Tragedy strikes
Initially we were going to go back to the pyramid ship, but then we realised there was something strange about the ground under the dome. Mysterious symbols under the surface. We went back for a look. And while we were looking, two smoky figures started to appear.
"Hail, great spirits," said Rik, and the two figures gradually turned into two pretty women, one in white and one in black, both holding scythes.
The two aspects of the goddess Zoxatics.
She asked her children who accepted her gift to step forward. Rod did, and after some hesitation so did Rik. The rest of us hung back. But she thought there was only one more of us who should be stepping forward, and after a while I realised she meant me. Us three were the only ones to accept the power of the crystal - Rik and I had touched it and Rod had eaten it.
"Are you afeared?" she asked me. I nodded, and stepped forward. The three of us knelt down before the goddess. Each aspect touched us on the shoulder with her scythe. When we stood up again, I had a dark crystal embedded in my bow, and Rik was wearing a periapt with a similar crystal in it.
The three spirits Rik had told us about earlier were trying to become gods. The mage we had been fighting was attempting to supplant those two, become a god himself, and recreate everything according to his own whims. I didn't quite understand this, but it sounded very bad. Zoxatics wanted the three of us to be champions and destroy him.
Somewhere around this point, the death helm disappeared.
We went searching for the mage. The black squid-ship had disappeared so we went to look in the white one. Up the ladder, up several stairs, and there he was.
He was standing in a column of light, and as we soon discovered was also inside a force cage and using some kind of repulsion to hold us back. While I was quite capable of shooting him from where I was, I was limited on what special attacks I could do, and also had trouble getting my arrows past the bars of the force cage. Our melee fighters couldn't get near him. While Sarflex did manage to get past the repulsion and turn into a huge octopus to grapple him, it didn't last long since the mage turned him to stone.
Rik started trying to set him on fire. Merick left the room with the unconscious body of Dazed. I loosed what was probably my best ever shot, only to have it bounce off the edge of the force cage. And then the mage turned to look at me.
Suddenly everything got really big.
My bow, my warhammer, everything was gone. The others towered over me like giants. I was down on all fours. My limbs felt short and stubby and sort of scaly. I had a curious feeling that I was in some kind of box which was at the same time part of me. It dawned on me that the mage had turned me into a tortoise.
I tried to run for the door - tried, but tortoises aren't built for running. Thankfully Yoyo picked me up during his own departure.
Outside the ship we waited. Rod and Rik were still in there fighting as the ship gradually caught on fire. Eventually Rik emerged. Rod didn't. We went back to the pyramid ship.
After some sleep, Merick was able to turn me back into myself again, although I was horrified to realise that he'd also cleaned me up first. It took ages to get those muddy dreadlocks just right and now I'm going to have to do it all again.
Not as horrified as I was to realise that Rod was dead and gone forever though, or that somewhere in the fight Rik had also become undead. I insisted that we weren't going anywhere without the stone octopus, and we went to pick through the ashes of the white squid-ship. There we found the empty force cage, the octopus, and Rod's spear. Rik picked it up. He's very upset about losing his brother.
Merick managed to turn Sarflex back into himself as well, and Sarflex was then able to reincarnate Rik into something alive. It turned out to be a goblin. The suavest damn goblin who ever lived, but still a goblin. I'm not sure how his wives are taking it. Rod's wives are very upset. I know my husbands are very relieved that I'm no longer a tortoise.
I suppose our next move is to chase the mage on the black ship, since we have to assume that's where he teleported to. We don't have all that much time before our helm disappears so we have to try to take him down first. And I'm really not looking forward to taking on someone who can turn me into a tortoise for the third time.
Feeling very heavy hearted now.
"Hail, great spirits," said Rik, and the two figures gradually turned into two pretty women, one in white and one in black, both holding scythes.
The two aspects of the goddess Zoxatics.
She asked her children who accepted her gift to step forward. Rod did, and after some hesitation so did Rik. The rest of us hung back. But she thought there was only one more of us who should be stepping forward, and after a while I realised she meant me. Us three were the only ones to accept the power of the crystal - Rik and I had touched it and Rod had eaten it.
"Are you afeared?" she asked me. I nodded, and stepped forward. The three of us knelt down before the goddess. Each aspect touched us on the shoulder with her scythe. When we stood up again, I had a dark crystal embedded in my bow, and Rik was wearing a periapt with a similar crystal in it.
The three spirits Rik had told us about earlier were trying to become gods. The mage we had been fighting was attempting to supplant those two, become a god himself, and recreate everything according to his own whims. I didn't quite understand this, but it sounded very bad. Zoxatics wanted the three of us to be champions and destroy him.
Somewhere around this point, the death helm disappeared.
We went searching for the mage. The black squid-ship had disappeared so we went to look in the white one. Up the ladder, up several stairs, and there he was.
He was standing in a column of light, and as we soon discovered was also inside a force cage and using some kind of repulsion to hold us back. While I was quite capable of shooting him from where I was, I was limited on what special attacks I could do, and also had trouble getting my arrows past the bars of the force cage. Our melee fighters couldn't get near him. While Sarflex did manage to get past the repulsion and turn into a huge octopus to grapple him, it didn't last long since the mage turned him to stone.
Rik started trying to set him on fire. Merick left the room with the unconscious body of Dazed. I loosed what was probably my best ever shot, only to have it bounce off the edge of the force cage. And then the mage turned to look at me.
Suddenly everything got really big.
My bow, my warhammer, everything was gone. The others towered over me like giants. I was down on all fours. My limbs felt short and stubby and sort of scaly. I had a curious feeling that I was in some kind of box which was at the same time part of me. It dawned on me that the mage had turned me into a tortoise.
I tried to run for the door - tried, but tortoises aren't built for running. Thankfully Yoyo picked me up during his own departure.
Outside the ship we waited. Rod and Rik were still in there fighting as the ship gradually caught on fire. Eventually Rik emerged. Rod didn't. We went back to the pyramid ship.
After some sleep, Merick was able to turn me back into myself again, although I was horrified to realise that he'd also cleaned me up first. It took ages to get those muddy dreadlocks just right and now I'm going to have to do it all again.
Not as horrified as I was to realise that Rod was dead and gone forever though, or that somewhere in the fight Rik had also become undead. I insisted that we weren't going anywhere without the stone octopus, and we went to pick through the ashes of the white squid-ship. There we found the empty force cage, the octopus, and Rod's spear. Rik picked it up. He's very upset about losing his brother.
Merick managed to turn Sarflex back into himself as well, and Sarflex was then able to reincarnate Rik into something alive. It turned out to be a goblin. The suavest damn goblin who ever lived, but still a goblin. I'm not sure how his wives are taking it. Rod's wives are very upset. I know my husbands are very relieved that I'm no longer a tortoise.
I suppose our next move is to chase the mage on the black ship, since we have to assume that's where he teleported to. We don't have all that much time before our helm disappears so we have to try to take him down first. And I'm really not looking forward to taking on someone who can turn me into a tortoise for the third time.
Feeling very heavy hearted now.