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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 6572066" data-attributes="member: 9546">A Woman Scorned3 Calistril, 4715The next morning, the companions gathered in the center of the ruined town, and Zaiobe appeared as promised. When she landed and moved towards Boris so that she might communicate telepathically with him, Yannus intercepted her. "No offense," he said, turning to the goblin, "but I think I'd like to hear what she has to say first-hand this time."The harpy shrugged and reached out a hand to touch the young evangelist.'So Boris explained everything to you?' she asked.'He did,' Yannus replied. 'What is your proposal?''I will fly ahead to the keep,' Zaiobe said. 'I will contact Kikonu and ask him to meet me in the courtyard. I have no doubt he will come, and when he does, you and your friends will be waiting. We will kill him. Simple enough.''Perhaps,' Yannus answered, 'but I think we would like to know more about your lover. For instance, what kind of magician is he? What powers does he have?''He is no magician,' Zaiobe chuckled,'though he does have magic at his disposal. Have you ever heard of an oni?'Yannus shook his head.'Oni are spirit creatures from this plane, but not of this plane. Kikonu is a type of oni called a yamabushi tengu. In his natural form he looks very much like the dire corbies, but he has wings. He is a deadly warrior, and he is resistant to magic. He also heals very quickly. His one weakness, however, is fire. That is why I'm saving these for him.'She pulled an arrow from her quiver, and as she fitted it to her bow string, its tip ignited in flames.'I think we can work with that,' Yannus nodded. 'Lead the way.'____________________________________________________________________________A short time later, the companions stood assembled in the courtyard of Brinewall Keep while Zaiobe hovered above them, bow in hand. The front doors of the keep suddenly burst open, and Kikonu stepped out, his arms spread wide, flanked by a pair of dire corbies."Zaiobe, my love...!" he began, but then stopped short when he saw the heroes waiting for him, weapons drawn."You  traitorous whore!" he screamed, and as he did, he began to transform. Feathers sprouted from his whole body, and black wings exploded from his back. His face melted and molded into that of a giant raven. He raised one hand towards Zaiobe, and streaks of fire exploded from his palm, striking the harpy. Though scorched and in obvious pain, Zaiobe didn't falter. She loosed a pair of flaming arrows in rapid succession, both of them impaling Kikonu. He shrieked, and began beating frantically at the fire as it seared his flesh.Shalelu quickly stepped forward and let her own arrow fly, taking advantage of the fact that the oni's wounds were obviously not healing nor closing. The dire corbies moved forward to shield their master from further assault, but as they came, Yannus thrust with his glaive and stabbed one through the thigh. Kikonu moved behind his minions and tried to regain his composure. Cursing, he sent another volley of scorching rays at Zaiobe, at the exact moment that another of her flaming arrows struck home. As he shrieked in pain again, and tried to further insinuate himself behind his corby minions, Mazael swept his falchion down and raked it across the oni's side. A moment later, Yannus cut down the corby he'd wounded before, leaving Kikonu exposed once again. Hissing in rage, Kikonu spread his wings and took to the air, heading straight for Zaiobe. He had made it no more than halfway when the harpy sent one final arrow flying. The flaming shaft pierced Kikonu's throat, and he dropped like a stone. When he it the ground, he lay, unmoving, eyes open and staring blankly. Zaiobe threw back her head and laughed soundlessly and then, without missing a beat, she pivoted in mid air and loosed an arrow at Shalelu. The ranger dove to one side at the last second, cursing roundly. As Zaiobe prepared to shoot her again before she could regain he balance, Lucian rushed to cover his mentor, nocking and loosing an arrow quickly and without finesse, but still managing to graze the harpy, causing her shot to go wide. Zaiobe circled, trying to draw a bead on the elven archer, whom she judged to be the greatest threat, when Piotr quickly uttered the words to a spell and sent a sizzling stream of bolts of pure energy at her. She reeled from the impact, her head spinning. When her vision cleared again, she saw Shalelu sighting down the shaft of a bone-white, ivory fletched arrow. The ranger loosed, and when the arrow struck home, it exploded into a cloud of white powder. Zaiobe swooned as she inhaled it, falling instantly into a deep slumber. She tumbled from the air and hit the ground with bone-jarring impact. She jerked awake, disoriented, and tried to struggle to her feet. As she did, Haroldo dealt her a heavy blow across the brow at the same time that Boris drove his sword into her back. She swooned again, slipping into unconsciousness. Her last sight was of Mazael standing over her, his falchion upraised, still dripping with the blood of the second corby he'd dispatched. ____________________________________________________________________________With Kikonu and his traitorous lover dead, there appeared to be no further impediment to the companions searching the rest of the keep at their leisure. They passed through the throne room once more, and then through a small door at the far end. This led into a circular room with old tapestries depicting a seaside castle hanging askew on the walls. A thick layer of dust caked the floor, and the air was musty and weirdly cold. Old bloodstains splattered the walls, along with numerous brutal gashes and slashes to the stone itself. Two doors hung askew on hinges in a short passageway to the south, while to the north, a third door lay in fragments on the floor, opening onto a flight of stairs leading down into the darkness. A second staircase led upward against the north wall. The group made their way carefully down the short passage, and peered through one of the broken doors into what appeared to have been a small office. The desk and chairs that once decorated it lay in shambles on the floor. A flight of stairs led up to the southeast. Several scattered and hastily written notes lay among the shambles of the desk. One of them was a letter that mentioned an attack on Brinewall Castle. It described the attack as a night assault by men dressed in dark robes. The letter was unfinished. As their attention was focused on the contents of the office, none of the companions heard the stealthy movement coming from the other room, across the hall. It was Piotr's sudden shout of alarm that alerted them, as a large shadow loomed out of the darkness and lurched towards him. The creature was skeletally thin and dressed in the bloodstained remnants of a destroyed suit of half-plate armor. A finely crafted dragon helm sat on its head, below which glowed a pair of red eyes. As Piotr stumbled back, his fingers spat bolts of light at the walking corpse. It rocked back for a moment, but then resumed its approach, silent as a tomb. Shalelu sent an arrow into its chest, and still it came. Boris ducked behind it, and sank his sword into the back of its leg, and it still did not stop. Mazael moved to intercept, but as he came in close, the creature seized him by the throat, and the war priest felt the cold of the grave sink into his bones. Another arrow thunked into the wight's forehead as Lucian's bow twanged from behind Mazael, and finally, it sank slowly to the ground, the light going out of its eyes. ____________________________________________________________________________Deciding to wait on exploring beyond the main level, the group returned to the throne room and took another side door. This led to an interior courtyard that might once have been a delightful garden, but was now a tangle of weeds that surrounded a pool of water choked with thick, slimy green algae. Haroldo led the way this time, and as he neared the pool, he thought he saw a slight ripple of movement just beneath the surface. He leaned forward to see more closely, and it was at that moment that the surface of the pool erupted as a monstrous creature surfaced. Six powerful legs, each ending in a hooked claw, jutted from the shield-like body of a truly massive insect. One of its claws grabbed the big bloodrager and dragged him bodily into the pool. Lucian and Shalelu dropped to their knees and opened fire with their bows, peppering the beast as it started to sink below the surface. Piotr added his own magical barrage, and the creature began to thrash violently, all the while squeezing the air from Haroldo's lungs. Just before it disappeared completely, one of Lucian's shafts found its way into its large, compound eye, sinking in up to the fletches. Haroldo felt the pressure ease around his chest, and he frantically extricated himself and pulled himself onto the shore, gasping and hacking up foul water. ____________________________________________________________________________From the courtyard, the group reentered the keep proper through a mostly empty storeroom that gave on to a vestibule. Beyond that they found themselves in a large circular room ballroom that featured a ring of pillars that supported a balcony above. A flight of stairs wound up to it along the southern wall. Faded paintings of dancing elves decorated the walls, spattered here and there with ancient bloodstains. Looking about the chamber, it was obvious that, not only had a terrible battle taken place there long ago, but also that at least one of the aggressors in the fight possessed prodigious strength, judging from the deep gouges in the walls near the largest bloodstains. The damage looked to have been dealt by an enormous axe or some similar weapon. A set of double doors from the ballroom gave back on to the throne room. The companions chose another smaller door they had not yet investigated, and found themselves in a large hall, its roof supported by four stone pillars. What appeared to have once been large, wooden cages lay in shambles throughout the room. A heap of rags and furs in the middle of the chamber seemed to be some sort of makeshift bed, while a large heap of partially eaten birds, squirrels, and wild turnips mounded nearby reeked with the stink of compost. Standing amid the detritus were three strange individuals. One, the largest, was female, lanky and gangling. Her legs bend in three joints like a dog's, and she had large, milky eyes. She carried a steel flail in one hand, and wore a wicked-looking spiked gauntlet on the other. The other two were male and bore a resemblance to the female, though their features were just as misshapen and grotesque. "Well lookee here, Muthildah," one of the males said. "It's them that killed the bird fellas in the courtyard yestidee.""I can see that, ya idjit," the female, Muthildah, snapped. "What'cha jest standin' there fer? Tear'em a new one!"As the boys rushed forward, short spears gripped in their powerful hands, Piotr's magic threw dazzling light in one of their eyes. Lucian darted into the room past that one, but the other stabbed at him as he passed, piercing his side with the spear. He guffawed with laughter, but a moment later he squealed and then gurgled as both Mazael and Haroldo slammed into him, dropping him with two devastating blows. "Do I hafta do everythin' myself?" Muthilda bellowed.She rushed forward whipping her flail about her head and smashing it into Haroldo's shoulder. The big blood rager felt and heard bones crack. Muthilda raised her fist to pummel his face, but then Shalelu's bow sang, and an arrow sprouted from the half-ogre's chest. Cursing, Muthilda snapped the shaft of the arrow off with her gauntlet, but another one replaced it as Shalelu fired again. She staggered back a step, and Mazael moved after her, burying the blade of his falchion in her belly. She screamed in anger and pain, but it was cut short as Piotr conjured a cloud of ice-cold, swirling black motes about her head and she collapsed in a heat. "Muthilda!" he only surviving brother cried, his vision finally clearing.He followed his brother and sister into oblivion a moment later as Boris sank two blades into his kidneys at the same time that Lucian fired an arrow into his heart. __________________________________________________________________________The companions moved back through the ballroom and the vestibule beyond, to a door with led into the only area of the ground floor they had not yet explored. The door was unlocked, but it was impossible to tell what the room beyond had originally been used for, as the walls and floor were decorated with countless preserved animals and creatures, ranging from small birds and forest creatures to fearsome predators. Several of the displays looked uncomfortably fresh or humanoid in shape. As they stepped into the room, first Boris, and then Mazael heard an odd buzzing sound coming from somewhere inside. A moment later, Mazael shouted in surprise and pain as a red gash suddenly opened up across his thigh."Hi there!" came a cheerful, high-pitched female voice. A small figure stood in the middle of the room. She was a dainty, elf-like creature with long, twitching antennae, wearing a brightly colored dress made from butterfly wings and preserved wildflower petals. She twirled a serrated short sword in her hands, Mazael's blood still dripping from the blade. "I'm Buttersnips," she giggled. "Do you want to play?""A quickling," Shalelu hissed. "There are few fey more evil and twisted."Buttersnips giggled again, and then, moving almost to fast for their eyes to follow, she darted across the room and through all of their legs, coming to a stop behind Piotr, who was standing at the back of the pack. "Hi there!" she waved, and then slashed the sorcerer's arm.Piotr cursed as she darted away again, but still managed to send a flash of dazzling light after her."Hey! Not fair!" Buttersnips pouted as she rubbed at her eyes.Shalelu and Lucian quickly moved between Piotr and the quickling. The ranger drew several arrows from her quiver, and handed them to her protege. "Cold iron," she said. "The bane of all fey." Lucian nodded as he took them, and then he and Shalelu knocked and sighted. As Buttersnips zipped back towards them, they loosed, and both arrows struck home. The quickling screamed as she darted past them again."That's it!" she shrieked. "Fun time is over!"Hissing, her teeth bared, she darted after Piotr again, slashing him a second time, causing him to stumble. "She too fast!" Boris shouted in his native tongue. "We must box her in! Close doors!"Yannus and Shalelu, both of whom understood Goblin, acted quickly, each shutting one of the double doors that led into the room. Unfortunately, this left Haroldo, Shalelu and Piotr on one side, and the others, along with Buttersnips, locked in the room. Yannus uttered the words to a prayer, asking Shellyn to guide his hand. When Buttersnips ran towards him, time seemed to slow and clarify before his eyes, and it was as if the quickling were moving in slow motion. He thrust his glaive at her, striking true and unerringly, sending her tumbling into Lucian's legs instead of through them. As she jumped to her feet, Lucian knocked and loosed another cold iron shaft, sending it clean through her shoulder. Yannus moved towards her again, and snarling, she whirled on him, stabbing her small sword into his belly. The priest grunted in pain, but he still managed to bring his glaive down solidly on her blade, sundering it into pieces. Buttersnips somersaulted to the far side of the room and then, amazingly, levitated straight up to the ceiling. Lucian sent another arrow at her as she reached the top. Then, just like that, she simply vanished.Abruptly, the heroes heard Buttersnip's voice coming from the other side of the door."Better luck next time!" she said. "And there will be a next time!"Shalelu's voice came from the other side of the door as well."Do not believer her!" the ranger shouted. "Quicklings can throw their voices! She is still there!""We need you in here, now!" Yannus shouted.When the door opened, Buttersnips reappeared, punching Boris in the throat with her bare hand before she pulled herself across the ceiling like a spider. She reached the still-open door, dropped to the ground, darted through and disappeared up a nearby flight of stairs."Well," Yannus panted, holding his bleeding belly. "I think that's enough exploration for one day."</blockquote>

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