Bree seems over taken to her curiosity and squats down next to Kabal as he searches the body. Her eyes sweep over the surrounding area before looking down at the corpse. Using the tip of her dagger, she presses down on the side of one of the openings in his skin, not cutting the skin but shifting it too get a better look inside. She's careful not to get any part of her body very close, just in case. After a moment she wipes the tip of her dagger on the ground and stands back up, stepping away from the body, her eyes search for signs of an impending attack.
The holes are empty, but it looks like some insect has dug out its way of the mage...it smells disgusting and does not look good either. Interesting is that there is no blood left in the whole body.
"There's no blood left in him. Maybe the blood is the young's first meal?"
Sebastian turns to his companions, "Three survivors barricaded in the tower. She says nine fell,..including an archmage. She says the dead linger in the houses, but the Akatas might too, she is unsure on that."
"You figure we can get them back to the dock and at least pool the survivors together for safety?"
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"I doubt we can fly very far if the akatas are watching. If lions they be, they are hunting. And if their offspring make maggot holes, I cannot be sure of how best to approach this situation. I think that if any foe surfaces, both their team and ours should combine immediately and attack from all sides. We cannot afford to spread out at all. Eyes all around, and whatnot. If they are safe for the moment, we should make our way to them, regroup, but search each building on our way to them. No surprises."
Sebastian points back up to Samaritha and whispers. "We are coming to you. Be ready to open the door on my signal. It will be me pounding on the door yelling 'Open the Bloody Door'. Don't worry, we already put one of your friends back to their final rest. We won't let any get in the tower and will finish off any others we come across."
Again there is a whispered answer
We will unblock the door as soon as you approach the tower. Please, be cautious, these creatures are extremely deadly, quick, agile, powerful, immune to poison and acid, but they fear salt water, it works wonders.
"She says she will be ready at the door when we get their. She also says forget poison or acid, but salt water works wonders. Too bad the comet didn't land in the bay."
Hah! As if the gods would shine us so. If only we'd known that at the harbor we couldve brought some of that salt water with us.
Corvax had been in a serious funk since arriving on the island. He'd found the voyage over surprisingly restful and now he was back to monsters and danger and he didn't even have any ale. Was enough to make a grown man shed a tear. Something about the alien lion things being afraid of something as mundane as sea water cheered him though and he chuckled at Sable's suggestion, adding one of his own as he too headed for the tower.
"Get yer mouth full a'salt and spit at'em? I'll probably jus' stick wit' hittin' 'em with swords."
Bree quietly follows the others, knives drawn, eyes searching for ambush.
"Well its good they are stuck on an island, but we must be wary of them stowing away on leaving ships..."
You reckon theyre that crafty? Thats disturbing. Shall we?
Kabal gestures at the next building before moving towards it himself.
As you leave the shadows of the now safe building and cautiously walk over to the next, you suddenly feel that something is changing - something is wrong. The birds have stopped singing, the rolling of the ocean has faded away, the vultures are gone and the gusts of wind from the sea have also disappeared...confused you look around and then you spot them....at least 30 akatas and at least a dozen enslaved dead humans, like the one you just killed, have surrounded Witchlight...
"GET IN THE TOWER!"
Winter indicates to the main building and starts herding the others in.
Kabal's eyes widened at the sight of so many enemies andhis heart staretd thumping in his chest but he felt no fear.
By all thats dark and empty what the feck have we gotten ourselves into?
He gets a good grip on his sword and starts running for the tower.
Corvax and I will bring up the rear.
He looks to see that his friend wasnt as lost looking as he'd been since theyd hit the beach and smiled wickedly.
Sebastian make for the tower.
BANG!BANG!BANG! "Now is a good time to open the bloody door! Hurry!"
Bree will gladly move swiftly towards the tower, and as soon she is either safely inside, or is able to place her back to the building while the door gets cleared and opened, she loads her crossbow and takes aim. She doesn't shoot just yet, unless they have begun charging. In which case:
Breathing heavily you reach the tower door, from inside you can hear Samaritha shouting that the door must be unblocked now since dozens of akatas have shown up. There is some commotion behind the door and just at the moment Bree fires her first bolt and misses a charging akata, the door swings open and two wounded Cyphermages help you inside. The blue flood behind you won't reach before you get in, at least for now you are safe.
Behind Sable, who is last, they slam the door shut and barricade it again. You hear how the door is attacked, but after a minute or two, the attackers give up...maybe the strangest thing of the whole assault was that the akatas didn't make any sound - nothing.
Inside the tower are only Samraitha, two unconscious and heavily wounded Cyphermages and two lightly wounded members of the order. They all look tired and battered...
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"By the Nine, what are those accursed things? We must get to any arrow slits or the top of the tower and see what in the hells is happening out there."
Looking at the wounded,
"What caused these wounds? I'd rather do something about this now than to find akata worms crawling out from you to attack us. Winter, could you help me look them over? Erastil's blessings may be needed."
Winter moves in to see what aid he can render the injured.
So now we're stuck in this tower...just great. Maybe there's a back way out.
The big man shrugged his shoulders, sheathed his sword and reslung his shield. Sitting down against the wall he gestured towards the ill mages.
So whats wrong with them? Is it catchy?
"I'm sure they'll loose interest and move on soon enough. In the meantime, let's see what we can learn from the Cyphermages."
Once everyone is in and the door secure, Sebastian will give Samaritha a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "I am glad you are alright."
With his mouth near her ear, he whispers, "Are these wounded a danger of going all big-tongue like those out there."
Samaritha understands your worried expressions as you look over to the wounded ones and so she quickly explains They haven't been infected with whatever these monsters carry around with them. They were only hit by the tentacles, not by a bite, I guess this is decisive. They are just severely wounded and we don't have any potions left. If you could help them, they will surely able to help us with their remaining spells.
Samaritha sighs and sits down on a pile of rubble before continuing
How come you have found your way to this god-forsaken island?
Winter fills the room with his warming radiance, looking ever the angel sent to aid the needy
Channel:Heal
Channel:Heal
30' Radius.
As the warming energy of Erastil washes over the tower, the mages' wounds begin to close and soon they regain their consciousness again and scramble to their feet. Samaritha nods in great relief and fills the mages in that help has arrived, but a large group of akatas is still besieging the tower.
Kabal had taken out some rations and was chewing on the tasteless fair with all the apathy of a soldier that had been in the trenches. He answered the lady mage.
We're here hunting the drow that is behind the blot. They made it invisible or some such. Have you seen any of the black haerted bastards?
Oh, drow are one of the few things I'm not able to come up with...but hey, blue alien lions aren't bad either, eh?
Samaritha replies ironically and sighs in frustration.
"What have you seen of the island, and for what purpose have you come here?"
Oh yeah, as long as we had scrolls with evocation spells we were able to kill some of them. They are tough and fast, but they can be killed.
Then she turns to Bree and explains
We reached the island yesterday morning, a bit south of here. Archmage Fenela Bromathan, her assistant - who is me - and ten other wizards...of those twelve only five are still alive now. I guess Nethys had a bad day...7 dead mages in such a short time. Oh and why we came here? For the starmetal, it's one of the most precious materials for item crafting, I guess that's also the reason why the others are here.
Is it seven souls precious? Dark and Empty, here we are on the cursed island trying to save the whole damn lot of ye and youre all just worried about lining your pockets with coin.
Winter starts checking the building, ensuring there is no way for these things to get in...
From top of the tower you notice that the akatas have formed a solid ring around the structure...the tension is nearly palpable and you wonder when they will attack...it can't be long. As they look up to you, you shudder...the strange silence and their black eyes...quickly you get into the tower again.
The windows of the tower looks quite sturdy and you don't think the akatas can destroy them easily...on the other hand, you know too liitle about them to be sure. There is only one door and its well barricaded.
Whats it look like Winter?
Kabal had taken out hi ssword and was going over it with his whetstone to take out any nicks. He was sure he'd be needing it nice and sharp in the days to come.
to the mages - Is there another way out of here?
Winter is clearly unhappy with this turn of events, but offers only a stoic look to the amassed enemy.
"It looks like more fighting. Nothing we aren't used to... that zombie died cleanly enough, and so will they"
Samaritha sighs again and takes a wet piece of cloth and puts it on the back of her neck
It seems like they prefer to attack during the twilight hours...if you have any suggestions how we can boost our defense, don't hold back...
Yes, there are some larger stones (about 20 kilos heavy) that lie scattered on the stairwell.
just had to go and sell your crossbow didnt you?...
The large man muttered to himself as he went about searching for anything useful in the tower.
Perception -
"If some of you without crossbows want to lift some of these stones, you could drop them on the Akatas from above while those of us with crossbows shoot them with bolts."
Samaritha looks out of one of the narrow windows and furrows her brows
The sun will soon begin to set...Aelrec, Markon, help Kabal with the boulders.
The two rather weak looking mages sigh and begin to heave the boulders up the stairs to the top of the tower.
The man from Brevoy eyed the scrawny mages' efforts with dubious humor. He set his kit down and retrieved the empty sack from within and started filling it with the heavy stones.
Come on Corvax. Quit the lolly gagging and start pulling your weight bub.
He shoots his friend a smirk and a nod at the mages as he hefts his sack and begins the climb up the stairs. If necessary even passing the helpful men and their burdens.
Strength -
Bree sets herself up in a window with a loaded crossbow and prepares to start firing when the others have themselves set up. "Sable, you still have a crossbow too, don't you?"
Sebastian will give the tower a through search, specifically looking for a sign that there might be a basement or tunnel out of this tower or a .
After searching the tower, Sebastian is 100% sure that there is no basement or any other secret exit.