Mumbling, "Getting low on bombs. Gotta get them to bunch up and I can hurt more than one?"
Sqeezing though her taller companions and smiling at the kobolds. Lifting a hand and making a'come' motion.
"Uh, that's not how spears work, little friend," Syksy comments to the Gnome as she sees her try to taunt the spear and crossbow wielders into coming closer. Drawing her nodachi as she hops over the bomber she thrusts the blade downward before one could skewer her new friend.
The kobolds flinch back from Syksy's sudden strike, relatively clumsy in their movements, but well protected by their thick bone breastplates. Both of the warriors wield their spear one-handed, carrying a turtle-shell shield on the other—a rather crude, but nevertheless effective means of protection.
Roaghaz produces his wand with a flourish, the activation word coming out as a self-satisfied jeer. A globule of a pale, sticky substance is flung into the stairway, hitting the ceiling above Bernard before bursting into a web of viscid filaments, blocking sight and threatening to entrap everyone in the stairway and the tunnel behind it.
"Aeteperax!" the chief screeches at Syksy. "Ae-te-pe-rax! He rewards His supplicants for ferocity and faithfulness, Roaghaz most of all! You will be the first to die, for daring to mock Him! Then, we shall add your bones to those hanging on these walls, and our Great Lord shall sup on your flesh!"
At the back of the queue, Hak is quick to tear itself free of the webbing, allowing Nighttail to extricate herself as well. She shouts something crude in Draconic, and starts spurring the allosaur through the tunnel. The filaments knit back together behind her, however, leaving no path for others to follow. As she comes upon Bernard, she reaches out and says something vaguely Druidic, momentarily lending him a shimmery green aura.
"Roaghaz likes acid," she says in the way of an explanation. "Almost as much as Roaghaz likes the sound of his own voice..."
"Balls," mutters Khardir.
Bernard doesn't even let out a roar of anger when the bolt hits him - he's grown too used to taking wounds down here in the dark, and this seems, if anything, just the way that fights go of late.
Still, he leans into the web, thrashing and hurling his weight against the strands, only to feel himself be pulled back and held tightly in place.
With a snarl he pauses and glances around himself, trying to find another means of proceeding forward.
As promised, the kobolds turn their attention on Syksy. One of the hunters shoots a bolt that ricochets off the wall next to the Hellknight, as a hunter tries her defences with its spear, only to be batted aside. Roaghaz does not seem satisfied with their performance, scolding them viciously in Draconic.
"Eighty pie racks? Damn now I'm hungry." Syksy calls out to Roaghaz as she keeps his guards occupied.
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Why does everything smell like oil?.. Me and the fire would be a bad idea. Glancing back, Of course, that man has the worst luck
Khardir wiggles futilely.
Alert as ever, Vibenia easily avoids the explosion of sticky webbing that fills the tunnel. Cursing as the flood of thic webs completely eliminates visibility, rendering her preferred fighting style useless, the ranger slings her crossbow over her back, drawing a hand axe from her belt, and begins hacking away at the webbing in front of her.
The kobolds continue to harass Syksy, who keeps on dodging and deflecting all their blows without too much issue. Roaghaz seethes at this, shaking a fist at his incompetent minions. "Սպանիր նրան, սպանիր նրան! Կամ ես կփակեմ ձեզ բոլորին!"
"Quit squirming, I'm trying to stab you," she manages to get out amid chuckles as she thrusts her sword at the kobold again.
With a roar Bernard flails and struggles against the webbing, but to no avail!
Roaghaz points a claw at Syksy. "You will learn some respect, insolent softskin!"
With that, the chief mutters something ominous, calling forth a slightest fraction of true draconic dread to assail Syksy's senses: for a moment, the diminutive kobold seems much more bestial and terrifying than he actually is, inflaming the Hellknight's instinct for self-preservation.
Meanwhile, in the hallway, Nighttail tries to help Bernard free himself. She urges Hak to tear into the surrounding webbing, removing a sizable amount of the strands holding him in place. Some of the confused reptile's bites come a bit too close for comfort, but the effect is overall positive.
Glancing up at Syksy before aiming her small bomb.
With a roar that's more frustration than any sense of accomplishment, Bernard finally tears himself free, struggling out of the thick webbing with Hak and Nightail's assistance, dragging his greatsword out behind him and then shuddering with repulsion as he considers trying to claw the webbing from his face and hair and then opts to charge forward instead with a bellow.
Roaghaz grins viciously as his spell takes hold, filling Syksy with supernatural terror. He scarcely has time to gloat, however, as he is suddenly engulfed in fire from Nisany's bomb exploding at his feet. The chief shrieks in pain and surprise, nearly falling over in his panic. He hurriedly pats the flames out his smouldering cloak, doing his best to regain composure—not grievously wounded, but hurt nonetheless.
Seeing their adversary blanch with dread, the kobolds press their attack on Syksy. From amidst the warriors' wildly stabbing spears, one of the hunters manages to sink a bolt into her thigh as the Hellknight turns to flee.
"Ֆեյ-երեխայի հաջորդը, համարձակորեն հարվածել Մեծ Ռոխազին!" cries Roaghaz.
Khardir finally manages to pull away from the webs. Since there's nowhere for him to go and he's out of spells, though, he might as well stay stuck.
Twisting and turning, Vibenia just manages to remain free, allowing her to hack through another square of the webbing with her axe.
Not looking back but reaching behind her to touch Bernard's shoulder, "Can you throw me past them?"
The kobolds continue to drive back the afeared Hellknight, raining blows against her armoured form. Again, one slips past her defences, with a warrior managing to scratch her with its spear. There is next to no strength behind the blow, but it does little to lessen her magic-induced panic.
"No, no, this ain't gonna work. Need bigger weapons for that. Much bigger weapons. Need bigger weapons..." Syksy mumbles incessantly as she turns around and tries squeezing past the others. "Sorry. 'Scuze me. Just need ta... whoops, sorry."
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(This is not a good movie but it is unintentionally funny)
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The kobold warriors make a few futile stabs at the retreating Hellknight, who manages to avoid their spears, only to immediately get tangled up the webbing in her rush to get away. Her attempts to extricate herself only seem to worsen the situation.
Roaghaz, wounded from Nisany's bomb in both body and spirit, does not take the time to gloat, instead intoning another spell. A stream of acid bursts from his fingertips, spraying all over the gnome. Accompanied by a sickening hiss and the smell of corroding flesh, it starts eating through her clothes and skin, showing no signs of dissipating after the initial surge. After he is done with his spell, the kobold chief slinks behind the rocks bisecting the cavern, disappearing from sight.
Meanwhile, Nighttail manages to spur Hak through the webbing, emerging from the stairway to menace the warriors, who only barely manage to avoid their sudden onslaught of spear and claws. Roaghaz's minions seem to recognise the pair, hissing curses in Draconic.
Shouldering his way past his friends, cutting through the last of the webbing, Bernard emerges at long last from the dark throat of the tunnel into the cavern proper. It's a stumbling, staggering assault, and he's barely able to bring his blade to bare as he lets out a bark of anger and chops at the closest foe.
Bernard's sword snags on a strand of webbing, giving his target just enough time to get out of the way. The tip of the blade glances off its breastplate, leaving a wicked gouge in the bone. The warrior does its best to counterattack, but is also unable to harm its opponent, stabbing futilely at his armour.
The hunters fare better, one of them managing to nick Hak with a bolt from its crossbow. Nisany tosses one of her scavenged alchemicals at the enemy in recompense, singing its scales as the oils violently combust in contact with the cool air. Nighttail seems to appreciate this, her hiss of anger turning into a fierce battle cry.
Vibenia tries to advance again but finds herself entangled in the thick webbing.
Unable to advance and with no useful abilities left, Khardir can do nothing but wait for an opening.
You hear the sounds of another incantation from behind the rocks bisecting the cavern, and soon Roaghaz re-emerges, having regained some of his former confidence. The appearance of Nighttail seems to enrage the kobold chief, who cries out and gestures at her wildly.
"Սպանեք դավաճանին!" he hisses. "Մնացածը կարող է սպասել, սպանել նրան!"
The warriors manage to do little but keep Bernard and Nighttail at bay with their spears, but this allows the hunters to keep peppering them with bolts. All of the enemy kobolds seem to have shifted their focus on the latter, aiming their shots and stabs at Nighttail. She takes two crossbow bolts into her side, clutching on to Hak's back for stability as she stabs back at the warriors. Both of them are weakened by their injuries, however, and their blows are either absorbed by the warriors' bone armour or deflected by the turtle shells they are using as shields.
Meanwhile, the sizzling acid continues to eat through Nisany and her possessions. The gnome finally manages to wipe the rest of it from her tunic, now covered in holes from where the corrosive substance has eaten through the fabric.
Sensing the need to clear the tunnel, Bernard takes a deep breath and barrels forward, lowering his head and raising his blade as he risks taking a number of cuts along his flanks in the hopes of letting his companions out into the fray.
It's a horrific sight, having kobolds hissing and swiping at him from all sides, but if anything it spurs him to greater acts of desperation; wielding his great sword with both blades he swings at one of the kobolds, seeking to lop off its head.
With a roar he hacks of the kobold's head, severing it in a spray of dark arterial blood, and allows his swing to carry through into the next closest kobold, seeking desperately to bring this fight to an end.
Fighting her way free of the entangling webs, Vibenia hacks herself a path and moves forward only to get tangled up again.
"Uh oh..."
Letting out a quiet whimper as the acid removes skin from her finger tips. Palm running over a small vial on her side and quickly pulling it out to drink the contents.
Sighing as the burning pain eases slightly. Patting around and keeping one hand on another small vial of her own creation and another on a bottle of red chemicals.
Khardir tries to advance along behind Vibenia while Bernard hacks a path through the kobolds, but gets stuck again in the webs.
At the edge of the webbing, Vibenia drops her handaxe, drawing her crossbow and firing on the nearest enemy kobold.
Bernard rushes through the two kobolds in the front, taking a spear into his calf as he leaves himself open to retributive attacks. His powerful swing brings down one of the hunters before it even has a chance to scream, covering the guardsman and his surroundings in slick gore. His second target is quicker, dropping low and raising his shield as the sword sails above him. The other warrior stumbles back as Vibenia's crossbow bolt embeds itself in his breastplate, but seems unharmed—the webbing makes it hard to find a weak spot in the bone armour, which has proven quite effective despite its primitive components.
Roaghaz is less than pleased with this development, but as worried as he seems about the approaching Bernard, the kobold chief can barely keep his eyes off Nighttail. There is a clearly a deep-running animosity between the two.
"Դուք երկու, զբաղվեք մարդու հետ!" he hisses to his minions. "Ես կկանգնեմ գիպսին..."
Its attention fully drawn to Bernard, the dodging warrior slinks into his blind spot, while its companion disengages from Hak and Nighttail to attack him from the opposing direction. The two flank around the guardsman before he has an opportunity to find his balance, one stabbing low and the other high. Bernard finds himself skewered from two directions at once, one blow landing into his foot while the other sinks through his mail shirt into his upper back.
Meanwhile, the remaining hunter drops its crossbow, drawing a sword and placing itself between its chief and the enemy—more out fear for Bernard than any loyalty Roaghaz, judging from the way it looks at the former. Roaghaz himself is busy with another incantation, launching a swarm of greenish motes from fingertips, sending them racing towards Hak. The allosaur is blown off his feet by the cascading blows, crashing against the wall before slumping into heap on the floor.
Nighttail leaps off just in time to avoid getting pinned under her saurian companion, rolling spear-first into one of the warriors harassing Bernard. This takes the enemy completely by surprise, allowing her to deliver a grievous wound. Enraged by what happened to Hak, she makes sure to twist the spear before yanking it out. As much as she looks like she wants to rush Roaghaz, Nighttail holds her ground to aid Bernard, looking to the others for support in bringing down the chief.
"BWAH!" Syksy lets out as she tears herself free from the webbing to continue her panicked search for a weapon capable of slaying her fear.
The blows almost prove to be Bernard's undoing; terrible cuts that slash open his foot to the bone while another stabs deep into his back, through thick muscle only to skitter off his ribs.
For a moment Bernard sees large motes of darkness swarm in his vision, and he thinks he might collapse. But through sheer determination he raises his greatsword high and seeks to hack the kobold apart who stands between him and Nightail.
[ooc]If that hits...[/dice]
Tightening her grip on the two vials at her side. But there is a new splash of blood from Bernard. Sucking in a steadying breath before abandoning the options of healing or more damaging fire in lieu hopefully taking some damage for the unlucky human.
Tugging her dagger free and running into the open space.
Khardir struggles forward as best he can.
Vibenia takes a shot at the kobold chief, but her aim is still impeded by the sticky strands obscuring her vision. She makes an attempt to shove her way through them into the cavern proper, but gets tangled up before breaching the edge of the webbing.
Nighttail is somewhat more successful, managing to nick one of the warriors with her spear.
The kobolds keep ganging up on the increasingly weakened Bernard, continuing to circle him, all the while mercilessly raining blows on any weak spots they can find. While they do not manage to perform as successful a flanking manoeuvre as their first, the small cuts and scrapes start to pile on, finally felling the guardsman. With their most immediately dangerous foe lying bleeding on the floor, the warriors whirl around to menace Nighttail and Nisany, respectively.
The one harassing the gnome looks gravely injured, having to brace itself against the wall.
Emboldened by Bernard's fall, the remaining hunter lunges forward, attempting to nick Nighttail with its sword. The clumsy blow is easily deflected, but she has little time to recover before Roaghaz strikes. Having abandoned any pretence of subtlety, the chief lets out another barrage of magical energy. Nighttail is almost swept off her feet by the blast, but remains standing, snarling curses at her nemesis. She obviously cannot withstand another onslaught of such magnitude.
Khardir continues to struggle forward against the webs!
But makes no further progress.
”Huh?! Wai, whazzah-never mind! Where’d those cute lizards go-A HA!” Sysky suddenly lets out as she turns around and head back into the room.