Despite its previous lack of effect, Ezekial isn't quite ready to give up on his sound cannon just yet. Making some adjustments and cranking the power and range, he pulls the trigger again, waves of sound exploding from each of the hidden speakers in his armor.
Or, at least, they should be booming. Instead, the array of sound amplifiers just creates a low hum around the cowboy, and nothing else...at least until he starts moving.
"Well don't that beat all..." he mutters as he easily sidesteps an attack from one of the previously horrifically fast beasts.
Thinking this is as good a time as any to try something new, with all the time in the world it seems he has, he tries to fire his gun; the blast which emerges is surprisingly powerful. So much so the shot goes completely wide despite the slowed reactions of the monsters around him.
"What in tarnation is goin' on here?"
Seeing the Demons close at hand and laying into them with tooth and nail, Shatki pulls out her swords, and enhances both the skill and strength with which she wields them.
Quickness Round A:
Quickness Round B:
Ezekial fires a blast of his modified weapon at the demon assaulting him, but the creature seems unfazed, though the look on its face in slow motion is a bit comical.
Shakti shifts into her divine stream of consciousness and her blades become a blender of destruction. As it gets revved up, the first demon staggers back in a defensive posture, but the second doesn't have a chance and he shatters into pieces as the blade cuts past his armored plates.
Anya kicks the demon in front of her and rolls back, firing away, disintegrating it with her laser rifle.
Cutting through the demons, Shakti is in her element. Two more go down in ashes and flames and the last doesn't seem to have the wherewithal to run, though Burgurk is ready to finish it off...
Burgurk aims his psychic blasts at the remaining demon (using all 3 in case of low damage on some) :
13 hits with a raise, so he does :
= 19 is a Wound
No point in rolling the rest.
The last demon is shattered into ash as Burgurk sends his aggressive thoughts towards it. For the time being, the fight has died down, but another resounding boom tells you that something is happening farther in the mine. Casey looks a bit shaken and Jimenez is in shock. "I... I've never seen a demon, like a real one, up close like that.." she stammers out.
If no one else is around to immediately attack us...
"Let's head toward the sound of that noise."
"Casey and Jimenez, go to the entrance of the mine, stay just inside the entrance, and prevent *any* people from coming in."
Burgurk heads towards the sound, not even looking to see if the others are following him (because of course they are).
Shakti gives one of the demons' corpses a kick and calls after Casey, "They are not overly common in this realm; you should take a souvenir!" She grabs a severed demon head and plops it in the dumbfounded woman's hands before following after the Simvan.
"The teeth and horns would make an impressive fetish."
Burgurk shouts over his shoulder to Casey and Jimenez "Shoot over people's heads to make them back away. Only fire at them if they keep coming at you, or fire at you."
Casey and Jimenez nod at Burgurk. "Yes...yes sir." , Casey manages, Both are appalled at Shakti's offering, only shaking their heads they head towards the entrance.
Burgurk rushes head long into the mines, seeking the source of the loud echoing boom that seems to be becoming more rhythmic as you get closer. Soon enough you are greeted with a gruesome sight. The cave you are in opens up into a large cavern that is easily a hundred meters in diameter. At the center of the floor is a large flat piece of rock that is covered in gore. While the bottom of the pile is too messy to identify, the blue body parts on the top look familiar. This is not the most immediate concern however. Standing above the pile is a large demon almost as tall as a house, flames cover its red scaled body and a wicked looking sword hangs loosely in its hand, the blade covered in Offal. Surrounding him are several more demons similar to the ones you just put down. Two more are dragging a weak faelerin towards the dais.
Above them on a higher ledge you spot a human male dressed in dark yellow robes. You can hear him chanting something as those of you sensitive to such things feel the presence of a Rift beginning to open. Anya checks the energy level in her weapon and grins. "Shall we?"
"Everyone move to get close enough that you have a decent chance of making a shot . Everyone else head towards the demon, I'm going to try and take out that summoner.
Stay close to the shadows and stalagmites for cover."
How far is Burgurk to the human mage? Since the demon is in the center, I'm assuming everyone else is 25" to start with.
Taking a quick glance at the room itself, you notice that between you and the big demon is several raised pieces of rock, mining equipment, and debris. You could theoretically get close enough to touch one of the smaller demons if they don't notice you sneaking up on them, but they are also scattered around the area near the pile of bodies. The big one would probably see you once you get within twenty meters. The sorcerer is about ten meters higher than the floor on the far wall, standing on a ledge that leads to a cave behind him. The two demons dragging the next victim are about ten meters from the center, picking their way around the debris and equipment. They will reach it soon. You could just run in, but that will guarantee them noticing you. It's taking all of Anya's self control to not do just that.
The big one would probably see you once you get within twenty meters.
The sorcerer is about ten meters higher than the floor on the far wall
How do we do this? Do we assume that if we stick to the rocks and equipment, no Stealth rolls are needed? Or one Stealth roll, one Notice roll for the demons, per round (which will probably guarantee someone will be noticed)? Or what?
Also, Burgurk tells Anya "Be *quiet*! No flying until we've engaged the enemy!"
Shakti nods at Burgurk's orders, and begins moving closer to the action, hunkered low and moving behind the rocks. She gestures to the next person to keep a 5 meter spread, so we don't all get caught in the same fireball.
Ezekial spreads out too; he's not sure exactly what's going on with his weapons, but he knows he has one of the more versatile weapon spreads, and aims to put himself a bit closer than the others.
Burgurk says to everyone "It is far better to get close enough to attack than to save one more victim."
= 7
"That's a hell of a cold way of thinkin' there hoss. We're here to save these people; it's the only reason the Legion exists to my reckonin'. You wanna creep up all sneaky-like, fine, but I'm gettin' their attention first one way or the other."
While he creeps up, he tries to call up that same feeling of slowness as before.
Burgurk makes a mental note to write up Ezekial for disobeying orders.
The machine she is wearing does not fit well with all the rocks and equipment lying about, so Anya manages to knock over a pile of mining gear, creating a loud echoing boom. At once, all the demons turn towards her and hiss loudly. The big demon roars in defiance at the interruption, raising his massive sword. The sorcerer continues his chanting, too focused or too stubborn to stop. Behind your team, another demon with large horns and two fanged tentacles grows into existence. The Rift above continues to grow wider as lightning arcs to the cavern's ceiling.
"Vengeance!", you hear in our mind as the Thornhead Demon takes to the air, flying above you. The lesser demons, similar to the ones that attacked you when you first arrived, scramble over the rocks towards you, murder in their minds. The two with the faelerin drag him closer to the big demon. Even as he realizes he's been noticed, Ezekial's world suddenly slows to a crawl...
Burgurk makes a mental note to write up Ezekial for disobeying orders.
"Welp, hope this works the same way twice. Damn finicky Ghost Rock..." Ezekial mutters, as he calls silver and light into the barrel of his pistol once more.
Then, he starts blastin'.
His mission on his mind, Ezekial breathes holy flame into his gun, blasting away at the demons holding the faelerin. Like some avenger from the Heavens, he annihilates both of them, dispersing them into shiny constituent particles that quickly become ash. The faelerin drops to the ground and tries to scurry away, but the Big Demon roars, "I WILL NOT BE DENIED!". His blade comes down on the poor victim and you count your blessing that you didn't see the effect, but a flash of lightning from the Rift above tells you all you need to know.
[ooc]The same blue ones you encountered on your first mission, the ones who led some of the demons here and some who are here just to escape their demon filled home and now it seems everyone is hunting them.[/b]
Round A
Shakti continues moving quietly towards the center of the chamber, augmenting herself and her allies as she moves.
Clone's Round A
A duplicate of Shakti, almost indistinguishable from the original, materializes ahead, just the other side of the rocks from the largest creature. She prepares herself, and then shifts into the massive form of an adult dragon, a creaturenon the scale of the chief demon itself.
Round B
"Remeber, these are spiritual creatures; weapons of supernatural power, silver, and the holy divine will work best."
Clone's Round B
The newly emerged dragon immediately calls its flaming aura into being, and charges in towards the largest demon, assaulting it mystically and physically at the same time.
Skills: Fighting d10, Intimidation d10, Knowledge (Battle) d8, Notice d8, Spellcasting d10
Cha: −2; Pace: 8; Parry: 7; Toughness: 28 (12)
Hindrances: Arrogant, Ugly, Vow (Major—serve Ceyrana)Edges: Arcane Background (Magic), Brawny, Charge, Improved Frenzy
Powers: blast, bolt, dispel, puppet, speak language, telekinesis.
PPE: 20
Gear: Two-handed Flaming Demon Sword (Str+d12+3, AP 2, Mega Damage; +2 Fighting).
Special Abilities:
Abyssal Nature: This demon suffers half-damage from non-magical attacks (round down).
Demonic Hide: “Big Ugly” has +12 M.D.C. Armor and +2 Toughness.
Combat Hardened: He has +2 to recover from Shaken.
Fast Regeneration: Even against attacks that can hurt him, “Big Ugly” recovers quickly and requires extraordinary effort to truly slay. He makes a Vigor roll every round to heal damage—even after being “killed.” A success heals one wound, two with a raise. Certain Weaknesses (below) prevent this effect.
Fear (−2): The appearance and supernatural aura of “Big Ugly” causes all opponents to make a Fear check at −2.
Fearless: Nothing in the Megaverse® frightens him, and he’s also immune to Intimidation.
Infernal Form: He’s immune to disease, poison, normal fire, heat, and cold.
Infravision: Demons reduce all Illumination penalties by half (round down) when fighting beings with body heat.
Large: Attackers gain +2 to hit the very sizable “Big Ugly.”
Size +5: At 17 feet tall and nearly a couple of tons, Big Ugly is truly big.
Weakness (Holy Weapons): Demons are vulnerable to weapons and attacks wielded by those who are considered holy opponents, such as those who have the Champion or Holy Warrior Edge. Cyber-Knights and Mystics who follow any kind of “path of light” spiritually fall into this category. Such attacks inflict +4 damage and wounds caused by such attacks cannot be regenerated.
Weakness (Silver): Silver weapons and attacks have the same effect as Holy Weapons, inflicting +4 damage and negating demonic regeneration
2 DM Benny Rerolls
Shakti focuses her divine power at altering the reality of the cave. Soon the cave is filled with the massive form of a flaming dragon. It immediately clashes with big demon, fire from both creatures flaring up and lighting up the room. Woken from his ritual, the sorcerer screams loudly. "Interlopers! Ceyrana will feast upon your very souls!" He begins casting a powerful spell and demonic armor seems to shimmer into existence around him. As he does so, the big demon is engulfed by Shakti's dragon and vanishes into the Rift.
I'm not as worried about the logistics as I am about the imbalancing effect it might have. I've not seen it in action in a game, but the ability of a Novice Character to change into Adult Flame Wind Dragon, even if it does take most of his PPE for the day, turns a character into a extremely heavy hitter, albeit briefly.
So by RAW, the dragon shape is allowed even at Novice level.
Seeing the Thornhead demon as the biggest threat now, Burgurk would attack it if it is within 15" of him (including vertical distance).
14 and 13 hit with a Raise (against the Thornhead), doing :
= 32
9 hits, doing :
14 and 12 hit with a Raise (against the Thornhead), doing :
= 33
7 hits, doing :
And Burgurk moves 12" closer to the spellcaster (24" to go).
The thornhead demon, thinking it has the upperhand, has never met Burgurk, but it will remember him in the dimension beyond. The psionic literally rips the creature's physical form apart into a multitude of pieces and its essence vanishes into the Rift. The fallout of the blast takes three more of the smaller demons with it. Lightning from the Rift scours their bodies as they too feed it.
The sorcerer notes Burgurk's presence with a sneer and prepares to blast him from existence...
Shakti moves to a vantage point where she can see the Sorcerer, and targets his position with two of her rifles. Pressing the trigger firmly on each, she peppers him with laser bolts, like some primitive action hero.
Shakti opens fire on the summoner, but the bolts are either deflected away or absorbed by his armor. "Your dragon was impressive, but now you've lowered yourself to using primitive weapons? How quaint." He yells as he finishes his spell and the energy from her weapons destroys part of the wall where he once was. You spy him floating near the opening of the Rift. "You won't win that easily. Ceyranna is coming, and she is angry." As if to punctuate his words, you see in the Rift beyond a shimmering feminine figure walking slowly towards the summoner.
"Got no earthly idea why folk like this always assume other people know who their friends are." Ezekial says, then plugs him four times.
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Ezekial opens fire on the sorcerer, deciding his monologuing is too much, but the magic protecting him keeps the shots from doing anything other than annoying him.
Anya, with her new found skill at shooting opens fire at the remaining demons charging the group. Two shots drop one of them and a third shot cleanly goes through the head of another demon. Both burst into ash, leaving only four to continue their charge.
The first one runs into Shakti, but she easily bats the thing's claws away as if they were of no consequence.
Ezekial gets clawed by a demon as he turns to run and is happy that his duster's leather is not the cheap easy to rip kind.
Another demon races towards Burgurk, hellish glory on its mind. The Simvan is focused on the sorcerer and barely ducks under the first strike, but the second catches him off guard and sharp talons rake gouges in his armor.
One of the demons gets an idea and leaps after Anya in her suit, grabbing on to her leg, but it can't gain a purchase and falls back to the ground.
Burgurk tries to recover from being Shaken :
Seeing that the sorcerer is powerful, Burgurk spends 2 ISP to give his blasts +4 AP.
He throws mental blasts at the sorcerer :
= 10
Doing
= 29, AP 4
= 41, AP 4
, AP 4
Burgurk moves 6" closer to the sorcerer.
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Second attack :
Burgurk moves 6" closer to the sorcerer.