The Ancient Paths - Path II

(not sure of everyones' relative location here) Hearing the telltale sound of reinforcements coming, Dowkan methodically sets about killing the last kobold facing him before moving into a position to intercept the incoming foes. (alternatively, moves to engage archers)[sblock=ooc]Wouldn't Nae'talis be better off using a Coup De Grace each round?[/sblock]
 

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[sblock]Some wires must have gotten crossed there. I was actually intending to go for the closest kobold that was still in full control of itself, heh. Guess I should have made that clearer. Sorry about that. ;)[/sblock]
 

The girl winces in pain as the arrow lodges itself into her thigh, knowing all too well that it's going to hurt more when it's pulled out. She is thankful for the battle-fever now, which is making the pain seem distant and she manages to push the pain even further away, at least for a little while.

"The light shines ever bright, courage to the weak, a call to the strong, a beacon to those lost in the storm!" Sabriel sings out, her voice clear and true as she fires another arrow.

ooc
Inspire courage 1
 
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Hrolf shacks the still twitching kobold of is sword as he hears the sounds of more charging creatures. Moving into position to face of with the next kobold, ”Hold your position, let them break there teeth on our justice”
 

~ The Adventurers ~

An ordinary kobold would have run away by now, but the kobold facing Dowkan isn't ordinary by any means. It takes another stab at the dwarven warrior for good measure, unconcerned that its life will end soon.
Hrolf strides over to a kobold wielding a crossbow and slashes its stomach open (6 Damage). It falls back and sits on the ground, staring at its organs until the strange orange glow fades from its eyes.
Nae'talis follows behind the cleric, goes to crack the second kobold archer across the face, and almost stumbles instead.
Steam begins to billow up from the wet rocks all around and the rumbling becomes louder. Clouds of chilly mist seep onto the beach from the tunnel, but vision is oddly unhindered.
Dowkan sidesteps the kobold's jab and grins maliciously at the foolish dragonkin. He tightens his axe arm's muscles, brings his arm back, and bats the kobold into the air to land ten feet away (Critical! 32 Damage 3 Cold).
Sabriel's voice bolsters the others to perform even more great feats in battle.
The last kobold standing takes a step back and fires at Hrolf, leaving a quarrel deep in his belly (6 Damage).
The tunnel walls begin to glow as if on fire when the kobold's bolt is released. All attention is focused on the kobold as a fiery whip slashes out of the mist and brings the diminutive creature to the ground, dead from the shock to its spine. A hulking silhouette squares off in the mist just beyond the mouth of the tunnel, fire seeming to leap from every part of its form. A balor ducks forward out of the mist, stretches its wings, and leans towards Hrolf to bellow in his face. The hair on Hrolf's head fans out behind him.

~ Initiative ~

(5) Kobold Foot Soldiers - 21
~ (5) Unconscious, Blinded, and Stunned - 3 Rounds
Hrolf - 19
Balor - 17
Nae'talis - 16
Dowkan - 14
Sabriel - 10
(3) Kobold Archers - 10
~ (3) Unconscious, Blinded, and Stunned - 2 Rounds
 

Sabriel takes one look at that Balor and nearly passes out from fear. "Run you fools!" she shouts, knowing that they are so not ready to face something like this. "RUN!"
 

Buoyed by the mighty strike on the kobold, Dowkan issues a mighty booming war cry as warning to the other kobolds. As he sees the new opponent enter the battle, he realises that they are doomed.

The dwarf hear's Sabriel's cry to flee, and knowing that Hrolf's only hope to survive is to be be given a chance to do exactly that. Dowkan licks his lips and steps into the breech with all the courage born of one with dwarven heritage, waraxe and shield held ready. "By Moradin's left boot, YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"
 
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Taking her own advice, Sabriel runs like hell. As her momma always said, when faced off with a greater demon, the better part of valor is to get the heck out of its way.
 


~ The Adventurers ~

All around the Balor's feet lay scattered, unconscious kobolds.
Hrolf, unsure what to do with such a formidable beast towering over him, stands stock-still in fright.
The Balor stares down at the shaken cleric and reveals a sharp white canine in a wicked grin. It begins to move its hands in circular motions, as if tracing an unseen sphere in front of it. Two semi-solid forms run out of the tunnel's mouth, their presence only known due to the light steam sliding away from them.
One form breaks off from the other and chases after the panicked aasimar. The other intercepts Dowkan. An enlarged, perverted duergar swinging a warhammer above Dowkan's head appears in front of the dwarven warrior, mid-swing. Its eyes glow blue and the bushy, white eyebrows around them prove to be the only hint of hair on its irregularly morphed, conical head. It glares at Dowkan with more hatred than any Grey Dwarf could bear.
Nae'talis, having a bit of knowledge of demonic creatures, spots what must be a hoax. The Balor's little "summoning" lacked any real magic, and no Balor ever summoned a dwarf from the Abyss to fight for it. The mage stands in silence for a moment, trying to puzzle out what the "Balor" could be.
Dowkan, effectively blocked from aiding his clerical companion, lashes out at the enlarged duergar in front of him in frustration. His haste brings the axehead too wide of his evil kin.
Sabriel runs and reaches the water on the shore before she realizes she's being pursued.
In the center of the Balor, a vortex of blue and purple lightning begins to fan out in an ever-increasing circle. The demon looks at its chest in horror and begins to bellow and bash at the energy ripping it slowly to shreds. Its form begins to shift; first to that of a young black dragon, then to some twisted humanoid that none of the party recognizes, and then finally into a multi-colored, jelly-like being, held in the air by the rift at its center.
Help us! a slithering voice cries out in the minds of the party members. Its telepathic plea is followed by more screams of terror until its entire form is sucked into the slowly widening vortex.
Too late, our hero Hrolf comes to his senses and takes a step back to avoid the same fate. A sort of suction force pulls at him once and he lurches forward uncontrollably. He tugs backwards again and the pebbles at his feet scatter behind him and fly up and into the rift. He looks to either side, at Dowkan and Nae'talis, for some kind of help. He stares at them in turn, his eyes pleading, before being sucked into the vortex himself.
The now completely-blue wormhole shutters and spasms long strings of electrical energy from all around. The entire cave lights up with its discharge as the rift finally supernovas and sends everyone to the ground with a powerful shockwave.
Everything goes black.

~ Rygus the Hammer ~

"Yer too durned headstrong 'bout patrollin', Rygus," Sergeant Dunbar says to the cleric of Grumbar. "It ain't takin' away from yer priestly duties none, I hope?" The oddly compassionate soldier chews on his gums when Rygus waves away his concern.
Patrolling the tunnels of the Underdark leading to Mithril Hall is more important of late then ever before. King Bruenor Battlehammer is alive and well, but the armies of Obould Many-Arrows still batter at the doors. The hidden entrances to the great Dwarven complex could be more of a threat than the one barred above ground.
"I'm not fer tellin' ye how to worship or nothin', but ye be the only one out o' Citadel Adbar that isn't spendin' most o' the time above ground..." The Sergeant cuts-off as the two close-in on a structure made of two white, marble pillars set into a stone cul-de-sac. "I've been down this way 'afore now. I don't remember tha'." Dunbar looks at Rygus worriedly and his eyes widen in horror as the cleric moves closer to investigate.
"Hold on, quick-draw!" Dunbar yells at Rygus as the younger dwarf steps up to the structure.
A sort of inky screen blocks his hand when he reaches out for the stone beyond. The screen recoils from his touch and in a matter of seconds, Rygus is lifted off the ground and sent backwards into Dunbar. The two pillars tremble in agitation and the space between them fills with tiny, glowing dots of purple and blue light. The dots swirl about between the marble and slowly collect into a sphere the size of a child's toy ball.
It pulses once and all sound ceases.
It pulses twice and even the dwarves' natural darkvision is lost.
It pulses once more and Rygus can feel himself being hurtled through planes.
He sits up in a cave much like the deeper tunnels of Mithril Hall but he can tell he's not in Mithril Hall anymore.

~ Initiative ~

(5) Kobold Foot Soldiers - 21
~ (5) Unconscious, Blinded, and Stunned - 2 Rounds
(2) Duergar - 17
Nae'talis - 16
Dowkan - 14
Sabriel - 10
(3) Kobold Archers - 10
~ (3) Unconscious, Blinded, and Stunned - 1 Rounds
Rygus - 4

[sblock=OOC]Everyone is currently prone :cool:
Also, the LoTR thing was hilarious... [/sblock]
 
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