Free-Form Fantasy

Noname · **Reply #780 on:** March 17, 2010, 01:39:53 AM

Alima looked nervous, and she scratched one of her clawed toes on the ground. She had a plan, but was not sure exactly how to proceed.

"Well, I... um... I was thinking we could trick him. I mean, why fight him when you can just mess up his metal... thing. Yeah. You could figure out a way to pour that green stuff into his tube and have it hurt him somehow. He said it was really, really dangerous, right?"

As a kobold, Alima was no stranger to using tricks, ambushes, and dirty fighting to compensate for her lack of size and strength.

Serris · **Reply #781 on:** March 17, 2010, 01:54:10 AM

The Strutho thought a moment. "Banefire reacts explosively with many metals. To top it off, it rapidly corrodes metals that don't explode on contact with it. Only glass, ceramic, Adamantine and Electrum are capable of holding it. Darksteel and 'eka-Adamantine' resist its corrosive effects and do not explode on contact but they are not immune to it. Give it enough time and it will eat through containers made of those two metals," he said.

"How do you know about banefire and its effects on metals?" the Human assistant asked the Strutho.

The Strutho chuckled. "Metals and their properties are a specialty of mine. Many Struthos, myself included, are skilled metallurgists," he said.

Torvin grinned. "So if we transfer some banefire into a Darksteel container, seal that container shut, place it inside another container containing steel shavings, we essentially have a bomb!" he said. "Now the only problem is sealing that inside the tube," he added.

Noname · **Reply #782 on:** March 17, 2010, 04:17:06 AM

Cassia had an idea "Can't the tube BE the bomb? Maybe it can be made so that it doesn't explode when the necromancer returns to take it, but that it blows up when he tries to use it? Or at least explodes in a few hours after he leaves with it, when he is away from here. Preferably far, FAR away from here."

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #783 on:** March 17, 2010, 10:08:09 PM

"Well, if you consider it one day," Shiana said, "Willowrock will be the place you should visit. It's where the Knights of the Cloak have their headquarters."

"We were meaning to leave for Willowrock by ferry earlier today," Youri added. "And then, of course, all of this happened."

"And we might have to wait another day before the next ferry leaves for home," Halo finished.

Noname · **Reply #784 on:** March 17, 2010, 10:11:31 PM

Selene looked at them, and wondered about the world beyond the borders of her own lands.

"What is it like in Willowrock? Is it colder than Minbenthac? Does it rain more than once a year? How about snow? I've heard of it. What's it like?"

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #785 on:** March 17, 2010, 11:10:01 PM

The trio looked at each other, until Shiana decided to answer all her questions. "Well, it's a nice large town. Not as big as here, but plenty of life to it. It's in no desert, but has rolling plains to the north and woods to the east and south. It can become quite cool, and I think it gets snow about one week the entire year."

"Perhaps we can talk about Willowrock more when we leave these catacombs in the least," Youri replied.

Serris · **Reply #786 on:** March 17, 2010, 11:52:43 PM

"Strutho, what metals can react explosively with certain magical reagents?" Torvin asked.

"Saphirum for one - then again, that reacts explosively with water. Ironically, Mirrodin is another. Pure orichalc is another one," the Strutho replied.

Torvin grinned. "I think I've got it now," he said. "Make the tube normally, but add a layer of orichalc inside the tube."

Noname · **Reply #787 on:** March 18, 2010, 12:00:02 AM

"We've got to stop him with that explosion. If he survives, that necromancer could easily return here with a horde of undead and... well, we should make sure to kill him. That banefire sounds pretty deadly. Let's see how he likes some of his OWN medicine!" Cassia loved ironic justice.

"Excuse me. Uh... I don't know if we've thought of it or not, but, is there any way a necromancer could tell if his own potion is in the tube?" Alima thought of it, but she had no idea how that sort of magic worked.

Serris · **Reply #788 on:** March 18, 2010, 12:04:31 AM

"Remember that I mentioned that banefire reacts explosively with many metals?" the Strutho said to Cassia.

Torvin nodded. "I don't want to pour banefire on my weapon. It could cause an explosion that could easily kill us," he said. He then turned to the Strutho. "I need you to find the metal that reacts the most violently with common magical reagents," he said.

The Strutho nodded and began thinking.

Noname · **Reply #789 on:** March 18, 2010, 12:29:16 AM

"So you think it will work? Are necromancers immune to their own banefire?" Alima was curious about it.

"Unlikely. I've seen banefire torches before, lit on pieces of wood that had been magically treated to resist the corrosive effects of the fire. I was on an adventure before when some banefire touched a necromancer, and he not only burned, he decayed" Cassia said this last part with a stronger emphasis than either Torvin or Alima had ever heard from her before.

Serris · **Reply #790 on:** March 18, 2010, 12:40:56 AM

"Saphrium is definitely one of the most reactive metals I know," the Strutho said. "In fact, the main use for it is in bombs. And banefire-mirrodin explosions are extremely deadly as the Mirrodin pieces expelled from the explosion have the same properties as pure banefire," he added.

"That's it!" Torvin said. "Ee can make a banefire-mirrodin bomb and seal it inside the tube!"

Noname · **Reply #791 on:** March 18, 2010, 12:50:25 AM

"If you can find some way to put it in the tube without him noticing it, that might work" Cassia told the others, shifting her weight from hoof to hoof. "We don't want it going off before he uses it, though. The trick is for the tube to explode as he's using it."

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #792 on:** March 22, 2010, 09:14:15 PM

Youri had returned to where Silverfang & Ophion were still examining the body of the former bloodmage. "I wonder what he had planned to do if he had left here not as himself but as a powerful but dim-witted magical creature..." he pondered. "He obviously wasn't able to cast spells in this form."

Noname · **Reply #793 on:** March 22, 2010, 10:13:17 PM

Ophion looked at Youri and the rest, and sighed. He had seen mages to terrible things to themselves before.

"Sometimes, magic doesn't work as well as the mage thinks it will. I'm sure that whatever this blood mage did looked good on paper, or at least looked good in his head, but when it actually happened, his plans went... well, you can see the results. I'm sure he didn't plan on this happening. It's probably a good thing that he lost his mind when he turned into that monster. Had he been able to cast spells as well, we might not have been able to beat him." Ophion knew that certain kinds of magic were best not to practice. How many promising wizards were tempted by the lure of power? How many lives were lost? It was sad, but it was common, especially as of late. While most mages never did something so stupid, the minority which did was increasingly active.

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #794 on:** March 22, 2010, 10:36:57 PM

Youri stared down at the body, then turned away. "Well, that's one whole cabal of corrupted wizards destroyed," he said.

"And maybe we can have this room sealed from being used by any more groups like them," Halo added as he joined them. "Or at least until these catacombs can be blessed by a clergy."

"And that is one thing we won't be needed to do..."

Noname · **Reply #795 on:** March 22, 2010, 11:10:16 PM

Silverfang looked at the mess, and wished for a moment that these catacombs could be closed.

"Sadly, these tunnels of death are still in use. Unless Dracons stop dying, we will always have a need to put the dead, and frankly, that is never going to happen. The best I can do is to petition the king to place stronger anti-undead wards on the catacombs, and station guards at the entrances. These catacombs are as much a liability as an asset in this city."

Serris · **Reply #796 on:** March 23, 2010, 12:29:44 AM

"Coat the inside of the tube with Saphirum. Once any common magical reagent contacts it, it will explode," the Strutho said. "Now, the more important question, do you have Saphirum?"

Torvin shook his head. "I do not keep explosive metals around. Any other reactive metals?" he asked"

"Stygium is also fairly reactive. It's main use is in magical alloys for combining spells. It loses its reactivity if alloyed with Darksteel."

"What if I alloy it with Mirrodin?"

"Torvin, don't; you'll end up with a liquid metal that bursts into flame if it touches air."

Noname · **Reply #797 on:** March 23, 2010, 12:33:56 AM

Cassia didn't know much about metalworking, but she knew what her goals were. They needed to figure out a way to stop the necromancer. The specifics were less-than-important. What was important was that-

"We need to find a way to get this to work. How it works is less important than finding out a way to stop this guy." Cassia thought the situation over. The necromancer supported a tyrant, but may have been keeping a country free from invasion. It was not an easy moral situation.

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #798 on:** March 23, 2010, 10:16:54 PM

"Then I guess that's that," Halo replied. "Well, for us outsiders anyway."

Youri nodded. "Then that just means we only have to wait one more day before we can get a ferry back to Willowrock."

"But what about the catacomb's newest residents? We can't just let them rot or become undead so quickly."

Noname · **Reply #799 on:** March 23, 2010, 10:30:51 PM

"You are correct, Youri." Ophion replied, thinking of what to do.

"I'll call in a cleanup team from the guild upon our return. They will be able to sanitize the area, and dispose of all the... waste." Silverfang knew that one of the services offered by his guild was magical cleanup, a service which the crown contracted from them. In return for an annual payment, plus an extra cost for excessively large tasks or a number of jobs over a certain limit, the guild provided disposal of harmful magical waste after a disaster occurred.