Tasha tries to flank with Ederion, but finds that Aster has already taken her spot. She slams her shield upon the deathgoat once, but she's too tired for the others to land with any effect.
The Deathgoat looks quite battered, but not dead yet. Again it turns ethereal and charges the hapless Areene, passing right through Ederion. It returns back to physical form just before impact, headbutting her right in the gut. There's a loud crack, and Areene falls over, crumpled in half. A green goo bubbles from her flesh, reaching towards the green light of the goat's lantern, which coalesces and reaches in return. Before touching, the goo bubbling from Areene swiftly pulls away.
The lantern is creating a death effect. It is trying to suck out Areene's soul for itself. Areene must still be alive, and her unconscious willpower has so far refused to die out. She needs to be healed, or the deathgoat destroyed, as soon as possible, before her willpower or lifeforce falters. The goo here is not the same as the substance found in the Aboleth's lair. This green goo is otherwise known as ectoplasm.
* swim swim *
Without another word, Ederion steps up to the creature and stabs again.
"NO!! You- " Aster's spews a series of vile insults in a variety of languages
Abandoning her flanking position, she runs to Areene's side, not carring if the goat tries to hit her, grasps her hand and pours all the healing she can into her.
Ederion tries to stab the undead goat again, but unintentionally stabs the stone-hard horns of the beast, which his rapier fails to get through. Aster ignores the creature's hoof, which not only misses, but is completely useless against her silver resistance. She bends down and heals up Areene with so much energy that she almost jumps right up.
"Thank you, is the monster still here?" She asks, completely oblivious to the goat's silent menace.
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Tasha hustles after the Deathgoat for another strike, hopefully the last. Rather than putting all her weight into it, she goes for a more accurate shield bash. It works, toppling the undead onto its side. Ederion is then able to finish it off with a final stab into its head. The undead goat ceases to move, and the green light winks out.
----------------------
As the light winks out, there's a cry of draconic voices. They're quite a ways away, so at least everyone will have a little time to prepare.
"Does anyone need healing?" Aster asks as she helps Areene up to her feet. "More things are coming. Stay behind me, if you can." she tells the other woman, through fuzzy snout.
[dice=Bazzle Will]1d20+1
[dice=Rounds]1d4+4
Bazzle runs again. This time away.
"I am good Aster, but this is not gonna be pretty" - Ederion replies, reaching for his mutagen and downing it, the familiar feral features making themselves evident - "They can see us from afar, and most of us cannot see them back. Rex, Ondisso and Bazzle are under the creature's spell. So... I will try to delay them while you regroup. Do you have any magic that could help Tasha see in the dark? If you do, use it and Tasha lets go. Otherwise stay and defend"
He does pause for a split second next to Areene - "Stay safe" - and runs off into the darkness.
Aster is pleased to hear that no one requires any healing.
Areene replies to Ederion "I'll try." There's a sad feeling of helplessness, but also an underlying bitterness about her simple response.
As Rexandi and Bazzle flee, the magic overwhelming their senses fades away. The goat is dead.
Finally free from the gut-wrenching, mind-numbing panick, Rexandi pauses to get her bearings, then swims to rejoin Ondisso, hoping that she can somehow help him get himself back in order and maybe lead him back to the team.
Aster shakes her head, "No magic to help others see in the dark, sorry. Be careful!" she insists before she concentrates on summoning a celestial giant frog to help defend Areene and Ondisso.
Bazzle turns about and makes his way back. Looking for the crack as he does.
Bazzle spots the crack of lightning, the ancient heirloom weapon of the merfolk, which he races back to. Aster begins summoning a giant celestial frog . Rexandi races back towards Ondisso, while Ederion chugs a mutagen and Tasha protects Areene.
The enemy advances! Leading the charge is a giant weasel carrying two lizardfolk on its back. Behind are about a half dozen kobolds, and then finally the halfling from before. They are still a ways away, but another round of running will close the gap very quickly.
Rexandi swims up to Ondisso and tries to get him to shake off his fear. He takes hold of her hand, and while shaking, slowly regains his senses.
"Tasha, I have a spell that will focus your rage on the enemies but will take your mind away from protecting yourself. Do you want me to cast it on you?" Aster pauses a moment to see if Tasha wants a rage spell on her. "Areene, step back behind the barrel. They have javelins. Attack anyone who steps next to you that isn't us."
Bazzle dives prone and crawls toward the brush hoping to get a good spot to hide in.
Tasha accepts Aster's spell, then hustle forwards to meet her enemies. Meanwhile, Bazzle drops down and hides within the overgrowth so well, that it will be difficult to spot him unless they practically walk overtop of him.
The enemies all move closer. None of them have any clue of Ederion and Bazzle's hiding spots. They are converging on Tasha.
Bazzle shifts forward in the grass.
He takes aim with Crack and throws his trusty returning dagger hoping to get two shots in on the weasle. I would love to see those lizards bite if the weasle goes down. Might be fun to have a pet weasle, a giant one no less. Oh well.
The gnome drops down low to the ground.
After a moment to study their opponents, Ederion bursts out from hiding, somersaulting toward the weasel and the lizardfolk, trying to avoid any incoming attacks.
Then without hesitation he thrusts at the first rider.
Bazzle unleashes a bolt of lightning at the weasel, followed by a dagger. Unaware of the attack, the lizardfolk cannot protect their mount, and so the lightning shocks the creature into unconsciousness instantly. As the Lizardfolk fall, one of them is struck in the shoulder by the dagger, despite it being a very far throw. It doesn't immediately die, until Ederion stabs it in the throat. Ederion came in from the other direction, and the Lizardfolk weren't able to defend themselves until it was already too late. Only one lizardfolk remains, and they lay prone on their belly just 10 feet away from Ederion.
Rexandi casts dancing lights to give Ondisso something to follow in the dark as she keeps swimming back toward the group.
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The gnome had dropped low back into the grass. Likely not fooling anyone. However he jumped back up brushing himself off profusely. "Ants. There are ants here. Watch your step."
Exhaling, Tasha pushes forwards to meet the many foes, anger pulsing in her veins. "They can at least give me the courtesy of coming towards me.", she spits out, as she pushes to stand close to Ederion, bringing the shield down onto the lizardfolk.
Tasha's shield slams down hard on the prone lizardfolk's stomach, winding it completely. Still, the lizardfolk has a bit more fight left in them.
The kobolds start working to surround Ederion and Tasha, while the lizardfolk stands up. Tasha gets smacked by a little mace, but hits the lizardfolk hard. It nearly falls then and there, but casts a spell to heal some of its wounds. The halfling stays in the back and casts a spell on Tasha, but she manages to resist it with Aster's rage spell.
With the battle unfolding so far away, the oracle and her toad have to spend a bit of time hoping/hustling closer.
* swim swim (again) *
Bazzle moves toward the enemies around Tasha and moved to where he could flank with Tasha. The gnome attempted to shank the kobold with a pair of daggers.
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Giving the lizardfolk another brutal slam with the shield, the dagger in Tasha's hand almost slips away, before the enemy practically walks into it. Huh. Guess it is lucky after all., she ponders, before bringing down the shield onto another kobold. "Don't make me chase you again!", she roars at the halfling with the spell burning in her veins as she steps to the side to look at the swarming kobolds. "The goat won't work for the stew, but you look tender!", she jests.
Bazzle races over to one of the kobolds near Tasha. He doesn't have the same hatred as many of his kin, but nevertheless he shanks the kobold in the back of the neck, killing it instantly. He holds onto his other dagger, pondering what to do with it.
Rexandi finally throws herself onto land, but now she's flopping around like a fish.
Tasha brings down her shield hard on the lizardfolk, then watches as it runs itself through her lucky dagger. It collapses on the ground dead. Tasha shrugs and bashes the face in of another kobold, who gets thrown back several feet before eating dirt for its last meal.
[Ederion's turn[/ooc]
Standing his ground, Ederion stabs ahead again - "You can still surrender" - he urges their opponents.
Ederion skewers a Kobold upon his rapier. Whether his statement is interpreted as compassion or intimidation, the kobolds look absolutely terrified. Yet the Halfling looks only slightly concerned. He shifts his stance, which suddenly creates a mirror image of himself. Then he casts a spell, creating dozens of flaming skulls that move towards Ederion and Tasha like a screaming wall of fire. It passes through Ederion and Tasha, giving them light burns. Ederion's willpower is sapped as the skulls scream bloodcurdling cries. The Kobold that was caught in the blaze nimbly dodges the entire thing, though it looks absolutely horrified. It falls to its knees and drops its weapons. The other one tactically withdraws towards the steep hill.
/2=3
/2=9
evasion
Rexandi flops onto the shore, dismisses her alter self spell, and stands up to help Ondisso get back onto land.
Gumblegus the Bold goes after the kobold.
Aster moves forward, maintaining her spell.
"Ok then" - Ederion nods, takes a good look at their opponent, and advances on the halfling, piercing ahead.
Bazzle steps carefully to approach the kobold without drawing an attack. He moves in with his daggers flanking with Tasha. He buries the daggers deep in the kidneys of the kobold.
Ondisso is making progress, but he swims slower than Rexandi. With his human eyes, he has no idea what is going on so far away, although the screaming and flaming skulls clearly surprise him. He'll be on shore in just a moment.
Gumblegus the Bold valiantly hops forward to attack the surrendered Kobold, but the Kobold is too low to the ground for him to make a proper bite. Bazzle solves the problem by sneaking up from behind and jamming both daggers into the Kobold's kidneys, slaying it immediately.
Ederion stabs the halfling in the gut. He notices a faint illusion overtop of the creature, who he now realizes is no Halfling, but a Kobold. The Kobold is wearing studded leather armour, has a buckler, a little hammer, a gold crown, and an unholy symbol of Asmodeus with a flask attached to it. Tasha moves forward and cuts into the Kobold with her dagger before bashing with her shield. The Kobold is only just barely conscious. He takes a step back, then casts a spell on himself, turning him invisible. The other kobold runs at full speed away from the fight, screaming at the top of its lungs.
Drenched, angry, and thoroughly dispirited, Rexandi leaves her dancing lights behind on shore for Ondisso as she races after the kobold. She doesn't have to catch him... just get close enough.
Aster considers running with Rexi, to feel the exhilaration of chasing someone one, for once, but she won't leave her charge. So instead she keeps her magic flowing into Tasha and moves closer.
[ooc]will get to her frog later if
Aster considers running with Rexi, to feel the exhilaration of chasing someone one, for once, but she won't leave her charge. So instead she keeps her magic flowing into Tasha and moves closer.
"Not yet" - Ederion chuckles, quaffs an extract that allows him to pierce the veil of invisibility, and dashes after the halfling/kobold.
"If you keep on running instead of surrendering, you will regret it" - he advises.