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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 1032993" data-attributes="member: 1210">Bridge Over Troubled SandsThe party’s expedition soon leads them around a corner and before a 10’ wide bridge over a seething pit full of seething radiant energy and churning silver sand that looks like it wouldn’t be much fun to fall into.  The bridge goes across the gap, but it’s blocked.  Standing upon it in an aspect of guardianship are a shuffling mass of creatures writhing with strangely-suckered tentacles.  Their forms seem to shift and melt as our heroes watch; they stand one moment like four-armed white apes, and the next moment they seem to bend and twist like a licorice whip pulled on a hot day.  Clearly the leader, one of the creatures stands out from the rest: a 10’ high ape-like creature sprouting more thick tendrils, cruel hooks on them.  It’s hard to see its form; it seems to blur and shift.  Worse yet, standing behind the group of pseudonaturals is another Marius.At least the big one doesn’t have four arms.It appears the pseudonatural creatures have been forewarned, for they spring into action, hooting like gorillas, before the party has much of a chance to do anything.  Their suckered tentacles shlep forward, questing for Material plane flesh.  The two-armed one becomes even harder to see, and suddenly the Marius (the Willmaster) that the party drove off previously acts, unleashing a chain lightning at the group followed by an enervation at Orbius!  There’s a certain instant hazard as our heroes are all bunched up, but so are the pseudonatural monkey-things, and Marius the Chronomancer (the party’s ally in this case) blasts them all with a lightning bolt, then follows it up with a quickened magic missile at the simulacrum.  The missiles blast through harmlessly.  “Projected image!” the real Marius shouts.  “There’s a false Marius here somewhere!”  He looks around for his false self to no avail. The Eye, groaning from the burden of negative energy that’s been slapped on him, fires another lightning bolt and mostly clears the bridge.  Only the two-armed pseudonatural beast shrugs it off; and only two of the four-armed pseudonaturals survives the blast.  The first doesn’t last long, however; Angelfire rushes forward with a loud battle cry and smashes into it, knocking it off the bridge and down into the seething energies below.  There’s a horrible loud squeal that cuts off suddenly as the churning sands of time destroy it utterly!It’s only been seconds since the start of the fight and already it seems to be almost over.  Cursing silently to himself behind his illusory wall, Marius the Willmaster fires an empowered enervation at Orbius, hoping to take him out!  Again the crackling black ray strikes home and the Eye of Boccob sags against the wall, coughing as he feels his very life being suppressed.  Where is that Marius? Orbius thinks wildly, and spends a moment to look for him.  Thanks to his piercing clarity, he spots the illusory wall- and thanks to the Rary’s telepathic bond the group cast upon first arriving, he cries out a mental warning.The last pseudonaturals are attacking Angelfire.  The ‘biggun’ slams at him with brutal force, landing several blows on the scarlet Coilite.  The other pseudogirallon grabs hold of him, trying to hurl him from the bridge, and the two struggle for a moment; then, with Drelvin the Archer’s aid, Angelfire hurls the ape-thing down!  It grasps desperately at the edge of the bridge, hanging by a finger, but a swift arrow from Drelvin solves that and it plummets with a screech into the seething sands below.  Even as he does so, Horbin the Holy unleashes a destruction spell and the pseudonatural dire ape is blasted into dust!  Telemundo fires a finger of death at the projected image, but it fails to have any effect.But now that most of the group knows where the illusory wall is, things are turning rapidly.  Malford launches himself into the air, flying across the gap to where the phantom wall is, and casts a glitterdust through it.  Surprised, Marius the Willmaster grunts as he’s dazzled and blinded.  Then the L hurls himself through it and, with a single word and a pointed finger, unleashes a flame arrow at the blinded simulacrum.  Now Marius the Willmaster is staggering back, almost beaten.  No! he thinks wildly.  Not like this!  I’m as powerful as the progenitor, I can’t go down like this!  Must escape...!  He casts his most powerful magic- a time stop- and suddenly an incendiary cloud appears, roiling with flaming red vapors.  “Enough!” the real Marius cries, and he damages the creature with a disintegrate.  It doesn’t finish the Willmaster, however; though sorely wounded, he’s still standing.  But not for long.  He sinks to one knee as a volley of the Eye’s magic missiles zips into his chest, and then Sybele is flying forward, arrows zinging from her bow and sinking deep into the simulacrum’s chest.  The second shot finishes it; it bursts into a pile of rapidly-melting snow.The group pauses.  “Are we done yet?” Sybele asks plaintively. “No,” Marius the Chronomancer answers shortly.  “We still must deal with the usurper.”Next Time: The confrontation with Marius the Usurper!</blockquote>

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