Willa knew so precious little about healing that all she could think to do was look from somekind of wound and try to bind it, but there was nothing for her to find, or bind, the body of the woman, reminiscent of the little girl she had seen beside the glowing pond was there but there was a peace and serenity there Willa had not seen before.  It did not help that the woman was motionless.  Willa couldn’t even see Midagarra’s face, the druid seemed to have only just finished her own examinations of the body as said something in her own language, not the strange heavily accented Common the adventurers had heard before but something else a rapid almost singsong like language.

  Phelan observed the structural weaknesses in the bowl, large heavy blows are many careful smaller ones could break the bowl apart, of course if he had a sufficiently large explosive the bowl could be blasted apart but he had nothing on him as powerful as blastingclay or bombjelly.  Magically the altar, being something linked to a god would lash out at divine servants; that was probably why Phelan and Daryl were said to be best for it.  Though Daryl would be wiser about the more mystical aspects of magic, Phelan’s training in magic was from a mechanical standpoint not the silly little stories other peoples tended to construct around magic even though Phelan knew that those stories had their own kind of power.
  Though the magic upon the altar could be blocked or contained by a magic circle…though Phelan would have to do a really good job at it.

"The next person who tries to rush me will find their belongings being used in my next ritual..." Phelan muttered ominously as he examined the magical matrices of the altar. Sighing somewhat in exasperation he stood back. "Speaking of which... This will need one, mostly for the safety of Kyssea. We need to contain the... Effects of destruction or we and Kyssea could be in danger from a magical overload."

Shaking his head, he moved away, dropping his bag to the ground and collecting some crossbow bolts and a piece of flint before approaching the altar again. "If any of you have a hammer and chisel, or a hammer and something spiky or the like, please allow me to borrow it. We need to break down the altar sufficiently in order to destroy the enchantment." He looked over at the others before walking a circle around the altar, kneeling down with the flint from time to time to carve a circle around it. Every so often he laid a crossbow bolt down, pointing inward toward the altar. Once he was done, the crossbow bolts were equally spaced, all pointing toward the centre of the altar, encircled by the circle drawn onto the ground by the piece of flint. The narayah stepped back to examine his handiwork and place the remaining bolts and flint back in his bag.

"By the way once the circle comes up? No-one cross it. It will try to stop you. It will hurt you a lot, and if you are able to break through you will destroy it. That would be bad." He looked around, hoping someone had turned up something that could be used to break the altar.

Willa looked ashamed as she was admonsihed by Phelan, but couldn't stop herself from whimpering out loud: "But the undead army..."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:56, Tue 05 May 2015.

"I think this might help you." Drex said as he hand Phelan the bundle that contained he climbing kit. "My your and my gods protect you." Drex said as he touches Phelan's forehead.

Phelan nodded his gratitude as he removed the pitons and hammer from the kit, then stepped back into the circle. "Drex, keep an eye on the circle. Daryl, keep an eye on the magic of it. If either of you notice something weakening or breaking, get everyone out. Take my pack with you." He pointed at the backpack, sitting alone outside the circle. "In there is a journal, it must be taken back to the Narayah people. Think of it as a last request from me."

"_{Ancestors watch over me...}" Thenarayah murmured, bowing his head before throwing his hands up, awakening the circle in an invisible magical field. "Xidlip..." Words weren't always necessary, but they could help and Phelan would need all the help he could get. The circle activated, providing a powerful containment field of magic. The narayah nodded in approval of his handiwork, before turning to the altar.

He approached the altar, before halting briefly. "This hopefully might make this easier..." He commented aloud, as if he was alone, before mentally tracing a square about the altar. Focusing, he activated a disjuncting burst of magic at it, usually used to disenchant magic items into residuum.

Magic Circle Arcana Check: 28!
Cost: One Fortune Token

Jubei was silent as he watched, given that he had no abilities or equipment that he could contribute in a meaningful way, other than potentially functioning as a bulwark to physically shield his companions from whatever magical eruption that could erupt from Phelan's work.

    As Phelan began to chisel away at the stone altar he could feel the movement of power along the lines of magical force which should no longer have existed after his disjunction spell.
  Did you think such a little thing like you could keep Me out?
  Phelan ignored the whisper and cracked another part of the altar.  The air shimmered as something was released from cracks.
  The mass of formless substanceless something swept in upon Phelan, though the narayan was dedicated to his task.  It broke over him like water upon a stone, that he felt a great pressure pushing against him but just above his skin another force was excreting itself to protect him.
  There was a distant roar from altar.

Phelan gasped slightly from the pressure, but continued in his task nonetheless. The piton glowed with his magical energy, flashing with each strike of the hammer as it was driven into the altar. He was alone, but not alone. The memories and spirits of all the Narayah before him stood with him now as he continued his work.

Jubei stared at those strange phantasms and shook his head at their singing, seemingly unable to make sense of the meaning of the song, or how it related to the situation at hand at least. Though he did find time to realize that should the circle break, nothing he could do would help, but then his eyes fell onto the door behind the altar, which might hold a makeshift sanctuary and so he headed to it, keeping well clear of the bounds of the magical circle as he went to reach and open the door.

    A voice hissed at Phelan from above the altar.
  This isn’t over Phelan, you are only delaying the inevitable, this world is unworthy, you are unworthy and you will all be destroyed.
  As with one more blow the altar cracked in two and a third of the bowl broke loose and fell upon the floor with a resounding crash, almost concealing the strange sounds the altar emitted as it broke and the power it held dissipated though a concussive blast sent Phelan flying out of the circle and crashing into the nearby Drex who was himself knocked back by both Phelan and the blast from the altar.  Even Willa, Midagarra and Daryl found themselves bowled over by the blast.
  Only steadfast Jubei kept his footing as he had been making his way up the stairs on the other side of the room.

  Jubei pushes open the small wooden door taking a look inside before he tried to squeeze through the arched doorway into whatever lay beyond, he had to crouch a see inside properly and found what look to be a wide room about thirty feet across and twenty feet to the far side.  He was rather surprised by how much his light illuminated having grown somewhat accustomed to the supernatural darkness which had dominated the cathedral before.
  The room had a large bed, a large desk propped up against a far wall, a bookshelf in the corner a dressing screen a couch, wardrobe, chest drawer and locked chest against the foot of the bed.

Up until it exploded, Daryl had his eyes on the circle and each every single one of Phelan's acts. The very way he interacted with magic fascinated the doola beyond measure. Daryl didn't even notice the paladin leaving, but he did notice the precise moment in which the energy lit into a shock wave.

For all the good it did him.

The mage still found himself thrown against the far wall, not knowing up from down for a second before he worriedly gathered his bearings and got up to check on his companions' state. Especially Phelan, who got the burnt of the blast.

    Though battered and a little bruised the adventurers were for the most part fine.  Midagarra got up collected the unconscious Morrey from a corner and attended to the wounded bird.

Phelan stirred from his dazed state with a moan from the lethargy of being at ground zero of the magical backlash. He was uninjured, but the sheer force of it had taken a lot out of him. Unsteadily he got up from  where he had landed by Drex, shaking his head and looking at the altar.

Jubei had been practically shoved into the room by the force of the blast behind him and it was more of a reflex that urged him to scan it for potential enemies than normal curiosity. He didn't hesitate long as he, admittedly a little awkwardly, trudged his way back out of the room to hurry back to his friends, who he had left alone with seemingly the most oportune timing. "Is everyone alright?", he asked, looking around.

Willa stood up awkwardly, having also been bowled over.  She noticed that Phelan was missing from the last place she saw him and looked about in a panicked state until she spotted him further across the room, also getting to his feet.  She quickly skidded over to him.  "Mr Phelan sir, is okay?" She asked with much concern, remembering the incident from earlier in the temple.

"I think we are." Drex said to Jubei. "Do you think we succeeded?" Drex asked as he checks for wounds on himself. That he might not have noticed.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:22, Fri 15 May 2015.

Although Phelan appeared dazed - groggy enough not to respond to her concern - once Willa was close enough she could see that he was uninjured.  At least not badly enough for her to notice.  That was probably as much as she could hope for at the point.

Suddenly eveything seemed quiet.  It had been so long since they had stopped for a break that Willa was beginning to forget the sensation of being able to pause and think for herself.  She was tired and worn out.  Not only that but her body still burned.  Something had changed within her and she wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not.  She just hoped that she had made the right choice.  The Big Bad Voice in the Darkness Soul-Stealer Demon, Hecatomb was gone, wasn't he?  Was that because of her?  She couldn't remember.  Maybe her friends had dealt with him.  Yes it was probably them.  They were heroes afterall.  She was just Willa.

The little umbrean flopped to the floor as her legs gave way underneath her.  She was exhausted.  She felt like she had so little energy left.  It was like all those terrible times she had been hunted through the city when she was little.  Sighing she looked around the room and her gaze fell upon the body she had wanted to help before.  She sniffed as tears welled up within her.

"Mr Phelan, sir." She asked meekly, "Willa know you did soooo much already.  And she not at all, but Willa not know many things like Mr Phelan, sir.  Willa could not help girl."  She points to the prone body that used to host the demon. "But Mr Phelan, sir smart.  Think can be to help her?  Willa promised to."  At this point the oozling was on the verge of bursting into tears from shame and depression, "but Willa cannot.  Willa not know how.  Willa not want to break promise to friends water and stone.  Mr, Mr Phelan, sir could help Aviana for Willa?"

  Midagarra opened her mouth, smiled and closed it, nodding at Jubei as she opened her satchel and moved things about so that she could put morey inside on something soft.  The raven seemed to be fast asleep as he had curled up into a ball.

Phelan looked up at Willa, wishing he could just rest. Two magical rituals, not to mention the phantasmagoria and the scare he had earlier, took a lot out of him. But she had a point, and he did want to make sure they had tried their hardest for Aviana in spite of what the being had said. Dazedly, he stumbled over to the body of Aviana, using his medic training to at least perform a diagnosis and see if anything could be done.

Heal Check (Diagnosis): 24

Jubei let out a low rumble as he trudged over to the others. "That room in the back seems to be the private quarters of... well... her.", he said and motioned over to the motionless body of Aviana. "It has a desk, some drawer and a locked chest in there. We should probably investigate that for clues... if we still need them?", he reported and then walked over to aforementioned body, furrowing his brows briefly as he tried to discern any more.. spiritual ailments that she could suffer from, considering everything she had gone through.

20:21, Today: Iron Jubei rolled 17 using 1d20+5. Religion check: Check for spiritual ailment.

 Before he looked over to Willa, "So... how did you.. what happened that you were... possessed by that being of light? Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, it was exceedingly timely, given our situation."

Willa, more concerned with Aviana than anything being asked of her, looked at Iron Jubei in confusion.  "Huh?  Aviana possessed, no Willa."

"I will have a look." Drex remarked on Jubei's suggestion. "It was timely wasn't it? Someone on High has taken a quine interest in you Willa... And if my suspicion is correct this will not be the last we see of It or Them..." But he sees Willa's attentions is on the body of the girl, so he decided to leave it at that and make his way to the room where Jubei had suggested they have a look.

He starts searching for clues... but he is finding it difficult with all that had transpired still on his mind. "Landgazer snap out of it and com and help me look. I'm sure Phelan can manage his own wounds. Your keen magical scenes is of more use to me. It could locate something of interest in this pill of mess." At lest that is how it looked to Drex.

09:02, Today: Drex rolled 13 using 1d20+12. Perception check... rolled a 1 :(   
This message was last edited by the player at 06:28, Thu 21 May 2015.

     Looking over the body, Phelan found it devoid of any sign of life yet there was no sign of any injury or illness upon the corpse.  It was as if life had simply left her.  The body was still surprisingly warm to his touch.  The hair on the back of his neck could not help but stand on end at the sight of something both so natural and yet unnatural.

  Jubei could sense what he could best describe to himself as a smouldering of spiritual presences, mostly that which had come from whatever power had inhabited Willa not long ago, of the four presence of the deamon there was not even a trace.

  Drex made his way into the room at the back, seeing much as Jubei did a room that seemed to both a bedchamber a study and a lounge.

[Oh right I had almost forgotten, all are all cured of Deamentation!]
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:22, Fri 22 May 2015.

Jubei let out a sigh in the direction of the motionless body and slowly shook his head, before he turned back to Willa. "I am sorry, but she is gone. I don't feel any... spirit being left behind. It could best be described as a... smouldering ruin... whatever aid you called on, didn't exactly act with finesse. And without a spirit, we aren't even able to resurrect her.. which unless I'm severly mistaken nobody of us can do anyway." , the dragonblood said and then raised one hand to scratch over the back of his neck a little, before eventually giving a shrug. "There's nothing left we can do, other than giving her a burial. But we don't have time for that, do we? You said the town was in danger?"

Willa looked conflicted.

"Oh. No...was Willa's fault?" She sniffed and tears started welling up in her eyes once more. "Willa only want to save Aviana.  Not to..." She wiped her arm across her eyes.  "Willa did bad again?"  There's a long pause before the umbrean continues.  "Willa think no to bury, but maybe to take.  Take to place where Willa meet friends Water and Stone for first time?  Willa sure friends Water and Stone like to see Aviana again.  Must to do something!

Though, Kyssea also...yes.  Is much danger.  Enemies leave Necropolis soon.  Even now maybe?  Whole big Undead army.  Cloud will not go.  Not for day.  Army will kill people in Kyssea.  Make undead also.  Too many for Willa.  Too many even for Iron Jubei!  Need must get Mardigras and staff to sarcophagus.  Friends Water and stone tell.  Must be done.  Even do before Aviana." Willa looks apologetically at the corpse of the one she had tried so hard to save. "But after, maybe then can put-rest b...body?"