Until further notice
After a detailed examination, Roland was finally assured that the unconscious man probably wasn't going to die any time soon.
The same, though, could not be guaranteed for the rest of the team, especially the few that had just managed to turn the building into a steaming pile of rubble. "Ye gods, what did I tell you about wrecking the house?" he groaned, rubbing his bald head where the coloured beam had struck him, seemingly to no effect. "And he has a hostage! I'd send you all to the Ninth Circle myself if I could!"
In a much softer voice, well out of earshot of the leprechaun, he began to issue directions. "Keep talking. But if that fails, try a two-pronged attack from the front and the back - no matter how powerful that orb is, he shouldn't be able to shoot through himself. Just don't hurt the girl." When this is over, I'm going to give that annoying rainbow-blasting creature a kick right in the Lucky Charms.
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.
No longer a forum herald
Jian Yu nodded. She subtly readied a handful of defensive seals that would deflect the worst of attacks, should the being attempt to take the offensive. While she did not think that was likely, it was all she could do.
In fact, it was a little too strange, how the little man was not being aggressive. With his hostage, he could have gotten away with far worse. Something was not right, but she was not sure what it was.
She began to analyze the being, looking for a weakness.
Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)
"Anti-magic orb?" said the leprechaun. "You fools, I am not one to be trifled with, nor is this a mere trinket; I am the wielder of the Orb of O'Malley, and if you do not give the man to me, I will bring upon you a death cruel beyond imagining!"
Anyone paying very close attention would have noticed that the orb was almost as bright as it had been earlier * - a yellow tint approaching the intensity of the midday sun.
edited 16th Jun '12 8:55:33 AM by nman
A pair of rylock-drawn carts rolled up the southern path to Engate's Keep. The travelers were all members of the Order, having departed from the eastern command headquarters in Gerthon nearly twenty days ago. There were six of them, and five were recruits who had been sent out just after recovering from the surgery that inducts them as members of the Order.
A man with a gold-colored staff walked out of the gate to meet them as they approached. "Burton? What brings you here? Who are they?"
A tall black man in his mid-thirties with short, dark blue hair and a clean-shaven face stepped off of the lead cart to greet the man. "Zerithor, you're business as usual, I see. Well, these are some new recruits for you, and I've got a core gem ready for installation stowed away in here." He pointed back at the cart.
"What? We already had a... core... oh, no - don't tell me. Bahtan - Burton. Those blasted idiots at headquarters must have sent the order twice." He let out a breath. "Though... because of some complications, your arrival actually works out for us Burton, but..." he faced the newcomers, "I have no idea who you are, or what to do with you."
The Maid
Karin, who had not made her presence very noticeable during the whole battle circled around the flying Leprechaun, going to stand in a position where he would showing his back and then started her spellcasting. With that antimagic, she could hardly afford to shoot many weak attacks as was her custom. Instead she gathered her strength into a single but powerful force missile to shoot at the annoying kidnapper.
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
Stealth Bomber
Antonio had finally calmed down enough to think. He realized that both times he had been repelled by the Orb of O'Malley, he had been knocked back. What would happen if he threw the pickaxe?
With all the strength he could muster, he tossed the pickaxe straight at the Orb. He hoped this would work...
J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!
The leprechaun chuckled as Karin's attack fizzled when it came into the orb's sphere of influence. He slightly turned to face her, "You foolish girl!" he said, "It'll take more than that to-" midsentence, Antonio's pickaxe hit him in the back, and the short man let out a "gruuughhhghhh" as he recoiled from the shock and the orb activated, sending out a a large yellow cone of light flew towards those who were gathered outside the house.* The orb turned green.
edited 16th Jun '12 2:30:24 PM by nman
Stealth Bomber
Antonio raised a fist in triumph at his successful attack. The pickaxe fell back down, and he stretched out an arm to catch it. However, unless he got up, he would have a hard time pulling that off again. He laid the pickaxe aside for a moment and pushed on the boulder. The adrenaline was starting to kick in, and he managed to move it just enough that he was able to get out from his current position. He grabbed the pickaxe again and tossed it at the leprechaun again, using more force than he did the previous time.
J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!
No longer a forum herald
Jian Yu flung down a seal quickly. A shimmering curtain of energy sprang up, just in time to absorb the energy blast before crumbling into sparkling, harmless motes.
She sighed in relief, admitting that she had not known if that would have worked. Countering anti-magic with anti-magic was a tricky proposition at best, but she really did not see any other ways of blocking the blast.
Still, it looked like the fight was all but finished. At least, she noted, as long the townsfolk were not angry about the rampant destruction her companions had caused...
edited 16th Jun '12 3:52:00 PM by TotemicHero
Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)
"Not this time, wiseass" the hovering leprechaun said, shooting a green bolt from the staff at the pickaxe, sending it flying back towards Antonio. The orb turned a shade of blue, and once again began to intensify in color.
The woman in the Leprechaun's hand managed to regain consciousness. Before her eyes had been open for a second, she began to thrash and scream. "MY HOUSE!!!! I'll send you back to the thirteenth hell, you bleedin' son of a motherless whore!" Spitting in his face, she couldn't manage to break free, but she bit his hand, causing him to release his grip, sending her falling quickly towards the rubble below. As he she bit him, the orb dimmed as a cone of blue light started to slowly come out, but the Leprechaun placed his now-free hand on the cane, and the light retreated back in. A sharp-eyed observed would note that the orb grew brighter at a faster rate than before.
edited 16th Jun '12 4:42:58 PM by nman
Stealth Bomber
Antonio merely caught the pickaxe again and threw it discus-style back at the annoying little mage. The grin of a man who knew things were working exactly as he'd planned spread across his face.
Playing right into my hands, thought the Slamballer.
edited 16th Jun '12 5:52:01 PM by TestYourMight
J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!
No longer a forum herald
Jian Yu did not hesitate at the sight of the woman being dropped. Running forward, she planted a seal directly underneath the falling person, hoping that this would work.
It activated just in time, sending a burst of air upward that cushioned the worst of the fall. Rolling to the side, Jian Yu reoriented herself. It seemed strange, using a seal intended to knock opponents away from an area to save the life of someone, but it seemed like with the failings of her companions, such innovation was needed to prevent the worst from happening.
"I suggest we move," she said to the woman, who was trying to catch her breath, "Now." Without waiting, Jian Yu darted back away from the rubble, before the leprechaun could attack.
edited 16th Jun '12 6:45:33 PM by TotemicHero
Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)
Sanity not included
"You don't need to tell me twice!"
Rime immediately began backpedaling, readying every counter-spell he knew to cover the others' retreat.
It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.
"This not good...". Mak´karath slowly moved away from the mage while picking up a large boulder to use it as a shield against whatever the mage might attack him or the others with.
The woman followed Jian Yu out of the rubble. "ZERI!" she yelled when she saw the unconscious man, and ran over to him. "Wake up!" she repeatedly said, shaking him.
Until further notice
"He'll live, but he's going to be out for a while. Miss Violet, I presume? Stay with him and out of trouble, but if you know anything about your abductor that might help us, you'd better tell us before the situation escalates." There was no time for small talk; if the chromatic pattern was any indication, the blue blast would be due any moment now. The initial feint had worked, but the leprechaun was no longer fooling around, and the Orb of O'Malley was still giving them trouble.
Right. We know that the orb nullifies magical attacks, but physical projectiles have to be blasted away. There's a delay between blasts, and he won't be able to protect himself from a multi-directional attack. He hasn't moved from his position, suggesting limited manoeuvrability. And the hostage situation has been resolved, so hopefully we won't need to worry too much about collateral damage...
"Let's try this." The plan began to take shape in Roland's mind. "Karin, Rime, prepare magical countermeasures in case he fires again. Mak'karath, shoot your chains at him, preferably from as many directions as possible. See if you can drag him down, but if you can't, just keep him busy. Jian Yu, Mellow, I want you to approach from behind..." He paused. This was going to be the tricky part.
"I want Mellow up there to get the orb out of his hands, which means we'll need to use two of Jian Yu's seals. The first one will be used to boost him into the air so that he can get close. Mak'karath's fire should keep him distracted and hopefully make him expend one of the orb's rays, but if it doesn't... Mellow will carry the second seal as a blast shield, and we have to trigger it just before the ray hits. If we can neutralise the shot, his momentum should carry him through to reach the caster. You think we can do that?"
He looked at the two, and wondered if all their problems were going to be solved by throwing people at things until they fell down.
edited 17th Jun '12 10:34:24 AM by Pyrite
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.
"I - I - I don't know" said the young woman, "he just came out of nowhere, and he kept asking Zeri something about how he 'knew to kill the girl' and hit us with that cane when he said he didn't know."
The blue light was already as bright as the yellow one had been at before it was fired, but the leprechaun still held tightly to the cane as it continued to brighten.
Until further notice
"Thanks anyway. We'll talk about this later - for now, find some cover and brace yourself." He's charging it? Damn, this is going to hurt.
edited 17th Jun '12 10:53:38 AM by Pyrite
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.
While still hiding behind his boulder, Mak´karath attacked him with as many chains as possible.
"Gragh, feckin' hells-damned metal man" the Leprechaun said. He shot a small blue light at each incoming chain, deflecting them. The intensity of the blue light was constant* as the Leprechaun continued to block the golem's attack, while slowly hovering backwards, away from the street the majority of the recruits were on and towards the street behind the ruined house.*
The small, black-haired ninetailed fox smiled wryly, her fangs shown. "I am the Great Youkai of Siege, The Nine-Tailed Fox that brought ruin upon the land, I am Lorelai, mortal." she bowed, her hand placed on her stomach in such a formal manner. The young one then stood up as her tails whisked about and through the air in a majestic dance.
"Oh, this is where I will be staying? Such a pitiful structure." Lorelai said as her eyes closed halfway. She was a little more than displeased with the ride, and now this? Life truly was hard.
Cogito Gratia Cogitan
Feeling he might as well introduce himself, and after giving the kitsune an odd look, the red-garbed wizard volunteered, "Laeven, former apprentice of Wizard Bellidger, at the Order's service."
Ponders too much; thinks too little. Currently goes by Knowlessman.
The Maid
After recovering from the second magical attack (Which hurt like hell) Karin complied with the proposed plan and then started to prepare some wards and spells of protection to see if she could shield them from another blast.
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
<OOC: Epic music can sometimes also make things funnier.
>
The blonde woman was quick to point at Zerithor and announced "I am Emily Doe! I call myself that because I forgot my surname! I am from the future on a mission, which I also forgot! But that's not going to stop me from helping you, as my assistance could lead to me fulfilling this mission!"
edited 17th Jun '12 9:41:02 PM by JustaUsername
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.
"Hitting a golem upside the head... That's a brilliant idea." Rime replied dryly.
"Okay, let's see if we can reason with him... Hey! You with the face and the anti-magic orb!"
It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.