And six more levels have been gained apiece in the process. All right, Olan. If you insist. Twelve. Twelve more levels. I know, I was being stingy. Thanks for setting me straight, my friend.

Oh, and Gib doesn't blame Aranwen at all. He's been the advisor and he screwed up too. Guilt is weighty.

Oh, Gib would have definitely spent time researching the "incarnation" angle to get as much information as possible. Also, Reralea, one of the most fun characters I ever played was a fallen paladin who had to earn back his paladinhood. FYI - he only did so posthumously. He died trying. Still, it was a really fun playing experience.

Forget Lysora then. Let's go with Rydor.  

"I will give you clarity. You will see with clear eyes. D'hurgen on this mortal plane is NOT a good thing, Kith. I mean, c'mon, chica!"

I had an epic death scene written out in my head. 

As Olan granted Gib with the Battlefate spell due to Therassor's domains, wouldn't it make sense that Lysora's faithful would have some ability to heal broken minds? 

"Hello, Aranwen," the cleric leans forward, elbows on his writing desk. "I'm Doctor Mi'ndheeler. You've one hour today. What's brought you here?"

"My... my adoptive daughter betrayed us after I led our party into Hell and back. She nearly killed my pet cat. Oh, and she's going to give birth to the incarnation of the god of death. Can you fix me?"

Sitting back, Doctor Mi'ndheeler raises his eyebrows. "Well..."

I feel nothing for the cultists.

Our characters survived? What!? I wasn't expecting that. I had already come up with a character concept if there were to be a continuation of the adventure. I am, however, just fine continuing with Gib.

Still need Nomad and hopefully, Giddy to post.

I think I'll be back in the real world tomorrow. Thanks for the well-wishing. 

This is worse than a season end cliffhanger.

I've been sick these past couple of days. Haven't seen all the discussion until now. Aw... sad.

And loved the post for Cedric. Awesome.

That's a long read, Olan. Good too. 

I'm on the edge of my chair waiting for the next battle scene to emerge. Got me some results to read!

Creative license.  Mad Mardigen has nothin' on Gib.

Thanks, Olan. 

And, Breebles...

My bad. I've altered my post.

By the way, you are absolutely correct, Gib would have used Hold Person to stop the wizard. I didn't know where to put it in my post, but that's absolutely something he would do. Good call.

This is fun. Death for everyone! 

Thanks for the post, Tann. This leaves room for Nomad and Giddy to post their character's responses, which I'll allow them to do today. I'll post a continuation tomorrow morning.

Wyatt stands watch while Wolf and Pops work their magic on the elevator shaft door, considering the condition of the ship, the dent in the door, the paint flecks, the broken straps... I have a bad feeling about this, he thinks. 

You have a bad feeling about everything, my love, Eden's soft voice echoes back at him from the void of memory.

Blinking away her ghost, Captain Sung realizes that his crew is nearly finished. Positioning himself in front of the door, he readies himself as Wolf works the door open. Stepping inside, Wyatt shines his light about and assesses the situation. 

"Clear," he relays, already working the panel on his left forearm to disengage the magnetics. A dull thump follows and the captain of Destiny immediately begins to float. Using the rungs of the ladder to propel himself up to the next floor, he pulls himself to the side upon finding the door to the second floor in a similar state to the one they'd just come through. Wolf and Pops make short work of this one, having practiced on the first, and once the door is opened, Wyatt pulls himself through, pushing his feet to the floor once more, and activates his magnetics. 

"Stay in touch," he requests after everyone is through. "We've already been here a while. Don't want anyone to run short of oxygen."

Leading Alex and Alaxis to the infirmary, the team finds entry a lot easier than the lift had been. Stepping through the door, Sung is immediately met by the feeling of a morgue. The dead man floating, the body bags, they have an otherworldly feel to them. Making his way directly to the floating body, Wyatt bends to read the patch out loud, "John Seward... anyone recall the name?" Is this a member of the original crew?

(OOC: answers, if any...)

By-passing the bodybags, Captain Sung visually examines the rigging that had been done with the tape. Following the leads to the case, he steps up to the attached note and again reads out loud, "Got a suitcase here. Looks to be sealed off completely by tape. Has a note that reads, 'Save her, please.'"

Glancing at Alaxis, he asks, "What's yer take, Doc?"

Thanks for the clarification. And don't worry about boring us. 

I've posted. Obviously, battlefield commands are difficult to issue during the cacophony of war so Gib's call to Cedric is more to let the young priest know that he's not alone. How Cedric decides to use his healing is completely up to him. Right now, Gib's focus is on ending the conflict.

Only the battle-trained have an eye for the whole of the field. 

"To lead from the front is to generate the love of your troops," Captain Ollifpher's words echo in the warrior-priest's mind. "To lead from the back wins you a near god-like view of the battlefield. You have to decide which will win you the day."

In the heart of the Temple of Death, Garn had easily shrugged off Gib's command to hold and the cleric of Therassor can only blame his own weakness in faith. He doesn't have much time to contemplate that situation, however, as he carries out his original plan and lines up his crossbow sights with his hated enemy.

The shot is tricky. Aranwen, in her golden beauty, is dancing in and out of his line bringing and end to one foe after another as she moves closer to the target. He has to time it perfectly... to press the lever too early will lead to disaster. To press it too late... Therassor, Righteous Commander, guide my hand. With a click and a jerk, the bolt is released. Already swinging the crossbow to his back, his heart leaps into his throat as the bladesinger begins to shift into the path of the missile. Despite his doubt, Gib's prayer is answered and the Sylvari's hair is trimmed by the passing bolt. Shield slipping along his arm, the cleric watches with satisfaction as his shot impales the wicked priestess in the shoulder.

And then they are upon him, smashing into his shield as he snatches his sword from between his knees. Grunting with the impact, Moreno finds himself in the thick of melee while he presses forward to provide his Kazari friend with assistance. Cutting a cultist down, Gib's wide moss-colored eyes seek his target, noting that Ch'dau is taking a beating while giving the same to Garn. Drawing in a sharp breath, the sweat and blood covered warrior-priest continues his slow progress forward only to be met by a new wave of the enemy. Struggling against the press, Moreno is surrounded, but then aid from servants of the death god swell. Blocking a slash against the face of his shield, he turns aside a thrust just as another cultist's blade pierces his lower right abdomen sending fiery white heat lancing through his chest and into his hip. A large cultist forces himself to Gib's side, and the two of them lay about fiercely, keeping Davena's minions at bay, even driving them back. 

Free of the smothering enemy rush, Moreno uses his shield to push a zombie aside and take the knee of a cultist out with a long cut of his blade. Frantically seeking his companions, he witnesses Davena attempt to slash Aranwen's throat only to be bowled over by Ch'dau and his breath catches painfully in his lungs. There's no time to cry out, not that it would do any good. Anger and grief fueling his adrenaline, the priest lunges forward into two cultists. Using his shield as a wall, he drives the first into the second momentarily entangling their limbs. Using the shield as a fulcrum he rolls to the left, bringing his blade around in a wide three-hundred and sixty-degree swing that ends by decapitating the second cultist and severing the spine of the first. Carrying through with the momentum, Gib runs towards his fallen friend, leaving the two cultists' bodies to fall behind him, a fresh spray of arterial blood providing the right side of his face with crimson war paint. 

A screaming male in black robes rushes Gib from the front—Kith is moving to give the Kazari aid—Moreno drops low, catching the cultist on his shield and driving his blade through the man's gut as he allows the forward motion of the enemy to help him carrying his dying body over the top of him, rolling him from his shield and extracting his longsword in the process. Cedric is close to Aranwen, Ch'dau, and Kith—Kith, who is now driving her blade into Ch'dau's stomach, not Davena!

An enraged and confused bellow erupts from the warrior-priest's throat, raw and throaty. Desperate to reach his wounded companions, his training kicks in. Cedric is in a better position to provide Aranwen and Ch'dau with aid. If I can kill Davena, Kith can be freed of the magic controlling her. Instinctively, Gib knows that he cannot muster the strength to call upon Therassor for another hold. He has one chance. He must reach Davena and kill her.

When he entered this battle, Moreno Enderedre had resigned himself to death, even singing the Funeral Dirge of Therassor. Now, victory requires him to live long enough to end the life of his rival, what victory may still be grasped from this carnage. His press turns into a calculated run; survey the remaining field, choose a path of least resistance, and MOVE!

"Cedric!" he yells. "See to Aranwen and Ch'dau!"

Kithran is speaking to Davena, helping her rise, a smirk on her face. "Kithran!" he calls raggedly to his friend as he continues his charge. "Kill her! Kill Davena and you'll be free!"

(OOC: OK... so, there's three possibilities here as I see it, so I'm writing three possible "nexts".)

(OOC: If Gib makes it to Kith and Davena without dying...)

Rushing in on the pair, Moreno positions himself so that Kith is shield-side. (OOC: if Kithran hasn't responded positively to his call...) Not wishing to do more than remove his friend from the equation, the warrior-priest attempts to knock her aside with his warworn shield while driving his blade through Davena's chest.

(OOC: If Gib is blocked from reaching them but still alive...)

"They are escaping!" Moreno calls out, hoping to draw the aid of their benefactor, Garrack and perhaps gain more time to free Kithran from Davena's hold. (OOC: If possible without drawing additional attacks, he'll also cast Command on Kith.)

Then, to Kithran, Gib calls upon the divine power of Therassor to compel her, "Stop! In the name of Therassor the Battle Lord!"

(OOC: If Gib reaches Kith and Davena but Kith won't give him the opening he needs and a shield bash won't remove her from the equation...)

His original plan to deal as little damage to the little scout as possible removed from him by her strategic maneuvering, Gib draws up with his shield in front of him, narrowed, calculating eyes barely above the upper rim, sword held back ready to thrust. "This isn't you, Kithran," he states in desperation. "You've killed your friends. Ch'dau, Aranwen... we've been languishing in the prisons of this one—" he tilts his helmeted head towards Davena, "—this past while, seeking every opportunity to free ourselves and come to your aid. Now, I need yours. 

"Therassor has given you the opportunity. Take it, Little Sister. Send her to her maker!"

I suppose there's nothing to it then. If Cedric can reach Aranwen or Ch'dau and keep one from dying in that round (preferably Aranwen as Ch'dau will likely last a round more) would he have enough divine power left to heal Ch'dau the next round? In Gib's estimation, of course.

Then, Gib's focus would be on Davena. His thinking being that if he slays her, whatever hold she has on Kith will be released.

As a player, that puts Gib at Kith's mercy if he can even make it to them without obstruction but Moreno is thinking tactically and sees this as their best option.

Whoa.

Okay, just to gain some clarity in the madness. 

1. Aranwen and Ch'dau are dead?


2. Cedric condition is...?


3. Gib is wounded how bad?


4. Kith is obviously Stockholmed.


5. Davena is down but not yet dead?


6. Garn is dead?


7. Can we tell at all which side of the cultists seems to be winning?


8. How far apart are we all from each other? Can Gib make it to Ch'dau and Aranwen in time to cast a healing spell keeping them from death? Or Cedric, maybe?


9. Can Gib cast Hold Person on Kith?

I've got a Masonic event tonight but I'll check in later to see if there are answers. Oh, and I loved the irony in Kith killing Ch'dau with Aranwen's sword.

Love it! That's really fun, my brother.

The day is waning! Please get your posts in before tomorrow morning (and I mean early morning).

Never feel bad for swearing at the D'hurgenite.

Though, I do wonder if there are neutral temples to D'hurgen to take care of funeral rites.

Y'all are making me blush.

Thus the reference to Sam.

I have managed to eek out some time this morning to post. 

Here's to the luck of the die and the kindness of the GM (forever a kind and caring sort who loves to see quests come to a happy ending for all of the party akin to Samwise Gamgee's end of adventuring days).