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Nero shrieks as Johann tears out his evil throat, felling the monster's material body! NNNMMMMMMmmm!!!!
Father!! Save me, or they will destroy me, and if they find my phylactery... FATHER, SAVE MEEE!!!
As Dire Bat Johann chomps down on his arm, Nero moans in pain!
UGHH!! Foereaper scores the lich's back as he hobbles away from Sir Alphonse!
GNAH!!
In something akin to panic, the witchcraft-muted Nero, scrabbles at his stitched-closed mouth, desperately trying to tear the stitches free...
...but the stitches are too tight! Gah! No fair! My victory was assured until this... The Antichrist flees toward the next chamber...
The magical thread and needle swiftly stitch Nero's mouth shut! What!? No!! No!! Blasted African witch!! Must escape...
The undead monster is quick and agile, and sidesteps Fox's strike! Woe to you, Oh Earth and Sea! For the Devil sends the Beast with wrath, because he knows the time is short... Let him who hath understanding reckon The Number of the Beast... For it is a human number... Its number is six hundred and sixty six!
Nero again channels dark power to repair his undead body...
Flanking Nero with Dire Bat Johann, Lady Ihrin slices deeply into the lich, eliciting a satisfying scream of pain! AAAAAAAHHH!!!
The Antichrist narrowly dodges the deadly, smiting arc of Foereaper... *Gasp!* That was too close... I'd better stop playing around with this paladin...
AAAAAAGH!!
Cackling dryly, Nero sneers at the corpse of Arc Perdu impaled on the spikes of the iron maiden... Monsieur Perdu la Rouge has missed his old friends! HAHAHAHAAA!!
Nero channels negative energy to repair some of the damage the Mighty Ones have dealt him...
The Antichrist seems unharmed by the scorching ray from the ankh of Saint Moses the Black... Even if you could destroy this material body... My spirit would possess another! You'll never find my phylactery, fools! HAHAHAHAHAAA!!
Foereaper hooks Nero and smites the fiend! AAAAHHH!! DAMN YOU, DU VERITAS!! AAARRRRGH!!
The Werebeast Johann of the Black Forest nips his fangs into the dead flesh, and tastes the sour blood of Nero Antichrist as the lich tries to flee from he and his companions! YOUCH!!... I shall repay you for that, Schwartzwalder!
As Lady Ihrin Dracul, Sir Alphonse Veritas, Dire Bat Johann and Ogon Fox rush upon him in the fountain chamber, Nero Antichrist leers salaciously at the beautiful but lethal Daughter of the Dragon... Yesss, sweet Agrippina... Come and embrace your beloved brother... Not wanting to be surrounded and flanked, but unable to withdraw without provoking attacks of opportunity, the over-confident lich dashes recklessly eastward into the Chapel of Osiris...
Lady Ihrin charges into the fountain chamber up to where Nero stands beside the altar in front of the basin and brings Tiger Fang down to strike at the lich's head, but Nero sidesteps the blade at the last second! *WHOOSH!*
With supernatural grace, the monster deftly turns and parries the noble paladin's stroke! *CLANG!!* Do you like my reimagining of the crucifixion, Sir Alphonse? Oh, by the way... so dreadfully sorry about my dragon raising the Veritas manor in Kent... He has a terrific temper, and is still smarting at your interruption of his fun on the feast day of Saint Valentine...
Very sly, Signor Fox... You are far too clever... This should stop your shifting and changing for a while...
The blood of Christ grants an eternity of servitude in Heaven, Lady Ihrin. But the blood of Atilla the Hun runs in your veins, does it not? Those who drink of the blood of the dragon shall also have life eternal... An eternity spent hunting the blood of others by night... Your little brother Vlad shall be the greatest vampire to ever stalk mankind, my dear!
The Antichrist has just withdrawn into the chamber south of the stairwell, from which can be heard the splashing and gurgling of the Fountain of Christ's Blood... The Crusaders of the Catacombs recall this chamber: Forty feet square with a twenty-foot-high ceiling, an archway opening into an eastbound corridor in the east wall, and the south wall dominated by a great fountain. A pale marble crucifix with rose quartz Christ is mounted on the south wall, nearly eighteen feet tall, the sacred wounds in hands, feet, head and right side spilling blood red holy wine into a rose quartz basin filled with the healing elixir of Christ's blood... But Sir Alphonse Du Veritas, whose angelic eyes can penetrate the darkest night, can see that the Antichrist has decorated the fountain in a way certain to inspire powerful passion in the Mighty Ones... I have taken the liberty of redecorating since your last visit, Crusaders... I hope you appreciate my aesthetic... Hehehehehehhh... crows the Beast 666...
Chuckling dryly, the Antichrist dashes away down the corridor into the next chamber, withdrawing cautiously to avoid the opportunistic strikes of Lady Ihrin, Cobra Johann and Sir Alphonse! Come now, Sir Alphonse! You don't truly believe I will give up so easily, do you? Come and see how I have prepared for your return to the Catacombs... HAHAHAHAHAAA!!
Lady Ihrin's keen senses detect her invisible foe through the whirling ring of force blades. Bravely, she plunges through the blades, and is slashed for damage! Forcing herself to ignore the pain, she slashes at the invisible lich, but Nero deflects Tiger Fang with his devil-skull morning star! *CLANG!* Ut in somnis etiam non habent, parum soror. Et ego dico tibi somnia de te mihi? Latin: As you have also been in my dreams, little sister. Shall I tell you about my dreams?
As the Mighty Ones reach the bottom of the stairwell, Nero Antichrist is invisible in the archway to the south leading out of the chamber and a spinning, whirling barrier of force blades keen through the air around the stairwell, creating a blade barrier between them and the lich!
From the darkness below, the sepulchral chanting of the Antichrist continues: Emoc modgnik yht... Spellcraft DC 17:
Desecrate Enod eb lliw yht... Spellcraft DC 17:
Resist fire Yad siht su evig... Spellcraft DC 17:
Entropic shield [Sound of a potion being quaffed...]
While the adventurers quaff the protective fire warding potions doled out to them by Johann, they hear infernal chanting in the darkness down the stairwell... Nero Antichrist is also preparing for battle... Live morf su reviled! Spellcraft DC 19:
Freedom of movement Neveah ni tra ohw, rehtaf ruo! Spellcraft DC 18:
Protection from fire
From the darkness below, the raspy voice of a long dead Roman Emperor echoes faintly: Run! Run! As fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man! Hahahahaaa!!! Isn't that what your little cookie golem brother said, Johann? Right before my Sly Fox persona gobbled him up in the Black Forest? Hohohohohooo!!! Poor little Johann! Wait until you see what has become of your beloved Black Forest... And your pretty little Rapunzel of the Golden Locks... Such a dismal shame... So much beauty, and the magical healing power of her divine tresses, wasted by the worm... A pity...
Nero attempts to intercept her, but Lady Dracul is far nimbler and more fleet of foot. Seeing that she has evaded his embrace, the lich scuttles off toward the stairs that delve down into the dark and dangerous Catacombs...
Once he believes no other eyes are upon him (not even suspecting tiny Fey eyes in the shadows above and behind him), Nero drops his magical facade and stalks after Lady Ihrin Dracul! She feels a sudden overwhelming wave of supernatural fear roll over her as the "holy father" suddenly transforms into a cadaverous Roman Emperor Nero... His features are familiar but horribly decayed, his sunken eyes orbs of unholy red hellfire! He comes within 50 feet of Lady Ihrin (Lord Perpireen is 30 feet behind him, Lady Ihrin is 50 ft ahead of him in a columated hall)...
Nero Antichrist whispers in a dry, sepulchral voice to Lady Ihrin: Why, if it isn't my sweet little sister Agrippina returned to me after such vast gulfs of time... You're just as I remember you, little sister... Tell me, do you still revile the sight and taste of blood? Or has this latest incarnation given you a new appreciation for it? Heh heh heh heh... The corpse-like Nero shuffles closer to Ihrin... So beautiful... So fair... So sweeeet... Come, little sister. Give your big brother a nice, long kissss...
Emperor Nero quaffs his goblet of wine and thumps the table with his fist in time to the beat of a drummer and lyrist playing a lively March in the phrygian mode. Have you decided to relax and enjoy yourself this time, little sister? I promise, there's no gladiator's blood in your wine this time. HAHAHAHAHAAA!!! Ah, the look on your little face! Priceless! Priceless.
Laughing cruelly, Emperor Nero reveals his nasty prank: Why, sister, it is only the blood of that slain gladiator you refused to look upon earlier today during the games! HAHAHAHAHAAA!!!
Later that night, as they are feasting and being entertained by musicians, Nero passes a goblet to his young sister Agrippina. Do not be cross with me, my beautiful sister! I only wanted you to enjoy the spectacle of the games. Here, drink, and be merry! He watches with malevolent anticipation as she hesitantly takes the goblet of wine...
You WILL LOOK, you ungrateful b#&&*! snarls the arrogant young Emperor of Rome, and he grabs his sister's wrist, pulling her back into her seat, and taking her head in both hands, laughing fiendishly, he forces her to face the slaughter. She shuts her eyes and weeps.
During the last days of Nero's mortal life and reign, in the Eternal City of Rome, at the Coliseum: A Sicilian gladiator with trident and net clashes in mortal combat with a Gaulish gladiator armed with gladius and buckler, tangling his sword in the weighted net, and jabbing under his upraised buckler, piercing his unarmored abdomen. The pierced swordsman screams in agony, his scarlet blood qushing onto the sand... Nero sits in a box overlooking the bloody spectacle with his sister Agrippina the Younger. He laughs at the bloodshed, but she is horrified and angry and turns away. Hahahaha! No, look! These men die to amuse us, my dear sister. Do not let them die in vain.
[dice=Will]1d20+6+5 A cloud of bats swarming round a full moon appears in the crystal ball instead of the desired view of Ihrin Dracul. Blast her willful spirit! snarls the Antichrist, frustrated...
Unable to banish the troubling thoughts that plague his mind ever since he noticed the uncanny resemblance of Lady Ihrin Dracul to that long dead sister from his mortal life, Agrippina the Younger, Nero paces his sanctuary in silent turmoil. It is nothing, a passing delusion... No, there was something unmistakable in her face, her posture! I must look again! Returning to the crystal ball, he gazes with shrunken hellfire orbs into the murky sphere of crystal, willing the desired view to appear with whispered incantation...
Nero's thoughts then turned to the 5th century, when he first crossed paths with that damned sprite Lord Perpireen McGibel... That accursed McGibel! I had murdered and usurped the role and guise of Atilla the Hun, and was leading his vast barbarian hordes against the Gauls, but that blasted little fairy was on their side, and continually confounded my superstitious barbarians with cheap fairy tricks and glamers, causing me to lose battles I'd have otherwise won! And then, to top it off, that little pest found out Atilla was really me, and poisoned my wine with holy water! Thank Lucifer the little wretch never found my phylactery after all the times he's managed to get together a band of self-righteous fools to hunt me down and destroy my corporeal form! He couldn't leave it at that, no... When I was Genghis Khan, he found me out, tricked me again, and got me destroyed...AGAIN!!... When I was playing at being Duke of Burgundy in the 14th century, AGAIN that little twerp foiled me!! I cannot wait to have my revenge!
In a torpor from the rigor of scrying and the shock of what he'd seen in Lady Ihrin's visage and mannerisms, Nero reclines upon his funeral bier and goes through the motions of sleep as if he could, letting his thoughts drift back, way back to that misty past when he was a living, breathing man, and Emperor of Rome... He'd had many siblings, brothers and sisters, but one in particular had been close to him: Agrippina the Younger. He had loved her, and she him. The relationship was... Ancient Roman... and would not be understood today... Cease this pitiful ruminating on what is long dead, Nero. You are something different now, something far superior to weak and temporary mortal flesh and blood! You are the heir of Lucifer! You are the Great Beast 666! You are the Antichrist, who has called down Wormwood and hastened the Doomsday! Focus on the goal: to slay the Lamb of God and unthrone the Great I Am!
Something about Lady Ihrin's image in the crystal ball suddenly seizes all of the Antichrist's attention. He is frozen, transfixed, spellbound by a strikingly familiar expression on the Lady Dracul's face, followed by an unmistakable tilt of her head and the slight limp... He remembers something from very long ago... Something from when he was a living mortal, and the arrogant young Emperor of Rome... Agrippina! He hadn't thought of his sister for centuries... Hellish orbs locked intently on her image in the crystal ball now, he shudders momentarily, feels something in his decaying ribcage he'd thought was dead and rotten, and grimaced horrifically at the unwelcome sensation of filial affection... No... You only bear a passing resemblance to my little sister Agrippina, Lady Dracul... Or it is some trace of senility undeath has failed to quell... He dismisses the image, suddenly enervated and overcome with torpor from the strain of processing the scrying visions.
Looking at Mwikali in the crystal ball, he smiles evilly... I know how to corrupt beautiful young witches... My father Lucifer taught me well, my dusky gem... I shall make you my concubine, but only after I force you to watch your beloved Africa enslaved and raped by European beasts! Turning his eyes to the Fox, he pouts. With you, I'm not quite sure what to do. You and the Bear are becoming very mighty beasts indeed. Some day you shall both grow too big for cages or chains... You will likely have to be destroyed. Can't trust a Fox, as your big friend has been known to remind you... Grinning cruelly at Johann, the sunken orbs crackling with evil glee as the cadaverous face draws closer to the convex crystal... Ah, Johann the Bear! My big, furry, foolish beast! I know exactly how to destroy you. After Wormwood has burnt the Black Forest to ashes, toppled Rapunzel's Tower, and devoured the fair lady, all before your eyes, your big heart shall break, and I shall laugh long and hard at your despair! Looking finally at Lord Perpireen, the Antichrist shivers with disgust. [i]And YOU! Perpireen McGibel, my old foe... I will squash you under my heel like the annoying, trick-playing, deceitful little bug that you are! You think this is a fine game we're playing, you and I, don't You? You've played me the fool too many times over the centuries... I will have my revenge, you accursed little sprite!
Nero scowls at the image of Sir Alphonse in his crystal ball, chiding the Bear for suggesting a course of action that would be so repugnant to their little friend Lord Perpireen... How he hated this particular foe, who had been killing his minions and thwarting his evil plots for six years now, first as one of those damned Lusty Fools, and now as one of the damned Crusaders and Jackals... Youuuu... growls the cadaverous lich, YOU!!... First, I shall use you and manipulate you, make you think you are doing the right thing when all along you are doing my bidding... Then, I will reveal that fact to you, causing you to fall from grace, to lose faith... Then, I will kill you with slow and excruciating torture, and raise your ruined carcass as a graveknight. You will be the commander of my legion of undead warriors, you righteous, insufferable, perfect-hair-having... Looking around to be certain that none of his evil minions heard that last rant, His Malevolence spies an invisible imp named Thornfester stifling giggles in amid the stalactites above, and, snarling with alarm and embarrassment, disintegrates the little devil with a green blast from his ring of spell storing! SHUT UP!!
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