Hearting Priyya's moan as she it struck by the shadow, Alexis runs down the hallway illuminating everything around her as she goes. Dodging past the cleric to get a clear shot, she unleashes the light of heaven itself upon the sinister creature...
Although the first beam of light misses, the second one strikes true, the shadow's substance curling back like a cobweb exposed to a flame.
, Alis, Felmor, enemies, Priyya, Alexis
Priyya gives Alexis a sickly smile, the Shadow's touch was clearly haunting, "Thank you, Princess."
With a few words, Alis' ungloved hand glows with a pale golden light. She advances into the corridor noting where Priyya and Alexis are. She attempts to tumble thru the space the shadow occupies...
...but the vile creature slashes at her with its dark tendrils and Alis nearly falls to the ground as feeling as though several bags of sand were just heaped upon her. Regaining her feet, she attempts to follow thru with her own attack...
...but she just misses. Fortunately, she holds on to the charge.
, enemies, Priyya, Alexis, Morgaard, Alis
MAP: Room 05 #03
Felmor sees his chance. He husles down the corridor,and weaves his way through the combat area, looking for the dagger.
Morgaard: Swearing at Alis' cry, Morgaard snatches up Priyya's circlet and runs down the hallway ahead of Felmor hoping to draw any attacks to make an opening for him. "C'mon lad!"
He pounds right it front of Priyya, flipping her headband back to her. Seeing that Alexis' light has gone and that Alis is struggling to even stand, he dives forward catching them each in one arm and hauling them eastward away from the foul creature.
Seeing a new target with such strength to nourish it, the shadow attempts to strike Morgaard but recoils and misses when Priyya's headband is flipped into the air.
Felmor: Taking advantage of the distraction, the shadow scarcely notices as Felmor tumbles past arriving at the edge of the fire.
With only one target in front of it, the damnable lightbringer, the shadow turns its attention on Priyya...
...however, the furious light of the Surya-ka-Vahaak's aura combined with her daylight spell causes the apparition's attack to just narrowly miss her.
, Alexis, Morgaard, Alis, Felmor, enemies
MAP: Room 05 #03b
Going for the attack she knows will hit as opposed to a more damaging strike that may miss - Priyya channels another wave of Sarenrae's light.
"I will take your measure, Hellspawn! Begone!"
The shadow shrieks in fear and anger as yet more of its form boils away from the holy light.
Seeing what Felmor is intending, Alexis focuses her attention on the dagger and levitates it out of the fire to give it a few seconds to cool off before anyone tries grabbing it.
, Alis, Felmor, enemies, Priyya, Alexis
Knowing his attack will probably be futile against the Shadow, Morgaard snatches the dagger out of the air and lunges at the shade's shrieking form.
Seeing what Alexis is doing, Alis points weakly and whispers, "Uncle Morg, quick, the dagger!"
Turning around, Morgaard takes notice and takes action. Seeing his intent, Alexis levitates the weapon into his path. Catching up the still searing-hot weapon in his thickly gloved hand, the dwarf lunges at the shadowy creature with nearly animalistic ferocity...
...flashing with an intense blue light, the dagger sheers thru the shadow's wispy form and with a final strong sensation of fear, its form disperses and is carried out of the chamber and up the flue in the ceiling by the rising currents of smoke.
Struggling to her feet, Alis staggers over to Felmor and touches his with the spell she has held all of this time, discharging her curative spell to heal him.
HP Remaining:
Felmor /12
XP: +200 each = 1436/2000
Felmor, seeing Alis staggering to her feet, catches her before she falls back down. He guides her back to the previous chamber, and lays her down gently on the ground. "Ach, lassie, be careful 'ere. Th' shadow thing hurt ye badly I kin see. Verra brave of ye, Cap'n." He gives her a sailors salute, to brighten her spirits.
He walks over to Priyya, "Can ye do anythin fer her?"
Alis leans heavily on Felmor's shoulder as he helps her. Sitting down against the wall, she smiles weakly and says, "Thanks for coming to rescue us." She put her effort into returning his salute, "You're a good man, Mr. Traker!"
Priyya grabs the key by the fire as she leaves to see to Alis.
To Alis, she says, "I have no magic that will return our strength to us quicker than time will. This will take a matter of days for us to recover. In your case, I think it will be the better part of a week before you will feel your old self." She looks into Alis' eyes, smiling wanly at the shaken Princess, sharing the knowledge of the horrific touch of the Shadow. "You will recover from this and the memory of it will fade, eventually. That was a brave thing you did. I owe you. If the weight of your equipment is too much, we should distribute your goods among the rest of us to lessen your burden."
"I have no magic that will return our strength to us quicker than time will. This will take a matter of days for us to recover. In your case, I think it will be the better part of a week before you will feel your old self."
"Uugh..." she looks at her equipment. "I'm going to need to stick to ranged attacks for now I guess..."
"You will recover from this and the memory of it will fade, eventually. That was a brave thing you did. I owe you. If the weight of your equipment is too much, we should distribute your goods among the rest of us to lessen your burden."
"Well, you and Alexis were were the really brave ones leading off the attack like that. I just couldn't let sis hog the spotlight, that's all." She pauses, "Um... no pun intended."
Priyya smiles at her, kisses her cheek, and whispers:
Alis gives Priyya a weak hug and whispers back, "There's just no bluffing you is there? Thanks for saying so though."
Perception Checks:
Morgaard nods knowingly and lights his pipe to calm his nerves after that harrowing encounter. He turns the still warm dagger over in his hands examining it before finally remembering that he acquired a nasty burn thru his gauntlet grabbing it like that. Looking at Felmor's naked hands though, he realizes it would have been far worse for the lad if he'd grabbed it.
"Here lad," he says, pushing the finely wrought weapon into his hands, "twas brave of you to even think of making such a sacrifice. I've got me a new bow and new armor. You'll make better use of this than I..."
Felmor blushes at the honorific Alis bestowed on him, "Ach, 'twerent nothin'. Any sailor woulda done th' same fer 'is cap'n.
He lets the ladies alone and searches the chamber quickly. Not finding anything else of note, he returns to the group. "Morgaard, thank ye fer th' dagger, Aye that was a mightty fine blow ye made there. I make sure that tale gits 'round. Me think I kin use it fairly well." He gives the dwarf a hearty chuckle.
Priyya thanks them all in turn, ending with Alexis. She smiles and says with humor, "YOU are a crazy b!tch. Which part of I'm going alone, you stay here, did you not understand? But thank you for coming to my rescue. It was a brave act, I cannot repay." Her eyes well up, and then she busies herself searching the room and fire, and speculating if maybe this key opens the 'wailing room' somehow.
Alexis goes to sit next to Alis and fusses over her the two exchanging words in some elder tongue that none of the rest of you understand.
Eventually she sighs and says, "Priyya, you can't have many spells left. I think we seriously need to consider finding a secure place where we can rest before we go getting in anymore fights. If we wait until we flat-out must rest, it may be too late."
"Judging by the layout of the rooms we've seen, that door we passed just outside of here either leads to a small room or this complex would have to be far more vast than we suspect for there to be another entrance. Also," she pauses to take a deep breath, "that wailing quieted when we began fighting that giant insect. I think there may actually be a person hiding in there. For what it's worth, Alissariel did prepare a sleep spell today..."
The young princess looks up at the rest of you with a stern expression on her face as she holds Alis' hand in her own.
"YOU are a crazy b!tch. Which part of I'm going alone, you stay here, did you not understand? But thank you for coming to my rescue. It was a brave act, I cannot repay."
Alexis cocks her head at what is perhaps the first time she's been complimented in such a fashion. Arching an eyebrow she hesitantly answers, "Well, it seemed only logical that anyone with the ability to fight such a creature should lend their aid. You, Alis, and myself were the only ones possessed of such capabilites so it didn't make sense to willfully divide our effective forces against a singular foe..."
She looks to Alis questioningly before finishing, "Uh, you're welcome though. You're one... uh, 'crazy b1tch' yourself?"
"I'm not quite spent... yet. I can channel the power of Sarenrae once more today and I have 2 spells remaining. But you are right, if we were to run into too many more undead, I will be taxed beyond my limits. If you suspect we had an unseen visitor, perhaps we should try to capture him or her."
She looks to Alis questioningly before finishing, "Uh, you're welcome though. You're one... uh, 'crazy b1tch' yourself?"
Priyya laughs and hugs the Princess, liking her all the more. "I really am. It comes with being Surya-ka-Vahaak. I think we crazy b!tches need to stick together."
Felmor glances at Morgaard, and keeps his pouth shut, allowing the ladies to talk amongst themselves. Once they have finished, he speaks up, "Ehh, Mebbe resting would be OK, but I am concerned 'bout Dimira. Dunno what happened ta her."
Perception Checks:
Priyya relates what she heard as accurately as possible. "Suggestions? Should we see if there is some way to get in that little room? Either a keyhole here or by the obvious door? Or maybe the girl has locked herself in and we need to convince her to open up."
Felmor thinks for a moment, and says quietly, "Didya think she wus alone? Priyya. Ifn so then I says we tries ta talk to her now."
Just for clarification... As you silently approach the door, you can tell that the voice is that of a male, not a female.
Priyya will whisper to the group, before they reach the door. "OK, here's the situation as I see it. We have a man in there, who is a little unhinged at the moment. He seems to know Dimira and it seems something bad has happened to her which he witnessed. I don't know if we can convince him to open the door. We don't know how it is blocked. If I knew, for a fact, that he is leaning against it then I'd say let Alis put the fellow to sleep, then we rush in there, barricade ourselves, wake the poor fellow up and see if we can figure out what happened while we rest up. But we don't know how the door is blocked so we may have to try talking him out or sleep him and then try to force the door open. The man sounds shaky at best, and I'd like to secure him quickly. Any suggestions?"
"So, since the door is ajar but somehow barricaded, do we try to talk this somewhat irrational man to open up when he has no reason to trust we aren't evil... or do we render him insensible and see if we can push our way in?"
"Well, I can still talk and attempt to incapacitate, but I don't think I can help with any pushing right now." Alis grins slightly as she slips off her pack, unbuckles her buckler from her left arm, and gets back to her feet.
"Slacker. Trying to get out of all the heavy lifting by battling a Shadow, eh?" She chuckles grimly, "I'm not sure we can talk him out, but it would be better if he lifted the barricade on his own. If you are willing to try parlaying with him, I'm with you."
Felmor nods at the ladies, "Aye, 'n if'n he gets uppity, me 'n Morgaard 'ere will show 'im what happens when yer rude to a lady."
Priyya realises she is being included in the 'ladies needing to be protected from rudeness' category and tries not to laugh. Utterly misplaced but gallant nonetheless.
Walking up to the door, Alis knocks gently and says, "Excuse me, are you a friend of Dimira's? Mayor Uptal from Kassen sent us to find her. Are you from one of the other groups who tried?"
From inside you hear a high-pitched scream of terror and the voice shouts out, "NO MORE TRICKS, GO AWAY! Go away! Go awaaaaay! Leave poor Roldare alooooone! Poor Dimira, poor pooooor Dimira..."
Alis c0cks one eyebrow and curls her lip in confusion, holding her palms upwards. She continues, "This is no trick Roldare! No one in town even knows she is missing except for the Mayor Jonah, Trevlar, and Asina. We came from Cassomir when we saw the bulletin paper for the Dungeoncrawl Challenge, but we know what's really going on. We just battled the giant beetle and the shadow in the next room and we're really hurt. Won't you please open up, we're hurt and we need your help if we're to save Dimira!"
Priyya says as calmly and sweetly as possible, "How could we know Dimira's name, and Uptal's name, and Kassen if this were a trick? We are here to rescue you. To get you out of this foul tomb."
"Bandits knew! Companions knew! Why wouldn't monster knew? Know. I DON'T KNOOOOoooooow..."
The man breaks down into uncontrollable gibbering and crying once again.
Alis rolls eyes and shakes her head as she looks towards Heaven. Turning around, she whispers, "This guy's lost his damn mind. He's totally scared witless!"
She leans up against the wall and bites the first knuckle on her forefinger. "I could try to put him to sleep, but I can't tell how big of a room he's in. I at least need to be able to see inside in order to target it properly..."
"Roldaaaare!" she whines purposefully, "my sisters and I are really beat-up and need a place to heal up! Would you please let us in?"
Alis casts a look at both Priyya and Alexis and waves her hand.
Priyya gives a look to Alis and makes a 'magical' hand gesture to be ready to cast her spell...
Hearing Alis' words, "Alis can you sing him a lullaby or a calming song?"
Alexis shrugs her shoulders and throws her hands up as well. "Sister," she says loudly, "will he not open the door for you? Even after we've beaten back so many undead already?"
Inside the room you hear the voice go, "Na na na na na na na na NOT LISTENIIIIIING! You'll not trick me again grave-spawn. Trick my friends, but not Roldare! Na na na na na na na..."
Alis casts Alexis a sidelong glance as is to say, Gee, nice job.
To Priyya she whispers, "Well, if he could see me I could attempt to fascinate him, but just by voice alone...? no... not really..."
Priyya raises her voice an octave above her comfort zone, "I think I shall faint! The skeleton's blade cut my shoulder so deep. It aches so."