With a sigh of relief, Ehren sits back on one of the shadowy boulders and stretches his legs out. Isilme's healing power did wonders for his aches and pains, but it could not stave off his need for proper rest forever. However, there is one last thing he wants to do before turning in for the night.
"I am going to start scrying on Javyn," he says, looking to Lann. "It might not succeed right away, but it would give us more insight into his current predicament."
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Isilme spends the time before she heads to rest praying to Desna. Taking off her cloak, she hangs it from an outcropping on the wall outside where Xanderghul was setting up their haven. She reaches out and touches it briefly, focusing on the sky above. Within moments the cloak shines with dim motes matching the sky far above them.
Sitting on the ground before the cloak she begins to name the stars one by one. With each name she thinks of a place she has been, remembering what she had learned or heard there for the first time. The number of places she could remember was far fewer now, but nothing of true import had been taken from her. She remembered traveling Kyonin and the world with Elan, her adventures and time in Mendev, everything she had done here with her companions.
When she finishes she folds up her cloak and heads to sleep. In the morning she would attempt to aid Ehren in scrying, and planning where to ambush the duergar caravan.
The next morning she awakens and reviews the map she had retrieved, going over the various fortifications along the Long Walk that they might use to ambush the slavers. Laying out the map before Ary and Xanderghul, she points at several of the locations. "Once we have some idea how far along the slavers are, we should attempt to use one of these fortifications to our advantage. They should be undermanned, so with stealth we might be able to sneak in and secure one."
Hinagiku slowly awakens from her short sleep only to find herself in a world that feels as unreal as her dreams. Thankfully, she could sense the corporality of their essence just like she could now sense the world even with eyes closed.
"Will we be going in search of the Underfolk village for help or directly go to the fortifications?" the monk asks softly while the brains of the team discuss the plan.
Ehren attempts to reach through to see where Javyn is, but finds his connection to his target too frail to truly succeed. If only Javyn knew what he was trying to help him, then maybe he wouldn't resist so much...
Irabeth responds: 'Drezen is calm. Your student still sleeps. Good luck with your journey.'
The next morning, the heroes sit inside of Xanderghul's shadowy haven before departing. Anevia nods along as Isilme details their route, nibbling at trail rations from within her pack.
"Fair point, making a detour might be dangerous," she offers. "Hopefully all Underfolk are as friendly as Lann and his people..."
"Making a stop along the way at the underfolk's village is a good idea. We may be able to enlist their aid, or at the very least get more current information about the area along the Long Walk and what kind of patrols we might expect," she says with a nod at Hinagiku. "We will need to keep making attempts to reach Javyn."
"Xanderghul, what can you tell me about the dwarf we are seeking? I can attempt to scry on him before we set off. Unless we would like to make a second attempt at Javyn right now?"
After their rest, Isilme calls upon her own new, runic magic, hoping to find Javyn - but there is nothing she is able to see. And so the days begin to blur together - there is no day or night underground, only an endless march forwards, punctuated occasionally by the absolute need to rest.
At the end of each passage walked, Ehren peers into his mirror, and each day, he sees nothing but black. At the end of the fourth day he finally conjures an image in his mirror. "Javyn!" exclaims Lann, crowding closer to come watch. Finally establishing a connection, Ehren is able to focus and maintain the image for several minutes before losing trace of it completely. At its center is a young Underfolk, who resemblance to his father is immediately obvious - his face is similar to that of a rodent's, but his is decidedly more rat-like. His body is lithe and small, and combines elements of a lizard with that of a small human, and he is wearing nothing but a dirty loincloth. He is chained and manacled at his neck and his hands, and connected to a very long procession of slaves, that extends well beyond the borders of the mirror. They are all marching forwards as one, somewhere nondescript and dark - no walls nor ceiling are visible. Soon after the spell begins, Javyn stiffens, and looks up - straight into mirror, wide-eyed. He smiles and exclaims something in a language the heroes don't understand. But the stumble in his step is quickly noticed - a duergar woman marches up to him and strikes him once with a blunt mace. "Cùm a ’gluasad, tràill. Gu sgiobalta, gu sgiobalta," she barks. She speaks Dwarven, but the accent is completely unlike what the heroes were accustomed to - harsh and guttural, strictly to the point.
"Keep moving, slave. Quickly, quickly."
Javyn quickly returns his attention to marching in line after that, but he affixes the duergar slaver with a steely, defiant glare. The duergar woman follows along closely to him, riding atop an enormous beetle. Her armor is sturdily made and clearly dwarven - though strictly pragmatic, and absent of any artistic flourishes. She has a crossbow strapped to her back, and in her hand is a mace. "Tha e nas fheàrr dhut a chuir a-steach," she says. Her tone is cold and impersonal. "Fuirichidh an fheadhainn as làidire agad, an fheadhainn aig a bheil cuirp airidh air toil airson Droskar. An fheadhainn agaibh nach eil, bidh sinn a ’reic ris an Drow."
"It is in your best interest to submit."
"In Hagegraf, you will be submitted to Processing. The strongest of you will remain, those whose bodies are worthy to toil for Droskar. Those of you who are not, we sell to the Drow."
The slaves being pushed at a rather brisk rate. Other slaves are around Javyn. Most of them are Underfolk like him, but there are other, strange races - troglodytes, strange gnomes, and one dwarf. Javyn is not a tall man -he is closer to the size of a dwarf than he is to a man - so he visibly struggles to keep up with those larger than him in the chain. The slaver smiles."Chan eil thu ag iarraidh sin. Chan eil an Drow a ’toirt urram do na tràillean aca mar a bhios sinn. Chì thu, a dh'aithghearr. Tha sinn uile dìreach nan innealan airson an adhbhar as motha. Chì thu, aon uair ‘s gu bheil thu air do phròiseasadh. Tuigidh tu uile. Bi taingeil." She ushers her beetle along further up the line, and disappears from view.
"You do not want that. The Drow do not respect their slaves the way we do. You will see, soon. We are all just tools for the greater purpose. You will see, once you are Processed. You will all understand. Be grateful."
The rest of the session does not reveal anything of note - just a line of slaves, marching along for eternity...
Of course, it is not as though that was the only occurrence of note those four days. The underfolk village was a considerable distance away from them - closer to Fellstrok than Janderhoff when using the Long Walk as a vantage point. Xanderghul's friend had challenged them to make the distance in but a week - but the way was not easy going. This was an area that, more than anything, Ary Bishop excelled at. Once she had gotten oriented, she found the Underdark to be not much different from any other wilderness she was called upon to navigate in her lifetime - and this area of Nar'Voth was well and truly wild. For the five days they do not encounter a single sentient creature... though predators, dangers and hazards are abound. Progress along their route went slowly, as sometimes lengthy detours were required to avoid sinkholes and tunnels that lead into areas of "bad air".
It is half-way through the seventh day that they finally arrive to the borders of the territory of the Underfolk Hinagiku had mentioned. Now, the heroes proceed in a bunch, through a series of caverns that are well illuminated with glowing mushrooms, filling the network with a dim, greenish light. A promising area to look for a remote Underfolk settlement. They come to a large cavern that arches to a height of forty feet at its center. It extends about sixty feet from east to west and one hundred feet from north to south. The floor consists of tightly packed dirt and gravel, and strange furrows in the earth crisscross the room. Patches of luminescent fungi cling to the floor, walls, and ceilings, and the sound of water dripping into several shallow pools echoes through the chamber. A ten foot wide tunnel leads off to the south, while broad, roughly hewn steps lead to a similar passage heading to the northeast.... the first sign of civilization in days.
These furrows were left behind by the dorsal fin of a bulette.
Of all the beasts that populate the wilderness, few are as feared as the bulette. Known sometimes as the landshark, the bulette is a sleek predator, moving as fluidly through earth as those primeval eating machines move through water. Bulettes possess insatiable hunger and view anything that moves as food. They hunt constantly, and when their attention turns to new hunting grounds they feed until nothing remains.
Bulettes are predators found throughout the Inner Sea. There are native bulettes that hunt within Sarkoris, so they are not unknown to the Sarkorians. The bulettes that continue to hunt in Sarkoris today are Abyssal-tainted monsters that indiscriminately hunt man or demon.
Bulettes are notoriously foul-tempered, attacking far larger creatures with no regard for personal safety. Solitary beasts except for the occasional mated pair, they spend most of their time patrolling the perimeters of territories that can stretch up to 30 square miles, hunting game and punishing interlopers with a fury that shakes the hillsides.
Bulettes are perfect eating machines, consuming bones, armor, and even magical items with their powerful jaws and churning stomach acid. Lacking other food, the bulette might gnaw on inanimate objects, yet for unknown reasons no bulette voluntarily consumes elf flesh. Dwarves are also rarely eaten by the beasts, though the bulette still slaughters members of either race on sight. Halflings, on the other hand, are among the beast’s favorite meals, and no halfling with any sense ventures into bulette country casually.
The bulette is a cunning fighter, surprising foes with its impressive agility. One of its favorite tactics is to charge forward and launch itself into the air in order to drop on its prey with all four razor-sharp claws extended. Folklore claims that the flesh behind the beast’s dorsal crest is particularly tender, and that those willing and able to wait until the fin is raised in the excitement of combat or mating can target it for a killing blow—yet most who have faced the landshark agree that the best way to win a fight with a bulette is to avoid it entirely.
Arcane experts today theorize that bulettes were magically engineered by some long-forgotten arcanist of the past. Modern attempts to replicate them have been largely successful by multiple living vivisectors, most frequently created by crossing an armadillo with a snapping turtle, infusing the union with demon ichor.
You have enough expertise in bulettes to recognize that the creatures who hunt here are exceptionally large for their kind. Also, this is certainly a mated pair - you can see two different sizes of dorsal fins (the females are bigger).
Xanderghul finds traveling in this way nearly comforting. Out of everyone in the group, he has certainly done the most toilsome, repetitive walking in uniform environments. He is psychologically and physically prepared for it, and weathers the struggles of the hike very well. When they arrive at the markers of civilization, he is surprised. What a short traveling period! He was used to traveling for months before encountering anything interesting. What a small world this Material Plane was turning out to be.
He steps forward to appraise the wide, soft chamber. He strokes his chin and crouches down to look at a nondescript section of cavern floor. He eyes the dirt critically, his eyebrow cocked quizzically. "Bulettes," he says. "They probably ate all of the Underfolk."
The shortest way forwards to where the Underfolk are is through this bulette hunting ground. You can figure out a way around it, but it would likely add a day of travel.
Lann frowns. "Wait, landsharks? Do you really think so?" he asks, sadly. "Should we turn around?"
Ehren eyes the furrows suspiciously, unable to shake the feeling that something more is at work here. He is aware of the existence of bulettes of course, mostly on account of stories and memories passed onto him by his forebears, but never has he actually laid eyes on one.
"Nonsense," he says of Xanderghul's theory, skeptical that even a beast as ferocious as a bulette could wipe out an entire tribe of Underfolk. He points to the northeastern passage, taking note of the deliberately carved stairs. "That is not a natural formation. Chances are, the village is further ahead."
When Ehren finally manages to scry successfully on Javyn, Isilme is relieved. At least now they would have some idea as to what they would be up against. "We should begin sending to him each day from here on," she says to Xanderghul. "Hopefully we can get a full accounting of their forces and how they set up camp each night. Can you take care of that?"
"In the meantime, Ehren and I should begin attempting to scry on Dornarnus. If we can reach out to him perhaps we can find a way to rescue him."
At the start of the seventh day, Isilme pulls out her map and begins outlining their final route. "Though we do not know exactly where they are, the slavers should be somewhere around here," she says, pointing to a place about 20 miles down the Long Walk from their current position. "The village is supposed to be in this area, per Sandricaan. I believe we can bypass the Duergar and head to the Village to attempt to get aid, then come around and attack the Duergar from behind when they have camped for the night. That should roughly take us 2-3 days to catch up to them, although we could make better time with use of magic depending on whether it is just us or if we are bringing aid from the village."
"We should take care then," she says when Xanderghul points out that a Bulette had been in the area. "They are quite aggressive and will not hesitate to attack us."
"I agree with Ehren, however, it is unlikely that a people who have lived down here for a long time have been wiped out by a single Bulette."
"We might end up coming back through here anyway, so clearing them out won't hurt. Might cut into our travel time, but we seem to be catching up." Val nods toward Isilme. "That might be best. It looks like there are a lot of duergar and having some back-up might turn the tables a bit."
Xanderghul uses his magic to contact Javyn at least once, hoping that the underfolk takes the message seriously. He especially hopes that the man doesn't panic and reveal the presence of rescuers to his captors. That would make the situation far worse.
"The man we are pursuing is called Dornarnus," he says. "He is a Pathfinder member of a faction known as Liberty's Edge. Essentially, they're resource-leeches who use the status that Pathfinders enjoy in order to accomplish goals other than the acquisition and delivery of information. He is a paladin, and he has supposedly had his spirit crushed. He has chosen to fight alongside the duergar, rather than to be their slave." He gives a noncommittal gesture. "Frankly, he leaves a lot to be desired as a compatriot. However, the reward for his return is enough to motivate me into pushing for his rescue. I am sure that he can be rehabilitated into a man with honor and conviction after his rescue."
Xanderghul shakes his head in response to Lann's cowardice. "No, we don't turn around. We forge ahead. If beasts get in our way, we destroy them."
"Let's watch our asses," Val cuts in. "I don't know much about these things, but these tracks look a lot bigger than what I'd expect and there are at least two different trails. The last thing we need is a pair of giant landsharks deciding they're not full yet and getting the drop on us."
Javyn's response is prompt and polite. He has the same sort of old fashioned accent to his Common that Lann has. "Hello Xanderghul, it's good to meet you. Thank you, I want to help you any way I can. Was it you that was watching earlier?"
Anevia frowns at the tracks, her hands on her hips. "Hmmm. Alright. Big scary mole-sharks want to eat us and are in the way. So, what's the plan, then?" She looks around with her hands on her hips, frowning. "This is a nice, big, cavern, at least," she whispers.
"If that is the case, we should consider a detour. There is no sense in fighting a pair of them if a detour will not set us back too much." Pulling out her map, she looks for another way around.
"Ary, Val? Any ideas on how best to get around this area quickly?" she says, holding out the map.
Xanderghul joins Isilme in examining the area for the way forward. "I'm not sure... Perhaps the underfolk village is this way?" He is fairly certain, but he is also totally wrong about which direction the village falls in.
Bent down over her Ehren kun’s shoulder, Hinagiku silently watches as the mirror reveals a small underfolk. Even as he walks past, her gaze lingers on the procession of people whom they will attempt to save. Only after the mirror blurs and begins to reflect her face and those of her companions, does she take her eyes off it.
”Could the dwarf have been the pathfinder we are looking for? Mr. Sandricaan mentioned that he had turned… but not that he was treated well… Mr. Joran himself said that Duergar hated the other dwarfs… so I don’t think they would be treating the pathfinder well, whatever change of hear he might have.”
The days of endless walking slowly take their toll on Hinagiku. It is only thanks to her long training and meditation techniques that she remains composed. By the time they reach the grand cavern, she begins to realize that she had been wrong about the trip, they were not here for 3 or 4 days, but for almost 2 weeks…. 2 weeks spent away from the crusade. Fate seemed to have brought her here, and there was meaning in being here. Still, she would need to be more careful in the future and stay closer to the wound.
A land shark? for a brief moment Hinagiku ponders the name of the beast, imaging some strange creature trying to walk around on fins, but it does not take long for her to stop trying to imagine the unseen creature. Dwelling in such a way on the unknows was unproductive.
”What should we expect from this shark? Is it slow like a turtle? ” she asks the other naively.
”If this is such a dangerous beast, than I agree that meeting the underfolk first would be best. Their knowledge and wisdom could help us avoid the danger.”
Eyeing the map, Lann considers some of the tunnels they passed by over the past few days, in favor of a quicker, safer route.
"We could double back and look for another way around, but I think that would add another day to our journey," he points out, audibly conflicted. On one hand he wanted to reach Javyn as soon as possible, but on the other, he was reluctant to pick a fight with such dangerous beasts.
Ehren continues to peer northward with a frown, wondering how they might pass through the hunting ground undetected. But while he would gladly advise caution over conflict in an ordinary situation, they were currently working with an indefinite timetable. The amount of time and energy it would to take to avoid a relatively brief (if violent) confrontation with the region's apex predators might not be worth it.
"They are not exactly what I would call agile, but I would not compare them to turtles either," he explains to Hinagiku patiently, going off what little he knows about the creatures. "I would not count on us being able to outrun them, not in this environment. Especially if they are as large as Valaria says - leading rampaging landsharks to the Underfolk's village is not likely to garner us any favors, in any case.
"No, I think our best options are to either slay the beasts outright, or to somehow pass through this area without them detecting us."
"I could probably draw them away and survive," offers Xanderghul. "I am very good at escaping."
"However, I don't think we can slip by as a whole group, undetected. I simply don't have the illusions prepared to conceal us from a creature which detects through vibrations. The sense of touch is the most difficult to fool."
"Mr. Xanderghul, it might be better to stay together, there can always be accidents and in theses cases, having someone with you can be a life saver. Is there any way we could appease the animals, make it so they don't want to chase us?"
"I doubt there is any way to appease them," Isilme replies, "Anything we could offer would just be made sweeter by them also eating us"
"Let us prepare then and face them head on, perhaps we can bait them into attacking someone first, to give us a chance to ambush them?"
As the others mull over the idea, she proceeds to enchant Valeria and Hinagiku with heroism. "Ary, you should enchant yourself as well," she adds once she has finished casting.
Xanderghul shrugs and casts a spell on Lann. The transmutation magic transforms the underfolk warrior's skin into a hard, clay-like substance. Then he turns towards the cave. Then, he casts a spell on himself, infusing himself with false life.
"Well, I suppose here we go," he says. Then he walks forward, tromping his footsteps as hard as he can. Occasionally, he calls out, "Hey bulettes, come and get me!"
Xanderghul doesn't notice the bulette coming. He doesn't have time to flinch... as soon as he separates himself from the others, the apex predator below him seizes the opportunity to split him off from the rest of the pack. The landshark bursts out from the ground below, seizing the wizard in its enormous, toothy maw, the wizard's own magic dulling the pain that would likely cause a mere human to go unconscious. A fin-like dorsal plate ominously rises from between the monster's shoulders. The enormous creature is covered in dirt-encrusted armor-like plates. Each strike against it would need to be carefully aimed...
Round 1!
The Heroes are up!
Before Isilme can object to his storming out ahead as bait, Xanderghul is in the process of being mauled by a bulette. With a second one likely to join the fray at any moment, she begins working to limit the ability of the first one to do any further harm. Spreading her palm, she blows across it, releasing the familiar shower of sparks that rain down as small golden particles atop the fearsome creature.
Valaria, Ehren, Lann, Hinagiku and Xanderghul are up!
Xanderghul's form flickers and shifts as he calls on the powers of his illusory boots. He tumbles out of the way of the bulette's punishing blows, and them jumps to his feet. Regardless of the pain of the gigantic predator's claws, he retains a sunny eagerness. He points one finger at the bulette while the other hand performs several hand-gestures. He speaks his spell's verbal components - cold and brutal-sounding words. Then, a purple-and-black ray of pure death springs from his finger and flies towards the bulette.
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Val whistles under her breath as the massive creature tears through the stone beneath their feet and snaps at Xander. "That's even bigger than I was expecting," she mutters under her breath as she shifts past Isilme to line up a better shot. "A beast from the depths with hide of stone, yet belly soft and offering a welcome home for our blades. Fight on!"
Ehren grimaces when the massive beast surfaces and mauls Xanderghul, having hoped that they could lure out the bulettes more cautiously. But with the rampaging landshark now on the attack, there was little they could do but wear it down as much as possible before its partner joins in. The druid raises a finger and launches a globule of acid flying towards the beast; its armored plates would do very little to defend it against the corrosive magic.
Lann blanches at the sight of the fearsome landshark, though it is thankfully hard to tell, thanks to his skin's new clay-like thickness. He has engaged some rather fearsome demons in melee before, but this thing looked like it could swallow some of them whole. While tackling it head-on was a bit too foolhardy, he has no qualms with joining Ary at the front line.
The underfolk takes on a defensive stance, ready to avoid an incoming attack at a moment's notice.
"Mr. Xanderghul..." Hinagiku let`s softly out. And, without hesitation, the monk steps around Ary to come in between the commander and the landshark, assuming a defensive stance, she waits for the creature to attack or move.
"Mr. Xanderghul, careful, the other must be close too."
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As they travel, Ary does her best to scrape up food when and where she can. She'd been a hoarder since her youth (though happy to share with any who needed), with Drezen having been an exceptional situation in which she had rapidly learned the value of such things. She wouldn't put to waste an opportunity to feed her allies when and if she had the chance.
She spent the rest of her free time preparing the route as best she could, scouring the map to do her best to prevent any unforeseen consequences. She used her Keep Watch on Anevia, Valaria, and herself, knowing that the three of them needed the least rest and preparation... and that an interrupted sleep would be far less disastrous for them than the others. Plus, Daisy and Xanderghul barely need to sleep at all.
* * *
When they approach the giant... hybrid monstrosities combined with apex predators, Ary is at a loss for exactly what they are... she listens along as the others share, but winds up only really understanding that the things were going to isola-.
And then came the crashing noise as one erupted out of hiding to attack Xanderghul. He... probably should have used his trick to make multiple of himself, in retrospect.
Ary quickly darts forward to beside the beast, overextending herself quickly... but knowing that Xanderghul was far more overextended... and far less protected. She slams her sword out in a vicious swath, wasting no time. The blade glows brilliantly - and should the strike land, glowing motes flow out to Xanderghul to ease the least of his wounds.
Anevia is equally quick to react, launching out a singular arrow from her quiver. She briefly contemplates using the bane arrows... but better to save them for beasties they didn't completely outnumber... or that the people who knew what they were fighting seemed more terrifyingly afraid of.
Ehren's blob of acid melts a small hole through a plate in its armor - not enough to even make the creature cry out, but perhaps something another could capitalize on? Now coated in glitter, the monster roars and wheels on Ary as she tries to run past it. It clamps its enormous jaws around her, but she raises Faith, digging its cold iron spikes into the roof of its mouth and driving it away, blood frothing at the mouth. It turns and stares at her with its beady little eyes. Anevia's shot simply bounces off of the monster's armor, and Ary finds that even Radiance is not sharp enough to penetrate the creature's hide. Then, from behind, Xanderghul's magic hits. A sickly purple and black ray blasts into the creature, sapping it of its very life essence. That gets the creature's attention, and it carelessly turns away from the heroes assaulting it. Moving through the soft ground as its surface counterpart swims through water, it dives into the ground, its fin creating a wave across the soil. It then leaps up at Xanderghul from within the ground.
"Xanderghul!" cries out Lann - but it is too late. The land shark digs its claws and teeth through the wizard's armor, and into the facsimile of flesh beneath. Bright green blood seeps out, staining his robes, and the wizard crumples to the ground, unconscious.
Round 2!
Valaria, Ehren, Isilme, Lann, Anevia, and Ary are up!
"Xanderghul, no!" Isilme calls out as he backs further away from the group and unleashes a black bolt upon the monster. Moments later the he was unconscious on the ground and separated from the group.
"Keep it occupied!" she calls out, worried that it might simply take his corpse as dinner and disappear beneath the ground. Rushing forward to Hinagiku's side, she reaches out and lays a hand on the Kitsune, her other hand freeing her shortbow from her back. "Hang on, Hinagiku, I will get you over to near Xanderghul to protect him." Drawing upon some of the new magic she had learned while in Elysium, she 'pushes' on Hinagiku, nudging her between spaces similar to how Xanderghul was able to teleport. Moments later she appears significantly closer to his unconscious body. With the monk sent to his aid, she readies her bow, channeling arcane energy into it in preparation for battle.
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"If there is anything else you can do to wear the beast down, now would be a good time," Ehren calls out to no one in particular, but definitely not to Xanderghul, who is presently in a very bad spot. There is a firmness to his voice, a forced calm that surfaces only when his companions' lives are in mortal danger. Never has losing his cool served him in similar situations in the past.
The archdruid reaches out with his hand and closes his fingers into a fist, grasping at the bulette from afar. The spell he prepared could render it utterly harmless, but its chances of working against such a huge creature were slim; such beasts typically possessed incredible fortitude. But if it did work, it would be over.
Reaching out with his magic, Ehren attempts to manipulate the landshark's form, transforming it into something far smaller, and far less threatening. From there, changing its mind would be a far more simple matter.
Valaria, Lann, Ary and Anevia are up!
Ary arcs Radiance upwards into what she believes might be soft underbelly as the bulette leaps over her to get at Xanderghul. She winces, having not fully realized it was capable of simply passing over her to reach its target. Even foes with wings hadn't ever shown themselves capable of that level of movement... it was no wonder it was an apex predator down here. Then she hears the crunch before she's even fully turned, the first hit slamming Xanderghul into the ground. "Together!" she calls out to the others as she's already moving across the field, Hinagiku appearing between her and the beast as she moves into melee with it, just as the creature would have been able to strike her. She pauses at Xanderghul's side only long enough to glance at his limp form before bringing Radiance crashing around again.
"Nammit, Xander..." Anevia mutters as she slips forward, following her Commander's orders, "We were just starting to be friends, and now you've gotta go and pull a me." she starts to line up a shot but briefly stumbles, the silver threads in her hands nearly shooting off wildly. She manages to keep her grip and kneels slightly, attempting to make it look more like a flourish as she releases her nocked threads of pure silver.
Ary finds the belly of the landshark to be far less protected than its back and flank - landing a deep wound as it passes... but not enough to fell it before the creature digs into her soldier across the cave.
Valaria and Lann are up!
The bulette's body is hearty and strong - not even the Archdruid's magic can find hold on it. Ary moves in, despite a sudden surge of self-doubt at seeing her fallen ally her sword arm swings true, finding purchase between its armored plates. Anevia likewise takes more time and care with her second shot, firing off a shot of pure silver, which blasts an entire plate off of its side. It roars out in pain, suddenly vulnerable.
Another roar answers its call - another bulette rips out from the floor beneath Valaria and Isilme's feet. They both feel the tremors that herald its arrival, but Valaria is still overpowered by the massive creature as it bears upon her. It sinks its teeth deep into her arm, threatening to rip the whole thing off. Valaria lashes out with her starknife, buying time to pull herself out and to safety.
Hinagiku is up!
Teleported before she can even react to Xanderghul’s fall, Hinagiku stumbles forward under the belly of the beast. There, struggling to avoid being trampled, she glances at Xanderghul. The wizard was in danger, but with Ary in the way, she couldn’t help to reach him and pull him out of harm. All she could do was pummel the creature to unconsciousness. Rolling out from under the it, Hinagiku uses her momentum to stand back up in a twirl while extending a to strike the creatures eyes. Pressing on with the advantage of surprise, she pummels the creature’s eye while its make surges from the ground. One more kick from above her head, one elbow strike as she spins once more, and finally one punch straight into the eye. In her calm centered mind she watches each of her blows while her thoughts flow neatly: strike the beast, stabilize Xanderghul, provide backup to Valaria.
Val hisses in pain as the monster catches her with it's massive jaws and lashes out, trying to beat the thing off before it tears a bigger chunk out of her.
Hinagiku's quick succession of brutal, but accurate strikes target the soft fleshy parts of its face and around its jaw, leaving the landshark staggering in pain. It snaps once at Hinagiku, but Anevia fires off a rapid shot at its muzzle. The shot itself doesn't have enough force to really deter the bulette, but Ary reacts equally fast, interposing herself with her shield between Hinagiku and the monster's snapping jaws. Bleeding copiously from multiple wounds, the bulette topples to the ground with a thud.
Round 3!
Valaria, Ehren, Isilme, Lann, Anevia, and Ary are up!
As one of the beasts falls, Val pushes forward with renewed vigor, leaving bloody slashes in the massive beast's flesh as her daggers lash out.
The bulette is dying and will bleed out if not attended to.
Valaria's blades find purchase - how could they not? The monster threatening to eat her was massive. But when she falls back she finds she only left deep gores in its armor plating - no wounds were scored.
Ehren, Isilme, Lann, Anevia and Ary are up!
Ehren is not given very long to fret over his spell's failure - he need not have bothered, for Hinagiku quickly lays the beast low. He is not given long to admire his girlfriend's martial prowess either, for in a huge upheaval of earth, something else erupts from the ground behind him.
Ah, there she is, the druid observes with a grimace, looking over his shoulder at the bulette's mate. Unfortunately, just as Valaria had feared, the pair of landsharks managed to get the drop on them. Next time, they would need to use better bait.
While the bulette is distracted with Valaria's arm, Ehren takes a careful step forward and then turns around, before pointing a finger at it. His magic did not work so well on the lumbering beast's body, so instead he targets its mind. The simple-minded creature might not be able to comprehend concepts like doubt, but it could still succumb to them.
Lann spins around and finds himself face-to-face (or rather, face-to-flank) with the other landshark, even bigger than the first. A brief expression of surprise passes over his face, but his eyes never lose their focus. Almost reflexively, his arm lashes out, bringing his blade crashing against the bulette's armored plates as hard as he can manage with a single arm.
The bulette, enraged by the sudden death of its mate, barely notices the magic clawing at its simplistic mind.
Isilme, Anevia, and Ary are up!
The appearance of a second bulette nearly on top of her draws a sigh from Isilme. She looks down at her bow, realizing that it was unlikely to be useful at this point.
Backing cautiously away from the gargantuan land shark, she cautiously begins to call upon the magic granted her by the Song of Spheres. Unfortunately with her attention focused on the creature before her, she stumbles on the broken ground as she steps back, causing her to lose control of the spell.