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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 3182961" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #366] The Test of Earth[/PLAIN]For a moment silence filled the cavern, then Spot sniffed the sprite's broken body and let out a pained yowl that echoed throughout the chamber."Damn," Huzair grimaced, turning away from the horribly damaged corpse. He turned invisible and with a condescending tone called out, "Morier, now would be a good time to buff!"Morier's face betrayed his annoyance but he began casting Bull's Strength none the less. Huzair smiled to himself as they drifted upward. After a moment, it became clear to the wizard that, while Morier had accurately lined himself up with the edge of the bridge, Huzair had not. He found himself about fifteen feet off target as the eldritch warrior stepped easily onto the uneven surface.The bridge was rough, and Morier could not at first pinpoint the source of the light. But he moved toward it as quickly as he could, unwilling to linger there any longer than he had to. It was slow-going, the crystalline surface making footing treacherous, and he hadn't taken more than three steps before a gaping maw of stone swelled up from the ground. The mouth snapped painfully shut on Morier's thigh sending blood spraying from the wound and a cry of pain howling from the albino's throat."By the eyes of Umba... Morier!!!!" Ayremac shouted as he drifted up. "Move away; we will tackle this thing together when we get up there!"Hovering nearby, Huzair pointed his wand of Scorch and fired off a line of fire that managed to entirely miss the egg-shaped aberration even as it pulled itself free of the ground at Morier's side. He became visible at once allowing everyone who cared to look the opportunity to see the snarl of disappointment on his face.Everyone had other things on their mind, however.Karak, for example had discovered that, like Huzair, he had misjudged the position of the bridge when he'd started to Levitate. He wasn't nearly as far off as the mage, but he was still too distant to actually reach the span. He cursed as he saw Ayremac step neatly onto the uneven surface nearby."Help me, lad!" he sputtered, flailing his arms uselessly.The holy warrior turned and extended his glowing morningstar as far as he could. It was just enough for Karak to reach out with his waraxe and hook himself. With a grunt Ayremac pulled him over to the bridge in time for the dwarf to shout, "Look out, lad!"A second earthen maw had appeared behind him, and it bit at his left leg. The plate armor there held, however, saving him from a painful wound.There was nothing that Morier could do but attack. He raised Ravager, channeling the energy of his only remaining second level spell slot into the blade. The weapon slashed down, but was turned aside by the thing's stoney hide, skittering down its flank without leaving so much as a scratch.His opponent retaliated at once, snapping down on the warrior's side. Morier felt a horrible tearing sensation as something in his torso gave way, but he ignored it, devoting his attention to avoiding the flurry of taloned arms that seemed to come at him from all sides.Huzair drifted upward toward the ceiling and once again let loose with his wand of Scorch. And once again he missed. This time at least, he only missed because he was trying to avoid hitting Morier.Shamalin finally reached the level of the bridge and, like Huzair and Karak, she found that she'd misjudged. She was even worse off that the wizard had been, drifting some twenty feet from the edge of the bridge. She could see at once that Morier was again staring death from blood loss squarely in the face. With a resigned sigh she began to cast a Reach Cure hoping that she could get the miracle off before the eldritch warrior collapsed.Karak's eyes grew wide with shock as a third monster swelled up from the ground at his feet. Its jaws clamped shut on the rim of his buckler, but slid off it without finding purchase. "How many of these things be there?" he grumbled as Ayremac slammed his gleaming weapon into the side of the creature that was menacing him. It lurched to the right, shrieking in pain as the Holy Warrior Smote the Evil thing. Before it could regain its balance, the dwarf stuck it twice with his waraxe, opening two rents in its pebbly hide that didn't bleed despite the fact that they clearly caused the creature pain.It tried in vain to retaliate, but the two who faced it were heavily protected with stout armor and it could find no way through their defenses.Morier didn't have such luck. And he knew he was probably dead if that thing landed another blow on him. He took a step toward Ayremac and Karak, Ravager weaving a defensive wall between him and the thing. The thing though came at him undaunted, stumping forward on three squat legs. Its maw closed on his forearm a moment before one of its claws slashed across the back of his hand. Both wounds conspired to wake him drop his sword and  collapse unconscious to the rough ground."Crap!" Huzair cursed as he saw Morier go down. He'd reached the ceiling and he managed to flip himself upward so that he could walk along the ceiling with his Slippers of Spider Climbing. He activated his ring and turned invisible for good measure.Shamalin completed her spell and sent a Cure Light Wounds spell lancing across the thirty feet separating her from Morier. The ray struck the downed warrior and she sighed with relief as she saw some of his wounds knit closed. His eyelids fluttered open and his hand groped blindly for Ravager."Morier's down!" Ayremac shouted to Karak. "Can you handle these two for a few seconds?" No sooner had the words left his mouth than one of the newest arrival's claws found a gap in the dwarf's platemail. Fortunately it was unable to overcome the magic of his axeblock buckler."Aye! Do what ye must!" Karak, growled trying unsuccessfully to slash the wounded creature's flesh again."Umba, with your great wisdom and fair judgement, please aid Morier... and the entire party... in our attempt to overcome these great obstacles," Ayremac prayed as he proudly displayed the holy symbol worked into his breastplate. His voice resounded due to the bizarre acoustics in the chamber. "Not unlike the Great Walk, we find ourselves traveling forward into the unknown." One of the wounded creature's claws found a way passed his armor, but the injury was minor and it didn't stop Ayremac from activating his Sacred Healing power.The creature that had been menacing Morier sank slowly into the ground, heading toward Ayremac and Karak, but the eldritch warrior let it go, knowing that he was clinging only precariously to life and that attacking while flat on his back would do little apart from alerting the creature to the fact that he was still a threat."Psst!" he heard Huzair hiss somewhere overhead. "Catch." A vial appeared in the air above him and fell, lightly striking his bloodied torso before it rolled off and landed between two largish crystals. Morier began fumbling for it with his free hand.Shamalin sent another Reach spell into the albino before she drifted up to the ceiling. Scrabbling across the cavern's roof, she realized, was the only way for her to orient herself to the bridge. And she only had left one valance of sufficient strength to cast another Reach spell of any sort but the most minor.Karak weathered the uninjured creature's attacks without batting an eye. Its claws and fangs simply couldn't pierce his armor. He in turn was unable to land a telling blow against the one monster that he and Ayremac had previously wounded. The Holy Warrior tried to aid him by flanking the creature, but it seemed impossible; the creature's eyes and limbs were spaced equidistant around its body and it seemed to lack am exploitable blind spot.As he concentrated on locating one, however, the creature found his and clamped its maw painfully down on his elbow. he felt the metal couter deform under the strength of the thing's bite, but the armor held.Morier stood up and eagerly drank the contents of the healing draught Huzair had dropped to him. He felt the combination of multiple healing sources working to close his many wounds. He'd taken a single step when the creature that had been fighting him moments ago rose up and bit into Karak's flank. The dwarf roared in surprise and pain as he half-turned toward this new threat.He was surrounded now on three sides and it was enough to distract him, allowing one of the things to strike him with two of its claws. Fortunately his buckler protected him from the slashing talons.Ayremac tried to distract the injured monster, but his morningstar failed to further damage its armored hide. Likewise Karak wasn't able to land a blow.The monster seemed to suffer no such problems striking Ayremac, however. Two of its three claws found his flesh, drawing lines of blood across his cheek and the back of his weapon hand.</blockquote>

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