Caio lets out a low snarl as he is embraced by the fetid breath of the creature as it sates itself on his blood. He reaches one lean arm around and uses the fleder's nostrils as a handhold, then quickly steps, turns, drops and flings the beast over his back in an expert maneuver. The beast struggles to stand but is met by the cold silver of Caio's blade before it gets a chance. The hunter looks up from his kill just in time to see the retreating smoke. Suddenly Ghoul reappears from where he'd been hiding and flies skyward, trying to keep an eye on it as well as distance between it.
Nikolai looks down towards Caio entangled with the last cogent fleder and shifts his Hex to the beast, sending the silvery motes streaking across the dim light of the room to swirl around the creature. He then takes a moment to steady his aim, in hopes of avoiding Caio, but as he sends two dark bolts of energy streaking down the duo shift and both bolts impact the ground with a shower of stone fragments! He curses just as the dark mist rushes and Astrid blasts it with her divine energy! "Good reflexes, Astrid!"
Ling looks back up, raising an eyebrow: "Why don't you jump? Make a leap of faith, maybe i'll catch you," she turns the ring on her finger with her thumb, then grins devilishly, "I'm sure your god will take care of you either way, right?" Moving a little to the side, she theatrically gestures into the void, waiting for the dwarf to jump.
With the fleder attacking Caio taken care of, Shiva turns her attention to the three that have been entranced by Ling. Taking off in their direction, she withdraws one of the silver daggers delivered by Alaris, and rears back to launch it at one of the targets. But as she plants herself, she slips on the gore scattered across the floor, sending her legs up in a flush as she lands on her back. The dagger itself escapes her grasp and is sent flying.
Sailing into the air above directly above her, it flips several times before the handle of the dagger bounces harmlessly off of her head. Even in her enraged state, she can't help but laugh, though the exhilaration of the rage turns this into a deranged cackle.
"By the Lady, Shiva! What's happened to you?? Get it together, girl!" Alaris calls as they glide down to pull the ichor-splattered tiefling to her feet. Then with a powerful sweep of their luminous wings, they rush towards one of the hypnotized fleder. For a moment, the paladin watches the creature weave back and forth, its mind intent on the arcane pattern Ling had created.
Then, down to business. The paladin makes an upward slash across the fleder from left to right, but the creature's natural toughness absorbs the blow without effect! It isn't even startled out of its reverie! "Damn, I better get it together myself! I hope Ling didn't see that..." Alaris mutters before attacking again, shifting their grip and chopping straight down, burying their blade in the fleder's soft wing muscles. A burst of radiant force sears the wound and the fleder screeches in agony!
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...
Ling looks between Astrid and the commotion down below, trying to focus enough to send another illusion blade at one of the fleder. It begins manifesting and flies, but then Shiva slips and falls on her butt with a loud noise and poof, the blade disappears mid flight. With a laugh, Ling bends down from her broom and asks: "You ok down there? Vamp sex so good you want to roll in it now?"
Unsure of Ling's suggestion, Astrid looks for a more advantageous spot to drop back down from. "Uh... Okay. You ready?" She takes a couple of heavy breathes to prepare herself for the plummet. She grits her teeth and steps of the edge of the hole. Her stomach comes up to her throat as she rapidly approaches the floor with no apparent signs of slowing down. "Aaaaaaaggghh...! Uh, Ling...! LING!" She hides her face behind her arms bracing for the impact. Then, suddenly, she feels her descent begin to slow only feet from the ground. Landing gently behind a pew, she gives Ling a wide-eyed look and slowly shakes her head. "Too close, hun!" The tiefling just replies with a wicked smile and a wink.
Still with rapid breath and adrenaline pumping, the cleric points to the injured fleder the others have focused. The creature screeches as the bells ring in its mind. She ducks behind the pew and calls her spiritual weapon forward.
Nikolai turns his attention to the one active fleder and beseeches his patron to continue harassing his enemies as the dark motes swirl around the room and towards the fleder. Nikolai takes him with his weapon and seeing that the creature is looking haggard, uses his very life essence to strengthen his spells. He bites down into his lip with a sharp fang, drawing blood into his mouth which he gathers and spits onto the glowing runes of Astra furora, causing them to flare brightly as he takes aim and lets two more empowered bolts fly! The bolts slam into the fleder, battering the creature towards the ground, but it regains its foot... albeit barely... Nikolai growls and spits a spray of blood. "Just die, you foul beast!"
Caio continues his lethal streak, darting across to the next fleder in his sights and quickly dispatching it with two strikes. He looks to the others, still icy calm but breathing heavily from the lengthy melee. “Let’s finish this. Quickly.”
No sooner does Shiva hear Alaris' voice ring out, than is she quickly lifted up and onto her feet by the angelic image of the paladin. Seeing Caio cut down another fleder, she charges at a nearby one that is still trapped in Ling's illusion.
Her moment of giddy fun has taken her mind off combat, and as she swings her blade, both her strikes miss the stationary entity. Frustration is heard in her voice as she growls, her focus now fully brought back to the situation at hand.
After Caio hisses out his call, for the briefest of moments, the only sound in the temple is the heavy breathing of the coterie of adventurers backed by the rustle of angelic pinions. No ring of metal on stone or bone, no shouts of triumph or cries of pain. Just the heavy and fast breathing of living things under duress and the rush of air over and through the luminous wings. The rancid stench of fleder and the bitter tang of spilled and splattered blood create an oppressive miasma through which the companions struggle.
Alaris Forien finds themselves furious, bone-weary, and ready to be finished with this place. So much pain and failure and frustration well up inside the half-angel paladin - friends wounded - perhaps dying - who are supposed to be safe, failure to set Shiva back on her feet cleanly that led to two flailing missed sword strikes, the frustration and fear of having let the daemon escape to terrorize another community.
All of that and more, the paladin releases in a glaive strike that resonates with a burst of incandescent power as the keen silver blade carves right through one of the hypnotized fleder, from the meaty shoulder down through the hip. The hypnosis is broken as the top half of the creature slides off the bottom, and the creature spits its rage and pain back at Alaris before crumpling to the stone floor. The paladin completes the swing with a flourish that brings the weapon back to a ready position as they wing their way a little closer to the last monstrosity.
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...
As Alaris makes short work of the creature, Ling looks around and sees that there is only one of them left. With a sigh of exhaustion and relief, Ling finally lets go of the spell and the last fleder snaps out of its stupor, the pattern of night stars shattering. Dishevelled and breathing heavily, Ling is leaning a little on her broom as she reaches her hand out towards the creature and sends another agonising burst of sunlight to its mind.
Astrid raises her shield to cover her eyes from the radiant fury that is Alaris. When her eyes adjust she sees the two pieces of the formerly hypnotized fleder on the floor that the paladin left in their wake and looks on with mouth agape. She shakes herself and then shuffles forward behind the last row of pews. "Last one,"she says with chagrin at the effect her spells are having compared to the powerful paladin. She calls forth the bells in the mind of the last remaining fleder and again the beast succumbs to its effects. In effort to cut of any escape or possible hiding place, the cleric pushes her spiritual weapon towards one of the stained glass windows and easily puts a large hole in it, causing more light to flood into the worship area.
Nikolai turns his focus upon the last of their enemy standing in the main room. Two quick blasts of dark force clip the beast and send it reeling against the onslaught, but nothing more. Nikolai bares his fangs once more, frustrated at the creatures' resilience. He would have words with the one who put them on this path...
Like a dark automaton Caio's eyes track to the last remaining fleder and he glides silently towards it. The first swipe cuts horizontal across the creature's mutated muscle. Then with a heaving overhead swing the second swipe comes down vertically. The creature's resilience is broken with the powerful strike and it is ripe for a finishing barrage. The elf now breathes haggard breaths, sword still sitting in the groove it carved in the old stone.
As Caio deals mortal blows to the creature, Shiva sees her opening. In a flurry of movement, she is upon the fleder in its final moments. Her blade a flash of black metal, she twists with the strike to entirely sever the hideous, discolored head from it's body. Spiraling through the air, it lands several feet away, sliding across the floor in a puddle of blood. Black ichor erupts from the stump, cascading down onto Shiva's face.
The fear, exhaustion, and anger of the intense combat well up inside her, and are expunged with a final roar as she brings her blade down into the dead fleder's body. It is nearly eviscerated by this, and falls back with a sickening splat. Those looking on can see the relief wash over her as her arms fall to her sides and her weapon is dismissed into the miniature storm that suddenly surrounds it. Sitting down in the center of the battlefield, she begins to wipe the gore from her hair. "Everybody ok?"
Astrid hears the last one fall and the chapel is quiet for a moment save for the sound of the blood rushing through her ears. Pulling herself up from behind the pew, she cautiously scans the rafters and balconies for more of the beasts that may be hidden in the shadows. Her shield arm drops to her sides as there no longer appears to be any threat. She shuffles around to the other side of the pew. Collapsing into the seat she let's out a sharp exhale and, with shakey arms, she reaches up to remove her padded coif to allow her braids to spill out.
"I've had better days," she replies to Shiva. She gingerly probes her neck where the fangs sunk in.
Gently drifting down, Ling snaps her fingers and the blood and grime dry and then peel off Shiva. She gives her an tired smile and looks back to the darkness of the tower. "We should take a break now, but I want to see what's in that tower. I think we're okay, just the dwarf." With a slightly wider grin, she winks down at Astrid. "You guys take a moment, I want to see if there's anything valuable in this church." Turning her broom around, she starts searching the old church. Her breathing is slowing now, creating little clouds in front of her. She finds some papers strewn about, some status... nothing of interest. Can't eat paper. When she reaches the altar, she steps off her broom and carefully pats the floor with the tip of her boot, checking for any hidden pressure plates or hollow sounds. The altar is made of solid marble, probably expensive, but too heavy to move. There is a little groove running along the edge and Ling remembers that many churches have relics hidden in or underneath. Putting her shoulder into it, she tries to push, but neither the top or the main body of the altar move. "Shiva, Alaris?"
As the blood and grime evaporates off of her, Shiva looks up and smiles as Ling floats down from the rafters above. "Thanks, that was really starting to smell."
Composing herself on the floor of this church, she lays back and takes in the silence, exhausted after the exertions of the last couple of hours. When she hears Ling call out, she sits back up and makes her way over to her. Regarding the alter, she indicates towards it "You're trying to move this?" Steadying herself against it, she pushes, but the alter itself does not give. Re-positioning, she gives the top a hardy push, and feels it begin to give and slide out of the way. But it too proves too heavy to move on her own, and she grunts as it comes to a halt. Behind her, she can hear Alaris making their way over.
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Caio lets out a low snarl as he is embraced by the fetid breath of the creature as it sates itself on his blood. He reaches one lean arm around and uses the fleder's nostrils as a handhold, then quickly steps, turns, drops and flings the beast over his back in an expert maneuver. The beast struggles to stand but is met by the cold silver of Caio's blade before it gets a chance. The hunter looks up from his kill just in time to see the retreating smoke. Suddenly Ghoul reappears from where he'd been hiding and flies skyward, trying to keep an eye on it as well as distance between it.
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
Nikolai looks down towards Caio entangled with the last cogent fleder and shifts his Hex to the beast, sending the silvery motes streaking across the dim light of the room to swirl around the creature. He then takes a moment to steady his aim, in hopes of avoiding Caio, but as he sends two dark bolts of energy streaking down the duo shift and both bolts impact the ground with a shower of stone fragments! He curses just as the dark mist rushes and Astrid blasts it with her divine energy! "Good reflexes, Astrid!"
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
"Thanks. Wasn't quite enough it seems though," Atrid replies to Nik.
She squats back down and sticks her head through the roof. "Excuse me. Could I get a hand down?!" she calls to the group below.
Ling looks back up, raising an eyebrow: "Why don't you jump? Make a leap of faith, maybe i'll catch you," she turns the ring on her finger with her thumb, then grins devilishly, "I'm sure your god will take care of you either way, right?" Moving a little to the side, she theatrically gestures into the void, waiting for the dwarf to jump.
With the fleder attacking Caio taken care of, Shiva turns her attention to the three that have been entranced by Ling. Taking off in their direction, she withdraws one of the silver daggers delivered by Alaris, and rears back to launch it at one of the targets. But as she plants herself, she slips on the gore scattered across the floor, sending her legs up in a flush as she lands on her back. The dagger itself escapes her grasp and is sent flying.
Sailing into the air above directly above her, it flips several times before the handle of the dagger bounces harmlessly off of her head. Even in her enraged state, she can't help but laugh, though the exhilaration of the rage turns this into a deranged cackle.
"By the Lady, Shiva! What's happened to you?? Get it together, girl!" Alaris calls as they glide down to pull the ichor-splattered tiefling to her feet. Then with a powerful sweep of their luminous wings, they rush towards one of the hypnotized fleder. For a moment, the paladin watches the creature weave back and forth, its mind intent on the arcane pattern Ling had created.
Then, down to business. The paladin makes an upward slash across the fleder from left to right, but the creature's natural toughness absorbs the blow without effect! It isn't even startled out of its reverie! "Damn, I better get it together myself! I hope Ling didn't see that..." Alaris mutters before attacking again, shifting their grip and chopping straight down, burying their blade in the fleder's soft wing muscles. A burst of radiant force sears the wound and the fleder screeches in agony!
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...
Ling looks between Astrid and the commotion down below, trying to focus enough to send another illusion blade at one of the fleder. It begins manifesting and flies, but then Shiva slips and falls on her butt with a loud noise and poof, the blade disappears mid flight. With a laugh, Ling bends down from her broom and asks: "You ok down there? Vamp sex so good you want to roll in it now?"
Unsure of Ling's suggestion, Astrid looks for a more advantageous spot to drop back down from. "Uh... Okay. You ready?" She takes a couple of heavy breathes to prepare herself for the plummet. She grits her teeth and steps of the edge of the hole. Her stomach comes up to her throat as she rapidly approaches the floor with no apparent signs of slowing down. "Aaaaaaaggghh...! Uh, Ling...! LING!" She hides her face behind her arms bracing for the impact. Then, suddenly, she feels her descent begin to slow only feet from the ground. Landing gently behind a pew, she gives Ling a wide-eyed look and slowly shakes her head. "Too close, hun!" The tiefling just replies with a wicked smile and a wink.
Still with rapid breath and adrenaline pumping, the cleric points to the injured fleder the others have focused. The creature screeches as the bells ring in its mind. She ducks behind the pew and calls her spiritual weapon forward.
Nikolai turns his attention to the one active fleder and beseeches his patron to continue harassing his enemies as the dark motes swirl around the room and towards the fleder. Nikolai takes him with his weapon and seeing that the creature is looking haggard, uses his very life essence to strengthen his spells. He bites down into his lip with a sharp fang, drawing blood into his mouth which he gathers and spits onto the glowing runes of Astra furora, causing them to flare brightly as he takes aim and lets two more empowered bolts fly! The bolts slam into the fleder, battering the creature towards the ground, but it regains its foot... albeit barely... Nikolai growls and spits a spray of blood. "Just die, you foul beast!"
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
Caio continues his lethal streak, darting across to the next fleder in his sights and quickly dispatching it with two strikes. He looks to the others, still icy calm but breathing heavily from the lengthy melee. “Let’s finish this. Quickly.”
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
No sooner does Shiva hear Alaris' voice ring out, than is she quickly lifted up and onto her feet by the angelic image of the paladin. Seeing Caio cut down another fleder, she charges at a nearby one that is still trapped in Ling's illusion.
Her moment of giddy fun has taken her mind off combat, and as she swings her blade, both her strikes miss the stationary entity. Frustration is heard in her voice as she growls, her focus now fully brought back to the situation at hand.
"Let's finish this. Quickly."
After Caio hisses out his call, for the briefest of moments, the only sound in the temple is the heavy breathing of the coterie of adventurers backed by the rustle of angelic pinions. No ring of metal on stone or bone, no shouts of triumph or cries of pain. Just the heavy and fast breathing of living things under duress and the rush of air over and through the luminous wings. The rancid stench of fleder and the bitter tang of spilled and splattered blood create an oppressive miasma through which the companions struggle.
Alaris Forien finds themselves furious, bone-weary, and ready to be finished with this place. So much pain and failure and frustration well up inside the half-angel paladin - friends wounded - perhaps dying - who are supposed to be safe, failure to set Shiva back on her feet cleanly that led to two flailing missed sword strikes, the frustration and fear of having let the daemon escape to terrorize another community.
All of that and more, the paladin releases in a glaive strike that resonates with a burst of incandescent power as the keen silver blade carves right through one of the hypnotized fleder, from the meaty shoulder down through the hip. The hypnosis is broken as the top half of the creature slides off the bottom, and the creature spits its rage and pain back at Alaris before crumpling to the stone floor. The paladin completes the swing with a flourish that brings the weapon back to a ready position as they wing their way a little closer to the last monstrosity.
"Yes, let's."
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...
As Alaris makes short work of the creature, Ling looks around and sees that there is only one of them left. With a sigh of exhaustion and relief, Ling finally lets go of the spell and the last fleder snaps out of its stupor, the pattern of night stars shattering. Dishevelled and breathing heavily, Ling is leaning a little on her broom as she reaches her hand out towards the creature and sends another agonising burst of sunlight to its mind.
Astrid raises her shield to cover her eyes from the radiant fury that is Alaris. When her eyes adjust she sees the two pieces of the formerly hypnotized fleder on the floor that the paladin left in their wake and looks on with mouth agape. She shakes herself and then shuffles forward behind the last row of pews. "Last one," she says with chagrin at the effect her spells are having compared to the powerful paladin. She calls forth the bells in the mind of the last remaining fleder and again the beast succumbs to its effects. In effort to cut of any escape or possible hiding place, the cleric pushes her spiritual weapon towards one of the stained glass windows and easily puts a large hole in it, causing more light to flood into the worship area.
Nikolai turns his focus upon the last of their enemy standing in the main room. Two quick blasts of dark force clip the beast and send it reeling against the onslaught, but nothing more. Nikolai bares his fangs once more, frustrated at the creatures' resilience. He would have words with the one who put them on this path...
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
Like a dark automaton Caio's eyes track to the last remaining fleder and he glides silently towards it. The first swipe cuts horizontal across the creature's mutated muscle. Then with a heaving overhead swing the second swipe comes down vertically. The creature's resilience is broken with the powerful strike and it is ripe for a finishing barrage. The elf now breathes haggard breaths, sword still sitting in the groove it carved in the old stone.
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
As Caio deals mortal blows to the creature, Shiva sees her opening. In a flurry of movement, she is upon the fleder in its final moments. Her blade a flash of black metal, she twists with the strike to entirely sever the hideous, discolored head from it's body. Spiraling through the air, it lands several feet away, sliding across the floor in a puddle of blood. Black ichor erupts from the stump, cascading down onto Shiva's face.
The fear, exhaustion, and anger of the intense combat well up inside her, and are expunged with a final roar as she brings her blade down into the dead fleder's body. It is nearly eviscerated by this, and falls back with a sickening splat. Those looking on can see the relief wash over her as her arms fall to her sides and her weapon is dismissed into the miniature storm that suddenly surrounds it. Sitting down in the center of the battlefield, she begins to wipe the gore from her hair. "Everybody ok?"
Astrid hears the last one fall and the chapel is quiet for a moment save for the sound of the blood rushing through her ears. Pulling herself up from behind the pew, she cautiously scans the rafters and balconies for more of the beasts that may be hidden in the shadows. Her shield arm drops to her sides as there no longer appears to be any threat. She shuffles around to the other side of the pew. Collapsing into the seat she let's out a sharp exhale and, with shakey arms, she reaches up to remove her padded coif to allow her braids to spill out.
"I've had better days," she replies to Shiva. She gingerly probes her neck where the fangs sunk in.
Gently drifting down, Ling snaps her fingers and the blood and grime dry and then peel off Shiva. She gives her an tired smile and looks back to the darkness of the tower. "We should take a break now, but I want to see what's in that tower. I think we're okay, just the dwarf." With a slightly wider grin, she winks down at Astrid. "You guys take a moment, I want to see if there's anything valuable in this church." Turning her broom around, she starts searching the old church. Her breathing is slowing now, creating little clouds in front of her.
She finds some papers strewn about, some status... nothing of interest. Can't eat paper. When she reaches the altar, she steps off her broom and carefully pats the floor with the tip of her boot, checking for any hidden pressure plates or hollow sounds. The altar is made of solid marble, probably expensive, but too heavy to move. There is a little groove running along the edge and Ling remembers that many churches have relics hidden in or underneath. Putting her shoulder into it, she tries to push, but neither the top or the main body of the altar move. "Shiva, Alaris?"
As the blood and grime evaporates off of her, Shiva looks up and smiles as Ling floats down from the rafters above. "Thanks, that was really starting to smell."
Composing herself on the floor of this church, she lays back and takes in the silence, exhausted after the exertions of the last couple of hours. When she hears Ling call out, she sits back up and makes her way over to her. Regarding the alter, she indicates towards it "You're trying to move this?" Steadying herself against it, she pushes, but the alter itself does not give. Re-positioning, she gives the top a hardy push, and feels it begin to give and slide out of the way. But it too proves too heavy to move on her own, and she grunts as it comes to a halt. Behind her, she can hear Alaris making their way over.