Taisper
Zander
Berrin
Hydra
Jemini
Nikolai
Taisper
Verik
Zander
If not for Nikolai's warning, none of the group fording the river would see the six heads rising from the water and rapidly approaching them. With the horses trying their best to keep their heads above the water, everyone except Nikolai simply fails to see the odd lumps in the river moving towards them. Even Verik and Zander, sitting on the river bank, don't notice them. Six heads rise in tandem out of the water, covered in greenish black scales and displaying cunning animalistic eyes. It is still a few moments away, but rapidly approaching.
Any adventurer knows the reputation and name of a fearsome multi-headed beast: the hydra. It rushes towards them swiftly and silently, riding the current and preparing to ambush them from the water that conceals its huge body underneath the surface.
"Sarenrae's Caress! What is that? A hydra?"
Seeing the dreadful heads of the creature emerge from the river's surface, Verik mumbles a blessing for Virtue's stubbornness about the water, which turns to a half-hearted curse as he realizes nearly everyone else is squarely in the path of the monster. "A foul spawn of Lamashtu," he finally manages to speak aloud. "Get out of there!"
"Go-go-go! We can cover you from here." Zander is already reaching for his bow and preparing to dismount.
Nettles faced this and still wants to ferry the river? The man must be insane.
"Gods. That's a hydra!" He yelled, dropping into the deep water as he gave his horse a smack. Through his clouded eyes, Nikolai could see that Jemini was slap-bang in the middle of the ford. It was she who was in the most danger. I'll go back to hell before I let anything happen to her. He thought to himself, determined to see her safe. "You two, get away from the bank. We need to get clear!"
"Berrin, Taisper, go back! Get out of the water! You want to get eaten?" There was a sudden shift to the large man, like an echo of the Stag Lord that still flowed through his voice and posture. "Hells woman. Jemini, get out of the water! You need to swim. MOVE!"
As he neared the Paladin , Nikolai continued to speak. "We need fire. Fire or acid. It's the only thing that'll kill it for good."
Nikolai fought down the fear that bubbled inside him. Not for himself, but for the woman caught in the middle of the river. This was it. This is the moment.
Taisper laughs. "Eeeaasy there, Nikolai. You're acting like none of us has ever been in a fight before." You're also acting like this is your first one. I think I preferred you as the Stag Lord, honestly. The inquisitor shakes his head, possessed of that same perfect and eerie calm he always has in battle. It's obvious to him why Nikolai is so worked up; Jemini is in danger. as if she needs another damn one of them falling all lapping and eyes and look look and this won't lead to know you watch boy "Berrin and I will do what we gotta, you focus on getting Je-...on what you're doing. And no, I wasn't fixin' to get eaten this afternoon, to answer your question." He gives the former Stag Lord a wry smile. "Thanks for the info on Hydras, it's much 'preciated. Can't remember a thing 'bout 'em myself. Musta slept during that class. "
Relaxing a moment in the saddle, then, Taisper looks back at the river bank, forward towards the others, then stares flintily at the hydra, considering his options.
Jemini tries to urge her horse all the way across onto the banks of the river. "Berrin! Taisper! Get on land! Quickly!"
Zander dismounts and trusts the horse to at least not plunge headlong into the ford. Clear of the horse, he he takes careful aim. He times the motion of just one of the heads, watching its rhythm as the hydra swims, and lets fly. The arrow nearly skims the water before sinking deep into one of the necks.
Perhaps that will distract it from Jemini
Taisper guides his mount around quickly but carefully, wanting to get to shore before the Hydra gets to him. He is not a particularly skilled rider and would rather not be dumped in the drink by a skittish horse, where his equally mediocre swimming skills would probably be of even less use than usual given the fact he was clad in armor. As he makes his way back to the south shore, he calls forth protective magics from the Master, ringing himself with a dim golden light.
The hydra bursts from the water, rushing ahead with unlikely speed in the water. Its powerful claws strike the bed of the ford and dig in, as its fearsome six heads emerge fully from the water with myriad screeches. The injury from Zander's arrow seems to be staunching quickly, far faster than normal healing, turning the water red first, then pink, then clear. The hydra's heads lash out with sharp, vicious teeth, snapping at all in range. While Taisper and Jemini have done their best to get their horses out of danger, the normally swift beasts are quite slow in the water. With Taisper mere feet from making his way onto the river bank, and Jemini and Berrin not far behind him, the hydra swims closer to the south side to ambush them there.
The six heads strike six different targets. The hydra misses Taisper, Nikolai, and Jemini: Jemini by dodging backwards, as if she knew where its mouth would snap shut; Taisper with a flash of divine light warding off the teeth; Nikolai simply with the same enchanted armor that Verik salvaged from his body a year past. Their horses are not so successful. One of the hydra's heads tears a bloody chunk from Nikolai's horse, which shrieks in pain despite its size and temperament. The water slows one of the other heads just enough for Jemini to push her horse away, but another of its heads scrapes its teeth along Taisper's horse flank.
The pair of injured horses both shudder with pain and fear, but maintain control over themselves and do not flee from the terrible beast in front of them.
From atop Virtue, Verik orders his mind and clutches his holy medallion of Abadar from around his neck, loudly uttering a prayer for all to hear. "Master of the First, First above All, grant a boon to your servant and his allies to strike down this foul beast!" A faint shimmering pulse emanates from the medallion and spreads most of the way across the river, chiming in the ears of his friends and allies with a perfectly clear note.
Verik then wheels his horse around and away from the riverbank to clear the ford, reaching down to pull at the drawstrings tying his crossbow to the saddlebag.
"HYAH! Comon Valnyr! Out of the water!" Berrin shouts as he urges Valnyr out of the waters on the southern side of the river, guiding the beast with his knees he fishes out his rope from his backpack. Kicking his feet out of the stirrups he swings one foot over Valnyr and slides off the beast, rope in hand. "We need to disable that thing somehow! If you've got a rope! Now's the time to use it!" he hollers at his companions, setting to tying a lasso from his rope.
Nikolai instinctively tries to draw on the wells of rage that he carried as a burden for so long, but finds that part of himself gone along with the surge in strength that it gave him. He is still a powerful man, easily swimming against the current towards the hydra. One of its heads lashes out at him while he thrusts forwards with the greatsword in his powerful hands, but the resistance from the water stymies them both. His greatsword seems to hum with an achingly familiar energy when he swings it, causing the water to steam and bubble briefly as it passes through.
"You can do it, nice and easy, don't be afraid, just go steady steady steady, nicely done, just keep going," Jemini urges her horse along.
The man swims out to fight a Hydra? I guess that is what makes one a King....or a corpse. Zander watches as one of the heads inevitably swivels round to attack the floundering Nikolai. "That's it....a little lower...look at the bobbing food..he looks tasty...open wide now..." <TWANG>
He then looses the shot
The second shot goes wide as the beast's heads writhe from his first arrow
Taisper nudges his horse forward, glad the creature didn't dump him when it got bit. Perhaps he will reward it with healing once this is all over. As the animal slowly trudges forward back onto the shore, the inquisitor draws his bow the same time he summons an acid orb into his dominant hand. After imbuing the orb with a fraction of his holy power to increase its damage he flings it at the Hydra, glad for Nikolai's advice, if not his presence right in the creature's range. The little caustic ball slaps into the hydra's chest, sizzling and frying, obviously causing the thing pain and damage which it cannot regenerate or fast heal.
Zander's arrow plunges into the creature's heart through the water; only its regenerative flesh prevents it from being instantly fatal. The next few moments are utter chaos. It lashes out unsuccessfully at Jemini as she shepherds her horse to safety while turning towards Zander. As it rushes to exact its revenge, the swimming Nikolai lashes out with his sword and splits a bloody gash in its side while Taisper pelts the beast with a ball of acid. It pounces on Taisper, rising out of the water in a spray of violent rage, all six of its heads reaching out with razor-sharp teeth to shred the archer. Three of the bites tear into Zander's skin, leaving him with bloody gashes. With a roar, the creature prepares to dive back into the water to escape, having not expected such swift and terrible resistance.
"Taisper! To me man!" Verik shouts with horror as he sees the hydra inflict a series of horrific gashes upon Zander, and in response calls forth whatever power he can to bring the beast down.
"Master, I call your aid for a weapon of your divine inspiration to slay this spawn!" The air hums in front of the cleric as golden motes of light appear and form the shape of a finely crafted golden light crossbow, elaborately engraved on the stock and crossbar. It streaks forward to just a little ways distant from the hydra and loads itself a bolt with a series of mechanical clicks and whirls, then releases the golden bolt directly at the spot where Zander's arrow found its mark just seconds before.
To Verik's surprise and relief the bolt crashes directly into the beast with a solid impact, cracking bone and widening the horrible wound inflicted by Zander's arrow. Seeing Zander's wounds however and not waiting to assess the effectiveness of his spell, Verik dismounts Virtue to rush and aid his friend.
Seeing the thing shudder and fall as it is struck by the golden crossbow Berrin hesitates with his rope in hand. "Is it dead?" he asks hesitantly, still ready for action with his blood pounding in his ears. "Is everyone alright?" he asks, moving down the riverbank.
"Well done Verik! Now get to Zander!" Jemini leads by example, slightly awkwardly pushing her way through the water. She leaves her horse on the other side, not wanting to spook it by making it get close to the monster.
Zander watches the enraged creature turn and look at him, "Well Verik, I got its attention. Look out!"
The next moments are a blur, as the creature charges. The sky was blotted out by reptilian heads and flashing teeth. He swats furtively at the heads with his bow, trying to keep them at bay, but again and again, he felt the teeth score his flesh. Until the moment comes that the heads drop away, to loll onto the ground, dead.
Coming back to his senses in the wake of the fight. With a wry grin as the blood drips off his arms and face, "Well, its good to see no one in the ford got hurt."
Nikolai treads water with his powerful legs as the hydra collapses in the water, pierced by Abadar's golden shaft. Its heads limply loll, some in the water and some on the shore in front of the injured Zander. Nikolai turns until he sees the others, especially Jemini. "Looks like we got it!"
"You ok there Zander?" Berrin shouts over the waters, concern in his voice.
"Tais...gah Zander I mean, I'm coming to you, so do not exert yourself." Good to see a fight addles my brain like it always did...
"I can heal the horses if we...how can that be?"
"Did you finish it off, Verik?"
Zander draws another arrow, eying the reptilian heads laying around him with slight suspision.
"Verik what is it?" Taisper was about to begin crossing the ford holds his position on the south bank, but his cousin's strange, cut off question gives him pause. For now he holds his position and begins to incant his acid spell again, remembering Nikolai's words and cursing himself for not knowing more magic involving fire or acid or other caustic effects. "Verik, man, what do you see? I'm not settin' foot back in that river 'til I know."
The hydra's body lifelessly hangs in the water, the current of the river pulling two of its heads slowly downriver. Its bright red blood flows freely into the water, bringing to mind Tandlara's eerie prediction to Jemini. However, when Verik shouts out a warning that it is still alive, the hydra's heads rise again, looking in all directions for a way to escape.
As it starts to dive under the water, Zander launches an arrow at it while Taisper shoots a bolt of acid and Berrin tries to throw a lasso at it. The hydra's head takes a solid tearing bite out of Zander's leg, nearly throwing him off balance but not stopping his deadly aim. The arrow burrows deep in its body, causing the beast to collapse on the shore. Taisper's acid splash hits the water with a hiss, but doesn't strike the collapsing hydra. This time, it is clear that it is still alive but unconscious. Its wounds slowly mend themselves shut while it breathes raggedly. It will be awake soon unless they finish it off.
Zander stumbles back from the beast, rasping for breath, "Finish the beast already. I don't think I can stand to see it rise again."
He presses a hand against the jagged slash in his leg, but still maintains a firm grip on his bow with his other, if needed.
"Gah the bastard beast lives!" Verik finally sputters out the words in frustration as he shakes his head and moves to action, drawing a wooden club as he rushes to Zander's bloodied side. "I can see its chest restoring scale and sinew by itself and...and is pushing out Zander's arrows!
As he reaches Zander he shouts with all the menace he can muster at the deadly creature. "YAAA EAT STEEL YOU SODDEN SNAKEHEADS! With a thump of his club to his breastplate and his left hand clutching his symbol, a pulse of raw white energy bursts forth across Zander and their horses, as well as washing across the water through Nikolai and his injured steed, but oddly coursing around the hydra as if oil to water.
Verik's floating golden crossbow finishes loading its second bolt with an audible click and fires once again at the beast, skimming the water's surface to slam into its body with a violent impact, though it pales in comparison to Zander's lethal arrows.
"Again! Shoot it again!" Berrin shouts at the top of his lungs as he pulls with all his might on the rope now lassoed to one of the hydras head.
With a worldless roaring growl, the Stag Lord comes rushing back in all but name as Nikolai brings his sword down upon the beast before him. Dripping with reddened water as he wades up the bank of the river, Nikolai looks almost frenzied for a moment. It hangs there, reminiscent of his execution of the bandit in Oleg's Trading Post a year ago, and a reminder that his past may be something he is trying to put behind him, but may always be a part of him. The blow split the hydra in half, clearly slaying it without giving its miraculous healing ability a chance to repair the damage.
His face a carefully-assembled mask of neutrality, Taisper watches Nikolai very closely. Then, slowly, his eyes track the last few feet of Jemini's swim. From there he takes a moment and looks down and back up the river, assuming the blood is going to attract new monstrosities.
Jemini continues to cross the river, her eyes set on Zander who's terrible gashes and streams of blood make it a wonder that he's standing and shouting at all.
Panting a bit from the encounter, still holding a hand against his leg, "That....that would have put a sizable dent in our trade from the south. It could eat an entire caravan on its own."
He looks about for his horse, but realizes he should get his wounds looked at, before he tries to go try to collect it.
Verik watches both Nikolai and then Jemini climb up to the northern side of the ford, looking critically at both for wounds as they get out of the water. He stows his club with one hand even as he steadies Zander on the shoulder with his other hand. "Caravans, wagon trains, herds of cattle...hrm hopefully Master Nettles did not come by this way in his search for a new boat."
With several audible clicks a third crossbow bolt loads, fires and smashes into the hydra's rent body, breaking its hide needlessly. "Oh by Cobblehoof's Cry..." Verik irritably waves his hand at the crossbow as if to shoo it away, and with a final series of clicks and whirls it disappears from view.
Jemini finally reaches the Warden, and is quick to look over his wounds - carefully laying her hands on the two most prominent gashes.
"Well...just a bit out of practice there is all," says Verik looking quizzically at Zander's wounds. "Here Zander sit down and let's get you patched up a bit before our crossing." Verik returns to Virtue and fishes out a well-packed bag of cloth, herbs and healing ungents, settling in to work on the warrior's wounds after expending another divine spell on the one that looks most threatening.
Zander never fails to be amazed by the power of such healing as he watches th worst of his wounds stich and knit together. Is it just more faith that allows that...is that something I lack?
But he looks up appreciatively. "Thank you, both of you, for that. Seems this land will always be in need of drastic healing till we can clear all beasts as savage such as this one."
Berrin stands still, a bit shocked, with his rope hanging limply in his hands after Nikolai's roaring finish, images of the snarling Stag Lord coming all to readily to his mind. Glancing at Taisper he reassures himself that he still has the stag helm on his head before turning his gaze back to Nikolai. 'Well. At least he's on our side this time.' he concludes a bit hesitantly and shrugging starts to reel in his rope to put away.
"Brings back memories don't it? Seeing him swing that sword, eh?" he mumbles to Taisper as he reels in the wet rope.
Taisper walks over to his horse and looks curiously at the brave creature. He gives it an awkward pat on the shoulder, causing it to roll its eyes nervously and twitch its tail. The inquisitor then speaks clearly in Celestial and sends a surge of healing power through the horse's body, instantly healing over the terrible bite wounds it received. The mount nickers happily but shows Taisper no affection, instead standing ready to move on and attempt the ford a second time. For his part, Taisper seems not to notice one way or the other how the animal feels, and certainly isn't bothered by its aloofness, if that's even what it is.
The young Abadarian looks over when Berrin comments and nods slowly. "Yes. Yes it does. " He steps in and helps him with the rope, saying no more.
Jemini looks relieved, as the grievous wounds on Zander rapidly fade under the power of divine magic. "That was unpleasant. But also telling," she says, "That thing basically came back to life! Just like in the stories - and just like the trolls are supposed to have too. Maybe this isn't a mere chance encounter. What you think?" She addresses the question to Zander and Verik, who are close at hand.
"I am not sure how anyone - troll or otherwise - could get a monstrous spawn such as this to stay in a spot and hunt where it would not otherwise wish to. Even if they could, it would have been better if part of a clever ambush on both sides of the river, would it not?"
Verik looks around then, over across the bank at his cousin and then gazing across the countryside around them as if heralding some sort of ambush simply by speaking of it, but then shakes his head and starts packing up his healing kit.
Zander gathers in his horse. "The reports have been pretty specific about the trolls. A hydra, well, that's the first I heard of this short of a children's story. Let's hope they are not in league, for something to keep this as a pet, will be a formidable foe."
He mounts and looks to again start fording the river.