arwink
Clockwork Golem
Sunday, August 27th, 508 AF
Four adventurers lie on their stomachs, watching the flare of saphire light coming from the roof of the Mayors house. All of them glow slightly with long lived magics that Halgo and Geoffrey have cast before the assault. All are blessed, and both Geoffrey and Blarth have made use of potions that boost their strength.
"Are you sure this is as close as we can get?" Geoffrey asks. Yip nods silently. There is over three hundred yards of meadow between the line of trees they're using for cover and the edge of the village, another dozen or so feet into the village before they can reach the house. Even from here, they can see the saphire-eyed townsfolk wandering backwards and forwards, slowly tearing their town apart.
"Whoever that goblin is, he wants that town destroyed," Halgo comments blandly. No-one feels the need to add anything to the statement.
"When I say go, we run. Everyone know what to do?" Geoffrey asks. Everyone nods. "Right then. Go."
Everyone sprints, Yip and Blarth taking a slight lead over the short-limbed Halgo and heavily armored Geoffrey. It doesn't take long for the horde of townsfolk to spot them running, and they take a defensive position with alarming precision. Geoffrey allows himself a grunt of pleasure as he notes the way they space themselves around the mayors house, a circle standing as a human sheild between the attackers and the goblin. Just as he'd expected. For all the goblins skill with mind control, the townsfolk couldn't be turned into warriors. He could only use them as armor, not a weapon.
The four companions keep running, getting within bowshot of the house.
"Ready," Geoffrey shouts, watching the horde of townsfolk bunch up and prepare to recieve their charge. "Now."
The cleric skids to a temporary hault, holy symbol in hand. He offers up a prayer to St Cuthbert, and the symbol in his hand glows softly as a grey mist suddenly raises up out of the ground. Visibility drops to near nothing, and Geoffrey smiles with satisfaction as he hears the townsfolk screaming "No!" in perfect unison. Blarth and Yip charge through the mist, confident in their path. Yip encounters a single townsman, searching through the mist, and takes him out with a swift sweep to the legs. Blarth's approach is less graceful, simply barreling through the townsfoilk who are unfortunate enough to block his path. He pauses for the moment with his whistle, pointing it towards the house and lets loose with a blast of pure noise that shakes the very stone and shutters of the building. Everyone hears the sound of someone stumbling on the roof in the aftermath of the blast, and the voice of a hundred townsfolk scream in pain as one.
"Inside the house," Geoffrey orders, "We stop the goblin before we're forced to hurt someone."
It proves to be easier said than done. Blarth and Geoffrey are both flanked by townsfolk in the space of seconds, all of them following the sound of clanking armor. While their vision is limited, the townsfolk seem unnaturally aware of each others location.
Yip has the most success, drinking a potion from his belt as he runs, then springing through the mist with a magically assisted leap. He hears the sound of humans crying out as he sails overhead, then lands on the wall of the mayors house where a second potion enables him to cling to the wall like a spider.
"Yip on the wall," he yells, letting the others know his position before scrambling up towards the roof. Everyone else redoubles the efforts, clubbing their way through the people that surround them. Geoffrey is dismayed to find he's lost his bearings in the fog, finding the wall of the house but no door. To his right, he hears the sound of a half-orcish yell and the sound of splintered timber as well as the pad of dozens of feet.
"This way," Blarth yells. "Blarth find way in."
Even as he starts fighting his way towards the opening, Geoffrey wonders if the crash was a door or Blarth simply smashing his way through a wall.
Blarth finds a second problem in the hallway of the mayors house, the mayors daughters and servants lined up before him in a human blockade.
"You will not reach me," they scream. "You will not take my revenge."
Blarth is quick to charge them down, barreling his way through to the stairwell behind them. All the half-orc can think of is the loss of the first Yip, and the realisation that the second is facing a goblin that can control towns on his own. Halgo is finds the doorway seconds after the half-orc, just in time to see the crowd regaining their feet. The dwarven illusionist simply grunts before rattling off the words to a color spray, disabling all the members of the blockade but one.
"Geoffrey, we're in," he cries, hoping the cleric can find his way through the mist by following the dwarven voice. Then the survivor of his spell is upon him, scratching at him with her claws. Halgo snarls in frustration and hits her with his club, dropping her to the floor. Geoffrey appears in the doorway behind him, a small group of townsfolk hot on his heels.
"Run," the cleric orders. "I think we made them angry."
Halgo doesn't need to be asked twice.
On the roof, Yip is running along the uneven tiles towards the goblin. Even as he approaches, he gets the sense that something is wrong. Although the roof seems to have absorbed the brunt of Blarth's blast, the bulgy-headed creature is still staggered and barely conscious. Despite this he holds the crystal high above his head with outstretched arms, his own eyes glowing with the same saphire glow as the townsfolk as the crystal flares light towards the sky.
Yip leaps forward, a single paw swinging out to connect with the goblin's head. The creature cries out pitifully, the first voice apart from the parties Yip has heard speak on its own. When Yip's second blow catches the creature in the stomach, it collapses to the ground and ceases moving. Yip grins with satisfaction and waits for things to return to normal.
They don't.
The crystal rock keeps flaring, and he can see more townsfolk running accross the square. Yip reaches forward to pick up the crystal, work out why it's still activating, and he hears a sudden voice in his head. A sudden voice that screams about vengance with an unholy determination, and thrusts itself into the small kobolds mind. Yip's eyes flare blue for a moment, but he drops the rock and backs away hissing.
Blarth, Geoffrey and Halgo burst onto the ceiling through a trapdoor, hauling a ladder up after them. Almost as soon as they're steady on the ceiling, Blarth throws himself on the door in an effort to keep it closed. The sound of a dozen fists hammering on the far side isn't far off.
"The goblins dead," Geoffrey says, his voice a little confused.
"Not goblin," Yip explains with a shudder. "Stone."
Everyone looks at the saphire stone, and it's almost as though they can feel its hatred emenating forward.
"Damn it," Geoffrey curses. He hammers at the stone with his mace, chipping away at it with every blow, but the crystal seems to heal as fast as it does damage. Remembering it's origin in the dragon's cave, Geoffrey hauls out the sceptre he liberated from the dead scale-skin and hopes that copper will have a greater effect on the stone, but it does nothing.
"Okay," the cleric says uncertainly. "What do we do now?"
Yip doesn't answer. He's already taken up a position towards the edge of the rooftop, occasionally pulling tiles free to toss at any members of the growing army of townsfolk that are circling the house. The ranks are already three or four townsfolk think, and in the distance Yip can see even more starting to emerge from various place, all under the stones control. By the trapdoor, Blarth is suddenly thrown a few inches into the air by the force of those hammering underneath.
"Blarth need help," he yells. "They're comming through."
"Halgo, can you do anything?" Geoffrey asks. The dwarf doesn't immediately answer, concentrating instead on a thin layer of blue dust and crystal fragments near the edge of the roof.
"Halgo," Geoffrey calls, rushing to the trapdoor to aid the half-orc. "We don't have time to study. Cast a spell at the damned rock."
Halgo just waves, trying to concentrate through the din of the townsfolks assault.
"This is part of the crystal," he says slowly, putting an idea together. "It's not regenerating, so something had to have hurt it."
"Whatever it is, figure it out fast," Geoffrey says. In the back of the clerics mind, he's sure the townsfolk will start building human ladders on the outside of the building soon and if that happens he and his companions are going to be over-run."
"This is where he was standing when Blarth hit it with the flute," Halgo says eagerly. "It might be vulnerable to sonic attacks."
"Right," Geoffrey orders. "Blarth, hit it with the flute agian, fast."
"Can't," Blarth grunts. "Blarth only use flute once, need time to recharge."
Geoffrey swears again.
"Anyone else got something that'll make a big noise?"
For a moment everyone thinks, then Yip notices the big bell accross the square.
"Give Yip sack," he orders abruptly.
"What?" Geoffrey yells.
"Give Yip sack. He take Crystal to Bell, use bell to break it apart."
"Will that work?"
"It killed that drunk, remember?" Halgo points out, remembering one of the stories the townsfolk told them about the bell. "Killed him and shattered his bottle in his hands. Besides, you got any other ideas."
No-one says anything. Halgo mutely gives Yip a sack and watches the kobold load the crystal in carefully.
"You sure you can do it?" Halgo asks. Yip shrugs.
"Yip small, fast. Jump a long way and can still climb walls. Will try to stay on rooftops, outrun townsfolk."
And with that, he runs. Geoffrey and Blarth are concentrating on keeping the townsfolk down, so they don't see him go, but Halgo watches the kobolds small body sail over the wide Bellhold streets and land on the wall of a building on the far side. With barely a pause, Yip scrambles up the wall and keeps running. Within seconds, there are townsfolk filling the street and chasing the kobold. There are seven blocks between the Belltower and the Mayors house, and Halgo watches Yip sail along them all. Many of the gaps are too wide for him to clear directly, but every time the small monk dissapears from view he reappers within the space of a few seconds, occasionally with his clothes torn or thrown debris trailing after it. Halgo finds himself watching in fascination, counting down the rooftops between Yip and the Bell. Five, four, three, two...
For a moment there's a pause, and Halgo hears the universal cry of glee coming from the townsfolk that can only mean YIp's either fallen or been caught. Halgo holds his breath, counts the seconds, and within a twenty count Yip is moving again, his robe all but shredded as he runs along the final rooftop and leaps towards the belltower.
Halgo has never been the greatest of believers in St Cuthbert, aiding the church out of obligation rather than belief, but even he finds himself holding his breath and offering a silent prayer to the Saint for Yip's success.
On the last rooftop, Yip is quickly planning how to get to the tower as he runs. It's over ninety feet between the rooftop and the belltower, and there are townsfolk forming a second human shield around it. Yip barely breaks stride, simply reminds himself that he's smaller and faster than any of them. His leap is spectacular, carrying him nearly ten feet beyond the small crowd of townsfolk that were expecting to catch him as he lands, and he hits the ground sprinting. He ducks and weaves, keeping beyond the grasp of those few mind-controlled townsfolk he comes close to, until he hits the small ring of human bodies at the very base of the tower.
Two of them reach out as Yip charges towards them, one of them catching Yip by the shoulder despite his weaving. YIp barely breaks stride, one arm swinging up to take one attacker in the nose while he tries to push past the second. Yip is smaller and weaker than the man who'se grabbed him, but his determination and momentum carry him through. A quick jag forces his attacker to jerk back, and that move is all Yip needs to leap onto the mans chest with his entire bodyweight and knock him to the ground. As the townsman hits the ground, Yip is already sumersaulting back onto his feet and grabbing at the wall of the belltower, the spider climb spell letting him scramble up and out of reach.
"No," townsfolk scream in unison, and Yip feels the imact of stones, sticks and arrows on the wall around him as he runs. He pays little attention to the attacks, keeping his mind on the task at hand and is soon in the tip of the belltower, depositing the bag and stone under the bell and leaping at the bell pull.
Wyrmscall rings out accross the town, a booming gong that echoes through the chest of everyone present. Underneath the bell, clinging to the rope, Yip is shaken like a rag doll. He feels his vision go black, his bones and teeth ache with the noise, and his grip loosens sending him plumeting down the shaft of the bell tower. It is either luck or grace that allows him to recover enough to snag the bell-pull again as he falls, letting out a second booming gong that echoes accross the town.
Yip can still hear the townsfolk screaming in unison, a sign that the crystal is still whole, so he sets his feet against the wall of the tower and pulls as hard as he can once more. A third note, and more screaming, before Yip hears the sound of splintering wood below him. He looks down and sees a small horde of townsfolk pouring into the belltower, clambering over the steps and surging towards him.
The kobold searches blindly for a path of escape, but the only way is up towards the bell or down towards the horde of waiting arms. As the first of the townsfolk reaches a point on the stairwell within reaching distance of the kobold, Yip leaps towards the far wall and out of their grasp. He keeps the rope gripped firmly between two paws, and his desperate dodge produces a fourth tone. Even as he lands there are more arms, more danger. Yip moves again, another desperate move that is half leap and half climb up the bell pull. A fifth tone. A sixth. As he lands, Yip feels the sharp pain of a dagger thrust through his chest. He yelps in pain, feels a sudden rushing of darkness coming towards him, and he realises he can barely hear the screams of the townsfolk that surround him. With grim determination, the kobold leaps free of the wall and sounds the bell for seventh time before he looses consciousness, swinging wildly on the rope until he slams into the far wall and slides down onto the stairwell.
Yip doesn't see the mass collapse of the towsfolk, or even wake up when his companions arrive to double check the crumbled remains of the crystal beneath the bell. As the companions pick their way among the unconscious townsfolk that litter the Belltowers stairwell, they notice the crumpled body on the ground. Geoffrey kneels quickly, checking the kobolds wounds.
"He's still alive," Geoffrey reports. For the moment, that's enough. Halgo and Blarth head towards the bell as the cleric starts to cast what minor spells he has left to heal Yip's wounds.
Four adventurers lie on their stomachs, watching the flare of saphire light coming from the roof of the Mayors house. All of them glow slightly with long lived magics that Halgo and Geoffrey have cast before the assault. All are blessed, and both Geoffrey and Blarth have made use of potions that boost their strength.
"Are you sure this is as close as we can get?" Geoffrey asks. Yip nods silently. There is over three hundred yards of meadow between the line of trees they're using for cover and the edge of the village, another dozen or so feet into the village before they can reach the house. Even from here, they can see the saphire-eyed townsfolk wandering backwards and forwards, slowly tearing their town apart.
"Whoever that goblin is, he wants that town destroyed," Halgo comments blandly. No-one feels the need to add anything to the statement.
"When I say go, we run. Everyone know what to do?" Geoffrey asks. Everyone nods. "Right then. Go."
Everyone sprints, Yip and Blarth taking a slight lead over the short-limbed Halgo and heavily armored Geoffrey. It doesn't take long for the horde of townsfolk to spot them running, and they take a defensive position with alarming precision. Geoffrey allows himself a grunt of pleasure as he notes the way they space themselves around the mayors house, a circle standing as a human sheild between the attackers and the goblin. Just as he'd expected. For all the goblins skill with mind control, the townsfolk couldn't be turned into warriors. He could only use them as armor, not a weapon.
The four companions keep running, getting within bowshot of the house.
"Ready," Geoffrey shouts, watching the horde of townsfolk bunch up and prepare to recieve their charge. "Now."
The cleric skids to a temporary hault, holy symbol in hand. He offers up a prayer to St Cuthbert, and the symbol in his hand glows softly as a grey mist suddenly raises up out of the ground. Visibility drops to near nothing, and Geoffrey smiles with satisfaction as he hears the townsfolk screaming "No!" in perfect unison. Blarth and Yip charge through the mist, confident in their path. Yip encounters a single townsman, searching through the mist, and takes him out with a swift sweep to the legs. Blarth's approach is less graceful, simply barreling through the townsfoilk who are unfortunate enough to block his path. He pauses for the moment with his whistle, pointing it towards the house and lets loose with a blast of pure noise that shakes the very stone and shutters of the building. Everyone hears the sound of someone stumbling on the roof in the aftermath of the blast, and the voice of a hundred townsfolk scream in pain as one.
"Inside the house," Geoffrey orders, "We stop the goblin before we're forced to hurt someone."
It proves to be easier said than done. Blarth and Geoffrey are both flanked by townsfolk in the space of seconds, all of them following the sound of clanking armor. While their vision is limited, the townsfolk seem unnaturally aware of each others location.
Yip has the most success, drinking a potion from his belt as he runs, then springing through the mist with a magically assisted leap. He hears the sound of humans crying out as he sails overhead, then lands on the wall of the mayors house where a second potion enables him to cling to the wall like a spider.
"Yip on the wall," he yells, letting the others know his position before scrambling up towards the roof. Everyone else redoubles the efforts, clubbing their way through the people that surround them. Geoffrey is dismayed to find he's lost his bearings in the fog, finding the wall of the house but no door. To his right, he hears the sound of a half-orcish yell and the sound of splintered timber as well as the pad of dozens of feet.
"This way," Blarth yells. "Blarth find way in."
Even as he starts fighting his way towards the opening, Geoffrey wonders if the crash was a door or Blarth simply smashing his way through a wall.
Blarth finds a second problem in the hallway of the mayors house, the mayors daughters and servants lined up before him in a human blockade.
"You will not reach me," they scream. "You will not take my revenge."
Blarth is quick to charge them down, barreling his way through to the stairwell behind them. All the half-orc can think of is the loss of the first Yip, and the realisation that the second is facing a goblin that can control towns on his own. Halgo is finds the doorway seconds after the half-orc, just in time to see the crowd regaining their feet. The dwarven illusionist simply grunts before rattling off the words to a color spray, disabling all the members of the blockade but one.
"Geoffrey, we're in," he cries, hoping the cleric can find his way through the mist by following the dwarven voice. Then the survivor of his spell is upon him, scratching at him with her claws. Halgo snarls in frustration and hits her with his club, dropping her to the floor. Geoffrey appears in the doorway behind him, a small group of townsfolk hot on his heels.
"Run," the cleric orders. "I think we made them angry."
Halgo doesn't need to be asked twice.
On the roof, Yip is running along the uneven tiles towards the goblin. Even as he approaches, he gets the sense that something is wrong. Although the roof seems to have absorbed the brunt of Blarth's blast, the bulgy-headed creature is still staggered and barely conscious. Despite this he holds the crystal high above his head with outstretched arms, his own eyes glowing with the same saphire glow as the townsfolk as the crystal flares light towards the sky.
Yip leaps forward, a single paw swinging out to connect with the goblin's head. The creature cries out pitifully, the first voice apart from the parties Yip has heard speak on its own. When Yip's second blow catches the creature in the stomach, it collapses to the ground and ceases moving. Yip grins with satisfaction and waits for things to return to normal.
They don't.
The crystal rock keeps flaring, and he can see more townsfolk running accross the square. Yip reaches forward to pick up the crystal, work out why it's still activating, and he hears a sudden voice in his head. A sudden voice that screams about vengance with an unholy determination, and thrusts itself into the small kobolds mind. Yip's eyes flare blue for a moment, but he drops the rock and backs away hissing.
Blarth, Geoffrey and Halgo burst onto the ceiling through a trapdoor, hauling a ladder up after them. Almost as soon as they're steady on the ceiling, Blarth throws himself on the door in an effort to keep it closed. The sound of a dozen fists hammering on the far side isn't far off.
"The goblins dead," Geoffrey says, his voice a little confused.
"Not goblin," Yip explains with a shudder. "Stone."
Everyone looks at the saphire stone, and it's almost as though they can feel its hatred emenating forward.
"Damn it," Geoffrey curses. He hammers at the stone with his mace, chipping away at it with every blow, but the crystal seems to heal as fast as it does damage. Remembering it's origin in the dragon's cave, Geoffrey hauls out the sceptre he liberated from the dead scale-skin and hopes that copper will have a greater effect on the stone, but it does nothing.
"Okay," the cleric says uncertainly. "What do we do now?"
Yip doesn't answer. He's already taken up a position towards the edge of the rooftop, occasionally pulling tiles free to toss at any members of the growing army of townsfolk that are circling the house. The ranks are already three or four townsfolk think, and in the distance Yip can see even more starting to emerge from various place, all under the stones control. By the trapdoor, Blarth is suddenly thrown a few inches into the air by the force of those hammering underneath.
"Blarth need help," he yells. "They're comming through."
"Halgo, can you do anything?" Geoffrey asks. The dwarf doesn't immediately answer, concentrating instead on a thin layer of blue dust and crystal fragments near the edge of the roof.
"Halgo," Geoffrey calls, rushing to the trapdoor to aid the half-orc. "We don't have time to study. Cast a spell at the damned rock."
Halgo just waves, trying to concentrate through the din of the townsfolks assault.
"This is part of the crystal," he says slowly, putting an idea together. "It's not regenerating, so something had to have hurt it."
"Whatever it is, figure it out fast," Geoffrey says. In the back of the clerics mind, he's sure the townsfolk will start building human ladders on the outside of the building soon and if that happens he and his companions are going to be over-run."
"This is where he was standing when Blarth hit it with the flute," Halgo says eagerly. "It might be vulnerable to sonic attacks."
"Right," Geoffrey orders. "Blarth, hit it with the flute agian, fast."
"Can't," Blarth grunts. "Blarth only use flute once, need time to recharge."
Geoffrey swears again.
"Anyone else got something that'll make a big noise?"
For a moment everyone thinks, then Yip notices the big bell accross the square.
"Give Yip sack," he orders abruptly.
"What?" Geoffrey yells.
"Give Yip sack. He take Crystal to Bell, use bell to break it apart."
"Will that work?"
"It killed that drunk, remember?" Halgo points out, remembering one of the stories the townsfolk told them about the bell. "Killed him and shattered his bottle in his hands. Besides, you got any other ideas."
No-one says anything. Halgo mutely gives Yip a sack and watches the kobold load the crystal in carefully.
"You sure you can do it?" Halgo asks. Yip shrugs.
"Yip small, fast. Jump a long way and can still climb walls. Will try to stay on rooftops, outrun townsfolk."
And with that, he runs. Geoffrey and Blarth are concentrating on keeping the townsfolk down, so they don't see him go, but Halgo watches the kobolds small body sail over the wide Bellhold streets and land on the wall of a building on the far side. With barely a pause, Yip scrambles up the wall and keeps running. Within seconds, there are townsfolk filling the street and chasing the kobold. There are seven blocks between the Belltower and the Mayors house, and Halgo watches Yip sail along them all. Many of the gaps are too wide for him to clear directly, but every time the small monk dissapears from view he reappers within the space of a few seconds, occasionally with his clothes torn or thrown debris trailing after it. Halgo finds himself watching in fascination, counting down the rooftops between Yip and the Bell. Five, four, three, two...
For a moment there's a pause, and Halgo hears the universal cry of glee coming from the townsfolk that can only mean YIp's either fallen or been caught. Halgo holds his breath, counts the seconds, and within a twenty count Yip is moving again, his robe all but shredded as he runs along the final rooftop and leaps towards the belltower.
Halgo has never been the greatest of believers in St Cuthbert, aiding the church out of obligation rather than belief, but even he finds himself holding his breath and offering a silent prayer to the Saint for Yip's success.
On the last rooftop, Yip is quickly planning how to get to the tower as he runs. It's over ninety feet between the rooftop and the belltower, and there are townsfolk forming a second human shield around it. Yip barely breaks stride, simply reminds himself that he's smaller and faster than any of them. His leap is spectacular, carrying him nearly ten feet beyond the small crowd of townsfolk that were expecting to catch him as he lands, and he hits the ground sprinting. He ducks and weaves, keeping beyond the grasp of those few mind-controlled townsfolk he comes close to, until he hits the small ring of human bodies at the very base of the tower.
Two of them reach out as Yip charges towards them, one of them catching Yip by the shoulder despite his weaving. YIp barely breaks stride, one arm swinging up to take one attacker in the nose while he tries to push past the second. Yip is smaller and weaker than the man who'se grabbed him, but his determination and momentum carry him through. A quick jag forces his attacker to jerk back, and that move is all Yip needs to leap onto the mans chest with his entire bodyweight and knock him to the ground. As the townsman hits the ground, Yip is already sumersaulting back onto his feet and grabbing at the wall of the belltower, the spider climb spell letting him scramble up and out of reach.
"No," townsfolk scream in unison, and Yip feels the imact of stones, sticks and arrows on the wall around him as he runs. He pays little attention to the attacks, keeping his mind on the task at hand and is soon in the tip of the belltower, depositing the bag and stone under the bell and leaping at the bell pull.
Wyrmscall rings out accross the town, a booming gong that echoes through the chest of everyone present. Underneath the bell, clinging to the rope, Yip is shaken like a rag doll. He feels his vision go black, his bones and teeth ache with the noise, and his grip loosens sending him plumeting down the shaft of the bell tower. It is either luck or grace that allows him to recover enough to snag the bell-pull again as he falls, letting out a second booming gong that echoes accross the town.
Yip can still hear the townsfolk screaming in unison, a sign that the crystal is still whole, so he sets his feet against the wall of the tower and pulls as hard as he can once more. A third note, and more screaming, before Yip hears the sound of splintering wood below him. He looks down and sees a small horde of townsfolk pouring into the belltower, clambering over the steps and surging towards him.
The kobold searches blindly for a path of escape, but the only way is up towards the bell or down towards the horde of waiting arms. As the first of the townsfolk reaches a point on the stairwell within reaching distance of the kobold, Yip leaps towards the far wall and out of their grasp. He keeps the rope gripped firmly between two paws, and his desperate dodge produces a fourth tone. Even as he lands there are more arms, more danger. Yip moves again, another desperate move that is half leap and half climb up the bell pull. A fifth tone. A sixth. As he lands, Yip feels the sharp pain of a dagger thrust through his chest. He yelps in pain, feels a sudden rushing of darkness coming towards him, and he realises he can barely hear the screams of the townsfolk that surround him. With grim determination, the kobold leaps free of the wall and sounds the bell for seventh time before he looses consciousness, swinging wildly on the rope until he slams into the far wall and slides down onto the stairwell.
Yip doesn't see the mass collapse of the towsfolk, or even wake up when his companions arrive to double check the crumbled remains of the crystal beneath the bell. As the companions pick their way among the unconscious townsfolk that litter the Belltowers stairwell, they notice the crumpled body on the ground. Geoffrey kneels quickly, checking the kobolds wounds.
"He's still alive," Geoffrey reports. For the moment, that's enough. Halgo and Blarth head towards the bell as the cleric starts to cast what minor spells he has left to heal Yip's wounds.
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