The Heart Of Ruhir

[DragonDudeAW]

OOC> Malchik, I did just type that I cast my Infernos and waited for the response......

 

So have I been posting enough Werewolf? lol This is great stress relief, Ive been playing MW a lot too </OOC

 

 

Aldhelm felt a rather grim satisfaction as he saw the Inferno blast hit one of its targets and reduce it to smoldering char. He turned in the glow to follow the second Inferno, however this one harmlessly fades into nothing as it consumes its own etheric energies. Seeing his warrior friend drop his sword, he sees Khyros run past towards the remaining three skeletons and whatever that thing is.

 

Dropping onto one knee as he nears the kneeling Kane, he quickly asks him, " Where does it hurt and how does the pain feel? Is it numb or burning or dead? If you alert me of a specific ailment I should have something in my satchel capable of curing you." Quickly he pulls out the ingredients provided to him earlier and his alchemy set and then looks expectantly at Kane to wait for his reply.

 

As he waits, he makes sure to keep Khyros in his line of vision so that if his comrade comes to harm, he will be able to assist in whatever way possible with his fires.

[Malchik]

Khyros is able to jab the trident into the ribcage of the only skeleton he can reach. It is pinned against the wall and cannot reach him but will not die. It needs Kane's strength or Aldhelm's magic to finish it.

 

The 'ghost' has expanded in size effectively cutting off the two skeletons at the back. However they seem to realise they can reach Kane by running the other way and turn at speed racing towards where Chucahau is approaching from.

 

Kane does not know the poison that has affected him but he does know it is not spreading and it feels as if it will slowly wear off. In the meantime he can at least defend himself one handed (and may have the strength to deal with the trapped skeleton if Aldhelm wants to help Chucahua).

 

The ghost sighs. "They fought over me in life. I suppose I shouls have guessed."

 

Then she vanishes.

 

In the inner octagon Kyrika is startled by a noise. The purple statue is glowing brightly again and steps down from the pedestal, coming towards her.

[ThetaOrionis01]

Kyrika is focussed on the sounds of fighting outside the room when a noise close by startles her. She leaps back involuntarily when the statue begins to glow, but suppresses a scream when the statue begins to move.

 

'I mustn't distract the others and risk their lives - when I don't know yet whether this... thing... means me ill. I mustn't endanger the others.'

 

She clutches her throwing knife tightly to her, uncomfortably aware of just how little skill at fighting she possesses.

 

"Who are you?" she addresses the statue moving towards her, trying to sound more confident than she actually is. "What happened to you, and what do you want? Do you require our help?"

[Malchik]

The others are unaware of the conversation between Kyrika and the statue and she will need to pass it on to them when they have defeated the skeletons.

 

The woman in the purple robe now seems almost human.

 

"I am Costanta. I was never fond of dealing with other women. The men were so much easier to manipulate but it seems it is to you whom I must speak. The tale is long but I will summarise it and you may then ask what questions you will. My time here is short because I am stealing power from Ruhir. Should you need me again you should try the city of Ippikander. Ruhir and his brothers sought a way to sustain life eternally. They in part succeeded in that they could exist in a state of suspended animation outside time. Unfortunately that was as good as being dead. They found a method of duplicating themselves and transferring their knowledge and experience to these creations. Coming to life every fifty years or so they set these copies of themselves the task of finding a way to be able to live for ever as if they were part of the real world. Ruhir discovered the secret."

 

The statue moves to the plinth and sits on it.

 

"He needed five things and all had to be given freely to him. He was a charismatic man and quickly persuaded three of us that we could be made immortal. He harvested Bren's eyes, Toman's body and my brain. We had all agreed although none of us had actually said when he could do it. It seems the oral contract was enough. The soul was to come from his newest 'copy' a boy called Daro. But something did not work and although he made Daro in his own likeness, somehow the 'evil' side of Ruhir's nature was not transferred. When he destroyed Daro the boy's soul did not join him. Whilst it could not stop Ruhir it was a problem. The longer Ruhir was out of suspended animation the older he grew and these 'copies' had to be grown from babies and were no use until they were at least 16. 16 years was a long time to one who was already into borrowed time."

 

The statue smiles as if genuinely amused.

 

"The brothers were supposedly working together. Ruhir had not intended to pass the information on originally but now he needed help. So he allowed some of the facts to reach his brothers. He still had to obtain the soul and a heart."

 

The 'statue' ponders what to say next.

 

"His brother Shaura gave him some good news. Daro, while no longer alive in a technical sense, had kept his soul and it could be collected from him later provided Ruhir himself could do it. But Ruhir was incomplete without the heart. Another of his brothers, Anromainyus, promised him a heart but not until he had the full details of what Ruhir had accomplished. Ruhir, whilst reluctant, had little choice. His brothers were no more trustworthy than he had been. Anromainyus tricked him and the other brothers. Only Anromainyus now possesses the secret and the potential."

 

Costanta sighs. "And until Ruhir is complete those like me, whom he tricked, are locked in nothingness; occasionally able to speak through those statues fashioned in our likeness. Yet now the worlds of Zorlon are threatened with extinction what does it matter. There is only one way to save Bashkher and every other dimension. Anromainyus must be slain and only Ruhir and his brothers can do it. It falls upon others of whom you are unaware and need never know to free Shaura and Darendor, your task is to free Ruhir by finding the heart that was promised to him but hidden by Anromainyus."

 

The woman groans. "We will be destroyed either way but nothingness must be better than this eternal half life! I believe you will find almost all you need in the ancient temples, those that were around when Ruhir was alive. Seek out the spirits of Bren and Toman. Find Daro. Each will have something to tell you. When you have the heart bring it back here. But be warned. Do not release Ruhir until you know how to control him or he will not do your bidding. Is there anything that is unclear or any matter I can help you with further?"

[Morgoth]

When he hears what seems to be the ghost's voice, Chucahau stops and quickly ponders the options available to him. The danger of being attacked by several skeletons at once is quite high if he attracts their attention, but he must prevent his companions from attacking the ghost. Realizing that there is no time for even the shortest ritual that may aid him, he drops the small sack of pigments in his left hand and breathes in to yell that the others may not attack the ghost.

Right at that point he sees Kane bursting into the group of skeletons and crushing two of them. Surprised by Kane's sudden appearance and the heat of the spells cast at the skeletons by Aldhelm, he hesitates, and notices two skeletons turning around and coming back his way.

He focuses his attention solely on the two approaching skeletons, and presses himself against the wall as closely as possible. He hopes that the skeletons will pass him - if that happens, he will jump out behind them and make a sweeping strike with the hind end of his spear towards the skeletons' legs. At the same moment he intends to shout out that the others shall not attack the ghostly apparition accompanying the skeletons.

[Malchik]

Chucahau's ruse is in part successful. The skeletons appear to be focussed on Kane and pass him by. Whether they see him or not is debatable. His spear stroke has the effect of causing them to get entangled with one another but as Khyros also found they are not so easily beaten.

 

With Khyros and Chucahau locked in, Kane largely out of commission and Kyrika in thrall to a glowing statue the end of the battle is with Aldhelm. Yet you all know that your turn will come. And that you were ALL needed to get as far as you have. Only as a team can you possibly survive against the worlds you are going to be facing.

[DragonDudeAW]

OOC> Way to make me feel obligated to post, Malchik...... Just Kidding

 

Realizing quickly that Kane is going to be alright, Aldhelm quickly springs up to better assess the situation he saw with Khyros. The sight that meets his eyes is a grim one. He sees both Chucahau and Khyros grappling with the remaining three skeletons, apparently only he and Kane had been successful. Standing up from his stachel's spreadout, Aldhelm quickly reactivates his Fire Focus Staff and attempts to help his struggling companions.

 

Drawing upon the staff's power, he hurls an Inferno casting at the skeletal warrior Khyros has pinned to the wall. He then turns and cast a pair of Inceneration castings, a more focused casting to protect Chucahau from being reduced to char as well as the skeletons.

 

He then rapidly turns to Kane and quickly crouches down to his satchel and pulls out a Restore Fatigue potion and hands it to his companion before standing up and watching the rapid progress of his three spells. He holds his staff at the ready to follow up in case any of his efforts are unsucessful.

[ThetaOrionis01]

Kyrika does her best not to let her increasing dislike of the - woman? statue? creature? - show.

 

'This is important... I must try to remember as much of what she tells me as I can, so I can pass it on to the others. I am certain what she has to say will be vital in our quest. Constanta, Bren, Ruhir, Toman, Daro, Anromainyus. Names to remember.'

 

Once Constanta has finished speaking, Kyrika replies. "I do not doubt that you have a purpose of your own in telling me this, but I am willing to accept that your purpose and ours may run in parallel for a while. Can you tell me more about this heart, and where we might find it? And as for Ruhir, you mentioned controlling him - how can this be achieved? You said that we can speak to you again at Ippikander - I assume that each of the others you mentioned can be contacted at one of the temples we must visit? This Daro - if he has been slain, where is his body buried? And if he is alive, where might we find him?"

 

She pauses briefly. "Is there another copy of Ruhir currently being 'grown'" - she cannot quite mask her distaste at this as she speaks - "that we should know about? And what can you tell me about this Anromainyus? I must assume that Ruhir and his brothers are all powerful mages and necromancers, and I would like to know just what we may be facing."

 

'I do not like helping her... we must think carefully about what we do. If we make a mistake we may well be responsible for unleashing some immortal necromancers upon the world!'

[ixnos]

OOC: trap or not Mal...Kane is a big boy you know ;) he can handle himself..and tends to forget that rushing head first into a battle isn't always the best thing and yes I know I have to wait but I don't like it when the enemy gets help from you :P...also anyone seen Khesk around...since I am wondering what we are doing about his character...are we going to have him follow around and we all play his part incase he comes back or are we going to "forget" he was ever here?

 

Kane drops to one knee, the grip loosening as the clanking of his sword is heard, his arm dead and not moving yet he knows if he stops the skeletons aren't going to stop for him, he listens to Aldhelm but with his free hand grips his shoulder and gently shoves Aldhelm to his feet.

 

]"GAH! don't be a fool, I am fine...fight now, worry about wounds later!"

 

Kane groans lifting himself to his feet then bending over to pick his sword up within his left hand, luckily in his lifetime he came prepared and trained in handling a sword in both hands, which makes him happy when he has access to another sword and also answers why he hates using shields, he exhales deeply, ignoring the fact his other arm is completely useless even though he can sense some feeling coming back, for him it felt more like a severe case of pins and needles yet he is hoping it isn't a poison that spreads...soon that hope is confirmed since the poison just seems to settle within his arm, if it had been a leg or chest then he would have problems.

 

He looks around, two skeletons entangled with Chuc in immient danger, Khryos fighting with a trapped skeleton that seems not to take the "stay here" order seriously, just as he turns seeing the ghostly image behind him he hears Chuc shout not to attack it yet even before he can it vanishes...Kane shrugs, glancing at Aldhelm.

 

"Aldhelm, help Chuc with the other two skeletons, luckily they don't have brains so it will take them atleast some time to figure out which bones are theirs...also check to make sure if there is anything else coming from that way...I ain't going to like it if we finish these off only to be swallowed up by a rotting werewolf or whatever is done here these days...Khyros, hold onto that skeleton...he has a date with my sword"

 

Kane grunts, making it look like he is almost willing for his right arm to come back to alive yet nothing for the time being, he sighs and makes his way to the trapped skeleton, turning his sword around so the hilt is aimed towards the skeleton's skull, Kane then grins, aiming a rather vicious strike to where the skeleton's temple would be, he isn't sure whether that would do the trick and if not, hopefully if Khyros can hold the skeleton pinned for longer then they will be able to do whatever is needed to stop the cursed things

[Malchik]

OOC> I will pm Keshkeim but he seems to have vanished. Let us pretend he has been taken ill and then can die if he can't post any more for some reason.

 

On topic.

 

The one-handed Kane and Aldhelm help their colleagues to finish off the remaining skeletons and hurry back to find out what is happening with Kyrika.

 

They see and hear only the end of the conversation.

 

The former statue laughs. It is not a pleasant laugh, full of a kind of moral depravity that suggests she would not have been a very nice person when alive.

 

"Girl, you don't like me already I can tell. Well, perhaps you are right not to like me but don't let that get in the way of what has to be done. I was the last of the three to be killed by Ruhir. Bren and Daro were in love - such a sickly emotion don't you think - and were due to marry. At 16? Can you imagine anything more unappealing than a life time shackled to one person? But Ruhir claimed them as his on the day of the wedding. They will probably be buried close to where the wedding was to occur - Dohoti. Toman was taken in Golconar and I in Ippikander."

 

The statue begins to fade.

 

"Ah, Ruhir's present power is waning. You will need to seek me out in Ippikander next time - the Skull Temple. I may have a few more moments here so do not interrupt me. There are no new researchers. Anromainyus has the secret of eternal life and his brothers are in stasis for ever. Shaura may have some corporeal existence too. He slew millions in his experiments so may have found something close to what Ruhir discovered. But he is trapped somewhere by Anromainyus. That I cannot help with and is not your quest. You will face none of these men save, perhaps Anromainyus himself if he discovers what you are doing. As for the heart I cannot help you. I am sure Ruhir had selected his victim but he kept it very secret. Anromainyus almost certainly killed whoever it was and has kept or hidden the heart. The spirit will be somewhere in Bashkher in one of its old temples. As for controlling Ruhir I do not know. I can point you only in an uncertain direction."

 

The woman rises and moves back to the plinth from which she descended. It is at this point the others arrive.

 

"Anromainyus controls his brothers now but even if you could find him he would never tell you how he does it. He had three advisers who were very long-lived wizards. They may still be alive and may be able to help. Sadly I do not know whether they are or not or where you might seek them out. I will try to remember more for when we meet again. In Ippikander I am not limited to Ruhir's power. I do not want to burden you with more names just now. Find Bren, Toman and Daro."

 

The glow vanishes. The statue is as it was when you first entered. The temperature returns to normal.