The Lord of the Forums >>> Return of the Nightmare

[ArcadesSabboth]

He senses the great emptiness and it's ravenous appetite focusing in his direction, and takes his single moment to make a break for the mine's entrance, rapidly assuming his full size as he makes his break tward daylight and the open sky into which he might escape.

As he runs flat out to freedom, he realizes that this Hunger has inspired true feeling of fear in him, which is a rarity unto it'self in a dragon's heart. His life energy partially stolen by the Hunger, he manages to muster the strength to push his body ever forward.

He begins hearing a song of magic in the air as he reaches the surface, hearing the voice of his good friend Kaylisa in the distance, the old dragon spreads great golden wings and takes flight, following the trail she has provided him.

The energy taken from him takes it's toll, so he is only able to fly so high and then is forced to glide on currents of wind

[ 03-06-2004, 01:18 AM: Message edited by: ArcadesSabboth ]

[Larry_OHF]

OOC>>>Holy Crap!

Brendon 07/70

The sudden blow had been so powerful that Brendon thought he was dead. So much life taken from him at once was traumatic and left him jus wanting to lay on the stone, surrounded by his own warm blood that was turning cooler on the cold stone floor. The giants had come from the shadows and had wiped out most of the party. Brendon tried to look around and see what damage had been done through teary eyes. He saw Morgie lying in a heap next to him, not moving. He saw the lion crumbled on the floor next to Ruby, who was huddled up next to him and weeping. Elethias was against the cave wall, not moving. Rhianneth no longer had stoneskin, and was laying further up toward the cavern exit. She did not have any exterior damages from the scene he could see. The cleric-elf was not to be seen anywhere. He pulled himself up and looked around.

"Anarrima!...Ana...where are you?"

He heard movement in the darker part of the cavern, then saw he come crawling from a crevice that she had hidden in. Tears streamed down her dirty face.
Brendon lost strength in his legs and fell to his knees. He held himself up with trembling arms.

"We shall die down here...this is our grave."

=================================================

Anarrima 60/60

"No...I...I shall not die in this hole! I will see the light again!"

Anarrima looked into her mind and tried to figure out what spells of healing she had available. She could not bring everyone to health, but she could save their lives from being lost for now. She also saw that Ruby was well enough to help her tend to the party. She wiped the tears from her eyes and began to chant as she walked to the center of the room, and ended her chant.

Anarrima casts: Power Sleep

Those affected: Rhianneth, Brendon, Elethias, Wyrd
(The Goddess refuses the blessing to include the Reaper, and he is passed over.)

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OOC>>>Here is the spell that was granted to me by the DM, and if he would be so kind, please offer the results of the spell upon the party.

Power Sleep

Level: 4
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: 20 ft
Duration: 1 hour
Area of Effect: 1 person/2 levels
Components: V,S,M
Saving Throw: N/A

When the cleric casts this spell, a number of persons can be caused to fall into a deep sleep for one hour. This sleep is so restful that it is equivalent to a full night's rest (i.e., 8 hours). Upon waking, any recipient of the spell who is a spell caster may memorise spells anew. Furthermore, all recipients heal 1 point of previously sustained damage as if they had rested a full night. Note that the cleric must designate the recipients of the spell, which may include him- or herself. Finally, note that the spell may be cast no more than once each 24 hours.

[ 03-06-2004, 12:24 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[Larry_OHF]

Anarrima 60/60

The Elven Cleric had a strong fear that the giants would return and find her defenseless against them, and alone...her and Ruby. Still, despite the cold shivers of her fear, she labored on and tried to bring everybody up to health as much as possible. Something had distracted them and made them go after another target, and this was a miraculous event that gave everyone a second chance at a life outside of the shadows of this cavernous hell.

Seeing everyone asleep that had been injured, except for the "dark one", she prepared another incantation to further the healing along.

Anarrima casts: Healing Circle (Level 5)

(All friends that are currently under sleep spell are healed for 1d8 + 1 points per caster level. I am level 12.).

That is the spell description. The DM may call the count as to how much is actually granted to each player.

[ 03-06-2004, 02:40 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[Larry_OHF]

Anarrima 70/60

After casting this spell, Anarrima now allowed the sleep to do it's thing, and while they slept, she knew that everyone was vulnerable until they awoke. Therefore, once again she began to chant, but in a differnt tone than one for a healing prayer.

Anarrima casts: Divine Power (Level 4)

Cleric Gains Bonus HP and STR raised to 18.

She walked over and picked up Brendon's bow and quiver that produced the neverending supply of arrows. She had been trained on the use of the bow for a few years. Now it was time to defend her friends from possible attack while they rested. She clenched her jaw and waited...listening and hoping that she would not need to protect them from anything. Her staff lay at her feet, ready to be grabbed and used if needed.

OOC>>>My turns have now ended until Ruby and Reaper post, or until the party awakes...whichever occurs first.

[ 03-06-2004, 02:58 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[Morgeruat]

Reaper

The elf's slumber was one he would never awaken from, The brutally injured warrior knew this, just as he knew that the elf would have been a danger to his new life. The elf maid had put the others into some sort of trance, "As if we have time for this" he thought to himself.

His booming voice quietly echoed untold agonies as his soul had been bent and twisted by some dark magics, magics he had come to embrace, and there was a subtle, well hidden lure in his voice, as if to say the pain and agony had been worth it, "You, Me, Rhianneth, we're healthy enough to survive, brendon would have been as well perhaps, but you've given the others a death sentence. I will be leaving this accursed realm and trying to destroy the Hunger and the Giants as well, if you wish to live you can come with me, or you can wait alone, in the dark, confining caves, and hope your friends awaken before the giants return and finish what they started with the other elf." As Ana's eyes begin to tear as she realises Elethias hasn't been breathing shallowly, he hasn't been breathing at all.

"I'll see you on the surface if you ever make it out of this hellpit." Quickly chanting an blasphemous prayer he touches his wounds and they begin to close, enough so that he can move without pain in every footstep,with his final threat hanging in the air he stands and leaves towards the surface, at a quick walk, conserving his strength for the battles he knows loom in front of him.

Reaper stopped after about fifty yards, and turned back to the cleric, "Ruby has something of mine." And while Ruby tried to hide behind Wyrds slumbering mass, the Fallen One held out his hand "Give me the blade I gave you when we met, it's time in your hands is at an end." Trembling and powerless Ruby did as she was told, fearing what this monster who had become her nightmare in the flesh would do if she resisted. with the blade in his possession he sheathed it to prevent it's attacks on him and, turning on his heel he walked away leaving the group to their collective fate.

OOC: Reaper is abandoning the party to their fate, and seeking out the surface realms on his own.

Also Ruby is in NYC visiting her ailing grandmother for the weekend, she won't have a chance to post until monday, as such feel free to post Larry.

[ 03-07-2004, 12:53 AM: Message edited by: Morgeruat ]

[Larry_OHF]

Anarrima 70/60

She watched the blotched human walk away and the air seemed to become fresher. She gazed long and hard at the crumbled form of the elven man Elethias and remembered his strength that she savored when all appeared lost. He had not let her falter behind. Now she could not return the favor. He was lost. This sickened the poor elf, because she knew that if she were a higher level of Cleric, she would have been able to do more than she was now. The tears frely flowed for her fallen campanion.

Not about to allow the tainted one's words to affect her, Anarrima continued to watch over the sleeping wounded and trust that her goddess would save her and her friends before the giants returned.

She still believed.

[Cyril Darkcloud]

For Ana and Ruby

Myron Epimetheus

Great is the stack of books near the little man and greater still the amount of notes he has scribbled on those little white napkins which serve so well for the marking down of thoughts. He has labored long for there is much to be studied here and much time was lost when his thinking had been interrupted. A shudder passes through his dead limbs at the memory of the intrusion within his mind, but it passes quickly for there is thinking left to do. Rising, the little man shambles across the wooden floor to prepare himself something warm to drink. He mutters as he moves, speaking first in one ancient set of syllables and then another ......

...... The building shakes as power of some kind surges through the area and the little man drops his mug. “This will not do,” he mutters as his warm beverage is lost between the floorboards, “no it simply will not do. Things like this cannot do for they distract from the work that needs to be done. And there is so much work to be done that something like this must not do.” His mutterings change in their cadence at a shifting in his thought. “Yes, of course! That young man who had come to put a stop to things such as this ...... But these things continue and they have not stopped and that simply will not do.” Again his mutterings change as he retrieves his smug from the floor and an oval of silver light shimmers near the little man. His feet shuffle through the oval and he appears elsewhere, in a place where there is no light and where those who should be working lie sleeping.

A startled female cries out in surprise as he arrives. A few muttered syllables flood the passage with light so that his dead eyes might perceive her more clearly. He shakes his head as he looks at her. “No. No, this simply will not do.”

[Larry_OHF]

Anarrima 70/60

"My Goddess protect us!"

With that, Anarrima let fly an arrow aimed at the apparent attacking undead Lich-like creature and realized that she did not have enough time to try and reload, so she dropped the bow, reached for the staff, and began chanting a prayer of protection from the retaliation spell blast that was sure to come.

OOC>>>Anarrima is still chanting for an unknown spell, and I end my turn.

[ 03-08-2004, 12:12 AM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[Cyril Darkcloud]

Myron Epimetheus

He shuffles forward, his feet a few inches off the crowd, muttering quietly as he does so. “Asleep he is, no this certainly will not do, not when so much is yet to be done.” Turning to elf whose speech is so distracting he says, “Quiet, girl. It is difficult to think when ancient syllables are pronounced out of key.” A blanket of silence envelopes the area muting the words first of her prayer and then of her exclamation of surprise. Still, however, the little man mutters to himself his own speech curiously unaffected now the only sound in the chamber. He approaches Brendon and pauses. “Foolish, boy! To be sleeping with so much work to do and so little time in which to do it. But you do seem exhausted and perhaps sleeping is the thing to do that one might not be exhausted in doing the things that need to be done. But there is so much to do it simply will not do for you to be sleeping here.” Turning once more to Ana, he says, “You at least have sense enough to keep your strength and stay awake.”

Reaching into his robes he pulls out a tattered book, one from which he has not read in quite some time. Lifeless eyes shine a moment and the dried skin of his face curls into a smile as he opens its yellowed pages. His frail voice once more changes pitch as he mutters in tongue dead long before even the Blue Boards had come to be. The light in the passage takes on a warm amber aspect and for a moment even the dampness of these tunnels is not felt. In the space of that moment space seems to twist upon itself and all grows very cold. Soon however the cold is gone and the group is elsewhere – upon a rocky hillside beneath gray skies whose gloom is a welcome sight after so long a time in the blackness of the Underforums.

[RevRuby]

ruby lays weeping. weeping for the pain of her lion still alseep, weeping for the joy of hte freshest air sha has breathed in what feels like a lifetime, weeping for the loss of one of the most powerful weapons she had the grace to hold. it was a strong sword, a sword of intelligence, a sword of unrivaled psionic powers. as much as it scared her, as much as she was afraid of it controlling her, she cherished it.

but it is gone, alls he has now is wyrd. her beloved. these people, human, elf, makes no difference. they are people. she wanted to run, to leave quickly and not turn back. damn the forums, let the hunger eat them. all she wanted was wyrd!

stroking the soft fur on his cheek she whispered her love to him. if ana is watching she will know ruby is speeding wyrd's recovery. almost looking like she is simply willing him back to health. her desperate look should tell ana that ruby is willing to exhaust herself completely simply to see her companion whole.

wyrds eye on the side ruby sits opens now. he watches with compassion for his disheartened mistress. he allows her to continue healing him. he cannot protect her so injured. he watches knowing that he would do the same if he could. give his all tos ee her healthy and happy. would that he had only kept her safe that night so many years ago. she would be wed with a handul of mentally squalling children hanging at her skirts. not here. not in danger.

[ 03-08-2004, 11:13 AM: Message edited by: RevRuby ]