204 - The Face of Corruption
“Monster” was too small a word to describe the thing behind Nosey.
Its body was like that of a monstrous slug, the bloated green mass slick with a layer of slime. Fully fifteen feet long and half that in height, the front of the creature had no eyes or tentacles or other recognizable features save for a massive orifice ringed with teeth, like a leech that had grown fangs. But it was the other end of the creature where the true horror lay. Instead of anything that remotely resembled a tail, the thing’s body split into three segments, each of which curled up and over its bulk. At the end of each of those tripartite protrusions, in complete defiance of any sort of biological sense, was a head.
The heads were vaguely equine in shape, but there was no way their appearance could have been mistaken for that of a pony. Lacking a mane entirely, the flesh – if the creature’s outer layer could even be called that – on each of its skulls was shriveled, darkening in color and making the heads look more dead than alive. That appearance was heightened by the way each head’s thin lips failed to completely cover their teeth, giving them a rictus grin. But worst were the eyes, which were missing entirely, showing only the dark hollows of empty sockets.
Although there was no way to be sure, Lex was certain that each of those six eyeless holes were trained on him.
The sight of the thing was grotesque enough that it took him a moment to register movement around its heads, belatedly noticing a group of small gemstones orbiting the thing’s craniums. Nearly a half-dozen in total, they were all gemstones of different cuts and colors, all circling the trio of heads in different orbits, like small asteroids caught in the pull of a star. Three of the gemstones were prisms, one being a pale green, another being a bright orange, and the third a much more subdued rose color. The other two gemstones were a spindle which shined with a rainbow of colors and a sphere of mottled blue and scarlet.
The sight of the flying gems made Lex curse softly. He recognized those from his time on Everglow; the floating stones were all magic items that bestowed defensive or personal-enhancement magic on whomever they orbited. A moment’s concentration was all it took to examine their auras, but doing so showed only that they were all imbued with magic of considerable strength, being too varied for any particular type of enchantment to come through. Resisting the urge to snarl, Lex put the magical gems out of his thoughts; he’d just have to deal with them. Instead, he turned his eyes and his thoughts toward Nosey, knowing that the most important thing was to get her away from that monster as soon as possible. Fortunately, he had a short-range teleport spell prepared, but it would only work on himself and someone that he was touching directly…and if hostilities resumed right now, he was far enough away from Nosey that that thing would get to her long before he ever did.
“I suppose the blame lies with me,” continued the creature. This time, it didn’t speak in a chorus, with only the left head’s jaw moving. The voice that came out was masculine, with a deep pitch, and despite its declaration of anger its tone was conversational. “I initially let you live so that I could evaluate your abilities. Not just anyone could have slain that oversized squid and closed the elemental aperture, after all.”
“But once Nosey here spilled her guts,” continued the right head, its voice a deep, throaty feminine, “I had enough information to get a sense of your strengths and weaknesses. I only let you live because-” At that moment Nosey surged to her hooves, bolting forward as fast as she could, running directly away from the creature and toward Lex, a terrified look on her face.
Reacting immediately, Lex didn’t bother with chanting a spell, knowing that every fraction of a second counted. Instead he simply concentrated, calling on his dark magic to raise a spike right through the middle of the creature’s body, pinning it in place so that it wouldn’t be able to chase after Nosey. Even as he did so, he rushed forward to meet her, pouring everything he had into his magic-enhanced speed. Just a little closer! Just a little closer and he could teleport her to safet-
Then everything went wrong.
The creature shifted its body with a speed that shouldn’t have been possible for a creature of its size, throwing itself to the side and letting the black crystal spike pierce nothing but empty air. It hadn’t even recovered its positioning when the leftmost head glanced over at Nosey and opened its jaw, its tongue snaking out. Perfectly cylindrical with a tip as sharp as any spear, the coal-black organ was almost an inch in diameter and was as dry as pitch, in contrast to the wetness of the monster’s body. With speed exceeding a serpent’s strike, its tongue stretched impossibly far, easily covering the fifteen-foot gap between itself and Nosey, and wrapped around her neck. Jerking to a halt, Nose’s eyes bulged and her mouth fell open, unable to scream as she was hoisted into the air, her legs kicking futilely as the thing yanked her back towards it. “How impertinent,” chuckled the middle head, its voice as mellifluous as it was androgynous. “Clothes are supposed to remain where they’re discarded, until their owner decides to wear them again.”
“No!” shouted Lex, seeing Nosey’s struggles already weakening as she choked, unable to get air. “Let her go NOW!” The words were no simple roar of anger, as he concentrated on directing the Night Mare’s power at the monster. If he could just take control of it the way he had the kraken, then this would be over immediately!
But as the invisible lines of power reached out to make contact with the creature, Lex felt them pass through it powerlessly, unable to take control of it. Whatever it was, the thing wasn’t the sort of creature that the Night Mare’s power had authority over. In his thoughts, Lex silently cursed the goddess for giving him such a fickle power. Why does this only work on some creatures and not others?!
Either unaware or uncaring of what Lex had tried to do, the fanged orifice at the other end of its body made an ululating sound that was only barely recognizable as laughter. “wHy sHOulD I?” In contrast to the dulcet tones from its pony-like heads, the speech emanating from the creature’s fourth mouth sounded as pleasant as hooves being scraped along a blackboard. “i’Ve gROwn tO eNjoY mY noSEy-sUiT. oR WiLL yOU vOLuNtEeR tO tAkE hER pLaCE?”
Lex tensed at that, the very idea of being possessed by this abomination too revolting for words. “You dare-”
“Or is your pride more important to you than this mare’s life?” sneered the female-sounding head. “Is your vaunted moral code really so shallow, that you won’t sacrifice yourself to save one of your precious ponies?”
“This one has feelings for you, you know,” cooed the epicene voice of the central head. “She let it slip when I was extracting information from her. She used to think of you as nothing but a way to advance her career, but now you’re so much more to her. Does that mean nothing to you?”
“I’m willing to enter into a formal contract to guarantee her life. But you should decide quickly.” The left head’s voice was thick with amusement, its words unimpeded by its tongue being wrapped around Nosey’s neck. “With how she’s struggling, she won’t last nearly as long as Block Party did.” A quick glance was all it took for Lex to confirm that the creature wasn’t exaggerating. Nosey’s flailing had already been reduced to little more than a series of spasms, her face turning blue as she looked at him with wide, terror-filled eyes, and he knew that she was silently begging him to rescue her.
Despite that, Lex never considered heeding the creature’s words. This thing had, in the short time since he’d unknowingly encountered it when he’d first marched into the camp, done nothing but try to deceive him. It had hidden its identity in Block Party, whom it had later murdered. It had propagated a false quarantine for what seemed like no other purpose but to sow suffering among the surviving ponies. It had lied to him about Nosey still being alive. There was no reason to believe that it would honor any sort of bargain now.
Lex didn’t bother making a declaration of rejection to the monster’s offer. All that would do is give it a split-second of advance warning for what he was about to do. Instead, he rattled off the words of an incantation as quickly as he could, gesturing with a shadowy tendril before pointing directly at Nosey, even as he channeled as much extra magic through himself as he could, empowering his spell. In slow motion, he saw the creature’s tongue coil tighter around Nosey’s neck, saw the consciousness start to fade from her eyes…and then he uttered the final syllable of his spell.
Instantly, he heard the monster’s voices raise in a shriek of surprise, their chorus now thrown into a discordant wail that was almost painful to hear. But he barely registered that, instead looking at the astral pony that he had just conjured. It was the same type that he’d worn in his fight against the dragon, a translucent unicorn the color of smoky glass and the size of a house. But this time, he wasn’t in the center of it.
Nosey was.
Although the details of her form were hard to make out inside the construct’s body, Lex was sure that he saw her stirring a little. Knowing from personal experience that she’d be able to breathe while inside the thing, he couldn’t help the moment of exhilaration he felt that his sudden, last-second plan had worked. Now to get her out of danger! “GO!” he roared at the astral pony. “Get her back to the camp!”
“Acknowledged,” replied the creature in a distortion of his own voice. Immediately, it began to gallop back towards the distant train station, and Lex quickly turned his attention back to the monster. Now he just had to keep it occupied for a few moments, and then Nosey would be out of danger, and he could kill the thing without having to worry about anyone else.
But even as he turned to look at the creature, it was already taking action. Wriggling, its distended body slid up off the ground without hesitation, undulating through the air with a speed that would have put a pegasus to shame. “And where do you think YOU’RE going?!” snarled its voices hatefully. An instant later, Lex felt magical energies gathering, and he surged toward the creature, calling an attack spell to mind. Got to make it focus on me! he raged internally. Got to buy Nosey time-
A second later, once again without any words or gestures, the creature’s magic discharged, and Lex had just enough time to recognize it as the same dispelling spell that he’d used to force the creature out of Nosey…except much more powerful. The next moment, it struck the astral pony he’d conjured, and the magic holding it together unraveled immediately. In an instant, the giant unicorn winked out of existence and Nosey fell limply to the ground. Lex’s heart leapt into his throat as he watched her bonelessly hit the grassy plain, and it was small comfort when he saw her twitch a moment later.
“I said before that you made me angry,” chorused the monster as it turned back toward him, hanging in the air. “Now, I’m going to show you just what that means.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.096 seconds
Total duration
947 users online
1,405,944 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Hmm, I wonder if this creature's powers are innate to itself or if it's due to the gems orbiting around it. Either way, Lex is seemingly outclassed in terms of magic at the moment so he'll need to outsmart it. Still, I wonder
Of course, now I'm worried about what you told me in your PM and how you'll implement them. I have a fair idea of what you intend to do but I'll keep quiet on that for the time being.
p.s:I'm liking the cover art. When did you put it up? Or has it been there for a while and I didn't notice until now. Been a little scatterbrained lately
I see you finally got some cover art. It looks good.
The combat is just warming up. It seems folks like the art.
Well, all my guesses on what this thing is were wrong. My initial guess was an intellect devourer, but I figured I was wrong since they're psionic, not necromatic. Current guess is some sort of demon.
Edit: Was close, it's a Belier Devil
My first reaction on seeing it using items.
Oh Crud, multielemental and others.
And heres Lex without his bag of a thousand each buffs, nerfs, and Severance Pay.
8720289 If you look at the creature's stat block, now that it's been positively identified, you'll be able to get a good overview of its powers. Likewise, the stones orbiting its heads are all specific magic items as well, so it's entirely possible to look up what they are and what they do. Overall, I'll say that the vast majority of the creature's power is innate, and the magic items are providing relatively modest enhancements.
That said, Lex does indeed look to be outgunned in terms of magical ability. Given that he's not having the easiest time getting Nosey off the battlefield, things aren't looking good, at least if this opening exchange is any indicator. Hopefully he's got some ideas in mind for how to overcome this thing, because it looks like it's about to go on the offensive.
The cover art is new, only having been added roughly two days ago. I figured it was long past time for me to have some made, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out!
8720584 Lex still has his handy haversack, and hopefully he's got something in there that can help him with this thing, because so far it's not looking too good.
8720327 Thanks! I'm quite enamored of it!
8720370 This chapter was just the opening exchanges, with Lex trying to get Nosey off the battlefield as the monster taunts him. The real fight is just beginning.
That said, I'm really glad everyone likes the artwork!
8720387 Congratulations on being the first to correctly identify the creature!
For those wondering what it looks like, here's a fairly accurate picture (though being in Equestria has equinized its heads a little). Another one is over here.
ok this thing is going to be a real SOB to put down.
I seems i was right : lower planes denizen with magic jar
8721979 Yeah, this doesn't look like it's going to be an easy fight.
8722993 Yeah, though I'll note that I technically went with the recommendation to switch out magic jar for greater possession.
8720902 Dangit, I spent an hour going through bestiaries and I still needed a clue. Ah well, fun times anyway.
I was sure the monster was one of the newer creatures that have the spell Possession instead of Magic Jar, totally forgetting the one creature that has a modified version of Magic Jar that actually works more like Possession does.
8720892 Yeah, Lex is really boned. He doesn't even seem to realize it's an outsider yet. A caster soloing a creature that can Greater Dispel Magic at will? Hopefully our boy will switch to electricity attacks and get some Protection from Energy (Acid) up fast.
8723764 I could tell that was where you were looking based on the nature of your guesses.
You were definitely thinking along the right set of lines, but were a little too focused on the more recent round of monsters. Still, I'm glad the suspense was fun while it lasted!
As for Lex...you've touched on a bit about Knowledge skills that I've never liked, which is how each skill covers such a broad range of topics, particularly where monsters are concerned. Lex has a great deal of planar knowledge (+22 to Knowledge (planes) as of right now) from studying the topic back on Everglow, when he was desperately trying to figure out how to get back to Equestria. But according to the game rules, that means that he should also have a high chance of knowing the basic powers, abilities, weaknesses, etc. of every type of Outsider, despite just how many of them there are. I can understand why the game made that rule, but for a narrative sequence it robs the reader of figuring out what this thing is alongside Lex, going through the rising tension as he has to figure out what does and doesn't work. It's less interesting, at least to me, if he can take one look at it and rattle off its pertinent details (particularly now that he has Luck for skill checks).
On the other hand, given that he has studied the planes, there's an argument to be made that he should have at least some information. I may try to split the difference here in later chapters.
By the by, here's a fun fact: the belier devil was originally a 3.5 monster. It debuted in Pathfinder #12: Crown of Fangs, the last adventure of the original Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path. The Pathfinder APs didn't convert to the Pathfinder RPG rules until #25, the beginning of the Council of Thieves AP (which is when the Pathfinder RPG rules were published).
8723875 It's definitely a bit of nonsense that a knowledge check gets you such incredibly broad categories, I agree. There are huge differences between different subcategories of creatures that fit under a mere 6 knowledge skills, that don't really make sense. Honestly I'd love it if they had knowledge "subcategories" like "Knowledge Fiends," as long as 1 skill point bought you like 5 points across subcategories.
That said, outsiders in particular are built with a ton of specific defenses (DR types, energy resistances, some specific vulnerabilities). An outsider who can't be knowledge-checked is effectively a CR or two higher than their actual score, if the PC has to spend multiple rounds A/B testing attacks to see what works, or guess what type of special attacks that monster will throw out and factor it into tactics.
8724044 The kicker here is that Eclipse, the supplement I used to build Lex's statistics, allows for the sort of tweaking wherein splitting Knowledge skills like that is possible. It could be done several different ways, in fact. I didn't do so for one simple reason: it's cumbersome to define and list every specific area where a character has knowledge of a subject (and that's before you get into quantifying how much knowledge they possess). In other words, this goes back to the divide between a game and a story, which remains difficult to bridge. That's especially a problem if the character isn't one you've personally played up to a given point, since then you're required to flesh out their backstory much more than you otherwise might.
Ultimately, this isn't an insurmountable problem, but that it's a problem in the first place is one that can be surprising if you're not ready for it. I essentially ignored this issue when Lex fought the dragon (given that he has a huge bonus to Knowledge (arcana) but got its breath weapon's energy type wrong), but that was basically a single offensive power; here it's much more expansive. I'll just need to handle it as best I can, I suppose.
Also, have you identified those different ioun stones yet?
8725188 They ain't crafted an ioun stone I don't know. Clearly this guy has a +1 Competence bonus to almost everything (though if he was smart, he'd have saved his gold and just bought 2 cracked pale green prisms instead and still got the competence bonus on attacks and saves), a slightly higher caster level, an insight bonus to his AC, he doesn't need to breathe air, and his intelligence is enhanced. That last one is a bit surprising, shouldn't his SLAs be keyed off his CHA rather than his INT?
8725554 You're right about that last one. It's there for a different reason.
the lex and sonata thing is doomed to fail.
Sonata is praying to the goddess of love tragedies.
8729231 Actually, Sonata's prayers to Kara are an intermittent thing, and more of a "I better call my buddy for some advice" rather than a true expression of faith. Kara knows that, and was counting on Sonata to simply put the word out rather than founding new branch of her religion.
This thing says it's more powerful than Lex, but given that it has lied about everything else, maybe believing it isn't the best course of action.
9217257 Maybe. But then again, I suspect that it's about to make some sort of demonstration.