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Piratecat's storyhour reborn! (updated July 4, 2006)
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<blockquote data-quote="Piratecat" data-source="post: 2856277" data-attributes="member: 2"><p><strong><em>Part 4: Stone and Fire</em></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>When ribs break, they sound a lot like snapping twigs.</p><p></p><p>“I’m all right.” Tao winced as she pulled herself to her feet. “It hit me as I was charging. I’m not used to being flung around.” She spun both of her long swords, one in each hand, and narrowed her eyes at the elemental. “Jerk. That hurt.” Blood trickled from her nose and down the side of her face.</p><p></p><p>“So, class, what have we learned today about charging the giant unholy elemental?” Nolin drew on the phoenix's power coursing through his blood and sang a select combination of notes. A fiery pellet sizzled from the end of his finger and blossomed into a halo of searing flame against the creature’s blocky head. The elemental barely noticed as it continued to try and crush Valdek.</p><p></p><p>“That I want to do it again, but hit it this time.” Tao’s voice sounded bubbly, almost as if she were drowning.</p><p></p><p>Velendo snorted. “Wrong! How about ‘not to charge it, because it has much much longer arms than we do?’” He uttered a prayer to Calphas the Wallbuilder as he touched Tao on the back of the neck. She could instantly feel her splintered ribs sliding back into place, and her breathing became much less labored. She murmured her thanks.</p><p></p><p>“Good answer, Velendo.” Kiri thrust her hand forward and five white balls of force spiraled away into the body of the elemental. A paving stone broke free from its torso and crashed to the mud thirty feet below. “It looks like it’s going to take a lot of killing.”</p><p></p><p>“Maybe not,” said Shara. The blond woman stood with her back rigid, tilting up her perfect chin as she critically studied the elemental. The wind from the fire spells gently tousled her blond hair. “This is probably from the same person who changed our memories. I think it’s summoned and not natural. Let’s see how powerful the summoner is.” Shara made a ripping gesture with her hands, as if she were tearing a piece of cloth in two. A shudder went through the elemental, but it didn’t disappear. Shara’s lips tightened into a frown. “Pretty powerful. And we still don’t know where the summoner is.”</p><p></p><p>Velendo rolled his eyes. “Summoner. Of course. Tao, don’t charge it yet.”</p><p></p><p>“Why not?”</p><p></p><p>“Just don’t! Give me a second, and go when I say so.” </p><p></p><p>She blew air out of her lower lip, making a lock of auburn hair dance away from her forehead. “Fine. Just hurry it up. Valdek’s getting hammered, and I have no idea where TomTom and. . .”</p><p></p><p>A pillar of flame slammed down onto the elemental’s head. Rock steamed and melted.</p><p></p><p>“. . .never mind. There’s Raevynn now.”</p><p></p><p>At the monster’s feet, Valdek wrenched Warwinner from a rent that he’d hacked in its left leg. He spun, putting all his force behind the long magical blade. A purple beam of light linked the sword and the elemental, and the light seemed to guide his blow. Chips of splintered rock stung Valdek’s face as his sword struck home. </p><p></p><p>The colossus swiveled its head downwards towards the knight. The window panes of its eyes reflected the afternoon sun, and an arm like a battering ram pistoned into a huge, pile-driving blow. Valdek had just enough time to leap out of the way. The ground trembled beneath his feet. “Maybe next time,” he offered. He chuckled once, humorlessly, then shuffled forwards to take another swing.</p><p></p><p>-- o --</p><p></p><p>Invisible, TomTom Badgerclaw hovered over the battle field. Everyone else would have the elemental well in hand. He had different prey in mind.</p><p></p><p>He blotted out the nearby monster, the cowering villagers, Rofan’s dazed approach down the main street. He looked for small movements and flickers on the corner of sight. As a result, he was the only person who saw a tiny amount of rubble shift in the ruined hut beneath him. <em>It figures,</em> thought Tom Tom. <em>He summoned it underground. But he’s too excited to stay down there and let it do its job. No, gnomes are inquisitive and they’ll want to gloat. They really <strong>are</strong> just like squirrels.</em> TomTom couldn’t see anyone, but the rubble continued to shift. Someone invisible was down there. TomTom was pretty sure that he knew who.</p><p></p><p><em>“Raevynn,”</em> Tomtom reached out with his mind, <em>“ you still there? Do you have anything that can thwart invisibility? Pickett just came up out of that trap door.”</em></p><p></p><p>Her response was sharp. <em>“No kidding? Then I owe him a thank you for that trap. And the abominations. And for the elemental. That thing is tainted, just like the unholy ‘squakes’.”</em> Raevynn spread her awareness out over the ruins of the hut. <em>Saint Elmo’s Fire doesn’t have to only be on ships during a storm,</em> she thought. <em>Sometimes, all the air needs is a little persuasion. All you have to do is ask.</em></p><p></p><p>She asked, and the air answered. The hut erupted into a wispy flickering flame, silent greenish light outlining each and every piece of rubble. It also outlined a very surprised forest gnome in the process of easing through a partially opened trapdoor.</p><p></p><p>Still levitating, Tomtom flipped his magical jambiya from handle to glinting blade and threw it as hard as he could at the gnome. The curved steel made a whistle as it arced through the air, and the jambiya sliced through Pickett’s left wrist as easily as a knife goes through butter. The throw was perfect. The gnome screamed in horror, slipped in his own spouting blood, and fell backwards through the trap door. The door fell shut behind him, leaving Pickett’s twitching hand on the ground beside it. </p><p></p><p><em>“Well, that was rewarding. Raevynn, want to go after him?”</em></p><p></p><p>She sounded almost content. <em>“Oh, yes. Yes, indeed. Pickett and I need to have a little chat about abomination worship.”</em> She emerged from her hiding place in the nearby rubble, and Tomtom <em>slid</em> his mind downwards. His body naturally followed. He looked up in surprise when Rofan appeared around the corner.</p><p></p><p>“TomTom, what’s happening?” The prophet sounded stunned. </p><p></p><p>“These gnomes have you fooled, Rofan. You’ve been worshipping Orthyss, not Galanna. Abominations and monsters, not nature. I think they’re twisting your mind.” </p><p></p><p>He seemed to choke. “That’s not possible! I would know!” He took two or three steps towards TomTom and the closed trap door. “If that’s true, we… we have to stop them. I have to stop them.”</p><p></p><p>Raevynn took a deep breath in annoyance, and raised her voice over the sound of Nolin suddenly laughing somewhere outside. “That’s what we’re doing. You can help, or you can leave, but we’re ending this. And when we’re done, you and I are going to have a very long talk.” She took two steps forward, purposely treading on Pickett’s severed hand, and wrenched open the trap door. She stared down into a tunnel lit only by two small spheres of hovering flame. </p><p></p><p>TomTom’s face fell. “Delayed blast fi--“</p><p></p><p>The world exploded in flame.</p><p></p><p>-- o --</p><p></p><p>“Now!”</p><p></p><p><em>Hasted by Nolin,</em> Tao ran towards the elemental. As before, it swung out a ponderous arm to smash her backwards. This time, however, <em>protection from evil</em> prevented the elemental from making any contact whatsoever. Its swing went wide, and Tao aimed her swords at the same rent that Valdek had been creating. </p><p></p><p>More spells detonated somewhere overhead, and the creature began to shudder. One of its arms connected with Valdek, but the knight was well enough braced that the blow didn’t knock him backwards. He continued to attack, Tao now flanked the monster with him, and their repeated blows sent deep fault lines up the leg and through the monster’s torso. A beam of silvery light from Velendo shattered one of the creature’s windowpane eyes, electricity from the wizards coursed up and down its frame, and a sonic attack from Nolin sent a network of small cracks through its shoulder. </p><p></p><p>Enough was enough. The elemental aimed one final blow at Tao, missing her by mere inches, and turned to flee long enough to find a better tactical position. It did what came naturally; it sank straight down into the earth.</p><p></p><p>That was a poor decision.</p><p></p><p>Tao and Valdek both watched the head getting closer and closer, smiles widening on their bruised faces. They timed their blows carefully. Tao snapped her favorite sword up into the creature’s one remaining eye, and Valdek brought Warwinner around in a two-handed blow that caught the elemental squarely in the face. Already weakened, the deformed earth elemental shattered into a thousand fist-sized chunks of rock and cobblestone. The earth heaved, as if rejecting its foulness, and within seconds the monster had deliquesced into nothing more than gravel and slime. </p><p></p><p>Nolin’s laughter rang out. “Beautiful,” he said. “That went a lot better than I had expected.”</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: red"><span style="font-size: 15px">WHU-WHUMP.</span></span></strong></p><p></p><p>Behind him the ruins of the hut rose, shattered outwards, and dissolved into an inferno of shooting flame.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Piratecat, post: 2856277, member: 2"] [b][i]Part 4: Stone and Fire[/i][/b][i][/i] When ribs break, they sound a lot like snapping twigs. “I’m all right.” Tao winced as she pulled herself to her feet. “It hit me as I was charging. I’m not used to being flung around.” She spun both of her long swords, one in each hand, and narrowed her eyes at the elemental. “Jerk. That hurt.” Blood trickled from her nose and down the side of her face. “So, class, what have we learned today about charging the giant unholy elemental?” Nolin drew on the phoenix's power coursing through his blood and sang a select combination of notes. A fiery pellet sizzled from the end of his finger and blossomed into a halo of searing flame against the creature’s blocky head. The elemental barely noticed as it continued to try and crush Valdek. “That I want to do it again, but hit it this time.” Tao’s voice sounded bubbly, almost as if she were drowning. Velendo snorted. “Wrong! How about ‘not to charge it, because it has much much longer arms than we do?’” He uttered a prayer to Calphas the Wallbuilder as he touched Tao on the back of the neck. She could instantly feel her splintered ribs sliding back into place, and her breathing became much less labored. She murmured her thanks. “Good answer, Velendo.” Kiri thrust her hand forward and five white balls of force spiraled away into the body of the elemental. A paving stone broke free from its torso and crashed to the mud thirty feet below. “It looks like it’s going to take a lot of killing.” “Maybe not,” said Shara. The blond woman stood with her back rigid, tilting up her perfect chin as she critically studied the elemental. The wind from the fire spells gently tousled her blond hair. “This is probably from the same person who changed our memories. I think it’s summoned and not natural. Let’s see how powerful the summoner is.” Shara made a ripping gesture with her hands, as if she were tearing a piece of cloth in two. A shudder went through the elemental, but it didn’t disappear. Shara’s lips tightened into a frown. “Pretty powerful. And we still don’t know where the summoner is.” Velendo rolled his eyes. “Summoner. Of course. Tao, don’t charge it yet.” “Why not?” “Just don’t! Give me a second, and go when I say so.” She blew air out of her lower lip, making a lock of auburn hair dance away from her forehead. “Fine. Just hurry it up. Valdek’s getting hammered, and I have no idea where TomTom and. . .” A pillar of flame slammed down onto the elemental’s head. Rock steamed and melted. “. . .never mind. There’s Raevynn now.” At the monster’s feet, Valdek wrenched Warwinner from a rent that he’d hacked in its left leg. He spun, putting all his force behind the long magical blade. A purple beam of light linked the sword and the elemental, and the light seemed to guide his blow. Chips of splintered rock stung Valdek’s face as his sword struck home. The colossus swiveled its head downwards towards the knight. The window panes of its eyes reflected the afternoon sun, and an arm like a battering ram pistoned into a huge, pile-driving blow. Valdek had just enough time to leap out of the way. The ground trembled beneath his feet. “Maybe next time,” he offered. He chuckled once, humorlessly, then shuffled forwards to take another swing. -- o -- Invisible, TomTom Badgerclaw hovered over the battle field. Everyone else would have the elemental well in hand. He had different prey in mind. He blotted out the nearby monster, the cowering villagers, Rofan’s dazed approach down the main street. He looked for small movements and flickers on the corner of sight. As a result, he was the only person who saw a tiny amount of rubble shift in the ruined hut beneath him. [i]It figures,[/i] thought Tom Tom. [i]He summoned it underground. But he’s too excited to stay down there and let it do its job. No, gnomes are inquisitive and they’ll want to gloat. They really [b]are[/b] just like squirrels.[/i] TomTom couldn’t see anyone, but the rubble continued to shift. Someone invisible was down there. TomTom was pretty sure that he knew who. [i]“Raevynn,”[/i] Tomtom reached out with his mind, [i]“ you still there? Do you have anything that can thwart invisibility? Pickett just came up out of that trap door.”[/i] Her response was sharp. [i]“No kidding? Then I owe him a thank you for that trap. And the abominations. And for the elemental. That thing is tainted, just like the unholy ‘squakes’.”[/i] Raevynn spread her awareness out over the ruins of the hut. [i]Saint Elmo’s Fire doesn’t have to only be on ships during a storm,[/i] she thought. [i]Sometimes, all the air needs is a little persuasion. All you have to do is ask.[/i] She asked, and the air answered. The hut erupted into a wispy flickering flame, silent greenish light outlining each and every piece of rubble. It also outlined a very surprised forest gnome in the process of easing through a partially opened trapdoor. Still levitating, Tomtom flipped his magical jambiya from handle to glinting blade and threw it as hard as he could at the gnome. The curved steel made a whistle as it arced through the air, and the jambiya sliced through Pickett’s left wrist as easily as a knife goes through butter. The throw was perfect. The gnome screamed in horror, slipped in his own spouting blood, and fell backwards through the trap door. The door fell shut behind him, leaving Pickett’s twitching hand on the ground beside it. [i]“Well, that was rewarding. Raevynn, want to go after him?”[/i] She sounded almost content. [i]“Oh, yes. Yes, indeed. Pickett and I need to have a little chat about abomination worship.”[/i] She emerged from her hiding place in the nearby rubble, and Tomtom [i]slid[/i] his mind downwards. His body naturally followed. He looked up in surprise when Rofan appeared around the corner. “TomTom, what’s happening?” The prophet sounded stunned. “These gnomes have you fooled, Rofan. You’ve been worshipping Orthyss, not Galanna. Abominations and monsters, not nature. I think they’re twisting your mind.” He seemed to choke. “That’s not possible! I would know!” He took two or three steps towards TomTom and the closed trap door. “If that’s true, we… we have to stop them. I have to stop them.” Raevynn took a deep breath in annoyance, and raised her voice over the sound of Nolin suddenly laughing somewhere outside. “That’s what we’re doing. You can help, or you can leave, but we’re ending this. And when we’re done, you and I are going to have a very long talk.” She took two steps forward, purposely treading on Pickett’s severed hand, and wrenched open the trap door. She stared down into a tunnel lit only by two small spheres of hovering flame. TomTom’s face fell. “Delayed blast fi--“ The world exploded in flame. -- o -- “Now!” [i]Hasted by Nolin,[/i] Tao ran towards the elemental. As before, it swung out a ponderous arm to smash her backwards. This time, however, [i]protection from evil[/i] prevented the elemental from making any contact whatsoever. Its swing went wide, and Tao aimed her swords at the same rent that Valdek had been creating. More spells detonated somewhere overhead, and the creature began to shudder. One of its arms connected with Valdek, but the knight was well enough braced that the blow didn’t knock him backwards. He continued to attack, Tao now flanked the monster with him, and their repeated blows sent deep fault lines up the leg and through the monster’s torso. A beam of silvery light from Velendo shattered one of the creature’s windowpane eyes, electricity from the wizards coursed up and down its frame, and a sonic attack from Nolin sent a network of small cracks through its shoulder. Enough was enough. The elemental aimed one final blow at Tao, missing her by mere inches, and turned to flee long enough to find a better tactical position. It did what came naturally; it sank straight down into the earth. That was a poor decision. Tao and Valdek both watched the head getting closer and closer, smiles widening on their bruised faces. They timed their blows carefully. Tao snapped her favorite sword up into the creature’s one remaining eye, and Valdek brought Warwinner around in a two-handed blow that caught the elemental squarely in the face. Already weakened, the deformed earth elemental shattered into a thousand fist-sized chunks of rock and cobblestone. The earth heaved, as if rejecting its foulness, and within seconds the monster had deliquesced into nothing more than gravel and slime. Nolin’s laughter rang out. “Beautiful,” he said. “That went a lot better than I had expected.” [b][color=red][size=4]WHU-WHUMP.[/size][/color][/b][color=red][size=4][/size][/color] Behind him the ruins of the hut rose, shattered outwards, and dissolved into an inferno of shooting flame. [/QUOTE]
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