Plaga has vanished, though you do hear screams from the running soldiers.


The captives are utterly unresponsive as Claire and Vasati approach, totally unaware of what's going on.

There is a momentary tinge as an alarm goes out: it is loud enough to be heard, but not particularly jarring.

Claire and Vasati are aware of two additional targets, humans well back from them, not visible due to a combination of clever camouflage, the bend in the tunnel, and stealth. Vasati and Claire notice as one of them casts an unfamiliar form of low magic.

In response, the captive screams, thrusting up their body at an utterly unnatural angle as synapses go into overdrive. A bluish white light fills their eyes and mouth, pulling out of the front for a few moments before there is an utterly blinding explosion of magical energy that fills an area around the chamber.


The captive is torn apart, and etheric energy fills the chamber. The devastating explosion engulfs Vasati and Claire. The explosion of energy is not as bad as you might think, but the energy is insanely agonizing, and you can feel something vital, essential your being being warped and twisted within you. Thankfully, you are strong enough to resist it.

[OOC - 5 damage from the first explosion, save vs Spirit to reduce to 3]

Nearby, a second later, the spectacle repeats as another captive writhes and then explodes, though this time the energy is DIRECTED towards Vasati and Claire's position. It is not quite so bad.

[OOC - 3 damage from the second, save to spirit to reduce to 2]

The two mages behind them look at Claire, who was utterly unaffected by the physical component of the blast, is still standing and Vasati is already getting to his feet.
"Oh shit." One intoned. They rapidly prepared to cast spells again.

[OOC - All of you can take an action now. The two captives are really quite sincerely dead. There are a few more still alive. None of you are near them, but the mages spells seem to be able to direct the traps towards you. The mages are AC 9.]

  "I think that if they're not already— Claire?!  Traps!  Vasati!!!"  Gaja rushes forward the instant the alarm sounds but isn't fast enough or close enough to stop the ambush.  In fact, she's still a solid five paces off when the first body's eyes begin glowing.

  "Buzh na-HIIIIINNNNNN"  The line rushes from her throat like a burst dam, and the spark of real panic giving it force is clearly audible.  So is the Pelagic accent she usually suppresses.  She skids to a stop as the first body explodes in front of her, arms thrown up to shield her face, but sings on through both, nearly louder than the explosions themselves.  "Saka-di theeee!"  The king of thieves flickers like a mirage, himself, or perhaps a dancing flame, and the blasts pass through him harmlessly.

  By the time the air clears, she's calmed enough to have noticed that, and covers her open mouth in a mocking imitation of surprise.  She slyly glances down the tunnel, at the mage who spoke up to curse, and with her hand already in place, blows him a taunting kiss.

---

"[The fire which drove him] could not be extinguished."
Miracle to emulate Verse of Deathless Glory and cover Vasati for the round.  Missed my attack and got nothing from Fray.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:54, Tue 19 Feb 2019.

Vasati stood there blinking, staring first at his hands and then at Gaja.  It seemed to take the man, who was clearly more than a man, a moment to process what had just happened.  After a moment the magnitude of what had just occurred seemed to dawn on him, and he caught Gaja with his most dashing smile.

"You!"

He said, bursting into laughter at the proclamation.  He turned and charged the two mages, shouting over his shoulder as he did.

"I knew you were magnificent the moment I laid eyes on you, I am pleased to see my judge of character is still so sharp!"

Then he was running towards the Mages, fists clenched to tussle.

It didn't take long for Plaga to rejoin the group. Having conveniently left while the traps were triggered, the necromancer missed the first round of action. Both allies and foes that looked at her would see that she was covered in blood, and was carrying the head of the leader of the bandits as if it was a grocery bag. There was something deeply unsettling about the way Plaga casually moved into the cave.

"You don't lose any time, do you?"

OOC: Skipping the first round since I was away doing bussiness with the bandits.

Dropping Banner of Passion, reclaiming Effort.

Claire stood completely unthreatened by the attack to her unliving body and invincible soul, but her lips twisted in silent fury at the murder of the captives, and her jets fired at full strength to propel her toward the enemy mages. On the way, she locked onto one of the mages and raiside her arm.

"Pray to the Creator for mercy, for you will find none from me."

Another of her trademark purple-pink spheres of annihilation blasted out toward the mage, though her targeting systems were still a little wonky today...

Heart of the Lion was already up. I take no damage from the trap (Constant effect, immune to emotional effects), and none of the party are in danger from the emotion-effecting part of the trap (Effort active) - only the damage to their living bodies.

06:50, Today: Claire Durand rolled 9 using 1d20+6.  Attack Mage #2.
06:52, Today: Claire Durand rolled 6 using 1d8.  Fray if applicable.

One yelled as he prepared his next spell. Surely that had been a fluke! The angulation beams missed, but created impressive holes in the wall.

The other took time to snarl back.

"The creator is a hollow lie, automoton! The only salvation is what man wrests from the world!"

Vasati walked up to the one who was casting, and slapped his across the face.

"Knock that off."

He growled as the mage flew back away from him as if struck by a hammer.  Vasati wasn't a small man, but he had to have been extremely well muscled under his vest and shirt to have struck that hard.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:21, Wed 20 Feb 2019.

Ordinarily, Claire would have been delighted to engage in philosophical debate with an intelligent man who disagreed with her on theology. But she already had a Reasoner friend who wasn't in the business of murdering slaves. So she responded in a soft monotone that was yet audible to all equally, the expression on her face blank as the targeting reticle in her eyes lined up with the man and eerie hymns in Old Din echoed from her speakers.

"Perhaps...but you will no longer be in this world."

Her targeting systems functioned adequately this time. Violet lasers fired directly from her eyes into the mage's center of mass, launching him back against the wall.

18:56, Today: Claire Durand rolled 7 using 1d10+4.  damage.
18:55, Today: Claire Durand rolled 11 using 1d20+6.  Attack.

Not my best rolling, but it'll do against defenseless wizards. 2 damage.

Flying back wasn't so bad on the mage. The gaping hole in his chest was another story.
He fell to the ground, mortally wounded.

The other saw how ineffective they'd been. Best not be captured, and he slightly altered the words of his spell.


* * *
Inside the cave, a simple scrying spell was dropped: they'd seen enough that this was a credible threat to a project that had cost countless lifetimes.. and lives.

A wizened hand "twisted" something in the air.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:57, Wed 20 Feb 2019.

Plaga didn't lose any more time, and focused on the surviving mages. Her gaze pierced their very souls, causing them terrible pain as they fade away.

11:16, Today: Plaga, The Doctor of Death rolled 13 using 1d20+4.  Gaze of Death.
11:17, Today: Plaga, The Doctor of Death rolled 6 using 1d10+3.
11:17, Today: Plaga, The Doctor of Death rolled 1 using 1d8.  Fray die.

2 damage

"Ha, the story gets better now that we get into it.  Some fool has opened a Night Road!"

Vasati wiped his bloodied hand on the dead mages cloak.  It was as if great rending talons had gouged the man's flesh, nearly ripping his head from his shoulders in the process.

"I'd never heard this version."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:00, Wed 20 Feb 2019.

Increase had largely dismissed the fighting and was instead detailing the nature and design of the trip-wire traps and light trap. The first was simple and the second was truly fascinating. He wished he could take the time to give it a proper study but suddenly there was explosions.

He turned his attention to the ongoing conflict and say mages casting spells, or at least attempting to. His allies were nothing if not brutally efficient at dispensing nuisances. All the same he had a sudden foreboding.

"Tread carefully and prepare yourselves! Danger is upon us."

Increase wasn't sure what or how but he braced himself all the same.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:11, Wed 20 Feb 2019.

  "Shhhhhh......"  Gaja raised a finger to her lips, and then there were no words for spells.  She entered the tunnel and approached the remaining magician at a saunter, hair catching the light in a golden halo around the head of her back-lit silhouette.  "Don't try to speak."  Her voice was bitter honey—sultry, empathetic, but underlain with a crueler amusement.

  "You are not the prize, little whisper-man.  You were offered as a sacrifice to the gods by the fools behind you.  Shh.  Dream of me."  The offer probably would have been difficult to ignore even if she weren't channeling the cosmic principle of betrayal.

---

Hit AC7+ for 2HD, +1HD fray maybe idk.  Shaper of the Sound is an Instant, so if his magic needs those words he can't say, it's not happening.

Claire raised an eyebrow at Gaja's sadism, but then focused on the silenced adversary. "It's your last chance to seek redemption. But I don't think you'll find it." She used her hand blaster this time, catching her foe squarely in his chest with a ball of annihilation in feminine colors.


18:28, Today: Claire Durand rolled 10 using 1d10+4.  Damage.
18:28, Today: Claire Durand rolled 15 using 1d20+6.  Blast the survivor.

4 damage. Since he's 6HD, no fray.

He staggers from Plaga's blow, and tries to raise his voice to cast the simplest spell he knows, but Gaja's voice prevents him from finishing one last spell.

Against the assemblage of gods in front of him, his magic is useless, and he falls quickly to your combined blows. All that remains are the stupefied, mindless captives and whatever awaits you deeper in the cave.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:43, Thu 21 Feb 2019.

"No time for redemption, the story is changing fast!"

Vasati shouted, running in the direction that the tales told him to go, while being careful to avoid every trap and trigger.

"The good news is that the storyteller decided to save the villain for another tale, had them slip away on the Night Road.  The better news would be that the villain left the treasure behind as a prize, but it's a prize only for greedy fools.  I think this story might have an even more explosive ending than before!"

He gestured vaguely in the direction of the corpses that had been detonated as he ran.

  "No...  No!  Vasati wait!" It took Gaja a shocked moment or two, staring at the now-paired corpses at her feet, before she managed to close her slackened jaw.  She held up a hand for the thief to stop, then wheeled on the others, her shock having already yielded mostly to disgust and fury.

  "Get out!  Both of you bloodthirsty idiots!  Out!"  She flung a hand up, pointing generally west, and didn't seem to be able to get the other one out of a fist despite some trying.  "We agreed last night!  No killing unless there is no other way!  But the first warm body you see, Plaga, you try to make it cold!  And Claire just executed a helpless prisoner! OUT!"  Gaja's ordinary grace had given way to enough of a rage she was trembling, and the vibrations seemed to be spreading into the walls of the cave.

  "GO ATONE!"
This message was last edited by the player at 09:06, Thu 21 Feb 2019.

Claire looked at Gaja. "He was helpless?" she asked, uncomprehending. "If you think I should atone, tell me what sins you believe I have committed. Our enemies were magicians capable of destroying these people with a spell." She gestured to the captives. "That justified immediate and deadly force."

She looked at Vasati. "This is Gaja's mission. If she wants to scratch it, then we should help carry out the captives. Can you find any way to free them from the traps?" Meanwhile, she flew over to the corpses of the two soul-blasted prisoners and made the Unitary Cross, then vocally recited the prayer for the dead over them while her speakers sang a soft requiem.

Plaga laughs at Gaja's outburst, wich would understandably make her even angrier.

"Who do you think you are speaking to, Gaja? I'm the Doctor of Death, and I decide who dies. But I also have the privilege to decide who is spared the liberation of death. Why don't you calm yourself and check the 'bodies'?"

If Gaja was to do so, she would find that none of the people that should have died today was actually death, and instead all their wounds had become stable.

"I also recall you collapsing an entire island out of anger, so allow me to point out that I'm much more merciful than you. Refer to accusing me EVER again."

  This time, the incident on the island doesn't draw a flinch. But then, she is distracted watching for the rhythm of breath. Gaja lowers her arm and takes a deep breath, looking mollified but unamused. "You might have mentioned this before." Then she turns with a sigh to retrace Vasati's footsteps.

  "I was wrong, Claire," she concedes without looking back. "No laws were broken."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:23, Thu 21 Feb 2019.

Vasati has headed forward, bypassing the remainder of the traps.

[OOC-Anyone who wants to follow can, of course, or you can hang back to interrogate the prisoners.]

Claire followed along with Vasati. He'd need muscle behind him, and interrogation was Gaja's thing.

Plaga stayed behind for now, just in case Gaja needed a hand with the interrogation. With Plaga around, she could get as creative with the interrogation as she wanted.

Vasati is, of course, first to burst onto the scene, since he'd realized they were under a timer.

Minor magical light - a common enough enchantment among many thaumathurges- lit the cave in a prepetual bluish white glow, though there was still plenty of room along the sides for shadows.

The cave chamber's clearly been lived in a while, as there are a number of improvements made for basic living, at least in a spartan manner. Most of the furnishings were literally carved out of the rock.

There were a few hammocks and bedrolls in one section of the room, as well as a small area with a kettle, and a dug pit to store food. Two very fresh looking bodies remained on the floor: they had the same look as the slaves outside, though their bodies were in far better condition: well, still exploded, but they were wearing proper clothes and would have been in good health except for their very recent injuries.

While the living arrangements are spartan, the place has a selection of thaumaturgical equipment, some fairly common for those in the know, others custom made out of kit parts, and a few rare antiques. There are also a number of books and tablets, carefully preserved, and a bright republic "Breadboard" terminals with few circuitry kits of some kind that had been opened and ransackedquickly. A body was slumped over the computer, throat recently slit. The screen had been smashed and cracked.. with the body's head by the look of it.
A few of the books had very recently been removed from the library, judging by some conspicuous absences from the rows of books.


There were a number of those slaves, staked out on the wall. On a table near them were tools for force feeding food and water into them. Near them was a stone table that had clearly been carved out of the natural rock and polished to a fine finish. There were a number of surgical and thaumaturgical instruments, as well, about the table. There was a fair amount of blood around it, and the faint smell of antiseptic (usually made from light alchemical solutions.. or imported wholesale from the republic).

The entire room was blanketed in a light coating of ash, concentrated in some areas. Weird.

Finally, in the far corner of the room was a carved room with a blanked placed over the "door". You couldn't see past it. There was a marker denoting that people should STAY OUT.
The door was flanked by two humanoid constructs of brass.





All around you, the faint echos of the alarm spell continues. The golems don't seem to react to you, leaving you the only things moving in this chamber.

Claire looked at Vasati. "Look for any explosives or anything that might look explosive, please. I'll see if the system is automated"

She moved next to the damaged computer system and smirked. "Amateur work, threat minimal." She quickly found the hard drive and interfaced with the machinery, beginning an immediate search for any connection between the computer and any self-destruct systems in the cave.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:49, Fri 22 Feb 2019.