Brighton raises his hands in prayer to Torag and brings them down in a swift, hammering motion.
Combat Round 3
Konny steps up to Millorn and swings, but misses.
Aravashnial Do you need a spell! I can summon a creature! Tell me where, is everyone ok! Aravashnial asks in almost panicked tones.
Belledonna growls and draws her dagger, then closes with the dwarf.
Victrix [-9, stabilized] unconsciously wishes everyone well.
Horgus Ok, I need a weapon. This is ridiculous.
Brighton channels, healing all for 5.
Anevia Thanks for that Master Dwarf, I feel much better. and she fires an arrow at Millorn.
Millorn casts defensively his shape Blurs!
Combat Round 4
Konny
Aravashnial
Belledonna [-4, stabilized, unconscious]
Victrix
Horgus
Brighton
Anevia
Millorn [blurred, 20% miss chance]
Konny attacks the dwarf
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You do not envy the headache Victrix will have when she awakes.
But in the meantime, she will rest well... and dream of powerful men and women.
Combat Round 4
Konny swings but the blurred form gives him pause.
Aravashnial Anevia, what should I do!
Belledonna
Victrix [-4, stabilized, unconscious]
Horgus
Brighton
Anevia
Millorn [blurred, 20% miss chance]
"Aravashnial...this mad dwarf has downed Victrix...I've stablized her and healed her. Is there anything you can do to put the dwarf down?"
Combat Round 4
Konny swings but the blurred form gives him pause.
Aravashnial Anevia, what should I do!
Belledonna swings her dagger at the flanked insane dwarf.
Victrix [-4, stabilized, unconscious]
Horgus Stupid mouthy elf, summon a creature to my voice Horgus says as he rushes towards the dwarf.
Brighton channels, healing Victrix by 6.
Anevia Go down!
Millorn [blurred, 20% miss chance] begins casting a spell defensively and he fires a ray of fire from his hand at Brighton Brighton is at -7 and dying! AHAHAH DIE CRUSADER SCUM! AHHAHAHA
Combat Round 5
Konny
Aravashnial
Belledonna
Victrix [prone]
Horgus
Brighton [-7HP, dying, prone]
Anevia
Millorn
Victrix's eyes open. In them, there's a palpable anger.
Controlled. Focused.
Seeing the mad dwarf scorch Brighton is the last straw.
She rises. Takes up her greataxe. Stalks toward the mad dwarf.
"Anevia. Aravashnial. Broighton's down. Heal him, if yeh can. The mad one is MINE." She says in a cold, calm voice.
"Die"
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Brighton's face still shows his surprise as he hits the ground unmoving but breathing...shallowly.
Combat Round 5
Konny smacks the evil wizard for 9 damage.
Aravashnial says Ok Gwerm! and begins chanting in a strange tongue.
Belledonna uses her sacrificial boon ability to gain a bonus and attacks Millorn ferociously but misses.
Victrix gets up and moves menacingly towards the Wizard.
Horgus picks up a fist sized rock.
Brighton [-7HP] stabilizes and is no longer in immediate danger of death.
Anevia fires her bow
Millorn screams in rage at Konny and reaches for a potion. Konny takes this opportunity to attack! Konny connects! Konny crushes the evil wizards skull, killing him instantly.
Combat Over
Victrix grins as Konny fells the mad dwarf.
It doesn't last for long, though, as she remembers Brighton.
She promptly races over, taking the potion she took from the huecuva earlier and pouring it down his throat.
Seeing that Brighton is taken care of, Konny searches the corpse, takes anything of value and shares his find with the group.
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"C'mon, Broighton. Up 'n' at 'em!" She says as she forces the potion down his throat.
She looks up at Konny as the potion starts to kick in. "Noice job smackin' that one down. 'E coulda killed all o' us."
Brighton coughs and splutters through the potion and his eyes flicker open. "Urgh...what happened? What in the hells of Torag's forge did that dwarf do to me?"
He shakes his head and rolls over to his knees. He groans again and wobbily gets to his feet. "I'll be alright...just a minute please."
Victrix helps Brighton back to his feet.
"Easy there. Bugger nailed ya with some kinda fire magic. Didn't singe yer beard or anythin', just knocked yeh on yer arse."
Stepping over to Horgus, Belladonna nods respectfully. "You acquitted yourself well there, all of you did." She adds, her head turning to Anevia & Aravashnial as well.
What is next?
Victrix's aching injuries catch up to her and she leans on her axe for support.
"I vote we stop fer a rest. I got the s**te beaten outta me 'n' Broighton's just avoided gettin' cooked. If we run inta anyone else 'ere, odds are we'll get crushed."
Brighton simply nods in agreement.
Anevia speaks up Well, the dwarf was obviously camping here...but I'm not sure I trust this spot.
Horgus also speaks We need to keep going! This place is a deathtrap and the longer we stay the worse our odds are.
Aravashnial mourns his summoned celestial eagle I was going to summon a most beautiful specimen from the plane of Elysium.
"Excess haste can kill us all just as well as excess temerity." Belledonna replies to Horgus' chivying. Turning once more to Aravashnial, she queries. "What 'spells' have you still?"
Aravashnial brightens a bit at the thought of talking about magic Well, I can still summon a few planar creatures, I can protect myself with a few minor magicks as well as turn invisible. My arrow of acid spell is now useless, can't really aim now can I?
Horgus mutters darkly magic....
"Comes this power from within, or must you study your 'spells'?" She continues her questioning before turning once more to respond to Horgus' muttering. "Magic is a tool & a weapon, if we wish to leave this...
place, we will undoubtedly need all of such we have at our disposal."
Ignoring Horgus' complaints and everyone else at the moment, Victrix finds a spot away from everyone else, kneels before her axe, and starts praying.
"Anahera i runga, e kore e ahau i inoi ki a koe i te aroaro o. Kihai i ahau whakaaro koutou tika o taua mea. Rave rahi tangata pai me nga wahine kua mate hoki to koutou tohe, e toku whaea, me te papa engari e rua. Ko ahau te kawa, te wahine o muri ka. Me inaianei koutou e ahau."
"E mohio ana tenei: kia ārahi koutou aku hoa e ahau, me i te pouri, ka tu ahau ki te tai rewera i roto i tou ingoa. Kua tangohia e ratou nga mea katoa ko toku ora i ahau. Na me tango e ahau hoki."
"Homai ki ahau te kaha ki te mahi i tenei, ka tohe ahau o koutou."
"A, ki te kore koutou e whakarongo, na ki te reinga me a koutou!"
"Know this: should you guide my companions and I from the dark, I will stand against the demonic tide in your name. They have taken everything but my life from me. Now I must take it back."
"Grant me the strength to do this, I beg of you."
"And if you're not listening, then to hell with you!"
Belledonna snorts mildly at Victrix' prayer, but the smirk curling her lip is not one of mockery.
Finishing her prayer, Victrix rises. Her limbs ache with fatigue and her armor is spattered with mud and blood.
She looks over at Belledonna, hearing her snort.
"What?"
Belladonna's only reply is the smirk broadening into a grin, accompanied by a silent chuckle before turning to examine what gear the cavern's inhabitant possessed.
Brighton seems to be unaware of the conversation going on about him. Oh Father Torag, grant your servant healing as a forge repairs a blade. Take away the exhaustion and give me the strength to move forward.
He grabs the hammer and forge silver holy symbol and rests it on his forehead.
He looks up and gets to his feet. "Father Torag has granted me some measure of healing to move forward." he says simply.
Victrix sighs as Belledonna walks off, turning and leaning against the wall. Her body aches with pain from her injuries, and the muscle fatigue she's enduring would fell a normal man.
"So, who do ya suppose gets what?" She says, gesturing to the haul Konny procured.
The party backtracks about an hour to the shrine, which remains calm and peaceful and has the faint echo of hammers ringing inside of it. Horgus complains the entire time that you are wasting time, but he does not make a motion to leave the party.
Everyone rests enough to feel like 8 hours and recovers their abilities, everyone heals 4HP, the shrine seems to be an extra safe place to rest.
Victrix awakens, feeling the cold of the snowflake on her cheek before it disappears. She scrambles for her axe.
No one calls me that anymore.
As she picks it up, a sharp pain shoots up her arm, causing her to wince.
Blighted idiot angel taking on a sodding Giant... what was she thinking--wait. Were the angels listening?
The thought gives her pause as she struggles to her feet. Her face pales.
"I would like the cloak, but I gues I am not the only one" Konny grins. "My second choice is the cross bow as ranged weapon might come in handy if we meet more flying bastards."
Victrix shoots a tired grin at Konny.
"I don't 'ave much use fer crossbows. Take too long ta load." She says, resting her hands on her knees. "Tha cloak, on the other 'and... well, I'd loike it, but I'm sure anyone'd make good use o' it."
She appears distracted from waking up... like part of her is still pondering something.
That dream... was that some kind of sign? And 'remember my oaths?' The only oath I gave willingly is the one yesterday... if that angel was counting the ones the Inquisitors made me swear, those don't sodding count.
Brighton's rest feels feels extra refreshing in a shrine to Torag. When he awakes, he kneels and says a prayer to Torag while pulling out some iron tools and working on the broken warhammer head. Anyone coming up to him and asking about these actions he responds by offering to sharpen their blades or balance the blade connection in the hilt.
When he finishes he nods in a satisfied manner, packs his tools carefully back into his backpack and stands up. "We must move forward, every moment we spend trapped in here could mean less chance of survival." He takes a loaf of bread and a hunk of cheese out of his backpack, breaks and passes around to the group, including offering any to Aravashnial, Anevia, and Horgus.
"Agreed. Let us hope nothing new has crawled into that cavern since then." Belledonna replies after looking through what remains of the provisions she had shared & they had found in their initial explorations. Having done so, she steps over to Aravashnial to assist him in avoiding obstacles as the group proceeds.
Victrix moves over to help Anevia get around, as she normally does.
She's still injured, but not complaining.
The party ventures back to the same cavern where Milorn met his fate at the end of Konny's hammer. They find that his body has been savaged and very little remains of his....remains. Some large thing has torn apart his body like so much offal.
Horgus stifles a retch and Anevia averts her eyes, Aravashnial inquires as to why it smells so horrendous.
Will the party stay to investigate or move on to the tunnel which curves upward a bit?
Victrix cringes. "Ugh... nasty."
"Well, Aravashnial, the reason it smells 'orrible in 'ere is because that mad dwarf's corpse got torn ta bits. Yeh could fit what's left of 'im in a mug." She says, in response to Aravashnial's question. She braces herself for the inevitable revulsion.
"Doubtless the scavenger, or scavengers, tore the bowels when consuming the corpse. Offal rarely smells sweet." Though her nose wrinkles at the odor of ordure, Belladonna's expression shows little of the discomfort the others may be feeling.
Konny looks at the remains.
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"The poor dwarf. Torag take you and forge you into a new soul."
Brighton relays to Aravashnial the scene.
Konny notices the remains of a tooth. Aravashnial begins with his explanation Well, undoubtedly those fiendish Darkmantles I was speaking of earlier found this corpse and decide to feast. I would believe that... Konny says what he saw and Aravashnial deflates a bit Oh, well that is probably the canine of a Cave Lizard...a more mundane creature. Horgus snorts in derision at the elf You and your damnable theories...more trouble than your worth.
Anevia takes up for the elf Horgus, he might not always get it right but at LEAST he is TRYING. You could emulate the Master Elf a little more yourself.
Victrix sighs as she turns to Horgus.
"Horgus, if yeh 'ave a problem with Aravashnial bein' 'ere, just say it now. If yeh're going to continue loike this, I'd loike ta know just what it is about Aravashnial that pisses yeh off."