Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 3110034" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #362] Rake[/PLAIN]The Order had learned precious little relevant information about their foe. The murdered elf girl had told them that Rake was 'strong in both limb and magic'. Grandfather Plaque had confirmed that he was a spellcaster of the divine variety. Both sources of information warned them not to underestimate Rake's evil. "Don't let him take you alive," the elf maid warned. "Don't let him cast spells," suggested the stone face.They determined to use this advice to their best advantage.Rake's hold, the stone guardian told them was located at the end of a twisting hallway that turned out to be a horror in and of itself. The same sanguine torches provided illumination, casting in disturbing shadows the numerous humanoid corpses impaled on black iron spikes along the walls. As they neared the location of the Mendicant's lair, even the floor was clad in iron. Huzair stopped them there and turned to Karak."May I please have my spear back... or are you all going to ban me from having all weapons?" the mage asked, indicating the shortspear the dwarf had lashed to his back. The banner of Ibrahil depended from it, hanging down across Karak's back."Ye do nae use weapons, wizard!" the dwarf grumbled. He clutched protectively at the banner. "Ye'd likely poke yerself in the eye.""I do need something if my spells run out," Huzair said flatly. The Mark of Fire he'd placed on his forehead seemed to burn in the ruddy light."If your spells run out I think we'll be in real trouble," Lela chirped."Aye! An' this banner be magic!" the dwarf pressed. "It's power might mean th' difference 'tween victory an' defeat!""We don't even know what the stupid thing does!" Huzair countered, prompting Ayremac to step into the debate."If we stick to our attack plan, we won't need the magic of your flag, Karak," the holy warrior said. "Huzair was kind enough to lend you his spear for use as a flagpole, but the banner didn't aid us when we fought those foul undead husks. The spear is his by right." Karak stared at Ayremac for a long moment then he harrumphed and began untying the spear."Now let's move," Morier hissed impatiently. "Our enemy can't be far now!"Rake sat on his massive throne, his eyes glassy and unfocused as he listened to Rezsaamar's whispers*. It told him things, mysteries unheard of on the Prime. He was doing the Queen's work and he would be rewarded when she returned to ascendence. Rake grinned darkly, lost in his reverie and anticipating the dark blood-letting that would follow in Aphyx's footsteps.Karak heaved against the massive portal, once again pricking himself on the spiky metal. He grunted in pain, making absolutely no sound within the radius of Shamalin's Silence spell. They saw the massive figure slouching in an equally massive chair some 60 feet away at the top of a set of stairs that elevated the throne some ten feet above the level of the floor. Braziers full of fire set along the far wall illuminated the chamber and the monstrous horror that as Rake. He was humanoid, they could see, but he was unlike any humanoid they'd ever seen. His vacant face was largely orcish with a toothsome snout and heavy brow ridge. The eyes that stared out of that face, burned with an unholy light that no natural orc had even possessed. Its clothing consisted of robes of leather and untanned, pinkish hides and he appeared to have actually sewn onto himself other bits and pieces of flesh creating a grisly patchwork of skin tones. The rough seams visibly oozed puss.The stench in the chamber was unwholesome.At once, The Order sprang into action.Lela darted forward first, carrying the coin upon which Shamalin had cast her spell. Before the figure on the throne could even react, she moved near him and dropped the coin, blanketing him in complete Silence.Huzair stepped forward and invoked Pyrotechnics, causing one of the braziers against the far wall to belch forth great gouts of churning black smoke. In the space of a few heartbeats Rake and the entire dais upon which his throne was raised had disappeared within a billowing cloud.Morier and Ayremac both moved forward to the edge of the cloud and the Silence effect. The eldritch warrior boosted himself with a Bull's Strength even as Ayremac invoked his Shield of Righteousness. They waited with weapons ready for Rake to appear (hopefully gagging uncontrollably) from within the smoke cloud.Karak, however, had another tactic in mind. He stamped up the stairs, his heavy boots going suddenly silent as he entered the cloud.Lela hovered near Shamalin, protecting her tiny form with Barkskin while the cleric called on Flor to let her Detect Thoughts. The half-elf concentrated on the smoke cloud, picking up only the mental signature of Karak angrily thinking, "Where be tha' great bastard?""He's not in there," she announced, wishing that there were some what she could tell Karak that he was wasting his time scouring the smoke cloud."Perhaps he's gone invisible," Huzair's disembodied voice suggested from somewhere nearby."Spread out!" Morier barked, swinging Ravager through the air in a wide arc. Huzair had Blurred the albino and his form looked smeared somehow as a result, as if some god had taken his thumb and purposely obscured his outline. "Look for any sign of an invisible creature!"Shamalin positioned herself near the door to watch as the others fanned out across the room in their search. The air was thick with a heavy silence that did not seem to emanate solely from her spell. Tensely, she shifted her weight back and forth, the creak and clank of her armor sounding particularly loud in the hushed chamber.  Movement in the hallway they'd entered by caught her eye and she had to blink a few times to be sure that her own imagination was not toying with her. Within mere heartbeats, wisps of fog from the low corners of the hall began to swirl and mass into the solid form of the Mendicant. Up close she saw it was huge - easily twice her own height. Numbly, she tried to think of some warning, but as the thing's gaze locked with hers she could do little more than utter a strangled cry. Before she could move, Huzair's Flaming Sphere ignited the space between them, startling her enough that she took a shaking step back out of Rake's reach.Ayremac heard the woman's cry of alarm and he rushed over to the doors and the creature beyond. His morningstar glowed brightly as he charged the noisome creature, but he was two late to prevent its spellcasting.It gestured and a clashing wall of red and black energy sprang up at Ayremac's back, isolating him in the corridor with the giant orc."He's casting spells!" Morier observed as he charged forward. Lela took off in the opposite direction."I'll get the coin!" she offered, heading toward the dissipating smoke cloud. She didn't see Morier rebound off the barrier that Rake had erected across the doorway.Shamalin stepped up and tried thrusting her hand through the wall of magical power, but something that pulled at her soul rather than her flesh prevented her from passing. She grimaced and drew back from the Wall of Evil as something thundered up behind her. Turning, she saw Karak charging forward, axe at the ready and teeth bared. He came on, a deep guttural battle roar coming from his throat; he too slammed into the barrier and fell back, unable to pass it."This is a b*tch!" Huzair said, rolling his Flaming Sphere onto Rake's feet, hoping to disrupt any further spellcasting he might do. If it had any effect on the mendicant, he didn't let it show as he reached out and touched Ayreamc lightly on the arm. The holy warrior shrieked involuntarily as he felt a wave of Poison move magically through his body at that touch. His very lifeforce seemed to ebb in the wake of the spell and he staggered back."What's the matter, Holy Warrior?" Rake grinned evilly down at Ayremac. "You're looking a little pale."Ayremac's response was to raise his shield in a warding gesture as he began to chant a powerful prayer to Umba - one that he knew would Counterspell any Necromantic magic. He just hoped that it would provide him enough protection to pass through the barrier and distance himself from the cruelly-smiling horror that loomed in the hallway before him.To face Rake alone, he knew, would be his death.---------------------* Rezsaamar, the fiendish symbiot, is filed under the heading of missed opportunities. I totally forgot about his existance throughout the battle with Rake. Alas...</blockquote>

Verification