"I am Arauco, children of the Earth. Begone from this place now, and I will promise not to hunt you for sport. Though it is old, this place is still filled with the stench of your kind, but my heart is in hunting the elves of the forest."
”We may take a moment and regroup, but we’re not stopping right,” Torvi quietly queries of her friends.
"Arauco, fellow dweller in darkness!" bellows Snorri, keeping the axe at the ready. "We have no quarrel with you, but we have set to reclaim these grounds for our race! By ancient customs above and below, I propose a truce to negotiate our claim and yours over the mine!"
Dasur stands behind Snorri as the iron filings in his hand wick sweat and stick to his skin. He awaits Lord Snorri's orders, still and patient, "Either this Arauco will recognize that the Tharnhammers rightfully own this mine and allow us to pass peacefully, or we will banish them." He says flatly to Torvi without glancing over.
From the darkness, a gruff voice echoes. It seems to come from in front of you, but also echoes through the openings to your left and right.
"Troooooose. Says the Earthson. You have no claim here. The only dwarves here are old bones. There were others like you, and now they are gone. Get you gone before you are gnawed bones."
Torvi will take advantage of the break in the fighting to heal Snorri.
"Thanks, Torvi. Arauco! Those bones are our claim, that this place was built by our ancestors and passed down to us. Three roads are paved in front of you, for how I see it! You may leave peacefully, and hunt the Mithvarim of the forest as much as you like. You may work with us as an ally, and share this place with dwarvenkind. The third road is the one where you refuse us passage, and it is one that ends in blood. I hope we shall walk the second road, I will accept the first, but do not think that we are not ready for the third!"
From the darkness before you, something emerges. It is massive, with long tangled hair. It knuckle walks toward you like a massive surface ape. But this ape wears plate mail and has fangs like daggers.
"The bloody path is one I have walked before, son of Earth."
And then it opens its mouth and roars.
Glenda seems rather placid in the face of this horror, and simply raises her holy symbol in reply.
Torvi runs...
Backing into Greyclaw and both turn and leave. That is a thing of death.
No supernatural terror can shake the will that the Forgemaster imbued into Snorri. A battle to reclaim the ancient grounds of his people lies squarely in Torag's domain, and a throb of power reverberates through the paladin as favor is bestowed. The Axe of Dammerhall glows as a spirit bonds with the masterwork item, and Snorri turns into a conduit for divine purpose.
"So be it. I pronounce you banished from our homes, invader. By steel and might, begone."
Round 1
The creature's roar shakes Dasur's bones, and he feels his legs turn to jelly. Still, the wizard stands his ground and quickly assesses their foe.
There was little time to determine why an elf-hating giant ape was wearing full plate, who made it, and where they had gotten the materials.
Instead, Dasur puts his staff in the crook of his arm and reaches into his shirt, retrieving his arcane focus. The fist-sized ruby spins on its golden chain for a moment as he stares into its depths, and after a few seconds he speaks a single word of power.
Sparkling dust erupts from all sides of the jewel and flies through the air, coalescing into a cloud all around the giant ape.
Snorri, appeared ready to run, but she steeled herself and stood fast. With Snorri’s proclamation, she commences her rage song again...
Snorri, appeared ready to run
Screaming back at the oversized ape and fire erupts from her hands.
Arauco heaves his bulk toward you, his massive hands lashing out. "Angazhan give me strength to crush these dwarven intruders..."
Round 2
Torvi takes a 5’ step to behind Snorri.
Torvi casts Path of Glory, and calls out in dwarven, ”stay on the glowing areas if you can, they will heal you!”
The area underneath Torvi, Snorri, and the two squares next to the beast commence glowing.
Glenda conjures a spiritual weapon to harry their foe.
Round 2
One spell was woven into another as the magic of the Earth flowed through Dasur's fingertips. Surrounded by so much stone, it was a trivial matter to open portals to the Elemental Plane of Very Small Rocks above their foe's head.
Pebbles and debris of all kinds rain down from the ceiling, filling the tunnel with debris behind the ape as well.
Snorri answers the creature's strike with one of his own, taking a step and whirling his axe as he invokes his power to heal.
Snorri batters the beasts armor as it howls in pain. Glenda's spell is also clearly an effective harassment.
Erebos, still flying, races through the air, ducking under the flailing arms of the ape to hover behind it.
Iverna slips through the crowd to position herself opposite Gren.
Snorri tries to take advantage of the beast's temporary blindness and strike at it, but another blow just clangs against the armor as he growls in frustration.
Glenda's spiritual weapon continues to hammer at the ape.
The monster ape clutches at Snorri's axe, but without being able to see he can't lay hands on it.
Round 3 and Gren's make up action.
Dwarvish: "It's a not so dumb ape that has been magicked to the sky."
Torvi uses a swift action to advance the Path of Glory.
Torvi swings away at the beast with her dorn-dergar...
Bludgeon
"Ah, you want my axe?" bellows Snorri, swatting away the monster's arm. "Than feel its bite!"
The ancient weapon finally strikes accurately against the foe, once and then again.
"By Magrim's gaze, this battle shall end in grim tidings, and by Magrim's blessing it shall come from our liege's axe," intones Glenda. While behind Snorri, she takes a moment to reach out and tap her holy symbol to the haft of his axe as he has it pulled back after a swing.
Growling when fire erupts from her fingers into long flaming talons. Lashing out at the looming ape.
Round 3
Dasur watches the fate of their expedition be decided in the all-out brawl ccuring before him. The great ape, intelligent and fierce, tickles something in his mind, reminding him of his own father's research.
Now was not the time for contemplation, however, or at least not the kind involving family history, Instead, the dwarf's mind works quickly, trying to identify any advantage they could use over their foe.
A primal howl turns scream as steel and fire bite and burn into the dark servant's flesh. Lost in fury, he lashes out with claw and fang, tearing and battering the Tharnhammer. After delivering the devastating attack, he seems almost to faint, but for the moment he stays on his feet.
Round 4
Angazhan is the demon lord of strength and destruction. He takes the form of a massive horned, shaggy ape.
Maw and claw ravage Snorri's flesh, but adamantine determination keeps him going and going. Powered by magic upon magic, the Axe of Dammerhall strikes again in a savage blow against the beast.
"You are alone, beast, while we work in concert! Know that your own folly brought this upon you, and be vanquished!"
Torvi expands the area of the Path of Glory as she continues to try and reign pain down upon the hideous beast...
Bludgeon
Dwarvish: "Glenda, a little help keeping Snorri alive, if you would please!"
Glenda is already on top of the matter, weaving her holy symbol into an intricate healing prayer before unleashing its power upon Snorri.
”Great job everyone, if you’re injured, stay on the path, I think I can hold it’s healing power for another 20 seconds, or so.”
Dasur slowly approaches their front lines, his fingers flexing with his measured steps. Around them the spider webs begin to disintegrate into nothing, melting away as the magic binding them to the material plane seeps into the astral plane.
"This ape worshiped Angazhan... a demon lord of strength and destruction. I would say it was blessed by the demon, given its incredible abilities." The wizard drones as he approaches the dead ape. Using the tip of his staff, he pushes the end of it into Arauco's bloody, open mouth and turns the head upward to stare into its lifeless eyes. "Fascinating. Awakened animals such as this one were a great part of my father's research, but it ultimately backfired on him and resulted in his demise at the hands of his own creations."
The head drops back to the floor as Dasur removes the staff of its mouth. "You can see why. Typically, they seek vengeance against those that experimented on them, which might have been the case with Arauco and the Mithvarian."
With a wave of his staff, Dasur begins to concentrate on the ape's body for any sign of magical auras.
Even as he studies the corpse, the dwarven wizard says: "Iverna and Gren, would you see to the door to the Foreman's office? Logic suggests the map to Dammerhall would be inside. Please see if the door lock can be picked, and if not, Gren can use Stone Shape and open our own passage to the other side."