Initiative
Initiative result 23 (glitch not letting me post dice roll)....
Initiative
Goody! Another porcupine devil to send back to Hell....
"Bring it on, spiky, I've got a few more Spirit Guns left in me."
Derrik had slumped over, momentarily motionless for a small time as his blood bathes the Barbed Devil he was impaled upon.. though oddly, his blood seems to transition to a deeper red and then black before a crimson glow comes from his eyes and a bright light erupts from his armor. He shudders and pulls himself painfully off and looks at Daisy and the rest almost as if he did not se them. The crimson glows fades from his eyes like a mist and his blood returns to its normal pigment; he simply nods. " I am fine ... I could not see... for a moment " the healing bathing his body in a heavenly shower.
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He does not answer many questions about his wounds, waving them off. As they eventually find the source of the Devil occurrence, Derrik is uneasy and immediately on edge.
Derrik had grown accustomed to these creatures already first drawing its attention towards him once again so that his allies could strike while it was distracted. Excalibur humms once more, signifying its existence as Anathema to the Devil
Yingzen moves to a position where he can strike at the devil's vital organs
Yingzen's rainbow blade opens a gash across the devil's back--it howls in pain!
Yingzen's arms are scratched as he strikes by the spikes, dealing him piercing damage....
The devil shrieks as Excalibur hews into its spiky chest!
Derrik's sword arm is pierced for damage....
Derrik and Yingzen now flank the devil, and Koran can strike at it from 10 ft away, so he's already within reach....
10 ft of movement will bring MJ within reach of the devil, and 15 ft separates Kepler from the devil, so a 5-ft steps brings the eidolon into striking range....
Oooh-ah-ah!
Yingzen! (Acted)
Derrik! (Acted)
Daisy!
Marcus!
Koran!
Radsworth!
Barbed devil!
Mikey Jay!
TBD: Levinson and her critters!
Eeeeek!!
Daisy delays her action until after the barbed devil has acted....
Kepler five-foot steps towards the Barbed Devil and attempts to trash him apart fearless of the outsider's barbs.
for damage and bypass 5 points of DR.
for damage and bypass 5 points of DR.
for damage and bypass 5 points of DR.
for damage and bypass 5 points of DR.
As the barbed devil is still flat-footed (AC 20) when Kepler attacks, two blows land for a total of 34 damage (each claw attack that hit dealt 22 minus 5, or 17 slashing damage)....
The barbed devil has sustained 84 points of damage so far....
Kepler takes piercing from the first successful attack, and piercing from the other successful attack....
Revised Initiative order! Eeeeek!
Yingzen! (Acted)
Derrik! (Acted)
Marcus!
Koran!
Kepler! (Acted)
Radsworth!
Barbed devil!
Daisy!
Levinson!
Wormwood!
Mikey Jay!
Eeeeek!!
160 damage I believe since it's still flat-footed.
160 damage I believe since it's still flat-footed.
Koran brings Mjolnir down on the devil's crown with enough force to snap off several cranial spikes! The devil roars and grips it's aching head....
Koran's upswing smashes the devil's jaw and face beyond recognition! It drops without a sound, dead as a doorknob!
Will save to avoid aiming that last blow at Derrik or Kepler....
And though Koran is Large and has 10-ft reach, Mjolnir is not technically a "reach weapon", so I believe RAW he still takes piercing on his first attack, and another piercing on his second attack....
Good job, boys! Anyone need some TLC?
I'm good, Daisy.... Yingzen, Derrik, and Koran dropped it so fast, I didn't have a chance to scratch myself on its pointy bits.... Now.... Stand back, I don't wanna get evil artifact dust in anyone's eyes!
MJ begins hacking away at the Spinning Dodecahedron, making cracks in the faceted surface....
Hmmm.... Tougher than I was expecting.... Koran and Derrik--wanna take a crack at this thing?
As the barbed devil is still flat-footed (AC 20) when Kepler attacks, two blows land for a total of 34 damage (each claw attack that hit dealt 22 minus 5, or 17 slashing damage)....
The barbed devil has sustained 84 points of damage so far....
Kepler takes 1d8+6 piercing from the first successful attack, and 1d8+6 piercing from the other successful attack....
Actually, Koran would've killed it before Kepler could attack, so Kepler does not take the piercing damage from the devil's barbs....
No actually, I meant to write this, but Koran is not raging for this attack for fear of hurting Kepler of Derrik.
EDIT: Goin' to town on the evil d12
With Levinson concentrating on preventing the evil artifact from summoning any aid, and with Mikey Jay and Koran wailing away on the Spinning Dodecahedron, it is shattered in under a minute (even quicker if Derrik and Yingzen join in with their artifact weapons)....
It shatters with an explosion of crimson shards that further crumble into crimson dust! The evil Spinning Dodecahedron is forever destroyed--a great victory for the forces of Goodness!
With the destruction of the Spinning Dodecahedron, the unearthly vibration previously felt throughout this floor of the ST abruptly ceases....
Having in quick succession slain a Nessian war hound and two barbed devils, and destroyed a major evil artifact, each FO gains 4,500 XP!
I believe this advances us to 10th level, a little quicker than I anticipated, but fair and square....
For their several mythic-worthy deeds--acquiring several major artifacts on perilous quests, and destroying a major evil artifact, each FO also gains 1 mythic rank!
On pacifying the Silver Tower, they will each be rewarded with their 2nd mythic rank!
Levinson eyed the shards on the ground. While she was of course pleased to see the crystal destroyed, she had to repress a small pang of disappointment that she couldn't continue to benefit from its powers. As the party was moving on, she decided to handful of the crimson dust and slip it into an empty pouch in case it could be researched more later.
"Well... hopefully that reduces the resistance we face heading to the next floors, but the sooner we finish this job the sooner I can shower off all the stench of this place."
Marcus works his jaw until his ears pop.
"Man, you don't notice how annoying that sound was until it's gone, do you?"
"You guys ripped through that thing like it was made of cotton candy, remind me to stay way behind you from now on. Good work, high fives all around!"
You say that jokingly professor, but it isn't funny. You haven't seen it but I can lose control and I don't think you can take a hit.
Koran glares at Marcus for a sec before turning his attention back to the task at hand.
"Noted. If I ever feel like committing suicide, come closer to Koran when he's fighting."
As long as at least one other person is closer to him than you, you should be fine!
MJ grins at his joke....
Like running from a bear--you don't need to outrun the bear, you just need to outrun your buddy....
As the red crystalline dust of the shattered Dodecahedron settles, and the FOs are preparing to press on up the Silver Tower, a sudden, profound sense of ascension into a higher metaphysical realm overwhelms the heroes, accompanied by outward signs and portents!
A nimbus of pearlescent light, in which holy runes and sigils denoting angelic power radiates from Derrik/Arthur for several seconds;
A peal of earthshaking thunder sounds, and a column of blue lightning that doesn't seem to harm him in the least, but rather seems to magnify his personal power crackles brightly around Koran for several seconds;
An aura of deep ultraviolet radiates from Yingzen, seeming to deepen the shadows around him and imbue his eyes with a preternatural glitter that does not fade when the ultraviolet aura vanishes after several seconds;
A blaze of infernal hellfire dances around Levinson, accompanied by diabolical laughter, causing her eyes to glow a hellish red for several seconds;
Radsworth (and Chesterfield) seem to suddenly rise a few feet off the floor, lifted by a personal vortex of whipping, shrieking winds, in which glowing, blue arcane symbols can be seen orbiting the spellslinger, hovering with a look of ecstatic power on his face for several seconds before descending back to the floor with the fading of the whirlwind;
Mikey Jay gives off a golden radiance tinged with purple and green motes of light, and seems transformed in some indefinable way--somehow more heroic;
Daisy is suddenly surrounded by a swirling vortex of ghostly eagles, bears, deer, hares, and other woodland creatures for several seconds;
Marcus is momentarily transformed into a man-like shape of black, star-filled space, through which howling, interstellar winds seem to whip and shriek, before returning to his usual form several seconds later....
What the hell just happened!?
Mikey Jay stands still, mouth agape, a look of genuine shock on his face....
I....I think I know what happened to me.... The spirits have invested some of their divine power in me.... I think something similar has happened to each of us!
The look on Daisy's pretty face is a mix of awe and renewed sense of purpose....
Our gods have....chosen us....
Marcus looks suitably disturbed for a moment.
"Our gods?" he asks.
"As far as I know, I don't have a god. Come to think of it, I have no idea where exactly my power comes from to begin with, but a safe bet is some kind of stolen power from Cthulhu or something similar."
"So if he, or someone like him is granting me some small measure of divinity..." he trails off, and his face scrunches up in thought.
MJ looks with sudden trepidation at Marcus after he mutters his disturbing speculation....
Creeeepyyyy.... What if Marcus WAS somehow channeling the power of some eldritch abomination from beyond the bounds of our known universe? One of those monstrous, godlike entities with unpronounceable names from those ancient and shady old books Radsworth was always quoting from....
Levinson sat against a wall and pulled out one of her last remaining cigars. Seemed like as good of time as any to take a breather since everyone was coming to terms with their divine purpose.
"Sometimes ignorance is bliss, Marcus. After all, I know exactly where my power comes from, and it ain't pretty."
Levinson sat against a wall and pulled out one of her last remaining cigars. Seemed like as good of time as any to take a breather since everyone was coming to terms with their divine purpose.
"Sometimes ignorance is bliss, Marcus. After all, I know exactly where my power comes from, and it ain't pretty."
S#+#, that's right.... Levinson's powers--at least her most recently-mastered ones--come from....an arch devil....I never believed in God, or the Devil, or angels and demons, fairies, or any of that s#~@.... And every new day brings a fresh disillusionment.... I always thought the people who went to church every Sunday 'cause they actually believed in the Bible stories were the deluded ones, and rationalists like myself, who accepted the dogmas of science as blindly as the Bible-thumpers accepted what seems no different than any other cycle of fantastic myths....oh, yeah, and now they all seem equally valid! Not only do I have to accept the existence of Judeo-Christian forces I'd stopped believing in back in high school, it turns out I gotta believe in Zeus, and Thor, and Osiris, and....hell, I'm lookin' right at frigging RAVEN, or at least his avatar.... This is a lot for even an experienced psychonaut like myself to wrap his mind around.... Hmmmm.... I wonder if any shrooms have started fruiting in the in-laws' pasture out in Myakka yet? It's warm enough, and it's been raining some.... Might help me comprehend what's happened to me....to all of us.... That, or finally drive me nuts--if I'm not already nuts....
Yeah, well some of derive our power from more… Tasteful sources.
Koran holds out his hand as a jolt of electricity flickers about his fingertips.
Levinson smirks briefly while enjoying what could be one of earth's last quality cigars.
"I dunno Koran, have you read all of Norse Mythology? Some pretty bizarre and tasteless tales wrapped up in there too. But the way I see it, all of the divine is a little warped by our standards. Gotta make due with what we can though."
As Radsworth sets back down, he seems lost in ponderous thought. That they all had been enhanced, seemed obvious. Each Fierce One had experienced a moment like his own, though he was sure none of them had seen anything close to what he had. Clarity on a cosmic scale.
He takes his spell book from it's prized spot at his side and considers it.
It's bound leather was still exquisite, despite it's age. After stumbling across a Read Magic spell, his quest to every library of man he could safely explore had turned up both this tome and Traveler. Besides the old revolver, it was his most prized possession. He considers it a moment more, then tosses it on the floor and puts a flaming round through the middle of the tome, incinerating the old pages and the book as a whole.
Marcus jumps, jarred from his reverie by Radsworth's shot.
"Jesus man, warn somebody before you fire off that cannon. You scared me half to death."
Rad watches his spellbook simmer to ash, looking up at Marcus when he speaks.
"We should be scared. That the cosmos just selected us as a balance to what the Old Ones are trying to accomplish...that speaks volumes.
He stamps out the fire.
"Humanity was a burp in the universe. Nowhere else will you find such an array of different beings. Through us, the cosmic forumla found the variable it needed to set itself right...
He frowns.
"Of course, that is anathema to Cthulu and his ilk. Such a balancing instrument cannot exist in their chaotic plans for what is and isn't. For them, the equation must always be unsolved. The Dark Tapestry can never finish, but must always be worked and unworked for so long as they purvey it.
He trails off, obviously disturbed by some insight from his recent experience.
"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day."
Levinson watched quietly as Radsworth incinerated his spellbook.
I suppose it is for the best. Wouldn't want something like that ending up in the wrong hands.
She ground the remains of the cigar into the floor to extinguish the cherry. Funny how before the world ended she hadn't touched tobacco since some foolish choices in high school. But plenty of things will kill her now before lung cancer can take a shot, so why worry. She still just sat against the wall though. Waiting for everyone to come to terms with the scope of it all. After a four year taste of Mephistopheles' domain none of this seemed to shock her anymore. And she couldn't tell if that was good or the scariest thing yet.
"So. As far as I can figure, this changes nothing about what we need to do. We can think about it later, but for now...let's kill some more Cthulhu-spawn." he says, grinning widely.
"You really are too reckless, Marcus. You're going to get yourself killed one day soon. And when you do I'll be quite mad at you."
At Pandora's Box in the Canyon, in a great cavern in the side of a vast cliff, where various junked military and civilian vehicles in various stages of deconstruction are stored:
I'm very sorry, Mr. Cox.... But I'm afraid you will have to abandon your work here and start over at our new location.... If you bring your plans, I'm certain you will find the mineral resources of our new home, and the crafting skills of our new allies, will make a new start well worthwhile....
Andy Cox sighs with frustration, pacing around a skeletal framework that resembles the metal bones of a robotic dinosaur....
But I'm so close with this first model, Professor Dirge! Can't we delay our move until at least this one is finished? I....I could get it done in maybe a week! You mentioned our new home is some kind of.... Fairyland? Surely, no matter how much raw ore they have there, it can't compare to having prefabricated military vehicles to cannibalize.... I'd need a foundry to smelt the ore, and I'd have to make molds....