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Message: <blockquote data-quote="el-remmen" data-source="post: 228386" data-attributes="member: 11">Session #31“Yep, yep, yep! That’s the right way,” Thomas encouraged telepathically, as the party jogged through the deep snow towards a distance hill.  Beorth though he had seen the glint of the golden ram ascending the hill.They came to the hill which has the shape of a lop-sided ziggurat, with a ring of trees obscuring the top, and lines of snow-covered shrubs at various levels.“Let us make our way up more cautiously,” Beorth said, slowing his pace.  The clanking of his armor being muffled a bit by the slower speed.“Be careful, there’s bad guys up ahead,” Thomas warned Martin the Green.“Thomas says there are ‘bad guys’ ahead,” Martin relayed the warning, and then went one to ask his familiar if they were more bugbears.“No, they’re not the hairy goblins, and they aren’t like the folks in the thorns,” the squirrel chittered.  “They’re humans, dressed in black and don’t smell of death.”Martin whispered the information to his companions.“Shouldn’t we try to sneak up there?” Jana asked.“Um, how?” Martin said.“I do not think sneaking is our strong suit,” Beorth said.  “I think we’d best just go up there, and worry about it if we are spotted.”Jana shrugged her soldiers, while Martin hung his head.  They made their way up the hill.  Beorth took the lead, his sword in his hand, dripping a trail of blood in the snow. He came to the ring of trees around the nearly flat top of the hill, while Martin and Jana hung back about twenty-five feet back, crouched behind some of the shrubs.  Beorth looked through an opening in the foliage and saw two figures dressed in black.   They both had shaved heads, but one was much shorter and stockier than the other, who was tall and a wiry build.  “Did you hear that?” the tall figure said to the other.  He had a strange quarterstaff strapped to his back.  It was a bit thinner and shorter than most Beorth has seen.  “It is probably those bugbears again,” the man continued.  “Go check it out.”The stocky figure walked towards the trees where Beorth hid.  The paladin noticed that the man wore sandals despite the snow, but had his feet wrapped in black wool.  It was obvious he was a monk of Anubis, no one else in the world dressed that way.  The man was unarmed, but had large meaty fists.  The monk turned to his left, and Beorth took the chance to crane his neck to see what was just off center of the clearing.  It was a stone bier upon which was the huge golden ram, but it was tied down with three thick ropes and upon its muzzle was a leather muzzle.A twig snapped.“Who goes there?!” The stocky monk called, turning towards Beorth again.  “I see you!  Step out of the trees! Speak!”Beorth did not hesitate. He stepped out of the trees, still holding his sword at his side.“Someone is calling Beorth to come out of the trees,” Jana whispered to Martin.  “It’s a man’s voice.”“Should we join him?” Martin asked, softly.“Not yet,” Jana replied.“It is I, Beorth Sakhemet,” the ghost-hunter of Anubis announced in a confident voice.  “I believe you have something that belongs to me.”“And what would that be?” the stocky monk replied in a gravelly voice.“You have my amulet.  It was brought to you,” Beorth continued to walk forward until he was only five feet away.  The tall wiry monk, strode forward.“Your amulet?  Master Beorth, I have heard of you.  I know nothing of the amulet of which you speak,” the tall monk said, his voice was low and smooth.  “You should know that I would not take anything that was not mine, and neither would my disciples.”“I assume you are Adder,” Beorth said, flatly. (132)“Oh, no, no,” the tall monk pressed his hands against each other before his cheat as if in prayer.  “I am not so important of a man as he.  I am Vander, Initiate of the Stone.” (134)There was a long pause.“”Why do you hang back,” Vander asked.  “Come forward.  Let us talk.  Are you alone?”“No,” Beorth replied.  “No, I have two friends.”“Why do they hide?” Vander asked.“Martin! Jana!” Beorth called, turning back.  “Come up here.”Jana and Martin looked at each other.“Okay, let’s go,” Jana said to Martin, shrugging her shoulders.The wizard and the witch stepped into the clearing.  Vander smiled.“So, what brings you here, Beorth Sakhemet?” Vander asked. “ I was led,” Beorth replied.“Led?”“Yes, I was led,” Beorth repeated, not volunteering any details.“By whom?”“By your captive.”“Captive?” Vander looked genuinely surprised.  “Oh, the creature that you see!  Its guile never ends.”“Yes, it is rare to find a guileless creature,” Beorth replied, glibly.  “And what brings you here?”Vander stepped closer, and gestured back to the ram.  It’s large azure eyes moved to peer at Beorth.  “We came here to find and capture this creature.”“Why would you capture such a beautiful creature?” Beorth asked.Vander clucked his tongue, “You should know that visions of beauty on the surface do not always reflect beauty of the spirit.”“Oh, I know,” Beorth said.  “I guess it is possible that this creature is one of Seker.” (134)“In the ancient past there were many more Powers than we know of today,” Vander explained.  “This creature is all that is left.”“Left of what?” Beorth asked.“A being that existed in The Time Before,” Vander replied.  “Its divine form was destroyed in the tumult that ended The Time Before, but for the millennia that has passed it has re-taken the form of this great ram in an attempt to regain its full power.  Thankfully, there has always been someone to hunt it and destroy it before this could happen, and it would take hundreds of years for it to re-gather its power and take corporeal form once again.”“They’re bad! They’re bad!  They’re gonna hurt the ram!  The ram is good! The ram is good!” Thomas began to screech in Martin’s mind.“Calm down,” Martin re-assured him.  “We will figure out a way to handle this.”“Anubis has shown me creatures like this one in my dreams,” Beorth said, quietly.“So you could seek them out?” Vander asked.Martin leaned over to whisper in Jana’s ear, “Why would they say it was of Seker, if…”Vander’s ears were keen.  “It is not of Seker!  It is of Set.  Or at least it was once allies with him.  You must realize that in the universe there exist a perfect specimen of every animal of nature,” Vander explained.  “Some of these have achieved divinity, and are known as the Beast Gods.  Others wander the world and the planes, aiding the gods or seeking to become gods themselves.”“I hadn’t heard that,” Beorth said.“It is true,” Vander replied.  “Some would call them celestial, but we would call them axiomatic.”“And, I take it that is synonymous with disposable,” Beorth said, allowing his facetiousness come through.  “For I definitely feel that such a beautiful creature should not die.”  The paladin of Anubis walked past Vander towards where the ram was bound, and the tall monk stepped backward to move with him.  Lomax stepped to his right to stand between Jana, Martin and the ram.  He still was about fifteen feet away from the two spell-casters.“Well, that is up to Master Hamfast,” Vander said, speaking of the fate of the ram. “Unless he speaks to Adder, I am afraid he will be forced to follow his master’s decision.”“I am taking this decision into my own hands,” Beorth said, and walked right over to one of the ropes holding the ram down, and raised his sword.“Beorth, don’t do anything foolish!” Vander said.Beorth’s sword came down on the thick rope and it snapped. The ram began to struggle to raise his rear legs which had been partially freed.“Lomax,” Vander called to the stocky monk.  “We must stop them, but do not hurt them…too much.”A sneer appeared on Lomax face as he began to run towards the two spell-casters, but when he was five feet away he leapt high into the air, leading with a kick, and bending the other leg back beneath his body.  The flying kick connected with Jana’s chin and chest, sending her backward, her lip swelling, as blood dribbled down her chin.  Lomaz landed before her, and turned to face her and Martin.  He held his hands in claw-fingered stance, gently bouncing on the balls of his feet.“Forgive me for this, Anubis,” Beorth cried aloud, as Vander leaped to the attack.  The paladin ducked a punch and swung his sword low across the monk’s leg, but Vander leapt high into the air avoiding the blade deftly.  Beorth noted that while the martial arts style Vander was using was similar to that the Monks of Anubis he had been raised by used, it seemed more aggressive, and he his hands in a clawed form, instead of the normal closed-fist stance.Jana had her club in her hand and began to swing it wildly in front of her to keep Lomax at bay, while Martin hustled around out of his reach and pulling a dagger began to cut at the front rope holding down the ram.  Unfortunately, the rope seemed to resist his pitiful whacks at the rope.Lomax ignored the watch-mage and let loose a flurry of punches at Jana, but she was able to bat them off with her club.    While Vander, with unparalleled speed and skill, pulled his bo stick from his back and spinning it in one hand over her his head, brought it to bear with both hand and laid two hard jabs with the butt against Beorth’s chin and neck.   Beorth tasted his own blood in his mouth and returned with a painful cut Vander’s forearm, but the monk showed no reaction.  He simply twirled his staff with great speed, cutting the air like thunder as it spun to knock the sword away before it could do more harm.  Beorth knew in his heart that this was a battle he had little hope of winning.Martin finally cut through one of the ropes, and the ram lifted it head up.  The watch-mage turned with a smile of accomplishment towards Jana, in time to see Lomax easily reach through her defense and crunch her nose with his fist.  Blood spurted out over her face and chest and she crumpled unconscious to the ground.  Lomax turned and looked at Martin.  “There are two ways to do this,” he said.Beorth continued to try to get through the whirling defense of Vander’s bo stick, but could not with out making himself vulnerable.  He felt the blow of the stick against one ankle, but he held his ground and did not fall, however, by planning his feet he left himself open when the staff whirled around and the other end slammed him in the helm, making a large dent.  Beorth stumbled backward, away from his opponent and called out to his god, “Anubis! I need your strength!  Please grant me your healing power.”  He laid his hands upon his own face, and felt the warmth of his god’s power, but he knew he was just delaying the inevitable.“Disapparé,” Martin intoned, and he disappeared from sight.  Invisibly, he crept around the large stone and began to cut at the remaining ropes.Lomax jogged over to where Martin stood, easily following the watch-mage by the footprints that seemed to appear in the snow by their own accord.  He let a back hand slap go, that connected with Martin’s temple.   Martin the Green was growing nervous, and his shaking as his frantically tried to cut the rope worked against his goal; not mention his random bobbing to avoid the blows from Lomax.“What one cannot see still exists,” Lomax said, quoting some monk chant.Beorth had renewed his attack upon Vander, while the tall monk let out a long low breath and squeezed one fist so tight it turned from his olive flesh tone to red and then to white as he punched at the paladin’s solar plexus.   Beorth turned his blade down towards the fist, forcing Vander to pull his punch at the last minute.  Neither found their mark.  Martin winced as he felt another punch catch his lip.  Vander dropped his defense and leapt to a nearly blurred flurry of blows with his staff and his feet.  Beorth felt them contact again and again, and fought to remain conscious.  He took advantage of the opening and succeeded slice the length of his long sword across Vander’s hip and groin.  The monk showed no emotion, but he was forced backward, placing all his weight on the uninjured leg. “Your blow struck true, Ghost-hunter,” Vander said.  “But I am not afraid of death, for even if I come before the Master he will reward me for fighting against one as treacherous as you.”“Thomas, I need you to go to the others,” Martin commanded his familiar.  “Go run, and hide if you have to, but find Ratchis and bring him here.”Thomas obeyed unquestioningly, knowing from his master’s tone that this was very serious.  He slid down the inside of Martin’s robe, and out and away; unseen by Lomax.A moment later, Martin was visible again, his face bloodied by two more powerful punches, and lying unconscious on the ground.“You and your faction have turned your backs on Anubis!” Beorth accused, as he and Vander traded more blows.  Lomax moved to join the fight, but stopped in his track as the ram flexed its body and burst the remaining rope.  It stood, and Beorth was nearly distracted.  It stood upon the stone bier, but even without the platform its shoulders would have been over six feet off the ground.  It still had the muzzle on its snout.“It is free!” Lomax cried, fear creeping into his voice.  “You have doomed us all!”The ram replied by leaping from the stone and slamming its huge golden horns against Lomax knocking him back and down easily.  It stood above him and looked down.  The stocky monk twist on the ground and leapt to his feet, futilely punching at the magnificent beast.Beorth’s attention was taken from his own fight, but Vander was not as easily distracted, and one final blow struck home.  The last thing Beorth saw was a golden blur as he fell to the snowy ground, unconscious.----------------------------------------Notes:(132) Beorth first heard of Adder from Master Hamfast during the Interlude that was detailed after Session #24.(133) Monks of Anubis have titles that coincide with their position in the hierarchy of their order.(134) Seker is the evil god of deception and betrayal.  He is often called “Master of Light & Darkness”.</blockquote>

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