As Doc makes a mad dash to the behemoth screaming how he is getting torn up. Arulas flexes his right arm and does a few flicks with his white psi-sword. The effort of manifesting it was a little draining, but not extreme. The effort of maintaining it leaves him a little distracted. He walks up to the nearest crow slowly and rather calmly. As he approaches in Dragonese he says "I suggest you spirits leave. The fact is this will hurt you I have no doubt. We have fought vampires and walked away. You shall not survive this. Of course you could stay and we will rid the world of a minor evil."

Polkitain joins with Sir Arulas statements.

"Yes go back to what dimension you came from, our next actions will hurt even spirits." His eyes narrow.


09:00, Today: Polkitain rolled 60 using 1d100.  Intimidation.
Success by 5

Without the use of Commune with Spirits or Telepathy, these spoken words go unheeded. ...or perhaps the crow spirits are just stubborn. Either way, they do not retreat. The spirits are calling Arulas' bluff.

Polkitain wanted to tell Ethan to get back in the behemoth he didn't want his friend hurt. Though he wanted to join Sir Arulas and so he shuffled his claws digging into the ground.

Polk can still relay that message to Ethan, but his instructions will be ignored at the moment. If Polk studies Ethan, he might notice that there is an almost transparent shimmering effect around the man and the mustang -- your call as to whether Polk sees it or not.

Here is the tactical situation. Arulas, Kalista, Nyx, and Doc all possess weapons which they are reasonably certain are capable of harming spirits. Polkitain is uncertain if any of his attacks will effect spirits, but he is the only character who can spot them all. Doc is trying to get inside the Behemoth unsuccessfully because the door was hatch was closed.

Polkitains poke out of the side of his mouth quietly.

"Ethan, could you, you know get to safety I don't want you hurt."
It might have appeared comical the way he was whispering but Polk was serious his voice not joking at all.

(in NPC mode)

"I will be finished with this patient soon enough. Don't worry about me for now. I am better protected than most."

Doc continues frantically looking for a way inside the Behemoth, swatting at the non-existent crows that are pecking and tearing at him.

Polkitain nodded and moved to one of the possessed crows.

Reaching out to try and touch it. His body become limed with a golden white glow.

Kalista remains frozen, unable to move.

He gave the crow all the warnings he felt he needed to. He swipes at the nearest green eyed crow.

The first attacker to reach his target is Polkitain. He strikes at the crow who is landing on the fence. The animal makes no effort to avoid the dragon, perhaps arrogantly believing that it cannot be harmed. His claw wraps tight around the small burn, and a hissing noise comes from the creature as if it were a tea kettle about to whistle. The bird flaps wildly, but the animal's aura has shifted. It has lost its supernatural color leaving behind only the aura of a healthy natural (and panicking) animal. A part of the fence collapses under the dragon's weight.

Sir Arulas is the next to reach a target. He strikes at the creature in the grass near Samuel. The bird does attempt flap backwards out of the way, but Arulas' grace and speed far exceed the challenge of striking the grounded bird. With a flash of his sword, the bird is sliced in twain. The elf thinks that he can feel resistance at the tip of his blade as if something is really there like an invisible hand which grips and pushed back against energy weapon.

Meanwhile, the nightmare crows in multiplying in Doc's vision all around him.

Nyx and Samuel each feel a sharp impact against his armor. According to his HUD, the suit was just attacked by an unidentified projectile. It was actually a telekinetic bullet, a weapon which Nyx knows intimately. Nyx' body armor and Samuel's power armor each lose 1 point of MDC from their main bodies.

One phantom crow remains in spirit form sitting on what remains of the fence. A second phantom crow is in the body of a live crow, and that crow is in some tall grass near Kalista. A third feels like it's on the business end of Arulas' sword, but he cannot see it.

"You are free." Polkitain said happily. Then the fence gave out and he hit the ground. Polk shook his head then turned letting his eyes sweep over things.

"Keep the pressure on your sword Sir Arulas, I will try to help Lady Kalista." Polkitain tried to place himself between her and the crow if there was only a little space he tried to interpose a wing, hoping that doing so would break the strange spell the spirit had on her.

He tried reaching out to grasp that crow not hard enough to kill it merely to hold it.



07:26, Today: Polkitain rolled 20 using 1d20+3.  Try to gently grasp the crow.
07:27, Today: Polkitain rolled 14 using 1d20+4.  Pull Punch.


"Go back to your home dimension, you can be harmed and even killed."

If he has the crow in his grasp and the spirit refuses to go he will use the same attack as he did on the last one.

'Well guess I will have some repair work to do after all,' Sam thinks.

He finally notices that Doc is desperate so he uses his remote installed in his armor to open the door of the Behemoth so that Doc can get in. He shoots anything that tries to go in after him.

OOC: See Aura and Intuitive combat activated this turn. Up until now Arulas thought that the spirits could only inhabit the crows. Guessing he was wrong he attempts to see or sense the spirit crow at the end of his blade.

Doc leapt inside as soon as the door was open enough for him to do so, shouting about crows and saying things Kalista may find repugnant while he does so.

With his brother escaping inside the Behemoth, Nyx scanned the surrounding terrain to see if he could spot where the telekinetic rounds had originated from

The crow which was held by Polkitain leaps out of the dragon's claw and flies away with a very loud caw. The crow spirit which was sitting on the fence glides down and attempts to enter the body of that fleeing crow. The entity is rebuffed because the crow made its saying throw and bounces away.

Polkitain is bluffing when he makes his threat unless he finds another source of ISP, but it is a bluff which might work. Now that he has demonstrated a capacity for both finding and harming the spirits, they have a reason to heed his threats.

After Samuel opens the robot's hatch, Doc is able to scramble inside. From his position, Sam is able to monitor the entire site including the inside of the robot. He doesn't perceive anything following Doc inside. The only remaining active crow is staring down Kalista. There are exactly fourteen alive but incapacitated crows in the grass around Nyx' feet. Ethan and the horse seem to be just fine on the far side of the battlefield.

Arulus activates his power of See Aura which kicks in at the speed of thought. There is definitely a small aura at the tip of his blade, and it does not belong to the dead crow which was just bifricated by his psi-sword. The entity there is seriously injured but alive and supernaturally evil. The knight's intuitive combat requires some time and focus to bring up. GM's note: The restrictions on Intuitive Combat are extreme; am I right? It takes an entire melee round to activate, has a short duration, and cancels out all of psychic powers while it is in use.

Nyx is still standing amidst a murder of drugged crows flopping around in the dirt. He looks around but sees no clear source of attack. From the angle, it seems to have originated from the tree or what is left of it in front of him. With a successful skill roll of his Intelligence skill, he might be able to make a more precise educated guess.

Polkitain lands with a thump between the remaining possessed crow and Kalista. The breaking of line of sight seems to have the desired effect. Kalista feels the paralyzing fear lifting and is able to move freely again. The hatchling, however, is now being stared down by those glowing corvid eyes. Polk needs to make a saving throw versus Horror Factor of 13. If he fails, he is paralyzed by the entity's Induce Fear power just like Kalista was. If he succeeds, he may deliver his threat and make his Intimidation Roll.

Doc hears the phantom flock following him into the Behemoth. He feels their beaks and claws continue to tear at his flesh. This effect will persist until all either all of the spirit crows are destroyed, until they leave the area, or until they drink their fill of fear which can take hours.

12:15, Today: Polkitain rolled 7 using 1d20+3.  Save vs Horror.

19:18, Today: Nyx rolled 64 using 1d100.  Intelligence vs 41%.

Those rolls were not good. Polkitain finds himself mesmerized and gripped with terror. He may attempt to run away, but he cannot attack. Nyx suspects that the telekinetic bullet which struck him may have originated from one of the crows on the ground, playing stoned opossum.

Samuel sees no option but to use something he doesn't know almost anything about. His rifle is slung, a panel in the palm of his right gauntlet retracts exposing a small strip of bare skin. He reaches over to the non-vibro blade that he has sheathed on his left side and draws the weapon.

Polkitain's jaw drops a bit and his claws dig into the ground.
Obviously caught up the same way Lady Kalista had been.

Nyx could recognize from his body posture Polkitain was afraid.



"room, room in Be.. behem.. robot for me ?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:24, Fri 08 July 2016.

Doc continues to swat, and scream, to the point of near madness. The crows had gotten into the behemoth some how. If they didn't stop soon, he'd have to shoot them.

When Samuel grasps the small sword at his waist, his vision suddenly becomes sharper and clearer. Even the deep shadows in the evening light seem generously illuminated. One of the effects of this blade is that it grants the spell effect of Eyes of the Wolf. A small amount of movement catches his eye. It's a translucent bird swooping down from the sky.

Normally, there is a percentage roll to determine if the subject of the spell can see invisible items or not. I am just giving this one to you without a roll so to move things along. Sam can now see the invisible crow spirits just like Polkitain can. The sword does have other effects, but they are not immediately apparent.

The Spirit Crow drops out of the sky and glides into the body of one of the drugged crows.

Meanwhile, the possessed crow in front of Polkitain caws loudly at the hatchling. Polkitain understands the demon-bird's meaning, "This is punishment for what you have done with your claw. You will feel the claws of birds at your throat forever." Make that roll to save versus psionics now, normal rules but with a -2 penalty. Bonuses to save versus psi or mind control may be applied.