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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 1633553" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 167Zenna saw them first, and offered a warning to her companions.  “Look out,” she said, but as they entered the chamber from the corridor to the west, she could not think of anything else to say, no further description that could do better than what the six of them could see with their own eyes. There were three of them, clad in bright robes, with soft wings of voluminous white feathers arcing behind their backs.  They were women, tall and stately, their features visages of beauty fashioned in glistening alabaster.  They carried silver trumpets, the instruments so slender and graceful as to seem fragile.  Their eyes, fixed on the companions, spoke volumes of knowledge and wisdom.  When one spoke, her voice filled the room with the sound of a clarion song.   “You have done well, mortal heroes.  You have defeated the giants, who have held us captive, dimming the glow of our eternal light.  For the nobility of your deed, you have earned the right to drink the elixir of the gods.”As she finished speaking Zenna belatedly noticed that another of the women bore a golden chalice, a squat, heavy object that sloshed slightly with a silvery liquid inside.  Morgan had stepped forward, his worn features shaped in an expression of awe.  “I... we... we accept your gift, wondrous ones, scions of heaven...”“Hold a moment,” Arun said behind him.  Everyone, including the three archons, turned to look at him.  “That’s all very well and good; we’re happy to help a couple o’ ladies in need, of course.  But answer me one simple question.  If you’re angels of heaven, why is that you REEK OF PURE EVIL TAINT?”His last shouted words echoed through the chamber.  The angels fixed the dwarf with a cold stare.  One spoke to Morgan.  “Lies!  The dwarf has clearly fallen from the Light... you have clearly seen the bright purity of Heaven, golden knight... Surely you can see truth?”Morgan’s expression had changed, although he was still half-turned from Zenna, facign the archons, and she couldn’t see his eyes.  But there was a tightness in his voice as he lifted his head and addressed them once more. “I once thought that I did, yes.  But I have learned that evil often wears a pleasing face...”And he spoke a command of power, invoking the pure light of Helm.  His invocation cut through the magic surrounding the angels, shearing through the power of their disguise, and their forms shifted, the brilliant white and soft glow fading away. What replaced them were creatures out of a nightmare.  Still female, but three ancient hags, their flesh putrescent green, their skin the consistency of diseased bark.  Their faces were permanently twisted into expressions of pure malice, and they cackled as they regarded the companions. “You might have enjoyed your service to us, foolish child... but so be it!” Their answer came immediately.  Zenna lifted her magical wand, releasing an acid arrow that splashed onto the chest of the closest hag.  The creature screamed.  The one beside her also cried out as an arrow from Dannel’s bow bit into her shoulder.  The hag’s thick hide absorbed most of the force of the attack, but she still snarled a curse at the elf, who calmly drew another arrow out of his quiver. Arun and Hodge immediately leapt forward to the attack, rushing around Morgan, who was still recovering from the revelation unleashed by his dispel magic spell.  But even as the dwarves lifted their weapons to strike down the hags, they let loose their dark powers upon the heroes.  Arun felt the full power of a hag’s gaze settle on him, and felt a wave of nausea and weakness flare over him.  He clutched to the source of his strength, his commitment to the god he served, and the power of the eyebite passed, leaving behind only a burning rage to strike down these foul creatures. Unfortunately, the others lacked the dwarf’s strength of will.  The second hag hurled a wave of screaming, chaotic mental energy into the midst of her foes, scattering their minds with confusion.  Dannel and Zenna were too far back to be affected, and Morgan and Arun both resisted the effects of the spell, but Hodge suddenly halted in mid-charge, his mind clouded by the hag’s evil power, and Mole abruptly lowered her crossbow, her head spinning as she slumped down to sit on the floor.  With their enemies already reeling, the third hag focused her attention upon Morgan.  The cleric withstood her gaze and met it with a cold stare of fury, but even as he lifted his sword, he felt a sinuous finger force its way into his mind.  He tried to fight it, but the hag was too strong for him, and the last thing he remembered was a sinister cackle that seemed to echo within the corridors of his own mind.  “Yes, my pretty one,” the hag laughed.  “Yes, now you are mine.”  Morgan turned, his glowing sword coming up again as he shifted to face his erstwhile companions.  She grimaced again as the acid Zenna had cast upon her continued to smoke and burn, eating away at her hide.  She turned to look at the tiefling, and Morgan’s gaze shifted to follow her own. “Kill the wizard for me, sweetling,” the hag commanded.  And Morgan lifted his sword, and charged toward Zenna, his eyes vacant pools that promised only death.</blockquote>

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