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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 738840" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #211] Catching a Break[/PLAIN]Ixin took a hesitant step back and bumped into a tree. She pressed her right hand against her aching ribs and grimaced at the agony that stabbed her with each movement. She doubted whether she'd have the stamina to cast a spell or even be able to focus her mind enough with the grating pain in her side. But she had to do something. With her left hand she drew open her Cloak of Many Pouches, freeing Martivir from the extra-dimensional space where he often sheltered. The owl spread his wings and was airborne even before he fully cleared his safe haven. He circled upward silently, adding his keen sense to Ixin's own as he surveyed the battlefield.Finian, of course, didn't see the familiar take flight; he was much too preoccupied with the tentacled aberration that lashed at him from the tree below. In his youth, Finian had seen the so-called wild elves of Spiney Wood move through the branches of the mammoth conifers that were their homes as easily and as quickly as he could run along the forest floor below. His father had called them "tree toppers" and, while Finian had spent most of his life immersing himself in nature, he had never attained the level of affinity necessary to perfect the art of tree stepping. That didn't stop him from trying, though.He flexed and jumped the six feet to a stout branch on a nearby tree. The Slippers of Spider Climbing clung tenaciously to the limb and he swayed in the air dangerously but did not fall. The worm flailed at him, but he was just out of its reach.Ruze eyed the worm scuttling toward them and drew forth his holy symbol. "My Queen," he intoned, "Bless us with thy grace as we face these creatures of chaos!" Ledare, Draelond, and Ixin all felt the presence of divine favor an instant later.Ledare allowed the blessing to guide her aim, and even as the unnatural creature charged toward her she squeezed off a shot from her repeating crossbow. The bolt flew straight and true, sinking deeply into the pinkish flesh surrounding the creature's beaked maw. It squealed in pain but came onward.Draelond met its advance with his weapon and Ravager's jagged blade skewered through the moss-green exoskeleton protecting the thing's head as soon as it came within reach. The bastard sword pinned the head to the ground but its rear legs continued to scuttle forward for a few moments more before realizing that it was dead. Its stinking, bloated body piled up against Draelond and the warrior grunted in disgust.Finian dropped down from his branch and landed lightly in the soft loam. A quick glance over his shoulder showed that the green worm was still pursuing him, but it was slowly reversing its course down the tree trunk rather than attempt the jump that he had. The Archer sprinted across the clearing to rejoin his companions rather than engage the thing on his own.Ledare aimed at the worm and fired as soon as it came into range. The bolt flew wide of its target.Draelond pulled his blade free of the corpse of the first worm and readied himself to meet the charge of the second. It reared up to face the man and exposed its belly to his sword. He split it in half with a single, massive upswing that sent its noxious lifeblood spraying twenty feet into the air. Its corpse thudded to the ground on either side of the big man and he stood there for a moment, breathing heavily through gritted teeth. When he finally turned to face the others, Finian summed up their feelings rather concisely."Wow," he said.-------------------------------(To quote Dr. Midnight) More to come...</blockquote>

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