The stalagmite looms next to Thravum, tall and stony and motionless.
After Thravum's hesitation, you suddenly hear a loud CRRRACK!
You notice two beady black eyes glitter from within the scraggly stone surface.
CRRRUNCH!
A gaping hole with jagged grey teeth widens slowly like a large sinkhole in the middle of the creature.
THRAAAACK!
In a sudden burst of movement, the creature lunges at Thravum with its wide open mouth.
At the same time, two long, grey, ropey tendrils explode from it. They fly through the air towards Jorlitharr.
The thick tendrils wrap around Jorlitharr's middle.
"Argh, ye pokey stone bastard!"
Having learned a lesson a few moments ago, Thravum aims his strike at the bitey parts this time.
Thravum's attack misses as the huge gaping mouth opens wider.
The creatures jagged teeth gnash the air in front of Thravum.
Olias steps closer, but sticks near the corner for protective cover as needed.
"What the hell is that thing?" He sees the tendrils wrapped around Jorlitharr. "Jorl!" Taking out his rapier, Olias swings at the tendrils (or just one, if that's all the turn allows). Due to his bardic nature, he strikes with a certain rhythm. As he does so, he hums a tune that Jorl can hear, filling him with bardic inspiration.
Jorlitharr smiles and nods his head to Olias' tune. "" Don't worry Olias, I got a plan. "
"I told you Thravum! This thing is a Roper! It's going to try to eat us. Good news is They're dumb and clumsy! Bad news is their hides are rock hard. "
He readies a bonus and regular action. They're secret. They go off after he's been dragged a bit.
Olek takes several steps backwards to make distance between him and the creatures tentacles.
"смазать скользкий пол магия"
A slippery substance oozes up from the floor beneath the creature.
Olias' rapier doesn't make a scratch on the tick, ropey tendrils.
Black ooze appears under the creature's base.
The creature seems to somehow lose footing, and tips over. The tendrils grasping Jorlitharr remain in place, tight and squeezing.
A prone creature’s only Movement option is to crawl, unless it stands up and thereby ends the condition.
The creature has disadvantage on Attack rolls.
An Attack roll against the creature has advantage if the attacker is within 5 feet of the creature. Otherwise, the Attack roll has disadvantage.
"Daft...clumsy...ropey...mouth...bastard..."
Thravum's axe flashes over his head and drives down towards the Roper's maw.
(Readied action on Ropers turn)
He allows the ropers appendages to drag him until he's 10ft away from the creature. Jorlitharr currently counts as grappled and restrained
A restrained creature’s speed becomes 0, and it can’t benefit from any bonus to its speed.
Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature’s Attack rolls have disadvantage.
The creature has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws (and Str with the Roper tendril).
A grappled creature’s speed becomes 0, and it can’t benefit from any bonus to its speed.
The condition ends if the Grappler is incapacitated (see the condition).
The condition also ends if an effect removes the grappled creature from the reach of the Grappler or Grappling effect, such as when a creature is hurled away by the Thunderwave spell.
He drops into a wide stance sliding his feet against the grit and dust in the ground tracing a rune you've only seen once before when Jorlitharr rooted Olias to the ground to pry his cursed boots off his feet.
"It might have more tentacles! I'll try and keep me and Thravum as the targets. It'll have a hell if a time moving me."
(hero point reroll)
He'll then blast the tendrils and the creature with all the fire currently residing in his guts in one giant coneshaped gout of flames.
Thravum's axe makes a deep cut in the Roper's belly. The creature snarls menacingly.
The cone of flames hits the two tentacles wrapped around Jorlitharr's body, and they char and twist and fall to the ground, completely useless.
At the same time, Jorlitharr's fiery eruption hits the body of the Roper. The creature growls an unearthly growl, like the sound of a landslide.
The grease pooling around the roper's prone body bursts into flame.
With a snarl, two more tentacles fly through the air. One grabs for Jorlitharr while the other aims at Thravum.
One tentacle swings wide and misses Thravum, but the one aimed at Jorlitharr wraps tightly around his waist. The Roper begins to reel him in.
The Roper's jagged mouth with gnarled teeth gnash out at Thravum.
The Roper chomps the air, completely missing Thravum.
Jorlitharr looks surprised at the strength of the Roper.
He extends his hands while the joined shards of the heart Tchazzar glow like coals. Another gout of flames roar out from Jorlitharrs fingertips.
Disadvantage dex save for half
Jorlitharr shakes off the burned tentacle, releases his bond with the earth and moves to flank the Roper with Thravum.
"I bet all this time in this cave has sharpened your hearing, monster. Let's change that!"
Olias casts Shatter.
DC is 15.
The piercing noise rocks through the Roper's body and its echoing growl is lost in the sound.
The flailing of tentacles makes it difficult to sort out the creatures center of mass. Olek aims his staff carefully and attempts a shot anyway.
The firebolt flies wild and crashes with a sizzle into the water behind the Roper.
"...Tempicles...sand...mmrphsh....axe...bleeding...elfish"
Thravum is clearly starting to get angry now.
A sound of grinding rocks emirates from the Roper's mouth. Was that a cackle from the prone creature?
With great effort, the Roper manages to right itself. It does not move after that.
Two tentacles fly out, one aimed at Thravum and one at Jorlitharr.
The tentacle aimed at Jorlitharr flies wild, but the one at Thravum wraps tightly around his waist. The Roper opens his gravelly jaws for another bite at Thravum.
The crooked teeth sink into Thravum's leg.
Olias sees the Roper grab Thravum. "Get the hell off him!" he shouts. He takes out his crossbow and fires a bolt at the Roper.
The bolt hits the stone floor and shatters, harming no one but completely destroyed.
Jorlitharr winces as Thravum is bit.
"That's enough of that."
Jorlithar grabs the chain tied around his waist dragging his runestone and drags is quickly across the ground and in a rising arc towards the . It makes a cruching sound in mid air, almost like it's hardening. Dust and flakes of stone splinter.
"Now you meet true stone."
He rolls with the momentum of the swinging ball and smashes it onto the ground.
With a sickening CRACK the stone ball makes contact with the stoney hide. The Roper snarls and turns slowly to size up Jorlitharr with its small black beady eyes.
Olek rushes closer to the fray and shadows Olias. He raises his staff high above his head with both hands.
"молния исконный"
A crackling bolt of lightning arcs from his staff to the creature.
Spittle, blood droplets, and curses fly through the air.
"Yeeargh!....Leg...Ropey...Kill...Mother....Off..."
The Roper keeps a tentacle tightly wrapped around Thravum.
It's eyes squint angrily at Jorlitharr. A tentacle flies out to wrap him up.
The tentacle wraps tightly around his belly. The Roper opens his jagged jaws.
The teeth sink into Jorlitharr's belly.
The Roper keeps a tentacle tightly wrapped around Thravum.
It's eyes squint angrily at Jorlitharr. A tentacle flies out to wrap him up.
[dice=Tentacle attack at Jorlitharr] 1d20 +7
The tentacle wraps tightly around his belly. The Roper opens his jagged jaws.
[dice=Bite attack at Jorlitharr] 1d20 +7
The teeth sink into Jorlitharr's belly.
[dice =Bite attack damage] 3d8+4
AS A REACTION
Jorlithar's body is surrounded by a cloud of dust, sand and rock shards. They deflect away the tentacle and fill the creatures mouth when he tries to bite.()
"time to get creative." Olias casts phantasmal force to create an illusion of a second Thravum to distract the creature. While the illusion lasts, it does 1d6 psychic damage if creature fails an INT check. DC is 15.
Bardic inspiration to Thravum - Olias shreds on the lute.
The Roper's black eyes flick back and forth from the two Thravums before him.
Jorlitharr grabs his flail's chain, chokes up on the grip to get it over his head and lets the chain out as he swings downwards like he's splitting a log.
The Runestone glances off the rocky hide and crashes into the floor.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Olek moves to the corner of the pool giving him a clear line of sight to the creature with his companions out of the way. The gems in his staff begin to glow. At first they are a dim red but increase in brightness until they are white hot and a stream of fire erupts like a flame thrower towards the roper. It may singe some of Jorlithar's hair but he should be fine.
The Roper is fixated on the two Thravums before him.
The fire leaves black sear marks on the Roper's side. Dark brown goo oozes from the marks. The Roper is noticeably moving slower and has started emitting howls of what you can guess to be distress.
"Mmmph....Billgr....Argin...Oliarsh...Dearghd!"
A flurry of axe strokes and unintelligible growls stream from Thravum. He is no longer aiming or defending with his axe but raising it over his head and slamming it downwards repeatedly. He uses Action Surge for a second attack, Olias's Bardic Inspiration on his first attack, and Second Wind as a bonus action.
The tentacle's grip on Thravum is tight and seems to make it hard for him to aim. The Roper ignores the dwarf swinging an axe at him haphazardly and turns to the dirty rock wizard.
The Roper throws out another tentacle at Jorlitharr.
The tentacle swings wide. Undeterred, the Roper chomps at Jorlitharr.
The Roper missed and howls again, making a sound like an earthquake and rattling the loose stones at your feet.
Olias tries another shot of his crossbow.
Phantom Thravum
Jorlitharr spins on his heelsz rotating completely around an aiming for the teeth of the beast.
The Roper gurgles and spits out globs of sticky mud-like goo all over Jorlitharr. Its mouth remains open and gaping. Long cracks and fissures erupt on its rocky skin. The tentacle around Thravum loosens and thumps to the floor.
The Roper topples over, motionless.
Jortlitharr breathes heavily. Picks up a sharp flake of stone and uses earth shape to make a handle. He'll cut open the stomach of the roper and collect any stomach acid in an earthenware bowl of his own make. When it's full he'll shape the bowl closed to make a ball.
"Sometimes these things eat things they can't digest. Their stomach acid is an amazing solvent, but it can't digest metals."
He pours through it's stomach contents looking for any valuables.
You are able to collect about a cup of stomach acid.
As you cut into the stomach, several gemstones covered in dark goo tumble out and scatter on the floor at your feet. You see two emeralds and two serpentines. A ruby cut into a 3x3 inch cube catches your eye. The stomach lining still feels weighty in your hand, so you reach in deep within the cavernous stomach area. You find a fist-sized chunk of white, granite-like rock, dense and heavy in your hand. You also pull out a long, thick leather belt with runes carved into the buckle.
Jorlitharr's eyes widen at the belt.
"Didn't rot..." he detects magic on the stones and belt and tries to read the runes.
"Do you think that acid could be used as a weapon? What would happen if I coated my bolts with it?" Olias says as he picks up the bolt from his last missed shot (not the one that shattered).
"Do you think that acid could be used as a weapon? What would happen if I coated my bolts with it?" Olias says as he picks up the bolt from his last missed shot (not the one that shattered).
"I'm not sure Olias, I've heard of it used as a solvent but I'm not sure it would work fast enough or string enough in that dose, but you're welcome to try."
Jorlitharr pokes his finger through the top of the clay globe and draws the edges up like a straw so a bolt could be dipped inside.
"Looks like you've dealt with this type of creature before, or have at least studied them. Fascinating beast. You called it a roper? I've never seen one."
He reads the dwarven runes and his trained eyes notice a magical aura in the Ruby and granite.
Oleksandr, you learn much from your musings.
this rock is called galena.
"Do you think that acid could be used as a weapon? What would happen if I coated my bolts with it?" Olias says as he picks up the bolt from his last missed shot (not the one that shattered)."I'm not sure Olias, I've heard of it used as a solvent but I'm not sure it would work fast enough or string enough in that dose, but you're welcome to try."
Jorlitharr pokes his finger through the top of the clay globe and draws the edges up like a straw so a bolt could be dipped inside.
Olias dips three bolts into the acid. "We'll see what happens."
"Looks like some rather well prepared adventurers met their doom with this roper creature. I'm not sure how common that Virana name is for dwarves but this belt may have been constructed by the famous Virana Stonecutter. Wearing it enhances the dwarven heartiness within you whether you are a dwarf or not. That ruby will summon a fire elemental. That other stone I'm not so sure about. I think it's called 'galena.' Have you heard of it Jorlitharr?"
"That's a nice belt, Olek. How do you guys want to divvy up the spoils?"
"Looks like some rather well prepared adventurers met their doom with this roper creature. I'm not sure how common that Virana name is for dwarves but this belt may have been constructed by the famous Virana Stonecutter. Wearing it enhances the dwarven heartiness within you whether you are a dwarf or not. That ruby will summon a fire elemental. That other stone I'm not so sure about. I think it's called 'galena.' Have you heard of it Jorlitharr?"
Hmm. Curious about the belt. The make isnt from the dwarven hold were in. I think you're right that these were from a group of adventurers of generations passed.
Galena is a silvery lead like ore. It's very curious..