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="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7861016" data-attributes="member: 79141">Session 245, Part ThreeLast Stand of the Star MarshalThe Star Marshal’s sudden arrival took them aback.  She appeared right next to them , accompanied by two horned devils and a towering glabrezu, and addressed the whole room in a commanding voice: “Intruders have penetrated the fortress. I recognise their vessel from our raid on the fairy plane and have come to prevent them from rescuing their king.”Quratulain said to Korrigan, telepathically, “I hope you’ve got a good one-liner for when we emerge from hiding.”As if on cue, Gupta kicked things off, treating all foes to a horrifying vision of the fall, a power now augmented by its presentation of two falls for the price of one (as well as all the willpower Gupta could muster).  The hapless legionnaires could not cope and all who saw the vision – some two-hundred and fifty of them – were slain in an instant.At that, Korrigan revealed himself and said to the Star Marshal, “You and what army?”With a roar of appreciation, Rumdoom launched himself at the horned devils guarding the Star Marshal, swinging at both with the Stone of Not.  He hit one and it vanished, but the other one dodged aside.  Korrigan urged him to swing again.  He did so, and the second one vanished too.Quratulain had already calculated the angles and judged the distances.  In a series of swift movements, she shot and killed one succubus with her lantern blaster, then pivoted and killed the other, on the opposite side of the room.  There would be no further reinforcements.Leon uttered a curse of incapacity and caused the glabrezu to flounder.Deeming it appropriate, Uriel called upon his incarnation Babatunde for the first time.  This was the godhand who defended William Miller at Pala. The others saw his fists glow with radiance, and golden light limn his body like a suit of armour.  He pounced at Star Marshal Lacia and struck her twice.   Denied allies, she was unable to defend herself and cried out in horror.Gupta had been subjected to the lascivious sorcery of the Star Marshal before, and did not want to risk repeating the experience. “Will you defer to the true rulers of Egalitrix?” she asked.  Lacacia was stunned by her effrontery and could not bring herself to act, save to attempt to defend herself against the assault of the godhand.Everything seemed to be going pretty well, thought Korrigan, as Quratulain took out a whole squad of elite stars with her pistols. Without the need for his personal involvement, he contented himself with providing salient advice and general battle management tips, which caused the unit to tighten its performance even further: the remaining horned devil found it almost impossible to hit Uriel with his chains.Leon teleported, to levitate alongside Thisraldion’s cage.   Close up, he realised that the monarch of Av had refused to be dominated by the Legion.  His bowed head was evidence of his continued determination to resist the influence of the gold chains that were wrapped around him.  He had been beaten, that much was clear, but they had imprisoned him here because his resolve had not been broken. Without raising his head, Thisraldion said.  “Hello, Leon.  Would it be possible for you to remove these chains, I wonder?” Leon teleported both of them far down one of the aisles of ingots, away from the ongoing combat.The remaining elites – four whole units – threw their gearlances at Uriel, Quratulain, Korrigan and Rumdoom.  They defended expertly, smashing the missiles away or sidestepping them. Uriel turned the tables on the Star Marshal, using one of Babatunde’s tricks – he grabbed her to use as a shield against the gearlances and left her collapsed under a heap of gold chains.Uriel pounced back onto Lacacia, subjecting her to a flurry of blows.  She used the chains themselves to defend her, but some of his attacks were keenly felt. Gupta kept up the relentless attack, bone-cursing the Star Marshal.  She cried out, shrugged off the curse, and tried to weave her own curse around Uriel.  She failed, and was beaten into a final stillness.Rumdoom dispatched the glabrezu with the Stone of Not. The sole remaining horned devil flew up and attacked Rumdoom from above. He grabbed the devil’s chain, yanked it towards him and killed it.Keen to comply with Thisraldion’s wishes, Leon used starfire to burn through the golden chains that bound the monarch.  Perhaps Thisraldion had not understood the danger this presented, as the instant the chains were removed, he cried out in pain, and his flesh began to blacken; not as fast as it might have affected other devils, as he was not entirely dominated by the legion, but it would, surely, eventually, kill him.  Leon passed him a healing potion and called for aid.The elites rained down explosive attacks on Quratulain, Gupta and Korrigan, who were clustered together, working in tandem.  Quratulain enjoyed the effects and, though sorely injured, Korrigan and Gupta remained standing. That was enough for the elites.  They would fight to the death if ordered to do so, but other contingencies must have come into play when faced with insuperable odds in the interior of Egalitrix.  They yanked their gearlances back to them and began a steady, defensive withdrawal. Even while his allies harried the retreating elites, Leon brought Thisraldion to Uriel, then lit the Wayfarer Lanter, having filled it with oil of Arboretum.  Between Uriel and Korrigan, they were able to heal the monarch and rid him of the legion’s curse.At once, Thisraldion gave them thanks, then he stood, raised his arms aloft, and summoned his vorpal sword into his hands.  It arrived with a snickersnack.  Wielding it with happy abandon, he joined Quratulain and Rumdoom in their assault on the retreating elites, dancing around the chamber, lopping off devils' heads to the left and to the right.  None of the devils got away.Word came from Amielle.  “How long are you going to be?  Rock’s not sticking to the plan!  Do I follow him?”Korrigan told her to sit tight.  They still needed to find Master Chyak.Thisraldion knew where he was:  “When I was first brought here, I was taken before General Paelyrion in an attempt to cause me to submit to the legion.  Master Chyak San-Cho is his personal bodyguard.”“Uh oh…” said Gupta.End of Session</blockquote>

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