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Message: <blockquote data-quote="el-remmen" data-source="post: 1472" data-attributes="member: 11">Session #17 (part III)The wolverine’s jaws snapped, but Thomas deftly moved out of the way, dashing back down the tree and into the hole the party had emerged from. Jana and Jeremy began to load their crossbows, while Kazrack hurried towards the voices he heard thinking they were behind the appearance of this creature. “They’re over here!” he yelled, charging halberd in hand. “Kazrack, don’t…” Martin called after him, but the dwarf was intent. ‘We need to make room for the others anyway,” Kazrack cried. Jana fired her crossbow at the wolverine, which made ready to spring down. She missed. Beorth began to pull himself up and out of the hole, just as a second wolverine looking as the first did, burst through the thorn bush and tore through Martin’s robes and flesh with terrible blows from its claws. Martin turned and stepping back looked through the pain of his wound and with a flick of his wrist, a handful of colored powder and an arcane world, a burst of colors exploded from his hand at the new creature. It reeled back, stunned, yelping with an unnatural voice. “Jeremy, quick, kill it before it recovers!” Martin cried. Beorth was through the hole and Ratchis was right behind him, but Beorth was taken by surprise when the wolverine in the tree leapt down upon him, tearing at his shoulder with a bite. The paladin pushed it off desperately, while Jeremy moved out of the thorn bush and fired his crossbow at the wolverine that had attacked Martin. The bolt buried itself in the creature’s flank, as did another bolt from Jana who followed suit. The creature seemed to ignore the pain and the torrent of blood, and leapt at the young witch, ripping a huge flap of skin with flesh still attached to it, from her forearm. Jeremy dropped his crossbow and was reaching for his blades when he flinched, seeing two balls of light zooming towards him from his right. He felt the impact of the magic missiles and let out a groan, but turning his head, all he saw was darkness and shadow in the bushes from where they had emerged. Kazrack meanwhile had slowed his pace and was swinging wildly in the air convinced there were invisible gnomes nearby, their voices drawing him further and further away from the fight. Martin spoke some more arcane words, but there was no visible effect. Beorth stabbed the wolverine that attacked him with his longsword, while Ratchis moved in front of Martin and took an awkward swing with his own sword at the other one, missing. Cringing from Beorth’s blow, and losing steaming blood, the first wolverine began to back away from the fight, through the thin thorn bush, followed by Beorth, who pressed the attack. Jeremy ignored the unseen spell-caster and stepped towards the wolverine slashing it in the face with his longsword to keep its teeth at bay while cutting a slice in it’s flank with his short sword. He held his blades crossed in front of him to block the incoming counter-attack, and gritted his teeth. Martin unslung his own crossbow and frantically tried to load a bolt into it, cursing himself for not paying more attention in weapons class at the Academy. Beorth hurried past the tree that the wolverine had leapt from to finish it, but he was blind-sided as a small, but stout form emerging from behind the tree as the paladin passed it. He felt the heavy crushing blow of a warhammer against his armor, and heard the metal scales crunch, and his rib cage contract in agony. He was thrown down to the ground by the force of the blow.  (31)Ratchis ran past the fallen paladin to hold the wolverine off, as it looked as if it were going to take advantage of Beorth’s vulnerability. It took the bigger target instead, striking a superficial blow to the half-orc’s shoulder. Kazrack finally gave up his futile search of the origins of the voices, and turned running back to support Ratchis. “The voices were an illusion,” he cried. However, as he came close to the area Ratchis was in, the ground became extremely slippery. Nearly falling, Kazrack slowed his pace, and Ratchis slipped back and forth trying to stay on his feet. The half-orc took a swing at the wolverine, but the intended blow sent him off balance and he fell on his stomach with an “oof!” At that same moment Jeremy was finishing off the wolverine on the other side of the tree, driving both his blades deeply into it’s left and right fore-shoulders. As Jana reloaded her crossbow and waited to see if the figure that attacked Beorth came into clearer view, Martin stepped forward and fired his crossbow right into the head of the unconscious wolverine. It shuddered, and then disappeared into a puff of acrid smoke. The figure stepped clearly away from the tree. It was gnome wrapped in a shabby jacket of some kind of scaly hide. He had white hair with yellow and green highlights, and bright green eyes, above his head a dull gray warhammer was as its apex and it swung down on Beorth (still on the gorund) smashing into his hip. The fauld of Beorth’s armor crumpled like paper and he cried out from the pain. Everything became blurry for a moment, and he shook his head to clear it. Jana fired at the gnome which had stepped into view, but the bolt went wide. “Anubis, please do not call me to you yet, so that these abominations may pay the price for their evil,” Beorth implored his deity, and place his hands upon his chest, feeling the healing power of Anubis enter his body. The remaining wolverine leapt upon Ratchis, who scrambled away but suffered a deep scratch on his forehead, and blood boiled over into his eyes, blinding him. (32) Kazrack stepped forward, keeping his footing and slammed the wolverine away from the Friar of Nephthys with his halberd, drawing steaming blood from the creature. It growled in anger, steaming drool pouring from its now bloody maw. Kazrack took a moment to look up, and he saw as did all the others (except Ratchis) that the gnome with the warhammer, began to grow, he increased a foot and a half in height with great laugh, swinging the hammer above his head with delight. “The Watch-Mage is coming back with us,” it said, its voice the scraping of metal against metal. “Killing the rest of you is just the icing on the cake.” Jeremy ran around the other side of the tree, and putting his head down, and his arms out he bullrushed the now five foot, three inch gnome, but the gnome whirled around, and slammed the Neergaardian in the side with his mighty warhammer. Jeremy gasped for breath and coughed up some blood, and though he felt he might be able to keep his feet, he fell to the ground anyway. Jana moved behind Martin who was now on the rear side of the tree from the perspective of the actual fighting. The Watch-Mage pulled a piece of raw wool from his pocket and with a word and a gesture a long sword appeared hovering before him. Beorth leapt to his feet with a roar and felt the resistance of the gnome’s chain shirt worn beneath his shabby jacket, but the heavy blow was still enough to make the opponent wince. Ratchis pulled his wine skin from his side and poured the contents in his eyes to wash out the blood, giving a silent prayer that the wolverine would not rip out his kidneys while he did this. His prayer only went partially answered. He felt the claws in his back, but he was able to spin and fend off the thing, finally being able to see. Kazrack ran forward to beat the thing off of Ratchis once again, but the ground was still unnaturally slippery, and he fell on his back with a yelp. Jana stood immediately behind Martin, as they both crept forward to surprise the gnome from behind. However, they heard and tinkle and crash and Jana looked down to see a clear crystal vial roll at their feet and crash. It was empty, but a shadow was cast across the ground from their left. She looked up in time to see a second smiling gnome. He pursed his lips and a jet of flame erupted from his mouth enveloping both Jana and Martin. Martin was able to leap clear of the worse of it, bringing the illusory sword around to float between him and the gnome while casting another spray of color. The spell fizzled away around the gnome to no effect, as it pulled a light mace from its belt. Jana on the other frantically patted at the flames that were licking up her furs and clothes. Even Beorth’s great cry of pain as the first gnome’s warhammer crunched into his shoulder did not distract her, but Beorth wobbled and saw sparks of light floating in and out of his field of vision. The paladin slashed fiercely at his foe, striking him across the chest and drawing black steaming blood from it, but he over extended himself and felt something pop in his shoulder, as a new gout of blood erupted from the wound, and he fell over unconscious. Jana fell over also, but to roll in the snow. However, the gnome took his opportunity, and she felt the glancing blow of the mace against her head. Meanwhile, Ratchis had crawled away from the vicious and fiendish wolverine and was calling to Nephthys to make his faith into a shield to protect him from the villainous blows of these fiends. The remaining wolverine decided it liked the look of the prone dwarf struggling to right himself better than Ratchis who was now roaring like a wild beast, and took a swipe at Kazrack. The sudden pain was enough to get Kazrack to his feet, and with a deathly blow cut open the side of the creature and it let out a gasp and collapsed in the snow, melting it with the pool of blood collecting beneath it. Blood billowed up beneath Jeremy, and formed a larger pool forming around Beorth. Martin tried yet another color spray on the gnome, to no avail, while Jana leapt up to her feet and cast her cause fear spell. This also failed. The gnome still enlarged charged at Kazrack leaping over the obstacle formed by Beorth and Jeremy’s bleeding forms and slammed the side of his hammer into Kazrack, who stumbled. Ratchis stepped up to his dwarven companion’s side, and felt his sword strike bone in the gnome’s shoulder. “I am going to kill you for that!” the gnome roared. “You will meet whatever infernal gods you serve this day!” Kazrack replied, thrusting his halbered head into the gnomes stomach, ripping away at its armor, and making it grunt in pain. Unphased by their attacks, the second gnome stepped forward and with a word and a gesture, a fan of flame erupted from his fingertips, and both of the party’s arcane spell-casters collapsed - the snow around them thankfully smothering the fire before they burned to death. The large gnome with the warhammer, brought a blow down on Ratchis’ thigh that almost droppped the hulking half-breed, but the Friar of Nephthys returned an equally devastating blow. The gnome stumbled and raised his hammer again, but Kazrack blocked the blow, and yelling, “My gods have judged you and found you wanting!” he dealt a powerful counterstrike. The gnome staggered for a moment, and whispering, “Mother,” fell over. “I feel sorry for your mother, but not for you,” Kazrack spat, and he suddenly found himself cloaked in darkness. He could not even see Ratchis who he knew was standing only inches away from him. Ratchis who was also enveloped in darkness called to his goddess, ‘Nephthys, grant me your holy light that I may defeat these servants of tyranny!” The darkness was countered by the light now emanating from Ratchis’s sword, leaving the normal gloom of the morning to see by. Kazrack moved past the tree the fight had been happening near in time to see the second gnome swallow a living spider and takes off up the tree behind him with arachnid-like skill, disappearing into the top branches. Kazrack began to march in the direction of the tree. “Kazrack, stop and help the others,” Ratchis called. “You help them, I will take of this remaining fiend,” he said, pulling his crossbow from his back. Ratchis sighed and grunted and kneeled beside Beorth, laying a hand on him and hold his belted of scored and broken chain links, “Nephthys, heal this brave warrior.” He stepped over to Jeremy and said the same words; both stopped bleeding to death. Ratchis went over and checked on Jana and Martin, but they were stable and safe for now. Meanwhile, Kazrack was covering the tree the gnome had disappeared into, waiting for a clear shot. But then he heard a voice from the top another nearby tree, “Yoo hoo! I’m over here! I’m up here!” Kazrack began to step backward slowly keeping the first tree in sight, but adding the second to his possible trajectory just in case. “Kazrack!” Ratchis called. “I hear voices!” “I think it’s a trick,” the dwarf replied. “They did it before.” “Come and get me! I’m over here,” the gnomish voice continued. “Keep covering the first tree!” Ratchis commanded, and he began to gather twigs, branches and leaves and gather them beneath the tree the gnome had climbed into. Taking a flask of oil he began to splash it on the gathered wood, and prayed to his goddess, “Nephthys, forgive me as I sacrifice this tree, but much more will be lost if I do not get rid of this evil which is a blight!” Ratchis lit the tinder and watched it go up.End of Session #17----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Notes(31) Knockdown rules are used in the Aquerra setting – These rules are posted in the Rules Information section of the Aquerra website, under Knockdown.(32) The Aquerra Campaign Setting uses a chart of critical hit (and fumbles) results.</blockquote>

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