Pahhu: Shifting Sands of Time 7: Schisms

Marinette, under the sway of the fiend’s suggestion rounded the corner with purpose, sighting Tona the panther. Heavy footsteps pounded the sand as every muscle fiber in Marinette’s body resisted simultaneously resisted the compulsion and wound itself up to deliver death to her old friends and new enemies. Her heavy greataxe cut through the air and slammed into Tona’s side, winding the panther and nearly cleaving her in twain. A quick gauntleted backhand knocked the panther unconscious, and Marinette seized Tona up by the neck and began to carry her forward. Theodore, some distance down the hallway began to rush forward, still unable to see what had happened clearly.
 
Marinette charged forward, Tona hefted by the neck in one hand, axe in the other as she rounded the corner. She flung the panther bodily at Theodore, nearly bowling him over before charging with her axe and chopping into her mercilessly. Theodore was shocked at the ferocity, and at the state of Tona, dying by Marinette’s assault. Thinking to buy time he attempted to polymorph Marinette into a symbol of peace, shrinking her into a harmless dove.
 
The fiend seeing his puppet rendered helpless raged, teeth gnashing and claws slashing as he ripped into the dove, reverting it to Marinette and shredding her flesh, shattering his own magics on her. Marinette was barely alive, but snapped back to her senses she snarled and spun her rage onto the fiend, gouging into his flesh with the axe. Theodore, seeing this and hoping for the best unleashed a powerful healing pulse into Marinette and Tona, reviving the panther, as he hoped to stem the tide of the battle in their favor. The fiend only laughed and reached into Marinette’s mind again, his now repaired toy fit to play with again. “Finish him!” The fiend roared and Marinette turned towards Theodore once again, hacking into him and leaving him reeling.
 
Tona began to flee at this point to get help, running towards the remaining party to try to guide them to the battle. Theodore, up against overwhelming odds tapped into his shapeshifting magic and took the form of a Giant Ape, hoping to withstand the withering assault of the pair. Theodore though in a moment of brilliance took the form of a female Giant Ape, and in doing so broke the suggestion: there was no more ‘him’ to finish.
 
The fiend growled in fury, and changed his command over Marinette to cut apart the gorilla and anything inside of it! She complied, hacking into the great beast, but Theodore maintained his shroud of magic even as he rained blows upon the fiend hoping to disrupt its concentration. The combined assault of Marinette and the Fiend proved too much at last as the ape was shattered and Theodore was overwhelmed, the jaws of the fiend closing around him as he lost consciousness, his body being swallowed whole by the creature, its first meal in untold centuries.
 
Pahhu turned the corner just in time to see one of Theodore’s legs slide down the creature’s gullet, and see Marinette’s enraged form charge her with intent to kill. Slipping around Marinette, Pahhu vanished into thin air, moving faster than the eyes could see and becoming invisible as she tried to make a run towards pulling Theodore out; she was too late, there was nothing left of him. With Pahhu having vanished Marinette charged towards the party trailing her, crashing into Ed and critically wounding him, nearly felling him in a single enormous blow.
 
Tona and Nyx charged Marinette, arrows and claw strikes tearing into the maddened woman as Ed tried to chain her down with his flail. Jorah mended the horrible wound and kept Ed fighting against the onslaught. Marinette raised her axe, ready to swing on Ed once more but she stopped, still as a statue as Pahhu faded back into view, her time magic paralyzing Marinette. Ed took advantage of the situation and slammed his flail into Marinette, the chain wrapping tightly and Barnaby rose up from the stand nearby and with a heavy swing of his earthen club and knocked Marinette out, her body falling flat in the sand nearby.
 
The beast cackled at the sight and strode forth, helping himself to another meal as his claws impaled Marinette’s body and he then swallowed her whole. Marinette was dead. Filled with vengeful fury the party fought for the two they had lost, hoping to pull them from the stomach of the beast in time. Magic missiles shredded into the fiend, flail and earthen club slammed him and a whirl of claws and short swords cut into creature, when at last it fell to a ray of freezing energy, its body crystallizing with the ice. Barnaby cracked through it with his club, the black ichor of the dissolving fiend quickly revealing the bodies of Theodore and Marinette.
 
Ed reached forward with holy energy and revivified Theodore, aided by Pahhu bending time in his favor. Theodore coughed and sputtered to life. Ed then repeated the ritual on Marinette, once again aided by Pahhu, though Pahhu felt a twinge as her exhausted body struggled to channel the time magic. Something was wrong, though it wasn’t clear what had happened.
 
As Marinette revived screaming, Pahhu struggled one last time to cast a spell, trying to hold Marinette and prevent her from doing any more harm, and even as Marinette halted in time Pahhu’s vision began to swim. The strain of using her time magic, the blood loss to the vampires, and the explosive shockwave from earlier at last overwhelmed her and she passed out, collapsing to the sand below, spilling her belongings, including the two journals among them across the ground.
 
Freed from the control Marinette rages at the dissolving body of the fiend, crashing her fists into the ground and nearby walls. Trust had been broken all around, and death has come far too close to claiming them all today. Deciding to return to the inner sanctuary to regroup, Jorah hefted the unconscious Pahhu, picking up her things and noticing the two journals. On arriving the group recentered and tried to figure out next steps, though they were soon cut short as Jorah began reading aloud from Pahhu Kilaniu, Time Warden’s journal, a record of what was to be from a future incarnation of the unconscious Pahhu.
 
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(Dear readers, for purposes of story I am not privy to the contents of this journal. What was learned by Nyx, Theodore, Marinette, Jorah and Ed I do not know.)
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What the party learned from this journal was shocking. They began to consider next steps but were soon interrupted as a human man called out to them from the darkness. The man was Jamedi Bones, an explorer, an archaeologist who delved into ancient ruins. Thinking themselves lucky they began to speak to him, learning more about Synod. Nearly an hour later though Pahhu began to come to, and nearly had a panic attack at the sight of the man. She had seen this man die, had seen his body interred at the Hospitaller. The party laughed off Pahhu’s outburst, but she was convinced that she had seen this man die. Pahhu’s instincts told her something was wrong, this was a man out of time. A man both here and then; he was a Bothness, and instinctively she knew a Bothness was very, very wrong.
 
Pahhu asked Jamedi about his life and what time he thought he was and it soon became clear that he indeed was a past version of Jamedi Bones, before his death. Jorah looked upon him with a gaze to detect any magic responsible for bringing him to this place, and confirmed the suspicion. Theodore attempted to dispel the magic, but it was Jorah who ultimately untangled the weave responsible for this time aberration. As the Bothness of Jamedi Bones faded, Pahhu felt the twinge from her earlier spellcasting fade. Pahhu must have brought him here when she lost control of her magic. A sense of rightness came over Pahhu and Jorah as the magic ended.
 
The party realized that if this Jamedi Bones knew of Synod then perhaps the now’s version of Jamedi Bones would as well, even if he was dead. Exhausted and wounded, and in Theodore’s case in need of new clothes, the party decided to return to Lerwick having made no travel progress. Jorah, having a talent for speaking with the dead went with Ed and Pahhu to the Hospitaller, where they spoke with the body of Jamedi Bones.
 
They asked their questions. Learning more specifically where Synod had crashed, as well as more details of the city. They also learned that the Temple of Time was a fabled place, no one could ever find it. They asked about the holy relic, and confirmed it allowed others to look into the past. Lastly they asked about the Bedine tribes, and Jamedi knew nothing of this. His spirit returned to rest, the party went to their’s as well.
 
Regrouping at Hyssop Home, Theodore arrived in a rather different outfit and now donning a mask. The party spoke briefly of the day’s events and their next steps. Pahhu showed Jorah and Theodore to rooms prepared for them, and Marinette went upstairs to visit Charva and the kobold. Many conversations and considerations troubled their sleep that night, what had happened? How quickly things had fallen apart, and how would they face each other the next day?