Docus' smile widened. Things were looking up, finally. He only prayed that Prasad's next roll would succeed. He somehow suspected that this was another make-it-or-break-it, though preferrably they had more to gain on this one.

Surveying the battle, he decided it was wisest to stay where he was. Not like he could do much, anyway. Though he edged away from Caspin, that jerk had seemed a little too eager to stab him.

Still, while he waited for Prasad to work him -hopefully literal- magic, he could always... advise. "Jade! See if you can't crack her armor a bit, give her a few more weak spots! We'll thank you for it later! And Vera, get the goddamn hell back into battle, if you want one gil of that reward!"

"Up yours, Docus."

Vera growled as she heard Docus calling to her, swaying dangerously from the effects of the poison and her quickly draining hits. She pulled out a potion, shooting back a retort to Docus, "I won't be much help if I'm dead. And you're crazy if you think I'm walking away without my share."

-------------------
Use potion, try not to die.

Caspin, his mind returned, headed back toward the queen with murderous intent, as Argath slew the last of her children, Fie kicked her in the shin, and Vera tended to her wounds.

Jade, however, stared down the queen, pulpy holes met mithra eyes as the two prepared for mortal combat. It was Jade who struck first, her blade smashing into the queen's carapace with incredible force, but it was not a blow meant to kill, instead painful cracks radiated outward from the point of impact in her exoskeleton, driving the queen into a fury, slashing claws flying through the air as she screamed and twisted, calling for aid that would not come.

Meanwhile, across the battlefield, Prasad rolled his dice once more. A four and a two, appearing face up before they returned to him in a flash, and, almost instantly the mages in the group could feel their magical power returning.
-----------------------
PC Round 19- EVOKER'S ROLL ACTIVE 5 ROUNDS. OVER ROUND 24.

Caspin- Move into short distance of basically everyone. Gain 10 MP

Argath- 14 damage Larva 3-Dead. Take 2 damage.

Prasad- Evoker's Roll. Success. Take 2 damage.

Docus- Be Bossy. Take 2 damage poison. Poison fade. Gain 12 MP.

Vera- Crack open a cold one. Full health. Take 2 damage.

Fie- 2 Damage, Queen. Gain 12 mp

Jade- 2 Damage, Queen. Queen suffers -2 Arm. Gains Berserk status.

-

Queen Bee- (-102)/??? -Blind. -5 attack rolls.

Larva 3- Dead.

Udrafresk- ???/112-138

Jade- 22/28 Poisoned again. Three rounds remaining.

Vera- 21/23 Poison. one rounds remaining.

Argath- 5/25 Poison. One Rounds remaining

Caspin- 14/23hp 17/27mp.

Fie- 4/20hp 15/32mp

Docus- 4/21hp 14/32mp Poison.

Prasad- 19/25 Poison. Four rounds remaining

-------------------------
NPC Round 19.

Queen- Miss Jade

-

Queen Bee- (-102)/??? -Blind. -5 attack rolls.

Larva 3- Dead.

Udrafresk- ???/112-138

Jade- 22/28 Poisoned again. Three rounds remaining.

Vera- 21/23 Poison. one rounds remaining.

Argath- 5/25 Poison. One Rounds remaining

Caspin- 14/23hp 17/27mp.

Fie- 4/20hp 15/32mp

Docus- 4/21hp 14/32mp Poison.

Prasad- 19/25 Poison. Four rounds remaining

As Caspin moved to try another stabbing at the Queen there was a sudden feeling inside of him. He felt...warm. Like that first glass of wine at the start of a meal, that sort of sensation like water on an empty stomach. Not quite satiation, but nourishment. After being so empty.

He stared at his hand with a grin, his magic was coming back to him, perhaps not quick, but he didn't need much. He let out an intuitive blast of good smells from his new spell and began breathing in the sweet scent. It was time.

He imagined the taste, sweet like honey, a faint salt and smooth like a shake. Yet warm. Not an altogether pleasant taste, but underneath was the strange taste of magic, beneficial. Of both health and mind restored. Yes, the sweet smell of pollen already filled the air, but he had more to give his friends.
----------------------
Begin casting Pollen.

With nothing else to do, Fie had made the best of the situation by taking out a little aggression on the queen. A good round of the blame game always made the situation seem brighter, even if the situation involved his entire group slowly dying of poison or quickly dying of a severe case of Udrafresk-itis.

And then a burst of mana hit him. He had a little trouble standing through the sudden influx of energy, and his vision hazed as his veins pulsed heavily, thumping to the beat of the lifestream.

It seemed their ally Prasad had stumbled on a bit of luck, quite possibly the first they'd seen. Fie almost felt like they might actually have a chance at succeeding in their mission. He wasn't about to say that out loud though, fate seemed rather touchy.

Fie immediately began pulling from his renewed reserves, preparing to shower Argath with glinting holy shards, and hopefully breath a little life into the severely wounded mithra.

--
Cure on Argath.

The charm affecting Jade's sword had sworn off, the blade recovering it's sharpness with a glint and an audible ring. Jade grinned, sidestepping the queen bee's clumsy flailing.

"I've had enough of you!" she told the bee. This fight had gone on long enough. She was sick of the constant buzzing, insectile screams and the poison throbbing in her veins. "It's time to finish you off! Argath, Vera, Prasad all together now!"

The end was finally in sight, she felt new energy running through her. The bee was blind and hunting blindly ahead of it for the elusive mithra warrior. Jade circled around and then stepped lightly after it, sword raised overhead in a two handed grip. Darting in, she smashed it down on the bee's damaged carapace.

Wincing from pain and poison, Argath turned slowly to the queen. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he took in his surroundings. "Fie!" He told the diminutive mage. "Heal yourself! If she gets you, we're screwed."

With an angry growl, he charged at the same time as Jade's sword collided with the queen, and, putting all his strength into it, he attempted to hit the same spot at the other mithra.

"Fie! Heal yourself! If she gets you, we're screwed."
--

Fie scoffed. He knew what Caspin was doing, and in a minute his own efforts would be hardly worth it. He was merely picking up the slack, and dealing with the most wounded. Still, he couldn't help but grin.

"You'll just have to bring her down before she gets the chance! Think you've got it in you still?"

Attacking in unison, Jade and Argath smash the queen, pulp oozing out from her cracked carapace, as Vera moves in to help, and Prasad raises his guns to fire, only to have them jam (will take one standard action to clear them.)

The queen, enraged, slashes forward at the Mithra warrior again, again to have her blows easily avoided in her blindness, but this time would be the last, as flames erupted from her body, and the scent of roasting bee washed over the battlefield, from Docus's spell, while Caspin and Fie both did what they could to return the party to fighting shape, magical healing closing wounds and restoring vitality, particularly to Argath, who found himself in perfect shape once more thanks to Fie's magic.

Everything on the battlefield seemed strangely quiet... they had bought a brief reprieve, though a snort from the Udrafresk as it rolled over in its nap reminded them that it would not last for long. They still had one more opponent to deal with.
-----------------------
PC Round 19- EVOKER'S ROLL ACTIVE 5 ROUNDS. OVER ROUND 24.

Caspin- Begin casting pollen. Gain 10 MP

Argath- 4 Damage Queen. Take 2 damage. Poison fade.

Prasad- Critical failure. Guns jam. Take 2 damage

Docus- Begin casting fire.

Vera- Move into short range. Take 2 damage.

Fie- Begin casting cure. Gain 12 mp.

Jade- 11 Damage Queen. Take 2 damage

-

Queen Bee- (-117)/??? -Blind. -5 attack rolls.

Larva 3- Dead.

Udrafresk- ???/112-138

Jade- 20/28 Poisoned again. Two rounds remaining.

Vera- 19/23

Argath- 3/25

Caspin- 14/23hp 27/27mp.

Fie- 4/20hp 27/32mp

Docus- 4/21hp 14/32mp

Prasad- 17/25 Poison. Three rounds remaining

-------------------------
NPC Round 19.

Queen- Miss Jade

-

Queen Bee- (-117)/??? -Blind. -5 attack rolls.

Larva 3- Dead.

Udrafresk- ???/112-138

Jade- 20/28 Poisoned again. Two rounds remaining.

Vera- 19/23

Argath- 3/25

Caspin- 14/23hp 27/27mp.

Fie- 4/20hp 27/32mp

Docus- 4/21hp 14/32mp

Prasad- 19/25 Poison. Four rounds remaining

-------------------------
PC Round 20.

Docus - 14 damage Queen. Dead Gain 12 mp

Caspin - Heal entire party for 5 hp/mp Gain 10 mp

Fie - Heal Argath 28 Gain 12 mp

Jade - Take 2 damage poison

Prasad - Take 2 damage poison

Queen Bee- Dead

Udrafresk- ???/112-138

Jade- 23/28 Poisoned again. One rounds remaining.

Vera- 23/23

Argath- 25/25

Caspin- 19/23hp 27/27mp.

Fie- 9/20hp 32/32mp

Docus- 9/21hp 28/32mp

Prasad- 22/25 Poison. Three rounds remaining


COMBAT OVER.

Prasad will take six more damage if not treated for poison soon, and Jade will take two more. Caspin has 30 more MP coming to him, while Fie and Docus each have 36 more, over three spells, assuming they just keep casting. (I'm saying if you start now you can cast three more cures and three more pollens and still have full MP, if Fie attempts to fix Prasad's poison, that will take one 'round' of movement and one 'round' of healing, and one 'round' of casting, meaning he won't be able to get any free casts in... OR start combat immediately with the fresk, but any conversation is going to count as one 'round' of evoker's roll).

Fie set about making the best of the roll as he could. He wasn't sure how long it would last, but he definitely had a feeling something like this would be short-lived.

"Caspin, do us all a favor and do a bit more pollenation, maybe? And don't worry, Prasad, I'll have you set up in a moment, but you'll have to steel yourself against the poison for now, I'm sorry."

--
Cure self, Docus, and Prasad. Prasad specifically last to wait out the poison damage/maximize effect. Fie would know that most of his heal would be wasted if he healed him first, and he'd still be poisoned, etc. etc.