R1T8: Celiss moves around the group, hoping to help Korian convince the half-orc to stand down. She is, however, aware that he may be unwilling to do so. In that case, she would simply have to hope that this wouldn't take long. Her spells weren't really suited for nonlethal combat, and simply leaving this man a scorched corpse wasn't an option, even if it did seem a bit more tempting than before.
Anger beginning to rise within her, both at herself for even considering this course of action and at these two for blocking them, Celiss speaks.
"Right now you have a choice that most people don't get. You can help us save the life of our patron by standing down and letting us pass in peace, or you can hold us up and potentially make us too late to save her.
It's difficult, but the mage manages to keep her voice fairly calm. She can tell, however, that unless they can get moving again the frantic power within her will burst forth. The arcane energy woven into her form was difficult to control - she had the feeling that the burst of darkness she had created before could be 'triggered' in the same fashion, but she doubted that this strange force was the same thing. Power bubbled just below the surface, barely kept in check, and she waited, an intuitive sense telling her that this wasn't going to become a blast of lightning or another potentially deadly effect. Perhaps it would be like that orb of shadow from before, only directed into the same sort of cone as her
Burning Hands? With such an effect it might be possible to slip by them...
In a total tough-guy rage, the half-orc shouts,
"Nobody's stopping you, girlie! Just you're friend ain't makin' it to the party, for pickin' on me mate."Celiss lets out an ear-piercing shriek, truly horrifying to all who hear, and very, very inhuman as the powers burst forth to amplify her voice.
The half-orc holds his ground, though he appears shaken. The gnome shrieks in mortal terror. Darrius led a rough-and-tumble life as a youth, but once he realized his soul magic was powered by compassion and respect for life and beauty, and not by selfish desires, he embraced that power of Good. Now, however, he is faced with a dread manifestation of evil like none he had ever seen before. He gives a low moan of terror as he is about to bolt. Korian has to hold his reserve very, very carefully, and barely manages to grit his teeth despite feeling very unsettled. Ka'Xet's mental training proves useful, but even he can't help feeling rocked by the sheer power of Celiss' screech. Lazer, protected by altitude with flying, is out of the effect.
The real damage done, however, is to the crowd that was caught in that 30-foot cone of terror. That's the spell effect - then we consider the actual psychological/ morale considerations of such horror outside of who saved, who didn't, who was affected, who wasn't, etc.
The crowd shrieks in mortal terror. True, those caught in the cone are in hysteria, but nearly
every onlooker is panicked.
R1T7.9: Ka'Xet, this half-orc is in it for the long-haul, it seems. You can easily tell that this Kurgol is a barbarian specializing in boxing ... and he's currently raging, though a little shaken. Thing is, you're also shaken by the experience. What do you do?