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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 3431072" data-attributes="member: 35788">The party watched the frove retreat into the forest.  Ischarus and Charis thought about pursuing the frove into the darkness beyond, but a gesture and a comment from Rhema stopped their pursuit.  “We don’t need the victory that bad.  Stay in here where it is safe.  For all we know, there could be more out there, waiting for us to come out and give chase.”Semeion’s face wrinkled in puzzlement for a moment.  “Either way, the retreat sure was strange.  The frove was clearly phrenic.  It was able to use its mind to conjure up the same kind of defenses that we’ve seen in the others.”Charis finished his thought for him.  “But the others didn’t retreat.  The others fought until they were taken down.  Something isn’t right about this one.”Ophee was beginning to feel more comfortable among the party.  “Well, we’re not all the same level of intelligence.  Perhaps the frove was just smarter than the others?”Before anyone could honestly answer Ophee’s assertion, a booming voice echoed throughout the cave.  The voice was so loud that each of the party cupped their hands over their ears to muffle the sound.  “Those who wake the earth once seldom live to do it a second time!”Prior to the party being able to exit the cave, a mass of rock emerged from the wall to the right of the exit and blocked the way out.  As the rock emerged from the wall, pieces of stone began to separate from the mud and clay.  The stone arbitrarily migrated to the top and side of the emerging form while the clay and mud stayed in the center and began to separate into a torso and the proper corresponding appendages.  Many of the stones gathered together on what appeared to be the emerging head; and the stones gathered themselves into the eyes, nose, and even teeth of the form.  The stones that had migrated to the sides of the figure became the claws and nails on the emerging feet and hands.The party found themselves too intrigued by the process of the forming earth creation to do anything about it.  Charis and Ischarus watched with mouths agape as the figure formed from the earth.  Semeion had tilted his head to the right side as his innate curiosity regarding magical summoning was piqued.  Rhema and Ophee quickly scanned the rest of the walls to make sure that this figure was the only one that would be forming out of the earth.Once the figure was formed, the booming voice of the cave spoke once more.  “Prove yourself worthy of sleeping in my cave.  You have awoken me, now you must earn your stay.  Defeat my guardian!”Suddenly the attack made sense to Semeion.  “The frove knew what was going to happen.  The attack was simply bait!  The howl woke up the cave.  The frove was sent here to let the cave finish us off!”At Semeion’s words, Ischarus brought his sword around in the first attack.  The speed of his assault caught the earthen guardian by surprise and Ischarus landed a clean blow.  A small rock chipped away from the creature’s midsection and clumps of mud and clay sprayed across the party.Rhema knew that her powers would be of little help against the creature.  She drew her crystalline sword, but also knew she didn’t have any place to launch an attack.  “Draw the creature deeper into the cave!  Semeion and I can only use our blades if we have room to join the assault.”The earth guardian acted as though it did not hear Rhema’s speech, or else it could not understand it.  Since Ischarus had already moved to join the attack, the creature swung its clay arms and rock nails toward Ischarus.  The blow was easily turned aside by a simple duck.  The guardian’s attack was slow, but quite substantial.Semeion drew his own sword, but had to pause for a moment for space to open up within the combat area.  He didn’t want to risk wasting spells if they would do no damage against the creature.  Ophee and Charis each held their weapons aloft.  Charis sliced the pointed end of her pick through the air and lodged it solidly into the creature’s side.  When she pulled the pick free, more rock and clay pulled away from the side of the creature.  Ophee’s attack missed, but both Ophee and Charis stepped back a pace so as to force the earthen guardian to come further into the cave to assault them.Ischarus saw the strategy on behalf of his female counterparts.  He brought his sword around in a quick strike and made simple contact.  The blow chipped more rock and clay from the creature, but his intent was to allow his attack to give him a chance to take a step back and join Ophee and Charis in setting up a new defensive line.The rock creature seemed to have little understanding of the tactics being employed by the party.  The creature stepped forward and swung to hit Ischarus.  Although Ischarus had easily dodged the last attack, he had difficulty dodging this particular blow.  The rock and clay arms of the earth guardian struck Ischarus hard and nearly knocked him to the ground.  Ischarus looked unsteady for a moment before regaining his composure.Rhema and Semeion took the opportunity presented to them by the advance of the earth guardian.  Although they couldn’t get around to the earth guardian’s backside without exposing themselves, they were each able to sneak in along the creature’s sides.  Rhema flanked his right side beside Ischarus while Semeion flanked the opposite side beside Charis.  Both Rhema and Semeion swung at the creature, but neither was able to connect with a damaging strike.Charis and Ophee had a bit of better luck.  Ophee distracted the creature with a well-intentioned miss.  Charis followed the assault with another good blow from her pick.  More rock and clay chipped away from the creature.  Although enough of the rock and clay had been chipped away from the creature’s midsection to make it appear as though it should tumble over, the earth magic that animated it kept it upright and still a significant threat.Ischarus lined up another strike and landed a solid blow as soon as he had recovered from the previous attack.  His sword bit deep into the earth guardian’s massive right arm and tore rock and clay away.  The creature returned Ischarus’ strike with one of his own, and this time the blow was enough to knock Ischarus flat on his back.  The earth guardian had struck with such violence that as the uppercut landed Ischarus was lifted off of his feet and fell square on his shoulders.Rhema saw her husband fall to the ground and knew that there was little that she could do except fight hard against the creature in front of her.  The best way to protect her husband would be to dispatch the threat.  She stepped to her left, so that she and Charis were fighting the creature from opposite sides.  Her deep blue crystalline sword struck the creature’s back and removed even more rock and clay from its midsection.  Much to the party’s amazement, the creature continued to remain on its feet.Semeion stepped opposite Ophee and swung with his rapier.  The weapon made contact, but his strength was not enough to harm the thick rock surface that formed the creature.  His blow glanced off to the side as Ophee also swung toward the creature and missed.Charis wanted to knock the creature onto its back, but she knew that Ischarus’ life was more important.  She stepped behind Ophee and crouched onto the ground so that she could touch Ischarus.  Her lips parted to allow the soft words of healing to come forth.  “Bondras-tol Egro.”  The white aura surrounding her hand dissipated to cover Ischarus, who immediately opened his eyes as if being woken by cold water splashed on his face.  Ischarus slid backwards away from the creature and rose to his feet from a safe distance.The earth guardian noted that Ischarus was no longer in range, so it turned its mighty fists to Semeion.  Although the blow almost connected with the young mage, Semeion was able to duck out of the way before the strike could do any harm.  Semeion changed his grip on his rapier and waited for an opening to strike.Rhema swung while the creature assaulted Semeion, but her blow was ill timed.  Ophee managed to swing and land a solid blow as Rhema missed.  When the earth guardian turned to react to Ophee’s strike, Semeion swung.  His blow sliced through the air without making contact.  Charis had managed to get to her feet and as Semeion swung she also approached the earth guardian to land a blow, but her strike was not forceful enough to land with any kind of authority.Ischarus had enough of the battle, and once he noticed that the earth guardian had turned upon the more fragile members of the party he knew that it was time to finish the battle.  “Thin Zecka Egro!”  As he charged into battle his sword rippled with static electricity.  His blade swung hard toward the earth guardian and the energy arced across the space between his blade and the creature, guiding the blade in.  The strike was damaging enough, but the stored static energy upon his blade surged into the earth guardian and overcame the earth magic that kept it together.  The earth guardian exploded.  Clay, mud, and even pieces of jade sprayed throughout the cave.  The party each appeared as though they had just emerged from a mud bath once the effects of the explosion were concluded.Ischarus breathed heavily as Rhema approached him.  He held out his hand to hold her back.  “Wait until my blade has fully discharged.  I don’t want you to get shocked.”Rhema didn’t care.  She pushed his blade out of his hand and embraced him in a loving hug.  The rest of the party relaxed and began to breathe normally.  Ophee, Charis, and Semeion each wiped chunks of mud and rock away from their faces.Nobody was prepared for the voice of the cave to return.  Nobody was prepared for the gift that they were about to receive.  “You have proven yourselves worthy.  Stay in my cave until the sun rises.  My guardian will protect you.”  As the voice echoed, another earth guardian formed from the rock wall and exited.  Much of the mud, clay, and stone from the previous earth guardian was magically reabsorbed into the cave walls and floor.Just in case the cave had set them up for a trap, the party lifted their weapons to challenge the new creature at first.  Instead, the new earth guardian ignored the party and turned to face outside the cave.  It remained constantly vigilant until the sun rose above the treetops and into the cave.[Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section]The party watched the frove retreat into the forest. Ischarus and Charis thought about pursuing the frove into the darkness beyond, but a gesture and a comment from Rhema stopped their pursuit. “We don’t need the victory that bad. Stay in here where it is safe. For all we know, there could be more out there, waiting for us to come out and give chase.”Semeion’s face wrinkled in puzzlement for a moment. “Either way, the retreat sure was strange. The frove was clearly phrenic. It was able to use its mind to conjure up the same kind of defenses that we’ve seen in the others.”Charis finished his thought for him. “But the others didn’t retreat. The others fought until they were taken down. Something isn’t right about this one.”Ophee was beginning to feel more comfortable among the party. “Well, we’re not all the same level of intelligence. Perhaps the frove was just smarter than the others?”Before anyone could honestly answer Ophee’s assertion, a booming voice echoed throughout the cave. The voice was so loud that each of the party cupped their hands over their ears to muffle the sound. “Those who wake the earth once seldom live to do it a second time!”Prior to the party being able to exit the cave, a mass of rock emerged from the wall to the right of the exit and blocked the way out. As the rock emerged from the wall, pieces of stone began to separate from the mud and clay. The stone arbitrarily migrated to the top and side of the emerging form while the clay and mud stayed in the center and began to separate into a torso and the proper corresponding appendages. Many of the stones gathered together on what appeared to be the emerging head; and the stones gathered themselves into the eyes, nose, and even teeth of the form. The stones that had migrated to the sides of the figure became the claws and nails on the emerging feet and hands.The party found themselves too intrigued by the process of the forming earth creation to do anything about it. Charis and Ischarus watched with mouths agape as the figure formed from the earth. Semeion had tilted his head to the right side as his innate curiosity regarding magical summoning was piqued. Rhema and Ophee quickly scanned the rest of the walls to make sure that this figure was the only one that would be forming out of the earth.Once the figure was formed, the booming voice of the cave spoke once more. “Prove yourself worthy of sleeping in my cave. You have awoken me, now you must earn your stay. Defeat my guardian!”Suddenly the attack made sense to Semeion. “The frove knew what was going to happen. The attack was simply bait! The howl woke up the cave. The frove was sent here to let the cave finish us off!”At Semeion’s words, Ischarus brought his sword around in the first attack. The speed of his assault caught the earthen guardian by surprise and Ischarus landed a clean blow. A small rock chipped away from the creature’s midsection and clumps of mud and clay sprayed across the party.Rhema knew that her powers would be of little help against the creature. She drew her crystalline sword, but also knew she didn’t have any place to launch an attack. “Draw the creature deeper into the cave! Semeion and I can only use our blades if we have room to join the assault.”The earth guardian acted as though it did not hear Rhema’s speech, or else it could not understand it. Since Ischarus had already moved to join the attack, the creature swung its clay arms and rock nails toward Ischarus. The blow was easily turned aside by a simple duck. The guardian’s attack was slow, but quite substantial.Semeion drew his own sword, but had to pause for a moment for space to open up within the combat area. He didn’t want to risk wasting spells if they would do no damage against the creature. Ophee and Charis each held their weapons aloft. Charis sliced the pointed end of her pick through the air and lodged it solidly into the creature’s side. When she pulled the pick free, more rock and clay pulled away from the side of the creature. Ophee’s attack missed, but both Ophee and Charis stepped back a pace so as to force the earthen guardian to come further into the cave to assault them.Ischarus saw the strategy on behalf of his female counterparts. He brought his sword around in a quick strike and made simple contact. The blow chipped more rock and clay from the creature, but his intent was to allow his attack to give him a chance to take a step back and join Ophee and Charis in setting up a new defensive line.The rock creature seemed to have little understanding of the tactics being employed by the party. The creature stepped forward and swung to hit Ischarus. Although Ischarus had easily dodged the last attack, he had difficulty dodging this particular blow. The rock and clay arms of the earth guardian struck Ischarus hard and nearly knocked him to the ground. Ischarus looked unsteady for a moment before regaining his composure.Rhema and Semeion took the opportunity presented to them by the advance of the earth guardian. Although they couldn’t get around to the earth guardian’s backside without exposing themselves, they were each able to sneak in along the creature’s sides. Rhema flanked his right side beside Ischarus while Semeion flanked the opposite side beside Charis. Both Rhema and Semeion swung at the creature, but neither was able to connect with a damaging strike.Charis and Ophee had a bit of better luck. Ophee distracted the creature with a well-intentioned miss. Charis followed the assault with another good blow from her pick. More rock and clay chipped away from the creature. Although enough of the rock and clay had been chipped away from the creature’s midsection to make it appear as though it should tumble over, the earth magic that animated it kept it upright and still a significant threat.Ischarus lined up another strike and landed a solid blow as soon as he had recovered from the previous attack. His sword bit deep into the earth guardian’s massive right arm and tore rock and clay away. The creature returned Ischarus’ strike with one of his own, and this time the blow was enough to knock Ischarus flat on his back. The earth guardian had struck with such violence that as the uppercut landed Ischarus was lifted off of his feet and fell square on his shoulders.Rhema saw her husband fall to the ground and knew that there was little that she could do except fight hard against the creature in front of her. The best way to protect her husband would be to dispatch the threat. She stepped to her left, so that she and Charis were fighting the creature from opposite sides. Her deep blue crystalline sword struck the creature’s back and removed even more rock and clay from its midsection. Much to the party’s amazement, the creature continued to remain on its feet.Semeion stepped opposite Ophee and swung with his rapier. The weapon made contact, but his strength was not enough to harm the thick rock surface that formed the creature. His blow glanced off to the side as Ophee also swung toward the creature and missed.Charis wanted to knock the creature onto its back, but she knew that Ischarus’ life was more important. She stepped behind Ophee and crouched onto the ground so that she could touch Ischarus. Her lips parted to allow the soft words of healing to come forth. “Bondras-tol Egro.” The white aura surrounding her hand dissipated to cover Ischarus, who immediately opened his eyes as if being woken by cold water splashed on his face. Ischarus slid backwards away from the creature and rose to his feet from a safe distance.The earth guardian noted that Ischarus was no longer in range, so it turned its mighty fists to Semeion. Although the blow almost connected with the young mage, Semeion was able to duck out of the way before the strike could do any harm. Semeion changed his grip on his rapier and waited for an opening to strike.Rhema swung while the creature assaulted Semeion, but her blow was ill timed. Ophee managed to swing and land a solid blow as Rhema missed. When the earth guardian turned to react to Ophee’s strike, Semeion swung. His blow sliced through the air without making contact. Charis had managed to get to her feet and as Semeion swung she also approached the earth guardian to land a blow, but her strike was not forceful enough to land with any kind of authority.Ischarus had enough of the battle, and once he noticed that the earth guardian had turned upon the more fragile members of the party he knew that it was time to finish the battle. “Thin Zecka Egro!” As he charged into battle his sword rippled with static electricity. His blade swung hard toward the earth guardian and the energy arced across the space between his blade and the creature, guiding the blade in. The strike was damaging enough, but the stored static energy upon his blade surged into the earth guardian and overcame the earth magic that kept it together. The earth guardian exploded. Clay, mud, and even pieces of jade sprayed throughout the cave. The party each appeared as though they had just emerged from a mud bath once the effects of the explosion were concluded.Ischarus breathed heavily as Rhema approached him. He held out his hand to hold her back. “Wait until my blade has fully discharged. I don’t want you to get shocked.”Rhema didn’t care. She pushed his blade out of his hand and embraced him in a loving hug. The rest of the party relaxed and began to breathe normally. Ophee, Charis, and Semeion each wiped chunks of mud and rock away from their faces.Nobody was prepared for the voice of the cave to return. Nobody was prepared for the gift that they were about to receive. “You have proven yourselves worthy. Stay in my cave until the sun rises. My guardian will protect you.” As the voice echoed, another earth guardian formed from the rock wall and exited. Much of the mud, clay, and stone from the previous earth guardian was magically reabsorbed into the cave walls and floor.Just in case the cave had set them up for a trap, the party lifted their weapons to challenge the new creature at first. Instead, the new earth guardian ignored the party and turned to face outside the cave. It remained constantly vigilant until the sun rose above the treetops and into the cave.[/Sblock]</blockquote>

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