Demons What pt 2
You'd defeated the central demon while, above you, the airship is still engaged. The great flying beast is still wining its way towards the airship above.
It turns and begins to descend bqack towards you, intent on picking you up once it's been observed that you have the rod -- and you do.
Hey, they've been watching.
"All right. We have the rod, lets get out of here and to the extraction point." Felicia sounds a little insistant on that.
Serraphine was close to Lucy as she grabbed the staff... wand... whatever. She wasn't too concerned what to call it. What she cared about was completing this bit of the mission, reaching down she begins yanks and throwing the demons from Lucy with one hand while her other still holds the sword.
Malorn nods, "That sounds good to me." He says as he looks around to see if any of the demons are playing possum. He's ready for the fight to continue if need be.
You'd defeated the central demon while, above you, the airship is still engaged. The great flying beast is still wining its way towards the airship above.
It turns and begins to descend bqack towards you, intent on picking you up once it's been observed that you have the rod -- and you do.
Hey, they've been watching.
"All right. We have the rod, lets get out of here and to the extraction point." Felicia sounds a little insistant on that.
Serraphine was close to Lucy as she grabbed the staff... wand... whatever. She wasn't too concerned what to call it. What she cared about was completing this bit of the mission, reaching down she begins yanks and throwing the demons from Lucy with one hand while her other still holds the sword.'
The demons aren't just playing possum! Many of them are still trying to get the rod away from Lucy.
Others are, y'know, actually dead.
Either way, the airship is still on its way down closer to you. Ropes are being thrown over the end and demons are trying to grab for /them/ too, only to be shot at by the airship's crew. Thunderbelchers make lot of noise.
Lucy clutches the rod and does her best to keep it out of the hands of the demons. If there was more space she might be able to employ her acrobatic prowess, but in this chaotic scrum it's more like wrestling and that's not one of her strengths.
Felicia looks over to Malorn. "Get over there and help Lucy get free...."
Serraphine looks about as she takes another demon in her free hand and tries to throw it into one of the ones attempting to tackle Lucy. It's a very complex battle maneuver... Right. She grins as their skulls crack together - it really can be the little things sometimes.
Malorn nods as he uses fast movement to get off and wade into the Dretches. He uses punches and kicks to keep them away from Lucy. "Go get out of here."
Wilma follows the others towards the dropped ladders, "Everyone, keep movin'!" as she uses her sword to less effect now that she's on the move. Hey, she's not going to be first! If she fell off, she'd take everyone below with her!
Felicia knows she's not going to be very good dragging anything off of people. She's just not very strong. But she CAN give encouragement. "Come on, Lucy!"
More gunshots are fired.
Time to get out of here, right? Right? Of course it is. The airship's big guns are firing at the flying vulture-like demons and the big one that's still coming in the distance. The big, fiery demon of mosntrous proportions.
Definitely don't wanna be here for that.
Serraphine lets out a growl, kicking at another as it gets close toward the rod bearer. She finally swings the sword in a low arc to cut out the legs from another couple. She's bringing up the rear of the party in her heavy plate armor. Her eyes turn up to see the fiery demon and the flying ones. "Get up the damned ladder!" She calls out with another slice of her long sword.
Felicia will help Lucy stand and get her to the ladder if she can....
GAME: Felicia rolls athletics: (13)+-3: 10
GAME: Celeste rolls athletics: (16)+5: 21
GAME: Lucy rolls athletics: (8)+5: 13
GAME: Serraphine rolls Athletics: (5)+-1: 4
GAME: Wilma rolls Athletics: (2)+5: 7
GAME: Malorn rolls athletics: (1)+11: 12 (EPIC FAIL)
Felicia tries as hard as she can to get up the rope, but she never was that athletics. However, she DOES makeit to the airship...and clambers over the rail. "ugh..." She groans...then turns to help others up....
Serraphine was bringing up the rear of it, her sword arching down to slash as the demons that might be crawling up behind them. One hand on the rungs while the other still held her sword. She looks up, seeing as the rest are further up and pushes with her legs before grabbing another rung quickly. It's slow, but anything to keep those vile things from getting to the ship.
Wilma's huffing and puffing is interrupted by a number of cursewords and swears - no doubt not helping her climb upward *at* *all*. However, despite her armor and oversized weaponry, the dwarven woman slowly makes her way upward towards the airship, as Serraphine takes up the rear.
Celeste has been happily hacking away at the enemy this entire time; blood splatters around her, limbs fly, and heads roll. All the while she's snarling and screaming like an offended banshee, as she paints shield, sword, and body with the blood and entrails of her enemies. Unfortunately, like all good playtimes, eventually it has to end; with the rope ladders deployed she stows sword in scabbard and shield across her back; still snarling, she siezes the rope ladder and rushes up it like she really means it.
(New BB message (10/253) posted to 'RPP Awards' by Job Tracker: A: Chay: under the building)
Malorn goes to start to climb and he goes to grab the rope ladder. He isn't quick enough to get away as he is pulled back down into the fray with the dretches. He gets slashes across his back as he starts to fight them off again.
A small gnome hand clutching the rod appears over the side of the ship, immediately depositing it on the deck before the hand graps on, and then the rest of the gnome appears. Lucy pulls herself onto the ship, not quite sure she ever shimmied up a rope ladder so fast in her life. As soon as she's onboard she leans over the railing again, and hoists her short spear, ready to cast it down at one of the Dretches below.
Up, the ladders you go.
While Serraphine and WIlma lag behind, rpobably due to the weight of their armor, along with Malorn, eventually you're able to get pulled away from the fray by the airship, even if you're dangling from the ladder.
SLowly, they begin pulling up the last two of you as the airship rocks and sways violently. It is not f un hanging on the end of a flying airshp by a ladder.
Lucy scoops up the rod again as stronger tallfolk help the rest of the party board. She huddles anxiously in between Celeste and Felicia as they wait flr
Lucy scoops up the rod again as stronger tallfolk help the rest of the party board. She huddles anxiously in between Celeste and Felicia as they wait for their friends.
Felicia is still trying to help the other up. She even helps up Serraphine, but she's not strong enough to pull...that's for Serraphine. Fi's always been stronger than her.
Serraphine swings from the bottom of the ladder, swinging her sword one last time to knock off the final demon currently clinging on. Another pull as she pushes up with her legs to try and get another rung up. She casts her gaze skyward to see the ship above her when the airship starts rocking and swaying. No... No it's best to simply cling now and wait for those on the airship to finish pulling her the rest of the ways up.
Malorn is holding on to the very last rung of the ladder as he's pulled away from the fight. He swings as he starts to climb.
Wilma, once on the deck, just lays there for a moment or three. "Dwarves aren't meant to be this high up over ground... This much air has to be bad for you..." she wheezes. Stupid armor.
Lucy allows herself a careful smile. The expression grows wider with each party member that makes it safely on deck, until she's beaming. She then proceeds to bring possible doom to the party by saying: "That wasn't so bad, was it...?"
The airship turns, then, and begins to sail the oppsoite direction, away away from the flying creatures.
They're fast. The airship is fast. But they're slowly gaining on you.
"MAN THE GUNS! GET OPEN FIRE ON THEM!"
More of the vrock's, as t hey are indeed great and many vultyure demons, are being brought down by the huge explosive force of the mana cannons, but that big one is getting closer, closer...
It seems to grow even taller as it does, it's form nearly thirty feet in height as it draws near.
"BRACE!"
Felicia leans over the side. "GET UP HERE 'FI! LUCY JUST SAID THE WORDS OF DOOM!" Then someone calls out 'brace'. "SHIT!" And she hits the deck.
GAME: Celeste rolls strength: (20)+4: 24
When the call to 'Brace' goes out, Celeste's head snaps up; the Half-Orc gazes about herself, making sure all are accounted for. Is everyone present? ...No, as it turns out. "Where is Serraphine?!" she bellows. It becomes clear, then that, she is still on her rope ladder. "KOR DAMNIT!" she roars, as she returns to the side of the ship with two swift strides. The berzerker leans over the side, siezing one rung of hte ladder and hauling it up; then with her other hand, she reaches down to Serraphine, "Take my hand!" she instructs, waiting for hand to be taken before, with a flex of muscle and a snarl of effort, she hauls the platemail-clad Arvek up onto deck, roughly perhaps but certainly swiftly.
As the last one on the ladder and simply holding onto it, Serraphine waits for it to get close enough to the top for her to grab the railing. The ladder swings this way... it swings that way, and then Felicia yells over the side at her, "TRUST ME! I'M TRYING TO GET UP THERE!" She gives her usual level of annoyed in her smile when Celeste suddenly adds to the mix. There's a rough jarring of the ladder as Celeste wrenches it upward, then the half-oruch's hand shoots down toward the Arvek.
Serraphine stares up at Celeste, nearly losing her grip at the yank, and then her hand shoots up to take the one offered "You better not drop me!" She says back up, and then pushes with her legs at Celeste yanks with her arm. With a tumble she's pulled the rest of the way upward, trying not to tackle Celeste in the process as she adds "Brace what?"
Felicia says, "STAY DOWN, FI!" She yells to Serraphine and Celeste......then covers her head. Fi knows that's a panic position."
GAME: Felicia rolls reflex+1: (10)+3+1: 14
GAME: Malorn rolls reflex: (8)+7: 15
GAME: Wilma rolls ref: (6)+5: 11
GAME: Celeste rolls reflex: (19)+4: 23
GAME: Serraphine rolls Reflex: (9)+4: 13
GAME: Lucy rolls reflex: (10)+7: 17
Malorn starts to climb up on the ladder to get up onto the air ship. He can see the fiends that are chasing them and he hears the shout to brace. He holds onto the ladder as best he can.
It was bound to happen.
the great, flaming demon reaches out and touches the airship. Touch!
Immediately, the airship is rocked by the power of the great beast and is sent hurtling, spinning out of control.
Guess what?
You're on a crashing airship!
"uuuuugh....this is gonna suck!" Felicia growls as she stays face down.....
Lucy finds a handhold to try and hold herself steady. Her other hand clutches the rod. "If we're going to crash...we have to destroy it!" She holds up the rod to explain what she means. "We can't let it fall into the wrong hands, remember!"
"Angoron's left nut... this is not going to go well," Wilma groans, before trying to rattle-thump over towards something - anything - to hold on to. Doing so in armor and a sword on the back? So does not work well.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH.
The impact stuns everyone. There is silence. Darkness for a time for all of you.
Then you're dimly aware of coughing, gagging sounds. Proibably some of them are your own. The dust and smoke is choking, but you're alive. So are a lot of the crew, but the airship is on FIRE.
And on the side of a mountain. Great.
Serraphine grabs her bastard sword with both hands and shoves the tip of it down into the wood before wrapping the crooks of her arms about the crossguard and then her hands lacing under her armor straps and grabbing tight. She might break her arms, she might even break her sword, but at least that should hopefully give her some means to hold on as she calls out into what, surely, will be a tumultuous noise of shattering wood, "I BLAME SERRA!"
"Don't be destroying anything yet!" Celeste looks up and snaps the words from where she's laying on the deck, still holding Serraphine's arm, which she promptly let's go of. "We haven't lost the rod /yet/, let's try to return it intact before we--" Anything else Celeste might've said is abruptly cut off, as the ship is busy crashing into the mountainside.
When Celeste wakes up again, she lays where she is, for a moment; quietly processing if she's managed to die a glorious death or not. Then there's coughing, and the taste of blood on her lip and she concludes two things; first that she is still alive, and second that it is time to stand up. "Is everyone alright?" she asks, once she has her footing regained.
"No," comes a miserable voice. Lucy emerges from a bit of wreckage and wipes blood from her forehead with the underside of a bracer-clad sleeve. "But I'll live." Looks like a minor cut, fortunately. She begins to look around for other survivors.
The dwarf just groans, as she attempts to get up - fails, but at least leans against a bit of wreckage in a sitting position. "That was some bar fig...." eyes open on the last word, and she amends, "Airship crash. Bloody hells. Getting to her feet is possible - but the wreckage she was leaning against ends up a little bit more wrecked.
GAME: Celeste rolls perception: (20)+6: 26
GAME: Wilma rolls perception: (9)+5: 14
GAME: Malorn rolls perception: (19)+13: 32
Serraphine lets out a groaning noise, still clutching to her sword that was clearly made of stern stuff. She stands up, pulling up with her legs and using the fact that her hands are still entangled in the armor to pull the sword free of the wood planking. She's not far from Celeste, her hair is messed, there's cust on her face and a goose egg forming on the side of her scalp. She finally lets go with her arms from the straps, taking her sword into a low guard with her right hand. The left... She winces.
"Nope." Serraphine responds to the question. Her left hand hangs there, having felt some bone-on-bone grinding. "Pretty sure my left arm is broken. But besides that I'll live." A look toward Lucy, then the dwarf, Celeste is next and... "Felicia? Where the hells are you? How are you?"
GAME: Serraphine rolls Perception: (17)+3: 20
GAME: Lucy rolls perception: (4)+11: 15
GAME: Felicia rolls perception: (2)+3: 5
Malorn does his best to brace himself against the crash maybe it's best that he wasn't in the ship. He gets up off the ground and he wipes the blood from his head. He looks around trying to see where the demons are, "Call out if you are okay."
felicia groans and gets up. "Damn. We're on the side of a mountain here." She says looking for Serraphine. "Fi! Where are you?" She then looks in the direction of Fi's voice and goes that way.
The good news is that Lucy still has the rod and most of you are banged up but not seriously harmed.
The bad news is that the massive flying demon -- wait. Is he smaller now that you're further away from him, or merely smaller becasue he's further away?
No... he's /definitely/ smaller now, like he's a lot some of his bulk now that you're further from him. Still impressively huge, just not... /that/ massive.
Clearly, he's expended some of his strength in taking down the airship.
Either way, you've got survivors to account for and still need to find a way out of here. You're on the side of a mountain. it is snowing.
But this is the desolation side of the range so the snow is... purple? Pink? What?
Serraphine turns her head to look toward the demon and lets out a growling noise in her throat, a half step back and a turn away from it before she starts moving toward where she heard Felicia now. "Fe." She adds, thinking she's now spotted the other Arvek. "We need to heal the crew in a hurry." She holds up her sword and sweeps it about, "Can you get everyone with your power of faith?"
Felicia grimaces....and puts her hand on Serraphine's arm. "you first, Fi." She says as she mends Serraphine's arm. "I'll get to everyone else in a moment...."
Wilma makes her way towards the 'side' of the ship, pausing here and there to help folks to their feet, or at least push shit off of them. That said, however, her goal is clear - and it is to the mountain she looks - for what? Probably something other than snow.
"We don't have time! We have to hurry."
The bloodied captain and her eyepatch are helping some of her crewmates up amongst the burning wredckage.
Down below, you can see the colum,n of demons is reforming. And streaming towards the mountain. Thankfully, airships are fast and you gained a considerable amount of distance on them and the vrocks in your SPIRALLING DESCENT down to the earth.
So you have some time to try to get to cover or at least somewhere less exposeed than 'the side of a mountain'.
"I'm fine." Celeste jumps over the side of the ship, such as it is, and lands on the ground which is... not all that far away, as it currently stands. She straightens, and draws her shield from her back, then sword from scabbard. "Look after the crew, get everyone ready. We're going to have to fight this thing. If it gets close before you're finished I'll hold it off as long as I can."
Serraphine flexes her left hand, glaring at Felicia for a moment with a sigh, and then looks about. "Thank you, but I would've rathered you get the others first. I can fight one armed. Literally. She looks about and stares at the Captain with a growl, "We don't leave people behind!"
Felicia says, "yeah, but I healed you for a reason.....you can heal too, Fi. That, and you're my friend." She says as she gets back to the airship wreckage and channels to heal everyone that she can."
GAME: Serraphine rolls Knowledge/Military Theory: (6)+7: 13
Malorn moves to do his best to help those that he can get out of the flaming wreckage. He looks about and hmms, 'Any way we can get these guns working again and pointed down at the demons?" He asks.
GAME: Felicia rolls knowledge/military theory: (7)+5: 12
GAME: Serraphine rolls Survival: (8)+1: 9
Felicia says, "Right. Everyone who's not wounded, get the wounded and help out. We need to get away from this area NOW, Anyone who can move.....we need a scount to find us a cave. MOVE!" As Felicia barks out orders, she's wrapping up wounds...."
GAME: Wilma rolls Survival: (15)+9: 24
"Maybe not even a cave." Serraphine says with a look toward Felicia. "Just the mountains will give us something. Who knows this area? Anyone?" She's starting to yank off planks of wood, sheathing her sword. Either stretchers or firewood if they have to stay outside for long.
Malorn pauses for a moment to look back over his shoulder. He narrows his eyes a bit and then puts his hands up to his face to shade his eyes, "That large demon." He says as he points it out. "He's got bigger when he got closer to the rod and now he's smaller now that he's far from it. Could that rod have something to do with it? Could it be something that controls him?"
Wilma studies the side of the mountain, rather than continue to help uncover the wounded. Finally, she calls out, "I can be seein' some passes we can take to be goin' deeper in; need to be hurryin' though - snow's makin' things tricky. Good news is, should be caves or places to be diggin' shelter that way - an' the demons will be findin' it a good sight harder to be makin' way."
Lucy gives a sudden cry of triumph. She reaches under a bit of debris and pulls out her tiny pack, complete with frying pan. She spins it around her tiny shortspesr and taps it against the ground like a walking stick, and holds the rod to tap against her leg like a baton. Then she begins moving. "If anyone could lead us through the mountains its you!" she encourages Wilma, ready to start marching.
Felicia says, "All right. that's something, thank you, WIlma." She grunts as she tries to get the wounded to their feet. "Come on, lets go. I don't want those things to find us here.""
A few planks handed out to other crew to use as fast stretchers and she grabs an armful more to carry on her shoulder. "That's good, I'm pretty sure if it wasn't for the sun I wouldn't know which way North is." Serraphine adds, giving one last look before she'll start off with everyone.
GAME: Malorn rolls survival: (5)+3: 8
Malorn sees that the others are leaving and he moves to help those that can't move on their own. He follows along after the others as they seem to be headed away from demons.
In the distance, you can see the great hairless vulture demons that were destroyed by the airship in rather large numbers, regathering their flock, it seems, doing some sort of strange dance in the sky..
A bolt of lightning hits the airship. Then another. Then another.
YEP. TIME TO GET MOVING.
You hurry into the mountains admist bolts of lightnign cascading down around you. A few unfortuante crewman are hit by them, but there's really nothing you can do about it except push up and into the accumulating (pink) snow. It's hard going, immediately, but you and the wounded are making decent time. Adrenaline and fear will do that as you climb higher towards the passes Wilma has identified.
Felicia says, "Is this the right way, Wilma?" she calls out to the dwarf."
Leaving might not be Celeste's first choice; but she can't deny the tactical advantages of retreating and, y'know, not dieing. So retreat she does; along the way she sheaths her sword and scoops up a wounded crewman who isn't making it on his own, throwing the poor lad over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "This'll jostle a lot," she warns, "But it's better than dieing without glory, and that's the best I can offer you just now."
Wilma snorts a bit, "Not much of a scout, lass; just happen to have left m'front door a time or two," is disclaimed, before Wilma actually moves to be somewhat useful. At least, until someone else proves better for the task. And really, given the light-show, "... keep your heads down if you can. Lightnin' can be a powerful force," she adds, with a bit of an odd grin as she moves to the front to try to start breaking the trail in for those lighter - or more wounded. "Best as I can be tellin'," she adds over her shoulder. Onward!
Serraphine continues to puff as she slogs through the snow with the planks over her shoulder. She gives a nod to Celeste and even.... Well it looks a bit like mild annoyance, but it's probably more a smile. "When we get out of here... Fernwood. You and I are getting drunk." Another nod and she drifts a bit further back under the weight of armor and wood.
Felicia says, "You're on, Fi. After this, we're off duty...at least for a while." She says as she trudges along to try and heal another of the wounded....and get them back on their feet."
Serraphine looks to Felicia next, a bit bewildered, "What?! You drink too!?"
Malorn brings up the rear and is still doing his best to help those that need it. He ducks his head with each crash of lightning as he continues to move onward.
Felicia says, "No, I don't drink. Shit like this will DRIVE an arvek to drink, dammit.""
GAME: Felicia rolls fortitude: (14)+5: 19
"Well I was offering to the Half-Orc." Serraphine says back to Felicia, "But if you're getting pushed that far, you're invited too."
GAME: Serraphine rolls Fortitude: (5)+7: 12
GAME: Lucy rolls fortitude: (19)+3: 22
GAME: Wilma rolls Fortitude: (10)+11: 21
GAME: Celeste rolls fortitude: (15)+5: 20
GAME: Malorn rolls fortitude: (3)+6: 9
SO far, so good.
While not all of the people here can endure the fatigue of climbing the mountain as well as the hardened adventurers can, the reality is that you're making pretty decent time. Serraphine and Malorn are having the hardest time with it, starting to drag, but it isn't really slowing you down any.
Mosatly becasue you're leading a convoy of wounnded up here.
The pink snow storm is intensifying. THis is good news for you since the pink-out conditions will hamper the flying of your enemies and highly decrease visiblity from above. It's really the only reason you're not /dead/ already.
Pink-out conditions.
<OOC> Serraphine says, "Yeah, I'm gonna tap myself and Malorn with Lay on Hands now to remove Fatigued. That's important stuff there. That leaves me with 1 use left."
GAME: Malorn rolls survival: (19)+3: 22
GAME: Celeste rolls survival: (2)+8: 10
GAME: Wilma rolls Survival: (6)+9: 15
SO!
Good news, everyone!
You've found some of the caves that Wilma has been talking about. It only took you the rest of your daylight and getting covered in pink snow you're all ill prepared for, but at least people on airships tend to dress warm. Unfortuantely, you don't have much in the way of food or water for the dozen airship cremmen and their injured captain, but at least you can climb ito the cave and get everyone stashed there before the storm REALLY whips up.
And it is.
Even worse.
PINK FLURRIES are cascading now in endless torrents and you're really going to have to hunker down.
And figure out how not to freeze.
Worse, demons tend to be highly resistant to cold...