Inn-world Combat: The Dread Reign

[st_aff]

At the crest of the mountain, Coc'zac sat atop Nazu's head looking through a glass that Hotor held to his eye. Vokva sat beside them, little more than a pile of bones atop a pile of rocks, and Hafur paced behind them, holding the troops in check. They milled in the pre-dawn gloom, skeletons, wights, zombies, wraiths, and all manner of undead creatures. Periodically, Nazu swept the space behind them with their tail bowling over anyone who'd gotten too close.

The first pinpoint of light had Coc'zac's teeth chattering with excitement in his disembodied head. Today was the day he'd been planning for. Soon, soon the Inn and its occupants would be his. Nazu unleashed a heavy sigh tinged with poison and necrosis. Fortunately the troops were all dead already, and Coc'zac didn't have anything in the way of arms to hit them with.

It fell to Hafur to gesture the troops forward as punctuation to Coc'zac's 'rousing' speech, and together they crept through the portal, avoiding its fizzing and popping edges demarcated in what would be neon blue, if they could still see in color. They couldn't properly hear either, but they were aware of the noise and the danger it marked.

Once they were all through, the advance scouts, four bands of skeleton archers swept quietly as they could through the shadows to take up position around the main buildings, prepared to pick off anyone who exited--for example for a pre-sun jog. And once they'd settled into wary, silent waiting, occasionally interrupted by the pop of a joint or the clatter of toe bones on stone, the next wave rolled in finding shadows to hide in until the residents emerged with the wights taking point.The bone naga and three flameskulls slipped through the lobby doors and stealthed toward the offices, assuming to find the command center there.

It wasn't long before the invaders caught the notice of the residents, and then shouts began to echo through the grey light and journals filled with messages and reminders of siege plans. Several strongly worded messages urged the kids and those without weapons or fighting skills to head for the Temple where the Hallow spell would protect them from unholy undead things.

And so the battle for the Madonna Inn began...

Comments

Re: Vovka - Boss Fight

[st_artliving]

Xavin flew a few feet higher to ensure very little heat reached the ground, then took off after the bone creature, pursuing it at an easy distance. He could fly more than fast enough to keep up, after all.

Re: Vovka - Boss Fight

[st_andingtall]

Fortunately, without its arms for balance and with many of its joints splintered, the creature couldn't move terribly fast even at a full out run. Still, Sam was grateful he'd been running to stay in shape; it made it easy to fall into a long, ground-covering lope and occasionally direct a force blast at the bone creature to make sure it kept running instead of turning around to fight.

It seemed to be heading up the mountain. Interesting. There was always something that pinged his instincts at the top of the mountain. And he knew he was totally not alone in that.

Re: Vovka - Boss Fight

[st_illfighting]

Of course it was the mountain. Dean huffed a breath in frustration. Why didn't bad guys every have their den or lair somewhere convenient? He took his cue from Sam and shifted where he was going to run to make sure bone thing didn't turn back around to the inn before they figured out where these things came from.

And more importantly how to get the hell out of here since they seemed to have a door.

Re: Vovka - Boss Fight

[st_ockcharacter]

With all of them running after Vovka, including the woman who was keeping pace with her boys easily, Vovka knew she was in trouble. The armless monster climbed the mountain like she had been this way before. At a summit, she moved to a clearing in the middle. She turned, and then turned again, as if searching for something.

Vovka let out a loud, frustrated cry into the sky.

Re: Vovka - Boss Fight

[st_andingtall]

"Let's retreat and see what happens," Sam suggested to the others when they came together at the edges of the clearing. If there was some kind of door or passphrase, the creature wasn't going to use it with them practically on top of it.

And if there wasn't and nothing came for it, no reinforcements, they could try to negotiate (if it could even speak), or put it down.