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Seravin's Tales of the Night Below (Two Updates this Week - 07/24/07)
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<blockquote data-quote="Seravin" data-source="post: 2871411" data-attributes="member: 6783"><p><strong>The Welcoming Committee</strong></p><p></p><p>Shifting from the meeting room with a brief exercise of his will, Balraj led the charge from under the cover of <em>invisibility</em>. The devil’s destination was a narrow ledge high above the floor along one wall of the nave. A cruel smile crossed the devil’s lips as he realized that their prey was where he had left them and clustered oh-so-close together, and the avorals were nowhere to be seen.</p><p></p><p>Even better his arrival had not been noticed. The human’s attention appeared to be on the darkened shadows and the milling cattle in the entryway. Remarkably, the three other hushed whumps of air signaling the arrival of his brothers and the humans also went unnoticed. </p><p></p><p>Waving a hand out towards the three clustered humans on the floor below, Balraj’s smile turned to a sneer as he invoked a twenty-foot tall, encircling <em>wall of fire</em> about his prey. The heat of the hellfire wall was enough to drive the humans back a step to the center, but none of them could avoid the hellish heat. The invoked power shattered Balraj’s cloak of invisibility revealing that he was still disguised as the human paladin. </p><p></p><p>Nearly simultaneously a bead of fire formed and shot from the ledge opposite Balraj. The bead sped forth like an arrow and exploded in a ball of orange flame directly over the top of the fiery wall. Foruk, still disguised as the Sarathian priest, was revealed with the fiery invocation and his sneer was the equal of Balraj’s.</p><p></p><p>There was a pause and then all within the nave and foyer heard the hurried voice of a hasted spellcaster invoking a spell from amongst the pews, some twenty feet away from the fire-wall. Barely a second later another voice started to chant.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>Jallarzi only had time to turn towards the direction of the voices. Beyond the bright flames were dark shapes that she could only just make out. Clinically she recognized several syllables and realized that the voice was invoking something akin to a <em>cone of cold</em>; but something was off. The other voice was praying for a spell of <em>blindness</em></p><p></p><p>No sooner had Jallarzi finished that thought then a storm of green, slushy acid erupted from the pews, engulfing everything in its path. The pews in the way disintegrated under the slushy deluge and even the wall of fire wavered enough to allow the acid to reach those inside. </p><p></p><p>At almost the same time Jallarzi’s eyes filled with darkness. Shaking her head she shrugged the spell off and was relieved to find that she was still standing. Jallarzi began to reached for her potions when she heard the hasted syllables begin to repeat themselves. Her eyes grew wide but she didn’t need to give a warning shout. Both Kellron and Jared heard it too and they understood what was coming. Mercifully the second voice was beginning a different prayer.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>The exultant shout died before it was voiced and Balraj’s sneer faltered as the greenish acid evaporated as suddenly as it had been created. The three were still standing. Both the paladin and the wizardess were sorely hurt, but they were still standing. Worse, the priest was completely unharmed; the spellstorm had not touched him at all. </p><p></p><p>Stunned, Balraj got off to a slow start and the devil didn’t have time to so much as swear as twin globes of radiance suddenly appeared in the foyer. The avorals had come back. The burning <em>wall of fire</em> alerted the angelic guardians that there were new attackers to deal with even as the still frightened humans pressed in against them.</p><p></p><p>Her body burned and aching, Jallarzi orientated on the still chanting voice and invoked a storm of ice, bending her concentration to ignore the waves of heat radiating off the fiery wall*. The <em>ice-storm</em> caught the sorceror, priest, and the Jared-doppelganger high on the wall. Not satisfied with that and still under the effect of her hastening spell, the wizardess followed up with a <em>sonic-substituted ice-storm</em> centered on the same place. The cry of pain she hears over the thunderous spell makes her smile but the chanting still continues. </p><p></p><p>Like Jallarzi, Kellron had taken the brunt of the onslaught. Gritting his teeth and ignoring what he was about to do Kellron ran through the flames towards the still chanting voice. The other side of the fiery wall was blessedly cool and the paladin looked about at the enemies before them as he invoked Sarath’s blessing to heal his burned and smoking flesh. </p><p></p><p>Dopplegangers of himself, Jared, and Jallarzi stood precariously on ledges about the nave while two humans stood amongst the wreckage of pews some forty feet away. One of the men, dressed in smoking black robes looked dazed and was already trying to work past the effects of Jallarzi’s counter barrage. The man next to the sorceror was dressed in black platemail and was just about to complete a spell of his own. The one still casting bore a shield with the symbol of Tresh emblazoned on it and was loosely holding an ugly looking mace while the free hand gestured. Grimly, Kellron moved closer to the two men but he knew he wouldn't get there before the spell wasfinished.</p><p></p><p>Jared was reacting nearly as fast as Kellron. His prayer of <em>spell resistance</em> had just been completed before the spell storm had enveloped them all and he was grateful for his foresight. Jallarzi was on her last legs however and the priest knew that the wizardess was counting on him. Reaching out to touch his friend the priest invoked his most powerful prayer of healing, restoring Jallarzi to full health with but a touch and an invocation. The priest then turned towards the still chanting voice and invoked a spell of purity, washing the area in pure goodness. </p><p></p><p>Kellron watched the holy light spill over the sorceror, Treshan priest, and the devil disguised as Jared. The sorceror’s scream was cut short as he crumpled to the ground, his flesh smoking nearly as much as Kellron’s had moments before. The priest grunted but continued his spell. </p><p></p><p>The quickest of his brothers, Yyntod snarled as he saw the backwash of light from the holy radiance now filling the foyer. Dropping from his ledge over the door to the foyer Yyntod pivoted and picked out the armed woman who was even now directing the humans into alcoves. His gaze met hers momentarily and he tried to bend her to his will. </p><p></p><p>Yyntod’s effort was for naught. The woman, Kestral, was standing within the radiance of the avorals and the charm washed off their protective aura. The magical effort shattered Yyntod’s <em>invisibility</em> and the devil was revealed disguised as Jallarzi in a ragged, black and red dress. </p><p></p><p>Balraj knew that Yyntod could prevail against all of those in the foyer so he concentrated on the paladin who was free from the flames. Uncoiling his whip the devil leapt lightly to the ground, landing some ten feet away from the paladin. With a flick of his powerful wrist he snapped the whip at his foe. The paladin batted the weapon away with his shield with an almost distracted air, his attention was on the spellcasting priest.</p><p></p><p>Foruk, stunned at the counterattack, teleported away. Every spell had pierced his profane resistance and he had been sorely wounded. Confused, the devil sought sanctuary to heal his wounds and prepare again. Foruk saw the illithid-pawn sorceror drop as he teleported away, but gave the expendable human little thought. The human had been expendable anyway.</p><p></p><p>Remarkably the priest had managed to sustain his summoning spell throughout the entire spell barrage. Even as Jared was finishing his <em>holy smite</em> the priest finished his spell of summoning, conjuring forth a fiendish ape from some hellish realm. The priest shouted something in the infernal tounge and the creature bounded towards the foyer. The priest then turned to Kellron, worried, and conjured an unholy darkness around the paladin and himself. The darkness burned like cold-fire and stank of evil. The priest then shifts his mace from his shield hand and readies himself.</p><p></p><p>Events were happening fast and for the first time in a very long time, Kestral found herself slow to react. Shaking the confusion off Kestral drew her sword and yelled to the remaining Imperials. “Head to the alcoves! Let the angels fight for you!” Remarkably the crowd obeyed. She hoped that the avoral’s auras would protect the innocents from any stray fireballs.</p><p></p><p>Converging on the Jallarzi look-alike, the bird-like guardians slashed at the woman, barely leaving scratches. Uncoiling her whip, the woman/devil sneers prettily at them. For their part the avorals can see beyond the glamour concealing the devil and know that right now they are only buying time.</p><p></p><p>Standing in the center of the fiery circle where the broiling heat was only marginally less, Jallarzi strained to peer through the flickering wall. The movement of a large creature bounding past the fiery wall catches her attention, but she pauses for a moment. </p><p></p><p>Kellron calls out to his friends. “A little help?”</p><p></p><p>Jared, hearing Kellron’s call, casts a spell of <em>daylight</em> upon the darkness. A piercing light momentarily appears within the darkness but it is then consumed utterly. Jared snarls but decides to engage the Kellron doppelganger that had dropped from above. “See what you can do.” he tells Jallarzi. Raising Finslayer Jared charges through the flames unharmed and strikes at a creature that looked almost exactly his friend. </p><p></p><p>“Good one!” shouted Finslayer as he sinks deep into the whip-carrying Kellron. The blade sinks nearly to the hilt, and the evil creature stumbles as Jared pulls the enchanted blade free.</p><p></p><p>Seeing Jared is otherwise occupied Jallarzi first invokes a binding spell, freezing the charging ape in place. She then abjures the darkness spell, clearing the <em>damning darkness</em> from the once sacred hall. </p><p></p><p>Kellron breathes freely and charges the Treshan. Unfortunately his wild swing misses. The Treshan’s answering strike is more measured and he manages to hit the paladin upside the head with his wicked looking mace. Kellron grunts but his helmet absorbed most of the blow and he readies himself for another flurry.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile Yyntod lashes at the avorals with his whip. He manages to strike twice but while the whip scores blood the unholy power in the whip fails to stun the angels. Positioned as he is in the foyer Yyntod is unconcerned. The devil doesn’t see what is going on in the nave and is paying more attention to the armed woman who is trying to come up from behind.</p><p></p><p>Not quite panicked, Balraj steps away from the Sarathian priest and teleports across the hall putting himself within striking distance of the paladin. He wants room from the Sarathian priest for the moment. </p><p></p><p>Foruk makes his appearance next; this time on a different ledge and for the moment goes unnoticed. Rather then patiently wait Foruk lets loose with a quickened <em>wall of fire</em>, encircling Jallarzi within a tight circle of flickering fire. The flames are close enough that the young woman’s clothes begin to smolder.</p><p></p><p>The Treshan priest is feeling confident after his successful strike against the Sarathian warrior. He proceeds to lay blow after blow against the paladin and only then realizes how lucky his first blow had been as each subsequent strike is fended off. A cold sweat beads upon the priest’s brow.</p><p></p><p>Finally gaining her bearings Jallarzi looks about and sees the source of the second fire. Gritting her teeth Jallarzi covers her face and runs through both walls of fire, somehow managing not to cry out with the pain. As she emerges from the last wall, her once white hair now blackened, Jallarzi glares at the devil disguised as Jared and invokes another binding, freezing the creature in place. Jallarzi then continues moving towards the foyer.</p><p></p><p>Nearly recovered from the knock to his head Kellron cries out “Sarath!” and smites the Treshan with a single clean blow. The priest crumples under the blow like a sack of potatoes and Kellron uses the momentum of the blade to step closer to his evil twin. The whip-carrying Kellron’s eyes grow wide as Deverat begins to sing a celestial song.</p><p></p><p><em>Balraj finally recognized the blade. No one had said that the Song of Angels had been found. Feebly the devil tried to entangle the blade with his whip, but there was no slowing down the paladin. The last sound Balraj heard before he was beheaded was the cry of “Sarath!” accompanied by a celestial aria.</em></p><p></p><p>The corpse that looked like Kellron shimmered and grew, revealing the mishappened body of a nine-foot long (minus a head) gargoyle like creature. The devil was well muscled and its leathery skin was covered with ruddy scales. Almost immediately the body began to smoke and decompose. Kellron gives the corpse a bare glance and then ran towards the ledge where the held devil posing as Jared was standing.</p><p></p><p>Jared beat Kellron to the punch. Before the paladin had traversed half the distance Jared invoked a horizontal <em>blade barrier</em> on top of the devil, laying it so that the blades cover most of the nearby ledges. Unable to leap out of the way the devil was chopped and slashed into a pulpy mass. The body fell to the floor of the cathedral with a wet thump, but even from forty feet away Jared could tell the body was beginning to knit itself up.</p><p></p><p>Yyntod heard the music and recognized it for what it was. Snarling, the devil pressed the attack against the angels.</p><p></p><p>Bleeding heavily from the whip wounds, Baob and Ferd step back and drop their divine aura.** Yyntod raised a perfectly formed eyebrow in askance and looked about the foyer. He doesn’t know why the angels have done so and wonders if it is a trap. Seeing Jallarzi approach he understands and smiles.</p><p></p><p>“How dare you impersonate me and use my looks to ruin my friends!” Jallarzi’s anger is righteous but she doesn’t understand that Yyntod admires the pride behind it. This is a human he could work with. Jallarzi lets loose with two flights of <em>magic missiles</em>. The missiles slash through the devil’s resistance drawing deep wounds. Wounds that start to heal almost immediately.</p><p></p><p>Within the nave Kellron and Jared ensure that Foruck will never rise again. The unconscious devil cannot even teleport away as the two men slash at the fiend’s body.</p><p></p><p>Yyntod ignores the spell-made damage and smiles, knowing how that smile will infuriate the still burning woman. “You have spirit.” He admires. So saying he drops a fireball just outside the foyer, deliberately missing the cowering humans. The devil didn’t particularly care about the humans but he and brothers would need the fodder to reopen the gate.</p><p></p><p>The ball of fire roars through most of the foyer with a ferocity that Jallarzi is unable to avoid. The wizardess drops to the ground, her flesh burned almost black and her hair almost completely burned away. </p><p></p><p>Somehow Kestral manages to avoid the spiraling flames that had licked out from the explosion. Seeing her friend drop Kestral calls out to the two men. “Jallarzi’s down!” Then to Baob and Ferd, “Bring that aura up!” Bravely the young woman continues to try and harry the wizardess-disguised devil</p><p></p><p>Seeing the wisdom of Kestral’s command the two guardian angels bring their protective auras back up. Baob maneuvers around to Jallarzi and touches the half-elf, easing enough of her wounds that the wizardess wakes up. Ferd lets loose with a flurry of his own <em>magic missiles</em> at the devil, but they burn harmlessly away against the devil’s hide.</p><p></p><p>Jallarzi stirs and stands. Her hastening spell nearly expiring, Jallarzi maneuvers around to the front doors, putting her back to the Imperials. Gritting her teeth through the pain Jallarzi invokes a <em>cone of cold</em>. The blast of frigid air scours the resistance of the fiend and it drops to the floor unconscious. </p><p></p><p>The frost covered corpse twitches on the floor and Jallarzi thinks she sees that the flesh is still trying to heal itself. Rolling her eyes Jallarzi lets fly with another flurry of magic missiles. “Someone get in here and kill this thing!” She yells.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>It doesn’t take long for Kellron to dispatch the last two fiends using the holy power that flows through Deverat. Less than a minute after their surprise attack the three fiendish brothers are no more; their essence sent back to the hellish plane that spawned them. Perhaps in a century or more they would rise again as manes. Perhaps not.</p><p></p><p></p><p>------</p><p></p><p><em>As an interesting side note, everyone but Kestral had an initive over 20. She was down at 7.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>*We apparently forgot that the wall of fire was opaque. As near as I can tell after so long, everyone was targeting through the wall.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>**Jared’s player was running the avorals and I’m still not sure why he did this. I think, in retrospect it was because Jallarzi was going to be entering the area and they didn’t want her spells interrupted.</em></p><p><em></em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Seravin, post: 2871411, member: 6783"] [b]The Welcoming Committee[/b] Shifting from the meeting room with a brief exercise of his will, Balraj led the charge from under the cover of [i]invisibility[/i]. The devil’s destination was a narrow ledge high above the floor along one wall of the nave. A cruel smile crossed the devil’s lips as he realized that their prey was where he had left them and clustered oh-so-close together, and the avorals were nowhere to be seen. Even better his arrival had not been noticed. The human’s attention appeared to be on the darkened shadows and the milling cattle in the entryway. Remarkably, the three other hushed whumps of air signaling the arrival of his brothers and the humans also went unnoticed. Waving a hand out towards the three clustered humans on the floor below, Balraj’s smile turned to a sneer as he invoked a twenty-foot tall, encircling [i]wall of fire[/i] about his prey. The heat of the hellfire wall was enough to drive the humans back a step to the center, but none of them could avoid the hellish heat. The invoked power shattered Balraj’s cloak of invisibility revealing that he was still disguised as the human paladin. Nearly simultaneously a bead of fire formed and shot from the ledge opposite Balraj. The bead sped forth like an arrow and exploded in a ball of orange flame directly over the top of the fiery wall. Foruk, still disguised as the Sarathian priest, was revealed with the fiery invocation and his sneer was the equal of Balraj’s. There was a pause and then all within the nave and foyer heard the hurried voice of a hasted spellcaster invoking a spell from amongst the pews, some twenty feet away from the fire-wall. Barely a second later another voice started to chant. --- Jallarzi only had time to turn towards the direction of the voices. Beyond the bright flames were dark shapes that she could only just make out. Clinically she recognized several syllables and realized that the voice was invoking something akin to a [i]cone of cold[/i]; but something was off. The other voice was praying for a spell of [i]blindness[/i] No sooner had Jallarzi finished that thought then a storm of green, slushy acid erupted from the pews, engulfing everything in its path. The pews in the way disintegrated under the slushy deluge and even the wall of fire wavered enough to allow the acid to reach those inside. At almost the same time Jallarzi’s eyes filled with darkness. Shaking her head she shrugged the spell off and was relieved to find that she was still standing. Jallarzi began to reached for her potions when she heard the hasted syllables begin to repeat themselves. Her eyes grew wide but she didn’t need to give a warning shout. Both Kellron and Jared heard it too and they understood what was coming. Mercifully the second voice was beginning a different prayer. --- The exultant shout died before it was voiced and Balraj’s sneer faltered as the greenish acid evaporated as suddenly as it had been created. The three were still standing. Both the paladin and the wizardess were sorely hurt, but they were still standing. Worse, the priest was completely unharmed; the spellstorm had not touched him at all. Stunned, Balraj got off to a slow start and the devil didn’t have time to so much as swear as twin globes of radiance suddenly appeared in the foyer. The avorals had come back. The burning [i]wall of fire[/i] alerted the angelic guardians that there were new attackers to deal with even as the still frightened humans pressed in against them. Her body burned and aching, Jallarzi orientated on the still chanting voice and invoked a storm of ice, bending her concentration to ignore the waves of heat radiating off the fiery wall*. The [i]ice-storm[/i] caught the sorceror, priest, and the Jared-doppelganger high on the wall. Not satisfied with that and still under the effect of her hastening spell, the wizardess followed up with a [i]sonic-substituted ice-storm[/i] centered on the same place. The cry of pain she hears over the thunderous spell makes her smile but the chanting still continues. Like Jallarzi, Kellron had taken the brunt of the onslaught. Gritting his teeth and ignoring what he was about to do Kellron ran through the flames towards the still chanting voice. The other side of the fiery wall was blessedly cool and the paladin looked about at the enemies before them as he invoked Sarath’s blessing to heal his burned and smoking flesh. Dopplegangers of himself, Jared, and Jallarzi stood precariously on ledges about the nave while two humans stood amongst the wreckage of pews some forty feet away. One of the men, dressed in smoking black robes looked dazed and was already trying to work past the effects of Jallarzi’s counter barrage. The man next to the sorceror was dressed in black platemail and was just about to complete a spell of his own. The one still casting bore a shield with the symbol of Tresh emblazoned on it and was loosely holding an ugly looking mace while the free hand gestured. Grimly, Kellron moved closer to the two men but he knew he wouldn't get there before the spell wasfinished. Jared was reacting nearly as fast as Kellron. His prayer of [i]spell resistance[/i] had just been completed before the spell storm had enveloped them all and he was grateful for his foresight. Jallarzi was on her last legs however and the priest knew that the wizardess was counting on him. Reaching out to touch his friend the priest invoked his most powerful prayer of healing, restoring Jallarzi to full health with but a touch and an invocation. The priest then turned towards the still chanting voice and invoked a spell of purity, washing the area in pure goodness. Kellron watched the holy light spill over the sorceror, Treshan priest, and the devil disguised as Jared. The sorceror’s scream was cut short as he crumpled to the ground, his flesh smoking nearly as much as Kellron’s had moments before. The priest grunted but continued his spell. The quickest of his brothers, Yyntod snarled as he saw the backwash of light from the holy radiance now filling the foyer. Dropping from his ledge over the door to the foyer Yyntod pivoted and picked out the armed woman who was even now directing the humans into alcoves. His gaze met hers momentarily and he tried to bend her to his will. Yyntod’s effort was for naught. The woman, Kestral, was standing within the radiance of the avorals and the charm washed off their protective aura. The magical effort shattered Yyntod’s [i]invisibility[/i] and the devil was revealed disguised as Jallarzi in a ragged, black and red dress. Balraj knew that Yyntod could prevail against all of those in the foyer so he concentrated on the paladin who was free from the flames. Uncoiling his whip the devil leapt lightly to the ground, landing some ten feet away from the paladin. With a flick of his powerful wrist he snapped the whip at his foe. The paladin batted the weapon away with his shield with an almost distracted air, his attention was on the spellcasting priest. Foruk, stunned at the counterattack, teleported away. Every spell had pierced his profane resistance and he had been sorely wounded. Confused, the devil sought sanctuary to heal his wounds and prepare again. Foruk saw the illithid-pawn sorceror drop as he teleported away, but gave the expendable human little thought. The human had been expendable anyway. Remarkably the priest had managed to sustain his summoning spell throughout the entire spell barrage. Even as Jared was finishing his [i]holy smite[/i] the priest finished his spell of summoning, conjuring forth a fiendish ape from some hellish realm. The priest shouted something in the infernal tounge and the creature bounded towards the foyer. The priest then turned to Kellron, worried, and conjured an unholy darkness around the paladin and himself. The darkness burned like cold-fire and stank of evil. The priest then shifts his mace from his shield hand and readies himself. Events were happening fast and for the first time in a very long time, Kestral found herself slow to react. Shaking the confusion off Kestral drew her sword and yelled to the remaining Imperials. “Head to the alcoves! Let the angels fight for you!” Remarkably the crowd obeyed. She hoped that the avoral’s auras would protect the innocents from any stray fireballs. Converging on the Jallarzi look-alike, the bird-like guardians slashed at the woman, barely leaving scratches. Uncoiling her whip, the woman/devil sneers prettily at them. For their part the avorals can see beyond the glamour concealing the devil and know that right now they are only buying time. Standing in the center of the fiery circle where the broiling heat was only marginally less, Jallarzi strained to peer through the flickering wall. The movement of a large creature bounding past the fiery wall catches her attention, but she pauses for a moment. Kellron calls out to his friends. “A little help?” Jared, hearing Kellron’s call, casts a spell of [i]daylight[/i] upon the darkness. A piercing light momentarily appears within the darkness but it is then consumed utterly. Jared snarls but decides to engage the Kellron doppelganger that had dropped from above. “See what you can do.” he tells Jallarzi. Raising Finslayer Jared charges through the flames unharmed and strikes at a creature that looked almost exactly his friend. “Good one!” shouted Finslayer as he sinks deep into the whip-carrying Kellron. The blade sinks nearly to the hilt, and the evil creature stumbles as Jared pulls the enchanted blade free. Seeing Jared is otherwise occupied Jallarzi first invokes a binding spell, freezing the charging ape in place. She then abjures the darkness spell, clearing the [i]damning darkness[/i] from the once sacred hall. Kellron breathes freely and charges the Treshan. Unfortunately his wild swing misses. The Treshan’s answering strike is more measured and he manages to hit the paladin upside the head with his wicked looking mace. Kellron grunts but his helmet absorbed most of the blow and he readies himself for another flurry. Meanwhile Yyntod lashes at the avorals with his whip. He manages to strike twice but while the whip scores blood the unholy power in the whip fails to stun the angels. Positioned as he is in the foyer Yyntod is unconcerned. The devil doesn’t see what is going on in the nave and is paying more attention to the armed woman who is trying to come up from behind. Not quite panicked, Balraj steps away from the Sarathian priest and teleports across the hall putting himself within striking distance of the paladin. He wants room from the Sarathian priest for the moment. Foruk makes his appearance next; this time on a different ledge and for the moment goes unnoticed. Rather then patiently wait Foruk lets loose with a quickened [i]wall of fire[/i], encircling Jallarzi within a tight circle of flickering fire. The flames are close enough that the young woman’s clothes begin to smolder. The Treshan priest is feeling confident after his successful strike against the Sarathian warrior. He proceeds to lay blow after blow against the paladin and only then realizes how lucky his first blow had been as each subsequent strike is fended off. A cold sweat beads upon the priest’s brow. Finally gaining her bearings Jallarzi looks about and sees the source of the second fire. Gritting her teeth Jallarzi covers her face and runs through both walls of fire, somehow managing not to cry out with the pain. As she emerges from the last wall, her once white hair now blackened, Jallarzi glares at the devil disguised as Jared and invokes another binding, freezing the creature in place. Jallarzi then continues moving towards the foyer. Nearly recovered from the knock to his head Kellron cries out “Sarath!” and smites the Treshan with a single clean blow. The priest crumples under the blow like a sack of potatoes and Kellron uses the momentum of the blade to step closer to his evil twin. The whip-carrying Kellron’s eyes grow wide as Deverat begins to sing a celestial song. [i]Balraj finally recognized the blade. No one had said that the Song of Angels had been found. Feebly the devil tried to entangle the blade with his whip, but there was no slowing down the paladin. The last sound Balraj heard before he was beheaded was the cry of “Sarath!” accompanied by a celestial aria.[/i] The corpse that looked like Kellron shimmered and grew, revealing the mishappened body of a nine-foot long (minus a head) gargoyle like creature. The devil was well muscled and its leathery skin was covered with ruddy scales. Almost immediately the body began to smoke and decompose. Kellron gives the corpse a bare glance and then ran towards the ledge where the held devil posing as Jared was standing. Jared beat Kellron to the punch. Before the paladin had traversed half the distance Jared invoked a horizontal [i]blade barrier[/i] on top of the devil, laying it so that the blades cover most of the nearby ledges. Unable to leap out of the way the devil was chopped and slashed into a pulpy mass. The body fell to the floor of the cathedral with a wet thump, but even from forty feet away Jared could tell the body was beginning to knit itself up. Yyntod heard the music and recognized it for what it was. Snarling, the devil pressed the attack against the angels. Bleeding heavily from the whip wounds, Baob and Ferd step back and drop their divine aura.** Yyntod raised a perfectly formed eyebrow in askance and looked about the foyer. He doesn’t know why the angels have done so and wonders if it is a trap. Seeing Jallarzi approach he understands and smiles. “How dare you impersonate me and use my looks to ruin my friends!” Jallarzi’s anger is righteous but she doesn’t understand that Yyntod admires the pride behind it. This is a human he could work with. Jallarzi lets loose with two flights of [i]magic missiles[/i]. The missiles slash through the devil’s resistance drawing deep wounds. Wounds that start to heal almost immediately. Within the nave Kellron and Jared ensure that Foruck will never rise again. The unconscious devil cannot even teleport away as the two men slash at the fiend’s body. Yyntod ignores the spell-made damage and smiles, knowing how that smile will infuriate the still burning woman. “You have spirit.” He admires. So saying he drops a fireball just outside the foyer, deliberately missing the cowering humans. The devil didn’t particularly care about the humans but he and brothers would need the fodder to reopen the gate. The ball of fire roars through most of the foyer with a ferocity that Jallarzi is unable to avoid. The wizardess drops to the ground, her flesh burned almost black and her hair almost completely burned away. Somehow Kestral manages to avoid the spiraling flames that had licked out from the explosion. Seeing her friend drop Kestral calls out to the two men. “Jallarzi’s down!” Then to Baob and Ferd, “Bring that aura up!” Bravely the young woman continues to try and harry the wizardess-disguised devil Seeing the wisdom of Kestral’s command the two guardian angels bring their protective auras back up. Baob maneuvers around to Jallarzi and touches the half-elf, easing enough of her wounds that the wizardess wakes up. Ferd lets loose with a flurry of his own [i]magic missiles[/i] at the devil, but they burn harmlessly away against the devil’s hide. Jallarzi stirs and stands. Her hastening spell nearly expiring, Jallarzi maneuvers around to the front doors, putting her back to the Imperials. Gritting her teeth through the pain Jallarzi invokes a [i]cone of cold[/i]. The blast of frigid air scours the resistance of the fiend and it drops to the floor unconscious. The frost covered corpse twitches on the floor and Jallarzi thinks she sees that the flesh is still trying to heal itself. Rolling her eyes Jallarzi lets fly with another flurry of magic missiles. “Someone get in here and kill this thing!” She yells. --- It doesn’t take long for Kellron to dispatch the last two fiends using the holy power that flows through Deverat. Less than a minute after their surprise attack the three fiendish brothers are no more; their essence sent back to the hellish plane that spawned them. Perhaps in a century or more they would rise again as manes. Perhaps not. ------ [i]As an interesting side note, everyone but Kestral had an initive over 20. She was down at 7. *We apparently forgot that the wall of fire was opaque. As near as I can tell after so long, everyone was targeting through the wall. **Jared’s player was running the avorals and I’m still not sure why he did this. I think, in retrospect it was because Jallarzi was going to be entering the area and they didn’t want her spells interrupted. [/i] [/QUOTE]
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Seravin's Tales of the Night Below (Two Updates this Week - 07/24/07)
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