Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Plane Sailing" data-source="post: 825985" data-attributes="member: 114">Fang is terrified out of his wits and flees the camp in an instant. Everyone struggles to dismount and engage unseen foes in the grass, except Alavarielle who reverses course and retreats as fast as possible to the rear, a crossbow bolt projecting from her shoulder. Dariol gabbles off an entangle spell as Drucilla takes on a foe charging from the left with sword in hand. Troy is charged from the right and tangles with his foe long enough to give Clint a chance to slam a sword viciously into the fellow’s back wounding him severely.The Bulette heaves forward into Dariol’s horse, biting it near in half as other mounts, friends and foes alike scatter in all directions. Drucilla notes a gnome-sized mount amongst the enemies horses and knowing their predilections is convinced that the creature is an illusion, but who’s going to take that risk? Fareena ignites the grass around her for protection with burning hands, standing in a sea of flame of her own making. Drucilla’s foe is quickly paralysed by a Ghoul touch spell. Troy stares past his badly wounded opponent in horror as Clint suddenly screams, clutching at his face, arches his back violently and crashes backwards into the grass with cold staring eyes. The foe uses the moment to sink a potion that visibly seals his terrible injuries. As Drucilla and Fareena move to finish off their foe, another previously concealed enemy springs from the grass to sink a dagger viciously into Dariol who sags bleeding to the ground. The party is reeling in shock, suddenly only three standing, two of whom are weak spellcasters!Fareena trusts to her magic and wraps the new opponent in flame with a Burning hands spell, as Troy faces his rejuvenated foe, barely scratching him with his rapier. Drucilla circles the paralysed soldier keeping a wary eye on the mysterious knife man who seems determined to kill Fareena but is kept back by the flames while keeping Drucilla in knife range. Fareena takes a chance and ducks past the knifeman to treat Dariol with her healing potion which saves his life. Dariol groans back to action from the effects of healing magic, realising that the bulette in fact IS an illusion as an arrow plunges from the sky into the ground through the creature. He rolls to his feet as the steppe wind fans Fareena’s conflagration in his direction. Fareena takes the opportunity to blast the flames into a full pyrotechnic magical effect, blinding the knifeman momentarily.Troy fences the soldier, standing protectively over Clint’s upsettingly still and supine body. The bulette finally disappears as the illusionist levitated in the distant grass struggles with the entangling stems that hold him in place. Dariol moves towards Troy’s enemy but is wary due to his weak condition. Alavarielle cannot see that her speculative arrow has resulted in the disappearance of the illusion as conflicting flame and magical light dances in the distance. She can see Troy struggling off to her right and targets his foe as the best option. Troy is taking progressive chunks from his opponent who refuses to go down despite multiple wounds. Drucilla strikes at the knifeman, using the ghoul touched foe as cover but is stabbed back with uncanny accuracy in the swirling chaos.It seems that Fareena’s pyrotechnics has not been as effective as normal as the knifeman dodges nimbly around the ghoul touched foe after Drucilla. Fareena’s voice croons across the space as flames crackle at her feet, enticing him to ‘join us’, a charm spell backing up the idea. Amazingly the fellow appears momentarily confused, perhaps the charm has worked despite the adverse circumstances? Fareena continues talking, to maintain his attention.Drucilla finally slashes the throat of the ghoul touch victim moments before the magic wears off, and the knifeman stabs out at her in rage, still apparently struggling with inner conflicts. Fareena flames him anyway and he collapses in burning agony. Alavarielle is still not getting the range, although she is shooting from over 200 feet away so this is no surprise. Troy spikes through the soldier’s armour, again not enough to floor him, and the fellow decides that discretion is the better part of valour now the boss is down. Arrows plummet round him ineffectually as he flees into the night. The trapped illusionist appears not to have been able to target any more spells in the whirling confusion, but surrounds himself in mist to confound the searching party. Troy bends in cold anticipation to confirm that Clint is dead. Angered by this loss the party frantically grope their way into the mist until Fareena’s flaming fingers burn the vapour off in a flash. A shape freed at last from its entangling bonds collapses to the ground smouldering but still unseen due to invisibility magic. Close by, a small domed brass object on four spindly legs spins aggressively with lethal blades projecting from every edge. Another construct! It scoots towards the party who stand mesmerisied until the blades sink into flesh and bone with startling ease. Dariol collapses once more as the party pound the object with various weapons. The carapace takes some nasty dents but the blades spin redly on. Troy resolves to turn the thing over and use his new-found knowledge of constructs to turn it off, taking a terrible wound to his arms for his efforts. Finally however he succeeds, and the guts of the machine are soon exposed. The gem is wrenched rudely from its mountings and terminates the machine’s mission. Somewhat sheepishly Fang trots back into the camp to rub his head against Dariol’s forgiving hand.The enemy’s goods are soon distributed among the party who having recovered their mounts set off disconsolately for the distant caravan with Clint’s body slung over a saddlebow.</blockquote>

Verification