Darmanicus
I'm Ray...of Enfeeblement
I just hope we manage to get out of this forsaken place, it's horrible! 
The Age of Worms - Morrus' Campaign - Finished 6th August!!
Inconsequenti-AL
Breaks Games
It probably would have been a little better if we'd managed to rest... I think we could have done, but it just didn't feel right with the avatar of some horrid god running around?
Frankly it was (again!) Endo's ray of enfeeblement that saved the day. Reduced it from 'uber death on a stick' down to merely 'damn scary'. Necromancers certainly make good friends.
Frankly it was (again!) Endo's ray of enfeeblement that saved the day. Reduced it from 'uber death on a stick' down to merely 'damn scary'. Necromancers certainly make good friends.
Eccles
Ragged idiot in a trilby.
Rebuilding the smashed lift apparatus took several hours, and we eventually had to cannibalise the temple doors for timber. We hoisted ourselves up, to discover that the terrible noises of the Overgod’s rampage had echoed throughout the complex. The miners had fled in terror, and we were able to escape the complex with a minimum of difficulty.
We returned the mauled bodies of our friends to those we thought best. Niccoli’s comrades at the garrison took us at our word when we explained that he had fallen defending his friends and the town. It took us some time to locate Torvig’s dwarven comrade, who was already down in his cups at the Feral Dog. Explaining that Torvig had been mauled to death by an evil cleric took us some time, and I wasn’t certain that he’d understood us when we’d finished. We had to pay for his funeral ourselves.
Morgan’s body – we left Endo to explain that one to his mother.
.oOo.
I spent much of the next few days selling as much as I could of the looted goods, although there were several suits of enchanted armour which were simply too costly for any of the town’s shopkeepers to be able to resell. Once we all had money weighing down our pockets, we began to dream of how to spend it.
We lost track of Endo at this point, as he went to his mother’s house and didn’t come out for several days. Eventually, he summoned us all to the house, and we learned that he had arranged for his mother’s sewing circle to make matching black vests for each of us, and he wanted us to try them on. Mine was badly finished and baggy, but I made encouraging noises as I shrugged it on and stood next to my friends.
Endo didn’t bother to explain what he was doing. He chanted briefly and opened his mouth, and suddenly thousands of tiny spiders poured out of his gullet. They poured like a crawling black river down his tunic, across the floor and up our legs, where they clustered across the new vests, spinning silken spiderwebs into the material, tightening the fit and improving the seams. When they had finished, the spiders all balled up and fell to the floor dead; thousands of tiny lives extinguished in the power of Endo’s enchantment.
The vests looked lovely though; and Endo confidently stated that they would make all of us more resistant to spells cast upon us.
Endo remained in seclusion for several more days, crafting a matching pair of gauntlets for Flynne (with a subtle bone motif etched into the material), as well as a number of wands and other spells scribed into his spellbook.
Apart from a few days spent proselytising the cult of Kord as a favour for Igmut, Flynne, Igmut and I spent most of the time in the pub.
.oOo.
We also spoke to Allustan about what we had discovered. He announced that he would be willing to sell us some items from his extensive collection of enchanted items, and so a vast amount of gold was given to the wizard in return for magical trinkets.
I also bought Endo’s enchanted Hat of Disguise off him; an item which I had been deeply envious of since I had first seen what it could do.
Allustan mentioned in passing that we would have to go to the city of Greyhawk to get the best price for the enchanted armour. He also said that he had been planning a trip halfway to the city in order to visit his old friend, the war-mage Marzena on the edge of the Mist Marsh (a region populated with lizardmen).
.oOo.
Whilst in the pub, we encountered Malachite, a friend of ours from Diamond Lake of some years ago. He left the town when we were growing up, hoping to find something he called ‘the green’. He may have found it, as he was followed into the Feral Dog by a large orange orang-utan. We greeted him with open arms, and he introduced us to Clive the ape, his companion over the last few years.
Also in the pub were the other adventuring group, who Flynne took a few minutes to talk to, remembering that they had been fighting the lizardmen. We learned from them that some of the lizardfolk were infected with worms which made them (at least according to Igmut’s description) “well ‘ard”.
.oOo.
We prepared our new equipment and mounted the prime horses which Endo had generously bought for us. Joined by Allustan, Malachite, Clive the Ape, and Flynne’s newly bought guard dog, we set out on the road as the sun shone down on us.
The travelling was cheerful. Allustan proved to be an amiable travelling companion, and we swapped tales and anecdotes as we rode.
A while after our noon meal, we encountered a group of 8 gnomes, who were travelling to Diamond Lake with a number of alchemical devices of their own crafting. Impressed, Endo opened his seemingly bottomless money pouch and purchased all of their thunderstones. Then their entire inventory of tanglefoot bags. As if that wasn’t enough, he also bought all the holy water that the gnomes had to offer, before we parted company.
Before they left, the gnomes warned us of a group of 9 bandits some 2 days’ distance up the road, which the gnomes had been able to hide and sneak around. Duly warned, we remounted the horses, and set off again.
.oOo.
A few more hours’ travel and we were ready to make camp. Malachite found a superb campsite in a clearing a little way off the road, and we pitched our tents and set watches.
A little after midnight, when it was my turn to keep guard on the campsite, I was startled by the sound of a female scream piercing the night. I woke Flynne, Igmut and Malachite, and the three of them slipped, crashed and strolled into the dark forest, whilst I stayed to keep guard on the other two spellcasters.
A few minutes later, I heard the sound of Igmut bellowing, followed by the same girl’s screaming. The scream was stifled rapidly somehow, but not soon enough to let Endo sleep on. A muffled swearing came from his tent, and he was just poking his head out of the tent when the three explorers (and Clive the ape) returned to the camp, setting off my alarm wards as they entered.
Clive the ape was carrying a young girl in an outmoded peasant’s dress, who was struggling unsuccessfully against the hairy ape’s huge arms. I took the girl and spoke gently to her, calming her down swiftly. As the child and I talked, Endo cast a spell of magical detection from behind her. I glanced up at him curiously, but he shook his head in the negative.
Malachite and Clive faded back into the forest and towards the swamp beyond. After a few minutes they returned to tell us of a statue in the marsh, indicative of a creature which was able to turn people to stone. The statue matched the description of the little girl’s mother.
We talked to the little girl for a while longer, and she explained that she and her mother had been going to visit family in a village. None of us (even Allustan) recognised the name of the village, and when Malachite somehow turned into the form of an eagle-owl and flew around for an hour he couldn’t find any trace of a village.
The girl named Archibald IX as the king, who had not reigned in over 600 years, and the idea formed in my head that she had also been turned to stone and somehow broken free of the spell.
.oOo.
I sang the girl some lullabies to get her (and Igmut) to sleep, and the next morning we set out to find the girl’s mother’s statue.
Having crept into the marsh, we could hear a number of voices hissing to one another in a draconic dialect. The voices closed in on us gradually, and Flynne slipped into the marsh towards them. A moment later, there was a ‘twang’ and a hiss of pain and alarm. Igmut bellowed a prayer to Kord, and dashed into the marshland. I was slow in following him, and by the time I got into sight, he had already beheaded two of the 5 lizardmen with his new greatsword. Flynne slew another, before Igmut hacked down a fourth before Malachite chanted and a colossal alligator lunged out of the marshland and swallowed the last lizardman whole.
The statue was recovered, and we returned to the campsite, ready to trek on to Marzena in the hope that she could end the petrification.
We returned the mauled bodies of our friends to those we thought best. Niccoli’s comrades at the garrison took us at our word when we explained that he had fallen defending his friends and the town. It took us some time to locate Torvig’s dwarven comrade, who was already down in his cups at the Feral Dog. Explaining that Torvig had been mauled to death by an evil cleric took us some time, and I wasn’t certain that he’d understood us when we’d finished. We had to pay for his funeral ourselves.
Morgan’s body – we left Endo to explain that one to his mother.
.oOo.
I spent much of the next few days selling as much as I could of the looted goods, although there were several suits of enchanted armour which were simply too costly for any of the town’s shopkeepers to be able to resell. Once we all had money weighing down our pockets, we began to dream of how to spend it.
We lost track of Endo at this point, as he went to his mother’s house and didn’t come out for several days. Eventually, he summoned us all to the house, and we learned that he had arranged for his mother’s sewing circle to make matching black vests for each of us, and he wanted us to try them on. Mine was badly finished and baggy, but I made encouraging noises as I shrugged it on and stood next to my friends.
Endo didn’t bother to explain what he was doing. He chanted briefly and opened his mouth, and suddenly thousands of tiny spiders poured out of his gullet. They poured like a crawling black river down his tunic, across the floor and up our legs, where they clustered across the new vests, spinning silken spiderwebs into the material, tightening the fit and improving the seams. When they had finished, the spiders all balled up and fell to the floor dead; thousands of tiny lives extinguished in the power of Endo’s enchantment.
The vests looked lovely though; and Endo confidently stated that they would make all of us more resistant to spells cast upon us.
Endo remained in seclusion for several more days, crafting a matching pair of gauntlets for Flynne (with a subtle bone motif etched into the material), as well as a number of wands and other spells scribed into his spellbook.
Apart from a few days spent proselytising the cult of Kord as a favour for Igmut, Flynne, Igmut and I spent most of the time in the pub.
.oOo.
We also spoke to Allustan about what we had discovered. He announced that he would be willing to sell us some items from his extensive collection of enchanted items, and so a vast amount of gold was given to the wizard in return for magical trinkets.
I also bought Endo’s enchanted Hat of Disguise off him; an item which I had been deeply envious of since I had first seen what it could do.
Allustan mentioned in passing that we would have to go to the city of Greyhawk to get the best price for the enchanted armour. He also said that he had been planning a trip halfway to the city in order to visit his old friend, the war-mage Marzena on the edge of the Mist Marsh (a region populated with lizardmen).
.oOo.
Whilst in the pub, we encountered Malachite, a friend of ours from Diamond Lake of some years ago. He left the town when we were growing up, hoping to find something he called ‘the green’. He may have found it, as he was followed into the Feral Dog by a large orange orang-utan. We greeted him with open arms, and he introduced us to Clive the ape, his companion over the last few years.
Also in the pub were the other adventuring group, who Flynne took a few minutes to talk to, remembering that they had been fighting the lizardmen. We learned from them that some of the lizardfolk were infected with worms which made them (at least according to Igmut’s description) “well ‘ard”.
.oOo.
We prepared our new equipment and mounted the prime horses which Endo had generously bought for us. Joined by Allustan, Malachite, Clive the Ape, and Flynne’s newly bought guard dog, we set out on the road as the sun shone down on us.
The travelling was cheerful. Allustan proved to be an amiable travelling companion, and we swapped tales and anecdotes as we rode.
A while after our noon meal, we encountered a group of 8 gnomes, who were travelling to Diamond Lake with a number of alchemical devices of their own crafting. Impressed, Endo opened his seemingly bottomless money pouch and purchased all of their thunderstones. Then their entire inventory of tanglefoot bags. As if that wasn’t enough, he also bought all the holy water that the gnomes had to offer, before we parted company.
Before they left, the gnomes warned us of a group of 9 bandits some 2 days’ distance up the road, which the gnomes had been able to hide and sneak around. Duly warned, we remounted the horses, and set off again.
.oOo.
A few more hours’ travel and we were ready to make camp. Malachite found a superb campsite in a clearing a little way off the road, and we pitched our tents and set watches.
A little after midnight, when it was my turn to keep guard on the campsite, I was startled by the sound of a female scream piercing the night. I woke Flynne, Igmut and Malachite, and the three of them slipped, crashed and strolled into the dark forest, whilst I stayed to keep guard on the other two spellcasters.
A few minutes later, I heard the sound of Igmut bellowing, followed by the same girl’s screaming. The scream was stifled rapidly somehow, but not soon enough to let Endo sleep on. A muffled swearing came from his tent, and he was just poking his head out of the tent when the three explorers (and Clive the ape) returned to the camp, setting off my alarm wards as they entered.
Clive the ape was carrying a young girl in an outmoded peasant’s dress, who was struggling unsuccessfully against the hairy ape’s huge arms. I took the girl and spoke gently to her, calming her down swiftly. As the child and I talked, Endo cast a spell of magical detection from behind her. I glanced up at him curiously, but he shook his head in the negative.
Malachite and Clive faded back into the forest and towards the swamp beyond. After a few minutes they returned to tell us of a statue in the marsh, indicative of a creature which was able to turn people to stone. The statue matched the description of the little girl’s mother.
We talked to the little girl for a while longer, and she explained that she and her mother had been going to visit family in a village. None of us (even Allustan) recognised the name of the village, and when Malachite somehow turned into the form of an eagle-owl and flew around for an hour he couldn’t find any trace of a village.
The girl named Archibald IX as the king, who had not reigned in over 600 years, and the idea formed in my head that she had also been turned to stone and somehow broken free of the spell.
.oOo.
I sang the girl some lullabies to get her (and Igmut) to sleep, and the next morning we set out to find the girl’s mother’s statue.
Having crept into the marsh, we could hear a number of voices hissing to one another in a draconic dialect. The voices closed in on us gradually, and Flynne slipped into the marsh towards them. A moment later, there was a ‘twang’ and a hiss of pain and alarm. Igmut bellowed a prayer to Kord, and dashed into the marshland. I was slow in following him, and by the time I got into sight, he had already beheaded two of the 5 lizardmen with his new greatsword. Flynne slew another, before Igmut hacked down a fourth before Malachite chanted and a colossal alligator lunged out of the marshland and swallowed the last lizardman whole.
The statue was recovered, and we returned to the campsite, ready to trek on to Marzena in the hope that she could end the petrification.
Inconsequenti-AL
Breaks Games
Nice going there!
Particularly liked the description of Endo's item creation - got the ickiness factor across well.
Swarmed by hundreds of insects - ewwww!
I hate to think what Evan has done for Kord worshipping in Diamond Lake. Having a CN bard talk on your behalf has got to be good. I never knew kord worship involved giving money to the preacher.
And for anyone wondering. The second bout of screaming in the swamp was caused by Igmut trying to calm the girl down. Apparantly bellowing at human children and showing them all your fangs just scares them more. Who'd have thought. (metagame: -1 chr modifier, no diplomacy ranks, roll a 1. Doh!).
Particularly liked the description of Endo's item creation - got the ickiness factor across well.
Swarmed by hundreds of insects - ewwww!
I hate to think what Evan has done for Kord worshipping in Diamond Lake. Having a CN bard talk on your behalf has got to be good. I never knew kord worship involved giving money to the preacher.
And for anyone wondering. The second bout of screaming in the swamp was caused by Igmut trying to calm the girl down. Apparantly bellowing at human children and showing them all your fangs just scares them more. Who'd have thought. (metagame: -1 chr modifier, no diplomacy ranks, roll a 1. Doh!).
Darmanicus
I'm Ray...of Enfeeblement
Most of that session was sell craft sell craft sell craft!
Most enjoyable though seeing as what i ended up making for everbody; it's always nice to get that 1st lot of magical goodies to gear you up.
A tip for all you lot who haven't thought of it......
If you have a magical item crafter in your party, instead of paying market prices for items, get that person to craft the item for you and charge the base price plus a bit extra and everyone comes out a winner!
Most enjoyable though seeing as what i ended up making for everbody; it's always nice to get that 1st lot of magical goodies to gear you up.
A tip for all you lot who haven't thought of it......
If you have a magical item crafter in your party, instead of paying market prices for items, get that person to craft the item for you and charge the base price plus a bit extra and everyone comes out a winner!
Darmanicus
I'm Ray...of Enfeeblement
kroh said:
Sorry dude, Morrus doesn't pull his punches and can be really quite creative when it comes to using the bad guys as we have all found out to some cost.
Eccles
Ragged idiot in a trilby.
Morning came, and we broke camp. Chloe, the little girl, was devastated to see her mother as a statue, and was only mollified when she was seated on Allustan’s horse with the petrified parent carried in her line of sight. Clive the ape was deputised to carry Chloe’s mother, and the simian’s muscles heaved, and he was able to carry the statue alongside us.
We knew that there was a group of bandits up the road, and we road gingerly from the swamps into hillier terrain, preceded by Endo’s raven familiar. After half a day, the bird returned squawking. After a few minutes’ communion with the bird, Endo announced that 6-7 people were on the road ahead; the track itself blocked with wagons. Whilst Endo cast his sinister spells of preparation, Flynne slipped into the undergrowth.
My roguish companion returned after a short while to announce that there were 9 bandits in total; 5 in the centre of the road and two more on either side. We made our preparations, and rode forwards, leaving Chloe in the care of Allustan behind us.
As we drew near, the largest of the 5 bandits hailed us.
“There is a toll for travelling on this road, sirs!”
We looked at one another. No way a group of mere bandits could stop us. We had killed an Overgod. And now we were festooned in magical trinkets, more skilled and powerful than before. Simple bandits daring to stay our path? How dare they. They would fall before our swords, no matter how sharp their blades looked, and no matter how shiny their armour appeared.
I couldn’t resist tweaking the noses of these bandits, by shouting back “So the road belongs to you, does it?”
“We’re not your average cutpurses and robbers,” came the reply.
I turned to Endo, Igmut and Malachite, who were standing beside me. “No ordinary cutpurses and robbers,” I exclaimed. “This lot have managed to save up and buy a road. Hark at them!”
“We have the strength to back up our threats,” threatened the bandit. To either side of the road came a brief chanting and papery rustling noises – two huge globes sprang into existence safeguarding some unseen wizards. At the same point, I turned back to the head bandit with a view to continuing the debate a while further to gauge the true extent of their potency.
.oOo.
My plan was thwarted within moments, as a twang came from my right where Flynne was concealed. His arrow arced high into the air and fell to earth amidst the bandits. Their leader looked down at the arrow which had fallen at his feet, looked up at us, and drew his gleaming sword.
“Kill them!”
The next sound was a bellowing from Clive on the left bank. The massive ape surged towards one of the flanking groups taking them by surprise as per our plan, and why I had cast a spell of invisibility on him a few minutes earlier. Then, the sword-wielding lead bandit leapt onto one of his wagons and pulled something from his belt pouch, tossing it to the floor at my feet. There was a colossal bang, and I was abruptly struck deaf. Judging by their looks of horror, so were Endo and Malachite.
Igmut was the next to move – I could only watch as he dashed forwards with his mouth open in an obvious war bellow which I couldn’t hear. He swung his heavy sword and hacked deeply into the leader, who opened his mouth in a silent scream of pain, but kept on fighting.
Things went from bad to worse as a golden streak leapt down from the right bank and exploded into flames in our midst. To our left, we could see a white stripe of lightning hurtle up into the sky.
Unable to hear myself speak or sing, I snatched at my necklace and flung the enchanted item at the group of bandits. It exploded in my sight as a pair of less impressive explosions, scorching a few of the fighters beyond Igmut. As I pulled back away from the fight, I was caught in the edge of a spell cast by Endo, and time slowed for me. Still silent, I could see the enemies move as though through molasses; suddenly they were faced by a massive lion summoned by Malachite who surprised me no end by abruptly turning into a feral looking wolverine.
Still deaf, I saw a silent vision of fury break out in front of me. Igmut was buried in a whirling tempest of steel blades, but he shrugged off many of the blows and rose out of the pile of foemen, flinging them to the side as he stood.
To my left, the trees shook as Clive collapsed to the floor, freeing up 2 of the bandits. I dashed back in, marvelling at the speed granted to me by Endo’s spell, then tried to cast healing magic on Igmut. I could feel the words going wrong in my mouth; my deafness thwarted my attempts to frame the spell properly and it failed completely.
.oOo.
Despite wolverine-Malachite’s savaging of one of the bandits, and the lion attacking another, none of them fell. To the right flank, Flynne hurtled out of the tree-line madly pulling a potion from his belt as he fled from the enemies.
Igmut took a step up onto the wagons and swung his greatsword once again, cleaving through the lead bandit and one of his followers before nearly killing a third in a second swing of the sword.
As though in response, lightning slammed from the surrounding hills, killing the wounded bandit and taking Igmut to the floor.
I stepped forwards and cast a spell on Igmut, whilst uncorking a potion with my left hand and tipping the liquid down his throat. At the same instant, Endo collapsed to the floor behind me, a heavily enchanted arrow protruding from his chest.
Igmut was struck with a number of magical missiles, but stayed on his feet. Another arrow hurtled out of the trees and exploded on contact with Malachite, who keeled slowly over onto the floor bleeding heavily.
Another of my dwindling spells was enough to bring Endo back to his feet, and he in turn cast his sinister flesh-rending spell on the archer who was menacing the still retreating Flynne. Clutching the mystical rod, he cast another spell in rapid succession, shrinking down to half his height.
Mid flight, Flynne spun around and fired an arrow into the man chasing him; his wounds torn wider by the cluster of tiny spirits surrounding him. Bleeding profusely from a number of wounds, Igmut dashed across a short gap, grabbed one of the wizards by the throat and slammed him to the floor. His muscular frame lifted the enemy wizard over and over again, slamming the mage’s head onto a nearby boulder until the foeman lay still.
We were heavily wounded, but not yet beaten. Many of the enemy were in a worse state, but there were still 4 almost entirely unwounded and in a position to threaten us. From nearby, I could see Endo shouting something up at the enemy, and there was a brief pause – I couldn’t hear what response they gave if any.
The next I could see, Igmut had laid his sword down and backed away, casting healing magics on himself. The remaining bandits turned and fled, and we turned to healing our wounds. I was delighted to see Igmut standing from the undergrowth and giving a broad fanged smile and thumbs up, indicating that both Malachite and Clive had survived.
The roadway was cleared, and our devastating foemen were swiftly stripped of anything useful to us. We reunited with Chloe and the magus Allustan, and set off back down the road towards our destination…
We knew that there was a group of bandits up the road, and we road gingerly from the swamps into hillier terrain, preceded by Endo’s raven familiar. After half a day, the bird returned squawking. After a few minutes’ communion with the bird, Endo announced that 6-7 people were on the road ahead; the track itself blocked with wagons. Whilst Endo cast his sinister spells of preparation, Flynne slipped into the undergrowth.
My roguish companion returned after a short while to announce that there were 9 bandits in total; 5 in the centre of the road and two more on either side. We made our preparations, and rode forwards, leaving Chloe in the care of Allustan behind us.
As we drew near, the largest of the 5 bandits hailed us.
“There is a toll for travelling on this road, sirs!”
We looked at one another. No way a group of mere bandits could stop us. We had killed an Overgod. And now we were festooned in magical trinkets, more skilled and powerful than before. Simple bandits daring to stay our path? How dare they. They would fall before our swords, no matter how sharp their blades looked, and no matter how shiny their armour appeared.
I couldn’t resist tweaking the noses of these bandits, by shouting back “So the road belongs to you, does it?”
“We’re not your average cutpurses and robbers,” came the reply.
I turned to Endo, Igmut and Malachite, who were standing beside me. “No ordinary cutpurses and robbers,” I exclaimed. “This lot have managed to save up and buy a road. Hark at them!”
“We have the strength to back up our threats,” threatened the bandit. To either side of the road came a brief chanting and papery rustling noises – two huge globes sprang into existence safeguarding some unseen wizards. At the same point, I turned back to the head bandit with a view to continuing the debate a while further to gauge the true extent of their potency.
.oOo.
My plan was thwarted within moments, as a twang came from my right where Flynne was concealed. His arrow arced high into the air and fell to earth amidst the bandits. Their leader looked down at the arrow which had fallen at his feet, looked up at us, and drew his gleaming sword.
“Kill them!”
The next sound was a bellowing from Clive on the left bank. The massive ape surged towards one of the flanking groups taking them by surprise as per our plan, and why I had cast a spell of invisibility on him a few minutes earlier. Then, the sword-wielding lead bandit leapt onto one of his wagons and pulled something from his belt pouch, tossing it to the floor at my feet. There was a colossal bang, and I was abruptly struck deaf. Judging by their looks of horror, so were Endo and Malachite.
Igmut was the next to move – I could only watch as he dashed forwards with his mouth open in an obvious war bellow which I couldn’t hear. He swung his heavy sword and hacked deeply into the leader, who opened his mouth in a silent scream of pain, but kept on fighting.
Things went from bad to worse as a golden streak leapt down from the right bank and exploded into flames in our midst. To our left, we could see a white stripe of lightning hurtle up into the sky.
Unable to hear myself speak or sing, I snatched at my necklace and flung the enchanted item at the group of bandits. It exploded in my sight as a pair of less impressive explosions, scorching a few of the fighters beyond Igmut. As I pulled back away from the fight, I was caught in the edge of a spell cast by Endo, and time slowed for me. Still silent, I could see the enemies move as though through molasses; suddenly they were faced by a massive lion summoned by Malachite who surprised me no end by abruptly turning into a feral looking wolverine.
Still deaf, I saw a silent vision of fury break out in front of me. Igmut was buried in a whirling tempest of steel blades, but he shrugged off many of the blows and rose out of the pile of foemen, flinging them to the side as he stood.
To my left, the trees shook as Clive collapsed to the floor, freeing up 2 of the bandits. I dashed back in, marvelling at the speed granted to me by Endo’s spell, then tried to cast healing magic on Igmut. I could feel the words going wrong in my mouth; my deafness thwarted my attempts to frame the spell properly and it failed completely.
.oOo.
Despite wolverine-Malachite’s savaging of one of the bandits, and the lion attacking another, none of them fell. To the right flank, Flynne hurtled out of the tree-line madly pulling a potion from his belt as he fled from the enemies.
Igmut took a step up onto the wagons and swung his greatsword once again, cleaving through the lead bandit and one of his followers before nearly killing a third in a second swing of the sword.
As though in response, lightning slammed from the surrounding hills, killing the wounded bandit and taking Igmut to the floor.
I stepped forwards and cast a spell on Igmut, whilst uncorking a potion with my left hand and tipping the liquid down his throat. At the same instant, Endo collapsed to the floor behind me, a heavily enchanted arrow protruding from his chest.
Igmut was struck with a number of magical missiles, but stayed on his feet. Another arrow hurtled out of the trees and exploded on contact with Malachite, who keeled slowly over onto the floor bleeding heavily.
Another of my dwindling spells was enough to bring Endo back to his feet, and he in turn cast his sinister flesh-rending spell on the archer who was menacing the still retreating Flynne. Clutching the mystical rod, he cast another spell in rapid succession, shrinking down to half his height.
Mid flight, Flynne spun around and fired an arrow into the man chasing him; his wounds torn wider by the cluster of tiny spirits surrounding him. Bleeding profusely from a number of wounds, Igmut dashed across a short gap, grabbed one of the wizards by the throat and slammed him to the floor. His muscular frame lifted the enemy wizard over and over again, slamming the mage’s head onto a nearby boulder until the foeman lay still.
We were heavily wounded, but not yet beaten. Many of the enemy were in a worse state, but there were still 4 almost entirely unwounded and in a position to threaten us. From nearby, I could see Endo shouting something up at the enemy, and there was a brief pause – I couldn’t hear what response they gave if any.
The next I could see, Igmut had laid his sword down and backed away, casting healing magics on himself. The remaining bandits turned and fled, and we turned to healing our wounds. I was delighted to see Igmut standing from the undergrowth and giving a broad fanged smile and thumbs up, indicating that both Malachite and Clive had survived.
The roadway was cleared, and our devastating foemen were swiftly stripped of anything useful to us. We reunited with Chloe and the magus Allustan, and set off back down the road towards our destination…
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