Zion: Light of the New Moon, Ch 1.3 Bannihar
Zion - Light of the New Moon Chapter 1.3
Bannihar Sundered Haven
The party has rushed into the Wayside tower from the top and will attempt to engage the reserve ranks of the Orgs in combat while the caravan guards fight from the ground level.
The charge into the tower was led by Lord Raes, flanked by Elesin and Roarg. Elias was quick to follow, but remained a step behind the front line. Kayte followed after the armadillo, staff at the ready. Iskiy remained beside her, short sword in his paw while Alexander crept along at the back of the group, a small, curved knife in either paw. Though the cat remained close against the walls, nimbly placing each foot, he seemed to have little trouble keeping up with the group, albeit, at the rear.
After only a minute or two, Lord Raes held his sword up to get everyone's attention. Coming to a stop, the dog swiveled his ears this way and that, then turned to those closest to him to whisper, "Orgs... they're moving further in." he motioned forward with his sword and continued onward. The party passed a set of doors on either side of the hallway and Lord Raes slowed again.
"What's the problem?" Elesin questioned, "They're closed."
"I don't like the idea of leaving anything behind us without knowing that it's clear." the dog answered.
"Well, Orgs aren't really the kind of creatures that would be polite, now would they?" the kangaroo questioned, casually tapping her boot with the flat of her sword, "They wouldn't bother closing doors, so it's safe to say they--" she paused, glancing forward down the hall, "Well hello there." her muzzle broke into a sadistic grin.
The eyes from the rest of the group followed her gaze to two spear-wielding Orgs. The humanoids were naked, for the most part excluding the leather that was lashed across their bodies at various points where bloated and inflamed flesh threatened to fall from their bones. They had just walked into the hallway from an ajoining one to the left. The humanoids took one look at the party, and quickly turned left then began running away from the party further down the hall.
"They're gonna go warn the main force." Roarg growled.
"They won't make it." Elesin grinned. Switching her sword to her off-paw, she ran after them, right paw already beginning to glow.
"Don't be stupid." Elias scowled, "We can't just--"
"Apparently she's not interested in talking." Roarg noted to Elias, and ran after her.
"She's going to get herself killed." Lord Raes scowled, turning to jog down the hall, metal armor clanging with each step, "So much for the element of surprise."
"I'm more worried about her getting US killed." the armadillo growled, and moved quickly to follow.
The second portion of the group around Kayte picked up the pace, heading swiftly down the hall in hot pursuit of Raes, Roarg, and Elias, who were following Elesin, who made no qualms about chasing after the two Orgs at full speed. The spear wielding Orgs finally slowed to a halt and turned to face the advancing faithful. "Gonna make this easy on me, are ya?" the kangaroo grinned... but the grin slowly faded as side doors to the hallway opened and eight imposing, club wielding Orgs emerged.
"Damn it." Roarg growled, "ambush... back!"
"Can't!" Iskiy announced from the rear of the group, turning to face four mace carrying Orgs who had emerged from the closed doors the party had passed, "Four from this side!"
"Remind me to root Elesin to the stone next time she's about to do something stupid." Elias snorted, glancing this-way-and-that, "There's got to be--" he paused when he saw an imposing Org tromping down the side passage toward the group. The armadillo wasn't at all familiar with Org society, but he could tell that the club-wielding Org was different from the rest; he had runic symbols branded into his flesh... which could only mean one thing, "CASTER!" he barked, motioning to the side hall.
"Gather up!" Kayte warned, "They're coming at us from all sides!"
"No!" Elias quickly warned, "Forward, or backward! Do NOT stop here!" his eyes went wide as he saw the Org shaman start to motion with his off-hand, flickering tendrils of flame forming at the humanoid's fingertips, "HE'S GONNA CAST!"
"Priestess!" Lord Raes barked, "Call to Tah'aveen!" The dog raised his shield arm toward the ceiling and spoke his prayer. The sanctified stones of the Wayside responded, showering a protective blue aura across the faithful. Kayte was quick to add her voice to beseech the goddess for aid, calling upon her divine power to protect them from the dark spells of the Orgs.
Elesin, further to the front, was more focused on the Orgs that stood between her and the spear men she'd been following, "Don't wanna give up easy, do ya?" she questioned, and extended her right arm, twisting her wrist so that her palm faced the ceiling. A crackling white orb appeared between her fingers, floating just above her paw, "Fine then..." and an arc of lightning lept from the orb, lancing straight into the front lines of the Orgs, burning straight through one and causing the second's chest to combust; both fell, convulsing as the electricity continued to wrack their bodies.
Elias took stock of the situation, "Nobody's handling the rear!" he shouted, but everyone else already appeared to have their attention elsewhere. Cursing to himself, the armadillo forced his eyes away from the clear-and-present danger of the shaman, unable to stand by while a charging force of Orgs came at them from behind. "Damn it all." he scowled, shoving his fist at the wall to his right. Huge stone spikes rose up from the floor and out of the walls, inhibiting the movement of most of the Orgs, but one managed to slip through.
Elias rolled his eyes, and opened his palm; a stone fist emerged from the ground and latched onto the charging humanoid's ankle. The Org howled out as it was pinned to the ground. It raised its mace, apparently intent on smashing the hand, but didn't get the chance as a stone fist came straight out of the wall and collided with the thing's head, creating a sickening, fleshy crunch. The only other movement that came from it after that was its collapse to the ground. He glanced back down the side hall to the shaman, who had used the time in a far-too-useful way. "FIRE!" Elias screamed, and he threw his arms up in front of himself, causing two large waves of stone to block the worst of the magical attack. Nonetheless, Elias could smell the scent of his fur blackening, and it was not a pleasant prospect.
Kayte spun immediately at word of Elias' warning and threw her paws up before her. Race quickly stepped between her and the fire, raising his shield. A scintillating, translucent silver and blue holy aura diverted the flames around the two, leaving them both unharmed. While nobody else had the same kind of divine protection, it became quickly apparent that Elesin wasn't bothered by the fire in the least; still focusing on the Orgs ahead of her, the kangaroo casually pointed her blade to the left down the hall and the fire blasting at her was instead turned aside, neatly cleaved so that the flow of the flame shot past either side of her body.
Nobody had paid much attention to Alexander, who had slipped past most of the group and was making his way down the side hall, blades ready to meet the Shaman. As the fire burst through the party's ranks, however, the cat was hard to miss as he flew overhead trailing smoke. He collided loudly against the wall next to Elesin, landing with a wordless cough; steam came out of his muzzle. "The cat's hurt." the kangaroo called blandly toward the rest of the group.
Roarg and Iskiy, both without either divine nor magical protection, were at the mercy of the spell. Roarg spun away from the blast, exposing his back to the spell but crumpling into a ball to protect the most important parts of his body. Making himself as small a target as possible, the badger managed to escape the worst of it, emerging with some bad burns, but still widely unharmed. Iskiy, thinking quickly, chose instead to jump prone to the floor, covering his head with his paws; the explosion of the fire largely missed him as the heat burst upward toward the ceiling. With a quick leap to his feet, the scout quickly drew his bow.
"Incoming spears!" Lord Raes announced, attention going back to the majority of the Org force ahead of them. Iskiy, quickly turning his focus toward the newest problem and knocked two arrows into his bow. Turning the weapon sideways, the wolf let them fly. Each shaft streaked past the front-running Orgs with clubs, catching two spear men in their chests. Both orgs fell, howling as they tried to grab at the arrows protruding from their bodies; the aim was true, and they didn't live long enough to extract them.
Two remaining spear men hefted their weapons and let them fly. The hallway wasn't wide enough to provide any room to dodge, thus the spears came flying in uncontested. Elesin swung her sword using her off-paw, but the clumsy deflection failed to work, instead she caught the thick piece of sharpened wood right in the forearm, "DAMN IT!" she grunted. Lord Raes, despite his shield, did not fare much better. Raising his defense, the dog had just enough time to bring his shield up, but the flimsy spear struck it and shattered; a section of the shaft was deflected downward, slipping through a space in the dog's greaves, and right into his thigh. Glancing down at the puncture wound, Lord Raes casually pulled the wood free and tossed it aside; he didn't have time to consider the injury-- the rest of the Orgs were charging.
The first Org to lead the charge was the largest among them; there was little doubt that it was their leader. As with all Orgs, the leader had torn, splintered bony projections emerge from each joint, creating some nasty-looking natural weapons if he was going to try to knee or elbow someone. The left side of the large Org appeared to have been stunted, giving him an uneven gait, though it barely seemed to slow his charge. While the Org's left side was small and shriveled, its right arm was almost comically massive, and that was the side in which the Org held his mace. The humanoid howled out in glee as it closed in for the attack, screaming out an almost intelligible "DIE!" as it came in at Lord Raes.
The champion quickly raised his shield to block, taking the powerful blow full-on against his guard. The strike sent the dog stumbling as his wounded leg almost gave way, but he managed to force the Org Leader back with a wall-to-wall swipe from his broadsword. The Org Leader laughed at that, swinging several more times with his club, but Raes finally managed to catch the large weapon between his shield and the wall, and forced both legs straight, bringing his helmeted head right up underneath the Org's jaw, sending the humanoid stumbling back a few steps and providing Lord Raes a moment to breathe.
Further down the hall, Elesin was exchanging strikes with an Org, though neither appeared to have the upper hand. The kangaroo's Org was much more evenly built; unlike the leader it didn't appear to have the same under/over development, though its hunched back meant that its attacks came from odd angles, mostly striking upward at her, making it hard for the kangaroo to anticipate the direction of her parry.
"This has taken long enough." the kangaroo scowled and, after another parry, she reached out and latched onto the Org's arm with her paw. She forced her weight against him even as she spoke the words she knew would resolve the problem in front of her. The wound on Elesin's forearm closed completely as it manifested on the Org's instead. She continued forcing the Org back, drawing on its own strength to weaken it. By the time she let go, the Org didn't even have the energy to draw breath; its own weight was smothering it.
Another of the Orgs, breaking past Raes and Elesin, came directly at Roarg. The badger, facing off against the overweight, almost bloated Org was forced immediately on the defensive. Roarg stumbled backwards as the Org swung its mace. The badger parried one blow, then another, and was forced onto one knee as a powerful overhead bash almost made it through his defenses. Roarg cried out as several boils on the Org's forearms sprayed puss into his face; the force of the impact from the blocked attack had burst several lesions on the humanoid's body.
The Org roared out in victory as it raised its mace for another attack, but the roar turned quickly to one of pain as Alexander twisted his placed dagger in the creature's thigh. The Org turned with a scowling growl and raised its mace to finish off the injured cat, but Roarg stepped in and swung his hammer at the Org's good leg. The knee-cap shattered and the whole joint quickly bent the wrong way, sending the monstrous humanoid crashing to the ground beside Alexander. Roarg bashed in the fallen creature's skull and Alexander pulled his blade free from the slain foe's leg. They each exchanged a nod, and Roarg waded back into the combat.
Another Org lept between Lord Raes and Elesin, intent on bringing its mace to bear against Iskiy. With nothing but his bow at the ready, the antlered wolf was forced to stand his ground, defenseless. The Org, a skinny, almost emaciated looking creature, body covered in sores and blisters, came at him like it was possessed, letting out a roar as it used both hands to try and bring its mace down in an over-handed chop. Iskiy nimbly sidestepped and, moving forward, slid around behind the creature. The wolf's bow moved into position right beneath its jaw and, using the wooden length as a lever, Iskiy twisted, and didn't stop until he heard the Org's neck break.
Behind Iskiy, Elias took several steps back from the joined combat, meeting up with Kayte, "we're surrounded." he pointed out, "We have to do something about that shaman or we'll get fried."
"Alright." she nodded, glancing to the Org shaman in the side tunnel. She quickly unlatched the Divine Shield censor from her staff, "I'll keep him busy... just make sure nothing else comes at me from behind." and she stalked toward the shaman. Elias had to make good on the priestess' request as another Org broke through the front line of battle and rushed him. Without a weapon, Elias realized he wouldn't stand much of a chance against the Org but, then again, he was in a stone hallway-- everything was a weapon.
The Org swung downward at Elias' head, but the armadillo quickly punched through the wall; a shelf of stone emerged from the bricks, catching the Org's weapon. Pulling his arm back out of the stone, a large blade of rock came back out, completely surrounding his forearm almost up to the elbow. With a quick, unrestrained slash, Elias brought the weapon across the Org's midsection and stepped back as a steaming pile of organs cascaded out. The Org fell to his knees, desperately trying to force them back inside. Feeling nauseated at the spectacle, the armadillo brought the weapon across again, granting the creature a merciful, and much less frantic demise.
Kayte approached the Org Shaman in the side hall, and he just laughed. He spoke something in his strange language and pointed at her, and then at the half of the fur-covered wolf head that he wore as a helm. At first, Kayte was not at all concerned about what the savage creature said, but only after a moment's pause did she realize that the helm was not made from the skull of a feral wolf, as she'd seen Wild Landers wear; she saw the rings in the wolf's ear-- it had cleaved off the top of a city dweller's head and wore it as a grizzly hat.
"You've condemned yourself to the deepest place in the Burning Pit." she scowled, and swung her staff. Laughing, the shaman grabbed the end of the pole out of the mid air, and casually tossed it aside. He took a step toward Kayte, who quickly backpedaled.
"New hat..." the Org Shaman stated, the words of the common language thick and sickening coming from its scarred, bloated tongue. It reached out for her with its off hand, raising its club with the other.
"NO!" Kayte barked, turning to run. The Org reached out and grabbed hold of one of the straps of her blouse, crooked claws digging into her flesh as he tried to latch onto her.
Elias, now free of immediate concerns, quickly regarded Kayte, who barely managed to pull free of the Shaman before he could swipe at her with his club. The armadillo saw the blood on the priestess' shoulder, and the torn blouse; the fact that the Shaman was naked certainly didn't help the image at all-- the armadillo was not in a forgiving mood. Slamming the ground with a fist, Elias spoke the incantation and a ripple of stone snaked out from his arm to a spot on the ground between the shaman's feet.
Before the Org had another chance to attack, he was suddenly otherwise indisposed as he tried to figure out how to extricate his genitals from the stony grip of a rock fist. A moment later, it became a non-issue as the first punched upward straight into the ceiling. Bits of Org Shaman rained down into the hallway. "Come on." Elias motioned gravely to Kayte, who had no trouble following his directions.
Back toward the front line of combat, Elesin walked past her most recently downed foe, who was desperately trying to breathe, "Just die... you'll make it easier on us both." she suggested. She was so focused on the mortally weakened Org that she didn't pay any attention to the incoming spear which pierced her arm in the same spot that had just been healed, "Really?" she asked indignantly, "REALLY?!?" the second question was more of a battle cry. She raised her arm, weapon in paw, intent on darting her sword at the offending spear man, but an arrow spouted from its throat before she could. The kangaroo glanced back to Iskiy with a snort, "Fine..." she huffed, "I'll call it next time."
The combat continued intermittently as the group slowly fought back against the surrounding Orgs. Elesin quickly charged across the field of battle to engage the Orgs that had just managed to work their way through the stone-entangled hallway, lopping off half of one's head then spinning around to run another through. Roarg and Lord Raes squared off against the Org leader, who did a remarkably good job of keeping them on one side of him, denying them the opportunity to flank.
Kayte stood in the middle of the combat, raising her voice to Tah'aveen, calling for the healing power of the Full Moon; her prayers were heard as the injuries sustained by much of the party became that less grievous; the burns from the shaman's fireball were already melting away, replaced by clean, healthy flesh and fur. The nasty scratch on Kayte's shoulder likewise closed painlessly, and she paused at that point to piece together her torn blouse which, due to the favor of the Moon Goddess, was likewise restored to pristine condition.
"Must be good to have friends in high places." Elias noted.
"She is someone we may all turn to when the need is there." the wolf smiled comfortingly, but they had little time to debate the fine points of faith as the last Org broke free from Elias' trap and-- had his head caved in by a gargoyle statue slung in forcefully through the window.
"I thought this was a stealth mission." Sebastian noted, clinging to the windowsill.
"We'll dicuss-- the fine points--- of stealth--- later--- Gryphon." Roarg called from further up the hall, straining with all his might to keep the Org leader's elbow spike from piercing his throat. Roarg was held up against the wall by the imposing creature while Lord Raes' attacks were repeatedly met by the Org's emaciated arm which, despite looking brittle, seemed perfectly capable of turning aside the dog's blade. On his fifth attempt, Lord Raes's blade became lodged in the Org's bone-- the humanoid didn't even seem to notice... or care.
"Move aside." Elesin announced, and slipped in past Lord Raes to push a paw against the Org's abdomen. She repeated the same incantation as earlier and the wound on her forearm closed up, appearing instead on the Org's. Roarg had a much easier time of forcing the wounded arm away from his throat and, with two rapid kicks to the Org's sternum, the badger was dropped to the ground. Iskiy quickly took aim and placed an arrow in the Org's shoulder, causing the thing to rear up and roar. A stone brick shot out at the end of a pillar from the wall and caught it in the throat. The Org dropped to the ground, holding its smashed windpipe.
"To the Burning Depths with you." Raes announced, and brought his broad sword to bear one more time, cleanly cleaving the creature's massive neck, sending its head rolling to the round. The Org's disembodied head blurbled and wheezed twice. It blinked... and then went still.
"That could have gone worse." Elesin announced proudly.
"Could have gone better too." Elias scowled, kneeling down to help Kayte, who was trying to get Alexander to his feet.
"He's hurt." Kayte announced, "Everyone go see if the guards need help clearing out the tower... I need to see to his health."
A flurry of activity followed, but the worst was already over; the Wayside Tower was retaken in the name of Tah'aveen, and the Orgs were slain to the last of their number. It was a hard fought battle, but it was still just the beginning of the caravan's trip to Zion.
* * * * *
The Banniharian Group has completed Chapter 1.
The end results of the Story Arc show some injuries and fatigue among the party, thankfully all minor fatigue is erased from the group thanks to having the safety of the Wayside in which to recover.
The healing undertaken by the priests removed a good amount of injury from most of the group, but some damage remains, as does some greater fatigue.
Alexander still has a Lethal wound. Kayte will tend to the cat's injury, resulting in the cat losing three Willpower-- Kayte takes 1 Major Fatigue from the divine energy required to complete the task.
At this point, Kayte and Elesin each have 1 Major Fatigue-- these are both removed as it is the end of a Story Arc... how's that for convenient?
Please watch for upcoming contribution opportunities as Chapter 2 will soon begin. Congratulations to the Bannihar party for surviving Chapter 1!