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Vivian nods to Gad and Brezik, "I agree about the pit, and the need for more tethers. Hopefully some wise caution here can aid us in evading this apparent trap.." She then keeps a look out as the dwarf begins hammering, the sound of the metal soothing her more than the gold and grand beauty of this horrifying place.
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Allister stands tall beside Qina, many times her size and weight but with a heart no bigger than hers. He squeezes her hand for comfort.
When Brezik passes him the rope, Allister braces and holds it taut for his friend.
Inside his armor he quivers with fear, remembering the muddy slope at the start of their journey so many years ago... Was it years? No, it only felt that way. He hoped this crossing would not be so embarrassing. Then again, if he fell here it would be into a pile of gold - that might not be so bad.
The paladin looks to his superior for guidance. "Captain, should I take off my plate before I go? I'm not sure how good I am at climbing rope. But I know I'm no good in a fight without armor."
As Brezik flies through the air two things happen. The first, a shout of surprise from behind the door followed by the door itself slamming into its threshold. The second, two bolts of fire burn upward towards Brezik looking to intercept the dwarf in the air. In the pit below an enormous snake with the head of a woman appears, hissing angrily.
Qina's magic flares brightly, absorbing the heat of the bolts and only allowing Brezik to land slightly singed rather than extra crispy.
Just as Gad is about to jump too he sees the flare of fires engulfing Brezik for a moment, leaving him almost untouched in the end by Qina's magic.
"It IS a trap! Watch yourselves!"
He then jumps over after Brezik.
The Naga's eyes burn red as it observes all of you, ready to defend the treasure beneath it.
Landing safely, Gad turns and easily pulls out some shuriken. He's carried them for a while now in his sash for easy grabbing. His arms become a blur as they pump out the deadly spinning blades at the snake-like creature below!
+ Flurry!
+ Flurry(Iterative)!
1st possible Crit?
2nd possible Crit?
Two of Gad'larr's shuriken find their mark, one of which buries itself in the soft flesh around its face, causing it to cry out in pain.
If she hadn't been holding Allister's hand when the rays of fire erupted from the pile of gold below, Qina may have jumped straight in. So instead she crept forward slightly, just enough to peer over the edge and look down below.
Seeing the serpent of fire below awakened something primal in Qina. It had always been there, just beneath the surface, but now it flooded to the top like an avalanche crashing down.
"FIRE WYRM! You will the cold embrace of death this day!"
An enormous chunk of snow and ice crashes down on the Naga, forcing it to reel back in pain and hiss upwards at Qina.
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Allister looks down into the pit, the bottom seems to sink further and further away. It must be 100 feet down.
He steps closer to the edge - and jumps.
The paladin's heavy armor drags him down like a missile and he lands on his stomach with a metal CRUNCH. For a second all the air is forced from is lungs and he squirms in the coins like a fish out of water. Then, with a gasp, he gathers himself and stands.
Allister appears to have sunk about 6 inches into the coins , but they hold even his fully armored weight, even slithering underfoot as they do.
The Naga hisses out arcane words causing its form to blur and shift with extra motion before struggling through the coins itself to sidle right up to Allister.
Brezik looks at the door, and then down at the Naga.
Huh... guess we're fighting the thing.
With that Brezik walks to the corner and jumps off the edge.
Once on the ground he stands and face the Naga.
As he steps between Qina and Viv to guard them from the Naga, Bel lets his beautiful scythe fall from his grasp and draws the crosbow he has been carrying since the early days.
"Pharasma, my lady, guide this bolt and let it do the work of truth, complete this spiral"
Brezik's bold move extracts a grunt from the dwarf, and a large stinger from the back of the Naga as he stands up once more. The sting lands, allowing the snake-like beast to pump venom into Brezik's stocky frame. Vivian begins scrambling down the ledge one handhold at a time as Belathorian takes aim. His bolt slips through the air, but the Naga sees it coming and twists aside almost bonelessly, tongue hissing out in displeasure.
As Brezik had risen back to his feet he had kept an eye on the jaws of the creature knowing that snakes often had venomous bites. He had not expected the creature to sting him with its tail.
Dang snake just bit me with his tail... What kind of snake is this?
As Brezik looked down in surprise at the wound he could see a purple liquid seep from the puncture wound and the surrounding veins began to become more visible as the poison began to spread.
Huh... that can't be good.
Seeing most of his friends charging into the pit, Gad hesitates, feeling this was what the snake creature wanted! Drawing out the remaining shuriken he had, he again pumps his arms in its direction, hoping to hurt the creature again before one of his friends is seriously hurt!
+ Flurry!
+ Flurry(Iterative)!
The Naga shakes off Vivian's spell and avoids the next flurry of shuriken thrown by Gad'larr, watching Brezik and waiting for its poison to take effect.
Brezik's vision begins to tunnel, focusing on the Naga before him. The venom soon reaches his heart, slowing it to levels reserved for sleep, forcing him to slump face first in the gold, snoring loudly.
"BREZIK!!!!" A blood-curdling screamed escaped Qina's lips in her all too familiar voice as Brezik slumped face first into the coins. From her position, Qina had no idea that the dwarf was only sleeping and instinctively assumed the worst.
From deep within her, something else spoke as well. This was a much deeper voice, full of menace and hatred. "He is mine wyrm. Now die!"
The warm air in the room quickly grew cooler until frost began to collect on Qina's fingers. She packed it together until a rock-sized chunk of ice was formed in her hands. Looking at the naga with more hatred than she would have ever thought she was capable of, she hurled it at the fiery beast with a glare in her eyes.
Qina's spell crashes over the Naga once more causing it to give another shriek of pain and anger. That doesn't stop it from slithering around Allister's blade again.
With one foe down the Naga focuses on shoring up its defenses, angry that it has been hit by a sorcerer more than once now.
The Naga, reassured in its defenses once more hisses and turns towards its newest foe, Allister.
"Your meager protections will not save you. I will sell your skin to goblins" Qina shrieked!
Belathorian steps forward once more efficiently loading another bolt and loosing it at the snake creature bellow.
Though my friends may fall around me, even to the point where i should breath my last with them. The Balance must hold.
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Vivian tries to continue her decent, but sees Brezik succumb to something and catches a toe. She falls the remaining 20 feet and lands with a sicken8ng crunch, feeling her body fold awkwardly on the gold coins.
Vivian stands swiftly out of embarrassment am2d sstill is shock, picking up her GreatvSword from the coins as she rises.
The Naga looks between Vivian and Allister, her magic causing Belathorian to aim at the wrong spot and coils herself up, ready to strike.
Knowing now that hesitating will only get someone killed, Gad draws his sword and leaps down upon the creature as he does so!
Brezik awoke in his own bed. He could feel the roughness of his favorite bed cover. It wasn't soft and it had a few holes but it was his. He pulled back the sheet and sat up surprised by the fact that his bed was for some reason made of solid gold. He reached out to the mattress and was amazed at how soft it was. He wasn't sure how a solid gold mattress could be so soft.
But that thought quickly disappeared when he heard his mother's voice. "Brezik hurry up or you'll be late for school."
Brezik jumped out of bed and grabbed his great axe from next to the door. He thought about changing his clothes but realized he was already wearing his armor so there was no need. He rushes out of his bedroom towards the smell of sausage...
Gad'larr falls blade first towards the Naga, but its tricky magic leads his blade to stab deep into the pile of coins. Coins scatter as he comes up from his crouch, split gold flying through the air. Allister manages to find the true Naga amidst its magic but his blade is stopped mere inches from its skin by the mystical force it recently summoned.
Again Qina packed shards of ice into her hands and again she let the magical snow ball fly towards it's target.
"You are but a worm" Qina shouted. "You do not compare to the power of a true dragon!"
Another large chunk of ice and snow crashes into the Naga freezing its scales and slowing it down some, but it continues to thrash wildly against your party. It turns to Allister and lashes out with tooth and stinger.
It snaps down crunching down on Allister's armor, crushing him between its jaws and allowing its stinger to whip around and find a seam to pour venom into the paladin's skin.
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Vivian clinches her sword in both hands as she takes a guarded step towards the creature, chanting a Gorumite ritual.
"I'm waiting for the call, the hand on the chest
I'm ready for the fight and fate
The sound of iron shots is stuck in my head,
The thunder of the drums dictates
The rhythm of the falls the number of deaths
The rising of the heights ahead
From the dawn of time to the end of days
I will never run away
I want to feel the pain and the bitter taste
Of the blood on my lips again. "
Al and Bel are able to feel an aura she has summomed, a ward against evil emanating from her.
Bel steps forward again, his hands are using mussel memory not of this lifetime as he reloads the crossbow and looses yet another bolt at the creature.
The Naga's form is incredibly deceptive in its speed, allowing it to dodge another bolt from Belathorian.
"Foolish worm. You are now surrounded. You are soon to be freed from your body. Any last words?" Qina asked with an unknown glee. Her hand raised again, packed ice carved into a ball ready to be unleashed.
Face set in concentration, Gad begins weaving his sword, attempting again to hit the blasted creature!
+flurry
+iterative
Allister grabs a hold of the Naga pouring positive energy into it. Instead of destroying it like he expects it seems to heal some of the creatures wounds.
For the first time the magic confounds Qina's senses as her large chunk of ice misses entirely. Gad'larr continues having trouble hitting the monster, but his blade does meet resistance once. The Naga continues lashing out, this time aiming for Gad as Al appears to have shaken off its poison.
Gad blinks once and collapses on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.