Wait, I thought the Avatar and the Belt were both open to eating sacrifices? I mean I guess the belt would need a weakened enemy but that should work here, right?
Part of you rather wishes you could drag this thing squirming and hissing to Yss to devour, as a personal thanks for all the favors the old snake has done to you. After all, as Tor's fate showed, there is nothing quite like settling old grievances. No, it had shown itself too powerful, too unpredictable... It would take time to get its measure, and time is the one thing you do not have in such a battle.
From your hand a needle of fire flies, searing the air as it passes with the promise of unmaking even as Vee calls down a curse on the thing's head: "Blind and deaf and dumb thy be, skinless fangless broken thing..." You take 1 Charisma Damage
In the instant before the fire strikes the gem in the center of its forehead the serpent flinches, as much in surprise as anger you suspect. Shadows race madly across the walls as if rushing to hide away the poisoned radiance and lead you on a merry chase... but they are not quite swift enough to outrun the flame.
Instead light flares impossibility bright, pressing upon the mind as much as the eye, and for a moment it seems to be poised to consume you all for daring to raise your hand against something mighty and ancient beyond mortal ken as a man is beside an ant... then the feeling passes. The earth is again at your feet and the sky above, and in this realm you would face any creature—man, monster, or undying god—that makes itself your foe.
Viserys 1250 XP
Ser Richard 1763 XP
Vee and Malarys 2300 XP
The faint tinkle of something hard and sharp falling onto stone beaks the reverie, then Vee's voice: "Fuck, I've gone proper blind..." Instead of panicked she sounds annoyed. "Is that thing dead?"
As the blurry shapes before you slowly gain the proper contours of the chamber you see countless colorless shards litter the floor, though nothing else of your foe. Had it truly even been here in the flesh? "Sadly there's no skin for you to take, Vee," you answer as you reach out towards the girl, and with another painful twist of sorcery restore her sight. You take 1 Charisma Damage
"A pity the gem had to be destroyed, but the tactic certainly seems to have been effective," Malarys notes. "And with that I suspect the 'demons' the apprentices mentioned should be banished."
"You think it sent us there with a purpose to slay or at least silence the ones who might have warned us to its nature, while also seeming helpful?" you ask, puzzling together the events of the last few moments.
"Slay, silence, or discredit, yes," the magelord says as he steps up to examine one of the shards on the floor, though he makes no move to touch it. "I suspect what forced its 'hand' was taking the prisoners to the capital, so very close to the priests of the World Serpent. Thus it could no longer play a waiting game and was forced to improvise..." With a small sardonic twitch of the lips he adds, "Poorly."
"Immortal beings often react poorly to being forced into a sense of immediacy," you agree, with a profound sense of relief. You have enough foes already without borrowing Yss'.
***
The search of the rest of the house follows in good order and with no interruptions. You empty the library of books. Though the guards had sadly already done the same with the strong-room, you console yourself with the fact that there are no lingering traces of magic in the room, so at the very least the magisters of Pentos will not have obtained any truly potent objects.
Library Knowledge History bonus increased by +2, Knowledge Arcana bonus by +1
You also happen upon three more of the warped wretches Tor had created, though thankfully these are still secured and had not manifested an unliving 'protector', perhaps because they had not yet fed the dreadful hunger that gnaws at them. All are put out of their misery as cleanly as you can. There are some means of study one simply cannot justify. Tor's bones will in time enlighten you about the grotesque things he had wrought. Hopefully those bones shall be his only legacy...
Ser Richard's thoughts are manifestly on the longevity of another foe you faced tonight. "Think we should throw the rocks at the snake, Your Grace? Our snake, that is?"
What do you do with the shards of the serpent spirit's gem?
[] Keep them for study
[] Sacrifice them to Yss
[] Write in
OOC: The snake was not a true quasi-deity. That would have been vastly above your level, and while having an encounter like that is not impossible (see the Mallor) you would have gotten a lot more foreshadowing and time to prepare. That said if you had not aimed for the gem (+50% damage) it would have been able to withdraw.
[X] Sacrifice them to Yss
-[X] Ask for information about similar creatures, we have heard rumours of a "Dream snake" in Lys, Also describe the Snake mage from Volantis.
Yes, however there is the caveat that dead outsiders have the frustrating habit of not staying dead. Whether that applies to this one Viserys does not know.
