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Date Posted: 20:55:03 03/28/02 Thu
Author: Erlic & Valhorek
Subject: Puppet Master
In reply to: Tristan 's message, "Back at the west tower" on 15:26:56 03/28/02 Thu

“This one is watching…” were the only words that Erlic heard, as he turned to understand what Isobel had meant by the cryptic words. It didn’t take long to quickly realize that Isobel had somehow been frozen in place. All at once all pandemonium broke loose. He managed to see Ravin’s dagger bounce off the supposed mage as the puppets became animated, and started their attack at the adventurers.

The guild master’s mind raced as he tried to defend himself, while at the same time trying to figure out how to dispose of the mage. Right now the mage was capable of casting more spells, which would only mean serious trouble for all of them. The Jann had already joined in the fight, trying to sever the strings that held the puppets upright, and exclaiming that the Peacock throne had been found. It was no wonder they were fighting so furiously. They wanted only to get out of there once their part of the bargain had been fulfilled, and probably didn’t care what happened to the adventurers. The only thing stopping them was that the Sheikh was with them, but the more Erlic thought about it, they’d probably try to get the man out of there as quickly as possible. They had no more reason to remain with them any longer.

Erlic moved quickly as he tried to defend himself against the other puppets trying to attack him. He did his best to sever the strings holding the puppets as best as possible. When he could he simply grabbed the light dolls, and flung them in any direction possible. He needed a diversion, and needed on quickly if he was to make good the plan slowly formulating in his mind. “Val,” Erlic yelled. “Cover me.”

The healer quickly went about trying to arrange some form of cover for the man having no idea what the thief was up to. The healer slashed, struck, and destroyed as many puppets that came into his range. Several times he got stabbed, but he tried to put the pain out of his mind. He saw some larger puppets coming his way, and he immediately started to swing the large broadsword around, maiming some, injuring others, and killing some in the process. Again little shards of steel penetrated his body as he tried to defend himself against the puppets. “You’d better hurry,” Val yelled while continuing his slashing maneuver.

He swung his sword with one hand, as his other reached inside his pouch, and pulled out several small white balls measuring one-half inch in diameter. Since he was farther back, he threw the small pebble shaped item onto the floor, as it exploded into a blinding dust. Only those within the immediate area were blinded. It was the favorite of the Ninja in times when he had to create a diversion to escape. He quickly moved from one area to another, throwing the pebbles onto the ground, blinding those puppets currently engaged in fighting. He laughed as he watched some of the puppets slaughtering their own kind. Finally he was situated in one corner of the room. He closed his eyes, and focused on his chi. A dagger stabbed him in the leg, and broke his concentration, as he moved to eliminate the puppet that had somehow managed to scurry through the smoke like defenses. He needed just the slightest bit of time to prepare himself. Even now he could see the puppet master uttering some words that would likely turn into a spell.

He threw down several more of the pebbles, and finally managed to concentrate once more. This time he had the time he needed. The important part of chi was that it could be used against magic, since it wasn’t magic at all, but part of the human body. The puppet master had raised his arm, and was pointing toward Ravin, who was engaged with the other puppets. It was either now, or never.

Erlic raised his arm, pointing in the direction of the puppet master, focused, and swung his arms through the air as if striking someone. The process was called range strike, and he had learned from his mentor. From a short distance he was capable of fighting someone away from him, simply by imitating the hand maneuvers of a martial arts attack, and because his chi was being used, it became an extension of himself. As he swung from his location, the puppet master could be seen as if something were attacking him, since invisible hands were hitting him. It was a most unusual sight, Erlic twenty feet away, swinging his hands through the air, and the mage being attacked by unseen servants.

“Now Ravin,” Erlic shouted. “Your daggers!” Erlic swung his hands once more knowing it would be his last time since the maneuver didn’t last that long. He quickly pulled out some shurikens, and let them fly, as Ravin’s daggers, and his shurikens suddenly planted themselves in various areas of the puppet master. Moments later, the mage fell forward, and with his death, all the puppets toppled to the ground, and Isobel suddenly was free of his magic.

The room eventually was freed of the smoke as the adventurers looked around. The floor was filled with lifeless puppets, and the puppet master crumpled next to his creations. “Everyone all right?” Erlic asked as he pulled out a rag to stop the bleeding in his leg. Everyone nodded, and Val quickly went to work on taking care of his own wounds first, hoping that none of them had been poisoned. Well, one couldn’t be lucky all the time, and he quickly took one of the vials to prevent from keeling over, since his inner power detected the same sleeping venom that had been used against Ravin.

Eventually, Valhorek went around to the others, attending to their wounds. All the while the Sheikh was stating how the throne was found, and that they really should leave. The guild master went up to the man, and simply gave him a cold stare. “We had an agreement,” Erlic stated. “We’ll leave as soon as I’m sure the others are all right.” The Sheikh backed off a bit, only to be replaced by his own guard. Erlic moved away while waiting for Valhorek to finish with the others.

After a brief exploration of the laboratory, nothing of value was found, and so it was agreed to return to the chests, to gather more valuables since they would be returning to the tower after this. As they passed through the bedroom, Erlic stopped and pulled out various tomes he had spotted, placed them in a large sack, and carried them.

When they arrived at the treasure room, the group took more valuable, at least as much as they could carry, and were surprised to see another opening that hadn’t been in the room earlier. The door was open, and when they passed through it, they were surprised to find themselves in a foyer of sorts. Ahead of them stood another open door, and when they passed through that, they found themselves outside, and nowhere near the temple they had originally entered through. As they looked behind, they were surprised to see it was some vacant building they had come out of. The group didn’t bother trying to figure out why, or how, but simply started the trek toward the tower.

Eventually they managed to return to the tower with no other problems. Once there, they joined the others sitting at the table.

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