The Sylvan Realm #7 (#51)

Post by **GM Mad** » Tue Nov 21, 2017 9:50 pm

Sylvan Realm #7

Still November 28th, CR 571 or Deepnight 22nd, 20,519 AP

At the bottom of the tall tower in the ruined city that the orcs call Xorg, the Heroes of the Mother Tree have found the Hive. The parasitic insects have captured both elf and orc and plan to transform then into more Hive. Even more ominous, the Hive seems to be led by a Queen in the form of a human female that looks and sounds just like Argent! As the elves plan to remove the menace of the Hive, the tall pillars in the recently dug up plaza flare to life and more Hive arrive.

Realizing that they are out of time, the elves move to act! Laucian and Talen rush down the stairs to the ground level of the tower while Valena and Lia move to where the ant warriors are guarding what is suspected those to be too weak to be changed into Hive; the old, women, and children.

Kylie starts the festivities by dropping a Wall of ice in the middle of the dug out cavern, centering where Hive Queen Argent and the infested Chandra are located at. The ice forms near the ceiling and then plunges down driving all struck by it to the ground! The ice shatters upon impact leaving huge chunks of it here and there in a roughly 20' wide by 40' long area. It's hard to see just who survived underneath the ice, but some moaning and other sounds of pain are heard.

Not giving the Hive a chance to recover, Lilia casts a Wall of Fire. The 20' wide and 160' foot long fiery wall erupts into existence. The wall is longer than the cavern itself and neatly bisects the huge underground chamber. The Wall of Fire isolates the captives from the Hive. Many of the Hive Guards vanish into the fiery wall and are not seen again. The captives are understandably stunned at this turn of events!

In response to the two spells being cast and specifically in response to the Wall of Ice being dropped, some of the ceiling comes down in areas, adding dirt to the fire and ice attacks. The ground shakes slightly.

The cool side of the wall faces the captives, but from where they are standing both Laucian and Talen can feel the heat from the burning barrier. While Talen rushes forward to tell the elves and orcs to flee, Laucian targets a few of the ant warriors that he can see. He fires fire and ice arrows at the two targets that he can see. Between his arrows and the damage done to them by the Wall of Fire, two ant warriors go down.

One floor up, Lia and Valena move towards the ant warriors on guard in the hallway. Once in sight, Valena fires two shafts while Lia circles wide to avoid being in the line of fire. One arrow hits each ant warrior and just wounds them. Clearly these transformed Hive are stronger than the ones fought before who were still being changed!

Lia rushes in and slashes the first ant warrior with her longsword. The ant warrior drops from his wounds. Reaching the second ant warrior, Lia drives her blade into its chest. This guard also goes down from the arrow and swords attacks.

Glancing into the chamber the ant warriors were guarding, Lia can hear the sobbing and crying louder now. However, she can't see any women or children just yet as a 7' tall ant warrior is standing just a few feet inside the opening!

Much to Lia's astonishment, the tall ant warrior makes gestures with its clawed limbs and four Magic Missiles are summoned into existence! They streak forwards and slam into a stunned Lia doing some damage. Even stranger, these Magic Missiles looked very different from the normal spell. They seemed to sparkle and twist as they flew along!

But that is not the final surprise, as a the voice of a human female cries out from somewhere deeper in the chamber in a familiar voice. “Hey! That's my signature spell!”, she objects in an irritated voice.

Post by **GM Mad** » Tue Nov 21, 2017 9:51 pm

GM Notes:

That covers round 1.

No counter attacks seem to be heading towards Kylie, Lilia, Laucian, and Talen just yet. Talen has a free path towards the captive elves and orcs in the cavern.

Lia and Valena have encountered one of the taller ant warriors. For ease of comparison, the smaller ones are soldiers while the taller ones are commanders. And this commander just cast a Magic Missile!

The voice that complained sounded just like the Hive Queen, but she was supposed to be out in the dug out cavern. Wasn't she?

Hit Points:

Lia 43 of 60

Spell Activity:

Lilia has 57 Mage Spell Points left and has cast 1 1st level spell, 1 2nd level spell, 2 3rd level spells and 1 4th level spell thus far. She also has 34 Priest Spell Points left and has cast 1 1st level spell.

Talen has 10 Spell Points remaining and has cast 1 first level spell thus far.

Valena has 34 Spell Points remaining and has cast 1 first level spell thus far.

Now what?

Kylie · Post by **Kylie** » Wed Nov 22, 2017 1:09 pm

Kylie:

Kylie smiles in grim satisfaction as her spell crashes down on target. It appears that none were able to dodge out of the way. Barely a second later, Lilia's Wall of Fire springs into existence, neatly separating the captives from the enemy, while simultaneously torching more of the bugs. "Well done, Lilia!" she calls softly to the queen, not wanting to give away their position just yet.

Not wanting anyone else to get "infected" by the bugs, Kylie decides to target the flying bugs until it is time to bring down the roof. Where she finds groups of them close together, she uses Sleep; for those more spread out, she'll hit them with Magic Missile. First priority is protecting herself and the queen, second priority is the rest of the team, third is the captives.

Lia · Post by **Lia** » Thu Nov 23, 2017 11:37 am

Lia

One floor up, Lia and Valena move towards the ant warriors on guard in the hallway. Once in sight, Valena fires two shafts while Lia circles wide to avoid being in the line of fire. One arrow hits each ant warrior and just wounds them. Clearly these transformed Hive are stronger than the ones fought before who were still being changed!

Lia rushes in and slashes the first ant warrior with her longsword. The ant warrior drops from his wounds. Reaching the second ant warrior, Lia drives her blade into its chest. This guard also goes down from the arrow and swords attacks.

Lia hears the arrows whistle past as she makes her way to the ants guarding the door. Valena’s aim is true as they both strike home, making her targets weaker. She bring her sword to bare and brings down one then the other with a stab to the chest. Breathing evenly, Lia pulls the sword from the ants chest with a gush and watches for a moment as it falls to the ground.

Glancing into the chamber the ant warriors were guarding, Lia can hear the sobbing and crying louder now. However, she can't see any women or children just yet as a 7' tall ant warrior is standing just a few feet inside the opening!

Lia hears the sobbing and crying coming from the door and sees a Large ant warrior standing near the entrance way! Lia looks to her new opponent. She is startled when the ant warrior gestures nd several magic missiles seek her out and strike! Grimacing as the magical energy rips into her, Lia growls out to Valena. “There is another one! And he is really big and ugly!!!”
Bringing her sword before her, Lia looks up at the ant. Knowing full well if this thing is indeed part mage its best to come and deal with it quickly. Lis takes a deep breath and begins her sword dance with the Commander ant.
A call from inside the room stops her momentarily, as she calls out, "Argent?" But realizing her distraction could be disastrous she moves to the ant Commander and begins to cut him down to size.

Laucian · Post by **Laucian** » Thu Nov 23, 2017 11:52 am

Laucian

The cool side of the wall faces the captives, but from where they are standing both Laucian and Talen can feel the heat from the burning barrier. While Talen rushes forward to tell the elves and orcs to flee, Laucian targets a few of the ant warriors that he can see. He fires fire and ice arrows at the two targets that he can see. Between his arrows and the damage done to them by the Wall of Fire, two ant warriors go down.

Feeling the heat of the fire, Laucian takes aim, as Talen moves forward,lets loose his arrows. A few guards drop to the ground. It seems some of the way is clear. Knocking another arrow, Laucian will scan for a target, While calling out to orc and elf alike. "If you wish to live. run!" ( orcish and Elfish)
Laucian will cover Talen and the prisners. If any of the head bugs come in range of his bow he'll put arrows into them.

Lilia · Post by **Lilia** » Thu Nov 23, 2017 7:08 pm

Lilia:

The battle begins and now Lilia will find out just how well she planned the assault. The Wall of Ice crashes down on many of the enemy while the Wall of Fire that I create is much larger then I imagined that it would be. Hopefully it was placed as such to separate the captives from the Hive guards.

Kylie wrote:"Well done, Lilia!" she calls softly to the queen, not wanting to give away their position just yet.

“We are off to a good start,” Lilia agrees. “Let's keep the pressure on them.”

Lilia will send a Fireball towards those who just arrived that escaped the Wall of Ice.

Valena Feador · Post by **Valena Feador** » Thu Nov 23, 2017 7:24 pm

Valena:

Once in position, Valena awaits the sound of crashing ice to begin her part of the assault. She stands just around the corner from the guards, back against the wall with an arrow already to be fired from her bow. The sound comes, Valena takes a few steps forward in the curved hallway. Once a target is in sight, she fires!

Lia wrote:Drawing her blade, Lia hears Lilia’s call to action. Eyes narrowing, Lia advances on her target, making sure not to screw up Valena’s view. “Let’s see what your made of!” she calls out bringing her sword to bare.

Lia dashes down the hallway towards the guards. Fortunately, she hugs the outer wall so as to be out of the line of fire. Valena is lining up her second shot just as the first arrow lands. It wounds the guard, but doesn't take him down. The second arrow is fired and the other guard is wounded.

Lia reaches the guards and takes them out with her blade dance. But it seems that there is another enemy inside the doorway as four Magic Missiles strike Lia!

Lia wrote:Grimacing as the magical energy rips into her, Lia growls out to Valena. “There is another one! And he is really big and ugly!!!”

“I've seen those before,” Valena mutters to herself, trying to recall just where.

Lia wrote:A call from inside the room stops her momentarily, as she calls out, "Argent?" But realizing her distraction could be disastrous she moves to the ant Commander and begins to cut him down to size.

Valena hears what Lia said and it clicks together. Those unusual Magic Missiles were cast by Argent back during the fighting in Corunglain!

“The Hive Queen is here?” Valena says in surprise. “She was supposed to be out in the cave!”

Valena rushes to join Lia, nocking an arrow as she moves forward. Once in position to see into the chamber, Valena will look for the Hive Queen in order to take her down as fast as possible. She'll fire on what Lia is fighting if the Hive Queen is not in sight.

Talen · Post by **Talen** » Thu Nov 23, 2017 7:41 pm

Talen:

Kylie wrote:Lia's mention of her lion figurines jiggles loose Kylie's memory. Stepping over to Talen, she pulls the Ebony Fly figurine from her enchanted Girdle, hands it to him, and tells him the activation word. "In case you get in any trouble, please use this," she says. "It can fly very fast."

Talen is puzzled as Kylie starts to hand him something, but her words explain it thoroughly.

“Thank you,” Talen says as he takes a hold Kylie's hand. Their eyes meet for a brief moment as if words unsaid where exchanged. He holds her hand a little took long before letting go. “Hopefully, I won't need to use this, but better safe then sorry!”

Talen rushes after Laucian down to the ground floor. He holds his position until the sound of ice shattering is heard. The ground also trembles slight as a result of the spell. The next thing Talen know is the Wall of Fire erupting a little too close to their position for comfort! He can feel the heat from those flames from here!

Laucian starts firing arrows and calling for the captive elves to flee and then adds something, presumably in orcish, that Talen doesn't understand. Running forwards, Talen reaches the captives adds his own words.

“Run!” he shouts in elvish. “Run up the stairs and don't stop until you reach the surface! Queen Lilia commands it!”

Talen realizes that he can't speak orc either, but what was that word that Lilia tried to teach the others?

“Drakagog!” Talen shouts, hoping the his memory was clear on the orcish word for run.

Talen waits until all the captives have passed before following them back towards the stairs. He'll draw his sword and stand ready to intercept any Hive that may come his way.

Post by **GM Mad** » Fri Nov 24, 2017 7:22 pm

Post Continued:

November 28th, CR 571 or Deepnight 22nd, 20,519 AP

The battle against the Hive continues. Kylie and Lilia are stationed on a balcony over looking the underground cave. The remains of the Wall of Ice lies in the middle of the area, while the Wall of Fire is on the right hand side. Already the heat from the Wall of Fire is causing the ice closest to it to melt creating steam in the process.

Kylie casts a Sleep spell toward a swam of the flying insects and five of them fall to the ground. Lilia follows up with a Fireball centered on the largest remaining group that just arrived via the large pillar artifact in the town square. The fire explodes around a mix of Hive soldiers, commanders and flying insects. The flying insects are killed right out as are most of the Soldiers and a few of the commanders.

One of the surviving commanders spots Lilia and goes into spell casting! Upon completion, a volley of four twisting and sparkling Magic Missiles strike the Elfin Queen! Both Kylie and Lilia realize that they've seen this version of the spell before as it was how Argent cast her Magic Missiles. Kylie remembers that it was the second spell Argent learned not long after arriving at the Salvadorian Estate back when they were apprentices. Argent practiced Magic Missiles all the time and became good enough to add her own flair to the spell.

As the pair recover from the shock of the commander casting Argent's version of Magic Missile, a few beings are starting to emerge from underneath the ice. A disheveled Hive Queen Argent is trying to get to her feet...

Down on the ground and inside the tall tower, Laucian and Talen move to rescue the elf and orc captives. Laucian calls out in elvish for the elves to run, while Talen adds that they are to make their way to the surface by the order of Queen Lilia. The elves comply and run to the stairs and start to make their way up. There's maybe a dozen or so elves present.

The orcs regard the new arrivals with suspicion. Talen calls out the orc word for run and that starts a few of the orcs to follow the elves.

“Dar okak aga eg shok, dakagog!” Laucian adds in orcish.

Several Hive soldiers skirt the Wall of Fire and rush towards Laucian. The Priest of Ehlonna fires more arrows and two more soldiers go down. One soldier starts to move towards Talen. The orcs, there's about two dozen of them, seem to get the idea and the rest of them start to flee up the stairs.

One floor up, Lia and Valena teamed up to remove two Hive soldiers, but then encountered a Hive commander. The commander struck Lia with Argent's version of Magic Missiles, which drew a complaint from what sounded like Argent herself from deeper inside the chamber. Lia calls out, “Argent” while getting ready to strike the commander with her sword.

“Who are you?”, the human female calls out. “Are you here to rescue me?”

Lia lands one solid hit with her sword that makes the commander take a step back. Valena appears beside Lia and fires her arrows at the commander as she cannot see anyone else just yet. One hits, doing more damage to the commander, but not putting the large bug down. The second shaft sails high.

The Hive commander strikes back. It snaps a claw at Lia, wounding her arm, while the other claw misses Valena. The commander also tried to bite Lia, but missed.

Post by **GM Mad** » Fri Nov 24, 2017 7:23 pm

GM Notes:

Round 2 is in the books. Down in the cavern more Hive will be able to counterattack next round. All the elf and orc captives will be clear of the cavern by the end of the next round. Steam is also starting to fill the cavern, making it hard to see. The Hive that Laucian and Talen encountered were already wounded by the Wall of Fire, that's why they went down so easily.

I found a neat translator that changes English into D&D orcish. That's where I got the orcish posted above.

Hit Points:

Lia 37 of 60
Lilia 57 of 71

Spell Activity:

Lilia has 54 Mage Spell Points left and has cast 1 1st level spell, 1 2nd level spell, 3 3rd level spells and 1 4th level spell thus far. She also has 34 Priest Spell Points left and has cast 1 1st level spell.

Talen has 10 Spell Points remaining and has cast 1 first level spell thus far.

Valena has 34 Spell Points remaining and has cast 1 first level spell thus far.

Now what?

Lia · Post by **Lia** » Fri Nov 24, 2017 7:54 pm

Lia

One floor up, Lia and Valena teamed up to remove two Hive soldiers, but then encountered a Hive commander. The commander struck Lia with Argent's version of Magic Missiles, which drew a complaint from what sounded like Argent herself from deeper inside the chamber. Lia calls out, “Argent” while getting ready to strike the commander with her sword.

“Who are you?”, the human female calls out. “Are you here to rescue me?”

Lia brings her sword to bear and her blade bites deep into the Commander driving him back a step. Valena puts an arrow into the commander as she steps up near her. The Commander strikes back and Lia tries to bring her blade up to intercept the claw but is a little to slow as the claw find her arm. The pain is immense, as she brings her arm in close trying to guard her arm as the ant man comes down to bite her, feigning right the head misses.

Switching her sword to her other hand Lia speaks up. “Lia.”she says through gritted teeth lashing out with her sword again. “Friend of Sherwood Elfriend and Kylie. It would appear so.” Leaving the statement linger. Lia is grateful for Nightmist's teaching her how to use her other hand as well as her other.

Lia will attack with sword again.

Lilia · Post by **Lilia** » Sun Nov 26, 2017 7:23 pm

Lilia:

More spells are cast with devastating effects. The enemy was caught off guard, but recover all too soon. One of the larger ant men casts a familiar looking Magic Missiles at me!

“It seems that far more than knowledge is shared among the Hive,” Lilia notes. “They learned how to cast your friends version of Magic Missiles!”

Seeing Hive Queen Argent starting to get to her feet, Lilia casts another Fireball centering it on her.

Valena Feador · Post by **Valena Feador** » Sun Nov 26, 2017 7:34 pm

Valena:

Valena takes a few steps back after the giant ant tries to grab her with its claw. This will give Lia move to fight with her sword while I fire more arrows. Lia starts a dialog with the unseen voice that seems to be Argent.

“I am Valena Feador,” I call out to the human female. “If you truly are Argent, then we meet a month ago back in Corunglain. How did you come to be here?”

Talen · Post by **Talen** » Sun Nov 26, 2017 7:40 pm

Talen:

The captive elves start to move, but the orcs are more hesistant. Talen yells out the orcish word for run and few do move. Laucian says a whole lot more.

Laucian wrote:“Dar okak aga eg shok, dakagog!” Laucian adds in orcish.

“I'm glad I didn't have to memorize that!” Talen says shaking his head.

Seeing a Hive soldier rush towards him, Talen draws his sword and prepares to rudely greet him. Her. It. Whatever.

Laucian · Post by **Laucian** » Sun Nov 26, 2017 9:04 pm

Laucian

The orcs regard the new arrivals with suspicion. Talen calls out the orc word for run and that starts a few of the orcs to follow the elves.

“Dar okak aga eg shok, dakagog!” Laucian adds in orcish.

Several Hive soldiers skirt the Wall of Fire and rush towards Laucian. The Priest of Ehlonna fires more arrows and two more soldiers go down. One soldier starts to move towards Talen. The orcs, there's about two dozen of them, seem to get the idea and the rest of them start to flee up the stairs.

Laucian watches as the Elves run past him but the orcs are hesitant to move. With good reason the follower Ehlonna thinks to himself. Our people were probably fighting them on sight now they are getting rescued by a different group of elves.
Laucian brings his bow up as several soldiers come around the fire wall. Taking aim he let’s loose striking his target then knocks another an fires in rapid succession as another soldier goes down.
Laucian continues to knock an arrow. He looks up for a moment to see how the orcs are progressing then back to the ants as one makes his way toward Talen. If Laucian has a clear shot he will take it at Talen’s antman. If not, Laucian will look for another target an put an arrow in it. ( I am assuming the Fire wall is blocking his view of the ant queen.)

Kylie · Post by **Kylie** » Mon Nov 27, 2017 7:29 pm

Kylie:

Talen wrote:“Thank you,” Talen says as he takes a hold Kylie's hand. Their eyes meet for a brief moment as if words unsaid where exchanged. He holds her hand a little too long before letting go. “Hopefully, I won't need to use this, but better safe then sorry!”

The warmth of Talen's hand is soothing to Kylie's nerves, here on the edge of battle. "Just... don't die," Kylie says, her voice huskier than usual, before turning away to prepare.

Lilia wrote:“We are off to a good start,” Lilia agrees. “Let's keep the pressure on them.”

"You got it, boss," Kylie replies, with just a hint of a smirk.

Kylie's next spell takes out a handful of the flying bugs, dropping them to the floor of the cave. Will it be enough? It seems like no more than a droplet in an ocean...

Almost immediately, another Fireball from Lilia explodes in the distance, slaying more of the horrid creatures. Unfortunately, this attracts the attention of some of the bugs, and one of the ant-men casts a spell at the elven queen. It takes but a moment for Kylie to recognize it: Argent's unique version of Magic Missile! So surprised is Kylie that she fails to register the damage to her friend Lilia.

This confirms the identity of the hive queen! Apparently, they can share such knowledge through their link.

Lilia wrote:“It seems that far more than knowledge is shared among the Hive,” Lilia notes. “They learned how to cast your friends version of Magic Missiles!”

"I see that," Kylie replies, her voice flat and hard with anger. "I wonder if they will still be able to do so if she dies..."

Shaking her head to clear it, Kylie spots Argent rising from among the shattered ice left by her spell. She can already hear Lilia casting another Fireball, so she remains on the defensive, continuing to focus on the flying bugs.
_________________________________________________
Same spell choices and priorities as last round.

Post by **GM Mad** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 3:14 pm

Post Continued:

November 28th, CR 571 or Deepnight 22nd, 20,519 AP

The fighting against the Hive forces continues! Seeing that Hive Queen Argent is starting to rise to her feet after having the Wall of Ice dropped on her, Lilia targets her with a Fireball. The Elfin Queen gets her spell of first and fire erupts around the Hive Queen and she vanishes from sight. A deathly scream fills the cavern letting all know that she has been badly hurt or worse. The explosion of fire evaporates the ice in the area creating a concealing fog.

Kylie spots another small group of Flying Insects and targets them with a Magic Missile. The enchanted missiles are nearing their target when the Fireball and then the steam envelopes the area. Kylie can't tell just how many of the bugs fell from her spell. Those few Hive that can still be seen seem confused and unsure what to do. They are not currently posing a threat.

Down on the ground, Talen draws his sword to engage the Hive Soldier rushing towards him. Talen swings twice and misses his target each time. The soldier lashes out with its claws and mandibles but only manages to nick Talen with a pincer. Laucian settles the issue with a pair of arrows drilled into the soldier.

By now much steam has filled the area making it hard to see what is going on past the Wall of Fire. A deathly scream is heard and you assume that it was from the Hive Queen. By now all the elves and orcs have passed and rushed up the tower stairs. The time to vacate the area has arrived!

One floor up, Lia and Valena have found a Hive Commander also standing guard over the orc women and children. They have also heard a voice from elsewhere in the chamber that sounds a lot like Argent! Lia fights the Commander with her longsword, while Valena is several paces behind with her bow at the ready.

Suddenly, the Hive Commander seems to be confused and a horrible scream is heard from a ways off. Lia slashes into the Commander's chest once and with her second powerful strike cuts the giant insect in half! A shower of gore and blood goes flying in many directions.

With the Commander out of the way, Lia and Valena can see the chamber that they are in more detail. It's a standard suite as been seen elsewhere in the tall tower. The inhabitants are indeed orc women, children, and the elderly who cower deeper in the suite. All whom the Hive deemed unworthy of joining their ranks.

But among this collection of helpless individuals are two who are unusual. Immediately noticed is a orc female who also wears the uniform and tabard of the orcs found on the surface. Her uniform is pea soup green in color and over this she wears a mustard colored tabard that bears the symbol of bloody dagger. What is most remarkable is that this orc stands up straight! Most orcs are known to be slouched over, their profile adding to the assumption that they are lesser intelligent creatures. Her skin is light green in color and her hair is dark purple to black.

Lia calls out to the voice she has been speaking to during the fight with the giant insect.

Lia wrote:“Lia.”she says through gritted teeth lashing out with her sword again. “Friend of Sherwood Elfriend and Kylie. It would appear so.”

“It's about damn time!”, the human female calls out. She steps out from behind the uniformed lady orc. It does look like the Argent that Lia met in passing in Corunglain and that Valena briefly adventured with!

But there are differences. Her dress is filthy and torn in places. Argent's normal well tended looks are a mess. Her hair is a rats nest and her face is dirty. Even worse, her hands are manacled together with the chain attached to a iron belt wrapped around her waist. She even looks a bit thinner they you recall.

Valena wrote:“I am Valena Feador,” I call out to the human female. “If you truly are Argent, then we meet a month ago back in Corunglain. How did you come to be here?”

“I don't know what you are talking about,” Argent answers on the verge of tears. “I've never been to Corunglain! I've been stuck here for months! What took you so long to rescue me? Why did they abandon me?”

As Lia and Valena speak to 'Argent', the uniformed female orc speaks in a older, broken form of elvish. Her hands are raised up peacefully in front of her. Only some of the words can be understood by Lia and Valena.

“I mean ----- harm,” the female orc says in broken ancient elvish. “These people are --------- hungry. Let them ---------- homes. Its ------------ real enemy ------. They -------- destroyed!”

Post by **GM Mad** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 3:15 pm

GM Notes:

The elves and orcs captives have cleared the town square area. Laucian and Talen should be moving now, so Kylie and Lilia can bring the roof down.

No other Hive is seen where Lia and Valena are. Just old, young and female orcs along with Argent and the upright uniformed female. It's also time to get them moving along.

For those following the Campaign History section of the forum, I've now posted up to yesterday, November 27th, for this game. I'll post the recap for November 28th once that day is over.

Hit Points:

Lia 37 of 60
Lilia 57 of 71
Talen 49 of 52

Spell Activity:

Lilia has 51 Mage Spell Points left and has cast 1 1st level spell, 1 2nd level spell, 4 3rd level spells and 1 4th level spell thus far. She also has 34 Priest Spell Points left and has cast 1 1st level spell.

Talen has 10 Spell Points remaining and has cast 1 first level spell thus far.

Valena has 34 Spell Points remaining and has cast 1 first level spell thus far.

Now what?

Laucian · Post by **Laucian** » Sat Dec 02, 2017 1:18 pm

Laucian

Down on the ground, Talen draws his sword to engage the Hive Soldier rushing towards him. Talen swings twice and misses his target each time. The soldier lashes out with its claws and mandibles but only manages to nick Talen with a pincer. Laucian settles the issue with a pair of arrows drilled into the soldier.

By now much steam has filled the area making it hard to see what is going on past the Wall of Fire. A deathly scream is heard and you assume that it was from the Hive Queen. By now all the elves and orcs have passed and rushed up the tower stairs. The time to vacate the area has arrived!

Laucian watches as Talen draws his sword and engages the Soldier before him. Laucian keeps on eye on his friend progress as he looks about trusting the young half elf to deal with his foe. Seeing Talen miss and the soldier contact his friend Laucian’s next course of action is decided for him. He brings his bow to bare and targets the Soldier. “Ehlonna guide my arrow.” He prays silently and lets loose at his target as he readies another arrow. Seeing the first strike home and the ant still standing he takes aim again and finds his mark as steam begins to fill the cavern.

Calling out to Talen in Elfish, “Time to go!”he calls out as a mortal scream is heard. It would seem the others dealt with the queen!

Laucian will hold his ground covering Talen till he reaches his position. Once he does so, Laucian will begin fleeing as per the plan.

Lia · Post by **Lia** » Sat Dec 02, 2017 1:46 pm

Lia

One floor up, Lia and Valena have found a Hive Commander also standing guard over the orc women and children. They have also heard a voice from elsewhere in the chamber that sounds a lot like Argent! Lia fights the Commander with her longsword, while Valena is several paces behind with her bow at the ready.

Suddenly, the Hive Commander seems to be confused and a horrible scream is heard from a ways off. Lia slashes into the Commander's chest once and with her second powerful strike cuts the giant insect in half! A shower of gore and blood goes flying in many directions.

Lia watches as the ant commander looks confused and hesitates. Her blade she slashes into the ant’s chest further injuring the creature. Reversing her blade she brings it back in a wicked arc, her blade biting deep. Putting more energy into her sword swing the blade slices gore and blood dripping through gore, and armor alike as the ant is cut in half. Blood and gore splatter about hitting her in the face and her front.
With green blood and gore dripping down her front, she lifts her injured hand and wipes it away from her face. As she looks about the room.

With the Commander out of the way, Lia and Valena can see the chamber that they are in more detail. It's a standard suite as been seen elsewhere in the tall tower. The inhabitants are indeed orc women, children, and the elderly who cower deeper in the suite. All whom the Hive deemed unworthy of joining their ranks.

But among this collection of helpless individuals are two who are unusual. Immediately noticed is a orc female who also wears the uniform and tabard of the orcs found on the surface. Her uniform is pea soup green in color and over this she wears a mustard colored tabard that bears the symbol of bloody dagger. What is most remarkable is that this orc stands up straight! Most orcs are known to be slouched over, their profile adding to the assumption that they are lesser intelligent creatures. Her skin is light green in color and her hair is dark purple to black.

Lia calls out to the voice she has been speaking to during the fight with the giant insect. "Lia.”she says through gritted teeth lashing out with her sword again. “Friend of Sherwood Elfriend and Kylie. It would appear so.”

“It's about damn time!”, the human female calls out. She steps out from behind the uniformed lady orc. It does look like the Argent that Lia met in passing in Corunglain and that Valena briefly adventured with!

But there are differences. Her dress is filthy and torn in places. Argent's normal well tended looks are a mess. Her hair is a rats nest and her face is dirty. Even worse, her hands are manacled together with the chain attached to a iron belt wrapped around her waist. She even looks a bit thinner they you recall.

“I am Valena Feador,” I call out to the human female. “If you truly are Argent, then we meet a month ago back in Corunglain. How did you come to be here?”

“I don't know what you are talking about,” Argent answers on the verge of tears. “I've never been to Corunglain! I've been stuck here for months! What took you so long to rescue me? Why did they abandon me?”

Lia looks to Valena as the woman known as Argent answers them. Perhaps she has amnesia? Some spell that confounds the mind? “Months? Were you struck on your head? asks Why did they not bug you?” motioning to the the dead bug at her feet. “Who abandoned you?”she asks curious just as the Orc woman comes forward.

As Lia and Valena speak to 'Argent', the uniformed female orc speaks in a older, broken form of elvish. Her hands are raised up peacefully in front of her. Only some of the words can be understood by Lia and Valena. “I mean ----- harm,” the female orc says in broken ancient elvish. “These people are --------- hungry. Let them ---------- homes. Its ------------ real enemy ------. They -------- destroyed!”

Lia looks to Valena the back to the orc female, “What is your name? Your people are free.” Doing a similar gesture as the orc, “We must leave,” pointing to everyone and points to the door. Pointing to the orc female knowing the language barrier might be a problem, Lia looks at the orc and gestures “We can talk on surface, when safe.”

Lia will concentrate on the female orc and try to see if she is lying ( detect lie Innate ability)

Kylie · Post by **Kylie** » Sat Dec 02, 2017 11:12 pm

Kylie:

The Hive Queen, Kylie's former friend Argent, is consumed by Lilia's Fireball. Kylie's heart lurches sideways and tears well up in her eyes. No matter what may she may have become since they last saw each other, Argent was once her friend and fellow student of the mystic arts.

Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, Kylie spots a group of flying bugs which appear to be on the attack. Reacting quickly, she lets off a barrage of Magic Missiles. Just as the missiles reach their targets, they are swallowed up in mist from the super-heated ice and Kylie loses sight of them.

A glance around what she can still see of the cavern shows that the remaining creatures appear unfocused and disoriented. Moments later, she sees Lucian and Talen start to head toward the doorway back into the tower, escorting the elven and orcish prisoners as they go. Kylie keeps an eye on their progress, ready to act if they are threatened.

As she watches her friends' progress and the milling insect creatures, Kylie speaks to the queen. "I'll fork my Lightning Bolt to hit two spots to the left and right, just this side of the center of the cavern. Tell me when..." She is primed and ready to go with her spell, and will follow up with her Iron Spikes if the roof seems to require further encouragement.

Talen · Post by **Talen** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 7:21 pm

Talen:

Kylie wrote:The warmth of Talen's hand is soothing to Kylie's nerves, here on the edge of battle. "Just... don't die," Kylie says, her voice huskier than usual, before turning away to prepare.

“Not part of the plan,” Talen answers with a bit of a smirk. With a spring in his step he follows after Laucian down to the ground level.

The elves and orcs are on the move and an Hive soldier rushes Talen. I draw my sword, but fail to hit the man-sized ant.

“That's disappointing,” Talen silently notes right before being struck by the creatures claw. A pair of arrows from Laucian downs the monster right after that. “So much for my sword skills.”

Laucian wrote:Calling out to Talen in Elfish, “Time to go!”he calls out as a mortal scream is heard. It would seem the others dealt with the queen!

“Right behind you!” Talen calls out as he dashes for the stairs. Once Laucian is past him, Talen pauses to cast his Web spell to seal of the ground floor entrances. He'll cover the entrance to the stairs and the area in between.

Once one floor up, Talen will yell out, “We're clear!”, so that Lilia and Kylie can bring the ceiling down outside.

Talen starts to run up the stairs once more, but pauses and rushes to find Lia and Valena. He has to make sure that they're on the move as well. If he finds them, Talen calls out, “We have to move! Now!”

Valena Feador · Post by **Valena Feador** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 7:39 pm

Valena:

Lia dispatches the Hive commander in spectacular, if not messy, fashion.

“That's why I prefer ranged weapons,” Valena easily notes with a slight smile. “Less clean up.”

With an arrow still ready to fire, Valena moves into the room to get a better view. She sees that the captives are indeed orcs: the old, the young and the women. Presumably the Hive only wants strong and healthy captives to be converted.

As she moves deeper into the chamber, Valena calls out the orcish word to flee like Lilia taught her. To unusual individuals are noted. There is a orc female dressed like the males found outside. She wears a uniform and stands up straight! This is unlike any orc Valena has ever seen before! A haggard looking Argent appears from behind this orc. Her hands are locked in manacles, preventing the use of magic. Lia and I question her.

“It's about damn time!”, the human female calls out.

“I don't know what you are talking about,” Argent answers on the verge of tears. “I've never been to Corunglain! I've been stuck here for months! What took you so long to rescue me? Why did they abandon me?”

'Argent's' words are troubling. Never been to Corunglain? Is this some sort of deception?

Drawing her arrow even tighter, Valena is on the verge of firing. “Show me the back of your head!”, Valena commands in the common tongue of the humans. “Now! Or I will fire and you will die.”

Unless there is no sign of an insect on the back of her head, Valena will fire.

As Lia and Valena speak to 'Argent', the uniformed female orc speaks in a older, broken form of elvish. Her hands are raised up peacefully in front of her. Only some of the words can be understood by Lia and Valena.

“I mean ----- harm,” the female orc says in broken ancient elvish. “These people are --------- hungry. Let them ---------- homes. Its ------------ real enemy ------. They -------- destroyed!”

Surprisingly, the orc female speaks a form of elvish, but only some of the words are understandable.

“You too!”,” Valena calls out in elvish. “Show me the back of your head or you will die! We cannot risk any insect surviving!”

Talen wrote:Talen starts to run up the stairs once more, but pauses and rushes to find Lia and Valena. He has to make sure that they're on the move as well. If he finds them, Talen calls out, “We have to move! Now!”

“We will move momentarily,” Valena calls out in elvish to Talen. “We have an issue to settle first.”

Lilia · Post by **Lilia** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 7:49 pm

Lilia:

Kylie wrote:The Hive Queen, Kylie's former friend Argent, is consumed by Lilia's Fireball. Kylie's heart lurches sideways and tears well up in her eyes. No matter what may she may have become since they last saw each other, Argent was once her friend and fellow student of the mystic arts.

Lilia looks to see Kylie's reaction to the passing of her friend. This was an unfortunate task, but one that had to be done.

“I am so sorry for your loss,” Lilia whispers. After a pause to find the right words, the Elfin Queen adds, “She was a kind human.”

Talen lets us know that he and Laucian are clear. It's time to bring the ceiling down.

Kylie wrote:As she watches her friends' progress and the milling insect creatures, Kylie speaks to the queen. "I'll fork my Lightning Bolt to hit two spots to the left and right, just this side of the center of the cavern. Tell me when..." She is primed and ready to go with her spell, and will follow up with her Iron Spikes if the roof seems to require further encouragement.

“I'll send a Fireball to the portion over that collection of pillars,” Lilia states. “Those must be buried again so that the Hive cannot return here.”

Lilia will cast her Fireball as noted and then wait to see if it is enough to start the collapse.

Post by **GM Mad** » Mon Dec 04, 2017 3:14 pm

Post Continued:

November 28th, CR 571 or Deepnight 22nd, 20,519 AP

The elves and the orcs being held captive by the Hive have fled, leaving Laucian and Talen alone on the ground floor of the tall tower. Laucian downs the last Hive soldier that they can see and calls for Talen to move. Once at the bottom of the stairs and once Laucian has passed by, Talen casts a Web spell to seal off the stairs. The webbing fills some of the central shaft as well.

The pair rush up to the next floor. The elves and orcs can be heard moving up the stairs further ahead, but none of their companions can be seen yet. Talen calls out to Kylie and Lilia that they are clear. Talen then starts up the stairs, but stops and decides to make sure that his sister and Valena are clear.

After hearing Talen call out, Kylie and Lilia start to work to bring the ceiling down. Lilia sends a Fireball towards the ceiling above the tall pillars where the Hive reinforcements arrived. The spell explodes right on the ceiling a huge section of the ceiling in that area starts to come down! There is huge crash of earth to the ground of the plaza. Loose earth is blown up into the air and merges with the steam, making it difficult to tell just how much was buried.

Kylie follows up with a split Lightning Bolt to the roof near the center area. The spell hits the ceiling and dislodges some of it. Much like Lilia's attack, some of the ceiling comes down and dirt fills the air. A strong breeze is felt from the open air suddenly being displaced by earth. It's easy to tell to both women that the entire ceiling has not come down yet.

Elsewhere on the first level of the tall tower, Lia and Valena are dealing with those the Hive were guarding. Among the normal young, old and female orcs, is someone who looks just like Argent who seems to be a prisoner. With her is a female orc wearing the uniform that was seen up on the surface. Unlike most other orcs, this uniformed female stands up straight. Lia and Valena have questions.

Lia wrote:“Months? Were you struck on your head? Why did they not bug you?” motioning to the the dead bug at her feet. “Who abandoned you?”she asks curious just as the Orc woman comes forward.

“No, I wasn't hit on the head!” Argent objects fearfully as she takes a good look at Lia. “By the gods, you're a drow! Don't kill me!”

Valena wrote:Drawing her arrow even tighter, Valena is on the verge of firing. “Show me the back of your head!”, Valena commands in the common tongue of the humans. “Now! Or I will fire and you will die.”

Openly sobbing now and trembling, Argent does as directed. She turns and you can see that the back of her head is free of insects. “Please don't hurt me,” Argent pleads between sobs.

Lia wrote:Lia looks to Valena the back to the orc female, “What is your name? Your people are free.” Doing a similar gesture as the orc, “We must leave,” pointing to everyone and points to the door. Pointing to the orc female knowing the language barrier might be a problem, Lia looks at the orc and gestures “We can talk on surface, when safe.”

“Myev,” the orc woman answers in ancient elvish.

Valena wrote:“You too!”,” Valena calls out in elvish. “Show me the back of your head or you will die! We cannot risk any insect surviving!”

Myev complies and turns to show that the back of her head is free of any parasites.

At this moment, Talen rushes up.

Talen wrote:Talen starts to run up the stairs once more, but pauses and rushes to find Lia and Valena. He has to make sure that they're on the move as well. If he finds them, Talen calls out, “We have to move! Now!”

“Are you satisfied that Myev and I are bug free?”, Argent quietly asks.

Post by **GM Mad** » Mon Dec 04, 2017 3:15 pm

GM Notes:

More spells will be needed to bring the ceiling down.

Thus far Lia cannot detect any deceptions from Myev using her innate Detect Lie ability.

Talen is now with Lia and Valena, while Kylie and Lilia are still on the balcony. Laucian at least made it to the first floor of the tower. Beyond that, he can either stick around where he is or move around or keep going up.

Hit Points:

Lia 37 of 60
Lilia 57 of 71
Talen 49 of 52

Spell Activity:

Lilia has 48 Mage Spell Points left and has cast 1 1st level spell, 1 2nd level spell, 5 3rd level spells and 1 4th level spell thus far. She also has 34 Priest Spell Points left and has cast 1 1st level spell.

Talen has 8 Spell Points remaining and has cast 1 first level spell and 1 second level spell thus far.

Valena has 34 Spell Points remaining and has cast 1 first level spell thus far.

Now what?

Kylie · Post by **Kylie** » Tue Dec 05, 2017 3:07 pm

Kylie:

Talen wrote:“Not part of the plan,” Talen answers with a bit of a smirk. With a spring in his step he follows after Laucian down to the ground level.

"Keep it that way," Kylie replies softly as Talen leaves with Laucian.

Lilia wrote:“I am so sorry for your loss,” Lilia whispers. After a pause to find the right words, the Elfin Queen adds, “She was a kind human.”

Kylie just nods silently, not sure how to express the pain and loss that she's feeling.

Lilia wrote:“I'll send a Fireball to the portion over that collection of pillars,” Lilia states. “Those must be buried again so that the Hive cannot return here.”

Lilia will cast her Fireball as noted and then wait to see if it is enough to start the collapse.

Kylie's spell is right on the heels of the queen's. Some of the roof does indeed come down, but not enough. Clearly, it's going to take more prodding.

As soon as the dust clears enough to see which parts of the ceiling are the most reluctant, Kylie casts Iron Spikes at those spots.
_____________________________________________________________________
Either all 4 spikes at one spot, or 2 spikes each at 2 spots, whichever seems most likely to get the desired results.

Valena Feador · Post by **Valena Feador** » Thu Dec 07, 2017 6:51 pm

Valena:

Argent wrote:Openly sobbing now and trembling, Argent does as directed. She turns and you can see that the back of her head is free of insects. “Please don't hurt me,” Argent pleads between sobs.

Arrow nocked and ready to be fired, Valena watches carefully as the human who looks like Argent shows the back of her head. It is free of parasites.

“You are clean,” Valena pronounces in the human tongue. “You will not be harmed.”

Argent wrote:“Are you satisfied that Myev and I are bug free?”, Argent quietly asks.

“I am satisfied,” Valena says still speaking common as she eases up the tension on her bow and stores the arrow she had ready. “My apologies for being so direct. We had to be sure that you were not infected. But this is not the time or place for any more conversation. All of you must flee to the surface now! We are in the process of burying the cave down below. None of us will want to be here in a few moments!”

Valena will add the orcish word for run and hopes that the orcs will understand. She stands aside to allow the others to pass. Once they are gone, Valena will follow them up to the surface.

Lilia · Post by **Lilia** » Fri Dec 08, 2017 6:49 pm

Lilia:

Some of the ceiling comes down, but not all of it. Not yet. Lilia will target the section off to the far right and try to bring that down.

Lia · Post by **Lia** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 8:19 am

Lia

“That's why I prefer ranged weapons,” Valena easily notes with a slight smile. “Less clean up.”

“Perhaps.” She smirks back, silently wondering how disgusting she may look at the moment. “By the way, I won’t tell Laucian you missed,” she says with a quick wink as she wipes off more blood.

Valena calls out for both women to show the back of their necks to make sure they are still whole. Silently kicking herself she looks to both, “I’d do as she asks".

“No, I wasn't hit on the head!” Argent objects fearfully as she takes a good look at Lia. “By the gods, you're a drow! Don't kill me!”

“Only by one God, By Eilistrae’s blessings.”She replies motioning to her holy symbol. “If I wanted you dead,”she says looking to mage, “we would not be talking now.” she says matter of fact.

Talen starts to run up the stairs once more, but pauses and rushes to find Lia and Valena. He has to make sure that they're on the move as well. If he finds them, Talen calls out, “We have to move! Now!”

“Are you satisfied that Myev and I are bug free?”, Argent quietly asks.

“I’m satisfied.” She looks at Valena, “We better hurry, I don’t want this to be our final resting place.

Looking at Myev, “Tell the orcs to run. We will talk on the surface,” she says evenly.

Lia will move to Argent and say “We will take care of your bonds shortly”. Urging her and the orcs to move towards the surface.

Laucian · Post by **Laucian** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 8:32 am

Laucian

Laucian as an arrow nocked as he comes up the stairs looking for the other elves and orcs. Laucian watches as Talen calls for his sister and Valena.

Laucian will take position by the stairs and move so that he has visibility of the area he guesses the queen and Kylie to be.

Seeing the orcs beginning to funnel out of the chambers, Lia and Valena went to, “This way.” He calls out in orcish.

Calling out to Lilia and Kylie, “Are you two okay? Laucian will remain watchful and then begin to move up to the surface once Lilia and Kylie are clear.

( Sorry about the late posts works been interesting, running short handed due to turnaround)

Talen · Post by **Talen** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 9:35 am

Talen:

Talen rushes to find Lia and Valena to make sure they are safe. Instead, the young half-elf finds himself coming in the middle of a tense situation.

Valena wrote:“We will move momentarily,” Valena calls out in elvish to Talen. “We have an issue to settle first.”

Talen is startled to find Lia covered in some kind of... goo? There are numerous orcs about, but that was somewhat expected. But there are two others that stand out from the crowd. There is an orc female who stands erect wearing an hideous uniform and a human female that looks very much like the one Talen met in the hallway in Corunglain. In spite of her shabby and filthy state, it is clearly the beauty that made Talen tongue tied!

“Okay, how is this possible?” Talen wonders. “Kylie and Lilia took her out down in the cavern!”

It starts to sink in that the two were being inspected to see if they had bugs on their heads. A sensible precaution. Valena pronounces them to be clean and urges everyone to run to the surface. Talen stands back to let them pass.

“We need to move as well,” Talen tells Lia and Valena. “Our work here seems to be finished.”

Once the orcs are passed, Talen will follow Lia and Valena up the tower stairs.

Post by **GM Mad** » Mon Dec 11, 2017 4:37 pm

Post Continued:

November 28th, CR 571 or Deepnight 22nd, 20,519 AP

Two unusual women have been found among the prisoners being held by the Hive. One is an orc wearing a uniform and standing upright. The other is someone who looks very much like Argent. But wasn't she also down in the cave acting as the Hive Queen? Valena and Lia inspect the two to make sure that they are not infected with Hive parasites.

Much to 'Argent's' shock she discovers that Lia is a drow elf.

lia wrote:“Only by one God, By Eilistraee's blessings.” She replies motioning to her holy symbol. “If I wanted you dead,” she says looking to mage, “we would not be talking now.” she says matter of fact.

Argent says nothing else and turns so that the back of her head can be plainly seen. She's still upset and visibly shaking.

Valena wrote:“You are clean,” Valena pronounces in the human tongue. “You will not be harmed.”

In spite of that announcement, Argent does not relax as she turns back around. “Now what?”, she asks.

Talen arrives, checking up on his sister and Valena.

Talen wrote:“Okay, how is this possible?” Talen wonders. “Kylie and Lilia took her out down in the cavern!”

“Kylie is here?” Argent asks of Talen, perking up slightly. “She can verify who I am. Who did you take out?”

Valena wrote:“I am satisfied,” Valena says still speaking common as she eases up the tension on her bow and stores the arrow she had ready. “My apologies for being so direct. We had to be sure that you were not infected. But this is not the time or place for any more conversation. All of you must flee to the surface now! We are in the process of burying the cave down below. None of us will want to be here in a few moments!”

Lia wrote:“I’m satisfied.” She looks at Valena, “We better hurry, I don’t want this to be our final resting place.

Looking at Myev, “Tell the orcs to run. We will talk on the surface,” she says evenly.

Lia will move to Argent and say “We will take care of your bonds shortly”. Urging her and the orcs to move towards the surface.

Argent doesn't need to be told twice. She moves as fast as she can past the elves and out into the hallway beyond. Some of the orcs start to move as well, spurred on by the cries of “dakagog!”.

Myev nods her understanding and calls out in orcish, “Zizi eg tanoz!”. In response to that the rest of the orcs start to move. The younger and healthier move faster while the older are slower. The sound of dirt landing and the dust borne breeze it generates does make them move a bit quicker.

Post by **GM Mad** » Mon Dec 11, 2017 4:38 pm

Near the center of the tower, Laucian and see more orcs moving to safety. It is the females and young he sees first, with the elderly trailing behind them. Upon seeing them, he calls out “Adog Tuztor” in orcish in an attempt to move along faster. He then calls out to Lilia and Kylie.

Further out on the balcony, Kylie and Lilia work to bury the cavern below. They've started the collapse, but the whole ceiling has yet to come down. In response to this, Lilia sends yet another Fireball towards the section where the elves and orcs were being held prisoner. At the same time, Kylie sends a furry of Iron Spikes towards the side on the left.

The Fireball explodes and earth starts to fall heavily on the Wall of Fire, but it stops after a few moments. The Iron Spikes rip into the ceiling and more droplets of earth fall to the floor below, but these too stop.

A few heartbeats later, a loud roar rips through the chamber as the entire ceiling starts to give way! Both Kylie and Lilia turn and fly back toward the central shaft, passing Laucian along the way.

A deafening crash is heard as the earth strikes the ground. A blinding wave of dust is sent into the tower and towards the surface! A tremendous burst of wind accompanies the dust as the air in the chamber is forcibly moved at great velocity! The unwary are knocked over by this sudden gale force wind of dust and dirt. The wind pushes both Kylie and Lilia higher up the central shaft. Both struggle to control their flight and avoid hitting the walkways between levels of the tower.

As fast as the wind and dirt hit everyone, it passes. The dirt slowly starts to settle, but it will take a few minutes before visibility improves. Cries of the injured orcs can be heard as the roar subsides.

Post by **GM Mad** » Mon Dec 11, 2017 4:39 pm

GM Notes:

The ceiling has come down and made a mess of things. Kylie and Lilia are now in the central shaft, two or three floors higher up.

Laucian was on the side away from Lia and Valena. Laucian could have reached the stairs and started to go up up. He'd now be partway up the stairs.

Lia, Talen, and Valena are back in the room where the orcs were held captive. At best they could be in the hallway outside the room, as the elderly orcs were very slow.

None of the players took damage from the collapse itself.

You've probably noticed that Lilia has cast a huge amount of Fireballs. That's is part of the system that I have been testing. For Lilia, Fireball is one of her 'known spells'. These are spells that she knows so well that she no longer needs to memorize it and can cast it on the fly. The process is similar to where a priest would 'burn' an existing spell to cast a Cure Wounds spell in its place.

The difference here is that since I am using spell points, spell level = how many points it costs to cast, an existing spell in memory is not burned in the process. Lilia is still limited in just how many spells she can cast. For instance while wearing the Star Crown, Lilia can cast 8 3rd level spells. Should she attempt to cast a 9th 3rd level spell, it would cost more points, in this case 5 points instead of 3. That's why I've been tracking how many spells per level have been cast. Just a little insight into how this alternate system works.

Hit Points:

Lia 37 of 60
Lilia 57 of 71
Talen 49 of 52

Spell Activity:

Lilia has 45 Mage Spell Points left and has cast 1 1st level spell, 1 2nd level spell, 6 3rd level spells and 1 4th level spell thus far. She also has 34 Priest Spell Points left and has cast 1 1st level spell.

Talen has 8 Spell Points remaining and has cast 1 first level spell and 1 second level spell thus far.

Valena has 34 Spell Points remaining and has cast 1 first level spell thus far.

Now what?

Lilia · Post by **Lilia** » Mon Dec 11, 2017 6:34 pm

Lilia:

Laucian wrote:Calling out to Lilia and Kylie, “Are you two okay? Laucian will remain watchful and then begin to move up to the surface once Lilia and Kylie are clear.

“We're fine,” Lilia calls out. “Get moving to the surface!”

The Elf Maiden casts another Fireball in an attempt to collapse the underground cavern where the Hive seemed to come from. The spell is cast and more of the ceiling comes down, but it does not seem to be enough.

“It's very stubborn,” Lilia starts to say to Kylie when the ceiling finally does start to give way. Pausing only long enough to cry out, “MOVE!”, Lilia flies off towards the central shaft of the tower.

Along the way she spots Laucian up ahead. With her strength amplified by mage spell earlier, Lilia will simply pick Laucian up and fly up the central shaft with him.

“I've got you,” Lilia says to her passenger.

Dirt and wind fill the shaft and Lilia finds it hard to control her flying. She's pushed upwards and nearly hits the underside of one of the bridges. Dust and dirt fill the area, limiting visibility. Once she is able, Lilia lands on the nearest bridge.

“Are you okay,” Lilia says to Laucian and Kylie if she is close enough. “Did everyone make it out?”

Talen · Post by **Talen** » Mon Dec 11, 2017 6:36 pm

Talen:

After catching up to Lia and Valena, Talen is surprised to find another Argent with them!

Argent wrote:“Kylie is here?” Argent asks of Talen, perking up slightly. “She can verify who I am. Who did you take out?”

“Yes, she is,” Talen starts to answer. “No time to talk, need to move.”

Talen hears the loud crash and the buffeting dusty winds that follow it. Realizing that they won't be able to reach the stairs, Talen grabs Lia and Valena and pushes them down to the floor. He tries to protect them from the collapse using is own body as a shield.

Once the wind and dust subsides, Talen tries to stand, shaking the dirt off of himself.

“Everyone all right?”, Talen asks.

Valena Feador · Post by **Valena Feador** » Mon Dec 11, 2017 6:37 pm

Valena:

The orc and the woman who looks like Argent are clean from parasites. Valena relaxes and tells them to quickly make their way to the surface. The uniformed orc helps move the others along.

Then there is a loud crash as the ceiling has come down! The next thing that Valena knows Talen grabs her and Lia and pushes them down! Talen covers us for protection when the wind and dirt hit.

Talen wrote:“Everyone all right?”, Talen asks after things settle down.

“I'll live,” Valena answers while coughing out some dirt. “We need to find the others and get out of here.”

Once able, Valena will move forward and check on any orcs who didn't make it to safety.

Kylie · Post by **Kylie** » Thu Dec 14, 2017 12:47 pm

Kylie:

Lia's Fireball and Kylie's Iron Spikes both bring down more of the ceiling, but it appears to still be holding. 'Not enough. What's it going to take? I'm running low on damage spells', Kylie thinks grimly to herself. With little other choice, the young mage starts to prepare her last Magic Missile.

Lilia wrote:“It's very stubborn,” Lilia starts to say to Kylie when the ceiling finally does start to give way. Pausing only long enough to cry out, “MOVE!”, Lilia flies off towards the central shaft of the tower.

Just then, a loud rumbling is heard, shaking the entire building. Large sections of the ceiling give way, leading to a total collapse. Alarmed by the sudden, imminent danger, Lilia calls for a retreat and flies off. Kylie doesn't require any further encouragement and is on the queens heels as they approach and start to ascend the central shaft.

Lilia pauses to snatch up Laucian, and Kylie scoops up a couple of the orcish children as she ascends the tower. A sudden blast of pressure and dirt slams Kylie and her passengers against the wall of the shaft, causing her to grunt loudly as the air is forced from her lungs by the impact. Fortunately, she succeeds in hanging onto the kids. Shaking her head to clear her wits, she accelerates upwards once again. Spotting Lilia and Laucian on a bridge just above, Kylie lands nearby.

Lilia wrote:“Are you okay,” Lilia says to Laucian and Kylie if she is close enough. “Did everyone make it out?”

Kylie pauses a second to catch her breath. "Yeah... okay," she says between deep breaths. "Not sure... about... others." She glances over the edge of the bridge to see if any of the others are in view.

Laucian · Post by **Laucian** » Sat Dec 16, 2017 8:50 am

Laucian

A tremendous burst of wind accompanies the dust as the air in the chamber is forcibly moved at great velocity! The unwary are knocked over by this sudden gale force wind of dust and dirt.

Laucian sees a flash then a deafening crash fills his ears. His eyes go wide as the dust cloud launches about the cavern causing the ranger to stumble.

Lilia wrote:Along the way she spots Laucian up ahead. With her strength amplified by mage spell earlier, Lilia will simply pick Laucian up and fly up the central shaft with him.

“I've got you,” Lilia says to her passenger.

Laucian looks up at who grabbed him seeing Lilia, “Thanks!”Laucian help but feel a little uneasy flying with Lilia holding him as they move about the ccavern tower. As the dust and wind batter them around Laucian barely sees the bridge as they almost slam into its underbelly. “Watch out.”as he closes his eyes from Lilia’s driving.

“No worse for ware.”he says smacking away dirt and dust in small clouds. “Talen went to Check,"cough "on his sister.” As he clears his throat of dust by coughing some. “That was the last I saw of him.”

Lia · Post by **Lia** » Sat Dec 16, 2017 9:05 am

Lia

As the once prisoners are found to be free of parasites, Lia cleans off her sword and sheaths it. Just then a loud crash is heard as the ceiling must have fallen followed by dusty winds.

Talen grabs her and Valena and throws them to the ground with him on top of them, a partial ‘hey”comes out of her mouth as the dust hits her causing her to cough and choke partially as the wind is knocked from her lungs, ‘Talen has to lose a few pounds. To be buried alive with your brother shielding you..How embarrassing! ’she thinks to herself but is still thankful of her brother’s actions..

Once the wind and dirt begins to subside Talen stands, giving Lia the moment to rise. Coughing Lia looks to her brother. “I’m alright, the floor broke my fall.” She says with a goofy grin.

“We were told to run to the surface once the collapse happened. Probably best if we go to the stairs, if we can get to the stairs.” She corrects.

Lia will check on the orcs that fell and are injured, then encourage the others to move toward the stairs. Once there she will call out to the others, hoping they aren’t buried under all the debris.

Turning to the others, “Do you think we should check on the pillar room? You know to check if…” not wanting to finish the sentence because if she does she is afraid that it would become real.

Post by **GM Mad** » Sun Dec 17, 2017 2:05 pm

Post Closed