Zilean's Revenge (Part 4)

Hearing Horizon's plea Zthulan rushes over to the crates to retrieve the kukri!

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Perception: 11 + 10 = 21

Athletics to break the grab: 13 (5+8athletics)

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Jeraylia struggles to break the grab, but is unable slip out.
"Can't say I don't appreciate being held by a man," she admits, "But I think you're being a little too possessive." She begins to reach for her symbol of pelor, only to remember that she'd given it to the orphaned girl. "Drat. 'Spose I'll just have to do this without a focus."

She creates in her mind an image of the implement, and calls upon her faith. Elbowing Horizon for some breathing space, she begins:

"His eyes glow white on this darkest of night
Just a remnance to be seen
Living in isolation,
With sparks of hurting in between.

His soul is howling like a swirling storm inside
Dont let him keep it in, heaven hear my cry

Just let me in, please let me see
Find the good man you always used to be
Reveal what's real, just let it show
So now we'll know

Let him go, let him go
Don't hold him back anymore
Let him go, let him go
Be cast out to the floor

I don’t care
Where you’re going to stay
Let his spirit's rage fade
No demon ever bothered me, anyway

It’s funny how some evil
Makes every life seem small
But the fears that now control you
Won’t get to me at all

It’s time to see what we can do
To call on Pelor and break through
The light is strong, nothing else to see
You'll be free

Let him go, let him go
He is one of the earth and sky
Let him go, let him go
This fiend's about to die

Here we stand
And here we'll stay
Pelor's sun come forth...

Holy pow'r fill him from the head into the ground
His heart is aching from the sins inside his soul surround
And one thought catalyses this self harming farce
You're never going back,
The past is in the past

Let him go, let him go
He'll rise like a phoenix, reborn
Let him go, let him go
It's time for you to be gone

Still we stand,
In the light of dawn
Let his goodness shine
You know, I'm a morning girl, anyway."

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I'm attacking the darkness.
Also, I'm sorry. I watched the movie recently and I just couldn't stop it.
Actually, what time is it? It would be ridiculously cool if it was dawning just as I finished the last verse.

Basically, I'm just doing bardic stuff, and maybe weakening the possessor's hold on Horizon. I didn't really have an idea of actual effects.

Alternatively, we could just stab Horizon mid song, and have done with it

Finding Horizon's kukri Zthulan rushes back to the group.  Both ancestors and elements, grant me insight to show where my strike may wipe this daemon from your world!  Keeping silent he rushes past Jeraylia with kukri in hand, and lunges.

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Arcana: 19 + 8 = 27.

Rolf tries to pull Jeraylia out of Horizon's grip, while thinking back to his magical training about how best to deal with the demon.

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Rolling Athletics...10 (1d20) + 6 - 2 (Infection) = 14
Rolling Arcana...Nat 1 (1d20) + 14 -2 (Infection) = 13
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF...But wait!

That was Intentional!:

Pics proof

*START OF APRIL FOOLS POSTS*

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The situation gets crazy with activity!

Jeraylia suddenly feels herself surrounded in a powerful, magical glow as she sings. As she sings the lyrics, she can feel a change affecting her, granting her power, an untapped potential within her. With the final verse, her body is overcome by a blinding flash of light, as she assumes an avatar-form of a being of incalculable abilities!

Avatar form:

So transformed, she effortlessly escapes from Horizon's grip.

Rolf, reviewing his entire arcane knowledge in a single flash of brilliance, realizes the nature of the demonic entity - it is a being from the Nether-realms, and a rather ballsy one at that. Therefore, during a possession such as this, its powers would almost certainly concentrate in the Nether regions.

Before he can capitalize on this knowledge, however, his cloak suddenly acts up! It grabs a firm hold of the rod in Rolf's chest, and yanks it out violently, unleashing a geyser of blood from his chest, and causing a annoying, mild itching sensation.

It then proceeds to clobber the priest in the face with it, prompting a response of: "Ow! You little cretin, I'LL DEST-I mean, the Savior forgives, my child! Now go kill that bad guy already."

The cloak then follows up the rude action by parrying Zthulan's blow, engaging it in a veritable (yet honorable) magical duel of melee weaponry!

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April Fools! Today's posts will be extremely silly and non-canon to the plot or actual happenings of the campaign. Go crazy.
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"I'm burning that cloak once we kill this daemon..."

There is a very audible screech, add the demon screams in agony and masochistic ecstacy. A tremendous bulge appears just below Horizons belt, and it swells to the size of a melon. "FUCK YOU SUCK KRAGLE!" The bulge grows, charging up its ultimate attack. Jerayliunikitty can only watch in horror as she is hit with a demonic beam, leaving her stuck in place by some white goop. "Kill them all, Cloaky!" The bulge continues to scream as it sways about, stretching itself to beat and batter Zthulan and Rolf mercilessly.

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Stunts check to beat up everyone with my Nether Demon.
Nat 20.

I'm so getting an angry letter for this.

As Rolf sees the blood flowing, the cloak betraying him, and the priest showing his true colors, he realizes that he can no longer afford relying solely on the traditional, "acceptable" arcanae arts. To save everyone, he must turn to some thing...darker.

The first stirrings had come to him when reading one of Master Nester's tomes. It had surged when fighting the thiefling, but he had kept it at bay. Now, there was no stopping him from using the art that came most naturally to him: bloodbending.

Ability Unlocked: Bloodbending:

Rolf made the blood pouring around him start to swirl around. First, he used it to melt the white stuff holding Jeraylia the Unikitty in place. "Go, Jeraylia, hit the monster with your beams of sunshine and sparkles! The world needs sparkles!"

He then formed the blood into a fist and sent it hurtling toward the melon sized bulge in Horizon's pants. "In the Nethers you reside, and to the Nethers you shall return!"

Rolling 5d10 for damage...35! (With 2 crits! 2 in binary is 10, and 10 in binary is 110, so Horizon's bulge takes a total of 145 damage!...and takes ongoing 1).

Just you wait, I'm going to turn into an Alicornikitty.
And Lynt, which monster?

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As Rolf free's her from the goop of demonic energy, Jeraylia opts to return fire with a beam of rainbows and happiness from her newly endowed horn. She was going for the traditional holy light, but she takes what she can get. Sent along with a powerful mewl, the stream of glittering joy hits Horizon squarely between the legs.

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Can I mention how ridiculous this is?
Not sure about results due to catstatus.
Arcana?: ? (19 + 7arcana + kittenpowers?)

"Cloak, I must hand it to you.  You are a worthy opponent, but today I will triumph!"  Headbutting the cloak's arm, Zthulan twists around and flings the kukri into the daemon.

"Zthulan, are you sure this will work?!?" Holler Koras, in her nonphysical form.
"I have no Idea!"

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Nat20

Lol way to waste a nat20.

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"Today we Ride, kittykat meowface!" Horizon somersaults onto the lioness' back, and mounts her. Lizzie, inspired by his courage and all the holiness being thrown around, charges the Demon.

It, however, slams into the puppies like a boat. A dark magic explosion rocks the area, and suddenly the puppies all turn, each growing 5 feet taller, and sprouting various horns and tusks. One of them gives out a roar, which sounds quite uncannily like someone screaming. "I AM THE KING OF NO PANTS", before all of them let loose on the various bystanders. The lead adorable hellpuppy goes for Lizzie, and they engage in epic combat.

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Roll for epic combat: Nat 23, Cutie Mark Crit.

As the (undescribably epic) combat proceeds, the mounted feline, combined with Zthulan's kukri-style, seem to be edging the fight against the hell-puppies into a clear victory for the good guys. But then, the nearby priest suddenly removes his face, revealing skeletal features underneath: It is none other than Zilean!

"Fools, I have been disguised as a priest all along! Now, with the power of these hell-puppies, I will destroy you!", he yells, pulling out a large wand. "Wand, make these monsters... GROW!"

The magic of the wand zaps the puppies, and they quickly grow too large for the building to contain, smashing through the roof, dwarfing even Lizzie!

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Last few posts of silly, then I'll wrap it up. Still need a roll from Jeraylia's singing stuff.

Wut, seriously?
Also, Zeta has a terrific throwing arm.
And sorry, thought I was too late for that sing roll.
Here you go:
Persuasion: 33 (14+9persuasion+10bonusyouweretalkingabout )

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Jeraylia also crash tackles the tidal wave of Cerberus posers, singing:
"She came in like a fireball~!"
She seems undaunted by the fact that she's the size of a newborn kitten compared to a full-grown labrador.

"Very clever, Zilean. But while you may think you have cheated death, I know that Death always collects! Witnesses as I call upon the forces of entropy to cause your untimely dooooom!"

"Yo, Death!"
Death pops up wearing some sweet shades. "SUP?"
"You got this bitch's phylactery?"
"SURE, ANYTHING FOR MY HOMEBOY." Death tosses the phylactery over to Rolf.

Rolf then pulls out the suicide scroll, wraps it around the phylactery, and uses his Mage Hand spell to toss it high up in the air. "Here, hell-puppies, come and get it!" Finally, he sends a magical burst at the paper, which would activate the scroll and cause a massive explosion.

Rolling Arcana...Nat 20!
Rolling to give a single fuck...Nat 1.

The explosion rocks all the puppies, Zilean, and his skelly-man army at the same time. Everyone else is unharmed, for they turned away and donned obsidian spectacles. Zthulan joins up with Cloak to make a hella sick spirit muzak duo. Rolf gets all the succubi. Horizon retires to become a professional DJ. Jeraylia remains Unikitty forever, dooming this world to a gradual descent into madness.

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Okay, let's get serious now.   

*END OF APRIL FOOLS POSTS*

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Rolf, thinking back to the books he's studied on certain demonic entities, remembers with perfect clarity a spell designed to dimensionally anchor such a creature, so that it is effectively cut off from its plane of origin and unable to disjoint or teleport itself.

He casts it immediately, causing a visible change in Horizon. A ghost-like entity, black as smoke, can be seen 'covering' his body, mimicking his bodily and facial features, as well as vilifying them with additions such as monstrous fangs, burning eyes, protruding 'spikes', and an extra pair of arms, coming out the sides of the chest. The entity's 'face' is showing a mixture of mad rage and agony.

Zthulan, aided by this, and spirits whispering in his mind, knows that he has to strike down this creature in its chest, heart, or head, but with the creature engulfing him as it is now, he'd identically harm Horizon doing so.

Horizon immediately feels the burning sensation cease, but finds his body outside of his control, engulfed 'within' the demonic entity. His body flails, mimicking the actions of the demon. As Jeraylia sings, he notices that where she is touching him, the 'smoke' of the demon dissipates, pulling his hand 'outside' of it on one occasion as they struggle, before re-engulfing it as the contact breaks.

Rolf tries to pull Jeraylia away from Horizon and the entity, but its grip is too strong on her. Furthermore, the proximity to the demon threatens Rolf, as it flails around with its clawed arms.

The priest, witnessing all of this, yells out to the paladins in the distance for assistance, and starts moving some of the nearby wounded refugees and innocents away from the conflict.

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Demon is trying to strangle Jeraylia, and smack/grab Rolf with its arm. Roll endurance or arcana, Horizon, to try stopping it. DC25 to stop both, DC15 to stop one. Jeraylia rolls endurance/athletics, and Rolf rolls acrobatics as opposing in response (unless prevented).

Awww, how far back did we retcon? Do I still have magical cat laser powers?

Athletics: 17 ( 9+8athletics )

Horizon does nothing but watch, already drained of everything but a few ounces of adrenaline. "Ahhh, will you just KILL it already!" More tears stream from his eyes, but whether it is blood or normal is concealed, shaded black by the demonic projection around him.

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Endurance, I haven't just yet: 6+12= 18
+5(fk religion)= 23
Stopping Rolfs beating. Horizon had a selfish subconscious reason to not let Jerry go.

"Yes, fetch some paladins!" Rolf said as he continued struggling against the demon. "The monster's contained, but we need to force it out of Horizon before Zthulan can finish it off!"

Rolling Acrobatics...17 (1d20) + 6 - 2(Infection) = 21

Horizon needs holy hugs! Paladins give great holy hugs!

Alt-script time!
Jeraylia: So, Rolf, how did you happen to know a dimensional anchor spell that works on demons?
Rolf: Look, all I'm saying is that if Master Nester didn't want me reading that book about the dark arts, he shouldn't have just left it right where I could just grab it once I picked the lock of the safe in the secret compartment behind the bookcase in his library that was guarded by a powerful warding totem hidden under the floorboards beneath a different bookcase that I was able to pry up using a crowbar that, to be honest, anyone could buy down in the market. It's like he was practically handing it to me.

No longer under the threat of having her weapon stolen, Jeraylia shrugs off Rolf's help and unsheaths her sword, the blade glowing with a gentle radiance. First she sends the hilt up at the forehead of the demon, and consequently Horizon. But she only spares the action a sorry thought, and flows her attack to slice at the tendrils of clawed smoke grasping at her and Rolf. Clearing the space, she holds the longsword broad side in front of her like a talisman, blade pointed upwards and one palm laid across it.
"By Pelor's will, be banished from this body," she intones, and repeats it again and again.

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Athletics to hilt and slice and dice: 15 (7+8athletics)
(?)Persuasion to ask the demon if he would be so kind as to leave his humble abode: 22 (8+14persuasion)

Also reminding you about that other persuasion roll I made for the song, that you asked for.
Any carry over plusses?

EDIT: AAAWWW MAN. Totes forgot about my fk:music bonus to my song roll. That would have been a whopping 38 for the frozen parody. Ah well.

Jeraylia's attempts at cutting one of the fiendish arms does little as the blade passes through the smoky figure, dispersing only momentarily, whilst her hilt-strike seems to have inconvenienced Horizon more than the demon. Her chanting, however, is having some effect on the demon, as gray-colored smoke starts to rise from the demon's form into the air, thinning out into nothingness, as though its 'body' is evaporating.

Horizon manages to force his arms enough to prevent the demon from striking Rolf, but finds himself helpless as he and the demon grasp Jeraylia by the neck, abruptly cutting her chant and air intake.

Meanwhile, the priest brings back two of the paladins, but they appear hesistant.
"By Pelor! There's a man in that monstrosity! If we smite that fiend as it is now, he might not survive our blows, or worse... Priest, what is that demon?"
"How should I know?! I studied on undead turning and necromantic monstrosities, not infernal fiends! This is a new thing for me! Ask them!"

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Endurance for Jeraylia (unless someone is doing something about it).

Zthulan rushes forward at the daemon, with kukri in hand.

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Let's try this again! Atheltics 9 + 7 = 16

"Chanting seems to work! Give that a try!" Rolf yells to the paladins and priest as he tries focusing his magics on the demon's arm, hopefully removing enough of its possession in that arm for Jeraylia to get free.

Rolling Arcana...3 (1d20) + 14 -2 (Infection) = 15

Well... if the endurance check ends up necessary...
I rolled a 1 for endurance.
Might get that permanant voice damage after all.

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Jeraylia struggles uselessly, taken off guard by the choking grasp, and simply hopes her allies will jump to her aid while the demon's focus is on her.

Horizon just looks at her with a pained, apologetic expression, tears still flowing. But he can't do anything to stop it, and even if he could... would he? Not can her look away, or even offer any kind of explanation. Just a look that silently begs her to understand, even though she can't.

Horizon remains so wrapped up in his emotional turmoil, that he doesn't even see Zthulan lunging with his Kukri once again.