Kersey and Bernard's strikes slide off ineffectually, but Lyraesel slams the earth elemental into the wall again with another blast from her ring. The elemental staggers for a moment, seems to "catch its breath" (so to speak), then resumes fighting as rocks fall off of it.
Morgrym keeps pace with the big angry rock and tries to not get stepped on, as he lines up his Urgosh for another line drive attempt.
He connects but not solidly.
TINK! Morgrym's blow bounces off the elemental's stone exterior.
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Alara yanks out her crossbow, aims, and fires.
And menaces a faraway piece of stonework.
The elemental pushes itself up off the wall that it was slammed against - a little slower, this time - and advances once more toward Kersey.
The unfortunate warrior takes another brutal shot that induces head-spinning dizziness for half a second.
Keryse lets out another wild swing after being struck.
Morgrym moves up slightly and tries for another line drive.
Seeing some degree of effect against the powerful elemental, Lyraesel once again pours her will into the ring, hammering the creature with another blast of force.
Kersey's axe swing bounces off the rocks again, but Morgrym manages to get a small chunk out of the elemental just before Lyraesel blasts it back again.
Bernard attempts to stab the thing again, cursing in a series of languages too rapidly to follow.
Alara reloads and shoots at the elemental again.
Why don't I have any proper offensive spells for this?!
Morgrym calls upon the power of Torag as he brings forth some more power of his deity.
As Morgrym steps in the elemental turns its fury against him once more and stomps forward to meet him with an earthen fist.
Taking the earthen fist in the face, Morgrym simply plows into the elemental with another solid hit that leaves it wobbling slightly.
"Don't ignore me!"
Alara grimaces, loads up, and fires again.
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TINK! TINK!
Running around tho strike from a different direction, Lyraesel once again hammers the elemental with force, knocking it off balance.
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Lyraesel smashes the elemental again with another blast of force and this proves to be too much. The elemental shivers, then the rocks that make up its form suddenly fall to pieces, de-animate. At last, the month-long ordeal is ended.
[ooc]Each party member gains 320 experience points for a grueling and terrible encounter, and that hardly seems worth it.[ooc]
You help the old priest to his feet, and he gratefully calls upon Shelyn's power to heal your wounds.
"I am grateful to you for your assistance," he says, bowing several times. "Please, if there is anything I can do to help, do let me know. I do not know why that elemental chose to attack this shrine. It has all the hallmarks of being summoned, but I have no real enemies... beyond the usual conflicts of the various godly faiths, of course."
The shrine itself is rather wrecked, but at least it's still standing. Since the priest seems to have some modicum of divine power, maybe he can use stone shape or make whole to fix the place. At least you won't have to spend a day hauling rocks.
Alara stands over the shattered remains of the earth elemental, her face pale and her hands shaking.
"That... who even summoned that thing?!" She points her crossbow at it, as if afraid it'll suddenly reanimate for a second round. "And how was it so powerful?!"
And most importantly, why was I so USELESS during that fight?!
"I know not," says the priest, sadly. Then he seems to smooth over his expression and says, "But forgive me, did you come here for the blessings of Shelyn? I will still perform my duties, of course."
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Dusting himself off, and then taking a long swig from his canteen. Morgrym taps kersey on the shoulder.
Best I can be doing for you lad right now
[ooc] Burning spell for healing[/ooc
Frowning at the shattered rocks that only moments before comprised the elemental, adrenaline still coursing through her, Lyraesel considers Alara's and the old priest's words. If someone had summoned this thing, perhaps they were close enough to witness its work.
Taking a moment to focus on drawing her inner wolf to the surface, the wild druidess sniffs the air as her senses sharpen, her goden eyes picking up the evening light and almost glowing.
Pausing for another moment she begins a swift, primal druidic chant, a bit more of a growl in her voice than normal. As she completes the spell, the world around her explodes into a vivid tapestry of scents, as she breathes deeply, searching through the familiar and unfamiliar scents for anything that could stand out as their hidden enemy.
Bernard helps the old man to his feet and looks around, surveying the carnage.
"To be quite honest, Shelyn isn't the first goddess I'd associate with the fine folks up here in the snow-lands. Does anyone take exception to your practice that you know of?"
”Thank you both,” Kersey says with a slight bow to the priests of Shelyn and Torag.
I may not follow Shelyn, but I do not go out of my way to Antagonize the gods. Was there anyone that was yelling in the church in the last few days.
Morgrym takes a few minutes and after ensuing the pile of rubble doesn't stand back up, he puts his weapon away.
"No... no unusual disturbances," says the priest. "The work I do here is useful to artists and artisans, even to a small troupe of Tien actors and dancers and acrobats. I do community service and help the sick, of course. I cannot think why someone would do this."
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Uksahkka paces back and forth on the beach a few times, then says, "I can't think of much else to do but go to the shrine of Shelyn an' pray for guidance. Maybe they can help track Ulf with some possession of his. They have a safe house, he was supposed to go there if he got into trouble... I don't have any other great ideas, unless your other friends have somethin' in mind."
"Is anyone currently using your safe room?" Kersey bluntly asks the priest.
The priests' eyebrows come up, and he says, "Oh! You must know Uksahkka then. Come this way."
The priest picks his way carefully over the rubble and to the back alley of the temple. There's a storm cellar, but the door to it is riven open.
With a look of concern, the priest says, "This door was closed just a short time ago! Someone must have been here while the elemental was attacking."
Peering down into the cellar, there's no sign that anyone is there now... but Lyraesel quickly spots a large black feather, much too large to come from a raven like the one you saw before.
"There's a smell..... a man....and that cheap liquor Uksahkka drinks....he was here recently." Lyraesel says as she sniffs the air.
Following the priest, as he leads them through the rubble, she growls, noticing the large black feather, remembering the tengu they previously faced.
Looking at the forced open door and the empty room.
Damn, I am glad that we saved your life, but did Uksahkka say anyone was after him?
"Uh..." Alara approaches the dropped blowgun dart. "...why is there a dart down here?"
"Especially one covered in a knockout drug?"
"Not good." Lyreasel says, leaning forward and deeply inhaling the scent of the dart, trying to memorize it.
"There was easier ways to go about this, they could have gotten him without anyone seeing, but they summoned that, to make people think he died in the rubble? They used a knockout drug, they need him alive, why?" Kersey quickly mumbles to himself after his comrades look over the room the priest led them to.
"It's blue whinnis poison, incidentally." The elven psychic scratches her ear. "Don't prick yourself with the dart--it might still be potent enough to knock you out."
"And sniffing it?" Kersey asks as he watches Lyra study the dart with her acute nose.
"Not sure--I've never tried."
Morgrym fishes out a cloth.
Do you need to keep it, if so, here is something to wrap it in.
Morgrym saunters over to the nearest bench, and sets it upright then takes a seat while people try to figure out what is going on.
With the dart in hand, you now have something resembling a lead.
The black feather is too large to belong to a raven.
The priest wrings his hands and says, "Uksahhka has used this safe house before, but I did not realize someone was after her now! And taken away - it must be one of those ninja, the criminals and assassins who do dirty work for the wealthy and amoral!"
"HHnn...it's her scent I was picking up. She was definitely here." Lyraesel says.
"Has anyone else had any issues with these 'ninja' lately?" Kersey asks the priest.
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"Oh, yeah. That's a tengu feather." Alara whispers before the priest's loathing of ninja rears its head. Her ears turn pink and she snorts.
She opens her mouth to issue an indignant retort... and stops.
...was there ever a ninja who didn't serve the wealthy and amoral? I mean, there was Hattori Hanzo and his loyalty to Tokugawa...
"Ah... the rumor..." the priest's voice drops to a low tone. "... the rumor is that there is a thieves' guild in this city, one that has only risen to power in the last few years."
He shrugs helplessly. "Alas, that is far outside of my personal knowledge. But perhaps you can find someone, or some tale, that will help guide you in learning more?"