,
Her cheek still stinging as a reminder, Kara manages to ignore the incessant babbling of the two alips, and starts to invoke a spell. As she completes it, small chains of arcane force spring from the ground in the storeroom beyond, behind the two ghostly figures. One of the chains lashes out at the stronger-looking of the two, its arcane makeup able to affect even the alip's incorporeal form. But, even though the magic is strong enough, ,the alip is clearly much stronger as well, as it pulls itself away through sheer force of maddening will.
Seeing Kara suddenly acting normally, Alrik follows Sangkip's lead, kicking the alchemist/former soldier in the shins a couple of times, to break him out of his trance as well.
Alessio for his part, has the same confused and disoriented look that Kara had moments before... and the alips madness-filled babbling seems to have a strong hold on him, than the Taldan woman. Already he can feel it pulling him back in, before he even has a moment to realize he is out.
And still the alips continue their asssault. The first, continues reaching its ghostly hand towards Huni, again reaching in and sending waves of maddening thoughts racing through the man's head.
The second floats attacks as well, its ethereal claws passing right through the corner of the wall, to grasp at him... it too tearing into his mind.
-- Round 2 -------
-- Round 3 -------
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=) We all wish it worked that way sometimes!
Knowledge Religion: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Kara directs her mystic chain to work on the weaker allip this time, hoping for better results.
(+7 vs. SR total if needed)
She speaks a few arcane words and strikes out at the stronger allip.
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Floria resists the urge to summon her dark half to protect her as Sangkip brings her round. She whispers a quick "Thank you" to him as a plan forms.
She moves as far back as she can and still target the Allip with her magics, turns back towards it, and sends some bolts of arcane force just as Kara did.
Before he can even really get his thoughts back in order, and comprehend what's happening around him, Alessio finds his mind succumbing to the allip's babbling once more. Within moments of nearly recovering, he is gazing off into the middle distance once more, his lips silently repeating the nonsense invading his head.
At the front, Huni tries to push himself past the allip to open up more space for someone to come help him. He waits for his moment, then ducks under the nearer creature, narrowly avoiding the ghostly claws from both it, and the second allip, which tries to snag him as he goes past. Now with room to maneuver, he slashes at the nearer one with his sword, the magic in the blade just enough to tear at a little of the allip's essence, but only enough to get it's attention, as it turns its maddening gaze towards him.
Of course, a moment later, seeing the space open up, Alrik leaps in to fill it, coming up on the allip from behind, as he calls on the righteous might of Kelinahat, and channels it through his weapon to strike a second blow, this one tearing away even more of the allip's essence. The chaotic murmuring seems to take on a new tone, as it turns again, and swipes one of its ethereal hands right through Alrik's shield and armor, clawing at the dwarf's mind.
,
,
Sankip, seeing no opening to join in himself, takes the time to shake Floria out of her stupor... hoping he manages to wake her first, not the part of her that lurks beneath the surface.
For her part, the vanaran's forceful contact does seem to draw her mind back into focus, and Floria finds herself cognizant of her surroundings for a moment. She quickly pushes her darker half down, from where it was trying to crawl its way out once more... only too aware of what the allip's thoughts were doing to it. For allip's they were. She had learned a bit about them, though nothing that Alrik and Kara had not already informed the others of. She did know that where they were now, there was nowhere far enough away she could go to escape the maddening words... not if she wanted to help the others.
Already she can feel its chaotic thoughts crawling back into her head, and she's not sure she can resist. She manages to focus her mind, and conjure a volley of physic force missiles to strike the creature before it overwhelms her once more.
Kara, follows suit, sending a more arcane version of the same effect.
The missiles tear at the allip's essence, bits of ectoplasmic residue roiling away from it, but not nearly enough to stop it.
Again, the chain of force Kara conjured up moments before, lashes out, this time striking at the second allip. The glowing chain manages to wrap itself around that creatures waist, someone making contact with the incorporeal creature. It forcefully pulls it towards the back of the room, away from Alrik and Huni, and eliciting a tortured, but silent, wail from the allip! It finally manages to break free, drifting towards the two Pathfinders nearby, continuing its assault of Huni's senses, as once again, it reaches it and tries to twist his mind.
-- Round 3 -------
-- Round 4 -------
Party is up! (those not drooling that is)
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Kara's mystical chain lashes out at Purple, attempting to wrap itself around the creature's face.
Kara, meanwhile, emits a silent scream focused on Red.
sonic, Fort DC16 half damage
Alrik feels his mind twisting under the allip's corrupting touch, but stands his ground, taking another swing at the one in front of him, though misjudges the space, and his blade deflects off the door frame, hitting nothing.
A moment later, Sangkip tumbles past, first bounding part way up the wall, and leaping over the dwarf's head. His focus proves to be on the stronger allip in front of him, such that the other one, like Huni before him, manages to get a swing with its ghostly claws... only Sangkip sees it just in time, and twists at the last minute, sliding sideways underneath, to come up beside it, still intact.
Huni continues to fight on the far side, now soon to have two allies to flank with. He forgoes the sword for now, one hand going to the holy symbol of Irori around his neck, as he sends a wave of positive energy through the room, intent on purging it of undead. The allip to his left seems to take the full brunt of the energy, its purple misty form shuddering beneath the onslaught. It continues its attacks with renewed vigor, again reaching its incorporeal hand into the living being before it.
The second one though, seems more resistant, ignoring most of it, only a few bits of its form discorporating under the barrage, as it continues to claw at Alrik. It has had a taste of his thoughts, and seems to want more now.
Back in the other room, Kara tries again to command her chains of force to grab the allip, but the chaotic thoughts in her head are making it hard to concentrate, and she is having a hard time making it work. She follows that attempt with a spell of some sort, though it does not seem to do much of anything at all, and a moment later, realizing her blunder, she admonishes herself.
,
,
All the while, Alessio and Floria seem lost in their own disturbed thoughts.
-- Round 3 -------
Party is up!
In the thick of things, Sangkip slashes out tentatively with his knives... but he is far too worried about leaving himself open to their touch, and both of his blades fail to make any contact with the ghostly figures.
Huni seems to be having trouble concentrating, as the cacophonous noise in his head gets louder and louder... but he still has enough presence of mind to draw once more upon Irori, to channel one last mighty wave of holy energy, that tears at the spirit accosting him, its form wavering. The other allip again seems to resist the worst of it, though even that clearly ate away at its form. Neither seems inclined to cease their attacks though. The cacophony in Huni's starts to get louder, as it reaches for him once more, but he ducks back and away, avoiding the creature's grasp.
The stronger allip seems solely focused on Alrik, as if the dwarf's very existence offends it somehow. It again reaches out, attempting to warp the dwarf's mind a little more towards madness, but Alrik has seen a great deal during his time on Golarion... and sometimes, a little light insanity comes with the job. He barely ducks under the blow, and slashes back with his divinely guided axe... the blade tearing away at its ghostly essence.
Behind the action, Alessio and Floria continue to stand entranced by the chaotic murmuring all around, while Kara sends a blast of arcane force at the allip in the doorway assaulting Alrik... the attack tearing away a little more at its incorporeal form.
-- Round 4 -------
-- Round 5 -------
Party is up!
The Pathfinders continue to fight on, despite the maddening assaults.
Again, Kara tries to wrap up one of the allips with her force chain... but again, her mind isn't quite directing it accurately, and it easily avoids them. She then again, follows that up with another bolt of arcane force, which is far easier to target, and strikes more of the spirit's essence away.
Huni, once more finds his inner calm hindering his ability to fight, as he continues to flail about with his sword... all the effort, but none of the accuracy. He still has the presence of mind to step back, as the second allip tries to claw at him again, its touch missing him yet again.
Sangkip, realizing he is being far to cautious, relents on some of his defensive stance. This time, his blades strike far more accurately, both of them ripping small tears in the incorporeal creature.
Alrik, still trusting in the righteous might of Kelinahat, changes nothing, slashing his axe in a mighty sweep down the center of the allip. But, unlike the previous swings, this time, the divine power of the blade seems to be too much for it... as the spectral essense begins to dissipate, and shred apart, unable to hold its form.
Its random muttering, eating at everyone's thoughts, seems to fade and starts to become almost coherent, although what those words are are currently drowned out by the continued mad babbling from the second allip. It is more than enough to keep Floria's troubled mind in check, but not enough to continue to hold sway over Alessio. The old soldier finally manages to shake himself free of his lethargy, aware of his surroundings once more!
-- Round 5 -------
-- Round 6 -------
Party is up!
Finally coming out of his daze, Alessio downs a mutagen, as he tries to get a better look at what is happening in the far room. The rest, quickly focus their efforts on the final spirit, hoping to end its tortured existence before it can cause them more grief.
Huni manages to cut a long swatch through its ghostly shell, as he moves around it, trying not to get tangled up in Kara's magical chain. Alrik, on the far side quickly steps in to fill the space the first allip was occupying only moments before, to continue the assault, his axe cutting a second line through the creature. It seems to be having some difficulty holding on to whatever corporeal form it has...
But even that is short-lived, as Sangkip dives in again, both daggers flashing, and shreds the last of remaining anchor to the material worlds with two quick strokes.
Its babbling quickly dies, as its entire form seems to disperse into the ether.
Back in the previous room, Kara was ready to attack, but suddenly finds there is no need. A small intake of breath beside her turns her attention to Floria, who seems to be coming around finally, as the last allip is destroyed.
But even as the second spirit is ended, and its maddening murmurs silenced, you realize the first's words are now actually coherent, though barely audible.
There was no time... the wards had to go up... or all was lost.. but then...
There is a brief silence, then the words continue, even quieter.
We lost it all anyway... and then time was all there was. Have we failed? Has all the sacrifice been for naught?
Then the murmuring finally ceases, with two final words... and you have to strain to hear even those.
They say simply, But wait...
Almost in counterpoint, the entire tower seems to shake yet again, as motes of dust suddenly kick up from the thick layers that cover everything, and flutter down from the ceiling above.
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Regaining her senses, Floria looks sheepishly at Kara. "Sorry"
As the building shakes though, she rushes into the room where the allips were to check on everyone.
"Is everyone ok?"
She can see the pained look on Huni and Alrik's faces, an echo of what she was feeling shortly before, but she has no way to help.
Instead she examines the room for anything useful, starting with the corpses and working her way round.
The only place Alessio sees for the prisms, is the one in the workshop by the door to the storage room. And you removed that one already, before putting it back in again. It is still there, fully charged now... but flickering slightly.
Floria will note that the desiccated body in the storage room is still cradling what appears to be a fully charged prism, and a second, empty one, lay beside it on the floor.
The body itself is wearing a fancy religious cassock with the symbol of Iomedae prominently displayed. A scroll is tucked into a sash around its waist, with a few small vials secured by small loops along side it. All of the vials but one, appear to be empty, whatever their contents lost to time.
The rack against the far wall contains the strange leather body suits, in both small and medium sizes, each with a large headpiece with flat glass panels inset.
One of the suits, the one the second allip arose from, appears to have a dead body inside it... little more than dust and bones now.
There is another tremendous crashing sound, as the tower shakes once more, even as you look around.
Alessio works to remove the one non-empty vial, in order to determine what it might contain, but finds himself suddenly interrupted as for a second time, a ghostly figure rises up from the desiccated remains.
For a moment you fear the allip has returned, but you quickly realize that this one seems different. It seems like a proper spirit, without all the chaotic roiling essence you saw in the two allips. The ghostly form seems rather peaceful, as it surveys the room, only looking away, as again the tower shakes.
For the second time... demons draw near. It finally says, the voice hollow and calm.
It wears a cassock exactly like the one on the corpse from which it rose, and now that you have a good look at it, you realize remarkably similar to the allip that appeared in the same location... just with all the pieces in the right spot, and without the maddening shifting of its ethereal form.
The spirit glances towards Kara, its ghostly eyes seeming to penetrate to her core.
If you are here, now, then you must have disabled many of my tower's defenses. It finally says in response, as once again the tower seems to shake slightly from some mighty force. Contingencies that trapped me... all of us, inside when they triggered. But what kept us in, kept them out.
Its gaze glances towards the heavy metal door, on the north side of the storage area, as it answers Kara's question. My weapon is there. Such grand designs... but so fundamentally flawed... and now likely lacking the energy it needs to activate properly. It has been dormant so long.
One spectral hand motions towards the remains at its feet. The prisms store the essence of Heaven itself. I sought to harvest it... and my hubris sealed my fate... but it does not have to seal yours.
The building shakes again, whatever is causing it, becoming more frequent.
Even now I can feel the demonic hoards intent on wresting the weapon from the righteous once more. We never got the chance to test it... The ghost's look becomes almost wistful, as it glances towards the leather suit with the body in it. But perhaps it is not too late... you must hurry.
The prisms... you will find places to insert them on the main control panel, beyond. Once in place, you should be able to fire the weapon, by turning both the activation keys at once.
I can only pray that my creation is powerful enough to banish the scourge of Sarkoris from our door... or your fate will likely mimic my own.