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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 1830538" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #289] The Guardian of Earth[/PLAIN]The halfling's brain was filled with the overpowering desire to... RUN!!! And he almost did just that before he remembered that he was still invisible. All he had to do was avoid being accidentally squished by this thing when he moved quietly to the exit and left the room never to ret-A shrill whistle pierced the air and the stone creature turned its misshapen head toward the sound as Feln stepped easily into the room, spinning his staff from one hand to the other. He had caught the thing's attention and he meant to hold it long enough for the halfling to make his escape. He underestimated the monolithic figure's enormous reach, however and was forced to back flip away to avoid being slammed full on by a great stone fist. If he'd been concentrating on anything but defense at that point, he'd have found himself smeared against the chamber wall.Vade grimaced at his friend's near miss and then he was in motion, rolling and scrambling away from the golem as fast as his little limbs would carry him.Standing in the hallway Ledare raised her repeating hand crossbow, sighted down the barrel and squeezed off two easy shots. The first bolt struck true, but seemed to do no damage whatsoever; the second shot skittered off the thing's stoney hide. Seeing the trouble the Janissary was having penetrating the thing's natural armor, Morier cast True Strike in preparation for his own attempt to do just that."We should not have divided the party," the albino grumbled and no one argued with him.Whether the rocky creature didn't notice Ledare's attack, didn't consider her a threat, or simply favored an enemy within easy reach, it focused its attention on Feln. A single ponderous step was enough to bring it within reach of the half-orc, and it brought its huge fist down like the hammer of the gods! The blow shattered the stone tiles on the floor and caused dust to rain down from seams in the domed ceiling. It landed nowhere near the martial artist, however.Grisham was next to react and he used the tactics that the group had seen him favor in the past; howling a primal battle cry, he hurled himself at the huge creature's flank, clutching Winnower in a double-handed grip. The blade rang against the figure's hip like a struck bell and sent rock chips flying. The stoney creature responded with a cry of pain that sounded like boulders clashing against one another."Tha' be the way, tracker! Lay 'im low!" Karak cheered, his voice rising into inspirational tones as he unconsciously gripped his brother's holy symbol. "I want ya all to know that I believe in all of you and know that now that push has come ta shovin' you'll put up the good fight!"Ixin, certainly intended to. She plucked The Weave's strands and called upon etheric energies to damage her foe. She pointed her finger and sent two Magic Missiles arcing into the elemental's featureless lump of a head. She's spent the time during which Vade had invisibly scouted the room to study the "statue" and she'd come to the conclusion that it wasn't a golem or a construct of any kind, in fact. It was an Outsider, an elemental, the living embodiment of earth brought to the Prime from the Elemental Plane that was its rightful home. It was a powerful and dangerous opponent, but it was as vulnerable to Ixin's spells as any other creature.The Sorcerer allowed herself a grim smile; she could hurl Magic Missiles for a very long time.Feln moved instinctively to a flanking position opposite Grisham and did his best to make himself an attractive target while at the same time not opening himself up at all to attack. It was a delicate dance, but one in which the martial artist was trained well enough to perform flawlessly. He rapped his quarterstaff against the elemental's left leg in an effort to distract it from crushing the barbarian into paste. It was a minor blow, but enough to remind the outsider that Feln was still a threat.Vade darted around the edge of the doorway and pressed himself against the wall in the corridor just as Ledare holstered her six-shooter and drew Ravager from its sheathe in one lightning quick motion. She came at the thing from an oblique angle, drawing herself into a position equidistant between Feln and Grisham. An opportunistic attack from the elemental glanced harmlessly off her enchanted shield and then she was slashing at its midsection with the saw-toothed blade. Raw mud "bled" from the massive gash she opened in its torso.Now she had its attention! It swung one ungainly fist at her, but again she turned it aside through clever placement of her shield. Its other fist sought Grisham, but the barbarian was in the grip of his frenzy and he dodged the attack with almost superhuman agility. An instant later, he responded by slashing viciously with his longsword, taking a chunk out of the elemental's right arm as it swung passed him.Morier came in on the barbarian's left, his huge silver greatsword flickering with electricity. He brought it down like a cleaver, slashing away a great piece of the thing's back that tumbled to the floor and shattered. It bellowed again in pain, its voice like an earthquake."Shaharizod, guide my blade!" Karak said simply, filling himself with Divine Favor before he stumped in close.Ixin took a step closer as well (although she was still well back in the hallway outside the room and out of immediate danger) moving forward until she was standing beside Vade and then sent another pair of Magic Missiles stabbing into the elemental's head.Both Feln and Ledare took swings at the obviously wounded thing, but neither could penetrate its incredibly tough skin. It, however, had no such trouble pummeling both of them. Its fist came around - one! two! - and slammed into them with bone-crushing force, knocking the pair backward. Feln staggered against the stone well in the center of the room and had to catch the edge to prevent himself from being hurled over the lip and down into the fiery chamber below. Ledare nearly ended up on her back, but just managed to retain her feet with the coppery taste of her own blood filling her mouth.At the elemental's back, Morier brought his greatsword around again, putting every bit of the unexpected strength bottled up in his small frame behind the blow. It wasn't guided by the power of True Striking this time, but Morier was a skilled swordsman even without the benefit of his magics. The sword severed the thing's right leg at the hip and its animating force was snuffed out at once. The stone body collapsed into an avalanche of rubble between the eldritch warrior and Grisham."Oi!" Karak bellowed, waving his war axe at the albino. "Ye could nae save me a swing or two!?"Morier lowered his blade and let out a weary sigh. "I don't think that Feln and Ledare were eager for me to sit back and wait for you to join the battle," he countered. "Another blow like that last one and I think we'd be carrying them out of here.""Burying us here is more likely," the half-orc said and he was right; neither of them looked in too good a shape. Feln was clutching his ribs and Ledare was spitting mouthfuls of blood onto the floor. "It's usually a good idea to buff before combat begins, Karak," Ixin suggested as she walked from the hallway to join the others in the hemispherical room. The dwarf shot her a look of mild disgust."Buff?" he growled. "What are ye talkin' about?""Sorry. That's what Drake Ulric called spells cast before battle," the mage told him. "Magic that makes you temporarily stronger or faster or more difficult to injure.""Ye be a strange one," Karak grumbled, shaking his head dismissively."So where'd our man go?" Grisham asked, peering down into the ruddy depths of the well."There's handprints leading down the sides of the well," Vade explained as he stepped up to the barbarian's side."I see 'em," the man acknowledged and held his hand out over the hole. "Toasty. We won't last long in that heat," he said, his willingness to proceed after the fleeing Tarawyn a foregone conclusion."Maybe there's a secret panel in the side of the shaft," Vade suggested, boosting himself up to peer over the edge again. "I can't see in this light, but maybe we don't have to worry about the heat." Ixin looked over the side and smiled."Reminds me of grandmother's sleeping chamber," the drakeling said wistfully before turning back to Vade. "The prints go all the way down, about 35 or 40 feet before the shaft opens onto a chamber of some sort. That bed of flames is another 30 feet below that."</blockquote>

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