Brief Recap: Last turn, the party gathered in the central temple of Dunore and discussed what should be done with the Obsidian Stone. It was decided that the Druids would use the stone to protect Dunore, with Bibi being the one to hold the stone since she is most familiar with its magic.

Siege at Dunore

The druids stand on their runestones within the ring of standing stones, with Aria in the center behind the alter. Bibi now holds the stone in her hand, and as the druids begin to chant, the city begins to shake with the earth's movement.

Aria raises her arms, the sign to begin the ritual. The gathered holy men and women start to sing, each adding their voice one at a time in a prescribed order--Aria first, then the Archdruids, followed by the other ranking druids. Their druidic chant echoes off the standing stones and nearby buildings.

Bibi holds the stone before her, and the time comes to add her voice to the chant. But when she does so, instead of blending with the others, her voice is discordant. She can feel the power of the Stone showing itself, but she cannot force it to harmonize with the incantation which the others of her order sing.

Aria, without breaking her chant, looks at Bibi with alarm in her eyes. Bibi knows that once she has joined the incantation, she cannot stop without bringing the entire ritual to an end. But her effort to master the stone, or perhaps something else, seems to be preventing her from effectively joining the others.

Just then, a nearby building groans as one of its stone walls is split asunder. Some of those nearby move toward the building to reinforce it.

All around, rumbling can be heard, and the city itself seems to shake. A young acolyte standing near the party is heard to say, "Something is wrong! Aria's face shows it! And the force is much stronger this time than last--" His voice is stopped as the ground beneath him and the party buckles, throwing them all to the ground.

The party stands. The young acolyte says, this time to Trenin, whom he recognizes as a member of the Brotherhood: "This is something new, Brother! The previous attacks were not so focused or violent--"

Again, he is interrupted by the movement of the earth; only this time, a great chasm opens beneath his feet and swallows him up. Before Trenin or the others can respond, the chasm closes, and the acolyte's scream is quickly muted. All around, the ground begins to move.

Between the party and the circle of standing stones, the earth erupts upward, and a mass of rocks, roots, and dirt rises and takes a vaguely humanoid form, standing over ten feet tall. A great arm extends from the body to strike at Ghotu, who stands closest.

Trenin immediately fires off three arrows in quick succession at the creature.

Abu remounts quickly and flies toward Bibi, his arm outstretched for her to take and mount up behind him. "Come child! It is as I feared!" He yells as he heads toward her. He has also drawn his scimitar.

"This thing's gotta die," says Ghotu. He unfurls his ever-present net and unhitches his axe as he tosses the net. He then attempts to move past the creature, hitting it with his axe as he moves toward one of the standing stones, hoping to use it to brace himself.

Bibi uses her boots to keep her just above the ground so that the shacking does not disturb her. She places the obsidian stone inside of her locket and removes the stone in which she has stored transmute rock to stone. She directs the spell at the creature attacking Ghotu.

Abu, seeing that Bibi is not responding to his call to mount him, stops short of her and dismounts. He whispers something in his horses ear and stands by the Druid's side, watching the ensuing combat and her.

Posting Instructions: Please post your actions for the round.

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