The stone continues

[K T Ong]

(ooc: Thanks for the compliments, SecretMaster. [img]smile.gif[/img] )

Thanks to the power shield, the arrow which had entered through a slit in StoneRock's armor merely stopped short of touching him. StoneRock swore an oath as he pulled out the arrow. Fenric charged off towards the attackers, now totally berserk with rage. Being half-wolf and also with his blood saturated with magic by years of Magnus' experimentation, Fenric proved highly resistant to poison. Several quarrels flew towards him and he dodged them again with the odd one or two being bounced off by the shield. Meanwhile, the skeletal wraith summoned by Chun-Li flew towards one of the assassins. With the wall of force gone, the assailants were wide open to the wraith's attacks. Several arrows were fired at the wraith and passed right through while it closed its distance with one of the assassins and swung a spectral claw right through him. The assassin screamed loudly with horror and pain as a large portion of his bodily heat was drained away by the wraith, and collapsed to the ground, face blue and trembling all over. Fenric also sprang upon another assassin and struck him full force with a claw causing him to tumble across the room. Outside, the heavy footsteps of the marble guardians grew inexorably closer though at a painfully slow pace, while eerie vapors sprayed out from the summoning bottles thrown by the assassins...

A number of crossbow bolts flew towards Ghzarbanan and would have found their mark had Sir Morgeruat not quickly come out and blocked the missiles with his great shield of shining steel. StoneRock promptly gulped down a mana potion while Rufus put on the speed boots he had been appraising earlier and ran outside -- just as a number of darts flew towards him. A couple pricked his neck and immediately he felt a burning sensation spread from the site of injury. Gritting his teeth with pain, he pointed his wand at the assassins. "Magic missiles!" he shouted -- and eight tiny, silvery needles of magical force appeared in the air and whisked off towards the assassins...

(ooc: Don't forget, Azrael -- any spells the assassins might employ are as much subjected to the dampening effects of the plane as those cast by our heroes! )

[ 08-01-2002, 10:29 PM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]

[K T Ong]

Back in the Seven Heavens, Lord Kuan was about to set off to receive the newly arrived batch of souls when he noticed a ripple in the pond, indicative of disturbances in the neighboring Astral Plane. "I'll receive the newly arrived souls later, Tsao," said Lord Kuan, "for now you may go and guide them to the reception chambers prepared for them."

"At once, Great Lord," said the page as he resumed the form of a dragon and flew away. Lord Kuan waved his hand yet again, and now a scene was presented to him in which a group of adventurers were engaged in heated battle with several masked figures all clad in black and brandishing crossbows. So this was the cause of the disturbance! And at once, the Warlord knew that the adventurers were of pivotal significance in determining the outcome of the Crusade of Darkness spreading across the mortal world. Lord Kuan observed the battle with the utmost interest. Would the adventurers win?...

[ 08-03-2002, 01:23 AM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]

[Morgeruat]

ye gods, stop firing off spells, it attracts things darker than fiends here, an astral wind carries Chaos in it's wake, or worse... the Dreadnought as he yelled he heard a loud roar echo through his mind, a psionic harbinger of the monster he had just named. he grabbed the impetuous halfling and turned the dwarf towards the back door "Run, no one who has fought the Astral Dreadnought has survived, the gods fear it's wrath, and fiends cower when it's near, we would do well to leave and let it get our attackers, it usually leaves those who are here physically alone, but our attackers have been projected here by spells, their true bodies still reside on the prime material plane", and with the the knight shoved the dwarf out the door, and threw the halfing with him. then cursed as he felt a slight sting as several arrows bit into his side through his chain shirt(chain mail is typically worn with plate armor-ie plate mail or plate and mail), feeling the burning spread quickly he quaffed a potion of health and ran to get Chun-li, Kadgar, Fenric, Rufus, Sir Jorlon, and Magnus

[K T Ong]

(ooc: Gee, this is a rather unusual turn of events, Morgeruat. How did your paladin suddenly know of all this? And I thought Azrael intended the assassins to have been sent by his lich character rather than by any gods -- unless you mean to say that the lich was already as good as a god? Or maybe I'll attempt an explanation, yeah? [img]smile.gif[/img] ...)

Though Sir Morgeruat knew little of the Planes, he had nevertheless read a little of the terrible Dreadnought before and of Its temperaments. And he realised that the assassins were present in their astral form when he saw the silver cord attached to their backs.

"Sir Morgeruat is right!" cried Magnus. "A terrifying creature by that name does reside on this plane, and nothing upsets it more than hostile intrusions by astral beings projected here by magical spells! Quickly, we have to leave!"

The whole party swiftly left the place by the back door. Outside was Jah'zuer. "Hurry, this way!" cried the shopkeeper. As the adventurers ran they could hear coming from behind them a great roar which grew increasingly louder, and piercing screams... Meanwhile, the venom spread through the bodies of those struck by the darts, causing them increasing pain... (ooc: StoneRock, do a mass heal!! )

********************************

Lord Kuan gasped with consternation as he saw the Astral Dreadnought being roused from Its slumber by the disturbances caused by the astral intruders. Truly, this was a nontrivial occurence! Not that this creature could do anything to harm the gods directly, which It couldn't, but that It was at times known to be a terrible liability by upsetting the balance of energies between the Planes, resulting in the loss of millions of innocent lives in the mortal world -- a great source of grief for the gods of good. One such catastrophe in fact took place just three thousand years ago, when he, one of the mightiest of all gods, had to intervene personally, and managed to subdue this creature with his Halberd of the Constellations and lock It away in the Astral Plane only after a fierce battle that lasted seven times seven days and nights.

Just then Tsao the page returned. "My apologies, Great Lord. Your humble servant again requests an audience."

"What news again, Tsao?"

"The Great Clangeddin has come to pay a visit, Great Lord, together with three envoys from the God of the Most Radiant Heart. They await in the Grand Hall!"

[ 08-02-2002, 11:40 PM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]

[Morgeruat]

ooc: it was indeed the silver cords that tipped me off (opening a gate to the astral to let several asassins through physically would take alot of energy, and become a beacon for anything on the other side(ie mages like kadgar and magnus would have sensed it almost instantly, a chance that the lich would not likely have taken if the purpose of the assassins was to take us by surprise, not by brute force- the poison is a strong evidence of this, that they don't plan on beating us down, merely killing us with a glancing blow, or minor hit)
where as astral projection is a more subtle spell, and can be just as effective.

where Morguerat got this information(as well as knowledge of the Astral Dreadnought), well, that remains to be seen

[K T Ong]

Rufus was by now in extreme pain from the poison. "I... can't... run anymore..."

The party was forced to stop for a moment. StoneRock quickly cast a mass heal, and Rufus recovered. But as they were about to resume their escape, there was a fierce, howling gale and a great stream of strange, white ectoplasmic vapors floated past them from behind at an incredible speed before condensing into a vague shape before them; slowly the shape became more and more distinct -- a monstrous, terrifying shape...

"It's the Dreadnought -- we're done for..." whispered Sir Morgeruat.

The shape looked like a supergiant white lion with wings, but with a vague, cloudy outline and a far more ferocious countenance. It gave a deafening roar and approached the party slowly. Rufus was right in front and utterly frozen with terror as the creature approached...

The beast stopped right in front of Rufus. Fenric snarled but held back from attacking as if actually aware of the true power of what they stood against. Strangely enough, and much to everyone's relief, it did not attack. (Being the hot-headed type, Ghzarbanan might have attacked were it not for the remnants of the hold spell, on account of which he had been carried all along in Sir Jorlon's arms.) Instead it bent down and sniffed at Rufus all over before licking him all over a couple times. Then it turned and left, its outline growing vaguer until in the distance it faded into a cloud of ectoplasm that dispersed into nothingness.

Everyone heaved a great sigh of relief. "We're very, very lucky the Dreadnought's in a relatively good mood on this occasion," remarked Jah'zuer. "The alternative's just too ghastly to think of. The Dreadnought's gone back to sleep now."

"S-Someone help me..." stuttered Rufus, still paralysed with fear. "I... c-can't move..." StoneRock cast remove fear on Rufus and he was well again.

"Come, why don't we go back to the shop?" said Magnus. "I honestly don't think the assassins are around anymore, or else they would surely have followed up with their attacks..."

Chun-Li gazed around the area, eyes glowing green again. "Yes -- they're gone."

The party made their way back to the shop. By now Ghzarbanan had fully recovered. All the shelves and the merchandise displayed on them were still neatly stacked. "Hey! Why wasn't the place all messed up?" asked Rufus in surprise.

"The Dreadnought's attacks are of an astral nature," explained Magnus, "so they won't affect physical objects. If the assassins are lucky, their astral forms will have been merely thrown back into the Prime Material Plane. If not... No, I'd rather not think about it..."

Just then Rufus felt a growing, strangely pleasant tingling sensation all over his body. What was it? He remembered the Dreadnought licking him... (ooc: Rufus is going to get something nice! )

[ 08-03-2002, 11:56 AM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]

[K T Ong]

(ooc: Here's a picture of Sir Jorlon!)



[ 08-16-2002, 09:06 PM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]

[Morgeruat]

installing a new cd burner in my wifes computer, will post more later tonight or tomorrow

OOC> Cool Pic K T. Can't post much, just got back from vacation and fixing everything up. I'll be back tommorow though.

StoneRock: "Rufus, what is happening. Quick, tell me your symtoms (i think thats right) and I might be able to help you, we have precious time."

Jorlon: "Come on guys, we must help StoneRock. We'll hold back the Dreadnought until he's done!"

Jah'zuer: "How did i get into this?? Sigh"