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<blockquote data-quote="Delemental" data-source="post: 2315541" data-attributes="member: 5203"><p>“Damn!” Kavan swore. “He’s probably a worshipper of the same god as his…” Kavan glanced around at the others, then down at himself, “… my bastard son!”</p><p></p><p> The group was standing in the midst of the strange island village where they had been shipwrecked. They were still all trying to make sense of the bizarre situation in which they now found themselves.</p><p></p><p> Autumn seemed to be concentrating on Lord Momuus’ former location. “I don’t think I’m doing this right,” she muttered to herself. “How can she stand wearing all this heavy stuff?”</p><p></p><p> “I think we should get a move on,” said Tolly.</p><p></p><p> Xu looked at Tolly, shaking her head.</p><p></p><p> Arrie walked over to Osborn, and grabbed a hunk of bacon out of his pack. “Wow, I’m really far off the ground!” she said, chewing on bacon.</p><p></p><p> “Okay, well then,” said Tolly. “I guess I can figure out who’s in my body. I’m glad you like it.”</p><p></p><p> Kyle stormed over to Autumn. “I want to know who’s in my body.”</p><p></p><p> “It’s not Tolly,” said Xu, who still seemed to be mesmerized by her own body.</p><p></p><p> “We can discuss this as we walk,” said Tolly.</p><p></p><p> “Arrie’s got to be in my body,” said Xu. “No one else is that impatient.”</p><p></p><p> Meanwhile, Kavan had walked up to Autumn and Kyle. “I’d like to know who’s in my body, too,” he said, looking at Kyle.</p><p></p><p> “Kyle, it’s me.” Kyle gestured at Autumn, who looked back and forth between the two of them. “Okay, I’m getting lost here.” She glanced over at Lanara, who was looking at herself in a pocket mirror. “Does my hair always look that bad?” Autumn asked.</p><p></p><p> Eventually they settled down enough to go through systematically and discover whose minds were in which bodies. To make sure they had it right, Kyle wrote it out on a piece of paper:</p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'"><u>Body/Mind</u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">Arrie/Osborn</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">Autumn/Lanara</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">Kavan/Kyle</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">Kyle/Autumn</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">Lanara/Kavan</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">Osborn/Xu</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">Tolly/Arrie</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">Xu/Tolly</span></p><p></p><p> While figuring the whole situation out, some of the party admitted that they could still feel a residual presence of the original soul with them, which seemed to be coloring the way they thought and acted. Thus it wasn’t just Kyle in Kavan’s body, but Kyle, with a healthy dose of Kavan mixed in. After some discussion, the party agreed that it would be easiest to refer to each other by the name of the body, as that would be what was seen and therefore the first impulse of what to call someone.</p><p></p><p>The next issue that they encountered, after finding out who was who, was the realization that dawn had risen, which was normally the time when spells were prepared. After a little experimentation, however, they discovered that each of them somehow knew how to utilize the skills and abilities of the body they were in.</p><p></p><p>“It’s probably why we can feel a little bit of the original soul inside us,” offered Kavan. “Momuus wants his fun, but wants his scepter too, and knows we can’t get it if we’re cut off from our skills. So he left just enough of the ‘original us’ to allow us to function.”</p><p></p><p>“All I know is that if I get the chance, I’ll be cutting something off of Lord Momuus,” said Kyle. Lanara nodded in agreement.</p><p></p><p>The casters went off to perform the now somewhat unfamiliar task of preparing spells, while others spent time getting familiar with their new talents. Arrie ran around, grinning like a madwoman as she spun the spiked chain over her head. Then she ran over and picked up Osborn. “Look at me! I’m so small and cute! And so light!” The hin inside Arrie’s head had decided that since there was little he could do right now to fix the situation, and since some of his companions were obstinately refusing to hurry up and get going, he might as well enjoy himself.</p><p></p><p>Clearly annoyed at being picked up like a child’s toy, Osborn tried to kick Arrie, and looked frustrated when he missed. “I must learn to compensate for these shorter limbs,” he said. Then, after being put down by Arrie, he walked over to Xu, and looked up at her. “I would appreciate it if you would refrain from fondling yourself while you have stewardship of my body. I don’t recall giving you such permission.”</p><p></p><p>Xu slowly withdrew her hand from under her tunic. “Sorry,” she said. “I just find the experience rather unusual.”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, well, I suggest that when this matter is finished, you find another female with which to satisfy your curiosities.” Osborn missed Xu turning red as he walked away.</p><p></p><p>Kavan had wandered over to where Kyle sat with his spellbook. “Almost finished?” As Kyle nodded, Kavan peeked over his shoulder at the tome in Kyle’s lap. “Wow, it’s strange not to be able to read my own spellbook,” he commented.</p><p></p><p>“Finished,” Kyle said. He slammed the book closed, clearly still very unhappy with the whole situation.</p><p></p><p>“Hey! Careful! That one has loose pages!”</p><p></p><p>“Sorry,” Kyle said, as he put the books away. He looked up at Kavan. “You look unusually calm, under the circumstances.”</p><p></p><p>“Oh, well, I was just praying.”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, I know, to Erito for ‘your’ spells.”</p><p></p><p>“Well, yes, but there was something else. I had the oddest sensation at the end. At first it felt like confusion and curiosity, as if even Erito were trying to figure out what was going on. But then there was another feeling, one of comfort. As if Erito were glad to finally meet me. I’ve never had that kind of feeling when I offer prayers to Bles.”</p><p></p><p>“Interesting,” said Kyle, sounded as if he believed exactly the opposite. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get ready to hunt down this mask and get back into my own body.”</p><p></p><p> “Yes,” said Tolly, standing nearby. “For the record, I just want to make one comment – eww.”</p><p></p><p> “I agree,” said Kyle, walking off before he saw the slightly hurt look on Kavan’s face.</p><p></p><p> Slowly, the party organized themselves. They agreed to return to the beach where their ship had landed, and start their search there, spiraling inward toward the center of the island. Kyle wanted to spread out in pairs across the whole island, until Kavan pointed out that if one of them did find the underling that had stolen the mask, they’d be unable to call for help. Kavan offered to cast a locate object spell to help find the mask, but after casting it in the midst of the village, he realized that it wouldn’t last nearly long enough to be useful. Mumbling about ‘unfamiliar spells’, they pressed on.</p><p></p><p> Once at the beach, Tolly had a thought. “Kyle?”</p><p></p><p> “Yes?” said Kavan and Kyle at the same time.</p><p></p><p> “Which one of you is still connected to Violet?”</p><p></p><p> After a brief pause, Kyle said, “I am.”</p><p></p><p> “Why don’t you ask Violet if she’ll fly around and look for anything unusual on the island?”</p><p></p><p> “All right.” Autumn, inside Kyle’s body, tried sending her thoughts out to Kyle’s familiar. <em>Violet?</em></p><p></p><p> <em>You’re acting weird this morning, boss,</em> came the mental reply.</p><p></p><p> <em>That’s because I’m not ‘boss’</em>, she answered. There was a long pause as Violet stared at Kyle. <em>Don’t worry, </em>Autumn added, <em>it’ll just hurt your brain.</em></p><p></p><p> <em>Too late,</em> Violet said.</p><p></p><p> Autumn explained the situation to Violet, then relayed her request to the raven, and it flew off. Meanwhile the party began their search. The island itself was not large, no more that a mile or two in radius, so there wasn’t much ground to search. But most of the island was comprised of wet, marshy ground, and soon everyone was up to their knees in mud, especially those in heavy plate armor.</p><p></p><p> “This is gross,” said Tolly, pulling his leg out of a mud pit. He looked at Xu. “How do you stand it?”</p><p></p><p> “You’re trained to,” Xu said. “It is much like learning to deal with elves. It is unpleasant, but you get used to it.”</p><p></p><p> Eventually, after spending the morning wading through muck, the party decided to climb up some tall trees to try and sight something. “I mean,” Tolly said, “I’m assuming this guy with the mask has people with him. And unless they’re frog-people, they probably aren’t wading through this junk.”</p><p></p><p>Osborn, who was looking a little green (Xu, inside his body, had spent the morning pulling out hunks of bacon from his pack and chewing on them before realizing what she was doing and spitting them out), climbed a tall pine. In the distance, toward the far end of the island, he saw a small ridge with some dark spots that could be caves. He climbed down and reported this, and the party decided to check them out. About that time, Violet returned to Kyle.</p><p></p><p><em>No luck, ‘boss’,</em> she said.</p><p></p><p><em>No luck? What about those caves over there? Didn’t you see those?</em></p><p></p><p><em>Well, sure,</em> the raven replied. <em>So?</em></p><p></p><p>Autumn wanted to scream. <em>Why didn’t you tell me about those caves?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Because you told me to look for anything unusual, ‘boss’,</em> Violet said. <em>There’s nothing unusual about a cave. I know this whole familiar thing is new to you, but you should really learn to be more specific when asking for something.</em></p><p></p><p>Autumn found herself wondering what roasted raven tasted like.</p><p></p><p><em>Stringy and tough,</em> came the answer in her head. <em>I wonder what aasimar eyeballs taste like?</em></p><p></p><p>They agreed not to talk to each other for a little while after that.</p><p></p><p>It took the party a little over an hour to reach the caves, as they took a trail to get there. As the trail reached the tree-line and it opened up in front of the ridge, they looked around and saw several caves. Up toward the top, Lanara and Kavan spotted two humanoid figures hunched at one of the entrances.</p><p></p><p>Kyle and Lanara began to move up quietly, with Xu right behind them. Osborn also followed them, using what little cover there was to remain unseen. After a pause, Arrie also began moving forward, while the rest stood near the shrubbery just outside the tree-line, waiting.</p><p></p><p>As they got closer, Lanara saw that the two figures were disfigured, misshapen men, clearly warped by magic. She wanted to provide a distraction, but couldn’t even be sure the two creatures spoke Common. But they were men, and they were humanoid, and so Kavan, inside Lanara’s body, figured he had the perfect solution.</p><p></p><p>With a smile, a wink, and a flash of enough cleavage for a half-dozen tavern wenches, Lanara began to dance, and sing. Her song had no words, merely a tune, but still somehow held a tantalizing promise. Both of the creatures turned their heads at the sound, and one of them began to growl at her, while the other stood, drooling, watching the strange girl dance and shimmy.</p><p></p><p>Kyle stepped forward and tried to cast a spell on the menacing creature, but it shook off the magic. At the man roared and began to move forward, the rest of the party began to charge up the hill, but most of them were several yards away.</p><p></p><p>The snarling man-creature jumped for Lanara, raking his long, dirty nails across her face. As she tumbled back out of the way, her fascination of the other creature was broken, and it began to shake off the effects. Kyle, standing nearby, launched <em>magic missiles</em> at the man attacking Lanara, slightly singing its hairy body.</p><p></p><p>Autumn, charging up the hill, paused a moment to concentrate, and suddenly there was a flash of holy light as a silvery-gray wolverine appeared at her side, snarling with righteous fury. Arrie pulled out her double bow, but despite being easily within range continued to climb closer. Xu, who had been just behind Kyle and Lanara, stepped forward and punched the unwounded man-creature. The blow seemed to knock the wind out of the beast, but as her fist touched its flesh, she felt a dark, sinister energy crawling across her arm, pulling strength from her. The creature raked at Xu in response, while the other launched itself at Kyle. The wizard was saved by his <em>mage armor</em>, but Xu was struck and was now bleeding profusely. Although Tolly, inside Xu’s body, knew that the monk could dodge attacks, he was trained to take blows on his plate armor and shield, and thus his reactions inside the monk’s body were slowed.</p><p></p><p>Kyle quickly cast a spell and grabbed the creature attacking him, sending a jolt of electricity into it. But as Kyle stepped back, smiling, he saw that some of the burned flesh was beginning to heal over. The shock was enough for him to drop his guard, and he got a claw in the chest for his trouble. Snarling, he responded with a gout of flame, angling it to try and hit both of the creatures. For a split second, it occurred to Autumn that the spell would also hit Xu, but she trusted that the monk would get out of the way in the time.</p><p></p><p>Xu might have been able to get out of the way normally, but Tolly, in Xu’s body, wasn’t so lucky. She collapsed in a heap, still smoking. Fortunately, the rest of the party began to arrive as Kyle stood there, looking at the unconscious monk in disbelief.</p><p></p><p>An arrow flew from Arrie’s bow, striking one of the creatures, as Tolly, Autumn, and Osborn came running in. Kavan stepped up next to Lanara, and used a wand to heal the scratches on the bard’s face before charging in with his flaming sword, trying to ward off the creature that had leapt off of Xu to attack Lanara. Kyle was still under pressure from his opponent, taking more blows from its filthy clawed hands. Despite this, he still ran over and poured a healing potion down Xu’s throat, sighing in relief as he saw the monk stir.</p><p></p><p>Autumn and her celestial wolverine split up, each taking one of the monsters. Osborn did likewise. Though difficult, eventually both creatures collapsed. Tolly came running up just as the last creature fell. He suppressed a look of frustration.</p><p></p><p>Kavan went around healing everyone in the party with his wand, before turning his attention to Kyle, who had received a terrible beating from the creature.</p><p></p><p>“You need to be more careful,” Kavan said to Kyle before healing him. “You’re not going to be able to take that kind of punishment.”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t understand why you just don’t wear armor,” he replied.</p><p></p><p>Kavan shook his head. “Just hold still.” He placed his hand on Kyle and summoned healing power. When he finished, there was an odd smile on his face. “Say, that feels good!” he said. He went off to tend to Xu’s wounds next, and then checked everyone else a second time, seeming vaguely disappointed that no one else was injured.</p><p></p><p>The party began gathering together, giving each other advice on what they ‘should’ be doing in battle. At Kavan’s prompting, Kyle looked at the two bodies with his enhanced vision and saw a strong aura surrounding one of them. Tolly inspected that one, and found that it wasn’t quite dead. He could also feel the strange life-draining aura surrounding the creature.</p><p></p><p>“Say, someone want to fix this?” he said, pointing out the still-living creature.</p><p></p><p>Just then, the creature rolled over and sank its teeth into Autumn’s ankle, drawing blood. In response, Kyle ran up and blasted it with a<em> lightning bolt</em>, nearly decapitating it with the stroke. The rest of the party rushed over and battered the thing back down, and then dumped oil on the twitching body and lit it on fire for good measure.</p><p></p><p>“Holy cow!” said Tolly, looking at Kyle.</p><p></p><p>“I wanted it dead, and no one was cutting its head off,” Kyle stated.</p><p></p><p>The party gathered at the entrance to the cave, casting preparatory spells on each other. Knowing that any hope of a stealthy approach was shot, Lanara threw a thunderstone into the cave in the hopes of stunning anyone just inside, and then Osborn crept in to scout out the situation. He came back reporting that a few yards down into the cave there was a huge chamber with a pool in the back half. Osborn suspected there were creatures hiding in the pool. The party moved forward.</p><p></p><p>They stopped just a few yards inside the tunnel, to where the cave opened up into a huge chamber. The walls were lit by phosphorescent mosses, lending the chamber a eerie green glow. As Osborn had reported, there was a pool of water in the back half of the chamber, with water dripping from stalactites overhead. A number of creatures stood within the pool. Closest to the pool’s edge, four large creatures were standing with tridents at the ready. They were covered in green scales, and their heads were crowned with green fins. They looked vaguely piranha-like, with rows of tiny teeth adorning their gaping mouths. A few feet behind them, a similar creature sat waist-deep in the water, but its scales were glossy black instead of green. To the far right were a pair of creatures that bore a vague resemblance to lizardmen, but they were much more feral in nature, appearing more like crocodiles from the waist up; below that they looked like giant snakes. Next to the black-scaled fish-man was a giant-sized humanoid, also holding a trident and standing in the pool up to its knees, which looked as if it had been skinned alive. And in the very back of the cave was a huge creature that looked like a mass of tentacles emerging from the water. There were various odd objects being clutched in the tentacles; the party could see the half-mask they were after in one of them. Scratched into the glowing moss behind the tentacles was a simple message in Common.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'">WELCOME TO THE FREAK SHOW</span></p><p></p><p>“Um, Tolly?” said Arrie. “What was that you said earlier about ‘frog-people’?”</p><p></p><p>“So, what’s the plan?” Autumn asked. “Kill everything and take the goods?”</p><p></p><p>“Or grab the mask and run like hell,” Kavan offered.</p><p></p><p>Their discourse was interrupted as one of the tentacles waved in their direction, and a blast of sonic energy erupted in their midst, sending them flying.</p><p></p><p>The party sprang to action. Lanara summoned a large spider with her wand, even as she used her magical fiddle to summon a half-dozen mirror images. Kavan cast a spell at the black fish-man, blasting it with sonic energy just as its master had done to them and stunning it. Kyle, doing one better, launched an empowered <em>fireball </em>into their midst, severely burning the two lizard-creatures and one of the green fish-men, and killing a second fish-man. Arrie and Autumn charged forward to the water’s edge, as did Autumn’s wolverine companion.</p><p></p><p>The tentacles waved, and a deep mist rose up around the back of the cave, hiding the creature from view. The crocodile-men and fish-men moved forward to attack, though the one with black scales was still shaking off Kavan’s spell. The skinless giant casually rammed its enormous trident into Lanara’s spider, impaling it. Tolly chanted a spell, and much of the ground around the shoreline suddenly erupted in shards of razor-sharp stone, blocking the aquatic creatures’ advance onto shore. One of the crocodile-men tried to run through the stones to get at the intruders, but fell to the ground unconscious a moment later, its feet shredded and oozing blood. Tolly smiled gleefully. “Thanks, Ardara,” he said quietly.</p><p></p><p>Everyone had moved forward by now, except for Kyle. Having learned a lesson at the hands of the mutated humans, he’d held back the impulse to rush forward. But as his companions battled the aquatic humanoids, a sudden idea came to him. Hadn’t Kavan said something about grabbing the mask and getting out of there? A moment later, Kyle vanished, his disappearance unseen by anyone else. The wizard’s destination was similarly unobserved, as it was deep in the midst of the magical fog, right next to the tentacled creature. Unfortunately, had Kyle been himself he would have factored in the disorientation caused by a <em>dimension door</em> spell. As things stood now, by the time he got his bearings, Kyle found himself entangled by a pair of the thick tentacles, being slowly pulled apart. To add insult to injury, both Tolly and Kavan threw dispel magic spells at the area, hoping to eliminate the magical fog, but not only was the fog untouched, but some of Kyle’s protective spells were dispelled.</p><p></p><p>Xu had begun to circle around the chamber, running quickly along a narrow ledge at the back of the pool. One of the green fish-men broke off from the combat at shore and swam out to intercept her, and there was a brief struggle before the monk was able to stun the creature and send it under the water’s surface. Then she continued around, dashing into the fog. She saw movement, and struck out at it, but the mist made it difficult to make out her target. She was also completely unaware of Kyle’s presence, as she had come in from the other side and couldn’t distinguish his flailing limbs from the tentacles.</p><p></p><p>Autumn’s wolverine was jabbed in the side with a trident, and its eyes rolled up in its head. It launched itself at the offending fishy creature, tearing into it. The black fish-man launched bolts of fire at Arrie and Autumn, trying to keep them from eviscerating his bodyguards. Then Lanara cast a spell, and suddenly the skinless giant fell into the pool backward with a huge splash, laughing uncontrollably. Bubbles rose up from under the water as it continued to laugh. The black-scaled sorcerer, realizing that it was in trouble, started to back up, trying to throw a <em>ray of enfeeblement </em>at Autumn but just missing. Tolly dropped the <em>spike stones</em> spell, allowing them to wade into the water in pursuit. Arrie, seeing that she wasn’t needed in taking down the opposition here, began to make the long journey around the pool to get at the tentacled beast.</p><p></p><p>Kyle struggled against the tentacles, but was unable to pull free as they continued to pull his legs out of their sockets. The tentacles also lashed out at Xu, but found it harder to hit the monk. They tried to immobilize her with a spell, but she resisted it. The green crocodile-man that had pursued Xu earlier recovered and swam after the monk, hampered by crossbow bolt shots from Lanara before it plunged into the mist cloud.</p><p></p><p>A pair of <em>searing light</em> spells from Tolly and Kavan struck the black-scaled crocodile-man, as well as a crossbow bolt from Osborn. Caught between the party and its incapacitated giant ally, the sorcerer almost looked panicked. It tried to blind Kavan with a spell, but failed, and continued to try and avoid attacks from Autumn and her wolverine (mostly by keeping his sole remaining green-scaled bodyguard between them and himself), even as it reeled from a pronouncement of holy vengeance that Tolly invoked in Ardara’s name. </p><p></p><p> Kyle finally managed to pull free of the tentacles, and landed on the ledge with a hard thud. He struggled to his feet as the creature cast a spell at both him and Xu, trying to compel them to step forward into the water. Kyle shrugged it off, as did the monk. For a moment Kyle considered retreating, but the sentinel’s training overrode the wizard’s instincts, and he stayed put, casting a beam of energy at the creature that sapped its strength and vitality. The tentacles squirmed uncomfortably in the water as the spell withered the creature from within. In response it sent out a blast of negative energy that wounded both of its enemies. Xu concentrated for a moment on dispatching the irritating green fish-man, sending it down with a snap kick that put it under the water permanently. Then she turned her attention back to the mass of tentacles.</p><p></p><p> The black-scaled sorcerer cast a spell and quickly touched Autumn, draining her of intellect and will. It would have preferred using his spell against one of the damnable priests, but they were out of reach; he at least hoped that the spell might disturb the sentinel enough to get her to break off her attack. Rather than withdrawing, however, Autumn responded by hacking down the sorcerer’s last remaining bodyguard. At the same time, Tolly threw his magical hammer at the black lizard, and pushed it forward out of the water and close to the party. The wolverine leaped forward, and turned the black-scaled sorcerer into mincemeat. Taking advantage in the brief respite in the combat, Kavan stepped up and healed some of Autumn’s wounds.</p><p></p><p>Just as the rest of the party began to consider running around to attack the tentacled creature inside the mist, the skinless giant erupted from the water with a roar. Lanara silently cursed; she’d hoped the giant would drown under the effects of <em>hideous laughter</em>, but apparently it was unharmed. Tolly hurled his hammer at the giant just as Osborn shot a crossbow bolt at it, and Kavan called upon Erito to curse the skinless creature. Seeing the carnage surrounding it, and feeling the effects of the damage it had already suffered, the giant threw down its trident and began to raise its arms in surrender. Unfortunately for it, enraged wolverines rarely take prisoners. A ball of silvery fur leapt into the air, using Kavan as a launching platform to hurl itself at the giant, striking it in the chest. Under such an onslaught, the giant quickly succumbed, crashing back into the pool and taking the wolverine with it. Blood frothed up from the water.</p><p></p><p>Kyle threw another necromantic spell at the tentacles, beginning to drain more of its vitality. At the same time Xu struck some of the tentacles with her fists, leaving large bruises and tears. In response, the tentacles waved, and suddenly Kyle and Xu found themselves unable to continue their attacks, feeling as though some sort of ward was preventing their desire to kill the creature from translating to action. Arrie, who had just barely made it all the way around to the creature, found herself similarly blocked, and was forced to simply wait for a target to prevent themselves. Kyle took advantage of the respite afforded by the creature’s <em>sanctuary </em>to drink his last healing potion, while Xu focused her will on penetrating the creature’s spell. She was able to overcome the <em>sanctuary</em>, but when she lashed out with her foot, she found that in its brief respite the creature had improved its defenses, and her foot skidded off an unseen barrier. Kyle was also able to break free of the compulsion, and launched a few magic missiles at the tentacles, but the same magical barrier absorbed them. Then, without warning, the water surrounding them surged upward until it touched the ceiling above, and Kyle, Xu, and Arrie found themselves floating underwater. From this vantage point, however, they could now see the true nature of Lord Momuus’ ‘underling’ – it looked like a giant squid, though on its head was a large jeweled crown, and several jeweled armbands adorned the base of its tentacles. The half-mask they sought dangled at the end of one of those tentacles, just out of reach. The squid was obviously in pain, feeling the effects of Kyle’s necromantic spells slowly draining its essence.</p><p></p><p>The squid lashed out with a tentacle, trying to affect Xu with a curse, but the monk resisted the spell’s effects through her superior will. However, the attack on Xu caused the sanctuary on the squid to vanish, and they were free to act. However, the water proved a significant barrier in itself; Arrie swung her spiked chain, but the attack did little damage; Xu found herself in a similar position as the water resistance softened her blows. Kyle, who found himself unable to cast any spells underwater at all, began swimming away from the squid to get out of its reach. But a few yards away, he suddenly emerged from the column of water… several feet up in the air. As the radius of the water column matched that of the obscuring mist cloud that had hidden the battle with the squid, the party members on land suddenly saw a battered and bleeding Kyle emerge out of the fog in midair and land with a wet smack on the pool’s surface.</p><p></p><p>The party stared for a moment before the shock wore off and they could act. Kavan stepped up and cast a <em>freedom of movement</em> spell on Tolly. “You looked like you could use something to do,” he said with a nod toward the fog cloud. Tolly looked for a moment like he wanted to hug Kavan, then began to charge into the pool toward the squid. But just as he reached waist level, the fog cloud dispersed, and the column of water collapsed. The squid had finally succumbed to Kyle’s life-draining spells, and the tentacles twitched as they slipped under the water.</p><p></p><p>Kyle, who was being dragged out of the water by Tolly, looked back at where the squid had sunk to the bottom. “That’s right, you damned piece of calamari!” he shouted. Despite his grievous injuries, he stood at the water’s edge, grinning. “I totally kicked its ass!” Then he turned to Kavan, who had come up to heal some of Kyle’s wounds. “That was great! How come you never use any of these spells?” He continued to grin like a madman as Kavan used up the remainder of his power, then walked off with Tolly to get more healing, still talking excitedly about going toe-to-toe with the squid. Kyle completely missed the forlorn look on Kavan’s face as he walked away.</p><p></p><p>The party finished healing their injuries, and then went about recovering the half-mask as well as the other valuables on the aquatic creatures; Tolly and Osborn did most of the underwater recovery, aided by their ability to move unhampered in the water. Then, with the sun just touching the treeline, the party made their way back to the village where Lord Momuus hopefully waited. Along the way, Kyle’s excitement from the battle waned enough that he was able to thank Xu and Arrie for aiding him in battling the squid. The group began to talk about how eager they were to return to their own bodies, and what they would do if Momuus didn’t fulfill his promise to restore them. Only Kavan remained silent.</p><p></p><p>The party walked into the village just as the sky was beginning to turn a vibrant shade of orange and pink from the setting sun. The men of the <em>Mother, Maiden, and Crone</em> were still laying about the village, though several changes seemed to have been made. Some had marks or brands carved into their skin, while others seemed to have been marked as territory by wild animals. The Lord of the Carnival reclined in his throne, a smile touching his red, red lips.</p><p></p><p>"Ah, wondrous people that you are, you have returned. Not that I'd any doubts, mind."</p><p></p><p>"Of course not," murmured Tolly.</p><p></p><p>Lord Momuus winked at Tolly. "So, then...who has my mask?"</p><p></p><p>Kyle held up the piece, the half-mask leering devilishly back at Lord Momuus. "I do...and why should I give it up to such a fiend as yourself?"</p><p></p><p>The jester chuckled. "There are many reasons. We can start with enlightened self-interest. It's no good to any of you, whereas I can put it to great use...say, by upholding my earlier promise. I, for one, do not back out on my promises. "</p><p></p><p>Kyle flushed a bit, and loosed his grip on the mask. Before it could tumble to the earth, it simply vanished, with a small flash. When the group looked back, Lord Momuus' mask smiled back at them. Only the jewels of his eyes could be seen, twinkling in the evening sun.</p><p></p><p>"So," his voice echoed out from behind the mask, "you have fulfilled your part of the bargain. I shall fulfill mine. I must apologize for the loss of crewman Jax; however, as I said, such things do happen."</p><p></p><p>Xu cried out, "You said you'd put it right! Give him back!"</p><p></p><p>Nothing seemed to change about Lord Momuus, but the sun choosing that moment sink behind the mountain seemed to set a more ominous tone. "I encouraged haste; as you choose not to recall, I did advise you that not all of my crew were fully under my control."</p><p></p><p>Xu grumbled, but within her, Tolly's memory stirred, and nodded internally.</p><p></p><p>"Now, as for the rest of you..."</p><p></p><p>There was the sound of an intake of breath, and as the Carnivale King lowered his mask, the party saw naught behind it but mist, and void; and with the exhalation, that mist and void rolled out, and covered them all, infiltrating their bodies and minds...</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">* * *</p><p></p><p>The party awoke to the sounds of creaking rigging. The ship had taken quite the pounding through the night storm, but thanks to the intervention of the adventurers, the ship had fared far better than expected. Some of the sail was torn, and the mast had come dangerously close to cracking, but through the night, the crew had only lost a single man overboard. Now everyone was laying exhausted on the deck, just listening to the quiet lap of waves on wood, and watching the morning sun burn the mists off.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Delemental, post: 2315541, member: 5203"] “Damn!” Kavan swore. “He’s probably a worshipper of the same god as his…” Kavan glanced around at the others, then down at himself, “… my bastard son!” The group was standing in the midst of the strange island village where they had been shipwrecked. They were still all trying to make sense of the bizarre situation in which they now found themselves. Autumn seemed to be concentrating on Lord Momuus’ former location. “I don’t think I’m doing this right,” she muttered to herself. “How can she stand wearing all this heavy stuff?” “I think we should get a move on,” said Tolly. Xu looked at Tolly, shaking her head. Arrie walked over to Osborn, and grabbed a hunk of bacon out of his pack. “Wow, I’m really far off the ground!” she said, chewing on bacon. “Okay, well then,” said Tolly. “I guess I can figure out who’s in my body. I’m glad you like it.” Kyle stormed over to Autumn. “I want to know who’s in my body.” “It’s not Tolly,” said Xu, who still seemed to be mesmerized by her own body. “We can discuss this as we walk,” said Tolly. “Arrie’s got to be in my body,” said Xu. “No one else is that impatient.” Meanwhile, Kavan had walked up to Autumn and Kyle. “I’d like to know who’s in my body, too,” he said, looking at Kyle. “Kyle, it’s me.” Kyle gestured at Autumn, who looked back and forth between the two of them. “Okay, I’m getting lost here.” She glanced over at Lanara, who was looking at herself in a pocket mirror. “Does my hair always look that bad?” Autumn asked. Eventually they settled down enough to go through systematically and discover whose minds were in which bodies. To make sure they had it right, Kyle wrote it out on a piece of paper: [FONT=Book Antiqua][U]Body/Mind[/U] Arrie/Osborn Autumn/Lanara Kavan/Kyle Kyle/Autumn Lanara/Kavan Osborn/Xu Tolly/Arrie Xu/Tolly[/FONT] While figuring the whole situation out, some of the party admitted that they could still feel a residual presence of the original soul with them, which seemed to be coloring the way they thought and acted. Thus it wasn’t just Kyle in Kavan’s body, but Kyle, with a healthy dose of Kavan mixed in. After some discussion, the party agreed that it would be easiest to refer to each other by the name of the body, as that would be what was seen and therefore the first impulse of what to call someone. The next issue that they encountered, after finding out who was who, was the realization that dawn had risen, which was normally the time when spells were prepared. After a little experimentation, however, they discovered that each of them somehow knew how to utilize the skills and abilities of the body they were in. “It’s probably why we can feel a little bit of the original soul inside us,” offered Kavan. “Momuus wants his fun, but wants his scepter too, and knows we can’t get it if we’re cut off from our skills. So he left just enough of the ‘original us’ to allow us to function.” “All I know is that if I get the chance, I’ll be cutting something off of Lord Momuus,” said Kyle. Lanara nodded in agreement. The casters went off to perform the now somewhat unfamiliar task of preparing spells, while others spent time getting familiar with their new talents. Arrie ran around, grinning like a madwoman as she spun the spiked chain over her head. Then she ran over and picked up Osborn. “Look at me! I’m so small and cute! And so light!” The hin inside Arrie’s head had decided that since there was little he could do right now to fix the situation, and since some of his companions were obstinately refusing to hurry up and get going, he might as well enjoy himself. Clearly annoyed at being picked up like a child’s toy, Osborn tried to kick Arrie, and looked frustrated when he missed. “I must learn to compensate for these shorter limbs,” he said. Then, after being put down by Arrie, he walked over to Xu, and looked up at her. “I would appreciate it if you would refrain from fondling yourself while you have stewardship of my body. I don’t recall giving you such permission.” Xu slowly withdrew her hand from under her tunic. “Sorry,” she said. “I just find the experience rather unusual.” “Yes, well, I suggest that when this matter is finished, you find another female with which to satisfy your curiosities.” Osborn missed Xu turning red as he walked away. Kavan had wandered over to where Kyle sat with his spellbook. “Almost finished?” As Kyle nodded, Kavan peeked over his shoulder at the tome in Kyle’s lap. “Wow, it’s strange not to be able to read my own spellbook,” he commented. “Finished,” Kyle said. He slammed the book closed, clearly still very unhappy with the whole situation. “Hey! Careful! That one has loose pages!” “Sorry,” Kyle said, as he put the books away. He looked up at Kavan. “You look unusually calm, under the circumstances.” “Oh, well, I was just praying.” “Yes, I know, to Erito for ‘your’ spells.” “Well, yes, but there was something else. I had the oddest sensation at the end. At first it felt like confusion and curiosity, as if even Erito were trying to figure out what was going on. But then there was another feeling, one of comfort. As if Erito were glad to finally meet me. I’ve never had that kind of feeling when I offer prayers to Bles.” “Interesting,” said Kyle, sounded as if he believed exactly the opposite. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get ready to hunt down this mask and get back into my own body.” “Yes,” said Tolly, standing nearby. “For the record, I just want to make one comment – eww.” “I agree,” said Kyle, walking off before he saw the slightly hurt look on Kavan’s face. Slowly, the party organized themselves. They agreed to return to the beach where their ship had landed, and start their search there, spiraling inward toward the center of the island. Kyle wanted to spread out in pairs across the whole island, until Kavan pointed out that if one of them did find the underling that had stolen the mask, they’d be unable to call for help. Kavan offered to cast a locate object spell to help find the mask, but after casting it in the midst of the village, he realized that it wouldn’t last nearly long enough to be useful. Mumbling about ‘unfamiliar spells’, they pressed on. Once at the beach, Tolly had a thought. “Kyle?” “Yes?” said Kavan and Kyle at the same time. “Which one of you is still connected to Violet?” After a brief pause, Kyle said, “I am.” “Why don’t you ask Violet if she’ll fly around and look for anything unusual on the island?” “All right.” Autumn, inside Kyle’s body, tried sending her thoughts out to Kyle’s familiar. [I]Violet?[/I] [I]You’re acting weird this morning, boss,[/I] came the mental reply. [I]That’s because I’m not ‘boss’[/I], she answered. There was a long pause as Violet stared at Kyle. [I]Don’t worry, [/I]Autumn added, [I]it’ll just hurt your brain.[/I] [I]Too late,[/I] Violet said. Autumn explained the situation to Violet, then relayed her request to the raven, and it flew off. Meanwhile the party began their search. The island itself was not large, no more that a mile or two in radius, so there wasn’t much ground to search. But most of the island was comprised of wet, marshy ground, and soon everyone was up to their knees in mud, especially those in heavy plate armor. “This is gross,” said Tolly, pulling his leg out of a mud pit. He looked at Xu. “How do you stand it?” “You’re trained to,” Xu said. “It is much like learning to deal with elves. It is unpleasant, but you get used to it.” Eventually, after spending the morning wading through muck, the party decided to climb up some tall trees to try and sight something. “I mean,” Tolly said, “I’m assuming this guy with the mask has people with him. And unless they’re frog-people, they probably aren’t wading through this junk.” Osborn, who was looking a little green (Xu, inside his body, had spent the morning pulling out hunks of bacon from his pack and chewing on them before realizing what she was doing and spitting them out), climbed a tall pine. In the distance, toward the far end of the island, he saw a small ridge with some dark spots that could be caves. He climbed down and reported this, and the party decided to check them out. About that time, Violet returned to Kyle. [I]No luck, ‘boss’,[/I] she said. [I]No luck? What about those caves over there? Didn’t you see those?[/I] [I]Well, sure,[/I] the raven replied. [I]So?[/I] Autumn wanted to scream. [I]Why didn’t you tell me about those caves? [/I] [I]Because you told me to look for anything unusual, ‘boss’,[/I] Violet said. [I]There’s nothing unusual about a cave. I know this whole familiar thing is new to you, but you should really learn to be more specific when asking for something.[/I] Autumn found herself wondering what roasted raven tasted like. [I]Stringy and tough,[/I] came the answer in her head. [I]I wonder what aasimar eyeballs taste like?[/I] They agreed not to talk to each other for a little while after that. It took the party a little over an hour to reach the caves, as they took a trail to get there. As the trail reached the tree-line and it opened up in front of the ridge, they looked around and saw several caves. Up toward the top, Lanara and Kavan spotted two humanoid figures hunched at one of the entrances. Kyle and Lanara began to move up quietly, with Xu right behind them. Osborn also followed them, using what little cover there was to remain unseen. After a pause, Arrie also began moving forward, while the rest stood near the shrubbery just outside the tree-line, waiting. As they got closer, Lanara saw that the two figures were disfigured, misshapen men, clearly warped by magic. She wanted to provide a distraction, but couldn’t even be sure the two creatures spoke Common. But they were men, and they were humanoid, and so Kavan, inside Lanara’s body, figured he had the perfect solution. With a smile, a wink, and a flash of enough cleavage for a half-dozen tavern wenches, Lanara began to dance, and sing. Her song had no words, merely a tune, but still somehow held a tantalizing promise. Both of the creatures turned their heads at the sound, and one of them began to growl at her, while the other stood, drooling, watching the strange girl dance and shimmy. Kyle stepped forward and tried to cast a spell on the menacing creature, but it shook off the magic. At the man roared and began to move forward, the rest of the party began to charge up the hill, but most of them were several yards away. The snarling man-creature jumped for Lanara, raking his long, dirty nails across her face. As she tumbled back out of the way, her fascination of the other creature was broken, and it began to shake off the effects. Kyle, standing nearby, launched [I]magic missiles[/I] at the man attacking Lanara, slightly singing its hairy body. Autumn, charging up the hill, paused a moment to concentrate, and suddenly there was a flash of holy light as a silvery-gray wolverine appeared at her side, snarling with righteous fury. Arrie pulled out her double bow, but despite being easily within range continued to climb closer. Xu, who had been just behind Kyle and Lanara, stepped forward and punched the unwounded man-creature. The blow seemed to knock the wind out of the beast, but as her fist touched its flesh, she felt a dark, sinister energy crawling across her arm, pulling strength from her. The creature raked at Xu in response, while the other launched itself at Kyle. The wizard was saved by his [I]mage armor[/I], but Xu was struck and was now bleeding profusely. Although Tolly, inside Xu’s body, knew that the monk could dodge attacks, he was trained to take blows on his plate armor and shield, and thus his reactions inside the monk’s body were slowed. Kyle quickly cast a spell and grabbed the creature attacking him, sending a jolt of electricity into it. But as Kyle stepped back, smiling, he saw that some of the burned flesh was beginning to heal over. The shock was enough for him to drop his guard, and he got a claw in the chest for his trouble. Snarling, he responded with a gout of flame, angling it to try and hit both of the creatures. For a split second, it occurred to Autumn that the spell would also hit Xu, but she trusted that the monk would get out of the way in the time. Xu might have been able to get out of the way normally, but Tolly, in Xu’s body, wasn’t so lucky. She collapsed in a heap, still smoking. Fortunately, the rest of the party began to arrive as Kyle stood there, looking at the unconscious monk in disbelief. An arrow flew from Arrie’s bow, striking one of the creatures, as Tolly, Autumn, and Osborn came running in. Kavan stepped up next to Lanara, and used a wand to heal the scratches on the bard’s face before charging in with his flaming sword, trying to ward off the creature that had leapt off of Xu to attack Lanara. Kyle was still under pressure from his opponent, taking more blows from its filthy clawed hands. Despite this, he still ran over and poured a healing potion down Xu’s throat, sighing in relief as he saw the monk stir. Autumn and her celestial wolverine split up, each taking one of the monsters. Osborn did likewise. Though difficult, eventually both creatures collapsed. Tolly came running up just as the last creature fell. He suppressed a look of frustration. Kavan went around healing everyone in the party with his wand, before turning his attention to Kyle, who had received a terrible beating from the creature. “You need to be more careful,” Kavan said to Kyle before healing him. “You’re not going to be able to take that kind of punishment.” “I don’t understand why you just don’t wear armor,” he replied. Kavan shook his head. “Just hold still.” He placed his hand on Kyle and summoned healing power. When he finished, there was an odd smile on his face. “Say, that feels good!” he said. He went off to tend to Xu’s wounds next, and then checked everyone else a second time, seeming vaguely disappointed that no one else was injured. The party began gathering together, giving each other advice on what they ‘should’ be doing in battle. At Kavan’s prompting, Kyle looked at the two bodies with his enhanced vision and saw a strong aura surrounding one of them. Tolly inspected that one, and found that it wasn’t quite dead. He could also feel the strange life-draining aura surrounding the creature. “Say, someone want to fix this?” he said, pointing out the still-living creature. Just then, the creature rolled over and sank its teeth into Autumn’s ankle, drawing blood. In response, Kyle ran up and blasted it with a[I] lightning bolt[/I], nearly decapitating it with the stroke. The rest of the party rushed over and battered the thing back down, and then dumped oil on the twitching body and lit it on fire for good measure. “Holy cow!” said Tolly, looking at Kyle. “I wanted it dead, and no one was cutting its head off,” Kyle stated. The party gathered at the entrance to the cave, casting preparatory spells on each other. Knowing that any hope of a stealthy approach was shot, Lanara threw a thunderstone into the cave in the hopes of stunning anyone just inside, and then Osborn crept in to scout out the situation. He came back reporting that a few yards down into the cave there was a huge chamber with a pool in the back half. Osborn suspected there were creatures hiding in the pool. The party moved forward. They stopped just a few yards inside the tunnel, to where the cave opened up into a huge chamber. The walls were lit by phosphorescent mosses, lending the chamber a eerie green glow. As Osborn had reported, there was a pool of water in the back half of the chamber, with water dripping from stalactites overhead. A number of creatures stood within the pool. Closest to the pool’s edge, four large creatures were standing with tridents at the ready. They were covered in green scales, and their heads were crowned with green fins. They looked vaguely piranha-like, with rows of tiny teeth adorning their gaping mouths. A few feet behind them, a similar creature sat waist-deep in the water, but its scales were glossy black instead of green. To the far right were a pair of creatures that bore a vague resemblance to lizardmen, but they were much more feral in nature, appearing more like crocodiles from the waist up; below that they looked like giant snakes. Next to the black-scaled fish-man was a giant-sized humanoid, also holding a trident and standing in the pool up to its knees, which looked as if it had been skinned alive. And in the very back of the cave was a huge creature that looked like a mass of tentacles emerging from the water. There were various odd objects being clutched in the tentacles; the party could see the half-mask they were after in one of them. Scratched into the glowing moss behind the tentacles was a simple message in Common. [FONT=Comic Sans MS]WELCOME TO THE FREAK SHOW[/FONT] “Um, Tolly?” said Arrie. “What was that you said earlier about ‘frog-people’?” “So, what’s the plan?” Autumn asked. “Kill everything and take the goods?” “Or grab the mask and run like hell,” Kavan offered. Their discourse was interrupted as one of the tentacles waved in their direction, and a blast of sonic energy erupted in their midst, sending them flying. The party sprang to action. Lanara summoned a large spider with her wand, even as she used her magical fiddle to summon a half-dozen mirror images. Kavan cast a spell at the black fish-man, blasting it with sonic energy just as its master had done to them and stunning it. Kyle, doing one better, launched an empowered [I]fireball [/I]into their midst, severely burning the two lizard-creatures and one of the green fish-men, and killing a second fish-man. Arrie and Autumn charged forward to the water’s edge, as did Autumn’s wolverine companion. The tentacles waved, and a deep mist rose up around the back of the cave, hiding the creature from view. The crocodile-men and fish-men moved forward to attack, though the one with black scales was still shaking off Kavan’s spell. The skinless giant casually rammed its enormous trident into Lanara’s spider, impaling it. Tolly chanted a spell, and much of the ground around the shoreline suddenly erupted in shards of razor-sharp stone, blocking the aquatic creatures’ advance onto shore. One of the crocodile-men tried to run through the stones to get at the intruders, but fell to the ground unconscious a moment later, its feet shredded and oozing blood. Tolly smiled gleefully. “Thanks, Ardara,” he said quietly. Everyone had moved forward by now, except for Kyle. Having learned a lesson at the hands of the mutated humans, he’d held back the impulse to rush forward. But as his companions battled the aquatic humanoids, a sudden idea came to him. Hadn’t Kavan said something about grabbing the mask and getting out of there? A moment later, Kyle vanished, his disappearance unseen by anyone else. The wizard’s destination was similarly unobserved, as it was deep in the midst of the magical fog, right next to the tentacled creature. Unfortunately, had Kyle been himself he would have factored in the disorientation caused by a [I]dimension door[/I] spell. As things stood now, by the time he got his bearings, Kyle found himself entangled by a pair of the thick tentacles, being slowly pulled apart. To add insult to injury, both Tolly and Kavan threw dispel magic spells at the area, hoping to eliminate the magical fog, but not only was the fog untouched, but some of Kyle’s protective spells were dispelled. Xu had begun to circle around the chamber, running quickly along a narrow ledge at the back of the pool. One of the green fish-men broke off from the combat at shore and swam out to intercept her, and there was a brief struggle before the monk was able to stun the creature and send it under the water’s surface. Then she continued around, dashing into the fog. She saw movement, and struck out at it, but the mist made it difficult to make out her target. She was also completely unaware of Kyle’s presence, as she had come in from the other side and couldn’t distinguish his flailing limbs from the tentacles. Autumn’s wolverine was jabbed in the side with a trident, and its eyes rolled up in its head. It launched itself at the offending fishy creature, tearing into it. The black fish-man launched bolts of fire at Arrie and Autumn, trying to keep them from eviscerating his bodyguards. Then Lanara cast a spell, and suddenly the skinless giant fell into the pool backward with a huge splash, laughing uncontrollably. Bubbles rose up from under the water as it continued to laugh. The black-scaled sorcerer, realizing that it was in trouble, started to back up, trying to throw a [I]ray of enfeeblement [/I]at Autumn but just missing. Tolly dropped the [I]spike stones[/I] spell, allowing them to wade into the water in pursuit. Arrie, seeing that she wasn’t needed in taking down the opposition here, began to make the long journey around the pool to get at the tentacled beast. Kyle struggled against the tentacles, but was unable to pull free as they continued to pull his legs out of their sockets. The tentacles also lashed out at Xu, but found it harder to hit the monk. They tried to immobilize her with a spell, but she resisted it. The green crocodile-man that had pursued Xu earlier recovered and swam after the monk, hampered by crossbow bolt shots from Lanara before it plunged into the mist cloud. A pair of [I]searing light[/I] spells from Tolly and Kavan struck the black-scaled crocodile-man, as well as a crossbow bolt from Osborn. Caught between the party and its incapacitated giant ally, the sorcerer almost looked panicked. It tried to blind Kavan with a spell, but failed, and continued to try and avoid attacks from Autumn and her wolverine (mostly by keeping his sole remaining green-scaled bodyguard between them and himself), even as it reeled from a pronouncement of holy vengeance that Tolly invoked in Ardara’s name. Kyle finally managed to pull free of the tentacles, and landed on the ledge with a hard thud. He struggled to his feet as the creature cast a spell at both him and Xu, trying to compel them to step forward into the water. Kyle shrugged it off, as did the monk. For a moment Kyle considered retreating, but the sentinel’s training overrode the wizard’s instincts, and he stayed put, casting a beam of energy at the creature that sapped its strength and vitality. The tentacles squirmed uncomfortably in the water as the spell withered the creature from within. In response it sent out a blast of negative energy that wounded both of its enemies. Xu concentrated for a moment on dispatching the irritating green fish-man, sending it down with a snap kick that put it under the water permanently. Then she turned her attention back to the mass of tentacles. The black-scaled sorcerer cast a spell and quickly touched Autumn, draining her of intellect and will. It would have preferred using his spell against one of the damnable priests, but they were out of reach; he at least hoped that the spell might disturb the sentinel enough to get her to break off her attack. Rather than withdrawing, however, Autumn responded by hacking down the sorcerer’s last remaining bodyguard. At the same time, Tolly threw his magical hammer at the black lizard, and pushed it forward out of the water and close to the party. The wolverine leaped forward, and turned the black-scaled sorcerer into mincemeat. Taking advantage in the brief respite in the combat, Kavan stepped up and healed some of Autumn’s wounds. Just as the rest of the party began to consider running around to attack the tentacled creature inside the mist, the skinless giant erupted from the water with a roar. Lanara silently cursed; she’d hoped the giant would drown under the effects of [I]hideous laughter[/I], but apparently it was unharmed. Tolly hurled his hammer at the giant just as Osborn shot a crossbow bolt at it, and Kavan called upon Erito to curse the skinless creature. Seeing the carnage surrounding it, and feeling the effects of the damage it had already suffered, the giant threw down its trident and began to raise its arms in surrender. Unfortunately for it, enraged wolverines rarely take prisoners. A ball of silvery fur leapt into the air, using Kavan as a launching platform to hurl itself at the giant, striking it in the chest. Under such an onslaught, the giant quickly succumbed, crashing back into the pool and taking the wolverine with it. Blood frothed up from the water. Kyle threw another necromantic spell at the tentacles, beginning to drain more of its vitality. At the same time Xu struck some of the tentacles with her fists, leaving large bruises and tears. In response, the tentacles waved, and suddenly Kyle and Xu found themselves unable to continue their attacks, feeling as though some sort of ward was preventing their desire to kill the creature from translating to action. Arrie, who had just barely made it all the way around to the creature, found herself similarly blocked, and was forced to simply wait for a target to prevent themselves. Kyle took advantage of the respite afforded by the creature’s [I]sanctuary [/I]to drink his last healing potion, while Xu focused her will on penetrating the creature’s spell. She was able to overcome the [I]sanctuary[/I], but when she lashed out with her foot, she found that in its brief respite the creature had improved its defenses, and her foot skidded off an unseen barrier. Kyle was also able to break free of the compulsion, and launched a few magic missiles at the tentacles, but the same magical barrier absorbed them. Then, without warning, the water surrounding them surged upward until it touched the ceiling above, and Kyle, Xu, and Arrie found themselves floating underwater. From this vantage point, however, they could now see the true nature of Lord Momuus’ ‘underling’ – it looked like a giant squid, though on its head was a large jeweled crown, and several jeweled armbands adorned the base of its tentacles. The half-mask they sought dangled at the end of one of those tentacles, just out of reach. The squid was obviously in pain, feeling the effects of Kyle’s necromantic spells slowly draining its essence. The squid lashed out with a tentacle, trying to affect Xu with a curse, but the monk resisted the spell’s effects through her superior will. However, the attack on Xu caused the sanctuary on the squid to vanish, and they were free to act. However, the water proved a significant barrier in itself; Arrie swung her spiked chain, but the attack did little damage; Xu found herself in a similar position as the water resistance softened her blows. Kyle, who found himself unable to cast any spells underwater at all, began swimming away from the squid to get out of its reach. But a few yards away, he suddenly emerged from the column of water… several feet up in the air. As the radius of the water column matched that of the obscuring mist cloud that had hidden the battle with the squid, the party members on land suddenly saw a battered and bleeding Kyle emerge out of the fog in midair and land with a wet smack on the pool’s surface. The party stared for a moment before the shock wore off and they could act. Kavan stepped up and cast a [I]freedom of movement[/I] spell on Tolly. “You looked like you could use something to do,” he said with a nod toward the fog cloud. Tolly looked for a moment like he wanted to hug Kavan, then began to charge into the pool toward the squid. But just as he reached waist level, the fog cloud dispersed, and the column of water collapsed. The squid had finally succumbed to Kyle’s life-draining spells, and the tentacles twitched as they slipped under the water. Kyle, who was being dragged out of the water by Tolly, looked back at where the squid had sunk to the bottom. “That’s right, you damned piece of calamari!” he shouted. Despite his grievous injuries, he stood at the water’s edge, grinning. “I totally kicked its ass!” Then he turned to Kavan, who had come up to heal some of Kyle’s wounds. “That was great! How come you never use any of these spells?” He continued to grin like a madman as Kavan used up the remainder of his power, then walked off with Tolly to get more healing, still talking excitedly about going toe-to-toe with the squid. Kyle completely missed the forlorn look on Kavan’s face as he walked away. The party finished healing their injuries, and then went about recovering the half-mask as well as the other valuables on the aquatic creatures; Tolly and Osborn did most of the underwater recovery, aided by their ability to move unhampered in the water. Then, with the sun just touching the treeline, the party made their way back to the village where Lord Momuus hopefully waited. Along the way, Kyle’s excitement from the battle waned enough that he was able to thank Xu and Arrie for aiding him in battling the squid. The group began to talk about how eager they were to return to their own bodies, and what they would do if Momuus didn’t fulfill his promise to restore them. Only Kavan remained silent. The party walked into the village just as the sky was beginning to turn a vibrant shade of orange and pink from the setting sun. The men of the [I]Mother, Maiden, and Crone[/I] were still laying about the village, though several changes seemed to have been made. Some had marks or brands carved into their skin, while others seemed to have been marked as territory by wild animals. The Lord of the Carnival reclined in his throne, a smile touching his red, red lips. "Ah, wondrous people that you are, you have returned. Not that I'd any doubts, mind." "Of course not," murmured Tolly. Lord Momuus winked at Tolly. "So, then...who has my mask?" Kyle held up the piece, the half-mask leering devilishly back at Lord Momuus. "I do...and why should I give it up to such a fiend as yourself?" The jester chuckled. "There are many reasons. We can start with enlightened self-interest. It's no good to any of you, whereas I can put it to great use...say, by upholding my earlier promise. I, for one, do not back out on my promises. " Kyle flushed a bit, and loosed his grip on the mask. Before it could tumble to the earth, it simply vanished, with a small flash. When the group looked back, Lord Momuus' mask smiled back at them. Only the jewels of his eyes could be seen, twinkling in the evening sun. "So," his voice echoed out from behind the mask, "you have fulfilled your part of the bargain. I shall fulfill mine. I must apologize for the loss of crewman Jax; however, as I said, such things do happen." Xu cried out, "You said you'd put it right! Give him back!" Nothing seemed to change about Lord Momuus, but the sun choosing that moment sink behind the mountain seemed to set a more ominous tone. "I encouraged haste; as you choose not to recall, I did advise you that not all of my crew were fully under my control." Xu grumbled, but within her, Tolly's memory stirred, and nodded internally. "Now, as for the rest of you..." There was the sound of an intake of breath, and as the Carnivale King lowered his mask, the party saw naught behind it but mist, and void; and with the exhalation, that mist and void rolled out, and covered them all, infiltrating their bodies and minds... [CENTER]* * *[/CENTER] The party awoke to the sounds of creaking rigging. The ship had taken quite the pounding through the night storm, but thanks to the intervention of the adventurers, the ship had fared far better than expected. Some of the sail was torn, and the mast had come dangerously close to cracking, but through the night, the crew had only lost a single man overboard. Now everyone was laying exhausted on the deck, just listening to the quiet lap of waves on wood, and watching the morning sun burn the mists off. [/QUOTE]
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