Alaris's saber flashes twice, tearing through two strix in a row before she drives her seraph blade into the final one, searing off a clawed hand.
Julia roars in fury besides her and dives forwards towards the wounded demon, tearing at it with her claws and rending it clean in two down the middle.
As the last of the mundanes rush out the back into the kitchen, finally clearing the restaurant, the strix throw themselves forwards. Their limbs flail and their cavernous mouths are stretched open in a scream so high-pitched it is almost soundless. Most fail to land a hit on the well trained shadowhunters, finding only armour or air. However, a few strike true. One set of claws rakes across Alaris's scalp, while another cuts into Ling's upper arm. Caio is worst off and takes a bad hit the slices deep into his stomach.
Nikolai sees the last of the mundanes fler through the kitchen and the massive wall of demons flooding around his companions. “That’s the last o them! Now get out of there you four! Go around me, I’ll cover your retreat!” His palms continue to glow with the dark, eldritch energy as the warlock prepares to hold his ground against the swarm of strix.
At Nikolai's shout, Ling turns and watches as the final mundane makes their way into the kitchen at the agonisingly slow pace of an untrained human. About time! She runs down the hallway past Nikolai and quickly descends the stairs. Shallow cut on my arm, not too bad. Alaris? Couldn't get a good look, definitely bleeding though. Caio? That cut looked more nasty, might need an iratze but he was still moving around fine. We should be okay if we all make it to the tunnels savely. She pauses to catch her breath: Julia though, what to do about the werewolf? We'll need to get the demon blood off her quickly...
Behind the cupboard door the steps lead down and away into a dark concrete tunnel beneath the restaurant. This 20-foot-long, 5-foot-wide, rough-walled hallway leads to a thick steel door. The door stands half ajar, where Maxim has obviously already passed through, and the opposite side has a heavy metal bar. On the other side of the door is a buttressed sewer tunnel of old, mortared-stone running to the left and right. The sewer is 10 feet wide and only five feet high, forcing even Ling to stoop. A 3-foot-deep trench for sewage and water takes up half its breadth. The flowing water is an inch or more below the level of the sides of the tunnel.
Caio grits his teeth at the wound, and turns now to face the oncoming swarm. He stashes his blade and takes the chain of his weapon in his free hand, whipping and spinning the hammer into a defensive flurry. Caio slowly backs away like this, fending off any further strix attacks. Once there's some distance, Caio spins and darts away at breakneck speed. He squeezes past Nikolai in the hall then nearly slams into Ling's back. Wincing at the pain in his abdomen, he leans against the wall for a moment. "What the **** is going on?" he says in a harsh whisper.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Alaris squeezes the hilts of their weapons, hard. None but the strix before them see the pain and glee that war with one another across the shadowhunter's face. "Sonuva... this is gonna hurt!!" Flickers of white-hot radiance begin to crackle along Alaris' hair and fingertips - power curling inside her searching for a way to escape.
Bonus Action: Misty Step back to the doorway to the kitchen
"Now - everyone get down the passage! I'll hold them here! JULIA - move!"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid,Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions! I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
The energy building in Alaris's body causes her arms to shake and her attacks are slightly off, but before the strix can retaliate she is gone, running for the kitchen.
Julia follows suit turning with a snarl and pounding off down the stairs towards Caio and Ling.
A moment later the strix are after them like a black flood. The first runs straight into Nikolai's [Tooltip Not Found], but barely manages to keep going as the dark energies tear at it. It lashes out, its claws shattering the warlock's icy armour and screams one final time as the freezing magic consumes it.
"Caio!"Ling exclaims as he almost runs into her. "Wasn't that awesome? We took out a a good number of them!" She jumps in excitement, but then sees Caio's wound. "This door looks pretty sturdy, let's get ourselves on the other side and pause for a second. Take a look at that wound of yours and at Julia. At least they didn't get your pretty face, hey?" She waves at Julia as the werewolf comes down the stairs, indicating for her to follow them. "I'm sure Alaris and Nikolai will be right along, unless they're having too much fun without us." Ling says with a wink, still riding that adrenaline rush from the fight.
Nikolai lets out a sigh of relief as his companions begin to file past him into the tunnels below; however, before all of them go down Alaris suddenly appears on the far side of the tunnel. He shoots the younger Shadowhunter some serious side-eye before a strix suddenly rounds the corner! The demon directs all its frustrations into its attack and sends Nikolai staggering just as the strix is destroyed from the arcane blow-back of Nikolai's spell! "Hah!" He cackles at the slowly dissipating smoke. He then remembers the rest of the demons as another begins to crowd through the doorway. "Time to go, Alaris!" With that, Nikolai breaks away from the flight and rushes down the stairwell into the sewer below.
"There you are," Ling bumps Nikolai's shoulder, "well done you!" She follows him through the heavy steel door and pulls out her witchlight, softly blowing to illuminate it. Its faint glow bounces off the low ceiling and walls. The air smells stale and damp, she has to walk carefully as to not lose her footing and fall into the dark water running along the middle of the tunnel. It does not look like anyone else has been down here in a long time. Waiting for her friends, she stands close to the door and draws her stele, ready to draw an iratze on Caio's wound. His iratzes are never any good... She grins. There are definitely worse ways to spend your Monday night, and it would be a shame if his nice abs were left with an ugly scar - some guy out there will appreciate my work later! At that last thought, she chuckles quietly but the sound is eerily amplified by the stone walls surrounding her.
At first Caio gives Ling an incredulous look, seeming to say How the hell are you so cheery right now? But as usual his face cracks into a smile. "Yeah, I guess it was pretty exciting. I just prefer a good brawl when there aren't a bunch of screaming mundanes in the way." he says as he follows down into the tunnel. Once they're a safe distance in, he'll lift up his shirt just enough to show where the demon's claws had raked against his torso. "Could've been worse."
Nikolai winks at Ling as he passes by her. "Compared to you lot, that was nothing. As soon as Alaris is down here lets lock up and go." He will remain vigilant by the doorway, preparing a paired blast for the first strix that show its face until Alaris makes their way into the sewers.
With a growl of frustration, Alaris chokes down the desire to slay more strix and sprints down the stairs and through the door.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid,Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions! I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
Julia follows close behind Alaris, shifting back into human form as she goes and slamming the thick, metal door shut behind them. She swings the heavy bar closed across it not a moment too soon. The Strix can be heard screaming and battering against the door on the other side as they flood down the stairs.
"Head left," she tells them, pointing out a white chalk marking on the wall besides the door. It's shaped like a crooked claw. "“Alexi and I made these marks a few months ago when we scouted these tunnels. We marked all the intersections so our pack could find their way back through the sewers to Tokyo City. If we get separated, look for them at every intersection. The claw points home. Maxim should already have headed that way."
Before the group moves on, Julia removes a brick from the wall near the door to reveal a small hollow.
"Good," she adds, with a sigh of relief. "They're still here. We won't have time to stop and rest up as long as the demons are after us, take these."
She hands Nikolai, Ling, Caio and Alaris each three potions in thick glass bottles.
"Bought them from a warlock up town. Should heal your wounds."
Ling stashes her potions for later, you never know when an iratze might not cut it. "Thank you, Julia" Taking a look at Caio's wound, she is pleased to see that it is not as bad as she thought. "Could've been worse indeed, you were bleeding like a pig!" She sticks out her tongue at him and draws an iratze right next to the wound. "That should do it! No need to thank me, I know I'm the best at runes and you can always make it up to me by carrying my shopping bags."
Turning to the group, she says: "That door should hold them for a while, if we're lucky, they'll take off once they lose our scent. Let's not linger here too long." Ling starts walking in the direction Julia indicated. As they walk, she turns to her and asks: "Now would be a good time to tell us as much as you know about why demons are taking on downworlders."
Nikolai listens carefully to the sounds of the strix for a moment and takes the potion from Julia with a grateful nod, but then glances at her wounds and presses it back into her hands. "Take it, you need it more than I do, Julia. I agree with Ling, let's talk and move." He will continue to glance back over his shoulder from time to time, making sure nothing moves in the darkness behind them. "Yes, please do explain."
Alaris stands up and shakes the dirt off their trenchcoat. "Yes... that was indeed more excitement than I expected before my bulgogi arrived! Is everyone okay? Julia... I'm sorry my gifts won't take help you..." Drawing out their knotty stele, Alaris draws an iratze rune near the claw marks that have torn through clothing and flesh. "Dammit - I liked this shirt, too!" the shadowhunter paladin grouses while the magic takes effect and knits the wounds closed again.
"Caio? Ling? May I be of service?" Alaris grins, waving their stele at the wounded warriors.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid,Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions! I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
"Those strix must have been summoned by the fae that took Alexi," Julia grunts as she leads the group down the gloomy tunnel. "They're working for a group of warlocks operating out of Krasnovardeysky. They've been running jobs on the east side. Robberies. Encroaching into Pack territory. It wasn't your problem until they were stupid enough to start working mundanes. Rumour has it there was a double murder, but they covered it up. They're calling themselves the 'Bastards of Edom'. You know better than I do that the Clave is stretched thin these days. The Downworld doesn't fear you as much as it used to. They're getting more brazen."
The sewer tunnel goes on for some time until it makes a pair of alternating turns near two small wooden doors set in well-built brick frames. In the darkness ahead, just before the first door, Ling spots dim lights flickering across the surface of the water and the damp surfaces of the bricks. Blue, pink and green, all in neon.
The tunnel has narrowed to five feet by now, with a channel of sewage running down the left side, forcing the group to move in single file along the ledge on the right.
"Guys, wait!" Ling hisses and holds up her hand, indicating for the group to stop. "There is something up ahead. I can see some weird lights, might be coming from the water, I can't tell." She steps away from the edge of the canal and leans against the cold stone wall. "Do you see? Nikolai, any ideas? Let's pause here for a moment, I don't like it."
The shadowhunter slumps down and crosses her legs. "And Alaris, that was nice shirt. I think my right arm could actually do with a little ink painting if you're offering, kinda awkward to do with my left hand, even for me." Ling grins and shrugs. As she tries to tip her head back to awkwardly look at the wound on the back of her upper arm, she asks Julia: "So fey working with warlocks? That is unusual... Well sorry, it's not like the Downworld actually wants us to police them, is it? And you still appreciate our heavenly amazingness when demons are concerned, or you wouldn't have come to us with this, now would you?" Grinning and shaking her head, she looks over to Nikolai: "A group of warlocks sounds like bad news, don't you think, warlock?"
"I could also use another healing mark, thanks Alaris. So a group of warlocks doing petty crime, recruiting some indulgent fey... it could just be that. Getting brazen, like you say Julia. We can nip it in the bud before it becomes something more serious."
Alaris's saber flashes twice, tearing through two strix in a row before she drives her seraph blade into the final one, searing off a clawed hand.
Julia roars in fury besides her and dives forwards towards the wounded demon, tearing at it with her claws and rending it clean in two down the middle.
As the last of the mundanes rush out the back into the kitchen, finally clearing the restaurant, the strix throw themselves forwards. Their limbs flail and their cavernous mouths are stretched open in a scream so high-pitched it is almost soundless. Most fail to land a hit on the well trained shadowhunters, finding only armour or air. However, a few strike true. One set of claws rakes across Alaris's scalp, while another cuts into Ling's upper arm. Caio is worst off and takes a bad hit the slices deep into his stomach.
Alaris and Ling both take 7 damage.
Caio takes 12 damage.
Nikolai's action.
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
Nikolai sees the last of the mundanes fler through the kitchen and the massive wall of demons flooding around his companions. “That’s the last o them! Now get out of there you four! Go around me, I’ll cover your retreat!” His palms continue to glow with the dark, eldritch energy as the warlock prepares to hold his ground against the swarm of strix.
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
At Nikolai's shout, Ling turns and watches as the final mundane makes their way into the kitchen at the agonisingly slow pace of an untrained human. About time! She runs down the hallway past Nikolai and quickly descends the stairs. Shallow cut on my arm, not too bad. Alaris? Couldn't get a good look, definitely bleeding though. Caio? That cut looked more nasty, might need an iratze but he was still moving around fine. We should be okay if we all make it to the tunnels savely. She pauses to catch her breath: Julia though, what to do about the werewolf? We'll need to get the demon blood off her quickly...
Behind the cupboard door the steps lead down and away into a dark concrete tunnel beneath the restaurant. This 20-foot-long, 5-foot-wide, rough-walled hallway leads to a thick steel door. The door stands half ajar, where Maxim has obviously already passed through, and the opposite side has a heavy metal bar. On the other side of the door is a buttressed sewer tunnel of old, mortared-stone running to the left and right. The sewer is 10 feet wide and only five feet high, forcing even Ling to stoop. A 3-foot-deep trench for sewage and water takes up half its breadth. The flowing water is an inch or more below the level of the sides of the tunnel.
Caio's action.
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
Caio grits his teeth at the wound, and turns now to face the oncoming swarm. He stashes his blade and takes the chain of his weapon in his free hand, whipping and spinning the hammer into a defensive flurry. Caio slowly backs away like this, fending off any further strix attacks. Once there's some distance, Caio spins and darts away at breakneck speed. He squeezes past Nikolai in the hall then nearly slams into Ling's back. Wincing at the pain in his abdomen, he leans against the wall for a moment. "What the **** is going on?" he says in a harsh whisper.
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
Alaris squeezes the hilts of their weapons, hard. None but the strix before them see the pain and glee that war with one another across the shadowhunter's face. "Sonuva... this is gonna hurt!!" Flickers of white-hot radiance begin to crackle along Alaris' hair and fingertips - power curling inside her searching for a way to escape.
Action: Attack
Saber: Attack: 15 Damage: 14
Saber: Attack: 10 Damage: 9
Bonus Action: Misty Step back to the doorway to the kitchen
"Now - everyone get down the passage! I'll hold them here! JULIA - move!"
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid, Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck
Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions!
I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
The energy building in Alaris's body causes her arms to shake and her attacks are slightly off, but before the strix can retaliate she is gone, running for the kitchen.
Julia follows suit turning with a snarl and pounding off down the stairs towards Caio and Ling.
A moment later the strix are after them like a black flood. The first runs straight into Nikolai's [Tooltip Not Found], but barely manages to keep going as the dark energies tear at it. It lashes out, its claws shattering the warlock's icy armour and screams one final time as the freezing magic consumes it.
Nikolai's action.
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
"Caio!" Ling exclaims as he almost runs into her. "Wasn't that awesome? We took out a a good number of them!" She jumps in excitement, but then sees Caio's wound. "This door looks pretty sturdy, let's get ourselves on the other side and pause for a second. Take a look at that wound of yours and at Julia. At least they didn't get your pretty face, hey?" She waves at Julia as the werewolf comes down the stairs, indicating for her to follow them. "I'm sure Alaris and Nikolai will be right along, unless they're having too much fun without us." Ling says with a wink, still riding that adrenaline rush from the fight.
Nikolai lets out a sigh of relief as his companions begin to file past him into the tunnels below; however, before all of them go down Alaris suddenly appears on the far side of the tunnel. He shoots the younger Shadowhunter some serious side-eye before a strix suddenly rounds the corner! The demon directs all its frustrations into its attack and sends Nikolai staggering just as the strix is destroyed from the arcane blow-back of Nikolai's spell! "Hah!" He cackles at the slowly dissipating smoke. He then remembers the rest of the demons as another begins to crowd through the doorway. "Time to go, Alaris!" With that, Nikolai breaks away from the flight and rushes down the stairwell into the sewer below.
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
"There you are," Ling bumps Nikolai's shoulder, "well done you!" She follows him through the heavy steel door and pulls out her witchlight, softly blowing to illuminate it. Its faint glow bounces off the low ceiling and walls. The air smells stale and damp, she has to walk carefully as to not lose her footing and fall into the dark water running along the middle of the tunnel. It does not look like anyone else has been down here in a long time. Waiting for her friends, she stands close to the door and draws her stele, ready to draw an iratze on Caio's wound. His iratzes are never any good... She grins. There are definitely worse ways to spend your Monday night, and it would be a shame if his nice abs were left with an ugly scar - some guy out there will appreciate my work later! At that last thought, she chuckles quietly but the sound is eerily amplified by the stone walls surrounding her.
At first Caio gives Ling an incredulous look, seeming to say How the hell are you so cheery right now? But as usual his face cracks into a smile. "Yeah, I guess it was pretty exciting. I just prefer a good brawl when there aren't a bunch of screaming mundanes in the way." he says as he follows down into the tunnel. Once they're a safe distance in, he'll lift up his shirt just enough to show where the demon's claws had raked against his torso. "Could've been worse."
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
Nikolai winks at Ling as he passes by her. "Compared to you lot, that was nothing. As soon as Alaris is down here lets lock up and go." He will remain vigilant by the doorway, preparing a paired blast for the first strix that show its face until Alaris makes their way into the sewers.
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
With a growl of frustration, Alaris chokes down the desire to slay more strix and sprints down the stairs and through the door.
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid, Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck
Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions!
I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
Julia follows close behind Alaris, shifting back into human form as she goes and slamming the thick, metal door shut behind them. She swings the heavy bar closed across it not a moment too soon. The Strix can be heard screaming and battering against the door on the other side as they flood down the stairs.
"Head left," she tells them, pointing out a white chalk marking on the wall besides the door. It's shaped like a crooked claw. "“Alexi and I made these marks a few months ago when we scouted these tunnels. We marked all the intersections so our pack could find their way back through the sewers to Tokyo City. If we get separated, look for them at every intersection. The claw points home. Maxim should already have headed that way."
Before the group moves on, Julia removes a brick from the wall near the door to reveal a small hollow.
"Good," she adds, with a sigh of relief. "They're still here. We won't have time to stop and rest up as long as the demons are after us, take these."
She hands Nikolai, Ling, Caio and Alaris each three potions in thick glass bottles.
"Bought them from a warlock up town. Should heal your wounds."
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
Ling stashes her potions for later, you never know when an iratze might not cut it. "Thank you, Julia" Taking a look at Caio's wound, she is pleased to see that it is not as bad as she thought. "Could've been worse indeed, you were bleeding like a pig!" She sticks out her tongue at him and draws an iratze right next to the wound. "That should do it! No need to thank me, I know I'm the best at runes and you can always make it up to me by carrying my shopping bags."
Turning to the group, she says: "That door should hold them for a while, if we're lucky, they'll take off once they lose our scent. Let's not linger here too long." Ling starts walking in the direction Julia indicated. As they walk, she turns to her and asks: "Now would be a good time to tell us as much as you know about why demons are taking on downworlders."
Nikolai listens carefully to the sounds of the strix for a moment and takes the potion from Julia with a grateful nod, but then glances at her wounds and presses it back into her hands. "Take it, you need it more than I do, Julia. I agree with Ling, let's talk and move." He will continue to glance back over his shoulder from time to time, making sure nothing moves in the darkness behind them. "Yes, please do explain."
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
Alaris stands up and shakes the dirt off their trenchcoat. "Yes... that was indeed more excitement than I expected before my bulgogi arrived! Is everyone okay? Julia... I'm sorry my gifts won't take help you..." Drawing out their knotty stele, Alaris draws an iratze rune near the claw marks that have torn through clothing and flesh. "Dammit - I liked this shirt, too!" the shadowhunter paladin grouses while the magic takes effect and knits the wounds closed again.
"Caio? Ling? May I be of service?" Alaris grins, waving their stele at the wounded warriors.
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid, Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck
Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions!
I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
"Those strix must have been summoned by the fae that took Alexi," Julia grunts as she leads the group down the gloomy tunnel. "They're working for a group of warlocks operating out of Krasnovardeysky. They've been running jobs on the east side. Robberies. Encroaching into Pack territory. It wasn't your problem until they were stupid enough to start working mundanes. Rumour has it there was a double murder, but they covered it up. They're calling themselves the 'Bastards of Edom'. You know better than I do that the Clave is stretched thin these days. The Downworld doesn't fear you as much as it used to. They're getting more brazen."
The sewer tunnel goes on for some time until it makes a pair of alternating turns near two small wooden doors set in well-built brick frames. In the darkness ahead, just before the first door, Ling spots dim lights flickering across the surface of the water and the damp surfaces of the bricks. Blue, pink and green, all in neon.
The tunnel has narrowed to five feet by now, with a channel of sewage running down the left side, forcing the group to move in single file along the ledge on the right.
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
"Guys, wait!" Ling hisses and holds up her hand, indicating for the group to stop. "There is something up ahead. I can see some weird lights, might be coming from the water, I can't tell." She steps away from the edge of the canal and leans against the cold stone wall. "Do you see? Nikolai, any ideas? Let's pause here for a moment, I don't like it."
The shadowhunter slumps down and crosses her legs. "And Alaris, that was nice shirt. I think my right arm could actually do with a little ink painting if you're offering, kinda awkward to do with my left hand, even for me." Ling grins and shrugs. As she tries to tip her head back to awkwardly look at the wound on the back of her upper arm, she asks Julia: "So fey working with warlocks? That is unusual... Well sorry, it's not like the Downworld actually wants us to police them, is it? And you still appreciate our heavenly amazingness when demons are concerned, or you wouldn't have come to us with this, now would you?" Grinning and shaking her head, she looks over to Nikolai: "A group of warlocks sounds like bad news, don't you think, warlock?"
"I could also use another healing mark, thanks Alaris. So a group of warlocks doing petty crime, recruiting some indulgent fey... it could just be that. Getting brazen, like you say Julia. We can nip it in the bud before it becomes something more serious."
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger