Garath was glad that Alice had taken his side on the matter. She had a way of putting things that left little room for argument. It wouldn't have made a difference to his stance on which option to take if she didn't agree with him, but this way made convincing the rest of the Party much easier.
Finally all on the same page, Garath chose option one, and they got into position for a boss fight. After a few seconds, Garath heard the rush of feathered wings and the screech of an eagle coming from the tunnel through which they’d come. Everyone turned to see the Spirit Guardian of Si-am Whimstick enter the gallery on majestic wings.
The eagle was surprisingly only two or three times bigger than a typical golden eagle. With a single beat of its wings, the ghost-like apparition knocked most of the Party off their feet. Garath pushed himself back upright with the help of his staff, then triggered Inspect to see what they were dealing with.
Thunderbird
(Spirit Guardian of Si-am’ Whimstick)
Spirit Beast
Health: 375,000/375,000
Level: 30
Station: Boss
Mana: 105,000/105,000
Description: unknown
Garath was confused, he’d been expecting a bear. He became even more confused when a Native American-style totem pole sprang up from the ground near the chest, rising about fifteen feet before Si-am’s Spirit Guardian landed atop it. The golden eagle apparition spread its impressive wings, moving them back and forth to keep its balance.
*I don’t know how to tank a bird, dude,* Auto called.
*Keep that shield on Obawon,* Garath said, a plan forming in his mind. *With that huge Mana pool, it’s definitely a magic user and birds don’t do well in melee. It’s gotta be a ranged fighter. Here’s what we do. Obawon and Auto, stay near the casters and do whatever you can to absorb whatever it sends at us. Atlas, do your Link-versus-Ganon thing to send anything you can back at that bird. Athios, you too. Ranged fighters, this fight is going to depend on us. Let’s light this bitch up.*
Still atop the totem pole, the Thunderbird sparked with electrical energy. It wasn’t really a surprise to Garath that this enemy employed lightning-type attacks, considering its name. The Party took a split formation with the healers and Jebawon behind Auto. Garath, Daisy, and Athios moved behind Obawon. Atlas, his ostentatious outfit glowing brightly, took his spot between the two groups. Garath and Handsome stacked QE’s in tandem as Bill and the Dreadreaver attacked the totem pole. Daisy sent a bolt of fire at the ghost eagle, and Athios cast a dimensional enhancement around the Raid Group’s ranged fighters to boost their damage output by +10%. In response, the Thunderbird screeched and loosed streaks of crackling yellow and white energy.
A cluster of five bolts approached, sizzling the air behind them as they moved forward, spreading out like a shotgun blast. Between the expanding bolts of lightning, a field of static spread, forming a net of electricity.
Auto the Unibear stood on his hind legs, with limbs outstretched in front of his group of casters. The roar of pain and the distinct scent of burnt hair let Garath know the Party’s tank had successfully tanked. A protective bubble around the Unibear, courtesy of Maimon, took most of the damage, the cluster of bolts only removing about a fifth of Auto’s total Health. The static net passed through Auto’s body without resistance. It continued on, passing through Maimon, Sharon, and Jebawon, dealing several hundred damage to each as it did, before finally winking out of existence when it met the stone wall of the gallery.
On Garath’s side, things didn’t go quite as well. They were further away from the Thunderbird than Auto’s group, allowing the bolts to spread even more by the time they struck. The cluster came too quickly and with too large of a striking area for Obawon to stop all of it, but he took the majority of the lightning damage on his caster’s behalf. One of the bolts struck Garath in the shoulder, sapping 350 Health and causing his ears to ring so badly he couldn’t hear anything else. When the static field passed through his body, Garath felt his heart race, and a debuff icon appeared in his mind’s eye.
You are afflicted with Static Charge (1) for the next 15 seconds. Duration refreshed with each subsequent stack.
Warning: 5 stacks of Static Charge will increase your heart rate beyond its maximum capacity, and you will die.
The bolt on course to land a hit on both Daisy and Athios was redirected through space-time to re-emerge from a silver disk above the bird boss perched on the Totem Pole.
Unfortunately, but not entirely unpredictably, the Thunderbird was unaffected by its own lightning. In fact, it seemed to swell just a bit as the lightning entered it. Garath was also pretty sure its Mana bar had refilled slightly, and a buff icon appeared below its nameplate. The monster’s Healthbar showed they had only taken about 5% of its maximum Health.
Garath continued casting Creeping Death on the boss alongside Handsome as he thought about the information he’d read about his newest debuff. He wondered if the five-stack maximum was a universal estimate, or if it took things like the cardiovascular superiority of an athlete into consideration. It was just speculation on his part though. They would need to avoid acquiring five stacks of Static Charge at all costs. He knew he’d need to advise his Party, but quickly read over the details of the Thunderbird’s buff first.
Static Charge (1) - increases the range and spread radius of the Thunderbird’s lightning attacks by 10% for the next 15 seconds. Duration refreshed with each subsequent stack.
The Static Charge buff wasn’t a game changer, as the Thunderbird’s area of effect was nearly unavoidable as it was. With his
