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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 3005293" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #353] Negative Energy Eruption[/PLAIN]"AARRGGGHHH!" Ayremac wailed as he felt a bit of his life energy snuffed out by the brief contact with the cloud. "Run!" he added as he scrambled toward the door urging Shamalin along beside him. In her heavy armor she was far slower than he, and his urging amounted more to bodily dragging her toward the door.The cleric felt an icy cold settle against her heart and gasped for a breath that seemed never to come as she was pulled along in Ayremac's wake."Shaharizod's toes, what be that!" Karak bellowed. He looked toward his left where Huzair had been standing, but the mage was gone, having activated his Ring of Invisibility as soon as he saw what the cloud had done to Ayremac and Shamalin. Karak turned to look at Morier instead."Negative Energy," Morier said, although it wasn't clear whether the eldritch warrior was answering the dwarf or talking to himself. "That would explain the cold and the black mist." Karak harrumphed at the albino's words and turned his attention to getting everyone out of the room in one piece."Let's MOVE out! Go! Go! Go! Out this door!" the dwarf commanded, pinwheeling his waraxe wildly to marshal everyone out into the corridor. "Lela! Fly, girl! Fly! Come on all! We've all surivived worse than this."Lela did as the dwarf commanded and fluttered out into the ruddy hallway. Huzair clearly didn't need any encouragement since he was already gone, having now activated his Ring of Blinking as well. Ayremac was struggling for the door dragging Shamalin behind him like a humanoid anchor. Gritting his teeth in frustraton, Karak chugged forward, slipping one meaty arm around Shamalin's waist and dragging her onward. The dwarf spared an angry grimace at Morier, yelling , "Run, you white fool! What in the nine hells will a sword do for you now?""I doubt very much we could outrun a negative energy eruption," Morier replied, still studying the cloud. It seemed to have quadrupled in size as the area immediately surrounding the planer tear became tainted by Negative Energy. The leading edge was now only five feet away. "It seems we've two choices... and maybe only time for one.""We can discuss options when we're safely away from this... cloud!" Karak cursed dragging Shamalin along with him. Under different circumstances, had the dwarf not been already fatigued by his attempt to call on divine aid, he would have simply slung the cleric over his shoulder and marched down the hallway with her. But as it was, he had all he could do to pull her along. He couldn't even manage that once she started fighting him."Wait!" she protested. "Let's hear what he has to say.""We cannot abandon these caves until we find the keys," Ayremac agreed, regaining some of his composure now that the initial shock of energy drain was passed. "I feel obligated to remain here as I released this.""Someone can try to Dispel Magic... or we can try to channel positive energy into this thing," the albino told them. "Either one may disrupt the negative energy eruption... but we've got to try something PRODUCTIVE!!" At this last statement, Morier glared pointedly at Ayremac as if to say, 'Next time I tell you something's a bad idea, listen to me'."Umba, please guide my heart and hand. Allow me to hold at bay this seeping, life draining energy," Ayremac intoned, displaying the holy symbol etched into the breastplate of his armor as if he expected it to fire a beam of holy light into the cloud of unlife. There was no flashy visual display, but he felt his deity's power flow through him and saw the cloud before him react as if it were hit with a strong gust of wind. It blew back, losing most of the advances it had made in the process.Shamalin gawked at Ayremac's success and wrested herself free of Karak's grip. She produced her silver holy symbol - appropriated off a dead janissary what seemed like half a lifetime ago - and held it forcefully at arm's length. "Flor, aid me in this dark hour," she pleaded and felt the touch of divinity pass through her and into the negative energy eruption. It seemed to have no visible effect and doubt clamped down on her heart like a frost giant's fist. "I can't..." her voice creaked."Have faith, Shamalin," Ayremac encouraged. He reached out and put a bolstering arm around the priestess. His vambrace squealed jarringly against her pauldron. (1)"Morier, you know I do nae run from a battle, but this is a battle we can nae win," Karak confided in Morier, his voice hushed but edged with worry none the less. "I say retreat and live to fight another day, lad!""I never said we should stick around to try fighting this, Karak," the eldritch warrior agreed with a nod. He took a step back into the hall. "I just thought we should give these two a chance to counter the eruption. But it doesn't seem to be going well."They were unable to duplicate Ayremac's initial success against the cloud - even working together. The eruption was simply too powerful for them to negate and it quickly reclaimed what the Officer of Umba had taken with his first attempt to channel positive energy into the cloud. Shamalin tried again to call on Lady Mercy, but it seemed that Flor had her eye elsewhere and the cloud advanced. It was very close to engulfing her in its life-quenching embrace when Ayremac jerked her backward."It's no good!" he told her, his face animated by an emotion that Shamalin took for despair and she wondered how closely his expression mirrored her own. "This cause is lost! We must flee!" She allowed herself to be led back toward the hallway, her eyes fixed on the welling darkness."No!" she said, jerking her arm away from Ayremac as she had done with Karak. Even as she freed herself, her hands were moving tin the intricate somatics necessary to Dispel Magic. "Resolvo veneficus!" she commanded, willing the magical matrix holding open the planer tear to collapse. She'd never attempted the miracle before - and truthfully, she thought it to be beyond her ability to invoke - but she felt the power fill her and manifest as she wished it to. A wave of anti-magic slammed directly into the heart of the cloud.It had absolutely no effect.-------------------------------------(1) I wrote that little bit as a joke - riffing on the absurdity of these two steel-jacketted characters offering one another comfort. But when my players read that they all said: WTF? so I guess my attempt at humor failed. I left it in as a reminder to myself to stay closer to the story and to stay away from things I think might be funny.</blockquote>

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