[KQ] Big A(spire)rations

Ronin was away from the creature as soon as he registered that the blow from his flint had connected. It was a strategy that had, and would continue to keep him alive for the foreseeable future, and it kept his head on his shoulders after Roana rushed in with Krosis. Always an advantage. The horrific monster sizzled and gushed with blood at the combined efforts of himself and his companions, but then Roana...

Blue eyes widened as his fellow (former) captain continued to fight through a wound that looked just as grievous as it likely felt, but as a soldier he was practiced at reacting rather than standing around.

As she freed her blade he bullrushed the creature, intending to strike it off balance and knock it away from them. As well as that, he could hopefully position himself between the monster and Roana, so any strike intended for her would need to go through him first.

Koel

koel tryin' to take what's lost and broke and make it right Shit. Roana had been hit, and while it was hard to tell from this distance, it looked bad. Of course, then the stubborn woman had to go and press the attack while the best course of action would be for her to fall back and let the others cover her. Then again, Roana had never been one for taking the wisest course of action; even worse, it seemed that Ronin was throwing himself in the path of the monster to presumably try and prevent it from taking another swing at the wounded woman. This was going to get bad, fast. After directing his birds to redouble their efforts, the former Overseer nocked another arrow and fired, this time aiming for the creature’s uninjured soldier. A shot to the chest hadn’t worked—which didn’t exactly fill him with confidence about this thing going down easily—so he was going to move on to trying to cripple it, or at least make it harder for the beast to strike them. At the same time his mind was racing furiously to try and come up with some way to contain this threat, or at least corral its movements. Unfortunately Koel wasn’t a military genius. Luckily, he had someone far more skilled and suited to the task: Ashetta was a powerful mage and her abilities might serve them in good stead. "Ashe, can you, I don’t know, make a lightning cage around it or something? Anything to hobble it, really." While simply blasting it again might work, Koel was afraid what might happen if any of them took another blow.

All at once, there was an all-out battle at the base of that spire. Ashe grit her teeth and flipped her sword in her hand, and she felt both a surge of relief and fear as Ronin charged forward. If anything happened to him... she didn't have time to think on it, however. The beast was furious, thoroughly fried by her lightning and waylaid by the man that was like her brother. Ashe snarled and called forth that lightning from the well of power in her, plunging down, down, down into that bottomless dark. Were those.. birds attacking it? Then an arrow shot from somewhere behind her - Koel, thank gods - thudding into the grotesque creature's chest; it had little effect in slowing it. Ashe didn't want to think about where it came from or what it was - she just needed it dead. Nothing else mattered right then, she could think later. Then Roana appeared, and she didn't give two shits about whatever bad blood lay between them, she was just grateful that not only two of her best friends had appeared, but one of the most formidable warriors Ashe knew. Her appreciation was rapidly replaced by dread, however, when the spire beast lashed out in its fury, and blood sprayed from Roana's middle. "Fuck," Ashe muttered under her breath. The other woman, to her credit, kept fucking fighting. Insane or brave, maybe both, but Ashe was familiar with worse carnage than this. The monster, however... she had never in her life thought she'd face such a thing. Ashetta's heart was a heavy thud in her chest, but she kept her breathing even as she closed in. She heard Koel's call for a lightning cage, and she remembered when they'd trained together, when she'd caged him in similarly. She didn't reply, didn't waste her breath on words. Just as Ronin put himself between their wounded companion and the beast, Ashe was there. She had been diving down into her magic, and she pulled on it now with a hard yank from within. Lightning surged to live from within her very chest, racing down both of her arms. Reckoning was electrified as she swung the curved sword down with a snarl on her lips. She aimed to slash the razor sharp blade across the thing's throat - partially behead it if she was lucky. "Eat my sparks, you piece of shit," she hissed as she followed through with a lightning strike from her other hand towards it's gaping, fang-filled maw. She didn't pause to see if either blow landed before she swiftly moved beyond it - behind it to flank it while her friends dealt with it in front. Then, Ashe followed Koel's advice: she launched her lightning forward. It snarled forward, multiplying and crackling around in almost a net to encompass the beast, over it, around it, pressing in and in and in to hedge it's movements. Ronin ashetta it's live or die my way.

CREATURE START HIT POINTS: 354 Ashetta: {HIT} - 55 DMG Ronin: {HIT} - 23 DMG Koel: {MISS} Roana: {HIT} - 33 DMG CREATURE END HIT POINTS: 243 The monster did little more than jerk and twitch as Krosis was yanked from its shoulder, a high keening rising from its throat, though the thick stench of Roana's blood kept its attention very, very well. Such was its focus that it did not even attempt to block the second blow from the claymore, and the blade carved a matching wound in its other shoulder, effectively rendering its claws useless. The force of the hit made it stagger towards the ground and, combined with Ronin barrelling it out of the way, prevented Koel's arrow from hitting. (Such is the irony of teamwork). Disoriented, Koel's birds would also flutter about the monster but would be unable to find anywhere to peck or flap their wings at. And those that did make contact with any of the viscous, black blood would let out cries and chirps of alarm, retreating back to Koel for further instruction. The reason for their caution would soon become clear; the monster was positively gushing blood, and no small amount of it had smeared onto Ronin's coat. As he backed away he would find it eating through the fabric as though it was nothing, burning fiercely at the skin beneath. But still its focus remained on Roana. Hungry. Twisting its leathery head to and fro, it scented the free flow of crimson from the lacerations it had made in her, seething forward with a speed to rival that of any Ascended. Another echoing shriek tore from its throat, and it lunged with a maw full of jagged, needle-like teeth... And found Ronin instead. Its teeth would fasten hard around his right shoulder, puncturing deep into flesh and muscle, but before it could rear back (and take most of Ronin with it), Ashetta's strike with Reckoning hit home across the back of its neck. Its jaws opened so it could all but screech in the assassin's face, its teeth dripping with bright, bright red. Ronin would certainly not live through much more of this, and the wound left would look sickly, tinged with greenish yellow... Finally the monster was driven back, by both the lightning strike and the attempt at an electric cage, but there was no telling how long it would be contained... POST ORDER 1. Ronin 2. Ashetta 3. Roana 4. Koel Remember: You may run at any time. whatever doesn't kill me better run

He hadn't expected it to be so damned fast.

Ronin barely had time to register that the sleeve of his coat was fizzing and corroding (and that his arm beneath hurt - a lot) when the thing came at him with a speed that figuratively and literally took his breath away. He blocked the monster's path to Roana and had just enough sense to brace for impact, not that it made a blind bit of difference. Ronin's scream was cut off by a mix of shock and the air leaving his lungs, the ex-captain grappling fruitlessly with the creature that was trying to tear a large and important chunk out of him.

Ashetta came to his rescue not a moment too soon. Ronin rolled away, failed to rise to his feet on his first attempt and just about managed it on the second. His right arm hung limp at his side and he realised belatedly just how blurred his vision was, along with a not-so-great tightness in his chest. Pressing his free hand to his shoulder to try and stem the bleeding, he backed up a few paces towards Roana.

"Run..." he managed, fighting to raise his voice as best he could. He was no fool - he and Roana could take a beating, and this thing had ruined them. Ashe might be able to cage it, but they didn't know how long that would be for. And if it escaped... it was better not to think about it.

"We need to run," he repeated, though damn it - he wouldn't leave without them. They all left, or they all stayed.

Ashe registered that her lightning had torn the beast’s jaws away from Ronin when it spun and shrieked at her, and the sight of her best friend’s - no, her brother’s blood dripping from its teeth had her blood turning to ice in her veins. Her eyes were wide on the sightless creature’s face, but she grit her teeth in a snarl and pressed her lightning further in. In and in and in, she pressed in that cage. Electricity was not solid, she knew. It could break through if it could withstand the electrocution. With her wildly racing heart, the assassin snapped her eyes away from the creature as it bled from where she’d slashed through its neck. She looked at Ronin, at Roana, and there was a terrifying twist in her gut. Run. They had to run. ”Koel, get them out of here!” she called to her friend. One or both of them would need his support to get away, and she wasn’t exactly the best candidate in supporting anyone’s weight for a speedy getaway. Ashe returned her attention to the beast and growled, and she raised her sword to the sky. Lightning crackled down with a deafening crack! and hit the blade. Without waiting even a second, she angled her blade for the spire beast, sending that powerful bolt into the cage. She hoped to stun it, paralyze it for even a moment to keep it within that cage just a little bit longer. ”I’ll hold it, just fucking run!” She knew she couldn’t kill it on her own - that thing had hit both former captains with speed that rivaled a bloodfiend, and the way its blood boiled and steamed.. And hells, where it had bitten Ronin looked deeply infected within seconds. Ashe trembled as she built upon her cage, layering it as deeply as she could as she pressed it further in on the creature. It was fear that assaulted her senses, fear and rage. She didn’t want to think about what was going to happen when her cage stopped holding it. Ashe finally flicked her blazing eyes up to Koel, to Roana. It was Ronin whos eyes she met, and she held his gaze. ”I’m right behind you,” she promised. Ashe refocused her attention on her power, on what held the creature. She carefully side-stepped out of its reach, around it so that she faced both it and the spire again. ”I’ll be back for you,” she growled to that ravenous thing, and she fucking meant it. It wouldn’t be until Ashe knew that her friends were gone, were moving away, that she would go after them. She was shaking - from fear or exhaustion she wasn’t sure - but she would not drop that cage until they had run.. and only then would she flee after them. ashetta it's live or die my way.

Roana swore when Ronin was bitten. He might not have noticed then burning of his flesh and sleeve, but she sure did. That was a smell that couldn't be mistaken or forgotten. She sheathed her swords, then grabbed the sleeve of his shirt at the shoulder and quickly tore it off, casting it aside. At least whatever acid there wouldn't continue to eat away at his arm. The force she needed to do so though made the wound in her side twist and her vision blurred for a moment with pain. Roana stumbled a bit, pressing her arm to her side. Ronin's side could be easily saved with a tourniquet and a bandage but wounds to the abdoment were a total bitch.

But she couldn't die here. Her children needed her. This battle needed to be finished another day.

"Fall back!" She shouted, her captain's orders voice coming in handy here. Her eyes went between Ronin and Ashetta briefly. "She'll catch up." Roana said to him. She knew from her investigation that Ashetta was no average woman. She would be fine as they made their retreat. "Let's go!" If she had to, she would drag Ronin with as they made a hastey getaway.

koel tryin' to take what's lost and broke and make it right The birds apparently couldn’t find purchase and he grimaced. While he didn’t think they were doing much—indeed, how could they against a beast that seemed so implacable—at least they’d been making a difference. Now, however, with the lightning crackling in the air and the blood (which the birds were avoiding) spraying from the monster, they were having trouble finding purchase. While he still wasn’t sure exactly how this worked, he sent out a call. Find help. Please, a healer, another fighter, something anything that might help us beat this thing, or at least get away. He wasn’t sure if they even understood orders like that, but he had to try. Koel agreed they needed to run. Unfortunately, he agred with @ashetta’s assessment that their companions wouldn’t have much luck doing so in their injured state: Ronin and Roana were still close to the monster and looked in pretty terrible shape. So the eagle decided it was time for him to step in. If he could buy them some time to put some distance between themselves and the creature, he could shift and fly away. Assuming, of course, he didn’t get hurt himself; however, that was a chance he was ready and willing to take. Shouting over at the two warriors, Koel hoped they’d listen to him. "Go! I’ll buy you some time." Then, he moved. Breaking into as fast a run as he could manage, he attempted to interpose himself between the monster and his friends. At the same time, he rubbed the bracelet on his wrist, took a deep a breath, shifted in head, and finally screeched as loudly as he could. It exploded out of him in a veritable wall of sound. In the past, this had managed to disorient and even harm people; while he didn’t even know if the monster had hearing in the same way his friends did, maybe it would at least refocus the attention on Koel. It wasn’t exactly designed to be used as a club, everything he could do to hobble the beast was worth a shot. While maybe he could’ve tried to support one of the two people who was injured, he would’ve had to choose between them, and he wasn’t willing to do that. This way, they’d both have the chance to escape and he could maybe do some more damage to the monster, which would hopefully prevent it from pursuing them. If the other fighters were successfully able to disengage and the monster didn’t get to him, he would shift (leaving behind the bow and arrows) and make his own escape.

CREATURE START HIT POINTS: 243 {CREATURE ATTEMPTS TO ESCAPE: FAIL} Ashetta: {HIT} - 55 DMG CREATURE END HIT POINTS: 188 Today, luck won out over hunger. The creature thrashed at the cage of electricity, screeching and howling its anger and trying to use its considerable strength to break out of the prison. And try it did - but Ashetta's lightning was too much. The shriek it let out was weaker than some of its others, then utterly drowned out by the answering call from Koel. Their combined efforts succeeded in allowing the group, injured and otherwise, to escape the Spire and the danger it crawled with. The monster would not follow. It would stay to guard its territory and lick its wounds, until next time... KEY QUEST: FAILED OUTCOMES: Roana: Grievously injured, requires immediate medical attention. Ronin: Grievously injured and poisoned. Requires immediate medical attention. Next thread must be with a healer. Ashetta: Temporarily deafened by Koel's call, given her close proximity. Otherwise unharmed. Koel: Unharmed, lost his weapons. RESULTS AND BOONS: Unfortunately, as the monster still lives you will not receive credit for the KQ. It's not all bad though! The group learns/obtains the following: The next time this creature appears in a KQ, the group will get first refusal on participation. Ashetta's last hit on the creature caused its leathery skin to sizzle, crack and open in places. Beneath, she will notice that its insides are markedly... inorganic. The group will leave with the knowledge that the creature seems particularly susceptible to damage that will burn it. One of the creature's fangs is still embedded in Ronin's shoulder. Its removal may give an opportunity for further research and even the development of an antivenom. whatever doesn't kill me better run