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Akos closes in toward melee, almost resolved by now, but still mostly hidden from view. Still, wind wall helped and there are shadows in the swirling mist as the loyalist soldier charged inside. Praying he's targeting the right shadow, loremaster lets loose another blast of hot air and leaves, this one not pleasant at all. Leaving a trail of swirling mist, the leaves impact the soldier going toward Tim.
As the Loremaster looks for the Loyalist targeting Tim, he only sees a swirling of blades and air. He can't tell for certain, but the man might have fallen under Tim's blade. Akos can see a large figure looming in the fog, but then steps up to the wind wall and attacks someone else on the other side of the magical effect.
Akos hears The Butcher boast to Tim. The Loremaster risks a shot through the swirling fog and the wind wall. He hopes that he doesn't hit anyone else. The blast of fey energy disappears into the swirling chaos. Akos can't tell if it hit or not, but none of his companions or the guard cry out in pain.
"Butcher! Your mission failed, I'm still here. And if you are defeated here, it will take time to get you back and equip you again. Retreat now!"
He hopes to draw the man out of the mists into the open where everybody can attack. He still worries about the cleric popping out somewhere, but he cannot see the caster anymore.
The Loyalist is already down, as is the thug. The cleric withdrew into the warehouse completely. The Butcher is the last opponent (not including the approaching beast, of course). I'm assuming you'd want to just try to hit The Butcher with a standard eldritch blast.
He has cover from the attack, so +4 to his touch AC. Akos is firing into melee, so -4 to his ranged touch attack. (If he was targeting the soldier, it would have also applied.) The Butcher's touch AC is 17 + 4 = 21. With the -4 for firing into melee, your attack roll is 20. So, it's a miss unless he gets a higher attack roll total for not using eldritch chain.
To end the round, Sobla finishes barricading the door tothe back room of the candle shop, the Bluffside Regular takes the offered potion from Akos and moves towards the gateway, and Custodio chases after the Rising Swords cleric. I'm only describing Custodio's actions.
Custodio knows Tim and the other Exemplars will stop The Butcher, but he won't let the cleric escape. He rushes past Burchard into the warehouse. Parts of the room closest to the open door is blanketed by the fog.
"To you your left," Burchard says.
Custodio moves carefully but with purpose. He knows that there might be traps, so he goes slow. He finds his way out of the edge of the fog and around a short corner. There is a metal door. It is closed. It's likely locked and trapped. There is a stack of crates in the southwest corner of the room and an old bench in the southeast corner. against the back wall is small table that is filled with vials that might be potions but also could be poison.
The Vanquisher cleric doesn't touch anything!
"Tuck! Vincenzo! I don't know if you can hear me! There's a door here!" Custodio hears the beast roar again. "Akos! We might have potion here too! Most of them are gone! But there could be something in here we can use!" End of Round 14
Tim's brow furrows. This is obviously a reference to some sort of dark magic, the kind that might allow him to return from the grave, in some form of unnatural existence. But no matter, because in the words of Syvatagor's scripture, as the sun sets, darkness falls, and as the sun rises, it is the light which reigns, and both of these, darkness and daylight, depend upon the rising and setting of the same sun. Thus, it is the light which always remains, and darkness which is always fleeting.
Tim snorts,"Yes, indeed. One of the endless parade of fools, who choose to serve the darkness for cheap rewards, for which the price is dearly precious: your eternal soul. I pity you, Butcher, you are blind, and headed down the path of ruin."
The Butcher listens to Big Tim's retort passively. If the Tall Knight is trying to anger the man, it is near impossible to tell. The man is fearless beyond all reason. But, then again, this foe is not human.
"Your kind of evil has no place in Bluffside," Captain Camburn says as the energy of the Wind Wall spell roars around them. The captain's cloak is whipped around by the spell effect.
The Loyalist steadies himself and lashes out at the captain with his shortspear. The weapon sinks deep into the Captain's chest. The Butcher then shifts his stance and drives the spear into Emelia's shoulder. It is another vicious wound. The man steps through the wind wall towards Tim. But, as he does, he lashes out at Camburn again. This time, with his spiked gauntlet. The weapon impacts the Captain's chest again.
It is too much for the old warrior. He gasps and pain and falls to the ground.
"No!" Emelia yells.
"Let us finish this, knight," The Butcher says to Tim. "Before you paladin friend gets in our way."
Tim feels his own anger rising, but there is something else. The cut where the dwarf's poisoned axe cut him has gone from itching to aching. The Knight of Vrocia tries to ignore the pain coming from the wound.
Tuck creeps forward through the fog, hearing too many voices up ahead. He does not trust his aim enough to hit the Butcher instead of anyone else, so the kobold finds his way along the wall to see what he can find.
A doorway, the one leading into warehouse, comes up to his left, and after hearing Custodio call for him inside, Tuck decides to go in and help his companion to find anything that can help them in their fight against the Butcher, and later, that monster coming this way.
Moving almost as silent, but a lot more energetic, Mutt walks behind his friend, but hesitates at the door. The dog would rather help out in the fight outside.
OOC:
Move inside the warehouse, search for potions or potential weapons. Something that could be used to make a giant trap would also be perfect.
Falen:
Eyes narrowing, he mentally tallies the battlefield again. The loyalists are thinning, either in blood or by intent. Other than the Butcher, the loyalists clearly don’t want to be outside when this rather loud and brash aberration arrives. Phelix is a punk for playing this card. Messy. Blunt instrument.
But Falen will say this for him; he likes to win, carnage be damned. A growing madness, perhaps? He ponders this Butcher; almost golem-ish. Falen’s eyes sharpen. Less than half a minute until the monster arrives.
In a single move, he shakes off the residual effects of the Sting Ray and tumbles off of the roof, avoiding any injury and moving deftly in striking range of the Butcher, delivering a withering blow (for a dagger anyway) straight into the Butcher’s left butt-check. He says nothing. No wit. No bravado. The only principle in his attack being the blade cutting deep and allowing Tymbeck to draw down on their opponent.
They had to get inside one or more of the buildings, and quickly. The butcher appeared out of one and then another.
Falen:
Eyes narrowing, he mentally tallies the battlefield again. The loyalists are thinning, either in blood or by intent. Other than the Butcher, the loyalists clearly don’t want to be outside when this rather loud and brash aberration arrives. Phelix is a punk for playing this card. Messy. Blunt instrument.
But Falen will say this for him; he likes to win, carnage be damned. A growing madness, perhaps? He ponders this Butcher; almost golem-ish. Falen’s eyes sharpen. Less than half a minute until the monster arrives.
In a single move, he shakes off the residual effects of the Sting Ray and tumbles off of the roof, avoiding any injury and moving deftly in striking range of the Butcher, delivering a withering blow (for a dagger anyway) straight into the Butcher’s left butt-check. He says nothing. No wit. No bravado. The only principle in his attack being the blade cutting deep and allowing Tymbeck to draw down on their opponent.
They had to get inside one or more of the buildings, and quickly. The butcher appeared out of one and then another.
Falen notes that the blade doesn't penetrate The Butcher's buttock as much as it should have. Such a strike would have crippled a normal foe. The man is protected by more than just magic. The Butcher's heritage protects him too. Falen remembers when this foe first stepped out of the candle shop. Falen had noted the red colouring of the man's armor, but now, up close, he can see the man's skin is as red as his armour. His blood is fiendish.
"I see you decided to stop hiding, Mr. Falen," The Butcher says. "Let's see which one of us dies first."
Tuck creeps forward through the fog, hearing too many voices up ahead. He does not trust his aim enough to hit the Butcher instead of anyone else, so the kobold finds his way along the wall to see what he can find.
A doorway, the one leading into warehouse, comes up to his left, and after hearing Custodio call for him inside, Tuck decides to go in and help his companion to find anything that can help them in their fight against the Butcher, and later, that monster coming this way.
Moving almost as silent, but a lot more energetic, Mutt walks behind his friend, but hesitates at the door. The dog would rather help out in the fight outside.
OOC:
Move inside the warehouse, search for potions or potential weapons. Something that could be used to make a giant trap would also be perfect.
search check Tuck: 1D20+17 = [13]+17 = 30
Mutt would be better in melee, but I don't see any place for him outside. Perhaps I'm looking right? Mutt is hasted, after all.
Tuck slides past Akos while finding his way to the warehouse's doorway. Mutt moves with him, sniffing at the ground. The big dog growls at the fallen foes on the street but leaves them be. Mutt continues to move through the fog while sniffing at the ground until he reach one of the fallen thugs. The big dog can tell that the man isn't dead. He growls at the unconscious thug.
Tuck finds that the area around the doorway has been cleared of the fog, but the magical effect still lingers inside to his left and his right. Looking left, he barely see the outline of Custodio standing and waiting for aid. Tuck hesitates for just second, until the Vanquisher cleric speaks.
"Tuck, is that you? I can barely see you. The cleric is gone. There is a metal door here. It probably leads down into their guild."
Tuck relaxes and finds his way out of the lingering fog past Custodio. There is walled off section, in stone, of the larger room. It is 5 by 5 and on the south side is a metal door with an intricate lock on it.
"The shelf is there," Custodio points to a short, squat shelf against the back wall of the warehouse. It has four levels and their are indeed vials of liquid on each one, although the two middle levels of the shelf are nearly empty. There are only half a dozen on each one. The bottom shelf is nearly full, but Tuck can tell the moment he gets closer that those vials are probably not magical. The top level is nearly full of vials with only a handful missing.
It is strange. For the Loyalists to leave them all behind. Then, Tuck nearly steps on a cracked vial on the floor. They were clearing out the shelf but couldn't get everything. Tuck looks at the vials on the top level of the shelf without disturbing any of them. Each one is either green or red in colour. The top of the shelf is marked with the symbol of the Rising Swords, as are each of the vials.
The next two levels of the shelf are marked with a very different symbol. Tuck has seen it only a few times in the places where Loyalists have been rooted out. It is their unique brand, which they often have tattooed on their bodies with magical ink (usually on the back). While the dozen or so ceramic potion bottles, and that is what they are, Tuck is certain, aren't marked with the Loyalists' symbol, each one is carved with a simple symbol. Two near the front have an engraved symbol of a cat on them. Another three on the shelf below are carved with a bear's head. There is also one bottle with carved bull's horns. There uses seem obvious. He does notice one other bottle on the second level with a carved symbol of a tree on it.
The potion bottles look very different to the potions that the Exemplars captured before from the Loyalists. They are sturdier. Better designed. Yet look simple to use.
The kobold urban ranger looks to his right and notes the weapon rack. It has two short swords and spear on it. The weapon's don't look magical, but they look to be of good quality. Maybe even masterwork.
OOC:
@JustinCase: Okay, so searching 5 cubic feet is a full-round action. For Tuck to get a full accounting of what is on the shelf, he will have to do his actual search next round. But, I've given clues on what Tuck can see on the shelf.
@JustinCase: Okay, so searching 5 cubic feet is a full-round action. For Tuck to get a full accounting of what is on the shelf, he will have to do his actual search next round. But, I've given clues on what Tuck can see on the shelf.
Vincenzo considers picking up one of the mercenary's shields and casting a spell that will allow him to protect himself or another. Then, the poison from the thug's bolt rips through his body again. He feels more of his energy drain away. He nearly throws up. Without the potion he drank earlier, he's be dead for sure.
The beast roars again.
The Sectarian shakes his head. The Butcher must fall! He makes his way through the lingering fog. The air is unseasonable calm. Could that be Phelix's doing. No, probably just bad luck. As his head swims, he finds the edge of the Wind Wall. Emelia is standing in front of him and The Butcher stands behind her. He is surrounded, but remains calm.
Vincenzo casts magic missile. Three force bolts flash out from his fingers. His magic bypasses The Butcher's natural resistance and force missiles impact the Loyalist.
Zenpher watches in silence as the beast approaches. It will be in range soon. The halfling Elite has never been this afraid in all his life. His people don't usually succumb to fear easily, but this... thing is truly horrifying.
Unglar looks for a way to get closer to The Butcher, but the Sectarian Captain puts a hand on his shoulder. "The Exemplars will finish him. We need to find the commander. Tell him what we're going to be up against."
The half-orc Elite nods.
The two of them move through the fog looking for Commander Oakfirst. Unglar almost walks right past him. The commander whirls around to face what he thinks might be more Loyalists, but he stops when he sees the misty form of Sectarian.
"Ela?"
"Commander, good your alive. The roars you are hearing... the creature. It is a monstrous thing. It came out of the Renegade's portal. It attacked Wyndlasmere House... burnt it to the ground."
"Commander Monderand? Arcanus Detch?"
She shakes her head. "I don't know. The portal opened and it rushed us guarding the portal so fast that we were overrun. At first, it appeared to just be a hydra. But, after it breathed fire, I knew it was a pyrohydra." She pauses. "But it is worse than that. The creature... it immediately shifted into a horrific form. A creature of the Unseen Abyss."
"It torn through our lines. We barely escaped back to the Blade Gate," Unglar adds. "Every time it was hurt, it healed almost all its wounds. It followed us to the gate. We managed to get the gate shut, but again, it ripped through the Elites and Regulars stationed there."
"Captain Nahom fell," Ela says glumly. "He refused to retreat, as did most of his guards. It was a bloodbath."
"By the Gods!" The commander exclaims. "That damn sorcerer! He's insane!"
The commander looks at Akos standing next to him. "I hope we can count on you. We need the strength of the Exemplars if we are going to defeat it."
"Fire didn't hurt it, at all. Magic flowed off it like water off a duck's back. It has, no, had eight heads. We did manage to severe one head and my acid burst sealed it shut. The creature is massive. Larger than a normal hydra. After it changed form, all but one of the heads became tentacles covered in eyes with toothy maws at the end of tentacle."
"I've never seen anything so horrifying before in my life," Unglar adds. "I- I hated having to retreat. I wanted to fight alongside Captain Nahom, but it was so deadly. It seemed to radiate menace. Fear."
"It is understandable." Commander Oakfirst says. He shouts out to his personal Elites. "Burchard! Emelia! Do everything you can to save the captain! We're going to need his blade!"
The commander takes another healing potion from his belt. "Unglar. you look like you could use this more than I. Take it."
"Sir, you should keep that for yourself," Unglar insists.
"I'm giving you an order, soldier," Oakfirst says. "Take it!"
Unglar nods his head and takes the potion from his commander.
Oakfirst notes all of the dead Loyalists and mercenaries on the ground. "We need to search them. Look for anything useful. Potions. Vials of acid. Magic of any kind. Ela, can you sense any magic on them."
"I will try," she says. "But this fog is magical too. It will take some time."
The beast roars again. Somewhere in the distance, a person screams in fear and pain.
"Time is running out, be as quick as you can." The commander replies as he bends over to search the dead man under his feet.
Emelia hears her commander's orders. Her best hope of saving the captain is helping the Exemplars put down this evil foe. She swings her blade three times. The first strike hits The Butcher in the head while her second strike slashes across his chest. The man doesn't flinch and Emelia knows she did not hurt him at all.
The Butcher ignores her completely. He senses Burchard intent. The other Elite takes out a potion and moves to feed it to Captain Camburn.
"Leave him be," The Butcher's words are more of an order than a threat. He drives his shortspear into the Elite's side, but Burchard still manages to pour the potion down Captain Camburn's throat.
The old warrior's eyes open and he looks up at Burchard just as The Butcher pulls back his spear. "I thought I was dead for sure."
"Not today, captain," Burchard replies.
The beast roars.
"Well, not at this moment," the Elite adds.
Captain Camburn draws his adamantine dagger and lashes out at The Butcher's legs. His first strike hits, but the blade doesn't penetrate the infernal man's skin. The captain loses a solid grip on the dagger, and The Butcher kicks it out of his hand.
"No more of that," the Loyalist Bastard says plainly.
