Member
As Torrens entered the settlement, he found that a squadron of dwarves was coming to intercept him, probably initially intended as reinforcements for the dwarves which had just been blown up. This contingent was made up of a few pikemen, as well as several axe-throwers. If Torrens had been at full strength, such a fight would have been trivial. However, with his presently limited amount of energy, he needed to carefully ration the amount of fire he used until he could find some source of heat.
To start, Torrens pointed his fingers at the dwarves and fired a couple of bolts of fire at them. The first one, with the advantage of surprise, landed its mark and felled a pikeman. The second was blocked by a shield, and Torrens did not waste his time trying to get any more bolts past their shields. Then Torrens charged forwards at a full sprint, strafing aside as dwarves threw axes at him and managing to avoid getting hit by too many. When the gap between him and the dwarves was just a few meters Torrens lashed his hands forwards and cast out a fireball- not a very hot one, but one which would erupt into a large and disruptive plume of flame. With the dwarves distracted momentarily by the searing heat and the bright light, Torrens was easily able to slip past the spears pointing at him and push into the ranks of dwarves. As he entered, he clambered over the stocky figures, grabbing at their faces whenever he was capable or otherwise forcing his way past on threat of third degree burns.
In just a couple of seconds of confused panic amongst the dwarves, Torrens had made it to the other side. Torrens cleared the group by a few paces, turned and taunted "Bye". Then Torrens turned and ran, easily outpacing the dwarves.
As he continued, he found that Clotho's insect swarms had already cleared many of the streets. Those streets which remained held by the dwarves, however, were held tightly. One such barricade that caught his attention, however, was one which was using coals from nearby forges to rain down onto the bugs below. At the street level, the barricade was held by pikemen and dwarves with warhammers and battleaxes for whenever the Myrmidons pushed through the first line of pikemen. In the windows of the buildings adjacent to the barricade were dwarves with crossbows, raining bolts of steel upon the Myrmidons below. And on top, along with the urns of embers, were more crossbowmen and also a few dwarves with blunderbusses, which were keeping the flying Lambent at bay.
Torrens wanted to get to those top floors. However, to get there, he would need to somehow gain access to the buildings, and there were no doors or ground-level windows on this side of the blockade, or else it would have been overrun already. The walls were made of stone, so he had no power to barge through them, and it appeared that any attempts by Antlions to get to the walls had been hindered by the rain of embers from above. And Torrens didn't have the power to spare to simply charge through the blockade. However, after a few moments of consideration, he did notice that one window of a building he wanted to get to was within leaping distance of the roof of another building which wasn't under dwarven control. A couple of dwarves guarded it from the inside, but that should hardly be a problem.
Torrens entered the adjacent building and climbed to the rooftop. As he emerged, he was noticed by the crossbowman in the window he wanted to get to, and was struck squarely in the shoulder by a crossbow bolt. A small jet of flame erupted as a result, although it barely staggered the fire demon. Swiftly, Torrens retaliated with two bolts of fire, dispatching both the crossbowman and the pikeman guarding that window, then he ran forwards and took a running jump towards that window. A dwarf with a blunderbuss on the roof noticed him and took a shot, but that shot flew wide and landed behind Torrens. Torrens landed half way in the window, grabbing onto the windowsill with both arms. As he pulled himself over, he was almost knocked out of the building by a solid blow by a dwarven warhammer to the face, leaving Torrens dangling out of the window and somewhat peeved. Before the dwarf could follow up the attack Torrens hurled himself up so that his head was above the windowsill and breathed out a cone of fire which engulfed the dwarf, immolating him. Given a few seconds of respite, Torrens was able to climb fully through the window and enter the building.
Inside, he was faced with more dwarven warriors who were intent on stopping him. However, Torrens didn't have to get through all of them, only enough to get him to the staircase. Charging forwards, Torrens cleared his path with a tactical fireball, scattering the two dwarves who were in his direct path, then dashed through the opening and up the stairs. On that rooftop, many of the crossbowmen and blunderbuss dwarves on the roof turned in surprise at the intruder, but before they could turn their weapons and open fire Torrens had already made it to the nearest large urn of hot embers and jumped inside, scattering some of the embers onto the surrounding rooftop.
This urn was deep enough to hold Torrens up to his waist, so his torso stood out above the hot coals. However, less than a moment after he had entered, the embers flared from a dull red to searing white and hot flames erupted from the urn as Torrens supercharged the combustion of those coals to feed himself. Most of the dwarves were forced to shield their eyes, although a few fired at Torrens any way in a futile attempt to do some damage. About 5 seconds later most of the coals had been reduced to a billowing cloud of searing ashes and the urn which Torrens was standing in now glowed cherry red.
Grinning and glowing with power, Torrens leaned forwards, tipped the urn over and stepped out as it fell. As the dwarves raised their weapons to shoot, Torrens made one simple quip. "I win." Then, with outstretched arms and a surge of power, he filled the rooftop with a conflagration which ignited every dwarf caught in it. Laughing, Torrens feasted on the flames of a couple of the burning dwarves before jumping down into the barricade below to join the fight.
To start, Torrens pointed his fingers at the dwarves and fired a couple of bolts of fire at them. The first one, with the advantage of surprise, landed its mark and felled a pikeman. The second was blocked by a shield, and Torrens did not waste his time trying to get any more bolts past their shields. Then Torrens charged forwards at a full sprint, strafing aside as dwarves threw axes at him and managing to avoid getting hit by too many. When the gap between him and the dwarves was just a few meters Torrens lashed his hands forwards and cast out a fireball- not a very hot one, but one which would erupt into a large and disruptive plume of flame. With the dwarves distracted momentarily by the searing heat and the bright light, Torrens was easily able to slip past the spears pointing at him and push into the ranks of dwarves. As he entered, he clambered over the stocky figures, grabbing at their faces whenever he was capable or otherwise forcing his way past on threat of third degree burns.
In just a couple of seconds of confused panic amongst the dwarves, Torrens had made it to the other side. Torrens cleared the group by a few paces, turned and taunted "Bye". Then Torrens turned and ran, easily outpacing the dwarves.
As he continued, he found that Clotho's insect swarms had already cleared many of the streets. Those streets which remained held by the dwarves, however, were held tightly. One such barricade that caught his attention, however, was one which was using coals from nearby forges to rain down onto the bugs below. At the street level, the barricade was held by pikemen and dwarves with warhammers and battleaxes for whenever the Myrmidons pushed through the first line of pikemen. In the windows of the buildings adjacent to the barricade were dwarves with crossbows, raining bolts of steel upon the Myrmidons below. And on top, along with the urns of embers, were more crossbowmen and also a few dwarves with blunderbusses, which were keeping the flying Lambent at bay.
Torrens wanted to get to those top floors. However, to get there, he would need to somehow gain access to the buildings, and there were no doors or ground-level windows on this side of the blockade, or else it would have been overrun already. The walls were made of stone, so he had no power to barge through them, and it appeared that any attempts by Antlions to get to the walls had been hindered by the rain of embers from above. And Torrens didn't have the power to spare to simply charge through the blockade. However, after a few moments of consideration, he did notice that one window of a building he wanted to get to was within leaping distance of the roof of another building which wasn't under dwarven control. A couple of dwarves guarded it from the inside, but that should hardly be a problem.
Torrens entered the adjacent building and climbed to the rooftop. As he emerged, he was noticed by the crossbowman in the window he wanted to get to, and was struck squarely in the shoulder by a crossbow bolt. A small jet of flame erupted as a result, although it barely staggered the fire demon. Swiftly, Torrens retaliated with two bolts of fire, dispatching both the crossbowman and the pikeman guarding that window, then he ran forwards and took a running jump towards that window. A dwarf with a blunderbuss on the roof noticed him and took a shot, but that shot flew wide and landed behind Torrens. Torrens landed half way in the window, grabbing onto the windowsill with both arms. As he pulled himself over, he was almost knocked out of the building by a solid blow by a dwarven warhammer to the face, leaving Torrens dangling out of the window and somewhat peeved. Before the dwarf could follow up the attack Torrens hurled himself up so that his head was above the windowsill and breathed out a cone of fire which engulfed the dwarf, immolating him. Given a few seconds of respite, Torrens was able to climb fully through the window and enter the building.
Inside, he was faced with more dwarven warriors who were intent on stopping him. However, Torrens didn't have to get through all of them, only enough to get him to the staircase. Charging forwards, Torrens cleared his path with a tactical fireball, scattering the two dwarves who were in his direct path, then dashed through the opening and up the stairs. On that rooftop, many of the crossbowmen and blunderbuss dwarves on the roof turned in surprise at the intruder, but before they could turn their weapons and open fire Torrens had already made it to the nearest large urn of hot embers and jumped inside, scattering some of the embers onto the surrounding rooftop.
This urn was deep enough to hold Torrens up to his waist, so his torso stood out above the hot coals. However, less than a moment after he had entered, the embers flared from a dull red to searing white and hot flames erupted from the urn as Torrens supercharged the combustion of those coals to feed himself. Most of the dwarves were forced to shield their eyes, although a few fired at Torrens any way in a futile attempt to do some damage. About 5 seconds later most of the coals had been reduced to a billowing cloud of searing ashes and the urn which Torrens was standing in now glowed cherry red.
Grinning and glowing with power, Torrens leaned forwards, tipped the urn over and stepped out as it fell. As the dwarves raised their weapons to shoot, Torrens made one simple quip. "I win." Then, with outstretched arms and a surge of power, he filled the rooftop with a conflagration which ignited every dwarf caught in it. Laughing, Torrens feasted on the flames of a couple of the burning dwarves before jumping down into the barricade below to join the fight.
