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The Nether Scroll Saga Aya kept her mouth shut, but she was skeptical. She knew that Fuse hadn't really known how to get to Athkatla, but that didn't mean he had to get exasperated after only a couple weeks of effort and go to drink it off at a bar. That he just so happened to run into Haer'Dalis there and strike a deal with his acting troupe was even more suspicious, especially now that the time had come to actually employ the bard's services as a guide. "I guess you get used to the gaping portal through planar space thing," she muttered. How reliable was this mode of transportation anyway? Fuse definitely wasn't following any sort of protocol in the pursuit of this investigation. She thought briefly of the innocent civilian that he had somehow sold into the acting troupe in exchange for this trip (what was her name? Mei-something?) and then dismissed the matter. Her pistol was loaded, so she nodded at Haer'Dalis and then followed Fuse in. "Don't worry," the grinning tiefling minstrel had coaxed them. "We can get you right where you need to be." ~ Edwin chuckled. His past few weeks in Athkatla had proven fruitful. The raging clan war had been a nice change of pace, and he had even scavenged a few valuable trinkets from the aftermath of various skirmishes. Unfortunately, it seemed that the fun was going to be cut short; a messenger from his superiors in the Red Scourge had informed him rather darkly that he had best settle the matter soon. Besides, the chaos that now raged throughout the city gave him no pleasure, since it was so easy to work with the corrupt Cowled Wizards while they held the streets in check. In any case, it was time to finish what he had started, so here he was at the Graveyard District, fully rested with spells prepared to help him sneak in and dispose of whatever Malik had become with minimum hassle. The Graveyard District wasn't empty, though. The wizard seemed to have arrived at the conclusion of a heated battle: a field of phase spiders lay gutted among the graves. Sure enough, there stood that obnoxious paladin fellow with that odious Carsomyr blade of his, imparting high resistance to magic as always. Intolerable. "You there! Return to your most esteemed place of groveling at once. I wish to handle this matter of my own accord." "I'm afraid not," Keldorn replied. "The Watcher does not abide false avatars or such chaos as this one wreaks. The Order of Mother will find itself purified today, and if I know anything about you Thay wizards, you probably won't object to that one bit. You don't want to fight me, Edwin." That damned Holy Avenger. It gave him such an insufferably proud demeanor. "Work with me. It'll be easier, and more importantly I want to keep my eyes on you. Don't start a fight you can't win, either." Edwin scoffed. "Clear the way for me, then, if that's how it's going to be. I expect nothing less of a paladin than to demand a position as a meat shield. Do be mindful of those stray blasts of fire; they are quite indiscriminate." Thus the two went down beneath the graves. |
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Monkeyfinger Edwin and Keldorn walked forward through a hallway full of the charred corpses of spiders and rogues to come out in a large room with a table in the center and a downwrads-leading stairway at the right of the room. This location was, of course, familiar to the pair of them. The stairs would lead down to one last hallway followed by the final room of Bodhi's old lair, and the inevitable confrontation with the latest mad wizard to threaten Athkatla. Even with no one at their backs to tend to their wounds, this mission was as easy as they expected to to be. Their skills not dulled since their days of battling mad wizards of godlike powers, high-order demons from the abyss, and spawn of a greater god, Edwin and Keldorn had no trouble reducing giant spiders and shadow thieves to so much sausage filler. "Hmph, just as I expected from the moment I laid eyes on him in the arena, this so-called prothet is no match for my skills." Edwin said. "(In fact, between the patheticness of these foes and my ability to use parts of my spellbook those infernal DL judges ban me from using in the arena, I can easily make it to, and defeat, this Mother even if my paladin companion should suffer an.... unfortunate accident. Yesss...)" he muttered to himself. Keldorn, being close enough to hear this last muttering, wheeled around to face Edwin. "I do not plan on dying here, wizard, and you would do well to watch your tongue", Keldorn said as he angrily advanced on Edwin. As the righteous paladin and the self serving wizard glared at each other, Edwin spotted yet another dimensional portal opening up a ways behind them. "Behind you, you stupid paladin!" Edwin shouted out, before beginning a spell chant, then firing a skull trap past Keldorn, right in front of this new portal. This particular one was taking quite a bit longer to form than the normal ones Phase Spiders used, and looked rather different... somewhat like a different style of dimensional transportation Edwin had seen and indeed used in the past, in fact... but this observation barely registered in Edwin's brain. He could also hear Keldorn screaming at him to stopcasting spells, but, of course, he tuned this out. As the trap detonated, he cast a fireball at the spot where it went off... ...to see the charred corpses of two humans where the portal appeared. Keldorn walked over to, and examined, the bodies before glaring angrily at Edwin. "Fool! Do you know what you just did?" "Killed some more of these thugs before they took our hides, that's what I did, damnable ape..." "NO! These two people are Fuse of IRPO and Aya Brea of the NYPD. Two individuals, who, like me, strive to uphold law and fight for justice. Something I'd not expect a man like you to know about. Clearly, they were sent here to assist us in putting an end to this "Mother", and you took their lives! How did you fail to notice that this was a different kind of gate than the ones the spiders use!?" "We did not need their help, you blathering idiot! These weak creatures we have faced so far have been no threat! What do the lives of a pair of worthless morons bent on "upholding law and fighting for justice" mean to me? Shut up and keep leading the way down to mother, NOW!" Keldorn wordlessly brandished Carsomyr and charged at Edwin for that outburst. Chucking derisively, Edwin cast a spell, creating several stone barriers around himself. This foolish paladin would just be yet another swordsman to fall helplessly to the power of Stoneskin... As Keldorn's first swing of the Carsomyr struck home, all the stone protection surrounding Edwin vanished in a blue cloud. Cursing himself for forgetting the dispelling properties of that blade, Edwin drew his staff in a desperate attempt to fend off the inevitable followup swings. It was hopeless. The Holy Avenger cut Edwin down before he could get one more spell off. Turning his back to the mangled body of Edwin, Keldorn walked past the corpses of Aya and Fuse and marched down the stone staircase leading to the bottom of the tombs. Finding no more spiders or thugs hiding in the shadows, Keldorn came face to face with Mother. "Where... WHERE IS THAT WIZARD WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MY CONDITION? WHERE IS HE!? I WILL HAVE HIS HEAD MYSELF! Mother... Mother will see him dead..." "Dead. And soon, you shall be. Your crimes against the city of Athkatla end here, witch." "Heeheehee. I see. That sword of yours... useless against me. No manner of physical weapons have an effect on me. You should have taken more care to keep Edwin alive. You'll suffer for stealing my revenge." It was Keldorn's turn to curse himself for forgetting something critically important. Indeed, no physical weapon had been able to deal with Mother's powers of displacement, and Carsomyr would be no different. Chaos Disorder destroying his mind was Keldorn's last memory. "Mother.... I am unopposed now. With the resources of this city at my fingertips.... yes, it will only be a matter of time before I have you back..." Enforcers team up: 8 Aya and Fuse: 5 Edwin and Keldorn: 6 Malik: 15 Mother destroys all: 10 |