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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(contact)" data-source="post: 456034" data-attributes="member: 41">A fine mist of blood where a person used to beTwenty Three:  “What has gone before us, let it be never forgotten.  The blood of martyrs stains my robe.”(or,  “All you need is love, but sometimes a triple crit comes in handy.”)C’min scouts ahead of the party, and is so stealthy that she even begins to doubt her own existence.  She reports that there is a forked hallway ahead.  To the right is a formorian giant, singing pornographic sailor-chants to itself.  To the left, a beautiful woman sits at a desk, studying from scrolls.  A plan is hastily formed.  C’min will sneak up on Anna, and will be followed by Heydricus and the mages.  Meanwhile, Augustin and Aric will wait in ambush for her Formorian bodyguard, who is sure to be roused.The first part is successful.  C’min positions herself so close to the Alu-Fiend that a casual observer might get the wrong idea (!), and waits to strike.  Anna does have preternatural hearing, however, and as the spellcasters creep up on the room, she takes notice - - hearing their slippered feet even over the din of giant singing.  Anna quietly removes a wand from her desk and levels it at the entrance to her chamber.As Heydricus and the others round the corner, C’min strikes!  Except she rolls a 1, and misses her sneak attack badly.  Worse, she stumbles into the path of the lightning bolt that screeches from the ready wand.  A second 1 indicates that she fails to evade the blast, and takes the brunt of it, square in the chest.  C’min is blown off her feet and lies convulsing on the ground.Heydricus races forward, and after two 20’s in a row, followed by a 19, he has dealt some 60+ points of damage to the Alu-Fiend, and her midsection has been sprayed all over the room, as well as all over the astonished Ren Qi.  Heydricus opens his mouth to say something along the lines of “Fear me”, but looses his voice when he gets a taste of the bits of fiend staining his face.Jespo and Heydricus attend to C’min’s horrible burns, and are relieved to find that her magic items are intact.  I mean, relived to find out that she’s still alive.Pris, Ren Qi and Rose hasten out into the hallway, and help the warriors make short work of the clumsy formorian.  Gnomer uses his divine gifts to restore C’min to readiness, and after collecting Anna’s wand, a magical ring, and the various papers in her desk, the party presses on.According to their intelligence, the Nabbasu’s lair must be nearby.  Disappointingly, the room that the fiend should be in contains only a pack of ghouls.  These ghouls prove resistant to turning, and unusually tough.  As the battle draws out, some of the shadows in the room seem to detach themselves from the wall, and form into the disturbing shape of a monstrous winged humanoid, with blazing red eyes.  In a flash, the thing falls on Augustin, and rends him terribly, dropping his limp form to the ground.  As the paladin’s life blood spills out onto the dusty stone floor, the battle grows desperate.  Aric is the next to fall, and Thrommel casts aside his promise with a shout, bringing his magical blade to bear.When the last blow is struck, the fiend melts away into nothing, taking with it the lives of two companions.  The group quietly retreats to the secret area to rest, and mourn.  C’min takes Augustin’s loss philosophically, and shares with the group his fervent wish to fall in battle with a truly worthy foe.The Diviner of Mittrik explains that if the party remains inside tents, any scrying spellcaster would be able only to discern their immediate environment, and have no way to determine whether they were indoors or outside.  It seems that finally, the party can rest safely, without fear of attack.</blockquote>

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