<strong>Our brave heroines enter the lion's den...</strong><br/><br/>The gate opened with a creak, even as it was pushed slightly open to let the girls slip into the next room one after the other. The council chamber was a huge, circular room with twelve pillars and six seats arranged in a circle around a crystalline hemisphere rising from the floor in the center. The floor, walls, seats, pillars and even ceiling appeared to be something akin to white marble, and were all built into the room, designed to withstand the ages. There was almost no decoration here whatsoever, save for a few tapestries indicating the usual seat of each council member by the symbol of their respective deities.<br/><br/><div class="floatright">(http://highqualitycomics.com/rawpics13/SeanPattyRedSonjaCaptive.JPG)</div>On the far end of the chamber, there was a large balcony overlooking the valley and the battle raging outside. Fresh air rushed in with a wind, but the usually sweet mountain air was now fouled by the smell of blood, steel and sweat. As the girls proceeded into the chamber, they could see two figures near the balcony: one of them was a familiar-looking woman, though her commanding presence, collected demeanor and distant beauty were all gone. Yustissa's hands were raised above her head, hair disheveled and face turned groundwards in shame, her waists in chain cuffs fixed against one of the balcony pillars. Her dignity, along with her robes was in shreds, the discarded cloth scattered on the floor around her along with her holy symbol torn from her neck, and weapon belt with the empty sheath, the angelic longsword lying sever feet to the side by the wall. Unable to raise her head in disgrace, the always proud and confident woman was quietly sobbing on her knees as the man behind her enjoyed her, raped her at a comfortable, lazy pace. The white-robed fiend, the same man the group encountered before and knew as Hagan was violating the defenseless girl even now, overlooking her forces being routed as he was getting close to her ultimate humiliation. Bree and Hunter just had enough time to take in the shocking sight before the High Priest stopped moving his hips and the redhead started to wail. He pulled back and the former Lady Paladin collapsed, proof of her final defeat dripping from between her thighs.<br/><br/>Hagan turned towards the two as he returned his manhood to his trousers, his form much more commanding and intimidating now than it appeared before.<br/>"Ah, I see my little plaything's followers didn't give up. There is less of you here than I remember. I hope for your friends sake that they walked into their deaths and not into my lair." he spoke, taking a few steps towards the two girls "Haven't you realized yet I have declared you all martyred on this day? Your sacrifice defending the Spire will give hope to a new generation of soldiers against the renewing beastman threat. As troops in this war, it is your duty to die here today, and as the God of this land, it is mine to make it so. Accept your fates, or pray to me for mercy, and be judged on the sincerity of your worship."<br/><br/>It didn't seem like he was going to attack, but his quarterstaff was within his reach.<br/><br/><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Creatures</div><div class="spoiler_body">Yustissa: 46 hp (Uninjured), AC 5, Helpless<br/>Hagan: ?? hp (Uninjured), Detect magic reveals his robe and a silver ring on his finger radiate magic (DC 29 Spellcraft reveals his flowing white robe as a Robe of the Archmagi). Any form of alignment detection automatically fails against him. He wears the same holy symbol as Yustissa had in his neck.</div></div><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Features of the Area</div><div class="spoiler_body">Illumination: Natural light coming from outside illuminates the balcony side of the chamber, while the inner side is covered in dim lights and some magical illumination.<br/>Terrain: Even floors that give no penalty to movement. <br/>Crystal Sphere: 5 feet in diameter and 3 feet tall, it can be shot or cast over, and provides cover against ranged attacks if the character is prone behind it. A DC 15 arcana, spellcraft, perception or sense motive check identifies it as a possible hazard, a magic device containing potent arcane energies. If arcana, spellcraft or detect magic is used on it, it also reveals that it can be used to scry, communicate, project image and cast spells into any location of the Spire that has a reflective surface. If targeted by a single-target spell, the sphere will turn it into an area effect that covers the entire chamber but not the balcony.<br/>Thrones, pillars: These all provide cover and prove surprisingly resistant to damage.<br/>Yustissa's equipment: Scattered around the North side of the chamber is Yustissa's equipment. Her robes are ruined, but her belt pouch still holds a water flask and a trail ration. Her holy symbol lying on the ground is made out of silver and is mundane. Her apparently made out of bronze is without a doubt magical, as seen in action beforehand.</div></div><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">MAP</div><div class="spoiler_body">(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j361/zapreskog/topfloor_zpsfe1e3812.jpg)<br/><br/>1. Main Hallway<br/>1a-1f Side rooms are the personal quarters of the High Priests. Nameplates indicate the names of the former residents.<br/>1a. Hierophant Sazael<br/>1b. Silent Mother Nlell<br/>1c. Archsage Mager<br/>1d. Battlemaster Aziel<br/>1e. Mother Lysiae<br/>1f. High Priest Hagan<br/>2. Kitchen<br/>3. Sealed room with the engraving of the order's holy symbol on the door, protected by a magical barrier (DC 20, 1d6+6 electrical damage on failure (reflex DC 14 for half). On the third failed attempt, it deals 10d6+60 electrical damage (no save) instead. DC 15 Knowledge (Arcana, Engineering, Religion) or DC 20 Insight reveals that there is likely a key somewhere that will disable the barrier without a lengthy ritual.<br/>4. Council Chamber<br/>5. Balcony<br/><br/>Blue: unlocked doors<br/>Red: magically protected door<br/>Green: secret door (DC 15 perception), Pilgrim's Path exit.<br/>The repeating black lines represent stairs leading downwards.<br/></div></div><br/><br/><strong>Aleria the devil's whore...or is it Shadow Peak the crow?</strong><br/><br/>Having lost all her strength and passing out from the ordeal of her body giving in to the devil forever marking her as his bride, the young wizard felt herself drift from her physical body and be drawn somewhere far away. She saw the surrounding hills and the distant image of the Spire from a different angle, through the eyes of a bird, her familiar she realized. She could hear the wind blowing past her as the bird flew circles above the area where she went underground, looking for lunch while waiting for Aleria. She soon realized it wasn't a dream, and that somehow, her bond with Shadow Peak became even stronger... she could now sense the world through the crow, and she was quite sure she could even cast spells from the black bird. What's more, her soul burned with newfound arcane energies, ready to augment her own powers and spells... While her body was lying limp at her rapist's mercy, she could communicate to her familiar, directing its actions and see and hear the world through it... as well as unleash her power if necessary. Her frail body might have given up on her, but she now had an alternative course of action, though she still knew her own life was depending on her body. As long as she was with Shadow Peak, she couldn't sense anything happening to herself, both a blessing and a curse given her situation. If she neglected her physical self, it was without a doubt that she would meet her demise early rather than later, and she would need to do something to get to safety...<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Gameplay</div><div class="spoiler_body">Normally you wouldn't take control of your familiar using your Sensory Link, but in order to keep you in the game for now, we'll say you can command the crow to do as you want. It's still a separate creature with its own stats, but you can keep playing rather than sit on the sidelines while the others have all the fun. </div></div>