Tides of Darkness

The chuul recoiled in shock, chattering in unexpected pain as its armour was cracked and the flesh within exposed. Black ichor and white flesh spewed forth from the grievous wound as the creature attempted to claw at and grasp its exposed innards.

A smarter creature would have fled, to preserve itself for a future fight against simpler prey. But this chuul was an old, stubborn being governed at first by hunger, but now by rage. The instinct to kill and feed was even stronger now as it lashed out with both claws at the orc who dared harm it so.



With a savage swipe, the chuul grabbed hold of the orc knight, puncturing the plate with sharpened spines. Delicate senses picked up the iron scent of blood and the chuul almost went into a frenzy right there. But the grip it had was only partial, and when it brought its claw around for a second attack, the paladin deflected it with a swing of his axe.

Cyrus grinned as blood sprayed from the Paladin's gold-infused sword swipes, the creature's chattering only emboldening the vengeful Aasimar. As the claw came in, his montante swept out and took a bit of the heat out of the swipe against Korruk, although he couldn't negate the sharp claws entirely.

The Red Saint turned the momentum of the counter-cut into a slash at the claw, but the swing went wide.

The chuul recoiled with a sudden sense of dread. Something forced it to release the prisoner, and now the chuul felt no interest in the green-skinned prey. The flavour was not to its liking.

For a moment, it regarded the other two morsels before it. The beaked one had proven troublesome, but the tall one had not been tasted yet.

The chuul lunged forth with both claws to correct that.



Both claws snapped at open air as the aasimar dodged and deflected its savage, disoriented attacks.

With his shield in the way it gave the Red Saint the leverage he needed to strike and punish the monster - with the deflection giving the orc the opening he needed to attempt and push his own attack. However the beasts natural recoiling threw the rythem of battle off, casuing the swing of his axe to find nothing but air - but he remained ready and continued to hold their line even as he felt the magic protections around him fading like a cold whisp passing.

An ear-splitting squeal emitted from the creature as tentacles writhed in agony. Instinct commanded the chuul to take a step back and away from its attackers, drawing out the massive blade impaling its body and causing more black blood and white meat to spill out of its armor. The shell had been split; the armor turned useless.

Even though the creature still deflected the toll of the cleric's damning bells, the resistance was beginning to slip. Every step was harder for the denizen of the deep; its claws heavier and slower to respond.

Gathering what remained of its strength, the chuul released a long series of clicking chattering sounds that echoed on the rocky wall behind the party. The sand beneath the party began to rumble as three small mounds of rock and sand began jutting out of the ground some distance from them; closer to the rock face. Out of the mounds emerged three young chuul; each one the size of a greyhound. Each one chittered in response and began a slow march towards the prey that attacked their mother.

Formation was key, the knight kept the shield at the ready, continuing to push the assault with Cyrus.

With the tolling of Lavandul's spell, the last of the chuul's defenses were stripped away by necromantic fire. Tendrils of black and green smoke poured from the creature's wounds and orifices as it stiffened and let out one last agonizing ear-splitting scream before collapsing to the ground in a heap. Its eyes had burst in spurts of black ichor, and its limbs curled from the magics that rotted it from within. The terror that had stalked the island and killed three men with ease now lay before the trio of Cyrus, Korruk and Lavandul, defeated.

Dead.

As if in response to their mother's demise, the screeching of the chuul babies became more incessant as they closed the distance. Tiny pincers snapped at the air in anticipation of their approaching meal. As the three baby chuul converged on the shield wall that greeted them, each one closed in on the closest prey and struck.

Lavandul wondered in the back of their mind how Cyrus hadn't lost his voice yet. Between the cacophony of their magic, the chuul, and the barbarian's relentless screaming topped with Korruk's orcish bellowing, they had developed an exceptional headache. They sniffed loudly as they felt the hot string of copper running from nose to lip.

As soon as the abomination of chaos bubbled into a heap, they swung their shield and attention in an about-face to continue the canticle of death, throwing the punch of necrotic energy to eat away at the one that already bled.

Weapons rotated en masse where the last of the developing brood was settled into the sand. 

Lavandul sat for a moment, waiting to see if more emerged as they steadied their sick. The chuul was further dissolved to collect their tithe to the Evening Revelry, placing the ash in the reliquary as they gestured yet again to toll the corpses (and attempt to eliminate any additional hatching).

"...I can take care of the bodies if you wish to investigate the ship. There is a source of magic within." They indicated where approximately they sensed it, to narrow it down. In true elven fashion the cleric didn't seem to be in a hurry to get the job done when their religious duties held their focus.