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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 1664172" data-attributes="member: 1210">Fight with a Mirror?4 pm, 9/28/368 O.L.G., inside Angelfire Mountain, second level“This place is disgusting,” Jezebel says, repelled.  The room they are in is ruined; it’s hard to tell what it might have once been.  Now all that remains are scraps of burnt wood and cloth.  But there are a few areas of stinking yellowish foam that remain, all that is left of bile puddles.  “You should’ve seen it before,” Sybele comments in a low voice.Thrush is very nervous.  Coming back here is a barely-contained nightmare for him.  His first band of adventurers, a good decade ago now, died in here; in the end only he survived, and only by agreeing to serve the Bile Lords.  Serve he did, with no way out, for almost ten years.  And then our heroes came and saved him, and now he has a family.  He won’t abandon Sybele in here, but- he thinks uneasily- if they aren’t careful, they’re going to be destroyed by the Bile Lords.  Just like Thrush’s first group.He shudders to himself.  He’s not the only nervous one.  Even though they cleaned this place out a year ago, only two members of this group were there (even Thrush wasn’t there at the time).  To the others, this place is new.  The group moves into another ruined chamber, this one containing a small stone vanity.  A mirror is on the wall behind it and a stool is set before it.  “Let’s search around,” says Drelvin, and begins using his elven senses to search for secret doors.  The others begin searching as well; Rex moves to examine first the vanity (empty) and then the mirror.As the dragon disciple glances at it for the first time, he is startled to see something behind his reflection.  He glances over his shoulder for an instant; nothing.  He looks back at the mirror.  It’s almost as if an elephantine face is overlaid across his reflection.  He can see his own features, as well as its.“Whoa,” Rex says, backing away.Suddenly the chamber fills with greenish vapors, and our heroes gag as the stinking cloud fills the area.  But only for an instant- Drelvin quickdraws Shastruth and the sword utilizes a dispel magic to disperse the cloud.“What the hell was that?” Ulla cries.  Thrush’s sword is in his hands.  “I- I’m not sure,” a shocked Rex replies.  “I saw a face...”  He watches the mirror intently.“Well, I’m ready for it,” Jezebel says grimly.  Her wand of enervation is held tightly in her hand.A lightning bolt blasts from a fingertip that just extends beyond the surface of the mirror.  Angelfire dodges aside, evading the blast. “Oh yeah??  Let’s see how you like this!” cries Drelvin, and points his sword at the mirror.  Shastruth casts a shatter and the mirror’s glass explodes into fragments.“I don’t think,” Jezebel says, “that the mirror was the problem.”And from the opposite wall, a ghostly figure half-appears and blasts out with another lightning bolt, catching both Sybele (who is still vomiting from the nausea induced by the cloud) and Thrush.  “Aha!!” cries Drelvin, and Shastruth casts dispel magic at the ghostly form.  Nothing.  The ghostly figure fades back through the wall. The battle becomes a cat-and-mouse matter, with our heroes waiting readily for a chance to attack the ghostly loxo, and the loxo flitting in and out of the walls, emerging just long enough to cast a spell before escaping through a wall, floor or ceiling again.  But Drelvin has some ghost touch arrows; so as soon as he spots the loxo ghost, he looses one, and each time he hits, he inflicts significant damage.  Grinning fiercely, he shoots it several times.  Londo, too, is fortunate to hit it several times.  Finally, it emerges in the wrong place at the wrong time and Rex uses his force breath to finish it off, shredding it into many pieces of tattered ectoplasm. The party gathers together and checks up.  Nobody’s seriously hurt, and Angelfire and Londo cast a few minor healing spells to repair most of the wounds the battle left on the group.  Then they move onward, continuing their second exploration of Mount Angelfire.***A timeless realm in a far dimensionThe King of Bile, escorted by his most powerful creations, has come far beyond the pale of any mortal imagining to track her down, and at last he has found her.A thousand million possibilities he has explored; forever, it seems, he has quested.  All looking for the perfect cruelty, the hideous beauty that he has at last unearthed.  And now, in this far realm of madness and mind-cracking power, he has at last come before her.  The trials and tribulations he has faced in tracking her are meaningless.  The sacrifice of so many of his most powerful creations is meaningless.  The only meaning to be found is in her vapid expression, the smeared blood that trails behind her, the entrails twitching around her.  The Queen of Guts.  The King of Bile looks on as his creations battle hers, as he proves his worth to her by bringing down the pseudonatural things she has surrounded herself with.  And then, when her guardians- and most of his entourage- have been destroyed, he approaches her.  The rank cloud of yellow vapor around him- does it please her?  He cannot read her expressions, not yet, but he will learn and he will treasure every bit of spite and venom within her breast.They commune together, communicating in a way that no lesser being can for several moments; and he knows she understands his purpose now.  But does she approve?Suddenly the intestines that trail around her start to move, as if possessed of a life of their own; and the King of Bile watches with interest as she strangles the last of his entourage with contemptuous ease.  He smiles as the innards loop about his neck.“You are beautiful,” he whispers.The noose around his throat pulls him gently to the Queen of Guts.***8 pm, 9/28/368 O.L.G., Mechanus, on the cog of Galadronus“We’re going to take steps against that bitch Estelias first,” Emperor Prayzose says grimly.  Maps are spread across the table.  Generals and admirals are clustered about, staring intently at the battle plans before them.“Can we take Tirchond, with our forces diluted as they are now?” inquires Admiral Coyne.  “They traditionally have a series of strong magical defenses.”Prayzose nods.  “Without a doubt.  One of the key pieces of their typical defense is missing.  They won’t be able to employ the wild zone generating device that they have typically used against Forinthian forces.”“How do you know this?” Coyne asks in surprise.“Because,” Emperor Prayzose replies in a heavy voice, “it has hatched.”Next Time: Our heroes continue to rise through Bile- er, Mount Angelfire!</blockquote>

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