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Shilsen's Eberron SH (Finished - The Last Word : 9/20/15)
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<blockquote data-quote="shilsen" data-source="post: 3244643" data-attributes="member: 198"><p>I was grinning while writing it.</p><p></p><p>And to indicate the appropriateness of the phrase you quoted, here are the details of the famous raid on the Daask drug den.</p><p></p><p>Enjoy! After all, somebody should, considering how much the PCs did not <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p><p></p><p>* * * * * * * * * * * *</p><p>The Guardian Angels, with the notable exception of Luna, stroll into Malleon’s Gate. Even without her presence, their heavily armed nature draws a lot of wary attention from the primarily goblinoid inhabitants of the district. Or perhaps it’s just the fact that they are laughing and chatting casually among themselves, with about as much wariness as one would have when traveling through the skybridges of Upper Central in the middle of the afternoon. Or at least some of them are.</p><p></p><p>“Really, Six,” says Nameless, “I think you’re not seeing the enjoyment factor here.”</p><p></p><p>The warforged, who is currently appearing as a big hobgoblin, via his <em>hat of disguise</em> shakes his head. “I just don’t think it’s really necessary to antagonize Daask like this.”</p><p></p><p>“What antagonize?” asks Korm. “We go in there, kick some ass, and go home. No big deal.”</p><p></p><p>“Yes,” agrees Gareth. “And it’s one of their more successful drug dens, I hear, so taking it down will be a very good thing.” Just a trifle grimly, he adds, “And I could use a little exercise. After … what happened with Kizmet … I’m really going to enjoy bringing a little pain to other more deserving people. And I need to try out this longsword and shield style too, since I haven’t used one in a while. And try out this new armor.” He looks down at the exceptionally well-made armor he now wears, already adorned with symbols of the Flame.</p><p></p><p>Korm pats a pocket. “I have a few new things to try out too, except in this case it’s a spell. When I tell you guys not to stand too close to me, pay attention. I’m going to blow myself up.” The big orc chuckles to himself.</p><p></p><p>Nameless doesn’t bother to ask, having seen Korm cast a <em>fire seeds</em> spell just before leaving the house. “And I have a couple I want to try, as well as getting more practice with this ring. Look at it this way, Six – we could either be out doing this, or be home with Luna. And she said she’s got cramps. Do <em>you</em> want to be in the same building as Luna when she has cramps?”</p><p></p><p>Though the question is aimed at Six, all three of Nameless’ companions shake their heads in unison.</p><p></p><p>******</p><p>A few minutes later…</p><p></p><p>One of the two gnolls leaning against the wall beside the door looks up at the sound of hurried movement near the corner of the street. The small collection of goblins around the nearby rat-seller’s stand are scattering, and it takes only a second to make out the reason. </p><p></p><p>Four figures are striding down the street as if they owned it. In the lead is a large orc, wearing a dark brown robe that leaves his muscular chest bare, the hilt of a large sword protruding over his right shoulder. Behind the orc is a tall and muscular human, his armor gleaming even in the dull light that penetrates to the smoky depths of Lower Dura, a shield strapped to one arm and a longsword at his side. Beside the human is a burly hobgoblin, in simpler armor, but wearing two, or maybe three, spiked chains wrapped around himself. </p><p></p><p>What especially draws the gnoll’s attention – and makes his hackles stand on end – is the relatively nondescript, smaller man walking beside the orc. He wears no armor and has no obvious weapons, garbed in well-worn traveler’s clothing, but even at this distance the gnoll can see that there’s something wrong with his eyes. And his hands are moving in the gestures of what can only be a spell.</p><p></p><p>The gnoll barks a warning, causing his companion to come to full attention, battleaxe in hand, while their two goblin companions quickly raise their crossbows. Before any of them can act, however, the human speaks a string of words and a flaming bead shoots from his hands. And as it reaches the horrified watchers, it explodes into a huge sphere of flame.</p><p></p><p>The four adventurers walk over and look down at the charred bodies. Korm turns to look at the tiny charred pieces of wood hanging off the hinges, which are all that remain of the door the gnolls and goblins had been guarding. “Damn! Nice <em>fireball</em>!”</p><p></p><p>Nameless smirks and indicates his ring. “The joys of empowering a spell are mighty indeed.”</p><p></p><p>Gareth, peering into the chamber that Nameless’ spell expanded into after blowing the door off, says, “You cleaned this one out too.” He walks in, followed by Korm and Nameless, while Six takes up position at the door, looking up and down the street. The cries and sight of fleeing goblinoids in either direction makes it evident that the group’s activities have been noticed. “Let’s hurry this up,” he says.</p><p></p><p>The large room inside, which takes up the entire front of the building, is now a shambles. The couple of tables and the chairs around them have been reduced to smithereens, and the one large counter is badly damaged. In front of it lies a man dressed like a workman, comparatively less charred than the guards, but also very dead. A large chunk of the door is actually buried in the wall above the counter, and Korm, checking behind the counter, finds that another chunk is buried in what remains of the head of another man lying behind it. The packing crates that line one wall have taken some damage, but not that much.</p><p></p><p>As the Angels are checking out these elements, one of the two doors in the back of the room opens, and two howling gnolls charge at them. Gareth calmly steps forward, and a swing of his adamantine blade leaves one gnoll holding a short stick instead of a battleaxe. The other rushes up and swings at Korm’s bare chest, only for his axe to bounce off the magical protections layering the druid. Korm simply grins at him, as Nameless casts a quick spell, causing a twenty foot long tentacled centipede to appear and bite deeply into the shocked gnoll’s shoulder.</p><p></p><p>There is a howl of fear and the door the gnolls emerged from is hastily shut, followed quickly by the sound of a grating or portcullis being slammed shut behind it. Five seconds later, one of the gnolls is dead and the other is gibbering in fear and begging to be allowed to live in exchange for information. The answer it receives is “Shut up and don’t get in the way,” as the Angels continue inwards, or at least the three of them besides Six, who remains at the door.</p><p></p><p>Nameless steps up and fires another empowered <em>resonating bolt</em> of sonic energy, which blasts apart the door the gnolls came through. It reveals the broad metal and wood bars of a portcullis behind the door and a large antechamber beyond it, and continues on through the spaces between them to also blast through another door about fifteen feet away on the far side of the antechamber. </p><p></p><p>As the sounds of the explosion clear, everyone can hear the sounds of multiple gnoll voices, shouting and arguing loudly, fear very evident in them. Trying vainly to shout over the voices is a thinner one, in Common – “Stop shouting! Get in formation, dammit! They’ll be here any moment!” </p><p></p><p>One of the gnoll voices switches to accented Common and shouts, “It’s them! The four crazy bastards! I know them! We’re all going to die!” This causes the other voice to switch to insults and dire threats, and also draws broad smiles from Korm, Gareth and Nameless. “Hey, they know us!”</p><p></p><p>Korm chops apart the barrier with his sword, its meteoric iron reducing the portcullis quickly to nothing. As he finishes, he hears stealthy movement behind the next door. “You guys go this way – and I’ll handle these ones,” he says, as he moves over to stand before it.</p><p></p><p>Gareth and Nameless comply, strolling casually into the back room where all the voices came from. As they pass through the chamber in between, they see doors to either side, much like they had in the last drug den they attacked, but ignore them, secure in their power. The huge centipede slithers ahead of its master, following Nameless’ commands.</p><p></p><p>The room they enter is a long one, almost as large as the entrance chamber, but a little shorter. A small curtained doorway is at the far end, and a robed goblin stands in front of it, yelling orders to the six gnolls, three with battleaxes and three with longbows, which stand between it and the entrance the Angels come through. “There! Kill the…,” begins the goblin, but never finishes the sentence.</p><p></p><p>Nameless stops in the doorway and casts a spell, sending a green ray of coruscating energy into its chest, and there is only a whiff of dust as the goblin is <em>disintegrate</em>d, its robes and other belongings falling in a neat pile on the floor. “Hello everybody,” says Nameless with a bright smile.</p><p></p><p>“Everything okay in there?” yells Six, still at the doorway of the building. </p><p></p><p>“Yes,” shouts back Gareth with a smile, twirling his sword in anticipation as he steps forward. “We’re peachy!”</p><p></p><p>Korm, waiting quietly in front of the other doorway, reaches into his pocket and produces a handful of holly berries. He holds them out in front of him and grins in anticipation. <em>This is going to be such fun!</em></p><p></p><p>And that, precisely, is the moment when things start to go very, very wrong.</p><p></p><p>The axe-wielding gnolls, facing Gareth and the huge centipede, scream in a mixture of rage and fury and charge. The centipede snaps its jaws shut around one’s shoulder, while Gareth slashes one across the chest. To his surprise, the gnoll does not go down, but snarls and brings its axe down to impact painfully on his armor. The other two bury their axes deep into the centipede’s side.</p><p></p><p>Even as the axes are hitting, the archers shoot, and both Gareth and Nameless shudder as they feel the pain of <em>human-bane</em> arrows striking home. <em>Damn! Should have remembered they carry these!</em></p><p></p><p>To round things off, one of the doors Nameless and Gareth ignored is wrenched open, and a roaring ogre emerges. Its greatsword smashes into the startled mage’s side, slamming him against the wall, only failing to drop him because of the enchantments he has been permanently blessed with as a result of the battle with the rakshasas. Behind it Nameless can see another ogre in the doorway, evidently the one who opened the door for its companion.</p><p></p><p>Six, unable to see into the room, but seeing the ogre emerge and smash Nameless, shouts, “Damn! Get your asses out of here!”</p><p></p><p>Gareth, just as startled at the appearance of the ogre, yells back, “Stop shouting advice and get in here and help!”</p><p></p><p>Korm, unsure exactly what’s going on, but certain that something is wrong, glares at the door in front of him and wonders why it hasn’t opened yet. He places his ear to it and hears some muffled words, and closer at hand, the sounds of multiple people drinking something. <em>Crap! They’re drinking potions!</em> He hastily grabs at his sword to hack at the door.</p><p></p><p>Inside the other room, even as more arrows hit them, Gareth hurries to interpose himself between Nameless and the ogre. Calling on the Flame for aid, he lands a powerful blow, which only seems to infuriate his enemy.</p><p></p><p>Behind him Nameless, badly wounded and rendered unusually panicky by the sudden shift of the enjoyable little exercise session into a very deadly scenario, hurriedly <em>dimension door</em>s himself to the main chamber. Just a second too late, he realizes that he should have brought along a passenger. “Gareth!” he yells, “Get out!”</p><p></p><p>“And how the hell do I do that?” shouts Gareth, as the ogre between him and the main chamber is now joined by its companion. One greatsword blow almost caves in his shield and the following one launches him backwards across the chamber to land flat on his back, right in the middle of the gnolls. </p><p></p><p>“Guys! I’m in trouble!” shouts Gareth, before hastily rolling out of the way of an axe and casting a spell. He draws down a blast of holy power to smite his enemies, and though it doesn’t kill any of them, it renders half of them temporarily blind. </p><p></p><p>“Six! Get in there!” yells Korm, as he hacks at the door in front of him. A couple of blows shatters it to pieces, revealing a corridor occupied by many more enemies. Two more axe-wielding gnolls stand in front of him, with two more archers fifteen feet behind them. Standing behind the archers is what seems to be a human, but it is difficult to say due to his hooded cloak.</p><p></p><p>“Fine!” grumbles Six, muttering, “I never wanted to do this,” under his breath and leaping forward. His chain licks out and slashes into the back of one of the ogres, both of whom are focused on the other room and Gareth. As his surprised target cries out, Six leaps back out of range.</p><p></p><p>Behind him, Nameless yells an order to the centipede to find another exit, and the creature tries to comply. As it heads for the curtained doorway, two axes bury themselves in its skull and it shudders, and then fades away.</p><p></p><p>But the time it buys Gareth is invaluable, as is the spell Nameless uses to <em>slow</em> the ogres. As they ponderously turn to try and attack Six, Gareth rises and rushes between them as fast as he can. The sighted gnolls howl, now in a combination of relief and blood-lust, and follow.</p><p></p><p>Korm, meanwhile, has problems of his own. The gnolls fling down the potion bottles they had just drunk from and attack as soon as he smashes the door, and though the axes bounce off his magical protections, a couple of arrows hit. Luckily for him, the gnolls do not possess <em>orc-bane</em> arrows, but the magical <em>frost</em> that tips them still hurts.</p><p></p><p>With an anticipatory grin, he extends the holly berries and pronounces a command, causing them to explode in an incredible burst of flame*. Warded by a protection he cast before the group launched the attack, he is unscathed, but the gnolls next to him are engulfed in flame. As they scream and try to dodge the explosion, Korm smiles. And then curses as they remain on their feet, though incredibly burned and clearly on the verge of death.**</p><p></p><p>As more axes and arrows hit home, Korm angrily backs away and blasts them to death with a <em>flame strike</em>, also wounding the archers. The robed man, however, remains unscathed, and he hurls a small object.</p><p></p><p>Korm dodges away, but the man is aiming for the ground behind him. As the <em>bead of force</em> hits, it explodes, blasting all of the Angels. A globe of force attempts to envelop Korm but he barely dodges aside. Nameless, already badly wounded, slumps to the floor, unconscious and dying.</p><p></p><p>Korm, Six and Gareth attempt to fight back as the remaining eight gnolls, the two ogres and the spellcaster advance into the room, but it’s clearly a losing battle. One of the ogres cuts Gareth down, and though Korm decapitates it a moment later, a <em>lightning bolt</em> from the spellcaster badly wounds him in turn.</p><p></p><p>Six and Korm are driven back, until they are outside in the street, facing the multiple enemies. Though the remaining ogre and the spellcaster are almost completely unhurt, the gnolls are all badly wounded, and Korm prepares to unleash an <em>arc of lightning</em> that he hopes will take advantage of the crowded conditions to slay most of the them. </p><p></p><p>But before he can do so, the enemy spellcaster says something to the gnolls. Immediately, two of the archers lower their bows, placing an arrow each at the unconscious Gareth’s and Nameless’ skulls and drawing back. </p><p></p><p>“Your friends,” says the spellcaster calmly, “Are dead if you make a hostile move. You cannot win. Drop your weapons and surrender – or they die.”</p><p></p><p>Six and Korm exchange glances. And then, without a word, Six turns and runs down the street. </p><p></p><p>Korm’s jaw sags open as he goes, “Whuh?!” He looks at the rapidly retreating Six, back at the enemies, and back at Six. And then he turns and follows as quickly as he can, leaving Nameless and Gareth in the hands of Daask.</p><p></p><p></p><p>* 140 pts of damage to anything within 5 ft. <em>Fire seeds</em> is nasty!</p><p>** Both saved for 70 pts of damage, and the fact that they were raging and Korm had just given them enough time to drink potions of Bear’s Endurance meant they had 72 hp before the blast</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="shilsen, post: 3244643, member: 198"] I was grinning while writing it. And to indicate the appropriateness of the phrase you quoted, here are the details of the famous raid on the Daask drug den. Enjoy! After all, somebody should, considering how much the PCs did not :D * * * * * * * * * * * * The Guardian Angels, with the notable exception of Luna, stroll into Malleon’s Gate. Even without her presence, their heavily armed nature draws a lot of wary attention from the primarily goblinoid inhabitants of the district. Or perhaps it’s just the fact that they are laughing and chatting casually among themselves, with about as much wariness as one would have when traveling through the skybridges of Upper Central in the middle of the afternoon. Or at least some of them are. “Really, Six,” says Nameless, “I think you’re not seeing the enjoyment factor here.” The warforged, who is currently appearing as a big hobgoblin, via his [i]hat of disguise[/i] shakes his head. “I just don’t think it’s really necessary to antagonize Daask like this.” “What antagonize?” asks Korm. “We go in there, kick some ass, and go home. No big deal.” “Yes,” agrees Gareth. “And it’s one of their more successful drug dens, I hear, so taking it down will be a very good thing.” Just a trifle grimly, he adds, “And I could use a little exercise. After … what happened with Kizmet … I’m really going to enjoy bringing a little pain to other more deserving people. And I need to try out this longsword and shield style too, since I haven’t used one in a while. And try out this new armor.” He looks down at the exceptionally well-made armor he now wears, already adorned with symbols of the Flame. Korm pats a pocket. “I have a few new things to try out too, except in this case it’s a spell. When I tell you guys not to stand too close to me, pay attention. I’m going to blow myself up.” The big orc chuckles to himself. Nameless doesn’t bother to ask, having seen Korm cast a [i]fire seeds[/i] spell just before leaving the house. “And I have a couple I want to try, as well as getting more practice with this ring. Look at it this way, Six – we could either be out doing this, or be home with Luna. And she said she’s got cramps. Do [i]you[/i] want to be in the same building as Luna when she has cramps?” Though the question is aimed at Six, all three of Nameless’ companions shake their heads in unison. ****** A few minutes later… One of the two gnolls leaning against the wall beside the door looks up at the sound of hurried movement near the corner of the street. The small collection of goblins around the nearby rat-seller’s stand are scattering, and it takes only a second to make out the reason. Four figures are striding down the street as if they owned it. In the lead is a large orc, wearing a dark brown robe that leaves his muscular chest bare, the hilt of a large sword protruding over his right shoulder. Behind the orc is a tall and muscular human, his armor gleaming even in the dull light that penetrates to the smoky depths of Lower Dura, a shield strapped to one arm and a longsword at his side. Beside the human is a burly hobgoblin, in simpler armor, but wearing two, or maybe three, spiked chains wrapped around himself. What especially draws the gnoll’s attention – and makes his hackles stand on end – is the relatively nondescript, smaller man walking beside the orc. He wears no armor and has no obvious weapons, garbed in well-worn traveler’s clothing, but even at this distance the gnoll can see that there’s something wrong with his eyes. And his hands are moving in the gestures of what can only be a spell. The gnoll barks a warning, causing his companion to come to full attention, battleaxe in hand, while their two goblin companions quickly raise their crossbows. Before any of them can act, however, the human speaks a string of words and a flaming bead shoots from his hands. And as it reaches the horrified watchers, it explodes into a huge sphere of flame. The four adventurers walk over and look down at the charred bodies. Korm turns to look at the tiny charred pieces of wood hanging off the hinges, which are all that remain of the door the gnolls and goblins had been guarding. “Damn! Nice [i]fireball[/i]!” Nameless smirks and indicates his ring. “The joys of empowering a spell are mighty indeed.” Gareth, peering into the chamber that Nameless’ spell expanded into after blowing the door off, says, “You cleaned this one out too.” He walks in, followed by Korm and Nameless, while Six takes up position at the door, looking up and down the street. The cries and sight of fleeing goblinoids in either direction makes it evident that the group’s activities have been noticed. “Let’s hurry this up,” he says. The large room inside, which takes up the entire front of the building, is now a shambles. The couple of tables and the chairs around them have been reduced to smithereens, and the one large counter is badly damaged. In front of it lies a man dressed like a workman, comparatively less charred than the guards, but also very dead. A large chunk of the door is actually buried in the wall above the counter, and Korm, checking behind the counter, finds that another chunk is buried in what remains of the head of another man lying behind it. The packing crates that line one wall have taken some damage, but not that much. As the Angels are checking out these elements, one of the two doors in the back of the room opens, and two howling gnolls charge at them. Gareth calmly steps forward, and a swing of his adamantine blade leaves one gnoll holding a short stick instead of a battleaxe. The other rushes up and swings at Korm’s bare chest, only for his axe to bounce off the magical protections layering the druid. Korm simply grins at him, as Nameless casts a quick spell, causing a twenty foot long tentacled centipede to appear and bite deeply into the shocked gnoll’s shoulder. There is a howl of fear and the door the gnolls emerged from is hastily shut, followed quickly by the sound of a grating or portcullis being slammed shut behind it. Five seconds later, one of the gnolls is dead and the other is gibbering in fear and begging to be allowed to live in exchange for information. The answer it receives is “Shut up and don’t get in the way,” as the Angels continue inwards, or at least the three of them besides Six, who remains at the door. Nameless steps up and fires another empowered [i]resonating bolt[/i] of sonic energy, which blasts apart the door the gnolls came through. It reveals the broad metal and wood bars of a portcullis behind the door and a large antechamber beyond it, and continues on through the spaces between them to also blast through another door about fifteen feet away on the far side of the antechamber. As the sounds of the explosion clear, everyone can hear the sounds of multiple gnoll voices, shouting and arguing loudly, fear very evident in them. Trying vainly to shout over the voices is a thinner one, in Common – “Stop shouting! Get in formation, dammit! They’ll be here any moment!” One of the gnoll voices switches to accented Common and shouts, “It’s them! The four crazy bastards! I know them! We’re all going to die!” This causes the other voice to switch to insults and dire threats, and also draws broad smiles from Korm, Gareth and Nameless. “Hey, they know us!” Korm chops apart the barrier with his sword, its meteoric iron reducing the portcullis quickly to nothing. As he finishes, he hears stealthy movement behind the next door. “You guys go this way – and I’ll handle these ones,” he says, as he moves over to stand before it. Gareth and Nameless comply, strolling casually into the back room where all the voices came from. As they pass through the chamber in between, they see doors to either side, much like they had in the last drug den they attacked, but ignore them, secure in their power. The huge centipede slithers ahead of its master, following Nameless’ commands. The room they enter is a long one, almost as large as the entrance chamber, but a little shorter. A small curtained doorway is at the far end, and a robed goblin stands in front of it, yelling orders to the six gnolls, three with battleaxes and three with longbows, which stand between it and the entrance the Angels come through. “There! Kill the…,” begins the goblin, but never finishes the sentence. Nameless stops in the doorway and casts a spell, sending a green ray of coruscating energy into its chest, and there is only a whiff of dust as the goblin is [i]disintegrate[/i]d, its robes and other belongings falling in a neat pile on the floor. “Hello everybody,” says Nameless with a bright smile. “Everything okay in there?” yells Six, still at the doorway of the building. “Yes,” shouts back Gareth with a smile, twirling his sword in anticipation as he steps forward. “We’re peachy!” Korm, waiting quietly in front of the other doorway, reaches into his pocket and produces a handful of holly berries. He holds them out in front of him and grins in anticipation. [i]This is going to be such fun![/i] And that, precisely, is the moment when things start to go very, very wrong. The axe-wielding gnolls, facing Gareth and the huge centipede, scream in a mixture of rage and fury and charge. The centipede snaps its jaws shut around one’s shoulder, while Gareth slashes one across the chest. To his surprise, the gnoll does not go down, but snarls and brings its axe down to impact painfully on his armor. The other two bury their axes deep into the centipede’s side. Even as the axes are hitting, the archers shoot, and both Gareth and Nameless shudder as they feel the pain of [i]human-bane[/i] arrows striking home. [i]Damn! Should have remembered they carry these![/i] To round things off, one of the doors Nameless and Gareth ignored is wrenched open, and a roaring ogre emerges. Its greatsword smashes into the startled mage’s side, slamming him against the wall, only failing to drop him because of the enchantments he has been permanently blessed with as a result of the battle with the rakshasas. Behind it Nameless can see another ogre in the doorway, evidently the one who opened the door for its companion. Six, unable to see into the room, but seeing the ogre emerge and smash Nameless, shouts, “Damn! Get your asses out of here!” Gareth, just as startled at the appearance of the ogre, yells back, “Stop shouting advice and get in here and help!” Korm, unsure exactly what’s going on, but certain that something is wrong, glares at the door in front of him and wonders why it hasn’t opened yet. He places his ear to it and hears some muffled words, and closer at hand, the sounds of multiple people drinking something. [i]Crap! They’re drinking potions![/i] He hastily grabs at his sword to hack at the door. Inside the other room, even as more arrows hit them, Gareth hurries to interpose himself between Nameless and the ogre. Calling on the Flame for aid, he lands a powerful blow, which only seems to infuriate his enemy. Behind him Nameless, badly wounded and rendered unusually panicky by the sudden shift of the enjoyable little exercise session into a very deadly scenario, hurriedly [i]dimension door[/i]s himself to the main chamber. Just a second too late, he realizes that he should have brought along a passenger. “Gareth!” he yells, “Get out!” “And how the hell do I do that?” shouts Gareth, as the ogre between him and the main chamber is now joined by its companion. One greatsword blow almost caves in his shield and the following one launches him backwards across the chamber to land flat on his back, right in the middle of the gnolls. “Guys! I’m in trouble!” shouts Gareth, before hastily rolling out of the way of an axe and casting a spell. He draws down a blast of holy power to smite his enemies, and though it doesn’t kill any of them, it renders half of them temporarily blind. “Six! Get in there!” yells Korm, as he hacks at the door in front of him. A couple of blows shatters it to pieces, revealing a corridor occupied by many more enemies. Two more axe-wielding gnolls stand in front of him, with two more archers fifteen feet behind them. Standing behind the archers is what seems to be a human, but it is difficult to say due to his hooded cloak. “Fine!” grumbles Six, muttering, “I never wanted to do this,” under his breath and leaping forward. His chain licks out and slashes into the back of one of the ogres, both of whom are focused on the other room and Gareth. As his surprised target cries out, Six leaps back out of range. Behind him, Nameless yells an order to the centipede to find another exit, and the creature tries to comply. As it heads for the curtained doorway, two axes bury themselves in its skull and it shudders, and then fades away. But the time it buys Gareth is invaluable, as is the spell Nameless uses to [i]slow[/i] the ogres. As they ponderously turn to try and attack Six, Gareth rises and rushes between them as fast as he can. The sighted gnolls howl, now in a combination of relief and blood-lust, and follow. Korm, meanwhile, has problems of his own. The gnolls fling down the potion bottles they had just drunk from and attack as soon as he smashes the door, and though the axes bounce off his magical protections, a couple of arrows hit. Luckily for him, the gnolls do not possess [i]orc-bane[/i] arrows, but the magical [i]frost[/i] that tips them still hurts. With an anticipatory grin, he extends the holly berries and pronounces a command, causing them to explode in an incredible burst of flame*. Warded by a protection he cast before the group launched the attack, he is unscathed, but the gnolls next to him are engulfed in flame. As they scream and try to dodge the explosion, Korm smiles. And then curses as they remain on their feet, though incredibly burned and clearly on the verge of death.** As more axes and arrows hit home, Korm angrily backs away and blasts them to death with a [i]flame strike[/i], also wounding the archers. The robed man, however, remains unscathed, and he hurls a small object. Korm dodges away, but the man is aiming for the ground behind him. As the [i]bead of force[/i] hits, it explodes, blasting all of the Angels. A globe of force attempts to envelop Korm but he barely dodges aside. Nameless, already badly wounded, slumps to the floor, unconscious and dying. Korm, Six and Gareth attempt to fight back as the remaining eight gnolls, the two ogres and the spellcaster advance into the room, but it’s clearly a losing battle. One of the ogres cuts Gareth down, and though Korm decapitates it a moment later, a [i]lightning bolt[/i] from the spellcaster badly wounds him in turn. Six and Korm are driven back, until they are outside in the street, facing the multiple enemies. Though the remaining ogre and the spellcaster are almost completely unhurt, the gnolls are all badly wounded, and Korm prepares to unleash an [i]arc of lightning[/i] that he hopes will take advantage of the crowded conditions to slay most of the them. But before he can do so, the enemy spellcaster says something to the gnolls. Immediately, two of the archers lower their bows, placing an arrow each at the unconscious Gareth’s and Nameless’ skulls and drawing back. “Your friends,” says the spellcaster calmly, “Are dead if you make a hostile move. You cannot win. Drop your weapons and surrender – or they die.” Six and Korm exchange glances. And then, without a word, Six turns and runs down the street. Korm’s jaw sags open as he goes, “Whuh?!” He looks at the rapidly retreating Six, back at the enemies, and back at Six. And then he turns and follows as quickly as he can, leaving Nameless and Gareth in the hands of Daask. * 140 pts of damage to anything within 5 ft. [i]Fire seeds[/i] is nasty! ** Both saved for 70 pts of damage, and the fact that they were raging and Korm had just given them enough time to drink potions of Bear’s Endurance meant they had 72 hp before the blast [/QUOTE]
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Shilsen's Eberron SH (Finished - The Last Word : 9/20/15)
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