" That dolt...I can't believe we'r-" thought Bannon to himself when pandemonium broke out.
His knees wobbled for as he regained footing.
As his fellow companions rushed off, he followed after - not really sure he had any other choice.
"Make haste you fools!"
With the nearest Rust Monster within 120feet, Bannon knew that using a crossbow at such range was futile. Instead, he creates a ward that surrounds himself and any nearest allies in a 10ft circle.
Like a candle in the dark, the Abjurer had a shimmering aura that spazzed every so often.
Also, tries to recall any sort of information on the Rust Monsters.
"Rust monster. Did you think it was going to be the size of a kitten?"
«Bah! There's also bugs called stag beetles, you know! But I never saw a hunter hanging a bug's head over his fireplace - 'cause they're not stag-sized!»
Roman runs down towards the bridge, pickaxe in a hand, gun in the other, assessing the situation.
A round goes by, simple and dandy, with everyone running and shouting orders at each other. The ogre's shouts have devolved into sad blubbers. He seems awful attached to the bridge, for some reason, but it's a little late to ask about it as everyone slowly separates from each other.
As Bannon was farther back before the sudden rat race, he finds himself within 10 feet of both Roman and Hana. Just as well, Tera finds herself falling into the back, even behind the Dwarf and Ogre.
Bannon takes advantage of the fact and creates a strange ward around himself, hana, and roman, as the others get out of range of it. Hana's arrow, unfortunately, misses.
The rust monsters seem rather content with eating the metal slabs of the bridge, the one at the base of the bridge stops it's eating and moves over to what appear to be chains coming out of a hole.
Satisfied that his ward had taken ahold, the Abjurer's mind raced with different possibilites. While magically inept in terms of destructive magic, Bannon had few options left to his disposal.
Sending Cornelius into the fray wasn't the right thing to do, and he doubt that hungry rust monsters would fall prey to his Sleep Spell. And with no weapons to sheathe, Peacebond was useless.
Though there was a small xbow that dangled at his waist - but Bannon is a WIZARD! Unless within in range, he couldn't fire.
So...instead, Bannon continued to charge, keeping his ward active on his nearest allies.
Tera hustles as fast as her heavy armor let her. She begins to wonder if the demons that finally killed her were just toying with her before hand. Another sobering thought was that if the ogre had decided to attack, she would have most likely had to fight him.
She hoped she wouldn't, but this one might forget they had a deal, or worse, assume that this current mess was their fault anyway.
When she finally meets Iomedae, she decided, her first question is going to be why she was pulled into this gods-awful wreck.
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Hana scoots forward with her next arrow in hand, and then aims for the one still atop the bridge. Reconsidering it, she instead snaps her fingers.
The image of a huge wyvern suddenly appears along the top of the bridge, its body twinged with wicked scales and its barb dripping dangerous poison. It stares down at the rust monsters with malevolent intent. Hana flicks her hand like she's holding a puppet's strings, and the wyvern flaps its wings menacingly-- yet utterly silently.
The rust monsters, in reaction to the Wyvern, is that of complete apathy. They're far too engorged in their epic meal to even notice it, let alone be afraid of it.
The Ogre, on the other hand, sees the creature in it's full glory. "NOOOOO!" is all you hear as he readies a javelin to toss at a rather ridiculous range, at of all things, the wyvern.
While everyone runs full speed ahead, Roman slows his pace for just a moment, allowing himself to get within 60 feet of the first Rust monster, placing a finger on the trigger of his pistol. For a moment, he considers taking a shot, but the poor thing, despite it's devastating effects, isn't very accurate.
In light of that, he decides to bide his time, preparing to make a rush at the one near the chains and knock it off of the ledge 5 feet away. He places a hand to the right of his mouth and yells; "Get the one in the middle! I'm gonna knock the one near the chains off!"
The ogre, still blubbering has readied a pickaxe to launch rather soon.
The rust monsters continue to eat and eat, all the while the bridge starts to creak under it's own weight as small particles of it fall away into the winds and one of the 2 chains completely snaps..
Roman, finding his initiative rather swell, suddenly pours everything he has into a charge against the rust monster near the chains.
Getting just the right amount of leverage in, Roman places his pickaxe right in the creatures mandible, avoiding any possible attack of opportunity. Raising it's head up while pushing it forward, he gives a swift kick to it's abdomen and watches as it catches no cliff side as it falls to the ravine below.
Falling flat on it's back, the creature is prone, but far from dead. Looking up at the bridge, it's easily almost broken, and further inspection, even though it's a quick one, makes it rather apparent that the bridge won't last another 2 turns if they're left to their eating.
The rust monster at the top continues to eat away at the bridge, effectively having made a 3 foot hole in the upper section so far.
" WE MUST MAKE HASTE! " said Bannon as he was wheezing from the run. Within a small distance of the Bridge, the Wizard's mind whirled with ideas.
"If we've only prepared a better spell selection - ha! There's gotta be something I can do.."Placing his hands around his robes, he remembered that he had a light crossbow - with only a small amount of quarrels though. Bannon wasn't much of a hunter - having prefered learning about the world through books, rather than real life encounters.
With small hesitation, he brandishes the ranged weapon and desperately aims at the rust monster atop the bridge.
"ERAAAAA!!!!!"
During the seemingly endless run to get to the monsters eating through the bridge, Tera comes to an epiphany.
First to battle, last to retreat really only works if you can actually outrun everybody else.
Roman takes a second to smile, satisfied and mischievously , at the rust monster bouncing on the rocks below «Ah! Some monsters they are. Look at them fall! Ah ah!»
He then draws his pistol. Moving towards the second monster, getting in that sweet spot where his gun was so effective, he closes an eye and takes aim.
«You’re next, beastie. Go meet your brother down there, would’ya?» he pulls the trigger.
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Hana, not wanting to move much closer yet forced to, moves close enough to get a good shot in.
She pulls it back and lets it fly at the one Roman had fired at, hoping that the loud noises and concurrence would confuse it into chasing him down instead.
Yes! Score! Hopefully-- no, don't lean left, go straight, horrid arrow!
As the group scrambles to get to their various areas, the rust monsters continue to eat away with not a care in the world. The ogre, worried more than anything about the Wyvern, launches a crudely made javelin at the image.
The spear passes through with extreme amounts of ease, simply flowing through the obvious illusion. The ogre just sort of stands there, dumbfounded at the end of his throw as he watches the rust monsters eat away at the bridge.
Hana, realizing the illusion was rather lackluster, draws her bow and fires another shot at the creature on the main top.
While the attack strikes true, it jars the bug, followed swiftly by a second arrow in it's neck, to which it retorts with a rather pitiful squeal, obviously upset that it's meal had been interrupted.
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Turn 4
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Roman, rather proud of himself, although a little too proud, misses his close-range shot entirely as it drives into the metal.
The rust monster that had been on the bridge actually crawls halfway down the bridge, avoiding it's other, and falls to the ground, then proceeds 30 feet toward Bannon, however it is unable to attack this turn.
The bug actually does provoke an attack from the Ogre, who'd made rather certain he had his pick in it's hand for just such an occasion, but it avoids Roman. Roaring with rage and confusion, he raises his pick;
As the pick sinks in, it catches the bug in it's head and it crumples into the ground as the pick sinks directly through it, killing it instantly. A few twitches are all it manages as it's fickle mind fades to nothing.
The dwarf said they eat metal. Something tells me I'm going to regret this.
Tera slows her pace some, but so she could bang the hammer on the round shield on her arms.
"HEYO! Some nice tasty metal right here."
She leans forward letting the light glint off of the rings of mail on her shoulder.
I feel ridiculous.
" Holy Zots!" yelled Bannon as the rust monster before him was smashed to pieces thanks to the ogre.
"remind me to never get on this monster's bad side....though this may come sooner..."
Keeping his resolve, Bannon aimed another quarrel at the rust monster several feet away.
"By the heavens, someone get me a wand!"
Roman grimaces when his bullet hits the bridge with a spark.
Dammit, old man! he insults himself No wonder you just died… you shoot like a blind beggar!
With a bug smashed by the ogre and another with a long way up, Roman focuses on the last one.
He starts running towards it, putting away his gun and grabbing with two hands the rusty metal tool he picked up. As he draws near, he lifts the weapon above his head and swings it, aiming at the monster’s face.
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Round 4
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As the Ogre crushes the first rust monster shortly after Roman misses his shot entirely in a moment of debunked vanity, Bannon, despite being a wizard with a rather large drove of magical aptitude, shoots his crossbow, once again capable of making an otherwise unlikely hit.
The creature manages to maintain it's footing, that is, until another arrow comes wizzing by to land itself in it's neck.
Despite all other reasoning, the creature actually manages to maintain it's grasp on the bridge, though it's rather angry, something made apparent by it's sudden display of pincers. In it's debunked anger, it's rather aware of who did what, and it decides to abandon the bridge and go after the closest person. Yet again, it's Bannon.
Fortunately for the Wizard, Roman is standing at the base of the bridge, shovel in hand and more than ready to catch it before it's capable of landing on the ground. (Rust monster flat-footed on wall; AoO for Roman)
The attack lands solidly, affectively knocking the creature for quite a loop as it starts to crawl to it's last steps.
The creature, unfortunately can't maintain it's footing as it comes into range, and falls harmlessly to the ground; prone.
As the creature falls, Bromen, finally arriving to the combat, swiftly brings his weapon down upon the creature, crushing it's antennae first, and then in a bit of excitement, the rest of the rust monster's head. The creature crumples and tightens up as it dies on it's back, managing a few more twitches.
During this bit, the rust monster from below had actually managed to traverse the entirety of the ravine's scope, effectively getting to the ground level. However, it arrived just to the tip top, ready to arrive...
...only to be knocked not only off the ravine, but into the other wall, crumpling into death as it fell, skittering at air, only to hit more jagged rocks than it probably wanted to.
As the Ogre watches the Rust monster fall to it's demise, he says rather proudly; "AND STAY OFF" after which he immediately hobbles over to look at the damage, completely forgetting he has company at the moment, as he's far too worried, apparently. This, you could tell, as he bit his fingernails as he walked.
He seemed to walk over to the center point between a set of levers on a metal ground-level platform, and the currently less-than-good-looking bridge. It seems to have taken a lot of damage, though at a glance, you can't be sure how much.
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Combat end~ - ~ - ~@
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Shocked, panting and feeling a high after combat, Bannon's voice boomed over his friends.
"We did it! We really did it! I haven't shot a crossbow since my younger days in the academy, and thank the heavens, we bested those creatures!"
His ward had already faded, and with 2 less quarrels, Bannon knew that they would be facing much greater challenges ahead.
Tera stands, nonplussed.
Well, I feel useless.
As the fight is over, a creaking noise is rather apparent as it hangs in the air. The sound of metal squirming rather... intensely! The sound starts out fine, but then it gets irritatingly louder as the bridge wobbles back and forth a bit, creaking under it's sudden lack of support as the rust spreads slowly from it's recent assault.
The gears that hold the chains seem to have been attacked too, just as well as the bridge, though it seemed to have only been touched once by them, it was enough to make the gears seem rather faulty.
The ogre mutters something to himself near the levers under his breath as he checks all 2 of them, dragging his hand back and forth, seemingly deciding on which one to pick.
The levers are on a small metal platform about 10 feet wide in every direction, and the wire at the top runs to the bridge, to the base itself, and back to the structure on top of the hill.
As this happens, the Ogre speaks up, finally; "We showed dem buggerers din't we? You know, dat dragon came outa nowhere. Scared me, it did. It gone now, but, reckon where it came from? I mighta been seein' tings." He looks back to the nearest person, who happens to be Hana. "Did you see da dragon? I been seein all kinda things lately"
Not too far from this area, actually, is the same cave he mentioned earlier. It's awfully boarded up, and even a medium creature could probably fit through it with a rather abyssmal escape artist check, or, you know, break it. It's got a sign that's kind of hard to read from where you're all standing, though.
I thought that thing was an illusion. Oh Hana, I hope your wit can get us out of this. I doubt he'll take kindly to being duped.
Tera replaces the shield on her back and takes a look into the ravine, seeing how far the fall was if things went south.
The bridge seems to have been placed at the absolute thinnest point, a 20 foot jump. Difficult by all counts, of course.
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Hana shrugs in an overdramatic manner. "Beats me," she says, uncharacteristically boorishly.
She makes time over to the small, openable box full of tinkling sounds, and looks it over.
Finding nothing insidious, for if she did she wouldn't open it-- and who would fall for something like that?-- she flips it open and looks inside.
The Ogre simply shrugs. "Fair 'nuff. Afterwards he simply starts to inspect things near the levers.
"Why, exactly, are you trying to get into a locked box?"
Tera's eyes narrow. She wasn't the preachy type, willing to live and let live, as long as you weren't evil. Theft right under her nose, however, demanded action.
In the distance the Ogre actually raises an arm and says "Kaaay!"
"Hey, everyone! This box is locked and I'm going to break inside." she pauses for a moment. "Look, no one cares. It's not theft if someone cares. It's archaeology."
She looks to Roman. "And you've got a shovel."
"We don't know who that belongs to. For all we know it's the ogre's hooch stash and he doesn't know you're about to steal."
Tera puts down the hammer she was carrying and moves next to Hana.
"Besides, time would be better spent worrying about finding another way across. It's a forty foot drop and I don't trust that bridge."
She points to the rickety metal contraption of doom to emphasize her point.
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"I can't wait to run across a corpse with you in tow. 'He's right there! We can't take his possessions, that's stealing!'" Hana scoffs. "If you must know, there's a sound inside of this box that I heard while our good cannibal friend was trying the levers. It may be interesting to know what's inside-- perhaps the bridge could lower safely if a repair was made. It wouldn't need to raise again, but we'd be able to negotiate the wreckage fairly well."
"It's either that or jump the ravine." She looks over Tera's heavy armor, and then her own lightweight chain shirt. "It's really up to you."
While the two women were reduced to squabbling children, Bannon chagrined.
"Really, must we resort to such barbarism? Ask the Ogre if he's a key? There's no telling what could be in the box. Heck, I remembered a thief who lost his life to a similar situation. Poor sap got frustrated and smashed a lockbox only to find that it held volatile alchemist fire. Needless to say, if HE did survive, not even the Gods could have pity on him."
Hoping that his interjection would serve as the breathe of wisdom, he took a position near Roman, who had been tinkering with his martial arms.
Roman leaves the bickering about the lock to the others... he's much more interested in the rust monsters.
«So, really…» he asks to anyone who’s listening to him. «These buggers can rust any metal? They just rub their antlers and puff! Rust. Is that how it works?»
A vision makes his way in Roman’s mind – a vision of a pack of large rusting bugs unleashed in the prison of Zeltos, not harming the inmates, eating bars and locks and doors and Seeker's blades… his face shows his familiar grin.
«So, Master Bromen… really, anyone who knows a bit… can we save those antlers?» covering his chain shirt with his jacket, careful not to leave any metal on his body exposed, Roman gets closer to the remaining corpse of the monsters.