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Wulf's Collected Story Hour -- FINAL UPDATE 12/25
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<blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 238274" data-attributes="member: 94"><p><strong>LORD OF THE IRON FORTRESS-- Part II (cont.)</strong></p><p></p><p>“Step aside,” the drow announced from her high perch. “I would use the gate...”</p><p></p><p>Keldas stood fast in front of the gate. “Who do you serve?”</p><p></p><p>“’Whom’,” Wulf whispered. “And don’t be an ass.”</p><p></p><p>“I serve my own interests,” the drow replied. “Now, will you step aside?”</p><p></p><p>“NO.”</p><p></p><p><em>Deeper Darkness</em> fell across the group, but at least a few among them knew what Keldas’ inevitable stupid decision would be, so they were ready. Shorty responded immediately by dispelling the darkness, just in time for Wulf to see the spider looming over Keldas. </p><p></p><p>Wulf grabbed the elf from behind and spun him around, putting his own back to the spider and doing his best to shield Keldas. He felt huge fangs sink into his back, where the neckline of his chain shirt left his flesh exposed. So close to the throbbing arteries in his neck, there was little Wulf could do to resist the poison. <em>Sons of Odin,</em> he thought, <em>it burns like hellfire!</em> </p><p></p><p>Wulf’s knees felt like jelly and it was all he could do to quickdraw his daggers. He turned and backhanded them towards the drow, but the poison in his veins was eating his muscles alive-- and it wasn’t exactly taking its time about it. All three daggers fell short or bounced away harmlessly.</p><p></p><p>Loyal drew and fired three times, each shot nailing the spider dead on-- and glancing harmlessly off its hide.</p><p></p><p><em>Not good. It’s infernal.</em></p><p></p><p>Clearly not one to take any chances, the drow cast a <em>flame strike</em> on the group and centered it directly on Loyal-- catching Keldas and Alliane as a bonus. Wulf managed to dodge the blast and Keldas and Alliane did their best, but Loyal was caught completely off guard. He took the full force of the blast. He staggered on his feet for a moment, teetering on the brink of sudden death, drawing desperately on a deep hidden well of elven fortitude.</p><p></p><p>Well, perhaps more accurately, lapping desperately at the puddle of elven fortitude. At any rate, despite the power of the blast, he somehow held on.</p><p></p><p>Keldas straightened his robes where Wulf had roughly grabbed him and cast <em>mass haste</em>. He was still within reach of the spider-- a spider that big, Wulf figured, had a reach of 15 or 20 feet!-- but he cast defensively and immediately chained into a second spell, a <em>hold monster</em> for the spider. Unfortunately, the infernal spider was a little more clever than Keldas gave him credit for. This time, the spider read the elf’s movements and lunged at him unexpectedly. Keldas skipped back out of the way-- but it was enough. He lost his concentration and his spell fizzled. </p><p></p><p>From deep in the back ranks Alliane acted, first with a <em>flame strike</em> that caught both drow and spider, then with a <em>divine storm</em> of whirling blades that hovered high in the air and sliced through both enemies at an angle. To Wulf’s eye, it was obvious that the spider ignored both spells. </p><p></p><p>“Take out the weak link!” Wulf shouted. “Drow first!”</p><p></p><p>Loyal responded by stapling the drow with three arrows in rapid succession. Shorty was next, first casting a <em>spectral hand</em> then blasting the priestess with a <em>brutal seething surge</em>. Wulf had seen this new trick of Shorty’s a couple of times. It wasn’t pleasant in the best of circumstances, but Shorty had managed to work his <em>spectral hand</em> into a critical spot before unleashing the surge. It seethed. Brutally. The drow fell dead in crispy blasted tatters.</p><p></p><p>Though it was now on its own, the spider moved with unnerving intelligence, leaving the entire group to wonder exactly who was enthralled to whom in drow-spider relations. The spider raised its bulk high over the group, moving out of the divine storm so that it could sink its fangs into Alliane.</p><p></p><p>Wulf knew from first-hand experience, but the super-concentrated poison of the infernal spider came as a shock to the rest of the group, starting with Alliane. She spasmed for only the briefest of moments before collapsing. In mere seconds every muscle in her body was useless.</p><p></p><p>Seeing the lady go down, Karak charged in, bellowing his usual “SMITE!” warcry. Of course, he didn’t figure on the spider’s reach, and as he moved within its range it sank its fangs deep into his flesh. Karak’s luck was little better than Alliane’s. His strength vanished, and though he managed to complete his charge, he struck the spider with all the ferocity of a mewling babe.</p><p></p><p>Then he collapsed under the weight of his own plate mail.</p><p></p><p>As the paladin lay there on his back, his arms and legs flailing feebly, Wulf couldn’t help drawing the comparison again: Karak looked like he needed someone to change his nappy.</p><p></p><p>Keldas summoned a celestial dire bear to attack the spider from behind while Wulf stepped up to flank it. With Loyal’s arrows providing a distraction, Wulf managed to land four solid blows on the spider-- two with <em>Taranak</em>, two with the dagger. The spider ignored the flames from <em>Taranak</em>, indeed it ignored both blades for the most part, but Wulf had managed to work both of them into tender spots on the creature’s belly. It couldn’t ignore <em>that</em>.</p><p></p><p>Still the spider acted with uncanny intelligence. Perhaps, like Wulf and his companions, it knew to concentrate on the weak link. Perhaps it ignored Wulf because the sturdy dwarf was the only one among the group to have taken the spider’s poison and stayed on his feet.</p><p></p><p>But it chose to attack Karak, and so Wulf chose to imagine that, whatever intelligence lurked behind those multifaceted eyes… well, this spider had a sense of humor:</p><p></p><p>The spider <em>smited</em> Karak. </p><p></p><p>The fangs sunk deep but the bite didn’t kill him. The smite didn’t kill him. It was the poison that did the work. Karak was finally completely paralyzed, as helpless as Alliane. </p><p></p><p>More worthless than the peck on a bad day.</p><p></p><p>“Goddamn yer!” Wulf shouted. “It’s just poison! Are yer even <em>tryin’</em> to resist it?”</p><p></p><p>Using Wulf as a distraction, the paladin managed to activate his <em>helm of teleportation</em> by thought alone. He teleported away, about thirty feet, just enough to take himself out of harm’s way.</p><p></p><p>“Ach! Yer complete puss!”</p><p></p><p>Never one to let his emotions get in the way, Keldas moved blithely along, stepping up to cast <em>greater magic weapon</em> on Loyal’s quiver. While Shorty’s <em>spectral hand</em> chased the spider around with <em>brutal seething surge</em>, Loyal filled it full of arrows: four solid hits. The spider noticed Loyal anew. Those arrows bit <em>deep</em>.</p><p></p><p>The spider leapt away from from Wulf and the dire bear and closed in on Loyal. One gargantuan bite later and Loyal was staggered-- he couldn’t resist the poison either, and although it didn’t take his strength out completely, he’d simply had enough, what with the <em>flame strike</em> from before, that he settled on discretion. He fell over and played dead.</p><p></p><p>They were down to Wulf, Keldas, and Shorty-- and Wulf wasn’t counting on the two mages sticking around if things got any worse. He tumbled through the spider’s tree-like legs and came face to face with it. Try as he might, he couldn’t keep it at bay, and once again the spider sank its fangs deep into Wulf’s flesh. Wulf grit his teeth and somehow-- perhaps by his great fortitude, perhaps by his dwarven resistance, perhaps by sheer force of will alone-- managed to fight off the effects of the poison. Wulf waited the briefest of moments while the dire bear lumbered up into flanking position with the spider.</p><p></p><p>Thousands of axes and daggers glimmered in the spider’s eyes as Wulf suddenly sprang to action, hacking and stabbing. Indeed to the spider it may have seemed like an army of thousands was at work on his underbelly. The spider was split open and collapsed like an enormous, rotten plum.</p><p></p><p>Wulf bent over with his hands on his knees. He could feel the poison still coursing through his veins. “Comin’ again...”</p><p></p><p>Keldas grabbed Shorty and started pulling off rings and cloaks to aid Wulf’s resistance, but he waved them away. “Nah, I got it… Just a little spider bite, right?” After a minute of intense agony, Wulf finally stood. He could use a <em>restoration</em>, sure, but the poison had spread so far through his body that, in dispersed doses, he’d fought it off. </p><p></p><p>Wulf looked up to see Keldas standing up from the body of the drow. He’d sorted her magical belongings into a neat pile and as he stood, the elf tucked a scrap of paper into his sleeve. Wulf caught only the briefest of glimpses before the scrap disappeared. It didn’t mean anything to him but it clearly meant something to Keldas. The scrap said, “KOLYORAL.” It was nonsense to Wulf and so, therefore, <em>file and forget</em>. He had other things on his mind, anyway. He started dragging his fallen comrades back towards the gate to Rigus.</p><p></p><p>“Yer complete an’ utter prick…” Wulf muttered to Keldas. “Get it through yer head now, we’re gonna meet a lot of unpleasant folk out here. An’ some of ‘em yer just gonna have to ignore, right? Between yer and Karak I reckon we’ll be pickin’ fights with every pit fiend an’ ‘is brother before this is all over.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wulf Ratbane, post: 238274, member: 94"] [b]LORD OF THE IRON FORTRESS-- Part II (cont.)[/b] “Step aside,” the drow announced from her high perch. “I would use the gate...” Keldas stood fast in front of the gate. “Who do you serve?” “’Whom’,” Wulf whispered. “And don’t be an ass.” “I serve my own interests,” the drow replied. “Now, will you step aside?” “NO.” [I]Deeper Darkness[/I] fell across the group, but at least a few among them knew what Keldas’ inevitable stupid decision would be, so they were ready. Shorty responded immediately by dispelling the darkness, just in time for Wulf to see the spider looming over Keldas. Wulf grabbed the elf from behind and spun him around, putting his own back to the spider and doing his best to shield Keldas. He felt huge fangs sink into his back, where the neckline of his chain shirt left his flesh exposed. So close to the throbbing arteries in his neck, there was little Wulf could do to resist the poison. [I]Sons of Odin,[/I] he thought, [I]it burns like hellfire![/I] Wulf’s knees felt like jelly and it was all he could do to quickdraw his daggers. He turned and backhanded them towards the drow, but the poison in his veins was eating his muscles alive-- and it wasn’t exactly taking its time about it. All three daggers fell short or bounced away harmlessly. Loyal drew and fired three times, each shot nailing the spider dead on-- and glancing harmlessly off its hide. [I]Not good. It’s infernal.[/I] Clearly not one to take any chances, the drow cast a [I]flame strike[/I] on the group and centered it directly on Loyal-- catching Keldas and Alliane as a bonus. Wulf managed to dodge the blast and Keldas and Alliane did their best, but Loyal was caught completely off guard. He took the full force of the blast. He staggered on his feet for a moment, teetering on the brink of sudden death, drawing desperately on a deep hidden well of elven fortitude. Well, perhaps more accurately, lapping desperately at the puddle of elven fortitude. At any rate, despite the power of the blast, he somehow held on. Keldas straightened his robes where Wulf had roughly grabbed him and cast [I]mass haste[/I]. He was still within reach of the spider-- a spider that big, Wulf figured, had a reach of 15 or 20 feet!-- but he cast defensively and immediately chained into a second spell, a [I]hold monster[/I] for the spider. Unfortunately, the infernal spider was a little more clever than Keldas gave him credit for. This time, the spider read the elf’s movements and lunged at him unexpectedly. Keldas skipped back out of the way-- but it was enough. He lost his concentration and his spell fizzled. From deep in the back ranks Alliane acted, first with a [I]flame strike[/I] that caught both drow and spider, then with a [I]divine storm[/I] of whirling blades that hovered high in the air and sliced through both enemies at an angle. To Wulf’s eye, it was obvious that the spider ignored both spells. “Take out the weak link!” Wulf shouted. “Drow first!” Loyal responded by stapling the drow with three arrows in rapid succession. Shorty was next, first casting a [I]spectral hand[/I] then blasting the priestess with a [I]brutal seething surge[/I]. Wulf had seen this new trick of Shorty’s a couple of times. It wasn’t pleasant in the best of circumstances, but Shorty had managed to work his [I]spectral hand[/I] into a critical spot before unleashing the surge. It seethed. Brutally. The drow fell dead in crispy blasted tatters. Though it was now on its own, the spider moved with unnerving intelligence, leaving the entire group to wonder exactly who was enthralled to whom in drow-spider relations. The spider raised its bulk high over the group, moving out of the divine storm so that it could sink its fangs into Alliane. Wulf knew from first-hand experience, but the super-concentrated poison of the infernal spider came as a shock to the rest of the group, starting with Alliane. She spasmed for only the briefest of moments before collapsing. In mere seconds every muscle in her body was useless. Seeing the lady go down, Karak charged in, bellowing his usual “SMITE!” warcry. Of course, he didn’t figure on the spider’s reach, and as he moved within its range it sank its fangs deep into his flesh. Karak’s luck was little better than Alliane’s. His strength vanished, and though he managed to complete his charge, he struck the spider with all the ferocity of a mewling babe. Then he collapsed under the weight of his own plate mail. As the paladin lay there on his back, his arms and legs flailing feebly, Wulf couldn’t help drawing the comparison again: Karak looked like he needed someone to change his nappy. Keldas summoned a celestial dire bear to attack the spider from behind while Wulf stepped up to flank it. With Loyal’s arrows providing a distraction, Wulf managed to land four solid blows on the spider-- two with [I]Taranak[/I], two with the dagger. The spider ignored the flames from [I]Taranak[/I], indeed it ignored both blades for the most part, but Wulf had managed to work both of them into tender spots on the creature’s belly. It couldn’t ignore [I]that[/I]. Still the spider acted with uncanny intelligence. Perhaps, like Wulf and his companions, it knew to concentrate on the weak link. Perhaps it ignored Wulf because the sturdy dwarf was the only one among the group to have taken the spider’s poison and stayed on his feet. But it chose to attack Karak, and so Wulf chose to imagine that, whatever intelligence lurked behind those multifaceted eyes… well, this spider had a sense of humor: The spider [I]smited[/I] Karak. The fangs sunk deep but the bite didn’t kill him. The smite didn’t kill him. It was the poison that did the work. Karak was finally completely paralyzed, as helpless as Alliane. More worthless than the peck on a bad day. “Goddamn yer!” Wulf shouted. “It’s just poison! Are yer even [I]tryin’[/I] to resist it?” Using Wulf as a distraction, the paladin managed to activate his [I]helm of teleportation[/I] by thought alone. He teleported away, about thirty feet, just enough to take himself out of harm’s way. “Ach! Yer complete puss!” Never one to let his emotions get in the way, Keldas moved blithely along, stepping up to cast [I]greater magic weapon[/I] on Loyal’s quiver. While Shorty’s [I]spectral hand[/I] chased the spider around with [I]brutal seething surge[/I], Loyal filled it full of arrows: four solid hits. The spider noticed Loyal anew. Those arrows bit [I]deep[/I]. The spider leapt away from from Wulf and the dire bear and closed in on Loyal. One gargantuan bite later and Loyal was staggered-- he couldn’t resist the poison either, and although it didn’t take his strength out completely, he’d simply had enough, what with the [I]flame strike[/I] from before, that he settled on discretion. He fell over and played dead. They were down to Wulf, Keldas, and Shorty-- and Wulf wasn’t counting on the two mages sticking around if things got any worse. He tumbled through the spider’s tree-like legs and came face to face with it. Try as he might, he couldn’t keep it at bay, and once again the spider sank its fangs deep into Wulf’s flesh. Wulf grit his teeth and somehow-- perhaps by his great fortitude, perhaps by his dwarven resistance, perhaps by sheer force of will alone-- managed to fight off the effects of the poison. Wulf waited the briefest of moments while the dire bear lumbered up into flanking position with the spider. Thousands of axes and daggers glimmered in the spider’s eyes as Wulf suddenly sprang to action, hacking and stabbing. Indeed to the spider it may have seemed like an army of thousands was at work on his underbelly. The spider was split open and collapsed like an enormous, rotten plum. Wulf bent over with his hands on his knees. He could feel the poison still coursing through his veins. “Comin’ again...” Keldas grabbed Shorty and started pulling off rings and cloaks to aid Wulf’s resistance, but he waved them away. “Nah, I got it… Just a little spider bite, right?” After a minute of intense agony, Wulf finally stood. He could use a [I]restoration[/I], sure, but the poison had spread so far through his body that, in dispersed doses, he’d fought it off. Wulf looked up to see Keldas standing up from the body of the drow. He’d sorted her magical belongings into a neat pile and as he stood, the elf tucked a scrap of paper into his sleeve. Wulf caught only the briefest of glimpses before the scrap disappeared. It didn’t mean anything to him but it clearly meant something to Keldas. The scrap said, “KOLYORAL.” It was nonsense to Wulf and so, therefore, [I]file and forget[/I]. He had other things on his mind, anyway. He started dragging his fallen comrades back towards the gate to Rigus. “Yer complete an’ utter prick…” Wulf muttered to Keldas. “Get it through yer head now, we’re gonna meet a lot of unpleasant folk out here. An’ some of ‘em yer just gonna have to ignore, right? Between yer and Karak I reckon we’ll be pickin’ fights with every pit fiend an’ ‘is brother before this is all over.” [/QUOTE]
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