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Walking towards the new arrival, Nathaniel trips slightly, his head 'accidentally' passing near Viorel's. "Scan her for magic, just in case" he whispers quickly before straightening up and walking towards her.
"It sounds like quite a tale; come in, one of us will get a fire going. In the mean time-" tapping the woman's shoulder, she feels a bright flare of warmth "this should help."
"As I said, my name is Nathaniel- over there is Barek, Viorel, Torin, Rosa and Cinderfang. We have also been sent, in a way, to destroy demons. And I am sorry to so soon touch upon your grief, but I must ask- how many demons were at the fort? Is it possible any followed you here?"
Rosa is looming over the girl brandishing her hellsword. Cinderfang introduces himself, as does Torin. Rosa casts some kind of spell.
Rosa says, "She's got nothing magical except her sword and armor."
While Rosa is doing this Barek nods a silent greeting, hand on sword hilt.
"I don't really know. I'm a simple knight. I know how to swing a sword, but mostly all I know about demons is they need killing. There were lots of lesser undead, and few more powerful ones. There was at least a couple of these pointed headed skeleton looking guys with spears, and the big bird-demon thing. Then the shadow came.." she trails off and shrugs.
He falls in to pondering after listening to the woman's tale. After a moment he moves to his belongings trusting the others to keep an eye on the woman incase. He retrives some food, pinching a bite out of it and consuming it. He then offers the meal to the woman. "Could you be more spesific about the shadow? Magical darkness perhaps?" He had changed his tone to a more pleasant one. I do not know how formidable this woman or her companions were but if single ambush was enough to decimate them, it might be good idea to get a better idea on what we are up against. And what do with her, I don't like the idea of unknown companion but it is a long way to make alone to the fort.
"There were just four of us. We left Clydwell with six, but we lost two to a dinosaur ambush out on the plains. That left us without a mage, but Keavar insisted we continue on." Walking over to Viorel she sheathes her sword, sets down her shield and accepts the food. Between ravenous bites she answers him, "I suppose it must have been. There was just this rolling globe of blackness, wide as a barn and darker than any night I've ever seen."
Cinderfang reports, "Sun-eater thinks she smells like she's a human, if there is still any doubt as to her veracity." He gives Rosa, who is still brandishing her sword and glaring an appeasing look.
Rosa mutters something in infernal and goes to sit in the corner, her blade still her in hand, "Give me two hours, then I'll watch her." Barek offers to stay up for the two hours. Cinderfang, and Torin need their beauty sleep however, they also have spells to regain.
Viorel decides to sacrifice a moment for further discussion, he lowers his voice so those going for rest are not disturbed."Sounds like magic. Any idea on numbers? We could try using ambush ourselves. We might be able to track your route back to the battleground. On the subject Nathaniel all ready brushed, would you be interested in extracting revenge on the fallen?"
"Thank you for letting me stay, but that fight showed me I'm not cut out for this. I'll take my chances headed back towards Clydwell. I'd rather die fighting some evil animal than have my soul torn to shreds by undead demons. You lot are either far stronger or far braver than I."
Before he drifts off to sleep Torin says, "Oh, I must be forgetting myself. Here Raina, this will make you feel better." He raises his holy symbol and channels healing energy over the group. Raina's bruises fade.
Viorel moves back to his spot preparing for sleep. "As you wish miss. I hope you will find your way safely back. I got some maps on me so I can explain a route back for you in the morning." He notes before closing his eyes. He decides to share his knowledge about the enemy as they start traveling.
Raina settles down by the fire, but doesn't seem to want to sleep. Rosa wakes up after a couple hour catnap and insists that the fire be put out. Barek nods, doing so, and then goes to sleep. Rosa sits across from Raina, staring at her.
After everyone has been asleep for a long time, Raina says to Rosa, "Might as well tell you why I really came here. But first I think I'll...REVERSE GRAVITY!" That last bit is said in a demonic roar, and she slaps the ground. Suddenly everything is falling up. The sleeping party and Rosa are catapaulted to slam into the high ceiling as if they were falling from a couple stories up.
Everyone is jolted awake by slamming into the roof. Something is very wrong.
Initiative
Torin 23
Barek 21
Rosa 20
Cinderfang 14
Viorel 13
Nathaniel 8
Monster 4
Torin cursing, realizes he can't move from the ceiling and casts a spell of flying on himself. Then he flies down to grab his polearm.
Barek, cursing struggles in the air, unable to move.
Rosa, fuming is unable to reach the knight woman.
Cinderfang turns into a condor and flies towards the knight, only to be slammed by some invisible force in mid-air.
The vulture sqwuaks in alarm.
Viorel grunts as hitting the ceiling hurts him. "Eeeae booll nasnag gdoog noogmd!" He shouts before starting to cast the spell. Soon a familiar ball of fire erupts from his hands Hitting the far corner of the room then engulfing the creature. He takes a step closer on the ceiling next to Torin.
Round 1
Initiative 13
Viorel throws his fireball.
'Raina' just laughs in a deep bellowing roar as the fire licks around her. She appears to be completely unharmed. The stone wall behind her is singed and chipped, but largely intact.
Initiative 8
Nathaniel begins casting a spell.
Initiative 4
The creature, whatever it is, raises its hand pointing at Nathaniel and says "Aren't you feeling ?"
"A few days ago some mortals saw fit to cleanse this temple of its ghost, and to sanctify it. I came here hoping to catch them if they returned. Obviously it wasn't you lot." she says with a pout. "Oh well, you're proving a momentary bit of fun."
End of Round 1
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Begin Round 2
Initiative
Torin 23
Barek 21
Rosa 20
Cinderfang 14
Viorel 13
Nathaniel 8
Monster 4
Initiative 23
Torin having flown down to the ground, picks up his ranseur and casts bless.
Initiative 21
Barek rages in the air, grasping for his weapons left next to his sleeping mat below.
Initiative 20
Rosa fires a bolt of fire at the knight woman, but it simply skitters off her harmlessly.
Initiative 14
Cinderfang begins to fly down to the floor, when he's again hit by the invisible force in midair.
He lands turning back into a man, "That's no girl we're fighting!" he gasps through bloodied lips, "It's a huge demon under an illusion spell! RUN!"
Round 2 Init 13
Noticing that Nathaniel is now out retreat is not looking as good option as before since he can't make everyone fly. Viorel decides to try again with brute force. The man calls deep within himself as he starts casting and soon another fireball flies but this time with alchemy enhanced. He then starts following Nathaniel's instruction no idea what he is planning but decides to do it anyway.
Viorel looks around not sure how they are getting out of this mess so decides desperate times need desperate measures and calls deep inside of himself. He starts casting calling upon the arcane powers and releases two fireballs on the same location as before instead of one hoping to deal with the situation with brute force. I really hope this works.
Round 2
Initiative 13
Viorel throws two fireballs in rapid succession, seeing no other options. Raina just continues laughing as the magics have no effect on her. The wall is much more damaged now, but still standing.
Initiative 8
Nathaniel looks on in frustrated rage as his body refuses to cooperate.
Initiatve 4
"This giant b!@~! mean-mugging me is getting old." Raina says.
Suddenly Rosa's body is slammed several times by an invisible force, and miliseconds later explodes as it is torn outward into several pieces. "Much better." the demon says, as blood and fragments of platemail come raining upward to coat the ceiling.
End of Round 2
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Begin Round 3
Initiative
Torin 23
Barek 21
Cinderfang 14
Viorel 13
Nathaniel 8
Monster 4
Initiative 23
Torin deciding to take Cinderfang's advice, heads for the door, staying as far from Raina as possible.
Just as he gets near the door a powerful blow slams into him, denting the breastplate of his armor.
Initiative 21
Barek remains stuck at the ceiling.
Initiative 14
Cinderfang growls, "Run, dammit!", turns into a tiger and moves up to near Raina.
Viorel, seeing that his magic is doing nothing just stares on in horror. Nathaniel remains stunned, his eyes flicking back and forth across the scene, but his limbs refusing to move.
"Ooh, I think we're close enough now. I'll take my clothes off, let you see everything." 'Raina' reaches up and unbuckles the breastplate of her armor, as she begins to pull it down the illusion that was her is shredded into millions of pieces that flutter for a millisecond before disappearing. Erupting in her place is a fifteen foot tall monstrous demon. Its head resembles a humanoid many horned wolf; it rests on a thick, scaled neck attached to chitin-covered shoulders. It has two pairs of arms, the upper pair are much larger and end in huge arthropoid pincers. The smaller humanoid arms below, have giant-sized hands with taloned fingers. This nightmarish torso rests upon the lower legs of some abominable primeval reptile, with legs thick as tree trunks standing on huge, splayed, clawed feet. it says in a deep evil voice. The thing smells like roadkill mixed with burning hair and rubber.
It reaches down with one humanoid hand to rip the head off Cinderfang, as if it were swatting a fly. it scolds, clicking its tongue. Using its remaining two pincers and hand it works on Torin. The pincers grab one shoulder each, and tear his ribcage off his spine and sternum, completely exposing the dwarf's chest cavity. This is followed by a disemboweling so hateful that its better left undescribed.
The remaining three mortals find themselves basically helpless before such a powerful evil. They can feel their bladder muscles quivering as they contemplate the horrible deaths that are about to befall them. The demon takes one lumbering step towards the end of the chapel containing Nathaniel, Viorel and Barek before stopping up short. Its head cocks to one side as if listening to some unheard noise.
it growls, after a few seconds. The terror slams its pincer into the wall angrily. Its lips curl back to reveal endless rows of shark-like, pointed, obsidion teeth in a snarl. It turns, as if to go, then stops. Looking back over its massive shoulder at Viorel it says,
Viorel Is surprised but falls in to contemplation for a while. From a demon...but tempting none the less. Well two can play dirty you arrogant f#$@. I will have vengance. He grins slightly as an idea comes to him. "Fine I accept. I wish for the knowledge of your true name." The mage was gambling but at the moment he was more listening to his anger than logic.
"Whoops! Lied again." It says, laughing evilly. Raising one of its humanoid hands, it snaps its fingers and disappears in a puff of acrid black smoke. The thing's laughter rings on in the ears of Barek, Nathaniel and Viorel. The only thing left in the chapel is the overwhelming smell of coppery blood laced with bodily fluids and the sight of the slowly congealing puddles that had been their friends.
Viorel curses loudly. "That thing will regret ever crossing paths." He mumbles boiling with anger. Eventually he casts a spell allowing him to fly and starts moving his surviving companions down on the ground, Barek first, Nathaniel could fly himself if he was free before. "If we can we should take the bodies with us for proper burial if not let's burn them, I would not wish them to rise as undead. Either way we should head back to the keep."
Sun-Eater runs over to sniff at Cinderfang's headless body. When he sees that his master is dead, he gives the other three a look before running off into the night.
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Nathaniel's eyes are wide with shock as his companions are butchered before glazing over and becoming half-closed. As he finds himself able to move again, he ignores everything else, bends over and resumes drawing his pattern upon the roof, slower this time. His movements are listless and he is unresponsive.
A minute later, he exhales a small sigh and with a burst of smoke, emerges in his blue-skinned form. Rising, his movements now powerful and determined, a voice booms out of his mouth, similar and yet greatly different to Nathaniel's- it is clipped, precise, and very much deeper. "Burn the bodies. They cared not about fripperies such as burial in life; honour their wishes in death. We must leave. The demon will want nothing more than to return and kill us all. Viorel, you know of fire and maps. Help us burn them then plot us a safe direction out of here. We have no time to walk; I will fly and carry you all until past daybreak."
The cerulean dinosaur pauses rapidly packing away its belongings and hammock. "And, for now; call me Bartimaeus."
He gives Nathaniel a look but nods in response. "Sounds good enough plan drag them next to each other on the center and get your belongings packed." He notes walking next one of the walls pulling out his dagger and scratching the names of the fallen on it. He gets what little something he can find that will burn easily as he gathers his gear. Eventually stacking them on top of the bodies then with few castings of simple magic he gets the fire going. "Rest easy. The demon shall pay." He notes to the fire before turning to walk towards the exit grapping a map in hand. "Okay lets leave this place. We will go more or less the same route back."
Barek remains in a stoic silence, his face grim as he plays out the fate of his companions through his mind. What was that? Even though it had the benefit of surprise, I suspect that the damned fiend was well beyond us... We must learn to be wary of all...
So the blue armed creature known as Bartimaeus picks up Barek and Viorel, one in its taloned feet and the other in its thick arms and begins to fly east. Somewhere a couple hundred feet up, they break out of the mist and into the cold, crystal-clear night sky. Viorel uses his compass to orient the group and they press on. Without Rosa's plodding pace and the uneven ground to slow them, they make excellent time.
After a couple hours of flying Viorel calculates they should be over safer territory. Bartimaeus is feeling the strain of exhaustion, but so far doing okay. Barek's shoulders are aching from Bart's claws gripping them, and Viorel's buttocks and legs have gone numb from the awkward grip that the eidolon has on him.
He thinks for a moment before responding. "I think we should rest, with just the three of us we are already vulnerable and I am far cry from my full potential with my magic not replenished and using much of what I had on that demon. I still have enough power to set up quite good alarm system around us. We also flew all the way here so there are no track to lead anyone. There is a slight chance that if the demon is powerful enough or has powerful enough allies that it could try scrying on us. But if we are up against that sort of power we might as well assume it has access to faster mobility than us and outrunning it would be a pointless effort since we are a far cry from wardstones. And that demon is not the only thing that would try to kill us here. Either way I would like to be on the top of my power if it's possible when or if we encounter hostiles. Yes resting seems to be the better choice." He goes on rambling while he thinks it trough himself.
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Bartimaeus nods and, assuming Barek does not object, he scans the ground for a possible camping site.
Finding one, he settles down onto the ground, dropping Viorel and Barek carefully onto the dirt. Falling into a crouch, he breathes deeply for a minute before standing up and carefully stretching and testing each muscle.
EDITED:
Bartimaeus lands and camp is made. Thankfully, nothing disturbs them for the rest of the night, and after a tense couple hours the sun comes up. They continue to rest for a few hours, but are soon ready to depart.
08/20/4712 08:00
Bartimaeus is able to carry the other two all the way back to Clydwell keep in just over five hours. He's not even really that tired when they arrive around lunch time.
08/20/4712 12:15