Epic Evil: Group 2

[Tsumeken]

Theda/Iivraena:

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The congregation apparently do have the skull marks of Bane on their person. The fires begin to die down. Alakdriirn nods, "It is Nicos, mistress. Apparently he and I can speak through whatever means he is using.. They apparently are in another temple."

Nicos/Ia:

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You near the end of the long hall which you sent your scrying orb down and you see a large portal. As you near it, you come to a complete stop. There is a wall blocking your way, much like an invisible wall of force. You remember your scrying orb passing through this way easily but it's keeping you from going through.

[firemagehao]

"Well, your the one who can go astral." Ia says to Nicos. For now, "Heresy elementals in front, smash the wall."

[Tsumeken]

Ia/Nicos:

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As your heresy elementals move to the front to destroy the barrier, their own attacks seem to pass through it. It seems that this barrier only prevents living beings from passing through and as the elementals are technically not living , they seem to be able to pass through.

[Kiranvonstrom]

With all due respect, I can't translate onto the astral plane, only the shadow plane.
Nobody remembers the shadows. Ergo, nobody wards against them. Somehow I doubt this is 'anybody', however.

[Toliudar]

Tired of waiting for Ia and Nicos, Theda gestures for Tonn to follow her and joins Iivraena in the hallway. Unfortunately, she BUMPS her head on the way into the passage.

[VirgoBushin]

~Iivraena Lil'kenafin~

Iivraena nodded, intrigued by the fact that Nicos was somehow speaking with Alakdriirn. She'd have to speak with him more on that later. For now, Theda had the right idea as she walked past her and began to actually seek out Ia and Nicos. She merely smirked as she followed behind her, tugging on Alakdriirn's leash, signing to him, Ask them what the room they are in looks like. We may as well see if we can rendezvous with them somehow....

[firemagehao]

Ia starts working on a phylactery, imbuing his sword with magical properties (if you will let him use it, also using his +8 bracers of armor for the cost in gp)
"Could you try the shadow plain then?"

[Tsumeken]

Ia

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so you're turning your sword into a phylactery is that what it is?

Theda/Iivraena

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The four blocks of stone in the room (which i referenced a few times) begin to shake before slamming together quickly in front of you all, the makeshift wall stand upright on it's side as the skull pictoglyph on the four blocks became whole. It's eyes light up as it glares down at the party, it's mouth opens showing a passage but from within that passage crawl 5 rather large black worms, they begin moving towards the group.

[Toliudar]

Theda

Theda nods appreciatively at the spectacle of the walls shifting and gateway forming. Cyric might be a right prat, but he had style. She gazes speculatively at the worms for a moment.

"Either of you have any idea what those worm things are? Besides, needless to say, hungry?"

Theda gestures to Tonn, who steps forward and unleashes a cone of piercing noise at the worms, then flies back into the room with the dead worshippers and turns into a dark, menacing shadowy shape, about 10' tall. Theda transforms into an almost translucent crystalline dragon, breathes out a blast of intense light on the worms, and also darts back into the room.

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Knowledge to try to identify the worms:
Nature: (1d20+16)[31]
The Planes: (1d20+16)[36]

The stated actions assume that we're close but not adjacent to the worms. If we're closer or farther, just let me know and I'll adjust asap.

Tonn: breathe a 50' cone of sound (doing (12d6)[53] sonic damage (Reflex DC 28 for half) and deafened for (1d4)[4] rounds), move up to 150' back, shapechange into a Shadesteel golem (MM3 pg 72).

Theda: shapechange into an adult Crystal dragon (MM2 pg 81), breathe a 50' cone of light (doing (12d6)[41] damage (Reflex DC 28 for half) and blinding for (1d4)[1] rounds, move up to 150' back.

[firemagehao]

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Ia is trying to turn is vorpal, keen scimitar into a phylactery, using his Bracers of armor to cover the materials cost.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Nicos frowned at the barrier, focused his mind, and made a slashing motion with his hand at the invisible wall in front of him.
May as well try to dispell it...

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Casting Devour magic.

[Tsumeken]

Nicos/Ia

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The barrier begins to crackle as you cast the magic upon it as it slowly disapates

Theda

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The worms appear to be a form of nightcrawler but seems to be shadows as er the undead type instead of nightsshades

[Toliudar]

The Theda-dragon calls out to IIvraena. Better to coopt the creatures than have to fight all of them.

"The worms are undead. You might be able to take control of some of them."

[VirgoBushin]

~Iivraena Lil'kenafin~

Iivraena looks down at the worms, as if studying them for a bit. After a couple of minutes, she nodded, figuring it'd be more beneficial to try to command them as opposed to scaring them. "I'll see what I can do." She finally replies to Theda, closing her eyes and beginning to focus on trying to rebuke the undead.

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Rebuke Check:
(1d20+6)[11] (+2 from having enough ranks in Knowledge [Religion])

[firemagehao]

Ia unfurls his wings, and glides down the hall above his army.

[Tsumeken]

Iivraena/Theda:

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The worms halt their advance forward as they arch their bodies up as a snake would when it's ready to strike. They all turn towards the Drow and seem to be awaiting something..

Ia:

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(Where did the wings come from? Did you have them naturally or ... through your class? Other than that, when you say you're flying with your army, are you doing this in your own temple or through the portal since Nicos dissolved the barrier?)

Nicos:

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The barrier falls now allowing anyone to pass through the area. As it falls, you hear a slight clicking sound from the floor above, as if something sliding..

[Toliudar]

Theda

The Theda dragon gives a 'stand-down' wave to Tonn as they watch the worms stop and seem to wait for instructions.

"Nicely done. Can you make them do things?"

[VirgoBushin]

~Iivraena Lil'kenafin~

Iivraena nodded, a proud smirk on her face as she replied to Theda. "Of course. Otherwise they would have merely run away." Her eyes remained upon the small group of undead she had managed to manipulate as she began commanding them, both mentally and verbally, keeping her tone in Common as Undead was one of the few tongues she didn't know. "I'm assuming you all know this place more than we do... thus, begin leading us out and remain in front." This way, should she, Alakdriirn, Tonn or Theda run into anything immediately, the undead would be in front of them as shields of sorts. She waited for them to begin obeying before following behind.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Damn. Nicos exhaled, and ran toward what he presumed was the exit, following the sound of Ia's wings. He jumped as he was about to hit the portal, hoping it would go through to somewhere helpful. It really would be a pity if it didn't...
Figures there would be a trap...

[firemagehao]

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Through were the barrier used to be.
He got the wings through a class feature. I believe it was a greater harbinger's mark.

[Tsumeken]

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Ah okay then heres what happens

Theda/Iivraena

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The shadowy worms start moving past you back out into the main foyer, as you follow them you see the room you came from occupied by multiple elemental beings.

The room is the same as before (save the elementals and if you look up you will see bodies in the statues mouth, it seems like a tight fit up in there as Nicos and Ia passed through the portal as well and now which exits out of a 1 ft x 1.5 ft mouth

Nicos/Ia

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As you pass through the portal you feel a certain tightness suddenly around your body. You pop out of the portal and now are squished up inside of the mouth of a statue, much like the one from the previous temple you were in a this seems to be where the exit to the portal is The dimensions on the mouth are 1 ft x 1.5 ft as it seems to hold your less malleable bodies where as the elementals simply glided through the tight spot.

[Toliudar]

As the worms start to guide them back the way they'd come, Theda transforms back into demon form and sends her thoughts to Iivraena.

"While out does sound attractive, we still have to go in to find the dam priests. Any chance the worms know where the bosses hang out?"

[Kiranvonstrom]

While I am grateful for the contributions of your private army of heresy, Ia, it would be nice if you could remove yourself from this rather cramped area. Your wing is in my mouth. Nicos says, somewhat muffled by the cramped conditions. The wing tasted like a combination of onion and cardamon, a combination of tastes that Nicos had hated since childhood.

[VirgoBushin]

~Iivraena Lil'kenafin~

Iivraena sighed, figuring she probably should have been more specific on her command. "When I said out.... I meant out of the room and into the next." She thought a bit, realizing the last time anything that would have revealed the correct path had occurred whilst the others were on the other side. "So then... if nothing's been happening....." Her eyes widened as she finally understood. "Damnit! I understand now...."

As she looks up, she sees Nicos and Ia trying to get out of the mouth. She clears her throat, ensuring the two can hear her before speaking,,"Stop! Go back to where you were! This temple works when on the opposite sides which are, ultimately, in the form of a mirror of sorts. Think on it... paths weren't revealed unless either of us did anything while we were on the other side! So.... I know this is an annoying request... but somehow try to get back to your side of the temple!"

[Kiranvonstrom]

Not so much annoying as incoherent, I think.
Nicos muttered, reaching out to Ilvraena with a message.
That could have made a bit more sense. Altough she does have a viable theory with the mirrored temples. if we stay in contact, we should be able to avoid killing each other by accident.
Nicos glanced at the end of the tunnel hoping that the trap they had set off wasn't too delibating.

Ilvraena/Alakdiirn

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Can you hang on for a bit? We're going to try and get you connected to Ia's Hivemind.

Ia, can you connect them to the hivemind? Nicos tried to send to Ia, doing his best not to brush the elf's thoughts. He didn't want too much trauma.

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Note that the new font indicates use of the hivemind for Nicos, as he already thinks in italics.

[VirgoBushin]

~Iivraena Lil'kenafin~

Iivraena sighed again, relieved she hadn't been too late. She nodded before speaking again, "Yeah... I can." She was relatively sure Theda and Tonn had all heard everything... but in case, she turned to them and then began to relay what was going to occur, "I know you didn't like it last time as neither you nor Nicos accepted it... but in order for us to solve this, we'll need to remain separated. Therefore, do you think you can accept Ia's Hivemind spell this time? If not, I suppose I can relay to you what I'm seeing but it might be helpful especially with me already having one bad eye." She said, pointing to her eye patch covering her left eye.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Nicos continues to create the sending effect.
Ilvraena

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If this temple is set out like a mirror, we need to be in constant contact to avoid activating magical effects on each other.

[Toliudar]

Theda tilts her head, considering.

"Very well. Of course I blocked it the first time. A weird-looking elf pops through a gate and tries to join brains? But if, as you say, these two temples are in some way connected - and I don't begin to understand why you think that - then I suppose that link will be useful. In the meantime, shall we send those worms back down the tunnel and get this job done?"

[VirgoBushin]

~Iivraena Lil'kenafin~

Iivraena nodded at Nicos's words. "I know that... but if nothing else... perhaps you and Alakdriirn can maintain that form of communication you two had been doing earlier? I'm not sure how far Ia can do his Hivemind from so I'm trying to wait for him... but all the same, Theda has a point that's called we need to try to move on.."

She nodded, annoyed at the knowledge she had just... well.... figured out as she turned towards the small group of undead, "Back to the skull wall. There's gotta be something we missed...." She murmured, finally replying to Theda's question her theory as she walked, "Simple.... when Nicos and Alakdriirn were speaking,, Nicos had mentioned some weird things happening around the same time we did stuff and vice versa. Thus they were on the opposite side when it all occurred and it seems to be the only logical way any of this could have gone on, lest this was some weird type of mirror."

[Toliudar]

Theda shrugs, and nods.

"As you say. I'm sure that as we proceed, we'll learn about the temple's magics. In the meantime, there was the passage that the worms came through. Perhaps we could follow them back the way that they came?"