Round 1 Summary
The hell hounds surge forward and through the gate with surprising speed, all three bearing down on Dynaheir. But Minsc intercepts them, the gnoll chieftess' greataxe in his meaty hands. He delivers a nasty swipe to the flank of one of the hounds, and all three turn on him, jaws opening to release waves of lava-like spittle (
Minsc takes 50 fire damage). The burning torrent is nearly enough to bring down the big man, but he manages to keep his feet and swing his axe with enough strength to remove the head of one of the hounds (
H1 takes 48 slashing damage and dies).
But there's nothing Minsc can do to protect his charge from the mighty wizard above. Edwin holds his staff high and the tip of it forms a growing ball of intense fire. With a flick of the staff he sends the ball down into the courtyard straight towards Dynaheir (
Edwin casts Fireball). The fireball detonates just in front of the wychalaran, and the resulting flames spread outward to catch scrambling companions! Made of the Hells' flames themselves, the hell hounds don't flinch.
The courtyard fills with fire and heat! And yet... the adventurers surging up onto the battlements don't feel any pain, or even discomfort. Strangely, there seems to be a barrier of air around each of them, as though some protective force has sculpted pockets of safety from the fireball's area. Then the licking flames all go immobile, as though frozen in place. A moment later, they're all sucked back into their source, the sphere of fire just a foot in front of Dynheir's face. Dirty sweat streaks the wychlaran's face, but her hands work the fireball like potter's clay, shaping it this way and that (
Dynaheir casts Counterspell).
While Minsc does his best to hold off the hell hounds nearby, Dynaheir spreads her arms wide, momentarily releasing the fireball, then pushes forward with both hands up toward Edwin. The orange-red flames turn super-charged blue, and a crack of thunder reverberates through the courtyard as she transmutes the fire into electricity, shooting a mighty bolt of lightning at the Red Wizard (
Dynaheir casts Lightning Bolt).
Edwin's eyes widen in surprise, but he manages to get off a quick spell and deflect the lightning up and out toward the sky (
Edwin casts Counterspell). With a furious glower on his face, he begins to throw himself into yet more spellcasting, when Dieter's spear strikes the hand holding his staff! The Thayan wizard reflexively drops the staff, wringing his bloody hand. With growing panic, Edwin reaches down to recover it, but Imoen's arrow suddenly sprouts from his shoulder, staining his crimson robes with the deeper red of blood.
Lips sputtering curses, he tries again to grab his staff, but finds it no longer there! Stella's owl flies nearby with the staff gripped tightly in its talons.
At this point the adventurers are drawing close, and Edwin has no desire to engage with them in close quarters. Before he can magic himself away though, Sheemish's spiked chain snaps out and catches on his robe, pulling the wizard off the parapet and down hard onto the party's battlements in a tangle of red robes (
Edwin takes 6 fall damage and is prone).
Just in front Dieter and Runeson.
Edwin frantically rips his robe away from his face and looks up to see the two warriors. His shrill scream is cut off by Aiwe's spell settling into place, blanketing the area around him in magical silence. Thus, there's no sound when Runeson's enchanted morning star swings down onto the unfortunate mage (
Edwin takes 10 damage from Runeson).
OOC:
I figured in this instance that since Edwin is pulled into Runeson's reach (after Runeson Dashed) that Runeson could go ahead and make an attack, and to save time I rolled it myself.
Things don't look good for Edwin, prone amid the party's strongest-of-arm and unable to speak spells... but what kind of wizard would he be without a trick or two up his sleeve?
Edwin's entire form flashes white for a moment, and then a rectangle of light opens on the rubble beneath him (
His Contingency spell goes off now that he's bloodied, triggering Dimension Door). He falls through it and it closes up after him. A moment later, those outside the area of silence can suddenly hear Edwin's screaming again as the rectangle of light opens in the air across the courtyard and over the opposite battlements. Edwin lands flat on his back (
Edwin takes 5 fall damage and is prone). Wheezing, he tries to get to his feet but trips on his own torn red robe and topples over the side of the wall, falling (always falling) into the castle's courtyard (
Edwin takes 3 fall damage and... is prone!).
Nearby, wounded Minsc struggles with the remaining two hell hounds, and Dynaheir is on her knees and holding her head in her hands. No doubt casting such mighty spells in her condition has incapacitated her.
There's a resounding slam as the portcullis falls back into place. The earth elemental pulls itself up entirely from the ground, towering at least 10 feet high, and takes rumbling steps over to the fallen wizard.
Edwin shakily gets to his feet once more (
not prone!).
"No! You are mine, Terros! You will do my bidding!" The earth elemental pauses, dust falling cracks in its stone as it trembles in place. Edwin lifts a bloody finger.
"My will is unbreakable! Now, protect me from these insipid fools!"
Terros turns slowly towards the companions, blocky arms rising with menace.
OOC:
The group learns that Edwin's concentration
can't be broken by damage.
