Dhice turns to thank Emma for the aid but trips over his tongue at the sight of her. The wash of demonic energy that slips past Emma's shield is thoroughly revolting to Dhice, so much so that his concentration wavers as it burns his flesh: . He tries to hold his mind to the task at hand by carefully rationalizing the importance of his task and by distancing his magical concentration from his physical pain: . He succeeds in splitting off the part of his brain that holds the elemental conduit and keeps a good hold of the storm gathering to lift the demon.
With Archepex's help, Grigor tries, again, to pull himself out of the slimed flow.
... Hoisting himself out and turning to help Arcehpex up, before running off to back-up Wicks.
Thanks to the anti-paladin's help, Dhice is able to harness the powers of his air channeling to supreme effect. The demon, made weightless by the magic of Archepex's amulet, is carried miles high into the sky by the buffeting of his storm-force winds. It looks almost as if he's going to break the limits of the atmosphere and lift off into space, but you can see that the Pit Lord's own magic talents finally manage to counteract the magic of the amulet, near the apex of the parabola.
This doesn't work out as planned for the Pit Lord. You can see by looking up that the massive demon's body, freed from the amulet's magic, is being pulled to earth with all the force of gravity. He reaches terminal velocity right before his velocity is terminated by the ground. He reaches earth somewhere between you and the capital city. You don't feel the earth shake from this distance, but you do hear a distant, quiet boom.
Archepex, meanwhile, is carried further down the river's flow due to his efforts at helping Grigor to be pulled out. Grigor, you manage to escape the river's flow, but you face an ugly choice. Do you leap to Lyntel and Wicks' defense immediately, helping him to defeat the ooze goblins that he's backing away from? They're advancing on both of them and threatening them with their ooze-weaponry right now.
Or do you bring the rope further downstream to help Archepex escape its flow? You can't do both at once.
Archepex, the current is picking up in strength as more water pours into the middle of the sewer from smaller pipes set in the walls. The water is gathering force, carrying you toward the center of the vast network of sewers beneath Tollerhelm, and away from your friends. What do you do?
Archepex swims for his life. His libs are tiring, his breath is coming in ragged gasps. He cannot give up. Maybe he can make it to some out cropping he can grab onto...
Dhice is completely transfixed by the fate of the demon. He's oblivious to the fate of his friends until the final *splat*, at which point he looks around and notices what's going on. He runs towards Wicks and Lyntel...
As the ooze goblins close in on her and Wicks, Lyntel draws her shortsword and moves into a defensive position. Help! I'm not any good at this!
Lyntel can take care of Wicks and herself. I help Archepex, but I'm not sure what to roll to pull him out. Strength?
Archepex, you manage to keep your head above water, but that's it - in this worked and manufactured sewer tunnel, there's nothing to hold on to. You are being carried off into a deeper part of the sewers where there is no additional light, with Mule flying over you and trying to stay nearby.
It's Mule's assistance that keeps Grigor's attention where it needs to be. The fighter has no light source with him, and without Mule's help, he wouldn't be able to see where you are in the water.
Grigor is able to keep up with Archepex's float down the sewer river by staying at a brisk jogging pace, but he can tell that the sewer is beginning to slope downward, and sure enough, the current is getting faster. If you aren't careful, you could trip trying to descend this slope.
If you want to throw the rope to him and hope he can grab it, roll +Dex. If you want to try and find a solution to the problem by looking in your immediate area, roll +Wis. If you want to jump in the river again and try to get him out lifeguard-style, that's strength. Give me your best shot!
Lyntel, meanwhile, is being challenged directly by three goblins, and Wicks by two. The halfling and the elf, despite having never fought together truly side by side before, instinctively put their backs together and against the wall of the sewer, forcing the goblins to flank in a semicircle around them. The five goblins grasp their ooze-weapons in slimy hands and cackle menacingly as they circle you, looking for an opening.
Goblin 1: Shortsword and shield
Goblin 2: Whip
Goblin 3: Two clubs
Goblin 4: Knuckles made of hardened ooze
Goblin 5: A shortspear
Goblin 2 has the most reach, and is threatening Wicks. The goblin cracks its whip at the halfling's face, which Lyntel blocks with her shortsword - however, doing so left her sides momentarily exposed. Wicks jumps to her aid so she isn't direly wounded, but the attack takes her breath away as Goblin 4 swings in a quick horizontal arc at her. Take 1d8-1d6 damage due to Wicks aiding you, Lyntel.
Lyntel grunts as the ooze knuckes impact her side, but her armor and Wicks' distraction leaves her physically unharmed. She mutters a word in ancient elven and then begins cackling.
Goblin 2 is shocked to see that Wicks' now appears encased in ice armor, which risks freezing the goblin at a simple touch.
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Appalled that he'd forgotten about his friends in the sewers, Dhice goes running to the edge and looks down on the scene. He sees Lyntel get whacked (without realizing she wasn't really hurt) and is enraged.
No longer thinking particularly clearly, he simply jumps over the edge, down into the fray. From his launch point at street level, he has to clear a huge mound of rubble, a number of twisted, broken support columns and all manner of other debris, making the leap appear suicidal. But his affiliation with the elemental powers of Air lends him the confidence to try.
He causes the air beneath him to swirl into a mini-tornado, and lends it the power to support and direct his fall (2 hold, one to move the air, 1 to make it forceful). He then has to make some careful calculations to navigate the descent, trying to plot a route that doesn't involve too many twists and turns (he's not an expert at this flying thing yet!).
Despite inviting some kind of danger or consequence, he succeeds in getting the drop on the goblins attacking his friends Lyntel and Wicks. He smashes into them (spend my 3rd hold dealing with the tornado to them) and then suddenly finds himself tumbling to the ground amidst the armed and dangerous goblins.
"Uhmm, I'm here to help?" he says in a voice that gives away the fact that he really didn't think this through very well.
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Swimming it is, then.
... And he Hasselhoff's Archepex right the f@+! up out of the water!
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Archepex does his best to stay out of his friends burly arms as he his hauled bodily from the rushing current.
Lyntel, if you intended to spend your defense hold there, absolutely yes. Wicks does not cut a very intimidating-looking figure as he swings his shortsword back and forth in a defensive motion, but your spell wreathes him in illusion that causes Goblin number 2 to back off. He takes a few steps backward, then cracks his whip at you instead of Wicks, Lyntel! The hardened tip of the whip of ooze cracks through the air at you, threatening to take out an eye! What do you do?
Wicks, nearby, is taking advantage of the momentary reprieve you offered him in order to reach inside his coat. "Take THIS!" he shouts, hurling a vial of alchemical liquid at the ground between Goblins 3, 4 and 5. With a bang, the vial explodes, creating a small explosion of force that knocks the goblins a few steps back. Goblin 3 falls into the river and is out of the fight for now, leaving only goblins 1, 2, 4 and 5!
It's into these goblins that Dhice plummets straight into. The channeler manages to land safely, but when he looks around, he seems goblins on every side of him grinning at their unbelievable luck. The goblins stoop and try to wrap you up in a net of ooze that grows between them, what do you do?
Further off down the river, Grigor has to call upon his whole strength to do it, but he manages to get Archepex[b/] out of the water! The human gives the elf the boost he needs to scramble up out the side, and the elf immediately turns around and holds out his arm to [b]Grigor. With a mighty heave, the two work together and escape the river before it sweeps you any further away from your friends. The fight is taking place approximately 500 feet down the tunnel the way you came.
Archepex doesn't even have time to catch his breath. He gasps a deeply felt Thanks to Grigor before stumbling down the tunnel toward the fight as fast as his exhausted legs can carry him.
Emma wades through the pack of ooze gobbos, still buzzing with demonic radiation. She isn't aiming particularly well, but anyone not paying attention to her is in for a rough time.
Lyntel desperately attempts to duck under the whip, hoping her friends will be here soon.
Grigor rushes right along side Archepex to defend Wicks and Lyntel.
Dhice sees the goblins threatening and reaches for his most basic powers. He causes a blast of sand to explode out of his forearms, stinging the nearby goblins for and then coating himself in gritty, protective sand
Actually Lyntel, your elusive armor more applies to eluding something falling on you or being shot at you, but you are wearing the ring of defensive teleportation! As you duck to avoid the whip's cracking attack, the ring glows, and time slows down for the bard as a single teleportation portal opens. Normally she would get three options for dodging out of the way, but since she barely managed to escape the attack, she doesn't get to choose. With a gasp, the elf finds herself suddenly on the opposite side of the river in the sewer! She's staring across the walkway at the ooze goblin as it stares, dumbfounded, at where the elf used to be. "What? Where'd you go?" shouts Wicks in confusion as he glances behind him. The ooze goblin takes advantage of the fact that you're no longer watching Wicks' back and attacks him again with the whip, and ensnares his wrist in it! With a shout of dismay, the halfling's arm is arrested, leaving him much more vulnerable to the other goblins! The halfling can only look on as the other goblins grin at him, their ooze net covering more and more of Dhice until you can barely see him.
Emma charges in, trying to pull the net of ooze off of Dhice, but the anti-paladin's armor only sticks to the netting, not allowing her to let it go! Shouting oaths, the antipaladin is quickly just as ensnared in the net as the channeler is! Wicks struggles mightily against the goblin that is holding his whip two-handed. Grigor arrives a second after Emma and sees her becoming trapped in the net! One goblin is keeping Wicks from intervening, and the other three are getting better purchase on Emma and Dhice by the second! Grigor, what do you do?
Raises his broadsword...
... And completely fails to bust Emma free of her imprisonment.
Separated from her companions, Lyntel is left with little option. She begins singing a halfling song of hearth and home.
Archepex draws his blade as he runs and dives into the fray beside Wicks with Mule barely a second behind.
Then rolls and darts a few paces away in an attempt to draw the buggers to him.
With one of the goblins blasted off of Emma by Dhice's sandblast channel, she easily tears off the goblin's ooze-net that the last remaining ooze-goblin was trying to ensnare her with. With Grigor's aid, she heaves the oozelin into the river after the one Dhice sandblasted, the original goblin having sunk beneath the current's surface like a proverbial stone. Dhice's magic had blown a chunk out of the oozelin's face like a shotgun blast.
Wicks the halfling was struggling to cut himself free of his oozelin's whip-snare around his wrist, when Archepex appears behind the goblin like a specter of death. The elven ranger had made no sound, and Mule only screeched his deathcry when he was less than a meter away. No time to react. Mule is already in his face when he turns to look for the source of the sound. The goblin screams and drops the whip as he tries to re-form his ooze-hands into weapons - but he only has time to make them into formless tentacles before the ranger follows up on his bird's strike. With an almost casual brutality, Archepex pierces the ooze-goblin's skull.
Dhice now has a singleton goblin remaining on himself, as well, and this one seems to be intelligent enough to see which way the wind is blowing. Panic is beginning to show on his green, greasy features. He hears Lyntel's song of the elves, which is as fearful and hateful to goblinkind as it is healing and beneficial to elvenkind and their friends. He sees Wicks advancing on him aggressively, bolstered by this elvensong that fills the tunnels. Lyntel's renewal spell gives the halfling the confidence to strike forward boldly, and he stabs his sword blade-downward into the oozelin's back as the creature turns to flee. "No you don't!" he cries out, dragging it to the ground and stabbing it again for good measure.
No oozelins remain, and none appear to be encroaching from beyond the church steeple that Dhice thrust into the tunnel earlier on. Peace and quiet settles over the battlefield.
Roll +2 for loots, 1 for the oozlins and 1 for the pit lord.
Dhice looks around and then realizes that the team just obliterated a Pit Lord. "Holy Mother of Kings!" he says with awe in his voice. "Did that just happen?"
I find it best not to ask that question... Archepex pants.
Lyntel (10) finds, from the oozelins: An opaque sealed jar labeled "FOREST IN A JAR."
Archepex (11) finds, from the box left behind by the Pit Lord: A fairly large piece of magical white sidewalk chalk.
Emma (13) finds, from the oozelins: A deep purple and black banner with a grinning demon's skull on it and straps on the back; can be attached to any piece of armor or shield, or wrapped around a weapon.
Grigor (8) finds, from the Pit Lord: A warhorn made from the horn of a ram, curled and adorned with leather, with a strap.
Damnit! Serves me right for trying to finish the post in a hurry. Thankfully I had already figured out what you looted. Sorry Dhice!
Dhice (9) finds, from the Pit Lord box: A finger "ring" that resembles the device on the forefinger of this man.
Archepex has no earthly idea what this white stuff is...
Emma splashes water from her canteen on the filthy banner. "Lyntel, have you seen this sigil before? I... I don't like the look of it." She says. Her eyes tell a different story.
Lyntel takes a close look at the banner.
Of course! This is the banner of ...
Lyntel smiles at Archepex and beckons him to bring his prize closer. Fantastic, why with one of these you can quite literally draw a hole in reality itself. Amazing!
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Archepex doesn't believe her, and his sideways glance says so.
Lyntel flashes Archepex another smile and laughs away some of the tension of the most recent battle. Yeah I have never seen anything like it.
Lyntel, your sunny mood is somewhat darkened by the image emblazoned on the banner. The grinning demon's skull is a recognizable icon of the Low Dirge - a wide-ranging mortal cult of demon-worshipers who sought chaos for the sake of it. The followers of the Low Dirge worship no god or demon specifically; but they idolize the lifestyle of chaos and change, and seek to thwart the aims of Order wherever they can find it. You know that it's magically tied to the ideals of the Low Dirge, but you don't know what this banner does specifically.
Archepex, your best bet for finding out what this chalk does is simply to use it at this point.
Archepex finds a smooth patch of stone and starts by drawing a simple greeting, [ooc]If not thing happens[/oob] then his name, then a picture of a cart and donkey.
Dhice picks up the bizarre "finger sleeve" and looks at it with deep suspicion. His head is filled with images of having his finger lopped off by the thing, or permanently stuck in it, so he just carefully wraps it in a rag and stuffs it in his pack for now.
Archepex, the "Hello!" you draw becomes slightly raised off of the surface you draw it on when you draw it. Curiously, you scrape your fingers against the letters, and find that the entire word comes up off the surface. You can peel the very words off of the stone and hold it up. Same with your name. When you draw the miniature cart and donkey, as soon as your drawing completes, it animates. The stick-figure man climbs up on his two-dimensional cart and whips his two-dimensional donkey, which begins to pull the cart away, not showing a trace of curiosity about anything else.
"I'm sure I will find some use for this." Mutters Emma as she carefully rolls up the banner and stows it away.
Archepex raises an eyebrow and then carefully wraps up the chalk in some leather and stores it away.
Grigor goes and pulls the old man from the hiding space where he had been stashed. He then checks his life signs. How's he looking, Mooshy?
Grigor, you arrive to find Wicks helping to pull him out of the hiding space already. The halfling turns to look at you when you approach with a sad look in his eyes, and shakes his head. He didn't survive the action of the fight. I'm afraid the old man has expired, despite all of your best efforts.
I'm afraid the old man has expired, despite all of your best efforts.