Stephanie grumbled as a quiet hoot passed her her ears, she moaned and turned over. Five more min- Ow! she winces as the nip on her ear radiates a small amount of pain.
She turns to her side and give the owl next to her a dirty look.
Ok whiskey, I'm awake.. stupid wizarding making me wake up early. mrmble grmble too clever birds..
She sighs pulling a few pieces of jerky from her pack and tosses them to her familiar then she opens her heavily editied spellbook.
"Alright time to revise my books"
setting up and starting her incantations she feels a tremor of weakness. Oh I hope this place hasn't gotten me sick Knew I should have dusted those books on goblin culture more but I didn't want to damage them and... huh why isn't my hand moving.
Stephanie collapses next to her books eyes widened in fear as she tries to scream and finds she can't. Whiskey barrel flaps next to her hooting in concern.
During their hours of rest, Miagnik tossed and turned uncomfortably. Perhaps because of the worried voices of his allies or because of the pain his body had endured earlier, he dreamed of fires once more.
The Maiden took a step towards him and beckoned again. The winds cut deeper this time and pushed down the flames, weakening them. Miagnik shivered and fell to his knees. With a sense of desperation he inhaled the remaining flames. A surge of energy hit him and he felt himself well up with warmth until it became a radiating heat from within. When the Maiden struck him with the winds again, Miagnik barely felt it this time. Miagnik focused inward and forced even more heat outward, until there was so much of it that his form resembled waves of heat. The Maiden stopped her advance and struck at him again, more waves of cold flowed harmlessly around Miagnik. In response, Miagnik drew up even more fire from inside him and unleashed a more concentrated cone of flame. This time striking her directly. She seemed angry by this and charged him through the flames.
At the same time, two bolts of light flew in from beyond the darkness slamming into Miagniks chest. The Maiden hammered down at him but missed due to Miagnik being forcibly knocked away. The aura of cold met his aura of warmth and made a light sizzling sound. He needed some other form of protection, desperation and an idea hitting him, he called out with his magic, latching onto the melting ice and heat. The Ice maiden lashed at him but missed due to the heat wave image. Miagnik tore the shield away and it followed him. Another pair of bolts flew out and slammed, thankfully, into the Ice shield. The maiden hammered at him again, but was also stopped by the shield.
Finally Miagnik grinned. He summoned his claws, which now felt like they flowed with energy and he began to hack back at the Maiden.
The hooting of the Owl wasn't immediately apparent to him, but it did pull him from his dream. Miagnik slowly woke up to Whiskey barrel's hooting. Turning his head he sat up and looked to see what was wrong. "Stephanie?" When she didn't respond, and didn't move from her odd position on the ground, his eyes snapped open and he stood up to move over to her side immediately. He turned her over and looked into her unblinking eyes. "Stephanie! Windel! Windel wake up, Stephanie's in trouble!"
Hal bolts to the princess' side, opening her eyes wide to look for movement and feeling for a pulse.
"Aw hells, what now!? Windle! Git yer arse over here!"
The cleric scrambles to Stephanie's side.
He studies her trying to determine the nature of the ailment, disease, or condition. He ponders. Will this run its course without divine intervention?
Rownig leaps to his feet with hand-axes when he hears the sudden cries for help. His perceptive senses tuning into the surroundings.
"The Princess is still pois'ned, suspect she'll get ov'r the muscle stiffness soon enough on 'er own, but she'll have some lingering effects." He touches her stiff limbs, "gonna be sick on an' off fer another day or so." He pours some cool water on a cloth and dabs her forehead to alleviate the fever.
A few minutes later Windel exhales and states, "I knows sumofya want t'leave. If we leave I can scribe more scrolls t'help, seeing two of the woman folk have had a tougher time fight'n off the poison. I suspect it'll be tougher deeper and naggin' effects will drain resources."
Well, shouldn't we, shouldn't we do something to make her comfortable?Moralane stands off to the side and looks around the room for a moment, before she grabs Atharessa by the arm and tries to get her off the ground and on her feet, saying, Atharessa, make her comfortable. She then shoves Atharessa towards Stephanie
"Must be the dwarf blood in her…" is all Mae has to contribute as she watches her half-sister with a mix of concern and distaste.
Feeling like he can't really do much to help, Hal paces slowly and keeps watch.
"Try to keep 'er cool, fever's th' issue now." Speaking to Moralane.
There after he spend an hour in devotion to his god.
"The Princess is still pois'ned, suspect she'll get ov'r the muscle stiffness soon enough on 'er own, but she'll have some lingering effects." He touches her stiff limbs, "gonna be sick on an' off fer another day or so." He pours some cool water on a cloth and dabs her forehead to alleviate the fever.
A few minutes later Windel exhales and states, "I knows sumofya want t'leave. If we leave I can scribe more scrolls t'help, seeing two of the woman folk have had a tougher time fight'n off the poison. I suspect it'll be tougher deeper and naggin' effects will drain resources."
Miagnik laid on the stone floor of the tomb, tapping his claws against the stone in thought, and shook his head.
"No, we've decided already to stay here and head below. If things are too bad then we can retreat away from here but as long as we don't overextend ourselves we should be okay."
He hadn't realized it until she finally sat up, but Miagnik had been tense with worry for nearly the whole hour.
He pushed himself away from the floor and walked over to her. "Glad to see you're alright."
EDIT:
Stephanie moves herself from Atharessa's lap sounding on the edge of tears. "Well... That was an excessively Terrifying and embarrassing event." She states eyes down at the floor "I can say that it was uniquely horrifying and would very much not like to experience it again. We already argued the merits of leaving or staying, I don't want to open that up again at this point as it will just mean more of the same."
Whiskey barrel chooses this moment to push up to Stephanie looking up at her face. The gnome sighs and looks at the bird "Could have been a lot worse though, you're a good owl Whiskey."
Stephanie makes a low noise of unhappiness as she hurries to finish the revising and preparation she had planned to get done earlier. Then the paralysis struck.
"hate caves, and caverns and ruins and wrecks. All that seems to happen in them are me getting hurt, kidnapped or embarrassed." stepahnie mutters under her breath as she works through the situation still dirty with hair untended from her sleep. The situation to be rectified when she had her magic again. She tries her best to shove the idea that exactly what just happened was highly likely to happen again depending on what they ended up fighting in the depths. It still loomed in the back of her mind.
Miagnik stood up and stretched out his body. There were still some of the aches and bruises from before, but none of them seemed to bother him quite as much as they had. As he cracked his neck, he glanced down at the Golden dragon ring on his hand. He could feel the small flows of power from within, each one giving its own separate aura. He called to the protective aura he had placed there, willing it into existence. Somehow the Dragon seemed to be helping guide the power, as before he was finished saying the words to the spell it snapped into place.
Useful. He thought.
With that, he looked at the rest of the group. Everyone seemed ready to leave, even Stephanie who seemed a little shaky from her experience.
"Right, we all know where we're going, and things are going to get more dangerous the further down we go. Rowning, you and Hal will take the lead and hopefully see any traps or trouble before we all run into it. Once we think we've reached the room with the Skeletons, let me up front. Unless anyone has anything else they need to take care of, we should get a move on."
Maelodakh sniffs with a mix of disdain and bravura.
"Let us merely attack the skeletons. Surely they are no match for us?"
she hefts her masterwork morningstar as if to press home the point.
Miagnik stopped and thought about what Maelodakh had said.
"Well, since we don't actually know the way to get by them without triggering them, my plan had been to just burn them all. So yes, that will work just fine. Hallister, Mae, you two will go first. Keep your guard up and draw them in. Once the they're all clamoring together, Mae you'll fall back. This is important Mae, do not lose yourself to your battle frenzy. I'll be behind you, so once your clear, I'll blast them all with fire. Wendel you'll be behind Hallister, but be sure to stay next to me. After I've blasted them with fire, you step in and take Mae's place. If I can't take care of them, you try finishing them off with your gods power. Stephanie, Rownig, Moralane, and Atharessa, you four will stay a little ways back from the fighting. Try to pick off any stragglers with covering fire."
He paused for a moment, letting the plan sink in for everyone.
"Remember, animated skeletons are hard to hurt with arrows and bolts, they tend to just shrug off most grazing hits. Bigger rounder objects and blunt force works better for breaking them apart. Stephanie, we don't want to use too much magic, so keep it ready but don't use it unless you have to."
"Let's see if we c'n save windel's godly blessin's if we can. windel what's the best way t'double kill 'em?"
"club and shatter 'dem bones...usually works best."
He stows his axe and draws his mace.
Stephanie looks at the stairs and makes a noise of thought. " i've got an idea that might get us down the stairs safely. Recently my interests have shifted a bit in spells. Were I to create an image of the hallway and stick it in front of us. So long as we stay quiet I dont think the skeletons are smart enough to spot the difference."
Mae sniffs.
"And leave the skeletons at our back? To harass others? Sister, sometimes you are too clever for your own good."
Mae suddenly grins mischieviously.
"Plus they might guard shiny-shiny, eh Miagnik!?" she nods in the goblin arcanist's direction.
Miagnik rubbed his chin as the group brought up their concerns. Rownig's hesitance for Windel to use his power stymied Miagniks plan, along with his mood. Well it would have been a good plan. Maybe we don't even need his power. It was just a suggestion. Doesn't matter, my flames should work just fine anyway! Conservative Dwarves... He stood for a short time, somewhere between deep thought and glowering.
Stephanie's plan however, brought a quick smile to his face as he was reminded how clever she was. Which was part of why he liked her. Until Mae brought up the downsides of leaving the skeletons behind.
Stephanie's plan might very well work... He then cast a glance around at their present company, raising an eyebrow along with a dubious glance at Windel, Hallister, Atharessa, and finally back at Stephanie herself. No, no, too many of us, and I don't think we can all be so quiet. Plus... shiny...
Miagnik caught himself nodding at Mae's suggestion and then began wildly shaking his head. Trying to stay focused, despite possible unknown treasures. "No. Stephanie, I can't imagine all eight of us getting through without being noticed. Rownig, myself, Mae, and Moralane could probably do it. Maybe you could too, but..." He just shook his head indicating the rest. "Plus, what if we have to retreat in a hurry? Can you do the spell again? If you could also make us silent, maybe, but I certainly don't like the idea of having skeletons at the top of the stairs and other enemies behind us. There's just too many risks involved. We should continue on with my plan."
Mae smiles triumphantly, and speaks somewhat condescendingly to her half-sister.
"Yes yes. Continue on with Miagnik's plan. As a Princess my dear, you should learn to listen to your underlings. They often have a wealth of experience."
Like a true scion of nobility, Mae shows absolutely no understanding that speaking thusly might upset Miagnik. It almost seems as if she thinks he should be honored to be cast in this fashion.
Miagniks eye twitched as Maelodakh began to act haughty towards her sister. He wanted to interfere, he was about to, but then he thought better of it. Throwing himself in the middle of their problem wasn't going to solve anything, and he certainly wouldn't be doing Stephanie any favors. If she was nobility, she was going to have to learn to deal with bullies... Even if they were her own family.
Stephanie frowns just about to speak before holding in a breath thinking rather than giving into the desire to speak No, need to phrase it right or she'll just ignore it.
" And if this is a fight we could avoid? Bear in mind that just killing them does nothing, they will come back. We need to save our strength, abilities and healing for the other more dangerous challenges ahead? Just because a trap has been placed does not mean we should step on it out of a sense of fair play sister."
The gnome states as she points to the map the group had been given, emphasizing the next area. She avoids looking her sister in the eye and focuses on the facts she is presenting rather than worrying over the result.
If.. If it helps us survive this place I think I can be alright with Mae being upset with me for a small while.
"If we waste resources on fighting these creatures we will have less reserves to face the other challenges with. Like the Troll chief Heelggod mentioned.
It sounds like the skeletons have something that alerts them when someone is passing the hall. That sounds like a magical Alarm spell of some kind. If we could find it and disable it the skeletons would have no reason to come out and fight us. And if we can't then if we could find something big enough to block the doors then they wouldn't be able to come out in the first place."
She then points over at the room which had contained the frozen maiden.
"Never mind that we will be facing an ambush at some point in the future anyway, that creature is coming back and if the Priestess is right it will be coming to kill us."
Mae scrumples her nose, more concerned and confused than outright disagreeing with her clever but clearly addled sister.
"Hang on hang on. What is a fight you can avoid? Why avoid it?"
The royal warrior-goblin looks to the rest of the party for help, but in the end merely sighs in consternation.
"Ugh. If you have a good plan go for it. Just tell me where to crack their bony heads."
Mae is grumpy and out of sorts - after all, things have progressed from what was understandable and simple to something complex and difficult.
As if from some new inspiration she perks up again.
"What does fair play mean?"
Stephanie looks in stark confusion at Mae, wind working for an answer to her question. " I.. well fair play, and err.."
She wracks her brain for a few moments. Blunter... how to explain it.
She smacks a fist into her opposing hand. "Means that two people of equal skill agree to fight at less than their best to ensure they both leave the battle field with their lives. At least that's how the idea started, no poison, no killing family members that sort of thing." Stephanie sighs and puts hand to face. "But that would be completely outside the point, if we can safely avoid the skeletons we ought to. If we can't then I'm fine with dealing with them but I doubt we will win without taking damage ourselves."
Stephanie frowns just about to speak before holding in a breath thinking rather than giving into the desire to speak No, need to phrase it right or she'll just ignore it.
" And if this is a fight we could avoid? Bear in mind that just killing them does nothing, they will come back. We need to save our strength, abilities and healing for the other more dangerous challenges ahead?
"We don't know that. They're undead. They need to be destroyed. Once they're destroyed we can pile the bones together and burn them, or wrap them in chains. Lock them in a box. Just because they might come back doesn't mean they can't come back harmless. We've dealt with this before we found you. You'll catch on to how it's done."
"Rownig an' I will see how code we can get without them noticing us. We'll try to get their attention once we're in place to hold them hold them right there at that bend where they can only come at us two at a time. Once they see us, the rest of you come running."
"Let's break some bones."
Hall nods to Mae, rolls his shoulders and moves in to get the skeleton's attention.
" And if this is a fight we could avoid? Bear in mind that just killing them does nothing, they will come back. We need to save our strength, abilities and healing for the other more dangerous challenges ahead? Just because a trap has been placed does not mean we should step on it out of a sense of fair play sister."
"Er..., technically, there already dead. We'd be destoy'n 'em. Why leave a threat at our back?"
Rownig keeps one hand axe out but replaces another with his light mace before moving up to -A: 7.
+2 for traps
He grimaces has is gear rattles a bit as he scraps the wall.
Mae makes a good attempt to follow Stephanie's explanation but her eyes glaze over after
"less than their best".
Clearly addled.
After Hallister outlines his plan, Mae nods to him with her chin, and shrugs to Stephanie.
"What Hal said."
The staunch goblin gives a preparatory swing of her evil looking club and sets off after the dwarf.
Miagnik was nodding along with the rest of the group and thinking about what to say next, he began to imagine how the conversation might carry on to the point that he didn't even notice when Hal and Rownig quietly moved past him and slipped down the hall. Until the Door swung open and sounds of weapons being readied echoed down the hallway.
"Aaagh, my plan!" He then turned and ran to catch up with the Dwarves.
"Stand where I am, sorcerer! Aim that way." Hal grunts.
[oc]Sorry, Mae should be in -A5 or -A8…[/ooc]
Mae sees the skeletons clanking toward her.
Fully armored, and big too…
She gulps quickly, and turns to the sorcerer...
Sorry Miagnik. Seems like I'm a need to get a bit wild and reckless on this one…"
Stephanie frowns at the backs of her companions before sighing and following.
Moralane quickly puts her bow over her left shoulder and draws her short sword and moves a bit closer to the battle
Well, we've obviously stirred up the welcoming committee! Miagnik, I'll stay close to you. Atharessa, stay with Stephanie
Seeing the gap in their ranks, Hal stepped into it to keep the undead from spilling over around the bend. He brought his new axe into the bony abominations with a pair of deft chops.