[ We find Tia falling down a deep crevasse on Carceri! Of course, this entire layer of the plane consists only of crevasses and mountains, so this isn't a *huge* surprise, but still! ] [ The crevasse is some two miles deep, and Cerceri has no terminal velocity, so hitting bottom will likely hurt our cute wil' Dwacotaur. Normally she'd just use her wings to fly, but right now there's a large, fat fiend pinning the wing down and trying to choke her to death while oozing acid all over her. Someone'd better kick in the heroics and save her! ] [ Session Start! ] * Patrick reappears inside of the crevasse and, with his wings spreading, flies straight down into it, only to turn back on the way down and fire a single precisely-aimed arrow into the demon's torso as the demon is maneuvered in its strugglings. * Kenji draws a rod from his right sleeve, aims carefully at the demon/tia bundle below, and presses the fourth button down. The end of the rod shoots forth three wicked hooks, then suddenly shoots out to some fifty feet in length. With one quick jerk, the hook is set in the demon's back, and phase two is ready to begin. [ The demon doesn't seem to notice; it's laughing as it clings to Tia. ] [ Go, Seylin! ] * Tia roars defiantly into the demon's laughing face with all the power of her dragon lungs as she tears into the demon with razor-sharp foreclaws. * Seylin points her halberd downwards at Tia and the demon and fires a burst of pure holy energy at them. It won't hurt Tia, but the demon is another matter entirely. [ The demon looks burnt after the wave of love and justice washes over it, but it clings on for dear death. ] * Patrick waits a moment with a series of arrows ready, and when they get within range he opens lose with a volley. Missing with the first three for fear of hitting Tia, he inches a bit horizontally and scores two holy arrows into the demon's vitals: one into the head and another through the throat, which quickly burst with holy energy, washing over their target. If the demon wasn't dead before, it sure is now, but it's still not coming lose. [ The demon's heart and brain are ejected due to the force of the arrow impact and the holy energy they were imbued with! The demon quivers a bit... but doesn't come loose. ] * Kenji wraps his arms and legs about the climbing pole turned grapnel, withdraws a long-unseen rod from his left sleeve, hooks it under one of the projections, and thumbs the button, bringing the whole assembly to an abrupt and immediate STOP. [ With a loud, painful-sounding KATHUNK, Kenji, Tia, and the Demon all come to a halt. Some more of the demon's vitals fall out, and since it stopped laughing with Pat shot it, it's prolly dead. ] * Tia jerks to a stop, still encrusted in dead demon. "Oof." [ A wind that sounds like a vengeful curse blows through the crevasse as Tia hangs there by the demon. ] * Kenji whimpers lightly as his arms and legs are jerked nearly out of their sockets. Kenji! Did you save me? You saved me! Kenji! Are you okay? Are you okay? Either of you? * WillS breathes a sigh of relief as he sees that Tia has stopped falling. * Tia struggles against the demon corpse casing still grappling her in place. Nothing that a bit of time won't cure. * Tia shouts back up the crevasse. "I'm okay! Are you okay?" * Seylin seems satisfied with this answer and zooms down to start helping Tia get loose. * Tia claws determinedly at the fleshy prison. * Patrick twirls downwards and darts up to get Tia loose. "Nice job Kenji! I'm pretty sure Will can help you fix whatever you broke to hang onto that rod." I'm not particularly worried. Getting back up to the ledge is the real problem, right now. * Seylin starts carefully hacking away at the demon corpse. * Patrick draws a short sword, the same one that was used against him in the Drow city, and starts to cut Tia loose with it. * Seylin is now known as CiarAway [ Before long, you have one of the demon's arms off, and that's all it takes for Tia to wriggle free and take flight! ] Thanks, guys! * Tia flies up to Kenji and gives him a huge hug. * Kenji winces. Tia. Easy on the limbs, please * Patrick gives Tia a thumb up and grins, commenting quietly to Seylin as he flies up. * Tia nods. "Right, right! I'll be careful!" * Kenji retracts the Rod of Lordly Might and pockets both rods again. * Tia carries Kenji back up to the top of the ledge and, just before putting him back on the ground, plants him a firm and heartfelt kiss on the mouth. "Thanks, Kenji! You saved my life!" She beams. * Kenji laughs and deftly escapes from Tia's octopus-like grasp. You saved your own life, Tia. I just stopped the fall, so you didn't have to. * WillS cheers as Tia flys back up and gives her a hug! "So glad you're alright, Tia!" * Tia hugs Will. "Me too!" * Patrick smirks. Kenji gets all the chicks except for the important one. * Tia trots a lap around the area where the earlier battle took place. "Did we get 'em all?" Looks like. Yay! Um...now what do we do? I still have that pile of snakes from earlier. Should I run back to get it, ya think? No. We have to go on and find the source of all this. And shut it down. 'Kay. Sounds good to me! * WillS nods. "Yeah. This portal is much too dangerous to leave alone. It must be shut down." * Patrick cracks his knuckles. "Definetly. Someone's askin' to get his ass kicked." I'll hit 'im hard and make sure he's sorry! Psst. What if it's a she? Oh, or she. You cannot seriously be worried about the sex of a demon. * Tia looks thoughtful. "How do you even tell?" I'm sure I don't want to know. * Tia giggles. [ Ahead of you lies the cave where your target lies! Ahead of you awaits destiny! Ahead of you waits a bunch of really annoying traps and monsters! ] [ How many minor bumps and scratches will Our Heroes recieve fighing a horde of demons? Find out, next time! ] [ Session End! ]