Sapphire:Sessions:20170603
Chalker gets hold of Magekiller again [crit vs contest] and sticks it into Stormweaver [crit]. The forcewall disappears with a flash and Stormweaver is knocked four yards into a wall, conscious but bleeding from his mouth and nose and with a surprised expression on his face. Chalker can no longer see Magekiller or sense his grip. He shouts, "Yay, Shawna!" Ahn-Lee tries to jump over the human shield but instead stumbles into it; the arms of the "shield" wrap around Ahn-Lee and get caught in the straps of his backpack. Blue Mage (BM) levitates Ahn-Lee six feet in the air. Shawna throws a Sunbolt at Red Mage (RM) who staggers out of her circle. Stormweaver twisted his ankle, but hobbles back into his circle. Stonemover steps into BM's circle, smiles, gestures, and raises the floor such that Ahn-Lee is back on solid footing. A guard strikes Stonemover, but in turn takes damage from stepping into the circle. Sgt Angie swings at a guard, who parries.
BM raises Ahn-Lee another six feet and steps back. Using his metal sense, Chalker locates Magekiller embedded in the ceiling 12' above him; he pulls a knife from a guard's belt. RM stumbles back into her circle. Ahn-Lee frees himself from the "shield," grips the guard's shoulders, and frog-hops toward BM. Shawna grabs a guard and runs her sword through his ribcage; the guard drops upon a circle.
Branamin tries to teleport back to his body, but instead finds himself moving through the weird landscape of the spirit plane at hawkflight speed, approaching the mountain. Power points sparkle in the clear night sky. Moving through the rock as though it were water, he pops into the top of the large chamber where his friends are fighting Stormweaver's gang. He shouts "Should I rejoin?" but only Shawna reacts to his voice.
Falling toward BM, Ahn-Lee fast-draws two knives. BM miraculously dodges, and Ahn-Lee flips onto his feet between BM and a guard. Shawna stabs a guard, inexplicably shouting "Not yet!" Chalker parries a guard who had stepped into his circle and tried to stab him with a knife. Chalker pulls another knife and flings it, striking Stormweaver. Stormweaver cocks his head and looks at Chalker, who shouts again, "Yay, Shawna!" Branamin channels a Sunbolt through Stonemover at BM's face. Branamin feels connected to some power conduit which raises the mana level of the circle. The Sunbolt strikes BM in the face and disperses over her upper body, burning her badly. RM fails a spell.
Calling out "You ruined it!" Ahn-Lee stabs BM twice, killing her. Shawna throws Lightning at RM who collapses at the edge of her circle. Chalker grabs a guard's knife and stabs Stormweaver with it. Branamin begins a spell to conjure up a bear. Stonemover abruptly raises a circular part of the floor, smashing an unfortunate guard into the ceiling. Chalker feels a surge of force from one of the knives in his telekinetic grasp, so he drops that knife to the floor.
Ahn-Lee calls out, "C'mon, let's go!" and rushes toward Stormweaver. Chalker slashes Stormweaver. The circle and magical flow around Stormweaver glow with golden light; the knife in Chalker's TK grasp heats up and Stormweaver stops bleeding. Chalker realizes that Stormweaver created a permanent link to the power source and then pulled from the life force of two of his guards. Sgt Angie is injured by a guard. Shouting "In Dar's name!" Shawna hurls lightning at Stormweaver; the latter staggers and the lightning is deflected, turning one of the guards to ash.
Stormweaver steps into a circle and the golden glow rises to the ceiling, forming a forcewall. Sgt Angie mortally wounds a guard. A great angry bear appears and moves toward two of the guards. Ahn-Lee says, "You listened!" as he stabs a guard to death. Chalker grasps Magekiller and pulls it partway out of the ceiling, then parries with his sword Dink-Dink, breaking the attacking guard's knife. Shawna cries "Cor help me!" and the golden effect moves across the room and centers around her.
A guard runs toward a wall, yelling to draw the bear's attention. A dying guard grabs Sgt Angie's legs. Ahn-Lee jumps atop a guard's shoulders, kicks off, and throws a knife at Stormweaver; his throw goes astray and might have hit Angie, but Branamin alertly Blinks her away (which also frees her from the guard's grasp). Stormweaver runs through a door which opens before him. Chalker yells "Stop!" while pulling on the knife still embedded in Stormweaver's chest; Stormweaver staggers to a halt. Shawna throws Lightning at Stormweaver. Branamin casts Glue on the floor in the doorway, trapping Stormweaver and two guards. The bear runs after Stormweaver, mauling one of the two guards.
Branamin throws Sunbolt, killing the other glued guard. Ahn-Lee backflips and lands behind a guard who he shoves toward the bear, adding "Have fun!" Chalker strikes with Dink-Dink's pommel, cracking a guard's ribs, adding "Now stop!" Stormweaver tries removing the knife from his body but only injures himself further. A guard near Ahn-Lee drops his weapons, raises his hands in surrender, and backs toward a wall. Sgt Angie runs a guard through. The bear mauls Stormweaver, and continues to do so until Stormweaver is dead.
Stormweaver's spirit flees upward; Shawna consigns it to Dar. Stonemover departs Branamin's body, flying in pursuit of Stormweaver, shouting "Dar, he's finally yours!"
Three of the guards remain alive. Branamin regains his body, and replaces the bear with an illusory bear. Chalker pulls Magekiller back into his hand. Shawna shuts off the teleporter damage and shares the high mana source with Branamin. Shawna asks Branamin to track down the worms and find out whether there really is a dragon worm; there is not. Shawna kills all the remaining worms.
A short while later, Stonemover returns. "Well done! Well met!" He wishes to return Tiny Hammer to his descendants. He explains that he and some companions had come to the mountain exploring; he hadn't known anything about the Idrian Empire, much less that the mountain was their secret repository. He reveals that there is a treasure of 5000 gold pieces hidden in the floor of Stormweaver's suite.
Chalker and Shawna begin discussing what is to be done about the Idrians. Sgt Angie identifies General Winston Burns as the highest-ranking officer in the army. Branamin dispels the stasis field. Chalker scans Burns' aura; he has a minor blessing of Gauder; he is strong-willed and thrives on order and discipline. With the ruling mages dead, he feels no impulse to avenge them. He mentions three "elites" who performed reconnaissance (Aaron, Nillen, Zar), and Nick Acosta, an intelligence expert. "The world was being rearranged," which is why six enclaves similar to the one in this mountain were created.
General Burns shows them the communication room, which contains five crystal spheres. One of the spheres is inert, and one melts down when they try to activate it.
Relinda, the group learns, was to be executed because she allegedly allowed assassins access to Stormweaver. Ahn-Lee mentally tells her statuette, "We had to kill Stormweaver." She replies, "He has earned it... He will have to explain himself to Dar. ... I only wanted to reveal Stormweaver's corruption and evil." She describes General Burns as "the perfect military man, incorruptible, but boring."
Stonemover moves into Lassum's body, and Shawna restores Relinda to hers. Chalker hands Tiny Hammer to Stonemover, saying, "Santash said I couldn't kee it."
Shawna suggests to Chalker that perhaps the Idrians could find a new home in Dolyena. "Just think what all those skilled people could do for your economy, and those trained soldiers for your security." Along with the General, Sgt Angie, and Relinda, the group awakens two other intelligence gatherers, a merchant, a smith, a jeweler, and a tailor. Supplies are gathered and loaded into Chalker's wagon, and the travelers outfitted for the journey.
On the 14th, the group encounters one of Julian's winged folk patrols. By noon on the 16th they arrive at the starting point.