+1 Cold Iron Longsword
Mwk. Darkwood Heavy Shield
Mwk. Mithral Chainshirt
Galeria leads you through the passageways until you reach a set of stairs. Upon it are a group of a dozen guards rushing up it with spears aimed at the young woman.
Taking a step into the oncoming wall of enemies, Yngvild paints the staircase with their blood, her axes swinging in deadly arcs.
Kresh teleports himself and Kruuh behind the group of guards, at kresh's command Kruuh takes off into the group, ravaging as many as he can.
Moving up to protect the girl Schandra cast another bead of fire down, careful not to hit her allies, which exploded in the group of enemy soldiers.
10 ft radius.
For a moment, the stairwell is filled with screams as most of the guards are immolated. One badly burnt guard survives the inferno, and he is swiftly cut down. After letting the embers fade, you find the stairs are mostly intact. But there's a problem, how to get Kruuh down.
"Well, that was significantly faster than our previous fight," the half-elf quips with a smirk. "I did not even get the chance to do anything," he adds with a look of mock disappointment as he then turns his attention -and curiosity- to the bull and how the large animal is going to be teleported down the stairs.
Likewise, Arradir is somewhat surprised--pleasantly--at how quickly the fight ended. He also looks to the warbull with a concerned glance. Maybe having that along wasn't the wisest of decisions. And I'm not sure I want to go talking to it just yet...
"Like a bull in a...hallway? Reminds me a an old joke I once heard," Rodok laughs, while Kresh attempts to placate the animal.
"This ought to be interesting."
"Eh, he's just bein a baby. Little tight space never killed nobody." Kresh grunts with his hands on to the shuffling bull's horns and blinks a little farther down the stairs.
Kruuh shakes his head in agitation as Kresh teleports him down the stairs, despite the dwarf's best efforts to calm the bull. As they reappear, one of Kruuh's horns smashes through the wall and gets stuck. the bull snorts in irritation and Kresh knows he doesn't have long to calm the massive beast before it takes matters into its own hands, so to speak.
"Your supposed te be a spirit animal! Start ACTING LIKE ONE YOU BIG OAF!
Kruuh grudgingly calms down enough for others to help extricate him from the wall. After the others get down the stairs, with someone guiding Galeria as she refuses to look at the carnage that had been wrought on those steps, you begin making your way forward again.
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Yngvild stares down the staircase warily. "If that thing attacks me he's going to be beef. Just making that clear." she mutters moving forward.
"Bah, he's a big'ol softie..." Kresh glances at the bloody horns and hooves of his companion. "Except for here, here, here, here and here. Except for all THOSE places, he's a big softie, wouldn hurt a fly less I told 'em too."
"Hope you don't mind my saying, but you seem to have... little control over him." Arradir frowns and looks between dwarf and bull. "Now may not be the time, but I could work with him later. I'm used to training animals." The man turns and scratches Ylva's head, and she looks up at him with tired, loopy eyes, her tongue lolling with a speckle of froth. "Though she's in a bad way at the moment... Damned Imperials."
"That'd be great friend, the great tree blessed me with this guy but I've never been to great with animals. More of a people person." Kresh gives Arradir a slightly less toothy than average grin. Looking at Arridir's wolf however, gets a thoughtful look. "Let me try something"
Arradir lights up as Kresh takes a look at Ylva and quickly has the dog to her usual self again. To most of the party, it may not have been apparent that she was slouching earlier, but now she stands tall and eager--nearly three feet at the shoulder, and probably taller than a man if she stood on her hind legs. She looks between Kresh and Arradir with almost a grin, and licks the dwarf's hand once before trotting to Arradir's side. For his part, the man smiles and claps Kresh on the shoulder. "My thanks."
Arradir spends a moment patting and brushing the dog, and then he looks to the others. "So, where to? Just follow the girl, right?"
"Yeah, I suppose so." Kresh replies, motioning for the girl to lead the way.
Galeria leads you deeper into the house, and to another set of stairs that Kruuh needs to be teleported down. You eventually arrive at a large room. As you enter, any lights you had go out.
"Well, well, well. It seems that we have some unruly guests tonight," a woman says from the darkness.
It's really dark. You can't see a thing!
You recognize the voice as that of Augusta, Lady Arvina.
"And who's that, now? Rodok asks quietly to the others, but mostly Galleria. And is it always so dark?
I don't care for this... he mutters, moving his hands in a pattern...
Rodok moves his hands in the patterns he'd long since learned to do subconsciously, and no light appears.
"Th-that's my mother," Galeria stutters in reply.
"Why do I feel she is not quite the nurturing kind?" The quip comes easily despite the darkness and the sense of foreboding it brings. At the same time Vaenathis attempts to call his greatsword into being. He is not in any particular hurry to use it against the woman to whom the voice belongs, but he expects he may very well have to in the immediate future.
"The 'Lady' of the house." Yngvild answers Rodok. "Your husband is dead along with all your men upstairs, give up and you don't need to die screaming like he did."
Schandra did her best to keep Galeria calm as she went through the carnage of the fight and to stay out of the way while they got the Kruuh through the narrow spots. When they finally got down the last flight of stairs and entered the darkness Schandra knew that something was very wrong. Darkness had never been an issue for her since she had awakened into her present state but this time she couldn't see through it. She spoke to the others while keeping a hand on Galeria, "This isn't normal darkness, I can't see anything in here and I normally don't have that problem in the dark."
Arradir pauses when it suddenly becomes pitch-black, and Lady Arvina's voice echoes from the darkness. He reaches out a hand and touches Ylva's collar, and he whispers, "Can you smell her, girl? Bad, but heel."
Though you can't see her, you can feel Ylva staring ahead, and growling.
"Oh? You admit to killing my husband and my retainers? By Imperial law, your lives, as commoners and non-citizens, are forfeit. You do know that, don't you? My idiot daughter should have been able to tell you that much after all, or did you kill her too? Tell, did she scream? I hope she did, the pathetic wretch," Lady Arvina's voice snaps from the darkness. It sounds as if it's ahead of you, and above?
"Just for that you're going to die. That little girl is probably the only good thing to ever come out of you." Yngvild growls.
"In all fairness, your husband and retainers did attack us first," Vaenathis replies calmly, even though he knows trying to reason with the woman is quite possibly pointless. "And from what we have learnt about you and yours so far, you are hardly innocent yourself."
Arradir calmly slides his knife into its sheath and moves to ready his spear, which had been strapped to the side of his pack alongside his bow. He keeps one hand on Ylva's neck, keeping her at heel despite her raised hackles and low growling.
There's a heavy clunk behind all of you as something heavy falls into place. LIght flares to life, dazzling all of you for a moment as you're eyes adjust to the sudden brightness. On a balcony overlooking the large room stands Augusta Arvina. As you get a better look, you notice several worrying stains on the stone floor.
"This prattle is beginning to bore me. I demand entertainment! let's see how you fair in my arena," she says. There are several guards looking down from the balcony, seemingly unconcerned.
Opposite of the passage you've taken, a heavy looking portcullis is raised and a low growling can be heard.
As it becomes apparent a fight will start soon, Arradir lets go of Ylva's collar, a signal to the dog that she's "off the leash" for the time being. He also gives a throaty grumble, like he's dislodging something, and calmly speaks. "Ylva, fight." The hound barks in return, her tail raised and swishing from side to side, her teeth bared.
Glaring up at the smuggled faced Imperial woman surrounded by her guards, Yngvild moves with stunning alacrity, drawing and firing her bow in an eyeblink to send an arrow streaking toward the bi+<#.
Kresh says nothing through the woman's ravings, instead deciding to go for the throught right off the bat. He places a hand on Kruuh's side and ports the bull up to the lordess's balcony. "Get'er"
On the center beam of the balconies on each side of the room, there's an arcane symbol that dimly lights up as Yngvild tries to shoot up into the balcony and again when Kresh apparently tries to teleport Kruuh to the balconies.
Yngvild's arrow flies true, then shatters as it strikes a translucent white barrier that flashes just as the arrowhead drew even with the bottom of the balconies, much to the laughter of everyone above.
It flashes again as Kresh tries something, but before any of you can see the efficacy of his actions, there's a thunderous roar as a ferocious looking lion with bat wings from its back and a tail that ends in needle-sharp spines leaps into the arena. Hate fills its eyes as it looks at all of you.
"Ylva, flank! Strike where it's weak!" Arradir points with one hand as he moves toward the beast, and his hound faithfully moves to the other. The man harries it from one side, distracting it with his spear, while his dog plants position and snaps, her jaws gleaming.