Iron Kingdoms: Tides of War

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:05 am

Zedrin's bullet blew off the lower jaw of the lead thrall and exited in a spray of rancid blood and brain out the back of the undead's head. It staggered and swayed for a moment, allowing the others to pass it. Then it straightened and resumed its advance at the speed of a fast walk.

Bloody Good · Post by **Bloody Good** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:04 pm

"Zog!"

Ardal hauled his bulk out of the door that now served as a skylight with a good deal of heaving and struggling. He saw the undead loping along towards the downed carriage, and repeated himself. The mild curses didn't bother the undead in the slightest. Once he was all the way out, a deed that would have taken longer if he hadn't had experiance with using windows as escape routes, he launched into one of his favorite songs, the Ballad of Boulder-Bashing Larnk. It was in Old Troll, so no one really knew what the words meant, but the general meaning was that Larnk was big, mean, and bashed boulders.

No one has ever claimed that trollkin are good songwriters.

The effects began to build, a sort of subsonic thrum that lay beneath his foghorn-voice. Not really waiting for the full effects, which typically included whipping people into a fighting frenzy, he leapt off the carriage in a kind of stage-dive that included his scattergun blasting about a half-pound of gravel and thumb tacks in the general direction of the nearest rotting beastie. Which was pretty damn close by now. The nasty bayonet attached to his gun was going to get some work when he landed, that was for sure.

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 6:47 pm

Corey got up after being shoved off of Teghe, under other circumstances being on top of that one would have been more pleasant. However, he was being paid and had work to do. He could not afford to throw a fireball, or even a lighting bolt inside this city, but he had other options.

He put his hands level with his shoulders and held close to his body, clenching his fingers together like pairs of silly spring-loaded jaws used in child's pranks, and moved the clamping fists toward the undead, still level with his shoulders. Once his hands reached full extension he muttered several quick words and seven disembodied dragon-jaws comprised of force materialized at his hands and sprang out with re-lethal intent toward the undead, 1 on each, an additional one on all but the injured one. They would keep chomping, doing damage for as long as he managed to concentrate.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 10:57 pm

Malkamar dared a glance to the attackers, and seeing some effort to bring them down underway, he rushed to the unconscious Jessica. A focused prayer was uttered, as his hands glowed and he touched the woman's head near where she bled. "In the name of Morrow, stand again." He murmured, channeling raw healing energies, bereft of the shape and control of spells, into the wound to seal it. He had precious moments before the fight would be upon him.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:53 am

Rogan tumbled as the carriage as his reflexes took over, adrenaline pumping through his veins. As others worked their way out of the overturned carriage, he moved to the old man with practiced grace. "Hey there Exarch, you still with us? Don't you worry none, ol' Rogan will give ye' a hand here."

He considered his options for a moment. Everyone was crawling out the top, what used to be the side of the wagon. Rogan, meanwhile, needed an exit, one away from the fighting. The former roof of the carriage was almost certainly a thinner material than the sides, and likely prone to tearing when hit with the sharp end of his wrench, something he didn't hesitate to do. With a quick few swings, his effort to tear a way out was made clear. With his free hand, he was helping the Exarch up and out of the confines of the carriage.

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:26 am

By the time Rogan got the top of the carriage open, Teghe had joined him, picking up the case that His Holiness had been protecting throughout the trip. "Is he alright, Rogan?" the young gunmage asked, holding the case in one hand and his pistol in the other as he looked for more possible attackers on this side of the carriage.

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:33 am

Jess moaned and stirred as Malkamar sent a stream of healing power through her body. Her eyes fluttered. "What hit me?" she groaned as she sat up.

Meanwhile Teghe and Rogan had pulled the exarch out of the carriage as a pair of heavy mauls crashed into the other side of the carriage. He was unconscious, but still breathing. The driver had gotten to his feet and blasted one of the thralls with his blunderbuss, opening a dozen minor wounds in the undead's flesh. The warrior thrall swung his maul. The carriage driver's head exploded like an overripe melon.

The last thrall approached, hatred burning in its eyes. Its lower jaw had been shot away and it had holes in its chest from where Corey had blasted it, but it could still fight. It swung its maul at Zedrin in a vicious diagonal arc.

In the alleyway from which they emerged, the air shimmered and another pair of undead appeared. They wore mail like the others, but carried large shields and one handed war axes. They charged the carriage.

rhoenix · Post by **rhoenix** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:26 pm

Cynical Cat wrote:The last thrall approached, hatred burning in its eyes. Its lower jaw had been shot away and it had holes in its chest from where Corey had blasted it, but it could still fight. It swung its maul at Zedrin in a vicious diagonal arc.

Having kept an eye on the progress of extracting the unconscious Exarch, Zedrin didn't act as fast as he would normally to the incoming maul. Instead, he simply rolled away from the undead, landing with the broken carriage between he and the visible undead. He heard a crash as a heavy maul smashed the side of the carriage to splinters as he landed on the ground.

Knowing as he did that these undead moved far faster than any he had encountered in the past, he did not have time to reload his rifle for a second shot. However, he could use his rifle as a focus for a spell that would help him, he realized. Chanting softly to himself for a few moments, he then felt the ghostly armor activate. As soon as he felt the spell activate, he sheathed his rifle and drew his sword. Holding his sword ready, he walked quietly and cautiously around to the left side of the ruined carriage.

Post by **B4UTRUST** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:20 pm

While the others were battling, healing and running Engas was grabbing his stuff and trying to orient himself. He wasn't especially skilled at combat compared to the others. He was an arcane mechanik. His job was to repair the stuff and make sure it worked when they needed it too.

When the maul crashed through the side of the carriage it caught him by surprise, coming far closer to his precious flesh then he cared for it. Deciding that the carriage was a lost cause he grabbed his bags and dove out of the hole in the roof. One of his bags caught on the edge and jerked him slightly. Another jerk freed the stuck pack.

Gun in one hand, bags slung over the other shoulder he moved quickly away from the seiged transport. Safe for the brief moment he tried to catch his bearings. Hearing the roar of combat he knew he had to hurry. Whispering arcane words he cast a spell to enhance the damage to the bullets loaded in his gun. After the spell was cast he moved to a better position to try and get a shot off at one of the undead things.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:48 pm

"Focus on getting him out of here first, worry about nicks and bumps later! There'll be no fixin' 'im if 'e gits 'is 'ead bashed in by them things!" Rogan struggled under the weight of the old man, his left arm supporting the limp body while his right gripped his wrench with a firm grip, ready to strike at anyone that got too close. He dearly wished to get a moment to go for his bow to show these gunslingers a thing or two about ranged warfare.

As it was, the group was getting split up, not a good thing. "That bloody wagon won't hold back a gelded goblin! Come on! Slow them down and let's move! Follow me!"

Bloody Good · Post by **Bloody Good** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:43 pm

By the time he landed, the Ballad of Boulder-Bashing Larnk was in full swing.

"Larnk bazlij bouhjirz ahh jay homg.
Larnk bazlij lunamz ahh jay homg.
Larnk bazij tlin ahh umteh li jeij,
Amj Larnk jeij bazlemg tlin ahh!"

If any of that meant anything, it didn't matter much. Neither did the scattergun blast, apparently. Damn things soaked it up without even noticing. Ardal picked one that wasn't looking at him and rushed it. A giant trollkin shoulder planted beneath its center of gravity, combined with a strong shove upwards sent it a respectable distance, and a upward stab aimed up under its ribs made a savagely effective follow-up.

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:03 pm

Ardal's shoulder charge sent the thrall flying backward. The undead picked itself back up only to receive a huge swing from the trollkin that ripped open its torso from navel to neck. Brackish blood and fluids poured from the wound and the thrall fell, severely damaged.

That left the fellcaller in something of a pickle as a thrall to either side of him raised their mauls and engaged him.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:31 pm

"Get up! More come!" Malkamar said simply to the recovering Jessica, as his rifle was lifted. There was no time for proper sniping, but a sharpshooter was ever and always a sharpshooter. He sighted on the attacking undead closest to the aged Exarch.

"Blessed is Morrow, who guides my hands to war, my eyes to the target, my finger to the trigger." He murmured as he opened fire. The blessed energies usually associated with a paladin's greatsword scything through the heretics merged with the round, streaking through the air as the crack of the rifle resonated.

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:50 pm

The thrall raised its hammer to smash Zedrin and Malkamar's bullet struck. Its chest erupted in in silver fire and its chest was blown apart. Smoke rose from the crater its chest and it lay still. The two thralls with shields and axes changed direction to engage the paladin, one coming around each side of the carriage.

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:54 pm

"Move where?" Teghe asked, holding the all-important case in his left as he sighted down the magelock in his right hand and summoned that touch of wildness within.
A ray of bright scarlet shot out of the barrel, the so-called scorching ray striking center mass on the thrall that had nearly taken off Engas' head. A second ray shot out just behind the first, striking the same thrall a second scorching hit.

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:12 pm

The thrall fell, consumed by intense flames. That left one badly wounded one slowly getting back up and a second swinging his maul at the fell caller. The two fresh ones were circling around the sides to engage Malkamar and the others hiding behind the fallen carriage.

The carnage had not gone unnoticed by their master. Six prime quality warrior thralls should have been sufficient, but it had not been. It was time to intervene personally.

A nightmare became visible as it left the alley. It was a a humanoid construct of black steel, seven and a half feet tall. A boiler was mounted on its back and thin trails of black smoke trailed from twin smoke stacks. From its waist dangled two lantern like constructions of black iron and crystal from which could be seen a sinister green glow. They were soul cages and they fed its abominable magics.

It held in its right hand a mechanickal staff, a construct of steel and brass rune plates connected to a large accumulator hanging at from its waist. The worst was its head. It was a skull floating in pool of green light that filled the neck cowl of the armour. It was an unholy mixture of machine and undead, an iron lich. And it would not be denied.

rhoenix · Post by **rhoenix** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 1:06 am

Seeing the quick change of events, Zedrin decided that his rifle was the best medicine after all. He backed away from the carriage, quickly sheathing his sword and drawing his rifle as he did. Drawing a rifle cartridge, he held it in his fist as he began to murmur to himself, keeping his eyes on both sides of the now-ruined carriage as he focused all his dislike of the undead into his fist. The normally simple rote against undead would add some extra bite to his shot.

A few whitish flames appeared around the rifle cartridge as his spell finished, and he swiftly loaded it into his rifle just as the two armored undead gained the sides of the wreckage that once was a rather fine carriage. Aiming at the knee of one of them, he fired, the normally reddish-yellow bolt glowing white as it neared its undead target.

Bloody Good · Post by **Bloody Good** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:47 am

"Larnk bazlij bouhjirz-

Whock.

The song cut off. "Ey, dat's me drinkin' arm you whacked, you bloody wanker!" A large circle of bruised, torn skin marked where the mallet had connected with Ardal's right shoulder. His left hand found a grip on the undead and yanked it in close for a headbutt aimed at the center of its face.

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 1:42 pm

Zedrin's bullet missed the thrall's knee and zipped through the empty air before blasting away a chunk of building. The thrall turned on the Idrian gunmage with lethal intent. Ardal's headbutt shattered the undead's nose, bu that in no way inconvenienced the undead warrior. The thrall dropped its maul and struck back. A hand like a steel vice closed on the trollkin's throat as the other hand reached up and gouged out Ardal's left eye.

rhoenix · Post by **rhoenix** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 3:26 pm

Cursing quietly as his bullet missed, Zedrin decided to stop messing around with this armored, axe and shield-bearing undead.

Already feeling the electrical charge building with his intent, he raised his rifle, focusing a bolt of lightning as strong as that which set his house aflame when he was a child. Sparks coursed along the barrel of his magelock rifle as he let the spell go, aimed at the armored undead that would have been without a leg, had his earlier shot not missed.

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 3:44 pm

The arc of electricity struck the undead dead center in the chest. Its flesh shriveled and blackened as it was set alight by the terrible power of the gunmage's spell. The arc continued on to blow a mid sized hole in the wall behind it. The thrall fell, having been reduced to a blasted mass of charred meat.

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 4:38 pm

One more of the thralls down, but two still and heading right for Teghe, Rogan, and His Holiness. At least one was wounded, and Teghe's eyes narrowed as he concentrated, taking very careful aim down the mage-lock's sight. It was one of the lower level spells he called on now, one that steadied his hand so he'd strike true as he fired off a shot at the wounded thrall to finish it off.

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 4:49 pm

The bullet tore through the wounded thrall's chest, but it did not fall. It leapt towards Teghe, hammer raised. The sword and axe thrall closed on Malkamar as a voice shouted a spell. Jets of flame shot from Jessica's outstretched hand, consuming the thrall.

As his minions fell, the iron lich made a jesture. The hell light glow in one of his soul cages dimned. The carriage shrieked and skidded down the street, exposing the adventurers to the undead's gaze.

Bloody Good · Post by **Bloody Good** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:37 pm

The string of ear-blistering curses Ardal spewed left little doubt to his opinion of zombies. His eye slowly oozing blood, he closed one meaty fist over the zombie's arm in a bone-shattering grip, grabbed a fistful of mail armor in the other, and lifted. No matter how big your hands are, you can never get your fingers far enough around someone's throat to hold on very well with one hand, and the size difference between trollkin neck and human-sized hands makes keeping hold virtually impossible.

He slammed the thrall to the cobblestones, head first. Not done yet, Ardal Cormag, son of Cormag Fleegar, proceeded to jump up and down on the still-moving thrall, all the while inventing new curses. The curses stopped when the carriage went flying, and he stopped jumping to see what was happening. Not that he stepped off of the thrall's badly-stomped back, but he stopped jumping.

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:21 pm

Corey knew the danger the moment he saw the Iron Lich

"Jessica, cover our flanks, while I work a spell" he yelled His right hand raised into a point, his left raised above his head. magical anergies arced between his fingers as he called forth his considerable arcane power into a ray that would cause significant damage to constructs. The ray of deanimation shot forth toward the Iron Lich

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Iron Kingdoms: Tides of War

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