OOC: all this, and no death spells...even though they'd exhaust Naerzul the same way Tim's spell exhausted him.

(OOC: Are you the Avatar of Woe or Visara the Dreadful?)

The charging rhino's momentum was painfully and unexpectfully stopped by one of its comrades slamming at high speed directly into it. The riders of both rhinos were both for the worse, as they died from the sheer force that resulted from the friction. Firecall grunted as the tremendous impact that made the magical staff quiver set his arms trembling, and swung the staff one last time to the right, both to right his balance, and to toss the now-cumbersome corpse into another charging rhino, giving another charging warrior a surprising stop. He turned to Bartleby with a dark gleam in his eyes that spoke of battle-lust, and lifted his macestaff once more..

Naerzul began to chant, his eyes glowing gold, and his staff supplying him with additional Black Mana. All of the fallen corpses, both riders and rhinos, twitched as they were called back from the grave...rising as zombies at the necromancer's command.

Retrieve! Silvergem's eyes were terrifyingly electric as she stretched out her hand. The used gem flew back into her clutches, dull and without the secret mana glow that had occupied it before.
She quickly separated a lock of hair and threaded the used gem onto it, tying the bottom into a loose knot for later use, then her second gem flicked back onto her mini dagger-catapult, ready to destroy.
She targeted another Rhino rider, but her aim faltered when a javelin almost took off her head. She ducked, the sharp wooden weapon flashing past her to land, quivering, in the ground behind her. Her hand flew to her face, to feel the warmth that had pierced her cheek like hot flames. Blood.
Does not matter, she thought as she took aim again and threw her explosive gem under the rampaging rhino's feet. Another word, and suddenly, the crack of lightning replaced the position of the rhino rider's location with blackened, charred corpses that smouldered from the Rune Lightning.
Silvergem checked her mana pool. It was emptying, but not at an alarming rate. There is still time. She just hoped that...

Then she sensed the magic that was foreign to their own. Damn! They have mages coming in too!

Naerzul laughed, a frightening glint in his eyes as he animated the charred corpses...his minions having slain another rhino, and trampled the rider into the ground, crushing him. The energy of their deaths he had poured into his badger, now as tall as a horse...but he didn't think he could increase its power any more today. His mana pool was nearly empty...animating so many was quite a feat, but he knew he had done well.

He grinned over at the naga, shouting out to her, "Nice work! Think they've had enough yet?" he chuckled, thoroughly enjoying the thrill of his art.

Silvergem blinked only once, mildly surprised as her just-dead victims jerked back to life and began fighting their own side, before realising what happened. She replied with a weary grin, before her torso swayed, indicating an impending attack.

She lunged forward, catching an unsaddled Rhino rider unaware. The man found himself in the crushing coils of the naga, before his throat was slit and his life-blood spilt. Let's see, she mused for a second, constantly calculating how much mana she should still have left. There was enough for one last illusion. Silvergem grinned vampishly as she pulled off an amethyst bead from her braid and fitted it onto her makeshift catapult. She held the dagger very much in the same way as one would hold a gun, targeting a remaining rhino rider.
She fired, the bead arching up into the air. Silvergem waited for the right moment, before hissing the word that would release the enchantment.
The illusion exploded into existence, as solid as the giant boulder it was. Heavy and dependent on the laws of gravity, the solid illusion dropped down onto the rhino and its unfortunate rider. Bones crunched, and blood and organs splattered.
Then it was gone, as mysteriously as it had appeared. In its place settled a tiny gem with a hole in the middle.
Retrieve, Silvergem thought wearily, and the amethyst bead flew back into her hand. The enchanted amethyst only supplied part of the energy required to fuel the solidity of the illusion. The rest she had too pool in. Still, it was satisfying.

OOC: vampish? Interesting word..:p

IC: Naerzul looked over at the naga, slightly worried despite the thrill of battle. She seemed to be doing well, but she had been nearly exhausted before, and fighting off these imbeciles wasn't going to help...

The death energy from the last few rhinos and Church lackeys hadn't gone to his badger...he had transferred it to himself, using it to quicken his reflexes, strengthen his muscles, open his mind and replenish his mana. He whirled, dodging a charging rhino with a lance-wielding warrior on its back, swinging his skull-topped staff as he hissed out a word, "Phyresis!"

A ray of black mana shot from the end of the staff, its effects identical to the bolt which had rotted away the arm of the other soldier earlier...except that it struck this one in the waist. The rider had barely time for a single, choked, scream as his midsection rotted, decaying organs spilling out as he, quite literally, he fell apart.

Howling Call focused heavily on keeping the Nishoba from ignoring the undead allies, as the creatures never liked the darkness in life. The Nishoba obeyed, and managed to lock a rhino in it's jaws while swallowing the rider whole. Another rider charged toward Howling Call, but the Nishoba hurled the rhino it had in it's mouth at the rider, breaking bones and toppling mounts.

OOC: No riders or rhinos left now, except Bartleby and his mount. Yeah, a team like this works fast, and rhinos instinctively charging their foes doesn't help in terms of tactics. ;)

Muktar...just how big (approximately, in terms of height) is this Nishoba? It would need a head the size of a small car to pick up a full-grown rhino...maybe you underestimated the size of these things?

IC: Naerzul shook his head, one of his own zombies being crushed in the tangle of hurled rhino, running rhido, and attacking undead rhino. There were no living opponents left, other than Bartleby and his own rhinocerous. Naerzul stepped forward, a challenging smirk on his lips, "Is that all? I'm almost insulted..."

Bartleby smirked back, turning Arellios around. "Thank you for proving what I already knew. If these whelps couldn't handle a few runaways, they weren't meant for my squad, or the Church's service. Now to finish the job..." The commander of the fallen squad proclaimed. He rushed the group, and Naerzul sent the four remaining zombie riders at him (the Nishoba had been a tad rambuctious). Bartleby's short swords went to his chest criss-crossed and then flew, slicing off the front riders heads. As they passed he grabbed one of the spears, then leapt, bringing the point down in his former protege's head and embedding it into the earth, than vaulting and landing near his swords. He picked them up and watched unflinchingly as the last rider advanced on him, only to be thrown when Arelios intercepted his path, quite violently, and crushed its head.

Bartleby watched as the Nishoba took interest and began to charge, then closed his eyes and swung his swords in the air, unleashing a bright line of light that dissipated the spirit.

"Now, did you think I would stay with the Church that long and not know how to deal with all the tricks you could muster? Oh, and just so we're clear, " Bartelby said, revealing a strange artifact that looked like a bad result of a hourglass mating with a pendulum. "I wouldn't try any magics on little old me, unless you don't mind speaking gibberish for the rest of your waking life. Now, will you all kindly surrender?"

Job looked at his group again. He and the barbarian might be able to match them, but Bartleby's prowess was known the world over and with a bad arm it wouldn't last long, and all the mages were now useless. Still, giving in would be death anyway.

It was at that point that a sinkhole appeared and all the escapees fell into a black expanse.