Markis growls in frustration. I'm not sure what good I am here. I can't get through its magical defenses, and I can't beat its physical ones, either.
Noticing it's pinned, he still tries an offensive spell.
Markis manages to lay his hand on the rakshasa, and this time the fiend's inherently magical nature cannot absorb his spell. It does, however, force his will away with its own, and the curse cannot find a grasp on its soul.
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Seeing the monstrous Rakshasa pinned by Tania's enormous tiger, Breccia unwinds from the beast and and leans over the creature. Winding back, he plunges his katar down into its chest with all the force he can muster. Then, reeling back, he repeats the motion, slamming down with the punching blades repeatedly in a merciless attempt to end its life with as much subtlety and finesse as a falling stone.
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Breccia's blows are like falling boulders, and against such force even the rakshasa cannot stand forever. Blood flows from several wounds, and the bat-face looks more frightened than arrogant now.
Despite his strength and flexibility, though, Lankesh cannot tear himself free of the tiger's jaws.
Nesipho continues to stab at at the pinned other worlder, hoping just to strike and let the flame and lightning wound it further than any hope actually piercing its hardened skin.
Nesipho's plan works about as well as he expected it to - the blade cannot pierce the rakshasa's adamantine skin, but the fire and lightning scorch him nonetheless, and the air fills with the smell of burning flesh.
Breccia continues to relentlessly hammer away at the Rakshasa, knowing that it is not the mountain that will crumble first in a battle of attrition. Watching the fiend try and struggle free of the mighty tiger's claws, the oread winds back with one fist while helping pin the fiend down, then slams his punching dagger into its side, then again, and again. By now, the oread is smeared with the fiend's blood up his chest and arms.
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Now that the Rakshasa is pinned, Tania takes a moment to look for magical auras on it, in order to disperse them if needed.
"Ashaka, keep him down my valiant companion!" she says with assurance to her tiger."[/b]
The rakshasa continues to struggle, but its twisting and writhing only allows it to avoid some of Breccia's blows, and more blows flow from its wounds.
Ashaka maintains his brutal grasp on his foe, and the tiger's claws even manage to draw some blood along the way. Now in an outright panic, Lankesh desperately struggles to free himself.
For a moment, it almost seems as though he will manage to loosen the tiger's grip, but the supernatural speed granted the animal by Tania's magic allows it to counter him.
Ashaka maintains its efforts to keep the Rakshasa under its claws.
Unrelenting Nesipho continues stabbing.
Ever the stubborn spirit that has had her father in dismay time and time again, Tania shuffles her feet forward and makes her finger dance, using her own spiritual energy to weaken and unweave the pattern woven by the Rakshasa.
Her movements lack focus though, and she feels the threads slip from her grasp.
The rakshasa is burnt and bleeding, feebly struggling on the edge of death after Nesipho's assault.
With a sudden manifestation of demonic, bat-like wings and a voice that drops an octave as he growls, Markis leans in toward the rakshasa in a threatening manner.
You. Will. Not. Prevail. he spits out in its face.
The display seems to genuinely impact the already-stricken rakshasa, and all traces of its superior demeanor disappear as its struggles become more frantic and less controlled.
Breccia's assault continues like boulders tumbling off a cliff: ponderous and unstoppable.
The final blows of the mighty oread are enough to complete the bloody work the stone warrior had himself begun, and for a few moments afterward, there is nothing but silence and the slightly heavier breathing of Breccia in the wake of the battle.
Somewhat shocked by the savagery of the fight, Tania takes a while to emerge from her numbed state. Trembling, covered in blood spatter, she walks over to Ashaka and puts a calming hand on his head.
The giant tiger reluctantly releases his lethal grip on the rakshasa.
Tania the sits in the hallway, her head against the wall, and weeps softly.
Nesipho, his tone cold, "Best not leave this... thing sitting in the open for others to see." He drags the corpse into the house again. "Tania, do these.. rakshasa have self healing?"
"Someone search the body." To help push out past memories Nesipho engages himself in searching the house. Starting in the front roomthen moving to towards the back. Looking for clues, papers, messages, or anything else of interest.
"I'm. Not... Sure..." says Tania slowly, as she stares at the slain body. Ashaka has released its grip but keeps sniffing at it, somehow curious.
Markis awkwardly puts a hand up to comfort Tania, but stops short of actually touching her. His hand wavers for a moment, then he finishes the gesture by running his hand through his hair. He was a creature made of evil. A manipulator of mortals for his own ends. He shrugs, clearly unpracticed at this.
Prashant stares at the rakshasa's still form, his face creased with grave concern. "This...this is very bad. If the Cult traffics with the rakshasa, then we need to watch ourselves. They are the blackest evil of my homeland. We may be fighting more of them. We need to prepare. I'm...I'm sorry I wasn't of more help in that fight. Only blessed weapons capable of piercing their hearts will strike true against them, and I can't make weapons holy, only punishing to those who step off of their Path."
To the best of Markis' knowledge, they possess no greater healing than any living creature does, although many among them are spellcasters with magics to allow them to heal. That seems to be irrelevant here at the moment, of course.
A search of Lankesh's body produces his kukri - clearly of masterwork quality - 100 gold pieces in local coinage, a ring of keys, and a sheet of paper tucked into a pouch. The paper is a bill of sale for twenty yards of high-quality silk from the Apananda Silk Mill in the Low-Caste District. Nesipho's search of the rest of the house turns up little more of interest; Lankesh apparently owns the Apananda Silk Mill, but keeps no cash in the house that the magus can locate - instead there are a number of promissory notes from tailors and other merchants all over the city.
Prashant stares at the rakshasa's still form, his face creased with grave concern. "This...this is very bad. If the Cult traffics with the rakshasa, then we need to watch ourselves. They are the blackest evil of my homeland. We may be fighting more of them. We need to prepare. I'm...I'm sorry I wasn't of more help in that fight. Only blessed weapons capable of piercing their hearts will strike true against them, and I can't make weapons holy, only punishing to those who step off of their Path."
"That explains why Ashaka couldn't pierce its flesh. But if there are more, how might we best prepare to fight them? One took all we had..."
Tania looks over Markis' shoulder and forces a smile: "They might be there..."
"While I cannot, other priests of Irori can bless weapons. We can visit the temples and see if they can supply us with some scrolls. This creature's coin can start to pay for those."
"Sounds like the thing to have with us. How about Ashaka? Do you think we can find something for him?" asks Tania as she slowly regains her composure, though avoiding to look directly at the lifeless shape on the floor.
Nesipho picks up the kukri looking it over, then hands it to Tania. "I did not prepare the correct cantrips this morning to study this for magical properties. Did you? Come to think of it we may want to do a quick search of the house looking for magical auras as well."
Nesipho then examines the keys and tries them in the door of the house, trying to ascertain which keys go to other locks. "Seems our next move will be to visit the silk mills. Head there now or wait till dark?" Nesipho paces for a moment, "Maybe find someone to purchase some of these blessed oils you speak of Prashant, then head to the silk mill tonight."
"Should we call in the Lord Raheem to question this creature? I'm wary of doing so for fear it might fool its captures or escape through its trickery. But it no doubt has information we will want."
Tania gets to her feet: "You're right, though I thought the others had searched. Did you look for signs of magic?"
If not, she will go through the house searching for magical auras.
Markis colors in embarrassment and tries to fold up the large and imposing wings that had sprouted from his shoulders. He he had stepped back and hung in the shadows when the group's attention turned toward searching the house.
He'll cast detect magic and scan the house for magical auras. I can tell if magic is present, but I never got any training on deciphering what they mean.
The kukri is indeed magical, but no other magical auras reveal themselves to Tania or Markis' sight.
"The kukri is enchanted with a basic set of arcane sigils that make the blade a little more accurate and sharp."
"Should probably just sell it so we can use the funds for additional resources."
An enchanted kukri is an item with no little demand in a city the size of Niswan, and in a few hours' time you have quite the pile of platinum to show for it. The same smiling shop owner who bought your kukri has three of the one of the oils of bless weapon you ask him for when you are there, and promises to have three more before nightfall for a modest additional fee (15 gp for the rush order).
"I agree. Ashaka will not be able to cut through them, but he'll still be able to chew on them!" says Tania, having recovered somewhat from the shock. As she speaks, she plays in Ashaka's thick pelt and is rewarded by a thick and wet kiss.