With Caio pointing out the sounds above, Astrid lays down the book she was reading. "It's too quiet out there... Like everything is hiding." She picks up her shield and asks Brightmantle to aid her in the search of the treetops. A large shadow goes rushing through the trees as she looks up. "Something's trying to sneak up on us! Maybe a light more light...," She taps her shield and it becomes a beacon, illuminating the trees above the camp site.
Once again the air goes still. "I don't like this." Keeping her eyes skyward, the cleric slowly backs towards Alaris and places a hand on the paladin's hip. "It won't catch you flat-footed." Her hand glows and the paladin is imbued with a sense of readiness.
Like a bolt from the black, something huge and dark and impossibly fast descends from above and grabs Alaris in its claws, dragging them from Astrid's grasp and into the sky.
Almost before the dwarf finishes speaking, a thrum of energy races up the paladin's spine. For a moment, their perception of time slows and the voice of an elderly man resonates in their mind. "I don't mean to alarm you, bogatyr, but something is coming at you at a distressing rate of speed."
As the talons of the hideous creature seize them and yank them off Zadkiel and into the air, Alaris is already calling out to the Lady. While the creature flaps its horrid wings once, twice, and lifts both of them up through the trees, the branches themselves reach out in response to the paladin's prayer. Seizing Hope's Edge tightly in both hands, Alaris thrusts upward at the creature's guts and buries the blade there, ripping right and left. Radiance ripples from the strikes and sear the winged creature's flesh, and the stink burns in Alaris'' nostrils. The branches seize the creature's wings and hold it in place by main force. "It's one of the living dead!" Alaris calls back down to the group.
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...
"Huh? Wha-?!" Astrid turs a stares skyward as Alaris is ripped from her grasp. Seeing the radiant strike the paladin unleashes on their attacker, the dwarf clutches her holy symbol and, with her thumb, moves the long hand back a few ticks and then quickly forward. "You will feel that again!" she says to the creature. A smaller, radiant blast hit the creature, echoing the damage it just received. Disappointment shows on the cleric's face as the undead monster seemingly shrugs off most of the reverberation of Alaris's attack.
Taking out a small vial of holy water from a pouch in her robes, Astrid calls for gods blessing for her allies. "Brightmantle... Bless them!" She sprinkles a bit of the liquid toward Shivala, Nikolai and Caio. "Don't let it take her!" She shouts pointing to up
No sooner had Shiva heard Astrid's words than was she able to turn to see Alaris struck and carried off into the night. "Ari!!" In a split second she's off her horse and sprinting after them, a small relief washing over her as she watches the creature become ensnared by Alaris's magics and then flayed by their glaive. She thinks to let the anger rise to better fight these nightmarish things, when the sense of something ten times more ferocious makes its presence known within her. It paced slow circles in the dark, waiting for the moment to pounce.
Deciding to exercise restraint, she reaches out her hand towards the undead thing. Taking aim, time seems to slow to a crawl for a fraction of a moment, allowing her to make a precise shot. Blue electricity runs between her fingers before arcing out in a branching network of crackling lightning that slams into the body of her target. The attack leaves it spasming and gasping while thankfully leaving Ari unharmed.
For a moment, panic grips Nimue as Alaris is pulled suddenly up into the trees, and Shiva sends a bolt of electricity into the creature. She watches Alaris strike with divine energy, and the creature seems to recoil from the blow. She slips off of her horse, weaving towards the creature. A mote of blue-white flame gathers in her hand and she hurls it upwards. It strikes true, engulfing the creature in a soft glow. It shrieks and she braces herself as its eyes turn to her.
As Nimue unleashes her brilliant, white flame upon the monster in the trees, another bat-like shadow strikes unseen from above. The creature collides abruptly with one of the priors, driving them into the ground, even as a second slams into Nimue. The waif-like Elf is pressed into the forest floor by the undead predator's weight, knocking the wind from her, and it lowers its gnashing maw to the sorceress's throat to feast upon her blood.
Caio lets out a sharp, aggravated huff as he watches the necrotic bats descend from every angle. There is a moment of hesitation as he isn't sure whether or not to go after Alaris or Nimue, but as the prior is struck down his target becomes clear. The inquisitor drops his bow and whips out his massive blade before rushing to his charge's rescue. With two great cleaving strikes he begins to gouge the creature's undead hide from its body, exposing putrid muscle tissue in the process. With each swing, shadows cling to the steel as the vestige of divine power within him draws the stolen lifeforce the bat possesses out of its undead form.
Nikolai turns towards Nimue's cries and unlike Caio, turns his attention to assist the newest member of the party; family always comes first. With deliberate care he draws astra furora out of his tooled leather shoulder holster. As he does so, he touches his left hand to his tarrock deck and draws what appears to be a spectral crystal of pure silvery white light from the deck itself. He slips the insubstantial crystal into the barrel of astra furora which flashes a similar color as a silvery white mist-like substance begins to trickle out of the barrel. He sights down the weapon at the strange creatures and pulls the trigger back as two bright silvery-white bolts of energy streak out and slam into the creature. While the bolts don't penetrate the thick skin, it begins to sizzle and smoke from the radiant energy.
How did I get snatched up by a vampire bat? Alaris asks themselves as they roll their shoulders and flex within the grip of that creature. Seriously, old man... a VAMPIRE BAT???
They slash once more at the creature, and a pulse of searing radiance bursts from their hands, crackles down the shaft of Hope's Edge and roasts the creature from the inside out. Crisp beams of light explode from its eyes, mouth, and wounds into the darkness as Freja's holy light cleanses it from within. Alaris takes a deep breath and pulls themselves free from the entangling branches, then looks down to see the other two creatures ravaging their allies. Seventy feet... silver-white light begins to glow from their eyes and back...
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...
"Oh... I hope this works!" Having heard of some manner of undead creatures flying about the Ostroga forest at the foot of her clan's mountain, Astrid slips her holy symbol from around her neck and holds it by the chain before here. "Brightmantle, send these undead way!" Like a lantern, the watch ignites with a radiant glow, washing over the bat-like creatures, but they seem unphased.
The cleric curses under her breath and quickly summons a spectral pendulum over the monster that had been attacking the prior. The weapon draws back and then arcs down towards her target's head, failing to hit, however.
The descend of two more undead creatures pulls Shiva away from Alaris just as they dispatch their foe in a dazzling display of holy light. With Nimue and one of the priors each lying in the jaws of the beasts, there is no time for thought, and she lets her fury fly. Charging forward, her form shimmers and expands with each step taken, and by the time she reaches the monster attacking Nimue she easily matches its size. A huge clawed hand clasps onto its cold neck while another tightens onto the bone of a wing, and with a powerful roar she heaves the creature off of her ally and onto the ground. It shrieks and squirms beneath her, but she attempts to hold it in place long enough for Nikolai to get another shot off at it.
The creature crouched over the wounded prior rears up in reaction to Caio's assault. It slashes aggressively at the Elf with its claws, swatting his blade aside before diving at the ranger to envelope him in its wings and dig its teeth into his throat. However, the Raven Queen's blessing helps to shield Caio from the undead monster's foul power.
Meanwhile, the beast that Shiva has in a hold wrests itself from her grasp, thrashing about as it too tries in vain to drink from her blood. The tiefling's muscles bulge as she pushes it away from her neck.
Nimue feels a weight suddenly lifted off of her as something large pulls the creature off of her, but she can't quite make out what it was. Her head is ringing, her eyes won't focus, and the noises around her are muffled. She closes her eyes briefly, taking a calming breath as the world comes back into focus, a roar of sound with it, and she recognizes Shiva as the one who seems to be wrestling with the creature. She coughs, wincing as something pierces her chest. Must've broken a rib.
The creature’s onslaught is a small price to pay for drawing its attention away from the hapless prior, but Caio doesn’t intend to remain in its fetid embrace. The shadar-kai phases out of the bat’s grasp like a wraith and hangs in the dappled shadows above it for but a moment. Then like a guillotine the inquisitor plummets, his sword slicing through the undead hide. He hits the ground, his umbral form still shifting in and out of existence as he swings again. This time the creature flaps back, just out of the way of the hunter’s blade.
With his attention still upon the same creature, Nikolai once again calls upon the radiant powers of Shahar as he draws yet another of the glowing crystal shards and placing it within the barrel of astra furora. Two more blasts of the bright silvery-white energy slams into the creature to burn and sizzle the undead hide. "We need to concentrate on finishing off one at a time. These are hardy creatures!"
With a silent flash of sunlight, a pair of incorporeal wings appear behind Alaris and their eyes glimmer with power. They leap forth from the ensnaring trees and with one massive sweep, the wings drive the paladin down almost to ground level. Another stroke, and the warrior hovers in place, nearly ten feet off the ground and ready to strike if the bloodsucking beast moves.
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...
Seeing one of the creatures shriek in pain against Nikolai's attacks, Astrid once again fiddles with the hands on her clock and a third impact slams the creature as the radiant energy from the tiefling's weapon reverberates. Not wanting to take the chance in hitting Shivala, the cleric then sends the spectral pendulum crashing down upon the head of monster before Caio before following up with a a blast of her own radiant energy. The bolt slams into its target causing blisters to immediately rise up at the impact site on its back.
With the monster rearing back in agony as Nik and Astrid's attacks batter its body, Shiva takes the opening and strikes. Her first swings cut through the air as the creature weaves to her right, leaving itself vulnerable. Pivoting on the balls of her feet, she drives her claws into foul flesh with terrifying force, ripping away large chunks from the neck and chest. But to her aggravation, the monstrosity remains standing.
With Caio pointing out the sounds above, Astrid lays down the book she was reading. "It's too quiet out there... Like everything is hiding." She picks up her shield and asks Brightmantle to aid her in the search of the treetops. A large shadow goes rushing through the trees as she looks up. "Something's trying to sneak up on us! Maybe a light more light...," She taps her shield and it becomes a beacon, illuminating the trees above the camp site.
Once again the air goes still. "I don't like this." Keeping her eyes skyward, the cleric slowly backs towards Alaris and places a hand on the paladin's hip. "It won't catch you flat-footed." Her hand glows and the paladin is imbued with a sense of readiness.
Like a bolt from the black, something huge and dark and impossibly fast descends from above and grabs Alaris in its claws, dragging them from Astrid's grasp and into the sky.
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
Almost before the dwarf finishes speaking, a thrum of energy races up the paladin's spine. For a moment, their perception of time slows and the voice of an elderly man resonates in their mind. "I don't mean to alarm you, bogatyr, but something is coming at you at a distressing rate of speed."
As the talons of the hideous creature seize them and yank them off Zadkiel and into the air, Alaris is already calling out to the Lady. While the creature flaps its horrid wings once, twice, and lifts both of them up through the trees, the branches themselves reach out in response to the paladin's prayer. Seizing Hope's Edge tightly in both hands, Alaris thrusts upward at the creature's guts and buries the blade there, ripping right and left. Radiance ripples from the strikes and sear the winged creature's flesh, and the stink burns in Alaris'' nostrils. The branches seize the creature's wings and hold it in place by main force. "It's one of the living dead!" Alaris calls back down to the group.
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 monster lets out a piercing shriek of pain as Alaris's holy light sears at its hide.
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
"Huh? Wha-?!" Astrid turs a stares skyward as Alaris is ripped from her grasp. Seeing the radiant strike the paladin unleashes on their attacker, the dwarf clutches her holy symbol and, with her thumb, moves the long hand back a few ticks and then quickly forward. "You will feel that again!" she says to the creature. A smaller, radiant blast hit the creature, echoing the damage it just received. Disappointment shows on the cleric's face as the undead monster seemingly shrugs off most of the reverberation of Alaris's attack.
Taking out a small vial of holy water from a pouch in her robes, Astrid calls for gods blessing for her allies. "Brightmantle... Bless them!" She sprinkles a bit of the liquid toward Shivala, Nikolai and Caio. "Don't let it take her!" She shouts pointing to up
No sooner had Shiva heard Astrid's words than was she able to turn to see Alaris struck and carried off into the night. "Ari!!" In a split second she's off her horse and sprinting after them, a small relief washing over her as she watches the creature become ensnared by Alaris's magics and then flayed by their glaive. She thinks to let the anger rise to better fight these nightmarish things, when the sense of something ten times more ferocious makes its presence known within her. It paced slow circles in the dark, waiting for the moment to pounce.
Deciding to exercise restraint, she reaches out her hand towards the undead thing. Taking aim, time seems to slow to a crawl for a fraction of a moment, allowing her to make a precise shot. Blue electricity runs between her fingers before arcing out in a branching network of crackling lightning that slams into the body of her target. The attack leaves it spasming and gasping while thankfully leaving Ari unharmed.
For a moment, panic grips Nimue as Alaris is pulled suddenly up into the trees, and Shiva sends a bolt of electricity into the creature. She watches Alaris strike with divine energy, and the creature seems to recoil from the blow. She slips off of her horse, weaving towards the creature. A mote of blue-white flame gathers in her hand and she hurls it upwards. It strikes true, engulfing the creature in a soft glow. It shrieks and she braces herself as its eyes turn to her.
As Nimue unleashes her brilliant, white flame upon the monster in the trees, another bat-like shadow strikes unseen from above. The creature collides abruptly with one of the priors, driving them into the ground, even as a second slams into Nimue. The waif-like Elf is pressed into the forest floor by the undead predator's weight, knocking the wind from her, and it lowers its gnashing maw to the sorceress's throat to feast upon her blood.
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 lets out a sharp, aggravated huff as he watches the necrotic bats descend from every angle. There is a moment of hesitation as he isn't sure whether or not to go after Alaris or Nimue, but as the prior is struck down his target becomes clear. The inquisitor drops his bow and whips out his massive blade before rushing to his charge's rescue. With two great cleaving strikes he begins to gouge the creature's undead hide from its body, exposing putrid muscle tissue in the process. With each swing, shadows cling to the steel as the vestige of divine power within him draws the stolen lifeforce the bat possesses out of its undead form.
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
Nikolai turns towards Nimue's cries and unlike Caio, turns his attention to assist the newest member of the party; family always comes first. With deliberate care he draws astra furora out of his tooled leather shoulder holster. As he does so, he touches his left hand to his tarrock deck and draws what appears to be a spectral crystal of pure silvery white light from the deck itself. He slips the insubstantial crystal into the barrel of astra furora which flashes a similar color as a silvery white mist-like substance begins to trickle out of the barrel. He sights down the weapon at the strange creatures and pulls the trigger back as two bright silvery-white bolts of energy streak out and slam into the creature. While the bolts don't penetrate the thick skin, it begins to sizzle and smoke from the radiant energy.
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
How did I get snatched up by a vampire bat? Alaris asks themselves as they roll their shoulders and flex within the grip of that creature. Seriously, old man... a VAMPIRE BAT???
They slash once more at the creature, and a pulse of searing radiance bursts from their hands, crackles down the shaft of Hope's Edge and roasts the creature from the inside out. Crisp beams of light explode from its eyes, mouth, and wounds into the darkness as Freja's holy light cleanses it from within. Alaris takes a deep breath and pulls themselves free from the entangling branches, then looks down to see the other two creatures ravaging their allies. Seventy feet... silver-white light begins to glow from their eyes and back...
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...
"Oh... I hope this works!" Having heard of some manner of undead creatures flying about the Ostroga forest at the foot of her clan's mountain, Astrid slips her holy symbol from around her neck and holds it by the chain before here. "Brightmantle, send these undead way!" Like a lantern, the watch ignites with a radiant glow, washing over the bat-like creatures, but they seem unphased.
The cleric curses under her breath and quickly summons a spectral pendulum over the monster that had been attacking the prior. The weapon draws back and then arcs down towards her target's head, failing to hit, however.
The descend of two more undead creatures pulls Shiva away from Alaris just as they dispatch their foe in a dazzling display of holy light. With Nimue and one of the priors each lying in the jaws of the beasts, there is no time for thought, and she lets her fury fly. Charging forward, her form shimmers and expands with each step taken, and by the time she reaches the monster attacking Nimue she easily matches its size. A huge clawed hand clasps onto its cold neck while another tightens onto the bone of a wing, and with a powerful roar she heaves the creature off of her ally and onto the ground. It shrieks and squirms beneath her, but she attempts to hold it in place long enough for Nikolai to get another shot off at it.
The creature crouched over the wounded prior rears up in reaction to Caio's assault. It slashes aggressively at the Elf with its claws, swatting his blade aside before diving at the ranger to envelope him in its wings and dig its teeth into his throat. However, the Raven Queen's blessing helps to shield Caio from the undead monster's foul power.
Meanwhile, the beast that Shiva has in a hold wrests itself from her grasp, thrashing about as it too tries in vain to drink from her blood. The tiefling's muscles bulge as she pushes it away from her neck.
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
Nimue feels a weight suddenly lifted off of her as something large pulls the creature off of her, but she can't quite make out what it was. Her head is ringing, her eyes won't focus, and the noises around her are muffled. She closes her eyes briefly, taking a calming breath as the world comes back into focus, a roar of sound with it, and she recognizes Shiva as the one who seems to be wrestling with the creature. She coughs, wincing as something pierces her chest. Must've broken a rib.
The creature’s onslaught is a small price to pay for drawing its attention away from the hapless prior, but Caio doesn’t intend to remain in its fetid embrace. The shadar-kai phases out of the bat’s grasp like a wraith and hangs in the dappled shadows above it for but a moment. Then like a guillotine the inquisitor plummets, his sword slicing through the undead hide. He hits the ground, his umbral form still shifting in and out of existence as he swings again. This time the creature flaps back, just out of the way of the hunter’s blade.
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
With his attention still upon the same creature, Nikolai once again calls upon the radiant powers of Shahar as he draws yet another of the glowing crystal shards and placing it within the barrel of astra furora. Two more blasts of the bright silvery-white energy slams into the creature to burn and sizzle the undead hide. "We need to concentrate on finishing off one at a time. These are hardy creatures!"
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
With a silent flash of sunlight, a pair of incorporeal wings appear behind Alaris and their eyes glimmer with power. They leap forth from the ensnaring trees and with one massive sweep, the wings drive the paladin down almost to ground level. Another stroke, and the warrior hovers in place, nearly ten feet off the ground and ready to strike if the bloodsucking beast moves.
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...
Seeing one of the creatures shriek in pain against Nikolai's attacks, Astrid once again fiddles with the hands on her clock and a third impact slams the creature as the radiant energy from the tiefling's weapon reverberates. Not wanting to take the chance in hitting Shivala, the cleric then sends the spectral pendulum crashing down upon the head of monster before Caio before following up with a a blast of her own radiant energy. The bolt slams into its target causing blisters to immediately rise up at the impact site on its back.
With the monster rearing back in agony as Nik and Astrid's attacks batter its body, Shiva takes the opening and strikes. Her first swings cut through the air as the creature weaves to her right, leaving itself vulnerable. Pivoting on the balls of her feet, she drives her claws into foul flesh with terrifying force, ripping away large chunks from the neck and chest. But to her aggravation, the monstrosity remains standing.