"Well it's terribly convenient, wouldn't you say? Won't find that kind of thing so much in Hearth, haha, will you?"
"Ky La, Inquisitor of...well I was going to say Volcano but judging from your choice of attire that might not be the case anymore. Did the High Inquisitors kick you out? Had enough of your tangoing the line a little too closely?" Iniga responds shortly in an icy tone. She doesn't mind the Inquisitors too much, but she was extremely suspicious about anyone associated with Efreeti Tango, even if she wasn't going to explicitly call him out on it.
Ky La turns his microscope-attention to you. "Hmm, girl, about your age...yes, you were in the Duello Poeti that day, correct? Did you know that young sylph ended up hanging himself?" His tone is that of light table talk.
"Most interesting, did you happen to be present for moral support" Iniga shoots back, mimicking his tone of light table talk before frowning "Why are you here Ky La, the High Inquisitors do not have a role here."
Samen leaves Iniga to continue the conversation and proceeds, carrying the salt toward the cwmwl chamber.
Hmph. She has this handled.
"But perhaps it is the place of a high priest?" A smug smile. "Did you really think you would be the only one interested in what is happening? Did you think you would stop the becoming on your own, ants scurrying along mindless blind trails?"
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”If it was so important to a high priest they wouldn’t have shown up late to the party” Iniga fires back, keeping her arms folded firmly and blocking Ky La’s way. ”As for stopping the becoming, I have confidence in our abilities. Apparently the gods don’t have faith in yours - not if you are only showing up now”
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Samen grunts as he drops his load. He's never much cared for religious folk, and they've not cared much for him. He doesn't know who this is or what he's doing here, but he seems intent on making things difficult.
"Y'know, it's rude to just go disenchanting people like that. Either help, get out of the way, or give us a reason. You inquisitors are clever, but we mindless ants don't let obstacles get in our way."
He continues dragging the sack on the ground as best he can, trudging toward his destination.
Marianne immediately points her arrow directly at Ky La. "Is he casting spells, Samen? Should I shoot him?"
Samen marvels in amazement at how quickly one can become accustomed to quality of life improvements and resent their sudden departure. He strains out a response between bouts of exertion. "Ughn. Probably. Ughn. Maybe? Ughn. Might be more trouble than it's worth."
Wamblee has continued lifting - or dragging - his own sack of salt as his kin converse with the apparent Inquisitor.
He adds:
"If you are making these heavier, I would appreciate it if you would cease."
He is so outlandishly uncaring of your presence, Ky La makes it obvious that he intends to cast a spell in some kind of premptive attack or defense.
Marianne sees Ky La about to cast a spell, and fires,
Taking the arrow to his shoulder with hardly more than a grunted laugh, Inquisitor Ky La speaks a strange language none of you have heard before, breathing in as he speaks,
and now there are six mirror images of Ky La, and none of you is sure which is which.
"Come my children, poor abandoned of Sky, do you not wish to see a new god to worship?"
Mariannne (now taking her turn in initiative) will fire as many arrows as she can,
but misses terribly, her hawk eyes blurry for once. She shakes her head, trying to rif it of Ky La's questions...
Marianne ducks down, covering her face as she fights,
but when she straightens, she has blank mirrors for eyes.
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Samen lets go of the sack with an emotional soup of hatred, irritation, and compassion for his sister. "She would rather die."
He's not trying to kill her, but he'll do what he has to. He charges up his staff and activates acid mode before stepping up to his sister. She would never abide being under the thumb of a god, known or unknown.
"Love you, Mar."
Marianne slams into the brick wall of the basement. Her eyes open briefly, and you see the mirrors are gone - she is herself again. But now she slumps to the ground, unconscious from the force of your brutal, thuggish magic.
you certainly recognize mirror image, or perhaps some stronger version of it. You did not see or detect him cast a second spell. It seems that the words he spoke about Sky and new gods had an intended effect upon the sylphs in your group. Part of the sylph madness perhaps?
Iniga's body temperature rises, a wave of heat rolling through her. Her eyes aflame, she glares at Ky La.
"You overreach yourself Inquisitor. You seemed to have turned your back on Volcano and His many aspects. I guess its going to have to fall to me to remind you how costly that can be" Iniga states furiously, before drawing the Hand.
"MORIETUR" she yells, sending a fireball directly at him.
The mirror images all glance at you, amused. He says, theatrically, "Would you believe there is a golem behind you?" He practically shouts the word. Iniga, of course, is not taken in by such a transparent bluff. No one is behind her.
But further down the hall, there are two meaty thwacks of metal fist against sylphan skull. Two silver golems have clomped into view and knocked out Instra and Byron.
Samoon throws two ice bombs at once, possibly his last two on his belt,
and both hit, despite the leftmost bomb rotating clumsily through the air, the golem is a large target, not prone to sudden dodges.
Wamblee sees the two alchemists fall. No one else is present to protect the group's flank, with Samen and Iniga occupied with the strange gray priest. The student of Root strides to the golems, purpose in his gait, and plants himself in front of them.
Ky La casts mirror image.
Marianne is cursed by madness,
Samen knocks her out.
Iniga casts fireball.
Wamblee confronts two golems after they knock out Instra and Byron.
Samoon throws ice bombs to slow the golems.
Inquisitor Ky La murmurs, "היה עיוור...", and two bright white beams of light leap from the symbol on his robes,
hitting Iniga and Samoon in the eyes.
Of course the golems are working for him.
Samen moves back toward the interloper, then flashes up next to him with his magic. "If we survive, your skin is mine."
One mirror image disappears under your assault. (deleted)
"Why my skin, magician?" He sounds genuinely curious.
Samoon looks away and shields his eyes with an outstretched hand. "Ha! I've seen celerity flashes brighter than that."
The sylph alchemist rushes over to Marianne, and administers a cure moderate wounds infusion.
Marianne stands up from her slouch upon the brick walls, and immediately starts firing.
and suddenly, Ky La has no more mirror images. (updated map)
Iniga simply shrugs off the attempt of blindness and raises an eyebrow. "Oh please, you should know better than to think you can defeat an ifrit with shining radiance."
Proving her point, Iniga triggers her Inspired Rage, body flaring with flame, muscles bunching under her rage.
Ky La fails to blind either of his targets.
Samen takes out one of the images.
Samoon heals Marianne, who fires and dispels the remaining images.
Iniga begins her song of rage.
One golem takes a precise step southeast to surround Wamblee. Their joints are still creaky and slow from Samoon's ice bomb, so they each have time to punch only once,
Wamblee spends another ki point, trying to take one golem down fast. He accepts the song of rage. (-1 AC until next turn)
Ky La looks around, frankly assessing the situation. "Well, better to maximize one's usefulness, eh?" He walks past Samen, inviting an attack against his exposed back,
and you hear a snap of broken bone as he connects solidly against the inquisitor's arm with his staff. A grunt is Ky La's only acknowledgement.
Stopping about twenty feet from Samoon, he intones, suddenly loud and theatrical,
"Will you walk the mirror-maze dreams of His mind?"
"Will you hear the brass music, beats madly His blood?"
"Will you see with His space-gazing eyes which are blind?"
"Will you drink of His silver rain tears as they flood?"
On the last word, a sharp, cold rain of ethereal silver icicles falls from the ceiling, prickling and needling where they pass through your skin.
With one golem down, Wamblee fixes his attention on the second. He is driven to bring it down swiftly so he can rush to his siblings' aid.
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Samen winces as the daggers fall, but does not let his resolve fade. He uses his last useful spell to blink back up to the inquisitor. He punctuates his response with blows of his staff. "Because you're an el of a different element." *THWACK*.
"Because you pissed me off." *THWACK*.
Grudgingly, he admits his true feelings. "Because you've done what I've only dreamed of."
Marianne again falls unconscious (-5 HP)
At some unseen signal, the last golem redoubles its efforts, moving in spite of the cold still on its limbs,
Its right arm, made brittle by the cold, shatters upon Wamblee's shoulder, leaving it off balance.
Ky La nods at Samen's explanations. His body is weak, broken now. He falls to his knees. "You know, you really missed something, not being able to see His full glory? Ah, this shall have to suffice, eh?" He indicates the white crescent upon his robes, now stained red with his own blood.
He laughs as if reading from a textbook. "Ha. Ha." He looks at Samen, waiting for the killing blow. He looks at you, still curious, through huge, cracked lenses. Earnestly, he says, "Will you help me remember you if we ever meet again?"