A Smaller Task pt5 - finale!
...so, after rooting around inside the creature, an odd black crystal was found. Toha tried to smash not once, but twice, and it expelled some kind of dischordant shadow which is thered that crystal.
It's ... making a horrible sound.
Lawson is standing back. he's not the one hammering it
The moment that shadow thingee appears, Alaryn jumps back a half step. What? She's startled! As she does so, her staff snaps up, electrical energy pulsing about the housed crystal at the head of it. She tries to speak, but just squeaks a bit. Then she tries again, "Wh.. who are you?" she asks, wondering if maybe fighting is the worst thing to do here.
Sargon raises clenched fists and turns to the side to present a smaller target. He shifts his weight. He prepares to leap forward swinging. But then he pauses as Alaryn tries...talking.
The shadow doesn't say anything beyond something that sounds an awful lot like a horde of screaming pigs.
It's really unpleasent.
Head shaking, Alaryn sighs, "Well, anyone speak squeak?" she asks. "If not, I think that we may be in for something along the lines of more kaboom." And she grips her staff more tightly, preparing to fire. "Seriously Shadow thingee. If you want harmony, I suggest we find that without blowing each other up. If you prefer the more... destructive route, so be it."
Lawson says, "I don't speak pig...."
Sargon is suddenly glad thst he was part deafened earlier. He looks the other party members over and then moves to the side. He's circling around though at the rate and radius he chooses it may take some time.
It hasn't stopped screaming, that's for sure. In fact, it's continuing to do and growing in pitch. Whatever it wants, it's obvioius you haven't gotten it so far.
Sargon has made it a quarter if the way around the shadowy cresture. He moves closer now, staight towards it. Reaching out his hands as if to grasp it.
Where Sargon is moving in, Alaryn is trying to figure out some pattern to the thing's movements, or even its sounds. She's much rather figure out a puzzle than just pew pew things.
GAME: Alaryn rolls knowledge/arcana: (4)+10: 14
What Sargon finds is that it does appear to have a certain solidity and mass to it. While insbustantial, it's like pushing your hand into a bit of jello.
Lawson is still watching....from a distance. Matter of the arcane, he knows little about....or seems to know little.
Sargon tries to move his hsnds to the side. He tests to see if he can move it. "We mean you no harm," he grunts, still loudly. "But you can't stay here..."
"Well... you are definitely the -cause- of all this difficulty." suggests Alaryn. She shakes her head and sighs, "I guess the only option here is... well, a surgical removal." She nods to the others as she sighs once more, "I guess brute force wins again since we have no expert on the fey handy."
Lawson says, "Unless you wanna do it, Alaryn."
"As a team.." begins Alaryn. She shakes her head and mutters, "How did I get to be in charge here? Shit." Then she points her staff and says, "Plan is.. kill it." and she fires.
"Well...why didn't you say so in the first place?" Lawson says as he moves up...but doesn't swing his sword yet. Why? it's not a hammer.
Sargon steps back and raises his hands again. He's ready to attack or dodge. But mostly he watches to see how it reacts to being attacked.
The death ray hits it.
It /erupts/ into a massive profused explosion of black shards that go in all directions. Yikes!
GAME: Alaryn rolls reflex: (20)+5: 25 (CRITICAL SUCCESS)
GAME: Sargon rolls reflex: (10)+7: 17
GAME: Lawson rolls reflex: (19)+4: 23
GAME: Toha rolls ref: (3)+2: 5
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 3d6: (9): 9
Lawson does manage to duck.....and parry a lot of the shards with his sword. "All right....what's next?"
The explosion goes in all directions, spewing out over you and then dissipating.
Of course, several shards have embedded themselves in your personages, especially toha who seems tov'e been actually hurt by the force of the blast, but at least they're still standing.
Now, you've broken the horrible smoking energy up! But you can see the shards /everywhere/, like it coalesced into them when struck.
"That didn't go as planned." says Alaryn as she lifts her hands, her gauntlets glowing with force as she uses them to shield her face. But she tilts her head, listening for any of the harmonic resonance.
Lawson says, "Nothing ever does. Even the best laid plans don't survive contact with the enemy."
Seeing the shards, Alaryn inclines her head and turns to go start inspecting them closely. Maybe she can collect them and such for use in future magic stuffs.
Edinaz picks himself up off the ground, having been alittle farther away. He stares at the shards. "Should we be cleaning this up?"
Almost gingerly working a shard from between some of the large straps weaving over her thigh, Toha asides, "I... hrf... thought that was 'No plan survives first contact with reality'?"
Lawson starts to pick the shards off of his armor. "No. No plan survives contact with the enemy...."
Sargon holds his arma in front of himself with his elbows bent and hands next to his neck. This lets him look at his own forearms for shards. He turns them the other way. Then he holds his hands out to the sides so he can look at his body.
At least the ringing, screaming, and whatever has stopped. You're able to start collecting the shards. But you're starting to notice a darkening in the places that its touched.
That includes you, by the way, where you're making contact with it. Great.
Edinaz looks at his hands, and then starts putting the shards in a belt pouch, watching it darken. "So, magically-inclined people, how do we contain this taint?"
Lawson looks down at himself.....and where the shards have touched. "Whatever it is...or was...it's infected us too. Maybe you all should stop collecting this....."
That can't be good. Toha, generally mindful of how strange, unnatural phenomena interact with her particular, unnatural body, starts -yanking- shards out to discard them as soon as she notices the darkening effect. Ie: AHHH! Get'emout!Get'emout!Get'emout!
Sargon looks at Sargon and then looks at the few shards he's picked up. He noticed how his hands and fingertips have darkened. The he also inspects the places he was struck by shards earlier.
It doesn't /feel/ harmful. There's no pain or othre impact. Just it's... staining.
And it spreads out like spilled ink.
But it eventually stops, at least.
Edinaz watches the pouch go dark, and scowls at it. "This /looks/ bad. Even if it isn't. But isn't this place about perceptions?"
Lawson says, "Fey like to play tricks on people. They're chaos personified. So....three different recepticles for these shards. One for the Engineers Enclave, One for the clergy, and one for the Mages. Let each of them research them...with a proper warning, of course.""
"Black is just a color." says Alaryn as she tucks shards into a pouch.
GAME: Lawson rolls knowledge/arcana: (2)+4: 6
GAME: Toha rolls knowledge/arcana: (6)+7: 13
Lawson says, "Let's get them up and back to normal. This is making my head hurt."
GAME: Alaryn rolls knowledge/arcana: (18)+10: 28
Toha steps away from the shards, but sort of warily circles them, like surveying the mess her new puppy made on the carpet, asiding a resigned, "Agreed." Then, with some reluctance, she starts to gather her former passengers once again.
Edinaz concurs. "My head already hurts." He dangles his pouch carefully from his fingers, keeping the unstained drawstrings in constant motion, like it'll help.
A pouch of shards is collected by Alaryn. She is studying the shards one by one as she collects them. But her eyes narrow as she works. "Huh." she mutters, "Wait.." she looks back to where the shadow creature -was-. "If that was a representation of disharmony... it was made to appear physical like us, so that we could perceive and understand it. These.." she looks to the pouch and inclines her head, "Are parts of that creature. Disharmony. Chaos. Disorder. So, if any of you wish to carry essence of anarchy with you, then do so." She shrugs then and adds, "I plan to use them to fabricate defenses against such things."
Lawson says, "No thank you. I've caused enough in my life. I don't need to carry it in my pocket.""
Edinaz considers this for a moment, then stops the pouch swinging. "I think these are holy representations of the chaos of battle." He raises the pouch. "Hail, Khor'Dagorith." Then he attaches it to his belt and nods solemnly to Alaryn. "Thank you for sharing your wisdom."
There's a crinkling sound in the distance.
Hey, look. It's that fey. The one from earlier.
"You are learning. VEry good. Thank you. This disharmony is resolved -- to an extent. As you can see, it can be defeated, but it poisons all it touches."
Lawson says, "You could've told us that in the first place. Wanna tell us how to cure it then?"
"You need to see to understand. It not so... literal," replies the winged girl. Her wings give a little shake.
"Power is power. Magic is magic. Tools are tools. Power is not good or evil. The way it is used is." offers Alaryn. Damned neutral beliefs. "One must merely follow the rules of magic when they -use- the materials." she adds with a smile. She seems quite proud to figured it all out in -her- mind. Right or wrong, she -thinks- she is right.
Toha considers the little shards of rampancy in her hands dubiously, "How it's gained, too." she counters, turning her face toward Alaryn, then to the fey, "If yer free spirits, driven by whim, though generally well meanin'... would this be driven by ill-meaning, then?" she jostles her shards to illustrate the point, "That why there's disharmony, here?"
"If there be no more disharmony... then the manner in which -we- acquired these shards was well and good. Honorable and noble. Cleansing even." suggests Alaryn. "Would you not agree?" she asks towards the Fey.
Edinaz moves to follow the fae. "Well, show us then." He pats the pouch. "Unless this philosophy helps."
Lawson is keeping back. if the fey wants to relay info, Lawson's gruff nature isn't going to help.
Sargon peers at the handful of shards in his palm. He pokes at them with a fingertip and then closes his fist over them, looking up again. "What about the war," he prompts. "The Fey War? Was that all due to these?" He raises his hand and shakes it about as if he's rattling a set of dice.
Toha closes her hands over the shards so she doesn't lose them and goes silent to see what comes of the discussion.
"Yes. This is due to the war. It is not war as you understand. Oh yes. There are dark warriors who take servants. There are battles. But it is fought on levels your do not easily perceive. In the stories and the wind and the songs." They turns.
"Follow me," she comands, wings fluttering as shewafts along.
Lawson begins to follow as well...quietly. He's clearly not happy about this.....but he never looks happy.
Fastening her pouch tot her belt, Alaryn shrugs and moves to follow the winged girl. "Let us hope she stays near to the ground." she remarks softly to her comrades.
Edinaz strides along after the winged girl. He nods to Alaryn, "Agreed: I am not aerodynamic."
"Enough force would ease the need for that." Toha chimes in as she plunks along with the others. She doesn't look happy, either, but she sounds in a casual humor, anyway.
"I will not fly away, have no fear," replies the Fey. "Come, come..." She leads you throiugh the forest to a different section of the vast and improbably tall trees. These trees look sickly, dy ing. Blackened.
"Here, the war was fought, poisoning all. Not just becasue of the violence but becasue the violence seeped into every5thing around it. As your hands grow stained with blood, so too do we grow stained with darkness."
Lawson says, "So the darkness, for you...is poison?"
Not questioning those words, Alaryn merely walks along and listens. Besides, she's staring at the trees, at everything else. Her attention is drawn all over the place.
Edinaz considers, listening. He looks at his hands, draws the sign of Kor over the stains on his fingers.
"A form of corruption. We know whence it came or why it started. The DArk Fey have always existed -- you call them Oruch in some cases, though they have long moved beyond their roots."
The fey shrugs her shoulders again.
Edinaz pats his pouch comfortably. "Ah, so this is the mark of my ancestry?" He perks up a little.
Toha looks to Edinaz at the fey's words, fidgets once, then returns to center, as it were. There are things to ponder, later, but for now, she listens in silence, staring at the fae.
"Only in a small sense. There are distinct differences. The Dark Fey have always existed and this is connected to them and the war we fight, but this is also different. it is a new power, a new way of spreading. I do not understand it, or where it comes from. Perhaps you will all have better luck learning in time now that you know more." A shrug.
Lifting a hand, Alaryn asks, "Have we corrected the disharmony that you spoke of then? IF so, perhaps we could find a way to move forward and investigate a potential end to the war in some way or another?"
Lawson says, "My time with the fey has been very limited....and I do not know magic, so I would be of limited use to you, I fear.""
Edinaz gestures towards the trees. "This looks like something is unresolved." A pause. "Can we? It's not clear if your statement is a now statement or a later statement, winged-one."
The golem continues to listen, taking care not to drop her shards, even as she tries to go over what's being said.
"Isn't it?" says the Winged one to Edinaz, glancing at La aryn thereafter. "You have done what I asked but you will bear its marks. Learn from them. Protect yourself from what's coming and see, perhaps, if you can find the root of the coinflict, the root of the sea change in the dark fey."
"I do not wish to offend then... but I have much research to perform on that which we have... discovered. I wish to learn its properties and how I might turn it from taint, to tool. How it can be transformed from evidence of your enemy, into something that could liberate your people entirely." says Alaryn with a smile.
Edinaz nods slowly to the fae. "I think that nothing is obvious in this place. Thank you for your interpretation."