[i][h3]The Vale[/h3][b]The Crypt,[/b]
[b]Currently[/b][/I]

"A breakthrough at last!" Valmjr came to life as he noticed the bard, on an insane mission at that, dove straight into the darkness past their formerly unbreakable wall they had formed. He too charged, the pouring light to his back, into the deepening depths of darkness with his companion [i]Hela[/i] at the ready.

He swung like a wildman, blow left and right, side to the other, angle after cutting angle and immediately the darkness surged to meet him. Perhaps the battering onslaught drew its attention, just as the formerly vulnerable and unarmed bard did, but now it had more of what it so desired - [i]Heroes of the Light[/i]. How it so clearly wished to cover and smother them, swallow them up like it had their world before. It was beyond evident as they all seemed to clamor at the approaching entourage and the great glowing flame that danced upon the spry Katia, washing across her rich black fur like soothing waves.

The fire that had leapt to her, gifted by the sailor captain, urged her with no direction but forward to the unlit shrine. It had no voice, no words of wisdom, no pervading thoughts, other than it must return itself there. Were it not for the fact that the soothing flames were so pure and so great, the welcome presence of it might have been encouraging to keep hold of, but in the end, a fire such as it was still fire; it could and did burn.

Their own paladin on the other hand, wrought with nothing calm or serene but rather vengeful frustration, cried out with a blast of arcane energy that shot past the front lines. It hurtled like a glimmering, unstable blast of white-silver lightning and vaporized one of the tiny dark things, one less foe for them to worry about now. Though it wasn't alone, not in the slightest, for a purple, curling ray of glinting and dazzling magic lanced out as the tiny wizard Birbin danced along upon his stubby feet as fast as they could move him.

"No, no, no! Friend Cesar must not be alone in the dark! Birbin will come too!" The purple robed man cried as he kept running until he near tripped over himself, stopping then finally to prepare more magic of the same before.

But all was not well in the throne room of the flame, for as the zealot clambered to his feet and threw himself with all his tiring strength he could muster against the wild knight, whose body and its magical resilience deflected the light, he found himself under attack; vicious attack as it were no less. One had shunted them both away and a terrible retort came with it as the [i]Green Man[/i] drew back a gauntlet, that of which was an inlaid snarling maw of a lion upon its fist, delivered with it what well would have been a bloodying strike in a realm apart from this surreal Ysgard, striking down the templar and laying the man unconscious. His entire posture shifted without delay and he turned to face the woman beside him, keeping her at sword point.

"Enough of this, outsider." He spoke low to Wick, oddly ignoring that the golden flame exchanged hands, starting to circle the woman at a slow pace, "You haven't any idea of what it is you and your troupe are doing. That must not come to pass. Not this one, not any other."

The man came to a stop, adjusting the point with his outstretched arm ever closer to her throat, he paused only then to look back to those who were about to dare the depths of the seemingly infinite darkness. Returning his focus to the ancient woman, rather quite young once more, he narrowed his eyes from under the great cat's teeth. There was more to be said, much more. Though perhaps between only these two ears, for that room behind where he had glanced, was alive with teeming shadows; black within black.

They descended upon the bold and brave sailor and his cohort in arms, the former of which was harassed and struck countless times while the latter evoked an arcane shield that buffered his enemies at bay, dropping his weapon to do so. Things were terribly desperate, growing only worse by the moment, for the warrior and his magic looked as though they could no longer hold - the man crying out under the great strain he found his ward being assaulted by.

"Do it, outlander! Do what it is you must! We will hold them off!"

[hider=Effects]
Valmjr makes a series of attacks with his axe [i]Hela[/i] and his offhand weapon, none of which seem to land. Either way, he draws some of the attention, as does Cesar's stepping into the darkness unarmed and only faintly illuminated now. Thea's [i]Eldritch Blast[/i] defeats one [i]Shadow[/i] and Birbin's strange magical ray takes out another.

The [i]Green Man[/i] attempts to subdue Theodore with an unarmed attack and critically strikes. He inflicts 12 points of bludgeoning damage, but in place of killing him, chooses to render him unconscious. Theodore, unless he regains 1 or more hit points before then, is unconscious for 2 hours where he then automatically regains 1 hit point. Despite that he may make another attack, the [i]Green Man[/i] declines to take it against the now alone Wick or the fallen Theodore.

The [i]Shadow Summoners[/i], the dark purple circles on the map command their forces, all black circles, and summon more [i]Shadow Minions[/i]. The smallest of which are [i]Shadow Minions[/i], followed by [i]Shadows[/i], then [i]Shadow Soldiers[/i], and last by the lighter purple [i]Shadow Sorcerers[/i]. From the combined assault of the [i]Shadow Minions[/i], Cesar suffers 10 points (3, 3, 4) of slashing damage total; Valmjr suffers none as he casts the [i]Shield[/i] spell when he first would be hit as his reaction.

You may assume that virtually all spells and resources are depleted.

[b]Score[/b]
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JBiAXH4ecc]Order Amidst Chaos[/url]

[b]Map[/b]
[i][url=https://www.myth-weavers.com/map.html#id=4370]Depths of Darkness[/url][/i]

[b]Initiative[/b][list]
[*] Cesar (19)
[*] Theodore (18)
[*] [i]Valmjr (18)[/i]
[*] [i]Thea (18)[/i]
[*] [i]Birbin (15)[/i]
[*] [i]The Green Man (14)[/i]
[*] [i]Shadow Summoners (10)[/i]
[*] Wick (10)
[*] Katia (9)
[*] [i]Haemar (8)[/i]
[*] [i]Shadow Sorcerers (4)[/i][/list]
[/hider]
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