"Sorry little red. But we had to do it." Hobbes will attempt to console the weeping Allie, hopefully without being roasted. He pulls a strawberry muffin out of his pack and hands it to her.Allie runs over to Vashti and gives her a big hug. "Would have sucked if you died. Who would have given me free muffins?!" She then looks at Sigrun and Neverhome and scowls. She stops over to them and kicks Neverhome in the shoulder. "If you EVER scare me like that again I will KILL YOU!" She hides her eyes and walks away.
"I told you Allie. You need to listen to me more...."
"Oh shut up...."Allie goes to sit down next to Gruff. Petting him gently and crying silently into his soft coat. "I love you, Gruff...."
Zses smiles faintly at Lyosha and Sigrun, before stowing his crossbow and investigating the holographic map. "I think this globe here may have something to do with it, Percy... but at the moment I really don't have a clue about what it does. Before that I'd say that it's better if we check what's behind that door on the other side of the floor: If this Lady Massilovna is still here (and I guess she is), it's better dispatch her before we start to sabotage this thing."
Zses bites his lip, looking at his friends and the aftermath of the battle "I really don't want to give her a second shot at attacking us by surprise. Nor do I want a child murderer to stay on the loose."
Allie looks blankly at the muffin, tears still running down her cheeks. She looks back at Hobbes and then to the muffin again. All of a sudden, she throws her arms around Hobbes and sobs into his chest, accedently dropping the muffin on the floor.
"Thank you."
Little Allie lands on Hobbes' head and plays sweetly with his hair. "eruoy yako, elttil nam."
Wearily wobbling about the rooms, moreso to check for threats than to pillage and finding the locked door he will take a moment to take in the paintings while everyone goes aboit studying the barious devices and generally being useful. Looking at all four he settles on the Winter painting the last and longest.
Allie looks blankly at the muffin, tears still running down her cheeks. She looks back at Hobbes and then to the muffin again. All of a sudden, she throws her arms around Hobbes and sobs into his chest, accidently dropping the muffin on the floor.
"Thank you."
Little Allie lands on Hobbes' head and plays sweetly with his hair. "eruoy yako, elttil nam."
"Yer welcome." Hobbes says returning the hug, patting little Allie who has perched on his head.
Allie dries her tears and kisses Hobbes on the cheek then sits down and quietly eats her muffin. Little Allie grabs onto Hobbes fingers and makes a delighted noise as he picks him up.
Hobbes brings little Allie down with one hand while with the other grabs a tiny muffin resembling the one he gave big Allie to give to the familiar.
Checking behind the curtain, Sigrun draws her hammer back and smashes the ice door after giving everyone fair warning.
Edit: --- Just before Sigrun goes a'breaking---
Percy is moved to tears at her sister's loss She comes over and wraps her up in a burnt-armed hug. I'm so sorry, little sis... she whispers.
From somewhere in the back of her mind, an idea springs forward. She slowly extracts her self from Allie, grabs Vashti's hand, and pulls her over.
I want to try something, but it's risky. Remember when I loosed magic to do what it would in that jolly Fae's realm? Well, I want to try it again. I want to see if Wild Magic can bring Gruff back. Vashti, you might be able to help focus the energy on the positive side of things, if you're willing. I'd hate to make a Gruff Zombie. Allie, I'll focus the energy through you, your loss, and you desire to bring Gruff back. Maybe Imbrex will be with us and magic will agree to cooperate. I think Gruff could be the balance that you're missing, Sis. Maybe, with him here, you'll have a better time with that other Allie that comes out.
She sounds desperate and acting on instinct. There is no theory of magic for what she is suggesting. True to her nature, she is preparing to take powerful magic, turn it up a notch, then break it's bounds and see what happens.
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Hobbes brings little Allie down with one hand while with the other grabs a tiny muffin resembling the one he gave big Allie to give to the familiar.
Lost in the wintry landscape of the painting Neverhome doesn't hear Sigrun's warning until he hears the ice shatter. With a roll of his eyes he'll slowly round towards the noise. "Dammit Silence y... Oh! Nevermind."
... There is no theory of magic ...
... There is no theory of magic ...
I'd also try to burn its spellbook, but that's a more personal issue Percy's working through.
Little Allie kisses Hobbes on the nose and giggles. He flies down and sits on Allies shoulder.
When her sister mentions bringing Gruff back she starts sobbing again. Her pain fills the room.
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... There is no theory of magic ...I'd also try to burn its spellbook, but that's a more personal issue Percy's working through.
Q-24
Several crates, urns, decanters, and storage boxes fill this small room. A mirrored vanity and chair sit next to the east window. An ice statue of a tall, imperious woman stands in the center of the room. As soon as the dust settles from Sigrun's door-smashing, it speaks. "The uninvited shall wither and die like the frost-covered bloom. You should never have ventured here, and you'd do well to leave before my return."
Little Allie kisses Hobbes on the nose and giggles. He flies down and sits on Allies shoulder.
When her sister mentions bringing Gruff back she starts sobbing again. Her pain fills the room.
Unless you don't want me to, Sis. Percy gently adds.
At the sound of ice shattering, Zses interrupts his studying of the globe, rushing into the other room, just in time to see the statue cursing the redhead barbarian. "Sigrun! A-Are you alright?" he stutters, trying to remain calm.
_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_
After making sure that Sigrun's okay, Zses steps into the room and starts examining carefully the items, hoping not to set off any other traps. Peeking over his shoulder, Crow mostly stares at the blinky coins and silver bars, pecking Zses in the head every time the witch misses something about an item.
_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_
Back in the central room, Zses resumes his study of the globe, but stops when Percy proposes her plan to bring Gruff back. "Percy, that doesn't make much sense. You just said it yourself that anything could happen and-" Zses stops mid-sentence, and looks at Allie.
Will bringing the goat back really help her? Percy did say that evil Allie started showing up after she left Gruff, so maybe...
The witch sighs and rolls up his sleeves "Ok, I'll help. Beside" he grins "I'm just a guy with a creepy talking bird that laughs even when someone shoves a flaming sword in his arm: who am I to say what makes sense and what doesn't?"
"It's not a choice whether we try or not...We try, because it's not worth it to leave alone." the elf just shakes his head, smirking.
"Never thought I'd see the day I would approve of crazy, barely controllable magic." the elf mumbles while looking at his sword, which he cleans with a random cloth. "I'm getting too old for this..."
Sigrun feels the dark energies wash over her as she shatters the door, her defiant will reacting much in the same way as her body, becoming the rock against which the energies break, eyes widening as she stares boldly into the face of misfortue.
"I welcome your return witch!" she says with a wicked smile.
"Witch?!?!" Abandoning the painting Neverhome will rush over to Sigrun with his sword drawn. Looking back and forth between the statue and Sigrun he'll reluctantly point at the statue with his sword before growling out "Silence. Statue. Fix." and then turn to Sigrun. "Are you okay? What did she say to you?"
Hobbes brings little Allie down with one hand while with the other grabs a tiny muffin resembling the one he gave big Allie to give to the familiar.
Lost in the wintry landscape of the painting Neverhome doesn't hear Sigrun's warning until he hears the ice shatter. With a roll of his eyes he'll slowly round towards the noise. "Dammit Silence y... Oh! Nevermind."
Damn what friend Neverhome?
He asked cheerfully his head half tilted to the side. Sometimes friend Neverhome was a bit ... strange. His whiskers twitching and tail wiggling he smiled.
"Did you want to help break the statue too? cant trust evil statues.. especially evil witch statues no no no.
He shrugged looking at the two barbarians before returning to the statue... licking his lips his eyes widened and he grinned, he would decapitate this one too, but then.. a dagger to mar the face.. give it a little mustache or something...
Hobbes brings little Allie down with one hand while with the other grabs a tiny muffin resembling the one he gave big Allie to give to the familiar.
Lost in the wintry landscape of the painting Neverhome doesn't hear Sigrun's warning until he hears the ice shatter. With a roll of his eyes he'll slowly round towards the noise. "Dammit Silence y... Oh! Nevermind."
Damn what friend Neverhome?
He asked cheerfully his head half tilted to the side. Sometimes friend Neverhome was a bit ... strange. His whiskers twitching and tail wiggling he smiled.
"Did you want to help break the statue too? cant trust evil statues.. especially evil witch statues no no no.
He shrugged looking at the two barbarians before returning to the statue... licking his lips his eyes widened and he grinned, he would decapitate this one too, but then.. a dagger to mar the face.. give it a little mustache or something...
"Stop breaking shit!"
"Break that Witch's face!"
"She said we were unwelcome here and that we'd be wise to leave before she returned, there was something......dark that felt as if it tried to drain my life from me...but it failed." the redhaired warrior responds. "I'm ok."
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Quickly scanning her up and down to comfirm her dismissal he finds himself unconsciously moving inbetween her and statue. "That is good to hear."
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Quietly watching the activity, Vashti hisses in pain under her breath and tightly holds her stomach as she pays the price for her spell.
Some of the gray hairs on her head turn white and more gray appears than before.
Holding some of her hair to her vision, Dammit..
Witch magic... But she said she's o-
Of course she said she's okay
She doesn't want you to worry
The magic of Witches always leaves its mark
And you just promised to keep her safe
Useless protector
Breaking promises as soon as you make them
Her screams, you'll hear in your dreams
Her pain, her demise, will all be owed to you
You and your failures
Worthless being
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As magic fills the room around them, Sigrun studies Lyosha's face, identifying some internal struggle. Wordlessly she takes his hand for a brief moment, squeezing it before letting go.
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The slight warmth bringing him out his musings monetarily he tenses before giving a soft smile to Sigrun. "... Thank you..."
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"Anytime.." she replies softly before turning her attention to the chaos swirling around them.
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Percy mulls through her knowledge of magic in hopes of figuring out a way to bring Gruff back. Seeing a large opal in the treasure room, she gets a crazy idea: certain mages are rumored to possess the ability to extract a creature's soul and trap it inside a gem. What if a similar procedure could be done with one that had recently died? If performed quickly enough, it's possible that the soul could be captured en-route to the Boneyard - delaying Judgement for a time. Then a magic jar spell could be used to transfer the soul back into the original body. Percy's managed an almost-successful magic jar spell recently, so this shouldn't be too much harder, right? Especially with six helpers willing to lend her a portion of their life essence temporarily.
Percy holds the gem in one hand and places the other on Gruff's corpse. Sigrun, Vashti, and the others join hands and form a circle around her. Percy then closes her eyes, centers herself, and allows the magic of the First World to channel through her.
At first nothing happens but the whisperings of a faint breeze. Gradually this intensifies though, until it's howling with the force of a hurricane. Books, maps, and unattended objects fly everywhere, and Sigrun is blown off her feet. Fortunately, Neverhome stands at her left, and his firm grip holds fast. Just as the storm winds become unbearable, the ground collapses in the center of the ritual circle. Centipedes, maggots, and other carrion insects surge out and rapidly devour Gruff. Within seconds, even his bones are consumed. A massive surge of negative energy erupts from the hole, the room darkens, and a chill fills the air. There's a flash of light, and Percy vanishes into the pit. She falls for what feels like hours (but is probably only a few seconds) before landing at the bottom - where Gruff's spirit awaits. Holding out the soul gem, Percy calls the spirit inside. Then, as the ritual reaches its end, she gathers her strength and grows to the size of a human, then a Giant, then a Titan! Stepping out of the now shallow hole, she returns to her usual size and ends the ritual. Success!
But channeling Primal Magic rarely goes according to plan...
As you unlink your hands and move to examine the gem, a low rumbling fills the room. Another flash of light momentarily blinds you; then the gem shatters. Two souls appear amidst the fragments. Two goats, seemingly identical. Yet you know that one is wholly Evil. They look at Allie, crying in the corner. They look at Radosek's corpse, the only thing unaffected by the raging primal forces. They look at Percy, one with a hopeful expression, the other filled with rage. This is bad. Evil Gruff, the near-slayer of Mama Vashti possesses incredible arcane power that has only been amplified by death. Your mundane weapons will be useless against it. With the last of her strength, Percy calls out to Imbrex for aid. She is answered by a lightning bolt that obliterates Evil Gruff in an explosion that collapses part of the Pale Tower.
When the dust settles, you realize that you've changed clothes. Percy and Hobbes have swapped outfits. Zses is wearing Radosek's robes. Sigrun's furs give Vashti a very different look - and vice versa. Neverhome wears Eredhaias' outfit; whereas the elf has Silence's kimono. The Catfolk, however, appears in the clothing of Mierul. Only Allie remains in her original garments, although it's initially unclear who she is at the moment.
In addition, Sigrun's fiery locks now have a solitary jet-black streak. Eredhaias has changed as well, although it more subtle. His ears are slightly pointier, and the corners of his eyes are a tiny bit more pinched. In certain lighting conditions, he might appear almost fey-like. As for the architect of this ritual, Imbrex has marked her left eye. The iris is gone, and the white has been shattered.
Gruff, on the other hand, appears perfectly happy with his new condition. He bleats happily, sinks into the floor, and reappears behind Allie, where he attempts to nuzzle her hair.
It takes a moment for Percy to recover and take in her environment. She looks confused at first, then bursts out laughing in utter glee. She claps and exclaims, That was fun!
Once the proverbial dust settles Neverhome immediately goes about discarding the elf's very tight clothes before going and searching for his own, his brain still trying, and failing, to comprehend what just happened.
"That...was some crazy @#*£. And awesome @#*£." is all Zses manages to say at first. "Anybody hurt? Dizzy? Possessed by extraplanar forces? And can we do that again?"
The witch stretches, while he looks at the aftermath of the ritual. "But we did it, at least. That looks like a friendly enough Gruff to me." he adds with a smile. Crow happily jumps around the spectral goat, croaking.
"Beside" Zses continues, grinning and turning to Silence "If this is what happens when you use chaos magic, I should've signed up a lot of time ago. Why didn't you ever told us that you look so gorgeous in a dress, Silence?" the witch laughs heartily.
"Look, we even managed to actually blow up half of the tower! Let me just take these horrible clothes off and I'll start working on turning off the portal. I even think there's a piece of skull here in the collar...". As he examines Radosek's robes, Zses stops abruptly.
"It isn't here." the witch says with a tinge of panic in his voice, patting his neck "My scarf isn't here!"
Without knowing why, Zses starts searching frantically for the orange scarf. He doesn't know the reason, but he feels distinctively that losing it was very, very bad.
I... I think... over there! She points to Rasodek through boys of uncontrollable laughter. She is doubled over and tears are forming in her eyes.
Chaos magic is the best!
Allie looks at Ghost Goat Gruff and blinks. "Gruffy?" She stops crying and just looks at him trying to nuzzle her. She tries to pet him bot doesnt get anywhere. "Gruff?!" She curls up with Little Allie on the ground and sobs for a little while longer then she gets up and attepts to pet Gruff, even though it doesnt work quite right.
"Hi Gruff." She smiles weakly. "Are you staying with me now?" She giggles softly. "Will you be with me forever now?"
Little Allie turns into a mini Ghost Goat Gruff and floats around behind Gruff.
Silence did not look amused. In fact he looked horrified. He started to remove the dead blue womans clothes then froze for a moment, his mind breaking with worry just for a second. He had his armor, and his weapons... all would be okay.
Wha... what jus"
He jumped at seeing the ghost gruff and tilted his head to the side. This witch tower was not good. no no no not good at all. He removed the blue woman's clothing swallowing and folding it carefully placing it near her body just so.
Percy goes to her sister after she calms down a little.
Sorry I couldn't bring him all the way back.
Standing there in the buff Neverhome will eventually let out a sigh before gathering up his equipment. "Screw those guard's clothes. I'll just wait to get mine out of wagon."
Allie, completely oblivious to the rest of the world, hugs her sister tightly. "Thank you...." She faces GHOST GOAT GRUFFY and continues petting him.
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Sirgun looks first down at herself, Vashti's dress, cold weather clothing and armored coat tight across her heavier frame, then at Vashti in her furs, eliciting a giggle. As she does she turns her head to see a stunned Lyosha.
A tiny involuntary gasp escapes her lips as her eyes roam his scarred, tightly athletic frame. Though blushing furiously she flashes him a clearly appreciative smile.
"I didn't think I'd be in yer pants this early, beautiful. And soytenly not like this." Hobbes responds as he pulls a wedgie out from the seat of his new tighter more feminine pants. He looks down to his now booted feet with some confusion as this was the oddest feeling he had.