Sorry for the delay, had to finish a game my brother and I were playing! A hundred hours of a glorious cooperative campaign are now over and done, so I've got the time to action!

And speaking of an action...

Al-Aris strides towards the fallen warrior as his draconic features disintegrate in a mist of black smoke, standing a safe distance away from the bears and admiring his handiwork with a small smile before looking towards Wan Wan with an unblinking gaze, but it is the cold flatness of his voice, its certainty, that makes the greatest effect. "Is everything going as well as you were expecting it? Your greatest attack has been nullified, you stand out numbered three to one - not counting your little minions, of course, but we all know they are not an equal to any one of us - your path of retreat has been cut off and any initiative you might have had at the start of this fight has already been lost.

Li creates a handful of chocolate sweets, their shells the same color as the shades of the rainbow, and eagerly snacks on them as she watches Al speak, the same way a moviegoer might eat popcorn.

"This battle is already over and you have lost, even if your bodies are as yet unbroken and your spirits as yet unbowed. Lay down your arms and give us what we came here for, what we shed blood for, so that you might leave this field with your honor and health intact. There is no sense in meaningless defeat, and we have no hate for you, or any particular dislike for that matter; were our two factions not both trying to claim this artifact perhaps we could have even been friends."

At last, Li speaks, looking towards Laeh with a sad smile and a sadder voice. "Hello, uh...Laeh, if that's your name? If you don't mind answering...how old are you, exactly?" She sighs, then cuts through her discomfort with having to ask the question before explaining why she did. "I ask because, well, you look fifteen or so by my guess, and someone your age shouldn't be on a battlefield...you see things that change you for the rest of your life, things people would never have to see in a perfect world."

Her voice raises, becoming motherly and tender rather than sad. "Look, why don't you and I go for a walk and leave the rest to fight?"

Seeing his fiance so clearly troubled, any hardness or cold there had been in Al's voice disintegrates like the morning frost in springtime. "Li...you know as well as I do that I hate fighting just as much as you do, but we have been given a task, and we have to do what we have to do to see it done, no matter how much we might hate it. I can't do this without you here and at my side, as we were meant to be."

Li sighs once again, as if mourning the deeds she would have to commit. "Alright...just tell me what to do."

"You two: I have made my offer. Accept or not, the choice and the consequences are yours. Otherwise, we shall have no choice but to press the attack."

Wait. If they accept, everything's dandy. If not - barrage Wan Wan's breastplate with a series of small weakening attacks in a circle above the heart to be followed up with a single, large blow in the centre; dub this the Armor Breaker and add to my list of spells once completed.

Pray and hope they accept. If not...do what must be done: hot sauce, straight to the eyes and other exposed orifices. Keep the creation of milk on standby incase of friendly fire...and in case they surrender once the big guns come out.

caekdaemon - Al-Aris and Li-Rala [9, 5]:
You smirk as Wan Wan takes an attack from Linna, and give the wreckage of the stone Urstrig statue a small nod as you begin to approach Wan Wan. A pity, it was a great fighter.
Al-Aris: "Is everything going as well as you were expecting it? Your greatest attack has been nullified, you stand out numbered three to one - not counting your little minions, of course, but we all know they are not an equal to any one of us - your path of retreat has been cut off and any initiative you might have had at the start of this fight has already been lost."
Wan Wan: "I haven't even attacked yet, demon."
Al-Aris: "This battle is already over and you have lost, even if your bodies are as yet unbroken and your spirits as yet unbowed. Lay down your arms and give us what we came here for, what we shed blood for, so that you might leave this field with your honor and health intact. There is no sense in meaningless defeat, and we have no hate for you, or any particular dislike for that matter; were our two factions not both trying to claim this artifact perhaps we could have even been friends."
Li interrupts before Wan Wan can respond.
Li-Rala: "Hello, uh...Laeh, if that's your name? If you don't mind answering...how old are you, exactly? I ask because, well, you look fifteen or so by my guess, and someone your age shouldn't be on a battlefield...you see things that change you for the rest of your life, things people would never have to see in a perfect world. Look, why don't you and I go for a walk and leave the rest to fight?"
Wan Wan visibly tenses up, but makes no move other than that. A tired looking Laeh looks out from behind his leg with a wary expression, starts and stops once, then speaks.
Ilollaeh: "I-I don't like you people... You're mean to Wan Wan. I know he's loud and clumsy and a bit blunt-"
Wan Wan: "Erk."
Ilollaeh: "B-but Wan Wan is a good person, a-and you all just want to hurt him. I won't go with you, and I won't abandon Wan Wan, and I won't let you hurt him anymore!"
Wan Wan: "...Well, you have your answer."
Al-Aris: "Quite."
You and Li immediately attack, with you firing off a series of Decay pulses followed by a larger one, and Li firing a burst of hot sauce. Sadly, the dirt owlbears that had been so patiently waiting for the conversation at Laeh's behest decide now is a good time to attack, and both attacks are thrown off by the large beasts piling on.
The hot sauce goes wide, splashing on Wan Wan's armor, but the Decay blast somewhat hits its mark. The circle of blasts goes right where it was meant to, while the bigger final shot veers to the side, instead hitting Wan Wan in his bicep. It carves straight through the armor and flesh, then continues through the other side, with Wan Wan giving a brief grunt of pain. Damn bears!

Appearance: A big and bulky man that appears to be middle aged, with a full head of black hair and surprisingly dark eyes. He claims to be Middle Eastern in origin, but to an observer he would seem to be a little...pale.


Seraphimo - Dunrim [7]:
Well, Johnny is useless, you need to solve this problem yourself.
You hang up on Butler and face the bears, then hit them both a blast of concentrated heat, directed all at their heads. They seem to wobble around somewhat, staggering as they continue to chase after you. But, they don't stop. Instead, the stupid things plow headfirst into you, and their heads burst upon impact, showering you in a large spray of painfully hot dirt.
Dunrim: "OW OW ♥♥♥♥ OW THIS BURNS"
You quickly erect a heat shield around yourself, at which point the pain quickly goes away. You then look around, and find your legs buried under two very large piles of dirt, while the rest of you has a nice brown mist all over yourself.

Appearance: His face is full of soot and he looks a bit pale but otherwise he looks like a normal human. He is a little shorter than the average human and he likes to wear fully protective clothing. His origin is claimed to be somewhere inside Europe though he's not telling where.


TheKebbit - Wassily Nuñez [5]:
You look around at your teammates, but they all seem to have things under control, so instead you look to your own two problems. You build up a small array of Squalls, then quickly fire them all off, willing each one to rotate as it goes. It works, in a way. Rather than the bore you wanted, it's more of a corkscrewing blade. Oh well, still effective. The blades slice deep into the bears, and since they charged head on into the Squalls, they take the attacks pretty hard. One goes down immediately as a Squall cuts deep into its face, and its entire form loses cohesion. The other loses a front leg, then topples to the ground and can't manage to get back up. Well, that was easy. Hm, these bears are pretty weak. Nothing like the actual Urstrig.



CaveCricket48 - Linna [7]:
Well, if they're just going to retreat and hide behind their bears, you can give them a going away present! You quickly materialize a mace in your hand, gleaming steel with gold inlay and glowing a soft radiance. You then snap on a Light of Faith on yourself, and set its "center" on the mace, as if you were putting it down on the ground. The power protests a bit, but ultimately allows you to bind the aura to the mace. Seems to have weakened a bit, but not significantly. Probably not meant to be bound to a mace like this.
Oh well! You then wind up and wing the weapon through the air, making a fantastic arc that soars straight at Wan Wan. Sadly, he sees the weapon in time and perfectly blocks it with his glaive, letting the mace fall to the ground. Unfortunately for him, this puts the both of them inside the Light of Faith's radius, and Laeh gives off a shriek of pain as she starts visibly smoking behind him. Wan Wan realizes immediately, and again using his weapon, flicks the mace away from him, off towards the edge of the clearing.
While you're doing this, you don't notice that the two dirt-bears assigned to you are charging straight for you. However, you do notice in time to see both of their particularly muddy looking front legs fall apart, and their bulk fall to the ground and flip over itself. After the dirt beasts come to a halt, they're pretty much just two big piles of broken up dirt. Problem solved.

Appearance: A young woman that seems a bit thin but stands on a sturdy pair of legs. Her short dark hair is still long enough to nearly cover her eyes that are already concealed behind thick glasses, making it difficult to read her expression.


maart3n - Mikey/Heph [6]:
Matt: "Hey, life guy, could you bring my gauntlet to life? I'm not sure, but it might give me a boost. If it works I could make something like it for you, if you want."
Mikey: "You got it mate! Gnome soldiers, kill those beasts!"
Happily agreeing, you head over while your loyal gnome soldiers run at the bears screaming.
Hm. Okay, so he just needs the gauntlet to be alive? Easy! You lay your hand onto the stone arm and breath some life into it, upon which it starts waving wildly. Oh. Uh, you didn't quite think about that very hard, did you.



CrazyMLC - Matt Sterling [7]:
You try to sense the "construction" holding the bears together, but you can't really feel anything from them. Though, you also can't really "feel" construction from a distance in the first place. But you do at least have a sense that these aren't really constructed, so much as they are animated. A big lump of owlbear-shaped dirt, made to move like the genuine article. Well, should make them easy to take out at least.
The first bear coming at you, you Chisel from a distance, cutting deep into its back. It staggers, and you deliver a couple more blows, causing it to collapse. The second, you wait until it's close, then drive a flattened hand into its face, fingertips first. This time, the lower half of the beast's head is cut off, along with everything below your hand, which ends up being its front legs and a good chunk of its chest. Needless to say, this one goes down in a single hit. So, Chisel is higher power if you use your hands? Wonder if having a tool helps any.
Matt: "Hey, life guy, could you bring my gauntlet to life? I'm not sure, but it might give me a boost. If it works I could make something like it for you, if you want."
Mikey: "You got it mate! Gnome soldiers, kill those beasts!"
Mikey runs over to you while your little stone gnomes go to work on the bears, with their little stone swords and spears. They're very small, but much more durable than the owlbears, and are at least having no trouble keeping the beasts occupied. Meanwhile, Mikey tries to bring your gauntlet to life. It uh, works, sort of. The stone gauntlet begins flexing and moving wildly and out of control. Oh ♥♥♥♥, he animated it, it's alive dammit!



Events: With wounds taken and most of the enemies busy with the bears, Osfar's underlings see an opportunity to escape and plenty of reason to do so.
Laeh: "Wan Wan, now, let's go!"
Wan Wan: "Rrg... Yes, let's. Fall Back!"
Abandoning the two remaining bears, Wan Wan picks up the small witch girl in his good arm, cradling her not unlike a football, and begins a run for the edge of the clearing where he entered, away from the rest of the group. The red aura around him is back, this time covering him and Laeh with a red luminescence. The large warrior is making good time, too. If you don't do something and fast, he'll get away with the talisman.

Jesus christ. 1, 1, 2, 1, 9, 9, 2.
HOLD ON TO YOUR PANTS, KIDS.
ALSO Rule change. To better represent the numerical level of power everyone has, 1/10 of your Level will be added to your roll for purposes of fighting, rounded down. So a level 39 fights a level 50, rolls are a 4 and a 2. Results are 7 (4R + 3) vs 7 (2R + 5), so a tie. You'll also notice that at your current levels, this maintains a big element of chance. Yeap, that's on purpose, epic failures and successes are a vital part of the !!FUN!!.

caekdaemon - Al-Aris and Li-Rala [1, 1]:
You and Li struggle against the dirt bears, tearing them apart with the force of your anger and your bare hands. They ARE just made of dirt after all.
Al-Aris: "When I pointed out your weaknesses, did you honestly not believe that I was telling the truth when I said your path of retreat was blocked?"
Li-Rala: "Well, here we go again..."
You fire off a Decay Cutter at the running red warrior (1R + 2) as Li does the same with a spray of hot caramel (1R + 1), but your dirt-bears choose that moment to give a last death-lurch (8R + 6), managing to intercept the attacks at point blank. The full power of both attacks hits the beasts, and while the one hit by the Decay Cutter simply flop back to the ground, the Dirtstrig hit by the blast of caramel is turned into a muddied spray of dirt and sticky sweetness, showering a wide area behind it. Many ants will feast this night.

Appearance: A big and bulky man that appears to be middle aged, with a full head of black hair and surprisingly dark eyes. He claims to be Middle Eastern in origin, but to an observer he would seem to be a little...pale.


Seraphimo - Dunrim [2]:
You try to stop him with kinetic energy (2R + 3), but you can't draw much from the still earth or affect him much from way over here (8R + 6). A projectile might work better for this, though he might just be strong enough to break out of your kinetic hold, even if you were close. The guy is built like a brick house.

Appearance: His face is full of soot and he looks a bit pale but otherwise he looks like a normal human. He is a little shorter than the average human and he likes to wear fully protective clothing. His origin is claimed to be somewhere inside Europe though he's not telling where.


TheKebbit - Wassily Nuñez [1]:
You look over to the enemy, and manage to see them running off while you were distracted. Not about to let them get away that easily, you active Seafare and give chase on your pre-drawn Sea lines of your Chart, racing across the battlefield (1R + 3). Sadly, you don't see that you reached the edge of your lines, and accidentally manage to run directly into a large patch of Land, tripping over your own feet and going flying (8R + 6).



CaveCricket48 - Linna [9]:
Working fast, you cancel the mace you just threw and summon another in your left hand, winding it up for a throw like the one you just made. With a mighty yell, you release the blunt weapon, imbued with another holy field, and watch it fly directly at the red warrior with satisfaction. You notice it seems to fly farther and faster than it has any right to, as though guided by a higher power on its way to clobber this big red goon (9R + 3).
Sadly Ilollaeh notices as well, and shouts to Wan Wan as they run. Another one of her strange ripple-shields (5R + 4), combined with a quick jump and strike from Wan Wan's glaive (8R + 6), knocks the mace out of the air before Light of Faith has any time to burn them. You give a scowl and a muttered oath at the two as they continue running, barely even slowed by your attack.

Appearance: A young woman that seems a bit thin but stands on a sturdy pair of legs. Her short dark hair is still long enough to nearly cover her eyes that are already concealed behind thick glasses, making it difficult to read her expression.


maart3n - Mikey/Heph [9]:
Mikey: "Matt make an entire golem out of stone quick!"
Bless his heart, he tries. He tries and fails, as his newly animated arm grabs his face.
You instead turn your attention to the numerous stone gnome soldiers Matt made earlier, and with a great clap of your hands, you release a wave of Life, spreading out to each of the stone warriors. They all take a moment to come to life, and turn to face you. Stiffer than the 6 you've already brought up, but right now you need manpower, not finesse.
"Go take down that red warrior and the little witch! All of you, now!"
The gnomes fire off a quick salute, then take off after Wan Wan as fast as their little gnome legs can carry them. Not terribly fast, sadly. But hey, they're tenacious, they shouldn't need to stop. Maybe they can catch up when Wan Wan gets tired?



CrazyMLC - Matt Sterling [2]:
Matt: "No time for introductions, gauntlet buddy."
No time to make glove friends! Right now, you've got to make a golem! Sadly for you, your gauntlet disagrees. It latches onto your face, refusing to release you as you flail around trying to get the damnable thing off you. Surprise surprise, a living arm made of stone is PRETTY strong!




Events: Wan Wan and Laeh, though slowed by Linna's attack, aren't interrupted enough to actually be stopped, and manage to get to the edge of the clearing and beyond, talisman still in hand. Soon after, Mikey's stone gnomes chase after the pair into the woods, but with their speed and strength it's unlikely they'll be able to do much.
You think this mission may have been a bust.