Rel
Liquid Awesome
The next couple of weeks look a little light work-wise so I'm going to do my best to catch up a bit on the updates. I'll start you off with this:
The promontory on which the party found itself straddled two large valleys separated by a sharp, rocky ridge of black stone. A narrow path winded up the side of the steep mount from a pass in the ridge to the overlook the group stood upon. To a man they gaped in horror at this alien landscape.
“What happened?!” demanded Marius.
Lazarius shook his head in astonishment. “I don’t know! Perhaps something about the nature of the City of Endless Summer threw off my Teleport. Strong magical fields can do that.”
“Well that’s just great! What’s going to happen when you Teleport us back?!”
“I don’t know but it doesn’t matter at the moment anyway. I won’t be able to try again until I’ve had some rest.”
The group exchanged nervous glances. They were standing in the middle of Hell with a small army of what looked to be demons or devils hacking away at a pyramid in the valley below. The bruised sky above crackled with purple lightning and looked as though it might rain fire at any moment. It was not a restful situation.
“Did you hear something,” asked Marcus. Nobody else had heard anything. Surveying the terrain around them it appeared as though the pass that spilled into the valley with the pyramid turned into a road heading the opposite direction. In the distance they could see that it crossed a river at some sort of bridge. Thus far it looked as though they had not gained the attention of any of the creatures attacking the pyramid a half mile away.
“Uh oh, looks like we’ve got company,” said Cathal who peered down the winding path leading toward the pass below. He gestured toward several stooped figures with pole-arms in their hands, ascending rapidly toward their perch. All other avenues of descent were steep and would require a slow climb that they could not afford. They’d have to stand and fight.
The warriors drew their weapons as Lazarius immediately used his magic to transform his Skin to be as hard as Stone. Speaks moved back from the edge of the path to give himself room and began to call upon the Wild to shapeshift. His connection to the source of his magic felt strained in this place of death and sorrow, but it did not fail him.
The first of the creatures topped the rise and the group got a better look at him. His face was a rictus of evil, with a beard of thick bristles jutting from its jaw. Its twisted limbs held the haft of a vicious looking glaive, the blade of which had barbs jutting from every angle.
Marius was the first to react and dove forward, tumbling across the ground and gaining his feet behind the creature. Cathal stepped to address the confused devil from the front as Marius thrust his rapier from the rear. The Brigante found more success than the Imperial and left a deep cut in the creature’s shoulder.
At the rear of the group, Speak transformed into an enormous bear and shuffled forward ready to strike at the enemy. Before he could do so however, the small group of devils reached into pouches that hung from their necks and each cast a handful of coins onto the ground amid the combatants. As these coins hit the ground, hideous, slug-like, mockery’s of life sprang into being. Their flabby flesh bore the faintest resemblance to female orcs with sorrowful expressions of damnation on their countenances.
The dozen or so new aberrations moved quickly to attack the party and nearly surrounded them. Nearly half a dozen attacked Cathal but his armor fended off their relatively weak claws and he hacked back at them in disgust, their ichor-oozing flesh parted easily by his sword. Others managed to draw blood from Speaks’ ursine form as well as find chinks in the considerable armor of Marcus.
One of the larger devils struck Marius with his glaive and ripped a terrible slash in his side that immediately began to bleed profusely. Two more closed in on the Imperial Explorer who suddenly found himself hard pressed and surrounded by enemies. Cathal fended off another of their glaives with a parry but he too was nearly enveloped in enemies.
Marcus ran to the aid of his companions, ignoring the slashing claws of the tortured souls the devils had called to aid them as another raked him across the thigh. He brought his mace down upon the enemy that Cathal had wounded and dashed its brains from its evil head. So powerful was his blow that it carried over into one of the many summoned creatures and stove in its chest.
Lazarius backpedaled from the melee before him and let loose a cluster of Magic Missiles, wounding another of the glaive-wielding devils. But his withdrawal from the hand to hand fighting was short lived as a winged devil appeared out of nowhere and stung him in the shoulder with its barbed tail. Lazarius felt this sting but the pain was blunted by his enchanted skin. The flutter of the creature’s wings in his face nearly sent Lazarius into a panic but this assault abruptly ended as Speaks huge maw closed around the creature with a crunch. The great bear batted away another of the lumpy, flesh devils and cleared the area around the Wizard.
Cathal raised his sword to a guard position and held it there for a moment. As Marius somersaulted behind his foe, both warriors struck at the same moment and caught the creature high and low, killing it in tandem. Cathal wasted no time in bounding over to the last of the glaive wielding devils and distracting it as Marcus smote it to the ground. His follow through cut down the last of the coin-summoned flesh devils.
The battle ended suddenly with the rocky ground thirstily soaking up the spilled blood of friend and foe alike. Marcus knelt to give the blessing of St. Cuthbert to the bleeding wounds Marius had suffered. Lazarius and Speaks looked over the bodies of their fallen foes and found the pouches hanging from their necks still held a few coins and an odd looking, skull-shaped gem, which they gathered. Cathal found himself acting as a lookout once more.
“We’ve got more trouble,” he proclaimed loudly. The others flicked their gaze toward the path that the devils had approached from. The Brigante corrected them, “NO! THERE!” and pointed to the valley below.
A group of the creatures that had been assaulting the pyramid had broken off and were headed toward the pass below. There were at least a score of them and they were coming fast.
The promontory on which the party found itself straddled two large valleys separated by a sharp, rocky ridge of black stone. A narrow path winded up the side of the steep mount from a pass in the ridge to the overlook the group stood upon. To a man they gaped in horror at this alien landscape.
“What happened?!” demanded Marius.
Lazarius shook his head in astonishment. “I don’t know! Perhaps something about the nature of the City of Endless Summer threw off my Teleport. Strong magical fields can do that.”
“Well that’s just great! What’s going to happen when you Teleport us back?!”
“I don’t know but it doesn’t matter at the moment anyway. I won’t be able to try again until I’ve had some rest.”
The group exchanged nervous glances. They were standing in the middle of Hell with a small army of what looked to be demons or devils hacking away at a pyramid in the valley below. The bruised sky above crackled with purple lightning and looked as though it might rain fire at any moment. It was not a restful situation.
“Did you hear something,” asked Marcus. Nobody else had heard anything. Surveying the terrain around them it appeared as though the pass that spilled into the valley with the pyramid turned into a road heading the opposite direction. In the distance they could see that it crossed a river at some sort of bridge. Thus far it looked as though they had not gained the attention of any of the creatures attacking the pyramid a half mile away.
“Uh oh, looks like we’ve got company,” said Cathal who peered down the winding path leading toward the pass below. He gestured toward several stooped figures with pole-arms in their hands, ascending rapidly toward their perch. All other avenues of descent were steep and would require a slow climb that they could not afford. They’d have to stand and fight.
The warriors drew their weapons as Lazarius immediately used his magic to transform his Skin to be as hard as Stone. Speaks moved back from the edge of the path to give himself room and began to call upon the Wild to shapeshift. His connection to the source of his magic felt strained in this place of death and sorrow, but it did not fail him.
The first of the creatures topped the rise and the group got a better look at him. His face was a rictus of evil, with a beard of thick bristles jutting from its jaw. Its twisted limbs held the haft of a vicious looking glaive, the blade of which had barbs jutting from every angle.
Marius was the first to react and dove forward, tumbling across the ground and gaining his feet behind the creature. Cathal stepped to address the confused devil from the front as Marius thrust his rapier from the rear. The Brigante found more success than the Imperial and left a deep cut in the creature’s shoulder.
At the rear of the group, Speak transformed into an enormous bear and shuffled forward ready to strike at the enemy. Before he could do so however, the small group of devils reached into pouches that hung from their necks and each cast a handful of coins onto the ground amid the combatants. As these coins hit the ground, hideous, slug-like, mockery’s of life sprang into being. Their flabby flesh bore the faintest resemblance to female orcs with sorrowful expressions of damnation on their countenances.
The dozen or so new aberrations moved quickly to attack the party and nearly surrounded them. Nearly half a dozen attacked Cathal but his armor fended off their relatively weak claws and he hacked back at them in disgust, their ichor-oozing flesh parted easily by his sword. Others managed to draw blood from Speaks’ ursine form as well as find chinks in the considerable armor of Marcus.
One of the larger devils struck Marius with his glaive and ripped a terrible slash in his side that immediately began to bleed profusely. Two more closed in on the Imperial Explorer who suddenly found himself hard pressed and surrounded by enemies. Cathal fended off another of their glaives with a parry but he too was nearly enveloped in enemies.
Marcus ran to the aid of his companions, ignoring the slashing claws of the tortured souls the devils had called to aid them as another raked him across the thigh. He brought his mace down upon the enemy that Cathal had wounded and dashed its brains from its evil head. So powerful was his blow that it carried over into one of the many summoned creatures and stove in its chest.
Lazarius backpedaled from the melee before him and let loose a cluster of Magic Missiles, wounding another of the glaive-wielding devils. But his withdrawal from the hand to hand fighting was short lived as a winged devil appeared out of nowhere and stung him in the shoulder with its barbed tail. Lazarius felt this sting but the pain was blunted by his enchanted skin. The flutter of the creature’s wings in his face nearly sent Lazarius into a panic but this assault abruptly ended as Speaks huge maw closed around the creature with a crunch. The great bear batted away another of the lumpy, flesh devils and cleared the area around the Wizard.
Cathal raised his sword to a guard position and held it there for a moment. As Marius somersaulted behind his foe, both warriors struck at the same moment and caught the creature high and low, killing it in tandem. Cathal wasted no time in bounding over to the last of the glaive wielding devils and distracting it as Marcus smote it to the ground. His follow through cut down the last of the coin-summoned flesh devils.
The battle ended suddenly with the rocky ground thirstily soaking up the spilled blood of friend and foe alike. Marcus knelt to give the blessing of St. Cuthbert to the bleeding wounds Marius had suffered. Lazarius and Speaks looked over the bodies of their fallen foes and found the pouches hanging from their necks still held a few coins and an odd looking, skull-shaped gem, which they gathered. Cathal found himself acting as a lookout once more.
“We’ve got more trouble,” he proclaimed loudly. The others flicked their gaze toward the path that the devils had approached from. The Brigante corrected them, “NO! THERE!” and pointed to the valley below.
A group of the creatures that had been assaulting the pyramid had broken off and were headed toward the pass below. There were at least a score of them and they were coming fast.
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