[h3]Ash’s Party[/h3] Ash felt another odd sensation as she tried to move the stone with the power of Lesser Force. Like stretching her arm out towards something that was outside her reach. But instead of physical discomfort in muscle or bone, the strain she felt came from somewhere else. Despite being metaphysical in nature, she still couldn't hold the effort for very long. Much like a muscle that seeks to lift more weight, it seemed more training would be required. Danny's advice did seem to help; it wasn't as hard to "feel out" the spell this time as it had been to understand the concepts of the other spells she had tried. Having eaten his fill thanks to Scott and the others, Colchain soon grew bored of watching whatever it was Ash was doing. Moving deeper into the small camp's alcove so that he would be out of sight of most predators, the Fanged Lizard curled up for the night. He lifted his head for a moment when Reoth spoke up, watching the white lizard with those expressionless slit eyes, then lay back down. [quote=System:Reoth] Skill Gain: Charisma I Your force of personality is almost magical unto itself. You have a better chance of convincing others during negotiations, unless their Will is sufficiently strong. [/quote] As Danny attempted to dim his natural luminescence, he found that doing so was not impossible. It did take some fairly significant concentration, and thus slowed him down. Still, that might actually be helpful in this situation--if he didn't make too much noise, sneaking unnoticed over towards the fighting shouldn't be too hard. There were still lots of spikes on the ceiling for him to hide among, after all. [hr] [h3]Bonfire Party[/h3] [quote=LOOT] 17 Mana Crystals remain. 2 Flame Touched Crystals remain. [/quote] Unlike before with the Demon King, Ardur's prayer to a sun god didn't prompt a System message. Did that mean that there was no sun deity to pray to...or that they didn't respond for some other reason? Nonetheless, having something to believe in, or to at least vent his thoughts towards, was of slight comfort to the pixie. As he dropped into the open air, Shielding himself and taunting Rattleskull, the larger monster's gaze snapped in his direction. "IF YOU NOT SCARED, WHY YOU RUN!?" the hairy pesudo-goblin roared, shaking the stalactites. He immediately began to charge in Ardur's direction... At the same time, Jason was rolling to a new place from which to set up his sniping again and Mourningstar was just returning. Digbie had fired off his Stone Shot at the closest group of torches, but unlike Jason he didn't have the Focus skill. The goblin probably wouldn't realize it, since he didn't know what abilities Jason had, but without that power boost there just wasn't enough oomph to drive his projectiles over the distance. Oberon and Mourningstar made a point of telling the poor fellow so, while Rain slithered off to seemingly disappear among the rocks. [quote=System:Oberon] You used Magic Analysis III! ---Stone Shot--- This spell charges a piece of stone with magic energy before hurling it at the opponent. This attack does blunt, piercing, and Earth-elemental magic damage. It consumes less MP than most spells, but requires ammunition. It is roughly equal in power to the Mana Orb spell, and often serves as the first rank of an Earth-aligned creature's magic. The type and shape of stone used may affect some parameters of the spell. ---Analysis Complete--- [/quote] Ed and Asteria, having decided on their traps and plans, soon began their work with their hastily and rather poorly crafted Poisoned Bone Needles. However, they only needed them to work for a short while anyway...much like Ed had realized, this tactic wasn't meant to kill, but to slow and cripple an invading force. Only time would tell if it would work. When Asura asked Momma Slime if she was nervous, she didn't seem to fully understand the sentiment but sent back a "negative" emotional signal nonetheless. When he demonstrated how to use the Bone Needles, Momma Slime took the remaining handful left from what the Rats had given him. She carefully moved them through her membrane, even having the foresight to leave the poison-covered bits exposed to the air rather than fully enveloping them into her body. From the sounds of it, the Goblins were getting closer by the minute and ever more rambunctious... [[These actions are taking place in the first "round" of the Goblin Party actions.]] [hr] [h3]Orchid and Goblin Party[/h3] At the same time as Ardur began to tempt Rattleskull and the rest of the bonfire group began their next move, Orchid charged helter skelter across the field. She ran right past the "brawny team" of goblins, where her female rival and that broad shouldered gob were carrying their spears and jogging along like the tribals they were. As she passed them at a full sprint, they glanced over at her in surprise and then did a double take. "Oi, where's you goin--!?" But she paid them no mind and kept going. She actually passed a ways behind Rattleskull as he was screaming and charging after that same pixie that had tried to team up with her earlier. She even raced in front of an oddly shaped green colored slime as he was rolling along the ground, her path intersecting his at an angle. But he didn't have to stop at all, as she was so intent on simply getting out of all this that she didn't pay any attention to him. And without the new goblin tactics of "look under every rock until you find something willing to hurt you," she didn't have quite so much trouble moving on... During this moment, while their leader sprinted away, the "shield team" was left to head to the aid of the "hammer team." However, in doing so they soon discovered a problem, or rather, three problems. The bonfire had always been a place where most other monsters would keep their distance, usually only making well hidden nests on the outskirts where they weren't likely to run into the goblins. That was still the case now, only the group of monsters inhabiting the bonfire area had simply changed form. But thanks to the goblin invasion disrupting the local ecosystem, some monsters were now stuck. They had to leave areas where they could hear and see danger, but they didn't want to go into an area they also knew was dangerous. So they ended up sitting in one place, trying to hide or find some other way out--and then, like now, they were stumbled upon by another goblin team. The Shield Team found themselves facing three Slimes that gurgled defensively at their approach. With no option for retreat, both groups steeled themselves for battle. Thanks to their shields, the Slimes' attacks were of little avail--all they had was their weight and their blunt bodies. Simultaneously the Hammer Team could see what was going on, and began to make their way towards the shieldbearers. They stayed low to the ground, leaving the body of their fallen teammate behind, and failed to notice Jason as he left his sniper hole. They were more focused on getting to the other team for protection from whatever was out there. In the distance, one of Crispy's fireballs flashed brighter than the torches for a moment. He was over near the wall of the cave, but his group seemed to be moving significantly faster than most of the others. [[At this point, the "first round" is completed, as are all of the player's actions from before this point.]] [hr] [h3]Bonfire Party (Cont.)[/h3] As Jason began using his Soil Manipulation skill to dig a ditch for himself, he would see Orchid run by at high speed. She had what looked like some kind of flail or maybe a primitive slingshot tightly clutched in one hand. A hand crafted shield was on her arm. Was she the one responsible for all the new equipment the goblins had? Unfortunately, it seemed like she was running full tilt. He wouldn't be able to catch her--and from the sound of something being smashed to bits not too far away from him, he might have literally bigger things to worry about. The huge form of Rattleskull began lumbering towards the bonfire, led by the flitting figure of Ardur. This was the moment at which Mourningstar also began another journey, heading towards the groups of goblins. As bright as she was, and while making no real effort to hide herself beyond floating up near the top of the ceiling, the Hammer Team immediately noticed her. As she began to Focus on her spell, they called out to the Shield team and continued to make their way towards them, now taking cover whenever possible. While Asura and Momma Slime continued to wait out their ambush, they now would surely notice as a female goblin hurtled towards them. She wore the hide of a Dire Rat, had a shield made of wicker, and a long piece of cord. Was it a flail? A sling? Was she coming to attack them, or was she running from something else? By this point, the entire bonfire group could see and hear the closer groups of goblins, and Rattleskull. As Ardur led him ever closer, Mother Rat's eyes snapped open and she squeaked frantically at Ed and Asteria. They were still setting traps... [hr] [h3]Orchid and Goblin Party (Cont.)[/h3] Rattleskull Smashed an unfortunate Dire Rat that tried to run from him as he chased Ardur, and the huge caveboss practically drooled with hatred. Across the other side of the cave, Crispy's group continued their scouting but encountered minimal resistance, and began to turn back towards where they had last seen Orchid's group. The aforementioned shieldbearers were actually starting to take a beating, thanks to the slimes' ability to outlast their attacks even with better equipment. However, they weren't truly injured yet--they lost ground, they were knocked down, the worse shields among their group began to crack and split, but they did not fall. Even the torch bearing younglings got in a few hits here and there. Ultimately, the slimes fell, and they joined up with the Hammer Team. But just as the two groups started to come together, Mourningstar let loose a whirling crescent of light! She had chosen the hammer team's leader as her target--but he wasn't carrying a torch, and at this distance her accuracy suffered as she tried to pick him out of the dark. And the goblins had already become aware of her. As the light flashed, the one carrying the torch cried out, and both flung themselves earthward. The Mana Slice spell whipped over the target's head, just barely missing his scalp. It seemed that the wisp who had attacked them didn't intend to stay around, though. Mourningstar turned and headed back towards Digbie, but the goblins watched her with eyes full of hate. The Shield team reached them just then, and with the three healing herbs Orchid had left with them--one for the torchbearer, and one for each remaining hammer goblin--the entire group was back at full strength. [[This ends a second round of actions.]] Now, however, a new foe presented itself--another Wisp, whether too stupid to know better, too aggressive, or somehow following in Mourningstar's lead, floated down from the ceiling! Its Mana Bolt struck a shield, further damaging it. It didn't seem like the less well made equipment of the goblins was going to last much longer, but for now it protected its owner once more. And unfortunately for the Wisp, as outnumbered as it was, it had no chance to get away before the goblins chucked enough rocks at it to bring it down. But this had not been a "random" encounter in the true sense. This was one of the Wisps Mourningstar had dragged along--one member of the "colony" she had encountered. She had merely made them curious. They weren't following orders. They certainly weren't on her "side." Yet the Wispmother witnessed their death. Flashing with a slight scent of ozone, the larger Wisp began to fly with more purpose towards the goblin group... The Brawny Team of goblins could see Mourningstar as well as she headed back towards where Digbie and Oberon were. The female gave a shout and pointed with her spear, and the broad-shouldered male waved his hand for their other teammate to follow. They took off, giving chase and heading right for the distant figures--they couldn't tell that there was another goblin present, but they knew this had to be that odd group of monsters that had attacked Crispy! Rattleskull's feet pounded the ground as he headed after Ardur, his vision tunneling out as he snarled at the pixie. But just then, under his feet, a golden light burst from the ground! A rocky spire sliced into Rattleskull's foot, and if it hadn't been at just the right moment in the transition of his stride he would have fallen! As it was he stumbled--he was off balance, he was confused. He caught himself against a rocky pillar, and began glaring around. That pixie had...led him into a trap? Then where had that attack come from!? But there was one more surprise waiting for Rattleskull, once again right under his feet... [hr] [hider=MAP] [img]https://i.imgur.com/0iAjFUK.jpg[/img] ORCHID - From D7, moving straight diagonally towards J17. Moved through E8, F9, G10, H11, and now in I12. Running into Asura and Momma Slime. ORCHID'S TEAM - From D7, moved through D6 going around to E6. Joined with Hammer Team. (SPACE FULL) HAMMER TEAM - From F7, moved into E7. Joined with Orchid's Team. (SPACE 1/2 FULL) BRAWNY TEAM - From E8, moved into F8, then G8, heading for Digbie's group. (SPACE 3/4 FULL) CRISPY TEAM - From E5, moving various locations, lucked out on encounters, now in G4. (SPACE 3/4 FULL) RATTLESKULL - From E9, moved through F9 and into F10. Searching for Jason, sees Ardur, does not see Rain. (SPACE 2/4 FULL) 15/16 GOBLIN FORCES REMAIN GOBLINS HAVE CAPTURED ENTRANCE AREA (From F1 across to F10, all up from there. G5-G7 not captured.) --- JASON From H-7 move to H10, may soon be visible to Orchid, Rattleskull, and the Brawny Team. ASH AT F-29 (SPACE-FULL) OBERON AT J-9, partially visible to the Brawny Team and soon possibly the Hammer and Shield teams. ASTERIA AT J-11 RAIN From H-13 to F10, may soon be visible to Rattleskull. ARDUR AT J-11 Over rat holes DANNY AT F-30 (?) ASURA AT I-12, visible to Orchid MOMMA SLIME AT I-11, Visible to Orchid DIGBIE AT J-9, partially visible to the Brawny Team and soon possibly the Hammer and Shield teams. ORCHID From D7 to I12, visible to Asura and Momma Slime ED AT J-11 MOTHER RAT AT J-11 SCOTT AT F-29 (SPACE FULL) NAJI AT F-29 (SPACE FULL) COLCHAIN AT F-29 (SPACE FULL) REOTH AT F-29 (SPACE FULL) [/hider]