Kartakass : Chapter Five

[ewancummins]

''Gah! Vargr! ''

Cornelius climbs on top of the table, to get a better view of the situation, and enable himself to perhaps aim a spell at one of the wolf-men.

As he quickly scans the room, his gaze locks onto Draven's awful transformation.

''Gods and Dead, not again!''
The dwarf scrambles across the table moving as fast as he possibly can away from Draven, knocking over mugs, sending plates crashing to the floor, and generally making a mess of dinner.

[steveflam]

Seven of the eight beasts stop moving, frozen on the spot. The remaining one looks around and then faces the Devil. It howls in rage, forgetting the party, concentration solely on the fiend. The rest of the Inn's occupants now seem to be paying attention. In fact they all go through the same grisly transformation as the other eight did!

Thus ends the first round!

Results so far:
Van: Mirror Image and feared for the next 4 rounds.
Cornelius: Stoneskin and feared as Van.
William: Damage 8 on #6 and Feared as Van
Lucius: Mage Armor, Fell from the table. Can stand and act next round
Tarlyn: Shoved Draven under the table and unsheathed his blades
Jacob: Cast Greater Heroism on Tarlyn
Pit Fiend/Draven: Cast Mass Hold Monster
#2 #3 #4 #5 #6(8 dmg) #7 #8 All held by Hold Monster
#1 Free and looks to be crazed enough to attack the Pit Fiend!

For now I only want Lucius' actions guys, sorry! By round 5 you'll be able to act.

[lostboy]

The dread grin on the Draven-thing's face impossibly widens, drawing back in a rictus of pleasure as the snarling beasts surrounding it freeze immobile.

The commotion from behind draws its attnetion momentarily, and it turns its malicious gaze on the remainder of the room's occupants.

"More company? Excellent, more souls for the all-consuming darkness."

The dead black eyes close for a moment, then the voice raises again in a another syllable of power. Again the word echoes through the dining hall, but this time seems to flow, caressing and tingling the skin. Suddenly you beocme aware of a hot wind, sucking the air in an ever stronger flow all heading towards the outstretched hand of the thing that was Draven.

All of a sudden the wind dies, then the creature turns towards the horde of fur and fangs, and thrusts its hand forward.... With a mighty rush fo air a blazing inferno materailaises form the end of its fingers, spreading forward in a tide of destruction and washing over the werewolves.

[OOC: Fireball DC21 aimed at all the other numbered bad dudes.]

[steveflam]

William, Van and Cornelius are out of harms way, fleeing the vicinity of the Pit Fiend. Tarlyn intercepts the lone wolfwere, blades flashing. The wolfwere lunges at the dark elf. The beast's muzzle lurches in, biting Tarlyn's arm. He rips a piece of flesh from his arm just as both it's claws strike the drow once on the chest and the other on the other arm. Tarlyn is now bleeding quite profusely, but still on his feet. At the same time as the wolfwere injures Tarlyn, Tarlyn's blades flash four times. The first one barely touches the thing, cutting it across the cheek. His second slices deeply across the wolfwere's chest, cutting through the tough hide. BOnes and insides can be seen. His third strike attains the thing again in the chest, opening it's wound even deeper. Blood now oozes forth freely, onto Tarlyn and the floor. The fourth strike is the last one as his blade pierces the thing's heart. It's eyes register surpirise, then shock. It slumps to the floor, slowly. It's shape shifts then returns to it's human form. Finally, it's eyes close. Tarlyn stumbles and falls to one knee. He drops his blades and sits on the floor in a daze.


Jacob removes a short sword from his bag and approaches the first immobile wolfwere. He offers a prayer to Lathander and the blade slices true, beheading the beast. He is about to turn to the next one when he spies the dead man on the floor and Tarlyn sitting in a daze. Then he hears the unmistakable sound of a fireball being cast. Turning he watches it leave the fiend's fingers and explode amidst a throng of wolfwere's! Some of the wolfwere's do survive the fireball, but most of the ones targetted are burnt into a crisp. Now the smell of rotting flesh fills the dining room. Miraculously it hasn't caught fire.

Lucius casts invisibility upon himself.


Round two results
Pit Fiend unharmed, cast fireball at wolfwere's.
Tarlyn battled #1 taking 45 dmg
Jacob beheaded #5
Lucius cast invisibility
Van, William, Cornelius near the door on the right(A little to the right of table 6 7 8 9).
Wolfwere's at tables:
1-9, 16, 17, 30-34 unharmed by fireball[out of range]
22, 23,24,25 all took 25 dmg each from the fireball.
The rest of the wolfwere's are burnt to a crisp.

[lostboy]

Inhaling the scent of charred meat the fiend smiles in satisfaction. However once the intial smoke clears its attention narrows on the remaining wolfwere's. Its black eyes flick briefly between the two groups.

"Time to finish this game I think."

It hisses as it raises both hands clapping them together and once more sending the reveberating word of power forth, diretcing it at the group of beats advancing from the lower end of the room.

Satisfied it turns its attention to the other group, streaming forward in a snarling pack. The hadn raises and in a splut second a second rush of blistering hellfire floods towards them, again fillign the room with the stench of burnt flesh.

The fiend curls its lips and laughs.

{OOC: Mass Hold Monster on ww's 1 - 16, and quickened Fireball aimed at rest]

[steveflam]

THe wolfwere's targetted by the Pit Fiend's first spell all stop moving. That done, the fireball flees it's fingers, flying towards the Wolfwere's in the N.E corner. It explodes amidst them, and the wolfwere's have no chance this evening. All six burn to a crisp, and again the smell of burning flesh and fur fills the air.

The already injured wolfwere's near the recently deceased wolfwere's try to flee, but don't make it. Jacob utters a few arcane phrases and a column of fire strikes the wolfwere's. Even worst than the fireball, it totally annihilates the wolfwere's. Now only the held beasts remain.

Jacob turns and hurries towards Tarlyn, who is still on the floor, bleeding. Lucius, now invisible casts Bless on the party. Thus ends Round 3!

Results of Round 3
Tarlyn injured, on the floor now at 50 damage.
Jacob cast flamestrike 55 damage on wolfwere's
#22-25
Lucius casts bless.
Pit Fiend cast Mass Hold Monster on wolfwere's
#1-9, 16. Casts quickened fireball at wolfwere's
#17, #30-34.
Wolfwere's #17, #30-34, #22-25 dead.
Wolfwere's W2-W4, W6-W8 held.

[lostboy]

The fiend's laugh echoes through the room as it surveys the carnage and the frozen beasts. Its eyes alight on Jacob and Tarlyn, and it advances with a hungry look. Suddenly it stops, as confusion crosses its face , it turns one way and another as if seekign something. With an irritated snarl it shouts a challenge:

"You come to bind me through trickery once more? Show yourself and we shall see if you have real power!"

Nothing happens for a short moment, then suddenly a nest of black tenebrous tentacles of shadow writh up out of the floor aroudn the fiends feet! They suround and crawl over its body reaching higher and higher.

"NO I will not go back!"

But the fiends struggles are in vain, the blackness quickly envelopes it entirely creating a living statue of shadow, which shrinks in size as it sinks slowly to the ground. Then just as quickly as they appeared the black tendrils depart, but this time the darkness seems to sink into Draven's pale skin as he lies unconcisous on the floor breathing shallowly.

[Ail]

Lucius looks amazed at what he just saw. But there is no time to waste. Seeing as only the held wolfweres are now a threat, he advances to the nearest one with a cocked iron cold bolt decided to finish him at once.

[OOC: I'm attempting a coup-de-grace on the nearest wolfwere.]

[BigBadQDaddy]

William's hands shake as he attempts to reload his pistol.
"Damned are these hands!" He says between gritted teeth. "At least that vile thing residing in body of our Draven helped...even if it were unintentional."

[VAN]

From the corner of the room Van still shaken asks:

"Is it over? The beast is defeated again? What have you done Jacob?"

[steveflam]

Jacob lays his hand on Tarlyn's chest. Gripping his symbol tightly and uttering a few arcane phrases, Tarlyn's chest glows a nice gold color and his wounds appear to close. Tarlyn still appears to be weak and has trouble standing. Jacob heps him up. He then turns to the others.

From the corner of the room Van still shaken asks:

"Is it over? The beast is defeated again? What have you done Jacob

"Yes, it's over. " Jacob takes charge as TArlyn won't be any good this night. "Lucius, don't bother, we've no time and have to get out of here now. I can get most of us out of here less two people. I have a ring of teleportation one of you can use. I can take Draven, Tarlyn, William and Cornelius with me to Pietro's. Lucius or Van can use the ring of teleportation to meet us there. Just think of his kitchen, and you'll be fine. Then we can decide what to do from there." Jacob moves quickly to the center of the dining room, helping Tarlyn along to where the unconscious form of Draven lay on the floor. "To me Cornelius and William. Hurry!" Jacob nods to Lucius and removing a ring from his bag, tosses it to Lucius, who catches it. "No word need be spoked to activate it, Lucius. We'll see you at Pietro's place. Hold on to me Cornelius and William."[/b] Once the two do hold on to him, Jacob utters a word in Drow and they disappear. Lucius and Van soon follow suite.


All of you feel disoriented as you reappear in Pietro's kitchen. It's dark. Jacob utters a word and a light appears on his short sword. Pietro isn;t home. Besides that the place looks the same. Jacob moves around and lights candles and starts a fire. "I'll start us with a meal, then we can talk. Get Alexander into bed and help Tarlyn to a chair while I'm cooking."

[Ail]

"It feels good to be back here, Jacob", says Lucius, "and you've proven a worthy ally. Now, we know why I had those troubles reading their thoughts. We are in far greater danger than I thought, and we are not welcome there anymore ... I wonder if the contact Harkon Lukas pointed to us would be nothing more than a trap, after all. What do you guys think?"

[VAN]

Van is really happy when they get in Pietro's house. The sudden appearance of the devil still makes the wizard shiver. So he turns to Jacob and asks:

"Jacob, may you explain us what has happened in the inn before? What happened to the pit fiend? Have you casted a spell? And do you have any idea if we can do something to prevent it to get out again? We managed to survive these 3 times but it isn't sure that we will be lucky the next time too."

Then Van turns to Lucius and says:

"I agree, for once we thought that we have found a decent inn to stay and it reveals the most dangerous of everyone! Have you noticed, all the patrons and the stuff were wolf-were! I doubt that this was just a coincidence, someone has warned them that we have arrived. Many strange things has happened during our travel, as Tarlyn's kidnap. Someone didn't want us to arrive here in Kartakass and now that we managed to arrived has sent the shapechangers after us. I'm not sure if we should trust this Harkon Lukas, as Lucius said it might be a trap."

Turning to the dwarf he says:

"Cornelius, you talked to me about a divination spell that you have. Maybe this is the right time to use it."

[steveflam]

Once Jacob is done with the cooking, he passes out the food on plates and you all sit or stand around the table. Jacob tends to Tarlyn. "Van I did nothing to the Pit Fiend this time, Alexander won over it it seems, for now. Lucius, Cornelius, I won't completely heal this yet. I want your input before we decide what to do with Tarlyn's arm. It doesn't look good I have to say." Jacob had removed some herbs from one of his pouches and ground them while he cooked supper. Then he'd given the concoction to Tarlyn, who made a really bad face, but drank it. He soon was out cold. "That mixture I gave Tarlyn will keep him out cold for a few hours. This way we can work in peace without him struggling while we work, Lucius, Cornelius. It is best you eat first, then we can help our friend Tarlyn. Boil some water and I've got clean towels."

Jacob leaned against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief, running his hands through his hair slowly. "While we work on Tarlyn, Van and William, tend to Alexander and discuss what our next moves should be." Jacob moves up to William and reaching inside his bag, removes two bottles, handing one to William. "This, William, is elvish wine. I offer it to you as I think you might enjoy it. It'll make a change from what you normally drink." He then moves over to Cornelius and hands him the other bottle. "This, Cornelius, is a bottle of what the duergar call rotgut. I doubt any of us would enjoy it but I think you might like it. Jacob moves back over to Tarlyn and fusses over him, removing his cloak and tunic and items, placing them in Tarlyn's bag. He begins uttering phrases in Drow in a low voice as he grips his holy symbol. Thos of you with religion will remember that his symbol resembles the one of the morninglord.

[ewancummins]

''Rotgut, eh? Thank you.''
Cornelius uncorks the bottle and takes a whiff of the aromatic spirits contained within.

''We ought to use this stuff on Tarlyn's arm- it's got to be near pure alcohol. That's good for cleansing dirty wounds. Some folks use wine, but that's for little girls. Tarlyn can take it, I'm sure. ''