Timo lowers his blade but does not put it away in attempt to not look confrontational. He then joins his voice to the others. "They speak the truth m'lord. The golem suddenly went rogue and berserk. We did what we could to hold it off while the magister worked to shut it down."
The paladin's mustache quivers slightly as the Magister-Daidalos and Guard-Affyria begin to bicker. It seems to be more irritation than anger. "Enough!" he barks over the squabbling. "Magister, I've tolerated your experiments and creations I think with extraordinary patience. Now, whatever the reason, one of them is running amok and... has killed at least two of my men." He gestures at the bodies on the ground.
A brow arches just slightly, then he looks back at the golem, specifically the golem's hands and arms. "Would any of you care to explain how, exactly, these men were killed?"
In the back, the true magister is truly cowed, shrinking from Morthos's blade.
Daidalos notices the paladin's skepticism, but reminds him of what he said just moments before, raising his eyebrow after forcing himself to take a calmer tone, "That's hardly fair. My golem did nothing of that sort. The men were slain by the intruder that caused it to go wild, or at least I presume so. They were dead when I opened the door. From what I heard, someone was trying to infiltrate the tower, and they stood in their way. That's why I called out there was a traitor, as clearly they had some sort of inside knowledge that enabled them to wrest control of the golem from me. However, when they made their escape- some sort of teleport from the look of it- they were in no shape to be fighting and on the brink of death. I do believe the threat has now passed."
Not sure what Magister Daidalos senses, Timo stands by quietly, watching the exchange intently in case battle erupts.
Lord Havelyn -- servant of The Shining Lord -- listens to Magister-Daidalos with a stony expression. He considers the man's words and, it is clear, does not dismiss them outright. Still, his gaze is fixed on the wizard. Then it drifts, looking over each of you. Your faces. Your armor. Your weapons. His gaze pauses on your weapons. He then looks down at the guards, and back at you.
He whispers a brief prayer, "Shining Lord, let me see thine enemies," and his gaze passes over you once more.
His lip twitches and his sword comes to the ready, quickly followed by the guards behind him. "I don't know what trickery is afoot here, but if you are indeed who you claim to be, you shall lay down your arms and submit immediately lest you endanger your lives and your very souls."
Affyria glances down at her blood-splattered mace, then sighs as she straightens up and looks Havelyn in the eye. "You are a very well spoken individual, Lord Havelyn. And smart, too, I can see we were foolish to think we would be able to trick you. The only lives in danger here, however, are those of yourself, and your men. And please, spare us the spewing of your Mitran beliefs about the merit of our souls. It might work on gullible guards and backward peasants, but we are above such asinine rubbish."
Affyria then grabs her holy symbol and unleashes a prayer of her own, albeit in a different tongue.
Daidalos glances around and mentally curses.
Damn it. We were so close too. Ah well.
Outwardly, though, he remains calm, Affyria's admittance only being the final nail in the coffin for continuing the bluff, "Not bad, my lord," he says with a tint of mockery, "Not bad at all. Don't worry about your magister- he's safe, for the moment at least. You could be, too, if you lay down your arms. Of course, you and I both know how this will play out, so I suggest we skip the pleasantries and simply begin, shall we? Excellent. Glissendo." he says the last word with magical effort, and the floor below the paladin and the guards suddenly becomes frictionless as Daidalos pumps as much magical energy as he can muster into making the paladin fall, then retreats behind his allies to stay outside of sword reach.
"I don't know if safe is the right word to describe the dear magister," Timo says slyly while casting a quick glace at Morthos
Timo then focuses his vision on the Paladin. "Finally an opponent worthy of me. You have the same training he does. You know what he is capable of. You will defeat him" He raises his blade to the ready. As he does, his blade begins to glow with an unholy light. Timo then narrows his eyes at the paladin and begins to grin. "Today is the day you die"
-------------------
With the slightest nudge of an infernal force, Havelyn falls along with his guardsmen. You can sense the fortuitous combination of Asmodeus' blessing and Daedalos's spell has staved off a potentially dire assault.
Nonetheless, Havelyn and one of the guardsmen manage to get to their feet and advance. "My Lord, what do we do?" the one who approaches alerts Havelyn, but the commander replies, "Go! Alert the garrison and sound the alarm!"
Hearing that combat is joined, Morthos sees a pained expression come to the magister's face when he makes a snap decision, "Defend the tower!" The golem comes back to life... and promptly falls to the ground. The magister stares at Morthos, helpless yet defiant. "The good people will not suffer you."
He sword flashes with a glimmer of holy energy as he swings. The sword comes down in a flashing arc, slicing through Affyria's defenses and flesh, drawing a spray of blood.
The guardsmen carefully stand up then try to move out of the greased area. One succeeds while the other slips and falls once more. "My Lord!" The one who approaches alerts Havelyn, but the commander replies, "Go! Alert the garrison and sound the alarm!"
Hearing that combat is joined, Morthos sees a pained expression come to the magister's face when he makes a snap decision, "Defend the tower!" The golem comes back to life... and promptly falls to the ground. The magister stares at Morthos, helpless yet defiant. "The good people will not suffer you."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hearing that combat is joined, Morthos sees a pained expression come to the magister's face when he makes a snap decision, "Defend the tower!" The golem comes back to life... and promptly falls to the ground. The magister stares at Morthos, helpless yet defiant. "The good people will not suffer you."
Morthos glares at the Magister, "Then their fate is sealed as is yours, fool!" Morthos brings his sword high and aims to remove the head of the magister from his shoulders.
Daidalos smirks as the paladin falls, and narrows his eyes in concern as a guard tries to get away, Well, that's just no good now, is it? he thinks. With a newfound burst of infernal strength, he extends his senses beyond the physical, and reaches out until he hits upon what he's looking for: the steady tick, tick, tick of the timestream, flowing from the dimension of Time and moving throughout the multiverse. From there, he reaches out with his mind, similar to enlarging a person or creating an illusion, tweaks it ever so slightly, making it slow down.
Tick. tick. tick.
He opens his eyes to the world moving slightly slower, but that wasn't as important for him. Instead, he forces the sensation away from him, the mana pooling out away from him until it comes to rest in the rest of the Ninth Knot, and Daidalos grins in satisfaction
Affyria grins her needle-like teeth bare at the fumbling paladin. "I have always felt a lot of you Mitra worshippers adhere to their faith slavishly, to the point where it often blinds them. Let's put that to the test, shall we."
Having found the mage surprisingly resilient so far, Raevanis strikes at him alongside Morthos, wanting to make sure the man is dead before he turns his attention to a paladin, two knights and a golem made of ice.
Daidalos: Haste
Morthos: 18 attack vs. magister; 14 damage
Affyria: Blindness
Raven: Double attack on magister (16 w/ 10; 23 w/ 9)
Timo: Pending
Ordy: Pending
Daidalos casts a spell enhancing the villains' speed with an infernal celerity, after which Morthos and Raven rain down a series of devastating slashes upon the magister. In the blink of an eye, the wizard's body is reduced to a pile of fluids and slashed flesh. Affyria tries to put a capstone on the paladin's demise but the power of Mitra holds true against the assault; the paladin easily shakes off the attempt to blind him to your perfidy.
Timo calls upon his own infernal connections and sets all his connections to the Nine Hells towards the destruction of the paladin.
The guardsman at the top of the stairs pauses briefly. "M'lord?" he asks, seeking confirmation that he is being sent away.
"Help me out, then go!" Lord Havelyn barks back. The guardsman pauses, extended a hand to help the commander. At first his plate-armored boots slip and slide on the grease but, on the second attempt, just barely manages to slip free. It does, however, delay the guardsman. The second guardsman falls once more to the ground, the grease posing significant problems for the heavily armored men.
Slowly, ponderously, the golem returns to its feet and... stays there, but impeded by the heavy weight of the Nine Hells, is unable to slip out of the grease.
Morthos walks out of the room and strides over near the wall. Noticing the man who is obviously in charge, "So you are the fool giving all the orders. Good. It makes it far easier to decide who to remove first."
"You should have run when you had the chance." Daidalos steps up slightly, staying well within the protection of his allies, though, and starts a spell, then pauses, seeing the golem in range. After the barest of hesitation, he tweaks the spell he's casting ever so slightly, and instead of shooting out hundreds of snowballs, thousands of metal shards, diamond-hard and razor sharp, pelt the guard and paladin (and golem, but they don't affect it at all), leaving them in sorry shape.
Affyria glares at Havelyn, then directs her attention to the guard ordered to leave for help. "Awww, you're not leaving so soon are you?" she purs.
Unwilling to engage the paladin on his own -he is not a fool, after all- Raven nevertheless steps forward to both provide cover for Daidalos so the mage can continue his spellcasting more or less protected and so he can throw the dagger that has just appeared in his grasp, courtesy of his spring loaded wrist sheath, at Havelyn.
Timo puts the banter of the his comrade's out of his mind and focuses solely on his opponent. Everything else fades away as Timo looks for his opening. As the paladin wobbles slightly coming off the grease, Timo sees his opportunity and springs into action. Timo deftly moves towards the paladin. As he does, the sign of Asmodeus flashes through his disguise and his blade glows with darkness. He then swings at the paladin in an upward arc, aiming for a weak spot between the plates
Morthos's taunts are shrugged off like so much noise, though Daedalos's spell less so. Havelyn takes the blast squarely in the chest. His guardsman is able to avoid the worst of it but proves far less resilient than the paladin. Even the glancing strike nearly kills him. Nearly. Bloodied but still standing, he is ready to run sprinting for reinforcements when Affyria's spell compels him to sit.
Raven's dagger is slips just under paladin's shield and, while the blow is glancing, it leaves him vulnerable to Timo's assault. It is a crushing blow but he resists most of the anti-paladin's unholy energy. He grimaces under the blow, but fixes his gaze on the tiefling. "You may kill me, but the reward for your villainy is naught but an eternity of pain. Turn from it, now."
Havelyn's sword flashes with a holy light and slashes out for Timo's neck. Timo parries the blow and Havelyn twists the blade, bringing it back for a downward strike, but the anti-paladin is too fast, blocking it with the hilt of his nodachi.
The golem ponderously maneuvers itself out of the grease while the other guard is able to stand but still slips and slides about uselessly.
To spare his violent friends the worry of having to finish him off, Daidalos hurls a sphere of acid at the nearly-dead guard, hoping to finish him off.
"Villainy? We are merely the harbingers of a new age of enlightenment. All change brings with it a measure of misunderstanding," Affyria says as she brandishes her (un)holy symbol.
Timo sighs. "I thought you would put up a challenge. I will make your death quick. Our resident wizard however may make your eternity very painful." Timo then swings his blade up across the paladin before bringing it back down.
Daidalos grins and pulls out his spellbook, ”You will most certainly be a prize to collect.” he says, agreeing with Timo.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Letting his sword fall to the floor, the pale elf draws his longbow, letting loose an arrow as soon as he has it in his hands, its target the remaining guardsman.
Morthos moves up next to Timo to face the lone guardsman. "You are in our way, pathetic wretch. There is an ice beast that must be brought down," he tells him plainly as he aims his strike for his neck.
Daid: Acid Splash (Kill Guard #1)
Affyria: Channel
Timo: Utterly destroy the poor Lord Commander
Raven: Bow on guardsman (miss)
Morthos: Attack Golem (miss)
Daidalos's summoned splash of acid manages to send the first guardsman into unconsciousness, while Affyria calls forth the blessings of Asmodeus once more to heal your wounds. Meanwhile, Timo charges forth and dispatches the Lord Commander with two swift strikes, sending the good paladin of Mitra crumpling to the ground in a spray of blood. Raven tries to take out the guardsman in the rear while Morthos attempts to bring down the golem, yet both have their attacks go wild and miss.
From the back, the second guardsman braces himself against the stone wall and is able to pull himself out the grease. From there, he runs around the perimeter of the slick, grapples his way around the golem, and jumps down into the stairwell. He is clearly trying to make his way down to call for reinforcements.
The golem is less interested in running. It turns its cold, blue gaze upon Morthos and swings. Morthos parries the strongest and first of the blows, but the maneuver leaves him vulnerable to the second blow.
Unable to do much about the fleeing guard, Daidalos flips open his spellbook to a favorite page of his and presses his hand against it, magical energy flowing up and down his arm.
Morthos takes a good shot from the golem but grins as the cold seems to not affect him at all. With uncanny speed he swings multiple times at the mindless creation.
"With one of the guards having managed to flee, we should expect reinforcements and the keep going to high alert any time now," Raven says as he lets loose a pair of arrows courtesy of his magically enhanced speed, their target the last guardsman still in the room.
"And we still have that to deal with," he adds indicating the ice construct.
Affyria narrows her eyes at the escaping guard and issues a simple command to Kiffex, "Stop him."
She then unslings the crossbow she carries, and sends a bolt towards the golem.
Kiffex then flies down after the guard, and whispers some words of his own at him.
"What if the commander was still alive? I should go back and defend him, every second counts."
Kiffex whispers the suggestion to the guardsman but, bolstered by his faith and sense of duty, the human easily shrugs off the compulsion. "No! I shall follow my orders!"
Timo slides behind Morthos, leering down into the stairwell at the fleeing guard. "My appologies, but I must insist you remain here." he utters with a feral grin before bringing his blade down on the guard.
Daid: Quick Study
Morthos: Whack at Golem; two hits for 7 and 9 damage before DR
Raven: Attack guardsman; hit (7), miss
Affyria: Attack golem (hit for 7); Kiffix casts suggestion
Timo: Attack Guard; double-miss
Daidalos considers the options presented to him through his knowledge of the arcane while Morthos and Affyria turn their attention to the golem, whittling away at its body, and Raven and Timo try to finish off the escaping guard.
Raven buries an arrow in the guardsman's side but a bit of luck and good armor manages to deflect not only the other arrow but both of Timo's powerful strikes.
The guardsman spins about, using his longsword to parry any blows while backing down the last few steps of the stairwell, then flees down the hall on the lower level. "Sound the alarm! Send help! Traitors in the tower! They've killed Lord Havelyn! The Lord is dead!"
Meanwhile, the golem locks an icy stare on Morthos and swings. The anti-paladin deftly avoids both blows.
"Damn it." Daidalos mutters, "Here comes the cavalry." he keeps his focus on his spell, though, and shapes his arcane energy through the mold of Abbadonic quintessence, half creating and half summoning a tiny ball of hate from the lower planes.
Morthos continues his assault upon the creation, hoping to finish it off and deal with far more important matters.