Seeing Kilarra being torn apart, the siblings give up defence and quickly surround the Lenger, stabbing and hacking away.
Baldy shoots an arrow.
Seeing the danger posed by their foe, Garrosh attacks with redoubled effort.
The denizen of leng dodges Pitor's swing deftly, but is stabbed twice by Ann, though Baldhart's arrow falls short. Garrosh however places two arrows into her waist which heals slightly.
The denizen of Leng bites Kilarra first, before turning her attention to Ann, swiping ineffectually at her twice, moving slowly towards Garrosh.
--
Claws swiping toward his sister awakens Piotr's combat skills, or it is the fact she is turned away from him to try and get Ann. No matter, the point is that the point of his sword slams through the thin humanoid with much blood and gore. Ann takes a bit of satisfaction with a small but accurate slice through the creature's cheek.
Garrosh takes a step back, unleashing two more arrows.
As a third bite connects, Kilarra feels darkness cloud her vision. She's lost too much blood, and the venom from the bites are proving too much stress on her lungs. As she's about to drop her sword and collapse, a voice echoes in her head. "Not now, not yet." Says the male voice. Kilarra's eyes snap open, with a burst of renewed vitality to keep her on her feet. Gripping her sword tightly, Kilarra keeps her whits about her and withdraws from the fight to take care of her wounds.
Baldhart is not sure her little toothpicks can do much against the fast-healing fiend, but it is worth a shot—
Ann's ectoplasmic form seems rather resistant to the creature's claws.
Piotr strikes with deadly speed and accuracy, penetrating the creature's side, who looks at Piotr with mild surprise, as if she didn't expect that. "You've certainly learnt a thing or two since then...most of the time you'd leave Kilarra to do the heavy hitting," she remarks at Piotr, and that distraction lets Ann slice her cheek.
Garrosh sends another arrow striking her shoulder, as some of her wounds heal.
The Denizen of Leng moves quickly to confront Garrosh, and Pitor manages to slash at her as she moves past, surprisingly gracefully.
Garrosh finds the arm she bites begin to stiffen.
Baldhart shoots again!
She thinks the verbose giant may have actually felt that one!
"You knew us?" Piotr hates having this hole in his head, and a creature like this being familiar just makes it worse. His momentary distraction isn't enough to miss a parting attack, but he still has to hurry to catch up.
"Ignore her!" Ann insists. Her brother's feelings boiling through their bond are too much and cause her to miss horribly.
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Baldharts arrow does scratch the denizen of leng's back.
"Hahahaha,"The denizen of leng laughs mockingly. "I was the one who lead you to Lowls, all of you who would do anything for your goals."
"For both of them," She gestures at Garrosh and Kilarra. "It was vengeance. For you, it was love and guilt." She replies to Piotr.
"There were others too. Some were looking for answers or a cure. Others - Power beyond imagination," She muses almost to herself.
"I'll get my vengeance" Kilarra mutters as she drinks a potion of CLW.
"And are you ready to die here, after traveling so far from your wretched plane of existence?" - Garrosh stepped back, and unleashed two arrows again.
The denizen of leng gives a short laugh dodging Garrosh's arrows,"Do you even think you can kill me here?", as she steps up to bite and claw Garrosh.
The siblings let Garrosh converse with the evil thing while they slash and stab, taking adavantage of the fact the woman is between them now. Or at least trying to.
Baldhart knows she is too weak to really hurt this woman. Not like other giants. She is as inhuman as me.
Yet, no matter how tiny and pathetic a fairy is next to a giant. She blocks the path to Hanako. She must die.
The fairy’s aim is near-perfect!
Her little toothpick hurts—
—twice as much as her last shot!
Piotr manages to land a good slash on her ribs, and Ann a stab in her thigh.
Baldhart does manage to land a shot in her back.
"Kill, banish, whatever - you are here now because you want to. We will thwart your plans, and make sure you are not here much longer" - the half orc growled even as he felt his muscles stiffening up, and the wounds piling.
Then he takes a step back, and fires again - "And good thing you are liking the talk. Keep chasing me while the others shred you to pieces"
The denizen of Leng seems a bit slower now, after Garrosh sends his second arrow through her torso.
"Oh, I'll get all of you. One by one." The denizen of Leng says through gritted fangs.
Kilarra hobbles over to behind Garrosh. She raises her greatsword above her head, getting ready for a strike. To Garrosh, she says "I got holy water if you want it."
The Denizen of Leng steps forth, continuingly sinking her fangs and claws into Garrosh.
Garrosh finds himself increasingly stiff as the poison from her fangs flows into his bloodstream.
Baldhart looses another arrow.
It may be best for the fairy’s sake that she is stuck at her small and harmless size. The crazy giant would certainly have feasted on her blood if she were more of a threat and more than a snack.
Hanako’s friends will win. The hungry one thinks they will back down from her words.
Ann shifts to the south to flank with Garrosh, while Piotr attacks and tries to defend his sister (if the creature tries to attack anyone other than Garrosh).
Neither of the siblings does a great job at attacking, the pure physical and mental strain of a prolonged battle and a night interrupted from sleep has taken its toll.
Seriously wounded, and almost unable to keep his balance, Garrosh snarls at the denizen of Leng, throws his bow away, and draws his morningstar - "Very well then! My turn now! If you think we are defenseless prey, you are gravely mistaken"
Kilarra drinks another healing potion from the stash.
"Pixie, move back. You're blocking the way."
The fairy clears a path for the strongest giant.
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Garrosh has a very satisfying moment of connecting the morningstar with her skull...with her desperately screeching, "We'll meet again...Mark my words!", before the clothes that house her fall to the ground, then dissolve into nothingness.
The party finds a pair of two square, brass-colored metal plates that have rubber edges and screws at each corner used to tighten the plates like a clamp, lying on the floor. In the center of the top plate is a fleshy tube that ends in a suction cup ringed with tiny teeth. Pitor identifies them as
Confabulation Plates
Garrosh also finds a secret passage in the wall, leading ominously into the darkness below. Baldhart feels a tug on her heartstrings to go down.
Garrosh wobbles, leaning heavily on the wall - "There is a secret passage right here... But I need a moment of respite" - he grabs his bow and sits down on the floor, back against the wall.
Baldhart is slightly hurt herself, but not nearly as much as the giants. She finds a safe place to land and waits patiently for the others to rest.
While sitting perfectly still, she tries to sense Hanako. Alive… where?
Relying on the divine, the half-orc healed some of his wounds - in spite of the dire situation, he still felt surprised as to why he would be able to channel such powers, but he did not question them.
Baldhart feels Hanako below her.
Baldy points at the floor in the direction where Hanako is. Her aura becomes pink and she makes some sing-song sounds with her bell voice.
"I've seen this thing before." Piotr says while looking at the brass plates and suction cup. "I don't know where, but I know it allows you to speak to the dead."
Ann's eyes open wide "Really? How does it work?"
"I don't know how, but I think you put its head here, attach this here, turn this key and then press this button."
Ann looks around "Can't try it out on the melted one, but we should take it with us when we leave." she notices Baldhart's dinging "First out lost bard."
Kilarra passes Garrosh the bundle of healing potions they plundered just recently. "Drink these. We can't afford to be greedy."
Garrosh accepts one healing potion, and takes it - "Thank you Kilarra"
"This secret passage leads downard - everyone ready to move on?"
Baldhart flashes very, very bright green. “DING!”
She reminds herself to stop glowing! before heading into the secret passage…
…stealthily!
Kilarra hesitates, before taking one more potion. "Remember, if you're gonna die if you stick around, you can run. She wouldn't want us all to die for her probably. And if you need the wand, just yank it from my belt."
In the middle of a circular, vaulted chamber, standing on a platform of natural bedrock, a black stone monolith similar to the two in Thrushmoor glows with a pale, yellow light. Hanako is motionless, except for her breathing, tied spread eagled onto the monolith as her nlood stains the floor surrounding the monument. A dark skinned woman with her wavy raven hair tied into a pony tail in sporting a ferroniere with a large, teardrop-shaped topaz on her forehead, in a corset top, a yellow silk blouse, and a long skirt, gently caresses Hanako's unconscious face. "Soon my pretty little bird, you'll be sacrificed to the King in Yellow...and he will grant me more power..." she murmurs. Beside her is the all too familiar hated winged creature combining the features of a carrion bird, an ant, a bat and a decomposing human in a most hideous manner. There are no signs of the shortsword wounds that Baldhart had earlier inflicted.
This large chamber resembles the courtyard of an ancient, subterranean palace, with columns supporting a 30-foot-high cloister dome. In the middle of the floor, a tile mosaic of the Yellow Sign emits a thin, yellow vapor that fills the room with a faint odor of chrysanthemums. The vapor rises to the concave dome of the vault, through which an image of the minarets, towers, and spires of a mysterious city silhouetted against a yellow sky can be seen. The image sways softly with a slow alternation of light and darkness, to the sound of invisible pipes and strings. At the far end of the chamber, a marble throne sits within a semicircular apse. A floor-to-ceiling band of gilded mosaics decorates the walls, depicting a fantastic urban landscape populated by figures in flowing robes and full-face masks.
Baldhart slinks back the way she came…
And as she sees Kilarra drink not enough potions, she points to more, then points to Kilarra’s mouth. She makes not-so-subtle gestures of drinking motions, drawing her sword, and pointing to the passage downward.
If anyone tries to get past Baldhart while still wounded, she’ll make a drinking motion and point to a potion, or she’ll point to the healing wand.
Kilarra hesitates, before taking one more potion. "Remember, if you're gonna die if you stick around, you can run. She wouldn't want us all to die for her probably. And if you need the wand, just yank it from my belt."
"I will be having a few words with Hanako for sure, about her constant need to wander off on her own..." - Garrosh growled, clearly not in a good mood, and staring hard at the fairy when she motions to stop him - "You should try stopping your friend every once in a while, so she does not drag us all into the ensuing mess" - he snapped.
Kilarra rolls her eyes at the Pixie's antics. She goes to drink one more potion, but even if Baldhart puts up a fuss, she won't drink more. "I'll be fine. Don't bother yourself with me." She says.
Baldhard holds up two fingers with one hand, and points to the secret passage (that she just snuck into and back out of) with the other hand.
She holds up one finger with the “counting” hand, then draws her sword. She points to the dried yellow blood on her sword.
She then holds up two fingers. She holds her sword downward toward a place on the ground. She then lies down where her sword was just pointing and makes her aura pink.
She then taps on the healing vials again and points to Kilarra and Garrosh. (She thinks Piotr needs one too, which she will “say” by pointing only if the other giants heal up.)
"Danger, bad danger, two something that are yellow. Got it." Piotr drinks. "Let's go."
Baldhart holds one finger up. Her hue becomes yellow.
She then holds up her other finger, and is no longer yellow. (She stops glowing.) She takes her not-yellow finger and holds it to her own throat. She glows cherry-blossom-pink while the finger is against her throat. (The fairy knows that, just minutes ago, Piotr and Ann realized this shade of pink is somehow associated with Hanako.)
When Piotr has finished translating, Kilarra will lead the group through the secret entrance.
In the middle of a circular, vaulted chamber, standing on a platform of natural bedrock, a black stone monolith similar to the two in Thrushmoor glows with a pale, yellow light. Hanako is motionless, except for her breathing, tied spread eagled onto the monolith as her blood stains the floor surrounding the monument. A dark skinned woman with her wavy raven hair tied into a pony tail in sporting a ferroniere with a large, teardrop-shaped topaz on her forehead, in a corset top, a yellow silk blouse, and a long skirt stands next to unconscious Hanako. Beside her is the all too familiar hated winged creature combining the features of a carrion bird, an ant, a bat and a decomposing human in a most hideous manner. There are no signs of the shortsword wounds that Baldhart had earlier inflicted. On hearing the party step in, she turns towards the stairs. "Mae'n ymddangos bod ein merch fach wedi cuddio ei ffrindiau yn... yn union fel y bwriadwyd.."
It seems our little songbird has lured her friends in...just as planned.
This large chamber resembles the courtyard of an ancient, subterranean palace, with columns supporting a 30-foot-high cloister dome. In the middle of the floor, a tile mosaic of the Yellow Sign emits a thin, yellow vapor that fills the room with a faint odor of chrysanthemums. The vapor rises to the concave dome of the vault, through which an image of the minarets, towers, and spires of a mysterious city silhouetted against a yellow sky can be seen. The image sways softly with a slow alternation of light and darkness, to the sound of invisible pipes and strings. At the far end of the chamber, a marble throne sits within a semicircular apse. A floor-to-ceiling band of gilded mosaics decorates the walls, depicting a fantastic urban landscape populated by figures in flowing robes and full-face masks.
Garrosh identifies the creature as a Byakhee. It can grab with its bite.