Thank you Tarasik for keeping your wits about you... that was uncomfortable.
It's one thing to have a voice inside your head, but all together another thing to have voices in addition to and inside that one... Djon shudders, shaking the ordeal off and trying to compose himself.
It's like being in a hall of mirrors and looking at a reflection within a reflection with a reflection infinitely. Each one slightly different and never in a good way.
He looks to the rest. If anyone has a plan or the start of one, I'm listening. Does it have a weakness?
"It is probably weak to blunt objects smashing through skull.TRasik is ashamed to admit, but bigger then expected."
Standing, and rubbing his mouth, Walter cast Aid first, as it lasted a longer time, then the Blessings of Fervor when the creature was close enough to attack.
As Sir Walter prepares to throw some lightning across the chaotic battlefield, Djon stealthily sneaks off to the side and doubles around, so he can be in position when Tarasik gets to melee. Billy and Marion stand prepared.
Round 1
Cthulhu reaches lightning bolt range, still no idea the party is any different than the other creatures that run link ants before it.
ENTIRE PARTY MAY ACT.
Breathing deeply, feeling the Fervor and Aid granted by his companion's sorcery, Tarasik leaps right into action. Quite literally, by taking several long bounding strides. His calm facade cracks mid-step, the Russkin letting loose a bestial roar as he rears back at the last moment to deliver a shin-bashing strike against the being that dared to be larger than him.
Unsure exactly how susceptible an eldritch horror that viewed time and space as a cosmic dishrag, Walter cast a spell to test the waters somewhat. He tried to turn the things shadow against itself, using his Blessing to improve his own armour for now.
Tarasik manages a solid hit against the horrid beast, a loud CRACK echoing across the battlefield. The giant has certainly gained Great Cthulhu's attention.
Unfortunately, the creature ignores the effect of Sir Walter's first spell (unless there's a partial result from a made save).
Djon and Billy may act.
It's hopeless. The end of times... the Devourer walks.
Djon pumps his legs faster, harder... seeing a rock formation.
Shut... up. And, let me work!
As the behemoth lumbers forward and Tarasik roars, Djon bounds up the outcropping and in contrast to the giant, silently launches himself toward the enemy.
The creature jolts as it realizes it has not one but TWO opponents who dare to oppose its will.
(non-magical ability)
Both Tarasik and Djon are taken aback at the sheer horror of this beast. You are now SHAKEN for round as you come to grips with it.
Billy draws his pistol and points at Cthulhu as he yells, ”We’re sendin’ you back to where you came you ugly son of a b!@&$!”
With that, he fires off three shots (of dubious accuracy).
Billy manages to land only one solid shot.
Walter grit his teeth as the thing shrugged off his magic like water off a waterfowl's wing. He'd suspected his abilities were going to be of limited use here, but there was no time to give up or be frustrated. If he threw enough power at the thing something might penetrate. Eventually.
"Let us see you waltz, old chap," Walter muttered, tapping into the nearest layline.
Grunting, Walter felt the power of the Ley-Line buck, warp, lash out into his own mind. Instead of allowing it to harm himself he dumped the damage it would cause into the monster before them.
Before Sir Walter's second spell, the creature lashes out angrily and Djon and Tarasik.
Djon:
Tarasik:
Top of Round 2
Sir Walter's attack goes off.
TAKES FULL DAMAGE
Cthulhu is currently staggered. He has ways of becoming not staggered, but we'll see if he uses them.
Rest of Party may act in round 2
The giant grunts as the eldritch beast practically stomps upon him, his hand flying upwards to try and block the attack's brunt. Determination fuels his form as he pushes it back, a heavy breath on his lips. What dredges of vigor Walter's earlier spell Aided him with had been quickly sheered off by the blow.
Billy closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. There was power in him, deep down, power that he hadn’t even begun to explore.
As he breathes out, his eyes blaze with light and as he shoots, the barrel of his pistol flashes with holy power.
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Watching the Gunslinger positively riddle the monster with fire, Walter decided that if the Spears worked there was no reason to get fancy right now. They needed the thing down so it could be put to sleep.
It swatted you like a fly... run, save yourself!
Shut your extra-planar trap...
The wind knocked out of him and unsure how the others were fairing... Djon was still satisfied that the creature at least noticed his attack. So, he pressed on.
Com'on you ugly behemoth!
Seeking weak points on the creature's structure, he struck in rapid succession.
Faced with unprecedented resistance the like of which it has not seen in millions of years, Cthulhu cries out in pain.
Reflex and Fortitude Saves from everyone except Djon.
Unfortunately, even his superstitious nature doesn't protect Tarasik from the onslaught of the powerful sonic attack. Tarasik takes full damage and finds he can no longer hear properly.
The beast's might below shakes the giant to his very core, rattling every inch of his exceptionally large bones. Yet what would fell lesser men will not fell the strongman, and he hoists his weapon up for more successive blows.
It was painful to watch his friends nearly erased by... sound.
It seems surprised? It seems you mortal heroes are capable of a think or two when working together.
You sweet talker... it's why I chose you during the trials. You weren't screaming mad like the others.
The silence in his mind told him all he needed to know.
OVER HERE, you over-grown pond scum! Djon tries to draw the thing's ire. Then using Walter's magic... Can anyone hear me? What's the plan?
Are you trying to die?
Just trying to give my friends a chance.
Djon can't match the strength of Tarasik, but he continues his assult.
Billy Fort:
Billy takes only 1/2 damage (29) from the Scream effect, and is not deafened.
Sir Walter Fort:
Sir Walter takes the full 58 HP (or SP, or any combination thereof).
The scream was Cthulhu's action that round.
So Tarasik and Djon's actions happen afterward. The creature is still up, but you've obviously slashed, beat, and shot it to a bloody mess at this point.
Sir Walter and Billy still to act.
Walter staggered, wincing under the assault as the beast shrieked. The fact the things mere screams had caused massive harm to him was not something Walter was overly fond of.
The Witch focused on the monster as he wiped the blood from his nose, and attempted to Curse a Godthing.
Billy fires off three more shots at the eldritch horror, but on the last one his gun jams. He curses loudly before smacking the gun to clear the chamber.
At this point, the creature screams, and falls to the ground. Its unholy carcass smites the very land itself, and the Earth rends and cracks around it.
Avoid Falling over:
Billy:
Sir Walter:
Tarasik:
Djon:
Chance to fall into a crevice:
Billy:
Sir Walter:
Tarasik:
Djon:
Amazingly, amid all the destruction, Sir Walter falling over is the worst of the outcomes. Everyone manages to not be where the ground is rent open. The creature lay face down, apparently lifeless.
Top of Round. Who has the ritual knife?
Djon moves with preternatual speed towards Walter's prone form.
He offers an arm by way of assistance.
This big boy's been up past his bedtime. Wouldn't you say?
Sir Walter lets Djon know that no ritual is necessary.
All the while this is happening, madness has been raging across the battlefield, as members of both side shoot at each other, attack members of their own side, wander in circles, or just sit and babble incoherently.
Djon takes the blade and plunges it into the chest of the beast.
At first there is nothing. Then, a wave of multiple colors bursts forth from the beast.
Djon:
Tarasik:
Billy:
Walter:
What happens next is best described as effects over time. After this point, Sir Walter begins having trouble distancing himself from the information of the Akashic Record, and he has trouble understanding what is happening in front of him from what he sees in the Record. He spends the next several years overcoming this problem.
Djon (and his internal hitchhiker) begin having bipolar style mood shifts that affect him for several years. Having been captured by the Mercurian government for his "crimes" during the war, He spends some time and a mental hospital. Eventually he is released and, having served time, is able to continue his life in relative peace.
Billy is affected by night terrors and paranoid fears of his own death. He drinks his way into a stupor, but eventually comes out the other side the stronger for it.
Tarasik's life goes on pretty much unchanged, though his tendency to distrust anything he views a supernatural is cemented.
But all of that happens in the future. Back in the here and now, the heroes, still on the battlefield, are feeling only the most basic begins of their mental struggles to come.
Around them, large portions of the armies have been destroyed either having fallen into the rifts created by the quake, or having killed each other (or in some cases themselves). The battle has pretty much faltered, and both armies cease hostilities as some of them begin to regain their senses and realize the horror all around them.
Tarasik lumbers backward several steps as the rainbow light bursts forward, stumbling out of his enraged stupor. Some small part of him expected almost more. Like the great beast to come bursting back at the last hour, reigniting the fight in it's fullest. The rest of him, struggling to contain his battle-instinct, knew on a fundamental level that this was just the same thing he felt after every fight he'd experienced in life.
His strength, and the strength of his companions, had utterly destroyed their opposition once again.
Now it was time to fuel that rage and aggression into more productive elements.
"Soldiers are- Are still being trapped. Tarasik will help... Will help them!" He shouts though the headache ringing through his skull, before practically launching himself forward towards the rifts, his weapon left behind. If there was any chance he could save some poor soul from the darkened depths, he would take it.
The skein of fate was never easy to read, and only when using his magic was Walter really able to make any sense of the threads. Even then, it wasn't exactly clear. But now, now, there was nothing. It was...disconcerting. Perhaps that was because they'd just changed the future to such a degree that nothing could be written.
Snapping out of it, Walter went, "What? The soldiers? Oh, yes. I'll heal them, if they have a need." His curses were usable on a person just once, but once was better than no healing at all.
As the beast falls, Billy sighs. This was what he had been looking for. The guilt that weighed on him from his wasted years of crime and robbery...he had faced down ultimate evil and brought it down.
Now...where did he go from here?
The world was changing, the wild frontiers he loved were shrinking.
For now though, there were people to help. That would have to do.
The heroes do what they can to help the people at the front. One good thing about all this is that the war seems averted for the time being. Once back in Mercuria, the soldiers of fortune find no hero's welcome, but the army of Ugrin does ship them payment for assisting the injured on the front. That money will keep the team going for a while, but they know it won't be long before the government is after them once again, trying to continue covering up their involvement in another war, once, years ago.
The End