Sapphire:Sessions:20150926

Yasser declares he's not comfortable here. "Where's the alcohol?" Ned and Thelma assure him that there's a still back at their camp. Yasser's iron ring heats up; it apparently has an affinity for this world. The ring becomes uncomfortably hot, but even when it starts blistering and burning his finger, Yasser bears the pain stoically.

After a low-voiced but animated consultation with Rick, Angela announces that she and Ned will accompany the group in their pursuit of Tholadan. Angela will drive the car.

Uttering an exclamation of pain, Branamin goes down on his left knee. He stares off into the distance, appearing to concentrate deeply. Turning to tend to Branamin, Shawna hisses to Chalker, "Is Jax around here?" As Chalker is checking, Branamin snaps out of his daze. He gasps, "I think that was Tholadan... We fought... I'm now linked to the gate somehow." Branamin suffers physical pain if he moves away from the gate, and he cannot venture more than a half-mile from it without blacking out.

Shawna declares, "I'll stay with Branamin." Although Angela says her people will bring back supplies and volunteers to guard Branamin, and Chalker assures her that the young mage will be fine, Shawna is adamant.

Chalker again checks for mithril, and informs the rest that Tholadan is now twenty miles away. The group conjectures that Tholadan is traveling via Teleport spell, ten miles per jump, and must rest for an hour between attempts.

Angela points to a small building labeled 7-Eleven and explains there is gas stored there in underground tanks that is used to power the car. Ahn-Lee expresses puzzlement -- why is the substance called gas when it is obviously liquid?

Angela slides behind the steering wheel. Chalker sits on the other side of the front seat, with Thelma in between. In the rear seat, seated between Yasser and Ahn-Lee, Rick is obviously tense and nervous. Yasser eyes him and asks brusquely, "What?" Rick stares back wordlessly, and Yasser mutters, "Humans..." Ahn-Lee covets the shotgun Rick carries, but eventually decides he has no chance of taking it from the human.

Chalker chats up Thelma. "You don't believe we are who we say, do you?" "Angela's grandmother is Irish. She wants to believe." Chalker 'hooks' Thelma's gun and tells her, "Do me a favor -- tighten your grip." She does so, and Chalker pushes the gun upward. He asks her, "What do you believe is happening now? Don't you believe what you see?" Thelma admits, "Angela is more right than I thought." "Why do you have a problem believing in us when you're surrounded by walking dead?" "Point taken."

Angela stops the car in front of the survivors camp, which is bordered by a makeshift construction of wire mesh fencing, barbed wire, and the beginnings of a brick-and-mortar wall. A couple of guards pull the gate open in response to Angela's hand signals.

Chalker asks Rick for a spare gun pistol. Rick: "We have several guns that are community property, but we don't have much ammo." Chalker: "Getting rid of Tholadan is worth giving up one gun." Ahn-Lee: "You won't regret it when Tholadan is no more."

Yasser: "Where can I get something to drink?" Angela waves over a man named Andy and tells him to lead Yasser to the "good" moonshine. In the storehouse, Andy hands Yasser a clay jug. Yasser takes a long, thirsty swallow, and pronounces the booze "almost as strong as a Bajeeter Special."

Angela had sent a teenage girl, Bess, to fetch the rest of the Senior Council. Angela leads Chalker and Ahn-Lee inside a building and into a windowless conference room. A rumbling hum becomes audible from outside, and Angela flicks a small wall-mounted lever and overhead lights come on. As he habitually does, Chalker examines the room for peepholes; he finds none, but he asks Angela about certain devices (cameras) he sees attached to wires inside the walls. "We don't use power on those," Angela replies.

Rick enters the conference room, leading five other people who are introduced as Barry, Harold, Donna, Jean, and Fred. Angela gives a brief summary of the purpose for the meeting, concluding with "Rick and I disagree on this," then introducing "Mr Jackson."

"Call me Chalker. We're from another realm and we're chasing a necromancer named Tholadan. The necromancer has tied our mage to the gate so he can't go far. We need a few people to go back and make a shelter for our mage. Then we need Angela and Ned and that's it. We are requesting your aid and assistance. If you help us, we thank you; if not, we thank you."

Angela speaks. "We need to set up a camp of twenty around the gate to guard their mage. ... Even if these people are not what they say, it's worth it to us to help them."

Angela calls for a vote. Harold, Fred, and Rick vote against, so the vote carries, 4-3. Chalker: "Now Rick, no coup attempt while we're gone." Rick: "Those never end well."

Ahn-Lee begs repeatedly to be given a gun. Finally Angela agrees to lend him one, on condition that he return it before he goes back through the gate. With Chalker lending his advice, Angela brings out a .45 and shows Ahn-Lee how to load and fire it. Angela: "Never point it at anyone you don't want to kill." Ahn-Lee: "What if I'm behind them?" Angela: "You could stick the barrel in the small of their back and pull the trigger." At this, Ahn-Lee grins hugely.

Branamin casts a Teleport Shield around the gate, explaining to Shawna each step in the process. Shawna points out that since he controls the gate, he can close it. He puts it in a 'neutral' state. Shawna: "Prepare to sever Tholadan's link to the gate, but not right now."

Angela unfolds a map; Chalker requests a copy of it. She indicates the forest to the north that they'll need to traverse and notes that the pavement will be rough, but it will be much quicker to drive through the forest than to go around it. Shawna sends them off, reminding them "You have your journey books in case you need to communicate with us." Yasser hollers, "Next stop -- Tholadan!"

Angela steers the car along the winding road (Route 33) through the forest, covering 25 miles in 45 minutes. Chalker observes that during that time Tholadan has moved another ten miles further. Making small talk, Chalker asks, "Do you have Zales here? I have a necklace from Zales. It's about 1500 years old, though."

Angela turns off of Route 33 onto an east-west highway, Route 166, which allows for faster driving. After a time they come to the remains of a small town called New Cuyama. At first there are no signs of walking dead, but there are overturned cars, human bones, and desiccated corpses.

Meanwhile, Shawna has Branamin open the gate a bit in order to distract Tholadan. She can sense that the necromancer is irritated by the intrusion. He is in a large room with rows of seats and double doors at each end, with four or five dozen zombies milling about him. Tholadan tries a Mental Stun on Shawna to no effect; she playfully Stuns him back. This gives her an idea, and she starts scratching at Tholadan's mind, like nails on a slate.

Just as they're about to pass it, Chalker points to a building marked Cuyana Valley High School. "Tholadan's in there." Instead of slowing down and turning, Angela imprudently spins the car around; she hits a pothole and blows out a tire.

Walking dead emerge from the school. Chalker: "Can you run over them?" Angela: "Sure can, as long as I don't knock off the rim."

"Anyone got any fire?" asks Chalker. Yasser feels his ring turn painfully hot, and suddenly dual flamethrowers erupt from the front of the car, incinerating the zombies in their path. Chalker throws a jug of booze into the fire, and sheets of flame engulf even more of the walking dead.

The group piles out of the car and enters the gymnasium. At least a hundred zombies are shambling up and down the tiers of seats. In the center of a polished wooden floor kneels Tholadan, eyes closed, face contorted in a grimace. In his upraised left hand is a swirl of energy, while in his right he wields the gold and mithril dagger. In front of him glows the silver knife, its point driven into the floor. Chalker hooks the knife and jerks it free.

(Shawna screeches like a hunting hawk and rakes claws across Tholadan's mind. At her prompting, Branamin begins a cycle of opening and closing the gate in order to further distract Tholadan. They continue such actions throughout the fight.) Suddenly Tholadan is thrown fifteen feet and his hard landing cracks the wooden floor. The silver knife rises into the air and power surges toward Chalker; with difficulty Chalker releases the knife, but the wave of energy washes over him and he retches. As Tholadan turns over onto his side, Chalker whips out his magekiller dagger. Ahn-Lee says, "Chalker, help aim," fires his gun, and blows a zombie's head off. Yasser thinks at his iron ring, "Burn 'em up!" while swinging his axe wildly.

Ahn-Lee fires again, hitting the far wall. Yasser, thinking "Need some fire!" throws a hard punch at a zombie, knocking its jaw askew. Chalker hooks onto the silver knife. Tholadan, his nose bleeding and his features contorted with pain, gets slowly to his feet, facing Chalker.

Chalker activates the magekiller dagger and TKs it at Tholadan. Ahn-Lee fires, missing his target by a good five feet to the right. Yasser, with three zombies closing around him, punches one of them, his red-hot ring branding its flesh. With his right hand, Tholadan strikes the silver knife, which moves to intercept the magekiller; his left hand makes a ripping gesture (Tholadan almost blocks Shawna's mental attacks, but 'almost' isn't good enough).

Ahn-Lee overcorrects and his next shot misses to the left. Tholadan dives to the floor to avoid the magekiller (simultaneously throwing a mental attack at Shawna, which she deflects). Yasser calls out "Need some help" as he punches another zombie, tearing off a chunk of its face. Three zombies slap at Yasser, who dodges back away from them. Angela, her shotgun slung and her machete in hand, turns and slashes a zombie's neck.

"Oh, so you're awake!" Yasser says to the next zombie just before he hits it with a solid punch. Chalker turns the magekiller back toward Tholadan... who tries to Blink away and cannot. Lightning crackles from his eyes, ears, and mouth. Ahn-Lee fires and grazes Tholadan's left shoulder; the impact spins the necromancer halfway around and he goes down. (Shawna quickly throws up a Mind Block to protect herself and Branamin from Tholadan's dying mind as Branamin feeds her energy.) Ned fires his shotgun at a group of zombies shuffling toward Ahn-Lee. Ahn-Lee crows, "Got him! Time to go!"

(Shawna tells Branamin to close the gate. Tholadan is definitely dead, but she senses something about his essence...) Ahn-Lee fires his last bullet. Chalker runs toward the silver knife which is hanging in midair above Tholadan. Yasser avoids a zombie's bite and punches it hard. Angela kills one zombie and slashes another. Ned fires at another group of zombies.

(Shawna perceives that the gold and mithril dagger somehow links the two planes. She quickly prays to Delsa that she might get a message to Chalker.) Chalker grabs the silver knife's hilt. Yasser covers Angela and Ned's retreat. Ahn-Lee, holstering his gun, heads for the exit. The zombies pursue, though somewhat slowed.

Chalker snatches the gold and mithril dagger (Shawna tells him it must be destroyed). Ahn-Lee draws his two knives. Yasser, Angela, and Ned reach the door; taking a look outside, Angela exclames, "It's still flaming!"

Chalker sheathes the silver knife, pulls the magekiller into his hand, turns and runs for the door. Seeing the blazing fire, Yasser tells his ring "Good work!" Ahn-Lee to Yasser: "Let's race!"