Iron Kingdoms: Tides of War

[Cynical Cat]

Powder hit flame. Thunder boomed inside the building as a huge invisible fist smashed into everyone. Akina and the bane thrall fell in a heap, others were knocked over. The iron lich was floored, but neither stunned nor wounded since it was not alive. The thrashing tentacles conjured by his spell were momentarily discommoded and released their prey.

Corey was far enough away that the explosion didn't much affect him. He unleashed his spell and it struck the lick directly in the chest, sending cracks running through its massive breastplate.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Corey had to work fast, while the creature was down. He removed a crystal rod and some rabbit fur from a strap on his arm with a flick of his wrist, and prepared the spell he usually used to decimate a column of troops

"Ast kiranann kair gadunrm soth-arn suh kali jalaran"

He rubbed the fur on the rod and as the words were spoken, his full fledged lighting bolt shot forth with a deafening crack toward the iron lich. Corey hoped that the charge was enough to heat up and fuck up internal components.

[Charon]

Akina was thrown to the ground under the blastwave, disoriented for a few moments she finally got her bearings and realized that the grip of the Bane thrall may have weakened temporarily. The Umbrean pulled hard as she jumped to her feet. Assuming that didn't work she would holler out. "If vun of hyu can get dis ting off of me I kan help vit de lich!"

[LadyTevar]

Teghe lost his footing and felt, wincing at the pain. Akina's cry caught the gunmage's attention, however, and Teghe knew he had to do something. The only spells left to him were mere cantrips, the first and easiest spells any magic user learned. He gathered up as much of the magic as he could, sending it down the barrel of his pistol as a single ray of frosty chill at the last remaining thrall.

At best, Teghe hoped the distraction would let the Umbean warrioress break free. Something that minor probably would not harm the undead.

[Cynical Cat]

Teghe's frost ray narrowly missed Akina's face and struck the bane thrall in the shoulder, momentarily freezing up some muscles.

[Cynical Cat]

Lightning smashed into the iron lich's chest, slamming it back. Heated metal, already cracked, expanded. Lubricants inside the nightmarish death machine's body ignited. Hydraulic lines and steam drive cylinders burst. Greenish smoke and steam shot from the gaping wound in the iron lich's chest and oozed out of its joints.

Nightmarish bladed tentacles closed around Corey as the lich weakly twirled its staff, sending a ring of corrosive mist expanding away from its mangled body.

[Charon]

Akina glared at Teghe's near miss before she turned her attention to the job at hand. She twisted her hands sharply, hoping that with the thrall's frozen grasp she would be able to either break off it's arm or finally break free of it's grasp.

[Cynical Cat]

Akina had no such luck. The frost ray merely temporarily locked the thrall's muscles. Holding her with its locked hand, it released its free one to grab a slim poniard from its belt. Fatigue and the bane thrall's aura was already eating away at the human's strength. The bane thrall would be able to drive the blade home through the gap's in the Umbrean's armour soon enough.

[Cynical Cat]

During the slow eternity of the span of a couple seconds, everything seemed to change.

Rogan's wrench opened up the bane thrall's skull. Healing elixer helped with the worst of Teghe's wounds. The iron lich unleashed an expanding ring of acidic mist. Malkamar and Akina charged through the mist, one trusting in divine aid and the other using the bane thrall as a shield. Their weapons opened rents in the monstrosity's armour, but did not bite deep.

The lich swung around the green glowing tip of its terrible staff towards Malkamar as the expanding ring of acidic mist menaced the other adventurers from the front while barbed tentacles clutched at them from behind.

[LadyTevar]

"Someone kill that whoreson already?!" Teghe shouted, dodging the ring of acid, but having to take another wound from the barbed tentacles to do so. "I'm getting tired of this shit!"

[Comrade Tortoise]

'Damn Tentacles" Corey swoe as he loosened his Greatcoat to slip out of it should they manage to grab him. He had a lich to kill.

He spoke the same words,and stretched for his hand again, ready to send a lightning bolt down the injured lich's metaphorical throat.

[Charon]

Akina growled as she pulled her axeblade back. She wanted to wait for a clear shot at the creature's chest, but there was risk to one of her fellows, and so she moved to that threat first. The Umbrian warrior was extremely tired, but she was not going to be defeated now, not after that Thrall had made a fool of her. Her axe swung again, coming down towards the creatures extended staff, hoping to cut it damage it, or at least knock it's aim off.

[SirNitram]

Sworddancing is a word that doesn't mean all that much about fighting; it's an artistic thing. With a sword.

One could be forgiven for not knowing this as Malkamar wove and spun, avoiding most of the acid and managing to semi-parry the staff, twisting his blade on contact to slice down it to try and hit the finger-joints of the machine-undead.

[Cynical Cat]

Metal grated on metal as Malkamar severed the iron lich's right at the first knuckle. The paladin's deflection left it open to Akina's axe strike, which left a gauge in the metal as it knocked the staff spinning out of the iron lich's hands.

The undead cursed and its curse was a word of power. Agonizing pain filled the muscles of the paladin and warrior before it.

[Hotfoot]

Rogan gritted his teeth as he looked at the scene in front of him. He wrapped his coat around him, trying to cover as much of his exposed flesh and vulnerable spots as he could, diving through the cloud with his back to the acidic mist as he pushed through. Once through, he spun around and assessed the combat situation, wrench in hand and ready to strike at the Lich's vital components.

Shutting the lich up was a high priority, he could salvage the components later, right now the focus needed to be stopping the mekanical monstrosity from casting any more spells. Flipping his wrench around, he braced the tool with one hand behind the head of the wrench, the sharpened lever of the other end of the tool now bared for attack. He twisted into the thrust toward's the lich's neck in what he hoped was just the right angle and force to really damage any voicebox or control mechanisms of the Mekanical half of this twisted fusion of magic and science.

[LadyTevar]

The Lich's staff went spinning, and Teghe had a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, it'd probably not work for a gunmage, but they did have ... "COREY! Grab the Staff, use it against him!"

[Cynical Cat]

The iron lich's staff was connected to the heavy accumulator on its waist by a thick cable and didn't go far. The paladin and warrior reeling from its magic, it reached down to pick up it's staff as Rogan pierced the acidic mist. It straightened with its staff held in its maimed hand just in time to receive Rogan's thrust.

The blade slipped through the cracks in the iron lich's breastplate. Steam and hot oil shot from the wound as Rogan stabbed deep, twisted, and ripped. Rogan's hands were scalded, but he managed to hold onto the wrench as he ripped it out of the iron lich's body.

It gave him a look of utter hatred. Green lights glowed malevolently in its eyesockets. Its jaw opened. No words came forth. The black iron monstrosity fell backwards with a clang that shook the entire building.

[Charon]

Akina slowly got to her feet again, having fallen to her knees in the pain.

"Do hyu tink it's dead?"

She grabbed up her axe in both hands and lifted it high, bringing it's blade down on the creatures face to split it in two, just in case.

[Hotfoot]

Being blasted by heat was nothing new to Rogan, but a practiced Steamo he was not. He howled in pain and gave the now-fallen machine an angry series of kicks from his reinforced boots. "Oh, Ah'm not done wit' you yet, you accursed scrapheap! Ah'm gunna rip ye down t'yer bitty bolts an' smelt ya down int'a proper set of pipes to carry me waste off!" He winced as he lifted his wrench up for another swing, the scalding steam making it more painful than he'd like.

Gingerly, he slid the wrench back into the frog on his belt, then he looked around the room. "Bugger...sound off! Who's still with us?"

[SirNitram]

"Morrow has yet to claim me.." Groaned Malkamar as he worked to sever the staff from the lich. "Let's make sure it's not doing much if we've only stunned it.."

[LadyTevar]

"Idjits!" Teghe shouted, still trying to fight off the black barbed tentacles. "He ain't dead yet, the spells are still running! KILL THE BASTARD ALREADY!!!"

[Comrade Tortoise]

Corey was still fighting off tentacles when he called out "still alive, dont know for how long though!"

[Hotfoot]

"Well if any of you finger-wagglin' types 'ave great plans for kill'in the undead thing, I'd be happy t'listen!" Rogan gingerly fished out a cheap curative salve from his belt and rubbed it on his hands, "Malkamar, put these poor souls to rest, if'n y'might?" he motioned to the soul cages, his hands still in too much pain to handle his own weapon properly.

[Cynical Cat]

The bladed tendrils began to fade, becoming insubstantial as smoke and then they were gone, leaving the adventurers standing alone in the ruined workshop. Fire, storm, and acid had smashed the interiors, leaving wrecked machines and piles of rubble everywhere. The corpses of the slain thralls added to the mess as did the one ton body of the iron lich, lying motionless and broken on the the charred floor.

[SirNitram]

Malkamar... Burned, bruised, hurt, and cut.. Staggered to the body. He didn't know much about the soul cages, but he banged on them and spoke prayers, hoping it would help the absorbed souls go on to find their proper resting places.