Game on! The mega boss battle begins
The only pop culture consumption that happened this weekend was of the Gaming variety. Apart from going to watch my cousin's first ever Christmas play - where he seemed happier to swing around his shepherd's staff than sing with the other 3-4 year olds at his preschool - I generally took it easy, having developed a head cold as a result of Durban's recent bipolar weather... and, halfway through Sunday, I was struck by an agonising urinary tract infection (yay for being a woman!).
Anyway, on Saturday night, we finally reached the mega boss battle of our weekly Dungeons & Dragons campaign - which has been running now for well over 2 and a half years. Deep under a frozen citadel, half-elf paladin Herkon, human battlemage Mikah, elven assassin-ranger Kalanae and our NPC (non-player character) assistant, Valesh the halfling bard, faced off against dark god Veckna and powerful dragon lich Misherak.
In case you were wondering what a high stakes D&D battle looks like:
Surprisingly, neither Veckna or Misherak were the monologuing villain types, although in the latter's case that could be explained by the fact that the dragon had lost his will power and was now under the complete control of Veckna, who wore the lich's phylactery - an emerald jewelled amulet - around his neck (Harry Potter readers, for phylactery, think Horcrux).
The combat actually went quite well, all things considered. It took a little while to get up close to Veckna, who spent most of the time on a raised throne 15 foot high, or behind an impenetrable wall of force. However, eventually we did manage to get off a few powerful hits when Veckna attempted to cast spells (including briefly handicapping Herkon with a ray of enfeeblement) and he was forced to call on Misherak to defend him.
Mikah, who was polymoprhed into a huge lizard man, was aided by Valesh and his summoned air elemental (represented by an *ahem* Easter Island head) and together they made pretty short work of the ice-breathing dragon lich. Misherak crashed to the ground in a pile of shattered bones, and with the dragon's "death" Veckna lost his final bit of invulnerability. Herkon, in full Smite mode, laid into the god with his greatsword once more.
Just 9 hit points short of death (as we were to find out afterwards), Veckna teleported away. Much to our frustration, our gaming session ended pretty much there, with our heroes frantically trying to find the evil overlord - who could be up to a mile away in any direction - before he calls his other powerful minions (many of them corrupted celestials), and we have another big battle on our hands. And another combat certainly won't be easy seeing as we've already used up most of our best spells and ability buffs. Grrrr... so close and yet so far!
Anyway, on Saturday night, we finally reached the mega boss battle of our weekly Dungeons & Dragons campaign - which has been running now for well over 2 and a half years. Deep under a frozen citadel, half-elf paladin Herkon, human battlemage Mikah, elven assassin-ranger Kalanae and our NPC (non-player character) assistant, Valesh the halfling bard, faced off against dark god Veckna and powerful dragon lich Misherak.
In case you were wondering what a high stakes D&D battle looks like:
Surprisingly, neither Veckna or Misherak were the monologuing villain types, although in the latter's case that could be explained by the fact that the dragon had lost his will power and was now under the complete control of Veckna, who wore the lich's phylactery - an emerald jewelled amulet - around his neck (Harry Potter readers, for phylactery, think Horcrux).
The combat actually went quite well, all things considered. It took a little while to get up close to Veckna, who spent most of the time on a raised throne 15 foot high, or behind an impenetrable wall of force. However, eventually we did manage to get off a few powerful hits when Veckna attempted to cast spells (including briefly handicapping Herkon with a ray of enfeeblement) and he was forced to call on Misherak to defend him.
Mikah, who was polymoprhed into a huge lizard man, was aided by Valesh and his summoned air elemental (represented by an *ahem* Easter Island head) and together they made pretty short work of the ice-breathing dragon lich. Misherak crashed to the ground in a pile of shattered bones, and with the dragon's "death" Veckna lost his final bit of invulnerability. Herkon, in full Smite mode, laid into the god with his greatsword once more.
Just 9 hit points short of death (as we were to find out afterwards), Veckna teleported away. Much to our frustration, our gaming session ended pretty much there, with our heroes frantically trying to find the evil overlord - who could be up to a mile away in any direction - before he calls his other powerful minions (many of them corrupted celestials), and we have another big battle on our hands. And another combat certainly won't be easy seeing as we've already used up most of our best spells and ability buffs. Grrrr... so close and yet so far!
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