Dalton, originally planning on enhancing the lycanthrope, detemined the powder weapons were too dangerous. Loose cannons, literally.
It was time for one less of them.
With a twist of his fingers, he tried to sunder the gun in the creature's right hand.
He then approached just inside the room. I must get a better look at all the options.
Rilka tries to disarm the undead, but fails again. Raul continues to swing blow after blow, but every mighty sweep is just pushed aside by invisible forces. Gabriel screams in pain as the spell kicks in, but he throws the brazier into the pit. The webs catch fire and it looks to be spreading quickly. Toramin strikes four times at Acera, and is the first one to pierce her massive defenses. Two blows rain down on her, leaving a bruise on her chest and bloody cheek. Bjorkus decides to return to the fight, flying back in. Dalton casts a spell at the undead's pistol, and with a small crack it appears something has broken inside the gun.
Acera looks in shock at the wounds she receives from Toramin. She steps back, pointing at him (pointedly ignoring the clearly frustrated Raul) "Xtirl di zaja!" A black ray flies from her hand and strikes Toramin, although it appears to dissipate slightly on contact. Still the dwarf feels slightly tired.
The undead gunslinger continues his bloody rampage, firing weapons by flipping them up and firing over his back to hit all four of his targets. Rilka gets winged by a bullet on the side of her scalp, while Raul takes a good slam to the shoulder. He levels his pistol at Toramin and pulls the trigger...click. He pauses, looks at the firearm, then it explodes violently into his face. He covers his face quickly and avoid the worst of the explosion, but it appears to have cracked his bones somewhat.
Rilka
Raul
Gabriel
Toramin
Bjorkus
Dalton
Enemy
Raul - 23 damage, 2 negative levels
Acera - VSS (Round 3) 28 damage
PS - 5 damage
Rilka ducks and weaves to avoid getting hit again while studying the pale stranger’s fighting style.
Bjorkus brandishes the wand, pondering where it will do the most good.
Toramin steps again and calls out in Terran for his mostly silent partner to flank the necromancer, menacing her from above. Toramin sends his chain at her three times, before Ymmir sinks back into the earth.
Gabriel screams, letting the pain from his body flow into his lungs. For a brief moment that scream becomes so high pitched it seemed like it might shatter glass though the tieflings power in that regard had been expended much earlier this day. Then he rushes down the stairs and moves into a perfect flanking position for Raul, hopefully giving the wolfman a chance to deal with the witch just as he arrives while also making it impossible for her to move away from them.
Dalton approaches Bjorkus and spends the last of his beneficial magic on him, conferring the strength he would need to strike his foes.
"That's about all I have left. Make it count!"
If things go poorly, I could try to draw the energy from beyond again, but that could cause any number of effects ... only as a last resort.
Fortunately, it seemed as if he wouldn't need to.
Seeing the sluggishness in Toramin's limbs after Acera's spell, Bjorkus zips down while chanting a charm of his own. It was a trick he usually saved for his conquests in the bedroom and really more illusion than actual curative but desperate times called for desperate measures. As he seizes the heroic dwarf's shoulder, a surge of wild energy fills him making the witch's malady practically forgotten.
Toramin feels life energy flow through him, looking up he sees a flying bull. "You came back! I knew you would not abandon us in our greatest hour of need!"
Rilka studies her opponent. Gabriel runs down to help Raul flank. Raul continues his assault, but continues to have no effect. "G*~ d$*nit you b#+%!, die!" Toramin continues his attacks, landing two hits and one of them shatters her collarbone. She staggers down, breathing heavily. Dalton casts a spell on Bjorkus who in turn casts a spell on Toramin.
The undead gunslinger looks furiously at his broken weapon, then turns his anger to Rilka. He fires twice out of the same pistol in rapid succession, both clipping shots but deadly nonetheless.
Acera breaths haggardly, then steps forward and viciously grabs Toramin by the neck. "Hemata xtirl!" Toramin feels his life energy being sucked into the evil woman.
Rilka
Raul
Gabriel
Toramin
Bjorkus
Dalton
Enemy
Raul - 23 damage, 2 negative levels
Acera - VSS (Round 3) 28 damage
PS - 20 damage
Blood spurts from Rilka’s wounds and she collapses to the ground.
Swinging and missing while the drow necromancer chanted, Toramin has no idea what spell she just cast. He just knows that it hurts and hurts badly. Stepping back beneath the floating bull to avoid needing to shorten his chain, Toramin calls for Ymmir and swings again. After Toramin swings the elemental returns to hiding in the earth.
Gabriel grimaces, then screams again as the pain temporarily overwhelms him. This time there is no high pitched screech that could break glass, simply agony. But after the scream he felt better, a little. Now he knew the pain would come back. "Raul, Bjorkus, her defenses are two high for us. Help me pin her so Toramin can keep breaking through!"
Gabriel will hopefully move behind her, making sure she had to pay attention to Toramin as well, and drop the borrowed sword. His arms would attempting to snake around through hers and over her shoulder as he tried to get her into a headlock. It was a dangerous gambit but it would mean no more spells with all those fancy hand gestures. He hoped Raul was there beside him, helping to limit her movements.
Seeing that the dwarf is pummeling Acera when he couldn't touch her, he reaches down to tap him with one of the healing wands last bits of power.
Cautiously wary of the gunslinger - even in his reduced state, Dalton watched the enemies with contained excitement. They've done it! They've done it! Gaberiel had latched onto Acera, and with Toramin, Raul, and Gabriel nearby, she was surely done for.
But the relic remained missing.
The wizard drew in his sight beyond sight, scanning the field in front of him, making sure to get Acera and the undead warrior in his enhanced cone of clarity.
Raul finally manages to land a blow through Acera's defenses, but despite his strength it's only a scratch and the dark energy around Acera retaliates and leaves Raul reeling. Gabriel jumps on the back of Acera and manages to get her down to the ground. As soon as Acera realizes she's been grappled, she barks out "Duulo meage!" She immediately slips from the young paladin's grasp. Toramin continues his blunt assault, landing a miraculous two more blows and making Acera gasp in pain. Bjorkus heals Toramin to keep him going. Dalton begins searching for magic.
Crack! Crack! The undead continues his rampage. One bullet lodges in the back of Gabriel's leg. Then the other flies dead accurate, striking Toramin in the head but glancing off the side of his skull, almost causing lethal damage.
Acera weaves a spell defensively and points at Raul. "Soe lekil!" Suddenly Raul's eyes dilate and his expression becomes that of a wild animal. His form begins shifting to full werewolf, but then he shakes his head and growls, throwing off the magic.
Rilka
Raul
Gabriel
Toramin
Bjorkus
Dalton
Enemy
Raul - 39 damage, 2 negative levels
Acera - VSS (Round 4) 65 damage
PS - 20 damage
Gabriel is surprised when Acera snaps out of his hands with the sudden snap of a spell. But what follows next surprises him even more. He watches his friends head snap back and feels a sickening sensation in his stomach. A Gabriel shaped blur rushes to the Dwarf's side, his eyes wide with fear.
Bjorkus continues to heal the heroic dwarf from above.
”Raul!” the bull shouts. ”Ignore the witch and deal with the undead. Its weapons can’t pierce your hide!”
Toramin winces as the bullet leaves fractures in his stony facade. But, the dwarf bravely and relentlessly continues his hit and run assault on the formidable and surprisingly durable necromancer. Ymmir taking every advantage to confuse and harass their enemy.
"Raul!" Toramin shouts. "That gunslinger is killing us. You are an undead slayer. Stop him before he murders us all. Remember, you said the mission was more important than vengeance!"
Acera continues standing nearly invulnerable inside the midst of warriors beating on her. But Toramin's blows continue to shatter her defenses, and the signs are telling. After failing to incite Raul into a frenzy, she looks at Toramin with untold fury in her face. As he readies another blow she screams at him, face rending open and becoming an utter blackness of demonic fury. Then with a final blow of his dorn dergar, Toramin feels the magical defenses give way and he caves in the evil drow's head. Acera drops to her knees, then falls on the ground.
Toramin gives only the briefest of flashes of victory on his face, then incites Raul to attack the other threat. But his words fall on deaf ears as he howls his rage and lets his bloodlust take over, shredding Acera's corpse to pieces.
Bjorkus heals Toramin again while Dalton continues to focus, picking up over a dozen magical auras, most of them centered on Acera.
Rilka
Raul
Gabriel
Toramin
Bjorkus
Dalton
Enemy
Raul - 39 damage, 2 negative levels
Acera - dead
PS - 20 damage
Toramin takes a brief moment of pride in his work. Death was not yet done with him today. There was still the undead, mostly uninjured and still just as deadly. With Raul lost to them for the moment, their greatest weapon against him was absent. Toramin suspected that those bullets would only become increasingly dangerous as he drew closer but, better to die a hero than live a coward.
Gabriel steps up to the bestial man unafraid and yells, filling his words with the pain currently wracking his body. The pain didn't fade, though Gabriel had hoped it would. "Raul, she's gone to the void! Will you disgrace all your men she has slain, let their sacrifice be for naught, just to mutilate a corpse?! Do your duty and slay this aberration before it kills us, escapes here and harms the innocents you have so far FAILED TO PROTECT!"
"Lucky ladies, line 'em up, big old Bill will knock 'em down."...CRACK! A shot erupts from the pale stranger's gun, louder and brighter than before. This shot is in line right with his previous shot, but just a hair closer to the mark. Close enough to avoid being deflected and instead penetrate Toramin's skull.
Raul grabs Gabriel by the shirt, pulling him closer to Acera's corpse. Right before Gabriel's eyes he sees Acera's wounds slowly closing, healing themselves back into place.
Rilka
Raul
Gabriel
Toramin
Bjorkus
Dalton
Enemy
Raul - 39 damage, 2 negative levels
Acera - dead
PS - 20 damage
"Then follow the plan!" Gabriel growled. "Mindlessly mauling the body doesn't do anything. Bind the limbs and break her jaw."
Gabriel does just that, first binding her with the masterwork manacles he had been given.
Bjorkus prepares to heal the dwarf again.
Toramin staggers.
He really wants to sit down.
"Raul, only you can fight the gunslinger. Whether on not you fight him determines whether we live or die. Gabriel, bind her."
Toramin staggers.
He really wants to sit down.
"Raul, only you can fight the gunslinger. Whether on not you fight him determines whether we live or die. Gabriel, bind her."
With the clarity of the dying, Toramin orders his friends.
"Take the necromancer and bring her to Alia. If I move, I die anyways. Complete the mission. Honor my memory. Save Rilka if you can. Go!"
Gabriel takes out a piece of cloth from his endless supplies in his vest and attempts to gag Acera with it. If able, he'll sling the bound and gagged woman over his shoulder. Then he looks to Toramin, Bjorkus and Raul. The paladin had no intention of leaving anyone behind but that Gunslinger was too dangerous to stand against.
"Go, my friends! I'll be fine! Complete the mission."
Toramin puts on a brave face. Rilka was their leader. She had sacrificed herself to buy them time against the necromancer. He would sacrifice himself to see her safe.
The slowly dying paladin calls to his faithful elemental.
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It seemed life was a fickle thing. But so too was magic. Acera's powerful minions and magery had laid them worn and battered, but they still had the upper hand. She simply cannot be immortal. But I do not know how to unravel her. There were many things about which Dalton didn't know, however - even with his years of study. But the esoteric origins of magic itself were a horizon he could now glimpse, even if he could not chart it.
He approached the staircase somewhat, getting a good glance of the pistol-wielding menace, then deviated towards the party. Acera's power was testament to the power of the egg. Either it bestowed that type of extreme potency upon her or she was potent enough on her own to crave for it. Either way it - and she - were too dangerous to allow out. My providing the gun-wielder another target, perhaps he would spread his fire thin and allow the others a chance to escape and cleanse the necromancer permanently. And there's always a chance he will miss me...
Dalton was afraid. He'd been fearful this entire time. But the potent of this hellhole's hidden implications frightened him more. A demon portal with a b!!!* of a gatekeeper would be a hellish certainty compared to this gambit. And his mother - though her days were numbered - did not need them to be snuffed by this shadow.
And then there was the little fact an immense profit could be made here. Oh, yes - a small fortune. Just as soon as that pair is out of the picture...
Thus it was with the grace of guardianship in one eye and the glimmer of greed in the other the gluttonous goodseller gained gall: "May the road to revenge remain ever unending for you, specter!"
Dalton's hands spread wide and began to call his usual spell into being, but he perverted his ictus, stultified his syllables, and lost his sight.
In reality, he was looking inward.
Dalton calls upon a spell, but then twists to the words to release the rigid binds on the magic, letting loose the primal roots of energy. The effects seem to be negligible for a moment, then a pale, translucent spherical implement fades into existence above him, just barely visible. Suddenly Dalton is lifted into the air as his muscles snap out strait. The light around him darkens as black energy pours from his eyes and mouths, wrapping around his body.
Thin. Bone thin. Higher up. Powerful. As Dalton tries to get a grasp on his surroundings, he realizes that he's currently in possession of the pale stranger's body. He looks and sees his own body collapse to the ground, dark energy dissipating from it.
Dalton drops to the ground, black magic dissipating into thin air. The pale stranger sways curiously in place at the display, seeming enthralled by the event.
Gabriel binds Acera's fluctuation corpse as Bjorkus continues doing damage control. Dalton stands up and looks around with confusion, then down, then back up. He tears off his pack and begins frantically searching through it.
Rilka
Raul
Gabriel
Toramin
Bjorkus
Dalton
Enemy
Raul - 39 damage, 2 negative levels
Acera - dead
PS - 20 damage
"That cannot be good. Gabe, please take the necromancer to Alia. Hurry. Please."
Toramin stands very still to avoid causing bleeding, and begins to detect evil.
Ymmir's hand rise slightly above the ground cupping Rilka's bleeding form and begin to move her towards safety.
"Rilka needs healing more than I do. You are the only one here who can save her, Bjorkus."
With this last bit of healing, Toramin relaxes. The strength and vigor of the earth that sustained him flows back into the stones beneath his feet.
Rilka continues to bleed as Ymmir gently moves her.
The experience happened faster than Dalton could take it in. Speaking out-of-body to something out-of-life ... an inversion of the positive and negative energy planes? Nonono, that didn't make sense! This has the workings of a soul gem field. I've read about such vessels. But two life - or unlife - forms being vessels for each other is an intriguing evolution. Yet living bonds decay with the flesh - that is why gems are used. This cannot be permanent, and the range would have to be somewhat limited...
Though Dalton was not storied in the precise workings of such necromancy, his bird's-eye view of the process allowed him to understand it with ease. This could be a whole new way to research magic! Quite dangerous, yes, but the possibilities...
It took him a moment as he completely forgot the situation around him. Though it seemed like an hour in his head, it was only a few seconds in reality.
"Er ... Dalton isn't Dalton! Dalton is I! Grab him ... I mean me." Finally calling his alien new body into being, he pointed at his living self with his dominant hand. "Stop him!"
I absolutely detest this new voice!
"Dalton, is possessed! It might have been the last spell and it might be the puppet witch, but you guys need to move."
"Damn it. Worst timing possible." Gabriel grimaces, but drops the bound form of Acera. "Raul, keep her secure and if she starts to wake up, make sure that gag stays in. Hell, throw on a couple more sets of manacles to make it harder."
The Tiefling turns, then blurs toward his once friend. It only briefly crosses his mind that he actually didn't know Dalton that well and the half-elf might consider being called a friend too forward, but by that point he's almost on the man.
Gabriel tackles the possessed Dalton and grapples him. He struggles and even tries biting at Gabriel. "Get the hell off of me!"