[Game Thread] Chapter 6c: A Shadow Over Feid

[SpatulaOdoom]

Originally Posted by Humility

”I've been fighting The Enemy since before your mother and father ever met, and I at least know not to let my personal feelings get in the way.

Humility must be one of those ironic names.
”Well apparently in all that time you didn't learn much. This. What's happening here, is the opposite of focusing on the task at hand. You're distracting yourself and others. There are fiends out there we need to take care of and people out there they're doing god knows what to. We have allies at the temple we need to take pressure off of.” It was part of a chain that led up to freeing Mirik to take on the biggest threat. ”Stop chatting, focus, and get moving. Please.”

[Makenshi]

Didina raises an eyebrow at the bickering going on between the others, but it is the large soldier who echoes Morgan's sentiments. "We can exchange bad jokes and tear-jerking stories when this is over."

Once that situation was sorted and the group moved on, they found themselves clearing through a surprisingly large number of Fiends both in and out of the alleyway (although never straying far to avoid detection). The Fiends were moving individually or in pairs save for a single large group of imps. Most of them fell to a combination of Humility's blades or Rhys' arrows, which pierced clean through more than a few Fiends due to the power behind the bow, although Eloise was able to nail one of the imps with a dagger between the eyes as well. It all seemed very odd to them, at least until Humility explained, recognising what the Fiends were doing, having seen it many times before. They were spreading out and hunting, most likely for people to take back with them when the Ahekans and the Children would manage to drive them away. If anything, the prospect of enslavement for the innocent inhabitants of the commons was enough for Rhys to take a more advanced position along with Humility. Despite his size and armour, he was proving to be remarkably stealthy. Although he became increasingly hampered as the alley narrowed he kept the bow out so that he could target anything trying to escape and/or that managed to spot them from above.

Eventually, they neared the square Niafem spoke of, with Humility darting ahead of Rhys to check it out. Unfortunately, the news was far from good when she returned at haste. The soldiers that Niafem mentioned were either dead or unconscious, along with a number of civilians of all shapes, sizes and ages, most likely having been collected for the Fiends to return with. There was only a small group guarding over them and they seemed confident enough that they weren't paying much attention when Humility took a look, however the reason for that was that there was a Dracolich among them, standing directly between them and the captives. Along with him, there were four Erinyeses, two male and two female, while the sixth of the group looked very similar to them, but more beautiful, without armour and with a rapier at her hip. She appeared to be doing something to the captives, perhaps being responsible for their unconscious state?

OOC Apologise for the shoddy map, but the sheer number of times I did and re-did this were getting ridiculous and I thought you'd just rather the fight started. Anyway, you guys currently aren't on it, being a little further back and around a corner. The Erinyes are in green and numbered 1-4, the Dracolich is the big white circle and the mysterious winged lady is red. The lighter green dots all at the back are the captives and the dirty gold/yellow dots are dead bodies (mostly soldiers), which are difficult terrain unless you can fly. The reddish rectangular blocks are houses and the smaller reddish rectangles strewn around are makeshift waist-high barriers made up mostly from overturned market stalls.

~MTWC

[SpatulaOdoom]

While Rhys and Humility finish giving their report Eloise slips up to rejoin the rest of the group.
”Morgan, what are we looking at?”
”I'm thinking it's four Erinyes and one Brachina. The skeletal dragon is almost certainly a dracolich.
The standard Erinyes is not a massive threat to us. A flaming bow, and entangleing rope being their signature fighting style. They've got a few minor spell abilities, charms and such, the kicker being that they have a continuous true seeing effect so illusions and such will be useless on them.
A normal Brachina is a little more dangerous. Think of them as a powerful succubus. Not much of a threat physically, but they have a number of ways to mess with your head. They've got a poisonous touch that will drain your willpower and cloud your mind, probably what is keeping those people down. Finally they call also steal vitality with a vampiric touch.
The dracolich will be the big danger. From the description I'm going to guess he's somewhere in the range of mature adulthood for a dragon, and he'll have all the intelligence and abilities of a living dragon, as well as some undead abilities that mean you most definitely do not want to get up close and personal. Middling sorcery, incredible strength and toughness, natural weaponry, resistance to magic, that dangerous dragon's breath. Hmm, actually it probably won't be able to stand up to quite as much punishment as a With it's nice hefty Con score.living dragon.” Morgan thinks for a moment. ”Hard but brittle so to speak. I might be able to deal it a hefty blow if I get lucky with a disintegrate. That tends to work well against undead.”
Eloise checks her sacred pistol. She's reasonably assured Lady will be equally effective against either of them. Between her skills, it's enchantments, and the ammunition available it should bite quite deeply into either fiends or undead.
”Demons or devils? And how to go about this then? Could we try to draw some away with the Distressed Damsel?”
”Devils.” To Eloise that meant she'd use silver bullets. ”No Damsel. Even if I didn't think they were canny enough there might be re-enforcements nearby. Humility? Do you have much ability with ranged weaponry? I'm thinking we hole up in one of the buildings facing the square and pelt them with arrows, spells, bullets, and such. Force the ex-dragon to dig it's way in to get at us. Charging in headlong doesn't seem like a winning proposition and between the dragon and Erinyes sneaking up is unlikely.
Thoughts?”

[Acathala]

"That could work, yes. I would suggest you and I focus fire the dracolich with disintegrate. If one of us gets "lucky", the other can cast something else. Alternatively, I can cast webs, solid fogs to hinder, and if we're very lucky, sucker them into teleporting. I can also cast Giant Vermin, whilst I concede spiders are not going to do much, they are another target and can entangle with a thrown web."

[DiabolicalGenius]

After hearing slightly patronising comeback, Humility felt the immediate urge to retort and object, explaining why she had been in laying laying her concerns about Nallaul on the table right then before any fighting began so that everyone would know where they stood, but she restrained herself and reconsidering. Perhaps it was just an excuse after all. Her nerves were stretched terribly taut by the current circumstances and being here while the Lone Lord was in the vicinity. Even asserting her superior experience to Morgan was rather unlike her as well, a hint of chagrin finally settling in as she thought back to how it sounded. True, hearing him talk to her like she was an amateur after all the battles she had fought was galling, but that didn't change the fact that she didn't absolutely have to address Nallaul's presence right there and then. Most likely she had just wanted something to distract her, and the presence of a member of the race who she was currently filled with outrage and enmity towards was a convenient outlet. Sighing to herself, she didn't reply not quite sure what she would say. Actions spoke louder then words, she she just silently went about her business without communicating any more than necessary. After scouting out the square they were heading towards and reporting back on what she had seen, Humility began preparing herself for the imminent confrontation.

She deftly removed the small, crystal spheres from the pommels of her blades with a click and secreted them into her belt pouch, her hand coming back out with a different pair of crystals. A different pair of crystals the same size as the last, but these cut from dark, gleaming amethyst in the shape of a skull. She clicked those on where the previous ones used to be and brandished her weapons at the ready, all while listening to Morgan talk. She glanced over as he questioned her and replied via the mindlink.

[I can throw a dagger well enough if I have to, but I won't be doing any real damage unless I get close. Besides, there's a big risk with that plan. They have those prisoners there, and even if they would prefer to take them back to Cardia in chains, if we irritate them enough they won't hesitate to use them against us. The moment we show ourselves to be a real there, they might just kill one of the prisoners and threaten to slaughter the rest unless we surrender and join them in chains. No, saving the prisoners should come first. I do have an idea of my own....]

She paused for a moment, keeping a straight face and seemingly ordering her thoughts before continuing.

[Actually, this is not my first encounter with this particular Dracolich. It's name is Aussir Ternock, one of the Lone Lord's close retainers. I fought against him many years ago when I was very young, ignorant and stupid girl who thought she could handle anything by herself. We fought and I lost and was captured. I didn't go quietly, but I had been worn down by the minions who came first and I would have been no match even if I had been at full strength. It didn't need to use it's breath, my blade and daggers struggled to do much damage and it's physical attacks left me paralysed. I did manage to leave it a nice scar upon it's socket when I stabbed it in the eye, for all the good it did me..... Personal feelings aside, I believe Ternock will remember me well and will be very interested if I happen to reveal myself to him here. If I stand up in plain sight and call him out, I'm sure he'll come after me personally. Though it's likely he'll leave the lesser fiends behind to guard the prisoners, if only because it would be a hassle to round them up all over again. Plus having easily taken me once all those years ago, he will likely believe me no threat to him. If I then withdraw and lead him away to a more enclosed area, the rest of you will be free to wait until he is out of sight and then launch a surprise attack while the she-devils are surprised and confused over their commander's sudden disappearance, wipe them out as quickly as possible and free the prisoners, before coming after me so that we can all give our full attention on destroying the thing without having to worry about the prisoners or having to hold of both it and the Erinyes at the same time. If it all goes well that is...]

She sighs a little wearily as she offers up her plan of attack, struggling between the need to act as though she knows what she is talking about and convince them that this is a good course of action, while at the same time needing to not sound to sure of herself and ignoring the chance of failure. It was a difficult balance to keep and often left her sounding ambivalent and lacking in conviction or motivation, though she was anything but indifferent. She finally adds in a self-disparaging tone of mind.

[I won't say I can take on the Dracolich all by myself. But I believe I can at least keep his attention while surviving for perhaps a few minutes. Judging by your abilities, you should be able to handle the likes of Erinyes and Brachina in that time and be over to support me before I succumb, though don't dawdle by any means. I also have good reason to believe that the Dracolich will want me alive if it can manage it, as a trophy for it's master......]

Her voice turns bitter at that last part and trails off, with her not volunteering any more details on her own. Though her current comrades-in-arms might be entitled to wonder what grounds she had to be convinced that Invidia's forces might want her in particular as a prisoner.

[Well, if so it would be holding back, which makes distracting it and keeping it occupied much easier. It may also remember the kind of person I was back then. Even if it's been a hundred years for me, an undead dragon might not see that as that long of a time. So it might even think I'm still that reckless and arrogant child who really would just challenge it all by myself, and not even consider that there might be others waiting for it to leave. If it thinks I haven't changed at all since we last met, I might be able to give it a bit of a shock....]

She rounds off her proposal before turning to look directly at Morgan after having been gazing absently in the direction of the square up until then.

[That's what I think we should do. There is a fair amount of speculation involved, but if it doesn't work you can just as easily take shelter inside and go with the other plan instead. As the one responsible for this party, the final decision is yours. No matter what, I'll assist however I'm able. What do you think?]

She stared at him through gleaming red lenses, her expression unreadable. She seems to have a thought then and belatedly adds.

[Oh. Whatever we decide, I'd appreciate any beneficial enchantments I can get. Can any of you cast a spell of Haste? That would be best, though I'll take anything that will increase my survivability and attack power. I know it's a long shot, but would any of you happen to have a method to prevent paralysis? That's going to be the biggest hurdle when fighting that thing up close. A spell to protect against necromantic magic would be nice too, though I won't be hoping for too much without a priest of some kind around. I already have a spell of flight put on me before I came, so that makes dealing with the flyers a little easier.]

She thinks practically. Since they are the one's choosing the time of the battle, making every preparation possible is only natural. When fighting back in the World Between Worlds, she routinely accepted protective enchantments of any casters present.

 

She removes the Lesser Crystals of Return from her swords and replaces them with Lesser Truedeath Crystals.

[SpatulaOdoom]

When Humility proposes her plan Eloise looks skeptical but Morgan takes her suggestion at face value and mulls it over. Assuming she has a reasonably solid grasp of her capabilities versus this Aussir it could work.
”OK. We'll call that a potential. Some things we should cover first.
Do you consider yourself a good enough actor to fool the fiends and Aussir? I know Erinyes and the Brachina are pretty canny, and would have a good chance of seeing through that sort of lure.

Second. If things don't go to plan, do you have any way to out-run or escape Aussir?

I have haste, but I don't currently have any spells that could protect you from paralysis, or even help you resist it.”
He'd already spread most of his defensive spells out between himself, Eloise, and Rhys.
”I've got a potion of Heroism still.”
”Better than nothing. If it works like a normal lich it will affect you every time it strikes you. It will also have the standard dragon's aura of supernatural fear. Do you think you could resist repeated exposure?”
Her plan did seem to run an inordinate chance of her being captured by the dracolich.

Actually it would be good to ask more about Aussir since she had some experience with the thing.
”Do you know what type of breath weapon it possesses? Do you have any idea how old it was before death, or if it has any talents or skills beyond that of a normal dragon, or dracolich? What is the most powerful spell you've witnessed it cast?”

[DiabolicalGenius]

Humility shakes her head slightly in response to Morgan's question about the dragon's abilities.

[I'm afraid it is just as I said, 'It didn't need to use it's breath'. I was already worn down and the Dracolich wanted me alive, so it simply beat me into submission until I succumbed to the paralysis. Dragon's breath is notoriously life threatening after all. Since I was defeated and captured there, I haven't encountered it since. I heard it's name, but it didn't deign to explain anything about itself and it's powers. I'm sorry Morgan Wainraith, but if I had such useful information you wouldn't have had to ask me, I would have shared it immediately. It's only natural, right?]

She really wished she could explain everything for him, but life simply wasn't that convenient. Being physically beaten until she were broken and bloody was bad enough, only to paralysed and dragged off to Invidia following that. If she had seen much more of it's powers, she'd likely be dead already.

[As for my acting....well I doubt I can truly fool them so easily. I know how cunning and duplicitous devils such as Erinyes and Pleasure Devils can be, and dragons are at least as clever. But as intelligent and powerful as they can be, they are equally famous for their ego and pride. I'm not relying on them being stupid to make this work, so much as betting on Aussir Ternock's arrogance. I'm wagering that he'll be so sure that he can easily defeat and capture me, that he'll be careless. Particularly if I provoke and insult him, his pride might demand he take me down then and there even if it might be a diversion. I'll admit, it's a gamble. But so what? The biggest risk is that he doesn't rise to the bait and we have to fight both him and the she-devils, which is what we're looking at now regardless. The only difference is that we might not have the element of surprise any more. A loss to be sure, but the potential gain if it works is returned many times over. The chance for you to deal with the lesser fiends and save the prisoners without having to deal with the Dracolich at the same time, and then being able to focus our combined power on defeating it afterwards, all greatly increases the odds of success and the survival of both us and the prisoners. More than worth putting just my own life at risk. I'm fine with risking death to keep those people from ever having to find out what Hell looks like. Ah, but don't worry. I have no plans of dying here today. I'm still far from done....]

It was true, Humility wasn't very concerned for her own life and she even thought it might be worth it if only she died so that those people wouldn't have to be chained. But she was doing all this for a reason. She was still atoning for her sins and failures, and as she just said she was very far from done. A hard resolve filled her at the thought, and she gritted her teeth and clenched the hilts of her swords hard with conviction before continuing.

[As for paralysis, I was actually more concerned about the rest of you when the time comes to face the Dracolich. I shouldn't have any problems though. So long as I'm wearing My Preeeecioussssssthis ring no magic can restrain me. It's saved my neck more than a few times. I wish I'd had it back then when I fought that bastard before. I'll still take that potion if you're offering though. If Whisper was here I wouldn't need it, but she just had to be off somewhere else when Zilira contacted The Sword and there wasn't time to go looking. Well, she'll probably be joining the fight soon enough, whether here or elsewhere. I should be able to manage against it's intimidating presence probably. I've spent many years disciplining my body and mind, and I should at least be able to resist any panic it provokes. Not only that, I know various maneuvers of the Diamond Mind discipline that will help. So long as I focus my mind hard enough and with the proper discipline, any effect can be overcome. Should things go wrong, I reasonably confident that I can escape, though there are no guarantees of course. Still, I know several maneuvers of the Shadow Hand discipline that will help with that, including one that lets me slip through the shadows in an instant to move a short distance away. As long as I can escape it's line of sight and get into a shadowy area, I can hide my presence well enough. When it comes down to it, I don't plan to fight that thing head on at all in the first place. Once it takes the bait and pursues, I'll use hit and run tactics. I'll move through alleys and enclosed areas that it's too big to enter and stay on the move, only turning and attacking if it tries to return without me. I have items that make me faster, and with the spell of Haste on top of that it should be difficult for it to catch me.....]

She rambles on, but still struggles between trying to convince Morgan she is capable of doing what she say she is her aversion to aggrandising herself in any way. Starting to run out of steam, she sighs and looks over at the wizard.

[True, this is quite a risky idea. I'm relying very heavily on the idea that you can defeat the leftovers and catch up before that thing gets it claws on me. But risks occasionally have to be taken, and while I'm no longer a fool who thinks she can slay a dragon with one strike, I'm sure enough that I can keep it busy while you help these people. Sure enough to make it worth trying. I'm not asking you to believe in me, but remember that The Sword in the Dark sent me to aid you against the Fiends. He would not have done so if he didn't believe I was capable of doing at least this much, and I do not want to betray his trust. If you thought that you could save a larger number of people by risking only your own life, would you decide that it was too great a risk to attempt?]

She finally stops there, leaving that last question hanging in the air. She simply stares at him impassively through the glasses, waiting for his decision.

 

Spat, for one Frightful Presence isn't supernatural and you only have to save against it once to be immune for 24 hours. Right?

Also, I didn't forget that I had a Ring of Freedom of Movement in my last post and didn't have to worry about paralysis. Really. You believe me, right?

[SpatulaOdoom]

Originally Posted by humility

”I'm sorry Morgan Wainraith, but if I had such useful information you wouldn't have had to ask me, I would have shared it immediately. It's only natural, right?”

”No need to apologize, and call me Morgan. Without knowing how much lore you've studied on dragons or the undead I have no way of knowing if you knew which details might give us important information, so I ask to make sure everything's been covered.”
Which, as she continues to speak, appears to be true. She'd use the dragon's ego against it so that even if it realized she was trying to play it it would give chase anyway. She had protection against the paralysis and felt reasonably assured of resisting the fear and avoiding the claws. That left the breath weapon, and without knowing what type it was there wasn't much they could do to protect against it.

Originally Posted by Humility

”If you thought that you could save a larger number of people by risking only your own life, would you decide that it was too great a risk to attempt?”

”I've done as much before and I'll do it again. Humility, if you want the job it's yours, I'm just trying to make sure we've done all we can to give you all the tools and strategies you need to succeed and get out alive. For example, I've spent a fair amount of time in dragon form. They fly fast, really fast, fast enough there isn't much that can outpace them short of teleportation, but they can't corner for @#^&. It might be something you can use. For now, you're on team Wainraith, and nobody on team Wainraith is expendable. Understand?”
He glances at Nallaul, wondering what the drow would think of such a concept.

Having said his bit it seemed they had a plan of attack. Eloise tosses over her bottle of Heroism flashing a private throught to the Child in the Dark ”It's not you. He's a worrier and a schemer. He'll overthink what to have for dinner.” Morgan hands over another potion bottle of syrupy golden liquid. ”Nerv, also known as +2 alchemical bonus to saves vs fearliquid courage. I've only got two bottles so...” It takes a moment to decide between Eloise and Rhys, but the later is more likely to have to go toe to toe with the dragon so he gets the second bottle. Morgan is going to need to hit up Barakis for some more alchemical bits and bobs the way he is going through them.

”So we know how we're going to go at them, now to decide how we're getting out with a few dozen unconscious people. It's too many to teleport with my one dimension door and I have no way of neutralizing all that poison... Aha. Nallaul, you can use Giant Vermin. What do you think of having the spiders wrap the unconscious and drag the lot of them back to the temple while we provide cover?
Didina, can you notify Alnei or Niafem of our find?”

 

When I was talking about repeated exposure I was talking about the paralysis. I just rolled the fear in with the rest (spells too I guess).
For some strange reason I don't seem to remember seeing anything about a ring... Odd... I'll trust you this time but I'm watching you and your shifty drow/demon eyes.

EDIT: Hey Makenshi, did Eloise pick up any pay, or am I splitting that out of what Morgan got earlier?

[Acathala]

Nallaul makes no comment on the nobody is expendable except "I believe Zilira wishes me to jump into any oncoming spells or missiles aimed at you." It's not clear if the mage believes that, but he certainly has no intentions of sacrificing himself for Morgan, nor does he believe his words that no one is expendable yet. It may not even be practical or feasible to try and save everyone. If Nallaul knew what a trope was, he would be an advocater of Combat Pragmatism.
On Morgan's suggestion, he shakes his head. "Bad idea. The spiders are still spiders, albeit huge ones. They're liable to start munching on the hostages. I am not up to date on surfacer values, but I'm assuming you would consider that inappropriate."

[SpatulaOdoom]

The corner of Morgan's mouth quirks up.
"So what you're telling me is that the Arachnomancer has no ability to communicate with, influence, or control spiders. Good to know.
Now, anybody have any suggestions as to how we get a couple dozen unconscious people to the temple?"
Morgan tries to recall if he's seen any wagons on their route there.

[Acathala]

"I did not say that." Nallaul says with slight irritation. "I can control spiders much like a cleric, however huge spiders are currently too powerful for me to control. Plus they only understand the most basic of commands. What you propose is too much for them."

[DiabolicalGenius]

”No need to apologize, and call me Morgan."

Humility cocked her head with her straight face and raised a brow slightly.

["Is that how it is? I'm still not quite sure how Freeborn names work, which name is more important or if and when it's rude or over-familiar to use just one of them without permission. But if you say so Morgan Wain....Morgan. I'll use that from now on."]

She still doesn't seem to grasp the exact significance of using the name Morgan over the name Wainraith. Whether one of them was his birth name, his Family or Clan name, or the name given to him for a rite of passage such as the Swordright, she still couldn't make sense of it. The way her people did it seemed so much more logical compared to the Freeborn and all their confusing ways and customs. Still, she didn't really need to understand it. If he wanted her to use the first name, then that's what she would do.

She paid little attention to the debate on how to extract the prisoners after she caught the potion Eloise tossed her and put it aside for the moment until the time came. At the thought the woman directed to her, she simply returned an eloquent shrug, which made it clear that it didn't bother her either way. She wasn't even sure if this attention to detail and over-thinking things was typical of how Freeborn did things or if it was just something peculiar to Morgan. This was the first time she was fighting in a group with their kind after all. She had been prepared to be confused and having to make do from before she came, so this much didn't trouble her. She simply let the seer and the drow have their discussion, and instead focused on her preparations for the battle to come.

The drow Child cleared her mind, brandished her blades in a stance of readiness that helped to prime her awareness, and then refocused. She visualised in her mind the maneuvers and techniques, the exact motions and thought required to carry them out. She fixed them in her mind so that she could execute any of them the instant she thought of it, until they would be performed instinctively. This kind of mental discipline and imagery was essential to initiate any maneuver of the Sublime Way and was often the hardest part to teach to fresh students who thought it was just about swinging a weapon. It could vary depending on one's training method, but at her level she could refresh her preparedness and the maneuvers she was able to use, with just a moment of concentration. She had focused on those that would increase her survivability and reaction time, along with being able to inflict a bit of damage if she got the opportunity. Fortunately she had mastered enough maneuvers to be able to adapt to different battle situations, so she felt reasonably prepared for what was to come.

Glancing over at the wizards, she raised an eyebrow and sent an inquiring thought.

["You still haven't come up with something? Aren't you supposed to be the great wizard and seer Morgan? Can't you just ask for divine guidance or something to get the answer?"]

Her attitude towards the man had seemed to relax a little since he agreed to allow her plan to go ahead, though with her deadpan delivery it was hard to tell if she was making fun of him or not. It may just be she tried to deflate other's egos as a matter of course. She then gave another shrug and added.

["Well, whatever you plan to do you should decide quickly. The longer we wait, the better the chance the situation will change. Possibly for the worst. I really don't want to have to deal with any reinforcements that might show up. There are approximately twenty-four prisoners I could count, so getting them all out might be troublesome if you don't have a suitable spell or item that could move that many people at once. You might have take the risk of focusing all your attention on killing the Erinyes and Bracchina first and hope none of the prisoners get hurt in the process. All I can think of is stuffing someone into a Bag of Holding or the like, since you can survive in there for about ten minutes before it gets hard to breath. Don't ask me how I knew that. Also, there was one time when a party I was with was cornered by a large group of Fiends and the mage cast a spell, had us all climb up this rope that led into a hiding place in-between dimensions. Don't either of you have such a spell? Well, it probably can't hold more than twenty people any how."]

She sighed at the troublesome details that came up one after the other.

["For now you guys should also look for some kind of cover where you won't be seen. If this works, I'm planning to lead that Dracolich back the way we just came from. I don't know your Freeborn cities all that well so if I'm going to keep him at bay I need to be in territory I've already covered. More importantly, we've already cleared the Fiends out up to here, while if I run off elsewhere in the city I might run into more. It tough enough trying to not to get caught by an angry undead dragon without running straight into a gang of Barbazu or something. That would be a very nasty surprise. Well, so long as I do my job right and royally piss it off, then it should fly right over her at full speed without taking it's glowing eyes off of me, so you should all be fine if you're under cover."]

She didn't know that much about spells and clever tricks so she was fully prepared to leave that business to the two wizards. Her speciality was fighting Fiends, which was right what they were about to do. In this situation, she was in her element without needing to brag about it. It was simply what she was most experienced and practised with and she well equipped to handle it.

 

Humility used the Adaptive Style feat to switch out her maneuvers as a full-round action. It's all on my sheet.

[SpatulaOdoom]

Originally Posted by Nallaul

"I can control spiders much like a cleric, however huge spiders are currently too powerful for me to control. Plus they only understand the most basic of commands. What you propose is too much for them."

Morgan's smirk develops further. "Ah, so what you're saying then is you can't control any 'useful' spiders, and that wrap that creature in webs like you do with other things, don't bite it, and drag it over there are too complex." Nallaul can't help but feel that he's being teased.

Originally Posted by Humility

["Is that how it is? I'm still not quite sure how Freeborn names work, which name is more important or if and when it's rude or over-familiar to use just one of them without permission."]

”The short version is that it varies by region and culture. Personally I agree with the late great Natasha Kerensky, who always said “slavish adherence to formal ritual is proof that one has nothing better to think about.”” And they did have other things to worry about. Besides, if it came time to warn him someone was pointing a crossbow at his back and someone needed to warn him, he'd rather wind up a living Morgan than a dead Archmage Morgan Wainraith of Halva.

Originally Posted by Humility

["You still haven't come up with something? Aren't you supposed to be the great wizard and seer Morgan? Can't you just ask for divine guidance or something to get the answer?"]

”I have, I am (though I'm not so sure about great, good maybe, well I'm all right), and I could, but I won't unless absolutely necessary.”
Morgan says in a distracted off-hand matter as he peers up and down the street, looking for a stableyard. A hay wagon or the like would be perfect.
”But I need to find a nice hefty wagon, horse or oxen optional. Did you see any in the market square? Remind me to tell you about a "great" wizard I knew once. As for divine intervention, most of my godly buddies are busy right now. Besides bothering Zil or the others when we don't actually need the help makes us lazy and a drain on finite resources. Let's not do that hmm. Good to see you've found your funny bone though.”
Hopefully it was as it seemed and she was beginning to relax now that she knew Morgan actually valued the insight of one of the Children, and wasn't going to simply push ahead with whatever plan he had just because he was unofficially in charge. Funny how that worked. He rarely saw himself as the leadership type and yet he kept finding himself in that role.

[Acathala]

It takes Nallaul a moment to realise that Morgan is probably teasing him. Mainly because there were so few people whom would try it. Mostly Tel'shar, though Xufaer had been known to indulge, particularly during their affair. He chooses not to reply further, instead mentally debating with himself whether or not to take spider form. Ultimately he decides to stay drow, the overwhelming factor being the ability to use his metamagic rod of quicken to cast true strike.
Looking at Humility, he isn't entirely sure what to make of the bellicose child in the dark. She was certainly full of......hubris. Yet he can'r rhink of a drow whom would do what she is going to. For now he marks her as a potential problem.

[Makenshi]

Originally Posted by Morgan

"Now, anybody have any suggestions as to how we get a couple dozen unconscious people to the temple?"

Didina fiddles with the jewellery attached to her horns as she replies. "I think we'll have to focus on defeating these six, or at least getting them away, before we can safely get these people away. My only means of getting away is Dimension Door and while I can use it as often as I have the energy for it, I'd have to use it ten times to get people there and back so-" She suddenly stops and holds up a hand to halt any potential continuation, obviously talking to someone else. "Alnei will send a few of his children and some soldiers to pick them up when we've dealt with the dragon and his ilk, so we don't need to worry about that, just getting through this alive." The latter was delivered in Didina's usual noble poise, albeit a little deadpan, as she inspects her nails.

Rhys, as always, looks a little baffled by the noblewoman (although amused by the banter of the others), but nods in agreement. "We should split up, taking different buildings. These aren't exactly the sturdiest and we're up against a dragon, so he might be able to knock holes in it or even knock it down quite easily." The soldier gives a brief inspection of the buildings along with Morgan and picks out the two on either side of the alleyway. "If Nallaul and I go to the first floor of that one-" He gestures to the building to the right (for them) of the alleyway. "-and you three go to the ground floor of the other-" He points again. "Then we'll be spread out across in both directions. We'll have to be careful at the windows though, so if you're not particularly stealthy I'd give them a wide berth until the fighting starts, after that just sling your magic-y stuff at them, or whatever it is you mage types do." He waves his hand vaguely in what looks like an exaggerated imitation of a mage's somatic gesture.

OOC Unless anyone has something major to add, the next update will start the 'encounter' with Humility trying to goad Aussir into action. I won't really be able to update that until I see exactly how she intends to goad him though.

~MTWC