Tomaru's wall cuts off the room, facilitating his escape to join the others. Rexil's attacks hits...sort of. His swing catches only air he destroys a mirror image on this woman. She gives the young stone giant a smile that promises a violent death.
The wrathspawn hiss and froth on the ceiling, raging at their impotence...until one notices the battle on the floor between Thordak and the warriors. One charges above until reaching the edge of the gravity reversal and comes crashing down on the dwarf!
The rest of the spawn follow, crashing to the floor all around Thordak!
Tomaru's wall springs up, cutting off pursuit. A shriek of rage, muffled by the wall, echoes through the room.
Lym's summoning reaches a crescendo and - shatters. In front of her, five runes of light appear and fly away, turning into three-dimensional creatures surrounding the mob of sinspawn around Thordak.
They become... more sinspawn... sinspawn in golden armour?
Hissing at the creatures of wrath, the new arrivals lunge and stab at whichever sinspawn is in reach!
Lym unleashes five magic missiles, targeting any of the sinspawn left unharmed sofar.
He then steps toward the wand wielders and continues his assault upon them.
1st:
3rd:
Praxim and Thordak cut down the last of the warriors, while the summoned and wrathful sinspawn engage in a struggle to the death.
Just then Tomaru arrives in the circle, followed immediately by Rexil.
Meanwhile, the summoned sinspawn keep stabbing and biting!
Lym herself hurls a single force missile at the one wrathful sinspawn not engaged with her summoned troopers.
Praxim fires two arrows each into two different enemy sinspawn.
Rexil hangs back. He stays standing in the arrival circle so nobody else can come at them from behind.
”Nasty fire lady followed Tomaru back from the other circles. He made a stone wall.”
"I told her that I have someone special in my life, but she's just so aggressive." Tomaru moves off the circle to make way for the last arbiter to come through.
How hurt does Thordak look?
"I'll give her the big chill to make sure she gets the message," Lym promises, a bit of a growl in her voice.
"Well she's not a little woman and she carries a big sword and she doesn't seem to take rejection well."
Praxim's arows and Lym's minions cut down the last of the wrathful sinspawn. All is quiet save for the groans of the wounded. The golden armored sinspawn circle about, slaying any of your enemies that still live. In a few moments, it's over. There is only the stillness and stench of death in the room. Only one archon and two arbiters remain, the others lost in the chaos of the split team and the two teleporters.
Now that you have time to look around, you see that this long chamber is filled with two rows of wide worktables. The far end of the chamber contains three wide alcoves. The ones to the north and south are each filled with all matter of alchemical supplies and large barrels, while the one in the middle contains a single huge vat of what appears to be twitching, foul-smelling flesh.
The crazy sword lady doesn't come through?
"Um," Lym says when the golden-armoured sinspawn assemble before her, swallowing. "Well - well done uh, gentlemen? Gentlemen. Yes. You have served with distinction."
The Wizard jumps a little when one of the creatures replies in perfectly comprehensible Common: "It is always a pleasure and an honour to visit righteous wrath upon the corrupted, general. What are our next orders?"
Lym looks to the others. "Reconnaissance, gentlemen? While we still have them?"
The hairs on your forearms and necks stand on end - a sure sign powerful magic is forming in your vicinity...
"Incoming! Defensive positions!" Lym shouts, and she casts a spell that causes a shimmering dome with a 10-foot radius to pop into existence. With the spell in effect, Lym floats up to its upper edge...
Tomaru stays next to Lym. He adds Protection v Evil to his list of defenses.
Praxim pulls Rexil inside the bubble and waits.
"So who here's read any interesting books lately..."
Thordak snaps his head in a different direction, looking for whatever it is he's sensing. "Defensive positions for what?! They need ta be fearin' ME! 'Cause I'm here ta kill 'em ALL'!" He looks around, waiting to obliterate whatever shows up.
Thordak gives a quick nod of thanks to the healer before returning to keeping an eye out for any form of trouble.
You re-position yourselves to gain maximum protection from whatever it is that's brewing nearby. The arrival teleport circle glows a bright cyan, blinding you for a split second. When the glare clears, a small figure rests on it's hands and knees in the center of the circle. The figure's head is hung low, and masked by it's violet hair, but blood drips on the floor from its face. It is panting heavily, with one arm wrapped around another wound in its abdomen. Tattoos wrap themselves around the figure's arms as it crawls forward on three limbs. It moves a few feet, then collapses in a heap. She - for it's clearly female - twists her head to look at you all. Her bloody and bruised eyes lock on one of you in particular.
Thordak.
"Th...Th...Thordak?" Lying on her side, she reaches out a bloody hand toward the dwarf. 'I...I...I came...back. He tried...Karzoug tried...he tried to use me against you." She collapses again, the effort too much to bear with her grevious wounds.
But her eyes never leave Thordak.
"Help...me...my love." Aurora whispers.
Praxim’s shock disrupts his concentration on evil-detection. Snapping to, he barks at Rexil, ”Grab him!” pointing at Thordak as Praxim restarts his evil scanning, focused on “Aurora”.
Even if he were quick enough, Rexil doesn’t have nearly the skill needed to hold the dwarf back.
Thordak's eyes go wide and his rage instantly vanishes. "You're alive? Me love? I can't...," he starts but doesn't continue due to shock. With his heart racing a hundred miles and hour - and his fatigue utterly ignored - he gathers his wits and drops his axe as he races over to her, falling to the ground with her and holding her. "Aurora! It's okay, lass! I'm here. Thordak's got ya. It's okay. Yer gonna be okay, me dear Aurora. Just one second...," he tells her as he pulls off his pack with one arm while still holding her in a way she's more comfortable. Rummaging through his pack, he finds what he's looking for. Pulling the healing draught out, he pops the cork and offers it to her. "Here, drink this. It'll help ya with yer wounds. Hurry, Aurora! Ya got ta hurry and drink it. I cannot be losin' ya again. I just... I can't. Hurry and drink, me darlin'," he finishes, placing the vial up to her lips.
In a moment Tomaru's heart soars at the sight of Aurora then plummets knowing that nothing good will come of this. "This is an evil, horrid place, my love." He says to Lym, "and I will be glad to be done with it."
"Agreed," Lym says, as she starts to mutter a spell under her breath.
Abruptly, a cage of shimmering energy springs up around 'Aurora'!
Hands shaking with pain, Aurora lifts the vial to her lips and drinks. The healing draught dribbles a bit down her chin as struggles to stay steady.
"She's right behind me, love. The leader of these halls." the gnome sorceress says breathlessly. "Athroxis, he called her. I think...I think they were enemies, but he convinced her. Said he could help bring Alaznist back if she helped him!"
"I don't trust it." Tomaru casts True Seeing on Praxim.
Nodding, "Okay, that's good. Now take it easy, Aurora. Ya need ta rest up, me lass," he says, pushing her hair back from her face gently and staring for a brief moment, grinning ever so slightly. I cannot believe yer alive! I don't know how or why or anythin' like that but I don't care! I just don't care. By Torag's hammer I am... well I don't know what I am but it matters little. I just know I am soooo so glad. Shaking himself free of his mental conversation, "Okay now. Athroxis. Got it. Now I know her name. Good. And she'll soon find me axe buried in her skull she will. Now, um, okay I've another question: who's 'he'? The one tryin' ta bring back this Alaznist fellow? Because he sounds like another I'll ta be needin' dealin' with."
Praxim peers intently at Aurora with the benefit of his new vision abilities.
"Why it's Karzoug, love. The one we have been after all this time. Alaznist was - is - the Runelord of Wrath. Karzoug will help bring her back!" Aurora whispers to Thordak.
”Thordak, I have some more healing potions for Aurora. Come give me a hand with them.”
Praxim apparently sucks as a liar. He saw something disturbing and clearly wants Thordak out of there.
"Thordak, when did you and Aurora become lovers? I mean I knew you were dating, but she's called you 'love' twice now when she never did so before."
Tomaru readies to give Praxim Bit of Luck.
Thordak scratches his head, somewhat confused. He's just about to ask her a question before his attention is diverted toward Praxim. "What? Potions? Oh yeah, we could...," he looks down at the still wounded Aurora. "Can't ya just bring 'em to me, lad? I'm afraid ta let her go. Ya understand, right? I can't let her go. I just... I can't," he says, sounding... afraid? as he shakes his head. "Just bring 'em ta me, me friend. She's seems ta be doin' better so there's no hurry," he nods much more assuredly, although, he can't seem to shake his confused look.
He then turns his attention to Tomaru and his look of confusion turns into a menacing glare. His anger taking over, "What's yer problem with it, CLERIC?!?! I don't have a problem with it!!! Why do YOU?!?! Huh?!?! WHY DO YA?!?! Ya know, I don't like yer questionin' and I'm thinkin' ya need ta shut yer yap before I SHUT IT FOR YA!!!!!" he yells with all the anger he can muster, his breathing coming rapidly as he's yet to get past the fatigue from his previous rage.
Working to catch his breath, he takes a moment to calm down as he finds himself getting a headache trying to think. "Okay, me dear Aurora, I don't think I'm understandin'. I can't seem ta put me thoughts in order. I don't know what's wrong," he says, rubbing his eyes. "Ummm, okay, we want this wrath lady to come back? 'Cause for some reason I thought we were here ta kill this Karzoug character. Is that not the plan?" he asks, trying to find some form of clarity.
"Well come and shut it then, cause your girl is an undead devil beast who'll eat our souls cause you're too stupid to recognize it. She's going to shave your beard and put you in a box like Nevelatu."
Aurora's voice is edged with hurt. "You judge us, Tomaru? You never did like me. I've never said anything about yours and Lym's relationship, but you can't see a gnome like myself and a dwarf like Thordak together? Do you and Lym have some sort of monopoly on unlikely relationships?" The little gnome is practically in tears. "Come on love, we don't need them anyway. We should get out here before it's too late."
The room flashes cyan again.
The dark skinned woman before you is over six feet tall, wielding a flaming ranseur. Her white hair is cut high and tight like a warriors, and a glowing symbol of Wrath is upon her forehead.
"Touching." she growls. "Now die." She casts a spell in the blink of an eye, and a cone of lethal cold energy envelops you.
Don't forget your magical defenses.
"That's her!" Tomaru gives Praxim that Bit of Luck he was holding.
Thordak - completely taken aback by what just happened - simply stands there and stares at the former 'Aurora', taking the full brunt of the cold attack.
[dice=Ref]1d20+13+2
Thordak - completely taken aback by what just happened - simply stands there and stares at the former 'Aurora', taking the full brunt of the cold attack.