Bright Awn sees the strange fog, hears the web. He knows this is metaphorically but the weave in pure, physical form. He moves surely to meet it.
Free Action: Drop aura of alacrity
Standard Action: Enact aura of defense.
Move Action: Move 30'.
[+2 Dex, -1 armor, -1 shield]
Bright Awn valiantly vaults into the vexatious vapor, but is blindsides by the spiderwebbing concealed therein.
Over in his cell, a decrepit old man dressed in filthy rags has been woken by the fighting.
You hear the sound of someone rattling the bars of a porticullis (it's a sound you're all familiar with) and shouting at the top of their old man lungs. "Let me out of here! I can help you! I'm a healer!" Their voice is scratchy and hoarse.
Dharak looks at Jen and Iorskan helplessly. "The cloud's poisonous?" he asks, a note of worry in his voice.
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Round 2
With a renewed sense of vigor, Abaos tugs against the strands again- luckily, his earlier struggling had awoken a cricket, which struck a pebble than moved the wed just enough to allow him to escape. A slide of the wrist here, and the long magical cobwebs fell off, and he was free.
Or, well, sort of. The cloud was still there, obscuring everything; he was having trouble seeing, even with his normally excellent eyesight. What the cloud wasn't obscuring was his ears- a rattle of a cage, and a cry for help, was all the lucky gambler needed to confirm who was close by.
"Don't anyone open that cage!" he yells quickly, before ducking his nose back into his shirtsleeve, to avoid the stench.
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Abaos carefully picks his way through the webs, head down and face covered by his sleeve, as he makes his way towards where he saw Happs, Patton, and Sally converge. He happens to stumble upon Ozzy- checking to make certain she's free, he waves her with a quick nod over to the other wall.
When he reaches the area, he quickly bends down, as if to drag the heaving Patton and Sally out of the cloud.
Round 1
Guthruc, thoroughly annoyed by his inability to move, enters rage.
Guthruc, strength now regained and enhanced, tears off the webs like sheets of paper and barrels his way through the webs, ripping them apart as he goes. Halfway through the thick of it, he loses momentum, only to surge forth again using his swift runner's shirt that is more or less being worn while being stitched into his amalgam of furs he calls armor.
He turns toward where he saw the grotesque figure retreat before the fog obscured everything. He exits the cloud and sees the beast standing there.
However, while trying to duck and weave to the other side of the flesh mass, he failed to account for a third arm that sprouted from the creature, if you can call it that, that blocked his path.
Guthruc is surprised to find not only the droopy demon, but a human wizard who was not there a moment ago.
Falgrim Sneeg is a solidly built man in his late twenties or early thirties, who carries a stout pole that looks more like a whacking stick than a wizard's staff, and a hooded cloak that looks more like rogue's than wizard's garb. He was bushy eyebrows, a scarred face, and a contemptuous sneer for the raging orc.
As Guthruc barrels through it's personal space, the child sized stumpy monster's flesh bulges and twists as it retracts it's arm and grows a new one in Guthruc's path.
Seeing Guthruc stroll past his summoned monster without a care in the world, the wizard puts his whacking stick to could use.
The wizard does not look happy at Guthruc's proximity.
Ozzy breathes in more of the foul air as she tries to make her way through the webs.
While she remains unaffected by the stench, she becomes tangled in the webs. She urges Mr. Blinky onward to go help Guthruc before whoever is responsible for the webs and the stink can do any more to hinder them.
Mr. Blinky takes in a lungful or three of the noxious fog. Though it makes his big eyes water, he keeps his composure as he works his way through the sticky strands to leave them and the fog behind. He moves past the both the wizard and (what I assume is) his summoned minion to block any attempt he might make to escape further into the chamber (not that there seems to be anywhere to go, but trapped between Guthruc and Mr. Blinky seems like a particularly bad place for him to be).
As his big eyes stare menacingly at the wizard (though not menacingly enough to demoralize him, as that would require another standard action) Mr. Blinky puffs out the inhaled fumes through his nose right in the wizard's ugly, scar-covered face, giving him a small taste of his own medicine (again, no mechanical effect, just painting a picture).
As Mr. Blinky rushes forward out of sight, Ozzy attempts to free herself of the webs she has become entangled in.
“All things considered,” Falgrim Sneeg says, “this could have gone better.”
Iorskan peered as hard as he could into the fog. It sounded like something was happening in there! But it smelled so bad, and there was something sticky inside. He slapped his tail on the ground in frustration as he waited to see if anything came out.
“All things considered,” Falgrim Sneeg says, “this could have gone better.”
“All things considered,” Falgrim Sneeg says, “this could have gone better.”
Awn sighs. As if this was going the way anyone expected. The woodborn tries to move north...the vapors do not trouble him, but the web holds him fast...
[+2 Dex, -1 armor, -1 shield]
The noxious vapors are thinning out, they'll be all gone soon.
Falgrim faces off against his two opponents. He opens his mouth, rattling off words in some unknown language while he lashes out with his staff, trying to buy himself some breathing room to complete his spell.
Ozzy knows that casting a spell while actively defending yourself is tricky indeed, which is why she isn't suprised when Sneeg misses a syllable of his incantation in the heat of the moment.
But to her surprise, despite the missed syllable Sneeg vanishes from sight.
Abaos can make just make out the old man in the cell through the noxious miasma. The old man can also see Abaos's form through the fog.
"We're on the same side," he pleads with the luckbringer. "We want the same thing; to kill that boy! The Stag Lord." His face is momentarily contorted with rage as he says the name. In a despairing and plaintive voice he begs: "Please. I'm a healer. I can heal you."
He starts suddenly, looking back into the darkness of his cell. Then he presses himself against the bars of his cage and hisses, "The wizard is in here with me." His expression is one of both hatred and of abject terror.
Ozzy is suddenly on fire.
Take fire damage, Ozzy.
A monster made out of some manner of solid fire had materialized right next to her, with her eyes adjusted to the dark of the cloud the elemental was painfully bright to look at, clearly visible even through the miasma.
It had seemed surprised by it's hostile surroundings, the constraining webs and the noxious gas. Surprised but not adversely effected.
A high pitched voice had screeched at it:
And the elemental had happily obliged. it had reached into Ozzy's square, igniting the webbing and burning everything the were stuck to. Ozzy's chainmail held the heat in, growing uncomfortably warm.
Happs' eyes grow wide at the spreading fire. "Move!" he orders. But even through the fog he can tell that there's no way for the archers to follow, they're struggling like flies caught in a web.
Happs grabs Patton, who's closest, and attempts to drag him out bodily.
Making utterly no headway as the fire approaches.
The stumpy fleshy creature attacks Guthruc.
While Guthruc was paying attention to the wizard, the droopy monster attacked his legs from behind, where his armor couldn't protect him. It's long, hooked claws and mouth full of teeth draw gouge at his calves and the backs of his knees.
His claws heating up with his inner flames, Iorskan ran through the webbing, lighting it beneath him. Getting to the fire elemental, he took a bite at it...
...though it was with great hesitation. Wouldn't biting something made out of fire hurt? Fire usually didn't bother him, but still...
The fiery creature dodges nimbly away from Iorskan's snapping jaws.
Round 2:
Ah, Nine Hells.
The dragon has run in to the fog in a flash of fire and Jen's skin prickles uncomfortably with her newfound vulnerability. She's exposed to a flank now, or, for that matter, any creatures that might emerge from the fog.
Still, anything could be in there and it seems far more dangerous to risk incapacitation in it. And she knows that few possess the means to truly high-level sorcery, so the cloud will likely dissipate in moments.
She moves up to the edge of the fog so that she'll be able to rush in as soon as the spell ends.
"Magic man coward! Use fake magic so guthruc no see magic man! Coward! Guthruc spit on name!"
Thinking the mage a coward, he spits where their body was only moments ago and turns towards their summoned abomination.
"Magic man no run?" Guthruc gives a bloodthirsty smirk "Magic man stupid coward..."
He swings his club at the floating saliva
Ozzy feels the wave of flame wash over, singing her skin. In front of her, she sees the source of the fire flickering through the stinking haze.
As the fire spreads around her, she knows that a move in any direction will just put her back in the flames, so she stands her ground next to the fiery being, preparing herself to dodge any more flames that come her way.
Mr. Blinky listens for the movement of the disappearing wizard before lashing out.
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"We're on the same side," he pleads with the luckbringer. "We want the same thing; to kill that boy! The Stag Lord." His face is momentarily contorted with rage as he says the name. In a despairing and plaintive voice he begs: "Please. I'm a healer. I can heal you."
He starts suddenly, looking back into the darkness of his cell. Then he presses himself against the bars of his cage and hisses, "The wizard is in here with me." His expression is one of both hatred and of abject terror.
Abaos slowly walks over to the bars of the cage, stopping just short of where the man would be able to reach him. "Your name is Nugrah, correct?" he asks slowly. quietly. "I've heard about you. From Bokken."
He pauses to let the words sink in. "You're the Stag Lord's father, correct? What did you have to do to get him to throw you in here? And, yes, I'm sure you are a healer. Takes a bit of healing to be a necromancer, I'd imagine." An involuntary shudder runs through him, and he takes a step back.
"No, I don't think I'm letting you out. Not yet, anyways. If he's in there, holler when the knife goes in. The blood will give me an idea of where he is, and I'll do my best to save you. I will." He adds emphasis to the last words, speaking with finality.
After spitting on Magic Man's name Guthruc pounds the hapless dretch with his greatclub.
"Oh bother," it moans as the orc's club hammers Abaos' starknife into it's skull with a sound like a starknife being hammered into a skull.
Rather than die properly, the lumpy monster vanishes, and the starknife falls to the ground. There isn't any gore on Guthruc's club, either, which is mildly disappointing.
Mr. Winky moves further into the room, lashing out at empty air to try and locate the wizard.
He doesn't find Sneeg, but he does find the wizard's desk in the corner of the room. It's piled high with books and looseleaf papers, as well as copious amounts of glassware. Scattered on it also are what appear to be the shells of eggs, leathery and squishy like turtle eggs, with holes punched in them and their fluids drained, deflated like water balloons.
The comfortable armchair behind the desk was built to recline, and is buried in a mess of blankets.
Nugrah's eyes go wide, his face contorts with loathing. "Bokken." Throwing himself at the bars, he shouts, "that was fifty years ago! I was a kid, just a dumb kid!"
He turns away from Abaos to face the darkness of his cell, and mutters, "Just like Bokken to hold a grudge fifty years . . ." oblivious to the irony of the statement.
Mr. Winky moves further into the room, lashing out at empty air to try and locate the wizard.
Awn grapples with his current problem. He's been approaching this all wrong. Rather than try to escape like water, he tries to force, like a root bursting rock...
He frees himself, then attempts to move...but finds himself still rooted to the spot.
The noxious cloud has completely dispersed at this point, revealing the chaos and burning spiderweb to everyone.
Right where the dretch vanished appears a similarly sized and shaped creature made of earth and stone.
The disembodied high pitched voice that had given instruction to the fire elemental speaks again.
The small earthy thing vanishes into the ground.
Happs Bydon keeps pulling at Patton’s arm.
When it becomes obvious that the two less experienced brigands won’t be making it out of the conjured web in time to escape the fire, there’s a moment’s indecision on Happs Bydon’s face.
Only a moment’s.
The fire spreads from the squares ignited by the fire elemental and Iorskan. The webs produce hot and smokeless fire.
The smell of flesh burning and people crying out in pain fills the enclosed space.
Bydon’s leather cloak and hood protects him from the worst of the flames. Patton and Sally aren’t so lucky; thoroughly ensnared in the inflammable strands they were roasted alive, hair and flesh burning away, though they cling to life still.
The butcher of badger’s glade still hasn’t recovered from the noxious gas, and her own flesh-smoke didn’t help matters. She lies moaning on the ground.
Nugruh croaks out something in Druidic, casting a spell on himself. His withered old skin turns to wood and sprouts small branches, he looks not dissimilar to Bright Awn now.
From within Nugruh’s cell a deep voice calls out. It’s shouting what seems to be an incantation, words spoken as quickly as possible with nary a stop for breath. Sneeg could have had a great career as an auctioneer, but he rather chose to use his gift for ill; summoning evil monsters.
Suddenly and unpleasantly sharing a square with Abaos are cat sized eyeballs with spiked plates of eyeball armor.
A single eye peers from behind the armor plates and keen-edged blades that compose the cage-like exterior of this tiny flying orb.
Their gaze is quite unnerving.
The worst part about Kytons (besides that they love torture and are just all around awful) is that they don’t die. Even if you pull them apart and scatter them all over, they just pull themselves back together again.
The deep voice, having concluded it’s casting, issues orders to his minions, with that same auctioneer rapidity.
“I’ve no time to micromanage you, so I’ll leave you to your own discretion. Attack targets of opportunity, but bear the following heuristic in mind; prioritize those in fighting condition over those who are not, prioritize those near death over those who are not, prioritize those casting spells over those who aren’t, prioritize the little girl using goggles as a headband, she is a summoner and when she dies so will her summoned beast, and, all other things being equal, kill the man closest you. Dovan was a friend.”
The spiked orbs tear into Abaos, the man closest them.
“Choose separate targets where viable!” the wizard complains to his minions, before going silent.
Everything was happening! Everything! But to Iorskan he had one issue and one issue only. How does one eat fire?
He took a tentative snap but thought better of it. This was foolish! He’d kill it, let it cool down, and THEN eat it. Pleased with his obviously genius level intellect, he savaged it with his claws.
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Iorskan’s genius plan works perfectly!
Except for one problem.
Instead of cooling off so Iorskan can eat it, the elemental just ... stops existing. :(
The enemy was invisible, so guthruc exits rage to think to himself
the snakes I caught seemed to know I was there before they actually saw me. They must have a strong sense that allows this. I shall consume and acquire that sense!
He proceeds to retrieve one of his bags o' snake as a standard action. He cautiously removes the snake from the bag.
And apparently guthruc doesn't know these things... he grabs the snake dead center of its body like one might grab a wizard staff that wasn't actually a wizard staff.
As the putrid haze lifts and the webs burn away, Ozzy is shocked to see four Auger Kytons appear around Abaos. The sight of the Auger Kytons worries Ozzy. More than their presence, the fact that they're fighting someone with the ability to summon four of them at once worries her, but she also knows that she can't kill them. Her only option is to try to contain them until the magic that brought them to this plane expires, so she drops her spear and pulls her blanket from the strap where it is attached to the outside of her pack. Stepping toward Abaos, she then attempts to tangle them all up in it before they have a chance to spread out. Abaos, duck!
If Mr. Blinky had higher intelligence, he might look around for a source of dust or liquid that he might use to reveal the wizard's location. He's smarter than he looks, but not that smart. He takes a 5ft step and blindly attacks 3 more squares.
Ozzy then has another thought. Jutting her chin out to indicate the blanket, she says Cover up the gate!
Then she turns her head toward the stairs. And somebody block the exit. These guys are invisible!
[ooc]Breath weapon?/ooc]