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The party gathered beside the door where Ravi gave some last minute reminders of their plan. It was only the bare bones outline of a plan because they lacked the knowledge to create something more specific or detailed; Ravi would have to improvise a plan once the door was opened.
Callum started to verbally count down from ten. As he counted down, everyone began to prepare themselves; individuals drank potions, activated buffing spells or abilities, or applied poisons to their weapons.
Boren was very active applying boosts to himself and Ravi was just as active boosting the party or specific members; Callum only had one ability to activate, so he held off activating it until the very end. Callum even tried coating Amarok's claws with some poison.
Callum activated <
Callum was right behind and slightly to the side of Boren. The two spellcasters were in the middle of the formation with Amarok and Alea guarding each flank as they moved in.
They entered a large hall with a dilapidated throne at the far end. Two rows of arching columns divided the hall into thirds; the middle third was a carpeted path towards the throne. Tattered and washed out banners hung along the walls.
Standing on the steps before the throne were five level 35 goblins: A Chieftain, two Witch Doctors, and two Champions. There were also dozens of lower leveled goblins, including additional Champions and Witch Doctors, standing on either side of the decaying carpet.
Callum took all of this in as he followed Boren in. As planned, Boren diverted to the side; he ran to the right as he sought to cover at least one of the party's flanks with a wall.
"That column will be the far corner of our perimeter! Osmar, I need a wall across our left flank. Alea, watch that flank and take out targets of opportunity. Boren, Callum, and Amarok will hold the front!" Ravi yelled out as he bathed the nearest column in an innocuous light.
Several goblins were in their way as the party moved to occupy a corner of the hall. The goblins were slow to react, and three instantly died to the designated frontline members of the party as they took possession of the designated perimeter.
Boren stood in the middle of the abbreviated frontline with Callum and Amarok flanking him on either side. Callum's axe sang as he attacked a couple of isolated goblins before the rest could start to swarm the party.
Callum took Boren's advice to heart and tried to keep track of the whole battle and not just his small part of it. His increased attentiveness helped him notice that Alea had sheathed her daggers and wielded a small hand crossbow.
She soon proved her aim with the weapon as diminutive darts started to strike several goblins in their exposed vital areas.
While the four of them fended off the initial goblin attacks, the spellcasters weren't idle. A wall of thick ice started to rise from the ground until it was just over Callum's height. Ravi was in the process of casting something powerful based on how long he was channeling.
The goblins organized themselves, as the more powerful goblins exerted their influence to impose some order into the chaotic swarm of goblins that were pressing heavily on the adventurers.
Magical attacks and arrows started to land among the party members; the damage and the debuffs started to accumulate because Ravi was still preparing his spell. Callum felt like he was pushing through water as many
"<
A divine light suffused an area 30 ft (9.1m) centered on Ravi's position; all of the Witch Doctor debuffs immediately vanished as soon as the light reached Callum. He also saw that his health started to tick back up as the Healing over Time from the <
((A/N: Healing over Time is often abbreviated as HoT and DoT stands for Damage over Time.))
A Goblin Brute and several Warriors charged at the gap between Callum and the wall.
Callum wound up a powerful swing before his axe swept horizontally across the gap they were running through; two goblins instantly perished and the others were sent flying back into the goblin swarm.
While he was dealing with the right, several other goblins sought to rush through the enlarged area between Callum and Boren. Fortunately, Boren yelled out a taunt and all of the goblins in the area veered towards the Shieldbearer.
The artificial aggro on Boren didn't last for long due to the presence of multiple Goblin Champions; they worked quickly to negate it. But it gave Callum enough time to get back into position.
The three frontline fighters were under constant pressure and multiple times only a timely spell from Osmar kept the line from being overrun. An occasional goblin did leak through and try to attack the vulnerable spellcasters, but the backline was able to deal with those.
"Callum, we need your summon on the ice wall!"
He quickly complied and cast <
Bearfolk (Lvl 26)
HP:(1200/1200)
By the besieged wall, a 8 ft (2.4m) bear stood; it wore medium plate armor and wielded a Greatsword. It looked around before its gaze landed upon Callum.
"It will be my honor to hold the wall," the armored bear proudly proclaimed in a deep feminine voice. She had been able to read Callum's intentions during her summoning. Alea was dancing upon the wall and trying to stop the goblins from coming over the wall.
Callum saw that she had been able to stop the goblins thus far, but the ice wall was showing many cracks where the goblins were trying to go through the wall instead of over it. The bear lumbered forward on all four paws.
If the sight of an armored bear surprised the party, her majestic leap over the wall confounded them; she was clearly more athletic than she initially appeared. As her form cleared the wall, her massive sword bisected a goblin that had just reached the top of the wall.
Her level was significantly lower than the goblins, but Callum trusted her to do what she said she'd do if that's what she thought was best. Just as a level 100 rabbit would pose little risk to a level one dragon, the goblins wouldn't pose much threat to her.
At least that was true in a one on one situation. They party would have to wait and see if an armored and well armed bear was greater than dozens of higher leveled goblins.
"I guess it's my right to arm bears," Callum said as he cut down another goblin. The phrase struck him as familiar if slightly jumbled before he dismissed the thought.
He had more goblins to take care of.