Move 433: Hook MonstersThe fighters advanced on the ugly creatures, trying to prevent them from breaking their rank. The monsters, either blocked or satisfied to fight Blacky, Dalgaer, and Jana, did not try to get around. The five monsters seemed frenzied and more ferocious than their counterparts that had just been taken out.
Blacky swung his great axe at one of the creatures that broke away from the group of three, but he missed it. He took a scratch from one of the monster's hooks, but the damage did not look very severe. The other two from that group faced off with Jana. Neither of them managed to hit her. She crunched through the shell of one of them, wounding but not killing it.
Dalgaer scored a strong hit, cracking the carapace of one of the creatures. However, once the gnome's axe had made contact, the injured creature easily penetrated his defenses. It caught him with both hooks, latching on to him through his mail coat, and pulled him in to bite him with its beak. The second creature in that group seemed distracted with something and began attacking an empty spot nearby. It did not seem to have any luck with that, however; it looked to be wildly swinging at nothing. Echo cast a spell, pelting the monster holding Dalgaer with three magical beams.
Aloysius watched down the northeast exit, looking back at the battle about half the time. Azrun kept watched toward the rear part of the cavern. Kanon completed a spell, and a feeling of supernatural blessing descended on the group.
From the darkness of the rest of the cave, three more creatures of the same species charged forwarded into the lighted area.
Jana glanced over at Dalgaer and said, "Shit. Kanon!" She hacked twice more at the creatures on her.
The priest looked up from his last prayer and mumbled something under his breath as he moved as quickly as he could to Dalgaer's side. He worked his hands through the gestures of a powerful prayer and pressed his hands to the gnome's shoulder.
Dalgaer yelled, "DAMN THAT HURTS! EAT THIS, STENCH-BREATH!" and shoved his ax blade first into the creature's beak.
Aloysius began mumbling something and waving. It was difficult to tell whether he was casting a spell or hurling threats at the monsters.
There was a yelp from the area that the creature attacked at the time of its initial lunge. This cry of distress sounded less like that from an elf than like a noise a small gnome would make.
Azrun looked at Aloysius to try to figure what he was doing. "Well, I'm going to help Arachne." With that he began to cast a spell.
Echo started casting again.
"Dammit!" Blacky yelled when he missed and took a couple more swings at the creature.
Blacky and Dalgaer both took down a monster. Blacky was hit by a beak first, but Dalgaer escaped, for the moment, without another injury. Both creatures facing Jana scored bites on her. She hit one of them with her sword, but this time, she had trouble penetrating the exoskeleton. Neither of the monsters she faced fell. The thing fighting thin air continued to do so; this time it looked like it might have made hook contact.
Aloysius activated his magical boots and floated up and out of reach. Azrun hit the air boxer with a magic missile spell. Echo did the same against one of the three monsters coming into the fight. One of them went after her, and it caught her with one of its hooks. She was hurt but was able to wrest herself free of the claw. Another of the three went after Azrun, but he dodged all of its attacks. The final monster charged Kanon, keeping him from completing his spell to help Dalgaer and wounding him with a hook and a beak bite.
Jana yelped in pain then growled angrily. She swung at the injured nasty on her.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Dalgaer yelled, "FIGHT ME YOU DAMN BUG!" He rushed at the creature fighting empty air, slashing at it twice with his ax.
"Ow!" Arachne's voice gasped.
"Back monster!" screamed the mage from above. He began casting.
The priest coughed and blood rolled out of his mouth and down his chin, "Arghh.." He quickly pulled his mace and attempted to bash the creature facing off with him, "Some..one help Echo.."
Azrun whirled his staff around at the critter in front of him, "This could get ugly...as if you weren't ugly enough already...geez"
"I can hold it for a minute," Echo assured in a worried tone. "Don't worry about me." She said something quietly as she pulled out a dagger.
Dalgaer moved to aid invisible Arachne in her fight against the monster. He cracked its shell open with his axe, but the creature stubbornly fought back instead of dying. Its fighting was completely ineffective. It missed both gnomes generously. Jana cut down the wounded creature she was facing and turned on the unwounded one. She punctured it with her sword, and she got scraped with a claw in retaliation. Kanon attacked with his mace, but the creature he was facing seemed particularly infuriated. It blocked his attack with ease, and it chomped on the heavily armored priest with its beak. Blacky paused to evaluate the situation.
Echo spoke the command word for her boots and dodged out of the way of the flying arms of the ugly creature attacking her. She armed herself with one of her daggers. Aloysius pelted the monster attacking Echo with a rain of magic missiles. It clicked its beak, but it did not make any noise. Azrun banged the one on him with his staff and took a minor scrape in return.
The effects from Kanon's earlier prayer could still be felt.
Dalgaer again attacked the creature with his ax. "Just die you damn bug." he grunted. "Are you okay Arachne?" he asked, "Has it hurt you?"
Arachne's voice piped up behind Dalgaer (assuming that he was facing the monster). "Yes," she said. "And yes. I found my knife," she added brightly.
"Leave her alone!" barked Aloysius. He began casting.
"Somebody help Kanon," Echo commented. She tried to stay out of the way of hooks and beak and stab the monster with her dagger.
Jana growled profanities at the creature as she whacked at it again. If it obliged by dying, she turned to the next-closet nasty and hacked at it, too.
Azrun continued whacking at the critter in front of him, "That was only a scratch....guess those hooks need to be sharpened occasionally...."
The priest lashed out again and again attempting to bash the creature assaulting him. He took a quick scan of the others around him and nodded lowering his head and smashing and smashing again determinedly.
Blacky continued to swing his axe.
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