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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 1742447" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #282] A Blustery Day[/PLAIN]"So, it's a goin' to be this way is it?"  Karak grumbled as bits of dust and dirt scoured his face. He could see nothing in the cloud of debris, but tucked one scimitar under his arm and started backing up away from the roar of the whirlwind. As he went, he fumbled blindly with the straps of his pack. "Time ta get the power o' the dwarves to fix myself right up a'fore headin' off to hurt a little wind devil!"Nearby, but effectively out of earshot thanks to the noise of the cyclone and completely concealed by the dust cloud, Ixin looked up bleary-eyed at Feln. The half-orc was doing his best to shield her body with his own and though it was accomplishing little, she appreciated the gesture. She tried to get up and a horrible pain shot through her chest as she did so; being slammed around by the Wind Monster had taken a heavy toll on her. She produced a healing potion from her magical cloak and downed the contents, feeling better but still far from healthy.Elsewhere in the cloud, Vade saw Grisham stagger briefly into view. The man was bleeding from a head wound, but still seemed eager to battle the whirlwind; he was holding Winower, The Hound's magical longsword, in one hand and one of his own hand axes in the other. The look of feral rage in his blazing green eyes made the halfling gulp nervously. Then the cyclone turned and slammed into the man again. Grisham was lifted momentarily off his feet, but managed to avoid getting sucked up into the vortex. Even so, he suffered a heavy pelting from the rocks and sticks that were kicked up by the wind.Vade endured the same, and was scarcely able to jump back in time to prevent himself from being lifted into the air, but he managed. Predictably, the whirlwind's contact, even unintentional, was enough to cause his faulty Ring of Invisibility to fail. He became visible again, much to his chagrin and watched as Grisham unleashed a whirlwind of his own, slashing with sword and axe in a deadly flurry of steel. His longsword seemed to make the cyclone wobble in pain with each strike, but the axe blow that came between them connected with nothing.Oblivious to the actions of the barbarian, Feln looked down at Ixin concernedly. "Are you alright?" he asked as she downed her healing draught. She nodded despite the fact that she clearly wasn't, but right now, none of them were. "We need to get out of the open. Let's head away from the whirlwind." He helped Ixin to her feet and they moved away from the roar of the cyclone. After a dozen paces or so, they stepped out of the cloud and could see the base of the cliff to their right and some trees and underbrush that might offer cover ahead and to their left. They made for the latter and as they went, Feln quaffed his last Cure Light Wounds potion.At the top of the cliff, Ledare stared indecisively down into the cyclone. She held her hand crossbow aimed at the vortex, but every time she was about to fire, Morier's form would cycle across her target. He was moving around erratically within the whirlwind, being savaged by the winds and she couldn't bring herself to risk adding further injury to the man who had stood beside her through so much. She had seen too many friends die already and wouldn't be responsible for adding to that total. She holstered the six-shooter and headed for the rope.In the heart of the whirlwind, Morier was buffeted from all sides. As the winds whipped his pale form, he was sure that he would soon be making the journey to the afterlife. He didn't intend to go quietly, however, and managed to focus his not-inconsiderable powers of concentration on the casting of a spell of True Striking. Then he readied his greatsword, a predatory smile playing across his lips."Where is that confounded magic stick?" Karak groused as he rummaged through his pack for the wand. At last he pulled it out and held it aloft, triumphantly. Of course, in the cloud of debris, no one could see his victory, but still... "Ah, here it be!" he bellowed and, after looking around furtively to make sure no one could see him, he whacked himself in the head with the wand. His expression changed quickly from embarrassment to surprised relief. "Well, now! That feels a might better! Now to show tha' Wind Monster he can't just blow down here, hurt my friends, blow little bits o' dust, dirt, rocks, and all manner o' things into me face and get away with it!"He shoved the wand into his belt and turned to face the direction that the wind was howling.Ixin moved the rest of the way into the treeline and then turned back toward the melee. The cloud of dust and dirt completely obscured the base of the whirlwind, but it extended a good twenty feet above that and the sorcerer could see a humanoid form spinning around within - no doubt one of her friends although which one she couldn't tell. The suggestion of an enormous face leered at her from the side of the cyclone and it was at this that she directed her Magic Missiles.They arced across the clearing, slicing into the misty visage and making it twist in pain. Then it bore down on her with unimaginable swiftness. In the process, it swept passed Karak, sucking the dwarf up into its center without even quite realizing that he was there. Then it was on Ixin and it did the same to her. She tried clinging in vein to the tree beside her, but she was easily ripped away and slammed bodily into Karak. Her head struck his armored pauldron and she lost consciousness again.Feln, who had been standing beside the sorcerer when she was taken, managed to roll behind the tree, avoiding the cyclone entirely. He rushed off into the trees, swallowed at once by the concealing cloud.Grisham and Vade (who had craftily activated his Ring again and so was invisible) were suddenly left standing in open air as the debris cloud travelled with the whirlwind. Vade stood clutching his glowing dagger and looked up to see Ledare swinging unsteadily on the rope above. The Janissary was still 80-feet or so up and moving carefully, but with purpose toward the bottom of the cliff. Grisham, in the grips of a blood-rage, ignored the glowing dagger of light to his left and charged passed Vade into the cloud of dust, a warcry echoing in his wake. Vade trotted in that direction as well.Morier endured another rock to the torso  as he whirled around inside the tornado, but he held onto his concentration and with an ecstatic release, channeled the power of a cantrip into his sword as pure electrical energy. The greatsword crackled with sparks and the albino thrust it with all of his might into the misty form that swirled elusively around him. Under normal circumstances, the blow would have gone horribly awry; augmented by the spell of True Striking, however, it slashed unerringly through the insubstantial vapor controlling the cyclone, cleaving it in half and then frying what was left with lightning.There was a loud sucking sound, like the rapid intake of a giant's breath and the wind stopped. The shear momentum of Morier's cyclic journey vaulted him into the trees. He plunged forty feet toward the ground, through layer-after-layer of thick spider webs. And landed on his feet, shaken and bruised but miraculously alive.Karak landed hard on his head and lay there for a moment unable to much more than groan, "Oi..."Ixin fell on her back and blood sprayed from her mouth at the impact. She made a weak gargling sound but did not move.</blockquote>

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