Akimitsu Sori (Part 4)
Though the fight has caused something of a ruckus no further enemies show themselves. You seem to be at the back of some kind of important building now, there's no obvious doors nor windows to look out into this underground world. Only the extremely lavish and out-of-place building with its red roof.
Karasu, breathing only a little heavily from the exertion of battle looks over at his companions and nods his appreciation to them for their aid thus far. "The entrance is around the front of the building. There are likely more guards." He can not imagine that there are not.
The shadow-spawned tyrannosaur slowly fades from sight, dissolving back into threads of mana, as Telamon regards the building. When Karasu speaks, the sorcerer's eyes flick to the former assassin.
"Is there any particular reason we should go in through the entrance? Some, ah, cultural requirement, or warding effect? Because, you know, I can put a nice new door right here." He points at the wall of the house.
Corey isn't the authority about what's culturally appropriate for the making of doors or otherwise. But what he is an authority on (relatively speaking) are how many entities are aligned with evil nearby. His brows furrow carefully as he tries to discern that for himself...
"There is still very much evil nearby. But the building..." He sighs gently. "It appears to be warded against my ability to detect such things. Which is troubling. Making an alternative exit might actually be our best option."
Carver's brash Dranish instincts is to ask, 'Who cares?' when it comes to the etiquette of battle. Enough time around mixed company means she has the wisdom to not throw it up into the air without a care. "Nondetection makes sense, I suppose. Must be powerful to hold it here in a place though." Enough sign that this Sori fellow is no trifle.
She tucks her knife in tight on her belt, still holding the bow.
Karasu blinks at Telamon slowly. Clearly he hadn't thought of carving a hole through the wall. A small smile slips across his lips and he backs away from the back of the building and motions for Telamon to do as he wishes. "Why observe the niceties They have already attacked us, have they not?"
GAME: Telamon casts Disintegrate. Caster Level: 20 DC: 27
"While the most direct solution is not always the best one... my father very firmly told me never to play another man's game if you can help it." Telamon looks thoughtful. "You know, Karasu, you should meet him. He's always been a source of good advice." With that, Telamon begins to gesture, chanting softly. Blue light gathers in his hand, racing along his forearm, until he points it at the wall. Then the light lashes out, striking the wall, unmaking it in a hole large enough for two men to walk abreast... revealing a very startled Akimitsu Sori.
Telamon's expression curves into a grim smile. "Hello there."
For a split-second, Corey is stunned, his silver eyes wide as he locks eyes onto the older Xian man who is Akimitsu Sori. He didn't expect him to be... Right on the other side. There. Like easy prey.
For just a moment, he's transported back to childhood, clutching his brand-new rapier close to his chest as he stares down, with horrified eyes and trembling hands, the dead fox before his feet. The creature had nearly nabbed his most favorite of the birds in that season's clutch in his family's rookery. He, or she, was going to eat his raven-friend, Pyra, and... Cor'ethil had struck the fox with his rapier he'd gotten for his birthday and killed it in one jab.
His mother always had a way of comforting him. He can feel her long nails on his shoulder and then gliding gently along the curve of his cheek. "My darling bird," Mother had purred into his ear then. "You defended your nest. You defended something you love. This is a _good_ thing."
Rapier still alight with Cen's glow, Cor'ethil's eyes fill with determination as he stares down Akimitsu Sori. He's not trembling like he did when he was a child. He has learned the lesson. There is something, someone, he loves... and he must defend him.
"O White Stag, grant me your greatest of angelic auras!" Corey prays, and it is answered. White wings unfurl from his back as he is bathed in a holy aura.
GAME: Corey casts Greater Angelic Aspect. Caster Level: 15 DC: 18
Carver's teeth are stained pink when she bites hard on her thumb, green eyes picking out Sori in the dark.
"Hark, a corpse." Carver growls low, the blood from the bite she so viciously took of her thumb leaving her bow steaming where it touches. She made peace that she was a killer, nearly a year ago, at a Prince's behest. Now? She was very good at it.
Was she good enough to bring an end to perhaps the greatest assassin in the world? Not alone.
The sizzling wall's remains and the bright light from a paladin's wings fall upon her sneering countenance. She was, thankfully, not alone.
GAME: Corey rolls Perception: (13)+22: 35 GAME: Karasu rolls Perception: (6)+20: 26 GAME: Telamon rolls perception: (9)+35: 44 GAME: Carver rolls perception: (1)+21: 22 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Corey rolls Spellcraft: (16)+19: 35 GAME: Telamon rolls knowledge/arcana: (4)+21: 25
Sori draws a sword from his hip and motions for the group to come to him. "Come then, let us see at last who is stronger. You and your allies, or me and mine." The two fiends flanking Sori have long chains riddled with spikes lashing around them, but strangely none of them leave the room they're standing in. It's like they're waiting for something.
"Afraid to leave the safety of your sanctuary Sori?" Karasu taunts, his own weapons still wet with the blood of his enemies. "Come out and play with me. Show me that my teacher has not forgotten the lessons of blood he carved into my body."
GAME: Telamon casts True Seeing. Caster Level: 20 DC: 26 GAME: Telamon rolls spellcraft: (14)+26: 40
Telamon's voice is soft and terrible. "Irhandi, igi-kar, namzu igi-bad." His dark eyes become pools of blackness, lit with distant stars, as the sorcerer hovers there studying the tableau -- Sori, the fiends, and the strange light.
"You might as well come forth, Sori, or we will drag you out by your hair. There is nowhere left for you to run, and I see your spell-absorption ward."
Corey catches sight of something in the room where Sori is standing. He nods as Telamon calls out the light within the room. "Those two lights will swallow any and all magic cast inside of the room. He wants _us_ to fight _him_ in his domain."
With his free hand, he makes a motion that translates roughly to 'come and get me' in nearly every corner of Ea he's ever been in as he intones in holy words: "Meet me, evildoer! Come forth and fight me in fair combat, that you might prove yourself against a champion of Gilead!"
GAME: Corey casts Challenge Evil. Caster Level: 15 DC: 15 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+13: (12)+13: 25 GAME: Carver casts Freedom of Movement. Caster Level: 14 DC: 18
Carver joins in with a quieter chant, as both sides eye each other and challenge the other for where the battle will take place. She eyes the demons past Sori, wondering at their abilities, even as she layers on a protective conjuration that leaves her feeling... buoyant. Fingers twitch at the quivers by her side.
GAME: Carver rolls 1d20+5: (14)+5: 19
Sori scoffs at Telamon and Corey's taunting. Even Karasu's words only earn the young man a affect of disinterest. "I will not leave my sanctuary merely because you threaten me and taunt me like children. If you wish to see my end you will have to best me on my own terms."
Karasu's eyes flicker toward Cor'ethil and Telamon. He doesn't want to be a fool and rush in to where Sori has such an obvious advantage, but the longer they are here, the more time that Sori has to gather allies as well. They can not hold forever against an endless onslaught of enemies. He holds however, hoping one of them has a better idea.
GAME: Telamon rolls use magic device: (2)+22: 24 GAME: Telamon casts Disintegrate. Caster Level: 20 DC: 27 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d3: (1): 1 GAME: Karasu rolls +26: (13)++26: 39 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+26: (13)+26: 39 GAME: Karasu rolls 2d6+11: (3)+11: 14 GAME: Karasu rolls 2d6+11: (6)+11: 17 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+14: (13)+14: 27 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d8+4: (4)+4: 8
Telamon looks vaguely annoyed by Sori's posturing. "Just break the lamps, lady and gentlefolk. I tire of this cretin, and the wife is making chicken noodle soup tonight." A snap of his fingers summons a length of oak, topped with a rose blossom, and he frowns, concentrating as he says softly, "Come forth, oh wind..." It feels different, clumsy, and frankly not quite how it's done when he casts his spells. But suddenly there's a pop, and a ghostly form of cloud and wind appears. The elemental surges forward like a messenger on the docks, the whirling chains of the fiends biting into it but not stopping it as it begins to pummel one of the lamps with little effect.
GAME: Corey rolls weapon9: (11)+22: 33 GAME: Corey rolls damage9: aliased to 1d4+2: (1)+2: 3 GAME: Carver rolls weapon18: (12)+24: 36 GAME: Carver rolls weapon18-5: (15)+24+-5: 34 GAME: Carver rolls weapon 18-10: (18)+0+-10: 8 GAME: Carver rolls 2d8+10: (12)+10: 22 GAME: Carver rolls 1d8+10: (2)+10: 12
Corey isn't a ranged combatant himself. But he's going to try, and trying is something that Cor'ethil at least is, in some sense, good at. He takes out a slender dagger that's a pair for the one that Karasu likes to fight with, because it is, in fact, that dagger's twin. He throws the dagger through the air, and...
It grazes the lamp, but it returns dutifully to Corey's hand. "Karasu makes it look easy," he mutters to himself.
GAME: Karasu advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 25. It is now Sori's turn! Corey is next! GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+22: (18)+22: 40 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+17: (17)+17: 34 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+12: (15)+12: 27 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d4+5: (2)+5: 7
Sori throws a small handful of shurikin at Telamon, frowning when only one manages to draw a small amount of blood, and no other effects are noted. "You are not so brave without your magic, mage." Sori shakes his head. "I thought I taught more courage to at least Karasu."
GAME: Karasu advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 23. It is now Corey's turn! Carver is next!
GAME: Karasu advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 22. It is now Carver's turn! Fiends is next!
Corey makes a snap decision. While Carver is easily the best shot between the three of them... He might be the most likely to endure whatever Sori has planned for them. He comes up to the doorway, just shy of walking into the room, his rapier at the ready.
"I highly doubt any of your lessons ever spoke on courage," Cor'ethil snarls at Sori. "Fight me."
GAME: Karasu advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 22. It is now Carver's turn! Fiends is next!
GAME: Carver rolls weapon18-4: (7)+24+-4: 27 GAME: Carver rolls weapon18-4: (2)+24+-4: 22 GAME: Carver rolls weapon18-9: (5)+24+-9: 20 GAME: Carver rolls weapon18-10: (7)+24+-10: 21 GAME: Carver rolls 2d8+20+1d8+10+1d8+10+1d8+10: (5)+20+(7)+10+(2)+10+(5)+10: 69
Carver sees that the belief is the lamps are tough, important even! She will continue her barrage on the unusual target, arrows skipping and bouncing off the hardened exterior. She trusts the other's judgements.
GAME: Karasu advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 21. It is now Fiends' turn! Karasu is next! GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+26: (16)+26: 42 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+26: (19)+26: 45 GAME: Corey casts Liberating Command. Caster Level: 15 DC: 15 GAME: Corey rolls Escape Artist+20: (1)+3+20: 24 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Corey rolls Escape Artist+20: (5)+3+20: 28
The fiends whip out their chains and wrap them around Cor'ethil in unison. The paladin valiantly tries to free himself of their bonds, but they've got him in a doubly nasty position and start to drag him into the room slowly but surely.
GAME: Karasu advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 15. It is now Karasu's turn! Telamon is next! GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+18: (2)+18: 20
Karasu, seeing Cor'ethil's plight knows that he must act now. Without thinking much at all about the consequences, he swings his sword at the nearest fiend, entering the room he'd never planned on breaching and trying to hit the fiend to free Corey. The weapon rebounds laughably off the fiend's hide and it sort of blinks at him.
GAME: Karasu advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 13. It is now Telamon's turn! Sori is next! GAME: Telamon rolls spellcraft: (16)+26: 42 GAME: Telamon casts Wish. Caster Level: 20 DC: 30 GAME: Telamon casts Wall of Force/Quicken. Caster Level: 20 DC: 30
This would be bad comedy, if it wasn't so serious. But the cheap shot about being nothing without his magic angers Telamon... and he takes a deep breath. "You think you know magic, Akimitsu Sori? Let me demonstrate your ignorance."
He reaches into his haversack, and draws forth a diamond carved into a prism. Holding it aloft, as light fills it. "It is my Will made manifest: I Wish that the eye of the Great Smith fall upon these lamps which deny magic; that His gaze draw forth their flaws, that they might fail as all things wrought by mortals do in time." The prism flashes brightly, and then--
--the mana lamps -shatter- into a thousand pieces, the magical ward dissipating. Swiftly, Telamon invokes a spell, and a shimmering field of force covers the doors like a ghostly curtain. "No more spelldrinking," he states flatly.
Karasu advances the initiative order. Round Two - Init 25. It is now Sori's turn! Corey is next! GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+26: (6)+26: 32 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+21: (15)+21: 36 GAME: Corey uses an AoO! 6 remaining. GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+16: (15)+16: 31 GAME: Corey rolls weapon1+2: (4)+24+2: 30 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d8+11: (6)+11: 17
Sori ignores Telamon's spells and his taunts, his prayers, and the magic that he expends to destroy the spell wards. He sees Karasu enter the room and his eyes narrow. The world narrows for him to killing Karasu - his student - once and for all. He weaves his sword in an arc but Karasu - with Cor'ethil's aid - manages to evade nearly every cut. Only one blistering attack manages to land, but the wound looks... wrong.
GAME: Karasu advances the initiative order. Round Two - Init 23. It is now Corey's turn! Carver is next! GAME: Corey rolls Heal: (1)+18: 19 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Corey rolls Heal: (3)+18: 21 GAME: Corey rolls CMB: (7)+16: 23
Cor'ethil's eyes are wide as he stops for a moment in his struggle to free himself from the fiends, catching sight of the wound made on Karasu. "An infernal wound," he breathes out in horror. "A forever-bleeding wound. You--"
The paladin twists and jerks hard against the fiends. "MONSTER!" he yells out. Yet he's still quite contained.
GAME: Karasu advances the initiative order. Round Two - Init 22. It is now Carver's turn! Fiends is next!
Carver cannot see Sori between the twisting shadows that is the teacher and the student, engaged in one last great lesson. She snarls as she finds a good shot will not happen, twisting the frantic green motes of her gaze toward the fiends. Her bow sings, or howls, firing off a great host of arrows with great precision.
They slam and actually break off the pebbling hide of the allied pit demons, their skin far too hard to be harmed.
GAME: Karasu advances the initiative order. Round Two - Init 21. It is now Fiends' turn! Karasu is next! GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+26: (8)+26: 34 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+26: (8)+26: 34
The two fiends manage to drag Corey into the room, their topic of conversation in their infernal language. Discussing meal options and how tasty paladin's are. It's... less than palatable.
GAME: Karasu advances the initiative order. Round Two - Init 15. It is now Karasu's turn! Telamon is next! GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+19-2: (9)+19+-2: 26 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+14-2: (6)+14+-2: 18 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+19-2: (4)+19+-2: 21 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+19-2-5: (3)+19+-2+-5: 15 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+14-2: (17)+14+-2: 29 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+14-2-5: (17)+14+-2+-5: 24
Karasu tries, ignores the bleeding wound on his arm. Ignores Sori. Focuses all of his attention on freeing his beloved kokoro. Yet... His attacks are utterly useless against the fiend. Hope starts to die in his dark eyes. "I... am sorry my kokoro." He murmurs.
GAME: Karasu advances the initiative order. Round Two - Init 13. It is now Telamon's turn! Sori is next! GAME: Telamon casts Wish. Caster Level: 20 DC: 30 GAME: Karasu rolls 1d20+13: (18)+13: 31 GAME: Telamon casts Dimension Door/Quicken. Caster Level: 20 DC: 29
Karasu is wounded. Corey is bound. Carver's arrows do nothing. But... the spell-devouring ward is down, and Telamon knows what to do. He's been planning, you see. Ever since that time in the Castle, interrogating Sori, learning of his tricks to evade his rightful punishment.
Telamon draws forth another gemstone from his haversack, this one a diamond as well, but the size of a giantborn's fist. Perfectly faceted, with the twelve marks of castigation and imprisonment carved on it. He takes a deep breath, looking Akimitsu Sori in the face. "I have a Wish," he says, the air shuddering around him. "That you be confined within this stone, Akimitsu Sori, until such time as you are brought before the Harpist to finally answer for your crimes. You cannot escape Her judgement. You cannot escape my wrath. Harpist, whom my sister serves and who judges us all, I lay claim to Sori only in your service!" For a moment, there is nothing -- a heartbeat. And then--
Akimitsu Sori lets out a horrid scream, as he seems to be transmogrifying into black sand -- caught up in a wind that drags the sand across the threshold, sucking it into the gemstone. His scream fades when the last of the black sand vanishes into the diamond, now a glossy, shifting black hue to match the soul within.
Swiftly, Telamon steps forward, touching Corey and Karasu on the shoulders -- and suddenly there's a lurch, and they are all three standing on the steps again, away from the fiend's clutches.
"It is finished," Telamon simply says, his expression serene.
The two fiends turn their head toward where Sori was and then toward where Telamon stands looking... well like mage who has taken on many, many fiends and won. "You go."
"No, you go!"
"I'm not suicidal! He's Koz'gon's bane! I heard he took on V too!"
"Well I'm out of here. This was only fun when we were going to have paladin for dinner. I don't want to BE the one eaten!"
The two fiends leave then, in a flash of black, noxious smoke. Which is probably the smartest thing that a fiend - much less a pair of them - have ever done when facing the Archmage Telamon.
Which really only leaves healing one small Infernal Wound and heading home left to do. Small tasks really for someone like the Archmage.
Carver lays a hand on Karasu's shoulder, an unusual gesture from her. The young but war-weary face splits into a smile. Of encouragement. Of understanding. There is no words. Just an acknowledgement that he will finally be resolved of this shadow's weight on him.