Action 1
Sabola could hear his voice being called, as if through a long hallway. He tried to go down the hallway towards the voice, but the hall kept getting longer. Somehow he made it, and emerged into the sunlight. His head hurt. He couldn't remember anything recent. His muscles ached, and he was holding his daggers, "did we win?"
Action 2
Sabola looked down at the knight, "what happened to him? What attacked us? I don't recall anything about the fight, but obviously we won, right?"
At Sabola's sudden start, Kaede's hand flew to her hammer's haft - the weapon was halfway off her back before she noticed the faraway look in Sabola's eyes. Coming back to us, maybe? At Sabola's remark, she smiled, looking over to confirm that Arodric was coming back as well. Any enemies were in your head, but yeah, it looks as if you beat 'em.
"No, it wasn't a fight or an attack. I - don't really know what it was, tell you the truth. We were just riding along, and all of a sudden Sir Ilivan was pissing himself on the ground, Arodric was whining and you were all up in Kazmuk's face saying something about whispers and condescension...I tried looking for anything out-of-the-ordinary around, but I didn't see anything, which means it probably wasn't any sort of magic, but it was certainly something strange."
Kaede looks over at Sir Ilivan, still whimpering on the ground. "Oh, snap out of it and get your ass up before we make you get up. You wouldn't accept this from us for a second, and I have no intention of letting you off any easier." She punctuates her last remark with a not-quite-gentle poke with her heavy dragonskin boot.
What Arodric and Sabola were saying made absolutely no sense based on what Hedda had witnessed. "What exactly did you all see or hear to make you act so strange?"
tag Arodric and Sabola
When Sir Ilivan ignored the rest of them and waved them off, Hedda started to get annoyed. Taking a step towards the knight she pressed her question. "I said, what exactly did you see or hear?"
tag Fabian
"What do you mean? I didn't see, or hear anything? I don't recall," Sabola responded.
Turn 019 is up.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
“It’s really no use; we are all destined to be eaten, ravaged, or worse by some demons. Mark my words; it’s not a matter of if but rather a matter of when. You do know that you are all going to die, don’t you?”
"Of course we're all going to die - and it'd be no less true if we sat in Nerosyan twiddling our thumbs, or stuffed our faces with sweetmeats in a pleasure salon in your distant Absalom." Hearing Sir Ilivan's story, Kaede finally began to understand what had embittered the old man so. She began to pity him and the horrors he had witnessed - and her kindest balm was to attempt to draw him out of his troubled mind.
"I've been taught my entire life that death is my inevitable lot. You hear stories of a rare few who have somehow managed to cheat the gods, but they're fairy tales at best - we are all born to die. And here, you're not wrong, it's more likely than not going to be awful. I don't delude myself about that; I've lived my entire life in this demon-tainted wasteland.
"I'm drawing closer to death with every breath - which is why I choose to live, for all it's worth." Subconsciously, she begins to draw closer to Sir Ilivan, looking for all the world like one of the Crusade's own drill sergeants staring down a green recruit. "Fear is the mind-killer; let it take you, and you may as well have let those Iomedaean priests slay you along with your demons seventeen years ago. You've gotten what many in this place never get, what your comrades didn't get: a second chance.
"You won't be here forever, but those you've saved will live on when you've gone. Every life that's better because of your actions holds a piece of your soul that they'll bear all their lives, and on and on. It's in them that you'll live forever - in them, and in the land you've helped to protect. Sarkoris won't forget those whose blood has watered its soil. Count on that."
As the horses continued down the path, Pakad was the first to realize something was wrong - very wrong. Suddenly, he reared as the teeth began to collect under his hooves, and Kaede was thrown from her saddle as he began to panic at the horror around him, landing with a thump on the hard-packed road.
"Yeah." the young man seems almost cheerful "I'm an Arodric. Knew I was a dead man the moment I got the sword. But" he looks meaningfully at Kaede and Kazmuk "I plan on going down fighting as hard as I can."
He looked at the Knight "Are you a good man? You seem like you were. Because here's the only good damn thing about this whole damned demon invasion - it's proof. Easy enough to assume all the gods are lies the clerics tell, but these demons - they're proof that death is just a phase. You will go on. And better to be a good man than a bad one, in the end." He considers "I wonder if babies are scared of being born?"
Arodric's horse reared - but Arodric held his seat like some her of old, sitting up in the saddle, and drawing his sword high into the sky.
Action 1
Kazmuk heard the man and Kaede's words. There was little he could add to her inspiring speech.
"The more important thing is the wish of survive... with so many things around that are trying to kill you, better not to make it easier for them..."
As he talked, Kazmuk got up his horse again, getting read to remain their march.
Action 2
"What the hell is..."
"... wow..." Kazmuk felt from his saddle. During the fall, he managed to land with his ass, with a subtle pain in his coquis... at least he did not ruined his beard. "... cursed beast!"
Action 3
Seeing the pustules and the wasps, Kazmuk grabbed a bit of dirt from the ground and tossed at the pustule, concentrating a bit. The dust turned green, melting many of those damned bugs. He watched the result of his attempt, already prepared for another one.
I thought I changed that. Huh? But yes, you are on the magus build so I'll fix that next turn recap. Sorry about that.
Game on!
All good, main thing was I thought I switched out Bull's strength so I didn't step on Kazmuk as much.
Action 1:
Hedda listened as Sir Ilivan shared his past. ”Killing those we know is horrible, when it’s family it’s worse. At least the demon taint inside of you was removed. I assume you’ve also been trying to redeem yourself ever since. There has been good that has come out of the bad.” Whether it was true or not, Hedda needed to believe what she was saying. Her words were just as much for herself as they were for the knight.
”Everyone here speaks truth. We’re all going to die. But before we go, we take as much evil with us as possible and hope that in the end our good surpasses the bad.”
Action 2:
Hedda wasn't expecting to get pelted by human teeth and as her horse suddenly reared, she was unable to stay in the saddle. She fell backwards and fell hard on her left hip. She managed to brace herself with her arm and keep herself from rolling on to one of the pustules. She quickly got to her feet and took a better look around.
Action 3:
No sooner had Hedda gotten to her feet that the pustules began to belch insects. Demons she could fight but how did one fight a swarm of wasps? Not knowing how to proceed, the bloodrager did the only thing she knew how to do. She drew her weapon and prepared to swat at the insects.
Sir Ilivan shook his head, "Do any of you know what it's like to tear into your own men? How it feels to know that you gutted the people that trusted you?"
He sighed, "Yes, we can take some demons with us but there a lot more where they came from? The rest of the continent will fall, just like Sarkoris did. Only a matter of when."
Although still pessimistic, the knight felt somewhat comforted by the show of concern from the others.
Sir Ilivan expertly maneuvered his horse and avoided falling into the pustule field. Still, buzzing was increasing and the knight shouted orders, "Get back up on your horses! Use magic, magic will kill them!"
Sir Ilivan shook his head, "Do any of you know what it's like to tear into your own men? How it feels to know that you gutted the people that trusted you?"
Hedda looked him in the eye and simply answered, "Yes."
Sir Ilivan expertly maneuvered his horse and avoided falling into the pustule field. Still, buzzing was increasing and the knight shouted orders, "Get back up on your horses! Use magic, magic will kill them!"
Hearing the knight's orders, Hedda changed her mind and decided to get back on her horse rather than trying to fight the insects with her weapon.
At Sir Ilivan's bark, Kaede snaps into action. She barks out a few words of her own and stomps a foot on the hard-packed earth, and a tongue of eerie blue-white fire suddenly emerges from the ground, darting into her outstretched hand. With a flick of her hand, she hurls the flame at a nearby clump of wasps, and another darts into her waiting palm, bathing her in a spooky glow.
Sir Ilivan shook his head, "Do any of you know what it's like to tear into your own men? How it feels to know that you gutted the people that trusted you?"Hedda looked him in the eye and simply answered, "Yes."
Hopefully one of the companions picked this up and will get our tight-lipped bloodrager to talk. :)
I intend to recap tonight.
Game on!
Turn 020 is up.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, fail
, Kazmuk
, Hedda
S#**, they'll need patching up when this is through... But that would wait; Kaede knew that eliminating the swarms was the top priority, so she tossed another handful of flame at the swarm attacking Kazmuk, bellowing out a angry, disgusted battle cry.
Attacked by the swarm, Kazmuk felt his energy fade with the innumerous stings. Unable to concentrate in anything, the dwarf just run.
Desperately Arodric - still mounted - did his best to stop the other horses fleeing. "We have to get out of here!" he yelled "They're forming right out of the ground!"
Let's see if I can get the others to post so I can recap tonight.
The buzzing was incessant and the stinging was an annoying distraction.
Thankfully the insects were unable to hamper Hedda's speed but the numerous stings caused a violent reaction within Hedda and she threw up on one of the pustules before staggering towards her horse.
Action 1
Sabola grabbed the reins of both his horse and Kazmuk's leading them over to the dwarf who was still covered with the wasps, "I thought Calistria was wasps? My mistake!". Sabola took Kazmuk's hand and placed it on the pommel of the saddle, and helped to get his first foot into the stirrup, "up you go dwarf!". Sabola was ready to aid the dwarf in mounting the horse.
Aid another for Kazmak for next round?
Once Kazmak is up, Sabola will attempt a quick mount and holding Kazmak's reins, he will lead both horses away.
Quick mount succeeds
And then riding his horse to pull them away?
Turn 021 is up.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, Kaede
, Kaede
I just want to give a heads up. We're going to be doing a Panama Canal cruise, so I will be cut off from Ye Olde Internette from like 19-31 December.
I just want to give a heads up. We're going to be doing a Panama Canal cruise, so I will be cut off from Ye Olde Internette from like 19-31 December.
So should we kill you before you go or do you want to be surprised when you get back? :)
Either way works for me!
As the swarm envelops her, Kaede feels the stings on her exposed neck and head, and suddenly her limbs go leaden. She begins to retch, and the flame in her hand sputters and fizzles out as she desperately slaps at the wasps with the other hand, her concentration broken by the swarm. She moves desperately for her horse, feet dragging somewhat.
Still nauseated, Kazmuk barely is able to hold himself on the saddle... he tried to send another cloud of acid but the effort was too much. Meanwhile he felt even more lethargic.
"Cursed hellish damned bugs... this is not going to end well." He was barely able to whisper to Sabola before he moved his horse towards Arodric and away form the wasps.
Hedda finally made it back to her horse and pulled herself back into the saddle.
Hedda finally made it back to her horse and pulled herself back into the saddle.
You know I just reread Kazmuk's post and thought it was odd but then I checked the turn recap and it shows both Kazmuk and Hedda's status as nauseated. This is a mistake. You are only nauseated while being attacked (1 round).
Therefore, both you and Kazmuk are free to act normally.
Kazmuk, feel free to repost your action.
Sorry 'bout that.
BTW, Kazmuk also brought to my attention that swarms can't make AoO but I liked the visual of a few wasps following those that leave the swarm. I'll let both you and Kazmuk have some 'empowered' to make up for that. :)
Questions?
Game on!
Still nauseated, Kazmuk was barely able to hold himself on the saddle... he sent another cloud of acid at the wasps, melting many of them. Meanwhile he felt even more lethargic.
3 out of 5, can I get the other 2 posts...
Game on!
Desperate, Arodric threw a vial of holy water at the wasps. Normal wasps don't come out of the ground like that he reasoned.
That done, he started backing his horse away.
I suspect this is a wasted action, but I can't justify not trying it.
Hedda's anger began to buzz like the wasps and feeling no longer nauseated, the bloodrager released her anger at the insects in order to help the druid. Her anger seethed into her hands and caused claws to grow. She then swatted at the swarm and impaled a handful of wasps with her claws while crushing some more under her palm.
Hedda managed to destroy enough of the insects to free Kaede enough so that she could get back on to her horse.
Turn 022 is up.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, Kazmuk
, Sabola
After several seconds of retching, Kaede's stomach finally begins to settle. But of course I've lost that spell now... She mounts up on Pakad with practiced steadiness and looks around at the swarms, trying to marshal her thoughts.
Kazmuk saw the wasps turning back to him. He tried to turn his worse and run but it was too late. Amid the stinging wasps he also saw the flask from Sir Ilivan.
"How great! That was a new level of stupidity!" The dwarf screamed angrily.
Unable to hold himself, Kazmuk is thrown of his shaggy horse. On the ground, he rolls around until he is outside the swarm and sends another acid cloud towards it.
Yes, the nauseated effect are for those being attacked so Kazmuk and Sabola.
Thanks for catching that.
You needed to save for the one of the previous ongoing poison effect and you did on the post above so you are good (not nauseated and no longer poisoned but you still have that DEX damage for now).
Questions?
Game on!
Arodric gee'd his horse, rushing through Kazmuk's square - and away from the wasps - and grabbing at the dwarf as he passed.
Grunting as he heaved the dwarf into the air, Arodric wasn't quite skilled enough to land the dwarf behind him, and almost fell out of the saddle as he tried to counterbalance the short but dense scholar.
Only 2.5 posts so I'll wait one more day for posts to come in. Let's not make a habit of taking more than 24 hours for a combat post. WHIP :)
Game on!
There were still wasps remaining and Hedda needed an outlet for her anger so she attacked them again instead of getting back on her horse.
The bloodrager continued to slash and squish the swarming insects. She grinned with each wasp that she smashed between her palms or impaled on one of her claws. It was obvious that their numbers were dwindling so she was surprised that Sir Ilivan still wanted to run. Once she was satisfied that they were no longer under immediate attack, she went to get back on her horse.