Ash claps her hands in delight. Oh, I do so love it when they fight amongst themselves. It's one of the most rewarding parts of being evil.Ash pops into the room and sits herself down on the desk with a wide grin on her face.
Oh, that was fun. You should really have seen the look on Lyn's face when she found out. It was a lot like yours when I killed you that time, mother, she adds with a special cruel smile for Izkemina. And now you have to help me kill your precious Lyn. She sighs happily. Revenge really is a dish best served cold.Edit: Woops, she says as she realizes that she is bleeding. Well, that stings a bit.
"Heh." The raven says.
"Indeed. My plan is also going well. I need only push Wasp that extra inch. And he will snap. He has lost his mentor, his friend, and the closest things he had to parents. One more thing, and he will attack. One more thing, and he will do our work for us."
Ash frowns into the scrying mirror.
Your plan is sound as far as it goes, but there is one definite flaw. We need my irritating sister alive until we can finish gathering all the pieces of the goddess.
Unless of course you mean for me to swoop in and save her, 'proving' that she's been working with us all along, she adds with an amused smirk.
"Regrettably, it would not be foolproof. I have a plan, though. It would appear that my 'friends at the Palace still know nothing. Though they are useful, there is nothing there that could prove helpful anymore. It is time to...get rid of them."
A flicker of dark energy siphoned from the Thieving Wasp elsewhere, dances into the room, and comes to rest in a dark nimbus around the Bookkeeper.
The raven's eyes glow red, and the essence slingshots back to Wasp. The raven chuckles darkly.
"Sorry, dear, but we can't have that. You'll get twice the energy in time, but first the Wasp has top help me out with these loose ends..."
A pool of water seeps out of the flagstones and coverges into a man-shaped form, turning into the Giggler
The goddess need her sweetmeats back
The time is now to get on track!
The Giggler picks up his wicker basket and skips off, trailing runnels of water as he goes.
"There is power in the blood," Ethisa mutters. "These fools continue to seek the flesh, they should be looking for the blood."
"Very good. You are the first to figure it out without a map and a detailed set of instructions. The blood is key, but first we need the flesh. We are only missing one piece. And then it will be time..."
She cackles with glee at the thought.
Ash rolls her eyes. Oh please. Stop being so dramatic. So help me, I'm gutting the first person who says bwahaha.
"Patience, masked one," Ash says with a wicked grin. "Some plans take time to play out properly. The time to fight will be very, very soon, never fear."
"Begin sequence 11647 now" [i]the Bookkeeper rasps out.
Machines hum to life. Dozens of cultist clones begin to awaken. Large robotic sentries power up. Whirs and clicks continue in the bowels of the room.
Another bookkeeper steps out of her cloning chamber.
"Time for you to go, dears. I can handle things from here."
The Giggler returns, with a basket of goddess chunks
A tisket a tasket
A chunk of god in basket!
He looks around at all the clones
Oh me, oh my,
Has something gone awry?
The Giggler returns, with a basket of goddess chunks
A tisket a tasket
A chunk of god in basket!He looks around at all the clones
Oh me, oh my,
Has something gone awry?
Ah, you're just in time, the primary bookkeeper says, taking the basket and adding the pieces to the ones in the bag she is carrying. And with the last pieces we were waiting for. Well done. We have to go but feel free to stay if you enjoy slaughtering heroes.
With that Bookkeeper1, Ash, and Izkemina sweep out, leaving Bookkeeper2 and the cultists to buy some time.
The Giggler looks about
I am no ones sacrificial pawn
So with the others I am gone!
Departs with the others
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"Coward," Ethisa mutters. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a seemingly ordinary piece of driftwood. "My lord, the time is now." Throwing the driftwood on the ground, a small force of two dozen alligator warriors appear, along with a half dozen skeleton, and a massive ape shaped wiker construct with four extra arms hanging from it's chest, and several crossbow armed goblins riding in compartments along it's flanks.
"Lord Jack send his regrets that more forces are not avalible," one of the alligator warriors growls.
"Hmm. I shall grant 20 zombie warriors, I'm sure you will understand my disinterest in granting more."
The raven chuckles, and disappears. At the same time, 20 zombies, wielding guns, appear.
"These are my finest warriors, so try to send back any remains so I might reanimate them."
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The portal opens and the might band of heroes steps through. As Angel enters the demiplane she surveys the waiting army. "This is definately not just a few cultists. I guess it's time to even the odds. Angel's body flows like quicksilver and undergoes an amazing transformation.In just a few seconds, the woman you are familiar with stands replaced by a mighty silver dragon.
"Wow, I wasn't expecting that," Allura says.
"Enough talk, let's fight," Poetry mutters.
The zombies open fire. Their bullets are of very fine make, forged in another world to conquer another.
A large robot finished its activation sequence and thunders towards the dragon, cannon blasting.
Crazed gnome cultists, all exactly the same, run around with explosives not particularly caring which side they're using them against. A hag stays towards the back casting spells to strengthen the cultists as they move to attack the heroes.
The zombies all open fire on the Angel of Violence. More than one bullet find its mark.
Devlyn whispers to Poetry
He then just fades into the darkness. Suddenly, the gun-toting zombies start falling as some are cut down, some just turn to dust. An indistinct blur is moving among them, dividing their atttention on Angel.
The zombies hiss, and a familiar raven appears. 5 of the 17 zombies disappears.
"Can't have it be that easy, can we?"
Devlyn hears five gunshots sound, and he feels a pain in his back.
JH thunders through the portal. He scans the room for Ash. His rage increases when he doesn't find her. He launches his hammer at the large robot, trying to focus on the machines first. He continues throwing the hammer and using his fists, smashing foes and equipment with equal abandon as he waits for its return. The hammer seems to fly of its own accord, sometimes jumping to several opponents. Where JH focuses on machines, it focuses on undead.
The zombies hiss, and a familiar raven appears. 5 of the 17 zombies disappears.
"Can't have it be that easy, can we?"
Devlyn hears five gunshots sound, and he feels a pain in his back.
"Perish the thought, little trickster" Devlyn says as he spins, grinning, taking note of the source of the gunshots, then rendering said source into 'kibble'.
The robot sizzles and crackles and it is destroyed by the dragon's mighty jaws. Two more robots finish their activation sequence and join the fight. Thanks to JH the rest were destroyed before they were fully functioning.
Poetry fades into a cloud of darkness. Before anyone realizes what is going on, she is standing behind the Bookkeeper. "Time for you to die for good," she says. Grabbing the woman by the arm, she triggers her death touch attack.
Hee! Hee! teheeheeheehee!
The gnomes laugh maniacally as several of them holding grenades form a ring around JH.
The zombies hiss, and a familiar raven appears. 5 of the 17 zombies disappears.
"Can't have it be that easy, can we?"
Devlyn hears five gunshots sound, and he feels a pain in his back."Perish the thought, little trickster" Devlyn says as he spins, grinning, taking note of the source of the gunshots, then rendering said source into 'kibble'.
He cleaves into two, but there are still three invisible ones, which all fire again at him. As do the other 12.
Poetry fades into a cloud of darkness. Before anyone realizes what is going on, she is standing behind the Bookkeeper. "Time for you to die for good," she says. Grabbing the woman by the arm, she triggers her death touch attack.
The Bookkeeper screams as her unlife is ended once more. One of the machines hums to life. If it is not stopped a new bookkeeper will step forth in a matter of moments.
Hee! Hee! teheeheeheehee!
The gnomes laugh maniacally as several of them holding grenades form a ring around JH.
"Suprise," says Allura as she manages to skewer one of the gnomes with her ranseur. "They always ignore a pretty face."
One of the female cultists with a large gun takes aim at Allura.
Time to die, she says dreamily
Poetry fades into a cloud of darkness. Before anyone realizes what is going on, she is standing behind the Bookkeeper. "Time for you to die for good," she says. Grabbing the woman by the arm, she triggers her death touch attack.The Bookkeeper screams as her unlife is ended once more. One of the machines hums to life. If it is not stopped a new bookkeeper will step forth in a matter of moments.
Seeing the machine activate, Allura hastily casts Elemental Vortex. Suddenly the machine is slowly but steadily drawn into a whirling mass of elemental chaos.
He cleaves into two, but there are still three invisible ones, which all fire again at him. As do the other 12.
The remaining female cultists focus their gunfire on Poetry and Allura, since those two just took out their leader.
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One of the female cultists with a large gun takes aim at Allura.
Time to die, she says dreamily
"I don't think so," Angel says. She whips her neck around and latches her jaws around the cultists waist. She shackes the woman for a moment, like a dog shakes a squirrel, and tosses the body toward the wicker construct.
The cultists are stopped in their tracks, but several of them are still holding ticking bombs. The two robots direct their fire at Angel.
The zombies have all turned their attention on Devlyn, as the alligator warrior bites down on his arm. The Dalesman's eyes flash, then the wounds on his body disappear.
As the zombies line up for another withering hail of fire, Devlyn lets out a roar, and his form shifts and grows (along with his gear.) He goes to hybrid weretiger form and spins the alligator warrior around, using him as a shield from the bullets, as his (now active) damage reduction helps stave off the worst of the bullets that do get through.
He uses his scent and blindsight to try an keep tabs on the invisible targets nearby, yelling out their presence to the others.
Hee! Hee! teheeheeheehee!
The gnomes laugh maniacally as several of them holding grenades form a ring around JH.
JH grins as crazily as any of the cultists, as his eyes turn white. His skin begins to harden, becoming more metallic, and his feet meld with the floor. The cultists are being drawn inward towards him. The pins on their grenades uncoil and entwine the tops. From behind the ring of cultists the hammer's head enlarges and engulfs one of their heads.
Metal to metal little ones...
The cultists are stopped in their tracks, but several of them are still holding ticking bombs. The two robots direct their fire at Angel.
The ticking bombs continue to tick as the paralyzed holders are drawn to JH. Loose bits of metal begin to crawl or fly towards him depending on their weight.