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Post by Gamemaster on Jun 15, 2005 16:18:20 GMT -7
Keesha saw the glyphs too late, her warning dying on her lips as blue streams of electricity arced between the walls and Haroun then to her.
Ya'Qub stumbled back reflexively, bumping into Waleed. The crackling electricity was loud and alien in their ears--adding to horror of seeing their companions dance as if possessed. Then it was over. At the top of the stairs something stirred. Tinkling bells and clicks that reminded Waleed of seaside chimes. A rustling of cloth.
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Post by Waleed Ibn Alurah on Jun 16, 2005 3:47:21 GMT -7
"Oh, this could be bad." Waleed looked at Ya'qub and said, "Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you."
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Post by Ya'qub on Jun 16, 2005 6:21:46 GMT -7
"Oh, this could be bad." Waleed looked at Ya'qub and said, "Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you." "Huh? Jokers? What are you talking about?" The discomfort everyone felt now began to make Ya'qub a little irritable. "That smell reminds me of a sacrifice. I'm guessing one was made here. Recently."
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Post by Waleed Ibn Alurah on Jun 16, 2005 14:45:59 GMT -7
"We need to move forward or back, if we're stuck in the middle, we'll be dead for sure fighting what's behind us and the unknown in front of us." Waleed decided upon the unknown and raced forward up the steps, ready to dispel any glyphs that he set off.
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Post by Haroun El-ahrairah on Jun 16, 2005 23:28:57 GMT -7
Haroun gathers himself after the initial shock and checks if Keesha's OK while Waleed rushes by.
"I'm going after Waleed", he tells the other two & then follows him up the stairs in a more cautious way than before.
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Post by Keesha on Jun 17, 2005 2:09:26 GMT -7
She nods to the fighters while worryingly looking backwards. "Stay on this side, I am blocking that passage!"
Then she concentrates and throws her hands towards the door they came through.
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Post by Gamemaster on Jun 17, 2005 15:36:50 GMT -7
"Hasan! Awaken you cursed child of the earth!" twin voices ululated in near unison from the darkness atop the stair.
Ya'Qub hesitated, standing between those advancing up the stairs and Keesha. Three heartbeats later Waleed and Haroun crested the stairs and were beyond the weak light of Ya'Qub's fire globe.
Keesha involuntarily shuddered as she completed her spell. The voices were bestial and cruel, devoid of humanity. Before turning to join her companions she saw Nalv through the simmering wall of force. The shrine's guardian was turning to face something unseen in the darkness.
Waleed crested the stairs and nearly faltered as the boogeymen of childhood tales shimmered in red before him. Haroun saw only blackness but was nearly sickened by the musky odor that assailed him.
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Post by Keesha on Jun 17, 2005 17:12:55 GMT -7
Quickly she turns around and looks towards Haroun and Waleed. "Yaqub! The Faris cannot see...move the globe forward!" she shouts as she steps up and prepares to assists the fighters from ranged distance.
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Post by Waleed Ibn Alurah on Jun 17, 2005 18:02:49 GMT -7
'Oh crap, Yak-men." Waleed took a step back onto the powered remains of the holy man spread upon the steps and began to cast a spell. "Haroun, if you have a bow, use it." Waleed called upon all he could to entrap the two Yak-men in the confines of his summoned whirlwind.
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Post by Ya'qub on Jun 19, 2005 5:05:40 GMT -7
Quickly she turns around and looks towards Haroun and Waleed. "Yaqub! The Faris cannot see...move the globe forward!" she shouts as she steps up and prepares to assists the fighters from ranged distance. Bewildered for a moment from the strange voices, and then by Keesha's sharp command, Ya'qub heistated for the space of a breath. Then he bounded up the stairs carrying his fire globe to allow the Faris to see his foe. Once up as close as he can get without being in the melee, he will look to see what the two warriors are up against, and where...
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Post by Haroun El-ahrairah on Jun 20, 2005 6:25:58 GMT -7
Haroun had his scimitar at the ready. Once Ya'qub made it near enough to iluminate the scene penance distribution would begin...
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Post by Gamemaster on Jun 23, 2005 17:22:39 GMT -7
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Post by Gamemaster on Jun 23, 2005 18:16:43 GMT -7
As Waleed spoke the words of his spell he was aware his opponent was speaking the words of a spell as well. Then the sounds were drowned in the growing whirlwind that appeared between them.
Beside him Haroun peered into the darkness, scimitar held at the ready. He could sense the darkness being pushed steadily back as footsteps echoed up the stairs- Waleed taking shadowy shape beside him, gesturing in the curious fashion of spell casters, and... the words "Obey me!" flooded his thoughts with such force that his lips moved to form them. With what could only be described as a shove, Haroun suddenly felt as an observer in his own body. Something was violating the holy temple that was his self. Of their own accord Haroun's arms reached for Waleed. Was it a measure of self control that caused his scimitar to fall with a clatter? Haroun could not be sure.
Mamoun and Waleed's bodyguards outpaced the hesitant merchant and reached the top of the stairs as Haroun's scimitar fell. They could sense something was amiss with Haroun and moved to defend their master.
Ya'qub flared his fire globe to a brightness several magnitudes greater and hurled it toward the ceiling where it slid and danced and then hung still, illuminating the tomb of Suhail min Zann. Two hairy creatures, robed and horned, stood blinking in the light. Everything Ya'qub knew of magic told him these creatures where spell casters right down to their twisted staves.
Keesha released her first ball of fire as soon as she'd accounted for all her companions and had a clear view of her target. It flew small and fast at the Yak-man on the right, exploding violently. Keesha was dismayed to see the creature had avoided a direct hit by diving to one side.
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Post by Keesha on Jun 24, 2005 13:25:51 GMT -7
"There's no point in reasoning with this beasts, throw anything you have at them! And be fast to disrupt their concentration." she screams as she prepares her next spell.
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Post by Gamemaster on Jun 24, 2005 14:54:03 GMT -7
Haroun felt the foul invader release its control. With the unsettling sensation of putting on his robes he took control of his body before it was pummeled to the ground by Waleed’s wide-eyed defenders. They drew up short at Haroun’s clear-eyed glare; his demeanor leaving no doubt that he was no longer a threat to Waleed. Haroun pulled his bow and with practiced skill strung it quickly while sizing up the beasts in the new light. Even hunched over the creatures where head and shoulders taller than him. Haroun nocked his first arrow just as Waleed’s three bodyguards released a volley of crossbow bolts.
Keesha’s words were still echoing in the chamber when she began casting another spell. A thin streak of concentration registered Mamoun taking a position beside Waleed; the young man’s scimitar ready to defend his spell casting master.
Ya’qub stood behind the others, characteristically searching for an opportunity to assist those more suited to combat. He clutched his dagger tightly, glancing down the dust covered stairs. Foreboding darkness stared back at him.
Waleed was immersed in his summoning of another whirlwind, but no so much so that he didn’t notice the shattered bones of the tomb’s occupant skittering across the floor- drawn into the vortex of pain that assaulted the yakman on his left. Mamoun saw what his master didn’t: after a fur-shredding moment, the creature shielded its face with its flailing robe and cast a spell of its own. With a wave and a word of command, the whirlwind was no more- bones clattered down and sand fell spinning as if in a spring breeze. “Arrrgh! You dare..!” roared the yakman, thumping his staff on the ground.
None could fault the courage of the three lovely girls who served Waleed as companions and guards, but each hesitated as they fired and failed to hit their target. Haroun however did not hesitate and loosed his first arrow. It was a near miss; tearing through robes but not flesh. He didn’t have time to curse his luck before the creature was momentarily bathed in flame, this time unable to avoid Keesha’s ball of fire.
Still smoking, the creature hisses and snarls a rapid spell. Silence falls like a blanket over you.
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