"We've come out of far worse situations alive. Including some really, really over the top demons. We'll just have to destroy the horn before the wendigo shows up to eat us." She sheathes her blades in her various straps and bandoleers. "Anybody else need healing? Because I think I'm good."
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Xanderghul nods, patting Ayavah in a not-quite comforting gesture, though the thought is there. "I've never been in a situation I couldn't handle, and I grew up in a place worse than Hell and I'm ten thousand years old. Furthermore, I've seen things since being with this group, frankly, that seem impossible, yet they come out on the other side of them."
"This was an ill-advised mission, but we will do what we set out to do and come out of it alive. So relax! Humans are terrible at accomplishing things while worried or stressed out, so it's in your best interest." he says, puffing his chest up and giving a goofy thumbs-up to Variska and Ayavah. "Now lets break a goblin and her horn."
After closing her eyes and relaxing at the feel of warmth accompanying Ehren's magic, Hinagiku thanks the druid with a nod and a gently smile. Then,reaching for her own wand, she starts healing some of her other wounds.
Variska shrugs. "Well, you guys have had some pretty clever solutions to problems so far, so I'm hoping you all have another trick up your sleeves when it comes to getting out of this place." She crosses her arms. "'Coz I sure have no ideas. But my job is generally to stab things, not to make plans."
Ayavah nods. She seems somewhat more relaxed after Valaria and Xanderghul's pep talk "I guess... we'll get there when we get there, yeah? So, let's go?"
Round 184!
The heroes set off down the long, icy stairs, until they reach an open cavern. Within are many hide-covered stones, piles of sharpened bones and tanned skins. The cavern has two spear-doors that open into it - one is cracked slightly open, while the other is closed. Also within the room is a rope handle that hangs from the ceiling - it is attached to a pulley, and then another rope system that leads out of the cavern and over the closed door.
"It is true, we have been through some rather absurd situations. Mostly... we have come out unscathed," she adds to the conversation, pausing for a moment when thinking of the fight with the Hezrous.
Turning her attention back to the matter at hand, she asks "I suspect that pulley might be the direction we wish to go. Any objections with heading along that path?"
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Wincing ever so slightly at Isilme's remark, Ehren interjects with a completely true yet somewhat conflated claim to glory. "Well, we did technically defeat a shemhazian demon. I cannot think of anything we have faced yet that has been worse than that."
"Hm. I'd suggest that we try opening the door first," he responds in regards to the pulley, his eyes following the rope passing over the door. "That way we can determine what the pulley manipulates. Assuming that it isn't a trap, anyway."
The rope system doesn't seem attached to the door at all. It leads off to someplace unseen. But regardless, you inspect the door to see if there are any traps.... after a few moments, you come back satisfied that the primitive door isn't booby trapped. It's also unlocked - there isn't even a locking mechanism... just a simple push and it will be open ...
"I have no idea what that means," Variska says, cheerily, as she waits for the group to decide which door to pick. She kicks around at some of the bones littering the ground. "But I'm sure that's a very impressive story to other crusaders."
Ehren nods sagely, deciding that the details of that story could be shared at a later time. At the very least, he was happy that Variska's morale seemed high. Evidently, getting to hack her former captors into pieces was cathartic. After her close call, he couldn't blame her.
Nonchalantly approaching the door, Ehren gives it and the rope a thorough but quick (they are in a hurry here) inspection.
"The door and pulley don't seem to be connected at all," he reports, figuring that it would be strange for a trap's switch to be on their side of the door. He was still none too enthused about experimenting with it, however.
"A Shemhazian is a giant demon, two stories in height. It burst into the Tower of Ghalcor while we were attempting to set off the weapon contained within. Thankfully the burst of holy energy from the weapon was sufficient to banish it. I am not certain we would have been able to pull it off otherwise," she says to Variska as she approaches the door.
"Well then, we should keep moving," Isilme says, opening the door cautiously and peering through before proceeding in.
Variska tilts her head - whatever she had been expecting, it wasn't Isilme's story. She grins. "Xander's right - if we make it out of this - I'm buying you a drink. You gotta have the best drinking stories."
The door opens to a long passage that has been reinforced with boulders and blocks of ruined stone that appear to have been taken from the siege walls above. The passage is dimly lit, with light streaming in from two side alcoves with 5-foot ceilings. The rope overhead leads to large gates connected to those alcoves - a simple pulley system has been utilized to open both gates.
At the extreme end of the passage is a sturdy, wooden door carved with yet another likeness of the bison-headed wendigo. Light streams in from around the door.
The heroes advance down the passage until they reach one of the two side alcoves. The alcove leads into a short passage that opens up into a large, natural cave that smells of blood and animal feces. The cave opens up into the outside - jutting out into the side of the mountain. Cold wind blows in - the heroes barely feel the biting chill, thanks to their protective magic, but their skin prickles into goosebumps anyway.
Five adult polar bears, lounge around on the ground of the open cavern - additionally, there are a large number of cubs walking around, playing with each other, sleeping, or suckling from the adults.
The bears take notice of the heroes passing by the cavern and slowly stand, wary. One of the closer bears bares their sharp teeth and stands up on their hind legs. It stands a good seven feet tall... and it wants you to know it.
"That's not even our weirdest story," Val says as they walk down the passageway. "Wait until you hear the one about the sentient demonic siege tower..." She trails off as they enter the next cavern and see a very large number of very large polar bears. "Oh... lovely. Anyone speak bear?"
"On second thought, pulling that rope was probably a good idea," Ehren whispers, his gut wrenching when he sees the captive bears. Asides from the large beasts being more trouble than they were worth, the druid simply did not want to harm them. Vicious as they were, they were blameless in all of this.
"Well, yes, actually. But I don't exactly see myself winning them over with charm."
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Xanderghul nods at Variska's comment, adding, "Yeah, well. Not to diminish our heroism or anything, but you would totally owe us a drink when we survive." He was glad that Ayavah seemed to have calmed down a bit. It was not a very good idea to bring her here. Chaining her so closely to Valaria may have been a concern for her safety, but she was hardly safe and certainly not equipped for the inside of a haunted monster castle.
Not that there really were that many people that were truly equipped for a haunted monster castle in the first place.
Xanderghul remains quiet in the polar bear cave, spreading his palms in a gesture of peaceful conciliation. He edges slowly around the outside of the room. "Everybody be chill." he says. "The cold notwithstanding."
The bears certainly posed a problem. The last thing the group needed now was to upset the bears, who were clearly guarding their young, and get tied up fighting them. Isilme was fairly certain that they had little time to spare at this point.
"Now might be a good time for one of your scrolls, Xanderghul. Perhaps block their sight. They might still detect our scent, but they would be less likely to charge us, and then we can continue on past them quietly."
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"Can't hurt to try. They're probably used to talking people. Might even already be trained? If you don't want to tell them we're just passing through, and Xander doesn't wanna cast... I can try to get the bear to back down. Bears are kind of like horses, right?" she says offering a nervous smile.
Xanderghul nods wordlessly to Isilme as he slowly reaches for his scroll, not wishing to appear too threatening to the bear. He unfurls the vellum and recites the words written on the page - one of the bears starts moving towards the open passage as he does - but before they can get there, the wizard invokes an illusion of the gates closing the tunnel shut. Through the illusion, Xanderghul watches the bear huff once and sniff at the gate... seeming satisfied that the threat to its young was no longer present it ambles back to the front of the cave and lays down in the sunlight.
The heroes continue on down the passage until it terminates in a large, wooden door.
You check the door for any obvious signs of traps... and find that it appears safe. But it is locked.
"Not provoking the angry bears is always helpful," Val says softly as the bear wanders away. Once they reach the end of the hall, Val quickly gets to work checking the door. "No traps. I honestly expected more traps. Goblins are usually decent at them." She pulls out her tools and gets to work on the lock, though it takes her several moments to work the mechanisms into the correct position.
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Ehren nods with approval when the illusion is cast, happy that they were able to get by with a nonviolent solution. The polar bears were only trying to protect their young, after all. That, and getting mauled by angry bears was not exactly fun - he would rather face a dozen more wikkawaks than an enraged mother bear.
"Let's not tempt fate, then," he whispers back with a wry grin, not just in regards to Valaria's comment. He wrings his hands around his staff as he waits for her to get the door open, anxious to be done with this horrible place.
Round 191!
It takes a few moments for Valaria to crack open the lock, but once she does, she pushes the door open revealing a large temple. The icy temple has two rooms: an entryway and a sanctum. In the entry way, scores of cracked skulls illuminated by candles line a well-maintained path, on which five wikkawaks stand at guard, clutching their weapons tightly. Past them are two large clay urns filled with bones. The path terminates at an arched, open doorway into the inner sanctum. The guards appear surprised when the door opens, revealing not other goblinoids, but the heroes themselves.
"Ugmitok! Ar an daal! Daan akorthaar!" they exclaim.
Echoing down the temple, from out of sight, a raspy female voice calls out - "Araal'daan.... araal'daan, ach or o! Daach, dar agaan o dakhec dhuur, o arther?! Mech daal!"
Initiative Rolls!
Initiative Order
1. Hinagiku (EE, grazed, charge AC)
2. Xanderghul (EE, longstrider, -1 STR, -3 CHA, see invis)
3. Valaria (Mythic Heroism)
4. Wikkawak #1 (White), Ugmitok's Polar Bear, Wikkawak #3 (Green), Variska (grazed)
5. Ehren (greater longstrider, EE, -3 STR, -1 CON, -2 CHA)
6. Wikkawak #2 (Red), Ugmitok, Wikkawak #5 (Purple)
7. Ary (EE, longstrider, grazed)
8. Wikkawak #4 (Yellow)
9. Isilme (EE, CL, -1 STR, -3 CHA, -4 CON)
10. Ayavah (1 NL, -3 STR, -2 CON, -3 CHA)
Variska spins her longsword in a circle, her face turning serious. "Looks like we've found her. Time to do or die."
Hinagiku is the first in the room, barreling past her comrades and directly at the nearest wikkawak. Though visibly afraid, the wikkawak stands firm. Fortune favors the bold, and so it seems that fortune favored the creature for daring to stand against her - she lunges at him in an attempt to pull him to the ground, but winds up grasping at air instead. It doesn't seem long, though, before his luck will run out.
Xanderghul is up!
Xanderghul runs into the room behind Hinagiku, not quite able to match her speed because he weaves an illusion as he goes. An arcane phrase symbolizing misdirection, a hand gesture involving counting and, as he infuses it with his magic, Xanderghul's form blurs. His precise location is obscured for a moment and then, with a small pop, several Xanderghuls shimmer into being.
Val sighs as the door swings open to a large number of angry wikkawaks. "I don't know why I didn't expect that," she says. "Well, no reason to force Daisy to handle this alone." She draws her knives and rushes the nearest bugbear.
Valaria's masterfully confounding maneuever leaves the front wikkawak's defenses in shambles. The wikkawak grunts and swings back with his battleaxe - his violent swing comes riving into the tiefling, cutting a ruinous furrow... Valaria recoils for a moment, but recovers just in time to deflect the next wikkawak as it comes charging in.
"Al'dec, huun. Kec daal akhar," calls the woman's voice. The heroes hear a roar, and an especially large, scarred, polar bear comes running from the other room, teeth bared.
"Ally, go. Rip them apart."
Variska waits for an opening, then comes running down the temple's entryway at the wikkawak Valaria and Hinagiku are already engaging. She stops abruptly as soon as she comes in range; dropping low, then sweeping up with practiced grace, her blade slides across the wikkawak.
Ehren is up!
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Only half a dozen wikkawaks. And just one angry bear, Ehren muses to himself humorlessly. He glances in the direction of the raspy voice, but is unable to see its source. Ugmitok...
Ehren steps into the room, taking care to stay behind the offensive line formed by his friends. He weighs his options, again realizing the troublesome predicament he was in. There was not much left he could contribute to the battle. Not without making some sacrifices, anyway. The druid looks to Mother Heartwood, reluctant to draw on her power while being without a means to replenish it. And yet, as always, he was fighting now for both the sake of his people and the Green. There was little to gain from holding back now.
His resolve steeled, Ehren raises his staff and taps it against the ground. With a sharp crackling sound, its upper tip abruptly bursts burst into flames. Not nearly as impressive as its last show of force, but at the moment, it was certainly more than Ehren could evoke himself.
Yet another wikkawak charges across the battlefield - this time at Variska. He swings hard, despite Hinagiku's best efforts, severing both her chainmail and her flesh. She howls in pain.
At the same time, the polar bear abruptly doubles in size - nearly 15 feet tall! The menacing beast roars and the very cavern that the heroes stand in seems to shake at its fury.
Ary is up!
Ary moves forward to behind her allies, readying to adjust their positioning slightly to keep them guarded from their enemies. "Don't worry, I've got you."
The last wikkawak charges across the room at Valaria and swings low, but she skips lightly backwards, calmly scanning for an opening she can use.
Being able to understand the goblins was definitely a relief. Given that Ugmitok was upset with her minions, it was clear she was not expecting the party to actually make it down here. Still, with a 15' tall polar bear closing in on them, it seemed the group had their work cut out for them. Getting the bear out of the way was certainly a priority, although it would be best if they could avoid the beast altogether, since the druidess was certain to be taking advantage of the distraction caused by her beast to further assail the group, or perhaps to attempt to flee to a safer location.
"Xanderghul or Ehren, do either of you think you can do something to take the bear out of comission? We need to get to Ugmitok as soon as possible, and I suspect that bear is going to make that quite difficult indeed." she asks as she moves into position with the others.
Once there Isilme unleashes her magic, using the last of her potent magic to unleash haste upon the group, speeding their movements to facilitate their defeat of the wikkawak guardians. At the same time, she scribes the divine rune for courage in the air before her, causing a warm light to suffuse the area, bolstering the group even further.
Round 192!
Hinagiku is up!
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"Nothing so dramatic," Ehren responds when the already large polar bear gets even bigger. He barely had any spells left at all, let alone one that could quickly dispatch the bear. "But its size is as much a detriment to it as it is an advantage."
Simply hearing the voice of the druid chanting from the next room is enough to reorient Hinagiku’s attention, for a moment, she is dangerously unaware of what is going on around her. Memories from when she entered the stone’s room flood back, strengthening her resolve but focusing her mind too much toward the one task of defeating her.
”We have to find a way to get past the bear…”
In the meanwhile, through sheer strength of will she focuses on the wikkawaks around her. In a flurry, she trikes at their ankles, knees, and feet, laying them down one after the other. Once they have all fallen she strikes at the one to her right - her fist stops dead as all force is transferred into her target, driving them backwards across the ice.
Not wanting to get right in the middle of a horde of wikkawaks in order to support Valaria, Xanderghul takes a step back, away from the group. "Variska," he calls, "Maybe you ought to fall back. We can't take credit for saving you if you die in battle." He points two fingers at one of the wikkawaks assaulting Valaria and murmurs nonsense, and a shimmering sickly-green ray springs from his fingers and towards the wikkawak, but he aims just a smidge too high as he backs away and it goes flying harmlessly pass.
He calls, "Ary, mind filling the gap? I need to get next to a warrior-woman in melee without getting axed."
Val winces as they're swarmed under by the wikkawaks. "Keeping it out of the way while we manage the horde of angry bugbears would be nice..." Not liking being surrounded, she lashes out at the already injured wikkawak, hoping to deal with it quickly. A fierce exchange ends with her foe a finished, perforated mess. She then turns to the one behind her, and her unstoppable thrust with her starknife smashes through the wikkawak's guard and ends their sorry life. She flips around once more, and jabs downwards at one of the wikkawaks on the ground. Simple and straight, her thrust strikes home, sending a jolt down the length of her arm. Then she shifts back to keep herself from being surrounded.
With a roar, the polar bear charges across the battlefield at Valaria - Ayavah watches between her fingers as it tramples over the fallen wikkawak with little regard. The agile tiefling sees him coming, though, and is able to simply leap out of the way of its enormous, snapping jaws.
One of the wikkawaks stands back up - Hinagiku lands a vicious strike just before it does - and slices towards Variska with an overhead chop, but it’s deflected to the side at the last moment. The mercenary shoves its battleaxe away and grins triumphantly. "Aw, c'mon, Xander, just as its getting good? It's just a scratch. Fine, fine." She strikes once as she withdraws, her blade cutting through thick hide armor, but not flesh. She sighs and takes a few steps back, letting Ary cover her as she withdraws.
With a swing of the charwood staff, Ehren sends the flame at its tip hurtling toward the massive polar bear. The blast lands sizzling in the center of the bear's chest. In an instant, the tip of the staff reignites, giving him more flame to work with.
Meanwhile, through relentless determination, yet another wikkawak perishes under Hinagiku's repeated onslaught as she simultaneously blocks another one's swing.
[
Ary is up!
Ary's not in a particularly good position to understand just what the Wikkawak is casting in the back, but is in a particularly good position to harm the wikkawaks between herself and the druidess. One golden arc turns red as she slashes violently into the nearest wikkawak (purple), and then steps forward to continue her bloody assault, ending in a devastating shield slam sure to send all but the most stalwart of foes tumbling away.
If your target is two size categories larger than the friendly characters it is engaged with, this penalty is reduced to –2. There is no penalty for firing at a creature that is three size categories larger than the friendly characters it is engaged with.
Two characters are engaged in melee if they are enemies of each other and either threatens the other.
Ary's first strike against the wikkawak is aimed at its head - it manages to twist away just in time, but loses an ear in the process. She strikes again - and again,hearing a dull thunk as her sword blade chops into her opponent’s hide armor. Blood starts seeping from the wound as she extracts her golden weapon, and the wikkawak collapses at her feet. She takes a single step to move over him, then nimbly thrusts the cold iron spikes of Faith into the last wikkawak, sending him flying. The blow leaves him still writhing on the ground, but not for long...
"The druid is attempting to cast air walk, expect her above us if we fail to keep her from casting," Isilme says to the others via her magic.
Stepping up behind Ary, Isilme proceeds to cast heroism on her as well, given that it was all or none now. "Lady Starsong guide your blades, preferably into that ursine behemoth over there," she says to the now-half-elf Bishop.
Round 193!
Hinagiku is up!
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As soon as the three wikkawaks facing her are down, Hinagiku's attention snaps back toward Ugmitok’s voice. She knew her allies would probably need help fighting the bear, but, they also needed to contain the druid. And, her heart, her very soul wanted to stop the crone, and restore what the land had lost.
”I’m going in.” she whispers, before sprinting into the inner sanctum.
With care the monk keeps out of the bear’s reach, and takes long agile steps toward the foe. Upon finally seeing her, Hinagiku raises her voice while still closing the distance.
”Ugmitok” she starts, the lack of title being in itself rude, ”How could you hear the land, yet twist its wishes so? How could you ever be a druid, yet corrupt the world so? Whatever you are now, it is not a priest of the land. An elder that should feel only shame is what you are. Wounding the very soul of what provides you with power? Lying to it? Abusing its trust, its hope? No… such acts comment be overlook. They must be atoned for. Sins can be forgiven, when acknowledged. Break this horn, and there needs not be more violence. Break the horn and free yourself! No need for more bloodshed.”
As she speaks, Hinagiku’s voice is calm and composed, except for an edge, only apparent to her allies. An edge that seem to state that, in truth, no redemption is expected, that judgment is being passed. That there is no true offer of peace. And, while she speaks and runs, righteous anger rouses the seed of peace and good within herself. A light seems to suffuse the monk a she draws her kyoketsu shoge. And the light covers the blade and hoop on her weapon.
”No more corruption.” the monk whispers to herself, preparing her next attack.
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Knowing that what he was about to do was hardly the most effective or helpful option, Xanderghul carefully considers for about the one second that he has before taking action. What makes up his mind, in the end, is that it would be the most awesome option, so Xanderghul says a quick arcane phrase and transmutes himself into a tiny raven. Greatly sped up by Isilme's magic, Xanderghul's raven form follows after Hinagiku and even surpasses her. He makes a fifteen foot berth in between himself and that massive bear, hoping that it doesn't rip his allies limb from limb, and flies directly for Ugmitok.
Reforming into a humanoid form on the other side of the room, Xanderghul comes to a running stop, grinning at Hinagiku. "You ready for this?" he says, eyebrows waggling.
He turns towards Ugmitok then, sticking his tongue out. "What she said," he says. "Also, you're ugly!"
Eyes still affixed on the aged druid, Hinagiku answers to Xanderghul. Though, her wagging tail, in sync with the wizard's eyebrow indicate she's taken in the details of his arrival.
"Yes. I thought I was going to be alone... glad you came."
"Since Daisy and Xan seem to be in their element, I guess that I'll just handle this." With 'this' being a giant, angry bear, that might be easier said than done, but she's certainly going to try. She shifts forward and goes to work with her daggers.
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Hinagiku and Xanderghul enter a large, well-lit sanctum. Half-eaten corpses of numerous humanoids, including the very wikkawaks Ugmitok leads, lay piled in the corners of the room. Decorated with furs, skins, and various pieces of furniture, this is clearly a store for the wikkawak chieftain's most prized possessions - small boxes heaped with gold, silver and precious gems lay haphazardly about the room.
Ugmitok herself floats five feet into the air at the front of the room, a long spear in her left hand, and a horn made of a mammoth's tusk on a strap around her neck, strung along with a pair of human skulls. She wears thick, hide armor and a sly grin. "Ah, child, but I am a priest of the land, seirbhíseach an domhain, that which the hairless humans of my ilk love to childishly call, the Green. But they are too weak to see nature for what it is."
"a servant of the earth itself"
She calmly ascends upwards in mid-air as she speaks, as if she were walking on an invisible stair case, reaching a height of fifteen feet. "I am a servant of the icy peaks - the cold, desolate, bleak lands that offer no hospitality for the weak. A priest of the rattling hunger that drives predator to eat prey, for even brother to eat brother, mother to eat child... for the cold cares not for kinship, only for strength - and here, only those with the strength to survive will. The strong consumes the weak. That is the cold, dark truth. The only truth. The natural way of things."
She caresses the horn about her neck tenderly. "When I first heard of your arrival I thought you interlopers sent from the demons who wage war on my mountain. But I see now you are something completely different. No matter. When night comes, it matters not if you are man or demon. You will all die the same. There will be a glorious offering to Kalek, tonight - a Gorging to match the first. Goodbye, little ones."
She reaches into a pouch at her side and sprinkles some dust in a circle, intoning - "Gaotha, a báthed i bán scamallach, freagra ar mo ghlao," The dust spins in a circle, turning white and cold, and grows... and grows.... until a hideous sleet storm overtakes the room, obscuring the sight of both the kitsune and the shabti.
Meanwhile, in the other room, Valaria was certainly in her element as she stands toe to the toe with the massive beast. She cuts again, and again, punctuating her strikes with a final slice low at the bear's front leg, causing it to roar in pain and rage, flecking her with drool. It lunges at her once, but Valaria takes both starknives and drives them into its mouth, prying its teeth open before using all of her strength to push its massive head aside. It snarls and smashes her blade aside with a massive paw, before swiping its other claw across her chest, its claws rending deep into the swashbuckler, causing her eyes to bulge - though she doesn't make a sound.
From behind her, Ehren sends another gout of flame streaking through the air and into the bear. Fortunately, it was difficult to miss the lumbering beast, given how big of a target it was.
Ary then steps in at Valaria's side. With a quick cut, she hews a slitting gash through the polar bear, then smashes brutally into the bear's chest with Faith. The enormous bear staggers back once, its bright eyes starting to lose focus.
While this is all happening, the other wikkawak slowly staggers back into the fray.
Isilme is up!
Isilme circles around to just out of the polar bear's reach, then uses the last of her arcane energy to imbue her rapier with magic. Her blade plunges into the polar bear's heart, leaving it to tremble helplessly as it seizes up and expires.
Ayavah exhales slowly, trying to still her thudding heart. "Okay. One to go, right?"
Round 193!
Hinagiku is up!
"Mr. Xanderghul, is she still in the air? Can you take her down?" Hinagiku asks, before taking any actions.
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Xanderghul interrupts Ugmitok with a sincere, loud belly-laugh. "Hey guys!" he bellows. "It's certain she's a villain! She started monologuing about her moral superiority and the beauty of dying a cold lonely death or eating your own children!" His laugh falls to a chuckle, and he points at Ugmitok while she begins to cast. "Heh. Idiot."
Xanderghul steps carefully, successfully getting out of the sleet storm without falling over. He maneuvers himself over to the druid's little plinth and then scans for her. He had seen her begin to walk when she had coated the area with sleet... "I can certainly try," he says. "But remember that I also have a crossbow."
Xanderghul frowns, pulling a scroll of ray of exhaustion from his belt. "Come out of there, Hinagiku. We need to think about this."
he calls to the rest of the party, "Guys, come! Surround the storm, but keep your distance from one another!"
Hinagiku ponders Xanderghul's opinion for a split second.
"No... if she's in the storm, then she's trying to gain time. I've got to get to her." she whispers to the shabti.
But, before moving, Hinagiku flicks her wand once to heal herself some more. Then, lifting a hand for protection from the sleet, she slowly advances toward where she saw the druid for the last time. She wanted to answer to the crone, tell her how wrond she was... but silence was of the essence now.
Though Hinagiku is agile enough to move through the sleet storm, she can't hear the old druid over the roaring wind and snow.
Valaria is up!
"Yeah, I can't fight in that." Val looks at the massive spinning storm of ice and sleet. "I'm just going to go finish the mooks off. That I can do." She jumps at the last wikkawak, slashing out with her knife. The wikkawak is unprepared for the abrupt nature of her assault and is nearly cut through... it weakly swings back at Valaria, but she jumps out of the way of his battleaxe.
"Ugh. Just die, already," Variska grumbles as she trudges down to help Valaria. Her blade whistles as it sweeps across the shoulders of the last wikkawak guard. A second later, a severed head rolls past her feet.
Ehren is up!
One more... Ehren thinks as the last wikkawak drops, Ugimok's protectors having all been dispatched in fairly short order. He glances over at the entryway for the next room, able to hear the raging sleet storm within. In hearing Hinagiku's words, he could not shake the feeling that for her, this whole matter was personal. No... That much was obvious at the menhir.
"Just a little more," he says aloud, directing the words to both his friends and himself. Despite being the picture of perfect health, he could not hide how drained, how tired he was on the inside. This day was wearing him thin, in more ways than one. And there was so much more work to be done.
With that Ehren takes off, hurrying toward the sanctum. He still had a job to do.
The sleet storm rages on, with Ugmitok's whereabouts currently unknown.
Ary is up!
Ary frowns as the Wikkawak had gotten up and marched to his death. When would they ever just stay down? She nods to Valaria before moving towards the storm. She reaches the edge of it and just barely loses her footing as she's trying to skirt the edges of the ice.