Kysiatch has a bad day

AK510-39 Cool Summer End Week 3
[Charon Guiding, Shale Resting, Cycles Watching]

Cogaday (Night)
The spider crept crookedly along a deep groove in the marble wall. She didn't like venturing out into the open, away from the protection of her lair. She feared the light which had recently flooded her darkened home. She felt exposed. But her master had commanded her too go forth. And so she did. Even now as her legs found the almost imperceptible cracks in the sheer marble surface, she could feel his presence. To her tiny primitive mind his intellect was as vast and incomprehensible as a God's. His power was beyond her limited ability to imagine and she was terrified by him.

he commanded. She scuttled forward unheard and unseen on her eight agile limbs. She hid in a groove and watched. The creatures were colossal things flailing around in some incomprehensible dance. They made noise. It was so loud. She could feel it shaking her tiny frame. It vibrated along the walls and pounded her antennae. Even when they were still, their breath roared across the air. She crouched to hide her sensitive antennae behind a lip of marble.
the voice commanded, she sensed anger and looked up quickly.

Kysiatch was getting worried. He could sense the few thoughts that went through the spider's tiny mind. After the first time he had tried it, he rarely bothered. There wasn't much going on in there. The more of his own mind he pushed into the tiny insect's consciousness, the more he could sense of her surroundings. But unfortunately he had to be careful. Which was very frustrating. Once he had gone as far as taking control of a spider's limbs and controlling it's movement, that had been a memorable experience, he had felt how she moved, how she sensed the world. He understood how to find imperfections in a surface, how to hook your feet into them and use them to walk straight down to a floor that suddenly seemed hundreds of feet away.
It was exciting. He had thrown out a web-strand, which was by then second nature and had hurled himself off the wall into oblivion. The web-strand had caught the wall and he had swung down the giant elastic rope. The air rushed past and the ground arced towards him. It had been exhilarating. Then the stupid creature's speck of a brain had burned out. He assumed it's tiny corpse had been left dangling on the end of the web banging off the wall. Sometimes he almost felt as though he should have gone to see. It was peculiar he thought, with all the thousands of creatures he had summoned to do his bidding, that spider was the only one that he ever felt any connection with.
Kysiatch caught himself. His fear of these unwanted guests, was straining his mental defenses. He hadn't survived over ten thousand years, by examining he emotions. Certainly not for a pathetic creature who had died two thousand years ago. He had never given her a name. She had deserved that hadn't she?
Kysiatch's mind wandered for several more maudlin minutes before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. The power that bound his frail shrunken corpse together was difficult to control at times and his mind had perfected the ability over the long years to control it without consulting his conscious mind. The process kept him alive but occasionally took so much mental effort that he was left prattling like a demented crone.
When he recovered he gently instructed the spider. .

He insinuated just enough of himself into it's mind to see and hear what was going on in the room below. The Kyton was dead and the infidel priest was looking unbearably smug. Kysiatch really hated priests. Even when the DeDannan had still been a power to be reckoned with, he knew their priests were charlatans, who were failing their race. Tionscail this and Draiocht that. They could all rot! And they all had. But that was the trouble with priests, there were always more. That was why you had to admire High Lord Cromith. Admittedly, he was allied with Athru, consorting with the Gods counted against him in Kysiatch's book, but he had destroyed the workers in Tionscail's temple and desecrated the whole place. Yes! A thousand times yes! The Alhoon had absolutely no respect for the Gods and he had the arrogance and the aggression to do something about it. Kysiatch had feared that temple for millennia and now it was neutered. The Illithid was a forced to be reckoned with. Even the so called Prince of Schliss was his puppet.

The infidel priest was parading around in DeDannan socketed armor and he didn't even know how it worked. He kept bemoaning the foolishness of his companions who had stupidly allowed themselves to be severely wounded by the chain devil. The impudence! Chain Devils were powerful nightmares from the depths of hell, each could lay waste to a battalion of warriors without raising a sweat. All previous invaders had fallen before them. The invaders should be dead! He regained control and instructed the spider, .

The infidels prayers were powerful, and he infused his companions with the power of Saol.
The spider noticed two new colossal intruders moving down the hall. Kysiatch switched her attention to them. One was a human clad in animal skins, bearing a large gnarled piece of unidentifiable wood. It crackled with power, even through the muted understanding of the spiders mind he could feel it. He was already looking forward to examining it in the magical lab once the owner was dead. That shouldn't take too long he thought, given the bloodied and bedraggled state of the druid. That must have been some battle upstairs he surmised.
The druid's companion was a knight of some sort. He bore the symbol of the accursed Church of The Moons so he assumed that he must be a champion. He too was hobbling along the corridor trying to pretend that his wounds were not as serious as they appeared. Pride, Kysiatch thought, can be a dangerous thing. The foul Chosen priest dutifully continued his prayers to his Gods and soon their power had dragged the druid and champion from Bas' door to Compleasc's favor.

The intruders were ready to set off in search of him. It was time to strike back, they would pay for the deaths of his allies. He let the spider's mind go with a final command to keep watch. Then he turned his full attention to the summoning circle. This was the only place, within the Poll Na Deanta arrivals area, in which he could use his summoning powers. He stood beside the circle and started the ritual. His Kyton ally had been defeated after doing considerable damage to the attackers, perhaps a larger creature, with more ferocious physical attacks and more staying power, was what he needed. He called upon the forces of Naduir to provide him with such a creature. He could feel the magical power coursing through his frail body. Power that would allow him to pull and creature from across the planes to this very spot. A dire lion, he thought and it appeared.
It roared. It was massive and strong. It's claws were long and sharp and giant fangs protruded from it's gaping jaw. It's expression of anger and aura of menace were reinforced by the nasty boney spikes on its forehead and by the hell-born, blood colored light shining in it's eyes. Using the luminous energy that bound his spirit to his feeble shell, he poured power into the beast. It's muscles bunched and tightened as he increased it's strength and toughness beyond natural limits. He sent a thought into the massive creature's small mind, an easy task after tiptoeing through a spider's thoughts. he sent, indicating that the creature should follow Misorek, his primary Kyton servant.
Misorek left, trailed by a mountain of fangs and fur. As they disappeared through the shunt, Kysiatch returned his focus to the spider. The intruders had finally moved from the hall back into the barricade room. The door to the failsafe room was the focus of their attention and so, as he expected, they had missed the more important portal, perfectly concealed within the chamber.

The spider’s senses were almost overwhelmed by a world shattering load roar. It stiffened. he projected, . The fearful arachnid inched along the groove and into the barricade room to spy on the group clustered at the door. Kysiatch noticed, with a small degree of concern, that they were not cowed by the outrageous din reverberating through the door. In fact, their faces lit up and their enthusiasm awoke. Misorek flung open the door for the beast and retreated quickly. It bounded through the open portal, turned, crouched and pounced, all in one fluid motion. It was a beautiful sight to behold, as the lethal abyssal creature crashed amongst them, teeth snapping down on armor, claws rending flesh and raking against shields. Blood splattered on the ground, voices cried in pain and the lion roared all the while. The fight was brief though and while the beast inflicted several vicious and bloody wounds, it was slain quickly. It's body vanished as it's essence returned through the circle.

Kysiatch was disappointed. Surely a Dire Lion should have taken at least one of the to The Wall Of Souls? He pondered what to do next as he watched them stride confidently into the failsafe room. The champion who, he now knew from his observation, was called Sir Eagon DelFuego, led the way. He discovered the pit trap, the hard way. Kysiatch's heart leapt when he heard the armor clad buffoon wailing in shock as he frantically grasped for the ledge and then fell into the deep spike filled pit. There was a bone shattering crash when platemail and flesh collided with the pit floor forty feet below.
The warning words 'check for traps' escaped someone's lips as the noise subsided and they wished in vain that they had spoken a few seconds earlier.
"Hello!" called Sir Eagon, in a weak and pleading voice, which was music to Kysiatch's ears.
"I'm still alive down here and in terrible pain, I think my leg is broken!..." he wailed pitifully. This was even better than Kysiatch could have hoped. A broken leg would really slow them down.
The champion's companions started laughing and Sir Eagon heartily joined them.
"Hold on we'll throw you a rope," they laughed.
"He does a great impression of that bard," Stuffitt acknowledged. "We should really get Ethan raised from the dead".
This was all wrong thought Kysiatch, as the intruders pulled a winded and bruised Sir Eagon out of the pit. He should be dead. He was beginning to wonder if the seemingly insane bravado, shown by the intruders, was based on ability rather than mere delusion, as he had first suspected. He decided it was time to call on the biggest creature he could summon. There was no more time to toy with these humans, they needed to be dealt with as soon as possible before they became a serious threat. The energy he needed to summon a creature had returned and he was ready to summon something big. But first he needed some protection. He moved to the circle and with a few candles and other more esoteric objects he prepared it for the binding ritual. He started the incantations to bring forth another Kyton, ready to use his considerable bargaining and persuasive powers to secure it's service. This would be costly but poverty was better than death.

Meanwhile the spider crept into a tiny crack between wall and roof and watched Todd Stuffitt reset the stone clad wooden trap door over the pit.
"I've jammed it, so it should be safe to walk on." he said and stepped on to it to prove his theory.
"I still can't believe that you missed all those spikes," Bob charmer looked at the champion with admiration.
"It was the will of The Chosen," Sir Eagon replied, "and good armor". He pointed to several long gashes in the metal plates that protected his body.
"Let's get going," suggested the druid. "The more time we spend standing around congratulating ourselves the more time whoever is summoning these creatures has to fill this dungeon."
"Right." said Sir Eagon. He reached out to open the door and found it was locked.
"Tim for Todd to shine" the assassin pushed forward and started to pick the lock, "thanks for checking the door for traps, though".
While Todd was working on the lock Sir Eagon examined the door. It was made from solid iron and was at least four inches thick. There was a metal grill in the middle of the door at head height for an ogre. He deduced that it was designed for observing this room because the grill could only be opened form the other side.
"Come on Glick!" Todd prayed for divine guidance.
Vedic Tanner looked at him in disgust, "What kind of prayer was that?"
Todd ignored him, concentrating on his task. After several minutes, he managed to open the ancient lock.

Kysiatch had hurriedly completed the bargaining with his new Kyton ally Geriath and had then summoned another great beast. This time he called forth a creature of even greater size and muscle. He returned his focus to the spider as the thief opened the door to the arrival control room.
Misorek led the creature through the shunt and sent it charging down the arrivals hall to the control room. The elephant unleashed an almighty bellow, trumpeting in defiance as it ran.
The priest Tim Tanner and the druid John Appleby stood in front of the charging gray mountain as it bore down on them, confident that the power of the gods and the power of nature would protect them. An instant before it crashed into them, they both struck it with their weapons. Mace and staff hammered into the elephants skull, the impact was doubled by the force of it's charge. Kysiatch almost looked away, fearing that they would do the impossible and slay the elephant before it could attack. Tanner was driven by the power of Croi and Appleby by the power of Naduir and they were potent in combat. But neither could stop an elephant's charge and it plowed over them and stamped them underfoot. It slowed as it neared the far wall, knocking the ranger to the ground like a rag doll.
The intruders closed cautiously on the huge maddened animal. It lashed out with trunk and tusk, legs and bulk, flailing around the small control room. It gored and stamped and bellowed. The intruders kept their heads and pressed the attack. Stuffitt leapt over a nearby table to avoid it's attacks followed by the ranger who had already been badly gored. They unleashed a barrage of bolts and arrows from behind the protection afforded by the stone structure.
Sir Eagon, John Appleby and Tim Tanner fell upon their foe with a series of blindingly fast sword, mace and staff attacks.
The battle raged and although the elephant was too distracted by the number of assailants to focus a killing blow on any one, none of them had escaped his wrath. The intruders were all badly injured and more importantly, Kysiatch noted, the priest had no energy left for his healing magic. It was time to send in the Kytons and finish this. It would be a sweet victory. The tusken raider had done it's work well.
The elephant was lashing out desperately as it's strength ebbed through bloody wounds. It knew death was at hand. John Appleby raised the Applewood staff high above his head and spun his body. The whirling momentum allowed him to strike with a series of rapid but powerful strikes. The power of Naduir crackled through the Applewood Staff as it connected with the elephant's head again and again. The druid's magic and physical strength combined to shatter the weary animal's skull and it died in an instant. Appleby smiled, such is the way of nature, he thought. Then he slumped to the ground, exhausted and bruised after the battle and he wondered when Naduir would grant him the power to summon such mighty animals.

The assassin was already examining the chair he had found behind the table, when the elephant's body disappeared. Kysiatch smiled. There was no way that this mere human could decipher the words on the Poll Na Deanta arrivals area control panel. There was even less chance that he could figure out how to use it. It had take Kysiatch years to master it. Still, he thought, no point in taking any chances. He decided to send in Geriath and Misorek to put an end to the threat. Before he pulled his focus away from the spider, Kysiatch saw the assassin do something that intrigued him. He watched for just a moment longer. The assassin put his hands randomly on the surface of the panel and then closed his eyes. Then he started moving his hands over the panel as if trying to sense something. Then he started touching the panel in a complex sequence of strokes he caused a hum to issue from it. The arcane symbols covering the panel and the walls nearby began to come to life and as Todd continued to poke blindly at the panel, the noise and light grew. His companions began to register grave concerns and looked like they were going to stop him. Kysiatch impotently wished that they would do just that. He could barely believe it but that bumbling human was about to accidentally activate the panel's lockdown sequence.
"No!" he screamed in anger and fear.
A voice spoke and magically all could understand it, "Arrivals Area Lockdown Activated."
The human looked insufferably pleased with himself.
"Who needs Ivellios?" he grinned.
A section of the panel was illuminated in arcane light and it showed a map of the arrivals area in dark green light. The doors on the map were colored red when each locked shut.
They all turned when the exits from the room were sealed. A thick iron door slammed shut in front of them. They knew what this meant: a brief respite from the assault and time to heal. The priest read from a prayer book that, like the druid's staff, reeked of power. Kysiatch wanted it. But there were greater problems to be dealt with. The invaders could not be given time to recover. If they did so, his victory in the coming conflict was not assured. He needed to find someway to override the control room.
He manipulated the magical balance of the shunt and stepped through. He strode through the arrivals hall as quickly as his frail frame would carry him. He unlocked the door to the guardroom and stepped in. He felt a sense of calm flood into him as he entered the room. There were tubes and vials and arcane assemblies of all kinds cluttered amongst the tables in the room. He was glad to be back in his lab but there was no time to experiment now. Not when his millennia long existence was at stake. He surveyed the clutter, trying to determine which items belonged to the original guardroom and which he had added when he converted it to his lab. Then he spotted what he was looking for, hidden behind a discarded lizardfolk head. A simple lever jutted out from the wall at about shoulder height for an ogre. Funny he thought as he struggled to reach up for it, I used to look down at this lever.

Neither the spider or the other occupants of the control room noticed that the red marking of the landing door had changed from red to dark green. All attention was focused on the conclusion of the ceremony that Vedic Tim Tanner was conducting. All of the invaders were chanting a prayer written by the Vedic, which was based one of his revisions of The Book of Creation. When the chant was completed each participant reached out in prayer to their God.
"Croi!"
"Seilig!"
"Glick!"
"Naduir!"
"Croi!"
And in response to the ritual and the devotion shown by the followers, the Gods responded. The lame walked and the sick were made whole. Cuts closed, bruises healed and pain vanished.
Vedic Tanner was well pleased, "Now that, was a prayer!"

Kysiatch watched in horror. He had been unable to breach the room's defenses from the guardroom and now his foes had been healed. The accursed Gods of The Moons were showing them a level of benevolence that was unheard of. This could not be! He had survived here for millennia. Now he was trapped unable to escape. There was only one thing to be done. Summon and bind and many allies as he could and once the door to the control room was opened, he would attack. As this desperate plan formed in his mind, an argument had broken out among the invaders. Some were advocating a retreat, until their magical and divine powers were renewed. Others argued that they should press forward and destroy whatever lay before them, before it could summon even more creatures. Kysiatch had heard enough and broke contact. He moved to the circle and started a binding ritual. Summoned creatures were excellent cannon fodder but they were recalled to their home plane after only a couple of minutes. He needed bound allies now, that could be forced to serve until the invaders had been dealt with. He started the binding ritual and hoped that he could complete it in time.

The spider bereft of the Grimweird's consciousness, still watched the colossal creatures below her with mild interest, though she didn't know why. Using the tried and tested method of blind luck, Todd managed to use the control panel to open the door to the arrival's hall. The hall was wide enough for a couple of ogres to fight abreast and ended at a shunt about as far away as Todd could throw his dagger. One side was decorated with the usual DeDannan symbols but also with frescos of the DeDannan at work in Poll Na Deanta and fighting Ogre Mage armies. The other side was decorated with two life size statues. The first was a DeDannan knight who held the chains of a prisoner, the second was that prisoner, an ogre mage on it's knees begging for mercy. Between the statues under the chains was a decorative bathing pool. The frescoed wall held two doors, but the invaders attention was grabbed by the scarlet glow of an active shunt.

The vedic and druid looked at each other and raced forward to the shunt. A sense of urgency had come to the vedic and he tried to follow his intuition when possible, it rarely let him down. The druid was wise, his intuition was almost as reliable as the vedic's. Right now, it was telling him to follow the vedic. Following Tanner was always interesting. A quick gesture and the shunt's balance shifted. Tim and John disappeared through the shunt and were replaced by an unwelcome new arrival.

Misorek stepped through the shunt and activated his chains. He had to buy time for his master to complete the ritual. Then the invaders would be doomed. All he had to do was guard the shunt and prevent anyone from attacking Kysiatch. He surveyed the enemy. Only three. The Vedic and the druid were missing, possibly hiding somewhere, no time to ponder that now. The champion, the assassin and the ranger were closing around him. He kept his back to the wall. He decided to take the champion first and changed his visage to that of the champion's dead lieutenant.
"Why did you forsake me!?" his voice mimicked the dead bandit.
The champion paled visibly. Misorek smiled and lashed out with his chains striking through the champions armor. This would be easy. Then the ranger's arrows hit. They hurt but the arrows were not made of silver and so the wounds were only minor and would heal swiftly. The champion launched a ferocious attack balancing skill with brute force and he managed to open a deep gash across Misorek's chest. He screamed curses at the champion for his impudence. The assassin was creeping around, looking for an opening for a killing shot. Misorek was ready for that, it wouldn't work. He lashed out at the champion again and scored another telling blow. The rangers arrows were like a persistent swarm of insects, stinging consistently. He would have to be dealt with next. The champion was the real threat and his assault was impressive, his sword cut through a hole in Misorek's defense and slashed his leg. The assassin tried to activate the shunt.
"Not so fast", sneered Misorek in the Infernal tongue as he lashed out to block the assassin.
But the shunt had been a ruse and the assassin whipped his body away from it was soon as Misorek had acted. He ducked under Misorek's guard and plunged a green bladed rune covered dagger into his stomach. Misorek screamed in agony as the dagger bit into him. This assassin knew his trade damn him. The wound was not from silver but it was deep and would take too long to heal. Misorek knew he was in trouble. He lashed out at the assassin and struck two vicious deep gashes in the human's shoulder and ribs, they bled quickly over ragged skin and exposed bone. Then the ranger and the champion attacked again and Misorek was back on the defensive, the champion having managed to open an serious gash in Misorek's lower back while he fought the assassin. It was time for retreat. Misorek called to the Grimweird. No response. That was odd. The assassin's green smoky dagger appeared through the front of his neck. Oh. There was no time for the pain. Misorek was dead.

Kysiatch knew it was too late to complete the ritual of binding when the shunt glowed red. He spun to face the intruders. It was time to make a stand. Kysiatch had been here before and had prevailed. He would prevail again as he had done for thousands of years.
"You were alone for those millennia and slept much," said one of the voices that accompanied him. That part of his mind should have been controlling his bind energy. He would have to meditate later and regain control. Meanwhile the Vedic and the druid had come through.
The were Alone.
At last some good fortune. While Misorek held their companions at bay, Geriath and he could slay these two. With their healers dead the invaders would be easily taken. He reached out towards the lightly armored druid and touched his living flesh. The energy within him, the energy that summoned his allies and held his frail from together, was always hungry. It sucked the druid's life from his robust living body and fed it to the Grimweird.
It felt so good.
He tried to taste the essence of the Vedic, knowing how potent it would be, but the DeDannan armor he wore was too strong a defense and Kysiatch couldn't make contact with his living flesh. The druid attacked and landed a painful blow with each end of the powerful magical staff. It crackled against his emaciated flesh. The pain was intense and he recoiled from it. The druid would die first he decided. The priest held forth the symbol of his God, Croi. Hah! thought Kysiatch Croi was an overrated upstart Godess. He could tell that this foolish priest was about to channel her power through the symbol in a vain attempt to disrupt the energy that bound him. Oh foolish young mortal, he thought, I have been bound with this energy for longer than your church has reigned, your feeble skills are no match for the dark...
The arrogant gloating of Kysiatch's meandering thoughts were interrupted by an excruciating wash of living energy burning with the power of the sun. Pain filled every fiber of his being as the power of Croi was brought to bear upon him by a soul incandescently pure of purpose.
With an iron voice Arch Vedic Tim Tanner of The Church Of The Moons hurled his words at the Grimweird.
"By the Power of Croi and the Church of The Moons, by The Sun, The Moons and The Holy Trinity, be gone unto the night, foul creature of The Fallen. The power of Croi Compels you!"
But I'm not Fallen, thought Kysiatch, as the energy within him struggled in vain to hold his form together. Then his soul was released. His pathetic body burst into fine powder and his loincloth drifted slowly to the dusty floor. Geriath retreated to the summoning circle and was gone.
"Well that was easy" exhaled the suspicious vedic, wondering if it was some kind of trick, "Good old Croi".

The spider felt the passing of her master with as much sadness as her tiny primitive mind could muster. She crawled dejectedly back towards her web-home. She achingly missed his presence as a priest would miss their God. One thought kept nagging at her, like a splinter in her mind: I never even gave him a name...