Bad to Worse

Somewhere, December 7th 1655

As Gorfang hammered into the air and earth elementals, bugbears and fae mhor males continued to pour into the room, while from outside the sound of continued spellcasting could be heard. Eloy sighted and hurled Gorfang's swords towards him, then directed his wand at the water elemental and released a blast of ice. The chunks tore through the column of water, solidifying sections and blasting them out of the main body. The creature roared in agony, a sound like surf tearing through stone, and retaliated by spraying out a thick mist of water droplets. These filled a large space, not travelling fast enough to do any damage, but outlining the invisible for of Eloy splendidly. The elemental, a target defined, lunged forward as three of the new bugbears reached the spot and attacked Eloy on his other flank.

Lynien, still undetected off to the side, turned to her bow and shot arrows right across the battlefield, wounding one of the three surviving elementalists and further shaking their morale.

he first of the newly-arrived bugbears reached Gorfang at a charge as he finished off the Air elemental and turned his attention to the Earth. Their spears jabbed at him, more of an annoyance than a danger, but he riposted one absently, driving the doublesword edge into its' hairy neck and sending it spinning away in a shower of blood. A succession of smashing blows dropped the Earth elemental, and he turned on the bugbear spearmen. No match for any of the three companions, the bugs were especially overmatched by Gorfang and were cut down in seconds, leaving him with a respectable heap of bugbear corpses surrounded by bloodsmears and scattered limbs. With a brief respite earned, Gorfang dropped the doublesword and scooped up his khopeshoi.

Aware he was visible and vulnerable, the now-drenched Eloy drew his swords and lashed out at the elemental, his magical weapons inflicting damage despite the fluid nature of his opponent. He'd cast a Resist Elements for water before the battle started, but the return blows, delivered by suddenly-dense watery limbs, rocked him where he stood. Looking up, he swallowed. A wave of massive spiders had swarmed into the room through the top of the door and were fanning out across the ceiling, gathering above the two fighting intruders. Each had a body the size of a large dog, long crooked nobbly legs and sharp fangs wet with poison.

Arrows filled the air, loosed by three of the male Fae Mhor guardsmen under the direction of their commander, but finding no mark. Five more advanced on Gorfang, swords drawn, as the two surviving elementalists launched Lightning Bolts. Gorfang shrugged off the effects of the one aimed at him, as did Eloy, but the wet mist enveloping Eloy conducted the blast beautifully into the elemental - which didn't seem bothered - and the three bugbears, which staggered and crisped, badly burned though not killed.

Lynien the perfect wight stepped five feet forwards, lifted her sword - and delivered a perfect sneak attack half-way across the room, striking the Fae Mhor male commanding the guardsmen in a flare of the same damage-absrobtive shielding as 'Ghanim' had had. As she did this, four priestesses appeared in the doorway and began casting offensive spells. This was what Lynien had been waiting for, and she hurried towards them, secure in the protection of Maedar's Ring, as huge spiders began to lower themselves rapidly from the ceiling towards Gorfang and Eloy.

Gorfang confronted the Fae Mhor guardsmen who'd reached him, and lashed out at the first. To his surprise, this one had no shielding, and was easily cut down. Capitalizing on this, the orc dropped the others as the first spiders began to fall from the ceiling, fangs reaching for him. At that moment, a Blade Barrier cast by one of the priestesses appeared right next to him, and he dropped his shoulder into a hasty roll forwards out of the danger zone. Most of the spiders were less fortunate, however, falling straight into the mass of blades and disappearing in a shower of slime.

Eloy capitalized on the effect of the Lightning Bolt on the bugbears near him and cut them down before they could recover. The elemental was proving less easy to put down. The Blade Barrier that appeared in the midst of their fight flung them apart, damaging the elemental more than the human and throwing Eloy out of the misty area the elemental had created. It also blocked the door Eloy had come in through, shutting off any option of fleeing that way. Three of the descending spiders survived the blades and one bit Eloy, who felt the strength draining out of his muscles as the poison ripped into him. The two surviving elementalists covered their retreat to a corner by blasting a Cone of Cold at Eloy's general vicinity, injuring him further. To top off a fairly bad round, he was also hit by a stray arrow from one of the Fae Mhor archers.

Lynien plunged into the centre of the mass of Fae Mhor occupying the north doorway, and levelled a stab at the nearest priestess amid the expected sparks and deflection. The woman glanced around violently, but was unable to pinpoint her attacker.

Gorfang's tumble had brought him out practically face-to-face with the Fae Mhor commander Aferikon, and that worthy drew his sword and engaged. A far better fighter than his men, he was also equipped with one of the mysterious amulets and was prepared to absorb a lot of damage. He wasn't, however, prepared to absorb as much damage as Gorfang was able to dish out with his khopeshoi, and a few moments later was sprawled in a pool of blood.

The battered Eloy, granted some respite by accident, remained still long enough to unpack one of Bog's new Boom Boom Boom potions and knock it back, sighing silently as he felt his wounds and the effects of the spider poison fade away. Swiftly he swapped his Ring of Elemental Resistance for one of Flying, and lifted off the floor into the air. Readying his bow, he prepared to shoot at the priestesses now they were visible.

Lynien then performed a deed that placed her among the greatest thieves of all of time. Reaching deftly out, she snicked the thong on which the priestess's amulet hung and whisked it off her (magnificent) chest without her noticing, dropping it into a pocket for later investigation. So skillful was her move that the victim was still unaware of her loss as she started casting the spell she had prepared for that moment, completing it unhindered. Lynien's smug grin slipped a little as she suddenly and unexpectedly became visible and the priestess's furious eyes ranged sideways and locked onto her, plainly able to see her quite clearly. Both Eloy and Gorfang also noticed her sudden appearance right in the midst of the toughest of their foes (ie the enemy rear!).

Gorfang took a short run, ending by sprinting up the modest heap of dead bugbears he had himself generated, and made a mighty leap into the air, clearing the three archer-guardsmen and ducking his head as it came close to grazing the room's fifteen-foot ceiling, before dropping into the midst of the priestesses next to Lynien. Striking as he landed, he cut down the amulet-less priestess, and whirled to face the others.

From where he was, he could now see into the room beyond, the one the Fae Mhor had entered from. It was around the size of the four antechambers off the main room behind him, and at the far side was a spiral stair leading up - now utterly blocked by a Blade Barrier. To either side of that was a rearguard of more male Fae Mhor soldiers, and ahead of that four more and four more priestesses. In the centre was a single Fae Mhor female, and to Gorfang's eyes she had High Priestess written all over her. Tall, elegant, arrogant; and yet slightly different to all the other Fae Mhor women he'd ever seen. All had looked young; what for a human would appear to be in their early twenties. This one, while not old, appeared middle-aged, a totally unique thing in Gorfang's experience.

Flanking her, slightly ahead and out near the walls, were two strange creatures indeed. Both were Fae Mhor males, but shockingly different to any other such. One was jauntily dressed in dark green of all colours, complete with an odd slouch hat and a burning cigarette in his mouth; be hefted a rapier in one hand and a shortsword in the other. His skin seemed in constant motion where it was exposed, shifting from colour to colour randomly as Gorfang watched.

The other was even more alien - he apparently had no skin at all! Flesh, muscles and some bone were exposed, all running with blood that never seemed to stop, or flow onto the floor, or drip free. A massive greatsword - a very unusual weapon for the lightly-built and deft Fae Mhor - stood upright in front of him, one gory hand resting atop the unstained pommel.