With the crone having hidden herself within the sleet cloud, Hinagiku was most certainly right. She was merely attempting to buy time for something, and they needed to come up with a way to spot the crone within the storm itself. Isilme had little in the way of magic to help with that, or so she thought at first. "The horn, it is likely powerful enough that she will not be able to hide its presence, short of a nondetection spell." she says to the others as she moves quickly towards the arch entering the other room.
As she nears the arch, she reaches up and touches her eyes, incanting the verbal components of detect magic and beginning to focus on the region ahead of her. It was less than ideal, but it was likely the crone would not be coming out of the storm for a few rounds, meaning she was likely staying put, making it easy to pinpoint the horn's location with the spell.
"Oh! Don't leave me behind..." Ayavah says as she rushes to catch up with the group, navigating carefully amongst the wikkawak corpses.
Round 194!
Xanderghul is up!
"Hmmm..." frowns Xanderghul. Yes, he's aware that frowning isn't exactly a way of expressing words. He reaches out, hesitantly, calling upon the powers of antimagic and envy, and desiring that the stupid wikkawak-woman's spells to simply cease.
The sleet storm abruptly vanishes, revealing Ugmitok 15' in the air, closer to the archway than previous.
Hinagiku is up!
"Excellent work, Xanderghul," Isilme says as the storm is broken by his magic. [b]"Ayavah, would you please prepare to hit the crone with your magic missiles when she attempts to cast again?"[b] she calls quickly to the tiefling through her magic. With the storm broken it was essential to keep pressure on her. Isilme was not entirely certain what the crone would attempt now, but at least they would be able to see it coming and react.
As soon as the sleet stops raining around her, Hinagiku sprints toward Ugmitok. On her way, she drops her wand, grabs her kyketsu shoge in both hands, starts spinning it over her head, and, when she reaches the crone, she jumps into the air. At the peak of her trajectory, she strikes with her weapon, unsuccessfully trying to entangle her foe with the rope.
"Coming up," says Xanderghul, "I need all the help I can get to strike her."
Ugmitok knocks Hinagiku's weapon aside with her spear, then thrusts downwards at her with her spear. She cuts through the fabric of Hinagiku's clothing, the kitsune just barely fast enough to avoid being skewered through.
Valaria is up!
With all of the wikkawaks other than the floating leader dead, Val hurries to get closer to the remaining enemy. "Stay back just a little," Val mutters to Ayavah and Variska as she moves away. "You don't want to be caught in one of those spells."
Variska simply mutely nods and heads after Valaria, stopping just before she enters the archway. Ayavah calls after her, "Be careful, okay?"
Ehren picks up the pace when he sees that the storm has disappeared, coming to a stop only when he reaches the archway, just short of crossing the threshold. The young druid looks upward, properly beholding the wikkawak priestess for the first time, rather than through the power of the menhir. More specifically, he looks to the horn hanging around her neck. He knew that they would have to pry it from her cold, dead fingers; if that had not already been apparent, then her response to Hinagiku made it so. While he was usually above taunting a foe, some part of Ehren wanted Ugmitok to know exactly why she was about to die.
"Tá do caomhnóirí marbh agus aghaidheanna do arm namhaid nach féidir é a súil a shárú. Mar a dhéanann tú. Má itheann an láidir an lag, ansin beidh tú ag dul ocras, agus cailleach ann da. Ní bheidh aon Gorging anocht."
"Your guardians are dead and your army faces an enemy it cannot hope to surmount. As do you. If the strong consume the weak, then you will go hungry, crone. There will be no Gorging tonight."
Ehren punctuates his statement with another flick of his staff, sending a bolt of flame hurtling toward Ugmitok, blasting her in the side with flame while her focus is on Hinagiku.
She turns to Ehren, a smile on her face - her teeth are long and yellowed. "Ah, draoi! Chuala tú an menhir glaoch, rinne tú? An oiread sin tar éis teacht os comhair tú ... cuid dá n-skulls leagan anseo, i ndáiríre. Beidh an fuar a ithe agat, mar a rinne sé leis an gcuid eile."
She spreads her hands and the storm starts up again - this time great hailstones rain down from the archway on the heroes below. As the hail rains down, she strides confidently forward... hailstones bounce off of Faith as Ary shuts her eyes, golden motes swirling around her. As the hailstones cease, she appears above Ehren to strike at Ugmitok... but she lunges just past her, before disappearing and reappearing on the ground.
Ary is up!
Ary's eyes widen slightly as the roof of the cavern seems to rain down on her; she sort of thought maybe it was the druidess doing it, but couldn't at all be sure; she'd never seen any spell like that before!
Ary fights her way out of the hailstorm, stopping at the edge, and shaking some of the ice balls from her hair. Faith clatters to the floor, as does Radiance as she draws the Lucerne Hammer so that she could actually reach her foe - once she bothered to come out of the minor hailstorm.
Isilme backs up nursing her wounds from the ice storm the druid had conjured. She hoped Xanderghul had another dispel within him to tackle this second storm. Taking a moment to ponder her options, she decides that at the moment she is limited to exhorting her comrades to do their best.
"The souls of countless crusaders call to us to repay the horrors visited upon them! We will defeat the crone and shatter the horn, giving them peace at long last!"
Xanderghul can only chase after Ugmitok, cursing himself for not having the foresight to have moved earlier or to have prepared dispel magic an additional time, or to have saved more of his spells for this moment. He heavily sighs.
Not knowing what to do, Ayavah hides behind one of the large urns in the room.
Round 195!
Hinagiku is up!
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"Beidh mise an cloigeann draoi seo caite go hál an uaimh!" Ehren calls back, wincing as he is pelted by chunks of ice. Even more painful was the fact that he was exchanging banter with a villain. Maybe the others were rubbing off on him.
Hinagiku follows the druid as closely as she can to the archway. All along, her eyes are fixated on her foe, awaiting for a chance to finally strike her.
Valaria is slightly glad that the hail storm is blocked from actually bombarding her with ice by the pillars. "That's why I warned you to stay back." She picks her way through the chunks of ice littering the floor to get close enough to the wikkawak to hurl a dagger up at her.
Ugmitok looks down and sees the dagger thrust into her chest. She gives an animalistic snarl and bats a limb at it trying to pull it free. She continues to walk across the sky, pausing at the end of it to incant yet another spell in Druidic.
"Yeah...I got it," Variska agrees faintly, coughing up a bit of blood. She backs up, farther away. "What I'd give for a damn bow and some arrows right about now..."
Thankfully, this storm did not inhibit Ehren's vision as much as the last one. Peering up through the falling snow, he blasts Ugmitok with flame again, and then retreats toward his allies.
Ary is up!
"She is attempting to cast spike stones," says Xanderghul. "Beware of movement."
[B]"There's one on my back if you want to borrow it. It has a pretty heavy pull, though."[/dice] Ary says as she shifts beneath the woolie woman, bringing it around in a nasty arc that wold have made its previous owner proud, the Lennon following behind and distracting from the haft.
Ary steps underneath Ugmitok and swings heavily, her whipping blow smashing into the druid's throat with a grisly crack and crushing her trachea closed. She grasps her throat, eyes bulging, unable to speak or breathe.
Isilme is up!
Isilme works her way around to the north side of the storm, looking for a better shot at the crone. She goes to reach for her bow before realizing that she had dropped it earlier. Unable to make use of the bow, she waits patiently for any opportunity to present itself.
[ooc]ready action to attack if in range, continue performance [/local
Round 196!
Xanderghul is up!
Sticking where he is, Xanderghul develops a wicked grin. Casting his last offensive spell, a crackling energy whip shoots out of his hand and coils on the ground. It pops and fizzles as he whips it up into the air, and lightning trails from it as he swings it at Ugmitok's neck.
"Try to run now, weak old bag!" he shouts. "Come and get it!"
Hinagiku watches expectedly as the crone is successively hit by Ary's hammer and then lashed by Xanderghul. Patiently she stands, waiting for their foe to finally plummet to the ground.
The limp lash snakes around Ugmitok's neck, draining her of her strength.
Valaria is up!
"I think we've almost got her..." Val hurls more knives, launching them toward the druid in rapid succession.
Valaria hurls two knives, the first sailing wide, then the second injuring her opponent further. She goes for another... and finds she has no more remaining, except for the two cold iron star knives that she usually reserves for close quarters combat.
Ehren is up!
Ehren took no pleasure in watching his enemies suffer, but seeing the evil druid helplessly rasping for breath did bring him some sense of satisfaction. But he had nothing else to say to Ugmitok, least of all something that would rub this situation into her face. With everyone else piling on their attacks, he unleashes yet another blast of flame, willing to help give the wikkawak a swift death, even if she was not particularly deserving of one.
Ugmitok grips her throat, rasping for breath. With a pop! she vanishes, transforming into a snowy owl. She flies away, the limp lash falling off from her throat as she does - it curls on the ground and vanishes. Ary swings her hammer at her once again as she tries to escape - her weapon strikes home, but the owl manages to get away - just barely.
Ary is up!
Hinagiku's eyes widen as she watches the druid changes into an owl. She hadn't realized that their foe would possess an ability similar to Ehren's. She looks around to see who could stop her... and only one person comes to mind.
"Quick, miss Ayavah, she's going to pass right in front of you... you're safe, she's transformed into anowl... you can stop her!" the monk calmly calls across the room.
"I? What? What can I do?" Ayavah says, feeling panicked and pressured.
Ary is up!
"Wound her or stop her from going through the door." Hinagiku says, as calmly and clearly as she can, hoping to calm the woman as much as possible.
Ary chases after the crown, delivering another battering blow, though the enemy's size may cause issue with her ability to connect directly with the tiny owl.
"Okay. I'll try my best," Ayavah whispers back through Isilme's message spell.
Ary keeps up with Ugmitok by virtue of Isilme's magic on her, and seizes the chance to slam her hammer into the small owl.
Isilme is up!
With Ugmitok fleeing for the exit, Isilme moves quickly to attempt to convince the druid she is trapped. Casting as quietly as she can, so as not to make her illusion obvious, she begins weaving the spell. Almost immediately a solid mass of stone erupts from the ground forming a barrier over the only exit in the room. The pristine granite forming the stone is smoothly polished as if the wall had been painstakingly crafted and buffed to perfection.
The druid's egress blocked, Isilme takes off towards the illusory stone slab, in case she needs to help bring the foul caster down.
Ayavah steps forwards and fires off four purple missiles at Ugmitok... they fly unerringly into the small snowy owl.
Round 197!
Xanderghul is up!
Xanderghul chases after Ugmitok, upset with himself that he had wasted his final attack spell and frustrated that she might just get away. On the way, he drops his scroll of ray of exhaustion and draws his crossbow. He takes aim at Ugmitok, inspired by Isilme's performance and able to take that extra moment aiming because of her magic, and fires off a regular bolt.
Ugmitok is unprepared for Xanderghul's abrupt shot, and is nearly skewered through.
Hinagiku is up!
Hinagiku doe she best to walk through the shards before sprinting in Ugmitok's wake. As she rounds the corner, she sees Ayavah's the magic missiles hit the owl, closely followed by a bolt fired by Xanderghul.
"Well done." she says encouragingly to the wizards.
My turn now, she tells herself. Transfering the hoop of the kyoketsu shoge to her other hand, she reach within her pocket to draw out her wushu dart. Hopefully, her practice would pay off and she would strike true... as soon as she got close enough.
The hailstones on the ground transform into sharp shards as Hinagiku passes by, leaving lacerations on her feet and legs. Valaria follows after her, not seeming to care about the dangerous hailstones either. With an unsettling serenity and composure she zeroes in on her target, killing her with this final starknife. The little owl crashes to the ground at Ary's feet. Its form fades, revealing the dead wikkawak crone.
Combat Ends!
1. Xanderghul (EE, longstrider, -1 STR, -3 CHA, see invis, mirror image [4])
2. Hinagiku (EE, grazed) <--- You're up!
3. Valaria (Mythic Heroism, Critical)
4. Variska (critical)
5. Ehren (greater longstrider, EE, -3 STR, -1 CON, -2 CHA, produce flame)
6. Ugmitok (air walk, wounded, crushed trachea, suffocating [212], wild shaped [owl])
7. Ary (EE, longstrider, wounded, heroism)
8. Isilme (EE, CL, -1 STR, -3 CHA, -4 CON, arcane pool [202], grazed)
9. Ayavah (1 NL, -3 STR, -2 CON, -3 CHA)
"So... that's done." Ary says, putting her hammer back into its holder unceremoniously. "We're still on a time limit, so we should search her and these guys, check the next room, and break the horn. Any sort of resources we can get may be the difference between us leaving and staying permanently." she says as she quickly strides back over to where her weapons are, kneeling down and eyeing the spined hailstones that were between her and her dropped gear. She purses her lips, and takes her bow off to offer it to Variska.
Pocketing back her dart, Hinagiku finishes her sprint kneeling next to the crone, and, before anyone can, she picks up the horn. She lifts it with both hands, staring at it. Her expression changes slightly, becoming a srange mix of wonder, relief, and disgust. After a moment, she looks up to Ary.
"Destroy it? It was originally meant to banish the monster, not enslave it.. maybe we can use it as it was meant to be?"
"Agreed, Ary. We should then head up and prepare for the army's return. Perhaps if we can fool them into heading back out to fight overnight we can buy time for Irabeth to arrive." she says. When Hinagiku brings up using the horn as it was intended, she adds "I believe Ehren will know best what must be done with it. It is not inconceivable that the horn was corrupted by Ugmitok, and that using it would no longer have the desired effect."
She listens to the ongoing discussion as she heads to each of the corpses in turn, taking time to check them for anything valuable before moving onto the next. "Someone should check the other room for sure, but we need some means to traverse the spikes safely in order to do so," she says as she finishes.
So swift is Ugmitok's death that it barely registers with Ehren. For all his bravado, he had not expected the battle to end so quickly. It was not a fact to be lamented. In the end they had prevailed, just as he knew they would. But his job was not over just yet. Seeing the horn in Hinagiku's hands, he walks over, minding the corpses along the way.
"The wendigo and the horn are inextricably bound together," Ehren replies, shaking his head sadly. "Whatever the horn was, or was meant to be, no longer exists. Only with its destruction can Kalek be banished, can balance be restored. Such is the will of the Green."
The druid holds his hand out to Hinagiku expectantly and smiles softly. "Let's put an end to this tragedy."
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Hinagiku's mixed expression slowly melts back into its usual shape when she hears Ehren's words. She then slowly turns her head toward the druid and lifts her eyes to meet his. As she holds his gaze, her expressions changes once again. However, it is not subtle this time. The young man can plainly tell that she’s almost overwhelmed with relief and gratitude. Her eyes become watery. Slowly, she stands up and lays the horn into her companion’s hands.
”Yes. I am so glad you are here mr. Ehren… so glad you can rid m.. this place of this curse. Right what was wrong...” Hinagiku says softly, her voice slightly shaking with emotions.
Variska smiles, gladly accepting Ary's bow. "Thanks!" she says. She opens her mouth to say more, then notices Hinagiku and Ehren in the center of the room with the horn. Not wanting to interrupt the moment, she stands back to watch.
Meanwhile, Isilme checks the corpses. The bodies of the wikkawaks are not noteworthy... Ugmitok herself is outfitted with a mundane spear and a set of hide armor... though she does carries three potions, as well as a small sachet full of gold.
- A topaz-blue potion. DC 17 Spellcraft:CMW
- A crimson tincture in a small, golden vial. DC 17 Spellcraft:Invisibility
- Exactly 633 gp.
Round 202
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A child of the ley itself, Ehren thinks as he returns Hinagiku's gaze, recalling what he had once called the monk. Ugmitok had been right in that the land could be cruel and unforgiving, but he also knew that it could be gentle and serene. The woman before him, in many ways still an enigma to him, was living proof of that. He was, as ever, in awe of her... and he was now in a position to do her a great kindness.
"Thank you, Hinagiku," he says gently even as he closes his fingers around the horn, clutching it in a deathly vicegrip. His eyes hold for a moment longer before breaking away from hers, looking to the horn clenched in his hand with evident disdain. So much pain and suffering, caused by such a seemingly insignificant object. But no longer. Ehren recalls the vision that the menhir gave him, bestowing him with the knowledge he needed to finish his mission. Only the power of the ley could destroy the horn.
Ehren takes a deep breath and focuses, drawing on the power of the ley just as he had done many times before. The place magic was strong here, so close to the ley line running beneath the castle's menhir. For this task, he would need more power than he had ever drawn on before, their ascension notwithstanding. Rather than weaving that energy into a spell, Ehren allows that raw power to course through him, up through his bare feet, his legs, his body, and finally along his arm, ultimately directing it into the loathsome artifact held in his hand.
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While Ehren takes a moment to meditate on breaking the horn, Ary takes a moment to meditate as well, taking the short moment to recenter herself for the combats ahead. She nods simply to Variska, letting the pair have their moment; this was a big deal. She didn't fully follow all of it, but... this was like the dwarven temple. The temple of Sarenrae, of Shelyn, of Iomedae. The ley lines were temples to the green in every way that those were temples to the more real... that wasn't a fair assessment, she thought as she looked to Daisy. It was strange to think that a part of the world walked with them, just as her goddess once walked amongst mankind. Regardless, this place had once been a temple, and a great evil had twisted it into a place of macabre horror before eventually a greater good had cast the evil away, only to have a lesser evil subvert that power for its own needs.
For once, she felt like everything wasn't above her pay grade. Not because she could handle everything, but because she had a handle on everything. This place, full of the dead and damned was a sober reminder of everything that still needed to be fixed in the world, and how it wasn't all about demons. And then her moment of clarity was gone as she watched Ehren invisibly pour his, and to some extent, Hinagiku's energy into the horn that had subverted the will of the world.
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The ley is strong here - it courses all around Ehren, throughout the mountain, even the castle itself. As he focuses, he acts as a conduit for that energy, allowing it to focus in one place. Though Hinagiku cannot 'see' the ley as Ehren can, she can certainly feel it as well - the icy walls paradoxically radiate warmth to her perception - though this feeling is spiritual, rather than physical.
As the energy converges on Ehren the caves themselves begin to shake and tremble. Finally, with a burst of light the horn explodes, sending out a shockwave that seems to shake the mountain to its core - the urns topple over, spilling out a grotesque array of skulls and humanoid bones. Just a few seconds later the heroes hear a horrific howl of pain inside their heads. The sound echoes on in their minds for a few more moments before going silent. The walls finally stop shaking. Nothing remains of the horn, except for dust.
The heroes are worn down, wounded, physically and mentally exhausted. But they triumphed today over an ancient evil that has tormented the northlands of Mendev for nearly a century. What will they do next?
Congratulations! The heroes are now level 8. Please report your changes to discussion.