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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 1074469" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #234] Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory[/PLAIN]"Damn," Ixin cursed, returning the crossbow to its hidden pocket. "Vade, come help me drag Ruze from the webs and let's get out of here," she called to the halfling, but Vade wasn't near enough to hear her request. And anyway... he had a plan of his own!"Hey limburger breath..," the halfling called out invisibly some distance to Ixin's left, away from the webs. "Over here!"The giant turned its rat-like head toward the sound of the halfling's voice and sampled the air with its sensitive nose but Vade's voice rang out again from a spot ten feet further on from where it had been. "No wait!" the halfling giggled. "I'm over here! Hahahaha! Dumby!"Ixin gestured at the creature's back with both her hands and uttered the final words to an incantation. At once, the shadows of the standing stones (which were pooled at the bases of the plinths in the early afternoon light from Orin's Shield) shuddered along the ground, stretching up to envelope the enormous monster in a night-dark net. At the last instant, however, the giant stepped out of the area of effect and the net collapsed at its feet.It whirled back around then and came at Ixin. The mage grimly stood her ground as the beast thundered toward her trailing thick white ropes of saliva from its open jaws, its eyes blazing with inhuman hatred. Enormous claws came at her in rapid succession, striking like lightning. Her Shield spell deflected both attacks harmlessly.Ixin took a step back and summoned the power that had flowed through her bloodline since before the Fall. The rat-thing took an opportunistic swipe at her with its claw as she began to cast, but again, her Shield turned the blow aside. She felt drained by the effort to manipulate the Weave and realized that if this didn't work, she'd get no third chance. She could power no more spells of the first circle today. "Vuthasjach!" she shouted and swept her arms toward the giant. Again the shadows snaked unnaturally along the ground and wove their way up over the monster. This time, however, it couldn't resist the effects of Ixin's magic and the dark net fell over it like a shroud.The monster roared in frustration and slashed blindly at where it had last seen Ixin. One of its claws slashed the air several feet above her head and the other was deflected by her Shield.Vade, meanwhile had taken the opportunity to put some distance between himself and the giant. He stood, invisibly, on the other side of the clearing, hurling insults and the occasional handful of pebbles to attract the thing's attention. "You are going to look pretty stupid among your rat friends after this halfling kicks your hairy, smelly rat butt!"It worked, and the enshrouded monster lumbered blindly in the halfling's direction, leaving Ixin a few moments to contemplate freeing Ruze. He was clearly visible lying some 15 feet from the edge of the webs, but he was completely covered by them and there was no way to get close to him without become ensnared herself. Cutting was futile as well. She knew well enough from watching the Dragon's Claw at work that the one sure way out of a web spell was to burn it and she thanked Io, The Ninefold Dragon that she possessed a bloodline of fire."Valignat," Ixin hissed under her breath and a flame-substituted Acid Splash spell flicked from the ends of her clawed fingers. It was one of her weakest spells, but the droplets of fire fell on the web strands and burned away a 5-foot patch in an instant. She smiled and moved closer to the fallen Battleguard."Ouch!" Vade was shouting - this time from the creature's right. "Boy! You hurt my tummy! I am mad!"With a roar, the giant lunged at Vade. Ixin's Net of Shadows concealed everything from the rat creature's sight, and while it could smell and hear well enough, that did nothing to reveal the location of the altar until it was too late. It tripped over the black stone block and went sprawling with an earthquake of a thud. The mage repeated her spell and a fine spittle of fire dripped from her hands, turning another 5-foot section of webs into so much smoke. She could see Ruze lying just a bit further on, but couldn't tell whether or not he was still breathing."I bet that poison is making you feel sleepy, mouse man," Vade taunted. "You had better go wash out those bites before you go nite-nite and we skin your retched hide."The giant got awkwardly to its feet and slashed at the air where it thought the halfling was standing, but it connected with only empty air. Vade's taunting laughter drifted maddeningly to its ears."Valignat," Ixin muttered again and burned away the last of the strands that stood between her and the unmoving cleric. He was still firmly entangled, but she was close enough now to see the blood that slicked his armor.Vades laughter suffered a choked death in his throat as Ixin's spell ran its course and the shadows fell away from the rat thing. It was standing 20 feet away and facing the wrong direction when the spell dissipated and the halfling used the opportunity to sneak another 10 feet further away from the creature. He stopped short when he reached the edge of the webs and for a moment stood on his tippy-toes, pin-wheeling his arms invisibly to avoid falling into the sticky mass. When he'd regained his balance, an idea struck him and a mischievous grin spread across his face. Of course, no one could see it, but if someone could - someone who knew him, like Papa or Mama or Rherram - they would have known to become frightened and begin protecting their valuables.Ixin, meanwhile was trying without success to pull the Battleguard free of the webbing on its opposite side. She was strong as mages went, she knew, but she was no powerhouse and she was making exactly no progress toward extricating her friend. She let his foot go and her hands came away red and wet. There wasn't much time left for the cleric, she knew. "Forgive me," Ixin moaned as she reached out to the Weave again."Hey, ugly!" Vade called, as he deactivated the Ring of Invisibilty and blinked into sight. The rat monster turned quickly and let out a growl that the halfling could feel in his stomach. It charged and Vade struck a tindertwig on his belt buckle. As the giant came at him, he touched the flame to the smokestick he'd borrowed from Ledare and feinted left. The smokestick instantly exploded in a thick cloud of black, sooty smoke that the giant tore into, expecting to find Vade. What it found was the sticky mass of webbing. The halfling had tumbled expertly to safety several feet to the right.Sparks of fire dripped from Ixin's fingers onto the strands that held the cleric, and although she did her best to shield Ruze from the flames, he was still burned a bit by the ordeal. Ixin, of course, was completely uninjured by the blaze; the protection of red dragonblood shielded her from the heat, and she used her immunity to pull fistfuls of the burning webs away from the Battleguard's inert body. As soon as he was freed, she grabbed his arms and began dragging him as fast as she was able toward the portal."We need to get out of here!" Vade's disembodied voice said into Ixin's ear as she went. He had activated the ring again. " I don't want to be a sugar coated mushroom!""Help me with Ruze and we'll get going!" Ixin agreed."Now you are speaking my language, dragon lady!" the halfling exclaimed happily. He grabbed hold of the Battleguard's leg and did what he could to lighten Ixin's load. "I am so into getting out of here quickly!"The rat-headed giant, had become completely ensnared within the confines of the web and although it struggled titanically, it couldn't free itself before Ixin and Vade had reached the portal with their burden. The sorcerer activated the portal with a simple touch and the green vapors parted revealing the dark cave and Draelond and Ledare's unmoving forms. The halfling and the drakeling struggled to get maneuver the Battleguard through the opening and the giant had still not extricated itself from the strands.At the threshold, Vade paused, deactivated the Ring of Invisibility and waved at the huge monster. The wave turned into an obscene gesture the instant before the halfling dived through to the other side. Ixin stepped through after him and quickly unanchored herself from the nexus, deactivating the portal."We made it! We made it!" Vade was joyously crying over and over again. Ixin's darkvision revealed that he was kissing the stone floor of the cave in between exclamations. "We made it! We made it!""Saltatus iubar," Ixin said, tracing patterns in the air with her fingers. The dark chamber was quickly lit by the ruddy glow of Dancing Lights."Thanks," Vade said as his vision returned. "It was kinda dark in here.""This spell will only last for a short while, so we'll need to find the torches," Ixin said, gesturing toward Draelond. "I think he's got them in his pack."While Vade hunted through Draelond's belongings, Ixin checked on Ruze's health. She moved then to Ledare and quickly to Draelond, performing the same test for a lifebeat on each of them. She sat down heavily, her back against the wall of the cave, and buried her face in her hands."What's wrong?" Vade asked as he lit one of the torches he'd found. For a moment Ixin couldn't answer, but at last she heaved her head up to look at her little companion."Dead," she said flatly. "Draelond and Ruze are dead."</blockquote>

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