Author Topic: [Armorican Kingdoms] The Doom Within the Mountain (Read 11671 times)

Ria Hawk · « **Reply #100 on:** February 17, 2004, 09:17:46 PM »

'Nasia looked around the horrible place. "Where are we?" she murmured to no one in particular. She really did not like this place. Nor did she like the old man. His voice terrified her. Well, not so much his voice, but that sinister echo. She started praying to Fortunata, Karmos, Arcturus, and every other god that she could remember in a barely audible whisper.

CaptainPenguin · « **Reply #101 on:** February 17, 2004, 10:37:16 PM »

The old man sighed, and swept a frail arm across the void and the bloody tree. "Behold the Durance." he said, as if that explained everything. The demon echo followed his voice, and then, when the elder lapsed into silence, continued on without him. The scraping tones of the diabolic voice said "Into darkness they sent us; We entreated them piteously, called attention to the healing of the damage of our sins; They turned away." On the smooth, hellishly-lit stone wall behind the tree, a massive bubble rose from the stone, a bubble that slid open, revealing a great, glassy eye, blue-green and with a cat's slit-pupil. The eye twitched about, and then focused on the old man and the group.
The elder turned to face it. He began to speak again, and the dark voice echoed once more.
"They...," 'We' said the demon voice, "Were trapped here long ago. I," 'He' the echo said, "sought them ('us') out for the power they ('we') promised. I ('He') knew not the price." The echo said further "He was foolish. Now he is our key. We will have apotheosis from this vile, sublunary prison which was thrust upon us."
The old man spoke, without the aid of the demonic echo. "I have striven, ere now, to find the means to release them. I have come so close...And now, you have interrupted me." This last pronunciation took on a sharp, bitter tone. The elder continued on, voice become more and more red in tone, a tone heralding the shedding of blood. "After all these years, my release from this service, and their release from the Durance, was so near, and you fools have snatched it from us!" The demon-echo joined his voice. The chamber was rocked by a massive sound, like a detonation behind the great, staring eye.
Then his voice resumed its soft tone. "You will be ended."

Alssonus gasped and his yataghan rang from its sheath. "Speak those words again, old one. I fear not your threats."

The elder turned to face them once again. His eyes were glowed with blue-green flames, like those of the great, staring eye upon the wall. When he spoke his voice was not his own, but the demon-echo magnified.
"We are not feeble. We are not weak. You are but sublunary and mortal. Before us, your power is ash. Flesh cannot contain us."
The demon-elder raised his staff above his head. His flesh seemed to harden, shrink against his skull. Some strange ripple made him changed. His nose shrank against his face, which elongated into a snout, ending in a mass of rubbery, red-tipped tentacle-whiskers. Eyes became thin slits within puffy, globular lids. His hands contorted into gripping claws, and his robe ceased to hang so loosely on his increased form. With blue-green flames in the elder-thing's eyes, and upon his staff, the thing took a heavy step towards them.
"Your hope ends here."

Shadoweagle · « **Reply #102 on:** February 17, 2004, 11:11:14 PM »

A'lai simply glowered at this person as he spoke about his efforts bieng interrupted - How dare this fool talk about such things! He may have been interrupted from releasing a demon, but A'lai had been halted from meeting his one true GOD! Both hands clenched on the hilts of his poignards, but he paused in his actions as the man began to change, to warp into this monstrous bieng... After some time, however, A'lai released a growl from his lips and leapt forward, swinging the poignard in his right hand in an arc towards this beasts neck. Right now, the Kozkirrim was senseless, blinded by rage - he would not have cared if it were a dragon he were against, he would have still attacked - merely with the desire to draw blood.

CaptainPenguin · « **Reply #103 on:** February 18, 2004, 08:27:05 AM »

The Kozkirrim's sweeping poignards sunk into the demon-elder's neck-flesh with a dull sucking noise.
Silence reigned for a moment, and then the thing's eyes took on a look of diabolical mirth.
The fiend grasped the Kozkirrim by the arms and heaved him away, ripping the poignards from its bluish flesh and hurling them away. It continued to advance. No blood leaked from the twin stab-wounds.
The thing raised its right hand, with little, middle, and index fingers extended, and lifted its ghoulishly-enflamed staff above its misshappen head. It began to gibber in an incomprehensible mode, words seeming to splatter rather than fall upon the air, as the flames of his eye-slits grew brighter.
The eye on the wall turned a shade of deep red, and swept its gaze across the group, discarded Kozkirrim included.
With a sudden detonation in the air, blue-green energy leapt from the extended middle finger of the fiend, causing the air to sizzle with heat.
The mass of flames impacted the ground near them with a massive detonation, scattering them across the chamber.
Alssonus roused himself and retrieved his fallen sword, raising it and dashing at the demon-elder.

Ria Hawk · « **Reply #104 on:** February 18, 2004, 09:05:59 AM »

'Nasia picked herself up, dazed. This was going to prove difficult. She pulled two knives from their concealed spots, then she looked around, considering. It would be stupid to get close to it. Easily gotten around. She flung one of the knives at the creature, hoping she hit something important.

CaptainPenguin · « **Reply #105 on:** February 18, 2004, 04:14:20 PM »

The demon-elder placed a palm in the direction of the flying dagger, which stopped and floated in mid-air for a moment before clattering to the ground. Sweeping its staff in a circle above its head, the thing formed a wall of green flames around it, a wall that sealed 'Nasia in, as well.
Alssonus charged the wall valiantly. The flames, instead of burning him, formed fiery hands to hurl him back away. The fiend gave a barking laugh that echoed through the chamber and advanced upon his contained foe.
"You are lost, mongrel-woman," said the demon. "Your petty luck-gods will not avail you now, nor your companions."

Ria Hawk · « **Reply #106 on:** February 18, 2004, 06:57:24 PM »

'Nasia looked around at the green flames. This was, to put it mildly, bad. And she couldn't hit him. Well, she wasn't one to get up without a fight. He might find her hard to keep up with. "Well, I always knew my foolishness would be the death of me." She would stay near the edge, gave her more room to manuever. Maybe she could play keep-away long enough for something good to happen.

Shadoweagle · « **Reply #107 on:** February 18, 2004, 07:24:46 PM »

A'lai flew through the air for some time before tumbling along the ground - one of his daggers gets loose from his grip , but the other remains firmly in his grasp. He rises to his knees, peering at the battle - he didnt even cause the d**ned thing to BLEED! And he NEEDED to see blood! That second explosion caused him to fall back further still, to just the edge of the eyes vision. A snarl registers from his lips as he studies the battle, but then his gaze shifts, peering to that eye. A'lai rose to his feet, stumbling slightly as the force of the blow had disoriented him. Then the demon insulted his god - of course, in his disorientation he had felt that the beast had been focussing on him - telling him that his god won't help. He then screamed in his own language "D'karan Mer'silon fa-nolith K'thalath!!" - K'thalath see you burn in hell!. With that, he shifted his arm and threw his only other poignard - not at the demon, but at that eye which was now focussed upon the battle. Dispite his disorientation, his aim is still good. If he cannot see this foul demon bleed, he wants to at least see if that d**nable, cat-slitted eye would. After he threw that dagger, he slumped back onto his knees - finding it easier to regain sense when he was down. His left hand semi-consciously closes over the hilt of his other poignard which had fallen there earlier.

Luke Lavin · « **Reply #108 on:** February 18, 2004, 07:34:57 PM »

OOC: Internet link has been really bad lately sorry.

Maritann stepped through into the chamber just as the blast of energy blew up amist the group. Maritann caught a rock pillar on the ground and stopped himself from bringing flung from the ancient chamber. He stood up slowly and pulled out an arrow from his quiver made of a silver and at the shaft made with wood that was said to be from the Great Tree God himself, and blessed by many priests.

Maritann had kept mostly as a good luck charm but also for respect to his Chragian gods, he made a quick prayer to Jode, the God of his Sign. Maritann saw the evil thing and started chanting a Chargian prayer the onlt one he knew. He didn't even realize he had shot his lucky arrow till the shaft of it leapt from his bow, he hoped Jode was looking out for him as the arrow whistled towards the demon's head.

CaptainPenguin · « **Reply #109 on:** February 18, 2004, 10:44:43 PM »

The poignard soared with blinding speed towards the eye. The demon, previously distracted by attacking 'Nasia and maintaining the wall of flame, as well as the irritation of the silver shaft, stabbing through the back of its skull and protruding from its eye, turned with a screech of rage and unleashed a claw of flame to capture the intruding weapon. Too little, too late, however.
With a massive rumble and almost ultrasonic, metallic wail, the eye reeled, bleeding flaming blue ichor from twin wounds. The blinking of its stone lids only agravated the pain.
"NO!" howled the demon. Its blue-green flame-wall faded, and the fires of its staff became blue embers, crackling menacingly like a lion bereft of its claws. The demon whirled around to face them, and, raising its misshapen claws, snarled "What have you done?!"
More ultrasonic screeches sounded, and the hall shook with the raging of the eye, which skittered wildly, trying to shake free the thorns that aggravated it. The red tree, which had glowed so brightly only seconds before, began to dim.
The fiend raised its arms, roared, and hurled gobbets of leprous blue-green fire at the group.
Alssonus dashed forward, blade in hand, and gave a war cry, sweeping his blade in an overhanded chop, as one would split wood with an axe. His chop soared downward and sheared off the demons arm at the elbow. There was no blood, however. The fiend turned with rage upon its mutant maw and snatched the adventurer by the neck, lifting him into the air with its remaining talon.
Alssonus managed a choking rasp. "E...de...pol!"

Ria Hawk · « **Reply #110 on:** February 18, 2004, 10:49:28 PM »

'Nasia was startled, but she hesitated only a moment before she acted. Three more knives found their way into her hands, and she flung them unerringly, not at the creature, but at the great eye that seemed to be its weakness. Then, not daring to throw any more, she did a very stupid thing. 'Nasia was a slight woman, but even a small thing may cause a great deal of effect. What she did was launch herself bodily at the creature, trying to dislodge Alssonus from its grip.

CaptainPenguin · « **Reply #111 on:** February 18, 2004, 11:01:39 PM »

The blood-tree dimmed, solidifed into something like a withered construction of dried black-red mud, which began to crumble. The eye screeched, bloodied by three more daggers, and the stone around it began to crack, sliding off in great chips of rock.
The demon tripped heavily under the impact of 'Nasia's body, but it seemed to have Alssonus in a vice-grip. The fiend fell with its full wait upon the adventurer, who managed to stab twice through the thing's midsection, unleashing a torrent of blue gore.
"Edepol!" he shouted again, throat free of constriction, and began to struggle to haul the flailing beast off of him.
"All...My work-k-k-k...R-ruin-n-ned!...All..M-my effo-o-orts! My p-power! M-m-my...Liiiiiii-i-i...ffffffe...." gasped the dying monster, and went limp, azure ichor splashing over the ground around it.
But another, more imminent problem appeared. The cracks caused by the struggling eye were spreading, across the floor, which was freed of the void-like darkness of before, and the barely-illumined walls and ceiling. The eye's blood-red, stained with its blood, slowly began to fade, turning a dark orange, then foul yellow, then sick white, and then gray, as it became stone, and cracked down the middle.
A roar of rage came from somewhere beyond the eye, and a howl of anguish.

Shadoweagle · « **Reply #112 on:** February 18, 2004, 11:07:17 PM »

A'lai let a small smirk work its way upon his lips at sight of that blood which spewed from the eye, and he shifted his gaze now, to the demonic fiend. The Kozkirrim hissed, however, as those leprous flames flew uncomfortably close to him, and he takes a few stumbling steps backwards, glaring spitefully at the beast. As the eye flickers between colours and turns to stone, A'lai darted forward, retrieving his poignard which had clattered to the ground as that crack appeared, then taking hurried steps backwards to the rest of the group. Both weapons in his hands, he now stares at the eye as though howls begin. Not a good sign...

Luke Lavin · « **Reply #113 on:** February 18, 2004, 11:43:31 PM »

"That doesn't sound good," Maritann gulped, he had another arrow notched. Maritann's leather's rustled as if wind was blowing, he slitted his eyes.

"If we want to leave now would be a good time."

CaptainPenguin · « **Reply #114 on:** February 19, 2004, 08:21:24 AM »

Alssonus hauled the blue-splattered demon corpse off of him, and stood, retrieving his sword. He dashed to Boellah to help her up.
But as he did, a sickening crunch sounded. The demon's head had somehow swiveled around in impossible angles to its neck to face them, and what was more, it lived.
Red flames filled the slits of its eyes and burned from the various wounds in its body as it began to speak. The voice was that of the demon-echo.
"This...corpus...," it began, stuttering as if the corpse's vocal cords were already stiff with death, "has outlasted its usefullness. It has been a good vessel, but it can take us no further." The voice was at full quality. The red fires dimmed. "We will not forget this slighting. You will know...our...veng-g-geance..." With that, the demon's head fell limp, and the red flames flared once more, consuming the entire loathsome carcass. They burned for a few seconds and then dissapeared, leaving only a scorched floor.
The chamber continued to rumble ominously, and a great mass of rubble from the ceiling plummeted down meteorically, smashing the crusty remains of the glow-tree.

Ria Hawk · « **Reply #115 on:** February 19, 2004, 12:04:30 PM »

'Nasia squeaked and jumped back out of the way. She had bent to retrieve her knives, and as she straightend up, the rock fell, narrowly missing her. "How about we get out of here now!" She had to yell over the din. As she did, she was already suiting word to action and moving in the direction of the way they had come in.

Shadoweagle · « **Reply #116 on:** February 19, 2004, 04:40:49 PM »

A'lai gave a faint hiss at the words of the demon, then a twisted half-smile at 'Nasia's squeak. "For once I agree." The words are spoken with superiority still - dispite the occurances he still held the others in low regard. The Kozkirrim turned and ran after 'Nasia, heading towards that door.

CaptainPenguin · « **Reply #117 on:** February 19, 2004, 05:13:55 PM »

Alssonus said "Not much time!" and swept Boellah into his arms, ignoring her cry of protest. He replied "Sorry, beautiful. We have to make like the Messenger God if we want to get out of here!"
As he ran, a mighty blast threw them all to their feet. The deep groan that followed spoke of collapsing stone.
The adventurer leapt to his feet and hauled the Alsson girl onto his back to carry her more easily, and dashed off into the dragon's belly cavern.
What confronted him was unrecongnizable. The entire shelf of the dripstone caverns had collapsed, and the last of the water was dribbling off the shorn edge. Splintering cracks, deep earthy groans, and a rushing sound heralded the chaos below.
Alssonus quickly scanned the area. From above he could see a steadily increasing orange glow.
The magma!
"Face death bravely, Boellah! Abit omen!" he said quickly, and swallowed his fear as he leapt off the edge into the groaning-stone darkness below.

Ria Hawk · « **Reply #118 on:** February 19, 2004, 05:21:52 PM »

'Nasia followed Alssonus, muttering a quick prayer. Confronted with the changed cavern, she hesitated for a moment. Then she too leapt off the edge, into the unknown.

Shadoweagle · « **Reply #119 on:** February 19, 2004, 07:30:50 PM »

A'lai gave a small chuckle as he peered down into the darkness, gaze scrying out the best way to fall down without injuring himself. He leaps, a fraction of a second after 'Nasia. All this destruction was a bit of a release for him after that failure. To him, It was vengeance to the world, and came with a sense of satisfaction - he did not care, even, that he was probably not going to get out of this alive.

Luke Lavin · « **Reply #120 on:** February 19, 2004, 10:50:21 PM »

Maritann dashed after the A'lia, the dirt and bits of rock pelted his back and gravel tried to get under his feet and slip him up. Maritann kept running and dived into the black abyss. He sumersalted and met fate feet first. If I survive this would be a pity to die of a broken neck.

"GERANOMO!!" He roared.

CaptainPenguin · « **Reply #121 on:** February 20, 2004, 01:36:46 PM »

OOC: "Geronimo"? Why would a Chargian from the Armorican Lands shout out the name of a Native American from the Real Life? Ah, nevermind.

Tumbling, whirling, drenched, flashes of air, gasping, heart pounding, lungs empty, blackness.
The roar of the rushing water and the hiss of steam, produced by the magma's steady march forward, filled the ears of the companions as they were tossed downstream by the water, rushing violently from dripstone caverns throughout the mountain.
A sudden sensation of open air, and then a stinging splash, as they flew off of a subterranean cataract.
The current quickly lost speed and the flooding water spread over its rocky banks, becoming part of the subterranean lake in which the river have formerly outpoured.
The quaking and blasting of the stone had rent a jagged cavity in the walls of the lake-bed, and the water swirled out down into a rushing, narrow canyon.
Alssonus floated to the nearest stalagmite and clung there, regaining his breath. For some reason, this cavern was more readily visible to his eyes than those before.
He turned towards the narrow drainage of the lake. Yes, there was light, and it was coming from there...

Shadoweagle · « **Reply #122 on:** February 21, 2004, 09:15:45 PM »

A'lai fell straight into the water and sunk a good way before managing to flail to the surface - he wasnt a great swimmer, and the weight of his robes when soaked threatened to pull him down. As a result, he could not make his way to any suitable hand-holds to stop him from bieng sucked to, and through the hole which the current was drawing towards. A'lai did not utter a word, and met what uncertain fate lay through there with grim-faced determination.

Ria Hawk · « **Reply #123 on:** February 21, 2004, 09:30:45 PM »

'Nasia plunged into the lake. She quickly surfaced, spluttering. She couldn't swim very well, but she could swim well enough. She frantically caught hold of a rock, and clung to it. She dimly saw Alssonus nearby. Before she could ask where the others were, the current pushed at her, and she lost her grip on the slippery rock. It was all she could do to keep her head above water. She couldn't do anything about the fact that she was now being pulled towards that rent in the cavern wall.

Luke Lavin · « **Reply #124 on:** February 21, 2004, 10:01:36 PM »

Maritann plunged into the water, after he sunk a few feet he surged up to the surface but his heavy leathers pulled back under. He tried fighting the current but it got a hold of him and pulled him towards the drain. He swam as hard as he could to the surface pull for the current sucked him back under and through the drain...