The Unforgiven (Phoenix City Chronicles)

Watching as everyone went into a fighting stance, a little dissapointed that they were goin to ruin the spa area he was relaxing in moments before,

'Well i finally get to do a little battle, and not just recon now... so i should be happy, but we are goin to thrash this place, and just as i was relaxing too...'

Looking over to Knuckles as he readies himself,
"Well man, guess everyone decided to put a quick end to this place... so lets hurry and be done."


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Cerys Rolls Swiftness

10 Swiftness + 4 Speed Demon + 18 Roll = 32

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Cerys Activates Animate Shadow

The member 'Cerys' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 18

"I agree whole heartedly my feline friend!" she says and lunges for the blond temptress. a look of confusion flashes across her features mid-swing and she attampts to halt her attack, failing with the blow she was already commited to. "Whos is the child?" she asks Cecielia

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Kaylea Attacks with Wand 1
Total 27 = 8 Roll + 8 Attack + 3 Short Sword + 4 Fighter + 4 Spell Sword
Kaylea holds all further attacks for responce to hostile actions.
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The member 'Kaylea' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 8

"C-child??," Tal stuttered, too stunned to attack.

Cecielia stumbled back with a cry, clutching a heavy gash across her chest, her entire attitude changing at Kaylea's words, her arm wrapped protectively around her stomach, "H-how did you know?" she stuttered in shock.

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Cecielia Defends against Wand 1-
Defense 2 + Roll 7 = 9 (-18 HP; 26/44 HP)

The member 'Cecielia' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 7

Cellus blinked in surprise, her angry demeanor dropping instantly replaced with a look of concern, "Child?!" she cried, stepping towards the woman who just moments ago she was ready to kill, now with the wish to heal.

"Careful, Cellus," Knuckles kept his eyes fixed on the girl, "Mother or not, she's one of the flunkies of that big guy who killed me and Tal without even trying."

Cerys, standing beside himself... literally, was unsure about the prediciment they were in at the moment, but he agrees with Knuckles on this one,

Looming over Cellus who was down near Cecielia, with his shadows at either side preparing for anything that would happen,

"If you make one move that shows anything but giving up, youll be defeated here and now. Will you comply and end your agression, there are other ways to end this."

Awaiting the answer he holds his hands at his side with the claws gleeming in the ambient light of the room.

"Cerys, calm down." she says with a hint of venom in her voice still not takeing her eyes away from the blond "I don't know how I know, I just do. And with the information that my love just gave me I should kill you where you stand. But that..." she points to the womans cradled stomouch "offers you the chance to redeem yourself." she says and relaxs her stance slightly

Cecielia glared daggers at the group, the anger in her eyes not conveyed in her body language, "If you want to kill me, go ahead, if you wish the blood an innocent to be on your head," she snarled.

Cellus blanched at the negative response that came from around her, squirming visibly from the internal debate, "Friend or foe, the child within her did nothing wrong, and until she has born the child to term, we cannot harm her," she murmured.

"Fine, then let's knock her the hell out so she can't bite us in the ass later," Knuckles crossed his arms.



"Perhaps, so brute a force, needed is not," Tal suggested, "Has anyone a way to disable the vixen without harming her directly?"

Guesturing to his shadows, as they said for immobilization, they moved to the sides of her each one grabbing an arm and holding tightly,

"Well this should do for a means of restraint."

"For now, but how long are you planing on standing here with her." she sighs "But right now I doubt shes going to try and stab us in the back, hers isn't the only life she has to worry about right now remember." she says as she shethes her blades and realigns herself with the standard timestream

"The red head is right," Cecielia snarled, struggling against the shadows, "I have no choice but to protect my child..." she murmured looking down.

"Needless to say, growing short our time is," Tal asserted with both confidence and caution, keeping a watchful gaze fixed on Cecielia in case she should attempt anything, "Hurry out of this place, we must!"



"I thought I heard a noise," Zeaken walked back in, dragging a disabled skeleton in Margaret's robe behind him, "Looks like you guys cleaned up nicely on your own."



"Bout time ya got here," Knuckles grinned, "We were just decidin' what to do with Jacen's wicked witch."

"So I heard," Zeaken nodded, "And I'm glad I got here when I did. As you've probably figured out by now, this wasn't the half-way point. Not even close. The guy in charge of this whole operation is pretty impressed with the way y'all have handled yourselves so far. Too impressed. He's sending us to the big man himself on our next battle..."

"Aulbaid the Unforgiven," he cringed, as if the name itself was taboo.

"So who's that?," Knuckles asked innocently.

"The only criminal in Hell kept here for the sheer danger he presents to the living," the khamele narrowed his eyes.



"The story goes that Aulbaid was the fiercest warrior to ever be born in Meido," Zeaken related the tale, "He was such a terrible fighter that his mere battlecry would freeze his enemies in place, and at the moment that fear seized their hearts, he would rush into battle, cutting down foe after foe in a blood dance until, at length, he danced alone again..."

"What became of this warrior?," Tal inquired.

"He eventually grew so powerful that no man could stand against him," the captain continued, "But power is a double-edged sword, and the flames of his own bloodlust consumed his body, damning him to Hell. There he has waited, at the top of this tower, for a worthy challenge. Waited for over three-hundred years..."

Cellus squirmed uneasily, "I don't like the sounds of him..." she said, a nervous look in her eyes as she tried to tie her dress back together so that it covered the neccessary parts.

"And when you're fighting the man upstairs, what do you plan to do with me?" Cecielia snarled, a bit of her former venom returning as she leaned towards her captors.

"You I'm not to horibly worried about you right now, Blondie." she said off handedly "As for the guy upstairs, we've proven so far that if we work as a team, we're a force to be reckoned with."

"Right!," Knuckles grinned, his usual cockiness returning, "He may be strongest in Hell, but we got through Hell t' get here, so I say bring the bastard on!"



Quickly covering Cellus with his own gi, Tal nodded slowly, "Hai."



As a beam of light trailed down, leading to the next level, Zeaken turned to face it, then looked back, "Well guys, it's time to put our money where our mouth is."

Cellus smiled thankfully up at Tal, "This seems to be becoming a pattern," she whispered to him before turning back to the group at large, "I hope we're ready for this..." she said nervously. She was silent for a moment as a determined looking came to her face, "But I'll be here to make sure no one gets hurt."

"Of course we are." she says confidantly, griping her 'sisters' shoulder "We can handle this guy!"

'...I hope...' flits through her mind as they step into the beam.

The next level of the dungeon was a labyrinth of columns not unlike a very open maze with impenetrable walls of darkness just beyond the emerald, glowing columns, the bizarre stone that made them up seeming to shift into silent, screaming faces all around.

Somewhere in the darkness, an unearthly sound like the hybrid of a bird of prey with a engine whirring to life echoed with tremendous volume.

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Everyone must defend against Kiai Shout (combined with Enhance Weapons)
~ 5 + Attack 14 + Samurai 4 + Enhance Weapons 4 = 27 total (must match/beat or lose turn, paralyzed with fear)

Knuckles defends against Kiai Shout
~ 17 + Defense 10 + Light Armor 2 + Reinforced Vest 1 + Toughen Shield 2 = 32 total (Success!)

Tal defends against Kiai Shout
~ 13 + Defense 4 + Sixth Sense 9 = 26 total (failed)

Zeaken defends against Kiai Shout
~ 19 + Defense 6 + Reinforced Vest 1 + Toughen Shield 1 + Sixth Sense 3 = 30 total (Success!)
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