Pahhu: Shifting Sands of Time 11: Elemental Time

Without answers once more the group decided to return to Synod and investigate more of the buildings. Starting with the house in the middle that contained an undisturbed humanoid, even after all this time… As they approached the house a green figure screeched from the window and pointed a crossbow at them, demanding that they halt. The figure turned out to be a goblin, by the name of Fred, who had claimed to live within the ruins for six years. After learning a bit of Fred’s past the group decided to check the Palace structure next, but Fred overheard them and decided he would claim whatever treasures lay there first.
 
The palace itself was sealed air tight, only an incredibly complicated mechanical lock on the front door offering any way inside. With some careful teamwork Nyx and Pahhu managed to disarm and unlock the mechanism, and the door swung open into a surprisingly clean and intact interior. They soon found themselves in a great hall, with tremendous marble pillars leading to a throne from which an enormous red jeweled necklace glinted. Perhaps a symbol of royalty or power?
 
Fred, seeing the jewel claimed it for his own and ran forward, only for Pahhu to chase right behind him. Right as they reached the throne and Fred’s hands touched the gem though a blast of blue-grey sand and crackling energy burst out and surrounded the two of them. The whirling sands quickly ground Fred to dust, but Pahhu, who had felt this force before dodged out of the worst of it. The whirling mass formlessly erupted, Pahhu leapt back swinging her sword through it by reflex as she began to flee. The party had encountered a Greater Time Elemental.
 
As the temporal energy crackled and sparked through the air, additional rips into the temporal energy plane flared through the room as the dust and grime that always clung to Pahhu began to blow into the room and swirl around, the pristine area now a raging sandstorm. From the chaos two bodies of static formed, taking the shape of humanoids drawing great bows. Two orbs of sand, electricity arcing from them soon followed. The battle had begun.
 
Great lances of force and static flew from the archers’ bows, slamming into the party in devastating barrages. The attacks seemed so powerful that even using them pulled from the very essence of the archers. The crackling orbs however replenished them, restoring them almost as quickly. The Greater Time Elemental, a cascading whirlwind of energy surged forth, blinking in and out of the material plane as it buffeted Marinette and Ed with corrosive slams of physicality and entropic power.
 
The elementals were terrible durable, and their sandy form made them difficult to pin down. Nyx’s arrows and Tona’s claws sliced right through the whirling sand, and even Marinette’s axe found little purchase. Only bludgeoning damage crushing through their forms and magical attacks seemed to have significant effect.
 
Pahhu seeing the way her foes were using this desynchronized form to their advantage attempted to stabilize them by re-tuning them to standard time, casting her Desynchronization (Synaptic Static) spell in reverse. As the energy coursed through the elementals it triggered a surge of temporal energy.
 
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(Dear readers, once again the d10,000 table was used. In this case Pahhu rolled 3,407. http://www.traykon.com/pdf/The_Net_Libram_of_Random_Magical_Effects.pdf which caused her weapon to become charged with 3 casts of Synaptic Static.)
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Pahhu’s clock-hand rapier surged with crackling power, humming in her hand. Pahhu had always believed the old clock-tower’s minute hand had been magical ever since it had been struck by lightning, but the way it held onto and stabilized the temporal energy surprised even her.
 
As the battle raged one pair of the archers and sigils were unraveled, falling into a pile of sand and even that soon withering to nothingness. Marinette soaked blow after blow from the elementals, and Ed coralled them, keeping them from getting out of the melee. Jorah’s magic mended the party’s wounds, and saved them from a similar fate to poor Fred who had seemingly been ground to nothingness in but a second.
 
Pahhu lifted her sword and cut the air, unleashing the spells. All of the energy poured out, and the other pair of Archer and Sigil were discorporated instantly as the temporal wave cut through them and scattered the sand that had made their form. Pahhu reeled from the magical power, but managed to control it, despite losing feeling in her hand. She dropped her rapier in surprise and shook her hand as if she had burned it.
 
The Greater Time Elemental though was still raging, and it called forth a lesser time elemental to assist it. It blinked into and out of the plane, but soon was disrupted as Marinette slammed her fist through it, raking gashes of sand from its form. It lost control of the lesser elemental and it destabilized, flitting from existence. With a final gasp the elemental was finally stabilized and crushed.
 
That left the gem and the throne, and as Ed reached out for it the palace began to fill with a sickly light that burned all of them. Pahhu ran for the door, but Marinette chose to try to crush the throne and with a few heavy axe blows she reduced it to rubble. The stones still shone with sickly light, but Jorah dispelled the magic of the throne and the palace was clear. They explored some of the side rooms, and found a few things of interest, but no knowledge to lead them any further…
 
What were those strange storming, whirling elementals? Why did their form look so similar to Pahhu’s magic? What had happened to Pahhu’s father that his story had ended so abruptly? Their search for answers had only brought more questions…