Meanwhile at the north end of the village, Lureene fire off a volley of missiles that impact the struggling she-zombie finally bringing her brief unlife to an end. Behind the remaining giant, her eagle swoops in, talons glinting as moonlight begins to break thru the clouds yet it is unable to connect.
"Awww!!!" Sasha whines noticing that the harem girl has quit moving, "I wanted to see how many more times I could kill her tonight! Oh well, guess I'll have to kill this guy instead..."
With the giant zombie partially distracted by Lureene's eagle, Sasha kicks off the side of the decrepit old lodge and leaps straight for the giant's throat, scissoring her sword-rapier and kukri against the giant's throat. With that one blow, she removes its head and the undead berserker staggers for a moment, arms outstretched before keeling backwards to the earth.
The huntress grins thru the spray of sticky, half-coagulated blood. "You like that, El?"
For a moment, she distends her jaw, listening. "Say, sounds like there's still a few more guys out there. If you can see any try and get their attention, I'm just getting warmed up!"
yes
, Zombies, Darvesch; Lureene, Sasha
MAP: V - Giant Cannibal Village, (Round 105)
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Alis leans around the corner and listens for a moment as she slips the wand free from the back of her left bracer.
"Well, it doesn't sound like the wasps or anything else is approaching just yet and Sasha sounds like she wants Lureene to lure more giants their way because she's bored. By the sounds of it, the two of them are back behind the lighthouse while some more zombies are tussling up on the roof where Grak was luring them."
A soft blue glow emanates from the ivory wand, its light quickly spreads over Priyya's invisible form, and seems to soak into the places where she is most injured. A unique view that the warrior-priestess had not previously witnessed.
"I don't know if you noticed, but Malikadna turned Darvesch into a rat and he ran off into the bushes to the south. Now he was on fire at the time, but he seemed to still be exhibiting signs of intelligence so I'm hopeful that he put himself out..."
delayed
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Able to see the light spell on Sasha's sword waving about, the zombie standing atop the walkway gives a gibbering howl and drops down from the roof to run towards the source of the stimulus. It is soon followed by the one that fell down atop the guard room. Whilst the one in the prisoner pit loses its grip on the heavy bamboo fencing and falls back to the ground.
Further to the east, the magic holding the wasp swarm together is finally spent and the ravenous insects disappear back to whatever hellish place spawned them.
Inside Malikadna's home Darvesch looks around, the flickering flames beneath the cauldron providing just enough light for his beady eyes to see by. To the south stands a large table, bowed with age, bears many odd fetishes, to the north, in the corner opposite an open door, a lay a pile of furs reeking of body-odor. For a moment, the transformed dwarf wonder at the many oddly hued, tiny pelts covering walls. It is only as he continues to assay the and notes the sheer length of some of the furs that it dawns on him what he's looking at. They are not pelts at all but scalps... hundreds of them!
Tearing his eyes away from the gruesome trophies, he notices numerous wicker cages hanging from the ceiling and bunches of drying herbs hanging from the rafters. Discarded in the center of the floor is an empty clay vessel, shattered on the stone floor. He notes that the trail of blood he had tracked before leads up to the table then back north again.
, Priyya, Alis, Zombies
MAP: V - Giant Cannibal Village, (Round 105b)
Seeing that there's nothing of much use in here at the moment, Darvesch follows the blood trail, hoping it leads out of the building.
Lureene sees two more zombies heading towards Sasha and herself, and lets loose another volley of glowing missiles.
Her eagle is not perturbed by this and proceeds to fly into the zombies face, talons and beak slashing !
Lureene fires off a volley of missiles and for a moment, she wonders if her wand has run out of energy given the lackluster effect they have on the lead zombie. Her eagle fares little better inflicting only superficial injuries.
Annoyed by having to wait, Sasha slinks forward executing a last-second tumble to approach her over-sized opponent without giving him the chance to react. Sadly, her attack is scarcely more effective than the eagle's. The zombie seems more agitated than anything.
"Well that was real impressive," she grumbles.
Whether the result of the wand's curative effects, or a resurgence of her own resolve, Priyya finally manages to shake off the lingering effects of having awakened Skather. As the Surya-ka-Vahaak shakes her head and begins to get her feet under her, Alis extends a hand and asks, "Are you able to stand, are you able to speak?"
Further south, Darvesch weaves his way thru what can only be described as some sort of a sitting room. There is a large, low table carved from a 4-ft tall cross-section of what was once a massive tree. Around it are scattered some cushions that must have come from cargo salvaged from shipwrecks over the years, most of them piled in the north-east corner of the room beneath a sort of canopy comprised of skins, feathers, and cloth spread over a wicker frame.
In the corner next to the door is some sort of an altar to Invidia. It is based around what appears to be the figurehead of a large vessel. Several red pearls have been inset into the woodwork, one in the center of the forehead, one in the center of her chest between the breasts, another in the navel, and another in each hand. While that is not particularly odd, you notice that the dark goddess has been painted with glyphs matching the tattoos with which the cannibals had adorned their bodies — glyphs that have nothing to do with Invidia as far as you know.
In front of the 'statue' is a large, blackened bronze brazier still heaped high with the ashes of a recent offering of flesh and bones. Nearby is the large empty jug you spied from outside while Alis was examining the glyph on the threshold.
The doorway to the hut is still open where you regarded it earlier.
, Alis, Zombies, Lureene, Sasha
MAP: V - Giant Cannibal Village, (Round 106)
Now that he's outside again, he recalls the sword Priyya dropped, and makes his way toward it.
Darvesch leaves the relative safety of Malikadna's home and begins heading back the way he came, curiosity seemingly satisfied. As his four short legs carry him, he smells the pungent aroma of urine along the side of the witch's house.
Stealth Checks
Alis extends a hand and asks, "Are you able to stand, are you able to speak?"
Alis' answer is quick in coming, as Priyya arises spouting a colorful, racy (and anatomically unlikely) tirade of angry invective under her breath at cursed swords, undead, and witches terminating on the statement "... with a hitching post!"
"Thanks Alis, I'm just peachy... and now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to destroy every undead in this village and burn it to the damn ground." Priyya turns and storms off around the edge of the building, heading into the heart of the undead problem.
MOVE -
MOVE -
Alis smiles in relief at Priyya's outburst, glad to see that neither has her fire hasn't been quenched, nor her friend struck dumb.
"Good to have you back, just remember to leave my lighthouse standing."
With that, Alis follows after her, keeping to one side so as not to place her invisible friend in the path of any potential zombie charges. She then points Sewing Kit at the zombie still struggling to get a piece of Sahsa and says, "I feel almost offended being ignored like this. Get ready."
With that she fires off two shots, or at least tries to. The first seemingly sticks in the zombie's thick skin for a moment before falling out while the second shot jams. The creature looks to its right for a moment seemingly more confused than hurt. Nearby, Priyya hears something that sounds like an oath being muttered before Alis shouts, "HEY UGLY, GET OVER HERE!"
Finally realizing that there is an uncontested meal nearby, the zombie charges along a path that Priyya realizes will take it right past her. "Enjoy yourself," Alis says lightly as she braces.
Whilst that zombie moves to engage Alis, the one fighting Sasha batters her about the shoulders nearly putting her into a somersault.
"Son of a b1tch!"
Pissed off for not letting her simply carve her name in its carcass, Sasha wheels about and sheers thru the zombie's knee with her sword sending it toppling to the ground. Yet before it has time to flop about or flail, she hops atop its back and severs its spine and the base of the neck with her kukri. It spasms once before going still.
With a flip of her head, her hair flies behind her back and she looks about ready for more. Frowning at Alis for stealing the other one. As if in answer, the last zombie, frustrated at its inability to climb gives a loud roar and simply smashes thru the bamboo barricade. Moments later, it staggers out of the walkway, looking badly scratched and hungry for woman-flesh.
"Oh good! HEY EL, THERE'S ANOTHER ONE DUE SOUTH!"
Sure enough, Lureene sees another, exit the doorway in the south building.
Further south still, Darvesch continues running back towards the giant sword Priyya dropped earlier.
yes
Perception Checks
Stealth Checks
delayed
, Alis, Zombies; Darvesch
MAP: V - Giant Cannibal Village, (Round 107)
Lureene nods to herself, Well, I certainly should be able to handle that!
Her eagle swoops to engage the just arrived giant.
Priyya delivers a swift kick to the sternum of the passing undead.
AoO - Power Attack
HIT:
DAM:
Priyya attempts to dive out of range of the undead's strike and move to a central spot. She summons Alita's power of healing and destruction, bathing the undead around her in holy light.
MOVE -
STAND -
SWIFT -
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Lureene moves up behind Sasha and unleashes another volley of missiles from her wand. They seem to have greater effect this time and the newly arrived zombie reels from the impact even as it waves off the eagle streaking by its head.
In a feat of athleticism that only Alis is able to witness, the Surya-ka-Vahaak leaps high into the air driving the heel of her boot into the charging zombie's center-of-mass with such force that it's attack falls short of Alis by a good three feet! She doesn't wait for it to recover. Instead, she springboards off it allowing her momentum to carry her safely past its reach.
The short warrior lands in a diving roll that carries her back to her feet in the center of the camp. When she raises her hand, there is a veritable shockwave of holy power that actually makes Sasha cry flinch in surprise at the sudden appearance of the fiesty priestess. A moment later, multiple loud *THUD*s are heard as the last of the giant cannibal zombie berserkers fall to the ground, the last of Malikadna's necromantic energy banished!
To the south, Darvesch clears the brush thru which he had been running and reaches the huge weapon that stunned Priyya just a short time ago.
Perception Checks
delayed
MAP: V - Giant Cannibal Village, (Round 108)
With the fall of the last few zombies, an eerie silence falls over the site of the massacre. Only the sound of your own heavy breathing breaks the silence — the very jungle itself seemingly holding its breath.
Looking around, you can see that no one escaped harm. Alis, Lureene, and Sasha still look banged up. While appearing healthy now thanks to her final act against the undead, Priyya's tattered, blood-stained, and dirt-caked vestments are a testament to the sheer amount of abuse she endured. Looking around, the dwarf's location is not immediately apparent to the women.
"El, Sash', Darvesch was turned into a giant rat by the witch. The last I saw, he fled into the brush near the witch's h–"
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"YaaaAAAA
A pair of agonized screams issue from the top of the lighthouse. You look up just in time to see two large women leap from the parapets on the south-east side. Sasha dives for cover just as the twain crash thru the pile of dead coals at the towers base and disappear screaming into a dark pit below it.
Not a heartbeat later, you head the sickening crunch of bones breaking and organs bursting as they slam into the floor of a cavern far below!
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"HOLY CRAP IN A PITA!!!" Sasha's eyes are bigger than her head, her face pale as a ghost. She fumbles around for her weapons only to realize she never lost her grip on them. With a hand from Lureene, she gets back to her feet and begins stomping on the skull of the giant she tripped over until her thigh-high books are covered in blood and brains.
"That's it," she says, walking over to another zombie corpse and hacking of the head with her kukri, "I need a fvcking drink right fvcking now!"
Darvesch hears the sounds of battle wane, and decides to check it out for himself. He scurries to the girls and begins squeaking loudly.
Lureene recalls the Shadow Liqueur that was stashed inside the ground floor of the lighthouse, and she remembers the strange effects it had on another elf she knew earlier…
”Sash, I don’t think a drink now is a good idea…”
She looks around, and glances at the opening leading to the cavern below. ”Hmmm, Aycendia warned us of that cavern. Should we check it out now?” The tone of her voice indicates a complete lack of enthusiasm for that idea. "Or should we see what is in the lighthouse? I know we have seen no sign of either Ieana or Kovack here. Could they have already fled?"
She sees the rat squeaking, and adds "Darvesch, are you ok?"
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Suicide? Guess I can't blame them...
Jaw agape at what just happened, Alis is stirred from her thoughts by the insistent squeaking of a rodent of unusual size that suddenly runs up beside her. She blinks twice and her shoulders slump with a sigh of relief. "Gods Darv', you look like you decided to play in a fire and put it out with blood!"
Pointing a finger at her polymorphed friend, she cleans up his fur as best she can with a prestidigitation. Frowning a bit at the sorry state of affairs, she offers, "Well, at least you don't smell like you did now..."
At Lureene's commentary, Alis says, "I am all in favor of a strong drink but not right now. That can wait until we are safely back in Aycenia's grove."
She looks to Priyya, "I can probably break the enchantment on either Mal or Darvesch, but not both, at least not any time soon. Hopefully Aycenia can help Darv' because I don't think she can make it to the sea, and we can't very well leave Mal alone in the Gulf of Dafar for another month if I help Darvesch now..."
She squats down and strokes the top of her small friend's head. "Sorry but for now, it's easier for you to survive as a rat than it is for Mal to survive as an eel. With any luck, a new friend of ours might be able to help you..."
Darvesch starts to scamper away, toward the sword that was dropped, looks back to see if anyone follows him, squeaks if nobody does, and continues when he's sure he's being followed by one of the girls. He looks around for a cloth to cover the sword with, and starts tugging at the sword once covered.
Lureene sees the oversized rat scampering over to the sword recently wielded by Priyya, and moves to follow him. When she sees him moving to touch the blade, her voice cracks whip like,
When he runs away, squeaking, she stands back up and raises an eyebrow to see what he's after. When she hears Lureene's admonishment, there is a sharp intake of breath from the princess. "No, no one touch that blade for now, I don't trust the accursed thing. Just leave it under that curtain for now, Hellhammer."
Looking to Priyya again, she asks, "So what exactly happened earlier? It looked like you were about to split the witch in two and then you called out what sounded like a name and seemed to black-out on your feet... I recognized–" she hesitates, "that word I told you earlier, but there was another you shouted before that. Do you remember anything at all Priyya?"
Priyya looks down in the pit, scanning it for evil. She says idly, almost to herself, "I wonder if that was a suicide at all. Something in the pit may re-animate those creatures." To Alis, she replies. "I might be able to break one of the enchantments myself but not until Alita sees fit to grant me new spells. In the meantime, I'd suggest we get into that tower and see what's there before we head back to the grove."
Priyya's look darkens. "I remember everything, Alis... Korak filled in the blanks in the blade's name - those missing vowels. I called them out, assuming they would release the blade's power. My folly was in presuming that the blade was already awake given how it manipulated my earlier attacks. Apparently, I was wrong. Calling its name, woke it fully. It is an unholy thing of no small power - possibly an artifact. Once awakened, it struck me down."
She squats down and strokes the top of her small friend's head. "Sorry but for now, it's easier for you to survive as a rat than it is for Mal to survive as an eel. With any luck, a new friend of ours might be able to help you..."
Lureene overhears that remark ,and remembers the charm provided by Aycendia to Alis. She had recommended to use it to help the other prisoners escape, but as things turned out, it was not needed.
Once Alis has finished talking to Priyya about the sword, she approaches the Princess and takes the charm out of her pouch, asking, "Do you think this charm would break the shapechange on him?'
Frustrated that he can't just say what he wants, he decides to spell it out in the dirt. "Take the blade. Don't leave it in wrong hands." And hopes they understand what he means.
She squats down and trokes the top of her small friend's head. "Sorry but for now, it's easier for you to survive as a rat than it is for Mal to survive as an eel. With any luck, a new friend of ours might be able to help you..."
He nods in understanding.
Priyya looks at Darvesch's scrawled message and nods at the rat. "Count on it. If I have to tie a rope around it and drag it all the way - that black blade is coming with us."
Relieved, Darvesh runs over to his equipment, stands on his armour, and looks at Alis..
Darvesch crawls inside his armour, and peers out at the ladies from his helm.
Priyya smiles at the persistent rodent, "Yes, we'll bring your gear as well. Don't worry. Alis has a rather large trunk that will carry all that you have and more."
Time: 1:45et (evening, 7:45pm)
Darkshoal: Pre-First Quarter
A pained expression paints Alis' face at Priyya's recounting. "Gods... well, we are probably fortunate that a giant who knew how to tap into the weapon's true power never got their hands on it. There's a good chance you saved us simply by holding onto it for so long."
Lureene's question snaps Alis back out of her contemplation. "Aycenia's tokens?" She raises an eyebrow. "She said they would merely make the user the size of a giant for a short time, although I suppose there is no harm in trying..."
She notes that the succubus' eyes remain as if expecting a further reply and she says, "It's in your bodice, not mine! I'm leaving it up to you El!"
She turns and promptly gives a laugh at Darvesch's antics, "You know, cuz', if you keep that up, Lureene will want to keep you as a pet!" She slips off her tiny backpack and kneels next to him. "Not that there aren't benefits to that sort of an arrangement, but you are much more dashing with a beard than with whiskers. Don't worry, we won't leave your equipment behind..."
With that, she begins stuffing Darvesch's armor inside in spite of the fact that it is twice as big around as her. After collecting his cloak, she finally drops his massive axe inside of it and then hoists it onto her slender shoulders again. "There, happy now, my dear?"
"Now then, before we go exploring that lighthouse, am I correct in assuming that we have each expended virtually all of our magical resources at present? If so, I can heal everyone with my wand. If we're resorting to solely cantrips and blades, or sharp, pointy teeth, then everyone needs to be in top fighting condition in case we run into any more surprises. We still have no idea where Ieana and Kovack are and Malikadna's lightning storm could probably be heard for miles..."
Lureene nods in response to Alis, and reaches into her bodice, pulling out the carved charm. Walking over to Darvesch she reaches down and gently strokes his scraggly fur. ”Awww, you are SOOooo cute!”
She then ties the charm to his neck so it hangs down across his snout. ”Ok, Darvesch, all you need to do to activate it is simply break the charm in half. One good chop with your incisors should do the trick. Just keep in mind, I am not sure if it will reverse the effects of the witches’ spell, or if it will simply make you larger."
She then readies her gear, while she calls the others over. ”OK, ‘Lis, unfortunately your would-be rapist Cullen is still out there. Now the spell I used on him should last several hours…hopefully…. but it won’t be long enough for us to rest here tonight. So, we need to hurry and explore that lighthouse and then be on our way.”
Alis looks ruefully at the wicked blade lying under the tarp and at the still-burning corpse of Malikadna. "Uugh... And here I thought her smell was repulsive when she was alive..."
She turns away with a grimace. "Lureene, have you tried to detect magic on any of the... 'remains' yet? Priyya, what about evil auras? We don't need any further surprises tonight on either account..."
delayed
When everyone is gathered together...
Standard Action -
On Darvesh, she lays a hand twice...
She turns away with a grimace. "Lureene, have you tried to detect magic on any of the... 'remains' yet? Priyya, what about evil auras? We don't need any further surprises tonight on either account..."
Lureene nearly gags at the smell of the burning corpse, but she does manage to cast her cantrip without losing any more of her dinner.
"Let's check these other building quickly, before heading to the lighthouse. Just want to be sure nothing else is hiding out there."
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With everyone gathered around near Darvesch's armor, Skather, and the witch, Priyya calls upon Alíta's power once more wiping away everyone's injuries. Alis nods her head in gratitude even as Lureene discovers some interesting magical signatures on Malikadna's body:
.
.
- A large red pearl emanating strong transmutation. Lureene believes it to be a 5th level pearl of power!
- Her staff emanates a strong aura yet it is not tied to any particular school. Lureene determines that it helps decrease the amount of time and concentration needed by a caster to maintain and use ongoing effects (like call lightning).
- A ring emanating moderate abjuration. Alis says it forms a deflection field around the wearer — a ring of protection +3.
While the two magically-inclined blondes are doing that, Sasha wanders around collecting a number of pendants from the cannibals' corpses — each one bearing a rare blood-red pearl. Only Klorak's radiates magic, seemingly his being an amulet of natural armor +2.
Spellcraft Checks: Ring
Spellcraft Checks: Staff
Spellcraft Checks: Pearl
delayed
Darvesch chomps hard into the token given to him by Lureene.
Suddenly instead of being a beagle-sized rat, Darvesch transforms into...
.
.
.
...a rat the size of a timber wolf!
For the next several minutes, you spread out to searching the building off the camp's central courtyard leaving Malikadna's home alone for the time-being. From the prisoner pen Alis collects the equipment Mal shed during his forced transformation.
In the large lodge to the north of the fire pit, you find what must have been the living quarters for the tribes males. The place is rank with body odor and if there is anything of value there, you're not seeing it. Behind it, a raised platform overlooks the bay and the land approach to the camp. There is a large wicker basket with an oiled skin over the top protecting a supply of spear-sized arrows. A weathered bronze bell, obviously from their ship by its inscription, hangs from a framework in the south-west corner, a bone striker resting nearby.
The smaller building whose curtain Alis ripped down appears to be a storage shed. Within you find several large urns of water and sealed baskets containing dried jerky — the origins of which you can only guess. Many tools both giant and human-sized have been stored here including picks, shovels, and a massive band saw for felling trees.
"Junk, junk, and hey look, MORE junk!" Sasha's enthusiasm if clearly well concealed. "So are we going to check out the hag's place too?"