Ebon flips himself back on to his feet and moves to help the others up. "Ok, that was a little close. But I knew you had it." He smiles, dusting himself off.
Then takes a look at their new surroundings.
|
Trystt barely has time to stand up before the press of bodies forces her into the room and she ends up on the bottom of the pile. She takes the next moments to educate everyone on how sharp knees and elbows can be as her globes of light dance erratically overhead.
She accepts a helpful vine from Spore and stands. She immediately checks on Rocky and then gestures to herself. Any dirt and grime that is on her begins to slough off. She harrumphs in acknowledgement of Ebon's comment before drily saying, "I think the train still comes through even though the station is closed for the night. We should be careful."
Trystt barely has time to stand up before the press of bodies forces her into the room and she ends up on the bottom of the pile. She takes the next moments to educate everyone on how sharp knees and elbows can be as her globes of light dance erratically overhead.
She accepts a helpful vine from Spore and stands. She immediately checks on Rocky and then gestures to herself. Any dirt and grime that is on her begins to slough off. She harrumphs in acknowledgement of Ebon's comment before drily saying, "I think the train still comes through even though the station is closed for the night. We should be careful."
it is all too easy to overlook the obvious. Sterne says as he dusts himself off that was too damn close, I’m just glad you could pop that lock so quickly Trysst. That was amazing, especially under that kind of pressure
The stonework in this tunnel is different to the much more modern tunnel you just traversed.
You can see some effort to seal this over the years with sheet brick but a passageway has been cut into it and now the old stonework beyond is revealed complete with 1930s tiles that cover the walls and stretch off into darkness.
Spore lets out a strained laugh, as Trystt stands on her own, and then spreads his light out across the room.
"I'm sure one more tug would have done it too," he says. "That chain was almost broken."
Napalm pants as they all narrowly avoid a real life train. "Holy s#+!, that was close!" He looks around, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness.
He reaches out and touches the old stonework. "I think this is what we were looking for, yeah? Let's see where this leads." He begins walking down the tunnel without seeing if the others are following.
The tunnel leads off into darkness - not a problem for most of the group - but what is an issue is the labyrinthine quality it possesses.
Rats scurry here and there, squeaking in protest at the sudden disturbance as the group makes it's way along the disused tunnels, the oppressive nature of the utter darkness and still ness very apparent.
Before long the tunnel forks and heads off into different directions to accomodate northbound and southbound trains. You get a sense that this is only one of many twists and turns down in these old tunnels.
Spore makes sure to constantly refresh the light source as they move ahead, so that none of them get caught unaware.
Sterne follows along behind the others, marvelling at the old subway tunnel. The place had a distinct feeling about it, there had been so much activity here in the past the very walls seemed to resonate around him.
The deep darkness of the place was no barrier to his mind and he opened up his minds eye seeking any traces of psychic energy that may linger .
this place has a lot of history...I can feel it all around us. I would imagine these tunnels go on for miles, with many intersecting passageways. Are there any signs anyone has come this way recently? he asks quietly as they move cautiously along
Napalm moves with Spore, pointing out the tunnel terrain as they go. The mutant points out far more things than are relevant to keeping their way, but it does seem to help.
"Good idea to look for signs of recent passage. If this is where the Punisher is hiding, I would expect that he'll booby trap things too, so once we begin to see signs, I would move cautiously."
The group manages to discern the direction of the tunnels and follow north. Everything in the tunnels is covered with a layer of filth and grime. You suspect that at some time in the past they might well have been flooded with sewer water which has since receded.
It does however afford the more perceptive members of the group the ability to pick out boot-marks in the layer of muck. They run both north and south back toward you and show the passage of one person - albeit very frequently.
The tunnel branches off several times over the next several hundred feet.
Ebon follows on keeping himself prepared, he knows the reputation of The Punisher he just doesn't want to fall into one of his traps.
Napalm kneels down near one of the bootprints. "Let's watch these prints. If they seem to stop or the pace changes, we need to be cautious." He peers ahead, trying to see if there's anything unusual in the corridor.
The group follows the prints for nearly half a mile, ignoring many of the side tunnels that run off in one direction or another.
Eventually the old subway tunnel begins to open up into a station platform.
The bent and rusted track runs east to west, flanked on one side by a high station platform on one side. Ceramic tiles lie in small piles where they have fallen from the walls and ceiling and, incredibly, on one wall is a faded and barely legible original movie poster advertising King Kong from 1933.
There is some movement up on the platform toward the west side
It was hard not to feel like they were a bunch of ducks all in a row , just waiting for the Punisher to take them out.
As they followed the tracks he tried to push aside those thoughts and focus, as the old station emerges from the perpetual gloom he notices the old cinema poster and tries to imagine this place as a working station, he can feel the old energy that once suffused this place. The bustle of thousands of passengers was ingrained in the fabric of the place,
Out of the corner of his eye he can see something moving in the darkness and he reaches out and taps Napalm on the shoulder.
there’s something moving on the platform he says quietly and as he can feel his heartbeat quickening , his palms suddenly felt clammy with sweat and he wiped them absently on the leg of his pants before he reached into his jacket, his hand tightening around the grip of the pistol nestled on n a holster under his arm.
"Where?" Napalm whispers. "Lower the lights." He squints up at the platform, looking into the darkness.
Napalm moves closer to the platform, trying not to make any noise.
At Napalm's request, Trystt and Spore dim their lights but just as he and several others in the group can see in the dark, the same can be said of the creature and snaffles and snuffles among the filth and rubbish that has gathered on the abandoned platform.
Peering into the gloom you can see a large mound of paper, wood, plastic and all many of other trash that has been gathered up into a massive nest on the platform.
Sitting in the centre is a three-legged freak, mostly compromising of a mouth full of teeth and disgusting lines of spittle. Three tentacles, two tipped with barbs and one with eyes, extend from its sides and whip up like startled vipers.
Two other identical creatures, though smaller, sit in the nest and begin to scream at your presence.
Ebon squints to see what the group is pointing out unable to see it he crouches down and then jumps up onto the platform. "Is it him?" He whispers.
Napalm leaps up with Ebon. "Uh, no. Not unless he took some serious defective goblin juice."
Otyughs are particularly vile and horrid creatures that lurk in places most sane creatures avoid. Their lairs are middens, cesspools, offal pits, toxic swamps, and sewers—the greater a lair's filth, the greater the draw to the refuse-eating otyugh which mirrors their home planet which is a galactic dumping ground for the Kree. No one knows if they are indiginous to Kree-81 or if microbes in the filth were deposited there and the otughs evoled.
They glory in the role of scavenger, wandering through vast underground caverns in search of the choicest cuts of garbage and waste. Upon finding such refuse, they gorge upon it, gathering what cannot be consumed in one debauch to bring back to their foul-smelling lairs. Otyughs spend most of their time in these filthy dens, which they keep constantly filled with carrion, dung, and worse sorts of stinking effluvia.
They have reach with their tentacles and also have a nasty bite - both of which carry a multitude of diseases.
They aren't particularly fast-moving (poor reflex) but are generally quite tough.
No special immunities or vulnerabilities.
In this case it looks like you have disturbed a nest with two young as well.
"Holy s++*! That's an Otyugh. I've heard of them, but never seen one before. They're some sort of alien garbage monster. The tentacles and teeth are obvious, but they also carry diseases from the trash they live in. Looks like there are two young ones. I say we hit them hard. Otyughs are known to be tough."
Yanking his pistol out he yanks back the slide, chambouring a round and holds it out before him in a standard marksman grip,this was a lot different to the firing range and he could feel his hand trembling as he moves back from the platform
I can’t see a damn thing! he hisses as he waits for this garbage alien or whatever the hell it is to leap out at at them.
"Do they see us?" Spore asks, quietly.
"Or should I bring the light back?"
As quietly as he can, he matches pace with Trystt, ready to move in front to bear the brunt of an attack, if one comes.
The trash monsters begin to flumph up and down, trilling incredibly loudly in the confines of the tunnel.
If there were any doubt whether they had spotted you, it evaporates quickly as they charge together to engage the creatures that have invaded their nest.
Miss
Hit
Fail
A hail of tentacles lash out at the monk and though he dodges two of them the third slaps him painfully across the back like a lash.
Spore calls his lights back from where they'd been hiding down the hallway, and they swirls around the group, providing much needed illumination to the group. When he sees the Otyughs and hears Napalm's warning, his memory of the beasts comes roaring back.
Scooping a vine back behind him, he gathers up a not-insignificant amount of mud and filth, and hurls it at the parent, empowering the materials as they fly forward, and taking up a position next to Ebon to hold a line.
"Trystt's right. I think we should... Ebon watch out!" Napalm doesn't spot the creature leaping forward until it's too late.
The mutant dodges behind the monk, using the young man as a shield momentarily. As he crosses behind him, he pulls a canister from his vest and hurls it at the otyugh. It explodes in a shower of liquid nitrogen.
Fail
Ebon shakes off the hit and steps forward. "We put them down." Setting his stance he unleashes a combination of punches and kicks on the large creature.
HP - 41/44
|
|
Trystt gestures at the large one with a pained expression on her face. "They're slow enough to outrun..."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
As spore draws his strange phosphorescent orbs closer the darkness is pushed back to reveal the alien horrors.
Sterne has never seen anything like them outside of a movie theatre and watching as Ebon suddenly explodes into action he levels his gun at the smaller of the creatures, Focusing his mind he reaches out to the Otyugh and exerts his power upon it.
be still....stop moving....just for a second
He envelopes it’s mind with his own forcing the creature into stillness and he squeezes the trigger.
Miss
Hit
Miss
Hit
Miss
Miss
Miss
The two smaller otyugh's lash out at Ebon and Spore. The plant creature suffers a painful bite but Ebon dodges nimbly to one side.
Napalm takes a short hop and hurls another canister at the smaller creature in front of him.
Spore steps forward, and whips his arms at the still-blinded parent-creature, hoping to incapacitate it before it decides to flail around and hurt someone further.
|
|
Trystt gestures at one of the young otyughs and then there is the hiss and crackle of an untuned radio followed by a pop, all coming from Trystt.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Gripping the pistol tightly Sterne braces himself for the recoil and squeeze off another round, firing again at the smaller creature.
Ebon continues to fight, the thrill of fighting something that hits back with unabundant is exhilarating. He mixes up his strikes jumping up and throwing out two large kicks to the creature.
The largest otyugh crumbles under Spore's assault, collapsing in on itself like a burt water balloon.
Hit
Fail
Miss
Miss
Crying out in pain, one of the smaller creatures lashes out at Spore, missing twice but clamping it's foul mouth onto his 'leg' and chomping away.
Miss
Miss
Miss
Half-blinded by Napalm's bomb, the other younger Otyugh flails ineffectually at Napalm.
Spore grimaces as the little beastling clamps down on his leg, in the same place as before, dreading the repercussions from whatever trash and harmful bacteria it carried. Putting the thought aside, he continues his assault, carefully aiming his strikes as the fight winds down.
"Oww! Argh! I'll be feeling that for a while!" he yells.
Napalm steps forward, snapping out his extendable baton, and then striking the alien creature with it.
Hit
Napalm strides in and cracks the garbage monster across the.... face..? with his extendable baton. There is a fleshy acceptance at first which gives way to a crunch of bone and teeth and the thing collapses in a heap in front of him.