3 - 101: The Third Piece

[K Man]

{Now worries Udjat, glad to see you back on for now}
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Kysta, Girud, Mordrock, Galdren, Caelith, Callian and Garor - {Caelith, Knowledge (Planes) Check = 25} If you're guessing right - and you often think that you are - you'd say that you have about ten hours until the hands reach their destination point...ten hours until all of hell, or rather the Abyss, is unleashed.

Nupperibo flits about, looking at Caelith.



"Lord Geryon's Fortress is deep mortals, deep enough to hold over one thousand of his finest troops..." Before your hearts can speed up to near-bursting, Nupperibo adds his usual brand of chuckle to the statement. "Lucky for you, battle has been waging for some time."

"I do not know how many are here now, but I know that by now...only the strongest have survived...the strongest and meanest."

He flits about like a butterfly, moving from corner to corner, inspecting things as though this was all a game to him.

"I could take you to Karn. I could take you to the heart of Coldsteel. I could take you to Lord Geryon himself...but he's not much for visitors."

"On the one hand, Karn's spirit holds back the entire plane of Malbolge. On the other hand, the temple is held here by powerful magic - the key to unlocking which just might lie within the icy walls of Coldsteel...or it might lie within the temple itself."

"The importance, mortal, is for you to decide. Do you retrieve the shard and consider yourselves lucky to escape? Or do you risk everything and find the magic that holds this temple, Karn's Spirit and the innocents inside hostage in the hells...eventhough it may be invisible to you?"

He giggles wildly, like a child gone insane.

COUNTDOWN - 10:00 Hours to Apocalypse Clock Chime...
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Yuri and Romar - The young man calms himself to the point where his words no longer stumble over themselves, but he moves about clumsily in the overly large robes and broken stick for a staff.



"His mate? Oh no no no no...his mate CANNOT be freed. It took nearly all of the powers of the high clerics to reign her in the first place...." He pulls out a nearby stool from a bench and takes a seat, staving off the shakes from the dose of adrenaline.

"His mate is an Eryines...a most powerful and terrible demon. She spent eons on the lower planes, fighting the blood wars and killing countless demons, devils and even celestials."

"She had earned enough of a title to claim her own stake in a level of the abyss and her power did not stop growing there. She began to amass armies, power and planar wealth...the likes of which began to rival most demi-gods."

"It was when she began to speak of a claiming a new home, a home on the prime material plane, that the high clerics finally began to take note." The young man takes a moment to cough a bit, clearing his throat.

"Collaborating with the clerics more knowledgable in planar deities and powers, they summoned her and bound her in a dungeon far below this temple - made specifically to house her."

The man becomes sullen, his voice wavering. He twists his stick about on the floor, searching for the words.



"It was this act that was our undoing. How were we to know that the demon was capable of love? Of devotion?...These are things known only to man, not demon."

"Needless to say, her mate arrived with an urge to destroy us to free her."

"At first it was so quick, we didn't know what had happened. People just froze, others would explode as though filled with black powder. Hundreds died and I was nearest to the temple doors..."

"In an act of cowardice that I lament, I made my way inside and have been shut off ever since."

"Every now and then, I hear the screams of one that he unfreezes and commands to open the doors and free her...but they always refuse. I've lived off of the stores we had here...but they are running low." He looks to the ground, shameful.

"May one day the gods forgive me for what I have done..."
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[VemuKhaham]

Romar listens intently to the tale of this man that had lived through years of fear and agony. Despite the blame the man credits himself with, Romar feels no grudge whatsoever against this man or his tale. He knew full well what war could do to a man, for within his mind there were always thoughts surfacing of his brothers.

Romar laid a hand on the man's shoulder and looked him in his eyes. It seemed to Romar as if history repeated itself when he sat there speaking words of comfort:

"Not too long ago, I was safe in my hometown as well, and when war came to us every man in the army that I and my brother served had sworn to himself never to flee, even prefering death above this.

Still, the battle was without hope even if we would've had tenfold the amount of brave men that died that day. I thank no god for the deaths of those men, for they fell in vain, and their sacrifice was great.
However, during that cursed battle, I found one of my brothers, Samos, shaking and sweating hidden inside an empty barn. He too promised to fight that day until the end, but I do thank the gods that Samos fled that day, for I asked him to find my family and bring them to safety, and now he is the only hope I have left of ever encountering anyone of my family again.

What I wish to say is that there is a time for fighting, and there is a time for fleeing. I thank the gods that they have chosen you to be the messenger today, for now you too are our only hope. Maybe you were meant to stand there at the doors of your temple. At any rate, you did the right thing."

Romar slowly stands up straight again, and thinks. He then heads towards one of the torches on the wall, and checks if they are magical everburning torches if he can recognize those. He would switch one of these for his own torch. He then turns around again.

"I will do whatever I can to save this place, but I am a stranger here. Do you know of anything that might help us? Is there anything in this temple that could provide us with a weapon against this shadow lord?"

[Fangor the Fierce]

"We already know that the things held in this place are powerful and evil. We must rescue Karn's soul, and not just the shard. Is this possible, Caelith? Heading to the main source would release all, while simply retreiving the shard would possibly only be just that, and might leave the paladin to his own fate. That is not honorable. Come, let us make haste, for I do not like this countdown that the imp speaks of. Come, let us wrestle Karn's spirit from this filthy place and release the temple, the shard, and whatever else does not belong here."

She turns to the imp, coldly. "If we head towards Karn, would we be able to speak with him and gain more information on this place?"

[TheUdjat]

Caelith sends a smirk Krysta's way. "With the lot of us, Krysta, are not all things possible?" He turns to the imp. "Take us through Coldsteel."

Inwardly, underneath the confident demeanor, he prays he has not led them all astray.

[Japic]

Pulling out his massive sword Girud is the first to approach the elevator. He prods carefully at the floor with his sword. Assuming the floor feels solid, he steps in making room for the others.

"Let's do this thing."

[GeneralMHB]

The vampire remains purched up wherever he can be hidden best and observes the conversation.

Interesting.... A demon capable of love.... I guess nothing in this world is impossible.

He remains hidden and waits for the man's answers to come again.