When Delana had said that the land between Theranin and Azul Irkul was barren, she seemed to have been making an understatement. Almost as soon as they had made it past the edge of the agricultural lands of the city, truly a miracle seeing the state of the rest of the area, the ground was covered with a thick and unrelenting permafrost and the only things that grew were hardened, dry, and bristly knee-high shrubs and even those were sparse. Against all common sense, the further south the group traveled, the colder the air seemed to get, their breath visible in the air the entire day, not to mention the nights which had become so frigid, the group had taken to sleeping in tight formation in their bedrolls to conserve body heat.

It had been a day and a half since they had departed Theranin and the mountains that had always looks so far off in the distance had finally made their way to the forefront, the giant twin peaks stretching up into the cloud cover and out of sight, forming Whitecap Pass between the two of them. Of course, it wasn't that simple. There was the fact that the pass itself was higher up the mountain. There was the fact that the path had a large chasm on one side of it, the sheer face of the mountain on the other. And there was the fact, of course, that the path was hardly wide enough for Gren to stand on without falling into said chasm. Oh, and the lovely weather they had been having for the past week seemed to decide that it was high time that it let it's polar opposite butt in for a change; whipping winds, blinding snow, and a drastic drop in the already frozen temperature.

So when the group had found themselves with a rare part of the pass that seemed to lead off into a plain of snow somewhere and offered some unquestionably solid ground, they took the time to rest and make camp to regain both their footing and their wits. Making a fire was out of the question with the wind acting up so violently and the salted pork they had was cold but, luckily, the preservation had kept it from crystalizing. The bread and fruit, however, fared a little less well but were still edible for the time being. It's during this break that something whispers over the howling wind, just barely making itself audible off in the distant snow plain to their east. As the group looks out in that direction, their vision severely limited, they believe they see a vaguely humanoid shape for a moment roughly a hundred feet away before the blizzard blocks their vision. When it clears again, the shape is gone.

Gren huddled under the ceremonial blue cloak that was a gift for stopping Arudal's plans.  He also seemed to be wearing just about every piece of clothing he owned in order to stave of the cold.  "Did you folks see that?" he asked peering off into the distance.  "I could have sworn I just saw someone or something over that way," he said pointing off to the east.  Was it a lost traveler like themselves?  A dwarf?  Or something all-together more sinister?  Gren's Ogre tribe had tales of tall, powerfull, hair-covered, ape-like men they called Hor'veti that lived in the snowcovered mountains.  "I don't suppose any of you can track?"

Kassadria did not fare well in such weather. Her infernal ancestors tended to prefer... warmer climates, and she was no different. Why did I agree to come along... she thought, even her mental voice stuttering as she shivered. At least he didn't come, too. Always look for the silver lining. She's too busy trying to keep herself warm to notice the figure that Gren pointed out, but when he does point it out she looks up. "I can but... do we have to?"

Strange seems less than surprised at seeing visions and hearing whispers.  He has never actually been out of Theranin and so this was all new to him.  For all he knew this was the sort of thing that happened all the time out here.  When Gren asked for volunteers to track the figure, however, he was able to make a more informed judgment, "I am no tracker.. hmm.. and my presence might complicate things should you discover someone.  Go if you must.. hmm.. I will come to look for you if you do not return in.. hmm.. 15 minutes."

"Bah! To the Abyss with that idea.  I'm not going to chase shadows or will-o-wisps through a blizzard.  We're likely to get lost, fall off a cliff, or plummet through the ice.  If there is someone out there let them find us.  They are probably better equipped for this weather than we are anyways."  Gren pulls his hood down lower to try and block the wind from his face.

With the group hesitant to approach what could be a trap, they simply sit and wait, watching the spot where the figure disappeared from as the blizzard howls on until sitting still begins to numb the extremities and frost begins to collect on any skin exposed to the elements. Just as they are about to get up and move to keep from freezing in place, further behind the watched spot, another form can be seen through the snow, moving toward them. Keeping quiet, even though the blizzard drowns out most of the noise anyway, and staying low, the group watches as the figure approaches where the other disappeared and, upon arriving at the spot, seems to look around in confusion, eyes finally settling in the group's direction. As the figure moves closer, it coalesces into the shape of a lithe woman, heavily wrapped in cold-weather clothing, until she stops a few paces away.



(OOC: Welcome Lyria!)

Niffa chirped noisily as she climbed up the front of Lyria's dress, her white, furry head peeking out from the neckline.

"I know, I know," Lyria cooed softly while she squinted through the snow that clung to her eyelashes. They had been out longer than usual and the weasel was bound to be bored by now, if not hungry.

While warmth was not a problem, thanks to her companion, food was another matter altogether. For three days now they have been stranded, trapped by the relentless whirlwind of snow, and the bush of berries they found days ago have been completely depleted. So, today, Lyria had to go further to find other sustenance.

Not wanting to resort to the rations she had brought from Theranin until the situation dictated otherwise, she had been relentless in her search and went further than what was agreed. It seemed that luck was not by her side that day and she decided to return before her tracks are completely covered by the falling snow.

However, just as she was about to turn back to their shelter, Lyria fancied that she saw a shadow in the not-too-far distance, moving closer towards her, just as a lock of hair whipped, painfully, across her eyes. Tucking the loose strand behind her ears, she realised that she could no longer see the shadow. Worried that there might be another, lost in the midst of this snowbound field, she ignored the low gurgling sound Niffa made and trudged her way carefully onwards.

Unfortunately, her vision, or sense of direction, must have failed her, for as she approached the spot where she thought she had seen the figure, she found naught but, literally, thin air. "Hrmph."

She scratched her head for a moment, staring at the smooth ground until a nip on her chest reminded her there were more pressing matter at hand, such as the fact that a certain critter is now extremely hungry. "Okay, little one," Lyria whispered as she looked down into a pair of beady eyes, glowing in annoyance, "We're going back now."

Disappointed at how the day turned out, Lyria sighed in resignation only to look up and see even more shadows. She blinked and rubbed her eyes a few times to make sure that she was not hallucinating but this time the shadows remained.

Perhaps she misjudged the distance, Lyria mused as she continued on. The shadows grew as she went closer and, eventually, she could make out four distinct figures. Closer inspection showed three humanoid - one gargantuan and easily towered over the group, two around her size - and one strange creature with wings. Unnerved by their seemingly lack of movement, Lyria waved as she continued to walk closer.

"Hey," she called out, as loudly as her dry throat let her. "Are you guys alright?"
This message was last edited by the player at 10:18, Sat 08 Dec 2012.

Lorelei curled up in the shelter besides Kassadria just taking her time breathing in steady deep breaths, her clothes were warm enough but she wished she had brought Furs or the like along to be sure despite their bulky size. Thankfully at least they had found a shelter, and she was content to rest for the moment while they had nothing better to do. She had been fairly quiet during the trip so far, as was her norm, but didn't seem to be sad about it. In fact she was eager to see more of the world around her.

Finally though someone actually came out of the blizzard and called out to them. Lorelei was a bit surprised someone was wandering a blizzard in the first place. She figured her voice wouldn't carry well, but she did raise her arm to wave Idly to Lyria to show she had been heard.

Gren's hand instinctively went for a javelin, but then he paused.  The voice of the stranger was female and she was small in size, human perhaps.  Human women were totally different than Ogre women.  He doubted she was a threat, but he had a spell in mind just in case.

"Come closer and be well met.  Well...as well met as one could in this acursed weather.  I am Gren Boarshead," he introduced in his deep base voice.

~Have a hut nearby.  Have a hut nearby...~ he hoped wishfully.  With the snow coming down, landmarks were hard to make out.  Gren had no idea how far away they were from their destination.

As one of the figures waved back, Lyria hastened her step. That they group had not responded back in words worried her slightly until she heard the half-orgre bellowed.

Gren Boarshead. Although Lyria continued on towards the group, the name hung uncomfortably in her mind. The event over the past week came flooding back. The ceremony of the Holy Day of the Inheritor, Degrin's exposure of the Thieves Guild, the capture of Vyncent Lacio and the feast and celebration that followed. Lyria had always been good with names, especially when the name was connected to a memorable face. Or figure, as the case may be.

Lyria cursed inwardly. She was sure no one would come and follow in this blizzard. Who in their right mind would travel through the Whitecap Pass in such weather unless they have no other choice? Just underneath her chin, Niffa trilled her concern before making her way down the inside of her shirt. Good girl, Lyria thought. She'd need the weasel alive if she was to protect herself.

Despite her misgivings, her smile did not waver as she stood in front of the group, appraising each one of them silently. The blue of the ceremonial cloak peeked through the snow that covered their shoulder and back, confirming her suspicion. For a moment, she considered giving them false name until she realised that her companion could easily give her away. Why does it matter? she tried to calm herself, In this weather, even if you are captured, they will be lucky to be able to make their way back to Theranin. Also, there is always a possibility that they do not even know.

Swallowing hard and praying that her voice did not crack, Lyria called out in reply above the howling wind. "Well met, Gren Boarshead. My name is Lyria. This weather is accursed indeed. You are lucky to have made it out this far. My companion and I have found a shelter not too far away. You are most welcomed to it. However, we better move now before this blizzard wipe away my footprints and any hope I have of making my way back!"

Lyria would stand a moment to wait for the group to gather their belongings and follow her. However, should they choose not to move, Lyria would turn around and trekked back towards the shelter regardless. She wasn't lying when she expressed her fear of losing her way.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:29, Sun 09 Dec 2012.

As the ghostly figure approached through the driving snow Strange hadn't made any move to meet it, nor had he called out any greeting.  In fact he did quite the opposite, he froze in place, his normally glowing eyes dulling to blank stone.  It was a sort of instinct with gargoyles though it works much better in a city where someone could mistake you for a statue.  Out in the wilderness among a group of travelers.. not so much.  When the figure reveals itself to be a young woman, shortly followed by the back-and-forth with Gren he calms down some, relaxing to a less statuesque state, and waits to follow the lead of his companions.

Hmm..

Gren's paranoia was easily dismissed with the promise of shelter from the blizzard.  "Lead the way Lyria," he said with a sweeping wave of his arm.  "A few hours out of this wind and in front of the warmth of a fire would do us well."

The girl seemed to be infested with weasels.  Gren knew several recipes for weasel, but said nothing.  It was almost as if the girl treated the furry one as a pet; and eating your host's pet was considered rude in human society.

Kassadria was probably too cold to think logically, and although her instincts told her to remain cautious and she had a hand near to her rapier's hilt, the promise of shelter from the extreme cold seemed to be worth the risk. They would probably survive without it, for a time, but if this blizzard continued their journey may be severely inhibited.

Not to mention that she was pretty sure she couldn't feel her claws anymore, though she had wrapped them up tight in cloth, and her tail was shivering like mad beneath her cloak. So, as Gren started to move off she followed on, staying close to the giant as he was difficult to lose sight of. She didn't say anything though, mostly because her teeth were chattering too much...
This message was last edited by the player at 23:43, Sun 09 Dec 2012.

Lorelei quietly followed the others shivering a bit as she went. Some might think she was being quiet as normal for no special reason, or perhaps she had nothing to say. But right now she really wished her throat hadn't been damaged, because she wanted to bitch like nobody's business. The frigid air ached her tender throat going down and she vaguely swore she would either avoid more extreme temperatures or find some magical garment that ignored them. This was ridiculous.

Of course she didn't say any of it as she moved to keep face. The girl merely had a sour look on her face as she shivered and kept her head slightly down to prevent her throat from being exposed.

It takes a good ten minutes of trudging through the snow and retracing almost vanished tracks to make it back to the place that Lyria has been taking shelter in but upon seeing it, the group's collective spirits raise at the sight. Standing before them against the side of the mountain is a large stone fortress. Though it has seen better days and lies obviously abandoned with parts of it in ruin and disrepair, a good portion of it seems to remain whole. As she leads everyone through the rubble that was once the perimeter wall and in through the miraculously in-tact heavy oaken doors, just the lack of the howling wind seems to warm the skin considerably. While no tapestries or insignias remain in this long forgotten stronghold to claim ownership, there is a character about it that perhaps speaks of masonry not crafted by human hands.

After skirting the edge of a room whose roof has long since collapsed, forming a large snowdrift in the center of the room, Lyria leads the group through another of the few remaining doors into a sizable room that radiates a most welcome heat though no source is visible. The room plays host only to one man, though a sight to be sure. Dressed in clothes, or the lack thereof, that speak of impending death from the blizzard outside, one might question the man's sanity if it were not for a few peculiarities about him. While humans bearing the darker skin of the south were not unfamiliar to anyone, the pureness of his charcoal skin is almost unnatural in nature and when matched with the intensity of the burning orange eyes set into his head, the image of a roaring flame springs unbidden into the front of the mind. Meeting Lyria's gaze, and subsequently the rest of the group as they enter, he perks up from his state of apparent boredom from his solitary confinement.

(OOC: ...aaaaaand welcome Tevlin!)

"Took you long enough to get back." The man said in a bass rumble, contrasting his words with a broad grin that seemed to light up the room even more than his luminescent eyes.

Tevlin rose after speaking, unfolding to his full height, several inches over six feet.  "And you brought guests!"  He looked at Lyria and frowned.  "A fire, then?  You look wretched and miserable from the cold."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:26, Mon 10 Dec 2012.

What the man said was true enough even for Strange.  It had taken several days longer for the chill to settle to his core than it had for the fleshier members of his group.  Unfortunately the reverse would prove true as well and it would take several hours in this warm room for even his rough stony skin to no longer feel frozen to the touch.  The moment he came within sight of some sort of civilization he felt less inclined towards distrust of these new people.  He idly wondered if the wilderness would haunt him so all the way to the city of Architects as he peered about the room looking for any stable ledges or projections that might make a good perch.  Heck, even a mantle would do for the time being.

Lyria could not have expect a better reaction than what the group gave. Her smile widened, she turned around and motioned the group to follow as she focused on the track ahead, the only mar on the white expanse.

Sensing her change of mood, Niffa decided to climb back out and onto her shoulder, followed by a remark to be careful. Tilting her head slightly, she looked back in silence at the trail of creatures that followed, eliciting a soft chuckle from Lyria. "Now, now. You know it's rude to stare."

The chiding ignored, the white weasel remained thus throughout the journey until, suddenly, she raised her muzzle. Sniffing the air for a moment, she turned and plain jumped on the snow before bolting towards the fortress they've called home over the past few days.

"Wait!" Lyria called out as she, too, broke into a run. Luckily, the thick snow hampered the creature's movement enough that Lyria managed to catch it just as Niffa reached the perimeter wall. More scolding followed as Lyria picked up the struggling weasel with unfair ease that came from being a considerably larger creature. Niffa could do little but gurgle as Lyria led the group through the abandoned building.

As they finally entered the room where Tevlin had waited patiently, Lyria could not help but respond with a grin of her own, although hers was decidedly more apologetic. "Yes, sorry about the wait. And fire would be very much appreciated! Looks like I've found us more mouth to feed but no food to feed them." She grimaced at the end of that sentence, their predicament finally sinking into her mind.

Releasing the complaining critter carefully on the ground, Lyria walked towards a corner where her pack was stashed and rummaged through her belongings. After a moment, she took out the trail rations she had brought from Theranin. 10 packs and there were 6 of them. Maybe if she was to eat only half of hers, they could last for two more nights. Then, hopefully, this infernal blizzard will finally stop.

Niffa, however, had no such concern. Once freed, she scampered off into a seemingly hidden burrow, smelling dinner in the air.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:59, Mon 10 Dec 2012.

Tevlin smiled, walking over to a bundle at the back of the room and collecting some sticks.  Fire was something of a hobby to him and to those that knew him, this came as no great surprise.  He arranged the gathered sticks in a pit at the center of the room, one that had clearly been previously used for this purpose.  Ringing them around a single stick in the center, he tucked some shavings and scraps of paper in between the bases of the sticks, then played with the rockets which formed a circle around the pit.

Kneeling with his back to the newcomers, they couldn't see what he did next but a moment later, the fire sprang to life, igniting the tinder quickly, the lapping flames eventually beginning to light some of the larger sticks.  Tevlin turned back to face the new arrivals.

"There; it's not much, but it should help restore some of the feeling and movement in your frozen bodies.  C'mon over and thaw out." He said, waving them over.

Kassadria's cloak hid her form for the most part, with the hood low enough to hide her horns from sight, and her skin cold enough to look almost pale enough to be human-coloured. Nonetheless, she shied away from the sight of these new people, as was her instinct. But at the same time, she was eager to get close to the fire that the almost-naked man had made. She didn't know how he survived in this cold with so little protection, but perhaps his apparent affinity with fire had something to do with it. At the mention of food, she too reached into her pack to retrieve a ration of her own, a light oatmeal biscuit (almost frozen solid) that she started to nibble on quietly.

"Thanks," she said quietly to the man who had set up the fire, hoping her shivering voice would allow it. Of course her gratitude extended to the woman who had led them here, though her words may not have reached her. This felt strange for her... she'd never experienced this kind of situation amongst others. Always, in the cold, she had been alone. She was grateful for the change of pace recently, though it had been sort of forced upon her. Not that she minded... this group seemed to be involved in some rather interesting happenings that, now that she was involved, wanted to see through to the end...

But for now, her main objective was in returning feeling to her extremities.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:19, Mon 10 Dec 2012.

Gren moved towards the fire and sat down.  He held his large hands out towards the flame.  Looking around the room at the strangers' meager belongings he remarked, "It doesn't look as if you've lived here long.  You are lucky to find such a spot before the blizzard hit.  We thank you both for taking us in.  I am Gren Boarshead."  He waited to see what information about themselves they would volunteer, before he started asking more questions.  He fished around in his own backpack and set a large chunk of fatty salted pork atop a frozen slice of hard bread on a hot rock near the fire.  He seemed to lose himself as he stared, watching the fat defrost, glisten, then melt into the warming slice of bread.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:42, Mon 10 Dec 2012.

Lyria smiled sheepishly as she returned near the fire and saw the group took out their own provisions, feeling exceedingly rude for her previous remark. Placing a single ration on the ground, she walked back to her pack and stashed the other five, hoping that the group did not notice her blunder, her face burning all the way. Gren's remark provided a distraction and Lyria grabbed it gladly.

"Your observation is quite right. We do not live here. We are both traveller and, like you, we were passing through when the blizzard started. Thankfully, we found this place not too long after. Otherwise, I shudder to think at what would have happened. That was three days ago, I believe." Lyria offered the information gladly as she walked back towards the fire, grabbing her dropped ration on the way, feeling quite safe in her relative anonymity.

"My apologies, also, for the lack of introduction before. It was not the time or place, I feel. However, now that we are all safe and warm, I will not be opposed to knowing more about your companions," she chattered on as she sat as closely to Tevlin as what was appropriate, extending her arms and feet towards the fire in the middle of the room. Despite the layers of clothing, she felt quite exposed without her Niffa and was glad of the man, for both his life-saving fire as well as his imposing presence. Having traveled with him, Lyria also trusted him most.

Waiting for the group to respond, she tore open her ration and stared at the dried, salty meat. For a moment she debated whether she should grab some snow from the roofless room, melt it on her cauldron and cook the meat into an extremely plain stew but the implied effort tire her already. Content with the tough protein as it was, Lyria began to tear at the strip absentmindedly.

Tevlin smiled, enjoying the presence of so many people around him.  He tended his fire, stoking it and feeding it as necessary but unlike the others, he seemed to feel no need to anchor himself to the heat of the flames.  In fact, he seemed a source of his own heat to those who drew close enough to notice.

"The weather here has been... hmm.  Very interesting.  Not quite what I had in mind when I set out on this trip, of course, but then when have things ever gone exactly according to plan, hey?  That's half of the adventure right there!" He said, unleashing a deep, booming laugh that reverberated throughout the room.

"I'm Kassadria," the Tiefling introduced herself, as the spirit of the conversation seemed to lead that way, and now at least her teeth had stopped chattering, though she still seemed to make some effort not to show off her horns. "You've been staying here for three days?" she asked, surprised by that particular development. No wonder Lyria was talking about them running out of food. Their own supplies were still plentiful enough, as far as she was aware; they had been well stocked when they left Theranin.

Lorelei showed no hesitation to sit down beside the fire and enjoy the warmth, brushing her hair back and clear of snow flakes as she savored the heat. Unlike the others she wasn't quick to speak for the moment, letting them do the talking as she let her body warm up idly rubbing her hands together. The snow began to drip from her clothes as her pack waited nearby, and after a few minutes she drew out her water skin leaving it a little closer to the fire to warm it up.

"Names Lorelei..... Thank you"

When she spoke a few minutes later her voice was a little harsh, not soft or melodic but as if it was forced. None the less her relieved look proved she was truly grateful to get out of the snow and into somewhere a bit warmer.

Fortunately for Strange there happens to be a sort of nook above the fireplace which probably, at some point in the past, held a statue of some kind.  He was only too glad to put it to use for its intended purpose once more, even if it was only temporary, "Strange." he mumbles in his gritty rumbling voice.  His suspicions were lessening by the minute but he was glad to have a wall at his back for sure, "Is my name, that is.. hmm.."

"Well met to all of you; it is good to find company.  What brings you out into this blizzard?" Tevlin asked, saying the last word as if it tasted foreign in his mouth, as if it were from another language entirely.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 22:40, Tue 11 Dec 2012.

Lyria smiled and nodded to each one of them as they introduced themselves. At Kassadria's question, Lyria's answer was quite uncharacteristically brief. "Yes, unfortunately the weather have not been kind to us," she offered with a slight shrug of her shoulder which could easily be missed due to the layers of thick clothes she wore.

Truthfully, while she did her best to acknowledge their response, her mind dragged her elsewhere. As she looked at the group, she could see each person on the Holy Day of the Inheritor, their names ringing loudly in her ears as they strode out of the crowd in that cramped town square. 'Heroes responsible for the freedom of the people'. Lyria had cheered and clapped along with the masses that day, thinking of how courageous they were for having stood up and defeated Vyncent Lacio.

Coward.

The mere memory of the man made her grit her teeth. The insultingly polite way he carried himself when he came to visit her shop, flaunting the power he had over her life. Oh how she would have loved to reach out and wrap her hands around his thin, slender neck. Or, better yet, slip him a sample of his own 'simple request'.

His face came into her mind then. The bright blue eyes that she had once equally feared and adored, wide open, staring straight at her. Strange how ambivalent her feelings had become after only a few days. If only she had possessed the courage exemplified by the company she now kept. Perhaps then Vyncent's face would be the one she remembered instead of him. Perhaps then they would still be in Theranin, opening their shop...

No! her mind cried, jerking her back to the present and the pieces of meat gripped tightly within her hands. Her breath came short and quick, and she could hear pounding in her ears. How long had she been staring? Hoping no one else noticed, Lyria brought the meat into her mouth and began to nibble on an edge.

Thankfully, Tevlin had continued the conversation and, surely, diverted all the attention. The smile creeping back to her face, Lyria lifted her head and fixed her gaze to whoever decided to speak next.

"We all have our own reasons.  What we have in common is the destination.  We head for Azul Irkul.  And we all seem to trust one another well enough to sleep without worrying about being daggered in the back," he said making a stabbing motion in the air.  He was not much in the mood to explaining his dislike of Theranin in front of these two strangers.

Gren pinched his now warm meal and chomped half of it in one large messy bite.  Warm grease dripped down his fingers and beard.  Warmth on the outside was pleasant, but even more so on the inside.  He too placed his waterskin near the fire; however, it wasn't to defrost it because it wasn't water.  He carried honey mead in his and he wanted more warm fluids.  Gren detested water from a skin, carried too long it would pick up the taste of the cured leather.  Honey mead had a longer shelf life and hid the foul taste.

"Well, I certainly trust Tevlin enough in that regard." Lyria indicated her tall companion with a slight movement of her head. "I've never heard of this Azul Irkul before but then again, I've never been south of Theranin. It will be quite the adventure! If we are heading the same way, I will certainly welcome the extra company. Perhaps, after tonight, you may decide whether you can trust us." The grin that spread across her face was genuine before she returned to her struggle in chewing the dried meat in her mouth, completely failing to act in any lady-like manner in the meantime.

"My destination is whichever town we first come across," she divulged after swallowing with equal difficulty, eager to continue the conversation to keep her mind from wandering again, "although I cannot speak for the both of us. With a bit of luck, I'll be able to find something to occupy myself for the time being." And make amends.

Clearing her throat from the salt, Lyria rose and walked towards her pack, taking out her empty waterskin. A quick excuse and she walked outside to scoop some of the snow piling on the floor of the roofless room. The meat was far too salty to be eaten straight and her already dry throat burned. A drink was certainly in order.

PM

Lyria gasped as the, decidedly unnatural, chill settled in her bones. "Niffa!" she cried out, her ragged voice echoed in the empty room as an irrational fear gripped her mind. The logical part of her questioned the wisdom of creating such a ruckus but she knew whatever it was had seen her. Secrecy was no longer an option.

"Niffa!" she cried again, her voice becoming more desperate as she kept her gaze on the spot, just outside the demolished stone wall, where the figured had disappeared. Her mind reeled back to the shadow she thought she had seen just earlier that day. It could not have been a coincidence.

Sudden scraping against her ankle caused her to jump ever so slightly, making the climb more difficult for the small critter. Lyria sighed in relief as she saw the familiar white fur wriggled through and peeked out above her neckline, its whiskers tinged red from the unfinished dinner.

"Good girl," Lyria whispered as her gaze flickered back to the now empty hill, framed by the hole in the wall, while she began to make her way back to the rest of the group cautiously, a chosen spell running through her mind.

Strange settles comfortably into the nook, his eyes glowing faintly in the low firelight.  At some point, while nobody was watching, he produced two shiny rings from somewhere on his person and he was toying with them idly, making them dance through his fingers like magician's coins.  As Lyria re-enters he glances toward the weasel-toting woman for a brief moment before looking back in Tevlin's direction.  The duo had been friendly enough so far, but the girl at least was hiding something.

"Where did your travels begin.. hmm.. if I may be so bold as to ask?"  Those rings continue to twirl and flip disappearing for a moment only to reappear elsewhere.  He was certainly showing off, as his kind were wont to do, but that wouldn't make it any less impressive, especially with a finger missing from his left hand, "It would seem a difficult task to prepare oneself.. hmm.. for a journey that does not have a clearly defined end.  Perhaps you ventured through.. hmm.. Theranin on your travels?"  He spoke in his usual slow cadence, interrupted every few syllables by that deep rumbling sigh.

Having re-entered the room with her back against the group, Lyria almost jumped again as she heard Strange's deep and rumbling voice questioned her. What is that out there? she asked herself, Should I warn the group? What if it was nothing? You have no proof of it now and they might think that you've lost your mind.

Taking a deep breath, she looked up to the perch where the gargoyle tinkered with his rings, a wan smile spread across her face. "Well, that is a hard question to answer, Strange," she began, addressing the creature with the name he previously offered, "If only because time has eroded so many details from my mind. Lets see." Lyria made a show of frowning as she walked back towards a spot in the far side of the room, her eyes flickered every so often towards the entrance.

Can it be that the Thieves Guild sent someone after all, she wondered. Perhaps they're following the group and found this place through them? No, her mind reasoned. Vyncent Lacio was captured and he was the leader of the guild. So, can it be that the figure is a guard from Theranin instead? I swear I saw something out there twice now. Surely they cannot be a mere coincidence...

Finally at the other side of the room, Lyria was about to sit when she saw the waterskin in her hand, bulging from the snow she did not remember scooping. Her frown became genuine then, though she merely shrugged if off to her current preoccupation. Making sure that she could see the entrance from her position, she sat down carefully, bringing her knees up towards her chin while placing the waterskin in between, allowing the snow to melt from her body heat.

"I came from the town of Greenwood. Further north from Theranin, I think," Lyria continued after making herself comfortable. She made an effort to look at the stone figure, pretending to be amused by the trick he performed with the rings while keeping the entrance at the corner of her eyes. "I must admit, I was only five when I began traveling and I can't seem to remember much about the town." Only the dark, empty room with cold, hard earth for a bed. The sea that blanketed the town in its thick, salty vapour mixed with that spit-ladden breath that reeked of sickly sweet liquor. And those firm, fat fingers on strong, unyielding arms, tightening, and tightening.

Lyria yelped as Niffa bit on her finger that have crept up involuntarily towards her neck. Voicing her displeasure, Lyria pulled the weasel from its customary spot and placed her on top of her knees, stroking the soft fur slowly and firmly. Appreciative of this turn of event, the creature did little more than close her eyes and began to purr. The sound and the motion calmed Lyria's far-too-sensitive nerve as she cleared her throat and answered the gargoyle's other question. "And, yes, I have been to Theranin. In fact, it was the last town I visited to fill up my supplies before I decided to travel south through the Whitecap Pass and ended up trapped in this unfortunate weather."

Determined to change the subject, or rather the focus, of the conversation, Lyria decided to voice her illogical concern. "By the by, have any of you, perchance, saw a strange figure or shadow in this blizzard? I could have sworn I saw something, or someone, just before I found you earlier today. And just then, as I was filling up my drink, I could have sworn that I saw the figure again. But it disappeared just as quickly as it came. I have a most unnaturally uncomfortable feeling about it, whatever it is..."

Great. Now they'll think I've lost my mind.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:52, Fri 14 Dec 2012.

Gren looked up to Lyria as he polished off the last of his meal.  "Aye.  I saw such a thing earlier just before we met you.  In fact, I thought the shadow was you, which is why I stopped thinking about it.  Well then, it sounds as if we are being followed or stalked.  I still think the best plan is to let them come to us, not the other way 'round."

Gren wondered if it was one of Arudal's men looking for revenge.  Was it the hairy snow beast his people talked about?

Listening to Gren, as he re-told the encounter Lyria had experienced earlier, confirmed her suspicion and reassured her that she had not been hallucinating.

"I don't like this creature, whatever it is," she voiced her concern as she hugged her knees closer. Even with the fire in the room, she could feel the way warmth had seeped out of her body just minutes before. "When I first saw it, outside this fortress, I had approached it, thinking that it might have been another lost traveller. Yet when I came upon the spot where it should have been, there was nothing. No body and no sign that the snow was ever touched."

Lyria shuddered at the remembrance before she continued, "Then, when I saw it again, I had no doubt that it was the same... thing. And, I swore, it looked straight at me before it disappeared, just like that. I fear it now knows of our whereabouts."

Pausing a moment as the implication settled in her mind, she looked around the room at the walls that surrounded them. "Trapped," she whispered before realising she had said the word aloud. She did not like that word but it was exactly how she felt. The room that had provided shelter and safety just minutes before now felt too constrictive.

"There's only one way to enter or leave this place and it is through that entrance. We wait until that thing comes to us and we'll have nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. And who is to say that there are not more of them out there? Who's to say that what I saw the second time was not another of its kind?" Lyria reasoned, fear tinged her words despite her attempt to remain calm. She knew far too well what it was like to be cornered, unable to defend herself, and did not relish the idea of reliving the experience.

"I say we move now before its upon us. Find another place to wait, one with a way to escape should events conspire against us." Lyria looked to the half-ogre before her gaze swept around the room to every person there before settling on the tall dark-skinned man, pleading silently with her eyes. "We should not stay here."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:48, Sun 16 Dec 2012.

Strange's eyes flickered impatiently.  This seemed an odd turn of events, and he wasn't entirely sure he believed in some phantom figure out in the blizzard.  He did not relish the prospect of going back out in the cold, not when he hadn't even begun to feel the warmth from the fire.

"If something is out there.. hmm.. it cannot survive long.  Even if it can.. hmm.. there are those of us here with many and varied skills to handle whatever.. hmm.. threats we may face," he says as he makes an expansive gesture with his three-fingered left hand to indicate his companions, "I vote that we wait out this.. hmm.. storm and then continue our journey.  We can even have.. hmm.. two or three people stand guard if that will make you feel better."

He didn't add that it would make him feel better having someone from his own group to stand watch, but he certainly thought it - he wasn't about to get over his distrust that quickly.  With that he went back to toying with his rings, the firelight reflecting off of them and making brief patterns on the alcove walls where he perched.

Lorelei listened carefully at the back and forth banter between the group, discussing the strange creature in detail. She couldn't help but wonder just what the creature was as she took in Lyria's extensive chatter with a soft smile. She reminded Lorelei of Siren a bit, and amusingly seemed Human. While Lorelei wasn't racially motivated, it did help to have someone your height and not say.... half-ogre, gargoyle, or looking to be made of coal. She quirked her brow wondering how the hell she even got in this situation before Strange began to respond to Lyria.

Lorelei coughed quietly to draw attention to herself. She couldn't just cut in or talk over the others like many would in a debate as she began speaking. "Look, we -think-" she said, stressing the word think, "There is something out there. But we Know, the blizzard can and likely will kill us." She moved to continue speaking before coughing a dry painful sounding cough, before pulling close her water skin and taking a deep gulp. After a moment she continued.

"Better to risk a potential threat, then face one we can't fight against. I'd rather a beast I can punch, then the elements themselves"

She let out another light cough before lapsing into silence, sipping her water gently to ease her throat. The last sentence had come out rough and grating, but she felt it should be said. The blizzard was a guaranteed risk, a shape within it? Not as much.

"Post guards, Stay here" She added to sum up her opinion nearly a full minute later.

"While the blizzard is of no consequence to me, I agree that leaving the shelter is not wise.  It affords us poor visibility and a much easier time for anything to sneak up on us.  If this is the only entrance, then shy of smashing through the building, it is also the only angle of attack.  I say we trap it, trap the hallway behind us and post sentries. Let it come to us."

A deep frown was on her face as Lyria listened to the gargoyle's opinion. She was about to reply when a cough diverted her attention to the young, pony-tailed woman. Listening to her speak, Lyria could not help but wonder at the cause of the coarseness in her voice. The furrow on her forehead deepened even more as she heard the coughs in between her speech. Despite everything else, her years of training refused to let her ignore what seemed like an ingrained illness. However, she did not think her intrusion would be accepted and so she held her tongue.

The coughs also reminded her of how thirsty she felt, especially when Lorelei sipped her water. Making sure to keep her eye contact to let Lorelei know that she was still listening, Lyria reached and unstoppered her own waterskin, causing a disgruntled squeal from Niffa as the movement required both her hand, effectively ending the continuous patting the weasel had been receiving. Taking a deep gulp out of the portion of snow that had melted, Lyria sat quietly for a moment while her free hand reached back towards the creature.

Curled on top of her knees, Niffa watched intently as Lyria's hand reached the top of her head before closing her eyes as the scratch recommenced and the purr reverberated through her slender form once more. Thus positioned, Lyria listened to Tevlin's opinion, trying to assuage the rising panic she began to feel when she saw the figure.

Finally confident that she was sufficiently calm, Lyria made her final bid on the matter. "I think you have misunderstood what I meant and I apologise for not making my intention clear," she began. "I did not mean for us to go back out into the blizzard. I was merely suggesting that we move to a different room. We are in a large fortress, after all. I'm sure there would be other rooms that are still intact with more than one entry point. I just feel so trapped here..." Despite herself, her voice hitched slightly then and her eyes flitted to the walls on either side of her.

"However, if you would prefer to stay, then I volunteer to take the first watch with whoever else you deem fit. I don't think I'll be able to close my eyes at the moment." Truly, having met the group and then dealing with the conversation that followed dredged back too many memories Lyria thought she had buried and forgotten. She needed time to collect her scattered thoughts and plan what she should do if those mysterious figures were indeed after her, if nothing else.

Tevlin offered Lyria a concerned look.

"There are many rooms in this fortress, quite a few of which are just as defensible as this one.  If this place is uncomfortable to you, there's little sense in staying in this room when others will do."

One craggy brow was raised as Lyria clarified her previous statements.  When she and Tevlin and both finished speaking he nodded along, "No need for apologies, it sounds to me.. hmm.. like we are all in agreement."  That usually gravelly voice somehow managed to sound friendly and.. was that a smile?  It was hard to tell with those jutting tusks and sharp teeth.

"Have either of you.. hmm.. explored this structure enough to know of a room that would meet our needs?"  This new, friendly demeanor was odd compared to the suspicious tones he was using just a short few moments ago.

Kassadria couldn't help but notice how on edge Lyria appeared to be, and in such stark contrast to her companion, Tevlin. She made her best effort to hide her suspicion - after all, they had just as much reason to be distrusting of her and her own companions (who also had little reason to put much stake in Kassadria's honesty) and she felt that there was no need to drive a wedge between them immediately - not until she knew more.

Still, the whole situation gave her the feeling that something wasn't right. Mysterious figures in the blizzard, a pair of unlikely-looking companions who got stuck in this weather and just happened upon the group, and now a ruined fortress which they were being tempted into going deeper into on the basis of fear of what's outside.

To reassure herself, the Tiefling felt for the pair of rapiers on her belt; her own old faithful which had got her out of many a sticky situation, sometimes without even drawing blood, and the new rapier which had been acquired during the battle in Theranin. They suspected that it was magical, but Gren and Dale had both failed to identify its magical properties. Still, it would make a fine back-up for the blade that she already felt comfortable with.

Secure in the knowledge that neither blade had frozen into its sheath, her hands returned to her lap, where they tucked between her legs to try to keep warm. She had no furry animal to warm herself up with, sadly, and she found that even though the fire helped, she couldn't feel the heat permeate very easily through her scaled outer layer.

"Well, I think it wise to search out the rest of this place.  For all we know it may already be claimed.  If we are in someone or something elses territory we are asking for trouble.  If we are really lucky we'll find a place that is even warmer, more comfortable, and secure than this here."

His face screws up into a look of annoyance, "Of course, I'm never lucky."

Lyria smiled in obvious relief as the group seemed to change their minds once she explained her original intention. She was also glad that the half-ogre put forth another reason to move that sounded far more logical than her previous fear-addled speech.

As for Strange's question, Lyria admitted, "No, I personally have not explored the structure further than having found this room. My preoccupation had been with finding some mean of sustenance while we wait for the blizzard to pass. I suppose Niffa here would have seen more of the fortress while hunting for her food, hmm?" The last question was addressed to the furry predator, currently curled up contentedly upon her drawn up knees. Lyria nudged the purring creature with her nose to emphasise her point. Its attention diverted, Niffa perked up and stared back at Lyria, tilting her head slightly at the intrusion.

"Time to move, little one," Lyria whispered back at the wordless inquiry before she picked up the slender form, eliciting a gurgle and a half-hearted struggle, and placed Niffa upon her shoulder. Once her knees were no longer needed for support, she stood up and made her way to the back of the room to gather her belongings.

Niffa trilled loudly once she was safely perched on the shoulder and ran around the back of Lyria's neck to the other side before deciding to climb on top of her head, using the ear as a foothold on the way up. Then, it was Lyria's turn to voice her complain.

Hefting an overloaded pack upon her shoulder, Lyria turned around and faced the group with a grin on her slightly disheveled countenance.  "Well, we are ready."

Lorelei put her waterskin on her belt pouch as she stood, gathering up her bag with a nod as she hefted it casually on her back. Unlike some people she tended to travel light and she flashed Lyria and the others a nod. Searching out a better room seemed ideal, and she had always enjoyed exploring. There might be more then just a sturdy room to be found in these ruins. It seemed like a fun deviation from being stalked and a blizzard outside.

"Ready"

It only takes a few moments for the group to collect their gear and extinguish the fire in the center of the room as they decide to make their way deeper into the fort in search of a larger and more retreat-oriented room. From inside the room those that approach the door can easily hear the wind howling outside, a sign that the blizzard still hasn't given up on burying the entire mountain in snow. Just as Lorelei reaches out to grab the handle though, there is a loud thump against the door followed by the sound of something being scraped on the wooden door. The scraping only lasts a second but the timing seems eerie at best...

(OOC: What do?)

"Well, that doesn't sound like us being sealed in at all, does it?" Tevlin said with a wince.  "Maybe that's just coincidence, but I hope you all know how to handle yourselves." He added, eying the gargoyle with an appraising look.

He stepped back from the door, several of his favorite spells coming to mind as he waited and watched intently.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:59, Sat 29 Dec 2012.

Strange returns the look with a flare of his glowing eyes and a slight tilt of the head, "I am ready for anything.. hmm.."  He still didn't think it was anything truly dangerous - at this point he was of a mind that it was another traveler stuck out in snow or even a wild animal that blundered inside.

OOC - If the door does prove to be sealed Strange will assist in any attempts to bust it down (+2 to the STR check I believe?)  If an enemy pops up on the other side he will be ready to tumble past them (+8 Acrobatics) in order to achieve a flanking position.

The loud thumping sound made Lyria jump, her tired and barely calmed nerves tensing once again, almost to the point of snapping. Caught! she cried internally. Her eyes having yet to adjust to the darkness, she could not help but feel helpless and blind as her breathing quickened once more.

With trembling hands, Lyria reached towards her companion who managed to scramble down to her right shoulder after almost being dislodged from the unexpected jump. For once, the creature did not protest as she picked it up and held it close against her chest. Spotting her usual spot nearby, Niffa clambered in as quickly as she could and, once nestled safely, she stretched out her elongated body to peek out from the neckline, curious as to what had caused such a reaction from the girl.

Uncomfortable with the oppressing darkness, Lyria clasped her hands together and began to mutter softly. For a moment, the weasel's eyes seemed to turn white and glow before they were overshadowed by bright light emanating between the entwined fingers. Lyria's muttering ceased as four wisps of light floated up from her opened palm and hovered just above her head, illuminating the enclosed room.

OOC:
Cast Dancing Lights

Gren felt the muscles in his shoulders tighten as something thumped against the door.  "Well, don't just stand there; someone try opening that door.  We'll deal with whatever it is."  He drew a silvered javelin and rested it on his shoulder ready to throw it should danger present itself.  Images of giants covered in white fur raced through his mind.

Kassadria was already on her feet when they heard the sound, but she jumped somewhat when she did hear it. She had no idea what it might be, but the scraping sound made her think of a wolf's claws or some kind of snow beast. If she wasn't shivering, she'd be completely still, listening out. As no sound came and the others started to ready themselves around the door she followed suit, drawing her rapier (the mundane one) and stepping up to the door beside Strange.

She looked at the gargoyle, signalling to him with her free hand that she intended to try to open the door on the count of three, and then started to count silently, mouthing the numbers as her hand settled on the handle, twisting it if it was that kind of handle. "One... two... three!" She pulled the door, brandishing her rapier if it gave.

Lorelei almost casually dropped her bag as sh walked forward towards the door, keeping her ears strained to hear anything else besides the original scrape. She wasn't going to be the one opening the door since the others seemed to have that planned. She on the flip side WAS going to be ready to take down anything waiting for them on the other side.

One hand on her trusty rapier, the other on the door handle, Kass rips open the door at the end of her countdown and squares herself for a fight with whatever was making a racket outside their room. The door almost came off its old rusty hinges at the enthusiasm of the eager tiefling and as the door crashes open, outside the room, staring down the group with a malevolent gaze is...nothing? Sure enough, nothing stood outside where only moments before there had been someone although as the outside of the door becomes visible, the question might be less of who was out there rather than what. Five long, slender gouges in the wooden door stretch from nearly the top of the door and make it down to a normal human's waist height. No normal person could possibly keep their nails attached to their fingers and make that deep of scratches. Now though, the only thing with the group seemed to be the wind and the snow.

"Anything does include.. hmm.. nothing," a bit of humor is audible in that gritty voice of his.  He nudges his way through the group and steps through the door fearlessly, "An animal perhaps, scared away by.. hmm.. the scent of people.  I shall take the lead and you.. hmm.." here he turns hand nods toward Tevlin, "can direct me where to go if you would be so kind."  He was certainly eager to prove himself right and, while he generally did not like to put his back toward strangers he was starting to feel more at his ease with this new duo.

Gren's eyes wince as he catches sight of the scratches.  The images of giant white-haired ape men, continue to run through his mind, but he keeps such thoughts to himself.  "Hmm...look like bear scratch.  Any prints in the snow?"

Kassadria resheathed her sword when she saw that the only visible threat remained the cold, and upon seeing the scratches, immediately stepped out to look out into the snow. The blizzard was too thick to see anything beyond a few yards, but as she knelt down and examined the snow she found snow-prints. "Tracks. Are we going out after this thing?" It was clear, by the tone of her voice, that she'd prefer not.

OOC: 17:45, Today: Kassadria rolled 16 using 1d20+6. tracking. I'm expecting a DC of at most 10, so that should be a success. I'll edit if I'm wrong. If she did indeed find tracks, what size is the creature and is there anything else she might have been able to glean from the shape of the print?

Indeed, Kass does notice what could pass as tracks on the ground outside of the room. Two sled-like drag marks lead away from the door down the path the group took to enter the area. Oddly enough though, there doesn't seem to be any tracks that lead to the door and as soon as the group follows the trail to the door leading out of the room with the collapsed ceiling, the tracks end abruptly, and not from being covered by snow either as the next room is largely in tact. Leading out of the room is of course the passageway that leads to the front of the fortress as well as a doorway sans door and an old stone staircase spiraling down from the back of the room.

(OOC: Out into the blizzard, into a different part of the upper levels, or down into the heart of the fortress? Feel free to meta this a bit in OOC if it helps. This isn't a dungeon per say but there are a few parts to it.)

The claw marks and mentions of animal did the opposite to Lyria as they did to the others. It calmed and allowed her to think more clearly. There was no doubt that whatever it was could not have been members of the Thieves' Guild or guards from Theranin. As the half-ogre and the gargoyle have mentioned, they were bestial in nature. Of course, there was a possibility that the figure she had seen was a different entity to the one that just paid them a visit but examination of the tracks, as discovered by Kassadria, confirmed in her mind that it was one and the same.

"See how these tracks disappear," she whispered, having slunk towards the door where the majority of the group now stood, "The figures I've seen seem to be able to do exactly that. Vanish. Also, they looked considerably more human so I very much doubt that it's a mere bear, unfortunately. I have no doubt now that, whatever it is, it has definitely found us so I agree with Strange." Lyria's gaze shifted from the tracks towards the living statue and nodded as a sign of her agreement.

"We should move further into this fortress."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:04, Mon 31 Dec 2012.

"I'll agree with Lyria. Barricade the door, move deeper. I doubt they can vanish out of the snow, and breaking through will give us good warning who or whatever is coming."

Lorelei rubbed her throat as she absently picked her bag back up. She wanted to explore these ruins a bit, and all things considered it was much harder to punch a bear or the like then another human being. She'd rather avoid wild animals if she could.

"I would be more comfortable if we have a better defense; we will be here some time, it seems, with this storm embracing us, so we may as well take the precaution of fortifying our position instead of leaving ourselves vulnerable by going out into the snow."

"Well I'm going to go take a look around.  I don't know what I'll want to eat until I see what fruits are in the basket."  With javelin in hand Gren headed for the room that had the archway that led outside.  If he remebered right, there was a broken door in there.  He wanted to take a peek through it before he decides to head down the stairs.

"If you guys set a trap, do try to warn me as to where."  With that said he used his great size to shoulder his way past everyone.

Moving forward alone, Gren notices that the tracks do end at the door to the next room, one of the rooms with a ceiling open to the snowfall outside. Crossing through the small snowdrifts that sit undisturbed, save those that the group had passed through earlier, he makes it to the adjacent doorway and takes a peek inside. The room seems to have been once used as something akin to an inn or tavern's common room and in the back of the long room to his left, there is an opening in the stone that once served as a window to what was likely the kitchen. While all but one of the wooden tables that had once stood in the room had either been scrapped for firewood by others or were just lost to the passage of time, the door to the kitchen seemed to be somewhat in tact, the hinges holding it carefully in place. As Gren scans back, through the kitchen window and back into the shadows of the kitchen itself, he sees a figure that had not been there before, standing still with its arms across its chest, staring toward him. Catching him off guard, it causes him to flinch and involuntarily blink at which point, the figure is gone.

Gren could feel his heart pounding, but tried to keep his cool.  "Looks like we have ghosts," he called back to the others.  Gren checked the kitchen door to see if it was barred or locked.  He had neither spell nor weapon that could strike down a ghost if attacked.  His heart punded harder.  "Um...we come in peace.  We only seek shelter form the storm," he whispered to no one in particular.

"Gren, wait!" she called out as she saw his figure disappeared around the corner from the roofless room. Seeing how the half-ogre decided to continue his exploration of the abandoned building, she turned to the others and spluttered her reasoning. "We should not separate. Whatever it is, there must be a reason why it hasn't attacked us yet. Maybe, together, we outnumbered it. It seems, to me, that staying together would be our best defence. More than any traps we can lay. At the very least, I do not like the idea of splitting off into smaller groups." She looked pleadingly at Tevlin at the end of her sentence. The half-ogre had made up his mind and she would loathe to see him come to an untimely demise due to their indecision. What was the point of rescuing them from the blizzard then?

Her thought was interrupted as Gren's voice was heard across the rooms. At the mention of ghost, Lyria could not help but shivered, knowing full well that what she had seen certainly matched that description, if only for its ability to disappear at will. Looking around at the group one last time, she rushed ahead, curiosity tinged any fear she held, which had morphed considerably after she decided in her mind that the mysterious figure was somehow bestial in nature. Arriving next to him, she cleared her throat and touched his arm tentatively so as not to surprise the man. "Gren, we really should go back," she whispered, her head swivelling around to check that nothing had snuck up on them and to see if any from the group had followed after.

As Lyria enters the room, she can see that Gren is startled by her sudden appearance but then, upon finding her instead of a giant snow monster, relaxes a little. Checking the door, he finds that with minimal strength, it scrapes open, threatening to come completely off the hinges if pushed too far. After a quick peek inside the kitchen now that the door is open, Gren can see that there are a couple of hearths and a long stone countertop against the back wall but besides that, the room is empty. Asthe half-ogre turns around to relay his findings, or lack of, to Lyria, he finds the young woman standing stark still and staring toward the door. Eyes following hers, he finds that she may have been right to worry about splitting up. Standing with its arms crossed in front of it, a hungry gleaming in its eyes is their mysterious figure. Emaciated with its skin tight enough around its head to show every curve of the angular skull underneath and claws the size and sharpness of daggers, it opens its toothy maw slightly, it's canines like that of a wolf and dripping saliva. As the two are watching it watch them from the back wall, the upside-down 'u' run painted blue on its forehead shimmers slightly and it's gone...only to reappear next to the table and this time with it's claws extended toward the duo.

(OOC: Actions and initiative! If you are new to my combat system, everybody does their actions and then I resolve the combat via a wrap up post. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.)

Unsure of why they had stopped and why Gren was going on alone Strange was rapidly growing impatient, his wings twitching and his eyes flickering as he turns to Tevlin, "Should we not be.. hmm.. moving forward?  And where has your friend gone?  Hmm.. something is not right..."

He moves toward the opening that leads to the large entry hall to look for Gren and Lyria without losing sight of the others.

Move Action:  Move to Q-13
Standard Action: Move to K-13
This message was last edited by the player at 04:46, Tue 08 Jan 2013.

"Gor'dem!  What in the Abyss is that thing?  It looks like some Necromancer's barber!" he yelled out, hoping to attract the attention of the rest of the group.  Lyria started casting a spell, but her casting technique was strange to him.  He hid his fear behind a look of determination; the dead belonged in the ground or at least part of it.  He was carefull not to stand still for too long.  He did not want to get caught within reach of the creature's claws.  "With fingers like those I doubt he's offering a handshake!"

Gren threw his javelin in a strange underarmed pitch.  It seemed to fly true, but likely wouldn't have the strength of an overarm throw.

What was taking the others so long?  Had they not decided to move and explore the complex like he thought?

If Lyria doesn't cast Daze I'll modify my post slightly.  Will take a five foot step or move with out provoking AoO should the creature come within melee range.
11:06, Today: Gren Boarshead rolled 7 using 1d8+6. damage (arcane strike considered magical for overcoming DR).
11:05, Today: Gren Boarshead rolled 20 using 1d20+3. iron javelin attack.
11:02, Today: Gren Boarshead rolled 3 using 1d20+2. initiative.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:31, Sun 06 Jan 2013.

Her heart almost stopped beating when the creature materialised on the doorway, blocking their exit, but it certainly did when the creature disappeared only to reappear even closer. A high pitched squeal from Niffa seemed to jump start her heart again, and she began to breathe rapidly, her eyes flickering back and forth between the half-ogre and the salivating creature in fear.

Once she found her voice once more, she whispered half-jokingly, "It looks hungry." The words did not seem to have the effect she intended, unfortunately, especially as her voice choked towards the end. Inhaling deeply to calm herself, she reached into a pouched tied on her waist. Sand seeped between her fingers as she muttered a short incantation. Opening her clasped hand, she blew the grains in front of her, each fleck glowing white as her own eyes.

"Time to go to bed."

OOC:
Slumber Hex with DC of 16
If the hex doesn't work, I will move back to B0(?). Other room, basically.
If the hex works, I'll take a standard move to E9.

14:36, Today: Lyria rolled 11 using 1d20+2. Initiative.

Though the blizzard ess loud, it sedn't loud enough to drown out the sound of Gren's deep voice, or indeed the impact of his javelin. Kassadria, though nervous about going out into the open without knowing what was there, knew that if they allowed one or two of them to be picked off, it wouldn't be long before whatever-it-was killed them all.

"You all heard that, right? Let's go!" she drew her rapier once more and hurried out into the hallway and made her way to the door, where the sound of Gren's voice appeared to have come from. "Where is it?" she called into the room, all memory of the cold forgotten.


OOC:
22:58, Today: Kassadria rolled 11 using 1d20+6. INIT.
I posted later so I'll go after Lyria.
Double move to G12 (or as close to that as I can get... I'm bad at counting.)

Lorelei was quick on her feet and heading at a quick pace for where the noises were coming from. She wasn't going to outright run in case there was something waiting for her, and she was on her guard. But she was going to move quickly to help her allies for the trip. She didn't know what was around the corner, but she was going to make sure they all walked away from this safely.

17:31, Today: Lorelei rolled 19 using 1d20+3. Initiative.
Move: R7 to Q12
Standard: Q12 to K12

Tevlin cocked his head to the side, listening to what they had all apparently heard and feeling as disconcerted as the rest.  He moved out into the room beyond carefully, alert to all around him.  Worried, Tevlin decided it would be wise to cloak himself in a protective spell, wrapping himself up in an intangible field of deflecting force.


OOC:
Tevlin moves to M 15, casts Mage Armor.

It didn't take the whatever it was long to cross the distance between itself and the two casters, blinking in and out of vision every few steps to appear a bit closer than when it had vanished until it was finally upon them. "It looks hungry." Lyria commented nervously as it approaches. "With fingers like those I doubt he's offering a handshake!" Gren agrees as he readies a javelin from his back. Moving after her whose late entry into the room had placed her between the creature and Gren, both claws rip at her abdomen, leaving torn fabric and bloody gashes in her stomach. The startled and now defensive Niffa hisses at the threat but subtly wraps herself tighter around Lyria's neck. "Time to go to bed," she groans as she blows a handful of sand at the creature though the only thing it seems to do is irritate the creature and even that emotion is questionable. Realizing the danger of her current situation, she takes a step back, just dodging under another swipe from the creature's claws and ducking behind Gren into the safety of the kitchen to regroup. Getting a clear line of sight on the creature, Gren heaves the javelin in an underarmed pitch, striking it in the shoulder which seemed to only anger it further. Ignoring the weapon lodged into its shoulder, it jumps forward at Gren, thrusting its claws at the sorcerer like one would a spear, and sending all ten fingers into both shoulders, nearly pinning him to the wall. With it's face so close to his, Gren could feel the cold of death that embraced this creature, a different cold than that which they had experienced outside in the blizzard...

---

Meanwhile, the rest of the group begins to grow tired of waiting...

"Should we not be.. hmm.. moving forward?  And where has your friend gone?  Hmm.. something is not right..." Strange voices restlessly, his crumbled wings twitching with impatience.

Seemingly right on cue, Gren and Lyria's voices ring out from elsewhere in the fort. "Gor'dem!  What in the Abyss is that thing?  It looks like some Necromancer's barber!"

"You all heard that, right? Let's go!" Kass said, almost excitedly as she drew her rapier and led the charge into the room beyond to aid the others. The rest follow closely behind, Tevlin having the presence of mind to cast a defensive spell as he followed up the rear. It was this precaution that allowed him to glimpse something moving about the rubble of one of the walls behind the group. Almost invisible in the falling snow is a clawed monstrosity, beginning to sneak forward with eyes for those with their backs to it.

From standing still to outright sprinting toward Lorelei, the sorcerer barely had time to witness the act, let alone warn against it. The surprise attack rakes the monk's back in a two handed display of viscousness, nearly staggering the younger woman. Something both women had now come to know was the freezing cold of the creature's claws, like metal left in a freezing lake or the burn of fire if it were to be made of ice rather than flame. Drawing its bloodied claws back, it lifted one into the air and tilted its head back, mouth opening, to let some of the blood drip in. With a satisfied exhale that sent no warm breath into the air to be seen, it looked back to Lorelei, eager for more.

(OOC: For those of you unfamiliar with my tactics, when a monster has a higher initiative than everyone in the party, I allow them to act at the beginning of the turn and then again at the end for the first turn so that you don't have to guess what they will do before you are able to act. Essentially, they already took their 2nd turn and now it's your turn to do the same.


Initiative Order
19 Lorelei
14 Tevlin
11 Kass + Lyria
  7 Strange
  3 Gren
20 "Disappearing Clawed Thingies"

Cumulative Statuses
Gren: -13 HP
Kass: Full HP
Lorelei:-14 HP
Lyria: -15 HP
Strange: Full HP
Tevlin: Full HP

This message was last edited by the GM at 06:02, Thu 10 Jan 2013.

As soon as the creature moves into view Strange begins altering his course.  Instead of continuing forward into the next room he swings wide around behind the thing as it attacks Lorelei, then dashes in quickly to strike at it's flank, "Face me if you dare, loathsome whelp, monster to monster!"

Move Action: K-13>J-13>I-12>I-11>J-10 (Circling around to avoid AoO)
Standard Action: Claw attack.
Free Action: Fight the urge to say, "You call that a claw?  THIS is a claw!"
Rolls:
21:53, Today: Strange rolled 22 using 1d20+3. Claw attack. Note: Forgot +2 for flank but I'm sure it hits anyways. :P
21:54, Today: Strange rolled 8 using 1d6+2. Claw damage.
13:22, Today: Strange rolled 6 using 1d6. Sneak attack damage (almost forgot!).
This message was last edited by the player at 21:22, Thu 10 Jan 2013.

Lorelei let out a silent scream for pain as she stumbled forward. It took her a moment to gather her feet as her back bled freely and she pivoted on her heel with an almost feral snarl. Perhaps mimicking Strange's claw swipes or the creatures, or perhaps just an instinctive urge to rake its eyes out, she lashed out in a surprisingly simple strike. Slamming her palm into the creatures face with fingers extended to drag across its face. To make matters worse for the beast, her hand seemed to erupt in flames as it struck for it. Sadly though Lorelei's hand was slower then normal and seemed to allow the creature, lest it be slow as a rock to dodge. Much of her striking power came from her currently torn up back.


10:02, Today: Lorelei rolled 5 using 1d6. Fire Bonus.
10:02, Today: Lorelei rolled 10 using 1d6+6. Damage if hit.
10:01, Today: Lorelei rolled 12 using 1d20+8. Elemental Fist, Unarmed Attack w/Flank.

Lyria could barely gasped in pain as she felt the creature's claws tore through the skin and flesh of her stomach. Instinctively, she did what she always did when she felt her life was in danger - she ran. Clutching at the wounds with her hands, she stumbled towards the kitchen, having been unsure that there were not more of those monsters behind the one who attacked them, and pressed her back towards the wall that separated the two rooms.

There, she waited for Gren to follow with baited breath, listening for any tell-tale sounds of the creature’s movement while the air around her shimmered imperceptibly. When the half-ogre did not appear, she peeled away from the wall and dared herself to look around the corner just as Gren was stabbed through his shoulders. The scene filled Lyria with fear as she staggered away, a sobering thought ringing through her mind. We're not going to survive this.

OOC:
Cast Mage Armour and move back to A-2. If the kitchen doesn't extend that far, I'll move to A-1 and amend the above post slightly.

HP: 4/19
AC: 16
This message was last edited by the player at 21:38, Thu 10 Jan 2013.

Kassadria heard only the sounds of the two out of sight being attacked through the doorway. Then she heard the sounds of combat behind. Making a snap decision, she rushed forward into the room where Gren and Lyria had gone, and she suspected one of those creatures still remained. She got into the room just in time to see Gren's bloodied shoulder and the creature looming over him. He doesn't look in great shape, and Lyria's not even in sight. "Hey!" thinking fast, she shouted at the monster, glancing around for anything to throw at it, since she didn't have time to draw her bow.

Failing finding a stone or anything like that, she instead drew her new rapier and begrudgingly swung her arm to throw her old one. She missed by a foot or two, but hopefully it got the creature's attention. Now she just had to survive long enough for the others to deal with the one in the room behind her so they could help her with this one.

OOC:
Move to D9, and draw spare rapier.
21:12, Today: Kassadria rolled 7 using 1d20-2. rapier throw.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:07, Sat 12 Jan 2013.

Pain flared up and down Gren's arms and back.  He wasn't sure if he would survive another attack like that.  He stepped back to block the doorway to the next room.  If nothing else he may be able to buy Lyria some time.  Blood dripped down his arms and fingertips as his fingers slowly danced in the air.  He called out words of the arcane that would form a ghostly shield before him.

Free: 5' step back, Standard: Cast Shield
This message was last edited by the player at 01:50, Fri 11 Jan 2013.

Tevlin reached within himself to find that ever-burning flame, that piece of his soul connected to the Elemental Plane of Fire and loosed a ray of orange energy at the monster attacking his new companions.


OOC:

That's one of my uses of Elemental Ray, so it's ranged touch against the claw-y beast thing.  Naturally, because I'm #epicfail...

You rolled 7 using 1d20+3 ((4))

So that's not hitting anything, curses!

After the highly effective attacks by the clawed creatures, both Lorelei and Gren stagger a bit before they are able to react. While Gren opts for a more defensive route, backing into the choke point of the kitchen door and casting an arcane shield about himself to, hopefully, keep the beast at bay. Lyria opted for a similar strategy as a shimmering force armor encompassed her body as she moved forward just in time to see Gren break away from the creature's attack before almost backing up into her, causing her to momentarily lose her balance before steadying herself, Niffa clinging onto her shoulder tightly.

As the two spell casters stand their ground against the slow advance of the creature, anxiety plain on their faces that the next attack from this thing would finish them both, a voice like a guardian angel rings out from the back of the room. Ironic because the source was anything but angelic. "Hey!" Kass calls out challengingly as the hurls her old rapier at the thing, missing, but gaining it's attention as it swirls around in a flurry of snow and claws to look at the intruder just as she draws her new, gilded rapier.

If anyone in the room had blinked, they would have thought that the creature disappeared for all of the speed it used to reach Kass's side. Snow billowed out behind the creature who now seemed to tower over the tiefling, it's claws raised high in preparation for an attack. She had only moments to look up and take it all in before the claws flashed in the light from overhead. The first attack rakes her across the arm as she rolls away from the attack, brandishing her rapier in a quick parry to deflect the second swing of the claws. The beast's strength was indeed something fearsome, it's glancing blow nearly knocking the weapon from her hands. For now though, she held her ground.

On the other front, Lorelei took to her opponent with a different reaction than her wounded counterpart. Spinning on her heel with a savage snarl more fitting to the chiseled face of her gargoyle companion, her palm flashed forward violently, catching fire in the process as she called upon her training to bend the elements to her whim. Calling upon fire in this place was difficult, a fact affirmed by the amount of concentration it took her to summon it, causing her to strike slower than she needed to reach the thing's face. It was a miss with unintended boons though. As the flaming palm passed the creatures face, it's almost smug eyes widened in an altogether different emotion. Fear.

Tevlin did not miss the reaction and quickly began forming the connection to the Plane of Fire required to channel the ever-burning flame. Letting loose a burning streak of the fire, it seemed that the creature was ready for the attack and dropped to a knee to avoid the attack. As the light from the fire streaked past it and extinguished itself on the wall behind, it reflected off of a stone figure not part of the fortress itself as Strange had quietly made his way around the back of the creature while it was distracted with it's fire-wielding opponents. Realizing Strange's presence too late, stone claws rivaling the beast's own, ripped through skin-tight flesh, lacerating the creature's chest as it turned in surprise but drawing no blood. An all-too-human scream let loose from the creature's mouth, like a woman who had been attacked, yet with something to it that spoke of an unearthly quality that froze the blood of those around it. Eyes vacant of the fear it had shown moments before, it lashes out at the gargoyle, intent on repaying him in kind. The only thing that happens though is a flash of moving stone as Strange easily dodges the first attack by ducking under the swipe and then using his damaged wings to give him just enough lift to launch him over the low sweep that followed.


Initiative Order
19 Lorelei
14 Tevlin
11 Kass + Lyria
  7 Strange
  3 Gren
20 "Disappearing Clawed Thingies"

Cumulative Statuses
Gren: -13 HP
Kass: -6 HP
Lorelei:-14 HP
Lyria: -15 HP
Strange: Full HP
Tevlin: Full HP

Tevlin growled in frustration, loosing another ray of fire only to watch it fail to make its mark again.




You rolled 4 using 1d20+3 ((1)).

I officially quit this dice roller...

Kassadria gasped as the creature appeared before her and barely reacted in time to avoid taking a faceful of claw. She dived to the right, her left arm cut deep by the creature's attack. She cursed loudly and spun to deflect the second swipe with her blade, knocking the creature's arm away and taking advantage of the opening to thrust her sword into its belly.

She growled with satisfaction as she felt her blade pierce the creature's hide and gave it a twist before withdrawing it, and dodged back, trying to lead the monster into the room with Strange, Lorelei and Tevlin. It's not that she didn't trust Gren and Lyria as much as the others (well, it was partly that) but she didn't really feel for trying to duck past the creature and run towards them when they were both severely injured and would likely not have much to offer her in terms of aid until they recovered from their wounds.

She watched the creature, to see if it followed, taunting it with a firm gaze, and would stop short if it appeared to turn away.

OOC: Standard action: Attack Slender-man with magic rapier.
03:54, Today: Kassadria rolled 25 using 1d20+7. attack.
03:54, Today: Kassadria rolled 17 using 1d20+7. crit confirm.
03:55, Today: Kassadria rolled 5 using 1d6+1. damage.
03:55, Today: Kassadria rolled 4 using 1d6+1. crit damage.
Move action: Move to H13 (or F13 if the creature doesn't appear to be interested in following). Mobility gives me +4 bonus to AC against an AoO from movement.

HP: 13/19
AC: 20 (+4 vs AoO from movement)
This message was last edited by the player at 05:12, Tue 15 Jan 2013.

Trembling in fear, Lyria watched as the creature turned to face them with, what she imagined to be, murderous intent in its eyes. It took everything she had to stand where she was, against every fibre of her being that clamoured for her to run into a corner, close her eyes and curl up, pretending that this was all a nightmare she would eventually wake up from when the sun climbed over the horizon. Thankfully, just as her will began to fail, Kassandria's familiar voice echoed through the hollow room followed by a clatter of metal against stone floor.

The commotion seemed to have drawn the creature’s attention away and, the moment its gaze left them, her knees failed her as Lyria slumped and sobbed with relief. Niffa, however, was not quite so affected and it was the threat of the weasel scampering off to attack their assailant that kept the girl from breaking down completely. Taking deep, even breaths to calm herself, she stood back up behind the half-ogre as she held on to the familiar on her shoulder, warning the creature to stand still. Then, with her free hand, she reached carefully towards Gren's injured shoulder and began to mutter softly, causing her palm to glow a soft white light as the bleeding seemed to staunch.

OOC:
Cast healing hex on Gren.

16:00, Today: Lyria rolled 8 using 1d8+2. Healing Hex.

HP: 4/19
AC: 16
This message was last edited by the player at 05:12, Tue 15 Jan 2013.

He laughs darkly at the otherworldly beast, the sound bubbling up like some darkling beast's cry from the depths of a pitch black cave as he swings his claws once more, intent to rend this foul creature limb from limb.


21:24, Today: Strange rolled 25 using 1d20+5. Claw attack 1.
21:24, Today: Strange rolled 13 using 1d20+5. Crit confirm.
21:24, Today: Strange rolled 19 using 1d20. Claw attack 2.

21:28, Today: Strange rolled 4 using 1d6+2. Claw damage 2.
21:28, Today: Strange rolled 5 using 1d6+2. Claw damage 1.

21:28, Today: Strange rolled 4 using 1d6. Sneak attack damage - claw 2.
21:27, Today: Strange rolled 6 using 1d6. Sneak attack damage - claw 1.

Gren had all intentions of dazing the creature with a spell, thus leaving it vulnerable to Kass's sword; but all of a sudden Kass moved away.  She obviously had plans of her own.  Gren grunted with frustration.

Still, the creature dared turn its back on an armed member of the Boarshead Clan.  Gren would take advantage of that mistake.  Even without any spells he was a decent shot with the javelin.  He drew forth another and let it fly.  Without so much as an incantation magic still flowed into it from his hands.

11:13, Today: Gren Boarshead rolled 8 using 1d6+6. damage (arcane strike) x2 if confirmed.
11:12, Today: Gren Boarshead rolled 13 using 1d20+3. crit confirm.
11:11, Today: Gren Boarshead rolled 23 using 1d20+3. attack.

Seeing Strange deal with the best before her she turned and ran off in the direction of the others, even as blood flowed freely down the wounds in her back. She wasn't sure how much further they had gone so she slipped one of her daggers off her belt and into her left hand. Almost stumbling as she rounded the corner, looking about for more threats. Another of the creatures was assaulting the other half of the group and she barely took time to aim before the dagger whistled through the air towards its head, working to keep it further off balance and hopefully taking it down.

Move: K12 to E13
Thrown Dagger: At Monster on D8

20:34, Today: Lorelei rolled 7 using 1d4+4. Dagger Damage.
20:33, Today: Lorelei rolled 19 using 1d20+4. Ranged Attack at Thing (D8).

As Kass ducks away from the creature, and another strike, hoping to draw it away from the wounded casters, it starts to follow with one step and then another before slowing and fixing the tiefling with a glare that could cure leather. As it begins to turn towards the kitchen where Gren and Lyria still took refuge, a javelin throw that would have very likely skewered it through the back instead rips a chunk of flesh from its back as it flies by. Apparently realizing it's eagerness to leave the wounded behind was a mistake, the creature abandons and idea of pursuing Kass and charges at Gren instead. With a bit of quick thinking and steeling of her resolve, Lyria quickly begins a series of unfamiliar words causing her palm to glow with a white light. She touches it to Gren's shoulder gently where the wound begins to heal just as the creature reaches him. The first strike looks like a fatal blow to the half-ogre until it's claws come into hard contact with the invisible field of force Gren had raised around himself. Unfortunately, the trick doesn't work a second time and though he makes every attempt to dodge, a light set of cuts open on his already wounded shoulder.

Realizing the creature didn't follow her, Kass swears under her breath and pulls up short at the doorway to the room where she sees that the rest of her companions are still in combat with another of the creatures. Tevlin channels the flames his heritage grants him but once again, the creature makes every possible attempt to avoid coming into contact with the flame. Meanwhile, the duel between the two clawed monsters continues, the snow creature slashing twice at Strange, receiving nothing for it but a dark laugh as the claws scrape off his stony body. Seemingly enjoying himself in a morbid way, Strange reaches up with one hand, digging his claws into the creature's neck then leaping into the air, using his hold as leverage, and using his clawed feet to drag horrific gashes from chest to groin on the creature, nearly disemboweling it and releasing a foul smell as it crumples to the ground, the gargoyle landing on top of the body like some feral beast atop its prized kill.

Seeing his display of ferocity and the appearance and subsequent swearing of Kass in the doorway to the next room, Lorelei dashes across the room and through the door, following Kass's direction to where the beast and Gren are once again in a standoff before loosing a dagger that goes whistling through the air, embedding itself to the hilt in the square of it's back. Grasping with both hands for the weapon, the creature staggers back a step, giving Gren precious room to breathe.


Initiative Order
19 Lorelei
14 Tevlin
11 Kass + Lyria
  7 Strange
  3 Gren
20 "Disappearing Clawed Thingies"

Cumulative Statuses
Gren: -10 HP
Kass: -6 HP
Lorelei:-14 HP
Lyria: -15 HP
Strange: Full HP
Tevlin: Full HP

Completely oblivious to the smell, his kind not being built for such things, he stares raptly at the torn and broken thing at his feet for a few moments before looking up just in time to see Lorelei hurrying past Kassadria and into the next room, "Is there another?" he asks, but he is already in motion, ducking past the tiefling and following the south wall of the room, once again to flank at the creature's side.


Move Action: J10 > E12 (Should make it in 30 ft. with one diagonal movement.)
Standard Action: E12 > E6

Lorelei blitzed forward rushing the strange creature in a low run, keeping her head down as she picked up the pace. These things were dangerous and she knew her body wouldn't last much longer without rest, but she had trained too long to give up before the fight was over. Her blood pounded in her ears as every step brought her closer to the clawed monstrosity before she flew. Flew of course as in a leaping kick, clearing the air a good few feet with her leg extended, her foot aimed for the hilt of the knife extending out from the creatures back. And of course to truly make sure it died, and stay dead, her foot had apparently caught fire.

Charge: E13 to C4
01:51, Today: Lorelei rolled 1 using 1d6. Elemental Fist Damage, Fire.
01:51, Today: Lorelei rolled 7 using 1d6+6. Unarmed Damage.
01:50, Today: Lorelei rolled 16 using 1d20+8. Charging; Elemental; Unarmed Strike.

Gren stares down the emaciated thing before him and snears.  If Gren had proper tusks, he likely would have growled at the creature.  "Ezad!" he hissed, hoping to momentarily paralyze the creature with magic.  However, Gren was still only a beginner sorcerer, he knew not if the spell would work against such a monstrosity.

Cast Daze.
As you can see I'm going more with role-playing than tactical survival. ;)  Something I may regret, but if I'm going to die I'm going to squeeze every juicy moment of enjoyment out it.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:17, Wed 16 Jan 2013.

Having expended what she could for the half-ogre, Lyria turned her still glowing hand to her own gashing flesh, clutching her stomach to keep the blood from flowing. Her diverted focus caused her to miss the attacks the creature made against Gren. Niffa, however, did not. Squirming free of the confine of her other hand, the weasel let out a high-pitched squeal as its thin, elongated figure slipped past Gren and turned around the corner, out of sight. Panicked, Lyria chased after, fear driving her thoughtlessly onward as images of the monster tearing her Niffa apart filled her mind.

Fortunately, thanks to her quick reaction, she managed to find and capture the foolish creature just before it tried to attack the fiend. Unfortunately, as she retrieved her familiar and looked up, she realised that they were now standing right in front of it. Realising that it was probably too late for them to flee, she swallowed nervously and whispered, "If anything happens to me, run." Hopefully, this time, Niffa would listen to her. After all, she did not rescue the creature only so it could die in this forsaken place.

OOC:
Oh, the joy of having a sentient spellbook.

Cast healing hex on myself.
Move to B2

I rolled 10 for Healing Hex. Can't copy and paste coz I'm on my mobile, sorry.

At the sight of Lorelei, though she looked to be in poor health, Kassadria's resolve was hardened. Not to even mention Gren's javelin that clipped the beast. The monk hurried on past her and charged at the monster's turned back, letting loose a flying kick. Kassadria leapt after Lorelei and charged back into combat, skewering the beast with her rapier at the end of her charge. She had hoped that with both of them attacking at once, at least one of them would hit with certainty. She was not disappointed, as she felt her blade strike home.





10:42, Today: Kassadria rolled 6 using 1d6+1. damage.
10:42, Today: Kassadria rolled 14 using 1d20+11. crit confirm. (didn't add flank bonus in dice roller)
10:42, Today: Kassadria rolled 31 using 1d20+11. charge. (didn't add flank bonus in dice roller)

HP: 13/19
AC: 20 - 2(charge) = 18

Tevlin set into a dead run towards the others , coming to a rest behind the table and preparing to unleash another elemental ray, or perhaps summon another type of magic if necessary.

Hauling it with Run to C10.

With most of the group rushing into the adjacent room to assist Gren and Lyria, Strange finally takes notice, his attention already drifting away from his kill as he idly notices that it bears no rings on its fingers. "Is there another?" he questions as he turns and hops off after the others. Tevlin makes it through the door just before Strange and plants himself firmly behind a corner of the table, using the decrepit wooden thing as some semblance of cover while he prepares his next spell.

Turning her healing hand on herself now, the concentration a subsequent hex took on her mind allowed Niffa to finally struggle free from her grasp, the little creature jumping down to the ground and running out of the kitchen. Her spell finished, Lyria panics as she squeezes past Gren and lands on her knees, catching her familiar once again with  a squeak of protest. Looking up, she sees that her recovery of Niffa may have come at a cost as the the creature looms above her. "If anything happens to me, run," she whispers to the creature, her voice barely coming to her. Just as it makes to attack her, a hearty voice rings out behind her, "Ezad!" as the creature freezes mid-swipe, it's back still turned to the two women who were now charging it at full speed.

Lorelei leaves the ground a good ten feet ahead of the creature, leading with her foot; another flaming attack. The impact sends the creature to its knees, the dagger's hilt bending slightly as it gets pushed further into its back. Following up immediately is Kass, gilded rapier impaling the creature through it's chest, resulting in a glowing yellow light from the site of the wound as the creature slips from the blade and lands with a soft thud in the snow, sending it billowing around slightly. As the second beastie stops twitching and the sounds of battle quiet down, the group notices that the fighting wasn't the only thing that had become quiet; the howling winds from outside seem to have begun to subside as well.

(OOC: Well done! Love the flavor you all put into that fight!)

Cumulative Statuses
Gren: -10 HP
Kass: -6 HP
Lorelei:-14 HP
Lyria: -5 HP
Strange: Full HP
Tevlin: Full HP

This message was last edited by the GM at 00:28, Mon 21 Jan 2013.

Strange takes a minute to calm himself down after the fight.  The lust for battle he was experiencing was something akin to the adrenaline rush many fleshy beings felt in times of stress.  Though he can tell some of the others are wounded there isn't much he can do about it, so he heads to the room's entrance with the intent to stand guard in case anything else shows up.  His curiosity gets the better of him for a bit as he goes to inspect the corpse of the creature he had killed out in the main hall, wondering if such a thing would have any worthwhile items.  After his search of the body he will then take up a guard position (F12 on the map.)

"Well, now we know we're certainly not alone.  I rather hope there aren't any more of these things hanging around." Tevlin said, rolling his shoulders.  "They're quite agile."

Lorelei slumped quietly glad the thing was dead, but her back was in absolute agony. The bloody gashes ripped further open from her movements, especially the flying kick as she tried to calm her ragged breathing. She needed to relax her muscles before she could try to bind her wounds, though all things considered back wounds were not the easiest to do ones self.

Gren's arms were now thoroughly covered in blood.  He spat at the dead creature and gave its limp form a kick.

He looked at both Lorelei and Kass.  "I thank you both.  That thing may have likely killed me without your aid, but I was not going to go down without its throat between my teeth."

"Perhaps it best if we get back to that fire and lick our wounds."

As the monster fell Kass swiftly moved to ensure that it was dead by driving her blade through its throat. "Make sure it's dead," she called to Strange as he left the room to where the other one had been defeated. She touched the gashes across her left arm and cursed in her mother's tongue once more, but she knew that her wounds were the least severe. Once she'd recovered her original rapier and sheathed it and the one she'd just used, she moved to help Lorelei stay on her feet. "You would have done the same if we were in your position." she replied to Gren, and nodded as he suggested returning to the fire that Tevlin had made before.

"Come on, we need to get back to the fire. You could die from shock if you stay in the cold." She addressed that to everyone who was wounded, but Lorelei seemed to be having the hardest time staying standing, so she stayed with the monk until they were back in the room they had first started in.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:41, Mon 21 Jan 2013.

The sound of Gren's booming voice followed by sight of the two women attacking and, eventually, killing the creature filled Lyria with overwhelming relief and gratitude as she slid down to the floor, gasping for breath. Her gaze was empty as she stared unblinkingly at the stone wall at the other side of the room, the vision of the creature, looming above with its arm outstretched, the slightly curved claws pointing up with the promise of agonising death, filled her with fear, even though the logical part of her mind knew that the threat no longer existed.

Words lost their meaning and her vision blurred as she struggled to overcome the emotions. The pain on her stomach had receded to a dull throbbing, partly thanks to the healing she gave herself, but what her mind saw went beyond physical pain. Only when she heard Niffa chirped on her ears, the creature having freed herself on from the girl's lax grip and climbed her way up, did Lyria seemed to have stirred, blinking rapidly as tears ran freely from her eyes. "Oh, you're safe... We're safe... Niffa, we're safe..." she muttered, over and over again, as she reached for the creature and held her close.

As the group began to move, Lyria stood and followed, trudging at the back of the group whilst cooing to the weasel that had grown quite irritated and began to struggle against her grip. She eventually relented, letting the creature slipped back to its usual place inside the front of her now slightly torn dress. The familiarity of the its position helped calm her mind and, once she had recovered enough from the shock, Lyria looked up to the group with look of bewilderment, as though she was surprised to see them.

"Thank you, all of you," she said, her voice shook despite the time she took to collect herself. Then, seeing the wounds on Lorelei's back and Kassadria's arm for the first time, she moved towards them and said, "Please, let me help. It's the least I can do for what you've done."

Should the two accepted her offer, Lyria would then placed her glowing hand on their wounds and channeled what healing she had left.

OOC:
Doing the rolls just to quicken things.
Healing hex for both Lorelei and Kass.

21:48, Today: Lyria rolled 4 using 1d8+2. Healing Hex. Kass
21:48, Today: Lyria rolled 6 using 1d8+2. Healing Hex. Lorelei

Sorry, I forgot to indicate when I did the rolls >.< Happy to re-roll if needed.

For those that are inclined to do so, the search over the two creature's bodies does not take long as there is very little clothing to search through and even less of value on the bodies themselves. It seems that if there was plunder to be found in this place, it would be of the ruins themselves and not the creatures inhabiting it. As the group makes their way back to the room to once again stoke the fire and lick their wounds, they take a moment to look through the collapsed roof of the anteroom and, for the first time in days for some, can see the sun shining behind the thick white clouds which are dropping less snow, enough less to be unobtrusive at least.

Strange had done as Kass suggested, casually stabbing his claws through the creature's throat.  Rather slowly, in fact.  And more times than was probably necessary.  It was probably better that the others didn't see that part.

After returning to the room and seeing the clear skies he said simply, "I am ready to.. hmm.. move on whenever you are."  He would take up a watchful position at the entrance to that room, or whatever room they decide to move to until they're ready to go.

Gren grunted as he awkwardly sat, unable to use his arms to lower his bulk to the groung.  He laid back with his head on his backpack.  "I think it best if we bind our wounds and try again tomorrow.  I would still like to explore this ruin.  We know not its name, and if we are lucky their may yet be treasure to recover.  I'll need gold if I wish to stay in a place of comfort once we reach the Dwarven Domain."

He then spends the next ten minutes softly chanting some spell with his eyes closed.  His clothing, which was ripped and torn open by claws, begins to mend itself.  If only he had a spell that would allow him to do the same to his wounds.

Lorelei flashed Lyria a grateful smile as the worst of her wounds sealed up, as she leaned on Kassadria until they reached the fire casually collapsing beside it with a pained groan. Her body would be feeling this for a little while as she steadied her breathing, but was grateful no one else had been seriously injured. Most importantly though, they had all walked away from this fight. The same could not be said about their enemies.

"I'd like to rest up a night, but I'm fine with exploring come morning."

Having healed the two women, Lyria followed the group back to the room she had occupied for the past four days. Still coming to terms with what had happened, her mind slipped in and out of the conversations within the group although, as they passed the roofless room, she could not help but notice the absence of familiar howling wind and buffeting snow. The sight of blue sky beyond the destroyed stone wall filled her with a sense of peace and safety that she had not felt even when the she saw the still, bleeding corpses, causing her lips to slowly spread and lift to a contented smile as she looked down at her weasel.

As the group filed into their destination, Lyria had regained much of her senses and scanned the group for anyone else who could still benefit from her ability. She was glad to see that Tevlin was uninjured and the gargoyle appeared unhindered in his movements. She did, however, notice how Lorelei held on to Kassadria as they two positioned themselves in the room and the way Gren gingerly lowered himself down. Waiting until the half-ogre finished his spell, Lyria cleared her throat softly to divulge her presence before kneeling next to him. "I have a little more healing left, if you don't mind," she muttered as she eyed him carefully, trying to gauge his reaction.

Should he make no movement to indicate otherwise, Lyria would place her hand on his maimed should once more and whispered another healing spell before moving over to Lorelei to do the same.

OOC:
Going to assume that Kass is fine with the healing. If not, I'll amend the post.

Also going to roll for the CLW on Gren and Lorelei to speed things up.

10:27, Today: Lyria rolled 4 using 1d8+2. CLW - Gren.
10:27, Today: Lyria rolled 9 using 1d8+2. CLW - Lorelei.

Kass paused so that Lyria could heal her and Lorelei, and smiled in thanks. Her wounds were mostly healed and only a dull stinging ache remained - indeed, she imagined, a night's rest would see her fully recovered. Once everyone had settled down and Lyria was making her second round of healing, helping Gren and Lorelei - indeed closing Lorelei's wounds completely, as far as Kass could tell - she drew her new rapier again to examine it.

It was remarkably clean, considering it'd been skewering a monster mere minutes before; indicative of its magical nature. She had noticed some kind of light coming from the wound she had inflicted on the beast... but she did not have the wherewithal to identify the enchantment and Gren had already tried without success. Whatever enchantment it had, it was no curse - she was certain it had struck truer than any blade she'd held before.

OOC: Kass is indeed fine :) 8 hours of rest should heal up the rest, if I'm not mistaken.

"That was very close; I think that we should try to avoid splitting up again, especially since there might be more of these things hanging around.  And when there are mysterious noises, I think it would be best not to go randomly exploring off into the dark, certainly not in small numbers."

Gren seemed deaf to Tevlin's words.  That would probably be because he fell asleep during Lyria's healing touch.  As such, a deep rumbling snore was his only rebuke.

Lorelei flashed Lyria a grateful smile and a murmur of appreciation, almost lazily stretching out the previously torn flesh and muscle to test and make sure it had been properly healed before she unrolled her own bedroll. Whether the others wanted to explore or not, she firmly believed she would still need a bit of rest before engaging in more combat.

The glint of steel as Kassadria unsheathed her weapon caught Lyria's attention. Despite its deceptively plain appearance, there was something extraordinary that the blade seemed to emanate. Tilting her head slightly, she edged closer to better inspect the item, although a thought crossed her mind that the impression she had could possibly be caused by the way the flickering fire was reflected by the steel.

"May I look at it?" Lyria asked tentatively, realising that her request could easily be seen as being too intrusive. After all, she had only met the woman mere hours ago. Hours and she had managed to prove herself to be completely inept in a fight, being of little more than a hindrance to the group. By comparison, Kass had, quite simply, saved her life twice in that short span of time.

Lyria's face warmed at the remembrance. She was ashamed at how easily fear overcame her senses and the knowledge of how fortunate she was to have met the group. There was no doubt in her mind that they would never have survived against the creatures otherwise and she felt even more determined to be of greater help to the group, especially if they were to explore the rest of the fortress as Gren had suggested.

OOC:
Going to try and see if she can identify the rapier from far away.

16:55, Today: Lyria rolled 12 using 1d20+10. Spellcraft check to identify the rapier. Well, that looks like a fail...

And so it was that with healing spells being passed around to those that were in need of it, that night fell on the ruined fortress and the group lapsed into unconsciousness with only the smoldering fire to light their small corner of the structure, kept alive by Tevlin's presence more than anything. During the night, the wind picked up a few times for an hour or so but never as bad as it had been the past few days. The morning came with surefire signs that the blizzard had indeed passed as Tevlin and Lyria spy the first blue skies that the two had seen since leaving Theranin. The snowfall had ceased, the winds were barely strong enough to move the hair on your head, and the temperature even seemed to have risen a few degrees, despite the snow still keeping it's drifts in tact.

As the door of the group's makeshift sanctuary opens for the first time, the direct sunlight casts the fortress into a different light than the dim light that made it through the clouds of the blizzard the day before. Where before it had been a decrepit shell, now it shone with a beauty that exonerated the horrors of the day before. Something about how the ages had passed this place by made it feel almost noble, if a place could be called such a thing. As the group makes their way out of the room and looks around, through the open roof, something is visible that was previously hidden by the blizzard; the sheer scale of the fortress. At first, the structure above looks like it could be part of the mountain but on second glance, it is definitely not a natural formation though it's construction was meant to incorporate the mountain itself which it does to stunning effect. An enormously tall hallway has been opened through the mountain with colossal columns holding up the weight of the mountain. It truly is a wonder of architecture. It appears that the group has accidentally stumbled upon Whitecap Pass after all.

Strange took in the impressive sight with a strange sort of smile on his ugly visage.  Of all things he could appreciate great stoneworks and the work implicit in creating them.  He did not know who was responsible for this place - Dwarves, possibly - but he surely would have liked to meet them.  After a few moments spent admiring the scenery he turns toward the group, "The way forward is open to us.  Do we wish to.. hmm.. quit this place or is there some interest in.. hmm.. eking out its secrets?  I will follow the majority."  He speaks solemnly and in no great hurry.  Either choice was truly fine with him.

Morning found Lyria back in great spirit. The ordeal from previous day seemed to have receded from her memories as the physical wound had on her flesh. Nothing but a dull, inconsequential twinge. The sight of blue sky, bereft of falling snow, caused a wide grin to spread upon her face. But what joy she felt then was incomparable to the sheer wonderment she experienced as Lyria tilted her head up to see thick stone columns rising elegantly beyond what her mere mortal eyes could perceive, causing an astonished exclamation to splutter from her lips.

"This is amazing," her voice dropped to a hush while her gaze remained upwards towards the invisible ceiling far above them. After a moment, her head swiveled down and turned towards her tall, dark-skinned companion, awe of their new-found surrounding shining clearly in her eyes. "Three nights and we never managed to find this."

Then, diverting her attention to the stone-bound creature Lyria grinned widely as she remarked, "I believe, Strange, that the way forward is through this place. So, I suppose we can simply do both at the same time!"

Kassadria woke with something of a start at the sound of other voices. She wasn't used to sleeping in the same room as others, even in the cold - she had always been alone before. She managed to regain her senses before her sword was drawn, thankfully, and quietly withdrew to dress herself. She'd removed her armour to sleep, since it was pretty uncomfortable to sleep in, and before everyone else was awake and able to watch, she was slipping back into her chain shirt and leathers.

She didn't even notice what Lyria was marveling upon until she was ready to go, her blankets all packed and gear prepared. She was surprised to see the snow stopped - the blizzard had seemed so intense that it would last for days. Inwardly Kass wondered whether those creatures they'd killed the night before were the source of the weather - it certainly seemed logical. Some terrifying kind of beastie that can create the ideal weather to hunt in. They'd survived, though, and thanks to Lyria's healing, were now in relative good health despite it. The woman had certainly earned some brownie points with the Tiefling for that, both in healing her own wounds and those of her friends that Lyria had literally only just met.

"I just want to get back to civilisation," Kass spoke, not in the mood for discovering what other monstrosities this place had in store. Though when she realised what she said she almost scoffed. 'Never thought I'd hear myself say that,' she mused, and stepped over a piece of rubble to make her way to the door, peering out. With the light of day and the lack of snow blinding her, not to mention some semblance of warmth in her bones after a good night's rest under warm blankets, Kass was less concerned about moving about alone. "I'm going to explore this level a bit, while you magicky people do your thing." Since Dale had had to do some sort of ritual at the start of each day - had even allowed her to watch some of it one time - she assumed that all wielders of magic had to do the same, rightly or wrongly.

Gren had slept hard.  When the others began to talk he refused to open his eyes and only listned.  Eventually, the day's plans came up.

"I know not what I hope to find in Azul Irkul.  A home perhaps.  Of course this place, once cleared of the demons that roam its snowy halls could provide me with such.  It is isolated enough to grant me peace, and yet as a main passage way between the mountain passes the opportunity for trade will occasionally present itself.  I'm still keen to probe its deapths further."

He finally sat up and started gathering his belongings.  He put another chunk of fatty salt pork near the fire, and nibbled on a piece of cheese while it cooked.  I need not flip through old tomes like some book wizard.  My magic comes from my blood," he explained quickly to Kass.

Lorelei was an early riser crawling out of her bedroll and by the time the others had woken, her bag had been packed. Her words were gone between the magic and the rest and so she set to work on her own morning ritual quietly as the others spoke. While not as mystifying or in depth as studying a spell book or communing with a god, Lorelei had her own habit in the mornings. A thorough stretching.

When ones own body was a weapon, one needed to keep it limber and flexible. So she began as the others crawled from there sleep. For now it was simple, stretching out her legs and doing some light squats. Arching her back, bending her arms. She wasn't training as Kassadra had seen before, but instead making sure every muscle was prepared to work to its fully. She absently rolled her neck as the others began discussing what to do.

She had taken in the sights before as she stretched out on the ground, sitting on the floor and arching her back as she touched her toes several times. Finished she leaned back humming as the others spoke.

"I am not in a rush. Let's explore."

As always her words were simple and to the point. Perhaps thats how one was when they had issues speaking, or perhaps Lorelei would have been like that anyway.

Lyria smiled apologetically as she noticed that the rest of the group was already preparing to leave. "Sorry, but I'm not quite ready yet. Niffa still hasn't returned..." Staying still for days in this fortress had made the girl grew quite lax in her routine, especially early in the morning. Niffa, of course, had noticed the change, no matter how slight, and taken advantage of the extra hunting time it provided. And so it was that, despite Lyria having woken up as early as the others, her usual furry companion was still nowhere in sight.

"I'm really sorry about this," she muttered again, a slight blush forming on her cheeks as she looked frantically around the room for any crevices that the weasel could have slipped through, calling out the critter's name each time. Of course, finding the creature was only the beginning as they would also need to spend the next hour preparing themselves. It seemed, to her, that what Kassadria suggested sounded logical and would surely be better than wasting more time milling around the small room.

Besides, Lyria was assured of the safety of this fortress once more. There was no doubt in her mind that the relentless blizzard was inexorably linked to the creatures they had slain yesterday. The fact that it the weather had remained calm seemed to confirm her suspicion and was as good an omen as any. "I suppose it would be a good idea, for those who are ready, to explore this place, just as Kassadria suggested. I'd hate to hold up everyone because I can't find my - Niffa!"

As Lyria saw the familiar pair of beady eyes, her wide grin turned quickly into a mock scowl. Before the surprised creature could squirm out of the hole that was once home to some manner of rodents-turned-dinner, the girl crouched and scooped out her yielding form. "There you are! You know you have to return by sunrise," she chided quietly as the two head towards the furthest back corner of the room.

Sitting down as comfortably as she could against the cold stone floor, Lyria placed Niffa on her lap. Unusually, the weasel did not scramble up to its customary position but merely looked up at the girl with a slight tilt of her head. To those who chose to stay in the room, this would be the way the two remained, perfectly still, for the whole hour.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:22, Mon 04 Feb 2013.

"Can't get rid of my, Lyria." Tevlin said with a jovial grunt.

Although the thought of exploring the rest of the magnificent, now-revealed fortress appealed to Tevlin's innermost nature, he could hardly see to leaving the sorceress on her own, weasel or no.  It would simply be...

Rude, that was the word.  They had been traveling companions long enough that he felt a mixture of obligation and companionable desire to stay reasonably close.  They were not terribly similar in their respective approaches to magic, but they were brother and sister wielders of the Art and that was sufficient bond alone, let alone their travels.  Tevlin stayed, though privately he envied the others their first look at what was to come; it would be breath-taking and he was excited to see it with his own eyes later in the day.

Kass, Gren, and Strange, eager to scout ahead and see what mysteries the old fort may hold, strap on their gear and stroll out through the main chamber of the room and back into what used to be the mess hall, following Kass's lead. The snow in here seems to have receded slightly revealing some of the old scraps of the missing tables scattered along the floor, now bloated with water and rotten to the core.

The body of the clawed creatures were still where they had been left and upon inspection, it seems as if the grey-white color of their bodies has darkened slightly to match the color of the stones more than the snow itself; perhaps a camouflaging technique that helped them with their "teleportation." The kitchen beyond, some of the blemished pots and pans once used to cook meals for the forts inhabitants lay untouched save by time, strewn about on the floor haphazardly. In the back of the room there is a small stone door that had previously gone unseen. Peeking inside, it looks like some sort of storeroom where various barrels of salted food and racks of seasonings and ingredients had once been. Now, a faint smell of food long spoiled and wholly decomposed lingers but nothing more. It seems the kitchen is indeed empty.

Back in the main room, both the stairs leading upward into the fort and those leading into the depths stand as monument to the decision the group will have to make if they wish to continue delving the fortress's secrets.

---

Back in the room, a concentrated Lyria, a patient Tevlin, and a concerned Lyria wait in quiet, each tending to their own concerns. While Lyria and Niffa meditate on their magical energies, Lyria idly walks around the room, occasionally poking her head outside into the other room to check for sign of the others or any threat that could be lurking in the shadows. Tevlin on the other hand seems content to sit and wait by the fire, the flames flickering playfully at his presence as he whimsically urges them to dance.

"This looks to have been an old watchtower of some sort.  So what happened to the people that used to be doing the watching?"

"Surely, those two...things, wouldn't have been enough to kill those here.  I mean, there are no bones or nothin' laying around.  I think it best we wait for the other two, before we explore further.  I also think we should explore up before heading down.  There can be only so much height to the tower, or even the mountain.  Where as down, well...there's no telling how far it could go."  He scratches his greasy beard and nods as if confirming his own decision.

Staring into the fire, Tevlin smiled and warmed his hands.  He was content; little was quite as pleasurable as a seat by the crackling flames, especially as he waved his hands slowly through the fire itself.  His natural immunity protected him and he loved the play of the flames along his skin.

"It must be tiresome to study those spells each night, Lyria..." Tevlin said, the glow in his eyes twinkling as he chided his companion.

It was not a new comment; Tevlin poked at Lyria over her need to study arcane formulas often, prodding her in the manner of friends.  Tevlin had no doubt that when she was less distracted, Lyria would have something to say to him on the topic of his own relationship to the myriad vagaries of spellcasting.

Strange nods at the wisdom in Gren's words, "Indeed, and from the top of the tower perhaps we might.. hmm.. discover more about the layout of this place."  He idly nudged at some old debris that used to be a table or chair perhaps, something made of wood, "The others are still resting from the battle, we must either.. hmm.. continue without them or wait until they are prepared."  His wings shifted as he spoke, as if he itched to be out of this place and into the open air again, even if he could not fly for the moment.

Kass did a quick search of the room they hadn't noticed before, but it was the briefest of inspections on account of the smell. Once they'd explored that floor and gone back to the hall, where the choice was presented before them. She nodded as both of the two that had come with her suggested that they climb the tower before delving into its depths. "Probably better to wait," Kass said, and went back to the room with the fire and the other two, retrieving a quick snack from her pack to nibble upon while Lyria finished up her ritual.

Lorelei calmly and peacefully went through some Additional stretches as Lyria studied and Tevlin relaxed. She was in no hurry though she hoped the others fared well, but from what she had seen neither of the two with her were much for combat. Well, toe to toe combat at the least. Best to split the forces evenly should more of those creatures appear.

Strange followed Kassadria back to the room where the others waited.  They hadn't been gone long but in the time they were away it seemed they had gotten comfortable again.  He takes up his watchful position in the doorway, not ready to pronounce this place safe yet given that they have likely only explored a fraction of it.  He speaks across the room to Lorelei, Tevlin, and Lyria, his voice was carried easily by dense stone walls and high ceiling, "There is not much else on this level.  We discovered some stairs that.. hmm.. ascend and descend to other parts of this misbegotten place.  Gren thinks it best that we stick together if we are to do any proper exploring, so we shall.. hmm.. wait until you three are ready to move on."  If there was any impatience in that grating voice of his it was certainly unintentional - you would be hard-pressed to find a gargoyle who was in a hurry.

"Assuming you even wish to join us.  Exploring this place will likely prove dangerous...deadly even.  It would be far wiser for you to move on to greener pastures while the weather is clear.  I have made my choice however.  I will explore this place."  Gren crossed his arms before his chest and waited for an answer.

Tevlin shrugged, turning the motion into a roll of his shoulders and neck. His eyes glittered a moment before he responded.

"We were traversing the pass ourselves before meeting you, we tarry only so the weasel-master can reclaim here magicks." He said with a good-natured grin for Lyria and Niffa.

Having prepared her spells, Lyria blinked and looked around in confusion as she noticed that the rest of the group had returned. Throughout her meditative state, she had no awareness of her surrounding so the conversation she had returned into made little sense. Her face crumpled into a frown as her gaze flitted between Tevlin and the half-ogre. "Has something happened that caused you to think we're no longer traveling together? I thought all of us intend to go through this Whitecap Pass."

Rising to her feet, she scooped up her familiar, who, by all account, looked quite as groggy and confused as she was. Carrying the weasel carefully between the crook of her arms, she turned towards the rest of the group and tried to reason, "Surely the danger of travels will not be lessened based on the direction we choose to take. In fact, I believe it would only increase should we not travel together. With only Tevlin and I, I'm convinced we would not have been able to defeat those two creatures that attacked us yesterday."

Lyria could not account for the man, of course, but she had been little more than a distraction to those monsters yesterday and had only be of any help once the threats were eliminated by the rest of group. Undoubtedly, she, at least, would not have survived such an attack. Although the weather had calmed and they could continue their travel once more, who could say if they were to be ambushed by similar, if not more sinister, creatures? It was clear to Lyria that they needed to stay with the group to remain safe. There was, however, the glaring truth that their presence were the ones who might not be needed instead. "I think it would be foolish for us not to travel with you, truly. Unless, of course, you simply do not want us along?"

"I think it is only fair to warn you, as I did most of the rest of the group here, that following me anywhere will not bode well for you.  The gods have seen to it that my destiny in life be cursed."

Checking to make sure he didn't leave anything behind he readjusted his backpack and faced the door.  "Don't say I didn't warn you."  And with that said he headed out once more to explore the upper levels of the watch tower.

"Oh, don't worry about him," Kassadria sounded relatively cheerful as she munched on her granola breakfast, and smiled to Lyria as Gren started to lead them out to start exploring. "He's always grumpy - I think it's because he keeps hitting his head on things..."

"Of course we'd like you to come with us. We didn't save your life just to have you go and die alone in the wilderness! After all, if the gods are out to get you, Gren, we can just leave you to die if something happens!" she was joking with that last bit, though she wasn't very good at doing that so it may not have sounded like it. Either way, she followed him after dousing the fire that Tevlin had made.

Strange keeps an eye on Gren until the half-ogre wanders out of sight before looking back into the room, "The more the merrier, this is proving to be.. hmm.. an interesting waking indeed.  I think it best we get packed up and moving as soon as possible.  We don't want to miss.. hmm.. the sky falling upon Gren's head after all."  It was hard to read the gargoyle's face for humor, ugly as it was, but that was probably a joke...

Tevlin mourned the passing of the fire, though its end was necessary. He never did enjoy watching the essence of his origin snuffed out, but it was a small grief.

"The pass is larger than I knew; I didn't expect so grandiose a construction to mark our travels."

Kassadria and Strange's humorous remarks resulted in a wide smile and a soft chuckle from Lyria as she, too, grabbed her pack and followed after the procession. Having regained her senses, Niffa soon squirmed inside Lyria's arm before making her way up and perched onto the shoulders. Making sure that the critter had adequate footing, Lyria heaved her pack onto a free shoulder while her other hand reached up to scratch her weasel's head. "Ahh, I suppose he means well by warning us of the possibility. That way, we can dodge the sky before it comes falling on his head," she replied back with obvious mirth in her voice.

Good-natured ribbing and conversations were exactly what she missed most since her decision to stay in Theranin. She was more than glad by her decision to leave, even if it wasn't in the best of terms. Turning her attention to Tevlin, she responded to his remark, the awe returning to her voice at the remembrance of the structure that loomed above them. "It must be quite an amazing feat to have built such a monument, truly. I wonder who constructed this place and why was it abandoned? It seems such a shame to let it go into such a state of disrepair."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 02:31, Sat 09 Feb 2013.

The group finishes packing up their belongings and move off in the direction of the stairs. The banisters that would normally flank each side of the stairs are noticeably missing save for the occasional metal protrudent from the top of a stair where a grounding pole had long been sheered off. Such a banner would have been welcome though for the stairs themselves, smooth stone weathered down by the passing of time, were quite icy and almost a hazard to the intrepid adventurers. Almost. Luckily though, Tevlin's proximity to the iced over stone seemed to do the trick, the fiery man's aura melting the ice and making the steps safe to tread upon.

At the top of the stairs, there is a hallway much smaller than the one downstairs, only allowing the group to stand two abreast. There are old sconces where torches once were held on either side, now vacant, and the passage is rather dark to those without the natural gift of darkvision being completely enclosed in stone. It also seemed drier in here, perhaps a different kind of cold. This place likely lied within the mountain itself rather than out in the open air as the rest of the fortress had been. At the end of the hallway, the group can see a single wooden door, shut for the time being, and relatively in good shape. From below it, a glow emanates as is a lantern shone within...

Tevlin chuckled.

"A dark place, this.  Dark and cold.  At least we need not worry over ice, yes? A light, in this place? My curiosity is piqued."

Strange moves to the front of the group, raising one clawed hand in warning.  Signs of life could also mean traps and he wasn't about to step into one all willy-nilly.  He takes the lead here, moving slowly and quietly forward, checking for traps all the way to the door as well as on the door itself.

(Rolls:
13:12, Today: Strange rolled 22 using 1d20+10. Stealth.
13:13, Today: Strange rolled 14 using 1d20+6. Perception.
13:13, Today: Strange rolled 26 using 1d20+8. Disable Device.

Throughout their journey, Lyria takes as much time as possible to look around and admire their new-found surrounding. Taking a deep breath, she tried to imagine the people who would have lived and passed through the very staircase they now traversed. When the group finally reached the dark hallway, Niffa slipped back into her usual place. Lyria smiled down at the creature once she felt the familiar warmth against her chest. The weasel, with its thick winter coat, had no use for the extra warmth that Lyria would undoubtedly conferred in its current position. She was grateful for the selfless act and rewarded her companion with a thorough scratching of its head, ears and even muzzle, causing soft purrs to vibrate through its small form.

As they finally reached the end of the hallway, her curiosity was also piqued at the sign of life in the isolated tower. The gargoyle's careful reaction, however, stopped her from speaking out her thoughts as she too tried to move as quietly as possible behind him.

OOC:
12:31, Today: Lyria rolled 3 using 1d20+2. Stealth. Well, my first critical fail, I think... Geez.

The light coming from under the door was like a flare to Gren's darkvision.  He pointed to it as if the others were blind to it.  Strange had already started shouldering his way to the front.  Gren didn't mind.  He waited, squintning.  He knew if the door were to open suddenly he would be momentarily blinded as his vision shifted between states.

Kassadria quietly drew her magic rapier as Strange warned them all to stay quiet and advanced cautiously. She squinted to try to see whatever she could but her eyes hadn't fully adjusted to the darkness yet and the light had momentarily dazzled her, so even if someone was dancing in front of her she may have trouble seeing them. Luckily, she had others to keep an eye out for her at the moment, and she used them as reference points to keep her footing and not trip over anything and skewer herself on her sword. Though she didn't do that particularly quietly, either.


OOC:
07:06, Today: Kassadria rolled 2 using 1d20+1. perception.
07:06, Today: Kassadria rolled 4 using 1d20+2. stealth.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:09, Tue 12 Feb 2013.

With the shuffling of feet and the soft thuds of shoulders making contact with the wall to let the silent Strange through to the front of the pack, a sneaky approach this was not. Luckily, no bogeymen took the opportunity to jump out at the group and assault them and as Strange makes it to the door safely and takes a minute to examine it, he finds there to be no malicious trap waiting for them there either. The only hindrance to them now is that the door seemed to be locked from the inside. The lock itself was metal, though rusted, and looked like a textbook case of a four tumbler lock. Of course, he wooden door it sat in could probably be easily battered down if the need arose as old as it was.

"We could just take the door off of its hinge, my friend." Tevlin said to Strange. "Or I could burn it down; I assume that the door, unlike those creatures, will not be able to dodge...."

"Or we could simply knock.  I beleive that is standard human behavior.  I would rather not choke on smoke in this enclosed hallway."

Lyria's face heated at the noise she managed to create while trying to stay quiet. She would probably have created less ruckus if she hadn't tried to follow after Strange in the first place. Of course, the fact that she could barely see a thing did not help the matter further. Regardless, it seemed that whoever is inside the room would have heard and known of their presence, so she saw no reason to make matters worse by burning the door down. "I must agree with Gren in this. Perhaps a simple knock will suffice. If whoever is in there wish to harm us, they would have plenty of time to do so. Courtesy, on the other hand, could go a long way in creating good first impression."

Strange held up his hand for silence once more.  He had already worked the lock loose while the others were debating the options.  He gave the door a few light taps as he pushes it slowly open, ready to duck or dodge in case of an attack and speaking as smoothly as his grating voice will allow to alert any inhabitants to his presence, "Good day to you.  We mean no harm."

04:03, Today: Strange rolled 28 using 1d20+8. Disable Device (Extra just in case).

Lorelei quietly wondered if there were even people further down here, and if they had retreated from that demonic thing that had assaulted them above. She hoped they were friendly and that they could continue there expedition soon. Though she didn't mind being underground, she wasn't keen on being trapped in a tight and restricting tunnel. For now all she could do is effectively protect the rear.

Strange pushes open the door which requires a bit of effort as the hinges have long since rusted over, the creaking a testamant to the fact. "Good day to you.  We mean no harm." Strange announces as placation to anybody or anything that may be inside the room but this proves to be a futile gesture. The room inside appears to be something of a study or working quarters of a particularly influential individual. Stone bookshelves are inlaid in the walls and while a good many of the books that once graced the shelves are probably beyond recovery, there are more than a few whose manuscripts may still be in tact. Now-torn upholstered reading chairs populate one side of the room in front of a stone fireplace that doesn't look like it's seen the warmth of a blaze in far too long. A masterfully crafted wooden desk and chair lie in decent condition, despite all odds, in the middle of the room, it's occupant long since done caring for what trinkets the desk held.

The skeletal remains of a Dwarf clad in a set of armor that looked to be made of some sort of stone, a large bulwark of a shield resting against the desk nearby seems to recline peacefully in his chair, his bony hand grasping the source of the light. An ornate throwing hammer, likely more ceremonial or decorative than practical due to its size and decoration, pulses with a soft light, causing the scattered coins on the desk to glimmer and shine colors of bronze, silver, and gold throughout the room as if looking through a kaleidoscope. The scene could almost be seen as art in its own way; the quiet passing of a sentinel.

Eyes immediately drawn to the source of light Strange steps inside, no longer caring to search for any traps or trickery.  Besides, if this place was built by the Architects he wouldn't be able to discover their traps anyways - not until it was too late at least.  He stands by the armored skeleton, looking at it reverently for a few moments before speaking, "Rest easy, Master Architect, your watch is.. hmm.. done."  With some apparent difficulty he turns away to watch as the others explore the room.

Kassadria wowed quietly as she entered the room. The figure looked magestic, although he was dead. And shiny things rarely failed to pique her interest... and that hammer was mighty shiny! Still, the glint of coin on the tabletop caught her eye and she quickly went over to gather up all the coins and count them. "Can anyone identify that hammer?"she asked, clearly excited to have come across some loot and having no qualms at all with taking anything they could lift off the ground.

At the sight of the remains, Lyria felt a strange heaviness in her chest and averted her gaze. It felt as rude, somewhat, to stare at the lifeless corpse, as it would be to stare at another without their prior consent. And so, refusing to look at the bones, she kept her eyes on the books and manuscripts that lined the wall, trying to see if there was anything she could salvage that would speak of a story behind the keep and its prior inhabitants.

When Kassadria spoke, Lyria reluctantly tore her gaze away from the shelves to look at the hammer she mentioned and noticed how the tiefling had all but raided the coins once splattered across the desk. She could understand the reason behind the action so she said nothing. After all, she doubted that anyone would come and question if anything was missing from the room. The fortress truly was as abandoned as she once thought.

And then it struck her. It was the abandonment that caused such sadness. Here was the guard, his remains unclaimed by his kith and kin, left to wither and rot after all the service he would have done in his lifetime. Were there others who mourned for him back in his home or had everyone he knew preceded him to the afterlife?

"May Pharasma guide your soul," Lyria muttered, for although the death occurred many years ago, she doubted that anyone was around to give him the final blessing as he drew his last breath.

OOC:

16:48, Today: Lyria rolled 19 using 1d20+10. Spellcraft check. To identify the magic on the glowing hammer.
16:47, Today: Lyria rolled 22 using 1d20+3. Perception check. To see if there's any 'interesting' manuscript left in the shelves.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:49, Mon 18 Feb 2013.

Still standing at the ancient skeleton's side Strange reaches down and grasps the hammer before Kassadria could get to it.  He didn't know what her intentions were but seeing how she scooped up those coins..  Well, it was a strange sort of rogue who didn't value valuables wasn't it?

"We shall take this with us to Azul Irkul," he says, hefting the glowing bludgeon by its haft awkwardly, "Surely someone there will.. hmm.. appreciate the return of such an artifact."

Lorelei quietly waited at the door, all together this situation was giving her the willies. She honestly wanted to take off the skeletons head, but felt she was being a bit too paranoid in that regards. She only hoped it was the right choice. None the less she, Lorelei had little interest for looting the room. The others had that well under control anyways.

Despite being silent as the others discussed what to do and explored the room, it didn't mean Lorelei was ignoring the situation. She kept her eyes and ears open, making sure if anything did go wrong she would have a moment to react.

01:50, Today: Lorelei rolled 20 using 1d20+7. Perception Just incase.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:51, Mon 18 Feb 2013.

With his hands clasped behind his back Gren walked around the room looking at the things on the shelf.  He even gives the shelves the occational shove or two.  Not enough to knock them over, just enough to see if perhaps there are hidden passage ways behind them.  "Can anyone tell what he died from?" he asked giving a nod to the Dwarven skeleton.

perception 2

As each member of the group uses their own individual method in searching the room and their own priorities for what is most important to search or examine first, it becomes clear that if they were looking for a treasure trove full of hidden treasure and grand piles of gold, this was not going to be the place to find them. While Kassadria was able to pick up a small pouch worth of coins (25g 17s 32c), that seemed to be the only valuable thing if you excluded historical significance. When Lyria moves in to examine the hammer that Strange had quickly taken careful possession of, she finds the spell cast on the hammer to be exceedingly mundane; continual light. Likely, this had been one of a set that had been used in the darker areas as a sort of lamp that doubled as a easily thrown weapon. Why the ancient dwarf was holding it when he died was anyone's guess.

The search of the manuscripts yielded some interesting texts that would appeal to anyone with a sense for history or geography as both histories of dwarven clans and holds, books with titles such as "A Brief History of the Burning Sands," and maps and blueprints of regions buildings likely long since forgotten by time occupied cubby holes in the rock. A quick inspection of the maps present found that a map of their current locale, what would have been a convenient way to get a layout of the pass and the fortress, was not present among the documents.

Time is taken to scan the room and, despite Lorelei's shifty eyes back to the skeletal figure now and then, no bones rise from their eternal sleep to attack and reclaim the treasures once lost to it. Having looked through the room, another observation was that there was no other door to be found on this upper floor. That now left them again with a dichotomy; descend into the depths of the fortress or find another way outside.

As the exhaustive search of the room slowly winds down Strange wanders over to the door, "Down we go then?  We shall find our way through.. hmm.. eventually."  He was ready to follow the others whenever they were done poking around.

"Yes, let us press onward; I am eager to make progress through this pass."

Gren grabs some of the blueprints and maps.  He casts a simple spell over them to keep them from falling apart in his hands, "Gnidnem." He then places them in his backpack.

"I don't suppose the master Dwarf has left a journal?  Can any of you tell how he died?"  Gren was curious as to how the man died.  It didn't seem violent, but he couldn't imagine himself dying simply sitting behind a desk.

Just as the group seemed about to leave, Gren made a last effort to locate a journal of the deceased dwarf and, much to his pleasure, he found that the stone desk had a sort of drawer and inside sat an old dusty tome that looks like it would have been considered old while their friend here was still alive and well. Cracking it open, there seems to be at least the last ten years of the dwarf's life detailed inside. Interested in how he died, and perhaps a name, Gren thumbs to the final entry.

Gren read the passage out loud for the others.

"I will see that your story is not forgotten to the passages of time, master dwarf," Gren said softly.  Before closing the book he cast his mending spell once more to try and preserve the condition of it.  He then tucked it in his backpack to read more later.

"He seemed to have died long before the darkness claimed this place."

"It is right that his story should pass beyond these halls; such things are jewels to be reclaim from the sands of time and shared with others. His memories and thoughts will help fuel the next generation."

With no heirs, the idea of claiming this watchtower as his own grew more and more likely.  These thoughts he kept private.  The rest of the tower would have to be explored and the dangers eliminated.  Then of course repairs would have to be done, and that would require men with skills that he himself did not possess.

"Strange, if you would take the lead?" Gren said, motioning towards the door silently telling the others that he was now ready to move on.

He nods to Gren before exiting the room, holding the door for the next person to pass through before moving back down the hallway and then down the stairs to the main level.  He waits for the group to gather at the top of the stairs leading deeper into the mountain fortress and then begins the descent, moving carefully and looking for any possible traps, though he is doubtful if he will be able to find any of Dwarven make, such is his respect for their level of craftsmanship.  All the while that glowing hammer is gripped in his partially-ruined left hand, casting it's pale glow on the dusty stones.


11:25, Today: Strange rolled 22 using 1d20+6. Perception.

Having listened to the journal entry, Lyria took one last glance at the abandoned remains while nodding along with what Gren and Tevlin said. It seemed fortunate that they found such personal recollection of the deceased master of the tower they had taken shelter in. That his final words were seen and preserved also brought a measure of gladness that she could not rationalise. Perhaps, it was the thought that, even in death, his story was not lost, immortalised by the words written within the pages.

Content with the treasure of knowledge they've acquired, Lyria followed the group as they made their descent. The bobbing light casted by the glowing hammer guided her path through the darkness of the keep.

Lorelei said a quiet prayer for the dwarf, his story was a good one in her mind. An ideal way to die with few regrets after a long and prosperous life. She hoped his afterlife was a good one as she took up the rear of the party.

All things considered she didn't think many of the others handled themselves well in toe to toe fighting, they had their own specialties. With strange leading the way she would make sure no one was assaulted from behind. Though to be fair she doubted it would happen, better then ignoring the possibilities. Also it gave her time to look around, and see if anything interested her or seemed... off.

19:36, Today: Lorelei rolled 11 using 1d20+7. Perception.

The stairs were by no means long though the two flights put the group reasonably underground. While it's to be expected that being underground away from the wind, snow, and other manner of cold weathery aspects, would make it somewhat warmer than topside...but not this warm. As the group reaches the bottom of the stairs, the two unlit braziers almost went unnoticed until they realized that each was emitting a degree of residual heat. They had been lit until recently, some of the coals held inside even still smoldering softly. With Strange and Lorelei looking forward carefully, even more so now, they at least determine that they are safe for the moment being. The room they find themselves in now isn't very large but it has a duo of doors, one on either side of the room with a large stone statue of a dwarf taking up the third wall. The armor the dwarf was carved into and the tower shield he held before him looked to be picture perfect to the ones that their deceased owner rested in upstairs. An effigy then perhaps? But why carve an effigy to someone alive and then leave them to die alone? As the group ponders such questions and moves to inspect the statue, Tevlin in particular, a glowing red mark appears on the statue's chestplate, bringing back not too long forgotten memories...

"If any of you were hoping to find more to the mystery of the sigil.  Congratulations.  I, however, was hoping never to see it again."

Gren waves a hand over the still warm braziers, to confirm what Strange had noticed.  "The living still lurk here.  Fore I fear the dead need neither light or warmth."

Gren turned to Tevlin and Lyria, knowing they would likely be a bit confused about the symbol.  "That symbol holds special meaning to a demon worshiping cult of theives and assassins.  I fear my hopes of turning this stronghold into a home are starting now to crumble."

Kassadria followed on in tentative silence. The darkness didn't bother her, it was the quiet. This place was resting, like its long dead warden, it was silently dormant. After what they'd encountered before - the creatures that could hide themselves from sight, she was concerned about what else may lurk in these hibernating depths.

As they passed the braziers and noticed the smoldering coals and then the appearance of the symbol on the statue's chestplate, her level of alertness went through the roof. Her rapier was drawn, now, not wanting to be caught off guard. She stayed close to Strange, seeing that Lorelei was taking up the rear. She didn't know what the symbol was doing in a place like this, on a statue of a long-dead dwarf, but she didn't like it. "Let's just find the way through," she finally gave her own input, perhaps the smallest inkling of fear discernible in her voice.

Strange eyes the smoldering symbol for a few moments before turning away and scrutinizing the room carefully.  If their objective was to find a way through quickly he would try to find any clue to tell him where the inhabitants of this place were so he could steer the group around them wherever possible.

12:47, Today: Strange rolled 8 using 1d20+6. Perception.

Last time Gren tried to use his magical sight the sigil started to catch fire.  Given that, he resisted this time.

If this place was long abandoned the floors would could have a decent layer of dust on them.  Are there any tracks to see who, what, or how many there may have been moving about?  Or which way they would have headed?

Both Gren and Strange look around for clues of any residents that may have taken up in the abandoned fortress and with Gren's idea of looking for tracks or disturbances in the dust on the floor, they gain their first clue. The dust was indeed disturbed though no footprints were discernable. Mainly, this was because most of the dust seems to have been blown to the edges of the room though by the fact that some spaces still remained dusty, it was not by intentional design. The two footprints that did show up still led through the door on the group's right. No discernable sound came from either direction so at this point, it was almost a game of chance as to what would be behind each door.

"Left or right.  What say you all?  Once your choice is made.. hmm.. I shall continue to lead so as to catch any traps that might be placed in our path."  He gestured first towards one door then the other as he spoke, having no real opinion one way or the other.  On the one hand he was ready to be off this mountain and out of the cold that had gripped his stony core.  On the other he did not mind the idea of another fight, and perhaps the discovery of more rings to add to his collection...

"Is there any indication of what we might find down either path?" The gregarious sorcerer asked.

"It looks like someone or something may have passed this way," he said hooking a thumb towards the door on the right.  "I say we go ask'm what the deal with the symbol is.  If they prove hostile best take care of'm now, rather than have'm lurkin about causing us troubles."

With signs of potential trouble he drew a javelin.

"That's not a bad idea; not bad at all."

"Better to face your foe head on then turn your back to him"

Lorelei murmured quietly from the back of the group, keeping an eye turned on the way they had come. She might be dubbed paranoid, but in a tunnel system she was worried about getting assaulted from behind. Especially since it seems said system was apparently still in use.

Strange nods his agreement to Gren and then moves over towards the door on the right.  He checks it for any potential traps, as well as for signs of life on the other side of the door.  He knew it was unlikely that there would be anyone there as they would have heard the talking coming from this chamber, but it was certainly better to be safe than sorry.  If everything seems clear he will open the door and lead the way through.

12:01, Today: Strange rolled 23 using 1d20+6. Perception.
Note: In case of any traps further along I do have the Trap Sense talent so I get a free perception check to notice traps within 10 ft.

It took Strange a moment to check the door and while it seemed to be clear of traps, he couldn't help but feel like the door itself was warmer than the old wood should have been. Still deeming it safe enough to proceed, Strange slowly and mercifully silently pushed open the door. Half the room was in chaos. The larger than life double doors of a large archway leading into another room to the back of the room were blasted to pieces all over the room with the back wall seeming to take some of the damage too, a section of stone having fallen out of place and broken apart upon impact with the floor. Scorch marks scarred the ground black around the site of the impact and while no cinders or flames were still present, residual heat could be felt in the room because of it.

Or at least that was the initial thought as a few of the group squeezed into the room behind Strange. Getting a better view of the room, the bottom half of the room seemed to be a decently preserved forge. Nothing special; a table with a blacksmith's tools, a couple of standard shields hanging from the wall above, a stone trough filled with long-stagnant water, and a forge...a lit forge. The two creatures sitting on the rim of the stones that made up the edge of the fire pit were almost small enough to go unnoticed. That was until one of the brown-black creatures breathed in deeply, his skin seeming to catch fire like coal, red, orange, and yellow hues springing forward from his chest and branching outward. The creature let out of a small jet of flame to stoke the forge before shivering and settling back into its previous stance. Either neither creature had heard the group enter or they simply didn't care. No sign of whoever left the footprints in the statue room were immediately present.

Actions?

Strange looked to the side at his comrades, one protruding brow crooked in question, unsure of what to make of the odd creatures keeping the forge alight.  With a brief shrug he begins to circle around towards the rubble-strewn part of the room, getting ready to flank in the event that a fight breaks out.

Move to F10.

23:35, Today: Strange rolled 17 using 1d20+10. Stealth. (19 if the stone backdrop counts towards stealth bonus)

Tevlin said something aloud in another language.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:42, Fri 08 Mar 2013.

Gren moves (to D6) keeping his eyes on the creatures in the corner.  He also watches the arched door way to make sure nothing comes charging out through it.  With Tevlin having spoken something in a tongue Gren did not recognize, he felt the need for stealth had ended; so he whispered a spell, "Dleihs."  The air shimmered before him as if it had become more dense.

He hoped the creatures were simple servants, with no mind towards fighting.

_{To know which spell just read the incantation backwards.}

Kassadria was grateful that she had her blade drawn already. She would not be caught off-guard. Like Gren, she stepped into the open so that she could stand between the creatures and the group, if they attacked, and glanced across at Tevlin who spoke out loud in another language, presumably hoping that he could communicate with the things. They didn't look like any demons she'd come across before... not that she'd met all that many demons, mind you. Her sword was drawn, but held in as unthreatening a manner as it could be while still being ready. If these beings were not hostile, she had no reason to provoke them...


OOC: Move to H7.

The discovery of the dwarven remains kept Lyria in a rather contemplative mood as she followed the group and their decisions. As Strange opened the door to this new room, however, she was taken aback by the unusual warmth emanating from within. Her curiosity piqued, she craned her neck around the figures of her companions in front of her to look at the strange creatures that caused such sudden change of temperature.

Despite their incredible appearance and power, Lyria did not feel a sense of fear that she thought she ought to. Indeed, as she heard Tevlin attempted to converse with the creatures, she wondered if they were somehow related as their affinity with the often destructive elements did not escape her notice. Content to watch and wait, she remained behind Tevlin while keeping her eyes on their reactions.

As the group begins to spread out through the room, the two creatures seem to twitch and notice the noise but it isn't until Tevlin speaks in a rather sharp language comprised of crackling words and snapping syllables that both turned around to show that both sported elongated humanoid faces that were black as ash. As their orange eyes darted around from Tevlin, to Kass, to Gren, to Strange, and back to Tevlin again, it's obvious that they both feel threatened as both begin to glow a dark red as the room begins to heat.

 One of the creatures spoke in the same tongue as Tevlin but much more rapidly as both stepped backward into the flames of the forge, claws flexing and the red embers glowing in their chests beginning to brighten. As they made their way into the heat of the furnace, a loud creaking rumbles forth through the blasted down double doors though the flickering light from the forge as well as the old dwarf's hammer combined with the darkness of the room beyond plays hell with darkvision for those that are able to see through the entryway. The only thing Strange can see from where he is through the door is simply more destruction.

As the loud noise rumbles through the room Strange glances over his shoulder to make sure there are no immediate threats coming from that direction before focusing again on the imps in the forge furnace.  He considers that Tevlin has probably already announced that they are not a threat and so, in order to make himself less threatening he begins to back towards the massive archway, beckoning for the others to do so as well.  As he nears it (about C10) he finally turns away from the two fire beasties and focuses on the other room, trying to find the source of the earlier noise.

Will continue moving through the arch to what I would guess to be -A10.

Gren stays where he is watching everything.  "Tevlin, do you share words with things?" he asked.  Neither side had yet attacked, which he hoped was a good sign.  Gren's defensive magic was up, but wouldn't last long.  If he was lucky, he simply would have wasted the spell and everyone could part ways without a battle.

He looked at Tevlin trying to judge if a fight was to break out or not.

He then looked to Strange, "What do you spy?"  Gren's position was good enough to guard the doorway, but not see beyond it.  He was also hesitant to move, should the winged fire creatures see it as a threat.

Tevlin put his hands up in a placating gesture, speaking again in the harsh tongue of the flame-colored beings.


Turning back to Gren, he smiled.  "I'm trying to show them that we don't want a fight, but they're worried because we're surrounding them."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:37, Sun 10 Mar 2013.

Lorelei held her hands up to show she was unarmed and let them hang at her side at Tevlins words. Of course, the imps didn't need to know they where her weapon of choice. They just saw a young woman revealing a lack of weapons and standing down while Tevlin tried to convince them they were not going to be assaulted.

"Let's hope they will calm..."

Kassadria frowned, and lowered her blade. She would not sheath it, while the creatures were growling at them and fearing attack - as a cornered beast is most likely to lash out, and they had managed to very effectively corner themselves, these creatures. Regardless, as a sign of trust, rather than stay where she was, she moved over to Strange, peeking through the door with him to see if the coast was clear.

OOC: Move to -A9ish.

Gren nodded.  He looked at the two creatures and then resheathed his javelin.  While the weight of the weapon helped calm his nerves, he had to remember he was learned in the arts of magic.  So, even without a tool in his hands he was never truly unarmed.

The creatures looked at Tevlin curiously at the mention of the blade fingered monsters and seemed to have become slightly less on edge now that the group had put their weapons down and backed off. They seemed to also ignore Strange and Kass as soon as they made it to the fringe of their room. Apparently, the room was their territory and they couldn't care less what anyone did as long as they weren't inside of it. The one that had been talking looked to its companion who shrugged in response, flexing wings that had been wrapped tightly around its body. Turning back to Tevlin, the first creature made a similar action. [Language unknown: "O witio ave a ratoreter icililut esmo anyprostr u estoerare n itstha oerwheeen ntipa uttril. Heresscom nte mathul conec oventeoul o isai, I tedtinstr ch ni ove. Nti besaiv ar eau ulun noastr n erablesti."]

As Strange and Kass moved to the mouth of the archway, stepping over slabs of stone and splinters of wood, both notice that the darkness that should be receding before their vision isn't giving an inch. As they make it to the archway itself, the smell of smoke solves the mystery. Though it is hot in the room, there is no visible source of flame and oddly enough, the smoke it not spilling out into the other room. In fact, it seems stagnant, almost completely still. As they are trying to peer through the smokey haze, Kass spots something in front of her lying motionless on the ground; what seems to be the ash-covered form of a girl.

Gren moved once more (to C12).  He took care not to trip or stumble over the rubble of the collapsed door. He hoped from this vantage point he could keep an eye on allies and strangers alike.  "What is it?  What lies beyond?" he called to Kassadria and Strange.

He then looked briefly back to the winged ones as they utterred noise that could be construde as some sort of language.

It was only then that he realized that he sandwiched himself between to potential threats.  He sneared.

"Only smoke," replies Strange, having not yet seen the ashen body in the darkness, "but some sort of.. hmm.. magic is at work here.  Are you able to do something about it?"  The gargoyle had little enough knowledge of magic that he wasn't going to make any assumptions here.  He turns away from the smoke and eyes the creatures at the forge again, not sure what to make of them either but ready to strike with his free hand should it be necessary.

"There's... something on the floor," Kassadria said to Strange, as she peered into the smoke. She tentatively waded into the smoke, keeping an eye out for hidden dangers hiding in the thick cloud. "It's a girl," she concluded, as she got close enough to confirm it. "She isn't moving." Did whatever caused that rumbling a minute ago cause this? The smoke seemed too still to be new, unless it was some kind of spell as Strange thought... She didn't venture too far out into the smoke, concerned about being ambushed.


OOC: Move to -C8.
05:27, Today: Kassadria rolled 14 using 1d20+1. perception. Keeping an eye out for danger in the smoke.

Tevlin frowned.


"A girl, yes?  Let us take her elsewhere, lest we antagonize these creatures any further.  We can help her in another room." He said to the others.

"Back or forward?" Kassadria moved forward to lean down to examine the prone form - was she still alive? "Are you alive?" she asked as she nudged her, hoping to rouse her from her sleep. If she remained still, Kass would check for a pulse or just roll her over.

Lorelei had a bad feeling about the pair finding a girl in the fog as she began to move quickly towards them. She was careful though keeping her eyes on the imps and revealing still empty hands. She just hoped this wasn't a trap. While not normally quite so paranoid, exploring ruins where they had already been ambushed had her on high alert.

Double Move to B7

"Back, at least we know what lies that way," Gren said.  He kept an eye on the imps to make sure they didn't try to stop them or otherwise interfer.  "If the girl lives maybe she can explain what she is doing here."

At Kassadria's mention of a girl, Lyria perked up and shuffled carefully between Tevlin and the passageway towards the other room. Confident that the creatures decided not to attack the group as long as neither of them show any sign of hostility, she made her way as quickly as possible without even bothering to keep the creatures within her sight.

"Careful with the girl," she called out mid stride, worried that they might have accidentally worsen the girl's health by carelessly moving her around. That was, of course, assuming she still breathed. "I can quickly check for her condition, if that's ok. That way, we can see whether it's fine to even move her. Some injuries will worsen if we're not careful." Or she might be long dead and we will be carrying but a corpse...

Double move to -A11 (pretty sure that's how much my char can move)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:15, Fri 15 Mar 2013.

Lyria moves with purpose through the room towards the collapsed form of the girl, Kass following up slowly behind, scanning the room for any threats that may have made a victim out of the girl. As she reaches the girl, Lyria kneels down and reaches her hand out to move the girl onto her back so she could access her neck to check for a pulse. She had been lying with her back towards the group until the point so it was only now that she was able to get a good look at what the girl looked like. The vision shocked her and caused her to stumble back and land on her rear before scrambling to her feet quickly, a concerned Niffa nibbling at her ear in worry.

The girl's skin was ash. Not just the color of ash, but actually the substance. Some of it had come off in Lyria's hand as she had rolled the girl over. Both her eye sockets and mouth were filled with the stuff, the eyes hollow and the mouth open in a scream of terror. Kass had brandished her rapier in the direction of the girl as Lyria had fallen back and had exchanged concerned glances with the witch before intensifying her vigil, trying to discern any shapes within the smoke. Indeed there now seemed to be something different about the room. It was as if the smoke was intensifying and condensing in places; one on the southern wall between Kass and Strange and the other up and away from Lyria. Taking a step back towards the door, her rapier interposed between her and the nearest cloud and her other arm stretched backward in an attempt to herd Lyria back out of the room, things went from bad to worse. The clouds began to smolder darkly and then burst into flames. These flames had the vague features of small horned women and they looked rather pleased with themselves in a dangerous sort of way.


This message was last edited by the GM at 03:03, Fri 15 Mar 2013.

Strange had been looking cautiously back and forth between the forge imps and the smoke-shrouded room when the two firey spirits coalesced into being.  He did not waste any time choosing his target, initiating a fierce charge at the demonic being at the back of the room.  Unfortunately the hammer in his off-hand seems to throw him off balance, and his razor claws miss by a mile.

Current/Max HP: 27/27  |  Current AC: 12   Touch: 12   Flat-Footed: 9
Buffs: Charge (+2 Attack)  |  Debuffs: Charge (-2 AC)
Actions: Charge attack.
Target: Enemy @ -G10
Rolls: 22:04, Today: Strange rolled 10 using 1d20+3. Initiative.
22:09, Today: Strange rolled 8 using 1d20+5. Claw attack (Charging).

"Lyria, what--" Kassadria was about to ask Lyria what she saw that caused her to reel back like that when she caught sight of it herself and her stomach turned. She'd seen corpses before but... well, this was pretty horrific as far as corpses go. "She's dead, we should just head back..." she concluded, but almost on cue the smoke started to swirl and spawned two creatures born of fire, similar to those in the other room, but these looked much worse and did not seem to be hesitant about showing their intentions. "Lyria, get back to the others, now!" Kass called to the witch and moved between the nearest creature, by the southern wall, and the member of her party who had shown the day before her aptitude in close combat.

She attacked, but defensively, only jabbing with her rapier when an opportunity presented itself - and there weren't many good opportunities. She had no intention in committing to this fight - she just wanted to get Lyria and the others to safety. However it seemed that Strange had a different idea, charging hell for leather at the other firey creature.


14:02, Today: Kassadria rolled 23 using 1d20+6. initiative.
HP: 19
AC: 22
Touch: 17
FF: 15
5' step to -C8
Fighting defensively:
14:14, Today: Kassadria rolled 4 using 1d20+3. attack (rolled wrong, it should be -4 to attack)
So that's a miss. And a fumble.
14:16, Today: Kassadria rolled 3 using 1d6. fumble

Please don't kill me? :P
This message was last edited by the player at 17:10, Fri 15 Mar 2013.

Watching and listening to the others Gren's eyes go wide.  "The girl is dead! Twas at the hands of flame demons!" He yells out so Tevlin and anyone else who couldn't see into the room knew just what was happening.  Gren retrieved his javelin, the imps be damned!  He started to enchant a spell, the arcane words echoing eerily in the stone room, "Ekirts Eurt."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:22, Mon 18 Mar 2013.

Lorelei was slow to respond to the cries of the others as she rushed around the corner hearing warning of elementals in the next room, hoping to aid her companions. She swung with her fist flaring with icy frost before she even had a good look at her opponent... and there she hesitated. Despite the obvious elemental qualities of the enemy she seemed unsure whether the woman should be hit or not, as she held her attack back letting the attack dissipate.

Move: To -B8
Standard: Unarmed Attack w/Elemental Fist (Miss)
00:11, Today: Lorelei rolled 9 using 1d20+6. Unarmed Attack; W/Elemental Fist.
00:09, Today: Lorelei rolled 5 using 1d20+3. Initiative.

Eyes widening with mixture of surprise and trepidation, Lyria gasped and almost choked on the smoke and ash that filled the air as she disturbed the corpse. Following the tiefling's suggestion, she reached carefully towards the weasel that nipped at her ears, whispering intelligible words in a soothing tone, despite her own dread, as she inched away from the dead girl.

What appeared next, however, convinced her of the danger they were under. Surely the ashen remain was a promise of what would soon happen to them should these fiery creatures have their way. Unwilling to allow the same fate to befall them, Lyria quickly muttered a spell, causing a slight distortion on the air around her, as Kassadria called out and took her position.

Needing no more prompting, Lyria kept her eyes on their two assailants as she made her way towards the entrance of the room, carefully circling behind Kassadria and, hopefully, out of reach of the creature closer to the doorway. Despite her fear, she steeled her mind and kept her composure this time, having sworn, as she drifted off to sleep last night, that she would be of more use to the group the next time around.

OOC:
Cast Mage Armour
Movement -E8 -> -D9 -> -A9

Tevlin shook his head ruefully at the attack, saddened that his Ignan brothers and sisters would come to this; what manner of place could do affect such a change in someone, that they would deal so harshly with even their own kind?

But it was not the time for reflection, not the time to puzzle through the oddities of the mind; Tevlin reached down into that inner reservoir, that connection point between him and the quixotic force of magic which wound itself around existence, shaping a field of protection around his body.  As the spell progressed, an azure radiance began to reach out of his eyes, nose and mouth before finally forcing its way from beneath his skin and coalescing into a ghostly, translucent cuirass that floated around his torso.

OOC: Also casting Mage Armor.

"Lyria, get back to the others, now!" Kass called to the witch as the imp-like fire elementals began to streak forward like liquid fire. While not inclined to taking on the lot of them by herself, she knew that she stood a better chance than the softer human woman behind her. Not one to argue the point, Lyria turned to run but found an elemental directly in her face. Before she knew it, a flaming hand swiped at her, ripping clothes, scratching and burning skin, and lighting the touched cloth aflame! Managing to scramble away from the elemental under another swing of it's fiery arms, Lyria makes her way to Strange's side where she quickly recited a few words and a prismatic shield conformed to her body, helping to protect her from further harm though the fire on her clothing still burned. The gargoyle knew that he needed to protect her and sprung into action, charging the elemental that had harmed her though the smoke in the room as well as his enthusiasm caused his attack to veer off target as the elemental dodged it with ease.

Meanwhile, Kass swung at the other elemental as it eyes Lyria's movements as if it would rather go after the fleshy woman rather than the scaly tiefling. Rather than dodge out of the way of the attack, the elemental swiped the rapier's attack out of the way with its own claws, nearly causing Kass to lose hold of the weapon before using it's other clawed hand to rake her unguarded abdomen, leaving a glowing trail where its claws had passed. Luckily though, Kass was quick to brush off the embers and rip away a small piece of cloth that had begun to take to the flames before it could catch.

In the other room, both Gren and Tevlin prepared spells to ward against attacks and to defend themselves in a little more of an offensive manner. "The girl is dead! Twas at the hands of flame demons! Ekirts Eurt," Gren shouted as he prepared his spell, reaching for a javelin as the familiar beams of light, invisible to all but him, connected the tip of his weapon with his target. Tevlin seemed sad at the course of events, shaking his head ruefully as he cast his own spell, identical to that of Lyria as he scanned the room and the flame mephitis warily, saying nothing to them.

This didn't seem to sit well with the Ignan creatures though. Paranoia at the group's true intention finally breaking through to the forefront of their minds, the speaking ceased from them, replaced now with a series of frantic, high-pitched shrieks and cries, none of them sounding friendly. Both had reached their hands into the forge's flames momentarily and as they brought their hands to bear, glowing brightly with the color of fire, each chose a target of their own and fired off a white-hot bar of flame at both Gren and Tevlin. Tevlin quickly pressed himself against the wall and, although confined in the small space the doorway offered, was lucky enough to have the bar pass right pass him…and hit the statue behind him which began to glow radially, starting from the run on it's chest, and spreading outward. Gren, however, was a little less quick though no less successful in dodging the incoming magical attack. Having been facing the room with the elementals, his only cue that there was danger had been a crackling sound as the spell manifested. His half-ogre reflexes coming to his rescue, he flung himself out of the way of the spell, his beard getting slightly singed in the process, but leaving him unharmed.

Lorelei had been a bit stunned at the turn of the events in the forge as she was not in a position to see the elementals manifest. She truly understood that they were in trouble as the mephitis attacked the two spell casters though and her instincts finally kicked in. Jumping into action, she tore around the corner, her fist taking on the properties of the previous day's blizzard, she was about to execute an icy falling punch until it stuck her that attacking a being made of flame could pose certain health risks that required consideration before she let her adrenaline get the best of her. Pulling up short next to Kass, she let the attack dissipate unused and made ready to receive an attack instead.



Initiative:
23 Kass
19 Gren
12 Tevlin
11 Fire Elementals & Fire Mephits
10 Strange & Lyria
  5 Lorelei

Cumulative Party Status:
Gren:Full HP
Kass:-3 HP
Lorelei:Full HP
Lyria:-5 HP + On Fire (4 Rounds)
Strange:Full HP
Tevlin:Full HP

This message was last edited by the GM at 08:38, Thu 21 Mar 2013.

Kassadria yelped as the flaming claws slashed her front, and tore the cloth away fast to escape the flames that brewed there, though they merely tickled her thanks to her thick fireproof scales. In response she moved quick, attempting to duck below any swipe of the creature's claws taking advantage of her move to reposition so that she and Lorelei would flank it. Because of the attention put into repositioning the slash she made with her rapier was off and missed.

OOC:
Move to -C6, provoking AoO. Mobility gives +4 to AC on AoO from movement = 24 AC.
08:44, Today: Kassadria rolled 2 using 1d6+1. damage.
08:44, Today: Kassadria rolled 12 using 1d20+9. attack + flank.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:49, Thu 21 Mar 2013.

Gren had all intentions of launching his empowered javelin towards the flaming woman fighting Strange, though he could barely make out more than her fiery aura in the thick smoke-filled room.  That was his intention, until the imp like creature behind him threw a stream of fire at him.  His ogre-blood boiled with anger and he turned.  Arcane beams of light that only he could see moved from the tip of his weapon to highlight the imp.  He let his weapon fly with a grunt, hoping to impale the creature to the stones behind it.  "Impudent whelp!  You dare!" he bellowed.

He then moved closer to the center of the room to help cover the group's retreat.  "That smoke gives them an advantage.  Pull back!" he yelled to the others.

He hoped his magical shield would protect him from any further attacks from the forge.

True Strike, Attack = 23
08:51, Today: Gren Boarshead rolled 12 using 1d8+8. Arcane Strike(helps overcome DR)+ Mighty Strike + Bloodline.
Moves to G9
Shield spell up, AC16
This message was last edited by the player at 15:16, Fri 29 Mar 2013.

As Gren gave the order to pull back Strange took a quick look around him.  Some of the others were still in danger and he was loath to give up on a fight once it was started.  He decides instead to provide a distraction for the others, making a running leap at the flaming foe currently battling with Kassadria and Lyria.

Current/Max HP: 27/27  |  Current AC: 14   Touch: 14   Flat-Footed: 11
Buffs:                 |  Debuffs:
Actions: Move to -C6 then grapple.
Target: Enemy @ -B7
Rolls: 09:28, Today: Strange rolled 10 using 1d20+3. Grapple attack.

Notes: Yes I'm aware this will incur an AoO from both of the elementals, but sometimes it's fun to be reckless! :P  Also the grapple attempt may get a +2 if flanking counts.

Lyria cried out in surprise as the creature's attack caused her clothing to catch on fire. Whatever noise she made, however, was drowned by the high-pitched, panicked squeal that emanated from Niffa as she scrambled frantically out of the burning garment and made her way to the highest ground possible.

Reaching out to steady the weasel on top of her head, Lyria took a moment to cast her spell, borrowing on her familiar's already eardrum shattering shrill. Her own cries seemed to have bypassed the human hearing range altogether as the tightly oscillating sound waves washed unnoticed through Strange and struck his fiery opponent.

OOC:
Ear Piercing Scream with DC of 16.

12:35, Today: Lyria rolled 4 using 1d6. Ear Piercing Scream damage.

Lorelei just knew this was going to hurt like hell, but it was her best option as she shifted from a Defensive position and seemed to bide her time. Kassadra's Attack provided just the moment she needed and rather then her normally flashy kicks she shot her left fist forward. Blistering cold, hopefully, protectively wrapped around her fist she threw it in a classic brawlers hook right into the elementals jaw. Lorelei gritted her teeth hoping this wouldn't hurt too much.

Standard: Unarmed Attack for 9 Damage hitting AC 20 with Flanking.

01:41, Today: Lorelei rolled 2 using 1d6. Cold Damage.
01:40, Today: Lorelei rolled 7 using 1d6+6. Unarmed Damage.
01:40, Today: Lorelei rolled 18 using 1d20+6. Unarmed Attack; W/Elemental Fist. .

Unwilling to stay too close to the statue in case it turned into something dangerous, even by so simple an act as falling over, Tevlin moved out of the way, following the wall towards the barrels.  Tiring of his elemental rays failing him, Tevlin unleashed an arcane missile attack at one of the mephits.

[Language unknown: "Fi ilroec nder ndart! Er teromewer ing us ouiead!"]
This message was last edited by the player at 14:43, Fri 29 Mar 2013.

"That smoke gives them an advantage. Pull back!" Gren yelled to the others in the room above him, seeing that the situation they found themselves in was not one that was weighted in their favor. And indeed, the elemental women seemed to be taking to the offensive quite well, much to the chagrin of those of the party that were stuck in the smoky room with them. Kass had managed to roll under the first attack of one of the opponents and as she came up behind it, she made an unbalanced slash with her rapier that the elemental avoided, though at the cost of its own attack which didn’t have the reach enough to make contact with the tiefling. The other elemental had no such problems with Strange. The gargoyle had flung himself into the thick of the fighting and seemed to want a piece of every enemy he could get his claws on. Turning away from his current target at the yells from the women behind him, Strange was given a parting gift of flaming claws scraping at his stony flesh. While the claws themselves scraped harmlessly off of his skin, the heat that radiated from them left scorch marks on the stone. That was hardly going to stop him though. Throwing himself at the other elemental, Gren attempts to wrestle the flame being to the ground but finds nothing but more pain in the form of flames, the claws themselves once again bouncing off his hard exterior. That was not the end of his misfortune though as the first elemental didn’t seem to be done with him quite yet, crossing the distance in a whirl of smoke to strike in the same place as she had when Strange moved away, this time chipping the stone and turning the section bright red from the heat.

Though her clothes were still on fire, Lyria was determined to keep herself in harm’s way if it meant she could protect one of her new friends. So joining her voice with that of Niffa’s, to anyone else, it would look like she was just yelling something at a moderate volume. To the elemental, however, the sonic blast of screams drove it to its knees, grasping the sides of its head in pain. The effect didn’t last for long though and it resulted primarily in a very angry woman made of living flame who was looking directly at the source of its pain.

Seeing her companions struggling to find purchase in their attacks and seeing that nobody seemed to be taking Gren’s suggestion to flee to heart, Lorelei did what she knew best and bit the bullet, lashed out with a speedy left hook to the elemental’s jaw as it was still recoiling from parrying Strange’s attempt at a grapple. Her fist wrapped in a layer of cold, the initial strike didn’t hurt though as she recoiled from the blow, residue from the elemental left on her fist after the strike began to quickly burn and turn the skin on her fist red. This was a mere pittance compared to how the elemental took the attack though. Being struck by the cold fist, one would think it was being tortured for the screeching scream it made. [Language unknown: “AIHO PEWE AINTILIV MOLLIL!”] it yelled out in the same tongue Tevlin had been speaking earlier.

In the other room, Tevlin had called out one last time in a sad but determined voice to the mephits as he moved through the room, away from the now almost fully glowing statue and shot forth a glowing missile of force from his fingertips at one of the small humanoids. [Language unknown: "Ol lackut res lllo! Ec ainterson un k toerli!"] The missile hit its target front and center, causing it to tilt backwards slightly as its companion took the opportunity to launch itself out of the furnace, it’s small leathery wings unfolding and lifting it into the air in a straight line toward the fire-caster. It pulled up short though, lifting its head into the air before spitting a cone of red flamed towards Tevlin, completely engulfing him and obscuring himself from sight. When the flames cleared though, the mephit looked both shocked and confused as the man was still perfectly unharmed and, in fact, looked rejuvenated by the bath of flames.

"Impudent whelp! You dare!" Gren bellowed once again as he righted himself from the ray of fire that had barely missed him just a moment before. He had intended to use the spell he had cast to assist the others in the smoke-filled room but he now had something of his own to deal with, and deal with it he would. Fixing the invisible lines of the spell to the mephit that had dared to attack him, Gren hurled the javelin with inhuman strength, nearly skewering the mephit; its only saving grace being the magic missile that had rocked it slightly backward. Instead, the javelin ripped past its ribcage and through one of the leathery wings in a burst or orange blood-like ichor that stained the wall behind the furnace. Gren’s javelin, unfortunately, landed smack dab in the middle of the furnace, the shaft of the weapon quickly igniting and the head of the weapon falling off into the slag below to be melted down. The mephit had not been slain yet though and with obvious desparation, began waving its arms in a large gesture, a few sparks appearing above its head. Gren thought he saw a momentary flash of a circle appear but whatever it was that the mephit was trying to accomplish collapsed in on itself and left it standing there, looking panicked, even as the flames from the furnace and burning javelin flowed like water towards its body, wrapping themselves around where Gren had injured it.




Initiative:
23 Kass
19 Gren
12 Tevlin
11 Fire Elementals & Fire Mephits
10 Strange & Lyria
  5 Lorelei

Cumulative Party Status:
Gren:Full HP
Kass:-3 HP
Lorelei:-1 HP
Lyria:-11 HP + On Fire (3 Rounds)
Strange:-10 HP
Tevlin:Full HP

Since Strange charged in again, Kass's escape route was now blocked and he was sandwiched between the two fire creatures. Her tactical mind decided that retreat was no longer an option. Based on the shouts coming from the other room, and the sight of streaks of flame coming through the doorway, retreat that way probably hadn't been an option anyway.

The best they could do was try to finish these creatures off as quickly as they could. She ducked around so she was opposite Lorelei, forcing the creature to defend itself on three sides and allowing Strange to get into a better position to flank as well. It ran the risk of Lorelei getting caught between the two creatures or Lyria being caught without anyone to protect her, but it seemed like the best option.

With the advantage of being behind her foe, the tiefling stabbed with her rapier. The thrust had power behind it, and if it struck home would deal a considerable blow, she was sure of it.


OOC:
5'-step to -B6
Attack fire thing.
10:09, Today: Kassadria rolled 16,7 using 1d20+7,1d6+1. attack roll.
16 to hit, 7 damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:12, Sun 31 Mar 2013.

The little beasts seemed to be drawing power from the furnace itself.  They seemed to use it to both form fire and to heal themselves.  For a second, he even thought he saw the start of a summoner's circle begin to form.  Gren cursed in the tongue of giants and barreled forward towards the water trough.  He bent low and hooked his two massively thick arms under it, and used his momentum to push it forwards.  With a grunt he lifted it, hopefully enough, to tip it over atop the fire.

Strength Check = 18.  Don't know if a charge action or anything would help or hinder that.

Well that was downright unpleasant.  His charge had been countered by the firey foes and now he was surrounded.  His bloodlust was beginning to wane in the face of danger and he re-evaluated his actions, moving away from the flaming woman who was now occupied with Lyria and Kassadria.  He spins to face the other opponent, taking a measured swing with his free hand as well as attempting to ram his horned head in wherever he can find an opening.

Current/Max HP: 17/27  |  Current AC: 14   Touch: 14   Flat-Footed: 11
Buffs:                 |  Debuffs:
Actions: 5 ft. step to -D7
Target: Enemy @ -D8
Rolls:
16:57, Today: Strange rolled 4 using 1d4+2. Gore damage.
16:56, Today: Strange rolled 15 using 1d20+3. Gore attack.
16:55, Today: Strange rolled 5 using 1d20+3. Claw attack.

Lorelei took another swing at the fire elemental though she was obviously hesitant, gritting her teeth and forcing the punch through but with a hesitation she normally didn't have. Well, one couldn't blame her. Punching fire likely hurt like hell. Still she refused to back down, not even flinching as her left hand started turning bright red from the initial hit.


Standard: Basic Attack vs AC 16 w/ Flank
18:16, Today: Lorelei rolled 11 using 1d6+6. Unarmed Damage.
18:15, Today: Lorelei rolled 14 using 1d20+6. Unarmed Strike.

Continuing her flanking maneuvers around the now surrounded elemental, Kass once again tried to jab with her rapier, this time, striking true as its attention was momentarily diverted by Lorelei's fist flew directly into the creature's head with a loud snap. Before the heat from the elemental could damage either the rapier or Lorelei's hand though, the flames winked out and a blackened hush dropped to the floor where it began to crumble apart like a log that had been set in a fireplace until it was burnt through. The ashes seemed to blow away toward the back of the room, perhaps toward an air flow that had previously gone unnoticed.

Strange now had the freedom to not worry about the enemy at his back and lowered his head and tossed his long stone horns into the elemental's side, almost lifting it off the ground, even as it lashed out at its aggressor with flaming claws, sending chips flying off the gargoyle and, against all odds, setting strange on fire as the flames seemed to latch onto the cracks in his body and take root!

The flames having begun to spread through her clothes, Lyria could assist her traveling companions no longer without dealing with the flames. Using her skirts to try and smother the flames, she manages to get them under control, only a small amount of clothing still smoldering, though the odds of it catching from them were slim.

With a streak of insight, Gren barrels forward toward the trough of water and the furnace. With strength that could only come from one with his heritage, he grabs the underside of the trough and flips it forward toward the furnace, resulting in a loud sizzle and a large gout of steam that threatens to burn the sorcerer. Through the steam, Gren can see a miserable looking mephit, drenched to the core and looking a lot less vibrantly red then he had been a moment before. The flames that had been licking at his wounds were also gone. Shaking off some of the excess water, the mephit tries to flap its wings, finds that it is a useless endeavor, and so simply jogs with its small legs over to Gren, scratching at his shins with its sharp little claws, drawing blood, but not much.

Brushing himself off slightly after the refreshing flame bath the mephit had given him, Tevlin gave him a smile and a shrug. "Well, it's a pity, but you asked for it," he said in the common tongue, no longer caring whether or not it understood his words as an orange bolt of force left his hand and thudded into the mephit's chest, giving it only a little pause before it growled under its breath and began to make similar motions with its hands as the other one had, this time not even creating the flash of red that his companion had managed. A look of fear replacing one of anger, it looked back and forth worriedly…until a loud screeching like the sound of tearing metal emanated from the hallway where the group had come from. Then, its look was all smugness and glee. "Well shit."

There was another sound though. A voice, and a familiar one at that. "What in the sam hill is that thing?!" Gren couldn't see the source of the voice, though he didn't need to know know that it belonged to a certain narcissistic friend of theirs. What he could see through the door was a little less comforting. The statue of the effigy of the dwarf named Arudal, the mystery behind the sharing of the same name as the corrupt politician in Theranin still unanswered, had continued heating to the point where the stone had begun to melt around the rune, blackening the remaining stone and creating cracks with molten rock throughout the statue. That was hardly the problem though. The problem was that it had ripped itself off of its baseplate…and was moving.



Initiative:
23 Kass
19 Gren
12 Tevlin
11 Fire Elementals & Fire Mephits & Molten Statue
10 Strange & Lyria
  5 Lorelei
  2 Dale

Cumulative Party Status:
Dale:Full HP
Gren:-4 HP
Kass:-3 HP
Lorelei:-1 HP
Lyria:-11 HP + On Fire (3 Rounds)
Strange:-15 HP + On Fire (2 Rounds)
Tevlin:Full HP

"Annoying Imp!" Gren muttered.  He reached for the club dangling from his belt and attempted to smash the little creature.  The tiny devil dodge aside and Gren struck his own foot.  He bellowed with pain, embarrassment, and frustration.  He hopped around in a small circle as he lifted his smashed foot off the ground.

He seemed oblivious to the return of Dale or the flaming moving statue.

Attack - rolled a 1, sigh.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:25, Mon 08 Apr 2013.

Dale had spent the past day wandering around in a blizzard, when the dense fog seemed to simply lift, and he found Whitecap Pass.  Convenient.  James had already spent a good week on a wild goose chase (who knew what went on in that sword's head), and his friends were probably already at Azul Irkul.  Dale didn't plan on letting them get any further ahead in that whole 'Master of Magic' business without him.

He'd spent the better part of the day getting lost in the lower levels of the fortress and traveled on upward.  Certainly there at least had to be a more interesting view at the top.

And then he heard the distinctive sounds of fighting and the even more distinctive boom of Gren shouting.  Giving a whoop, Dale draws James and runs for the fight.  "Don't worry guys, I'm a-coming!"

But a molten statue finds him first.  "What in the sam hill is that thing?!"  Whatever it is, it has that symbol on its chest.  Well, at least that's progress on the investigation front.  But it doesn't look friendly.  "Guys, you better not be dead, or I'm about to be heroic for nothing!"

Dale casts shield on himself and decides to lead the statue to where he's not the only target.

---

Cast shield and move to J3, avoiding AoOs.  (On its turn, if it comes up to me, I'd rather attack than move, so let me know OOC.)

AC 20, touch 12
HP 17/17

Strange was seriously beginning to dislike the warmth.  It was one thing to catch some sunny rays whilst perched atop a parapet, it was something else entirely to be consumed by flames which, over time, could do terrible things to stone.  He had known several of his kin to perish in building fires over the years, at least, before he had wound up in that sewer.

With one of the firey opponents dealt with Strange focuses on the other, more intent on taking this one down than with putting out the fire.  The ancient and glowing hammer in his hand was mildly hindering his ability to fight, but he carried on nonetheless.  He wanted to be the one to return this treasure to the Architects and, despite his time with his companions he still didn't entirely understand their motives.

Moving even farther around his enemy Strange strikes out twice more with claw and horns, hoping either Lorelei or Kassadria will move in to distract the thing.

Current/Max HP: 12/27  |  Current AC: 14   Touch: 14   Flat-Footed: 11
Buffs:                 |  Debuffs: Fire!
Actions: 5 ft. step -D7 to -E8
Target: Enemy at -D8
Rolls:
20:36, Today: Strange rolled 4 using 1d4+2. Gore damage.
20:36, Today: Strange rolled 13 using 1d20+3. Gore attack.
20:36, Today: Strange rolled 10 using 1d20+3. Claw attack.

Lorelei shifted besides Strange wincing at what sounded like... Dale? She figured she was hearing things, and for the moment knew she had to focus on the enemy before anything else. She lashed out with a flicker punch, putting more speed then force behind it as her right fist slammed into the Elemental. She knew she wouldn't be able to get around it and provide Strange the opportunity he seemed to need though and hadn't even bothered trying. Despite the quickness of her swing though the resounding -crack- emphasized she had hit hard and true.


Move: Shift to C9
Standard: Unarmed Attack vs AC 26 for 10 Damage

23:25, Today: Lorelei rolled 10 using 1d6+6. Unarmed Damage.
23:25, Today: Lorelei rolled 12 using 1d20+6. Critical Confirm.
23:25, Today: Lorelei rolled 26 using 1d20+6. Unarmed Strike.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:28, Mon 08 Apr 2013.

Kass stepped back with satisfaction as the fire elemental was reduced to ashes at the tip of her blade and Lorelei's fist. Strange was already fighting the other one, and she saw that he'd taken a bad blow from the flaming creature, and the wound(crack?) was licked with lingering flames.

Over the din of battle it was difficult to hear Dale, but Kass certainly heard him and it made her smile. In the short while he'd been away from them she'd grown to miss him, though the rest of the group had started to get used to her at least. But this isn't the time to think of such things!

For the time being, deciding that dealing with this fire elemental was more important than assisting Strange with the flames that laced his back, since he didn't seem to be that phased by them, she moved deeper into the smoke and behind the creature, swinging her rapier with what can only be called lucky accuracy, taking great advantage of the elemental's turned back.


Move to -E8 avoiding AoOs if possible, if not, 24 AC vs AoO from movement.
Attack flame elemental (with flank):
To hit: 27, 7 damage.
Crit confirm: 21, 5 damage.
20:44, Today: Kassadria rolled 21,5 using 1d20+7,1d6+1. crit.
20:44, Today: Kassadria rolled 25,7 using 1d20+7,1d6+1. attack roll.
Since my initiative is higher this should give both Strange and Lorelei flanking for their next attacks.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:01, Mon 08 Apr 2013.

There three combatants in the smoky room converged on their final target with an impressive display of force. Kassadria darted around the back of the elemental, opening it up to Strange's attacks which it attempted to block, only to take a rapier through the chest. Staggering forward and off of the blade, it began to turn to face Kass with a hiss when Lorelei's punch, so fast as to be a blur, made contact, sending out a visible shockwave of force, the flames from the elemental being carried with it as the heat left its body and it crumpled to the floor with a ruined face. As with the previously slain elemental, its ashy form began to crumble and blow towards the back of the room.

The flames on her clothes now put out, Lyria stepped forward as she saw that the elementals had been dealt with and that the room behind her was still relatively unsafe for her and her familiar. Seeing the flames waning on Strange's body but still present, she rushes forward with a small cry and quickly places her hands on a part of the gargoyle that isn't likely to burn her hands and whispers a quick incantation in a nonsensical language. As she speaks, the flames shrink and quench themselves and some of the burning sensation that Strange had been feeling subsides. "Phew, hopefully that helps a little. And here I was afraid that…that…" Eyes widening, Lyria freezes mid-sentence as Niffa begins growling and bearing her teeth from the safe haven behind her master's neck. As the three others turn around, the smoke around where the ashes had been blowing begins to coalesce around where the dead girl had been to the point that visibility became worse enough to the point that anything more than a foot in front of them in that direction was almost impossible to see.

As the smoke settled, the creature that stood in the girl's place was horrifying, even by the standards of what she had been before when they found her. Skin now blacker than ash and as flaky, hollow eyes burning with a deep fire, and mouth dripping streams of fire even as the tongue burned from her mouth. It seemed to be speaking something but all that came out were garbled words and more of the liquid fire. And then came the screaming. As if ten little girls were being tortured in unimaginable ways, all with a slightly different timbre of voice that could be distinguished but also tinged with an etherealness that made the skin crawl, bones itch, and hair stand on end. But that was hardly the worse part of it. Her face. Her jaw unhinged and dropped lower than possibly natural for anything even semi-human. It was like looking into the mouth of a furnace.


Hearing the scream from the other room, the two mephitis stumbled slightly. The one facing Tevlin shook its head and continued its attack, swooping in close to the sorcerer and slashing at his abdomen though it was a half-hearted venture ending in slightly more than a breeze passing the dark-skinned man as he took a slow step backward to avoid it. The other mephit, however, heard the scream and made no pretense about what it thought. Turning toward the door, it flapped its wings desperately and took wing as fast as they could carry it but not before Gren was able to grab his club off of his belt and bring it down atop its head, kicking it out of the air and trapping it below the heavy wooden cudgel. The snapping sound that followed did not fare well for the creature. "Annoying Imp!" Gren muttered as he lifted his club and shook off some of the blood. Repeating the motion he had before, Tevlin shot another missile at his opponent, landing it between its eyes, knocking it backward head over heels to land on its stomach pathetically. It struggled to one knee and began scanning the exits.

"Guys, you better not be dead, or I'm about to be heroic for nothing!" Dale called out hopefully as the molten construct took a floor-shaking step forward. Casting a quick spell as he moved, a prismatic shield of force enveloping his body before becoming opaque, Dale dashed for the door to the room with the others, hoping to avoid the construct's grasp. As a large fist the size of Dale's torso reached out to slam him into the ground, Dale dove, nearly losing James in the process, just in time to avoid singeing his prized clothes. The mobile statue had seemingly overreached itself though because as it tried to recover from the reaching attack, it began to stumble forward and toppled in a splash of molten rock and a near-earthquake like rumble that send dust and small flecks of stone falling from the ceiling.

"Oi! Wha in the bloody hells are ye leadin me int' Dale? I'll be damned if ye try'n leave me behind t' deal with this thing!" The gruff and rather angry voice echoed loudly off the walls, even over the crashing of the molten construct. As the crashing died down, the sound of metal on metal clanging like a mobile armory made its way down the hallway.



Initiative:
23 Kass
20 Nori
19 Gren
12 Tevlin
11 Fire Spirit & Fire Mephits & Molten Statue
10 Strange & Lyria
  5 Lorelei
  2 Dale

Cumulative Party Status:
Dale:Full HP
Gren:-4 HP
Kass:-3 HP
Lorelei:-1 HP
Lyria:-11 HP
Nori:Full HP
Strange:-9 HP
Tevlin:Full HP

Thankfully, Dale doesn't hear the scary scary ash girl thing very well.  Because, like any remotely sane person, he's scared of little undead girls.  He would not do well in Supernatural.

Dale spots Gren and flashes him a grin.  To Nori, he says, "Not leaving, just... flanking.  Yeah, totally that.  And tripping it was totally on purpose."

Dale pushes magic into James and steps forward to swing down at the thing.  Hopefully, he doesn't catch fire.

---

Move action: Move to H0 to flank with Nori.
Swift action: Activate arcane point to get +1 to attack for 2 minutes.
Standard action: Attack 20 (with flank), damage 5
This message was last edited by the player at 15:45, Tue 09 Apr 2013.

Strange is just about to thank Lyria for the well-timed healing and smothering of the fire that had caught him when he heard the ungodly cacophony behind him.  Before he can even turn to look he is stricken with a most unimaginable sense of dread, something he has never felt before.  He slowly spins to face the source of his fear, a frightened look crossing his face as he readies himself to fight once more.

Current/Max HP: 18/27  |  Current AC: 14   Touch: 14   Flat-Footed: 11
Buffs:                 |  Debuffs: Shaken
Actions:
Target:
Rolls: 20:46, Today: Strange rolled 11 using 1d20-1. Will save.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:26, Tue 09 Apr 2013.

Inwardly Nori hoped that Dale would not leave him to fight alone, however that is something he would never admit to anyone or himself. After seeing the creature had toppled over and nearly crushed his friend, Nori bellowed a dwarven warcry and charged at the molten statue with his hammer in hand. "D'nt go breakin too fast, ye 'ere me!" With a firm grip, Nori swang his hammer as hard as he could towards the exposed side of the behemoth. He grit his teeth and squeezed the haft of his weapon as hard as he could as he braced for the impact. He imagined hitting the monstrosity would be like slamming into an anvil.

No clue what the things AC is so can't say if I hit or missed.

---

Move to K,-3
Attack Statue: 16
Dmg: 14

Did not add flanking bonus as Dale is at the bottom of initiative. If I misunderstood, please feel free to add the +2 DM.

23:37, Today: Nori Hammerfist rolled 14 using 2d6+4. Dmg Statue.
23:37, Today: Nori Hammerfist rolled 16 using 1d20+5. Attack Statue.

Lorelei shuddered violently at the wailing of the dead girl, as it seems her unearthly howl echoed through Lorelei's mind. Perhaps the cries and wails reminded her of something as she choked back a sob, eyes leaking fresh tears before her training kicked in. She was scared and shivering, it was obvious she wanted nothing more then to run away as her feet moved. To the surprise of everyone, partially herself as well, her feet took her directly At the undead monstrosity and she rocked its head back with a hard right jab to the nose.

"STOP IT!" She wailed, the loudest anyone had heard Lorelei before. Her voice raising into the shrill scream territory, and cracking and breaking from her fear. It was rough and shaky sounding, as if her throat couldn't handle the volume itself.


Will Save: Failed
Ongoing Effects: Shaken (2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks)
Move: Move to E7
Standard: Unarmed Attack w/Stunning Fist (Hits AC 23 for 8 Damage, DC 13 Fort Save or Stunned for 1 Round... not sure if Its immune or not though)


22:49, Today: Lorelei rolled 8 using 1d6+6. Unarmed Damage.
22:49, Today: Lorelei rolled 23 using 1d20+4. Unarmed Attack; W/Stunning Fist, -2.
22:10, Today: Lorelei rolled 6 using 1d20+5. Will Save, DC 13.

Kassadria spun around as she saw Lyria's face pale, just in time to hear the screaming. Even though it sent a chill up and down her spine, she maintained control of herself, cursing under her breath in the harsh language of her forebears, [Language unknown: "Ng evese oreousons tio rutevetra i towh..."] and stepped back just in time to avoid taking the brunt of Lorelei's charge herself.

"Lorelei! Don't-" she warned, but the monk's fist had already connected. Somehow she didn't like how this thing had arrived, out of the corpse of the girl that had already been here. It suggested to her that there was something other than those mephits and fire elementals in control here.

Still, she waited to see what effect Lorelei's blow had on the creature before acting, since it sounded like Dale and someone else whose voice she didn't recognise were in trouble, not to even mention Gren and Tevlin who were taking on the mephits.

OOC:
Will save: Success (16:37, Today: Kassadria rolled 15 using 1d20+1. dc13 Will save.)
Delay action until after the NPCs.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:59, Tue 09 Apr 2013.

Gren crunched the bones of the dead Imp under the heel of his boot as he moved to flank the remaining Imp.  He swung his wooden club from the side hoping to splatter the creature against the opposite wall, or all over Tevlin if his aim was off.

There was an unsettling wail issuing from the room of smoke.  Gren could only imagine the horrors the others were going through.  Not a single one had retreated since he called out to them.  Through the opposite doorway, pass Dale, was yet another flaming horror.  Both doorways held death and danger.  What atrocities had the demon worshiping cult performed in this place that would bring forth such evil?


12:59, Today: Gren Boarshead rolled 6 using 1d6+5. damage.
12:59, Today: Gren Boarshead rolled 17 using 1d20+6. attack

Charging toward the fallen behemoth, Nori showed no outward sign of fear as he hefted his large hammer over his head with both hands, ready to strike a brutal blow. "D'nt go breakin too fast, ye 'ere me!" Bringing his hammer down on what looked like an exposed weak spot, he was rewarded with a soft-spot and a splash of molten stone that he jumped back to avoid as the creature put one arm, and then the other, beneath it as it raised itself off of the ground. Not one to let up once he started a fight, Nori swung his hammer once again horizontally, catching it in the side of the head and knocking it against the wall with the brute force. The Dwarf wasn't the only heavy hitter though and he found this out first-hand as the statue delivered a solid uppercut, sending the dwarf flying into the ceiling before crashing back down again a few feet away, shaking his head as he regained his feet and figuring out where he was.

The look on Kass's face when she turned to find the screaming, twisted visage of the transformed child but she felt a few choice curses were in order as well, [Language unknown: "U acin icaessint whi romourkor n ou..."] Even being able to shake off the piercing scream, she couldn't help but stand there stunned, unsure of what actions to take against…whatever it was. Likewise, Strange found himself unable to move though his reasoning was due to the resonation of the scream reaching far into his core, shaking him in a way he had never before experienced. Slowly turning toward the girl as if some horror beyond words was behind him, he finally mustered the courage to look and prepared to fight for his life.

"STOP IT!" Lorelei wailed, fresh tear streaks down one side of her face, springing from her eyes which were now streaked with red. She took a completely unexpected action for the typically quite and reserved young woman though and charged straight at the abomination throwing a brutally aimed punch directly at the thing's throat just as the jaw retracted back into place. "Lorelei! Don't-" Kass called, her voice not making any headway in stopping the girl's attack. Expecting to find resistance, Lorelei stumbles forward a bit as he fist goes through her target, breaking the ashy surface…only to plunge into a molten interior that sprays out the backside of its neck onto the floor where it glows brightly for a moment before cooling and hardening. Ripping her hands back as blisters instantaneously form and skin begins to peel off of her fist, the creature's entire head is hanging off to one side with a giant hole in it. But then flows of the molten red interior begin to drip down from the head and connect it to the shoulders again, quickly reattaching the nearly severed head.

The soulless glowing eyes burn brightly as the process finishes and it cocks its head at Lorelei at a sharp ninety degree angle fast enough to snap any normal human's neck. What they were fighting was obviously not human though as was quickly even more clearly obvious as two spots on the creature's abdomen began to swirl and glow before two appendages burst forth in a spray of magma. As they did so, the creature lunged forward with all four arms, scratching, tearing, ripping, flailing, and pounding at the young monk. Already distraught and unfocused, the extra appendages made reading its attacks difficult and its movements were unpredictable. Time after time she was relentlessly battered both with pounding fist and burning magma, helpless against the onslaught. The only mercy the gods afforded her is that none of her clothing caught in the attack as she was heated backward, her companions helpless but to watch in horror at the scene unfolding before them, least among them Lyria who had descended into silent tears, having backed herself up against the wall and had slid down into a heap on the floor.

Luckily, Gren and Tevlin seemed to be having much more luck on their end of the fight with the mephitis. With one being trodden underfoot and another's situation looking grim with the half-ogre striding toward it, a determined grimace on his face. It looked ready to flee, and likely would have, had Dale not appeared in the doorway, blocking its path. Looking between the two sorcerers, it seemed to let out a final cry of desperation and charged Gren as he approached, taking yet another magic missile from Tevlin in the back as he did so. The effort was futile though as Gren's club silenced the fire-being once and for all, it's limp corpse flying through the room and into one of the shelves on the far wall, shattering a pot and sending the debris crashing to the ground close enough to Tevlin to make him jump. "A pity, but necessary," Tevlin stated solemnly as he looked back and forth from the room the scream came from and Dale standing in the doorway. "Ho, newcomer! Do you require assistance or may I continue to assist my fellows further in?" His tone betrayed no distrust of Dale. It seemed that either he didn't see him as a threat or he as just willing to take any help he could get at this point.

Having watched the scene with Nori from the door, Dale hesitated on responding to Tevlin before jogging forward, James in hand to help his old friend. "Not leaving, just... flanking.  Yeah, totally that.  And tripping it was totally on purpose," he called out, his voice betraying the truth of the matter as he swung at the backside of the statue. Unlike Nori though, Dale entirely missed any form of soft spot and a reverberating zing shot through James's hilt and into Dale's hand, nearly causing him to drop the magical sword. The statue, however, seemed unaffected.



Initiative:
20 Nori
19 Gren
12 Tevlin
11 Fire Spirit & Fire Mephits & Molten Statue
23 Kass Delayed
10 Strange & Lyria
  5 Lorelei
  2 Dale

Cumulative Party Status:
Dale:Full HP
Gren:-4 HP
Kass:-3 HP
Lorelei:-14 HP
Lyria:-11 HP
Nori:-12 HP
Strange:-9 HP
Tevlin:Full HP

This message was last edited by the GM at 09:09, Mon 15 Apr 2013.

Feeling rather unsure of himself for the second time in this particular battle Strange attempts to circle around the ashen creature.  He has rather mixed feelings about it focusing on Lorelei, worrying if the girl will be able to withstand the assault while at the same time thankful that he has the time to circle around the thing.  Once in position he takes a swing with his free hand.  The combination of fright and the imbalance brought on by the hammer in his off-hand unfortunately throws his aim off.

Current/Max HP: 18/27  |  Current AC: 14   Touch: 14   Flat-Footed: 11
Buffs:                 |  Debuffs: Shaken
Actions: 30 ft. move to -F5 (Avoiding threatened squares) followed by claw attack.
Target: Enemy @ -F6
Rolls: 20:48, Today: Strange rolled 11 using 1d20+3. Claw attack.

Ow!  That hurt! James complains through Dale's hand.

No kidding.  So... hit it harder?

Assuming neither Dale nor Nori are dead at this point, Dale attacks again with one hand and fires magic missile with the other.  One of them should work.

---

Attack 21 (with flanking), damage 4 (so, nothing)
Fire magic missile, damage 4
Concentration check to not provoke AoO: 21 vs 17 DC.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:03, Thu 11 Apr 2013.

Kassadria darted into action when Lorelei's attack seemed to do more damage to her than its target, and was returned in kind but much more viciously. She stepped beside the wounded monk and while the monster was still off-balance from its onslaught, she scored a critical blow, her blade slicing through the thing's ashen form like butter.

Once she had done that and saw Strange step around behind the creature, flanking it, she turned briefly to Lorelei. "We can handle this," she told her, and pointed at the witch cowering by the doorway. "Go on, get Lyria to fix you up and get her back to the others."


OOC:
5'ft-step to -F7 (or whichever is the square just above Lorelei... it's hard to tell!)
16:14, Today: Kassadria rolled 24,5 using 1d20+7,1d6+1. crit.
16:14, Today: Kassadria rolled 26,7 using 1d20+7,1d6+1. attack roll.
26 to hit, 7 damage, 24 to confirm critical, 5 extra damage.

Nori shook his head a moment a bit dazed by the impact of the giant creature's fist against his jaw. It hurt soundly and even knocked a tooth loose but still Nori was grateful. With his initial attack he was feeling the rage beginning to build in him and had he continued he would have lost himself for the fight. However, this enemy was not one you could get careless with and attack recklessly.  Not only was it physically powerful, but it also had a vicious fire to it. The closer he got the more it felt as though the heat would burn his beard clear off.

Nori charged at his foe once more, he kept low and watched for it's attacks as he once more brought his hammer around and swung heavily at the molten construct.

---

Moving back to K,-3 for flanking.
Attacking Statue using Power attack: 18
Dmg to Statue w/power attack: 14

12:40, Today: Nori Hammerfist rolled 14 using 2d6+6. Dmg. Pow +2.
12:39, Today: Nori Hammerfist rolled 18 using 1d20+7. Attack Statue. Pow, flanking.

Gren moved closer towards the doorway where the statue had, moments before, rested peacefully.  He wanted to get a closer look at just what was going on before he considered his options.

It, like so many other things in this place, was covered in flame.  "Hcnerd," he called out summoning water hoping to drench the statue.  What effect it would have besides hissing steam, he could only guess at.

Move as close as I can towards the statue with a single move action.  Cast Drench.  Start revving up my clubbin' arm.

Lorelei hated retreating as her companions backed her up and she spit out a mouthful of blood. Her skin was rapidly turning pink, her lip was split wide open and both her fists looked blistered and cracked. But she knew that she needed a bit of healing... yet she wanted to try and help. Gritting her teeth she shifted away from the beast carefully lest she open herself up to another attack, using the movement to draw one of her daggers. She hoped a few feet was enough as she flung it forward... but between her wounded hand and her body still shaking she barely put strength behind it as it clattered to the floor. Her eyes still crying from the earlier scream she rubbed furiously at them with her lesser burned arm. "Damn it..."

Move: 5Ft Step to D7
Free: Draw Dagger
Standard: Throw Dagger (Fail Miserably)
02:12, Today: Lorelei rolled 9 using 1d20+2. Thrown Dagger, -2.

Tevlin was left without an answer from Dale, and with Gren stomping off to help the newcomers anyway, he figured that he might as well see if there was anything he could do to aid the women and the gargoyle in the other room. Out of useful spells though, he quickly grabbed one of the swords with the least rust on it and jogged into the room to find Lyria catatonic and sobbing. "Come, stand. There, there." Tevlin saw the source of the scream he had heard earlier but the sorcerer had seen worse. His ministrations seemed to calm Lyria enough that her sobs became silent streams of tears and the woman was able to regain her feet. Shaking her head and wiping her eyes, she looked with fresh eyes at the mess that was Lyria as the monk staggered backward and threw a knife that was wildly off target, and she couldn't be blamed with those wounds. "Damn it..." she swore as the danger clattered in the back of the room. "We can handle this," Kass said, dismissing Lorelei to the back of the room with the wave of a hand as slashed with her rapier, taking off one of the molten arms of the creature, only to have it replace itself with more molten ash. "Go on, get Lyria to fix you up and get her back to the others." Kass said distractedly as she ducked under the first set of arms and knocked away the second with the blade of her weapon. Lyria watched Strange move in to attack the creature as well, keeping low to the ground and running in a wide arc to get around behind it, using the clawed hand that wasn't grasping the heirloom hammer to take a swipe at it. It heard the gargoyle at the last minute and ducked out of the way though with a quick unearthly screech in sharp retort.

Seeing everyone else working hard to protect the rest of the group, she moved forward toward Lorelei, muttering something that sounded close to "hold still" though her shaky voice made it nearly impossible to tell. Placing her hands over the spots where Lorelei had been injured, a green light seeped into the wounds, staunching the bleeding slightly and lightening some of the bruising though it wasn't as effective as the witch had hoped. "Why can't I do anything right," she sobbed as she began to cast again and continue her ministrations.

Gren stood at the door to the other room for a moment after Tevlin had left and just looked at what the statue of the dwarf had become, not in awe, but certainly in contemplation. He watched Nori push himself up off of the ground and charge back in, swinging his hammer back around and scoring a solid blow at its legs, causing it to momentarily buckle before straightening up and almost in slow motion swinging it's club-like fists at the Dwarf again in a double-fisted horizontal swing, catching the dwarf in the side and flinging him through the door to land at Gren's feet with a thud where he tried to push himself up again, only to collapse in a heap, his few pieces of clothing slowly burning as he lay there. As the statue began to turn toward Dale as James once again bounced harmlessly off its exterior and a magic missile worked its way into the molten crevices in its armor, Gren decided on a spell that he hoped would have some effect. "Hcnerd," he intoned, as a sheet of icy water materialized above the molten statue, falling and crashing into it with a loud hiss of steam that gave Dale an unexpected exfoliation of the skin. The ground below the statue that had begun to warp and heat with the statue's presence cooled and cracked as the water poured onto it and although the statue was far from being "put out," its turning toward Dale slowed and it seemed to have a hard time moving as well as it wanted to.



Initiative:
20 Nori
19 Gren
12 Tevlin
11 Fire Spirit & Fire Mephits & Molten Statue
23 Kass Delayed
10 Strange & Lyria
  5 Lorelei
  2 Dale

Cumulative Party Status:
Dale:Full HP
Gren:-4 HP
Kass:-3 HP
Lorelei:-11 HP
Lyria:-11 HP
Nori:-34 HP & On Fire (4 Rounds) | Unconscious & Bleeding Out -10/-16
Strange:-9 HP
Tevlin:Full HP

OOC: Dwarf down! Dwarf down! In case how I worded his condition is confusing, he's bleeding out and has 6 turns till bleedout kills him...although he's also on fire so that could be substantially quicker if nothing is done.

Kassadria ducked and weaved to avoid the creature's assault, feeling the heat of its body licking at her tough scaly hide. She was unsure of how well she'd withstand an assault like the one Lorelei did, but she didn't really want to find out, so she made every effort to avoid being hit even as she stepped in between Lorelei and the monster to make sure it didn't chase her and allow the monk and witch to escape.

As she did so, she spotted Tevlin, "Tevlin! Do you have any idea what this thing is?" she questioned the sorcerer, and at the same time tried to take advantage of an opening to attack afforded by Strange, with whom she flanked it.

OOC: 5'-step to -E7 (down one)
Attack fire thingy again.
17 to hit, 6 damage.
12:36, Today: Kassadria rolled 15,6 using 1d20+7,1d6+1. attack+flank.

*crackle crackle* burn burn *twitch twitch*

"Eras - oh, wait."  Erasmus had left the party at the same time Dale had.  So, no cleric.  That sucks.  "Gren, can you douse Nori, and I hope you have some healing potions."

Dale takes a step back from the steaming statue and fires his last magic missile.

---

Move 5' to I1.
Cast magic missile for 4 damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:14, Mon 15 Apr 2013.

Strange continued to battle both physically and mentally.  Physically with the ashen monster, mentally with the horror that repels him.  Even as he attacks he can feel himself involuntarily pulling away, affecting his ability to land any blows.  Frustrated with himself he drops the hammer and lashes out with both claws this time.

Current/Max HP: 18/27  |  Current AC: 14   Touch: 14   Flat-Footed: 11
Buffs:                 |  Debuffs: Shaken
Actions: Full attack (with flank.)
Target: Enemy @ -F6
Rolls:
11:20, Today: Strange rolled 14 using 1d20+3. Claw attack (secondary).
11:20, Today: Strange rolled 10 using 1d20+3. Claw attack (primary).

Gren retrieved a potion full of swirling amber liquid from his backpack.  He knelt down and supported Nori's head.  Gren removed the cork with his teeth.  Pressing the edge of the flask against his mouth he slowly poured it down the Dwarf's throat.  He then sprinkled a little on the dwarf's most obvious wounds.  "It does not have the kick Dwarven Ale may have, but its effects will be pleasant none-the-less.  Drink deep my friend."

He watched the statue beyond.  More research would have to be done regarding the demonic symbol that brought that construct to life.  Symbolism and Glyphs were not his strong suit.  ~Maybe Lorelei would know more.~

Use CMW potion on Nori

Lorelei breathed a little relief flexing her left arm as the healing from Lyria healed the worst of the wounds in her body as she limped carefully over using the cover Kassadria Provided. She stayed next to the healer but she wasn't going to stay out of the fight and let her companions take the wounds for her as she flipped another dagger off her belt. She may not have an unlimited supply but Lorelei knew enough about combat to be keep a few projectiles in easy reach. She whipped the dagger out in an overhanded throw, aiming down so it would slam into the enemies leg. And should she miss, it wouldn't fly into Strange. Thankfully it seemed the minor healing had helped correct her aim as the dagger flew much truer then the last throw.

Move: D7 to D9
Free: Draw Dagger
Standard: Throw Dagger (Hits AC 20 for 8 Damage, or AC 16 if using penalties for throwing into Melee)

23:06, Today: Lorelei rolled 8 using 1d4+4. Thrown Dagger Damage.
23:06, Today: Lorelei rolled 20 using 1d20+2. Thrown Dagger, -2.

"Eras - oh, wait." Dale starts, rolling under a backhand from the statue, realizing that the priest was no longer with them. "Gren, can you douse Nori, and I hope you have some healing potions." Nodding, the half-ogre kneels down next to the unconscious Dwarf. "It does not have the kick Dwarven Ale may have, but its effects will be pleasant none-the-less. Drink deep my friend," Gren said as he fished out a vial of amber liquid, unstoppered it, and held it to Nori's lips. Unbeknownst to Gren, the flames that had sprung up on the Dwarf's clothing were counteracting the good that the healing was helping to right, though his actions had saved the bearded fellow from an untimely death, the momentary sputtering that signaled consciousness from Nori was quickly snuffed as he passed back out from the pain of the burns. The animated statue seemed to want to strike at dale again but an audible cracking and visual stiffening of its joints kept it from pulling through like it wanted, saving Dale from undeniable pain as he made his way slowly toward the door where Nori and Gren waited, casting another magic missile as he did so, hoping the attacks were having some sort of effect.

"You're not healed yet! Wait!" Lyria chastised Lorelei as she moved away to throw another dagger. The witch laid hands on the monk once again just as the second dagger took flight, aiming true until Kass's movements knocked it off course. Another streak of rotten luck. Lorelei didn't seem to be the only one though as the second healing spell from Lyria seemed to be even less effective than the first. The intense combat seemed to be wearing on her nerves and severely effecting her concentration. I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" she kept repeating, her tears coming harder now.

"Tevlin! Do you have any idea what this thing is?" Kass's voice rang out from the other room through the not-so-abandoned fortress as both her and Strange moved in to attack. Uh…uh…It could be a creature infused with the essence of a being from the Plane of Fire? I don't think there's any way to separate host from essence but I don't believe it's any sort of undead…at least not anymore? Just get it wet if you can! I'm about as useful as a tinder twig in a forest fire right now!" Tevlin looked behind him for a source of water to take his own advice and remembered that Gren had overturned the trough already to deal with one of the fire mephits.

Kass listened to the answer to her question while coordinating an attack with Strange, hoping to flank the elemental creature and take it down with teamwork. Their efforts were further aided as Strange dropped the Dwarven hammer to free his second claw. As the hammer hit the ground, a dazzling light even stronger than the kind it had been letting out before burst forth, causing the creature to shy back for a moment, providing the perfect moment for Kass and Strange to strike home. Claws and rapier thrust and slashed in. Ashen hands burst out and grabbed Kass's blade with one hand and slam the tiefling in the chest with the other while the molten arms shot inward through its body and out through the back to take Strange off-guard in the head, causing his attacks to fall short. Through the back of the creature's head, another, molten version of the haunting face, this one much more disfigured as it dripped magma to the ground as it moved, emerged and stared into the gargoyle's eyes as it let out another scream. "And if it's an elemental, it can sense you! Don't bother trying to flank it!" Tevlin called out belatedly, trying in vain to block out the scream.




Initiative:
20 Nori
19 Gren
12 Tevlin
11 Fire Spirit & Fire Mephits & Molten Statue
23 Kass Delayed
10 Strange & Lyria
  5 Lorelei
  2 Dale

Cumulative Party Status:
Dale:Full HP
Gren:-4 HP
Kass:-6 HP
Lorelei:-8 HP & Shaken
Lyria:-11 HP & Shaken
Nori:-24 HP & On Fire (3 Rounds) | Unconscious & Stable @ 0HP
Strange:-16 HP & Shaken
Tevlin:Full HP

And with that Strange was forced to flee trailing magma and ash as he dashes for the corner of the room, his will to fight entirely snuffed in his attempts to get away.  Once he reaches the corner he turns and begins to look for another way out that doesn't take him near the awful creature.  When no proper path presents itself he simply stops, becoming still as a statue, his eyes no longer glowing with the arcane magics which brought him life.

Current/Max HP: 11/27  |  Current AC: 14   Touch: 14   Flat-Footed: 11
Buffs:                 |  Debuffs: Frightened
Actions:
Target:
Rolls: 12:23, Today: Strange rolled 10 using 1d20-1. Will save.

James gives a bit of a giggle in Dale's mind.  Which seems a bit inappropriately timed, but I guess the impending death of all the characters wouldn't bother a weapon.  Hey Dale, I got a really stupid idea.

Dale hears it and agrees that it's really stupid.  But still, he doesn't have any better ones at the moment.  "Hey, stone thing.  Catch."  Then Dale lightly tosses James to the statue, hoping that its reflexes will kick in and it will catch the sword.

Then Dale ducks over to Nori and grabs his hammer.  Just in case the plan miserably miserably fails.  Which is pretty likely.

---

Move to J2.  Pick up Nori's hammer.  And hope he doesn't regain consciousness first to object.

AC 20, HP 17/17

Gren pats out the flames that were slowly eating away at the edges of Nori's armor.  He then drags the Dwarf away from the doorway to avoid further harm from the statue.

Where are the others?  And what is that screeching?

"Dale, come in here.  The statue looks too big to follow.  And even if he tries the doorway may slow'em down keeping him from dodging out attacks."

Can that statue understand what I say? Gren wondered.

Lorelei took a deep breath as she braced herself against the womans wail, rushing back forwards as she drug something from her pack. She moved up besides Kassadria to back her up as she swung her impromptu weapon suddenly like a club in a downwards strike towards the Ashen woman, a full Waterskin she hoped would explode on the ash womans molten skin. It was awkward especially with her body still shaking, but damned if she wasn't going to try.


Move: D9 to E6
Free: Draw Waterskin
Standard: Improvised (-4) Weapon Attack while Shaken (-2)... Hits AC 12 (should have been -1, bleh).
21:31, Today: Lorelei rolled 13 using 1d20. Waterskin (Improvised) Weapon, To hit -2.
15:24, Today: Lorelei rolled 15 using 1d20+5. Will Save. Don't be scared! DC 13.

Kassadria withstood the attack, blocking the brunt of the blow with her left arm, and although that meant that she was mostly unharmed, it threw her off balance for her next attack which went wide and missed entirely. She growled with frustration, ignoring the creature's second scream with the same courage that had allowed her to maintain her composure after the first. At least Lorelei seemed to have the right idea, as she tried to douse the creature in water. Not a bad idea at all, actually.

Kass followed her example, and without even moving her hands, retrieved her own waterskin using her tail, pulling it off her belt and tossing it into her left hand, preparing to empty its contents on the fire elemental before them if it was needed.


17:03, Today: Kassadria rolled 11,4 using 1d20+7,1d6+1. attack.
Swift action: Get waterskin.

I rolled a Natural 20 on my will save, does that mean I get like... the reverse of shaken? :D I assumed not, when rolling and writing my post. :(
17:02, Today: Kassadria rolled 21 using 1d20+1. will save.

As the screaming begins to die down for the second time, Gren looks back to Nori and pats out the flames that had continued to burn away at the Dwarf slowly but surely. Seeing that the source of Nori's anguish was still trying to pin down the nimble sorcerer and his loud-mouthed weapon, he calls out, hoping not to distract him too much from evading the construct's attacks. "Dale, come in here.  The statue looks too big to follow.  And even if he tries the doorway may slow'em down keeping him from dodging out attacks." Dale seems to hear Gren and takes a step before looking down at his sword. With seemingly no provocation, the magus turns on his heel and throws the sword hilt-first at the statue. "Hey, stone thing.  Catch," before ducking into the alcove the door sat in, scooping up Nori's hammer in the process, as Gren began to drag Nori out of the way to give them some room.

It's unclear what effect that Dale believed the maneuver would accomplish but what happened was probably not what he intended. Indeed, the statue did seem to begin to raise its warm toward the thrown sword, but, being a large creature that had until recently been made of an immobile substance, it was a little slow. Instead of catching it, James bounced off the statue's arm and became trapped in one of the molten spots of tis body. This in itself was problematic enough except for the fact that the bath green had given the creature seemed to have worn off and the ground below it had begun to glow red again with the heat its body gave off. Even this wouldn't have been too big of a problem except what happened next. The statue took one look at the out-of-reach party members, bent down to the ground, and began burrowing down into the stone at a speed that seemed almost impossible for a creature of its size. It disappeared down its molten hole, James and all, in seconds with no trace other than a smooth, red surface where it had descended.

Just moments before, Kass and Lorelei had counted three others among their ranks helping to take down the ashen monstrosity. Now they stood alone, Strange having fled to the back of the room and returning to his statuesque state and Lyria and Tevlin practically crawling over each other to be the first person to make it over the rubble of the blown-open door to get away. Even as she went, Lyria's screams echoed off the walls, an eery echo to the creature's scream. Taking advantage of their suddenly much more dangerous condition, the ashen creature thrusts its molten arms out of the front of its body again and charge both of the women. Running past Kass, the molten arms seemed to lock onto her, rotating around its body along with the molten head to watch her as it flailed outward, only to have its momentum carry it past the tiefling without either of them finding purchase on each other as Kass counterattacked.

As the creature neared Lorelei, the monk nimbly moved forward as well, using her waterskin like a malleable club. While she was almost clotheslined by the forearm she caught in the neck, an attack that hurt all the more with her previous experiences and the smoke she had been breathing for the last couple minutes, she managed to make contact with her attack as well. As the waterskin caught the being in the stomach, it disappeared inside the creature's body, leaving Lorelei's hand. At first there seemed to be no difference until a barely audible 'pop' sounded from he creature. It immediately began thrashing wildly, nearly hitting Lorelei again as she scampered out of the way behind Kass. The molten arms and head quickly began to darken from a bright orange, to a dull red, to an ashen black, before ceasing movement altogether, leaving the extra head with its mouth agape like something out of a horror story and the arms outstretched like they wanted nothing more than to latch on to something.

Meanwhile in the other room as Gren pulled Nori away from the door, both Tevlin and Lyria came tearing through the doorway, terror on their faces as Tevlin makes for the extinguished forge, hiding himself behind the empty tough without a single word, Lyria screaming her head off and hiding herself in a small cubby between the rack of barrels and the weapon crate. It was a miracle she could see where she had been running with the copious amount of tears streaming from her eyes.




Initiative:
20 Nori
19 Gren
12 Tevlin
11 Fire Spirit & Fire Mephits & Molten Statue
23 Kass Delayed
10 Strange & Lyria
  5 Lorelei
  2 Dale

Cumulative Party Status:
Dale:Full HP
Gren:-4 HP
Kass:-6 HP
Lorelei:-8 HP
Lyria:-15 HP & Frightened (1 round)
Nori:-29 HP | Unconscious & Stable @ -5HP
Strange:-16 HP & Frightened (1 round)
Tevlin:Full HP & Frightened (1 round)

Lorelei took advantage of the confusion to sprint towards the fire woman as she writhed in agony, skirting around Kassadria in a flash of speed before launching a spinning Roundhouse kick directly towards the spirits darkened chest. Sadly though it seemed though her arm had been healed, her legs which also had suffered burns could not quite support the maneuver she had instinctively attempted. Needless to state, Lorelei looked much closer to an amateur then a combat expert at the moment.

Move/Standard: Charge to E9 (Valid due to Dragon Style Stance), Critical Fail Reroll.
AC 13 Until next turn due to charge.

Kassadria frowned as most of the others fled in terror. The creature was pretty scary, but it seemed to have a way of getting into their heads... Nonetheless, Lorelei's waterskin appeared to have done considerable damage, and she was still armed with her own. The Tiefling used the leather strap to spin the skin around and then fling it at the monster.

Once she'd witnessed it hit its target, she went and picked up the hammer that Strange had dropped. As well as it being probably rather valuable, it had emitted a blinding flash before, when he'd dropped it, that had caused their enemies to hesitate. Perhaps it could be useful again?


OOC:
12:55, Today: Kassadria rolled 19 using 1d20+6. ranged touch attack (splash weapon).
19 to hit, ??? damage.
5'-step to wherever is in reach of the hammer, and pick it up.

Dale peers over the edge of the lava hole.  "My sword..."  He sounds very heartbroken.  Then he shrugs and goes, "Eh.  I'll get him later."

Dale follows Gren and Nori into the next room where Lyria and Tevlin are having private panic attacks.  "That's not good."  But he can hear that there's still fighting going on in the smoking room.  "You guys, carry on.  If either of you is a healer, Nori needs help."

Then he heads for the sound of battle.

---

With all the looking around and talking, I probably can't move more than a single move action.  So, I go to G5.  If you think I could reasonably get to C3, then there.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:57, Fri 19 Apr 2013.

Gren cursed and scowled.  The statue had burned its way through the floor.  At any moment it was likely to pop up from below.  He couldn't worry about that now.  He moved to get a better look at just what was going on in the next room that had held up the others.  He drew a javelin just in case.

Move to E11.  Draw weapon.

"My sword..." Dale lamented as the statue delved into the earth, James in tow. "Eh.  I'll get him later." With Nori still unconscious but out of harm's way for the moment, Gren cursed at the disappearance of the statue and drew a javelin. With no visible target for him to strike, he instead moved toward the smokey room in hopes of finishing off whatever it was that had kept the others so preoccupied so that they present a united front against the statue should it reappear. He made his way past both Lyria and Tevlin who seemed to be regaining some sense of cognition from their fright and were starting to take deep breaths to calm themselves and take note of their surroundings. "That's not good," Dale commented as he, too, moved into the room and saw the two in their hiding spots. "You guys, carry on.  If either of you is a healer, Nori needs help." Understanding seemed to register in Lyria's eyes but her movements were sluggish and she barely managed to regain her feet, let alone move over to Nori right away. She tried to say something in reply but it came out as an inaudible whisper. Meanwhile, Niffa nibbled worriedly at her master's ear, trying to break her out of her condition.

The fight continued. With the molten half of the body moving only sluggishly and in small, violent shifts, it was unlikely that the creature would be able to do as much harm to them. The question was how long that blessing would last. In the mean time, it was more than content to change its direction and moved forward again, staggering, at Kass. As it did so, Lorelei came charging past, only to receive a flailing arm to the chest as it moved past her to come after Kass. Luckily for the tiefling, the opportunistic attack toward Lorelei had given her time to prepare and so was able to dodge it fully. Grabbing her waterskin from her tail, she counterattacked with it as she moved toward the still-glowing hammer. The waterskin hurled through the air and made contact with the burning hot 'skin' of the creature, causing the leather to rip and release the flood of water onto the creature. Immediately, it let out a shriek of pain before it's mouth froze in its position, it's arms stopped flailing in an attempt to get the water off of it, and it remained motionless. Only a hint of heat remained in addition to a dull glow in the back of the empty eye sockets and mouth. It would be foolish to call the thing dead, but it seemed to be incapacitated by the use of the watery attacks. As Kass held the hammer in her hands, the weapon felt heavy as lead but was still wieldable, if only barely. There was power in this weapon, that was for sure. The question was what power it would end up being.

Meanwhile, there still no sign of the molten statue…



Initiative:
20 Nori
19 Gren
12 Tevlin
11 Fire Spirit & Fire Mephits & Molten Statue
23 Kass Delayed
10 Strange & Lyria
  5 Lorelei
  2 Dale

Cumulative Party Status:
Dale:Full HP
Gren:-4 HP
Kass:-6 HP
Lorelei:-15 HP
Lyria:-15 HP & Shaken
Nori:-29 HP | Unconscious & Stable @ -5HP
Strange:-16 HP & Shaken
Tevlin:Full HP & Shaken

A flicker of red deep in stone sockets brought renewed consciousness to the gargoyle Strange.  As the glow brightens his entire body shudders for a moment and then he takes a step forward, hesitant at first, remembering the terror that had forced him into his frozen state, but more quickly and soon he was maneuvering along with Kass and Lyria, attempting to find an opening in which to strike.

Current/Max HP: 11/27  |  Current AC: 14   Touch: 14   Flat-Footed: 11
Buffs:                 |  Debuffs: Shaken
Actions: Full move to -C5
Target:
Rolls:

Gren had trouble seeing through the smoke.  There was a dark figure and the glow of liquid fire was unmistakable.  He threw his javelin into the darkness and hoped he wouldn't accidentally strike an ally.  He didn't have much hope of striking the...whatever.  It was too hard to tell where the thing's form began and where it bled into black smoke.

Attack 5, Damage 10

Lorelei braced herself knowing her legs hurt too well to move much. The molten thing was wounded and hurt, and she went with basic martial arts for the final shot. She braced her feet in a classic horse stance without warning, drew back and slammed an open palm into the elementals center. Where as on a human it would have been the sternum, she had a feeling for an elemental it might instead be closer to its 'core'.

02:01, Today: Lorelei rolled 7 using 1d6+6. Unarmed Damage.
02:01, Today: Lorelei rolled 23 using 1d20+6. Unarmed Strike vs Elemental.

There's less screaming now.  That's either very good or very bad.  Either way, Dale grips Nori's hammer tight and moves into the smoky room.  Rather inappropriately, given the state of the people in the room, Dale grins when he sees everyone.  "Hey guys."

---

Double move to -C9.
AC 20, touch 12, HP 17/17

This message was last edited by the player at 17:24, Sun 28 Apr 2013.

Kass was starting to feel like their conventional attacks were having little effect, though the use of water appeared to be effective. However, with both their waterskins used up, she had no further access to water. Strange had re-emerged from his stony prison, and both Gren and Dale appeared to be coming to their aid. She'd lost sight of Tevlin and Lyria, though, and feared for their safety.

Still, there was little more to do than make another run at the creature with her sword. She stepped forward and stabbed with her rapier at the same time as Lorelei attacked, hoping that, in its weakened state, they may be able to do some lasting damage.


OOC: 5'-step to -E7
Attack on Fire Elemental: 24 to hit, 3 damage.
18:35, Today: Kassadria rolled 24,3 using 1d20+7,1d6+1. attack.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:37, Sun 28 Apr 2013.

With Tevlin and Lyria finally shaking off their terror, both made quick surveys of the room, spotting Nori on the ground with Gren and Dale moving away from him to assist Lorelei, Kass, and Strange. Jogging over to him, Lyria checked his pulse to make sure that he was still alive and, seeing that he was, although barely, set about getting the dwarf back up on his feet with as quick as possible. Using some of her most potent magic, she brings Nori back from the brink and with a gasp of breath, the Dwarf sits up straight, eyes wide. "Oh thank the gods you're alright! Don't rush yourself now, you were in a pretty bad way. Wiping the tear streaks from her own eyes, she looks back to the other room where the sounds of fighting could still be heard and Gren could be seen trying to peer into the room from atop the pile of rubble.

Inside the room, the ash creature seemed to be immobilized by the previous efforts of the two women of the group and their quick thinking with their water skins. With Strange and Dale both closing into the room, the odds were quickly going from hopeless to looking like they had the creature on the ropes. With a stray javelin flying through the smoke as Gren's attack flew wide, the women moved into action. Kass stabbed with her rapier as Lorelei struck the thing's core with her open palm simultaneously, showering Dale with a burst of ash as the elemental being essentially shattered. Wiping the ash from his face, Dale looked bewildered for a moment before a big white smile appears on his face, a sharp contrast to his now blackened face. "Hey guys," he states simply. With no sign of the molten statue or James, it seems safe to assume that the immediate threat has passed.



Cumulative Party Status:
Dale:Full HP
Gren:-4 HP
Kass:-6 HP
Lorelei:-15 HP
Lyria:-15 HP & Shaken
Nori:-9 HP
Strange:-16 HP & Shaken
Tevlin:Full HP & Shaken

Strange eyes Dale warily.  Such a sudden appearance, and under so violent a circumstance was rather suspicious, especially as the man was missing his rather unique sword, "Where did we first meet?" he asks the man, irritated at the slight waver to his voice, a holdover from the maddening terror that had gripped him so recently.  He definitely did not seem in the mood for games, and his eyes flickered from Dale to the hammer that Kassadria had retrieved after he had dropped it in the heat of combat.

Kass sighed with relief as the creature finally fell. Lorelei was very much worse for wear, and she wasn't exactly in prefect shape either. "Hi Dale," she replied to the magus, somewhat breathless, and sheathed her sword at her belt slowly after cleaning off the ash and muck that clung to it. She was a little taken aback by Strange's suspicion, but glancing over Dale, she realised that something was missing... his sword! Somehow it seemed unlikely to her, too, that Dale would part with the mouthy blade.

She went over to Strange and gave him the hammer that he'd been holding onto until he dropped it during the fight, and regarded Dale (if it was actually him!) carefully, keeping her hand near the handle of her sword in case she had to draw it in a hurry.

Dale takes a step towards Kass (and looks like he's actually leaning forward to kiss her) but stops at the odd looks.  To Strange, he says, "The sewers of Theranin.  We pretended you were my construct."  Then he looks at Kass and Lorelei again.  "And then we saved the city.  Then Nori and I ran into each other and decided to follow you to Azul Irkul."

Dale pauses.  Then his eyes go wide.  "Nori!  That magma statue almost killed Nori and kidnapped James!  Certainly through no fault of my own!"  He races back into the forge room to check on Nori and the panicky strangers.

Who thankfully are not panicking anymore.  And healing Nori, if Lyria has any magic left.  So yay!

As soon as Nori sat straight up, he regretted it instantly. His body screamed at him wherever he was burnt or blistered and the pain shot through him like a shock of lightening. He felt as though he was kicked by a mule and thrown into a furnace...no, that's happened before, this was much worse. Nori didn't stand yet nor lay down, he only waited a few moments to get adjusted to the pain the way someone usually dealt with a really bad sun burn.

He looked at the two standing beside him, unaware that they were the ones that pretty much saved his life, "Oi, 'o the 'ell are you?" A second later he tried to get his bearings by scanning the room over, his neck sore and tender from the massive uppercut of the construct. He groaned, "Ooh, is it dead?" He didn't see Dale's body anywhere and the sounds of fighting hadn't reached his ears just yet, "DALE! DALE!", he sounded like a drunkard looking for his friend after a night of binge drinking. OOC Reference: Barf! Barf! See if anyone gets it.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:22, Tue 30 Apr 2013.

Strange nods slightly in acquiescence to Dale's answer, "Welcome back."  He gladly accepts the hammer from Kassadria, murmuring a polite thanks to the Tiefling before heading towards the room where they had all entered, standing a short ways off and waiting respectfully for Nori to calm down before addressing him.  He turns to Dale once more, "What happened in here?"

"Uh oh."  Dale quickly hands Nori's hammer off to Gren, hopefully before Nori notices them.  "Gren took it."

To Strange and the others, Dale says, "Strange, Kass, Lorelei, this is Nori.  He was part of the original investigation when that one guy whose name I forgot was killed, but we separated to follow different leads.  Anyway when we got here, there was a living statue in the other room.  It had that fiery symbol that Vyncent had on its chest.  It took James and melted through the floor...  You know, I should probably go look for him." If there are no other questions, Dale heads back into the statue room to see if there was a proper tunnel left behind.

"Nori almost died.  Just look around, most all of us are covered in burns of one type or another.  It's probably best we rest and heal up.  There not telling what other dangers lurk or where that flaming statue got off to.  I have no idea what motivates a magic statue."  Gren couldn't help but look at Strange as he said the last part.

Gren wished he had more healing potions even though the last one he had used on Nori was weak, or had some how lost its potency.

Gren muttered something and gestured, swiping two slightly spread fingers over his eyes.  The statue was likely still radiating magic, if it was nearby he would be able to sense it.  His first instinct was to examine the floor beneath his feet.

<Goldenrod>I'm Lyria and this is Tevlin. We're recent acquaintances of the rest of the group. I assume you know them by the way you jumped in to save us. That or you're just very brave indeed." Niffa chirped her agreement and reached out to lick Nori's cheeck with a rough tongue. "Indeed though it was a shame that the situation had to deteriorate so quickly, especially among those who could have come to an agreement of peace," Tevlin lamented as he stood from beside Nori and went to join the rest of the group in the smoke-filled room. Lyria was quick to follow and offer Nori her hand to help get him on his feet to join them.



"I still have a decent amount of healing magic left that I can use to patch us up. I'm not sure it will be enough to heal everybody of all their cuts and bruises but I should be able to at least deal with the most serious injuries. It's the least I can do to be useful. I'm afraid that I wasn't of much use during the fighting." Lyria looked disheartened at the realization though she also began to show signs of acceptance at her role of party medic.

Even as the rest of the group was debating what their next move was, Dale moved back to where the statue disappeared to see if he could find out where James and the statue had disappeared to. The "hole" where it had disappeared into the ground like a rock sinking into a lake was nothing more now than a smooth scar on the stone, cold now to the touch. No vibrations emanated from the ground either. If the statue was still nearby, it wasn't moving. Gren also took a moment to see if he could detect the statue's or Jame's presence through magical means though this proved equally futile. If it was hiding in the stone, it was too far down for his magic-imbued sight to detect it. As he turned to look around the room though, he found that there were other things that gave off a magical emanation though.

Just from where he was standing, he could see that in the weapon crate where Lyria had been hiding and Tevlin had produced his rusty pig-sticker, one of the hilts glowed slightly as well as one of the shields covered in dust and cobwebs that hung on the wall over the workbench.