Enizver just can't get his shot to connect.
The life spirits heal Horat, Sam, and Olivia (4 hp each). Then another hellhound rushes forward and belches fire over Hora, Sam, and Enizver. But Horat strikes it once as it approaches (w his aoo).
Then you see another bearded devil enter the cave and, behind it, the old woman with her staff and helm.
S.A.M. just manages to get his shield up in time to bear the brunt of the flames. The shield is now singed entirely on one side while the interior retains a lovely sheen. "Everyone alright back there?" he shouts, not taking his eyes off of the target as his dark curse encircles the hellhound, shadowy wisps licking menacingly at its fiendish paws. He swings twice with his axe.
Looking ahead, he shouts once again to the others: "Prepare yourselves! We shall fight greater foes still!"
Once again, Horat falls to the ground, smouldering.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Enizver took the fire right to the face. Somehow the Gnome use his uncanny knack to get out of trouble to avoid the worst of the flame, but his beard was significantly less mighty the previous boast had suggested.
Groaning a little and smouldering heavily Enizver moved to Horat. "Back on your feet, please. We have need of you." He reached down and healed the Warrior.
Liv flew once more to get in line with the hellhound, blasting it away as best as she could. She didn't like the look of the spellcaster, but there wasn't much she could do about that right now.
SAM strikes the hellhound once but no one else can land a blow. The water spirit and the earth spirit chip away at the hellhound as well but it still stands strong, burning with infernal flames. The old woman regards the four of you with steady, calm eyes and raises her staff and intones something.
"I pay my service, though the gods know it brings me no joy."
She also calls out in rough common "You must surrender the man."
A tiny, crackling bead of lightning shoots forth from her staff over your heads then explodes in a massive, thundering ball of lightning that streaks through your bodies, wracking you with power. Then the old woman slumps on her staff, exhausted, as if she just expended massive effort and force of will.
Liv summons the last of her high-level energy and attempts to counterspell the woman.
At the last moment, Horat raises an arcane shield, but still is set to collapse once again...
Olivia blocks the woman's magic such that the crackling lightning is nothing more than a light show and does you no harm.
Enraged, the devil dog unleashes his fire breath again while the bearded devil tries to stab SAM with its glaive but misses. The old woman shakes her head. "Well done. But it is pointless to resist."
Horat falls to the hellhound's flames!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Go save Horat!
Liv groaned. Was her captor really that stupid? It was trying to help him and the tin can that meant she wouldn't be able to block any other spells from the old woman like that again. Didn't she realize that being able to block massive attacks like that was far more valuable that doling out a pittance of healing? He was next to the Life spirit anyway. No, it was far more important to try to prevent another attack as best as she could again.
She ignored the voice in her head, channeling her energy to go and rush towards the woman's staff in unerring little bolts of energy.
Then as much as she hated to do it, Liv flew away from the happy Life beacons. It simply wouldn't to have the entire group caught in one spell again. It made them too tempting of a target. As she went, she flew lower to the ground, hoping the walls would provide some cover.
Enizver grunted in pain as he decided this time he really didn't want to burn, and once again dodged the worst of the fire with uncanny skill. Thankfully the healing resoted most of what the fire took.
With another grunt Enizver loaded another shot and unloaded it into the Hellhound. They really needed that thing gone.
SAM nods to Olivia as a salute and display of gratitude but it isn’t long before the battle presses him again as the fire-breather launches further flames at the frustrated cluster. With a grace that is eerie coming from mechanical limbs, SAM leaps spryly to avoid most of the fire but is determined to silence its spewer. He decides to see if the life spirits revive Horat in order to focus his immediate attention on threat eradication.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
A canopy of force erupts around the old woman's staff, guarding it from Olivia's attack.
Enizver fires and misses while Olivia damages the hellhound. SAM then finishes it off and steps up to the bearded devil but cannot hit it. The water spirit and earth spirit damage the bearded devil and the life spirits heal Horat. Then the old woman casts another spell. This time fire erupts over your heads, washing over the devil who merely chuckles comfortably. Instead of a simple explosion, however, the fire snakes through the air in intricate patterns, seeking out its victims.
The bearded devil swipes his glaive at the construct in front of him but misses. He then thrusts forward with his beard and it digs into the neck joint of SAM's armor, poison leaking into his internal workings! More devils rush into the cave near the woman.
Horat nearly gets up, then is blasted down again by flame!
The agonizing fire washes over SAM. Immediately all of his hull status sensors begin throwing error codes. In the cacophonous confusion he loses his focus on the dark curse. He reels at the bearded sting and hopes his mechanical inner workings will protect him somewhat.
He holsters his pact weapon, lifting his shield in defense while reaching for his holy symbol hanging form his neck, praying for health.
Liv grimaced as her allies took yet another blast of energy. Foolish girl, you could have prevented that if you weren't so short-sighted and hadn't spent all your energy healing!
She focused her energy at the woman, hoping that luck was on her side before nervously edging further away from her companions. She was pretty sure they needed the shaman alive, to perhaps taking refuge near him would protect her.
The woman casts shield again but Olivia manages to strike her staff with the first blow and shatter it, despite her hex spell having no effect (the rules leave it up to the GM but I say no necrotic damage to wood that's already dead). The second bolt flies at the woman and strikes her once, lightly.
SAM succumbs to the poison in his internal gears. He tries to heal him himself but his healing has no effect.
Enizver whimpered as he was burned again. Well, he hadn't expected any better when they'd decided to deny the nether realms their prize.
Groaning and wiping the char from his eyes, Enizver lined up another shot on the monsterous thing attack SAM.
Enizver launches a shot but firing through two allies is very difficult and he doesn't quite land a shot on the bearded devil.
The life spirits put more healing into those around them. The water spirit and earth spirit damage the bearded devil somewhat but it stands strong and strikes twice at SAM, that deadly beard piercing him again (4 dam). The second bearded devil rushes forward and strikes at SAM but can't hit him. The hellhound rushes forward and pours fire over him and Horat (20 dam, DC 13 dex save for half). The woman shakes her broken stick in frustration and eyes Olivia, seeing that the sorceress is quite wounded herself. She sends her own magic missiles zipping towards her and calls out "The fiends will take him either way. You can only choose who!"
Tinuk looks to Olivia and Enizver and asks "This true? Which choose?" Then the cave glows again, another spirit ready to join the battle.
Horat twitches and then blasted with flame!
"It's what they claim," Enizver called back as he smoked. "We simply don't believe that the residents of the Underworld are telling the truth. We'd rather hunt for a third option than condemn a soul to them."
Staggering, Enizver moved to Horat and healed him again, using his last spell to get him back on his feet.
As the bolts of light head towards her, Liv instinctively throws up a barrier to protect her. It was good that it wasn't another fireball. Not so good that she was still throwing spells around. Though it figured with her luck. Though you couldn't cast spells if you were unconscious...
She flew to get a clear shot at the woman before unleashing all her fury at her.
The woman casts shield and only the first strike hits, guided by Olivia's divine connection.
Small sparks of electricity spurt from SAM's joints now as his hardware short-circuits upon each motion. You can hear gears grinding and churning and he offers up a prayer to his god. "Lord... save me!"
He decides to go down fighting, hoping Kelemvor will show him mercy this time and carry him to the next battle. He knows that unless the fire-breathing dog is brought down, there isn't much hope for him. He retreats 5 feet and curses the hound before launching several volleys of hatred at it.
The life spirits pour out more healing and the earth and water spirit dole out a little more damage.
The old woman sends more missiles zipping across the battlefield.
The devils then attack but don't manage to land any attacks because of SAM's shield spell (blocked a 23 that would have hit). The hellhounds chest glows somewhat red, recharging his breath. Who knows when it will be ready?
Just then, a small demon flies swiftly into the cave. Somehow, it reaches out to your minds and thinks "My Lord Abraxas or the hateful Fierna will take him! Choose now!"
"I'm afraid I can't hand over a soul to either of you," Enizver replies out loud. In his mind the urge to surrender is strong, but terrifying. To die is one thing - a horrible thing - but to hand over a soul to such creatures would surely damn Enizver's own soul to the darkness along with it. It was both the wrong thing to do and terrifying. Enizver couldn't bring himself to surrender, even in as much pain as he was in.
Turning the thunder cannon on the attackers assaulting SAM once more, Enizver tried to fire again.
Tinuk shakes his head and smiles thinly but his face is peaceful. "Soul safe. Can't take by force. Can only take body if I do not wrong."
With a cry, Liv used up the last of her magical energy, protecting first herself and then her allies. Her eyes lit up in a slightly unhinged fashion. They were all going to die. But that's ok because she was going to take as many people with her as she could.
S.A.M. writhes, clasping his metal head when the flying demon enters! "Get out of my head, you cursed fiend!" he shouts before he retreats 5 feet and lets fly two beams of magical energy, targeting the hellhound.
Sam shoots at the hellhound but not before stepping back and provoking attacks from all three devils. Thankfully, none hit. He then blasts the hellhound but the creature still stands.
"I shall pull myself out of the fire's range."
Horat stands and withdraws, limping around the corner.
He still grasps his halberd.
Horat then calls upon another life spirit.
The life spirits pulse out their healing again (probably 6 hp to everyone depending on positioning of Horat's new spirit). The water and earth spirits keep chipping away at the enemies. The quasit then flies all the way to Tinuk. The old woman shakes her head and sends missiles of force flying all over the battlefield.
The first two pulverize the quasit with pure force, destroying the tiny demon and banishing it back to the Abyss. The next two target SAM, Olivia, and Horat. (4 dam to Olivia, 5 to SAM, 3 to Horat shield spell blocks). The hellhound steps forward and bites at SAM while the bearded devil swings its glaive. Both miss. The other bearded devil, frustrated with how blocked this route is, begins to climb the ice wall but makes little progress so far.
Horat summons a shield to block the magic missle, then steps back into the corridor - beyond the reach of the hellhound's blast.
He then targets the foul creature with a magical strike of his own!
Groaning, Enizver staggered back to previous room, and out of the soothing healing energy, to try and perforate the floating spellcaster. It was unlikely, given the trouble he'd heard her causing, but he'd give it a shot.
The old woman throws up a shield but Enizver's shot still manages to find her. She attempts to dodge the worst of it but he predicts her move and lands the shot. She turns to him and points silently, bleeding from her side.
SAM's magical barrier fends off multiple attacks and he hits a kind of stride in the battle. He reaches for his pact weapon, cursing the hellhound again, and hoping to finish it off before it can breathe any more fire.
Liv had to make a quick choice: try to take out the spellcaster or deal with the bearded devil. Given how poorly her attempts to take out the woman had gone thus far, perhaps pushing the bearded devil back before it could approach Tinuk was the best choice.
SAM misses the hellhound once and lands a single attack on it. Olivia blasts the bearded devil back onto the ground and away from Tinuk. It seems these heroes may hold out a little longer still.
The spirits pour out their healing energy once more and the water spirit finishes off the hellhound before it can attack again!
Another bearded devil just enters the cave, rushing at full speed. The old woman moves to the side and utters a word, some of her wounds closing. Then she holds out an uplifted hand toward SAM and a bell tolls deeply, loudly, echoing through the cave. "Your time comes, machine."
The bearded devil hacks at SAM with beard and glaive but is held off a little longer. The hellhound rushes forward and pours new hellfire over SAM's armor (22 fire dam, DC 13 dex save for half). The devil knocked back by Olivia stubbornly begins clawing its way over the ice again.
Liv tried to shoot back the annoyingly persistent bearded devil. It wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to blast that damnable spellcaster to kingdom come. But, well, that dumb old man was the only thing able to summon these spirits. And those were quite possibly the only thing keeping her alive. She couldn't rely on the others to take the creature out before it reached it. She would have an easier time pushing it back before it got to this side of the wall.
The tolling bell resonates in SAM’s metallic chest cavity as he feels his vigor leave him. He asks himself in a moment of pause if what the devilish witch has said is true. Perhaps this is the fighting end he had always been destined for, engineered for, even. The necrotic power saps him brutally. However, he manages to stay upright and deftly lifts his shield in time to guard him from the new wave of hellfire. Even so, he remains focused and shifts his hex to the bearded devil, at whom he strikes fiercely.
If one of those hits, SAM cries out mercilessly as his Battleaxe comes down on the devil’s beard.
”Kelemvor, deliver me from these murderers!”
"Initiating emergency backup" SAM replies automatically as he succumbs to the demonic blasts. He crumples in a metallic heap on the ground while the hellfire washes over him. Dextrous though he may be, he can only take so much damage before falling. He utters his god's name as he droops. You hear a soft reboot once he hits the ground and his fans whir as he runs on emergency backup, just enough power to sustain his unconscious life.
Seeing S.A.M. fall, Horat steps into the breach, striking at the bearded devil, halberd resonating with thunderous energies!
"Damn it," Enizver muttered as he tried to line up a shot on the floating hag. Hopefully with the fact she needed to heal meant she was nearly dead, or as close as such a being could be on this plane, and that another solid hit would send her back.
Olivia lands one shot and pushes the devil away. Horat kills the bearded devil with two strikes from his halberd and hacks at the hellhound as it steps forward, trying to guard the fallen SAM. Enizver launches a solid shot at the old woman but she blocks it with her shield spell this time.
The spirits continue to heal you and harm your enemies.
The hellhound bites hard at the prone SAM.
Despite all of SAM's protections, being prone on the ground makes it easier for the hellhound to bite him. The creature's jaws close on his metal shoulder joint, crunching bolts and nuts, and the infernal dog growls fiercely, pouring fire into SAM's thorax.
Despite all of SAM's protections, being prone on the ground makes it easier for the hellhound to bite him. The creature's jaws close on his metal shoulder joint, crunching bolts and nuts, and the infernal dog growls fiercely, pouring fire into SAM's thorax.
The woman casts her spell over at the dangerous and deadly gnome while healing her wounds further. One bearded devil keeps trying to climb over the ice but his claws slip on the slick surface. Another moves forward to join the fray. When will this infernal tide end?!
Swearing under her breath, Liv changed tactics slightly. Instead of trying to blast the bearded devil back away from the wall, she tried to blast him into the corner of the cave. She then flew over to the gnome's unconscious form and dragged him back towards the Life spirits.