Session 157 - "Smoke On the Water"

General Summary

Rozenport

9.32p

X slices viscously into the Rower Crew as Neferu rains fire down upon them. The Soul lays into the thug before him and flays him with his claws. The crew attempts to rally and wrestle X down, but are only able to score an elbow on him. Another Rower tries to club X, but misses wildly. Still another strides forth but is unable to make contact. Channeling Nyrrk, three vortices spring up and rend the Rower crew and two others apart. The last Rower pleads for his life and submits to Kelath. X moves aside to allow Pol to get Larissa. Still unleashed and unable to quench his menace, Nyrrk fires a projectile at the cowering Rower, which blows through his body like paper. No one seems phased.   X begins searching the small cramped space and finds a small locked chest. Kelath unlocks it and find within a few coins. X looks over the charred bodies as Kyrrn reads the psychometric resonance of the area. A small, charred lump of wood suddenly elicits a feeling of shocked revulsion: Larissa's hairbrush. It seems the girl savaged by all the men present.  

9.42p

Pol emerges with Larissa and gives his thanks to the Fellowship. He begins to hand over a nice leather pouch, however the cry of "fire!" suddenly erupts from the east. The Fellowship beats a hasty retreat. Kelath leads the charge and detects the strong smell of wood smoke. X moves forward to get a sense of the situation. Climbing the ladder, he finds the building nearly engulfed in flames and that the group must withdraw with some urgency.  

9.52p

Spilling out of the building, the Fellowship finds the docks in the immediate area a conflagration. Nearby buildings and even the tavern are all ablaze. As they flee their way north and away from the scene, X sees a large figure, appearing half-man and half-bear, standing astride the street they are about to take. As X begins to draw something from a pouch, an arrow twangs out of night and strikes the back of his neck. An explosion of goo erupts on him and suddenly adheres him to the ground. Spying the archer above, Neferu orders the Unworthy Soul to eliminate the the man and then causes him to sprout wings. Kelath gives a battle cry, demoralizing the man who is actually wearing a bearskin as he advances on them. Swinging the battle axe, the man attempts to intimate X but he is nonplussed. Kyrrn fires a piece of mortar at him that hits him like a bullet, pushing him back. A magical shield snaps into place on her arm as she assessed the scene. X frees himself from the goo with brute force and summons a shield as well as he unfurls his own wings and flies toward the bear-man. A figure begins to emerge from the water to the west and a huge wave crashes down on Neferu and Kelath. Kyrrn moves deftly out of the way. A woman wearing a dress of scales and shells is suddenly standing on the surface of the dark water. She brandishes a trident at the small group. Kelath yells for X to press the attack as the investigator joins the melee, swinging his winged sword.   Moving away, the archer fires an arrow at the Soul but misses, however he manages to get off the roof and out of sight. The Soul pursues. Neferu imagines a phantasmal killer murderously hunting the woman, but it doesn't strike as deep as hoped. The bear-man growls and whirls his great axe at X, stirring up a cold wind. The blow skitters off X's shield only to continue on and strike Kelath. A trail of frigid air stings X and Kelath's faces. Whirling to confront the woman, Kyrrn is able to overcome her magic and cancel out the spell allowing her to stand on the water. With a cry of surprise, the hydromancer plunges into the water. X presses his attack with determination, slashing his foe before snapping another shield into place. Suddenly the woman rises once again out of the water and she rides a towering wave which deposits her on the dock. A pillar of water slams into Kyrrn, injuring her greatly. Kelath darts in and slashes the beast-man, giving an advantage to X.   The archer continues to strategically withdraw from the Soul all the while firing arrows. One bites deep into the Unworthy Soul, but he is not stuck fast as X had been. Neferu summons a healing well as the Soul takes to the roof. The man-beast slices through X and into Kelath. Kyrrn unleashes her psyche and Nyrrk fires a wooden board at the mage, nearly driving her into the flames. X unleashes a flurry of slices, biting deep into the axe warrior's body with his blades. The hydromancer moves away from the fire and the ground beneath Kyrrn suddenly explodes, pushing her into the air, a hot geyser of water scorching her. Kelath dips into the healing well for some relief.   The archer moves up and takes a different position. The Unworthy Soul advances towards the water witch but is unable to start an attack. The axe warrior once again swings his axe, catching both X and Kelath. Stepping back, Nyrrk rends all three the hydromancer, the bear-man, and the archer before departing. X dips into the healing well himself before breathing out a great gout of dragon fire on the bear-man. A watery mist erupts around the woman which appears to disintegrate her. The mist seeps into the surrounding stone. The axe man swears at water witch's escape. With steely determination, Kelath drives the dragon winged sword into the axe man's next, driving him down in a gurgle of blood. He partakes of the healing well as well before moving towards the archer.   The bowman fires a shot at Kelath before withdrawing once again back into an alley. Neferu hastily treats Kelath's wounds, providing some much needed aid. Cursing at the archer's escape, Kyrrn teleports to the alley and targets the man with an agonizing despair, but he partially shrugs it off. X tears off and closes in on him, but the archer wildly snaps off a shot, provoking an attack from X. Kelath closes in and meets the archer.   The archer steps away from the advancing Fellows and then takes off. Neferu and the Soul begin to follow in stride. Kyrrn trails after the archer and launches flaming debris at him, injuring him badly. X charges, running the man down, and spirals his blades around the man in a bloody dance. Kelath advances on the foe as well.   The bowman slowly steps away from Kelath and X and then plunges off the pier into the water below. Neferu moves around from the north and spies him in the water. He prepares himself to dive as well. Nyrrk once again slips his leash, warps towards the pier and unleashes a psi burst at the man. Seething, X rushes at the man and changes into the shape of a red dragon, dives after the man, and fiercely bites him. Kelath moves forward and stares down at the underwater scene below.   With few options, the bleeding man sinks into the waves and begins to swim off. With his ire still up, Nyrrk calmly calculates the distance and then teleports to a pier directly next to bowman. A piling suddenly rises up and then torpedoes into the form below which finally lays still. Unable to return to the pier, the winged Soul picks Kyrrn up and deposits her with the rest of the group.