MBCE Posted August 29, 2009 Author Posted August 29, 2009 Ghost keep the light trained inside for a while before finally opening it fully. "You're right about that, Bel. The treasure is usually behind the guarded doors, but those doors are guarded by more than a pile of bones." 'What other surprises do you have in store for us today, Kapetelis?' Ghost slowly took a step into the corridor and moved quickly to the corner of the turn. From there he peeked about the corner expecting the worst on the other side.
Dr Archeville Posted August 29, 2009 Posted August 29, 2009 Moving into position, Ghost sees the sharp left turn opens to another length of corridor, about 20 feet long. At the end, on the right, is another door. Ghost can just make out something on the other side of the door: the rattling of chains. It's not an agitated rattling, like someone shaking them, more like the soft rattle of chains that are hanging and swinging freely. Belphegor waits in the first doorway, waiting for sign form ghost.
MBCE Posted August 30, 2009 Author Posted August 30, 2009 Ghost looked back at Belphegor and pointed at his ear before pointing to the area around the corner. He placed his finger to his lips and gestured for the demon to join him. As Belphegor began moving forward, Ghost moved up to the doors himself. 'More doors. And the rattling of chains. Is this place a haunted house?" Ghost looked back at the corner to make sure that Belphegor was in position before checking over the doors. He placed his hands upon the doors and took a deep breath, ready for whatever may appear before him.
Dr Archeville Posted August 30, 2009 Posted August 30, 2009 The door itself is fairly simple, with a basic wooden bar latch across it. The door does have one bit of decoration: small black rams heads inlaid, each about the size of your hand, into the corners of the door and across the wooden bar that holds the door shut. Ghost still just hears the a soft rattling of chains... and a large and not very graceful demon clomping up behind him. Ghost lifts the bar up and opens the door... and a length of spiked chain lashes out at him! Ghost sees that the chain is wielded by a very strong looking humanoid, about ten feet away due to the chain's length. It may have been a man once, but it has mottled and decaying flesh drawn tight across clearly visible bones, and its sharp carnivore teeth are gnashing at you. Like the skeletons, its eyes burn with a hot red light. Ghost can see it holds another chain in its other hand, and is whirling it around in a deadly arc... then he realizes it's not holding the chains, the chains are grafted to it in place of its hands!
MBCE Posted August 31, 2009 Author Posted August 31, 2009 Ghost opened the doors and was caught totally unprepared when the chain struck. The blow a very powerful one to his stomach which doubles him over. Blood splays from his mouth and his vision blackens slightly. Ghost stepped back slightly as he tried to get his breath back.
Dr Archeville Posted August 31, 2009 Posted August 31, 2009 Belphegor let out an unintelligible growl when he saw the spiked chain lash out and strike Ghost in the stomach. Dammit, I'm gonna need him! The demon moved so he was now by Ghost's side, then tuned and flung a dark hellfire bolt towards the chain-armed thing. "Eat infernal vengeance, you... you... thing!" the demon roared as he flung a hellfireball at the monster. Okay, my bantering needs work, but this is just one mutilate corpse, it shouldn't- The thing let out a wheezing grunt as the hellfire burned it slightly.... ... and then it lashed out with its other chain at the demon, and landed a solid blow to his shoulder, the same one which had been blasted earlier. "ARGH!" Both new wounds and old ones opened up on the demon's hide, but more disturbingly, the blood spilling form the demon's wounds flowed up the spiked chains and back into the creature, and the hellfire burn marks began to vanish!
MBCE Posted August 31, 2009 Author Posted August 31, 2009 Ghost's vision clkeared just in time to see Belphegor get attacked. His eyes widened when he saw teh damage on the creature begin to heal in an unexpected way. 'If that thing can heal from Belphegor's attacks...' Ghost looked about the room, worried at how they would manage to deal with the creature. His eyes latched upon the spinning chain and he watched as it went just a slight bit too far. As the Chain hit the side of the wall, a small portion of concrete flew loose. It bounced off the ceiling and smashed into the creature with deadly force.
Dr Archeville Posted September 1, 2009 Posted September 1, 2009 A section of the stone wall chipped loose and crashed into the Chain-Thing's head, cracking the skull and causing clotted black gunk to dibble out... but the attack seemed to cause it no harm. It did not even slow down the whirling of its chains. What the... this thing, it... it's feeding from me! Oh, this is just wrong! Belphegor was still reeling from the blow, and unable to act. The Chain-Thing lashed out again at the stunned demon with its spiked chains, but --perhaps due to Lady Luck shining down on the two housebreakers -- it instead manages to strike itself in the face with its own whirling spiked chains. As the chain pulls away, it tears a few bits of its own cheek away, causing more clotted black gunk to dribble out, but the thing seems wholly unconcerned with any damage to itself.
MBCE Posted September 1, 2009 Author Posted September 1, 2009 "Daman thing is undead! Got to be some way to deal with it!" Ghost looked about the area trying to decide how to best deal with the undead creature. His eyes caught sight of the clipped area in teh wall and he remembered Belphegor's words earlier that the grounds was protected from creatures ike him. Perhaps this area also carried the sacred power as well! Ghost decided to move into a position to better deal with the creature. He ran at the wall, placing his back near it. As he moved the creature struck out again. Ghost was expecting the blow and ducked. Luck again was on his side as the creature's swinging chain smashed into the wall where Ghost just was. A large chip of concrete flew towards the creature but unlike the other, this section contained one of the ruins that protected the area. It struck the creature delivering it's holy energy into the creature.
Dr Archeville Posted September 1, 2009 Posted September 1, 2009 The runed stone strikes the Chain-Ghoul head-on, and Ghost & Belphegor do see a flash of holy energy interacting with the negative unlife energies within the creature... but if anything, it just seems more irritated now! "Comin' through!" Belphegor roared as he ran tot ackle the Chain-Ghoul. As he dove in Ghost could see the demon was again glowing with internal hellfire... and also saw that the demon veered slightly off-course and missed. The Chain-Ghoul's hungry eyes fell on the now-adjacent demon, and it lunged in to try and take a bit out of him, but Belphgor's unsteady footing has him zig out of the bite instead of zagging into it.
MBCE Posted September 1, 2009 Author Posted September 1, 2009 "Keep him off balanced!" The wild lunge of the creature brought it unluckily into one of the broken sections in the wall. The edge, still sharp contained one of the holy runes. Ghost watch as the creature implaed itself on the shard, hoping to see it damage itself.
Dr Archeville Posted September 1, 2009 Posted September 1, 2009 This time the holy stone landed a solid blow to the base of the Chain-Ghoul's skull, both stunning it momentarily and sending it off-balance enough to fall flat on its face. Ghost could see that the holy energies of the stone were eating away at the undead's flesh like acid, exposing its bones. "Ha! Excellent work!" Belphegor exclaimed. "How d'ya like me now, hunh?" he taunted as he kicked the Chain-Ghoul in the torso. It was struggling to rise, but Ghost figured he had time to get another blow in before it was all the way up again.
MBCE Posted September 1, 2009 Author Posted September 1, 2009 "It isn't down yet. Do let up." Ghost said as the force of Belphegor's kick dislodged another piece of concrete. The small chip fell directly on the creature's neck. Even as the flash of holy energy went off, Ghost looked around for something else to use against it.
Dr Archeville Posted September 1, 2009 Posted September 1, 2009 As Ghost looks around the 30 x 30 foot room, he does see something of interest to the left: a door, in the eastern wall. The rest of the room is bare stone, no windows, no furniture, nothing. Another holy stone falls, piercing the Chain-Ghoul's leg. This causes it to spam a bit, and prevents it form rising. "Stay down!" Belphegor shouts as he stomps on the Chain-Ghoul's head. Ghost hears a decidedly unsettling CRUNCH... ... and yet it's still flopping and twitching about, and trying to look up at the two of you with its Hell-red eyes! What the Hell is this thing?! Why won't it die?! The Chain-Ghoul continues hissing and gnashing its teeth, but is unable to get up, at least not quickly. Giving Ghost time enough to....
MBCE Posted September 1, 2009 Author Posted September 1, 2009 This itme, the force of the creature's flopping form causes more of the concrete to fall upon it. The area wasn't looking very good as a source of a weapon so Ghost moved towards the door in the eastern wall. "Got a door here!" Ghost called to Bel. 'Maybe something useful is behind it!'
Dr Archeville Posted September 4, 2009 Posted September 4, 2009 The door is locked, but the lock appears to be a simple one. Another holy runed stone falls, piercing the chain-ghoul's other leg. It still thrashes about, though, albeit in a very uncoordinated manner. "Why... won't... this.. thing... stop... moving?!" Belphegor growled as he continued kicking the still-wriggling guardian. Though his feet did seem to stomp on the creature, the demon's uncoordinated rage kept striking particularly thick sections of bone and muscle, doing no damage. What is it gonna take to do in this thing?! The Chain-Ghoul continues hissing and gnashing its teeth, but is unable to get up, due to the damage to its legs and to the blows Belphegor is raining down on it.
MBCE Posted September 5, 2009 Author Posted September 5, 2009 Ghost didn't spare a glance over his shoulder. "Keep it busy while I deal with this door! If we can bypass this thing, the better!" Ghost kept his eyes on the door and the task at hand. He was brought here to retrieve a coin, not kill everything he came across. That's what the demon was for. If Belphegor couldn't handle the creature, then they were going to have a lot of problems. Ghost quickly examined the lock, judging what he needed to use to pick it open. With a practiced grace, he quickly removed his tools and began working on the door. 'Get the door opened and we can get passed this, Sammy. There's no need to keep fighting everything in sight!'
MBCE Posted September 9, 2009 Author Posted September 9, 2009 Ghost started working on the lock and didn't realize his mistake until he hear the small click as he set off the trap. 'Oh,no!' was all he could think before the trap released whatever fiendish effect upon himself.
Dr Archeville Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 Ghost does manage to unlock the door, but as he does one of the clicks he hears isn't from the mechanism of the lock. It's from the needle that's sprung out and jabbed him in the hand. He can see a dark substance on the needle, and around the wound on his hand, but he does not feel any ill effects. Perhaps Lady Luck is looking after him... or perhaps it's an insidious, slow-acting poison. Opening the door and shining his flashlight in, Ghost sees what he assumes is the object of his mission. There, on a satin pillow atop a pedestal in the middle of the small room, is a single golden coin with a ram's head embossed on it. Around the pedestal are small chests and caskets; some are open because they are so filled with coins and gems and jewelry and other small assorted treasures they could not be closed! Belphegor continues trying to curb-stomp the chain-ghoul, but his last hit, while it did connect, was at just the wrong angle to do nothing to the guardian. "What do you see, Ghost? Did you find th- HURK!" There's a sudden whirl of movement, and when Ghost looks back, he sees Belphegor had been knocked back several feet from the guardian, had one of its spiked chains wrapped around his throat, and the demon's blood was flowing from the wounds and into the undead, empowering it! It rose from the floor on which the demon had been pounding on it for so long, and looked back and forth between Ghost and Belphegor, unsure of which one to go for next.
MBCE Posted September 9, 2009 Author Posted September 9, 2009 Ghost shook his hand to remove the goo from it before proceeding further. his eyes lit up as he saw all the coins in the room, a smile crossing his face. 'Oh, I am good!' The Ghost moved into the room and glanced about but the sound of Belphegor drew his attention back to the fight. He saw the demon get hit again and drop as the chained creature began to stand. 'Oh no!' Again Ghost exerted his control over the world around him. His foot often times very steady, landed on one of the loose coins upon the floor. As he lifted his foot, the coin slid with tremendous force out of the room and towards the chained creature. The creature's spinning chain hit the coin with tremendous force sending it flying up and into the already weakened walled. As the coin bounced off the wall, it dislodged another piece of rune covered concrete. The concrete got caught in the spinning chain only to be shot directly at the creature.
Dr Archeville Posted September 10, 2009 Posted September 10, 2009 Even Ghost himself was impressed at the sight of what happened next. The coin he kicked bounced off one of the Chain-Ghoul's whirling chains, which not only caused the coin to bounce off and dislodge another loose bit of rune-covered concrete, but also caused the chain to go wide and kick up some of the rune-covered debris from the floor. Then all these pieces collided with the Chain-Ghoul's head, cracking its skulls and sending it down to the ground with a THUD. Belphegor untangles the thing's spiked chains from around his neck, then drops to one knee. He's hurt, badly, but he's not out yet. Which is good, since Ghost would hate to have to drag him out, and who knows what might happen if he left him behind.
MBCE Posted September 11, 2009 Author Posted September 11, 2009 'The Lady does love me!' Ghost turned and moved into the room. "Belphegor, I think I've found what we're looking for! Let's get this thing and go. Ghost took his time checking over the displayed coin, determined not to get caught by another trap. As he worked, he shook his hand that had been stuck by the needle. 'I hope there's no more traps on this thing. We need to get out of here as fast as possible. No telling when that thing is going to wake up.'
MBCE Posted September 11, 2009 Author Posted September 11, 2009 Ghost shook his hand again, trying to making sure that he still have full feeling it. "Bel," he called over his shoulder. "Get ready to run." 'Doesn't seem to be any traps on this thing. I hope this is what we were supposed to get.' Ghost grabbed the coin and quickly pocketed it. The thief didn't wait around to see what might happen. He turned and ran back to Belphegor, helping the demon to his feet. "Come on, Bel, we're almost free of this debt. All we need to do now is get out."
Dr Archeville Posted September 13, 2009 Posted September 13, 2009 The demon leaned heavily on Ghost as he got up, "nice work there, Ghos- whoa!" He stopped as he saw the piles of treasure in the small room beyond, where the coin had been, "how much of that do you think we can cart out of here?"
MBCE Posted September 14, 2009 Author Posted September 14, 2009 Ghost looked over his should at the coins and frowned. "That's not why we came here, Bel. We only need one coin and I have that." Ghost took a moment to take out the coin he had placed safely in his pocket. He turned it over slightly to let Belphegor get a good look at it as well. "In my line of work, you take only what you planned to take. It helps make sure you get out on time and undetected." Ghost looked at the various debris from the fights and smiled. "Well, maybe not always undetected. Come on. Forget the other stuff and let's get out of here. I'd like to get these strings of us as soon as possible!"
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