Ray tries to think of everything he knows about sakhils. "Gods," he grumbles, "that painting wasn't f+#&ing kidding. This thing has a plethora of powers. Spells aren't going through. Damage isn't going through. Energy attacks aren't going through. Yeah, this'll be fun. Try not to let the droning it does make you go crazy."
He squints but can't quite tell what power the sakhil just used. "Well that's irritating."
He moves into the room and focuses his psychic power into a disc of force directly in front of him.
Argus sighs and strides into the room, glaive at the ready.
"Creature!" he calls in Common (not knowing what language this thing speaks). "You hold the Master of this House prisoner. Release him at once and leave this realm which your presence taints, or you shall be put down."
He then settles into a defensive posture and awaits the creature's response. He's fairly certain it will not submit, but his code demands he allow it the opportunity to try.
Amanteia Ray said he is resistant to magic but she has literally nothing else she can do. It's worth a shot. She concentrates hard, willing the missiles to get past his defenses.
The missiles travel to Vithiz unerringly as they are supposed to, but as they reach his body, they just ... dissipate.
Vithiz gives no answer to Argus, instead pointing a finger at the paladin. A cold, cloying miasma of greasy darkness erupts from his finger and flows over everyone in the room.
Amanteia fights off the effects of the horrific spell, only suffering minimal damage . Argus and Dellan, being of good nature and pure heart, suffer the most from the vile magic as it attacks their well-being directly . Somnius and Ray are dead inside and wonder why Argus and Dellan are overreacting so bad .
Vithiz (0 damage)
Amanteia (19/22 hp)
Somnius (1/5 hp)
Ray (15/19 hp, +4 AC)
Bob (9/9 hp)
Argus (24/33 hp, +2 AC, total defense, sickened [2 rounds])
Dellan (15/24 hp, sickened [1 round])
Bold may act.
You have your answer then.
"So be it. In the name of the Eternal Maiden, I erase your hideous blight from the multiverse."
The glaive, his armor, his eyes--every inch of Argus glows with a pale white-pink luminescence. The light transforms the grizzled, scar-pocked face into something pure and brilliant, eradicating the decades of abuse and violence into a younger, purer face.
He steps up with the glaive and tips it under the staff, hoping to pop it right out of the creature's hands.
Ray hustles up and snatches the staff off the ground at Argus' feet. "Got it!" He looks down at it, then up at the horrifying extradimensional bug monster and swallows audibly. "Uh. Now what?"
This is a long shot, but if it works, it will bring him down.
Amanteia moves directly next to Argus and holds her hands up, palms out, making sure they are above her friends' heads. She speaks a quick incantation and a cone of vivid colors erupts from her hands.
Vithiz was overconfident in his ability to toy with these intruders. The paladin tore the staff directly out of his four hands! He would not make that mistake again. The one with the dead woman following him around burst him with holy energy, but the woman sorceress continues to try her little spells that have no hope of working.
It's fine. He doesn't need the staff. He flies another 5 feet up, out of range of the paladin, and begins beating his wings impossibly fast, creating a maddening droning sound that gets inside everyone's head.
The sound is horrible. Amanteia and Argus just have an overwhelming urge to leave the room and get as far from that sound as possible, but Somnius, Ray, and Dellan are driven temporarily mad by it .
Vithiz (8 damage)
Amanteia (22/22 hp)
Somnius (5/5 hp, confused [1 round])
Ray (19/19 hp, +4 AC, confused [1 round])
Bob (9/9 hp)
Argus (32/33 hp, +2 AC, sickened [1 round])
Dellan (23/24 hp, confused [1 round])
Bold may act.
Feeling increasingly desperate and down to her last spell, Amanteia tries color spray again. If it works, it won't be as effective as against weaker enemies, but it will stun him for a few seconds, which should be all they need.
She digs into her pack and pulls out a scroll.
"Found the noises. I did, I found them. They had wings, as black as night. The wings laughed at my brain, said it was small. Said it was weak. Weak brain, weak soul, small soul, good for eating. I told them not to eat it. But that's okay, I have another one. I keep it in his mouth, and he whispers it to me sometimes when I cry. I cried and cried and cried when Papa died and no one knew I died with him and I'm dead now and in the Land of the Dead and the moon is going to eat me
Argus sighs as he stows the glaive and reaches out to pluck the staff from the hands of Raybin, who is uttering gibberish to himself and offers no resistance. This is not going well. They need to bring the creature to the ground if he's going to use the staff on it, and he can see no way to do so. No need for the others to see that, though. All he can do is remain calm and hope the madness infecting Raybin and Dellan passes soon. In the meantime, he looks around for anything that looks like it may be able to ground Vithiz long enough for him to smack it with the staff.
A series of odd growls and high-pitched roars emit from Somnius.
Vithiz continues to beat his wings, the droning sound drowning out even your own thoughts.
And now the imaginary dragon is the only lucid one of you.
Vithiz's grasshopper head contorts into what you assume must be its version of a smile. It descends and rakes a claw across Amanteia's chest, apparently concerned about the scroll in her hands .
Vithiz (8 damage)
Amanteia (16/22 hp, confused [1 round])
Somnius (5/5 hp)
Ray (19/19 hp, +4 AC, confused [1 round])
Bob (9/9 hp, confused [1 round])
Argus (32/33 hp, +2 AC, confused [1 round])
Dellan (16/24 hp)
Bold may act.
Somnius takes advantage of the moment of clarity and peaces out to chat with Bob about the party behind their backs.
Argus screams and bashes himself in the mouth with the staff.
Ray only tangentially understands he no longer has a weapon in hand, so he simply begins digging his nails into the weathered flesh of his face and ripping downward.
"Do you see any Teletubbies in here? Do you see a slender plastic tag clipped to my shirt with my name printed on it? Do you see a little Asian child with a blank expression on his face sitting outside on a mechanical helicopter that shakes when you put quarters in it? No? Well, that's what you see at a toy store. And you must think you're in a toy store, because you're here shopping for an infant named Jeb."
Vithiz's wings don't stop, and you don't expect that they will.
Amanteia wills Argus to try to resist again.
In a surprising turn, all of you manage to shut out the droning in your heads, if only temporarily. Vithiz doesn't seem to notice, and continues to go after Amanteia, with four claw attacks. She is surprisingly able to dodge the first two, but the bifurcated arms confuse her and she can't avoid the last two . She is not looking good.
Vithiz (8 damage)
Amanteia (5/22 hp)
Somnius (5/5 hp)
Ray (10/19 hp, +4 AC)
Bob (9/9 hp)
Argus (25/33 hp, +2 AC)
Dellan (16/24 hp)
Bold may act.
Argus feels the madness slip away from his mind. Not permanently, but enough that he can think straight for a gods-blessed moment. This is it. His allies are clawing and bashing themselves (including himself, he realizes as he stares at the blood-dripping staff with dawning horror). This thing needs to go down. He grips the staff firmly, whispers, "Shelyn guide my hand," and reaches out to strike Vithiz.
Swinging with far too much force, Argus spins himself around with his miss and drops the staff, clutching his churning stomach.
Ray, momentarily back inside himself, wonders why the f##$ his face hurts so much as he snatches up the staff quickly and swings at the gods-damned insect monster ruining their lives.
As Ray swings the staff at the hideous creature, he could swear that he felt the staff guide his movements. It subtly pulls itself in the direction of Vithiz and strikes him on the side of the head.
You now know what a surprised grasshopper looks like. Vithiz's eyes go wide as his body begins to dematerialize into tendrils of smoke and dust, which are drawn into the head of the staff like water into a whirlpool. He stands there helplessly as it happens, his head the last to go. He stares hatred at Ray until the very end, when his eyes and finally his antennae are sucked into the staff.
Just as Vithiz's body disappears completely, a reverse of the process you just saw begins: tendrils of smoke and dust emerge from the staff and begin materializing into a body. At the end, you see before you a creature that is the spitting image of the portrait that has been helping you: Kishokish, in the flesh. He stumbles, leaning on the staff for support, then looks up at you.
When he speaks, the voice is also identical to that of the portrait, but significantly weaker. "Oh dear, but that was unpleasant. It would seem that I have you to thank for freeing me from my own staff. Whom am I thanking?"
Argus glances at Dellan with a frown. He knows the feeling, but this is hardly the time to break down. He will deal with it later.
"M-my name is Argus, paladin in Shelyn's n... name. This is R-raybin Butcher. He struck the b...blow that freed you. This is Am-manteia. And this--er. This is Dellan." He clears his throat uncomfortably. "W-we found some items in your abode. W-we brought them along in case they were n...needed in the fight with Vithiz. Surprisingly they were n-not. We will r-return them now."
He looks very purposefully at Ray.
Ray glances at Dellan somewhat disdainfully. He's been living with this for years now. Kid gets one taste and goes to pieces. Some people just can't hack it.
He scowls at Argus and starts digging through their packs for the items they procured. A!%~*## didn't even ask if we could keep them.
While Ray is digging, Bob flies back in and settles on his shoulder. He bobs his head upward in an impressive amalgamation of cringing. [color=blue]"Yikes! Nice scars there, Scratchy McGee."[/color]
Ray frowns at the raven, then touches his face. Sure enough, he can feel several long, thin lines going from the middle of his forehead all the way down to the bottoms of his cheeks. He counts four in total: three on the right side of his face and one on the left side, near the center--from his middle finger, he would guess. Apparently Dellan's healing magic doesn't stop scar formation. Great. As if his mug wasn't ugly enough.
He starts grumbling angrily as he digs through the pack.
Kishokish looks down at Dellan sympathetically. "I understand, child. I have been on the receiving end of Vithiz's maddening ways for longer than I care to know. It will pass; I believe Pharasma has bigger plans for you than to lose your mind on the Dead Roads." He places a comforting hand on Dellan's shoulder, then turns to the others. "I thank you again for the rescue. You must be quite strong to have overcome Vithiz." He notes Argus's gloved hand. "Oh, I see you have my glove. That would have helped... but how did you...?" He pauses for a moment. "Ah! My portrait! It must have given you the keys to helping me. Quite the ingenious invention there, I must say."
Kishokish accepts the glove and the staff, but holds a hand up at the remaining items. "You deserve a reward for your deed today; you may keep anything you find in the manor. Oh... speaking of which... I sense that you are all still living. Why are you at my manor in the Boneyard?"
"Thank you, Master Kishok-kish. You are most generous. The answer to that q...question still eludes us. P-perhaps one of the others can b... b... better explain."
He steps away, his throat pain slowly receding when he stops talking. He has to try hard not to reach up and rub his throat.
|
Dellan cringes at first from Kishokish's touch, but then leans into it, trying his best to control his sobbing. He feels so pathetic; Ray was literally scarred by the sakhil's mental assault, and he seems entirely unfazed. He just broke down immediately like a coward.
What purpose could I possibly serve? And what does it matter? I am nothing more than a servitor to Her. That is all I am good for. And I failed even at that.
At least my question was answered. No parent could possibly be proud of such a pathetic, useless coward.
He manages to wrestle his sobs to a halt, and slides up against a pillar, hiding behind it so the others can't see him, and stares at his blood-caked mace.
Ray clears his throat. "Uh. Yeah. So we woke up in the Tomb of Roslar. I dunno if you're familiar with it. Probably not. The tomb is a few hundred years old. We had no idea how we got there. When we exited the tomb, instead of finding ourselves in the town of Roslar's Coffer, where we should have been, we were in the Boneyard. We discovered from your esteemed colleagues Umble and Thoot that the entirety of Roslar's Coffer had been wiped out at once. We helped put them to rest and move on to their Final Judgment, then made for the Dead Roads to get back to the world of the living. We need to find who destroyed an entire town in one fell swoop and how, so we can keep them from doing it again."
He sighs and runs his bloody fingers through his unruly thinning hair. "As to how we're not dead when literally everyone else from the town is, well..." He shrugs. "Your guess is as good as mine. Umble said something about some kind of... shard? Or something? Buried in our hearts. Believe me, that has caused me no small amount of anxiety, but whatever it is, it seems to be keeping us alive in this place."
He sits down on the ground, pulling out his canteen and a small piece of cloth. He soaks the cloth in water and starts wiping his face and hands clear of blood. "If you have any ideas, I'd be right glad to hear them."
Kishokish listens closely as Ray speaks, quietly considering their situation. "My kind know something of souls, but I must admit that your condition is foreign to me. I do not believe I can help you understand, but since you are attempting to get back to your home, I presume that you need my stamp, which I will happily provide if you can rid the rest of the manor of evil. I am reluctant to ask since you have already done so much. Under normal circumstances, I would do it myself, but I am weakened from my imprisonment. However, I can provide each of you some level of protection. I sense a number of souls that do not belong here, but the worst is directly below us in the kitchen."
Argus nods. "Of c-course. We will take care of it. I m...must say, it is a relief that you are so... pleasant. The last p-place we had to get our stamp was over...r...run with tooth fairies." He shudders. "Awful. W-we will r...return when the house is clear."
Ray looks about to argue, but sighs and shrugs, accepting the spell from Kishokish before heading out. We're gonna have to fetch every old lady's slippers on the road to answers, following this guy.
|
|
Dellan says nothing. He simply grabs up his mace, then lets Amanteia take a casting of protection from evil before him. He isn't sure how many of the spell Kishokish has, and he has his own defenses if the psychopomp runs out of them. He then slouches behind the rest of the party, ignoring most of his surroundings in favor of brooding in his own head.
Amanteia watches everyone else leave the room with an incredulous look on her face.
Men! Ask for directions!
She rolls her eyes, then look at their host. "Thank you, Kishokish. Which way to the kitchen, please?"
Kishokish had been staring at his staff and Amanteia's voice startles him. "What? Oh. Right. Down the stairs, first door on the left is the dining room. The door to the kitchen is through there."
Ray checks the door for surprises, though at this point he doesn't really expect to see any.
Assuming Ray gives the all-clear on the door, Argus swings it open and steps into the kitchen.
This gloomy dining room contains a narrow table with a single high-backed wooden chair at each end. Other chairs and a sideboard stand against the room’s eastern wall. The headless corpse of a hairy, humanoid creature sprawls across the middle of the table.
Feasting on the corpse are three absolutely enormous insects. They turn when the door opens and immediately attack those who would dare interrupt their meal.
Giant fleas! Gross! They have DR 5/slashing and are immune to mind-affecting effects.
Their bite carries disease that damages constitution.
Amanteia (14/22 hp, PfE)
Bug #1 (0 damage)
Bug #2 (0 damage)
Bug #3 (0 damage)
Dellan (24/24 hp, PfE)
Argus (33/33 hp, PfE)
Ray (19/19 hp, PfE)
Bold may act.
Amanteia leans forward, placing her crossbow arm between Dellan and Argus, and fires a bolt at #1.
Amanteia's bolt soars well high and lodges itself in the eastern wall of the room.
#1 skitters over to the doorway and attempts to bite Argus, but fails to find a body part unprotected by armor. #2 moves next to #1 and awkwardly attempts a bite around the door frame, predictably missing horribly. #3 joins the throng in the doorway but is unable to reach any prey.
Amanteia (14/22 hp, PfE)
Bug #1 (0 damage)
Bug #2 (0 damage)
Bug #3 (0 damage)
Dellan (24/24 hp, PfE)
Argus (33/33 hp, PfE)
Ray (19/19 hp, PfE)
Bold may act.