Iron Sky
Procedurally Generated
Session 17, Part 4
All three creatures launched into the air, their malevolent gazes turning on the group. The largest of them was huge and ugly with bat-like wings. Spines bristled from all over its hairless, mottle-skinned body. The second was definitely a griffin, though this one looked ratty and diseased, its feathers falling off in clumps. The last looked similar to the griffin, but had hooves instead of claws and paws and was slightly smaller. All three wore strange harnesses, studded with purple gems.
Kezzek drew his quor'rel just as the big one whipped its tail and them and hurled a volley of spines. Harold cursed as one embedded in his leg and Kezzek heard one of the others curse as well, but he had no time to look and see who as the griffin dove at him, its foul stench washing over him. It's claws raked his back as he rolled to the side, turning and slashing upwards as he rose back to his feet. The thing reared back away from him as its dark blood sprayed out.
As it did so, another spray of spines from the big one thudded into the area around them, some even striking the griffin. The beast didn't seem to even notice as it lunged at Kezzek again. He swung up his quor'rel and it caught the long handle between his hands in its beak, wrenching the quor'rel free and sending it spinning away.
Kezzek cursed and stumbled back as the griffin loomed over him. It shrieked, a foul, rotting smell emanating from it.
Then Kormak came out of no-where, his feet slamming into the side of the thing's head and knocking it away. Kezzek used the opportunity to scramble to his feet and look around.
Keeper was slamming the head of the hooved one into the rocky ground with sick cracking sounds as Kezzek glanced in Suniel's direction. Its whole body convulsed and it fell to the ground, the purple crystals on its harness shattering. The spined one was facing off against Harold's greatsword.
Kezzek couldn't see his sword anywhere, but he did notice a pit at the back of the metal platform near the strange metal railing.
Dodging through the battle, he ran to the edge of the pit and looked in. His quor'rel was embedded in a large block of metal with strange cables and pulleys and gears all around it. Sparks shot up the blade and arced back into the machine. Kezzek made his way to a ladder, sighed, and climbed into the pit, making his way carefully towards his quor'rel.
He waited until the sparking stopped briefly and snatched his weapon out of the machinery. As he looked the weapon over to be sure it was undamaged, more machinery spun and whirred to life all around him and what the platform above him jerked up a few inches.
It's a second lift, he thought with a curse.
“The platform, get to the platform!” he bellowed, hoping the others could hear him over the din of battle. He ran to the ladder and started to climb when the griffin suddenly slammed into his back, talons rending.
He was hurled back down into the machinery pit, slamming his feet up into the griffin as it lunged at him again, heaving with all his might and shoving the beast back. It reared up and roared and he immediately drove a quor'rel blade into it, ripped the blade out, and dived past the thing, scrambling up the ladder.
He kicked the griffin in the beak as it snapped up at him from the pit, then spun and drove his quor'rel down right between its eyes. Its body fell away and he hauled himself up onto the platform just as the platform jerked up another foot.
Harold already stood on the platform, firing back at the spined beast as it chased Kormak towards the platform. Keeper lifted Suniel from under the corpse of the hooved one and dragged him to the platform as well. The spined one had more arrows in it than spines - and half-a-dozen other wounds besides - when finally one of Harold's arrows dropped it to the ringing tinkle of shattering crystals.
Construct, wizard, and dwarf all pulled themselves up to the platform.
“Dog!” Kormak called. The mutt appeared seemingly out of nowhere and jumped to the platform a split second before it suddenly launched upwards at amazing speed, immense acceleration flattening them to the silver metal surface.
After what might have been a few hundred feet of extreme acceleration, it suddenly stopped. They sailed into the air ten feet before slamming down again in a sprawl.
“Everyone all right?” Suniel said as they slowly stood.
Everyone mumbled replies. Kezzek winced and gently touched the huge talon gouges running across his back as he got to his feet. Kormak gingerly approached the edge of the platform and glanced down. “Bubble surrounds us below too. All I see is mountain and that rail.”
“They all dead?” Harold said. “I got the manticore.”
“That what it was? Keeper finished the hooved... thing,” Kormak said.
They gathered at the center of the platform. “What do you suppose those harnesses they were wearing were?” Kezzek said.
“Well, the crystals they had looked just like the ones from Elorn's ship,” Suniel said. The others all stared at him, his words suddenly reminding everyone of the exchange that had taken place just before the battle.
After a minute of uncomfortable silence, Harold cleared his throat. “Well, I think-”
The attack was preceded – barely – by a horrible rotting stench and an unnatural chill that went straight to Kezzek's bones.
***
Harold grunted and quickly pulled himself to his feet, bow flying to his hands as he got to his feet.
The creatures were back, but they had undergone rapid and horrific changes. Much of their fur, feathers, and skin had fallen off, revealing muscle, bone and organs that spilled out from the many wounds that were already inflicted upon them. The manticore had struck first, sending Harold flying with a slap from its tail. The others were furling in their wings and attacking as soon as they hit the platform.
Kormak had slammed his foot into the side of the hooved one, but his leg went straight through its side and the creature simply hurled itself sideways into the platform, pile-driving the dwarf into the hard metal.
Keeper stepped in front of the griffin as it dove in, saving Suniel, but he was sent flying twenty feet across the platform by the re-animated griffin's hugely increased strength. Kezzek leapt at it and cleaved off one of its forearms with a roar but it didn't react except to swing at Kezzek with its other arm.
Harold began unloading into the manticore with arrows as it lumbered towards him. He back away from it as he fired until he sensed open air behind him, just as the manticore was on him. At the last second as it lunged towards him, he dove aside, sending it flying past him and over the edge.
He was already on his feet and firing arrows into it as it sluggishly unfurled its wings and mightily pumped its wings to reach the platform again.
The arrows striking it barely seemed to be slowing it down so he aimed for the joints where the wings met its back. It had almost reached the height of the platform again when he finally put enough arrows into its right wing-joint that its motion became jerky.
Finally, at point-blank range, the wing seized up entirely. The manticore plummeted rapidly and disappeared through the metallic bubble.
He spun, aiming down an arrow just in time to see Suniel blast the rearing griffin backwards off the platform. It died again silently and fell back, trailing a plume of smoke.
Harold lowered his bow and walked over to help the others heave the last corpse over the side.
They stood in the strange, adrenaline-pumped after-battle silence for a minute before Kormak spoke up. “Now what?”
“We're going up,” Keeper said.
“We are?” Kezzek said. They walked towards where the lift met the metal rail or stared at what they could see of the mountainside.
It was slight, but Harold could see the mountainside slowly passing below the lift. “I guess. Anyone see any way to make it move faster?”
Everyone shrugged or shook their heads.
“And how tall is this mountain?” Kormak said.
“Miles,” Suniel said, staring up at the shimmering sphere that encased them.
“Well, good thing I brought my tent,” Kormak said, petting his dog on the head before sliding its saddlebags off. “Might as well get settled in, looks like we're in for a long ride.”
All three creatures launched into the air, their malevolent gazes turning on the group. The largest of them was huge and ugly with bat-like wings. Spines bristled from all over its hairless, mottle-skinned body. The second was definitely a griffin, though this one looked ratty and diseased, its feathers falling off in clumps. The last looked similar to the griffin, but had hooves instead of claws and paws and was slightly smaller. All three wore strange harnesses, studded with purple gems.
Kezzek drew his quor'rel just as the big one whipped its tail and them and hurled a volley of spines. Harold cursed as one embedded in his leg and Kezzek heard one of the others curse as well, but he had no time to look and see who as the griffin dove at him, its foul stench washing over him. It's claws raked his back as he rolled to the side, turning and slashing upwards as he rose back to his feet. The thing reared back away from him as its dark blood sprayed out.
As it did so, another spray of spines from the big one thudded into the area around them, some even striking the griffin. The beast didn't seem to even notice as it lunged at Kezzek again. He swung up his quor'rel and it caught the long handle between his hands in its beak, wrenching the quor'rel free and sending it spinning away.
Kezzek cursed and stumbled back as the griffin loomed over him. It shrieked, a foul, rotting smell emanating from it.
Then Kormak came out of no-where, his feet slamming into the side of the thing's head and knocking it away. Kezzek used the opportunity to scramble to his feet and look around.
Keeper was slamming the head of the hooved one into the rocky ground with sick cracking sounds as Kezzek glanced in Suniel's direction. Its whole body convulsed and it fell to the ground, the purple crystals on its harness shattering. The spined one was facing off against Harold's greatsword.
Kezzek couldn't see his sword anywhere, but he did notice a pit at the back of the metal platform near the strange metal railing.
Dodging through the battle, he ran to the edge of the pit and looked in. His quor'rel was embedded in a large block of metal with strange cables and pulleys and gears all around it. Sparks shot up the blade and arced back into the machine. Kezzek made his way to a ladder, sighed, and climbed into the pit, making his way carefully towards his quor'rel.
He waited until the sparking stopped briefly and snatched his weapon out of the machinery. As he looked the weapon over to be sure it was undamaged, more machinery spun and whirred to life all around him and what the platform above him jerked up a few inches.
It's a second lift, he thought with a curse.
“The platform, get to the platform!” he bellowed, hoping the others could hear him over the din of battle. He ran to the ladder and started to climb when the griffin suddenly slammed into his back, talons rending.
He was hurled back down into the machinery pit, slamming his feet up into the griffin as it lunged at him again, heaving with all his might and shoving the beast back. It reared up and roared and he immediately drove a quor'rel blade into it, ripped the blade out, and dived past the thing, scrambling up the ladder.
He kicked the griffin in the beak as it snapped up at him from the pit, then spun and drove his quor'rel down right between its eyes. Its body fell away and he hauled himself up onto the platform just as the platform jerked up another foot.
Harold already stood on the platform, firing back at the spined beast as it chased Kormak towards the platform. Keeper lifted Suniel from under the corpse of the hooved one and dragged him to the platform as well. The spined one had more arrows in it than spines - and half-a-dozen other wounds besides - when finally one of Harold's arrows dropped it to the ringing tinkle of shattering crystals.
Construct, wizard, and dwarf all pulled themselves up to the platform.
“Dog!” Kormak called. The mutt appeared seemingly out of nowhere and jumped to the platform a split second before it suddenly launched upwards at amazing speed, immense acceleration flattening them to the silver metal surface.
After what might have been a few hundred feet of extreme acceleration, it suddenly stopped. They sailed into the air ten feet before slamming down again in a sprawl.
“Everyone all right?” Suniel said as they slowly stood.
Everyone mumbled replies. Kezzek winced and gently touched the huge talon gouges running across his back as he got to his feet. Kormak gingerly approached the edge of the platform and glanced down. “Bubble surrounds us below too. All I see is mountain and that rail.”
“They all dead?” Harold said. “I got the manticore.”
“That what it was? Keeper finished the hooved... thing,” Kormak said.
They gathered at the center of the platform. “What do you suppose those harnesses they were wearing were?” Kezzek said.
“Well, the crystals they had looked just like the ones from Elorn's ship,” Suniel said. The others all stared at him, his words suddenly reminding everyone of the exchange that had taken place just before the battle.
After a minute of uncomfortable silence, Harold cleared his throat. “Well, I think-”
The attack was preceded – barely – by a horrible rotting stench and an unnatural chill that went straight to Kezzek's bones.
***
Harold grunted and quickly pulled himself to his feet, bow flying to his hands as he got to his feet.
The creatures were back, but they had undergone rapid and horrific changes. Much of their fur, feathers, and skin had fallen off, revealing muscle, bone and organs that spilled out from the many wounds that were already inflicted upon them. The manticore had struck first, sending Harold flying with a slap from its tail. The others were furling in their wings and attacking as soon as they hit the platform.
Kormak had slammed his foot into the side of the hooved one, but his leg went straight through its side and the creature simply hurled itself sideways into the platform, pile-driving the dwarf into the hard metal.
Keeper stepped in front of the griffin as it dove in, saving Suniel, but he was sent flying twenty feet across the platform by the re-animated griffin's hugely increased strength. Kezzek leapt at it and cleaved off one of its forearms with a roar but it didn't react except to swing at Kezzek with its other arm.
Harold began unloading into the manticore with arrows as it lumbered towards him. He back away from it as he fired until he sensed open air behind him, just as the manticore was on him. At the last second as it lunged towards him, he dove aside, sending it flying past him and over the edge.
He was already on his feet and firing arrows into it as it sluggishly unfurled its wings and mightily pumped its wings to reach the platform again.
The arrows striking it barely seemed to be slowing it down so he aimed for the joints where the wings met its back. It had almost reached the height of the platform again when he finally put enough arrows into its right wing-joint that its motion became jerky.
Finally, at point-blank range, the wing seized up entirely. The manticore plummeted rapidly and disappeared through the metallic bubble.
He spun, aiming down an arrow just in time to see Suniel blast the rearing griffin backwards off the platform. It died again silently and fell back, trailing a plume of smoke.
Harold lowered his bow and walked over to help the others heave the last corpse over the side.
They stood in the strange, adrenaline-pumped after-battle silence for a minute before Kormak spoke up. “Now what?”
“We're going up,” Keeper said.
“We are?” Kezzek said. They walked towards where the lift met the metal rail or stared at what they could see of the mountainside.
It was slight, but Harold could see the mountainside slowly passing below the lift. “I guess. Anyone see any way to make it move faster?”
Everyone shrugged or shook their heads.
“And how tall is this mountain?” Kormak said.
“Miles,” Suniel said, staring up at the shimmering sphere that encased them.
“Well, good thing I brought my tent,” Kormak said, petting his dog on the head before sliding its saddlebags off. “Might as well get settled in, looks like we're in for a long ride.”
Last edited: