Chapter 3.10: Sekhenun's End
The voices are silent.
We'll let you decide on this. We're... ah... washing our hands of all responsibility.
We should be giving him a way back here, but honestly, we don't really want to see that insufferable twat again either.
You have the opportunity to act with free will right now. It seems that the voices aren't too keen on bringing this Ra back either. Since they're unwilling to be responsible for this, though... well, you don't really care for gods anyway.
You crush the Sceptre with your hands and stomp on the pieces. Naram is dumbfounded. "You... traitor."
Well, that's it.
He's going to be really, really pissed if he ever finds out you did this.
We just have to make sure he never finds out. Stay optimistic, guys!
"If we work together, Naram, we can beat her -"
"YOU BLASPHEMER!" Naram jumps at you, his elderly form growing lesser in age. His hands close around your throat but you easily force them apart. He begins screaming and ranting. "Do you have any idea of how many worthless divine artifacts they have all over the place that they claim are able to summon the gods? Do you have any idea how long I spent trying to find something that could bring our masters back again? First Shulgi, and now you turn away from our masters!" His form changes again. Muscles bulge, his teeth lengthen into needle-like fangs, and his fingers turn to razor-sharp claws. You find his strength increasing rapidly, and you kick him away from you.
Masters? Didn't he talk about just one master before?
Naram roars in anger as he completes his transformation, standing a whole head taller than you. Samun and Kamun move to attack, coming from each side of him in perfect harmony. Their swords bite into his sides, but Naram does not appear to feel it. He bats them aside with a casual swing of his trunk-like arms. "How do you know this was not another of the fake artifacts, Naram?" you ask. "If Sekhenun knows, she would have destroyed it too."
"She doesn't, you fool! She doesn't know!"
"What don't I know?" Sekhenun stands in the doorway behind Naram, dressed in a tunic that was much more modest than her previous outfit. Her face was a mask of anger. You probe at her mind - there are shields up. You can't penetrate them - but you have no reason to believe she is not as angry as she looks.
Uh oh.
"Naram, we can beat her if we work together." you whisper urgently.
Sekhenun attacks before he can reply, her arms morphing and dividing into numerous tentacles that wrap around Naram's body. In the next instant, he changes form again, shrinking down into his normal size before darting underneath the tentacles. Sekhenun laughs, childlike. Her extended tentacles come shooting back towards Naram's back. You rush forward to guard him - as it is, he is still ostensibly on your side. It does not take more than a swing of your sword to cut down the tentacles. Sekhenun hisses at you. "So you are a dog after all. You disappoint me." You hear Naram give a small chuckle. He leaps over Sekhenun while her attention is focused on you, and lands behind her. You prepare to attack at the same time.
"I will not fight besides one who would betray me. Enjoy the hospitality of the Gieloth. May you rot for all eternity in their belly." Naram mutters angrily. Then he runs, dashing off into the corridors of the temple. "Wha - hey! Naram!" A sudden movement from Sekhenun snaps your attention back to her. She leaps at you while you're off guard, taking on a clawed, lithe form. You fend off the first couple of blows, but the third scratches your skin. You realize instantly that your regeneration isn't kicking in.
She's one tough cookie. She knows how to nullify the regen.
Oh man, maybe we should've just sucked it up and got the twat back to help us?
You shrug mentally. This just means that you have to fight as if you were mortal; you have not forgotten how. You adopt a defensive stance - your speed matches hers, and Sekhenun has little skill in battle. You taunt her with this. "You aren't very good at fighting for a god, are you?"
"I'm not a god of war, I'm a god of science!" she retorts, angrily.
Taking no more than a few more scratches, your countering strikes drive her back out of the chamber and into the corridor. In close combat, you are in your element. She was foolish to engage you like this - you are no Naram. You notice, however, your attacks weren't giving her any damage. Every cut you make in her body regenerates in mere seconds. You also don't see the tell-tale signs of host possession - her wounds bleed normally, with no signs of black tendrils writhing underneath.
Frustrated at being unable to reach you, Sekhenun gives an annoyed yell and falls back to using her limbs as tentacles. That proves to be a fatal mistake - you know how to fight tentacles very well, and she does not use it any better than her sisters used their tendrils. You duck and chop your way past their predictable flailing - giving her no time to shift her shape again - and you remove her head as she gasps in surprise. Wasting no time, you kick over the headless body and cut open the spine... only find that there is no core. It appears to look like a normal human spine in all aspects.
"Runi!" You hear Mutyre yelling from within the chamber, where they were taking care of the injured Samun and Kamun. "The head!"
Sekhenun's head had sprouted little tendrils which it was using to try to crawl away from you. You can't help but grin as you walk over to it, and put a foot on it, stopping it from moving.
you dog
"What?"
You dog. Get your foot off me. I yield.
"Begging for your life? Do you think I would trust you to be left alive?"
I don't expect you to. I trade my life in return for information. Your leash has told you little, Pahnrath's knowledge is fractured - I can give you more. I am the most learned of my sisters.
Having said that, her mental shields drop, and her mind opens up. You tentatively probe it - it appears that she will not be able to overpower you psychically, and it isn't a trap. Sekhenun's head looks up at you, expressionless. You do not feel any hope coming from her, only resignation.
"The last time I did this, I slept for three hundred years."
Information overload. We know too much for any human to digest even in ten thousand years. I will give you just enough that it will not fry your brain. Again.
"And for that, I let you go?"
If you wish to be something other than a mere dog, yes.
The head closes her eyes. Naram's sheep appear to have done a thorough job of cleaning house, as you sense no other living thing besides sheep in the temple. No matter what you choose, her power is broken here.
***
1. Sekhenun's Deal
A. You accept her offer of information.
B. You refuse her offer of information.
***
2. Sekhenun's Fate
A. You take advantage of her open mind to shatter it, just like you did with Pahnrath. You will take all the information.
B. You crush her head under your foot. She holds no hope for herself - show her that she is right.
C. You seal her head in a nearby jar and take it with you. You've always wanted a pet Gieloth!
D. You allow her head to crawl off. You are an honourable immortal, and even with your enemies you honour your deals.
(Some options might seem redundant, but it'll contribute to Ean's personality. Also, if you choose to pick information, there's an upcoming choice on what you will learn about.)
about Ean snuffing Naram and still beating Sekhenun. We need info however. Naram obviously knows much more about all this than we do, and even if we do have some of the Gieloth knowledge tucked away inside our minds, having a "guide" would be useful. We should be honourable and let her go, this would be in keeping with the previous choices we've made for the classical hero type:
