Amanteia's acid shoots well wide of the crow and continues up into the weird grey sky. Everyone else prepares themselves for a ranged battle.
The willow tree pulls its roots out of the ground and begins... not really walking. You're not sure what you'd call it, but in any case, it somehow makes its way next to Argus. Its branches begin shaking violently and, just when you think the tree is going to shake itself apart, the shaking reaches a crescendo and a cone of bone shards as sharp as a rapier erupt from it.
Perhaps still in shock at seeing such a large tree move so quickly, the party barely reacts when the shards begin flying. Only Ray, assisted by the human (and half-orc) shields in front of him, is able to avoid being made into a pincushion. Bob falls from Ray's shoulder to the ground, bleeding from multiple puncture wounds.
Both witchcrows vanish, and then you hear an unnerving tinny laughter coming from the spot they were last visible. Argus's self-doubt persists a bit longer.
Blacktail (0 damage)
Nightbeak (0 damage, 2 images)
Dellan (16/34 hp, 1 str damage, 1d4 bleed)
Amanteia (29/29 hp)
Somnius (7/7 hp)
Argus (15/40 hp, +2 AC, -2 attack [6 rounds], -2 AC [1 round], 1d4 bleed)
Raybin (20/27 hp)
Bob (-5/12 hp, 1d4 bleed)
Bonewrought Willow (0 damage)
Bold may act.
Amanteia's jaw drops in shock at the carnage she sees before her. Suddenly, she has a thought: maybe she can hurt this thing without using up spells! It reacts to positive energy as an undead creature, so... worth a shot.
Feeling pretty stupid for dropping the glaive now, he instead drops the crossbow, pulls out the silver halberd, and calls out a prayer of protection to Shelyn. "Blessed Eternal Maiden, shield us from the darkness of this gray land."
Light pours out of him in a bright nimbus thirty feet in each direction, and his allies find themselves emboldened by Shelyn's grace.
The willow shakes in what you can only guess is extreme pain as Dellan's spells courses through it, blackening some of its branches and burning away moss. The smell is... unique.
Blacktail (0 damage)
Nightbeak (0 damage, 2 images)
Dellan (16/34 hp, 1 str damage, 1d4 bleed)
Amanteia (29/29 hp)
Somnius (7/7 hp)
Argus (15/40 hp, +2 AC, -2 attack [6 rounds], -2 AC [1 round], 1d4 bleed)
Raybin (20/27 hp)
Bob (2/12 hp, 1d4 bleed)
Bonewrought Willow (13 damage)
Bold may act.
Ray looks at Bob on his shoulder and back to the spot where the witchcrows just were, cursing under his breath. If he doesn't shoot now, they'll be somewhere else. He takes aim and fires at where one of the two just were--whichever one was cackling, if he can tell.
He then turns to Dellan. "Bob's hit, bad! Can you juice him so he can get out of here without bleeding to death?"
He mutters to the gore-streaked bird wobbling on his shoulder, [color=blue]"Sit tight a sec. Once Dellan hits you with something to stop the bleeding, you get out of here until this is over."[/color]
Bob flaps one feeble wing in acknowledgement.
Ray hears a surprised squawk and is pleased to see a bloody black feather appear and flutter to the ground. The witchcrow remains invisible but it now, against all odds, has an invisible crossbow bolt embedded in it.
The willow rears up an enormous branch and slams it down on Argus. It is briefly slowed by the magical barrier bestowed by Dellan, but the witchcrows' influence on him makes him too slow to take advantage and get out of the way. It lands with full force on his shoulder and nearly crumples him down to the ground .
In the very next moment, Dellan and Argus hear a faint whooshing sound as both crows dive invisibly between them, with the aim of vengeance on what is apparently the greatest crossbowmen in the Boneyard. The first rakes its talon across his neck as it flies by , but he has the presence of mind to duck out of the way of the second in the split second before its attack lands. Both birds keep flying past Raybin and are once again 15' up.
The blood pouring from Argus and Bob's wounds become too much, and they each slump to the ground .
Blacktail (7 damage)
Nightbeak (0 damage, 2 images)
Dellan (12/34 hp, 1 str damage, 1d4 bleed)
Amanteia (29/29 hp)
Somnius (7/7 hp)
Argus (-1/40 hp, +2 AC, -2 attack [5 rounds], 1d4 bleed, unconscious and dying)
Raybin (20/27 hp)
Bob (-2/12 hp, 1d4 bleed, unconscious and dying)
Bonewrought Willow (13 damage)
Bold may act.
Bob immediately peaces out the second his wounds are healed.
Even with Dellan's healing, Argus teeters on the brink of death. Another explosion of bone shards from the tree like the one before and his journey ends here. There are worse ways to go, but he's not pleased about the idea of leaving his companions to face Mictena's wrath alone.
Stay together for a little longer, old man.
He quickly brushes his fingers against his chest with a whispered prayer to Shelyn, then bears down on the tree with his halberd.
Ray flinches away from the bird's vicious claws, then reloads his crossbow and fires again.
Amanteia sees how poorly things are already going. F*&% this. She concentrates for a moment and a burst of golden dust covers the crows.
Blacktail squawks again as Dellan's holy fire burns away several more feathers, then both birds scream as magical dust fills their eyes.
Argus and Ray both miss terribly. Argus wonders how in the world he could miss a giant tree standing directly in front of him.
Both Nightbeak and Blacktail hover in place, blinking desperately. Blacktail turns and stares at Amanteia; apparently he has managed to clear the dust from his eyes. Three Nightbeaks are still blinking and flapping frantically.
The tree attempts to slam Argus again but he dodges out of the way easily this time.
Blacktail (14 damage, dazzled [1 round])
Nightbeak (0 damage, 2 images, blind [3 rounds])
Dellan (19/34 hp, 1 str damage)
Amanteia (29/29 hp)
Somnius (7/7 hp)
Argus (15/40 hp, +2 AC, -2 attack [4 rounds])
Raybin (27/27 hp)
Bob (9/12 hp)
Bonewrought Willow (13 damage)
Bold may act.
Argus, hands still trembling slightly, tries to assault the tree once more. Stop shaking like a greenleaf, old man, he chides irritably as he brings the halberd down again.
Ray reloads and tries to kill Blacktail again.
Amanteia looks from the tree to the crows and back again. Seeing how hard the tree is hitting Argus, she decides it is the bigger threat, and fires a ray of positive energy at the tree.
Dellan finds it exceedingly easy to touch the tree, and even more branches and moss blacken and fall to the ground. Argus hits the tree but only manages to cut away small pieces of bark . Blacktail has no hope of dodging Ray's bolt, which lodges itself in the bird's chest, but does not take it down. Amanteia continues to either crit or miss terribly.
Blacktail swoops past Amanteia but she ducks its talons easily. Nightbeak succeeds at blinking the dust out of its eyes. And the tree puts Argus on the ground with a branch across his temple .
Blacktail (14 damage)
Nightbeak (0 damage, 2 images)
Dellan (19/34 hp, 1 str damage)
Amanteia (29/29 hp)
Somnius (7/7 hp)
Argus (-1/40 hp, +2 AC, -2 attack [3 rounds], unconscious and dying)
Raybin (27/27 hp)
Bob (9/12 hp)
Bonewrought Willow (13 damage)
Bold may act.
Argus dreams sweet dreams of not being a s*@#ty character.
Ray hands over the crossbow then moves to stand over Argus defensively, drawing the hammer as he goes.
Seeing Argus fall, Amanteia has given up any pretense of saving spells. It does no one any good to die with spells left. She launches two missiles at Blacktail, desperate to take down at least one of the enemy.
"I'm out!" With a grim face, she pulls out her crossbow.
Ray and Dellan spend a few seconds doing the weapon shuffle, and then Amanteia's missiles obliterate Blacktail. Somehow he manages to stay in the air long enough to give Ray a good stare.
Ray feels a bit vulnerable, but after a few seconds, he shakes off the crow's influence . That done, Blacktail falls to the ground unconscious.
Nightbeak swoops down on Amanteia and rakes a talon along her arm. She yelps, but the damage is minimal . It continues flying past the sorceress and stops just out of reach above the tree.
The tree continues its onslaught on Ray, swiping a branch across his head. Ray sees stars and hears a terrible ringing in his ears .
Blacktail (25 damage, unconscious and dying)
Nightbeak (0 damage, 2 images)
Dellan (19/34 hp, 1 str damage)
Amanteia (27/29 hp)
Somnius (7/7 hp)
Argus (-2/40 hp, +2 AC, -2 attack [2 rounds], unconscious and dying)
Raybin (15/27 hp, -2 AC [1 round])
Bob (9/12 hp)
Bonewrought Willow (21 damage)
Bold may act.
The gods have decided Argus hasn't suffered enough yet, and he stabilizes.
Ray mutters to himself something about "s+@*shows" and "clusterf~#~s," then swings with the hammer with both hands at the murder tree.
Amanteia fires another bolt of positive energy at the tree. She has to hit eventually, right?
Dellan and Amanteia ravage the tree with yet more positive energy, but Dellan notices that his spell didn't hurt it as much as he'd hoped, and it still stands. To the extent that a tree can look injured, it looks really f%$%ed up, but it's not down yet.
Ray follows Argus's example and whiffs terribly on a slow, lumbering monster of a tree standing directly in front of him.
Nightbeak hovers in place and continues to stare at Ray.
Ray again forces the bird's influence out of his head before it can do too much damage to his psyche, but the unnervingly human cackle that erupts from the bird's beak a moment later still manages to shake him .
The tree mimics Ray's mimicry of Argus. Whiffs all around.
Blacktail (26 damage, unconscious and dying)
Nightbeak (0 damage, 2 images)
Dellan (19/34 hp, 1 str damage)
Amanteia (27/29 hp)
Somnius (7/7 hp)
Argus (-2/40 hp, +2 AC, -2 attack [1 round], unconscious and stable)
Raybin (15/27 hp, -2 AC [1 round], -2 to hit [2 rounds])
Bob (9/12 hp)
Bonewrought Willow (21 damage)
Bold may act.
Ray grumbles more obscenities and swings with the hammer again.
We all know what's coming.
Ray and Dellan struggle to finish the tree off, but Amanteia has found something she can do to help, and the tree is nearly burnt down to bare branches. Its bark is blackened where it hasn't been blown off. It's hard to believe it is still standing.
Nightbeak recognizes Amanteia as the major threat and swoops down on her. Its talon tears the flesh along her neck, missing the jugular by mere centimeters .
The tree must have some sort of basic intelligence, because it shifts its focus away from Ray, who hasn't been hurting it, to Dellan, who has. Dellan takes a huge branch to the chest. He gasps for breath as it is forcibly expelled from his lungs. He can barely stand .
Blacktail (26 damage, unconscious and stable)
Nightbeak (0 damage, 2 images)
Dellan (0/34 hp, 1 str damage, staggered)
Amanteia (21/29 hp)
Somnius (7/7 hp)
Argus (-2/40 hp, +2 AC, unconscious and stable)
Raybin (15/27 hp, -2 to hit [1 round])
Bob (9/12 hp)
Bonewrought Willow (30 damage)
Bold may act.
Ray growls as he sees Dellan stagger, and swings hard at the tree, desperate to finish this gods-forsaken fight already.
Amanteia ignores the pain in her neck and fires a desperate bolt at the tree.
Things are not looking good. Dellan succumbs to his injuries, and Ray and Amanteia miss again in their panic. However, just when things look their bleakest, a miracle happens. The tree swings hard at Ray, who ducks the blow. The giant branch swings around and smacks the tree's trunk, hard.
The branch hits the tree with such force that the trunk splits nearly in two. Splinters fly, somehow missing everyone in the party. The tree slumps, then collapses under its own dead weight.
Nightbeak, knowing that it cannot win a war of attrition on its own, turns and flies off.
Amanteia rushes to Dellan's side and searches his body for a healing potion. She finds his cure moderate wounds potion and pours it down his throat.
She looks at Ray. "We cannot go on. We have nothing left."
Ray, who also looks like he's ready to fall over, shakes his head. "I know. We have to leave and come back. But when we do, those shabti will likely be free and ready to kick our asses again."
|
Dellan expends his final burst of Channel Energy.
He makes an unconvinced grunt. "I am not so sure. They do not have magical healing, and they were badly injured. They will likely flee to gather themselves and lick their wounds. I think they will return eventually, but not immediately. We will probably be safe to rest once. And the idea of pressing on to get out of the Boneyard before Mictena catches up with us is well and thoroughly out of the question now. She was able to speak--even see--through the last witchcrow we fought, so she surely knows we are here now. There is no running past her; we need to be rested and ready to fight her."
Argus looks in confusion, having missed the start of the conversation. Once Dellan fills him in, he nods as he touches his chest, sending a burst of his own positive energy through his many wounds.
"Am-manteia and Dellan are r...right. If the shabti return, w-we will deal with them. But we n...n...need rest."
Seeing he's still heavily battered--and can actually feel the internal bleeding somehow--he touches himself again, then places a hand on Dellan.
Amanteia nods. "Good. Where to? Back to Umble and Thoot would be safest, but it will take us hours to get back here. I think our only other option is camping on the road itself."
Argus rubs his scarred chin. "That seems ill-advised. W-we are confounded by the m...mist, but the denizens of this r... r... r... Boneyard may not be. But perhaps with a w-w-watch, it will not be so bad. I do not relish the time w...wasted going back and forth to Thoot and Umble, pleasant though their c-company may be."
Ray exchanges a cringing glance with Bob and turns back to Argus. "Uh, no offense, hoss, but you guys aren't the most perceptive bunch. I dunno if I trust you all to spot trouble and wake the rest of us before chaos ensues. I strongly suggest we take the extra time to let Thoot and Umble watch over us while we sleep."
|
|
Dellan feels a twinge of defensiveness creep in, but forces himself to consider the occultist's words. "I hate to admit it, but Raybin has a point. Neither Sir Argus nor I are particularly perceptive, and we would need at least one other to take a shift watching in order for everyone to get proper rest in a timely manner. I fear we must make the trek back to our esteemed friends."
With the party (grudgingly) agreed, you head out of the garden the same way you came in. The shabti are gone; hopefully they won't recover enough to return before you do.
Once out on the road again, you turn and walk into the mist. Despite having done this at least once before, it is still unnerving and each blind step is an exercise in will power. Finally, the mist is gone -- not dissipated, just gone -- and you find yourselves outside of Roslar's tomb once more.
Umble and Thoot are already approaching when you arrive, as if they somehow had advance notice. "Friends! How splendiferous! But your faces look grim?"
Ray instinctively shudders at their approach--both because one of them is a winged jackal skeleton and because the fact they somehow knew the party was coming feels hinky.
"Yeah. So in order to get out of the Dead Roads, we apparently have to go through Mictena's own private garden. You couldn't have given us a heads-up?"
|
|
Dellan gives Raybin an alarmed glance. "Let's not throw accusations at two of our only allies in the Boneyard, yes?" He turns back to Umble and Thoot. "Sorry. We are on edge. We were not expecting to run into so many of Mictena's followers in the garden maze. Shabti, a bonewrought tree, and two witchcrows thus far. We are spent of magic and need to rest before we attempt to push through."