Xanderghul blinks, looks around, looks up to the next cliff. What cowards, they had just run away! Xanderghul supposes that he could try to stop them, but not of his more stabby allies would be able to reach them in time to actually do anything about it... and if they re-entered combat, well, they were just wasting time anyway. A net gain. The enemy babaus were tied up in melee combat with the hapless barbarians (what gave them the idea that not having cold iron in demon territory was smart?) and his allies, so he decided to focus on the nabasu.
There isn't much shadow to be found anywhere nearby due to the snow blindness, so Xanderghul reaches into the folds of his robe, where it is entirely dark. His hand comes out wrapped in pulsating darkness, which he hurls at the nabasu, intent on constricting it and maybe getting it to fall into the aqueous orb.
Xanderghul's ropes of darkness completely ensnare the blinded nabasu, hindering its ability to move or see. Hinagiku turns to watch her ally's spell, and in that moment, the suffocating babau manages to lurch to its feet and lunges at her with its gaping maw in one fluid motion... only to be repelled by an invisible, holy barrier between it and herself.
Hinagiku is up!
Hinagiku had half hoped the babau would stop its attack now that she broken its windpipe. Yet, she had known onis lived only for destruction, and was not surprised when it retaliated, though she had not expected it to be so vicious. Deftly, she sidesteps the creature, using its momentum to trip it. She then repeatedly strikes it wanting to finish it so that she could reach Xanderghul before he was attacked by the “good caller”.
Hinagiku's strikes impact and bounce off of the fallen babau's body, one after the other, though the effort leaves her fists caked in the creature's acidic slime. The pain starts to get to her, and her motions begin to slow. The hideous murder demon starts to twitch, clearly near death.
Ary crests the peak of the hill, only to realize with some annoyance that the summoner and her eidolon have teleported even further up the base of the mountain. Just as she arrives, the stubborn female barbarian leaves a long raking injury across the other babau after a failed attempt to run it through with the cold iron knife. The babau realizes it is outnumbered, and attempts to back away from the three warriors, but a nimble step flits Valaria past its defenses, followed by a gruesome, conclusive shank. The demon crumples to the ground. After a few moments the corpse vanishes, leaving a dark stain on the snow where it fell.
Round 4!
Valaria is up!
The the babau going down, Valaria redirects her efforts to killing the floating nabasu before it can cause any more trouble. She moves forward through the snow, glad for the increase in speed and agility from Isilme's magic, and hurls a knife at the demon as soon as she's close enough to make a clear shot with one of her cold iron daggers.
For a moment, the nabasu hunches over in pain, as Valaria's shot lodges in its midsection... crippled with the knife shooting waves of pain through its abdomen, the nabasu falls straight into the aqueous orb. The demon struggles against the currents and manages to escape the orb, appearing right in front of Valaria.
Isilme is up!
Seeing one of the Babaus drop, is a relief for Isilme. The fight was moving in their favor at this point, and though one of the kellids had died due to the Nabasu draining his life force, the other two would hopefully survive. In addition, Hinagiku had managed to get things mostly under control, so the largest threat at this point was likely the Nabasu, which Ehren and Xanderghul had managed to cripple for the moment. The summoner still posed a problem, having teleported off with her eidolon, but it was unlikely she would be able to outrun them in the long run if she was fleeing.
Still, it was worth putting a couple of arrows in the summoner, lest she decide to try to press the attack. Aiming carefully for the summoner, Isilme fires off two of her arrows at the half-orc, hoping to catch her off-guard.
Though both of Isilme's arrows make their mark, it is as if the summoner's very skin were made of stone - they bounce off harmlessly from her flesh without leaving a mark. The half-orc wrinkles her nose and tosses her hand out from her spell component pouch ... from her hand emits a rain of golden glitters that fall upon the heroes, with several of the irritating things getting into Valaria's eyes. The summoner then trudges through the snow around to behind her eidolon, who obediently stands still, a bulwark between her master and their enemies.
The barbarians don't seem to notice the glitter - if they do they don't say much about it. The burly male of the pair trudges through the snow to the fallen nabasu and cleaves it once through its fallen defenses, making it even further vulnerable to attack.
Ehren is up!
Seeing that both the nabasu and babau have been weakened considerably, Ehren maneuvers his aqueous orb between his allies, having it roll right over demons. He then turns his attention to the summoner up on the cliff. The advantage was now theirs, but mobility was clearly still a problem. A growing number of swirling motes of light start to appear around the druid's hand as he prepares a summoning spell.
Ayavah trudges up the hilll, semi-invisible, until she is next to Valaria.
The nabasu struggles its way free from the aqueous orb, flying clumsily due to its shadowy restraints until it manages to regain its former altitude of 10'. It blinks, slowly regaining its vision from the blinding flash from the druid. First it points at Valaria, essentially at random since it was blind during its assault, relishing her pain as he drains her life-force from her body. It then glares around, attempting to use its necromantic powers to feed on what soul energy remained in the heroes.
Seeing his enemy crippled and on the ground, Xanderghul pulls his crossbow from its sling on the back of his hips, and loads it, ready to fire.
Hinagiku is up!
Hinagiku steps back just in time to the the aqueous orb engulph the wounded babau. She glances around her, ascertaining the state of matters around her. With the Nabasu surrounded in binding shadows, the other babau dead, and the summoner a way away, she chooses to flick her wand and heal herself. In her current state, she knew that we wouldn't be able to face the wizard's pet. Although, she could protect Xanderghul if the creature decided to com to him. In a few wide steps, she crosses the snow to reach her companion.
"Well done mr. Xanderghul, do you have a plan from the wizard?" she gently utters when she reaches his side.
Ary purses her lips, taking stock of the battlefield. One barbarian had gone down due to the woman's... lack of foresight. That was probably the most polite way to put it. Ary had been reckless before, but she'd always been reckless in protecting others. Not simply reckless in not caring about her life.
Worse, her choices would lead the Nabasu to having more allies.
Ary sighs, looking up to the Nabasu demon, before digging out a tanglefoot bag... and chucking it towards the winged fiend, tangling it up in goo. Unfortunately the creature's wings are far too large and strong for it to fall to the ground, but its movements will continue to be hindered, even as Xanderghul's spell ends.
The female barbarian glances up at the flying nabasu and narrows her eyes. Undeterred by the creature draining her of her lifeforce, she grips Valaria's knife and patiently waits for the right moment to deliver a precise shot... but ends up missing wildly due to her many accumulated injuries. Her face remains stoic as she switches to her bow.
Round 5!
Valaria is up!
Despite the feeling of exhaustion from the nabasu's spell, Valaria forces herself to keep moving after the creature. She hurls another cold iron dagger through the air, trying to bring down the demon before it does any more damage. However, her arm is significantly weakened after the spell and she doesn't make a particularly good throw.
Deciding that attempting to bypass whatever protection the summoner had was not worth the effort, Isilme decides to attempt to kill the summoner's pet instead. Drawing her bow again, she begins to aim for the Shem-cat-ian . Isilme goes out of her way to make a big show of aiming and firing, making sure the creature will be able to react to her shot. When she releases the bow, however, it soon becomes evident that the arrow had not been knocked at all. Immediately after releasing she re-knocks the arrow and lets it loose, taking advantage of the creature's reaction the bluff. The arrow flies through the eidolon's cheek, piercing its tongue and drawing an extraordinary amount of thick, black blood.
She quickly follows the first shot with a second, hoping to cripple the creature to the point the summoner would be defenseless. The creature snarls, its voice garbled by the arrow in its face, but it refuses to leave its summoner's side.
The other barbarian tosses his greataxe down, imitating his fellow clansman and drawing his bow. He fires off a single shot, his arrow going wide.
Ehren is up!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ehren frowns, recognizing the sizable threat that the nabasu posed. It had already killed one of the Kellids they were trying to rescue, and now it was turning its vile gaze on his friends. Recalling the last time they had fought a nabasu, the druid settles for using the very same solution - lots and lots of sharp, pointy bits.
"Attack!" he calls out abruptly, pointing at the wounded nabasu with an outstretched finger. With a flash of light, a blur of feathers and fur streaks past him, flying right toward the demon. With a deafening screech the sparkling griffon rears back and wildly swipes at the nabasu with all four of its clawed appendages, adding in some wild pecking for good measure.
Ayavah invisibly trudges through the snow to behind Valaria. Seeing that her friend was losing energy, she embraces her from behind, holding her around her waist. She whispers in her ear, "Come on, Val. You can do this."
The nabasu tries desperately to get away from the griffon, the magnificent creature grabbing its legs in its beak as it tries to manuever past it. The nabasu screeches, ripping its leg painfully away from it, and flies as fast as it can with both Xanderghul's shadows and Ary's alchemical goop clinging to its wings.
Noting the nabasu flying towards him, Xanderghul takes aim at the creature before it can reach him and releases a cold iron bolt. The bolt hisses with practically poisonous energy designed to disrupt the flesh of demons. The missile slides neatly to a halt, lodging deep within the nabasu's core and interrupting its life for good. It falls to the ground in a heap.
Hinagiku is up!
Hinagiku slowly but gracefully moves through the snow toward the last remaining enemies while she heals herself once more with the wand.
"Ваши союзники пали, ты теперь один. Если вы будете продолжать сражаться с нами, я сомневаюсь, что милость будет показано ниже, но если вы сдаетесь вместо этого, вы можете жить. Пожалуйста, не заставляйте наши руки." she says, as softly and kindly as the evil language can be spoken. Though she disliked having to utter that speech, she wanted to make sure her foe could understand her.
"Your allies have fallen, you are alone now. If you continue battling us, I doubt mercy will be shown, but if you surrender instead, you may live. Please, do not force our hands."
The summoner doesn't answer, mostly hidden behind her large eidolon, so the demonic creature answers for her.
"I ashi ish rashul' hi. Zahni bot bem bi skor."
Ary is up!
"She's summoning more allies." Ary shares quickly, as she returns to moving slowly up the slope.
The female kellid takes a quick shot with her bow, which misses, then picks up her greataxe, ignoring her many wounds.
Round 6!
Valaria is up!
Val hurries after Hinagiku, going after the summoner before she can call down an entirely new wave of demons on their heads.
The fact that the summoner was attempting to bring further aid was a problem. Preventing her from finishing her casting was essential, especially since they had finally gotten the nabasu under control. With the snow slowing everyone else's approach there was little time to act before she finishes casting.
Running quickly forward, Isilme jumps for the ledge ahead and to her right, taking advantage of her speed to be able to clear the ledge upwards a second time. Landing in a crouch, she steps forward once more, begining her casting as she does. Unleashing her magic, a stream of oily fluid bursts forth filling the area beneath the caster and her pet.
The summoner and Zahni manage to maintain their footing on the grease trap that suddenly manifests below them. The male sabretooth barbarian looses an arrow at Zahni, firing just as Isilme finishes casting her spell, and leaving a ragged gash in its side. He then picks up his greataxe and gets ready to trek up the hill to slay their final enemies.
Ehren is up!
"The demon up there, on the cliffs!" Ehren calls out to the griffon, redirecting his finger to Zahni. With a mighty flap of its wings, the magical beast launches itself upwards, talons outstretched.
Meanwhile, Ehren himself was essentially rooted to the spot by his own spell. With a nudge of willpower, he prompts the clouds beneath him to climb even higher, pushing himself to the higher cliff's elevation. He once again reaches into his belt pouch, this time for one of his magic pearls.
The griffon charges into the eidolon and the two struggle on the edge of the cliff - a whirl of teeth, claws, and talons. The griffon comes out decidedly the victor, the demonic creature lingering within an inch of its life.
From behind Zahni, the summoner finishes her incantation, summoning a horse-sized boar. Its tiny red eyes are crusted in filth and its bristly flank crawls with flies.
"Bi krishug hilosh il hekutug. Katal krum!" the summoner calls. She then pulls a vial from the pouch at her waist and offers it to Zahni.
The fiendish creature snorts and focuses its fury upon the tiefling before it,charging wildly at her through the snow. The swashbuckler elegantly side-steps its clumsy attempt on her life and prepares a counter-strike.
Xanderghul is up!
Xanderghul trudges forward through the snow, unintentionally getting closer to the boar in his attempt to get into range of the summoner and her eidolon. Then, he casts his spell, calling upon shadow and illusion. Across the battlefield, on the other side of the boar, appears a swarm of shadowy, illusory monkeys. He had quite liked that spell last time he had used it, and he directs the monkey swarm to surge forward and cover the opposing half-orc summoner.
The summoner watches the incoming horde of monkeys with skepticism, but by the time she sees through the illusion it is too late - the vile little creatures have begun swarming on her precious Zahni, hurling unmentionable things at her and crippling her for the kill.
Hinagiku is up!
All had seemed pretty tame just moments ago, the summoner and its pet had been alone, until the boar was conjured out of thin air. With quick reflexes, Hinagiku had switched back into her battle stance and deftly slid to the side of the fiendish animal. Now, the monk slides slightly underneath it and slams her knee behind one of its legs. Then, with a quick glance she notices the dire situation of the summoner and its pet, and she decides to press the attack on the boar, striking it with her closed fists.
Ary continues to move very slowly up the mountain, not really having much choice to do anything else. She could pull out her bow, but then she wouldn't be able to guard her allies... so she callously marches past the boar , before leveling her shield in its direction to help ward off its tusks - should it still be standing soon.
Hinagiku quickly sweeps the enormous boar to the ground, then delivers a pair of well-placed thrusts, the force of them reverberating through her body. The boar trashes around in the snow, lunging awkwardly at Ary as she passes by, the female barbarian trudging along behind her, but the determined ranger moves too quickly for it to make contact.
Round 7!
Valaria is up!
Val shifts her focus to the giant boar in front of her. The summoner will have to wait for now. She slashes out with her dagger, trying to cut through it's thick hide and dismiss the beast quickly so she can move on and help finish this battle.
With a sudden step, Valaria finishes off the fallen boar with admirable style. Together with Hinagiku, the two warrior women were able to swiftly destroy the monster faster than its creator was able to summon it.
Isilme is up!
Isilme is hardly surprised by the group making short work of the summoner's boar. Fiendish or not, sending a single creature in against the group's warriors was a fool's errand. Turning her attention back to the summoner and her defender, she presses the attack continuing to focus on killing the summoner's eidolon.
The helpless, deafened creature is caught off-guard by Isilme's aggressive assault, the arrow lodging itself neatly in its shoulder. It stands still, gagging as the mad monkeys swarm all over it.
"Zahni, i kugal berzúshi, bishdi rishul ashi glizg lerz. Izg il dúzg ai thrishúshorzush," says the summoner impatiently. The disoriented creature focuses and realizes its master's words are true, though it is likely too late.
Meanwhile the roaring sabretooth kellids continue to slowly make their way up the mountain after the summoner.
Ehren is up!
"Now, ignore the demon and go after the summoner!" Ehren shouts out, already in the process of casting the spell he just recalled. He unclenches his hand, blasting the eidolon and its master with another flash of divine radiance.
Immediately after, the griffon flies right past the nauseated demon and bears down on the half-orc.
The griffon pounces onto the summoner, ripping mercilessly into her with beak and claws - but her flesh is like clawing into solid rock, and the creature succeeds only a faint scratch on her cheek. She backs out of the grease slowly, then flings a handful of golden dust onto the griffon, getting enough in its eyes to blind it...
Meanwhile, Xanderghul slowly ascends the hill, while his shadowy mad monkeys continue to assault the retching eidolon.
Hinagiku is up!
Jumping over the fallen boar, Hinagiku takes advantage of the magic imbuing her to rapidly course through the snow, making it all the way to the summoner while avoiding the reach of its pet.
And Ary moves to follow Hinagiku, unable to keep pace with the monk.
As Hinagiku approaches, the summoner lashes out at her with her quarterstaff, but the vulpine monk drops to the ground and sweeps her off of her feet instead. The sudden shock leaves the caster crippled and short of breath.
The female roaring sabretooth clansman follows Ary up the slope, keeping pace with her before shunting off in the direction of her fellow barbarian.
Round 8!
Valaria is up!
Valaria closes in on the summoner, but the chaos of the battle prevents her from getting close enough to engage the caster herself. She draws another dagger and whips it at the eidolon, content to deal with her pet before moving in to help Hinagiku. Provided she even still needs it by the time she gets there.
Demonstrating true grit, Valaria manages to pull off a flawless shot from a bad angle, felling her foe with a victorious blow. The eidolon crumples into the snow and slowly dissolves from reality.
Isilme is up!
Knocking a final pair of arrows, Isilme takes aim at the summoner, letting one fly after the other.
Isilme knocks what would have been an arrow to the summoner's throat, but unfortunately the male sabretooth barbarians is slowly moving in through her line of sight, and she has to adjust her aim to avoid hitting him. The resultant shot bounces harmlessly off of the half-orc's stony skin.
Ehren is up!
As the summoner tries to take advantage of the barbarian to shield her, Isilme calls upon her magic, causing the arrow to subtly through the air, correcting for the summoner's movement.