"Enough!" roars Steve!, lashing out with a foot to catch the monster's next assault, deflecting it just barely. With just that second to act he rolls away from ground zero of the attack, headed for behind the goblin warrior. As he scampers he summons another goblin to lend aid to the first, whispering to himself "safety in numbers. I hope." 1D20=8 -2 for poison=6. The insect spins to catch sight of Steve! 1d20=5. It keen senses find him quickly, but its bloodlust causes it to not notice another portal opening. Carelessly it walks right into it and the magics burn away one of its legs. Surprised by the scorching wound from nowhere, it lurches back only to be confronted by now two pests. Goblin attack 1D20=13+1-8=6 Goblin2 Attack 1D20=14+1-8=7 The first goblin sees the bug expose its underbelly as it lurches back from the pain of contacting the mystical portal. Despite its small size and strength, it leaps into the fray and jabs its sword in between the giant insect's plates of armor. Foul fluids come streaming out as the insect lets out a bloodcurdling shriek. Witnessing the success of his goblin brother, the newly summoned goblin follows suit and attacks the behemoth at its most vulnerable spot. A second sword pierces through the bug's shell causing even more damage than the first. (Steve!=3 Bug=4, Steve! has two goblins)
Thag weighs roughly sixteen or so tons, and that weight digs her left shoulder into the dirt floor of the pit as he grinds his heel gleefully. "So what if I sting you like a bee?" Gladiola asks sweetly, matching his smile. In her free hand her hammer once again bursts into flames and she plows it straight through his hideous face! 1D20=18-4+2=16 1d20=4 Thag reels back as the flaming hammer hits him squarely between the eyes. The assault is made even worse by the proximity of his nose to his now burning face as his nostrils are burned by both fire and the noxious fumes of burning ogre flesh. Wailing in agony, he dances around the pit until colliding with the wall. The flames are finally extinguished, but his face and eyes are now severely disfigured. (Gladiola=4 Ogre=3)
Meanwhile Steve! enjoys his first successful attack on the killer cockroach. He wastes no time, however, as he knows he must capitalize on this moment while he can. He pulls his bow from his back, relieved to see that the repeated damage to his body hasn't damaged his weapon. The magical arrow appears his hand and, as his goblin minions continue to strike at the insect, he channels his inner-Zeus into the missile, finally firing the lightening arrow at what appears to be an unprotected underbelly. 1D20=12+2=14 (poison still in effect?) yes, and -3 now, bringing your attack to 11 Just as the electric arrow is about to pierce the bug's soft underbelly, it's massive claw comes down and deflects the attack. Arcs of electricity cascade over the pincer, but don't penetrate the thick armor. 1d20=17 Feeling the sting of the tiny menace, the insect leaps away from the goblin attacker. It quickly spins and brings its giant pincer to bear. The claw catches the nimble foe around the midsection and snaps him in half with little effort. The legless top half briefly attempts to pull itself along the ground and out of harm’s way, but it soon speared through by one of the insect's sharp legs. The giant abomination then turns towards Steve! and lets out a hiss. Your remaining goblin could still hit with a natural 20 if you care to try and roll one. He gets to attack every "turn" just like you. (Steve!=3 Bug=4, Steve! has one goblin) Remaining goblin attack 1D20=2. That's what you meant about a natural 20, right? Super.
Disoriented and overwhelmed with pain, Thag attempts to regain his bearings. His eyes now scorched he attempts to make out the clever warrior who has eluded his wrath. Perception check 1d20-8=-6...dude Making out a blurry shape, he charges head first and brings his club crashing into the foe 1d20=18-2=16 Bug's roll=16 Unfortunately for Thag, the opponent was not the brave warrior, but instead the giant insectoid. The rage filled strike from his club smashes into its shell, breaking it open. The bug reels under the unexpected attack, toppling over on its side as fluids leak out of its broken carapace. Gladiola can apply her attack without fear of retribution. It will just be blocked if she loses to Thag's roll of 16. Incredulous to the good fortune that has suddenly blessed them, Gladiola calls to her partner (pleased, and a little surprised, to find him still alive) "Steve! Dog pile on the crappy monsters!!!" She climbs to her feet, snapping her left shoulder back into its socket, and with an enthusiastic war cry she rushes forward. As she runs toward the prone beasts she pulls forth white, sparkly energy, all full-to-overflowing with holy goodness, and imbues her entire person with the holy power. She's tired of this back and forth and plans to end this here and now! Holy Smite attack 1D20=4-3=1. embarrassing really... The heavens shake with thunder as divine power swirls around Gladiola. Sparks of radiant energy fly from her as she pulls her mighty hammer down. As it impacts, the whole chamber shakes with power. Gladiola open her eyes to see not a once fearsome ogre now only pieces, but instead a great stone wall, now with a massive crater. Inexperienced with the full power of the gods, it appears she overshoots the target by a great deal.
The toppling bug surprises Steve! as well. Still with some fight left in him, he leaps away from the falling giant, it’s dangerous limbs flailing as it descends. Steve can attack without fear of retribution as well. Bug's roll is 16 as previous described. Steve! also benefits from Thag's attack and has 4 victory points now. In response to Gladiola's invitation Steve! also rushes to action, eager to lay a bonus smackdown on this danged dirty bug. However the many legs and arms of the insect prove too dangerous to approach, all thrashy as it is, so he stands to the side, searching for some tiny hole in its hard shell in which his lightning bolt could find a home. "Goblin, feel free to press your attack!" he yells as he scans for targets. Finally seeing something promising he lets it fly, fingers crossed on one hand. "I have a bad feeling about this..." Lightening Weapon attack 1D20+2-4 (for poison)=2, goblin attack 1D20=9-8=1 Heeding his master's words, the goblin the goblin lunges at the grounded insect with unexpected speed. So unexpected in fact, that Steve! doesn't calculate for it. It seems that they both spied the same promising target, but didn't account for the physics of two objects not being able to occupy the same space at the same time. Well not two alive objects anyway. Steve!'s lightning arrow strikes the goblin squarely in the back. Arcs of energy shoot out of the little fighter like a electric pincushion right before he explodes. And so Steve! continues on his path of follower executions.
Gladiola comes to in blackness. As she tries to move around she realizes that she's under many, many stones that previously made up the wall around the pit. She pushes and pushes until they give way, allowing her exposure to the light again, and she shakes the stone dust from her hair and face. She looks at the crater in the wall and wonders how much more of a hit would it take to push through to the other side, and what would they find there? An interesting idea for later, but right now she returns her attention to the monster-fest at the center of the ring. Climbing the rest of the way out of the boulder pile, rubbing aching muscles and the most recent of scrapes, she takes stock of their current situation. Thag the ogre is slowly standing up, his impaired vision slowing his attacks but by no means stopping them. The huge insect seems stuck on its broken back of a shell, but is still thrashing wildly with everything it has, making it extremely difficult to approach. Steve! stands off to the side, an expression of immense guilt on his face for some reason she'll have to ask him about later, and she's flying into stone walls. "Awesome." she grins.
Clambering down the rubble pile she decides to give her Holy Smite another try. "After all," she reasons, "practice makes perfect." She reaches inside for the white, sparkly energy of holy goodness and lets it overflow her again; Once the power is thumping through her with each heartbeat she heads toward Thag again, moving from a jog to a run and finally to a blinding white meteor of attack! The wind rushing through her hair, the euphoric energy, all of this builds to a crescendo and she leaps at the ogre, bringing her hammer down again! As her weapon hits she roars "I have had enough of YOU!!!" Holy Smite attack 1D20=19-3=16!!! 1d20=16 This time she brings her hammer true to her aim. Thag catches sight of the incoming assault wreathed in holy light, and moves his club around to block. Even in his wounded state, his battle instincts prove to be intact as the weapon comes directly between him and the thundering hammer. For an instant his heart relaxes as he feels the satisfaction of a well placed tactical maneuver. However it is only for an instant, as his club explodes into a thousand pieces. With no loss of momentum the hammer breaks through the ogre's defenses and comes crashing down on the top of his skull. His giant head can't withstand the holy power and bursts like an overripe melon. Gladiola comes fluttering down and lands on one knee behind the now lifeless body. He heart pounding and barely able to catch her breath, she rises without even turning to gaze at her foe. Just as the tower of flesh begins to fall, she steps to the side narrowly avoiding the falling corpse. It lands with a thunderous whump! that shakes the ground. (Victory Gladiola!)
Steve! can't believe he's destroyed yet another of his followers. He knows not whether it’s the poison or the melancholy of constant failure, but just generally he is bummed. Given that his foe is at least momentarily incapacitated he takes a moment to wallow in self-pity, and flops down in the dusts to assume the proper wallowing position. "I don't even know if this is what I wanted to do with my life!" he grumbles, trying to achieve super-wallowing. As he sits and mutters he looks up and, from this ground position, he sees through the hole in the bug's shell a shiny, thumping thing. Glistening and vibrant. Blue lines running in and out of it. With a start Steve! realizes that he's staring at the damned beasts beating heart, and this knowledge inspires him. He takes his bow once more, lying down on his side to best see the target, and from the most uncomfortable position any archer has ever achieved he fires one single, poison-laden arrow directly at his foes' now-beating heart, hoping that he can use that beating to his own advantage! Poison Strike attack 1D20=17-4 (or 5? poison)=13 (or maybe 12) 1d20=5 Time slows as the arrow streaks towards its target. Steve! can feel the beating of his own heart matching the rhythm of the giant insect's. Narrowly passing by one flailing limb the arrow grows nearer to its mark. "Just a little more...", Steve! wills the shaft past the bug's array of legs. Just as he sees the great insect begin to shift, it is too late. The arrow strikes deep into the monster's heart sending death directly into its system. The creature winces at the initial pain from the strike at a particularly vulnerable spot, hissing and shrieking. While thoughts in its head rush towards finding the attacker and dealing out retribution, it finds that suddenly it can no longer move its limbs. Poison coursing through its system, all it can do is topple to its side and watch the last bits of life stream from its body.
"Perhaps you really are the ones from the prophecy.", a familiar voice calls out form the blackness above the pit. "Here, drink these." Two flasks of purple fluid come falling from the dark and land on the dirt floor. "We don't have time for conventional healing, so this will have to do. We've got work to do after all don't we?" A single torch lights above in what now can be seen to be a viewing area for the pit. Another torch lights and Gladiola can make out the familiar face of the old man from the laboratory.
What will you do?
From the pit's high wall a rope ladder flops over the side, hanging down to the dirt floor. Both heroes pick up the flasks from the ground, unstopping them and sniffing the contents. Sure enough, it's the same noxious stuff the scientist had used on Gladiola's previous wounds (although they smell a hint of something else -- mint? Possibly Fennel?), and they apply it appropriately, relieved to have their various bumps, bruises, gashes and gaping wounds sealing themselves as if they'd never happened. The internal aches and pains still call out with each movement, but this they can look past, and so with a glance and a shrug between each other they stride to the hanging ladder and climb up. When they reach the top they see that the pit is more of a coliseum, surrounded by row upon row of seats looking down at the show. "About time!" gripes the scientist as he begins to make his way away from the ladder, around the rim of the pit, quickly followed by "Now, next we'll need to determine exactly where the Barons are located at this time. You'll need to do some tracking for that, ranger. Once we know where they are you, my warrior friend, will need to challenge Barlocentus. He's the smallest of the Barons, so we'll need to find him first -- did I say that before? I'm sure I did. You defeat him while the ranger works his magics to...-" He has stopped and realizes that he stands alone. Behind him, beside the hanging ladder, Steve! and Gladiola sit in the first row of seats with their arms crossed over their chests and an expression of both mistrust and ill-will on their faces. "What are you doing sitting there? There are things you must do!"
"I'm sorry, but just when did we become a great, big, happy family?" asks Gladiola, standing as the old man draws near again. "Last I remember you were the douchebag who was jabbing us with needles and dropping us into pits full of 10-foot tall bugs and nasty-ass ogres!" At this point she is towering over him, imposing in both her comparative size and fiery rage. She grabs him by the lapels of his white coat and begins to push his back over the edge of the pit's wall, threatening to drop him onto his head.
Steve! comes to stand by Gladiola, leaning over the edge wall to bring his face close to the old man. "I think what my easily-angered, and recently much-pummeled, friend is trying to ask is: why should we listen to you about anything?"
CONTINUED NEXT WEEK IN CHAPTER EIGHT!
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