Gallidren's arrow sails just past the head of one of the ghouls, landing with a splash in the pool, and a second later the same ghoul narrowly dodges a hefty slash from Prophet's greatsword, twisting away from the half-orc at an unnatural angle. Theo manages to score a hit on another of the creatures, and Marcus's spear slams through the undead creature's chest, and it falls to the ground after being dislodged with a good shake. Kilarra moves forward with her sword in hand, and intercepts the ghoul nearest Prophet as it tries to bite him. Her sword rends the creature's skull in two, and it collapses at their feet.
-----
As two ghouls fall dead, another two of the creatures scurry forth from the lake. One ghoul still snaps its jaws at Prophet, but he manages to check the monster with his blade and keep himself out of harm's way. Another tries to bite Kilarra as it rushes forth from the water, but she deftly ducks out of the way and avoids any harm. However, one ghoul charges down Gallidren and leaps at him, sinking its teeth into his shoulder. The wizard gasps in pain as the teeth cut into his flesh, but his elven heritage spares him from the ghoul's saliva. Theo too takes a bite from one of the monsters, cutting a gash along his forearm with its wicked teeth, but he too is spared from the ghoul's paralyzing venom.
Annika jumps forward and her dagger swings down at the ghoul attacking Gallidren.
Prophet shoves the ghoul back with his sword and slams his shoulder into the creature, opening enough space for a full swing. "Zu͡ź̴a̶͘͘r͘͡ ̷͜b̶ol͡v͘͡á̕g͞u͘úr̨̛z̕͏.̨͡͡.̛͠.̧̕͢" he grunts, bringing the blade around in a powerful swipe.
Flinching at the bite before retaliating I think I have lost my mind. This stuff never happens in court.
Gallidren takes a 5' step backwards and fires on the ghoul attacking him.
Marcus adjusted to the side so he could ward off the ghouls facing Theo and Annika. He struck out at the one in front of Theo.
Theo delivers another glancing blow to one of the ghouls, and as it lurches forward towards him Marcus's spear catches it in the gut and it tumbles to the ground. Kilarra's blade whips up across the chest of one of the ghouls, making it stumble back just enough that Prophet's sword cleaves deep into its skull; the half-orc lurches back and the sword pops free with a sickening noise, and the ghoul leans forward and crashes into his legs as it dies. Both Annika and Gallidren attack one of the ghouls, but it manages to twist away from the attacks before loping forward for another attack. Seeing the opening, Annika drives her dagger forward through the undead's neck; it turns and stares at her in disbelief for a moment before the unholy light leaves its eyes and it collapses at her feet.
-----
The last of the ghouls lunges at Annika, trying to grab her and sink its teeth into her flesh. It manages to sink its teeth into her outstretched arm, but its claws can't find purchase on her frame and they flail wildly in her direction. The teeth barely scrape her flesh, but she still feels the beginnings of the poison starting to seep through her veins before her elven blood halts it in its tracks.
"Ugh. Back to the Abyss with you, foul thing!" She shifts to put the ghoul between her and the burly half-orc the her dagger comes down again.
As Annika sidesteps past the ghoul that bit her, its sudden turn to follower her opens it up just enough for her attack. Her dagger catches the ghoul in the eye, and it shrieks for a moment before it joins its fellows, dead on the ground. The water lies still, no more ghouls claw their way up from beneath the surface. The old temple, its pillars crumbling over carved stone steps, still awaits at the other edge of the clearing. No light emanates from beneath the stone stag's stern gaze, and the darkness feels almost unreal the way it clings to every surface it touches. Nothing moves from within the darkness; either the werewolf has gone hunting, or it waits for its newest prey to wander into its lair.
"Well, my spells aren't going to last longer while we're standing here," Annika says, wiping the ghoul's fetid blood off of her dagger. "Let's hope it's in."
Marcus looks at the ghouls on the ground with a mixture of horror and discuss. "Wonder who they used to be." he said a bit wistfully.
Then he shook his head and sighed, clearing his thoughts. "Right. Let's go."
"Best not to think to much on that right now." Gesturing foward, "Let us be done with this then."
Gallidren nods and follows the others in - his bow nocked and ready.
The group heads forward into the temple, the shadows begrudgingly receding as Gallidren's light is cast upon it. As they near the entrance, three figures can be seen within the inner chamber; Caleb and Rollin stand shoulder to shoulder with a werewolf. The werewolf's fur is mangy and matted, the skin around its face weathered and worn with pure black orbs for eyes. Patches of the creature's skin are covered in an inky black substance, the same seen on the apothecary's wounds back in the village. It ripples along the monster's claws and muscles, covering old wounds and scars along its flank. "You should'a kept out of our damned business, y'know that? Would've bled that village dry and you wouldn't have had a damned problem." Caleb hefts his sword as he speaks, eyeing the group as they head into the cavern. "Don't worry, Mother. You won't need to hunt tonight, the prey has come to us."
Initiative!
"Well, I wasn't expecting to have to deal with both of you as well." Annika brandishes her sword. "But at least we get to deal with everything threatening those innocent people in the village at the same time."
Gallidren backs up to gain line of sight and then fires on the werewolf.
A tight knot of terror gripped Marcus' chest. That was a werewolf. He knew they'd been tracking it, but the reality was a whole lot more heavy than the abstract.
Silver? That was what the stories said, right? Silver and fire. He wasn't going to be much help intros fight, not in a straightforward kind of way at any rate.
Suddenly, he had an idea...
Marcus had four bear traps tied on to the outside of his pack. He slung his pack around to his front and pulled the bows on them. They fell to the ground with a clatter.
Kilarra, blade drawn and ready for battle, moves forward towards Caleb before spinning her blade towards the other swordsman. Caleb lets loose an animalistic growl as he attempts to block the attack, but the tiefling's blade leaves a gash in Caleb's coat which quickly stains with blood. Theo too moves forward with his blade at the ready, managing to cut a thin slice across Rollin's face as he tries to step back away from the paladin. He too growls as both of their features become animalistic and distorted; their hair grows rapidly in thick curls on the top of their head, and their eyes shine with an amber light while their muscles grow and their bones crack. While not werewolves themselves, the two brothers seem to have at least partially inherited their mother's curse.
-----
Distracted by Theo's attack, Rollin takes a step backward and levels his pistol towards Theo's head. The crack of the gunshot echoes through the small stone chamber, and Theo clutches at his ear as the bullet grazes the side of his scalp; another inch to the left and it would have blown Theo's skull to pieces. Caleb growls again as he spins his greatsword about towards Kilarra. "I've been waiting to kill you, you stupid b*tch!" While Caleb's ferocity emanates from his form, Kilarra ducks out of the way of the massive blade with room to spare. Damn it!" Caleb yells, clutching at his wounded arm as his greatsword strikes hard into the stone floor of the temple. "I'm going to eat your f*cking bones, you hear me?" Behind Caleb, the werewolf howls before lunging at Theo with tooth and claw; the beast's attacks are wild and frantic, but even with his injuries Theo manages to avoid the blows. The beast roars again, another near-deafening sound within the confines of the small enclosure, before landing again on all fours, snarling at Theo.
Annika smirks as she closes in on the werewolf, her silvered blade flashing in the light. "Blustered really does not impress," she says dryly. "Either prove your strength by fighting or run with your tails between your legs." She brings her blade down on the werewolf's flesh.
Prophet doesn't waste any words just yet, and simply charges forward with a growl, bringing his sword to bear with a powerful slash at Caleb.
Annika closes in on the snarling beast, catching it by surprise after it lands on all fours from attacking Theo. Her dueling sword cuts deep into the werewolf's hide, the silver coating on her blade wearing off as it clings to the creature's fur and flesh. The werewolf howls in pain and turns to face Annika, distracted from its assault on Theo by her vicious assault. Prophet takes a swing at Caleb, but the man manages to knock the half-orc's blade aside with his own, even in his injured state.
Taking a step toward the massive werewolf, not bothering to waste words with the to mutts. Once close enough he lashes out with his blade.
In quick succession, Marcus snapped open two more of the bear traps on the ground.
Come on, come on... he glanced up at the savage fight and hoped he could move fast enough.
Gallidren fires again on the werewolf.
Theo, muttering a prayer to Sarenrae, brings his blade across and cuts another deep gash in the werewolf's flank; as his blade passes through the creature's flesh, the inky darkness clinging to the creature's fur is burnt away by sparks of holy light. Now bleeding from two wounds, the massive beasts growls menacingly as it lowers its body closer to the ground, ready to pounce. Kilarra takes another swipe at Caleb, but again the swordsman barely manages to dodge her assault as it deflects off of his heavy coat before it can cut into his stomach. Gallidren takes aim at the werewolf, but the chaos of the fight makes him overly cautious and his shot goes wide.
-----
Retaliating with a vengeance, Caleb hefts his blade and takes another swipe at Kilarra's head. Kilarra ducks beneath his blow and raises her own sword in a defensive stance, waiting for the man to attack her yet again. Rollin fires off a shot, once again at Theo, as the paladin cuts into his mother's warped flesh. His shot is unsteady after Theo's first blow, and Theo feels the air around his head ripple as the bullet flies past him and embeds itself in one of the stone pillars on the temple's steps. The werewolf roars again before it reaches forward and takes a chunk of flesh out of Annika's calf. It wrenches back viciously, trying to pull her off balance, but she barely manages to keep her feet before the beast is forced to release her.
Annika growls as the wolf takes a chunk out of her leg, but ignores it, calling on the power of her faith to fortify her body, then delivering another blow.
Prophet maintains his assault on Caleb, bringing his blade about in another wide swing that also keeps the werewolf on its toes.
Annika swings at the werewolf with her dueling sword, but the moment she takes to heal her wounds allows the werewolf to dodge her incoming attack. Caleb gets lucky as he again deflects Prophet's blade, but he grunts heavily with the effort as the half-orc's greatsword collides heavily with his own. He growls again before shifting his feet into a guarding stance, waiting for his two assailants to attack again.
Gallidren again fires on the werewolf.
Marcus snapped open the last trap.
Ok, here we go.
Marcus scanned the ceiling of the cave and threw his mass of chains like a spear. Somehow, the pitons slammed into the rock ceiling behind the werewolf. The temperature in the cave dropped noticeably.
Pulling his blade back to swing again and noting the chains slam into the wall and then grins Clever. Touching his free hand to his side and mumbling "The Dawn brings new light."
Taking a cautious step backwards and leaning in next to Annika, "הילף מיר שטופּן די חיה אין די קייטן."
As Gallidren takes another shot at the werewolf, he again fails to get a bead on the monster and instead sends an arrow flying far over its head. Marcus, having finally primed his traps, grips the piton connected to their chains with his telekinesis and throws it with surprising force into the ceiling of the cave. The piton, now buried into the carved stone, leaves the four bear traps dangling just behind the werewolf and her children; the chains hang low enough that if moved, the traps could easily latch onto one of your adversaries. Theo assaults the werewolf again, but as it twirls to spot Marcus's trap it just moves beyond the paladin's reach, but he lunges forward and his blade again finds purchase on its hide. Kilarra, growing angry, swipes her falcata furiously towards Caleb. He tries to fend her off, but Kilarra adjusts her attack at just the right moment, and her blade comes away bloody after gouging a deep wound into Caleb's chest. Caleb stumbles back and raises a hand to his chest in an effort to staunch the bleeding, before coughing up a slight amount of blood.
-----
Rollin, watching his brother nearly double over after being hit, fires off a shot at Kilarra. Despite the chaos of the fight, the bullet slams into her left shoulder. She stumbles back from the bleeding wound, but keeps her feet as she raises her blade to ward away the heavily wounded Caleb. He swings his blade again as his brother's shot connects, but even wounded Kilarra manages to duck away from the heavy blade and keep herself safe. The werewolf, wary but enraged, again assaults Theo with its claws and teeth, but the paladin keeps himself out of harm's way. The werewolf shakes its head and growls, looking from its attackers to the dangling chains, before growling menacingly at Theo.
"Enough beast!" Annika shouts, brandishing her blade again. She presses her attack, coming in to strike the wolf one more time.
Prophet snarls as he remains unable to strike, his sounds nearly as bestial as the werewolf. As Caleb reels from Kilarra's newest hit, the half-orc plants his feet and slashes downward with full force, his blade angling for the other man's shoulder.
Annika again manages to score a hit on the werewolf, this time leaving a wound across the creature's forearm as it fails to hit Theo, and the last of her weapon's silver sheen wears off on the werewolf's hide, leaving her blade as naked steel once again. It growls again, now unsure of where to focus its attack. It bares its teeth towards Annika, shifting away from the two people attacking it. While Annika faces the creature, she feels her magical aid fading, its power now spent. Prophet, capitalizing on Caleb's injuries, brings his blade down and slices deep into the other man's chest; the blade cuts from the base of Caleb's neck to his armpit, and the other man coughs up blood once more before stumbling forward. The weight of his falling body wrenches it from Prophet's blade, freeing it from the now-dead Caleb.
Marcus took a breath, his eyes narrowing in concentration. Then he flicked his wrist in a subtle grabbing motion.
Gallidren will take another shot at the werewolf.
Stepping back up to the werewolf and swinging again.
Gripping the bear trap with his mind, Marcus throws the trap forward into the werewolf's foreleg; the pressure plate collapses and the jaws of the trap snack shut with a sickening crack as it cuts through flesh and snaps the werewolf's bone. The creature shrieks in pain and strains to turn and face Marcus, but the trap holds fast about its forearm and it stops in its tracks just as Theo cuts at the beast's chest with his scimitar. Yet another gash opens in the monster's body, and it growls in defiance as it bleeds from its many wounds. The monster sinks as its strength falters, only really held up by the chain attached to the ceiling. Still, the creature remains both breathing and conscious, and Theo can see the hate still burning in its eyes.
Rollin, seeing the carnage, begins to flee the temple as he dashes around Theo and Annika and down the steps of the temple. As he clears the temple steps, he turns about and fires a parting shot at Annika. The bullet doesn't burrow its way into her flesh, but it still grazes past the meat of her thigh and leaves a painful gash. The werewolf lashes out with its free foreleg at Theo, but pain and blood loss throw off the monster's aim and the swing goes wide.
Prophet throws back his head and howls in furious joy as Caleb collapses beneath his blade, and he kicks the body back as he wrenches the blade free. He casts his eyes over his shoulder and catches Rollin trying to escape, and with another bestial snarl, he lunges after the gunslinger, leading with his blade.
Annika hesitates for a moment as she considers the battlefield. "Finish this! I'm going to help Prophet." She turns and goes after the gunslinger, her blade far more effective on him than werewolf now that the silver coating is gone.
"You guys can back up now! That b*!+! isn't going anywhere!" Marcus yelled out. "Don't get bit!"
As Prophet and Annika descend on Rollin, he goes down in a flurry of swordplay, his crumpled body lying still on the stones in front of the temple. The firearm in his hand skitters across the stones, stopping near the shattered steps at the base of the rock face. The werewolf, still caught in Marcus's trap, lunges forward towards Kilarra, but she takes a step away from the werewolf's massive jaws, and they snap closed on empty air. It growls menacingly at Theo as he stands near it, his sword still glowing with holy power, but it makes no further attempt to attack him, clearly weakened from its many wounds. Despite all logic, however, the beast still lives, and the shadows that cling to its fur still writhe and slither across its body. No longer in the heat of battle, it seems whatever this strange substance is, it's the same inky darkness that clung to the wounds of the apothecary in Corran's Pass which made it impossible for her wounds to be magically healed. Closer inspection is ultimately still impossible, as the werewolf snaps at any who draw too close to it.
"Soooo... how do we kill it? I have some silver coins and a sling?"
As Rollin falls and the battle comes to a close, Prophet crouches down and spits on the corpse. He grumbles in a low voice that only Annika hears, standing next to him. "If͞ you̢'͏r̢e̵ ̛g̶on҉na̛ ͏ŗun a ̵con ̨jo͝b,͢ at l̷eàst̨ ̴make it a ̡g͜o͘o͘d̀ ͜onę." He heads back toward the others, swinging by Caleb's corpse to spit on that one as well, and looks at the lycanthrope. Marcus's suggestion receives a throaty laugh, and Prophet shakes his head.
"G̷et ̢i͡t͘ ̷g̷o͞od ̢a̕ǹd̷ st̨ea͠d̴y,̨ ̸I'̷l͟l c͠hop ̴i͜t̛'s͡ g͢o̴d̀s͝-͢da͏mn̛ed ͠he̴ad̛ ̶o͏ff.̕ S̶ȩe i͘f ̧it ̛hea̶l͠s th́at̡.͟"