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<blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 5884" data-attributes="member: 94"><p><strong>DEEP HORIZON Part V</strong></p><p></p><p>Wulf roughly slapped the half-elf, trying to wake her up.</p><p></p><p>“Further beating isn’t likely to work,” suggested Alliane. She brandished one of the weaker <em>wands of healing.</em> “Let’s try this instead.”</p><p></p><p>With a bit of healing the half-elf was soon awake. If she was disturbed at the sight of her comrades lying dead around her, or the embittered dwarf leering over her with his hands quivering over his weapons, she didn’t show it. She played it cool, and Wulf respected that.</p><p></p><p>“Let’s be frank: Yer continued health and good fortune is dependent on yer immediate cooperation. What’s in the hole? Any nasty surprises in there?”</p><p></p><p>She looked at the velvet cloth in Wulf’s hand. “Nothing bad. I keep a <em>carpet of flying</em> in there.”</p><p></p><p>Wulf screwed up his eyes and tried to decide if she was lying. She seemed sincere; at any rate the worst that could happen was he’d have an excuse for summary execution. Wulf rolled out the velvet cloth onto the ground, opening up the extra dimensional space: a hole, about six feet across and ten feet deep. There was a carpet at the bottom.</p><p></p><p>“Cool,” said Shorty. “Can I have that?”</p><p></p><p>“Knock yerself out.” </p><p></p><p>Shorty hopped into the hole and situated himself on the carpet. “What’s the command word?”</p><p></p><p>Wulf looked at the girl and nodded towards the hole. “Well? Don’t disappoint him.”</p><p></p><p>Needless to say, she complied.</p><p></p><p>“What’s yer name, girl?” Wulf was dragging the bodies of her comrades over to the hole. He dug his spiked boots into the first corpse and gave it a good kick. The half-orc rolled into the hole like a felled log.</p><p></p><p>“Arrinna.”</p><p></p><p>“Where would Rourmed and Engram run off to?”</p><p></p><p>“Well… I would guess either to Helkitren, or to Rourmed’s lord.”</p><p></p><p>“Who’s Rourmed’s lord and where can we find him?” Two more bodies tumbled into the <em>portable hole</em>.</p><p></p><p>“Imperagon. He has a fortress on Acheron.”</p><p></p><p>“What is he? Demon o’ some kind?”</p><p></p><p>“No, he’s a half-dragon.”</p><p></p><p>“Oh no you don’t…” Wulf interjected. <em>Not fallin’ for that again.</em> “What’s the <em>other</em> half, right?”</p><p></p><p>“Grey dwarf.”</p><p></p><p>Wulf’s eyebrows shot up. Half-dragon, half-grey dwarf, probably a psion, living on Acheron. “Well, we’re not going <em>there</em>. Yet.” Still, he was anxious to pursue Rourmed and Egram immediately. They really hadn’t used much of their resources driving them off the first time. </p><p></p><p>“Dorn… Yer got any more scrying today?”</p><p></p><p>Dorn shook his head, and Wulf rolled his eyes. “Right, right, that would make too much sense. If only we had some kind of <em>divine oracle</em> right now.” </p><p></p><p>Wulf thought for a moment. “Well, they’re going to get a day to recover no matter how we slice it. Might as well head back to the forge.” Wulf tossed the three fallen desmodu warriors into the hole. He jerked his thumb at the half-elf. “Yer turn. Hop in.”</p><p></p><p>“What are you going to do with me?” she asked. </p><p></p><p>“Ach, really, I have to tell yer, I’m just wingin’ it for now. No plans. Why? What would yer do if I decided to let yer go?”</p><p></p><p>“I would return to Lord Imperagon. I <em>must</em>.”</p><p></p><p>“I appreciate yer honesty, but that was a stupid answer.” Wulf really didn’t want to bother with her, and would have been just as happy to let her go, but there was no way he was going to let her report back to this Imperagon prick, whoever he was. “We’ll hold yer for a while, let the Old Man ask a few questions, he can decide.”</p><p></p><p>They returned to the forge, where Wulf unceremoniously dumped the contents of the <em>portable hole</em>. Wulf’s half-elf prisoner Arrina was seized by rough dwarven hands and led away to a temporary cell elsewhere in the forge. As the Old Man looked on, Wulf laid out the bodies of four desmodu: three warriors and the fallen leader of the explorers, Tarket. “Bring back any of ‘em who wanna come back, right? Can’t imagine there’s much to do in the bat-afterlife.”</p><p></p><p>Wulf and Keldas huddled with Dorn. “How soon before we can track them down?”</p><p></p><p>“I’ll need to rest and recover spells,” said Dorn, already pulling away to retire to his quarters. “At least a day.”</p><p></p><p>Wulf spent the interim making certain of Arrina’s confinement. “I want four guards on her at all times. Nothing personal,” he suggested, looking the girl in the eye. “I’d still like to see if I can’t find a way out of all this for yer.”</p><p></p><p>“I will die if I don’t return to Imperagon.”</p><p></p><p>“Sorry bout yer luck, then.”</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Wulf went to join Dorn, and in time, the entire group assembled again for another attempt at Rourmed and Engram. </p><p></p><p>“I only got a little bit of scrying today,” Dorn explained. “If we find ‘em, I wanted to be ready to attack.”</p><p></p><p>“Aye, yer wouldn’t want anyone to mistake yer for a font of wisdom.”</p><p></p><p>“Shaddup… Let’s just look in on Rourmed, shall we?”</p><p></p><p>Wulf grabbed his arm. “No, wait. Start with Helkitren.”</p><p></p><p>“Why?”</p><p></p><p>“Well, I figure Rourmed’s going to have himself protected from scrying, right? Probably Engram, too.”</p><p></p><p>“Right, with ya so far.”</p><p></p><p>“There’s only two places they’ll go: Imperagon or Helkitren. And since we don’t wanna tip our hand to Imperagon…”</p><p></p><p>“And since I can’t scry into other planes anyway,” Dorn interjected.</p><p></p><p>“… So just focus in on Helkitren, right? If Rourmed’s with him we’ll know right away.”</p><p></p><p>Dorn cast his <em>scrying</em> and focused in immediately on Helkitren, the lord of the salamanders. Sure enough, he was seated at table with Rourmed, Engram, and several important looking Ignan dignitaries, including an efreeti noble.</p><p></p><p>“… the balance of the shipment…” he was saying, when he stopped abruptly, suddenly alerted to the scrying. He sighed, clearly frustrated. “Engram…”</p><p></p><p>The sensor was suddenly blanketed in darkness.</p><p></p><p>“Ach, well… They know we’re coming.”</p><p></p><p>“Are we?” said Dorn, clearly in disagreement with that ploy. “I say we wait until tomorrow so I can ply us with <em>protection from fire</em> spells.”</p><p></p><p>“But if we wait until tomorrow, <em>they</em> will have time to prepare as well! I say we hit ‘em now!”</p><p></p><p>They wasted precious minutes arguing back and forth before Dorn finally made a suggestion. “Well, I got a <em>divination</em>, let’s see what Haela suggests.”</p><p></p><p>Wulf rolled his eyes, already all too familiar with Haela’s track record. “Whatever.”</p><p></p><p>Dorn cast his runes, beseeching Haela for wisdom: <em>Attack now or wait until the morrow?</em></p><p></p><p>Sure enough, he was answered with the usual non-committal mumbo-jumbo: some vague admonition that ‘being prepared was good, yep’ and this jewel of foresight: “They will know the moment of your arrival.”</p><p></p><p>Of course, Dorn took that as proof that the attack should be delayed, but Wulf was mightily perplexed. The entire portent smacked of determinism-- which he resisted with every fibre of his being.</p><p></p><p>“Now just hang on a second,” he suggested, trying to wrap his mind around the seeming paradox, his anger coming to a slow boil. “If they know exactly when we’re coming… well, that could be five minutes from now, right? How could Haela answer that with any clarity? How does <em>she</em> know what we’re going to decide?” Wulf raised his eyes and his fist to the sky. “WE HAVEN’T EVEN DECIDED YET!”</p><p></p><p>Wulf gathered himself. “We’re going now.” He waved aside Dorn’s protest. “We’re going now. Look, I’m not gettin jerked around by Haela or anybody else’s god. So either I’m gonna surprise 'em, or I’m donna do EXACTLY what she already knows we’re gonna do anyway. If she had a problem with it she coulda said so. We go NOW.”</p><p></p><p>While he spoke, everyone was slowly won over to Wulf’s point of view. While Wulf paced back and forth, scowling and urging them all to hurry, the others scrambled to prepare themselves with spells: Karak broke out his scrolls, Keldas and Alliane huddled together, Shorty and Loyal did the same. “Time’s a wastin! They know when we’re comin’, remember? Every second yer give em now is more time for them to prepare a welcoming committee!”</p><p></p><p>Shorty tapped Wulf to get his attention. “Uhhh, Dorn is the only one who saw the area to teleport in…”</p><p></p><p>Dorn hadn’t been easy to persuade, and now that his course was set, he wasn’t about to let a little thing like that change his mind. “I’ll draw a ferkin’ MAP, you guys can take yer chances!”</p><p></p><p>Keldas tapped Wulf lightly, preparing him with an <em>Improved Invisibility</em>. His disembodied voice called out to them as he unfurled his <em>portable hole</em> on the ground. “We’re not leavin’ anything to chance!” he shouted. </p><p></p><p>“Now… Who’s goin’ in the hole?”</p><p></p><p>Only after all their preparations were finished, and the clock was ticking on their battle spells, and he was looking down into the <em>portable hole</em> at the faces of his allies-- Karak, Alliane, and Loyal-- did Wulf start to have second thoughts. He gripped the edge of the magic velvet and prepared to close up the hole. He figured they had a couple minutes of breathable air, tops, before they suffocated inside the extradimensional space.</p><p></p><p>“Yer all sure about this, right?” Wulf hoped they couldn’t hear it in his voice: the eleventh hour desperation, seeking, at the least, a release of culpability.</p><p></p><p>“Just make sure you get this hole open as soon as you can,” said Karak. </p><p></p><p>Wulf nodded. “Ach… Well… If I don’t open it within 30 seconds, yer can bet we’re buggered to hell an’ back-- an’ yer probably better off in there.”</p><p></p><p>Wulf rolled up the hole and tucked it into his belt.</p><p></p><p>“Ready?” asked Dorn. </p><p></p><p>Wulf nodded and stepped in next to Shorty and Keldas. “Just make sure yer don’t miss,” said Wulf. “Be a shame to <em>teleport</em> into all the lava down there.”</p><p></p><p>“Don’t worry,” said Dorn. “Haela’s got this one. I feel <em>lucky.</em>”</p><p></p><p>Sure enough, they were spot on: just a few feet in front of the conference table. Wulf was among the first to assess the situation. “Flamin’ hell…”</p><p></p><p>Seated at the table were Helkitren, the salamander noble; Rourmed and Engram, and a large eagle; an elf in full plate and two astral constructs; an efreet-- and a noble at that, no mistake; and around the room he spotted three or four more salamanders, four hell-hounds, and a half-dozen bone devils. But what really caught Wulf’s eye was the big insect devil standing right in front of them, and the gargantuan-sized fire elemental behind them. Wulf had flashbacks of the massive fire-thing they’d fought in Nightfang Spire.</p><p></p><p>“Ach, we’re f---“</p><p></p><p>Before he even had time to finish his thought-- which thought was, of course, to sound an immediate retreat--Keldas sprang to action. A single word of power sprang from his lips, and Engram was <em>stunned</em>. The poor bastard didn’t even have a chance to <em>think</em> about resisting.</p><p></p><p>The element of surprise was over, but Keldas made no show of slowing down. A tiny iron rod danced between his fingers at dizzying speed as he flung his arm towards the towering elemental. “Hold!”</p><p></p><p>Keldas knew it was a long-shot, but it paid off. The thing was paralyzed. His left hand flew out in the opposite direction. The merest moment passed, just long enough for a look of surprise to reflect infinitely in its multifaceted eyes, and then the thing was <em>disintegrated.</em></p><p></p><p>“Ach!" said Wulf. “That was lucky!”</p><p></p><p>"Believe me, you have no idea," said Keldas, though he'd clearly surprised even himself.</p><p></p><p>The enemy finally broke free of their stupor and moved to action. A thick <em>wall of ice</em> sprang up, neatly enclosing the small group of heroes. “That’s bloody annoying,” said Dorn, already preparing to dispel it. “But at least they’re playin’ defense!”</p><p></p><p>True enough, from outside the ice the enemy was busy, desperately trying to dispel the effect of the <em>power word</em> that had hobbled their own wizard. From somewhere above them, invisible efreet used their innate abilities, one after another, until finally Engram was freed.</p><p></p><p>Wulf grabbed the <em>portable hole</em> from his belt and held it ready. As soon as Dorn dispelled the wall of ice, Wulf moved forward and threw open the hole, right into the vacant spot left by the massive insect-demon. Wulf looked down into the faces of his allies. “Moooooove!” he shouted, pulling his dagger from his belt and setting <em>Taranak</em> ablaze.</p><p></p><p>The hell-hounds, profoundly unimpressed by everything the two-legs were up to, charged up to surround Keldas and Shorty. Several of Keldas’ mirror images were dispersed, and Shorty too was bitten and scorched, but it only served to annoy the little halfling. Ignoring the snapping jaws of the hell-hounds, he mustered his concentration and sent blast after blast of <em>chain lightning</em> thundering through the room. The stench of ozone filled the air as all of the hell-hounds and both of the astral constructs were completely obliterated.</p><p></p><p>Several efreeti surrounded Wulf, calmly reaching out to touch him. Wulf winced, expecting a one-way trip to the Elemental Plane of Fire, but amazingly enough, their phenomenal luck held: Wulf bobbed and weaved and <em>somehow</em>, against the odds, avoided the deadly <em>plane shift</em>. </p><p></p><p>By the time Karak came flying out of the <em>portable hole</em>, engulfed in a blinding aura of holy power, and smote the noble efreet with a powerful blow, the enemy was broken. Rourmed grabbed Engram and Helkitren and disappeared in a flash, and after they were gone, everything that <em>could</em> escape wasted no time doing so, leaving the unfortunate elf-in-plate alone against the party.</p><p></p><p>As his weapons whistled down on the foe, singing the axe-and-sap lullabye, Wulf heard the elf mutter briefly, “Not again…”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wulf Ratbane, post: 5884, member: 94"] [b]DEEP HORIZON Part V[/b] Wulf roughly slapped the half-elf, trying to wake her up. “Further beating isn’t likely to work,” suggested Alliane. She brandished one of the weaker [I]wands of healing.[/I] “Let’s try this instead.” With a bit of healing the half-elf was soon awake. If she was disturbed at the sight of her comrades lying dead around her, or the embittered dwarf leering over her with his hands quivering over his weapons, she didn’t show it. She played it cool, and Wulf respected that. “Let’s be frank: Yer continued health and good fortune is dependent on yer immediate cooperation. What’s in the hole? Any nasty surprises in there?” She looked at the velvet cloth in Wulf’s hand. “Nothing bad. I keep a [I]carpet of flying[/I] in there.” Wulf screwed up his eyes and tried to decide if she was lying. She seemed sincere; at any rate the worst that could happen was he’d have an excuse for summary execution. Wulf rolled out the velvet cloth onto the ground, opening up the extra dimensional space: a hole, about six feet across and ten feet deep. There was a carpet at the bottom. “Cool,” said Shorty. “Can I have that?” “Knock yerself out.” Shorty hopped into the hole and situated himself on the carpet. “What’s the command word?” Wulf looked at the girl and nodded towards the hole. “Well? Don’t disappoint him.” Needless to say, she complied. “What’s yer name, girl?” Wulf was dragging the bodies of her comrades over to the hole. He dug his spiked boots into the first corpse and gave it a good kick. The half-orc rolled into the hole like a felled log. “Arrinna.” “Where would Rourmed and Engram run off to?” “Well… I would guess either to Helkitren, or to Rourmed’s lord.” “Who’s Rourmed’s lord and where can we find him?” Two more bodies tumbled into the [I]portable hole[/I]. “Imperagon. He has a fortress on Acheron.” “What is he? Demon o’ some kind?” “No, he’s a half-dragon.” “Oh no you don’t…” Wulf interjected. [I]Not fallin’ for that again.[/I] “What’s the [I]other[/I] half, right?” “Grey dwarf.” Wulf’s eyebrows shot up. Half-dragon, half-grey dwarf, probably a psion, living on Acheron. “Well, we’re not going [I]there[/I]. Yet.” Still, he was anxious to pursue Rourmed and Egram immediately. They really hadn’t used much of their resources driving them off the first time. “Dorn… Yer got any more scrying today?” Dorn shook his head, and Wulf rolled his eyes. “Right, right, that would make too much sense. If only we had some kind of [I]divine oracle[/I] right now.” Wulf thought for a moment. “Well, they’re going to get a day to recover no matter how we slice it. Might as well head back to the forge.” Wulf tossed the three fallen desmodu warriors into the hole. He jerked his thumb at the half-elf. “Yer turn. Hop in.” “What are you going to do with me?” she asked. “Ach, really, I have to tell yer, I’m just wingin’ it for now. No plans. Why? What would yer do if I decided to let yer go?” “I would return to Lord Imperagon. I [I]must[/I].” “I appreciate yer honesty, but that was a stupid answer.” Wulf really didn’t want to bother with her, and would have been just as happy to let her go, but there was no way he was going to let her report back to this Imperagon prick, whoever he was. “We’ll hold yer for a while, let the Old Man ask a few questions, he can decide.” They returned to the forge, where Wulf unceremoniously dumped the contents of the [I]portable hole[/I]. Wulf’s half-elf prisoner Arrina was seized by rough dwarven hands and led away to a temporary cell elsewhere in the forge. As the Old Man looked on, Wulf laid out the bodies of four desmodu: three warriors and the fallen leader of the explorers, Tarket. “Bring back any of ‘em who wanna come back, right? Can’t imagine there’s much to do in the bat-afterlife.” Wulf and Keldas huddled with Dorn. “How soon before we can track them down?” “I’ll need to rest and recover spells,” said Dorn, already pulling away to retire to his quarters. “At least a day.” Wulf spent the interim making certain of Arrina’s confinement. “I want four guards on her at all times. Nothing personal,” he suggested, looking the girl in the eye. “I’d still like to see if I can’t find a way out of all this for yer.” “I will die if I don’t return to Imperagon.” “Sorry bout yer luck, then.” ***** Wulf went to join Dorn, and in time, the entire group assembled again for another attempt at Rourmed and Engram. “I only got a little bit of scrying today,” Dorn explained. “If we find ‘em, I wanted to be ready to attack.” “Aye, yer wouldn’t want anyone to mistake yer for a font of wisdom.” “Shaddup… Let’s just look in on Rourmed, shall we?” Wulf grabbed his arm. “No, wait. Start with Helkitren.” “Why?” “Well, I figure Rourmed’s going to have himself protected from scrying, right? Probably Engram, too.” “Right, with ya so far.” “There’s only two places they’ll go: Imperagon or Helkitren. And since we don’t wanna tip our hand to Imperagon…” “And since I can’t scry into other planes anyway,” Dorn interjected. “… So just focus in on Helkitren, right? If Rourmed’s with him we’ll know right away.” Dorn cast his [I]scrying[/I] and focused in immediately on Helkitren, the lord of the salamanders. Sure enough, he was seated at table with Rourmed, Engram, and several important looking Ignan dignitaries, including an efreeti noble. “… the balance of the shipment…” he was saying, when he stopped abruptly, suddenly alerted to the scrying. He sighed, clearly frustrated. “Engram…” The sensor was suddenly blanketed in darkness. “Ach, well… They know we’re coming.” “Are we?” said Dorn, clearly in disagreement with that ploy. “I say we wait until tomorrow so I can ply us with [I]protection from fire[/I] spells.” “But if we wait until tomorrow, [I]they[/I] will have time to prepare as well! I say we hit ‘em now!” They wasted precious minutes arguing back and forth before Dorn finally made a suggestion. “Well, I got a [I]divination[/I], let’s see what Haela suggests.” Wulf rolled his eyes, already all too familiar with Haela’s track record. “Whatever.” Dorn cast his runes, beseeching Haela for wisdom: [i]Attack now or wait until the morrow?[/i] Sure enough, he was answered with the usual non-committal mumbo-jumbo: some vague admonition that ‘being prepared was good, yep’ and this jewel of foresight: “They will know the moment of your arrival.” Of course, Dorn took that as proof that the attack should be delayed, but Wulf was mightily perplexed. The entire portent smacked of determinism-- which he resisted with every fibre of his being. “Now just hang on a second,” he suggested, trying to wrap his mind around the seeming paradox, his anger coming to a slow boil. “If they know exactly when we’re coming… well, that could be five minutes from now, right? How could Haela answer that with any clarity? How does [I]she[/I] know what we’re going to decide?” Wulf raised his eyes and his fist to the sky. “WE HAVEN’T EVEN DECIDED YET!” Wulf gathered himself. “We’re going now.” He waved aside Dorn’s protest. “We’re going now. Look, I’m not gettin jerked around by Haela or anybody else’s god. So either I’m gonna surprise 'em, or I’m donna do EXACTLY what she already knows we’re gonna do anyway. If she had a problem with it she coulda said so. We go NOW.” While he spoke, everyone was slowly won over to Wulf’s point of view. While Wulf paced back and forth, scowling and urging them all to hurry, the others scrambled to prepare themselves with spells: Karak broke out his scrolls, Keldas and Alliane huddled together, Shorty and Loyal did the same. “Time’s a wastin! They know when we’re comin’, remember? Every second yer give em now is more time for them to prepare a welcoming committee!” Shorty tapped Wulf to get his attention. “Uhhh, Dorn is the only one who saw the area to teleport in…” Dorn hadn’t been easy to persuade, and now that his course was set, he wasn’t about to let a little thing like that change his mind. “I’ll draw a ferkin’ MAP, you guys can take yer chances!” Keldas tapped Wulf lightly, preparing him with an [I]Improved Invisibility[/I]. His disembodied voice called out to them as he unfurled his [I]portable hole[/I] on the ground. “We’re not leavin’ anything to chance!” he shouted. “Now… Who’s goin’ in the hole?” Only after all their preparations were finished, and the clock was ticking on their battle spells, and he was looking down into the [I]portable hole[/I] at the faces of his allies-- Karak, Alliane, and Loyal-- did Wulf start to have second thoughts. He gripped the edge of the magic velvet and prepared to close up the hole. He figured they had a couple minutes of breathable air, tops, before they suffocated inside the extradimensional space. “Yer all sure about this, right?” Wulf hoped they couldn’t hear it in his voice: the eleventh hour desperation, seeking, at the least, a release of culpability. “Just make sure you get this hole open as soon as you can,” said Karak. Wulf nodded. “Ach… Well… If I don’t open it within 30 seconds, yer can bet we’re buggered to hell an’ back-- an’ yer probably better off in there.” Wulf rolled up the hole and tucked it into his belt. “Ready?” asked Dorn. Wulf nodded and stepped in next to Shorty and Keldas. “Just make sure yer don’t miss,” said Wulf. “Be a shame to [I]teleport[/I] into all the lava down there.” “Don’t worry,” said Dorn. “Haela’s got this one. I feel [I]lucky.[/I]” Sure enough, they were spot on: just a few feet in front of the conference table. Wulf was among the first to assess the situation. “Flamin’ hell…” Seated at the table were Helkitren, the salamander noble; Rourmed and Engram, and a large eagle; an elf in full plate and two astral constructs; an efreet-- and a noble at that, no mistake; and around the room he spotted three or four more salamanders, four hell-hounds, and a half-dozen bone devils. But what really caught Wulf’s eye was the big insect devil standing right in front of them, and the gargantuan-sized fire elemental behind them. Wulf had flashbacks of the massive fire-thing they’d fought in Nightfang Spire. “Ach, we’re f---“ Before he even had time to finish his thought-- which thought was, of course, to sound an immediate retreat--Keldas sprang to action. A single word of power sprang from his lips, and Engram was [I]stunned[/I]. The poor bastard didn’t even have a chance to [I]think[/I] about resisting. The element of surprise was over, but Keldas made no show of slowing down. A tiny iron rod danced between his fingers at dizzying speed as he flung his arm towards the towering elemental. “Hold!” Keldas knew it was a long-shot, but it paid off. The thing was paralyzed. His left hand flew out in the opposite direction. The merest moment passed, just long enough for a look of surprise to reflect infinitely in its multifaceted eyes, and then the thing was [I]disintegrated.[/I] “Ach!" said Wulf. “That was lucky!” "Believe me, you have no idea," said Keldas, though he'd clearly surprised even himself. The enemy finally broke free of their stupor and moved to action. A thick [I]wall of ice[/I] sprang up, neatly enclosing the small group of heroes. “That’s bloody annoying,” said Dorn, already preparing to dispel it. “But at least they’re playin’ defense!” True enough, from outside the ice the enemy was busy, desperately trying to dispel the effect of the [I]power word[/I] that had hobbled their own wizard. From somewhere above them, invisible efreet used their innate abilities, one after another, until finally Engram was freed. Wulf grabbed the [I]portable hole[/I] from his belt and held it ready. As soon as Dorn dispelled the wall of ice, Wulf moved forward and threw open the hole, right into the vacant spot left by the massive insect-demon. Wulf looked down into the faces of his allies. “Moooooove!” he shouted, pulling his dagger from his belt and setting [I]Taranak[/I] ablaze. The hell-hounds, profoundly unimpressed by everything the two-legs were up to, charged up to surround Keldas and Shorty. Several of Keldas’ mirror images were dispersed, and Shorty too was bitten and scorched, but it only served to annoy the little halfling. Ignoring the snapping jaws of the hell-hounds, he mustered his concentration and sent blast after blast of [I]chain lightning[/I] thundering through the room. The stench of ozone filled the air as all of the hell-hounds and both of the astral constructs were completely obliterated. Several efreeti surrounded Wulf, calmly reaching out to touch him. Wulf winced, expecting a one-way trip to the Elemental Plane of Fire, but amazingly enough, their phenomenal luck held: Wulf bobbed and weaved and [I]somehow[/I], against the odds, avoided the deadly [I]plane shift[/I]. By the time Karak came flying out of the [I]portable hole[/I], engulfed in a blinding aura of holy power, and smote the noble efreet with a powerful blow, the enemy was broken. Rourmed grabbed Engram and Helkitren and disappeared in a flash, and after they were gone, everything that [I]could[/I] escape wasted no time doing so, leaving the unfortunate elf-in-plate alone against the party. As his weapons whistled down on the foe, singing the axe-and-sap lullabye, Wulf heard the elf mutter briefly, “Not again…” [/QUOTE]
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Wulf's Collected Story Hour -- FINAL UPDATE 12/25
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