Jen has never really been one for frivolous pursuits, but, still, there's this one indelible memory of that nightclub she went to once where good 'ol Gerilius Sampson, flunked Academy mage, had enchanted multi-colored particles of glitter to swirl in clouds around the young, lewdly dressed dancers...
She shakes her head of the memory- one that, unfortunately, has always come into her head with this spell ever since she was dragged out to that club- and flexes her fingers before beginning to move them in increasingly complex movements. The words spill out of her mouth in a rush and she finishes with a wave of her hand towards the area she'd last seen Sneeg.
"Pin him down this time!" she yells, unable to prevent a small note of frustration at her previous spell's lack of lasting effect from sneaking into her voice.
Once found, Guthruc coils as he stares at the empty point in the air. Suddenly, he leaps, attempting to capture his prey midair.
You don’t properly appreciate what superhuman strength means until you see someone leap from the sidewalk to the second floor of a building on the far side of the street.
Guthruc leaps seven feet straight into the air, grasping for that invisible thing that he smells. His feet rise above where his head was, though his snake tail still touches the ground.
Guthruc's hand closes around something invisible, and he pulls it back down to the earth with him.
Guthruc makes sure to land invisible something first, and the high pitched voice goes "Oof!" as it slams into the packed dirt.
The sheet of darkness concealing the staircase dissipates, revealing the yellow fire outlined form of Falgrim Sneeg.
Seeing Sneeg attempting an escape, Jen thinks fast and runs forward towards the base of the staircase.
"Don't you dare, you son of a Balrog!" she yells, and, with the sort of deranged bitterness only a wrongfully jailed prisoner can have, pours everything she has into her spell. With a swish of her hand, shining black liquid spills across the steps, cascading downwards towards the wizard.
Mr. Blinky attempts to sink his claws into the invisible thing in Guthruc's hands, then bite a piece off of it.
The glistening black fluid coats the stairs, and Sneeg loses his footing. He lands heavily on his side, and then slides headfirst down the steps.
His bumpy ride comes to an end at the base of the stairs, at Bright Awn’s feet.
Awn looks down at Sneeg. The woodborn smiles, a wolfish crease in his features that appears to be mostly teeth and illwill.
"Hello Falgrim."
Then stabs at the man with his blade.
(+2 Str, +2 BAB, +1 enhancement)
(+3THF, +1 enhancement)
His smile falters, and he wrenches the stuff of fate, attempting to drive the point of his blade closer to the fallen wizard.
Immediate Action: Second sight (+2 due to Aura of second sight)
Sneeg sees Bright Awn raise his sword to strike, and tries to roll out of the way. Instead he rolls into the attack. The perils of fighting a clairvoyant. He kicks out at Bright Awn’s weapon, trying to take the hit with his sturdy boots, trying to foil Bright Awn’s edge alignment before the woodborn guts him.
The wizard’s slowing up, just a bit. Too many minor injuries adding up, too little time to catch his breath. Still, he takes a moment to respond, unwilling to seem like the one in the dark.
“Hello Bright Awn,” he gasps.
Falgrim tries to focus on conjuring a fiend to fight for him without exposing himself to Bright Awn's sword and Dharak's ax. He's worried, because the only spell he has left that could possibly be useful in this situation is also his most difficult spell to cast.
The noise of three howlers screaming fills the enclosed space. Two of the spiny creatures come into existence pressed up against each other to fit. Another materializes inside Nugruh's cell ( ).
Howler Howl: Curse—howl; save Will DC 12 negates; frequency 1/hour; effect 1 Wis damage; cure 1 save.
Howler Howl: Curse—howl; save Will DC 12 negates; frequency 1/hour; effect 1 Wis damage; cure 1 save.
Howler Howl: Curse—howl; save Will DC 12 negates; frequency 1/hour; effect 1 Wis damage; cure 1 save.
Sneeg screams out in Ayssal.
The howlers howl something that might be assent. Sneeg can only hope. Mind racing, trying to think of creative uses for his remaining spells, Sneeg steels himself to hold out until the howlers can relieve him.
Sneeg's familiar is too busy being torn to pieces to notice what's going on with it's master.
Not that it's being torn to pieces very effectively. Mr. Winky is surprised by the invisible something's resistance to being chewed on.
The familiar attempts to use one of it's innate fiendish powers to no avail.
Nugruh finishes his summoning spell, bringing earth elementals into existence inside the walls around the howler in his cell. He then withdraws past Abaos, putting other people between him and the demon. "I can heal you if it mauls you," he says by way of apology, "you can't heal me."
Nugruh's elemental strike out at the howler from within the walls.
Speaking of elementals, Iorskan's fighting one.
His genius ploy must have worked (or the elemental can't see through walls) because the elemental doesn't realize that Iorskan's waiting for him!
The dragonling's readied attack slays the rock monster, but, horrors! This one dissolves too! Where's all the food?!
Dharak turns his back on the spine monsters with the casual demeanor of someone who's practiced in ignoring things outside his sphere of influence. He takes a swing at Sneeg instead.
The half-orc lines up an attack and then drops his heavy weapon on the wizard. Sneeg sees the choreographed attack coming and uses his staff to intercept, taking some of the weight out of the swing. The wizard's slowed down by too many injuries, he's half as fast to react to attacks, half as fast to dodge. If this keeps up much longer, someone'll get something lethal past his defenses.
The kytons continue their attempt to exit the ensnaring blanket.
Two of them work their way free! They target Ozzy, jagged blades tearing into fetchling flesh.
Patton is unwilling to attack the howler at melee range, wary of it's bristling spines. Happs, however, is intent on fighting his way through to the wizard.
Happs deals the fiend a telling blow, but got quilled in the process. He tries to fight throw the pain, but it's pretty godsawfully agonizing.
Mr. Blinky continues to attack the thing that Guthruc is holding.
The howler is least resistant to mind effecting spells, and, being large and not particularly agile it is easily hit with touch attacks. Not that it matters anymore (unless you meet another one).
Nobody has wanted to say anything and, for that, Jen is glad. She really is something of a pitiful sight what with her tattered robe pockets overflowing with small objects, her frail frame strapped with larger ones. A ten foot pole is strapped to her back and, over it, a rolled up bundle of ten square feet of canvas.
It's the latter that she turns to, though, when faced with her hated jailer.
Her blood boils. Does he think she can't understand him?
Abyssal
Hitting the release on the strap, she lets canvas unroll as she chucks as much of it as she possibly can onto Sneeg.
Ozzy continues to continue to struggle try to keep the kytons contained.
Round 6
Guthruc instictinctively coils around the invisible fiend as he draws an ornate dagger from his belt. He stabs the brat while tightening his embrace.
Not to mention they're howlers with Giant Quills. But again, GM ruling.
Not to mention they're howlers with Giant Quills. But again, GM ruling.
The hairsbreadth contraction of Awn's eyes and the greater fading of his wolf smile attest to his dismay that Sneeg knows exactly who he is. If there is one thing a soothsayer doesn't like, it's his enemy saying...sooth.
He reacts accordingly, stabbing again...knowing innately that his own effort is fateful enough to strike the burly spellcaster...
[+2 Str, +2 BAB, +1 enhancement]
[+3 THF, +1 enhancement]
Not to mention they're howlers with Giant Quills. But again, GM ruling.
The howlers jostle each other with their Giant Quills. Howler 3 (the one adjacent to Iorskan) is sickened.
As the howler charges forward, Abaos acts quickly and closes the door on it.
Undrell throws a bundle of canvas over Sneeg's body. "That's," he gasps as Bright Awn's sword slices a narrow slit in both the canvas and the man beneath it, "juvenile."
”Rawr!!!!!” FWOOOOSH
Ref DC 14 half
If he couldn’t eat...then ALL WOULD BURN!
Mr. Winky continues mauling the invisible thing, hitting with all three attacks.
The struggling creature pinned by Guthruc bites and claws at it's captor, invisibility ending as the horned red quasit attacks.
Guthruc finds that stabbing the no-longer invisible thing is like stabbing a rock; with a terrible grating noise the knife chips a piece of the demon off. It bleeds black tar.
As you watch, the black tar fills the cracks and chips in the demon's body, solidifying when it fits into place.
The earth elementals continue double teaming the howler in the cell.
The howler in the cell is limping on three legs and staggering about, trying to keep it's footing under the relentless barrage of blows coming throw the walls and floor. If the attack continues, the howler will collapse.
The elementals aren't feeling so hot, but no one cares because they're summoned creatures.
The howler in the cell charges forward, attempting to break down the portcullis that was just slammed shut.
The bars rattle and dirt falls from the ceiling, but it holds for now.
Flame Breath, avoiding the party. Hits quill beasts?: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 2) = 6
The howlers, cramped as they are, are completely blindsided by Iorskan's fiery breath. (Perhaps they failed their Kn. Arcana checks to know that dragons breath fire?)
The howlers attack.
The howler, cramped as it is, manages to wrap it's jaws around Jen's arm. She yanks her arm back, tearing long furrows into her flesh.
The other howler attacks Ozzy.
In the cramped quarters, Ozzara is able to evade the tiger sized beast, even while keeping her bag of kytons all wrapped up.
Nugruh belatedly notices how badly Abaos has been bleeding when the purple-eyed man staggers, nearly falling to the ground.
"Brave thing you did," the druid says while casting a healing spell, eyes on the howler trying to work it's way free of the cell.
Falgrim's thinking that maybe he's taking better than he's giving, so he decides to buy himself some breathing room in lieu of going on the offensive. He disapears from under Jen's canvas in a swirl of purple smoke, reappearing fifty-five feet away behind his desk.
EDIT
Happs and Dharak will attempt Aid Another to boost Jen's and Ozzy's Ac, since they don't have reach weapons to fight the howlers.
They both succeed.
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Abaos is tired. So tired. He's so tired, he can feel the energy slipping away. He tries to grasp at it, but it's like grasping at rain, and he's never been very good at dodging raindrops.
As that stray thought trickles through his mind, he staggers, narrowly avoiding a quill that bounces up against the cage and into the area he was just a moment ago.
So tired, he thinks, and just as his eyes start to drop, suddenly, he blessed with a sudden boost?. Warmth? He's not certain. But whatever it is, it feels good, and he's extremely grateful.
"Brave thing you did," the druid says while casting a healing spell, eyes on the howler trying to work it's way free of the cell.
Abaos' eyes fly open at the voice. "Don't mention it," he tells the old necromancer. "Now let's just survive long enough to do another."
He ponders the strange things inside the cage that seem to be attacking the howler. "Are those yours?" he asks the druid. "Can they hold that thing inside? If it gets out, we're going to be boxed in, and that could be very bad."
And then someone yells something about Sneeg. Abaos looks to Nugrah. "So, think you can get me over there like he does?" he asks.
FWOOOOOOOSH!
Awn watches as the wizard *puffs* into smoke and disappears. He sighs. For some reason, he ardently wished to...kill... that man. Perhaps he will be afforded the opportunity again.
Bereft of meaningful options, the woodborn tries to assist Dharak in chopping into Howlers...
"Dharak - there, under the...yes. There. Ish."
Ozzy continues to struggle with the bundle, wishing there was anywhere she could step in the over-crowded room to get away from the howlers' reach.
Meanwhile, Mr. Blinky sees the invisible man with his glowing outline appear, and lets out an otherworldly roar as he leaps through the air to tear him apart.
Jen winces through the pain but manages to shrug it off. She finds the irritating wizard gone again and realizes that she has few options. Her spells are running down and they haven't even seen the deer man himself yet, she can't run anywhere without the Howlers pursuing, the quarterstaff wielded by her stick-like arms would be like tap on the head for one of the massive beasts...
"This spell is so useless, though," Jen mutters. Nonetheless, she waves her hand in a series of motions that result in a brilliant burst of light in the eyes of the Howler in front of her.
Jen knows she has limited options but, as the gears in her head churn she realizes the Howlers are far too big to fit in the stairwell. Turning, she runs about halfway up the steps and then, looking over the edge at the ground below, empties the contents of her third and fourth robe pockets onto the space she was previously occupying.
Four-pronged, spiky metal objects clank and clatter together as they spill across the ground.
"These things are trying to kill me!" Jen yells, pressing her back against the wall more out of instinct than for any actual use it could possibly provide.
The screaming quilled monster pounces the moment Jen turns her back on it, tearing at her back violently. [ooc]Take 11 damage, you've 3 hitpoints left by my count. Jen staggers and nearly falls, but manages to escape up the stairs retrieve her caltrops from storage and drop them in an adjacent square . Jen presses her back against the wall very, very briefly, which is still plenty long enough to leave a great bloody smear on the wall and cake dirt into her wounds.
Meanwhile, Mr. Blinky sets upon the flailing wizard, who ears himself some nasty defensive injuries on his hands and forearms. "Bad otherwordly monster! Bad!" he reprimands.
He ponders the strange things inside the cage that seem to be attacking the howler. "Are those yours?" he asks the druid. "Can they hold that thing inside? If it gets out, we're going to be boxed in, and that could be very bad."
"They are Gozreh's," the wizened druid rasps. "But she who guides the wind and waves lets me make use of them."
He ponders the second question for just a moment. "I believe they can hold it, yes."
And then someone yells something about Sneeg. Abaos looks to Nugrah. "So, think you can get me over there like he does?" he asks.
Nugruh shakes his head. "Not like he does, no . . ." absentmindedly he procures a live spider from within his ragged clothing and rolls it between his fingers. His hand glows with his brown, decay-colored aura, and he presses it against Abaos. "But I can get you over there like I do."
Jen slowly backs up from the Howler as one would from a rabid dog and, as soon as she's moved some distance away dumps her caltrops out on the floor in front of her. She eyes the ascending stairs just five feet away, intending to escape up it if either of the beasts pursues her through her spiky field.
Snake-guthruc is confused that the dagger isn't working very well, and has been trained to revert to smart-guthruc when not able to understand a problem. Guthruc exits rage.
"Smart-guthruc", with his whole 10 inteligence decides that he may be of better use elsewhere, not stabbing such a small thing; though that healing ability might be a nice ability to consume. He had bigger, spikier, fish to fry.
Guthruc pins the struggling creature and preps his rope.
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Abaos feels a sudden- stickiness, he feels, as the druid casrs his spell come over him. He gets the idea- he's holding a spider, and now he feels like one. Hesistantly, he puts an arm up against the wall he's next to. Surprisingly () it sticks.
"Hey hey!" Abaos yells jubilantly. "Now this is what I call a ride!"
He happily scampers up the wall, making darting jumps from side to side, showing off a little his new moves. HE can see the whole battlefield, from up here- he decides he's definetly spending more time on the ceiling from now on.
"I'm coming for you, wizard!" he crows at the figure off in the distance.
Iorskan unleashes another gout of fire over the howlers!
They're just as taken aback by the second scorching as they were the first, and are unable to position themselves to avoid the worst of the cooking!
"Dharak - there, under the...yes. There. Ish."
Dharak grits his teeth. Hemmed in by the giant monsters, he isn't getting out of this without getting poked. Nothing for it, he decides, but to swing away and hope they die first. "Here goes nothing."
Dharak lays about him with his axe, hacking away at the demons. Unfortunately, in the process of driving the monsters back, he's punctured multiple times by their quills. The quills are embedded deep in his torso, it looks excruciatingly painful.
Seeing the way it's having a hard time keeping itself on it's feet, Happs Bydon decides to brave the spines and attack howler 3. "Dharak, hold on!" he calls. He's seen half-orcs push themselves too far and die on their feet.
Throwing himself into the fray Bydon slays the monster, but earns a spine through his own torso for his trouble.
In the cell, the elementals continue to pound Howler 1.
The howler struggling to break down the portcullis succumbs to it's injuries.
The one surviving howler can't reach any of the priority targets, so it instead directs it's attacks towards the dragon that's done the most damage to it.
Sneeg attempts to cast a spell, and succeeds. He provokes an attack of opportunity as he hovers up and hits the ceiling.