The pain flared through Lyreis, his wounds threatening to overtake him. As he saw the second blow from the minotaur coming in he felt a burning pain in his shoulder as the strange dragonmark flared. The shield saving his life as it sprang into existence, burned brightly and shattered into magical energy a moment after the blow landed.

Down on one knee Lyreis looks up spitting blood. It would need to be precise, the strength was leaving his body with every beat of his heart and the creature would show no mercy. He staggered back up onto his feet, the blades reassuring in his hands, he put them to work, spinning them in a mesmerising blur, offering little sign of where the attack would come from. The first slice was cruel, hitting the creature through the groin, the whimper the minotaur gave out would have been comical in a different situation and Lyreis didn't even grin. He focussed on the blades, and this dance of death.  He feinted low,  drawing  the greataxe out of position and then lunged, the point of the scimitar pushing up through the bottom of the creature's jaw, rising until it entered it's brain. The detached part of his mind saw his grandfather, the elf who had trained him, disapproving at the unorthodox strike, but it was hard to care in the moment. The axe clattered from non responsive fingers and Lyreis managed to sidestep just in time to avoid being crushed as the large brute fell forward, hitting the ground with a thump.

The warleader staggered to the side, blood covering him, much of it his own. His hand reached for a potion of health as he looked about for further threats, remembering as he did that other areas had been under attack too.

Dworic stays in the fray as he sees Lyreis staggered onto one knee by the blow of the minotaur. Not sure what magic he just used, but he's glad it saved his life for now. While his friend was down Dworic needed to take action. He sees the minotaur reaching back to take another fatal swing at Lyreis and Dworic sees this as an opening. He takes his wing hitting the minotaur in the shoulder, he swears he heard a pop from the minotaur's body. "Ay've got ye pal. Hyargh!" Dworic takes his final swing at the bull making purchase right on the bull's head. He's positive he heard a crack in its skull this time. With heavy breathing, he says under his breath, "That'll teach ye, ya damn cow!" But the bull stays standing. Dworic stays by Lyreis side as the fight is not quite over yet.

The last minotaur falls to Lyreis's blades and they all can hear a cry of pure anger from the massive warforged that it's still hold at bay by Seb'riel magic. 

It appears that the sight of the last of his comrades fall, makes him more angrier, or perhaps is the continous damage that the slow but surely painful smoldering that Kyne is keeping on his now glowin red armor pieces, that remains attached to his body, but Seb'riel feels how it fights against her grip. 

With open eyes of panic the party sees how the giant takes one step forward. The elven wizard frowns and projects more of her power into the staff, wich canalizes it and tighten the hold on him. 

Seb'riel feels another wave of pure strength fighting her. Another step, the sound of crackling metal resounding into the deck and the remmants of the crowd screams in fear. Once again the wizard fights against that sheer force of will and pure rage that is fighting her. Even with her foresighting gifts, she doubts of the outcome of their fight of wills.

Before anyone could react witnessing this struggle, thunder resounds all around them, storm clouds begin to fill the sky and two lighting bolts strike into the metallic warforged, coming down from the sky. The wind swirls around them and it concentrates upon him, becoming so fast and intense that it starts to fly up, lifting the massive warforged from the airship's deck. 

A half-elf, dressed with the formal Lyrandar attire of a Captain comes flying from the helm. His elven ascendency is clear on his features. He is wounded, as his red hair is glues to his face with the blood that comes from a head wound and part of his clothes are scorched. The fury of his eyes is great though.

"Get the **** OFF MY SHIP!!" he yells as more lighting strikes into the warforged and the thunder cracks making all of them crouch instinctively. The combined nature forces throw the warforged away, he's paralized form dissapearing into the lake. 

Alistair d'Lyrandar looks around, still flying three feet above the deck of his ship and turns towards the party. 

"You.. you've helped us. That will not be forgotten. " 

The half-elven woman who was talking with them before and Tandriel came running after the captain. 

"More are coming" says Tandriel, who has come to the aid of her relatives points towards the sky. They all can see a group of winged woman flying towards them, screaming as they start their descend. A manticore is on the center of their formation. It appears that it has a hobgoblin rider on it. 

Mazzia, the second on board, curses as she prepares to keep fighting, but then the great elemental ring of fire flickes for a moment and the inmense airship heels over but it regains its position when the energy comes alive into the ring again.

Alistair looks around. 

"You, you and you! " he orders with the tone of someone who is used to be obeyed "make sure all the passage is safe. You, help him" he says ordering another member of the crew to aid the agonizing guard. The crew members reacts and act as ordered. He then turns towards the party. 

"As I said, you have proof your value and you have done enough, but it seems that we have more problems that we can handle at this time. Would you help us? We need to make two teams, one to hold the deck and one to go down to the elemental chambers and deal with whatever is going on down there... " 

The dwarf looks at the half-elf moderately impressed and after realizing the situation he clenches his hammer in hand and looks towards the elf.
"Ay don' know wha's yer problem down in de hull, but magicul contrapshuns are mai specialty. Ay think it's best I head down. Could be anythun' down dere, would appreciate some helpin' hands?"

Seb'riel holds up a hand. "We should go together. We will secure below decks if you hold things up here." She looks intently at the captain. "Just tell us which way to go." 

     Hurosk comes hurrying across the deck to join the rest. "Who did you guys piss off!?" he asks of Alistair when he looks up seeing the incoming mass of monsters. "We're about to have a lot more company! Go! I'll bring up the rear." The ranger is already drawing his bow and taking aim at the winged creatures as he slowly back peddles toward the elemental compartment.

Kyne acknowledges the Lyrandar captain's words with a nod of respect, before twirling to face the oncoming invaders. Leaving Daedagnir at his hip, the elf sends bolts of flame flying through the air towards the attackers with another series forward punches.

"We'll clear the lower decks," he confirms, "everyone get moving. Hurosk and I will cover you."

" Mazzia guide them " says Alistair to his second in command while turnign towards the incoming monsters. 

She leads the way as Hurosk and Kyne fire against the most closer harpies and they can see when getting bellow deck that the clouds are getting darker and the lighting is mounting up while the two Lyrandar captains concentrate, their dragonmarks glowing in their bodies. 

" We must cross the House of Chance to get into the Elemental Chamber " says Mazzia guiding them. "I have some healing left so if anyone needs just ask for it. " she says while they walk across a very elegant alley made of the best wood in Khorvaire. 

Not long ago they rush into the House of Chance, a casino and cantina built for the amussement of the passengers. In there they find various hobgoblins holding some crew members and passengers on their kneels, hands tied behind their backs, blades into their necks. It seems that they were waiting for some kind of security and they had set up the scene. Most of the tables have been turned upside down in the struggle and they can see a couple of dead bodies lying in the floor. 

They arrive in kind of an upper floor, consisting just in a baranda who covers all the perimeter of the casino.A rectangular room of thirty by forty feet long.  There are two sets of twin spiral stairs to descend to the game tables and bar. One pair is just in front of them and the other pair are across the room. Just Mazzia, who was in front, and three of them can access the baranda and look below. There are six hostages in total, the two valets and four passengers, each of one with one hobgoblin with a blade on their necks. 

They can see two more hobgoblings pointing heavy crossbows at them at each side of the entrance, their backs on the wall, fifteen feet away. 

A corpulent hobgoblin who wields a great warhammer raises a hand. 

"Freeze there heroes... or they die... drop your weapons and join us... "  

To emphasize his words one of his minions press the sword a little bit against one of the crew members, a valet for his uniform, who whimpers. 

Kyne nods in gratitude to Mazzia as he takes potion from his belt and glugs it down.

"Lyreis and Moltaris took the most hits," he tells the first mate, gesturing to his fellow wood elf and the kalashtar. "Please, do what you can for them."

When the party enter the House of Chance, Kyne takes the lead along with Lyreis, Dworic and Mazzia.

"Easy now," the sorcerer tells the hobgoblin, holding up his hands to show that they are, in fact, empty. "Tell me what it is that you want. Nobody needs to die. I'm sure we can come to some agreement."

The elf glances sidelong at his brother-in-arms, slowly shifting his feet forwards and hoping that Lyreis is quick off the mark.

Seb'riel inches up behind the others in the corridor, trying to get a look at the room and determine her brother's intentions. "Yes you must at least tell us what we are joining, if you want us to switch sides. Perhaps an easy agreement can be reached. " Her voice echoes out through the corridor, trying to help shift some of the attention away from Kyne's movements and divide attention further.

Feeling Moltaris' presence in the back of her mind she starts thinking through potential plans. I could try to hold two of them in place, as I did with the Warforged outside, or I could go all in on trying to make the captain surrender. The first would potentially save two hostages, the latter may save them all but if it fails all will likely die.

Moltaris touches her temple and reaches out to the airship's powerful first mate, Mazzia. How many people are on your airship?

The response comes instantly - so quickly, in fact, that Molly knows this isn't the first time Mazzia has communicated this way. I can protect 5 of them but do not go down. Can any of you protect the one nearest to my left? Tell that hellion to stop there or I can’t use my powers to protect anyone.

Molly immediately switches to Kyne, sending, Kyne - wait - if we jump too soon we will obstruct the first mate's power to protect the hostages. She specifically says for us NOT to go down onto the casino floor.

Receiving Seb's communication, she sends back, The first mate can protect all but one - she wants us to focus our attention on the one closest to her left. Tell the others - we will paralyze that hob and wait for the officer's order to do anything else.

Molly starts to develop a slight headache, sweat breaking out on her forehead from more psychic communication than she's done in years. To the officer, she sends, We can paralyze the hob nearest to your left, protecting its hostage. Tell us when to do more.

Kyne freezes when he hear Molly tell him to stop, never breaking eye contact with the hobgoblin that he is negotiating with.

     Hurosk peers from under his cowl into the the room taking a survey of the tense situation. "Hmm..." He then whispers in elvish to the pair of ladies behind him, "Would one of of lovely ladies mind reaching into my quiver here and handing me a couple of arrows... middle pocket?"

Shallan does as Hursok asks trying to keep it as silence as possible, taking advantage that they are not seeing by the hobgoblins.

"I need a diversion but nothing hostile or they'll kill all of them"  hears Moltaris on her head.

Another warning from Moltaris flutters through Kyne's mind like a whisper as the elf assesses the situation.

"Yeah," the sorcerer continues bouncing off of Seb's comment with a smirk, "I mean, what kind of benefits do you offer? You've really got to work on your pitch, buddy. Don't hobgoblins teach public speaking?"

Molly quips right on the tail end of Kyne's jibe, "I knew a hobgoblin who juggled geese. Damnedest thing you ever saw - extremely diverting and not hostile in the least. Not much of a public speaker, though, now that you mention it."

Kyne, following Moltari's mental instructions, keep talking to the leader hobgobling, keeping his hands away from his sword.

On the upper floor, Mazzia looks to Seb'riel and nods. She turns her look back towards the hall, her eyes turned in blue sparks of lighting, and all of a sudden a twister of wind and lighting fills the casino, throwing away everything in its wake, chairs, tables, cards, casino chips... and the hobgoblins. Surprisingly the hostages scream and their clothes and hair move swirling around them and their faces but they doesn't seem affected by the full force of the storm that suddenly appears inside the room. 

Seb'riel concentrates, trying to get a hold on the hobgobling that was pointed to her as she did with the warforged before. 

The sudden force of the wind takes most of the hogbolings by surprise but the two of them that were pointing at them, take cover behind the railring that surrounds the baranda and fire at the number one of the ship. One of the bolts goes wild, caught in the crazy winds conjured by the half-elf, but the other is fired a split of a second before and finds its mark, hitting her on the shoulder. She ignores it as she keeps her focus on controling the magic not to harm the hostages. 

Most of the goblinoids are shaken and thrown away from the sudden storm, throwing them away from their hostages,  but the one that Seb'riel has to stop seems to resist her magic. 

As if he moves in slow motion she sees how he slits the throath of the hostages who gasps in her own blood and falls, face down, gurgling and choking in her own blood. 

    Hurosk needs no other signal and as soon as the storm is cast he steps out from behind the paladin. One one motion he lets two missiles fly, one at each of the hobgoblins holding crossbows. The first arrow finds the throat and the thug slumps lifelessly without having the chance to react. The second hobgoblin has the briefest of moment to rethink his life's choice before an pierces him at the center of the forehead, pinning him against the wall. 

    Pushing past the dwarf, the bounty hunter takes up a position in the corner and crouches down to a knee. "Heh... How about we give you a counteroffer..?!" he shouts down to the leader.

Rushing forwards in the wake of Mazzia's spell, Kyne has unsheathed Daedagnir before the hobgoblins can blink. Drawing the sword from its scabbard at his right hip, the elf grips the weapon in both hands and brings it up in an arcing slash at the nearest hobgoblin. The blade flares with elemental power as the runes along its length glow orange and fire shrouds the steel edge. Kyne's strike is true, digging deep into his foe's side, and the sorcerer immediately follows through, yanking the blade free as he flings a gout of flame at the hobgoblin the middle of the room.

Another foe closes in on the elf, swinging enormous greatswords in coordinate strikes, but Kyne twists and twirls between the goblins in his own dance of death. Not one blow finds purchase as he meets them blade on blade.

Dworic stands against the wall with his hands up as to not provoke the hobs while he sees his companions trying to deescalate and distract the hobs. Soon after he sees the hob slit the throat of one of the captives and under his breath, "Shite." Not a second later he feels a gust through his hair and a tingling sensation on his skin as a tempest fills the room, "By Onatar's flame, wha da hell is dat?" He quickly looks over to see the first-mate with eyes shining blue as lightning crackles around her. Best make sher she keeps doin' that, he thinks to himself as he runs through the platform making his way to cover her from fire. On his way, he sees Kyne twirling and majestically making his way through the combat field and sees him surrounded. He holds out his palms towards the hobgoblins surrounding Kyne as the arcane energy surges through his gauntlet out and towards the hob like a missile hitting its mark right in the hob's shoulder. As he made his way next to Mazzia he charges another shot towards the same hob and hits him right in the chest. "Bullseye."