Turn 71 – Is it Over?
The defiler screeches in pain and slashes at a mortally wounded Elric with its only appendage left. The claw, this time, tears away a major artery in the half-elf's body and the warlock is down in an instant. Tempest lies discarded next to the warlock illuminating his neck that pours out his life blood at the fluttering rhythm of a weakened heart …
The Queen was surprisingly quick for her size, and her massive pincers and claws could easily rend a full man in two --much less a 3 foot halfling. Praying to Gaea that he would live to see the sun again, Tak' kept a close watch on Koreth out of the corner of his eye - what his noble-warrior companion did would make all the difference in this titanic struggle. The one advantage the pack had over the colossal Queen was in numbers. The scrab matriarch could not concentrate on all her attackers at once. Keeping close, but mainly concentrating on defending himself for the time being, Tak' waited until Koreth swung his heavy sword - seeking to harmonize his own attack.
The sword of the nobleman was a creamy blur in the dark chamber, and Tak' struck as well. His black hair forming a shadowy aura, his two daggers simultaneously thrust towards the Queens bloated underbelly. Tak's hands, already coated in ichor were warmed again by the Queens lifeblood. While the daggers did not penetrate to make a killing blow, the constant piercing they made served to weaken and pain the matriarch. Gritting his teeth, trying to predict the guaranteed counterattack, Tak' hoped his companions were still alive - especially Mendi - for even if the Queen dropped dead, without the elf peddler this battleground would still be their tomb.
Rayne had sneaked up on them all without them knowing it and while the queen slashed at Koreth, the mul plunged her wrist razors deep backed up with strength and hatred that only one who has suffered can muster. The warrior's left hand found a vital organ and ripped it to shreds. The queen turned quickly only to see the hatred in her killer's eyes. The matriarch hissed again to spit forth some more of the acid that still ate through Liron's torso but she had no vitality left in her. The corrosive liquid came to her bidding but only to slowly dribble down her chin sizzling away and eating up her hard chitin. Koreth smiled feebly at both his partners and leaned heavily on his sword; his will was almost drained.
Gaigin paused, breathing hard as his opponent collapsed in a lifeless heap to the ground. The sounds of battle and cries of pain continued unabated about him as the big warrior spun to survey the battle. Flinging his gore-splattered mask to the ground, Gaigin looked about and immediately saw Elric lying prone and lifeless before a vicious, one-armed scrab that hissed and writhed in anger. The rest of the party seemed little better off, though the queen was being pressed hard by several packmembers who, though hurt, still managed to hold the great bloated monstrosity at bay. Strangely, the elf-boy was no where to be seen, but Gaigin had little time to worry about a possible casualty when a real one was before him. Processing the situation in the blink of an eye, the wounded warrior raised his war-club and charged the one armed scrab, howling like a mad man, trying to draw the beast's attention from the downed warlock.
Aryus shakes his head and nearly swoons over in pain and confusion. He was well aware that his mind and soul had been violated and that his thoughts were open to those who sought them. Still the windmage had to stay focused, Elric was now down and victory was close. Aryus tries to clear his mind and nocks another arrow to his bow. He aims it carefully at the scrab defiler, who stood over the body of Elric.. His sight was filled with the back of a maddened warrior with a club raised for the kill. The windmage decided to hold his shot and quickly attend to Elric instead.
Gaigin hurled himself full tilt into the battle, a mad warrior, covered head to toe in blood and ichor, face contorted into a mask of fury more fearsome then the painted face-plate that lay discarded by the headless corpse of the warrior scrab. The scrab had barely triumphed over the formidable finesse and skill of the lanky half-elf warlock, but now it faced a very different opponent. The relentless force of an all out assault by what appeared to be a giant, club-wielding maniac. With what strength remained in his aching limbs, Gaigin swung his war-club in a great, overhead swing, determined to bring this particular threat to an immediate end. The scrab's arcane gestures were quickly ended as the beast concentrated on waiting for the assault and tried to rip the eyes out of the giant. The claw slashed and ripped another gash on the warrior's shoulder instead when the war-club landed.
The club hit with the full force of the fury behind it, pulverizing chitin and pulping the delicate flesh beneath. The one-armed scrab collapsed in a lifeless heap, uttering a low, whining squeal as its mortal remains sprayed across the floor of the cavern.
Ignoring the lifeless heap of chitin and flesh that was the one-armed scrab, Gaigin dropped his club and knelt beside the unconscious Elric. Seeing the blood gushing from the vicious throat-wound, Gaigin immediately grabbed a handful of Elric's cloak and pressed it to the wound, applying pressure and hoping to stem the flow of blood until a more accomplished healer was able to come to his aid.
Elric's head rolls to the side as Gaigin attempts to hold the gushing wound closed. For a brief moment the young warlock's eyes flutter. The smell of blood was everywhere, or so it seemed to Elric, as well as the bitter copper taste of blood. *So this is what it is to die* Elric chafed at all the knowledge he never learned and that which would be lost with his passing. With the little will he had left, he forced his eyes to open. Looking up into the shadowy face of Gaigin, Elric gasped. His breath is coming in shallow, weak gasp. So softly Gaigin barely recognizes the warlock voice. "The blade...you must take it." A soft shudder runs through Elric's body. Flecks of blood appear about his lips. "The power...'Aquhandi'...must call 'Aquhandi' ...(cough)"
Aryus charges over to Elric's body and quickly begins a healing spell. He blows a deep breath upon the half-elf's wounds and watches them close. The warlock's wound closed a bit and he is feebly awake. He tries to get up and his legs falter underneath him.
QUEEN IS DEAD
Gaigin stood panting as the battle wound to its conclusion. The fight had not been without casualties, more than Gaigin had hoped for, as he realized the headless corpse sprawled across the dusty cavern floor was the young Liron, who had died bravely at the hands of his chosen enemy. Gaigin had seen worse deaths, though he feared the elf's companions would not take it so well. Gaigin hated laying good men to rest, yet it seemed so much a fact of life on Athas that it hardly effected the warrior now. Looking at the downed warlock being carefully attended to, the ex-guard turned adventurer could only hope that two young warriors would not rest forever beneath the barren earth of Athas this day. Sighing at the work still before them all, Gaigin went to retrieve his fallen spear and mask.
His mind and body weakened to extremes he would rather not endure Tak' fell to the earth in a small heap - trying to gather his rushing thoughts. <Victory?> he mused, the pain from his injuries becoming more apparent with each moment <there must be a thousand more nests like this - and a thousand more creature as twisted and evil as these.>
Forcing himself into a sitting position, Tak' crawled over to the now-slain Scrab psionicist, slowly working his spear free. Using it to steady himself the fatigued halfling made his way to his feet and slowly made his way around the chamber - giving aid where we could, and making sure nothing was waiting to surprise himself or his companions in the shadows.
GENERAL SETTING
The lighting was scarce at best and neither Rayne's glow-worm nor Elric's magical blade reached the outer perimeter of the walls. Two groups had been formed, the first consisted of the wounded characters and the second was made up of the most able bodied warriors that the party could muster.
Mendi, Migdalia, Elric, Ayrus remained in the center of the room with the lighting provided by Tempest. Both elves were slowly recuperating from their magical bondage and the girl was just heartbroken at the sight of her kin, The blond warrior still lay sprawled about where he had fallen, headless; the elven teen still held on tightly to his sword and his deathgrip was not easily pried loose. The elven sorceress took the sword back from him and promised to give it back to her tribe. There were still sounds about in the cavern, the mourning from the wounded, a cackle coming from the eastern end of the large room and the scurrying about and whinnying from the opposite end of the cave.
The group of warriors led by Rayne and her light source made her way carefully towards the mad cackle. The cave tapered to an end and another small chamber was illuminated by the living-item. An elven girl, or so it seemed, cackled gleefully at times and cried at others, "Get them off of me, please don't let them eat me alive!" The girl shook herself in violent spasms and clawed at her "hands". She only managed to rub the stump of her right hand, a closer look revealed that her fingers had been chewed up to her knuckles. Gaigin tried to calm her down to no use, the girl went frantic at all attempts until Koreth knocked her senseless and brought her over to Migdalia who merely hugged her close and wept.
The other side of the chamber called the heroe's attention and it was Tak who scurried himself away first and called them over. He had found the nursery chamber where half-dozen scrabs ate the rest of some grisly meal. Long finger bones laid on the floor of the cave while the small scrabs tried futile to climb out of their pit. The entrance of the chamber had a 3 foot drop that effectively sealed the young scrabs inside. Rayne called them forth, "Leave them be for now, they ain't going nowhere fast. Let's search the rest of the place first."
A closer look at the room showed another narrow passage that widened into a small chamber. The passage was small and only allowed one person abreast. Gaigin looked up towards the ceiling and another crystal plate covered the entrance's ceiling much like the traps found in other places. Thoughts of another cave-in flashed on everyone's mind. Rayne shone her glow-worm closer to the room without entering it. The light sparkled on a couple of gems and a beautiful golden armband, a sturdy shield was also seen with intricate carvings depicting a giant, red flying lizard, a couple of fruits were also discerned in the distance as well as a full suit of studded leather armor with matching grieves. The glowworm flickered as Rayne directed it to another side where the light shone on assorted smaller weapons, even an obsidian battle-axe.
Your actions…
OUT OF CHARACTER
HEALTH STATUS
Remember the scale:
Healthy (H) 100% hitpoints remaining
Slightly Wounded (SiW) 75% to 100% hitpoints remaining
Wounded (W) 50% to 75% hitpoints remaining
Seriously Wounded (SeW) 25% to 50% hitpoints remaining
Mortally Wounded (MW) 0% to 25% hitpoints remaining
Gaigin (SeW), (W)
Koreth (W), (W)
Ayrus (MW), (U)
Tak (W), (U)
Rayne (W), (U)
Migdalia (H)
Mendi (MW), (MW)
Elric (U), (W)
GENERAL
Congrats.
Just so you know, Koreth, Rayne and Tak's armor lost one of their "+" since they are all pretty much shredded in the past battles.
Please give me actions for the following situations:
Questions, comments, and suggestions please.
L8r,
Fabian