[ We find Some of Our Heroes ( And Two of Our Stand-In Heroes ) staring at one of the two large, fortified gates that are the official entrances to Menzobarranzan. ] [ The gates are massive and heavy-looking, and surrounded by hundreds of little slits for archers to shoot out of. Seems safe, for those on the other side. ] [ I give it... ten minutes. ] [ Session Start! ] [ Kardos is there, observing the battlements. Anastasia is there, loosening up for the coming exercise. ] * Alcinoe is there, fully armed and armored and looking up at the gates, as perviously described. After Max's vanishing act and the resulting insanity (both literal), she's been more or less silent. Perhaps she was praying. It'd come in handy here. * HKenji reaches down and softly loosens both swords in their saya, letting just a bit of light peek out. * Alcinoe brings about her shield, holding it in front of her. She closes her eyes and whispers some prayers, the runes glinting, and then glowing as Galahad strengthens their small group. * HKenji looks ahead at the gate to the drow city. It's time to smite some evil. * HKenji starts walking calmly to the gates. * Anastasia finishes a sword exercise, then cracks her neck. "About time." * Alcinoe opens her eyes and looks up and ahead to Kenji. She glances at Ana and Kardos, cracks a very small almost-smile, and then walks after him. * Robin walks as well. (You've got the GM on your side.) (Dude, we are so winning this.) (Totally.) [ Kardos hms. "Perhaps I should provide a distraction? I would hate for us to become perforated before reaching the door." ] * HKenji snorts. Their arrows will never touch us. [ A glistening crossbow bolt whistles by Kenji's face as he says that. ] See? * HKenji keeps walking. * HKenji yells ahead, quite loudly, "You may as well open the gates!" [ Kardos sighs. ] * Alcinoe snickers a little. She can't help it. * Anastasia laughs. * HKenji says more softly, so it doesn't carry, "If I really wanted them to open the gates, I would brag a bit, but really, it's more fun to break them down." [ A crossbow bolt thuds into Kenji's left thigh. ] * HKenji looks down, annoyed. * HKenji reaches down and rips the arrow out. * HKenji looks up just in time to see the rest of the volley coming, draws his katana in a flash of light, and five *tinks* and one *whoosh* later, he's otherwise unharmed. * Anastasia glances down. "Save it as a souvenier." [ The rest of the arrows are easily deflected by expert katana strikes or random chance. Alci's armor protects her, Ana's armor and nimbleness protect her, and Kardos' nimbleness protects him. That was annoying. * Alcinoe raises her shield to stop an arrow from hitting her face. It bounces harmlessly off. * HKenji sheathes his katana and pulls a bow out of his sleeve. [ There is a cry that you can hear faintly. And then a great deal more arrows come your way. ] ( Wait, hold that. ) * HKenji pulls four arrows from his other sleeve and sends them winging at the walls near the arrow slits, where they explode like crazy. (Now put down what you wanted, Robin?) ( Yis. ) [ Kardos nods to Alcinoe. ] * Alcinoe nods back and runs after him, drawing her sword as she does. [ Kardos bounds ahead at great speed, pulling his sword and slamming it into the gates, which creates quite a spectacularly loud clangor. There is also a great flash of light, and a slight purple glow that you hadn't noticed before fades from the gates. ] * HKenji slides his bow into his sleeve again and draws both swords, lighting the gates and wall with the entirely welcome glow of sunlight. [ There are cries from beyong the wall, and the arrow strikes come a great deal less accurately, this time. ] Break them, Alcinoe! [ Kardos starts pushing against one of the gates, waiting for Alcinoe to come and deliver the final blow. ] * Alcinoe lets out a shout, charging straight for the gates, slamming into the other door as hard as she can. [ One of the gate's titanic hingebolts breaks free immediately and goes flying past Kenji and Ana with a low, loud howl. Soon the others follow, many springing out, one simply dropping, and one actually shattering into a rain of shrapnel. But the gates begin falling inwards, with such a massively cocophonous groaning of metal that the ears of all who hear ring with it. ] I told them to open the gates. * HKenji shakes his head sadly as he catches up to the strength brigade. * Anastasia runs to catch up! [ Kardos glances around once inside. The first massive structures bear the name of trade guilds and taxation offices on them. ] Tax collectors! * Alcinoe walks right in, glancing at the buildings. "That what it is?" [ Kardos ignores some slaves and passers-by and leaps into the mass of guards that had been assembling inside the gates, but who had arrived too late to not be crushed by the gates themselves. ] I'd recognize a tax assessor anywhere. You can never escape them. * Anastasia follows in. "Hard to miss the smell of gold." Still, there are drow who need killing, and I believe our goal is... right there. * HKenji points to the largest building in the city. * Alcinoe spots the mass of guards and raises her sword to them. It shines brightly - far too brightly for a dark place such as this, and she raises her voice in a prayer to Galahad. A small, burning sun appears in the middle of the drow, flickering briefly before exploding outward into a brilliant, swirling mass. [ The largest building in the city is about a mile and a half away; it is a massive structure shaped like a black widow spider with the head, torso, and multiple arms of a cruely-smiling drow woman. ] [ The searing ball of holy light bursts forth from Alci's sword, immolating 34 goblins, two orcs, singing an elite minotaur in full plate, and burning about fifteen random drow, some of which die, some of which just fall down clutching at their eyes and screaming "FUG'INAY", which is Drowishese for "MEDIC!". ] [ Init starts now. Kenji, go! ] * HKenji rapid-fires four arrows in quick succession, rocking a large tax shelter with four consecutive fireballs. [ Bits of the tax office are knocked off by the explosion, tumbling to the ground. The interior of the offices and filing halls affected begin to burn, which will no doubt bring sorrow to people who might've gotten off with fewer taxes this year. ] [ Ana, go! ] * Anastasia plows through enemies with a fervor, hacking through drow until she finally whacks a chunk out of the minotaur. [ The minotaur bellows in anger and rage, and whacks Ana back! ] [ Kardos twitches, and lunches at the minotaur, reaching him in three strides and a leap, hacking the minotaur from its right shoulder to it's left torso. Headless, it crumbles to the ground. ] [ Four more minotaurs arrive on the scene, along with twenty orcs. ] [ Alci, go! ] [ The four minotaurs and four of the orcs come from buildings further into the city and to the left, while the other sixteen orcs come around the bend behind you and to the right. ] * Alcinoe runs for the larger group of orcs. When she nears, she begins to speak loudly, clearly, and steadily though in no language anyone may recognize. [ A nearby drow screams and agony and drops dead! The orcs seem unaffected, tho. ] [ All sixteen orcs in group B mob Alci! Meanwhile, Group A heads mostly for Kenji and Kardos, since they seem the easiest to hurt. ] Kardos, help Alcinoe! [ Kardos swerves between the axes of the minotaurs and assorted polearms of the orcs. Kenji takes a few moderate hits, but Alci remains utterly unscathed. ] * HKenji steps back, just barely out of reach of the minotaur, and lets fly with four more arrows, point blank into its chest. [ The minotaur explodes as the spells in the arrows go off, and the minotaurs and orcs around him are immolated; Kenji and Kardos flip away from the damage, avoiding the worst of it, and the radius of the fireballs stop just short of Ana, who stands there looking badassly unperturbed. ] * Anastasia would pose but she's already badass. [ More opponents pour in; two more elite minotaurs, six more ordinary minotaurs, and twenty more ordinary orcs. ] * Anastasia twists the blade around and produces what is apparently an endless font of blood from the group of orcs, slicing through them cleanly and efficiently until she thocks the blade into a slightly more solid being and looks up. "... excellent." She grins. [ The minotaur Ana hit glowers down at her and exhales a great gout of fetid breath - and then it spasms, it's eyes go wide, it's pupils dilate completely, and it screams like a demon of hell before laying into Anastasia. ] [ Kardos looks around, makes some gestures in Alci's direction, and then leaps to a spot outside of the pack of orcs surrounding her, swinging his sword at seemingly empty space. White light rains down around Alci, killing all but two of the orcs around her, and the spot Kardos swung at screams and spurts a great gout of blood. Meanwhile, four armored minotaurs come marching up to Alci, one of them charging her but missing, its attack deflected. ] [ Meanwhile, four armored minotaurs come marching up to Alci, one of them charging her but missing, it's attack deflected by her mighty shield. ] * Alcinoe shoves the minotaur away with her shield, brings her sword back, and lets out a shout as she swings for the thing. A golden edge forms, leaving light as it cleaves straight through the minotaur's armor and into its chest, then again sideways, from shoulder to hip. As the thing falls, she turns, beheading the two orcs too stupid to die earlier. [ And then they paused for a thirty-minute intermission! ] [ We find Alci, Ana, Kard, and Kenji fighting the good fight over on one end of Menzobarranzan! Alci's currently facing down three armored minotaurs, Kardos is going after some invisible drow, Ana is slaughtering mooks by the truckload, and Kenji is doing property damage. ] [ More armed demihumans keep pouring onto the scene by the second. It's crazy - you'd think they wanted to defend the city, or something. ] [ Twenty orcs, six minotaurs, and two larger and better-armed minotaurs are currently facing down Ana and Kenji. ] [ The orcs crowd in around Kenji, while the larger, more powerful minotaurs head right for Ana! ] [ A few of the orcs land hits on Kenji, but most of these are in turn torn apart by his counterattack. One of the minotaurs lands a blow on Ana, damaging her somewhat. ] [ Kenji, go! ] * HKenji calls out loudly, "Ana, get back to Alcinoe!" [ Ana, go! ] * Anastasia nods and runs back towards Alci, skidding to a stop just in time to launch a series of attacks against a minotaurus. [ The minotaur starts turning as Ana approaches, but only in time to get it's side carved up; it takes several wounds to it's chest, and it's right arm doesn't seem to want to move anymore. ] [ Kenji, go! I mean it, this time! ] * HKenji swaps his katana for his bow in a flash, dimming the lighting of the area. In an intant, he's nocked an arrow and launches it straight past an orc's head, following it with four other arrows in quick succession... all impacting one after another on the side of the nearest building. [ The building, a twenty-floor affair, begins to topple towards the battle. ] * HKenji waves byebye to the orcs. [The orcs look confused! One of the minotaurs actually asks one of the orcs for an explanation.] [ Then the building comes toppling down on them all! Kenji ninj, er, samurai-dodges out of the way in time. ] [ Kardos looks around, and charges in Kenji's direction, passing him, touching him lightly on the way past, and cleaving into another invisible opponent. ] [ Blood gets all over the place, seemingly coming from nowhere. ] Aaaaaaaaaah, that feels better! [ Alci, go! ] * Alcinoe barely blinks as Ana tears into the one she's facing, as she proceeds to give it the same exact treatment, only her sword gathering a golden edge and erupting into a white flash of light. She slices into it four times, the last going straight through the minotaur and up as it falls over, dead. [ Kenji, go! ] Going up! * HKenji runs past Alcinoe and Anastasia, still holding his bow. He leaps off the head of a minotaur onto the building next to it and runs up the wall to the top, then stops and begins looking for more enemies. * HKenji whistles. Incoming! I'll handle it! * Alcinoe yells back, "If yer sure!" * Anastasia looks up. "Got it." [ Ana, go! ] * Anastasia turns back to the minotaurs. She looks at the next one, takes a leap-step, and sinks her sword into it like she's chopping wood. Gobbets of flesh go flying as she works the sword in and out between its flailing limbs. With a final hamstring slice, the minotaurus collapses. Ana grins. "Excellent." ( Perfect! ) [ Kardos looks up, looks over at Kenji, and takes off his old, ratty jerkin; a pair of huge, irredescent wings unfurl from his upper back, and he takes to the sky, heading for the opponent Kenji spotted. ] [ Alci, go! ] * Alcinoe swivels to face the one remaining minotaur. She growls and attacks it, cleaving into his armor but not breaking it and leaving golden streaks behind. But then she brings her sword around and cuts directly through the rents she made before, getting blood all over it. And herself. [ Meanwhile, you can hear Tia roar from here. She sounds happy. ] [ The last minotaur attacks Alcinoe, damaging her considerably. ] * Alcinoe staggers back under the onslaught of blows, nearly falling. She coughs out some blood and glares at the minotaur. [ And so the Battle for the Pick continued! But later. Session End! ] [ We find Alcinoe and Anastasia, the red-haired furies, facing down a minotaur while Kenji and Kardos go after the massive blackstone statue of Lolth! Alcinoe is wounded, but not down yet! ] [ Session Start! ] [ Right now, it's Alci and Ana! Ana, go! ] * Anastasia looks up at the minotaur, adjusts her grip on her sword slightly, then lays into it with a series of attacks, finishing off with a quite solid strike to the solar plexus. [ The minotaur bellows in pain and bleeds a whole lot (but not in the dub version), but it's still on its feet! ] [ Alci, go! ] * Alcinoe growls and immediately follows Ana's attacks with a number of her own, carving even further into the minotaur's armor and eventually shoving her sword clear through. She yanks it from his body and steps back as he falls. [ The minotaur tries to attack Alcinoe again on it's way down, but doesn't quiet make it. ] * Anastasia looks over at Alci. "You okay?" * Alcinoe looks back and brushes some blood-matted hair from her face. Seems her forehead's picked up a large gash. "Ah'll be fine." Good. * Alcinoe puts word to action, laying a hand upon her own forehead and muttering to herself. Her fingertips glow, briefly, and it spreads into her entire body before fading away. She drops her hand, and though she's still a bloody and dirty mess, the gash and whatever other injuries she's picked up are completely gone. "Let's go." [ Meanwhile, Kenji and Kard are going up against Mecha-Lolthzilla. To battle! ] [ Kardos flies in and summons some holy light onto one of the knots of wizardlings manning the gigantic construct; some of them die, the rest try to chuck spells at him. Kenji, go! ] * HKenji reaches down to his obi and pops the cork off a small bottle tucked securely into the folds, letting out a stream of smoke. Taking off in a dead run, he leaps off the buildings straight for the platform at the top of the golem. [ Kenji takes some serious air, and lands on the platform atop one of the recently killed drow wizardlings. ] * HKenji lands in a crouch, and then the bottle kicks into gear, shrouding the platform (and a good chucnk of the statue) in smoke. [ Two of the wizards on the left shoulder cast Magic Missile at the smokiness! ] [ The rest can't really do much of anything, however. ] [ Kenji, go! ] * HKenji draws his katana and wakizashi, lighting up the cloud and making it even -harder- to see. A moment later, the two wizards that dared hurt him are very, very dead. [ Kenji gets drowgibs all over himself, again. ] [ Kardos, meanwhile, starts zapping the drow on the other shoulder with minor spells while the statue starts swatting at him. ] * HKenji notes that it's lucky being covered in the blood of one's enemies isn't dishonorable. [ One of the wizards steps forward and takes a blind swing at Kenji with his staff - and hits! ] * HKenji looks down at where the staff hit his arm and realizes it did... um... nothing. * HKenji looks up at the wizard. * HKenji looks down at the staff. * HKenji looks up at the wizard and says, "You know you're about to die, right?" [ The wizard starts to try and cast a spell - frantically, even. ] * HKenji whips his katana across his body. Two seconds after it finishes its trip, the head and body fall independently. [ Kenji, go! ] * HKenji hops lightly in one direction, and three misty inky wizards appear! Soon, they will disappear, like magic! * HKenji blurs into action, and inky bits fly -everywhere-, except for a trio of nicely untouched severed heads, which fall to the ground with a wet THUD. [ Kenji stands there badassly for a bit. And then a massive, black hand slams down on him from above. ] [ Alcinoe and Anastasia come on the scene, just then! They see Kardos flying around the massive statue and taking the occasional chunk out of it, and a whole bunch of smoke on the left shoulder of the thing. ] [ Ana, go! ] * Anastasia proceeds to dash at the statue, and begin running directly up its leg. [ Ana makes it up one of the spidery legs before her turn is over. Alci, go! ] * Alcinoe jerks her attention up to the cloud, stopping in her tracks to raise her bloodied sword so the tip aligns with Kenji. The ceiling breaks... or *seems* to break, as a pillar of brilliant daylight comes streaming downward to impact with the cloud; it would, in fact, surround the samurai if the smoke weren't in the way. Kenji's wounds shimmer faintly and begin to close. [ The gigantic construct takes two swings at Anastasia and four at Kardos. ] [ Will they hit? Will weather they hit or not matter? Will the Angels win the pennant? Will two plus two abruptly equal five? Tune in next week to find out! ] [ We find Kenji, Anastasia, Kardos, and Alcinoe fighting the dreadful MechaLolthzilla! 'Nuff said. ] [ Kenji, go! ] * HKenji dashes up the monsters shoulder and tears into its neck with both swords, striking sparks that fly out of the cloud of smoke that's following just behind him. [ Ana, go! ] * Anastasia keeps running up the statue, managing to tear a chunk of it on her way. [ Kardos stays in the air, avoiding the gigant's fists while cutting a piece of it away now and then to keep its attention. ] [ Alci, go! ] * Alcinoe rushes the mechanical monstrosity, the best sword ever held firmly in one hand. She slices a deep gash as she reaches it, the sword flaring a brief, bright white. [ The gigantic piece of black rock makes attacks against Kardos, Ana, and Alci, hitting Kardos once (and sending him sailing into a building), Ana once, and Alci twice with its house-size fists. ] * Alcinoe is pounded into the ground. Literally - she's below street level at this point, and really not looking good. * Anastasia is slammed into body of the golem by a arm! Pain! However, she's not looking too bad yet. [ Kenji, go! ] * HKenji actually drops out of overdrive and starts striking calmly and much more accurately, though he's still throwing off sparks. [ Kenji digs some sizeable grooves into the gigant, but doesn't get far beyond that. ] [ Ana, go! ] * Anastasia skids to a stop on the shoulder, and then lunges at the neck, carving at it in huge swaths four times in succession. Chunks of rock and sparks go flying everywhere. [ Alci, pwn! ] * Alcinoe doesn't stay down long, shakily climbing back to her feet and muttering a prayer as she does so. She glows, briefly, and her broken bones mend themselves. [ You hardly notice, but the building Kardos was launched into is collapsing. ] * Anastasia gets slammed into the neck of the thing like a hand smacking an errant mosquito! She is wery, wery, upset about this, and looks like ... well, like she was smacked between two stone surfaces at high speed. [ The gigant swings its fists into the cloud of smoke billowing around it; four at its left shoulder, two at its right. ] ( and please put that before Ana's pose, Kate. Boy, do I have it together today, or what? ) [ Ana, go! ] * Anastasia makes a weaksauce (understandably) strike at the neck, and manages to score into it once. [ Kardos launches himself out of the crumbling building and hurtles towards the gigant, but doesn't make good enough time to make any attacks. ] [ Alci, go! ] * Alcinoe 's attention snaps upwards, towards Kenji, and then she lets out an odd cross between a snarl and a scream as she jumps out of the impression she made, hurtling towards the construct's legs. Her blade shines a brilliant white and gold, slicing through and sending the mecha off balance as she cuts her way into its inner workings. Apparently she hits something right, because the entire thing shudders and begins to crumble from within. [ As brilliant light and wind (apparent source unknown) flood out of the Gigant, Kardos swoops in through the cloud of smoke, coming out again with Kenji in one arm. He flies down and snatches Alci as well as the gigant begins to collapse towards her, and takes the two to safety. ] [ Anastasia, meanwhile, stays firmly planted on the thing's shoulder as it tumbles to the ground, only adjusting her position slightly, until, when it is about to hit the street, she hops lightly off onto the cobbles and begins to walk nonchalantly away from the wreckage. ] [ As Kardos alights near Ana and starts talking about healing, the bulbous thorax of the Temple of Lolth peels apart, and out of it rises a free- floating section of floor; even from this far in the dark light, you can see Patrick's grin lit up by Seylin's wings. ] [ Session End! ]