NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 1255893" data-attributes="member: 1210">The Assault on the Academy, part 2The scream of the crawling head is the kind of (literally) heart-stopping sound that is impossible to describe.  It’s full of loss and anger and hate, and it’s the vocal equivalent of dragging steel fingernails across a titanium chalkboard when you’ve got a shattered wrist.  It’s horrible, horrible; and it could drive the life right out of anyone without the fortitude to withstand it.*Without exception, our heroes live.Ulla and Thrush don’t even pause in their assault on the nalfeshnee.  The shifter’s golem-arms pound the great demon, staggering it, and then Thrush slices it apart with a flower-like pattern of blows.  It falls, dead.  Our heroes are still facing two opponents, but at least they aren’t facing three.“Ware the crawling head!” Patyn cries.  “Those things are dangerous!”  He rushes towards it, channeling an immense burst of positive energy.  Brilliant white light flares from him with a ZOSH!  The light burns the head, great gobbets of flesh blasting loose.  It’s still lumbering up behind Orbius, but he vanishes, leaving a rainbow afterimage, as Lester pulls his cohort to him via the trump contact.  The head gnashes its great brown teeth, bits of them sloughing away as it does so.  Sybele gives up on her sound control and springs to attack the head as well- now she knows her strength is needed, and the group’s sneakiness seems to have failed them anyway.  Her blows mostly fall off the head’s body, though she does inflict some damage.  Grimly, she hopes the thing can’t wail again any time soon... Then it snaps back at her, missing with its great mouth, and lashes at her with the tentacles emerging from the stump of its neck.  The warrior of chaos fends off the first blow with her sword, but the next fleshy tendril grabs her with wiry strength and drags her towards the monster, wrapping her arms as it does so!  She gives a cry and struggles even as the monster gives her a convulsive squeeze.  Meanwhile, Angel takes aim with the Deleter and unleashes its weird, inexplicable power.  A crackling ray zips out, striking the balor in the chest.  The flaming demon growls and spares Angel a glance, but no more.  She herself feels a burst of malaise spreading through her limbs.  Shaking her head to clear her eyes of spots, she glances again at the balor.  No visible effect, but clearly something happened... She manifests displacement and starts moving towards the balor.  Suddenly- thanks to her cloak- she’s got four arms, and two of them can use her falchion.  She’s rushing forward now, moving in on the balor.  Verzavi and Rex spring attacks again, striking it while it’s distracted by Angelfire.  Neither one of them harm it, but Verzavi keeps up her harrying tactics.With a bellowing laugh, the great demon unleashes a firestorm, catching everyone.  The flames roll around the group for an agonizing moment of searing heat, and then our mighty heroes fight on.  Thrush yells for healing even as he approaches the balor, who smiles wickedly at the fighter.  But rather than engaging it in melee, Thrush whips out his bow and starts firing a barrage of arrows at Nazzgarr!  Ulla, meanwhile, shifts into elf form, heals him from a wand, and then turns to glare at the balor again.  Her form is already starting to twist like taffy as she prepares to shift again.Orbius cries, “Your sword, noble solar!  Take it!!”  He extends the great blade forward.  Azekia smiles gratefully and takes back her blade, then turns and aims a mighty blow at the balor.  Where it is cut, it bleeds fire.  Lester flies in at the demon, but even Felix Optima Maxima cannot seem to get through its tough hide!  But even as he flashes by through the air, Azekia stabs the balor again!  Even her blows seem reasonably ineffectual against it, but she is wounding it a little.  Glaring at the solar, the demon steps back a few feet and glances at Lester.  For an instant, a powerful, wicked mind threatens to seize Lester’s body, but with a cry of fear he shakes it off.  I can’t hurt it, Rex thinks; his blows bounced off the demon like raindrops.  He turns and flaps his powerful wings, heading quickly towards the crawling head.  Magic missiles streak past him, blasting into it, even as another brilliant blast of positive energy emanates from the hunter of the dead, who’s still closing in on it.  Sybele finally manages to struggle loose and staggers back a few feet from the rotting head- it seems to have some kind of sacs under its skin.  It’s utterly repugnant.  Then Patyn’s charging into it, swinging his blade, biting chunks of flesh from it.  The head snaps at him with its rotting teeth, taking a chunk of his leg.  Blood pours down his boot but he ignore it.  Another spell blasts into it, but this one fails to affect it.  His blows are barely effective, and he shouts, “Piercing!”  Sybele smiles grimly and backs away, pulling out her great bow.  This is going to be tough, the Eye thinks.***Meanwhile, Ferranifer and the Dim Triad are ready.  She greater teleports them to the fight, and her foes do not notice Blaesing.  They never do, of course- that is what makes him so effective.  So!  Whoever these invaders are, they have a solar! the Mistress of the Academy thinks.  That could be trouble.  She casts banishment but the accursed celestial shrugs her magic off.  Yes, trouble.  That must be her very first priority, indeed.  It’s time to use blackfire.  Firing off a quickened magic missile, she communicates her intentions to the Triad telepathically, and they move like a well-oiled machine playing the part it’s rehearsed for years.***The sudden arrival of a trio (well, that anyone notices) of scary-looking individuals via teleportation doesn’t hearten the party too much.  There’s definitely a tough battle brewing here, and the group has a time limit here- if it takes them too long to find Felenga’s phylactery, he’ll be active again!  Depending on what the Deleter did to him, and how long it lasts- well.  That could be bad, couldn’t it?Absalom, wielding his bastard sword Eel, takes care of the mirror images around Orbius.  Smiling, the villain stares boldly at the Eye as if at his newest piece of treasure.  Rex, stopping midway between the balor and the crawling head, breathes out a line of devastating force at the newly-arrived human and elven women (Ferranifer and Harrow).  Though he doesn’t know it, Blaesing, unseen, dodges the blast, for it goes right through the area she’s occupying.   Harrow grimaces in anger and casts a spell- she’s got a big ol’ falchion monkey gripped in one hand, notes Angelfire to herself with something approaching approval.  Then there’s a burst of orange flame as Lester calls down a flame strike upon the newcomers, catching them all!  A chorus of shouts and cries from them brings a smile to the elementalist’s face, but unknown to him the unseen Blaesing once again evades.The balor, meanwhile, teleports away from the middle of the gang surrounding it to a better location- guarding the entrance it’s supposed to guard.  Orbius has wandered too close, and the terms of Nazzgarr’s contract are clear.  It appears next to the Eye with a deep rumble and flames dripping from its great wings.  With a squeak, Orbius teleports to Azekia’s side, and the evil balor lets out an evil laugh.  Then the solar screams as Ferranifer’s spell takes effect, and black flames flicker into existence around it, burning its very soul.  She writhes with horror, shrieking, “Get away!! Get away!!”  And a flicker of the black flame reaches out towards the Eye, caressing his aura...*Thank god they’d slapped protection from spells on before their assault began, giving them a +8 on saves vs. spell-like abilities!  DC 26 save or die, baby.  But the save or die (or similar effect) type stuff is thick in this battle.  In fact, I’d never run a battle like this before.  It was out of hand.Next Time: More instant death effects!  More 9th-level spells!  More insane, Epic-level battle!</blockquote>

Verification