Zilean's Revenge (Part 4)

Horizon sighs. "Well, we can't have you dying, can we?" Horizon wraps his forearm around the mirror. "I mean I could, but..." Then, mirror secured, he kicks the paladin square in the chest, pushing him away as he holds the mirror back, ripping it out of his hands.

---

Athletics: 14+13=27

Once Horizon's actions had made it apparent that there there was something wrong (that was more than just staring at an undead abomination), Rolf tried to use his magic to dispel any curses that the mirror had inflicted on the paladin.

Rolling Arcana...16 (1d20) + 14 = 30

Zthulan turns after hearing Horizon's honest statement. "What in the name of the elemental planes is going on... Oh, so that's what's going on."

Assisting horizon: 12 ( 4 +8athletics)
Probably not helpful

---

Jeraylia attempted to wry the mirror from the opposite side, but only managed to add to the weight Horizon had to push against.

The paladin makes no reaction at all to Horizon's punch - it seems he is paralyzed in some fashion. Despite this (and Jeraylia), Horizon still manages to pry the mirror from his hand by brute force, leaving the palading standing and staring blankly, and slowly turning blue, albeit lacking a mirror in extended hand.

With Rolf's quick thinking and sorcery, further aided by the distancing from the mirror, whatever magical link there was between the mirror and the paladin appears to have been broken, and with it, the paralysis affecting him. He drops to his knees, gasping for air and coughing.

Holding the mirror, Horizon accidentally gets a glimpse of its contents - a pair of red, glowing eyes, behind which lies the silhouette of a skull (grinning, of course). As gazes lock, he immediately feels his entire body go rigid from paralysis, his lungs freezing in mid-breath.

In his head, he can hear a familiar voice taunting him.

Da Voice:

---

Endurance for Horizon.

Athletics on Horizon's hands: 16 ( 8+8Athletics)

---

Jeraylia pries the mirror from Horizon's hands, taking care not to catch a glimpse as her hapless friend had.
"Well, well, well," Jeraylia grunts out. "If it ain't our theatrical antagonist of the evening. Might I suggest you try your hand at satires, since you've got comedies and tragedies downpat."

"Blast it, not again!" Rolf pulled off his cloak and draped it over the mirror (to prevent more potential victims) before trying to magically free Horizon.

Rolling Arcana...13 (1d20) + 14 = 27

Rolf easily covers the mirror, though it doesn't seem to do much. He then re-attempts the dispelling effect he did previously, but it fails - in fact, it seems to be stronger and more complex than it was previously, for the paladin.

---

Horizon, roll an athletics check (along with the endurance check mentioned previously) - to determine how strong your grip of the mirror was for the purpose of 'opposing' DCs. Alternately, we can assume it was what you rolled when you snatched it from the paladin instead of rolling. Your choice.

Horizon, having had just about too much of being unable to control his own body recently, remains calm. Not that it would have shown on the outside, but he maintained his composure inside, just in case remaining calm would actually help.

Somehow, though, he was sure it didn't.

---

Endurance: 4+10=14
Just use the other athletics roll, it would make sense if his strength then is his strength now.

"Oh, sure, increase the spell strength on the second victim, that's not annoying at all." The paralyzing spell that the mirror had afflicted on Horizon had locked him out...but what about trying to affect the mirror itself? Rolf ducked under the cloak (to look at the back and ONLY the back) to try and see if he could disable the "transmittal" of the spell.

Rolling Arcana...16 (1d20) + 14 = 30

"What do you think will happen if we break the mirror, Rolf?"

---

Wondering backlashes or continued effects.
Then again, this mirror seems to be made of tough stuff to have survived all this rough handling, so it might not be so easy.

"There's nothing for it; we've got to break the glass if we want a chance of stopping this thing." Rolf got out from under the cloak, pulled out his cudgel and rammed the hilt into the glass (which was still covered by the cloak).

Rolling Athletics...2 (1d20) + 6 = 8.

OOC: ...Jeraylia and Zthulan are free to take a stab at it.

Rather than just be a waste of air, Zhtulan walks up and lends a claw.  "Rolf, do not stress yourself to much, you only just woken up from surgery." Taking his spear he slams the butt of it into the mirror's glass.

---

Athletics: 18 (1d20) + 7 = 25

Jeraylia removes her hand from grasping the mirror in order to prevent her fingers from getting smushed.

"Because your stuff, like you, is garbage." Horizon answers, sucking in a deep breath and unceremoniously dropping the broken mirror to the floor. He looks at the othrs like he's about to thank them, but then, "I had it handled. Few more seconds. Do you see now, paladins? This is the kind of evil magic dickery that we are paid to deal with- if you want to keep his toys here and have any random passerby vulnerable to its nasty tricks, then be our guest."

"Well, that was unfortunate. For a number of reasons." Rolf picked up his cloak and put it back on. "Although that does leave me curious as to the exact constraints of the wards on this place. Zilean couldn't directly communicate to the cultists that were inside the temple (otherwise they would have set their zombie bombs off right after the ones at the festival). He was able to get an illusion of himself inside, and he was able to transmit the paralysis spell through the mirror." He looked over at the Xilstone. "Which brings up the question of if there's any way he could potentially activate some aspect of the Xilstone remotely as well. One potential idea is for someone to try sending energy into the Xilstone while it's inside the temple and see if they can determine if energy is being sent somewhere or not. If the energy isn't sent anywhere, it may lead credence to the idea that the Xilstone is safe...well, safer inside the temple. However, if the Xilstone does transmit the energy, there's a chance of being able to find out the energy's final location...at the risk of letting the bad guys know where this Xilstone is and/or activating a trap of some kind."

"Since the mirror's busted, we currently have no means of showing what the abomination looks like or determining its..."progress". Some other options might be if there's a spell that can be used to look into Jeraylia's memories, or perhaps the more mundane solution of trying to make a sketch of it."

"Finally, before this mess happened, I was wondering if the temple might have the means of setting up a scrying mirror to Nester Bartholomew like the one at the Mayor's. Do you think you might have the materials here for that?"

"Sorry, Horizon," Jeraylia said, shrugging. "I know you don't like going to church, but it seems like we might be staying here a bit longer. Unless you want to report to our madame spy master all by your lonesome."
She follows the paladins, acquiescing to their requests.

"That's not the worst idea I've ever heard. I'd probably draw less attention than stumbling around with you people." Horizon turns around and begins walking toward the church door... and then hesitates. No matter how bright the sunlight outside might be, alone was still alone, and bad things always happened when he was alone. "On the other hand..." With no intention of going to watch the mind probing, he turned off in another direction- towards the citizen refugees that the church was harboring.

---

They should be right "over there", or something. Perception to see what's going on in the lives of the displaced, distraught, and destitute.
Perception: 16+10=16

Rolf decided to follow Jeraylia to the High Priest. It might be good to hear what he had to say (or at the very least be able to relay the information back to Damiana). "Jeraylia, you might want to be careful what you say, since I don't believe our "madame spymaster" wants any publicity." Rolf tried to communicate through Zephyria.

Looking over the refugees, Horizon sees that they've had their fair share of troubles: Some have lost their homes to looting, ransacking, theft, or a fire. Some have been injured or even partially transfigured by necromantic magics, or creatures, and the healers are doing their best to heal them or cure them. Others are grieving over their lost relatives or friends, who likely perished in the initial explosions or subsequent invasion.

The rest of the refugees seem to be a mix of good and bad sorts: volunteers who are helping out with setting up defenses, assisting the injured or needy, or offering their normal paid services for free, as well as grumbling/whining snobs who refuse to lift a finger, potential tragedy-profiteers, depressive doomsayers, distrustful individuals, flinging the blame at whatever seems convenient. The paladins and the nature of the building they're in seem to have them behaving mostly docile, though.

Rolf and Jeraylia, accompanied with the paladins, reach the High Priest's office. It seems it has been modified into a mixture of tactical room and surgical ward. On the walls are lined maps of the city, connected into one big whole, and with inscriptions drawn upon it. On top of his desk, normally reserved for paperwork, lies a paladin with full-body burn wounds, treated by the High Priest, a clergyman, and a clergywoman. The rest of the room is cluttered with old-looking books, whilst the walls and floor are inscribed with magical-looking etchings and a few potions.

"Give me a minute.", the High Priest says, as the trio commence the not-so-delicate surgery of removing a piece of a half-melted plate shoulder-pad that was fused to said paladin's shoulder. The paladin, though obviously in a lot of pain, merely gnashes his teeth at the gruesome act. The resulting wound is quickly 'patched up' with magic, leaving a unsightly, but otherwise stable-looking scarring.

"Alright, she should be stable for a while. So, what do you report?"

The paladins quickly report on the Cultist encampment, and what has been divulged to them so far, including the events with the mirror, the Xilstone, Jeraylia's testimony... They also briefly mention the event with the demon. "It seems we are lucky to have them quick-thinking folk's presence for these events, to deal with them as they arise.", the elderly priest points at Rolf and Jeraylia. "Now then, fellow brothers-", he states at the paladin group, "-I can guess what you'll ask for next, but let our repeated guests add their own insights first."

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Did Zthulan go with Rolf/Jerry or stay with Horizon?