Surface- Storm Break Bay Region
Nation- Empire of Night
Salken Mines- Dungeon
Jacob led his War Party deeper into the gloom, the Gnolls of the mine swarmed them every chance they got, but Jacob and his party were determined to clear the mine. As the last of the Gnolls died or flee further into the mine. He dismissed them and stood watch as June and Chalxae started looting the corpses. Jacob took the time to check on the Dungeon Quest they all had received.
Dungeon Quest Issued: Salken Mine Retribution
Description: The Salken Mines were once operated by the city of Anchorhead, but one day the Gnoll Tribe of Running-Fangs invaded and slaughtered all the workers and sealed the mine to all outsiders. Exact retribution for all those slain and kill those responsible.
Running-Fangs Workers Slain: 32/200
Running-Fangs Warriors Slain: 12/100
Running-Fangs Shaman Slain: 1/50
Dyxiazz Sootbeam Slain: 0/1
Trourrg Boomclub Slain: 0/1
Rewards: 50,000 Experience, 500 Gold
Jacob dismissed it and looked around, Chalxae darted ahead as Thelgrum and Jacob took point while the others spread out behind them. The Gnolls were nasty fuckers who had the tendency to ambush them whenever they could with what they thought were overwhelming numbers. Yet Jacob and his party had proven it time and time again that they lacked the ability to overwhelm them so far.
Suddenly Chalxae dropped out of stealth ahead of them, "We have a small cavern up ahead. A dozen Workers, 5 Warriors, and 2 Shamans are within." The Assassin stated as she drew a rough map of the cavern ahead.
"How big is the tunnel when it dumps us out into the cavern ahead of us?" Jacob asked her.
Chalxae frowned, "12 feet across. You can try and pull them to a narrower part of the tunnel but it looks like they are preparing for us."
"Ok, as soon as we get to the mouth I will use War Cry, that should pull most of them, Shigna will then use Fire Wall to bottleneck them and slow them down with Patemal's Grasping Hands should slow them down and control the Gnolls charge and keep them corraled." Jacob laid out the plan.
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As bad as the Worker ambushes were, the Warrior ambushes were worse. They added traps and more Shamans to their ambushes slowing them down even further and causing more damage before they were pushed back. They had however failed to see either boss yet, but they had accrued all the necessary kills.
The bottom cavern at the end of the mine was another story, 6 Shamans and 12 Warriors guarded the two bosses as the conducted some ceremony. Dyxiazz Sootbeam, a level 38 Shaman Dungeon Boss and Trourrg Boomclub, a level 40 Warrior Dungeon Boss glared at Jacob and his part but after a moment the Shaman gestured for the guards to deal with us while they continued whatever they were doing. "Crowd control now, Jacob has right Thelgrum left!!" June called out as she summoned a pack of wolves while her spider started to crawl off to the side of the cavern.
Name: Dyxiazz Sootbeam
Level: 38 (Dungeon Boss)
Health: 140,000
Abilities: Elemental Shield, Chain Lightning, Fireblast, Unknown
Name: Trourrg Boomclub
Level: 40 (Dungeon Boss)
Health: 200,000
Abilities: Power Slam, Leap, Shoulder Charge, Unknown
A Fire Wall and Skeletal hands erupted from the floor, the Gnolls caught in the fire screamed while those caught by the Grasping Hands cursed and slowly moved forward. Jacob took the Grasping Hands side and started slashing and hacking at the encombered Gnolls while Thelgrum met the charge of those being burned alive as they ran through the Fire Wall.
That's when the Shamans entered the fight and blasted Jacob with balled lightning. You ever stick your finger into a wall socket, multiply that feeling by a dozen times. It slowed him down and exposed him to hits from the warriors. Jacob triggered Reaver Attack followed by Hemorrhage as another wave of lightning slammed into him.
Suddenly one of the Gnoll Shamans cursed and nearly died as Chalxae dropped from Stealth her dagger digging deep with Backstab into the Gnolls back. The Teleporting to another Shaman and triggered Slice and Dice, Jacob could see her MH dagger was dripping some form of poison. As he dismissed her activities and got back to his own fight.
Suddenly a group of Skeletal Warriors and a Fireball slammed into their packed ranks followed by a Warrior Demon who added his own damage to the party. Jacob chuckled as he sidestepped a Gnoll Warriors attempt to split his skull and trigger Power Slash and buried Moonlight into the Gnolls ribs. Jacob kicked the dying Gnoll of his sword and checked on the two Dungeon Bosses.
The Dyxiazz Sootbeam was nearing the end of whatever ceremony he was conducting while Trourrg Boomclub went around sacrificing nearby Gnoll workers that had been tied up nearby. He dragged them onto an Altar then slit their throats, Jacob and his party couldn't do anything about it.
Suddenly Chalxae cried out as a Firebolt slammed into her and two of the Shamans started walking toward her, "STAR!!" Jacob screamed out and the Void-Wolf emerged from the nearby shadows and slammed into the Shamans ripping and tearing into them and gave Chalxae enough time to disappear into Stealth and recover. "Someone disrupt the ceremony!!!" Jacob cried out over the clash of battle.
"We can't, those sigils around the Altar protect them from direct attack while the ceremony is ongoing." Fenwyn cried out as she triggered her newest ability, Abyssal Incineration. The black and red Hellfire exploded from the floor in the middle of the packed ranks of the Gnolls, four of the Warriors died immediately while the other survivors whimpered as the Hellfire continued to consume them. Thelgrum barreled into the survivors with Rory, their weapons lashing out and quickly finished the surviving Warriors while June and Shigna killed the remaining two Shamans. Jacob ignored this and ran for the Altar but slammed into the protective shielding and was thrown back.
Battle Alert...
De-Buff Chaotic Curse: Recieve increased damage from all sources of various amounts (Duration 5 minutes)
Battle Alert...
"Thelgrum, can you get rid of this curse?" Jacob asked as he stood up from the floor. He glanced around and found Chalxae, she looked better, but her armor was scorched on one side. The Dwarf grunted and made his way over and started casting Cleanse.
After a few moments, the Paladin stepped back. "That was a nasty piece of work. Never felt its like before." Jacob nodded as watched the Shaman finish the ceremony and tore open a small portal. Jacob couldn't see anything beyond it but then an arm emerged and grabbed Dyxiazz head. The Gnoll started screaming as he was washed in some form of energy Jacob had never seen.
"Ahhh, does anyone have a wild guess of what the fuck is going on?" Jacob asked as he downed a Stone Skin potion while others started dolling out buffs.
Fenwyn jumped in, "The Sacrifices were to open the portal and payment for whatever the Gnoll Shaman is getting, he will be more powerful then he was." Suddenly the Shaman, Dyxiazz Spot beam, started directing some of the power into the Warrior beside him. Trourrg Boomclub screamed in pain and dropped to the floor as he changed growing bigger and nastier. His club also took on properties of whatever magic they were messing with. Then as suddenly as the hand appeared it let the Shaman go and withdrew, the portal closing behind the arm. Jacob fired off a quick analyze on both of them.
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Name: Dyxiazz Sootbeam (Chaos Warped Acolyte-Unique)
Level: 38(40) (Dungeon Boss)
Health: 120,000
Abilities: Unknown
Name: Trourrg Boomclub (Chaos Warped Ravager- Unique)
Level: 40(42) (Dungeon Boss)
Health: 220,000
Abilities: Unknown
Jacob's eyes narrowed at the two, the Shaman had lost some health but his instincts told him he would be hitting harder, while the Warrior had grown, adding nearly 3 feet with all the accompanying muscle mass as well. "Jacob has the Ravager, Thelgrum you have the Acolyte, concentrate fire on the Acolyte first," June called at as Jacob cursed as he activated Charge to intercept the 7ft monster. Thelgrum let out a wordless shout and slammed into the Acolyte disrupting whatever nastiness he had been about to throw Jacobs way. Jacob started leading the Trourrg further from the other fighting, Mug staying with him as Snaggletooth stayed with Thelgrum and the majority of their party.
Star slammed onto Trourrg back and biting deep where the monsters neck met his shoulders. She started ripping away at the muscles there when Trourrg slammed his fist into her causing her to yelp in pain and let go. Star started glowing green and activated Call of the Pack, a half dozen Void-Wolves appeared from the nearby shadows and launched themselves at Trourrg ripping and tearing into the twisted Gnoll.
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Chalxae stalked her target, Rory and Thelgrum were doing a good job keeping the twisted Shaman distracted as she made her way behind him. The blade was coated with Death Root Poison, perfect for any Mage types as she slunk from the shadows Chalxae triggered Backstab. CRIT!!! Her main dagger slammed into the Acolytes' heart assuring the poison would take and quickly pumping it throughout the former Shamans body.
Chalxae then triggered Gauge slamming her daggers into the guts of the Gnoll before twisting the blades and ripping them out. Dyxiazz snarled and whirled bringing his staff to bare but Chalxae nimbly leaped backward while studying Dyxiazz health. Her attacks had caused Dyxiazz to lose over 15% of his health in moments as the rest of her party continued to pour damage into the former Shamans twisted body.
Chalxae darted back in slashing and stabbing causing as much damage as she could as she danced in and out of the Gnolls range of physical attacks. Suddenly Dyxiazz threw back its head and slammed its staff into the ground, energy tore itself away from the Shaman and slammed into everyone else around him before collapsing backward and staying within 3 feet of Dyxiazz.
"Shift to Trourrg!! Thelgrum, keep an eye on Dyxiazz." June called out. Chalxae snarled at the former Shaman before activating Stealth and slinking away.
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Trourrg entered a Rage state once the Acolytes health dropped below 50% and all of Stars new friends were quickly killed. Jacob and Star quickly began to kite the more powerful boss as the War Party scrambled to assist Jacob now that the Acolyte had placed a shield around himself.
Suddenly a Hammer of Light slammed into the oversized Gnoll sending him into the ground and giving Jacob and Star a respite. The Gnoll slowly rose and charged Jacob as he downed a Health Regeneration potion and flicked it toward the oncoming Gnoll before triggering Shield Charge, meeting the Gnoll halfway and sending him reeling back from the shield attack.
Jacob and the rest of his party quickly took advantage of the Gnoll recovering from Jacobs surprise to quickly overwhelm his defenses and damage Trourrg as much as they could while he was recovering. Shigna summoned his new Magma Golem while Patemal summoned her new Bone Golem, both creatures slowly formed and immediately commenced attacking the creature before them that was easily nearly their size. Trourrg snarled as he regained his feet and threw himself at the two Golems, although not matching their sheer size and strength, the Gnoll has speed and cruel cunning.
Jacob triggered Piercing Lunge followed by Tripple Slash, Trourrg reeled back from the rapid assault and the Golems took advantage as Jacob and his party continued to pour damage onto the overwhelmed Ravager until he let out a bone-chilling howl and died. The magic that had been powering him fled the corpse and exploded outwards destroying the two Golems and hurting both Rory and Jacob backwards.
Dyxiazz let out a howl of his own as the shield came down and the War Party commenced their assault once again as Jacob and Rory recovered under Mugs healing. Spells and arrow flew as Dyxiazz remaining hit points rapidly dwindled as the former Shaman could not defend and attack at the same time. Soon the Gnoll was on his knees gasping for breath as the Chaotic energy slowly bled from him with his life. It Jacob a moment to figure out Dyxiazz was laughing as he died. "Ok, anyone who can wield magic study that Alter and see if we can destroy it or change it so this does not happen again. Do not mess with it until I say so though. Chalxae and June spread out and comb over everything, if they hid anything, I want it found before we leave. Everyone else spread out I am looting in case they left any nasty 'gifts'." Jacob called out. Jacob immediately went to the Ravager first then the Acolyte
Alert...
Would you like to loot...Trourrg Boomclub (Chaos Warped Ravager- Unique)? YES/NO
You have received...800 Gold
You have received...Bone Studded War Club-Chaos Warped (Rare)
Alert...
Alert...
Would you like to loot...Dyxiazz Sootbeam (Chaos Warped Acolyte-Unique)? YES/NO
You have received...800 Gold
You have received...Robes of the Four Elements (Epic)
You have received...Odd Necklace (Unknown)
Alert...
Alert...
Through Battle, you have gained...5,789 Experience
Alert...
Dungeon Quest Complete: Salken Mine Retribution
Description: You cleansed the mines of the Gnoll presence and avenged those who were slain. Maybe now the ghosts of the past can rest easier.
Running-Fangs Workers Slain: 200/200
Running-Fangs Warriors Slain: 100/100
Running-Fangs Shaman Slain: 50/50
Dyxiazz Sootbeam Slain:1/1
Trourrg Boomclub Slain: 1/1
Rewards: 50,000 Experience, 500 Gold
Jacob would take a look at the loot later after they had gotten safely back home, now they needed to figure out how to destroy the Alter. Jacob looked at four Mage types but none could offer any insight on what the Gnolls were up too. None of them had any Alchemic Bombs in their inventories and Jacob was not going to try and destroy the Altar with Moonlight. "We can use our Golems...maybe" Shigna suggested. Jacob nodded and the Pyromancer and Necromancer began summoning their Golems and sent them off to try and destroy the Alter they had found. A few minutes later the Altar was dust and rock again, Jacob hoped it was enough but he had not received any Alerts so...He dismissed his thoughts and worries for another time and broke the seal on the Portal Scroll and decided to head home,