Zion: Light of the New Moon, Ch 4.3 Bannihar
Zion - Light of the New Moon Chapter 4.3
Bannihar A Little Problem
The contributing readers of Bannihar have reached the decision that perhaps the Golem can be reasoned with... poor, poor souls.
Roarg quickly stepped to the front of the party, spreading his arms wide, and began to speak to the golem. Though nobody was able to understand his words, they were obviously heartfelt, and spoken with conviction. As he spoke, the golem slowly lowered its arms, the stony visage still unreadable, though, in some way, seemed just a little less imposing.
As the badger's monologue slowly came to an end, the golem remained unmoving but, after a lengthy pause, it spoke. It was just a half-dozen words, and they were just as powerful and grating as any that had come before... but they lacked the accusation and the aggression of its earlier tone; its arms lost their axe-like shape as they returned to normal. Roarg nodded to it, and slowly turned back to the group, "It understands that we are only here to look."
"What did it say, exactly?" inquired Lord Raes, paw still hovering near his sword.
"It said 'Touch nothing and you may stay.'." the badger answered.
"That sounds fair." Kayte offered amiably.
"We can't touch nothing," Elias grumbled, as if speaking to himself, "We're touching the air... we're touching the floor..." and his mumbling faded away as his eyes drifted back toward the spark hovering over the brazier.
"Didn't that get thrown into the air a moment ago?" Kayte inquired, moving to stand next to Elias.
The armadillo shrugged, "It's an Elemental Anchorpoint... weird things happen around it."
Kayte paused at that, rubbing her paws together. Her ears drooped slightly, "Okay then... I'll just... give you a minute..." and she moved off to look at some of the stalagmites topped with crystalline cases that were interspersed throughout the room.
Lord Raes remained facing the unmoving, unwavering golem. Iskiy moved over to stand beside him, likewise watching the animated stone, "What do you think it wants?" the antlered wolf asked the dog.
"For us to not be here." Lord Raes answered, his eyes never leaving it.
"But Roarg said it was okay for us to be." Iskiy offered.
The dog nodded in response, "True... but any sentinel knows that it's easier to guard something when there aren't people around. Given leave or not, we're still upsetting it."
Iskiy cocked his head to the side, "It's stone... are you sure it's able to be upset?"
Raes glanced to the smear on the floor that had once been Corporal Uen, and looked back to Iskiy, "I have a feeling it would rather be alone."
"What a beautiful ring..." Kayte noted to nobody in particular. Alexander peeked out from behind the pillar where he was hidden to look at Kayte's find. The priestess drew her paw across the top of the crystal display case, "It reminds me of the ring my grandmother gave my mother..."
A soft pulse of light enveloped the ring and, when the light had faded to nothing more than a faint glow, Kayte took a step back; the contents of the case had changed and a simple, white-gold band adorned with an emerald and two small rubies had replaced the ring that had previously occupied it, "Oh Goddess!" Kayte gasped, "That IS her ring..." and she drew her paw across the case again, until Roarg took hold of it by its wrist.
"Touch nothing." he repeated the golem's earlier warning, and let go of Kayte's paw. She looked at him, and then back to the ring in the display case, which glowed brighter, and returned to its previous shape.
She looked back at the ring, "I guess it doesn't really look THAT much like it." and, with a sigh, she continued gazing at the numerous other items.
Alexander moved out from behind the column once it was obvious that the golem was no longer aggressive. He began circling the chamber, paws in his pockets as he looked at display case after display case. Finally stopping at a larger, broad pillar containing a decent-sized hand-axe within the crystalline box atop it, the cat peered closer at the weapon, which appeared to be made completely of stone.
"War. Victory. Courage." Roarg said from beside the cat, who turned to regard him. The badger tapped on the glass, "The runes there on the handle... that's what they say." Alexander just stared at him.
"Mister Hewen?" Iskiy called, drawing attention to the armadillo, who had his arms held out over the brazier toward the cinder, "Um... Mister..." the Geomancer reached further, cupping his hands around the speck of light, "Mister... Elias!" Iskiy barked. The Wild Lander wasn't the only one to notice.
The sound of a roaring avalanche filled the entire chamber and everything began to shake at once. The display cases and the stalagmites upon which they perched began to sink into the floor as large, stone spikes emerged from the ceiling and walls. The golem roared again, and several of the stalactites fell, causing the group to run for cover.
Roarg quickly ran back to the golem, shouting in a language that seemed incredibly reminiscent of the self-same avalanche-sound emerging from the walls.
Iskiy gaped, looking at Roarg, "You can speak earth elemental?!?!"
Roarg turned to speak to Iskiy, and that's when the golem acted. It rose one of its arms, and brought it straight down like a hammer at the badger. Roarg turned back at the last minute and raised his arms in a feeble attempt to defend himself... but it was useful enough to block the flying gravel that showered down on him as the Golem's arm exploded in an eruption of flame.
"Awww..." Elesin noted, entering through the far archway, smoke rising from the tips of her fingers. She looked at the golem, "Is my poor lil guy cranky? Don't worry... mama'll make it all better."
"ELESIN?!?!" the patry's voices rose in unison, each exemplifying a different emotion.
"Be with you in a moment..." she acknowledged, her paws bursting into flame again, "I need to put baby down for a nap..."
The golem roared, stone spikes emerging from every part of its body as it regrew its arm. The kangaroo paused, "Hmm... not quite as effective as I'd hoped."
"That's because you're using fire, you moron." Elias grated, quickly shuffling the Elemental Anchorpoint to his hip pouch, "Earth is weak against wind." the armadillo mumbled something to himself about being unable to believe that he would actually encourage the kangaroo to cast something, "Try lightning."
No sooner had the Geomancer suggested it than several eyes went quickly to him... and the clergy began a very expedient prayer for protection. The group was enveloped in the warding blue light of the Full Moon... and just in time.
The scent of ozone filled the air as Elesin screamed the last word of her incantation and a powerful arc of electricity cascaded down her arms and into the golem. The spirit-inhabited stone shook violently as it crumbled, falling apart into a pile of rubble, "Well... that wasn't all that bad." she chuckled, casually flicking an errant spark off of her index finger.
"It's about to get worse." Lord Raes noted, taking a step back as the pile of rubble quickly picked itself back up and reassembled into its prior shape.
"Oh come ON!" Elesin objected, then glanced to Elias, "Well? Hit it with some lightning, genius!"
"I can't..." Elias objected, balling his fists, "I can't channel air magic."
"So do SOMETHING, you one-trick-armadillo!" she demanded.
Elias' scowl grew even deeper, and he faced the stone golem. Reaching out toward it, the armadillo aimed his clawed digits at his target, and intoned... then spontaneously let out a hoarse yelp as the manifesting fire burned his fingers.
"Fan-fucking-tastic." the kangaroo cursed.
The golem's attention was solely on Elesin as it reached up and took hold of the ceiling. With one quick motion, it pulled an entire slab of the stone down in the form of an enormous pillar, and slammed it straight down on the kangaroo. The pillar remained in place, but cracks began to form throughout it until it burst, and Elesin emerged from it, cut and bruised from the falling rubble. She coughed once, and brushed some dust away from her muzzle.
"Attack!" Roarg shouted, and jumped forward, sword swinging toward the golem's leg. His weapon bit deep into the stone, and came away clean, causing a small section of rubble to cascade off what would have been its shin. At the same time, Iskiy sprang into action attacking it from the other side. The golem lifted its leg up to avoid Iskiy's attack, and straightened the appendage in a 'kick', connecting with the wolf's chest and sending him sprawling, the wind knocked out of him.
Elesin charged at the golem from the front, shouting out a battl ecry, but ended up flying across the room in the opposite direction as the large stone figure backhanded her into a wall. She slid down the wall, coming to a rest on her rump. She blinked several times, shook her head, and got back to her feet, "Okay... now I'm done being nice." The Golem stared her down, and made ready to attack again, but it was suddenly distracted.
Roarg, standing behind the golem, brought his claws to bear. With a powerful double-clawed swipe, the badger literally ripped through one of its legs. Although the leg quickly reassembled itself, the golem took notice... and it was not happy. Looking down at him, the huge stone construct swung its arm like a golf club; Roarg took the blow to the front of his body and was hurled back more than twenty feet. He landed on the ground with a grunt. Elias went charging past the prone badger, a stone staff suddenly in his grasp... but he ended up sailing through the air, landing right next to where Roarg was just getting back up.
"Not so effective." the badger offered.
"You're telling me..." Elias stood.
"Okay...." Elesin noted, stalking back toward the golem, "So you can heal... that's nothing special." her wounds began to seal themselves amidst a glow of silver light, "I think I'm ready to try this again..."
"It's made of stone..." Lord Raes pointed out, "We have to find a way to weaken its defenses." he then knelt, praying to the Moon Goddess to heal the wounds of the party; Iskiy and Elias' wounds closed at the same time as his own.
"Tah'Aveen will aid us." Kayte responded, eyes focused on the golem as she began a prayer to the Sickle Moon. The construct convulsed once, then a second time as gray energy seeped into it, creating numerous cracks all throughout its smooth form.
Elesin began to rise from the ground as the electrical charge continued to grow in her. Little sparks fell from her extremities as all of the fur on her body stood on end. The kangaroo's runic tattoos blazed fiercely with a blue light, "You're not getting up after this one." she promised the golem... and she unleashed a fierce thunderstorm into the stone creature.
A powerful explosion rocked the chamber as pieces of the golem were sent flying every-which-way. Elesin chuckled, slowly lowering back to the ground as the static charge left her, "Now that's what I call a--" she paused, and stumbled, "Oh for the love of--" and she collapsed, falling to the ground unconscious.
"Elesin's down!" Iskiy warned the party, running to her aid. The rubble rose again almost instantly as the wolf ran past. He raised his sword to defend himself, but the parry was useless against a flying boulder, and the Wild Lander slammed into the ground, grunting as he tried to remove the large rock from atop his torso.
With a rumbling blast, the golem was back together again, reassembling itself in a matter of seconds. Red energy flashed within it through the still-present cracks. "It's... angry." Roarg noted, taking a step back. The golem issued forth a bellowing roar, and the entire chamber began to shake.
"It's going to crush us." Elias noted, glancing around as every single wall suddenly began to contract. He spread his arms as wide apart as he could, closing his eyes as he was enveloped in a globe of pure mana... and began pushing back. The walls continued to contract and the armadillo grunted and groaned, arms starting to be forced closer to his body. Spreading his feet wider apart, the armadillo heaved... as did the globe of mana around him, and the golem's hands exploded; the room returned to its previous shape, and Elias fell to a knee, gasping for air as blood dripped from his nose.
"ATTACK!" Lord Raes repeated the command and, this time, everyone sprang forward to attack in unison. Weapons meet unyielding stone as strike after strike failed to do any real damage. The golem turned to Lord Raes, and swing its huge stony arm at him, but he managed to deflect the worst of the damage with his shield and a well-timed sidestep.
"This isn't working!" Roarg pointed out, "It'll kill us before we can stop it!"
"Then we'll have to weaken it." Lord Raes announced. Closing a fist around the amulet on his necklace, the dog enveloped the moon pendant in his paw and spoke a prayer to the New Moon. The golem convulsed, more of its form cracking as new faults appeared at what would be its joints, weakening its structure.
"Priestess!" Elias shouted, "Banish it!"
"I.." Kayte paused, looking up at the huge golem, "I can't banish a statue..."
"It's animated by a spirit!" Elias announced. Several stone spies started shooting from the wall as the golem rose up for another attack. The Geomancer quickly reached his hands out, redirecting them to fall harmlessly to the side, "We're done if you don't!"
Kayte's ears fell to the side as her tail tucked. The golem turned toward her the moment she opened her muzzle and the first few syllables of the prayer came out. It let out another roar and started toward her, arms becoming huge blades... but she continued praying. Elias groaned, rising up to his feet again and stumbled toward her as the golem raised its weapon-arms to attack.
Elias let out a hoarse gasp as he used his magic to draw stone down from the ceiling, entangling the golem's weapons before it could strike. Still roaring, the golem raised a foot and brought it down on Kayte. Elias panted, but powered through, raising four stone pillars around the priestess to intercept the foot. The golem's 'voice' rose in intensity, and it bore down on Kayte; Elias' pillars started crumbling and the Geomancer frantically worked to raise more and more around the wolf... but then there was no more need.
Standing in the middle of the enormous room, the stone golem simply stopped moving. Kayte sank to her knees, gasping for breath, "It is done..."
Elias, still staring at the unmoving statue, shook his head. A few seconds later, in response to the aggravation, frustration, and rage of the Geomancer the golem's unmoving body exploded away from the group as Elias made his displeasure known, "Now it's done."
* * * * *
The Banniharian Group has completed Chapter 4.
Despite the horrific combat with the golem, the group managed to emerge from it victorious.
After respective healing, injuries now show thusly: Iskiy is fully healed (having been cured by Lord Raes), though he is now down to 0 Willpower. Elias is fully healed (having been cured by Kayte). This brings him down to 0 Willpower.
All characters also lose 1 Major Fatigue and all Minor Fatigue. Fatigue remains as follows: Iskiy has 1 Major Fatigue. Elias has 1 Major Fatigue. Elesin has 2 Major Fatigue. Kayte and Raes each use 1 Willpower to reduce their Fatigue to 1 and 0 respectively.
This is where I'd normally give Iskiy and Elias a chance to use a Willpower to remove their 1 Major Fatigue but, unfortunately, they each have 0.
This chapter marked matured due due to the violence involved.
The party did manage to collect three treasures from the room based on what caught the characters' attentions. Please vote for who gets what item:
Elemental Anchorpoint: +2 to Elemental magic sub-trait, but it will only work for a specialist. User gets a +3 to their chosen element instead of +2
Stone Axe of Battle: +1 Offense, +1 Defense, +1 Mettle
Ring of Beguilement: weilder may stun all onlookers as if using a 5 utilization Divination effect at a skill level of 15, or their own skill level, whichever is higher. This effect may be used as often as liked, but requires a fatigue check each time.
Please watch for upcoming contribution opportunities as Chapter 5 will soon begin. Congratulations to the Bannihar party for surviving Chapter 4!