Post by K Man on Apr 5, 2005 11:08:06 GMT -5
{Since Hero will no longer be with us, I figured it would be fitting to have a heroic death in this campaign. It's about time we had one, especially for one who fought so hard for the forces of good. There will be no dice in the following section since it is all story-telling.}
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Kysta, Girud, Mordrock, Galdren, Hero, Caelith, Callian and Garor -
In the fleeting moments before its entire bulk moves into the hallway, Krysta fires with her bow at the demon. The arrows fly straight and true, but their shafts fail to penetrate the mass of skin in the shadows. The samurai and half-giant pause, holding their blades steady - waiting for the whites of the creature's eyes.
When it finally comes into full view, Mordrock is the first to scream...the rest of you are not far behind...
It stands well over your heights, even with most of it still submerged in that murky water. Its skin glistens, dripping with a combination of muccus and ichor, talons leaving wakes as it drags them through the water. Its face broadens into a wicked grin - teeth that could easily tear through the thickest armor...
It charges, bulging muscles rippling like a building tidal wave. The first tense of the arm sends a spray of dirty water over the boat like foreboding rain. The second sends a larger wave, rocking the tiny dingies left to right. At it pushes through the liquid, you suddenly realize what it's doing....
It's going to capsize the boats...
Before you even have a chance to respond, it hurdles foreward, legs the size of collassal pillars pushing waves of water before them. It shoves its arms outward, knocking dust and stone free from the walls before slapping them together like a jolt of thunder. The demon is far from your reach as it forces its arms and torso just beneath the crest of the water, sending a wave higher than any of you racing forward.
Your screaming mouths are filled with murk and filth as the boats overturn. A few of you, more heavily armored, managed to cling to the sides of the over-turned craft and those that don't can easily tread water.
The demon, however, does not slow at all...
It lunges, tree-trunk arms outstretched, itching to rip a tasty morsel of flesh from the water. It catches Hero first, wrapping fingers the size of campfire logs around her armored flesh. It pulls her up, like hawk swooping a fish from a cold stream and pulls her towards its gaping maw.
Above the raging water and the cries of companions, you can hear Hero - defiant to the last - screaming, vowing justice.
"GODS GUIDE MY BLADE!"
Just as the demon places Hero in its mouth, teeth tearing through armor just as you suspected they would, you watch Hero lunge with her blade. You're unsure if it's the sound of her armor being torn asunder or her blade breaking through the skull, but the sound is sickening.
The blade enters just behind the right eye and exits through the left eye, spraying the wall in a thin film of ocular residue.
Screaming, the demon releases his vise-like grip and slaps its face, trying to claw away the pain.
Hero, bloodied and broken, falls towards the water, but with every last ounce of power she possesses, she holds her blade outward, using both hands to steady its course and her weight to pull it down.
Like the unzipping of a corset, the demon is opened from stem to stern, innards pushing their way out to mingle with the water.
The Gorristo howls, filling with stone tunnel with a deafening noise. Its howls become weakened, suddenly finding a new way to exit the body through the newly opened chest. Blackened blood and bits of intestine spray outwards.
The Gorristo, it seems, is just as defiant as Hero...
It reaches out, arms trembling, trying to find the strength to grasp. Its talons find purchase in Heros flesh once again. The other arm is easily guided to her body and together, the two find the strength to pull at whatever pieces of her body remainded. Her armor, and most of the flesh beneath it is pulled from the core, leaving a bloodied husk behind.
You can barely manage to say anything as the demon's form, unable to sustain its weight anymore, collapses back, sending another wave towards the rear of the tunnel.
Hero still held firmly in its graps and her sword still buried in its gut, the demon takes both of them beneath the water...
..then they are gone.
The water takes its time returning to a semi-calm state, gentle waves the only passing testament to the short - yet ultimately deadly battle you just watched. A thin mixture of black and red pools out from the where the bodies collapsed, like a nobleman stamping the water with an ink seal.
A nearby tube, one shaped like a snake and used for comminications, ehoes the haunting voice of the ghost-captain of this damned vessel.
"We are entering Stygia. It is safe to be above decks..."
You can barely manage to comprehend the words, still looking to the water...hoping above hope that Hero will suddenly break the surface, alive.
A few minutes later, and you're sure she's gone...
{RIP: Hero... you will be missed.}
--------------------------------------------------
Romar and Yuri - Moving into 'The Hidden City', your eyes dart here and there, searching for signs of anything. The clerics are frozen in place, faces wrought with fear, and groups of them face in different directions - as though something was moving about while freezing them in place.
The tallest spires, the largest temples...all are devoid of movement, filled only with frozen forms and terrified faces.
Your heart begins to race with ideas.
[Spot Checks, both successes] You both note a large mark in one of the buildings that doesn't seem to be part of the architecture. It is a series of four marks, equal in length and nearly equal in width. They delve into the stone masonry for about an inch in the center, before tapering off to both sides...
By the gods...they're claw marks!!
The realization hits you like a arrow to the chest. By the size and width of these marks, whatever did this must have been at least twice your height...and it was capable of ripping talons through stone like they were clay.
Even the mightiest of dragons would be hard-pressed to perform such feats.
Your eyes dart here and there, moreso jumping from mental shadow to mental shadow, imaging that the clawed beast is just upon, breathing down your neck.
You see nothing, save for an enourmous Ziggurat in the center of the city, nearly a half-mile or more away.
Perhaps this 'rot' came from the core?
Then again...the exit is looking far more promising at this point...
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Kysta, Girud, Mordrock, Galdren, Hero, Caelith, Callian and Garor -
In the fleeting moments before its entire bulk moves into the hallway, Krysta fires with her bow at the demon. The arrows fly straight and true, but their shafts fail to penetrate the mass of skin in the shadows. The samurai and half-giant pause, holding their blades steady - waiting for the whites of the creature's eyes.
When it finally comes into full view, Mordrock is the first to scream...the rest of you are not far behind...
It stands well over your heights, even with most of it still submerged in that murky water. Its skin glistens, dripping with a combination of muccus and ichor, talons leaving wakes as it drags them through the water. Its face broadens into a wicked grin - teeth that could easily tear through the thickest armor...
It charges, bulging muscles rippling like a building tidal wave. The first tense of the arm sends a spray of dirty water over the boat like foreboding rain. The second sends a larger wave, rocking the tiny dingies left to right. At it pushes through the liquid, you suddenly realize what it's doing....
It's going to capsize the boats...
Before you even have a chance to respond, it hurdles foreward, legs the size of collassal pillars pushing waves of water before them. It shoves its arms outward, knocking dust and stone free from the walls before slapping them together like a jolt of thunder. The demon is far from your reach as it forces its arms and torso just beneath the crest of the water, sending a wave higher than any of you racing forward.
Your screaming mouths are filled with murk and filth as the boats overturn. A few of you, more heavily armored, managed to cling to the sides of the over-turned craft and those that don't can easily tread water.
The demon, however, does not slow at all...
It lunges, tree-trunk arms outstretched, itching to rip a tasty morsel of flesh from the water. It catches Hero first, wrapping fingers the size of campfire logs around her armored flesh. It pulls her up, like hawk swooping a fish from a cold stream and pulls her towards its gaping maw.
Above the raging water and the cries of companions, you can hear Hero - defiant to the last - screaming, vowing justice.
"GODS GUIDE MY BLADE!"
Just as the demon places Hero in its mouth, teeth tearing through armor just as you suspected they would, you watch Hero lunge with her blade. You're unsure if it's the sound of her armor being torn asunder or her blade breaking through the skull, but the sound is sickening.
The blade enters just behind the right eye and exits through the left eye, spraying the wall in a thin film of ocular residue.
Screaming, the demon releases his vise-like grip and slaps its face, trying to claw away the pain.
Hero, bloodied and broken, falls towards the water, but with every last ounce of power she possesses, she holds her blade outward, using both hands to steady its course and her weight to pull it down.
Like the unzipping of a corset, the demon is opened from stem to stern, innards pushing their way out to mingle with the water.
The Gorristo howls, filling with stone tunnel with a deafening noise. Its howls become weakened, suddenly finding a new way to exit the body through the newly opened chest. Blackened blood and bits of intestine spray outwards.
The Gorristo, it seems, is just as defiant as Hero...
It reaches out, arms trembling, trying to find the strength to grasp. Its talons find purchase in Heros flesh once again. The other arm is easily guided to her body and together, the two find the strength to pull at whatever pieces of her body remainded. Her armor, and most of the flesh beneath it is pulled from the core, leaving a bloodied husk behind.
You can barely manage to say anything as the demon's form, unable to sustain its weight anymore, collapses back, sending another wave towards the rear of the tunnel.
Hero still held firmly in its graps and her sword still buried in its gut, the demon takes both of them beneath the water...
..then they are gone.
The water takes its time returning to a semi-calm state, gentle waves the only passing testament to the short - yet ultimately deadly battle you just watched. A thin mixture of black and red pools out from the where the bodies collapsed, like a nobleman stamping the water with an ink seal.
A nearby tube, one shaped like a snake and used for comminications, ehoes the haunting voice of the ghost-captain of this damned vessel.
"We are entering Stygia. It is safe to be above decks..."
You can barely manage to comprehend the words, still looking to the water...hoping above hope that Hero will suddenly break the surface, alive.
A few minutes later, and you're sure she's gone...
{RIP: Hero... you will be missed.}
--------------------------------------------------
Romar and Yuri - Moving into 'The Hidden City', your eyes dart here and there, searching for signs of anything. The clerics are frozen in place, faces wrought with fear, and groups of them face in different directions - as though something was moving about while freezing them in place.
The tallest spires, the largest temples...all are devoid of movement, filled only with frozen forms and terrified faces.
Your heart begins to race with ideas.
[Spot Checks, both successes] You both note a large mark in one of the buildings that doesn't seem to be part of the architecture. It is a series of four marks, equal in length and nearly equal in width. They delve into the stone masonry for about an inch in the center, before tapering off to both sides...
By the gods...they're claw marks!!
The realization hits you like a arrow to the chest. By the size and width of these marks, whatever did this must have been at least twice your height...and it was capable of ripping talons through stone like they were clay.
Even the mightiest of dragons would be hard-pressed to perform such feats.
Your eyes dart here and there, moreso jumping from mental shadow to mental shadow, imaging that the clawed beast is just upon, breathing down your neck.
You see nothing, save for an enourmous Ziggurat in the center of the city, nearly a half-mile or more away.
Perhaps this 'rot' came from the core?
Then again...the exit is looking far more promising at this point...
__________________________________________________________________________________________
You're absolutely correct...down I go!)
