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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 3440032" data-attributes="member: 1210">The party’s meeting with the scyllan comes much sooner than our heroes would have anticipated. As they stand there underwater, talking, it comes. It, and its demonic minions- fish-like demon creatures with foul, barbed tails. Three of them. Deadly creatures from the watery oceans of the Abyss, the demons dart forward while, behind them, the deadly thing that is the Scyllan swims forward. From the black waters behind it, it moves smoothly, quickly towards our diminuative heroes. Its upper body is a mass of lashing tentacles, surrounding a pair of fearsome-looking claws. Its head is like a cross between that of a fish and some kind of bone-headed aquatic ram. Vicious teeth like those of a barracuda gnash in its green, knurled mouth.Fear pours out of the attackers, tainting the water like oil from a squid. Federico shrieks in fear and swims back away from the terrible monsters charging the group, and Rock falls back as well. Erasmuz erects a protective force screen, while Nara invokes divine power.Only Naomi lashes out immediately, without thought for her own safety or defense. She glares at the Scyllan, her mind raging. You destroyed my people here! the fat halfling cries in her mind. Now we’ll destroy you!There is a ripple of mental force as Naomi unleashes a powerfully-augmented mind thrust, and the Scyllan reels for a moment as the psionic attack blasts its mind. Then it hisses; it motions its minions forward and waits for the right moment. The demons that serve the Scyllan rush in and tear at Brother Yip, slashing their jagged tails at him and attempting to rend him limb from limb! The kobold monk parries and twists, avoiding about half of the blows aimed at him. The other half rip into his scaly flesh, leaving the water around him swirling with clouds of red-black blood. “No!” cries Naomi, and recalls agony on the first of the demons. It shudders in remembered pain, then snarls; but Rush steps forward, his mind blade already active, and unleashes a whirlwind attack, disemboweling one of the creatures entirely. He wounds both of the other demons, and Nara steps in and takes one of them down in a series of morning star blows.The Scyllan gnashes its teeth again and lunges forward, reaching for Rush, and as he does so, Yip lands a solid kick in the face, shattering teeth and eliciting a roar of pain. Still, the creature grabs Rush, wrapping a tentacle around its victim. Rush growls and struggles, but it is quite strong. Yip, badly wounded from the demons, leaps away back to Federico, who is cowering in the back, seeking help. Meanwhile, spells seem to ping off of the Scyllan ineffectively.Namoi suggests to the minion demon that it attack the Scyllan; it moves in, but misses. The Scyllan, meanwhile, tosses Rush aside and smashes at Nara with multiple tentacles and both of its claws. It tears into her, dealing incredible wounds to her. She gasps and screams as it cracks her ribs, claws open her belly and thighs and smashes at her head.* Gritting her teeth to get past the pain, she full attacks it back, hasting herself with her boots, and hits it several times- to no avail! Her blows glance off of it uselessly!Beau moves in to where he can get a clear shot, taking a tentacle blow on the way, and fires a ray of enfeeblement at the Scyllan. It hits the strange creature, and the monster gives a snarl of anger as its strength flees its limbs. Rush steps in again, slamming his mind blade into the Scyllan and using all of his psychic powers to enhance it. Blow after blow falls, and he crushes one of its tentacles, but it sistill going! It gives blow for blow back to Rush, knocking the soulknife unconscious and drifting in the water. The Scyllan roars at its minion, and the demon stops for a moment, then whirls to attack Beau, clearly snapped free of the suggestion. It swims past Beau- but he stabs it in the vitals as it does so, running it through and slaying it!Then a large water elemental appears, summoned by Ari, and it swims in to attack the monster. The two begin contending, while our heroes try to regroup and heal a little. Their plan is cut short, unfortunately, when the Scyllan sweeps Naomi up in a tentacle and begins to constrict her.More mind blasts, spiritual weapons and other effects shoot out, but without much result. The Scyllan seems able to resist almost anything our heroes throw at it!It becomes clear that steel and muscle are our heroes’ only hope. Grimly, they press their attack, with Yip dancing in and out, Rock pushing back into the fight, and Beau striving to flank. The Scyllan gives out a cruel laugh, smacking Beau, Nara and Rock all at once.Yip groans as he watches his friends suffer new wounds. “Foul beast!” he cries, and springs forward, striking the beast in its body. Then, as Erasmuz casts divine power, Beau moves into position and stabs it in the kidney area. The Scyllan roars, and a great cloud of blood pours out of its mouth into the surrounding water.It collapses.“Thank the gods!” exclaims Yip with relief.“Hardly,” Erasmuz snarks. “We saved ourselves. We don’t need any gods.”“Well, hey,” Naomi coughs, herself in very bad shape after her long period of being constricted, “since it’s dead, we can search the rest of these caves.”“Corn bread,” says Erasmuz emphatically.Next Time: What will our heroes find down here? Is there any corn bread that will survive underwater? Find out- next time!*Nara took a total of 73 points of damage from this series of attacks!</blockquote>

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