Baal

I had seen him once before.

I had survived once before.

I did not look forward to ever meeting him again.

Still, a Healer will do what is required of her and in this case, there was little choice.

The Guild was gathering in the Bazaar of the Bizarre in Randol. You know, where the main square is so crowded with everyone trying to sell whatever just to have a little spare cash. People wall to wall, and it was a relaxing day to chat with Persephony, TheoPheno and Katran. Mostly just wandering around looking for materials or Heaven Stones or bargains.

When Alberich and Catharsis approached, they didn't look in any way, shape, or form relaxed. There was a resolute tenseness to their demeanors as they came toward us following Semphere. "We have a job to do." she explained, and the more I heard the bigger the feeling of dread.

It was not at all clear, quite possibly due to how far the rumours had come, but a mining town in Dratan had apparently been wiped out and there were refugees looking for assistance in finding lost loved ones. Their tales of being overrun by spiders so huge they dwarfed a horse were not encouraging. In Dratan, with so many spiders, only one being could be responsible.

Baal...

But there was such a feeling of duty and honor to be paid. And so it was that we gathered together, got what defense minerals we could find, and went out toward the far flung reaches of the deserts of Dratan. It didn't take more than a day to find the place. The webbing and tracks, yes it was clear. Some giant spiders had been through here. Though there was such a lack of bodies, we asked ourselves many times where everyone had gone?

The truth came slowly. First an inkling, then a suspicion, then a dread. There was nothing else to do. We had to go follow the trails and hope that if they were cocooned in webbing, we could free them and cure poisons on them before they were eaten by the monsters. We all knew where this would lead us.

Baal...

Along the trail there were a few spiders that challenged us. Then a Pandora Larva attacked, probably brought there by Baal himself as a guardian to his domain. It stalled us sufficiently while Catharsis and Alberich killed it and we healed them quickly. There was little defense against such team work, but the delay was enough. Baal was warned and ready.

When we came over the rise, he and his minions were gathered. Semphere shot many of the minions, dragging them away with her as bait while Catharsis and Alberich rushed the gauntlet and attacked the Monstrosity itself. As before, my mind stopped noticing time and space and simply concentrated itself on the task at hand. Injury from magic not quite soaked by the minerals upon my body threatened to break my concentration. This was even greater danger than my last encounter. There weren't hundreds attacking him, just we few.

The battle raged as the Knights took grievous wounds and refused to give in. Those of us with lesser reserves were using mana potions to recover quickly so we might keep up with the wounding and keep them alive.

All the while Baal towered over us, raining destructive magics of fire and ice upon us. Calling his minions to do his bidding. One by one we destroyed all we could of his army, but the knights were the center of our attention attacking Baal himself again and again.

It seemed to take forever. Was that a falter? A misstep in the arrogance of the Demigod-like being? The swords were hitting true! Our Knights were now giving significant damage! Unbelievably, we were winning!

It was almost a shock of amazement like getting hit with lightning when the creature collapsed in upon himself, wrapped around whatever magics he used to teleport away and recover to respawn his evil plans.

Those we could free, we did. The mop up was such anti-climax as to be almost unreal. We just finished off what spiders we found, waiting to see if he would return. And when he didn't, we took those who we freed from the bonds of spider's larder, and returned them to their loved ones.

He escaped our attempt to give him a once and final death, but he would never laugh in the face of our teamwork and our Guild again.