The Wayfinders - Expedition to Tempest Isle

Glaive spins about and utters his dark speech, directing the effects towards the cultist. There is a muffled tinkling sound and dark liquid spreads across the front of the mans robes. He lets out a cry of anguish and quickly begins stripping off the soaked garments as smoke begins to curl from them. The second man rushes forward towards Doral, a sick grin on his face. His wild hair streams behind him as he leaps forward with sickle raised high. The ghostly figures swing their blades at him and two of them pass through the mans body. Blood gushes from suddenly widening wounds across his chest and abdomen. He falters, and his downward swinging blade misses Doral by inches. Doral backs away from the man and busies himself scrubbing the thick liquid from his body. Wherever goblets of it hit the stone it smokes and gives off an acrid stench. His skin that contacts the liquid seems dried up, dessicated by the chemical. Dousing it with his water flask relieves much of the pain. Kraken rushes towards the gravely injured cultist and thrusts his dagger forward into the mans chest. The man drops his sickle and claws at his chest before sinking to his knees and slumping forward. Whisper moves up besides Doral and begins to cast a spell, only to realize that she cannot hear herself speaking. The area is completely silent, the point of which seems to emanate from the man slumped on the floor before them.
Across the wide chamber, Garuk continues to assault the monstrous figure. His powerful fists slam home violently shaking the monster. With a roar, he bites down and tears one bony arm free. His triumphant call is cut short when the vrock buries its other clawed hand into Garuk's spine and pulls him close before burying its beak into his chest. Shaking the huge ape like a terrier with a rat, the monster tears free and casts the body aside where it crashes to the floor in a bloody heap. Dripping blood and gore, it turns its empty sockets towards Midian. Midian finishes drawing down another bolt of electricity on the crystal and turns back at the sound of Garuk hitting the floor.

Spot DC15
[SBLOCK]
Amidst the chaos, you almost miss another figure stealthily entering the room. His robes are black hemmed with red flames and cavorting imps. The most striking feature of the man is that he has no face, or rather, his face has been replaced. A skeletal face, almost canine in appearance, has been fused to his features. Living eyes peer out from bony sockets and a red tongue lies within the bony mouth. His hands are bare flesh, clenched into fists as he sees the assault in progress. Turning, he grabs hold of the wall and scales it like a spider, moving up into the dark shadows of the ceiling.
[/SBLOCK]

OOC:
[SBLOCK]
Midian:
Garuk is at -8 hp.

doral, whisper, and kraken are in the area of the silence spell. Doral can dismiss it, or you can move out of the area.


Glaive - 22
Cultist - 19
Garuk,Whisper - 17
Doral - 16
Midian - 12
Kraken - 11
Vrock - 10
[/SBLOCK]

OOC: Argh! I wrote a post, EnWorld must have eaten it. That's not what I was going to do! Oh well... rethink for this round.

Midian Rightson, human druid

Midian lets loose a cry as the ape falls, but clamps down on his response. Garuk has clearly caused the creature great damage, though at a cost ...

He shakes his head, calling another bolt to strike down, though it seems that even Midian's magics are weakened by his grief.

[sblock=OOC]Spot check. (1d20+9=11) So he missed whatever new nastiness is in store.

He's calling down another bolt, but I'm making the target contingent. If Glaive turns his shatter back to the stone but doesn't destroy it, Midian will add his lightning to try to finish it off. If Glaive continues attacking others (or if he manages to shatter the crystal), Midian will turn the lightning on the monster that just tore Garuk apart:

Empowered lightning bolt (add 1/2). (3d6=7) (total of 10 damage).[/sblock]

Although shaken by the strike that nearly cut him, Doral refocuses. Suddenly the vacuum of noise around him becomes filled with sound once more. He whispers something arcane, then touches Kraken who seems to suddenly move faster. "Just a little something to help you make haste," he says. Then he takes a few steps back towards the rear of the party while sparing Whisper a warning glance about their proximity to the front lines. "Let those better suited to take the lead do so, my dear."

OOC:
[sblock]
Spot check failed at a 13... Roll Lookup

Dropping Silence, Casting haste on Kraken, and moving away from the enemy and closer to the Midian. I don't know how close Kraken is, but if Doral can't lean forward to touch him before stepping back, he'll move forward to cast the haste spell and give up moving back for now.
[/sblock]

"Bonza, mate," Kraken gives Doral a nod of appreciation. He glances quickly between the giant skeletal creature, his glowing falchion and the tiny dagger he holds. "Reckon I ain't going to do much damage with this," he says, moving quickly back to retrieve his falchion. "O Mighty Ancestor Spirits, don't put me on the barbie," he intones as he goes.

[SBLOCK=OOC]
Casting resist energy (fire). Going to retrieve falchion and if possible move back towards the vulture thing (can move 70 ft. with haste). How long have I got for the haste?

Spot 1d20+2=12.
[/sblock]

AC 19 (T13, FF16), HP 46/46, F +5,R+5,W+5
Eldritch blast: +6/+7, 3d6 damage

Glaive steps next to the druid and calls upon his eldritch powers again, targeting the vulture like creature. The tiny rubies on his bracers glow and the blast somehow gains more sustance, clinging on the creature.

[sblock=ooc]
Using Eldritch Blast and one charge of my Bracers of Entangling Blast.
(half damage, entangled for 1d3 rounds, 1 extra damage each round entangled)
Cannot access IC at the moment.


active invocations: See the Unseen, Entropic Warding
at-will: Blast, Glaive (+1d6 acid with shard focus), Detect Magic, Teleport, Shatter
[/sblock]

As sound comes rushing back in, Whisper resumes casting her protective spells on the unshielded party members.

Glaive moves up next to Midian and points his hands towards the advancing skeleton. The enormous beast charges forward, its remaining claw raised and beak open in an ear piercing shriek. Glaive summons forth a burst of dark energy that arcs forward and strikes the skeleton in the chest. The energy blasts through its rib cage, scattering chunks of bone. The skeleton collapses, its momentum carrying it into both men and nearly bowling them over.
Across the chamber the cultist shouts in anger. "Bastards! You've ruined years of work!" He points a finger at Glaive and Midian and shouts his incantation. There is a sudden blast of noise centered on the two men. Blood trickles from their ears from the burst of sound. They stagger, but stay upright despite the powerful burst of sound.
Whisper moves up alongside Kraken and touches his arm, infusing him with protective energies. Kraken casts his own spell to protect him from heat. A moment later Doral casts his own spell, increasing his speed even further. His spell extends outward until it touches each of you in turn. Kraken then takes off running past the cultist and back down the tunnel until he can see his falchion, still glowing with an ugly red heat.
Midian turns back towards the crystal and releases another burst of electricity. In the flash of discharged energy, a new sight is revealed. Clinging to the skeletal ribs that form the ceiling, next to the crystal, is a figure in black robes. His hands clutch an unrolled piece of parchment and he seems to be reading from it. His face is a hideous sight. The flesh has been scraped away to the bone and fused with a canine like face. Canines jut at angles from a enlongated jaw. The figure finishes reading, reaches out, and touches the crystal.

OOC:
[SBLOCK]
Kraken has to move back to the opening of the tunnel to fetch his weapon. Next round he will be able to move back and attack.

Whisper has cast 6 Protection vs Evil so far.

Kraken is down 7 hp
Doral is down 9 hp
Glaive is down 4 hp
Midian is down 4 hp
[/SBLOCK]

Midian Rightson, human druid

Midian blanches at the sight of the creature touching the crystal. Unsure what the effect might be, he chooses to try one last time to shatter the crystal, calling down the last lightning bolt before his spell's power is exhausted.

[sblock=OOC]Pretty sure I'm not taking anything down with a single lightning bolt, so here's hoping whatever effect takes some time to work. Last lightning bolt for Midian:

Empowered Lightning bolt (add 1/2) (3d6=12) Total 18 damage.[/sblock]

AC 19 (T13, FF16), HP 46/46, F +5,R+5,W+5
Eldritch blast: +6/+7, 3d6 damage

Glaive is only slightly shocked, having experienced worse. New malevolent invocations rattle the shard.

[sblock=ooc]
Using shatter on the big crystal.

active invocations: See the Unseen, Entropic Warding
at-will: Blast, Glaive (+1d6 acid with shard focus), Detect Magic, Teleport, Shatter
[/sblock]