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Message: <blockquote data-quote="drnuncheon" data-source="post: 832017" data-attributes="member: 96">Ahoke suddenly slows, shaking her head rapidly, as if to clear it. She stares into the darkness wistfully, and then turns back. "Got to rest," she grunts, with some effort. "I'll be tired out before I even catch up with the thanork..." She sits down on the ground.The creature on the ceiling scuttles back towards the darkness that has swallowed the other thanork.Harvester watches the spider-goblin scuttle away now, warily, and begins to weave his hands in the intricate patterns of the divine, "I call upon He Who Is To Come for soothe the wounds of His faithful servant, that I might continue His tasks!" The lanky priest's wounds close, the flow of blood now nearly halted.The point of the arrow nocked in Sen-Jyu's bow points sharply upward, toward the escaping thanork. His fingers tug it back, straining against the feel of the unfamiliar string... and let it loose prematurely, falling widely short of the mark.Ahoke keeps sitting on the ground, trying to catch her breath. "I'm a dwarf, I'm a dwarf," she keeps repeating to herself.Sen-Jyu nears the priest, wondering aloud, "How badly are you wounded, The Harvester?" A look of questioning is aimed squarely at the sitting dwarf, but idiosyncrasies aren't his concern at the moment.Harvester, having been watching the fleeing Thanork, finds himself distracted in his casting, and only just hears the whizzing of the arrow as it zings by his ear, "Heeee-EY!"Ahoke puts her head into her hands for a moment, and then straightens up, pulling out another vial. "I'm too old for this sh*t," she grumbles, uncorking it and tossing the liquid back like one would a shot of whiskey.Some of the barbarian's wounds knit themselves closed, but there are a number of lacerations and wounds left. She looks up, to assess the damage done to her companions.The barking tongue of the thanork echos from the darkness - the words indistinguishable, but the meaning clear: advance and destroy.Harvester shakes his head at Sen-Jyu, "I already apologized for almost killing you. Didn't gotta try and shoot me. I am relatively unharmed now, Sen. You? Kay?" He moves to scoop up his torch and looks about while he awaits their replies.Harvester says, "They're coming back. And I'm nearly spent."Ahoke turns to look at the sound, and sighs heavily, lumbering to her feet. "Looks like the thanork aren't going to give us a chance to rest. Makes you wonder why they fled to begin with, the little cowardly sheep turds." She glances around the room, looking for ways out.Sen-Jyu shoulders his bow again, drawing both swords as he hears the thanork organizing. The space between himself and Ahoke is brought to none by a sprint, as he nudges her with his knee. "What are you talking about? Are you okay?"The stream runs along one side of the great chamber, and on the other - a door. If your sense of direction is correct, it should lead into - or under - the strange windowless building you saw earlier.Ahoke grunts, and nods. "Yeah. Just real tired from my rage. And I've got some flesh wounds." Her eyes narrow at the door. "Maybe we can barricade ourselves in there, until we're a little more capable of facing on a horde of thanork..?""You need to rest?" the spirit-blood asks, surprised at this notion from the usually tireless dwarf. "If you think that's best... certainly. There's no guarantee that that's less dangerous than where we already are, however."Ahoke nods, and resolutely moves to the door. "Maybe luck will be with me," she says, not sounding entirely convinced of that. "Just a little while," she says. "When a rage takes me, it eats all of my strength. When I'm done, there's nothing left."Looking over his shoulder at The Harvester, Sen-Jyu keeps a middle distance between the two -- waiting for the priest to catch up, but not so much that Ahoke is left alone. "All right, then. Do you want me to enter first?"There is little time for discussion - out of the darkness, a wave of javelins flies!Harvester says, "Go go go go go go go!"Three of the javelins find their marks - one in each of the companions - and the thanork howl in savage glee.Ahoke's lips curl back into a snarl, and for a moment, it appears that she is going to reverse her direction to go rip apart those that are laughing at her pain. With effort, she reaches down, to open the door, leaping inside if it isn't locked.Accepting the tip of a javelin in his forearm, Sen-Jyu makes haste to follow Ahoke into the building, being wary in case the door is locked or is merely an illusion leading to a precipice.Harvester keeps looking over his shoulder and the javelins come, "Go go go g- ow! Damn you!" he whirls, and fires his crossbow into the darkness, "You shall all meet The Harvester's scythe, and be reaped like the grain for the Master's threshing!"  Harvester shouts that in the thanork's own tongue as he urges his companions to greater speed.The door opens, admitting the trio into a single large room. It may have been fine once, judging from the furnishings, but the goblins have apparently turned it into their barracks - their filth is everywhere. Fortunately, they seem not to be in occupation at the moment.Harvester, being the last through the door, slams it shut and presses his shoulders against it, "Find something to bar it with, then make sure there're no other entrances!"Ahoke starts dragging furniture over to the door.Sen-Jyu assists Ahoke in the dragging of furniture bit.Most of the furniture has been ruined - not just ruined to the point of looking bad, but ruined to the point of destruction. A quick glance around reveals some reasonably hefty splinters that might be usde to wedge the door.Harvester places his back to the door and spreads his feet to hold the line as the others jam the door closed.Blows thud into the door from the other side as the thanork finally arrive. The Harvester can feel their impact through the thin wood that he presses against.Ahoke uses those reasonably hefty splinters to try to wedge the door."Stand away," says Sen-Jyu. "Never know when they'll try and put a spear through the wood." Sheathing his wakizashi, Sen-Jyu extracts the vial he'd been given from the bounty previously discovered. A wince as he unstoppers it, places it to his lips, and swallows the contents.Harvester says, "I... don't know... how long... the door... will hold.. them out..." He speaks between thumpings.Harvester nods to Sen-Jyu, more than willing to move away once Ahoke has secured the door. He moves about the room now, torch held high as he searches for other exits or forgotten valuables to aid in their fight.Some of his lesser wounds closing at the potion's curative effects, Sen-Jyu once more prepares for combat. "Ahoke -- rest while you can. I can hold the door for a ... time."The pile of rags springs up and leaps away from Harvester. "No kill! No kill!"Ahoke sighs. "Maybe I should have just charged at them out there." She drops to the floor back in a corner, closing her eyes. "Alright," she says. "Thanks..." she trails off, staring at the suddenly animate pile of rags.Pile of rags - or thanork, really. It's clutching an unloaded crossbow to its chest, and its ears have flattened back against its head. "No kill," it repeats.Harvester's scythe whips down and around, the wickedly blade curving towards the thing. His heart beats loudly, "Hold still, you, and you'll live... for now." He speaks this in common, or thanorki, whichever it speaks.Turning on the pile of rags, Sen-Jyu's eyes narrow, specifically at the crossbow it holds. "... don't," Sen-Jyu says. "I think it tried to help... earlier."The creature gabbles rapidly in thanork.  "Yes! Yes! Prukk help! Prukk leave message, tell where children go! Prukk no work for Akratt!"Ahoke watches from her corner, through narrowed eyes. She doesn't say anything or do anything aggressive, for the moment, testament to how tired she really is.Harvester drops the point, slightly, and continues speaking with the goblin. "Prukk." he repeats."Prukk! Prukk!" The creature indicates itself. "Prukk kill Akratt, you kill Akratt?"Sen-Jyu faces the door once more, listening for the thanork outside, in an attempt to count the numbers that they may soon face, if the thanork are successful in battering down the doors.Ahoke scowls at the thanork. "Who the hell is Akratt?"Harvester says, "We will, yes. Akratt will soon meet the gardener. We need to get out, Prukk, and hide, and rest.  Akratt is apparently the Thanork leader, kay."The door shudders.Prukk shakes his head, speaking in thanork. "No way out, only one door."Harvester sighs as he translates, "?There's no way out, folks. Any way to bolster the door?"Ahoke gets to her feet, a grim expression on her face. "It looks like we're going to have to face them down, if we like it or not." She moves so that she'll be standing to one side of the door when they come in. "I don't feel so tired anymore anyway."Harvester looks back to Prukk and speaks.  "How many Thanorks..goblins follow Akratt?"Sen-Jyu stands to the unhinged side of the door, Sen-Jyu's jaw rigid as he calms his breath, gathering his shreds of honor to himself in the rather likely case that he, too, will join his ancestors in death.Harvester translates again, "We've killed many. Including Guzzum, Akratt's protector."Ahoke hmms. "Who was the other berserker?"  Her eyes narrow even more. "And why are you turning on your own kind, thanork?"The door opens an inch, and the thanork howl with victory. It's not going to hold for more than a few seconds.Ahoke falls silent, waiting to smack some goblins with her great club.Prukk looks wildly at the door and yanks on his crossbow to <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> it.Harvester calls upon his deity's favor once more, "Master, salve my companion's wounds in this battle that we undertake, that we might continue Your work..." He touches Sen-Jyu on the shoulder.The splinters finally give way and the door flies open.Sen-Jyu's attempt at leaping through the thanork becomes, instead, a blustering through their ranks. Really not at all graceful or elegant, but at least he's made it through their ranks to flank them.Sen-Jyu coughs out as he makes it past the thanork, wheezing from the swing from the one unsurprised one, "... excuse me..."Ahoke gives a full-throated battle cry in dwarven, clearly designed to unnerve the enemy. Her great club moves through the air with surprising grace for a big hunk of wood, and smashes one of the surprised thanork into bloody gobbets.Outside the room, the thanork have gathered - four that Sen-Jyu tumbled past, now reduced to three thanks to Ahoke's club. Behind them, a trio of others - including one with a battered and dented crown upon his bulbous head.One of the trio - a strange goblin whose skin is tainted blue - raises his hand to indicate Ahoke. A blue-white arc of electricity sizzles out through the air, striking the dwarf - and then leaping from her to the Harvester, crackling between them with the scent of ozone. It continues to play over their bodies, linking them in blue-white lightning.The goblins rejoin the melee, plying their spiked morningstars with vigor if not skill - Sen-jyu, still off-balance from his disastrous method of breaking through the thanork line, is clipped on the back of the knee.  This particular thanork seems to have a particular taste for causing Sen-Jyu pain, and takes the morningstar to Sen-Jyu's terribly displeased flesh.The crowned goblin yanks the third of the trio - another blue-skinned goblin - in front of him, shouting orders in his foul tongue.Harvester finds his body briefly siezed by the surge of electrical energies, and snaps free, shouting out to Sen-Jyu while pointing, "Sen! Kill Akratt! The one with the crown!" His wicked scythe slides around in a graceful arc, low and up, as The Harvester begins to reap the grain before him, "For the glory of He Who Is To Come!" is the Goblinoid cry.Ah, sweetest vengeance is Sen-Jyu's, as he draws Ichido-sama across the neck of his tormentor, and while the thanork is not decapitated, the spray of brackish blood is savored by the spirit-blood, even as his thrust toward the other standing thanork by the door is unsuccessful.The electrified dwarf delivers a blow that bounces off of the thanork's armor. She scowls, and and prepares to strike again.The electricity continues to arc and rebound between Harvester and Ahoke, bringing the scent of cooking flesh to the cavern.The blue goblin continues to concentrate, eyes blazing oddly as he stares at his pair of victims.The one remaining goblin at the door - surrounded, outnumbered, blessed perhaps with a luck that is about to run out - that goblin decides that he knows the better part of valor. He turns and flees from the combat.A haphazard slash at the retreating thanork, a sigh from a disappointed Sen-Jyu. That is all.With a foul thanork curse, the crowned goblin follows, abandoning the blue-skinned ones, one hand holding the crown on its precarious perch. Behind you, Prukk curses. "Akratt getting away!"Harvester shouts, "Akratt flees! We must stop him for the children!"The smaller of the blue-skinned goblins steps in front of the other, raising his weapon in a brave attempt to defend the other creature.A growing shout spills from The Harvester's throat as he suddenly surges forward, in the tongue of the Thanork, "Death comes for you!!" The scythe leads the charge and the shaman's erstwhile protector is handily bounced away, without harm to the priest, and the blade comes across, a whisker's distance from the spellcaster's nose.Taking the opposite side of the spellcasting thanork, Sen-Jyu sneaks in a surreptitious blow, but fails to overcome the mysterious magic armor that the thing wears.Normally, Ahoke might have seen the wisdom of pursuing the thanork "king," but this blue-skinned creature is hurting her /now./ She runs across the room towards him, yelling, "Diiiiiieeeeeee!" She smashes its right shoulder, making it squeal in pain, and then drop to the floor in a bleeding, dying heap. The electricity that was plaguing Ahoke and Harvester winks out.The other blue-skinned goblin does its best to crawl away without attracting the notice of the biggers.Harvester shouts out, "PRUKK!! Get out here!" And in the language of 'commoners', to his friends, "Don't let that one go!"Sen-Jyu steps on the weapon-wielding hand of the escaping thanork. "Mmmm, no," he murmurs gently to it.Prukk does not respond - perhaps he slipped away during the battle?Harvester starts moving in the direction Akratt fled, and haolds out a potion to Sen-Jyu as he begins to drink one of his own. "Bring him Sen... he'll show us the way."Sen-Jyu accepts the potion from Harvester with no small amount of gratitude. "I think... you should speak to him, first. Let him know what he's to do, and not to do." He quaffs the fluid and tucks the empty vial into a pocket.Ahoke glances at the would-be escapee, and shrugs, seeing that her companions are dealing with him. She begins to pursue the would-be king down the hall, death in her eyes. "No one burns me and gets away with it," she says, casting one last contemptuous glance at her most recently fallen foe.Harvester pauses after drinking enough of the potion to work effectively, and grabs the thanork by the neck, lifting it. "Where did Akratt go? Take us. Try nothing and I'll let you live."The pitiful creature points down the hall where Akratt vanished.Sen-Jyu leaves his wakizashi sheathed, the better to disarm the thanork and discard its weapon far out of reach. His katana's point encourages the thanork's cooperation by its presence, though it does not bite the captive yet.Harvester whips out a rope and ties it around the goblin's neck and shoves it forward hurriedly. "Go!" He moves quickly after Ahoke.Ahoke disappears into the darkness. She shouts out, obviously startled by something that she sees.Harvester growls and says to Sen-Jyu, "Run!" he follows his own urging and moves more quickly.Sen-Jyu urges the thanork forward at hearing Ahoke's shout, looking uneasily at the Harvester. At the Harvester's command, he leaves the two and moves forward toward where Ahoke was last seen.</blockquote>

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