Wilds - A Chilling Development

Durego shoves his way past the front ranks and strides into the room with his holy symbol raised before him. "Begone foul evil. You have no power here. You have no power over my companions. Begone from this place in the name of Erlinga. Begone."


Raúguey, Grendor, Strom and Ingvild look at each other, then Strom shrugs, "Guess we're in it now lads." He moves to support the cleric, fumbling for his holy water. Once he gets the flask free, he... drinks it!

Grendor stares at the dwarf and shakes his head and says, "Hope that tastes good. You've probably tainted it with your breath now," as he and the dwarf move to flank the cleric.

Ingvild whispers, "I'll check the balcony." He gestures for Raúguey to lend a hand, and snakes his way onto the south balcony. The big fighter then hunkers down near a pillar, holy water in one hand, invisibility potion in the other, to see what happens with Durego's attempt to turn the creature.

Ohwatoo's eyes widen, and he grabs Maro. "Wait a moment, see if the cleric can turn the thing away." The elf growls something inaudible and lowers his bow, but moves up with Rawon to the chamber's entryway. Saurabh keeps a nervous eye on the hall behind the group. "I have a bad feeling about this," he mutters. Dagmarten, also watching the rear, just nods.

The flickering streams of light around the creature fade and twist as the holy power projected by the priest of Erlinga reach them. The creature raises its head, and the glowing purple eyes lock onto the priest. "Invaders!" it hisses as the magical energies fade completely. "Defilers! Ishkata shall have your souls, and the land shall be freed of your taint forever!"

As the creature speaks, Durego feels an alien presence, cold and deadly, invade his mind. He fights to resist its influence, but it is too strong. He moves forward, unable to control himself. As the priest moves, the light he carries illuminates the rest of the chamber (at least the lower part). The room widens at the altar end, and there are statues against the east wall, too dim to make out detail.

The depths of the balconies are still shadowy and dim, but Ingvild, using the vision granted by the snake eye amulet, sees a bitterly cold outline on the balcony ahead. A shape that is moving toward Durego. "Nope!" he thinks and drops down to the lower level. "Another!" he calls, warning those nearby to the second creature's presence.

As the thief lands beside him, Raúguey drinks off a fractional dose of his invisibility potion, tucks it away, then prepares to move forward.

"Now can we shoot it?" says Maro.

"By all means," answers Ohwatoo.

Both elves fire silver arrows at the creature. Rawon's shot is wild, too much mead perhaps, but Maro's aim is true. The arrow strikes the shadowy form's shoulder and flares with white light. [5 damage] The creature emits a shriek, a shriek that is answered from the shadows above!

OOC: a messy start, but I think this puts everyone about where they wanted to be, pending the outcome of Durego's turn attempt. The melee combatants aren't in range to attack, which is why they are where they are.

[Round One - Foe Initiative]

Ohwatoo prepares a spell!
Maro prepares a spell!

The shade whirls forward, moving at a jerky, irregular pace that hurts the eyes. It is preceded by a wave of bitter cold. As it reaches the priest another dark shape drops from the balcony to its left (south side). This creature pauses, dim purple eyes taking in the room.

Cold envelops those at the front (Strom, Durego, Grendor) as the shade reaches for the cleric. The chill surrounding the creature is nothing compared to the numbing cold that invades Durego when the creature touches his arm! [Durego 9 damage, Strom, Grendor 5 damage].

"Kill this thing!" cries Grendor. "If it leads the others, they may flee if it dies!" Ingvild and Raúguey move to flank the shade, all too aware of the other creature, still lurking to the east. As the pair advances, the icy aura affects them too. [Raúguey 1 damage, Ingvild 3 damage]

The two spell-casters unleash their magical missiles at the shade near Durego. [9 damage total]. Rawon follows this attack with another silver arrow, which strikes home. [8 damage].

At the front, Grendor attacks the creature with his spear while Strom simultaneously spits holy water and swings ElfSword at the thing. Both score hits! [10 damage total]. Ingvild closes and swings with the glowing yellow sword, but cannot connect. Raúguey hurls his holy water at the creature and the liquid bubbles and steams as it hits! [6 damage].

The creature shrieks once more, then collapses into a cloud of gray dust that swirls apart on chill winds. Durego feels the hold upon his mind break, and the other creature wails its dismay. A second wail echoes from the north balcony, and those in the room see movement overhead!

"So much for fleeing," mutters Strom as he hefts his borrowed blade.

OOC:

The upside-down skull is where the first shade fell. Most of the party is clustered there (a perfect spot for a fireball). The other two skulls mark the new arrivals. The one to the north is up on the balcony. The other is on the main level. You still can't tell what the shapes on the floor are (unless you're planning to take a round to check them out).

Wounds:

Durego: 9
Raúguey: 1
Ingvild: 3
Strom: 10
Grendor: 5

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