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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 3275756" data-attributes="member: 11760">In the darkness, Tosh weighs a rock he's picked up from the loose stone and earth of the tunnel. He raises it, preparing to throw and hopes he's right about this plan. And he throws.The stone hits hard owlbear skull with a heavy thunk and Emmerson takes that as his cue, belting out a hymn in Celestial, "The Path of the Illuminated Warrior.""Guide, oh Lothian, our hands and swords and in our fight, let us see Light" he sings. The young paladin is many things -- devout, kind, tender-hearted -- but a good singer is not one of them.Bufer winces at the badly off-key Emmerson in the flickering torchlight."Don't quit your day job," he mutters under his breath. Turning his attention back to the task at hand, Bufer positions the vaguely man-shaped projection directly in front of the creature, causing it to dance wildly in time to Emmerson's singing."C'mon, c'mon," he mutters to himself. "Take the bait, you great ugly lummox."The den echoes with the sound of the rock bouncing off the beast's skull, and for a moment, it seems like nothing is happening, other than a tin-eared paladin singing in an archaic language.And then the creature shudders, releasing another blast of flatulence as it shudders and awakens. With a start, it seems to realize that it's not alone and begins to quickly shake off the haze of hibernation. Its head snaps around suddenly, golden eyes with black slit pupils gleaming in the light of the magical figure shimmering in its den.The beast stands and stands and stands, rising up hugely before Bufer's magical creation.The beast, as big and as broad as a bear, roars with anger, attempting to frighten off this intruder, the roar tearing free of its beak, its mixture of feathers near its face and shoulders and fur quiver as muscles that have remained still for most of the winter rippling with rage, shaking dirt and dust free as it does. Then it drops forward into a half-crouch and swings a set of massive talons at Bufer's evocation.As if his singing weren't an act of war on its own, Emmerson bangs his sword against his shield, to further call the attention of the beast."And lo, and behold, a sword is worth more than gold!""Gotcha!" Bufer hisses as the beast swipes its massive paw at his glimmering illusion. He waves frantically at Emmerson to get his attention, then jerks a thumb over his shoulder towards the tunnel, indicating that they should begin making their way towards the ambush point. Moving as quickly as possible without making undue noise, Bufer begins moving into the tunnel, drawing his brilliant capering figure after him a few feet at a time, attempting to lure the creature out of its lair.The owlbear's talons rake through the figure harmlessly, and it snorts in frustration, lumbering quickly after it as it recedes before him, towards the tunnel.Bufer and Emmerson pick up the pace as they make their way through the tunnel in the flickering light of the torch, Emmerson singing at the top of his lungs all the while. Bufer continues to draw the projection along, well behind them, at a speed even with their own.The enraged beast follows into the tunnel, still roaring in frustration and making ineffectual swipes at the luminescent figure. Tosh figures this is about as good as it gets, and detaches himself from the shadows of the cave wall, following at a discreet distance.As he goes, he allows a suppressed shudder to rip through his body after having silently breathed in a massive amount of owlbear flatulence."Phew."He wrinkles his nose in disgust and wonders what crawled up inside the owlbear's ass and died...Moving their feet carefully to avoid roots and loose soil, Emmerson and Buffer move backwards, inching closer and closer to the ambush point. Emmerson finishes his first hymn and now frantically tries to remember the words to "In Your Light We Shine," earning himself a sharp look from Bufer."'Light' this, 'light' that. Remind me to teach you some proper hymns when we get out of this," he says. "At least 'The Pantsing of Mithra' has a proper pie fight in it."The owlbear lumbers on all fours through the tunnel, the path clearly having been formed by years of him using this lair, shaped by his massive shoulders, the ground marked by his wicked talons.Half-running, half stumbling, Bufer and Emmerson burst from the mouth of the tunnel into the room beyond as though shot from a cannon, each dodging to the opposite side of the opening.Still singing as loudly as he can, Emmerson skids to a halt directly to the left, and turns to face the oncoming beast, sword and shield at the ready.Bufer breaks right and sprints several yards towards Renraw, the smoke and flame from the torch trailing behind him as he positions himself between the frostbitten young wizard and the mouth of the tunnel, then spins round to face it."C'mon, c'mon," Bufer mutters as he watches the dark tunnel, mentally reeling in his trailing projection.For a few tense moments, there is no sign of it, or the horrible beast chasing it, and Bufer begins to worry that, in his haste, he actually got too far ahead, and caused it to wink out. Fearing for Tosh, he begins to inch ever slightly towards the mouth of the tunnel, ice water running in his veins ...... and then there is a flicker of blue light visible just beyond the first turn, and suddenly the shimmering humanoid figure comes running into view. And just beyond it, barely audible over Emmerson's warbling, is the sound of a very large and frustrated animal advancing very, very quickly.The party tenses. The projection emerges from the tunnel. Bufer holds one hand out in front of him and brings it to a halt. Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he commands it to bend over and drop its illuminated drawers."HA!" he shouts, his voice echoing sharply. "KISS THIS, YA GREAT FEATHERED DUNGHEAP!"The owlbear bursts through the glowing figure, its roars echoing even louder off the hard stone of this room, its rear talons shrieking as they claw at the floor below it as it attempts to stop itself.Now partway through the figure, the owlbear locks eyes with Emmerson to his left and lashes out with one heavy paw, long talons gleaming in the torchlight. The talons connect, sinking through the gaps in the scale mail and, to judge from the small pieces of metal bouncing off the statues and floor, creating a few more. Emmerson groans loudly as the bloody talons sweep back out, spattering the ground with red drops.Tock plays "In Fairer Times With Thee (And Fairer Still with She)" loudly, but the owlbear does not even seem to notice."RAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Emus bursts forward, swinging his big club, but it bounces off the owlbear's heavily muscled feathered shoulders harmlessly.Hazel's battleaxe connects, though, biting into fur.From behind the owlbear, Ragglus' stabs forward with his longsword, sinking it into the rump of the beast.Beside him, the deputy constable swings his flail, striking the beast on the hip.Near the statues, Renraw shoots out one finger, pointing it at the owlbear, and a pale blue ray of ice and frost instantly traces its way between man and beast.Spitting out a mouthful of blood and his eyes burning with holy zeal, Emmerson swings his short sword at the monster's face, but the blade glances off the creature's beak.Tosh disengages himself from the shadows at the tunnel's mouth, launching a sneak attack with the needle-like gnomish rapier in his hand. But it's no good, and he's unable to find a way in through the matted fur and feathers.A red fog of pain clouds Emmerson's eyes. His instincts scream for him to flee, to escape and save life and limb. He blinks slowly as he watches his companions strike at the beast.He blinks away his surprise. His pain. His doubts. His fear. His anger.If this is his day to die, so be it., just as long as the beast takes no one else with him.The fight suddenly accelerates back to normal speed and Emmerson grips the short sword harder, trying to find an opening in the beast's defense, so he can bury the sword up to the hilt.Renraw's mouth gapes just a bit when he sees what the creature's done to Emmerson, momentarily forgetting all the lecturing the paladin does and focussing on the very real danger before him. He prepares to cast another spell.Bufer hisses through his teeth as he's spattered with Emmerson's blood. Concentrating on his projection, he backs it up a few feet and has it begin to dance wildly directly in front of the great beast's face, in an attempt to distract and disorient it.At The Cat & The Fiddle the day before, Emus saw the youngsters get all bright-eyed and excited at the chance of exploring the unknown. Not heeding his own words of caution, Emus took it upon himself to go with them, and to protect them, if necessary. Seeing the owlbear rake Emmerson's side, he realizes just how close he is to losing one of these kids.Angry at himself, angry at the owlbear, and even angry at these kids, Emus loses the conditioning that he's worked so hard to build up, and instead looses the rage that he constantly keeps in check.No more tactics, no more battle cries, just violence.The owlbear hits Emmerson with a massive paw once more, and this time, there is a wet crunch. The paladin slams against the wall and when he collapses to the floor, he leaves a red streak along the stones before laying still.With the singing knight down, the owlbear snarls and turns to its right, lashing out at Hazel, her battleaxe dripping with the owlbear's blood. Its talon connects, a spray of blood from her midsection spattering the statue beside her. The owlbear's attempt to bite her misses, though, as Hazel staggers back a half-step from the blow.Renraw roars something unintelligible, and his spell takes form: A shimmering dart flies from his outstretched hand without being thrown, arcing towards the owlbear, twisting through the air to avoid the wizard's comrades and stabbing the beast in the ribs.Emus' eyes burning with an almost incomprehensible rage, the dwarf berserker swings his massive club with two knotty fists. The club hits solidly, and there's a cracking noise as he breaks at least two of the owlbear's ribs.Ragglus stabs again with his sword, aiming for the wet gash he previously created in the beast's flank.Tock's banjo clattering to the floor, his bow and arrow are already in his hands, and an arrow twangs forth, but it goes wide, striking the wall above the fallen paladin's head.Her lips dripping blood and a touch of vomit, Hazel slashes her battleaxe at the owlbear's golden eyes.Tosh stabs forward with his rapier once more, and this time, it sinks into the beast's flesh.With a strangled cry, Tucker brings his flail down on the owlbear's back, and the creature's muscles spasm in pain.The world seems to stop a moment, and later, Hazel will swear she saw the beast's black slit pupils turn a shimmery gray a moment, and she can see her own distorted reflection in the creature's eyes before they close, and the owlbear collapses to the floor beside Emmerson, their blood mingling together on the ancient stone floor.</blockquote>

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