Shaldinari tries to pull the book away from Furgis, but this time she just doesn't have the will or strength left to do so and the dwarf is able to easily snatch it from her hands.
Abrel swings again!
Abrel slashes through the enraged horror, tearing off bloody chunks of poultry but the aberration's physiology keeps it alive...
Round 3:
Xorn
Elandil, Cole
Stone Genasi, Hook Horrors
Abrel, Davin, Shal <--UP
Forgeknights
Bhoors
Cornered between the Xorn and Genasi, Shaldarni downs a potion while spending all of her effort to step away from her assailants.
Davin rapidly fires an arrow into the hulking hook horror.
Attack:
Damage:
As Davin's arrow takes hold in the tenacious creature, the remaining forgeknights struggle against the swarming genasi, felling a few more but looking in dire straights.
Round 3:
Xorn
Elandil, Cole
Stone Genasi, Hook Horrors
Abrel, Davin, Shal
Forgeknights
Bhoors <--UP
Bhoors stabs the genasi closest and sings a familiar song.
The 3 legged 3 armed mouth snatches the codex with its claws, but Furgis stubbornly holds on "Now wait a minute ye sandy c+~#, ye cannae jus-waaaaarrhhrg!" but he is quickly toppled over as the creature begins to phase into the earth, tunnelling away quickly with both the codex and Furgis...his hand reaches out to you but is soon swallowed by the wall.
Round 4:
Xorn
Elandil, Cole <--UP
Stone Genasi, Hook Horrors
Abrel, Davin, Shal
Forgeknights
Bhoors
Elandil curses as Boltsmelter is grabbed. Unfortunately he can't get away from the hook horror to give chase. Attemting to end that threat, he carefully approaches the beast and swings his sword again.
Elandil steps up into the melee and thrashes at the horrors kneecap, spilling some kind of clear knee juice all over and hobbling the beast...but it still stands *cacaw*ing away like a big dumb chicken.
It brings its two massive hooks up in the air before slasing down on El and Abrel...
...Abrel gets clips hard and pulled slightly forward by razor sharp claw, but the other feather light death instrument crashes into the dirt near El harmlessly.
The genasi engaging the dwarfs route to the south, and the dwarves pant and catch their breath a moment, trying to build their mettle to join the fray on your side.
Round 4:
Elandil, Cole
Hook Horrors
Abrel, Davin, Shal <--UP
Forgeknights
Bhoors
Cole attacks as the beast retreats.
Abrel again, soaking the hit! Growling, he swings again, double-handed, at the hook horror, hoping to finish it!
Cole and Abrel's strikes find nothing but air as the fight lingers on, weakening their spirits.
Round 4:
Elandil, Cole
Hook Horror
Abrel, Davin, Shal <--UP
Forgeknights
Bhoors
Invigorated by the healing energy from Bhoors, Shaldinari saves her healing potion and then sends a furious blast of Eldritch power sailing into the remaining hook horror.
As Shal concentrates on the aberration she feels within herself the presence of her patron boiling to the surface. Her nose, in particular, seems to be pulled up and up in a courtly indignation at the disgusting affront to nature before them. With a surge of power surprising even to its wielder, the fey energies streak across the cavern and vaporize the head of the horror, beak first.
You seem to have 3 sleeping genasi prisoners, and a few of the forgeknights yet stand as well.
Abdel looks around at his companions, and the forgeknights, Everyone alright?
Then looking at Boltsmelter, Where's your thrice-damned book?
Abrel, Boltsmelter is no where to be found. Those nearer the fray saw him get phased into the earth along with the book.
Abrel curses, Blazes! Where is Boltsmelter?
Looking at the dwarven paladin he asks, You found the book before, can you find it again?
Turning to the paladin, you notice she is quite dead, the 2 remaining dwarves whispering prayers over her body. Another 3 of the dwarves were likewise slain. One of the survivors turns and fishes the lodestone out of his pocket, his face about to explode from holding back dwarf tears "Kalda would want us to carry on. Aye...we can find it again, its our duty. But I fear we'll need some help ta fight...the Forgeknights are broken. I don't know what deal you had with that scum, and I don't care. We can offer ye 125 gold if ye follow through, get the book back in the right hands. Ye'd have the respect of our clan the rest of yer days."
As he holds up the lodestone it swings to and fro before quickly aligning in a certain direction, the dwarves nodding in satisfaction.
Shaldinari slumps against the cavern wall after the horror finally falls. Still feeling the fury and power of her patron flowing directly through her body, she tries to suppress a fit of the shakes while she looks around at her battered companions and the even worse off Forgeknights. Grabbing a cloth from her pack she uses it to cover a slowly bleeding wound in her shoulder before walking over to where Abrel and the two paladins talk.
"I'll help you get your book back if it will help us get out of these caverns and back under the open sky sooner." She says, still breathing heavily from the fight. "But before we go rushing headlong into the Underdark, is there a place we can rest and recover for at least a few minutes?"
Abrel nods at Shaldinari's suggestion, obviously trying to hide how hurt he is... A rest would be nice.
"Always a risk letting yer guard down in the Underdark, but aye...seems necessary. More of them hook beasts hunt in these grounds..." They start loading their fallen comrades onto a small supply pushcart "We could make the Kazamura Steppes in an hour, plenty o' cave pockets to dip in and get a wink."
Abrel nods, Let us hope that we can get there quickly, and without event.
The dwarves silently march back to their suggested camp site, they are no where as hardened as Kalda and the others, but their professionalism in navigating the Underdark is apparent. In a short time you find a large cup shaped cavity in the cavern wall, perhaps formed of volcanic activity.
Shrugging her pack off of her shoulders, Shaldinari drops to the floor with a heavy sigh and slight groan. Within a few seconds her eyes are closed and her breathing takes on the slow even pace of a deep meditation.
Abrel sits, back up to the wall, and begins checking each wound. Hee shakes his head and gives a weary grin, uncorks his wineskin and takes a swing, passing it on to the next person, Here, it'll take the edge off...
Elandil cleans his sword off on a fallen genasi before starting to rifle through pockets trying to find anything useful. Any notes or indication of how they knew where to look, maybe a few coins...
El, among their arms and armor you find what looks like a holy book written in a strange language. Snooping around, it seems they had been using the ledges in the room to host an ambush for some time...you find their little hidden camp concealed in the high stones. There is nothing much of interest beyond the typical gear, and you start to reluctantly think about questioning the prisoners.
One of them, a female, defiantly stares you down as you rifle her pockets. She growls "You surfacers have already lost...the Underdark will swallow you whole."
El casts a small spell before addressing the prisoner. "Seems we did a good job of beating you. Now why don't you tell us how you knew to look for us and where that crater took our dwarf friend before we return you to the earth you seem to love so much."
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Bhoors lurches toward Elandil stepping between the elf and the prisoner. His face locked eyes with the druid inviting to play along. He shakes Elandil, "Don't do it not again. " Elandil feels a dagger handle dressed in his hand. Bhoors lifts but appears to be fighting the crazed elf back. "The paladins won't stand for it." Bhoors steps back giving the elf space. "It's not on me that wood elf juju stuff you do."
Bhoors turns to the genasi. "You done tripped the light fandango now. Tell him what he wants. Your the first. Your blood is the ink for the motivating epic poem you friends will hear when he asks them the same questions. Save me the nightmares."
Bhoors turns back to Elandil, "I ain't gonna watch again you sick butcher." Bhoors continues his performance stomping off.
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The genasi seem to be dropping a lodestone in their pants...
Abrel looks at El and back at Bhoors, then back, completely shocked and a little unnerved. He looks at Shal and whispers in horror, What happened last time?
Cole tries to stifle a laugh as he watches the shenanigans.
Elandil tries to play along and lick the blade but cuts his tongue in the process.
While the others shudder, their leader seems brave. She speaks with a strange accent "You do not zcare me, zurfacer. Ogremoch guidez us, not you. You can lick that blade all day."
Davin stays out of the way. He knows very little about interrogation and does not wish to get in the way of others who seem to know what they are doing.
Her eyes flick back and forth between Elandil and Bhoors as the two start their interrogation of the prisoners. Seeing the trick start to work, she barely keeps from wincing when the druid manages to bloody his own tongue.
"Never send a man, to do a woman's job." Shaldinari says in a quiet but firm voice as she stands up and walks over to the prisoners. With a sigh, she pulls her carving knife from its small sheath and begins to sharpen the curved tool with a bit of oil and small grinding stone.
"Elandil is a good man." She says casually to the genasi. "Kind hearted, in tune with nature, decent. Someone your god might actually protect you simple cave dwellers from." The sound of the blade continues to grind against the stone for a few seconds. The metal grating against stone echoing through the chamber. "But me, well I'm a whole different story. The streets of the Sword Coast are hard and teach hard lessons. I'm not as.....morally shackled...and I don't care a bit about knights and their codes, so your god might actually get a bit of fun seeing how long you last." Flicking her eyes toward Bhoors, she waves the carving blade in the air making sure it catches the lantern light. "You see that bard and I have a bit of history. It wasn't really the druid he was worried about. We had a deal that if they could get what we needed out of you, then I would let you be. If not....well, then I get a chance."
With a low chuckle, she shakes her head and her voice takes on the cadence of memory. "I once made him run screaming from a temple filled with beautiful serving girls just waiting to make him feel good in so many ways. All just so I could get a little peace and quiet after a long day. I've never seen such horror on a man's face at what he saw that afternoon."
"Now...today. Today has been a very...very bad day. I don't really give a rats backside about your paltry book." With a snarl she lets her fae power begin to flow as she kneels down next to one of the male captives. As the purple aura dances in her eyes and along her fingertips and down onto the blade she leans in close to the man and runs the knife lightly down his cheek. "But that dwarf owes me big. I want him alive. I've got my own powers to please and I'm going to ask nice just....this....once....Where did your dirt diving monster take the dwarf?"