Anton flinches back as the bear smashes the boarman he was negotiating with. "Could have gone worse," he mutters as he raises the Kneecapper into a ready position and backs away while Ozzy lays down fire. Between that and Martin turning back into a monk, things seem to be going well. He settles into readiness for the next thing to go wrong.

Martin woozily stumbles back, trying to balance the effort of moving his limbs with the effort of keeping his body locked in just so until the universe is done squinting at him. Taking up position between Anton and Ana, Martin sucks in a few more breaths to inflate himself to full upright size, then starts unkinking his fingers and rolling the holy chants around in his head. Whatever's left when Ozzy's fireworks run out might need more than a little healing.

(Martin, Anton, Anata, Q hold their actions, Ozzy and Red commence fucking shit up

Ozzy: 1d12 = 4; 1d10 = 10; 2d6.hi = 6 FLAME ON / 3d8.hi = 8; 2d10.hi = 5, 3 Wound, 8 Shock TOASTY
Red: 2x arrows: 1d10 = 4; 1d6 = 3, 1d10 = 9; 1d6 = 5 PINCUSHION'D / 2d8.hi = 7; 2d10.hi = 9, 2d8.hi = 8; 2d10.hi = 5 3 Wound, 15 Shock POKE
Bear-Thing: 2d8.hi = 5; 1d6 = 5 CLOSE ENOUGH FOR BAD THINGS / 1d8 = 4; 2d12.hi = 12 INFECTION RESISTED)

You all know two things about giant black ooze leaking undead man-bear things and fire - one, if you had to pick one thing that would make them smell even worse, you now know "setting them on fire" does the trick with aplumb. All of you feel like your nose hairs are being singed off by the stench, and poor Martin's sensitive feline nostrils feel like they're filled with acid. The other thing is that giant black ooze leaking undead man-bear things react pretty poorly to being set on fire - a significant chunk of the bear-man just sloughs off under the heat. Red follows it up with a couple of arrows to its face, one lodging in a cheek and the other striking square in the throat, but neither one seems to slow the beast down much as it swings a fist at Ozzy the size of his head - Ozzy manages to roll out of the way, but gets slapped with the black slime that slides off the blow. His eyes burn - it's in his eyes - but when he wipes it off, he doesn't feel the tell-tale illness of Asenath's infection.

Martin's heart skips a beat as he sees Ozzy get slimed - and accordingly each of his fists contorts for a different spell as he jumps into the fray towards his friend. Not infected? Sigh of relief, and a literal slap on the back to convey Datehl's blessings, and hopefully better luck in dodging the next spray of gunk.

(Martin deploys Untouchable to buff Ozzy's defense so he can tank while Red keeps the damage coming.)

In moments like these, Red is quite thankful that he's so careful about retrieving intact arrows. He doesn't need to worry about his quiver running dry at a crucial moment.

Two more arrows fly from the underbrush.

Anton watches Ozzy warily as he wipes the ooze off his face, and makes a mental note. When all you have is a hammer..not everything looks like something you want to get into hitting range of. Still, there's work to be done, so he wades in to help distract the beast.

Ana's jaw tenses as she grips her sword tighter. She's going to have to clean everything. Probably have to replace a non-trivial amount of it as well. By the gods, if this wretched swamp ruins her blade...

But the more immediate crisis is not dying in this fetid marsh. Heading swiftly so she's on the opposite side of the big, obvious and dangerous looking Ozzy, she lunges forward, trying for a swift, disabling blow before once more moving out of the creature's reach.

"Dick shit fucking fuck godsdammit fuckshitter!" Ozzy manages to bellow as he gets the worst of the creature's filth off his face. He totters back, scrambling out of reach while he wipes it from his eyes. I'm gonna have ter punch a bear, ain't I? Ozzy thinks. As Martin's spell takes hold, Ozzy nods tersely to his friend and wades back into the donnybrook, fixin' to punch the bear-thing until its head don't hold its brains in no more.

(Group skate! Everyone on the floor!

Martin: 2d10.hi = 7; 1d6 = 4; 2d6.hi = 5 DEFENSE UP
Anton: 2d10.hi = 9; 1d6 = 5; 2d8.hi = 6 HIT / 2d10.hi = 8; 2d10.hi = 8 MEH 8 Shock
Q: 2d10.hi = 10; 2d8.hi = 8 SLICE / 2d8.hi = 3; 2d10.hi = 3 BUT NOT DICE 3 Shock
Red: 2d8.hi = 3; 2d10.hi = 3, 1d10 = 3; 1d6 = 6 NOPE
Lucius (having taken a turn to position himself like a true assassin, not that I forgot him): 2d10.hi = 7; 1d8 = 7; 2d8.hi = 5, 2d10.hi = 8; 1d8 = 1; 2d8.hi = 4 BAD TIMES / 3d8.hi = 5; 2d10.hi = 7, 3d8.hi = 8; 2d10.hi = 10 WHOOPS 13 Shock
Anata: 3d12.hi = 12; 1d8 = 2; 2d8.hi = 6 STAB / 3d8.hi = 8; 2d10.hi = 10 WHOMP 3 Shock
Ozzy: 2d12.hi = 9; 1d8 = 3; 2d8.hi = 4 FACEPUNCH / 2d12.hi = 4; 1d8 = 2; 2d10.hi = 7 SAD TROMBONE 5 Shock
Undead Bear-Man-Thing: 2d10.hi = 8; 1d8 = 7; 2d8.hi = 5 WHIFF AT LUCIUS)

The fur on the back of Martin’s neck stands on end as he feels warmth build in his arm and pass on to Ozzy - whatever happens, he’s done what he can to ensure his path does not end here. Anton tries to wave and shout at the undead bear-man, but when that doesn’t work, a swift knock with Kneecapper might do the trick. He connects, but the blow feels like he drove it into a stack of pillows - pillows soaked in bile and sick.

“Coming in!” Q shouts, and arcs down from above, his sword held out in front of him. The honed edge easily slices a gash in the bear-thing’s neck, but all it does is leak a flow of more black bile. Red draws and fires two more arrows, but with the bear-man-thing flailing around more fiercely now that everyone’s joined in, they both miss their target.

Lucius, true to his nature, was positioning for a killing strike against the man-bear while everyone was talking. Now that it’s an undead man-bear-thing vomiting black bile everywhere, he’s definitely glad that he did. Leaping from a tree up above, he lands daggers-first on the beast’s back, and draws two deep gashes the full length of its corpulent spine. Black goo gushes out and coats the front of his clothing, but aside from a deep moan and the bear-beast turning his way, it doesn’t seem to have slowed it down. Anata dashes in to deliver a quick stab, but the pinhole doesn’t even register. Ozzy delivers a few solid blows, but unlike his and Red’s previous violence, he also just punches dents in the bear-thing’s soft mass as it turns Lucius’ way. It’s eyes rolled over white and oozing black tears, it swings at Lucius, who deftly dodges out of the way.

The battle continues to unfold before Martin, as the wounded bear-man-thing continues to flail and ooze all over his friends. Martin - well, what should he do? Wade in, kick and claw at it? Try to go Maximum Tiger again and damn the consequences? Figure some way of twisting Datehl's gifts into offensive magic, to back up Ozzy? Then, suddenly, there is clarity.

Martin is a healer. Time to heal.

Summoning the reserves of his magical energies from the depths of his tired bones, Martin springs forward to deliver a full blast of the infection purge into the bear-man-thing.

Datehl walk with all of us.

Anton's blow lands with a flat squish, not the meaty thump he prefers. He grimaces, and the sound is almost worse as he pulls the Kneecapper loose. If you're not hitting hard enough, put your back into it. He spins Kneecapper once to send the worst of the...whatever it is flying loose in droplets, then winds back up.

Red frowns as everyone decides to mob around the target, then shrugs. He only draws the one arrow, and aims carefully before firing.

Those gouges Lucius made in its back look promising, as a target...

Ozzy goes back in, aiming to crack some bones this time, not just pummel dead flesh.

(Martin: 2d10.hi = 10; 1d6 = 4; 1d10 = 9 CLOSE IS CLOSE ENOUGH / 2d8.hi = 7; 1d10 = 2 5 Wound + 1 Wound
Anton: 2d10.hi = 8; 1d6 = 3; 2d8.hi = 7 STILL GOOD / 2d10.hi = 6; 2d10.hi = 8 6 Shock
Q: 2d10.hi = 7; 2d8.hi = 7 NAH
Red: 2d10.hi = 10; 3d8.hi = 7 BULLSEYE / 2d8.hi = 2; 2d4.hi = 3 ...ALMOST 2 Shock
Lucius 2d10.hi = 7; 1d8 = 6; 3d8.hi = 7 CALLED SHOT MISSED
Anata: 3d12.hi = 12; 1d8 = 2; 3d8.hi = 8 STAB / 3d8.hi = 8; 2d4.hi = 4 4 Wounds
Ozzy: 2d12.hi = 10; 1d8 = 6; 3d8.hi = 8 HIT / 2d12.hi = 12; 1d8 = 8; 2d4.hi = 4 8 Wound
Undead Bear-Man-Thing: 2d8.hi = 7; 1d10 = 3; 1d8 = 3; 1d8 = 4; 1d6 = 2; 2d8.hi = 8; 1d6 = 3 CUE THE GOO, Anata dodges, Lucius/Anton/Ozzy roll: 2d8.hi = 6; 1d8 = 4; 2d10.hi = 6; 2d12.hi = 8; 1d8 = 6 Lucius: 6 Shock 2 Wound (Incapacitated for 1 round), Anton/Ozzy: 6 Shock / INFECTION: 2d8.hi = 3; 1d8 = 7; 2d10.hi = 8; 2d12.hi = 2; 1d8 = 8 NOBODY)

Martin feels the familiar warmth collect in his hands, but when he casts the spell, instead of a gentle warming breeze carrying the infection away, it hits the Undead Boar-Man-Thing like a blowtorch. Chunks of flesh blast off it, the black ooze on its outside boils and the undead beast screams as more gushes out from burst cysts deep inside. Anton tries to capitalize on the distraction, but the new torrents of bile hide his target and he feels Kneecapper bury itself in more soft flesh, while Q can only dodge out of the way of a flying chunk of rotten bear flesh.

Red carefully takes aim at the gouges and lets his arrow fly - and watches it ricochet off of what must be the beast’s spine. Lucius tries to follow up his own attack with some more precision carving, but has to duck and roll as the beast whirls around to face him and most of the rest of the group.

Anata, while not having faced down opponents quite this large before, knows exactly what kind of fight this is. Superior strength and reach versus her smaller size and mobility - solution: quick darting strikes to vulnerable areas, sever nerves and cut arteries for a quick kill. Even undead beasts have to make their bodies work somehow, and Anata knows just where to insert her blade to cut every single one. A moment’s study as the bear-thing lurches around, and with a sudden movement, her blade goes up into the side, sliding neatly between two ribs before being stirred and pulled out - followed by another thundering scream and a torrent of black, yellow and red from inside the beast.

Ozzy, on the other hand, is not nearly so thoughtful and circumspect in his planning. He just knows that if you hit something hard enough in the right place, you’ll break off shit that fucks up other shit in a bad way. A rising fist to the beast’s rib cage delivers a pleasingly familiar snap inside the bear-man’s rib cage, and even more black, red and yellow pours out. This time the scream sounds more tired - you must be finally doing some real damage.

But it’s not going down without a fight. There’s only the barest of hints - a gurgling deep inside the beast that only Anata hears in time - before a torrent of black, yellow and red, steaming hot and filled with broken-off bones and decaying chunks of flesh bursts out of the bear-man’s dislocated maw. Anata dodges out of the way just in time, but with most of the rest of the party grouped up to pummel its weak spots, Lucius, Anton, and Ozzy get doused. Lucius, already closer than Anton or Ozzy, throws himself between the other two, the force of the blast tossing him into both of their arms and knocking all three of them to the ground. Anton and Ozzy feel their skin burn from the heat and corrosion, but Lucius is screaming and clawing at his face, trying to get the bile off of him as wisps of steam or smoke rise from his face and right side.

Enough.

Seeing the wounded beast disintegrate before him, Martin draws back his arm, then springs forward and plunges his fist into the bear-thing's chest, hoping to smash through the rotten ribcage and reach either what passes for a vital organ or - Datehl walk with us! - the cursed tablet itself. Whatever it takes to end this horror.

Red draws one and nocks, scanning for an opening. The hide has proven resistant to his arrows, and the gouges in the back are now facing away from him. Not a lot of good shots to line up - then the bleeding burning bear opens it's fucking mouth again. An old memory floats up, Pa's arrow sticking out of an alligator's mouth like a tent-pole - and Red snaps and fires at the bear's mouth before he can stop to think about whether that's really a good idea or not.

Ozzy pulls Lucius back from the melee and out of range of the monster's spewing sewage. He turns to shout for Martin, but the monk's already taken over Ozzy's position in front of the bear-thing. Ozzy runs for the creature's back, trying to clamber up and clamp its maw shut so it can't spray its corruption again.

Through the haze of pain, Anton sees Ozzy run around the creature's back, and Martin pounding away at the monster's chest. Anton's no strategist, but he recognizes the look of a Man With a Plan on Ozzy's face, ad Martin seems to have the idea of how to keep attention off Ozzy while he carries it out. "Just try that again!" Anton shouts, and rushes in close beside the monk.

(Martin: 2d10.hi = 3; 1d6 = 1; 2d8.hi = 8 SAD TROMBONE NOISE
Anton: 2d10.hi = 9; 1d6 = 3; 2d8.hi = 3 THWACK / 2d10.hi = 6; 2d10.hi = 7 6 SHOCK
Q: 2d10.hi = 8; 2d8.hi = 3 HIT A NERVE (OR A VEIN) / 2d8.hi = 4; 2d10.hi = 4 1 WOUND 5 SHOCK
Red: 2d10.hi = 7; 3d8.hi = 3 DOWN THE HATCH / 2d8.hi = 7; 2d4.hi = 3 4 WOUND 7 SHOCK
Lucius: TOO BUSY PUTTING HIS FACE OUT
Anata: 3d12.hi = 11; 1d8 = 6; 3d8.hi = 7 PRECISION STAB / 2d8.hi = 5; 2d4.hi = 2 3 WOUND 5 SHOCK
Ozzy: 2d12.hi = 9; 2d8.hi = 8 MUSCLES IT SHUT
Undead-Bear-Man-Thing: 2d8.hi = 4; 2d12.hi = 9 CAN’T REACH)

Martin balled up his furry fist - not so impressive in size relative to Ozzy’s meaty mitts, but trained to be harder than stone - and delivered as firm a blow as he could manage straight to the bear-beast’s sternum. The problem being, it was delivered right to the bear-beast’s sternum. Martin’s really glad that he’s trained for years to punch very hard and immovable things, because anyone else would have probably broken their wrist. Anton winds up and delivers another swing to the beast’s gut, but with his aim more to distract than wound, the flail just makes the undead bear-man’s distended gut ripple.

Q does another diving slash with his sword, opening up another deep gash, this time on the back of the bear-thing’s neck - and the sword skips off of something that makes the bear-thing’s jaw unhinge and a bellow of what could be agony burst forth. The stench makes Red’s eyes water, even from his somewhat-safe distance, but when he lets the arrow fly, it moves straight and true to the back of the bear-beast’s gaping maw. But the arrow, instead of lodging in the back of the bear-thing’s throat or sailing straight through, shatters on impact with something far harder than even bone.

Anata looks back to see if Lucius is, well, not getting any worse, and sees him crack open a vial of something white from inside his cloak and smear it on his face. With Lucius seemingly getting his wounds under control, she turns her attention back to the bear-thing. Something shattered that arrow, it sure as hell wasn’t bone, and the bear-thing really didn’t like it when it was hit. Anata decides that there’s only one way to find out what’s behind the curtain, and that’s cut it out. She sees a hard bulge at the base of its fat neck, and stabs at one corner. With a quick swipe up, she cuts through what feels like sinew and...goo, and the bear-man-thing’s bellows go up in both volume and octave. At the bottom of the cut, she sees something she wasn’t quite expecting to see slide out: the bottom corner of a stone tablet. A moment later, it slides back up into the bear-thing’s neck as it lumbers to give Anata a very unpleasant shower.

A gurgle rises from inside its throat as the bear-thing’s jaw salivates black drops, and Anata reflexively takes a deep breath and closes her eyes - but she hears a wild bellow from behind the beast, and a moment later, Ozzy leaps up onto its oozing, bleeding back and wraps his muscular arms around its muzzle, clamping it shut. It tries to fight back, straining against Ozzy’s arms and flailing its arms, but to no avail. Ozzy feels something hard and rectangular slide and shift up under the bear-thing’s rotting skin, pause as it touched the skull, and with a sickening crunch, push inside the bear-thing’s head.

Martin flinches back from the melee, gritting his teeth against the pain. Even the tiger within him, the savage compulsion that saw him feast on one of their cursed foes, has quieted now; what towers before them is now neither prey nor enemy, being far beyond any intelligible action; it is pure corruption and malevolence, and every second the abomination still draws breath is wrong. But what can a simple monk do, with neither blade to pierce nor hammer to crush the bear-thing's skull that now houses Asenath's tainted tablet?

And Datehl taught us that when we heal others, we heal ourselves, but when we hurt others, we hurt ourselves, too.

A hardened heart and a hardened fist...might be enough to shatter bone, both the bear-thing's skull and his own arm. Martin gulps at the thought, but at once it seems clear that it's the only thing he can do. His heart threatens to tear free from his chest when the beast roars once more, and he knows that this is the only way.

Datehl run with me.

"Oswald!" Martin shouts as he backs up and sizes up the battle before him. "Boost me!"

And just like that, he darts forward, clawed feet digging into the marshy soil for desperate purchase. Oswald barely has time to turn around and clasp his hands together when Martin takes a step onto the proffered surface, and then Martin's legs and Ozzy's arms briefly absorb enormous tension before Martin's trajectory passes the critical point - within the wink of an eye spring-like potential energy goes kinetic as Martin launches into the air and at the beast, his right fist drawn back and shivering with all his strength...

(insert sicknasty slow-mo orbital shot of Martin in mid-air)

...and then: the punch!