Andras cracks his neck, and whirls his sword, trying to keep the monsters at bay, though they warily step out of his range. He raises his shield, and gets into a defensive stance, cautious of the pair in front of him.
Negotiation is clearly over. I guess it's time to dance.
Hydrand looks on as the enemy pours forth, their battle lines meeting that of his allies, though his allies were still focused on saving Geraldd.
This is it. This is the time to give that a whirl. Never thought I'd see the day; let's see what sort of magic I can really do.
.
♦ ♦ ♦
It was another bright, hot day in Last Hope. The sun glinted off of Hydrand's plinth as he and Hokey were training nearby, experimenting with new workings of their Power.
Hokey was standing with her feet spread for stability, Hydrand in front of her with the head of his mace in contact with her chest. Neither of them were sure what would happen, but Hydrand had tried this a couple of times and it seemed to stick and have some effect... But he'd only been trying it on himself, and with minute amounts of magic in the working.
He focused protective energies and held them in tension, then he built up the energy containing the tension, and then he sent it through his mace and into Hokey. He felt the energy exit the mace, and then...
"I can feel it. It's small... but it's holding together", she said.
Hydrand responded, "Ok, tell me what happens when I do this!"
He pulled his mace away a few inches, and then rapped her on the chest with it. The effect was immediate, a quiet booming sound that Hydrand could feel wash over him, Hokey as the epicenter.
"Wow, yeah, you're definitely onto something..." She didn't finish her thought and gave a dark scowl as they were interrupted by Awful: "So, you guys excited for the circle jerk? Dinner with the town and everyone'll be there..."
♦ ♦ ♦
The memory fled through his mind in a flash as he remembered the patterns and stitching required for the spell. He created the unfamiliar container of protective energy, and then it was time for the tension... except...
Except this wasn't training any more.
Hydrand poured himself out into the working, truly poured himself out. He'd never dug so deep as he was now, and every measure of energy he poured into the spell told him he had more to spend, until he'd gone to depths of his wellspring of arcane energy such that he didn't know he'd had so much to give. He could feel the immense volume of magic welling up inside him as a pressure in his chest and behind his eyes. Once he had poured all he could into the working, he channeled it down his arm, through his mace, and into his own chest. He felt the magic cycle out of him and then back, but it felt different upon re-entry. It felt like a mantle that sat about his shoulders, energy so intense he began to glow. In truth, it was volatile arcane wrath ready to pour out on whoever broke the seal.
He knew what he would do next. He'd had plenty of time to think that through.
He went flat-footed, let the tension out of his arms, held his hands up in front of his face. In his best impression of panic and surprise, he says, "What?! That's not supposed to happen! It burns, what's happening to me?!" and he stumbles a few steps forward...
Hydrand shows his back and entices the creature to attack him. It takes the bait, reaching in to bite the metal man.
Unfortunately for Hydrand, the creature misses the attack.
At the same moment, Andras swings his weapon, which bounces off the hard carapace of the creature!
The creature who was standing next to the leader advances to Hydrand, trying to take the clockwork out. It also is unable to harm the well armored clockwork.
Hydrand waits for the enemy behind him to hit him, and shudders in reaction to...
To nothing.
The worthless lout couldn't even play his part.
Hydrand lets out a frustrated grunt and briefly considered triggering the explosion himself when another of the creatures scurries up with violence in mind.
Hit me. Yeeees. Come on. hit me, HIT ME.
Upon arrival, the creature wheels back to strike and... somehow manages to strike against Hydrand's definitely not upraised shield.
hhhhhh
Well, I can't have Hokey or Awful coming to save me... Just Hokey, actually.
Hydrand corrects himself. Awful has a special place in his heart, but he's not stupid.
But if Hokey bought my act earlier, that's going to be trouble for her, and that's the last thing I want. Guess I gotta trigger it myself. Here's hoping it works.
Hydrand lowers his shield in front of him and brings it straight to his face at muscle velocity, striking just where his facsimile of a nose sits on his metal face.
That thought wasn't even complete before the devastation was begun. He was expecting a shockwave to push his enemies away with great violence, but what he got was an incredible WHUMPH as the volatility of the spell wrought itself on the surrounding enemies in the form of destruction energy. He could hear the crack of breaking bone and the smack of contused tissues, and he prayed none of that was coming from his friends.
The others were fighting for their lives and Erik was trapped on the wrong side of the conflict. Cap was doing their best, finding points of leverage to pull at to disrupt the cage. Lifting once more, Erik's muscles strained under the gate's weight.
Hokey watches as Bertram courageously heads over to take some of the pressure off Andras. She whips her head back to the patchy vermin he entrusted to her.
"You first," Hokey says as she swings her arcane blade towards the creature. "The chatty one next."
Andras hears a dull boom, and sees Hydrand explode in a sphere of destructive force. The creature in front of him stumbles slightly, creating an opening, and Andras’ blade flashes out twice, leaving two neat lacerations on its hide. Still surrounded by two of them, he makes sure that there’s no opening for them to attack him back.
He keeps his shield high, and stays light on his feet, remembering what Finbar had taught him.
The safest place to be is where their weapon isn’t. Once you’ve mastered this, a shield and armour will just slow you down.
He wasn’t quite as agile as the pit fighter yet though, and was grateful for the sturdy hunk of wood and metal that was interposed between himself and these monsters.
With a shrill yelp, Awful slapped his device onto the gate and shielded his face from the...!
...
...
GRRRZZZZZZZZITTTT
Geraldd continues to try and lift the gate.
Gyaaahhhh! he screams as he pushes.
The invisible pixie also continues to lift.
Despite his efforts, he's unable to continue to help.
Geraldd, Erik, and Cap continue to try to lift the gate. They're almost there!
Hydrand slams his face into his shield, which causes him to explode outwards. The explosive force doesn't seem to bother him, but it greatly affects the creatures around him. The force stops just shy of Andras, whipping the man's hair back. Each of their protective hardened mud coating falls off, leaving behind a layer of soft flesh. They will be easier to attack now!
Andras takes advantage of the situation and immediately strikes twice at one of the creatures in front of him, killing it!
Hokey severely injures the creature next to Geraldd, and her attack also causes it to lose its protective armor coating.
Awful detonates the gate, leaving a smoking hole big enough to climb through.
Two explosions echo in the cavern and ring Bertram's ears. Seeing an opportunity, he strikes the creature bearing down on Geraldd and Hokey with his torch as it clutches its ears!
"Oh no you don't, you rat's ass."
With his focus taken away from the stone clinging to his body, the earthen armor begins to crack and splinter menacingly. Bertram grins wildly. Magic was more fun than he thought!
The creature clutches its side as Bertram bashes it with the burning torch. The strike seems to drive the air out of the monster's chest and it stumbles. Bertram is quick to punish the lapse in defense with another swing at its head.
Bertram attacks twice and kills the creature in front of him.
On attacks Hydrand:
The creature on Bertram attacks him:
The creature on Andras attacks him:
The one near Andras moves forward to attack!
The leader looks on in surprise as his people are slaughtered. Every one! A tack! Stop them!
More of the creatures appear from the darkness and into your torch light! Bertram and Hokey see them first, as they enter their range of shadowsight. But soon they're visible to all.
Six new ones rush in from the right.
A seventh new one comes from the left to attack Bertram.
The creature on Bertram attacks him:
The leader rushes to Hydrand to try and take out what he perceives as the biggest threat to his people.
Andras whirls his blade for a second time, feeling more confident as the first one falls beneath his blade. Hardened rock and earth sloughs off the horrible creature, leaving a soft and fleshy underbelly, and his saber easily cuts through it. Leaving two corpses in his wake, he readies himself for the onslaught of the other creatures.
He scans the battlefield, making sure everyone is OK, and sees Bertram turn a deathly pale shade of white as he is poisoned by the fangs of another monster.
That doesn't look good...
Hokey sees another wave of these creatures run up. One charges up and hits Bertram, but she spots half a dozen swarm from the right.
"I'm sorry, Bertram." Hokey mumbles as she chooses to focus on at least softening them for Hydrand and Andras. She closes her eyes for a bit and an arcane mote fizzles next to her and grows larger and brighter.
Result: Until the end of your turn, you make casting challenge rolls with 2 boons.
Hokey successfully stabilizes the magic surrounding her and reopens her eyes. She controls the powerful arcane energy and then sends it forward, at the densest grouping of creatures heading towards them.
Miscast Result: Brilliant Beacon: Spell goes off as normal, but a brilliant light, originating from me that is visible for 1.5 km (1 mi) shines into the sky/ceiling for 5 mins.
Spell Cast Result: (CR2 is the middle creature of the ones lined up on the right.)
CR2 takes 1 damage and everything in 1 yd takes
CR2 takes 1 damage and everything in 1 yd takes
CR2 takes 1 damage and everything in 1 yd takes
Hokey will also Quick Step up 1 yd, down and right of Bertram.
The arcane mote above Hokey's head expands three times and shoots out 3 innocuous arcane slivers and then manifests into a beacon of glorious light. It fills the whole cave and blinds the troglodytes in front of her for a moment. Then the slivers hit the middle of the pack as they eagerly charge forward and explodes into a catastrophic explosion.
"Awful, Eric, we need reinforcements. Bertram's to the left and Andras, to the right!" Hokey yells back as she steps up to hopefully take some pressure off her teammates and use her light to drive back the beasts. "Hydrand, I'll be right there. Please hold out for just a bit longer."
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Hokey, no...
Andras cries out as Hokey’s spell explodes in a burst of brilliant moonlight. The magical lunar rays light up the cave, and as they illuminate his skin, hair begins to sprout.
He cries out in pain as sharp bristles burst from his head and body, his teeth turn to tusks and his hands and feet begin to turn to hooves.
He shakes his head as he feels the beast within try to take a hold of him.
Not this time.
He grits his teeth and grunts in pain, as his bones and flesh begin to morph and shift, becoming more and more porcine.
Please... it’s still me. Don’t... oink oink snuffle snuffle.
The words fail him as he completes his transformation, saber and shield and pack falling to the ground at his side.
Standing where Andras once stood, is a boar of prodigious size, bristles precisely the same shade as his hair. Tusks as sharp as spears protrude from its mouth, and its red eyes glow with an uncannily human intelligence.
Grunt, oink oink snuffle snuffle.
Hmm... better try and find another way of communication.
The boar paws the ground with its fearsome hooves, as it prepares to charge towards the new arrivals.
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The pig looks at Hokey, almost apologetically, with big sad pig eyes.
Oink. Oink. Snuffle snort snuffle. it says, with a sage like tone.
What the the name of all that is good is happening?
Erik shields himself as Awful's magical device explodes, shattering a hole big enough in the gate for him to enter in. Magic erupts from the inside, devastating the enemy's lines and opening them up to attack.
"Cap, stay here and help Gerald." He orders to the pixie, his voice brooking no disagreement from the usually defiant cohort of his. Hokey's magic soar into the air, erupting with a silvery brilliance. That is when he watches his charge suddenly shift and change, coarse hair erupting from where the light touched. The man changed into a beast before his very eyes and for a moment, Erik was simply flabbergasted.
"What in the name of all that is good is f#+*ing happening?" He freezes for a moment as the massize boar squeals in rage before them. It was Andras. No. It is Andras. Hokey's words snap him out of his momentary stupor as he hefts his weapon and shield and steps into the breach. He may just be a man with an axe and the skill to use it well amidst exploding darts, shattering armor, waves of power, destructive gadgets, and now a g~~@&$n boar, but these were still his comrades. He wouldn't let the rush of more combatants slow him.
Rushing through the breach, Erik moves aside the fierce boar with his weapon in hand and parries off an attack from one of the monstrous creatures bearing down on them. The blow is turned aside and Erik looks the intelligent boar in the eye for just a moment.
"Sir Andras." Erik says respectfully, though there is just the slightest curl on one side of his lip at the humor of addressing a boar as nobility. The moment of merriment passes though as the enemy comes back in again on the attack.
One of the creature's sinks its fangs into Bertram's shoulder, releasing a venom into the Dwarf's shoulders. A swift punch dislodges the attacker and Bertram quickly recovers while his enemy reels back hissing. His shoulder and arm pulse painfully and he is a bit paler, but otherwise Bertram manages to shake off the effects. A beacon of light suddenly shines from side.
Then the second creature leaps onto Bertram. He manages to get an arm up in time to intercept before the fangs sink in. The monster claws at him as he struggles to keep the fangs at bay. Suddenly, a hard snap kick from Hokey takes one of the legs out from under the creature.
Seizing the opportunity, Bertram throws the creature aside and swiftly rolls away from his attackers. His throat dries as he realizes he's been forced away from the pinned Geraldd.
Leave him, we can't kill them both. He's been nothing but deadweight anyway.
Bertram grits his teeth.
"Geraldd needs your help, Awful! Hurry!" Bertram calls into the breach, reaching to ready a weapon in place of his now pointless torch. "He's pinned and they're on him!"
"You know, I feel like I'm being asked to do a lot in a place I didn't want to be in the first place..."
Awful says as he bends to deadlift the gate.
After an exacerbated "Hhhuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmgrah, Raaahhhhh!" the gate lifts off the ground. The straining Awful shakes with the tension the gate has him under and he can't help but yell.
"Move it! "
As soon as Gerald is free from under the portcullis, Awful lets it go and stumbles back a step. Having missed Andras' transformation, he collects his composure and readies himself for the ongoing fight.
Hydrand felt the energy rush out of him, saw the violence it wrought, and felt his knees buckle briefly.
I'm fine, I'm fine
Hydrand convinced himself, despite feeling a pang of exhaustion as the adrenaline from the casting faded. He gathered himself and-
-Threw up his shield to catch an attack from the leader.
Wow, the tower arcane training really paid off!
His moment of self-reflection is broken by multiple explosive sounds behind him and some on his right.
He hears the leader hiss out some more of his malformed words, and moments later, the cavern goes bright. He doesn't need to glance over his shoulder to know that it's another of Hokey's beacons that she's so familiar with as a compliment to her casting.
He knew better than to think they were on purpose, of course, but it was certainly a boon in this situation.
One of the explosions must be hers, then.
In the light of it, he sees that there's several more enemies approaching with vile intent, some of them already injured.
Oh, that's no good. I'm the biggest target... Seems like a good time for protocol poltergeist.
The light caught the leader's eye for just a moment, and Hydrand saw his chance. He waves his mace in a mystic gesture, and watches as the colors drain almost completely from his vision.
The muted colors told him the spell had worked; he was hidden. The way the leader's eyes searched through the spot he was standing in told him he was safe.
He takes a deep breath and starts analyzing the situation. He turns a circle to see what all the hubbub was about behind him and...
... There was now an enormous boar where Andras was standing. Wow. He saw it gesture and snuffle, look Hokey in the eye... He saw Erik move through a brand new hole in the gate and stand beside the boar facing the new arrivals to the battle.
Well. That's a development.
Aaaahhhhhh!! Cap screams as he rushes the creature attacking Andras.
The minute creature slams against the monster as hard as he can, before bouncing off and hovering by his father.
Geraldd stands up now that the gate is off of him. He draws his dagger and stabs the nearest enemy.
End of Round 2:
Bertram's stone armor explodes, damaging both the injured creature next to him and the healthy one who just ran up to attack him.
Round 3:
Andras quickly stabs one of his assaulters and kills him. Hokey blasts three of the creatures, and one of them loses its armor. At the same time, she brightens up the entire cavern.
Hydrand disappears from sight.
Bertram heals and rolls out of the way!
Awful provides the last of the help needed to lift the gate, freeing Geraldd!
The Leader is confused that the dangerous machine vanished from sight, but takes advantage of it anyways. The ma shin! It is gone! Ev ver ee one ad vans!
Turning words to action, he rushes the nearest person - Bertram (sorry!).
Erik advances to help Andras, striking the creature next to him. Cap flutters alongside Erik, hitting the creature as hard as he can. He manages to help a little, but it isn't enough.
Geraldd stands up now that the gate has been lifted off of him, and he strikes out at the leader. Unfortunately, he doesn't have his bearings yet and misses wildly.
The two creatures on the left advance. One strikes at Geraldd, the other at Bertram.
From the right, all of them advance. The one next to Hydrand cannot see the clockwork, and moves forward to fight Erik (Cap is invisible). Likewise three others move to fight Erik and Andras
The rest double move to get into position around Bertram, Hokey, and Geraldd.
End of the Round! Andras suddenly screams I'm pain as his body transforms into a wild pig! (No, no. That's a wild pig, this is a boar). Fortunately, he somehow managed to keep ahold of his mind, but no one can tell just yet.
Erik moves in to fight beside Andras, his shield raised to fight but it is not enough. Multiple attacks from the strange creatures find their way past his defenses and he does his best to try and strive them off. Slowly but surely though, the poison overpowers him and his body begins to stiffen. He freezes up, unable to fight anymore.
A creature claws and bites at the ferocious boar, leaving angry red marks on its hide, but he just squeals in anger and does not succumb to the poison. He stands defiant, daring the monsters to come to him.
Next to him, he sees Erik go down.
No.
Hooves and tusks fly out, goring and trampling the creature that knocked Erik to the ground.
Wake up! Wake up!
Oink, snuffle snuffle.
A moist, bristled snout tenderly caresses Erik’s face, boar snot and drool dripping from it onto him. It gently sniffs at him, while grunting. The sensation of water on Erik's face snaps him out of the influence of whatever foul substance courses through his veins.
The leader loses track of Hydrand, and the temptation to strike him rises and falls as he moves by. The freshly illuminated cavern shows too many enemies whose ire Hydrand wasn't eager to draw. He would let them pass and then attack from behind.
As the last sickening thing past him by, he winds up and strikes it in the back with his mace, an audible thud of impact as he hits... whatever the creature is covered in on the back of its left shoulder. However, it doesn't seem to note the strike and continues forward to attack his allies.
Well, that just won't do.
Hydrand composes himself and prepares to move into the fray behind the enemy line.
Hokey sees the situation deteriorate around her almost instantly, as the bruised parasites run up to engage everyone. Sounds of pain can be heard from her right.
"Bertram! You filthy rats, !"
Hokey was about to unleash the same magic she just used, but the outlandish squeal of pain from Pig-land sober her up.
More precision, this time. ONLY these f*#$ers deserve the pain. ...and probably Awful, but I like him...
Result: Minor Catastrophe.
Result: Overload You cast the spell successfully. Also, until you next complete a rest, you make all casting challenge rolls to cast this spell with
Hokey concentrates on the arcane energy around her. It moves sluggishly, resisting her power and control. While she was able to stabilize the magic around her, she could feel her control of the spell weaken.
Result: (Up to 3 targets) Seven magical darts fly, automatically hitting, provided there is an unobstructed path between you and the target. A target takes 1+1d6 damage for each dart that hits it.
Leader
Leader
Leader
Leader
Leader
C w -19
C w -16
If Leader is dead, Hokey will Quick Step forward, into his spot.
Meanwhile, the brilliant flood of light sends out familiar, bite-sized motes that hover by the light until 7 are formed. At that moment, they all suddenly disappear and loud THUDs of impact sound out from the Leader's body, and the 2 most heavily damaged vermin.
"Fight defensively! We'll make it if we can hold out for just a bit longer! We can do this!!"
Erik could feel the poison sapping through his being, his limbs stiffening even as Andras savagely attacked his assailant. When he was certain that the poison was settled into his vein, a strange sensation spread through his body. It was as if something was reaching through him, pulling on his veins and drawing that numbing poison away. Bit by bit, his strength began to return.
"We cannot die here. You owe me a life, brother. I demand you fight!" The strange voice in his head echoed, a sickened tone to it underlying its disappointed voice.
"Y-you saved me?" Erik thought incredulously but there was no time to communicate with the voice hidden inside. It was a time for action. Standing up once more, he launches into combat with a more guarded movement to his stance. Like Hokey just shouted, they just needed to hold out a bit more.
Awful expends more of his magical ability to create, from the ruins of the first, another small object he intends to use on the gate. He makes quick work of it and looks to assess the situation.
"What the f~$~ is that?... Is that... I'll be damned is that Andras? This is amazing!" The now elated Awful says, laughing.
"Filthy monster!" Bertram shouts in anger as two more of the creatures fall upon him. Another set of fangs sinks into his shoulder, and he plants his boot in the stomach of his attacker. A hard shove separates the two of them. Bertram stumbles back and slams his back into the gate.
He looks even paler now, and he feels that burning sensation spreading again. The muscles in his arm and chest begin to seize as the poison takes hold. This time his body is unable to shake the effects.
"Back... through... the gate." Bertram collapses to the ground.
With Bertram collapsing due to the poison, one of the creatures stops its attack on him. Instead, it starts choking and hacking up a loogie, which it then spits into Bertram's mouth. Something small and slimy slips down his throat.
Boardras gores one of the creatures attacking Erik, killing it. Erik also attacks one next to him and kills it. Hokey casts her empowered spontaneous spell, killing the leader.
Awful simmons another gate creasher, confident in the knowledge that this one will bring down the whole gate.
Geraldd steps forward away from the gate and attacks the creature next to him.
Cap likewise attacks the one next to him.
Two creatures on Geraldd attack.
Geraldd drops to the ground and the other creature next to him repeats the process of hocking up something and spitting it down ty man's throat.
The two creatures next to Erik attack him, ignoring the pesky and tiny invisible pixie.
Hydrand advances, attacking one of the creatures.
The one next to Andras ignores the pig and moves to Hokey to attack.
[
The one Hydrand attacked attacks the clockwork back.
Seeing an opportunity as one of the creatures turns its back, the boar bites deep into its tendons, tearing a bloody chunk out of its leg.
Exhilarated by the taste and scent of blood, and emboldened by the sight of creatures falling to their attacks around them, he paws the ground, hooves sending up clouds of dust and dirt. He charges one of the monsters fighting Erik, a bristling mass of angry boar flesh. His charge is slightly too cautious, trying to avoid trampling his allies, and the creature evades him at the last second.
The boar grunts in anger, hot breath escaping its snout and forming small clouds of condensation swirling and eddying in the air around him.
After tagging the creature that was passing him by, it moves on to attack his allies.
Into the fray it is.
He moves up behind the creature he swiped as it ran by and hits it again, burying the purple mace more centrally into its back this time.
Finally grabbing the creature's attention, it turns and lunges at Hydrand, getting inside of his shield and raking his mechanical body fiercely.
Hydrand brings a knee up to shove the creature off, but it disengages just in time to avoid the hit. It doesn't, however, avoid the stroke that follows and Hydrand catches the foul thing across the chest with another swing of his mace.
"CLEAR!!!"
Awful shouts as his second charge GGGRRRRRZZZZZTTTTTs the gate, creating a path he and the party can traverse more quickly. He takes a step to his right and begins to fidget with more spare metal bits and fuse.
The creature rushes past Hydrand and trips on Hydrand's temporarily invisible cape. It slips and crashes into Hokey instead of attacking with its vile maw.
He's always helping me out. Time to return the favor.
"Cap, fly up! You won't want to get caught up in this!"
Hokey waits a split second for Cap to put some distance between himself and her targets.
"If I suffer for this, you guys owe me one." Hokey says as 3 large motes are released from her Brilliant Beacon. The arcane meteoroids rocket forward towards the center of the dense cluster of worm beasts and explode.
C w 3 dmg takes:
1 +
1 +
1 +
The next attack vs Hokey's Def or Agi suffers 3 banes.
Hokey is disappointed at the results of her magic, but focuses on defending herself from the next attack. The much too alive bile of the mudbeasts did not seem very palatable.
One of the monsters dies by his hand, falling to the ground even as more of them strike at his flesh. The poison begins to numb him again before that strange sensation runs through his form again. For a moment, his veins almost seem to pulse with a sickly green light that then goes dull once more. Keeping his shield up against the unharmed beast in front of him, Erik focuses on the one that is between Hydrand and himself, aiming to rip it apart. Hokey calls out for Cap to move and Erik can see that magical energies focusing once more around the faun.
"Cap! To cover!" Erik lifts up his shield as the energy radiates outwards moments before those explosive darts find their home. Cap flies underneath the shield, covering his ears with his small hands as the explosions go off in quick succession. The magical carnage doesn't slow Erik down as he snarls in anger and goes for the injured one once more.
Hydrand bruises up the creature some more. Erik calls for cap to get to cover, and the pixie uses his action to retreat and escape. Erik swipes at the creature just as Hokey brings forth some explosions of her own.
The explosions from homey kill two of the creatures, but unfortunately get both Erik and Hydrand in the blast.
Lastly, Andras the Boar charges one of th creatures, injuring it!
The one remaining on the left fights back in desperation. It knows it's going to die, but an instinctual urge keeps it from fleeing. It tries to bite at Erik, ignoring the pig.
Two of the creatures who just attacked Geraldd move to Hokey - clearly the most dangerous of all of these home invaders.
The last few wormbags rush forward, slobbering with their massive, venomous jaws, intending to quickly take down the dangerous "offering" in front of them. One awkwardly crashes into a well-timed Arcane Shield, while another one runs up and misses Hokey by the skin of its teeth as it flinches from the shock of another ally behind her. The last one bites down successfully, but Hokey quickly shrugs it off before the poison could take hold.
"You wormlings want to take ME alive?! You want to slowly eat ME, like you did the dragon?!"
Result: +2 boons to casting challenge rolls until the end of this turn.
Hokey desperately gathers her magic in a last-ditch effort to at least stop the fate of becoming a host, and potentially even mother, to these monsters. Watching what happened to the others as they succumbed to the poison was as deeply traumatizing as it was familiar.
A slave and toy to others NO MORE.
[Target]
Hokey desperately dodges the brunt of the explosions she set off. She appears completely dumbfounded to be alive as she dazedly checks her body. She seems to suddenly realize something as she looks around her at the more heavily damaged brutes and belatedly yells out to her companions.
"Are you guys waiting for an invitation?! FINISH THEM!"
There is another explosion of light behind him, the shouts and yelling of Hokey bringing a grin to his face.
"If she has time to talk s**+, that's a good sign." Erik thinks with a grim smile as he takes the damage he can from the foe in front of him. The enemies were nearly routed but there were few of them left standing as well. What that strange mucus they were spitting into his comrades' throats meant, he could not fathom. It certainly wasn't a good thing.
"Cap, try and distract him as best you can, give me an opening." The pixie nods, moving out from under the shield's shelter and buzzing around the troglodyte's face. The creature tries its best to stay focused on Erik while avoiding the bits of dirt, blood, and mud the pixie slings at it's face. When an opportunity presents itself, Erik slashes forward with his axe in hand and aims to dig it down into the fresh meat that Hokey's explosive darts had previously showed.
Seeing Hokey still surrounded by three of the creatures, the boar was tempted to charge at them, but Andras fought the animal instinct.
It’s too risky. Bertram and Geraldd are there. Hesitation won’t help Hokey. The one closest has only minor injuries, and will be a tough nut to crack. Maybe I can get its attention.
He puffs himself up, thick hair bristling, trying to look as intimidating as possible.
Squeal, squeal, squeeeeaaaaal.
He begins grunting and squealing, intimidatingly. But the sounds are lost under the din of battle, and the creature just ignores him.
Hydrand keeps his shield up as he considers his next move. He didn't seem to be getting anywhere swinging the mace around, and he was already suffering from a couple of hits himself.
Time to-
Hydrand feels the whumph of one of Hokey's arcane blasts wash over him. He knew her castings well, and so knew more explosions would follow; he interposes his shield between himself and the location of the blasts, preventing any blowback from harming him.
Ok, scratch that thought, with all this destruction flying around, I should take a breath and do that thing I learned.
During his strength training, he found that if he applied resistance to his joints in a similar fashion to flexing, it opened up a way to push arcane energy from his wellspring and into his physical body, re-empowering it and mending damage.
Living folks call this a second wind... That's an apt description.
He tenses himself up and feels the channels open; half-magical, half-physical apertures throughout his body releasing invigorating energy.
"Hey! Catch!"
Awful barks as his oversized wrench begins to serge with magical energy. He motions as if to throw it and an image of the wrench leaves his hand and speeds towards one of the beasts attacking Hokey.
"And one for YOU!"
Another magic wrench, another throw, another mud-man meets its mud maker.
Hydrand watched the battle lines as he took his breath, watching his allies take apart the last of the enemies.
"Awful! Nice!"
The alien fear of being in this dark place and outnumbered turns to rage as he realizes one of those things is at his coterie's mercy.
It bites into Hokey, and then turns tail, realizing its allies were no longer with it. Hydrand feels the equivalent of a wry smile creep into his mind, having one of those things dead to rights felt good.
And that one? That one hurt Hokey.
He watches it start to run and lifts a hand in a cruel and wicked upturned-claw. The creature makes it one yard. Energy begins to build until it was visible, a ball of light hovering above his palm. The creature makes it two yards. It gets larger until it is the size of a volleyball. building up speed, the creature makes it four yards.
Yeah, that's far enough.
With barely a glance, Hydrand slashes a hand through the air with purest disdain. The energy whips out along his arm, arcs through the air, and smashes into the creature. It whips out from the creature to a point just beyond, tying it there, unyielding beyond a three yard radius. The creature, still with some slack left, continues to run until the chains whip taught; with a yelp, the creature is yanked back and hits the ground.
Hydrand takes a few steps over so he's just out of range of the chains' reach. He crouches down so he's eye to eye with the creature and says:
"I've heard leaving one alive to tell the tale is the right thing to do, but not this time. Today, I'm feeling... surly."
Without turning around, he addresses the room:
"Alright, who wants this one?"
Erik and Awful kill three in quick succession while Hydrand shackles the last one to the ground.
After another few moments, Bertram and Geraldd are able to get up and move about.
Andras concentrates intently, dragging his hooves in the soft dirt of the cavern.
He draws large, clumsy, childlike letters.
I WilL gO LoOK CAvE.
As everyone watches him write his laboured letters in amusement, he grunts with satisfaction at his handiwork, letting out an amused oink.
He heads slightly up the tunnel, boar flesh wobbling comically as he stomps up the path, oblivious to the tremors that he is producing whenever his hooves impact the floor.
Once he is a short way from the group, he peeks his head through the eye socket of the dragon, cautiously seeing if he spots anything.
Feeling slowly returns to Bertram's limbs over the next minute. He gives a shuddering gasp as he muscles unlock and he jerkily lifts himself. The Dwarf's eyes are still wide with horror and disgust, and his hands claw wildly at his neck, drawing blood. In short order he jams one hand into his mouth and retches painfully, attempting to expel whatever that thing is from his body.
"Get it out! GET IT F$*!ING OUT OF ME! HRRK!"
Hokey's body curls as the creature feints a bite and lands a swift kick between her legs, instead. She looks shocked and confused as she collapses while watching the little rat scramble away.
Curse this filthy beast! she thinks as suddenly chains fly out to bind the creature down.
Seeing the monster restrained, Hokey calms down enough to recall the breathing technique the monks used to eliminate the pain from blows. She grits her teeth and breathes in deep to recover from the underhanded blow.
She gets up and glares hatefully at the chained beast, but chooses to go help Bertram try to eject his worm, instead. She grabs his waist and says, "I learned this from a doctor I was guiding" and drives the pommel of the arcane sword into Bertram's stomach.