Wake up friends there's fey to kill
Grab up your cold iron we know the drill
They're up to no good
They're fey from the hood
So come on! Fight with purpose and will!
Cyanne inspires courage and grabs her rapier.
"Kaz, if Luthor's out of Hexes, why don't you heal yourself like you've done before? When we were in battle with the werewolf, you and I, you got wounded. But you touched your wound, almost without thinking about it, and it healed."
She grins at his shocked expression and hugs him. "Kaz, don't go all modest on me now. You're one of Erastil's holy knights. He brought you back from the dead. He clearly has plans for you, and has given you a few divine abilities so that you can carry them through." She takes his hand, lays it on his chest, and says, "Think about your purpose. Think about Erastil, and pray for the strength you'll need in the coming battle. Come on, you can do this!"
Lali scrambles to her feet, barely avoiding the creature's attack. Something about it looks familiar but she hasn't placed it yet.
Jinkin Gremlins match Erinats in terms of sadism, but much prefer to lay the pain on themselves. They have a knack for finding weak spots (sneak attack) and are able to, in large enough numbers, inflict powerful curses upon their enemies.
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Kaz stares at Cyanne in stunned disbelief, barely registering the manipulation of his own hand. "I'm what?" he asks blankly, looking from Cyanne to the others and back again. "That... that isn't possible," he says, his voice flat, shaking his head. "I'm not a holy knight, Cyanne, I'm..." He shakes his head more vigorously, as if trying to convince himself of that fact. Hadn't he always felt something, though? A sense of purpose that he'd always chalked up to faith, a conviction and sureness that drove his actions? Hadn't those prayers always genuinely felt as if they were being answered in some way?
"... maybe you're right," he concedes, "But I don't know why I'm the one he chose. I thought holy knights rode white horses and fought demons, not draft animals and gremlins." With one final beseeching look at the aasimar, he sighs heavily, shifting his hand slightly. "Alright," he murmurs. "Let's see if you're right." And Erastil, forgive my doubt as the father forgives the wayward son...
Jerking his hand away as if burnt, he staggers backwards half a step before sitting heavily, leaning on his own knees. "How long have I been doing this and not knowing?" he asks hoarsely, from somewhere between his shoulders. "How much pain could I have spared myself?"
The yells and chittering wakes Kaz with a start and he rolls over, grabbing his axe and clumsily stumbling to his feet. "Get back!" he shouts, brandishing the cold iron weapon, unfamiliar in his hand.
Cyanne shrugs while Tango climbs on Kaz's head, curious about the magical goings-on. "Why are any of us chosen? Why did Lali have to grow up hard, fighting monsters? Why did Daen's family send him off to a dueling academy rather than being allowed to continue his self-taught magic studies? Why was I born aasimar, rejected for my oddness? Why did Lirpeth and Aron go out of their way to take Luthor and I in, and give us love, education and the freedom to make our own choices?" She touches the healed wound, then looks back up at Kaz. "I don't presume to know the will of the gods. All I know is this: the world is a far better place with you in it. Do we even need to know the reason? All that matters Kaz, is that you are."
Then Tango hangs upside down, forcing Kaz to look at him cross-eyed. Cyanne laughs and scoops her familiar back to her own shoulder. "As for the white horse, we can always dye Surefoot, if that would make you feel better... But let's wait on those demons. You may be ready to battle them, but these Gremlins are more than enough challenge for me!"
At Kaz's question about how much pain he could have spared himself, Cyanne looks down and slumps. "I'm sorry. I... would have told you earlier, but I thought you knew. Can you forgive me, Kaz? If I had told you about this before the fight at Oleg's... Oh Kaz, you might have lived!"
The Jinkin pressing Laliytsa takes another stab, thrusting into her armor and leaving a nasty bruise, but otherwise failing to get past her defenses. The other moves around the fight, circling across the tables and trying to find a spot to assist its fellow gremlin.
”Jinkin Gremlins. They cast curses an’ hit weak sp- DANGIT GET OFF” Laliytsa barks as the gremlin’s sword pokes her right behind the knee. She automatically swings her leg back and tries to kick the gremlin across the room.
The half elf moved into position, swinging his glowing sword against the gremlin.
Cyanne gleefully leaps on to the table and attacks the nearest gremlin, blue hair blowing freely around her face as she gleefully leaps into action.
Gremlins, so many gremlins,
Swarming this facility
Where do they come from?
I ask with some incredulity
But we can take on these rude fey
With music, fellowship and agility
Friends, come on, and fight
Together we have the ability!
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"There's no knowing." Kaz's voice is muffled by his own chest as he speaks, his shoulders sagging, his hands limp over his knees. "And that's what makes it so frustrating." He clenches a fist, stares at it a moment, then sags again, shaking his head. "There's no way of knowing, Cyanne. Maybe that would have saved me... and maybe it wouldn't." He stretches out on his bedroll, staring at the dingy ceiling of the Burnt Onion, rubbing the scar at his neck. "And we'll never know whether it would have saved us all that trouble."
Stripping off his armour, he pauses, brushing his fingers over the arrowhead scars in his chest. "You're right," he sighs. "The reasons don't matter. All I can do is what Erastil has planned for me." Whatever that may be...
Even as Laliytsa punts the tiny creature across the room, Kaz follows it, finishing with a brutal swing.
Stretching his hand out in front of him, Luthor turned towards Cyanne and the gremlin she was fighting. Palm forward, fingers bending halfway into a clawed grasp, he intoned a single word, his voice seeming to echo for several seconds with an otherworldly tint. "Down!!!"
The (blue) jinkin looks at Luthor, glaring and straining, before throwing itself onto the ground with a tiny thud. The other gremlin (red) goes flying through the air with a squeal as Lali gives it a swift and surprising kick. Armed with Cold Iron weapons, both Daen and Kazimir are able to quickly finish off the two prone and very confused gremlins.
The remainder of the night passes without more disruption than a few clittering footsteps from below, and before long, it's morning. By the time the party is ready to go, the foul mixture of beer, vomit, and gremlin blood has congealed into something truly disturbing. Three or four different sets of footprints lead off through the much, though where they were going, only an expert tracker would be able to decipher.
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"Luthor, if you will, some lights would be nice." he spoke politely but without much emotion, his mechanical mind focused on the task at hand. "I'll go in first, then Kaz, Luthor, Cyanne and followed by Lali, unless someone has a reasonable objection. The sooner we can finish this, the faster we can enjoy the rest of our time here with good food and company." He steps into the tunnel, keeping his eyes darting to and fro, inhaling any information that would give him an edge against his enemies.
"Ugh! These goblins are truly disgusting creatures. Let's rid this town of this unfortunate blight. I imagine we can smell this from Oleg's." Despite the unfortunate interruption last night, Daen was still in a fairly good mood. He was slightly distracted by the thought of going to the bakery later. He hoped that he would turn out to be acceptable to her relatives. It would be nice to have at least one family to be able to visit providing things did not go quite as bad as they thought they might.
"Agreed!" Then she adds, "Ugh. They have several gremlins whose main attack was barfing on people. This hardly fits with my idea of being a dashing adventurer."
Laliytsa wrinkles her nose in disgust "Smells just as bad the second time 'round." The footsteps are a mess but maybe she can figure out some of them?
Kazimir, too, is able to stomach the strong stench, but Luthor feels his stomach heave and turns a shade of green no person should turn. From the south, along with the sounds of slowly dripping, rancid beer, comes a laughter, then a scream. It's a scream that's not unlike that Laliytsa and Cyanne heard during their first visit to the Burnt Onion...
If there's a scream in there, there could likely be a hostage. But then again, these creatures did like their tricks. "Let's move in. I can't be hopeful for a better smell in the near future, but I'd like to get this over with so we can actually enjoy the rest of our stay in this town."
He stepped gingerly through the basement, hoping to find places that would not leave the nasty smell on his boots as he went forward into the hole.
The scream annoys Cyanne so much she cannot pay attention to anything else. "That scream was how they drew Lali and I into a fight. They like to play the victim and then jump on us. Or barf on us. Or bite us." She holds her rapier at the ready. "But this time maybe we'll bite back?"
"Bleh, hopefully not." Luthor answered Cyannes last comment, sticking his tongue out and looking decidedly queasy. "If they are anything like your descriptions, I should think that would be worse for us than them." He managed a smile despite looking sick as a dog. "Heh, I get what you mean though."
Pausing for some deep breaths, he intoned the words and made the motions, four lights springing to life a few feet above their heads. Oh his shoulder, Rikka appeared to be riding out the same nausea Luthor was feeling, slumped across the back of his neck and fairly immobile.
Laliytsa walks around the tracks like a shark circling a boat. ”Mammal prints goin’ off North. Heavier set goin’ back to the tunnel. With the screamin’ and all….thinkin’ the gremlin’s at odds with themselves. New group comes in fer mischief an’ pisses off the locals? Could explain it.”
She pauses. "An' we needa buy nose plugs. Ain't the worst thing I smelled but sure is powerful"
Luthor's Light spell elicits a chorus of howling, coughing protests from a small room to the north, the door of which quickly slams open and disgorges a handful of gremlins Cyanne and Laliytsa recognize all too well as grimples. Another gremlin, a nuglub this time, pulls itself out of the hole in the floor and advances toward Daen, claws out menacingly.
Being within a mere step from the largest of the goblins in sight, Daen saw what he could do to take care of it quickly. Dropping into his martial stance as he advanced, his off hand began tracing a rune in the air as his new cold-iron sword suddenly blazed into into a familiar blue eldritch glow. "You are designated for extermination."
Two consecutive strikes slice deep into the creature's flesh as Daen spins on his heel, looking to see what could be done about their attack from the rear.
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'You are designated for extermination'
I repeat the phrase with approbation
Perhaps the reasons why need enumeration?
So, let me further your education
One: The contemplation of your regurgitation
Makes my innards clench
Turning upside down as they wrench
How the hell do you handle the stench?
You're interfering with my respiration
The Burnt Onion needs fresh ventilation;
Top to bottom renovation
Clearing each abomination
Two: You’re past rehabilitation each generation
Delighting in filth and misery
A cruel and sadistic history
Of deceit and endless trickery
So let’s take this in summation
You gremlins are my nomination
For Aldori Dueling Sword bifurcation
Wish I could give you all constipation!
Cyanne decides not to move, so that she can stay between the gremlins and Luthor, but she keeps her rapier out.
Laliytsa draws one of her new cold iron arrows, aims at one of the grimples and lets the arrow fly.
Going cloudy eyed as had become practically customary by now, Luthor reached a hand towards Kazimir, his consciousness momentarily merging with someone or something, willing fate to bend.
At his waist, the other hand reached for his dagger almost automatically.
Both Kazimir and Laliytsa bring down their respective grimples, the arrow zipping into one and Kazimir smashing into the other's skull with a vengeance. Daen's sword cuts through the nuglub as well, leaving the battlefield much less cluttered than it looked only a moment or two before.
For the remaining grimples' parts, one rushes Kazimir, gnashing its teeth in a futile effort to get through the man's armor. The other flicks its arms, spreading disgusting flaps of skin, and launches clumsily into the air like a one-winged fly, careening up and out of the hole in the ceiling.
Cyanne attempts to position herself in a flanking position...
...but can't quite do it without opening herself up to attack. So she tries to hit grimple on Kazimir instead.
Daen bounds across the narrow passage way, dodging past Luthor to partially protect him and partially to get to the final grimple. Succeeding a bit on the first, he takes a quick stab toward the fey, but drives the point of his glowing sword into the wall instead. "Hells." he mutters under his breath, using his weight to leverage the blade out of the wood.
Knowing the other grimple is out of the way, the swordsman raises his voice. "Lali, can you still see our escaped quarry? If you can, shoot it down!"
Kazimir's swing is thrown off as Daen staggers into him, jerking his sword free, and his axe-head smashes into the floor inches from his own foot.
With the current fight very much in their favor, Luthor fought the urge to keep expending his power. It was like a pulsing will of its own, urging him to continue. But he suppressed it, all to aware that they might need it later. The cloudy haze leaving his eyes, he took to looking out for any more enemies.
The rancid stench of rot and fermentation wasnt doing his eyes any favors though.
”Keeps gettin’ weirder ‘round here” Laliytsa grumbles to herself. She follows Daen advice and targets the flying Grimple.
Of the many blades going after the grounded grimple, Cyanne's is the only one that makes contact, but it's enough to stop it in its tracks. Stuck cleanly through the chest, it glares at her for a moment, begins retching, and then keels over. Lali's second arrow finds its mark, bringing the grimple down with a splat that, fortunately, does not result in a vomit-explosion.
Winded by the excitement and the lack of fresh air, Luthor rested his hands on his knees. "Whew, if I wasnt missing the crisp green scenery of the Stolen Lands before, this just did it." He said, spitting on the ground and retching, a dry cough. Straightening back up, he pointed at the hole in the floor. "Took a moment to listen for any more of these things, and I could have sworn I heard, I dont know, laughter, from down there."
The half elf nods at Lali's expertise with the bow, shrugs at his poor display of swordsmanship at the end with the holy knight, but notes the blood on Kaz's axe with approval. It was obvious he was feeling better than before. Perhaps it just took him a bit to get used to his body after being what it went through. To his angel, he gave her a wink and the barest hint of a smile as he refocused his energy on the tunnel ahead. Her form wasn't perfect, but it was better than his was at the end, so he didn't have any right to mention it.
Noting Luthor's fatigue, he listened to his perceptive ears. "Let's move ahead then, same order as before." He considers the tight quarters for a moment and then comments to Kazimir. "In tight spots like this, sometimes it's good for the second to carry a long spear or bardiche. If we run into anything, and we can't get side by side, we can both still attack with the proper equipment." He waits for just a moment and then adds. "Perhaps some drills will help us avoid embarrassing mishaps like the one we just experienced as well."
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The wink and the hint of a smile nearly undo her. Steady, Cyanne. He hasn't made up his mind yet. But she cannot keep her hope from soaring high, like a bird.
She grins at the mention of drills as she follows. It's always practice with him. Always so determined to get everything just right. But perhaps... Perhaps someday she can help him with drills and practices of her own devising.
As the party makes its way down the narrow tunnel and into the wide cave Lali and Cyanne found, the sounds of laughter grow louder, mixed now with a few sobs. The cavern itself contains only a few grimples and one strange, taller creature. It's emaciated, with glowing green eyes half the size of saucers and a pair of giant, floppy ears, and as the party enters into the cave, it turns its giant eyes toward Daen. A moment later, he feels a sharp pain that fades quickly, replaced by overwhelming hilarity.
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Never has anyone heard their resident half elf laugh excepts snorts of derision due to his fairly sour nature. One would probably have guessed that when overwhelmed with mirth that he was so awkward at it. His face looked like it was in pain as he began laugh, remaining completely silent as the edges of his closed eyes began to slightly tear up. Then the strangest sound erupted from him as he fought for breath as a combination of a pig's snort and a drowning man's gasp.
This happened several times as he valiantly fought to speak, but ended up doubling over again in silent laughter. He never thought poison was this funny before, but it seemed like a fey prank to him.
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Lali sends two arrows zipping toward one of the grimples, slamming it to the ground with the force of the first impact (which makes the second one miss).
One of the grimples takes the opportunity to rush toward Kazimir, chomping down with its putrid jaws and causing bruising, but not actually getting through the man's armor. The other retches, eyes bulging from its skull as it struggles to hold its stomach's contents inside, then unleashes a disgusting wave of projectile vomit over both Kazimir and the other grimple's heads. A moment later, it splashes into the rocks above Laliytsa as well.
A moments look of concentration, followed by a blank stare as his eye filled with clouds again, Luthor lazily moved one arm in an arc, stretching it and pointing, at Cyanne this time. He remained in place, the only movement being Rikka who popped out her head, eyes white and cloudy like her masters.
"Get off!" Kazimir grunts, kicking at the grimple before taking an ineffectual swing at it.
With Daen incapacitated and a Fortune Hex now on her, Cyanne chooses not to sing this round, instead moving forward to attack the yellow gremlin.
The yellow grimple dies to Cyanne's sword strike, keeling over before slowly hemorrhaging bile from its stab wound. Meanwhile, the other gremlin floats over to Cyanne, shifting its eyes from Daen before swiping at claw at her.
Lali's arrow seems to bend backward, whining through the air before vanishing and reappearing just in front of Cyanne. With no time for her to dodge, the arrow lodges itself in the meaty part of her calf.
For its part, the surviving grimple continues its struggle against Kazimir, gnawing and gnashing ineffectually against the man.
Enemy: Swipe!
Lali: Oops!
Daen: Laugh!
Grimples:
Kazimir:
Cyanne:
Luthor:[/ooc]
"Well thats new!" Luthor shouted as the arrow thudded into Cyanne. "Interesting even, if not for the lethal part." He added as he hurried to Cyannes side.
Wordlessly grabbing her ankle and waiting for her to stand still, he yanked the arrow free, the hand grasping her ankle glowing brightly before any blood had a chance to escape the wound.
"Ahhhhrgh!" Cyanne screams but remains perfectly still as the Luthor extracts the arrow from her calf.
"Thank you, Luthor. How did it do THAT?" Cyanne's eyes narrow as she looks at the tall gremlin in front of her that somehow just turned Lali's arrow. "You're interesting, but way too dangerous to have around."
She breathes in, trying to remember Daen lessons despite the pain still searing in her thigh. Breath. Focus. Control. Footwork.
She hits with some accuracy, but not a lot of force.
Finding that the smaller gremlin is having a hard time getting through the leather on his legs, Kazimir decides to ignore it for now. Instead, he focuses his attention on the gremlin that had turned Laliytsa's arrow backwards, pushing the smaller foe aside in his movement, hurrying around to the other side of the creature.
He tries to focus on Cyanne's words. Think about your purpose. Think about Erastil, and pray for the strength you'll need... His lips form the old prayers, his eyes closing; the world seems to slow around him as he focuses on faith, on determination, on...
Anger.
When he opens his eyes, his axe glows green, the green of fresh growth and summer grass, and his eyes are edged with a clear blue. "You will harm no-one!" he growls, the axe swinging with strength of faith and arm.