Black tentacles fly up from the ground, lashing about wildly. The derakni and the grimslake and snatched and pulled to the ground. However, the tentacles simply slide off of the hag who continues to cackle! She appears to have magical protection of some kind.
Moving with horrifying speed, the bebilith scuttles over to Dejik, rearing hugely over top of her before it bites down with its fangs. Incredible pain shoots from the fangs as Dejik feels her flesh begin to rot.
Sarkast (11 dmg)
Ayesha
---
Bebilith
---
Nilus (3 dmg) (freedom of movement)
Arushalae
---
Grimslake (grappled) (6 dmg)
Jaruunicka
---
Dejik (16 dmg)
---
Derakni (grappled) (6 dmg)
Herzou
Nilus shouts FOR THE ROSE! as he turns his full attention to the demon attacking Dejik
Fly
Haste
Freedom of Movement
DR 6/Epic
Resist 5 to acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic damage
AC 27/17/25 vs the Bebilith
With the might of his Goddess behind him, Nilus swings down Radiance brutally, slashing into the abdomen of the bebilith. The resulting screech is horrid as the creature thrashes wildly from the incredible blow. However, remarkably, it stands and fights.
Arushalae produces a beautiful bow as she steps out behind Ayesha. With careful aim she fires off a single shot at the bebilith, with slams directly into one of its eyes. The enormous demon flips over onto its back, and its legs curl up as it dies from the two incredible blows.
The mighty hag shrieks in rage, and races across the air with the tentacles barely touching her. Seeing Sarkast isolated, she makes for the rogue.
"SIFKESH SLAY THE UNBELIEVER!" Black energy courses from her clawed hand as she reaches out and grabs Sarkast by the throat.
Meanwhile, the final grimslake struggles against the tentacles, breaking free! It races away from the tentacles.
Sarkast (11 dmg)
Ayesha
Nilus (3 dmg) (freedom of movement)
Arushalae
---
Grimslake (grappled) (6 dmg)
Jaruunicka
---
Dejik (16 dmg)
---
Derakni (grappled) (6 dmg)
Herzou
Sarkast sees the dark fire form as the hag flies toward him. Instinctively, he rolls back from the creature's touch. As he does so, one of the medals given to him by the queen begins to glow, and a radiance surrounds him, absorbing the hag's magic completely.
"My goddess is far greater than yours! Your evil magic cannot stop me, Sifkesh!"
Dejik continues to absorb Sarkast's wound, hissing as the bebelith bites down on her shoulder.
She steps back out of the reach of the grimslake and aims her bow at the hag again.
Sarkast 6 dmg (11-5LL)
Ayesha 0 dmg
Nilus 3 dmg (8-5 LL)
Dejik 50 dmg (16+5 LL + 29 dam, 2 Con dmg)
Dejik fires off a series of arrows, all of which deflect off of the incredible protections around the cackling hag.
Buzzing wildly, the derakni bursts out of the tentacles, flying straight into the air before it spasms wildly. The horrid drone of wasps fills the air, and soon you all find yourselves enveloped by massive swarms of stinging insects!
Meanwhile, the herzou simply stomps its way forwards before it leers over Nilus, huge and stinking.
Sarkast (17 dmg)
Ayesha (6 dmg)
Nilus (4 dmg) (freedom of movement) (poisoned, 1 dex/turn)
Arushalae
---
Grimslake (grappled) (6 dmg)
Jaruunicka
---
Dejik (32 dmg)
---
Derakni (grappled) (6 dmg)
Herzou
Swiping at the stinging wasps, Ayesha accessed her powers and a pea-sized drop of fire flew through the air. It expanded as it flew, and as it detonated int he air, a wash of flames covered the battlefield.
Nilus lashes out at the Grimslake
Nilus continues his Holy Assault!
FOOOOM!
The swarms vanish in an instant, annihilated by the fireball. The hag and the hezrou are both damaged by the fireball, although it doesn't seem to harm them too badly.
In the melee, Nilus slashes the Grimslake as the fire clears before turning and brutally attacking the behemoth hezrou. He drives Radiance into the thing's guts and it almost collapses before it snarls, still coming on!
Sarkast (-17)
Ayesha (-6)
Nilus (-19) (freedom of movement) (poisoned, 1 dex/turn)
Arushalae
---
Grimslake (-6)
Jaruunicka (-20)
---
Dejik (-47)
---
Derakni (flying, 50') (-6 dmg)
Herzou (-137)
As the fire blasts the courtyard, Sarkast once again rolls back. Flattening himself on the stones, he waits for the heat to pass before rolling back up.
Seeing that hezrou is near death, he screams and hurtles underneath the hag to drive his dagger into the demon.
The hag moves with astonishing quickness, clawing out at Sarkast as he leaps past but missing, and he gets past the hezrou without incident. He then rushes in under the hezrou, holding his breath against the horrific stench as he rams his daggers into its abdomen and tears down. The hezrou roars in horrific pain and collapses, trying to hold in its guts before Sarkast ends its demonic existence.
Arueshalae levels her bow at the hag, whispering a prayer to Desna as she begins firing again and again. Only on of the arrows penetrates.
The hag shrieks at the top of her lungs as more of her demonic followers dies, and she leaps upon Sarkast, clawing and biting at the rogue. As her claws connects, they latch on like iron vices, and she draws the rogue in.
Dejik responds by sending forth a burst of holy energy to heal the group. The derakni takes off and then wheels in the air, its horrid buzzing driving the group to madness. It spins to point a finger at Nilus before blasting him with dark energy.
Sarkast (-17 -42 +17)
Ayesha
Nilus (-2) (freedom of movement) (poisoned, 1 dex/turn)
Arushalae
---
Grimslake (-6)
Jaruunicka (-20)
---
Dejik (-30)
---
Derakni (flying, 50') (-6 dmg)
Nilus should not be confused.
Nilus will lash out at the Derakni if its within Radiance range
Sarkast winces as the hag's claws dig into his flesh and draw him toward it. As he struggles in its grip, he hears Nilus call out a word of magic. He wrests himself free, hitting the ground running away from the hag, toward the tower wall. He runs straight up the wall, then pitches himself through the air at the Derakni.
Sarkast 54 dmg (6+6+42)
Ayesha 21 dmg (6+15)
Nilus 19 dmg (3+15+1)
Dejik 71 dmg (50+15+6, 2 Con dmg)
Sarkast 6 dmg
Ayesha 0 dmg
Nilus 0 dmg
Dejik 14 dmg
Ayesha tries to slow the hag down with a spell, but watches in frustration as the spell fizzles mere inches from the hag's skin.
HP 89/89. Current AC: 23/15/19 +1 haste
Active conditions:
Active spell effects: haste
Arcane pool: 8/12 left today
Spells remaining: 1st 6/7, 2nd 4/5, 3rd 3/5, 4th 1/3
spells used: fly, vampiric touch, dimension door, haste, black tentacles, ray of exhaustion
Black Blade arcane pool 2/3
Mythic power: 4/9
pearl of power lvl 1 2/3
pearl of power lvl 2 1/2
The hag once again proves faster than Sarkast, brutally slamming him with a claw as he leaps into the air. However, he twists out of the way of the derakni's defenses and slams a dagger home on the flying creature.
On the ground, Nilus turns and slashes the grimslake to bits, killing it easily. Ayesha blasts the hag with a ray which she simply ignores, snarling as she tries to eat Sarkast's face. He founds himself beaten repeatedly by the enormous monstrosity before she snatches the squirrelly rogue up in her claws once more.
Arushalae, realizing that she's not having much luck on the hag turns and pulls some black-barbed arrows from her quiver, firing at the derakni. The arrows explode with white energy as they slam into the demon, and as the fourth one lands she sends it spiraling out of the air to crash into the rubble of the redoubt.
Sarkast (-6)
Ayesha
Nilus (freedom of movement) (poisoned, 1 dex/turn)
Arushalae
---
Jaruunicka (-20)
---
Dejik (-14)
Nilus wheels and charges straight at the Hag!
Mistress Dejik! Sarkast is most wounded!
By the Rose you will not win Hag!
Nilus charges the hag, and swings mightily, Radiance plunging into the foul creature.
Cousin--remember you worship the goddess of freedom! She'll help you.
Sarkast 69 dmg (6-5+68)
Ayesha 0 dmg
Nilus 0 dmg
Dejik 19 dmg
She pours healing energy into Sarkast, but its effect is reduced because he's so far away...
Sarkast 51 dmg (69-18)
Ayesha 0 dmg
Nilus 0 dmg
Dejik 19 dmg
Caught in the hag's grasp a second time, Sarkast says a prayer and wriggles free again. Being more careful to avoid its amazing reflexes, he moves a short distance while jabbing with his knives, motioning to Nilus to try to flank it.
Ayesha grimaced as her spells fell flat against the well-prepared hag. Still, it wasn't as if they were quite so threatened. Chanting a few words, she raked her off hand through the air in a twisting motion. Immediately, she flew through the air, landing right beside the hag. Her sword darted forward, slicing through air and aimed at the hag's neck.
HP 89/89. Current AC: 23/15/19 +1 haste
Active conditions:
Active spell effects: haste
Arcane pool: 8/12 left today
Spells remaining: 1st 6/7, 2nd 4/5, 3rd 2/5, 4th 1/3
spells used: fly, vampiric touch, dimension door, haste, black tentacles, ray of exhaustion, force hook charge
Black Blade arcane pool 2/3
Mythic power: 4/9
pearl of power lvl 1 2/3
pearl of power lvl 2 1/2
Ayesha soars across the battlefield to land beside the hag, but her attacks bounce off of the hag's incredible shielding. Sarkast also tries his luck, his attacks missing as well, although by a hair. Nilus does manage to land a solid hit, his blow partially turned aside by the hag's tough bones.
Back up by the tower, Arushalae fires repeatedly at the hag. Her first arrow flies perfectly, slamming into the left eye of the hag who shrieks wildly, tearing at her face. Astonishingly, she keeps on fighting.
Focusing her attacks on Sarkast, the hag keeps biting and clawing, trying to take out the plucky rogue. Once more her enormous claw snatches him up!
Sarkast (-97)
Ayesha
Nilus (freedom of movement)
Arushalae
---
Jaruunicka (-112)
---
Dejik (-14)
Sarkast 51 dmg (69-18)
Ayesha 0 dmg
Nilus 0 dmg
Dejik 19 dmg [/spoiler]
With her Status spell still active, Dejik feels Sarkast's intense pain, and she knows how close he is to death. Gripping the holy symbol of her mother, Dejik calls out to Iomedae, Shelyn, Desna--anyone who can hear her, really.
Dejik white eye shines like the moon as she steps up and touches Sarkast. You will not die, cousin! Do you hear me? I forbid you to die!
She then quickly chants a spell, ignoring the hag's threatening reach.
Dejik concentrates and pours as much healing energy into the rogue as she can.
Nilus unloads on the Hag
Sarkast feels the power of Dejik's prayer flow into him, keeping him alert despite the incredible damage the hag has done. Seeing that his own attacks have not been effective, he decides to continue to occupy the hag's attention so that the others can defeat it. With a prayer to Desna, he closes his eyes, letting the battle-fury consume him again. He then makes a token attempt to escape the hag's grasp while positioning himself to be better able to block its attack.
Ayesha, down to a minimum of spells and not able to penetrate the hag's magical shielding, resorted to magically honing her blade's edge and slicing away at the foul creature. She felt the edge slide in and catch on something viatal, and she twisted her blade with vicious savagery.
Clutching the blade that is her soul and her offspring, Ayesha leaps into the air. Darb N'ssiar cuts out beautifully, and the hag's clawed hand falls to the ground, releasing Sarkast. As she clutches the stump of her hand and begins screaming, Ayesha flips backwards, her scimitar cutting upwards. The blade bites deeply, cutting through the hag like a surgeon. At the apex of her jump, Ayesha twists, and slashes off the hag's head. With a crash, the gigantic monster collapses to the ground, dead.
End of Combat
Sarkast has just enough energy to roll out from under the falling hag, then he lies on his back, panting.
"Cousin ... you kept me alive despite that creature's great power. Once again ... you and your goddess both have my sincere thanks." He eyes the large wounds he still suffers and looks back to her. "Would it seem ungrateful ... to ask for further attention?"
He then notices the tiefling on the wall. "You ... you're the one who came to my dreams. I have many questions for you, but the first is ... do you know if there are others in this keep we need to be concerned with?"
Arueshalae spreads her wings and floats down to the ground. With the group being as well-versed in demons as they are, this is no tiefling. She is clearly a succubus. With a sudden snarl of rage she kicks the body of the hag.
"Back to the abyss with you Jaruunicka! I will no longer be tormented by you!"
Steeling herself, she then turns to the group. There's a bit of an awkward pause as she seems to try and figure out what to say. She locks eyes with Sarkast for a moment, and becomes extremely shy and uncertain of herself.
"I... am. Thank you. Thank you so much." She looks over Sarkast some more. "I know you, I was desperate and reached out to one of the only humans I knew. We met before, a long time ago when you were younger. I helped you then, and you have helped me in turn. This is almost too much. I truly know nothing of you though strangers, please tell me your stories and I will tell you mine. And we are safe here now... let's speak in the tower. The bell will protect us. There are no others here, just me."
Nilus regards this strange being, a Succubus and demon, and yet not evil.
Nilus kneels and says a prayer of worship to the Rose. Tears stream down his face as he witnesses the most profound evidence of the Rose's mandate that all may turn from Evil.
This display of fervor and faith lasts only a minute or so. Nilus stands and gives a deep bow.
My name is Nilus Romani, Servant of the Rose. I. I am so very pleased to meet you. Your very existence gives me such hope that my heart is filled nearly to bursting.
Ayesha landed in a crouch, looking over to see the headless body of the hag falling to the ground.
Thank you, my child. That was well done. Especially that bit at the end. I hadn't thought of that until you put it into my head. A sharp advisor indeed!
Standing, she saw Nilus genuflect before the succubus. "Don't read too much into that, dearie. Nilus is a bit given to extravagant gestures. But, he's a good boy, and means well. I am Ayesha, and am pleased to make your acquaintance. Let us move off to the place of safety that you mentioned before we continue. I have a feeling that there is a lot to discuss."
She waited until the worst of Sarkast's wounds had been healed, then offered him a hand to help him to his feet. She looked closely at the wounds on his chest and belly, then conversed with Dejik in low tones about the need for further healing.