GREYHAWK, THE GOLDEN ERA CY963: CHAPTER THREE

Lathir thinks to himself as he act, ~Wow, what an impressive display of combat. I wonder if when I'm twice the druid that I am now if I will be anywhere close to comparing to the display of prowess just demonstrated by Dewydd.~

Lathir, who had already prepared flame strike before entering the portal, culminates that decision. He steps up and to his left to clear his view as he targets the 2 orcs closest to his current position (6 & 4).

You Done Made Her Daddy Mad!

Lathir steps forward, preparing to unleash righteous wrath; but at the last moment, he sees that he cannot target his originally intended victims without hitting Dewydd. Quickly, he re-adjusts his spell, which will catch 2 of the Orcs (1 & 6) and Dorinda as well.

SPELL AREA:




Lathir says, "I shall remove the taint of corruption from this forest. Get thee gone, demoness. You do not belong here!"

As he does so, a huge column of flame strikes the area where Dorinda and two of her Orc minions are standing. The Orcs scream in agony, as their skin begins to burn; they collapse immediately, silenced almost instantly by the intense flames. Surprisingly, none of the surrounding vegetation or trees ignite from the flames. This is truly a righteous fire, meant to harm only despoilers and enemies of Nature.

Dorinda screams as well, but her pain is of a completely different sort; the flames themselves inflict minimal discomfort, but the burning blue essence, known as the Divine Fire, which makes up the heart of the Flame Strike spell, scorches her severely, tearing apart her corporeal body! "NOOOoooo!" she screams, as the holy essence burns her to ash. Unlike summoned monsters, who simply disappear and return unharmed to their own place of origin, Dorinda's ashes remain where she fell; evidently, she was not simply summoned, but GATED, meaning that she came into this world wielding the power of her TRUE form. Unfortunately for her, this also meant that the Divine Fire was able to truly destroy her essence, completely, utterly, and forever. Dorinda The Damned is no more!



Current Positions:


SYLVAR: It's your turn. What do you do?

POSTING FOR SYLVAR



Sylvar steps out of the underbrush, just ahead of Lathir's position, brandishing his Composite Longbow; he says a quick prayer while nocking an arrow, and fires at the closest Orc.

"Thor Odinson, see my valor and find me worthy, imbue my arrow with the power to smite my enemies."

As Sylvar takes aim, he feels a wave of calm wash over him, as his arrow begins to glow!





Amazed at his prayer being so directly answered, Sylvar lets his arrow fly, sticking the Orc in the upper right thigh. The Orc squeals in pain as the arrow slams home!

Current Positions:



VALE: It's your turn. What do you do?

MINOR CORRECTION



Current Positions:



It's still Vale's turn.

Vale Attacks

~ Too easy. Ah Gussie, you'd enjoy this wouldn't you? Chew toys aplenty. ~

For all their success, Vale feels uneasy. He had thought to use a silence spell against the bitch-demon to insure she could not speak or cast verbal spells; however, Dewydd's withering attack and Lathir's holy fire had dispatched her (as well as three other red orcs) with surprising but definitive lethality. In fact, it was strategically...beautiful. However, despite it's effectiveness, something was not quite right. The haste (in order to prevent detection of the scrying) with which the portal had been used to scan the ruins and well area had prevented Vale from getting a better grip on what was there. Maxwell had provided a quite detailed account of the area while they dined in Caltaran together, as well as the surrounding region. Vale had plied him with additional mead, ale, and bacon in order to extract as much information from him as possible. Honestly, Vale had wished Maxwell had accompanied them. He could tell Maxwell had been demoralized. To dish out a pasting to these blokes might have improved his spirits. Fare thee well, Cousin.

As it was, several things were wholly different than Maxwell's narrative: a) no red orcs or bitch-demon, b) spider and spell-conquered elf nowhere to be seen, c) no noise downhole in the well (and no blue glow from Vale's axe), and d) no clay golem. The foliage and ruined walls were as Maxwell described, although Maxwell did not mention the number of trees in the clearing (much less the runes warding the perimeter, clearly an alarm that they should not want to trip...thank goodness for the portal mirror). Trees. And that big one east of the well. The portal had given an aerial of the location from the southwest. The tree was larger than the rest; quadruple the size of the other trees, perhaps 15 feet in circumstance. It dominated that side of the well.


A thought crossed his mind. ~ That's. Not. Good. ~ Vale cursed under his breath, and then smiled. "Time to beat the children."

He advanced quickly, not at full charge, but steady past Sylvar as his elven bow struck its own brand of terror. He drew his axe quickly on the fly moving down the hedgerow directly into the flank of the closest red orc to the north.

~The hobbit has stuck this one. Hold him up a moment longer. ~

Vale draws Able, his magical axe as he moves to flank and attack the grievously wounded Orc (#5). His attack catches the between his ribs, breaking several and puncturing a lung. The orc crumples, presumably dead courtesy of Tam's sneak attack and Vale's coup de grace.









Vale curses again in dwarven, and prepares himself for a fight.

Current Positions at the end of Vale's turn:



As the Orc collapses under Vale's axe, the party beholds a terrifying sight: the ILLUSION of the dead Oak tree fades, as the Clay Golem begins to move toward Dewydd!

The golem advances 15 feet, without making a sound; his steps are slow and deliberate. He is not in a hurry, and seems single-minded in his task.



Current Positions after golem's movement:

The golem grabs Dewydd casually, as if he were a child picking up his favorite toy. He raises the valiant warrior above his head, and throws him into the well!! Dewydd screams, a mixture of fear and frustration, as he flies through the air!

At the last moment, however, Dewydd manages to grab the edge of the well, and prevent himself from falling!!

Dewydd is now hanging precariously on the well's inner wall.

The Orcs finally begin to move at this point, attacking nearby enemies!

Orc #4 charges Sylvar, screaming at the top of his lungs, gripping his Falchion with both hands, and misses, as Sylvar easily sidesteps the clumsy attack.

Orc #2 charges Lathir, but manages to connect, giving him a severe laceration across his left upper arm.



Orc #3 takes a step forward, and brings his big Falchion down on Tam's collar bone, biting deep for a GRIEVOUS wound!



Current Positions:


Tam-Tam, it is once again your turn! What do you do?

/ ​Dear Yondalla, Save me. /

Having so few hit points left, I fall back into the shrubbery behind me. I am in square N,8; so, I go into N,9 then to N, 10 for cover.

I see Respen as I fall back and cry out:

"Please...Help."

Tam-Tam retreats 5 feet, around the tree, back into the underbrush, hoping that his opponent will not follow. He is in a very precarious position.

Current positions:


Respen: It's your turn! What do you do?