Rubius steps back and keeps letting the gnolls have it!
Round 3
Kragg tries to hit the now revealed dragon, but again the faint shimmer of magical protections deflect his blow.
Thurgrom hits the duelist he is fighting with two nasty blows, critically hitting once.
Round 4
Rubius first two shots kill a gnoll shield bearer, but the remainder of his shots fail to find their targets
Now in his true form, Xavian lets out a terrifying roar, then takes off into the air, flying out of the skylight, and leaving the gnolls and dwarves behind.
The remaining shield bearers attack:
At Thurgrom:
hit!
At Dvalin:
miss!
hit!
1. Rubius
2. Gage-- squirrel
3. Tramontane
4. Gnoll Shield Bearers
5. Dvalin
6. Gnoll Duelists
7. Kragg
8. Thurgrom
Status:
Thurgrom: 32/88
Tramontane: -5/85
Tawny: -8/66
Gage: 36/65
Rubius: 48/75
Dvalin: 52/84
light green duelist by tawny: -53
Lavender Shield bearer: -81
black shield bearer: shield broken
Red duellist: -69
Taking his axe in both hands, Dvalin swings it at the Shield Bearer in front of him.
Surprised at his foes resilience, he quickly strikes twice more at his enemy.
Surprised at his foes superior handling of the shield, Dvalin instead releases another Nova of Frost.
Looking at the skylight, Dvalin starts to float upwards, then gets a better view of the chaotic battlefield, and notices that Tramontane and Tawny went down. Not hopeful that he could match the Dragon for speed, he turns back downwards with a curse on his lips and moves into a flank with Thurgrom:"Your master abandoned you. Your end is nigh."
Round 4
Dvalin drops the shield bearer by him and moves to flank with Thurgrom.
The Duelists attack!
Stepping up to Rubius:
miss!
The one by Tramontane moves over to attack Kragg:
miss!
While the other, finding herself flanked, cautiously tries to stab at Dvalin miss!
1. Rubius
2. Gage-- squirrel
3. Tramontane
4. Gnoll Shield Bearers
5. Dvalin
6. Gnoll Duelists
7. Kragg
8. Thurgrom
Status:
Kragg:
Thurgrom: 32/88
Tramontane: -9/85
Tawny: -8/66
Gage: 36/65
Rubius: 48/75
Dvalin: 52/84
light green duelist by tawny: -53
Lavender Shield bearer: -81
black shield bearer: shield broken
Red duelist: -69, +4 AC
”Hold on Tram! Don’t ye dare bloody die on us.” Kragg then glared at the dragon and shouted ”We came in bloody peace ye...ye...DAFT FOOKER!” He shouted as he sent another axe flying at the dragon.
Round 4
Gritting his teeth, the mynrughdaer presses the advantage Dvalin has given him against the red duelist.
Rubius steps back and keeps firing into the gnolls.
Round 4
Seeing the dragon leave, Kragg turns his attention to the gnolls surrounding him, and a nasty blast drops the one who had just attacked him.
Thurgrom strikes out, hitting the duelist he is fighting.
Round 5
Rubius' first shot drops the injured duelist, then three more arrows wound the duelist by Kragg.
The shield bearers step to flank Thurgrom and unleash their attacks on him:
Three strikes hit, leaving Thurgrom severely wounded!
1. Rubius
2. Gage-- squirrel
3. Tramontane
4. Gnoll Shield Bearers
5. Dvalin
6. Gnoll Duelists
7. Kragg
8. Thurgrom
Status:
Kragg:
Thurgrom: 5/88
Tramontane: -9/85
Tawny: -8/66
Gage: 36/65
Rubius: 48/75
Dvalin: 52/84
black shield bearer:
blue duelist by Kragg: -79
Unnatural cold emanates from Dvalin as he floats closer. "Your lives are forfeit. The Ancestors of Gold Peak have decreed it, and I am their Axe.", the Dwarf shaman booms in a metallic voice as he continues his merciless assault against the enemies still standing.
Round 5
Dvalin steps up and hits the shield bearer in front of him twice.
The duelist snarls as he tries to strike Kragg:
hit!
1. Rubius
2. Gage-- squirrel
3. Tramontane
4. Gnoll Shield Bearers
5. Dvalin
6. Gnoll Duelists
7. Kragg
8. Thurgrom
Status:
Kragg: 99/111
Thurgrom: 5/88
Tramontane: -9/85
Tawny: -8/66
Gage: 36/65
Rubius: 48/75
Dvalin: 52/84
black shield bearer: -45
blue duelist by Kragg: -79
Kinetic Blade: "You can use this form infusion once as part of an attack action, a charge action, or a full-attack action in order to make melee attacks with your kinetic blade. Since it’s part of another action (and isn’t an action itself), using this wild talent doesn’t provoke any additional attacks of opportunity. The kinetic blade deals your kinetic blast damage on each hit (applying any modifiers to your kinetic blast’s damage as normal, but not your Strength modifier). The blade disappears at the end of your turn. The weapon deals the same damage type that your kinetic blast deals, and it interacts with Armor Class and spell resistance as normal for a blast of its type. Even if a telekineticist uses this power on a magic weapon or another unusual object, the attack doesn’t use any of the magic weapon’s bonuses or effects and simply deals the telekineticist’s blast damage. The kinetic blade doesn’t add the damage bonus from elemental overflow."
Kragg looked at the gnoll with intense distaste as he took a step backward and pointed his hand at the enemy. Instantaneously a spear of stone and ice formed, shooting out from his outstretched hand and into the enemy's chest. He didn't even bother saying anything to the gnoll, deciding that it was not worth the effort.
Round 5
Thurgrom quickly analyzed his choices, all bad. Flanked by both gnoll duelist and the opponent fighting Kragg, the mynrughdaer knew we was in a 'kill zone', but if he took a five-foot step toward Dvalin, Thrugrom could be leaving the same fate to Kragg. The storm giant scion knew he may be joining Tramontane soon. No potions or curative spells, Thurgrom fought on, focusing his last fight onto the black duelist.
Round 5
Kragg's blow catches the duelist, and the cold freezes the nimble gnoll in his tracks!
The duelist gone, Thurgrom hits one of the shield bearer's surrounding him, but his second swing clanks uselessly against the shield!
1. Rubius
2. Gage-- squirrel
3. Tramontane
4. Gnoll Shield Bearers
5. Dvalin
5. Kragg
6. Thurgrom
Status:
Kragg: 99/111
Thurgrom: 5/88
Tramontane: -9/85
Tawny: -8/66
Gage: 36/65
Rubius: 48/75
Dvalin: 52/84
black shield bearer: -54
Round 5
The shield bearer's launch their attacks at Thurgrom:
miss!
hit!
And Thurgrom joins Tramontane in unconsciousness!
the gnoll steps up to attack Dvalin:
And the other attacks Dvalin:
1. Rubius
2. Gage-- squirrel
3. Tramontane
4. Gnoll Shield Bearers
5. Dvalin
5. Kragg
6. Thurgrom
Status:
Kragg: 99/111
Thurgrom: -8/88
Tramontane: -10/85
Tawny: -8/66
Gage: 36/65
Rubius: 48/75
Dvalin: 36/84
black shield bearer: -54
Kragg felt something break inside of him. He had channeled so much power...far more than his body could handle. The elements were nearly limitless in power. He was not. With an anguished cry the stone and ice hammer he had formed shattered in his hand, falling harmlessly to the ground.
Unfazed by the Assault, Dvalin utilizes the opening his enemies reckless assault has given him. With his Divine Might turning into Divine Providence, he strikes two mighty blows against his enemies, hoping to fell them swiftly so that he can rush to aid his companions.
The floating spheres interject themselves between Dvalin and the blows of his enemies, taking some minor damage, but also affording it's Master a good deal of protection.
Rubius keeps firing arrows like crazy, knowing his best chance to help Tramontane and Thurgrom is to kill the gnolls immediately.
[ooc]It looks like I'm probably firing through soft cover here.[/dice]
Round 5
Kragg misses.
Dvalin lashes out, and with two brutally placed hits drops the gnoll!
Round 6
Rubius hits twice, his other two shots narrowly missing, but the arrows doing enough to drop the final gnoll!
Rubius, Kragg, and Dvalin quickly stabilize Thurgrom and check on Tramontane, and a minute or so search they manage to find the terrified squirrel that is Gage.
Status:
Kragg: 99/111
Thurgrom: -8/88
Tramontane: -10/85
Tawny: -8/66
Gage: 36/65
Rubius: 48/75
Dvalin: 36/84
"Squeak!"
The terrified fur-ball cowers before the humanoids so much larger than himself, looking for a chance to escape.
Slowly Kragg looked around at the devastation. It was a minor miracle that nobody had died, though he felt considerably weaker now than when he had gone into the fight. Still, it was better than being dead.
”Can anyone help Gage?” He asked, knowing that his own talents were useless in this situation.
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Rubius rushes over to stabilize Tawny. Then when he sees what happened to Gage, he shakes his head. "Don't let him near Tawny! He looks like too nice of a snack!" Then he thinks about what it would take to fix this problem.
"Well Dvalin should be able to fix it, though it might take a couple tries."
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"Aye. But I was not prepared for this. I will need some time to work things out with the ancestors."
Dvalin retrieves some food from a trail ration, then kneels down offering to the squirrel:"Here, little Gage, come here..."
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As the others saw to Gage and Tram, Kragg winced. The same pain that had caused him to double over during the fighting returned. He put a hand to his chest and noticed that it was trembling. It felt like there was a heavy weight in his chest and he shivered with a sudden chill. Unsteadily he turned and walked away, a concerned look on his face. Once out of sight of his comrades he leaned against a wall and slowly slid down. The dwarf closed his eyes and fought the urge to groan.
”Doesn’t feel good, does it?”
He opened up his eyes at the familiar voice and saw Khazuk standing before him. He smiled weakly at his familiar.
”I’m fine. It’ll pass.” He replied, waving her away.
”No you’re not. And it won’t.” She replied, her voice sad. That was more worrying than even the pain. With a grunt he sat up straighter. ”What do ye mean?” Kragg asked, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. She never sounded like that. Not for as long as he had known her, and he had known her for as long as he could remember. Ever since he was a small child, and not once had she ever sounded sad. Accusatory? Of course. Concerned? Many a time. Indignantly angered? More times than he found count. But never sad.
”Tell me.” She hopped closer. ”Where do your powers come from?” Kragg shrugged, though the pain was nearly unbearable doing so. ”You have a connection, Kragg of Oldstone. A connection to the planes. It is how I found you. It is where I am from to. And I have tried to protect you from it. Tried to reach you. I...am sorry.” Kragg’s teeth chattered. He tried to ask her a question he couldn’t get one out. There were so many questions he had to ask. Questions he had never even thought about. But Khazuk had always been there to answer his questions, and it never seemed important enough to ask. ”Every time that you use your powers you use that connection. But you over did it. You used more power than your body could handle. The planes are going to consume you and whatever is left of you is going to become a portal. Elementals may well come through. Or perhaps just the raw power that you were channeling. If you can’t control it then you are going to die.”
Kragg shook his head, though it was getting harder to move. He felt so cold, as if though he were in the middle of a blizzard. He looked down at her and managed to speak. ”...please don’t leave me.” He whispered. He felt scared. He tried to reach out to her but his arm wouldn’t move. He could see that it was turning to stone.
”I won’t.” The thrush crawled onto his lap and sat down. ”I’m sorry.” She said. Kragg tried to say that it was alright and that there was nothing to apologize for, but it was too hard to open his mouth. And it was so cold. If he just went to sleep, would it really be so bad?
And that was when he felt the warmth. It was spreading from his lap, and as it spread the pain faded. Too late he realized what was happening. By the time he could say anything it was far too late. Kragg lifted up Khazuk’s limp form. He felt...different. The stiffness, the old and the pain was gone. But so too was the raw swirl of power that he had grown so accustomed to. It was as if a raging sea had become calm inside of him. Calm, and deeper. Whatever connection Khazuk had was now part of him as well. Her last gift. But most importantly of all she was gone, even if she was now a part of him. He lifted the little body up and stared in uncomprehending grief and guilt. He knew then that she had died because of his recklessness. For so many years she had warned him about his power and had trained him on how to use it responsibly. And his misuse had killed her. He hugged her body close to him and quietly whispered his apologies. He was glad that the others were not with him, for the pain and the shame was his own to bear.
——-
Kragg slowly put Khazuk on the ground. He decided that she should be buried, as befitted all that she had done for him. He held his hands out...and nothing. His face screwed up in confusion. He could feel the power within him, but nothing was happening! The earth had always been like clay to him. He had created tunnels and mines with naught but his mind. During the siege of Gold Peak he had created fortifications, and afterwords he had worked tirelessly to repair what had been broken. His ability to meld the earth as he saw fit had been a defining part of his life and his identity. So why couldn't he do it? It was then that he noticed his hands. All of the color had been drained from them. Panicked, he stood up and saw that all of the color from his skin to his hair had been drained. Not only that, but he felt a strength in his arms that was all together unreal. It was like he had become one of the miners of his clan, who had worked the stone with pick and shovel for decades. The dwarf took deep breaths to stop himself from hyperventilating. He wanted to ask Khazuk what was happening, but looking down at his feet he could see her body clear as day. It was hard proof that this was real. After a minute he had composed himself. It was real, and there was nothing he could do about it. And besides, he was an Old Stone. Not some flighty elf who ran and cried when things got hard. He would endure. It was what Old Stones did. He took another deep breath and then bent down to pick up Khazuk. Gently he wrapped her body and put it in his pack, vowing to give her a proper burial when possible. And then, with a force of will, he walked back to the group.
----------
When Kragg had walked away, he had been a dwarf of a moderate build. While broad shouldered, like all of his people, he was far more foppish in appearance than anything else, with his dark brown hair and beard always immaculately cared for. Coming back to the group, he looked all together different. His once slight frame was now filled out, his arms as strong as he was wide. And his carefully maintained beard, along with his skin, was now all as white as freshly fallen snow. Even his eyes were now barely visible, appearing to be pure white as well except on the closest inspection. He smiled nervously.
"I...eh...think that I overdid it in that last battle. Had some bad feedback from the power that I channeled. It hurt something fierce, but I'm alright...I think." He said, his voice trailing off. For all of the physical changes that had befallen him, it was his voice which bore the most change. His once smooth (for a dwarf) voice was now gravelly, sounding more like rocks grinding together. It was as if though an earth elemental were speaking dwarven. Hearing himself talk, he winced, worrying suddenly about how his father and his clan at large would react when they returned. "But still feeling better than poor Gage there." He continued in a lame attempt to lighten the mood.
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Different dreams run through Tramontane's conscience while he's out. One of them, specifically, portrays a small animal, a hedgehog, coming out of its lair and seeking for the almost dead dwarf. Unnoticed, the animal reaches the body and licks Tramontane's face, trying to wake him up but to no avail. Then other dwarves cone by and the hedgehog flees...
Gathering your fallen companions and the squirrel together, you begin to depart from the compound, and as you are leaving you find the rest of the area in disarray as well- gnolls of one uniform are dismembering the few survivors of the gnolls of the uniform and manner of the Black Water Tribe.
One gnoll, an officer by the appearances of her, dressed in a turban & desert robes with an eye patch, a glittering golden tooth, and an elaborately runed scimitar smiles and bows to you as you exit.
"Good sirs, good dwarfly friends-- the Mistress requests the pleasure of your presence at her residence again."
"You seem to have things well under control - but honor compels me to ask: do you require any additional assistance in your task?", Dvalin asks, bowing back to the Gnoll Lady in greeting.
"If not, we did indeed intend to return to the Mistress to report and ask a few additional questions regarding the task she gave us - but if she considers our presence a pleasure still, I feel that already answers some of them." he offers a forced smile while shielding the Squirrel he scooped up in one of his sacks.
Kragg eyed the gnoll officer warily. This conflict had cost them dearly, and it seemed to him that much of it would have been preventable if their draconic patron had been more forthcoming with them. But he was wise(?) enough to not take it personally, for as a nobleman himself he understood that the game of thrones was not for the faint hearted. He nodded at Dvalin's words, not having anything worth adding, nor did he have any disagreement therein.
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Rubius moves over to pat Kragg on the shoulder when he sees the thrush die then steps back in alarm when Kragg loses his color. "Errr... ya don't look ok Kragg... do ya feel ok?"
Kragg looked at Rubius with his white eyes that were full of heart. He managed a weak smile. ”I will be. I made a mistake and hurt...” he also said ‘us’ but couldn’t quite manage it. As if acknowledging Khazuk’s death would somehow make it real. ”...myself. I just used more elemental power than my body could handle and paid the price for it.” He glanced down at Tawny and thought to himself that out of anyone, Rubius was the most likely to understand. Very quietly he said ”...I killed her, ye know? Khazuk. She trusted me and I killed her by not being careful enough.” He didn’t really know what made him say it, but he still couldn’t look the dwarf in the eyes. ”I don’t think much of anyone besides us would really understand.” He finished, his eyes on Tawny.
Tramontane is still dazed by the beating, and lets himself being carried around. Without anyone noticing, a small vine attaches to his body under the tunic, called by the smell of blood. It covers Tramontane's wounds and slowly starts to drain some of his energies away...
"Uh, folks... I really need some rest. I feel awful, and my head keeps aching as if Gold Peak's Philarmonic Orchestra was playing on the National Holiday."
The group is then addressed by a hobgoblin in uniform, but Tramontane can barely pay any attention.
Gage squeaks a few times, failing to escape the safety of Dvalin's pack.
The gnoll bows to Dvalin, "No, we have this well in hand."
You make your way back to Mistriss Xixtial's palace, and are escorted to see her.
Still in her elven form she nods, "Well, I see that my son received a message. You have done well to survive, though my son survived, I assume?"
"While those before ye, and your son survived, not all of us did, your majesty." Kragg said, stepping forward. His steps were heavier than they were before, due to the transformation which had overtaken him. With cold, white eyes he regarded the queen. "One of our number is...beyond the power of revival. You would not remember her, for not all walk in their natural forms." He said, knowingly, as he looked her in the eyes. "And as you can see, we bear the scars of that encounter." He idly waved a hand at himself as a way of explanation. "I must ask why we were not told of your son's true form before we entered. Our losses would likely not have been so acute if we had gone in properly prepared." A mixture of his grinding voice and a lifetime of carefully measuring his words so as to not damage the prestige of his clan served Kragg well, as he kept the anger out of his voice when he spoke. He was still aware that Xixtial could likely kill them all without effort and that angering her would be most unwise.
"Your son took to the sky and flew off shortly after his minions initiated combat against us. We went there with the intent to talk and see if the situation could be resolved amiably, but he assumed us to be hired assassins from the start. I must concur with Kragg - if you truly wished for his death, you would have told us about his true nature, if only to improve our chances. That would suggest that we, indeed, were expected to send a message, and not necessarily to survive - and your true motives were more complicated than you shared with us. Did I read the situation correctly?", Dvalin added with his own tempered voice, carefully choosing his words. They had done what she asked, and paid a great price for it. If she wanted more from them yet, then re-negotiations would be in order - especially because she had sabotaged the success of their initial mission herself. But that was not something to say bluntly...
"Squeak!" Gage adds,
impossibly diplomatically.
She frowns for a minute, then responds, "No- sadly, his death I must still have, but pre-warning you of our true form I could not do. We are bound in matters of honor that cut in many directions at once at times."
"I see you have done well to mostly survive the encounter then- and now I have my son's strong house here in hand. Yet, still he lives and breathes, and the insult that has been done to me and must still be avenged."
On his stretcher , Thurgrom fades in and out of consciousness, occasionally murmuring unknown names or places.