Escape Plan In Action

Jp with Lucian & Omni

The mould woman backed away, kicking Voah off of her boot at first before kneeling to actually check on her. The torch bearer's attention was now on the choking prisoner, his spear hung loose in the other hand.

The man holding Tarmen's bonds was split between watching Tarmen, and seeing what was going on.

Voah spat out the chewed bread and rolled over onto her side before the spear woman grabbed her arm and hoisted her to her knees again. The torch bearer laughed and said some kind of joke or insult in his native tongue.

This would work, Tarmen letting the resistance tear the last bits from his wrists. At the point of no return, he pulled himself from the pool and sprayed the man. When Tarmen doused the mould man, he reflexively recoiled, shielding his eyes. The other mould folk flashed their attention toward Tarmen and the spear woman immediately headed his way.

That's when Voah broke free and threw her arms around the torch bearer's neck, digging the claw into his throat as deeply as she could. As she ripped it out, a host of spores exploded right in her face, making her dizzy with pain. Her vision swam. And now the spearwoman was gauging the threat between Tarmen and Voah. It was Voah.

It had to have been providence that the man he sprayed held his blade, something he took great pleasure in retrieving. With his captor enraged, but seemingly off step from the water, it was no issue taking the mans head off.

Hearing Voah having a struggle, he turned to see her enveloped in spores and ran to her aid. Seeing the woman heading towards her as well, he tried a sweeping slice at her calf. Noticing at the last moment, she dodged and faced him with a look of pure poison.

“Arbiter! Get to the water!”
He squared off with the woman, putting himself between her and Voah.

'Arbiter...' she stumbled slightly, nearly tripping over the torch that bent the light and shadows, warping them at all angles for a moment before she shook off the initial assault.

'Arbiter! Get to the water!' the voice was drowned out and when it rushed back she realized, she was the Arbiter. She headed to the font and splashed the cool water on her head, rubbing away the pain and fuzziness. She cupped her hands and took another draught before quickly turning around to help Tarmen, who blocked and parried the heavy blows of the woman's spear. Her quick actions pumped more spores into the air that hung like tiny fireflies in the dark before twinkling out.

Voah blocked several backswings of the spear as the mould woman defended from the rear.

The woman was fighting on two fronts now. There was no question why she had been in charge of the other two. She was very good with her weapon and in this big space, she had plenty of room to use it.

Trying to stay out of the spores was difficult if they wanted to land a hit. Tarmen was getting annoyed with the grace in which the woman fluttered around their attacks, yet could keep them back with skilled jabs and swings.
In the end though, this wasn’t their objective, they needed to leave and quickly.

Sliding another stab away from his chest, he called to Voah.

“Arbiter, we need to move before this goes in her favor. Let’s see if we can get her to the water!”

With each clash, spores sprang into the air like clouds of luminescent dust, gently falling. The Arbiter, fighting the throbbing in her head, maneueverd herself to pickup a spear of her own. One swipe nearly caught her head as she ducked low to pick it up. This should even the odds a little. Voah wasn't great with stabbing with a spear, but had decent skills bludgeoning with a staff, at least she had better reach now and could put a little more distance between herself and the mould woman.

Now she was circling around to get the woman into position that Tarmen asked for. With two hands, she parried a spear thrust up and to the side, leaving the woman open and she lunged in for a hard kick, sending the woman bounding backward toward the water font. This onslaught cost her as she was racked by a mess of spores that had her reeling again and grabbing her head.

With the protective spores, Tarmen had no choice but to run through them if the plan was to work. The Arbiter had done good in getting their adversary close, which left him to finish it.
It hit him like a wall, each spore seemingly made of solid stone that smacked his mind. He could feel that fog returning, having to bite his cheek to keep his thoughts.

The woman, still trying to stop her momentum, tried for a panicked strike at Tarmen. He couldn’t react in time and earned a long, shallow slice at his side.

Reaching the basin as the woman at last caught her feet, Tarmen lurched his arm through its waters to send a cascade at her back.

The water didn't deter the woman from keeping up her attacks but the mould markings on her body seemed to dim a little. The Arbiter used this chance to push herself, blocking another thrust and hitting hard, knocking the spear from the woman's grasp. The mould woman, spun away from her attackers in a hunched defensive position, barely visible in the torchlight. Voah replaced her by the font and swept her arm across the water as well, drenching the woman's right arm and torso. Some of the floating spores went down with the splash.

Unhurt but overwhelmed... the mould woman was beaten. For now. She backed into the darkness of the eastern doorway and all they heard was the beating of feet on stone as the woman made a run for it.
In her surge of adrenaline, Voah turned on Tarmen then, ready to engage, There were enemies abound, whispers in her ear. His face was not his own, Tarmen wore a visage of one of the stone devils.