Orphan sees the same image.
This is for adding a Search Category to the thread.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orphan sees the same image.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orphan tries to return Ankh's smile, but the effort is pretty feeble.
"If we were going to go with the choking, pleasant would be the way to go, but I don't think it'll work. I did a Divination and asked whether the resurrection gambit would get rid of the spiders, and all I got was an image of tens of thousands of legs pushing and swiming around in my innards. I saw the same when I asked if Self-Purging or something like that would do the trick. I'm going to take those visions as a no."
Orphan frowns. "I've been getting weird feelings... liking the pain of scouring for mana. Not usually my thing, so I think that's these things messing with me. If we're going to fix this, I think we need to do it quick, before I'm not me any more. All I can think of is, maybe a really strong Sense Life will let you sense these these things, then maybe you or Animus could use a Control Life power on them. Or maybe some Prime thing would affect stuff from the Abyss?"
"If we can't... well, maybe it would be better for you to put me down and leave me that way. Having what happened to Bev happen to me would suck, but I'm more worried about ending up like Tug. He had crawly stuff on him, too, and in the state you and Animus are in, I could be a real danger to you, and to Bev."
That idea frankly terrified Orphan. He sincerely hoped what he had encountered was just something else using Tug's body, his mind gone.... but whether or not that was true, he did not want to end up being a weapon of the Abyss. A clean death would be far better for him, and safer for the others.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Animus considers for a moment. "I've had Sense Life up since this morning; maybe if I try to focus on the spiders, I can pick them out. But Control Life would never do the trick; just trying to hit that many targets would cripple the spell. I think Banish Plague is the more likely answer, but probably not one that you'll like. We'd need to build the spell's effectiveness over time, almost certainly enough time for the infection to run its course. Which means you'll have to be restrained for the duration, and preferably unconscious, at least as long as feasible. It's still a big risk, but if it means we on't have to kill you ..." He trails off, as he shifts his focus on life forms, trying to pick out the taint of the abyss within Orphan's body.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Animus feels a wave of nausea hit him, leaving him with a foul, sticky taste in his mouth and the sensation of prickles all over his skin. Despite the distraction, he can sense a mass of inky blackness moving up Orphan's leg, just cresting the knee region.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Animus turns to Ankh, fighting back a wave of nausea. "Sense Life works if you focus on them, but it's ... unpleasant. So far, they're up to his knee."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Do what you need to do to get rid of them," Orphan says. "If you can avoid amputating the leg, I'd prefer that, but if not, do it if that's the best bet. They're very tiny, though...perhaps the Life spells would treat them as a swarm, making them easier to control than a thousand individual critters?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beverely frowns. "Do we even have anything that could work as a cutting tool..? We're hardly in ideal conditions here, can't either of you.. -create- something that can hunt them, like, oh, some sort of magical bacteria?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"If it comes to it, we have my katana," Orphan says, about as matter-of-factly as one can imagine talking about cutting off one's own leg with a sword.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ankh shakes her head, not making any further move toward Orphan. "neither of those ideas will work. We are dealing with Abyssal creatures here. Our Life will not affect them. Taking your leg will not affect them either."
She doesn't want to say this, but she is pretty sure Orphan is going to end up like Beverly. The best option for them is to leave Orphan and Bev here and try to continue to the portal. The thought of leaving the other two behind causes a hard knot to form in Ankh's stomach, but she cannot see any way around it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Taking my leg won't kill them, but if they are only up to my knee, taking it will hopefully keep them from infesting me enough to destroy my connection to the Supernal," he says. He looks to Animus. "If Life reveals them, it should be able to affect them some way, right? Any ideas you want to try, I'm open to them. Anything I can do to help, I will."
Draft this Post
