The battle begins to balkanize quickly, splitting into multiple separate brawls without a strong unification- one of the hazards of splitting a party. On the bright side, the cultists have also split theirs. As Gorun lifts his cheetah up in the air, it twists and thrashes like a thing alive... but where the monk might have expected it to try to get free, the cheetah was just moving to try to get a better angle on the bull's forearm. Jaws clamp down on Gorun's forearm, sinking almost to the bone as the cheetah starts thrashing anew- by all appearances, trying to rip the arm holding him out of its socket. The other cheetah only has eyes for Turilia, the enemy it began attacking, and this close its fury is startling. Pouncing, both claws slash at the magus's midsection, mouth open wide in a killing gape to clamp onto its' prey's neck... but Turilia has little trouble with it, moving around each blow in turn and then knocking the ill-tempered feline upside the head with her staff to daze it and keep it from continuing to attack her. Seeing her opportunity, Eiyre darts in, placing a hand on the coarse and matted fur of the cheetah's flank. A corona of dark energy flares around the touch, and the big cat snarls in pain as negative energy blasts into its veins. The wound, when Eiyre withdraws, stays angry and dripping blood as though she'd burnt the flesh without having to use fire.<br/><br/>The other two guards seem content to watch all this unfold... right until Albali plants a crossbow bolt perfectly between one's shoulders. It staggers, spinning around, and does one double-take on seeing the witch in the road behind them- and a<span style="font-style: italic">triple</span>take at the sight of a mammoth snake unhurriedly slithering after her like a well trained pet. "Behind us! They've got their own trap!" He howls, pain still in his voice- but the other says, "We discussed this- go, defend the Sister, I will hold them off as long as I'm able. The cultist sprints down the path, coming in behind the cheetah he'd loosed. A quick sword slash rings Eiyre's vision with the impact, but her strong armor holds and she doesn't feel anything worse than the shock of impact. She's also tantalizingly near the edge of the rock-slippery area.<br/><br/>Seeing the damage the impure druid had wrought with a single spell, Xarithe decides to keep her busy to allow the others a free reign to clean up the fighters and come down the path. Shrieking, he leaps off the tree and falls talons first at his foe; she twists at the last second, denying him purchase on her face to rip out those pretty green orbs, but talons and beak take large chunks out of the druid's shoulder. "SISTER!" The other cultist bellows, sprinting north, and as soon as he arrives he punishes Xarithe with a wild swing of the sword. It hits, but grazes the bird only, not enough to distract him from his bloody business. But the druid... "Youuuu." she hisses, turning her head to stare at Xarithe, and something in the jeweled eyes gives the man pause. An energy dancing beneath the pupil-less eyes that didn't match anything he'd ever seen. "A dru-id. You can teach me nothing- I have no need of you." With that, Xarithe's temporary perch shudders, and-<br/><br/>-from down south, the picture's very clear. The female cultist begins growing rapidly, shooting up to double her size in a mere second. Now all can see her elegant, but inhuman features, still speaking of elvish descent but warped into something entirely different. Xarithe finds himself flapping right in front of the woman, her fanged maw opening in front of him like an invitation as warm, slightly sour breath curls over him. "You will not know His glory-" she booms, before shrugging her sleeves further down her arms. Where hands had been, a pair of wickedly sharp, foot long claws like a mantis's appear, and lash at Xarithe like a pair of vipers. One he can avoid; the other pierces a wing and holds him fast. Wasting no time, the cultist begins to draw Xarithe towards her open mouth as a circle of red and spikes of white set in glossy black flesh, a long thin tongue lolling out in eagerness to receive the druid that had dared attack such a creature.<br/><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">No worries, masterful! I do not mind missing a few deadlines, and it is early days yet. </span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Mechanics</span><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;">Eiyre moves up and uses death touch on the cheetah not currently grappled. Attack hits, and Cheetah #2 has 3 damage, and is bleeding for 1 damage a round. <br/>Turilia beats that same cheetah over the head for 7 damage.<br/>Xarithe hits with one claw and a bite for 14 damage.<br/>Albali moves up, takes cover behind her friendly snake battle buddy, and opens fire; that is indeed a crit, which is confirmed, 11 damage. Sira continues to guard her, and Ain keeps pace. <br/>ENEMY ACTION<br/>Female cultist enlarges as a swift action. Attacks with both claws: One hit. 5 damage to Xarithe. Bite attack also misses. Free grapple check thanks to the claw hit: Succeeds. Xarithe is Grappled. <br/>One fighting cultist moves backward to defend the druid. Longsword whack at Xarithe deals another 3 HP. <br/>The other fighting cultist moves forward to help the cheetah. Misses Eiyre.<br/>Grappled cheetah attempts to bite Gorun. Succeeds; another 6 damage to Gorun. Trip fails<br/>Other cheetah stays in place and full attacks Turilia. It rolls, and I'm not making this up, 1, 1, 2. No hits, needless to say. It also bleeds. <br/><br/>INITIATIVE LIST:<br/>(Early) Sira, Turilia, Xarithe, Albali, Ain<br/>All Enemies<br/>(Late) Gorun, Ambrosia, Eiyre <span style="font-weight: bold">CURRENTLY UP</span><br/><br/>Status; Gorun, Turilia, Ambrosia and Eiyre are in Difficult Terrain.<br/>Gorun: 11/31 HP, Grappling Cheetah #1<br/>Turilia: 25/31 HP<br/>Ambrosia: 27/33 HP<br/>Eiyre: 25/31 HP<br/>Xarithe: 27/35 HP, Grappled by the female cultist</div></div></div><br/><br/>New Map:<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;"><img alt="Image" src="http://i.imgur.com/0mDuIMI.png"/></div></div></div>