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The Doomed Bastards: Reckoning (story complete)
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 4207120" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 34</p><p></p><p>TIMBER!</p><p></p><p></p><p>Ghazaran and his companions were finding themselves hard-pressed by the stone treants, which thus far had dished out considerable damage without being seriously harmed in return. The sheer size of the guardians made them difficult to engage, for they could toss their diminutive foes about with little effort, as Falah and Jasek had already learned. </p><p></p><p>But the invaders of the vault had their own surprises in store. Ghazaran held his ground against his foe, his <em>righteous might</em> spell giving him the size and strength needed to go toe-to-toe against one of the stone trees. The thing still had a considerable advantage, but the spell protected him against the worst of its blows, allowing him to stay engaged long enough to buy time for his allies to regain the initiative. </p><p></p><p>Thus far, the allies weren’t having much luck with that. </p><p></p><p>Aerim’s foe had taken a powerful blow, but that in turn only raised a new danger, the deadly acidic properties of the things’ “blood”. The warrior, more cautious now, leapt over a twisting root and delivered another strike that opened another crack in the tree’s knotted trunk. This time the Duke was able to avoid the gusher of caustic fluid, but he could not avoid being struck by another sweeping branch, which smacked hard into his left hip, lifting him into the air and sending him flying across the room toward the far door. He smashed into a carving of creeping vines, shattering them in a crash of shattered fragments and stone dust. </p><p></p><p>He fell forward and landed on his feet, winded but intact. </p><p></p><p>The last of the stone trees continued to batter at Ozmad’s <em>resilient sphere</em>, but it was clear that the elf was not coming out from his shelter until good and ready. The elf continued to layer magical wards upon himself, and his form began to shift and blur within the confines of his barrier as a <em>displacement</em> spell took effect. </p><p></p><p>The tree failed to detect Zafir Navev until the mummy was standing directly beside it. The warlock lifted a withered claw, and blasted the tree with another <em>eldritch blast</em>. </p><p></p><p>This time, the magic pierced the thing’s spell resistance, and a long swath of dark stone exploded from its side as the black energies tore into it. The injury seemed like little more than a scratch, though, the blackened stretch covering only a tiny fraction of the thing’s huge trunk. The impact had unbalanced it, however, and as another branch came crashing down on the elf’s <em>sphere</em> it leaned far over, crashing down onto another limb as it struggled to right itself. Navev hit it again, but its attacks had only gained a brief advantage, as the tree swept out another branch and snagged the mummy up, lifting it into the air in a crushing grip. The warlock struggled, but it did not have anything close to the strength needed to break free. </p><p></p><p>Falah returned to the fray, bolstered by a healing potion and by a jolt of energizing psionic power from Parzad. The fighter rushed back into the melee, coming to the aid of Ghazaran. Fortunately his charge coincided with Navev’s initial attack on the tree between him and his goal, so he was able to avoid an attack of opportunity as he circled that melee and closed on the second foe. That tree crashed against the <em>wall of force</em> as the cleric continued to press it, but for each hit that the priest delivered with his rod, the tree was doubling that with powerful slams from its branches. Ghazaran was clearly starting to show the effects of that pounding, and his own counters were coming slower with each hit he absorbed. </p><p></p><p>His situation looked about to get a whole lot worse, as the tree that had tossed aside Aerim lumbered forward to join in the beating. Falah saw it coming, and moved to block its advance, but the human fighter looked almost pathetic as he lifted his khopesh against the oncoming monstrosity. It swatted him almost casually, but this time the Razhuri rolled with the hit, coming up next to one of the massive roots. He struck it hard, his blade cutting a gash that spilled a jet of that ugly yellow ichor. Falah fell back, trying to avoid that toxic plume, but the distraction cost him another hit that knocked him onto his back. He slid to a stop ten feet from where he’d been struck, coughing from the vapors that he’d inhaled. </p><p></p><p>Unfortunately for him, that was still within reach of the creature. </p><p></p><p>Navev continued to lash out at the tree even as the stone monster tightened its grip, firing an <em>eldritch blast</em> at the branch that held it. The treant was not impressed, and hurled its prisoner in a hard arc upward. Navev slammed first against the vaulted ceiling, then the far wall, and finally caromed off the floor, spinning to a stop not far from where he’d launched his initial attack at the thing some fifteen seconds before. The tree lurched forward, lifting its cumbersome frame on its roots, obviously intending to simply crush the undead warlock beneath its bulk. </p><p></p><p>Its advance took it past Ozmad, who had been forgotten in the face of a more immediate threat. But as it continued past the elf, his <em>resilient sphere</em> flickered and vanished. The elf drew out the little mattock from his belt, and began to change. He grew rapidly, his body swelling as his statue expanded, until he was eight feet, ten, twelve, and still he grew. The tree, sensing perhaps that something was amiss, took a backwards swipe at him with a branch, but the blow passed harmlessly through him, fooled by his <em>displacement</em> spell. His weapon, its true nature revealed now as a <em>mattock of the titans</em>, grew with him, and if anything transformed faster, until the elf—now possessed of the size and form of a cloud giant—had to hold it in two hands. </p><p></p><p>The tree aborted its trampling of Navev and turned to face Ozmad. The now-huge arcanist went to work with his weapon, smashing it into the tree, which was now about the same size as he. The mattock delivered crushing blows, and the tree shook with the force of the impacts. It tried to counter, but Ozmad’s earlier delay stood him in good stead now, as his wards either deflected or absorbed most of its strikes. Even the one solid hit that the tree landed barely seemed to faze him; his <em>bear’s endurance</em> and <em>greater heroism</em> spells had enhanced his physical stamina until he was almost unstoppable. </p><p></p><p>The same could not be said for Ghazaran, who fell to one knee as his foe delivered a series of punishing blows to his head and body. The cleric, his face bloodied from a hit that had crushed against the front of his helmet, staggered to his feet in time to take a solid shot across the front of his body that drove him back against the <em>wall of force</em>. The three treants behind the barrier continued to pound against it, waiting for the spell to dissipate. </p><p></p><p>Ghazaran’s foe surged forward to finish him off, but before it could resume its assault, the priest cast a <em>heal</em> spell. He gave ground before its rush, moving slowly back along the <em>wall</em>, protecting his flank and preempting a full attack from the stone tree. But the room was not that big, even considering the portion cut off by the Seer’s barrier, and there was not much room for him to retreat. </p><p></p><p>Falah struggled to get up as his tree bore down on him, but the heel of his boot slipped on a patch of yellow ichor, and he fell. The tree surged forward to trample him, but in the instant before he would have been crushed, the fighter shot out of its path, sliding to the side along the floor, coming to a stop a good fifteen feet away, just out of its reach. The respite was temporary, as the tree shifted to follow, but it found itself confronted once again by Aerim, who had recovered enough to return to the fray. The Duke seemed intent on another charge, but as the tree started to attack he aborted his rush, and fell into a defensive stance. The branch was still long enough to strike him, but it was a glancing blow instead of another devastating impact, and as it drew back the limb the warrior hacked at it with his blade, severing a six-foot length of protruding stone that fell to the ground, hissing as more of the yellow gunk was released into the air. </p><p></p><p>The tree, of course, did not feel pain, but Aerim was able to draw it after him as it broke off from Falah to engage him. He did not have much room to retreat either, but he led it slowly back toward the mithral door recessed in the far wall, dodging sweeping branches and occasionally lunging out with his sword to deliver a minor hit. </p><p></p><p>Black tendrils of power flared in the front of the room, where Navev was continuing to support Ozmad in laying waste to the first of the stone treants. The giant was wielding the <em>mattock of the titans</em> with great efficiency against the thing, delivering crushing blows that oozed rather than jetted the poisonous yellow substance from its body. He hewed at it with a calm precision, almost more like a lumberjack than a fighter in his singleminded focus upon the task. The tree continued to attack him, but his wards held, and even the hits that pierced his defenses failed to do enough damage to seriously hurt him. </p><p></p><p>The same could not be said for the tree, and the abuse finally became too much for it as Ozmad delivered a final vicious blow that snapped its trunk with a loud and terrible crack. The tree crumbled as it fell to the ground, disgorging a plume of noxious spray that spread out across the floor around its remains. </p><p></p><p>Ozmad paid it no heed, striding back across the room toward where a desperate battle was still being raged. </p><p></p><p>The Seer’s voice, magically enhanced to fill the chamber, echoed near the entrance. “The <em>wall of force</em> will not last much longer! We must withdraw!”</p><p></p><p>“No!” Ghazaran shouted, grunting as a sweeping branch clipped his shoulder. “Forward, to the far door! We must make it through!” He ducked under another branch and pushed forward, coming around the tree and putting it between him and the <em>wall of force</em>. The maneuver cost him, as the tree slashed its branches across his face and chest. Red sprayed out from under his helmet; one of the long stone juts had sliced open his jaw to the bone. </p><p></p><p>Aerim had avoided serious damage as he’d run the treant in a zig-zagging course back across the room, but he was quickly running out of room to maneuver as the alcove and its door drew nearer behind him. But as he drew within ten paces of the recessed door, the mithral portal groaned and swung ponderously open. The Duke, alerted by the noise, shifted slightly, wary of another threat, but the only thing there was a black shadow, which resolved into Jasek as the thief drew back his cowl and shouted a warning to the others. </p><p></p><p>“Quick, everyone through!” </p><p></p><p>Aerim turned to hold off the treant on his back, but as he pivoted he saw that he was already too late. He managed to get his sword up, but the blow that crashed into him was far stronger than his parry, and as something hard slammed into the front of his helmet he felt only a vague sensation of flying, and then... nothing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 4207120, member: 143"] Chapter 34 TIMBER! Ghazaran and his companions were finding themselves hard-pressed by the stone treants, which thus far had dished out considerable damage without being seriously harmed in return. The sheer size of the guardians made them difficult to engage, for they could toss their diminutive foes about with little effort, as Falah and Jasek had already learned. But the invaders of the vault had their own surprises in store. Ghazaran held his ground against his foe, his [i]righteous might[/i] spell giving him the size and strength needed to go toe-to-toe against one of the stone trees. The thing still had a considerable advantage, but the spell protected him against the worst of its blows, allowing him to stay engaged long enough to buy time for his allies to regain the initiative. Thus far, the allies weren’t having much luck with that. Aerim’s foe had taken a powerful blow, but that in turn only raised a new danger, the deadly acidic properties of the things’ “blood”. The warrior, more cautious now, leapt over a twisting root and delivered another strike that opened another crack in the tree’s knotted trunk. This time the Duke was able to avoid the gusher of caustic fluid, but he could not avoid being struck by another sweeping branch, which smacked hard into his left hip, lifting him into the air and sending him flying across the room toward the far door. He smashed into a carving of creeping vines, shattering them in a crash of shattered fragments and stone dust. He fell forward and landed on his feet, winded but intact. The last of the stone trees continued to batter at Ozmad’s [i]resilient sphere[/i], but it was clear that the elf was not coming out from his shelter until good and ready. The elf continued to layer magical wards upon himself, and his form began to shift and blur within the confines of his barrier as a [i]displacement[/i] spell took effect. The tree failed to detect Zafir Navev until the mummy was standing directly beside it. The warlock lifted a withered claw, and blasted the tree with another [i]eldritch blast[/i]. This time, the magic pierced the thing’s spell resistance, and a long swath of dark stone exploded from its side as the black energies tore into it. The injury seemed like little more than a scratch, though, the blackened stretch covering only a tiny fraction of the thing’s huge trunk. The impact had unbalanced it, however, and as another branch came crashing down on the elf’s [i]sphere[/i] it leaned far over, crashing down onto another limb as it struggled to right itself. Navev hit it again, but its attacks had only gained a brief advantage, as the tree swept out another branch and snagged the mummy up, lifting it into the air in a crushing grip. The warlock struggled, but it did not have anything close to the strength needed to break free. Falah returned to the fray, bolstered by a healing potion and by a jolt of energizing psionic power from Parzad. The fighter rushed back into the melee, coming to the aid of Ghazaran. Fortunately his charge coincided with Navev’s initial attack on the tree between him and his goal, so he was able to avoid an attack of opportunity as he circled that melee and closed on the second foe. That tree crashed against the [i]wall of force[/i] as the cleric continued to press it, but for each hit that the priest delivered with his rod, the tree was doubling that with powerful slams from its branches. Ghazaran was clearly starting to show the effects of that pounding, and his own counters were coming slower with each hit he absorbed. His situation looked about to get a whole lot worse, as the tree that had tossed aside Aerim lumbered forward to join in the beating. Falah saw it coming, and moved to block its advance, but the human fighter looked almost pathetic as he lifted his khopesh against the oncoming monstrosity. It swatted him almost casually, but this time the Razhuri rolled with the hit, coming up next to one of the massive roots. He struck it hard, his blade cutting a gash that spilled a jet of that ugly yellow ichor. Falah fell back, trying to avoid that toxic plume, but the distraction cost him another hit that knocked him onto his back. He slid to a stop ten feet from where he’d been struck, coughing from the vapors that he’d inhaled. Unfortunately for him, that was still within reach of the creature. Navev continued to lash out at the tree even as the stone monster tightened its grip, firing an [i]eldritch blast[/i] at the branch that held it. The treant was not impressed, and hurled its prisoner in a hard arc upward. Navev slammed first against the vaulted ceiling, then the far wall, and finally caromed off the floor, spinning to a stop not far from where he’d launched his initial attack at the thing some fifteen seconds before. The tree lurched forward, lifting its cumbersome frame on its roots, obviously intending to simply crush the undead warlock beneath its bulk. Its advance took it past Ozmad, who had been forgotten in the face of a more immediate threat. But as it continued past the elf, his [i]resilient sphere[/i] flickered and vanished. The elf drew out the little mattock from his belt, and began to change. He grew rapidly, his body swelling as his statue expanded, until he was eight feet, ten, twelve, and still he grew. The tree, sensing perhaps that something was amiss, took a backwards swipe at him with a branch, but the blow passed harmlessly through him, fooled by his [i]displacement[/i] spell. His weapon, its true nature revealed now as a [i]mattock of the titans[/i], grew with him, and if anything transformed faster, until the elf—now possessed of the size and form of a cloud giant—had to hold it in two hands. The tree aborted its trampling of Navev and turned to face Ozmad. The now-huge arcanist went to work with his weapon, smashing it into the tree, which was now about the same size as he. The mattock delivered crushing blows, and the tree shook with the force of the impacts. It tried to counter, but Ozmad’s earlier delay stood him in good stead now, as his wards either deflected or absorbed most of its strikes. Even the one solid hit that the tree landed barely seemed to faze him; his [i]bear’s endurance[/i] and [i]greater heroism[/i] spells had enhanced his physical stamina until he was almost unstoppable. The same could not be said for Ghazaran, who fell to one knee as his foe delivered a series of punishing blows to his head and body. The cleric, his face bloodied from a hit that had crushed against the front of his helmet, staggered to his feet in time to take a solid shot across the front of his body that drove him back against the [i]wall of force[/i]. The three treants behind the barrier continued to pound against it, waiting for the spell to dissipate. Ghazaran’s foe surged forward to finish him off, but before it could resume its assault, the priest cast a [i]heal[/i] spell. He gave ground before its rush, moving slowly back along the [i]wall[/i], protecting his flank and preempting a full attack from the stone tree. But the room was not that big, even considering the portion cut off by the Seer’s barrier, and there was not much room for him to retreat. Falah struggled to get up as his tree bore down on him, but the heel of his boot slipped on a patch of yellow ichor, and he fell. The tree surged forward to trample him, but in the instant before he would have been crushed, the fighter shot out of its path, sliding to the side along the floor, coming to a stop a good fifteen feet away, just out of its reach. The respite was temporary, as the tree shifted to follow, but it found itself confronted once again by Aerim, who had recovered enough to return to the fray. The Duke seemed intent on another charge, but as the tree started to attack he aborted his rush, and fell into a defensive stance. The branch was still long enough to strike him, but it was a glancing blow instead of another devastating impact, and as it drew back the limb the warrior hacked at it with his blade, severing a six-foot length of protruding stone that fell to the ground, hissing as more of the yellow gunk was released into the air. The tree, of course, did not feel pain, but Aerim was able to draw it after him as it broke off from Falah to engage him. He did not have much room to retreat either, but he led it slowly back toward the mithral door recessed in the far wall, dodging sweeping branches and occasionally lunging out with his sword to deliver a minor hit. Black tendrils of power flared in the front of the room, where Navev was continuing to support Ozmad in laying waste to the first of the stone treants. The giant was wielding the [i]mattock of the titans[/i] with great efficiency against the thing, delivering crushing blows that oozed rather than jetted the poisonous yellow substance from its body. He hewed at it with a calm precision, almost more like a lumberjack than a fighter in his singleminded focus upon the task. The tree continued to attack him, but his wards held, and even the hits that pierced his defenses failed to do enough damage to seriously hurt him. The same could not be said for the tree, and the abuse finally became too much for it as Ozmad delivered a final vicious blow that snapped its trunk with a loud and terrible crack. The tree crumbled as it fell to the ground, disgorging a plume of noxious spray that spread out across the floor around its remains. Ozmad paid it no heed, striding back across the room toward where a desperate battle was still being raged. The Seer’s voice, magically enhanced to fill the chamber, echoed near the entrance. “The [i]wall of force[/i] will not last much longer! We must withdraw!” “No!” Ghazaran shouted, grunting as a sweeping branch clipped his shoulder. “Forward, to the far door! We must make it through!” He ducked under another branch and pushed forward, coming around the tree and putting it between him and the [i]wall of force[/i]. The maneuver cost him, as the tree slashed its branches across his face and chest. Red sprayed out from under his helmet; one of the long stone juts had sliced open his jaw to the bone. Aerim had avoided serious damage as he’d run the treant in a zig-zagging course back across the room, but he was quickly running out of room to maneuver as the alcove and its door drew nearer behind him. But as he drew within ten paces of the recessed door, the mithral portal groaned and swung ponderously open. The Duke, alerted by the noise, shifted slightly, wary of another threat, but the only thing there was a black shadow, which resolved into Jasek as the thief drew back his cowl and shouted a warning to the others. “Quick, everyone through!” Aerim turned to hold off the treant on his back, but as he pivoted he saw that he was already too late. He managed to get his sword up, but the blow that crashed into him was far stronger than his parry, and as something hard slammed into the front of his helmet he felt only a vague sensation of flying, and then... nothing. [/QUOTE]
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