Swords & Souls IC

[Alec]

Maya turned her head skyward as suddenly the loud whistle of an incoming projectile caught her notice. It was by the skin of her teeth that she managed to evade the brunt of the missile, her instinctive reflex seeing her safe as she reeled over backwards to keep the projectile from bursting her head like a grape, and instead have the projectile plow past in front of her, and impale her thigh on the way groundward. As the dock planks shattered, a spray of blood jetted from her leg whilst she fell back with a painful squeak, her features drawn in an agonized grimace as she fell backwards and clutched her leg. Suddenly, the steam exuding from her pores that was the byproduct of her adrenaline rush abated, and the color of her skin turned back to normal whilst she was clutching her leg and rolling around on the floor in a more or less fetal position. "Shit, what the hell was that?" She hissed to herself, blood streaming in unceasing rivulets fromn the fresh wound in her leg. Testing for mobility, she noticed quickly that her leg was fortunately unbroken, and accepted the hand Unonun offered to get her back on her feet. "Ugh... I could use a little bit of healing. Can't move well with my leg like this.." She mumbled, whilst leaning quite heavily on the giant's side, and slinging her weapon overhead to bring it to rest.

Things appeared to be getting heated, and as the situation unfurled and more hellspawn pervaded the dockstilt town, Zion and Unonun were drawn in a bit of a disagreement, and Maya had to admit she was leaning a little to the giant's side. "I feel this demon horde might be our doing. Evil forces have been hounding us ever since we left the city, and eyes are clearly upon us. If these people are killed it will likely be our fault. We should make sure they are safe, we owe them that much. Let's go." With that, Maya sprung back into action, her gaping thigh wound be damned as she immediately doubled over and stumbled, landing on her knees. "Goddamnit... Unonun, carry me." She held out her hand to be hoisted onto the giant's shoulder.

[Bunnie]

Zion gave a hiss and said nothing.  He got up from his spot where he was ready to ambush whatever was coming and just left to go towards the Utility tree.  Fighting each other in battle was no good idea, but throwing yourself tactlessly into a bunch of mist that may very well have the same effects as they saw in Sanso's dungeon was a terrible idea too.  "Ell, Jethro, follow us, stay back and help us with your spells.  Watch your back for any enemies coming up from behind since we couldn't get to it first."  His tone was rather irritated, but not at either of them.  Zion would ready another Grease spell, and move...  Erm...  As far as he can towards the Utility tree. 

[TK²]

Apparently, they had decided to go to the Utility tree. The next tree with the biggest assault potential and worst defensive posture. He had changed his mind since he last examined the map; the Utility tree would be the worst place to be, but it may be possible that a number of survivors had flocked there. But, who would heed Jethro's words, really? After all, he was just the most intelligent man of the party.

But, still, his major focus was on architecture. This means that he was quite interested in the bridges. The bridges represented the paths to attack and by obstructing them or simply destroying them, that would slow down any incoming force. As everyone began to make their way over to the Utility tree, Jethro hung back to examine the bridges. Using his Overland Flight, sweet sweet 24 hours of flight, he hovers over the edge of the bridge to get a deeper understanding of the way the bridge is held up and the exact point that'd have to be damaged to create maximum destruction on the bridge...

Just in case there's anything to determine with a sweet Knowledge(A&E) check: 1d20+31=42

Once he's sure that everyone has made their way over far enough to the Utility tree, Jethro will cast disintegrate upon one of the most important pylons in the structure, to cause the boards to weaken or fall down. One less bridge to the Utility will a) stop people following them from that bridge (unless capable of flight, then the bridges don't matter) and b) allow them to keep their defenses focused elsewhere.

Jethro will land at a structurally sound point and easily catch up to the team with his huge land speed. "Tha'ne les' bri'e t'w'ry abo't." pew pew disintegration.

• 0th- Prestidigitation x4
  
• 1st- Ray of Enfeeblement, Feather Fall, Feather Fall, Protection from Evil, Silent Image, Grease
  
• 2nd- Daze Monster, Phantasmal Assailants, Scorching Ray, See Invisiblity, Blur, Acid Arrow
  
• 3rd- Greater Mage Armor, Wind Wall, Fireball, Mind Poison, Greater Magic Weapon, Haste
  
• 4th- Phantasmal Killer, Greater Invisibility, Enervation, Spell Enhancer
  
• 5th- Baleful Polymorph, Overland Flight, Wall of Force, Magic Jar
  
• 6th- Disintegrate, Disintegrate, Disintegrate
  

[Eiji]

The party abandons the administration tree, Ell following all but Jethro who stays behind.  After a scary knowledge check, he discovers a key support pylon and.... downs the northern bridge, preventing the approach of all but a single unit from coming up from behind you.  This will save your asses later, so you will get credit for this battle.

But in the south, the mists grew thick, then crimson red.  As you slipped through you swore you saw faces moaning within this soupy ether, and the air smelled like blood.  The sounds of moaning which should have accompanied such a scene was only overridden by the sounds of battle ahead.

"Raaaaggh!"

The clash of steel against steel you heard as you caught sight of a group of figures surrounding two people.  Three red-triangle things were there, one wearing an intimidating cape, but there were four other figures there.  At first they seemed to be fire elementals, for their bodies burned with unnatural flickering light, but as you drew closer you realized they were moving unnaturally like zombies, and it was the strange calified and crawling surface that made up their skin that was on fire.  Underneeth the swirling plated skin was normal pale flesh.

Elf flesh.

Four elves, covered in burning spiders, eyes rolled back in their head as they threatened two familiar figures in the center.  It's the herbalists from before, Ciara and Sophia.  Sophia is cowering a bit, but it's Ciara which seems the most wounded, taking the front lines and growling at the group surrounding them as Sophia mutters some matter of spell.  They're in trouble!

But the fog has saved you.... They don't know you're there.

You get a free surprise round, everyone is flatfooted to your attacks!  Roll for initiative at the end of your posts.  You hear more battle very close, there's a very good chance there is another battle going on at the other side of the tree, so take caution and be swift in defeating your foes.

Ell's action is pending last.

[Bunnie]

Zion has a plan!  It might not be a very good plan, but his girls are getting injured!  He cannot have this!  He skids to a halt on the bridge and squints, quickly surveying the situation.  He knows Maya's first instinct will be to charge in, but he doesn't want that, not right now!  Zion throws his right hand up into the air, and makes a few gestures with it, muttering something quickly, keeping a keen eye on the situation.  It's hard to tell in the fog, but he might be able to do this right.

After bringing his hand down quickly and sternly, coming up from space N-14, would be a bubbling black swell.  The bubbles grew larger, making some unholy squelching noise as darkened colored tentacles rose from the mass of black and flailed around, writhing and squirming, blindly looking for things to grab and squeeze and crush!  Ciara and Sophita could see it behind their assailants, rising up and...  

They each lunged forward towards where the Pyramid head commander and Warriors were standing, wrapping around their legs and their arms to keep them occupied!  The warlocks too would feel their wrath, but Zion had placed it just so that Ciara and Sophita escaped the wrath of this creature.  Unfortunately the mages would be free, but the majority of the attacking group would have the tentacles grappling to contend with.

Pyramid Head Commander - Needs to beat 1d20+18=30
Pyramid Head Warrior 1 - Needs to beat 1d20+18=23
Pyramid Head Warroir 2 - Needs to beat 1d20+18=19
Warlock 1 - Needs to beat 1d20+18=31
Warlock 2 - Needs to beat 1d20+18=27

I dunno if a 1 is autofail, but...

Zion still keeps quiet as to let them flail around in confusion about where that came from and what exactly is going on.  It may seem like a poorly laid out plan because no one can actually get over there right now, but...  Next turn he'll be able to get both Maya and Unonun over ther without issue while Jethro and Ell can remain in the back ranks comfortably or fly.

"Whoever wants to go over there, I'll take you.  Maya, I already know you will."

Initiative: 1d20+3=10

[TK²]

These disgusting vagrants were assaulting two fine womenfolk? This insults Jethro's sense of honour or whatever his drunken stupor of a conscience has. Zion had a plan, a plan for the surprise round. Delicious giant black tentacles, oh yes; how fantastic those writhing masses are.

And now it was time to utilize his massive array of arcane energies to put an end to this vile assault.  pew pew tiem? Swirling around him, the red destructive energies of Jethro's own personal magical field begin to snake around each other, empowering Jethro and bending to his very will. From behind his goggles, the power flares in his eyes, overpowering his body with energies and... Oh yes, that's right... Spell Enhanced Disintegration.

Why yes, you do look pretty squishy, BSS Warlock #2. Flat-footed? Yes! Touch attack? YES! AC? 10?!

CL 14 Disintegration vs BSS Warlock #2: 1d20+6=11 (DC 24)
Damage on Failed Save: 28d6=116
Damage on Save: 5d6=13

jethro loves disintegration.


Initiative: 1d20+1=2

[Rithaniel]

Unonun nodded when Maya asked that he carry her, immediately bending down and steadying the warrior before lifting her up, one arm behind her back, the other underneath the inside of her knee, being careful to position her injured leg comfortably before they set off again. "We'll find healing for you as soon as we can, Maya, don't worry" he muttered as they ran along the bridge, towards the utility tree, Unonun attempting to hold the amazon steady, and not jostle her too much with the up and down motion of his runnning.

As they ran, Uno glanced back and saw the whiskey-drinking wizard flying around near the bridge they just left, before blowing up a key plyon, and making it collapse. He knew that action would be expensive to repair, but, in the big picture, it was likely a good descision, what with the need to route the enemy. Of course, there was also the matter of what lay ahead of the them.

Then it came into veiw, as they began passing through the red mist: a couple of young ladies were surrounded by the creatures with the metal pyramids on their heads, as well as a few... flaming elves. Unonun was about to dash in, since they appeared to be in danger, but the dark Zion moved first, casting a spell to bring forth dozens of black tentacles from who knows where. He had seen that spell before. That Zion was likely no push-over as a caster. The dark caster then stated that he could get some of them over there. Unonun dropped to a knee and placed Maya on her feet. "Do you think you can walk from here, Maya?" he asked, with a hand on her back.

Assuming she said yes, he'd turn to look at Zion, and nod, "If you can take us, I will go as well." He did not want to go into the range of a spell like that. It would just breed all manner of problems. So, Unonun will hold his initiative.

(According to Eiji, Uno is going to get to take his surprise round after Zion takes his first normal round, but he should also still roll initiative normally. Also, I am informed that, since I'm not actually aiming to get a high roll, and this is an odd case, I can reroll until I get what I want. So, I will reroll until the dice comes up as a 9, which, with Uno's +1 init., gives him 10 total, which puts him going just immediately after Zion. After Zion goes, Unonun will take two rounds in a row)

[Alec]

Maya didn't speak or complain as she was hoisted on top of Unonun's shoulder. Not the slightest wince of pain allowed itself to pass her lips, and her powerful left grip held her stable on top of the running giant without much help from his bracing hands, her right ready to draw her sword in an instant, in case of any danger underway. If necessitated by an onslaught of rampaging foes, Maya would attack onehanded from Unonun's back if she had to, and kept her eyes peered on the dockwork in front of them as they quickly advanced along the pontoons. She ignored the creaking of wood and the groaning of the unstable walkway below their feet, and kept her mind entrenched in the battle. Her wound was throbbing but at least the missile did not carry anything foul. It had gone clean through her thigh, and left her to shoddily patch up her leg in the short break between fights. "Heh, I'm nowhere near down. This is nothing. Cibolan girls are built tough..." She spoke, although her intonation was bland and subdued in an attempt to keep from groaning as the giant's plated shoulders fiercely jostled.

When they arrived on the scene of the two girls surrounded by dangerous foes, she wasted not a moment. When Unonun inquired as to her condition, Maya had already vaulted off of his shoulder, her adrenaline rush re-engaging with but a single moment of thought. By the time she hit the ground in front of the giant, her body once again emitted that faint steam that signified her metabolic rate kickstarting into high gear, a hot sizzling fume dancing about her muscular form as she sunk into a predatory crouch. Her features hardened in a sharp wince, a gout of blood gushing from her thigh as her leg bent at the knee, and without much words she ran into the fray. "Don't think I'mma wait to attack, guys." She called out to her friends as she rushed forwards, Godspeed freed from its sheathe in a gleaming flurry of shining steel and held outstretched, trailing behind her swift advance to P-17. From there, she could make out the silhouettes of the enemy clear as day, and skidded to a halt, the adrenaline kicking in already starting to obscure her sense of pain. This was good. Such things were best to be ignored in the heat of combat after all.

Although still about 15 feet removed from the nearest foe, they were all within her death zone now.

Sinking deeper into a peculiar stance, Maya's body seemed to prepare to unleash all its physical energy like a coiled spring, her head and left shoulder thrust forward and her right arm stretched out behind her, legs bent and ready to forge ahead, the grip of her hand tightening around the hilt of her sword with its gleaming tip hovering inches above the ground. Suddenly, energy welled up from within the sword, and within Maya, the power of her spirit feeding the blade as it were, strengthening and glowing a hot-blooded red. The manifested essence drew inward upon a peculiar purple crystal inlaid within the blade near the crossguard, imbuing the entirity of Godspeed's blade with a radiant purple sheen as intense energies crackled across its steel with a resounding whistle. "Hey, dickheads." She called out to the slavering beasts assailing the two innocent ladies.

The moment the enemy turned around to inspect the source of the impolite address, Maya released her pent up hold over her energized weapon. Her features drawn in demonic visage, she lunged forward a single step on her good leg and brought Godspeed swiping up with the strongest upward slash she could muster. As the blade cut through thin air with inperceptible speed, a sudden cascade of eruptive energies flowed ahead of the tip along the plane of Godspeed's slash, streaking across the staggering enemies in a straight line, coursing across the pyramid head leader and all the number 1's behind him with staggering speed, but narrowly passing by the two ladies in the middle without harming them. The next instant, the entire dock seemed to split in two from Maya's attack, the path traced by the blade beam attack cleaving open the ground and cutting through the enemies standing on it with a monstrous force that caused a massive wake of erupting swamp water and wood shrapnel in it's wake. And some gore and body parts if Maya had something to say about it.

Adrenaline Rush: Round 1 of 8. Str, Dex and Con +4, Will +2, AC -2.

Attack rolls (Pyramid Leader, Pyramid 1, Warlock 1, Mage 1) (-10 PA): 23, 27, 19, 15 respectively, against flat-footed ACs.
Damage rolls: 43, 42, 40, 43 respectively.

When the enormous rumble from the large, flashy attack finally subsided, and every piece of wood and severed bodypart had fallen back down to the ground, Maya stood back up to her full height and hoisted Godspeed on her shoulder, flashing a toothy smile to the foes. "Heh heh, that oughta soften them up a little..." Shifting her weight, the wound in her thigh suddenly screamed up again, and her contented grin became a scowl. "...Ouch.."

Initiative roll: 13 + 9 = 22

HP: 139/192 (increased HP due to adrenaline rush)
AC: 23
Status Effects: Hasted (speed now 75 ft., 150 on charge.), Adrenaline Rush (+4 Str, Dex, Con, -2 AC, +2 Will)
Position: P-17
Extra: WAAAAGH!

[Eiji]

Battle is afoot!

Ciara grinned in defiance to her opposition, holding what appeared to be a lash of raw burning plasma in her hand.  If she spoke she'd undoubtly be taunting them, and keeping the attention of Sophitia, who was attempting to weave a spell in a hurry, when all of a sudden, TENTACLE PORN!

As exciting as the concept was, it was utterly confusing to all, as it got almost everyone, save warlock 1 who was JUST out of range.  And how do they fair?
Countergrappler: Commander, Warrior, Warrior, Warlock (1d20+10=21, 1d20+15=19, 1d20+15=18, 1d20+7=8) EVERYONE FAILS, NO HOLE IS LEFT UNVIOLATED.
As if it wasn't a cruel enough start, a bolt of shining green tore through the air, past the growing tangle of ghostly shadow and straight to Warlock 1.  Joke's on you, I have Entropic Wardi-
Miss/Save: Miss and save (1d100=30, 1d20+5=18)
-iiiiiaaaaaannnnnggggAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGH!!!!!!!!!  The body glowed from inside out, shafts of light erupting out of the ever-fragmenting skin, before finally exploding in all directions in a blast of subatomic ash.  One down...

It robbed Maya one of her targets, as she cut a bloody swatch through the air, striking all but the mage who deflected the energetic blast under what seemed to be a multitude of buff spells, sparks flying in all directions.  The wounds were bad, it looked like one more of those heavy blows would certainly down both warrior and commander alike.  Why, even Ell is joining in on the wholesale slaughter, and how?

She had a new spell to try out.  WHile the others were slice and dicing away, Ell's eyes were closed and her hands forming a complicated pattern in the air.  Her artifact power was finally coming into play, as bits of blue flame hotter than ever before swirled around her fingertips.  There, just ahead.  The battlefield would be a dangerous complicated area, but she knew if Maya went into the danger zone she'd be safe, fire doesn't hurt someone like her.  Upon the moment between bridge and balcony, there grew a familiar sucking noise and a glow of heat and light as space seemed to pinch in on itself.  You've seen this before, in the desert.  With a sudden thunderous BOOM, Ell ripped a hole into the elemental plane of fire, and an unusually hot spot one at that as the flames roared cyan blue and released a blinding light.  The commander, warrior 2, warlock 2, and mage 2 all have to save vs getting sucked into the blazing infero, which will persist for 14 rounds.
Saves: Commander, Warlock, Mage, Warrior (1d20+8=10, 1d20+5=14, 1d20+5=8, 1d20+10=29) Fail, Fail, Fail, Pass
"Waaarrrghblebleblabohuf..."  And in they go, taking fire (7d6=22) damage.  Next round they can try to escape the inferno... IF THEY CAN.
Do watch moving through the pull zone Maya.  Though you won't be harmed, it is more difficult terrain which stacks with your tentacled problems.  Fortunately speed is something you have in spades.  Fort save vs pull is DC 21.

"Sweet holy goddess... is... is that re-enforcements?"

Ell, Pyramids, Mages/Warlocks, Friendlies (1d20+2=19, 1d20+1=13, 1d20+3=16, 1d20+1=16)
Maya: 22
Ell: 18
Friendlies:16
Mages: 16
Pyramids: 13
Zion 10
Unoun: 9
Jethro: 2
Good, all the DM ones are next to each other.

Maya, deal with them.  From what you can tell, there is sounds of combat other than yours nearby, so do look out, the enemies may have reenforcements of their own.

[Alec]

Fortitude save: 12 + 19 = 31

Maya waded effortlessly through the black tentacles, brushing them aside with a forceful bat of her muscular arm - hurray for +24 grapple - and forging ahead towards the erupting blaze of cyan fire right in front of her. The flames and the heat no longer daunted her, their shifting embers harmlessly bouncing off of her gleaming skin and commingling with her aura of reddish steam as they were drawn about the core of the spell like a roaring pillar of conflagrant death. She remembered the sensation, like a localized Mal'qeem, and the pre-eminent hell on earth flashed in front of her eyes again, the very air around her catching fire and taking her breath away. Her visage obscured by the pre-eminent blue glow, the savage seemed to burst through the flame wall without injury, parting the burning curtain with a simple motion of her arms and pushing through towards her immobilized foes, her eyes and predatory grin reduced to pools of ominous white against the dark silhouette of her approaching form.

There was something truly majestic about being in the heat of battle. Battle allowed her to slip from the restraints she felt upon her, like shedding a confining skin and gasping her maiden breath, sampling the feeling of fear and rage hanging thickly in the air smothering the feebleminded and the weak of heart, accompanied by the smell of copious bloodshed and scorching fields. It was being reduced to the very core of her instincts, and it felt good. Her spirit felt disjunct from her flesh and blood. She no longer felt the persistent throb of her leg wound. She felt attuned to the very ground, her ears registering the slightest shift in the enemy's movements, as well as screams and troop movements from further away. She was completely alert in a singularly focused kind of way. Nobody loved a good fight quite so much as Maya did, walking forward with a casual glee through the raging inferno like it was her natural habitat, and suddenly swooping forward with aggression unmatched, focusing all of her tranquil fury upon the closest foe, the Pyramid leader.

Adrenaline Rush: Round 2 of 8, +4 Str, Dex, Con, +2 Will, -2 AC.

Attack roll: 10 + 12 = 22 vs Dex-denied AC. Result is only 1 point less than last attack against the same foe, making it probably hit.
Damage roll: 2d6+32 = 42 slashing damage.

Judging from the layout of the battlefield and the likeliness of further conflict down the road, Maya kept her last usage of blade beam in reserve, and instead cut across the pyramid leader's chest without holding back, fully intending to cleave him right down the middle and let him feebly drape to the ground in two pieces. Upon drawing blood, the young warrior's grin intensified, and her posture shifted in order to make ready for the next attacks against other foes locked in place nearby, suffering the indignities of tentacle molestation and live incineration. It gave the youth an immense charge knowing she could brunt these forces without injury; it made her feel powerful, superior, and planned to use her obvious enthusiasm to strike fear in her enemies' hearts. Within this localized maelstrom, Maya was like the embodiment of living fire, seamlessly partaking with the burning tongues and striking with all the inherent chaos of a spreading wildfire. She wanted to make them regret even coming here, before sending them violently to the afterlife of their choosing. Shifting Godspeed with a tick of her right wrist, as if to better let the enemy see their leader's blood dripping on its glowing edge and quickly hardening and blackening within the heat of the surging flames. "Bleed for me, my filthies..." She bit at them happily in obligatory taunt.

[Eiji]

"That's kind of awesome and scary at the same time." Ell whispered as Maya marched through tentacle and flame.  Ker-SLASH!  Godspeed sing as it crossed through the air, the superheated flames forming arc trails as it cut deeply into the commander, and with a wet burst like a popping balloon spilled organs which seemed to hang unnaturally in the air, tossled by the swirling gravity of the planar rift not but a few feet away.  And yet somehow the thing still drew breath, harsh coughing... a gust of wind could finish it off, but in a moment the fire would dry its bloodstained innards and immolate it from the inside out.  It was doomed.  Ell could see this too, and decided not to finish it off and take it from its misery, instead taking focus to the friends ahead.  "We're coming, hold on!" she called, lifting her staff high.  "Xen, bring it!"  Staff charge, GREATER SLIDE!

Mage 1 must make a Will save DC 17: 9+6=15 FAILURE.  Suddenly what appears to be a giant mallet appears behind the unsuspecting caster, and with a solid WHACK it knocks it over 20 ft... into the black tentacles.
Save vs Burning Death: 17+5=23 saved, it doesn't get sucked in, but....
Countergrapple: 16+5=21 vs (rolling 12+18=NO LOL).

Speaking of which Zion, you know those tentacles damage right?  Ye forgot to roll for it, so I'll do it now for them all.  Note that at your turn you can grapple the sucked in Mage 2.  And the results?

Grappled Commander: 6+4=10
Grappled Warrior 1: 2+4=6
Grappled Warrior 2: 4+4=8
Grappled Warlock 2: 3+4=7
Grappled Mage 1: 5+4=9

With a sickening SLURP the black tentacles wrap around the commanders recently released organs and began to grapple them, pulling them out in great numbers.  Like a spool of toilet paper unraveling all the commander's guts spilled forth, killing it in a incredibly disgusting fashion.  COMMANDER IS DEAD(At this point "Harmony Harmony Oh Love" started playing, making this particularly sick.)

FRIENDLIES GO.

"Zion!  We're here!"

"!....!!!!" Ciara wanted to reply, but damn that vow.  She swears fate mocks her, and its given her quite a bit of frustration, which she is happy to take out on the now suddenly crippled opposing forces.  She snaps her whiplike Eldritch Glaive and lets it do the talking to Warrior 1.  Full attack!
Attack: 2+11=13 and 3+11=14, hit hit vs flatfooted touch AC 10.
Damage: (5d6+4d6 each) 14+18=32 and 17+7=25, total damage 57 to warrior 1.

Her whip crackled with a otherworldly energy as it lashed out, causing the strange vest on her body to glow and howl.  It looked less like a solid object and more if you made a shirt out of ectoplasm and ghosts.  Whatever it was, it seemed to almost double her damage.  The warrior was grievously injured.

Sophitia made the best of it as well.  With Ciara taking offense she aided her allies, seeming to start to pray.  She opened her mouth and over the din of battle came a most melodious voice, one which seemed to muffle the sounds around it, one that vibrated through the bones and air in a way which was not normal.  It was bardic music, yes, but the words, the song... something about it was entirely different, and for Zion, familiar.

Sophitia uses the WORDS OF CREATION.  In addition to a use of her Badge of Valor, all allies gain +6 attack +6 damage, +6 vs charm and fear!  Now is the time to break out what big guns they have, there was no sense wasting them.
For her troubles she takes (8d4) 2+2+1+4+3+3+1+2=18 nonlethal damage.  It is exhausting, but you can feel it... it was as if reality itself was reshaping to fit the most favorable outcome for you all.  The mage nearby, grappled as he is, cannot stop Sophitia from moving out of harm's way as she continues to sing her hymn.

ENEMIES

First the mages, as they attempt to escape for fire and fondling...
Mage 1: 14+5=19 vs still 30, no, still grappled.  He'll take grappling damage on Zion's turn.
Mage 2: 3+5=8 vs Fire, no.  Not yet grappled but doesn't matter, he can't move.

Mage 2 takes (7d6) 22 damage.

Maybe they can retain concentration for their spells for DC 20 and 21 respectively?  Concentrate: 20+14=34 yes and 14+14=28 yes.  And so...

Mage 1 casts POLYMORPH on himself.  With a groan his body elongates, growing taller, longer, arms sprouting from the body and skin turning to plates of armor.  Mage 1 has become a BEHIR, huge and powerful, and now much better suited for attempting to degrapple himself out.  Having some powerful attacks on hand helps too.  Interestingly enough it remains covered in what looks like burning spiders, and its movements are still jerky and inconsistant.  Also gains 9 temp hp.
Because of his size, he's suddenly filling all sorts of spaces (though not Maya's space, this is doe to an error, ignore).  You medium folk can fit in the space he's in, Maya included, with no penalties right now.  Actually for Maya, she has cover relative to the newfound Behir, gaining +2 AC against him.  You don't even have to move to take a whack at his ass.

Mage 2, showing no sense of self preservation, casts GLITTERDUST on Maya.  DC 15 Will save Maya vs Glitterdust!  You gonna get sparkly!  Also gains 9 temp hp.

But what about... the Warriors?

"RAAAAGGHHHH!!!!!"  As it turns out, Warrior 1 doesn't like being hurt badly, and so angry is he he gains an absurd +11 to hit against Ciara for the massive damage he just took, RETRIBUTION ACTIVATED.  MAXIMUM POWER ATTACK AGAINST CIARA, if he can break this grapple, currently DC 23!
Grapple: 12+15=27, DEFEAT, it is no longer grappled.  But without the ability to make a 5ft step in difficult terrain, it is UNABLE to reach Ciara for an attack, a good thing since when I originally rolled this, it DOWNED her.  Instead it moves out of the area so that next round it may rape.  Ciara was a glass cannon, so it's going to move to targets that look... softer.  Sophitia suddenly realizes she's not alone...

Warrior 2 attempts to break his grapple, currently DC 19. 
12+15=27, DEFEAT.  Like its brother it has to decide what to do, and moving seems a fine option.  Where is it going, is it running away?  No, howling... the re-enforcements will arrive, you can be sure of that...

Zion, you gonna let them get away with that?

Maya: 22
Ell: 18
Friendlies:16
Mages: 16
Pyramids: 13
Zion 10
Unoun: 9
Jethro: 2

[Eiji]

Subbing for Bunnie, it's time for Zion to Zi away, and with a tap and a snap, Zion vanishes in a clap, taking Unoun away through the waves of the planes.  With a pop they did stop between blackness and mage, where Zion can guard Ciara and Unoun can now rage.  Uno is L-K 11-12 (you're not grappled in spite of being on edge), and Zion is J-12.  Don't get killed by the Behir, good luck!

[Rithaniel]

Unonun's head snapped around as he felt Maya leap off his shoulder to go charging into battle, despite her leg injury. He'd seen quite a few things, but a person who could move like that despite an injury that went clean through her leg, was exceedingly rare. He hadn't even been expecting it. Not only that, but this youth was charging into battle, despite the immediate danger that was there, and the fact that there were blind tentacles grasping everything in their reach, that would surely stop her. He had only known one person who could actually handle a situation like that, and he had died. He was about to stand up and go after her, but, in the next second, it seemed that the world had erupted, and Uno saw a firey, blinding light tear across the battlefield, even ripping a couple of their foes apart. Wait, is that what this group was capable of?

Then, from seemingly nowhere, vibrant blue wisps of flame came into existance, their stark aura of heat extremely noticable in the cool nighttime mist of the river, as though the place had actually begun to burn. Unonun looked around in an instant, prepared for another foe, but then noticed that Ell was the source of the energy. So, was this that 'eating fire' ability she had spoken of before? Strange. he had not seen many powers like this before, and never one quite like this. What kind of power did these few people actually have?

Then the sun erupted into being a few feet in front of Maya. Uno could feel the blast of scalding heat from even where he stood. God, he hadn't seen anything like this since...

Wait, was Maya actually walking into that blazing mealstrom?! Wait, no, she wouldn't be able to survive! Yet, she seemed unaffected by the roaring flames, and cut a single one of those caught in the cyclone of fire practically in half as the flames roasted their bodies alive. Of course, before he could reflect on this, Zion was casting his spell. Wait, Uno had been caught off gaurd before, he needed to get back in the mind set, as he knelt once more, his weapon drawn and glinting in the surging flames as he set his mind and body back into the state of combat, letting himself get pulled into the dark wizards spell, and being thrown across the battlefield.

Activated Flow of Time, +4 Dex and Wis +reroll. Round 1 of 13.

As he felt himself burst back into existance on the other side of the field, he was back in the rush of battle, and his body seemed to move of it's own accord...

Full -9 PA: 1d20+9=16 (+6 from Sophita for 22) hit!
Damage 1: 2d6+33=38 (+6 from Sophita for 46)

...as he rose back to a standing position in an instant, his knee smashing into the pyramid head's gut as he caught the thing unaware, and struck out with his silver blade, as it doubled over from the blow. It seemed to be a little better than a normal opponent, though, and had it's sword out, blocking the path of Uno's edge with a little more than a glancing hit.

The giant grinned slightly. He wasn't an average opponent either. His foot came back down, a little spread apart from his other foot, as he lifted his blade up, twisted, and then sent it back down, leaving the opponents sword in the air, above that clunky helmet, still held in a blocking position, and not able to get in the way of his next attack any time soon, as he slashed upward, moving underneath the pyramid heads arms, his falchion headed straight for his neck, just to cleave through, and send half the beast flying backwards, into the swampy waters below, his lower half simply falling backwards onto the boards of the walkway beneath.

Unonun looked down at Sophita, and nodded slightly, "Evening." She did not look like she belonged on a battlefield. Of course, there is also the giant blue Behir that sprang into existance right behind him. Well, Uno wasn't going to get caught off gaurd, as he spun around, his blade extended from his body as it travelled in an arc around him just to cut through one of the monster's legs as it came into being. Now, Unonun wasn't going to stop there, as he lept onto the things flank, and stabbed into it's side, heaving himself up onto it's back and moving along it as it bucked to get him off, dragging the blade behind him and openning a gash in it almost as long as it's entire length.

Full -9 PA (touch attack): 1d20+6=18 hit!
Damage 1: 2d6+39=47

First round of actions complete
With a good bit of it's blood already having been spilled and most of it's organs been sliced in two, the beast actually seemed able to keep going. Well, not for long, as Uno ripped his blade from it's body. He would not let this thing suffer. That just wasn't right. Besides, there was likely a villager in there, even if his mind was not his own anymore. He held on with a single, steady hand, as he spread his feet apart, the beast unable to throw him off with the feeble attempts to buck, and raised his blade high in the air, focusing on a single point at the base of the creatures skull...

Attack (touch attack): 1d20+24=44 crit threat...
Crit confirmation: 1d20+24=31 confirmed
Damage: 4d6+42=54 dead, for sure

...just to plunge it in, severing the beasts brain from it's spinal cord, and then ripping the blade out the side, sending the things head flying off, into the miniature sun that Ell had conjoured.

A split second before the body collapse, Uno jumped off, doing a flip, high in the air above, before coming crashing down onto the boards where Sophita, Ciara, and Zion were standing, tremors spilling away from him as he landed, feet spread apart, a hand on the ground, and his blade raised high in the air behind him, as the beast collapsed before him.

Well, this wasn't over, as he straightened up, and rose a hand in greeting to Ciara. "Hello. Hope it's not too much of an imposition, but I need to get past you," he said, politely, before squeezing past her, making sure not to come within reach of those presumptiuos tentacles (how vulgar), and taking a move action to go from his current location to [J-K-12-13] to [J-13-14] to [J-14-15] to [J-15-16] to [I-J-16-17]. He ran along, making sure to remain close to the wall, his footfalls fast, but careful placed aiming for that last one who was howling for some reason, just to come up to the end, and feel the blazing heat from that sun, and, something he didn't expect.

Fort save: 1d20+10=26

If Unonun wasn't fast, he might have actually fallen into that spiral of scorching flames. As it was, he re-adjusted his footing, and felt the pull of the gate on his entire body. What kind of spell was this?

Second round of actions complete

Jethro Go

[TK²]

• 0th- Prestidigitation x4
  
• 1st- Ray of Enfeeblement, Feather Fall, Feather Fall, Protection from Evil, Silent Image, Grease
  
• 2nd- Daze Monster, Phantasmal Assailants, Scorching Ray, See Invisiblity, Blur, Acid Arrow
  
• 3rd- Greater Mage Armor, Wind Wall, Fireball, Mind Poison, Greater Magic Weapon, Haste
  
• 4th- Phantasmal Killer, Greater Invisibility, Enervation, Spell Enhancer
  
• 5th- Baleful Polymorph, Overland Flight, Wall of Force, Magic Jar
  
• 6th- Disintegrate, Disintegrate, Disintegrate
  

Jethro pondered on why everyone moved... so... slow... He felt fire in his veins, he felt quick and speedy, he could feel the adrenaline pumping throughout him, burning as though molten lava, accelerating his body, pounding through his muscles. Everything was moving slow, or maybe Jethro was just that much faster. Even that cumbersome mountain of weight seemed to be able to move with some form of unnatural clarity on his first flurry of attacks, but he was just so... mellow in his movements compared to what Jethro saw. Everything was so serene, he saw as each inch of the sword moved through the air, he spotted the smallest detail of the globules of blood flying from body parts. He noticed the specs of dust from his foe floating through the air, dancing and weaving.

Jethro spots the enemy beast howling to the sky. But, Jethro had more important things to do right now. He could deal with more of those stupid beast things, you know; blah blah blah, staff of Orb of Force. Instead, he makes his move quickly. And when Jethro moves quickly, he moves quickly. Jethro speeds to the west, stepping off of the bridge (kicking off with a dramatic flair is the bridge has some sort of railings). As his feet touch the air, they engulf they engulf in flames, as though creating a stable walk-way made out of pure fire. As to add a more aesthetic appeal, with every step, molten slag schlurps from his boots and falls downwards, slowly disappearing from view. Maybe it was an illusion created by his fast speed, or maybe he was actually just that damn fast. Anyone taking their time out of the battle to observe him would be sure to note; DAMN. He's a blur. Just about a second after he's started running, he's already arrived at his location standing next to the white chick at [K,11]. Jethro sees fit to whip out his staff at this conjuncture too.

[X,16] -> [W,15] -> [V,14] -> [U,13] -> [T,12] -> [S,11] -> [R,10] -> [Q,10] -> [P,10] -> [O,10] -> [N,10] -> [M,10] -> [L,11] -> [K,11]
Total: 90ft

"Excuse me, lovely ladies." Jethro calmly announces in the heat of this battle, with his noble and verily posh voice. "But, please do stay close; just in case that it is required that I quickly remove you from an escalating situation." A kind request that the black lady takes a 5ft step towards him, so that he has them both in touching range to use his Dimension Door ability to quickly remove them from a battle that may be fatal to either. "Oh, and do duck." Jethro quickly whips his staff underneath his arm, locking it into position, his goggles pin-pointing his opponent; the last remaining Pyramid Head. As his finger traces along the trigger switch, the bulbous head segments and teems with energy. He pushes down as his aim comes to a conclusion and the staff emits a blast of shimmering golden force energy.


Touch Attack: 1d20+12=20
Damage: 10d6=28

Might as well weaken up the enemy while he's at it, y'know.

[Alec]

Will save: 11 + 9 = 20 vs DC 15.

For a short moment, Maya's face lit up like a discoball as one of those petulant wizards tossed some kind of dust in her face. It might not have been the first time she was exposed to such an effect, but this time, between her adrenaline rush, her heightened Constitution, and her Steadfast Determination feat, she managed to most handily shake it off. Literally; as the glittering sparkles took up her vision, she briskly shook her head to try and get rid of it. "Ugh, you mages... Always changing into things with tentacles and throwing shiny dust in my face." Despite her foray into combat readiness mages could still reduce her to angrily swinging her sword without any sort of tactical input, which although close to how she preferred her battles to go down was more of a thing from the past for the young savage, who spent the last month or so meticulously honing her art of war.

Even through the haze of effluent fairy powder did she observe the newfound dimensions of the polymorphed mage in front, his behir form unsurprisingly ungainly and full of tentacles wriggling about. Her eyes still watery from the previous assault, her sight slowly climbed the massive form to the top, settling on whatever passed for its head and treating him to a demoralizing grin. "To think you'd give us a bigger target..." Such foolishness would not go unpunished.

For an intermittent moment Maya turned around just in time to see how Unonun jumped into the fray together with Zion, and started by cutting up and removing the Behir's head from its shoulders which was made to propel gaily through the air and straight into the fire. While it was definitely worthwhile to have the party stronger and better than ever, complete with a new ally, Maya was hoping that the ease with which they ripped through their enemies would not make them grow conceited in the face of their latest goal. The effigy of Nidhog, the mighty dragon, was still looming over them, lying in wait at the top of his shadowy mountain top, and that would be a battle worthy of remembrance should they succeed at felling him...

Now the Behir was out of the way, and Maya was soundly robbed of her foremost target as well as the chance to have a full attack, she decided to relegate her attention elsewhere. Turning about to look past the blazing column of fire holding several foes in its gravitational wake and towards the sole remaining pyramid, she suddenly strode ahead, through the emerging tentacles and out of the spell area with every bit of expediency she could muster. Vaulting through the air and drawing her shoulders back, Godspeed held aloft above her head at the end of two extended arms, she came down towards the second pyramid head with a violent downward swing, trying to cut him off as he called for reinforcements. While she was too late to do that, she could still settle for taking a nice chunk out of him. Still, as she came crashing down into her opponent with all the force she mustered, her mind was elsewhere. For just a split second it was as though right as her blade would move to cleave the pyramid's flesh, her mind seemed to distort its silhouette into the vague shape of a dragon of sorts, invoking all sorts of rage and compelling her to land her blow with increased intensity.

Attack roll: 16 + 18 = 34. That's definitely a hit.

Damage roll: 50. If the target is evil (sorry, I forgot), then it becomes 57 due to the holy enhancement. Forgive the extra rolls, I had to retcon my post since I didn't notice people had already killed my full attack target.

Ushering a loud, unspecific battlecry in native Cibolan, Maya's blade sunk right through the pyramid's metal head ornament, shattering it to pieces and continuing further down, deep into its hide in a violent downward slash, leaving behind in the wake of the passing blade a rending fleshwound gushing large amount of ichor-like blood. She obliterated the creature's natural protection in an instant and penetrated deeply into its soft gooey center.

Once again, she felt the grating of her leg wound that had started to hemorrhage blood anew from exertion, the strained, high-strung muscle tissue forcing open the barely closed injury. Maya momentarily wobbled on her perch and fought to push back up into a combat stance, gritting her teeth in simulated anger to prevent the enemy from seeing she was biting away the resurfacing pain. For now, she had to keep fighting and keep killing. Remembering the call for reinforcements from the foe in front of her, Maya called out, pulling her arms close to her body with a playful grin, holding her weapon at the ready and spinning it around quite effortlessly in a graceful flurry while awaiting her target's next move... even if that next move was to die on the spot. "What good are reinforcements if you lot are long dead before they show up? You're just giving me more guys to have fun with." That taunt came over more as a flirt, what with that gleeful smile on her face and a slight wag of broad amazon hips to the jungle beat of heated combat. Even despite her near-debilitating injury from earlier, battle always excited her in many different ways, and the pain once again drifted to the edge of her perception. "Alright, bring it you bastards!"

[Eiji]

The battle was less of a fight and more of a slaughterhouse as body after body fell to the brave blades of the heroes.  Ell's spell was working, it was really working!  Oh, but this is no time to celebrate, they're still fighting and if she gets too exciuted she might lose control and cause an actual Mal'qeem (or so she feared, it was all theory at this point).  Stepping forward to close the distance she watched the remainers... two trapped figures, and one pyramid left who had nearly been bifercated and force-blasted.  The formerly hale and heart beast was not quite beat up and only saved from utter destruction by the otherwise impossibly leathery skin it wore.  Even the polymorpher was gone at this point...
Sun Damage (7d6): 5+1+1+3+6+6+4=26 fire damage.  The enemies will get Fort saves to pull away on their turn.  Both wizard and warlock appears to be still alive, but not for long, no sir.  Not for long...
Ell strode forward, and pulled her rarely used arbalest.  Things were going so well, there was no need to waste more spells on the situation, and with a morale buff she felt she could hit 'em even back here.  And so...
Attack: 7+7+6=20 vs AC 19 HIT
Damage: 3+6=9.

Plink!  Just as the pyramid head was recovering from blade and blast, an arrow sunk firmly into its crotch.  If it had functioning genetials this would be fatal, instead it is merely agonizing and reduces its health even more.  One solid blow will do it in.

Ciara was silent when Unonun passed by politely, moving in bizaare ways but she did flash a toothy grin when she saw where Unonun was headed.  With a grunt she jumped up, launching herself into the air on invisible wings, and spun around as that unnatural plasma collected on her hands.  Kamehameha!
Touch Attack: 10+11+6=Yeah she hits.
Damage: (5d6+4d6+6) 4+4+6+3+6+5+2+4+3+6=43 damage.

The pyramid turned to withdraw in all due haste, when suddenly a blazing bolt of energy drilled straight through it's back and out of its chest, leaving an almost comical scorched hole with its body.  The pyramid head crumpled to the ground in a cloud of meat, red dust, and tiny red spiders which spilled from its wounds like blood.

Sophitia continues her song, taking a 5ft step closer to Jethro and Zion.  It seems the battle was nearly won, but somehow between her haunting lyrics which hung in the air after she had actually made such notes, she managed to get some words out.  "There's more elsewhere, lots of them.  Thank you very much, around the tree they've got a big one..." she warned.  "Who is wounded, I will heal them before they move on."  For now, singing will be enough this turn.

The casters struggle for release from the burning sun...
Warlock: 13+5=18 fail. 
Mage: 15+5=20 fail.
They continue to burn with no hope for escape, and so both of them decide to do something strange.  The spiders covering their bodies both... fall off, leaving the heavily burned elves beneeth, whose eyes suddenly cleared.  From within the maelstrom you suddenly could hear cries of pain.  "Oh god, what is happening!"  "It burns!"  "Help us!"  They're terrified, what is all this?

And for the spiders, now released from their bodies and collected into a single swarm, they get their own attempt to flee the zone.
Spider Swarm?: 13+10=23, success.

"Th...they're crying?"  Ell could hear it, what is this?

The swarm moved forward, a buzzing hissing cloud of crimson spiders that crawled through the air in all sorts of unfathomable ways.  It moved left, swarming over the collected gathering of casters as if it knew it could disrupt them.  Sophitia, Jethro, and Zion take 3d6, must save vs poison DC 18 (1d6 Dex/1d6 Dex), and a DC 18 FOrt save vs nausea for 1 round.
Sophitia's Saves: 13+9=21 pass, 6+9=15 fail. (Wtf's with all the 13s?)  Sophitia gags and coughs as the swarm overtakes her.  She is nauseated.  Bardic music will end in 5 rounds due to lapse in focus.  She takes (3d6) 15 damage.  That really hurt!

Up in the north, an evil eye has caught up with the party.  Seeing the destruction already wrought, it chooses to try and keep cover while it scopes out Ell.
Hide check: 20+8=28  Seems to have found a pylon to hide behind.
Move Silently check: 10+8=18.
Ell opposed checks: 9+0=9, 4+0=4, Ell is too distracted by the screaming to pay attention to this...
Locking on...

Maya: 22
Ell: 18
Friendlies:16
Mages: 16
Evil Eye: 15
Pyramids: 13
Zion 10
Unoun: 9
Jethro: 2

Zion, you may die now.

[Eiji]

First thing first....

Fort vs Poison, Nausea (1d20+7=15, 1d20+7=19)

Poisoned but not nauseous.  Dex damage (1d6=3)

Dex drops from 16 to 13.  Knowledge check, do I know what this is.

The Planes vs DC 22. +2 for having rest the bestiary on red knight monsters. (1d20+25=38)

Yes.  While a "new" creature, I know it is at least mechanically similar to a Hellwasp Swarm, including the whole possessing your body bit.  Suddenly, Jethro disintergrating one and Unonun decapitating another seemed a lot more grim.

For some reason, Zion's feats are missing again.  DM recalls she has either a harmonious weapon or melodic casting or something, and therefore will be using perform for concentration, after nuking the character sheet.  Can Zion focus?

Vs DC a lot less than 34. (1d20+34=47)

Knowing it's intelligent and thus not immune to mind affecting, Zion aims a MIND BLAST straight up, avoiding allies while still hitting the swarm as a whole.  DC 26.

Will (1d20+7=25)  Barely failed, you're lucky the DC is so high. 

rounds of stunning. (1d4=2)
It seems dizzy, at least for the next 2 rounds you'll be nausea-free.  Needless to say, he's moving out of the effect to J-9.
"Forget weapon attacks, use spread effects, it's too small to hit with weapons!"
Do it Unonun.

[Rithaniel]

Flow of Time: Round 2 of 13

Unonun skidded to a stop, his blade held high in the air above his back, ready to be brought roaring down onto the last of the pyramid heads, when, suddenly, a barrage of attacks from everywhere, a burst from Jethro, a bullet from Ell, a cleave from Maya, and a concussion from the silent Ciara, all converge upon the creature at once, and reduced to a bleeding pile before he even moved his blade. Well, that was sudden, even for his split second reflexes, as he placed his feet apart, glancing around for any last signs of trouble, and listening. Wait, was Maya having difficulty? Unonun glanced at the barbaric warrior noticing her thinly hidden pain. Maybe she wasn't quite as unstoppable as she let on.

Unonun was about to reach out a hand to her shoulder, but suddenly, everything seemed to happen at once. The two figures caught in the swirling pocket of plasma seemed to both start screaming at the same time as those infernal spiders left them behind, to go swarm over the others. So the control over them was based off of the prescense of the spiders. Too bad that a couple of the villagers had to die before they could drive the insects away, but, that wouldn't happen again. Especially now that a few of the insects have been driven off. Wait...

Spot Check: 1d20 + 24 - 8 (distance) - 5 (distracted) = 21 against DC 14 (28/2) success!
Listen Check: 1d20 + 24 = 37 against DC 15.5 (18 + 8 (distance) + 5 (distracted)/2) success!

Unonun grimaced as he saw another one of those glaring eyes behind Ell, before he belowed, the ground shaking beneath him, "ELL! BEHIND YOU!"

Now, it was time to get those two villagers out of the flames. They would surely kill them next round. He'd have to trust the others to manage to keep the rest of the situation together, as he glanced over at them. Yes, it seemed Zion had managed to stem the majority of the flood that had overcome them. That was good, as Uno turned around, his feet spread apart, before he shoved off the planks of wood, with the force of a rocket, the tree itself shaking from the force with which his feet left the ground. He tore forward, heading straight for that blistering rip in the world, as his falchion seemed to slide back into it's sheathe without even a sound, his hands coming back forward, as he charged, preparing to tackle the two elves out of that hell.

Fort Save to move: 1d20+10=23 pass!
Grapple Check (Zion): 1d20+18=19
Grapple Check (Uno): 1d20+16=29 pass!

The weight of the sun held no sway over Unonun's movements, as he ripped forward, untouchable by the flailing tentacles that whipped about the place. It seemed the force of his motion had merely left them stunned by the side, as he collided with the two elves, enterring both their spaces silumtaneously, and bullrushing them both.

Eiji: They do not AoO, and their bullrush results are 0.

Bull Rush: 1d20+16=31 (35 feet moved)
Fire Damage: 7d6=21 (141/162 hp remaining)

Unonun's arms wrapped around both of the suffering elves waists, as he tore through the raging inferno, bursting out the other side, flying through the air from the resultant momentum of the motion, coming to a rolling stop almost where Ell stood, as Uno placed the elves down in [S17] and [S16], with Unonun in [R-S-16-17], his armor steaming from the intense heat he had just burst through, and his Falchion sliding back out as he rose back to his feet once more, just to step, insanely quickly, forward (Moment Stop, 5 foot step to [S-T-16-17]), and resumming a combat stance once again, "Ell, get behind me!"

A gaggle of mages would be able to handle themselves, and he was no use to them against a swarm of vermin that were too fast to be killed with a blade. A single foe who was taking on a defenseless young one, that, he would need to intervene over.

At the end of round, Unonun's body seems to knit itself back together, as he slowly heals the wounds he just took, healing 19 hp (160/162 hp), no reroll taken this round.

Jethro Go

[TK²]

Damage: 3d6=10
Poison Save: 1d20+6=7

• Damage: 1d6=3 (9, -1)

Nausea Save: 1d20+6=15

Jethro rolled his eyes at the silliness of such an event. Especially as the big moron decides he should charge in, grab two people and run through fire and cold. Jethro would roll his eyes if he weren't overcome with such a sickening feeling of being ravaged by creatures. This was, evidently, the giant guy's fault for being of a lesser intellect than Jethro and not knowing how to deal with such a situation. Presumably because he was inexperienced and slow.

But, never mind Jethro's criticism of the lesser races. He was now under the effect of a limiting poison and also incapable of fully concentrating on his spells. He was also incapable of enacting his genius previous plan that would reduce the amount of pain and suffering anyone would have to go through due to the outside intervention of someone attempting to steal his limelight by doing everything. Oh well, it was just up to him to show off how 'insanely' slow that the giant was. Jethro stepped diagonally again and shot off with extreme speed around the glowing tentacles and back to W-16 without a moment's notice. He even had time to tap his foot nonchalantly because his movement was insanely fast.

"You idiot." Jethro grimaced and grumbled. "Your pathetic attempts at heroism and continuous yelling are naught by a mere nuisance; a bane rather than a boon." Jethro shook his head and tapped his foot upon the ground. My gosh, he was so very well spoken. If only he were capable of doing something this round rather than wait to destroy everything.

[Alec]

Adrenaline Rush: Round 4 of 8, +4 Str, Dex, Con, +2 Will, -2 AC.

With Unonun rushing to the ladies' help and Zion's support spells snuffing out the last embers of resistance, Maya was free to focus on the remainder of the battlefield. It had emptied considerably, and the young savage was now devoid of direct opposition. She cast a quick glance over towards the swarm of hellish wasps that were buzzing about aimlessly in some kind of a daze, and then threw her gaze over towards the walkway they had arrived from when the giant yelled for Ell to look out, noticing the source of the distress. Her eyes narrowed in recognition, and buttressing the pain she felt in her leg a little longer, she squared her stance, and firmly stabbed Godspeed into the wooden floor at her feet to free her hands for a ranged takedown. Just seeing the Evil Eye float there, staring intently at the little warforged caused Maya's leg wound to throb painfully, and her teeth gritted in sudden response. Not wasting time on a snappy one-liner, Maya immediagely grasped the longbow strapped behind her back and extracted a finely wrought arrow from the quiver. bobbing about as it was with her movements. Swiftly aligning the arrow with the string of the bow and drawing it backward, she gazed at the floating creature through a single, open eye, and resolutely discharged the projectile when the string was spun at its tightest. A loud TWANG resounded across the battlefield as the arrow homed in on the Evil Eye with intense speed.


Attack roll: 10 + 20 = 30, which is more than enough probably
Damage roll: 8 piercing.

"Ell, if you have magic to obscure yourself or make yourself invisible I'd use it now."

So her ranged legerdemain isn't quite as shocking as her melee pwnage... The lack of ranged power attack options is jarring, but perhaps this veritable pin prick will prove sufficient at disrupting the Evil Eye's lock-on on Ell.

[Eiji]

The party reacted swiftly to the sudden change in plans, Unonun acting brave and throwing himself into Ell's bl;azing fires, while the rest rip and tore their way across with several fell strokes.  To Ell it seemed to play in slow motion, her body briefly paralyzed with confusion and terror when she realized just what had happened to the now heavily burnt elves.  Had Unonun not removed them, the fires would have been fatal, but for now it merely left them terribly burned and disfigured.  Freed of the heat, their bodies weakened in the alien's grasp and fell limp, both of them losing the will and ability to fight or move.  Ell had been so distracted she almost didn't hear Maya in time.  What, conceal?  The eye, oh crap!
"V-v-vanish!"

Spontaneous invisibility to the rescue.  You heard the clatter of feet, as Ell seemed to wink out of existance.  Without a visible target to track, the evil eye and it's fiendish archer patron had no time to re-adjust his aim.  Combined with an arrow to the wing, and the evil eye was visibly enraged by this turn of events.  Unfortunately it will only get worse.

Ice formed around Ciara's hands as she dashed forward in mid-air to close the distance and reach a good firing spot, just out of reach of the swarming mass of tentacles below.  With a cloud of ice crystals and a hiss of steam, she released a frozen blue eldritch blast at the evil eye.
Attack: 17+11=Yeah it hits touch.
Damage: (5d6) 6+5+5+4+5, damn.  25 damage!
And before you can even say "make a Fort save", it turns into a solid block of ice and crashes into the waters below.  As it falls, there was a sharp whistle as an Ell-sized arrow fell from the heavens and... impacted into the now empty square where Ell once was, crashing partway through the wooden bridge.  That was close!  It discharged something on impact, but whatever it was evaporated harmlessly.

Which leaves the issue of the swarm, the burned elves, and the possible issue of re-enforcement.  It is now that Sophitia can hear them, they've started to move around the tree.  "They come!"  What shall they do?  With 4 rounds remaining on bardsong and a load of pain, this is a fine time to cure thyself, and she will.  Consuming Blindness/Deafness to cast Cure Serious Wounds!  (3d8+11) 2+5+2+11=20 hp.  Nonlethal damage is gone, 64/88 hp.  Needless to say she moves a bit so that the swarm can be handled proper.

The swarm continues to be stunned, but next round, you just wait...

Maya: 22
Ell: 18
Friendlies:16
Swarm: 16
Zion 10
Unoun: 9
Jethro: 2

Which brings us to Zion.  Do it, Zion.  Destroy them!  And while you're at it figure out how to handle the incoming attackers.

[Eiji]

Zion is puppeted by the spirit of plushies.  As tiny Eijis popped up hidden behind Zion's eyes, he moved to his bag.  He needed to blow this swarm up before it came to.  A fireball from the heart of fire should do the trick.  But as he reached for it, he remembered... if these things acted as he suspected, fire would not be very effective.  Sadly, he didn't have many other options on hand.  ~I'm going to need more firepower, the others are coming.  We should retreat behind the black tentacles...~

"Let Ciara handle the swarm, I think she has that one covered." Sophitia said.  What was she and her cohort planning?  "Is there a way to guard against the invaders at the same time?  "

~Just might be....~ Zion said, drawing out the crystaline Heart of Fire as he moved to a new location (J-13) and focused upon the powers within.

Fwoosh... ah, that's the one... holding action Wall of Fire to be layered all over the leftmost passage after Ciara's hopeful success and before the enemy comes, so they only have to defend the right.  ~We defend the east passage.  Ciara will handle the swarm.~

Which leaves Uno to do something!

[Rithaniel]

Unonun jerked his head in recognition as the evil eye fell in a flash. He was glad he was in fact not needed to protect Ell, but he was also glad that he had saved the two elves from a painful death, and now he arranged them in a more comfortable position, moving them to [V17] and [V18] as he himself stepped up to [T-U-16-17], and the drunken, extremely fast, wizard came out from the side, and saw fit to insult a comrade in the middle of a battle. This wasn't the first time he had seen this manner of thing, but it wasn't any less... incorrect.

Unonun glanced down at the grey elf, knowing that no purpose would be served if he began insulting him back, and that this sort of thing was always the single stupidest action to take. So, instead of goading the man on, Unonun inclined his head and responded in a language that, if the man knew it, he wouldn't reply all the same, "Het serri naa sanan, Te' wer serru naa," then, looking straight into the mans eyes, he continued, "Jovias he'n."

The great thing about Old Celestial was that, no matter what you said in it, it always sounded like a compliment. So, Jethro might either respond with an insult about Uno not using a common language, or he'd feel complimented, in the meantime, of course, there were more pressing matters, and Uno reached out to put a hand on Jethro's shoulder, cutting across whatever he might say, "There are more enemies coming, and we have two potential choke-points where we can defend from, it would be very helpful if you would help me get over to that point so we may hold them off there."

Unonun holds action, pending how Jethro replies. Go Jethro.

"And yet somehow I've still accomplished more than you," then, looking straight into the mans eyes, he continued, "funny that."

[TK²]

An amazing fact is that an 'old' language, never-mind how old, is, in essence, a similar lexicon to that of the 'newer' language (and perpetrating languages as 'old' and, therefore, being somehow completely different from their newer counterparts would be stupid). Of course, Jethro is lucky that he wasn't directly referred to 'comrade' by the hulking monstrosity that decided to violate his personal space, lest his focus on the battle be superseded by such hilarity.

"KЉr-sɐ'lo ty'ɐıӜɯ'sal-ki sɥ'croЂ" announced Jethro in Eldritch. He canted his head and laughed at the moronic giant that saw fit to attempt to insult him in another language. "It means; how pathetic. Funny that." Jethro adjusted himself, gave a few thoughts in that highly developed brain of his (y'know, the one that saw fit to stop them from being attacked on foot from behind by carefully applied use of his fantastical abilities to warp reality to his whim?) and he was touched by an idiot. Jethro burst into flames.

It was more of a hint at not to touch him, really, then, say, anything important. He'd promptly reappear in S18. It wasn't teleportation, he'd just moved because he was more interested in not being touched by an idiot. Jethro played lightly with a crystal in his hands and tilted his head to Ell. "I ain't dead." He reassured her as his eyes flashed a burning red and his body slumped to the floor.

Jethro's face becomes pale, his body limp and he has that general aura of being dead, except he still somehow retains control of his body enough to not urinate and/or defecate himself, people will be happy to know. His eyes roll open, with that creepy 'ohshitdeadstare' and he has that lack of breathing that's important to all humans.

• 0th- Prestidigitation x4
  
• 1st- Ray of Enfeeblement, Feather Fall, Feather Fall, Protection from Evil, Silent Image, Grease
  
• 2nd- Daze Monster, Phantasmal Assailants, Scorching Ray, See Invisiblity, Blur, Acid Arrow
  
• 3rd- Greater Mage Armor, Wind Wall, Fireball, Mind Poison, Greater Magic Weapon, Haste
  
• 4th- Phantasmal Killer, Greater Invisibility, Enervation, Spell Enhancer
  
• 5th- Baleful Polymorph, Overland Flight, Wall of Force, Magic Jar
  
• 6th- Disintegrate, Disintegrate, Disintegrate
  

[Rithaniel]

Unonun frowned in response to Jethro's obvious desire to fight his ally, and replied to a phrase he could not understand, due to the language sounding so completely different from the modern version, with another insult, just to follow this up with a few sparks of flame as he sent the message 'do not touch me'. Uno was fine with this, and removed his hand, shaking it as some dust-like material was burnt off, but it was left largely unscathed. Uno didn't have time to follow that up, however, and, as Jethro flashed around behind him to speak to Ell and proceed to cast a spell, Uno turned, grimacing, towards the flailing tentacles before him. If there was not going to be a simple answer, it was time to do things the hard way, and he muttered under his breathe, "Be careful," before bounding off the wood of the bridge, making a wave of force ripple away from him along the wood, as he did so.

Before Jethro even said a word, Uno was inside the area of the tentacles, moving over a dozen feet in the blink of an eye. As he moved, though, his blade held in the air behind him, to make it easier to move, a hoard of shadowy tentacles converged upon him, seeming intent to get a hold of something since it had been so long since they had. It seemed that they were coming from everywhere, surrounding him almost entirely. Well, he couldn't have that, as he sunk down into an almost kneeling position, pulling his blade forward, as those tentacles closed in around him. A blink of the eye, though, and Uno stood, his blade ripping through three flailing members before him, just as he swept his blade back, and down, to swing it forward, and slash through a dozen more tentacles that seemed intent to get him from the side. Yet, even with his keen sight, he failed to notice that, as he swung out his other arm to keep his balance, another tentacle had sought him out, and his arm was now wrapped up in it. In the instant of surprise that Uno felt, it drug him to the side, seeming intent on hurling him into the flames, but he kept his feet on the ground, and after the initial yank, he ground his stance into the wood, and yanked back, pulling the tentacle back, and bringing a good bit of it to bear, as his sword swept forward, with his step, and cleaved it clear in half.

But he couldn't rest yet, as another tentacle swept around behind him, seeking to get him while he was distracted, so he spun, severing yet another tentacle as he did so. Course, he had failed to notice the second tentacle there, which wrapped around his blade as it came to a rest, and ripped it free of his burnt hand. Uno jerked his head up as he noticed it wasn't in his hands anymore, and saw the tentacle about to fling it into the water below. Now that tore it, and he gripped the remains of the severed tentacle that remained wrapped around his arm, as he bounded forward, yanking it off in a single swift motion which sent it flying into another tentacle, where the two were tangled, as he got to the edge of the bridge, just as the tentacle started to fling his sword off of it, leaping, and snagging the blade of his falchion, cutting his hand as he did so. Yet, now, he was falling off the edge of the walkway. That was unacceptable, and he twisted in midair, reaching out and grabbing the side-rail, bending it with his weight, as he used his momentum to swing, and throw himself back up onto the walkway, where yet another black limb was snaking out to grab him. He merely spun in midair, with the leftover momentum from his swing, and slashed through it as he moved, just to smash into the walkway, feet first, and leap, coming crashing down on the other end.

Grapple Check (Tentacles): 1d20+18=31
Grapple Check (Unonun): 1d20+16=24
Grapple Reroll (Unonun): 1d20+16=36 (had to give a nat 20 justice)

With the rest of a full-round move, Uno would wave to Zion and Sophita, and squeeze through the tight spaces next to the tree, and come to a skidding stop at [H-I-18-19].