The beetle's hide was soft, at least when compared to the sorts of Abyssal-mutated vermin that Ary had grown accustomed to killing, so with two quick stabs she brings the mount down and its rider tumbling to the ground. There, he was an easy target for the backhanded swipe, followed by Faith into his exposed back, its spikes finding purchase past his chain underneath his clothes.
Meanwhile, above, Ehren strikes the duergar before him three times, slaying him before he has a chance to react. Valaria soars over the wall of flames and flings her starknife at a duergar caught within the inferno. It arcs across his bare arm as he scrambles to get away from the blaze.
Anevia, Lann, and Xanderghul are up!
Anevia does her best to keep her feet away from anything even remotely that looks like a crack or an edge, darting across the ancient neglected bridge. She slows only just enough to both watch her footing and avoid any pesky clickable rocks that would give away her position... before reaching the edge and leaping off of the wall, steering clear of the heat pouring off of the giant wall that had miraculously appeared out of nowhere at the same time Xanderghul had gone from quasireal to completely real.
Lann and Xanderghul are up!
Standing over the fallen duergar, Lann flips his blade over in his hand and delivers a quick series of downward stabs.
Xanderghul flies over the wall he created, taking stock of the battlefield. Perhaps he had been too hasty in placing it, or had underestimated the enemy's aggression. Nevertheless, it slowed things down the way that he had intended it to. Denying his enemy access to the fort would only be a good thing in the long run.
Still, they had more foes to defeat before the way was done. He waves his hand at the largest visible group of them, glitter appearing in between his fingers. He gives off a palpable aura of holiness as a burst of pure light energy erupts between the dwarf, the remaining duergar, and the other vermin.
Lann hesitates for the briefest of moments before summarily executing the duergar before him - he doesn't even bother to get out of the way of the beetle's acidic spit, that's how focused he is on this moral conundrum. However, there was a time and a place for mercy, and here, fighting against those who would enslave dearest friends, was not such a time. He closes his eyes as his blade pierces the back of the enemy's neck, not wanting to relish in the bloodshed.
At the same time, away from his sight across the wall of fire, Xanderghul lets off another spell amongst the duergar, managing to blind one of them. Afterwards, the dwarf turns on his heel and disappears into the darkness.
Meanwhile, the Gunduara tribesman approach the violet curtain of flame with fear and astonishment. They start murmuring in low tones to one another. "Vel'bol zhah nindol l'puul faer?"
"Lore saph sansiss ilythiiri faer ulu uns'aa."
"Udos zhal'la shar'tleg rath- nindol ssussun orn kyone duergar harl l'Verve Revis ulu udossta k'lar. Udos orn naut inbal mzilt draeval ulu inbau tarthe," says Khalizi. The other tribesmen begin to shake their heads, vigorously.
"Siyo, dos ph'ditronw, tangis'ka udos alu bauth ol lu'oh orn udos inbau l'rothen areion?" asks another.
"What is this foul magic?"
"Looks like cruel drowish magic to me."
"We should turn back, immediately - this light will alert duergar miles down the Long Walk to our location. We will not have much time to get away."
"Yes, you are right, even if we go around it how will we get the slaves through?"
Hinagiku is up!
Exhaling heavily, Lann opens his eyes and looks down at the dead duergar. There was a certain wrongness to killing a person that he just could not ignore. At least with demons, he could rest assured he was fighting manifestations of pure evil. With mortals, there would always be doubt, no matter how wicked or cruel they might be.
After a brief moment of reflection, the sizzling acid on his skin finally registers, eliciting a wince. Snapping back to reality, the crusader looks to the wall of fire and frowns when he hears the murmurs among the Gunduara tribesmen.
"This isn't good. The Gunduara are considering retreating before more duergar are drawn here by the fire," Lann translates through message. "They're not sure how we can get the slaves through the flames, even if we can reach them. Should I say something?"
Xanderghul eyes the curtain of violet flames that he had evoked, and by proxy the ignorant, superstitious underfolk who fearfully waited on the other side of it. He tsked quietly. He had certainly not planned for the uneducated allies they had. That mistake fell upon his shoulders. He should have done better. He could have done better. He was smart enough to consider all of the factors, he had simply gotten lazy.
"Simply assure them that the flames are not real! They would be well advised to merely charge through the flames. They are there to prevent an escape towards this direction," Xanderghul mutters in response.
"If they hesitate, please assure them that I will prove the flames' unreality to them if they will wait a moment."
"What? No." Ary whispers back. "Even if they do know it's fake, your spells have a habit of still being real enough to kill. And each of them individually likely isn't strong enough... I'm not strong enough." Ary shares. "If they push forward, they'll die. The best we can ask is that they give us time and wait for us... or go around. How long is this going to last?"
Isilme is slightly surprised when Xanderghul suggests marching the underfolk straight through the wall. Despite knowing the wall was an illusion, she had had no luck seeing through it, and as such the flames would likely be quite effective against her. It was highly unlikely any of the underfolk would make it through.
"Xander, I do not think a single one of us sees your flames as illusory," she adds. "Ary is right, it would be catastrophic to send them through."
"Reassure them that it will be gone shortly, and that its flames are not nearly as visible to those far away as they seem," she says, hoping the illusory nature of the fire would at least work in their favor that way.
Hinagiku hesitates momentarily as she hears the conversation of the others in her ears. She had seen the wall of fire for what it truly was, but Xanderghul was a powerful wizard, and she was not surprised that the Gunduara would not have the strength of mind to see past it. Yet she cared for their well-being, and so she pauses, rather than leaping off of the upper platform just yet.
Now visible to all of the heroes but Ary, Lann, and Ehren, the duergar and sole remaining visible beetle scurry away from the oppressive heat of the wall of fire as fast as they can. Which turns out to not be very fast, as they are all blinded. The darkness beyond the flickering light of the wall of flame is impenetrable... yet from the blackness, a single crossbow bolt fires harmlessly past Valaria and Xanderghul.
Round 4!
Isilme, Ary, Ehren and Valaria are up!
No longer interested in maintaining the pretense of being a dwarf, Isilme reverts her form to that of a dhampir. Her vision would be superior now with the light of the wall of fire, and she wouldn't be slowed down by stumpy legs.
Taking off running, she passes by Hinagiku and jumps before the ledge, letting her speed carry her over the broken ledge and down alongside Anevia and the others.
Ary intones a prayer to Iomedae, invoking a resistance to fire, before driving into the false flames, straight forward - she had no way of knowing where her foes were until she was on the other side. Thank the inheritor, none were waiting just across the flames, which allowed her to reposition herself to cut the sole remaining duergar's escape.
Val shifts her position and sends her dagger hurling after the duergar Xanderghul just blinded. "I'm not going to be able to help with this one. And we should probably get the slaves moving before our special surprise shows up or they might get caught in the crossfire."
"Lann, I am going to go ahead. Just try to convince the underfolk to stay put," Ehren asks of his friend, before sinking into the floor as though it were a pool of water. A bit of guesswork is needed to determine what direction he needs to move in, but just seconds later he emerges from the cavern wall on the opposite side of the wall of fire.
Ary, unable to see through Xanderghul's magic, strides through after enchanting herself with a blessing. But the archmage's magic is powerful, and she still comes through a bit singed even so. When she comes through, she sees Ehren already on the other side to her right. Valaria and Xanderghul fly over ahead - Valaria keeping up the assault on the fleeing, blind duergar. And Isilme and Anevia to the left. Valaria's whirling starknife strikes the fleeing duergar in the back, causing him to pause and cough up blood. But it is not enough to stop him as he continues to hobble blindly down the road to the side of the armored dwarf. The dwarf stares up at Valaria, eerie and still in the cold black and white darkness of the tunnel beyond. Only his dark beard truly sets him apart from the duergar in lieu of light.
Anevia, Lann, and Xanderghul are up!
Frustrated by the situation, by his own decisionmaking, and by the weakness and superstition of the group's erstwhile companions, Xanderghul retrieves a scroll from his backpack. It was much more effective to cast the temporary stored magic that he had at his disposal than it was to call upon his mythic power, so he pulls the abjuration magic out of the paper and assaults his own wall of fire with it. The wall shrinks, loses heat, and eventually gutters out, leaving only vaguely warm stones in its place.
Lann frowns as everyone gives him suggestions on what to tell the Gunduara, a few of them conflicting with one another. Deciding to err on the side of caution, he does his best to consolidate the different messages, "Qualla, zexen'uma skrel! L'chath zhah jaklu'zin biu zigheninkyorl - ol zhal'la kuonta ben'ru!"
To illustrate the point, the crusader starts to head in that direction, all-too-aware that the wall of fire was certainly real enough for him. He stops just short of where he could feel its radiating heat, demonstrating leadership by way of not being burnt to a crisp.
Anevia, meanwhile, ignores the vanishing wall of fire as she darts down the stairs. Part of her had assumed that it had been another dwarven trick, that they maybe had an arcanist with them... not that it had been Xanderghul's spell.
Ever onwards, she presses, past her allies - safe and invisible. At least, hopefully. "There's another rider ahead of me. Should I keep my cover, or shoot his pet out from under him when I get close enough?" she whispers, asking for suggestions from the others.
The Gunduara surround Lann, viewing him as a friendly voice, and begin raising their voices all at once so that it is very difficult to make out what individuals are saying. But they are silenced at once as the flames suddenly vanish. The oddly shaped tribesmen of the Gunduara stare, mouths agape, clearly unaccustomed to such immense displays of magic. Anevia creeps away past them, turning invisible as she skulks forwards into the tunnel.
There are the beginnings of some half-hearted protests amongst them - they are utterly incredulous that something that just roasted a beetle alive in front of them could also be an illusion - they point out the screams of the duergar and that even that Lann's own allies were taking care to go around it.
In the distance, you see a large squad of duergar footsoldiers, all well-armored and armed. They move forwards, stopping when they come to see the dwarf. They start muttering to each other and gesturing, but they are too far away for you to really make out their words. After a few more moments of discussion, the dwarf nods, draws a greataxe, and begins striding forwards down the tunnel. The other footsoldiers draw and load crossbows.
Past the footsoldiers you see a long procession of chained slaves. They are placed four in a row, with shackles around their necks and hands. Long iron bars across their shoulders force them to bend their necks down. The races present vary - mostly other Underfolk but Xanderghul can point out several troglodytes and even a derro amongst them as well.
Hinagiku could see the duergars falling back, and she knew it was a bad thing. Luckily, their beetles weren't so quick, and there was a chance she could stop the scouts from reconvening with the larger troop.
"Some are escaping, I will try to stop them."
Having said that, Hinagiku drops down from the upper wall and rolls onto the ground before using the momentum to roll back up, almost flying. With incredible grace, Hinagiku races by the wall of fire and across the battleground to avoid being slowed down by the rubble. The unreal fire, strike from the last standing duergar, they did not matter, she had to stop the scouts.
Hinagiku passes by as the duergar takes his warhammer and swings it hard at Ary, only for it to ring out loudly as it crashes dead center into Faith again and again. To her right, one of the mounted duergar surges past the dwarf and at Ehren. His hammer crashes into Ehren's rocky body, only managing to dislodge some gravel and stone from his dense form.
Round 4!
Isilme, Ary, Ehren, and Valaria are up!
Between her own blessing, longstrider and the spell she'd enchanted the party with, Isilme has no issues circling around the fighting and working her way down the tunnel. If there were more troops coming, the best thing to do now would be to debilitate them and their ability to join the fight.
Once she has the group in sight, along with the duergar Hinagiku had planned on chasing, Isilme quickly unleashes confusion upon the group. This time, however, she draws upon her divine spark and traces the rune 'पागलपन' before her, the glowing letters flashing briefly before disappearing with the released spell.
Ary slams her shield into the nearest Duergar, forcing him back towards the tower, before turning on her heels - showing the lone duergar nothing but contempt. "Ehren, are you able to cast any of your trap spells today? We're going to need something to cover our exit after this." the half-drow asks as she darts forward, still uplifted by Isilme's magic, and charging headlong towards the main force of the enemy army. "Lann, point out your friend to Anevia, maybe she'll be able to get him unlocked before any major threats arrive."
Val keeps charging forward, partially pressing the attack and partially trying to keep up with Ary as she hurls herself toward the main body of the duergar forces. "So much for getting out without dealing with them..." The tiefling sighs as she sends her dagger flying into the line of troops, hoping to catch some of the duergar out.
"I have a few that can slow them down," Ehren answers, shaking off the duergar's attack. Still affected by Isilme's blessing, he rapidly throws two spiked punches at the beetle in quick succession. The duergar would not get very far without his trusted mount to carry him, especially now that everyone is pressing into the cave. "We should try to reach the prisoners before Old Ironfin arrives."
Ary simply smashes one duergar aside as she heads into the fray, arriving just after Isilme's magic dissipates on the premises. The blinded duergar continues to stumble down the tumble, passing by her on his way to his comrades. Behind her, Ehren fells another one of the duergar's beetles, sending its rider sprawling to the ground. He would be fine, of course, so she faces forwards, coming to see a long line of slaves that extend out in the darkness. But first, a troop of a few dozen duergar infantry-man, escorting the front end of the line of slaves. The first of their number falls - a starknife square in the center of its face, which flickers and vanishes, reappearing in Valaria's outstretched hand.
Anevia, Lann, and Xanderghul are up!
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As he continues to fly forward, Xanderghul points at the greataxe-wielding dwarf and calls, "Hinagiku, knock that man out! It's important that he live."
"I'm going to help Ary deal with the soldiers up here." True to his word, he pulls shadowstuff from the Plane of Shadows for another spell. This time, he weaves a quasireal swarm of shrieking, scratching, clawing, pilfering monkeys. It would be much easier for Ary to defeat the crowd of duergar soldiers if they were confused, disarmed, blind, and distracted. As they tear into existence, the monkeys swipe at the faces of the duergar, try to wrench their weapons out of their hands, scream in their ears, and otherwise make a nuisance of themselves. Of course, none of them are fully real... Xanderghul smiles at the absurdity of an armored and armed troop of slavers, assaulted by a swarm of quasireal monkeys. If these people had an idea of what this day might bring in the morning, it was certainly not what was happening.
Ary draws Faith around in a backhand as the Duergar begins to move past her -almost an afterthought- as her main focus is on recovering the slaves as quickly as possible. "Get the slaves moving forward. They can't move fast, but it should be enough to keep them safer!" Ary calls back.
Anevia slips forward, moving to gather whatever intel she can... and pauses halfway down the line of slaves. "We have another troop back here. Looking for any sort of cover..." she whispers into the spell from beside the train of slaves, before pressing forward to look for anything she could use to rain fire upon them with limited reprisal. Lots of innocent people over here...
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"Javyn is a short man, no taller than a dwarf," Lann whispers to Anevia hastily, amid his fellow underfolk's protests. "His face looks like that of a rodent's. Sort of like the dire rats back home, but don't tell him I said that. Oh, and his body has scales, a little like mine."
Before he can make another futile attempt to placate the underfolk, the magical flames are abruptly extinguished. Wasting no time, he takes advantage of the lull and points his sword at the nearby duergar. "Harl xuil l'ryldvir!"
Breaking out of the crowd of Gunduara tribesmen, Lann assails the lone duergar with a powerful swing... that fails him entirely.
Ary's shield goes flying straight into the fleeing duergar's face, its spikes puncturing his eyes. He screams, then falls to the ground with a moan, and quickly passes out from the pain.
Anevia creeps down the Long Walk further away from the fort. Slaves were just a part of everyday life in Nidal - just another awful aspect of living in a city controlled by tyrannical Kuthites. But that didn't mean she ever supported the practice. She feels a pang of guilt at the thought - of all those she saw suffering in her youth, and what little she did was able to do to stop it. Her mother, a Desnan, did what she could, but she also espoused the wisdom of laying low. Maybe someday she could go back and right some wrongs.
But she had to save these slaves first. She finds that the at end of the train of slaves is another group of infantry. They don't seem to notice her, and once she hears Lann's description of his friend, she's able to quickly spot him out amongst the other slaves. Before she can mention it, she is momentarily distracted as the duergar in the back double in size and draw crossbows that are now the size of trebuchets.
Meanwhile, It doesn't matter that Lann misses with his first swing - his formal training with blade and shield with the Crusades is obvious to the Gunduara and they naturally wish to follow him into battle. They let out a warcry - a cacophony of sounds as varied as they are - and surround the straggler duergar with spears and blades. The duergar's armor is superior to their primitive weapons, but their numbers quickly overwhelm him.
Further down the tunnel than Lann can even see, Ary stands off against the horde of duergar before her. They erupt into chaos as not only are they assaulted by a swarm of monkeys, but several of their number start to either turn on each other by bludgeoning them with their crossbows, while others simply raise their arms and yell at each other. The slaves don't understand a word Ary is saying - but they can hear Lann's battlecry echo down the tunnel. "Harl xuil l'ryldvir!" they cry out, and they start to try and bash down the duergar with their chains, kicking at them with their bare feet and even biting at their faces.
The dwarf ignores the chaos and noise coming from the tunnel behind of him. He charges forwards recklessly, Isilme barely dodging back in time to avoid being cleaved in two by his greataxe - though a long, thin bleeding wound is left behind where it came very close.
Hinagiku is up!
Hinagiku frowns, her eyes darting around the chaos before her. She was in the middle of trying to find the slaves, before it was too late, but she stops and hesitates when Xanderghul calls out to her about the dwarf. What dwarf? They all looked the same in the darkness, how could you tell...? But, oh. Her eyes linger on the man with the greataxe attempting to cleave Isilme in two. She alone in the group identifies the man's weapon and symbols as that of Angradd, from a book about dwarven myths that Joran had shown her. The more Hinagiku was willing to open up about her own culture and religion, the more Joran was willing to talk about the culture he was born into, including the religious beliefs of the dwarves.
Hinagiku had thought the old tales painted Angradd as unwise and rash. 'Not a god o'war, but a god o'warmongerin,' Joran had agreed. 'A just god o'war seeks tae avoid bloodshed at ev'ry opportunity. Torag teaches tha glorious victory may not always be worth th'cost. A measured step is the dwarf way o'life. Yet, Angradd is Torag's little brother, and a true dwarf - he puts his family first in all things. He simply disagrees with his elders and betters sometimes in how tae do so.'
She frowns. Angradd may be rash, but he was still good. Maybe there was more to this dwarf than met the eye. But surrounded by so many who all needed her help - Lann and the Underfolk behind, Isilme and the dwarf in front, and somewhere, beyond in the darkness, the slaves she had traveled miles beneath the surface to free and protect - she hesitates yet again, unsure of what the best course of action to do is.
Meanwhile, to Hinagiku's right, the duergar struggles to his feet, disentangling himself from the saddle of his fallen mount. He bares his teeth and swings his hammer at Ehren, but isn't strong enough to affect him past the thick layer of rock and gravel which surround his now-transformed (but still delicate) organs that lay beneath. Behind them both, Lann and the Gunduara surround another duergar slaver. He gives up on running, aiming his hammer at the reptilian side of Lann's face. The crusader sees it coming, though, and with a simple step back the heavy weapon goes whirring past his face, the sheer force rustling his hair.
Round 5!
Isilme, Ary, Ehren, Valaria, Anevia, Lann, and Xanderghul are up!
Though unsurprised that the dwarf she'd passed by was attacking her, Isilme was still caught off-guard by the reckless ferocity of his attack. Quickly stepping back away from the dwarf, Isilme begins to chant. Though similar to the effect of her own or Valaria's performances, this chant instead drew upon the divine power granted to her by the Song of Spheres. As she completes the incantation, the balance of luck in the area shifts subtly in her allies favor.
Isilme then turns her attention back to the dwarf, this time preparing to make use of her magic to avoid his next swing.
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Ignoring the duergar's attempt to retaliate, Ehren relentlessly wails on him with heavy, deliberate punches that only seem to increase in intensity. The druid feels a grim sense of satisfaction in being able to deliver such force with his own two hands, something that would have been impossible just a few years ago. Even so, he takes no pleasure in the brutality of the act; giving in to bloodlust was the surest way to lose his path... and to disappoint Hinagiku.
Quickly recovering from his close call, Lann pulls out of the reach of his foe's hammer before closing in again, ever light on his feet. He takes a moment to mind the weight of his sword before cutting into the hopelessly outnumbered duergar, hoping to grant him a quick death. Sadly, that is all the mercy he could hope to dispense given their situation.
Val sticks close to Ary in the air, continuing to send her knife flying into the crowd of duergar warriors with deadly precision as her war chant continues to echo in the tight caverns.
The monkey swarm continues to savage the duergar troop with tooth and claw while Xanderghul glides overhead. Looking to and fro, he sees the ranges involved in this battle are fairly significant. He calls out to the slaves below him. "Take heart!" he cries. "Rescuers are here for you! Spread the word, and take this blessing to strengthen you!" Then, he calls upon his nascent divine nature. A small measure of his power is allowed outside of him, radiates from him like an aura, imbuing those around him with bravery.
"Uh, guys. They're getting big. Really, really big." Anevia whispers even as she withdraws from the huge group.
"I'm going in." Ary says, "Priority is getting the slaves out. If someone has any wall spells to put between us and the backline, now's the time. Ditto for trap spells if we can get some space between us. Otherwise, we're gonna have to wipe them out, quickly, and retreat just as fast." Ary calls to the others.
She rushes past both lines of slaves to interpose herself near to their foes but not amidst them. All the while she's calling to the slaves to press forward, motioning for them to rush ahead.
Anevia stops in her retreat towards her allies with a sigh. "Oh, boss..." she mutters as she turns on her heels and opens fire into the duergar's rear guard. "Gonna need you to keep everybody safe, just like you planned." she says as she appears in a flash of silver, duergar-piercing light.
Golden motes flutter out from Ary, filling the ranks of the slaves, as well as drifting amongst the duergar troop...
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Isilme invokes Desna for luck, and, not to be beat, Xanderghul invokes Xanderghul for morale, inspiring the slaves into action. Most of the slaves here are Underfolk and other monstrous Darklands creatures - they do not understand Ary's gestures to fall back. Instead, they rise up against the duergar around them, even the rear guard that towers over them as giants. The varied group of
In the middle, amongst them, Javyn calls out timidly - "Xanderghul, is that you? Xanderghul?" He speaks with same quaint and old-fashioned, yet charming, accent as Lann.
"Ey there? Did I hear that nightborn speak Common?" calls out a dwarf amongst Javyn's group. There are several dwarves in that cluster of slaves, as a matter of act. "Lassie, are ye from the surface?" He twists around against his bonds to see, gazing up with wide eyes as Anevia abruptly appears among them, firing a gleaming longsword in one of the duergar's faces. The giant topples to the ground with a thud.
Further back in the tunnel, the confused duergar erupt into a mad, startled melee with the slaves, shadow monkeys, and even each other. Valaria fires her starknife into the crowd once more, felling a second duergar with ease.
And even further back than that, Ehren and Lann each fell the duergar before them. The Gunduara cheer at the victory and rush forwards down the tunnel recklessly. The dwarf reacts instantaneously, his massive greataxe decapitating one of their member as they pass. He then turns and meets Isilme's gaze, lunging forwards with another heavy swing... but the priestess of Desna is not short on luck, and with preternatural speed, she gracefully bounds backwards from a strike that could easily take her head.
Then, just a few feet away from Isilme, there is a loud whistling sound as a volley of crossbow bolts fire across the tunnel, right at Xanderghul and Valaria! The giant duergar, just barely at the reaches of Xanderghul's vision, ready themselves to reload their crossbows when the harsh, steel scraping of iron against stone rings down the tunnel. Old Ironfin emerges at the duergar's rear-guard in a flurry of gravel, steel, and death. The giant duergar cry out in surprise as one of their number is tackled and fully disembowled by the vengeful landshark. Grila herself emerges soon afterwards from the tunnel Old Ironfin left behind, a wide smirk across her bat-like face.
Round 6!
The Heroes Are Up!
Isilme takes another step back and casts hideous laughter on her assailant, a string of bawdy dwarven jokes filling his head without a single sound being uttered.
"Yes." Ary says from several places within the enemy ranks at once as they all begin to fire their crossbows amidst her motes. "From the Mendevian Crusades." she says as she reappears amidst the slaves once more. Anevia's cheek jerk upwards towards the leather and deep violet goggles that adorn her face, as the dwarf stares incredulous. An attempt at a wink that the dwarf can't possibly see.
As the slaves surge forwards, Ary steps into the melee as well... though not into the what of the battle, instead withering the ranks at the edges. Anevia for her part also slips sideways and dips low, firing an arrow from a kneel that snakes black shadows along the shaft before hammering into a duergar at the edge of the fray.
"Oh, Hi Grila!" she calls, chipper as ever, as she notices the angry wall of metal and flesh erupt from the nearby tunnel wall, standing up straighter, before snapping her attentions back to the dwarven infantry.
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"If we get the slaves clear, we can close the doors to the fort behind us to buy us some time!" cries Xanderghul. "All we have to do first is crush some puny dwarves and clear the way."
To punctuate his statement, Xanderghul draws energy from the Plane of Shadows. Holding his hands out like he is offering a poisoned chalice and a poisoned apple, Xanderghul creates two crackling balls of electricity in his hands using the illusory energy from the Shadow Plane. He grins in the crackling light cast by the lightning and quickly sends the balls into the midst of the enlarged duergar infantry. They zip instantaneously to their destination, where lightning is already arcing from metal breastplate to metal helmet.
Meanwhile, the monkeys continue to savage their confused opponents...
Xanderghul swoops to avoid the hail of crossbow bolts, but one of them still catches him and delivers a long, thin graze along one ankle.
Val winces as she catches a bolt to her side as the duergar open fire and she steadies herself in mid-air. "Perfect time for the cavalry," she mutters as she darts forward and sends another knife toss into the thinning crowd of duergar warriors.
Ehren frowns, unable to see the scene of absolute chaos unfolding further down the tunnel, beyond the reach of his darkvision. Reaching the battle would be trivial, but there is another matter they needed to resolve first. He looks to Isilme's dwarven assailant; if Ary supposed correctly, then this had to be Dornarnus. The druid carefully studies the man's body language and facial expressions (or lack thereof), attempting to determine whether he is under the influence of enchantment magic. It was one of the few things he could think of that could explain how a paladin could be forced to fight alongside the sworn enemies of his people.
Unfortunately, Ehren is unable to discern whether he is acting of his own free will. Regardless, it is not as though he could allow him to continue swinging his axe at everyone. Sauntering over to the dwarf, he decides to do his best to avoid causing him any lasting harm.
"If you really are Dornarnus, then please believe me when I say that this is for your own good," he says to the dwarf apologetically, as he throws his clumsiest punch yet, unable to measure the force of his blows precisely.
Assuming that Ehren, Isilme, and Hinagiku have things handled at the outpost, Lann runs down the cave, rejoining the Gunduara tribesmen. Noticing the nearby group of slaves, he looks among them for any signs of Javyn.
Making up her mind, Hinagiku chooses to trust Xanderghul. She rushes forwards and attempts to throw the dwarf down off of his feet... but the stocky dwarf has a low center of balance, and is hard to throw off once his feet were planted in place. Would that his mind were as strong and his body... where Hinagiku fails, Isilme's bardic magic succeeds, and the dwarf falls to the ground, laughing uproariously. Ehren moves to her side, swinging a punch at the fallen dwarf, though his measured strike fails to make much of an impact...the dwarf was wearing finely crafted dwarven plate.
Just beyond the dwarf, the slaves, monkeys, and now the Gunduara assail the confused duergar, who fight back with a belligerent intensity. One duergar in the middle of it all turns over to heave and vomit as the disgusting primates assail them with their own filth. He falls face first into the mess, Valaria's starknife in the back of his skull.
At the opposite end of the tunnel, the duergar cry out in surprise and alarm as they are suddenly pinned between Old Ironfin and Ary. Two of the duergar jerk in place, caught in the throes of lightning magic. Caught offguard by the intensity of the counterattack, the giants fumble to switch strategies, dropping their crossbows to draw axes made in the classic dwarven style.
Behind Ary, the dwarven slaves cheer out. "That's it, boys!" "Thank the Forgefather! We're saved! We're saved!"
The Heroes Are Up!
Val focuses her attack on the duergar again, attempting to break their ranks entirely before moving on to support Xanderghul and Ary. Not that they seem to need it much at the moment, but better to be ready for anything that might go wrong.
Hinagiku, Isilme, Ary, Ehren, Anevia, Lann and Xanderghul are up!
With the dwarf incapacitated momentarily by her spell, Isilme steps forward to relieve him of his axe before he's able to get back up and resume attacking. Hopefully he would be more likely to listen to reason once he was unarmed and outnumbered.