Jon Potter
First Post
[Realms #373] ...And Some Sweat When the Heat is On.
Again the smaller creature locked in battle with Karak stabbed with its spear and slapped with its muscular tail. But again, it was unable to bypass the dwarf's formidable defenses. And again Karak's icy waraxe bit into its flesh, but this time when the steam cleared, the creature was laying at the dwarf's feet, dead.
"Yo, Rafrarrl! Stop sending these puny fire spits o'er to me! Even in this heat I am barely breaking a sweat!" Karak taunted, kicking the body over into the lava. "That is unless you are afraid to go toe-to-toe with a dwarf!"
"In due course, dwarf!" Rafrarrl answered, a smile playing across its hawkish face. "Your time will come." It flicked its eyes at Ayremac and the Flaming Sphere rolled off of Morier and bounded across the shelf toward the Holy Warrior. At the same time, it gestured toward Karak and a Wall of Fire crackled into existence along the edge of the obsidian shelf upon which the Order had arrived.
Ayremac easily dodged away from the Sphere's path and pulled out his Wand as he did so. "I say to you, fiery beast, you have invoked my anger and will find the tip of my blade leading you towards the afterlife!!" he shouted, his voice filled with the righteous fury that only Officers of Umba ever truly master. As he activated the Wand to further soothe his burns, the creature's enormous spear stabbed opportunistically toward him. He was able to catch the point of the weapon on the quillons of his longsword, but even parried, Ayremac could feel the sinister heat of the spear.
"I do not fear the afterlife, little one," Rafrarrl growled. "I would be released from this prison and the maddening voices that taunt me so!"
Shamalin cursed. With the Wall of Fire blocking her she couldn't even see Morier now, let alone target him with any healing. Concentrating on her Levitation, she slowly drifted upwards toward the ceiling, the words of a summoning spell on her lips.
The hummingbird seemed to have been gone for a long time, as Huzair listened to the rush of fire and the screams of pain that echoed around the stifling chamber. He knew that his familiar wasn't really taking as long as he thought, he sensed that it was not even half a minute; Sparky needed to concentrate on the dweomers just like he did himself. Still, he almost yelped in surprise when the bird twittered into his ear.
"I found the Key, boss," Sparky said and Huzair let out a sigh of relief. "There's also a curvy sword, some kind of metal shirt, a wand, some gloves-"
"Fine. Fine," Huzair snapped and he saw the disappointed expression on the bird's beak. "I'll send the Unseen Servant. Point out which things to take." Sparky didn't answer, but nodded his little head and spiraled back down toward the ruby glow while Huzair twiddled some knotted string into an invisible helper.
Karak pulled out his own Wand of Cure Light Wounds and channeled a trickle of healing into the wound on his neck. The Wand itself was almost spent, he could tell, having little more than half-a-dozen charges left in it, but it was good for now. He looked up at Shamalin hovering near the ceiling and willed himself upwards as well.
Ayremac easily danced around the Flaming Sphere that was trying to burn his legs, but he dared not move too far too fast lest he open himself up to an attack by Rafrarrl's longspear. There was no place on the obsidian outcropping that was out of the weapon's reach, and despite the fact that the creature was taking no action other than to concentrate on directing the Flaming Sphere and maintaining the Wall of Fire, Ayremac did not dare to assume himself immune to the spear's attention.
He edged nearer to Morier, hoping with each passing second that his Sacred Healing would rouse the eldritch warrior from unconsciousness. It had already sealed all of his own wounds and he was thrilled to glance down and see Morier's trembling hand tighten on the handle of Stoneblade.
"GET UP!" the sword thundered as soon as the albino's hand was upon it. "GET UP AND FIGHT!"
"No, Morier," Ayremac urged in a whisper. "Stay down. Don't draw attention-"
"What's this?" Rafrarrl chuckled, its burning eyes on Morier. "Still a bit of life left in this one? Let's see how long it takes my Flamebrothers to snuff you out!" The creature took its eyes off the Flaming Sphere and the ball of fire stopped. Then it reached out its hand toward the lava and it began to bubble ominously.
Shamalin finished her plea for divine aid and was rewarded as, on the far side of the Wall of Fire, a miniature gate momentarily opened to Ysgard releasing a beautiful celestial hippogriff. The winged creature shrieked a battle cry and dove straight for Rafrarrl its golden foreclaws extended. Rafrarrl raised its spear in time to strike at the new arrival, but not quickly enough to impale it on the cruel weapon. The burning spearhead tore into the creature's withers nearly ripping one of its wings free, but the summoned creature continued onward, driven more my its own momentum than by any desire to close with Rafrarrl, its claws raked across the giant's thorny shoulder, opening a number of smoking scratches there.
"Aah! A new player enters the game!" Rafrarrl snarled, tracking the wounded hippogriff with his eyes. "I think this one's time amongst us is short, however! It will not long- [SIZE=]AAAAH[/SIZE]!!!" The creature's taunt was turned suddenly into a bellow of pain as a burst of frost-filled power erupted around him. Rafrarrl looked up, scanning the cavern for the source of his newfound torment.
"Who dares?!" he roared.
"My name is Huzair Blacksmoke," a voice echoed around the chamber. It was not immediately clear what its source was. "I figured you would want to know the name of the person who is going to kick your ass."
"Not likely, Huzair Blacksmoke," Rafrarrl answered and gestured at Ayremac and Morier. "But you have sealed the fate of these two!"
"Make that these three, fiery one!" Karak said as he moved out of the Wall of Fire, smoke billowing from his armor despite the partial protection of Shamalin's magic. The dwarf moved along the ceiling and then slowly drifted down to the same shelf as both Ayremac and Morier.
Morier took Rafrarrl's momentary distraction to scramble to his feet and call upon the power of a True Strike. Ayremac stepped in and touched the Wand of Cure Light Wounds to the albino's arm.
Rafrarrl let his concentration lapse on the Wall of Fire and moved the Flaming Sphere toward Karak. The dwarf dodged out of the way even as two more of the smaller flaming creatures appeared in the lava beside the obsidian island and began moving toward them. Rafrarrl kept his eyes searching the far side of the cavern, looking for Huzair. Suddenly, it smiled and looked right at the wizard who was partially hidden behind a rather large stalactite.
"Ah, there you are, little kindling," the creature said. "The pleasure of this meeting will be all mine!" It stabbed outward with its spear again, catching the celestial hippogriff almost casually on its point as the animal wheeled around for another attack. The summoned creature was transfixed momentarily by the weapon before its essence winked back to the Heroic Domain of Ysgard.
As Rafrarrl turned, Huzair cast another spell. A blast of raw magic arced across the cavern slamming into the huge creature with a crackle. A cascade of motes showered down from the wounds, coalescing into a wicked looking rat that in turn snapped viciously at Rafrarrl. But the creature ignored the nipping rodent and began moving toward Huzair.
Karak was unwilling to let the thing get away, however and he charged forward, his frosted axe trailing steam through the hot air as he came. "Face me!" he bellowed, burying his axe in Rafrarrl's left forearm. The frozen weapon sizzled and scorched amidst the creature's super-heated flesh, and Rafrarrl snarled in pain, fixing his hateful gaze on the dwarf at his side.
He didn't see Morier moving in swiftly from the side. Nor did he have much time to react as Stoneblade slashed neatly across the creature's throat, spilling a torrent of steaming blood that popped and boiled further in the explosion of electrical energy that the eldritch warrior channeled into the blow. It fell sideways in pain, sagging against the edge of the obsidian island.
Ayremac dodged under the huge longspear and Smote the Evil creature. His longsword cracked the bone buried deeply within the arm and Rararrl developed an extra elbow in that limb - one that sagged under the creature's weight and sent it toppling lifeless into the lava floe.
Its body sent a sluggish wave of liquified rock lapping up against the sides of the obsidian outcropping. The wave splattered down against the smaller of the two "flamebrothers' that Rafrarrl had summoned, dragging the startled creature under in an instant. The other managed to haul itself up onto the island where it lay face-down and twitching. Karak raised his waraxe over the spasming creature as Shamalin floated gently down to the shelf behind them.
"FINISH IT, DWARF!" Stoneblade urged, but Morier had other ideas.
"Wait!" he gasped, pointing. "Look at it!"
The thing was trembling with pain as its flesh ran like melting wax. The spines along its shoulders drooped and melded with the rest of the body which was constricting around the middle and expanding at the shoulders. Stunted wings sprouted there, flapping uselessly. Its long serpentine tail split lengthwise, resolving itself into a pair of legs. Its coloring softened somewhat, the coarse ruby scales becoming light and rosy. A thick mane of coppery locks fell about its broad shoulders, entirely obscuring its face.
"By Shaharizod's beard!" Karak exclaimed, lowering his axe and staring in disbelief at the woman - for even laying belly-down the figure was clearly female. Shamalin came up and peered over his shoulder.
"What is it?" she asked.
At the sound of their voices, the red-skinned woman heaved herself onto her side and then toppled onto her back. Her hair falling in sweat-soaked ropes across her face. The tremors were subsiding and the features had settled into a comely if not entirely normal visage. Yellow eyes stared up from beneath the wavy strands, and prominent horns jutted back from her temples. Her lips parted, revealing a predator's fangs within.
"Some type of demon?" Ayremac asked.
"No," Morier said, crouching down to move the hair from the woman's face. "I know her. Her name is Ixin." At the mention of her name, she blinked several times and peered up at the albino.
"Morier?" Ixin groaned, her golden eyes glassy and out-of-focus. "Eu passei o teste?"
Again the smaller creature locked in battle with Karak stabbed with its spear and slapped with its muscular tail. But again, it was unable to bypass the dwarf's formidable defenses. And again Karak's icy waraxe bit into its flesh, but this time when the steam cleared, the creature was laying at the dwarf's feet, dead.
"Yo, Rafrarrl! Stop sending these puny fire spits o'er to me! Even in this heat I am barely breaking a sweat!" Karak taunted, kicking the body over into the lava. "That is unless you are afraid to go toe-to-toe with a dwarf!"
"In due course, dwarf!" Rafrarrl answered, a smile playing across its hawkish face. "Your time will come." It flicked its eyes at Ayremac and the Flaming Sphere rolled off of Morier and bounded across the shelf toward the Holy Warrior. At the same time, it gestured toward Karak and a Wall of Fire crackled into existence along the edge of the obsidian shelf upon which the Order had arrived.
Ayremac easily dodged away from the Sphere's path and pulled out his Wand as he did so. "I say to you, fiery beast, you have invoked my anger and will find the tip of my blade leading you towards the afterlife!!" he shouted, his voice filled with the righteous fury that only Officers of Umba ever truly master. As he activated the Wand to further soothe his burns, the creature's enormous spear stabbed opportunistically toward him. He was able to catch the point of the weapon on the quillons of his longsword, but even parried, Ayremac could feel the sinister heat of the spear.
"I do not fear the afterlife, little one," Rafrarrl growled. "I would be released from this prison and the maddening voices that taunt me so!"
Shamalin cursed. With the Wall of Fire blocking her she couldn't even see Morier now, let alone target him with any healing. Concentrating on her Levitation, she slowly drifted upwards toward the ceiling, the words of a summoning spell on her lips.
The hummingbird seemed to have been gone for a long time, as Huzair listened to the rush of fire and the screams of pain that echoed around the stifling chamber. He knew that his familiar wasn't really taking as long as he thought, he sensed that it was not even half a minute; Sparky needed to concentrate on the dweomers just like he did himself. Still, he almost yelped in surprise when the bird twittered into his ear.
"I found the Key, boss," Sparky said and Huzair let out a sigh of relief. "There's also a curvy sword, some kind of metal shirt, a wand, some gloves-"
"Fine. Fine," Huzair snapped and he saw the disappointed expression on the bird's beak. "I'll send the Unseen Servant. Point out which things to take." Sparky didn't answer, but nodded his little head and spiraled back down toward the ruby glow while Huzair twiddled some knotted string into an invisible helper.
Karak pulled out his own Wand of Cure Light Wounds and channeled a trickle of healing into the wound on his neck. The Wand itself was almost spent, he could tell, having little more than half-a-dozen charges left in it, but it was good for now. He looked up at Shamalin hovering near the ceiling and willed himself upwards as well.
Ayremac easily danced around the Flaming Sphere that was trying to burn his legs, but he dared not move too far too fast lest he open himself up to an attack by Rafrarrl's longspear. There was no place on the obsidian outcropping that was out of the weapon's reach, and despite the fact that the creature was taking no action other than to concentrate on directing the Flaming Sphere and maintaining the Wall of Fire, Ayremac did not dare to assume himself immune to the spear's attention.
He edged nearer to Morier, hoping with each passing second that his Sacred Healing would rouse the eldritch warrior from unconsciousness. It had already sealed all of his own wounds and he was thrilled to glance down and see Morier's trembling hand tighten on the handle of Stoneblade.
"GET UP!" the sword thundered as soon as the albino's hand was upon it. "GET UP AND FIGHT!"
"No, Morier," Ayremac urged in a whisper. "Stay down. Don't draw attention-"
"What's this?" Rafrarrl chuckled, its burning eyes on Morier. "Still a bit of life left in this one? Let's see how long it takes my Flamebrothers to snuff you out!" The creature took its eyes off the Flaming Sphere and the ball of fire stopped. Then it reached out its hand toward the lava and it began to bubble ominously.
Shamalin finished her plea for divine aid and was rewarded as, on the far side of the Wall of Fire, a miniature gate momentarily opened to Ysgard releasing a beautiful celestial hippogriff. The winged creature shrieked a battle cry and dove straight for Rafrarrl its golden foreclaws extended. Rafrarrl raised its spear in time to strike at the new arrival, but not quickly enough to impale it on the cruel weapon. The burning spearhead tore into the creature's withers nearly ripping one of its wings free, but the summoned creature continued onward, driven more my its own momentum than by any desire to close with Rafrarrl, its claws raked across the giant's thorny shoulder, opening a number of smoking scratches there.
"Aah! A new player enters the game!" Rafrarrl snarled, tracking the wounded hippogriff with his eyes. "I think this one's time amongst us is short, however! It will not long- [SIZE=]AAAAH[/SIZE]!!!" The creature's taunt was turned suddenly into a bellow of pain as a burst of frost-filled power erupted around him. Rafrarrl looked up, scanning the cavern for the source of his newfound torment.
"Who dares?!" he roared.
"My name is Huzair Blacksmoke," a voice echoed around the chamber. It was not immediately clear what its source was. "I figured you would want to know the name of the person who is going to kick your ass."
"Not likely, Huzair Blacksmoke," Rafrarrl answered and gestured at Ayremac and Morier. "But you have sealed the fate of these two!"
"Make that these three, fiery one!" Karak said as he moved out of the Wall of Fire, smoke billowing from his armor despite the partial protection of Shamalin's magic. The dwarf moved along the ceiling and then slowly drifted down to the same shelf as both Ayremac and Morier.
Morier took Rafrarrl's momentary distraction to scramble to his feet and call upon the power of a True Strike. Ayremac stepped in and touched the Wand of Cure Light Wounds to the albino's arm.
Rafrarrl let his concentration lapse on the Wall of Fire and moved the Flaming Sphere toward Karak. The dwarf dodged out of the way even as two more of the smaller flaming creatures appeared in the lava beside the obsidian island and began moving toward them. Rafrarrl kept his eyes searching the far side of the cavern, looking for Huzair. Suddenly, it smiled and looked right at the wizard who was partially hidden behind a rather large stalactite.
"Ah, there you are, little kindling," the creature said. "The pleasure of this meeting will be all mine!" It stabbed outward with its spear again, catching the celestial hippogriff almost casually on its point as the animal wheeled around for another attack. The summoned creature was transfixed momentarily by the weapon before its essence winked back to the Heroic Domain of Ysgard.
As Rafrarrl turned, Huzair cast another spell. A blast of raw magic arced across the cavern slamming into the huge creature with a crackle. A cascade of motes showered down from the wounds, coalescing into a wicked looking rat that in turn snapped viciously at Rafrarrl. But the creature ignored the nipping rodent and began moving toward Huzair.
Karak was unwilling to let the thing get away, however and he charged forward, his frosted axe trailing steam through the hot air as he came. "Face me!" he bellowed, burying his axe in Rafrarrl's left forearm. The frozen weapon sizzled and scorched amidst the creature's super-heated flesh, and Rafrarrl snarled in pain, fixing his hateful gaze on the dwarf at his side.
He didn't see Morier moving in swiftly from the side. Nor did he have much time to react as Stoneblade slashed neatly across the creature's throat, spilling a torrent of steaming blood that popped and boiled further in the explosion of electrical energy that the eldritch warrior channeled into the blow. It fell sideways in pain, sagging against the edge of the obsidian island.
Ayremac dodged under the huge longspear and Smote the Evil creature. His longsword cracked the bone buried deeply within the arm and Rararrl developed an extra elbow in that limb - one that sagged under the creature's weight and sent it toppling lifeless into the lava floe.
Its body sent a sluggish wave of liquified rock lapping up against the sides of the obsidian outcropping. The wave splattered down against the smaller of the two "flamebrothers' that Rafrarrl had summoned, dragging the startled creature under in an instant. The other managed to haul itself up onto the island where it lay face-down and twitching. Karak raised his waraxe over the spasming creature as Shamalin floated gently down to the shelf behind them.
"FINISH IT, DWARF!" Stoneblade urged, but Morier had other ideas.
"Wait!" he gasped, pointing. "Look at it!"
The thing was trembling with pain as its flesh ran like melting wax. The spines along its shoulders drooped and melded with the rest of the body which was constricting around the middle and expanding at the shoulders. Stunted wings sprouted there, flapping uselessly. Its long serpentine tail split lengthwise, resolving itself into a pair of legs. Its coloring softened somewhat, the coarse ruby scales becoming light and rosy. A thick mane of coppery locks fell about its broad shoulders, entirely obscuring its face.
"By Shaharizod's beard!" Karak exclaimed, lowering his axe and staring in disbelief at the woman - for even laying belly-down the figure was clearly female. Shamalin came up and peered over his shoulder.
"What is it?" she asked.
At the sound of their voices, the red-skinned woman heaved herself onto her side and then toppled onto her back. Her hair falling in sweat-soaked ropes across her face. The tremors were subsiding and the features had settled into a comely if not entirely normal visage. Yellow eyes stared up from beneath the wavy strands, and prominent horns jutted back from her temples. Her lips parted, revealing a predator's fangs within.
"Some type of demon?" Ayremac asked.
"No," Morier said, crouching down to move the hair from the woman's face. "I know her. Her name is Ixin." At the mention of her name, she blinked several times and peered up at the albino.
"Morier?" Ixin groaned, her golden eyes glassy and out-of-focus. "Eu passei o teste?"
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
