The merc nearest Hurin curses as his fellow warrior falls, then looks over the tactical situation and revises his planned course of action. "Don't go anywhere, dwarf, I have some knife-eared garbage to put out first, but then I'll be back to deal with you." Knowing that Zan is somewhere underground and Hurin is half-hidden in shadows, the mercenary realizes that charging in would be utterly foolish, and as such he heads north and attacks the snow elf taking cover behind a fir tree there.
Cries of anguish turn to final breaths as three other snow elves are destroyed by mercenary blades. The way things are going, the caravan guards are seeking to pare things down to a head-to-head fight with your party.
Nasmarra flies quickly to the mercenary standing above the snow elf with a sword as he prepares to deal the final blow to the elf behind the fir tree. The mercenary looks up to see her floating in the sky, yet flying towards him with a faint and terrible moan at the same time. As he feels the icy grip - far, far colder than the snow - of the phantasm figure of Nasmarra, he begins to feel the terror seize him fully. He feels the joy, the life, even the will to survive torn from him. There is little left of him in those moments, just a hollow shell struggling to move as Nasmarra carves out his very humanity from him. His sword stands still while his very identity is torn away.
MA: Hopping into the wagon at R7.
Darting past the snow elf, and vaulting up into the wagon, Astar thrilled at the sudden change of scenario. In this cramped, dark space, it would be easier to extract the correct actions out of the mercenary.
"Concede!"
Intending to curve of his blade around the man's ankle and punch the back of their knee would've been a superb way to extract that action by force, but since these mercenaries were proving to be competent at the basics of "situational awareness" and "sidestepping swords coming at them", Astar would have to stop treating them like mindless thugs. He was already thinking of how to appropriately step up his game without resorting to utterly brutal lethality.
The quarters are cramped, the fighting around him close, quick and deadly. As the female elf beside him is mercilessly cut down by the lethal mercenary, a bright stream of her aortal blood splashes across Jorzan's face. As she crumples to the floor their eyes meet, and the shadowdancer watches helplessly as the nearly eternal elven spark fades forever from her gaze. Struck by the tragedy of such a loss, Jorzan turns his gaze towards his foe, and death stares out of his eyes. "You bastard!" he hisses, as his blades rise to strike.
At that moment Astar leaps into the wagon, his blade darting out to trip the warrior between them almost faster than the eye can follow. Yet the enemy is quicker, and neatly sidesteps the swipe. However this moves him into a perfect position for Jorzan to attack, and not hesitating for a second, the dark rogue flashes his blades out with precision, his magically keen blade slipping into a weak spot not once, but twice.
As once again he is splashed with crimson, this time the blood of his enemy, Jorzan, his eyes promising nothing else, says in an steel cold voice "Now you die."
Attack Keen Blade vs AC23:
Attack Acid Blade vs AC23:
Attack Keen Blade vs AC23:
Attack Acid Blade vs AC23:
Crit Confirm 1:
Crit Confirm 2:
Keen blade damage:
Zan spares not a glance for the mercenary downed by Hurin, it's otherworldy attention focused on it's target. Floating down towards the magically immobile merc, the living shadow reaches out, easily touching it's prey, it's incorporeal hand reaching into the living flesh and sucking out the last of the man's life force and mobility, leaving him completely paralyzed making the mercenary easy prey for the flanking elf.
Touch Atack: Auto hit
Dex Drain:
Total Dex Damage = -14
[/ooc]
Hurin sees that the last mercenary on his side of the wagon is doomed, "Well long shanks what are you going to do now? Just stand there and bleed? I guess you should have thought a little harder about your life options, its now a shadow of what it could have been."
Hurin then moves to T8 knowing that the wagon will roll forward to cover him in shadow before the mercenary in front of him can act, "Hey! It's your turn if you want a little of this! Unless off course you want to consider living instead?!
Round 6, Initiative 2
HP: 111/111 AC/T/FF: 29/11/28 SAVES: F16/R11/W12
BUFFS: Bless Weapon (on Hammer), Divine Favor (+3/+3)
FULL ROUND ACT: Double move 20 feet to [T,10]
Looking around, Justahl sees the wagon under control. Focusing on the mercenary in view, he grits his teeth and slogs through the deep snow towards him.
END OF ROUND 6
BEGINNING OF ROUND 7
Initiative Order:
Snow Elves - 21
Kelne - 19
Mercenaries - 18
Nasmarra - 17
Astar - 16
Jorzan - 11
Hurin - 5
Justahl - 2
Mercenaries (Caravan Guards)
AC: 26/14/23 HP: 110
Saves: F/R/W - 10/13/5
CMD: 30
Snow Elves (Arctic Rangers)
AC: 22/16/16 HP: 60
Saves: F/R/W - 7/13/2
CMD: 24
The snow elves in the wagon give cautiously conspiratorial looks to Astar and Jorzan, as if to say Are we, indeed, on the same side?, then press the advantage, landing brutal strikes on the badly outnumbered warrior therein. Meanwhile, outside, the lone snow elf up by Zan takes advantage of her foe's helplessness and ends his life with a brutal thrust of her blade.
Kelne and Justahl get some support from another elf who steps out from cover and drops a well-placed arrow into their nearest enemy's hide while another does the same over by the lead wagon.
With the guards now severely outnumbered, Kelne was at least somewhat inclined towards mercy. Or at least towards getting a prisoner. With that in mind, he went after the next guard in line, luring the man into a parry before locking blades and executing a sharp twist.
Unfortunately, the mercenary was too canny to give him any decent leverage to execute the disarm, leaving the pair looking at one another over crossed blades, "There really isn't that much opportunity left for a surrender," he observed, letting the man take in the unengaged people behind him.
In the wagon, the lone mercenary left looks at the elves and Astar and Jorzan and lets loose a fierce war cry, a brief outburst of mush-mouthed Celestial, made no less imposing for its poor pronunciation. It's probably a prayer he learned as a young initiate, by rote, phonetically, being told its meaning but never having any care for the language, just the content.
With that, the warrior launches an expert series of blows targeting each of you in turn. He strikes all four of you in turn, and the elf across from him falls to the planked floor of the sledge, unconscious and dying.
Outside, the battle cry is echoed by the other warriors, and the one by Kelne growls as he lashes out at the northman. Kelne, however, is prepared for the attacks and deftly dodges one, while his canny defense causes the big mercenary to slip while swinging a second time, sending his final blow well wide.
The last mercenary disappears into the lead wagon.
Floating silently, the ghostly figure tearing into the minds of the mercenaries and the soldiers of the Red Dragonflight abates with the mental assaults. She remains a good twenty feet above the melee, far beyond the reach of the blades of her enemies. Her pale, ghostly eyes scan the battlefield - which seems to have tilted nearly completely their way. Rather than expend more of her magic to enthrall an enemy already defeated - even if they have not admitted it yet - she gathers the mana stored within one of the pearls embedded in the amulet passed to her by her previous incarnations. She feels the rush of the spell swirling again in her own mind, ready to seep into the mind of another enemy.
Round 7, Initiative 2
HP: 111/111 AC:29/T11/FF28 SAVES: F16/R11/W12
BUFFS: Bless Weapon (on Hammer), Divine Favor (+3/+3)
FULL ROUND ACT: Double move 15 feet to [W,10]
Breath steaming in the cold, Justahl wades through the snow to engage the Mercenary.
Hurin moves to W11 in order to mop up the remaining mercinary in view.
"These men hold their ground like paladins! Even in the face of certain death they hold true to their employer. The must be dwarf trained or something, hope Justal remembered to check their intentions. It would not be the first time.
This was to be expected, surely enough. As capable as Astar was of recognizing the sensation of pain for the instinctual autonomic response it was, a sword wound was a sword wound. Regardless, he was more concerned about the loss of blood and possible infection than the pain. And his own injury was nothing compared to the annoyance the mercenary's apparent motives were causing him.
His placid, collected demeanor flashed in an instant to one of utter bemusement. He raised his heavy blade up and shouted.
"This is no honorable death!"
And, hoping his point was made somewhat clear (or at least in a disconcerting enough way!), he repeats himself in common.
"This is no honorable death."
"Now concede."
On seeing him downing yet another of the elves, Jorzan wants nothing more than for the mercenary man before him to die, and as such, puts himself to the task of seeing that come to be. now.
Attack Keen Blade vs AC26:
Attack Acid Blade vs AC26:
Attack Keen Blade vs AC26:
Attack Acid Blade vs AC26:
Damage (blade, bonus, sneak, acid):
Both blades flashing, he quickly slices four times, three of his attacks find flesh and the mercenary cries out in mortal agony
-----
The foe before him slain, Zan floats silently towards the mercenary in the first wagon, wisely staying just out of reach for the moment but sending images to his Master of what the man is up to.
FRA: Double move to [AD-6]
.
bump
*twist, twist*
Dang it you got my hopes up!
bump!
Dang it you got me again.
This game stopped on Dec 11th, 2012 without warning, not quite 5 months ago, but it seems like a lifetime ago.
Who is still with us on the journey?
Here
Still here!
The last of the fighting is a blur; the mercenaries are terribly outnumbered and with all of your lethal contributions it is only a matter of seconds before they have been whittled down to one badly hurt survivor, laying in the snow bleeding, looking up at all of you in desperation.
The snow elves help Hurin and Jorzan disable the three sledges, and Gray and Cassandra stagger and flail their way to you through the snow.
One of the snow elves looks at all of you, kindness in her ice-blue eyes. "I offer you my tribe's deepest thanks, great heroes. In one of these gems is one of our companions, as we stated earlier, long a prisoner of the Ice Lich in the White Dragonhold, and of late a trophy of the Baron Ormir, held in the town of Inta. We have tracked this wagon train for some while, but despaired of retrieving the lost." She inclines her head respectfully, and the remaining snow elves do the same. She notices Gray approaching, but doesn't seem to pay him any mind as she recognizes he is one of you.
Silently, Nasmarra floats to the snow, though she does not allow her feet to touch it. She remains silent, maintaining the illusion of ghostly grandeur. She does not speak, considering her position an advisory one and leaving it to Kelne or one of the others to engage with the elves. Respectfully, she lowers her head when the elves do in solidarity with their struggle.
"It is our honor to aid and assist..." Sir Justahl says distantly, his eyes on the sledges.
Sir Justahl leaps aboard one of the sledges and lays a hand on one of the gem-prisons, an eager light in his eyes.
But with some effort, he withdraws for the moment. He leaps down again and offers such healing as he has to the wounded.