Chapter 202
Aiden began to say something but the Snake Charmer lowered his four foot staff and aimed its blue gem at him. The staff bucked twice in the kobold's hands as two dark blue sinuous shapes formed at the tip of the gem, flew through the air, and struck Aiden on the chest.
“Snakes! He's got snakes!” Aiden howled as he slapped at his body in an attempt to get the snakes off of him. “Snakes!” he yelled again and Norri giggled, she couldn't help it. Aiden looked ridiculous.
Even the boss paused for a moment to watch Aiden hop around and slap at his robe and the leather armor he wore beneath it. After a moment the boss chuckled once in a high pitched tone.
Thankfully Aiden had gotten the snakes in time, before they had a chance to slither up his sleeve or under his robe. He brushed one off of him while he swatted at the other. Finally he had enough and grabbed the remaining snake and flung it in to the air and away from him.
The first snake had disappeared in to motes of light once it had struck the ground. The second one didn't reach the ground as it sailed through the air and landed on the Snake Charmer's shoulder.
The boss kobold frowned as the blue snake slipped off of his shoulder and landed on the floor with a tiny plop. Just a moment later the second snake disappeared in to motes of light. The boss let out a shrill cry and aimed a second volley towards Aiden but was forced to reconsider as M'redith's form had rapidly approached him.
M'redith closed the gap quickly – she had moved the moment the kobold had fired his staff at Aiden. While the kobold had been chuckling at Aiden, M'redith had rushed towards him. She swung her sword and knocked his staff aside as it bucked again when she connected with the staff and a blue snake went careening wildly through the air instead of towards Aiden.
The snake existed just long enough to enjoy its flight through the air in a high arc before it plummeted to the ground and struck with a plop – and then, motes of light.
As if that had been the signal to begin the fight the rest of the group burst in to motion. M'redith continued to hammer away at the boss monster with her sword while she continuously stepped to the side so that the creature was forced to either turn with her or leave itself unprotected against her strikes.
It wasn't that big of a deal for the monster at first, especially when it was just M'redith attacking, but once she had finally managed to turn the monster so that it faced away from the rest of the group – that was when things began to go badly for the kobold.
Norri stepped up and began to deliver brutal strikes that left her staff vibrating from the force of the impacts. Each strike was delivered to a knee or elbow.
Metal armor covered the kobold and Norri's strikes impacted it repeatedly at the back of its knees. The front of the knees were protected with a layer of worked metal which extended to the sides of the leg, almost like wings. The rear of the knees were left uncovered to allow greater range of movement. The 'wings' made it difficult to strike at the back of the knees from a side position. The only way to really damage the knee would be to attack from behind.
Norri changed her attacks as she inspected the armor she was fighting against and worked out the best way of getting past it. She finally decided that thrust attacks would be her best bet, and before the boss could turn to face her she stepped back a pace and then lurched forwards.
It appeared as if Norri had tripped, or fallen, and her body fell forward at great speed. At the last moment she extended her leg and landed in a deep lunge as she thrust her staff forward using all of her weight and acceleration. All of that force was directed down the staff and in to its very tip – which connected with the back of the kobold's knee and sent the creature tumbling to the floor with a screech.
Norri followed it up with an overhead blunt attack to the little wings on the sides of the armored knees and bashed them in until they were bent and dug in to the creature's knees rather than protect them.
Kobold Snake Charmer begins to cast Serpent Well...5...4...3...
“He's trying to cast a spell! Go for the face and mouth!” Jay yelled to the rest of the group. He was too far out of position to attack the monster. His job was to offer advice and help defend the healer and mage if necessary.
Even though Sha'li was unsure whether or not now was a good time to use her ability she was certain that it would at the very least help the situation. She raised one hand and a six inch long shard of ice snapped in to being with a sharp crackling sound. As she watched the shard began to spin in place until it had become just a blue blur. The sound of compacting ice came from the bolt as it rotated above her hand. Once it was up to speed it launched from her hand towards the kobold.
The frost bolt would strike the monster so long as it did so within five seconds. Where it struck however was left up to chance and skill. Sha'li did not possess any skill yet as she had only just learned her first class ability – so it was up to chance where the bolt would land.
The bolt struck the kobold in one shoulder with tremendous force. The creature's body was thrown backwards and shot past a startled M'redith who watched with an open mouth as it bounced off of the throne it had been seated on only moments earlier.
Serpent Well successfully interrupted!
The body fell to the ground in pieces. One piece was the arm and a bit of the shoulder that had been blown clear of the kobold's body – the other piece was the rest of the kobold, which still had a lot of fight left in it.
The kobold stood up with a pained growl, one arm still clutching the twin wood twisted staff, the other arm laying on the floor unhelpfully. The creature leaned the staff against itself as it reached across its body and removed the wand in its belt. With a swish and flick of the wand the kobold touched the tip to his bleeding shoulder where his arm used to be. Then he tucked the wand back in to place and waited.
His enemies had paused as well – M'redith wanted to know what she would have to deal with before she started swinging her sword around.
The monster's shoulder swelled and grew an ever expanding scaly nub where his arm once was. The nub stretched and expanded, the skin turning shiny and scaly. It grew and lengthened until his arm had been replaced with a scaly reproduction.
It also lacked an elbow.
With a crackling sound the end of the 'arm' split and opened and two tiny eyes popped in to existence at the end of the 'arm.'
“Are you kidding me? Snake for an arm? What kind of snake charmer is that?!” Aiden complained.
Norri laughed from in front of him, “Keep talking and he'll throw more snakes at you!”
Aiden looked spooked and immediately went quiet and the others chuckled as the monster grew more and more angry at being ignored. Finally the monster couldn't take it anymore and rushed Aiden, his preferred target.
M'redith smoothly stepped in between them and raised her sword over her head as the monster drew closer to her. As the monster struck out at her unprotected midsection she brought the pommel of her sword crashing down atop the kobold's skull, dazing it. The crown atop its head wasn't even disturbed from the strike – but the kobold was quite disturbed and seemed stunned.
M'redith kicked at its chest and pushed it towards Norri, who was behind her.
Kobold Snake Charmer begins to cast Serpent Well...5...4...3...
The kobold came to its senses before Norri could strike at it and not only began to cast Serpent Well but also began to fire off sinuous snakes at his enemies. The staff bucked once wildly and sent a snake that shot out towards Norri and wrapped around her legs before constricting them together.
With a short scream Norri fell to the ground but managed to use her staff to help ease her down to avoid injury.
A second and third snake shot towards Sha'li who dodged one but got her hair caught up in another.
The scent of sulfer, burnt sage, and ozone filled the air as Sha'li's hair flickered a wild rainbow of reds, yellows, and purples while she ran her fingers through her hair wildly in order to get the snake out and away from her.
The snakes weren't all that dangerous – they hadn't bit them yet for example, but they did do one important thing.
They kept the group from interrupting the Kobold Charmer's spell that it was attempting to cast.
With a triumphant smile the kobold finished its casting of the spell Serpent Well. The creature suddenly appeared to be standing in a crater that rose up to its knees. The crater was only a couple of feet across but glowed an off white color from within.
Jay saw a sudden overlay appear on the ground in red as one of his Class Abilities triggered as the kobold finished casting its special ability.
Fancy Footwork (uncommon) – During combat when any enemy prepares to use a special ability the area of that ability's effect will be highlighted on the ground in red. The highlighted portion is only visible to the caster and indicates where an ability will do damage once it completes. Once the ability executes the highlighted portion will disappear.
The overlay appeared to cover most of the room and unfortunately there was no pylon this time to hide behind. Jay attempted to call out some helpful advice and failed. “Look out!” Jay yelled to his group unhelpfully. He couldn't think of the right thing to say in time to say it.
The others had just enough warning to know something was wrong but not enough time to do anything about it.
Suddenly out of the glow shot out hundreds of snakes of all different colors. The snakes shot out from the crater and towards the walls around them. Anyone caught between the snakes and wall ended up covered in snakes.
These snakes bit, and the group became covered in snake bites. Most of them had snakes hanging off of their leather armor once the deluge had ended. Jay tugged one off of his face and frowned. It was quite painful.
As they were mostly already covered in armor there were few places where the snakes could do damage. Still, having ten or so snakes hanging off of one's skin can be anxiety inducing.
“Pair up, pull them out! Aiden, heal after a person is entirely de-snaked!” M'redith called out as she tugged a snake off of her upper neck. Up until that point she had been happy with her leather armor's low collar. After that fight however she planned on getting a full armored collar added to her armor. Her snake bite wounds stung as she tugged snakes out of her skin one at a time.
They didn't cooperate either, and attempted to wrap themselves around the hand trying to pull them away. They bit at the hand too once pulled free from the body.
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The group managed to pull out a good number of the snakes before the Snake Charmer attacked again. This time it thrust its staff towards M'redith and when she stepped to the side to dodge it the kobold's new snake arm lashed out and bit her on the arm.
Which did nothing as her arm was covered in thick leather armor. M'redith was the tank in her group, and was responsible for keeping enemies focused on hurting her instead of her group. Because of that fact she had been given leather armor that was far thicker than that of her group mates. The snake that sunk its teeth in to her leather armor had no chance of reaching her arm.
The snake bit lightning quick and pulled back before M'redith could strike in reply.
While M'redith kept the boss busy the others had managed to remove all of the snakes from their bodies and armor and Aiden had healed them all with patchwork heals. After that Aiden had turned to M'redith who was out of reach fighting the boss. He cast a Physician's Blast towards her.
Physician's Blast – rare – when activated shoots one bolt per rarity level (rare=3) in a forward facing cone. The bolts are green in color and glassy in appearance. The bolts do not interact with objects and will splash harmlessly against them. Any party member struck will have their wounds covered with a green gel and receive moderate healing. Any enemies struck will be blinded for two seconds and take moderate damage.
The three bolts raced towards M'redith as she danced around the kobold's strikes. The bolts did not track their targets the way Sha'li's bolts did. Instead they targeted a general area, and anyone in that area had a chance of getting hit.
Two bolts splashed against M'redith and she sighed loudly in appreciation as the bolts turned to a green jelly that was rapidly absorbed by her body.
The third bolt flew past her and struck the Kobold on the arm
On its snake arm.
The arm-that-wasn't flailed about wildly as the bolt turned in to a green jelly that stuck to the snake arm and began to sizzle as it ate away at its skin. Rends began to become visible along its skin as the acid ate away at the flesh.
The snake flailed about desperately in an attempt to throw off the substance but was entirely unsuccessful. Eventually the acid ate through the snake entirely and half of its length fell to the floor with a meaty plop sound.
Sha'li and Norri traded a disgusted look before M'redith began to rain blows down upon the monster.
The kobold did its best with its one arm and used its staff to keep M'redith at bay even though it only had one arm with which to do so. Its skill was impressive and M'redith was beginning to become frustrated.
“Is this thing toying with me?” M'redith asked in confusion as the monster kept her too far back to do any real damage.
Kobold Snake Charmer begins to cast Summon Slithery Servant...3...2...
“Interrupt!” Jay yelled but M'redith couldn't get close enough.
Sha'li fired off a frost bolt and a shimmering line appeared as a bolt streaked from her hand towards the boss monster.
The kobold was prepared this time and jumped to the side so that it put M'redith between it and the bolt. The monster grinned with a mouth full of shiny needle like teeth but then frowned as the bolt overshot them, turned in mid air and reacquired its target before it streaked towards the kobold's side.
The kobold frowned deeper and side stepped again, all the while keeping M'redith at bay. The bolt once again flew past him and turned in the air.
The kobold grinned triumphantly as the bolt approached him once more and again sidestepped.
Straight in to Aiden's Physician's Blast.
All three of Aiden's blast struck the kobold on the chest, good arm, and midsection. They splashed against the armor and clung to it in the form of green goo that sizzled and smoked as it ate away at the metal armor.
The monster was still screeching in anger at the green goo when Sha'li's frost bolt finally reached its intended target.
The remainder of the boss monster's snake arm was blown up. Not blown off, or damaged, no. It was blown up to the point that it could not be found again. The kobold was left once again with one arm missing.
But that had been enough. The kobold would happily trade that arm-that-wasn't in exchange for finishing his spell cast – which he did.
Out of the tip of the kobold's twisted staff shot out a blue ray of light that had been aimed at the floor. Where the light met the floor a shape began to form and grow as if it had slithered out of the ground itself.
The form resolved finally in to that of a large and thick snake. Thick as a tree trunk and as along as two men the snake was blue and covered in a gorgeous pattern of blue and white scales. The snakes eyes were two black pools of nothingness, and with a hiss the snake attacked.
The snake raced towards Aiden who would be powerless to stop such a massive creature. M'redith was too far off to be able to intercept it, so she did the next best thing.
Pouch of Pillars – uncommon – A small gray leather pouch held closed by a drawstring this pouch contains four square stones shaped like six sided dice. When a stone is thrown and touches the ground a six foot pillar will grow from that spot. The pillar will be two feet across and made out of a deep black reflective rock that is resistant to damage. The pillar will remain for a period of fifteen minutes before disappearing. Once used the pouch will regenerate one stone every 24 hours. This item must be bound before use.
M'redith reached in to her gray pouch and pulled out a square dice shaped stone. She tossed the stone across the room and it landed just in front of the speeding snake.
With a grinding and shaking sound a pillar of dark stone shot six feet in to the air in front of the snake.
The pillar was two feet wide and was fashioned out of a deep black reflective rock.
The snake was powerless to stop in time and struck the pillar with the same force it had intended to strike Aiden with. Rather than damage Aiden however it had been the snake that had ended up wounded.
Sha'li looked at the new huge blue snake with terror and before she had even considered it three violently spinning shards had appeared in a triangular formation above her extended hand. She hadn't intended for that to happen, she had just thought that she wanted that snake gone.
The first frost bolt shot out with a zzzzz sound and zipped through the air in a blur before it struck the side of the snake. The two foot thick snake was struck by the frost bolt on the side and it disappeared in to its body before the other side exploded outward in a spray of flesh and scales. The wound was so large that the back half of the snake was practically torn off and only remained attached thanks to a precarious strip of undamaged snake hide.
After the first bolt the snake was no longer a threat and could barely move the front half of its body towards Aiden, but Sha'li had already summoned three bolts, and she intended to use all three.
The second bolt struck the rear half of the snake that had already been almost completely split off from the main body. The impact mashed the snake's body between the frost bolt and the stone floor below it before sending what was left shooting off in every direction.
A spray of used-to-be-snake shot in to the air as the rear end of the snake was turned in to a jelly like mist.
There was absolutely no reason to use a third bolt at that point, but Sha'li had been scared by the appearance of the huge beast and intended right from the outset to completely destroy it.
The third bolt struck the snake straight on from behind and the bolt shattered the snake's body between the bolt and the black stone pillar. The flesh was blown clear of the impact site, and when the spray of body parts had finished raining down out of the air only a thin strip of undamaged snake skin remained where only a moment before had stood hundreds and hundreds of pounds of snake.
Aiden had been transfixed by the approaching snake and barely had enough time to raise his staff before a pillar had suddenly thrust in to being in front of him and saved him. He had sweat on his brow when he turned to thank M'redith, but instead of thanking her he shouted instead.
“Look out!” Aiden yelled at M'redith.
M'redith had turned away from the boss in order to save Aiden from the charging snake. She had been successful in saving him but she had also been successful in providing an opening to the boss kobold who was still located nearby.
Aiden's warning came too late and M'redith barely had time to raise her sword in defense as the kobold shot a blue bolt out of his staff and knocked M'redith to the ground.
The blue bolt turned in to a snake and wrapped itself around M'redith and began to constrict. M'redith's left arm was trapped but with her right arm, which was still free, she reached to her belt and pulled out her knife. Laying on the floor she went to work sawing away at the snake's body but it never once let up the entire time and continued to tighten around her.
Norri had been out of position behind M'redith and raced to put herself between the boss and M'redith, who was still on the ground.
Jay had zero chance of contributing much to the fight and just tried to not get hit.
Sha'li saw all of that at the same time and realized that this was it. This was the time. This was what she had been told to save her mana for. She quickly checked her mana before she decided that getting a little sick was preferable to allowing M'redith to get hurt while in a weakened position.
Sha'li wasn't sure how her Class Ability worked. She also did not know enough about adventuring to assume that her ability was bound by its description. She just did things as they came to her. So she did what felt natural. She raised her arms out in front of her and raised her hands as if she were about to push against something. She wanted bolts. Lots of them.
Bright dots began to appear in a grid in front of her palms, a mathematically perfect grid of bright dots, four by four. Out of the dots grew long six inch sharp shards of ice that rapidly began to spin until they made whizzing sounds from their movements. It quickly grew in to a high pitch whine much like a jet engine. The sharp crackle of ice being compressed filled the room, too loud to ignore. The sound grew in volume and the others in the room looked around to see what the source was.
The kobold boss had just enough time to let out a loud bark before the bolts shot towards it at tremendous speeds, one right after another in what appeared to be a never ending stream. The blue streaks formed a bright blue bar in everyone's vision as for a moment the air was filled with frost bolts.
The kobold was struck with immense force by the first frost bolt and it penetrated the armor an inch. The monster screeched loudly.
Kobold Snake Charmer has been Chilled x 1 for ten seconds.
The kobold looked confused for a split second but that was all it had time for before the other fifteen bolts followed along behind the first and struck home.
Kobold Snake Charmer has been Chilled x 2 for ten seconds.
The bolts struck over and over. Some penetrated the armor, others blew the creature back against its throne. Still others sent shards of metal sheared off from the armor flying across the room.
Kobold Snake Charmer has been Frozen for two seconds.
The boss' body became suddenly rigid and froze in place as it was blasted with another bolt. Pieces of the kobold's body was blasted clear and what was left collapsed in to a heap.
Kobold Snake Charmer has been Chilled x 3 for ten seconds.
Frost bolts continued to strike what had once been a kobold boss.
Kobold Snake Charmer has been Chilled x 4 for ten seconds.
Each stack of Chilled decreased the kobold's movement and attack speeds by 5%. Four stacks meant that the kobold was now moving and attacking a total of 20% slower!
Not that the kobold was attacking any longer. Or moving. Or still in one piece.
Bolts continued to splash against the corpse and throw bits across the room until finally silence returned.
Nothing in the room was still moving. The boss was... gone. There was evidence that something had fought for its life there, but what that might have been was impossible to determine based off of what was left. Bits of metal that might once have been armor was scattered across the floor. The entire group was covered in blood and guts, some snake, some kobold.
“We won!” Sha'li shouted and the heavy scent of cinnamon and a deep pleasant musk surrounded the triumphant group for a moment.
Then Sha'li clutched at her stomach and vomited.