Death's End IC II

[3SecondCultist]

Arran, Ben, Calia, Elara, Myr: The light from Elara's spell has an immediate and visceral effect on Maniakh's undead. The ranks of undead nearest the young mage begin to flee as though their worst nightmares were on their heels. As they scatter in different directions across the low Onyx sky, you can see little wisps of their essence burned away, like sluggish fog off the water. Elara's wings are a beacon of hope, invading every crack in the alley and even beyond. Something shines through her, a force that is almost immeasurably old. As the spectral forces fall back, Ala'thea lets out a triumphant roar.

Maniakh has to shield his own eyes - or he would have tried, had Ben and Arran's arrows not flown true. They tear at his cloak, revealing an intricate set of armor beneath. This time there are no quips, no cruel repartee, just a grimace of pain. His leathery fingers grasp his petrified staff with renewed intensity. Malthus, however, is completely unfazed. The fires behind his eyes seem to focus in on Elara, their intentions terrifyingly clear. Raising one of his claws in the air, the sorcerer seems ready to begin casting another spell.

"Come on; this isn't worth our while. I can't believe they used a daylight spell." Maniakh's upper lip curls in contempt as he mutters more profanities to his companion. If his face wasn't so gruesome as he spoke, the incident might have even been humorous. The transfigured changeling pauses, as though waiting on a silent order that has not yet been given.

When he turns around and starts heading to Maniakh, you know that he has made up his mind. Placing one talon on the necromancer's shoulder, he starts preparing another spell. Maniakh himself leans forward, pulling a silver pin out from underneath his robes. Before Malthus is even done, he manages to start and finish a spell of his own, which takes effect as he begins to drop the pin to the ground. "Have fun with my wyvern, kids. I don't doubt that we'll be seeing each other again soon." He smiles one last horrid time before Malthus finishes his spell, and both members of the Six abruptly disappear.

And then the pin hits the ground.

Suddenly, the entirety of the ground around where he was standing is filled with darkness. No, it's something deeper than mere shadow. It needs no light, feeding only on itself. It seems to come from beyond time itself, and although the radius of the spell is much more localized than Elara's, Maniakh's own evocation seems a lot more potent. All anyone can see from the outside is a roiling cloud of pure shadow that seems almost alive. And those within can see nothing at all.

Within the spell, Myr can hear the movements of the great dragonkin as it lumbers towards him... and yet he cannot see the monster at all. He does not see the red points of malice in the creature's eyes, does not see the exposed sinews twisting as it raises its huge claw and swipes down at his head.

Spoiler: Actions

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First of all, we have to roll the damage from Elara's daylight spell to all of the shadows and wraiths in the 'direct radius' (which was pretty much all of them). I'm going to roll individually, I think. I guess most of them are leaving anyhow - it's more symbolic than anything else, really.

Daylight Damage: (1d8)[6]
Daylight Damage: (1d8)[7]
Daylight Damage: (1d8)[6]
Daylight Damage: (1d8)[5]
Daylight Damage: (1d8)[1]
Daylight Damage: (1d8)[5]

And then the Six are acting, I believe. Malthus is spending his move action to head over to Maniakh, and then a standard action to teleport them both away, leaving only you, Ala'thea, and the summons left on the battlefield. The shadows nearest Maniakh were healed by his darkness spell, which I will also roll here.

Darkness Healing: (1d8)[4]
Darkness Healing: (1d8)[7]

Finally, we have the wyvern trying to attack Myr again in the darkness. It will suffer the 20% concealment chance before attacking though - a 20 or less on the d100 is a miss.

Wyvern Miss Chance: (1d100)[69]
Wyvern Attack: (1d20+16)[24]
Wyvern Damage: (2d6+10)[17]
Wyvern Crit Confirm: (1d20+16)[19]

Edit: so that quartet of shadows is still in the darkness spell, as is the wyvern. All of them are at full strength and then some, due to being summoned into a desecrate effect. You guys had better save Myr before he turns into an empty suit of armor - or just pulverized into thick red paste.

Lirian: As soon as you mention a promise, Isidar's features soften again. He listens to what you have to say attentively, not interrupting. His face is completely impassive, and you see no reaction when you mention the glacier, or hint at the existence of the Starstone Vault. Sylvia has also cooled somewhat, although the workings around her mouth aren't a good sign. When she finally does speak, it is in the clipped tone of someone who knows they shouldn't be angry anymore.

"Whoever's secrets you are keeping, you should know that they owe you a great debt. Revelation is easy - deception is infinitely harder. As for Senn... I have heard the name before. If she's anything like you described just now, then she is definitely involved in what I have to say. Tell me Lirian, what do you know about the Custodians?"