“Most welcome you are,” Ellaeaanda pronounces when Vitus bravely interposes himself between herself and the barghest’s jaws, taking the vicious, slavering bite upon himself. She barely flinches, as if expecting this turn of events, but she does not anticipate the beast's claws slashing deep into her arm.
Foreseeing the futility of physical attack at the moment, the frail elf retreats to a safer distance and recasts her warping void spell. "Like fire against stone," she warns her companions about its resistance to fire.
"EVeN StONe CaN bURn iF ThE FlAMe Is hOt EnOuGH!" Ardoinel roars in a voice not entirely his own. Then he shakes his head as the moment passes.
After shielding Ellaeaanda from attack, Vitus taunts the fiend. Vrosi persues the creature as it shoves its way across the battlefield, and just barely manages to strike and grab it, with Netkin's construct providing a bit of flanking. Resa misses her blows, and the creature manages to resist all of Ardoinel's fire and Ellaeanda's void damage.
~+~Combat Round 3~+~
Ellaeaanda (-9)
Markus
Vrosi Burnis (-18)
Red ([-30, -11, -11], grabbed)
Resa Dermade
Netkin Bigpot
Vitus (-23, 1d6 persistent poison)
Ardoinel
Bold may act! If there are any reactions, we'll retcon them in.
Markus' floating flame continues to flicker around the monster, he patches up Vitus and flings shards of metal into the creature.
The creature gestures at Markus, the wizard plaguing him, and casts a spell to befuddle his mind.
He takes a poisonous bite at Vitus as well.
for plus and 1d6 persistent poison
~+~Combat Round 3~+~
Ellaeaanda
Markus
Vrosi Burnis
Red
Resa Dermade
Netkin Bigpot
Vitus
Ardoinel
~+~Combat Round 4~+~
Ellaeaanda (-9)
Markus
Vrosi Burnis (-18)
Red (-75 [-30, -11,-11,-14,-9], grabbed)
Resa Dermade
Netkin Bigpot
Vitus (-20 [-4,-15,-1] 1d6 persistent poison)
Ardoinel
Invigorated by Markus' healing, Vitus slams his shield and continues grunting in the creature's face. "Is that all you got?
◆ Shielding Taunt
◆ Demoralize
◆ Strike
Ellaeaanda bides her time, waiting for the fates to reveal an opportunity to strike with her bow. In the meanwhile, she again tries to fray the thread that attaches the barghest to life and recognize the magic that it cast.
Resa keeps up her efforts to attack the creature, swinging three times hoping that something goes through. She was not clearly the best when it came to fighting, but she was still trying her best.
"Come on, we almost have it. Maybe it can give up now?"
* Round 4 *
Vrosi
Ardoinel, now with a firmer grip on himself and his power, hacks at the barghest while keeping his shield raised.
Vitus taunts the creature, though he fails to shake its confidence.
Ellaeaanda's spell slowly saps the creature's vitality, and she recognizes the spell as confusion!
Netkin's robot, Resa, and Ardoinel attack to no avail.
Not knowing friend from foe, Markus attacks Ellaeaanda!
for
Vrosi restrains the monster!
The creature attempts to escape.
Despite being taunted, the fiend is just that mad at Vrosi that he ignores Vitus.
for plus
for
~+~Combat Round 4~+~
Ellaeaanda
Markus
Vrosi Burnis
Red
Resa Dermade
Netkin Bigpot
Vitus
Ardoinel
~+~Combat Round 5~+~
Ellaeaanda (-19 [-9,-10])
Markus (confused)
Vrosi Burnis (-18)
Red (-79 [-75,-4])
Resa Dermade
Netkin Bigpot
Vitus (-21 [-20,-1])
Ardoinel
Resa is really tired of this monster, and her pleas for peace did not really seem to be working. She attempts to slice it three more times.
* Round 5 *
Feeling the poison subside, Vitus keeps up the pressure. He continues to use his shield has a drum to keep the creature's attention on him. He slams his warhammer into the beast to slam into the wall. Then he heals himself slightly through Torag's aid.
◆ Shielding Taunt
◆ Shove
◆ Lay on Hands
"Um... Someone should stop the wizard!"
“Enchanted is he, to know neither friend nor foe,” Ellaeaanda calmly explains the wizard’s affliction, even as she winces painfully at the piercing wounds inflicted by the mage’s magical darts. Still seeing that any attack on the barghest is bound to fail, she instead strides towards Markus and, in an attempt to jar him out of his confused state, lashes at him with her whip. But, not wanting to hurt him too badly, her attacks prove ineffective.
Ardoinel raises his shield up and blasts the barghest with metal shards.
Resa can't quite connect with the fiend. In his confusion, Markus casts another spell at a teammate!
for
The robot doesn't seem very effective. Maybe it needs to be reprogrammed?
Vrosi can't get a good handle on the creature, nor hit with follow-up strikes. Vitus comes close enough to grabbing the monster that he gets its attention, then heals himself.
Ellaeeandra tries to recall what she can about the creature...
...but she can't think of anything pertinent. She snaps her whip at Markus to get him to snap out of it, but she misses.
Ardoinel manages to send three shards of metal into the creature, causing it to whimper.
The creature bites at Ardoinel in retribution, then casts a spell that causes it to flicker in and out of reality!
for plus
At the end of its turn, it blinks out for a moment, only to appear behind Ellaeaanda.
~+~Combat Round 5~+~
Ellaeaanda
Markus
Vrosi Burnis
Red
Resa Dermade
Netkin Bigpot
Vitus
Ardoinel
~+~Combat Round 5~+~
Ellaeaanda (-19)
Markus (confused)
Vrosi Burnis (-18)
Red (-91 [-79,-12])
Resa Dermade
Netkin Bigpot
Vitus (-9 [-21,+12])
Ardoinel (-29 [-9,-20], 1d6 persistent poison)
Finally she sees it. Ellaeaanda isn’t sure what spell the barghest just cast, but she senses the outcome a split second before it happens. With a flick of her wrist she cracks her whip, lashing at seemingly empty space behind her—but instead it connects with the rematerialized beast, slashing a wound across its leg.
“Pain brings clarity,” she murmurs, swinging the whip again towards Markus in another attempt to jolt him back to his senses. Then she quickly skirts around the barghest, her light elven strides drawing the creature’s attention so that Resa and Vitus have an opportunity to attack on the other side.
↺ Intercept Attack
Just before the beast's jaws connect with Ardoinel, Vitus lunges in between and the jaws bite into his shoulder instead.
Then, Vitus cautiously steps forward to close the gap to the creature as he keeps up the shield drumming. "Keep up the pressure!"
◆ Shielding Taunt
◆ Step
◆ Strike
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Ardoinel roars in a voice not quite his own.
Then he coughs and regains his composure again and tries to determine the nature of the dweomer his enemy hast cast.
Unable to recognize it, he hesitates and his body seizes for a moment.
He steels himself and focuses his power upon the flickering barghest, trying to seize the magic, not to unravel it gracefully like most mages would, but tear it asunder with power, sharp and terrible as a dragon's claws.
|
Netkin hesitates on the best course of actions. The melee had spaced out a little but the barghest was out of his bombs' reach.
He gets closer to Ardoinel to heal some of his wounds. The aiuvarin was bleeding profusely, and saying some pretty intense stuff. Perhaps he was getting slightly delirious??
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Ellaeanda cracks her whip across the battlefield, hitting the fiend and Markus. The damage is negated by the monster's spell, but at least it distracts the beast, making it off-guard to Ardoinel.
Vitus keeps the pressure on the creature, protecting it from attacking Ardoinel and taunting it.
Ardoinel attempts to dispel the effect on Markus, but his magic can't overcome the enchantments of the fiend.
Netkin comes close to attempt to bind up Vitus's wounds, but his hands shake too much to apply the bandage properly.
~+~Combat Round 5~+~
Ellaeaanda
Markus
Vrosi Burnis
Red
Resa Dermade
Netkin Bigpot
Vitus
Ardoinel
~+~Combat Round 5~+~
Ellaeaanda (-19)
Markus (-4, confused)
Vrosi Burnis (-18)
Red ([-91], taunted)
Resa Dermade
Netkin Bigpot
Vitus (-29 [-9,-17,-2], 1d6 persistent poison)
Ardoinel (-9)
Vrosi will move to the creature.
"Say. Hey. No Fair. Be square. I think don't blink."
Vrosi will
Vrosi will
Vrosi's second mighty blow takes down the creature!
There is little in the would-be god's throne room except the moldering remains of countless goblins. You notice that many of the skeletons are mismatched, as if they have been reassembled incorrectly, perhaps many times.
A small corridor to the southeast leads into a dingy and moist room, more
a cellar than a cave. Lumpy mounds covered in oilcloth tarps still lend it an unpleasant air.
Perception DC 18
Clutching his chest and breathing heavily, Vitus rushes over to Markus, trying and somewhat succeeding to keep his voice calm. "What happened? We narrowly defeated this creature while you attacked at random, or so it seems."
When Markus moves look at the items under the tarp, Vitus winces again and tries to keep the wizard focused. "You can look at those items later. First, explain yourself. Why did you attack wildly like that?
Not pausing for an answer, Vitus turns to Netkin, who is the only person of the other adventuring group that he recognizes. "I've never seen him do that before, Netkin. On my word, he is an ally to me. And through me, an ally to me and your group."
Then, Vitus takes a deep, finally noticing the pain of his wounds and the ongoing poison. "I'm going to sit down while we become acquainted and see if we can work together."
The poison from the barghest seems to have subsided with help from Netkin's medicine skill.
"Marcus make many mistates. Brilliant Burnis feel funny for fellow friend. Maybe Marcus mind muddied?"
“Treasured allies you are,” Ellaeaanda slowly strolls towards Vitus and Vrosi, acknowledging their valuable contributions in combat, though she does not look directly at them, “heroic and deadly, as fate foretold.” She nods respectfully at their wounds, then glances over in the general direction of the halfling. ”Grateful are we for your blood. Time heals, but so does Netkin.”
When Markus is questioned about his wild attacks, the elf calmly interjects, defending the wizard in a dreamy, faraway voice. “Like Ardoinel, another intervened. The barghest enchanted your friend into a spinning arrow, foe to all and friend to none. Such confusion is but dew before the dawn. His true nature is remorseless and material.” Her words are pronounced as a matter of cold fact, as if she doesn’t care that the wizard shows more interest in treasure than in apologizing for his misdeeds.
Ardoinel seizes up a bit as the battle ends.
"Be SILENT!" he cries, striking himself lightly and coughing again before regaining his composure.
"I'm alright. Thank you."
Then he lifts his head to the others.
"And thank you, gentlemen. You made a potentially fatal battle much less so."
He joins Markus in examining what they've found. He takes and examines the craftsmanship of the armor, looking over it with magic as well.
|
|
Netkin blushes significantly when Ellaeaanda compliments him. "Oh! Well, I just try to do my best... I think you're very skilled at healing patients too! Maybe even better..."
The competition for best doctor in the group will have to wait, though.
The halfling indeed proves a very competent healer - when not stressed out by the possibility of an imminent death. Soon enough, all wounds have been neatly disinfected and neatly bandaged.
When he's done, Netkin turns to Marcus and eyes him a little suspiciously. "Well... Are you feeling better now? I'm not sure I have anything against spells..." His hand hovers near his control unit hesitantly.
As you chat and Netkin patches people up, Ellaeaanda studies the magical items you found. She recognizes all of them: a fan feather token, a fear gem, healer's gloves, and a wand of web.
When you are ready to push on, you follow the tunnel to the east for about 50 feet before it opens into a larger room. The tunnel widens, then drops away in a series of ten-foot-high cliffs into a chamber filled with fine, hairlike filaments and mushrooms. The filaments look like bleached grass and wave erratically with the cave’s natural air currents. The mushrooms glow slightly, giving the cave a strange, dreamlike feel. To the south, a seven-foot-wide hole in the floor drops down into a chamber below.
Vrosi goes to the hole and looks in.
While Netkin heals the others, Ellaeaanda sits cross-legged on the floor, with the potentially magical items arrayed around her in a semi-circle. In a seeming trance, with eyes half-closed, she slowly holds one item after another in her lap, murmuring inaudibly to herself.
After a long time her eyes blink open. “Useful indeed,” she responds to Markus, as if his comment hadn’t been uttered over half an hour ago. Rising, she presents the healer’s gloves to Netkin. “For you these are, to make great greater and protect your delicate skin.” She then hands the wand to Markus. “You alone are the key to unlock its power.” For her own part, she removes the magical chain shirt from the broken skeleton and, without any distaste or hesitation, exchanges her armor for the magical one. Should anyone question her macabre choice in clothing she would simply reply “One only need walk the path that is already laid.”
Ardoinel shrugs as Ellaeaanda dons her new armor.
"You could at least let me clean it up first. Maybe resize it to fit you better."
Vrosi sees that, a twenty-foot drop down the hole, there is a floor of carved stone below.
After any lingering issues are resolved and proper introductions are made while wounds are bandaged, Vitus thanks Netkin for his deft touch.
Then, Vitus readies himself for exploration deeper into the cave. "Right behind you, Vrosi."
With the found items distributed, Ellaeaanda follows after the others. Kneeling besides Vrosi, she peers intently at the fine filaments and glowing fungi.
Elaeaanda is unfamiliar with this particular species of fungus. The mushrooms certainly are pretty, though, with grass-like fungal filaments amid clusters of softly glowing, long-stalked mushrooms.