Post by David on Oct 13, 2006 20:15:36 GMT -5
A group of the lower level heroes went ashore on 617/2/13 to seek out the followers of Thanatos and check out the ruins. The group, Jamal, Py!ota, Abdul, Amaryllis, and Ariadne had no trouble reaching the ruins near the heart of Rumelia. At the bronze door to the stairs leading down, however, they had their first surprise; a glyph of warding launched black fire out at Abdul, but thankfully to no effect.
As the heroes decended the steps, their lightstones went out, forcing them to rely on torches. At the gorge with the rope bridge, Abdul saw nothing amiss with the ropes, but the group was soon surprised first by spears from the hallway beyond, then by shadows rising from the chasm below. Jamal was almost immediately surrounded and Amaryllis was likewise threatened. The desert-ranger fought well, while the white witch had trouble, resorting to summoning a lion to protect her. Ariadne attempted to command the shadows, but failed. Once Py!ota won clear of his foes, he helped take some of the heat from Amaryllis, who attempted to charm the enemy clerics. This failed, but Ariadne's hold spell worked. Another charm to one of the bronze platemail-clad warriors worked and he began slaughtering the held and non-combatants. Things began to look up...
Which was about when the additional group of (powerful) clerics, warriors, and skeletons showed up. Although Abdul had been able to hold the entry to the bridge, he hadn't made any headway. For his party, Jamal's strength was nearly gone after battling most of the shadows and same was true of the lion Amaryllis called up. The fighters were not doing well, save for Py!ota. So of course, the evil clerics started making things worse by holding!
Ariadne, meanwhile, commanded the skeletons to attack their former allies. This forced two of the evil clerics to use there own efforts to regain control of the skeletons, rather than cast spells. It also caused chaos in the hall, preventing any of the more able priests from effectively joining the battle. As a result, when they did, one by one, each of the more powerful priests was charmed by Amaryllis to turn on his allies.
Unfortunately, this good luck didn't last; through weight of numbers, the host of evil warriors were able to bring down, restrain, and tie up the powerful clerics of Thanatos. But at least that took them out of the fight. Unfortunately, this is when the rest of the humans in the group, save Amaryllis, her giant wolf, Fido, and her conjured lion were all held. On the good side, the clerics were out of their powerful spells. On the bad side, her leg was partially crippled from an earlier shadow hit and only Fido and the lion stood between the nearly dozen human men and the helpless forms of Jamal, Abdul, and Py!ota...five skeletons managed to spill past the animals before they could move to protect the humans, forcing Amaryllis into melee...
The lion, already badly damaged from the fight with the shadows, was quickly hacked down. Fido, however, managed to shield Jamal and Abdul long enough for them to recover from the spell and re-enter combat (before also falling). Amaryllis tried to avoid combat, but was a meat-shield until Py!ota rescued her. And that's when four more warriors came from another direction, along with another priest....
Ariadne had just healed Fido back up, and began commanding the skeletons when this new threat appeared. The giant wolf held the other rope bridge, while Jamal screened the front of the party. Amaryllis charmed the new enemy cleric, who held his own allies and helped slaughter them. But more hold person spells took Py!ota out, while a command to "surrender" allowed the fighters to smite Jamal. Fido protected the front for a moment then also fell. By this point, Ariadne managed to command the skeletons to jump off the rope bridge, rather than fight, allowing her to concentrate on the melee.
There were only a handful of warriors left plus two lesser priests. But the heroes were badly wounded. Abdul held the front line long enough for Amaryllis to tend the wounded and Ariadne to cure them. With Jamal back on his feet and Py!ota no longer held, things turned around.
Abdul killed all but one fighter, at which point the warrior and the two clerics fell back into the hallway, forcing Abdual to face them all if he wanted to battle one of them. Abdul struck several severe blows, but was himself brought near death. Finally, however, he forced one cleric back enough that Py!ota was able to join the Zakharan. Back-to-back, the diminutive pygmy mariner and the doughty desert warrior slaughtered both remaining priests and lone fighter of Thanatos. Meanwhile, Ariadne slaughtered Amaryllis' charmed priest and began looting bodies.
Py!ota saw two non-combatants in the distance and offered them amnesty if they wished to join the crew. Their departure signaled their unwillingness to work with the heroes. Meanwhile, the party recovered a few tidbits and made an orderly retreat back to the boat to recover. Clearly, however, the forces of the Evil god of death have been dealt a serious blow...
As the heroes decended the steps, their lightstones went out, forcing them to rely on torches. At the gorge with the rope bridge, Abdul saw nothing amiss with the ropes, but the group was soon surprised first by spears from the hallway beyond, then by shadows rising from the chasm below. Jamal was almost immediately surrounded and Amaryllis was likewise threatened. The desert-ranger fought well, while the white witch had trouble, resorting to summoning a lion to protect her. Ariadne attempted to command the shadows, but failed. Once Py!ota won clear of his foes, he helped take some of the heat from Amaryllis, who attempted to charm the enemy clerics. This failed, but Ariadne's hold spell worked. Another charm to one of the bronze platemail-clad warriors worked and he began slaughtering the held and non-combatants. Things began to look up...
Which was about when the additional group of (powerful) clerics, warriors, and skeletons showed up. Although Abdul had been able to hold the entry to the bridge, he hadn't made any headway. For his party, Jamal's strength was nearly gone after battling most of the shadows and same was true of the lion Amaryllis called up. The fighters were not doing well, save for Py!ota. So of course, the evil clerics started making things worse by holding!
Ariadne, meanwhile, commanded the skeletons to attack their former allies. This forced two of the evil clerics to use there own efforts to regain control of the skeletons, rather than cast spells. It also caused chaos in the hall, preventing any of the more able priests from effectively joining the battle. As a result, when they did, one by one, each of the more powerful priests was charmed by Amaryllis to turn on his allies.
Unfortunately, this good luck didn't last; through weight of numbers, the host of evil warriors were able to bring down, restrain, and tie up the powerful clerics of Thanatos. But at least that took them out of the fight. Unfortunately, this is when the rest of the humans in the group, save Amaryllis, her giant wolf, Fido, and her conjured lion were all held. On the good side, the clerics were out of their powerful spells. On the bad side, her leg was partially crippled from an earlier shadow hit and only Fido and the lion stood between the nearly dozen human men and the helpless forms of Jamal, Abdul, and Py!ota...five skeletons managed to spill past the animals before they could move to protect the humans, forcing Amaryllis into melee...
The lion, already badly damaged from the fight with the shadows, was quickly hacked down. Fido, however, managed to shield Jamal and Abdul long enough for them to recover from the spell and re-enter combat (before also falling). Amaryllis tried to avoid combat, but was a meat-shield until Py!ota rescued her. And that's when four more warriors came from another direction, along with another priest....
Ariadne had just healed Fido back up, and began commanding the skeletons when this new threat appeared. The giant wolf held the other rope bridge, while Jamal screened the front of the party. Amaryllis charmed the new enemy cleric, who held his own allies and helped slaughter them. But more hold person spells took Py!ota out, while a command to "surrender" allowed the fighters to smite Jamal. Fido protected the front for a moment then also fell. By this point, Ariadne managed to command the skeletons to jump off the rope bridge, rather than fight, allowing her to concentrate on the melee.
There were only a handful of warriors left plus two lesser priests. But the heroes were badly wounded. Abdul held the front line long enough for Amaryllis to tend the wounded and Ariadne to cure them. With Jamal back on his feet and Py!ota no longer held, things turned around.
Abdul killed all but one fighter, at which point the warrior and the two clerics fell back into the hallway, forcing Abdual to face them all if he wanted to battle one of them. Abdul struck several severe blows, but was himself brought near death. Finally, however, he forced one cleric back enough that Py!ota was able to join the Zakharan. Back-to-back, the diminutive pygmy mariner and the doughty desert warrior slaughtered both remaining priests and lone fighter of Thanatos. Meanwhile, Ariadne slaughtered Amaryllis' charmed priest and began looting bodies.
Py!ota saw two non-combatants in the distance and offered them amnesty if they wished to join the crew. Their departure signaled their unwillingness to work with the heroes. Meanwhile, the party recovered a few tidbits and made an orderly retreat back to the boat to recover. Clearly, however, the forces of the Evil god of death have been dealt a serious blow...
