Ionnia barely has time to teeter on the edge of the sinkhole before it opens up enough to swallow her along with the others.
The sight of the Storm King beheading Terendelev is shocking enough to her that she barely notices her fall into the pit slowing down (resulting in a very minor bump to her head on landing.)
As she hears Willow's voice in the darkness sounding not hurt she rises to her knees to offer up a quick prayer to Shelyn before calling out (blinking as Cernan's daylight ability comes into play) "I'm over here, Willow, Cernan. Anyone else here? Kipka? Hiro?"
Letting out a small gasp of relief that Ionnia is also there, wherever there is. Willow then replies in a soft voice. "Good."
Ib ober here...
We candt day herr. We godt to find a way oudt.
Hiro just has time to secure his grip on the boy when he hears, no feels, the impact of Terendelev into the cathedral. Before he can even react the ground around Hiro splits and cracks open, a great gaping maw of darkness opens up beneath him.
Hiro hears Khorramzedeh gloating over the fallen Terendelev but the words fall on deaf ears, their meaning irrelevant. Hiro locks eyes with Terendelev in that brief instant before his plunge into darkness, the moment seems a lifetime in length, without a spoken word her message is clear. The fate of the world now rests on his shoulders and those brave enough to shoulder that burden with him. The sadness for all the loss around him in Terendelev's eyes brings Hiro to tears and the last image Hiro sees before the plunging darkness is the Storm Lord's sword decapitating Terendelev. As Hiro begins to fall he states quite calmly to Khorramzedeh, mindless of whether or not the Storm Lord can hear him, "I come for you Khorramzedeh. Prepare yourself." Then all is darkness...
After drifting down for a minute that felt like eternity, Hiro lands unceremoniously on the broken ground with his arms still wrapped protectively around the boy. "You OK?" he asks, getting a whimper in return. Good enough, he thinks to himself. Hiro then hears a shaky voice call out in the darkness. "Is...is anyone here?" Before Hiro can respond he hears Willow call out. "Maybe....Depends on where here is!" Right about then Hiro hears another, larger, booming voice, call out in Celestial "Let there be light!" and the darkness is filled with a bright, warm light emanating from Cernan's head not too far away. The more light the better Hiro thinks to himself and with a word, "Shirak" he calls out and a stark, bright light emanates from the end of Hiro's sword. It does not have the same warm, comforting feeling of the light coming from Cernan but anything is better than the pitch blackness.
Hiro then hears Ionnia call out "I'm over here, Willow, Cernan. Anyone else here? Kipka? Hiro?"
"Ib ober here..." Kipka replies, "We candt day herr. We godt to find a way oudt."
"Kipka is right," Hiro states. "We cannot stay. Things in motion. Must stop future from happening. Cannot rely on finding other heroes. Must take action now. Anyone know where we are?" He asks taking in their surroundings now that there is sufficient light to see by.
Looking around at their surroundings, Ionnia replies, "Below Drezen, it seems. Do you know if thete's a lot to this..." she falters and looks around again, "...cave, Kipka?"
From the hewn floor, the art scrambles around with the wicker basket. Opening it cautiously and with an uneasy feeling, checking it's contents - she lets out a soft sigh to see the ball of prickles all rolled up, however there's a cerulean patch upon the hedgehogs spines from where they have pierced a tube of paint during all the buffeting. Her fingers brush across Erina's spikes leaving a blue trail.
Finally her eyes start to properly adjust to their surroundings, "Where are we? What happened? Was it all a dream? A prophecy?" spotting the abrasions upon the group; "No? Are we dead or have been transported somewhere?" Blinking she finally realises how hurt little Kipka is.
She gets unsteadily to her feet, trying to totter over to the gnome; "Here, let me help you."
"Good, Good! Take stock and help the others!" Cernan declares, looking around for survivors himself.
As everyone looks around in the bright light Cernan lets loose, a huge cavern is revealed. The group lies on top of a large pile of rocks, and the continued trembles in the ground around you keep dislodging rocks, settling the tons of stone that block the way you fell.
Cernan sees his sword buried under some stone. The blade looks bent. He is holding the merchant he grabbed before he fell, and the poor man is shaking in earnest now.
Kipka looks around, a little less limber than usual, as she picks up her gear. In the dim light beyond the bright daylight Cernan created she can see the form of a huge spider, the size of a human, lying on the ground, facing the darkness. Its stillness seems unnatural, especially considering the bright light suffusing the cave. She also notices the archer from the platform. She is blinking in the bright light, tears streaming down her face and a line of blood falling from where she has bitten through her lip. Her leg appears to be trapped between large rocks.
The elven wizard that the Storm King lashed with his whip is hunched over, his back to the group as his head shakes slowly back and forth. "Where are we? Can anyone see in this infernal darkness?" The man's voice is tight and strained.
Adhering to Cernan's advise, now that the area is illuminated Willow glances around the casualties assessing the most immediate injuries.
"Cernan, is your mercantile friend alright?" the artist asks in earnest. To the elven wizard, Willow adds softly; "I can see some. Thought you elves could see better than my poor eyes." her tone is soft and jovial -trying to reassure the elf.
With her basket in hand she moves north to see what else she can spot. Uncaring of the heavy rubble, her lithe legs clamber over the loose rocks.
Cernan sits the heavyset merchant upright, and pats him on the shoulder.
"He's fine! Aren't you my good man?" Cernan replies, his usual bombastic baritone seemingly far too loud in the cavern. The cleric's bluster seems undimmed by the tons of rock around them.
"Nothing some clear air and exercise won't cure!" Cernan adds with a final, enthusiastic slap on the merchant's back.
"Alas! My best blade!" Cernan cries in despair, recovering his sword from the pile of rocks it is lodged in. It is bent, not broken, And Cernan places the tip on the ground and applies pressure with his boot to the bend in an attempt to straighten it. It straightens a little, but the weapon is certainly far from it usual battle-worthiness until properly repaired. Unable to fit the bent blade into it's scabbard, Cernan tucks it into his belt and returns his attention to the others.
Moving with natural grace, the brightly glowing Aasimar clambers over the rubble, following Willow's movements.
"Willow, the archer." He says, indicating the woman's obviously trapped legs. "Hold on my dear, help is on the way!" He says cheerfully. Obviously rescuing damsels in distress agrees with him.
As he makes his way to the woman he calls over to the elf, "There is light this way my good fellow! Simply turn your head!" He says grinning. Then notices the torn robes on the elf's body, and remembers the whip strike from the Demon Lord. And his smile actually dims.
"Actually, you stay right there my good elf! I'll be with you in a moment! First we'll just help out this little lady. Hello there! I hight Cernan Cereznin, Cleric of Caydean, at your service!" He continues brightly as he reaches the archer.
"Let's just get you out of here, shall we?" He continues, looking over the pile of rock to see how hard it will be to free her, and trying to ascertain how badly she is injured,...
Moving over to help Cernan, she looks at the lady trapped underneath the rocks. Deep down, she's glad of the holy man's boisterous attitude and hopefully it'll reassure the injured elf.
After checking upon the condition of the archer, Willow turns to her friend. "Ionnia, can you help Cernan lift the boulder.... I'll get a tourniquet on first and then see if I can drag her out and heal her."
The heavy set merchant stumbles in his fine shoes on the large rocks and rubble before finding his footing. "I...I...I don't know." He looks around with a stunned and confused expression on his face, obviously a little overwhelmed by the experience you've all had. It may take him a moment to take stock of his situation. From Cernan's vantage point, he appears to have made it through the apocalypse of Kenabres with little mor than scratches and tears in his fine clothing.
Both Cernan and Willow make their way to the obviously injured woman. Cernan calls out reassurance to the elven wizard as he and Willow crouch over the archer.
The elf turns his head from side to side slowly, as if it pains him. His long blond hair hides his face from view, and his tone, still strained, sounds annoyed. "What do you mean? It's as black as the underdark! Of course elven eyes are better than any human-" He stop mid-tirade, and one hand slowly goes up to his face, then it drops again, bloodied, and the elf's head bows and his shoulders drop as if he's lost all hope.
Kipka moves toward the spider slowly. Her sharp gnomish vision render even the dim light at the edges of Cernan's spell bright enough for clear vision, and she notes that the spider has not moved a limb or its head at all, despite all the noise.
"Of course, Willow," Ionnia calls out in response to Willow's request for aid with the trapped archer. Moving carefully to avoid knocking down any more stones by accident she grabs hold of one of the rocks trapping the woman. "Try to pull yourself out on the count of three, and we'll have you patched up in no time," she tells the archer. "You pull at the ones from the other side, Cernan. One... Two... Three..."
When Ionnia and Cernan lift the obstruction, Willow grasps the lady under the arm-pits and pulls lifts her out as carefully as she is able. With a glance down to the mangled legs, Willow whispers; "It's going to be fine, just hold on." attempting to reassure the archer.
Placing the woman down safely nearby, Willow draws upon her connection to her ancestors and the intrinsic strength that wells up deep inside her. Gently she lays her hands upon the powerful shoulders of the bowman, channelling the healing essences - or at least attempting to - in the desperate hopes of relieving some of the pain of the injuries.
From her crouched position, wide eyed she looks to Cernan and Ionnia; "This isn't good, but it could be worse. We could be up there!"
"Of course Ionnia! Ready when you are!" The mystically enlarged priest bends over and leans his own armored shoulder against the largest rock pinning the archer. On the paladin's count he grunts manfully. (Not to be outdone by a woman. Even if she IS a fine example of a warrior priest!)
Cernan's boots slip on some of the rubble, and he is unable to move the large boulder any more than Ionnia is.
"Well. That simply won't do. Let's try again, shall we?" Cernan says, replanting his feet for another attempt.
"Yes. Does anyone have something they can give the poor woman to alleviate her pain in the meantime? This could maybe take a tiny bit longer than I first thought."
Ionnia grunts frustrated as her hands slip on the boulder she's attempting to roll to the side. "Ugliness and spite!"
"There's little more I can do, I did prepare another light curing spell and I'll try to give you a hand." she says concerned and kneeling over the injured woman.
Positioning herself in the practised manner she'd seen her uncle take many times when re-wheeling the cart, Willow attempts to help the others lift the cart. 'If only we had a block & tackle.'
Cernan glowers at the rock, obviously quite unhappy with it's daring to resist his efforts.
"I think this may take a more concerted effort. As much as I love a good display of brute force." He grins wanly.
"Ionnia, Hiro, and Willow, If you would be so kind as to all step over to this side of the rock and lift on my cue. Kipka, as we lift can you slide in some of these smaller stones underneath it? To prevent it rolling back? We need not lift the entire mountain and throw it into the sea, we need only tilt enough to free the ladies leg. A little to the left Hiro, thank you. Ionnia next to me, there. Everyone ready?"
"Ready, steady, GO!" Cernan cries boisterously, lifting with all his might.
The Enlarged Priest's feet slip a little more in the rubble, then find purchase and he actually feels as if he might have a decent grip on the thing,...
Willow successfully aids Cernan's push against the rock, though Ionnia's hands slip.
That's just not right.
Willow successfully aids Cernan's push against the rock, though Ionnia's hands slip.
** spoiler omitted **
Guys? I think we have a survivor over here, but not one of ours...
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Sweat instantly beading upon her brow, her arms burst with pin-pricks of fire as she tries to even take some of the weight of the rock. Glad of Cernan's suggestion that they only raise the boulder (at least it feels that to her) a fraction, for she cannot hoist it any more.
Scrunching her face in strain, bright spots flash in front of her eyes. Nearly collapsing as the boulder is lowered, she only barely hears Kipka past the rushing of blood in her ears. "What?? Don't do anything experimental my dear." she warns breathy.
Buh wee ngot noo whad we are up agenst
Kipka readies an action to attack if the thing looks like it's about to give birth or something
"Guard it certainly, but no untoward prodding." Willow adds. 'Not the first time I've said that.'
Making sure that the archer is slightly more comfortable, she worries about the other injured fellows - particularly the blinded mage.
NPC: Hiro rushes over to offer what assistance he can with the large boulder.
His help is enough to lift the weight of the boulder off the woman's leg. She pulls her leg out with her arms, unable to resist screaming as she does. Her leg is obviously crushed. It bends in places it absolutely shouldn't, and her shin bone has broken through the skin in at least one place. When her leg is pulled free, she collapses to the ground, gasping and closing her eyes as tears run down her face.
The merchant begins wringing his hands as he stares at her, his eyes wide and frightened. "Dear Abadar, we're all going to die here. We're all going to die!"
"Ionnia, Hiro, and Willow, If you would be so kind as to all step over to this side of the rock and lift on my cue. Kipka, as we lift can you slide in some of these smaller stones underneath it? To prevent it rolling back? We need not lift the entire mountain and throw it into the sea, we need only tilt enough to free the ladies leg. A little to the left Hiro, thank you. Ionnia next to me, there. Everyone ready?"
Hearing the call for aid, Hiro lowers the boy to the ground and tells him "Go over to man there and stay with him" as he points to the merchant. "I will be near. It's OK." After waiting for the boy to make it to the merchant Hiro maneuvers his way through the rubble toward Cernan, sheathing his sword as he goes. He then positions himself on the rock where Cernan has directed him and on Cernan's count puts his full 132 pounds into it!
With a relieved thanks to Ionnia and Hiro for their efforts, Willow continues to try and help.
Willow blocks out the merchant and concentrates on the injured person before her. Before she was sure that the woman wouldn't walk without the most powerful of magicks, now the artist is just concentrating on keeping her alive and mitigating the damage.
From her hamper she gets a waterskin and tears a strip off her petticoats, being the cleanest material she can find. "Anyone happen to have some... Cernan give her some of your wine." she orders, attempting to take charge. Then with the roustabouts help, she'll try to splint the leg and using the damp cloth wadding keep any bandage away from the protruding bone.
Willow sees clearly that the woman's bones will have to be straightened and held in place firmly if she is going to be able to walk again without very powerful magic. She ruthlessly rips strips of cloth from her petticoats and finds some broken pieces of wood that might serve to hold the bones in place after they've been set. With a sympathetic wince, Willow gets to setting the bone. After a few involuntary cries of pain, the woman thankfully passes out, and Willow completes the grueling process. She uses her second cure spell, and though she can see the damage is too extensive and the bones and tendons too damaged for the magic to straighten everything out, the open wounds at least close, giving hope the situation won't get worse.
When she is done, Willow wipes the sweat off her brow and has a hope that with a crutch, the woman might even have some limited mobility.
After Making certain that the woman will not be crushed, again, and is clear Cernan grunts "Back, NOW!" and steps back from the rock. He covers his face (Temporarily dimming the light) to protect himself from the dust the rock kicks back up. Seeing that Willow has the woman's injuries under control (within the limits of the circumstances) Cernan gives the Artist a respectful nod.
"Excellent Willow. I haven't seen anyone with a finer touch in years." he says without his usual bluster.
"Your in good hands my dear. Here, have a sip for the pain." He offers his mug to the injured archer, and she finds it is filled with strong brandywine. Encouraging her to finish the entire cup, gets back up.
"I'll see to the others." he says, retrieving his now-empty cup and making his way to the injured wizard. His growth spell now expired, he is much more nimble moving across the debris. He glances at Kipka, making sure that she doesn't have any other 'company' from her new-found experiment.
"Hiro, would you be so kind as to assist Ms Kipka? I'd rather not have any MORE surprises for one day!" He says cheerfully as he moves to the wizard.
"Now then! Let's have a look at you magister!" Cernan says to the wizard, his usual boisterous self once more.
Guys? I think we have a survivor over here, but not one of ours...
"What?? Don't do anything experimental my dear."
Buh wee ngot noo whad we are up agenst
"Guard it certainly, but no untoward prodding."
Hiro barely registered what Miss Kipka and Willow were talking about while straining to lift the boulder off the archer. Now that she is free of the boulder and Willow is tending to her it finally registers.
"Hiro, would you be so kind as to assist Ms Kipka? I'd rather not have any MORE surprises for one day!"
"Of course," Hiro replies to Cernan.
"Miss Kipka, Willow and Cernan are right. Do not risk further injury alone," Hiro states as he draws his sword and walks toward the gnome and the spider corpse. As Hiro nears the gnome and the spider he quietly asks Kipka "What do you see?" as he examines the spider but keeps his eyes and ears open for additional dangers.
The archer woman opens her eyes a bit as Cernan raises her head so she may drink from his cup, then gasps as the brandywine goes down her throat. Hopefully the spirits she swallowed hastened her merciful lapse into unconciousness as Willow industriously tended to her leg.
Cernan then moves toward the elven wizard. As he crouched down next to the unmoving man, his daylight spell shining brighly on his face, the elven man doesn't turn his head or react at all. Cernan is horrified as his magical illumination reveals that the Storm King's whip has completely taken the elf's eyes, and much of the top half of his face. Only the fact that the whip had been flaming, and evidently cauterized the wounds has kept the elf from bleeding to death. He looks much paler now than he did above the ground when he cast a spell at the Storm King, and it's obvious that there is no way to restore his destroyed eyes without high level healing magic.
Even without the loss of his eyes, his injuries are severe and he is nearly at death's door. His shoulders are slumped, as he obviously realizes the extent of his injuries. He drops his head. "Never mind me. Without my eyes, I am next to useless. Save your spells for someone who can help you fight the demons..."
The merchant has been slowly approaching Cernan, his manner distracted and nearing panic. The little boy follows, a grubby hand crushing a handful of silk from the man's coat-tail. The merchant swallows audibly, staring wide-eyed at the elf's ruined face. "...yes...we must...save our....selves..." he whispers. He begins patting down his pockets and clothing, his right hand revisiting his empty eating knife's sheathe multiple times.
The little boy's face crumples and tears well up in his eyes as he stares at the elven man. "Owwie, owwie, owwie!" he says and he suddenly jams his thumb in his mouth and wraps his other hand tightly around the merchant's leg.
Upon hearing the elf, Willow bustles over to the man - a scowl upon her brow. "Now listen here, you silly boy. Don't you know to give into despair is what they want. Where there is life there is hope!" she trots out the trite adage, however she acts like a cross school-mistress.
"Now do you think I'm so weak as to not be able to help you too?" she challenges, hoping that he'll respond with positively - especially to her assertive tone. Although that slowly fades as she sees his injuries, she bends down to the wizard laying her hands softly upon his shoulder, reacting to his unseen wince at the unexpected touch. "Even the child is brave enough to carry on, I'm sure you can show us some of your spirit?" she gives it a reassuring squeeze and starts drawing upon her ancestral heritage to bind his wounds with magic. Tears well in her eyes at the pain that's been caused, brought only to real in front of her.
Never in her life had she encountered such death and pain, even after losing her parents at such a young age.
I am ten feet away from the spider.
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"Hah! Well said Miss Willow! Cernan couldn't agree more! Now let's have no more of that kind of talk! Caydean has plenty of blessings for all! Here, drink this, and let us work." he says, pressing his battered silver mug into the elvish wizard's hands. The smell rising from the cup is that of strong, red wine.
"You DO realize of course, that you shall have such a tale to tell as has never been told!" Cernan continues as he gently examines the man's burned face, seeing how Willow's spell restores him, and then preparing to call upon Caydean for a healing spell of his own.
"Think about it! YOU have withstood an attack, not from just any demon mind you. YOU have taken a lash from the whip of the Storm Lord himself! And lived! After this, You should fear nothing! Think about it. What are they going to do to you? Threaten you with a lesser demon? Another lashing? Hah!" Cernan's bark of laughter bursts through the cave.
"'Been there, done that'! Tell them to send someone scary next time! When you get to hades You tell 'em that Ol' Cernan and,... (What was your name again?) You tell 'em WE sent you! And don't come back!"
Cernan chuckles at his own wit, or possibly the sound of his own voice, as he works on the injured elf.
Willow's healing helps close some of his wounds and he no longer is tottering near to succumbing to his wounds, but the elf is still badly injured. The open, cauterized wound has begun to close, but his wounds are not anywhere nearly healed or scarred over.
Kipka, fumbling with her gear as she keeps an eye on the unnaturally wirting spider corpse, sees gigantic maggots suddenly burst from it's abdomen! Hiro, still making his way toward her, is not yet at her side.
Kipka notices with great disappointment that other than their unnatural size, there is no immediately demonic influence visible on these vermin.
As Hiro makes his way toward Kipka and the spider corpse he overhears Willow and Cernan tending to the elf wizard and silently agrees with them. "There is so much at stake," he thinks to himself, "we need every one there is, no matter who they are or how able they may be, to contribute in any small way to get us through this and not have my future come to pass."
"Kipka," Hiro says, "I do not see anyth---aaaaagh!" just as the maggots burst forth from the corpse! Sword drawn, Hiro springs into action!
I think I took improved initiative, but I don't see it anywhere on my "sheet" under feats. Am I losing it?
Despite Willow's concentration is focussed solely upon the elven wizard, though she cannot help but raise an eyebrow to Cernan's bold monologue. However Hiro's shout draws her back into the moment with startling (for her) rapidity.
"Now, lets get you tended to. Nice work there Willow, But let ol' Cernan show you how it's done!" The cleric declares as he reclaims his mug from the blinded elf and finishes the last of the wine himself.
"Caydean be praised for his many blessings this fine day! Not the least of which is our lives!" Cernan calls, holding aloft his silver mug, which gleams in the golden light from Cernan's Ego. Er,... head.
"Now we ask your blessings once more, to heal the worst of these wounds these good people bear. Having earned their wounds in glorious battle against battle against your most fell foes we,... What was that?!?" Cernan is interrupted mid-speal by Hiro's powerful, if girly, battle cry.
;)