[Taocow PBEM] Epilogue - An Ending and a New Journey

[Aaron Clausen]

> > [GM]
> > Lady Frost's body is now gushing pale blood, seemingly
> > confirming Talas's claim.  A shadow begins to waft up from it,
> > and then, in an instant, the K'murd-faka stands there.  His body
> > now seems oddly misshapen, the chest not quite sitting properly
> > on the torso, the head and left should a little too to the front,
> > making the demon seem more like a badly stitched rag doll
> > than anything else.
> >
> > The demon, with terrifying speed, raises a hand and Talas goes
> > flying backwards, hitting the wall with a loud thump.
> >
> > "Now, Queller," the demon says, "here's our rematch."  A massive
> > black sword appears in its hands.  Even as that occurs, the floor
> > of the passage begins collapsing bit by bit, forcing everyone closer
> > to the Demon and what Talas had named Hades.
> > [/GM]

> [Koba]
> Shocked by Talas' sudden action, Koba is silent. The sudden appearance
> of the Demon has put it all together for him. Now, we are forced to
> fight on his ground. As the demon taunts Talas, Koba takes a moment to
> concentrate. Suddenly a crackling aura of lightning surounds him but
> leaves him apparently unaffected. As Talas is thrown across the
> wasteland, Koba takes the moment to launch a MD blast of lightning
> from his hand towards the demon [Strike: 8] in an effort to distract him
> while  Talas gets back to his feet.
> [/Koba]

[GM]
The electrical bolt strikes the demon [Damage: 15MD], and the demon
roars.  The K'murd-faka unleashes its own bolt of energy at Koba
[Strike: 18], and Koba is unable to dodge out of the way [Dodge: 5].  The
blast hits Koba [Damage: 19MD], but is absorbed by his protective field.
[/GM]

> [Ted]
> Ted springs into the air, aiming for the demon's misshapen face with
> both feet [Strike: 24].
> [/Ted]

[GM]
While Ted doesn't do the demon any noticeable damage, he does knock
it off its feet.
[/GM]


> [Alex]
> Alex looks over the monitors on her armor to determine what the
> atmospheric conditions are.
>
> She will also ask, "Anybody know where here is?"
> [/Alex]

[GM]
The atmosphere beyond is breathable, but with somewhat unhealthy
amounts of several nastier chemicals.  It's not the kind of place one
would want to visit for long.
[/GM]

[Carlos]
"Wherever here is, it doesn't look good to me." Carlos says as he
in turn attacks the toppled demon, firing his L-20 pulse rifle
[Strike: Natural 20!], and clearly injuring the demon [Damage: 56MD].
[/Carlos]

> [Talas]
> In a single fluid action Talas gets back on his feet. Talas yells "Get
> back from the beast!" Then giving the others a moment to back away,
> Talas casts Carpet of Adhesion beneath the demons feet. Then with
> only the faintest hint of a grin on his face Talas says "Tell me. Do
> you fear oblivion beast? or will you welcome it?" Then before the
> demon can answer him, Talas pulls out his rail gun and opens fire
> on the demon [Strike: Wow, another natural 20!].
> [/Talas]

OOC: For effect, and because I know Talas's player really wants to
nail that demon, I'm counting this as a long burst.  Rail gun rules
suck in Palladium.

[GM]
Talas unleashes five rounds straight into the prone demon
[Damage: 290MD!].  The demon is once again cut to pieces, and the
rounds keeping coming, revealing in places the inhuman form beneath
this being's inhuman flesh.
[/GM]

> [Owen]
> Realizing that the Demon is focusing on Talas, Owen will open fire
> on the Demon, hoping to distract or injure the demon. [Strike: 16]
> [/Owen]

[GM]
Even as Talas is still firing, Owen joins, striking the demon
[Damage: 21MD].  It's clear that this creature, even if it has
bioregeneration, is taking much more damage than it can handle.
[/GM]

OOC: Sir Lyle's player has been sick, and though on the road to
recovery, hasn't posted yet, so as not to leave him out, I'll let
him get his blows in too!

[Lyle]
Not wanting to get in the middle of this haze of bullets, Lyle
pulls out his JA-9 and opens fire. [Unbelievable another natural 20!].
[/Lyle]

[GM]
Lyle's shot tears even more into the demon [Damage: 50MD],
severing the torso into multiple pieces.  Amazingly, despite
this, a bloodied arm reaches up and fires another energy burst,
this time at Talas [Strike: 8], which Talas easily dodges
[Dodge: 15].  The blast hits the wall, carving a smoking hole in it.
[/GM]

> [Ted]
> As soon as he touches ground, Ted spins around with his
> sword to attack the K'murd-faka. [Strike: 19]
> [/Ted]

[GM]
Ted wields the great sword he had taken from the mummy a
few days before.  It seems to sing as it glides through the air
and into the demon's devastated chest.  The blade literally
tears itself out of Ted's hands, and, of its own volition, begins
tearing through the demon, and in a final act, severs its head.
[Damage: 137MD!]

The head seems to be screaming, but if there's any sound, it's
being drowned out by the collapse of the floor.  The metal of the blade
seems to sizzle and then begins to evaporate into a dense black cloud
that quickly dissipates.

Even more frightening, though only Alex initially notices it, the portal
or whatever it is seems to be coming closer, and very very
quickly!  Perhaps the demon is vanquished, but whatever it
unleashed continues unabated.
[/GM]

> [Raven]
> "Okay everyone... back to the ley nexus by teleport! Gather to me!"
> Raven shouts and begins to cast her spell. She draws from the latent
> PPE from the ley line to supplement her spell. She takes a moment
> to see if  anyone else is allowing her to tap into their personal PPE
> Raven holds out her arms at the end of the spell, signaling others to
> touch her.
> [/Raven]

OOC: I'm assuming that anyone with PPE is going to let Raven have
access to it, and that everyone does as she says.

[GM]
As everyone moves towards Raven, the gateway is now so close that
the smell of sulphur and what almost smells like burning oil has
completely filled the passage.  On the other side, only a few feet
remain of the floor.  Whatever lies at the bottom of the chasm below
is hidden in darkness.

Raven's spellcasting begins to take effect.  Even as Ted and Lyle
feel the floor give away, they are suddenly... elsewhere.

The ruins of Rath-Iren stand before them, the great nexus bursting
with sparks of energy.  The temple is in the process of collapsing.
Clearly if Raven had been even a few moments longer, the party
would have been destroyed.

Above the temple where the two ley lines cross, a great rift
has formed.  The other dimension is utterly black, or not so much
black, as the complete absence of all light, of all existence.  A
great red eye can be glimpsed within, and everyone is struck dumb
by its malice.  At the core of their beings they know they are looking
at something that despises order, meaningful existence, life itself.

The eye seems to roar with anger, and blasts of... nothingness...
shoot out from it, striking the ground and not so much causing
explosions as simply eliminating matter.

And then there is singing.  From somewhere, maybe everywhere,
there is a beautiful voice, feminine and strong, it's beauty so
aching that it could crumble a mountain.  If there are words,
they are beyond all comprehension, and yet the meaning is clear.
The singer seeks to drive away this primordial wickedness.

Slowly the rift closes, the eye becoming more remote, fading
away into whatever repugnant dimension of nothingness that
it inhabits.  And then the rift is gone, and only the nexus
remains.

A young woman appears, in long white robes, with long black
hair.  She is stunningly beautiful, but her eyes betray age and
power.

"You have done well, my dear friends." she says.  "You have
averted a great evil, one that could have consumed this world,
if not the whole Megaverse.  And you have done it at great loss,
for some of your number have fallen.  I cannot offer you award
for your deeds, for even my coming here this long causes
great disturbances.  But I thought you should know of your
great deeds, and for many millions of your years to come,
the Darkness will be held at bay, for its greatest servants,
the K'murd-faka are no more."

Already she is fading, though she seems to be fighting it.
"There is one last thing." she says.  "One among you has
caught a terrible disease, rare, malignant and causing
worse than death.  The shadow of the K'murd-faka, it's final
curse, lays upon the one called Ted, and if you do not
seek healing within six months, then he shall be consumed.
You must seek out the the Cave of Endings in the ancient
land of Scotland for healing.  If you do not, then in six months
then..."

And then she is gone.
[/GM]

-- 
Aaron Clausen
mightymartianca at gmail.com