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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rolzup" data-source="post: 3119865" data-attributes="member: 10105">Please Sir, May I Have... Your Soul!With a word, I kindled luminescence upon a bolt, and fired it down into the darkness.  It provided enough light to allow us to see that there was a chamber some fifteen feet below the surface of the courtyard, and that it extended some distance beyond our sight.  We could see nothing moving, and heard no sounds at all."Probably a trap," I thought to myself.  At my order, Rackhir leaped to obey, and rapidly descended into the pit...HE VOLUNTEERED, ACTUALLY.  DEEP, DARK PIT, PROBABLY FILLED WITH MONSTERS?  OR LISTENING TO BURNE?  THE CHOICE IS PAINFULLY CLEAR....followed, with a sniff of disdain, by Kenji.  Meiji and Myself took up positions at the opening, prepared to offer assistance with our various arts.  Or hobby, really, in Meiji's case.The screaming began mere moments later.  And it was not coming, for a change, from either Rackhir or Kenji.  A...thing came floating up the shaft; an insubstantial creature the size and proportions of a child. It was wailing, and babbling, and seemed most distressed...and I, my heart taken by pity, could not help but shed a sympathetic tear.IT HYPNOTIZED HIM.  NOT THAT STUPIFYING BURNE IS ANY GREAT FEAT.So overcome with emotion, I lost track of matters for a few moments. Apparently other, more substantial child-corpses, set upon the Ajikhani below, and were met by stiff resistance.  Meiji, no doubt, clapped his hands and squealed with glee at the sight.Abraxis, for some bizarre reason, chose this moment to make an attack upon my person. Cranial adjustments were clearly needed, and to the best of my recollection I made them shortly therafter, with the aid of a sledgehammer.I WAS TRYING TO ROUSE HIM FROM HIS STUPOR.  IN HOPES OF HIS ACTUALLY BEING USEFUL FOR A CHANGE.  NEXT TIME, I'LL JUST LET HIS SOUL GET EATEN.  SEE IF I CARE.When I came to myself again, I found that Kenji and Rackhir were beset by several foes, including one who appeared to be thrusting his hand directly into Rackhir's chest.  I used the Engine to generate a bolt of force, which drove the thing back long enough for the archer to catch his breath.At this point, with an incantation and a wholly unneccessary flourish of his hands, Meiji conjured forth a wall of fire  Not a patch on the sort of thing I could produce, were I so inclined.  Pale, colorless flames, barely hot enough to toast a piece of bread...and not even a hint of sulphur!  Indeed, I though for a moment that I smelled the perfume of cherry blossoms upon the air.Effeminate frippery, and typical of the sort of decadent nonsense that will someday bring the Ajikhani empire crashing down.Meiji's shoddy wall divided the chamber more or less in half, with the foe packed in tightly around his two countrymen.  As this left them without room to maneuver, and with the corprophages surrounding them all sides, this seemed to me to be a rather odd tactic to adopt.And then I realized, upon the instant, his plan.  Clearly, he wished to kill both Kenji and Rackhir, for reasons all his own.  I could not deny that his goals were indeed noble, surprisingly so, but his tactical sense was clearly lacking.  Once the two of them were dead, who would be left for these living corpses to batten upon?  Only myself and Meiji.   I toyed for a moment with the idea of applying a boot to his backside, and then using anapplication of Burne's Resinous Agglutination to seal the entrance, but abandoned the scheme with some reluctance.Barbaric and foolish though these foreign devils may be, they still have some uses.  And if they were to fall victim to such foes as these, then their corpses would likely be devoured before I could discover said uses....The point was soon rendered moot, however.  Rackhir, rapidly followed by the skirted swordsman, dove through the flames and vanished from our sight.  I could not withhold a snort of disdain; had these been flames of my creation, both of them would have been burnt to cinders upon the instant.  Demonstrating the truth of this, I used Burne's Incandescent Arc to finish off a few of the undead horrors myself, while encouraging Meiji to descend and aid his countrymen. The coward, naturally, declined.I heard the sounds of battle, and yelps of pain, coming from behind the curtain of flame.  More clearly than anything else, I could hear a stream of steady curses in Rackhir's voice.  I could not understand his barbaric tongue, but Meiji assumed a blush of pride at this invective.  He'll wake up looking like a porcupine some morning soon, I don't doubt.With a reluctant sigh, he at last let the flames gutter out.  We could then see the others, still smoldering a little, finishing off the remaining corpses.  One of the insubstantial things evaded them, however, and flew up the shaft.  As Meiji gibbered in terror, I used another bolt of force to disperse the thing once and for all.As I admired my handiwork, Meiji eagerly climbed down the ladder into the chamber below.  And as I prepared to join him, I could not help but pause as I heard him cry out, in a voice filled with delight, "Oooh, cake!"This, I felt sure, boded ill.</blockquote>

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