7 - 040: An Army of the Dark

[K Man]

Londo and Graak - Grumbling beneath your breath, you reluctantly take leave of this strange cool jungle in the center of a volcano. The path out is still impossibly hot and not less than halfway out, you come across the tribe of Gravecrawlers as they make their way into the enterior of the volcano.

As you pass the ones you spoke with earlier, they give you an ascending nod - knowledge of a job well-done. One of them also flicks a small pouch your way that jingles with coinage.

Perhaps not all teh Gravecrawlers are as ruthless as their leader, Xio.

Nonetheless, you make your way into the breezy tropical air outside, thankful to be free of the breast of the volcano. The palms sway ever so slightly with the hint of a coming storm and the clouds begin to churn like wave-tops in the sky above.

On the beach, sleeping up against a rock, you spot the fisherman from before. Apparently he has fallen asleep waiting for you.
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Elxethan - {Again, stellar writing.} Not much longer now...

EDIT: You should have your familar by now.
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Drop'Gar - Filled with disgust faster than you expected, you rip the wand from your sack and point it at the chemical beakers and vials covering the tables.

Surely some of them must be flammable...

You squeeze the wand and whisper the word. A gout of flame shouts out, like the tongue of a dragon, and envelops the table, the beakers, and the horrid baby-creation all in cleansing fire.

It works...

Like a domino of pure flame, the fire races down the table, exploding beakers and vials in turn like little barrels of gunpowder. The baby catches flame, but does not scream...again you are shocked as your mind expects some other kind of response. You turn and fire at the next table, and the next until the whole lab is in flames.

Although the fire does spread quickly, it also flickers near extinguishing just as quickly...probably due to the cold of this hellish place.

[Listen Check, success] Just as you finish firing your last gout of flame into the lab, the hatch above you opens, flooding the tunnel with the sounds of the brothel above.

Apparently Arturick is done faster than expected...

Damn...
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[Wizard]

Everything is correctly aligned---the circle, the bird-mind's relation to Elxethan's own mind---all is as it should be.

But to keep it there, of course, requires the Fourth Sigil---that of Sacrifice.

Elxethan takes the silver cup and gold pin, then slowly pushes the pin into the tip of his finger until it bleeds. With the other fingers of his hand, he carefully catches each drop of blood in the cup. Pulling the pin out, he places the cup, the newly formed body, and a few dead mice that Drop'gar bought him inside the box. Then he poors the cup's contents---his own blood---over the mice. The bird will eat them when it regains consciousness.

Then he closes the box, taking care that the airholes are unobstructed by blowing through them and listening to the sound.

Elxethan, himself exhausted by the ritual, carefully falls to the ground, losing consciousness even as the bird regains it.

But even as his world closes, he catches a hint of something touching his mind that's at the same time both familiar and different.

Senolai...

[Toptomcat]

"...Thank you. Re-think your jobs, Gravecrawlers...think about whether Xio returned is really that much better than Xio acting strangely."
Ignoring his persistant urge to fight it out despite the odds and feeling guilty for resisting it, Graak returns to the boat and gently shakes the fisherman awake.

[Japic]

His mind reeling with the possibility of being trapped within this tomb Drop'Gar acts upon his immediate thoughts. kill him, then you can escape There was no way to continue his ruse once this fellow asked something of him he could not do. It was kill or be killed...

Moving without hesitation to the door outer door Drop'Gar weaves a spell, holding it till the fellow was on the ladder. Once he's on it Drop'Gar will cast grease on the ladder. (I get 10' of area covered or one object Either way I want as much of the upper ladder as I can get.)

Hopefully this fellow can't fly...

{come on falling damage}

Drop'gar still holds the wand of burning hands, ready to use it against his fallen foe.

{p.s. how many charges did I expend on the tables?}

[BluSpecs]

Londo pushes the boat back from the shore and hops inside.

I'm not certain we actually succededat anything Graak...