Post by Van on May 21, 2009 23:52:58 GMT -5
The spirits explain to our heroes (Idky, Squatting Beaver, Lowdog, Robyndella w/ Meldenya, Maedhros, Ichi, and Yavin) that the Hall of Blood (the next room over from where they had just fought the vampire harpies) is one of the secrets of the ancient ones, a place of great spiritual power from beyond the stars. They say that the fountain within unlocks the secrets of your blood, but you must first face the beast of the stars that guards the secret of the blood fountain. Yavin's precognitive ability shows him a room full of undead protecting the coffins of their masters. He also sees constellations on the ceiling. In his vision, these constellations attack him after the undead are defeated.
Very much intrigued by this (Yavin in particular), they use one of their magic keys to open the locked door to the Hall. To their surprise, they see a room lit by sunlight streaming down into the center of the room from above--not exactly where you'd expect vampires to stow their coffins. The walls are adorned with Sumerian lion hunt scenes. As Ichi steps in, three ghouls, six shadows, 12 skeletons and a zombie rush at them. Robyn taks out a number of the shadows and skeletons with a scintillating sphere as Maedhros invokes Corellon to destroy skeletons and Lowdog defeats a shadow. Yavin conjures a flame blade and 'Beaver calls up a prayer from the accompanying spirits.
As the unead attack, the zombie very oddly laughs, looks at 'Beaver, and casts a spell. Suddenly, there are several zombies in the room. It's clear this is no ordinary zombie. The remaining skeletons and ghouls are turned to dust by Maedhros' turning as Robyn starts firing arrows at the zombies, discovering that there really is only one zombie. The spell it cast was mirror image. Her arrow fire took out two of the images. In the melee, 'Beaver finds that his new crystal dagger is very special indeed. He can tell that it cut the actual essence of the shadow he's fighting. Nice find! The zombie casts another spell, this time animating the ropes in our heroes' packs, attempting to entangle them. Only Lowdog gets entangled, just as he drops a ghoul, and he has to spend some time getting free.
The last shadow whispers to Maedhros "Come join me. You're not old enough yet," as it attempts to touch him. Shocked and surprised, Maedhros invokes Corellon's name once again and forces the creature to flee from him. By this time, all attention has turned to the zombie. 'Beaver's crystal dagger cuts a small hole in the zombie, identifying the real one. Ichi and Yavin (flame blade a-swingin') also go on the offensive. Suddenly, the zombie gestures and a thick pool of grease appears on the ground at his feet. Yavin slips and falls, nearly igniting the grease with his flame blade. Ichi and 'Beaver continue their attacks, further savaging the creature. Maedhros, remembering that he is still under his fly spell, swoops in for an aerial attack so as to avoid the grease and lands the killing blow. Yavin then finishes off the shadow that was turned earlier.
As the group is healing up, Yavin walks to fountain, which eerily turns to blood. The sky darkens with stars. Two creatures made up of stars leap from the sky to attack the young priest of Celestian. His vision is coming true! One creature looks vaguely feline and one vaguely serpentine. Ichi runs to help but is told by a mysterious voice in his mind that it is not his fight. "Choose it only if you want your destinies entwined." Ignoring the voice, he continues to Yavin's aid and a big bull comes down to join the fray. Maedhros casts magic missile at the serpent. They pass harmlessly through it. He also hears warning in his mind. The bull orients on him and the scorpion joins it, stinging one level from him. Lowdog also jumps in to help and brings down a shark and a wolf from the sky. Robyn attacks with the firebow she got from 'Beaver, bringing down a horse and a crocodile.
Ichi quickly kills the serpent and attacks the bull as Yavin gets bit and clawed by the cat. Maedhros gets drained of another level. Things get even worse as Lowdog gets swallowed whole by the shark! Thankfully, Ichi kills the bull, providing a measure of relief--one down!. Maedhros magic missiles the scorpion, but as the group is strangely under the effect of a negative prayer (due to the number of stellar creatures attacking them), his spell does little damage. Lowdog attacks and damages the shark from inside, desperate to escape.
Maedhros quickly gets killed by the scorpion. Oddly, though, the group senses that someone can step in to save him, which Ichi does without hesitation. He finds that an expensive proposition, though, taking major damage as a portion of his life force flows into Maedhros, bringing him back from the dead. The monk now understands that the half-elf's life now belongs to him and that their lives are now forever intertwined. Robyn gets knocked down during her fight as Lowdog continues to free himself from the shark. Ichi (clearly the hero of this battle) engages three opponents at once (the horse, croc and scorpion) to keep them off of Robyn and Maedhros. Unfortunately, poor little Meldenya gets stunned by the horse and crocodile as she swoops in to defend Robyn.
Ichi continues to take on multiple opponents to help Maedhros and Robyn as Lowdog is finally ejected from the shark's throat. Free at last! But alas, the wolf had been waiting patiently for this and attacks the totemic warrior. Yavin falls to the cat, and Robyn very nearly gets cut down herself. Lowdog kills the shark as Robyn and Ichi switch opponents. Robyn kills the scorpion and Ichi attacks the crocodile and horse.
All this time, 'Beaver and Idky have stayed out, taking their cue from the spirits. But the situation has gotten too dire, as two party members are now down and out and the remaining ones aren't doing so well either. So 'Beaver, heedless of the warning that also invades his mind, moves in to heal Yavin. A gorilla and an elephant descend upon him for his trouble. 'Beaver gets badly damaged and Yavin gets knocked unconscious again. 'Beaver activates his dagger token, which turns into a dagger that backstabs the cat for minimal damage.
Meanwhile, Robyn goes to help out Ichi with the horse. Ichi gets taken down by the horse right afterward, and the cat drops 'Beaver. Meldenya engages and finishes off the horse, allowing Robyn to get the potion of healing from Maedhros' backpack.
Lowdog, seeing that 'Beaver has been killed, offers to save the life of his fellow Indian, also taking massive damage as Ichi did. However, this time something strange happens. Apparently, one of the rhion stones the shaman was carrying kept his spirit safe from harm when he died, thus freeing him from being "owned" by the totemic warrior. Lowdog's gesture, however, does bring 'Beaver back from death, though he is still unconscious.
Meldenya takes on the wolf to buy Lowdog some time to drop his obsidian dog and send it to attack the cat. Lowdog then moves in front of the elephant to keep it off 'Beaver's fallen body. Unfortunately, there is no one to keep the gorilla off 'Beaver, which continues savaging him. Robyn casts mirror image to give herself some breathing room. She then lightning bolts the gorilla and elephant, really messing them up. Lowdog then moves to take on the gorilla to keep it off of Robyn and 'Beaver. He doesn't last long, though. He goes down under its onslaught, as does Meldenya at the mouth and paws of the wolf.
Robyn casts another scintillating sphere, killing both elephant and gorilla, as the obsidian dog keeps attacking the cat, only to be quickly cut down by it. Robyn is now left alone, with Idky watching helplessly from the sidelines, torn between watching as his friends die or jumping in, knowing that it will only bring another monster to attack and kill them all for sure. Robyn magic missiles the cat as the wolf continues to savage Meldenya. Finally, the cat brings Robyn down.
With no one left standing, Idky can't hold back anymore and finally gets involved to heal Ichi, bringing him conscious. Idky braces himself for the inevitable, fully expecting another two creatures to come down and end his (and his friends') lives. But miracle of miracles! Nothing comes. Unfortunately, he isn't able to enjoy this happy event for long as the wolf pounces on him. While Idky takes on the wolf, Ichi runs to attack the cat, killing it. He then returns to finish off the wolf.
Hardly believing that they survived, Idky gets to work healing folks to bring everyone up. Once up, they each drink from the fountain, which had earlier turned into blood. The effects are different for each one:
The heroes leave the Palace and the city of Luxor, knowing that their destinies are now somehow intertwined. Whatever that means . . .
Very much intrigued by this (Yavin in particular), they use one of their magic keys to open the locked door to the Hall. To their surprise, they see a room lit by sunlight streaming down into the center of the room from above--not exactly where you'd expect vampires to stow their coffins. The walls are adorned with Sumerian lion hunt scenes. As Ichi steps in, three ghouls, six shadows, 12 skeletons and a zombie rush at them. Robyn taks out a number of the shadows and skeletons with a scintillating sphere as Maedhros invokes Corellon to destroy skeletons and Lowdog defeats a shadow. Yavin conjures a flame blade and 'Beaver calls up a prayer from the accompanying spirits.
As the unead attack, the zombie very oddly laughs, looks at 'Beaver, and casts a spell. Suddenly, there are several zombies in the room. It's clear this is no ordinary zombie. The remaining skeletons and ghouls are turned to dust by Maedhros' turning as Robyn starts firing arrows at the zombies, discovering that there really is only one zombie. The spell it cast was mirror image. Her arrow fire took out two of the images. In the melee, 'Beaver finds that his new crystal dagger is very special indeed. He can tell that it cut the actual essence of the shadow he's fighting. Nice find! The zombie casts another spell, this time animating the ropes in our heroes' packs, attempting to entangle them. Only Lowdog gets entangled, just as he drops a ghoul, and he has to spend some time getting free.
The last shadow whispers to Maedhros "Come join me. You're not old enough yet," as it attempts to touch him. Shocked and surprised, Maedhros invokes Corellon's name once again and forces the creature to flee from him. By this time, all attention has turned to the zombie. 'Beaver's crystal dagger cuts a small hole in the zombie, identifying the real one. Ichi and Yavin (flame blade a-swingin') also go on the offensive. Suddenly, the zombie gestures and a thick pool of grease appears on the ground at his feet. Yavin slips and falls, nearly igniting the grease with his flame blade. Ichi and 'Beaver continue their attacks, further savaging the creature. Maedhros, remembering that he is still under his fly spell, swoops in for an aerial attack so as to avoid the grease and lands the killing blow. Yavin then finishes off the shadow that was turned earlier.
As the group is healing up, Yavin walks to fountain, which eerily turns to blood. The sky darkens with stars. Two creatures made up of stars leap from the sky to attack the young priest of Celestian. His vision is coming true! One creature looks vaguely feline and one vaguely serpentine. Ichi runs to help but is told by a mysterious voice in his mind that it is not his fight. "Choose it only if you want your destinies entwined." Ignoring the voice, he continues to Yavin's aid and a big bull comes down to join the fray. Maedhros casts magic missile at the serpent. They pass harmlessly through it. He also hears warning in his mind. The bull orients on him and the scorpion joins it, stinging one level from him. Lowdog also jumps in to help and brings down a shark and a wolf from the sky. Robyn attacks with the firebow she got from 'Beaver, bringing down a horse and a crocodile.
Ichi quickly kills the serpent and attacks the bull as Yavin gets bit and clawed by the cat. Maedhros gets drained of another level. Things get even worse as Lowdog gets swallowed whole by the shark! Thankfully, Ichi kills the bull, providing a measure of relief--one down!. Maedhros magic missiles the scorpion, but as the group is strangely under the effect of a negative prayer (due to the number of stellar creatures attacking them), his spell does little damage. Lowdog attacks and damages the shark from inside, desperate to escape.
Maedhros quickly gets killed by the scorpion. Oddly, though, the group senses that someone can step in to save him, which Ichi does without hesitation. He finds that an expensive proposition, though, taking major damage as a portion of his life force flows into Maedhros, bringing him back from the dead. The monk now understands that the half-elf's life now belongs to him and that their lives are now forever intertwined. Robyn gets knocked down during her fight as Lowdog continues to free himself from the shark. Ichi (clearly the hero of this battle) engages three opponents at once (the horse, croc and scorpion) to keep them off of Robyn and Maedhros. Unfortunately, poor little Meldenya gets stunned by the horse and crocodile as she swoops in to defend Robyn.
Ichi continues to take on multiple opponents to help Maedhros and Robyn as Lowdog is finally ejected from the shark's throat. Free at last! But alas, the wolf had been waiting patiently for this and attacks the totemic warrior. Yavin falls to the cat, and Robyn very nearly gets cut down herself. Lowdog kills the shark as Robyn and Ichi switch opponents. Robyn kills the scorpion and Ichi attacks the crocodile and horse.
All this time, 'Beaver and Idky have stayed out, taking their cue from the spirits. But the situation has gotten too dire, as two party members are now down and out and the remaining ones aren't doing so well either. So 'Beaver, heedless of the warning that also invades his mind, moves in to heal Yavin. A gorilla and an elephant descend upon him for his trouble. 'Beaver gets badly damaged and Yavin gets knocked unconscious again. 'Beaver activates his dagger token, which turns into a dagger that backstabs the cat for minimal damage.
Meanwhile, Robyn goes to help out Ichi with the horse. Ichi gets taken down by the horse right afterward, and the cat drops 'Beaver. Meldenya engages and finishes off the horse, allowing Robyn to get the potion of healing from Maedhros' backpack.
Lowdog, seeing that 'Beaver has been killed, offers to save the life of his fellow Indian, also taking massive damage as Ichi did. However, this time something strange happens. Apparently, one of the rhion stones the shaman was carrying kept his spirit safe from harm when he died, thus freeing him from being "owned" by the totemic warrior. Lowdog's gesture, however, does bring 'Beaver back from death, though he is still unconscious.
Meldenya takes on the wolf to buy Lowdog some time to drop his obsidian dog and send it to attack the cat. Lowdog then moves in front of the elephant to keep it off 'Beaver's fallen body. Unfortunately, there is no one to keep the gorilla off 'Beaver, which continues savaging him. Robyn casts mirror image to give herself some breathing room. She then lightning bolts the gorilla and elephant, really messing them up. Lowdog then moves to take on the gorilla to keep it off of Robyn and 'Beaver. He doesn't last long, though. He goes down under its onslaught, as does Meldenya at the mouth and paws of the wolf.
Robyn casts another scintillating sphere, killing both elephant and gorilla, as the obsidian dog keeps attacking the cat, only to be quickly cut down by it. Robyn is now left alone, with Idky watching helplessly from the sidelines, torn between watching as his friends die or jumping in, knowing that it will only bring another monster to attack and kill them all for sure. Robyn magic missiles the cat as the wolf continues to savage Meldenya. Finally, the cat brings Robyn down.
With no one left standing, Idky can't hold back anymore and finally gets involved to heal Ichi, bringing him conscious. Idky braces himself for the inevitable, fully expecting another two creatures to come down and end his (and his friends') lives. But miracle of miracles! Nothing comes. Unfortunately, he isn't able to enjoy this happy event for long as the wolf pounces on him. While Idky takes on the wolf, Ichi runs to attack the cat, killing it. He then returns to finish off the wolf.
Hardly believing that they survived, Idky gets to work healing folks to bring everyone up. Once up, they each drink from the fountain, which had earlier turned into blood. The effects are different for each one:
- Ichi triples his body hair, grows a patch of hair on his otherwise bald head that looks like stag horns, and can now once a day transform into stag form (his totem animal) as a hengeyokai.
- Yavin gains an unusual singing voice and can once per day shift to nightingale form as a hengeyokai.
- Squatting Beaver's skin, eye, and hair color lightens (he now looks "caucasian"), his body hair decreases, and his mind tingles and sparkles--he has become psionic.
- Lowdog's second totem (snake) is granted full status, and he gains the full abilities of that totem as if it was his main one.
- Maedhros now realizes that he and Ichi share a common totem and can once per day transform into stag form as a hengeyokai. Like Ichi, he also triples his body hair.
- Robyn drinks hydra's blood!! Her limbs will grow back over time if severed.
- Idky can now speak duck and his hair bears a permanent "ducktail" at the back of his head.
The heroes leave the Palace and the city of Luxor, knowing that their destinies are now somehow intertwined. Whatever that means . . .
