Meloch the Pygmy
First Post
Orichalcum said:
Dude, just 'cause I'm no longer dodging Taliban doesn't mean I don't want regular Alea updates!
-
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Alea Iacta Story Hour: A Mythic Rome Campaign (Baby Announcement: 8/17)
- Thread starter Orichalcum
- Start date
Dude, just 'cause I'm no longer dodging Taliban doesn't mean I don't want regular Alea updates!
Orichalcum
First Post
Alea Iacta IX: An Easy Descent Chp. 14: Lost Violent Souls
Yes, well, Meloch, I have this dissertation due in six weeks, see?
***
After Cornelia realizes where we all are, it becomes clear that the only way to end this spectacular nightmare is to get to Cimbrus himself and take away his fears. Unfortunately, there are two armies in between all of us and Cimbrus, and they're fighting pretty furiously.
So, in various directions and through our different means, we begin plowing through the battlefield in the general direction of the Praetorian Guard. Before we go, Marcus remembers that, long ago back in Britannia, he had been worried that Cimbrus' Praetorians were not up to the normal caliber of expert front-line troops, and he asks Lucretius to confirm this as they get closer and act accordingly to protect the Caesar. For, as Marcus well knows, it is said that if someone dies in their dream, they never wake up.
Heilyn transforms into a pegasus, and Cornelia and Wena, the most vulnerable members of our group, jump onto his back as he takes off for the 6th Legion and the cluster of legionaries around Cimbrus and Cornelia's father Crispus. Of course, he has not quite anticipated just how many lightning bolts are being called down by the Druids from the sky, and suddenly, several of them seem aimed at him. Heilyn, still not a very good flier, weaves through the storm clouds wildly while Cornelia and Wena try to dispel the bolts whenever possible. As they reach the Roman battle lines, the Romans, well conditioned by this point to associate strange monsters with foul Druidic magic, begin firing arrows and even ballista bolts at them.
Meanwhile, Lucretius has concentrated long and hard on the idea of Sapientia, his beloved elephant, and she appears in front of him - possibly a mere figment of his imagination, but seemingly at least as real as the other threats they face. She kneels so that he and Metellus can mount her, and they charge forward through the Celtic lines. Marcus and Llyr, our brave infantry, go by foot, carving small paths of brutal destruction in their wake as they concentrate not on effective military tactics but on getting to Cimbrus as quickly as possible. Llyr glories in his death-dealing efficiency and momentarily loses track of the mission, before continuing to pursue the elephant.
The pegasus finally reaches the general knot of Praetorians and the 1st century of the 6th, and Cornelia sees her father whispering quietly to his primuspilus centurion. Through the mental link, she reminds us of all she knows about what actually happened on this day - how Cimbrus initially rallied the men by leading a charge, but, as he is now, was in danger of being cut off from the rest of the Legionaries. He faced death until Cornelia's father, the Legate Crispus, had him knocked unconscious and carried back to the safety of Hadrian's Wall, while Crispus took the Caesar's helmet and charged forward into glory, victory, and certain death. Cornelia murmurs, "We have to stop him from going unconscious quite yet - we need to deal with his fear first." The Heilyn-pegasus lands, and Cornelia squeezes through the guards to her father.
"Pater! Don't do it yet!" she whispers in his ear.
The Legate turns around, highly startled. "Cornelia, dear, what are you doing here? This is the middle of a battle! And I sent you away to safety in the south."
"Um...it's hard to explain. Think of me as a vision. But trust me - I know what you're planning to do to Cimbrus, and," she chokes back a brief sob, "it's the right thing to do. But hold off for just a few more minutes - it's important."
Her father is confused, but looks intently at her and nods, kissing her forehead briefly before turning back to defending Caesar. Cornelia slips back to the relative safety of Heilyn's back.
The three spellcasters, each using their different style of magic, block several fatal spells from Cimbrus, carefully husbanding their resources, however, for the darker fight they know lies ahead. Meanwhile, Lucretius and the other fighters, a bit later, reach the Praetorians. Lucretius shouts to Marcus, "Definitely not regular Praetorians - they don't even know the right set of defensive maneuvers! We need to form up around Caesar while we persuade him."
When they reach Cimbrus, they find him arguing fervently with the Legate Crispus - he is determined to be brave and honor his forefathers and stay in the battle. "I can serve best by dying," he whispers sadly. "It will be better for everyone." Momentarily, we find ourselves at a loss - is Cimbrus here facing his fear of death, or of cowardice?
Metellus finally comes up with the right words, "Sir, Caesar, this battle is not about your personal honor - which is great. It is about protecting the Roman Empire. If you fall today, the hordes of barbarians will sweep down over the Wall, and thousands of innocent Roman citizens and loyal tribesmen will perish in their pillaging. Even if we lose today, which I am certain we won't, we will be better off with you leading and conducting our defense from the Wall or from Eburacum. Your people need you as a symbol of all that is good about Roma, which goes beyond your personal bravery."
Cimbrus, for a moment, seems to understand, and resolve lights up his eyes...a few seconds before Marcus slams him on the back of the head with the back of his gladius, and Heilyn descends and picks up Caesar's body, carrying it safely back to the Wall. As the fog rises and the battle fades, Cornelia can see, from a distance, her father resolutely placing the purple-plumed, golden helmet on his aging brow and mounting up for a charge into the Druidic lines.
And then the battle is gone, and we find ourselves all standing before the perfectly dark mouth of an enormous cavern.
Yes, well, Meloch, I have this dissertation due in six weeks, see?
***
After Cornelia realizes where we all are, it becomes clear that the only way to end this spectacular nightmare is to get to Cimbrus himself and take away his fears. Unfortunately, there are two armies in between all of us and Cimbrus, and they're fighting pretty furiously.
So, in various directions and through our different means, we begin plowing through the battlefield in the general direction of the Praetorian Guard. Before we go, Marcus remembers that, long ago back in Britannia, he had been worried that Cimbrus' Praetorians were not up to the normal caliber of expert front-line troops, and he asks Lucretius to confirm this as they get closer and act accordingly to protect the Caesar. For, as Marcus well knows, it is said that if someone dies in their dream, they never wake up.
Heilyn transforms into a pegasus, and Cornelia and Wena, the most vulnerable members of our group, jump onto his back as he takes off for the 6th Legion and the cluster of legionaries around Cimbrus and Cornelia's father Crispus. Of course, he has not quite anticipated just how many lightning bolts are being called down by the Druids from the sky, and suddenly, several of them seem aimed at him. Heilyn, still not a very good flier, weaves through the storm clouds wildly while Cornelia and Wena try to dispel the bolts whenever possible. As they reach the Roman battle lines, the Romans, well conditioned by this point to associate strange monsters with foul Druidic magic, begin firing arrows and even ballista bolts at them.
Meanwhile, Lucretius has concentrated long and hard on the idea of Sapientia, his beloved elephant, and she appears in front of him - possibly a mere figment of his imagination, but seemingly at least as real as the other threats they face. She kneels so that he and Metellus can mount her, and they charge forward through the Celtic lines. Marcus and Llyr, our brave infantry, go by foot, carving small paths of brutal destruction in their wake as they concentrate not on effective military tactics but on getting to Cimbrus as quickly as possible. Llyr glories in his death-dealing efficiency and momentarily loses track of the mission, before continuing to pursue the elephant.
The pegasus finally reaches the general knot of Praetorians and the 1st century of the 6th, and Cornelia sees her father whispering quietly to his primuspilus centurion. Through the mental link, she reminds us of all she knows about what actually happened on this day - how Cimbrus initially rallied the men by leading a charge, but, as he is now, was in danger of being cut off from the rest of the Legionaries. He faced death until Cornelia's father, the Legate Crispus, had him knocked unconscious and carried back to the safety of Hadrian's Wall, while Crispus took the Caesar's helmet and charged forward into glory, victory, and certain death. Cornelia murmurs, "We have to stop him from going unconscious quite yet - we need to deal with his fear first." The Heilyn-pegasus lands, and Cornelia squeezes through the guards to her father.
"Pater! Don't do it yet!" she whispers in his ear.
The Legate turns around, highly startled. "Cornelia, dear, what are you doing here? This is the middle of a battle! And I sent you away to safety in the south."
"Um...it's hard to explain. Think of me as a vision. But trust me - I know what you're planning to do to Cimbrus, and," she chokes back a brief sob, "it's the right thing to do. But hold off for just a few more minutes - it's important."
Her father is confused, but looks intently at her and nods, kissing her forehead briefly before turning back to defending Caesar. Cornelia slips back to the relative safety of Heilyn's back.
The three spellcasters, each using their different style of magic, block several fatal spells from Cimbrus, carefully husbanding their resources, however, for the darker fight they know lies ahead. Meanwhile, Lucretius and the other fighters, a bit later, reach the Praetorians. Lucretius shouts to Marcus, "Definitely not regular Praetorians - they don't even know the right set of defensive maneuvers! We need to form up around Caesar while we persuade him."
When they reach Cimbrus, they find him arguing fervently with the Legate Crispus - he is determined to be brave and honor his forefathers and stay in the battle. "I can serve best by dying," he whispers sadly. "It will be better for everyone." Momentarily, we find ourselves at a loss - is Cimbrus here facing his fear of death, or of cowardice?
Metellus finally comes up with the right words, "Sir, Caesar, this battle is not about your personal honor - which is great. It is about protecting the Roman Empire. If you fall today, the hordes of barbarians will sweep down over the Wall, and thousands of innocent Roman citizens and loyal tribesmen will perish in their pillaging. Even if we lose today, which I am certain we won't, we will be better off with you leading and conducting our defense from the Wall or from Eburacum. Your people need you as a symbol of all that is good about Roma, which goes beyond your personal bravery."
Cimbrus, for a moment, seems to understand, and resolve lights up his eyes...a few seconds before Marcus slams him on the back of the head with the back of his gladius, and Heilyn descends and picks up Caesar's body, carrying it safely back to the Wall. As the fog rises and the battle fades, Cornelia can see, from a distance, her father resolutely placing the purple-plumed, golden helmet on his aging brow and mounting up for a charge into the Druidic lines.
And then the battle is gone, and we find ourselves all standing before the perfectly dark mouth of an enormous cavern.
Last edited:
Mortepierre said:This should tell you more about him...
Ah, a stand up philosopher
It's hard to judge play time from a story hour, but it appears there must have been a number of session where the party was at least somewhat confused and disoriented by the strange and otherworldly enviroment. Did they take that ok?
Orichalcum
First Post
MTR said:Ah, a stand up philosopher
It's hard to judge play time from a story hour, but it appears there must have been a number of session where the party was at least somewhat confused and disoriented by the strange and otherworldly enviroment. Did they take that ok?
Yeah...Lucian was a fairly minor philosopher/author, but known for his wacky tales about journeys to the moon and the dream world. Some people call him the inventor of science fiction.
All of Alea Iacta IX was actually one session - we're episodic, so we only play about 3 times a year, for a whole weekend. So this was late Saturday night, around 1 AM, and I think the players had just sort of relaxed into the weird craziness of it all. Also, I'm lucky to have very good, sophisticated PCs, so after the first one or two, they just went with the flow. Except Marcus, who of course just wanted to kill everything they found. (Not that Marcus' player is a bad roleplayer - I'd be in real trouble if I started claiming that.
Rather, it was perfectly in character for Marcus to approach a strange otherworldly environment by trying to kill it. These Romans are all crazy, as Heilyn might say.
Orichalcum
First Post
Alea Iacta IX: An Easy Descent Chp. 15: That Final Meeting In the Twilight Kingdom
As we step inside the cavern, a faint golden light glowing from Cornelia and Heilyn's hands, we all feel a sudden wave of confusion sweep over us. This goes beyond the troubles we have previously had, although, indeed, nobody would particularly like to vouch for Marcus' name and rank at the moment, except himself. Llyr, however, has worse problems - he realizes that he can remember almost none of his years of auxiliary training - how to climb a rope or a wall, how to hide in shadows, which might be quite useful here, or any of the Brigantes' traditional prayers or chants. Cornelia and Metellus, meanwhile, are unsure as to how they arrived in the cavern; the last thing they remember is fighting the Druids' in Cimbrus' nightmare. All of the confusion makes our careful battle order and strategy momentarily fall apart.
The creatures whose red eyes gleam at us out of the darkness ahead do not seem to have this problem, as they charge towards us screaming and growling. As they approach, they reveal themselves, at least some of them, to be foul, almost translucent hags mounted on the gleaming black horses of this realm, whose ivory fangs are ready to tear us to pieces. Our light briefly illuminates what seems to be a long tunnel, wide and lofty here at the entrance and gradually sloping down to a narrower passageway leading into the darkness beyond, with a faint pinprick of white light at the end of it. Ahead, we can hear screams of pain coming from the walls, although we cannot see them.
Regaining some of our earlier coordination, Lucretius, Heilyn, Marcus, Metellus, and Llyr move forward to engage the hags and their mounts. They are resolved to put an end to this once and for all, and they wield their swords and hammers with mighty force. Marcus kills a mount with a single blow, and Llyr manages to leap up, despite his lack of training, and decapitate three hags in a flurry of blows.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are dealing with swarms of creatures detaching themselves from the stalactites of this cavern and swooping down on us. As they get closer, we can see that they are deformed, stretched grey human heads, with long tentacles drooping down from their necks and bat-like wings stretching out from their ears. As they fly towards us, they screech in harmony, and Cornelia is paralyzed by fear. One bites her and another Lucretius, although the others are repelled by our armor.
And in her mind, Wena hears a familar, if more bitter and maddened voice, whisper briefly, "Ah, so good of you to join us for the celebration of my final revenge against the Roman murderers. Don't bother looking for me, though - after all, I have the protection of a true god." A vivid, brutal image of the slaughter of her mother appears in Wena's thoughts, and she screams in sudden pain, managing after a few seconds to shout, "Scaevola's here! Somewhere."
And it is only at that point that we all remember that we are fighting an enemy who wears the Cap of Twilight, an artifact, that, as Heilyn discovered, renders the wearer completely invisible and able to fly at high speeds.
As we step inside the cavern, a faint golden light glowing from Cornelia and Heilyn's hands, we all feel a sudden wave of confusion sweep over us. This goes beyond the troubles we have previously had, although, indeed, nobody would particularly like to vouch for Marcus' name and rank at the moment, except himself. Llyr, however, has worse problems - he realizes that he can remember almost none of his years of auxiliary training - how to climb a rope or a wall, how to hide in shadows, which might be quite useful here, or any of the Brigantes' traditional prayers or chants. Cornelia and Metellus, meanwhile, are unsure as to how they arrived in the cavern; the last thing they remember is fighting the Druids' in Cimbrus' nightmare. All of the confusion makes our careful battle order and strategy momentarily fall apart.
The creatures whose red eyes gleam at us out of the darkness ahead do not seem to have this problem, as they charge towards us screaming and growling. As they approach, they reveal themselves, at least some of them, to be foul, almost translucent hags mounted on the gleaming black horses of this realm, whose ivory fangs are ready to tear us to pieces. Our light briefly illuminates what seems to be a long tunnel, wide and lofty here at the entrance and gradually sloping down to a narrower passageway leading into the darkness beyond, with a faint pinprick of white light at the end of it. Ahead, we can hear screams of pain coming from the walls, although we cannot see them.
Regaining some of our earlier coordination, Lucretius, Heilyn, Marcus, Metellus, and Llyr move forward to engage the hags and their mounts. They are resolved to put an end to this once and for all, and they wield their swords and hammers with mighty force. Marcus kills a mount with a single blow, and Llyr manages to leap up, despite his lack of training, and decapitate three hags in a flurry of blows.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are dealing with swarms of creatures detaching themselves from the stalactites of this cavern and swooping down on us. As they get closer, we can see that they are deformed, stretched grey human heads, with long tentacles drooping down from their necks and bat-like wings stretching out from their ears. As they fly towards us, they screech in harmony, and Cornelia is paralyzed by fear. One bites her and another Lucretius, although the others are repelled by our armor.
And in her mind, Wena hears a familar, if more bitter and maddened voice, whisper briefly, "Ah, so good of you to join us for the celebration of my final revenge against the Roman murderers. Don't bother looking for me, though - after all, I have the protection of a true god." A vivid, brutal image of the slaughter of her mother appears in Wena's thoughts, and she screams in sudden pain, managing after a few seconds to shout, "Scaevola's here! Somewhere."
And it is only at that point that we all remember that we are fighting an enemy who wears the Cap of Twilight, an artifact, that, as Heilyn discovered, renders the wearer completely invisible and able to fly at high speeds.
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Orichalcum
First Post
Alea Iacta IX: An Easy Descent Chp. 16: Sightless, unless the eyes reappear
Sorry for the delay - I've been at a conference learning how to use roleplaying games in university classrooms, actually.
***
In the next flurry of blows, the front-line fighters take care of the nightmares and hags, and Heilyn manages to free Cornelia from her terror. In the meantime, however, a noxious grey and green fog, obscuring our vision, has begun to flow out of the deeper recesses of the cavern and is extending long tendrils towards us. Lucretius tries to charge into the fog and finds his skin being eaten away and his breathing near impossible. He retreats, near collapse.
The rest of us have been trying to fight the flying, gnawing skulls, who continue to swoop down on us, particularly targeting the spellcasters, as far as we can tell. Llyr is methodically chopping them to bits when he feels his own skull suddenly...contract, and his brain squeezed into pulp between his ears. As the last rational thought in his brain seems about to vanish, he catches a glimpse of Cornelia, bravely moving forward farther into the cavern, and holds onto his love for her as the last tie to his sanity. He stumbles, and draws his sword again.
Metellus looks over, concerned for his subordinate and friend, even amidst the chaos, particularly as blood is streaming out of Llyr's nostrils and ears. "You all right, then?"
Llyr gasps, "I will be, Tribune. But we need to find Scaevola. Soon."
Wena whispers quietly to them, "I think, maybe I have a way. For just a second there, when Llyr was attacked, I thought I saw a gleam of Lugh's light. But then it vanished."
Metellus uses his command training, for once. "Right. Llyr, get out the ballista. Wait till Wena tells you where, and then shoot. I don't care if it takes a while - it's our best chance. You have several bolts with the right name on them, right?"
"Yes, sir! 3 with his true name, and another 2 with his Roman name and his title." Llyr salutes, and loads the ballista.
The other fighters return to killing the flying skulls - an easy task in and of itself, but hampered by their deadly, fright-inducing bites.
Meanwhile, Cornelia has decided that they need to do something about the ever-growing deadly fog. She pulls the central golden bauble from her necklace, whispers a brief thanks to her ancestors, and throws it as hard and as far as she can into the center of the fog, hoping, with luck, to hit Scaevola as well.
Much of the fog boils up and disappears, but the most piercing sound to come from the fog is a tormented, anguished scream. For a second, we all cheer, thinking that Cornelia has struck at our enemy...until the fog clears enough for us to see who lies beyond.
Deeper in the cavern, we can see the nearly unconscious, heavily charred body of Cimbrus Caesar, heir to the throne of Rome, whose glazed, unseeing eyes stare blankly out at us.
Chained to either wall, with ropes that even from here seem to be made from the skin of their own arms, are two half-flayed figures, moaning in pain.
Cornelia goes pale.
Sorry for the delay - I've been at a conference learning how to use roleplaying games in university classrooms, actually.
***
In the next flurry of blows, the front-line fighters take care of the nightmares and hags, and Heilyn manages to free Cornelia from her terror. In the meantime, however, a noxious grey and green fog, obscuring our vision, has begun to flow out of the deeper recesses of the cavern and is extending long tendrils towards us. Lucretius tries to charge into the fog and finds his skin being eaten away and his breathing near impossible. He retreats, near collapse.
The rest of us have been trying to fight the flying, gnawing skulls, who continue to swoop down on us, particularly targeting the spellcasters, as far as we can tell. Llyr is methodically chopping them to bits when he feels his own skull suddenly...contract, and his brain squeezed into pulp between his ears. As the last rational thought in his brain seems about to vanish, he catches a glimpse of Cornelia, bravely moving forward farther into the cavern, and holds onto his love for her as the last tie to his sanity. He stumbles, and draws his sword again.
Metellus looks over, concerned for his subordinate and friend, even amidst the chaos, particularly as blood is streaming out of Llyr's nostrils and ears. "You all right, then?"
Llyr gasps, "I will be, Tribune. But we need to find Scaevola. Soon."
Wena whispers quietly to them, "I think, maybe I have a way. For just a second there, when Llyr was attacked, I thought I saw a gleam of Lugh's light. But then it vanished."
Metellus uses his command training, for once. "Right. Llyr, get out the ballista. Wait till Wena tells you where, and then shoot. I don't care if it takes a while - it's our best chance. You have several bolts with the right name on them, right?"
"Yes, sir! 3 with his true name, and another 2 with his Roman name and his title." Llyr salutes, and loads the ballista.
The other fighters return to killing the flying skulls - an easy task in and of itself, but hampered by their deadly, fright-inducing bites.
Meanwhile, Cornelia has decided that they need to do something about the ever-growing deadly fog. She pulls the central golden bauble from her necklace, whispers a brief thanks to her ancestors, and throws it as hard and as far as she can into the center of the fog, hoping, with luck, to hit Scaevola as well.
Much of the fog boils up and disappears, but the most piercing sound to come from the fog is a tormented, anguished scream. For a second, we all cheer, thinking that Cornelia has struck at our enemy...until the fog clears enough for us to see who lies beyond.
Deeper in the cavern, we can see the nearly unconscious, heavily charred body of Cimbrus Caesar, heir to the throne of Rome, whose glazed, unseeing eyes stare blankly out at us.
Chained to either wall, with ropes that even from here seem to be made from the skin of their own arms, are two half-flayed figures, moaning in pain.
Cornelia goes pale.
MaxKaladin
First Post
D'oh!Orichalcum said:
Great story. I can't wait for more.
Orichalcum
First Post
Alea Iacta IX: An Easy Descent Chp. 17: Paralyzed Force
After the initial flash of the Fireball, the cavern ahead grows dark again, and it is nearly impossible to tell whether or not Cimbrus is still alive after Cornelia's impulsive move. Still, the blast does appear to have cleared away much of the deadly, acidically slimy fog, and a narrow, thinned path seems possible both through the main part of the cavern and along the sides.
Metellus, determined to do something brave in a combat where thus far he has largely assisted Llyr and Marcus, charges forward, holding his breath as best possible. He is followed by Llyr, whose magic pearl protects him from the worst effects of the fog. Cornelia, as well, finds that she is able to withstand much of its corrosive power without harm, perhaps, she thinks quietly to herself, because of her volcanic dragon heritage. She heads along the sides towards the other two captives.
Meanwhile, the others continue to hold their weapons ready, waiting for a potential shot at Scaevola, while intermittently slaughtering more swooping skeletal heads. Heilyn notices, with some anxiety, that the pinpoint of light at the far end of the tunnel is growing slowly larger.
Scaevola tries to seize control of Llyr's mind, but barely fails, due to the power of the glowing malachite bracelet from Herculaneum. Meanwhile, Marcus begins choking without even going near the fog, and Wena is barely able to use her own power to stop him from suffocating to death. On this second attack, however, Wena again sees a momentary flash of white light and a momentary mental image of a black linked chain, and with her direction Llyr is able to lob a shot off of the ballista. There is a brief grunt of pain, somewhere up in the air, and the other members of the group follow quickly, aiming at the same spot, but to no apparent effect.
Metellus lets out his breath quickly, gasping as he inhales corrosive acid, and shouts, "Get farther into the cavern! If he can't fly high above us, he'll be easier to hit!" Marcus and Llyr nod, recognizing the benefit of Metellus' officerial training. As the cavern is wide and high at its opening, and gradually slants and narrows downward to the pinprick of light at the end, Scaevola will indeed be hampered if he is unable to easily dodge them. Of course, on the other hand, it makes them all the more vulnerable to area attack spells.
Cornelia, meanwhile, has reached the first captive, a middle-aged Roman woman, gibbering in insane terror. Her skin has been systematically flayed in what Cornelia, to her horror, recognizes as ritual Brigantian woad tattoo patterns, as well as other symbols that she does not know. At first, the woman seems completely unfamiliar, but after staring at her for a few seconds Cornelia suddenly realizes that she bears a marked familiarity to Titus Minucius, Scaevola's chief henchman in Britannia who they captured so many months ago. Perhaps, she thinks, this is Minucius' mother, who they had planned to interrogate when they got to Roma, but somehow forgot about.
As her friends suddenly scream out in pain behind her, Cornelia sees a thin black chain flash outward from the woman's head, upwards and outwards. Spinning, she discovers that everyone else is now bleeding profusely from a sudden wound in their right shoulders, the size and shape of one of Llyr's ballista bolts, though no weapon is visible. Always impulsive, she leaps to a conclusion and shouts to Metellus, without thinking of any potential consequences, "Metellus! Scaevola's using these captives as energy sources somehow! He's draining them and using it to hurt us!"
Metellus pauses for a minute in his path forward, gnawing his lip, and then glances at Marcus. Marcus understands the unspoken command, and begins moving towards the captive on the right, until he is beset by four flying skulls. Cornelia, meanwhile, begins moving towards the unconscious Cimbrus. Behind her, Heilyn quietly approaches the screaming woman, examines her for a moment, and then uses his smallest hammer to precisely bash her head in and kill her quickly.
Metellus is the first of the party to reach the horribly burned Cimbrus. The Tribune is relieved to hear his faint mumbling and moaning, as it means he is still alive, and reaches down to place a hand on the Caesar's shoulder, trying to reassure him that help is here. As Metellus touches Cimbrus, however, those nearby see Metellus suddenly stiffen, and his eyes roll back up into his head. Cornelia and Llyr cry out, but there is no sign of any response from the young Tribune.
After the initial flash of the Fireball, the cavern ahead grows dark again, and it is nearly impossible to tell whether or not Cimbrus is still alive after Cornelia's impulsive move. Still, the blast does appear to have cleared away much of the deadly, acidically slimy fog, and a narrow, thinned path seems possible both through the main part of the cavern and along the sides.
Metellus, determined to do something brave in a combat where thus far he has largely assisted Llyr and Marcus, charges forward, holding his breath as best possible. He is followed by Llyr, whose magic pearl protects him from the worst effects of the fog. Cornelia, as well, finds that she is able to withstand much of its corrosive power without harm, perhaps, she thinks quietly to herself, because of her volcanic dragon heritage. She heads along the sides towards the other two captives.
Meanwhile, the others continue to hold their weapons ready, waiting for a potential shot at Scaevola, while intermittently slaughtering more swooping skeletal heads. Heilyn notices, with some anxiety, that the pinpoint of light at the far end of the tunnel is growing slowly larger.
Scaevola tries to seize control of Llyr's mind, but barely fails, due to the power of the glowing malachite bracelet from Herculaneum. Meanwhile, Marcus begins choking without even going near the fog, and Wena is barely able to use her own power to stop him from suffocating to death. On this second attack, however, Wena again sees a momentary flash of white light and a momentary mental image of a black linked chain, and with her direction Llyr is able to lob a shot off of the ballista. There is a brief grunt of pain, somewhere up in the air, and the other members of the group follow quickly, aiming at the same spot, but to no apparent effect.
Metellus lets out his breath quickly, gasping as he inhales corrosive acid, and shouts, "Get farther into the cavern! If he can't fly high above us, he'll be easier to hit!" Marcus and Llyr nod, recognizing the benefit of Metellus' officerial training. As the cavern is wide and high at its opening, and gradually slants and narrows downward to the pinprick of light at the end, Scaevola will indeed be hampered if he is unable to easily dodge them. Of course, on the other hand, it makes them all the more vulnerable to area attack spells.
Cornelia, meanwhile, has reached the first captive, a middle-aged Roman woman, gibbering in insane terror. Her skin has been systematically flayed in what Cornelia, to her horror, recognizes as ritual Brigantian woad tattoo patterns, as well as other symbols that she does not know. At first, the woman seems completely unfamiliar, but after staring at her for a few seconds Cornelia suddenly realizes that she bears a marked familiarity to Titus Minucius, Scaevola's chief henchman in Britannia who they captured so many months ago. Perhaps, she thinks, this is Minucius' mother, who they had planned to interrogate when they got to Roma, but somehow forgot about.
As her friends suddenly scream out in pain behind her, Cornelia sees a thin black chain flash outward from the woman's head, upwards and outwards. Spinning, she discovers that everyone else is now bleeding profusely from a sudden wound in their right shoulders, the size and shape of one of Llyr's ballista bolts, though no weapon is visible. Always impulsive, she leaps to a conclusion and shouts to Metellus, without thinking of any potential consequences, "Metellus! Scaevola's using these captives as energy sources somehow! He's draining them and using it to hurt us!"
Metellus pauses for a minute in his path forward, gnawing his lip, and then glances at Marcus. Marcus understands the unspoken command, and begins moving towards the captive on the right, until he is beset by four flying skulls. Cornelia, meanwhile, begins moving towards the unconscious Cimbrus. Behind her, Heilyn quietly approaches the screaming woman, examines her for a moment, and then uses his smallest hammer to precisely bash her head in and kill her quickly.
Metellus is the first of the party to reach the horribly burned Cimbrus. The Tribune is relieved to hear his faint mumbling and moaning, as it means he is still alive, and reaches down to place a hand on the Caesar's shoulder, trying to reassure him that help is here. As Metellus touches Cimbrus, however, those nearby see Metellus suddenly stiffen, and his eyes roll back up into his head. Cornelia and Llyr cry out, but there is no sign of any response from the young Tribune.
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