Ehren sees that the fly is nearly dead and stays back.
Anevia hesitates for a moment when she sees Li'an lunges forward, her strike biting deeply into the monstrous vermin. The creature finally gives out, laying on the cavern floor, dead.
The cave fisher crawls after Valaria and manages to get a pincer around her left arm, clenching down with a horrible sounding crunch. It lets go, and thankfully, her arm is not broken.
Valaria is up.
Valaria cries out in pain as the crab does its best to crush her left arm. "Shish ugh ai dal," she snarls. "I hat gi bisha."
"Son of a b*tch. You will die slowly."
Valaria attacks, blinded by pain. Her blows bounce harmlessly off the crab's thick armor.
Markus is up.
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"Go raib maith agat," Ehren says to the eagle in a quiet voice, bowing his head slightly.
"SKREE!"
The bird does not quite seem to comprehend.
Markus steps up beside Valaria, changing his grip to the lower portion of his quarterstaff. He winds up and swings at the cave fisher with his staff.
Markus swings awkwardly at the crab, failing to harm it in any way.
Ary is up.
Ary slips back between Aravashnial and Horgus, "We need to head down this hallway, Valaria is fighting a crab thing, and Markus is with her. We need to keep everyone close."
Aravashnial nods, and allows Ary to guide him down the tunnel.
Hrut is up.
Winding up for another blow with his battleaxe,
"I have never had so much difficulty swatting a fly before today!"
Hrut finishes off the helpless fly twitching before him. Meanwhile, Ary, Horgus, and Aravashnial head down the tunnel to help Valaria and Markus.
Round 8
Ehren is up.
Valaria looks back at the group coming toward them. "Thank gods, back-up." She spares a moment to look at Markus. "Back off a little," she says. "Let me and Ary handle this."
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As Ary moves forward, she's careful to knock the rock skittering backwards to provide her allies with light in her stead.
Ehren watches as the eagle he summoned vanished, returning to from whence it came. Probably a better place than here.
"That was about all I had," he says apologetically, rubbing his thumb and index finger together. He moves down the tunnel slightly, trying to muster enough power for another spell.
Li'an is up.
Li'an nods at Hrut in agreement. "Good strike! It's about time that thing died," she said, sounding satisfied to see it felled. "Now that it's down lets go join the others fighting the crab down the hall."
She wasted no time heading down the hall, trying to get a feel for the situation down there as she approached.
Anevia limps awkwardly after Li'an, shortsword drawn, her face locked in a stoic expression.
The giant crab retreats from Valaria, chittering softly. Spotting Ary and Li'an, it slowly scuttles over to them and lunges. Ary blocks its access to Li'an with herself, shield raised. She spares Li'an but is injured in the process.
Valaria is up.
Valaria sees the crab move and winces as Ary takes a nasty blow from the creature, then grins as she realizes that it's left itself open from behind.
Valaria swings at the creature, but misses by a wide margin.
Markus is up.
"Yeah, I'm not gonna deal with this..." says Markus as the group comes barreling down the tunnel to assist him. He stays exactly where he is, healing magic at the ready.
Hrut is up.
"I will stay in the back and run the rear guard."
Seeking to make quick work of the thing, rather than aiding her companions, she shifts from what looks like a feint into a lunge, bringing her sword down hard into the carapace of the crab-creature, hoping to expose it to her ally's further assaults. She then slips back into a guarded stance, hoping to keep her allies safe from the dangers of any retaliation it might offer up.
Ary withdraws her sword from the man-sized crab, drawing a torrent of strange, watery blood.
Round 9
Ehren is up.
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Ehren moves to Anevia's side, watching the ongoing commotion. He could not help but to feel sorry for the cave fisher. From the looks of it, it was about to be very dead.
Li'an is up.
Li'an sees an opening after Ary's vicious blow and strikes quickly hoping to take advantage of it.
Li'an swings back at the crab but it raises a huge claw against her, pushing the blade away. It moves to counter her. Ary manages to ward one claw away, but the other finds it target.
Meanwhile, Anevia smiles appreciatively at Ehren. "I appreciate it! Ehren, right?"
Valaria is up.
"Lady Desna, please give me one good shot today." Valaria lashes out again.
Valaria bores her starknives into the creatures' thick plating with an audible grating sound.
Markus is up.
Markus frowns, and then pulls the last bit of his power into his hands. He takes another step forwards and grasps at the crab, trying to infuse it with negative energy.
Markus grabs hold of the cave fisher's thick shell, delivering a small amount of negative energy, causing the carapace to crack and swell around his hands.
Hrut is up.
Hrut begins going through martial maneuvers becoming hyper vigilant in the combat.
Aravashnial stays still, keeping his back to the wall, listening intently to everything going around him. Horgus huddles behind Ary, moving slightly to put her between the monstrous creature and himself. "Ohhhh, kill it kill it kill it!" he whines.
Ary is up.
Ary maintains her defensive position, surrounded by allies. She was going to simply ensure that one of her other allies hit it, but with Horgus's goading, she turns the near-feint into another actual attack. 'I seem to be getting the hang of this stuff', she thought, as she brought the blade down in a heavy arc.
Ary brings her longsword down, chopping off a great piece of the dying monster's fractured exoskeleton, exposing its pulsing insides.
Round 10
Ehren is up.
Ehren winces in sympathy as the creature is torn open. "It's almost over," he says.
"I can't risk getting hit again with the protection from Aravashnial's false life fading," she thought as she considered the situation. After a second she decided, and lunged forward with a quick attack. Without waiting to see if the blow managed to connect, she fell back, tucking into a roll as she did.
"Hrut, switch out with me," she called out as she finished her tumble, putting some space between her and the crab.
Li'an's unorthodox move lands and takes the cave fisher down with a smooth finish. It bleeds out rapidly and perishes in seconds.
Horgus breathes out a sigh of relief. "Good riddance."
Aravashnial calls out, sounding concerned, "Li'an, naa lle ci'an? Amin tene lle yela n'e."
Combat ends.
Valaria lets out a long sigh. "That was way more effort than it should have been," she says as she sheaths her blades. "Is anyone hurt? That got a bit rough." She brushes herself off a bit and looks around. "Perhaps we should see if that building can offer some shelter. I think we could use a place to rest and recover and treat our wounds. If we're going to keep running into monsters, we're going to need to take things slowly so they don't wear us down."
Ary rolled her sword-shoulder a bit more. "I'm about the same as when we got here, thanks to Avi's magic." Ary said as she looked over everyone else, trying to ensure that they were taken care of. "I'm not sure I'm extremely comfortable staying in a glowing house that sits underground... but all things considered, compared to sleeping in the open... it may be the lesser evil."
"Nevermind," she said to Hrut she stood and got a look at the crab. "Seems to be dead now."
Li'an gave herself a quick once-over and sheathed Lleuad. The pain from her shoulder was fading thankfully, and she didn't seem to be cut too badly, even if it felt like it. "I'm alright, Master Aravashnial, thanks to your spell, I'd imagine we'd all be faring a lot worse right now, without it."
"In fact, I'm not sure if I'd still be standing... probably not... but he's in rough shape already, better not to worry him any further," she thought to herself.
"I should probably get a refresh in fact. if we run into something else, I'll rest easier knowing I'm protected," Li'an said as she walked over to Aravashnial and put her hand on his shoulder. "Would you mind, Master Aravashnial?"
"That sounds like a good plan. We definitely need to find a safe place to rest," she assented. "Also, I think the next time we walk into a tight passage, we should have Hrut or Ary take point." While Li'an's voice was calm, the look on her face clearly showed that she was bothered by what she considered a serious lapse in her judgement.
"I do not know if that would be wise," Aravashnial responds. "I only have ten uses left with this wand. If we intend to rest soon, then much of the remaining magic would be wasted."
Valaria nods. "At this point, I'm more worried about more giant bugs coming out of the walls than whatever might be waiting in a small building. Well, unless there are more giant bugs inside too." She suddenly trails off. "Lady Desna, please don't let that jinx us. We've run into more than enough giant bugs today."
She shakes herself. "Right," she says, looking down that passage at Aravashnial. "I owe you a thanks from earlier. Your magic kept me alive through the last few packs of creatures we ran into."
She chuckles. "I vote that we let the walking pile of armor take point heading down toward that building." She notices Li'an's expression and frowns. "We don't need me making any more dumb decisions and getting ambushed again," she adds, quickly trying to shift the blame for the incident onto herself. "At least Hrut can take a few more hits than me."
"I'm glad to have been of service," Aravashnial replies to Valaria, sounding sincere.
"It's either that or keep headed down the hall looking for someplace defensible, and there's no guarantee we'll even find such a place up ahead." she said, agreeing with Ary.
"Good point," she responded to Aravashnial. "I'll pass and try to avoid taking risks for now."
Li'an understood Valaria's gesture even if she didn't agree. Properly assessing a situation was an important skill for a scout, and mistakes like that could cost lives. Still, she realized it was better not to fret on the situation any further for now. She could think on it later when they found a place to rest. Instead she placed her hand on Valaria's shoulder and shook her head, "No sense worrying about it any more, we all came out of it ok. And on the bright side, we've learned a valuable lesson: Armored hulks first!" she said, finishing with a grand gesture towards Hrut.
"But his wiggling is almost assuredly less pleasing to look at in all that armor..." Ary says with a mock frown, tone teasing. "Honestly, I think no matter what we did, we'd have been in trouble there. I think you're right that we should keep the heavies in the front in tight pathways... but they'll also be less able to move." she said, going straight into a more serious tone.
"I will prepare more healing magic tomorrow than I did today," Ehren reiterates, glancing pointedly at Anevia and Aravashnial's lingering wounds with a guilty expression. Could I have done more?
"Hey, what's that look for?" Anevia shoves Ehren around good-naturedly. "I wouldn't be walking if it weren't for you. Thanks for that. Really."
Valaria chuckles. "I'll wiggle for you sometime when we don't have a chance of running into something else that wants to eat us around the next corner," she tells Ary with a grin.
She puts on a more serious face as she glances at Ehren. "Hey, you know more about first aid than most of us," she says, agreeing with Anevia. "Healing magic or not, you did a lot for us today. Besides, there's no better healing than rest and we could all use some of that about now."
Ehren murmurs a quiet thanks, bowing his head and averting his eyes slightly. There he went again. In lieu of a smooth change of subject, he stoops down, having noticed a few pebbles lying around on the ground. One could never be too careful.
"Yes. And... I suppose we could all find out what roasted cave viper tastes like," he adds, as he pops another two pebbles into his pocket.