Verzeg nods and turns to his kin and says, his voice low and desperate, "we only have one chance at this. As I yell we all run forward and strike that shaky pillar with our shoulders, all at once. Then, once we have hit it, we hit it again if it does not fall. When it falls we rush over to that tunnel over there and flee. I shall go last to pick up the slow. Take courage, we do this and we can go back to Danzar and eat some dinner."

He nods to them all and looks back at the composite monster and says "okay, we are in agreement."

"NOW!"

With that Verzeg throws himself across the intervening space and slams his shoulder into the pillar.

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 45):

The 4 trollkin crash into the cracked pillar. Loose dust and plaster fall from the ceiling but the pillar is otherwise unmoved.

The Rubblerunner King squeals "Stop! What are you doing. Now you will die!"

Fear grips Verzeg in its icy grip. The pillar hadn' fallen!

"AGAIN!" He shouts in Darktongue, and throws his weight against the pillar again.

(Verzeg Black Beetle rolled 75 using 1d100.  Pillar Strike.)

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 47):

This time the trollkin hit the sweet spot on the pillar. The crack rapidly expands along its length. A massive chunk seperates itself at the ceiling and falls with a loud crash. Then, in seeming slow motion, the column topples and crashes noisily to the floor raising a massive amount of dust and fume. Visibility is virtually zero but darksense allows you to see as normal.

The King squeals in fright and anger calling to its minions but none are arriving yet.

"Damn!" Thinks Verzeg, annoyed that the debris didn't crush the thing. "ATTACK!"

He calls on the power of the brass armlet to power the blade of his axe and the attacks the creature.

(SR3 Bladesharp 1)
(SR10 Hatchet Attack)

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 49):

The trollkin charge towards the rubblerunner king stabbing with their short spears. Madzeg lets out a scream and falls to the ground as Verzeg inadvertently chops into his thigh.

Naazeg stabs wildly and doesn't find a target. Hurzeg does find a target with his spear and neatly skewers it through the head.

The four remaining rubble runners attached begin to let out a high pitched wailing and try to scuttle away. Being connected and panicking the all seem to be pulling in opposite directions.

Horrified ate his stupidity, Verzeg looks at Mazdeg to see how bad the wound he's given him is.

Glancing down an Mazdeg's torn leg as the poor kin howls in pain, Verzeg summons the power of the horse brush matrix he keeps on his belt (Making him look a bit like a goblin peddler).
With that he cuts again with his hatchet.

(Cast Healin 1 [matrix] SR3, Hatchet attack SR10)
http://orokos.com/roll/759774 Spell Casting (82%) 80 Success
http://orokos.com/roll/759775 Hatchet Attack (71%) 44 Success
http://orokos.com/roll/759776 Hatchet Damage 10
http://orokos.com/roll/759777 Hit Location 20 Head

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 52):

With one neat swipe Verzeg lops the head off of a second member.

Naazeg stabs with her spear into a third part of the King, causing a gout of blood from its hind leg.

Hurzeg stabs at the fourth part leaving a score across the armoured leg but drawing no blood.

Sharp teeth snap at Naazeg and Hurzeg but are wide of the mark.

The magic seeps into Madzeg's leg, knitting the the wound together. The bleeding stops and he struggles to his feet ready to rejoin the fray.

(OOC: Having to dead bodies still attached by their tails and a third with a wounded leg means the creature can't move very quickly. Everyone now gets +10% to attacks and parries.)

Verzeg, deeply pessimistic as he is, still looks at the last good strike as the gods' recompense for having poor Madzeg step in front of his first chop. He steps wide with his shield held well forward and cuts again at a new target but the axe goes wide.

(Hatchet Attack SR7)
http://orokos.com/roll/759793 Hatchet Attack (81%) 92 Failure

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 54):

Verzeg's swipe with has hatchet goes over the heads of the rubble runners.

Madzeg back on his feet hurls himself into the fight. His spear thrust is about perfect and goes straight through its guts. The creature dies squealing.

Naazeg stabs with her spear but is over eager and misses.

Hurzeg jabs his spear into another rubble runner. Dealing a gaping wound to its flank it falls.

The last remaining critter is pinned by the weight of its companions and is completely helpless from the trollkin.

Even in the whirlwind of the moment part of Verzeg is immensely proud of the kin. They'd shown no hesitation and had pressed the attack against an unnatural opponent and not run off despite a probably crushing fear of the strange. Even little Mazdeg had hopped up after having his leg sliced badly had hopped back up and pressed into the attack.

Verzeg snarls and hacks with his hatchet at the remaining creature.

(Hatchet Attack SR7)
http://orokos.com/roll/759929 68 Success
http://orokos.com/roll/759930 Hatchet Damage 11
http://orokos.com/roll/759931 Hit Location 13

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 56):

Verzeg pins the last one to the ground through its leg before Madzeg steps in and delivers a vicious axe blow (critical) which severs its head. The rubblerunner king lays dead.

Not daring to pause to take a breath, Verzeg hisses to his kin "quick! Search about, we only have seconds! See if there is another source of this things' power. Then we shall flee back to Danzar to bring him the news of what was behind the infestation!"

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 58):

(OOC:Search roll please)

In reply to Adrian (msg # 59):

Verzeg spots that the tails of the now dead king are wrapped around this



The others gather up many silver coins with a value of 412L and find 2 crystals of unknown provinence.

(OOC: I need to find somewhere better to host my images as photobucket has started putting big banners through them.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:51, Tue 01 Oct 2019.

Verzeg gathers up the loot, explaining to the kin as he does that these are the coins he was talking about earlier that can be exchanged for things like food. Then, with some trepidation, he grabs the ugly-looking stick from the corpses and leads the kin back to Danzar.

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 61):

The scene in the corridors is chaotic. A large number of rubble runners are running every which way, as they bump into each other they turn and fight, savagely. The trollkin do their best to avoid the scrum and eventually make it back to the main chamber.

The humans are there, Danzar looks somewhat perplexed at the noise coming from within the tunnels. He holds his hand up in greeting at the emerging trollkin.

Verzeg, probably the only numerate individual of the group, counts them back in. Leaning against the wall he draws a deep breath, puts his axe in its sheath and removes his helmet.

"Danzar! We encountered a chaos filth down there! It was a horrid rubble runner . . . no, lots of them! They were all joined together at the tails, like a wheel."

Verzeg pauses briefly to chant a quick spell to heal Madzag's leg.

"They even talked and demanded we come up here to kill you, but we killed them all and took from them this booty."

He shows the forked stick with its horrid runes.

"Also we found treasure down there. Coins and crystals, but more to the point the rubble runners have gone mad and are killing each other in the tunnels."

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 63):

Danzar scrutinises the stick before he speaks. "You have all done well. Rest here and take some food and drink, these men will guard the tunnels to keep the rubble runners contained. I am going to speak to an expert as I am unsure who these runes belong to."

On a table nearby is a barrel of beer and many cuts of meat, mainly from Praxian beasts. No-one pays any attention to how much the trollkins help themselves to. They find a quiet corner where it is cool and dark and take their ease.

Danzar leaves but returns about an hour later with a huge man, at first glance he could be mistaken for a small troll. He is covered in runic tattoos of Beast, Air and Death, his face and bare chest awash with livid scars. "This is Rostakos, he is a Khan of Urox the Storm Bull. He said these runes are Krjalk's and has come down to find the source of chaos. I pity whoever planted this if he catches them."

Rostakos examines the trollkin keenly for a minute or so before he speaks "You have no taint about you, which is well. Can you lead me to where you found this thing? I will be able to trace where it came from then."

"You will need a light for your hooman eyes. I lead you there because Danzar asks and because Nasty Uncle demands krjalki be destroyed and I fear Nasty Uncle above death itself."

With that he tells the kin to stay here and rest. Bringing the spell 'fireblade' to mind he leads the uroxi into the dark tunnels.

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 65):

Rostakos gestures to the trollkin, "Don't waste magic on unneeded spells. I can carry a brand to light my way."

Following Verzeg he kicks any rubble runners out of his way until you reach the chamber with the dead king in it. Rostakos checks round and eventually points to a doorway off in the corner. "The chaos came from that way. I will do the Bull's will and go to face it. You can come if you want but I cannot promise you safety if you do."

Verzeg thinks for a few moments.

"I will come with you Rostakos. You hoomans are strange and unsuited to the dark and it would be wrong to leave you to find The Black Eater down here far from your kin. Should you fall I will let Danzar know of your fate."

Verzeg hefts his shield and hatchet.

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 67):

"Just be careful. If fighting startsthe Bull will fill me with his power, then I will strike at anything friend or enemy."

He then sets off following the trail of chaos.

Verzeg says nothing but his mind goes back to his experiences with the Zorak Zoran berserks and their glee of slaughter. He's more than a little frightened that Rostakos would embrace the Fury so quickly. He keeps an eye out for small places he can secret himself into if this comes to pass.