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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 1887871" data-attributes="member: 99">Lazarius found himself already using the last of his healing resources and knew that this did not bode well for their quest to fight their way through to the High Priests of Bane here within the City.  He smeared some salve onto the scorch marks that covered his forearms and felt some relief from the pain.  As he did this, an azure flicker of movement caught his attention and he saw the Blue Demoness far up the hallway.  Before the small clay jar, now emptied of salve, fell to the stone floor and cracked, Lazarius was already in motion toward his hated enemy.The Wizard rushed past Marius who was slowly gathering himself together after the crippling damage he had sustained.  Lazarius briefly noticed him moving toward one of the fallen Ogres but paid it no attention as he single mindedly pursued vengeance on the Demoness.  As he passed by the corridor leading to where the others still battled the Ogres, he heard a deafening BOOM and glanced up the passageway, wondering whose side had caused it.  When he turned back to seek his prey he discovered that she had vanished.Cathal found himself reeling, his ears bleeding from the concussive magic.  The world seemed to swim around him and he wondered if he was about to die.  He hoped not because the one thing in all the world that he wanted before deaths embrace was to kill the damn Ogre in front of him.  The creature had sustained enough damage to kill a Tundra Bear and still it stood.  The Brigante tried to focus on his foe in order to strike him again but his mind could not hold the creature still as he struggled to overcome the Burst of Sound that had been unleashed by the Ogre Cleric.Just when things seemed about to turn very badly, Marcus came charging in to the room.  His voice rang out above the sounds of battle as he called upon his Faith to Shield him.A blast of frigid frost exploded in the main hallway catching Lazarius and Marius.  The Imperial Explorer saw it envelop the Wizard and hugged the ground next to the dead Ogre he’d been stabbing.  As he popped his head back up he heard lilting, feminine laughter and saw the Blue Demoness standing further up the passage, mocking the Imperial War Wizard.Fury seethed inside Lazarius and he wanted nothing more than to leap upon the giant Blue Bitch and choke the life from her.  But his training kicked in and he remembered his role as a War Wizard:  Disadvantage your foe and let the warriors do the real fighting.  His hands wove a spell that he’d prepared for just this occasion and the air around the Demoness exploded with Glittering Dust.  Now if he could just get the others to help him go after her she could no longer hide!Cathal’s blurred vision began to resolve itself and he saw a bulky figure looming before him and struck.  It wasn’t until his blade landed that he realized that the spined Demon had moved into battle and it was not the flail-wielding Ogre who he had attacked.  He saw the Ogre had stepped back next to the Cleric and cursed as he saw healing magic flow into his foe.Speaks and Brutus were still in the thick of the fray and the enormous pig gored the spined Demon with his tusks, getting a bloody nose from the creatures barbs in return.  Speaks stepped back for a moment and unleashed a spell upon the Ogre Priest.  While it had no immediate effects, Speaks hoped that it would start to severely impair the enemy spellcaster in just a few moments.The spiked Demon struck back at Cathal and landed a thorny blow of its fist that left quills sticking from the Brigante’s flesh.  The Ogre Warrior moved to the other side of the battle and carefully moved to flank Brutus as he readied his flail for another strike.Marcus saw the abominable Demon standing before him and knew that such Evil must not be suffered to live in his presence.  He moved past Brutus and engaged the hideous creature, striking it firmly with his mace, splintering spines and bending the flesh beneath.  He glanced to his flank and saw Marius entering the room to support them though his face seemed a mask of frustration pierced by murderous eyes.In the main corridor, Lazarius moved back to give the Demoness a bit more room in case she decided to attack him bodily.  But he was not about to give her a true respite and his hands flashed with magic as a Bolt of Lightning surged out to strike her.  He was aghast as he saw the bolt virtually fork around her and rejoin as though she were completely immune.  His mind cast back to his college days when he was taught about certain beings that had an innate resistance to magic.  Why oh WHY did the first one that he had met have to be this bitch!?Cathal struck out at the Demon but, apparently not fully recovered from his loss of equilibrium, both slashes went wide of the mark.  But Brutus did not disappoint as his tusks dug deep into the side of the infernal creature, spilling hellish ichor on the floor.  Speaks saw that the boar was bleeding from a dozen wounds and spared a bit of his magic to close some of these.  As he did, he glanced over at the Ogre Priest to see the Metal of his armor start to take on a faint red as it began to Heat.The Demon bore down on Cathal with everything it had.  It first slashed out with its fists but, powerful though they were, they only succeeded in leaving rows of scratches down the front of his armor.  Failing that, the creature unleashed some kind of paralytic magic but the hale Brigante Warrior fought it off.Marius moved up along the edge of the battle looking for a place to strike with the quick and deadly accuracy that was his trademark.  He saw no good opportunities yet but he could be patient…for a while.  Marcus by contrast was in a fighting fervor, striking whichever foe entered his reach.  As the Demon pressed its attack on Cathal, a gap opened in the enemy line and Marcus stepped forward to smite the Ogre Cleric.  His strike hit the creature on the breastplate but the armor seemed to deform slightly under the weight of the blow and Marcus heard a hissing noise.  The smell of burnt flesh and a scream of pain filled the large room in which they fought.Outside, Lazarius suddenly found himself confronted with new foes as another pair of Ogre Guards charged around the corner near the Demoness and closed in on him rapidly.  The Wizard lay a hand on the rod tucked into his belt and a small crackling ball shot from his palm to explode into a sphere of Lightning amongst these latest arrivals.  Alas, the detonation was not large enough to catch the adversary he most wanted to kill.Cathal prepared to strike back at his infernal enemy when he saw the creature start to become indistinct and seem to dissipate.  First thinking this was a trick, Cathal cried out to alert his friends but soon realized that whatever magic it was that had held the Demon in their world was fading and the creature was being pulled back to hell.  Cathal dove through the fading existence of the Devil and tumbled to flank the Ogre Priest that faced Marcus.  The Brigante came to his feet and thrust out with his crackling blade in one smooth motion, driving the sword deep into the Ogre’s side.  With a bellow of pain, the giant’s knees buckled and it toppled forward, it’s red-hot armor sizzling in the blood pooled on the floor.With both Priest and Devil now out of the fight, attention could turn to their long time foe:  Ogre With Flail.  Speaks confronted the creature directly, stepping up to smash his shillelagh across the creature’s thigh.  There was a tremendous CRACK that had to be a bone fracturing but the giant stayed to his feet until a moment later.  Marius did a diving roll that brought him to the creature’s rear.  His rapier struck up into the giant’s vast chest cavity and with the gurgling of a pierced lung, the Ogre came crashing down.All was still in the room for just a moment until another crackling explosion was heard from out in the main corridor.  “The Wizard and Albius are out there by themselves!” cried Marcus as he ran toward the exit.  Cathal was close behind as were Speaks and Brutus.Cathal rushed past Marcus and into the thick of the battle, having flown into a full blown rage.  One Ogre landed a glancing blow with his spear but it was repaid an instant later by the Brigante’s sword.  A half second later Brutus crashed into the other Ogre in a blast of tusks and blood.  Marcus was the last to join the battle as he clanked forward in his heavy armor.Marius knelt next to the disabled Ogre as the creature slipped rapidly into unconsciousness.  The last thing it saw was a black dagger appear, as if from nowhere into the glove of the man who had laid him low.  The last thing it heard was the man’s voice, “To Hell with you, you Bane worshiping bastard.”  Then the deepest oblivion.The Ogres in the hallway were clearly outmatched but they had run out of options a long time ago.  One struck at Cathal but his spear was deflected by the invisible Shield in front of the raging barbarian.  But the other had a softer target.  His first thrust ripped a gaping hole in Brutus’ belly.  Then the giant pressed forward with his shield, raising the giant boar onto his back legs and thrust again.  The spear went deep into the heart of the Dire Boar, killing it instantly and Brutus fell to the ground lifeless.Cathal and Marcus struck as one and the other Ogre, already heavily wounded by Lazarius’ lightning, was struck low.  Speaks rushed to the side of Brutus, hoping he could yet save his companion but saw the thick torrent of arterial blood rushing from the hole in the great beast’s chest and knew it was over.Lazarius was filled with hate at that moment.  He looked past the last Ogre and saw that the Blue Demoness had fled during the melee and looked down to see Brutus dead at the creature’s feet.  “Die, you ass hole!”  The Bolt of Lightning took the Ogre high in the chest and the sudden blast of energy actually took the creature’s head completely off (43 points of damage!).The headless Ogre staggered backward and collapsed in a clatter of armor and silence once again gripped the bowels of the City of Endless Summer.</blockquote>

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