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Consequences of the Quill (Restored 5/13/06)
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<blockquote data-quote="LordVyreth" data-source="post: 1460573" data-attributes="member: 9626"><p><strong>Battle of the Bridge</strong></p><p></p><p>The fourth night passed uneventfully as they rested, and they began the fifth day of their journey. It was quiet until near mid-day, as the sun was crested over the sky, well between the magic of the two dark moons. Once again, the party saw the telltale signs of an orc camp, and Rudyard and Flix quietly made their way over to investigate. This one turned out to be much smaller. Only two tends were set up here, with a small resting log and campfire between them. An orc was currently slouched up against the log, apparently oblivious to both the party and the noonday sun, which is normally painful to orcs. However, Rudyard didn’t want to take any chances, especially with his hated enemy, and fired a pair of arrows into his back. The orc barely responded, except for slumping over even more, and oozing a vile fluid that looked a little like blood, but was far too black to be normal. Now more curious than alarmed, Rudyard carefully crept up to the orc, while Flix retreated to bring the rest of the party forward. After looking closer, Rudyard was certain the orc was dead, though it looks like it was his arrows that finished him off. However, he clearly wasn’t too well off before that point, since his body was strangely mutilated. Parts of his skin have been ripped off, to be covered with some sort of metal plating, one arm and a foot were replaced with some more metal parts, and even one of his eyes was made of some glassy substance. Killing him was almost an act of mercy, Rudyard thought to himself bitterly. The party didn’t seem to think so, however, when they arrived. “We could have gotten some information out of him, you know!” Raz barked. “Now we have no idea what did this to him!”</p><p>Tsine shrugged. “It’s probably the same thing that happened to their chieftain. This looks like a typical grunt, so they probably abandoned him. They’re animals, they don’t care what happens to their own unless they’re of some use.”</p><p>The party gave him the standard cremation, and set up the alert marker, then did a rudimentary search of the area. The tents were empty of everything but a few misshapen sets of clothing, so they quickly returned to the trail. They still had to make up for some time, after all.</p><p>The rest of the day, passed uneventfully, as did the night and the morning after. However, on the evening of the sixth day, the party finally reached the shrine. It was built on a tiny spike of rock, some two hundred feet from the end of the trail. The forest ended here, and the party finally got a chance to notice how deep into mountainous territory they got since they entered the woods. This was a rocky, dangerous area, and while there was a bridge between the cliff and the shrine, anyone who slipped and fell in would fall for hundreds of feet, and almost certainly be killed by the impact. They also noticed that the orc forces are still here, and they posted guards. An ogre was standing about three quarters of the way down the bridge, a massive spear in his hand. Behind him, a pair of tiny lizard-like creatures that could barely be seen in this light and distance were hiding. And another orc waited on top of a hippogriff, ready to take flight at any moment.</p><p>The party realized they had little time to prepare, since the orcs inside the shrine could be ready to begin the ritual of raising at any minute, so they charged forward. The hippogriff and orc sprung into action, and Quercus took off, preparing to intercept her attack. Meanwhile, Flix and Rudyard sprinted towards the ogre, while Tal, Tsine, and Raz prepared their long-range attacks. Tal strummed a few notes on his lute, singing a song of peace and friendship at one of the lizard-creatures, which were obviously kobolds now that they’ve been seen up close, but the creature merely laughed. “You can’t fool us that easily, point-ear!” it sneered in Draconic. As Raz and Tsine’s arrows flew towards the ogre, resulting in one near miss and one grazing shot that merely gave the ogre a scratch, the taunting kobold muttered a few words of enchantment, and a pool of slippery black fluid appeared in front of the ogre. Meanwhile, the second kobold began a bloody but inspiring tune, promising his allies that they will inflict pain and death on the cowards and slaves of the false gods. Emboldened, the orc rider drew a sword, and flew past Quercus, giving him a brutal cut with her blade and flying past him before he had time to react. Angrily, he followed her, desperately trying to score a hit with his own blade, but the pain of the cut and the sudden lost of so much blood gave him a bit of vertigo, and nothing could connect. Rudyard tried to maneuver through the grease to reach the ogre, but lost his footing, and had to grip the railing to avoid falling over. The ogre laughed and seized the opportunity, thrusting his spear with all his might. Rudyard was able to partially deflect the spear with his own sword, but it still penetrated deep into his shoulder. He gave a yelp of pain, then retreated from the ooze, ready to try again if he got the opportunity. Meanwhile, the kobold that created the grease took advantage of the moment of peace and began chanting again. Tal drew a wand, and fired a magical orb out of it, hitting the creature squarely in the chest, but it withstood the pain, and finished his spell. A strange mystical symbol appeared in the air, and a black eagle flew out. It screamed evilly, and dove straight for Tal. Meanwhile, the mounted orc whirled her mount around, driving her blade straight through Quercus’ chest. The half-celestial gasped in pain, and the world went black as he began the long plummet to the ground below. However, as his friends watched in horror as he fell, then were even more shocked when an elven woman, with magnificent bird wings similar to Quercus’ own, dove towards him from out of the forest. She caught him in mid-drop, then began to carry him back to the cliff-side. </p><p>The party gave a cheer, and emboldened from the dramatic rescue, they turned their attacks on the bird the kobold summoned and the hippogriff. The orc rider was able to whirl around Rudyard’s arrow, but a full volley of Tsine’s magical missiles struck it, and not wanting to share the fate Quercus almost suffered, she rode her hippogriff back to the shrine, sent it out to attack Quercus, and then retreated into the shrine herself. The kobold bard did likewise, as did the spellcaster after finishing one more bird summon. The pair of birds harried Tal and Tsine, before finally being killed by Raz and Tal’s long-range attacks. Meanwhile, the winged elf woman had sent Quercus down on the forest side of the cliff, healed some of his wounds, and then flew off again just as Quercus was recovering. However, while partially healed, Quercus was caught unprepared by the hippogriff’s sudden attack, and was again on the ground, barely fighting it off as the creature bit deep into his arm. Seeing their friend was again in trouble, Tal and Raz fired at the bird/horse amalgam, wounding it heavily and causing it to flee over the horizon. Their attention now focused entirely on the ogre, the part turn on him again just as the magical grease pool vanished. The suddenly panicky ogre managed one more stab at Rudyard, then was attacked himself by Rudyard’s blade. Flix tumbled between the creature’s legs, and dealt a telling blow to the creature’s back, while Tsine drew his own bow and fired a shot deep into the creature’s leg. It stumbled, and gave an angry roar, but it now lacked the room to effectively swing his spear, so he dropped it and drew his greatclub, then tried to slam it into the halfling. But Flix was too quick for him, and he and Rudyard simultaneously attacked, catching the orc in a pincher attack. Flix’s short sword cut deep into the ogre’s neck, and with one last gurgling cry, he slumped onto the bridge, and moved no more. Quercus managed to catch up to the group by this time, and after giving the wounded (including himself,) a few shots of the wand of healing, the party dashed into the Shrine, intent on preventing the ritual.</p><p></p><p>OOC Notes: This was the first time I made a fairly serious mistake in combat. In this case, I forgot the duration of the grease spell, causing it to last a few rounds longer than it should. No big deal; the kobold sorcerer would have just re-cast it instead of creating another summoned fiendish eagle, but still.</p><p>And before you ask, no the winged elf that saved Quercus was not a deus ex machina by me to save an early character. I planned on using her already for the first player to fall in, though I didn’t actually expect it to happen so soon into the battle. Anyway, you’ll see more of her in the next few updates, as you probably expected.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="LordVyreth, post: 1460573, member: 9626"] [b]Battle of the Bridge[/b] The fourth night passed uneventfully as they rested, and they began the fifth day of their journey. It was quiet until near mid-day, as the sun was crested over the sky, well between the magic of the two dark moons. Once again, the party saw the telltale signs of an orc camp, and Rudyard and Flix quietly made their way over to investigate. This one turned out to be much smaller. Only two tends were set up here, with a small resting log and campfire between them. An orc was currently slouched up against the log, apparently oblivious to both the party and the noonday sun, which is normally painful to orcs. However, Rudyard didn’t want to take any chances, especially with his hated enemy, and fired a pair of arrows into his back. The orc barely responded, except for slumping over even more, and oozing a vile fluid that looked a little like blood, but was far too black to be normal. Now more curious than alarmed, Rudyard carefully crept up to the orc, while Flix retreated to bring the rest of the party forward. After looking closer, Rudyard was certain the orc was dead, though it looks like it was his arrows that finished him off. However, he clearly wasn’t too well off before that point, since his body was strangely mutilated. Parts of his skin have been ripped off, to be covered with some sort of metal plating, one arm and a foot were replaced with some more metal parts, and even one of his eyes was made of some glassy substance. Killing him was almost an act of mercy, Rudyard thought to himself bitterly. The party didn’t seem to think so, however, when they arrived. “We could have gotten some information out of him, you know!” Raz barked. “Now we have no idea what did this to him!” Tsine shrugged. “It’s probably the same thing that happened to their chieftain. This looks like a typical grunt, so they probably abandoned him. They’re animals, they don’t care what happens to their own unless they’re of some use.” The party gave him the standard cremation, and set up the alert marker, then did a rudimentary search of the area. The tents were empty of everything but a few misshapen sets of clothing, so they quickly returned to the trail. They still had to make up for some time, after all. The rest of the day, passed uneventfully, as did the night and the morning after. However, on the evening of the sixth day, the party finally reached the shrine. It was built on a tiny spike of rock, some two hundred feet from the end of the trail. The forest ended here, and the party finally got a chance to notice how deep into mountainous territory they got since they entered the woods. This was a rocky, dangerous area, and while there was a bridge between the cliff and the shrine, anyone who slipped and fell in would fall for hundreds of feet, and almost certainly be killed by the impact. They also noticed that the orc forces are still here, and they posted guards. An ogre was standing about three quarters of the way down the bridge, a massive spear in his hand. Behind him, a pair of tiny lizard-like creatures that could barely be seen in this light and distance were hiding. And another orc waited on top of a hippogriff, ready to take flight at any moment. The party realized they had little time to prepare, since the orcs inside the shrine could be ready to begin the ritual of raising at any minute, so they charged forward. The hippogriff and orc sprung into action, and Quercus took off, preparing to intercept her attack. Meanwhile, Flix and Rudyard sprinted towards the ogre, while Tal, Tsine, and Raz prepared their long-range attacks. Tal strummed a few notes on his lute, singing a song of peace and friendship at one of the lizard-creatures, which were obviously kobolds now that they’ve been seen up close, but the creature merely laughed. “You can’t fool us that easily, point-ear!” it sneered in Draconic. As Raz and Tsine’s arrows flew towards the ogre, resulting in one near miss and one grazing shot that merely gave the ogre a scratch, the taunting kobold muttered a few words of enchantment, and a pool of slippery black fluid appeared in front of the ogre. Meanwhile, the second kobold began a bloody but inspiring tune, promising his allies that they will inflict pain and death on the cowards and slaves of the false gods. Emboldened, the orc rider drew a sword, and flew past Quercus, giving him a brutal cut with her blade and flying past him before he had time to react. Angrily, he followed her, desperately trying to score a hit with his own blade, but the pain of the cut and the sudden lost of so much blood gave him a bit of vertigo, and nothing could connect. Rudyard tried to maneuver through the grease to reach the ogre, but lost his footing, and had to grip the railing to avoid falling over. The ogre laughed and seized the opportunity, thrusting his spear with all his might. Rudyard was able to partially deflect the spear with his own sword, but it still penetrated deep into his shoulder. He gave a yelp of pain, then retreated from the ooze, ready to try again if he got the opportunity. Meanwhile, the kobold that created the grease took advantage of the moment of peace and began chanting again. Tal drew a wand, and fired a magical orb out of it, hitting the creature squarely in the chest, but it withstood the pain, and finished his spell. A strange mystical symbol appeared in the air, and a black eagle flew out. It screamed evilly, and dove straight for Tal. Meanwhile, the mounted orc whirled her mount around, driving her blade straight through Quercus’ chest. The half-celestial gasped in pain, and the world went black as he began the long plummet to the ground below. However, as his friends watched in horror as he fell, then were even more shocked when an elven woman, with magnificent bird wings similar to Quercus’ own, dove towards him from out of the forest. She caught him in mid-drop, then began to carry him back to the cliff-side. The party gave a cheer, and emboldened from the dramatic rescue, they turned their attacks on the bird the kobold summoned and the hippogriff. The orc rider was able to whirl around Rudyard’s arrow, but a full volley of Tsine’s magical missiles struck it, and not wanting to share the fate Quercus almost suffered, she rode her hippogriff back to the shrine, sent it out to attack Quercus, and then retreated into the shrine herself. The kobold bard did likewise, as did the spellcaster after finishing one more bird summon. The pair of birds harried Tal and Tsine, before finally being killed by Raz and Tal’s long-range attacks. Meanwhile, the winged elf woman had sent Quercus down on the forest side of the cliff, healed some of his wounds, and then flew off again just as Quercus was recovering. However, while partially healed, Quercus was caught unprepared by the hippogriff’s sudden attack, and was again on the ground, barely fighting it off as the creature bit deep into his arm. Seeing their friend was again in trouble, Tal and Raz fired at the bird/horse amalgam, wounding it heavily and causing it to flee over the horizon. Their attention now focused entirely on the ogre, the part turn on him again just as the magical grease pool vanished. The suddenly panicky ogre managed one more stab at Rudyard, then was attacked himself by Rudyard’s blade. Flix tumbled between the creature’s legs, and dealt a telling blow to the creature’s back, while Tsine drew his own bow and fired a shot deep into the creature’s leg. It stumbled, and gave an angry roar, but it now lacked the room to effectively swing his spear, so he dropped it and drew his greatclub, then tried to slam it into the halfling. But Flix was too quick for him, and he and Rudyard simultaneously attacked, catching the orc in a pincher attack. Flix’s short sword cut deep into the ogre’s neck, and with one last gurgling cry, he slumped onto the bridge, and moved no more. Quercus managed to catch up to the group by this time, and after giving the wounded (including himself,) a few shots of the wand of healing, the party dashed into the Shrine, intent on preventing the ritual. OOC Notes: This was the first time I made a fairly serious mistake in combat. In this case, I forgot the duration of the grease spell, causing it to last a few rounds longer than it should. No big deal; the kobold sorcerer would have just re-cast it instead of creating another summoned fiendish eagle, but still. And before you ask, no the winged elf that saved Quercus was not a deus ex machina by me to save an early character. I planned on using her already for the first player to fall in, though I didn’t actually expect it to happen so soon into the battle. Anyway, you’ll see more of her in the next few updates, as you probably expected. [/QUOTE]
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