori for eating the precious Geyer eggs when the pugwampi's return. The Dwarf draws his axe and speaks a prayer ready for the encounter.
Give me a break already you greedy little thing. I've only just woken up, so I'd like a little Apollo time right now. My hits will break you, so if you survive the first and value your life, run away like the rest of your cowardly kin!
Apollo charges Mokknokk.
Kori turns at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, irritated to be cut-off before the new guy could give his answers. She informs him, "If you can talk and fight at the same time, I still expect answers to my questions." When she sees what it is she rolls her eyes, not these pungrampi things again. She takes her time, seeing what is up with the big one, then seeing Apollo rush at him. She wonders if this is the glory and honor he seeks. She draws her new blade, shrugging as she decides to see how it works.
Well the weight is different on the thing, that's for sure, as her swing comes a little too early. It's a shame, it's a nice blade. She hopes she can adjust to the change in balance.
Hatim glances at the female who spoke to him, but was more distracted by the small creatures. He then attempts to answer the strong appearing female while raising his longspear. My name is Hatim, I'm here to help. The caravan is on their way, they pointed me in right direction. As far as my skill, I have no measure for it.
Hatim seems content but not pleased.
2- Angmar
3- MokkNokk
4- Pugwampis
5- Hatim
6- Kori
The first one to attack is Apollo, as he eagerly delivers a mighty swing that catches the creature in its armor and fails to injure. Angmar inures himself against the pugwampi unluck in holy radiance and the pugwampi leader swings at Apollo with his hammer. The pugwampis pull out bows and fire at Apollo while stepping back. The arrow of one connects with his flesh weakly. Hatim moves forward at one of the unsuspecting pugwampis and skewers one with his longspear, killing it, while Kori is not so lucky with her magic scimitar.
Angmar moves into position to attack the chief Pugwampi and Angrodd guides his hand as he aims a massive swing at the buggers head in the hopes he'll cut it right of.
Attack Damage
You withstood my swing....not bad! GUESS I'M JUST GONNA HAVE TO HIT HARDER THIS TIME! says the man, laughing.
While the other two face off on the 'bigger' little gnoll imp, and the new guy skewers a different one, Kori swings again. She lines up a nice shot, but it looks like she may have overreached for some odd reason.
Hatim content with the small "kabobed" creature, then tries to sight out the next unclean annoyance. He doesn't seem bothered or concerned that the female had nothing to say to him.
Distracted by the left over blood from the first creature, Hatim fails to reach the goal he had in mind.
2- Angmar
3- MokkNokk
4- Pugwampis
5- Hatim
6- Kori
Apollo's second swing is powerful and well-aimed, but he stumbles at the last minute and it doesn't even connect with the creature. Angmar's swing, however, guided by Angradd, is right on target, cleaving a huge slice in the creature. Impossibly, though, it stays standing, even taking a retaliatory swing at Angmar. The swing connects with Angmar's breastplate with a *clang*, leaving a dent but leaving Angmar unharmed. Hatim's next spear thrust misses the pugwampi king as the newcomer moves to flank him. Kori's new scimitar, however, slices clean through pugwampi flesh, bringing the second other pugwampi down.
Now only the king remains. He screams "MOKKNOKK BASH IN YOUR KNEES FOR INVASION" as he fights.
Hey, I'm the only one who does the bashing around here! smirks Apollo as he tries for another swing, determined to hit the creature already weakened by Angmar.
No matter how accurately he swung however, he came in with a side swipe, thinking it was guaranteed to hit, but pulled a muscle in his side right before contact, losing the grip on his hammer long enough for it to limply land in front of the Pug's feet.
Kori moves toward the big one everybody is crowding around, wondering if she can find a place to swing at the thing. She starts with a good arc, but stumbles over the body of the one she just killed, making her swing go way too high.
Angmar had almost cut the critter to pieces and as Apollo barreled ppast recklessly the Dwarf stepped in and looked for an opening but he puts far too much pressure behind the blow and it goes harmlessly wide.
Attack
Small amount of frustration appearing on his face, Hatim, again tries to stab. Noticing that his attack was not lined up right his brow increases downward in anger.
2- Angmar
3- MokkNokk
4- Pugwampis
5- Hatim
6- Kori
Apollo and Angmar's attacks miss successively. The pugwampi king looks between the combatants, trying to decide who to strike, then swings at Angmar, the one who had injured him so greatly. The swing goes wide, not even passing through any point that Angmar's body occupies. Hatim and Kori's swings also miss their target. The pugwampi king laughs at their misfortune.
Kori couldn't believe that this bastard was that hard to hit. To top it all off, he laughed at them, laughed. Who did he think he was that he could laugh at them, instead of fighting like he should? This whole fight was actually beginning to anger her, and she decided she has had enough. For the first time since she started this little trip, she let her anger take over as she swung at the thing. She normally tries to keep it in check, as it has a history of ending in her being punished.
Man your luck is good!
Apollo spins around and hefts his Hammer high, using the momentum to swing out an overly powerful blow, heading straight for the creatures head.
No matter how hard he tries however, he just can't seem to hit the creature.
The fight with Knakknak is turning out to be a rather frustrating affair on both sides with thrust and jabs and dodges on both sides. However if there's one thing Angmar does not lack in it's patience. However it seems he is a bit slow today an KnakKnak can easily duck under his predictable axe swipe.
attack with flanking
Apollo swings first and last, using his allies' presence as a distraction while he clips the creature in the neck, pressing the earthbreaker's spikes through its flesh and out the other side, killing it. The pugwampi king falls to the ground, dead. Silence echoes in the monastery as the last of the infestation of pugwampis is exterminated.
Finally! sighs Apollo as he pulls his flesh covered hammer from the carcass of the Pugwampis King.
Crouching down, he grabs the ring and places it on his little finger.
Mind if I have this? I kinda like the look of it. says the man while looking at his allies.
The ring was originally a silver band with very light feather motifs carved into it, but it's had the classic crown-spikes crudely lashed around it with twine. It's still tiny, and so are the spikes, but it was large enough to fit on Mokknokk's head.
Hatim just stands there, unsure if he is worthy of anything that could be picked up since he had just joined the group. Instead, he takes out a cloth and alcohol, and retreats to a pillar to lean against. He covers his mouth and nose with a sleeve, and then starts clean his longspear silently with care as not to get any blood on himself. Thinking he should have used a bomb, instead of dealing with the smell and blood.
Kori looks at the results of the now dead gnoll imp, shrugs and turns to Hatim. "Latecomer, you can measure your worth by how well you kill the enemy. In this fight, I'd say you are okay, but I'll need to see you fight more to be sure." she points a thumb at Apollo, " Lizard-friend says you tell jokes. Tell one. Can you make me laugh?"
Hatim raises one brow in confusion and calmly says, Jokes? I believe he clearly misunderstood. If you mean the man who laughed at my answer about how I came to be here. looks down again to his longspear now clean of blood, but needed another 'once-over'. He pays no attention to the comment about measuring his worth.
Kori accepts the answer at face value, mainly just because she doesn't give a crap about what the misunderstanding was, and acknowledges as much with a simple "Oh, okay."
She looks at the others, looks around, then remembers. I still have two eggs, and I'm sure the cinders are still going in case anyone wants to make breakfast for themself. Pain-lover and me already ate one. It's a lot of food." She looks around in confusion, and finally realizes that he didn't come out and join in the fight. "Where is Pain-lover?"
Hatim is now glad not to be taken as a joke, but thought that these were the only members of the group. He decides to ask, "This isn't all of you? Who is this Pain-lover, lizard friend? All of you have very strange names."
You ate the geyer eggs? Angmar sputters as his head grows red!
By Torag's beard WOMAN! Those eggs are worth their weight in gold on the markets of Katapesh! How could you! the Dwarf goes on still hefting his bloodied axe in both hands.
Well, my Dwarven friend, at least there are two left. I don't know what your plan is, but mine is to raise this bird as my own, and who knows, when it gets bigger, it might even aid us in battle!
Apollo smirks, then raises a hand, tapping it on Angmar's back as he heads back towards the egg he desires.
Good work Angmar....and Kori! Nice work with the minions.
Nom gently nips at the robes of the newcomer, and then takes a tiny step back, opens his mouth, and lets his tongue loll out, looking up at Hatim's face.
As Dmitri finished his muttering, he lowered his arms and looked down at them. Wickedly unholy energy pulsed in his eyes like a faint steam, as well as from his hands. Was it pouring in, or out? He wasn't sure, but the ecstasy he was feeling had him in a state of bliss.
He could feel... something. It felt like wisps in the air, something strange. A word gently whispered to him as it left for what would be some time, and it merely whispered; "Good..."
Dmitri had heard of this from Avalni, actually, as it was the ability to detect the presence of those that were good, though it was more of a taste than anything, as the auras of his friends had long since dispersed.
The fervor had came, and it was still there, really, though it had yet to take it's full root.
The blood trickled from the roof, and drained into the various areas of the laboratory, as well as staining the walls. He was proud of himself, really, though as he thought to himself, he took a moment to think of how he would most likely deliver the news... While this had been a momentus occasion for him, it would be surprising to his "Allies", and especially so for the dwarf...
Dmitri had known enough of Torag to know that his faithful weren't supposed to enjoy destruction, though Lilith was in no way destructive... Ironic, coming from a man who had just royally mutilated himself to earn her favor, but that was to achieve a moment of pure bliss, which he regretted nothing about...
As for the rest, he would most likely just explain everything. His deity usually meant no harm to others, provided they respected her ways. Which deity didn't do that? Sarenrae? He couldn't think of any as his conscience tried to tear from his physical body.
He'd lost plenty of blood... just the way she'd like it. He grinned, and continued to stand in his circle.
Dmitri feels something eminently strange...his newfound ability to detect good manifests itself, and he...tastes Good within himself. It is, of course, separate from the powerful evil that emanates from his body, but somewhere within him is a small kernel of Good.
Separate from the divination, where the kernel of Good is, Dmitri can hear the thoughts that aren't his humming softly.
Kori responds to all the discussion in kind. "Pain-lover isn't here, though he had breakfast. He's a human that always fusses over me. Lizard-friend is that one," she points at Apollo, and then Nom, "because of his little lizard friend, there. The dwarf is Short-legs. If you walk too fast for him he will let you know he has them. Call me Kori."
She turns to Angmar's raised voice, "No, Short-legs, you didn't listen. I said Me and Pain-lover ate one. I have the other two. Everyone else left them in the nest last night. So, I went ahead and grabbed them when Pain-lover moved them to find his new weapon." She pulls off her backpack and opens it to reveal the other two wrapped in her blanket. "If you guys are gonna be crybabies about it then here, take one, I'm full anyways."
When Lizard-friend tells her she did a good job, she scrunches one side of her face and responds, "Yeah, I know." like it's obvious and doesn't need saying, "But New guy and me removed the little ones. Short-legs is the one that hit the bigger little thing the hardest. Maybe he wants your words of praise for that. Oh, and either you or New guy are liars. He says he didn't tell a joke, but you said he did. Who's the liar?"
Turning to Angmar she asks "Speaking of praise, you know of gods, right? Tell me of them. Pain-lover has told me, but I think he only knows the gods of my people. I want to hear of all of them."
Realising the nest is now burnt, the black haired human heads back to the group.
Great, so now how am I going to incubate this egg? Maybe the heat's strong enough outside? Ha!
As he approaches, he see's Kori pulling the eggs out of her overly large bag and takes one, though wondering where to store it as she fires questions at him.
Liar? New guy's sarcasm was the joke. Why do you care anyway, and was it your bright idea to burn down the nest for breakfast? For a start that would no doubt attract the attention of outside creatures....possibly the parent of these oversized eggs, and secondly, how can I incubate this egg now that its nest has been destroyed?
When Apollo responds about the joke, Kori gives him a blank look. "I don't get it, what's a sarcasm, did New guy show his to you? It doesn't sound funny."
As he continues on about the egg, she explains simply, "The nest was perfect for kindling, I had to use it. I don't care how you 'ink bait' the egg, that sounds like something I expect Pain-lover to know how to do."
Apollo's survival instincts kick in. He knows that Geier eggs are hardy and do not necessarily need specific environs to mature. He can leave it nearly anywhere outdoors and safe. There is no telling when it'll hatch, though.
Angmar merely shakes his head at the Drow as he flicks blood from his massive axe.
Ay ye aint's gonna understand anyhow are ye... gods there be many gods. The Gods o the Dwarves. I can tell ye much about. Torag the Dwarf father, he be maker of er kind an our protector. Angradd my patron he be the patron of war and tactics! Every good Dwarf pay to him when it be time to attack...
The Dwarf goes on and on over handful of different Dwarven deities before explaining to Kori the gods of the Gollarion pantheon. And will like speak until disrupted.
Kori surprisingly listens with rapt attention to the talk of the gods, having always heard people talk and direct requests to the gods, but never really understanding how they fit into the big picture. With both Pain-lover and Short-legs being big on god talk, now she has a chance to find out what these all powerful beings are all about.
Whenever he talks of the gods of war, or fighting, she is energized. All the same, gods of laws and love sound absolutely boring. Not content to just sit and listen all day, she directs Short-legs to follow her as he talks. She begins to cart off the bodies of the dead they killed, bugs, imps, and apes to discard them outside the building so they don't stink up the new place.
Once New-guy looks done playing with his weapon, maybe he was doing the important task of sharpening it, she directs him to be useful and look the place over once more in case they missed anything. She didn't bother with Lizard-friend, he always had something he seemed to want to do by himself anyways. Pain-lover would probably show up when he missed her for too long, but for now she would enjoy not having him always so close by.
Apollo chuckles at Kori's statement.
No, why? Did he show you? he says as he carries the egg over to the Pews.
Resting it on the bedroll he slept on, he marches over to the Altar and places his canvas on the ground, in such a way that it looks like a makeshift nest.
He then grabs the egg from his bedroll and places it in his canvas that he's carefully hidden behind the altar/stand.
This should just about do it. Hopefully whenever this thing hatches, it'll pick up on my scent and think I'm its parent...
With his egg situation sorted, Apollo grabs the remaining 4 or so Pugwampi's, following Angmar and Kori outside, where he places them on the ground, but not before offering Nom a little bite to eat.
If the bird hatches anytime soon, there might be enough meat to feed it here, but for now it seems like a good idea to remove them from the monastery. Man, I need a shower though.
Shouting across the room, Apollo asks Have any of you guys got some spare water?! I could really do with washing this blood out of my hair and clothes!
Angmar is still telling about gods. He is currentlyretelling of Erastil as Apollo asks for some water. Absently minded the Dwarf mumbles a few phrases and the man is flushed by a large gout of fresh water which seemingly squirted forward from the earth.
Divine magics it appears command considerable power.
Hatim nodded his head at Kori in understanding, but didn't find it necessary to say anything further. He then stored his longspear, and then noticed a lizard type thing chewing at his feet. Alarmed he jumps slightly to the side, and takes a deep breath. It looked to him as though it had never had a bath or washing.
He then noticed Kori giving him orders to look around for anything that the party could have missed. While doing so, he is confused how the human could have possibly thought he was being sarcastic. Now he's asking for water to clean himself. I could offer, be nice, join this group socially... or maybe another time, he might think my offer is a joke as well.
Thanks Angmar! That'll about do it. Says the man as he heads outside to dry off.
Nom, over here!
Leaving the new guy alone, the baby T-rex follows Apollo out to Angmar and Kori.
This blistering heat should dry me out pretty fast. Guys, I'm gonna check on Dmitri in a bit. It's been a little while and there's no sign of him.