The wood elf let out a chuckle at Gil’s comeback, but continued watching the towers with absolute focus. It wasn’t until Ardur gave the order for them to retreat back to the trees that he broke line of sight and ran quickly back to the safety of the woods. As there was no need to check for tracks at this point, Lanithil hastily ascended one of the trees and vanished inside the leaves. From there he silently watched over the others. He paid careful attention to where each person hid making sure he had clear views around them to spot any possible ambush.
After two hours of waiting, the reinforcements from the main army finally arrived, but noticeably without the other Skor twin. As the scouting party moved to join up with the forward troops, only those who had been paying attention would notice Lanithil jumping out of a tree different from the one had climbed. The ranger had been moving undetected through the treetops to make sure he had no blind spots, and also to kill time.
With no specific task given to him by Ardur, Lanithil took position next to the archers in the main force. It was then he heard the voice. More accurately, he felt the voice. It shook in the elf’s mind as he nocked an arrow in his bow and searched in vain for its origin. He could tell he was not alone as those around him acted in a similar manner. Whatever this was, it was truly more powerful than they had imagined.
When Ardur gave the order to ready weapons, Lanithil and the other archers all drew their bow strings back in almost perfect unison. Though they all aimed at the city gates, he could see some were having difficulty steadying their hand. The sound from such a mass of metal striking fear to their hearts.
”Steady yourselves, brothers. Lanithil said hoping to calm his fellow archers down. “We must not waste a single arrow on panic. Do not fire until the enemy is in sight.”
Just as the words left his lips, the “champion” the voice spoke of emerged from the portcullis. As the monster let put a roar, Lanithil yelled as best he could, ”RELEASE!” A volley of arrows whizzed through the air. Some stuck in the flesh of the beast, while most simply bounced off the thick black plate.
Now joined by Valena and Percival of the Luna Falcons, Lanithil and the archers drew their shot once more. As the beast began its charge, the ranger once more shouted to his allies. ”Aim for the joints! Try to slow its advance!” the arrows continued flying at the beast this time aimed at it's knees and ankles. Even if they too were armored, they had to rely on basic tactics until a weakness could be found.
Aradeyr fluttered about the ornate bed chamber wistfully arranging grand bouquets of violet flowers about the room. Every few moments her eyes would fall to her mother, a gentle glowing figure resting soundly in the center of a guilded bed, atop a mound of lavish pillows and coverings. "Osirihii?" her angelic voice called to her, its melody bouncing merrily throughout the grand room, a soft echo repeating her question.
"Mother" She echoed back as the blankets fell about her, revealing her swollen belly. Aradeyr hurried to her side to help her sit up comfortably all the way. "Not long now" she cooed. Aradeyr had already fallen in love with the child, merely from the wait to meet them. Her mother was about to speak once again when she was interrupted by her father entering hastily, a rolled scroll tucked into his robes. "Your brother has already gone ahead" he reassured her, offering the scroll with no other explanation.
Aradeyr scanned the note briefly before leaving a warm kiss on her mother's forehead. "I understand." she whispered with a nod. Standing abruptly and heading for the door, she gave a disheartened look behind her as she crossed the threshold. Her entire family had returned home in preparation for the new child. Her father had reluctantly chosen to stay behind in any upcoming missions, but she was glad in that at least. He may like to forget it but he was still aging after all. "Hopefully we can return in time" she mused aloud to herself, fully aware there was little chance.
She returned to her chambers at once, where she gathered her weapons before changing into her armor. It had been less than a full month since she'd worn it last, and though she was quite dismayed she would miss her new sibling's birth, she was glad to be changing into it again. Her golden satchel lay ready with her usual necessities so she wasted little time packing and made her way to the stables, securing the famous blue cloak around her as she did. There she called forth her swiftest steed and found it had already been prepared for her departure, her brothers doing she surmised. Retrieving the scroll once more she gave it a final look, confirming her route before setting off to join the main group of soldiers trailing behind the front lines.
Hours slipped by and she found herself gaining on the main forces. Slowing her stride to speak to a passing soldier so they could brief her, she quickly took note of the situation and pressed forward. Apparently, a second group had gone ahead to aid the first only a few minutes before she'd stopped to speak to them. If she hurried she could probably catch up not long after they arrived.
Less than an hour passed this time, and as she neared she could make out a lone rider tying up her horse in the distance before disappearing into the forest. She continued on horseback and the company of 40 or so men flickered into view. A few moments before they seemed to be talking amongst themselves but now, all of their backs faced her, obviously fixated on the city before them. From afar her eyes began to take in a gruesome sight quickly unfolding before her. What was once nondescript dots littering her view was taking on the form of countless mangled bodies strewn across the area. The scent of charred flesh quickly washed about her, a dry cough forcing its way from her chest in reaction to the sudden change in fragrance. She was about to call to her comrades when suddenly they broke off into groups, forming a hasty battleline. As they dissipated she could finally see what they had been transfixed by. As she approached everyone grew larger in view but directly in front of a set disfigured gates a shadow was growing disproportionately to the rest. A monstrous roar erupted from where it once stood, true abomination indeed had charged directly towards their lines scattering them in several directions. At the sight of archers she steered her horse in their direction, releasing his reigns. He was battle tested and she trusted the fine animal with her life. On instinct, she drew her bow immediately but quickly realized that though her shot was clear there was no favorable target. Closing more distance between herself and the group she took in the sight of the goliath fully. It wielded an ax of unreasonable proportion and was clad in black armor with what she could only assume were the remains of those it had terrorized within the city. There did not appear to be any gaps in the armor and she pondered for the briefest moment what it could have been made of to provide such coverage and who could have constructed it.
She had not heard their coordination, but within a moment a halfbreed had fired what appeared to be acid at the beast while another had used some sort of spell to disrupt the earth in its path as the second wave of arrows rained down on it. She hoped if the acid was effective and had covered the beast generously, in combination with the earth crumbling beneath it perhaps it would lose some grip on the weapon. She was not close enough to discern what it was made of, but she supposed with enough concentrated force magic at the right moments she could attempt to knock it from its hands. She did not believe it would stop its charge, as the thing was atrocious enough even without the mighty ax, but if it would stumble for even a moment, or be forced to turn and try to pick it up it would have bought them a precious few seconds to further distract it. Taking a deep breath she poised her bow in aim of the beast yet again.
"Aim for the joints! Try to slow its advance!" a voice called out through the chaos and she fired several charged shots at various joints of the monstrosity in compliance, finishing off with three additional shots to the beasts helmet hoping to expose any piece of flesh that would help them better identify the beast. With each arrow she applied increasing amounts of force magic, hoping the extra power and speed could help penetrate any unrecognizable weakness in the armor. To test the theory of her own she also fired five consecutive charged shots at different points across the uppermost portion of the beast's axe, before returning fire again to the other areas with regular shots. Giving herself time to recoup and concentrate her magics in preparation for another round of charged shots, she now sought to close the little remaining gap between her and the others, scanning and processing the scene she had arrived too late to have observed beforehand. Her keen senses helped to locate the different groupings of soldiers and she started a mental tab on the whereabouts of the other inquisition members.
Edited her internal use of "halfling" to "halfbreed", so as to not create confusion with her terminology in reference to the hyrbrid.
The massive iron warrior surged forth through the thick maelstrom of arrows unfazed; not slowing down nor making a single move to either block or move away from them. It stormed forward with unnatural speed and grace that seemed unique to a monster this size; that is until the Draconic Acid hit him in stride. Caught off guard by the attack, the iron monster raised its ax up in a defensive maneuver, allowing the blade and the hilt to absorb most of the acid. The weapon hissed in agony as the metal and wood alike began to dissolve under the chemical assault, but not breaking under it. Though the weapons suffered it had done its job as only a small amount of the acid made its way past it and onto the armor; hissing all the same under the weight of the acid. A small, inch and a half in depth, section of the armor fell inward with jagged edges and smoking corners revealing the effectiveness of the dragons' attack while splashed across the rest of the breastplate lay other affected areas, smaller in size, that signaled a weakness. A moment later, an arrow flew in; catching the hilt of the weapon in the same spot where the acid did. In a quick motion, the weight of the ax itself combined with the structural damage caused by the acid and arrow caused the hilt to snap, forcing the ax head to fall from the grip of the creature and onto the ground.
The beast roared again in anger, louder than its first, as his right arm shout out as it charged, extending a finger towards the half-dragon as it did. "Fly," it's voice full of bass that sounded like it reverberated through the armor before exiting, "I break you in-" it started to speak before it was caught off balance by Genthok's magic. The beast did not notice the signs that a spell was incoming and it was blissfully unaware of the blue, lightning-like, lines in the ground ahead of him moments before. Instead, it greeted the now-uneven terrain with a heavy, flat foot. Stumbling to find its balance, the monstrous enemy soon found itself unable to keep itself upright and it fell, momentum carrying it forward still, to the terrain below with a thunderous clap. It skidded across the surface of the ground for a moment before coming to rest some twenty feet away from the main body of soldiers.
"Inquisition soldiers, spread out," Ardur shouted, "surround the creature, keep your distance and its attention while we probe for further weakness," Ardur paused as he further focused his magic into his hand, engulfing it even further in the red hot flame, "River, ready your magic," Ardur spoke as he pulled his arm back, pausing for a second as he let out a roar of his own, as he shot his arms forward letting his magic lose as he did, allowing the full force of his inner fire to be released.
A pillar of fire erupted from his hand, scorching through the air for a brief moment before colliding with the right-side breastplate of the beast. The fires consumed the flesh that draped the beast without much hesitation, burring them away while also causing smoke to billow from all over before being disintegrated entirely. Ardur pushed harder with his magic, causing the burning red flame that enveloped his hand to spread upward, covering the bottom half of his arm with the red crackling fire. The pillar of fire that shot out of his arm grew in size and intensity, with the fire spreading to cover the whole front side of the creatures' armor; including the section that was damaged by the acid.
The creature suddenly roared once again, though this time the tone of the roar was strangely different; more natural and higher pitched than before. Through the flames, one could make out the shape of the creatures' arm reach up and absorb most of the fire magic while it's back arm and shoulder dipped to the ground below; to brace itself against the fire magic no doubt. Feeling more confident at this sight, Ardur began to speak. "River, you will see your opening here soon, get read-," Ardur paused as he watched the creature take a mighty step forward while it drove its arm through the motion of a throw, "oh n-" Ardur tried to continue but was stopped by a fast flying rock that collided with his chest armor, causing him to fly back some distance all the while his fire magic continued in its relentless torrent; narrowly missing his fellow Inquisitors and soldi s alike. As he collided with the ground, and started to roll across the fields, he pulled his fire magic from his hands and rolled until coming to a stop some fifteen feet behind the rest of his group. The chest armor was dented inward, though not far enough to signal fatal damage. It was clear that he would have some broken ribs and a fight against internal bleeding, however.
Ardur struggled to pull his head up enough to get a look at the damage his fire magic had done to the beast, frowning slightly at the sight. All across the armor danced lines of red lightning, signaling that the armor may be enchanted against fire magic, or against magic in general. The red lightning danced everywhere the eye could see, everywhere except for the where the acid had hit. In the many small splotches of dissolved metal, and the one rather large spot over the beasts left breast, were signs of red-hot metal. The acid attack seems to have had a much more pronounced effect than seen initially, especially when combined with fire magic. Though now the groups' fire mage was likely out of commission, save for any quick healing done by Lillianna, that weakness could all be unexploitable. "That's a few broken ribs," Ardur muttered under his breath as he tried to pull himself on to his feet, "oh that beast is strong,".
Though the group had many options open to them, two soldiers in their hubris decided now was the time to charge. "The beast is wounded, charge," they shouted as they broke formation. Ardur tried to muster a yell but was only greeted by a cough. The duo charged in with a pincer strike in mind with one heading to the front while another flanked around behind, with their shields up and spears out, towards the beast who responded with a soft chuckle. The first soldier in reared back his arm in an effort to strike, aiming for the hot metal on the left side of the creatures' chest armor but was quickly greeted by a strike from the fist of the creature; impacting the soldiers shield causing it to cave inward with such force that the soldier immediately fell down backwards with blood already in his mouth. The soldier had nary a moment to shout before the thick metal boot of the creature came crashing down on top of his exposed chest, killing him in an instant. The other soldier attempted to strike the creature from behind but was quickly dispatched by the swift backhand of the creature, causing the soldier to be knocked off his feet and onto the ground below before he was booted across the field by a strong kick. The now dead soldier flew for many feet before it collided with one of the many spears that littered the field, wrapping slightly against the spear itself but otherwise not affecting the completely vertical nature of the weapon.
The beast roared in celebration and turned towards the Inquisitors, arms wide in celebration; with the sections of its armor still strangely glowing as red as initially. While some weaknesses were learned, many more would need to be found before this battle was won.
Gil, in anger and utter horror at how quickly the two soldiers had been dispatched, put the visor of his helmet down and readied himself for a charge. His biggest fear of the creature had been its great axe, and with it destroyed, he knew that his speed and skill could at least match the sheer strength of the monster. However, he also knew that going alone would end in his death.
"Kharne come with me! Use small spurts of your acidic breath to weaken it's joints and neck armor while I do the knifework. Genthok, keep the bastard destabilized! Without balance, it'll be hard pressed to mount a defense against us. River, if you know any healing spells, tend to Ardur! Lanithil, keep firing at the bastard until we reach him!"
Gil knew he would probably face lashes or worse for not waiting for orders, but he hoped taking his own initiative and using his experience as a soldier would benefit the Inquisition as well as save lives.
With his sword readied and his shield raised, he nodded at his comrades before charging towards the beast with them, a fierce battle cry ripping from his throat as he ran to what could possibly be his death.
Kharne gave the giant armored hulk a rather toothy grin when his acid tore through its armor and weapon. A barrage of arrows and its weapon was broken. It spoke though, which was surprising. But then again giants did have their own language. It was just the hill giants that weren't particularly bright. Rolling his shoulders through he sheathed his sword while crouching low to the ground, watching the thing fall and skid along the ground. He wanted to see how fast it could move.
Fire engulfed it, blocking the draconic mans view a bit. Just a dark silhouette of the giant as Ardur hit it with magic. But Ardur was knocked away by a rock thrown by the flaming giant. Well it's smart... He thought as two soldiers stupidly moved in and were killed for their troubles. Gil started talking, making Kharne shake his head. "I have two shots. It's not magic, not really." He said as he used those huge muscular wings to launch him forward. While the giant celebrated killing two soldiers Kharne bolted around with animalistic speed and grace. His tail snatching up the massive head of the warped and ruined axe as he went.
With the ruined weapon in hand Kharne kept moving, running along on three limbs instead of four. As he neared he rose up to just his legs and swung the damaged axe full force using both hands. His own strength plus momentum would probably cause a lot of damage if it actually landed. It'd be even better if the axe wasn't damaged but it was still a great big hunk of metal!
Gil faltered in his charge as Kharne rushed past but kept a close enough distance that he could support his comrade if the creature reacted unexpectedly to the large axehead hurtling towards it. Gil kept his shield raised and began circling the beast and Kharne, waiting for an opportunity to enter the fray himself.
He noticed the spear that the soldier had been flung into hadn't even moved under the weight of a fully grown man, in full plate armor. Though keeping his eyes on the beast, he sheathed his sword and removed the spear from the body it was stuck through.
As Gil grabbed the spear and pulled it free from its 'sheath', the red glow dissipated from the spear and fell on the corpse below in the form of a mist like red substance. A few tense seconds passed as the red substance began to cause the corpse to begin to glow an ominous red glow, much akin to the one the spear itself had. Brighter and brighter and brighter the glow grew, until in one hectic final second it vanished. The corpse did not move, nor were there any signs of any foul purpose the spear may have served. Indeed, to the untrained eye the removal of the spear was in no shape or form anything significant; but to the creature it was.
"You," the creature roared louder than ever, "you curse prayer" the beast finished as it took off in a sudden sprint towards Gil; narrowly avoiding the full brunt of Kharne's strike as the blade only cut an inch deep as it hit. As the beast neared a short distance away from Gil the beast threw back it's arm and readied a punch, aiming not for Gil but the ground some ten feet in front of him. The heavy strike landed powerfully on the ground below, causing the earth itself to heave under the creatures' strength. Cracks shot outward for many feet, surging forward in a cone-like fashion that ultimately ended up underneath Gil himself; and not much further. Gil would find his balance compromised and would either lose it and risk falling prey to the fist or foot of the creature, or he would find enough strength to backtrack and try and escape the reach of the beast.
Gil would not have long to decide as the beast again let out a mighty roar and charged once again in the general direction of Gil. Gil would need help, and fast.
No sooner did River explain his plan than Kharne rushed forward with extraordinary speed. Closing a good amount if distance between him and the monstrosity that lay before them. His maw gaped open and spewed a veritable amount of acid directly at the creature. As if in anticipation the demon rose up it's axe blocking a surprising amount of acid, only allowing a few splotches to get past and eat away at his armor; this was however at a cost. With the axe now weakened and still held up to block, an archer cast a few arrows into it's hilt splitting the damned thing in half. [Color=00aeef][i]Good, one less thing to worry about[/color][/i] Though quick, Rivers eyes detected the latent magic that coupled those arrows and threw his eyes in the direction of their owner. "So nice of you to join us Aradeyr! he shouted towards here and then began speaking to himself "and not a moment too soon I might add."
More and more comrades joined into the fray each providing their own unique skill set to aid the team. Genthok valiantly (or foolishly he could not quite tell) went down closer to the demon and began to cast his form of magicks. Blood in hand amd strewn across his chest, his cast went forth and established the ground beneath allowing for the demon to stumble on its own weight and fall. A proud smirk ran across Rivers fave as he watched his comrades not just foolishly rush in but attempt to work in harmony to weaken the thing before going in. Noticing Artur beneath him River hopped off the tree and onto his back, grasping a tuft of furr "Onward valiant friend! Our help is nee-" he was cut off at the horrific sight that fell before him. Ardur cloaked his arms in flames as he launched a heated assault on the monster only to have a rock hurled towards him knocking him fifteen feet back. "Curses, I should have foreseen that. It matters not at the moment. Let's make haste Artur!"
Dashing forward he tugged on the bears furr to signal it to halt. "This should be plenty fine." dropping his sword of ice into the ground he pulled out his book and held his hand over it, eyes closed and concentrating. He heard the screams off the two fallen soldiers and the sounds of bones becoming dust beneath the giants feet. Finally River opened his eyes to Gil unsheathing a spear and watched as the magic did it's work. A sphere of water formed not even 1 foot away from the red hot section of the monsters armor and then slammed into him like a torrent. Cooling the spot as hot steam rose off the plate towards the giants face. The giants attention was fixated on Gil and the spear as he was noticibly about to charge once more. "Not on my account you unholy abomination" a large pool of water formed in front of the path the giant was charging through about 5 ft away from his current position. This pool of water immediately froze over becoming a thick, sheet of smooth slippery ice. Rivers eyes fixated on Gil and was prepared to shield him in a sphere of ice if the giant got too close for striking distance.
Lilianna finished her preparations as the familiar sight of Ardur's fire pulled her attention back to the field. The Aasimar chuckled. How nostalgic. Back to their trials. She raised her hand to twine wind through his flames, to fan them forward til the creature was engulfed, but she saw it a moment too late. Ardur flew like a rag doll on the wrong end of a temper tantrum, rolling for a few moments, and coming to a jarring halt. She broke into a sprint the second he touched down, barely taking notice when two idiotic soldiers perused their deaths. She crashed to her knees next to him.
“Well look at what we have here.” She pooled a soft golden light in her hands, one settling over his eyes and the other above the dent in his armor. The light seeped through the gaps in his armor and through his skin, filling his veins with a pleasant warmth. She let her own mind wander freely along with it. “Broken ribs, a fractured rib, damaged lungs, could you make yourself more of a target?” She muttered. Gold sealed the damaged tissue, pressed bones back into place, wrapped them tightly, all while the buzzing warmth took the edge off the pain. She drew it all back as she sat up with a huff.
“You'll have full range of movement for the next hour. After that, see me or another medic for extended treatment. And don't think this gets you out of that shitty move you pulled with the Council.” She turned her attention back to the fight and stood, frowning. The creature was intelligent, using the environment around it rather than just brutalizing the soldiers. Or perhaps... she glanced at the shattered earth around them. A thought she didn't particularly care for crossed her mind.
“I guess we'll test my theory.” she muttered more to herself than anything, raising her palm. The air around her stilled slowly, magic building around her into a silent cacophony. She felt every nerve in her body strain against their locked position. She felt her magic crawling white hot over her, down her arm, pooling in her out stretched hand.
“Strike.” The command took form, her voice hurtling across the field as lightning slammed into the beast's ankle.
Aradeyr watched with disdain as the beast rose his axe shielding himself from the full brunt of the acid, causing her shots to land in such a way that broke the weapon. She had had not intended on its destruction before it’s retrieval for study but she supposed now was not the time. The beast had stumbled to the ground in its haste and if nothing else the intended effect was successful.
From a tree above and not far ahead a familiar voice welcomed her to the fray and she called back to him as he dropped swiftly onto the back of his companion, and took off ahead of her. “River! Artur!” she huffed, greeting them both between gallops. “What manner of ungodly creature is this!” she mused, more of a statement than a question. Catching up to him she watched intently as Ardur’s magic rippled across the beast, causing less damage than she would have imagined, but she was pleased nonetheless upon nearing close enough to see the enchantment of the creatures armor. She knew with almost certainty that though the beast possessed intelligence to some degree that some mastermind must lay in wait somewhere, and they must have been responsible for weaponizing the creature. Though the chance to analyze the magic it was laden with for clues as to whom that may be might never come, as they would likely need the Hybrid to dissolve more of it to bring it down successfully. Her thoughts raced with excitement at the possibilities, but that was immediately brought to a halt as the creature pelted Ardur with a displaced stone, sending him hurling behind the battlelines. The figure she’d seen slipping into the woods reemerged once more and was at his side in mere moments. Signature Aasimar magic emanating from the scene; she knew he was in more than capable hands and let her attention fall back to the beast, where two soldiers she was unfamiliar with seemed to misread the tone of battle and charged in recklessly without orders. They were disposed of almost instantly, bringing her attention to a peculiar spear, which had not buckled under the weight of the armor-clad corpse clashing against it. She could see now there were many of these positioned about, and as the beast cheered itself on at the demise of the first two soldiers, another two were closing in; the hybrid from before and now a half-elf she recognized. Wielding the axe fragment he prepared a powerful strike, one she would have thought would have given them quite a fair shot at leveling the beast, when instead, Gilead stole its attention, narrowly avoiding the attack. She looked on as the red aura dissipated, relieved to find it had no apparent effect on Gilead, though she was sure having riled the beast there had to have been more purpose in their placement than just for the sake of a gruesome sight. She pondered a moment, if the magic they were enchanted with would also be nullified by the beasts armor, or if perhaps, it had shifted its attention so swiftly to the lad because the opposite was true.
“Those spears..what purpose do they serve?” She questioned of River, but that would have to wait, as the beast was charging again, this time stopping short and almost as if reproducing the magic which brought him to the ground only moments before, it sent a massive wave through the earth, effectively trapping Gilead in his path. She readied her bow as few thoughts rushed to Aradeyr, dissecting them and their potentialities all at once. The beast proved easily angered, and thereby to distract, but if nearly being sliced in half by his own axe did not garner his attention what would? She surmised she may have had enough force magic built to direct at Gilead, rather than the beast, but the amount she would have to send, and the speed with which it would have to hit him to move the elf far enough to avoid danger could in itself be deadly, especially if she didn’t envelop him evenly. Moreover, it would require far more stamina than before. Coupling her magic with a moving object gave her a clear path to exert her force magic upon, but firing through empty airspace from afar was another matter. She could cast an illusion to shield him, but it would have required some sort of distraction to go undetected. As if answering her thoughts, within seconds River’s magic was at work. A water sphere struck the beast in the exposed area of armor, still glowing red with heat, and Aradeyr sent a single charged shot at the same area. Another pool of water formed and as the sheet of ice settled in the beast’s path Aredeyr sought to use the cover of steam rising around the creature to cast her spell.
In a low hum, perhaps only loud enough for River to hear, a slew of ancient elvish rolled off her lips and Aradeyr’s eyes began to glow, the birthmarks beneath them illuminating as the illusion she envisioned manifested itself on the battlefield. A false image of Gilead now stood about 8 feet into the ice, sword drawn, hoping to convince the beast he had fumbled closer to attack in unison with River but more importantly, hiding the fact that his true self was now a lone glimmer, hidden amongst the backdrop of the forest behind him. The counterfeit was plainly visible, to Gilead as well, yet those capable of true seeing or unaffected by illusionary magics would also see either a faint shimmer slowly rippling along the edges of the rough shape of Gilead's figure, if they were to look intently enough, or Gilead himself in his true position. Similarly, to both the left and the right along the borders of where River’s ice ended she made it to appear it had stretched out an additional 10 feet in either direction. If by some chance it was intelligent enough to surmise Gilead would not have been foolish enough to draw near, the beast would not simply be charging around the roadblock River created. Having already made physical contact with the water magic, she was confident it would have little reason to doubt the authenticity of the extension of the ice, even if it were privy to the nature of the doppelganger.
His plan had bought them time if only for a moment. The demon stumbled on the soft ground before falling to the ground with a tremendous thunder. For a moment the half Orc had to breath and regain his focus. His friends valiantly continued their assault while he watched gathering his strength for the next spell. Blood still trickled down off his hand. It would be some time before he would be getting it healed.
He was watching carefully how the beast and its armor moved and reacted with each attack. A thought finally began to surface in his mind, “maybe religious symbols could help?” he thought to himself watching a few glory hungry soldiers foolishly charge the beast. The acid seemed to work well against it, arrows weren't getting through, even a fiery blast from Ardurs flames barely scratched the surface. But one giveaway did show itself, red lightning danced across the black armor after the flames hit it. it was enchanted. For a moment he pondered how long it took for someone to enchant something of that size and complexity.
That thought was fleeting. One of the foot soldiers decided to pull a spear from one of the corpses. He didn't know this one too well, Gilly maybe? But what the man did do was significantly draw the ire of the giant. For what ever reason pulling the spears from the corpses seems to have enraged it. Perhaps it's a weakness then or perhaps it hurts it.
The shaman was quite unsure but after seeing it charge after Gilly like that he knew it was at least important in some way. The half Goliath started to sprint away from the others in an opposite direction from the beast, putting the others between himself and the beast while still staying in the field, “Kharne! Get ready!” he called out to his brother. Out of all the other inquisitors he preferred the company of this one to all the others. He trusted him and they shared many similarities. From their sheer size to their fighting styles and personality, the duo made a good team when they were together.
Genthok made sure the giant was on the other side of the area where the ground was weakened. With his hammer at his side he paused in the open field gathering his strength and praying. “Hear me Goddess Eridani, guardian of the forests, keeper of balance, builder of life and harbinger of death. Hear me, lend me your praise so that I may smite this abomination. This arrogant creature who seeks to tip the balance of life and death.” as he spoke his eyes, hands, and the scar on his chest began to glow a slight green. His hands slowly began to grow tougher with what looked like tree bark. “Protect me and my kin from the demons rage!”
With this last shout the shaman thrust his hands into the earth. Slight movement could be seen and heard from the ground. Multiple small veins cracked and tore from him in all directions seemingly heading toward every spear within 75 yards. These cracks stopped just short of the spears within the radius. Genthok was completely concentrated on the spell he was casting. Very little aside from physical contact could break him from this.
As the last few veins stopped near the spears, they all began to move again. This time roots would try to climb and crawl up the spears gripping them and pulling them free of their “sheaths” and dropping them. He only hoped he could draw the giants attention and make it run back through all hazards his team had created on the field. Not only this but he hoped it would cause an opening for them to strike as well. Genthok has no way to tell if all he did was make the beast stronger, piss it off to no end, or delay the end of the world. Hell for all he knows he could have just summoned a dammed fairy. But thus is what happens when you make a gamble and hope for the best.
Kharne growled as he was showered in sparks, his attack hadn't been as effective as it could have been if the giant had held still. But Gil prying out a spear had pissed the being off and power stomped a shockwave towards Gil. Flipping the axe up and letting the clawed hand on his wing hold it he lunged at the giants back. Roughly eight hundred pounds of solid muscle and bone collided with the giants exposed back. Lunging up he grasped the giants shoulders and held on while that long tail wrapped around the monsters waist with his feet planted at the small of the beings back.
"Lets see just how strong you are." He growled as he used his weight and strength to try and guide the armored giant into the traps others had set. The frozen puddle, upheavaled ground, hell he would even use his own weight to try and make the giant pitch forward and faceplant if he could. While he was messing around Genthok told him to get ready. Ready for what?
"I've never known a teifling to be meek and I am curious as to why you ask such a question. Do you wish not to enter the lands below and find who or what is responsible for this?"
Aanshi looked back at the plainsman in equal curiosity. For someone so small, she couldn’t help but feel like he is larger than she is. “I do not fear what we may face inside if… that is what you worry of, Sir? I was simply wondering,” she clarified. Then came River’s hand on hers accompanied with kinder words. While the plains elf did not bear her ill will, Aanshi still found herself shying away from the gentle gesture and words. Her eyes darted to and from the kind elf with the conscious effort of avoiding his gaze. But out of courtesy, she gave him a small nod and a terse smile followed by a mumbled “Thank you.”
The group eventually were told to stand their ground to wait and the Tiefling followed orders as she tended to. The hours passed and she tried to learn what she could but could only decipher what the others were able to since their permission to enter the city was denied. When the sound of hooves on dirt was audible for her to hear, she felt herself perk up to look at the approaching men and women that was supposed to be the army that they were waiting for but not with Anora. Regardless, Ardur started giving orders around them when a disembodied voice invaded not their ears, but their minds. Aanshi pulled out her sword and shield as she furrowed her brows, finding the intrusion in her mind concerning whilst giving her a dull but faint pain in the head. She tried to physically shake her head to remove the voice but found it futile. The voice referred itself seemingly worthy to be considered a God and she found herself clenching her jaw for a moment as she found its presence in her mind less and less likeable.
”Inquisition, move out!” Ardur shouted and she marched forward, placing herself in front of the footmen as their group marched outside the tree-line and onto plain sight. The voice seemed quite pleased by this and she found herself fixing her stance as the ground stirred and the air grew ever fetid with every dull shake of the earth. ”By the Gods,” Aanshi muttered under her breath as a gigantic and inanely plated creature arose from the city and towards them. The gore that covered it was stunning, to say the least. Her bewilderment was broken when the creature started charging at them with a thunderous roar. Her heart pounded in her chest as she chose to hold her ground, waiting for the proper moment to move out of the creature’s way. She then barked a hold order to the men, most of which seemed willing to follow her command.
She waited for ranged attacks to fly, hopefully to give her and the rest of the footmen an opening to make use of. ”Do not be brash!” she shouted as her fingers flexed on her sword. The arrows earlier seemed to do no damage at all. But their large half-dragon companion’s stream of acid seemed to have weakened the creature’s armor enough for others to make use of. ”Steady! There will be a chance,” shouted the Tiefling said as she edged closer to the thing, hoping to catch it by surprise somehow. The creature roared in anger just as the earth glimmered and shook in addition to the giant’s gait. Sparks on the earth ran under the giant and she found herself nearly taking a step back as the monster ran straight through the crumbling earth before its path.
"Inquisition soldiers, spread out! …Surround the creature, keep your distance and its attention while we probe for further weakness," shouted Ardur and Aanshi was more than willing to run towards a side flank of the creature with the rest of the soldiers while Ardur let out a stream of fire towards the creature till it retaliated with a boulder towards their leader’s chest. With the creature sizzling and surely cooking inside its own armor, she was about to psyche herself to charge when she saw two soldiers get tossed around like they were nothing. Furious, she ran for the creature, but stopping as she felt herself get nearly knocked down by the wind from Kharne’s massive wings. Aanshi instinctively raised her shield to protect her torso and covered her face with her sword hand to protect herself from the debris that flew past her. She lowers her hands and felt her initial surge of energy wavering from the Dragon’s attack. But the beast seemed unimpeded by the powerful attack by what she had gathered was Kharne attacking the creature by using its own axe head. Instead, it stopped and focused its efforts on Gilead who now was holding on to a spear. She wanted to help, but magic users started casting spells and she did not want to be within their magic attack’s effective ranges. So she hung back, raising her shield as she tried to sprint behind the creature to help distract if need be and attempted to pry a spear off of their sheath before she felt the ground move from the veins that sprung out to remove all the others.
Though the fight had started in an intimidating fashion, the Inquisition rallied and quickly coordinated their efforts by assaulting their titanic foe with all manner of attacks and spells. The giant was knocked over by the combined assault from Ardur's fire, Kharne's Acid and the ground destabiliziation from Genthok. Ardur got knocked away however, and two overzealous soldiers ended up getting killed from charging in prematurely. The giant displayed uncanny speed and agility despite falling to the ground and being encased in plate armor as he was.
Gilead charged in and called upon both him and Kharne to support him. "Don't commit to an assault like those two did! We haven't opened a chink in armor yet! Stay at a maneuverable distance! Cyterius called back in response as he and his 3 Falcons spread out and formed a wide circle around the giant, with the intention of each member getting the giant's attention if their foe wandered their way and kite them so as to buy time for the magic users to keep peeling away at its defenses.
Kharne charged past Gilead and proceeded to attack the creature with its own axehead. Gil on the other hand proceeded to pull out one of the strange spears from a body in the field. Somehow, this seemed to have gotten the giant's attention, causing the colossal creature to smash the ground and send a shockwave at the half-elven inquisitor, knocking them off-balance before winding up for a charge at them.
"Move!" Cyterius called from a good way behind Gil as he himself moved out of the way of the potential path of the charge while firing a couple crossbow bolts from his wrists at the helmet's eye-slits. He doubted it would do anything to stop the charge, but they were guaranteed to lose an Inquisitor if they didn't try anything.
Thankfully, someone else moved in to save them from the danger as the giant was hammered with a violent torrent of water. turning to see the source he saw River riding on what appeared to be Genthok's bear, in an attempt to break the charge, as well as converting the ground before the giant and Gil into ice to keep their enemy from charging effectively. "Quick thinking!" He called out to the Lalafell elf before returning his attention to the battle.
Before the giant had much time to react to the concentrated magic assault, it was hit with another attack, this time a blinding light shot out from elsewhere in the field, striking the armored giant with what appeared to be a fork of lightning directly on its legs. "That HAD to have hurt!" Nischa called out in the distance as she kept her stance, ready to dodge out of the way should the giant shift their attention to her.
Then all at once, Gil suddenly began disappearing while the giant's attention was drawn away while an illusory Gil appeared closer to the giant, as if preparing to attack, while the ground suddenly shook and plant vines erupted from the earth as they attempted to advance towards the giant. Had cyterius not been familiar with the feats of magic his fellow inquisitors were capable of, he'd have been terrified of the sight, but as it stood he was only thankful that they could rally such powerful forces against enemies such as the colossus before them
Cyterius had little time to see who was casting which spell, focusing on the giant and how they would react to the barrage. Given how the giant reacted to Gil's actions, Cyterius figured they could use it to their advantage to manipulate their movements."Falcons! Move to the nearest spear and hold your ground. Be ready to pull one out to draw this beast's attention if one of our comrades is in peril!" He ordered as he moved to a nearby impaled body, steadying his breathing in preparation of dodging away from the giant's wrath should he need to take the pressure off the others. Until they could find an opening from which to kill the creature, Cyterius had little he could contribute to the assault.
All around the battlefield numerous spears were pulled from their hosts. One by one the roots swelled up against the shafts of the spears and removed them from the corpses; though unlike before the strange red glow did not dissipate off the spear, instead it seemed to glow a slight bit brighter than before. The giant noticed this, with a quick tilt of his head from side to side as it observed the shamans work. It seemed to be indifferent about the spears this time, however, and his attention quickly returned to the small man with the big spear in front of him, at least until River's magic hit him. The torrent of water crashed hard against the breastplate of the monster causing the all-too-familiar red-lightning like lines to arch out and destroy the oncoming water magic; except for the red-hot area that was hit with the caustic acid already. There the armor groaned and buckled until numerous small cracks formed causing small sections of the armor to break apart and fall away. The creature roared in defiance as it watched as its once perfect armor now cratered inward as steam continued to pour upwards from the spot. "You," the creature pointed at River, "I kill you-" the creature paused as a blast of lightning crashed into its ankle, though it was absorbed by the magical property that the armor seemed to possess.
"Stupid magic beings I stronger than that," the creature groaned as he pointed towards Lilianna, "you die ne-" the creature started before being interrupted by the illusion magic of Aredeyr. It eyed the phantom creatures before it before it returned its gaze towards the shimmering outline that was Gilead.
"Stupid magic, silly creatures, I see you still! I champion, I strong, I-" the creature started once again but was, this time, interrupted by a monstrous Inquisitor.
"Let's see just how strong you are," Kharne shouted as he grabbed hold of the creatures back as he pushed the monster forward.
"I stronger than-" the creature was rocked off balance by a spear of fire magic conjured by Ardur that dug deep into the exposed section of armor. A cloud of smoke and broken metal surged forth into the air as the monster roared once again with the sad moan of a creature in pain. The armor cratered inward even further at the spot now, pushing nearly several inches deep at the deepest spot, The creature fell backwards and flayed his arms enough after the strike to throw Kharne off his back, before he caught his balance moments before a second fire spear struck the beast; though this time the aim was off and it instead crashed into the right breastplate, being negated by the magical armor.
"Inquisitors," Ardur groaned as he gripped his side with his hand, "that beast is resistant to our magic attacks," he paused as he pointed towards the cratered remains of what was the left side of the breastplate, "except for that area. Focus your magic there," he paused as he turned towards the soldiers, "keep your distance still," he paused as he turned his attention to Kharne, "Kharne, do that again and Gilead get ready for your window," he finished shouting as he turned his attention back towards Lilianna, "all hands on deck for this mission, the Inquisition needed all her members," he paused as he turned his attention back towards the beast. "espically with an enemy as unknown as this, your skills will prove most useful," he finished with a smirk.
His Inquisitors had fumbled in their initial exchange with the beast but they had created a very real weak spot for them to exploit. It seemed the caustic acid from Kharne had neutralized whatever magical barrier the beast employed. While some Inquisitors had fumbled with their own discovery of this, Ardur knew that it was just a matter of time before they felled the monstrous beast and claimed victory this day.
Irritated at the beasts reluctance to move, he had to give him some credit for he was smarter than he appeared. River grit his teeth, eyes dancing about the battle field looking for some edge in the fight or a way to use less energy. Finally his eyes settled on the slate of ice he had created moments before deciding this was the best way about it for now. His hand waved over his grimoire as his fingers danced to his incantation commanding the ice to melt and move. River piloted the water down into the earth and moved it about until it was underneath the beast. He carefully, yet quickly, shot half of the water up to surround each leg while the other half remained underground. Once affixed each leg he froze it over once again in order to anchor the giant in place,having the ice not only around the monsters legs but also beneath the ground rooting him like a tree.
Cyterius watched the giant warily as their fellow Inquisitors hit it with a relentless barrage of attacks. Ardur had gotten back on his feet and barked commands to coordinate their battle. Without being given direct orders by Ardur, Cyterius decided the best course of action is to continue their diversionary maneuvers to give the others the opening they needed.
As Kharne wrestled with the best, Cyterius signaled orders to the Falcons. "Equip wrist-bows and tighten the noose! Aim for the eye slits and launch volleys on my mark!" He ordered, advancing carefully closer to the giant as he reloaded the bolt magazine on his Salvo-Arm. His team did the same, advancing and equipping the ranged weapon while keeping enough distance from the giant that they wouldn't be in immediate danger should the creature lunge at them suddenly with its uncanny speed. They would have at least a few seconds to dodge if they see it coming.
As their crossbows were locked and loaded on their arms, Kharne was shaken off the giant and the Falcons braced themselves for evasion if needed. However, water suddenly erupted from the ground and entangled the giant with large root-like appendages. The water froze almost instantly after enveloping the foe, keeping it in place. Cyterius didn't bother checking who cast the spell, he read the situation and capitalized on it quickly.
"Now! Unload, reload, and repeat into its eyes! Every bolt you've got! Give this beast no chance to rally!" Cyterius commanded his team as he fired a flurry of bolts into the trapped giant's eye slits, before detaching the emptied magazine and slamming a new one into place with the practiced precision of one who has used the Salvo-Arm extensively. He hoped that at least a few among his team's shots makes it through and hurts them. They intended to distract the beast as an insect would, biting and pricking at it to keep it from focusing its attention on freeing itself and counter-attacking. In turn, providing precious seconds for their allies to renew their assault and finish off their enemy before they exhausted their ammo supply.
There were few things in this world worse than feeling helpless in a dire situation. Yet that was exactly how Lanithil felt as he watched his and every other arrow bounce off the monster. No matter where he fired the results were the same. The only real upside to this was that it was not hard for Lanithil to call a ceasefire when a few of the men boldly charged the beast. Holding up his right hand in a fist he yelled out “Hold your fire! Hold your fire!”
Immediately the archers restrained themselves and the volleys stopped. Lanithil watched closely as his allies engaged the armored mass desperately looking for an opening. His eyes followed every hit of magic and attack hoping they would reveal some sort of weak spot they could use. The tension among the archers grew as they waited. Each one praying they could come up with a way to assist their fellow inquisitors.
Their moment came soon after Gil pulled the spear and the beast was peppered with magic attacks from every direction. While most seemed to have little effect, a fire spear from Ardur drew the wood elf’s attention to the spot where Kharne had hit it with acid. As the steam settled, he began to see the large cracks and missing chunks that part of it’s armor had. It was impressive damage, but they could do more if that spot was completely exposed.
Hearing Ardur’s command to focus on that spot, Lanithil and the archers raised their bows. “Archers ready!” He called out. All of them took aim and waited until their allies were clear and the beast was trapped in ice by River. “Fire!” A volley of arrows flew straight at the breaking chest piece. Hopefully the plate would be weakened enough to shatter at the force of a dozen or more arrows; just like it’s weapon had.
“What, do we sail the seven seas now?” Lilianna responded dryly as Ardur turned his attention away. All hands on deck indeed. She watched it turn from attacker to attacker as they assaulted it, her interest in it waning quickly. Nothing more than a nuisance really. Its only strength seemed to be its size.
“I’ll let the others handle that then. No need to burn my magic with plenty of others here.” Lilianna stood back to observe, sword in hand just in case. She was much more interested in examining the bodies littering the field and what may lie inside. After of course she made sure their headstrong commander got himself proper attention.
Kharne held onto the giant despite the sudden heat of the flames from Ardur that flared around the armored behemoth. When the flames dissipated the draconic giants scales steamed. His 'mount' flailed about due to the flames which had knocked him off. Armor was a bit difficult to grip given its lack of hard edges. Well the giant had one big edge and Kharne thundered towards it. His thick arms wrapped around the giants middle while his wings twisted and slammed down into the ground to act as anchors.
The strain of his muscles was almost audible as he attempted to lift the armored beast from the ground. The straps on his armored arm snapped from the sudden strain of trying to contain the bulging muscle underneath. This was probably the hardest any of the other Inquisitors had seen the half dragon work, most physical tasks coming easy to the naturally strong man. But back to point, if he couldn't lift the giant he'd keep him still as long as he could.
