Chapter Fifty-four: Dark Lightning

Keep your eyes on them!” The warden directed.

“You, girl!” he said to Verrin. “Can you set up a field of magical interference? Anything that can keep them from disappearing or force them to become tangible?”

She nodded. Gauwyn moved on to Athart.

“You need to switch to quick, wide area spells until the cleric is done healing your friend. Use light spells if you know any and stay away from water, ice and fire”, taking one more look at the wisp lord, he added lightning to the list. “Arcane spells that lack an elemental attribute are your best bet. Aim for the wisp lord. He is their commander. We get him and the battle is over!”

"I..I-don't have any of that!" Athart confessed. He was a high powered sorcerer. Fire and ice were his bread and butter. He knew a few elemental enchantments and shields but aside from that, he had nothing else in his repertoire but cantrips.

Gauwyn cursed. "Just maintain the shields!"

Athart nodded and got to work trading roles with Verrin. Despite saying multiple times that he was only here to observe, the warden knew that they would need his help, his direction at the very least if they wished to get through this. Wisps were among the worst kinds of opponents for unprepared adventurers. Their immunity to physical damage and ability to become invisible on command made them dangerous ambushers even before you counted their ability to drain life from their victims. Wisps of this rank were even worse. Right now, the party’s hope lay on the mages and the cleric.

Geoffrey blew a [Call to Arms] before charging forward swinging his flaming kriegsmesser in an attempt to drive off the blue fire wisp. It ignored him and continued to spew its blue flames at their barriers. Thankfully, Athart's flame wards did their job ensuring that none of them discovered what this wisp was capable of the hard way. Geoffrey's own flames did nothing to it but he was undaunted.

[Battlefury]

The warmonger growled menacingly as the berserker skill did its job. His strength, agility and willpower increased marginally. He would pay for that later when it wore off but for now, he could fight much more aggressively buying his party the time they needed. If he could manage to hold the attentions of their enemies long enough.

[Come at me!]

"Follow his lead!" The warden commanded the assassin.

The fact that their actions would be ineffective did not mean that they should stand idle. Geoffrey had the right idea, this time. Muttering under his breath, Sirai joined the ruckus. He pulled out a brace of throwing daggers and used them to catch the attention of the silver wisp. The distraction allowed Verrin's first spell to make contact. The magical bolt seared an enormous magical glyph onto the silver wisp.

"Attack that one!" she yelled.

The [Glyph of Mortality] was supposed to strip a target of its defences and cripple its vitality. With luck, it would have taken away the creature's invulnerability as well. Geoffrey did not even stop to think. He swung away.

[Helm Splitter]

The flaming kriegmesser cut the wisp in two. The two globs of ghostly fire let out a ghostly wail before fading away. Being spectral beings who relied completely on their intangible nature and magical resistance for defence, wisps had little in terms of vitality or strength. There was simply no way it could stand up to such a mighty blow. The death of the silver wisp caused Baenre to go into a frenzy. As the cause of its fury, Geoffrey was the first to taste its wrath.

A blast of dark lightning lifted the warmonger off his feet, sending him crashing into the cavern wall. His barrier crackled and died, saving his life but failing to eliminate the force behind the strike. Another followed, attacking the sprawled out warrior. Only the intervention of the cleric prevented Gauwyn from stepping in.

[Banish the Darkness]

It was now the wisp lord's turn to be sent flying back. As the party's only rank five, Ogbad was its most powerful member and this showed in the strength of his light spells. The holy radiance that came off him was enough to light up the entire cavern.

"We do not fear the wicked! Not while the Earth Father has strength to lend his children. [Protector of the Faithful]" he yelled.

The ward settled on him and made his robes pearlescent. Seizing this chance, Ogbad rushed in and thrust his hand into the wisp lord. The eel-like lightning it was sheathed in crackled over his barrier enveloping him in an unpleasant tingling sensation that nearly paralysed his arm. Pushing through, he recited the last few words in his prayer and let the power of his god pour forth shouting, “[Sanctify]!”

The wisp screeched, its luminous body growing dim and sparse until the cleansing light of the Earth father. The blue wisp tried rushing to its aid but it was held back by the barriers Athart and Verrin quickly erected between it and its master. Dark lightning blasted forth attempting to destroy him but Ogbad ignored it. He stood firm, reciting the litanies of his god and trusting in his barrier to hold. With a barrier around him and one behind it, the spectre had nowhere to go. All it could do was screech and release burst after burst of weakening lightning. Soon it was no more.

The Wisp lord faded away, and with it, its attendant. The Bloodsoaked Foxes were now free to sigh in relief. Even Gauwyn let out a breath he had not known he was holding. This was a battle they were completely unprepared for. Three of their number were useless against the threat they faced and two of the ones that remained had nearly been as well. Only luck and Warden Gauwyn's quick direction had spared them from grievous losses. Thankfully, their struggles had not been vain because no sooner had the wisps faded that a soft light began to make itself known. It grew slowly pulsing over the spot the wisp lord died until they could finally make out the rod like shape it held within.

"Please be magic! Please be magic!" Athart chanted.

Name: Staff of Dark Lightning | Rank: Three | Grade: Masterwork

Affinities: Lightning, Spirit | Durability: E | Attack Amplification: E

Description: Lightning struck wood, a visitant amethyst and the soul of a greater wisp are just three of the ingredients needed to create a staff of dark lightning. The soul of the wisp gives this staff a strangely spiritual quality allowing the wielder to more easily sense the powers and the world beyond the veil. The lightning struck wood makes it a great conductor of lightning and other arcane magics and the visitant amethyst – a rare gem found only in a dungeon on the western slopes of the Basilean Battlehammer Mountains – makes it easier to tap into the powers of the world.

Requirements: MAG E | INT: F

Effects:

Touch of the Spirits: With practice, the wielder of this staff can use it to peer beyond the veil and interact with the spectral world. Amplify: This staff can amplify the strengths of spells and skills by a degree of E. Affinity: This staff boosts the power of spells that aligned to the death, lightning or spirit affinities

MASTERWORK:

Lightning Burst: This staff may be charged to release a blast of dark lightning equivalent to a rank E spell.