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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 3031825" data-attributes="member: 35788">Semeion turned a sharp look in Ischarus’ direction as the figures could be heard retreating further into the darkness of the tunnel.  “If I can make a suggestion, keep your sword out next time so that you can see them coming.”Semeion didn’t meant it to come out as sharply as it had, and Ischarus heard it a bit more sharply than Semeion actually said it.  “This coming from the one who stood back and tended the horses!  You aren’t the one who got injured and paid the price for that decision!”Semeion looked a bit surprised at Ischarus’ outburst.  “I didn’t mean it like that!”  He objected stubbornly to Ischarus’ retort.Ischarus shot him an irritated glance and was about to speak when Charis stepped between them on her way back to Abijou’s side.  “I think what he meant, Ischarus, is that since they don’t seem to have any eyes then there’s little reason to stow your sword.  If they don’t depend on light, they can locate us by other means.  We don’t have the same luxury.  But if they don’t need the light and we do, you might as well just keep it out.”  Both Ischarus and Semeion looked as though they were about to speak when Charis cut them off again with her words.  “And, yes, Semeion, it did come out sharply whether you meant it to be that sharp or not.”Rhema jumped in on the high-road bandwagon and Charis was more than welcome to allow her participation.  “Now come on, the both of you.  We’ve had a long couple of days ride and the setbacks from yesterday’s fog and fight didn’t put any of us in a particularly good mood.  Add that to the fact that we are essentially walking blindly through the tunnels simply trying to find our way out to the other side and we have the making for short fuses.  I suggest we put the energy coming from our frustration to work in moving away quickly before those things come back with reinforcements.”Ischarus’ look softened a bit, and Semeion gave a slight smile.  “I am sorry if you were injured because I could not use my magic, friend.  You bear your pain well.”Ischarus burst into a hearty laugh, releasing the anger that his injuries had caused inside.  “I bear my wounds as well as a four year old boy who has been slapped on the wrist and told to go stand in the corner!  But your words of peace are accepted nonetheless.  Come now, Rhema gave good counsel.  Let’s go before reinforcements come.”Charis rose from the ground where she had been crouched as she tended her own wounds.  “Too late.  I hear bare feet striking against the stone, and this time there is more of them.”Ischarus turned and faced the tunnel from the direction of the noise.  Several howls of exaltation could be heard as the footsteps grew closer.  “Those howls I don’t need translated.  They expect victory.”The dull slapping of flat-footed skin upon the stone increased in both intensity and pace.  Charis’ eyes darted back and forth as she focused her thoughts.  “I count four, Ischarus.  They’ll not be able to fight more than three abreast in this tunnel, and neither can we.  Their numbers will give them no greater advantage until the first one is dropped and a fresh replacement comes forth.”Ischarus smiled broadly.  He yelled a shout of exaltation to rival the exultation of the howls that came through the tunnels at their approach.  “Then brace yourself against their charge and make the first ones fall quickly!”Rhema noted that Ischarus seemed to be enjoying this moment of retribution far too much.  “Remember our pledge, Ischarus!”As the first of the gray skinned assailants broke into the area of light provided by Ischarus’ sword he yelled back, “But of course, milady.  We shall not have anyone fainting at the sight of death around here!”As if to allow Ischarus’ slightly mocking reply to pass straight through her, Rhema yelled forward, “The one in the middle and the one behind are wounded, Ischarus.”Charis had noticed what Rhema saw as well.  Two of the four bore the marks of battle.  There could be no doubt that two of the four had come back to them to fight now that they had reinforcements.One of the new reinforcements struck hard as it charged down the cavernous tunnel towards Charis.  Its savage blow penetrated Charis defenses, knocking her pick to the ground and several pings of metal bouncing off of stone echoed through across the tunnel walls.  Charis thought for a moment to pick it up until she realized that her wound from the attack was severe enough to need attention immediately.Noticing that the assailants were charging hard and catching Ischarus and Charis off guard once more, Rhema focused her mind hard on the middle once as it charged.  She recognized this one as the one that she had previously injured herself.  She focused her mind upon the head of the foe as it neared the party.  As if being struck by an invisible force, the creature dropped its axe and collapsed to the floor.  It grasped its head as it lapsed into unconsciousness and eventually lay still upon the floor.The second newcomer broke for the party at nearly the same time as the first one.  Since Rhema had focused her attention on the already wounded one, Ischarus braced his shield to accept the charging blow.  With a single quick motion the beast struck the side of Ischarus’ shield with the butt end of his axe, exposing his left flank.  A simple turn of the wrist brought the sharp end against Ischarus and dug deep into his side.  Thick red blood spilled from the wound as the creature pulled his blade from Ischarus’ side.  Rhema winced as she saw the blood.  Ischarus dropped to a single knee.Charis had extended her hand and prepared to heal her own wound when she watched Ischarus be overcome by the serious blow.  In a selfless act her hand turned away from her own flesh and rested upon Ischarus’ shoulder.  “Bondras-tol Egro!”  A yellow radiance emanated from her fingers, beginning with her thumb and circling around her hand until the light passed into Ischarus.  Within seconds Ischarus wound was sealed and his strength returned.However, Ischarus’ run of bad luck would continue for yet another blow.  The final assailant – the one still standing who had been wounded from the previous encounter – filled the gap that was left when Rhema used her mental powers to take out the creature now lying upon the floor.  As the assailant stepped up to fill the ranks, it took advantage of Ischarus’ recovery period and landed a clean blow across his arm.  This wound was much less severe, although Ischarus’ eyes burned with a deep fire of vengeance upon receiving the blow.As Ischarus rose from Charis’ moment of healing, he focused on the creature that had just struck him across the arm.  He recognized the creature as being the most wounded and thus the most vulnerable.  His sword flashed forward in a simple attack and pierced the already wounded creature.  The blind beast stumbled back from the blow and fell to the ground in pain.  Semeion had been planning to fire one of his energy blasts at the wounded creature, but when he noticed that Ischarus had taken care of him Semeion found a new target.  Charis had lost her weapon and was facing an opponent that had already delivered a serious blow.  His mouth easily formed the words that had become familiar to him.  “Thin-tok.”  His fingers extended and the blue energy quickly leapt off his hand and struck the creature that faced off against Charis.The creature that Semeion had just struck howled in pain as Semeion’s energy ball crashed into its chest.  Furious with rage, the beast swung its axe across Charis’ path.  Charis saw the attack coming and while she prepared to touch Ischarus again with her healing energies she raised her shield to counter the wild blow.  The axe glanced off her steel shield with a loud ring. Charis followed the defeated attack with a quick magical command of her own.  Again she desired to help Ischarus’ pain.  “Bondras-tol Egro!”  Once more Ischarus was surrounded and healed by the radiant light emanating from her hand.Rhema watched as the creature missed Charis with a poorly timed wrathful strike.  She focused her own mind in vast contrast to the creature’s rage.  Rhema shot forth another mental attack.  The creature howled once more and for a moment looked as though it would drop its own axe from the crushing pain in its head.The creature regained control in time to slice off another attack aimed viciously for Charis’ head.  Charis deflected the blow again with her shield as she now prepared to heal herself.  As the stone axe rang off the steel shield her words of healing could be heard once more echoing through the tunnel.  “Bondras-tol Egro!”  This time Ischarus was not the recipient of her healing powers.  The radiant light wrapped around herself and strengthened her.As Charis ducked under the attack and healed herself, Rhema knew she still needed protection.  She focused her mental attacks once more and forced pain upon the mind of the gray skinned creature.  This time the creature tilted back its head in a deep howl of pain and dropped its stone axe onto the floor.  The creature dropped to its knees under the pain before collapsing face first onto the floor.While the creature that was attacking Charis was being fought off by Rhema, Ischarus and Semeion had their hands full against the other creature.  The beast took a vicious swing against Ischarus, but the experienced fighter was learning the creature’s tactics.  Ischarus parried the axe harmlessly to the side with the help of his own blade.  On account of needing to use his sword for the parry, Ischarus was unable to strike seriously at the gray skinned creature and as a result his own attack fell wide.  However, when Ischarus’ strike missed wide he could hear Semeion’s voice behind him as an opening in the melee appeared.  “Thin-tok”  Ischarus watched as the blue energy ball narrowly slid past his own shoulder and landed solidly against the creature.The beast howled in rage once more, still feeling as though success could be within its grasp. Like its companion, it used its own rage to strike furiously towards Ischarus.  Ischarus saw an opportunity, but in order to take advantage of the opening he dropped his sword on the ground as he ducked beneath the creature’s attack.  For the first time in life or death combat Ischarus exploded in magical power of his own.  “Fashiir-gat!”  Ischarus extended his fingers in the direction of his opponent.  For only a split second, each small portion of air between himself and the creature froze.  Once the frozen air extended out and reached the creature the particles next to Ischarus’ hand appeared to melt and return to normal.  The area of impact on the skin of the creature turned a faint frosty color before also returning to normal.  The creature howled again at the pain and the recognition that its ally who had been attacking Charis had now fallen.  Ischarus yelled in pure delight at the success of the spell.  “Ha!  My first ever combat spell!”Semeion yelled from behind him.  “Well cast, Ischarus.  Now get back to the swordplay that you excel in!”Once the opponent attacking Charis had fallen, it meant that the entire party could focus upon the creature still attacking Ischarus.  Rhema once more focused her mind against the beast and this attack only caused a mild reaction in the gray skinned creature.  The pain from the attack was enough to force its own attack to be lessened.  Ischarus was easily able to deflect the creature’s blow.  Ischarus rose after casting his spell and using his shield to deflect the creature’s attack.  He picked up his sword and drove it in an upward thrust toward the creature.  The blind creature heard the attack coming and despite missing Ischarus it was able to twist away from the blow.Semeion chided from the back row once more, “Ha!  Well, perhaps you should go back to casting spells, then!”  While Semeion yelled, Charis retrieved her weapon from the ground and half-heartedly attacked the remaining creature.  Her blow missed the beast, but it was enough to alert it to the fact that it was slowly being outnumbered.The creature adopted a parrying posture and stepped back.  It looked as though it was about to howl for reinforcements as the other one had done previously.  Rhema noticed the motion and focused her powers once more.  She knew that this had already been a costly battle in regard to using her powers, but this last strike was necessary.  The creature dropped to a knee in pain.  Yet before the rest of the party could take advantage of the position it was back on its feet.Ischarus and Charis both advanced to challenge the sole remaining adversary.  Ischarus struck hard, intentionally drawing the creature’s parry.  Charis snuck the long point of her pick into the creature’s side, collapsing it to the ground in pain.Once the last of the threat had fallen, Ischarus extended his sword away from him in a posture for allowing the most illumination possible.  Charis immediately stowed her weapon and began tending the fallen creatures.  She shook her head at the seemingly senselessness of the whole combat.  They could not allow the creatures to die; it wasn’t their way.  However, the creatures would not let the party move on without a fight.  It was a horrible predicament to constantly drive one’s opponents to the brink of death and then treat their wounds and mend them so that they could recover after they were long gone.  Yet, it was the best they could do at this time.  In a cruel world that mandated battles of life or death it was necessary that they fight hard and choose life for all those involved.Semeion and Rhema worked hard in removing the stone axes in case the gray creatures woke before they could make a serious escape down the tunnel.  Once the weapons had been collected and Charis was convinced that their opposition would recover, they set out once more down the unknown tunnels.[Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section]Semeion turned a sharp look in Ischarus’ direction as the figures could be heard retreating further into the darkness of the tunnel. “If I can make a suggestion, keep your sword out next time so that you can see them coming.”Semeion didn’t meant it to come out as sharply as it had, and Ischarus heard it a bit more sharply than Semeion actually said it. “This coming from the one who stood back and tended the horses! You aren’t the one who got injured and paid the price for that decision!”Semeion looked a bit surprised at Ischarus’ outburst. “I didn’t mean it like that!” He objected stubbornly to Ischarus’ retort.Ischarus shot him an irritated glance and was about to speak when Charis stepped between them on her way back to Abijou’s side. “I think what he meant, Ischarus, is that since they don’t seem to have any eyes then there’s little reason to stow your sword. If they don’t depend on light, they can locate us by other means. We don’t have the same luxury. But if they don’t need the light and we do, you might as well just keep it out.” Both Ischarus and Semeion looked as though they were about to speak when Charis cut them off again with her words. “And, yes, Semeion, it did come out sharply whether you meant it to be that sharp or not.”Rhema jumped in on the high-road bandwagon and Charis was more than welcome to allow her participation. “Now come on, the both of you. We’ve had a long couple of days ride and the setbacks from yesterday’s fog and fight didn’t put any of us in a particularly good mood. Add that to the fact that we are essentially walking blindly through the tunnels simply trying to find our way out to the other side and we have the making for short fuses. I suggest we put the energy coming from our frustration to work in moving away quickly before those things come back with reinforcements.”Ischarus’ look softened a bit, and Semeion gave a slight smile. “I am sorry if you were injured because I could not use my magic, friend. You bear your pain well.”Ischarus burst into a hearty laugh, releasing the anger that his injuries had caused inside. “I bear my wounds as well as a four year old boy who has been slapped on the wrist and told to go stand in the corner! But your words of peace are accepted nonetheless. Come now, Rhema gave good counsel. Let’s go before reinforcements come.”Charis rose from the ground where she had been crouched as she tended her own wounds. “Too late. I hear bare feet striking against the stone, and this time there is more of them.”Ischarus turned and faced the tunnel from the direction of the noise. Several howls of exaltation could be heard as the footsteps grew closer. “Those howls I don’t need translated. They expect victory.”The dull slapping of flat-footed skin upon the stone increased in both intensity and pace. Charis’ eyes darted back and forth as she focused her thoughts. “I count four, Ischarus. They’ll not be able to fight more than three abreast in this tunnel, and neither can we. Their numbers will give them no greater advantage until the first one is dropped and a fresh replacement comes forth.”Ischarus smiled broadly. He yelled a shout of exaltation to rival the exultation of the howls that came through the tunnels at their approach. “Then brace yourself against their charge and make the first ones fall quickly!”Rhema noted that Ischarus seemed to be enjoying this moment of retribution far too much. “Remember our pledge, Ischarus!”As the first of the gray skinned assailants broke into the area of light provided by Ischarus’ sword he yelled back, “But of course, milady. We shall not have anyone fainting at the sight of death around here!”As if to allow Ischarus’ slightly mocking reply to pass straight through her, Rhema yelled forward, “The one in the middle and the one behind are wounded, Ischarus.”Charis had noticed what Rhema saw as well. Two of the four bore the marks of battle. There could be no doubt that two of the four had come back to them to fight now that they had reinforcements.One of the new reinforcements struck hard as it charged down the cavernous tunnel towards Charis. Its savage blow penetrated Charis defenses, knocking her pick to the ground and several pings of metal bouncing off of stone echoed through across the tunnel walls. Charis thought for a moment to pick it up until she realized that her wound from the attack was severe enough to need attention immediately.Noticing that the assailants were charging hard and catching Ischarus and Charis off guard once more, Rhema focused her mind hard on the middle once as it charged. She recognized this one as the one that she had previously injured herself. She focused her mind upon the head of the foe as it neared the party. As if being struck by an invisible force, the creature dropped its axe and collapsed to the floor. It grasped its head as it lapsed into unconsciousness and eventually lay still upon the floor.The second newcomer broke for the party at nearly the same time as the first one. Since Rhema had focused her attention on the already wounded one, Ischarus braced his shield to accept the charging blow. With a single quick motion the beast struck the side of Ischarus’ shield with the butt end of his axe, exposing his left flank. A simple turn of the wrist brought the sharp end against Ischarus and dug deep into his side. Thick red blood spilled from the wound as the creature pulled his blade from Ischarus’ side. Rhema winced as she saw the blood. Ischarus dropped to a single knee.Charis had extended her hand and prepared to heal her own wound when she watched Ischarus be overcome by the serious blow. In a selfless act her hand turned away from her own flesh and rested upon Ischarus’ shoulder. “Bondras-tol Egro!” A yellow radiance emanated from her fingers, beginning with her thumb and circling around her hand until the light passed into Ischarus. Within seconds Ischarus wound was sealed and his strength returned.However, Ischarus’ run of bad luck would continue for yet another blow. The final assailant – the one still standing who had been wounded from the previous encounter – filled the gap that was left when Rhema used her mental powers to take out the creature now lying upon the floor. As the assailant stepped up to fill the ranks, it took advantage of Ischarus’ recovery period and landed a clean blow across his arm. This wound was much less severe, although Ischarus’ eyes burned with a deep fire of vengeance upon receiving the blow.As Ischarus rose from Charis’ moment of healing, he focused on the creature that had just struck him across the arm. He recognized the creature as being the most wounded and thus the most vulnerable. His sword flashed forward in a simple attack and pierced the already wounded creature. The blind beast stumbled back from the blow and fell to the ground in pain. Semeion had been planning to fire one of his energy blasts at the wounded creature, but when he noticed that Ischarus had taken care of him Semeion found a new target. Charis had lost her weapon and was facing an opponent that had already delivered a serious blow. His mouth easily formed the words that had become familiar to him. “Thin-tok.” His fingers extended and the blue energy quickly leapt off his hand and struck the creature that faced off against Charis.The creature that Semeion had just struck howled in pain as Semeion’s energy ball crashed into its chest. Furious with rage, the beast swung its axe across Charis’ path. Charis saw the attack coming and while she prepared to touch Ischarus again with her healing energies she raised her shield to counter the wild blow. The axe glanced off her steel shield with a loud ring. Charis followed the defeated attack with a quick magical command of her own. Again she desired to help Ischarus’ pain. “Bondras-tol Egro!” Once more Ischarus was surrounded and healed by the radiant light emanating from her hand.Rhema watched as the creature missed Charis with a poorly timed wrathful strike. She focused her own mind in vast contrast to the creature’s rage. Rhema shot forth another mental attack. The creature howled once more and for a moment looked as though it would drop its own axe from the crushing pain in its head.The creature regained control in time to slice off another attack aimed viciously for Charis’ head. Charis deflected the blow again with her shield as she now prepared to heal herself. As the stone axe rang off the steel shield her words of healing could be heard once more echoing through the tunnel. “Bondras-tol Egro!” This time Ischarus was not the recipient of her healing powers. The radiant light wrapped around herself and strengthened her.As Charis ducked under the attack and healed herself, Rhema knew she still needed protection. She focused her mental attacks once more and forced pain upon the mind of the gray skinned creature. This time the creature tilted back its head in a deep howl of pain and dropped its stone axe onto the floor. The creature dropped to its knees under the pain before collapsing face first onto the floor.While the creature that was attacking Charis was being fought off by Rhema, Ischarus and Semeion had their hands full against the other creature. The beast took a vicious swing against Ischarus, but the experienced fighter was learning the creature’s tactics. Ischarus parried the axe harmlessly to the side with the help of his own blade. On account of needing to use his sword for the parry, Ischarus was unable to strike seriously at the gray skinned creature and as a result his own attack fell wide. However, when Ischarus’ strike missed wide he could hear Semeion’s voice behind him as an opening in the melee appeared. “Thin-tok” Ischarus watched as the blue energy ball narrowly slid past his own shoulder and landed solidly against the creature.The beast howled in rage once more, still feeling as though success could be within its grasp. Like its companion, it used its own rage to strike furiously towards Ischarus. Ischarus saw an opportunity, but in order to take advantage of the opening he dropped his sword on the ground as he ducked beneath the creature’s attack. For the first time in life or death combat Ischarus exploded in magical power of his own. “Fashiir-gat!” Ischarus extended his fingers in the direction of his opponent. For only a split second, each small portion of air between himself and the creature froze. Once the frozen air extended out and reached the creature the particles next to Ischarus’ hand appeared to melt and return to normal. The area of impact on the skin of the creature turned a faint frosty color before also returning to normal. The creature howled again at the pain and the recognition that its ally who had been attacking Charis had now fallen. Ischarus yelled in pure delight at the success of the spell. “Ha! My first ever combat spell!”Semeion yelled from behind him. “Well cast, Ischarus. Now get back to the swordplay that you excel in!”Once the opponent attacking Charis had fallen, it meant that the entire party could focus upon the creature still attacking Ischarus. Rhema once more focused her mind against the beast and this attack only caused a mild reaction in the gray skinned creature. The pain from the attack was enough to force its own attack to be lessened. Ischarus was easily able to deflect the creature’s blow. Ischarus rose after casting his spell and using his shield to deflect the creature’s attack. He picked up his sword and drove it in an upward thrust toward the creature. The blind creature heard the attack coming and despite missing Ischarus it was able to twist away from the blow.Semeion chided from the back row once more, “Ha! Well, perhaps you should go back to casting spells, then!” While Semeion yelled, Charis retrieved her weapon from the ground and half-heartedly attacked the remaining creature. Her blow missed the beast, but it was enough to alert it to the fact that it was slowly being outnumbered.The creature adopted a parrying posture and stepped back. It looked as though it was about to howl for reinforcements as the other one had done previously. Rhema noticed the motion and focused her powers once more. She knew that this had already been a costly battle in regard to using her powers, but this last strike was necessary. The creature dropped to a knee in pain. Yet before the rest of the party could take advantage of the position it was back on its feet.Ischarus and Charis both advanced to challenge the sole remaining adversary. Ischarus struck hard, intentionally drawing the creature’s parry. Charis snuck the long point of her pick into the creature’s side, collapsing it to the ground in pain.Once the last of the threat had fallen, Ischarus extended his sword away from him in a posture for allowing the most illumination possible. Charis immediately stowed her weapon and began tending the fallen creatures. She shook her head at the seemingly senselessness of the whole combat. They could not allow the creatures to die; it wasn’t their way. However, the creatures would not let the party move on without a fight. It was a horrible predicament to constantly drive one’s opponents to the brink of death and then treat their wounds and mend them so that they could recover after they were long gone. Yet, it was the best they could do at this time. In a cruel world that mandated battles of life or death it was necessary that they fight hard and choose life for all those involved.Semeion and Rhema worked hard in removing the stone axes in case the gray creatures woke before they could make a serious escape down the tunnel. Once the weapons had been collected and Charis was convinced that their opposition would recover, they set out once more down the unknown tunnels.[/Sblock]</blockquote>

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