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Holan-Ji nods to Zithembe's intent and bows out to the Commander. He wanders about the chow hall for a little while chatting with the aasimars and tengus, nibbling from the various plates and platters, before ending up back at the table he'd been sitting with originally. He's not there long before he stands to leave with a petite Tian-Shu aasimar woman who appears to be in the mood to "get her oni on." As he swings back past the Pathfinder table, he chucks Zithembe lightly in the shoulder. "See ya' in the mornin' boss."
<"Huh? Nah, he's not really my boss, Rya, I just call him that outta' respect. He's like a thousand years old or somethin'. He is kinda the leader o' the team, but it ain't official or nuthin' cause we don't really do ranks like you all do. But anyway, you said you know a place with some privacy? Oh, yeah, out in the woods? Sure, I got a cool trick I can show ya' out there.">
After agreeing on the next day's proceedings and enjoying a hearty meal and some friendly companionship (or more, in Holan-Ji's case), everyone wanders off to their bunks and their tents for a good night's sleep. The next morning, the joint platoon of Pathfinders, Twenty-Four Masks, and Scout Noro's volunteers strike out towards the southern section of Kaimuko Wood. With the morning fog still lingering between the trees, the forest has an eerie feel about it. Dense treetops prevent much of the early morning light from reaching you, and combined with the fog, makes for some difficulty in maneuvering.
Sergeant Toko's splits and scouts ahead and around, leaving marks for the rest of the troop to follow. An hour into the march, brownish stains start appearing on the trees and on the ground, frequently accompanied by whitened bones. Soon after, fresh bones appear, with some tissue still on them. <"Recent kills..."> Noro muses, kneeling down to study one of the bones. <"The teeth marks look like a bear's, but this is a large amount of prey even for a bear. We'd best be on our guard.">
The platoon draws their weapons and make some distance from each other for ease of movement. A sudden realization hits you - the only sound you hear are the twigs cracking under the feet of yourself and your allies. Looking around, you see that many of the troops feel similarly on edge; carefully observing the fog with eyes wide open, hands firmly gripping their weapons. The front row suddenly extends their spears forward.
<"Movement!"> someone shouts, as you hear the crunching of footsteps rapidly approaching the front of the platoon. One of Toko's scouts comes running up, panting <"A massive bear and her cubs. But something's wrong, she's all...twisted. Elongated claws and teeth, very large, I think I saw jagged rocks growing from it's shoulders...">
Suddenly, a monstrous roar shatters the relative quiet of the wood and you see a large brown bear slowly shambling towards the platoon, sniffing the ground. Upon sighting the group it roars once more, showcasing its impressive teeth...several sets of them, as a matter of fact. Bald patches in the bear's fur reveal scale-like rock pebbles on the skin beneath the fur. The claws are indeed elongated, and bloody. Jagged rocks, just as the scout reported, grow from the creature's shoulders. And there's something in its eyes. Something malevolent, not protective, even as two relatively normal-looking cubs emerge from the fog just a short distance behind her.
Tai Dan and Noro shoot each other a look, clearly thinking the same thing. <"Looks like the only way forward is through. The Masks can draw the cubs away and deal with them while you handle the mother,"> he offers. <"Or we can distract the cubs,"> Noro is quick to chime in. <"But if you think you've got a better way to handle things we'll step back and let you do it. Just be quick!">
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Emerging from the fog in the early morning hours, a smilodon approaches the fort. On his back rides the nude form of a petite aasimar woman, her small hands gripping the fur of the tiger's neck for stability as she lies upon his undulating shoulders. The tiger carries a pack in his mouth, and he drops it to the ground just before the fort comes into sight, his keen nose having alerted him to its proximity. The woman dismounts and dresses from the clothes in the pack even as the tiger's form shifts and compresses into that of a hulking demon-blooded man. The pair silently give each other a quick kiss in their last moments of privacy before they return to the fort and to their duties.
=================================
Holan-Ji grins in feral joy at the sight of the morning's challenge. He cracks his knuckles and rolls his shoulders to get the kinks out from last night. "Like I always say, ain't nuthin' better than feedin', f@$&in', and fightin'. And all before noon. What a perfect day! <Tai Dan, you guys deal with the cubs,>" he calls out in Tien.
He looks at the Mama bear. "C'mon, Mama Bear. Lemme show you who's yer' Daddy!"
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Maria wakes the next morning well rested. Her mental fatigue from the day prior is gone as she gets dressed and triple checks her gear. Glancing out the window two shapes emerge from the woods and she comments, "While I appreciate the discretion they showed, I can't envy anyone for activities done in the woods. Dirt, leaves and sticks get everywhere. It's why we made beds. But whatever floats their boats."
She heads down to breakfast and begins journaling her day. She doesn't do anything excessive until they start seeing signs of the blight. Samples are taken, sketches are drawn and perked up ears hear the crashing of the fiend well before it appears, "That is odd. Some sort of elemental infusion?" She turns to the Tengu captain as her journal disappears into her pack, "Try to keep the cubs alive, if uninfected they could be returned to the wild when older or trained to be valuable companions."
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"Oh, I don't know Maria. It's good to feel the wind on your back. Ranginori approves." Effie titters.
Facing the ursine mutant, Effie's eyes narrow and she draws her pistol, twirling it around and tossing it over her head from hand to hand. "Good thing I came loaded for bear!"
+4 H.A.?
<"We'll do our best, but I won't make any promises,"> Tai Dan replies to Maria. He gives the signal to some of his men and the tengu fan out, drawing the attention of the two cubs away from your group. Unusually, Mama Bear doesn't leap into protective parent mode as her cubs are drawn away from her side. Instead, her eyes remain locked on your group as she bares her teeth in an angry snarl.
Maria is quick to recognize that this bear - a dire bear, in fact - has been mutated by the blight creeping over the wood, deforming its body but also giving it advantages that a normal bear would not possess. Most notable are its twisted hind legs, the scale-like rock growths, and a pair of bulging eyes. The unfortunate beast is more aberration now than creature of nature.
Lame (Ex) - The mutant’s stunted legs reduce its base speed by 10 feet.
Armored (Ex) - The mutant’s natural armor bonus to its AC increases by 2.
Bulbous Eyes (Ex) - The mutant has darkvision with a range of 60 feet and low-light vision.
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The Grandfrogger
>CBT
Maria
Effie
Holan-Ji
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Mama Bear
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Zithembe
Hepsubia
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: None
Grandfrogger, Maria, Effie and Holan-Ji are UP!
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Maria moves to take advantage of the cover of trees, drawing her bow. Carefully taking aim, she seeks to avoid the rocky skin and find a vulnerable point to strike.
”You might think I would say keep it alive, but once corrupted this much there is little one can do except put a creature like this down quickly.”
for
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Effie's words of encouragement in his ears and the joy of combat in his blood, Holan-Ji runs straight at the bear. His body changes back into the smilodon that emerged from the fog that morning, and he roars to match the tainted mother. Six hundred pounds of fangs and fury slam into her, catching her by surprise, biting and slashing with everything he has.
Recognizing the danger a creature like this poses the group leaps into action. Effie begins a rousing performance even as she moves out of the way of the others, while Maria sinks an arrow into the beast's thick hide.
Holan-Ji charges, shifting into his tiger form and slamming into Mama Bear with all of his might! Claws rake and teeth snap, fur and blood goes flying in every direction as Holan-Ji rips into the bear, just managing to get a good grip on her with his claws.
______________
The Grandfrogger
>CBT
Maria
Effie
Holan-Ji
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Mama Bear
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Zithembe
Hepsubia
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions: None
Grandfrogger is UP!
Grandfrogger carefully ambles forward and flashes his evil eye at Mama Bear, weakening her ability to bring harm to his allies. But caught in Holan-Ji's grasp and terribly injured, she has little recourse or desire to do anything but fight back...
...and manages to give back some of what she got, in spite of the circumstances!
______________
The Grandfrogger
>CBT
Maria
Effie
Holan-Ji
==============
Mama Bear
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Zithembe
Hepsubia
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions: None
Zithembe, Hepsubia are UP at the bottom of Round 1 and Grandfrogger, Maria, Effie, Holan-Ji are UP at the top of Round 2!
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Hepsubia moves quickly, sword in hand, using her agility and training to dodge the huge bear's paws or maws.
Of course, she isn't even sure a grappled bear can use her paws or maws against her.
But even if she isn't attacked, that won't stop her pretending to be, so she can show off her acrobatics moves
Zithembe calls upon the spirits to aid his allies as he advances and Grandfrogger further weakens the injured Mama Bear with his mysterious powers. Hepsubia also advances forward, doing her best to dodge around the roiling ball of fur and teeth that is the bear and Holan-Ji; luckily the bear is too focused on the tiger to be able to swipe at her as she darts by.
But Effie quickly puts and end to the battle with two shots from her pistol; while the first one barely misses the mark, the second manages to strike the bear in the throat. The poor beast utters a low, gurgling moan and Holan-Ji feels her go limp in his claws as the remainder of her lifeblood pours from the bullet wound.
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"Barely a scratch? Huh? Oh, I get it," Initially confused and still in a battle-fugue, Holan-Ji then groans at Effie's encouraging words. He groans again as he rises from where he'd ended up atop the bear-thing. "Oof, she had a lot o' fight in 'er. Hope she's not contagious," he mutters as he looks at the bite wound in his shoulder.
Still in tiger form, he cranes his neck out and sniffs the wind. He wants to be sure the cubs got clear and that there's nothing else nearby before he shifts back.
Satisfied, he steps away from the corpse to let Maria examine it and sits down on his haunches. He licks one of the smaller scratches in his forearm subconsciously before realizing that he doesn't need to still be a tiger. And that he has a healing wand. That he can't use like this. Eh, I'll wait a bit to be sure we're safe before patchin' myself up.
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Maria moves up and stows her bow. She checks her tiger friend over first, "You feel okay? Nothing looks fatal right now, but if you feel like you will pass out, let us know. Also, can I take some samples from your wounds in case your hope is wrong?"
She pulls out several vials and small sample collecting swabs. Then moves onto the bear, inspecting the body and trying to figure out the type or cause of the aberrant mutations.
While the troop takes a quick breather, Maria takes some samples and inspects the fallen bear more closely. Based on the creature's state and what little she knows about the blight, she's fairly certain that Holan-Ji is in no further danger from the wounds he suffered. Of course it's also likely that long-term exposure to this blight would see similar mutations begin to occur in herself and everyone around her.
As Maria collects her samples, one of Noro's scouts spots the mostly-skeletonized remains of a fallen soldier nearby. Most of the unfortunate's gear has long-since rotted away, but the scout does point out two items that remain: a particularly nice-looking wakizashi and a wand.
It's a +1 Wakizashi.
It's a Wand of Deeper Darkness with 13 charges remaining.
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The Grandfrogger likewise approaches the bear, gently laying one hand on its rocky skin. “ Muga-muga semangatmu nari ing antarane lintang-lintang, ngilangi rasa lara sing wis nandhang lara, lan melu siklus maneh.”
The small figure blinks once as he inspects the found equipment. “Enchanted, the blade is. Mysterious, the wand is.”
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"Yeah, I'll be okay. Thanks, 'Doc'," Holan-Ji assures Maria as she swabs the bite wound. He gives her hand a playful sand-paper tongue lick as she finishes up, then shifts back into his normal form.
With the first application of his healing wand, he sighs in relief as the cuts begin to slowly close up and bits of dirt, leaves, and fur get pushed out.
"This guy one o' yours?" he asks the scout that found the remains.
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The elf gives a half smile, "Oh no, I'm not a Medical Doctor. My license was revoked. Apparently my bedside manner wasn't good enough for the medical board's family member who made the complaint. I guess assuming patients are always lying probably wasn't wise either, even if true." She shrugs, "Ah well, this job is more fun anyway. And I still have my vet certification, which is practically just as good."
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"If my pride would allow it, I would send the tiger into the battle first every time," Zithembe says in a deadpan while he leans against the tree to recover after releasing the spirits.
Once he is recovered, he concentrates upon the wand. "Its purpose escapes me as well, but it is some form of evocation."
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"I can try to coax the magic from the wand, if you like" Effie offers as she blows the smoke from her gun. "I'm getting pretty good at that sort of thing. Something to do with my elemental side, if Master Shaine is right about it. I'll point the business end well away from everyone in case it goes boom!"
Effie focuses on the wand, then points it at an empty patch of ground making sure there are no friendlies in the vicinity.
Just as Effie is about to field test the wand to see what it does, Hepsubia is able to piece together that it'll summon an especially potent patch of darkness. Could be useful, with a little preparation on the part of the group. Cursory examination of the two bear cubs reveals some early-stage physical mutations but no noticeable changes in temperament or demeanor; provided they don't come into further contact with the blight they should be able to live normal lives.
Once wounds are mended and both the mutated bear and the fallen soldier (not one that Scout Noro recognizes) are put to rest, you continue your march deeper into the wood. Though the next several hours are uneventful, the uneasy peace doesn't last forever.
It's roughly midday when you finally reach the edge of the blight, marked by a wall of pale orange flame. The flames do not radiate heat, but instead drain the warmth from the surroundings. Thankfully, the flames themselves seem contained or, at least, to spread at only an imperceptibly slow rate. Plants caught within the flame do not seem charred or burnt, but instead appear twisted and warped, sporting unnatural growths that slowly bubble and boil at the low temperatures until they burst in spray of dark, viscous sap, filling the air with the stench of rotting vegetation. Much of the leaf cover here has withered, allowing the sun to stream through the branches and bathe the entire area in bright light.
Between the burning trees you see numerous warriors walking among the fire, not caring about the effects of the blight. They cut down burning branches, throwing them onto healthy foliage to aid in the blight's spread...until they spot your advancing group. A warning shout is heard and the entire host of aasimar deserters draw their weapons and advance! Leading the advance is an aasimar woman, with wide, white eyes and numerous scars crossing her face, flanked by two soldiers. She pauses only long enough to drink down a potion, which seems to give her an oddly blurry appearance.
"Lieutenant Riko," Noro grimly informs you. "The former second-in-command at North Winds. And her honor guard."
+4 H.A.?
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Effie
The Grandfrogger
>CBT
Hepsubia
Zithembe
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Honor Guard Blue
Honor Guard Green
Lieutenant Riko
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Maria
Holan-Ji
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: Blight Fire
Effie, Grandfrogger, Hepsubia and Zithembe are UP!
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The Grandfrogger’s tongue lashes out like a falling star streaking across the night sky, landing on Holan-Ji’s arm. The tongue retreats, leaving a gentle orange light that glows at the point of impact and spreads across the man’s skin like dawnlight across the morning sky. “Ward you from these flames, the spirits will.” The small figure hobbles quickly to the nearby rock wall and clambers atop it with the grace of an arthritic gecko. “Confused, our allies are! Save them, we must!”
The Grandfrogger grants Holan-Ji some protection from the cold flames of the blight before clambering forward and up onto one of the nearby boulders while Zithembe draws his weapon and advances along the rocky stone path.
Both Zithembe and Maria study the aasimar deserters, trying to pinpoint anything anomalous about them. While none of the deserters - including Riko - appear to possess any obvious mutations like the bear from earlier did, their skin does look to be scarred and their eyes are slightly milky in appearance. The deserters aren't blind but their sight does seem to be slightly impaired by the bright sunlight overheard.
Effie twirls her gun with a flourish and strides forward, suggesting that it might be best to put an end to the battle sooner rather than later. Hearing this, Noro whistles to some of his comrades and gestures at Riko. <"Soften her up for them!">
A hail of blunt arrows rain down on the disgraced aasimar, leaving her noticeably battered and bruised!
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Effie
The Grandfrogger
>CBT
Hepsubia
Zithembe
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Honor Guard Blue
Honor Guard Green
Lieutenant Riko
==============
Maria
Holan-Ji
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions: Blight Fire
Hepsubia is UP!
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Maria points out what she hopes is moderately obvious, but may need to be said anyway, "They are mind-controlled and maybe blighted, but unlike the bear may be able to be rehabilitated. Try not to kill them please. Beyond that hope as well, they might provide useful information about what is further in."
As you begin to advance on their position Riko and her two honor guard begin to close ranks, clustering closer together and adopting defensive positions as they prepare to face you. Those of you who've drawn closer notice something else - all three of these mutant aasimars seem to have wings. In fact, the entire deserting force seems capable of flight as they engage Noro's people and the Twenty-Four Masks in combat from the land as well as from the air!
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Effie
The Grandfrogger
>CBT
Hepsubia
Zithembe
==============
Honor Guard Blue
Honor Guard Green
Lieutenant Riko
==============
Maria
Holan-Ji
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions: Blight Fire
Maria & Holan-Ji are up at the bottom of Round 1 and Effie, Grandfrogger, Hepsubia, Zithembe are up at the top of Round 2!
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"They are a little far, ain't they," Holan-Ji nods at Hep's observation. "And ya' say they can fly, huh. Well, let's kill two flyin' birds with one rock... I didn't get that right, did I?" he laughs at his mistake as he starts moving. His body changes as he does, his shoulder blades becoming orange iridescent wings as he launches himself into the air and tearing straight towards the closest enemy.
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From his perch atop the rock, the Grandfrogger surveys the hellish scene below. One hand plucks a twig of hawthorn from beneath his heavy woolen robes. Carefully he points it at the wavering form of the leader of the fallen aasimars. “Spirits of starlight, revealed by your flames, the truth is.” A burst of pale green fire erupts around the woman.
While Hepsubia readies her bow and waits, Holan-Ji opts for a more direct approach and shifts into a new form! An oversized dragonfly zips forward and bites Blue before grabbing hold and hovering just off the ground.
From his nearby rocky perch The Grandfrogger conjures pale green fire that covers Lieutenant Riko's form and illuminates her, rendering the potion she drank useless.
Effie advances, continuing to twirl her firearm and silently wishing she could get around the battlefield as easily as Holan-Ji.
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Effie
The Grandfrogger
>CBT
Hepsubia
Zithembe
==============
Honor Guard Blue
Honor Guard Green
Lieutenant Riko
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Maria
Holan-Ji
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions: Blight Fire
Maria is up at the bottom of Round 1 and Zithembe is up at the top of Round 2!
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Maria is about to point out a recent thing Hep did to negate concealment on their last mission, but Grandfrogger beats her to the punch so she simply shrugs and strides forward, drawing her bow and nocking a blunt tip.
"By the powers vested in us by the local authority, Commander Xiang, your actions have been deemed detrimental to the nation and you have been considered to have committed treasonous acts. Drop all your weapons and surrender immediately. If you continue to resist, we cannot guarantee our non-lethal methods of capture won't leave permanent damage."
She fires her bow at the Asimar attempting to stay out to the side, picking them mainly because they are easiest to hit.
for
for
She adds as the arrow connects, "As we rarely face intelligent foes, could you do me a favor and rate my attack on a scale of one to ten? One being ineffective and well, I guess if it was a ten you would just collapse or surrender. Anyway, I await your response!"
Zithembe questions if Holan-Ji's impulsiveness is a good thing or not as he continues to hustle forward. Maria also moves up, takes aim, and fires an arrow at Green Aasimar - it connects against his shoulder with a *whump* that's certain to leave him bruised. She follows this up with an impromptu survey question but the only response she receives is a rather rude gesture in return.
Though grappling Blue was no challenge for Holan-Ji, doing so has brought him close to the blight fire which burns with a cold, cold, flame...
...but the protections granted by the Grandfrogger protect the dragonfly from harm!
Honor Guard Blue fights mightily, attempting to break free from Holan-Ji's grip but he may as well be trying to break from a giant's grasp for all the good it seems to do him.
Honor Guard Green comes to his ally's defense, advancing across the battlefield and skewering Holan-Ji with a jab from his longspear!
Lieutenant Riko also brings her longspear to bear against the dragonfly as she takes a single step forward and delivers two extremely powerful strikes that leave him terribly injured and disabled!
<"It seems your friend's observations have merit"> Riko remarks with a matter-of-fact tone as she flicks her weapon, spattering the ground with droplets of blood. Through a haze of pain the dragonfly notes that some of the lieutenant's bruises seem to be fading. Riko then glances up towards the sky with narrowed eyes, as though waiting for something...
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Effie
The Grandfrogger
>CBT
Hepsubia
Zithembe
==============
Honor Guard Blue
Honor Guard Green
Lieutenant Riko
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Maria
Holan-Ji
==============
??????
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions: Blight Fire
Maria and Holan-Ji are UP!
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<"Oof, that the best you got?>" Holan-Ji taunts the two guards as the first squirms in his grasp and the second makes a gash in his side.
"<Oooh, oww. Yeah, he's pretty much always right,>" the dragonfly responds in Tien to keep Zithembe from hearing him admit it.
Yeah, that was kinda stupid.
{Stupid? You call that stupid? How about moroonic? Or imbicilic? You like that better? What were you thinking, that you're invincible?} The buzzing voice in his head stops as if waiting for a reply but doesn't really give Holan-Ji time to formulate a suitable comeback. {You got a plan, "smart" guy?} she asks.
Shut up. Yer pi$$in' me off. Ooh, hey, yeah, that's a plan. Get Angry.
{You call that a p....} the voice cuts out as the dragonfly in the face of the grappled guard. His multifaceted eyes glow with a hint of hellfire. {Oh, yes. Good plan. I approve. Now be smart, and fly away!}
Holan-Ji does just that, withdrawing as quickly as he can away from the three spear-wielders and back towards the clearly much wiser and smarter members of his team. He alights next to Jobu and sheepishly asks for a little healin' help.
supervillan
Dr. O'mayga
GM Nomadical
Hepsubia Althein
Malachi Malarkey
Soddy Daisy
GM Red
