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Entry tags:
Dawn of Magic
Full house – bonus! Tonight we had everyone: Bonnie ("Leif"), Marc ("Mushamee"), Martin ("Kaeso"), Mike ("Rufus"), and Stéphane ("Vinz").
Time: Wee hours, Odin 19, 1002 Imperial Reckoning.
Place: Indu, Indistan.
Last Event: A battle against zombies in a storehouse housing a "curse engine."
Vinz is barely able to stand, even after Kaeso and Leif's ministrations, but the others – tired, bruised, but mobile – decide to secure and investigate the area. Rufus turns his second sight on the place and picks up supernatural emanations from the slain undead, from the creaking curse engine . . . and from a large crate against one wall. He approaches this, intensifies his gaze, and looks right through the wooden slats. Inside, he sees what appears to be a body. Leif notices Rufus' attention to the crate and joins him. Sniffing the box, he catches the scent of resin. At this point, Rufus spots strange writing on the wood, in the Elder Tongue:
If you can read this, it's already too late!
An instant later, the crate explodes into a cloud of splinters and sawdust. Predictably, the body within – now obviously some sort of mummy – explodes into action, engaging Leif and Rufus with magic. It attacks with attempts to magically extract the heroes' hearts, a pillar of flame, and a stunning gaze, and defends by warding off blades with its arm, striking sparks as it does. Blows that do connect stick, and soon both men are effectively disarmed, their swords glued to the mummy's bandages.
Mushamee crosses the room at a run and joins his allies. He, too, encounters curses, and like his friends soon finds his blade welded to the mummy. The creature takes advantage of this to teleport away the Sun Sword of Ré, lodging it halfway through the storehouse ceiling! Mushamee responds with a flurry of blows dealt with his remaining five sidearms, simply relinquishing his sword when it sticks and calling upon the Sword-Belt of Su to hand him another, but all this does is leave him down three more weapons. His orichalcum shield likewise ends up glommed to the mummy's hide.
Across the room, Kaeso decides to aim and fire the Gun, the theory being that mummies dislike fire and his weapon launches fire bolts – and of course won't get stuck. However, the thing dodges his blasts effortlessly. Shooting green energy spheres salvaged from Starfish-Man bolt-casters has similar results: a whole lot of nothing.
The wounded Vinz watches all of this from his resting place and realizes that this creature is some new form of undead . . . and that something isn't quite right. He warns the others, asking them to pause their apparently futile battle and turn their unique gifts to determining what's going on.
Rufus responds by focusing his superhuman perceptions on the creature. To his special sight, it's suddenly clear what's afoot: The "mummy" isn't an undead monster at all, but merely a dimensional projection – a sort of illusion – with no true physical existence in the material realm. Leif summons Granddad, who tells his grandson that this entity is a manifestation of a major demon lord, channeling energy from Hell, and that it cannot be fought with weapons anywhere but in Hell. Both heroes shout out their discoveries to their allies.
Vinz concludes that the demonic force amounts to a mummy-shaped focus for casting spells across worlds. If he's right, then he'll need to draw upon his imperfect knowledge of the Path of Portals to slam shut the sorcerous "door." Despite his condition, he prepares to cast one more spell.
Leif, Mushamee, and Rufus thus proceed to occupy the demonic intelligence while Vinz slowly crawls toward them, chanting his spell. Rufus is the first to pay for this strategy, when he meets the creature's gaze and abruptly vanishes. All that's left behind is his Spirit Knife, still stuck to the bandages of the "mummy."
Mushamee manages to resist all of the curses thrown at him but one: a mind-boggling wave of supernatural confusion. This leaves him defenseless for a time, giving the demon a chance to attack him with a chilling touch. Fortunately for Mushamee, the Sun Armor of Ré is proof to such simple curses. Thus, the net effect is to distract the thing while Vinz casts. When he regains his wits, he sees that Granddad has somehow freed the Sun Sword from the rafters.
Leif focuses on prying his allies' lost weapons from the monster at first, his own resistance holding up well against the supernatural onslaught – doubtless aided by his great size and shaman's willpower. He briefly succumbs to the same curse as Rufus, and finds himself in a strange, maze-like realm. However, he slices a passage back home with Necros' Spirit Reaper, and returns to the material world, where he resumes wresting weapons free.
Behind Leif and Mushamee, Kaeso renders aid to Vinz with more alchemical healing elixirs, while Vinz creeps ever closer, still working his magic. To distract the demon from this, Leif uses Necros' Spirit Reaper to etch Northern Runes in the floor. He scribes runes for demon-banishing, magical power, and transference to an ally (in this case, Vinz). He knows nothing about magic, of course, but figures it couldn't hurt. Kaeso, however, remembers Leif's last rune-etching escapade and has some misgivings.
Eventually, Vinz struggles into range of the demon and casts his spell, uninterrupted thanks to his allies' efforts. He pulls Deathfang and cuts himself, sacrificing blood to ensure success. The ritual works and the gate slams shut. There are no magical fireworks; the evil force simply vanishes, leaving behind a dusty warehouse. Rufus doesn't reappear, however . . .
During all of this, Rufus finds himself in some sort of maze. He soon encounters a huge rat, which he easily slays, but not before its maddening screeching clouds his mind and starts eating away at his sanity. His mind is going – he can feel it. He then runs into a carpet of illness-inducing bugs that leave him feeling burned like a piece of wood, horrid oozing jellies, and a swarm of wasps whose stings cause him to stagger and stumble. He eventually leaves all of this behind by diving through the mouth of a whirring infernal machine with wicked blades and scalding steam jets.
Eventually, a battered and weakened Rufus emerges in a passage that has three exits. Each of these is guarded by a beautiful succubus, one red, one green, and one blue. Each makes an offer:
Red Lady: "In return for your freedom, I ask only for part of your soul."
Green Lady: "I can bestow the manliness you have always desired, but you will lose something dear to you."
Blue Lady: "I shall give you much-needed wisdom in return for a thousand sorrows."
Rufus chooses the Blue Lady, who asks him to embrace her as a lover. Reluctantly, he does. Afterward, he asks her, "So, what is this wisdom?"
"You should have picked the Red Lady. She's the way out of here."
Rufus returns to the Red Lady. She seems annoyed at being his second choice. However, she is willing to do business.
"Very well, two-timer, but the price has doubled."
Rufus agrees, and must again lay with a demoness. Without warning, he finds himself deposited – not entirely clothed – in the material world. The others are somewhat amused by this. Hippolyte, however, simply says, "I certainly hope you chose Red."
With everyone accounted for and all scattered possessions gathered, the group decides that it's time to deal with the curse engine The deed of course falls to Kaeso, who proceeds to take out his tools and set to work. While he bangs and ratchets, the others rest, and Leif directs more healing Vinz's way. By the time the machine is just about ready to fall apart, the adventurers are mostly mobile.
Kaeso suddenly emerges from the curse engine's innards, gathers his belongings, and heads for the door. The machine is clearly wobbling and unstable, and about to come apart. Seeing this, the others follow Kaeso into the street. Moments later, the alien device comes apart dramatically, showering hardware everywhere. Simultaneously, Rufus feels a strange wave of supernatural energy sweep over the area.
The heroes hasten back to inform the Shahim of their progress.
Time: Wee hours, Odin 19, 1002 Imperial Reckoning.
Place: Indu, Indistan.
Last Event: A battle against zombies in a storehouse housing a "curse engine."
Vinz is barely able to stand, even after Kaeso and Leif's ministrations, but the others – tired, bruised, but mobile – decide to secure and investigate the area. Rufus turns his second sight on the place and picks up supernatural emanations from the slain undead, from the creaking curse engine . . . and from a large crate against one wall. He approaches this, intensifies his gaze, and looks right through the wooden slats. Inside, he sees what appears to be a body. Leif notices Rufus' attention to the crate and joins him. Sniffing the box, he catches the scent of resin. At this point, Rufus spots strange writing on the wood, in the Elder Tongue:
An instant later, the crate explodes into a cloud of splinters and sawdust. Predictably, the body within – now obviously some sort of mummy – explodes into action, engaging Leif and Rufus with magic. It attacks with attempts to magically extract the heroes' hearts, a pillar of flame, and a stunning gaze, and defends by warding off blades with its arm, striking sparks as it does. Blows that do connect stick, and soon both men are effectively disarmed, their swords glued to the mummy's bandages.
Mushamee crosses the room at a run and joins his allies. He, too, encounters curses, and like his friends soon finds his blade welded to the mummy. The creature takes advantage of this to teleport away the Sun Sword of Ré, lodging it halfway through the storehouse ceiling! Mushamee responds with a flurry of blows dealt with his remaining five sidearms, simply relinquishing his sword when it sticks and calling upon the Sword-Belt of Su to hand him another, but all this does is leave him down three more weapons. His orichalcum shield likewise ends up glommed to the mummy's hide.
Across the room, Kaeso decides to aim and fire the Gun, the theory being that mummies dislike fire and his weapon launches fire bolts – and of course won't get stuck. However, the thing dodges his blasts effortlessly. Shooting green energy spheres salvaged from Starfish-Man bolt-casters has similar results: a whole lot of nothing.
The wounded Vinz watches all of this from his resting place and realizes that this creature is some new form of undead . . . and that something isn't quite right. He warns the others, asking them to pause their apparently futile battle and turn their unique gifts to determining what's going on.
Rufus responds by focusing his superhuman perceptions on the creature. To his special sight, it's suddenly clear what's afoot: The "mummy" isn't an undead monster at all, but merely a dimensional projection – a sort of illusion – with no true physical existence in the material realm. Leif summons Granddad, who tells his grandson that this entity is a manifestation of a major demon lord, channeling energy from Hell, and that it cannot be fought with weapons anywhere but in Hell. Both heroes shout out their discoveries to their allies.
Vinz concludes that the demonic force amounts to a mummy-shaped focus for casting spells across worlds. If he's right, then he'll need to draw upon his imperfect knowledge of the Path of Portals to slam shut the sorcerous "door." Despite his condition, he prepares to cast one more spell.
Leif, Mushamee, and Rufus thus proceed to occupy the demonic intelligence while Vinz slowly crawls toward them, chanting his spell. Rufus is the first to pay for this strategy, when he meets the creature's gaze and abruptly vanishes. All that's left behind is his Spirit Knife, still stuck to the bandages of the "mummy."
Mushamee manages to resist all of the curses thrown at him but one: a mind-boggling wave of supernatural confusion. This leaves him defenseless for a time, giving the demon a chance to attack him with a chilling touch. Fortunately for Mushamee, the Sun Armor of Ré is proof to such simple curses. Thus, the net effect is to distract the thing while Vinz casts. When he regains his wits, he sees that Granddad has somehow freed the Sun Sword from the rafters.
Leif focuses on prying his allies' lost weapons from the monster at first, his own resistance holding up well against the supernatural onslaught – doubtless aided by his great size and shaman's willpower. He briefly succumbs to the same curse as Rufus, and finds himself in a strange, maze-like realm. However, he slices a passage back home with Necros' Spirit Reaper, and returns to the material world, where he resumes wresting weapons free.
Behind Leif and Mushamee, Kaeso renders aid to Vinz with more alchemical healing elixirs, while Vinz creeps ever closer, still working his magic. To distract the demon from this, Leif uses Necros' Spirit Reaper to etch Northern Runes in the floor. He scribes runes for demon-banishing, magical power, and transference to an ally (in this case, Vinz). He knows nothing about magic, of course, but figures it couldn't hurt. Kaeso, however, remembers Leif's last rune-etching escapade and has some misgivings.
Eventually, Vinz struggles into range of the demon and casts his spell, uninterrupted thanks to his allies' efforts. He pulls Deathfang and cuts himself, sacrificing blood to ensure success. The ritual works and the gate slams shut. There are no magical fireworks; the evil force simply vanishes, leaving behind a dusty warehouse. Rufus doesn't reappear, however . . .
During all of this, Rufus finds himself in some sort of maze. He soon encounters a huge rat, which he easily slays, but not before its maddening screeching clouds his mind and starts eating away at his sanity. His mind is going – he can feel it. He then runs into a carpet of illness-inducing bugs that leave him feeling burned like a piece of wood, horrid oozing jellies, and a swarm of wasps whose stings cause him to stagger and stumble. He eventually leaves all of this behind by diving through the mouth of a whirring infernal machine with wicked blades and scalding steam jets.
Eventually, a battered and weakened Rufus emerges in a passage that has three exits. Each of these is guarded by a beautiful succubus, one red, one green, and one blue. Each makes an offer:
Red Lady: "In return for your freedom, I ask only for part of your soul."
Green Lady: "I can bestow the manliness you have always desired, but you will lose something dear to you."
Blue Lady: "I shall give you much-needed wisdom in return for a thousand sorrows."
Rufus chooses the Blue Lady, who asks him to embrace her as a lover. Reluctantly, he does. Afterward, he asks her, "So, what is this wisdom?"
"You should have picked the Red Lady. She's the way out of here."
Rufus returns to the Red Lady. She seems annoyed at being his second choice. However, she is willing to do business.
"Very well, two-timer, but the price has doubled."
Rufus agrees, and must again lay with a demoness. Without warning, he finds himself deposited – not entirely clothed – in the material world. The others are somewhat amused by this. Hippolyte, however, simply says, "I certainly hope you chose Red."
With everyone accounted for and all scattered possessions gathered, the group decides that it's time to deal with the curse engine The deed of course falls to Kaeso, who proceeds to take out his tools and set to work. While he bangs and ratchets, the others rest, and Leif directs more healing Vinz's way. By the time the machine is just about ready to fall apart, the adventurers are mostly mobile.
Kaeso suddenly emerges from the curse engine's innards, gathers his belongings, and heads for the door. The machine is clearly wobbling and unstable, and about to come apart. Seeing this, the others follow Kaeso into the street. Moments later, the alien device comes apart dramatically, showering hardware everywhere. Simultaneously, Rufus feels a strange wave of supernatural energy sweep over the area.
The heroes hasten back to inform the Shahim of their progress.
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