Although she only bares her teeth and glares hatefully in response to Saraphina's question, Yula knows all too well that she CAN'T keep this up. She'd thought the invaders looked weakened with the previous fight, but it was clear they possessed reserves that she did not, internal and external. "Winnow, you greedy shortsighted fool! Always going for the easy prey and leaving the hard fights to others! Only divine intervention can save us now!" Oddly enough, Yula sounds almost expectant with that last line. Alas, the Gods she seeks to propitiate haven't responded to pleas for direct action in many years. The standardized rituals developed before their retreat from Gespinium still work, but they are now too far away for passion to touch them.<br/><br/>Shielding her eyes from the white glow that momentarily engulfs Salana, Winnow's narrow muzzle hangs open in dismay when she sees all of the injuries that Salana had accumulated, even those she entered the battle with, vanish before her eyes. The squirming bandit in her sagging belly now felt like less of delight and more of a potentially fatal hindrance. "You're right. I'm being a fool. There's no way we can win now..." The wily old vixen kneels in front of Salana and lowers her head, moving to lay her scimitar down upon the floor... and then, Salana sees an orange flash and feels a sharp pain in her leg.<br/><br/>A cruel smile forms on Winnow's lips as she pulls her curved blade free from Salana's thigh, a stream of blood running down her leg. "So much blood. Good thing I already ate!" Taking advantage of Salana's shock, she springs back out of reach. Now that she can afford to expose her vulnerable backside, Winnow decides to turn tail and run. She gives Yula one last glance before going through the door. "Well, it was fun, child, but I'd rather save MY tail than yours." It's quite impressive how quickly she manages to run with a struggling meal in her. "A CURSE ON YOU!" Yula shouts, but Winnow doesn't look back.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Winnow rolls a natural 20. If Salana weren't stuffed, there would be no critical hit, but alas, the runepriestess has a belly full of bunnygirl, and Winnow does extra-extra damage on a critical hit. Salana takes 16 damage and Winnow shifts to E-12 for free. Even stuffed, she has a movement of 5 thanks to her shifting, and she then moves to E-17.</span><br/><br/>Nairen is tiring already; he never could match the stamina of most fighters. He can't dodge Marrok's blows, and the sword bites deep. He grits his teeth and, with grim determination, steps forward to strike. He feints back and forth, trying to find an opening in Marrok's guard, and he almost does. But the strike hits Marrok's chainmail at an angle and slides off of it harmlessly. Seeing that it did nothing, he backs away cautiously and leans against the wooden wall with one hand for support. His morale, impressive for one who was conscripted into the Silver Gullet against his will, seems to be wavering.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Nairen barely misses Marrok. He shifts to I-10. Meanwhile, a new combatant gets a convenient 21 for initiative.</span><br/><br/>Just as Winnow is starting to think she'll get away (after all, Salana and Marrok are too stuffed themselves to chase her!), a lithe figure springs from behind a tree to intercept her: a male leopard-fur, one of Marrok's soldiers. Winnow has too much momentum to avoid his charge. He tackles her to the ground almost playfully, not slashing her but only rolling on top of her and pinning her sword to the ground with his. "Ooh, bad luck." he says mockingly.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Leopard swordsman (who I haven't gotten around to naming) charges Winnow and hits, dealing 10 damage and knocking her prone.</span><br/><br/>Beating the flames out with her free hand, Yula still winces from the injuries she has already received.<span style="font-style: italic">I wasted all of my healing on that ungrateful old wretch...</span>she thinks to herself, large blue eyes tearing up with frustration. White fur bristles as she slowly backs away from Saraphina and Salana.<span style="font-style: italic">Damn tiefling... what is this magic clinging to me? Rrhh, if I strike her I'll only hurt myself.</span><br/><br/>To the heroes' shock, Yula lets her scythe clatter to the floor, turning instead to the square pit in the center of the room. "O noble lady of the earth, forgive me for offending you with my impertinence! I beseech you, honor your creator by defending her faithful servant! I release the spell, and throw myself on your mercy!"<br/><br/>Suddenly, a luminous golden light begins to spill forth from the pit, and a sound like the plucking of a string on a massive harp fills the room. What appears to be a delicate human hand, wearing a golden bracelet, reaches up from the side of the pit. A moment later, a flowing head of blond hair appears, and what seems to be a well-dressed young woman bedecked with fine jewelry and intricate gold tattoos hoists herself out of the pit. The mud seems to slide right off her, and even after climbing up the walls of a crude hole in the earth, there isn't a speck of dirt on her.<br/><br/>"Well!" the young human(?) girl says with an arrogant toss of her head. "I'm glad that you<span style="font-style: italic">finally</span>got around to releasing me, Hula, or whatever your name is, buuuut..." She grins mischievously and winks, holding out her index finger and playfully wagging it back and forth. Her voice has a strange, high-pitched reverberation behind it.<br/><br/>"Hee hee hee! Silly little pup!" The strange girl's laughter is loud enough to hurt your ears. "Now that I'm free, you don't have anything over me, and I hafta tell you, this little 'crusade' you've been talking about? It sounds totally shortsighted!" She casually bends over and picks up a few of the gold coins. As she turns back to Yula, the stranger pops them into her mouth one by one and gives them several ostentatious chews before swallowing.<br/><br/>"Mmm... don't get me wrong, I<span style="font-style: italic">love</span>eating mortals, but they just don't sustain me the way the good stuff does. And, I mean, do you guys<span style="font-style: italic">ever</span>work your own metal, nevermind mining it? All of those swords you gave me looked and tasted different, so I'm guessing you just stole them from others. Now, this sorcerer you mentioned? Ka-whatsit? HE sounds like a mortal I could get along with."<br/><br/>Yula looks shocked and dismayed. "But... no... you can't..." she sputters desperately.<br/><br/>The strange girl turns to Salana, Saraphina and Marrok, ignoring Yula. "Mmm mmm mmm, what have we here?" She puts her hands on her hips. "So, I think little Miss Holier-Than-Thou over there said that you were with the 'Tenders of the Cream' or something like that? No, don't answer that, I couldn't care less. All I want to know is what you're going to offer me not to eat you right now and scatter your pathetic lackeys to the four winds." She giggles coquettishly and makes a cute face. "I'm hoping you can do better than Zula. I mean, she's pretty powerful, but talk about headstrong! Not the kind of talent I need. Here, I'll be generous: All three of you pledge to be my faithful servants, and I won't even eat<span style="font-style: italic">any</span>of you."<br/><br/>There is total silence for a second. "Oh! How rude of me! Hee hee, I forgot to introduce myself! You couldn't pronounce my true name, so just call me 'Goldie'."<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Character picture: The deviantart piece that inspired Goldie's appearance can be found <a class="postlink" href="http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=gold%20girl&amp;order=9&amp;offset=24&amp;offset=24#/d18r153">here</a>. Because even if I had time to draw a character picture, there's no way I could create anything that good.</span><br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Arcana or Religion check, DC 16</span><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">This appears to be a 'Genasi', also known as a 'Noble Elemental'. Although most elementals are humanoid to some degree, Genasi are unique in that their bodies mimic the human form in every way, not just in shape. Genasi have internal skeletons, blood, organs, and all of the rest. Their bodies are not quite 'flesh', but it is close enough.</div></div></div><br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Arcana or Religion check, DC 14 (seperate from above)</span><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Earth elementals are notoriously overbearing and egotistical, and those associated with metals, especially precious metals, are even more so.</div></div></div><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">Combat is effectively paused for the moment for this RP/skill challenge. If you choose to attack Goldie immediately, you'll get a surprise round... but that might not be enough. Sure, you could always send your redshirts after her, but after seeing what she does to the first few who get close to her, the rest might not be eager to fight.</span></span><br/><br/><img alt="Image" src="http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9059/pauseenc2.png"/><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Status scroll:<br/><br/>Winnow: 5/37 AC: 16(13) Fort: 12 Ref: 14(11) Will: 12 (stuffed with ???)<br/>Nairen: 4/37 AC: 16(17) Fort: 12 Ref: 14(15) Will: 12 (marked, bloodied, shifting)<br/><br/>Yula: 65/134 AC: 20 Fort: 20 Ref: 17 Will: 18 (Bloodied, shifting)<br/><br/>Goldie: 106/106 AC: 26(<span style="font-weight: bold">!</span>) Fort: 24 Ref: 21 Will: 20<br/><br/>Players and Allies<br/><br/>Saraphina: 25/45. AC: 16 Fort, Ref and Will: 17<br/><br/>Salana: 22/42. AC: 21 (19) Fort: 19 Ref: 15 (13) Will: 16 (stuffed, in Yula's stomach)<br/><br/>Marrok: 19/46. AC: 21 (17) Fort: 19 Ref: 16 (14) Will: 16 (stuffed)<br/><br/>Casandra: 36/36 AC: 16 Fort: 12 Ref: 13 Will: 14<br/><br/>Leopard guy: 37/37 AC: 16 Fort: 12 Ref: 14 Will: 12<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Edit: Right now you're probably thinking: "So Xali - If we'd waited until after a short rest to storm the inn, we would have had to fight this genasi with the ludicrous AC together with all the other enemies?"<br/><br/>Well, not quite. Those were Schrodinger's Orcs: If you'd taken a short rest, they wouldn't have existed. You would all have been at full health, and Casandra would have been with you from the first round.</span>