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<blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 4649433" data-attributes="member: 2323"><p><strong>[PLAIN][Realms #464] The Away Team[/PLAIN]</strong></p><p></p><p>"Umber hulks!" Grandfather Plaque squeaked, as Noxin was about to hand him off to Morier to stuff back in the haversack. "That's not good, not good at all," he began to babble. "I had a cousin once who was the door knocker for a nobleman. Mounted on solid stone and yet... yet, completely run through by an umber hulk! Whatever you do, don't look in their eyes!" He took a shuttering breath, then composed his features and suggested lightly, "Perhaps we ought to go the other way?"</p><p></p><p>"What?" Noxin scoffed, smiling at Grandfather Plaque as if the construct were growing senile. "I'd always heard that these umber hulks can actually be pretty friendly. If you look into their eyes you're supposed to catch a glimpse of your future. That's all." Saelus looked at the half-giant with his jaw resting nearly on his chest.</p><p></p><p>"Right. Noxin, here I have to correct you," the colonel said taking the glasses of his face and handing them back to the barbarian. "Those Umber hulks actually confuse the opponent who looks too much into their eyes, in order to make quick work of them. So the only future you'd see would be a short one, I am afraid to say."</p><p></p><p>Well... I guess I could be wrong," Noxin admitted, crestfallen. "Maybe it's leprechauns I was thinking of."</p><p></p><p>"Umber hulks aren't at all friendly creatures," Grandfather Plaque asserted. "Umber hulks like to eat people!" Saelus nodded thoughtfully at this revelation.</p><p></p><p>"I thought so," he said, sagely. "I was not taught of the dubious races and their feeding habits, but it does bring to mind like creatures such as trolls and similar typical creatures."</p><p></p><p>"So, we just avoid these buggers and move on I guess," Noxin said, reiterating his earlier plan.</p><p></p><p>"I don't think that's going to be possible," Morier said, pointing at the vessel, which was closing unerringly on their position. </p><p></p><p>"Well... They seem to be turning this way, boys," Noxin observed hoisting his hammer and moving to put himself between the ship and his companions. "I guess we just don't look in their eyes... right?"</p><p></p><p>"That will certainly help," Saelus suggested.</p><p></p><p>The spider-like vessel slowed and stopped still at a distance of 200 feet and the umber hulks began to spit forth from the open hatch. There were six in all and they moved directly to intercept. The first two had already broken from the pack when the ballista located on the belly of the strange ship belched smoke and what looked like a ball of goo exploded behind them, filling a ten foot area with sticky strands that rapidly hardened and collapsed in upon themselves.</p><p></p><p>"What's that they're shootin' at us?" Noxin growled. "Snot?" He set himself to meet the coming wave of attackers trying his best to look as threatening as he could against critters that outweighed him by about twice.</p><p></p><p>Morier raised a hand and the gem on his chest flared green. A <em>Storm</em> of <em>Ice</em> exploded amidst the umber hulk's ranks, catching all but the lead pair in its punishing chill. Their pain-filled cries and the accompanying crackle of hailstones on armored flesh seemed startlingly loud in the strangeness of the astral plane. But none of them took much time to reflect upon it as it became apparent that none of the hulks had been destroyed by Morier's attack.</p><p></p><p>"It appears that we are not negotiating with these beasts," Grandfather Plaque observed and pursed his lips. Four bolts of energy flashed from his puckered mouth, arcing around Noxin to strike the nearest of the umber hulks in the chest. The <em>Magic Missiles</em> burned four tiny holes in the creature's carapace, but it did not seem terribly inconvenienced by the damage.</p><p></p><p>Saelus was obliged to float to the side a bit in order to line up his own attack, but he presented a crystal prism at the horde of monsters and spoke the words of a spell. It went off immediately, faster than any spell he'd ever cast in his life, and it almost caused him to miss as a result, but he was a seasoned war wizard and the <em>Quickened Rainbow Blast</em> struck three of the hulks, including the only one that remained uninjured.</p><p></p><p>They were more agile than their bulk would suggest, however, and the nearer two managed to avoid the spell's full effect. The third, bore the brunt of the damage, shrieking again as it took the hit.</p><p></p><p>None of them fell and then they were upon them.</p><p></p><p>As they closed their aberrant nature was plain. The powerfully built creatures looked like a bizarre cross between a great ape and a beetle. Their low, rounded heads were dominated by massive pairs of mandibles and rows of triangular teeth. Above these were two big compound eyes like a beetle's, with two smaller eyes like an ape's in between. Armor plates covered virtually all of their chitinous bodies, whose scattered feelers resembled sparse hair.</p><p></p><p>The lead pair flew straight at Noxin, swiping at him with their claws and opening bloody rents in the half-giant's flesh. He took it and moved closer, swinging his hammer with all of the power his considerable frame could muster. The head of the massive weapon struck the hulk beneath the left arm, crushing its shell and spinning it around in the air. His follow-up connected beneath its head, snapping it up with a wet cracking noise that would have signaled the end of a less hardy foe. The umber hulk merely shrieked and floated backward away from the barbarian's hammer, trailing copious streams of blood as it did so.</p><p></p><p>With a thought Morier charged forward toward the weakened creature, the words of a <em>Bull's Strength</em> spell on his lips as he went. Ravager was in his hands, and the saw-toothed blade seemed hungry after so long unused; it sliced downward, severing at the elbow the warding limb the hulk raised. The force of the blow buried the bastard sword in the monster's cranium, ending its life with a crunch.</p><p></p><p>A trio of hulks closed on the group, two heading for Morier and Noxin while the third went for Saelus. As they came they used their maddening gaze intending to soften up their opponents. But they underestimated their foes. The supernatural effect slid off Morier's natural spell resistance without effect and Saelus' will had been fashioned into a bulwark during the years of his training. Noxin...</p><p></p><p>Well Noxin enjoyed neither immunity to spells nor any great mental fortitude. But he did bear within his heart a strong hatred of anything that attacked him, and through his haze of <em>Confusion</em> that desire burned like a beacon. He looked at the new arrivals and marked one as his target.</p><p></p><p>As it turned out, Grandfather Plaque had also marked that same creature as his own. The tiny construct sent a quartet of <em>Magic Missiles</em> careening into the umber hulk's head, peppering its smaller pair of eyes with bolts of magical force.</p><p></p><p>The last of the hulks came in hard and fast, ignoring the use of its confusing gaze in favor of simply smashing its foe into ruin. It suffered for its haste, missing Saelus entirely as the colonel drew the Unity blade. He warded himself with a <em>Quickened Protection from Evil</em> followed immediately by a <em>True Strike</em> spell that was likewise <em>Quickened</em> by the nature of the Astral Plane. Then he moved back, out of the umber hulk's immediate reach, forcing the creature to advance on him if it wished to attack.</p><p></p><p>Noxin was about to launch himself at the hulk he'd determined most deserved his wrath when he chanced to look into the face of the nearest of the creatures. It's weird eyes seemed to fill his vision and he decided that THIS was the foe for him. It would die and then so would anything else that stood against him.</p><p></p><p>The umber hulk, of course, had other ideas.</p><p></p><p>It slashed brutally at the half-giant with its claws and snapped at him with its scimitar-sized mandibles intending to end the barbarian's threat for once and all. Noxin was a wily opponent, however and he managed to deftly avoid all but one of the attacks. He took the slashing claw on the shoulder and the explosion of pain there brought his rage to the surface. It ripped free of its mental bonds, heralded by a primal roar of fury that gave the umber hulk pause. Which was long enough for the barbarian to slam his greathammer into its chest with a mighty underhand blow. The umber hulk doubled over and sailed backward ten feet from the impact.</p><p></p><p>Morier charged at it, channeling a first circle spell into Ravager as he went. The jagged blade slipped easily between the plates of armor protecting the hulk's flank and sent lightning coursing through its body. It was grievously wounded, but still managed to cling to life.</p><p></p><p>The umber hulks looked stupid, but they were anything but. They perceived no effect from their confusing gaze, and so they closed on their enemies. Two went at Noxin and one went for Morier. The barbarian suffered another scratch along his thick arm, but otherwise both warriors were protected by their armor.</p><p></p><p>Grandfather Plaque flew around, pelting his chosen enemy with <em>Magic Missiles</em> and taunting the creature in Terran.</p><p></p><p>Saelus' gambit paid off and the umber hulk he was squared off against hurled itself at him with a single claw attack rather than utilizing its full array of natural weapons. The war wizard retaliated with his sabre, landing a glancing blow to the creature's throat that seemed to do little apart from anger the thing.</p><p></p><p>"Make kills and make it count!" the Colonel roared encouragement to his companions.</p><p></p><p>Some distance away, the severely wounded umber hulk turned its gaze purposefully on Morier forcing the eldritch warrior to lock eyes with it. As had happened to its fellows, however, its <em>Confusion</em> power could not best the albino's spell resistance. Frustrated and rightly fearing for its life, it tried to withdraw, turning its back to Morier - which was all the more opportunity that he required. He buried a foot and a half of Ravager into the hulk's kidney eliciting a short-lived cry of pain as it violently expired.</p><p></p><p>Leaving Morier facing Noxin across the thing's fallen body.</p><p></p><p>The barbarian, in the grip of both his own battle frenzy and the umber hulks' repeated <em>Confusion</em> attacks, looked at the albino without recognition. Foaming spittle flying from his lips he moved forward, propelled at Morier seemingly by the force of his hammerswing. The flaming head of the thing - which, Morier noted with strange detachment was actually bigger than his own torso - struck the albino squarely, knocking him backward passed the two hulks that lurked in the air nearby. Each took an opportunistic swipe at him, but neither managed to penetrate his armor. They fell on him anyway.</p><p></p><p>With Morier out of reach, Noxin directed his follow-up attack on the nearest of the umber hulks. This time, however, the blow went wide, glancing harmlessly off the creature's carapace. It turned from Morier and almost contemptuously slashed Noxin across the face, opening his flesh to the bone. Its second claw ripped open his throat sending blood spraying in all directions. He lingered for a moment, too angry to realize that he was dead on his feet. But then its enormous mandibles scissored down onto him, ending it.</p><p></p><p>And him.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jon Potter, post: 4649433, member: 2323"] [b][PLAIN][Realms #464] The Away Team[/PLAIN][/b] "Umber hulks!" Grandfather Plaque squeaked, as Noxin was about to hand him off to Morier to stuff back in the haversack. "That's not good, not good at all," he began to babble. "I had a cousin once who was the door knocker for a nobleman. Mounted on solid stone and yet... yet, completely run through by an umber hulk! Whatever you do, don't look in their eyes!" He took a shuttering breath, then composed his features and suggested lightly, "Perhaps we ought to go the other way?" "What?" Noxin scoffed, smiling at Grandfather Plaque as if the construct were growing senile. "I'd always heard that these umber hulks can actually be pretty friendly. If you look into their eyes you're supposed to catch a glimpse of your future. That's all." Saelus looked at the half-giant with his jaw resting nearly on his chest. "Right. Noxin, here I have to correct you," the colonel said taking the glasses of his face and handing them back to the barbarian. "Those Umber hulks actually confuse the opponent who looks too much into their eyes, in order to make quick work of them. So the only future you'd see would be a short one, I am afraid to say." Well... I guess I could be wrong," Noxin admitted, crestfallen. "Maybe it's leprechauns I was thinking of." "Umber hulks aren't at all friendly creatures," Grandfather Plaque asserted. "Umber hulks like to eat people!" Saelus nodded thoughtfully at this revelation. "I thought so," he said, sagely. "I was not taught of the dubious races and their feeding habits, but it does bring to mind like creatures such as trolls and similar typical creatures." "So, we just avoid these buggers and move on I guess," Noxin said, reiterating his earlier plan. "I don't think that's going to be possible," Morier said, pointing at the vessel, which was closing unerringly on their position. "Well... They seem to be turning this way, boys," Noxin observed hoisting his hammer and moving to put himself between the ship and his companions. "I guess we just don't look in their eyes... right?" "That will certainly help," Saelus suggested. The spider-like vessel slowed and stopped still at a distance of 200 feet and the umber hulks began to spit forth from the open hatch. There were six in all and they moved directly to intercept. The first two had already broken from the pack when the ballista located on the belly of the strange ship belched smoke and what looked like a ball of goo exploded behind them, filling a ten foot area with sticky strands that rapidly hardened and collapsed in upon themselves. "What's that they're shootin' at us?" Noxin growled. "Snot?" He set himself to meet the coming wave of attackers trying his best to look as threatening as he could against critters that outweighed him by about twice. Morier raised a hand and the gem on his chest flared green. A [i]Storm[/i] of [i]Ice[/i] exploded amidst the umber hulk's ranks, catching all but the lead pair in its punishing chill. Their pain-filled cries and the accompanying crackle of hailstones on armored flesh seemed startlingly loud in the strangeness of the astral plane. But none of them took much time to reflect upon it as it became apparent that none of the hulks had been destroyed by Morier's attack. "It appears that we are not negotiating with these beasts," Grandfather Plaque observed and pursed his lips. Four bolts of energy flashed from his puckered mouth, arcing around Noxin to strike the nearest of the umber hulks in the chest. The [i]Magic Missiles[/i] burned four tiny holes in the creature's carapace, but it did not seem terribly inconvenienced by the damage. Saelus was obliged to float to the side a bit in order to line up his own attack, but he presented a crystal prism at the horde of monsters and spoke the words of a spell. It went off immediately, faster than any spell he'd ever cast in his life, and it almost caused him to miss as a result, but he was a seasoned war wizard and the [i]Quickened Rainbow Blast[/i] struck three of the hulks, including the only one that remained uninjured. They were more agile than their bulk would suggest, however, and the nearer two managed to avoid the spell's full effect. The third, bore the brunt of the damage, shrieking again as it took the hit. None of them fell and then they were upon them. As they closed their aberrant nature was plain. The powerfully built creatures looked like a bizarre cross between a great ape and a beetle. Their low, rounded heads were dominated by massive pairs of mandibles and rows of triangular teeth. Above these were two big compound eyes like a beetle's, with two smaller eyes like an ape's in between. Armor plates covered virtually all of their chitinous bodies, whose scattered feelers resembled sparse hair. The lead pair flew straight at Noxin, swiping at him with their claws and opening bloody rents in the half-giant's flesh. He took it and moved closer, swinging his hammer with all of the power his considerable frame could muster. The head of the massive weapon struck the hulk beneath the left arm, crushing its shell and spinning it around in the air. His follow-up connected beneath its head, snapping it up with a wet cracking noise that would have signaled the end of a less hardy foe. The umber hulk merely shrieked and floated backward away from the barbarian's hammer, trailing copious streams of blood as it did so. With a thought Morier charged forward toward the weakened creature, the words of a [i]Bull's Strength[/i] spell on his lips as he went. Ravager was in his hands, and the saw-toothed blade seemed hungry after so long unused; it sliced downward, severing at the elbow the warding limb the hulk raised. The force of the blow buried the bastard sword in the monster's cranium, ending its life with a crunch. A trio of hulks closed on the group, two heading for Morier and Noxin while the third went for Saelus. As they came they used their maddening gaze intending to soften up their opponents. But they underestimated their foes. The supernatural effect slid off Morier's natural spell resistance without effect and Saelus' will had been fashioned into a bulwark during the years of his training. Noxin... Well Noxin enjoyed neither immunity to spells nor any great mental fortitude. But he did bear within his heart a strong hatred of anything that attacked him, and through his haze of [i]Confusion[/i] that desire burned like a beacon. He looked at the new arrivals and marked one as his target. As it turned out, Grandfather Plaque had also marked that same creature as his own. The tiny construct sent a quartet of [i]Magic Missiles[/i] careening into the umber hulk's head, peppering its smaller pair of eyes with bolts of magical force. The last of the hulks came in hard and fast, ignoring the use of its confusing gaze in favor of simply smashing its foe into ruin. It suffered for its haste, missing Saelus entirely as the colonel drew the Unity blade. He warded himself with a [i]Quickened Protection from Evil[/i] followed immediately by a [i]True Strike[/i] spell that was likewise [i]Quickened[/i] by the nature of the Astral Plane. Then he moved back, out of the umber hulk's immediate reach, forcing the creature to advance on him if it wished to attack. Noxin was about to launch himself at the hulk he'd determined most deserved his wrath when he chanced to look into the face of the nearest of the creatures. It's weird eyes seemed to fill his vision and he decided that THIS was the foe for him. It would die and then so would anything else that stood against him. The umber hulk, of course, had other ideas. It slashed brutally at the half-giant with its claws and snapped at him with its scimitar-sized mandibles intending to end the barbarian's threat for once and all. Noxin was a wily opponent, however and he managed to deftly avoid all but one of the attacks. He took the slashing claw on the shoulder and the explosion of pain there brought his rage to the surface. It ripped free of its mental bonds, heralded by a primal roar of fury that gave the umber hulk pause. Which was long enough for the barbarian to slam his greathammer into its chest with a mighty underhand blow. The umber hulk doubled over and sailed backward ten feet from the impact. Morier charged at it, channeling a first circle spell into Ravager as he went. The jagged blade slipped easily between the plates of armor protecting the hulk's flank and sent lightning coursing through its body. It was grievously wounded, but still managed to cling to life. The umber hulks looked stupid, but they were anything but. They perceived no effect from their confusing gaze, and so they closed on their enemies. Two went at Noxin and one went for Morier. The barbarian suffered another scratch along his thick arm, but otherwise both warriors were protected by their armor. Grandfather Plaque flew around, pelting his chosen enemy with [i]Magic Missiles[/i] and taunting the creature in Terran. Saelus' gambit paid off and the umber hulk he was squared off against hurled itself at him with a single claw attack rather than utilizing its full array of natural weapons. The war wizard retaliated with his sabre, landing a glancing blow to the creature's throat that seemed to do little apart from anger the thing. "Make kills and make it count!" the Colonel roared encouragement to his companions. Some distance away, the severely wounded umber hulk turned its gaze purposefully on Morier forcing the eldritch warrior to lock eyes with it. As had happened to its fellows, however, its [i]Confusion[/i] power could not best the albino's spell resistance. Frustrated and rightly fearing for its life, it tried to withdraw, turning its back to Morier - which was all the more opportunity that he required. He buried a foot and a half of Ravager into the hulk's kidney eliciting a short-lived cry of pain as it violently expired. Leaving Morier facing Noxin across the thing's fallen body. The barbarian, in the grip of both his own battle frenzy and the umber hulks' repeated [i]Confusion[/i] attacks, looked at the albino without recognition. Foaming spittle flying from his lips he moved forward, propelled at Morier seemingly by the force of his hammerswing. The flaming head of the thing - which, Morier noted with strange detachment was actually bigger than his own torso - struck the albino squarely, knocking him backward passed the two hulks that lurked in the air nearby. Each took an opportunistic swipe at him, but neither managed to penetrate his armor. They fell on him anyway. With Morier out of reach, Noxin directed his follow-up attack on the nearest of the umber hulks. This time, however, the blow went wide, glancing harmlessly off the creature's carapace. It turned from Morier and almost contemptuously slashed Noxin across the face, opening his flesh to the bone. Its second claw ripped open his throat sending blood spraying in all directions. He lingered for a moment, too angry to realize that he was dead on his feet. But then its enormous mandibles scissored down onto him, ending it. And him. [/QUOTE]
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