Unafe feels herself buffeted from left and right. She recognizes the "fireball" as the same trick she's seen Xander pull, and she shakes off the worst of the barrage with sheer grit, but in the end she's caught off guard by a tremendous blast of force that leaves her gasping and battered.
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When the room suddenly goes black, Ehren's suspicions about Unafe's mental assailant seem to be confirmed. The druid steels his will, strengthening his mind against the shadow magic he expects to follow. Surely enough, explosions soon rock the room. Ehren feels their searing heat against his stony flesh, but recognizing it as a mere illusion, is able to stave off the worst of its power.
Invoking the power of the daylight wand currently merged with his body, Ehren smashes a palm against the ground, causing brilliant light to spill out from the spot that he touched and push back the darkness. He looks about, his expression going grim as he assesses the damage that the explosions caused. Aravashnial is no longer moving, and the rest of his friends look worse for wear. Worse still, something approaches from down the hallway. With a shove of his palm, the druid sends his aqueous orb rolling in its direction, hoping to delay its approach.
"We need to grab Aravashnial and get out of here," Ehren whispers to the others urgently, the situation having become far, far worse than it already was. The dire warning he gave Isilme once again comes to mind. He clenches a fist, unwilling to accept that now is that moment. "This is not a fight we can win."
With that, Ehren begins to sink into the ground and out of sight. He is not ready to leave anyone to die just yet, however. With his tremorsense he would at least be able to keep track of everyone's presence - with any luck, they would not stick around to see how much worse things can get.
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Recognizing his signature spell, Xander ducks, weaves, and throws himself down, protecting himself with Unafe's body and his cloak as best as he can. He emerges from the onslaught relatively unscathed, though with body-wide aches from whatever force spell it had been.
When he sees what's going on, his eyes widen. "A dragon!" he calls, "An etheric dragon! That's what caused the force breath. If it eats you, your soul will be torn apart, so we need to go!" The situation was so much worse than he had anticipated, and he thinks Ehren was right -- Ehren, who had sank into the floor already, leaving them. His plan had been to fight through the complex, finding an exit and leaving on his own. Now they were surrounded, their charge dead, every one of them badly wounded. "Isilme!" he calls, "Get us out of here!" He points at the body. "Unafe, get Aravashnial!"
Then he does what he can -- he targets the bearded wizard with his spell of instant death, sending a heart-stopping vision. Hopefully, with his wounds and the fear filling him, he would succumb to the spell this time. If not, Xander could redirect the spell to the xill.
The bearded wizard rolls out of the way of the aqueous orb, then starts to scream with terror at some invisible horror. However, his heart does not give out from the fright, like the other wizard's had.
The other Xill vanishes around the corner and out of sight. The candle on the table behind of Xander suddenly lights itself. It has a flickering, purple flame.
Isilme and Unafe are up!
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Unafe closes her eyes briefly and throws everything she's got into one last punch at the bearded wizard.
Then she opens them, grabs Aravashnial's body, shrinks down to her normal size, and stands beside Xander.
"I'm ready to go!"
Unafe closes her eyes and lets the ancestors guide her saurian fist. She clocks the wizard in front of him in the jaw, hitting his head so hard his neck snaps on contact. She then shrinks down until she is the same size as everyone else once again.
Isilme is up!
What had begun as a rescue, with a good chance at saving Aravashnial had quickly turned into a rout. They had killed a wizard or two in the process, but the trio of invidiaks, pair of Xill, the third wizard and now some sort of dragon from the ethereal plane had pushed them to their limits. Ai'sintar was likely dead at this point, she had seen his body slumped over after Ehren had restored their vision, and she didn't even have time to grieve. The fact Unafe was able to pick up his body was cold comfort to her, as it was far from clear to her at this point that they would be able to escape their foes.
"Off we go then," she says, running over to Xander. "I think I can get us to the hideaway north of here in one go, the others should already be there, they won't find us up there," she says, making it sound like she's trying to whisper to the others.
She reaches out to touch the others and then incants dimension door, pulling the three of them through space to where she imagined the Valais and the halflings might be if they'd been hustling along.
As they appear and she works to get her bearings, she suddenly remembers the pair of scrolls they had purchased for their trip to the Demetae valley as a way to get back to Drezen quickly in an emergency. It might be possible to get the majority of the group and halflings out to safety if they put them to use, and given what she knew of the spell and the distance they'd travelled from Manaket, it might be possible to even use them to get all the way to Thuvia. It was a gamble, but if they could make it there, Jahani could help them out when she arrived, she was certain of it.
It has not even been a whole minute since the heroes arrived in the room to rescue Aravashnial and Najat, so Isilme reasons that the halflings couldn't have gotten very far in that time. She teleports herself and the others around 200 feet away, just around the bend from the door that they had sealed off.
They immediately see the large group of halflings, Mikael and Gerrard, heading down the dark sewer, lead by one of Valais' twinkling lights and Aglais. The whole group stops and waves to the heroes' return.
"You are back already?" asks Gerrard. He sees Aravashnial's limp body and frowns. "Where is Najat?"
The room suddenly seems empty, according to your tremorsense.
Round 18!
The Heroes Are Up!
Isilme shakes her head at Gerrard sadly, but realizes if she plays up the danger they were in right now, the Halflings might panic, and that would be disastrous. "I need you all to listen to me now, and listen closely," she says, addressing the group, "I have two scrolls of shadow walk, they can get twenty four people to Thuvia where Jahani will be able to help further." She holds one out to Xander and Gerrard each, knowing they were the only ones who were likely to be able to cast such magic. "I will be staying, and I believe Ehren won't leave until he has found Hinagiku. We need to decide then who is going, and who will be coming with me to the hideaway. Unafe has to go for certain, her trail is too risky to have here, and clearly Mikael should go with Gerrard."
"Ic pro mêowle ðorfte hwilc−hwugu câf saint ûðe forððêon ongen¯æman bûan hêr," she adds, addressing the halflings directly. "ôðer scearpsmêawung sý lêof−t¯æl to ealdorneru mid drýcræft sôðlic. Ic pro andettan ðone as lêoð of hôh−hwyrfing word heordr¯æden ôfer ðæge pro sê ðâ ðe ieldan."
As Xander walks over, a thought occurs to her: "Also, if you can spare it, I could use your wand of non-detection, Xander."
Ehren breathes an inward sigh of relief when he feels his friends' presences vanish from the room, figuring that either Isilme or Xander must have teleported them. That does not guarantee their safety, obviously, but the farther away from Sophini's they get, the better. All that remains is for him to catch up to them - they could not have gone too far.
As he is about to make his getaway, however, it occurs to Ehren that he is in a fairly unique position. While he is not so arrogant as to believe that he is untouchable while underground, it would be fairly difficult for their enemies to reach him, assuming they even realize that he is still in the room. What's more, with the right spell, he might be able to spy on the entire compound. The idea strikes him as a little foolish, considering all his talk of self-preservation. But in the midst of their failure to destroy the Blackfyre Adepts, they would not get another chance like this.
Ehren shuts his gemstone eyes and concentrates on the spell he has in mind, before opening them once more. He would have to focus on the spell almost constantly, but he would be able to peer through solid stone as though it were not there at all. The druid looks about and identifies any hostiles in view, testing his newly acquired vision, before starting to move in the direction of the western hallway.
Xander is more blunt than Isilme. He tells Gerrard, "We left them behind," as he walks into the group. "Several members of the Adept retinue are able to walk through walls, and we were forced to retreat at a critical juncture."
He lets air out through his lips, looking back down the sewer the way they came. Then he turns back towards Isilme, brows furrowed. He trades the scroll of shadow walk for his wand of nondetection, but adds, "I don't want to just leave you here!"
"Isilme, why don't we just do what we were going to do anyway? Let's make for the river."
"هناك تنين أثيري يصطادنا الآن ، جنبًا إلى جنب مع اثنين من Xill وثلاثة إنفيدياك. لن نصل إلى القارب ، إنها رحلة تستغرق أكثر من ساعة من هنا إلى هناك ، وسيكون من السهل جدًا العثور عليها بين ممر Unafe ومجموعة كبيرة من النصفين," she responds to Xander in celestial, trying to avoid causing their charges undue stress. "إذا كان لديك أي احترام لي كرفيق وصديق ، فستغادر الآن. سيكون إهرن على ما يرام ، ويمكنني الاعتناء بمن يُترك بسهولة أكبر بكثير من محاولة إخراج هذه المجموعة."
At Xander's comments, the enslaved halflings immediately burst into panicked whispers. "They can walk through walls?" "How can we ever hope to escape, then?!" "We should just ask to go back... maybe they won't punish us too harshly if we go back now..." "Shush, shush. Lady Luck has guided us so far, she won't abandon us now."
At Isilme's plan, though, the halflings seem to regain some hope. They don't know what shadow walk means, but they understand that Thuvia represents a place of hope - the only country that borders Rahadoum where slavery is fully abolished. A place of freedom and peace.... if one can only survive hundreds of miles of punishing desert, followed by evading the border guards, the final test to freedom.
The halflings, once they realize they can't all go to Thuvia in safety, are quick to volunteer the children and very old to take the safer route. In the end, four hardy, healthy, adult halflings volunteer to stay with Isilme and Aglais. All halfling men - Dalfin Burrows, Sigeric Mugwort, Leudast Maggost, and Arnor Chubb.
But then Xander starts to argue against this plan, asking that they linger to wait for Ehren to return to them before leaving. Gerrard shakes his head, taking the scroll. "We don't have time. I highly doubt any of you can out-run those enemies. We will all die if we stay here. Every second you foolishly hesitate will cost lives. Come, Mikael. I will see you all in the Plane of Shadow, should you all choose to accompany us. I have studied this magic in the past, though my specialty is the Ethereal Plane, not the Plane of Shadow.... but ultimately there are many similarities between the two. Come."
And with that he intones the final words to cast the scroll, his hand on Mikael's shoulder. A little under a dozen halfling children and elders all reach out to touch his arms, legs, and shins, so that they are taken away with the magic. They all vanish into thin air, leaving about 14 halflings remaining.
"Please, can you take us too?" start to cry the halflings. "I don't want to die. Please," begs another. "If we can't magic away to Thuvia too, we should at least start running," cries another.
Xander can empathically feel his staff begin to become impatient and worried. The staff is concerned for the halflings, and wishes to see them go to safety. "Why?" it asks. "Why do you linger? We must save these halflings. Their slavers will kill them if they find them, and we are not very far away from where we rescued them. Only a few hundred feet. You made a promise," it adds scathingly.
Once Ehren finishes his spell, he can see through stone as if it were glass. This allows him to see into the compound above him. He can see through several feet of stone beneath him too, but there is nothing but more earth below, for at least several more feet.
Above him, he can see through the lingering obscuring mist well enough to see four invidiaks circling like vultures around the ceiling. There are two women standing in the room with them, avoiding the lingering cloudkill by standing in the opposite end of the room. Ehren cannot hear whatever they are saying (and probably couldn't understand them anyway) but they seem to be animatedly talking with one another.
Ehren decides to keep moving. He moves down the western hallway, passing two derghodaemons that are walking down the hallway. Their bizarre bodies and twitching limbs jerk violently back and forth as they go.
At the end of the hallway, the hall splits into two directions. He can move to his right, which ends at a large, wooden door. It looks exactly like the door that Isilme had sealed on the side of the sewer, and it is roughly in the same location, besides.
To his left, the hallway continues downwards, ending in a room that has a small table and chairs, as well as a staircase which climbs upwards. This room contains both Xill, but they look.... blurry. Like they aren't quite fully solid any longer. They stand still, their alien faces contorted in an expression that strikes Ehren as looking angry, but he can't rightfully tell either way. Looking back down the hallway he came, he notices that the invidiaks are no longer visible in the room, though he can't really see the whole room any longer at this distance and angle.
The two women walk down the hallway towards Ehren and turn the corner to face the wooden door. One of them attempts to open the door, and it swings open towards her... revealing a wall of stone in her way.
At that moment, the etheric dragon appears around the corner. It roars triumphantly, its voice echoing through the sewers. It opens its mouth and a rushing torrent of force energy spews forth across the heroes and civilians, who are all bunched together due to the narrow sewer tunnel. When the blinding light vanishes, the sewer is strewn with random arms, legs, torsos, and viscera from the many obliterated halflings, and Aglais has vanished entirely, having been obliterated utterly by the initial blast. Valais stands there with her arms protecting her face. Her body is battered and bruised, but she is alive.
Only three halflings remain. They start to scream and wail, and ready themselves to run in the opposite direction as fast as their tiny legs will carry them.
Roll 20 map updated.
Round 19!
The Heroes Are Up!
Xander doesn't even have time to express regret or surprise at the speed with which they were pursued by the dragon, for he is thrown against a wall. The dragon's terrible breath bends his bones to the breaking point, and he knocks the back of his head against a sewer brick.
He drops to the ground, unconscious in the sewer-water.
Xander crumples to the ground as Valais cries out in anguish, "Xander!" The unused scroll slips from his fingers and falls into the sewer water, staining it and causing the ink on it to run.
Ehren is up!
Isilme barely has a moment to argue further before the dragon's wrath falls upon them all, slaughtering those she had been tasked to protect, all due to the sloth of one of her 'allies'. The blast nearly knocks her from her feet, though her preternatural reflexes allow her to avoid the worst of the blast. Nevertheless, she's certain she felt a few of her ribs crack in the process. The force of the blast reverberates through the halls and in her ears, and she struggles to get a sense of the aftermath of the attack.
Out of the corner of her eye she witnesses Aglais fading away from existence, his life snuffed out by the awesome blast. Littered about the hall are the corpses of the halfling slaves who hadn't been lucky enough to make it out with Gerrard. Before she can even yell at Xander, she sees him collapse to the ground, taking their only hope of escape into the sludge below them, rendering it useless. Perhaps if she moved quickly she could save two of those left. Knowing there was nothing else she could do at this point, weakened as she was, she turns to Unafe, "Take Valais and whoever else you can grab, and run as fast as you can, flee here. Head east to Thuvia if you can."
With that she turns towards the dragon and charges it, stopping just short of its maw and casts the only spell she has left that might have any effect. Please Song of Spheres, let this work, she thinks as she unleashes the spell.
Isilme's magic rushes out, calming the halflings around her, but weakened as she is her magic is not powerful enough to affect the dragon.
Ehren and Unafe are up!
Ehren has to concentrate to maintain his spell, but the implications of what he sees makes it difficult to do so. On top of everything else they were up against, the presence of not one, but two more derghodaemons meant that the odds were stacked far more against them than he ever thought possible. Worse still, there was no reason not to suspect that these Blackfyre Adepts have even more resources at their disposal.
A few more moments spent exploring the area might confirm those suspicions, but by now Ehren realizes that time would be a waste. The druid gives up any hope of finding Najat, alive or dead. Either way, there is nothing he can do for her. Steeling his resolve, he heads northward, passing right below the Adepts' feet. Once he is in the sewer, he begins to earth glide towards the rendezvous point, hoping to find his friends there.
Ehren glides across the tunnel, evading the barrier that was keeping the Blackfyres from pursuing further. He finds two of the invidiaks here, gliding lazily across the ceiling of the dark sewers. He moves around the corner so that he can start heading south, in the direction of the river. Just around the corner he can glimpse the long tail of the etheric dragon, dragging along in the muck of the sewer, and the other two invidiaks gliding around the corner.
Unafe is up!
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Unafe snarls back at the dragon, and dodges the worst of its breath...and a fraction of a second passes before she sees that Xander, and so many of the halflings, have fallen.
Xander's made some foolish choices, but he's a brave man who risked--lost--his life for others.
...And without you I'm going to die here instead of going home, where I belong, and my people need me!
Unafe reaches out to grab the Heavenly Honey that Xander keeps in the pocket of his haversack, and to apply it to Xander's lips.
"Come back, you damned Witch!
"Valais, please, can you give him more of this? Maybe he can save some of us?
"Isilme! Halflings, everyone! Come close. If we can revive him, we may be able to get out of here."
The panicked halflings run into the dark. Valais darts to action, grabbing the jar of thriae honey. She remembers how Xander was there to help her in Heaven after the ritual to restore her was botched. She would do her best to help him now. She takes the honey dipper and spoons another mouthful into his face. Xander wakes up, suddenly. He is on the ground, and his staff is laying there next to him. He sees the dragon and four invidiaks swoop around the corner. The invidiaks are flying near the ceiling. He doesn't have much time to react before another explosion envelops him - a fireball.
Isilme can feel something attempt to encroach on her mind and seize control of her limbs, but despite it all, she maintains control of her body.
As soon as the light clears, it is revealed that the flames barely harmed Valais. She is beaming at Xander. "You idiot, you really scared me there!"
Seconds later, the etheric dragon lumbers towards Isilme. Its neck darts out and it attempts to snap at Isilme, but she nimbly leaps back just in time. It starts to growl, a low rumble.
Round 20!
Xander and Ehren are up!
"Xander, you're alive! Can you get us out of here?"
Unafe reaches out to touch Xander (while keeping Aravashnial's corpse gently tucked under her arm).
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Xander gasps deeply, and then puts a hand to his mouth. He smacks his lips and swallows some honey that remained inside. He flips over, grabs up his staff with one hand, and pushes himself out of the water with his hands, up to his knees. Looking all around at the deepening darkness and the enemies drawing near. He manages to weather the blast from the invidiak, its amateur shadow-magic sweeping over him like a spray of hot water. His death was nearer than it's ever been before, and he is once again held over the precipice of eternal torture.
He looks up. Unafe and Valais had saved him. They rightfully surmised that he held the key to their survival. Isilme was just out of reach, but as he had just learned, there was no time to wait for anyone. There was only personal survival, now. At least he could save the people that had saved him.
He reaches up out of the muck to grab on to Valais' arm, shouts, "Grab onto Unafe!" and then he musters the last of his reservoir for conjuration. Like an unwanted hair, Xander plucks the group from the Material Plane. They're hurled through the Astral for just a moment before reappearing somewhere familiar -- the common room of the bed and breakfast they had stayed in just the previous night.
Xander, Valais, and Unafe (as well as Aravashnial's corpse, which is under Unafe's arm) abruptly appear inside the common room of a large, lavish inn. However, looking around, they realize it is not the same bed and breakfast that they were in the other night.
Valais collapses to the ground, her eyes welling up with tears from exhaustion and sorrow. There are a few people sitting around in large comfortable chairs, sipping on tea. They appear to be Chelish. They stare, open-mouthed, at the sudden intrustion... and then start to balk. The heroes, having spent an hour trudging through a sewer, do not look or smell very nice.
Ehren is up!
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Saurian spirits buzzing around her, caked in sewage, blood dripping from her nose, ribs cracked, and a dead wizard under her arm, Unafe sighs.
"Oh, pardon the interruption. I don't think this is our inn. Is that the door?"
Unafe does her best to pick Valais up in her other arm, and herd the group out into the streets.
Once out there, she looks around for landmarks any of them recognize, to see if she recalls the way back to Veronica's. If she doesn't, she'll try to pick out a stranger who doesn't run off in horror, and ask them.
Still focusing on his spell, Ehren continues down the passage, the other winged shadows swooping overhead as he makes his way toward the dragon. The sense of dread he feels grows stronger with each passing second until finally, he reaches the sewer bend. It is only through his strength of will that he does not immediately panic at the sight of unspeakable carnage. Halfling bodies, torn asunder and scattered all over; Isilme at death's edge, standing alone against the dragon; and the rest of his companions, nowhere to be seen. All while he is hidden underground like a coward, utterly helpless to save anyone.
Trembling with anger and frustration, Ehren balls his hands into fists, his own words echoing in his head over and over again.
Ehren sees the two women abruptly appear in the sewer nearby. They had simply teleported past the stony obstacle. They turn around and observe Isilme's handiwork.
Isilme is up!
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Isilme hears Unafe talking to Xander as he's brought back to consciousness, and subsequently Xander's call for them to hold on before teleporting away. Though still angered that her charges had been needlessly slaughtered, Isilme couldn't help but feel some relief that at least Ai'sintar's corpse had been taken away from the soul-devouring abomination before her. It saddened her that she likely wouldn't see him again, but there wasn't any time to dwell further on the subject.
With the others gone, there was nothing to distract Isilme from finishing the task her goddess had given her. The halflings had fled, and though the were rather slow, there was perhaps a chance she could buy them enough time to escape. And if she could enrage a dragon and a few demons, and give the city above a spectacle at the same time, it was the best she could hope for.
Looking the Etheric dragon straight in the eyes, she draws upon the last bit of divine power available through Cygnus to do her best to enrage the beast and invidiaks. "Hey, you! You off-brand white-dragon knock-off! I bet you love being those wizards' pet, don't you? Do they let you out of your cell to clean it, or do you sleep in your own dung? I bet they haven't let you out into the city even once, and now I'll head up and you'll cower down here like your masters want you to. I'm sure you can slink back to them and apologize for killing their slaves, instead of hunting me down like a real dragon."
Peering under the dragon, she waves at the group of invidiaks hiding in the back at the corner. "And I see you all back there, you pathetic little shades. I killed Eustoyriax, so a bunch of half-witted bodiless demon-wannabes like you had best keep hiding down here as well. Your impotent flailing will never get you what you want, so just keep lobbing those tiny little firecrackers you call 'magic'. Have fun!"
As she finishes taunting them she bursts into a swarm of blue and silver butterflies, the individual wings glinting in the shafts of light coming down from a nearby sewer grating. In a single fluid move the swarm flies out the grating up into the sky above, looking to get out into bright light to prevent the shadows from being able to toss their remaining fireballs at her. If she was lucky, though, they would come up and get blinded, and the enraged dragon would charge her recklessly.
My Lady Starsong, Song of Spheres, Tender of Dreams and Resplendent Goddess of Fortune, I am truly sorry I have failed those who you charged me with protecting. I owe all I have to you and will give everything I have to you. If you have any love for the three poor souls who are fleeing through the sewers now, terrified for their lives, guide their steps to freedom. I have nothing left to give them but time, and even that might not be enough to save them.
As she streams up through the streets in the midst of the daily traffic, and up the side of the building, she watches the people stopping and staring at the swarm streaming ever higher, the column nearly 20' in length. Once she's up in the sky she turns her focus down towards where she hoped the dragon would be following shortly.
Isilme flies up a narrow side-grate, which leads up a sluice that eventually reaches the city streets at a drainage point. The dragon flies after Isilme, catching up to her easily and snapping at her form to little effect. Her consciousness was spread to too many entities for it to do much against her in this way.
Below them, the crowds on the streets stop to stare at the semi-transparent dragon that flies above them, that came so soon after an enormous cloud of butterflies.
Ehren sees Isilme vanish through the grates, then fly upwards in an enormous swarm of butterflies. The dragon follows her, as well as all of the invidiaks. But the invidiaks return to the sewer, not half a second later.
Hinagiku can see something large and greenish fly up into the air in the distance, towards the direction of Sophini's. She can't make out exactly what it is at this distance.
Ehren is up!
The Chelish patrons of the bed and breakfast seem relieved to see the foul-smelling trio leave. As she exits the door, one of them loudly calls for a 'slip' to come clean up after the mess. Valais, for her sake, simply hangs from Unafe's arm limply, too emotionally and physically overwhelmed from the recent events to really engage with reality at the moment.
Unafe is guided by the spirits to inquire a little old blind woman who is sitting on a park bench. She sits next to a very large white dog. The dog takes an immediate interest in the sewage that coats Unafe, and the old Chelish woman cannot tell what is different about Unafe, and so she doesn't give her any trouble when providing directions back to Veronica's.
Isilme laughs audibly as the dragon charges through her, snapping at the multitude of butterflies that comprise her form.
"All claws and no brains? I was wrong, you're not a white dragon, you're a poor excuse for a four-legged wyvern. You'll have to earn this dinner, you parasite-addled iguana-spawn!"
Isilme flows into a nearby building, out of sight of the dragon, laughing as she enters. She sweeps through the building and down around a set of stairs, doubling back. Her butterflies stream up against the ceiling as they get out of sight, coming to rest upon it, their wings slowly opening and closing in time to her heartbeat. Stilled, she attempts to hide, hoping to avoid the dragon's notice as it charges through the building to attack her.
Ehren's eyes dart to the ceiling, looking on as Isilme flies up and out of the sewer, only to be followed by the dragon soon after. Could it be that she would be able to make a daring escape after all? He does not dare allow himself to feel relief until he knows for sure. Perhaps he could change form and give chase, but what if Isilme had a plan?
Left alone in the sewer with their adversaries, the druid looks to the two women standing by the door - the Blackfyre Adepts. Hatred wells up within him, and dark thoughts start to form. The wise thing to do now would be to flee, to find Hinagiku, and to find way out of this godless nation as quickly as possible. But for once in his life, the mere possibility of exacting some kind of retribution proves too tempting. He would make his escape, after attempting to take his revenge.
Moving soundlessly through the ground, Ehren allows his see through stone spell to fade away, remembering just how far away his quarry stands. Once he is in position, he points a palm upwards and draws on the ley's power, along with all the remaining mythic power he has in store. Perhaps it would be enough, or perhaps not, but he has to at least try.
Round 21!
Through his tremorsense, Ehren can sense the hungry earth grab hold of both wizards. They struggle in its grip for a moment before vanishing from Ehren's senses. He doesn't sense anything for a moment, until he feels, about 30' away, is one medium-sized creature standing alone.
Isilme flutters into the open window of a nearby apartment building. She comes into what appears to be a small living room. Its owners must be fairly wealthy, as evidenced by the ornate carpet and tapestries strewn around the room. Two young children, both boys, stand up from playing with toy blocks to exclaim in amazement at the butterflies sitting on their ceiling. Their mother scowls, calling out in their native tongue, pulling her sons closer towards her.
Isilme sees the etheric dragon swoop by, and knows that it sees her as well, as its head jerks upwards to look at the ceiling. The mother's expression twists to fright. She screams, grabs her sons, and runs from the room. The dragon does not stop, and it flies through the room and out of Isilme's sight.
The butterflies burst into shimmering blue and white light as Isilme channels her goddess's power into healing herself. If she was going to keep this cat-and-mouse game going at all, she'd need to be able to survive the next breath, and that meant keeping walls between him and her, and doing her best to hide as well. If she could manage to heal herself up just a bit further she could teleport away from the dragon to safety.
After healing, her swarm silently moves out the door and around the corner, lining the underside of a balcony for shelter again.
The next few seconds prove rather humbling for Ehren, trapped in his own spell with nothing to show for it. As his rage begins to abate, it occurs to him that he should have expected this outcome. Swallowing his pride, he starts to struggle against the binds of his own spell, to no avail. At least he would not be able to suffocate.
Cradled in a nook between two buildings, protected from the sun’s rays, Hinagiku had been patiently waiting for some kind of sign from her companions, perhaps some commotion, Or maybe some type of strange green flying form, Hinagiku thinks as she catches sight of something uncommon by a building.
Unsure whether this is indeed the signal or some type of normal occurrence to the people of Azir, Hinagiku uses her nook to climb unnoticed unto the top of the building and keep an eye on the form.
Hinagiku runs up the wall to the roof of the building. She looks outwards, and thinks to herself that the shape is almost like that of a dragon, but smaller than the one she had fought in the Worldwound. It flies through a building, and then dives straight into the ground. There are crowds of people in the streets who are standing around and pointing (and then screaming, when it turns to dive apparently straight at them, but actually it just flies straight into the street). It does not reappear.
Ehren struggles in the confines of his own spell, unable to escape.
Several moments pass. The dragon doesn't return, nor the small, frightened, Rahadoumi family.
Aware that people might be looking for her, Hinagiku stays clear from any roof’s edge so that she cannot be seen from the streets and makes her way closer to the building where she saw the dragon.
Isilme quickly heals herself twice before reverting to her normal form, continuing to hang under the balcony. She immediately follows her heals with an invisibility spell, and a charge of Xander's non-detection wand, as well as recasting heightened awareness before returning to her swarm form and heading in the general direction she suspected the halflings had gone. After she's gone down the street a ways, she flows back into the sewer cautiously and listens for signs of anyone running.
His temper cooling, Ehren ceases his frantic struggling. Instead, he manages to slip out of the grasp of his spell with slow, deliberate movements. Once free, he glides through the ground and into the nearest wall, intending to ascend out of the sewer. Using his tremorsense, he searches for an empty area to emerge in.
Xander jumps when they reappear in the wrong inn, but when the inn's patrons appear Chelish, he relaxes. While Unafe calms the inn patrons, Xander (while groaning with the pain of his many aches) casts prestidigitation several times to clean the sewage and grime away from himself, Unafe, and Valais.
He follows them out into the road, quiet and tired. He takes a deep breath in, fighting the upset feelings that arose from their failure. Not thinking too much about anything, he follows Unafe while she leads them back to Veronica's.
He would have to return to Boccanegra later that week to scry on his remaining friends. Ary was still in prison. Hinagiku hadn't come to meet with them. Isilme was probably dead. How would they ever return to the Wound and continue their mission?
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Adrenaline still pumping through Unafe's veins, she carries Valais along without noticing her, and is relieved to be able to ask the blind woman for directions...given how those with eyes were looking at her.
"C'mon Xander. Shall we go lick our wounds at Veronica's?"
As they walk, the pounding in her chest and ears relaxes, and the reality of their horrid failure of a day begins to weigh on her. Belatedly, she realizes she should at least revert to her human form, and she lets her saurian features go.
"...Xander, thank you for saving our lives. I...I feel terrible to leave without Isilme--or Ehren or Hinagiku or Ary, for that matter--but Isilme refused to come while those halflings lived, and the rest are missing, and...and I owe my biggest debt to the Demetae. As ashamed as I am to run when my companions are in danger, I can't be dying in some foreign land.
"Can you contact her? Or Ehren? Or Hinagiku? I hope they're all OK. Isilme's state looked bleak, but the Song of Spheres watches over her. Perhaps she'll yet live?" Unafe's expression makes it clear that she's trying to be more hopeful than she really feels. Reflexively, her arm reaches into her familiar pouch and begins to stroke Sicrwydd's feathered head.
"I must confess, I don't ever want to go back to that cursed country. Gods! I don't know that I ever want to leave Sarkoris again. The demons are frightening enough, but at least I understand them...and if I die there, it'll be doing my duty to my Ancestors."
Hinagiku moves from rooftop to rooftop before reaching the edge that lines the street. To go any closer would require her to leap or fly across the street to another building. She doesn't see the dragon.
Isilme transforms into an invisible swarm of butterflies. She flies back out into the streets, but doesn't see the dragon. She flies southwards, then disappears through some grates in the sewers, hoping to find the tunnels that connect to the one she last saw the halflings running down. She listens. She can first hear the sounds of a muffled conversation in Osiriani echoing down the sewers. Under that, in the opposite direction, she can hear the sound of running feet.
Ehren finds that it is hard to find a place to emerge aboveground. There is a lot of activity on the surface - hundreds of people, he reasons, either inside the slaver complex or out in the streets. After a few minutes he manages to find an area where he doesn't sense anyone in the vicinity (at least standing on the ground). When he emerges, he is in a very tight alley-way between two architecturally dis-similar buildings. There is no one around, but out in the street the alley connects to, he can see lots of shadows and shapes of people rushing around.
Isilme quickly draws upon her divine power to grant her the ability to understand languages, and listens momentarily to the muffled conversation, trying to decide which way to go.
"نه ، ژک از اجساد مراقبت می کند. اجازه دهید سوفینی لژیون را اداره کند."
"خیلی خوب خواهر به کیگرال می روم."
Not wishing to risk being spotted by the wizards, Isilme turns towards the sound of the running and begins following the halls in that direction, hoping to find the three halflings still running for their lives.
Isilme flies down the sewers until she comes to catch up with the three running halflings. They are still panicked, and running as fast as they can down the same sewer tunnel as they can go. They can't see Isilme, as she is invisible.