Last Stand of the Dorinthians (Chapter 4- The Second Invasion)

[Deuce Traveler]

Caramip flies over the square cut-out and drops the cube inside, taking care to avoid touching the tiles. At first nothing happens, then a beam of light appears on the top of the cube and makes contact with the bottom of the black metal sphere, turning it a shade of scalding red, then hot white. The black sphere begins to melt and the liquid drips down into the grooves among the tiles before creeping forth and then reaching the cube, which melts underneath the heat of the metal. A draining can be heard as the molten liquid seeps into the emptiness below the floor.

Suddenly you hear a loud, pained bellow as the floor and walls begin to quake violently, although since you are flying you are able to avoid being thrown about. Pieces of the ceiling begin to come loose, causing dangerously large pieces of stone to fall near your flying selves. Cracks also stretch across the ground in random, spider-web like patterns as something roars far beneath you and the surrounding structure crumbles some more.

 

[GlassEye]

Silas moves to the door but pauses and looks back. Poised for flight should it become necessary Silas hovers in the doorway and watches as events unfold.

 

[Fenris]

Dartis keeps an eye on the floor cracking underneath. But he takes a moment to rise high enough to see if the light coming from high above them offers a way out.

The Lord of Mountain was here, and he wanted to make sure they got out of it's way.

 

[Bloodweaver1]

Caramip Ashhearth

Once the ceiling became to rain down on them Caramip concluded that she has seen enough. Flying quickly next to Nik she grabs his sleeve and pulls him out of the chamber. "I know you really want to see this, but we need to go! Now!" She calls out over her shoulder as they make their out of into the wilderness.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

As the walls and floor continued to crack and buck, Caramip and Nikolos were almost crushed as the tunnel partially collapsed, though the gnome and human appeared to make it through before the passage fell completely and cut them off from the rest of the party, though their comrades can see large rocks striking upon their shoulders and heads before they disappear ((-11 hps to Caramip from the falling rocks, -15 hps to Nikolos).

Caramip and Nikolos
[sblock]
The two of you are able to make it out, although Caramip has to stop the flying priest from trying to grab up more crystals as the vibrations of the chambers cause the still intact ones from falling off the shelves of the fountain room and shattering onto the ground below. But the room's inevitable collapse reveals the wisdom of flight. The gnome and struggling priest barely make it outside when the first chamber also collapses, but their scared horses are spooked and break free from their tethers in order to flee the frighteningly shifting mountain.
[/sblock]

Silas and the others that remain to observe also begin to get pelted as the ceiling continues to crumble and collapse around them, although Dartis remains unharmed as he floats above to see the larger than man-sized opening at the top of the roof. As he watches, he sees that the structural integrity of the roof is quickly failing and fist-sized stones strike his comrades (-6 hps to Conn, -6 hps to Barok, -4 hps to Silas, -4 hps to Danica, -6 hps to Ventus). The floor ripples now, almost as if the ground was a body of rough water rather than a solid thing.

 

[Fenris]

Dartis watches as Caramip and Nikolos go dashing off into the other chamber, the order to halt frozen on his lips as he sees the two make it into the tunnel, and turns his order to a silent prayer for their safe escape.

Quickly though, for now the time had come for quick action, Lord of the Mountain or no, this place was unsafe. And he wasn't about to lose any more Dorintians.

"Up! Now! We can escape through the roof" Cried Dartis to his compatriots below. He remained aloft watching the falling pieces of this once grand prison, calling out to his friends to fly left or right to help them avoid the falling debris.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

As Caramip and Nikolos fly out from the front entrance of the structure they watch as six humanoid shapes fly straight up from the crumbling mountain top. On Dartis' command the remaining party members had flown through the opening at the top of the roof, nimbly dodging sharp rocks and large sections of masonry with surprising reflexes considering their lack of flying experience.

As the party becomes whole once more they look down and see a huge creature digging its way furiously through the rubble and screaming a roar of rage that rings harmfully through the ears of the party members. A great monstrosity has emerged, a colossal beast that is more than 70 feet long and nearly as tall with a tail and two horns. Long claws extend from almost human-like hands which are used to help the creature climb up and observe its surroundings. It must either see or otherwise detect the nearby orc settlement, as it gives one more great roar before climbing down the mountain towards it in a frightening path of destruction.

 

[Fenris]

Dartis stares in disbelief at the creature, trying to comprehend a creature of this size even exisiting.

"By the Rider! I hope we have not doomed us all. Let us pray this creature does indeed return to slumber. In any case what is done is done. Our goal here is accomplished. Now Silas Generwine is free to make his raids upon the orcish shores. Thank you all my friends, thank you for all your sacrifice to accomplish this goal. What has been done here has been done for Dorinthia. In the meantime, I know we are all cold, tired and miss our friends and family. Let us go home"

And Dartis turns his back on the Lord of the Mountain and the inevitable destruction is will bring and begins to fly towards the entrance to the temple, hoping to find their horses. He had grown very attached to Swift and was anxous about his safety.

 

[GlassEye]

Silas feels a little sick as he hovers over the devastated prison of the Lord of the Mountain. He watches the monstrous thing as it makes its inexorable way towards the orcen city leaving a trail of destruction behind it. "What evil thing have we done?" he murmurs to himself.

Dartis' words snap Silas out of the horrified daze he appears to be in and he turns to follow Lord Kalnian. He smiles and with a voice laden with longing says, "Home." He laughs with the release of tension built over the last several hours and even days as they traveled to this place.

Seeing Caramip and Nikolos in the distance Silas lets loose with a loud, "Whooop!" and swoops down to greet his companions. "You made it! I was afraid..." He laughs again and flies a circle round his friends.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

The party begins to fly away, although every so often one of the adventurers peeks back to see the lumbering Lord of the Mountain grow ever closer to the orc settlement as the humanoids frantically rush to defend themselves. The creature seems to head towards the largest segments of population and you marvel at the realization that this monster might continue to find large pockets of orcs to snack upon. For how long, though, you cannot guess.

After landing onto soft ground, the group was immediately able to locate Swift, who remained surprisingly calm through the affair. It took several more hours to round up the rest of the spooked horses, but once that was accomplished the party was on its way.

OOC: This rather long section is over, but I'll get you your individual XP later in the week. Sorry for the delay.

The party heads back east, although their general direction and means of travel is still to be discussed.

OOC: I am assuming you are heading back to New Dorinth? Are you travelling more for speed or stealth?