The Eye of Anubis: Book Nine

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DocBeard
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Post by DocBeard »

Okay, so...

Last time, this void thing was fake. Chances are...

"Sorry about this, Sascha!" Tomas exclaims, floating forwards and swiping at where the Vos disappeared!

(OOC: 25, 8 damage if it hits.)
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Post by Nathan of the FoS »

And then! Someone swoops out of the sky to rescue him! Charles reaches up his hand to be saved and...

pzzzzzZAP!

...discovers Kuzan has invented the joy buzzer.

Also, he is no longer falling; he is...just lying there. A quick mental review assures him that everything is still connected; it just doesn't want to respond much. By dint of fierce concentration Charles is able to persuade himself to close his hand (there's the knife, that's good) and roll over, coming to his knees.

Which puts him at the foot of the obelisk. Let's try this again, shall we?

Charles begins to put the adamantine dagger to good use again, shaving away the stone inscriptions in favor of something a little more...rational.


A little confusion, here...moving to the obelisk can be done with a five-foot step. Do I have to stand (move action) to begin fiddling with the obelisk? Or may I just start Disabling Device? If the first, I will move and attack (attack roll 17, damage 3); if the second, Disable Device 24.
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Post by The Whistler »

...You.

What?

You're doing this. It's YOU--YOUR Fates-cursed LACK of morality that's FORCING me to lash out at my allies, just at this CRUCIAL moment, because--

Wait. Keep your pants on, I don't--

--never should have TRUSTED you, never should have LET YOU INTO MY HEAD, never should have GOTTEN UP in that STUPID TREE, because you are going to MAKE me WALK CASUALLY OVER THERE and STAB a man I BARELY know RIGHT IN THE--

--Okay, now HOLD it--

--SHOULD HAVE SUPPRESSED YOU FROM THE--

--FOR THE LOVE OF THE SHEPHERD I'M NOT TELLING YOU TO DO ANYTHING. We hunt, we mate, we don't pay attention to who we piss off. But we DO NOT attack packmates. Got it?

...

...You're overthinking this. Again. You're in a room filled with psychic rocks, whose LIFE'S WORK is to slow you down so they can mess with reality better. OCCAM'S BLOODY RAZOR.

...

...Where'd you learn a term like that?

Um. ..."Your half." If you can call it that. ...It's...um...kinda crowded in there.

...Yeah. Comes of all that overthinking, right?

Hey: you said it, not me.

Okay. You've been poking around in my head, so: pop quiz. Say you've been yelling at yourself for five seconds, and are just now getting around to dismantling a spacetime-warping arcane monstrosity before it hurts any more of your friends. What's your first move?

...You've got to be kidding me.

Dead serious, man. You stay in the apartment, you gotta start paying the rent.

You're a piece of work, you know that?

Heh. Maybe so.

...Right. Icepick the sucker in the rune on the left. How's that sound?


--PFZZT--

Brilliant.

OOC: 22 on the save, 37 on the Disable Device check with 3 charges from the gloves. Are we rounding up or down for DD damage?
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Post by Kaitou Kage »

Kuzan took to the air again after making sure Charles was freed from his mental stupor. He hovered near the grey obelisk and waved his hands in a broad incantation. The priest pointed at a spot between Devereux, Tomas, and Khalil and spoke a single word of healing. A burst of soothing white light erupted forth and showered the trio with positive energy.

Moving straight up 40 feet and across to L17.

Mass cure light wounds on Sascha, Tomas, and Devereux with 1 charge of the ring of mystic healing

1 (dice) + 7 (ring) + 10 (augment) + 11 (caster level) = 29 hp healed.

Using caduceus bracers to convert the healing on Devereux into Con damage healed.
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Post by Isabella »

The Temple of Anuberith, Kamarn-Quse, Har'Akir
August 19th, 761, 3:12 PM; Day 155 of the Menetnashte Expedition

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Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image

PC Actions
Andre casts Sound Lance on the Grey Obelisk.
Lia casts Scorching Ray on the Grey Obelisk, hits twice, but fails to damage it.
Tomas whacks Sacha to stop him from falling.
Sacha is stunned for the round.
Charles attacks the Green Obelisk and misses.
Otto shakes off the psychosis and disables the Grey Obelisk.
Kuzan casts Mass Cure Light Wounds.



A wave of sound crashed into the grey obelisk, sending cracks through the entire structure. Otto plunged his icepick straight into one of the fissures. With one final burst of light, the runes went dead. Black stone rained around the gunsmith as the obelisk started to crumble.

A few yards away, Tomas felt violet light wash over him. Looking down, he saw his armor and sword reflecting a myriad of pale white hands, and yet there were no hands in the temple to cause such a reflection. The warrior felt a sharp twinge, and Tomas saw his own skin distending, as if a hand was trying to push itself out of his own body...
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Charles was quickly discovering that cutting through several tons of stone was not an easy prospect, no matter what his knife might have been composed of. The obelisk pulsed threateningly as the mathematician ineffectually scratched on it. As Charles paused to rethink his postulates, the entire obelisk lit up in a sudden blaze of light.

Agony shot through Charles’ arm. The obelisk pulsed again.

Looking down through the haze of pain, Charles noticed his blade seemed different - a long, wavy blade of dull grey steel, slightly warm in his hand. The kris sang its dark melody in harmony with the obelisk, eager to obey whatever Martel commanded of it...

For the greater good... sacrifices are sometimes necessary...

Enemy Actions
The Golden Obelisk has been deactivated.

The Cerulean Obelisk has been deactivated.

The Grey Obelisk has been deactivated.

The Emerald Obelisk casts Psychosis on Charles. This is a DC 18 Will Save negates, or else you must move towards the nearest creature, which is currently Professor Devereux (unless someone else moves closer), and attack them with whatever weapon you have in hand. If you cannot reach a creature by the end of the round, you simply move towards the nearest creature by the most-efficient route. You do not need to set up sneak attacks or power attacks or what-not, but you do make a regular attack. This spell lasts one round.


PC: Prayer (+1 Luck to attack, saves, damage, and skills)
Lia: 30/34 HP, Greater Mage Armor (+6 Armor AC), Fly
Charles: 42/48 HP,
Andre: 26/31 HP
Tomas: 86/91 HP, Fly
Sascha: 85/92 HP, Rage (formerly +20 temp HP)
Otto: 56/62 HP, Fly
Kuzan: 64/83 HP


The Golden Obelisk: -61 to -103 HP, Destroyed
The Cerulean Obelisk: -48 HP, Destroyed
The Emerald Obelisk: -1 HP
The Grey Obelisk: -54 HP, Destroyed


Ending Conditions
-The Obelisks are all destroyed or dispelled, OR
-Devereux is incapable of finishing the ritual (dead or unconscious or Feebleminded or whatever), OR
-Devereux finishes the Ritual. This occurs in 1 minute, which is 10 rounds, if Devereux is still directing the Ritual and at least one Obelisk is powering it.


Image

Columns - The two squares immediately south of any given Column provide Cover. Columns also block Line of Sight.

Sphinxes - You can clamber onto them with a Climb Check. They are considered Difficult terrain for the purposes of moving over them.


Unstable Reality (The green) - Basically, this is a Wall of Thorns http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/wallOfThorns.htm, with a slightly different movement requirement.

The gist is this. If you enter a square of Unstable Reality, or begin your turn in a square of Unstable Reality, you take 25 damage minus your Flatfooted AC (if your Flatfooted AC is 25 or higher, you take no damage). This happens every time you enter a square, so if you move through three squares of Unstable Reality, you take the damage 3 times.

To move through the Unstable Reality, one must succeed on a DC 15 Strength or DC 15 Wisdom check as a Full Round Action, and this moves you 5 feet through the wall (you don't need a check if you are in the wall and move out). For every 5 points by which you exceed DC 15, you move an additional five feet (so a Wis check of 20 lets you move 10 feet).


False Void (blue area) - Every creature that enters the False Void, or is within the area when it is cast, must make a DC 19 Will (Disbelief) save.

Those that fail their saves fall prone and are unable to take any action except clawing desperately at the floor in the hopes of stopping their apparent fall. An attack on an affected creature frees it from the effect of the illusion but leaves it stunned for 1 round. Likewise, when the spell ends, creatures that believed they were falling are stunned for 1 round. Flying creatures passing over an illusory pit are unaffected by the spell.
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Post by yalenusveler »

Andre saw the Grey Obelisk fall, and was rather glad for it, as he doubted that his world becoming a freezing and burning hell again would be good for him, even with the ability to shrug off some of the cold. He moved with certainty that the floor beneath his feet was still there, and began the gestures for his spell, speaking the word "Clamo" and letting fly with a bolt of focused sound, aimed for the Emerald Obelisk.

OOC:AE14 on the move, then 38 damage from the sound lance to the Emerald Obelisk
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Post by Kaitou Kage »

Kuzan banked in midair and dove again, hovering just above the floor near Charles.

Get down there, get down there.

The priest swung his hand and slammed it into the obelisk. A charge of electricity jolted the obelisk, followed immediately by a thunderous crackle of raw sonic power. The obelisk rippled as the soundwaves pounded against it, but Kuzan frowned, feeling it was not enough.

Best chance I got now...Here's hoping it's enough.

Moving down to J13, ground level. Touching the stone and using my ring of thunderclaps, then triggering the shout ability for 13 sonic damage. I believe the save DC is 16.
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Post by Nathan of the FoS »

Yes.

This will be much easier than the other, after all. If the door is opened...then close it. N'est-ce pas?

Turning from the obelisk, Charles grips the kris--a comforting feeling, a familiar feeling, the feeling of a hunter whose quarry lies at his mercy. Stepping forward, he shrugs off the influence of the suggestion that the ground at his feet has disappeared and paces quietly forward, his face a white mask.

Stepping quickly but carefully into the circle, he strikes.

Ah, the turns of Fortune! 10 fails the first save vs. Psychosis, 20 succeeds on the second vs. False Void. 15 on the attack, 4 damage (plus whatever the kris's bonuses are).
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Post by lostboy »

Sascha roars like an animal as Tomas strikes him, whiupping round he stares up at the Lamordian with eyes of pure venom. But as before the sight of the younger man stops him in his tracks. Clsoing his eyes for a second to focus the fury where its needed he turns towards the source of the malevolent green light.

"No more shall the voices torment me!" he shouts in a hoarse voice, forcing his tired muscles forward. He felt the weight of years as his legs began to pump, building a head of steam as he rushes across the chamber, knowing his strnegth would not last much longer.

Bearing down on the glowing obelisk he roars a wordless cry of pent up rage and throws himself bodily through the air towards his target, the red fury blazing as he brings the sword down in a mighty overhand stroke against the hateful runes.

[OOC: Charge to H13 avoiding the blue stuff, to hit 17 :roll: with leap +Power atatck which would have done 82 hp dmaage if I could roll over 5 for an attack dammit!]
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Post by DocBeard »

"Lucky you..." Tomas murmurs, feeling faint for a moment. Then, he lets out a breath, holding his sword over his head. If there is something up there looking out for me, Eisenwald thinks, now'd be the time to help out. Just saying.

He flies, skirting through the air just after Sascha, building up force and power as he pulls the weapon back, "Ivorsen....GO!" Tomas shouts, swinging his weapon forward with all the power of the righteous!

(OOC: Charge to H13, smite. If the smite works, I get a 31, if it doesn't, a 28. If the smite works and I hit, I do 16 points of damage, if not, 7. Let me know if I screwed the movement up.)
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Post by Rock of the Fraternity »

'These spells are not effective enough,' Lia considers as she flies to a location that allows her to draw a bead on the last obelisk functioning. '... But it is the only one I have left that will work on such a thing.'

Sighting the obelisk, Lia repeats the incantation she used scant moments before: "Ignem iubeo. Ter ex manu meu vole et inimici mei vore."

Three rays of sizzling energy fly from the Wizard's hand to strike the obelisk. One is shredded to tatters by the shifting reality field around its bulk, the other two strike ... And of those two, the power is annulled almost completely. Lia does not flinch when she feels the alien energies in the air unravel her making. Nor when she watches one of the two rays that struck puff into ineffectual sparks, and the other score but a minor scorch mark on the carved stone.

'That's it,' she thinks to herself. 'Nothing left to throw against stone and mortar. Only ...' Treacherously, her eyes stray to Devereux before she averts them again, to watch the events unfolding around the last obelisk. 'Well. Time to trust in my comrades.'

(OOC: Flying to N11 and firing off another Scorching Ray with two rays hitting and one missing. The two hitters deal 18 and 16 damage. ... After dividing by half and subtracting 8, that's one more damage by fire magic. Yay ... It's all you now, guys.)
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Post by The Whistler »

--Great, and now we run over to the OTHER one and FIRE POINT BL--

--Wait that's not going to DO ANYTH--

--KRAK--

Fly horizontally to G13 and do zero damage to the green obelisk with the gun, taking hardness into account--at least I'm in position for a DD check next round, though.
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Post by NeoTiamat »

The Temple of Anuberith, Kamarn-Quse, Har'Akir
August 19th, 761, 3:12 PM; Day 155 of the Menetnashte Expedition

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image

The Emerald Obelisk pulsed once, and then fell dark, turning the soft, dead black of unmoving stone.

Then Charles Devereux pulsed.

For a split second, it was as if the Professor's skin melted or burned off, revealing... something of pure, violet light, brighter than the sun. It hurt to look upon, a radiance that penetrated even closed eyes to sear itself into the mind. Then it was gone.

As you blinked the after-images away, trying to see in the sudden darkness of the Temple of Anuberith, you saw Professor Devereux sitting on the edge of the altar. He looked... normal. A small, slight man, dressed in a bright pink coat, with glasses a little askew. His skin was present, and seemed quite normal. His eyes were a little watery, and still violet, but possessed none of the radiance of before. Frankly, the only thing different about Professor Devereux was the long, bloody cut upon his cheek, from the entirely normal (and non-wavy) dagger in the other Charles's hand.

Professor Devereux sighed briefly, but said nothing, merely looking up at the rest of you. He still hadn't learned to blink properly, but otherwise he was nothing more than a somewhat sad, somewhat weedy man in an absurdly pink coat.

[Alright, Obelisk fails both saves, plus Tomas's Smite, so that's a Finis on this fight. Nice job all around!]
Last edited by NeoTiamat on Sun Feb 08, 2009 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by yalenusveler »

Andre smiled as the last obelisk fell, and made his way at a hurried pace up to where Charles was seated on the altar, ignoring for the moment that he was a half burned, half frozen mess of a man.

"Charles...can we at least have a promise that you won't try to violate the constants of reality? I think it would be reassuring, to say the very least. Never mind that much like overindulgence in drink, it can't be good for your health." Andre's smile was lopsided, but genuine as he offered Devereux a hand down off the altar.
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Post by Nathan of the FoS »

Charles drops the dagger as if it had burned him and stares at Devereux, panic-stricken. "Merciful Ezra, Professor, what...I mean...I didn't...Are you all right? I don't know why...I didn't, wasn't thinking, I was going to do something to the obelisk...please, I'm sorry, I think I can help..."

The mathematician's self-control--normally so perfect as to be invisible--has shattered entirely, and he looks at the professor with an expression that begs for forgiveness as he gives voice to his fragmented thoughts, reaching out a hand in a plea for absolution, and an offer of healing.

Charles will use a charge from his healing belt on Devereux if Devereux will let him.
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