"Th-thanks Riftun San" says Yuto relieved as his wounds mostly disappear.
"Smells like meat here" he points out at one of the doors while Torra tends Andochtuir's injuries.
Then, he halts at the last door, placing his finger over the lips to mark silence for the group "Th-there's so-someone there... Wa-waiting for us I think..."
"I-I can open the door, a-are you prepared?" Yuto will hold the door and open it for everyone so the group can try to catch the other side at a not disadvantageous moment.
Ever so slowly, Andy's eyesight returns through the white haze, bit by bit as Torra skillfully applied her ointments and he winced at the pain from his eye's sensitivity. He tries to sound confident and consoling to Riftun as they work, reaching blindly in the direction of the bard and making a consoling, patting motion.
"Thanks, Torra. I... had a last resort to try, but would rather save it," He says, pushing himself back on his feet and blessedly looking in the direction of Yuto as he collects his polearm. He takes hold of a potion of shield and drinks it just prior to them opening the door, nodding at Yuto.
A shield shimmers into place before Andochtuir, protecting him from whatever threats might emerge from the room.
Yuto pushes the door open, revealing no less than eight men and women armed with spears and axes. None of them seem to be ninjas, however they do seem to be hostile.
[ooc]Yuto: HP 45/49, AC 21, touch 12, flat-footed 19, CMD 19, resolve 1/2, challenge 2/2, honor in all things 1/1, Helgarval’s protective aura
Torra: HP 59/59 (NL 10/59), AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14, CMD 12, DR 4/adamantine, Burn 2
Andochtuir: HP 42/44, AC 27, touch 12, flat-footed 26, CMD 17, strength mutagen 35 minutes, shield 4 minutes
Riftun: HP 32/32, AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14, CMD 10, Bardic Performance 10/17, Lore Master 1/1
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Startled a little at the number of people behind the door, Torra scowls and shouts at them. "We defeated all the creatures guarding this place. I don't want to hurt you, but if you attack us... I will!"
Not a very credible threat, coming from a dwarf girl with no visible weapons or spellbook, but she doesn't want to just start blasting them.
Despite the large amount of people here, Yuto is quick to act, resolved to protect the party, he steps in the way, blocking the passage through the door, and raising his shield in a full defensive stance "We came here to safe an Ulfen man by the name of Ulf and to claim back an ancient Minkai katana we think might be in the fortress. T-tell us where the-ey are or grant us a talk with Tho-orborg Silveskorr. There is no need for anyone to be hurt he-ere..."
Torra readies herself to attack when they do, while Yuto adopts a defensive posture, ready to protect himself from all attacks. Both attempt to negotiate, but even as they do, one shouts.
In response, the assorted humans - Ulfen, Varki, and Tians - don't even hesitate to rush at the intruders. The closest to Yuto, attempts to take a swing at him, but Torra's arcing projectile of earth smashes his head in before he can even bring his spear to bear.
The other closest to the samurai, attacks in turn, swinging her axe with vicious aggression. Despite the samurai's guard, she manages to score a lucky hit to his hip, but he is able to twist away and minimize the damage.
Another of the thugs hurls his spear at Yuto, heaving it with all his might in the samurai's direction, but he is prepared and easily dodges out of the way.
Nearby, a third lunges at Yuto, howling and screaming in his face as she brandishes her axe - not to strike, but to intimidate. The samurai keeps his cool despite the sudden aggression.
A Varki man shoves his way through the crowd, attempting to dodge out of Yuto's sword's range. However, despite his clumsy steps, Yuto is too focused on defense to swing at him. The Varki steps past him and lashes out with his spear. The young man's armor blocks all of the blows that land.
Following her fellow's advance, an axe-woman shoves her way through and launches a heavy overhand attack at Yuto. Though he is harder pressed than he'd have liked, Yuto is able to keep the heavy attacks from landing.
Another thug that stands by the door swings her spear at Yuto, trying to follow her predecessor's lucky break. However, between the doorframe, her own inept attacks, and his defensive posture, Yuto doesn't even need to avoid the attacks.
The final of the thugs rushes out as well, hacking at Yuto with her axe. This time, Helgarval's aura keeps the samurai from harm, flickering and deflecting the woman's attacks.
"In Kyonin, we would call that a very bad move." Andochtuir glares at the thugs as he adjusts his position to account for his reach. He takes place in front of Riftun and Torra to protect them, while most of the bandits were impotently trying to get through Yuto's guard.
"Torra take out the spear thrower in back if you can! They will try to overwhelm us if we let them so stay on your toes!" Riftun calls out readying himself for action.
Andochtuir takes a step back, swinging his fauchard at the nearest Frozen Shadow. True to his words, the decision to come out into range of his weapon was a foolish one, as he cuts a hideous gash on the Varki's back. Blood erupts from the wound and he unleashes a raw, horrible scream of agony.
Riftun, meanwhile, quickly launches into offering advice to his fellows.
Yuto endures the pain and keeps his shield in position, blocking attacks to left and right. "You show honor to keep fighting for your liege. Let the strongest survive then!" he slashes trying to end orange first.
If still alive, Yuto shows more pain is about to come for the human, trying to terrify her with his martial dominance.
In awe at Yuto barricading the exit from the room, Torra rushes to help him, aiming for the rightmost thug, the axe-wielding woman.
Torra rushes forwards, and unleashes a burst of earth at the rightmost thug, which catches her in the ribs, shattering them as she is thrown up against the wall. Blood stains the wall as she slips down into a heap.
Yuto, meanwhile, whirls around and bisects the wounded Varki. Blood, viscera, flesh, and bile scatter across the floor and across his hands and arms.
One of the thugs shouts in alarm, stepping back. With a roar, she goes on an all-out assault on Yuto, who easily holds her off.
The thug furthest from Yuto bends over to grab a fallen comrade's spear. With that, he hurls it at Yuto, attempting to skewer the young samurai in a most unfriendly manner. Fortunately, Yuto is able to evade, throwing himself out of the way of the spear, which clatters back into the room behind him.
The other three Frozen Shadows work in concert, the two on either side of the door limiting his options with their weapons while the third, in the center, attempts to land the attacks. Unfortunately for the Frozen Shadows, although Yuto isn't able to get the full range of defenses he would usually do, it is more than enough to protect him from their attacks.
Suddenly, two arrows soar out from the northern end of the hall at Riftun. One streaks past his ear, and the other very nearly catches him in the throat, but he is able to just avoid them.
The two arrows are followed swiftly by two ninja with wakizashi in hand, while two others stand back, readying their bows to attack again.
Yuto clenches his teeth as the Frozen Shadows attack at him, holding up his shield against the spears and axes. The young man gasps as more ninjas jump into the hall "Oh no Riftun!"
Feeling unable to protect his friends, he does the best he can to hold the line "I-I will try to hold this flank entertained, so you ca-can focus on the ninjas!"
Riftun gasps in shock as the arrows nearly tear out his throat. He spins around and prepares himself for their attacks now that he's aware of their presence.
"Don't worry about me Yuto! You're doing brilliantly! Torra and Andy if you could each take out one of the closest foes however, that would be much appreciated!"
"Right, get behind me if you can!" Andy calls back, trying to keep an eye on both the thugs AND the Ninja's at once...
Torra whirls as the nijas attack them from the flank, and the dwarf stumbles a step backwards in surprise. How had they gotten so close?! Without wasting more time, Torra rips a chunk of stone from the floor and hurls it at one of the closest ninjas.
If no one more appears in the fight, it comes the time for Yuto to act. And act he does, trying to cut through the only Frozen Shadow in the hall "Shizuru, give me courage to hold my enemies!"
Andochtuir slashes at the ninja with a broad sweep of his fauchard, cleaving the dark-clad assassin in two. Blood and viscera erupts from his foe's corpse as he tears his weapon free with a wrench.
Riftun offers his own advice to the rest of his party, focusing on Torra and Yuto both.
Torra, taking advantage of the ninja's fall, unleashes a burst of earth at his next-closest companion. The earthen burst catches her in the stomach, lifting her back and knocking her down. She lays gasping on the floor, unconscious.
Yuto strikes at another Frozen Shadow , cutting into her shoulder. She grunts in pain, but forces herself to fight through it.
Responding rapidly, she takes a swift sidestep around the samurai, and swings a heavy blow at him from overhead. Caught momentarily off-guard, the samurai can't quite get his katana in the way soon enough to block the attack, and catches the axe on his shoulder instead. Helgarval's aura keeps him protected from the worst of the blow, but it still breaks his armor and skin. Pain sears down his arm and he is forced to grip the hilt of his father's sword harder.
The thug standing in the doorway lunges at Yuto, even as his compatriots continue attempting to aid him in his endeavor. Once again, though, Yuto is able to ward away the onslaught without too much harm.
One of the remaining ninja pulls a vial from within her clothing and drinks deep from it. Within a heartbeat, she disappears from view.
The other ninja draws another arrow and fires his bow at Riftun again. This time, the bard does not even need to dodge as the arrow whizzes past his head.
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"Torra! Can you get the one with the bow?" Andy calls, unsure where the invisible one went but not quite fast enough to get to the other ninja himself. Instead, he moves into a flanking position on yellow with Yuto, and attempts to finish him!
"I'm not sure what you thugs are thinking, but half of you are dead in seconds. I would advise the rest of you to surrender and live." He follows, somewhat dispassionately as he cleaves the second target in half in mere seconds.
"Yuto can take the one in the doorway, Torra please help with the bow guy if you can! I-It would be much appreciated."
Andochtuir steps away from his two companions to help finish Yuto's foes off - which he does with a swift, heavy strike from his pole arm, slaying the woman in an instant. One of the Frozen Shadows in the room shouts something in Skald.
Meanwhile, Riftun continues guiding his allies, as is his wont.
Torra moves next to Riftun to provide what little cover she can to the bard, then pivots her attention to the remaining ninja in the room.
"On it Riftun!" Yuto swings wildly following Riftun's advice and trying to hold the Frozers out of the way of the group.
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Torra unleashes a burst of rock at the remaining visible ninja, who deftly ducks beneath the blast, evading even the dirt scattering from the projectile.
Yuto, meanwhile, cuts at another thug who shouts out in pain before staggering away.
The Frozen Shadows, realizing the position they are in, swiftly begin running - the furthest back goes first, dashing around the corner of the room. Yuto hears a door swing open, and the others make their own retreats, fully on guard to prevent him from attacking as they go.
Almost immediately, the vanished ninja erupts from her disappearance, slashing at Yuto's throat with her wakizashi. Fortunately, his armor protects him from the blow, unexpected though it is.
The other ninja grunts something in Skald.
He pulls out a small hollowed eggshell, before throwing it at his feet. It explodes into smoke, obscuring his form entirely.
Seeing the Ninja re-appear and all other enemies withdraw, Andochtuir throws caution to the wind and charges the red Ninja, fully intent on impaling it before it too could get away! "Keep your eyes on me!" He challenges, hoping to distract whatever remaining attacks to himself.
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Riftun gasps as the ninja strikes out at Yuto but can breath easy woth the knowledge that his friend's armor is truly most effective in battle.
"They mean to regroup and outnumber us! D-Don't let that ninja get away Torra and Yuto!"
Andochtuir rushes the sole visible ninja remaining, cutting at her arms and shoulders with several quick strikes from his fauchard. Though she is left battered and bleeding, she is still on her feet as Riftun urges his companions to victory.
Trusting Yuto and Andochtuir to take care of the visible ninja, Torra wades into the cloud of smoke, trying to find the other one.
With the ninja still up, Yuto focuses on her, as advised by Riftun "They are fleeing away! Through the eastern door here!"
Torra rushes into the smoky cloud, searching desperately for the vanished ninja. Unfortunately, she cannot find any signs of him - only the thick smoke that obscures her vision and fills her lungs.
Yuto slashes the remaining ninja with a quick, careful blow, knocking her off her feet and onto the ground, where she begins bleeding out.
Yuto gives a cursory look around to check if the fallen enemies had some item he absolutely should pick up, like a handful of keys, or a casual holy avenger katana.
If not, he dashes through the room to look if he can find the retreating warriors "W-we need to find them before they have the chance to ambush us elsewhere! Who is with me?"
Riftun bites his lip as the ninja vanishes... He knows he has a potential counter but... with one final chance to cast a big spell... was it worth it?
The bard shakes his head and prepares himself on all sides for an unseen assailant. "R-Right now lets just... move carefully... they could be leading us into a trap so stay cautious please Yuto. I-I don't want you getting hurt."
"I don't know... I think I agree with Riftun here. We have no idea of the terrain or what dangers they could be leading us to. I say we scount the area behind us - here - carefully, taking with us what we can before chasing," Andy reasons, voting to search any of the ten or so doors in the main hall first.
Andochtuir and Riftun were smarter than her, so Torra follows their advice, watching carefully for assailants. She moves out of the cloud of smoke, coming to stand next to one of the southern doors.
Andochtuir, Riftun, and Torra remain in the room, wary of any attackers that might arrive. Torra's investigation of the door reveals that it is locked tight, but she cannot hear anything from the other side.
Yuto approaches the door the Frozen Shadows fled through carefully, peering through it. He sees that it leads to a cramped corridor that runs from one side of the longhall to the other. Multiple doors open at either end, and all manner of boxes, bags, chests, and crates have been stacked against the walls. The rafters overhead hold hooks and nets from which hang additional supplies.
Almost directly across the hall, he sees movement through the open door - perhaps the thugs are hiding in there?
Yuto does a couple of steps back to have a look at the party, and makes a sign to remain silent, then points forward at the open door.
Andochtuir nods and steps forward, then sees the extent of the samurai's current injuries. While he knew Yuto could take much more, this was as good a time as any to try the new 'trick' he had been working on.
He clasps the warrior's shoulder from behind and focuses , channeling pure Positive energy into his wounds, straight from the positive energy plane. A backup trick for when potions didn't work, a useful bypass for asking a god to act as an intermediary. Much more powerful than most healing spells, assuming you had the time and discipline.
In theory.
And he couldn't say he wasn't pleased to see it work brilliantly, instantly removing all the samurai's injuries. "Something I worked on just in case we run into a another earth elemental." He whispers to his friend.
Yuto's injuries seal with a magical burst of energy. Helgarval hums its surprise. "I was unaware that such a thing was possible." It says, its voice echoing pleasantly in Yuto's ears.
In the distance, the smoke clears, but there is no sign of the ninja.
Yuto breathes relieved feeling the wounds close.
"T-t-thanks!" he bows respectfully at the noble warrior, then smiles hearing Helgarval's voice "Yes, he is very resourceful. Did you know he fought demons for years in his elven forest?"
"O-ok, one thing at a time. Shall we move after the ones we suspect where they are?" and in a soft hushed voice towards Riftun in particular "I worry they might be waiting for us... can you create a distraction of sorts, sending it forward through the open door before us?"
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Riftun stands stunned, impressed by Andochtuir's swift healing capabilities, unarguably much greater than his own. "Th-That's amazing Andochtuir!" He exclaims. "You really are something else."
Preparing himself for the next part of their adventure as Andy finishes healing up Yuto Riftun ponders their next move. "I fully expect an ambush at some point... These are ninja after all. But I-I don't know what distraction you want me to create Yuto. I don't have the ability to summon wasps anymore. That item was sold a-and my magic wouldn't really be able to create illusions other than of myself... a-and those can't really be sent out frommy person."
The elven warrior blushes slightly over the praise from his friends. "Ah, it is the least I could do, really. After all these last fights where I was carried by the rest of you, it was time I started carrying my weight again."
He ponders when the options of distraction are discussed. "I don't like leaving so many rooms here unexplored by rushing in after them, but if we do, I reckon we don't need as much of a distraction. I could go first, if you like. My shield potion is still active and I should be able to take most of their hits."
If the others agreed with Yuto's insistence of following the fleeing humans, he would offer to go first and scout out the path, after drinking an Elixir of hightened awareness.
"Y-ye-yes, I think it's important we press on them before they c-can rise the alarm " Yuto insists.
Seeing Andochtuir resolved to be the distraction, he follows along after him into the open door of the corridor.
Torra moves away from the locked door, following the rest in their pursuit of the fleeing enemies, although she keeps glancing over her shoulder frequently.
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"I did not know that." Helgarval says in response to Yuto, too literal to grasp that it was rhetorical.
As they discuss, Andochtuir peers around the corner to see down the hallway. Though he doesn't immediately spy anything in the hallway, he does note at a quick glance that there's a trapdoor in the ceiling above him.
With that resolved, he carefully approaches the door that Yuto had seen movement behind, followed by his companions. Immediately he notices that the thugs are hidden in various corners of the room - he hears the scrape of their feet and the heavy breathing from the injured one.
With a sharp breath, one shouts.
Eight Frozen Shadows begin their attack!
Torra wedges herself into the corner, ready to blast the first person to come out of the room.
Riftun snaps to attention, "More Frozen Shadows! Ready yourselves everyone! Yuto take on the one closest to the door so they can't get through!"
Riftun starts directing the tactics of his fellows - responding almost instantly to the shout from the Frozen Shadows.
Torra, meanwhile, prepares for them to emerge into the hallway, readying a blast of earth in their direction.
One of the uninjured Frozen Shadows, an Ulfen woman lunges into the doorway, swinging her axe recklessly in an attack on Andochtuir. Though his pole arm is somewhat hindered and he's off-balance, the half-elf's myriad protective magics are easily able to defeat the assault.
The rest, however, simply ready themselves for any incoming enemies.
Yuto steps forward to make his blade descend on the woman that ventured through the door "S-surrender!"
"Such pointless waste of life..." Andochtuir sighs as he waits for an opening in Yuto's fighting style. "Yuto, mind if you duck on the count of four? One - four!"
As discussed previously, Andy skips both two and three and slashes right after the samurai's immediate skillfull dodge, coming in high against the seemingly ill-prepared Frozen Shadow at the front.
Yuto takes a step forwards to attack the woman in the doorway, slashing with his katana. Despite her attempts to dodge and use the doorway as cover, he manages to score a glancing hit on her, cutting into the flesh of her flank. She curses, clenching her teeth, but when Andochtuir steps away and takes his own swings at her, she is significantly less lucky, as he takes her head off in a shower of gore that splatters the unfortunate samurai that stands between them.
One of her companions shouts in alarm.