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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 3046208" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #358] Between a Vrock and a Hard Place[/PLAIN]As the horrible sound washed over them, it was answered by cries from within the group. Several were so stunned by the Vrock's sudden appearance that they just stood in place, clutching at their heads. Huzair was not one of those effected by the sonic attack and he rolled around on top of Morier - but didn't bother to stand - as he aimed his wand at the demon. He spoke the command word and a line of fire washed over the creature although the magic seemed not to actually touch it."Spell resistance!" the mage cursed in Ignan - a sound that was not unlike a pine knot popping in a campfire. Then Morier heaved him violently aside as the albino got to his feet. The eldritch warrior raised his sword and closed with the thing a half-step behind Karak.The dwarf's waraxe cut a glittering frozen arc through the air as he swung at - and missed - the Vrock. In turn, the creature's claws skittered harmlessly over Karak's platemail as he stepped into position, but it was enough of a distraction to allow Ravager to find its way passed the demon's defenses; the saw-toothed weapon bit deeply into the Vrock's side, spilling foul-smelling ichor onto the stone floor.Still, the wicked blade left a much shallower wound than Morier thought it should have.Lela shook her head to clear it after the demon's stunning screech. The rattling clink of metal on metal still seemed to fill her ears and it was only with some effort that she realized the source of the sound was the room across the hall. It was dark in there, she saw; it could be hiding anything. With a gesture, she filled the center of the chamber with faerie fire, liming the floor, ceiling and the four columns there in a violet dweomer. The purplish illumination also revealed a chain-draped body propped in the shadowy recess of the far corner."I've got something over here!" she chirped, flying cautiously into the room.Ayremac watched her go off on her own. He glanced at Karak and Morier who were going toe-to-toe with the demon and effectively blocking the corridor. There was little he could do there so he brandished his morningstar and followed Lela."Shamalin!  We need our Weapons Aligned!" Morier commanded, sparing a glance back over his shoulder at the cleric. The half-elf was struggling to recover from the Vrock's sonic attack and her first thought was that she didn't really care for the way the eldritch warrior was ordering her around. Still she moved dutifully forward and lay her hand on Karak's axe. In her mind she felt the weight and chill of the heavy weapon, tinged with its magical abilities. Quickly, she appealed to the White Lady to make her strength present in its purpose and align those abilities to good.She was just in time for the dwarf to swing twice at the demon, missing both times.In retaliation, the Vrock ruffled its feathers releasing a hellish cloud of spores that burrowed painfully into Karak and Morier. Then its claws slammed into him, raking painfully between the armor plates protecting his shoulder. The thing's strength was unbelievable!Morier's leather armor offered him little protection from the demon's talons. One dug into his left arm, drawing lines of blood across his bicep. Another sank deeply into his belly, critically injurying him as it ripped out a large chunk of meat and viscera. The eldritch warrior screamed in pain, an apron of wet crimson spreading across his thighs.Ayremac stepped into the eerily-lit room, his face bathed in the glow of Lela's faerie fire. The intense light shed by his enchanted morningstar soon banished most of the room's shadows and he could clearly see the withered figure seemingly suspended from the numerous chains along the far wall. When it lurched free and swung one of those same chains at the holy warrior, he was proved wrong, of course.The spiked chain wrapped suddenly around Ayremac's leading leg and snapped the limb out from under him. He slammed hard into the floor, momentarily dazed and utterly unable to avoid the other end of the chain as it came around and smashed against the side of his helmet like a clapper against the side of a bell.Karak ignored the spores burrowing painfully into his flesh and, bellowing in anger, swung his waraxe once into the demon's hip and then then again into its opposite arm. The creature's resistance to mortal weapon's did nothing to reduce the punishment wrought by the holy blade and the Vrock shrieked in pain as its foul ichor splattered across the floor.The demon's apparent weakness was heartening to Morier, and he channelled the eldritch power of his most potent spell into Ravager. The sword bit eagerly into the Vrock's torso, releasing a devastating electrical attack that affected the demon little if at all. Only the welcome surge of Shamalin's healing hand undoing most of his injuries kept the albino from crying out in frustration.Lela cursed as the undead thing revealed itself immune to the power of her faerie dust. But she was happy an instant later as a Flaming Sphere appeared at the creature's feet, burning it badly. Huzair appeared nearby with a smug look on his face. The zombie took a swing at Lela with its chain, but the heavy links whistled passed her doing little more than tussling her hair. Nearby, Ayremac regained his feet, avoiding another attempt to put him on the floor. He rushed in close, slamming his morningstar solidly against the undead blasphemy's head, relocating its jawbone to the far side of its withered face.Lela back-pedaled through the air, out of the zombie's reach and began readying her bow. The room strobed with ruddy light as Huzair sent a pair of Magic Missiles sizzling into the zombie's chest. It staggered back from the magical onslaught, fire from the Flaming Sphere continuing to lick up its body."Yes!" the mage exclaimed pumping his fist once in victory. He was proud of his magical one-two punch. Nevermind that it was an arrow from Lela's shortbow that actually dropped the zombie a few seconds later. His magic had done most of the work.Outside in the hallway, the Vrock continued to trade blows with Karak and Morier. It was giving perhaps better than it was getting where Morier was concerned. The eldritch warrior lacked his dwarven ally's Aligned Weapon and his best magical attack was electrical and therefore useless against a foe with strong resistance to such energy. Only the fact that Shamalin stood behind him in the corridor pumping a stream of healing magic into him kept the lightly armored warrior on his feet and in the fight at all.Karak, for his part, was picking up the albino's slack, delivering flesh-hewing double-handed blows to the Vrock while his own heavy armor - for the most part - turned aside the worst of the demon's claws. He was bleeding from a few scratches and gashes, but his own wounds were nothing compared to Morier's.Shamalin moved as quickly as she could once more to Morier’s side and scowled at him. The healing graces of Flor’s mercy were flowing abundantly today, and she bit her lip against the bitterness of her own thoughts. It was her duty to The Order, she knew, to heal him again. But she lost her sense of determination as images of a different party who had not been blessed with so many chances assailed her. She tried to push away the thoughts, but they had been lurking in her subconscious and would not be put aside. She moved methodically through the motions of a Cure Serious Wounds spell, but even before finishing she knew the spell would go awry. The attempt left her listless and she sank to her knees under the weight of her own renewed grief. Morier looked quizzically at her, but she turned away.A few moments later, the Vrock collapsed with Karak's waraxe lodged deep in its avian skull."I dinnae like the idea of leavin' parts o' this place unexplored at our backs," Karak said later after they'd retreated back to the room where they had so recently fought three demons."But I thought we agreed that the keys were most likely downstairs?" Lela countered, inexpertly stifling a yawn. The dwarf shrugged."If a thing be worth doin' it be worth doin' proper," he told her. "Leavin' half this floor unexplored rankles me.""It had been my hope that the keys would be readily apparent once we reached the lower level," Morier nodded. "Judging by what we saw of it, that's not likely to be the case. I think Karak might have a point."Shamalin just shook her head and rolled over. The half-elf seemed small without her armor on, frail even."And I'd like to get another try at that shortswo-" Huzair started to say, but Morier cut him off."Don't start, Huzair!" the albino snapped. "We're not going to risk all of our lives for a weapon that you'll never even use!""Aye!" Karak nodded. "Why fight the guardian armor if we dinnae have to?""Why isn't a suit of armor just a suit of armor?" the wizard groused, dragging himself to a spot against a nearby wall and falling promptly asleep."I'll take first watch," Karak snorted after a few moments' pause but Ayremac shook his head."Let me," he suggested. "You're still weakened from before and I'm the only one amongst us who doesn't have to worry about spell-casting tomorrow."The first room they explored in the morning was a larder stocked with the butchered corpses of a disturbing number of sentient humanoid species. In the center of the room hovered a misty globe roughly the size of a fist that was shedding a pale radiance."This is interesting," Huzair muttered as he cast Detect Magic. "That sphere is clearly magical. I want to explore more." Morier ignored him and entered the freezing chamber.Ice scritched beneath his feet as he moved forward, extending a hand to touch the sphere. It was incredibly cold - so cold that touching it felt like touching a hot coal fresh from the furnace - and the eldritch warrior jerked his hand back with a hiss of pain. His fingertips were frostbit."I'm a bit resistant to cold," Ayremac informed him, as he looked critically at the albino's injured hand. "You should have let me do it.""Thanks," Morier deadpanned."What do you suppose it is?" Lela asked as she hovered near the sphere, her words pluming like smoke form her lips."At a guess I'd say it's a link to the Paraelemental Plane of Ice," Huzair said from the doorway. The mage didn't much like the cold. "It forms at the juncture of the Elemental Planes of Air and Water.""I thought that was the Plane of Steam," Morier argued as he sucked on his fingers. Huzair shook his head."Steam is a Quasielemental Plane, Morier," the mage corrected and it was plain to see that he truly enjoyed doing so. "You really should have read Shemeska's Planewalker Guide a little closer." Morier shot Huzair a disparaging look and shouldered his way out into the hall."Let's go," he said. "There's nothing to see here."</blockquote>

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