The rogue whistles softly as he swings the weapon around to test the change. "Well done, Mage...it seems to align better with my other sword as well," he adds.
"Good. It is my first such crafting. It could have gone either way, to be honest..."
Kellen keeps bundled as best he can; stomping his feet and flexing his hands often to keep the circulation going. He rambles on as a distraction:"One time, I was chasing this fellow - he had a list of charges an arm-long - and headed into the Fogscar Mountains. Miserable like this and you couldn't see nothing. So, I bed down in the only cave I can find for two days in a driving blizzard and I'm thinking: 'Well, I've lost him for sure.' Come upon him on my way down; frozen as a chunk of ice - the damn fool had tried to sneak away in the middle of the night with no light or warmth; probably got turned around in circles trying to get away until the frost took him."
He stops upon finding the entrance and without much preamble, makes his way towards the entrance, adding: "Best we get inside before we get any colder then. There's snake in there I think we all want to give what's coming to her; and who knows what else, eh?"
He then makes his way as quietly as possible to the entrance to scout ahead. His footfalls no longer crunch against the snow and he blends into the rocky walls surrounding the entrance.
Praxim scans for evil, checking for possible sentries.
Tomaru will have four Endure Elements spells for himself, Thordak, Kellen, and Rhianni. Lym and Praxim are on their own.
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Thordak's shivering ceases as Tomaru's magic seems to block out the cold. Grinning, "Thanks, lad! That sure puts some warmth back in these ol' dwarven bones. I'm ready! Right behind ya, lad," he tells Kellen, his newly acquired trident in hand. "Well, not right behind ya; probably several feet behind ya. Actually... probably a bit more than several feet behind ya. More like several yards ta be honest. Ya know, it's lookin' like I'll be much farther behind ya than I first thought. Not sure why I said 'right behind ya'. Doesn't make a lot o' sense once ya think about it," he concludes, shrugging. He then keeps a measurable distance from the rogue, not wanting to take a chance on giving his location away.
Tomaru will have four Endure Elements spells for himself, Thordak, Kellen, and Rhianni. Lym and Praxim are on their own.
"Wretched as Nex is, at least it's warm there," Lym grumbles while she follows at the back of the group, arms wrapped around herself.
The driving snow obscures the large figures in the cave entrance, but more importantly, it hides you.
Tomaru will cast Protection from Evil to get ready for the upcoming combat.
"Ah, good," Lym murmurs. "A chance to shine. Or rather... BURN."
Unless someone stops her, Lym flicks a bead of flame at the hulking monstrosities. When it is in between them, it blossoms into a sphere of roaring flame!
Praxim takes a moment to summon a celestial spirit to bond with his bow.
Activate divine bond, making his bow holy.
With his newly acquired weapon in hand, Thordak makes his way toward Kellen one slow step at a time.
Using Lym's fireball as a reference point, Kellen crosses to the other side of the guards, hoping to come at them from a different angle.
"Keep moving forward, Thordak - I'm hoping to flank them if they come this way." With that he glides as quietly through the snow as possible eastward.
Lym's fireball explodes in fire and steam as it engulfs the two ogre guards.
"Oi! Ger' 'em!" Is their creative response as they heft their huge hooks and prepare to charge!
Seeing as they are closing, Kellen switches over to his crossbow for a volley...which proves useless in the visibility and winds.
Lym mutters a simple spell and flicks five darts of force at the closest of the two Ogres.
Praxim braces himself against the wind and snow, tries to discern a pattern in the gusts, and looses arrows at the closest ogre, switching to the other if the first ogre falls on his first or second arrows.
(big game hunter, giant bane, winds, rapid shot)
(big game hunter, giant bane, holy)
Thordak moves up toward the ogres, banking on either one to head towards him with a great deal over confidence.
Tomaru holds action.
Despite the winds, Praxim's aim is true. Already wounded by Lym, the first falls quickly. The second ogre takes no notice of the first's death, and charges forward!
Gripping his hook in both hands, he launches a vicious chop at Thordak.
The blow digs deep, and barely misses hitting anything vital.
Furious as he takes a nasty cut from the ogre, he glares at the large beast with absolute hatred as he moves up next to the creature, stabbing at it with all his furious might...
...and missing horribly! Thordak manages to fuel his anger to even greater heights with his sloppy attack.
Tomaru moves up next to Kellen.
Kellen moves next to Thordak, taking an attack to give the dwarf support. The new blade especially whistles cleaning through the air to strike.
Lym draws her falchion and stalks forward, searching for an opening in the Ogre's defences...
While Thordak has the anti-giant training of his ancestors, Kellen does not. The ogre's hook flashes out at the man just as he comes within reach, nearly severing his spine in a savage cut! Kellen's return blow is feeble in comparison, and the ogre simply laughs it off. "Hurhurhur...trade again little man?"
"I'll trade with you,"Praxim says.
Two arrows for 73 damage, after a sudden gust of wind blows the first off course.
Praxim's arrows fly true, dropping the Kreeg fighter in his tracks, ugly smirk still on his lips.
"I need to upgrade my own sword," Lym sighs. "Kellen? Are you alright?"
At the mouth of darkness, jagged spurs of bone protrude from the stone on either side of the cave entrance, each towering twenty feet in height — apparently the ribs of some monstrous behemoth.
An enormous statue stands here in frozen vigil—a forty-foot-tall giant with black skin covered by fissures and cracks, like the bed of a dried river. He
wears majestic armor, gilded and encrusted with gems, and grips a towering glaive in his armored fists. The giant’s face is hidden by a ferocious full helm forged into the sneering grimace of a fanged devil. Around the giant’s neck hangs a medallion—a seven-pointed star.
"Thassilonian," Lym says, pointing out the star medallion. On a hunch, she mutters a cantrip and scans the statue for magic auras. "Did those Ogres carry anything useful?"
"I need to upgrade my own sword," Lym sighs. "Kellen? Are you alright?"
The deep gash through his body has slowed in bleeding, the cold making it coagulate and numbing the pain. "I've been better..., he mutters as he moves forward wincing.
"Cheery look to the place; these ogres love their trophies," he adds with sarcasm.
Praxim waits until Kelken is tended to, then leads the way behind the trap spotter, constantly using his senses to probe the caverns ahead for evil.
"I need to upgrade my own sword," Lym sighs. "Kellen? Are you alright?"The deep gash through his body has slowed in bleeding, the cold making it coagulate and numbing the pain. "I've been better..., he mutters as he moves forward wincing.
Just as Thordak's about to check the dead ogres, he stops and looks to Kellen a bit shocked. "'You've been better'? I'd say that's a wee bit of an understatement, lad. YOU WERE NEARLY CLEAVED IN TWO! What are ya daft?! There'll be no dyin' on me watch, okay?! NONE! Tomaru, you've got to heal the lad up. He takes another hit like that and it'll be like he never existed," he states emphatically, shaking his head and looking to the rogue as if he's being quite ridiculous. As he heads over to see what might be found upon the dead ogres, "'I've been better', you've got ta be kiddin' me. 'Me lower half was nearly separated from me upper half, but hey! it's not a problem, I've been better'," he mumbles mockingly to himself as he shakes his head again at the craziness of it all, wondering if the rogue has lost his mind.
Tomaru heals Kellen.
Kellen feels the wound stitch and heal under Tomaru's care with such speed that it feels like an electric shock. "Ahhh....much better. Thanks, Tomaru," as he rubs where the blow began.
He turns to Thordak with a strange grin over his bluster, "There's a saying about only mad dogs and Riddleportians, you know...maybe its a little true in this case." He then moves forward to check the cave entrance, not wanting to keep Praxim waiting and again leaving as little trace as possible as he moves.
A deep pit hewn from hard stone here descends into soot and darkness. The stale reek of decay wafts up from the depths below.
Seeing or hearing no threats, Kellen pauses and points southward to the next set of stairs. Going to see where this leads, unless you want me to climb into that stinkpit. Hold for a moment," he says quietly to Praxim. He then glides quietly down the steps while trying to stay out of sight.
Tomaru inches close to the edge of the pit wondering if the captain could be at the bottom.
Lym mutters a cantrip and conjures up four orbs of light, which slowly drift down into the pit.