Death of Eldthor

[Tahlvin]

While battling the identical wizards in Xanderghul's hall, Eldthor suddenly feels something drain from him. It's not that he's weaker, it's just that the extra inspiration he feels when Dothan sings, ebbs away. Turning, he notices Dothan has stopped singing, and instead, she sits down on the floor, stares at the gigantic peacock, drool dripping from the corner of her mouth and a vacant look in her eyes. A thought quickly flits through Eldthor's mind: "Where is Hal when we need him? Probably off praying still, silly paladin!"

Suddenly, four bursts of flame shoot at Eldthor from seemingly nowhere! He dodges one of the rays, but the other three find their mark and leave him a bit winded, but pissed off. Looking around, he sees one of the wizards from before has moved to attack him, and several others have also appeared close by from out of nowhere.

[Note: These three hits did a total of 45 points of damage, dropping Eldthor down to 56 hit points.]

Surveying the battlefield, Eldthor sees Illian stun one of the wizards still facing him, Kay and Dwyn. He also sees Sam hurry to Dothan's side, say a quick prayer, and help Dothan to her feet; thankfully, the life seems to be back in Dothan's eyes, so it seems Sam was able to counteract whatever had affected Dottie. Kay then finishes off the wizards that Illian had attacked.

Turning his attention back to his attackers, Eldthor notches two arrows at once [Manyshot feat], takes quick aim at the wizard closest to him, and looses. With practiced efficiency, he quickly draws and looses three more arrows at him [full attack + Rapid Shot feat + haste]. The first three arrows find their mark, but the last two miss by quite a bit. "What the heck is wrong with me?" Eldthor thinks to himself. "Those bursts of flame must have hurt me more than I thought! You better get your act together, the group is counting on you, since Hal's not here yet!"

From the corner of his eye, he sees Dwyn take down the last of the wizards on the east side of the room. "Good, now they can shift over here and help with these three." But as soon as that thought finishes, he sees Sam drop to the floor, seemingly unconscious, hopefully not dead! What on earth happened to her?!

Distracted with worry for Sam, Eldthor is again taken by surprise by a volley of four more bursts of flames. Again, he is able to dodge one of them, but the rest find their mark, one with particular affect. For a brief instant, Eldthor feels an excruciating, searing burst of pain as he feels his flesh begin to burn from his bones. He barely has time for one last thought to flit through his mind before his mind is unable to focus on anything besides that pain, and before merciful unconsciousness takes away all thought, pain and worries: "Kay, I'm sorry!"

[Note: Thanks to his pitiful touch AC, and a critical hit by the GM, Eldthor took 84 points of damage, dropping him to -28 hit points. Yep, he's dead. ]

[DMDarcs]

Man, you guys are really making me feel guilty about killing two of you.

[Tahlvin]

Frankly, I'm surprised it hasn't happened before now. Our primary asset is our numbers. Otherwise, we're probably under-powered for the foes we'll be facing from here on out, lower in level than we should be for a typical party going through this adventure path, and with fewer magic items per capita than a typical party.

[FlameBlade]

for this post alone, I think DMDarcs should give out bonus xp.

Just saying as a spectator.

[Phoebe]

It was beautiful even though we hope it is reversible.

[Zen]

[Kay's thought processes leading up to the death of her husband.]

Dothan is singing, Illian is by her side, Kailiana Elvirsonn feels the power of that combination as she chooses between the spell and the blade…

‘The blade’ she thinks as she springs into action.

Kay flies in to attack the giant peacock, draws Tempest from her sheath, and wills a portion of her innate magical electricity to imbue the blade with electrical forces feeling it crackle to life in her hand. She strikes true, then shifts off to the side.

‘The gaze of that thing is unsettling,’ she shudders as she watches Eldthor, Kailiana’s husband of just over three months, but who she’d been courting, subtly, sort of… for the past three years since he helped her after she ran away from a life of crime and was nearly forced into being a prostitute in Riddleport, cast a spell.

‘Most likely Cat’s Grace, one of his favorites,” Kay speculates.

El positions himself, then Dwyn casts something as well and comes to the other side of the room, closer to Dothan and Illian, all of them north of where she ended up after her attack. She’s moving faster than most of her companions now since she’s flying, and since Dothan cast Haste on her.

Suddenly, Illian reacts as if he’s being attacked, then a flame strike comes out of nowhere. She dodges the first but the second strikes home. Then immediately after the flame strike, a telltale red bead of a fireball flies in from the south and burst into flame. Kay quickly reacts and avoids the blast, as does Illian, Sam avoids the lions share of the burst, but Dothan takes the brunt of the blow.

‘Damn… That flame strike wasn’t a lot of damage, but it’s more than a “welcome to the neighborhood” pat on the back, that’s for sure.’ Kay muses. ‘But that fireball had to hurt!’ She shakes her head to clear her thoughts.

Just then, six identical men who look like mages of some sort appear. They’re dressed in fine, noble clothing.

‘So… the damned peacock appears to be real… but there are still illusory attacks occuring, that’s for sure. Illian reacted like he was being attacked by something just a moment before I got hit by that flame strike… but these mages… whatever type they are… are more important to deal with... So… mirror images, maybe?’

Anna casts a spell at one of them. ‘It sounded like Dispel Magic to me, if I recall.’

He reels from it, but it doesn’t take him out.

‘I wonder if that means she didn’t overpower the wizard casting the original spell and he’s an illusion or if she was successful and it just didn’t have anything to do? I’m not versed enough in the ways of powerful magics…’

Illian attacks one of the mages and strikes true.

‘Well, Illian hit him and he’s still here, so I can get flanking position on him! I’ll Spring Attack!’

Kay flies in to flank the mage Illian attacked. She can still feel her magic pulsing in Tempest's blade as her trusty rapier finds purchase in the mage’s flesh, her skill at finding vulnerable spots working exceptionally and the blade bursting with electrical menace.

[On that particular attack, the +2D6 sneak attack did 11 points of damage.]

‘YES! Got him! That did some damage at least.’

Eldthor fires at the mage next to the one she and Illian attacked. All four of his arrows strike true.

‘Oh… El’s shooting the other one… Nice shooting, as usual, sweetie! What the…? He’s still up, too? So… they’re both… REAL? No images? But they’re identical? What in the…’ Kay is perplexed.

‘Dwyn hit him too… these guys take a lot of damage…’ Now she’s getting worried.

The one she attacked steps back from Illian to cast a flame strike at her old friend.

‘Oh, CRAP! I did it again! I should have stayed closer and activated my pliant gloves, so he couldn’t cast without giving me a chance to attack him! Damn, I left Illian open for that one… I’ve GOT to get better at that! DAMN!’ She beats herself up over her lack of tactical expertise.

The one Eldthor and Dwyn attacked does the same to Dwyn.

‘Well, I don’t think I could have stopped the one on Dwyn… At least they both missed…’

The third mage on her side of the room casts a spell and disappears.

‘Now where did that one go… DOTTY? What happened? Where’s her song?’

Dothan’s song abruptly stops and she’s standing there looking confused and vacant. Like there’s nobody home, basically.

‘Oh, CRAP! Dotty?’

Kay doesn’t have time to worry about her best friend, though, since almost immediately after Dothan’s song stops, four bursts of flame blast toward Eldthor on the other side of the room as the mage who disappeared from this side appears over there. Three of them strike true and she can tell her husband’s in trouble.

‘There are too many mages over there and he just took one hell of a hit… Damn, I need to finish these two and get over there to protect him!’

Anna calls out “Sam, cast Heal on Dothan!”

‘At least one of us has her head about her,’ Kay appreciates Anna’s calm under pressure.

Illian strikes out at the mage again, with renewed vigor. His blades strike with abandon, the last one dealing a vicious blow, leaving the mage dazed.

Samaidriel, the Exalted cleric of Desna, better known as “Sam”, casts her spell on Dothan and the effect is immediate.

Anna calls out again, “One hell of a spell, sister!” encouraging her companion.

‘I’ve always wondered just how close those two are…’ Kay muses with a slight grin, happy her best friend is back in the fight as Dothan’s battle song begins again.

But Dothan also begins a new song. She sings, “Within the circle of my music, my song will help you see through illusions assailing you.’

[Artistic license… Sorry Dotty, but the dry, academic description you actually gave just doesn’t fit in the story…]

Kay looks around and realizes that the only one inside Dothan’s ‘circle of music’ is Sam. “We’re all TO FAR FROM THE BARD!”

Hearing this, Dothan shrugs and walks closer to the where Illian, Dwyn, and Kay are fighting.

‘That’s my girl!’ Kay stifles a laugh. ‘Alright…’ Kay wonders, ‘if I can use her magic… I’m going to see if these mages are all real.’ Kailiana actively tries to disbelieve in the identical mages… they’re still there.

‘The bastards…’ she sighs, ‘Should I go over to help El now? But I’d be alone over there… what good could I do? He’d be so pissed if I went and got myself killed by going off on my own like that… Well, no… he’d be devastated… then, if they managed to use one of those scrolls we just found, THEN he’d be pissed!’

Her resolve hardened, she sets herself to the task at hand. ‘This one dies, now!’

She activates her pliant gloves, extending her reach to ten feet, steps closer to the mage, putting herself in flanking position once again, and lays into the mage with all her might. The first strike: the crackling blade finds purchase and she once again hits a vulnerable spot, doing extra damage, and within Dothan’s ‘circle of music’, a sonic burst also assails the mage, adding to the blow. The mage winces in pain. The second strike: she twists and strikes again, not as expertly, but the blow is enough, the mage begins to fall, but not before Kay begins her third strike, missing cleanly and nearly losing her balance in the process, since there is no body to strike anymore, as the mage falls to the floor.

Eldthor fires more arrows, but only two hit home.

‘He’s outnumbered over there, damn it!’

Then Dwyn strikes her opponent and he falls.

‘Yes! Things are looking up…” Kay hopes.

Just as that thought occurs, Sam reacts as if she’s being attacked by something, much the same way Illian did earlier. She recoils in fear, then falls to the ground. She doesn’t appear to be breathing.

Illian screams, “SAM!!!!!!”

Eldthor yells, “NO!”

The rest of us are stunned, but not for long. Four more flame strikes lash out toward Eldthor, and one of them hits with devastating impact.
Kailiana watches her husband’s flesh burning from the impact of the spell. His head, instinctively, turns toward her and their eyes meet briefly before the light fades from within him and she understands his last message, “Kay, I’m sorry!”

“NOOOOOOO!” she screams in torment.

Electricity begins to arc through her hair and she can feel it nearly overtaking her: the power of her ancestors… her ancestral gift of magic sings for revenge, but she holds it in control.

‘NO! If I rush off half-cocked and get myself killed, what good does that do you, my love? Plus, we have the magic to save you and Sam both, if only the rest of us survive this fight! I have to think, not react… but those bastards need to die! You’ve no need to be sorry, my love! I’m sorry! I failed to protect you… but this is NOT the end of our story! I won't let that be true! I CAN'T let that be true! We've too much left to do, to much life left to live! To much love left...’

A tear runs down her cheek as she moves to attack the next opponent. 'Maybe I will give in a to the rage just a little bit? Are those mages holding metal? Maybe it's time to use Tempest Form? I'll have to admit, it would feel good to let loose and strike them with some elemental might..."

[That last part IS a question for DMDarcs, BTW... are the mages holding any metal?]

[El Jefe]

Somewhere in a far off plane of existence, a mountain sized human and a belligerent dwarf raise a glass in tribute.

[Phoebe]

Yay for people not being dead!

[Tahlvin]

As the pain begins to fade away, Eldthor feels himself laying on something soft, eyes closed. When he opens his eyes, there is a bright light, and it takes his eyes a few moments to adjust. As his eyes acclimate to the bright light, he finds himself staring at a sunny sky through a canopy of leaves. Sitting up on his bed of moss, he finds himself in a forest; not a dense, dark forest, but an open, airy, bright forest. He is in a small clearing just to the side of a forest road. When he stands up, that's when he first notices: his hands are not burned! Looking over his hands, arms, and legs, he realizes he is unmarred at all.

As he begins to make his way down the forest road, something strikes him as very familiar about this area. That crooked tree by that turn in the road... The small brook that runs along the road for a small stretch. Then it hits him: this is the forest road he used to wander along when he was a small boy. And this is the forest he used to escape to, spending all of his free time, learning to live from the land. Although, the forest looks much different than he remembered it: much brighter, cheerier, as if all of the colors have been enhanced to their fullest, and as though all shadows have been cast out.

As he walks, he listens to the chirping of the birds, the croaking of the frogs, the sound of the insects. He breaths deep breaths of fresh forest air. There seems to be no aches or pains, no worries. It seems like... Nirvana.

After what seems to be a long time, but may have actually been only a few minutes (time seems weird in this place), a mist begins to rise. It's a bright mist, not a dark, obscuring mist, but it does mute some of the sounds and colors of the surrounding forest. He suddenly hears a familiar voice, soft and in the distance, as if calling from afar... "El, My love! We'll bring you back soon... Don't leave me!"

Recognizing the voice, Eldthor turns to look for it, but it seems to be coming from everywhere at once. Eldthor runs down the forest road, looking from side to side, searching. The mist becomes heavier, the light and colors become dimmer, the surrounding forest noise becomes softer. He hears another, familiar voice, the voice of Sam, chanting some words. The words are comforting, calling to Eldthor, urging him forward. As the mist becomes so thick that he can hardly see, Eldthor still runs headlong through the forest along the road. Suddenly, he feels like he stepped off a cliff, or missed a step, and feels a falling sensation. It lasts a brief moment, although it's hard to tell exactly how long, and then he sees purple butterflies floating around him, supporting him. And suddenly...

He is standing on solid ground. As the butterflies fade from view, he opens his eyes to find Kay's tear-streaked face staring at him pensively. But only for an instant, then it seems to radiate joy, as she shouts, "You're alive, my love!"

[Zen]

[OOC: And, if I'm not wrong about the level requirements, in one more level Sam will be able to cast this on her own, given the appropriate amount of diamond dust... (Or a really expensive diamond...) Which is a really good reason to KEEP HER ALIVE IN THE FUTURE! (After all, she can cast Raise Dead now, right? That costs a lot less in terms of diamonds... Actually, Raise Dead + 2 Restoration spells costs 4000 gp less than Resurrection... But it takes a week to get back to full strength, since you can only cast Restoration to restore a negative level once per week. Raise Dead + Greater Restoration costs 1000 gp less, but it doesn't put you at full HP and has the same level requirements as Resurrection...)

Needless to say, I think we're all glad that Sam is at a high enough level to cast these type of spells... In the future, let's endeavor to keep her among the living!]

After Kay collapses in Eldthor's arms, clutching his cloak in her fists and crying against the darkleaf armor on his chest, she gets herself under control and begins to breath normally again, largely thanks to the steady heartbeat beneath her husband's armor and his warm, loving embrace. Once the tears have ebbed, she looks up to him with a grin.

"You're the sensible, careful one. I'm the one you're supposed to be worried about dying in combat, damn it! If we didn't have those scrolls... Well... I suppose Sam can cast... Oh... Damn... Sam died too... Oh! Desna Bless those scrolls! El! If we didn't have at least one of those we would have lost both of you! Well... I guess we could have used those damned medallions to preserve your bodies until we could afford a spell, but... I'm not sure how many clerics that powerful there are around... Sam is an Exalted cleric of Desna and a powerful one at that... I'm so glad you're still with me!"

She finally stops rambling and holds Eldthor close again, but she seems to have gotten herself under control.

At least I waited until after the combat to fall apart...

[Phoebe]

Tahlvin I think this is your best one, just beautiful!!!

[Zen]