Post by David on Jun 15, 2009 20:11:11 GMT -5
In the morning, those heroes with spells and enough vigor return to attack the caverns of the kuo-toan. After Dion exhausts his healing spells and Jasmine questions her charmed captive, they share that information with the party before getting some much-needed sleep. Because of her new nature, no one can heal Sky, so the salamander must rest in the StrongArm forge in town.
Helga and Dajamira lead Cliffy, Alec, and Esmerelda into the cave. As the heroes are about to enter, Marc shows up, having walked much of the night to reach Klarr before Mikhail. Using more of Esmerelda's water breathing spells, the spell-casters are able to function mostly-effectively. But, the best laid plans...
In the first combat, a highly-skilled kuo-toa harpoons Daj and carries her off into the swarming mass of fishmen. Cliffy and Esmerelda lob sleep after sleep into the mass, but the kuo-toa are too powerful and too numerous. A slow from the elf nearly saves the half-dryad, but Helga and Alec cannot seem to land a single blow!
Marc kills several fishmen and uses his chainmail gauntlet to steal much of the life-force of the kuo-toan leader. A shortsword to the gut finishes him off! Marc is doing quite well, but he alone is making headway. One by one, the other heroes are seriously wounded. Finally, Esmerelda retreats back to the surface for help. It's at this point that Marc falls. The witch returns with a seal -- Rhiannon has invoked one of her runes to help rescue the party and act (once again!) as a rescue swimmer. But it's too late for the beastmaster; the heroes seem a half dozen fishmen swarm over him and carry him off.
Helga nobly and heroically acts as the party's rear-guard -- a nearly-suicidal act that unexpectedly invokes a magical talisman the mountain dwarf had...suddenly, the power of Haela Brightaxe infuses Helga's body and weapons, curing her wounds and enhancing her attacks. Several foes fall and all but Daj and Marc manage to make it out of the caverns. The fishmen that dare to enter the region outside without magically-maintained, natural darkness are quickly perforated with arrow fire from Dor, the hobbit sherrif waiting on the banks.
But, unfortunately, as a group goes back to save the heroic dwarven maid, the last thing they see is her body whisked off to the depths by the vile kuo-toan...
The survivors are distraught! Three more of their allies have fallen. While ten times that number of fishmen are dead, they are the invaders, not the quiet folk of Klarr!
Working with Dor, Alec manages to gather Stephanos and Todar, the two priests of Klarr. The Medegian and Norsk clerics of sunshine use their considerable spells to heal the survivors of the previous assault. Without their spells, however, Esmerelda and Cliffy will be of no help. The group wakes Jasmine, who hasn't quite had enough sleep to recover ALL her spells, but enough to be of help with her lesser ones. Each party member gets a free action and water breathing spell and joined by Shloopadoopie they re-enter the caverns.
Using a subtle act of distraction and guile, the charmed kuo-toan priest enters the chamber without battle by claiming that he has escaped and brought with him one of the human children (the hobbit sherrif, Dor; not at ALL happy to be underwater, spell or no!). With this momentary distraction, Jasmine, polymorphed into the shape of a pixie zips into the room and casts bodyguard. The effects are quite intense!
Nearly half of the kuo-toa join the houri's side. As Alex reaches the chamber and begins to fight, Dor, under the effects of a water walking spell as well, pops to the surface and begins unleashing arrow after arrow into those fishmen not ensorcelled by Jasmine's spell. A few kuo-toa manage to reach the houri-turned-pixie, thereby setting off the bodyguard and forcing fishman to battle fishman to the death for Jasmine's safety! Reinforcements arrive, but three such spells in a row prove to take out all but the most powerful of the fishmen. It is Dor who uses his arrows (and potion of invulnerability, free action, and water walking) to rain death from above (literally, since he's attacking from above the surface of the water) on these potent foes. And, no longer hampered by the water, Alec uses his rod of smiting to deadly effect...!
Within a few minutes, all of the kuo-toa are dead. Using their healing magics, the heroes continue on. They reach the outskirts of an ancient city, somewhat like those of the Medegians but clearly distinct and unrelated. Within another chamber are a small group of watchers. A powerful monk-fishman, a monitor, attempts to slaughter the party, but Jasmine uses her golden lion figurine to keep him busy long enough for her final bodyguard spell, thereby turning the tide. Dor, meanwhile, kills anything that seems to have shaken the houri's spell. Alec is wounded, but tends to his injuries. Two kuo-toan bolt and Jasmine sics her now-charmed monitor on these two so as not to sound an alarm. Alas, but it doesn't work.
The rest of the party is forced to fall back so that Jasmine can let her [i[bodyguard[/i] spell lapse. It does and she pretty ruthlessly kills the lot. She can hear combat in the distance (the monitor has run into trouble!) and so returns to her friends in the dark. Only 30' from them, ANOTHER monitor arrives...and attacks!
Dor unleashes the last of his (silver) arrows into the creature before being force to draw his short sword (*gulp!*). The fishman dropped Jas, but Alec pulls her back and uses the last of his cure light wounds spells to save the "White Witch". She tries several of her spells on the monitor, but to no avail. Alec joins Dor only to fall as well. Dor NEARLY finished the monitor before he too falls. During this time Jasmine has used her enchanted cloak to assume the form of a winter wolf. A blast of arctic ice freezes the fishman's blood and he falls VERY dead. Using the last of her own spells, Jasmine revives her two comrades (Shloopadoopie having been ripped to pieces as a traitor in the previous fight) and together they all limp out, empty-handed...
Helga and Dajamira lead Cliffy, Alec, and Esmerelda into the cave. As the heroes are about to enter, Marc shows up, having walked much of the night to reach Klarr before Mikhail. Using more of Esmerelda's water breathing spells, the spell-casters are able to function mostly-effectively. But, the best laid plans...
In the first combat, a highly-skilled kuo-toa harpoons Daj and carries her off into the swarming mass of fishmen. Cliffy and Esmerelda lob sleep after sleep into the mass, but the kuo-toa are too powerful and too numerous. A slow from the elf nearly saves the half-dryad, but Helga and Alec cannot seem to land a single blow!
Marc kills several fishmen and uses his chainmail gauntlet to steal much of the life-force of the kuo-toan leader. A shortsword to the gut finishes him off! Marc is doing quite well, but he alone is making headway. One by one, the other heroes are seriously wounded. Finally, Esmerelda retreats back to the surface for help. It's at this point that Marc falls. The witch returns with a seal -- Rhiannon has invoked one of her runes to help rescue the party and act (once again!) as a rescue swimmer. But it's too late for the beastmaster; the heroes seem a half dozen fishmen swarm over him and carry him off.
Helga nobly and heroically acts as the party's rear-guard -- a nearly-suicidal act that unexpectedly invokes a magical talisman the mountain dwarf had...suddenly, the power of Haela Brightaxe infuses Helga's body and weapons, curing her wounds and enhancing her attacks. Several foes fall and all but Daj and Marc manage to make it out of the caverns. The fishmen that dare to enter the region outside without magically-maintained, natural darkness are quickly perforated with arrow fire from Dor, the hobbit sherrif waiting on the banks.
But, unfortunately, as a group goes back to save the heroic dwarven maid, the last thing they see is her body whisked off to the depths by the vile kuo-toan...
The survivors are distraught! Three more of their allies have fallen. While ten times that number of fishmen are dead, they are the invaders, not the quiet folk of Klarr!
Working with Dor, Alec manages to gather Stephanos and Todar, the two priests of Klarr. The Medegian and Norsk clerics of sunshine use their considerable spells to heal the survivors of the previous assault. Without their spells, however, Esmerelda and Cliffy will be of no help. The group wakes Jasmine, who hasn't quite had enough sleep to recover ALL her spells, but enough to be of help with her lesser ones. Each party member gets a free action and water breathing spell and joined by Shloopadoopie they re-enter the caverns.
Using a subtle act of distraction and guile, the charmed kuo-toan priest enters the chamber without battle by claiming that he has escaped and brought with him one of the human children (the hobbit sherrif, Dor; not at ALL happy to be underwater, spell or no!). With this momentary distraction, Jasmine, polymorphed into the shape of a pixie zips into the room and casts bodyguard. The effects are quite intense!
Nearly half of the kuo-toa join the houri's side. As Alex reaches the chamber and begins to fight, Dor, under the effects of a water walking spell as well, pops to the surface and begins unleashing arrow after arrow into those fishmen not ensorcelled by Jasmine's spell. A few kuo-toa manage to reach the houri-turned-pixie, thereby setting off the bodyguard and forcing fishman to battle fishman to the death for Jasmine's safety! Reinforcements arrive, but three such spells in a row prove to take out all but the most powerful of the fishmen. It is Dor who uses his arrows (and potion of invulnerability, free action, and water walking) to rain death from above (literally, since he's attacking from above the surface of the water) on these potent foes. And, no longer hampered by the water, Alec uses his rod of smiting to deadly effect...!
Within a few minutes, all of the kuo-toa are dead. Using their healing magics, the heroes continue on. They reach the outskirts of an ancient city, somewhat like those of the Medegians but clearly distinct and unrelated. Within another chamber are a small group of watchers. A powerful monk-fishman, a monitor, attempts to slaughter the party, but Jasmine uses her golden lion figurine to keep him busy long enough for her final bodyguard spell, thereby turning the tide. Dor, meanwhile, kills anything that seems to have shaken the houri's spell. Alec is wounded, but tends to his injuries. Two kuo-toan bolt and Jasmine sics her now-charmed monitor on these two so as not to sound an alarm. Alas, but it doesn't work.
The rest of the party is forced to fall back so that Jasmine can let her [i[bodyguard[/i] spell lapse. It does and she pretty ruthlessly kills the lot. She can hear combat in the distance (the monitor has run into trouble!) and so returns to her friends in the dark. Only 30' from them, ANOTHER monitor arrives...and attacks!
Dor unleashes the last of his (silver) arrows into the creature before being force to draw his short sword (*gulp!*). The fishman dropped Jas, but Alec pulls her back and uses the last of his cure light wounds spells to save the "White Witch". She tries several of her spells on the monitor, but to no avail. Alec joins Dor only to fall as well. Dor NEARLY finished the monitor before he too falls. During this time Jasmine has used her enchanted cloak to assume the form of a winter wolf. A blast of arctic ice freezes the fishman's blood and he falls VERY dead. Using the last of her own spells, Jasmine revives her two comrades (Shloopadoopie having been ripped to pieces as a traitor in the previous fight) and together they all limp out, empty-handed...