Deuce Traveler
Adventurer
As the party traveled, they seemed to have the feeling that they were being watched. Occasionally, there was a flutter in the trees or in the brush and instead of moving away, the animals sounded like they were following the path of the party. Danica believed that she saw the glint of eyes watching her from the vegetation, while Barok noted that the mountain lion was following them from a distance. It was if the entire forest kept a close eye on their activities.
As the party reached the base of Morduk's hill, they noticed a couple of large animal skeletons. As they climbed, the skeletons and mostly-decayed carcasses grew more frequent, as if there was once a great battle on this hill and nature had lost. All the animal bodies had signs of violent death from arrows, burn marks from arcane spells, and what seemed to be gashes from a huge sword. The animals stopped following at this point.
The party got within 200 feet of the hill's summit, and could make out a tall granite building. The face of it was plain, with two pillars holding an arched roof. Two granite statues of grotesque winged creatures had been carved where the pillars met the roof. The stone double doors that led into the building were open, though shadows hid the details of the interior.
"Damn," Barok cursed quietly to himself (but loud enough to be heard by the others) "I'd hate to have to face the one who did this in fair combat, but maybe we can kill him in his sleep. The fairies have obviously been spying on him for some time, maybe they know more about his habits, or any guards he might have?"
Silas seemed preoccupied every since setting out from the Dwarven stronghold. Now, staring up at the ancient temple he finally started to regain some of his old animation. "Ah! If you discount those hideous statues this temple is clearly in the classical style of the third..." He coughed with a bit of embarrassment as he cut himself off saying, "It's fairly old."
He looked over at Barok, hoping that he hadn't offended the man with his interruption. "The fey may know more about this Morduk but getting them to speak in anything other than circles may be difficult. '...her heart will be familiar to you...'?" He shook his head then absent-mindedly reached back to readjust the Python rod that he had wedged behind his pack.
"For Dornithia..." Danica offered, as the party stopped. She began to walk forward, crossbow in hand, ready for anything.
"For Dorinthia!" affirmed Dartis giving Danica a grin in either acknowledgement or agreement. His eyes focused on Danica a little longer. Dartis still marveled at the transformation she had undergone. More and more she was truly a Daughter of Dorinthia. Dartis brought his attention back to the temple.
"Silas, we make it through this, and I'll listen to what ever lecture you want. Barok, do you want point or shall I? Whoever doesn't can pair up with Ventus in the second row. So far your tale is true Ventus, I can release you now, your oath fulfilled, if you do not wish to venture into the temple" offered Dartis as he pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow.
"Oh, what the hell... I'll go first." Bloody heroes setting a bad example... he smiled as if to some inward joke. "You stay thirty feet behind me." He passed Danica, giving her an admiring glance, What a woman, and walked quietly towards the gate, passing from shadow to shadow.
Silas smiled his thanks at Dartis. "For Dorinthia!" he echoed, a moment too late and perhaps a tad too loud, as Danica, then Barok moved forward. He quickly cast his Extended Mage Armor spell, then with an awkward tug pulled the recently adjusted staff out to hold in his right hand.
As the party approached the temple, they heard a gutteral growl emanate from the darkness of the open portals. Four hairy and horned bow-wielding humanoids walked out, each with the lower body of a goat. They each nocked an arrow and watched the heroes’ approach with unease as a voice bellowed from behind them. "I smell... humans..."
Heavy footsteps were heard approaching the temple doors. "First she sends her pets, then she curses me so that I may not use the greatest of my magics, and now she sends human assassins." The gutteral growl was heard again, angrier.
"I will slay her assassins, and I will wear their bones as jewelry." Footprints appeared in the grime of the temple steps, although the walker was not visible to the eye. "Then, I will go to her glade, and take her other daughters like I have taken away her eldest then give them to my servants to do as they wish. I will burn down her ancient oak and spread its ashes across the rivers of this place and make this wood my own."
The four minions of the creature snickered, becoming more confident in their master's invisible presence. "I will do this with ease, for I am Morduk, third son of Krill the Binder, slayer of Ghul Dat, and enslaver of the dryad Trieste. Turn away, mortals, else look upon your death." So saying this, Morduk released his invisibility and appeared in the middle of his four archers. It was an ogre, but one wielding a greatsword and with a surprising amount of intelligence shining behind his eyes.
As Barok passed from brush to brush, getting closer to the temple along the way, he saw that the five humanoids hadn't seemed to notice his presence and were fixated upon the rest of the party. Barok easily made it to their flank, and was about 30 feet from the closest of the archers. Fee, fye, foe, fum, we're screwed up the... Barok thought to himself as he tried to maneuver himself behind the ogre.
Ventus paused for a moment as the others marched forth with their battle cry. Dartis' offer of freedom gave him pause for a moment, but although his duty to his captors may be lifted, he still wished to free the man who released him from Trieste's song. He pulled forth his shield from his back and drew his blade. His own battle cry caught in his throat as old habits died hard. He followed the others silently for a moment before whispering it to himself.
"For justice."
He pushed himself past Danica, Silas and Dartis, shaking his head to himself. "Mages, archers and skirmishers, what kind of front line is that? Stand behind me." At the appearance of the ogre, Ventus began to regret his decision to accompany the Dorinthians, and more so to stand at the forefront. But he still had a duty to discharge. The taunting words of Morduk stirred his ire, and he gazed into the eyes of his foe. Free of his obligations, he was his own man to act as he saw fit. He took a single step forward, eyeing the humanoids warily. "Your nose does you justice, Morduk, son of Krill. Humans we are indeed, but I am no assassin to skulk in the night for money. However, we have come to demand that you release the heart of the dryad to us."
Silas halted when the archers make an appearance. His hand, deft with practice, slipped inside the bulky pouch at his belt and he fingered the broken fragment of tortoise shell. He gave his companions a quick glance to determine who might be best protected by his spell but then guiltily prepared to cast the spell, Protection from Arrows, upon himself.
The ogre chuckled at Ventus' request. "No, I do not think so little human. She refused to love me, so I took her heart instead and remade her so that she would appreciate me more. With this act, I've hurt the dryad mother more than any piercing of my sword would have managed. Begone humans. Are your lives so cheap that you would throw them away?" As the party got closer (40' from lead archers, 45' from Morduk, 50' from rear archers) they realized that they saw fear in Morduk's eyes and those of his companions. Morduk looks prepared to fight, but he looked less than healthy. The heroes wondered if it was the result of the dryad mother's curse that he had mentioned.
Barok moved from brush to rocks that had fallen from the structure, slipping behind one of the rear archers. Would we toss our lives away? Apparently so, Barok smiled to himself as he silently moved forwards and stabbed his rapier at the back of the Ogre, hoping (but not really caring) that it was not the last thing he would ever do.
Rough Map, not to scale:
a= archers
M= Morduk
B= Barok
S= Silas
D= Dartis
Da = Danica
V= Ventus
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The party saw Barok move behind the ogre-mage, and before the two archers that he passed could react, he surprised everyone by silencing Morduk in the middle of his chuckling with a rapier deep into his back. Morduk turned and waves his greatsword, but at that moment a growl was heard and a familiar-looking mountain lion appeared from the opposite side of the temple and also attacked. The large cat sliced a gash into Morduk's forearm.
The forest came alive, the sounds of animals coming from all around the base of the hill. Flocks of birds flew around in a swirl of chaotic frenzy. Morduk concentrated for a second and became gaseous, but it only lasted for a moment before he rematerialized. It was as if this part of his magic had failed him, and the fear in his eyes grew.
Rough Map, not to scale:
a = archers
M = Morduk
B = Barok
S = Silas
D = Dartis
Da = Danica
V = Ventus
c = Mountain Lion
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Barok laughed at the expression in the Ogre Mages’ eyes, moved to flank him and attacked with both his weapons. "Come on you bastards! Charge!" He cried out cheerfully to his companions.
Silas flinched from the chaos of the birds and the screeching, baying, howling of the surrounding beasts as the battle began. He felt the barest amount of pity for Morduk but it didn't prevent him from casting the python rod to the ground and commanding its magics. "Kerastes! Come forth and coil about mine enemies!"
Silas moved next and took a few steps forwards before placing his staff onto the ground. As he spoke his command, the staff became a deadly python and raced towards one of the satyr archers. The creature grappled onto its victim, and coiled around him with enough pressure to cause him to yelp in pain and drop his bow for a dagger.
As Marduk resolidified, Danica stood puzzled at the inherent paradox of this creature. As she watched, she realized that she had not cast her Mage Armor recently, and that she was going to have to remember to do that, to keep it up. Be that as it may, her other magics were needed elsewhere. She felt liberated from not hiding her spellcasting, and as she raised her crossbow to her eye, she announced, "Marduk, you are weaker than you think", thereby casting Ray of Enfeeblement on the Greatsword-wielding Ogre. Then she fell forward to the ground, prone, and leveled her crossbow at the nearest archer. As she lied on the ground, pointing her crossbow at an ogre, Danica replayed Ventus' words in her head. That was actually quite nice of him.
Ventus looked to where Morduk and Barok were locked in combat. "It seems that you leave us no choice." His boots churned the ground under his feet as he pushed himself forward into combat with the ogre and his minions.
Dartis smiled at Barok; now this one has potential. Hell of a way to signal an attack.
Dartis loosed a quick pair of arrows at the orge as he spurred Swift on towards the closest archer. One arrow missed, but the other not only hit, but caught Morduk in his lung.
Danica’s spell contacted Morduk, but he resisted her magic's affect. At the same time, the mountain lion struck at the ogre, but also missed. One of the satyrs close to Barok leveled his bow and shot the rogue, grazing him. Ventus rushed forward and attacks the closest archer that was unengaged, but missed.
Morduk swung his huge sword, connecting with the dryad's mountain lion and cleaving it in two. The creature never even had a chance to scream. The second archer that was close to Barok also fired his bow, and left another gash across the rogue's body. Barok was unfazed and somehow managed to duck underneath the ogre-mages arm and drive his rapier upwards into Morduk's lowered throat. The ogre let out a gargled howl of pain before stumbling backwards and onto his back, seemingly dead.
The satyr that Ventus attacked lowered its head and butt at the fighter, but the ex-soldier easily knocked his horns away with a quick move of his shield. The constricted satyr attempted to stab at the python with a dagger, but only managed to hit himself, though the blade did it no harm.
The heroes heard a screeching from above, as the two grotesque statues came to life from off the pillars and dived towards the party. One swooped down and attacked Dartis, but missed before launching itself back up into the sky. The second one dived down at Silas, and managed to scratch the abjurer with a deep gash despite his protective magics, before flying back up into the air.
Seeing the ogre fall, Ventus pressed his confrontation with the Satyr archer. He kept one eye on the skies and the other on his foe as he stabbed once more. At the appearance of the stone gargoyles, Danica shifted her attention from the satyr archer to them. Barok cast one last glance at the dying ogre, something sadistic gleaming in his eyes for a moment, before moving around the crumbled body to flank the archer fighting Ventus. Silas stumbled back from the slashing attacks of the diving statue. How can such beasts of stone fly!, he silently wondered. With a bit of worry, and a feeling that his protections weren't quite enough, he cast Shield. At the same time Dartis ducked out of the way of the gargoyles claws and thought, "Great, flying rocks, Silas will want to spend a few days studying at the pebbles before we leave".
Silas finished casting his spell, and felt the magical shield protect him. Next to him, Dartis moved Swift forward a few feet before shooting two arrows at the satyr that engaged Ventus. The first missed, but the second bounced off the creature's shoulder blade. It was as if the satyr had a resistance to normal weapons.
Danica fired at the same target, and caught the satyr in the thigh. The sorceress almost jumped up in fear when she heard a horrible shriek of pain, and she saw that the other nearby archer was finally crushed to death by Silas' python. One of the satyrs near Barok attacked the rogue, but he nimbly spun out of the way. Ventus attacked the satyr that was beginning to look like a pin cushion because of Dartis and Danica. He used his shield to get in close to his opponent, then flicked the wrist of his sword arm upwards, gutting the creature badly, although it still stood.
The other satyr near Barok tried to butt the rogue, but he nimbly dodged away and moved towards Ventus' opponent. As Barok tried to slip away, one of the satyrs caught him with a dagger. Barok was able to flank Ventus' critically wounded opponent and stab it with his rapier. Unfortunately, the satyr's skin deflected the blow.
The two gargoyles attacked once more. This time Danica was a target, and she cried out in surprise as a claw raked her shoulder, slashing both skin and the blouse she paid 2 gold pieces for (-3 hps to Danica and she'll never get that stain out). Ventus was the target of the second gargoyle, which did get through his armor.
Ventus winced as the gargoyle's claws raked his back, but Danica's cry caught his attention. He could not defend the others against the gargoyles while he was embroiled in a battle, separated from the group. He shrugged off the wounds and continued his focus on the archers. He stabbed out once more hoping to quickly drop the satyrs, allowing him to focus on the airborne threat.
Danica rolled on her back to reload the crossbow. The pain in her shoulder hurt, but it did not distract her from her task at hand. From her position, she saw one of the gargoyles circling above her, and she sent a bolt coursing through the air towards it. Then she reloaded, conscious of the moisture seeping from the dirt surrounding the castle through her back.
Barok began to feel the pain of his wounds and suddenly realized the dangerous situation he was in. No longer so keen on continuing the battle he sneered at the satyrs. "Why are you still fighting, fools, can't you see your master is dead?", and once again he tried to impale the same satyr on his weapons.
Hearing Barok's words, Danica too called out, "Somebody should keep an eye on the ogre's corpse. You never know what will happen with a wizard."
Silas looked from the archers to the flying creatures and back again. He was not certain which was the greater threat but his companions seemed to be doing some damage against the archers while the other creatures were fairly uncontested. Let's see if I can bring one down within reach of our warriors... Arcane words and phrases rumbled from him as he raised one hand and pointed his palm at one of the flying creatures as it swooped within 30 feet of him. A bolt of scorching light shot from his palm and towards one of the creatures.
Dartis' two arrows impacted the satyr, but the first bounced off its tough skin, while the second only drew a trickle of blood. He moved Swift towards Morduk in order to stomp the corpse, but could not get there immediately due to the melee happening in front of him.
Danica fired straight up at the gargoyle that last harmed her. The creature grinned at her and froze for a moment at the sight of the small woman trying to harm it with a mortal weapon. This was no normal weapon, however, and no normal girl. The magic of the crossbow charged her projectile, and she fired the best shot of her life, hitting the monster through the left eye. It shrieked as it to plummeted to the ground, where a waiting Silas let loose with his own magic and cooked the gargoyle into a twisted mound of hard flesh.
Silas' python uncoiled from the archer it killed and moved towards its head to begin its feast. One of the satyrs fighting Barok stabbed the rogue in the side, which caused the former scout to sway from blood loss. Ventus attacked the satyr in front of him, catching the beastman in the ribs with his short sword, driving the point four inches deep before twisting and yanking outwards. The archer gave a long moan, and fell while trying unsuccessfully to keep his guts inside.
The second satyr attacking Barok flanked the rogue, but failed to hit him. Barok returned the favor, but only barely managed to get through the satyr's tough skin. Before he could even take a moment to look up, the gargoyle got by Ventus' armor and slashed the Imperial with a deep gash to his neck before soaring back skyward.
As Barok and Dartis watched in horror, the body of Morduk disappeared.
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Current HPs (current/max):
Danica 15/18
Silas 14/19
Dartis 29/29
Ventus 21/32
Barok 10/21
Dartis uttered an oath upon seeing the body of Morduk disappear. "Sorcery! The Rider take him and his minions." Dartis saw the plight of Barok, and spurred Swift onward, attempting to run down one of the satyrs.
At Dartis' cry, Danica whirled around -- her fear over the ogre's corpse had been realized, and she cursed herself for getting distracted by the gargoyles. I'm not a real fighter... she thought to herself, as she raised her crossbow to the square where Marduk had been.
Barok sneered in irritation at his useless weapons and instead tried to trip the least wounded of the Satyres flanking him, when he noticed the ogre’s body disappear. "Bloody Hell..."
"Ha ha!" crowed a gloating Silas at the downed flying creature. He looks around to see if anyone witnessed his (and Danica's) victory over the creature. Seeing that everyone else was involved in battles of their own he looked to see where he might be most useful and, seeing that the python was about to eat the downed archer instead of moving to attack another one, he yelled out a command, "Attack the archer!" Drawing the wand of magic missiles from where he had it stashed in his sleeve, Silas fired a missile at one of the remaining archers.
Silas' snake stopped in mid-preparation, snapped its jaw back into form, and crawled towards another archer. Silas himself fired at the closest archer, but his miss was a critical one and he instead shot Barok in the shoulder!
As the arrow hits him in the shoulder Barok cursed in surprise, and smiled crookedly at Silas "Hey! Thanks Mate. I owe you one."
Dartis charged into the mix and had Swift attack the archer to its left. It was a hard hit, but the hooves barely made a dent in the creature's tough hide. The python moved to bind the other archer, but it also missed its strike. Danica fires at where she thought the ogre-mage last was, but struck nothing, confirming her worry that he was no longer there or standing at the same location.
One of the archers butt Barok with his horns, but the rogue manages to stay standing despite the force of the impact. Ventus attacked the archer that the python missed, but also missed with his own strike. The second archer hit Barok once more with a dagger, driving it deeply in the bleeding rogue's body. Silas yelled as the second gargoyle took revenge on him, slashing him from behind. Barok attacked next, and successfully tripped the archer next to Ventus for the Imperial to easily strike down. In that same moment, however, Morduk reappeared next to Dartis.
The party heard a triumphant roar as the ogre-mage appeared next to the horsed noble. The whistling of his mighty sword caused the air to shriek as the blade tore through space and impacted against the noble's armor with a sickening sound of metal ripping through metal. Links from Dartis' chain shirt were torn apart, with many of them landing as far as Danica. Luckily, it was not a fatal wound as the armor took the brunt of the punishment. Still, Dartis' body flew from Swift, and the noble fell onto the ground and onto his back. The heroes heard him gasping for air as the wind was forced from his lungs upon impact with the ground. The ogre-mage then ducked down, using Swift as both cover and an obstacle to attacking him.
Danica 15/18
Silas 10/19
Dartis 13/29
Ventus 21/32
Barok 3/21
Barok coughed out a lungful of blood and looked around, searching for a way out but not finding it. There were too many enemies and too many knives about even without inviting them to stab his back. Besides, he'd always known he would end like this; killed in a fight of his own making. Barok, covered in the blood of half a dozen wounds, kept fighting.
Silas yelped in surprise as his magical missile flew wide and again as pain lanced through his back. He immediately turned his attention to the gargoyle. Trusting his companions to deal with the remaining archers he tracked the gargoyle's flight and prepared to cast another spell. "Fire worked before," he mumbled as he prepares Burning Hands.
The ogre's roar drew Silas' attention and he gaped in shock as Dartis was flung from Swift. Everything seemed to be spiraling quickly out of control and Silas wondered, Perhaps we've bitten off just a bit more than we can chew... Hardening his resolve he turned back to the gargoyle and waited until it began to dive for another attack.
Metal shrapnel flew around the teenage girl as Danica reloaded her crossbow and re-aimed at the now-visible ogre. Pfft.
Dartis stood slowly but deliberately, bringing his shield and sword up. "Nice hit" he muttered to Morduk. " I thought you would have fled, being the coward that you are, third son of Krill the Kraven. This just proves that you are as stupid as you are ugly. No wonder Trieste rejected you," taunted Dartis. "Go on order your goats to shoot me, I dare you! For I know you are too cowardly to face me!" Then, quick as a flash the well trained cavalry man spang into action, leaping back into the saddle and slashing at Morduk even as he spurred Swift to attack the orge.
Barok noticed the smoking flesh of the satyr in front of him and realized that it wasn't a crossbow bolt from Silas that hit him from behind, but was instead a magic missile from the wand in the abjurer's hand. The magic of this place had twisted the arcane bolt, causing it to follow a straight path through the rogue and into the satyr in front of him. The damage wasn't from physical injury, but was caused mentally by the shock of the magic passing through him. Once he realized this, the rogue shook the damage off and pinned his fallen satyr opponent to the ground with his blade, although the metal failed to pass through its skin.
While Silas waited to attack, his python took advantage of Barok's work and wrapped itself tightly around the satyr, causing it to scream in fear as it was completely immobilized. Danica fired a shot at Morduk, but Dartis and Swift blocked her vision and her bolt stuck inside the horse's saddle, but luckily did no physical harm.
Ventus moved to attack the satyr that was still fighting, and was able to use his shield to push in between the bloodied Barok and the creature, therefore protecting the rogue. His ancestral short sword was put to good use, driving itself deep into the archer's shoulder. It still stood, although it did not look long for this world. In desperation, it flailed wildly with its own blade, cutting Ventus' bicep.
Morduk sneered at Dartis and disappeared before the noble, causing the party to worry about who he would strike next.
The gargoyle dove downwards to strike once more, slashing Danica across the shoulder as she moved to reload. It laughed as it began to take off, but then it heard the casting of magic behind it and turned to catch a furnace of billowing flame from Silas. Although hurt, the creature was definitely not out, and with a shriek it took off into the air once more.
But this was when something strange happens. A cloud of crows spiraled around it, and began to peck at the blistered flesh that Silas' magic had created. The hundreds of birds each made the best of their moment, flying past the gargoyle's clawed strikes and piercing the weakened portions of its skin. The gargoyle grew desperate and attempted to fly away, but the formation easily followed it until the murder of crows disappeared with the gargoyle into the sky and the gargoyle's cries grew pitifully weaker and then finally ceased altogether.
Barok went last, and took the opportunity to circle around Ventus and flank the Imperial's weakened opponent. His strikes both hit, but unfortunately weren't able to puncture through the satyr's tough skin.
Danica 10/18
Silas 10/19
Dartis 13/29
Ventus 17/32
Barok 5/21
Silas watched in amazement as the gargoyle flew off and was quickly surrounded and brought down by the murder of crows. Shaking his head he turned back to survey the battle his friends and companions were involved in. Just in time to see Morduk vanish a second time, as Silas cursed loudly. "#%$@!!!" This is the second time I've been caught unprepared to deal with invisibility! I really must spend some time studying Astraulay's spellbook.
Rifling through his options, again Silas finds that he doesn't have much to penetrate invisibility beyond (hopefully) detecting the magical emanations. Sighing, he begins chanting and moving his fingers in intricate patterns. As his magical sight began to clear, he gazed towards the party in search of Morduk...
Danica winced as the gargoyle removed part of her shoulder, but she knew she was right to focus on Marduk and not the flying creature, whatever the damage. But she was not well, she knew. She stood, exposing herself to attack, but knowing she would at least not be a sitting duck. She reached into her pouch and grabbed the leather thong she should have used before they were even at the base of the hill.
She rubbed it over her forehead, saying "I need a barrier." She felt the eldritch power coruscating through her body, as magical armor surrounded her.
"Agreed, Barok move to Danica and Silas, leave the last goat to Ventus. We need to be ready to attack with everything should this sniveling coward dare to show his face again." Said Dartis as he sheathed his sword and drew his bow while urging Swift over to the last archer to aid Ventus, if he needed it.
The Fate of Ventus
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Dartis urged Swift on and flanked the satyr engaged with Ventus and Barok. The light warhorse reared up and kicks outward, missing the creature's head. The archer smiled since he was still alive, but then Dartis' blade came downward with enough force to leave a thin trail of blood across its face.
Danica cast a spell of protection around herself, the mage armor comfortably forming tightly against her. At the same time the python began squeezing the life force from the struggling satyr in its bonds.
Ventus attacked next, his blade piercing through the satyr's ribs like a hot knife through butter. The creature wailed and fell dead. For a moment, the Imperial wondered why his blade was so effective while his companions' weapons were not. Barok searched where Dartis stood for the sole standing opponent, but did not notice where Morduk has moved to next.
Danica was breathing heavily. Bleeding from her shoulder, her blouse torn and muddied, her eyes wide in exhilaration and excitement and terror. Her crossbow was up, and with sudden jerky movements she was twisting at her waist, pointing at the air there, no there, now there. Her pulse is pounding, and she felt sweat -- or was it blood? -- rolling down her temple. Her magic had failed her again, her attention slipped, she was wounded. But perhaps she could kill this Morduk.
But that's when Silas cast his spell and received a helpful, yet unexpected result... Silas knew instantly that the magic of this place had twisted and enhanced his spell. The temple before him then glew with a strange green aura, the results of his detect magic spell. However, what really drew his attention was a large cloud of blue haze that hovered near where Swift was, but then moved quickly to reach Ventus' exposed back. From the size and the speed, Silas guessed that this haze was the invisible Morduk. And he was standing behind a murdering Imperial soldier who had killed Dorinthians on the field of battle and perhaps in their own towns and villages. Ventus was bleeding badly, and the ogre-mage seemed to be taking his time, probably winding up for a strike that would silence the warrior forever. Silas knew he could track Morduk now, but this was an opportunity to have an Imperial quickly slain. And all he had to do was be silent.
Barok chuckles harshly, "Hell, that was too damn close. But you did well, all of you. Seems I've misjudged you, Imperial." he said to Ventus, "You had your chance to betray us, but fought by our side. That probably saved at least my life. Thanks." "Now, let's track down that cowardly goat
er and kill him a second time."
Ventus smiled at his blade for a moment as the last Satyr fell. His ancestors truly were looking out for him. He nodded briefly to Barok, but remained silent as he looked for the missing ogre and tried to listen for the heavy footsteps.
With his vision twisted it took Silas a moment to realize what was about to happen. In battle, perhaps, but not like this. "Behind you, Ventus!" he called and he again reached for his wand of magic missiles.
Ventus spun at Silas's warning, staring into empty space behind him. His eyes searched for any sign of the invisible ogre. With nothing to see, he closed his eyes and trusted in the memory of his father and grandfather as he stabbed blindly into space. "Guide my sword."
The air crackled as Silas' magic missile flew past Ventus and slammed into an invisible, and very surprised ogre-mage, his sword raised over his head in a two-handed grip that was about to be brought down on Ventus' head. The force magic cascaded over his form, showing the ogre-mage for a few vital seconds. Danica was the next to react, firing her crossbow and driving a bolt deep into the creature's shoulder. Two arrows flew from Dartis' bow, the first one reaching its mark and burying itself in Morduk's leg. Ventus brought his short sword up, but missed as he also scrambles away in desperation. It was Barok who finished it, with each of his blades successfully aiming for a different kidney.
Morduk groaned and fell onto his back, his invisibility gone. Even as he lay there, the heroes could see his wounds quickly beginning to heal once more.
Barok spit at the Ogre's face, crouched down and started sawing off Mardok's head with his dagger. "Maybe this will keep you dead, you ugly bastard," he smiled at the decapitated head. "I think the Dryad will appreciate the trophy."
Ventus watched Barok saw for a moment while he cleaned his blade and sheathed it at his side. Reaching behind himself, he pulled free the axe he borrowed from the dwarves earlier. The ogre may not be a tree, but it seemed like threatening plants would not be as important at the moment. "This may be more effective."
Together, Barok and Ventus did their bloody work and Morduk was finally no more. On his body, in a blood-covered pouch, was a heart the size of a fist and made from fossilized sap, also known as amber. The Heart of Trieste.
As the party reached the base of Morduk's hill, they noticed a couple of large animal skeletons. As they climbed, the skeletons and mostly-decayed carcasses grew more frequent, as if there was once a great battle on this hill and nature had lost. All the animal bodies had signs of violent death from arrows, burn marks from arcane spells, and what seemed to be gashes from a huge sword. The animals stopped following at this point.
The party got within 200 feet of the hill's summit, and could make out a tall granite building. The face of it was plain, with two pillars holding an arched roof. Two granite statues of grotesque winged creatures had been carved where the pillars met the roof. The stone double doors that led into the building were open, though shadows hid the details of the interior.
"Damn," Barok cursed quietly to himself (but loud enough to be heard by the others) "I'd hate to have to face the one who did this in fair combat, but maybe we can kill him in his sleep. The fairies have obviously been spying on him for some time, maybe they know more about his habits, or any guards he might have?"
Silas seemed preoccupied every since setting out from the Dwarven stronghold. Now, staring up at the ancient temple he finally started to regain some of his old animation. "Ah! If you discount those hideous statues this temple is clearly in the classical style of the third..." He coughed with a bit of embarrassment as he cut himself off saying, "It's fairly old."
He looked over at Barok, hoping that he hadn't offended the man with his interruption. "The fey may know more about this Morduk but getting them to speak in anything other than circles may be difficult. '...her heart will be familiar to you...'?" He shook his head then absent-mindedly reached back to readjust the Python rod that he had wedged behind his pack.
"For Dornithia..." Danica offered, as the party stopped. She began to walk forward, crossbow in hand, ready for anything.
"For Dorinthia!" affirmed Dartis giving Danica a grin in either acknowledgement or agreement. His eyes focused on Danica a little longer. Dartis still marveled at the transformation she had undergone. More and more she was truly a Daughter of Dorinthia. Dartis brought his attention back to the temple.
"Silas, we make it through this, and I'll listen to what ever lecture you want. Barok, do you want point or shall I? Whoever doesn't can pair up with Ventus in the second row. So far your tale is true Ventus, I can release you now, your oath fulfilled, if you do not wish to venture into the temple" offered Dartis as he pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow.
"Oh, what the hell... I'll go first." Bloody heroes setting a bad example... he smiled as if to some inward joke. "You stay thirty feet behind me." He passed Danica, giving her an admiring glance, What a woman, and walked quietly towards the gate, passing from shadow to shadow.
Silas smiled his thanks at Dartis. "For Dorinthia!" he echoed, a moment too late and perhaps a tad too loud, as Danica, then Barok moved forward. He quickly cast his Extended Mage Armor spell, then with an awkward tug pulled the recently adjusted staff out to hold in his right hand.
As the party approached the temple, they heard a gutteral growl emanate from the darkness of the open portals. Four hairy and horned bow-wielding humanoids walked out, each with the lower body of a goat. They each nocked an arrow and watched the heroes’ approach with unease as a voice bellowed from behind them. "I smell... humans..."
Heavy footsteps were heard approaching the temple doors. "First she sends her pets, then she curses me so that I may not use the greatest of my magics, and now she sends human assassins." The gutteral growl was heard again, angrier.
"I will slay her assassins, and I will wear their bones as jewelry." Footprints appeared in the grime of the temple steps, although the walker was not visible to the eye. "Then, I will go to her glade, and take her other daughters like I have taken away her eldest then give them to my servants to do as they wish. I will burn down her ancient oak and spread its ashes across the rivers of this place and make this wood my own."
The four minions of the creature snickered, becoming more confident in their master's invisible presence. "I will do this with ease, for I am Morduk, third son of Krill the Binder, slayer of Ghul Dat, and enslaver of the dryad Trieste. Turn away, mortals, else look upon your death." So saying this, Morduk released his invisibility and appeared in the middle of his four archers. It was an ogre, but one wielding a greatsword and with a surprising amount of intelligence shining behind his eyes.
As Barok passed from brush to brush, getting closer to the temple along the way, he saw that the five humanoids hadn't seemed to notice his presence and were fixated upon the rest of the party. Barok easily made it to their flank, and was about 30 feet from the closest of the archers. Fee, fye, foe, fum, we're screwed up the... Barok thought to himself as he tried to maneuver himself behind the ogre.
Ventus paused for a moment as the others marched forth with their battle cry. Dartis' offer of freedom gave him pause for a moment, but although his duty to his captors may be lifted, he still wished to free the man who released him from Trieste's song. He pulled forth his shield from his back and drew his blade. His own battle cry caught in his throat as old habits died hard. He followed the others silently for a moment before whispering it to himself.
"For justice."
He pushed himself past Danica, Silas and Dartis, shaking his head to himself. "Mages, archers and skirmishers, what kind of front line is that? Stand behind me." At the appearance of the ogre, Ventus began to regret his decision to accompany the Dorinthians, and more so to stand at the forefront. But he still had a duty to discharge. The taunting words of Morduk stirred his ire, and he gazed into the eyes of his foe. Free of his obligations, he was his own man to act as he saw fit. He took a single step forward, eyeing the humanoids warily. "Your nose does you justice, Morduk, son of Krill. Humans we are indeed, but I am no assassin to skulk in the night for money. However, we have come to demand that you release the heart of the dryad to us."
Silas halted when the archers make an appearance. His hand, deft with practice, slipped inside the bulky pouch at his belt and he fingered the broken fragment of tortoise shell. He gave his companions a quick glance to determine who might be best protected by his spell but then guiltily prepared to cast the spell, Protection from Arrows, upon himself.
The ogre chuckled at Ventus' request. "No, I do not think so little human. She refused to love me, so I took her heart instead and remade her so that she would appreciate me more. With this act, I've hurt the dryad mother more than any piercing of my sword would have managed. Begone humans. Are your lives so cheap that you would throw them away?" As the party got closer (40' from lead archers, 45' from Morduk, 50' from rear archers) they realized that they saw fear in Morduk's eyes and those of his companions. Morduk looks prepared to fight, but he looked less than healthy. The heroes wondered if it was the result of the dryad mother's curse that he had mentioned.
Barok moved from brush to rocks that had fallen from the structure, slipping behind one of the rear archers. Would we toss our lives away? Apparently so, Barok smiled to himself as he silently moved forwards and stabbed his rapier at the back of the Ogre, hoping (but not really caring) that it was not the last thing he would ever do.
Rough Map, not to scale:
a= archers
M= Morduk
B= Barok
S= Silas
D= Dartis
Da = Danica
V= Ventus
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The party saw Barok move behind the ogre-mage, and before the two archers that he passed could react, he surprised everyone by silencing Morduk in the middle of his chuckling with a rapier deep into his back. Morduk turned and waves his greatsword, but at that moment a growl was heard and a familiar-looking mountain lion appeared from the opposite side of the temple and also attacked. The large cat sliced a gash into Morduk's forearm.
The forest came alive, the sounds of animals coming from all around the base of the hill. Flocks of birds flew around in a swirl of chaotic frenzy. Morduk concentrated for a second and became gaseous, but it only lasted for a moment before he rematerialized. It was as if this part of his magic had failed him, and the fear in his eyes grew.
Rough Map, not to scale:
a = archers
M = Morduk
B = Barok
S = Silas
D = Dartis
Da = Danica
V = Ventus
c = Mountain Lion
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Barok laughed at the expression in the Ogre Mages’ eyes, moved to flank him and attacked with both his weapons. "Come on you bastards! Charge!" He cried out cheerfully to his companions.
Silas flinched from the chaos of the birds and the screeching, baying, howling of the surrounding beasts as the battle began. He felt the barest amount of pity for Morduk but it didn't prevent him from casting the python rod to the ground and commanding its magics. "Kerastes! Come forth and coil about mine enemies!"
Silas moved next and took a few steps forwards before placing his staff onto the ground. As he spoke his command, the staff became a deadly python and raced towards one of the satyr archers. The creature grappled onto its victim, and coiled around him with enough pressure to cause him to yelp in pain and drop his bow for a dagger.
As Marduk resolidified, Danica stood puzzled at the inherent paradox of this creature. As she watched, she realized that she had not cast her Mage Armor recently, and that she was going to have to remember to do that, to keep it up. Be that as it may, her other magics were needed elsewhere. She felt liberated from not hiding her spellcasting, and as she raised her crossbow to her eye, she announced, "Marduk, you are weaker than you think", thereby casting Ray of Enfeeblement on the Greatsword-wielding Ogre. Then she fell forward to the ground, prone, and leveled her crossbow at the nearest archer. As she lied on the ground, pointing her crossbow at an ogre, Danica replayed Ventus' words in her head. That was actually quite nice of him.
Ventus looked to where Morduk and Barok were locked in combat. "It seems that you leave us no choice." His boots churned the ground under his feet as he pushed himself forward into combat with the ogre and his minions.
Dartis smiled at Barok; now this one has potential. Hell of a way to signal an attack.
Dartis loosed a quick pair of arrows at the orge as he spurred Swift on towards the closest archer. One arrow missed, but the other not only hit, but caught Morduk in his lung.
Danica’s spell contacted Morduk, but he resisted her magic's affect. At the same time, the mountain lion struck at the ogre, but also missed. One of the satyrs close to Barok leveled his bow and shot the rogue, grazing him. Ventus rushed forward and attacks the closest archer that was unengaged, but missed.
Morduk swung his huge sword, connecting with the dryad's mountain lion and cleaving it in two. The creature never even had a chance to scream. The second archer that was close to Barok also fired his bow, and left another gash across the rogue's body. Barok was unfazed and somehow managed to duck underneath the ogre-mages arm and drive his rapier upwards into Morduk's lowered throat. The ogre let out a gargled howl of pain before stumbling backwards and onto his back, seemingly dead.
The satyr that Ventus attacked lowered its head and butt at the fighter, but the ex-soldier easily knocked his horns away with a quick move of his shield. The constricted satyr attempted to stab at the python with a dagger, but only managed to hit himself, though the blade did it no harm.
The heroes heard a screeching from above, as the two grotesque statues came to life from off the pillars and dived towards the party. One swooped down and attacked Dartis, but missed before launching itself back up into the sky. The second one dived down at Silas, and managed to scratch the abjurer with a deep gash despite his protective magics, before flying back up into the air.
Seeing the ogre fall, Ventus pressed his confrontation with the Satyr archer. He kept one eye on the skies and the other on his foe as he stabbed once more. At the appearance of the stone gargoyles, Danica shifted her attention from the satyr archer to them. Barok cast one last glance at the dying ogre, something sadistic gleaming in his eyes for a moment, before moving around the crumbled body to flank the archer fighting Ventus. Silas stumbled back from the slashing attacks of the diving statue. How can such beasts of stone fly!, he silently wondered. With a bit of worry, and a feeling that his protections weren't quite enough, he cast Shield. At the same time Dartis ducked out of the way of the gargoyles claws and thought, "Great, flying rocks, Silas will want to spend a few days studying at the pebbles before we leave".
Silas finished casting his spell, and felt the magical shield protect him. Next to him, Dartis moved Swift forward a few feet before shooting two arrows at the satyr that engaged Ventus. The first missed, but the second bounced off the creature's shoulder blade. It was as if the satyr had a resistance to normal weapons.
Danica fired at the same target, and caught the satyr in the thigh. The sorceress almost jumped up in fear when she heard a horrible shriek of pain, and she saw that the other nearby archer was finally crushed to death by Silas' python. One of the satyrs near Barok attacked the rogue, but he nimbly spun out of the way. Ventus attacked the satyr that was beginning to look like a pin cushion because of Dartis and Danica. He used his shield to get in close to his opponent, then flicked the wrist of his sword arm upwards, gutting the creature badly, although it still stood.
The other satyr near Barok tried to butt the rogue, but he nimbly dodged away and moved towards Ventus' opponent. As Barok tried to slip away, one of the satyrs caught him with a dagger. Barok was able to flank Ventus' critically wounded opponent and stab it with his rapier. Unfortunately, the satyr's skin deflected the blow.
The two gargoyles attacked once more. This time Danica was a target, and she cried out in surprise as a claw raked her shoulder, slashing both skin and the blouse she paid 2 gold pieces for (-3 hps to Danica and she'll never get that stain out). Ventus was the target of the second gargoyle, which did get through his armor.
Ventus winced as the gargoyle's claws raked his back, but Danica's cry caught his attention. He could not defend the others against the gargoyles while he was embroiled in a battle, separated from the group. He shrugged off the wounds and continued his focus on the archers. He stabbed out once more hoping to quickly drop the satyrs, allowing him to focus on the airborne threat.
Danica rolled on her back to reload the crossbow. The pain in her shoulder hurt, but it did not distract her from her task at hand. From her position, she saw one of the gargoyles circling above her, and she sent a bolt coursing through the air towards it. Then she reloaded, conscious of the moisture seeping from the dirt surrounding the castle through her back.
Barok began to feel the pain of his wounds and suddenly realized the dangerous situation he was in. No longer so keen on continuing the battle he sneered at the satyrs. "Why are you still fighting, fools, can't you see your master is dead?", and once again he tried to impale the same satyr on his weapons.
Hearing Barok's words, Danica too called out, "Somebody should keep an eye on the ogre's corpse. You never know what will happen with a wizard."
Silas looked from the archers to the flying creatures and back again. He was not certain which was the greater threat but his companions seemed to be doing some damage against the archers while the other creatures were fairly uncontested. Let's see if I can bring one down within reach of our warriors... Arcane words and phrases rumbled from him as he raised one hand and pointed his palm at one of the flying creatures as it swooped within 30 feet of him. A bolt of scorching light shot from his palm and towards one of the creatures.
Dartis' two arrows impacted the satyr, but the first bounced off its tough skin, while the second only drew a trickle of blood. He moved Swift towards Morduk in order to stomp the corpse, but could not get there immediately due to the melee happening in front of him.
Danica fired straight up at the gargoyle that last harmed her. The creature grinned at her and froze for a moment at the sight of the small woman trying to harm it with a mortal weapon. This was no normal weapon, however, and no normal girl. The magic of the crossbow charged her projectile, and she fired the best shot of her life, hitting the monster through the left eye. It shrieked as it to plummeted to the ground, where a waiting Silas let loose with his own magic and cooked the gargoyle into a twisted mound of hard flesh.
Silas' python uncoiled from the archer it killed and moved towards its head to begin its feast. One of the satyrs fighting Barok stabbed the rogue in the side, which caused the former scout to sway from blood loss. Ventus attacked the satyr in front of him, catching the beastman in the ribs with his short sword, driving the point four inches deep before twisting and yanking outwards. The archer gave a long moan, and fell while trying unsuccessfully to keep his guts inside.
The second satyr attacking Barok flanked the rogue, but failed to hit him. Barok returned the favor, but only barely managed to get through the satyr's tough skin. Before he could even take a moment to look up, the gargoyle got by Ventus' armor and slashed the Imperial with a deep gash to his neck before soaring back skyward.
As Barok and Dartis watched in horror, the body of Morduk disappeared.
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Current HPs (current/max):
Danica 15/18
Silas 14/19
Dartis 29/29
Ventus 21/32
Barok 10/21
Dartis uttered an oath upon seeing the body of Morduk disappear. "Sorcery! The Rider take him and his minions." Dartis saw the plight of Barok, and spurred Swift onward, attempting to run down one of the satyrs.
At Dartis' cry, Danica whirled around -- her fear over the ogre's corpse had been realized, and she cursed herself for getting distracted by the gargoyles. I'm not a real fighter... she thought to herself, as she raised her crossbow to the square where Marduk had been.
Barok sneered in irritation at his useless weapons and instead tried to trip the least wounded of the Satyres flanking him, when he noticed the ogre’s body disappear. "Bloody Hell..."
"Ha ha!" crowed a gloating Silas at the downed flying creature. He looks around to see if anyone witnessed his (and Danica's) victory over the creature. Seeing that everyone else was involved in battles of their own he looked to see where he might be most useful and, seeing that the python was about to eat the downed archer instead of moving to attack another one, he yelled out a command, "Attack the archer!" Drawing the wand of magic missiles from where he had it stashed in his sleeve, Silas fired a missile at one of the remaining archers.
Silas' snake stopped in mid-preparation, snapped its jaw back into form, and crawled towards another archer. Silas himself fired at the closest archer, but his miss was a critical one and he instead shot Barok in the shoulder!
As the arrow hits him in the shoulder Barok cursed in surprise, and smiled crookedly at Silas "Hey! Thanks Mate. I owe you one."
Dartis charged into the mix and had Swift attack the archer to its left. It was a hard hit, but the hooves barely made a dent in the creature's tough hide. The python moved to bind the other archer, but it also missed its strike. Danica fires at where she thought the ogre-mage last was, but struck nothing, confirming her worry that he was no longer there or standing at the same location.
One of the archers butt Barok with his horns, but the rogue manages to stay standing despite the force of the impact. Ventus attacked the archer that the python missed, but also missed with his own strike. The second archer hit Barok once more with a dagger, driving it deeply in the bleeding rogue's body. Silas yelled as the second gargoyle took revenge on him, slashing him from behind. Barok attacked next, and successfully tripped the archer next to Ventus for the Imperial to easily strike down. In that same moment, however, Morduk reappeared next to Dartis.
The party heard a triumphant roar as the ogre-mage appeared next to the horsed noble. The whistling of his mighty sword caused the air to shriek as the blade tore through space and impacted against the noble's armor with a sickening sound of metal ripping through metal. Links from Dartis' chain shirt were torn apart, with many of them landing as far as Danica. Luckily, it was not a fatal wound as the armor took the brunt of the punishment. Still, Dartis' body flew from Swift, and the noble fell onto the ground and onto his back. The heroes heard him gasping for air as the wind was forced from his lungs upon impact with the ground. The ogre-mage then ducked down, using Swift as both cover and an obstacle to attacking him.
Danica 15/18
Silas 10/19
Dartis 13/29
Ventus 21/32
Barok 3/21
Barok coughed out a lungful of blood and looked around, searching for a way out but not finding it. There were too many enemies and too many knives about even without inviting them to stab his back. Besides, he'd always known he would end like this; killed in a fight of his own making. Barok, covered in the blood of half a dozen wounds, kept fighting.
Silas yelped in surprise as his magical missile flew wide and again as pain lanced through his back. He immediately turned his attention to the gargoyle. Trusting his companions to deal with the remaining archers he tracked the gargoyle's flight and prepared to cast another spell. "Fire worked before," he mumbled as he prepares Burning Hands.
The ogre's roar drew Silas' attention and he gaped in shock as Dartis was flung from Swift. Everything seemed to be spiraling quickly out of control and Silas wondered, Perhaps we've bitten off just a bit more than we can chew... Hardening his resolve he turned back to the gargoyle and waited until it began to dive for another attack.
Metal shrapnel flew around the teenage girl as Danica reloaded her crossbow and re-aimed at the now-visible ogre. Pfft.
Dartis stood slowly but deliberately, bringing his shield and sword up. "Nice hit" he muttered to Morduk. " I thought you would have fled, being the coward that you are, third son of Krill the Kraven. This just proves that you are as stupid as you are ugly. No wonder Trieste rejected you," taunted Dartis. "Go on order your goats to shoot me, I dare you! For I know you are too cowardly to face me!" Then, quick as a flash the well trained cavalry man spang into action, leaping back into the saddle and slashing at Morduk even as he spurred Swift to attack the orge.
Barok noticed the smoking flesh of the satyr in front of him and realized that it wasn't a crossbow bolt from Silas that hit him from behind, but was instead a magic missile from the wand in the abjurer's hand. The magic of this place had twisted the arcane bolt, causing it to follow a straight path through the rogue and into the satyr in front of him. The damage wasn't from physical injury, but was caused mentally by the shock of the magic passing through him. Once he realized this, the rogue shook the damage off and pinned his fallen satyr opponent to the ground with his blade, although the metal failed to pass through its skin.
While Silas waited to attack, his python took advantage of Barok's work and wrapped itself tightly around the satyr, causing it to scream in fear as it was completely immobilized. Danica fired a shot at Morduk, but Dartis and Swift blocked her vision and her bolt stuck inside the horse's saddle, but luckily did no physical harm.
Ventus moved to attack the satyr that was still fighting, and was able to use his shield to push in between the bloodied Barok and the creature, therefore protecting the rogue. His ancestral short sword was put to good use, driving itself deep into the archer's shoulder. It still stood, although it did not look long for this world. In desperation, it flailed wildly with its own blade, cutting Ventus' bicep.
Morduk sneered at Dartis and disappeared before the noble, causing the party to worry about who he would strike next.
The gargoyle dove downwards to strike once more, slashing Danica across the shoulder as she moved to reload. It laughed as it began to take off, but then it heard the casting of magic behind it and turned to catch a furnace of billowing flame from Silas. Although hurt, the creature was definitely not out, and with a shriek it took off into the air once more.
But this was when something strange happens. A cloud of crows spiraled around it, and began to peck at the blistered flesh that Silas' magic had created. The hundreds of birds each made the best of their moment, flying past the gargoyle's clawed strikes and piercing the weakened portions of its skin. The gargoyle grew desperate and attempted to fly away, but the formation easily followed it until the murder of crows disappeared with the gargoyle into the sky and the gargoyle's cries grew pitifully weaker and then finally ceased altogether.
Barok went last, and took the opportunity to circle around Ventus and flank the Imperial's weakened opponent. His strikes both hit, but unfortunately weren't able to puncture through the satyr's tough skin.
Danica 10/18
Silas 10/19
Dartis 13/29
Ventus 17/32
Barok 5/21
Silas watched in amazement as the gargoyle flew off and was quickly surrounded and brought down by the murder of crows. Shaking his head he turned back to survey the battle his friends and companions were involved in. Just in time to see Morduk vanish a second time, as Silas cursed loudly. "#%$@!!!" This is the second time I've been caught unprepared to deal with invisibility! I really must spend some time studying Astraulay's spellbook.
Rifling through his options, again Silas finds that he doesn't have much to penetrate invisibility beyond (hopefully) detecting the magical emanations. Sighing, he begins chanting and moving his fingers in intricate patterns. As his magical sight began to clear, he gazed towards the party in search of Morduk...
Danica winced as the gargoyle removed part of her shoulder, but she knew she was right to focus on Marduk and not the flying creature, whatever the damage. But she was not well, she knew. She stood, exposing herself to attack, but knowing she would at least not be a sitting duck. She reached into her pouch and grabbed the leather thong she should have used before they were even at the base of the hill.
She rubbed it over her forehead, saying "I need a barrier." She felt the eldritch power coruscating through her body, as magical armor surrounded her.
"Agreed, Barok move to Danica and Silas, leave the last goat to Ventus. We need to be ready to attack with everything should this sniveling coward dare to show his face again." Said Dartis as he sheathed his sword and drew his bow while urging Swift over to the last archer to aid Ventus, if he needed it.
The Fate of Ventus
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Dartis urged Swift on and flanked the satyr engaged with Ventus and Barok. The light warhorse reared up and kicks outward, missing the creature's head. The archer smiled since he was still alive, but then Dartis' blade came downward with enough force to leave a thin trail of blood across its face.
Danica cast a spell of protection around herself, the mage armor comfortably forming tightly against her. At the same time the python began squeezing the life force from the struggling satyr in its bonds.
Ventus attacked next, his blade piercing through the satyr's ribs like a hot knife through butter. The creature wailed and fell dead. For a moment, the Imperial wondered why his blade was so effective while his companions' weapons were not. Barok searched where Dartis stood for the sole standing opponent, but did not notice where Morduk has moved to next.
Danica was breathing heavily. Bleeding from her shoulder, her blouse torn and muddied, her eyes wide in exhilaration and excitement and terror. Her crossbow was up, and with sudden jerky movements she was twisting at her waist, pointing at the air there, no there, now there. Her pulse is pounding, and she felt sweat -- or was it blood? -- rolling down her temple. Her magic had failed her again, her attention slipped, she was wounded. But perhaps she could kill this Morduk.
But that's when Silas cast his spell and received a helpful, yet unexpected result... Silas knew instantly that the magic of this place had twisted and enhanced his spell. The temple before him then glew with a strange green aura, the results of his detect magic spell. However, what really drew his attention was a large cloud of blue haze that hovered near where Swift was, but then moved quickly to reach Ventus' exposed back. From the size and the speed, Silas guessed that this haze was the invisible Morduk. And he was standing behind a murdering Imperial soldier who had killed Dorinthians on the field of battle and perhaps in their own towns and villages. Ventus was bleeding badly, and the ogre-mage seemed to be taking his time, probably winding up for a strike that would silence the warrior forever. Silas knew he could track Morduk now, but this was an opportunity to have an Imperial quickly slain. And all he had to do was be silent.
Barok chuckles harshly, "Hell, that was too damn close. But you did well, all of you. Seems I've misjudged you, Imperial." he said to Ventus, "You had your chance to betray us, but fought by our side. That probably saved at least my life. Thanks." "Now, let's track down that cowardly goat
er and kill him a second time."Ventus smiled at his blade for a moment as the last Satyr fell. His ancestors truly were looking out for him. He nodded briefly to Barok, but remained silent as he looked for the missing ogre and tried to listen for the heavy footsteps.
With his vision twisted it took Silas a moment to realize what was about to happen. In battle, perhaps, but not like this. "Behind you, Ventus!" he called and he again reached for his wand of magic missiles.
Ventus spun at Silas's warning, staring into empty space behind him. His eyes searched for any sign of the invisible ogre. With nothing to see, he closed his eyes and trusted in the memory of his father and grandfather as he stabbed blindly into space. "Guide my sword."
The air crackled as Silas' magic missile flew past Ventus and slammed into an invisible, and very surprised ogre-mage, his sword raised over his head in a two-handed grip that was about to be brought down on Ventus' head. The force magic cascaded over his form, showing the ogre-mage for a few vital seconds. Danica was the next to react, firing her crossbow and driving a bolt deep into the creature's shoulder. Two arrows flew from Dartis' bow, the first one reaching its mark and burying itself in Morduk's leg. Ventus brought his short sword up, but missed as he also scrambles away in desperation. It was Barok who finished it, with each of his blades successfully aiming for a different kidney.
Morduk groaned and fell onto his back, his invisibility gone. Even as he lay there, the heroes could see his wounds quickly beginning to heal once more.
Barok spit at the Ogre's face, crouched down and started sawing off Mardok's head with his dagger. "Maybe this will keep you dead, you ugly bastard," he smiled at the decapitated head. "I think the Dryad will appreciate the trophy."
Ventus watched Barok saw for a moment while he cleaned his blade and sheathed it at his side. Reaching behind himself, he pulled free the axe he borrowed from the dwarves earlier. The ogre may not be a tree, but it seemed like threatening plants would not be as important at the moment. "This may be more effective."
Together, Barok and Ventus did their bloody work and Morduk was finally no more. On his body, in a blood-covered pouch, was a heart the size of a fist and made from fossilized sap, also known as amber. The Heart of Trieste.
