The Last War

[Dream]

The dark and shifting form called Voramis looked through several hundred eyes at Lord Belzar as the summoner prepared for the troll.  Voramis constantly thrilled within himself from the combined intelligence he possessed, which no single spider had never known.  Only the fantastic power of this wizard had brought together thousands of arachnids into a collective consciousness.  Voramis would do anything, ANYthing at all, to be allowed to continue in this form, understanding the world, having an endless existence in full awareness and control.  It was a fantastic gift; beyond priceless.

Voramis thought of the millions of humans who also have the same gift of sentience and intelligence... but squander it away in useless and self-destructive pursuits.  Voramis vowed within thousands upon thousands of tiny hearts that he would do all he could to keep Lord Belzar alive and strong, so that he might also continue alive and strong.

Silently, Voramis commanded several spiders in various parts of the castle to secretly drop down upon Holly if she got near to them.  "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer" came to mind.  Voramis would keep Holly "close" at all times. 

  ------------------------

He tried to get the spiders near Grumple to hang onto him, but soon after they landed, they usually just squeaked out a teeny-weeny "YUCK!", curled up and died. 

[Dream]

Belzar looked at his hand carefully.  It was noticeably more wrinkly than an hour ago.  The veins stood out more clearly; a few gray hairs were showing on his arm.

"Where is that girl with that troll!" he muttered.  "She had better hurry up!"

[Callista Miala Moonshade]

Holly smiled to herself as she ran down the stairs the block had gone know so Holly just kept running down. holly jumped the last three steps and skidded to a halt at Odats feet "Where are the others" Holly panted. She looked around the hallway and saw standing not far off all of the others apart from Grumple, Arthur and herself. holly ran over and looked at them all in turn "I have to leave for a while! I will see you again one day hopefully. Find yourself safe and don't get to much trouble" Holly had ran off before the others had a chance of getting a word in edge ways. Holly ran up the same steps she had run up to get to the tallest tower and the torture chamber Tigra was still standing where Holly left her. Tigra bowed down and Holly flipped herself onto her back. Tigra whinnied and began bolting it up the stairs towards the chamber "Tigra get your fellows to get the others out of here as fast as you can" Tigra nodded her head as she ran and again whinnied as loud as she could. Gradually they came to the top tower. Holly jumped down and walked over to Grumple "Grumple my love you must come with me." Holly knelt down beside him and placed her hand on his shoulder "Please you must trust me. Come" Holly's smile had faded and she was looking deadly serious. "there is nothing we can do for him know we must turn to looking after ourselves He would of wanted us to do that" Holly smiled slightly and placed her other hand on Grumples shoulder and hugged him from behind "We will see him again soon i promise" Holly nodded and shuffled round letting her hands wrap tightly around the Trolls middle hugging him tightly "Please come"

[POG]

Rory looked at Holly then his brother.   He pulled a face, then stepped forward.  "Holly,  what aren't you telling us?"  Baldwin had Final Judgment bared and, the swords blur glow was nearly pulling him in Belzar's direction.  Tantus had been a friend, blood would answer the question of the bugbear's death ere he found rest.  Baldwin twined calloused fingers in Tigra's mane and echoed his brother's question.  "What's going on?"...

[Dream]

Grumple released Tantus' mutilated hand, and pulled out the icon clenched within.  He put it back into the pocket inside his tunic, now stained with the blood of the monk.

Hol-lee was right.  There was nothing to do for Tantus now.  Trolls (and most bugbears for that matter) are too pragmatic to conduct funeral services.  A person lives.  A person dies.  The body is not important at that point.  Scavengers should have it now.  That was the way of things; the circle would close.

Grumple took one last moment to wipe the blood from his hands on Tantus furry face, closing the eyes.  Then he wiped some on his own face, as a sign of shared brotherhood.  Finally, he stood.  The chain mail clinked into place; he picked up the battle axe. 

Go with Hol-lee.  Grumple trusted Hol-lee.  Grumple failed Tantus, but Grumple would not fail Hol-lee.

  ---------------------

A hundred yards away, Voramis stopped listening, and spoke.  "My Lord.  The woman is coming back down the tower.  She has the troll with her."

"Excellent" said Lord Belzar.  "A queen she shall be.  Every silly girl's dream."

[POG]

Rory touched Baldwin's arm, "Attend me brother.  Let's see what we can see."  He began to hum from deep within his body, falling into stillness.  Magik was here in the tower as it was everywhere.  Mage sight revealed lines, currents and swirling eddies of energy that were invisible to those who knew not what to look for.  The Wilder pulled the strands  to him draping them about he and his brother, in intricate layers that overlapped and bent the vision, displacing light.  Rory and Baldwin were not rendered invisible, but camaflouged in such a way that one would not see them unless they knew exactly what they were looking for.

Slowly, they followed Holly and Grumple...

[Nobody]

Kethal prayed silently, asking herself for yet one more time why people did such acts of vil, and wondered yet once more how such evils were justified.

As she looked on at this corpse, now stiff from rigamortis, with purple covering the bugbear, she prayed her silent prayer for the dead who had not been killed cleanly, for those who would find their sould trapped in the world of men, corrupted by an unclean death.

She did not weep. No, many years of hard lessons had taught her how not to weep...at least not openly. But she felt pain at his death, and silently mourned him.


Enough waiting. She was no Gaurdian of the forest, living an eternity before death. Life had to be lived now, or it would never be lived. But she had no knowledge of where the others had gone, and no knowledge of how to get out. This place was like a catacombs to her.

For the first time, she noticed the drunk. The smell emanating from him was astounding. You could set the room ablaze with the fumes from his breath. An exageration perhaps, but by how much?

He had no qualms about his direction. He was already stumbling down the hall...with his eyes closed!. He should have run into the walls several times by now.

With a great sigh, she followed him...

[Dream]

OCC:  Com'n Callista.  Don't keep us guessing any longer.  Will Holly betray her friends to become a queen?  Or will she, hopelessly overmatched, fight Belzar?  We're waiting to see what your character decides...


Also OCC:  For everyone, I didn't describe the bog shambler very well.  I got the idea from "Dungeon Hack"; an old PC game from the 80's.  The shambler is basically 2000 pounds of vegetation such as you might find in the deepest and most ancient swamps.  It's primitive, basically immune to fire (so wet), and cold because it's so thick (Water really takes a long time to freeze, if you understand the freezing process), while at the same time it moves pretty fast.  Since it has a lot of solid Cypress wood in it, it hits really hard.  Then, it grabs its enemies with its many fast-moving, stick-to-anything vines and pulls them inside to crush and digest.  Extra protein, for a crunchy snack.

Few know the primitive language of bog-shamblers.  Its thought processes would be quite alien to most flesh-and-blood creatures.  (Being one of those, I have no idea what they would be.)  However, this one serves Belzar when summoned.  Belzar gives him/it the aforementioned "crunchy snacks" and sends him/it safely back.  It does not feel pain, per se, but does not like being damaged either.  It has no eyes, but senses light, heat, sound, and like all plants has extraordinary chemical sense.  Sort of like smell/taste. 

Belzar has quite a number of willing subjects available for various reasons.  Some, like the paladin, serve in an unwilling fashion.  Some, like Melgrittizgym, are summoned at great risk.  It's always easier to summon someone than to control them; especially if they're intelligent and have their own ambitions. 

The bog-shambler Atta-frema-vernus really likes to order out from L.B. Belzar's All-Night Deli and Hero Sandwich Delivery Service, since the shamblers have cleaned out most of the big game from their swamp, and they can't move out of it.  With consideration of the above guidance, you can use him to fight your guys if you want.  Have fun!

If you need to use Belzar for something, remember some rules (I just made them up, but hey):
1)  Summoned beings who are willing (minions) come easily, and after a moment's confusion, are ready to help Belzar.
2)  Unwilling summoned take lots of effort to summon.  Even more to control.
3)  Summoned inanimate objects are things Belzar has seen before (if they're small) or marked in the past (if they're large).  He inscribes his mark on almost everything he can get his hands on.
4)  It is much easier to summon an inanimate object if the summoner sends back an equivalent amount of similar mass that is near at hand.  Distance doesn't matter much.  Of course, that can create a big hole... which makes an exceptionally useful thing to summon!

Belzar can also do the usual wizard tricks in a pinch, but he is at heart an Arch-Summoner.

[Scrasamax]

Something strange had begun. Rory could see it first, a subtle warping of the whorls of power that flowed through the personal fortress of Belzar. They lines drew in on themselves, folding into tiny intricate symbols.

Odat could feel the looping of the aether, the flow of power was being shifted much the same way that he avoided attackers, or sent them crashing into one another. Everything was being tied into knots. Of course such looping is a very rare and disconcerting phenominon to thse sensitive enough to percieve it.

Holly and Grumple felt it more than saw it, and in the trolls case, he rather smelled it more than anything else. There was a feeling of hope that buoyed them, though Grumple's misshapen nose smelled of all things the green hoppers.

The Bog Shambler felt it. Though it knew not lines of power or symbols etched from living aether, it did know some thing that humans cannot. With its mass of leaves and waving fronds the creature felt around it, sensing. It was in danger, danger from the burning of the light, the light that turned swamps into deserts, cracked dry leaves, and left only woody bones in its wake. The beast shivvered, making a grinding noise deep in its bulk. It had to escape, had to find safety, shelter...

Belzar lastly felt it, for the weaving was done away from him, and worked its way inward until the weaves were ready. The net was cast...

[Dream]

OCC:  Nice posting, folks.  Always a treat to log in.


IC:  Balfors Belzar looked up.  The bog-shambler towered over him, waving its vines and making a grinding, groaning noise, like that of a large tree that rubs against another during a strong storm.

"What?!" Belzar started, then switched to Shambler.  <"What do you want?  If you're hungry, you have to wait!">  He muttered to himself, "I thought trees are supposed to be patient."

The shambler went on, grinding and waving.  Lord Belzar understood.  "NO.  I mean..."  <"NO.  You cannot leave now, Atta-Freema-Vernus.  I am not sending you back to your stinking sog-lands now.  I didn't bring you here to look at you.  You want big meat?  You have a job to do.  WAIT.">

"Voramis!  Where is that stripling mage-boy?!  Is he causing the nether-twist?"

"My Lord," the dark one hissed.  "We cannot see him.  Nor the other one with the Desecrator."

"D***!" thought Belzar fast.  "I'd better prepare a portal."  He summoned a metallic staff to hand seemingly from out of nowhere, and started scribing a large geometric shape on the floor.

"Maybe more than one...  just in case..."

[Dream]

Outside the castle, but within the walls of Halbad, Captain Kraggis dropped the black spear.  Threw it down, actually.

"D***!" he cursed.  He looked at it lying on the ground, and shook his hand suddenly.  It throbbed with pain.

"What is it, Sir?" asked his orderly, who stared at Kraggis who was removing his chainmail gauntlet from his right hand; rubbing the fingers. 

"That feels like... like a G**D***** Toothache!" Kraggis replied.  He looked down at the spear again, and rubbed his hand again.  A toothache?  In his hand?  What was going on?

"Stop staring at me, you fool!  Tell the teams to get those catapaults up to the castle gates!"

[Callista Miala Moonshade]

Holly whispered silently into Tigras ear as they moved towards Belzars room. Holly jumped down and looked at grumple "Do you trust me?" She asked bowing her head down at the thought of what she was about to do. Holly walked by the side of Tigra. they arrived at the door and it swung open just like before. "I have arrived" Said holly loudly into the darkness. Tigra began to rear up and whinnie as the darkness faded once again. Holly turned quickly to tigra and whispered "Go. Run and don't you stop running intill he is safe" The horse bolted. Charging it's way down the hall and out of sight. "You were wrong to ask this of me" Holly's voice came loud and proud as she entered the room "The troll has gone he is out of your reach. Know all you have is me." Holly took a long stride into the room and the door closed with a clang.

[Dream]

From the throne, Belzar regarded her for long seconds, staring at her across the room separated by the iron portcullis.  "Then you shall have to do," he stated flatly.

"<Take the woman, Atta-Freema-Vernus.  Clamp the woman into the rack.">

The bog-shambler groaned and whispered back to the summoner.  Belzar replied,  <"NO!  Don't eat HER, you stupid weed!  I need her alive.  You can have the next big meat that comes.  Her foolish "friends'.  They will be here soon, I'm sure.">

The shambler stood in place for a moment, then moved across the floor with the rustle of foliage and the sound of twisting wooden beams.  A wet smear trailed out behind it as it rushed toward Holly.  Many long leafy tendrils shot out in her direction; animated vines that wrapped and twirled around her legs.  A heavy brown lump sprang out from the side of the creature, forming a club-like appendage over 5 feet long and nearly a foot thick, studded with gnarled root-like digits.  These each grew out to over a foot of length in seconds, and reached toward her eagerly...

"<Big meat!  To blossom again!>" thought Atta-Freema-Vernus.

[POG]

Rory and Baldwin were already in the room.  The stout iron of the portculis bars were separated by yawning expanses of open space, at least that's how it seemed to Baldwin.  He would never be able to get to Belzar and slay him with the Final Judgment sword before the shambler reached Holly.

The sword was sheathed...

The familiar press of the bowstring was against Baldwin's lip and the caress of fletching on his cheek was reassuring...

His heartbeat slowed...

The room fell away...

All that existed was the arrow and the target...

He waited...

[Dream]

Several things happened, almost at once.

Atta-Freema could not see the intruders, but like any vegetation did not rely on sight for sensation.  It went after the subtle chemical traces floating on the air; the tiny electrical signals grounded from any living animal's feet.  Atta-Freema-Vernus pivoted suddenly, and focused on the area between Holly's back and the door.  "<OTHER MEAT!>" the shambler creaked out in warning, and lunged in the direction of the beings it smelled in the room other than Holly.  The ones it could devour. 

The warning was heard by Lord Belzar barely in time.  He hurled himself out of his chair and waved his hand as he jerked to one side.  A rock wall 6 feet high instantly materialized around the throne he sat upon.  Instantly, yes, but still too late.

The arrow had already leaped from the powerful longbow, and flew flat through the iron portcullis to the throne across the room in only half the time it took for the sound from the bowstring to get there.  But thanks only to the warning a half-second before, Belzar's head had jerked aside two inches, just far enough to the left to avoid taking the razor-sharp iron point in his right eye.  Instead, it struck the bone of his skull to the right of his eye and laid open the flesh with the edge, crumpling as it hit the rock wall behind the throne with a "ching!"

The mage fell at the floor of the throne heavily, and felt his temple.  It was laid open to the bone and half his right ear was missing.  The blood suddenly started to stream profusely down the side of his face from the scalp wound.  He summoned a bandage firmly over the wound.

Belzar stood, and concentrated for a second.  Only a second... then his robes were suddenly encased in a glittering black coating of ebony armour.  It was exquisite, shimmering from millions of tiny dimpled studs made from the hardest of metalized obsidian.  He knew this plate mail was light and fantastically strong.  Even the joints were covered with fine mesh.

The wizard looked out through the metalized obsidian mesh that covered his face.  The helmet bore the angry visage of Dagor, the demon-god of the Krulltas people. 

Just briefly, the thought crossed through Belzar's mind that it would be prudent to send himself to safe place.  Crossed, yes, but was then discarded.  That arrow had struck deeper than a flesh wound and an ear.  It had struck his pride, and he wanted to see these intruders dead.  Quickly, or slowly; painfully, or instantly.  But dead.   He flexed his fingers in the shining black gauntlets.

[POG]

Baldwin maintained the discipline to keep silent when the arrow did not end Belzar's threat.  He fired two more in rapid succession the missiles impacted Belzar's glittering armor but did not strike hard enough to do him harm.  He was then flinging himself to the ground, warrior reflexes honed to a fine edge through years of fighting, coming into play.  Atta-Freema-Vernus' club like appendage smashed into the wall with power that shook the stones of the floor.  Baldwin scrambled forward attempting to sling his bow, stand up and draw his sword at the same time: a mistake.  The shambler was faster than it looked.  Baldwin couldn't avoid the backswing of the club.  It hit him in the back, the impact making him yell out.  The force of the strike lifted him, as if he was borne by an ocean wave, and threw him into the iron bars of the portcullis at a high rate of speed.  His skull struck the bars and sparks filled his vision.  He was unconscious before he hit the floor.

Rory stepped forward summoning from deep reserves he grabbed at the weaves of magik to throw up a wall of force between the shambler and his brother...

He couldn't touch the weaves!

Over the course of the last few days Rory had cast many powerful spells, with little time for rest.

It had finally caught up to him.  He drew deeper into himself his stomach churning with the effort.  A wave of dizziness hit him and he dropped to his knees, vomiting violently.

With no thoughts to his own survival, and armed with only his staff and long knife, Rory walked towards Atta-Freema-Vernus, knowing the futility of the effort, knowing he must protect his fallen brother or die with him...

[Scrasamax]

Who is to say what lies beyond the final door? The shades of the restless dead do not know for they have forsaken that in favor of lingering over their petty squables and impotent desires. Those clerics blessed enough to touch the pulse of the Divine have had a glimpse of that yonder summer country, but only a glimpse. Yet, sometimes, when all seems to be at its darkest, the lights of the distant shore shine bright...

Light filled the chamber, its piercing beams dazzling even through closed eyes, or visored helms. The brilliance was dimished as a form brew shape in the middle of the room, forming arms, legs, flowing robes of pure light. Holly could barely believe her own eyes, and the Royal Inquisitor lost his nerve, and dropped his sword at the sight of the bugbear. There was a sad look on his face, a seaching look, for Grumple...his very dear friend.

Atta-Freema-Vernus recoiled from the brilliance of the apparition. Its photoreceptors and chemical sensors singing a melody of fire into the cluster of matter that drove the shambler, and could very loosely be called a brain. The tendril and woody limbs curled in, drawing the shambler into the smallest possible form. In such a defensive position, it could hope to weather a decent sized fire with only minimal to moderate injury.

"THAT MADMAN IS IN MY KEEP! I'LL HAVE HIS BLOODY HEAD!" The King bellowed, bearing the sword that ended the bugbear's life. "Out of my way Mayleaf." The king snarled, half shoving, half clubbing Holly as he passed. It seemed that the King could not see the glowing bugbear as the man charged through him, trailing his dirty royal cloak like the tail of a comet. A sort of light, a spectral fire danced around the blade of the king. The blade fell once, twice. The roiling mass of Atta-Freema-Vernus surged to escape the king, the gashes gut in its hide spurting out a thick syrupy goo.

"Belzar, you bastard. I'll have your d**ned head for this!" The King snarl, spittle flecking his lip as he swung the hammer blow...

[Dream]

Grumple hung onto the charging horse's neck without knowing why.  The animal (that is, the horse, not the troll) galloped down the open hallway, slid as much as ran down the narrow stairs into the lower level, and then exploded into the castle barracks cook shack.  Now THAT got Grumple's attention.  He let go, fell off, and rolled to a bruising stop with a clatter in a pile of pots and pats.  The soldiers' cook and several footmen took one look at a maniacal horse and the ugliest knight they EVER did see, and scrambled to get out of the way.

Grumple grabbed a long roll of sausages and without pausing for the niceities of such things as chewing, proceeded to down several dozen.

"How dare you defile the sacred temple of your body with the flesh of dead animals!?  You are disgusting," challenged the smart-mouth horse.  "Re-mount!  We must make haste.  Mistress Holly has given me a charge to keep you safe!"

"Safe here" mumbled Grumple through a huge mouthful of sausage.  He reached for a small barrel of ale to properly lubricate the mass in his mouth. 

"Nay (neigh?) it is NOT!" argued the horse, as he aimed a well-placed kick at a soldier who entered, placing the unfortunate man a dozen yards outside on his back, unconscious.  "Come now!"

That's when the light hit Grumple.  At first he thought it might be the effect of several gallons of strong ale, but then realized that wouldn't be nearly enough to achieve such a lovely, rosy glow.  No, this was different.  Besides, this light was calling him.

Grumple said to the smart-mouth horse, as if it were the most natural thing in the world,  "Tantus want Grumple.  Grumple go."

Then the animal (the troll, not the horse) started running back up through the castle, his rapid pace slowed not at all by the four loaves of bread he had stuffed into the top of his tunic.

[Nobody]

OOC: Honestly guys, I don't know what my characters can do. Neither have the ability to contribute anything to this particular battle.

IC:
Odat was drawn to the room. As he reached the door, he saw the shimmering form. It was not like everything else. This was clear. It was as if the intoxication that clouded his mind rolled off of the shimmering form of light like water rolled off of a patch of oil.

As Kethal reached the room, she felt confined. So many things in such a small space. It would be like suffocating in there. She waited. Maybe she wouldn't need to go in there at all...

[POG]

Rory squinted into the brilliant light.  "Tantus?"

Rory never had the faith of a holy man but he was begining to see things in a new light.  He avoided the shambler as it crumpled, running to his brother.  Dizzy from his vain attempt at spellcasting he grasped the cold iron of the portcullis separating him from Belzar...they were too real...

[Callista Miala Moonshade]

Holly fell backwards into the room as everything happened at once. Where had Rory and baldwin come from? why was there a big tree thing in the middle of the room attacking them? Wasn't Tantus dead? and when did the king get here? Holly's head span as she looked around her. Without thinking she pulled her bow out and took aim. The invisible arrow flew through the air at the speed of 10 galloping horses and hit Belzar in the arm piercing through the armour. Holly's mouth fell open there was no way her arrow could of broken through the armour but it had. Holly shook her head vigorously and walked forward drawing her sword. Nobody told her what to do and got away with it. And nobody threatend her friends.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Stupid troll" Tigra said aloud to herself "It's going to get itself killed one of theses days" Tigra turned and ran full speed back to the castle. knocking over the same guard she had kicked before who had just woken and was getting up toppiling each way and that. Tigra again burst through the castle gates and back up the stairs towards the room.

[Dream]

OCC:  Remember, my friends, there is an iron portcullis (a huge metal grid made of iron bars) lying sideways imbedded in the stone walls, dividing the large room in half.  It came from Paladen's castle entrance.  Everyone besides Belzar is on the south end.  Belzar is on the north end standing by the throne he usurped.  Paladen's throne, to be specific.  The entire room, throne, tapestries, portcullis and all were transported from the other city here to Halbad's castle.  Belzar likes doing that sort of thing.  He knew Holly would recognize it and be impressed.

And he, and the throne, was surrounded by a rock wall he summoned to block arrows.  (I guess I failed to describe that 6 ft rock wall very well in my post yesterday, since both POG and Callista have let off arrows at him since he summoned the wall.  I'll get rid of it somehow.)

     I don't know how the king of Halbad got into the keep summoned from Paladen by Belzar, (which is, by the way, the same one from much earlier in the game when we first met the bad guy) but since the king hacked the shambler, I can only assume he, too, is on the south end of this magically-materialized room.  The only entrance/exit is through a heavy door with no latch or doorknob.  The one that closed behind Holly.  You're all locked in the south end, until the door is somehow opened (or until you somehow squeeze through 4" holes in the portcullis).  I assume all of Nobody's characters are outside the closed door.

     Just trying to keep things straight.  As you would expect, Belzar didn't get to be hundreds of years old by getting up close to his enemies' arrows and swords.  He's alone in his half of the room at this point.  Thanks for listening, and I hope this helped.

[Dream]

IC:  Outside the castle gates, a large group of soldiers from the Legion were congregating, out of range of arrows from the castle walls.  A large bonfire had been built, and more wood pulled from various town structures was being tossed on.

Drums were beating a primal rhythm, "Boom-boom, Boom-boom, Boom-boom..." as the buglers accented the rising level of sound with sharp notes from their horns.  Lieutenant Abraxos had even organized a growing group of chanting men he had "recruited" from pretty much anyone he met.  They seemed relatively eager to join... at least they did after the Lieutenant told them it was either sing, or join the parties trying to re-capture the horses.

Recruiting virgins, as predicted, had been more troublesome.  Halbad wasn't known for its high standards of morality to begin with, and younger girls had been mostly hidden away by their families from being found by the Legionaires.  When such girls were found, they swore they had been defiled long ago in some of the most remarkable ways.

Abraxos stroked his chin thoughtfully.  He had no idea it was possible to have one's purity spoiled like that family down Baker street claimed happened to their daughter...

"LIEUTENANT!" General Fellstrom barked.  "Quit daydreaming!  Get more girls!"

"Yes, Centurion!"  Abraxos responded.  "Now where should we look this time?" he thought to himself, as he grabbed a squad and trooped off.

Fellstrom surveyed the display of sound and light, and muttered, "That should get your attention, eh, Belzar?"

[Dream]

Lord Belzar was a bit too busy to attend a party, even one so entertaining as Centurion Fellstrom had thrown in his honor.  He was attending to business.

The first order of attention was to summon a large fishing net over Holly's head.  It materialized, wide open, and instantly dropped onto her.  When the center touched her head, the lead weights sewn into its perimeter fell and wrapped around her feet, entangling her in the mesh.  Holly staggered, and began to fall.  "That will slow down the brat", he grimaced to himself, as the pain from the arrow was starting to be felt in his arm.  "Where the H*** did she get that bow?" he thought.  No time to deal with that now, however.

With a wave of the other hand, followed by specific movements of each finger in sequence, he dematerialized the large stones from the wall by the throne he had summoned moments before, and flicked them directly above the area he thought her unseen friends were.  The stones in the wall were each about one cubic foot in size, and weighed close to 200 pounds each.  The rock wall around the throne shrunk rapidly.  As the stones were summoned from one end of the room to the other, they dropped from ceiling-height, well, like a stone, crashing to the floor 20 feet below.  Any living thing caught below would be crushed into bloody pulp.  He grinned in spite of the pain.

"Invisible, are you?  I like your game!"  Belzar cried out with joy.  "Do you like mine?!!"

"And don't go anywhere, king.  I'll get to you next!"


OCC:  There.  I said I'd get rid of the wall around the throne!

[POG]

OOC:  My bad about the wall.  I was in a hurry to get into the fight and missed it.

IC:  Rory and Baldwin were visible as the heavy stones slammed into the floor about them.  Rory stepped quickly dragging his unconscious brother backwards amidst the deadly hail.  Rory screamed out in pain!  The large stone splintered bones in his left leg, crushing it and pinning it to the floor.  He wavered between consciousness and unconsciousness.  Another stone was dropping towards his head with the inevitability of certain death.  He frantically clutched at the magik that eluded him.  His stomach churned acid.  Rory spat blood as his vision fogged and went white.

Rory and Baldwin disappeared under the massive crush of stone...