Further Adventures in New Ganthar (IC)

[ilinares]

Spoiler: Yara

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The demon seizes control of your body, and you feel a sense of terrible, claustrophobic nausea, your vision contracting, a sensation of falling into an infinite abyss.

The last thing you see before the darkness takes you is a strange hallucination. It seems as though Michel's face is contorting, elongating, becoming oddly canine...

Then, nothing.

You float in an endless abyss, aware of the passage of time but utterly unable to judge the rate at which it has progressed.
Lightless, silent, this vast emptiness could be a momentary limbo - or your tomb for all eternity.

Light erupts, filling your vision, overwhelming your senses. Blinking against it all,
you force your eyes to focus, your racing heart back down from your throat.

There is a terrible pain in your chest - and that agony takes on a new texture, a jagged lancing wrench, as you see a blood-soaked blade being torn free of your sternum.

Blood is everywhere. The two guards you saw earlier are in the room; one is clearly dead, half his face ripped away, while the other is staring at you in horrified dread.

As for Father Michel, he kneels over you, hand radiant with holy light, as he heals your wounded heart. He carries grave injuries of his own... fatal injuries, surely, for his intestines lie beneath him, one arm has been bitten clean off, and his face is a battered mess.

He tries to speak to you, but his jaw has broken; he reaches feebly towards the pouch at his belt, but as he does so, he topples sideways, the old oak falling in the forest.

As you watch, his body ripples, contorts;
a jagged blade erupts from one fist, then falls away; his head becomes misshapen,
horned, then canine again. His fist rises, strikes the ground; he gives a roar of unearthly hate, then a piercingly clear cry of triumph. He looks at you, eyes going black, then turning into orbs of blazing light - then, at the last, they clear, and the High Priest of Charis smiles at you.

And dies.

You feel a terrible burden has vanished,
as though only now noticing by its absence the weight you have been carrying. The sickly, unfaltering hatred that lurked at the back of your mind has gone; and in its place, like a river flooding through a broken dam, raw, boundless psychic power.

Your mind expands, comprehension filling you; all the secrets of the multiverse lie revealed before you; and the challenges you have faced seem suddenly trivial, as you know with absolute certainty you could overcome them with a thought.

Your mind, your body, your very soul burns in that transforming power, becoming something new - on its way to becoming something else entirely.

Your mortal nature balks; it is too much, too soon. Instinctively you throw up a new dam, a new barrier between you and this infinite power.

But the barrier is different, now - letting more of the power through. And it is now a barrier made of your own will.

In time, you may no longer need it.

Spoiler: Theo

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Nagor's heavily armoured form absorbs the blow effortlessly, and he turns his faceplate towards you, following your movements.

"Ah - not Roost, but his son. So much for the thoroughness of dwarves.

"No matter. You will be dead soon enough, and the prophecy with you."

The armoured figure raises one gauntlet, clenching it abruptly into a fist. At the gesture, a torrent of crimson flame - familiar to you from your last duel with a Knight of the Eternal Vigil - erupts in a 40' circle in front of Nagor, encompassing the Lifewardens, Lothrain, and the Vanguard - and you. Innocent men and women in the process of fleeing are caught as well, screaming as their bodies turn to ash. Even the proprietress does not escape, her life snuffed out in a callous instant by the creature she called to defend her.

Spoiler: Abyssal Blast

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27 damage, Reflex DC 17 for half. Damage is 50% fire, 50% untyped.

All but two of the junior Lifewardens fall, crying out as the fire burns their flesh. A swift response by Eldan, their commander, sees a third survive, his burns healing as quickly as they form; Eldan himself is quick enough to avoid the worst of the flames, but still has blisters over half his body. Eldan wastes no time, however, bounding past you to confront the vampire courtesans on the stairwell, healing himself as he goes.

Lothrain raises a hand in a gesture of denial, and the fire parts, flowing around him; but a sickly cloud of black energy seeps over him, causing him to grimace with pain and distaste. Hefting his sword, he rushes one of the enemy mages and attacks, dealing a heavy blow; the mage falters in his concentration briefly, but drags the spell back under his control.

Of the Vanguard, Lydia manages to duck beneath the worst of the flames, although still suffering from the heat. Althazan seems initially untroubled by the blaze - but, like Lothrain, soon learns that there is more to this attack than fire alone.

They each focus on the enemy mages. Althazan barks a counterspell, and one of the trio staggers, clearly feeling the magic he was gathering dissipate. Lydia attacks another, sending a pair of fiery lances towards him from her free hand; one misses, but the other proves to the mage that it is not just the undead who can play with fire.

Even injured, the mage continues his incantation.

Atop the stairs, the three vampire courtesans smile in predatory fashion at Eldan. No visible sign marks the ensuing struggle, which takes place solely in the mind - but, a few seconds later, Eldan sinks to the floor.