Noro gets knocked down. Her tripper gets knocked out.
Seeing from the corner of her eye how the captives start to slip away Freia is greatly emboldened. Okay. Good. Now to get ourselves out of here ... Of course, she doesn't have time to notice that some of them seems to have other plans!
Zayid feints right, then dodges left just as Aboki matches his movements across from their shared target.
Freia nearly freezes her man solid. He retaliates in a desperate gambit and manages to fake his way by her defense! She gains a good lump on the shoulder (for the above 7). Three more men, these ones looking much more burly and mean, burst through the back door to the main warehouse!
The clerics are fully engaged now and the fire starts to spread again. The old man weaves his way inside one's defense and gives him a good knock while the other two keep the second cleric occupied.
In the back, one ballista operator sprouts a new set of feathers in his shoulder. He's not quite down, but he's hurting. Lou is having trouble with his man, they seem to be evenly matched. He must be experienced.
Zayid absolutely devastates his man, leaving the poor unfortunate soul in several pieces on the warehouse floor.
The other is scared stiff and fails to land an attack on Aboki.
Halsanna: you are starting to get a good feel of where your foes are due to your vantage point.
The men at the ballistae work furiously to reload.
Biting down hard as to not cry out in pain Freia lashes out with her sword hoping to quickly finish off her weakened opponent. And with his movements slowed by the strength-sapping cold of her previous strike her blow easily collected and almost shattered the man. Freia recoiled a little as bits of frozen person rained down around her - but now was not the time to falter!
Noro leaps at the thug in front of her attempting to knee him in the chin, followed by an elbow smash to the head.
With the current opposition out of the way Noro moved=s on to her next target.
Shoooo, more toysh to rip apart.
She rushes the first one with a flying round house kick.
Zayid pauses to catch his breath while Aboki tears into the man before him.
Freia and Noro down their men just in time to brace for the arrival of wave 2.
They weild a long ax-like weapon, a greatax, and a nasty looking mace with shield. The polearm and ax both engage Freia, and she is forced to take a brutal hit by the ax in order to party the spear.
Noro is confronted by the mace/shield combo who only makes token attacks.
The older prisoner yells FREIA! when she is hit and he rushes to her side, facing down the two burly men with naught but a stolen dagger, ragged clothes, and stupid levels of bravery.
Meanwhile, the three prisoners who are now two manage to knock out one of the clerics and go to work on the other who the old man had been occupying.
Aboki gets a good scratch and bite combo in as two more hulks join the fight.
One pulls up short while the other rushes to assist his comrade. The one who stopped draws a javalin and throws it at Zayid, but the ranger's mouse-like reflexes save him.
Halsanna sees the veteran on the catwalks go down as soon as her arrow opens up his defence. Lou gives you a thankful look (which is difficult to do on a cat face) and moves on to the other ballista. Your arrows lead the way and he is soon among the operators.
"F-father...?" Freia manages to whisper before hitting the floor. You were supposed to ... be ... safe ... ---
Friea drops Noro begins with a right hook to the mace wielder than stepping over to the one that dropped Friea.
Aboki continues to attack.
Noro and Freia - Halsanna's arrows fly through the warehouse with a precision that is born of the hours of practice in the Tear's range. They take out the man the mystery elder had engaged and buy him the time he needs. He reaches down and lays a hand on freia. Freia, you feel life surge into you again! (heal for 11 damage and an equal amount of nonlethal)
Noro takes out her man with a vicious one-two, then the large men join in on the assault. Thankfully, their initial attacks are clumsy and she only takes a scratch (for 10)
Zayid and Aboki are in much tougher straights. Men pour from the building and surge toward the pair! Thankfully, the two are lithe and manage to avoid the attacks, though there's no way they can keep this up forever.
Halsanna, in the midst of all this, you notice that the far ballistae have been abandoned. The crews there are moving to surround and overwhelm Lou!
Blinking awake again Freia mumbles her thanks at the old man...
Freia grabs hold of one of her scrolls and clutches it - she would have to trust it to get her off her feet and keep her safe. [i]I could lay down. But then I wouldn't be of any help![/ooc] With a deep breath she recited the words inscribed within. Then she tried to stumble back on her feet...
Both the polearm and the ax get a swing, but only the ax makes it through Freia's new magical defence. The shield just can't hold. The heavy blade strikes her full across the chest, a fatal blow had the shield not absorbed the brunt of the impact.
Noro looks as Friea is down, Damn it girl, I need ya, Where is Lou when ya need him.
Noro turns her attention to the one that just tried to Ax Friea, Bad idea.
Zayid glances grimly about as more enemies arrive.
Aboki steps up beside Zayid, and together the two make their stand.
Noro, freia and friends - Noro beats the snot out of the ax wielder who promptly... swings back! These guys just won't fall (though that guy is looking worse for the beating, to be sure)!
Noro takes a hit to the gut from the mace wielder and Fria's shield takes another hit, but protects her.
The old man lays a hand on her again and she feels another powerful pulse of healing. The man is having a hard time getting through the rightmost foe's defense, however.
One additional man joins the fray, this one wielding nothing but his bear hands. Seriously, his hands are that of a bear! Noro, you instantly recognize him as a famous pit fighter, The Savager, so named for his refusal to follow the general "no permanent debilitating injury" rule common to pit fights.
A fifth fighter enters just before him and flanks youall to get at the prisoners in the back! Thankfully, the second cleric is dispatched just as he comes into view. Small mercies.
Zayid, two men disengage from Aboki (take the AoO) and run for Halsanna! The others form a line and launch a furious assault.
One hit gets through, but boy does it get through. A large spear juts under your defense, Zayid, and nearly runs you through! You can feel something rise in you, begging to take over and save your life!
Halsanna - lou engages the last operational ballista just as it is fired... at you!
The huge bolt drives straight into you, exits partially from your back, and nearly knocks you clear of your perch! It sits barely half an inch from a major blood vessel. Then you spot two men break from Zayid and Aboki and rush over to you. They begin to climb the pile of crates you're on!
Cat-Zayid frowns, shaking off the feeling. A moment later, a spear manages to shake his concentration when it nearly impales him. Rat-like fur begins to sprout from his body, and a strong sense of internal conflict begins to grow within him. Scant seconds later, a man with the fur and fangs of a rat and the claws of a great cat tears into its prey!
Dammit I need to do better! Freia thought to herself. Her friends relied on her now. Her family relied on her now - she couldn't let them down! Whispering an arcane curse she lashed out towards the man with an axe. Noro struck him just moments ago and perhaps their combined efforts would bring him down?
Noro takes the hit to the gut, and there is a wave of energy that pulsates through her. she stands and looks at the guy that hit her.
the mace wielder can probably only think one thing, "I think I just screwed up"
she starts off with a jab to the mace wielder's face
Noro/Freia - In a vicious pair of strikes Freia and Noro both bring their men down. Freia with her usual snowy charm and Noro with a bone-shattering one-two that completely dislocates the man's jaw. The remaining men, polearm man up top, a greatsword middle, and Savager down below, shift into better positions and attack.
Polearm nails freia with a powerful chop that is only amplified by his long weapon's reach. (for 12)
Noro dodges the longsword only to put herself at the mercy of Savager who rakes her with two devastating claw swipes. (for 23)
The man fighting with you sees Noro nearly get torn to pieces and risks disengaging with the pole arm man to assist. Thankfully he is able to duck under the opportunistic jab at him as he departs. He slaps Noro on the shoulder and she feels healing energy pulse through her (that is the second max heal of this fight. Heal 12 meaning you have taken 11 in total.)
The fight behind you isn't going well. The young girl and lad are barely holding off the last brute and both are taking a licking for their efforts.
Zayid - You and Aboki become a flurry of claw and fur. One man is disassembled before you and another takes a nasty wound to the gut from your claws. You hold him to you in a promise of death! (grab sussessful, you are partially in your grappled foes space on the map.
The men counter attack. The one you have grappled tries to escape to no effect. The other to the left fails to land a significant blow against your augmented defense. The far right man nicks Aboki (for 8), but that only seems to have made him angrier.
Halsanna- You drop out of position and heal up. You notice that two of your groups are in trouble. You hear Noro get savaged and notice that Lou is having trouble containing the upper levels. The left ballista has been re-manned even as Lou drops another man from the right. Reinforcements have arrived there too. If it wasn't a catwalk he would be doomed for sure. You can hear the men behind you giving chase, though it seems they aren't as nimble on the crates as you are.
As the claws rake across Noro's midsection, the wound almost closes as fast as they were inflicted.
You really should have jusht given up.
As she answers the claws with an elbow smash across the fave followed by a knee to the midsection.
Ah! Freia gritted her teeth as to not scream in pain. No! Noro handles this fine ... She dared to steal a quick glance at her friend and pushed the pulsing wound out of her mind. ...I can't be worse. I CAN'T! Things weren't exactly going to plan and she oh so dearly wanted to sit down and just rest but they had to finish this first. Win this fight. She stepped away from Noro for a moment and ducked under the polearm-mans guard to deliver a series of cursed strikes!
Zayid hisses in anger as Aboki is injured, his claws extending and shredding the man in his embrace. The great cat simply snorts dismissively at his wound and paws uselessly at his opponents like a house cat asking to be let out.
Halsanna - Both men are hit, both keep coming...
Noro lays into the Savager, but doesn't bring him down...
Freia - Freia steps into the polearm's weak area and lands a blow.
Zayid - You hold onto your foe and get a stroke in, but cannot bring him down this time.
Freia - Your target takes a step back and brings the polearm down, very nearly doing you in again. (take 4) Just as you fall you feel the hands of your father holding you up like the scared little girl you once were and life pulses into you once more.
(meaning you gain a net 3)
The old man is hit coming in, but he takes the wound well.
Noro the Savager lays into you. Your match is turning into one of the most difficult, and certainly bloodiest, contests of your life. (you take 12). Behind you, you hear the young lady you came here for scream in pain, followed by a hard thud of a body falling...
Zayid: One of your foes gets aboki again (for 4) as the pair of you struggle to take them out!
Freia cried out as the warmth flowed into her. It washed away the pain just for a short moment; all was fine. As it quickly subsided she was determined to make that moment into a permanent reality - first step was cutting down this foe! With intense concentration she stepped up again and struck; willing her blade to seek out the weakness of his defences and slice him open.
The Savager is really proving to be a challenge, but what is more disturbing is the loss of someone important. glancing in that direction to see what happened.
Zayid and Aboki continue to assault their foes.
Halsanna - Like a professional building runner Halsanna leaps from the crates, firing two arrows as she falls. One finds its masrk and the man stumbles. One misplaced step later he falls like a sack of potatoes and hits hard. He doesn't rise.
Halsanna lands lightly on her feet and rolls.
There is a muted Thunk and gravel rains down on her. Not even a foot away a ballista bolt quivers in the ground.
Freia/Nero - Boro glances behind her to see the young lady on the ground, but breathing.
Freia/Noro- That glance is all you get. The Savage is on you. You duck under a wild swing and deliver a pair of crippling blows. The bar of a man wheezes, and finally falls.
Freia, boyed by the healing of the old man, slips by the guard of the polearm wielder and cuts him down.
Zayid- You hold the man and nearly great him into hamburger. Aboki also wounds his man again, but the Guard just won't fall.
The last remaining man faces both a wounded by supremely angry Boro and Freia AND the old man who seems to be keeping them standing. He backs away towards the main warehouse calling for backup.
Down low, aboki and zayid both take a hit, but keep on ticking.
Halsanna, the other guy is still pursuing you. He leaps from the crates, but lands hard. Fate has given you a precious few seconds before he is upon you!
Zayid lets his feline fury manifest in a hiss of pain and anger as the man refuses to die. Aboki, bleeding from many wounds, echoes his master's outrage and tears into the foes before him!