Chapter 16
The Lizard King
Bile rises in Wulf's throat. At first, the mage can only stand there in shock, having just witnessed his brother's body being dumped into the swamp outside.
Wulf's jaw hangs open in shock, and he jumps forward to the edge of the wall in time to see his brother's limp body collapse in a heap at the base of the keep tower. Wulf also sees that the dozens of lizardmen have also watched Jayce's fall.
Wulf furrows his brow and vanishes from view, thanks to his enchanted ring. He leaps over the wall and plummets toward the ground, whispering the magical command "Featherfall" halfway down. His fall is slowed and he settles onto a mossy rock with no more noise than the wind.
Back atop the wall, no one even notices the wizard disappear.
El T: Fuck! Holy Fuck! We need some fucking help up here! FAST!
El T starts to move out onto the platform to intercept the lizardman, when Trece shouts at him from behind.
Trece: El T! Get out of the way!
El T turns and looks toward Trece's voice, and he sees what the halfling and the cleric have been doing while Wulf was busy cooking trolls and lizardmen. The two have the ballista loaded, ready and pointed his way.
El T jumps clear, and the makeshift crew fire the weapon. The ballista bolt flies straight through the open doorway and sails along the edge of the Swampgate wall where it connects with the lizardman squarely in the chest.
Only it doesn't penetrate.
Trece, El T and Nokomis (all in unison): Oh fuck.
The lizardman staggers for a moment, for the weapon still carried behind it considerable momentum, however, the tip of the heavy quarrel shatters when it impacts the magically enchanted skin of the Lizard King. Unbeknownst to the defenders, the Lizard King had protective magic cast upon it by it's chief shaman, and though the ballista bolt hurt, the creature regains it's composure immediately.
With what can only be construed as a reptilian laugh, the Lizard King charges the tower...
* * *
Rodimus sprints around the corner of the barracks, an extra burst to his step as there has been alot of shouting back at the breach, and some of it didn't sound good. Making his way inside, Rod sets his sword down, hastily whips his dagger belt over his chest, sheaths his sword, grabs his bow, and slings his quiver of arrows across his back.
Re-armed and ready to whoop ass, spurred by fear for his friends survival back at the breach, Rodimus runs out of the barracks, only to encounter a surprising but pleasant sight.
Rod: Stoner!
Stoner: Arba, my ranger friend! I'm pretty pissed off now so I brought reinforcements... the villagers of Nim, ready to do battle.
Rod: Excellent! You look good since last I saw you.
Stoner: Well my Hill Brother now is the time for payback. Some of the villagers are at the front gate with Lothar, Redbeard, and Rapper, dispatching the last of those orcs.
Rod: Orcs?
Stoner: Arba. Mainly archers. We surprised them, took them from behind. They dispersed and became unorganized when we backdoored them.
[voice from crowd] Rodimus!
Rod: [looking] Who's that?
Voice: Its Randy, Randy Latona!
Rod: Randy?! Sweet! Yer dad here too?
Dave: Aye, I'm here Rodimus. Randy and I left the jail to our deputies and came running. Can't have scaleskins and pigmen drinking jug in our backyard, can we?
Rodimus: Most excellent. Good to see you guys. Let's go. We got a hole in the wall in the northeast corner. Things were contained when I left, but it could be ugly now.
Bow in hand, arrow knocked, the ranger of Nim leads his countrymen to the wall breach, Stoner and the Latonas in trail.
* * *
Back at the breach, the Lizard King bursts through into the northeastern tower, and eyes his quarry. Three humans and a halfling.
The two goodlings manning the ballista appear to the biggest threat, so the Lizard King advances on them. Ozzy and El T immediately intervene however, and the bard shouts an order back to his friends.
El T: Reload!
The bard has his rapier and main gauche at the ready, and Ozzy holds the creature's right flank with his twin scimitars. It's only when the two humans get right up next to the Lizard King they realize how big this creature really is. Standing at full eight feet tall, it's head almost touches the ceiling of the tower.
El T strikes first, stabbing forward with his rapier. The Lizard King is an agile beast though, and easily dodges out of the way. The creature snarls at the bard's interference, and it drives a shoulder into El T's sternum, lifting him from his feet and tossing him backward. El T skids to a halt up against the parapets.
El T: Oof.
The Lizard King then advances on the stunned human, and raises his trident to strike. El T comes to just in time, and attempts to roll to the left. With a downward stab, the Lizard King catches El T in the thigh, pinning the bard to the ground with the middle prong of the trident.
El T: AAAAAAAH! FUCK!
Ozzy tries to control his anger at this creature's battle prowess, and moves in quickly, taking the opportunity to back-attack the creature. He goes for the hamstrings.
Ozzy: ARBA MUTHAFUCKA!
With a double cut he slashes at each leg simultaneously, and the ranger's about to yell a premature cry of victory when both his scimitars clang off skin as tough as stone. After witnessing the ballista bolt deflect off, and now this, recognition finally crosses the ranger's face.
Ozzy (shouting): Shit, it's enchanted! We need magic to harm it!
Nokomis was frantically trying to reload the ballista, when she hears Ozzy's warning. She looks to Trece and then back to her friends, engaged with the beastly Lizard King.
Nokomis: Trece, we need to do something.
Nokomis steps out from behind the ballista and begins weaving her magic. Her hand motions end quickly, as she finishes the somatic component of her spell. The enchantment is supposed to be used for utility, but Nokomis has used it offensively before, and she has high hopes for it's affect. She points her finger at the Lizard King and utters the word "Shirak!". A sphere of light then engulfs the creature's head, and it howls with anger, blinded by the light.
Trece: Nice work! Now see if you can top this.
Trece backflips towards the lizard king, hoping to catch it's attention impress
him with such
a display of agility.
Once Trece is practically toe-to-toe with the Lizard King, he whips out his lasso, and starts twirling it around, up and over his head as he jumps through the middle.
Finally, Trece takes the daggers dangling from his wrist and puts on a little puppet show. Unfortunately, the Lizard King can't see a thing and is unaware of the jester-act being performed at its feet. But once Side-Show-Trece begins making little puppet doll noises during the dagger puppet show, he finally does get the attention of the blinded beast.
* * *
Wulf fully assesses the area outside the keep walls for the first time.
Immediately to his right is Jayce's limp form at the base of the wall, surrounded by four lizardmen who are hissing and slowly closing in on the elf.
Beyond them is another dozen and a half lizard warriors who are shying away from the blazing breach, unsure what to do.
Farther yet to Wulf's right are five lizards advancing quickly toward the confused mass of warriors by the breach. A large, muscular beast in brass armor and helm is bellowing and pointing its sword at the top of the keep wall. A few of the beasts near the keep seem to have caught the gist of his screams and begin scaling the walls.
Still farther to the south is the Lake of Fire, where floating pockets of black oil burn and drift across the still surface. The eerie flickers and bursts give the area an aura of hellishness, but thankfully it also burns out the underbrush and affords Wulf a clear view to the South. He has no doubts that his enemies have not ventured in that direction.
Directly in front of Wulf is the circle of still-smoldering swamp vegetation and blackened flesh that marks the point of impact for the Fireball. The five live trolls that can be seen are roaring and retreating from that vicinity.
On the far side of that burnt circle, Wulf spies six more lizard warriors, but through the smoke and mist he cannot make out their actions.
To Wulf's left are five more lizard beasts, the closest but an arms-reach away, beginning to scale the tower wall.
Wulf spies five reptilian warriors angling around the tower to the north wall of the keep. Any enemies farther in that direction are obscured by the heavy fog that constantly blankets the Black Lake and its shores. Wulf assumes there are many.
Turning back to look at Jayce, Wulf grabs his lucky feather off of his collar and whispers an incantation, feeling the magic flow through him yet again. He silently leaps into the air and flies over the heads of the four reptilian warriors near Jayce. Two have begun ignoring the inert form and started scaling the walls, but the other pair has moved in with knives drawn to ensure the elf will never rise again. Wulf positions himself with his back to the keep wall as he brings himself down to the ground just behind his brother, carefully eyeing the two beasts directly before him. They are close enough to strike, and Wulf needs to buy himself some time - he knows he can't quite scoop Jayce and take off without the lizardmen having an opportunity to attack.
Thinking quickly, Wulf quietly slips off the only wineskin he is carrying on him. As the first lizardman moves in with its knife at the ready, Wulf cautiously leans forward and drapes the pullstrings of the half-full skin over the knife blade, and then lets go.
Just as the weight of the skin settles at the dull base of the knife blade, the pouch becomes completely visible to the lizardman. The knife is nearly jerked out of the beast's hand by the unexpected weight, and the creature jumps backwards in confusion, letting out a startled yelp. The second beast is distracted too, staring in confusion at the mystical water bag suddenly suspended from his partner's hilt.
Wulf drops to one knee and quickly scoops Jayce up, cradling the drow against his chest for balance and then leaping straight into the air. The sudden rising of the unconscious body into the air and the strange conjuration of the wineskin, is enough to send both of the superstitious lizards scrambling backwards with gutteral curses. They shout to their comrades to hurl javelins at the departing elven body, but by the time any of them are ready to attack, the elf's body is gone. Wulf barely notices as he concentrates on not crashing into the two lizards scaling the wall and takes to the sky.
He veers away from the keep and rises at full speed, rounding his path over the wall and looking into the courtyard for help. What he sees is a huge surprise, and a most welcome one. His good friend Rod of Nim, Hill Brother and companion in the Circle of Eight, is racing around the corner of the Inner Keep with several Nimians in tow, including Stoner on horseback and the familiar faces of the Latronas. Behind them, the eastern gate is open, and the warriors and banners of Nim are scattered about the plain.
At top speed, Wulf swoops invisibly into the courtyard and lands twenty feet in front of Rod and ten feet to the side, so as not to get run over while invisible.
Wulfadamus: STONER, ROD, HELP! My brother is hurt bad, someone get a healer over here!
Still invisible, Wulf gently releases Jayce onto the cobblestones and two young Nimians rush forward with startled cries, grasping at their holy symbols. Wulf can't place their names but he knows they are friends of his brother, and if anyone can help the kid and look out for him now, they can.
Wulfadamus: The lizards are scaling the walls! Get an archery line formed right here to hit them as they come over! We need men in both towers, too, get up there! I am flying back outside to take the fight to the beasts, and I can carry one of you. Anyone interested? It is going to be ugly.
Rodimus (looking at Jayce's crumpled form): Get Jayce to Purdy and Osiris, or get those 2 over here! Last I saw them they were still at the breach. Aye, belay that, better not move him. Get the Hill clerics over here.
Rodimus cuts and rips the sleeves of his tunic, using the cloth to stem the flow of blood from Jayce's wounds.
Rodimus (to a Nimian he doesn't recognize): Here, hold this, keep the pressure on the wound.
Rodimus (to Wulf): Take me or Stoner. If you can lift my bulk and keep me steady enough, I'll have great target selection with my bow. Or, two flying wizards could be devastating, but if you both get hit... I'll let you decide.
Wulf grabs Stoner's arm while Rod discusses things with the Latonas.
Wulfadamus: He's right, you and I are probably better off being split up for now. Get up that southern tower, you'll have more room to operate without hitting our own. Or if you douse the fire in the breach, the Nimmians can rush into the swamp. The beasts are not prepared to defend against that.
Wulf releases Stoner, who takes off for the southeast tower at a sprint. Wulf then grabs Rod's arm and raises it up, turning himself sideways so Rod's hand is on Wulf's shoulder.
Wulfadamus: Grab on. I can't hold you steady enough to shoot, so don't try. I'll carry you piggy-back, it's the easiest way for me. Just kinda lean forward and I will have you, and then - OOF! Jiminy, you need to lay off the junk rations. Urg, okay, don't move much dude, I don't want to drop you.
With Wulf still invisible, it seems to the gathering that Rod is able to fly on his own. The duo slowly rise off the cobblestones and fly over the southern wall of the compound, coming down near the southeast tower. The nearest lizardmen are a group of 4, 30 yards away and advancing toward the breach. They are of course oblivious to the whispering Hill People.
Wulfadamus: Get down and start hitting them with that bow. Your ability to hide will be helped by my flying attacks confusing them. If you get bum-rushed by trolls, head for the Lake of Fire, yo. The smoke and flames will frighten them. Arba. See you in a bit.
Rodimus (to the Latonas): You can get up to the walls in the NE and SE towers. Take the rest and make for there. Be careful!
Dave Latona: Don't you worry. Yer father and I have been whooping ass long before Randy and you were racing horses on the back roads of Nim. We'll take care of them.
Randy Latona: Let's go! To the walls!
* * *
Osiris notices Dodge and Ski keep peering up into the NE tower.
Osiris: Fellas. Go. See to yer friends. Purdy and
I can finish up here. We got spells to protect us from the heat.
With the green light, Dodge and Ski sprint for the NE tower door.
Opening it, they see a lizardman leaning over one of its own, the fallen one badly wounded, but still responsive. The standing one looks up and hisses at its new quarry.
Hissing is about all it can manage. The lizardman goes to hop over its comrade, only to have the human monk Dodge hit him low, launching a flurry of punches into the lizardman's midsection. It gasps for breath. It won't get many...
As Dodge hit him low, Ski went high, bringing his enchanted katana around in a horizontal slash, cutting the lizardman in its snout. Reversing direction, Ski comes back against the grain, this time arcing up with the blade, catching the lizardman in its right eye. Blood spurts. The lizardman, staggering from the combined might of such a potent attack, brings its blade down in a final assault, connecting with Ski's chest.
Hearing Ski's gasp of pain, Dodge ceases his rib cage massage and instead drives both fists straight up, impacting the lizardman's snout, felling it to the ground.
Meanwhile, the wounded lizardman has drawn its dagger, slithers forward, and stabs Dodge in the top of his right knee, tearing into a good portion of meat.
Clutching his chest wound with his left hand, Ski drives his katana straight forward, impaling the lizardman in its right shoulder. The lizardman lets go of the dagger, still resting in Dodge's knee. Dodge falls flat on his ass, grabbing his wounded knee with both hands. For good measure, he kicks out with his left foot, catching the lizardman in its throat.
From above in the tower, the duo hear El T scream.
Gasping for breath, the lizardman reaches for its main weapon, and as it does so, feels an extra weight on its back, unable to comprehend what it hears next...
Ski: Take this, you scaly bitch.
Standing on top of the lizardman, the ninja Ski, a harbinger of death, drives his enchanted blade deep into the back of the lizardman, giving the death blow. Not satisified, Ski raises his blade again, and drives it downward, raises it again...
Dodge: SKI!
With Dodge's yell, Ski comes out of his killing rage. The monk begins sprinting up the staircase saying...
Dodge: That sounded like El T. Hurry!
Ski follows close behind, the two making all haste to the top of the tower.
* * *
The Lizard King is infuriated. The creature's head is enveloped in a ball of light, and it's thrashing it's trident about, hoping to connect with whatever just stung it in the backside of it's legs. It knows a human is nearby, and it seems to regain some composure, stopping it's thrashing briefly in order to listen.
El T is on the ground, grimacing from the pain of his wound. The gash in the bard's leg is deep, and when the Lizard King removed the trident after Nokomis' spell blinded it, the barbed tips tore the wound apart even more. The bard lies on his back, and begins intoning a spell. The Lizard King had just turned toward the sounds of a puppet show and was about to attack, when he hears the bard's spellcasting. Right at that very moment though, Nokomis starts intoning a spell too. The Lizard King decides to attack the closer of the two spell casters, and stabs toward El T's prone form.
The Lizard King's trident strikes true, and impales El T through the stomach. The bard screams in pain again, and his scream soon turns to a gurgle as he chokes on his own blood. The Lizard King knows it connected when El T's spellcasting ceases, and he cackles with reptilian glee.
Ozzy curses under his breath and moves in for another attack. The Lizard King seems to be an experienced blind fighter, and it cocks it's head to the side as it hears the human approach. Pulling the trident from El T's body (and again worsening an already severe wound) the Lizard King spins to avoid the expected attack. Ozzy underestimates the creature's skill, and misses with both strikes. The Lizard King turns to face the general direction of the incoming attacks, and snarls with a taunting sound, beckoning Ozzy closer.
Nokomis completes her spell, and the shaft of the Lizard King's trident begins to bend and warp. The blinded creature is caught by surprise at the reshaping of his weapon's haft, and it hisses in anger. The shaft of his weapon is now at a forty-five degree angle, bent right in the middle. The Lizard King still seems able to wield the trident, though it's movements aren't as fluid.
Trece floats nearby, his body a barely visible wisp of smoky ectoplasm. The ghostly halfling watches in horror as El T is nearly speared to death. As much as Trece would like to make an attempt to drag his wounded friend to safety, he knows he would only die trying. Instead, Trece decides to end his puppet show and focus on distracting the lizard king.
Trece: Over here you piece of crap!
Trece darts forward and passes through the Lizard King's body as if it was an open door. Trece turns to face the beast's back and shouts again.
Trece: You've got nothing, ass-clown.
Finally, Trece moves as if he is going to pass through the lizard king again, but stops when he occupies the two are standing in the same location. Trece continues to taunt the lizard king.
Trece: Bwamp. It's getting dark in he-ya. Baby don't turn on the light...
All the combatants find themselves a little distracted by the sight of Trece's ghostly arms protruding from the lizard king's legs.
El T continues to choke and gurgle on his own blood. The bard is in desperate condition, and everyone in the tower knows it. Ozzy does his best to keep the Lizard King's attention off El T and on him, and he shouts some taunts of his own, as he presses the attack on the blinded monster.
Ozzy: Your head will look nice on a pike outside the Swampgate. The whole Fireswamp will know of your failure.
The Lizard King holds it's weapon awkwardly, the bent haft making the trident difficult to wield. Trece's distraction proves fruitful at this point, as the noise prevents the creature from being able to use it's sense of hearing effectively, and that's all it has to aid it in it's battle with Ozzy. The Lizard King flails around with it's trident, unable to solidly connect with anything.
At this point, Ozzy presses his attack and the ranger connects with two more slashes, both ringing off the creature's stone-like skin without wounding the Lizard King at all. Ozzy curses again.
Ozzy (yelling): DAMN! My scimitars are useless! Where the hell is Wulf? WULFADAAAMUS!!! ARBA!!! Wulf, where are you?!
However, Ozzy's slashes do keep the Lizard King's attention focused on him, instead of allowing the creature to finish off El T.
Nokomis is about to move over to aid El T when she sees two lizardmen pull themselves on top of the parapets. One hops down off the wall inside the tower, but the elf is too quick for the second one. She charges it immediately, and with a two-handed swing of her mace, she slugs the lizardman square in the chest, knocking it off balance. The creature drops it's axe flailing to keep it's balance, but the effort is to no avail, and the creature topples over the side.
Right as the lizardman falls out of sight, Dodge and Ski burst through the trapdoor. The Lizard King is a mere five feet in front of them, with it's back exposed. Trying to gauge a quick assessment of the scene before him, Ski feels Ozzy and Trece are in no immediate danger, but Nokomis has her hands full with the wounded El T and a reptilian near her.
Ski: Dodge, see if you can help with that big fucker over there. I'll help Nokomis.
With that declaration, the ninja silently launches two shurikens at the lizardman - silently because he doesn't want Nokomis to flinch at his arrival and get in the way of his flying blades.
One of the shurikens flies true, embedding itself into the lizardman's shoulder. The reptilian hisses in annoyance. Ski's second shuriken misses just high and over the shoulder, harmlessly bouncing off the stone wall of the tower. Climbing completely into the room, Ski maneuvers himself between the lizardman and Nokomis, keeping aware not to put his back to the lizard king.
Dodge creeps up as quietly as possible behind the Lizard King and prepares to strike. Trece's constant taunting keeps the creature's keen senses out of whack, and the Lizard King is completely oblivious to the arrival of new enemies. Ozzy sees Dodge and launches an attack of his own, the ranger hoping a simultaneous attack will continue to keep the Lizard King off-guard.
Ozzy strikes first, and when his scimitar bites deep into the flesh of the Lizard King, he can barely contain his joy.
Ozzy: AH HAH! How does my steel taste, lizard-boy?!
The Lizard King reacts by slashing out with his trident, and takes Ozzy's feet out from under him. The maneuver spills the ranger to the ground, causing him to fumble his second scimitar. The Lizard King assumes he has the advantage and presses the attack on Ozzy's prone form, only to howl in pain when Dodge inflicts a pair of kidney strikes on his exposed backside.
Dodge had focused his entire ki into those strikes, and he knows they had good effect. Even though the Lizard King is armored, Dodge could almost feel the organs being crushed under his blows. The Lizard King didn't earn his title by showing signs of weakness though, and he forces himself to fight through the pain and eliminate one more enemy while he has the chance.
The eight-foot tall Lizard King stands over Ozzy and prepares to strike a downward stab into him. It's all Ozzy can do to scramble backward, trying to get away from the impending strike.
Meanwhile, Ski prepares to engage the lizardman when the ninja hears Ozzy's scream of triumph...
Knowing he'll place himself in a weak defensive position, Ski reaches for another shuriken and hurls it towards the Lizard King, hoping to connect and disrupt the beast from attacking the downed Arabian ranger of the Hill.
To the ninja's displeasure, the spinning blade misses completely, clanking off the stone walls and falling to the floor. Meanwhile the lizardman has closed the distance between itself and this blade throwing human. Judging that the elf and other downed human are not a threat, the reptilian raises its morningstar to attack...
....and smiles at its good fortune. The foolish human has ignored him and instead throws something at his master, the mighty Lizard King. Unleashing a mighty heave, the lizardman swings his morningstar high.
*thwap*
With a sickening crack, the morningstar connects with Ski's head, dropping him to the ground.
Nokomis watches the lizardman she just smashed fall over the edge and immediately rushes to El T's side. Seeing how close to the Lizard King they are, she decides as much as it is going to hurt him, she has to move El T to a safer area so she can tend to his wounds.
Nokomis: Sorry El T, this is gonna be painful, but I don't think we have a choice right now. Brace yourself.
Nokomis hooks El T under his arms and begins to drag him backwards away from the Lizard King, all the while keeping an eye on the beasts' movements. El T grimaces from the sharp pain of the movement.
Nokomis: Sorry kiddo, I'm doing my best.
When she finally reaches about 30 feet from the LK she decides that should be safe enough, seeing how Trece is confusing the monster. Nokomis looks over El T's mangled stomach and takes a deep breath.
Nokomis: I don't have much left in me El T, but I'll do what I can.
She gently places her hands on his stomach, closes her eyes, and tilts her head back, as if summoning something from above to help her friend. A soft mumbling comes across her lips, and she begins to squint as a welcome current runs through her body, one which has become so comforting to her, and the main reason she became a healer in the first place. It took her a while to get used to this feeling at first, but now, it puts her at ease.
When she opens her eyes, she looks down at the wound in El T's stomach, or at least, where the wound should've been. But now, because of her powers, there is only red marks where the wound once was. She then notices his leg for the first time, and realizes all she can do is bandage this one, for all of her magic has been spent.
Nokomis takes a moment to check on the battle and she sees Ski directly between her and the second lizardman that climbed into the tower. The ninja speaks with his back to her.
Ski: Nokomis, attend to El T. This one is mine.
With great fury in his eyes, the ninja brings his blade to bear on the lizardman...
Nokomis: I'll do what I can with these bandages El T, but at least we got your stomach taken care of.
Nokomis begins to work on the bard's leg.
The Lizard King towers over Ozzy's body and the ranger seems hopelessly pinned. The ranger does the only thing he can do from this position, and kicks out at the creature's legs, hoping to knock the beast off-balance. At that same moment Dodge launches into another flurry of blows, catching the Lizard King in the weaker parts of his lower back again. Dodge notices a trickle of yellowish-brown blood begin to flow from behind it's armor.
The Lizard King only barely seems to flinch as he absorbs the monk's hits and the ranger's kick. The blows stagger the creature for a moment, but even though the creature is blind, it smiles a wicked reptilian grin and stabs the bent trident toward Ozzy.
Trece realizes Ozzy's in trouble, and he moves in front of the Lizard King and screams at the top of his lungs, right in it's face. That catches the Lizard King by surprise, as he mistakes Trece's scream for that of his prey's. It didn't think it's target could get off the ground so fast.
The distraction buys Ozzy only a moment, and in a last ditch effort the ranger brings his scimitar around to parry, and manages to deflect the weapon to the side. The trident misses Ozzy's neck by inches, but one of the barbed tips catches the ranger in the shoulder of his right arm, stabbing through to the tower floor.
The Lizard King's confusion is multiplied as he hears Ozzy's grunt of pain.
* * *
Pain explodes inside Ski's mind, as he is momentarily stunned from the impact of the lizardman's morningstar and his vision goes blurry, eyes watering. Luck is with the ninja however, as the spiked ends of the morningstar hit Ski's skull at a diagonal, the blunt end of the weapon doing the damage. Hissing in delight, the lizardman moves forward to finish his kill, when movement to its side averts his attention.
Seeing the elf and downed human coming around, the lizardman moves to intercept them...
* * *
The sound of metal against skull was loud enough for anyone to hear within a 30 foot radius of Ski and the lizardman, unfortunately for Ski. For Nokomis, it was sickening. She was just finishing up El T's leg when she looked up, and saw the blow. Her stomach turned with sickness from the sight of Ski's head snapping to the side and his body going limp for a few moments. Then, that sickness turned to anger, and the anger turned to rage.
Nokomis sees the lizardman eyeing her and the bard at her side. She slowly rises, and with each inch another ounce of rage builds up, to when she is finally standing, facing the ugly beast, her face is beat red, and there is a blank stare in her eyes. She is focusing on one thing... the shuriken protruding from the shoulder of the lizardman.
She begins to move towards the creature, and it hisses at her, in a mocking way, thinking that this will be an easy kill for him. How can some petite elven female that looked nothing like the larger, more muscular male versions do any damage to him, a true lizard warrior? He knew he connected with the other human's head, and he was a fighter... not a girl.
With the time the thinking lizardman just bought her, Nokomis continues to move closer. The lizardman decides he's gonna play with this elf and have a little fun. Little did he know what was about to come next...
When she finally gets in range, the lizardman takes a swipe at Nokomis. She throws up her left arm in defense, catching a claw through the flesh of her forearm. But it was not enough to stop her, as she has her trusty mace in her right hand, and takes a huge swing, hitting the shuriken squarely on it's end, driving it its full length into the beasts' shoulder, causing a loud hiss of pain. Stunned, he realizes this will be a little harder than he thought.
The lizardman is totally focused on the cleric, and this is all the time that Ski needed. Trying to shake off the effects from the head shot, he raises his katana high and waits. Nokomis sees him in position and starts taunting the lizardman, moving him around to allow Ski the best angle. With its back directly towards Ski, he quickly moves in for the ultimate payback.
With the lizardman in between them, all Nokomis sees is a blade rising, dropping, then a head rolling off the body of the ugly creature that just clawed her. As the body falls limp, she sees Ski standing, smiling, wielding his weapon like a trophy. Looking down at the head, Ski says...
Ski: Paybacks are a bitch, aren't they you stupid lizard.
He looks up at Nokomis, and they flash a smile towards one another, knowing their teamwork was what did this one in. The moment ended quickly though, as Ski begins to lose his balance, starts to wobble, and falls to the floor. Nokomis rushes to his side, but realizes there is nothing she can do. She picks Ski up, and takes him to where El T is laying.
Nokomis: (half smiling) Now don't you two go anywhere!
And with that, she heads to help her friends against the Lizard King.
* * *
Trece realizes his taunting is contributing solidly to the battle with the Lizard King. However he knows he cannot maintain ectoplasmic form for much longer, and he needs to make his last moments count. From his perspective, he slides a perfectly formed dagger from it's sheath and flips it over in his hand. A casual observer would notice only a faint wisp of smokey substance, but Trece wields his dagger with well established proficiency.
The Lizard King tears his trident from Ozzy's body, and snarls. The hulking creature turns to face Dodge when Trece makes his move. Thrusting the ectoplasmic dagger into the Lizard King's back, Trece experiences an odd sensation. He's experienced it before, when he first learned this ability and used it to walk through the walls of a vault in Mos Eisley. However, the flesh of the Lizard King feels different, stranger in a way that makes the halfling a bit uncomfortable.
Uncomfortable it may be, but he knows he must do his best to take this beast down, as it's already incurred massive damage on his friends. Letting go of the wispy dagger, he springs away and wills himself to assume physical form. At that same moment, the dagger materializes in the chest cavity of the Lizard King and the lord of the Fireswamp's Redeye Tribe screams in agony.
From Dodge's perspective, the attack came from nowhere. It seemed as if the Lizard King was about to attack him, but it released it's two-handed grasp on it's trident to clutch one hand at it's chest. Dodge steps back for a moment, as surprised as the Lizard King, and the monk notices a dagger protruding from the creature's chest, point first. Unbeknownst to the combatants, the wispy dagger had nothing to hold it affixed in the center of the Lizard King's chest, and when the giant beast moved, the dagger shifted position.
The attack still produces an advantageous effect, and Dodge strikes quickly, not wanting to waste the distraction. With a strong kick to the knee, the Lizard King staggers slightly. Off balance and still clutching his chest wound, Dodge focuses all his energy into a single open-palm strike to the beasts groin. The monster buckles under the crushing blow to his family jewels, and staggers to one knee. The Lizard King still manages to clutch his trident in one hand for a moment longer, until the sickening feeling of the groin-shot overcomes him, and he drops the weapon to clutch at his reptile-sack two-handed.
Ozzy takes this opportunity to clamber to his feet, now grasping a scimitar in his left hand, his right arm hanging limp at his side.
* * *
Meanwhile, Wulfadamus and Rodimus cruise to a stop and land outside the southern door of the Southeast tower. Moving inside they gain a vantage point to reconnoiter the lizardmen's forces. From their perspective they see several more of the reptilian creatures scaling the walls, and they notice the fire has gone out at the breach. Lizardmen crowd around the hole in the Swampgate wall, trying to break through the blockade created by Ski, Dodge, Osiris and Chris Purdy earlier. Rod knows the four Swampgate defenders attempted to construct _something_, but neither of the two Circle members suspect it will hold for long until they are able to get the breach fully repaired.
Rodimus kneels down and unstoppers his vial of sleep poison. Setting his arrows out, the ranger applies the sleep poison to his arrowheads.
Looking up at Wulfadamus, Rodimus whispers...
Rodimus: So, what kind of magic you got? Isn't there magic to put them to sleep, or create some stink bomb, or even a big spider web?
Wulf smiles as he notices Rodimus looking in the wrong direction.
Wulfadamus: Hush for a second, I need to concentrate.
With a whisper, Wulf casts Detect Evil and scans the area, hoping to reveal any diabolical presence hidden from his poor human eyesight. Initially he notices nothing.
Wulfadamus: Okay. My studies were interrupted, and I have now cast everything I had. It sounds like wand time to me. At least I am still invisible. But you'll see me in a bit.
Wulf leaps into the air and hovers as he is speaking, then zooms due east and lands on a log twenty yards from the tower and prepares his lightning attack. As Wulf moves into range of several of the attackers, his detect evil spell confirms that these lizardmen are indeed evil. However, the spell reveals something else. Now that the early morning mists have begun to burn off and visibility is slowly improving, Wulf notices that in a darker area to the east, under a copse of cypress trees, a thicker mist still hangs. Initial logic would dictate it must be due to the shade, but the mist seems to be emanating evil.
* * *
DM: See the Battle Map at this point in time here.
Back in the northeast tower, the Circle finally has things under control. With the arrival of Dodge on the scene, the Lizard King was unable to effectively defend himself and the monk managed to inflict serious damage upon him. This also allowed for Trece to go on the offensive, and between the halfling's ectoplasmic attack and Dodge's critical strike, the Lizard King is rendered helpless.
Ozzy wastes no time in taking advantage of this opportunity. The ranger has battled the evil denizens of the Fireswamp for many years and this chance to deal a crippling blow to the lizardman armies will not escape him. Ozzy brings his good arm around in an arcing swing, and catches the Lizard King along the back of the neck.
Dodge follows suit, and sweeps the Lizard King's legs out from under him, sending him sprawling to the ground. In a maneuver that would make the Tekken masters of the Nameco dojo's proud, Dodge plants a crushing downward stomp upon the Lizard King's exposed back, and the snap of the creature's backbone can be heard throughout the tower.
From the Lizard King's perspective, the battle is over. Tunnel vision nearly overcomes him, but he still has one card left to play. Curled up into a defensive ball after the hounding attacks of Ozzy and Dodge, the Lizard King reaches to his belt for a potion of healing. He unstoppers the vial and is about to quaff it, when Nokomis yells "Fore!" and catches him right in the middle of his outstretched arm, shattering the scaly elbow into tiny pieces. All the incredible trauma delivered to the Lizard King's body in so short a time causes the creature to go into convulsions, and he sputters his last, bloody breaths onto the tower's cobblestone floor.
The potion vial spills to the ground and the elf cleric is quick to scoop it up. Her quick elven reflexes manage to save more than half the container's contents, and she immediately offers the potion to Ozzy.
Nokomis: I'm not sure what it does, but he was about to drink it.
Nokomis shrugs. Ozzy, isn't sure if he should drink it though... he has flashbacks of orcish suicide attacks and wonders if this might be some kind of last ditch attack by the Lizard King. He gives Nokomis a nod but grabs the stopper and re-corks the vial, handing the potion back to her.
Ozzy: We'll figure out what it does later, eh?
His right arm still hanging weakly at his side, the ranger gathers up his other scimitar.
At this point Trece has witnessed the end of the battle with the Lizard King, and risks a look over the wall. What he sees does not promise rest any time soon, as he spies another wave of lizardmen about to reach the top of the walls.
* * *
