Act II: The Hall of Snurre Ironbelly the Foul, Fire Giant King

Brief Recap: Last turn, the party made their way toward Eclavdra, and Bronk discovered that one of the Slayers was his brother, kidnapped by the Githyanki many years past.

Family Reunion in the Githyanki Temple

Bronk thinks, "The only way I'm gonna get through to him is by beating the shit out of him like I use to!!" His brother, Bardock, seems beyond reason, and does not recognize Bronk. Bronk holds his halberd low and in front of him, with its deadly vorpal blade to the side. When Bardock charges, Bronk uses the halberd to knock Bardock's spiked gauntlets up and out of the way. He lets go the halberd and grapples his brother, trying to render him unconscious.

Bardock slams his spiked fists into Bronk's shoulders and head [6 damage, down to 94/100] as Bronk wrestles to get Bardock by the waist. He gets his grip, and picks his brother up in a bear hug, nearly tossing him, then guiding him down to the ground, head first. [Grapple attack, percentage roll of 00.] Bardock crashes into the ground on his head and left shoulder, his nose breaking for what looked like the twelfth time and his jaw going slack. Bronk falls with him but quickly rolls out of the throw. Bardock is stunned badly. He struggles to rise on one elbow then falls unconscious.

Bardock fell for the Old Rashe-man Man Toss. Bronk was thankful he still hadn't learned to defend against it.

Blade draws his short sword out of the dead Githyanki knight, and sees the third and final Slayer charging Bronk as he grapples with his apparently lost brother. Blade steps in the way of its charge, then steps aside again and thrusts the Giantslayer into its armored torso [10 damage]. The Slayer strikes Blade, slashing his arm with its spiked gauntlet [10 damage, down to 99/115].

Blade takes a step back, drawing the Slayer away from Bronk and clearing some space between himself and his attacker. Once he gets some distance, he easily slashes the Slayer's throat with one cut, then stabbs it in the neck to finally halt its charge. For good.

Nearby, Ghotu is engaged with the the last Githyanki knight that stands between him and Eclavdra. Moving quickly he closes with the knight and smites him with his shield, attempting to drive the knight backward into the curtains. Ghotu can see figures moving behind the curtains, as those within react to the sound of fighting. The knight fends Ghotu off [overbear attack percent roll 09, miss], hacking repeatedly and retreating at angles from the oncoming Ghotu [knight misses]. The knight pauses a moment in his flurry of attacks, and Ghotu immediately presses him again with his shield, this time closing successfully and driving the knight over a flaming brazier next to the curtain [overbear attack 86, hit]. The knight rolls over the brazier, scattering flaming coals and tumbling into the curtain.

The Githyanki cleric nearest Eclavdra finishes chanting and casts a spell at Ghotu. Ghotu is unaffected. [Ghotu made saving throw.]

Meanwhile, Humphrey reaches within his being to conjure the concentration necessary to expend a charge from his staff, causing him to turn Invisible. He then moves slowly among the nearby Githyanki. He continues to silently command the elemental to attack the priestess.

Hovering fifteen feet in the swirling purple and blue lights, Bibi watches the black Earth Elemental stomp over toward Eclavdra, who sees the monster coming and moves south, toward the exit. Bibi smiles as she sees two very large ants emerge from the doorway and descend the stairs. The creatures are as large as the biggest dog breed and scuttle along with great speed. Eclavdra sees them and stops where she is, preparing a spell.

Bibi also notices Ghotu knock the knight into the curtain and over the flaming brazier. The curtain is partly pulled down, exposing Githyanki and more curtains within. The thin material catches fire from the spilled coals, and flame begins to spread to the rest of the area. Several Githyanki knights and clerics step out from behind the curtains and see Bibi floating above the fray. Mog sees them too, and says, "Bibi, those clerics." He begins to cast a spell. The Githyanki clerics are chanting as well.

Bibi holds one of the white stones from her locket [#9] and concentrates on the newly emerged clerics. This is one of more powerful stones, she can tell from the feel of it. She opens her eyes and looks at the clerics just in time to see a column of flame descend upon one of them, setting him ablaze [29 damage].

Mog casts Paralyzation on the same group of clerics and knights (who came from the curtains). Two of them grow rigid and fall to the ground, one a knight, the other a cleric. Two clerics and three knights remain in this group, about thirty feet away. The clerics cast their spells at Bibi and Mog.

Immediately, all sound is gone for Bibi. With that sense suddenly bereft of input, Bibi is nearly thrown off balance as she hovers in the air. She realizes that she has been targeted by the same kind of spell Mog had cast to sneak them into the Fire Giant hall above, a Silence spell.

Bibi looks at Mog, who's lips are moving. He backs away from Bibi, preparing a spell. Bibi flies backward away from Mog. When he is fifteen feet from her, he casts Dispel Magic using his rod, and Bibi can hear again.

Two of the three knights charge Mog as the two remaining clerics prepare new spells. Mog barely dodges the first knight's thrust, and the second connects as the orc cleric tries to retreat. [Mog takes 11, down to 87/98.]

The two knights to the south of the party race to aid Eclavdra by attacking the giant ants. They yell in Githyanki to the nearby cleric, who is attempting to distract the earth elemental from Eclavdra with little success. The elemental sweeps him aside with one of its polyps, sending the cleric skidding along the volcanic glass floor.

Mog yells in common, "The knights call for invisibility detection!"

Eclavdra steps forward, dodging the earth elemental's flailing tendrils. She grins wickedly at the party and utters a single word, an Unholy Word. Ghotu, Blade, Bronk, Bibi, and Humphrey (still invisible) are stunned [for two rounds you are at 50% move and -4 attack dice, no spellcasting]. Mog is deafened [one round, 50% chance spell failure].

While the party is stunned, Eclavdra takes a moment to gloat. "You sought the Obsidian stone? I can sense that you do, though some more than others," she looks at Bibi, then at a seemingly empty spot on the floor.

She reaches before her and from the thin air she draws something into her hand. She turns her hand green palm up to reveal a dark stone.

The earth elemental, unaffected by her spell, prepars to attack Eclavdra again, and with a word she springs into the air, hovering at several feet and offering the party an unfortunate view.

"And soon you will see the stone's powers at their fullest," she says.

Just then several more knights emerge from the curtained area on either side of Eclavdra.

Before she can finish the sentence, the stone whips free of her hand and flies quickly toward seemingly nowhere [Humphrey uses telekinesis from his staff (expends 2 charges--no saves apply as it is not an attack) , where Humphrey materializes, catching the stone, and stuffing it inside his robes. [staff is now at 0]. "We must make from here, quickly! He yells. "I have the stone! I have the stone!" He turns and assesses the possibility of his exit. Assuming he is successful, he immediately begins to make his way toward Bronk Beareye and the other fighters.

As soon as Bibi feels the impact of Eclavdra's spell she changes forms. She takes the shape of a falcon. (plot point-if need be or if posable I'll use two plot points) Using all the speed and skill of this form she flies toward the stone. [If Humphrey's spell works she tries to intercept it between him and Eclavdra. Otherwise she will try to snatch it from her hand.]

As Bibi swoops in toward the stone she thinks about the powers that her shaman told her the stone holds. Most importantly, she hopes that he was right about its ability to control her changing. She knows the time is very close and fears what the results maybe.

Bibi then flies back and transforms as she touches the ground behind Mog. She immediately places the obsidian stone into her locket and removes the most powerful white stone.

Blade is still focused on taking out the she-witch. She appeared to be in charge and if she died it would most likely take the fight out of the rest of teh Githyanki. Or possibly fuel there rage. give them a matyr to fight for. Who knew? If his fickle goddess smiled on him today, then things would go his way...if not, then there would be plenty of other chances in life. ...assumiong he survived. "It seems I am fighting an uphill battle, " Blade says with a grin. Sheathing his dragonlslayer, or rather Bruce's Dragonslyer sword, Blade leaps upon the back of the Earth Elemental and quickly scrambles his way up to it's shoulders where he launches himself at the sorceress. Blade whoops triumpahntly as he flies through the air towards her. He plans to grab hold of her in midair ( feet and arms wound about her) and stab her repaetedly with his short sword until she either dies or falls to the ground.

[I'll spend a plot point to insure that I successfully grab hold of her] If we start to fall to the ground, then i wil ltry to position myself so that I land on top of her and she takes the brunt of the impact. If this isn't possible, then I will try to land with the least amount of damge done to myself as possible.

Ghotu decides that Blade and the others will have to deal with Eclavdra right now, for Ghotu must go on the defensive. Mog is beset by two knights, and Ghotu charges the one closest to him from behind.

Mog casts Command on one of the knights, telling him to sleep. If that fails and Ghotu does not kill the other, he will cast Slay Living on the remaining knight.

Bronk realizes that his brother will not be out long. "Damn...there has gotta be something for me to do?!?!" He mutters.

Standing over his brother he see's what's happening and decides it be best for he to try to guard Humphrey the best he can and assure his hastey exit.

"HUMPHREY....OVER HERE!!!" He yells.

Posting Instructions: See the battlemap for positions and enemies. Please post two rounds of combat.

HOME