[Game Thread] Chapter 3: The Temple of Long Death

[Fil kearney]

D32, Coaxl, and Hieractus had their hands full: there was lots of work to do if the ship were to survive the impact, and no time to do it!
The two hefty demons disappear from view as the ship rotates... another groan and the sound of splintering wood announce that they have found the third support-- unguarded, the structure shatters beneath their incredible blows!

As the ship continued to roll, both top side crew and those all trapped within had to perform some fancy footwork to stay "atop" the vessel,
"Dammit! STOP SCREWING WITH MY SHIP!!!"
Ash screamed as she held on for dear life, pushing her will to coordinate with the elemental barely holding on to the ship. The new targets feel the lick of hellfire as they fall within range of Celestine's Blasts; howling in pain, one of the massive creatures begins freefall-- only to vanish a breath later to some unknown-- and hopefully distant-- location.


Free from the hold, the Divas drive their steeds away as the tumbling ship continued to fling demons into the sky-- skewering the beasts before they could regain their balance, sending their wounded bodies spiralling below.

Nolan scurried across the rolling hull towards a shattered window, flicking his blade after Valruk-- both disappear into the belly of the ship as it continues to fall through the sky!

[Fil kearney]

"rrrrrrRRRAAAAARRRRR!!!!!! I JUST FIXED THIS BOAT!!!!!"
The captain screams, bracing herself against the railing as the ship inverts... the ground was getting uncomfortably close, and there wasn't a lot that could be done about it.

"Captain!"
Fox cried from the back of her dragonhawk, gently clutching a wounded sailor in one taloned claw,
"She can't recover! You gotta let go!"

The massive bird wings-over to dodge the torn frame of a lower ring support-- Hieractus, D32 and Coaxl roll into view. A few bursts of plasma from the flameforged ends another small burst of fiends now trickling back out of the broken windows.
"Lass, get the captain! we can rescue ourselves!"
Hurling a small cylender, the old artificer's command is accented by an electrical discharge that knocks a hole in the boat, releasing another dozen creatures for D32 to lance.


As the ship makes another rotation, Willow Cammy and Bella rolls into view, landing briefly atop the righted- deck to pick up as much of the crew as possible before the deck inverts again... Celestine and D32 continue to lay surpressing fire on any creature coming into view from above or within...


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Cursing at the elusive demon, nolan dim-hops across hallway-pits when the ship tumbles sidelong, and blindly jaunts between floors that are walls searching for his prey.
"You are not gonna get away from me, you bastard!"
From above (below? the courier was so dizzy he couldn't tell...) wood shattered as the 3 armed Daemon charged into the confused corridor, a stream of minions flapping, climbing, and hopping behind his wake of destruction through the ship!
"You can't beat me, boy! You can't run, you can't maneuver, and now, you can't cast!"
The prosthetic arm pulses again with anti magic, weakening nolan's attacks, but his speed is unfettered-- he easily bobs and sways through the mass of demons like walking through a halfling's chandelier store, never taking his eyes off the ancient evil nemesis.

In the heart of the ship, Valruk swings high, missing the nimble dragonheir again, smashing through the protective shell around the main drive, harnessing the elemental. As the red antimagic radiation meets elemental bindings, the ship groans one final time, and lurches nose down, plummetting with no direction or control-- the Sonia's life force has been snapped!

What remains of the top deck is bathed in a blinding pulse as the elemental is wrenched free from the shredded binding ring-- unaligned with the ship's essence, the wood catches like dry leaves in the intense heat of the Fire Spirit.
Ash lets out a muffled whimper and falls limp on cal-- she and Tashi begin dragging her towards Willow and her Hawk to escape the ignited topdeck.

Beyond the forecastle, a large town is coming into view swiftly amongst a light Aundair forest... and the flaming airship was like a bomb, falling dead on target with a House Orien way station!
Nolan would have laughed at the irony if he had not been at the center of the internal explosion-- Fire, concussion, and a thousand splinters wrack his body with pain before losing consciousness...