Ferrek gives Aviel an approving gesture, then takes advantage of the thinning clouds to prowl the edges of the room. One eye is kept on the figure in the center, the other alert for any unusual stonework.
The undead creature in front of the dungeon-delvers is undoubtedly evil, and as it straightens its shoulders and begins to raise its head, its hair parts to reveal its face. Night-black eyes weep immaterial tears and long, pointed ears hang by fleshy threads off of the sides of its face, and Garret comes to realize exactly what this creature is - a banshee.
It opens its mouth, revealing rows of jagged teeth and bleeding gums, and begins to keen loudly, the shriek emerging from its mouth slowly growing in volume and power.
Initiative:
Banshee - 30
Garret - 18
Aviel - 18
Ferrek - 17
Shadassa - 9
Garret's face goes grim. "Banshee." he says tersely, flipping up his hood.
He surged forward, bringing his black axe forward like he was pointing with it, the runes along it's face springing hungrily to life with purple flames.
He knew what this creature was and what its terrible voice would do if left uninterrupted. He knew there was no defense against it, and nothing he could do to save his allies if the abomination's scream continued long. He swung with all his might.
Garret's powerful axe blow disrupts the incorporeal creature's wail mid-note, and the banshee suddenly stops its deadly attack.
As Garret announces the creature's name, Ferrek pales slightly and goes digging in his beltpouch for something. Pulling out a pair of earplugs, he jams them into his ears, even as the wail cuts off.
Shadassa reaches out a hand to touch Garret, uttering words in Ignan.
Aviel looked momentarily shocked, then conceded the point that he was quite thoroughly unprepared for this kind of foe."I see. Well then, an ally for this."
Aviel begins chanting conjuration, calling into existence a powerful creature from the outer planes. At the same time, Ferrek plugs his ears with wax and cork, trying to keep the sound of the banshee's wail blocked out without realizing that it already had been stopped. Shadassa taps Garret, protecting him from sonic damage.
The banshee tries to flutter out of Garret's grasp without letting him attack her, but he is tenacious and an experienced fighter, and manages to get in a strike. Despite the creature's agility and quickness, his axe finds its mark and more of the creature's undead essence is disrupted.
Still, though, the creature manages to get around him and to his other side, facing Shadassa. The creature growls as it reaches out for her.
She barshee reaches her hand inside Shadassa's body, grasping her by her beating heart with its immaterial hand and squeezing the life out of it. Shadassa feels herself turn black, and cold, from the inside, and knows that there is no hope for her in this battle. She crumples to the ground, helplessly, for rounds.
Initiative:
Banshee - 30
Garret - 18
Aviel - 18
Ferrek - 17
Shadassa - 9
The merfolk thrashes on the floor, weeping in terror and babbling in various elemental tongues.
Realizing there wasn't much to be done about the ethereal nature of their foe, Aviel altered his spell to attempt to bring in multiple allies. As they all arrived, Aviel commandingly spoke to them, another spell already in his mind.
He then raised his hand.
Archon 1:
Archon 1:
Archon 1:
Archon 2:
Archon 2:
Archon 2:
Archon 3:
Archon 3:
Archon 3:
Archon 3:
Archon 1:
Archon 2:
Archon 3:
Garret stepped through the Banshee's arm just as it made contact with the fire-haired mermaid. He picked her up off the floor, the specter's knuckles protruding from his chest.
A muscle in his jaw twitched as he set Shadassa back upright, his eyes glowing with his goddess' power beneath his hood. "You're alright. It's just the fear. Push through it. We need you."
He looked over his shoulder to glare at the Banshee who was buried up to the elbow in his back, bringing both hands back to his axe.
Shadassa sprouts wings of fire and rises out of the banshee's reach.
She then casts Selective Fireball, using her rod.
Garret takes the hurt for Shadassa and lets the banshee suck some of the life out of him, but he retaliates in kind, delivering two powerful axe blows of his own to the undead creature with his black axe. Aviel summons a trio of celestial and speeds them up, but despite the shower of multicolored light beams, none of them seem to be able to hit the banshee at all.
Doing what he can, Ferrek draws a crossbow and shoots it at the banshee, but the banshee moves out of the way and dodges the dwarf's feeble attempt at fighting. Then, Shadassa raises into the air and fires an explosive blast at the banshee, eliciting a strangely hollow scream of pain and creating a weirdly-shaped explosion to avoid harming her friends.
Snarling with rage and pain, the banshee reaches out at Garret again, disrupting his life forces with her negative energy touch, though he's immune to her fear effects.
Initiative:
Banshee - 30 hp
Garret - 18
Aviel - 18
Ferrek - 17
Shadassa - 9
Aviel felt a pang of annoyance as the three Archons he had called on failed to the Banshee with any of their attacks, until his cousin was struck by the wailing monstrosity.
He felt his stress levels rising but he knew losing his cool wouldn't do anyone good.
The Archons are not effective against this enemy, so use their other abilities.
Switching tactics, Aviel began to orchestrate the Archons around the room in order to help the group. Pointing to each as he gave orders indicating what it should do next.
Ferrek takes aim with his crossbow and fires it at the evil creature again.
Garret sits up from his momentary bout of unconsciousness, fighting his muscles. He'd been knocked out before. Coming to is always jarring.
The fight was still going on.
He snatched up his axe, flared the spiral barrier, let the power of his Lady close his wounds and stood up in a defensive crouch.
Shadassa drops her selective rod, draws her reach rod, and casts Cure Critical Wounds on Garret, her flaming wings keeping her out of melee.
Garret falls to the banshee's touch, but his cousin is completely ready for that possibility and quickly teleports in and out, buth his cousin in tow, keeping the man out of melee combat. Then, he commands his archons to aid each of his compatriots, which revives Garret.
Ferrek plinks at the banshee with a crossbow, but his bolt passes right through the incorporeal creature's flesh.
Shadassa heals Garret from afar, trying to ensure that their warrior remains upright and fighting.
It might not be enough, however, as the creature shrieks and pursues Garret. None of the warriors are carrying melee weapons except for him, so she charges unmolested, and she reaches out to touch Garret. Even through his fear-immune aura, he can feel hope and potency slipping, and the yawning maw of the Negative Energy Plane opening...just for him.
Initiative:
Banshee - 30
Garret - 18
Aviel - 18
Ferrek - 17
Shadassa - 9
Aviel had hoped that one of the others might have been able to draw the Banshees attention, even though the odds had been low. When the creature struck Garrett low again, Aviel wasn't sure if his cousin lived or not. This fight was one he wasn't sure they could win right now. They needed time. He started by hopefully giving his cousin some more.
"I'm getting us out of here right now! Grab a hold of me."
Aviel calls the lantern archons to try and help his cousin, Garret, but as they cast their spell-like abilities to infuse him with positive energy, they cannot keep themselves from the reach of the banshee, and it quickly snuffs the life out of each of them with merely a touch. Each of the celestial creatures leaves the Material plane with the tiny chiming of a bell.
Aviel then prepares to cast his teleportation spell, but his concentration is broken by the looming image of the doomed elven woman in front of him, and he opens himself up for an attack. She grins, revealing jagged teeth once again, and lunges forward at him with an incorporeal clawed hand. Her hand passes through him and Aviel's eyes grow blank. The banshee seems to grasp him by the neck, her fingers passing through his flesh like a knife through melted butter, but when she withdraws her hand, she carries something very real - a vision of Aviel, similarly incorporeal and pallidly gray, being ripped out of his body. The mage slumps to the ground as his spirit is stolen.
Initiative:
Banshee - 30
Garret - 18
Aviel - 18
Ferrek - 17
Shadassa - 9
Shadassa casts Wall of Flame to block the banshee in, her eyes full of fury and flame.
As the fight continues getting worse, Ferrek has been circling the room towards the doorway and his fellow explorers, firing crossbow bolts and cursing under his breath in Dwarven the whole time.
The cursing is at least as effective as the crossbow. If not more, since the bolts are gone after they're fired.
As Shadassa exits, the dwarf is right on her heels.
Ferrek fires off crossbow bolts that all miss, and the banshee ignores his curses as he continues to fail to harm the creature.
Shadassa, however, calls into form a roaring barrier of fire between her compatriots and the creature, searing even its incorporeal form and trying to keep it away from Garret. Unfortunately, even her offensive measures do little to help her dying compatriot. He bleeds out on the ground beneath the banshee. The banshee, however, shrieks and flies through Shadassa's flaming wall, flying straight at Shadassa, reaching out with a hand to suck the life out of her.
She sustains significant harm from the negative energy damage, though its quite a bit less than could have been possible, and Shadassa manages to resist the creature's terrifying fear effect. She steels herself mentally for it and readies herself for what will likely be the last chance to destroy it.
Initiative:
Banshee - 30
Garret - 18
Aviel - 18
Ferrek - 17
Shadassa - 9
Shadassa cries out in pain and then grips her reach rod. She curses at the banshee in Ignan and Aquan and casts a healing spell at the elven ghost, then prepares for death.
The banshee manages to resist the better part of Shadassa's wave of positive energy, though it's disrupted to nearly the point of destruction, especially after Ferrek's crossbow bolt passes through it and actually manages to damage it. It slaps Shadassa again with a negative energy burst-touch attack, and the merfolk flops to the ground, unconscious but not killed.
Ferrek, though, hits the banshee with a final crossbow bolt, and the creature dissipates with a shriek.
As the sole standing survivor, it's Ferrek's job to salvage what he can from this mess. He quickly begins checking for a curing wand of some sort to apply to Shadassa.
Ferrek finds a potion on Garret's corpse which he recognizes as a curing one, and takes it over to force it down Shadassa's throat.
Shadassa coughs and opens her eyes.
"I was headed for the deepest waters, Ferrek," she says, wonderingly. "Oh burn and blast, is Garret dead? We should get back to town." She moves to the paladin's corpse, still weak.