Session 34 - The Brawl Turns Ugly

Key Points:

• Round two began against Aphrodite and Hephaestus...
• Kembu killed one of the lunatic dwarves with a sword strike.
• The remaining lunatic dwarves began weaving nightmares to plague the minds of the party.
• As this was Aria's first real fight, she had some difficulty attacking Hephaestus.
• Unsure of who to target, Paul the KNIGHT decided to engage Kembu in hopes of keeping him away from Gnoll. Aria decided to intervene; taking a strike that was meant for her brother.
• Roan called Paul out on attacking civilians; though Paul pointed out that the group appeared to have started the fight. With some convincing, however, Paul decided to align his goals with Roan: the KNIGHT agreeing to focus on the Olympians.
• Death Otter arrived on the battle scene; weaving her diving mojo against several of the dwarves.
• Niklas seemed to have a different agenda than Paul and Emily. The ROGUE agent used a taser to disable Gnoll and sought to capture the tiefling. Much to the objection of Setter.
• Aphrodite worked her enchantment spells against Managirl; burning the girl's psyche. Aphrodite tried to engage Aria in hand-to-hand, but failed to land a strike.
• Setter forced Niklas to drop Gnoll; firing at the ROGUE with an enchanted bullet. He also managed to take care of Managirl's and Kembu's severe wounds.
• Managirl's frustration began as Aphrodite had a knack for avoiding the superhero's attacks. However, she did land a blow against one of the lunatic dwarves.
• Roan managed to keep Hephaestus busy by firing on him with his sniper rifle.
• Emily the MAGE, who found herself dazed, could do little to aid in the combat this round...

• Round three...
• Kembu managed to bloody one of the remaining lunatic dwarves.
• The lunatic dwarves continued weaving painful, magic nightmare attacks against the party.
• Aria attempted to engage Aphrodite, but found the Olympian to be elusive.
• Death Otter continued to lend support; attempting to burn the minds of the dwarves near Kembu.
• Just as Gnoll was going to recover, Niklas stomped his head in to knock him unconscious.
• Aria found herself having to choose between death and serving Aphrodite. She choose temporary servitude. Damn enchantresses. Aphrodite then teleported away, bloodying Emily with an enchanted touch.
• The reinforcement of the dwarves split themselves up. Three attacked Niklas; attempting to gain control of Gnoll. The other six fired upon Paul the KNIGHT.
• Paul found himself attempting to engage Aphrodite, but the woman was elusive.
• Setter created an opening for Kembu to dispatch one of the remaining lunatic dwarves. Then, the hengeyokai took out the six reinforcement dwarves that had been attacking Paul with a lightning infused hail of auto-fire.
• Managirl killed the remaining Lunatic Dwarf with some impressive mana-bending skills, though Aphrodite continued to elude the superhero's attempts.
• Roan forced him to continue to keep Hephaestus busy; fearing the dwarf's wrath. He was assisted by Emily who regained her senses; creating an arcane garrote wire to choke the life out of the Olympian.

• Round four...
• Kembu tried to engage Aphrodite, but he soon found out the frustration most of the party was experiencing. The Olympian was difficult to pin down; avoiding the samurai's attacks.
• Aphrodite who had Aria under her spell forced the sister to attack the brother. Despite Kembu's attempt to stop Aria's strike, the the girl found herself forced to hurt the person she had come to find.
• Paul tried to intervene, but found himself thwarted by Aphrodite as well.
• Not even Otter's hack attack could keep the Olympian down!
• Kembu felt the pain of Aphrodite's enchantment attack; it nearly bringing him to the brink of death.
• The rest of the minion dwarves were killed by Niklas and Managirl throughout the round.
• Setter failed to hit Niklas; Managirl failed to hit Aphrodite.
• Roan shot Hephaestus again, but it wasn't enough to keep the dwarf stunned. Bloodied, dazed, and mad, the dwarf yanked Emily off of his back and smashed her head in with a hammer. With the MAGE killed, Hephaestus swore to end Roan.

• ROUND FIVE!!!!!!1111one....
• Kembu landed one of the first major strikes against Aphrodite; bloodying the Olympian.
• Aria capitalized as well, placing Aphrodite into a submission hold and holding a sword to her throat.
• Paul attempted to gain revenge for the killing of Emily, but Hephaestus kept the KNIGHT at bay.
• Otter decided to hack Aria's brain, forcing the Vanguard to severely injured Aphrodite (almost killing her).
• Niklas held a gun to Gnoll's head; attempting to hold him hostage and negotiate. Roan managed to talk him down; agreeing to work with Niklas in exchange for both sides receiving information.
• Setter provided an opening for Managirl to strike Hephaestus. She followed it up with an attack of her own; nearly killing the Olympian.
• That honor, however, would go to Roan, who sniped Hephaestus in the head to finish him.

• With combat over, Niklas and Paul seek to lead Gnoll and the party to a hideout nearby. This will allow them to interrogate both Gnoll and Aphrodite. Emily's and Hephaestus' corpses were taken with...  

Current Objectives:

• Complete the Middleman's Third Job: Recover Pandora's Box for Rickenato.
• Receive the Middleman's Answers.
• Defeat the Olympians (Four of Twelve defeated).
• Defeat Nacht.
• Prove Roan's (and the group's) innocence.