The Last Paladin IC - Part II

[Frosty]

Karrin first pokes the orb very lightly with her lance to see if there's any obvious corruption or corroding of the weapon.

[Maquise]

The orb's surface briefly ripples a deep sanguine, as though it's surface were liquid. When you inspect your weapon, though, you see no sign of damage or corruption.

[Frosty]

"Alright, cast the spell on me." Karrin waits for Berich, and also casts Protection from Evil on herself and then attempts to life the black orb.

strength roll: (1d20+5)[10]

[Maquise]

You heave with all of your might, but the orb refuses to budge.

"Might have to try the old-fashioned way," Berich says. "Give it a good old thunder stroke."

(Sorry, but I don't know an english word with the same meaning
Edit: found the english term that's closest equivalent, but still leaving the link.)

[Frosty]

"Fine. Give me your hammer. I will smash it. Everyone else stay BACK."

[Frosty]

Presumbeably, Berich hands her the hammer, and Karrin proceeds to Power Attack the orb.

[Maquise]

You bring he hammer down on the smooth black crystal. It shatters with a loud crack. As it does, your vision flashes red. You momentarily lose contact with your senses, and the following words enter your mind:

...and N'skarra will then be ready for the next phase of our plan.

That leaves us with the issue of selecting our pawn. Gorgeroth would have been perfect, but he recently perished due to forces unknown. To put him further beyond our grasp, Malaghast bartered his soul from Ken Rho for his own machinations. Malaghast himself is too cunning to serve as a pawn; he may see our plan and attempt to subvert it for his own ends. Esphestus is too unpredictable, and Arazad too much a blunt instrument. That leaves Carrion and Raz'mirrin. Of the two, I think Raz'mirrin would be best...

...thus N'skarra shall go to Raz'mirrin, and authority shall be Raz'mirrin under N'skarra, N'skarra under Azaketh, Azaketh under Xi'phen'ix'nef, Xi'phen'ix'nef under Aruoudiodoth the Many-headed Serpent...

Your world returns to normal. "Karrin, are you alright?" Lyanna asks shaken. You touch your cheek, and find blood leaking from your eyes. It seems superficial though, and you are unharmed.

[Frosty]

The paladin looks shaken as well as she drops to one knee for a moment, shaking her head to clear it. "UHHHHHGN...what the...my eyes..." After wiping some of the blood off and determining that she is fine for the time being, Karrin responds, "I think I got some of the recent stored communications zapped into my head when I broke it. I...I heard the names of many beings, presumeably demons, and I have a partial hierarchy of who N'skarra, the demon whom we just defeated, is under."

She relays the message to the others.

[Maquise]

"It sounds like this N'skarra's next goal was to meet with this Raz'mirrin," Kensin says thoughtfully. "Do you have any familiarity with this name?"

Knowledge-religion:(d20+10)[18]

You recall that Raz'mirrin was the name of a Hospitallar paladin in Liriam's order.

[Frosty]

Karrin frowns. "The name sounds familiar...sounds like a Paladin that I thought had disappeared or died. Perhaps (s)he has been ressurected as a demon or been corrupted by one. Either way this is an abomination that must be stopped."

[Maquise]

Lyanna sighs. "Looks like there's one more evil for us to rid the land of. Here I was hoping the world would be content to let us fight the battles we have in front of us before giving us new ones."

"In my lands, we have a saying: The righteous have no rest," Kensin remarks.

"I thought it was the wicked that there is no rest for."

"It's only the dead that can rest," Berich interjects sullenly.

"Thank you for that cheerful observation," Lyanna retorts. "That aside, there does seem to be good news. The demons don't know about you, at least not well enough to know you killed Gorgeroth."

"They will soon enough," remarks Berich.

"You're just one big bloody ray of sunshine, aren't you Berich?" exclaims Lyanna.

"I almost died three times in the last twenty-four hours. I've had a rough day," Berich deadpans.

[Frosty]

"Well, let's use the grease and burn the rest of this room down, then quicckly return to the dragona nd Mira. With th e troglodyte threat destroyed, the dragon should uphold his end of the bargain."

[Maquise]

Leaving the room in flames, you begin to cautiously make your way back to the dragon's eyrie.

As you make your way back, Kensin asks, "What sort of dragon is this, and may I ask what sort of business we have with it?"

"I think Karrin can best explain that," says Lyanna.

You arrive at the lair without incident. Once more the elementals allow you to pass. You see Vorqanscvir preening his glass-like wings, all the while keeping a sharp eye on Mirabelle, who is pacing angrily in her stone cage.

"I assume our matter of agreement has been dealt with, yes?" the crystal dragon asks.

[Frosty]

Karrin briefly exlains about how her companion has been possessed, and that this dragon has agreed to help drive out the fiend.

The paladin bows. "Yes, great dragon. We have destroyed and burnt everything. The troglodytes are no more, and we have even discovered the evil influence that caused them to come and attack you."

[Maquise]

"Then it seems that all is fulfilled on your end." The dragon speaks a command to his metal box. With a loud mechanical whirr, a figure seemingly composed solely of numerical figures and mathematical expressions materializes above the cube.

It moves toward the stone cage. Mirabelle hisses and moves back as the front of the cage opens, allowing the axiomite to enter. Arms reach out of the cage's wall, restraining her. "It doesn't matter. By diverting you here, I've kept you from where you were needed. Now it is too late..."

The axiomite plunges its hand into Mirabelle's chest. She shrieks in pain. The axiomite pulls, ripping the insubstantial form of the babau from her body. She slumps to her knees.

The axiomite throws the demon in front of the dragon. He opens his mouth, and a powerful blast of sonic energy surges out and shatters the babau.

"Isn't it a good feeling when an agreement is successfully completed?"

[Frosty]

"Thank you, great Dragon. We have more information about the fiends behind this incursion, but first let me tend to Mirabell." She runs over to her lover to check on Mira.

[Maquise]

You drop to your knees beside Mira. She reaches up to grasp your offered hand, and you pull her up to eye level. Her eyes are bloodshot, and look more tired than you have ever seen.

"Was anyone hurt by... it?" She asks. After you indicate not, she nods, briefly looking down before resuming eye contact. "Then I will be fine. I felt only a ghost sensation of my body. It was like I was dreaming. I kept it out of my thoughts for the most part. The worst it did was show me nightmarish images."

"But it doesn't matter. No one was hurt." She tightly embraces you.

[Frosty]

Karrin thought about what she had fight and do in order to rescue mira...and decides that Mira doesn't need to know about the tentacle succubus for now. "I was afraid I'd do permanent brain damage to you. I'd never forgive myself."

She embraces Mira for about a minute before letting her go. "We have much to do still. We have discovered more evils that needs to be cleansed, after we escort the people to Whiteveil."

Relaying the message of the black orb to the dragon, Karrin asks, "Do any of those names sound familiar? Do you know where we might go to find them and vanquish them for the good of the realms?"

[Maquise]

Vorqanscvir shakes his head, scales shimmering in the light. "I am afraid that I've kept to myself for the most part. Nasty things up on the surface. I don't wish to have anything to do with them, so you could imagine how irritated I was when I found them trying to come to me. It sounds to me, though, that you may want leave quickly. I would invite you to stay, but if what the demon said is true, which admittedly is a fairly large 'if', you are probably needed someplace else at the nearest of future, though I have no idea where."

[Frosty]

Karrin bows once again. "If you are in need of assistance, find me and I will be happy to aid you. Fare thee well for now." She starts leading the party out of the tunnels, the progress maybe a bit slow in some places thanks to Trombe needing to squeeze.

The paladin also introduces Mira to Kensin and vice versa.

[Maquise]

Grembler leads you on the way out. You stay ever alert, but aside from a trivial encounter with a few rats, your journey is uneventful. It leaves you time to meditate on the events of the last few hours.

Kensin and Mirabelle seem to get along cordially. "I believe I should thank you for helping save me," Mirabelle says.

"There is little to thank," Kensin responds. "I was rescued as much as you were."

(In the future, could you try to give me more dialogue-wise? I don't feel I had much to go on this time."

[Frosty]

(Sorry, was in a hurry)

"Mira, can you tell me a bit more about your experiences during this time? Is there anything you'd like to get off your chest to make you feel better? Or perhaps anything that might give us an insight on how to fight this kind of intrusion. For example Davkas here was knocked out because he was possibly enchanted, but I guess there's a small chance he is possessed as well. In fact we should wait here until he wakes up just in case he is possessed so that we can go back to the dragon for help."

[Maquise]

"As I said, I felt closed off from my body. Everything I saw and heard, the demon did first, and probably altered what I experience. Eventually, I just ignored everything else and sort of closed up on myself. To be honest, I almost felt guilty about not trying to fight more. Now," she pauses for a moment, trying to find words. "I guess I just feel angry that I was... that it could beat me like that."

[Frosty]

"It's not your fault. I mean, it's not like anything you actually did in your mind could actually break its control over you right?" Karrin continues to wait for Davkas to wake up.

[Maquise]

Davkas wakes up, groggily. He seems to shake off the effect of the enchantment.

"I am returned! I have control," he says as he warily gets back to his feet.

"It is about time, weak-minded fool of a half-orc," Berich mutters under his breath. You are fairly certain no-one else heard.

[Maquise]

(I almost forgot about this)

As you wait, Mirabelle gets a good look at you.

"What happened to your armor? And why are you wearing Lyanna's clothes? Granted, I don't mind it particularly, but that has to be a little... breezy."

[Frosty]

Karrin punches Berich lightly and quietly before turning to Davkas. "Welcome back. What happened in there anyways? Was the serpent waiting for us to leave so that she can ambush you?"

[Maquise]

Davkas shrugged. "She just materialized out of the ether, as a ghost would. Then she took meaningful form, and cast a powerful spell upon me."

Mira seems content to wait for the business at hand to conclude before pressing you for an answer. You can also feel her occasional gaze at your partially-uncovered rear.

[Frosty]

"Well, sorry for leaving you alone. Next time we will leave at least one person with you as backup."

Karrin pauses a bit before answering Mira. "My armor is a bit dinged up during some fighting in the tunnels. Even my silks got damaged. The demon was very vicious. Afterwards, Lyanna lent me some of her clothes, and well...I am much taller than her so...well anyhow, when I have time I'll be hammering out the dents in my plate armor, and Lyanna will lengthen the skirt." She winks at Mira and jokes, "Unless you don't want her to of course."

Karrin knows her holes are very stretched. She hopes Mira doesn't notice and ask questions.

[Maquise]

"Not leaving someone behind on their own? What tactical genius. I feel truly blessed to be fighting with such experienced professionals." Mira looks at you, shaking her head crossly.

"We best be preparing to leave this place," Kensin says, breaking the silence. "To where do you plan to go next?"

As you ready the horses, Mira and Lyanna come to discuss something with you.

"As I have to assume you noticed, Berich has become increasingly hostile since the caves," Lyanna says. "I think you should probably talk to him."

"Good idea," Mirabelle says. "The last thing I want is to fight beside someone who resents us."

Privately, she adds, "As for your clothes, I really don't think I like the idea of seeing lecherous brigands or whoever we encounter staring at parts of you they have no business with. Plus you have your whole 'Savior of the World' image to maintain."