SESSION 19A: ROUTING THE SHUUL
April 13th, 2008
The 8th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty
Elestra grabbed a couple of the rifles out of the crate she had pried open and handed one to Ranthir. Ranthir smiled. His magical skills were not yet very advanced, and so he had often felt like something of a sixth wheel whenever they had found themselves in a tight spot. The firepower he held in his hands now might help him to be something more than an observer.
Agnarr, thinking this was all a good idea, wedged his toe under one of the rifles that had fallen from the hands of the Shuul agents lying before him. With a quick jerk he flipped it up into his left hand, keeping his greatsword clenched in his right.
The Foundry was rocked by an explosion, accompanied by a massive gout of flame in the materials storehouse.
The two Shuul agents passing below Tee in the second foundry stopped in their tracks for a moment, frozen in shock. Then they began to turn back towards the front of the building…
Unfortunately, Ranthir’s reactions were faster. His ears recognized the aural hints that told him the explosion was a magical extrusion of primal fire, and he leapt towards the nearest door. Ripping it open he was confronted by the two Shuul agents. The agents arrested their turn and lowered their rifles at Ranthir. “Who are you?! Don’t move!”
Agnarr reacted quickly, shoving Ranthir out of the way and taking his place. “We’re friends! We’re trying to stop Shilukar!”
“Get out here!”
SHILUKAR APPEARS… AND DISAPPEARS
Tee missed all of this. Hearing the explosion she vaulted through the ventilation window and back onto the roof. Scampering twenty feet or so across the clay tiles and then looked through the ventilation windows about the first foundry. From this vantage point she could look down into the materials storehouse.
Shilukar! He was standing just inside the wide, open doorway leading from the first foundry into the storehouse – he was just lowering his hands to his side, looking off towards the main entrance. And, as Carlin had described, the elf’s skin was the color of ebony and his hair the gray of ash.
Tee whipped her bow off her back, strung an arrow, and let it fly. Her shot was true, and would have taken Shilukar full in the side of the neck, but as it approached within an inch of the elf’s black skin the arrow suddenly stopped in mid-air – a vibrant golden flash betraying the magical shield.
Shilukar whipped his head around, looking up to where the shot had come from. But Tee had already slipped back into the shadow. Shilukar’s eyes darted here and there for a moment, and then he ran off towards the main entrance.
Tee ran back across the roof and tried to look down into the main entrance – but the extrusion of the second floor blocked her line of sight. She cursed under her breath and began running towards the front of the building.
Meanwhile, at the front of the building, the sound of the magical explosion had caused the Shuul agent watching over them to glance nervously towards the Foundry, but it didn’t look like he was going to do anything else.
Tor stared at him, “Didn’t you hear that? We need to do something!”
The Shuul agent seemed to think about it for a moment and then seemed to make up his mind. He called out to another agent who was still watching the front door. “Get over here and watch these two.”
The agent at the front door shrugged and headed their way. They were standing near a door leading into the materials warehouse, and the agent closest to them lowered his gun, fumbled for a ring of keys, and unlocked the door.
Tee arrived at the front of the building. Looking down she was aghast to see that the front door had been left wide open and completely unguarded. Shilukar was going to escape! What were the Shuul thinking?
Tor had caught sight of Tee out of the corner of her eye. Tee, looking down the street, saw Tor give an almost imperceptible nod of acknowledgement. Tee gestured frantically down towards the front door, trying to make Tor understand that Shilukar was heading their way.
The Shuul agent fumbling at the door finally got it open. Looking into the storehouse they could see one of the Shuul agents had been horribly burned by the explosion. He was lying very still.
Dominic, seizing the moment, held up his holy symbol. “I can help! Let me help!”
The Shuul agents glanced at each other, then reached a decision. “All right. Help him. But I’ll be right behind you.”
Dominic nodded and, with worried glances into the shadowy corners, led the way into the materials storehouse.
As soon as Dominic was clear, Tor made his move, breaking into a sudden run towards the front door of the Foundry. The Shuul who had been left to watch him pulled the trigger on his modified dragon rifle, but Tor – anticipating it – rolled under the wave of flame and came back to his feet.
ROUTING THE SHUUL
Back inside the second Foundry, Agnarr’s attempts to bluff his way past the two Shuul agents were falling on deaf ears.
“Drop your weapons.”
Agnarr dropped the modified dragon rifle… but kept his greatsword.
“Drop the sword! Drop it now!”
Agnarr grunted… and suddenly leaped toward the Shuul. The Shuul, surprised, stumbled backwards. The barbarian managed to take one of them down… but not both of them. He was caught by another wave of flames.
Elestra, who had followed Agnarr with some thought of helping him, was caught by the flames as well. But she was able to call upon her connection to the Spirit of the City and soothe their wounds even before the burns could blister.
Tee, seeing Tor run beneath her and into the Foundry, tried to swing down from the roof and through an upper window that locked into the entrance hall. But her grip slipped, and she fell forty feet to the ground below. Fortunately, she had the light and nimble grace of an elf, and although she landed awkwardly and twisted her ankle she was not seriously hurt.
Tor, who had been turning around, grabbed Tee almost as soon as she hit the street and pulled her into the entrance hall before slamming the doors shut. The Shuul agent who had been chasing Tor arrived just a moment too late. The agent threw himself against the door, but Tor easily held it shut. A few moments later, he had lowered the beam to lock the door.
Meanwhile, Dominic – hearing the shout of the Shuul agent outside and then the burst of fire from his rifle – broke instantly into a run. The Shuul watching him was close on his heels, but Dominic reached the small door leading from the materials storehouse to the entrance hall and managed to slam it shut behind him.
Looking for some way of locking the door, Dominic saw that there was a keyhole… but no key. In frustration, he drew his mace and slammed it down on the door handle. The handle snapped off. A moment later, he heard the handle on the opposite side fall to the floor.
Tee, meanwhile, hobbled up to the second level. Reaching the top of the stairs she saw a hallway filled with doors. Lots and lots of doors. She cursed again. Shilukar could be anywhere. She was going to need help. “Shilukar is up here! HE’S UP HERE!”
Elestra, having just finished a second spell to sooth the pain in Agnarr’s badly burned lungs, heard Tee’s cry. She ran through the entrance hall and up the stairs.
Agnarr was following her, but Dominic – seeing Elestra run past him – whirled around and cut him off. “There’s one circling around this way!” He pointed back towards the second foundry.
Agnarr shrugged, turned around, and headed back into the foundry.
In fact, there were two Shuul agents coming that way: The one Dominic had re-directed by destroying the door handle and another who had leapt through the chimney from outside. Agnarr squared himself off and grinned… just as a third agent – the one Tor had locked out – emerged from another door off to one side (which apparently led outside).
The smile started to fade from Agnarr’s face. But at just that moment, the last Shuul – who had been left standing outside just beyond the gaping hole in the ruined chimney – gave a cry. He was being attacked by the two thugs Tor had seen set the explosion!
The Shuul agents, convinced that they were surrounded – and noticing the gutted bodies of their comrades lying on the floor of the second foundry – turned and ran. Crying, in retreat, “Shilukar may have won for now! But it won’t last for long!”
The agent outside, staggering from blackjack blows, managed to bring his dragon rifle to bear and immolated the thugs. Then, he too, ran off into the shadows.
