Hector attacks the large bugger, but misses badly. The thing chitters at him, it's many eyes glitter in a mesmerizing reflection of light. (Just flavor, not for-real mesmerizing...
Flavia and Darrow are down, bleeding out.
Chendris suddenly kneels in the dust, and essentially sets himself (arms, mostly) on fire with his torch, and begins screaming in agony, hoarse, throaty cries in a strange language...
Bypeld roars like a man possessed and neatly chops one of the remaining un-dead down. The other one, which Tonunt had splashed with holy water, seems to slowly
unravel and dissolve into a puddle of goo and viscera in the sand...
Cathbad the Meek didn't declare an action this round (that I saw?) ... but no matter, because ...
... there's an earthquake. A violent one. A VERY violent one. The bugger on the walls of the ruined castle falls inward with the falling walls and screams a strange cry, and a spray of goo shoots into the air. The one standing toe-to-toe with Hector bolts, provoking a free attack from Hector, except the ground is shaking so much that he can't do anything except fall (unless he makes a Reflex save, DC 20). The ruins topple inward, crushing and grinding everything to dust. The earth stops shaking, and still the thing seems to be imploding, collapsing inwards on itself. A vile stench, as of a thousand opened graves, wafts upwards from the ruins, and everyone who remains conscious doubles over, retching.
Chendris, badly scarred and burned by the fire, suffers one GREATER corruption roll, and two MINOR corruption rolls. He loses 2 points of Luck, too. Words echo in his mind: "Build an altar in this place to me." It describes a strange, large pentagonal object, made of black glass. "In return, secrets will be revealed unto you. Beware that you do not fail me."
Finally, the dust settles, and the remaining bugger is gone (or dead, if Hector makes his save and kills it with a free attack). The ruins are completely destroyed, now just a pile of rubble (bye-bye, all that alchemist stuff). The stench hangs over the place, though.
+4 XP to all, +5 XP to Portly Trim, +6 XP to Chendris.
Fritz, Darrow, and Flavia are all down and may be dead... anyone else?