|
"Hey! You stay out of this mister," Corona frowns at the Laktharis puppet as she flicks her wrist, causing a small wand to drop into her hand. She waves it over the group, calling out, "This might help a little, New Friends! I forgot about it when we were playing with the dolls earlier!"
______________
Ammoch moves cautiously along one of the corrupted branches, his long spear held at the ready. "It is such unfairness that Thurl left me in this state!" he grouses, apparently to himself.
Combat! Round 1. Bold may act.
Umbrato (-7 hp)
Corona
Ammoch
Claudia
Hamish
Boils (blue, yellow)
|
Hamish points to the demon, "your kind is not welcome here, come along easily and I'll make sure you get back to where you belong."
His confidence is so strong, the power of his words somehow inspire his teammates.
He dashes forward past Umbrato, "thank you sir, I'll take full advantage of your uh... paper's sacrifice"
The red slimes inch their way towards you.
Combat! Round 2. Bold may act.
Umbrato (-7 hp)
Corona
Claudia
Hamish
Ammoch
Boils (blue, yellow)
|
|
Hamish yells something inspiring like... "to glory and honor and returning souls to where they belong!"
He rushes ahead, ignoring the slimes and moving up to the demon. At the very last second he attempts to duck under the tip of the longspear and sweep the partially manifested legs out from under it.
Hamish moves with grace and speed across the branches toward the piecemeal demon. The sanguine slime extends a pseudopod toward the bard as he passes, but it is simply too small to reach him. The demon, however, was ready for a charge and strikes. He merely grazes the half-elf's face with the sharp tip of his spear as Hamish twists away.
Combat! Round 2. Bold may act.
Umbrato (-7 hp)
Corona
Claudia
Hamish
Ammoch
Boils (blue, yellow)
Hamish tries to splatter the red slime as it oozes into his space, but his flail tangles in a tree branch. The slow moving slime cannot even land a single pseudopod on the bard. However, Hamish considers his proximity to the babau demon--its putrid slime stinging his nostrils--as it grins and drops its longspear in favor of pouncing upon him with fangs and claws.
Only one of the claws manages to penetrate his armor, fortunately. The teeth and other claw came dangerously close to a vital vessel.
Combat! Round 3. Bold may act.
Umbrato (-7 hp)
Corona
Claudia
Hamish (-9 hp)
Boils (blue, yellow)
Ammoch
|
|
Grunting as the claws open a wound, Hamish looks back at his allies and inspires, "haha! I've already disarmed this looser. The fight is ours!"
With the magic from the scroll still bubbling in his veins, Hamish spins the flail unnaturally quick, first sweeping towards the demons legs then possibly at its head.
The next action depends on if that succeeds, so to speed things up I'll put both actions/modifiers down (but just one attack roll of ). If the demon is tripped he follows with a flail attack (+7 added to the roll for Prone, I.C., Bless, Haste) and . If the demon was not tripped he follows with another Trip Attempt (+5 added to the roll for Imp. Trip, I.C., Bless, Haste).
Hamish brings down the babau demon, but his follow-up strike is tangled in the branches once more. It is as if the trees are alive with some malign power and defending the demon. The bard notices that the demon's slime has stained his flail, and it seems to be corroding his weapon.
"This is unacceptable!" the babau growls. "When I get my hands on Thurl, he will pay!"
Corona spears the sanguine boil.
Combat! Round 3. Bold may act.
Umbrato (-7 hp)
Corona
Claudia
Hamish (-9 hp)
Boils (blue, yellow -7 hp)
Ammoch (prone)
Umbrato remains confident that he can outrun the tiny, red slime and bounds across the branches, taking advantage of his magical speed to leap around behind the babau demon.
Claudia manages to pierce the demon's slimy flesh with the tip of her sword--it does not seem to do much damage in and of itself, but it is enough--and releases the fiery power of her magic into her foe. The tip of her blade is corroded from where it passed through the babau's slime.
"He chooses a strong, powerful body--" Ammoch complains just before he bites Hamish's leg from where he is on the ground. "--for himself, but stitches me into that pitiful mortal body."
Hamish is able to dodge one of the claws, and the second catches on his armor.
The slime at the bard's feet ineffectually slaps his boots with a tendril. The other slime slowly creeps its way along the branches, now heading toward Corona.
Combat! Round 4. Bold may act.
Umbrato (-7 hp)
Corona
Claudia
Hamish (-19 hp)
Boils (blue, yellow -7 hp)
Ammoch (-5 hp; prone)
Corona lances the boil on her second strike. The tiny, red slime explodes, splattering Corona with burning, sanguine-tinged pus.
She then advances along the branches towards her companions.
Corona manages to avoid some of the pus.
Combat! Round 4. Bold may act.
Umbrato (-7 hp)
Corona (-4 hp; incubating)
Claudia
Hamish (-19 hp)
Boils (blue)
Ammoch (-5 hp; prone)
|
|
Hamish nods to Umbrato as the small guy slips into a tactical flank. Getting his flail going quickly again, he spins and slams it down twice at the demon. He rallies his allies with an orcish battle cry, "Hoch Humanpu' HoH!"
for
for
Claudia gets a taste of babau slime. It is putrid and foul, and then the burning stars as the acid eats away at her tongue.
Hamish pounds away at the prone demon; each time he strikes his flail looks a little more tarnished. The first blow seems to do little, but there is a satisfying crunch on the second blow.
Combat! Round 4. Bold may act.
Umbrato (-7 hp)
Corona (-4 hp; incubating)
Claudia (-4 hp)
Hamish (-19 hp)
Boils (blue)
Ammoch (-24 hp; prone)
Umbrato stabs the demon into the flank as it squirms on the ground, trying to claw and bite Hamish. The weapons do not seem to penetrate as deeply as expected.
The boil manages to sting the bard on an unprotected portion of his leg. Ammoch takes advantage of Hamish's momentary distracts to dig his claws deeply into Hamish's thigh.
Combat! Round 5. Bold may act.
Umbrato (-7 hp)
Corona (-4 hp; incubating)
Claudia (-4 hp)
Hamish (-39 hp) (Fortitude save vs. disease)
Boil (blue)
Ammoch (-32 hp; prone)
|
|
"Hmm, you look injured, New Friend Hamish," Corona remarks as she comes trotting up behind the rest of the group. She takes a step to bring her next to the yelling and screaming bard and adopts a defensive position as she attempts to cast a healing spell...
...but stumbles and manages to lose the spell.
"Son of a succubus!"
Corona will Misfortune in this priority order:
Demon vs. Hamish
Boil vs. Hamish
Demon vs. Anyone Else
Boil vs. Anyone Else
|
|
Hamish nods to Corona and replies, inspiring in his stoic attitude vs. death, "I am indeed, though injuries are merely a path to learning. Let us finish this beast and return its soul to a proper place so it may learn as well." The magic fading from his bones, he brings his flail down again twice.
for
for
Hamish continues to flail at the demon as the hastening magics begin to fade. His flail looks yet more tarnished.
Combat! Round 5. Bold may act.
Umbrato (-7 hp)
Corona (-4 hp; incubating)
Claudia (-4 hp)
Hamish (-39 hp)
Boil (blue)
Ammoch (-41 hp; prone)
Umbrato silences the babua, leaving only the boil flailing at Hamish's boots.
One ray from Claudia's sunfire strikes the demon. It burns but not as severely as she would have hoped. The other ray streaks off into the dark mist. Umbrato then strikes down the demon with a thrust of his sword, piercing the demon just under ephemeral ribs. The demon collapses and shrinks down to a more portable soul.
The boil at Hamish's feet continues to slap his boots ineffectually.
Party is Up.
|
|
Hamish steps back away from the boil and nods to Umbrato, waiting for the little man to step up. Flail spinning steadily, when his flanking partner moves into a threatening position he brings it slamming down onto the boil. The echoes of his inspiriation continue to aid his allies.
for
Claudia wisely steps away, though she fires her acid into a bare spot on the branch as a result. Umbrato steps forward and skewers the boil in the center. It explodes, covering Umbrato, Hamish, and Corona with warm, sticky, pus.
With the last of the evil entities defeated, the air around you wavers and then pops. You find yourselves standing among the column-straight trees of the Unbent Forest. The light filtering through the canopy and the soft rustling of the leaves in a gentle breeze is very calming.
Ammoch crouches between you, a sniveling, cat-sized babau partially composed of ectoplasm. "I curse Thurl for only giving me enough strength to fail!" he squeaks.
"You speak the truth!" squeaks Laktharis from where he dangles from Hamish's pack.
Suddenly, both demons go silent as a silent shadow passes overhead. Skuroth lands before you. "Congratulations, great hunters!" he says earnestly. "I apologize for underestimating your bravery and strength, and I offer you these tokens in honor of your actions."
The giant owl extends one leg and releases a folded, cloth bundle. The cloth is a banner embroidered with a dozen watchful green eyes, and within you also find a pair of lens.
Knight's pennon (honor)
Eyes of the owl
Umbrato (-7 hp) (Reflex save, Fortitude save vs. disease)
Corona (-4 hp; incubating) (Reflex save)
Claudia (-4 hp)
Hamish (-39 hp) (Reflex save, Fortitude save vs. disease)
You take your leave of the Unbent Forest and its guardian, Skuroth, and head back to Heaven's Shore. "Maybe Zepha has found a lead on your friend's soul by now," Akarah says hopefully.
Indeed, shortly after you pass the gates of the planar wayport, a creature with the lower body of a bee and the upper body of a purple-skinned human with insectile wings on her back approaches you.
"Greetings, mortals, I am a Hivetender of Andoletta," she says by way of introduction. "Zepha sent me to meet you. He sought my aid in finding your mortal friend's broken soul, which I successfully did. I fear, though, that it is very weak. I can create a honey that will strengthen her soul, but we much hurry. I cannot collect all of the ingredients myself in time."
She describes to you the flowers that she needs you to collect and where to find them. Akarah is capable of guiding you to the locations.
Umbrato (-7 hp) (Reflex save, Fortitude save vs. disease)
Corona (-4 hp; incubating) (Reflex save)
Claudia (-4 hp)
Hamish (-36 hp) (includes explosive boil and healing)
|
Quickly leaping out of the way of the sticky goo, Umbrato smiles. "Well, that was rather simple."
Instinctively turning towards the shadow, sword at the ready, the small man looks rather disappointed to see it's no foe...at least not yet. "Oh, it's just you. Uh...thanks for the concession."
"Yes, that would be nice. This incessant buzzing is starting to make me a bit testy." snaps the wayang; following their guide.
"Good for you Ando. Fair enough. I suppose one more task is acceptable to escape this place." he grunts. Trying to picture the described flower, the annoying sounds continue to become more and more distracting.
|
|
"Yuck, not again!" Corona grimaces as all of them but Claudia are hit with a shower of pus from the remaining boil as it pops. "But don't worry New Friends, I can help clean us up," she continues cheerfully as she starts conjuring water over everyone to clean them off.
Then she gives Claudia a hand with her healing wand...
"There you go, New Friend! Anyone else? Oh! And thank you for the nice gifts New Friend Skuroth!"
______________
Corona's eyes widen when they're greeted by the Hivetender and she can't help but stare, a little bit. "Oh! Hello New Friend! Are you and your friends the ones that make all the buzzing sounds? It's not a bad noise but it's a little distracting sometimes," she chatters as they're led along.
"Oh! We get to pick flowers now? Best task ever!"