Watching Bjorn and Mika'il, Gustav realizes he can't get there and probably couldn't do anything  if he did. He readies his shield, draws the sword and moves to guard the double doors they entered through.

Once again summoning mana around him, Judoc launches himself in the air in the direction of Mika'il. The fool. Did he think he could escape from the likes of Judoc and his band? Mika'il's statue lies in ruins on the floor, and Mika'il has no henchmen here, at least none that Judoc can see. He finds himself wondering about Sadda's capabilities, but even if it is a demon as Judoc suspects, demon-fighting has become something of a specialty for the young mage. Never mind that Agares could have torn him in pieces, or that Elliot had done most of the work when the two had destroyed the summoned imp.

As Judoc flies through the air, he considers different spell options. Finn had wanted no fire to preserve any grimoire Mika'il might be carrying on him, though Judoc doubts Mika'il has his tome of spells with him. Fine. There's more than one way to skin a necromancer.

OOC: Move at full speed toward Mika'il.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:10, Mon 07 Oct 2019.

Rondald, seeing the thing fall, checks on Terri before turning back towards the fleeing attacker, towards whome he begins moving at full speed.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:52, Tue 08 Oct 2019.

Finn grimaces as he sees his hated foe so close and getting farther out of sight by the second.  It was a bit like trying to catch water with bare hands.


OOC:
Throw the dagger then move forward.

This message was last edited by the player at 01:14, Tue 08 Oct 2019.

Finn hurls his knife at the fleeing wizard, confident now that he can make out the edges of the near invisible barrier that the apprentice has conjured.  But despite his aim, the magically assisted missile goes wide, striking the stone of the doorway even as Mika'il darts towards the left ahead and out of view, in the direction of the stairs that lead towards the floor below.

All at the same moment it seems, the chase begins from all about the room.  Rondald sprints, axe gripped high, near the head to keep it from swinging too forcefully with the pumping of his arms.  Terri gives chase too, her bowstring first slackened, letting her left hand hold the arrow in place as she leaves her right free for balance.  Magnus, his body still powered with super-human speed tears off ahead of the other two, his feet pumping at insane speeds as he outpaces the others despite his hefty load.

Judoc too takes part in the chase, leaving his feet entirely as he climbs upward towards the ceiling, eyeing the wide seam near the ceiling where it seemed the thin scintillation of Mika'il's magic did not reach.  He flies overtop of Bjorn just as the Northman drops off the stone altar to the left, searching for his own way around the barrier.

Finn first, then Judoc, Magnus, Bjorn, Rondald and Terri make their way to the large set of double doors at the back of the room the distance between them spreading out with each passing step.  Gustav, the last of the company is all that is left to hold his own near the wide set of doors at the front of the temple with only the smashed, toppled, and legless form of of an Elvish godess to keep him company.

Whipping around Finn, Judoc plunges headfirst down the stairwell, Mika'il just in view, sprinting away at the bottom of stairs...

OOC:  That was 4 seconds.  Judoc you are definitely gaining on Mika'il, it seems a little harder to tell for everyone else.  Judoc is at the top of the stairs at the back of the cathedral, Finn, Bjorn and Magnus are a few steps behind you with Magnus quickly passing everyone else.  Rondald is just inside the door past the altar and Terri is a step or two behind him.  Everyone with overconfidence must pass a SC roll at -2 or continue the case.  Everyone who opts to continue, Roll vs. DX to take the stairs at full speed - Judoc, you are exempt from this roll due to flight.  However, give me a roll vs. Aerobatics+4 (DX-2) to keep moving at full speed.  You may give yourself a bonus of +1 to this roll for each point of move you reduce your speed.  Notice also that the repercussions of failing are probably not as bad if you are doing this slow rather than at the speed of an olympic sprinter.  This is also the place we are going to separate threads if people opt to continue.

Gustav notes everyone leaving and so moves to follow them at a trot, no reason to guard a door if they aren't there now... he'll look back and reassess at the double doors.

Magnus, uncertain about his footing and willing to cut his pace given the enchantment upon him, took the stairs at a hustle rather than a full on Sprint as he continued the pursuit.

He’s gotta be getting tired, Judoc thinks to himself as he zooms after Mika’il, a light breeze whipping around Judoc as the Templar student slows a bit to maneuver down the stairwell to the floor below.

That this all might be a trap does occur to the young mage, but he pushes on, knowing this is the closest they have come to Mika’il this far. The alien blackbird might be pulling the strings in this case, but Judoc thinks if he can only eliminate the necromancer, their job will be half done.

OOC: Keep going.

Rondald will not sprint, but move down the stairs as fast as is safe.

OOC:  Just to be clear, where is the blackbird relative to Mikhal, or are they one and the same?
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:41, Thu 10 Oct 2019.

Razzel is a tactician at heart.  He loves the game of cat and mouse.  While his experience playing the game of chess is limited he nonetheless finds it fascinating.  Not only does one need to know how to play the game, which just like war requires the knowledge of varying attributes of all of the varying soldiers on the field, but it also demands that the player knows something of his opponent.  Finn would love nothing more than to thrust, feint, retreat and repeat with this foe until Mika'il is defeated. Often the war is more delicious than any of the battles.  But the mage-thief is growing weary of this adversary.  His motives and movements are too shadowy, and this place too foreign to be able to grasp with any kind of solid understanding.

Finn runs with the others towards the stairs and he like many of the others must be wondering if they are being led into a trap.  The agent of the Row knows full well they are, that isn't the issue, the question at hand is can they jump clear of the spring loaded bar and still get the cheese?  Of course Razzel believes they can.

Judoc flies down the stairs at top speed!  The high walls of the staircase whiz by him as he zooms underneath the earth, pulling out of the dive neatly and finding himself in a large and long, rectangular room with a wide and square opening near the end of the wall on the right.  But it is straight ahead that Mika'il runs, towards a narrow tunnel carved in the stone ahead.

Judoc has only a moment for his senses to take in the room, the large pile of earth and stone stacked in the back corner of the room, various steel and wooden tools strewn about the ground, the pungent smell of rotting flesh.

But as quickly as he made it into the room, Judoc is out again, hurtling through the small tunnel after Mika'il, though he slows down considerably, knowing that any turn might be difficult to negotiate at top speed.

Just a second later, Magnus rushes down the stairs two and three at a time.  Bjorn, the Northlander launches himself down instead, with only a single step touched somewhere in the middle, passing the minotaur for a moment before the two reach the bottom of the stairs and the Minotaur runs out ahead again, huffing after Judoc who had just disappeared into the tunnel beyond.  Chancing a look to the right, Magnus sees the giant pillar of another colossus, one of the stone and fire golems they had already fought and destroyed on the other side of the ruins.  Magnus thinks he sees too, a pair of forms laying on the floor of the room, though he pulls his head again towards his path ahead, plunging into the tunnel only a few seconds after the pair of wizards.  And it is just then that Magnus feels the magical haste leave his body, his arms and legs instantly fatigued as if he had been fighting a drawn out combat for his life.  His legs continue to churn beneath him however, with Bjorn following just behind.

Finn too, attempts to take the stairs with speed, although his heel slips on one of the stairs, his body tumbling over end as he hits the bottom, though he pushes himself up with a single and and continues the chase!  Somewhere behind him he hears a thud, then Terri cries out in pain!

OOC: In case anyone was confused, the blackbird, Sadda, is perched on Mika'il's shoulder.  He's about a foot and a half tall, just a bit larger than Aiah.  I potentially could have split the group into about four threads, though I think I can keep it reasonably fair with two.  Just realize that not all of you can see everything that the others see.  Judoc has closed to about 3 feet behind Mika'il with Magnus/Bjorn lagging behind some twenty feet or more.  Finn is another 30 feet behind that due to his fall, though he can hear the echoes of everyone's footsteps ahead.

Magnus, having cut his pace considerably after the enchantment had run its course, struggled to keep up the chase. He was wearing some sixty pounds of weapons, armor and other gear, and all of it seemed to shift heavily with every step.

He tucked his shield close, to prevent his hauberk from shifting around as much, and breathed heavily from an open mouth as he ran.

Swooping forward, Judoc continues his madcap flight after the apprentice. His brain just barely registers the second large guardian in the room before he sails through. He wonders why it doesn't try to attack him or Mika'il, but perhaps this one has been defeated by Mika'il and his cronies. Straining, he pushes himself forward.

Finn curses to himself as his hands reach out to push himself up off the cold stone floor.  Damn his luck and damn this place.  His sharp instincts told him this was a trap, in part because its exactly what he would do.  With each passing moment clue after clue presented itself to confirm his bias.  But it matters little, he and his friends have already bested the mad boss, now the apprentice wont provide much more of a challenge.


OOC:
Continue to chase.  If I can glance back to see why Terri yelled.  If she just fell ignore her.  If she's being attacked by something dangerous, turn around to aid her.

Judoc, the distance closing, grips his staff with both hands, thrusting it forward with gusto, though with his furious speed and the narrow confines of the tunnel, he finds himself distracted, leaving the strike short of its mark.

Several yards back, Magnus and Bjorn's legs churn beneath them, watching the flying, spectral shadow of Judoc ahead chasing the bright reflections of his lightstone that bounce off the walls of the narrow tunnel ahead.  Though all of a sudden, those reflections seem to cease, instead, far beyond, Magnus can see the soft reflections of the stone at the back of some larger room ahead.

Farther back, Finn turns his head over his shoulder as he runs, looking to see what has become of Terri, though he quickly turns back, running at full tilt to assist the others ahead.

OOC:  I didn't spend a lot of time describing it due to the quick glance, but note that the guardian was in a separate room than the one you ran through.  If you had to guess, you would hazard a wager that there was a thin silver line in the short archway between the two rooms.  Give me 3 seconds worth of actions.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:17, Thu 10 Oct 2019.

"Skeletons!" Judoc yells out from up ahead. He roars, "Get back here, Mika'il!"

Gritting his teeth for the battle he knows is unaviodable Finn presses on.


OOC:
Continue running.  Sorry for the short post, pressed for time.

It seemed to Magnus that despite their efforts, Mika'il had reached some semblance of safety. The chances of catching him, and subduing him, all while contending with the the walking dead did not seem likely.

But would Judoc see it that way?

Magnus continued, but looked about warily, expecting at any moment to come across the object of Judoc's warning.

Collision imminent, Judoc does the only thing that occurs to him at the moment, thrusting his staff out in front of him like a brace, aimed directly center mass at the skeleton ahead.  Though he attempts to take the narrow turn, the action is too little, too late.

Wham!

With the jarring impact of a stampeding rhino, Judoc slams into the skeleton at near full speed, the center of the staff smacking straight into the abomination's rib cage!  For a moment, the things fingers grope about Judoc's face, though on impact, it collapses backwards, the center of it's skull impacting with a hard thwack against the cave floor below.

The impact stops Judoc for a moment, though at a single glance ahead of the retreating Mika'il, Judoc accelerates again, attempting again to employ the same tactic, slamming the center of his staff in the small of the mage's back to knock him down just long enough for the others to arrive.  Out of the corner of his eyes, Judoc can see the silent, shambling corpses closing on him, though he pushes the thought out of his mind, focusing only on his imminent success.

Wham!

And again!  With a scream, Mika'il falls to the floor of the cave, tumbling forward as Sadda lifts from his shoulder, the demon-birds wings flapping straight over Judoc as he reaches down with iron claws, tearing at Judoc's head!  Mercifully's Judoc's leather helm seems to ward off the blow, but only now, as he hovers just above Mika'il, does the full danger of his plan occur to Judoc.  His forward motion depleted, transferred to the fleeing mage upon impact, Judoc now sees clearly the two undead gripping at him from each side.  Hands reach up, clasping at around his shoulder, brushing across the mask on his cheek.  Judoc feels the aura of the cold, necromantic magic surging around him, and though he tries to rise again near the cave ceiling, one of the monsters still clutches on, its arms wrapped around Judoc's shoulder as it presses it's broken teeth against Judoc's flesh!  Below him, another of the abominations clutches at his feet as he rises!

But just then, Magnus and Bjorn burst through the cave entrance, several of the shambling wrecks between them and Judoc, who now hovers just below the cave ceiling with a skeleton hanging from his frame.  Mika'il ahead has already risen to a single knee...

OOC:  Everyone please post 2 seconds of action.  Also, everyone (except Judoc) please roll vs. HT-encumbrance or take 1 fatigue from the extended run.

Ok, everyone has a decent idea of what is happening now.  Judoc, I messed with what your intentions were as far as game mechanics to match up with the description of what you were doing.  Your slam on the first skeleton was successful, though he has now made his way back to his feet.  You were also successful in your slam of Mika (who was facing away from you), although the action required you to drop down so low that you could be targeted by the two skeletons only a step away.  You've been grappled by two of them, the first is wrapped around you and is biting at any spot of open flesh he can find.  The second grabbed at your feet as you were lifting up and is gripping on your boot.  Finn, assume you will make it to the square where Magnus and Bjorn are after one turn of sprinting.

Feeling a rush of adrenaline, Judoc plows right into the first skeleton, and then swooping low, nails Mika'il in the back, sending the necromancer sprawling to the floor. The student congratulates himself at his excellent use of tactics and raises his staff to rain down another blow, but celebration shifts to concern as he is grabbed by first one, and then a second skeleton!

Furious that he has been grabbed by Mika'il's skeletal minions, Judoc roars, "Get Mika'il!" Lashing out, the Templar student furiously swings his staff at the skeleton trying to bite his leg.

OOC: Attack!

When Magnus beheld what was before him, his stomach seemed to clench up. Judoc, successful though he may have been in running down Mika'il, was more or less completely surrounded. The minotaur could barely make him out in the general chaos, but he was there, and he was thrashing about before Magnus heard his cry.

"Come on!" he said to Bjorn, and raising his shield, he tried to muscle his way to the struggling mage as quickly as he could manage.

Finns quick witted mind is a blur, two opposing and very different strategies appear to him and begin wrestling for dominance but neither one can gain a secure foothold.  Each tactic has it's own strengths and weaknesses but neither stands out as a clear front runner.  So Razzel simply picks one.


OOC:
Continue running.

This message was last edited by the player at 01:45, Thu 17 Oct 2019.

What once had seemed such an opportunity to pounce on Mika'il while he was alone has quickly devolved into a horrid disaster!  Judoc, Still hovering above the ground with two of the accursed things hanging off of him, lashes out with his staff, trying to knock down the one that clings on the edge of his foot.  His first strike misses, foiled by the position of his own limbs, though as he strikes again he manages a solid hit, which knocks in a small bit of the skeleton's orbital, creating a gaping hole where the eye had once been, though the strike seems to do little to knock the aberration from its grip.  What's worse, another of the things starts to use the hanging one as a trunk to climb on, gripping up to the thing's shoulders on the way up to Judoc!  Hardly able to concentrate on everything happening all at once, Judoc screams out in pain as the skeleton on his back finds purchase on Judoc's neck, tearing at the skin as blood flows freely down to Judoc's collar!  All the while Judoc finds himself sinking under the weight of all that he is carrying!

His hooves tearing across the cave floor below, Magnus charges ahead, trying desperately to get to his friend the mage before he is pulled to his doom!  His shield ahead of him, Magnus braces for impact with the first of the infernals, though the hit comes a little more to the side than he expected, ricocheting his momentum a little to the right without really knocking the undead to the ground as was his intent.  Another steps into his way immediately after the first, and though Magnus puts his shoulder forth to slam into the thing, his timing his off.  Again he makes the hit poorly, this time spinning off from the impact and spiraling off balance, crashing down into the floor below!

Bjorn rushes along behind him as well, though he pauses for a moment, his axe smashing through one of the skeletons in his path, severing the ribcage and shoulder, sending a whole arm clattering to the ground!  However, for the moment, the skeleton seems to be otherwise unaffected, as it reaches out towards Bjorn with it's other arm, which the Northman bats away with his shield.

Ahead in the cave, Mika'il has made his way to his feet and rushes ahead, his head turned over his shoulder as he laughs maniacally.  Sadda too gives up on Judoc for the moment, winging back towards his master and the tunnel beyond...

OOC:  Sometimes I hate the slam rules.  You would think with Magnus nearly doubling the HPs of the skeletons, and with a shield he'd be a shoe in to essentially run over everything...  Of course that's not the way it played out.  Somehow you missed the first slam and lost the damage roll on the second - It was over double damage, thoughIt was an odd scenario so I rolled for DX anyway, which you also failed.  It still didn't make sense to me so I played it as a mishit on your part in which you put yourself off balance.  You have 2 skeletons now headed towards your position, with others headed in your general direction.

Judoc is still grappled by two, though you did some damage to the skeleton hanging from your foot.  There is another one climbing up that second one, though the one on your back seems to be doing you the most damage at the moment.  You are at a -1 shock penalty for the next turn.

Finn just made his way in the room and has been confronted by the skeleton Magnus just missed in his attack, no attacks yet by either party, though you can do it this turn, or attempt to keep moving at full speed.

This would not be a good death, Judoc thinks, gritting his teeth as the skeletons swarm around him. Filthy undead and filthy necromancer. Judoc can't understand how a mage would condescend to surrounding himself with the undead. The smell alone would be overwhelming.

Even now Mika'il has regained his feet and is once more fleeing. "Go ahead and run, you coward!" Judoc shouts, furious, as he twists to once more attack the skeleton clinging to his feet. Once he bashes this thing's head in, and he knocks the one off of his back...

OOC: Attack the same skeleton. Move towards Magnus.

Magnus let out a loud noise of frustration, albeit brief because he was trying to catch his breath. It was kind of like a combination groan and a huff, and he made it as he got to one knee and started to get back to his feet. This was no mad scramble, he was just too tired and his armor was too heavy. This was a purposeful, "one at a time" sort of stand, and he craned his broad, shaggy head this way and that as he took in his predicament.

He figured at least for himself, he was out of the race. As bitter an admission as that was.