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With a blank expression on her face, Kal'ara torpidly drew a bolt from her quiver and placed it on her crossbow's notch. She pulled back the winch and lined up her shot, then pulled the trigger.

The redcap grinned more fiercely at the humanoids' attempts to fight it off. Were it not for the shadow-fey's magic sword, it would have been laughable. And it'd expected so much more from the large horned gray creature. It didn't know why it hadn't just murdered the big brute, rather than stealing his sword and fleeing.
It suddenly recalled the reason for its earlier caution as the gray creature deeply inhaled. Knowing, and fearing what was coming, the redcap leapt backward quickly enough to avoid half of the scorching ash the beast spewed forth. It shrieked -more in rage than pain- as some of the dust touched it and ate through its hide, exposing the tightly corded muscle beneath.
The savage fey's backward leap terminated, and it bowled into Vellek. Distracted as it had been by evading the ash cloud, it gave a start and reversed its grip in the sword and jabbed its point at the mercenary. The creature's small stature gave it the perfect angle from which to strike, as the tip of the weapon glanced off one of the small plates of Vellek's scale armor and pushed upward, bypassing the scales' protection and sinking into the man's side.
Knowing it would be foolish to prolong the human's pain, it withdrew the blade and righted its grip on the weapon. It's sneer was cut short however as a small point of orange light flew out from the darkness and embedded itself deep into its shoulder. It yelped and turned, peering into the dark to find the source of this new attack. Unable to see much beyond the bright flames wreathing the blade it held, the redcap scowled and turned its attention back to the large horned foe, intent on slaying the wretch now that the dust cloud had settled.


Roll #1 - Kal'ara's Attack: natural 20
Roll #2 - crit confirmation: natural 20
Roll #3 - second confirmation: (9+6) = 15

(Rolls made in Misc.)
- Redcap's Reflex Save: (13+19) = 32
- Redcap's Attack: (13+14-1) = 26

Soundly immobilized by Adustes' spell, the redcap could do nothing to avoid Vellek's strike. True to the cleric's word, the blade cut through the monster's thick hide as easily as if he were merely stabbing another human.
Blood poured from the wound, and the spell broke. The redcap's expression changed to one of shock and pain, and it gave a gurgling shriek as its lungs began to fill with its own blood. Vellek twisted the blade and yanked it out at a different angle than it'd gone in, and stabbed again. The redcap's fingers lost their strength and the sword's hilt slipped from its grasp, and it feebly thrashed its arms, unable to break the mercenary's hold. Within seconds its struggles ceased, and it lay still.
Vellek continued to slice its throat open, making absolutely certain it wouldn't be getting up to attack again. He finally stopped when he noticed the creature's body beginning to shrivel and collapse in on itself. He rose and backed away, watching as the corpse continued to diminish until it vanished entirely, leaving only its scant possessions behind. He gingerly stepped forward and poked the tip of the knife under the tiny, ragged breeches and lifted, leery of touching any of the creature's things with his bare skin after how it had faded away.
He found that -just as it appeared- the body was simply gone. All that remained were the breeches, its crimson cap, the sword, and a small leather pouch. Without touching anything, he stood and handed the knife back to Adustes, then pressed a hand against his newest wound. "What in all the hells was that thing?"

Adustes breathed a sigh of relief when the redcap faded away. Its magic spent, the conjured sword dissipated. He paid no attention to it. He returned the remaining knife to its sheath before taking the other one back from Vellek.
"That creature was a redcap. A particularly malevolent fey race. I hadn't seen one as powerful as that before though." He knelt down and wiped off the knife on the breeches, managing to remove much of the blood, though the blade remained far from clean. He scowled and placed it in his belt pouch to be cleaned later.
He stood and said, "If anybody is injured, step forward and I'll heal you. Then we should be on our way. Redcaps don't often travel alone, and I want to be gone from here before any others happen upon us."


(The battle has ended, so there is no longer a posting order. You may all post freely.
Due to the difficulty of the encounter, everybody gains a level. Be certain to update your character profiles, and don't forget to send a copy of your updated digital character sheets when you're done.)

Vhael'iss knew immediately when Adustes cast his spell, and the redcap fell to his knees in despair that was not caused by her song. It made her eyes narrow to see this, and the look she aimed at the shadar-kai was not a friendly one... Still, it tasted sweet to her senses and she drew it in greedily while she watched the wizened fey's final moments at the hands of her companions. It was not until the last shrieks were fading into the darkness and his small body began to crumble that her bow slowed, lingering for a long haunting moment on the strings, before she lowered the instrument.
Her footfalls were near silent as she emerged from behind the thick tree that had been her shelter and moved closer to rejoin the party, cold eyes taking in the state of them all. That had been simply pitiful... Almost undone by a simple redcap. Her upper lip curled momentarily in disgust as she snapped her viola back into its case and looked up to regard Adustes coldly for one last moment before turning her attention to the retreating newcomer. That blast he had aimed at their foe had been impressive indeed and normally the girl surely would have been intrigued, curious especially for the fact that she had finally seen this creature that had been haunting the tales of tavern patrons everywhere. Especially now that she recognized him for what he was, something she had never encountered before. However, her mood was sullen and unpleasant and she watched him leave with an icy stare.
Purely on a whim, seeking something on which to aim her spiteful mood, she aimed her senses his way, but her frustration only grew when his emotions remained dull and uninteresting.

Adustes eyed the newcomer quizzically as he took up the redcap's sword, wondering what claim the half-dragon thought he had to it. But the priest didn't care much for swords, and it appeared none of his hirelings did either, so he chose not to give voice to the thought. Let him have it if he wanted it.
He returned the man's nod and turned his attention to the others, quickly taking stock of the battle's outcome. Vellek's arms bore deep cuts and he bled from a hole in his side; a long cut was visible across Eliae's legs; the newcomer's arm and leg each had deep gashes; and his own abdomen had a fairly nasty wound. Fortunately, the others had remained out of melee and appeared unharmed, though as Vhael'iss approached from the trees where she had been playing, he noticed a quite sour expression on her face as she regarded the group. He was somewhat curious as to the source of her vexation, but mending the wounds of the party took priority. Perhaps he would inquire into it later.
He knelt as Eliae stepped forward, and inspected the severity of her cuts. They weren't too bad, so he knew a weaker spell would suffice in healing the wound. He touched his fingertips to the outside of one of the gashes, placing his free hand on his holy symbol, and murmured a short, though unnecessary prayer and drew upon the magic of a short wand concealed beneath one of his gauntlets. The flesh of the woman's thighs wove back together, sealing both cuts completely and leaving her skin unblemished.
All the while he heard the short conversation between the two half-dragons. Though he was fluent in their language, he paid little attention to what was said, as much to afford them the privacy they appeared to want --speaking in their native tongue as they did-- as simply to better concentrate on sealing his companion's wounds.
However, he did catch the first words spoken by the gray one. 'If it were not for your thunder I may not have found this thief.' So, that was why he thought to claim the sword. If his statement was truth, the small beast had stolen it from him prior to the battle. He knew redcaps had a fondness for enchanted heavy weapons when they could be scavenged from their victims, but such events were rare. More often than not, they carried the oversized scythes their kind commonly pilfered from frontier farms or crafted themselves. And the creature appeared fearful when the gray-scaled dragon appeared, and when he prepared to breathe at it. It seemed to already be familiar with the newcomer's attack. Perhaps then, his claim to the sword was valid...
Noticing that the half-dragon was departing into the forest --curiously, in the direction that his group had been headed, Adustes called out to him. "My offer extends to you as well, Gehennan."

Vellek didn't know much about the fey, and the name 'redcap' meant nothing to him, so he decided to leave Adustes' explanation at that, offering only a disinterested grunt in response.
His injuries hurt, almost unbearably so, but he couldn't stand being unable to see even more. He gritted his teeth against the pain and turned away from the redcap's no-longer-illuminated remains, and slowly started off in the direction in which he remembered having dropped his covered torch. Crouching low and squinting in the darkness, he only barely managed to pick out the faint light that seeped out from the sack still wrapped around it. He knelt lower and gingerly picked it up, slowly peeling the sack away so his eyes adjusted to the light as the magically-glowing rod was revealed.
He straightened and looked around. Now that he could see again, he immediately spotted Adustes -squinting and holding up a hand to block the light from his face- attending to Eliae, the slender bard making her way to join them, and the tailed woman and half-dragons to one side. Behind him, he spotted his horse. He walked over to it, interposing his body between his torch and Adustes in an effort not to irritate the priest, and tended to the animal. He checked it for any injuries and set to calming its nerves, speaking softly to it and patting its head. As he did so, he studied the larger, gray-scaled creature that had approached them. Something about it seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place it right away. If only he could see it better... But it hardly seemed to matter. The thing looked to be leaving, so he probably wouldn't get a chance for a better view.

Furian stopped and turned towards the grey man. His wounds were fairly severe, but not life threatening. Still, a caster of some skill could restore him fully and that would be invaluable if he came across another conflict before recovering. And if this man knew his Gehennan parentage he was more knowledgeable than anyone he had met since his mother.
He nodded and approached the hooded man, speaking again in common his voice base and flat. "I accept." He stood before him, his hand on his sword. "No tricks."

Furian watched the man carefully as he inspected his wounds and could find no signs of deceit in his words. He remained silent until the man's question came. "None" was his reply.