Elemental said:
Nowhere to run for Graz'zt. I'm curious about why the story didn't end with the liberation of Occitipus, but I'm sure I'm going to enjoy finding out.
I thought about ending it there, but I went this way in an attempt to resolve the story in a different way (with a twist, naturally). I think it works, but I look forward to reading your comments at the end. As Richard alluded to in his post, the battle for Occipitus was part of a greater struggle, while the mission now is... personal.
Richard Rawen said:
btw LB, I started reading my kids a story this weekend, it begins with the chance meeting of four Travellers at a crossroads where only three trails are blazed . . .
The posse is preparing to enter the Woods and the kids are really looking forward to AFTER July 4th (They go to their Mother's for tonight and tomorrow) for the story to resume! =-)
Wow, glad you are all enjoying the story! I still have a fond spot for the Travelers.
P.S. I've put together a no-frills PDF of the entire
Shackled City story. I'll post it somewhere once I finish here. 1479 pages...
* * * * *
Chapter 611
The sirrush prepared to roar again, but as it lifted its head Dana was already moving. “Dannel!” she yelled, causing the elf to hesitate as he drew another arrow to his cheek. The elf held his shot, glancing at her sidelong as she came up to him.
“Don’t miss,” she said, touching the end of the arrow, and uttering a spell.
A globe of
silence enveloped them, but quickly disappeared as Dannel fired his arrow. Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps the elf had drawn deep into another reservoir of skill, for this arrow pierced the sirrush’s hide, stabbing into the flesh of its back just behind its armored neck. The creature’s jaws stretched open, but nothing came out, just a silent roar that failed to penetrate the bubble of Dana’s magic.
“Well, that shut it up, but how in the hells are we going to stop that thing?” Dannel asked.
“We have to overwhelm it, just mangle it faster than it can regenerate,” Cal said. “With our spells of little use, we’re going to have to support the warriors, and hope they can bring it down.”
But with two of the warriors down, that looked to be a difficult prospect. Arun, at least, was still conscious, although he could not stand with his broken leg. The paladin, blocked from reaching Beorna by the bulk of the creature, dragged himself away from the sirrush’s reach before he used his
lay on hands power to heal some of the injuries he’d suffered. Arun grimaced as he straightened he mangled leg to let the healing magic restore the crippled joint.
Lok faced the creature’s full fury as it unleashed another full attack upon him. The potency of the assault was not diminished by the fact that it was utterly silent; if anything, to those watching the blows that fell upon the genasi seemed more powerful than before. But Lok stood his ground, tearing free from a bite that snagged his shoulder, absorbing punishing rakes that added more damage to the heavy armor covering his body. Somehow, when it was over the genasi held his stance, although his armor was covered with streaks of his own blood, and a thin trail of red ran down his left leg from a deep puncture somewhere beneath his torso plates.
A wise combatant would have withdrawn at that point, but Lok knew that while he could not withstand another full attack, his friends were likely to die if he backed down. So he stood his ground, and took the attack to the monster, hacking at its legs with his axe. The
thundering power of the weapon would not function within the
silence, but the edge was sharp enough, and within a few seconds Lok was not the only one trailing blood.
Mole, still holding court upon the creature’s spine, ran forward again to the bony ridge of its neck. But her rapier was in its sheath, and instead of trying another futile attack, as she leapt up over its head, she whipped something out from her
bag of holding. It was a heavy cloak, which she swept across the creature’s eyes, using it as an anchor as she swung beneath its head, catching the far end and holding on, keeping it taut.
Her lips moved soundlessly as she shouted something clever, a bit miffed that the
silence kept her friends from fully appreciating the maneuver.
Under normal circumstances, the sirrush would not have been inconvenienced in the slightest by being blinded; its senses, honed by hunting dragons many times its size, were incredibly sharp. But the
silence neutralized its keen hearing, and there was a musty, earthy smell that infused the cloak, making it difficult for the creature to sort out the distinct odors of its enemies.
Snarling silently, the sirrush darted forward, snapping its head to the left and right, trying to dislodge its unwelcome passenger. Mole held on, swinging up to avoid a claw that tried to knock her free. One of the avorals swung down and raked at the creature’s back, but its claws might as well have been scratching the stone floor for all the effect they had upon it. Another landed beside Beorna, and tended to the fallen templar. Lok slammed it again with his axe as it passed him, but while he added another gash to its tally, the wounds it had taken were clearly not especially serious.
And it continued to regenerate.
Dana, just outside of the bubble of
silence, cast a
mass heal. At once the wounds of the companions knit shut, and the vitality lost to the creature’s claws and bite was instantly restored. Beorna recovered her sword and charged, while Arun, his savaged leg now mostly intact, came at the creature from the opposite side.
The sirrush dropped its head solidly on the floor before it. Mole swung around, avoiding getting pinned, still holding onto the flapping ends of the cloak. But the effort was made moot a moment later as it pulled its claws down over its armored face, shredding the garment. Mole fell free and tried to somersault backwards away from it, but the creature swept its head sideways, butting her solidly and knocking her roughly across the room. She landed on the far side of the chamber, flipping at the last instant to land on her feet, grimacing where a cracked rib throbbed in her side.
The creature’s gyrations had failed to dislodge the
silenced arrow stuck in its neck, and once again no sound followed as the warriors charged into the distracted creature. Arun, Lok, and Beorna, reenergized by Dana’s potent spell, laid into it with a violent fury of attacks. The paladin pounded it with his hammer, while on the far side of it Beorna’s adamantine blade cut gouges in its scaled body. Lok, meanwhile, continued to hew at its legs with its axe. Dannel’s arrows continued to zip into it, until a small forest of feathered shafts jutted from its back.
Cal focused his arcane power and reached out with his magic. Using one of the newer secrets of arcane lore that he had discovered, he extended that link between himself and Arun, laying a
displacement ward upon him without having to touch the paladin. Once again, such a mundane ruse would not normally have fooled such a canny hunter, but with its hearing obscured, its claws passed harmlessly through the false image raised by the spell.
The sirrush was starting to show the effects of its wounds, now, as the three warriors launched full attacks into the creature from all sides. The sirrush still had a lot of fight left in it; as Beorna scored a critical hit upon its flank, it suddenly spun around and unleashed a devastating series of attacks upon her, driving her back. But a moment later the templar’s wounds closed again, as Dana channeled another
mass cure into them.
The sirrush seemed to be possessed by a furious rage as it focused on Beorna, pressing its attack. The dwarf held her ground, hewing at the creature’s armored head with her sword. Her blows glanced off its thick hide without effect, but her efforts still paid off as her allies punished the increasingly savaged hunter. Arun drove his hammer into it, one two-handed overhand strike after another, while Lok had laid one of its hind legs nearly bare, with its ruined scales oozing blood. Even Mole got back into the fray, darting under its hindquarters, and stabbing her rapier into a slightly more tender spot.
The sirrush started to flail about it almost blindly, still scoring hits on its tormentors, but failing to overcome any of its foes. With a final stroke of his axe Lok took off the leg he’d been working on, and the creature staggered and fell. Still it attacked, trying to seize the genasi in its jaws. But Lok tore free as Arun brought his hammer down onto its spine. They didn’t need to hear the crack to know that the blow had done serious damage; the creature quivered and began to spasm.
Dana approached the creature from behind, her hand glowing red. She touched it and unleashed a
harm spell. The potent magic failed to overcome its spell resistance, but it increasingly appeared that this was unnecessary. Dannel, too, had approached to almost point-blank range, and now was sending one arrow after another into a gap where a scale had been torn away from its body.
With her face covered in her own blood, a fearsome look etched upon her features, Beorna stepped up. The creature sensed her and started to turn to face her, sweeping out a claw. The claw gashed her armored belly, but she ignored the blow as she lifted the sword high above her head, and brought it down into the center of its face. The blow did not appear to penetrate, but the creature’s body shuddered once, a mighty tremble that shook it like an earthquake, and then it slumped down to the ground, defeated.
