Ecthelion vs Kangaxx

[Sever]

Improved Kangaxx spoilers and maybe a minor Phaere spoiler.

For the sake of roleplaying, this story is somewhat different to the one posted in Battle strategies and tactics.

"I'm getting the distinct impression this Kangaxx fellow is someone we don't really want to meet."

Ecthelion retrieved his trusty Flail of Ages and started wading out of a waist
high pile of skeletal remains; All that was left of an army of warriors summoned by two mad liches and their equally insane companions. Clouds of blistering yellow-white heat were still forming around the room. The massive fighter casually looked down at his Armour of the Hart and pantomimed a fanning gesture at the neck. "I still say we teach that dwarf a lesson," he grumbled. "20000 gold to cut a few air vents in me armour is ludicrous. I'm gonna have to by +5 undershorts to soak up the sweat every time you cast that damned spell!"

Nalia shrugged.

The party regained their composure and planned their next move. The last two days had proved to be quite unusual. It was Jaheira's idea to go back to the coffin beneath the sewers in the temple district. Something about the evil it radiated seemed to bother her. It was violating the balance. The only retort Ecthelion could come up with was that once every four weeks Jaheira became unbalanced, violent and everything seemed to bother her. The looks he got from half his crew were enough to convince him to go back for a second look.

It was there that they found them. The unquestionably evil arms and legs of someone who had, at one stage, been so ridiculously rich as to replace their limbs with solid gold implants. The lich that guarded them had been quite particular about keeping them away from the likes of Ecthelion. So too was Ecthelion quite particular about prying them away from his grasp. The rest of the day was spent piecing together clues as to the mystery of the bones; who they belonged to, what implications they had and where they could find the rest.

Aerie in particular viewed this last statement with suspicion. All had witnessed the change in their boss over the last few months. None were more disturbed by it than Aerie. It seemed, she summised, that ever since the night with that woman, Ecthelion's interests had been tainted and his alignment had fallen accordingly. Ecthelion argued that to gainsay the wishes of a Silver Dragon would prove the greater evil and that a night in the bed of a voluptious, evil drow was essential to the success of their mission. Aerie was hardly satisfied by this comment but conceded that as long as he was working for the greater good, she would continue to aid him. Thus, her talents with lore were not withheld and the party soon learned something of the mystery. In the next few days, they had located the second piece of the skeletal remains and were now on the verge of acquiring the third and final piece.

Ecthelion stood at the far end of the hall with his party in tow. The strategy had proved effective so far, and he was loath to change it. With his Belt of Inertial Barrier in Place, Flail of Ages and Belm in hand and a potion of invulnerability at the ready, he strode forth to challenge the final guardian.
The encounter was not what he expected.

Instead of the righteous (but odourously evil) Lich to prevent looting of the coffin, an elegantly addorned golden skull peered up at him with ethereal eyes that spoke of ages of hardship, treachery and woe. A tale that fell on empathetic ears. Ecthelion was convinced that the skull was indeed truthfull when describing the evils that he had witnessed. Little did he know that the skull to whom he now showed pity was the cause of such evils. "I think i have already found the bones," he stated, and reverently placed them within the coffin.

The change that took place in the skull was monumental. It fused with the golden bones and rose up to form the most hideously nasty lich that he had ever witnessed. Ecthelion, freed from the mind altering spell of the skull, regained his will and challenged the lich angrily. "Thou jests with me and bites the hand that frees!"

Kangaxx stood for a momemt, unheeding of Ecthelion's words, drawing powerful magics into his dark frame. After the centuries long void had been filled, he turned towards the ropable, massive fighter with an air of amusement.

"It would please me to carve out your heart."

The very words sent waves of terror down the spine of his entire party. Kangaxx savoured the sound with sadistic ecstacy as his evil speach resonated throughout the hall. A Black Blade of Disaster formed in his skeletal fists and slowly, almost comically, he advanced.

"Here we go again." Aerie sighed.

Ecthelion, although at first daunted by Kangaxx, quickly realised that his text book lich battling techniques were still applicable. He downed the potion of invulnerability and called to Imoen who tossed him her supply of invisibility potions, just in case. He then skillfully played the defensive fight. Always keeping just out of range of his melee spells. Always herding the dread creature to the back of the hall and keeping his devastating area effect spells away from his crew. Never Attacking. (a wave of archane energy to the groin - both scorching and freezing - showed him the wisdom of this). A couple of times Imoen and Nalia ran forth to test their disabling spells on the lich or to dispose of a summoned sword with magic missiles. Ecthelion ordered them back to their positions and continued the waiting game. Finally, Kangaxx's defences wore off.

Ecthelion charged madly at the lich and cornered him at the top of the stairs. Then, with a brief gesture around the room, the lich ceased attacking and spat the venomous words.

"This place will be your tomb."

"Not if i've got anything to say about it!" With furiously powerful strokes, Ecthelion carved the foul creature to pieces in a matter of seconds. That's where he got the second biggest surprise of his adventuring life. The golden skeleton, reduced to little more than a skull, blazed forth in a brilliant red fire.

"Fools," he laughed, mockingly. "Still you do not understand."

The lich then transformed into a creature of shockingly potent evil. Capable of reeking death and destruction on a scale beyond any foe Ecthelion had ever faced. Only tales heard during childhood had ever come close to conveying the potential for evil of the being that now floated before him. Lord amongst undead. The Demi-Lich. Kangaxx.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Ecthelion salvaged what little of his wits remained and made a bolt for the door. Hastily, he informed his crew of the peril they now faced. The decision was unanimous. They were not equipped to deal with such a creature but niether could they let it exist and continue its campaign for unparalleled suffering and sin. They would flee and return when they knew how to vanquish it. Kangaxx had other plans.

None of the party could see the dread creature but its voice made its presence known. "Show yourselves, whatever you are, that i might destroy you!"

Ecthelion forced the voice out of his head and moved to open the door. That's when he got the biggest surprise of his adventuring life. Subtle but powerful magics invaded the air about them and they felt themselves being teleported. Instead of the stairway to the level above stretching before his raised gauntlets, he was greeted instead by the horrible gaze of the Demi-Lich skull. No longer golden and adorned with fine jewels, but twisted, grotesque, dark and unquestionably evil. Without thinking, he thrust his Flail of Ages in a sweeping roundhouse blow which would serve to smite any lesser creature. Not Kangaxx. The skull still polluted his vision as though the flail passed straight through something that was not solid matter. Then the thought penetrated the conscience of every member present. Not a voice as such, but the will of a creature who's thoughts pierced all mental barriers and reached to the very core of a mortal's soul.

"I WILL KILL YOU FOR TRYING TO MANIPULATE ME!"

The otherwise stout-hearted Minsc froze where he stood. Even miniature giant space hamsters, it seems, are not immune to the call of the Demi-Lich. Boo's terrified face peared out from Minsc's tunic as the bolt of imprisonment sealed his immediate fate. The massive ranger glowed in an aura of archane energy and then dissappeared. Jaheira's wrath overcame her fear (and indeed any wrath previously displayed at her presribed time of the month) and swung her staff of elemental mastery at the skull. Aided by the strength of the girdle of hill giants on top of the staff's powerful enchantments, the blow penetrated the defences and inflicted upon Kangaxx a devastating one point of damage. She never got a second chance. A bolt from the maw of the creature saw her residing in a pocket of air not far from Minsc.

Seeing the devastation of their party served to lessen the sway of terror that held them in check. The grim realisation of the fate that awaited their friends awoke them from their panic and they quickly tried to raise their defences. Imoen was first to act. She immediately recognised the attack, and cast immunity to abjuration before the Demi-Liches teleport field could disrupt her. The remaining party members moved out of range and raised their own immunity spells whilst the skull was kept occupied with blows from Imoen's powerful katana.

Ecthelion felt hopeless. His desire to unravel the mystery of the bones had placed his party in dire peril. There was little he could do against this beast he had freed. He stood silently at the far end of the hall as his three mages mounted a failing attack. He pleeded to the voice within to grant him wisdom at this, the last possible time in which wisdom might serve him. Then he saw it.

At first it was obscured by clouds of swirling violet energy. A rat, or so it seemed, sitting idly by the Demi-Lich as it unleashed it's fury. As he glanced upon the rodent, Ecthelion imagined that it returned his gaze with the anger and malice of a being held in check for centuries in a dark, endless void. Ecthelion hated rats. He got the distinct impression that this rat hated him right back.

"The rat! Shoot the rat!" He screamed at his comrades and they drew forth their bows, slings and crossbows and peppered the rodent with bullets and poisonous missiles. Before long it looked more like an echidna but still it sat there, undaunted, directing its hatred at the leader of the party. Nalia blended an incendiary cloud with the swirling myst of the teleport field. In what seemed to be an eternity later, the fire in the rat's eyes dimmed and it slumped to the ground.

Without delay, they turned their weapons towards Kangaxx who had paused momentarily as though mourning a friend who is lost. Their attacks were useless, though, as the quarrels and arrows passed harmlessly through the skull and slammed into the wall behind him. Aerie cursed. They whole party stopped in shock and turned towards the young wingless avariel who was encanting Melf's miniature missiles with all the fury of a woman thrice scorned. Ecthelion smiled. "She's finally learning,"

The whole party sighed with relief at the sound of a small rock hurtling into the skull and erupting in flames, undoubtably causing it pain. Nalia followed suit leaving Imoen to pace back and forth anxiously until the incendiary cloud dissipated. Aerie and Nalia were flinging meteors with insane abandon, pausing only to renew their immunity spells. Finally the flames died down and Imoen strode forth, hasted and hostile, with a potion of power coursing through her veins and Celestial Fury gleaming in her hands.

If the Demi-Lich could comprehend terror, it would have done so now. The first lick from the fabled katana caused it such grievous pain that its terrible features were frozen in a mask of anguish. Twice per round Imoen was whisked away by the teleport field only to return and deliver another quick blow to the already stunned Kangaxx. Each of the meteors was hitting the mark now, and each blow from Celestial Fury was rapidly diminishing the not-so-dread beast's chances of survival.

Finally, a powerful critical hit from Imoen cleaved the Demi-Lich and the two halves of its black skull came to rest beside the arrow riddled body of the rat that protected it. A shriek of hideous evil sent shockwaves throughout the hall and the remaining party members fell to the ground with fists covering their ears. Then it was over. The unlight faded from the coffin and a single ring chimed as it fell in front of Imoen.

The exhausted and traumatised group slowly rose and met at the far end of the Hall. "I take it this ring, this - this trinket is worth the lives of your friends!" Aerie shouted in as hostile tone as her elven voice could muster. Ecthelion took the ring and hung his head in shame. Imoen and Nalia looked at him with disapproval but spared their comments at the wrath of this small girl who was vividly berating their massive leader.

"I cannot begin to justify the lack of wisdom - nay, this sickness of the mind which led me to embark on this perilous quest. I owe it to all of you, not least you, Aerie, to atone for my folly."

Aerie's expression softened somewhat and she looked at Ecthelion who had, at one time, been her lover and had taught her much about the world. Ecthelion produced two scrolls of freedom from his case and handed them to her. "I have been useless throughout this battle and it seems that without you, i am useless still to rescue our friends from torment unimaginable. I have much to learn from you, Aerie. Please, give me the chance." A gleam of pride shined in Aerie's eyes and she turned quickly to hide her emotions from the boss, lest her verbal assault lose its edge. Calmly she used the scrolls to free Jaheira then Minsc.

Jaheira, seemingly unnaffected by the torment, checked her gear and fell in with the rest of the crew. "No doubt there is a tale to be told here, in due time of course," She stated calmly. "I take it by your expression that a lesson has been learned, no?"

Minsc on the other hand, was far from calm. He appeared in front of them with a fearful expression on his face and arms outstretched, cursing in his native Rasheman tongue. He was stumbling back and forth and turning in circles trying to contain some hidden, powerful force. "I am glad to be back among my friends and i thank you. But beware Ecthelion! It seems you have earned the wrath of Boo and i fear i can no longer contain him! Never have i heard him say such, such... Well, listen and learn!" With that, a fuzzy brown head emerged from Minsc's grasp with eyes ablaze in anger.

The unusually audible squeeks could only be described as obscene.

[Sir Exxon]

[img]graemlins/awesomework.gif[/img] Awesome work, Sever, both in defeating Kangaxx and writing about it so well. I am deeply impressed. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[daan]

Beautifull, excellent and incredible ..
If my english vocabulary stretched any further than that,I'd write other praising words too ... but this is going to have to suffice for now [img]smile.gif[/img]

[karlosovic]

well...
I laughed at the end. other than that I don't know.
brilliant

OK, the enchantment has worn off enough now to say that you have surpassed even yourself. I thought the Improved Demon-Knights encounter in the battle strategies thread was the best, untill I read this one.

I would love to read a book you wrote. you should send a sample to Robert Jordan or Raymond E. Feist etc

[SpongeBobTheDestoyer]

[img]graemlins/jumpclap.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/jumpclap.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/jumpclap.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/jumpclap.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/jumpclap.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/jumpclap.gif[/img]

Bravo!

[Decurion]

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What they said. But could someone explani why he butchered the rat?

[9_1_6]

I only read half of it, but it was good!

Brilliant Sever. Keep it coming.

[daan]

I just defeated him too .. though I fail to see the improvements.
He still fell to my mace of disruption, well ok,.. this time it took 2 hits.
Oh, and there was a little bug upstairs where the liches chain-contingency kept firing; that's a lot of 3x ADHW

Anywayz, my question:
What rat ?
I didnt see any rats ...

[Sever]

[img]graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

Thanks for the kudos guys. After reading it again i agree that it may be a bit long, but to hell with it. Not sure how i could have cut it down anyway. I do not envy the likes of Raymond E Feist and ilk. Editors, so i hear, are masochists.

As for the rat. Look harder.

Originally posted by Sever: At first it was obscured by clouds of swirling violet energy. A rat, or so it seemed, sitting idly by the Demi-Lich as it unleashed it's fury. As he glanced upon the rodent, Ecthelion imagined that it returned his gaze with the anger and malice of a being held in check for centuries in a dark, endless void. Ecthelion hated rats. He got the distinct impression that this rat hated him right back.

The paragraph may have given the impression that it was hostile but this is not so. It has a blue dialogue circle around it instead of the red "i'm gonna kill you" circle. I have since done this fight five times and am undecided as to the purpose of the rat. At first it seemed that no matter how much i pummelled kangaxx, his regeneration would always heal the damage too quick. When i killed the rat/s (the battle text says 3 gated rats but only one is visible) he seemed to go down quicker. By this i mean i still had four MMMs left instead of one. This may be due to other variables but i'm 90% sure the rat is important.

BTW, a rather violent biff session has taken place with a certain queen of the undead. May be a chapter 4 in the chronicles of Ecthelion.