It has been a long day, and whilst not a disaster it's had its moments. The day started reasonably enough. I trumped Sorcha to check she was on her way and was bringing the guns we'd spoken about last night. She said she'd be along as soon as she'd deposited Imleshe with his Grandmother. I then went down to breakfast to find. Charity, Allagahn, and Alfred already there. I don't know what's wrong with Alfred but he's looking tired and drawn these days.
As breakfast progressed the subject turned to the last battle here and other battles we've had with Rodian demons. The main subject was their apparent ability to freeze time at least in some form of localized manner. The only person who seems to be immune to this is Charity, which is the complete reversal of the situation with the Thirteenth Hour. Logically these two affects must be connected and since we know the first is directly related to her Abyssal taint the second must be as well.
Anyway in a remarkable coincidence of timing, Allagahn was wondering how a taint was obtained at the precise moment in time that Fred entered the inn. His flippant remarks about the Abyssal Energy ball he then produced , and then flung at Charity, only served to wind Allagahn up further. There was a brief moment when Fred appeared to realize something was wrong, but then the Abyssal ball dissipated and he regained his composure. If the two were connected then I have insufficient evidence to come to any conclusions one way or the other.
Allagahn continued on his Abyssal slant eventually prompting Fred to produce a second energy ball. A couple more minutes passed and Fred's patience with Allagahn dissipated and he gave him an ultimatum - basically put up or shut up. The fact that he asked him three times and then made him confirm his decision does not excuse his next action, which was to bury the ball in Allagahn's abdomen, leaving a nice hole in his armour and Allagahn unconscious. The fact that Fred had no concern over whether Allagahn lived or died was worrying as were the possible timescales for the situation to resolve itself - anything between a few hours and several years.
I'm not condoning Fred's action as Allagahn asked for everything he got. Fred's timing, as ever, is just atrocious. Allagahn was supposed to be assisting with the preparations for the raid on the Keep by modifying sufficient rifles so that we all had one. His untimely incapacitation rendered this impossible and additionally left us one sword down. By the time I'd finished berating Fred, Charity had hoisted Allagahn on her shoulders and trumped out - at that point I didn't know where she had gone, but since she returned 20 minutes later with Sorcha, it must have been to Elysium.
Fred did at least agree to taking Allagahn's place.
With Allagahn out of the picture it fell to Charity and I to modify the rifles to work in the Keep. This therefore forced the delaying of the assault till tomorrow morning, so whilst I retired to my room Sorcha went off exploring. I assume that since I didn't see her thereafter she returned to Elysium at some point during the day. I saw Alfred at lunch, but not Charity, and then returned to my room to work on the second gun.
There was a disturbance mid-afternoon as Alfred went primal and leapt out his window and disappeared into the woods. The question is why? He was in a safe environment in the Inn so should have had no reason to leave.
He was still missing at dinner, despite Charity attempting to search for him. Her work on the gun must have addled her brains as she forgot the basic check for shadow manipulation at the point he disappeared. If he's not back by the time we get back from the Keep then I suppose I'll have to go and look for him.
If I thought yesterday was bad then today has been ten times worse. At one point it even looked like none of us would make it out of the Keep alive.
We assembled this morning much as we had done yesterday, the exception being I trumped Benedict before we went to breakfast so he could be party to our strategy. Whether is was a smart move on Charity's part to go snooping in the Keep prior to our assault we will never know but it did cost us 20minutes whilst she recovered from what ever power words they used on her.
Our plan was fairly simple and based upon what intelligence she had gained before they acted against her. We would teleport into the entrance hall using the Pattern in a manner which would allow each of us to act against nominated targets. I would take the demon on the left as I faced him, Charity standing between myself and Sorcha would take the big demon in the middle and Sorcha would take the demon on the right. Isla would be behind the three of us and Benedict, Fred, and my father would cover the doors to the corridor in a similar fashion.
With a plan fashioned I called Fiona and she brought us all through to Carnelian. Fred then linked up with my father, and Sorcha linked up with me, neither being able to use the pattern themselves. On the count of three we all teleported.
At least we had a vague idea of what to expect on arrival , thus giving us the drop on the guards in the room. the problem was there were more than expected and I faced two demons not one and the big leader type was almost blocking my line of fire. It all gets very confusing after that. I know I badly wounded the demon I fired at and Isla energy bolted the leader, but the next thing I was aware of was that Charity was virtually in hand to hand with him, and the unwounded of the two was virtually on top on me. Still it ensured he didn't get up when I pulled the trigger.
The problem was Charity was now down, and the leader had turned on me. Another burst from the rifle dropped him to his knees but it didn't do significant damage to him. I drew my sword and waded in. Had he not already been wounded I suspect he would have made my task harder, but I just managed to inflict a fatal wound before I heard Isla screaming about another two behind me. I spun to find an armoured plated demon cannon into the left most and smaller of the pair leaving the bigger one to me. As I drove him back I noticed my father lying on the floor - he looked in a bad way. Perhaps, this distraction had been too noticeable for the demon launched an all out attack on me forcing me to give ground and defend, although it paid for its troubles. Too late I sensed what it had really been covering for, and ducked to see one of it's bretherin take it by the throat. The attacker promptly collapsed. Out of the corner of my eye I caught movement and spun to see three more demons bearing down on Charity,. As I charged forward I barely caught Isla's warning shout, before I found myself in the midst f a fireball. Thank my ancestors I'd bothered to use the fresh suit of armour, although I need a new one now.
As the fire dissipated I could see Charity lying on the ground, her legs blackened by the blast, but somehow she was still conscious. Her shape shifting abilities have obviously improved. I surveyed the scene. Isla was heading in the direction of my father, the demon who'd cannoned into the one to the left of me had sprouted Sorcha's head and was standing next to a rather disheveled Benedict, who looked like he'd been in a fight. Barely visible beyond them lay Fred. I made my way over to wards my father catching the telltale signature as Isla cast a healing spell. She shook her head, pulled a trump card, threw him over her shoulder and trumped out. I stopped and looked about. Somehow this was familiar, the patterned floor, the doors, but it was all wrong, the floor hadn't been cracked then and the doors had glowed with an eerie light.
I had entered here first time with Tar-Rodian, and the scrap of parchment I'd found concealed behind the chest of drawers in Dworkin's Room. Together we had recited the words and the glow had faded and a voice had spoken to me. It had made me an offer, one that made the morsel Habakuk had offered me insignificant. I should have stopped to consider the implications but the power would allow my revenge to come to fruition that much quicker.
The second time I entered I had been on my own, but this time I had the two Jewels. Tar-Rodian had been absent of late, for reasons I would have to get to the bottom of. I would also have to find a way of dealing with those damned kids my sister had plucked out of the woodwork. They were beginning to cause problems and had found a way of using trump without my being able to intervene, although I could always sense the residue of its use. I held the Jewels out and concentrated, feeling their power swell. Now I could see the missing Jewel, buried beneath the floor and the pattern of the sorcery used to lock the doors and bar my way to the inner sanctum. I directed the Jewels to their designated positions, and words flowed into my head. There was a flash and I stood in the room once more, dead and bleeding demons littering the floor and a puzzled Sorcha, sword in hand watching me.
Benedict had picked Charity up, although I could hear her wincing every time he moved. Carrying on as if nothing had happened I moved towards the doors and the corridor beyond, Benedict and Sorcha following. The corridor was almost identical to the one in the Keep of the Four winds, although the room at the end was somewhat different.
As I entered noting the pentagrammed floor, statues, and plinth, I remembered another time. A spell appeared before me and I began to read it. As the words scrolled past my vision I felt the link form, and could feel the flow of trump energy from my sword. I finished the spell and cast it loose. It hung in space. I reached for my trump deck and pulled out Brand's trump. To my left I heard sounds but ignored them. They were irrelevant, A second spell appeared and I began the recital, energy flowing from my sword to the trump in my hand, forming a gateway. As the first connection was made I could feel the backwash from the Jewels. Satisfied the gate was large enough and stable enough I reached in. My hand struck something cool, but warm, about the size of a tennis ball. I closed my fingers around it and removed my arm. There in my hand was the Diamond of Dreams. I put it in my pocket and reached in again. This time I retrieved the Sapphire of Justice. I reached in for the third time, my hand closing about the Jewel of Judgment, "Be quick now" a voice urged me. I pulled and as I did so I felt the power of the spell fade. There was a sort of reverberation, like a thunder clap but without the sound, and I could smell ionized air, and fresh water as if after a rain shower. A clattering brought me back to reality and I looked down to see my sword striking the ground. I put the Jewel in my pocket, the world still seemingly still about me. Then I heard Charity shouting that we should get out of here before anymore of them turned up. I turned to move, and she reminded me about my sword. Woodenly I picked it up. There was a flash and the world snapped back, like a plastic bag having the air suddenly sucked from it. Everything seemed clear again.
I put the sword in the scabbard and looked about. Benedict and Sorcha were starting to move. As the sword clicked home I noted its comments about Charity having the two spikards. Somehow I wasn't surprised by the fact it spoke to me. Silently I phrased the question "What Spikards". "We'll talk later " came the reply.
We moved down the corridor as fast as we were able, without inflicting too much pain on Charity. Once in the entrance hall we all pulled trumps of the Inn and returned for some much needed rest and refreshment. Even with her abilities, I suspect it is going to take Charity several days to heal. As for me I need to locate some new armour, to find out what happened to my father, and to find out more about the transformation wrought on my sword by the Phoenix.
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| Supporting Cast - Cordelia | The Keep of the Thirteenth Hour |