~ The Quest for the Ring of Fire
Command: [Home] [Previous
Turn] [Next Turn] ~
Turn 157.0: Confronting Covarc
Posted: 7/16/01
As
Emma addresses him--a bit differently than before--Hannibal stands and stares,
a little dumb struck at first. He
wanted to speak, wanted to say thanks or anything, but the words and the
ability to speak them elude him. A
sharp pain pierced his heart and slowly crept out to every part of his body.
What was that feeling?! Why could he
not breathe? Embarrassed, Hannibal
turns to readying himself for the upcoming battle. Drawing his sword, he feels the weight and he gives it a simple
spin in his hand, a move he had practiced to perfection over the years...only
this time the blade falls from his hand and clatters noisily across the floor.
"Damn!"
he curses as he bends over and retrieves his sword. Looking up, he sees the curious stares of some of the
others. Smiling, "Sorry."
Startled
by the noise, Emma looks in Hannibal's direction. With a frown and shake of her head, she clearly cautions the
thief against any more carelessness, not realizing the nervous thoughts on his
mind. Her attention immediately comes
back to the task at hand.
Suddenly
Hannibal is very nervous, jittery even.
He is flushed and hot and the room seems to be creeping in all around
him. Casually he moves up with the rest
of the group and finds a place standing next to Canter. Not in many years had he felt so nervous
before a battle...it was a sensation he was entirely uncomfortable with!
He
leans in and bumps the fighter.
"You look a little less easy today friend, anything of consequence?"
Canter
turns to look at Hannibal. With a soft
smile he replies, "Our challenges become more and more difficult,
Hannibal. I fear one day we will not be
strong enough to overcome them. And I
pray to whatever gods may listen that today is not that day."
"Don't
worry friend, you're too lucky to die here." Quietly Hannibal decides not to share his thoughts with the
leatherman's son. Canter had taught him
a great deal over the last few weeks in swordplay and proper defense. He was one of the best warriors Hannibal had
ever known and needed his thoughts to be clear for the battle ahead. Quietly, Hannibal waited.
Crayne
smiles for a moment and then reopens his eyes.
As the Clairaudience spell's duration comes to a close he turns his
attention back to the party. Moving
away from the portal he addresses the group in a quiet, but assertive
voice. "I have some information
which will help us!" He says as the rest of the group look on in
anticipation.
Emma
waves her hands and shushes the rest of the party so that everyone will listen
carefully to what Crayne has to say.
The wizard would no doubt have a wealth of information to share with
them. She smiles as she watches him
grow animated with the telling.
"I
overheard a conversation between Covarc and somebody called Skahg. It appears there are five of them - Covarc,
Skahg, Rynn, Jurpon and..." Crayne pauses for a moment trying to remember
the fifth name, "...Sark, that was it! My guess is that Skahg, Jurpon and Covarc are located up on the
bridge. Rynn and Sark are located on
the chamber floor. Covarc has cloaked
the area with what I can only presume to be an area invisibility spell. Their plan is to wait for all of us to go
through the portal and then Covarc is going to encircle us with flame. Also, Covarc knows I have the Ring of Water
Command. Furthermore, they still do
not know how we activated the portal. I
believe the mage will not try and kill all of us. I think he needs one of us at least to find out what we have
learned. That, at least, should be in
our favour. We must now act quickly
before suspicion arises. One of them
has seen me near the portal!"
Emma's
lips draw together in a determined line.
"They'll know we're about to exit then," she says, clearly
worried that they might have given away the advantage of surprise. "We'll need to be ready for
them..."
Crayne
pauses and then says quickly, "I have an idea! I will cast myself invisible and then cast Spectral Force. I will create an illusionary image of the
party and I will send the illusions through the portal. With my invisibility I can just lean my head
forward into the portal so I can see into the next chamber. Thus, I will be able to maintain the
illusion making it appear as if the illusions are coming through the
portal. Adding a few sounds for
realistic measure hopefully the mage will fall for it. He has no reason not to. It is clear that he assumes we do not know
of his presence. Acting on that factor
this spell should work. Hopefully with
the illusion in place Covarc will cast his fire spell, dispelling his
invisibility. Depending on how quickly
Covarc catches on it is then we should make our attack.
"We
are going to need long range weapons if three of them are up on the
bridge. The fours statues should
provide us with some good cover. I hope
to stop the mage Covarc from casting any spells with my two Magic Missile
spells. If he does go for another
Lightning Bolt then my spells should interrupt his spellcasting for they are
easier and quicker to cast. Remember,
if things go badly we can regroup through the portal."
Storm's
head soon begins to swim with all the conversation back and forth. Eventually, he says the only thing which
really concerns him. "Arrr,
whatever we be doin', lets do it quick!
I be gettin' bored..." he kicks around a large chunk of guardian
statue remains to keep himself occupied.
Storm plans to do whatever he's asked, invisible or no, just as long as
he doesn't have to wait too much longer. Patience was never really one of his
virtues...
Emma's
eyes dance as Crayne suggests using his illusion to possibly preserve the
element of surprise. "Good
thinking, Highbrow!" she encourages him.
Having seen the wizard successfully cast his Clairaudience enchantment
through the portal, she has no doubt that his illusion will work as well.
She frowns though as she considers that Covarc
and two of his men might be stationed upon the bridge. "We're faced with the same dilemma we
put Covarc and his men in when we attacked them from the high ground," she
comments, "We'd need to devise a better way out of such a trap than they
did. Do we have the means to climb back
up to the bridge? Or are ranged weapons
all we'll have available to us?"
The priestess resheathes her broadsword and begins to remove her short
bow, preparing to re-string the weapon and have it ready.
Crayne
then turns to Amos the priest, "I suggest you stay here Amos unless you do
have something you can offer us offensively." Crayne looks to Emma for a small moment, "Pray for us Amos,
for I believe your words might well help us in a place as holy as
this!" Crayne taps Amos on the
shoulder and smiles.
"I
agree Amos," Emma says, "The battle ahead is no place for one of your
talents. Stay here where it's
safe. If something should happen to
us...maybe you'll be able to escape and warn your fellow priests. Watch us through the portal and when you see
your chance, take it."
Crayne
then turns to Hannibal, "Hannibal I have some poisoned darts here. Take two of them for they may come in
handy. I will now cast you invisible as
you requested. Use it wisely though for
it will dispel as soon as you attack."
Turning
to Storm Hannibal winks and smiles. "Keep your head down buddy."
"Me
head down?" Storm replies, "I be a dwarf! I be crawling under yer legs an' ye don't even know
it!" He laughs, sending spittle
all over the surrounding area.
Crayne
then turns to Emma, "Can you summon that animal spirit up onto the bridge
up there? It would assist us greatly if
you could!"
Hannibal
says, "It sounds like this mage is far off, possibly on the bridge. If Emma's animal can keep them busy, I think
I can get up to him and make good use of your darts, Mage Crayne." Hannibal then slips the poisoned darts into
his belt. He regards the darts
strangely for a short while at first, almost as if apprehensive of using poison
even after using it on Bernigan so many weeks ago.
Emma
shakes her head.
"Crayne...Hannibal..." she begins, "When I summon the
animal spirit, it has to stay near my side.
Any further and it will lose its connection to me and vanish. The height of the bridge is too far for me
to send it there. We'll have to find
another way to get to them. Can we climb
up? Crayne, do you have any levitation
spells left?" She hefts her
re-strung short bow, and finishes, "Or is this all we have?"
Hannibal
regards this information with no emotion on his face. "So be it then, I do it alone. I will see if I can find footholds along the wall and make my way
up to him...that is if he is indeed on the bridge. Were I him, that is where I would be."
"Crayne?"
Emma continues, "I'd suggest you let Hannibal go out first. He'll be invisible...and more stealthy than
you. He ought to at least slip by
Covarc's men around the portal...and even start finding a way to climb up to
the bridge. After that, you can send
your illusions through and see if Covarc tries to trap them. At the very least, you ought to fool his men
on the cavern floor...and we can surprise them when we really come out.
"Once
we're out there," she says, "Crayne and I will concentrate on
Covarc. If we're somehow surrounded by
his flame despite Crayne's best efforts to fool him, I'll try to dispel it. In the meantime, Crayne can hit Covarc with
whatever he has available...and the rest of you should be doing the same to his
men...whether it's the ones on the floor or the ones on the bridge."
Hannibal
nods his agreement.
"Hannibal? Get your rope and grapple ready," she
says, "If you don't use it, we'll try it ourselves. One way or another, we need to get up on
that bridge and stop the Caerloon archers...and Covarc. I'll climb up first. If Covarc tries to use his lightning to stop
me, it won't have any effect. If the
archers try to fire on me, I'll climb up fast enough to summon an animal spirit
to keep them busy. Hopefully, that'll
prevent them from cutting the rope, too.
By the time they've dealt with the animal spirit, I'll be up there among
them and the rest of you can climb up after me."
Hannibal
shakes his head and offers a crooked smile.
"My grapple and rope currently lie at the bottom of that bottomless
pit...with the statue, that is."
He points down the pit next to him.
"If someone wants to give me their rope though, I will bring it
with me when I scale the bridge and drop it
down to any who want to join me." Hannibal shrugs here. "Although by then I think things will
be a moot point. Better to leave you
all on ground level and let me worry about Covarc on the bridge. If I can get in close without him detecting
me then he won't have a chance."
Storm
grunts and tosses his rope and hook to Hannibal. "Don't ye lose it. I
already lost one to stinkin' goblins. I
ain't wanting to lost another to a stinky human! Hehaha HA!" Storm laughs at his own joke quite fiercely,
even if no one laughs with him.
"If
at any time any of you get seriously wounded or paralyzed or something,"
Emma finishes, "I've beseeched Anhur to provide me with at least some
power to help remedy those situations.
I may need the healing power for myself once I get up on the
bridge...but somebody call out and let me know what's going on, so I can be as
helpful as possible. This is going to
be a team effort. So we all need to
stay sharp and support what each of us is doing."
Hannibal
allows his thoughts to wander back to lying on the ground, after Covarc's
lightning bolt had run it's course. He
thinks of being that banged up again, a thought that makes him shudder; but he
is determined nonetheless.
"Anyone
have anything to add?" the Shield Maiden she asks.
Crayne
pauses for a moment and then smiles at her, "Thank you for your words
earlier, Emma. I don't know about you
but it is so much better when we are friends." Crayne nods his head at the warrior priestess, "May your god
look over you in this battle and see you through it."
"Thanks,
Crayne," Emma grins, "Indeed...it is a lot better. And friends we'll be...standing together at
the end when this is all over. Let's
make sure we work together and Covarc won't stand a chance."
Crayne
nods, then turns to Storm. "Keep
close to me Storm! I will need your
help if I am going to get through this!"
"Indeed,"
Emma agrees, "Crayne and I will need to have our concentration
uninterrupted if we're going to be able to face Covarc. Make sure those Caerloon lackeys stay away
from us."
Storm
nods, glad to hear that they are closer to actually starting the battle. They had surely talked for long enough!
Then
addressing everyone Crayne finally says, "Good luck everyone! Let us show this Covarc the might and power
that Rinder's Six wields!"
Hannibal
approaches Crayne. "Mage Crayne,
if you could cast your scorcery I am ready." Turning to Storm prior, "I will go first, using my abilities
to sneak to ensure that the wizard has laid neither traps nor cantrips to
detect us. If he does detect me, I will
evade and draw his attention as long as
possible for you to clear the portal as
well...agreed?"
Storm
nods in agreement.
Finally
Hannibal looks up and smiles. "Let's do this!"
Rubbing
his hands together, Crayne begins to cast his spells. He casts Hannibal invisible, then casts his second Invisibility
spell on himself. Finally, he prepares
himself to cast Spectral Force, the spell necessary to effect the illusion of
the party.
Emma
softly grunts like a warrior.
"Time to face the music, eh, Amos?" she smiles, "This is
one tune I'm going to like dancing to..."
She looks at where Crayne and Hannibal were standing last, saying,
"We'll wait here until we receive some kind of signal that you're ready
for us to come out. And when we do,
it'll be with all the fury we can muster..."
As
they begin the wait, Emma proceeds to intone the prayer that would weave the
divine power of Anhur around her body.
If Covarc chose to loose his lightning in this battle, it would find no
way to penetrate the shield. Hopefully,
she could draw his fire and get the wizard to waste the attack on her. One way or another, this encounter was going
to be full of surprises for Covarc. She
smiles again, relishing the thought of catching her enemy off-guard. Anhur would be pleased.
"Okay,"
Hannibal's voice says, "Got my rope and hook. I'm not sure how easy it's going to be to climb that wall, so I'm
going to leave my armor here. It's a
risk, yes, but I'm no good against Covarc if I can't get up to him." There is a moment of silence, then. "Okay, here I go..."
With
a small flash, Hannibal's invisible body is through the portal.
On
the other side, Hannibal takes a deep breath, checking out the lay of the land
and the situation. All seemed normal:
the statues were in the same position as when he and the party had activated
the portal, and there was no outward sign of the area having been disturbed in
any way. In fact, the dust and cobwebs
on the floor are consistent with a place long-since abandoned, such as the
Ancient Chambers.
Carefully
and slowly, Hannibal begins to creep around one of the statues. There!
He notices the body of one of Covarc's lackeys waiting patiently, hidden
in the shadows on the far side of the statue.
'And I'm willing to bet there's one more down here, too,' the thief
thinks to himself. With a quick glance,
he looks up to the bridge. It is too
dark at the moment to make out any figures clearly, but he does suspicion he
can see at least one figure.
Focusing
on the task at hand, Hannibal moves as quietly as he can from the portal to the
side wall, staying in the shadows as best he can but thankful for Crayne's
invisibility. Finally, he makes it to
the wall. Holding Storm's grappling
hook in hand, he scours the wall-face with his eyes, looking for the best route
up. He digs the hook's sharp edges into
the rock and the crevices between rock formations. It is slow going, and the trip begins straining muscles
long-since neglected, but Hannibal is well on his way to the bridge when Crayne
begins casting Spectral Force.
On
the other side of the portal, Mage Crayne (also invisible) brings to life
before him the illusion of Rinder's Six: himself, Canter, Elloharin the Dimmed,
Emma, Hannibal, Skandor, and Storm of the Strongblade Clan all seem to appear
out of thin air, their clothing, features and weapons all identical to their
true selves.
Canter
chuckles and smiles at the image Crayne brings forth. "We are a handsome lot..." he jests quietly.
Skandor
shoots the fighter a stern look, silently urging him to maintain his
concentration. Nodding to the Sword
Bearer, Canter's composure melds into one of seriousness and focus.
"Here
we go..." Crayne's voice sounds, a bit strained as the mage concentrates
intently on maintaining the illusion as accurately as he can. For Covarc to be fooled, Crayne knows, it's
going to have to be sharp.
The
illusionary party begins to move, Skandor first, toward the portal. They are surprisingly lifelike, and the
sounds of their feet striking the stone floor as they amble toward and into the
portal is surprisingly true. Crayne
waits for the last illusionary image to pass through the portal, then he
himself leans through, keeping his feet and legs on the side of Kilner's Vault,
and his chest and head through on the side with Covarc.
Crayne
can see the image of himself, the last to have passed through ahead of him, as
his own eyes come into focus on the other side. Much to his surprise, the image was, for just the slightest of
seconds, a bit blurry to the eye!
Crayne's eyes shoot wide open; could the images have been somehow
affected when they passed through the portal, one at a time, before he himself
leaned through?! There was no time to
stop and consider the question, Crayne knows, for the plan must proceed. It was not yet clear whether Covarc had seen
the images blur and Crayne was sure he would continue until forced to do
otherwise.
Breathing
hard, Hannibal strains to reach the bridge.
He is so close, but a few feet away.
The hook had come in handy, digging into the rock just enough for him to
stay attached to the wall and climb.
With a slight grunt, the thief makes contact with the bridge, grabbing
it with his left hand and swinging his weight around--like he had done many
times before, many moons ago--so he can pull himself up. As he lands on the bridge, he secures the
hook, slowly letting the rope glide down in the shadows to the floor
below. As it extends, he can see it
become visible, but it doesn't seem to attract any attention. The two on the cavern floor remain in their
positions, awaiting the wall of flame, and Covarc and his two men on the bridge
(who Hannibal can now see) do not notice, either.
Hannibal
does, however, notice their conversation:
"Hmm..."
Covarc's voice echoes, almost a hum.
"What
is it?" Skahg asks the Red Dragon Mage.
"There
is something..." Covarc's voice drifts off as he narrows his eyes,
watching the illusionary party below gather around the portal. "I detect a magic here."
Skahg
nods, "Of course, sir, your own."
"No,"
Covarc contends, "there is a new magical force present. I am sure of it."
Crayne
keeps his head and chest through the portal, concentrating on the illusion he
has created. But soon he feels a
pressure on his chest and a pain in his head.
As if something was pushing on him.
'The portal?' he wonders to himself.
As he maintains his position, the force upon his body and the pain in
his head grows stronger.
'If
he doesn't fall for the illusion,' Hannibal thinks to himself, crouching in the
shadows in the corner of the bridge near the door to the chamber with the dead
giant scorpion, 'then this whole thing is about to go south...'
"Tell
Rynn and Sark to hold off their attack, I suspect we are being deceived,"
Covarc's says to Skahg, who stands beside him.
There is a third man on the other side of the mage (Jurpon).
But
before the message can be relayed, the two men below are already moving out and
around from their positions behind the statues. One is armed with a loaded and cocked crossbow, the other with a
longsword. "Drop your
weapons!" Rynn orders the illusion.
Crayne
is surprised by the sudden appearance of Rynn and Sark. 'What about the wall of flame?' the mage
asks himself, wincing in pain as the pressure on his body continues to mount
and the piercing pain in his head grows stronger--approaching unbearable.
"What's
happening?" Skandor asks aloud.
There is no audible answer, for Crayne cannot hear Skandor through the
portal, it seems.
"I
can't be sure," Emma finally answers.
"But..." she leans around in front of the portal, doing her
best to peer through it in the hopes of discovering the situation. "I can see Crayne's illusion, I
think. And who is that?" she
asks. Then it dawns on her. "That must be one of Covarc's men. But I don't see any flame, I don't
think!"
Hannibal,
meanwhile, begins to creep forward, staying as quiet as he can. He hasn't yet unsheathed his sword, for if
he can get close enough, he considers, perhaps one of Crayne's poisoned daggers
might come in handy. He makes good progress
across the bridge as the scene between Rynn, Sark, and the illusionary party
unfolds below. Soon the thief is about
fifteen feet away from Covarc (that would make him about twelve feet from
Skahg), and yet undetected. He weighs
his options. He could sneak up for a
good shot now. Or he could wait until
he can catch Covarc casting a spell. In
either case, he could attempt to backstab the mage, which would make him
immediately visible and armorless. Or
he could try and throw the dart, which would still render him visible but at
least keep some more distance between himself and the mage and his two
bodyguards. He bites his lip, thinking.
"Put
your weapons on the floor and kick them to me!" Sark orders the illusions,
raising his crossbow and pointing it at Emma (not knowing that it is merely an
image of Emma).
Crayne
knows he must make the next move with the illusions, but the pressure on his
chest and the pain in his head are becoming too much for him. (1 hp damage) 'And where is the flame?!'
1. HP Status:
Canter: 30/44, Crayne: 23/16, Elloharin: 24/30, Emma: 22/47, Hannibal:
20/29, Skandor: 20/38, Storm: 22/50.
2.
CRAYNE has the following spells memorized:
(all
1st level) Magic Missile (x2), Color Spray, Detect Magic
3. EMMA
has the following spells memorized:
1st:
Cure Light Wounds
2nd:
Remove Paralysis
3rd:
Dispel Magic, Summon Animal Spirit
4.
ELLOHARIN has the following spells memorized:
1st:
Feather Fall, Wall of Fog
2nd:
Blindness
5.
HANNIBAL and CRAYNE are currently invisible. EMMA is currently protected from lightning. She will remain protected until turn 164.0 OR
until the spell has absorbed 70 points of electrical damage, whichever comes
first. CRAYNE is currently maintaining
the Spectral Force illusion, and is partly in Kilner's Vault and partly in the
chamber with Covarc. Note that he is
under a significant amount of physical stress (the reason is so far unclear),
which is growing. HANNIBAL is up on the
bridge (having successfully scaled the wall but left his armor in Kilner's
Vault in order to do so), 15 feet from Covarc and 12 from Skahg. He is so far undetected, it appears. He has set the rope near the wall so that
others can climb up after him.
CANTER,
ELLOHARIN (and his Gem of Seeing), EMMA, SKANDOR, STORM, and AMOS continue to
wait on the Kilner's Vault-side of the portal.
Only
Hannibal has heard Covarc and Skahg's conversation. Crayne can see clearly that there is currently no wall of flame,
and Emma can see through the very blurry portal that there is currently no wall
of flame.
~ The Quest for the Ring of Fire
Command: [Home] [Previous
Turn] [Next Turn] ~
Turn 157.3: Battling Covarc
Posted: 7/22/01
(157.1)
Emma
quickly ducks back out of sight, away from in front of the portal. She didn't want her blurry image giving
anyone outside an idea that Crayne's illusion was anything other than what
appeared to be. Besides, the Highbrow
or Hannibal would let them know when it was time.
Storm
gets more and more giddy, beginning as soon as Crayne sends his illusions
through. By the time the mage turns and
tells them what happened, Storm is literally hopping from foot to foot with
both of his swords held tightly in hand.
Before he can ask what happened in the other cavern, Crayne turns to him
and informs the group of just that information.
Crayne
grits his teeth as the pain in his head grows stronger. He quickly surmises that the illusions had
failed to trick the mage Covarc for whatever reasons. However, he had managed to trick two of Covarc's men and the
opportunity which now presented itself was just too good a one. Seeing Rynn and Sark, Crayne focuses his
mind blocking the pain out for a few moments and casts a Color Spray. The brilliant fan of colors stretches forth
from the Highbrow's instantly-visible hand, just inches in front of the portal
within the large oval chamber. Sark's
eyes grow wide at the sudden flash, but he dives aside, rolling away and saving
himself from Crayne's blast.
Rynn,
however, is not so lucky. He is struck
by the colorful blast head-on. The
impact throws his head back, and as his body falls backwards to the cavern,
floor, the loud clashing of his longsword fills the room as it clangs against
the ground, dropped by its wielder.
Within seconds Rynn's body is unconscious next to one of the statues,
effectively knocked out for a while.
Crayne
then quickly pokes his head back through the portal hopefully relieving the
pressure. Though he can feel the
pressure ease, keeping his head and upper body through the portal even to cast
Color Spray placed considerable strain Crayne, both mentally and
physically. (1 hp damage to Crayne)
The
mage then immediately addresses the group:
"The illusion has failed to trick Covarc. Although it did manage to trick two of his men on the chamber
floor. I have cast a Color Spray and
hopefully knocked at least one of them out." He looks to Storm and Canter, "As soon as you get through
the portal finish those two men off.
One has a long sword and the other has a crossbow. If we deal with those two quickly we can
focus our attention on the bridge."
"Right,"
Canter replies, nodding to Crayne. He
then glances at Storm, and seeing the dwarf ready for battle, he tightens his
grip on his own trusty blade.
Crayne
turns back to the group. "Covarc
has failed to spot Hannibal. By now I
should imagine Hannibal is on the bridge.
Let us just hope that he is patient and chooses the right moment to strike.
Is everybody ready?" Crayne asks and then adds, "Remember! Use the statues for cover! And if you are in serious trouble go back
through the portal. From where Covarc
is, there is no way he can trouble us if we go back through the portal. Good luck everybody!"
Emma
prepares herself as best she can, assuming that Crayne's use of Color Spray
would be seen to emerge from the portal rather than his illusionary
double. Covarc would probably be ready
for them now. 'May Anhur guide your
hand, Hannibal,' she prays, setting forth to follow her comrades though the
gate.
Emerging
on the other side, Emma's first thoughts are to survey the battlefield. She needed to know what they were
facing. Where was Covarc...and what
about his circle of fire that he had promised to use? She spotted Skandor, Storm, and Canter rushing toward the
Caerloon soldiers just inside the circle of light cast the portal. Turning away from them, she moved to take
cover behind a statue. She knocked an
arrow and searched the bridge for a target, equally prepared to follow Crayne's
lead and respond to whatever magic Covarc might try to rain down upon
them. She also tried to locate the rope
Hannibal had used to scale his way up to them.
'I
hope he made it up there okay,' she thinks to herself. Her eyes quickly scan the scene. One of the Caerloon soldiers on the floor
was down--probably by Crayne's spell, though she didn't want to take the time
to check. Canter and Storm were rushing
the other, and that would hopefully keep him busy. Then her eyes once again drift toward the bridge. It was hard to see, but she can just barely
make out a shape or two. Or was that
three?
Storm
barely hears the last part of Crayne's instructions as he rushes towards the
gate. He acknowledges Crayne's
instructions and warnings about the other side of the portal with a typical
Storm grunt, then lunges through the portal.
As he emerges on the other side (grateful that he found himself
where he expected to), he takes a quick look
around, spots the nearest Caerloon soldier (Sark), and runs right toward him
swords flailing. It takes all his
effort to stifle the battle cry he feels growing in his gut, for he doesn't
want to make it easy to see him until it doesn't matter any more.
Sark
catches Storm's silhouette against the glow of the portal as the dwarf emerges
and turns on him. Clearly, they had
been fooled by Rinder's Six's mage.
"An illusion!!" Sark calls out loudly for his comrades. "Do not be foo--!" he cannot
finish his warning as Storm barrels down on him, twin swords swooshing wildly
through the cavern's stale air. With a
duck, twist, and roll, Sark manages to avoid the first of the swords, but he
cannot evade the second. Storm's long
sword clips Sark's arm (the one not holding the crossbow), sending a wave of
pain up the arm as the blade breaks the skin.
Still, Sark was a tough fighter, conditioned by years of loyal service
to his kingdom, and he would not let Caerloon down.
Canter
follows on Storm's heels, watching as Sark contorts every which way to avoid
Storm's lethal blows. When he spots his
chance, he pounces, slashing at the crossbow-toting enemy with his bastard
sword. He manages to get off two attacks;
the first one hits, opening up a large gash in Sark's exposed skin, but the
second misses, striking the statue around which they battle.
Meanwhile,
above on the bridge, Hannibal stays low, creeping in behind Covarc as best he
can while still avoiding Skahg. He
wants to get as close as he can to Covarc without risking accidentally running
into Skahg or the other man, Jurpon.
Crouching down, he prepares the three darts in his left hand, ready to
throw them at a moments notice. His
sword he holds in his right hand, ready to spring. Sweat trickles down the thief's forehead as he watches the three
men, not ten feet from himself. He knew
a great deal of their success counted
on his own ingenuity and ability to strike.
'Ironic,' he thought to
himself while he waited to pounce, that the very
life he had fallen into after his failure would be the one that best prepared
him for this moment of success. Some
decisions in life would never come easy!
Down
below, Skandor rushes toward Sark, joining Canter and Storm in battling
Sark. "Canter, arm yourself with
your bow and steal us some cover from the mage. Storm and I will handle this one!" With that, the paladin launches himself at Sark. The Caerloon soldier ducks and rolls around
the statue, however, escaping harm.
Elloharin,
the last to come through the portal (leaving Amos behind), quickly grabs the
Gem of Seeing from his pocket and holds it up to his eye. Carefully, he scans the room, looking for
anything strange or unusual. Instantly
he can see the strange magical glow from the illusionary Rinder's Six, but for
the moment he sees nothing else noteworthy.
Watching
the battle begin below, Covarc speaks to the two men beside him. "Foolish Rynn, felled by a Color
Spray."
"Sark
will not last long alone down there, sir," Jurpon says, intently watching
as Sark throws his crossbow aside and draws his own short sword.
"Is
it time, sir?" Skahg asks.
"I
think it is," Covarc replies, his voice low. Then, he begins to intone some strange words, his voice taking on
a completely new prosody. Hannibal's
eyes immediately narrow, for he knows exactly what those new words mean. Stowing the darts back in his belt, he
starts for Covarc's back, rushing forward as fast as he can. With impressive force, Hannibal plunges his
sword into Covarc's back, tearing through the mage's thick robe. Covarc lets out a furious scream as the pain
courses through his back, but soon finds himself with an even bigger problem as
his body is thrown off the bridge with the force of the blow.
Hannibal,
now instantly visible, watches as Covarc's body tumbles from the bridge, sent
on a long journey to the cavern floor below.
"What
the--?" Skahg yells as Covarc's body is thrown off the bridge, and
standing in it's place is the thief Hannibal.
Grinding his teeth, Skahg reaches for his long sword, sheathed at his side,
and with one fluid motion yanks it out and slashes at Hannibal's unarmored
body. The sword slices through the from
of the thief's shirt and into his chest.
Hannibal can feel the warmth of his own blood as it seeps through to the
surface of the wound. (5 hp damage)
Jurpon
doesn't even say anything, he simply grabs his mace from his belt and moves on
Hannibal. His blow arrives just after
Skahg's, pounding into Hannibal's right arm with tremendous force--and
tremendous pain. It takes all of
Hannibal's power to keep his grip on his own sword. (6 hp damage)
Meanwhile,
below, Sark (now armed with his short sword) retaliates, moving on Skandor as
he is the closest. Twirling the blade
in his hand, he doesn't even notice Covarc's fall, his concentration is so
intense. Smiling to the paladin, he
says, "This ought to be fun, for a little while..." Then he lunges at Skandor. But the paladin was ready, and with a quick
side-step and a block, he deflects the attack, readying himself for the next
move.
(157.2)
Crayne
then quickly casts Detect Magic. As he
goes through the chamber he looks for the deep red color of Covarc. Much to his surprise, he spots Covarc's
magical color careering off the bridge!
Smiling, he thinks to himself, 'Well done Hannibal! Well done!'
But then the rapidly falling spot of red slows well above the floor.
'I
had to be too good to be true...' Crayne thinks, assuming the Red Dragon mage
had somehow magically slowed his descent.
Now Covarc was floating down quite slowly. "Though he won't crash quite the same way when he hits the
floor, he does make a nice target..." Crayne murmurs to himself as he
plans his next move.
"He
is coming down, Emma!!" Crayne shouts to the Shield Maiden, who stands
ready with her bow under the cover of a nearby statue. "Hannibal pushed him from the bridge,
but he has slowed his fall! Prepare
yourself!"
Emma's
eyes immediately shift to the space below the bridge, frantically searching for
the mage before he can land safely and hit them with another magical
blast. Finally she spots a small object
floating down in the darkness.
"There you are, Covarc," she says quietly, "and here is
your welcoming party..." With
that, she raises her bow in front of her and launches two arrows into the
darkness, one followed by another. The
first one must have gone astray, for she can neither see nor hear any effect,
but the second one clearly hits, for she hears the blunted "umf!" of
Covarc as the arrow sinks into his skin.
How good of a hit, she cannot yet tell.
At
the same time, Storm moves again on Sark.
He is pleased as the first of his two swords hits successfully, but
grinds his teeth as the soldier deflects his second attack. Skandor then pushes his attack, striking the
soldier a glancing blow, but a blow nonetheless.
Canter,
seeing that Sark is occupied, readies his bow.
He then does his best to find a target on the bridge. He can make out three figures. 'One must be Hannibal, but which one?!' he
wonders. Then he sees the motions of
Skahg and Jurpon's attack, and he is sure that it is Hannibal getting pounded
in the middle. "I've got you
covered, Hannibal," the leatherman's son says under his breath as he fires
off two shots toward the enemies on the bridge. Unfortunately, judging by the lack of response from his targets,
he finds that his shots have missed.
Seeing
the crowd around Sark, El's eyes fall upon the unconscious Rynn. Reaching into his pack, he draws out a
length of rope, cutting from his large coil, and sets to binding the fallen
soldier's hands tightly behind his back so that when he does come around, he
won't be able to cause any more problems.
Reeling
from the two blows, Hannibal's head spins.
He shakes his violently, clearing his mind, and then takes a step back,
backpedaling toward to point of his ascent at the end of the bridge. He moves slowly, keeping his front toward
Skahg and Jurpon so as to keep a keen eye on them, and hopefully deflect the
attacks that are inevitable. He reaches
for the poisoned darts at his belt, given to him by Crayne, and removes one
with each hand. He flirted with the
idea of throwing all three, but figured it would be best keep at least one
close by. Then, with two quick motions,
he chucks the darts at Skahg, who leads the charge against him. The two darts miss, flying wide of Skahg and
over the side of the bridge into the darkness below.
Skahg
chuckles as he sees Hannibal's darts fly by.
"You'll need a little more than that to get me!" Then he jumps at the thief, sword in
hand. Skahg's blade pierces Hannibal's
shoulder, a sharp pain coursing through his arm. (4 hp damage) Jurpon's mace follows up the attack, but
Hannibal drops back and rolls, putting some distance between he and these two
soldiers...at least for the moment. He
looks aside quickly to judge the distance left until he reaches his rope--his
escape from this massacre!
Yanking
Emma's arrow from his thigh, Covarc throws it aside, hearing it strike the
stone and dirt floor of the cavern below.
His Feather Fall had saved his life, and now it was time to go on the
offensive. Spotting Emma in the glow of
the portal below, Covarc extends his hands before him, thumbs touching. After intoning a short group of arcane
words, a brilliant arc of flames shoot forth toward the priestess's position.
The
flames arrive like a wave from the ocean, sending Emma diving for cover to the
floor behind the statue. She just
manages to scream out, "Watch out!!" to her comrades nearby: El and
Canter. El hears her, feeling heat of
the onslaught as he scrambles for cover.
And although Canter hears it, he is just not quick enough or close
enough to cover to escape the brunt of the flame. As it roars through the scene, Canter is caught in the middle,
screaming in pain as the heat sears his skin.
He throws his bow down as it bursts into flames and falls backwards, his
backpack and his clothing on fire. (18 hp damage to Canter)
Emma
and El are hit, too, by Covarc's fire as it passes by. Emma's senses go wild as her feet and legs
are burned by the blaze, and El's right arm and leg are similarly hit by the
blast. (9 hp damage to Emma and El) The
elf curses aloud (in his native Elven) as the magical fire passes by. Emma bits her tongue, frantically emptying
her pack as it begins to smolder. 'It
was so fast, I didn't even have a chance to...' her thoughts are silenced as
she glances out at Canter, whose charred body lies nearby. Much to her relief, she sees him moving,
rolling aside and trying his best to stop the fire eating away at his clothing.
(157.3)
Crayne
smiles when Covarc shoots off the flame.
'Now I know exactly where you are!' he thinks. Turning his attention on the rival mage, he
quickly shoots off a Magic Missile spell, sending three green missiles at
Covarc's position. They strike one
after another, sending Covarc's body reeling backwards at it finishes its
descent. The three explosions highlight
his position, as well, and both El and Emma clearly spot the mage as he
recovers from Crayne's attack.
Struggling
to rise from his position, Canter slowly makes it to his feet. For a moment, his eyes lock with Emma. "You get the mage, I'll look after Hannibal!"
Canter shouts to the Shield Maiden.
Seeing her nod, he dashes off as quickly as his burned legs will take
him toward the end of the bridge toward which Hannibal was retreating. 'There must be a rope here somewhere...' he
thinks as he nears the spot. Finding
it, he begins to climb, knowing that every second could be the difference
between life and death for his armor-less friend.
Rising
from his own position, El turns his attention on Covarc just as the mage's feet
touch the floor. Pointing toward
Covarc's body, El begins to chant one of his own spells. "By the powers of darkness and light,
be blinded!" the elf says intensely.
He shakes his hand, finger extended, at Covarc, but the mage begins
moving toward the statues (and the melee) as if unaffected.
"Do
not trifle with me, Dimmed One!" Covarc's voice booms through the chamber.
Meanwhile,
Storm continues to attack Sark. With a
twirl and a powerful side-swiping move, the dwarf strikes Sark's short sword
from his hand, sending it crashing to the ground and sliding away. Then with the same motion and blade, he
sinks into the soldier. He follows up
the attack with the second sword, striking Sark hard. And then he lets out a terrible dwarven battle cry, his blood
boiling in a fantastic rush.
Skandor
is right next to Storm, and seeing the success of Storm's moves, he shifts
position for the killing blow. Swiftly
and strongly the paladin runs Sark through, dropping the body in one quick
motion. Sark dies almost instantly, and
over his dying body, as he exhales his dying breath, Skandor bows his head
slightly, whispering the words, "May Anhur judge you justly by your deeds
and be merciful upon your soul."
The Ritual of the Killing.
Emma
finishes nodding to Canter and sees him rush off in the dim light toward the
end of the bridge. Then she looks upon
Covarc's darkened body, her attention focused as he taunts El following the
elf's ineffective spell. 'It's a good
thing Hannibal has forced him down here, for I can summon Anhur's spirit to aid
us in the battle...but I fear the proximity may still spell trouble...' she
thinks.
Then,
she decides it is the right time.
Ducking back behind the nearby statue, she clutches her necklace and
prays. "Anhur beseech us,"
she says in hushed tones, "Send forth your animal spirit and aid us in
this battle..."
With
a sigh of relief, Emma feels the fine fur of the panther she had summoned as it
rubs up against her leg. Now, with one
more on Rinder's Six's side, perhaps they had the strength to bring this Red
Dragon renegade down.
Meanwhile,
on the bridge, Hannibal continues to backpedal, struggling to parry his
attackers' blows, counter their motions, and otherwise keep himself alive and
intact! Finally, he reaches the point
where he is close enough to jump for the rope.
With a high block and a kick, keeping Jurpon off-balance, the thief
turns his body and throws his weight.
Skahg leans after him, hoping for one more strike, but Hannibal is just
out of reach. He can feel the air rush
past him as he tumbles into the darkness, reaching out with hands and feet for
the rope he prays is still there.
Suddenly,
as if divinely inspired, his hand catches the rough hemp rope. Clutching on with all his strength, Hannibal
swings himself around, steadying himself on the rope about a third of the way
down from the bridge. Then, just as he
feel he has stabilized his position, he can feel the rope jerking beneath him.
"Hannibal!"
Canter's voice echoes off the nearby wall.
Hannibal
looks down, seeing Canter about ten feet below him, climbing up. "Canter!" he calls down, relieved
to have the reinforcements.
"Hannibal
watch out!" Canter screams back, pointing directly up.
Hannibal
whips his head around, looking straight up to the top of the rope, where the
grappling hook is lodged against a rock formation at the end of the
bridge. There stand Skahg and Jurpon,
knives out, preparing to go to work cutting the rope. He then whips his head down again, looking toward Canter below.
Meanwhile,
his feet firmly planted on the ground and having recovered from Crayne's Magic
Missiles, Covarc continues his movement toward the scene of the melee. "You have caused enough trouble as it
is!" he shouts, anger in his voice.
"But two can play at your game, Mage Crayne!!" With that, he looses four red Magic Missiles
of his own. Two fly at breakneck speed
toward Crayne, who starts to dive out of the way, but just can't avoid
them. The missiles strike him in the
chest, sending him falling backwards to the cavern floor. (9 hp damage) Emma spins around the side of the statue she
was using for cover, but the missiles follow her motions closely, catching her
in the back and the arm. (6 hp damage)
She can feel the force of the explosion throw her against the stone of
the statue, and the blood from the wounds as it soaks through the fabric of her
shirt.
"Crayne!"
Emma calls out to the Highbrow, who is slowly rising from where he was
hit. "Are you alright?!"
Crayne
shakes his head to clear it, the ringing in his ears resounding from the
explosions. He looks to Emma, nodding
his head. Finally he is back on his
feet. He looks again to Emma, but holds
his tongue, not wanting to give away any part of their plans in front of their
enemy.
Covarc's
voice interrupts the exchange, gathering the attention of El, Skandor, and
Storm as well. "Tell me what you
learned inside the Vault and I will consider sparing your lives."
1. HP Status:
Canter: 12/44, Crayne: 13/16, Elloharin: 15/30, Emma: 7/47, Hannibal:
9/29, Skandor: 20/38, Storm: 22/50, Panther: 16/16.
2. Positions:
CANTER and HANNIBAL are climbing the rope which is hanging from the
bridge near the wall of the cavern. It
is at the end of the bridge, near the secret door that led onto the bridge from
the other cavern (the one with the dead scorpion). HANNIBAL is above CANTER on the rope, and both are about one
third of the distance down the rope from the bridge (or, two thirds of the
distance up the rope from the cavern floor).
HANNIBAL still has one of the poisoned darts. SKAHG and JURPON are busy with knives trying to cut the rope from
above, on the bridge.
ELLOHARIN,
EMMA, the PANTHER Emma has summoned (via Summon Animal Spirit), and CRAYNE
stand within the area surrounded by the statues. At ELLOHARIN'S feet lies the unconscious (but still alive) body
of RYNN, who was knocked out by Crayne's Color Spray. SKANDOR and STORM stand a few feet outside the area surrounded by
the statues, over the deady body of SARK.
CANTER,
ELLOHARIN, EMMA, SKANDOR, STORM, and the PANTHER should consider themselves
directly threatened by COVARC, who stands below the bridge and is walking
toward the statues/portal area.
3.
According to my records, CRAYNE has the following spells memorized at
the start of round 157.4:
Level
1: Magic Missile
According to my records, EMMA has the following spells memorized at the
start of round 157.4:
Level
1: Cure Light Wounds
Level
2: Remove Paralysis
Level
3: Dispel Magic
According to my records, ELLOHARIN has the following spells memorized at
the start of round 157.4:
Level
1: Feather Fall, Wall of Fog
4. As a
result of COVARC's Burning Hands spell, CANTER'S bow is completely destroyed,
as are his arrows. EMMA was able to
save her bow, but 10 of the arrows in her quiver were destroyed. (Taking into account the two arrows she shot
during the course of this turn, she now has 8 arrows left.)
~ The Quest for the Ring of Fire
Command: [Home] [Previous
Turn] [Next Turn] ~
Turn 157.5: Battling Covarc,
continued
Posted: 7/26/01
(157.4)
"There
you are, boy," Emma says, patting the big panther's head, "Let's get
you in the fight. There's a mage on the
other side of these statues, not my good friend Crayne, but a Red Dragon
renegade. We need you to help us defeat
him...once and for all. I'll go this
way, you go that way." She nods in
the two different directions around the statue.
She
then takes a deep breath. She hadn't
been this badly wounded in quite sometime.
She considers calling upon Anhur to heal her, but is afraid that someone
else might need it worse than her.
Hannibal and Canter still fought some of the Caerloon soldiers on the
bridge. One of them might be dying, so
she couldn't selfishly ask for Anhur's strength when they might be in danger.
Covarc's
voice interrupts her thoughts, gathering the attention of El, Skandor, and
Storm as well. "Tell me what you learned inside the Vault and I will
consider sparing your lives.
Emma's
eyes narrow as she hears Covarc's question.
Blood continues to pool on the chamber floor beneath her. She gives Crayne an imploring look, trying
to communicate that they need to finish this fight soon. She motions with her head that they should
attack him together, and then she steps around the statue. Mentally, she commands the panther spirit to
do likewise and close the distance as quickly as possible.
Skandor
knew that the mage was lying, from the moment the words left his lips. The mage wouldn't let Rinder's Six live, at
any cost. Rinder's Six simply knew too
much. Breathing deeply, Skandor grips
his two-hander tightly. He knew that
the mage was trying to buy time. The
mage had been wounded, and apparently had no allies left on the ground level. Perhaps he had reinforcements, and he was
trying to stall. If he and his
companions rush the wizard, now, when he is wounded, surely Rinder's Six would
prove triumphant?
"I'll
tell you what we learned," Emma taunts the wizard, "We learned that
Red Dragon wizards are dumber than the village idiots that sired them, slower
than an uneducated peasant trying to read a spellbook, and can't fight their
way past a newborn kitten!" The
last statement rolls off her tongue around the same time the panther makes its
charge.
The
panther, an animal spirit sent at the behest of the priestess by her god Anhur,
arrives before Covarc, charging forward.
Covarc, however, leaps aside, and the panther's pounce just barely
misses the mage. The cat gracefully
lands behind the mage, directly under the center of the bridge, and whips
around, preparing for another attack.
In
the meantime, Emma has already begun to offer another prayer to Anhur, one that
would disrupt whatever magical assault Covarc tries to use against her, Crayne,
or the panther. "Go, Crayne!"
she shouts, encouraging the Highbrow to follow up her attacks with one of his
own. 'If we send a large enough barrage
against Covarc, there's no way the wizard can hold out,' Emma thinks, preparing
to fire another arrow.
Skandor
says a silent prayer to his god, and crouching into a battle-stance, he rushes
towards the sound of the wizard's voice. Corvac would surely have some magical
defenses and weapons left, but it was the paladin's hope that he could at least
distract the enemy, and give his companions time to work their own brand of
magic.
Skandor
arrives on the scene just as Covarc finishes his evasion of the panther. Reaching into the folds of his robes, he
whips out a metal mace just in time to raise it against Skandor's attack. The two metal weapons clash in the stale
cavern air between the mage and the paladin, a ring that reminds all present of
the lethality of the battle.
Crayne
hardly felt the two missiles that smashed into his chest. He was deeply enraged now. There was no room for feeling pain. Crayne gets up back up from the floor and
immediately casts Magic Missile for the second time. Crayne was sure that the Red Dragon mage wouldn't get up again
following the second wave of missiles.
He raises his arms to the air and quickly murmurs the ancient words
required. He then points at the mage
Covarc and three green missiles shoot off from the tip of his index finger.
The
three missiles strike Covarc just after the mage and Skandor came to
blows. The impacts send Covarc hurling
backwards, away from Skandor, and onto the cavern floor. Clearly, Covarc is hurt now, but he still is
not finished, for once the missiles' effect is finished, he once again
rises--albeit more slowly than before.
On
the completion of his spell Crayne yells to the group, "Charge at
him! Don't let him get away this
time!" Crayne fear that the mage
was using his Haste spell again. Covarc
was certainly casting spells at a very abrupt rate. Covarc was nearly beaten, too.
He had lost his good position on the bridge thanks to the good work of
Hannibal. He had cast a great deal of
spells so surely there wasn't much left he could do, Crayne believes. He was wounded quite badly and now he faced
the might of Rinder's Six on his own more or less. Covarc was powerful but this time the odds were surely not in his
favour. Would the mage realise it and
use his Haste spell to get away or was he not as wise as Crayne had once
thought?
Heeding
Crayne's instructions, Storm rushes at Covarc, glad to pounce on the weakened
foe. The dwarf's swords are in full
motion as he arrives, and one of them easily strikes the mage, tearing a gash
into his robes and clearly breaking the skin.
Elloharin
then rushes forward into the developing melee.
But by the time he arrives, Covarc is back in action, having been shaken
by Storm's blow. Using his mace he
blocks El's long sword attack and continues to backpedal.
Meanwhile,
on the rope hanging from the bridge, Hannibal shrugs, "Oh well, I guess it
wasn't supposed to be easy."
Facing Canter below him, "Canter, fast decent, NOW!" With that, whether Canter heeds his call or
not, Hannibal descends the rope as fast as humanly possible while still
watching up at the two men (Skahg and Jurpon) for their actions. When Hannibal sees that they are almost
through the rope, he tightens his grip and stops his decent, even reversing it
slightly (possibly) with the recoil of the rope in his hands.
Fortunately,
Canter too was descending and had his feet on the ground by the time the rope
was finally cut. Though their hands
were a bit rope-burnt, both Hannibal and Canter had made it to the floor and
had effectively cut off Skahg and Jurpon from the rest of the battle.
Growling
like an enraged animal, Covarc's eyes wander about the scene before him. They meet with El, Skandor, Crayne, and
Emma, taking each into consideration as his mind quickly assembles the best
plan. With a slight smile, he says
coolly, "This will not be our last meeting..." and then he begins to
intone the words of ancient magic, waving his free hand above his head.
The
words are familiar to Crayne, who recognizes them as the spell for
invisibility. "Stop him!"
Crayne yells, but it is unnecessary, for Covarc can tell immediately that
something is very wrong. He stops
mid-sentence, looking to Crayne and then to Emma with a look of horror on his
face. Emma's prayer to Anhur had
succeeded in dispelling his spell!
Meanwhile,
on the bridge above, Skahg and Jurpon take the scene in, as well. Their words are too faint for any of
Rinder's Six to hear, and as Hannibal gives them one last look, he can see
their dark shapes heading toward the doorway into the larger chamber (the one
with the dead scorpion) and the eventual exit from the Ancient Chambers.
(157.5)
Emma
smiles, knowing that her Dispel Magic had served a good and noble purpose. But without spending too much time, she
raises her bow to her chin and fires two arrows in quick succession at the
mage. The first is high, sailing over
the battle into the darkness beyond.
But the second hits, catching Covarc in the leg and certainly slowing
him down.
Almost
immediately following Emma's hit, another arrow strikes Covarc, this time in
the back. It had come from Hannibal,
who smiles--not only because of his hit, but because he can see his comrade
Skandor taking clear advantage of the pounding Covarc was receiving.
Skandor
knows this drill all too well. His
enemy was clearly beaten and now it was time for the kill. Murmuring the familiar words of the Ritual of
the Kill, the Sword Bearer steps closer to Covarc, looking into the Red Dragon
mage's dark and evil eyes. "You
shall trouble this realm no longer," he tells the mage in a low and
determined tone. Then, with a forceful
thrust, Skandor drives his blade into Covarc's chest. He can feel the mage's last breath as his own hand meets Covarc's
deflating chest, and he can feel the blade crack through Hannibal's arrow on
the other side of the mage's body.
Then,
suddenly, Covarc's body feels immensely heavy.
Yielding to the body's pull, Skandor allows it to roll off his blade,
leaving behind a long red streak of blood, which continues to drip from the
sword for a few moments following the kill.
Canter
lets out a long breath, seeing their foe finally defeated. He steps up to Hannibal, patting his friend
on the shoulder. "We owe much to
you, friend," he says, smiling.
Then he offers Hannibal an arm in support, leading the thief back to the
center of the chamber, near the light of the portal, where the others were
gathering.
The
panther purrs as it cozies up next to Emma's leg. She runs her fingers through its fine purple hair, scratching it
like she would any animal she loved.
And indeed, this animal had been instrumental in overwhelming
Covarc. The priestess breathes a sigh
of relief and looks around to her friends, her fellow warriors. Crayne was shaken, she could tell, but he
stood tall, proud of what he clearly felt was his victory. And she didn't mind giving him a moment to
live that victory.
El
kneels near Covarc's fallen body, placing a hand on the dead mage's chest. As if he was feeling the last wisps of life
seep out. Then, after a moment, he
reaches into the folds of the mage's robe and pulls out a small book. Looking up to Crayne, he doesn't smile--for
the death of such wizard was hardly the right moment for smiles and
laughter--but he holds the book up. The
spoils of victory. If they were lucky,
a wealth of new magic for them to learn and use. It would take time to decipher it, El knew, but in time they
would hopefully gain much knowledge from the Red Dragon mage. Perhaps some keys to the elusive Red Dragon
School, itself.
1. HP
Status (unchanged from the previous post):
Canter: 12/44, Crayne: 13/16, El: 15/30, Emma: 7/47, Hannibal: 9/29,
Skandor: 20/38, Storm: 22/50, Panther: 16/16.
2.
Covarc is dead. Jurpon and Skahg
have left the chamber it seems (according to Hannibal), heading for the exit to
the Ancient Chambers and the surface (El-Balans) above.
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