The group wastes no time - you turn for the nearest side road and high-tail it out of there. Behind you, the Dreamer's howl continues to gain in volume.
End Combat Surprise Round
Begin Combat Round 1
Georgi
Tyrus
Dreamer
Dante
Luca
Tyrus runs through the mist into the unknown, his body wobbling painfully as he finally gets his bulk into motion.
Luca continued moving, having exactly no interest in slowing down until she truly believed they were safe. The things that haunted her had many talents, but dealing with ghostly figures wasn't among them... and hopefully whatever that figure was would decide the chase wasn't worth the effort.
The group keeps moving, hustling down the street, hoping to get away from whatever "territory" this creature considered its own.
But the Dreamer wasn't about to let them escape so easily. It must have followed, for it's howl seems no further behind. It gains in volume until finally it peaks in a piercing crescendo tinged with unearthly magic. In the midst of your run you are forced to cover your ears to try and block out the sound, as it feels like it will split your head in two.
End Combat Round 1
Begin Combat Round 2
Georgi
Tyrus
Dante (Staggered, 1/2)
Luca (Staggered, 1/2)
Dreamer
Luca and Dante reel from the effects of the Dreamer's cry, faltering in their steps.
Dante covers his ears to try and counter the ear-piercing screech. It does nothing to help. The sound rebounds around in his head and it takes all his mental faculties to keep from passing out. He can't hear the words but he has enough wherewithal to cast a spell and hold it when the dreamer comes running.
Luca's body staggered and slowed somewhat - but she kept moving, trying to put some distance between her and the group of undead. Even if she was going to stop, she was planning to do so well behind the lines...
Tyrus' steps slow as he sees Dante turn to face the oncoming horror. "Run boy!" he commands, but falters rather than overtake the lad.
'Not another foolish sacrifice! Dante will buy you and Luca time. Run!'
'He's brave, but he can't take this! He'll die! I at least have a chance!'
Desperately he turns to stand beside Dante.
"You've killed us both." he says calmly. He looks out at the horror, ready to strike when he sees it - though in the mist there would only be a moment. He gestures for Georgi to follow Luca. 'Maybe he can keep her alive long enough to get back.'
Georgi hesitates for a moment, but in the end does as Tyrus bids and follows Luca, drawing his ghost club as he moves.
Dante stands his ground, radiant positive energy brimming on his fingertips. The Dreamer moves for him and he unleashes the blast - but poorly aimed.
Then Tyrus strikes, focusing his will upon that of the Dreamer.
The Dreamer's will, though, is profoundly strong. Tyrus's attempts to enslave the undead creature are rebuffed with the merest of efforts.
The Dreamer moves quickly until it stands face to face with Dante, ignoring Tyrus completely. It's attention seems all for the young man.
As the Dreamer approaches, a wondrous transformation takes place. The creature seems to gain in solidity. The murderous features are replaced with a smooth, living, and beautiful face. Before you now stands a young elven woman, looking up at you with sad, but hopeful eyes.
"Help, please. They're killing us."
She reaches out to place a hand on your chest. Drawn to your strength, hoping for protection.
You see the Dreamer move to stand before Dante, it's eye intent on him. For some reason he seems to calm, losing his battle-stance and staring in rapt attention at the Dreamer, unafraid. The Dreamer sneers at him, hissing out something ugly and unintelligible. It reaches out a hand and places it on his chest, and he makes no attempt to avoid the touch. Immediately blood blossoms from beneath his clothing, but Dante seems not to notice.
End Combat Round 2
Begin Combat Round 3
Georgi
Tyrus
Dante (6 damage, Glamoured, Staggered 2/2)
Luca (Staggered 2/2)
Dreamer
"What's he doing? Snap him out of it!" Georgi shouts.
Dante has obviously fallen victim to some form of illusion or compulsion - but it seems that the Dreamer must concentrate to maintain it. Damaging the Dreamer may break the effect. Damaging Dante may also work - but it may also cause him to attack you.
Tyrus, bereft of other options, once again tries to get purchase on the dark mind of the Dreamer.
Luca let out a cry of fright as Dante was attacked - only for the scream to cut off a moment after it began. Her head snapped back down, and her body lurched slightly as she reached into the void. What appeared next to the Dreamer was composed of half-formed body parts and stood on two monstrous legs. A mouth full of jagged teeth dominated the creature's bulbous head, and its veins pulsed just beneath transparent flesh. Without hesitating, the creature bit out at the Dreamer - though it wasn't clear how effective it would be.
It didn't seem to be having any luck actually hitting the Dreamer, but it was definitely trying to be a distraction.
Dante turns to the others, a determined look in his eyes. "Guys, stop. I think we can reason with her." He notices one of Luca's summons pop into existence and attack the Dreamer. He flinchs away from the missed bite and looks affronted. "Luca. Call it off." He points his blade at it but takes no further actions.
"What? No fool boy! It's a trick, this thing is killing you where you stand! Fight! Fight!
"Thank you," the elf woman says adoringly as you gesture Luca's summoned monster away. Her hands slide invitingly up to your throat, as if to invite you in for a kiss.
Then the Black Blade's voice slices through your thoughts with a warning. You feel a moment of confusion. The woman's face blurs once again, then clarifies. Again. Again. A mask slipping.
You feel dull pain underneath her hands. Like glass shattering, the spell is broken, and a monster stands before you once more. Pain blossoms fresh and sharp from your throat and chest. You reel back, seeing clearly.
The Dreamers hands move up to close around Dante's throat, and the skin beneath them blisters and bubbles underneath the raw necromantic energies.
Then Dante shakes his head as if dazed, and cries out in pain, wrenching violently away from the attack he'd calmly accepted only a moment before.
"I need to help them!" Georgi says to Luca. "Stay here!"
End Combat Round 3
Begin Combat Round 4
Georgi
Tyrus
Dante (12 damage)
Luca
Dreamer
For a moment, Luca's eyes gleamed with eldritch light - but that settled down as he seemed to break free of some mental effect, and more relevantly, whatever powers Luca communed with realized this. Instead, the summoned creature lunged at the Dreamer again...
...without being particularly more effective than before, other than the fact that it was determinedly trying to attract the creature's attention. There was no verbal response from the girl, though, other than a slight groan that bubbled up from inside her.
"What?" Dante sees a glimpse of the truth through the illusion. The blade in his hand vibrated yet appeared to say nothing. Then a voice, as if far away, cries out. The form of the woman blinks to something awful. A crew of Fight! screams in his mind, shattering the illusion. Dante reels back from pain and disgust. His chest and neck hurt tremendously and he knew not why. But he knew who's fault it was. The thing before him had fooled him.
Fueled by that knowledge, Dante cries out with righteous fury. He flicks his blade, igniting it with electrical energy. Aiming for its head, he thrusts forward, expending a burst of lighting in the process.
Tyrus discharges his own blast of positive energy, hoping to cause the creature some harm.
The Dreamer manages to dodge aside at the last minute.
With the rest of the group flailing unsuccessfully at the Dreamer, Dante recovers from his distraction and takes his revenge. His blade plunges forward brimming with arcane energy. For moment the warrior fears his weapon will find no purchase on the ethereal foe - but then he feels resistance, and lightning arcs within the ghostly form.
The Dreamer let's loose a howl of pain and withdraws from Dante a step, pure unearthly hatred lighting its eyes. Then it darts backwards, receding into the mist, and seems to disappear.
End Combat Rond 4
Begin Combat Round 5
Georgi
Tyrus
Dante (12 damage)
Luca
Dreamer (18 damage)
Georgi hefts his ghost club. "Where the hell is it? No way it's that easy."
"Oh no you don't." Both his own voice and the blade echo the same sentiment. He takes a step forward and nearly collapses. Adrenaline had allowed him to ignore the damage he had taken but now it was catching up. He wasn't going to get far or be able to take it on toe-to-toe. His left hand and elbow cover his chest and neck wound to limit the blood flow. His right hand sheathes his blade. He waves his hand in the air and makes his two mist clouds disappear. "Someone please kill it."
Luca moved a little closer to the others - but moved cautiously as she went, not letting her guard down for a moment. Truth be told... she might not have been able to even if she'd wanted to.
Meanwhile, the creature Luca had summoned started sniffing the air - and her voice came out flat and even, with none of the anxiety on her face making its way into her tone. "This one has the ability to locate wrath and rage. It may assist you."
Tyrus' haunted eyes twitch from one corner to another, ready to strike the moment the creature reappears.
"Back up?' he suggests.
With a brief mental twitch and a wave of his hand, Dante dissipates his mist spells to deprive the Dreamer of its camoflauge - but the creature is not within the space thus revealed.
"Back up?"
"Yes," Georgi says emphatically, moving slowly back towards Luca and waving at the others to do the same. "We've got to keep moving. Maybe we can get out of its... territory."
Luca speaks, and the Fleshdreg she had summoned scampers a step forward, peering intently into the distant mist. The horrid creature growls low, and flicks its gaze back towards Luca.
"The creature conceals itself in the mist, by the fountain." the voice that is not Luca's says from Luca's mouth.
Another growl answer the creature from out of the fog, and suddenly figures pour out from all directions - the doors, the windows, both sides of the road. Low figures - dwarves. Clad in ornate, ancient armor and with strangely monstrous faces. They set upon you with wicked howls of bloodlust.
Axes fall, swords and spears thrust. Hammers crack skin and bruise bone. The dwarven warriors hack at everyone, and blood flows freely. Tyrus expends his blast of positive energy to no effect, hitting one of the figures but not felling it. And then they are gone as suddenly as they appeared.
Dante, having so recently been taken in by illusion, keep firmly hold of his senses, telling himself the attack is another trick. He is surprised when a dwarven warrior, though less substantial than it first appeared, still draws a nick of blood before vanishing.
End Combat Round 5
Begin Combat Round 6
Georgi (6 damage)
Tyrus (3 damage)
Dante (14 damage)
Luca (5 damage)
Fleshdreg 1 (8 damage)
Dreamer (18 damage)
"That thing is way too dangerous to leave behind for others," Dante says firmly. "I know I wounded it heavily. We need one more push. Tyrus, drop your mist." Dante stomps in the direction of the fountain and raises his hand. He points two fingers at the fountain and waits, hoping to finally see the creature once the mist is gone.
Luca screamed in pain - and the air beside her pulsed as a hairless blue lion with tentacles in its mane leaped out from quite literally thin air to land beside her... but while the illusion was already gone, the threats here were not. Luca slumped down slightly, desperately pressing a hand at her wound at the beast growled and crouched down slightly.
for
for
With a flick of his hand, Tyrus lets his mist recede.
The Dreamer is revealed, and Dante unleashes his spell. Brilliant flashes of light impact on the ethereal form, but this time the creature's nature cannot protect it.
Georgi also raises his hand and releases a bolt of positive energy, barely managing to clip the foe.
The Dreamer flits across the space between in bare moments, charging straight for Dante.
It's clawed hands sweep through Dante's flesh, but only barely catch the wary youngster this time.
Luca's summoned Fleshdreg snaps at the ethereal form but finds only air.
End Combat Round 6
Begin Combat Round
Georgi (6 damage)
Tyrus (3 damage)
Dante (16 damage)
Luca (5 damage)
Fleshdreg 1 (8 damage)
Dreamer (26 damage)
Well, that settled it - neither of her summons seemed capable of hurting the ghostly figure, especially as the Fleshdreg had definitely been able to strike at it properly. The creatures moved between her and the creature, trying to guard as best they could - and provide flanking for Dante, who might be a little better at striking ghostly foes.
Rays of light flared from Tyrus' fleshy hands as he desperately backed away - but failed to connect with the Dreamer.
Dante twists away from the Dreamer's caress but it is not enough. Another wound, more blood loss. With his blade enhanced with magic, he strikes again, continuing to hope it will fall with one more push.
The thrust is on point but at that exact moment the ghost becomes insubstantial. Regret is starting to feel as poignant as the wounds on his body.
As Luca's minions move to form a wall between her and the Dreamer, Georgi steps in to fill the gap, swinging his magical club.
The carvings upon the wood seem to flare as they meet with the ghost-stuff of the Dreamer, and it snarls another howl of pain even as Dante's blade passes through it without effect.
The Dreamer flinches, not back but upwards its form taking flight above the cracked stones of the street. It stares intently at Georgi, and its eyes seem to swirl with hatred. The blurry outline of some new figure detaches from the ghost and moves towards Georgi's, whose eyes grow wide in abject terror.
The phantasm reaches appears to reach out an appendage and tap the transfixed Georgi between the eyes...
Then suddenly the figure disappears, and Georgi crumples to the ground - to all appearances, dead.
End Combat Round 6
Begin Combat Round 7
Georgi ( x_X )
Tyrus (3 damage)
Dante (16 damage)
Luca (5 damage)
Fleshdreg 1 (8 damage)
Dreamer (35 damage)
Well... [Adult word].
<"Cbugagl."> Luca's voice said in a harsh, alien tongue. The Fleshdreg perked up at that, then grabbed Georgi's body and started dragging it after Luca in an attempt to bring it away from the ghostly spirit, and towards a place where they could see if he was still alive. The Akata, on the other hand, was deaf - and it swiped at the Dreamer again in an effort to get its attention, even if it didn't seem capable of hurting the thing.
From it's position floating above the fallen Georgi, the Dreamer's figure seems to flicker, the ghost-stuff wavering between incorporeal body and hazy mist. But its eyes lose none of their ire.
Work with me here. We can't let him die.
Dante almost misses the opportunity to strike when the Dreamer looks at Georgi. He panicked, knowing that look all too well.
"Luca! The club" called Tyrus, another ray of positive energy lashing out at the creature that floated above them.
The Dreamer... was moving with Georgi's body? That was not good, and the Fleshdreg stopped dragging it towards Luca as soon as it noticed this was happening.
"And do what with it!?" She was... not proficient in the use of weapons as a whole, given her physical weakness. And most of her summons weren't very good with them easier, which left... Dante (who had a weapon), and Tyrus (who was about as bad with them as she was). Communication was important, because she had no idea what he actually wanted.
"Can your friends use it?"
Dante energizes his blade and once again plunges it into the spirit, striking home this time.
Tyrus adds his own attack, while Luca sets her minions about dragging Georgi's body out of the melee.
The Dreamer's shape is flicking and losing cohesion rapidly, but it holds on to some shred of itself still. It turn's its attention back to Dante and swoops in to swipe at him with its spectral talons...
The fingers scythe beneath Dante's flesh, and the burning-and-freezing feeling of the spirit's attacks sprout over him once more, blood soaking through his clothing once more. Dante falls limply to the ground.
End Combat Round 7
Begin Combat Round 8
Georgi ( x_X )
Tyrus (3 damage)
Dante (27 damage)
Luca (5 damage)
Fleshdreg 1 (8 damage)
Dreamer (51 damage)
The signs of the spirit's decaying hold on the mortal world show heavily. You believe the merest additional stress upon it would cause it to break.
You feel pressure on your mind, the horribly familiar sensation of something pushing its thoughts upon you. But when they blossom, they are not the cold, unctuous alien thoughts of the Void, but something altogether less malevolent and more human.
"Take me up, child! Strike at your foe! I will show you the way!"
You realize it is Dante's blade, scattered from the fallen's young warrior's hands, that is speaking to you.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Oh, just what she needed - more voices in her head. And she could feel a pressure in her mind as they roused slightly, jealous and unwilling to allow others much space. Wincing, the girl darted over and grabbed the blade, whipping it upwards as the two summoned creatures... failed to help as they pushed back against the influence of the sword. (Why were they opposed to allowing this when their main priority seemed to be ensuring her survival whether she liked it or not? Heck if she knew. She still understood basically nothing of their motivations, particularly since they seemed to have a wholly inhuman set of standards.)
Tyrus drew deep for one last blast of energy.
"It's fading! called out the large man "We nearly have it!"
-Posted with Wayfinder
Luca dashes forward, takes up Dante's blade and... strikes ineffectually. Despite the rapier feeling surprisingly familiar in her hands, The Dreamer wafts aside from the blow. Similarly, it avoids another flash of positive energy from Tyrus - and then turns to the portly necromancer.
Tyrus manages to turn aside at the last moment, but the claws still rake over his shoulder. Flesh bubbles and peels beneath Tyrus's shirt.
End Combat Round 8