Marcus is starting to get used to the feeling of the magical flight. He braces his back leg against the open air, then launches forward, soaring directly through the scattered battlefield, and crashing into the monologuing woman!
Current Effects:
Barkskin (+3 natural armor)
Protection from evil (+2 deflection and +2 on saves)
Communal Resist Energy: Fire (resist fire 20)
Bless (+1 attacks and saves against fear)
Weapons Against Evil (weapon ignores DR of evil creatures if it's 5 or less)
Fly (flight with movespeed 60, 90 with haste)
Prayer (+1 attack & damage, saves, skill checks)
Current Stats with all Current Effects:
AC 29 (27 w/o shield), Touch 14, FF 27 (25 w/o shield)| HP 70/73 (Temp 0), DR 3/- | F +9, R +6, W +5 (+1 vs continuous, +2 vs evil, +1 vs fear) | Resist: fire 20
Somehow, despite contradictory magical effects, magical tendrils - possibly made of aether or force - it isn’t clear - the woman doesn’t move an inch. To Marcus, it’s as if a wall of force anchors the woman to the air itself.
Olenna calls out - ”those are juju zombies! Immune to magic missile and cold, with damage and fire resistances and toughness, they’re very strong and they lose nothing in intelligence when raised!”
Andaisin smiles beatifically, as Marcus rams into the her, who seems largely unscathed, ” Those who drink I shall only cripple, leaving you alive to enjoy her as she quickens inside your flesh. Those who abstain are fools, not fit to house the divine gift. You may prostrate yourselves at my feet, and I shall make your end all the more swift for it. Swifter, in any event, than this delightful end your lovely queen has enjoined me to create!”
Having her spells disabled, she effortlessly raises her ornate scythe and swings at Marcus in response.
Andaisin somehow seems, on top of everything else, magically strong. The cords of her muscles bulge under her exposed skin. To make matters worse, the scythe cuts into Marcus’ flesh badly, and the woman seems to feed off of the damage she does.
The cultist moves up to kill Majenko.
The juju zombies move directly to the casters and seek to kill them.
[ooc]The Chamber of Foul Humors - Round 2 - Vera/Yazi/Magda/Olenna/Marcus/Meanlos
Marcus growls at the magic. What, am I f%!%ing famous now? He glances and sees the zombies closing in on his backline as well. Fine, slug out the frontline it is. Marcus peels away, running through two zombies and cutting at one before coming to Magda's aid!
Current Effects:
Barkskin (+3 natural armor)
Protection from evil (+2 deflection and +2 on saves)
Communal Resist Energy: Fire (resist fire 20)
Bless (+1 attacks and saves against fear)
Weapons Against Evil (weapon ignores DR of evil creatures if it's 5 or less)
Fly (flight with movespeed 60, 90 with haste)
Prayer (+1 attack & damage, saves, skill checks)
Current Stats with all Current Effects:
AC 29 (27 w/o shield), Touch 14, FF 27 (25 w/o shield)| HP 47/73 (Temp 0), DR 3/- | F +9, R +6, W +5 (+1 vs continuous, +2 vs evil, +1 vs fear) | Resist: fire 20
Magda winces in pain and tries to force more of her city's displeasure into the zombie attacking her. "Pox, splinters, curdled milk, crumbling masonry" she rattles off potential misfortunes as she stands her ground (not wanting the creature to get at Vera)
Seeing Marcus take care of the zombie threatening Magda, Yaziyah moves around the status to get at the one currently being harried by Majenko.
As Yazi attacks the nearby zombie, Majenko uses the distraction to withdraw.
Vera steps right behind Olenna, draws a scroll, and attempts to control the zombie!
Marcus is able to escape Andaisin, and crush two of the enemies without getting hit again. Only a few foes remain.
The woman raises her hands, concentrating, and summons a hideous gray cloud that occasionally crackles with foul-smelling bolts of sickly green lightning, above the party which descends quickly, blocking sight and smelling fetid. Green discharges of electricity seem to light up the interior randomly, and the cloud is laden with evil-smelling vapor
She then seems to walk up the air towards the rear of the place, treating the air itself like a stairway, until she is near the ceiling.
The juju zombie near her moves in to attack Vera, but is attacked by Vera's minion.
Vera's juju zombie slices into the enemy zombie as it passes, surprising it. The enemy zombie ignores the attack, though, and just tries to kill Vera.
Magda sends more misfortunes into the shambling asshat attacking her best friend. "Long lines, rats in pies, boils on the backside, that Uncle..." she doesn't know these misfortunes specifically, especially the uncle part, she just hears and repeats.
How could Marcus fly around so easily? The thought of leaving the ground makes Yaziyah nauseous, but needs must, and the older woman tentatively rises off the floor a few feet to try and reach the priestess.
Marcus wheels around, continuing to focus his efforts on the zombies. This time he has a clear charge lane, so he begins by lowering his shoulder, moving to entirely clear them from the backline and push them against the far wall!
Current Effects:
Barkskin (+3 natural armor)
Protection from evil (+2 deflection and +2 on saves)
Communal Resist Energy: Fire (resist fire 20)
Bless (+1 attacks and saves against fear)
Weapons Against Evil (weapon ignores DR of evil creatures if it's 5 or less)
Fly (flight with movespeed 60, 90 with haste)
Prayer (+1 attack & damage, saves, skill checks)
Charging (-2 AC)
Current Stats with all Current Effects:
AC 27 (25 w/o shield), Touch 12, FF 25 (23 w/o shield)| HP 47/73 (Temp 0), DR 3/- | F +9, R +6, W +5 (+1 vs continuous, +2 vs evil, +1 vs fear) | Resist: fire 20
"The plague cloud will keep moving away from Andaisin!" reports Vera.
Vera and Majenko hurry out of the cloud, seeking protection next to Olenna and Marcus. If she did not need to evade a scary juju zombie, then Vera will fire magic missiles at Andaisin!
Olenna ignores the zombie and zooms up to stab Andaisin.
But she misses.
Andaisin surveys the scene, and seems curious, but raises her fingers.
"The first step in supplicating yourselves to me is to drop your weapons - and surrender!"
Olenna and Marcus drop their weapons, with Olenna's clattering to the ground. Neither seems able to pick them up.
Andaisin seems satisfied, and walks into the plague cloud.
The prone juju zombie swings at Vera.
It hisses, "I got one mistress, quickly - kill her! It was my honor to serve you!"
Her heart nearly bursts when Vera went down, so throwing her her spear is all she can think to do. But she is not a fighter, she is a street priest, better with kids and chickens than with weapons any day of the week, so sense gets her and instead she draws her wand of healing from a pocket, ready to rush over to Vera.
"Marcus! What are you doing?" Yaziyah hopes the admonishment would snap the fighter out of whatever Andaisin had done to him - she had felt the pull of that magic, the insidious slackness and warmth seeping into her muscles. She strides towards the rest of the group, trying to take down the remaining zombie.
Marcus frowns down at the dropped falchion, watching it hit the ground. "That's so bad for the blade." Whatever the foul magic is prevents him from trying to pick it up.
Marcus turns to face Andaisin and activates his war paint, having few other options without weaponry right now.
Marcus stares into the plague cloud. "I am going to pick up my blade, and then I am going to kill you." He says flatly, with a matter-of-fact resolution.
Current Effects:
Barkskin (+3 natural armor)
Protection from evil (+2 deflection and +2 on saves)
Communal Resist Energy: Fire (resist fire 20)
Bless (+1 attacks and saves against fear)
Weapons Against Evil (weapon ignores DR of evil creatures if it's 5 or less)
Fly (flight with movespeed 60, 90 with haste)
Prayer (+1 attack & damage, saves, skill checks)
Total Defense (+4 AC)
Current Stats with all Current Effects:
AC 33 (31 w/o shield), Touch 18, FF 27 (25 w/o shield)| HP 47/73 (Temp 0), DR 3/- | F +9, R +6, W +5 (+1 vs continuous, +2 vs evil, +1 vs fear) | Resist: fire 20
Olenna struggles with the mental assault herself. She swoops down to grab the valuable rapier as soon as she can.
Vera can’t see her, so she readies an action to magic missile the priestess in the event that the opportunity comes up. Majenko grabs the wand from Cat and heals Vera.
The last zombie expires with Yazi’s attack, and all that’s left is Andaisin. She coos, not visible through the fog, ”come to me, then Marcus, like the good dog you are. Come all, and let Urgathoa quicken your flesh. Your reward will be eternal- all the pain and misery of your life will be gone - I would even let you choose your form - should so so desire…”
She casts a spell.
The edge of the priestess in the plague storm seems to appear, as the woman increases in size substantially and is infused with unholy power. Vera shoots a wand charge
She has all the conviction of a fanatic, it seems borderline impossible to dissuade or frighten her.
Marcus frowns at his weapon...really hard.
And can't move towards it.
"Well s$&&."
Marcus look to the edge of the cloud, raising his fists and turning sideways in a brawler's stance. "Vera, get behind me, or further from the cloud." He whispers to her. He raises his voice to speak to Andaisin. "Think you're coming to me, else our mages will slowly pick you off from right here." He looks at Magda, not liking her positioning.
Keeping an eye on Marcus to try and grab him if he shows signs of being dominated enough that he would walk into the plague cloud, Yaziyah says a quick healing prayer for everyone.
Magda hurries over to her friends, skirting outside the edges of the large woman's reach. All while keeping up her thoughts on the cities maladies, blocked up sewage pipes being her latest.
Majenko flits over to Marcus and heals him, and Vera keeps blasting with her wand. Vera calls out, ”quickly, whoever has the better healing wand, get it out!”
Vera notes, ”she’s got damage reduction now, and is tougher than before!”
Olenna shakes off the effect and grabs her weapon, and then grabs her infusion of long arm and drinks it.
Andaisin steps a little closer and, after ensuring everyone is within range holds up her hand, on which is a birthmark - shaped like a skull. A revolting wave of negative energy emanates from the priestess.
The magic sucks the life out of everyone in the room, but some less than others. In particular, Marcus again feels a magical assault against his body - similar to how he felt in the poisonous mist.
Marcus finally throws off the magic. Instead of reaching down for his falchion, he reaches for the small of his back and throws out one of the dangling chakrams!
Current Effects:
Barkskin (+3 natural armor)
Protection from evil (+2 deflection and +2 on saves)
Communal Resist Energy: Fire (resist fire 20)
Bless (+1 attacks and saves against fear)
Weapons Against Evil (weapon ignores DR of evil creatures if it's 5 or less)
Fly (flight with movespeed 60, 90 with haste)
Prayer (+1 attack & damage, saves, skill checks)
Current Stats with all Current Effects:
AC 29 (27 w/o shield), Touch 14, FF 27 (25 w/o shield)| HP 51/73 (Temp 0), DR 3/- | F +9, R +6, W +5 (+1 vs continuous, +2 vs evil, +1 vs fear) | Resist: fire 20
Majenko feels so, so terrible. But he selflessly tries to heal Vera!
.
Vera fires more magic missiles!
Yaziyah channels again, trusting Olenna and Marcus to finish off the priestess.
Magda continues her attempts to befuddle and bemuddle, and fishes out that other wand, the BETTER wand for future use.
Olenna hefts her sword and swishes it around, satisfied, and then turns on her heels, her arms somewhat stretchier than before.
She darts towards the ceiling where Andaisin’s head is only a little obscured, and thrusts forward.
The large woman exclaims as she receives a deep gash along her neck. She says, ”fine - you will all serve me in death, then!”
She steps and down slightly and casts another spell, getting obscured.
Divine power.
"She's called on unholy Divine Power!" reports Vera. "Her attacks will be fast and powerful!"
Vera fires more magic missiles! Majenko heals Marcus!
The half-orc young woman never stops her litany of misfortunes, but does include a small fortune in there for the wall "Settle slowly" she doesn't understand the fortune, but she doesn't have to.
Braving the noxious cloud, Yaziyah strides forward, hammer raised.
Marcus flies into the cloud, charging the priestess.
She swings her scythe at him.
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Frustrated by the concealing cloud, Olenna makes a mental note to remind Vera or Yazi to learn Ashen Path one of these days, recalling a previous job when one of the priests of Abadar had...never mind that!
Damn, the effects of all these chemicals were shattering her focus!
Breathe. The enemy was calling on her foul goddess for greater power. Their own prayers had been answered, but even the gods' attention, spread out through the planes as it was, was limited. They needed to seize each advantage they had as they had it.
Now the enemy had descended into her diseased trap, luring them in. From the outside, Olenna could guess at her location, and reach her even, but it would merely be a guess. Better to enter and risk breathing the air. As long as it wasn't poisonous and merely (ha!) plague-ridden as Vera had suggested, the after-effects could be dealt with after her quintessence had been sent back to Abaddon.
And would she attack Olenna as she moved in? She had already struck out at Marcus--she had observed that. It was possible. The lamplighter resolves to twist, turn, and tumble in her flying arc to try to deny the enemy any leverage.
"You will all serve me in death, then!"
"Unlikely," Olenna breathes, taking a deep breath and soaring into the cloud.
Once within, she stabs back out at the barely-exposed head of the vile priestess...
...hoping that she won't have to deal with disease later...
...and finally observing her opponents' newly-empowered movements to determine how best to attack her again.
The priestess seems giddy with anticipation, and she hefts her enormous scythe, looking all the more like an archetypical grim reaper.
She turns Marcus and swings.
The scythe connects with Marcus on the first hit only, with Yazi's protective magic and The City deflecting the second, barely, as sparks fly off of Marcus' armor.
Somehow, the priestess knows. Andaisin crows to the assembled, "I told you. Feel how it quickens in your body. The pain is exquisite, is it not?"
Yaziyah winces as Marcus takes the brunt of Andaisin's displeasure, but she could not waver now. They had to bring her down, before she could unleash more of her undead and her pestilence upon the city.
The priestess is bleeding profusely, though she continues to fight.
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The weariness of keeping up the misfortune is weighing on the young part orc, but just when she thinks about dropping it, a loose piece of mortar drops from the ceiling to hit the towering pile of crazy in the head. Sadly it was not a large piece, just enough to throw off her killing of the wall.
So she continues "discarded tack in your path point up, cats in heat the night before a big day..." the chant continues. Cat hisses at the cloud by runs in anyway to the Wall batting the back of his leg to let Girl heal her.
The familiar healing team continues the good work, as Majenko joins Cat to do some healing.
Vera keeps firing her little bolts of energy at the evil priestess!
Olenna is shocked at the sheer brutality of Andaisin's assault on--she assumes--Marcus and begins sorting through her previous decisions. She should have given him a shielding infusion, or given him the barkskin instead of reserving it for herself. Yes, she wanted to get home to see her family as well but didn't want to lose a civilian on the way! But blessedly, from the sound of things elsewhere in the cloud, he manages to stay standing and retaliate! He was tough. That assault would have probably leveled Olenna outright.
With a flick of her wrist, Olenna studies Andaisin through the cloying mist and strikes out!
"If you like pain so much," she quips...
"Then be ended by it, you unliving plague."
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Lady Andaisin, scourge of Beorandy, is assaulted by multiple quick blows - though it isn’t clear who landed the final one. She had drawn life force from Marcus to herself, as before, but once that was exhausted, she seemed to be propped up somehow before collapsing, instantly dead.
The woman, like all other humans, fell prey to the vulnerability of flesh. Despite her connection to the goddess of undeath, in a sanctum of Urgathoa herself, watched over by a image of the goddess - even a magically powered human can only lose so much blood, can only resist their skull being crushed so much, and can’t live with a hole in their heart.
The priestess shrinks back to normal size, the plague cloud disappating. Her lifeless body stares at the golden statue - not in pain or fear, but her eyes wide with pleasure and satisfaction.
The buboes on Olenna manifest immediately, and Marcus has a terrible rash on his face - running across his skin in raised welts.
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With the obscuring cloud gone, Yaziyah turns her attention to Marcus.
"What did she do to you? Are you sickened?"
The answer is rather obvious on his face, so the Shoanti begins chanting a simple healing ritual to try and help him with the immediate effects.
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"Grahhhh!" Marcus staggers back, putting a hand over his eyes. Before he could even decide to drop his guard with the foul sickening priestess dropping, the burning ripped through him like a bolt of lightning. For once Marcus finally loses his calm, having now reached death's door for the third time in less than an hour. At Yazi's question he snarls. "I don't know what she f*%%ing did to me! F%*+ing mages treating human life like a toy!" The kind of wounds he had sustained would normally take months to recover from many times over, but his allies had pumped him so full of artificial life that his body simply refused to quit. Despite that, he could feel all the deep aches from the cut, turn, and bruised flesh. The phantom pains remained. His body ached for a respite from the punishment.
Even the pain from this foul rash across his face subsided in moments with another spell from Yazi. Once the terrifying pain in his eyes is gone it's easy to read the regret on his face from snapping at Yazi. It seems he tries to form a thought around it, but he just stands there regretfully for a moment, then picks up his shield. "Come on, let's see if anything else in this godforsaken s!*!hole wants to kill me."
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With the final series of blows, Olenna comes sputtering from the dissipating cloud, woozy and feeling the swelling of disease affecting her with supernatural speed. Urgathoa was one nasty...
Ugh. She'd still have to quarantine.
She didn't have anything to help with this right now, but she fishes around for a bottle in her bag and takes a shot of a prepared liquid analgesic. The pain begins to subside, but it doesn't make her feel any less fatigued. And in any case, her pain had to be nothing like what poor Marcus was feeling.
"I couldn't see well-enough in the cloud, but..."
"...I'd venture that she was channeling the unholy energy of her goddess into an attack and that one of Urgathoa's particular boons is the transmission of disease through negative energy."
That probably wasn't exactly what they wanted to know. Olenna bites her lip and fishes around for her last two full vials. These she hands to Marcus. "The red one will help with any effects of her disease," she deftly trades the two vials around in her hand, "And blue is abjurative, providing extra defense as good as or better than a physical shield." She closes his hand around the two vials (if he lets her) and nods. "Just in case anything else in this, ehrm, g%%!~@ned s%#*hole wants to kill you."
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As the giant bag of evil deflates into a crumbled heap of emptiness, Magda slumps. So much... so so so much... then the wall turns into a dog. Hating is fine for some but his words... Mag's big eyes don't need to drift to her best friend, the mage. And what of mag's herself, she didn't study in books, but who the heck knows what her magic made her.
His words might not have been meant for them, but they still both hurt and made her want to throw another rock at him.
Maybe just give up for a little while, for once.
A soft body rubs against her leg, Cat, who rarely shows affection, knew what she needed. Then she looks back at Vera, finds strength again. "You okay?"
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Vera watches as the horrible, evil cleric shrinks and her body falls lifelessly back to the ground. Her gaze turns back naturally to Magda. "I'll be okay. How about you? Are you okay? Do you think the City will heal now?" She moves closer to offer Magda a hand.
Majenko zips through the air energized from the deadly encounter and his reckless charge at the enemy. "We win! We win! Priestess is dead. Plague is beaten!"
Vera smiles back at her companion. Normally, she'd be just as cheery, yet something still bothered her. "But the Queen! The priestess said she was doing the bidding of the Queen! How? Why? it explains so much--the Queen's physicians, the Grey Maidens, the way the Korvosa Guard was getting pushed aside, the sham execution, what Blackjack said! But it also makes no sense. Why would a Queen inflict such horror on her own queendom? I thought she was so beautiful and good and pure, how is it possible?"
There is a smell like ozone that grows in the air, and the corpse of the priestess shudders. And then shudders again. Andaisin is obviously still dead, but her body crackles with unholy power and is lifted into the air. Her sundered flesh explodes with boils and pustules, while torrents of Urgathoa’s foul humors from the basins animate and flood forth to congeal into a sickening new body - one of an unliving saint.
What was once a woman now towers as a monstrosity of ectoplasmic flesh, horns, and a tremendous scythelike claw. She floats in the air near the ceiling - recognizable as having the same face as Andaisin, but a look of hatred and triumph on it.
They told Olenna when she was retraining to be a Lamplighter that she had to be prepared for anything. After serving in the vice squad of the Korvosan Guard, she hadn't really believed that there could be anything more to be prepared for than what she had gained. But when Andaisin rises once more, she's eminently glad that she still has her rapier out.
"We're not done yet!" she shouts, whipping back around to reengage risen-Andaisin in a flank and re-studying her to figure out...what was going on.
The now-undead creature floats near the ceiling using magical flight, and casts a spell on herself as she looks down on everyone imperiously.
Then Olenna darts up and stabs the monstrosity in a tentacle, and she flares with hatred at the investigator.
In a similar voice, but deeper, and rougher- like someone speaking with damaged vocal cords she notes, ”you all should have taken my offer. But you dared to assault me in a sanctum to the Pallid Princess. I will feast on your entrails while you watch!” She raises her scythe-claw at Olenna threateningly, as if she is preparing to strike.
She cast shield of faith.
"Oh for f&$#'s sake!" Marcus roars, flying up to meet with the creature and slashing with his falchion!
Current Effects:
Barkskin (+3 natural armor)
Protection from evil (+2 deflection and +2 on saves)
Communal Resist Energy: Fire (resist fire 20)
Bless (+1 attacks and saves against fear)
Weapons Against Evil (weapon ignores DR of evil creatures if it's 5 or less)
Fly (flight with movespeed 60, 90 with haste)
Shaken (1 round remaining)
Charge (+2 attacks, -2 AC, not calculated into AC line below)
Current Stats with all Current Effects:
AC 29 (27 w/o shield), Touch 14, FF 27 (25 w/o shield)| HP 51/73 (Temp 0), DR 3/- | F +8, R +5, W +4 (+1 vs continuous, +2 vs evil, +1 vs fear) | Resist: fire 20
The city cannot help anymore. Focus is limited in nearly all things, and Mags is only one child in a teaming pool of people. All she has left is her spear. She has no hope of being a warrior, so she tries to help those that are.
"Oh, like you were not loathsome enough the first time..." mutters Yaziyah with bone-deep weariness as she hefts her hammer once more and follows Olenna's example.
. "She's conjured a Shield of Faith" warns Vera. Of course, the divine version of such shielding didn't conveniently stop magic missiles.
Majenko goes back to the thankless task of healing with the curative wand!