As the orc clambers over the merlon, Kelian reaches out and yanks him further forward while he's off balance.
Drawing his sword, he attacks his opponent.
Unfortunately, the orc sees it coming and swipes Kelian's blade aside with the back of his bracer.
Reaching the end of her recitation, Mel says "Don't panic, Fyrtor. Take a deep breath and shake it off."
Reaching out, she establishes where the arrow slit in front of her is by touch. Then she pauses, listening.
Amidst the chaos of the battle, she makes out one orcish warrior shouting "Mangy cur!" in orcish at Nelly, quite close by. She nocks an arrow and sends it towards him.
The arrow thuds strikes a shower of sparks from a stone by the warrior's feet.
Mel blinks her eyes rapidly, trying to recover her sight.
But all she can see is brightness.
Completely blind, Muse tries to stay calm (not easy when you can hear fighting on the walls and have no idea where an attack might be coming from) and waits for his vision to return. [ooc]Readying an action to attack when he can see again.[/dice]
Shadowy blotches start seperating themselves from patches of light, and Muse shoots at one of the ones he has a clean shot at.
+5 to maintain
+5 to maintain
With arrows striking the Orcs in front of her, Nelly is content that the weaker pack mates focus down the weaker enemies. Focusing on the healthier, stronger one herself, she mauls her target, trying to pull the orc off-balance.
Fyrtor tries to heed his companions words and muscles down the panic well in up inside him. He points the sphere as Fusion told him trusingin in his elf friend's eyes and using the wall next to him as a tough guide.
Then he half draws his how waiting for the motes in his eyes to clear.
Blinking he growels in frustration as his blindness refuses to abate.
Turion backs off from the successful climber. Kelian then narrowly fails to pull him off his feet and his struck hard for his trouble (26 to hit for 16 damage bc no +3 AC seance boon right now?). Kelian then misses the orc but Kazador comes flying over and finishes him off. Algric lands two shots, further wounding the orcs fighting Nelly. Brolin shakes off the blindness and lands an absolutely murderous shot on one of the orcs. Fyrtor moves the flaming sphere right into one of the orcs, who fails to dodge! Nelly bites an orc hard! Unsteady, he slowly rises to his feet (provoking from Nelly because staggered, roll an AoO).
His comrade strikes at Nelly but misses. Two more orcs attempt to climb the wall but have difficulty maintaining a hold. One of the orcs finishes casting a spell and an infernal beast appears on the wall! It belches flame but Algric and Turion press tight against the wall and are only slightly scorched (2 fire dam). The orc also casts a spell that seems to bolster his allies! The other orc caster casts a spell on himself and begins walking up the wall! Several more orcs stumble through the spiky stones, wounding themselves greatly. From a distance, more arrows launch toward you on the wall! Most miss but one shaft finds Turion (11 damage).
Unable to see, Mel blinks furiously to try and clear her eyes. She pulls an arrow by touch and and nocks it, ready to fire as soon as she can spot a target.
Her eyes water and sting, and she thinks back wildly to her college paper on the spell currently setting her at risk. Am I really so weak-minded? she wonders. I ... always felt as though I wasn't. Just ... one more thing I've been wrong about.
When the Orc attempts to raise, Nellys eyes glimmer with a violent aggression. She subdued him, but he decided to fight on. Unacceptable.
Aiming for the Orcs throat, she snaps forward and rips flesh with her devastating punishment.
Slightly singed, Algric stumbled back and fired wildly at the demonic creature. He had felt somewhat safe on the walls. No longer!
Seeing Algric in peril snapped Kazador out of his melancholy. Leaving the dead orc behind him he flew over to the demon. Axe raised he buried it into the monstrosity without a second thought. Every blow took from his own health, but at that point he cared not for such concerns.
As Kazador finishes off the orc, Kelian nods to him. Then he steps behind a merlon, sword in hand, and readies himself to repel the next climber.
Everything's so frenetic, and so much of the battle has taken place outside Muse's feeble human vision, that keeping track of everyone and everything has been hard. His momentary blindness didn't help matters, either.
"How's everyone holding up?" he calls out, blinking spots out of his eyes.
There's a monster on the wall, but other people are nearer to it and Kazador's monster killing prowess is well known to the captain. Except, didn't he lose his hammer ah he's using the enchanted axe they found earlier now. Muse adds "retrieve magic hammer" to his list of short-term priorities right under "make sure everyone gets out of this alive" and "find the storied weapons of Kazad Gavr that we're here for".
The light of Fyrtor's blazing orb reveals orcs swarming the wall, and at least two of them are casting spells, maybe more in the darkness.
Beyond that light Turion's black tentacles persist, and there sounds to be several orcs caught in them or caught behind them. How many? No way of knowing. Hopefully the spell lasts long enough for them to fight off the first wave. Muse directs his fire at the mage walking up the wall.
Legacy's getting into the swing of things now.
Fyrtor, unable to see, none the less by hearing realizes there are a LOT of orcs near the wall now. Suddenly an idea strikes him. I can burn the ladder!
He focuses himself making ready for the moment he can see.
Ads his eyes clear Fyrtor enacts his rashly conceived plan.
Holding on to his last spell for the time being, Túrion attempts to keep calm, despite the fire-spitting demon in front and the barrage of arrows from his left.
The Dwarves seemed to have the Demon under control - and standing still behind cover seemed to have worked out better than moving. Reloading his crossbow, he waits for a moment, opting to fire on one of the climbers, then quickly ducking back into safety.
+5 to maintain
+5 to maintain
For Nelly, the tactical situation was simple. There were Orcs still squirming in front of her, so she was not done biting.
Wolvish decision trees were deceptively simple, but efficient nonetheless - not that Nelly was consciously aware of that fact as she bared her fangs for another attack.
Nelly finishes off one orc as he tries to stand then pulls another down! He's not dead yet but he's badly off! This one seems wiser, understanding his doom is upon him. He swings his axe while still on the ground but misses badly. Algric and Kazador combine to finish off the summoned hellhound, dismissing it back to the infernal reaches from whence it came. Brolin fires a truly impressive volley and the orc climbing the wall with supernatural ease falls dead. Fyrtor clears his vision while Mel continues blinking. The druid then moves the flaming sphere directly into an orc, who is set alight by it. The orc quickly beats out the flames then he and his comrades set to climbing the wall. But the wall is very steep and they struggle without making progress! Seeing the trouble of his position, the divine spellcaster on the ground calls out to whatever dark god he serves. A wall of bone erupts directly behind you on your fortification! Skeletal arms reach out to grab you! Turion and Mel are both grappled! The arms exert surprising force on each of them (1 dam each)!
From long range, arrows come flying at your battlements. The archers have determined that Turion is their most promising target. Most of the arrows miss but one finds home!
With the demon gone, Algric scanned for the last real threat. The orc caster. Spotting the shaman, Algric sent two arrows thudding into the foe.
Fyrtor, realizing how dangerous the caster is, chants, "aarde bedek my vyand se gesig" and a glob of mud appears streaking at the orc as Fyrtor points.
Then his finger still directed at the cleric the flaming sphere rolls at the blinded foe.
Kazador ripped the axe free, feeling intense pain as he did so. He saw Algric shooting the orc who was causing so much trouble, and for a moment he was ready to fly down there. Surprise it with one big hit. Cut the head off the foe and retreat. But he had learned the folly of such escapades. Instead he repositioned himself on the wall where the orcs were still trying to climb.
Mel lets out a full-throated scream as an unseen assailant grabs her from behind, and struggles to free herself.
Kelian waits grimly for the caster to finish climbing the wall; then Brolin's volley sends him tumbling down into the mass of warriors below. Kelian lowers his guard a bit and wonders what to do.
After a moment he shrugs and readies himself to stab the next orc that comes in range.
Túrion suddenly feels something grasp him, hold him. At first, panic crept into his mind - but he managed to focus.
A spell. They operate on patterns. The weaving.
The adrenaline helped as the Elven mage quickly shifted between several miniscule movements, eventually misleading the skeletal arms grabbing him - seeing a chance, he quickly attempts to pull away.
Nelly, for a moment, wondered...why were these green-skinned humanoids so insistent on dying? Was submission not preferable to death, for them?
With a mental shrug, she reached the conclusion of "Probably not", and counterattacked the prone axe-wielding Orc.
With the other orcish caster clearly illuminated by Fyrtor's flaming sphere, Brolin will join Algric in making a pincushion out of the fellow.
Mel tears herself free of whatever things have grabbed her out of the dark, and all of a sudden she is tiny and alone and huddled in the dark once more. The things want to kill her, and she can't let them notice, she can't let them see. She turns and presses her back against the merlon, trembling and pale. Silent tears course from her unseeing eyes, but after that initial scream she makes not a single sound.
Algric strikes the orcish caster several times while Fyrtor blinds him and strikes him hard with fire, which the blind orc struggles to dodge. Brolin is then more able to hit the blinded orc and finishes him off with two shots. His other two shots are then directed at the orcs attempting to climb the wall. Nelly finishes off the orc at her feet but the spells of the dead orcish casters continue to hound the party. The skeletal arms up on the wall grab a hold of Algric, Fyrtor, and Brolin! And poor Mel, who can't see where they are coming from, is grabbed once more. The orcs keep trying to climb the wall and two of them make it halfway to the top this time! Due to their wounded legs, they cannot climb very quickly. Again, arrows come from a source none of your can identify. Apparently the orcs are no longer targeting Turion as they cannot see him. But Fyrtor is struck very hard by a lucky shot (nearly confirmed crit: 7 damage) while Brolin is also hit (also unconfirmed, 6 damage). The fight drags on and one, both sides greatly bloodied and losing their ability to fight. But which will last longer?
Finding himself grasped by unseen arms, Algric struggled to break free.
Kazador once more wished that he had his hammer. If he did he could have tried to dispel the dead orc’s magic. Instead, he just stood there, ready to attack any orc who came up.
Fyrtor struggles to free himself from the orc's foul conjuration but fails. With a cry of anger and frustration he takes a moment to move his sphere into one last orc before it begins to fade away.
Mel grits her teeth and pulls a dagger from her belt, awkwardly stabbing at her unseen assailant.
Her vision clears finally. "Makea Ostara," she gasps as she finds herself clutched in the embrace of cold, skeletal arms.
Kelian stoically maintains his state of readiness.
Captain Muse will keep plugging away, switching targets if he manages to disable the mage.
Algric breaks free of the wall but Fyrtor can't manage it.
Túrion reloads his crossbow, and casts Light on the new Bolt. If his memory did not betray him, most Orcs visible were assailing the walls, and well illuminated by the dancing lights overhead.
Those firing volleys of arrows from beyond their vision were dangerous.
Looking at who was next to him, he holds the crossbow out to Algric:"Think you can illuminate those Orcs?"
Nelly, unaware of the perilous ground, rushes toward the next Orc. The floor suddenly deciding to wound her paws comes as a surprise. So far, Nelly always had a good relationship with the ground.
Muse had been so preoccupied with the orcs that he'd neglected to pay attention to the wall of grasping skeletal appendages. He tries to break the grapple and move away.
If that succeeds Muse'll move away from the wall.
Nelly bites and trips an orc while Algric breaks free of the wall but doesn't have room to move away from it. Brolin breaks free and moves out of reach of the skeletal hands. Fyrtor doesn't manage to break free yet but his fire burns one last orc while Mel strikes at the wall and regains her site. Kelian and Kazador prepare to attack any climbers while Turion prepares illumination.
The orc Nelly tripped tries to attack her from the ground but can't break through her tough fur. The orcs attempt to climb the wall but make no progress. Arrows come through the dark again but they all miss. The hands reach out for Algric, Mel, and try to keep a hold on Fyrtor!
Kazador once more held his ground. He resolved to get a bow if they survived this.
Algric, barely avoiding the grasping wall, fired at the orcs trying to climb.
Mel stabs at the wall once more. She finds a weak spot and jams her dagger in, wrenching apart the bone. A section clatters to the ground around her.
She turns to the side and attempts the same thing on the section grabbing Fyrtor -- her first strike skitters across the surface of the bone, but the second finds good purchase. "Just break it down," she tells the others.
As he struggles free Fyrtor turns around heeding Mel's call to cut the wall down. Dropping his bow Fyrtor, in a single smooth motion, draws his sword and strikes the wall, cleanly cutting down the section behind him. After catching he breath he calls out to Turion, Nelly's yowls of pain fresh in his mind, "Turion! there are spikes down there."
Inspiration hits Kelian. He sets his sword down. Reaching down, he grabs the body of the orc who made it to the top and got killed by Kazador. Lifting it over his head, he hurls it down onto the orcs attempting to scale the wall.
Between Kelian and Algric, both orcs who made progress on the wall fall off. They try to catch themselves but fall badly. Mel and Fyrtor damage the wall of bone.
It's been a long time since Captain Muse last tried to maintain his channeling state so many times in one day, for so long. He feels his connection to Legacy slipping away, and, not willing at this time to push himself to his very limits, he doesn't try to hold on to it.
His body feeling agonizingly heavy, the captain might have fallen over if not for the flight spell he cast earlier. He pushes off from the ground, flying over his friends to check on them. "Mel!" he calls a heads up while directly above the elf, floating outside the skeletal arms' reach, "your bow!" He drops it near her, adding, "thanks for letting me use it." Looping back around, Muse draws his glass edged sword as he descends to harry the orcs on the ground. This far away from the party's light sources and without Fyrtor's flaming sphere, the captain can't see much. But last he saw, the spellcasters and archers were slain. With his flight and elongated reach, he was in the best position to prevent the few orcs left from scaling the walls.
Near the ground now. Nearby, orc and wolf howled. In the distance, Turion's spells held an unknown number of the creatures at bay. Reaching out into the city around him for memories of happier times, of torches and hearthfires, Muse summons four glowing motes to see by. Flying just out of reach, Muse calls out to the orcs. "If you surren -" If you surrender, he was going to say. But were they in any position to take prisoners? The second wave, any number of orcs delayed by Turions magic, archers or mages among them, could come rushing in the moment that the elf's spell wore out. Could he ask them to drop their weapons? But there were weapons in spades all around them that they could retrieve. Are you really even thinking about this? he berates himself. Thinking about refusing someone's surrender, because it's safer to just kill them?
"If you run I won't chase you."