Dellum awoke in the night to the sound of cawing outside his field tent in North Crescent’s black forest. Groggily he swung his feet off his cot one leg at a time. The transparent tent top allowing the moonlight to light his surroundings. He had gone through great pains to augment his pitch black eyes so that they could see in almost absolute darkness a project that involved him studying the eyes of countless nocturnal animals. Running mana through them attempting to replicate the sensory organs abilities in himself with alchemical restructuring. The memory of how painful that was still fresh in his mind years later.
“what the hell are these birds harassing me for?” he wondered to himself aloud and opened his tent to see a murder of Abysal ravens pecking at the barrier setup around his last kill. “oh of course, you must feel cheated out of a meal, but I need that phantom prowler for my research.”
The crows seemed to listen to him for a moment then cried out in dissatisfaction.Flapping thier ebony wings that seemed to devour the light. The massive cat’s carcass whose body seemed to shift in and out of existence even after death was undoubtedly a tempting feast.
Sighing he opened up his ration bag, which could hold nearly a years worth of rations and tossed the angry birds a 10 pound slab of lightning dear ribs. The birds descended on the meat quickly, a cloud of black swarming on the meat as they pecked wildly away at thier meal. It's rare to see them this deep in the forest he thought to himself bemused by the sight. When he heard the slightest sound of rustling off in the distance over the sound of the crows feasting.
“hmm, footsteps maybe 10 or twelve sets…humanoid? Out here at night?” he thought to himself and realized the crows had become deathly silent. Now staring at him intently.
Realization dawning on Dellam that these birds were probably familiars of some arcane ranger. “damn.” he exclaimed pulling two vials from his robe and downing them quickly, then donning a short sword and a glove covered in runes.
The association had called him back nearly a year ago after word got out about his experiments and rumors spread about him communing with the soul of the undead king. A call he ignored all too readily when he remembered how he was treated by them in the past and besides the rumors were not completely unfounded.
His sight being as good as it was in the dark allowed him to see he was completely surrounded. “now ladies and gentlemen no need for this to get violent I am just a humble researcher from Kareth.” Dellum bellowed into the night.
“Silence Dellum your appearance hasn’t changed so much from your blasphemous experiments that I cannot recognize you.” A woman with an unforgettably smokey quality to her voice responded.
“Alira… these birds are yours than I take it? i always did have a soft spot for them, but you knew that.” Dellum remarked.
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“Why did you refuse the call Del? You knew they would send me eventually and I always get my man.”
“That you do, but you will forgive me for not going quietly.” Dellum uttered, before dodging several arrows trained at his hands and feet from all sides. Deflecting several magical tracking shots with his sword while channeling energy into his glove.
Suddenly he released the energy in a burst of light that would put the sun to shame and the forest was filled with a cacophony of swears and animal cries. Dellum moved toward the nearest archer who was clutching his face in agony then placed his magically empowered hand on his head and cast a sleep spell on him. The spell put him down immediately and he proceeded to take down three more with sleep spells at range and with touch attacks which allowed him to maximize the effects of low level spells.
The arrows began to fly again two finding their mark on his left leg and foot but they snapped in half and were ejected from the wounds shortly after.
Alira shot him a glare this time instead of an arrow “ that healing was done to fast to have been a spell and the poison was supposed to act on contact. What have you done to yourself?”
“I replicated the healing abilities of the Duren vampire clans who can heal from nearly anything and as for the poison well, I accidentally poison myself all the time with my new reagents.” Dellam responded.
“vampires…then you do conspire with the dead. I see, all hands lethal force authorized.” Alira immediately nocked an arrow and exclaimed 'ignus arrow' before firing the arrow at Dellam’s heart at a speed that seemed to make the rest of the world stand still. Del managed to block the arrow with his sword which was shattered on impact. Flames and shrapnel were sent flying directly into his chest and neck. Choking on his own blood now dell began to send bolts of lightning at Alira but received shots from every direction all empowered with spells of acid and flame to counteract his healing.
“surrender Del. The council wants you alive and I would like to keep my flawless record intact.”
Dellam’s throat healed enough for him to laugh at that remark before pulling a vial from his robes and dashing its contents on the ground causing 6 golems to rise up around him each one smaller than your typical golem and much more human looking with a clear look of intelligence in their glowing crystalline eyes. “disable them don’t kill them anything else i can heal later.”
Dellum hated that he needed to use his Shaitan summoning reagent here of all places but Alira was still pulling punches and if she got serious he would have to kill her before she vaporized him with half the forest. Still it is a shame earth genies were difficult to contract with.
The genies made quick work of all but alira who managed to overwhelm two with her hydro shots releasing enough water in their wakes to drench everything for 200 meters in every direction. The explosion of water giving Del the opportunity to slip within striking range only to be met with two more shots both electro bolts. She smiled at him in that brief moment and he smiled back as he grabbed her just before the spells discharged, her smile replaced by shock in more ways than one. She fell over unconscious.
Dellam ordered the genies to break down camp and bind the fallen trackers in stone while he prepared his phantom prowler corpse for transport and stuffed it into a large custom bag of holding. He then cast a sleep spell on his captives to make sure they didn’t purse and a protective barrier around the camp to keep them from being eaten. Which would be unfortunate since he spent so much energy not killing them. “I am sorry it had to be this way” he whispered to Alira as he began to walk away into the night.