The Deep Woods

[DarkHunter]

Far to the south, away from the mountains and the wolf village, 50 miles from town, the woods grow dark and frightful.

The ancient trees here crowd out the sun, and the forest floor is a maze of twisting roots, fallen branches, and decaying leaves. There is never a breath of wind among the massive trunks, and the atmosphere is oppressive with fear and gloom.

There is no need of planar travel to reach the shadows here: indeed, it is difficult to tell whether you are still on the material plane at all!

[Fenric]

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g265/ttstocks/CelestialFox.gif

*Myobi continues to flee blindly from the terrifying howls of the hellhound. She flees deep into the shadowy woods before she finally looks around. When she does pause to look, Myobi hunkers down and shivers at the terrible place she has come to.

mMyobu pads up quietly behind her.*

Enough of running, fox: you are my prisoner! Unless you care to continue to try to find your path through this place...

*mMyobu laughs evilly as Myobi collapses on the ground and cries*

[DarkHunter]

*Confident that Myobi is subdued, mMyobu picks her up in his jaws and runs like the wind even further into the woods, finally reaching a cavernous hollow among the twisted roots of a tree immense beyond words.

There, in the inky darkness, he binds Myobi with potent spells of evil and despair and surrounds her with illusions from nightmares.*

Soon, you will be glad to see me when I come to visit you. Until then, enjoy your stay

*The hellhound runs off, laughing. Myobi whimpers and shivers.*

[Fenric]

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g265/ttstocks/Hellhound.gif

*mMyobu returns, carrying several chickens. He drops three of them in front of the starving Myobi.*

Eat up, dear Myobi. I'll even keep you company

*he sits down and starts gnawing on a chicken of his own. She resists for a moment, but hunger soon gets the better of her and she eats. The nightmare visions recede while mMyobu is there, and Myobi flashes him a grateful look in spite of herself*

[DarkHunter]

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g265/ttstocks/Hellhound.gif
*mMyobu enters the cave again, dispelling the nightmares and bringing Myobi her breakfast. The beleagured vixen wags her tail in anticipation of the food.

mMyobu looks at her thoughtfuly*

Eat up... then I've got a surprise for you!

*Myobi devours the chickens, then looks up at mMyobu*

I think you've sat in here long enough: I want to show you something

*mMyobu releases her bonds and leads her to the back of the cavern, where there is a door. He opens the door and leads her inside.

Inside is a majestic palace carved from the living darkwood of the mighty tree. It is a place of shadowy grandeur, with tasteful furnishings and fine art on the walls. The air is warm and comfortable, and the fear induced by the woods outside is nowere to be felt.*

Welcome to the darkwood mansion.

*Myobi turns at the change of voice, and instead of a dreadful hellhound and elf is standing there.*

You really do not need to stay a fox, dear Myobi: you may take on your elvish form. I'm afraid I do have to forbid your hybrid form, however. Look around, make yourself at home. You'll be here for quite a while...

[Fenric]

*The tall, handsome elf appears on a luxurious leather sofa, seated beside Myobi*

How do you like my mansion, dearest Myobi? I have had some Kimonos of the finest silk made for you. See! They even have your holy symbol on them.

*Myobi takes the robes with a puzzled look*

But why?

*mMyobu grins*

Beautiful gifts for a beautiful woman. Please do try them.

[Yarram]

((what a choice way to double post. I should use it. :)))

[Wukei]

Wukei makes her way into the deep woods. Her jacket is off, draped over her shoulder. The other shoulder is bandaged. She glances around, cautiously, and calls out--trying to be as confident as possible--Myobi?

[Fenric]

*Her calls attracting the less pleasant residents of the area, many pairs of glowing red eyes follow Wukei's progress.

Here and there, Wukei finds a tuft of white fur caught in a thorny bush and some fox-prints in the mud, always heading south.*

[Wukei]

Wukei draws her rapier, it glowing a strange blue light as it's unsheathed. She follows the prints, keeping her ears out for anything, especially behind her.

[Fenric]

*In a clearing the fox prints suddenly stop. Hell-hound prints surround an area of well-crushed plants. There isn't any blood to speak of, and nothing is scortched, so there doesn't seem to have been a fight.

The prints lead off together to the southeast, but...

The red eyes are all around now, and the whispering of the shadows is near and hungry*

[Wukei]

Wukei winces as she uses her bad arm to pull her blunderbuss from her back and shoots off at a pair of eyes. Don't even think about it, bastards. She sneers at the shadows then continues to follow the prints.

[Fenric]

*The eyes blink out and the whispering hushes at the sound of the shot...

... and after a lengthy wallk, Wukei arrives at the tree.

An enormous living darkwood tree that stretches to the heavens. It's black leaves shade out a clearing nearly a hundred feet across, and within the shade of the clearing the enormous roots create a myriad of caverns and hollows.

The footprints go into the gloom of the clearing, but are muddled by the comings and goings of the hellhound foot prints. A powerful aura of fear and evil radiates from the tree.

The shadow whisperings draw near again, and words can be heard among the hissing*

Intruder.... seen.... not be seen... must not live... tell the tale...

[Wukei]

Wukei turns her back to the tree and smirks, dropping the blunderbuss as she brings up her sword. Okay, then...bring it.

[Fenric]

*Eight shapeless red-eyed shadows drift from the clearing and move to surround Wukei, vague appendages reaching out in hunger*

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye appears, having dived through the mirror in Inari's temple. "Hi, Fen said we've got to get out of here, right about now." He sees the appendages and trains his bow on them, ready to fire

[Wukei]

Wukei sneers at the beings and draws a silver bladed dagger, swiping at the first with the sword, and defending against the rest with the dagger. (Both weapons have ghost touch on them, though the dagger, that's the only thing it has on it.)

I haven't found Myobi yet...I'm not leaving.

[Fenric]

*The sounds increase in anger*

Another intruder! Defend the master

*Eight more shadows drift out of the woods and head for Hawkeye*

Strong.... warrior... feed!

*The eight shadows attacking Wukei hiss in pain and anger, and begin springing (Spring Attack) to touch Wukei and drain her*

[Hawkeye]

"Alrighty then Wu" Hawkeye grins "Bring it you shadow bastards" He fires 5 arrows at the shadows (the arrows are ghost touch, and does holy damage if the shadows are evil)

[Fenric]

*Five of the shadows attacking Hawkeye stumble and snarl, one of them disappears. The remaining three Spring Attack to touch him*

[Wukei]

Wukei manages to defend herself from five, but is struck by the others. She falls to her knees, trying futily to lift her weapons.

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye dodges 2 of the attacks but gets hit just by the third. He winces, then sees Wukei and rushes to her side, firing 3 arrows at the shadows which attacked him. "Fen, if you can hear me some help required here."

[Fenric]

*A magic circle against evil forms around Wukei and Hawkeye. Two shadows are trapped inside and spring attack again. Fenric's voice comes from the mirror*

Hawkeye, Wukei! Get through the mirror!

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye dodges the attacks made against him just. He sees the mirror, picks Wukei up and dashes towards it

[Fenric]

*Shadows reach hungrily for the pair as Hawkeye sprints to the glowing rectangle of light.

A blast of holy energy comes through the mirror and changes their mind*

[Wukei]

Wukei looks back over Hawkeye's shoulder as he carries her away.

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye reaches and dives through the mirror with Wukei

[Lykan]

Asi and Kratos walk more and more into the woods. Asi grins at the young wolf

Scared?

[The_Librarian]

"Nahhh. The scents are all right out here. Nothing demonic." The cub's tail continues to wag.

[Lykan]

Asi grins, pointing at the ground at a series of marks in the ground and a line tracing its way through the leaves into the wilderness beyond

Behir.

[The_Librarian]

The cub nods, keeping quiet and changing its movement to a slower but stealthier crawl.

[Lykan]

Asi shifts to her hybrid form, and begins crawling up a tree

Circle around the front.

[The_Librarian]

Again the cub nods, and he sets off into the undergrowth to try and get ahead of the behir. His tail no longer wags, but it twitches from restrained wagging.

[Lykan]

The behirlooks around, sensing the presense of both wolves. Asi unleashes a battlecry and leaps down from the trees, spearpoint first. The behir skitters away in time, and the spear gets burried in the dirt. The beast opens its mouth wide, electricity gathering around its form...

[The_Librarian]

The cub charges forward, eyes set on the creature's throat, determined to reach it before the creature can defend itself.

[Lykan]

THe creature almost grins, and lets out a blast of electricity at Asi...

GLARABLDBLD!!!

... which she is engulfed in. It doesn't seem to have noticed Kratos yet.

[The_Librarian]

Kratos snarls in anger and ducks under the creature's head. He clamps his jaws around the behir's throat and attempts to cling on for dear life.

[Lykan]

The behir screeches, shaking violently to attempt the wolf from its throat. Asi circles around the creature, trying to figure out a place to stab it without hitting Kratos.

[The_Librarian]

Kratos digs his claws in as well, trying to keep a grip and see if he can close the creature's windpipe. Getting a little dizzy from the shaking, it debates letting go...

Mustn't let go... kill me... mustn't let go...

[Lykan]

The behir shaking becomes less and less aggressive, and it droops to the ground, feebly attempting to push Kratos away. Asi leaps up and stabs it through the neck, pinning it to the ground.

You okay?

[The_Librarian]

The cub scrambles out from under the dead behir.

"Urgh... I hate reptiles. Taste all weird, like really bad chicken." His tail wags. "Have you ever seen a dire chicken?"

[Lykan]

Asi nods, nudging the behir with her foot to make sure it's dead

They tast bad at the throat... The good meat's in the legs and tail.

She wrenches her spear from the things neck, wiping the blood on the ground

Dire chickens taste gooooooooood...

She grins

[The_Librarian]

"When I was tiny, there were these wild dire chickens and they were all "hur, hur, we're so much bigger than you", but I wasn't taking that and I managed to get one just like this, got its throat and everything." He beams with pride.

[Lykan]

Well... You can knock them down a peg on your "biggest catches" list...

Asi looks around the behir, to a small gathering of leaves, mud and sticks.

Aww man... A nest...

[The_Librarian]

"Oooh! Of what? Of what?" the cub asks, peering in but keeping his nose just short of touching anything. "Are there eggs?"

[Lykan]

Behir's nest... This one was a ma.

Asi digs through the nest a bit and bulls out a basball sized beige egg.

*sigh*... We have to take these with us, I guess.

[The_Librarian]

"Why so sad, Asi?" the cub asks, tilting his head in confusion. "We got meat and eggs. This is good, right?" He dives into the nest and starts digging up more eggs.

[Lykan]

Asi shrugs

Eggs aren't for eating. We have to raise them and release them back into the wild.

Asi takes a sack off her back and starts placing the eggs in carefully

[The_Librarian]

Kratos raises a very Greeny-esque eyebrow, but then brightens.
"Can I name one?" he asks.

[Lykan]

Asi smiles slightly

I guess we could keep one... But I got to give the rest of these away...

She scratches Kratos ears, grinning

[The_Librarian]

The cub's tail wags, but then he opens his wide in a squeak of a yawn and shakes his head tiredly.

"How to name a behir egg..." he thinks out loud. "Gotta be important. Names matter," Kratos says solemnly.

[Lykan]

Asi plops when last egg in the sack before swinging it over her shoulder

Oh, think that now?

She grins, trying to lift up the dead behir

[The_Librarian]

"Ah-huh. Everyone's got names. Besides, Libris was telling me all about the things she believes with names... I don't take it that far, but wow. Scents are still better. They're unique." The cub clamps his jaws around a behir leg and manages to lift it. Though this doesn't help with the moving of the beast, Kratos is satisfied that he's 'helping'.

[Lykan]

Asi grins

Lets go back to the village, silly...

She heads in the general direction of the Wolf Village

[If you need to leave, this is a good time...]

[The_Librarian]

[Enjoyed it greatly, wolfman :) G'night]

The cub trots after Asi, tail wagging as ever.

[Fen3]

*The shadows around the great tree deepen, and several large shapes amble vaguely about in the darkness.

A sulphur smell fills the air as a small swarm of dark imps appear in the gnarled roots, and here and there the red glint of fire can be seen. Everywhere the hissing and snarl of the abyssal and shadow tongues can be heard. One thing echoes distinctly:*

they come... they must die...

*A respectful circle is left around a flintlock pistol a short distance from the clearing*

[Fenric]

*Fenric, Myobu, and Krystal charge through the portal and away from the opening.

At first, the hissing of the voices goes silent: and the calm before the storm weighs oppressively on the souls of all who are near.*

[Veg Sorbet]

Val walks through relatively calmly.

[Hoseki]

Valathe dashes after the four. She skids to a halt. "Now where?"

[Kezo]

Kezo steps through and moves off to the side to make room for other people to come through

[Deadly]

Ilias jumps through the portal and instantly disappears from sight.

[jaqueses]

*Jaque steps through looking around and stepping aside from the gateway.*

[AmberVael]

Verdandi appears, stretching her wings as she exits the portal.

[Daedrous Avari]

[Verdandi, is there a chance you've ever read the book Maximum Ride?]

[Fen3]

*A voice booms out from the tree*

KILL THEM ALL! LET NONE SURVIVE!

*With that, the area bursts into activity:

A balor storms out of the darkwood clearing, swinging his whip and bringing the full brunt of his terror-aura to bear. Two mariliths charge out behind him, flinging deadly spells.

A score of manes swarm out, chittering, swarming, and trying to rend the life from the mortals.

From every side, a full two dozen shadow creatures spring out with outstretched arms hungry to drain the strength from the party.*

[Kezo]

Have at you.
Kezo thrusts at the nearest shadows with his blade

[Deadly]

A blast of lightning burst out at the shadows.

Ilias is still standing at the portal, invisibly.

[AmberVael]

((Nope. Never heard of it))
Verdandi rushes the Balor, unaffected by his fear. Her sword shines with white light as its blade whirs through the air towards the demon.

[Veg Sorbet]

Val draws the sword, and conjours a briliant orange energy shield resembling a roman centurian's, preparing to fend off anything that attacks, slashing with the sword at one of the shadow creatures.

[Fenric]

*Fenric is caught by surprise and takes several hits before he gets his staff activated.

Krystal blasts away with enhanced lightningbolts, knocking manes out of the air with precision. She still manages to loose some strength to the spring-attacking shadows.

Myobu is a whirlwind of spinning, freezing blades.*

[Hoseki]

Valathe eyes glow brighter. "Suckers." She begins blasting madly with cold and sonic energy at the attacking creatures.

[jaqueses]

*Jaque casts Cone of Cold towards the manes before notciing the Balor and moving away from it.*

[Daedrous Avari]

[Really? Everyone here should read the Maximum Ride series. It's awesome.]

[It's about these kids that were experimented on and given wings by these sicko scientists.]

[Fen3]

*The balor snarls and rages in infernal at it's various minions. The it swings it's many-headed whip at Verdandi to entangle her.

The mariliths target the spellcasters, firing Finger of Death at each of Fenric, Krystal, Ilias, and Jaque. (( Invisibility doesn't help against greater Tanar'ri ))

The manes and shadows ignore their losses and continue to swoop, spring, and generally swarm the temple group.*

[Veg Sorbet]

Val continues to attack defensively, using both sword and shield as weapons.

[AmberVael]

Verdandi catches the whip blow on the arm around her bracer and slashes at the whip, attempting to slice the whip strands off the handle.

[Kezo]

If someone could get rid of the shadows easily, I'd appreachiate it...
Kezo hisses in pain as a shadow scratches his arm, swinging quickly in responce.

[Deadly]

Ilias resists the spell, but winces at the damage. His form ripples and he leaps into the air with a howl, sending another blast of lightning in every direction, directing the bolts at the shadows. He lands some distance away, as far from the demons as he can come.

[Hoseki]

Valathe charges forward. When the Balor and Marilith are in range, she skids to a stop, and a wall of pure energy throbs out from her. She screams delightedly.

((Fully augmented sonic Energy Burst.))

[jaqueses]

*Jaque falls from the spell but stands up quickly before a large sphere of color surrond him. A blast of lighting flies out from the sphere and towards the shadows around Kezo.*

(Prismatic Sphere and Quickend Lightning Bolt.)

[Fenric]

*Fenric yips and dodges the finger of death, but Krystal doesn't do so well and takes a lot of damage. Fenric drops his staff to heal her, but that opens them both up to the shadows and manes who attack savagely.

Myobu charges over to the two, his blades an icy blue blur.*

[Fen3]

*The balor laughs as his whip is sundered, and thrusts his evil lightningbolt-shaped sword at Verdandi's open stomach, while intensifying the aura of flame that always surrounds a balor, in order to burn her.

The two mariliths grab their heads as the sonic blast disrupts their first spells. They both target Valathe in unison and blast her with Abi Dalzim's Horrid Wilting (that's two spells)

The numbers of manes and shadows are growing few, and they fight desparately.*

[Deadly]

Ilias' form continues to ripple. He leaps into the air again and suddenly burst into a bright shimmering light, hanging above the battlefield, illuminating the area.

[Veg Sorbet]

Val continues to fight the manes and shadows, slashing furiously now.

[Kezo]

Kezo shifts slightly to a more defensive pose, still continueing his attack, despite the shadows and manes being too close to be able to avoid all of them

[Fenric]

*Fenric casts Cure Critical Wounds, Mass to help alleviate the damage from the assorted demons.

Krystal casts an enhanced Banishment at one of the mariliths

Myobu dispatches the last of the manes and shadows around Fenric and Krystal and runs over to Kezo*

[Hoseki]

Valathe's pupils have diluated and her face is flushed. She screams with a sick mirth even as the spells suck at her HP. "Suck Surging Euphoria!" she yells, and reapeats her sonic attack.

[AmberVael]

Verdandi blocks the sword and a white field of energy blazes around her, negating most of the fire attack. She grits her teeth and bears the heat that washes over her, while redirecting her block into a strike at the Balor's neck.

[jaqueses]

*A Pit Fiend marches out from the prismatic sphere heading towards the Marliths and swinging claws at them growling.*

(Shapchange)

[Kyrian]

(Time Warp time!)

Lightning crashes as Kyrian steps out of darkness, minus his usual jacket. There is a faint glow around him as he looks at his surroundings.

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye dives through the portal and looks around, drawing his bow as he does so

[Fen3]

*The balor pounds Verdandi's sword arm with all the might of his off-hand, deflecting her stroke across his chest and robbing it of most of its strength. Rather than trying to swing his sword again, he punches out at her face with the hilts.

The remaining marilith screams as the sonic energy hits her, and she explodes in a burst of brilliant (and highly damaging) red light.

The shadows and manes are at last defeated, but the quiet is short-lived.

An evil chuckle floats on the air, and mirror-Krystal appears opposite Ilias. She waves her hands, and a phalanx of zombies and skeletons shamble out of the clearing toward the group. Among the number are two ogre-zombies and four skeletal knights. She then fires a bolt of pure negative energy at Ilias.*

Put that light out, you foolish wolf

*An evil chittering resounds from the woods, and a platoon of red-eyed werefoxes in the livery of the evil temple of Inari burst out, led by mirror-little-Kyrian.*

Kill them! Kill the invaders! Down with that pathetic excuse for Inari! Death, Decay, and Sacrifice forever!

*Mirror Little Kyrain manifests blood-red soulblades and attacks Fenric and Krystal with a fury*

[Kyrian]

Perfect timing....crap.

Kyrian's eyes burn with fire, turning pitch black. He fires two sonic blasts of energy, one at mirror Krystal, the other at mirror little Kyrian.

[AmberVael]

Verdandi sweeps her sword up towards the Balor's hand, batting the blow aside as well as trying to slice the hand off at the wrist.

[Kezo]

Kezo smiles slightly at Krystal before stepping inbetween her and the nearest threat, stepping towards it.

[Veg Sorbet]

Val launches himself at the zombies. He dismisses the shield, allowing him to use both hands for attacking purposes, aiming at the creatures' throats.

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye grins "Ha, I've got the soul of one of your kin mate." He fires 5 arrows at the balor's head, taking care not to hit Verdandi. They do holy damage if they hit.

[Deadly]

Ilias yelps at the negative energy and his shining form disappears into the woods like a bolt of lightning. A mere second later a sundering howl resounds among the trees as he flies directly at mKrystal from behind, attempting to slam into her with all his strength.

[jaqueses]

*The Pit Fiend shrinks and forms into Jaque before looking at the undead and casting Undeath to Death.*

[Hoseki]

A single sweatdrop runs down Valathe's temple as her body struggles to lower the amount of adreneline pumping through her system. She sems oblivious, though, and fires bolts of electricity at the platoon of werefoxes.

[Fenric]

*Fenric casts Cure Critical Wounds, Mass again.

Krystal stands back up from her near-death experience just in time to see the new threats. She sends a swarm of enhanced magic missiles at one of the ogre-zombies

Myobu snarls and takes his attacks to the new threats, slashing through zombies as quickly as he can reach them.*

[Fen3]

*The Balor gets pounded, sliced, and poked with arrows. The damage is a bit much, and he too explodes with a roar and a flash of very damaging red light.

*mirror-Krystal laughs at first...*

His unholiness has granted us immunity to such attacks, Kryian. How about you?

*mirror-Krystal points an evil wand an Myobu, and fires a thunderously loud blast of blood-red fire at the hapless avatar. Then she gets hit from behind by Ilias and they both fly forward, mKrystal struggling to stab Ilias with an evil black dagger*

*Mirror-little-Kyrian ignores the sonic blast as well, and leaps at Kezo with his psionic claws flashing.

Several priests fall to lightning and slashes. The remaining evil priests begin to cast Inflict Serious Wounds on anyone they can touch, while the zombies and skeletons shamble around and make avoiding the priests difficult. One of the priests casts Unholy Word to cause additional trouble*


(( V They're up in the air, Kyrian ))

[Kyrian]

Kyrian growls, and glares at mKrystal.

How about...THIS!

His arms both become engulfed in flames. His right arm in fire, his left in ice. Kyrian rushes towards mKrystal, reaching for her neck with his left arm.

[Hoseki]

Valathe backs up slowly, staying out of reach of the priests, still firing off bolts of eerily bright electricity.

[Deadly]

Ilias takes a hit in the neck by the dagger as he lunges out at her throat with a bite and sends another burst of lightning out in random directions.

[jaqueses]

*Jaque backs away from the evil priests moving towards his sphere. He stands outside of it and casts Chain Lighting at the evil priests.*

[Kezo]

((One day I'm going to make a checklist of things Kezo should have before a fight, his animal companion being one of them...))

Kezo swings the sword at mlKyrian, but still gets hit by one set of claws

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye fires 5 arrows at whichever priests he can see (they do holy damage if they hit again)

[Fenric]

*Fenric casts Cure Serious Wounds, Mass just before a skeletal knight slashes him brutally with a crusty bone sword.

Myobu gets consumed by the noisy flames and disappears with a scream

Krystal sends an enhanced fireball at the other ogre-zombie, then curses as she runs out of stored energy. A zombie pounds her on the back and causes her to stumble*

[AmberVael]

Verdandi is blasted back by the explosion, and her field of light crackles and dissapates as it absorbs too much energy. She stands, smoking and chants, her sword flaring with light. With a shout she swings her blade towards the battle in general, and a wide radiance bursts from it, flying through the battle and destroying undead that are caught in its path.

[Veg Sorbet]

Val gets ISW'd, and spins round to take the priest's head off, before resuming his zombie attack. As the wounds are inflicted, the gauntlets' glow grows brighter, and he continues as before. The woulnds haven't healed, but they don't appear to bother him at all.

[Fen3]

*Many undead fall to the blast of radiance, and the tide seems to turn...

5 priests take damage from holy arrows, but not enough to fall. The evil priests leave off their spells and attempt to bite anyone they can get near. (( For each bite: fort save DC 20, or you're a werefox too - DC given so you know it's reasonably likely that you get infected if you get bit ))

mlKyrian blocks Kezo's sword with one set of claws and flings the other blade at Krystal's heart.

mKrystal teleports away from Ilias and drinks a healing potion in the darkness of the clearing. She also sends out her masterpiece:

A flesh golem 15 feet high lumbers out of the clearing and stampedes toward Verdandi.*

[Kyrian]

Seeing mKrystal disappear, Kyrian turns his sights onto mlKyrian.

No you don't....

He runs towards him, leaping into the air at the last second. Lightning courses through his left leg as he swings it at mlKyrian's head.

[Fenric]

*Krystal staggers to her knees, and as a result takes mlKyrian's thrown blade high in the shoulder rather than the heart. She gasps in pain, then gets clobbered unconscious by the zombie behind her.

Fenric staggers at the slash, and blood spurts from his chest. Fenric raises his symbol in an attempt to turn, and obliterates a zombie that was about to stab him from behind, as well as the other zombies and minor skeletons in his general area.*

[Kezo]

Kezo watches the blade fly past him, towards Krystal, and swings the sword repeatedly at mlKyrian

[Deadly]

Ilias' wounds begin to heal, except the wound from the dagger. He winces and sends another blast of lightning, this time focusing on the priests.

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye sees Fenric get hit and runs to his side, firing holy arrows batman on the run at the skeletal knight that hurt him, and the closest things to it if the knight falls. If the area is clear before he fires however, he shoots at the priests again, still running to Fenric.

[AmberVael]

Verdandi sacrifices her own safety for the safety of Krystal, ignoring the oncoming flesh golem while she forms a radiant shield that deflects the blade thrown at Krystal. She wings into the air, hoping that her defensive sword stance will be enough to protect her from the golem.

[Veg Sorbet]

Val continues hacking at anything that comes near him, including one of the priests. he fires a lightball* at the creature's open mouth, and spins away to attack some more.

((* remembered the explanation this time. results in serious burns, and knocks person off feet.))

[jaqueses]

*Jaque steps into the sphere just dodging the priests before an orb of acid comes out moving through towards the priests.*

[Kezo]

((I'm out for the night, nearly falling asleep at the keyboard...Just have Kezo knocked out or something next round))

[Fen3]

(( Ok. Thanks for coming along, Kezo ))

*Between the turning and the arrows, the skeletal knight attacking Fenric falls to pieces.

The golem with its enormous reach attempts to swat Verdandi out of the air

mlKyrian is so busy handling Kezo's sword that he fails to notice Kyrian's lightning kick. He jerks and twitches, and disappears as a psionic contingency teleports him away. The lightning passes through mlKyrian's blades into Kezo's sword and knocks Kezo unconscious.

The priest attacking Valthreborn falls back with a scortched tongue, and hurls an evil, level-stealling dagger at Val's back.

mKrystal blasts the evil, thunderous fire wand at Kyrian from the darkness of the clearing. (( it's 15d6 fire, 15d6 sonic, plus Banishment as a level 40 caster - it's an artifact from Karai Tenjin given to deal with Kyrian and Myobu. ))

The few remaining evil werefoxes scatter into the woods.*

[Fenric]

*Fenric turns to Krystal, with a hurt and worried expression on his face. He gets over to her, only to collapse in a heap near her. Krystal is unconscious and does not move*

[Kyrian]

The fire is absorbed by Renegade. The sonic energy knocks Kyrian back a bit, toppling a rather large tree in the process. He fades a bit, then growls and comes back into focus as he barely overcomes the Banishment.

My turn...

He punches the air in front of him, sending a large ball of fire and a large ball of ice at mKrystal.

[Veg Sorbet]

Val feels the blade penetrate into his back, and he drops the sword, falling to his knees in agony.

Reaching around to his back, he winces, and pulls the dagger out, then falls on his side, in agony.

The glow around the gauntlets had reached the point where it is almost dazzling white, and slowly begins crawling up his arms.

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye, unable to do any healing, turns to face the golem. He fires 4 arrows at it (2 doing acid and fire damage, the other 2 doing cold and lightning damage)

[Deadly]

Ilias ripples and sends a shockwave of air at mKrystal

[AmberVael]

Verdandi is slammed out of the air by the attack, and she is hurled into a tree, her blow only softened by her frantically beating wings. With a cry of rage, she reverses her direction, and flies with astounding speed towards the golem, her sword and body glowing with power.
((This is the Kensai ability to gain a strength bonus, not any holy stuff))

[jaqueses]

*The orb of acid begins moving towards the golem and swoops at it trying to impact itself on it.*

[Fen3]

*The golem snarls and lurches at the arrows and acid orb and moves forward to stomp on Hawkeye and Jaque. It also swipes a massive limb through the air to intercept Verdandi like a baseball.

mKrystal gets blasted by shockwaves, ice, and fire, and her contingency takes her limp, unconcsious form away from the fighting.

(( Imminent Godmod warning: The avatar will be making his appearance soon. I promised Kyrian he could take him, but the rest of you are fair game. If you don't want to face a god, you might want to help carry the wounded back to the temple. ))

*

[AmberVael]

Verdandi simply cleaves at the limb in her way and passes by it, driving her sword towards the golem's head.

[Deadly]

Ilias turns to the golem, sending a massive bolt of lightning at it.

((Unsure if flesh golems are immune to lightning... doesn't look like it))

[Veg Sorbet]

((okay. think I'll have to pull out now anyway, due to it being 3.15 am... not that I'd actually be in a fit state to fight now anyway. ::)))

The dazzling while light continues to move up Val's body, until it is covering his entire form. His breathing has become laboured, but he is just about holding on to consciousness.

(('Night!))

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye backflips away from the golem, and looks behind him. He sees Fenric and Krystals unmoving bodies and runs towards them, attempting to pick them both up and move in the direction of the portal

[Fenric]

(( Worse than immune: "Any electrical based attack restores 1 point of damage for every die of damage it would have done" ))

*Fenric and Krystal are dragged along to the portal, bleeding heavily and quite limp*

[Kyrian]

Kyrian dismisses the energy surrounding his arms and leg, and waits, ready for what's next.

[Deadly]

((Argh, damn that. Should have used shockwave than :())

[jaqueses]

*Jaque steps out of the Prismatic Sphere and moves to Val while caling Kezo over before Greater Teleporting away to Inari's.*

((There we go hopefully no more editing.))

[Fenric]

(( ^ Actually, take Val and/or Kezo. I think Hawkeye has us... ))

[Fen3]

*The golem is rejuvinated by the lightning, and irritated beyond measure by the slicing from Verdandi. It goes into a stomping, flailing rage.*

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye reaches the portal and drags Fenric and Krystal inside it into Inari's temple

[Deadly]

Ilias is hit by one of the golems flailings and thrown to the ground with a scream. He disappears just as the golem is about to step on him.

[AmberVael]

Verdandi glows and hesistates for a single moment, then strikes the golem with a slew of powerful strokes, dodging the flailing arms with amazing grace and speed.

[Fen3]

*The golem has lost any pretense of reason and flails madly. No pain will stop it, and it doesn't bleed*

(( You're going to have to chop it into pieces... ))

*There is a sulphurous flare of fire, and mirror-Myobu appears*

Never send a minion when you could just do it yourself.

*He turns to Kyrian, drawing a katana and wakizashi that are as red and firey as Myobu's are blue*

Your "sister" was very enjoyable, although she struggled more than I would have liked. I still think I could have convinced her to give in willingly if you had waited a little longer...

[Kyrian]

Kyrian glares at mirror Myobu, with his pitch black eyes.

((Seriously...that has to be scary to see))

[Deadly]

Ilias reappears some distance away, looking shaken. He stumbles a bit and stands up, looking at the golem, then at mMyobu.

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

(gah! Wanted to be there for this. Ah well, at a friend's watching X3. Go team Inari!)

[AmberVael]

Verdandi focuses on cleaving off the flesh golem's limbs to leave it incapacitated. She gives four quick strokes, one to each limb, hoping that a few of the sword blows will lan solidly.

[Fen3]

*Chunks of necromantically enchanted flesh rain to the ground as Verdandi chops. The golem's despairation and frenzy grow and it stomps and waves, trying to smash her from the air.

mMyobu shakes his head*

I am a god as well, Kyrian. Draw your weapon and fight, or run away and fix your hair. Such intimidation is for mortals!

[Deadly]

Ilias frowns and his eyes turn to grey. His form almost seems to pulse. He stands up and turns to the golem, sending a crushing shockwave at it.

[Kyrian]

Kyrian continues to glare, and ice engulfs both of his arms. He lets out a low growl, and beckons mMyobu forward.

[Kyrian]

((*cries* stupid bugs everywhere...))

[Fen3]

(( I'm surprised this thread made it so far... waiting for Verdandi ))

[AmberVael]

Verdandi spins out of the way of the arms and swings her sword at them with immense force.

[Fen3]

*The golem's left arm falls to the ground with a wet thud, and it staggers drunkenly from Ilias' blasting. As a last resort, it breathes a cloud of noxious gas into the air (stinking cloud) and swipes with its remaining arm.

mMyobu smirks at Kyrian*

Oh no, I think I'd like to relieve you of another friend yet.

*mMyobu manifests Hand of Death at Ilias*

(( God power... um... you die. I guess save to take enormous and probably still fatal amounts of damage instead. ))

[Deadly]

((Well, what can you do :)))

A wind begins to blow at the gas when Ilias' eyes suddenly goes wide and he falls to the ground with a gasp. The wind almost instantly die out again.

[AmberVael]

Verdandi coughs but manages to keep her focus and cleave at the other arm.

[Kyrian]

Kyrian roars and rushes forward, sending two huge lightning/sonic blasts at mMyobu before punching with his right icy fist.

[Fen3]

*The golem's other arm falls to the ground with a splat. It starts to hop about frantically.

mMyobu bats the energy away with his wakazashi, while parrying the icy fist with his flaming katana. He spins and ripostes with lightning speed, driving the razor sharp and red-hot wakazashi toward Kyrian's stomach*

[Kyrian]

Kyrian roars as the wakazashi is driven deep into his gut. He leaps back, sliding through the ground,as the wound begins to heal. He doubles over as the wound closes, and there is a flash of light behind him, that he doesn't notice. Conrad suddenly leaps over and rolls over Kyrian's hunched form.

Kyrian looks up and is suprised to see his mirror version run at mMyobu and swing with Ruination. The dark blade's magic activates halfway through the swing, and dark fire, ice, and lightning travel the length of the blade.

[Fen3]

*mMyobu blinks in surprise, but still parries Ruination with his katana*

HOW MANY SHOCKING KYRIANS DO I HAVE TO KILL?

*With the katana still engaging ruination, mMyobu makes a disembowelling stroke against Conrad with his firey wakizashi*

[AmberVael]

Deciding that the golem was harmless enough now, Verdandi flies towards mirror Myobu, her sword glowing bright as she swings the blade at him.

[Kyrian]

Kyrian snaps out of his confusion, and rushes towards mMyobu, kicking the katana off it's path as he draws Renegade.

Conrad lets out a growl as the katana then bites his left thigh.

Almost as if the two were one, Renegade and Ruination are swung at mMyobu, one high, the other low.

((Both have the same magic, as in essence, they are the same sword))

[Deadly]

Ilias' eyes have gone empty and he just lies on the ground near the portal, staring into nothingness.

[Fenric]

*mMyobu divides into two, then three*

I. AM. A. GOD.

*The mMyobu facing Conrad blocks the high Ruination with his katana and once again swings for disembowling with his wakizashi

The mMyuobu facing Kyrian blocks the low Renegade with his wakizashi and swings his katana to decaptiate Kyrian

The thrid mMyobu blocks Verdandi's sword and manifests Ultrablast at her, spending 60 extra points*


(( Oops... I'll leave this under Fenric, as the liklihood of posting again is slim ))

[Kyrian]

Conrad jumps up onto the wakizashi, and rolls to his left.

Kyrian ducks and rolls to his right.

At the same time, the two stand, and each drop kick their respective mMyobu in the chest, hoping to send the two into each other.

[Kyrian]

((Bug))

[AmberVael]

The Ultrablast reels through Verdandi's mind but does not affect her.
And I am the shield-maiden of the gods. Such tactics will not work on me.
She shines with sheer light and swings her sword at the avatar.
((Smite Evil))

[Fen3]

(( Turnabout is fair play... if Fenric does mMyobu's turn, then mMyobu can do Fenric's turn ))

*A blue glow surrounds Ilias as the goddess extends her power through the portal to reverse the deadly magic of the thunder god*

*The two mMyobu's do indeed collide back to back with a loud "oof", and merge back together. This instance is left facing Conrad. Conrad gets blessed with Gift of Life to turn him mortal

The mMyobu facing Verdandi is rather taken aback and is smitten... in this case, by "Smite Evil", and he fades away*

[Deadly]

((Uhm... can we change that to... I don't know what, but I have to go in an hour and don't really have time to resume the fight.))

[Fenric]

(( Kyrian gets the kill... you can just go. It's almost over anyway ))

[Kyrian]

As Conrad is rapidly losing his god powers, he looks to Kyrian.

Sorry I couldn't be more help....

He quickly vanishes from the battle.

Kyrian growls at mMyobu.

You'll pay...

He throws Renegade at mMyobu, and vanishes quickly afterwards.

((No...he's not gone))

[Deadly]

Ilias stands up and half-way walks, half-way falls through the portal, back to the sanctuary.

[AmberVael]

Verdandi sees Kyrian vanish, and grim purpose comes over her. She charges mMyobu, light shining about her.

[Fen3]

*mMyobu bats the sword aside with his katana, then turns and manifests Hand of Death at Verdandi as well while pointing his wakizashi at her*

Die! You miserable anachronistic out-of-context northerner weirdo.

[Kyrian]

The sword embeds itself into a tree, then suddenly vanishes. Kyrian appears behind mMybou, Renegade in hand. His pitch black eyes burn fiercly, and energy flows around him with the intensity of a raging inferno. With lightning quick speed, Kyrian drives the sword at mMyobu's back, towards his heart.

[AmberVael]

mMyobu feels his power fail as he attempts to affect an immortal. Verdandi holds her sword in front of her.
I do not fit in anywhere, so why should that bother me now?
She strikes at mMyobu as Kyrian does.

[Fen3]

*mMyobu screams as Renegade plunges through his back and Verdandi's sword plunges through his heart.

The evil avatar looses coherence and explodes with a massive blast of evil energy: evil force, fire, and sonic power radiate from his form in a tremendous shockwave, levelling and incinerating a wide swath of forest.

The darkwood tree trembles from root to leaf, and the heavily muffled sound of Myobi's screams can be heard from deep within*

(( http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=town;action=display;num=1159992381 ))

[Kyrian]

Kyrian rushes towards the sounds, any and all tress in his path getting destroyed. He plunges straight through the walls, heading for Myobi.

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye wakls through the portal into the remains of the woods and starts searching the debris for Wu's blunderbuss

[AmberVael]

Verdandi is thrown back by the force of the blast, and she strikes a tree with a sickening crack. She looks up faintly, her limbs limp and her wings singed and smoking. The silver sword that pierced mMyobu's heart lands nearby her. Apparently she is still alive, but only just.

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye finds and picks up the gun and starts to turn back to the portal, before noticing Verdandi. He walks over, picks her up and walks back through the portal.

[Fenric]

(( I wanna see the posts! ))

[npc4hire]

The librarian stops in the deep woods and sits down on the ground, back resting against a tree trunk. She unwraps some provisions from her bag and settles down to some lunch.

[Hoseki]

A passing lioness sniffs the librarian curiously.

[npc4hire]

Libris freezes as she sees the lionness. Not knowing any feline languages, she finds a meaty pasty and, very slowly, places it on the ground as far away from her as she can reach.

[Hoseki]

She sniffs the pastry and licks it thoughtfully, then looks mildly disgused. She sniffs Libris again.

[npc4hire]

"Ohhhhh dear," the librarian breathes. She slowly gets to her feet. "Seriously, kitty, I'm not good eating. All scaly and dragony."

[Hoseki]

Yandaha grins widely at Libris.

[npc4hire]

The librarian curses.

"You have got to be kidding me," she says, spreading her wings. It takes a little run-up to get airborne, but she's ready if the opportunity arises. She draws her sword.

"No. Go away."

[Hoseki]

Yandaha backs up and hisses at the sword. Her tail lashes.

[Ares]

"Need any help, Libris?"

Ares steps out from behind a tree. (This Town's Ares)

[npc4hire]

The librarian looks at the lionness and waves the sword vaguely.

"That's right, kitty, mean lady's got a sword, don't want anyone getting unnecessarily hurt now, do we? Shoo!"

She turns to Ares.

"I don't want to kill it if I can help it."

[Ares]

"Go away kitty...neither of us want to hurt you."

[Hoseki]

Yandaha back up have a step and hisses again. {Cat} "Go away! This is my territory!"

[Ares]

"She's saying this is her territory."

[Ares]

((Bug))

[npc4hire]

"That's fine, I have no intention of staying here long."

She starts to edge away in the direction of the wolf village.

[Hoseki]

Yandaha hisses and makes a little jump after Libris, to encourage her to leave.

[npc4hire]

The librarian jumps a little as the lionness makes a sudden move.

"All right! All right! I'm moving!" She quickens her pace.

[Hoseki]

Yandaha sits up and washes smugly, but keeps one eye on the retreating librarian.

[Ares]

Ares follows the librarian.

[npc4hire]

"And my brother wonders why I'm not a cat person..." the librarian says quietly to Ares, glancing over her shoulder at the smug lionness. She looks at him questioningly. "You decided to follow me, then?"

[Ares]

"Greeny went to check on your brother, and I got a little bored...so I came after you..."

Ares smiles.

[npc4hire]

"I'm serious about avoiding a fight for now. I just want to find the cub and get him back to Bahmutte's temple. If you're fine with that, then I don't mind you accompanying me." She smiles at Ares. "I could have taken that lionness. I just didn't want to."

[Ares]

"Yes ma'am...no fighting."

Ares smiles in return.

[npc4hire]

Judging herself to be out of earshot of the lionness, the librarian relaxes a little. She looks around for any obvious landmarks.

"Of course, right now I'm basing this on Kratos' description of the journey. It might not be the easiest way. He did get lost. And he did smell a demon out here." She turns and grins at Ares. "But I'm enjoying the walk."

[Ares]

Ares takes the librarian's hand in his.

"I am too..."

[Hoseki]

((You mean, you're enjoying the... [air quotes]'walk'[/air quotes]?))

[npc4hire]

((The walk and the company, then :)))

The librarian frowns as she smells the first traces of smoke.

"Must be getting close," she says, and then slows her pace in order to approach the village more quietly.

[Ares]

Ares slows down as well.

[Ares]

((Damn bug))

[The_Librarian]

Two Moss wolves wander into the woods. The older stops and whines anxiously.

"Ack, we've gone too far! We're in the deep woods!"

"Pffft, scaredy-wolf," Kratos says dismissively, before his ears twitch. "Dad... do you hear that?" Greeny listens carefully.

"Sounds like someone crying... a girl..."

"IT'S OKAY, LADY, WE'RE HERE TO SAVE YOU!!!!" Kratos barks loudly, and he charges off into the gloom. Greeny sniffs the air and his blood freezes.

"KRATOS! NO! She's not- DAMN!" He chases after the cub.

____________________

Kratos runs towards the sound of the crying. Sitting against a tree, looking lost, cold and confused is a naked elven girl. Kratos trots towards her.

"It's okay, it's okay..." he says soothingly. The girl scurries away from him at first, but then reaches out for the cub.

"NO!!!" Greeny barks as Kratos yelps in surprise - the girl has grabbed him so fast he didn't even see it. He struggles and then yelps as she bites the scruff of his neck. Greeny howls with rage and charges the girl, knocking her to the ground and in doing so, freeing the cub. Looking dazed and confused, Kratos staggers away.

"She bit me... she shocking bit me!" he mumbles to himself. "Stupid crazy elf..."

The girl, however, is most annoyed about losing her prey. She turns on Greeny and the two snarl and swipe at each other, Greeny desperately trying to keep out of reach, but the girl is enraged and wanting revenge. She bites Greeny's ear, tearing it and causing him to yelp in pain. A lucky swipe of his claw gets the girl's face, and she recoils, before turning into an ordinary if large black wolf. She trots away, shaking her head in confusion.

Greeny watches her go, waits until she's out of earshot and then yelps.

"Ow ow ow ow ow..." Kratos barks a healing spell at Greeny, and Greeny returns the favour.

"What was that all about?" the cub asks.

Maybe nothing... Maybe it won't happen. "Uh... crazy elf... just like you said," Greeny says nervously, looking in the direction the wolf ran. "Shall we go find those rabbits?" They leave the area.

[Lord Iames Osari]

The cultists proceed into the deepest heart of the woods to a clearing, in which has been constrcted a pyre.

[wxdruid]

Gwen leads Atreyu over to one side and unloads his packs, laying them on the ground. She scratches behind his ears.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Drake follows and stands to one side.

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

*He wags, looking pleased to be helping if anyone can see under the cloak. He watches with great interest.*

[Kenyon]

Kenyon stands near the others, not drawing any attention to himself.

[Lord Iames Osari]

The cultists take up positions forming a circle around the pyre.

[wxdruid]

Gwen unwraps the packs, her smile turns cruel as the boy and girl are revealed. They are both tied, gagged and blindfolded. She grabs the girl and takes her over to the pyre, leaving the boy for someone else to get.

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

*Atreyu tries to pick up the boy, but he can't get good leverage, so with a frustrated snort, he waits for someone else to help*

[Lord Iames Osari]

Drake picks up the boy and puts him on the pyre next to the girl.

[wxdruid]

Gwen smiles as she removes the blindfolds and they stare around in sudden fright. The girl whimpers in fear.

Gwen takes her place in the circle.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Drake joins the circle as well.

[Kenyon]

Kenyon takes his spot.

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

*Atreyu finds a spot near Gwen, wagging in anticipation*

[Lord Iames Osari]

The cultists begin to chant.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Drake joins the chant.

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

*Atreyu joins in the chanting*

[Kenyon]

Kenyon starts chanting as well, his voice becoming just another one of the crowd.

[wxdruid]

Gwen puts one arm around Atreyu as she chants with everyone else. She watches the two in the center of the circle.

They stare around at the hooded black figures, terrified of what is going to happen.

[Lord Iames Osari]

The chanting continues, growing more intense. One of the cultists - named Enmos, you think - gestures, and one of the others casts a spell.

[Destro_Yersul]

((Hey, would Divination be able to find this? He's looking for Kenyon and Gwen, both of whom are here))

[Lord Iames Osari]

((Hmm... Yes.))

((Edit: Let me take that back. How is he looking?))

[Destro_Yersul]

((Kdokey. Destro anger commencing...
Running Blowthingsup.exe...))
((Any way possible. If he can't find them any conventional way, he will extend his conciousness into the winds of magic and search manually. It would take longer, but Destro did tell him to find them))

[Lord Iames Osari]

((Then yes.))

[Destro_Yersul]

((Right. I'll say it takes him a while, due to the potential no. Thus it would likely be the long way that he uses to find them))

[Lord Iames Osari]

((Right))

Emnos gestures to yet another cultist, and the figure raises a hand and sends a bolt of fire into the base of the pyre. The flame catches and begins to spread.

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

*The llama grins evilly and lightly paws the ground, trying to contain his energy and excitement*

[wxdruid]

The two sacrifices whimper and try to escape, they look around wildly for any hope and find none in the circle around them.

Gwen chants and watches them.

[Kenyon]

Kenyon looks at the two, and just starts laughing, maniacally.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Emnos shoots Kenyon a quelling look.

[Kenyon]

Kenyon quickly shuts up, and bows his head.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Drake smiles as he watches the young couple.

[wxdruid]

Gwen smiles maliciously as she watches the two on the burning pyre.

[Lord Iames Osari]

The flames rise higher and higher, licking at the flesh of the sacrifices. They tense, expecting to feel themselves being burned away, but they are not consumed by the flames.

The chant reaches a climax, then cuts off. Emnos's eyes glow yellow, and the other cultists can feel his mind reaching out to theirs, inviting them to join in the torture of the sacrifices' minds.

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

*Atreyu tries to control his wagging while he joins in on the mental torture*

[Lord Iames Osari]

Drake accepts the invitation, malicious glee filling him.

[wxdruid]

Gwen willingly links her mind with Emnos'.

[Destro_Yersul]

Distant laughing can be heard, but it stops quite quickly.