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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 2109455" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #307] Return of the VQS[/PLAIN]Vade gulped loudly enough to be heard over Feln's roar of pain, activated the Ring of Invisibility and disappeared.Feln clutched as his dissolving flesh with one hand and bellowed in pain and frustration. He took a single step forward before he felt Ixin tugging at his arm."Drink this!" she urged, handing him a vial that she had purchased from Morier's adopted father back in Hillville Junction. He took the tiny flask and poured the contents down his throat before continuing to advance on the toad-like monsters. A luminous sheen seemed to spread across his body for a moment before it sank invisibly into his skin, cloaking the half-ogre in Mage Armor.Ledare thought of her goddess, and let Flor's pure goodness fill her with clarity. Then she drew Ravager from the sheathe across her back and started forward as well. "Divide the two creatures between the spell casters. Ixin, stick with me," she commanded. "Concentrate on dispatching the creature I'm fighting. Morier, you're on the other one.""Right!" Ixin said. As soon as Feln had taken the potion, she had pulled a scroll from her Cloak of Many Pockets. She unfurled it then and read its spell trigger aloud, "Contego!" As the scroll disappeared n a small pyrotechnic display, the Weave hardened in front of Ixin creating an invisible plane of force to shield her from attack."Well now!" Karak growled. "It seems the beasts o' chaos can penetrate this sanctuary. It be time for dwarven steel!" He hefted his waraxe and spat on the blade before rushing grimly forward in a clatter of polished steel plate.Ledare advanced to a position near, but not directly beside Feln. She hoped that she and the half-ogre would attract attention from two different opponents. As Feln assumed a combat stance, Ledare raised her shield and brought Ravager into position, ready to strike if she were engaged.A moment later she got her chance as the first monster slurped down the last of the broken goblin and came at her in a rush. She brought the bastard sword to bare as the creature descended on her, and its saw-toothed edge ripped across the thing's snout an instant before it's jaws clamped down on Ledare's shield. The Janissary wrestled it free of the beast's maw and readied herself for another attack.The second monster lurched out onto the path and plodded gracelessly toward Feln. Despite Feln's best attempts to prevent it from doing so, it bit down on the half-ogre and only Ixin's Mage Armor spell protected him from suffering a nasty injury. The toad-like creature bellowed in frustration for an instant before Karak rushed through the space between Feln and Ledare and slammed into it from the side. His axe blade opened a wound just above its leg that ought to have been considerably more severe than it appeared to be.Morier watched the initial rush of the battle and wove his fingers through the final somatic components of a spell. "Fidus attingo!" he intoned and felt the familiar rush of a True Strike fill his swordarm with insight. He drew his greatsword and trotted forward to take his place in the battle.Feln took a tactical step to readjust himself relative to Karak and willed his body to tap into its inner reserves. He felt a surge of adrenaline course through his body and went to work on the thing. Under the best of circumstances, being pummeled by a half-ogre is not a position one wants to find oneself. This half-ogre, however, had trained in the Shadow Warrior style under the Gelgian Masters; he knew how to hit quickly and where to hit to cause the most damage. He sent a flurry of blows into the creature's flank, driving his fists twice into sensitive nerve clusters. The blows were the sort that would have crippled a normal opponent - Feln knew that instinctively - but this unnatural creature seemed only slightly wounded by the assault.It was enough to cause the thing to turn and devote more attention to the half-ogre, and Karak aimed to make it regret that decision. Where Feln had drawn on his training and discipline to to push himself into a state of enhanced combat effectiveness, Karak simply released the primal warrior lurking within himself, grabbed his waraxe in both hands and sent himself into a whirling frenzy. He slashed at the beast's side and felt his axe cut a notch in its ribs as the blade carved into its flesh. It howled in pain and spun back around and wavered between its two opponents.Ixin moved forward to within 30 feet of the melee and drew upon the Weave. "Magicus telum!" she chanted and pointed at the creature locked in a death struggle with Ledare. Two bolts of pure force leapt from her outstretched fingers, altered course to avoid the Janissary and slammed into the toad-thing's chest. Both missiles dissipated harmlessly upon impact."Spell resistance!" she cursed.Ledare saw the Magic Missiles strike without effect, but paid them no mind; she wouldn't have known what it meant even if she'd been devoting her full attention to it. As it was, she was concentrating on striking at the madly waving tentacles that seemed to be everywhere in the air around her. She slashed out twice with Ravager, but, while both attacks were close, neither managed to connect with the flailing limbs.Her opponent retaliated by clamping its mouth down onto her left leg. She felt its teeth find an opening above her greave and the painful burning told her that its saliva was just as caustic as the vitriol it had spit earlier at Feln. An instant later, one of the toothsome tentacles darted in below her swordarm and delivered a similar - though much less severe - bite to her side. Ledare knew she couldn't take too much more punishment like that.The creature facing off against Karak and Feln split its attacks between the two, favoring Karak with its main bite attack and a nip from one of its tentacles. Only the latter struck home, savaging the dwarf's left thigh and simultaneously burning him with its acidic spittle. Karak was not impressed. Thanks to Feln's hyper-attuned reflexes, he was able to avoid the attack sent his way entirely.As soon as the half-ogre had dodged out of the way, Morier stepped in and brought his electrified greatsword down in a massive overhead chop to the thing's head. It was the sort of blow that should have split the head in twain and then fried the remnants with lighting. But again the punishment the creature was receiving seemed out of proportion to the amount that was being dealt it. It seemed not to feel the electricity at all.Vade appeared briefly as he stabbed his glowing dagger at the creature fighting Ledare, but his blade was turned aside by the creature's impressive natural armor. Frustrated, the halfling activated the Ring again and disappeared.Again, Ixin attempted a Magic Missile spell, and again the monster's Spell Resistance overcame her magic.... leaving Ledare essentially fighting on her own.She was doing well, however. Twice Ravager slashed out at her foe and twice it tasted flesh. Her first blow, in fact, severed the snout off one of the snapping tentacles, sending a fountain of oily, black blood spraying into the sky. It struck at her anyway, but missed poorly, unable to bypass her combat expertise.Feln had similar luck attacking his enemy, and only one of Karak's axe blows got through. It caused pain enough to elicit a cry from the beast as well as attract all of its attacks. Its many snapping jaws couldn't penetrate Karak's thick dwarven plate, however.Morier stepped back a pace and began casting True Strike again.Feln, simply continued his assault on the thing's flank. He had complained about his new body feeling clumsy and awkward, but anyone watching his display of martial prowess would have argued the contrary. He delivered a pair of thunderous punches to the creature that made it stagger momentarily, its eyes unfocused and ichor dripping from its lips. Then it fell onto its side. Dead.Karak wasted no time lamenting the loss of his opponent. He turned and charged across the ten feet separating him from the the creature fighting Ledare. His axe sank deeply into its exposed belly, drawing forth a shriek of pain as it turned on this new foe.Ledare seized the distraction, altered her stance and slashed out again. This time Ravager sliced into the thing's tentacle nearer the base and chewed through the limb as if it were made of smoke. The limb dropped to the ground and writhed about in the grass while a geyser of blood spurted from the ruptured stump. The thing twitched and staggered as pain lanced through its body, then it fell to the ground spasming in shock. Ledare altered her grip and stabbed the bastard sword point first into the thing's chest and Morier stepped forward, burying three feet of his greatsword in its belly for good measure."What in the Nine Hells are these things?" Feln asked as he felt the surge of adrenalin leave him."Some sort o' chaos acid frog, I'm guessin'" Karak suggested as he too felt the weakness that always followed in the wake of his frenzy."It's speech - when it first appeared - I could understand it," Ixin said as she walked up to the battle. "It wanted to eat us." Ledare snorted derisively and yanked her bastard sword free of the carcass."I've been dinner for one beast in this lifetime, and that's one too many," she said with a grimace.</blockquote>

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