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Post by Elliot Kane on Apr 12, 2006 16:06:21 GMT
As Rasidar pushes the button, a section of wall slides smoothly back to reveal what looks like a scene from some ghastly nether hell.
The seventy foot square room has had a large pentagram inscribed in its centre, covering most of the floor. This pentagram has been broken in many places, and the huge and hideous being lying at its centre is obviously dead. Many wounds gape from its sides, and it is surrounded by a large number of dead people - or at least, they might have been people. Their wounds and the crazy lighting make it hard to be sure.
The ceiling of this room is twenty feet above, and you estimate that the dead creature, when it was standing, would likely have brushed the roof with its horns. Its head was strangely bat like, yet attached to an incredibly muscular red skinned humanoid body. Its hands have sharp black talons, but its legs taper into cloven hooves. Dead black eyes stare unseeigly at the ceiling above. From the sheer number of wounds, it is not immediately obvious what killed this creature.
The floor seems strangely free of blood and minor debris, despite the many corpses that litter the floor. Many of the bodies have been burned in a flame so intense that it has reduced them to cinders and their equipment to molten droplets or possibly even vapour.
From the way the other bodies are surrounding the large creature, it looks like it was attacked by a small army. Perhaps a hundred foes fell to its wrath, though it is very hard to estimate numbers amid such carnage.
There are three doors out of this room, not counting your own, one in each wall.
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Post by Shan on Apr 12, 2006 16:58:40 GMT
"Yuck!" exclaims Ash as she peers into the room. "What happened here? Mr. Knight, what is that thing?"
"Hey, Zu, you just gotta see this," she calls looking back at him. "Do you know what that thing is?"
She then starts to take off into the room, but stops looks at Stel and Rasidar and asks "Is it OK if I go look? I just gotta see that thing."
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Post by Elliot Kane on Apr 12, 2006 17:04:27 GMT
Ash
"Demon," Zumir says shortly, his eyes glittering with a very obvious fear and hatred. "Strong one, too."
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Post by LaFille on Apr 12, 2006 17:05:01 GMT
As she sees that Homm is ready to leave the tubes room, Mao heads to the djinn's room with the rest of the group. Once there she takes one of the wineskins Stelrein had gathered and goes to take her position with the others, nodding hi to Zumir as she passes beside him. Then she holds her club tight, takes off a globe and waits nervously as Rasidar pushes the button...
The sight behind the door is such a creepy one; some huge creature and a whole small army lying dead on a freaky room, scene of carnage. Mao can't resist but breath in slightly by the nose, expecting the odor to be terrible. When she can finally get her eyes off from the giant red humanoid, she looks at Zumir to see his reaction to the scene.
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Post by Elliot Kane on Apr 12, 2006 17:19:46 GMT
Mao
The smell is not so bad as you would expect. The smell of burnt meat is strongest, but there is none of the bitter-sweet scent of decay you would expect if the battle was more than a few days old.
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Post by Shan on Apr 12, 2006 18:30:48 GMT
"Zu, you OK?" asks Ash. "Are you scared of those things? Have you met one of them before? Did it hurt you?"
"He sure is big," says Ash looking back around at the demon.
"I wonder if he killed all these guys." She then notices that there is no blood. "Wonder if the floor in here ate all of the blood?"
"Zu, do you think that mean old mage who imprisoned you could have summoned that..... uh, demon? Maybe that is why he put you in here to guard the door just in case the demon got loose and tried to break through to us. Did you ever hear anything from the other side of this wall?"
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Post by Gray Lensman on Apr 12, 2006 22:27:44 GMT
Rasidar feels a sense of moral outrage at this grisly scene around him. There was evil here, and evil magic. He silently asks the blessing of the Great Mana as he examines the room. He knows the creature to be a demon even before Zumir answers. He steels himself as he looks to the others.
"Aye, `twas some sort of foul demon," Rasidar says, looking at the dead monster with a glare of disdain. "`Twould not be surprising if the fiend was summoned through yon pentagram. `Tis foul magic involved if `tis indeed the case."
Rasidar looks to Zumir, his glance softening respectfully.
"Good Zumir, know you the precise function of the pentagram? What dimension would this demon have been called from?"
He shows far more regret and sympathy when he sees the figures of the dead. He asks the Great Mana to guide their souls into the beyond without further suffering. He looks to the others, trying not to betray his concern.
"We should be cautious as we go onwards," Rasidar says to Stelrein. "I fear that whatever killed this fiend may yet be lurking without. We must be on our guard and prepared to defend ourselves. Should it prove necessary, we can withdraw here."
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Post by Will (Property of Silva) on Apr 12, 2006 22:37:57 GMT
Stelrein nodded to Rasidar before Rasidar pressed the button.
Upon seein the new room Stelrein grunted. An image of an awful war flashed in his mind. He had seen an insident like this once. Of course it took ten times the amount of people then what was used here. Stelrein closed his eyes and thought. Then opening he turned to Zumir.
"Zumir if Ash leaves this room would she be able to return? Or will you be forced by your command to kill her?"
Regardless of the answer Stelrein turns to Rasidar, "We should probably have our scouting parties check the doors for traps. In the mean time the rest of us should search the bodies. As distasteful as it may be they may have something we can use.." Turning back to the room Stelrein speaks distantly, "As for that foul thing, whether it's dead or alive it is evil. I would recommend keeping our distance."
Noticing the broken pentagram Stelrein asks Zumir, "How would you suggest repairing such a mark on the floor." He points towards the pentagram.
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Post by Gray Lensman on Apr 12, 2006 23:04:44 GMT
"Agreed. `Twould also be advisable for Homm to search for anything that may be hidden."
"As much as I would prefer to grant the dead a proper burial," Rasidar says reluctantly, "`tis my duty to safeguard those yet living. If they have weapons that might be of use, we should appropriate them."
Rasidar nods grimly, eyeing the dead demon with a suspicious glare. Even slain, he knew a demon was nothing to trifle with...
"I would also advise to not meddle lightly with the pentagram," Rasidar adds. "Not until we are certain of its function. It may call forth another demon, a portal to some nether plane, or worse."
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Post by Elliot Kane on Apr 12, 2006 23:17:21 GMT
Ash
"They are no friend to my people," Zumir answers shortly. His hand grips the hilt of Cloudbreaker very tightly.
Rasidar
"I know little of your human magics," Zumir shrugs, thought his eyes never leave the body of the dead demon.
Stelrein
"You all seem to belong here," Zumir says, frowning in thought. "I think you can leave and return safely... But if not I will warn you."
"I know nothing of pentagrams, nor of their repair," Zumir adds.
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Post by Gray Lensman on Apr 12, 2006 23:30:42 GMT
"Zumir, I must ask," Rasidar says, turning to the genie. "Would you have been bound to oppose the demon by the terms of your service, had he chosen to enter the room?"
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Post by Elliot Kane on Apr 13, 2006 0:14:49 GMT
Rasidar
Zumir hesitates for a moment, frowning deeply. "...No," he admits at last. "Like you, the demon belongs here."
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Post by Shan on Apr 13, 2006 0:35:51 GMT
"Uh?" exclaims Ash. "Whatda mean kill me?" RasidarZumir hesitates for a moment, frowning deeply. "...No," he admits at last. "Like you, the demon belongs here." Ash turns around and stares at Zu shocked. "Belon.....belongs here," she repeats. "You gotta be kidding. That thing belongs in here with us. That doesn't make sense." She then looks at Rasidar and Stel and says "Can't I just go take a closer look at him? I've never seen one of those things before. I won't go inside the pentagram if that's what you're afraid of. I just want to get a good look at him." She then moves closer to the door ready to enter the room. |
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Post by LaFille on Apr 13, 2006 1:45:44 GMT
Mao concentrates on the reactions of the others in order to learn more and decide what to do - and overcome her own impressions by the same way.
She sees Zumir's repulsion and... she sees Ash leaving her position too fast for anyone to block her and running at the door. Fortunately, she stops at the door and gets absorbed by Zumir's reaction; so Mao, irritated by her inconsideration, turns her atention on Rasidar and Stelrein, both seeming to work on themselves to overcome what they found, and follows their conversation with Zumir (though not without paying attention to keep Ash on her field of view).
Mao stands straight and asks in a tone that she wants calm and assured in order to lead the example and reassure those who might be shoked by the sight of what's in the room: "Zumir, did the rest of the people there belong here too? And how could that demon have been slain? Certainly not with conventional blows..."
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Post by Elliot Kane on Apr 13, 2006 2:12:25 GMT
Mao
Zumir frowns slightly as he looks out over the carnage. "Those who slew the demon did not belong here, no. I should have been forced to slay them had they entered here. I know not how the demon was slain. But you are right... No normal weapon could have destroyed it."
Almost by reflex, Zumir partly draws his sword, his eyes far away as if lost in memory. Slowly, he pushes it back down into its scabbard again.
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Post by Gray Lensman on Apr 13, 2006 2:43:52 GMT
Ash turns around and stares at Zu shocked. "Belon.....belongs here," she repeats. "You gotta be kidding. That thing belongs in here with us. That doesn't make sense." "Something feels greatly amiss," Rasidar says. "This wizard seems to have some great interest in keeping us alive, if he has summoned beings of power to guard these halls. This unnerves me. I would know why..." "Touch not the demon," Rasidar says. "But I see no harm in a closer look, provided you do not approach it alone. Even in death, `tis a creature of evil and may be dangerous." |
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Post by SilvaShado on Apr 13, 2006 3:54:56 GMT
Stelrein says, "I believe I've seen a few things in battle situations. They were unpleasant. The few times I've seen a pentagram, it had little to do with summoning a creature, but more to protect the summoner from the creature. Of course, considering the strange things we've seen here, the conventions I vaguely remember may not hold true. Before entering the room, we probably should make sure there are no traps on the threshold." With this last statement, he pointedly looks at Homm, "Perhaps someone with skill in finding traps could do this?"
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Post by SilvaShado on Apr 13, 2006 4:03:09 GMT
Before the button is pushed, Loriana stands ready with her club and shield. As the door slides open, her eyes go wide in horror. The gruesome scene before her fills her mind and brings up the recent memories of her home and seeing her family burnt to ashes.
Her body begins to shake, her arms drop to her sides, though she still clenches the club and shield. Her knees begin to buckle...
She shakes her head and closes her eyes. She pushes away the memory of her past. That was then. This is now, and now is different. She has to be strong.
She opens her eyes and forces herself to look upon the carnage in the room. She tries to look analytically at the scene, to piece together what had happened.
While she comes up with little conclusive evidence as to what exactly happened, she realizes that it's not so important what happened, as to take caution of what could still be out there. And the equipment they have is no match for the scene before her.
She starts taking a closer look at the bodies and the equipment that lays scattered about.
(Elliot - is Loriana able see any weapons or armor that may still be usable? I know the lighting is bad, and she is still far away.)
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Post by Shan on Apr 13, 2006 4:22:43 GMT
"Not even one little touch just to see what he feels like?" asks Ash looking back at him. "You're no fun."
She stands there staring at Rasidar a moment then looks back at the demon. "OK, who's going with me?" she asks. "This is gonna be fun."
She then kneels down and searches the floor in front of her just to make sure there were no traps and that it is safe to step into the room.
*E - does Ash find any traps in front of the door*
Just before going through the door, she looks at Rasidar and aks "Can I touch the pentagram and the dead guys?"
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Post by SilvaShado on Apr 13, 2006 4:36:59 GMT
With a determined look, Loriana nods, "I will go with, but not before Homm searches for traps."
Stelrein speaks, "The pentagram and the dead people should be fine to touch. Since the pentagram is broken, it should hold no power, good or ill."
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