Decent Into Darkness

[Prince Herb]

Moonshadow switches tack and resheathes her Sunblade.   "My bow will be better to hunt such birds as roost in these trees", she says, before proceeding to snipe at the treed goblins with unerring elfin skill.

[CyMage]

In reply to the stone, Ailith cast one more spell this fight.   If anyone in the area was sensitive to negative energy, they could feel a small, concentrated ball of it appear between her hands.  Then with a simple flick of a wrist, she simply dropped it at her own feet where it exploded in a burst.  The party might have felt a minor chill wash over them, but were unaffected... The goblins on the other hand...

Edit: After the spell is cast, Ailith pulls out her crossbow.

OOC: Circle of Death.  50 foot radius burst.  Snuffs out 1d4HD worth of living creatures per caster level (14d4 in this case).  Creatures with lowest HD are affected first, and nothing over 9HD is affected.  Fortitude save negates.   The DC is 30+.

[Priss]

The burst of magic flys out from Ailith in a wave of such intense cold that even Lain, accustomed to the dark and the cold, shivers.  

A handful of goblins tumble from the branches of the nearer trees as the spell siezes them in its cluches, sucking the life from them.  With them comes a number of the native wildlife, small squirrels and birds that had been hiding in the branches.  A snake that had been climbing up the rough bark of an oak falls to the ground still slightly twitching with its death throes.

Of the beasts running about on the ground, it is true that some ten or possibly eleven of the goblins fall instantly in death.  A smaller handful of others within the spells reach shiver hard, somehow throwing off the spell's effects.  But they aren't the only ones affected.

In the forest to the side of the path, a deer freezes in mid leap and dies.  A badger scurrying about trying to get to it's burrow and away from the battlefield collapses in death.  A couple turkeys burst up trying to fly away, but tumble back to the ground locked in death.

[Figment]

Ignoring the goosebumps caused by the wash of deadly energy, Ticha nocks an arrow as her eyes sweep the surrounding woodlands for a glimpse of the goblins.

[Prince Herb]

Moonshadow breathes deeply to maintain her equilibrium as the bone-deep chill of the necromantic charm washes over her.   Moonlights begin to spark into existence around her as she looks for targets.

[Trunkyboy]

Rackham rips the useless googles away from his eyes with a roar, then glares around trying to find another enemy to slay.  He doesn't flinch from the cold, in his state, there is only the sweet lust for battle.  He crouches, preparing to lunge.

[Priss]

Hearing a faint sound, Lain's head whips about just in time to see Darien crumple to the ground, a faint trail of blood trickling from his lips.  As his body slumps forwards, the cause of his demise becomes evident.  A bone handled knife juts up from the back of his neck like a demented flower.

"Great..."  

She turns back to the battle, readying her sling even as she picks her target, only to hiss in frustration as Rackham charges blindly into her path.  She picks another target and lets fly even as his blade hacks in the ground just barely missing a cackling goblin.

Across the tiny bit of a clearing, the elf begins to shimmer with an unearthly light as she drew her bow taut, sharp eyes darting about the darkness for targets for her bow.

"Fool!  You're making a target of yourself!"  Lain barks, then snarls for giving away her position and vanishes into another shadow.

Ticha's eyes dart back to her left as she spots a goblin about to heave a large branch down upon Moonshadow from the elf's blind spot.

[Prince Herb]

"They can already see me," Moonshadow replies as she scans all around for any still-living goblin, "this merely redresses some of the balance.   And Rackham will need light to fight by just as much, or more."

[Figment]

Drawing an arrow to her cheek, Ticha mutters a word and the arrow crackles with suppressed energy as she lets it fly at the unsuspecting goblin.

Taking a few steps towards Moonshadow, Ticha once more vanishes from sight.

[Priss]

The goblin of Ticha's intent jerks then vanishes from the vision of those who can see in the darkness.  

Rackham slices down another two in his mad fury.  His arms darkening with the beasts' blood.  Sometimes it appeares that it is his great fists that are rending the life from their bodies instead of his blade.

Moonshadow sees five, maybe six goblins crouching together just barely within the limit of her lowlight vision.  Their eyes glitter dangerously with refelctions from the summoned moonlight as they peer at her, long jaws gaping wide in grusome drooling grins.

Lain sends another stone whistling through the air towards a goblin leaping   to attack Rackham from behind, but her nightvision, which had adapted to the full darkness, becomes dazzled from Moonshadow's summoned moonlight and throws her aim awry.  Instead of the killing blow she intended, her stone just grazes the side of the beast's head and causes him to scream in pain and rage.  However,  it does throw off his attack and sends it crashing into the hard dirt of the path instead of Rackham's back.

[Prince Herb]

Moonshadow shoots into the cluster of goblins, hoping that a few rounds of elf-shot will disperse them nicely.   "Scram, goblins," she says, "you're not worth the killing."

[Trunkyboy]

Rackham's roar doesn't abate.  This was life!   You enemies' life coating you, the sweet scent of battle and death, the sheer rush...

There were still more.  He rushes towards them, his blade poise to cut them as a farmer reaps the grain.

[Priss]

Suddenly, one of the slightly smaller goblins screetches out something in their screaming tongue, and all of the goblins pause, one getting chopped down by one of Rackham's fury driven strokes.  Another bout of screaming, and they all turn and dash back into the forest's cover.

When the last one dissappears into the underbrush, a heavy leather bag full of small lead beads flies out of the darkness and smacks Rackham full upon the back of the head.  Then Lain steps out of the shadows from where the bag originated, hooking her sling back onto her belt.  She stares after where the goblins vanished.

"We must be moving quicker now.  They are not so fool as one may believe.  They'll bring back any reinforcements and allies they can find."  

Then her firy gaze turns back to look over the others.

"I am not one for fighting blindly or constantly.  Nor am I one for dying.  We cannot stop here, we must press on lest they return in such numbers that even their weakness might cut us down."

With that she turns, adjusting slightly the light pack on her back and the cloak covering it, and steps over a pair of particularily grusome goblinite forms before continuing down the path.  As she passes Rackham, she leans down and picks up her shotbag and returns it to her slingstone pouch.

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OOC:  Not trying to knock Racky _out_ just knock him out of the rage.  If he goes out for a bit, okay but might want to wake him up shortly after the last person leaves so he doesn't get left behind.

[Prince Herb]

Moonshadow bounces over to Darien's prone body to see whether he still lives.   "We have a casualty here," she says, worriedly studying the bone handled knife that has pierced the fallen fighter's spinal column.

[Figment]

"Can you heal him?" Ticha asks, her voice coming from somewhere near Ailith.

Ticha glances over at the elf as she inquires, then returns her searching gaze to the surrounding woodlands.