NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spyscribe" data-source="post: 2597772" data-attributes="member: 5808">Ah, finally!Part the One-Hundred Fifty-EighthIn which: there is more of Manaal, the shadow beasts, the gods, and a strange familiar.Manaal recounts the story matter-of-factly, as though the destruction of a military battalion is of little consequence.  And perhaps, to her, it isn’t.She concludes and is met with a nervous silence from the party.“Why did the shadow creatures turn on the Ebisites?” Lira finally asks.  “They certainly didn’t turn on their masters when we fought them.”“You know of these foul creatures?” Manaal asks. “We have… encountered them before,” Reyu explains.  The party tells Manaal of the attack on the Mages Academy, giving her all the details on the shadow beasts that they have.  Manaal has already discovered that the wounds they inflict leave scars, even when healed magically.  Indeed, when she raises her hands and allows her sleeves fall away, the party can see that her arms are covered with scars.Manaal shakes her head.  “I do not know why they turned, but it is fortunate for me that they did, or I do not think I would be here to tell you of them.  Truly Most Holy Ehkt has been watching over me.” “What I don’t understand is how they got here,” Thatch says.  “There weren’t any Ebisites attacking the Academy, were there?”“I believe the Ebisites have been seeking out these creatures,” Anvil says.Everyone turns to stare at Anvil.“What makes you think that?” Eva asks.“Did I not tell you?  They asked me where they could find some.”Anvil reminds the party of the <a href="https://www.enworld.org/index.php?posts/1837853/" target="_blank">encounter he had</a> at the Temple of Justice in Dar Pykos.  It was shortly after the party had been forced to teleport back to Professor Alexandra after their first fight with Sheesak.  An Ebisite had been making inquiries into the shadow beasts, and having learned that Anvil was involved in the attack, sought the Justicar out to question him.  He claimed to represent a gladiatorial arena, but Anvil had found something suspiciously military about the man.  It now seems that suspicion was well-founded.As the others are chewing over this disturbing revelation, Manaal finishes her meal and rises from the table.  “I shall withdraw now to begin my meditations on your offer.  You are welcome to stay here.  At midnight, I will conduct prayers with any who wish to join me.”Anvil’s ears perk up.  Midnight is, traditionally, the time of prayers to Kettenek.  But, somehow, he suspects that that is not what Manaal has in mind.“It was my belief that followers of Ehkt prayed at noon, not midnight” Anvil notes.“I offer my prayers to the Lord at midnight and noon, at sunrise and sunset,” she responds, “as I am sure you venerate His Holy Brother at all times.”Anvil considers for a moment.  Then he nods.  “This is true,” he states.Lira and Reyu accept Manaal’s offer, Reyu because the elves venerate all the gods equally at any time, and Lira… because she wishes to learn more of this strange, powerful figure, the “Chosen Son” of her god.  ###Lira and Reyu arrive at the top chamber of the tower just before midnight, drawn by the rhythmic ringing of a single gong, a strange and lonely sound in the desert night.  Manaal signals for them to enter and kneel by a small fire burning in the center of the room.Lira looks around carefully.  A half-completed staircase leads up to the roof, a clear sign that Manaal is still building her home.  The room’s single window looks out onto the darkness of the high desert, lit only by the sweep of ten thousand stars.  The window admits a faint, warm, breeze that teases the ends of her hair and lifts a bit of sweat of the sweat from her neck, but the heat of the fire more than compensates for that small relief.Lira cannot help but think that, even for the Chosen Son of Ehkt, this is a bit excessive, when her attention is abruptly snapped back to the fire as it suddenly rises and moves towards her.  She realizes with a start that the fire is actually some kind of creature, barely knee-high, but with discernable physiology.“This is Ankhef,” Manaal says.  “My familiar and companion.”The fire fixes the two newcomers with a serious gaze and bows to them.  Bowing back seems to be the only reasonable response.“I have heard of such creatures,” Reyu breathes, barely audible, “Elemental servants of the divine.  But I have never seen one before.”I’d say ‘Ehkt’s balls Lira thinks, but somehow that seems really inappropriate.Ankhef resumes his position in the center of the room.  He concentrates for a moment, and seems to suddenly extinguish himself.  The flames of his body die away, leaving behind a tiny figure with skin that glows like embers.  The room abruptly becomes quite dark.  And even Reyu’s keen eyes have difficulty following Manaal’s movements.Manaal produces a candle, and with a flick of her finger lights it, bathing her face in a golden light. “Lord,” she beings, “now is the hour in which You are farthest from us, but also the hour when Your return begins.  Bring Your light to banish the darkness that we might see Your knowledge.  That we might rise to the challenges You will place before us…”  Manaal continues in this vein—cursing the darkness and beseeching the return of the light—for some time, concluding just as the candle burns itself down to a flickering stump.  As it gutters and dies she sprinkles a handful of incense on Ankhef, and the room—already quite hot and close—is filled with a spicy sweet smoke.  Although not altogether unpleasant, it is enough to make the eyes water.Manaal bows to her familiar.  As he flickers back to his normal appearance, she turns to Lira and Reyu.  “I’ll see you at dawn.”Both nod in acknowledgement, and Lira silently follows the elf as they make their way back down the stairs to the lower room where the rest of the party is sleeping.Lira walks carefully.  Her head feels full and light, as though the slightest touch will set it spinning on her shoulders.  She tells herself that it must be the incense.Yeah, she tells herself as she crawls into her bedroll, right.</blockquote>

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