Festival: In Defense of Dinner

The coming of fall and the harvest has brought a festive feeling to the Fourland Dukedom. Their recent negotiations with the Adventurers has brought progress to the lands, furthering new ideas. So, it is with that attitude of appreciation that a number of Adventurers had been invited to a social gathering, offering a festive banquet to celebrate the end of the harvest and all the cooperation this year has brought.

There is a long table decked out with food. It is largely fresh produce, harvested from the field, along with fish from the sea and meats from the farms. The smell of baked bread, roasted meats, and a variety of other delicious foods hangs in the air.

People are already gathering for the feast, with Landers and Adventures both filling plates and finding a place to sit in the grasses. Children are running and playing, enjoying themselves in the cool autumn air, while adults relax, talking socially and feeling relatively protected so close to the edge of town.

Challenge:
- Roll Searching : General Perception Check
- Roll Divination : Do you sense anything amiss?
- Roll Transformation : Are you alerted by your Were Fang Senses?

(Roll the appropriate concept, then I will page you what you sense.)

    The large Lizardman stands back appropriately from the table as he stares at the delicious food, Rizadoman even wipes some drool from his mouth as he eyes the cheese platter. Looking over to his friend he smiles with gratitude, " I must thank you for informing me of this event, however are you sure we should not have invited Dowafu? " Turning back he takes a step forward to the table and then stops as he turns his head towards the forest. "Cousins?" It is his first thought as he processes what he heard before looking at the others, " I think the party is about to be crashed."

Of course Vertina is here. It was working with people through the Dukedom that got her the additional know-how and equipment to establish the brewery part of the Dargon's Larder. So she is here to return the favor, having provided several kegs of brew (and juice for those that don't or can't drink liquor) to help make sure there's plenty of drinks to go around.

It's just as she's setting the last barrel up that she pauses, getting one of those odd feelings of something out of place. She leans a bit to the side to look, but no, the kegs are properly stacked so they won't fall over.

The Salamander lifts her gaze to glance around, but can't quite put her finger on anything other than the general 'something is going to happen', which makes her reptillian tail twitch with a hint of aggitation.

    After spending two weeks in the Karluin ruins out in Aincrad, a little celebration for all of the work Arashi did was well deserved. Food of all kinds, all the different aromas, all the people, it was delightful! The war-horse had been seated, tearing into a meal, when she took a nice deep breath, hoping to enjoy the scents of the festival. As she takes that deep breath, it catches halts in her throat as she catches wind of ... something. Something doesn't feel right. Her fork and knife are set down, she slowly rises, and she starts moving in one particular direction, toward the woods, past a few folks that may recognize her? ... She almost looked on edge without drawing her weapon.

    Merek seems to be content to eat with the people at the table, while he seems to think about it all. He doesn't talk a lot from the meeting with Shalltear, although he does take a moment to comment, "I think there's something in that grass," the man mentions while he nods a bit that way.

Parties. Lovely. True to form, SpritesHero has taken advantage of this opportunity to corner the least sociable, most publicity-averse Lander he could find. Not that this was difficult. The quarry was perfectly happy to dive into conversation, and SpritesHero is currently plumbing the poor fellow for as much information as possible around mouthfulls of sticky ribs.

Thus it is the pair may be heard, animatedly discussing local politics with the occasional gasp of shock, the rare, expressive gesticulation that threatens to send barbecue sauce flying. For a moment, SpritesHero's attention wavers. His eyes slide to the side, his head cants, and then it's back to the conversation. Visibly, anyhow. He's tensing up ever so slightly.

Another day, another quest and hopefully no goblins. She's still on alert, to keep an eye things. She was happy to see Rizadoman was here as well.

"He was busy with breing up something or another. Orcbalg is off helping out Cowgirl with something."

her ears twitch and she catches sight of something. 5R
"There's something in the treeline..."

Syx is here. And the famous wrestler is signing autographs for a few younger adventurers who were fans of his livestream and of course his matches. Naturally this is very distracting. He looks over at the banquet and spots a Lander taking the last of the giant turkey legs, "H-hey!"

Syx is fully focused on getting that turkey leg, and after some negotiation, manages to get it from the Lander via a bribe. Now Syx is way too busy chowing on the turkey leg now to focus on anything else going on. Mmm. turkey.

The envrionment is jovial, the people are celebrating. The food is plentiful. Proteus sits, as she is wont to do, on the edge of the celebration, keeping mostly to herself as she prepares to acquire some food...

But something is off. She tips her head up, trying to focus her senses as she tries to focus on what's there...

Or /not/ there. "It's quiet." She murmurs. "Something's frightened off the local wildlife." Given her last encounter with frightened wildlife, this has become something of a sore point with the Imp. It would be a disaster if that... /being/ arrived in the middle of this feast. She stands, turning her attention to the surrounding treeline and looking around. Her hand flicks, calling up a series of firefly-like snapping electrical lights to help the perhaps slightly paranoid Imp look outwards...

There are hints that the celebrations may not be quite as safe as many have thought them to be. Subtle sounds, movements in the nearby trees, or scents that just don't seem as if they belong.

However, it doesn't take long for those creeping in the shadows to make themselves known. A number of Landers in typical bandit outfits race out of the trees, chucking strange potion bottles towards the gathering crowd.

Where the potions hit, a strange green gas begins to fill the air, a hissing sound accompanying it. The Landers begin to cough, gag, and run back towards the safety of the nearby town, abandoning the banquet. There are cries of alarm, sobbing children, and the whoops of the bandits as many of those gathered begin to flee.

Challenge:
- Roll Diving vs 7: Try to hold your breath
- Roll Physical vs 10: Try to resist the effects of the gas
- Roll Shield vs 8: Try to block the gas

Failure:
Upon failure, your character begins to cough. Your vision swims. You feel off-balance. This vertigo-like feeling lingers for 48 hours. You also see everything in a very off shade of green. You acquire the status defect: 'Emerald Gas'

Well that explains the feeling of impending trouble. "How rude! Something tells me these guys don't have invitations either."

Nope, instead they've got fuming potions to send the Landers running from the banquet. There's not time to figure out what kind of alchemy they used, so instead Vertina grabs one of her own flash and chugs the contents. Said contents being one of her alchoholic alchemical brews she uses to amplify her Salamander fire breath. In this case providing additional fuel for the fire to make it spread, so when she exhales it forms a wide spray to intercept several of the bottles thrown her way and incinerate the gas bombs.

    It's just as Arashi starts to reach for her broken blade that the bandits made themselves known. "No rest for the wicked," she snorts before she takes a step forward and abruptly vanishes in a blur of darkness. After a few moments, and a few of the bandits go by, the dire-shire reappears, blade held high, before bringing it down in a brutal attack from above. "I WANT A DAY OFF. JUST ONE!"

"Move." Not, perhaps, the most polite set of instructions, but it's really all that SpritesHero can spare for his conversation partner. After that, it's every person-thing for themselves. Sprites drops, kissing the lawn, and presses his mouth to his sleeve to filter out as much gas as possible. For now he lies low, waiting for the bandits to make their next move. Occasionally he'll shift around, to squirm in the general direction of wherever the gas density seems lowest.

Syx continues to eat his turkey leg as the gas spreads around him. There's nobody with a tougher body than him!

He just straight up tanks the gas, ignoring the effects of it just out of sheer stubborness and physical prowess.

"Guess the party's over."

    Merek looks to the bandits when they bring the gas, then he lifts up a hand to create a shield about him. The man stands, while he takes a look about then he wields the sword which he keeps with him, "Well, you are people. I don't want to kill any of you, so please. Don't make this an issue."

Erufu is now on edge something is up, something is very much up. She calls out a warning as the bandits come. She then shuts he mouth draws her dagger and will channel a sword art it burst into flame helping to burn away some of the gas. Enough she can push he way through the gas and she's going for her bow.

She'll start shouting orders at the Lander Party goers to start getting away from the party and head for the town while she gets ready to .... engage.

    Rizadoman looks towards the bandits as they make their appearence, with a roar and on the edge of rage he shouts at the bandits, "You would dare to come here and ruin such a thing." As the bandits throw things Rizadoman raises a barrier around him and the Landers around him before he turns to the others. " We need to deal with them and protect the people." The comment about not wanting to kill any of them from Merek does not go unnotice and Rizado adds, " You'd be surprised what one can live through. Swallow your hesitation or others will die."

Proteus' attention was pricked, the paranoid Imp watching and waiting for the shoe to drop.

And so the shoe drops. The onrush of the bandit-clad Landers brings a grimace. "An attack!" She cries, and she is immediately moving into position, the bottles flung towards them. "Oh, no you don't..." Her hand flicks, calling up an Ability input window: ^ S O

The Aero spell erupts around her in a shield of whirling air, sweeping out and filtering the gas as well as hurling back the bottles that threaten her area. Proteus reaches into her inventory, and produces an ornate brass cube. Her fingers sink into the surface, the object clicking and clacking as hidden latches release. "You could have come in peace. Whatever foolishness you are after, you will regret it." The sides of the box pop open, and the object unfolds in a blur of manipulation of levers, gears, and swivels into a recurve bow, the string reeling down and snapping into place. "Surrender." She demands, even as the spherical attachment at the nock of the weapon snaps open, revealing a focusing lens. What the crap does a bow need with a focusing lens?

It is largely only Adventurers who remain in the aftermath of the gas attack. The nearby winds begin to clear some of it, allowing people to be able to breathe more easily after a time.

That is when the bandits begin to move in, with more coming from the trees. They seem to be a strange mix of races, including both the standard Lander races, as well as a few humanoid monsters who seem to hold more ranking positions in the organization.

They draw weapons, some wielding bows and keeping at a distance, while others move forward to slash with daggers and short swords. The group seems to be reasonably well armed, as if they have been pretty successful in their bandit trade. The first person to be struck by arrow or blade, however, finds out that they may be quite so successful because this group utilizes a number of status effects to weaken their opponents.

In this case, it appears that their weapons are poisoned.

Challenge:
- Roll Alchemy vs 8: Try to identify and counteract the poison using potions
- Roll Pharmacy vs 8: Try to identify and counteract the poison using medicines
- Roll Evasion vs 10: Try to avoid being struck by any bandit attacks

Failure:
You are poisoned. You feel a sharp sensation every few seconds as the effect of the poison starts to drain your HP. The poison also makes you begin to hallucinate the source of that pain. You believe that you are being attacked by stinging insects. You gain the 'Strange Poison' status effect. This goes away when your character's health reaches half.

SpritesHero would love to be all matrix-like and dodge everything heading his way. Regrettably, he is not Neo. He does not slow-mo. Instead, while busy low-crawling on the ground, he gets clipped in the tush by a dart. "Mother Fff..." he hisses as he alights behind a table, yanking the dart out and giving it a quick sniff before hurling it back, over his shoulder, in the general direction of the attackers. Or maybe it'll hit an adventurer. Who knows? "What kind of..."

He trails off, popping the cork off a vial and downing it with a grimace."

"Crazy twit attacks a banquet?" The dart is followed by a fork, then a knife, then a....melon wedge? Honeydew, to be precise. It scythes through the air, carving out lazy arcs. Ominously. Fear the melon slice.

    Rizadoman stands firm as he looks at the bandits moving in as he does his best to stare them down. As he moves towards the bandit and runs in slashing wide the Bandit ducks under his claw and before the lizardman can parry the blow he is stabbed by the poison blade and stumbles back gripping his side. Then Rizado follows right up swatting at the air as he winces in pain. His health is steadily dropping due to the strange poison and other bandits taking advantage of his state of mind.

    Success! Bandits are going down! This is perfect. Perfectly ANNOYING. Seriously, guys, is it so much to go to a celebration and expect to have a good time? Why does it have to be interrupted? Seriously. Go be bandits somewhere else. May get a giant explosive spell to the face from some sorceress that spooks dragons. That's here somewhere right? Right.

    Seeing some arrows, Arashi frowns, takes a step, and then surges forward with a thunderous emphasis. She's a big horse and shouldn't be moving that fast, yet she is. Once she's close to another bandit she just cleans their clock with a closed fist. "LEAVE!"

A band of bandits employs a gas attack on a festival celebration of all things. How callow can such cravens get? Gas attacks have been illegal under all manner of international agreements since the end of the first world war! But then, perhaps nobody told these people about that. Perhaps such accords should not be expected to hold any sway in a world that may in fact be located entirely within a computer.

Regardless, word spread fast. Not fast enough for a certain someone to get here in time to mitigate the /gas/ attack, but...

A crystal shatters with the sound of breaking glass. Prophylaxis, Doctor of Tolbana, darts into the melee astride what appears to be some manner of cow-pig.

A grunty, a young one, but unusually fierce of mien and noble of bearing. "Despicable. How desperate do you have to be to use poison gas on a festival?" Prophylaxis grunts, his staff sizzling with vermilion sunfire. He swings it wide, unleashing a torrent of flame across the swarming thieves, even as a poison arrow digs into his shoulder...

...Only to be neutralized by a syringe to the same shoulder. Antivenom...! "I've got enough doses for everyone," Prophylaxis shouts. "Kick their asses, and let me handle the recovery!"

The deep reliance on poison by the bandits is noted, but there's little Proteus can do about it at the moment. She is an Archeologist, not an Alchemist or a Doctor, though both are likely present somewhere in this group. The rush of the enemy is met with a few quick shots from Proteus herself, but it quickly becomes apparent that she won't be able to hold the position. That's okay, though. She's used to trying to keep mobile. "I've got just the thing for you..." She says, raising a hand...

And immediately taking an arrow to the shoulder. There is a yelp of pain as she falls back, her status changing... And she begins grimacing. "Bugs?" She hisses, and she slaps at herself in one place, then another, interfering with her ability to fight back as she waves her hand around, desperately trying to get a line on her enemies, evade them, and fight back at the same time.

It's not quite the kind of elegant solution she might have appreciated.

"NO ONE is ruining a banquet on my watch!" Salamander or not Vertina lives up to 'dragon girl' in spades with the way she roars that defiantly and moves to engage the rushing bandits. She throws several fast punchs and kicks to knock hoodlums around, until someone finally manages to swipe her arm with a dagger. Vertina hisses as she quickly backsteps, one hand going to rub where she was cut. ".. Oh you dirty little bastards.. " However she tries to be prepared for these sort of things, pulling a vial of all purpose antitoxin from a pocket of her jacket and inbubing it.

Then flicks the empty vial at high speed into the face of the bandit that had cut her with the poisoned blade. "Learn to fight properly and not use underhanded tricks, you asswipe!"

    Merek looks to the weapons that are swinging at them, then he takes the poison. The man draws an alchemist potion which he begins to drink. It takes away the abilities of that poison. The man then will begin to swing into the bandits while he takes a look to the party, "It's a hallucination!"

Syx takes an arrow to the chest. He laughs a little bit, "You fool! You absolute moron!" He yells at the bandit, ripping the arrow out and tossing it away.

Of course that's when the halucinations and the poison starts, "Whoa that feels weird. Is anyone else seeing a bunch of luchadores running around?"

Syx goes after one of the phantom masked men, ignoring the bandits for the moment!

Erufu luck can't hold out forever against this poison and the Elf finally will find herself under attack. She's not quick enough to avoid the arrow as she was making ready. She let out a cry and she then feels off very off she's got a status effect and the poison the elf hurks as she's trying to swat off the bugs she thinks are swarming her. "GET THEM OFF GET THEM OFF ME!"

While this group may be wise to weaken their opponents before commiting to a full-on attack, it is likely that they have never directly dealt with Adventurers in these sort of numbers before. As such, it isn't long before the the Adventurers are able to start turning things to their own advantage.

However, the bandits seem to be quite capable opponents. Some seem to have access to magic that seems to rival that of the Adventurers. Others are skilled with their weapons. No wonder they are so well armed.

For now, it is largely the bandits from the Lander-races who push the attack, the monsters standing to the back, waiting to see if they might be needed. The group doesn't seem intimidated, even by shouts or orders cast their way by the Adventurers.

Challenge:
- Roll a combat concept of your choice vs 10

Failure:
The bandit you are fighting is able to best your skill, at least for now. They manage to deal a blow that hobbles you, causing you to have severely reduced ability in one limb (arm, leg, eye, etc.). You gain the 'Hobbled' status effect. This effect lingers until you have an RP scene for healing (Light or Pharmacy).

    Merek looks to the bandit while he begins to lift a hand. He chants, then he blasts a fireball into them, while he swings the weapon through the flame, and nods to the party. "We can win!" The man begins to watch for the opening while he walks along.

    Will these bandits never cease?! They're getting Arashi a bit angry, no doubt of that. When one of the more elite bandits squares up to her, she gets just a little over confident. She feigns a horizontal slash before starting to wind up an overhead slam with the flat of the broken blade.. only to stumble over an arrow from the archers earlier. The bandit gets a lucky strike in, carving a slice right along the scar markings of her right eye. It sends her -reeling- and -cussing- up a storm. She's not just angry, she's downright pissed about this.

What's that Cap'n said? Leave the healing to him and deal with the bandits? Sprites can do that. Armed with cutlery, supplemented with beverage bottles from nearby tables, he dispenses his own version of...um..justice. Which is to say that he just tosses an arm-full of crap at the nearest bandit, then proceeds to follow it up with a load of vine-snakes. Others may have issues with poisons and unfair advantages. Him? Not so much. "Snakebite!" he chirps happily--too happily, really--as yet another pair of vines begin nibbling at his downed foe. Not that he needs to call out the name of his attacks, judging by the block of frost that spontaneously forms around his opponent's feet. Is he saving the bandit for later? Possibly.

    Rizadoman's health finishes dropping to that 50% mark where it turns to a nice yellow warning. As he reaches it , the poison lets up and he no longer must worry about the insects and obviously they just flew away to bother someone else. Finally his attenton can be turned back to the bandits. Charging at the bandit with the full force of a large lizard man and stabs his claws directly into the bandits, an obvious deadly attack attempting to rip into the bandits gut.

"Now then." Seeing as these bandits are rather well prepared and armed Vertina opts to make it more of a fair fight, balling her hands into fists. Which brings the claws built into the back of her gloves into play, just in time to use them to intercept a bandit's charging slash. Allowing Vertina to pull him before he can back away again and look him right in the face with her fangs bared. "Clearly you're not interested in a fair fight, but at least this makes things even. BONZAI!" She releaes his arm, only to follow with the blazing speed martial artists are known for in a flurry of blinding strikes, multing lashing swipes with the claws cutting across her opponent!

While Syx is flailing around after imaginary luchadores, he manages to run straight into one of the bandits. But of course he finds himself looking the man in the face, but instead of seeing the bandit's actual face, instead he sees the mask of one of his old rivals.

"El Misterioso! I don't know how you wound up in Elder Tale, but I'll make you pay for invading!" The bandit comes at him a few times with a weapon, but Syx kicks the weapon out of the man's head, and then drops back and delivers a superkick straight to the bandit's jaw.

The bandits rush in, and Proteus would probably have a decent shot at holding her flank. However, the poison is powerful and forces the Imp backwards. Desperately, she tries to focus. "Damn, get off me!" She hisses at nothing in particular, and she tries to activate an Ability: ) - O

There is a burst of energy, and Proteus levels the bow and fires a beam of light through the weapon, channelling the attack, but with a yell her arm jerks to one side as she reflexively slaps at it. This causes the bolt of light to fire off kilter, blasting a wave of light unfortunately harmlessly to one side... And a moment later, her legs are taken out from under her. There is a painful-sounding crunch as she hits the ground, and she groans, trying to flip over and scoot away as one of her legs seems to be left unable to be stood on. "Get back...!" She hisses. She really needs to work on her combat...

You know what really spices things up? A bunch of bandits who actually know how to fight. One is even able to match wizardry with the Doctor of Tolbana without so much as breaking a sweat. Arcs of light, bolts of fire and ice and rays of arcane fury all exchange between the two, only to be deflected or evaded at the last moment by a well-timed shield spell or a sudden boost of magically-imbued speed. It almost seems as though they're evenly matched.

...Or perhaps this is all just a ploy to keep his opponent so focused on what's in front of them that they fail to notice what's underneath them...!

The ground suddenly splits. A spike of solid stone races upward, slamming into the bandit's chin and knocking them straight onto their back. A follow-up barrage of magic missiles reduces the pillar of earth to a pile of rubble, burying the enemy magus beneath a mound of soil.

"Hrmph," Prophylaxis grunts atop his grunty. "This may not be as simple as an ordinary bandit ambush. Where's their leader...?"

These bandis were smart, they had a good plan, she'd give them that. She has to wonder though have they had to handle this many Adventuers befoire? Even pposione as she is finallyt eht icks drop down to half the bugs vanish but she's not feeling so hot. She's still moving quickly and that safes he as one of the bandis come for he, he get a boot to the face not that it does much damange but the bow shot she'll give him. She's not going for a kill shot but she is trying to ruin his day that much is clear.

The Lander bandits seem to realize that they may be a bit out-matched by the Adventurers. A few manage to be killed, but most seem to be smart enough to avoid that fate by fleeing before their health drops too low. They are opportunisits, not idiots.

The monsters seem to take this as an opportunity to show their prowess. A trio of lizardmen who all look roughly identical step forward. They tower over the Adventurers, hissing in some other language to one another.

One glances behind them, signaling to the others, who seem to retreat, though it doesn't look as if they were leaving because they are afraid. No... it looks as if they might be going to fetch someone more powerful.

The lizardmen turn then. One begins to weave magic in his fingers, the other stomping a staff into the ground, while the third starts a hissing chant. Their magic seems to somehow blend together, causing the ground beneath the Adventurers to turn dark. Tendrils start to grab at their legs, trying to root them in place and drag them down.

Challenge:
- Roll Herbology vs 7: Have a counter-measure for this plant-based attack
- Roll Light vs 9: Try to burn away the dark magic
- Roll Song vs 9: Try to disrupt their chanting and break the spell

Failure:
The plant-like tendrils wrap around your legs, rooting you to the spot. There is a stinging sensation as dark magic seems to flow through them and into your body. You begin to see shadows that seem to move in the edges of your vision. They resemble people you know, both within the game and outside of it. You gain the 'Cursed' status defect. It can be removed by RPing a scene at a church.

    Merek looks to the floor and nods while he places a palm to it, then he begins to summon the power of light within. The Sanctuary begins to shimmer in while it will protect him and take care of the plants that are about him.

As they say, pride cometh before a fall. And indeed, Sprites is looking awfully full of himself as he glances down at his handiwork. Too full of himself, for he fails to notice the lizardmen, the chanting, or the vines as they begin to coil around his legs. It's only once they begin to bite that he reacts, quickly invoking vines of his own to counter them. But it's too little, too late. He hisses sharply, a ragged intake of his breath as he drops to one knee. He squints. Shakes his head. Rubs at his eyes with the back of one hand. Ends up with shadowy figures--and pulled pork barbecue sauce, dancing over his vision. Ugh.

    There was a lot of loot up in the Karluin ruins, and not all of it was gear meant for the Lion's Forge. One of them is the only reason that Arashi is able to escape the tendrils shooing up from the ground. A vial is thrown at the ground violently, it shatters, and the vines that had reached for her retreat quickly, some withering as they go. She's backing off with her free hand covering that injured eye. "Ngh... lucky you ran you @&#$.."

Vertina drives off her opponents, but doesn't get a break before gnarled dark plants erupt from the ground around her. Even with her swift reflexes she barely gets the chance to start the hand motions to trigger the proper Artes before the plants lash in to wind around her in their chloromantic coils and squeeze tight.

But moments later glimmers of a glow can be seen between the binds. The beams shimmer through the gaps, followed by an outward surge of Light that burns through the accursed darkness holding the twisted plants together. They smoke and smolder away to ash, a bit of which Vertina dusts off her shoulder. Then drops back into a ready stance. "Com'n, you're gonna have to do better than that!"

These bandits are distressingly well-equipped. And so... diverse. What is it that allows a lander to work so closely hand-in-hand with monsters? Is all that's needed... an evil heart?

<s>(If so then why hasn't Proteus made monster friends yet!?)</s>

A trio of lizardmen corrupts the ground underneath their feet. Prophylaxis grimaces as dark vines begin to creep up over his poor grunty, who stamps and stomps at them to no avail. Panic begins to set in on the poor animal's face-- the fear of a cornered beast about to go mad with terror...!

And then... It stops. It sniffs the air. Prophylaxis' staff glows with a faint light as... the dark vines abruptly begin to burst with rampant fungal blossoms. Weeping pustules dripping with spore-filled ooze flourish alongside brightly colored toadstools and pure white shelf fungus. A vast cloud of poisonous spores spreads outward toward the lizardmen, colonizing their lungs with writhing mycelium and the beginnings of what will eventually be a healthy crop of fruiting bodies.

It's a terrible fate, but this is what they get for using poison gas.

Meanwhile, Prophylaxis' grunty is having the time of his life, munching on the mushroom-covered vines with his tail all a-waggle.

Spotting the chanting monsters, Syx frowns and narrows his eyes. He knows he has to disapate that music they're using, or whatever they're trying to do. So Syx does the best thing he's able to do in an instance like this.

Syx steps forward, and raises one fist to the air. The music comes seemingly out of nowhere, but Syx's entrance theme begins to play. Presumably he's using his Hamonics in order to play the music.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69yguQ_gZkA)

    "Brothers no!" Rizadoman shouts as he watches the ritual trying to convince them to not go through with the dark ritual. However it appears his words fall on deaf ears, and even takes a moment to try again with clicking to imitate there own words for a moment, but nothing. Finally he looks up to the sky, " Fallen Nagas of the past, I call upon you, grant me your blessing and give me the power to burn this darkness." As it is said his body burst with a wave of holy light energy that burns the cursed energy away.

Proteus isn't rushing around anywhere with her bum leg. She's using a table to lever herself up when she gets a chance, only for tendrils to come grabbing at her already wounded legs. "No! Not the legs! Not the leg-AAAAAARGH!" She yells as the things grab at her and pull her back to the ground. She flops there, slashing at them with the sharpened edge on one of the bow limbs, but it does little to stop them. She can't even manage to call up an Ability in time to help, which leaves her bound up... and cursed. The creeping darkness edges into her sight, and she hisses, glancing over in one direction or another. "You... no. Argh! What kind of pure /assholery/ is this?!"

Erufu sees some nega lizardman who clearly is a traitor to Riza's people show up and she's not looking happy. She'll start singing the first thing she can. It's a very peppy earworm commercial jingle she had stuck in her head before she arrives in this world. However, it's not going well for her. She cries out as the plants start to latch on to her then scream as the dark magic flows into her. She catches sight of herself, Riza and Dorf , not as their avatars but as who they were, she sees Priest too and many regulars from the guild but she also sees her old boss and the elf is not having a good day at all.

"make ... it stop, make it STOP!"

Worse she sees that asshole she knew in post-secondary and ... the worst teacher she ever had.

"SHUT UP NAO DOESNT EXIST ANYMORE GET AWAY FROM ME!"

The curse cast, the three lizardmen start to retreat as well, not wanting to get into direct conflict with the Adventurers. However, it looks as if they have sent someone else to tangle with the group.

Stepping out of the trees is an absolutely massive looking Hobgoblin. The monster easily stands eight feet tall and is broad across the chest and shoulders. It is wearing massive plated armor that looks to have been taken from other monster parts and crudely stitched together.

The Hobgoblin's pig-like face shows two giant tusks and a large amount of drool that drips down one side of his face. There are scars across his nose from many battles and a huge axe rests across his shoulders.

As he approaches, he snorts, taking in the smell of the food. Perhaps this is why the bandits had struck the feast? Surely, this massive monster would be very... very hungry. He growls, or perhaps his stomach growls, it is hard to tell.

Snuffling, the massive monster-bandit charges towards them, roaring spittle and snot in their direction as he heaves that absolutely enormous axe in their direction, trying to cleave as many Adventurers as possible.

Challenge:
- Roll any combat concept vs 11. At least half of the group must succeed.

SpritesHero, already a bit woozy from sauce and creepy memory-shadows, really doesn't last for very long. The boss's first swing sends him tumbling head over heals, crashing into a table. He lies there, either seriously debuffed or pretending to be, while fashionably wearing a punch-bowl over his head.

    Merek will lift up his weapon to hit twice into that bandit while he swings the flame. The man nods a bit, then he begins to try tanking for the party to fight it as well.

The trio of lizardmen back off after their cursed briars have been dealt with. "Yeah you better run if you don't have anything better than tha--"

Cue the emergence of Hangry Hangry Hobgoblin from the treeline.

"--aaaaah crud. Don't let him get to the food!" Fiery aura like a bonfire erupts around the Salamander Martial Artist as she kicks off the ground and starts charging towards the Hobgoblin. Closing in as far as she dares and not risk overshooting her target before leaping into the air. She twists as she does so, some of that blazing corona gathering down to her feet as she does so, arching towards the monstrousity.

"If you're so hungry, you can choke on this! RAGNAROK HAMMER!"

And brings a blazing RIDER KICK! style strike hurtling down on the Hobgoblin without restraint.

Erufu is cursed, is seeing things and it's geting bad the hobgoblin is seen and there's a look of anger on her face. "Goblins... They are working with goblins?" This band of bandits is going to have a bad day in the future. she'll pull her dagger again as she's too out of it to shoot right now. She breaks into a run trying to leap at the thing to stab it somewhere vital.

    Rizadoman stares at the giant hobgoblin, " So the boss has appeared at last." Stepping forward he lets out a roar before running towards the monster as he summons the very fire that dwells within a dragons chest. "Dragon of all Dragons, I call upon your powers. Grant me your very flames. " His plead cast he throws the fireball with all his might at the Hobgoblin.

    That.. is a big creature. Very big. Too big? Either way, Arashi's eye is still giving her a major issue, and it's why she decides to back off, hoping the other Adventurers can handle it. That bandit's direct hit on her eye is causing her serious issues. She hates this. Her pride as a solo-player has, for sure, been damage. "Stupid... status.."

Syx isn't really going to stop himself from attacking the hobgoblin, but even he can make mistakes. He tries to gauge the distance between himself and the big monster, even though its running towards them. He thinks he's got this in the bag though.

The wrestler rushes forward and gets smacked to the side by the creature, tumbling end over end and then crashing onto a table, which fails to break, and tumbling over it.

"Ow."

At least his health dropped below half and the debuff dropped.

That sure is a hobgoblin. Hanging around Karluin for long enough has given Prophylaxis ample opportunities to learn just how dangerous those massive, porcine relatives of the run-of-the-mill goblin can be. Worse, it seems...

...Hungry.

But perhaps they can use that. If it's hungry, then cold will likely sap its strength dispropotionately. Being low in calories means that hypothermia is especially dangerous...

And so the doctor gestures with his staff and makes to encase the giant semi-orcish monster in a block of ice!!

(But only time will tell whether it's actually enough to stop him in his tracks)

Rooted, cursed, poisoned, hobbled, and more or less altogether miserable, Proteus lacks the confident defiance she was showing earlier and now seems to be generally... mostly just angry. The arrival of the huge Hobgoblin causes the Imp to grimace, and she moves, her hands shaking as she tries to manipulate the mechanical weapon in order to orient it. "I'm going to solve this problem once and for all." She mutters, and she raises the bow. "Initiate the first alignment..." She says, as she fumbles around in a pocket for something...

The Hobgoblin interdicts the flashy incoming attack by simply cleaving the hell out of her. Proteus is left flattened, a big crimson slash line of pain across her body as she's laid the hell out and staring up into the air, her HP bar precipitously low. "Gg... gh.... You're all going... to pay for this..." She mumbles... But not too loudly. Another hit like that and she's probably going to be leaving a tombstone.

A few of the monstrous bandits seem to linger at the edge of the forest, watching the battle as it progresses. It's hard to tell if they are watching their 'leader' go to war, or if the Hobgoblin is one amongst their number that they were willing to sacrifice to cover their own escape. None of them seem to stick around long enough for anyone to find out, either.

As soon as the Hobgoblin's health drops to half, they vanish back into the woods, their bags a bit fuller on food than when they had come. However, the battle is far from over. With a free hand, the massive Hobgoblin starts shoveling food into its face, which seems to act as a healing agent, increasing health despite the best efforts of the Adventurers.

Eventually, it becomes clear that this is a losing battle. The banquet table is just about destroyed, their health starts to wain, and the Hobgoblin just keeps on eating. It isn't until there is almost nothing left that the creature lets out a fantastic belch, pats a huge, bulbous stomach, and then leaps skyward, bounding away in a couple of massive dragoon-like jumps.

What is left behind in the aftermath is an absolute mess. Food is strewn everywhere, the tables are smashed, and the banquet is truly a disaster.

However, there is some good things - none of the Landers were killed, and all that was lost was a bit of food that was going to be eaten anyways. However, there is now a very fat and satisfied Hobgoblin warrior out there in the lands of the Fourland Dukedom, and a well-fed band of bandits who may just be more trouble in the future.

SpritesHero is intrigued. Feeling kinda crappy, but intrigued. As the hobgoblin bounces away, Sprites keeps a close and curious eye on the retreating figure. One finger props the edge of the punch bowl up, and he squints into the distance, desperately trying to map the hobgoblin's progress against a backdrop of destruction and wooziness.

Erufu Watche as it all palys out she's not feeling very good right now she's sitll thinging thies and she looks over to Rizadoman for a moment "I ... need to get to a church and we need to send a missive to Goblin Slayer about this..."

    The bandits retreat, the massive hobgoblin bounds away, and with their departure, Arashi just finds anything that's still standing and has a seat in it to brood a bit and consider what to do about this debuff. She certainly doesn't have anything in her inventory to deal with some sort of blind, hobbled status. "Wonderful.."

Proteus doesn't get involved, mostly just sort of playing dead at this point since the defense has been shattered in the face of the hulk-like power of the Hobgoblin. But the sight of it literally pigging out just adds insult to literal injury.

They're going to pay for this. All of them.

Vertina watchs the Hobgoblin leap off into the distance. "Someone probably wants to tell the local Hunter's Guild about that thing so it can be tracked down." They can't really chase it now, not with a good half of the party either low on health or suffering weird status effects. A bit of lingering smoke trails from her lips as she looks over the wreckage of the banquet and sighs. "Well, at least we got the Landers enough time to get outta the danger zone, I guess."

    Rizadoman watches the hobgoblin bounce away and he growls in anger before he looks at the smashed table. Looking at Erufu he nods his head, " Yes we should get you some care and contact him. However I feel I must do something else as well." Stepping towards the table he begins to pick up the mess of the food and the table before looking at Erufu and then the others, " I am sure between all three of our alliances we can replace this food and not allow this ceremony to go completely ruined. "

Syx pulls himself up onto the edge of the table he'd tumbled over, "Ow.." He groans a little bit, and then realizes there's still a little bit of food sitting on the table that he hadn't knocked over. He grabs it and chomps on it while he looks between the group, "Anybody die?"

Well.

Clearly the power of hungry pigman overcomes even the mightiest of DPS teams.

Prophylaxis watches as the hobgoblin pigs out like it weren't even the slightest bit concerned about what kind of reputation it's giving to every other hobgoblin in Yamato, and can only arch his brow as the creature bounces off into the wilderness like an overstuffed beachball.

"...I'm a little weirded out," he says, carefully. "But, okay, I guess??"

All that... just so their boss could stuff his face? That's just excessive.

"Think my pride died," Sprites remarks amiably, staring up at the heavens in a mild daze. His punch bowl-helmet is removed, lightly set aside, and his lips tighten in suppressed amusement as he turns his attentions towards Rizadoman. "I hope you're not saying you're hungry," he proposes. "I hurt too much to be hungry." A pause. "Yes, even at 20. Sue me."

    Rizadoman looks at the twenty year old that is hurting to much and shakes his head as continues to pick up the mess. " This was meant to be a celebration, not just for us but for the fellow people of the land who invited us here. Would be a shame to let a bully ruin the night." Hunting would happen , many people here had rage and sought revenge but it was an old Naga proverb, revenge is a dish best served cold. For now Rizado would simply focus on fixing what was destroyed.

Vertina glances over to Rizadoman. "Yeah, he's not wrong... I mean, no one is going to want to eat out in the open now, but we could probably get a replacement dinner together for tomorrow or something."

"Maybe seeing if we can work together to replenish the banquet and set up a new festival to show we won't be broken by such a thing would not go amiss." Proteus ventures from her spot on the ground. "I'll see what we can put together from our side."

Erufu looks over at Prophylaxis. "It would be either that or the Goblin might eat the bandits." she makes a face and tries to not look at the shadows's she's still seeing she also nods to Riza. "Right, right."

SpritesHero grimaces. He squints. He grimaces, harder, and brings his hand to his forehead. "I think I'm seeing my ancestors," he opines, alternating which eye he's looking through. "At least a few of them are my ancestors. Dunno who the others are. They're -really- ugly." Pause. "Wait, no that's just Chris. Um." Hm. With an effort he stands up, swiping at his clothes with his hand in evident futility. Sauces won't come off, but at least some crumbs might. "I'm with her on this," he states, nodding flatly in Vertina's direction. "If I may be bold, I would expect the Landers are more concerned with the giant rampaging hobgoblin than with the party. No previous reports, right?"

    Merek nods a little bit to the people, "Alright, well it looks like the people are safe," the man notes while he takes a moment to make a way back to that table.

"At any rate," Sprites concludes, "I'm off to a prayer meeting. I trust the village is in excellent hands." With which comment he toddles off, unsteadily.