A Light in the Darkness [closed]

[Dr._Bob]

Yix is able to slide and skid his way across the bridge, shooting off into a snow drift on the far side of the river.

The rest of you find the footing much more perilous.

Each of the six serpentine heads sends an icy blast towards you as they approach. Through the frosty mist you can just make out the outline of a single massive dragon-like body ...

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel
whips her around at the Lizardman's shout. Seeing the icy serpent, she runs a quick appraisal and decides that the horsemen are, at the moment, the least serious threat.

"Retreat!" she shouts, "Everyone head back across the bridge!"
She asks Si'rene to guide her horse back across as she unsheaths her sword and prepares to cover her retreating friend's backs.

ooc: Tiriel will be facing the ice-snake-thing and walking backwards across the bridge. This is probaly going to be my las IC post until Sunday evening-ish.

[blackfox]

Katrin

Katrin grabs the reins of her horse, without speaking. She runs, sure-footed, across the bridge. She turns around when she's about 60 feet back from the ice creature. She pulls her horse around behind her with one hand, reaching for her crossbow with the other.

((OOC: Balance Check (1d20+11=21)))

[Dr._Bob]

Si'rene grabs the reins of two horses and begins pulling them onto the bridge.

As she assesses the situation, however, she realizes that there isn't enough time to get everyone and the horses across the bridge. Handing the reins of the horses to Trinark, she slips and slides her way back to Tiriel.

"I will stand with you. Maybe we can hold off these things long enough for the others to get across!"

Si'rene draws her bow and begins whispering in elven ...

[runehawk]

Lizardkin Druid

The lizardkin had lagged behind the others and finally stood a distance behind them watching the mist-covered monster reveal itself.

Staring at the approaching monstrosity with a grim expression, he tries to remember if had been taught anything about facing such a creature or at least something akin to it. {Knowledge(Nature): 9 +5 = 14}.

Seeing Tiriel coming to stand beside him as the others bottleneck at the bridge, he takes on a look of annoyance and waves at her to get back over the bridge or stay with the others.

The worried look on Trinark's face catches his eye and his expression softens. He simply looks grim again and gives a nod. One that conveyed that he knew their hunter was a serious threat.

Turning back to approaching enemy, he spreads his arms and then begins to quickly whirl them and chant casting a spell

OOC: EDIT: din know it's so close. change plan. cast barkskin on self. cast flameblade. fight flameblade and shield

Modifeid AC: 26
Touch attack: 12 + 5 =17 Damage 5 + 1= 6 (flame)
at the head that lunges at tiriel

[Spaz]

Yix

Yix claws his way out of the snow bank and hops over towards the men and their horses. He stares at each of them in turn looking them directly into their eyes communicating only one thing "We Fight!"

((heres to them speaking common and taking orders from a little pint size dragon))

[Dr._Bob]

Yix leaps, glides and scurries up the hill to the horsemen on the ridge. They look surprised to see the tiny dragon, and are amazed when he telepathically communicates with them.

From their vantage point, they can see the cryohydra closing in on the remaining warriors attempting to hold the bridge. They look at each other uncertainly.

[hr]
Trinark, Evendur and Katrin guide the frightened horses over the icy bridge while the lizardman, Tiriel, and Si'rene try to hold off the huge beast to buy them some time.

Si'rene fires an arrow that strikes one of the heads right in the eye. As the head rears back, however, the other heads dive forward to attack.

Tiriel's flaming sword is drawn, and she slashes viciously as five heads snap at her shield.

One catches her in the ankle and almost upends her.



OOC: Si'rene hits for 12 points of damage. Tiriel does 15 points of damage (flaming). Tiriel is hit once for 10 damage.

Runehawk, go ahead and make attack and damage rolls vc AC 21.

[blackfox]

Katrin

Katrin draws her crossbow and pulls back the string, fitting a bolt into the notch. Her eyes widen as she sees multiple heads on the beast--hydra! She carefully takes aim on the ice hydra.

[Spaz]

Yix

Yix shakes his head at the paltroonery of the horsemen. He lets out a sharp growl trying to quit them down and focus all attention on gimself. He then points the horseman to where he wants them to stand, trying his best to make a defensive position on this side of the bridge.

[runehawk]

Lizardman Druid

Never having fought such a beast before and knowing nothing about it, Ssathiya believed that saving his friends depended severing as many ice-brething heads as possible.

He readied himself to slice at another head.

Touch attack: 17 + 5 =22 Dmg: 5 +1= 6

[Dr._Bob]

The horsemen dismount and draw their weapons. They appear to be a mixed bunch - some humans and elves, some gnomes and halflings. They move forward cautiously, while Yix encourages them forward.

[hr]
At the bridge, Tiriel and the lizardkin druid slash at the hydra with their flaming weapons. Si'rene and Katrin fall back and pepper the beast with arrows and crossbow bolts.

Meanwhile, Trinark and Evendur continue to lead the horses back over the bridge to relative safety.

One of the hydra heads blasts the party with an icy cone of frost that rolls over the front line and catches Si'rene and Katrin as well. Tiriel and the druid catch the worst of the breath attack, however, and are instantly coated in a thin layer of ice.

Flakes of ice break off their skin as they continue to dodge and parry the snapping jaws of the six-headed hydra ...



OOC: Ssathiya takes 12 cold damage. Tiriel takes 11 cold damage. Katrin takes 5 cold damage. Si'rene takes 8 cold damage.

[blackfox]

Katrin

Katrin shivers as the icy blast hits her, throwing off her aim as she looses her bolt. It flies wide, missing the head she had aimed at by a good two yards. She scowls and reloads her crossbow.

((OOC: Attack Roll (1d20+4=14)
Forgot the penalty for firing into melee... again... :P))

[Spaz]

Yix

Yix holds up his hand for the horseman to stop and stay on this side of the bridge. He then tries to get his companions to cross to his side of the river. He looks to the horseman and asks on word "Bows?"

[runehawk]

Lizardkin Druid

The sting of the ice bites into him. Thousands of sharp needles numbing him. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he sees his packmates blasted with the ice.

Knowing that they could not last long against this monster, he hatches a desperate plan.

He charges forward, intending to distract the heads away from the others and sinks his flame blade to its hilt at the root of the necks and slowly begins cutting through.

OOC:
dunno how we're gonna play this DR. my intention is to draw away the fire from the others (tiriel) and make me the primary target. you can apply ac penalty as you see fit. dex + dodge? i'm prob holding shield over my head and blocking attack attempts. and yes AoO for you

[Dr._Bob]

Seeing his companions hit by the cone of frost, Trinark releases the horses and slips and slides back to the melee.

The lizardkin druid bravely (or perhaps foolhardily) charges toward the hydra. He jams his shield into the maw of one of the serpentine heads, but another head clamps down on his ankle and spins him off his feet, tossing him off to the side.

This gives Trinark an opportunity to slip up behind Tiriel. He quickly whispers a prayer to Eilistraee and lays hands on her. She nods her head in gratitude.

[hr]
The dismounted horsemen draw bows and crossbows and prepare to provide supporting fire.



OOC: Trinark heals Tiriel for 8 points. Ssathiya takes 7 points of damage (tossing etc just added as flavor text) from an AoO. Also, we're moving to a new OOC thread. Drop by The Naughty Nun when you get a chance ...

[runehawk]

Lizardkin Druid

The reptilian grunts at the impact. Picking himself up, he notes with satisfaction as one head chokes on his heavy shield.

Holding up his flaming sword in front of him, he readies himself to dodge and smite the next head that lunges at him.

Touch: 12+ 5=17 dmg= 6+1 =7 flaming

New AC= -2 for loss of shield =24

[Spaz]

Yix


Yix raises his arm straights up then throws it forward growling as he does so, hoping the soldiers will loose their arrows all at once. He then motions them forward slowly as he marches in the lead of the column crossing the bridge.

[blackfox]

Katrin

Katrin looses her bolt, aiming for one of the heads. It flies wide, a sudden gust of wind carrying it astray. With a frustrated growl, she reloads again, ready to try shooting one last time.

(OOC: Attack Roll (1d20+4=12)
What a lousy time to roll an 8...)

[kuja.girl]

[ooc: so I went and read up on hydras...this is not going to be fun without an arcane caster. We really need to chop off it's heads with flame weapons...]

Tiriel
quickly decides that it's time for a change in her attack plan. She switches to a two-handed grip on her sword as she waits for one of the beast's heads to try to strike her:
readys a sunder attack agaist the next head that attacks her

attack roll: 1d20+11=22
damage, slashing/fire:
1d8+7=10, 1d6=4

ooc: I'm 1 short on each damage roll...well at least it's got one head hanging by a thread...

[Dr._Bob]

With a shout, Tiriel lops off one of the hydra's heads! The head and a few feet of neck writhe in the snow for a few moments, then lie still, contorted and twisted.

She smiles with satisfaction, but her grin turns to a grimace as a different head bites her arm, as if trying to neutralize her fearsome flaming sword. Ice cold fangs punch through her armor like iron spikes. She feels her blood run hot and wet down the inside of her forearm.

Katrin's bolt misses, but she is stunned to see a simultaneous flurry of additional arrows and bolts drop down onto the cryohydra from above. She spins to see that the horsemen have dismounted and have aimed up into the sky. Their missiles arc expertly into the air and rain down on the hydra.

She can barely make out Yix standing in front of the strangers, waving his wings and directing their fire like some sort of field marshal.

There are more of the horsemen than had been visible at first. About a dozen now have crested the rise, the setting sun to their backs ...


OOC: Tiriel takes 8 damage.

[blackfox]

Katrin

Katrin smiles helplessly and shakes her head when she sees Yix. She turns around, levels her crossbow, and fires. Again, the bolt misses. She looks around for any kind of shadow she might be able to hide in...

(OOC: Attack Roll (1d20+4=14)))

[Dr._Bob]

The setting sun casts long shadows along the ground. After another crossbow bolt sails between the writhing hydra heads, Katrin crouches, then rolls into a nearby shadow, vanishing.

Si'rene's hands as a blur as she fires arrow after arrow into the hydra. Her lips move as she whispers in elven with each shot.

Encouraged forward by Yix, the fur-clad strangers begin to approach the bridge on foot, firing as they move.

Evendur leads the horses away from the bridge so that they are not in the way.

[hr]
Seeing Tiriel badly bitten, Trinark again calls upon Eilistraee to heal the warrior. "Perhaps a bit more restraint?" he suggests as he lays hands on her.

The lizardkin druid appears determined to hold off the cryohydra by himself. His flame blade slashes at the hydra's body. Four of the remaining heads snap at the druid, while the fifth head spits out his shield.

The lizardman seems surprisingly nimble considering the cold temperature and the bulky furs he is wearing. Still, he can not avoid being nipped several times by the enormous beast. Crimson droplets spatter the snowy ground around him as he duck, weaves, and slashes ...

[Spaz]

Yix

Yix presses forward still, and urges the horsemen to move a little faster, as he spies the lizardkin in quite the predicament.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel
Grimices in pain. Two near death situations in less than a minute, things are not looking good. Still, she hates the idea of leavign the lizard man behind. She settles on a comprimise:

Tiriel prepares to do the same as before, but she will also take a 5' step backwards after attacking.

Sunder attack: (1d20+11=21)
damage: (1d8+7=14, 1d6=5)

ooc: whoo-hoo there goes another head, and this out for good !!! I decided to take out another head instead of retreating because I'd probaly get hit with the AoO anyhow.

[blackfox]

Katrin

Katrin will sneak up on the cryohydra, drawing her shortsword. Once she gets in a good position for attacking and flanking, she'll sneak attack the hydra.

(OOC: Balance Check (1d20+11=20)
Hide Check (if I need it) (1d20+21=32)
Move Silently Check (if I need it) (1d20+16=33)
Attack Roll (1d20+8=26)
Damage+Sneak Attack damage (1d6+2, 1d6=[8], [5])
Now I get good rolls...))

[runehawk]

Lizardkin Druid

Spitting the blood that had collected in his mouth, the reptilian holds a broken rib and winces. He grunts as he barely dodges another attack and gets smacked by a long serpentine neck.

Tottering to a side, he spots his shield lying in the frozen ground and dives to pick it up, flicking his flameblade upwards with a backhand flip.
a head that head been lunging, ducks away from the whirling, burning object and hisses with anger as it tries to shield itself.

Rolling onto the shield, ssathiya picks it up and comes to rest holding it before him. He stretches out his hand, catching his weapon deftly before it hit the ground and spins it in readiness.

OOC: flavour text move to pick shield w/o AoOs. SO i'm moving in a 'U' pattern and ready partial action to sunder while fighting defensively.

Touch: 13 +1 =14 (hit?) dmg =8+1= 9 flaming

[Dr._Bob]

Ignoring the drow's sound advice, Tiriel spins and cleaves a second head from the hydra. Before the disembodied head even hits the ground, however, powerful jaws clamp down around her waist. Her armor buckles as she is lifted off of the ground and shaken until she loses consciousness. Her sword drops from her bloody hand, sinking point first into the frozen ground with a hsssss. Its flames flicker out.

"NNNOOOOOO!!!!!" Katrin, who had circled around unseen toward the hydra's flank, plunges her sword deep into the belly of the beast, causing it to drop Tiriel's body as all four of its remaining heads roar in pain.

The lizardkin druid slashes at the hydra's other flank as he recovers his shield, a cry of anguish on his lips ...

Without warning, you are all engulfed in a stinging cloud of ice that chills you to the bone as three heads simultaneously blast you with jets of frost ...

[hr]
Yix watches with horror as his two-legged companions disappear in an opaque, glittery white cloud. He had seen Tiriel fall before the frosty mist obscured his vision.

He urges the newcomers forward with even more haste. As they reach the near end of the bridge, they drop their bows and crossbows and draw melee weapons. Evendur stands nearby with the horses, seemingly frozen in stunned horror.




OOC: Tiriel is critically wounded but is thrown clear of the frost blast. Ssathiya saves and takes 17 points of cold damage. Trinark fails his save and takes 33 points of cold damage. Katrin saves and takes 17 points of cold damage. Si'rene saves and takes 19 points of cold damage.

Is this the end? Of course not. Please stand by ...

[runehawk]

Lizardkin Druid(A cinematic from his perspective)

The reptilian had heard a shout from Movingshadows or Katrin as she had named herself. Snapping his head around, a sight of horror greeted him.

Their leader lay, a bloody broken mess on the hard ground and Trinark had rushed to kneel at her side. Ssathiyaa had roared out and slashed a flank that slithered forward to obstruct him as he had moved to help them.

Time had slowed down at that point.

The heads had jerked upward. Blood ceased spurting from the second head Flameblade had loped off. The monster roared out its pain to the heavens.

Si'rene moved before him to her fallen 'sister'. She had been closer to Tiriel and was skipping ahead and to the right of him. She had stood more distant from the hydra, in the center between the druid and the pair of the fighter and cleric. She sidestepped with an urgency while facing the hydra, loosing arrow after arrow. All the while she kept shifting towards tiriel's side.

The lizardkin did not see Katrin to his left behind the root where the hydran necks joined at the torso. Tears streaking down her face as she stabbed it from the back. Her teeth bared in a grimace as grief and anger wrestled across her face.

Ssathiyaa smelt the soot from Si'rene's magic arrows as they whistled over and around his head as he moved towards Trinark and Tiriel, cutting between her and the hydra.

The necks of the hydra had swelled as it began to draw in a deep breath. The others knowing what it heralded, flinched as they prepared to dodge the inevitable blast.

Only Trinark did not flinch as he knelt before Tiriel on one knee. His sword, shining as light caught its expert craftsmanship, was clasped at the hilt by one hand, its tip on the ground while his other hand rested lightly on Tiriel.

A knight standing still vigil over the fallen.

His lips moved soundlessly, completing the last spell he would ever utter as he stared into the gaping maws of the hydra. There was no fear on his face, just the grave expression he always wore as he woried about others around him.

The blast spewed forth from the serpentine heads.

Ssathiya broke his stride and twisting his shield around him , ducked, trying to avoid as much of the blast as he could.

As the force of the blast hit him, he was propelled backwards to the ground. He saw Trinark kneeling, unmoving from the oncoming blast. He twisted his neck to face his drow friend. The noble drow finished the spell and the hand on Tiriel glowed briefly.

Trinark's head turned slightly to Ssathiya. Their eyes met and a light smile touched Trinark's lips, softening his calm, grave expression.

It would be the last time Ssathiya would see his friend smile.

As the blast hit them, the cleric mouthed,
"Be well" and slowly closed his eyes as the mist robbed him from sight.

"CLOUDHAAAAAIR", he screamed with all his heart.

Everything went white. Only a world of biting cold.... , excruciating pain... existed to his senses.

The last thought he had before unconsciousness took him was a memory of Trinark smiling broadly. He clenched a goblet in his hand as they stood at a balcony of Sheyra's mansion. Moonlight splayed on both their faces.

Alone, together and free.

Their missions complete. A hunt fulfilled and a spiritual journey ended. The Underdark behind them.

That night and many more nights like it lay ahead. The wind caught their laughter and carried it into the night. A starlit darkness that stretched forever, like the future ahead of them.

[Dr._Bob]

Trinark is dead. The lizardkin druid is dying. Tiriel (healed by Trinark) is unconscious. Katrin and Si'rene are badly injured.

To be continued in The Necromancer's Pact.