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Wulf's Collected Story Hour -- FINAL UPDATE 12/25
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<blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 954" data-attributes="member: 94"><p><strong>THE HEART OF NIGHTFANG SPIRE (Part IV)</strong></p><p></p><p><em>For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me,</em></p><p><em> and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. </em></p><p><em>I was not in safety, neither had I rest,</em></p><p><em> neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.</em></p><p></p><p>Wulf waited patiently while the paladin and the pragmatic elf argued over the young girl's fate. The ass-mar wanted to bring her along, "for her own protection," and when the folly of that was pointed out to him, he instead lobbied strongly to call the entire expedition to a halt so they could return her to town. Keldas suggestion was simply to leave her locked up in the abbatoir until they could safely retrieve her.</p><p></p><p>Wulf's solution was simpler still. "Look at 'er, she's a blood doll. Probably vampire spawn already. Just put her out of our misery, right?"</p><p></p><p>The woman protested. "Please... no! I'm just a scholar, I came here to study more about Gulthias and they captured me..."</p><p></p><p>"Who's Gulthias?" Wulf looked to Keldas, who was once again getting that guilty look in his eyes. </p><p></p><p>"You remember. The vampire from the Sunless Citadel."</p><p></p><p>"No, I <em>don't</em> remember. I remember choppin' up some goblins and kobolds, some twig things and a bugbear or two. I think I would remember a vampire."</p><p></p><p>"I remember..." said Halma, though clearly he was struggling with it. "That big tree at the end, grabbed me and started draining me..."</p><p></p><p>"Gulthias is a TREE?"</p><p></p><p>"No, no," Keldas explained, assuming his usual air of condescension. "The <em>tree</em> grew out of the stake that was driven through Gulthias' heart. But if Gulthias is up and active again, someone must have removed the stake."</p><p></p><p>"What?" Wulf shouted. "<em>I</em> didn't remove any stake! I would <em>definitely</em> remember jerkin' a stake out of a bloody dead vampire! Did <em>you</em> remove the stake? How about <em>you?</em>" He removed his thick finger from Keldas' chest and rounded on Halma. Halma just spread his hands. </p><p></p><p>"GODDAMN PECK!"</p><p></p><p>The woman interjected. "I don't think so. I believe Gulthias has been active for a while now. He has many allies, any one of them could have come to his rescue, to assist him in his mad scheme."</p><p></p><p>Keldas raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"</p><p></p><p>"To bring an ancient red dragon back to life and spread his infinite power and evil influence across the entire land."</p><p></p><p>"Oh, right, of course." Keldas seemed satisfied.</p><p></p><p>Wulf was still trying to cope with the idea of going up against a vampire, he didn't need a dragon added to the brew. "Don't believe a word of it. Yer can't trust the word of a stinkin' blood doll." He sniffed. "I mean, get a whiff of her, she smells like death."</p><p></p><p>Amazingly, Dorn seemed close to agreement with Wulf. "I don't trust her either... Here, drink this." He handed the girl a flask of holy water. She downed it without hesitation or discomfort.</p><p></p><p>Wulf grudgingly conceded. "Still doesn't solve the problem of what to do with her."</p><p></p><p>It was Halma who came up with the only reasonable solution. "Put her outside and let her head for town. I'll send Grrr with her to protect her." Wulf nodded; it wasn't as if Halma's little bear was going to be of any use in the tower.</p><p></p><p>The girl thanked them profusely, and off she went. Wulf called to her as they parted ways. "What kind of spellcaster was this Gulthias, priest or wizard?"</p><p></p><p>The answer came floating back through the cold air. "Wizard!"</p><p></p><p>They found that strangely reassuring.</p><p></p><p>---------------------------</p><p></p><p>Deeper still they headed into the tower, working their way around every room of the tower, looking for the next staircase down. Again and again they were assaulted by shadows, and again and again the paladin and the priests would turn them away. Alliane was the first to voice her concern.</p><p></p><p>"This isn't doing us any good. We've got to kill these shadows once and for all, otherwise they just keep coming back."</p><p></p><p>Keldas agreed. "I don't think it's a good idea to keep retreating, either. Seems like there are more of them every time we come back. Something is creating these shadows."</p><p></p><p>The group nodded in agreement. "All right, it's agreed. Next time we see shadows, we fight."</p><p></p><p>Wulf nodded and turned his attention back to the door in front of him. As usual: no traps, no sounds. He slowly opened the door, revealing a small, clean room decorated with marble. A fancy altar stood at one end, a statuette of a dragon upon the altar. </p><p></p><p>Dorn spoke up from the doorjamb, peering past Wulf's shoulder. "It appears to be... some sort of... shrine."</p><p></p><p>"Aye, right, thank yer very much, <em>professor</em>." Wulf strode into the room. He'd seen little dragon statuettes like that before-- they sold a few from the Sunless Citadel, and they were worth a pretty penny. "I'll just take <em>that</em>, thank yer very muh...mah... mutter-ferkin--"</p><p></p><p>A sixth sense warned Wulf. Before he even heard the click of the trapdoor beneath him, he was somehow aware of the trap. All his varied skills, all his phenomenal dexterity, every last shred of his reflexes forced his muscles into motion. He was diving to the side before he really even knew what was happening. He'd never reacted so fast in his life. He doubted if there was a rogue in all the Realms who could have acted much faster. </p><p></p><p>Fat lot of good it did him. It was as if the hands of the gods had a hold of him, and forcibly shoved him down that infernal chute <em>for the second goddamn time.</em></p><p></p><p><em>More razors.</em> Wulf thought. <em>Oh, yeah, more of the bloody blasted completely superflous razorblades.</em> Wulf was more concerned about the half-mile drop to the ground. <em>Well, at least we're a level or two down from the last trap. That'll knock a good ten, twenty feet off the...</em></p><p></p><p>Wulf landed with a thump. Once again, nothing broken. Nothing serious. He began laughing maniacally. "I TOLD YER BEFORE, YER PRICK, THAT AIN'T GONNA DO IT!"</p><p></p><p>About a dozen shadows came wafting out of the walls to surround Wulf at the base of the tower. </p><p></p><p>"Um, ok, <em>that</em> should do it." The shadows moved in, and Wulf could feel his strength being sapped away. This was deadly serious. "SHADOWS! DORN! HELP!"</p><p></p><p>Dorn heard Wulf's cries and didn't think twice. Halma and the paladin heard as well, and came to help, but after all, they had <em>wings.</em> Now Dorn... Dorn didn't think twice. He just waddled up and flopped into the hole: chute, razorblades, deadly fall-- didn't matter to Dorn.</p><p></p><p>Wulf looked up and saw Dorn falling, his holy symbol held out in front of him as he rocketed into the midst of the swirling mass of shadows. Naturally, Dorn managed to land <em>directly </em>on Wulf's head, like an anvil plummeting out of the sky. Wulf was too impressed to be angry. The shadows were equally impressed, cowering back into the tower, out of sight of Dorn's stern visage-- though truth be told, it was more likely the aasimar, beaming down from above them with his celestial light.</p><p></p><p>Dorn helped Wulf to his feet. "I thought we were going to <em>fight</em> the shadows?"</p><p></p><p>"Oh. Aye... next time."</p><p></p><p>---------------------------</p><p></p><p>After some healing and <em>Restoration</em>, Wulf cut a short piece of rope about five feet long, tied it around his waist, and handed the other end to Dorn. "Yer just hang on to that, in case of any more chutes."</p><p></p><p>"Like a dog on a leash?"</p><p></p><p>"Har har. Twice is enough for me-- I ain't proud."</p><p></p><p>They resumed their sweep of the tower. Just as Wulf was about to grow weary of their diligence-- never finding a trap or hearing any signs of life-- he was rewarded with the sounds of bestial grunting from beyond the latest door. <em>At last, something flesh and blood to hack on.</em> Wulf could only rant and rail at the sky, or swing his axe through shadows, for so long. He wanted the satisfying <em>thunk</em> of mortal combat.</p><p></p><p>The group readied themselves and Halma booted the door. Wulf didn't have time to really register what he was looking at-- about a dozen four-armed albino gorillas-- he just started slinging daggers out of his bandolier as fast as he could throw them. Cherry-blossoms sprouted across the chest of the first gorilla in all the vital spots Wulf had aimed for.</p><p></p><p><em>Damn, if it's not nice to surprise summat every once in a while... summat with some kidneys to pulverize.</em></p><p></p><p>The gorillas' surprise didn't last long, however. A familiar form stepped up from the back of the room-- it was the mummy they'd already fought upstairs. </p><p></p><p>Halma stepped forward, his greatsword at the ready. "I thought we killed that mummy?"</p><p></p><p>Apparently not. At the mummy's urging the gorillas surged forward, each crowding around, trying to use their impressive reach to grab at the party outside the door. The first pair of them got a hold of Wulf and nearly pounded him into paste. A couple more grabbed hold of Halma and just started... ripping him in half. His chain shirt would hold but Wulf could see Halma's blood gushing out of multiple wounds.</p><p></p><p>Wulf staggered back out of the doorway. "This is bad! This is <em>very very</em> bad!"</p><p></p><p>They couldn't back up. Keldas had come forward so that he could see into the room, and was already casting. As he finished his spell dozens of black tendrils sprang up inside the gorillas' room, flailing, grabbing, and smashing at anything they could reach. </p><p></p><p>Wulf noticed that Dorn was shouting, "Shut the door!" There was no way. The black tentacles were flailing around <em>through the doorway</em> and Wulf wasn't about to get any closer to <em>that</em> either. </p><p></p><p>Halma stepped up, flailing away with his greatsword, oblivious of the tentacles, beating back the closest gorilla. Wulf saw it drop just as the mummy led the gorillas to retreat into an adjacent room. Dorn managed to get the door shut and they listened to the sound of the tendrils smashing the room to pieces. </p><p></p><p>"That's going to go on for hours," Keldas assured them. "We need to find another way."</p><p></p><p>Wulf looked as his rough map. "Well, we saw them flee north... that door had to open onto a room right about <em>here.</em>"</p><p></p><p>They all looked at the map. The critters were just on the opposite side of the hallway wall.</p><p></p><p>"Right! Let's do this right!" Dorn and Alliane were already plying their healing wands across the hideous wounds that Wulf and Halma had suffered. The paladin listened to Keldas, Wulf, and Halma as they huddled together, discussing plans they'd clearly used before. "<em>Rapid Strikes... Haste... Displacement... Improved Invisibility... Magic Circle Against Evil...</em> Oh, and don't forget the Umber Hulk!"</p><p></p><p>When it was all said and done, Keldas was <em>hasted</em> and <em>polymorphed</em>, Halma was <em>displaced</em>, and Wulf was the <em>invisible, rapid striking</em> avatar of death incarnate. Alliane stood in the back with her <em>magic circle</em> to protect them all. </p><p></p><p>Dorn licked his thumb and tested the edge of his great axe, just in case, but he was all about the <em>Flame Strike</em>.</p><p></p><p>When they were ready, they quietly snuck to a new location in the hallway and Keldas ripped a hole through the wall. </p><p></p><p>The gorillas were ready for them, and the party didn't have to wait long to figure out how. Three vampires coalesced out of the mist at their feet, attacking their rear, while the gorillas, who were already ringed around the open hole, started reaching through to beat them senseless.</p><p></p><p>Keldas, Alliane, and the paladin had to turn their attention to the vampires. Keldas couldn't cast spells in his umber hulk form so he started shredding the undead with his powerful claws. Alliane did the best she could and the paladin cast <em>Divine Sacrifice</em>, draining his own lifeforce to add power to his blows.</p><p></p><p>Up front, things were ugly. Halma was taking incredible punishment, despite his <em>displacement</em>. Yet neither he nor Wulf was close enough to launch any attacks of their own-- the gorillas had reach, and the only open space near them was a single spot just inside the hole-- surrounded on all sides by gorillas. </p><p></p><p>"Someone's got to get in there!" shouted Halma.</p><p></p><p>Wulf took a look at the wide, flat noses of the gorillas and the flaw in his <em>invisibility</em> plan became apparent. The things could detect his scent. "No!" Wulf shouted. "Move out, back up the hallway and draw them out one at a time!"</p><p></p><p>They heard a <em>Flame Strike</em> erupt in the room. Dorn was doing his part.</p><p></p><p>"I'm going in!" yelled Halma.</p><p></p><p>"No yer not! Back up!"</p><p></p><p>"I'm going in!" Halma readied his greatsword to leap through the hole.</p><p></p><p>"God damn yer, Halma! I'm not bloody well going to let yer get killed!"</p><p></p><p>Wulf dived through the hole and started hacking away. As the gorillas fell away from him he noticed several mohrgg shuffle up from the back, their pestilent tongues wagging towards him, trying to infect him with <em>God-knows-what</em>. "Get away from me, yer filthy bastards!"</p><p></p><p>Wulf lost track of the number of blows he landed, or the number of times he himself was struck, but when it was all over, there was a big pile of dead bad guys at their feet. </p><p></p><p>And Halma, the brave young fool, was still alive.</p><p></p><p>---------------------------</p><p></p><p>They decided to rest for the night, digest what they'd learned, and return stronger. For starters, Alliane was taking more <em>Holy Smite</em> spells to deal with the shadows, and both Keldas and Dorn were adding different spells to their repertoire in case of more gorillas.</p><p></p><p>Despite the fear that their resting time would only give the tower's inhabitants time to recover, they met they new day enthusiastically, and were pleased to find the tower mostly inactive. Their long trip back to the site of their previous battle was uneventful, and they easily found the staircase down to the next level.</p><p></p><p>The stairs opened out onto another long hallway. Shadows and spectres assaulted them again, but they were easily overcome. Wulf's new bone dagger, it seemed, had the <em>ghost touch</em> as well, and <em>Taranak</em> lingered long on Wulf's belt while the bone dagger went to work. Now, the party was not just driving these evil spirits off-- they were putting them to rest, for good.</p><p></p><p>Wulf was the first to cross through the archway into the next room, moving stealthily, and he froze at the sight of the three figures at the end of the hall. Gorillas, again, only this time they were the stitched-up remnants of bodies long dead. <em>Flesh golems,</em> thought Wulf. He failed to notice the red, scaly skin of the third and largest golem. </p><p></p><p>The creatures hadn't moved yet, and acting on his limited knowledge of such things, Wulf assumed they were programmed to attack in response to a certain action. Entering the room had not brought them to life, so he gestured the others to enter behind him and form a fighting wedge. Keldas would start the show with an <em>acid breath</em> spell, and Dorn's <em>flame strike</em> could probably do the rest.</p><p></p><p>As soon as the entire party was assembled into a tight group at the end of the hall, the golems suddenly came alive, as if they had been waiting or planning the whole time. The scaly one took a short step past its fellows and breathed a cone of punishing flame across the entire party. Wulf's reflexes spared him any injury, of course, but the rest of the group was severely burned. The other two golems stood, waiting.</p><p></p><p>Before Wulf could really assess the situation, Halma had already drawn his greatsword and was looking towards him for permission to charge. Wulf thought back to the previous day and decided there was no harm in letting Halma have a little fun. "Take 'em!"</p><p></p><p>Halma sprinted across the hall, his sword held high. As he passed into the reach of each of the golems, they swung their leathery fists at him, nearly knocking him to his knees. Halma struggled to continue his charge and brought his sword down onto the scaly golem. Whether it was some foul magic or Halma's weakened state, Wulf could not tell, but the blow hardly fazed the creature. </p><p></p><p>Before his comrades even had a chance to act, the two gorilla-golems stepped to either side of Halma, pounding away with four arms each. The scaly one then stepped up, mercilessly, relentlessly, swinging its gnarled fists like sledgehammers.</p><p></p><p>Halma was <strong><em>gone.</em></strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wulf Ratbane, post: 954, member: 94"] [b]THE HEART OF NIGHTFANG SPIRE (Part IV)[/b] [i]For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.[/i] Wulf waited patiently while the paladin and the pragmatic elf argued over the young girl's fate. The ass-mar wanted to bring her along, "for her own protection," and when the folly of that was pointed out to him, he instead lobbied strongly to call the entire expedition to a halt so they could return her to town. Keldas suggestion was simply to leave her locked up in the abbatoir until they could safely retrieve her. Wulf's solution was simpler still. "Look at 'er, she's a blood doll. Probably vampire spawn already. Just put her out of our misery, right?" The woman protested. "Please... no! I'm just a scholar, I came here to study more about Gulthias and they captured me..." "Who's Gulthias?" Wulf looked to Keldas, who was once again getting that guilty look in his eyes. "You remember. The vampire from the Sunless Citadel." "No, I [i]don't[/i] remember. I remember choppin' up some goblins and kobolds, some twig things and a bugbear or two. I think I would remember a vampire." "I remember..." said Halma, though clearly he was struggling with it. "That big tree at the end, grabbed me and started draining me..." "Gulthias is a TREE?" "No, no," Keldas explained, assuming his usual air of condescension. "The [i]tree[/i] grew out of the stake that was driven through Gulthias' heart. But if Gulthias is up and active again, someone must have removed the stake." "What?" Wulf shouted. "[i]I[/i] didn't remove any stake! I would [i]definitely[/i] remember jerkin' a stake out of a bloody dead vampire! Did [i]you[/i] remove the stake? How about [i]you?[/i]" He removed his thick finger from Keldas' chest and rounded on Halma. Halma just spread his hands. "GODDAMN PECK!" The woman interjected. "I don't think so. I believe Gulthias has been active for a while now. He has many allies, any one of them could have come to his rescue, to assist him in his mad scheme." Keldas raised an eyebrow. "Which is?" "To bring an ancient red dragon back to life and spread his infinite power and evil influence across the entire land." "Oh, right, of course." Keldas seemed satisfied. Wulf was still trying to cope with the idea of going up against a vampire, he didn't need a dragon added to the brew. "Don't believe a word of it. Yer can't trust the word of a stinkin' blood doll." He sniffed. "I mean, get a whiff of her, she smells like death." Amazingly, Dorn seemed close to agreement with Wulf. "I don't trust her either... Here, drink this." He handed the girl a flask of holy water. She downed it without hesitation or discomfort. Wulf grudgingly conceded. "Still doesn't solve the problem of what to do with her." It was Halma who came up with the only reasonable solution. "Put her outside and let her head for town. I'll send Grrr with her to protect her." Wulf nodded; it wasn't as if Halma's little bear was going to be of any use in the tower. The girl thanked them profusely, and off she went. Wulf called to her as they parted ways. "What kind of spellcaster was this Gulthias, priest or wizard?" The answer came floating back through the cold air. "Wizard!" They found that strangely reassuring. --------------------------- Deeper still they headed into the tower, working their way around every room of the tower, looking for the next staircase down. Again and again they were assaulted by shadows, and again and again the paladin and the priests would turn them away. Alliane was the first to voice her concern. "This isn't doing us any good. We've got to kill these shadows once and for all, otherwise they just keep coming back." Keldas agreed. "I don't think it's a good idea to keep retreating, either. Seems like there are more of them every time we come back. Something is creating these shadows." The group nodded in agreement. "All right, it's agreed. Next time we see shadows, we fight." Wulf nodded and turned his attention back to the door in front of him. As usual: no traps, no sounds. He slowly opened the door, revealing a small, clean room decorated with marble. A fancy altar stood at one end, a statuette of a dragon upon the altar. Dorn spoke up from the doorjamb, peering past Wulf's shoulder. "It appears to be... some sort of... shrine." "Aye, right, thank yer very much, [i]professor[/i]." Wulf strode into the room. He'd seen little dragon statuettes like that before-- they sold a few from the Sunless Citadel, and they were worth a pretty penny. "I'll just take [i]that[/i], thank yer very muh...mah... mutter-ferkin--" A sixth sense warned Wulf. Before he even heard the click of the trapdoor beneath him, he was somehow aware of the trap. All his varied skills, all his phenomenal dexterity, every last shred of his reflexes forced his muscles into motion. He was diving to the side before he really even knew what was happening. He'd never reacted so fast in his life. He doubted if there was a rogue in all the Realms who could have acted much faster. Fat lot of good it did him. It was as if the hands of the gods had a hold of him, and forcibly shoved him down that infernal chute [i]for the second goddamn time.[/i] [i]More razors.[/i] Wulf thought. [i]Oh, yeah, more of the bloody blasted completely superflous razorblades.[/i] Wulf was more concerned about the half-mile drop to the ground. [i]Well, at least we're a level or two down from the last trap. That'll knock a good ten, twenty feet off the...[/i] Wulf landed with a thump. Once again, nothing broken. Nothing serious. He began laughing maniacally. "I TOLD YER BEFORE, YER PRICK, THAT AIN'T GONNA DO IT!" About a dozen shadows came wafting out of the walls to surround Wulf at the base of the tower. "Um, ok, [i]that[/i] should do it." The shadows moved in, and Wulf could feel his strength being sapped away. This was deadly serious. "SHADOWS! DORN! HELP!" Dorn heard Wulf's cries and didn't think twice. Halma and the paladin heard as well, and came to help, but after all, they had [i]wings.[/i] Now Dorn... Dorn didn't think twice. He just waddled up and flopped into the hole: chute, razorblades, deadly fall-- didn't matter to Dorn. Wulf looked up and saw Dorn falling, his holy symbol held out in front of him as he rocketed into the midst of the swirling mass of shadows. Naturally, Dorn managed to land [i]directly [/i]on Wulf's head, like an anvil plummeting out of the sky. Wulf was too impressed to be angry. The shadows were equally impressed, cowering back into the tower, out of sight of Dorn's stern visage-- though truth be told, it was more likely the aasimar, beaming down from above them with his celestial light. Dorn helped Wulf to his feet. "I thought we were going to [i]fight[/i] the shadows?" "Oh. Aye... next time." --------------------------- After some healing and [i]Restoration[/i], Wulf cut a short piece of rope about five feet long, tied it around his waist, and handed the other end to Dorn. "Yer just hang on to that, in case of any more chutes." "Like a dog on a leash?" "Har har. Twice is enough for me-- I ain't proud." They resumed their sweep of the tower. Just as Wulf was about to grow weary of their diligence-- never finding a trap or hearing any signs of life-- he was rewarded with the sounds of bestial grunting from beyond the latest door. [i]At last, something flesh and blood to hack on.[/i] Wulf could only rant and rail at the sky, or swing his axe through shadows, for so long. He wanted the satisfying [i]thunk[/i] of mortal combat. The group readied themselves and Halma booted the door. Wulf didn't have time to really register what he was looking at-- about a dozen four-armed albino gorillas-- he just started slinging daggers out of his bandolier as fast as he could throw them. Cherry-blossoms sprouted across the chest of the first gorilla in all the vital spots Wulf had aimed for. [i]Damn, if it's not nice to surprise summat every once in a while... summat with some kidneys to pulverize.[/i] The gorillas' surprise didn't last long, however. A familiar form stepped up from the back of the room-- it was the mummy they'd already fought upstairs. Halma stepped forward, his greatsword at the ready. "I thought we killed that mummy?" Apparently not. At the mummy's urging the gorillas surged forward, each crowding around, trying to use their impressive reach to grab at the party outside the door. The first pair of them got a hold of Wulf and nearly pounded him into paste. A couple more grabbed hold of Halma and just started... ripping him in half. His chain shirt would hold but Wulf could see Halma's blood gushing out of multiple wounds. Wulf staggered back out of the doorway. "This is bad! This is [i]very very[/i] bad!" They couldn't back up. Keldas had come forward so that he could see into the room, and was already casting. As he finished his spell dozens of black tendrils sprang up inside the gorillas' room, flailing, grabbing, and smashing at anything they could reach. Wulf noticed that Dorn was shouting, "Shut the door!" There was no way. The black tentacles were flailing around [i]through the doorway[/i] and Wulf wasn't about to get any closer to [i]that[/i] either. Halma stepped up, flailing away with his greatsword, oblivious of the tentacles, beating back the closest gorilla. Wulf saw it drop just as the mummy led the gorillas to retreat into an adjacent room. Dorn managed to get the door shut and they listened to the sound of the tendrils smashing the room to pieces. "That's going to go on for hours," Keldas assured them. "We need to find another way." Wulf looked as his rough map. "Well, we saw them flee north... that door had to open onto a room right about [i]here.[/i]" They all looked at the map. The critters were just on the opposite side of the hallway wall. "Right! Let's do this right!" Dorn and Alliane were already plying their healing wands across the hideous wounds that Wulf and Halma had suffered. The paladin listened to Keldas, Wulf, and Halma as they huddled together, discussing plans they'd clearly used before. "[i]Rapid Strikes... Haste... Displacement... Improved Invisibility... Magic Circle Against Evil...[/i] Oh, and don't forget the Umber Hulk!" When it was all said and done, Keldas was [i]hasted[/i] and [i]polymorphed[/i], Halma was [i]displaced[/i], and Wulf was the [i]invisible, rapid striking[/i] avatar of death incarnate. Alliane stood in the back with her [i]magic circle[/i] to protect them all. Dorn licked his thumb and tested the edge of his great axe, just in case, but he was all about the [i]Flame Strike[/i]. When they were ready, they quietly snuck to a new location in the hallway and Keldas ripped a hole through the wall. The gorillas were ready for them, and the party didn't have to wait long to figure out how. Three vampires coalesced out of the mist at their feet, attacking their rear, while the gorillas, who were already ringed around the open hole, started reaching through to beat them senseless. Keldas, Alliane, and the paladin had to turn their attention to the vampires. Keldas couldn't cast spells in his umber hulk form so he started shredding the undead with his powerful claws. Alliane did the best she could and the paladin cast [i]Divine Sacrifice[/i], draining his own lifeforce to add power to his blows. Up front, things were ugly. Halma was taking incredible punishment, despite his [i]displacement[/i]. Yet neither he nor Wulf was close enough to launch any attacks of their own-- the gorillas had reach, and the only open space near them was a single spot just inside the hole-- surrounded on all sides by gorillas. "Someone's got to get in there!" shouted Halma. Wulf took a look at the wide, flat noses of the gorillas and the flaw in his [i]invisibility[/i] plan became apparent. The things could detect his scent. "No!" Wulf shouted. "Move out, back up the hallway and draw them out one at a time!" They heard a [i]Flame Strike[/i] erupt in the room. Dorn was doing his part. "I'm going in!" yelled Halma. "No yer not! Back up!" "I'm going in!" Halma readied his greatsword to leap through the hole. "God damn yer, Halma! I'm not bloody well going to let yer get killed!" Wulf dived through the hole and started hacking away. As the gorillas fell away from him he noticed several mohrgg shuffle up from the back, their pestilent tongues wagging towards him, trying to infect him with [i]God-knows-what[/i]. "Get away from me, yer filthy bastards!" Wulf lost track of the number of blows he landed, or the number of times he himself was struck, but when it was all over, there was a big pile of dead bad guys at their feet. And Halma, the brave young fool, was still alive. --------------------------- They decided to rest for the night, digest what they'd learned, and return stronger. For starters, Alliane was taking more [i]Holy Smite[/i] spells to deal with the shadows, and both Keldas and Dorn were adding different spells to their repertoire in case of more gorillas. Despite the fear that their resting time would only give the tower's inhabitants time to recover, they met they new day enthusiastically, and were pleased to find the tower mostly inactive. Their long trip back to the site of their previous battle was uneventful, and they easily found the staircase down to the next level. The stairs opened out onto another long hallway. Shadows and spectres assaulted them again, but they were easily overcome. Wulf's new bone dagger, it seemed, had the [i]ghost touch[/i] as well, and [i]Taranak[/i] lingered long on Wulf's belt while the bone dagger went to work. Now, the party was not just driving these evil spirits off-- they were putting them to rest, for good. Wulf was the first to cross through the archway into the next room, moving stealthily, and he froze at the sight of the three figures at the end of the hall. Gorillas, again, only this time they were the stitched-up remnants of bodies long dead. [i]Flesh golems,[/i] thought Wulf. He failed to notice the red, scaly skin of the third and largest golem. The creatures hadn't moved yet, and acting on his limited knowledge of such things, Wulf assumed they were programmed to attack in response to a certain action. Entering the room had not brought them to life, so he gestured the others to enter behind him and form a fighting wedge. Keldas would start the show with an [i]acid breath[/i] spell, and Dorn's [i]flame strike[/i] could probably do the rest. As soon as the entire party was assembled into a tight group at the end of the hall, the golems suddenly came alive, as if they had been waiting or planning the whole time. The scaly one took a short step past its fellows and breathed a cone of punishing flame across the entire party. Wulf's reflexes spared him any injury, of course, but the rest of the group was severely burned. The other two golems stood, waiting. Before Wulf could really assess the situation, Halma had already drawn his greatsword and was looking towards him for permission to charge. Wulf thought back to the previous day and decided there was no harm in letting Halma have a little fun. "Take 'em!" Halma sprinted across the hall, his sword held high. As he passed into the reach of each of the golems, they swung their leathery fists at him, nearly knocking him to his knees. Halma struggled to continue his charge and brought his sword down onto the scaly golem. Whether it was some foul magic or Halma's weakened state, Wulf could not tell, but the blow hardly fazed the creature. Before his comrades even had a chance to act, the two gorilla-golems stepped to either side of Halma, pounding away with four arms each. The scaly one then stepped up, mercilessly, relentlessly, swinging its gnarled fists like sledgehammers. Halma was [b][i]gone.[/i][/b] [/QUOTE]
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Wulf's Collected Story Hour -- FINAL UPDATE 12/25
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