More than slightly shocked by the apparent bite to his shoulder, Roth is slow to react as the struggle breaks out, making a feeble attempt at an attack in the darkness.  As the pain is overshadowed by the rushing adrenaline from the fray, Roth registers that Neya has taken the demon to the ground and quickly stoops down beside him before he can stand, grabbing out to get a hold of whatever he can and execute an awkward motion somewhere between a lift and push to hopefully roll the creature back and off the pillar.

(A Bull Rush seems most appropriate for the action, as it does not require an attack roll, but also won't benefit from him being prone.  Or would it be a grapple, or a bastard of the two?)

18:44, Today: Roth Daos rolled 4 using 1d20+1. Bull Rush?.
...Lets hope he rolls worse...

Stan lowers his crossbow and slowly makes his way toward the island-plateau, intent on climbing up if needed.

M’dok continues his charge up the path.  He and his warriors are about to the top!

Chubbs also continues to make his way up the path, holding out the light-enchanted rope, and singing an inspirational song of courage.  For those around him, they sense the magic intertwined within his tune, and feel they are able to conquer this supposed demon.

Roth falls onto the hidden form which must be the demon.  He isn’t too surprised to find the mysterious humanoid incased in some kind of metallic armor.  As the elf attempts to push the creature back and hopefully off of the plateau, powerful clawed hands wrap around his neck—but fail to find a firm enough hold to effectively throttle Roth.  He pushes will all of his might, but fails to move the demon.

The second kobold continues following M’dok up the path.

Ilsa raises her blade high above her head and delivers a might blow to the—now—prone demon!  Just before the barbarian allowed herself to slip into her murderous rage—a rage she seems to personally enjoy.  Her blade penetrates the demon’s metal chest with a sharp groan of splitting iron.  A toothy smile forms on Ilsa’s face as she feels her sword bite deep into her victim’s flesh—mortal flesh.

The first and third kobolds continue their charge.

The demon begins to chant again, no doubt casting another spell.  Roth tries to jab his elbow into the metallic creature; but its armor proves too thick.  Neya tightens her jaws; but her fangs also fail to penetrate the armor.  Ilsa gingerly retracts her blade, taking proper caution not to loose the creature’s position in the magical darkness.  She then slams the blade back down; which only stops once the tip contacts the hard cavern floor—completely skewering the demon.
With a hoarse whine and throaty cough the demon’s body becomes limp and the darkness is dispelled!
Roth cries out that it is done, calling for the kobolds to halt their charge, as not to cause everyone to tumble from the small plateau top.  They stop on the path, unsure what has happened, but fortified by the sudden disappearance of the darkness globe.
“Is the Demon dead?” M’dok shouts to anyone at the top.

Roth can hear the half-orc—for that’s what the Demon really is—labor for breath; but remains unconscious and bleeding out profusely.  Something is very strange about his half-orc, something very otherworldly.  Perhaps it is not completely accurate in describing it as just half-orc.  The elf can tell by looking at its face that its heritage is half orc; but the other half is unidentifiable.

"Not yet!" Ilsa called out. Still frothing, she hacked and stabbed at the half-orc's body repeatedly, breaking bone and splattering blood. Soon, exhaustion finally overcame her and she collapsed to her knees, sword still in her hands but practically helpless. Her labored breaths were shallow and accompanied by blood--her own--spitting from her lips.

We should cut it's head off. Porto says, adrenaline still pumping. Burn the body too. If this is the source of the disease we should burn it all... Porto keeps his rope up. The halfling is always cautious around other worldly beings...especially now that he was one...technically.

Almost immediately Neya was beside Ilsa, laying down next to the exhausted orc so she would have someone to lean on. She whined with concern; Ilsa was looking worse and worse, her scent filled with pain and sickness. Even as she sat quietly beside Ilsa, trying to comfort her, Neya kept an eye on the fallen body of the other orc. The others still seemed concerned about it, and she had already seen dead things try to kill her.

Stan was disgusted by the sounds of Ilsa mutilating a dead and probably helpless foe. There were more than just emotional reasons for sparing the half-orc. As a prisoner he might have given them a vital clue, with or without actively cooperating.

Now it seemed he was being consigned to death and fire. A fitting end for the "demon."

Stan kept the crossbow loaded and stayed vigilant, noting with amusement that he was now the rear guard of their troop.

"This doesn't really solve anything, you know. There's still a disease. And the missing knight."

Damn the knight! Wasn't he supposed to be here! Porto yells. He's dead for all I know or care. Porto considers the body. According to our kobold friends here the Demon is the source of the disease. So if we burn it and all those bodies down there we should recover in time. And as far as what this solves....may all demons burn for eternity. They are nothing but a plague. In this case, literally. Porto didn't mean to be a bitch at the moment but this whole thing was very wearing on his little plump¹ frame.

_1.Oxymoron

Roth grimaces as Ilsa viciously finishes off the foul half-orc.  As fitting it would be for the demon to have held some secret to the plague that had weakened her so much, it would be a shame for all those afflicted to join her.  Turning back to the others he gets to business, "M'dok, was the crystal knight among the bodies we fought?  And can you have your guards carry the demon back to that pit, and pile all the bodies together while we fetch oil from town to dispose of them all?  If the demon wasn't the source of the sickness, that was."  He thinks for a moment, looking at the rest of the party before delegating, "Stan, can you bring news to town, and get whatever oil they have? And Porto, can you help our friend with the demon, make sure nothing worthwhile burns?  I'll take a look around here and see if this place holds any secrets..."  To start, he casts his eyes right at his feet, curious what exactly the demon spent all it's time doing atop it.

As Ilsa delivers the killing blow, and than a series of additional blows for good measure, the water pouring from the little spring at the top of the plateau begins to clear.  The area seems to be bathed in good energy.  As those afflicted by the plague see this, they can't help but think the water is calling to them--inviting them to take a refreshing drink.  Their throats are so dry.
Roth, being the only one in presence not affected, first notices the torn and battered remains of another humanoid likewise encased in heavy metal armor.  It doesn't take an unassuming librarian to figure out whose remains they are: The Crystal Knight.
The top of the plateau is small, and much of the space is dominated by the spring.  But the demon's small camp consists of a small fire ring and spear rack.  A dirty bedroll lies by the ring, next to dirty cooking utensils.
Looking over the demon, the survivors discover a barbed tail and pair of bat-like wings.  The half-orc appears fiendish, and one can easily see how the being could be taken as a demon.

Ilsa leaned forward and crawled on her hands and knees the short distance to the spring. Cupping her hands in the cool, clear water, she drank greedily and blood-stained water drizzled down her chin and neck. After gasping for air, she drank again, gulping two handfuls.

Hoping that the corruption had passed Porto kneels by Ilsa and takes some long hardy drinks as well, hoping that it wasn't some clever trap designed by a hidden demon. Once finished Porto has a look around and notices Roth looking intensely at a armored body. Porto felt bad for a moment about the comments he made. This man had died trying to fight evil. An evil that he shouldn't have needed to fight alone. But as always one mans dead body is another halfling's treasure. He inspects the body and the items as he wonders why he was called the crystal knight.

Take 20 on search(or ten)

The wizard kept the crossbow loaded and cautiously ascended to the pillar's summit. He wasn't about to drink from a strange magical water source, even if it did seem pure. He could last another day being sick, if it meant the difference between curse and cure.

"Those are her things, Porto, in life and death." Stan was an emotional shipwreck, no longer sure what to think or feel. But he knew that looting a dead woman's body was not a task for heroes.

Ilsa drops to her stomach and crawls to the spring.  She gulps handful after handful of cool, refreshing water.  With each gulp, she feels strangely refreshed, as if being cleansed by it magically.  Soon, she appears to have completely recovered from the symptoms plaguing her.
While Ilsa is drinking the enchanted water, Chubbs takes stock anything that might be considered 'lootable.'  Between the Crystal Knight and the Demon, he finds:  Masterwork chainmail (ruined), masterwork heavy steel shield, spear (glowing faintly), necklace (strange symbol), longsword (glowing faintly), and a suit of mithral full-plate.

Her thirst satiated, her health restored, Ilsa called to Neya, "Come. Drink." Unlike the rage and blunt hostility of her normal speech, there was genuine tenderness and affection in her voice as she spoke. She offered handful of water to the wolf should she be hesitant about drinking from the spring itself.

Neya stepped forward and sniffed at the water in Ilsa's hands. Something was strange about it, it didn't smell like water. But Ilsa said it was safe, so she lapped up the water before approaching the spring and drinking directly from it. Her stance seemed to straighten as she drank, the slight wobble that had been in her gait fading almost immediately. After a while she raised her head and barked happily, wagging her tail.

Stan began to make his way out of the mine, hopefully avoiding any zombies on the way out. If there were trouble he would run back to the others.

He would take the news of their recent activities to town and hopefully take a bath and a nap afterwards.

Porto takes the necklace and pockets it. He also carries the spear in his hand. He also attaches the sword to his back. He then asks his kobold friends the carry the rest of the loot that he found. All but the ruined chain mail.

Sitting cross-legged on the plateau, Ilsa pulled out her waterskin and proceeded to clean off her sword, washing away the blood and splatter from the "demon." She then took her whetstone to it and honed the edge from where it had struck the hard ground. All the while, she eyed the kobolds suspiciously, watched Porto loot the body, and wondered what Roth was doing. She refilled her skin from the spring. "I take this to Shirok," she told Neya.

Neya barked again at Ilsa's words, looking quite happy about the prospect of getting out of this place and seeing Shirok again. She reached down to the water herself and lapped up some more water to clear out the rotting blood and stench of the dead things from her mouth.

Before leaving, Chubbs also drinks from the spring, and he too is cleansed of the plague symptoms.  Seeing the halfling feeling better, M’dok and his warriors also drink—and are surprised to find themselves feeling much better; better than they had before the demon’s arrival within these tunnels.
Ilsa fills her waterskin with some of the enchanted water as the Tunnelworm kobolds gather up the pieces of armor and shield Chubbs intends on recycle back into the adventuring industry.  Seeing Stan the Wizard making his way away from the group, Chubbs calls out and asks him to stick around a little longer.
Together, they all make their way back to the kobolds’ cliff.  M’dok climbs up the ropes back into his peoples camp, but returns quickly and with a gift for Chubbs.  He presents the agreeable halfling with a beautifully—and dirty—red cloak.  He explains that it is a treasure of his clan and wishes to give it to the adventurers who helped save his people from the demon’s schemes.

---

A short while later, back in Redding, the group reunites with Shirok and Sir Nachtbrise.  They explain to the others what happened in the mine, including the demise of the famed Crystal Knight.  Shirok uses the water from Ilsa’s skin on a sick child, and they all watch on as the child is instantly cured of his ailments.  Lord Sendar sends a patrol of militiamen back to the mine to collect more of the enchanted spring’s water.
By the end of the day the first casks of spring water are being distributed to the sick, and the group of adventurers whom ventured in are deemed heroes!  A group of individuals from the church of Pelor operating in the small mining community approach the heroes and explain their intent to organize a feast in their honor.  Lord Sendar pledges to match their offer and work with them to make the feast the grandest any of the Redding folk have ever seen.

Ilsa was glad for the feast, but she had personal business to attend to first.

She cornered Shirok and studied him intently with her blood-filled eye. When she spoke, it was in carefully measured tones. She was holding back her anger but there was also disappointment in her voice. "You deserve no feast. Neya was a better warrior than you. She fought the demon. We cured this plague. Not you." She wagged her finger at the druid. "You know Tornclaw? He cause this." Ilsa was still unsure if the "demon" was Tornclaw himself or a descendant. By the time she stopped beating the body with her sword, it was unrecognizable. "This was Snake Tongue business. You will not turn your back on us again."

"I know," Shirok replied quietly. He'd been rejuvenated by the water, but there were still bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. He stood quietly leaning against his spear, slumped against it in disappointment at himself. "I did what I thought was best, without listening to the wisdom that was offered. Had I stopped to consider that I might be wrong, I would not have sent you alone to do what we all should have done."

He straightened slightly, offering the haft of his spear to Ilsa. "I make no excuse. I say only that I was wrong."

Porto greedily holds on to the loot. He puts the things that he cant carry on his own in a cart as asks Stan to help him pull it. Offering him a reward should he agree to help. He thanks his kobold friends for their gift and hopes to get it washed. Perhaps if it was their treasured possession it would have some hidden power. Porto asks about it before he leaves. Chubbs is excited for the feast for he has not eaten much in what seems like forever.

Ilsa stood silently. She had been prepared for a fight. She was expecting Shirok to defend himself and his actions. And yet, his admission and contrition had disarmed her. She wanted to yell and spit at him, shaming him further. She should have torn him down for giving up and not defending himself like a warrior, but she couldn't do it. Slowly, the anger faded from her as she gazed upon his forlorn expression.

She grabbed him behind his head and pulled him forward so that their foreheads touched firmly, but gently. "You'll make it up to me later."

Stan addressed Porto.

"So, let me get this straight. You want me to pull a cart filled with the items I specifically told you not to loot. You are offering to pay me for my services, like a common laborer, with wages probably drawn from the items I specifically told you not to loot. Is that the general idea?"

He stopped to cough, a reminder that the wizard was still sick and hadn't yet drank from the magical water. Wizards, after all, were often the least trusting of magic.

"Further, Porto, your expressed opinions re: demonkind, while broadly true, have somewhat soured my disposition towards you. In short, I shall not pull your cart.

"Good day, sir!"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:44, Wed 14 Apr 2010.