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File: 1607486417477.png (4.97 MB, 2710x2125, The Choristers -- Tartarus….png)

 No.750229[View All]

>Last time, on HolyQuest…

>Amy, Cloak, Pryce

Salt maintains her steady and judgmental glare, even as you respond. "Finally… it seems that you get it. In the end, one Will shall prevail above the others; it is those who do not conquer, who shall be subsumed. Know that all those who enter Tartarus must understand this. And if they do not, then rest assured that they will."

Ignoring Amy's other question, Salt nods. "See to it that you pass along my question to those other members of your small army. Not for my satisfaction, but for their hope of survival."

Like Sulfur before her, Salt is engulfed in a small and dense cloud of gaseous salt, and then vanishes.

>Shei
Gadds slowly turns his head your way as you make more suggestions. "…How about we take the 'expected' way down."
"Yeah," Busta says. "The Sons of God would have probably taken extra care to put up obstacles against demons that could just phase through walls and bypass all their more conventional traps and impediments. Whatever those things were, they won't be the last ones we face if we try that again."

>Flaming
Volkama jots down the entry onto his map, but then taps your head with his pen. As Spark gnaws on his hoof, he speaks. "Erm, young miss goddess, can't you simply bypass this lock with your dominion over physicality?"
"Or, failing that, bash it open, as your usual modus operandi," Deriva adds.
972 posts and 10 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.756919

>>756918
"I-it wasn't!?" Shei stammers, not expecting that response. He feels reduced as a man

 No.756920

>>756917
[Qliphoth was used invalidly. Assume rp actions occurred delayed to when Qliphoth is used validly.]

Substituting Qliphoth for a Control roll

Shei's witching lantern hums, as he assigns control of Amy's nailbeast.
>CONTROL+1: Spell, attempts to take control of a hostile or neutral undead. More powerful undead may require a higher minimum roll. Also used to take control of a larger undead at recharge 2.
[1d10+2]

Roll #1 6 + 2 = 8

 No.756921

>>756919

"How would killing a dying animal be as sexy as deepthroating something!?"

 No.756922

>>756921
"I- I thought I possessed a general sex appeal now that I am a musician!" Shei confides bewildered by this realization "That must count for something!?"

 No.756923

>>756913
You dive-tackle the crowd of hounds, sending dozens flying in a great eruption of darkness and pained whining.

>>756914
None other appear, but every few seconds, the earth around you trembles and shudders; distant explosions, eruptions, and rumblings can be felt from far off. River nods, producing the metal cube. She twists it, and a small light shoots from one of the square's faces, becoming a square portal entrance to a vast white space. Breathlessly, River leaps in, pulling you with her.

>>756920
Succeeds

>>756915
The Nail Beast sinks deeper into the darkness…
>NB 0/2

You analyze a Hound, seeing that its soul is but a fragment, a small thing, as are the countless others surrounding it– and there's some rapidly-growing soul-mass deep below you, expanding each time a Hound perishes in combat…

Kerberos HP: 8500
Psychic HP: 4184
DC-to-Hit: 8
DC-to-Persuade: 12
Weak: None
Resist: Slash, Blunt, Pierce, Magic, Mind
Null: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Salt
Absorb: Light, Magatsuhi
Repel: Dark

You learn of these skills…
>Darkness Spew (Std.) (Inflicts Blind)
>Shadow Realm Drag (Std., Auto)
>Poison Drool (Std.) (Inflicts Concentrated Poison)
You sense also that more skills lie beneath the surface…

>>756915
>>756913
>>756916
>>756917
>>756916
The chains surrounding the Hounds all shatter, as waves of darkness, toxin and smoke spew over you, but a great vibration rises from Shei, shielding you from what was bound to be a catastrophic level of damage. Amy and Cloak annihilate row after row of Hounds with holy flame and blessed bullets, but the bullets don't seem to be as efficacious as the holy flame…

The Hounds back away, and just as they did before, they start to disappear into the darkness below, melting into black puddles. Before the last one can, Flow hops onto it, and after it bucks a few times, he forces its nose downward, and the hound dives into the darkness, carrying Flow along with it!

A sudden anxiety prickles the air…

[5d10+3] Assassinate

Roll #1 4, 4, 9, 1, 9 + 3 = 30

 No.756924

>>756923
Shorthorns grins as she sends a small crowd of them flying in every direction, looking at the small but sizable dent they've done thus far in Kerberos' mass. "Keep at it!" She shouts as the chains shatter, trying to keep everyone's spirits up as Amy and Cloak mow through row after row. "We're getting through them!"

However, as the dogs disappears, and the black puddle forms, a sense of dread builds along Shorthorns' spines, prickling up the hair on her head as she watches Flow sink into the darkness after it. Laying her faith in him knowing what she's doing, Shorthorns tries to think of what Kerberos could be thinking next, simply prepares her body for the worst as white light rises to protect her.

>Prayer for Salvation: Automatic; Recharge 2; The target's next recovery from Helplessness will be an Automatic Instant action, and the target will get +1 to all future attempts to get up until the end of combat.
"What are you trying at now…" she asks aloud, expecting no real answer.

 No.756925

>>756923
Burning through his stamina, Cloak sends out another wave of purple-tinged holy light to prevent 3 of the Hounds from hiding in the darkness, glowing far brighter as he speaks with conviction towards the Hounds.

"Slink away into shadows all you desire, but the holy light of Hypomone will do away with any darkness you might try to hide within! You cannot hide from the possibility of loss, you must have faith in your allies to persevere despite all odds!"

He first applies a prayer to himself though.
>I Dream of Strength: Instant; Recharge 1; Enhances the target's combat abilities until the end of combat. Every attack they land will do 1 extra hit of damage. Every attack made against them will do 1 less hit of damage, to a minimum of 1. This effect stacks with itself to a maximum of 3 successes
[1d10+1] Cloak

>Phantasmagoria of Conquest: 3 times per Combat; Automatic; Sacrifice X hits to deal 4X damage and inflict a status condition (chosen when you learn this skill) on up to 3 targets.
Sacrificing 17 hits, dealing 68 Psychic Damage (I forget how the weakness multipliers work so not accounted for) to 3 hounds (204 total), the ones that rolled 9, 9, and one that rolled 4.
They are also afflicted with Delayed
>Delayed; The results of any roll made by those affected by Delayed take place a turn after they would normally. Rolls to dodge or interrupt may be made at any point between this time.
18-17= 1 hit remaining

Roll #1 3 + 1 = 4

 No.756926

>>756923
Pryce takes a breath as they enter the Vivarium, now that they're relatively safe.
"I saw where everypony else is, but I don't have time to get them all with the distance. The kids aren't in any danger at least," Pryce explains. "I took Kerberos' ability to pull things like he did all of you, but that's not enough. We need a plan… Do you have anything that can dig, anything to travel quickly?"
He asks, trying to figure out how to work this the best way possible. He then turns, horn glowing white.
"Here. I don't plan on us separating again but we'll need as much of a connection as possible."
He says, before tapping his horn to her forehead.
>Assuming she'd accept it
>White Threads [Auto]
>Spell; Ranged; Automatic; Create a telepathic link between you and up to two other characters. This link's radius is half a mile long, and can only be blocked by magical or other supernatural effects, not physical ones. Cannot establish a link without the target knowing and accepting the link.

 No.756927

Amy looks around at the lack of anything to attack, still in her enraged, empowered state. She breathes heavily and closes her eyes.

>Vestigial Sunlight: Recharge 1; Spell; Roll to hear insight, whispers of guidance and fleeting thoughts from those who have come before you in similar situations. Roll number determines the quality of advice.
>[1d10+2]
>looking for advice on how to make Keroberos capitulate
>or just on how to survive this next attack

Then, she looks around at her allies. She quickly zooms up next to Cloak and gives him a potion. "Here you got, Pleather."

>Natural Remedy: recharge 1, ranged; Use an unpredictable tincture to fully restore a target’s hits to full and restore one wound, or removes status effects. Crit on 9+ restores 2 wounds, but crit fail on 2- deals a wound of damage.
>[1d10+4]

She then proceeds to charge up another attack for when the shit hits the fan again. All the darkness in her coat approaches her head, then she opens her mouth and balls of darkness come out.

>Homing Magic: Spell, Recharge 2 after effect ends; On success, summons a magical projectile, plus an additional one for every point you pass the roll by, to a maximum of 5 on a critical. The projectiles follow you around, and any number of them can be launched as an instant ranged-spell action, rolling separately for each.
>[1d10+3]

And just because she has more time to kill… Appraise?

>Appraise: instant; Determine the number of remaining hits and wounds on an enemy, and possibly weaknesses. More powerful enemies may be harder to Appraise. Out of combat, quickly determine value of objects, study mechanisms and documents, size up other ponies, etc.
[1d10]

"Looks like you're having a hard time if you have to resort to sneaking," Amy taunts Keroberos.

>instant action for a generic social roll
>[1d10] DC-4

Roll #1 4 + 2 = 6 / Roll #2 7 + 4 = 11 / Roll #3 1 + 3 = 4 / Roll #4 4 = 4 / Roll #5 4 = 4

 No.756928

>>756923
Activating qliphoth on Amy's nail beast

>Qliphoth: automatic, recharge 3; Sacrifice one or all of the minions under your control to heal yourself 5/5 H/W per minion sacrificed. The minion must have over 20% of it's HP to be a proper sacrifice. Can heal beyond character's Natural H/W up to a maximum of double their Wounds+2W. For Shei 13/14 H/W. This ability may require a Control roll at the DM's discretion. Can be used to heal allies and H/W gained may be distributed to up to Five allies at a time. I.e 1/1 for each of Five allies, 2/3 and 3/2 for each of Two allies, etc. This skill can heal someone from 0/0HW but requires a roll and both their soul and body are still present.

[auto] +5 max wounds for Shei new total H/W 13/11

Just as his chains are torn to bits Shei sends another volley of chains after Kerberos. Sending 6 chains after Kerberos

>Bohemian Purgatory: instant, Automatic: The chains produced by the God of Bastards and Kids are fabrications of the soul. As an Instant Auto action gabby's seal may be applied as an elemental attribute to Shei Sher's manifested switch-cane for this combat. A successful Lasso with the switch cane applies Gabby's Seal. Target's lasso'd with multiple chains receive psychic damage multiplied for each chain. Psydmgmulti (damage*Chain#) Psydmg Multiplier for Targets with resistances instead downgrades the resistance for each chain lasso'd. 1 chain brings repel to Absorb, 2 chains brings Repel down to Null. With 2 chains required to revert Resist to Neutral. And a total of 5 chains to bring Repel down to Neutral. The number of chains increased after Neutral is reached does not effect the Attribute Relationship any further, Instead the Psydmg Multiplier begins after Neutral.

>-—Drawbacks; Gabby's Seal used this way can be physically dispelled by breaking the lasso'd chain. If Control was achieved via Lasso'd Target, if all chains are broken Control effect dispells. For each chain damaged Shei-Sher takes 1/4th (rounded up) the damage inflicted onto the chain as Psychic Damage calculated after his resistance. Chains' Durability damaged can be restored with Tinker also restoring Psychic HP, for this use Spell Bleed applies to Tinker. Because Gabby's Seal applied this way applies through a successful use of lasso, Bohemian Purgatory will have difficulty affecting non-physical targets, or aqueous/gaseous targets. Any number of chains may be released at anytime as an auto action that does not consume action turns, but will forfeit the opportunity to Restore with Tinker.

>-—Durability Status: Each chain as a Durability Status. A chain has 3 Statuses after the 3rd status is breached the chain breaks off. 1st Status = pristine condition. 2nd status = damaged condition. 3rd Status = Brittle Condition. Natural Unmodified Rolls 6-7 breaks One Status. Natural rolls 8-9 break Two Statuses. And Natural 10 breaks the entire chain apart/3 Statuses. A roll of 1d10+3= 4+3=7 would not damage the chain since the natural roll is below DC6. Each time the chain(s) are damaged Shei takes 1/4th of damage inflicted onto the chain as Psychic Damage.

[Spell Bleed; passive cleave on spells]
[1d10+2] To lasso Kerberos in 6 chains.

sound and time refract against eachother as Shei continues to play his song.
>Go, Go, Go!: Once per combat; For the next 3 turns, you and all allies may take an extra action. On a natural crit, that's 2 extra actions.

[1d10+2]

Roll #1 5 + 2 = 7 / Roll #2 10 + 2 = 12

 No.756929

>>756926
River nods, and points off to the side. A Dark Corridor begins to form, but River gasps, shudders and falls to the ground. The Dark Corridor forms, but as you recall, a Dark Corridor's length is proportional to the distance it covers. This Corridor is barely more than five meters long, and you can see that its exit leads to another empty chamber.

"Agh!" River breathes. "What… why did that hurt to conjure? This has not happened before."

>>756924
>>756925
>>756926
>>756927
>>756928
Amy senses that Kerberos has, to put it bluntly, lost more than his share of sanity. Being left alone for upwards of 2,000 years, first by Princess Vinland, Sir Osmium and Lady Athena, and then, by Princess Wineberry… it may not be possible to convince him to stand down… not unless there's some guarantee that he won't be left alone again.

Shei only captures one hound with six chains… but the Hound just stops and stands there, staring you down…

Until–

Thousands of lights flash above you.
Below you.
Around you.
Every color imaginable.

"You wanted memories…? I'll give you memories!!!"

Thousands of voices call out – as the Hounds dive, leap and lunge toward you, their shadow-bodies melding to resemble ancient armor, even shifting into images of tall and powerful warriors of every race, but mostly of Mariposan ponies, with their peculiar regional features… echoes of the ancient Sons of God.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ooJx0kONak

The Hounds, shapeshifted into their former friends, unleash a pale echo of their former attacks.

[3d10+3] Love Poison
[1d10+3] Assassinate
[3d10+3] Smite
[3d10+3] Wrath
[3d10+3] Stopza
[3d10+3] Command

>Applying
>No-risk Multi-Target (Psv.) (Enables Cleaves on any skills with no ceiling and no increased critfail range)
>Cleaving each of these skills for all of you

Roll #1 2, 10, 7 + 3 = 22 / Roll #2 2 + 3 = 5 / Roll #3 7, 5, 3 + 3 = 18 / Roll #4 2, 7, 2 + 3 = 14 / Roll #5 3, 5, 1 + 3 = 12 / Roll #6 4, 10, 3 + 3 = 20

 No.756930

>>756929
Pryce catches River as she falls, horn glowing white to heal the strain the corridor caused.
"Do you Kerberos affecting it somehow?"
Pryce lifts River up, helping to carry her through the corridor, taking the Vivarium as they leave it and looking around the new chamber, sword at the ready for any hounds that might be lurking.
"If out of anything else, we'll get Zjetya with my last spell."
>Prayer for Deliverance [Instant] [River] [1d10+1]
>Prayer for Deliverance: Instant; Recharge 2; Restore the target’s Hits to full, and give them +1 extra temporary Hit until the end of combat.

Roll #1 7 + 1 = 8

 No.756931

>>756929
Shorthorns looks around in anticipation as her mind picks up on the irate voice of Tartarus' guardian, looking around as she tries to get a bead on his voice to no avail. As the shapes of the shadows emerge above them, Shorty looks up in shock, finding the visages of the former Sons of Gods they'd been learning of in legend being summoned before them. As they come down with a salvo of nostalgic attacks, Shorthorns tightens her holding, fires building all around her body as she prepares to summon a fiery shield to safeguard her friends.

"I know you're hurting, Kerberos, but there's still time for you to stop this. Let us into Tartarus, let us help you!"

>Ultimate Move: Stampede of the Inferno: Automatic. After activation, instantly create a flaming buffalo minion (ignoring minion cap) with 'Protect' equal to your Hit Total / 1 wound for each Wound lost since activation, up to a total of 3.
>Mantra of Recovery: Recharge 2 after effect ends; Instant; Cannot be used at full Hits; On use, select an enemy. Every turn, you drain two Hits from that target. This effect ends when you go helpless, or after 3 turns pass, whichever comes first.
[1d10+2] Mantra of Recovery

Roll #1 7 + 2 = 9

 No.756932

>>756929

"Your clinging to the past has weakened your conviction. I repeat myself, you must believe in your allies to persevere despite all odds. Have some FAITH, mutt!"

Leather's holy symbol imbedded in his shield pulses out a wave that passes through every ally and enemy around alike.
>Vanguard: Free, Automatic, Once per Combat: Negate all incoming damage and non-damage negative effects to allies the turn this is activated.

He lets out a boisterous laugh, picking off two dogs while standing near Shei.

>Shatter: recharge 2, weapon; Breaks the target's defenses, opening them up for attack. Any attacks against a Shattered target crit on a 8+ for two+1 rounds. Can be used against inanimate objects or armor to break and damage them efficiently.
GUN Shatter [1d10+2] DC-2, Crit DC-2, Ranged

>Reload Instant Automatic

>Second Action, standard attack
GUN [1d10+2] DC-2, Crit DC-2, Ranged

Leather then withdraws behind his allies after his boisterous convictions.
>third action, Assassinate: Recharge 4; On success, blends into a nearby crowd or suitable hiding spot. Once hidden, can take an Instant action to instantly kill one target. On a failure, your cover is blown. On a critical blending roll, the assassination autocrits. A critical assassination roll does the job so neatly nobody even realizes the target died.
Hide [1d10+2] Crit DC-1

[1d10] the resistance roll for Shei's thing

Roll #1 9 + 2 = 11 / Roll #2 5 + 2 = 7 / Roll #3 7 + 2 = 9 / Roll #4 4 = 4

 No.756933

>>756929
>turn 1/7 recharge for Animal Totem

Amy reverts back to her normal form. She breathes heavily. Then, she smiles.

"You want guarantee that we'll come back? Then, watch how powerful we are when we work together! And, watch how small we can make our enemies!"

Amy grabs one of the shapeshifted hounds and bites down on its neck.

>Princess of Hunters: Recharge 3; Spell: Permanently steal any one skill from a target, gaining it for your own use. You do not gain the target's roll bonuses along with the skill. In order for a skill to be a valid target for stealing, the user must fulfill three conditions. 1: You must know what skill you want to steal. 2: You must have seen that skill used before. 3: You must know of the target's motivations and desires.
>Name: No-risk Multi-target
>She's seeing it used right now
>Keroberos wants to stop people from going into Tartarus so that they won't leave him behind again
>[1d10+2]

>Mantra of Equality: Recharge 2; Instant; Soothes a hostile target, making them more likely to listen to what you have to say, and unable to target you next turn.
>[1d10+4] DC-4

As she bites down, her whole body launches holy fire in every direction.

>Wrath: recharge 2, spell, ranged; Damage all nearby foes with a powerful blast, ensuring they cannot attack you on the next round; renders targets helpless on 9+. On crit you can kill or incapacitate weakened/dying targets.
>[1d10+4]

The holy fire is immediately followed by a wave of poison.

>Wave of Poison: It's a Ranged Spell, targets all foes by default, deals Concentrated Poison which deals 2 wounds
>[1d10+3]

Roll #1 10 + 2 = 12 / Roll #2 1 + 4 = 5 / Roll #3 4 + 4 = 8 / Roll #4 5 + 3 = 8

 No.756934

>>756929
Shei breathes agog at the shimmering visage of warriors coming down to smite them. And he looks at the single hound of kerberos he has ensared "You're a good dog. I don't know why you have to do this."

Shei unravels the cocoon of chains ensnaring the hound and resends them at the visage of mariposan warriors coming down to smite up
>chains, spell bleed, bohemian purgatory, cleaving 6
[1d10+2] sending 6 chains


Shei tears off a seal on his chest, tearing his shirt up in the process. "And I will give you my memories in exchange!"
>Black Aria Catechism: Automatic; Shei sacrifices 5 wounds for 5 rounds of Black aria Catechism

>mechanics —Dhyana/Qi Overload: Status Effect; Make a Resistance Roll to respond harmoniously with the surging Dhyana/QI. This roll does not benefit from any bonuses. You must roll this Resistance Check every round D/Q Overload is active. With each success the DC for your next resistance check is lowered by -1 DC up to a maximum of DC3 and heals 5 Psychic HP. For every round D/Q Overload is active the DC to score a natural crit is lowered by 1 regardless of succeeding or failing the resistance check. Upon Resistance Check Failure your flesh becomes brittle your aura becomes glass dust. The DC to critically hit you is decreased by 1 regardless. If you have >Ndindisholo the first failure only deactivates >Ndindisholo if you want to benefit from it, write that you're standing beside Shei. If you don't want to benefit from it then stay away from shei.

[auto] 5 wounds sacrificed for 5 rounds. allies within close range of Shei are affected

As Shei-Sher capes flows wide open, so too vines and many foilage rise out of it along with his chains toward the mariposan heroes.

>Phantasmagoria of Conquest: 3 times per Combat; Automatic; Sacrifice X hits to deal 4X damage and inflict a status condition on up to 3 targets.
Sends a hot, white wind of energy around the vicinity and wrapping its targets. The wind plants a Vampiric Garden in the area, flowers, fungi, grasses, and herbs grow from the afflicted target's skin applying +1DC to all rolls for 3 turns. The Vampiric Garden affecting a target can be healed to prolong its effect another turn and raise the DC another point for a maximum of +3DC. The afflicted opponent cannot be healed without healing the Vampiric Garden, but not Vice-Versa. The Vampiric Garden can be destroyed or preemptively counteracted by a successful roll with fire, electricity, or pestilence. For this reason the effect cannot be applied to molten, or non-physical creatures. Reusing the skill on afflicted targets renews status duration and adds a point of Dice Challenge.

[auto: sacrificing 1 hit for 4 damage and raising enemy's dc to hit us by 1 for 3 turns; can be refreshed]

>Light.IV Dark.III
[1d10+2] To enchant all shei's attacks with psychic element.

Roll #1 3 + 2 = 5 / Roll #2 2 + 2 = 4

 No.756935

>>756930
River shakes her head. "It's… hard to describe, but I don't quite think it's Kerberos. I tried to get us out of his chamber. You'd think he'd want that… No, what if it's our proximity to Tartarus itself?"

As you enter the next chamber, the rumbling suddenly spikes in severity… you're close to the battle– too close! A great chunk of earth falls from above, threatening to squish the both of you!

>Roll dodge, DC 8

[1d10+3] River dodge

>>756932
>>756931
>>756934
>>756933
"And what was I supposed to do!? Just run away and let you mortals open Tartarus again? You'll really doom your worthless race if you do that! Or maybe… is that what you want!? You talk about power… then show me power! You've withstood so much… I can't even put a dent in you… but how long can you keep this up!? Why don't we find out? Hahahaha… hahahahaha!"

[3d10+3] Despair
[3d10+3] Chaos
[3d10+3] Cursed Seal
[3d10+3] Brand
[3d10+3] Word of Power
[3d10+3] Enfeeble

The innumerable hounds of Kerberos continue their attacks, heedless of how many of them fall to Cloak's and Amy's onslaughts, even when Amy steals away his ability to drag others into the darkness.

>Applying
>No-risk Multi-Target (Psv.) (Enables Cleaves on any skills with no ceiling and no increased critfail range)
>Cleaving each of these skills for all of you, except for Amy and Cloak

Roll #1 9 + 3 = 12 / Roll #2 2, 2, 6 + 3 = 13 / Roll #3 5, 8, 3 + 3 = 19 / Roll #4 8, 4, 3 + 3 = 18 / Roll #5 10, 6, 6 + 3 = 25 / Roll #6 3, 9, 5 + 3 = 20 /

 No.756936

>>756935
Enfeeble roll (cut off by MLPG's dice bot limits)
[3d10+3]

Roll #1 7, 6, 6 + 3 = 22

 No.756937

>>756935
"With how the labyrinth was warping around us, it might be having an effect it too."
Pryce steadies himself and River as the ground starts to shake. When the earth above them falls, Pryce instinctively holds his sword up, releasing the stolen spell to sink it away into the shadows.
Exhaling, Pryce holds out the Vivarium, twisting it to open its door.
"Get in. If this place is falling apart, we'll need to get the others out quick. I don't know how well this will work, but seeing the chambers might help with the corridor."

>Shadow Realm Dra[Auto] [On Rock]

 No.756938

>>756935
Shorthorns growls as her infernal doppelganger emerges, ready to take damage for her friends as she prepares for the new oncoming assault after CLoak's holy symbol protected them from the previous barrage. Her own body glows with a renewed flame, preparing to take on any pain that Kerberos is willing to dish out as she shouts back,

"We'll keep it up until we win! We're not entering Tartarus to die, we're entering it to save everyone! That we've held on this long against you isn't proof enough of our strength, of our resolve? Who was the last one to confront you who held on this long?" She asks, still trying to break through to the anguished guardian dog

[1d10+2] Retribution of the Dragon: Spell, Recharge 4 after effect triggers; After three turns, for every attack that has hit Flaming, combine the total amount of damage dealt by each enemy's attack. This total is released towards a single enemy, or split evenly between multiple foes. (IE, 10 hits to 1 enemy, or 2 hits to 5). Critfails don’t count toward the charge of this spell.

>Inferno Buffalo (18/1) uses Protect to safeguard Shei

Roll #1 4 + 2 = 6

 No.756939

>>756935

Resistance Dyana/Qi Overload
[1d10] free action

>chains, spell bleed, bohemian purgatory, cleaving 6
[1d10] sending 6 chains

>Background Music: instant, stackable; the entire party gains +1 to all rolls for 2 turns, this effect is stackable for a maximum of +2; upon critical failure cancels all stacks of the effect, this skill cannot critically succeed. Effect duration of each stack refreshes after a successful use.

[1d10]

>Light.IV Dark.III
[1d10] To enchant all shei's attacks with psychic element.

>Can I Borrow This?: Instant; Recharge 3(minus 1); Ranged; On success, you steal 1 of the target's chances to act next turn, completely stunning them if they can only take 1 action per turn. Next turn, you can use this stolen action in addition to your normal ones.

[1d10]

Shei stands within roaring vortex of magasuchi, within a glistening ether of dhyana and qi at it's center. He stand within the eye of the storm. Along with who ever shares the space with him.

Roll #1 6 = 6 / Roll #2 3 = 3 / Roll #3 3 = 3 / Roll #4 2 = 2 / Roll #5 5 = 5

 No.756940

>>756935

"You wouldn't be holding off the demons along. The plan was always for some of us to stay and hold off the demons with you. And, then we'll come back for you all."

"We always come back for each other. If you want proof of that, just watch…"

>Shadow Drag to pull the Ecclesians out of their Shadow Realm
>Automatic

"And, I'll make sure you can't hurt us!"

>Commandment of Balance: Twice per combat; Automatic; Brings up all Helpless allies, cures all status conditions on the party, and restores full hits and 3 Wounds to each.
>Automatic

She also observes Keroberos some more.

Appraise: instant; Determine the number of remaining hits and wounds on an enemy, and possibly weaknesses. More powerful enemies may be harder to Appraise. Out of combat, quickly determine value of objects, study mechanisms and documents, size up other ponies, etc.
>[1d10]

>generic social instant roll
>[1d10]

Roll #1 10 = 10 / Roll #2 7 = 7

 No.756941

>>756935
A deafening shot rings out as a bullet flies at the one successful Despair dog.
>Instant PSYCHIC instakill shot
[1d10+2] CritDC-2

Emerging back from stealth, Leather Casts out more purple-tinged holy light towards the two chaos doggos and the crit Enfeeble puppy.
>Phantasmagoria of Conquest: 3 times per Combat; Automatic; Sacrifice X hits to deal 4X damage and inflict a status condition (chosen when you learn this skill) on up to 3 targets.
Sacrificing 8 hits, dealing 32 Psychic Damage (I forget how the weakness multipliers work so not accounted for) to aforementioned hounds, for a total of 96 psychic damage.

They are also afflicted with Delayed
>Delayed; The results of any roll made by those affected by Delayed take place a turn after they would normally. Rolls to dodge or interrupt may be made at any point between this time.
28-8= 20 hits remaining

He then prays for his own safety, holding faith in his ability to persevere.

>Retaliate: recharge 3 after effect triggers; After three+1 turns, you deal out damage for every hit you lost during those three+1 turns. Going Helpless before the end of the three+1 turns causes the effect to release instantly. Critfails don’t count toward the charge of this spell.
[1d10]

>Anastasis and Apricity: Once per combat; DC 5; Cast on a target. When the target of this effect is reduced to 0 Wounds, they are restored to 2 Wounds and are immune to damage for a single turn. Whoever reduced the target to 0 Wounds must make a saving throw or suffer 20 points of Holy damage. If they are an ally, the throw is DC 4 and 5 damage on failure.
[1d10] self, DC5

Roll #1 10 + 2 = 12 / Roll #2 2 = 2 / Roll #3 4 = 4

 No.756942

>>756937
River nods, ducking back into the Vivarium's blank white space with relief. Breathing deeply and steeling herself, she tries again to make a Dark Corridor, only to nearly collapse, as the Corridor shudders to life. Beyond it, you can see the faintest glimpse of your allies… a spike of dread shoots through you as you sense something disastrous approaching…

>>756938
>>756939
>>756940
>>756941
In an instant, Kerberos's strategy becomes clear – all but Amy and Cloak are filled with despair, then turned undead, Branded with antimagic, and sealed by Words of Power… and then, each of them erupts, exploding into blood and gore, from a spell that an old companion of yours once wielded – Corpse Explosion.

Only, just as death draws near… Amy intervenes, healing the lot of them, bones and guts and brains and all, saving them from sure death.

Kerberos, at this point, just stops, as Amy appraises him once more, leaning now of his skills' names.

>Darkness Spew (Std.) (Inflicts Blind)
>Shadow Realm Drag (Std., Auto)
>Poison Drool (Std.) (Inflicts Concentrated Poison)
>Claw Slash (Std.) (Inflicts Paralysis)
>Soul Split/Merge (Std.)
>All Lordblade Skills
>ATK Support 3 (Psv.) (Increases damage dealt)
>DEF Support 3 (Psv.) (Reduces damage taken)
>Dark (Psv.) (Attribute)
>Poison (Psv.) (Attribute)
>Smoke (Psv.) (Attribute)
>No-risk Multi-Target (Psv.) (Enables Cleaves on any skills with no ceiling and no increased critfail range)

And she learns now of one more…

>How it Ends

>Kerberos HP: 5000
>Psychic HP: 2500

Kerberos simply stops, only a few of his heads turning as he looks at the Ecclesians.

They too appear to be doing quite well. The worst they have are cuts and scratches. Sir Gegenschein appears to be the worst hurt of all, bearing mere scrapes and some missing or bent feathers here and there.

"You're… monsters,"

is all that Kerberos can say.

"I… killed you. And you just came back."

"Oh, he killed you too?" Gegenschein laughs. "Clearly he didn't do it enough times."
"Did you want them dead!?" Fox exclaims.
Gegenschein laughs some more.

Kerberos blinks in disbelief, then stares at Amy.

"…Thief… you stole even from Death itself."

 No.756943

>>756942

Amy smiles and wags her tail. "That's what you get for playing rough!"

"Actually, I kinda wanted to steal from you one more time. Would you mind if I nibbled on you just one more time? Pretty please? I promise we can have a nice dinner right after!"

>Mantra of Equality: Recharge 2; Instant; Soothes a hostile target, making them more likely to listen to what you have to say, and unable to target you next turn.
>[1d10+4] DC-4

Roll #1 7 + 4 = 11

 No.756944

>>756942
Pryce looks on in horror through the Corridor as he sees Kerberos' attack wipe out all of his friends that remained above, feeling his heart and soul sink before Amy's magic interrupts it at the very brink of despair.
He steel's his nerves, looking into the Vivarium as River stands uneasy from the corridor.
"Just hold still. Rest now."
Pryce closes the door to the Vivarium, remaining outside as he opens a door to subspace and dives down to where he saw Zjetya's chamber, and exiting once he arrives.
>Subspace Walker [Auto]
>2 times per combat; Automatic; Hide yourself, an ally, or a medium-sized object within a Subspace pocket for four turns, or until they dismiss the effect. During this time, the target cannot attack or be attacked. If used on a sentient target, that target can now move through solid objects, barriers, etc within a short distance at will.

 No.756945

>>756942
"Thats it!?" Shei bleats in consternation

He stands idle within his own personal storm of Dhyana, Qi and magasuchti "You couldn't decide that 2 minutes ago. I cannot necessarily turn this off of my own accord." He says to effect his inconvenience at having to stand by inside his Black Aria Catechism

 No.756946

>>756942
>>756943
Shorthorns' death is as resolved as swiftly as it occurs, overwhelmed all at once by the onslaught of the attack as various spells and combinations pile up on them from its many heads.

However, as quickly as her pristine white coat erupts into a fountain of blood, Amy's magic washes over her as she's restored in a moment, her fiery aura from Retribution still burning as she looks around in confusion, only taking about half a minute to fully process what happened to them.
"Did we just… die?" Shorthorns asks, surprisingly unshaken by such a grave statement, finding herself more curious than traumatized.

She looks at Amy, a weak smile appearing on her muzzle as she grins, "W-woah… I didn't know you could pull THAT off! Thanks a ton, Amy, we owe you big time."

She turns to look at the 5000 remaining Kerberos heads, shaken as he looks on at the mass of warriors (some of which re-summoned from the shade) and she takes a few steps forward. "We told you: we're not giving up. Even death won't stop us from saving the world. Please, Kerberos… does this not demonstrate how serious we are? How READY we are?" She says with a stomped hoof. "I understand why you're hurting so bad… and like Amy said, we won't leave you alone again. But you have give us a chance after this, can't you?"

 No.756947

>>756942
Leather leans back, cleaning his gun and loading it again. "And to be fair, hardly killed everyone. Strong conviction will persevere against all odds, though by the gods I'm sounding like a broken record at this point."

Leather pulls out his scrolls and quills and starts drawing a crude sketch of Kerberos.

 No.756948

>>756947
[1d10] it's for a children's book

Roll #1 9 = 9

 No.756949

>>756947
"You're more like a repeating record. Get it? Like repeating fire Pew pew pew" Shei finger bangs at you multiple times with his hooves. Amusing himself with his lame joke

 No.756950

>>756946

Amy shrugs. "I'm not really sure what happened either, to be honest," Amy laughs.

>>756947
>>756949

"Shei's right, if the record was broken, how would it make sound at all?" Amy asks, completely distracted now.

 No.756951

>>756943
"If you do that, I'm going to use my super special move," Kerberos says. Suddenly, he's gotten back some of his youthful vigor. "I don't think you'd like that. Give back what you stole, too."

"He's growing chipper again," Ichimonji observes.

"Am I…?" Kerberos asks. "Oh, it's… well… it's been too long since I've had a visitor who wasn't one of the dragons. I was almost… having fun there for awhile. You people… you really remind me of them. After so many millennia, I really wanted to believe… they'd come back… that someone would come back for me. And so, when someone finally appeared… smelling like… like her, I…"

Kerberos whines and lays down.

>>756944
Traversing Subspace, you enter Zjetya's chamber, finding her a bit scuffed up, but not badly injured. She gasps as you enter, and embraces you both. "The others, where they at? When I felt the shaking stop, I was worried it all went to shit up there!"
River leans on Zjetya, letting you do the talking.

>>756945
>>756946
>>756943
>>756947
Kerberos looks down in consternation. "You're… stronger than my initial appraisal, sure… but… the people of your era simply aren't as strong as the stock from which my mom gathered the Sons of God. For starters… that scheme of yours, goat. The one to save souls… if an Umbral finds that thread you wanted to give me… well, I'll be fine. But you– I'll make no guarantees of your fate."

"So you are letting us through," Viper says.

"I haven't given up trying to dissuade you," Kerberos corrects. "Few things are more dangerous than a mistaken notion guarded by certainty that it will work."

 No.756952

>>756950
>>756947
"Exaa-a-actly, How could you not know that Leather?" Shei backs up Amy by doubling down on the dumb.

 No.756953

>>756951
Shei remains crossed arm in his still ongoing personal storm of conflicted energies
"I'm tieing it to my lantern. Our resident Bodhidharma will have to deal with that. But worry not, he eats very well and has experience fending of corruption of the like. He will let me know before anything irreversible occurs."

Shei-Sher produces a black thread again, releasing his cross armed position to hold it out towards Kerberos "Come- take it Kerby."

 No.756954

>>756951

"I'm not giving it back and you can't make me," Amy says before sticking out her tongue playfully. "Besides, if you kill me, then it will die with me. So, there's really nothing you can do about it!"

"Speaking of the dragons!" Amy says, clapping her hoof-paws excitedly. "Where's Salt! She should have the dinner with her! I just know you're going to like it! I put together all of your favorite things!"

She doesn't have much to say in regards to being dissuaded.

 No.756955

>>756950
"Whatever it was, do you think you could remember how to do it again? Might be useful, don't you think?"

>>756951
Shorthorns frowns as she hears Kerberos whine, daring to approach one of the dogs left standing and stroking its head, hoping she's not unintentionally disrespecting the mighty guardian in trying to comfort it. "I know the Sons of God were unstoppable warriors. I'm not surprised if, even after all we've been through, you're still not sure we measure up. And, I know our plan isn't perfect."

She sighs, "But it's all we have. We've run out of time: we need to enter Tartarus to stop the demons now, or there won't be anything left to save up there. We have to at least take this shot with what strength we have, because we won't have another if we turn back now."

 No.756956

>>756951
Pryce pulls Zjetya in tightly as he sees her in one piece after the gruesome sight above, saying nothing for a few moments. After a time, he speaks, but doesn't let go.
"Nearly everypony was pulled underground into their own cave like this. I don't know how the rest are faring, but the kids weren't being attacked at all, they should be fine," Pryce explains. "Amy, Flaming, Cloak, and Shei seem to have the fight at a pause now. But… I'm not entirely sure of how to get all the others free yet. I used the last of my subspace magic getting you two."

 No.756957

>>756954
>>756951

"Oh, I guess I should bring the others back too, huh?" Amy laughs and then snorts.

She raises a hoof paw and everyone else congeals out of the ground.

>Shadow Drag everyone since we are out of combat

 No.756958

>>756952
"You're the musician, not I." Leather responds simply.
>>756951
"I cannot believe anything else, for to give up now ensures that my children will live in a world that will want them dead, if they are even given the chance to live at all. I understand I may not return, and that it's even likely; but any chance to make sure my children will live in a safe world is worth my life."

 No.756959

>>756953
"I came from Tartarus," Kerberos continues, just staring you in the eye. "I don't know if I was born there… but I remember nothing from my past that did not involve Tartarus. I journeyed back down there, and back up, and back down, down even to the Ninth Layer, for nearly one thousand years. I am TELLING you that, if this goes wrong, you will wish you had not ever existed."

>>756954
"My super special move doesn't kill anyone," Kerberos says. "But you will wish it did. Give it back."

His ears perk up at the mention of dinner, but he's still clearly set on having his power back.

>>756956
>>756955
>>756954
>>756953
>>756958
>>756957
Zjetya is midway through expressing her relief, just as River makes ready to endure the painful conjuring of another Dark Corridor, suppressed by Tartarus's presence, when Amy calls everyone back up from the shadow realm into the central chamber, where they're plopped all across the earth.

Everyone.
Including Mudi the Young.

When she appears, a palpable wave of furious, burning magical energy rushes through the chamber. Mudi herself might as well be a star, her body only a dark silhouette amid a horrid flame of cursed power… and as she turns toward Kerberos, the Hound's hackles raise with mortal terror.

Mudi raises her staff… and murderous intent radiates forth, as unmistakable as death.

"She… maybe she could measure up," Kerberos mutters.

Busta, himself bleeding badly, limps towards Mudi, heedless of his wounds, to try to stop her.
But he is far, far too late.
For Vizsla, her body now healed of its earlier injury, looks towards Mudi.
"Oh Mudi," Vizsla says. "The battle's won already. You can stop, dear sister."
Mudi shudders, and the dreadful aura surrounding her withers and breaks. Her face is clenched with obvious pain.
Busta glares at Vizsla, but gestures around. "Hey… the Shades are here. It's alright now."
Mudi lowers her gaze, instead holding out her staff. The Shades approach her from among the gathered warriors, and disappear into forms of light, which are absorbed into the crystal ball.

 No.756960

>>756959
"Yes- yes, unfathomable torment. I wouldn't be where I am had I taken such warnings carelessly. Now bring your snout over here. I am a fountain of magasutchi. For what use is now other than to give you a drink."

[1d10] social roll to get Kerbero to bring his head close enough to have a drink of Shei's delicious looking magatsuchi

>>756959
As Mudi appears into the scene, for a second time today Shei feels reduced as a man "Well doesn't that just make you feel small." As a storm compares to a star.

Roll #1 3 = 3

 No.756961

>>756959
Seeing as conversation is focused on other people, Leather just gets back to writing his accounts of the battle.

 No.756962

>>756959
Shorthorns looks on as the majority of their disappeared party returned, confident but relieved at their safety. However, as Mudi appears, and the sheer radiance of anger, death, and power rushes outward, it's all Shorthorns can do to plant her hooves and stay her ground, looking at the on-coming beacon of evil energy. And, as she does, keeping herself low despite her divinity, she can't help but remind herself how badly it might an idea to let her into the lake.

As Kerberos seems impressed all the same, Shorthorns looks to their company first, noting the injuries. "Hey everyone. Knew you'd make it back in one piece, just like we did. Did you have to fight more of Kerbero's heads too?"

She turns to look at Kerberos, smiling as she nods at Mudi. "Well, we're with her. So do you think we'd stand a chance now? How do we measure up to the average demon in there, would you say?"

 No.756963

>>756959

"So basically, you put us in Tartarus?" Amy laughs at Kerberos's threat.

"You're welcome, everyone," Amy says with a smile as everyone is returned to the central chamber.

"But seriously, all that fighting made me hungry, where's that dinner!?"

>>756960

"Shei!" Amy smacks Shei's hoof as if he's done something scandalous. "Not desert before dinner!"

 No.756964

>>756963
"How long are you doing to make him wait. Look at the fella. We tuckered him out."

 No.756965

>>756964

"Talk to Salt! SHE is supposed to bring the food!"

 No.756966

>>756959
Pryce is caught by surprise as they suddenly are brought back up to the surface, seeing everypony safe and sound. He feels relieved for only a split second under Mudi's killer intent radiates as thick as any fog, readying himself to shield Zjetya and River, until Vizsla stops her with only a few meager words.
Pryce turns his attention to River, paying the witches no further mind with danger out of the way, putting a wing and hoof around her.
"Please, don't push yourself too hard," He says with concern, seeing the pain and struggle coming from just readying the act of conjuring.

KP, seeing they're all back together, quickly runs over to the triad, joining the embrace, trembling a bit from the experience.

 No.756967

>>756963
"You had your chance," Kerberos says cryptically. "I warned you."

>>756966
>>756960
>>756961
>>756962
>>756963
Kerberos sighs. "If all of you can work together… you could… perhaps… survive within certain Rounds of the First Layer."
"Wonderful news, hoo hoo hoo," Galton laughs. "That's as far in as we're going."
"But I also don't know how Tartarus has changed since I last entered. My information is thousands of years out of date."
"Isn't Tartarus always changing?" Holy Hours asks.
"Yes, but with enough power, certain places can become… anchored in certain places. And there are always certain fixtures that have endured across the aeons."
"Would you be interested in discussing this over a meal?" Monkey asks.
"Hah!" Lion says. "And you give me grief for being a big eater."
"Save all that for the food, I'm hungry again!" Fox says.
"I don't have to eat…" Kerberos protests.
"But I'll bet you want to, no?" Hurricanrana asks.
Kerberos pauses…
"…Yes."
He looks like he's about to cry.

>Paused

 No.756968

>>756967
>>756963
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G-AuLXhTN4

Couldn't find the SFX I wanted so have this


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