With Morley teleporting around the mosh pit, Muppy has entirely lost track of him. Instead of flailing about uselessly, he comes back towards the group. With Bathilda plowing into the skaven crowd, Dhice commands his elemental pet to start tripping up the rat-men who are trying to swarm the barbarian. The swarm of rocks and dirt envelopes some of the rat men, dealing damage and more importantly, causing them to be tripped up in their rush to attack Bathilda.
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Grigor step past the flame wards and charges in to stand back-to-back with the impetuous paladin and starts carving into approaching Skaven.
"Oh, you want to plan, NOW, do you?!?"
Hack and Slash for points of damage to the foulest concert-goer in reach.
After giving the signal, Morley slips back a few rows and makes his way towards the side of the cavern near the Rat-Ogre line.
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Before the place goes nuts, Archepex performs an old elves hunters ritual that gives extra might to a bow. He rubs sap into the wood and cleans the string with bees wax.
But being this far from the sky and asking for so much drains him. The spell fades, and he knows it won't be available until he gets out of this hell hole.
Archepex gives the signal. Everything erupts into a pitched battle. Archepex is paying attention to none of it. He is entirely focused. Six black headed arrows lay across his magical, horizontal bow. The weapon creaks as he pulls it. Not even hjalmar's bellowing gets in the way.
Then he looses and six magical, unerring arrows do their thing.
Then he looses and six magical, unerring arrows do their thing.
Emma fits the handle of her axe into the jaw of a very suprised Skaven, just before it crunches down on her shoulder. She stands, open mouthed, and watches what happens to the Skaven queen.
Grigor drools with envy.
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A 7 also gives the GM 2 Holds which can be used for "catastrophe". Options include Something explodes, Something catches fire, The pirates actions accelerate a dire portent or The schemes results spiral out of control.
Things get very crazy, very fast. After issuing his command to Muppy, Dhice immediately turns his attention to the stalactites that he had discussed earlier with Hjalmar. The whip-thin channeler steps into a small niche in the tunnel's wall where he hopes to remain unobtrusive, and raises his arms toward the ceiling. Power flows out of his forearms as he concentrates on working one of the larger stalactites loose from its grip on the ceiling. Feeling that he has a good, solid grip on his power this time, Dhice pours his soul into the effort. He causes the stalactite to release from the ceiling (1 hold), and then gives it an extra shove (adding "Forceful" tag to it, 2nd hold). With power still surging through him, he focuses on the next stalactite over and loosens that one as well (3rd hold, no 'forceful' this time).
Bathilda shakes her head to clear the stars spangling her vision. The demons she could do without, but speed metal, as it turns out, is right up her alley, though it could use some Punk to go with it. Of a more immediate concern was the fact that she could not take another hit like that, and here she was surrounded by Skaven.
Then she has an idea.
She sheathes her sword and makes sure her new toy is where any light-fingered skaven would have to strip her nearly naked to get at it. With a leap, she rockets up into the air, howling two words as she raises her hands in the Sign of the Double Horns.
She twists in mid air, her back leading the way as she comes in for some crowd-surfing.
As she falls, the moshing Skaven catch her and surf her right to where she wants to go. The Skaven Queen and the singing girl.
Emma is immediately joined by Grigor and Bathilda as she slashes and hacks at the Ratogre Bouncer, driving him back. The beast roars and raises his club to smash her with an overhead swing - but then, his head explodes. Agatha's booming report echoes in the mineshafts, audible even over the concert. The noise from his booming rifle causes a panic in the crowd. Like a massive amoeba, the crowd pulses and shifts in distress. The music continues unabated, WITCHMOTHER'S members now seeming to be possessed by a demonic energy that compels them to play on and play harder. The energy of the fear of Agatha and the power of the music causes a crowd-wide psychotic break. Screaming erupts from the crowd as the rats scurry to and fro in terror. Overhead, Dhice's magic causes the very stalactites in the ceiling to loosen and drop on the crowd like enormous spears of stone, while the reborn Muppy gleefully trips up all the Skaven it can. Dhice's stalactite missiles impact on two of the flying demons, taking them out of the fight!! More Skaven are rising in the air - lifted by WITCHMOTHER'S speed metal - but there are only a half-dozen demons still fully formed in the air!
From the headless corpse of the rat-ogre, Hjalmar's Imp-Shot works its infernal magic. Instead of a horde of imps, the impeccable aim of the dwarf pirate's shot summons a single Ogre-sized Imp that wades into the crowd and begins to toss Skaven bodies left and right. The 6 airborne demons screech in rage and fly to engage it!
Archepex surveils the growing chaos. Calmly, he draws back on his bow, trusting the black arrows to do their thing. Unleashing them all at once is an insane gambit, but he's unlikely to find a more target-rich environment than this.
A single, quiet, creak of the bowstring is the herald of death for over a quarter of the crowd in one volley. The arrows unerringly find their mark, impacting on Skaven all over the crowd and penetrating their soft throats to continue on, flying impossibly through multiple targets at once before the magic inherent to their flight gives out. With the ranger's help, Grigor cuts deeper and deeper into the crowd of metal-heads, following Bathilda's wild charge and leaving dead Skaven in his wake. The angry Mr-T looking Ratogre is attempting to follow him to get to the barbarian also.
The incredible volleys of Hjalmar have cleared away the Rat-Ogres, except for the one leader who is currently chasing Bathilda in the crowd. He's unable to reach her though - the barbarian has gone full rage mode, and has tapped into the power of WITCHMOTHER'S metal. As she embraces the chaos of the music, she feels a sick sense of power rise up in her chest. Barreling through the first wave of Skaven, she leaps up and crowd-surfs her way through with sheer force of will! From atop the crowd, Bathilda, you can see clearly what only Morley can also see from his position - that the chains around the prisoner's throat are draining the youth and vitality from her! The Skaven Queen, while holding the chains, is growing thinner and younger by the second!
You are deposited by the crowd near to where Morley is lurking in disguise. There's a horde of angry rat-men behind you, and the Queen's personal guards have noticed you too - they fall into defensive position around the queen's dais, preventing you access. What do you two do?
Grigor, as you cleave through the crowd, roll 2d6 and take the worst result from fighting so many opponents at once. Still, a good number of Skaven fall before your blade, allowing you to cut a path through the chaos. You're being noticed by one of the demons overhead, too - you look up to see him flying directly overhead, screaming at you in a voice that hurts your mind to process.
All around you, those Skaven that aren't being turned into demons by the magic are panicking and fleeing for the exits. A huge wave of rats and rat-men flow like a foul river toward the exit tunnel that you came in from - threatening to overwhelm Emma, Hjalmar, Archepex and Dhice! The fire traps explode when the horde activates them, but there are more rats than the traps alone can kill! What do you all do as the horde rushes toward you? You're standing between them and escape, that won't be pretty...
Skaven aren't known for mercy. Neither is Archepex. Man the bows! Death to them all! He shouts as he tries to stem the tide.
Archepex's proclamation carries the weight of divine authority. Another mote of magical power fades from his memory, but it's worth it.
The elf takes a stand near the mouth of the tunnel and starts training death upon rat men, focusing on the band. Mule dives and flits through stage equipment, his talons and beak dripping in blood.
Morley smiles as he notes Bathilda's approach. Nothing quite as distracting as a raging barbarian.
With the Ogres' attentions on Bathilda, Morley slips along the relative darkness of the cavern edge. Once behind the Rat Queen, he nimbly charges her, closing the distance while she focuses on the chaos before her.
He stabs her several times in the kidneys, blood flying everywhere as his daggers repeatedly hit home.
Morley does not pause, leaping onto the Rat Queen's back and attempting to slice her throat. He takes advantage of the distraction caused by Bathilda's arrival and the Rat Queen's pain.
Bathilda gives the ogres a death's head grin as she hears the music shift.
"Sorry I ain't no prince in shining armor," she says, "But I think sometimes you need a monster."
She pulls out her sword and hangs low to the ground, bolting forward as the chorus starts up.
Like a lightning bolt she charges the bigger of the two rat-ogres before tucking into a roll and going between the thing's legs as her sudden duck takes it by surprise.
Using the momentum of her roll she aims for the chains holding the woman and sapping her youth. Her body uncoiling like a striking snake as her sword comes up for an overhand chop.
Muscles cord as Bathilda slams her sword into the chains and into the stone beneath, sending chips of iron and stone flying.
All the while, She's howling with gleeful, monstrous laughter.
Morley, you attempt to teleport, but the ring's magic only seems to activate defensively. Will that change your post? I'll try to respect the rolls that you made.
Morley, you attempt to teleport, but the ring's magic only seems to activate defensively. Will that change your post? I'll try to respect the rolls that you made.
Potential damage: points of damage.
Potential damage: points of damage.
Grigor struggles to remember any Daemonic that he has come across in his last year of fighting the Skaven and their fiendish masters...
Spout Lore:
... and in what I believe perfect Daemonic yells, "Come to me if you have the courage, you angel-fearing, archon-snuggling, fellator of goblins!"
If it closes for melee: Hack and Slash
+ I have (obviously) exposed myself to danger.
EDIT: That attack is also Piercing +2, Messy, and Forceful.
Seeing the horde coming their way, Dhice groans, "that... is a lot of rats." He refocuses his attention to the ceiling, locating a stalactite that looks like it could be dislodged, and then does his best to bring it down AND steer it over to land directly between Archepex and the oncoming rats. . The stalactite comes loose, and Dhice spends additional energy moving it laterally to fall where he wants while adding significantly to its force (forceful tag). He watches with held breath to see if he can scare the rats into taking a different escape tunnel.
Meanwhile, Muppy is still running around causing havoc at the end of his magical leash: . He continues to run around causing minor damage but mostly just creating confusion. He focuses on the area in front of our tunnel, again with the intention of making the rats second-guess this choice of escape route.
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Archepex narrows his elven eyes as the speed metal increases in tempo. It doesn't take a chaos magic expert to see that the concert's energy is empowering the demonic forces latent within the crowd. The ranger takes aim at WITCHMOTHER, seeking to bring a permanent end to their world tour.
His wrath is up seeing so many Skaven in one place. The fact that they're using slaves to perform for them spurs him to keep firing, despite the fact that his arms are getting tired. With unerring elven accuracy the ranger rains death upon the band.
His aim is true, even across the football field-sized cavern. His arrows fly over the crowd and fall onto the stage, stabbing the vermin with narrow, serrated arrowheads. The music cuts out as the drummer, then the bassist are both feathered with arrows. The guitarists scream and hold their axes overhead for cover as they scurry about the stage, to avoid the rain of arrows. You see the lead singer climb up on the drumset and address the crowd, screaming into his mic.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN YOU'VE BEEN A FANTASTIC AUDIENCE, BUT THERE ARE SOME INVADERS TRYING TO RUIN OUR MOOOOOOSH!" his voice drops to a guttural growl as he finishes his sentence.
"IT'S TIME FOR A LITTLE...DEATH METAL!" the crowd (what remains of it) cheers wildly as the lead singer exhorts them. Before your very eyes, the ghosts of the slain band members that Archepex just killed rise from their arrow-covered corpses and take hold of their instruments once again!
Their next song kicks up right when Bathilda reaches the security barrier for the Rat Queen. The barbarian looks up and smiles evilly at her next victims as they form a defensive formation around their master.
"You're too late to stop us, fools!" the Skaven Mother crows in triumph, rising from her dais and casting down a bolt of black lightning at Bathilda. However, the barbarian moves too quickly! Dodging beneath her defenders' legs, Bathilda charges up to the prisoner! Before your very eyes you can see the poor woman aging as the magic drains her lifeforce, barbarian. You swing with a mighty overhead chop! SMASH! The Witch-Mother screams in rage as one of the links of the chain is weakened and partially snaps! The chain is still intact, and magic begins to spray from the broken chain like a cut firehose, splashing you in the face with multichromatic light! Defy danger using your Will, (wisdom), or be overtaken with the magic's effects, Bathilda!
"Please direct me to the nearest bathroom!" you hear Grigor shouting in Demonic as he taunts the demons overhead. One swoops down to try and lift him aloft, but a wild overhead swing is enough to drive it off. However, Grigor exposed himself with his focus overhead! Separated from his friends' help, the fighter finds himself tackled to the ground by a half-dozen Skaven partygoers! Many of them are partway through their demonic transformation, their features becoming twisted and dripping down their faces like candle wax. What do you do?
As Bathilda shields her face from the spray of the chain's magic, Morley makes his move. Taking advantage of his hastily-prepared disguise and the confusion that Bathilda always brings to a fight, the thief does what he does best - go where he isn't supposed to go, and go there unnoticed. Brandishing his knife, he sneaks past the Witchqueen's Guards and leaps up onto her back. His attack knocks her off-balance as she was preparing another bolt of magic to fire at Bathilda. She screeches in pain when the thief's dagger stabs home. However, the point of your dagger stops short of fully penetrating the rat's flesh, as if striking some kind of inner armor or skeleton. Your weapon immediately begins to decay before your very eyes...
Before it has a chance to lose its sharpness, you press the attack. Now was your best chance to strike quickly and kill their leader fast. You land another dire blow, spilling her blood over her lap from where she was seated, but your haste left you open. Grasping you by the throat, the huge Skaven narrows her eyes at you in fury and squeezes. Your vision goes gray as you find it impossible to breathe - roll 2d8 damage and choose the worst one.
Back at the entrance to the massive cavern, Dhice watches the vast majority of the crowd funneling toward them. There are too many to fight one on one - but he had an idea.
The stalactite that the channeler drops from the ceiling strikes with such force that the floor breaks. Shattering the very ground with the impact, several dozen Skaven are immediately dropped through to the lower levels of the mines, out of the fight. An enormous hole is now in the floor of the cavern near the exit, creating two tight chokepoints that anyone wanting to leave by that tunnel would have to go through. Your elemental gleefully begins causing more mischief by tripping and shoving more Skaven through the hole. The crowd stops short where it can, and hastily begins backing away from the tunnel exit where you are!
The ghostly band is playing faster and faster and faster! What do you do?
"HAVE ANOTHER!"
Bathilda hacks at the chain again, leaving a gouge in the stone floor and a nick in her old, faithful blade.
Seeing that this was taking too long, she grabs the chains and pulls on the nearly broken link.
Unfortunately, something, or someone, takes advantage of her concentration on her task, and the fact she's unarmed, as she wrenches the chains apart.
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So, the band won't stay dead. That's unfortunate. The ranger sees an option for ending at least a part of this mess, but it's a terrible option. A horrible option. A last resort. He will save it in case Bathilda and Morley fail.
Instead, he continues his assault, but focuses on the Witchqueen. Nobody strangled Morley except for company members. It's a tricky shot. If he doesn't hit the wrist and its associated bones the arrow could pass through the hand and wound Morley...
Suddenly finding himself free of the Queen's grasp, Morley plunges what is left of his weapons into the Queen's face.
From his knees, Grigor begins madly slashing at the Skaven around him.
Hack and Slash (forgot the +1 forward, but meh.)
Doing to the demon-ravers around me, plus put myself at risk.
Hjalmar had contemplated going for one of the repeating crossbows. They certainly fired faster than old Agatha, and volume of fire was currently preferable. Then Dhice brought the roof down, and things changed.
Holstering his rifle, he strode to the nearest of the two new paths around the hole, before drawing his cutlass. "Cmon the ya lousy gits!" He yelled, taking a few wild practice swings, tossing the cutlass from one hand to the other a few times. "One on one ya pansies, if even one amongst you got the spine for it!"
Throughout this exchange, Emma has been more-or-less waiting in the wings, where the wings are in fact executing fallen Skaven. As the slain band members arise though... "Nuh." She mutters. "Not on."
Marching straight through the decimated crowd, she picks up a discarded Skaven knife, a barely usable scrap of pig iron, clambers onto the stage and grabs the chained woman. Digging the point of her knife into the soft flesh of her neck, Emma stares at the Queen.
The ceiling is now devoid of stalactites close enough to serve as weapons, and there are too many friends on the pit floor now for them to be safely smashed anyway. Dhice turns his attention to those Skaven who are near the hole in the ground but not falling in (ignoring the few who are facing off against Hjalmar).
The far edge of the hole in the floor suddenly erupts with a shockwave that first causes the nearby Skaven to fall prone, and then sends them hurling through the floor as it collapses even further.
Archepex is shocked when emma makes his last resort a reality. He's not shocked enough to stop firing, but still...
Bond=Exactly what brand of crazy did we just pick up?
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[ooc][/Will Emma do that if the chain has already been broken?ooc]
What Emma actually does:
Throughout this exchange, Emma has been more-or-less waiting in the wings, where the wings are in fact executing fallen Skaven. As the slain band members arise though... "Nuh." She mutters. "Not on."
Marching straight through the decimated crowd, she picks up a discarded Skaven knife, a barely usable scrap of pig iron, clambers onto the stage and grabs the chained woman. The point of the knife rests lightly above the captives jugular, drawing a single drop of crimson. Emma stares at the Queen.
The chaos magic envelops Bathilda, but her force of will is like that of a cliff face against the crashing surf. The petty illusions and deceptions of Skaven magic have no effect on her but to harden her resolve, and infuriate her burning rage.
Swinging your sword feels like swinging through molasses, Bathilda. However, your eyes grow wild as you imagine the glory that awaits you for rescuing the damsel in distress and killing the Witch-Queen. Your lust for glory empowers your swing and you bring your sword down with all the might in both of your arms.
The crack of the chain snapping cuts through the cavern, through the screaming and noise of the battle and the crowd, through the music of the ghostly performers that stare, agape, at the act that has just been performed.
The Witch-Queen staggers back. Her youthful appearance is shed from her like a veil being torn away. Her old, fat rodent features are contorted in fury. She makes to squeeze Morley's life away, but an arrow fired from Archepex pings her knuckles and she hisses in pain, dropping the thief.
Morley rolls as he lands from the Skaven's grip, rubbing his throat. With a growl, he impetuously charges right back at the Queen again.
Right into her ploy. Magic infuses the horrid Queen's voice as she stares directly into your eyes, Morley.
"You don't want to kill me, dear. I'm your friend. Aren't you hungry? I see that you are...please...dig in."
Morley, you feel the will of the Witch-Queen overtaking yours. You feel a great hunger rising within you. The force of the need to eat is nearly overpowering. It consumes your mind, your conscious thoughts. Looking down at your own legs, you see instead a feast that your friend the Queen has laid out for you. At her words, dig in, you ravenously turn your knives on yourself to cut off a piece of your leg for you to eat.
Deal your own damage to yourself. By the time you realize what you've done, your knife is already in your leg. You now move more slowly/painfully in the fiction as a result of your injury.
Hjalmar, you've seen this kind of horrible coercion before, during your pirating days. On the open sea, legends told of sirens that controlled men's minds with their voices. As you easily deflect the panicked Skaven horde and kick another rat headlong into the pit next to where you're fighting, you can't help but feel your eyes drawn to the Queen's dais, where your friend Morley is succumbing to the witch's magic.
The Skaven fall back from your display of swordplay, dwarf. Take +1 forward on any rolls interacting with the crowd - getting through it, avoiding an obstacle in it, or just killing more of them. Even the few Skaven that seek to overwhelm you by piling on you all at once are stopped, by Dhice's magic. Having the channeler at your back is like being watched over by the earth itself; the ground shifts treacherously beneath your enemies' feet and stays firm and grippy for yours, and whenever a rat gets too close to the pit, it seems to yawn a little wider and drag them in along shifting pebbles and sand.
Meanwhile, back up on stage, the explosion of magic from the severing of the chain knocked Bathilda, Emma and the woman prisoner away. The prisoner lands right on Emma and rolls off, nearly senseless.
The Witch Queen is taking this opportunity while everyone's distracted to make her way to the massive opening in the far wall of the concert cavern. "LADIES AND GENTLERATS, THE WITCHMOTHER!" WITCHMOTHER'S lead singer screams into his mic as the Queen hobbles toward the cliff edge. 100 meters below the opening is a river of magma.
The remaining members of the Rat-Ogre security are rallying to the Queen's retreat, standing shoulder to shoulder between her and you all. Overhead, the half-dozen demons are circling, waiting for someone to show weakness so they can pounce all at once. They appear to be considering attacking Morley while he's...distracted...What do you all do?
Without conscious thought, the remains of Morley's daggers dig deep into his own thighs, with a ferocity that rends muscle and bone alike.
Bathilda shakes her head and looks to the fleeing, overgrown rat the skaven called the Witchmother. Her grin widens as she sees what she's running next to and where it lead. She scrambles to her feet and begins to furiously plot how she was going to make sure the fat skaven witch came to a bad end.
The ferocious mercenary rushes up behind the rat-ogres and does a rolling dive between them, but something must have tipped them off. They turn as one, simultaneously grabbing her, and her sword.
Bathilda only has a moment to realize she's in trouble now as she feels python like arms pin hers to her side and sees the other rat-ogre take her sword from her.
"HEY! LEMME GO!"
Just a thought, but what if the Witchmother decides to make Bathilda her new plaything? Could be more interesting if the party sees their heavy hitter getting carted off like a damsel in distress. Bathilda's strong, but I doubt she can overpower a few rat-ogres by herself.
No sooner is one friend fee than another is caught. Archepex again takes aim for a pair of hands. This time they hold Bathilda's sword.
The Witch Queen is taking this opportunity while everyone's distracted to make her way to the massive opening in the far wall of the concert cavern.
"Muppy... Fetch!" Dhice calls out to no-one in particular as he commands his elemental pet to swarm the Witch Queen's ankles, pinning her in place.
The rocks and gravel swirling around her feet also cause a small amount of .
When the madness finally leaves Morley, he looks down at his ruined legs, vomits, and collapses. As his sight fades, he sees a vision of something that he could never truly comprehend.
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Morley, your vision goes gray - the last thing you see is the Witch's horrible face, smirking at you, mocking you.
For a timeless moment, the chaos of the Skaven rock concert is obliterated, replaced with utter calmness and serenity. You feel no discomfort or pain; indeed, you hardly feel your body at all. It's as if you're floating in an endless sea of nothingness, without even the motion of the waves to give you context.
Blackness. Blackness all around you, but for a single point of light, seemingly endlessly distant from you. You are drifting in...nothing. And out of nothing, from nowhere...a voice, a sadistic laugh, that sounds like everyone you've ever known, and a stranger.
The voice is all around you. It is of the blackness; it is the blackness. The void itself speaks to you.
Behind you is a dim scene of the cavern where your body lies. Ahead of you is a point of light. Choose.