Crystal Hearts Part 4

[MiscChaos]

A terrible feeling collects in the pit of Alena's gut as she sees the whole of the cavern is saturated with magic. Strong magic at that. She's not sure what it is, but since she can't use it, it can't be good. At the very least, the sight of crystal itself is good. Worse come to worse, she can attempt to send this whole passage crashing down by firing a Shatter spell at it and destroying the crystals.

The thought is moved to the back of her mind as the path splits into two, one leading to the cultists while the other leads to a point where her previous strategy is useless. Why does she get the feeling the more innocent path is the one more fraught with danger? Worse yet, Kathryn could be down either one, either being tortured by the fiends or left to her own devices in a quieter part of the cavern! "I am afraid with my unique build, I am unsuited to tasks requiring stealth. With this in mind, is it possible to request a scout to inform us as to the number of enemies in the hotter part of the passage?" She all but whispers to the group. She's not sure if the cultists have lookouts or some such thing, but she doesn't want to be the one to alert them to... their...

Shouldn't the cultists know the party is coming by now? They did allow one of the lizardfolk to run away screaming. Such a thing is hard to ignore. "Does anyone else feel as though we may be slithering into a trap? One of our enemies did run away from us and I am hard pressed to believe it did not alert someone to our presence by this point."

[Kuragari]

"I have an invisibility spell, but it does not last long." Caryn said, glancing down both paths warily. He had already come to the conclusion that they were either heading for a trap (which wasn't surprising) or that they were being watched. He didn't like either of them, but there wasn't much he could do about either, at the moment anyways.

[Lynxy]

"Of course it's a trap." Camilla complained a little louder than she should have. She had been hoping they could backtrack to a side tunnel to avoid taking the obvious path, but since their only guide was dragging them straight toward an enemy congregation, and ignoring her outright, the only option seemed to be to continue into the oncoming trap. Hopefully, they would be able to brute-force their way through whatever was waiting for them without too much trouble.

[Sanaki]

While Marisa was glad that she had managed to give birth successfully she certainly wasn't pleased with the pain she had to go through, in fact if it weren't for all the screaming little infants before her she would have assumed she was still giving birth, though despite the agony that was childbirth she couldn't help but gaze adoringly at her progeny almost slipping into a daydream of how she would watch them grow up and become their own individual person, how she would care for and raise them with all the love she could muster, that was untill a rather painful aftershock spiked it's way through her not letting her forget what nuisance they were up until this moment and what a relief it was to be rid of them for the time being.

Through clenched teeth and a bitter taste in her mouth she motioned Azmer towards her kids to teleport them away as she sought out her armor waiting until her spawn were safely out of the fiery death-trap they had walked into before donning it, making sure to jump in place a few times to completely finish adjusting herself to her new weight; with her children out of the way, and likely surprising a few of the clergy back home, Marisa clasped a hand onto Azmer's shoulder "Thanks for helping me with that, i almost thought i was going to get left behind and would've had to deal with that on my own" offering a rather light laugh despite their circumstance, "Now...let's catch up with the others" breaking into a slow jog Marisa hoped the grouped hadn't wandered into anything too dangerous by the time they got there.

[TCELESBHSUP]

Group: Whether or not it was a trap, there were still three ways to go. Forward, into the dark side passage, or back the way that you came. Who knows what lay ahead? The chanting slowly picked up once more, getting louder and louder. From the rear, the group barely hears the sound of crying infants... Though that could simply be your paranoid and shaken minds playing tricks on you.

Sanaki: As you move to catch up, you walk face-first into the crotch of a tall lizardfolk male. Naturally, you crane your head up to look at what you ran into... And gulp. It seemed that the one lizard that had gotten away had called in reinforcements. Very large, very powerful looking reinforcements. Nine lizardfolk of varying gender headed up by one massive and bulky looking male, all of them covered in blood red scales. "... Surrender." He simply said. They spoke Common, it seemed. "A halfling and a runt stand no chance. Tell us where your friends are."

[Meep Meepersons]

Having suddenly run into opposition, and rather stout opposition at that, Azmer decided it would be best to cast a couple of spells. She hurried over to the half-ling Cleric and put on her most innocent child look. Then she muttered her spell softly, and touched Marisa, casting Protection from energy(sonic) on her. Then she used a Quickened Shout spell! Aiming right at the lizards bunched up in the tunnel before her and Marisa. She didn't even bother to make sure she had line of sight, in fact, she was standing right behind Marisa when she cast the spell. A sonic boom of a shout fired forwards, likely resounding off the walls as it did, possibly damaging them. DC 27 fort halves damage - DC 27 reflex saves fragile items from damage. 20 points of damage to all within 30 foot cone from Azmer's front, facing away from Kon and towards the lizardfolk. *Azmer is literally inches behind Marisa who is currently immune to sonic damage until 60 points of sonic damage is absorbed by the protection from energy spell.* SP spent 13.

Kon also acts. She takes this opportunity to advance, coming up to the closest living Lizardfolk she could reach and swipes at it with her great axe. Total roll 30 tohit. If hits, damage roll total is 15.

[Meep Meepersons]

ATTENTION!!! I am retaking control once more. ^^

Everyone!: Marisa, Kon and Azmer managed to deal with the group of Lizardfolk one way or another, and met back up with the group as they enter into a massive cavern! If one would look up you could see the smoke from several lava pools rising out the top of the Volcano. It seems you've made it to the center! Random cracks in the floor flow with lava, a pool in the very center bubbles and smokes with noxious fumes. In the center of the pool, is a plumage of the crystals you've seen throughout the cave! It's almost like an open flower, or a nest bed for what appears to be a massive red egg. Too big of an egg for any dragon you have ever seen. It looks big enough to house really tall half-giant! You shudder at what might be inside, then notice a humanoid figure's silhouette within! You don't have much time to really look at it however as the head of the mama dragon comes down to block your view. You are not alone in this cavern. Guarding the egg directly is the mature adult dragon, who roars at you and your comrades, and at least a half a dozen cultist lizard folk, who do not stop their chanting. They reside on eirie ocult looking platforms surrounding the egg which rest upon the pool of lava, and the dragon sits within the pool of lava itself. Scattered about the cavern room is a large number of Mercenary Lizard folk along with the dragon whom you all wounded earlier and two other young dragons, siblings and from the same clutch no doubt. This is the moment you have all be preparing for. Azmer steps forward and draws a strange artifact from her coat, and hurls it at the mass of mercenaries. A cloud of black mist erupts and sweeps over them. Many of them now lay dead, and only 6 remain. It would appear they are stronger then the rest. The dragons are unaffected, and so are those 6 mercs.

To be Added upon.

Enemies:
Merc#1:
Merc#2:
Merc#3:
Merc#4:
Merc#5:
Merc#6:

Cult#1:
Cult#2:
Cult#3:
Cult#4:
Cult#5:
Cult#6:

Young Dragon#1:
Young Dragon#2:
Young Dragon#3:

MA Dragon:



Players:
Sana:
Dman:
Moko:
Lynxy:
Misc: To be shadowed.
Alaena&Kitty: Not present!

Friendly NPC's:
Kon:
Azmer:
Lene: *played by TCEL for now*

[Kuragari]

Caryn didn't like the look of things here, especially when he saw a humanoid form within that red egg. This just screamed of 'corrupt a pure soul' tales he'd heard and sung about. He struck his instrument and began to sing a song to inspire competence in his allies, knowing that this battle would come down to a great deal of skill and luck combined.

[TCELESBHSUP]

Having been at the head of the party, Lene would smirk as she saw the dragon come into view. Finally... Her quarry had shown itself. Bastard sword in one hand, tower shield in the other, the dragon slayer stood her ground for the time being. "Here we are, ladies and gent. The moment we've been waiting for... The grand finale to our little expedition. Who's ready to put down some overgrown lizards?!" She shouted, roaring as ferociously as a dragon herself and banging her weapon upon her mighty shield. It seemed that the Soryana was just a bit pumped up. Almost infectiously.

[dndman997]

Drak looked towards the lizardfolk while drawing out Viper's Fang and giving it spin in his hand as he readied his shield. Which he now wished was just a bit better at this point. He saw the dragon and smirked. It almost reminded him of home when the tribe would go hunting for a big feast. Sabor stood at his side and let out a roar that did its best to echo through the cave.

[Lynxy]

[no map or turn order, so I'll have to be vague. Insert this action wherever it belongs.]

Camilla grumbles "I'd be more ready if we had used any measure of tact whatsoever...," then takes aim at the most injured looking young dragon, activates her gloves to empower her attack with cold energy and fires an eldrich blast.

[Meep Meepersons]

MAP!!: http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm6/ ... g~original

Enemies: Enemies go after Player Turns.
Merc#1: 4G
Merc#2: 5E
Merc#3: 5I
Merc#4: 6F
Merc#5: 7H
Merc#6: 8D

Cult#1: 9G
Cult#2: 9H
Cult#3: 10H
Cult#4: 10F
Cult#5: 11F
Cult#6: 11G

Young Dragon#1: 56-CD
Young Dragon#2: 56-GH
Young Dragon#3: 56-JK

MA Dragon: 89,10-FGH 10ft under.


Players:
Sana: 2H 1st
Dman: 1G Last
Moko: 1F 3rd
Lynxy: 1H 6th
Misc: 2F 2nd
Kura: 2I 8th
Alaena&Kitty: Not present!

Friendly NPC's:
Kon: 2E 5th
Azmer: 0G 7th
Lene: 2G 4th *played by TCEL for now*[/quote]

[Meep Meepersons]

Everyone who made attacks: The world seems to ripple and your attack never happened! Strange, almost like dejavu....Try again on your turn! No wasted moves for anybody! Yaaaayy~

[Sanaki]

Marisa could only stare at the scene in front of her, if it weren't for her helmet her jaw would've surely hit the floor by now, one, two- four dragons and she didn't even know how many lizards stood between them and their supposed goal, an egg with, what she assumed was the figure of a person, inside, a lucky person at that considering they didn't have to deal with what the group was about too. Taking a few deep, shaky breaths that seemed to echo within her protective helmet Marisa bounced on her feet offering a quiet prayer and starting her normal routine almost unconsciously after all the times she had done this, though she hoped this wouldn't be her last (bless) as she prepared for the advancing enemies.

[MiscChaos]

Alena growls as she sees the odds stacked against them. That's a lot of enemies to slaughter in order to get to wherever Kathryn is being held, somewhere that hopefully isn't that egg in the center of the room. Taking everything in, she begins to plot how best to go about things. Well, she doesn't know what those Cultists are doing with their chanting so it'd probably be a good idea to make them stop if at all possible, but ignoring the enemies right in front of her to do so would be suicidally stupid. With that in mind, she casts Sound Burst with Young Dragon #1 as the center, aiming to hit and stun as many enemies with her attack as she can.

[Motoko]

Sasha frowns seeing the cultists and their chanting, she notches an ice arrow and fires at the #1 cultist, she figured that whatever they were chanting....It most likely wasn't for anything good!

[TCELESBHSUP]

Lene, naturally, would let loose a fierce warcry! Charging in zealously, tower shield in one hand and bastard sword in the other, she would aim to begin cutting a path through the swarm of enemies- starting with the unlucky Merc #1. "Feel the wrath of Soryana, vile dragonkin!" She shouted with confidence, bringing her blade down in an effort to cut him down where he stood.

[Meep Meepersons]

Sanaki: Your spell goes off without a hitch, you can visibly see the effects of your spell on the group, as their shoulders seem a little less heavy for them. It brings a smile to your face. +2 to all rolls for the group.

Misc: Your sound attack does not make it very far and the closest enemy *Merc#1* seems to be the only one affected by it. However on the plus, it seems to have stunned him and caused him to bleed from the holes in his face. The Lizardman clutches his head in agony and groans stupidly as he cannot even hear the sound of his own voice. Merc #1 3 damage, Deaf.

Moko: Your notch an arrow, take careful aim, and let lose. The glimmering magical arrow soars through the air, and strikes true, truer then you expected as it lodges itself deep into the back of your targets head. The magic of the arrow activates and pops the creatures head like a balloon. The others seem unaffected and simply continue to chant, as if in a trance. In fact actually, they seem to pick up the slack of their fallen brother and chant harder, louder, and swifter.

TCEL: Lene's blade strikes true and hard upon the poor deafened fool, nearly cleaving the poor creature in two. The shock of the attack forces the life out of the damnable lizard and he slumps into a pile of blood and corpse. The wound she caused was so gaping and cleanly cut that she did not even have to remove the body from her blade, it simply fell at her feet. Merc #1 Dead.

Kon: Kon hesitates as the battle starts, but affirms her resolve by gripping her axe tighter, the gift she got from Kath before this whole thing started. With a desperate battle cry, she flings her self into a violent rage and charges the left most dragon. The merc attempts to strike her, but misses entirely, his scimitar flashing as it strikes the cavern floor. Kon roars with all her might and swings her axe with just as much effort. The weapon hits the dragon square on the neck as it attempts to move out of the way. The axe cleaves through and doesn't stop, striking the floor of the cavern after tearing through the dragon's neck, decapitating it in a single strike. The axe embeds into the cavern floor and causes a large split to form as lava seeps out around it's blade. She quickly pulls it free, unintentionally flinging lava into the eye's of merc#2, blinding him permanently. He drops his sword and shield and clutches his eyes and face, howling in agony as he drops to his knees. (Power attack, -11 TAB +22 Damage) Critical hit! 41x3 damage! 123 Damage! Dragon #1 dead, Merc#2 Blinded and helpless for 1 round with 3 burn damage to his face and eyes.

It is now Lynxy's turn! xP

[Meep Meepersons]

MAP!!: http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm6/ ... g~original

Enemies: Enemies go after Player Turns.
Merc#1: 4G Dead
Merc#2: 5E
Merc#3: 5I
Merc#4: 6F
Merc#5: 7H
Merc#6: 8D

Cult#1: 9G Dead
Cult#2: 9H blind, 3 damage.
Cult#3: 10H
Cult#4: 10F
Cult#5: 11F
Cult#6: 11G

Young Dragon#1: 56-CD Dead
Young Dragon#2: 56-GH
Young Dragon#3: 56-JK

MA Dragon: 89,10-FGH 10ft under.


Players:
Sana: 2H 1st
Dman: 1G Last
Moko: 1F 3rd
Lynxy: 1H 6th
Misc: 2F 2nd
Kura: 2I 8th
Alaena&Kitty: Not present!

Friendly NPC's:
Kon: 4D 5th
Azmer: 0G 7th
Lene: 3G 4th *played by TCEL for now*

[Kuragari]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Because I am unsure if the sort of little reboot thing cancelled this or not.

Caryn didn't like the look of things here, especially when he saw a humanoid form within that red egg. This just screamed of 'corrupt a pure soul' tales he'd heard and sung about. He struck his instrument and began to sing a song to inspire competence in his allies, knowing that this battle would come down to a great deal of skill and luck combined.