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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 4678922" data-attributes="member: 3285">And Madness Followed: Part 1c – Telthin ManorSebastian and Beldin were waiting for Kham when he came back out of the manor with Maegen. “Typical.”  Sebastian’s hands were on his hips.  “You walk into a place looking for a bed and you walk out with a woman.”Kham shrugged.  “That’s usually your line.  This is Maegen.  Maegen, this is Sebastian and Beldin.”The woman responded by shrieking at the top of her lungs. “That’s not quite the greeting I expected,” muttered Beldin.They followed her terrified gaze to two lobster-like things crawling their way around the buildings.  Upon hearing her scream, the creatures turned to face them.“I’ve seen these things before.” Kham took aim at one of them.  “Unfortunately, we’re not standing over a frozen river this time.” The light reflected off the creatures’ mottled carapaces.  Their small dark eyes fixed on them with a hungry stare; the tentacles that dripped from their mouths squirmed excitedly as they scuttled closer.Maegen shrieked and ran in the other direction.  Sebastian moved to stop her.“Let her go,” said Beldin.  “We’ve got bigger problems.”Kham took aim. A pistol kicked, but the bullet ricocheted off the thing’s mottled carapace. “Well, that’s all I got.”Sebastian stepped backward as Beldin charged forward.  “I think I can do better,” said the dark-kin. “Mulimodis Oris!”  Three ghostly pairs of vicious jaws flew out from the folds of his robes.  The jaws snapped and bit at the first crustacean, stopping it in its tracks.Beldin leaped into the air towards the second thing with his axe high overhead. He came down on one of the thing’s claws, cracking it open.  Black ichor spurted upwards.  Kham fired another of his pistols.  “Skiz, reload.” He reached into his satchel and drew forth another pair of pistols, dropping the spent ones into the magical container along with his pet talking rat. “What’s with the teeth and the tentacles?” asked Kham nervously.  “You’re not going all Carcosa on me, are you?”Sebastian was concentrating on keeping the first thing at bay, mentally directing the first two pairs of ghostly jaws to keep the beast busy; whenever he found an opening, the third pair struck and bit into the armored beast.“Let’s just say I’ve got a new perspective,” said Sebastian.A huge claw snapped at Beldin, but he batted it away with his shield. Kham fired twice, this time aiming for the tentacles.  He blasted one right off, and this time the crustacean under Sebastian’s magical attack reacted with a squeal.  “Be careful of the tentacles, Beldin, they cause—“Beldin hacked away one claw and beat aside the other with his shield, giving a clear view of the creature’s maw.  Then a net of dripping tentacles exploded onto him, encircling his arms and legs and lifting him up.  Beldin went rigid.“Paralysis,” finished Kham. He holstered his pistols and drew his scimitar and dagger.  “What are you doing?” asked Sebastian out of the corner of his mouth.“Saving the dwarf.  Stay here.”Kham focused.  His eyes burned like points of silver fire.  And suddenly it was he in the tentacles and Beldin slumped next to Sebastian.“Hi,” said Kham.  His ring prevented the tentacles from grabbing him, causing him to slip to the ground.  With a quick spin, Kham snapped his blades in a downwards arc, hacking through the tentacles.  The crustacean screeched in pain. It reached forward with both pincers to grab Kham, but the val was as slippery as an eel.  He hopped backwards as it snapped at him in frustration…Only to be struck by the other crustacean from behind.  Although they couldn’t grab him, they could certainly hurt him.  The shadow of the thing loomed over him and all he could see were pink tentacles. “Radius Incensio!” Flames struck the crustacean full in the face. It fell backwards, the ruins of its head still smoldering. Kham scrambled to his feet.  “Well, I’m glad that’s—“The second one lurched forward, claws snapping for Kham’s face.  It collapsed before Kham, Beldin’s axe protruding from the back of its hunched head. Beldin licked his lips.  “Anyone else hungry for lobster?”Sebastian and Kham shuddered.</blockquote>

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