el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
Session #29
“Toss the crossbows down,” Kazrack called through the mist to Jeremy who was frantically loading his second on top of the wagon.
Jeremy dropped the unloaded crossbow to the ground, and Kazrack kicked it under the wagon to the cowering guard. “You under the wagon! Make yourself useful and load this thing.”
Martin emerged from the mist on the western side of it and saw the ape loping off with Jana.
“It’s Rindalith! Quick, he’s got Jana!” he yelled to alert his companions. Kazrack moved towards Martin’s voice, as Beorth found his hand gripping the hilt of his sword as rummaged around in the wagon for his gear, abandoning his attempt to don his armor. He hustled past Martin and after Rindalith, sword above his head.
Martin stepped after the paladin, and speaking an arcane word and pulling a clump of wool from his cloak he made fiery hawk appear that took off fluttering close to the gorilla to distract it.
Jeremy, with the loaded crossbow in hand leapt off the wagon and towards Martin’s voice, but bumped into Kazrack as they both reached the edge of the mist.
“Whoa! Watch is little guy!” Jeremy quipped, and the dwarf scowled, and hopped to the right around the Neergaardian to try to catch Rindalith.
“Hey! I saw that thing before,” Jeremy said, gesturing to the gorilla with his crossbow. “Where it come from?”
“Martin says it is Rindalith,” Kazrack explained.
But by now Beorth’s speed and persistence made him catch up with the lumbering ape that carried off his companion. However, as he brought his sword down with all his might to carve the spine from the warlock-turned-beast, the gorilla spun around to face him and the blow glanced on Jana’s shoulder. There was a spurt of crimson and she shrieked.
The gorilla dropped Jana suddenly as if the spray of blood surprised him and began to melt back into human form. The folds of Rindalith’s black robes emerging from the fur, and the hair receding from his face to reveal his normal pale features.
“Huzzah!” he cried, whipping something gray from the folds of his robes. It disappeared in the air and a wave of fear washed over Beorth and Martin who was stepping even with the paladin.
There was no room in Beorth’s heart for fear as his faith in Anubis held him firm in the face of all dangers, but Martin was not so steadfast. The watch-mage let out a shriek and took off in the opposite direction.
Jana struggled to get to her feet, her own blood staining the soft blue of her blouse beneath her fur cloak.
Martin did not let the mist slow him and slid under the cart and buried his head under his hands, shaking.
“Is it gone? Is it gone? What’s happening?” the guard that still hid under there asked. He had however, loaded the crossbow.
Martin made some unintelligible sounds as he quivered. Outside of the mist, the fiery bird illusion disappeared.
Jeremy stepped to his left and let a bolt go, grazing Rindalith in the shoulder. The warlock made no sound and betrayed no emotion.
“Let’s see what you have in your bag of tricks now, Mr. Wizard!” Jeremy taunted, as he moved over to where Jana lie.
Kazrack readied his light flail and stopped just short of Rindalith.
“We should put aside our differences and deal with the manticore,” the dwarf offered.
“What differences?” Rindalith said. “There shouldn’t be any.”
Rindalith took a cautious step backward and, shrugging his shoulders, Kazrack wacked him heavily with his flail on the hip.
Rindalith cringed a bit, but turning to his left he took a step up into the air, and began to ascend as if there were invisible stairs beside him. Soon he was fifteen feet up.
Trying to focus through the pain, Jana brought her arcane energies to bear and cast her blindness spell at Rindalith, but it failed.
“You should know better than to think that would effect me,” Rindalith sneered at Jana.
Ratchis was still running towards the melee, and could now see what the others could not; the manticore was swooping over the mist towards them as the fiendish bat disappeared into a puff of smoke. “Behind you! Behind you!” he yelled, but not one could hear him.
Jeremy loaded his crossbow and fired up at Rindalith. The bolt got caught in the warlock’s robes, only scratching him. Kazrack ran for the “invisible steps” hoping he could chase Rindalith up into the air, only to have his foot come down through nothing. He barely managed to keep his balance.
Beorth stepped between where Rindalith now floated in mid-air and Jana, and kneeling down invoked his god’s power, “Anubis, give me your power and energy to right my mistake!” He laid a hand on Jana, and her shoulder wound closed a good deal. “Stay behind me,” the paladin added to Jana, but she did not obey stepping to his right and pulling a dagger from her boot. She let it fly at Rindalith, and it slammed into his gut heavily, but handle first.
“Jana! How could you,” Rindalith said, his voice dripping with affected sorrow. “You don’t know how much it hurts my heart for you to try and hurt me this way.”
“Yeah, yeah,” was Jana’s reply.
“Give me the Watch-Mage,” the manticore’s inhuman voice boomed, and they all turned to see it appear from over the mist to the east.
The manticore flicked its tail and a hail of spikes came down on Jeremy and Jana.
“What the…?” Jeremy was surprised as he felt the sudden pain of two spikes in his leg. One tore his calf muscle and he knew he would not be able to move as fast.
Jana also felt the bite of two spikes.
“Get in the mist! Get in the mist!” Ratchis now commanded from about sixty feet away. He stopped and fired an arrow from his short bow at Rindalith. It grazed the warlock’s ear. He continued forward.
Jeremy fired his crossbow again. This time at the manticore, but it arced too low to find its mark.
At that moment Richard stepped out of the mist, and Jeremy saw him from the corner of his eye, “Ra! They are coming from all directions!”
Richard the Red now looked like himself, but he still had a short sword at his side. He looked up at the manticore going past him and intoned, “Fascinaere monstrum!” and then followed it up by pointing at Rindalith and saying, “It is the flying one that keeps you from your prey. Get the flying one!”
Kazrack scooped up a handful of snow, and stepped between Jana and the Manticore.
The manticore roared and its eyes moved across the crowd of combatants below him and then his vision settled on the one flying at the same height as him.
“If that’s the way it must be, then that’s the way it must be!” Rindalith said, calmly, and punching out in the direction of the manticore with his left had there was a suddenly flash of light and the crackle of burned air, as a bolt of lightning shot from his fist and struck the manticore dead on.
Jana’s jaw dropped open as she then saw the bolt emerged from the manticore and moved at a ninty degree angle to strike Richard the Red who cried out and was knocked down on his rear end, as his crimson robes steamed.
The lightning bolt, however, did not stop there.
It leapt from Richard and struck Kazrack full on in the chest. The dwarf stumbled back a step, but did not fall as he let out a holler and his beard hairs shot straight out like a porcupine. It then leapt to Jeremy who tried to lay flat, but it did no good. He felt the jolt throughout his body like a thousand needles of ice and he fell face down, not to get back up again. And still, the bolt continued, striking Beorth who stumbled backward and fell with an “oof”. He seemed to avoid the worst of the blow, but the bolt was still not done, leaping at a thirty-degree angle to strike Ratchis who had run up just in time to be knocked back into the packed snow, listening to the sizzle of his fur.
“That is just a taste of my power,” Rindalith mocked.
Kazrack spun on around on one foot to face the warlock, feeling his body revolt at continuing to act. He felt close to death. “I’ve had my fill.”
“Jana, surrender and your friends can live,” Rindalith offered.
“I won’t let you,” Ratchis grunted, struggling to get up on one knee while still holding his short bow.
Jana responded by trying to blind Rindalith once again; again she failed. Ratchis fired again, but missed as Rindalith was yanked out of the way by the force of the manticore’s attack. It bit deep into the warlock’s leg , and he was jerked around for a second like a rag-doll before pulling free. Torrents of blood poured down Rindalith’s leg.
Richard the Red crawled back out of the mist, and pointed at Richard once again. “Finish him! Finish him!”
Beorth stood, and looked around, not sure of what to do.
While Rindalith ascended into the air as if there were still steps adjacent to him. The manticore bit at him again, but its maw lined with jagged teeth clamped down on nothing.
Kazrack threw his snowball at Rindalith. It powdered to no effect before striking him.
Jana hurried over to Jeremy to wrap him in blanket before he died from going into shock.
Ratchis drew and fired again, while Beorth helped Jana with Jeremy. Kazrack stepped over to shield the witch and the paladin as they did this. He stood with his back to them, watching the manticore and Rindalith. The dark figure rose further into the air and the half-orc’s arrow arced well below him.
Ratchis ran to keep up with the Rindalith who mover further to the north each time he ascended, trying to put more distance between him and the manticore, which was now making it wide arc to the south and was coming back around as fast as it could.
Rindalith began to change again. He spread out his arms, and the stretched downward forming a darkening film that grew leathery, as brown hair grew on his back and his ears became pointed. In a few moments where there once was human man, there was now an enormous bat, screeching as it flew away.
“Go after the bat!” Richard called to the manticore, waving towards it. He then called, “ Everyone into the mist. I’ll deal with the manticore!”
“We can’t leave our companion out in the snow,” Kazrack called back, gesturing to Jeremy.
Richard jerked his head toward the manticore, a look of surprise came over his face and he said, “I can’t do that!”
Just as suddenly he jerked his head back and ran over to Jana and passed her a glass vial full of clear liquid.
Kazrack leaned over to Beorth and whispered, “You know we’re going to have to attack Richard when this is over, right?”
Beorth did not respond.
Jana poured the contents of the vial down Jeremy’s throat, holding his nose closed with the other hand.
“Now, just move him into the mist,” Richard said.
“Can we move him now?” Kazrack asked the young witch.
She nodded, and Kazrack did not hesitate. He tried to jerk Jeremy up on to his shoulders, but failed because of his broken arm. Instead he began to drag him, until Beorth grabbed up the unconscious Neergaardian’s legs and helped move him. Jana followed into the mist.
Ratchis kept jogging after Rindalith firing arrows every 10 yards.
Martin burst out of the mist, loaded crossbow in hand and screamed, “I’ll kill that thing!”
He fired the crossbow at the manticore, but missed. Seeing that the manticore was headed back in their direction, he said, “No… stupid…” and stepped back into the cover of the mist.
In the mist, Beorth followed the pull of Kazrack on Jeremy’s limp form to the left, but Jana stepped to the right, bumping into one of the guards.
“Halt! You can’t try to escape!” the guard commanded her, but Jana just scoffed at him.
“We’re not trying to escape, you idiot!” she admonished, and felt her way to the wagon to search for weapons.
Ratchis continued to be drawn away from the path, unhindered by the deep snow because of his boots, but he did still feel the sting of the blast of lightning.
“Nephthys! Heal me of these grievous wounds cause by the evil wizard!” He cried out to his goddess, clutching the belt of scored and broken chain links around his waist. He felt her healing warmth fill him. He could now see that he could never catch up with Rindalith in bat-form, and he stopped to catch his breath, looking back over to where the mist still hung in the air.
“The watch-mage is gone!” Richard called to the manticore as he stood up straight and regained his composure. “I have made him disappear with my magic!”
“Lay him here by the wagon,” Beorth said to Kazrack not waiting for the dwarf to respond to lower Jeremy to the ground and hustle back out towards the edge of the mist.
Kazrack lay Jeremy’s head down gently and made his way to the guard that had tried to stop Jana by going to where his voice had been.
“If you look at the one who was dressed as William, his countenance has changed,” he said.
“Huh?” Relaford was confused by everything going on around him.
Beorth stepped out of the mist just in time to meet the manticore face to face. It swooped dow nto the ground and pounced forward likea great cat, its jagged teeth clawing at the paladin’s right arm.
Martin stepped out of the edge of the mist clear of Beorth and cast a spray of colors at the beast to no effect.
“Anubis, give me your power to smite this evil beast!” Beorth cried, squinting his eyes in concentration as he focused his faith through his arm and into his long sword. The blade cleave right into the top of the manticore head, making a sound like splitting wood as blood rushed down its face. It let loose a horrific roar, but did not go down.
Jana found her club in the wagon.
At that same moment, Relaford stepped out of the mist, saw the monster roaring so close and stepped back in “What is that thing? What is that thing?” he asked the dwarf.
Kazrack did not respond, but charged out of the mist and swung his flail with his off-hand at the manticore, but the blow glanced off its wiry hide with no effect.
The dwarf received a devastating claw in return and was almost knocked down by the blow. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth.
Beorth was not so lucky. The manticore swiped with his other claw drawing the paladin in closed for another deep bite. The ghost-hunter collapsed, dying.
“Imago creare!” Martin called, pulling more wool from his increasingly thread-bare cloak. A black shadowy creature similar to the one they had fought months before at the Sun’s Summit Inn (119) appeared on the other side of the manticore.
Richard ran over to the manticore’s right side, but maintained his distance, “Leave them alone! We can negotiate over the watch-mage!”
“I do not negotiate,” the monster replied, his voice booming in their ears.
“Have it your way then,” Richard said, and pointing a finger chanted, “Asilos sagitta!”
A shimmering blue arrow appeared before him and raced towards the manticore, striking the monster in the flank with a splash of some kind of liquid that burned that beast. It roared again.
Jana emerged from the mist club in hand, but seeing Beorth on the ground bleeding out, she dropped the club and crawled over pulling Beorth from the melee.
“Hey you can’t…” Relaford began, but seeing Jana return immediately with Beorth’s unconscious form in tow he did not finish what he had to say
Kazrack struggled to hold off the manticore, but his blows were either short or ineffective.
“Natan-ahb, judge me fairly!” the dwarf cried as he tried to bring the monster down.
Lucky for him, however, Martin’s illusionary shadow distracted the manticore, and it took some time to try to bite and claw it, to keep it at bay.
This left it open for Ratchis attack from the rear flank. He came charging into the fray slamming his hammer into the thing’s back. It tried to turn and meet the attack with a claw of its own, but it was not fast enough.
It roared as the acid continued to burn it where Richard’s spell had struck.
Jana pulled Beorth deeper into the mist.
Frustrated by his ineffectual fighting, Kazrack swung with all his might, hoping to crack one of the rear legs of the beast, but instead he only went off balance and tipped over on to his face.
Ignoring Kazrack, the manticore turned to Ratchis and cuffed him across the face and neck, drawing blood. Ratchis fumbled out of the way of the other claw, and the thing’s nasty bite.
“Nephthys, if this may be my last blow, let it strike true and in your name!” Ratchis hollered, as he brought his heavy war hammer down on the thing’s face.
The manticore shuddered and collapsed in a heap. The acid continued to hiss and spit as it burned deep into the creature’s side, but Richard the Red took no chances. Drawing his short sword, he steppd over and drove it deep into the thing’s throat. It let out a low final breath and stopped moving.
Kazrack got to his feet, “Guards, the creature is dead. You can come out.” The dwarf then turned to Richard, “And you are under arrest!”
He charged towards the watch-mage to knock him to the ground and grapple him, but Richard had his sword drawn and reflexively thrust forward, catching Kazrack under the ribs.
The dwarf fell to the ground bleeding.
Ratchis turned and slammed his hammer into Richard who cried out in pain and stepped backward.
“You are all being so foolish, yet again,” he said, as he whipped his cloak closed around him and disappeared.
Relaford stepped out of the mist holding his crossbow trained on Ratchis, “Listen! We can work this out!”
--------------------------------------------
Notes:
(119) See Session #14
“Toss the crossbows down,” Kazrack called through the mist to Jeremy who was frantically loading his second on top of the wagon.
Jeremy dropped the unloaded crossbow to the ground, and Kazrack kicked it under the wagon to the cowering guard. “You under the wagon! Make yourself useful and load this thing.”
Martin emerged from the mist on the western side of it and saw the ape loping off with Jana.
“It’s Rindalith! Quick, he’s got Jana!” he yelled to alert his companions. Kazrack moved towards Martin’s voice, as Beorth found his hand gripping the hilt of his sword as rummaged around in the wagon for his gear, abandoning his attempt to don his armor. He hustled past Martin and after Rindalith, sword above his head.
Martin stepped after the paladin, and speaking an arcane word and pulling a clump of wool from his cloak he made fiery hawk appear that took off fluttering close to the gorilla to distract it.
Jeremy, with the loaded crossbow in hand leapt off the wagon and towards Martin’s voice, but bumped into Kazrack as they both reached the edge of the mist.
“Whoa! Watch is little guy!” Jeremy quipped, and the dwarf scowled, and hopped to the right around the Neergaardian to try to catch Rindalith.
“Hey! I saw that thing before,” Jeremy said, gesturing to the gorilla with his crossbow. “Where it come from?”
“Martin says it is Rindalith,” Kazrack explained.
But by now Beorth’s speed and persistence made him catch up with the lumbering ape that carried off his companion. However, as he brought his sword down with all his might to carve the spine from the warlock-turned-beast, the gorilla spun around to face him and the blow glanced on Jana’s shoulder. There was a spurt of crimson and she shrieked.
The gorilla dropped Jana suddenly as if the spray of blood surprised him and began to melt back into human form. The folds of Rindalith’s black robes emerging from the fur, and the hair receding from his face to reveal his normal pale features.
“Huzzah!” he cried, whipping something gray from the folds of his robes. It disappeared in the air and a wave of fear washed over Beorth and Martin who was stepping even with the paladin.
There was no room in Beorth’s heart for fear as his faith in Anubis held him firm in the face of all dangers, but Martin was not so steadfast. The watch-mage let out a shriek and took off in the opposite direction.
Jana struggled to get to her feet, her own blood staining the soft blue of her blouse beneath her fur cloak.
Martin did not let the mist slow him and slid under the cart and buried his head under his hands, shaking.
“Is it gone? Is it gone? What’s happening?” the guard that still hid under there asked. He had however, loaded the crossbow.
Martin made some unintelligible sounds as he quivered. Outside of the mist, the fiery bird illusion disappeared.
Jeremy stepped to his left and let a bolt go, grazing Rindalith in the shoulder. The warlock made no sound and betrayed no emotion.
“Let’s see what you have in your bag of tricks now, Mr. Wizard!” Jeremy taunted, as he moved over to where Jana lie.
Kazrack readied his light flail and stopped just short of Rindalith.
“We should put aside our differences and deal with the manticore,” the dwarf offered.
“What differences?” Rindalith said. “There shouldn’t be any.”
Rindalith took a cautious step backward and, shrugging his shoulders, Kazrack wacked him heavily with his flail on the hip.
Rindalith cringed a bit, but turning to his left he took a step up into the air, and began to ascend as if there were invisible stairs beside him. Soon he was fifteen feet up.
Trying to focus through the pain, Jana brought her arcane energies to bear and cast her blindness spell at Rindalith, but it failed.
“You should know better than to think that would effect me,” Rindalith sneered at Jana.
Ratchis was still running towards the melee, and could now see what the others could not; the manticore was swooping over the mist towards them as the fiendish bat disappeared into a puff of smoke. “Behind you! Behind you!” he yelled, but not one could hear him.
Jeremy loaded his crossbow and fired up at Rindalith. The bolt got caught in the warlock’s robes, only scratching him. Kazrack ran for the “invisible steps” hoping he could chase Rindalith up into the air, only to have his foot come down through nothing. He barely managed to keep his balance.
Beorth stepped between where Rindalith now floated in mid-air and Jana, and kneeling down invoked his god’s power, “Anubis, give me your power and energy to right my mistake!” He laid a hand on Jana, and her shoulder wound closed a good deal. “Stay behind me,” the paladin added to Jana, but she did not obey stepping to his right and pulling a dagger from her boot. She let it fly at Rindalith, and it slammed into his gut heavily, but handle first.
“Jana! How could you,” Rindalith said, his voice dripping with affected sorrow. “You don’t know how much it hurts my heart for you to try and hurt me this way.”
“Yeah, yeah,” was Jana’s reply.
“Give me the Watch-Mage,” the manticore’s inhuman voice boomed, and they all turned to see it appear from over the mist to the east.
The manticore flicked its tail and a hail of spikes came down on Jeremy and Jana.
“What the…?” Jeremy was surprised as he felt the sudden pain of two spikes in his leg. One tore his calf muscle and he knew he would not be able to move as fast.
Jana also felt the bite of two spikes.
“Get in the mist! Get in the mist!” Ratchis now commanded from about sixty feet away. He stopped and fired an arrow from his short bow at Rindalith. It grazed the warlock’s ear. He continued forward.
Jeremy fired his crossbow again. This time at the manticore, but it arced too low to find its mark.
At that moment Richard stepped out of the mist, and Jeremy saw him from the corner of his eye, “Ra! They are coming from all directions!”
Richard the Red now looked like himself, but he still had a short sword at his side. He looked up at the manticore going past him and intoned, “Fascinaere monstrum!” and then followed it up by pointing at Rindalith and saying, “It is the flying one that keeps you from your prey. Get the flying one!”
Kazrack scooped up a handful of snow, and stepped between Jana and the Manticore.
The manticore roared and its eyes moved across the crowd of combatants below him and then his vision settled on the one flying at the same height as him.
“If that’s the way it must be, then that’s the way it must be!” Rindalith said, calmly, and punching out in the direction of the manticore with his left had there was a suddenly flash of light and the crackle of burned air, as a bolt of lightning shot from his fist and struck the manticore dead on.
Jana’s jaw dropped open as she then saw the bolt emerged from the manticore and moved at a ninty degree angle to strike Richard the Red who cried out and was knocked down on his rear end, as his crimson robes steamed.
The lightning bolt, however, did not stop there.
It leapt from Richard and struck Kazrack full on in the chest. The dwarf stumbled back a step, but did not fall as he let out a holler and his beard hairs shot straight out like a porcupine. It then leapt to Jeremy who tried to lay flat, but it did no good. He felt the jolt throughout his body like a thousand needles of ice and he fell face down, not to get back up again. And still, the bolt continued, striking Beorth who stumbled backward and fell with an “oof”. He seemed to avoid the worst of the blow, but the bolt was still not done, leaping at a thirty-degree angle to strike Ratchis who had run up just in time to be knocked back into the packed snow, listening to the sizzle of his fur.
“That is just a taste of my power,” Rindalith mocked.
Kazrack spun on around on one foot to face the warlock, feeling his body revolt at continuing to act. He felt close to death. “I’ve had my fill.”
“Jana, surrender and your friends can live,” Rindalith offered.
“I won’t let you,” Ratchis grunted, struggling to get up on one knee while still holding his short bow.
Jana responded by trying to blind Rindalith once again; again she failed. Ratchis fired again, but missed as Rindalith was yanked out of the way by the force of the manticore’s attack. It bit deep into the warlock’s leg , and he was jerked around for a second like a rag-doll before pulling free. Torrents of blood poured down Rindalith’s leg.
Richard the Red crawled back out of the mist, and pointed at Richard once again. “Finish him! Finish him!”
Beorth stood, and looked around, not sure of what to do.
While Rindalith ascended into the air as if there were still steps adjacent to him. The manticore bit at him again, but its maw lined with jagged teeth clamped down on nothing.
Kazrack threw his snowball at Rindalith. It powdered to no effect before striking him.
Jana hurried over to Jeremy to wrap him in blanket before he died from going into shock.
Ratchis drew and fired again, while Beorth helped Jana with Jeremy. Kazrack stepped over to shield the witch and the paladin as they did this. He stood with his back to them, watching the manticore and Rindalith. The dark figure rose further into the air and the half-orc’s arrow arced well below him.
Ratchis ran to keep up with the Rindalith who mover further to the north each time he ascended, trying to put more distance between him and the manticore, which was now making it wide arc to the south and was coming back around as fast as it could.
Rindalith began to change again. He spread out his arms, and the stretched downward forming a darkening film that grew leathery, as brown hair grew on his back and his ears became pointed. In a few moments where there once was human man, there was now an enormous bat, screeching as it flew away.
“Go after the bat!” Richard called to the manticore, waving towards it. He then called, “ Everyone into the mist. I’ll deal with the manticore!”
“We can’t leave our companion out in the snow,” Kazrack called back, gesturing to Jeremy.
Richard jerked his head toward the manticore, a look of surprise came over his face and he said, “I can’t do that!”
Just as suddenly he jerked his head back and ran over to Jana and passed her a glass vial full of clear liquid.
Kazrack leaned over to Beorth and whispered, “You know we’re going to have to attack Richard when this is over, right?”
Beorth did not respond.
Jana poured the contents of the vial down Jeremy’s throat, holding his nose closed with the other hand.
“Now, just move him into the mist,” Richard said.
“Can we move him now?” Kazrack asked the young witch.
She nodded, and Kazrack did not hesitate. He tried to jerk Jeremy up on to his shoulders, but failed because of his broken arm. Instead he began to drag him, until Beorth grabbed up the unconscious Neergaardian’s legs and helped move him. Jana followed into the mist.
Ratchis kept jogging after Rindalith firing arrows every 10 yards.
Martin burst out of the mist, loaded crossbow in hand and screamed, “I’ll kill that thing!”
He fired the crossbow at the manticore, but missed. Seeing that the manticore was headed back in their direction, he said, “No… stupid…” and stepped back into the cover of the mist.
In the mist, Beorth followed the pull of Kazrack on Jeremy’s limp form to the left, but Jana stepped to the right, bumping into one of the guards.
“Halt! You can’t try to escape!” the guard commanded her, but Jana just scoffed at him.
“We’re not trying to escape, you idiot!” she admonished, and felt her way to the wagon to search for weapons.
Ratchis continued to be drawn away from the path, unhindered by the deep snow because of his boots, but he did still feel the sting of the blast of lightning.
“Nephthys! Heal me of these grievous wounds cause by the evil wizard!” He cried out to his goddess, clutching the belt of scored and broken chain links around his waist. He felt her healing warmth fill him. He could now see that he could never catch up with Rindalith in bat-form, and he stopped to catch his breath, looking back over to where the mist still hung in the air.
“The watch-mage is gone!” Richard called to the manticore as he stood up straight and regained his composure. “I have made him disappear with my magic!”
“Lay him here by the wagon,” Beorth said to Kazrack not waiting for the dwarf to respond to lower Jeremy to the ground and hustle back out towards the edge of the mist.
Kazrack lay Jeremy’s head down gently and made his way to the guard that had tried to stop Jana by going to where his voice had been.
“If you look at the one who was dressed as William, his countenance has changed,” he said.
“Huh?” Relaford was confused by everything going on around him.
Beorth stepped out of the mist just in time to meet the manticore face to face. It swooped dow nto the ground and pounced forward likea great cat, its jagged teeth clawing at the paladin’s right arm.
Martin stepped out of the edge of the mist clear of Beorth and cast a spray of colors at the beast to no effect.
“Anubis, give me your power to smite this evil beast!” Beorth cried, squinting his eyes in concentration as he focused his faith through his arm and into his long sword. The blade cleave right into the top of the manticore head, making a sound like splitting wood as blood rushed down its face. It let loose a horrific roar, but did not go down.
Jana found her club in the wagon.
At that same moment, Relaford stepped out of the mist, saw the monster roaring so close and stepped back in “What is that thing? What is that thing?” he asked the dwarf.
Kazrack did not respond, but charged out of the mist and swung his flail with his off-hand at the manticore, but the blow glanced off its wiry hide with no effect.
The dwarf received a devastating claw in return and was almost knocked down by the blow. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth.
Beorth was not so lucky. The manticore swiped with his other claw drawing the paladin in closed for another deep bite. The ghost-hunter collapsed, dying.
“Imago creare!” Martin called, pulling more wool from his increasingly thread-bare cloak. A black shadowy creature similar to the one they had fought months before at the Sun’s Summit Inn (119) appeared on the other side of the manticore.
Richard ran over to the manticore’s right side, but maintained his distance, “Leave them alone! We can negotiate over the watch-mage!”
“I do not negotiate,” the monster replied, his voice booming in their ears.
“Have it your way then,” Richard said, and pointing a finger chanted, “Asilos sagitta!”
A shimmering blue arrow appeared before him and raced towards the manticore, striking the monster in the flank with a splash of some kind of liquid that burned that beast. It roared again.
Jana emerged from the mist club in hand, but seeing Beorth on the ground bleeding out, she dropped the club and crawled over pulling Beorth from the melee.
“Hey you can’t…” Relaford began, but seeing Jana return immediately with Beorth’s unconscious form in tow he did not finish what he had to say
Kazrack struggled to hold off the manticore, but his blows were either short or ineffective.
“Natan-ahb, judge me fairly!” the dwarf cried as he tried to bring the monster down.
Lucky for him, however, Martin’s illusionary shadow distracted the manticore, and it took some time to try to bite and claw it, to keep it at bay.
This left it open for Ratchis attack from the rear flank. He came charging into the fray slamming his hammer into the thing’s back. It tried to turn and meet the attack with a claw of its own, but it was not fast enough.
It roared as the acid continued to burn it where Richard’s spell had struck.
Jana pulled Beorth deeper into the mist.
Frustrated by his ineffectual fighting, Kazrack swung with all his might, hoping to crack one of the rear legs of the beast, but instead he only went off balance and tipped over on to his face.
Ignoring Kazrack, the manticore turned to Ratchis and cuffed him across the face and neck, drawing blood. Ratchis fumbled out of the way of the other claw, and the thing’s nasty bite.
“Nephthys, if this may be my last blow, let it strike true and in your name!” Ratchis hollered, as he brought his heavy war hammer down on the thing’s face.
The manticore shuddered and collapsed in a heap. The acid continued to hiss and spit as it burned deep into the creature’s side, but Richard the Red took no chances. Drawing his short sword, he steppd over and drove it deep into the thing’s throat. It let out a low final breath and stopped moving.
Kazrack got to his feet, “Guards, the creature is dead. You can come out.” The dwarf then turned to Richard, “And you are under arrest!”
He charged towards the watch-mage to knock him to the ground and grapple him, but Richard had his sword drawn and reflexively thrust forward, catching Kazrack under the ribs.
The dwarf fell to the ground bleeding.
Ratchis turned and slammed his hammer into Richard who cried out in pain and stepped backward.
“You are all being so foolish, yet again,” he said, as he whipped his cloak closed around him and disappeared.
Relaford stepped out of the mist holding his crossbow trained on Ratchis, “Listen! We can work this out!”
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Notes:
(119) See Session #14
