"I'm going to try again and see if I can get closer to the top. If I can't figure this out now that I know what will happen, we can consider breaking the glass."
The missing rung made it a little more difficult but nothing that Quinn couldn't handle after sneaking into a lot of difficult places with Timothy.
Do you want to use that perception roll to see if you can disable the rung, or do you want to skip the rung and keep climbing?
Quinn craned her head around the side of the ladder, trying to see in behind it, to understand how it worked. Finally she pulled a small mirror from her toolkit, and peered carefully at the workings in between the ladder and the wall. She realized that the rung was connected to some sort of complicated mechanism that ran down the side rail of the ladder, through the metal support, and into the rock wall itself. It was small and hard to see, but relatively easy to disable. It just required finding something very thin to jam into it.
Dizzy watched anxiously as Quinn and Jibril scampered about like squirrels overhead. She was anxious to be done with this challenge, and on to one where she could smash something with her hammer.
Quinn actually grinned in appreciation when she finally figured out the mechanism. "Tricksy bugger...but not for long."
She dug through her supplies until she found an appropriately sized wooden shim. She had learned early on to carry a small variety of sizes when Timothy and her had gone exploring in other people's homes. A few times the only difference between escape and getting caught had been a well-placed shim under a door.
She carefully wedged the piece of wood into place, jamming the mechanism. She tested her weight on the trigger rung and when nothing happened, she began to climb while congratulating herself. "Go Starling, it's your birthday - Go Starling, it's your birthday."
When she got to the top she quickly scanned the area and saw a small lever. She yelled down to the others, "There's a lever up here. I think it'll slide the glass away allowing me to get at the tokens."
"Get ready to catch them," Dizzy called back. "If they're sitting on the glass, they'll fall if it slides away."
Rooting through her backpack, she pulled out a blanket and said to the others, "Grab a corner. Let's hold this underneath, and then if a token falls, hopefully it won't smash."
Duncan grabbed a corner of the blanket and then dropped it, "Wait. Those stones may smash into each other even if we manage to catch them after a 60' fall."
He thought for a moment and cast a spell on himself. He slowly floated towards the top. "When the glass slides, I'll be right there to catch the stones. Give me something so I make sure I get all of them. Only got two hands."
-------------
"Alright. Get on up there then." Rex said to Duncan, though he still grabbed a corner of the blanket to be safe, remembering Duncan's reflexes from the obstacles.
Quinn shakes her head somewhat sadly. If she didn't need both her hands, she would have palmed her forehead. "Guys. I don't think they would have made it so difficult to reach the tokens safely only to have them plummet to the floor and break when the lever is used."
She looked down at Duncan already starting his ascent. "But if Duncan wants to help, who am I to stop him?" she mutters.
So? Pulling the lever once Duncan is in position?
Even though Quinn is fairly certain the most complicated traps are behind her, she doesn't take anything for granted. This is the Trap Door after all. She carefully inspected the lever before pulling it. That and she had to wait for Duncan to get into position.
Lever seems free of traps and surprises. It seems pretty clear - it will slide the glass ceiling back (much as the rock "ceiling" slid back when the other panel was activated, revealing the glass ceiling). It looks like the entire ceiling is one panel of glass, which will slide in Quinn's direction (towards the ladder), so it is likely that the rocks will fall when the glass retreats from under them. Quinn can position herself to catch one, but it is unlikely that she'll be able to catch both.
Duncan is in position. Pull the lever?
Team Orra was ready. Rex, Jibril and Dizzy held the blanket taut, ready to catch a tumbling token. Duncan floated near the ceiling, arms outstretched. Quinn had her legs hooked into the ladder, one hand on the lever, ready to catch a token once the glass slid open.
She pulled the lever.
The glass began to slide open. They did not hear the puff of air that one might expect to hear when a chamber is opened. Instead, they heard a strange, slurpy squeak, as if something wet and heavy were being dragged over the glass.
Or as if the glass was being dragged away from beneath something wet and heavy.
Dizzy held her corner of the blanket and stared up. That sound....there was something about it... It reminded her of the time that she and her brothers had that massive mud-fight. The sound of scraping the pond-mud off the windows with their bare hands. Squishy, yet squeaky. This can't be good.
Quinn knew something was wrong almost immediately. "Ah, come on!"
But knowing that something was wrong was different than being able to respond.
Duncan was starting to get worried and then almost panicked as Quinn noticed it to, "What's happening? Something is wrong. Put the lever back in its place!"
Rex had all but let out a sigh of relief. At least this one is finally close to being over. As a result he was one of the last to hear the liquid. As he saw everyone begin to panic, the worst of his fight or flight instincts kicked in and he stared up into the chimney to see what was coming, "What the...?"
Jibril was watching Rex and Dizzy, making sure he was doing his part to hold the blanket with them when his ear twitched ...
The strange sound set him off. He let go of the blanket and lurched forward ...
Dizzy will not resist Jibril's tackle, so that has to count for something.
They didn't see it coming. How could they? The creature was transparent and trapped above glass.
They did hear it coming. As soon as the glass ceiling began to slide aside, the creature began to ooze through the opening, slurping and sucking its way down the chimney.
Duncan was engulfed first. He was floating, had no point of contact with the ladder, and had no hope of avoiding it. Quinn was next. The humans felt the surprisingly cold, thick, jelly-like substance immediately coat and cling to them, dragging them down as it fell to the floor below.
Quinn, however, was holding on, and she clung to the ladder for dear life.
Below, Jibril's ranger instincts kicked in and he moved before he even understood the danger. Leaping forward, he wrapped his arms around Dizzy and threw them both sideways, further down the corridor and out from underneath the chimney. And not a moment too soon. They crashed to the ground together, all tangled up, as the hapless, handsome, muscle-bound Rex stared upwards, not comprehending what he was seeing. He barely had time to close his eyes before the Duncan-engulfing slimy creature landed on top of him, buckling his knees with the force of the impact.
There was a moment of stunned silence as the amoeba-like jellyish creature wobbled back together after the splatter-inducing force of its fall. Duncan, Rex and the tokens were visible inside its cold, gooey body. The creature took up an area about 8 feet in diameter (roughly circular), and was about four feet tall. It was completely transparent, but the light from the torches and magical light sources reflected weirdly from its wobbly surface.
Jibril hit the ground awkwardly, did a quick check on Dizzy to see if she was alright, then rolled backwards onto his knees and stood. That's when he took a good look at the creature.
Despite her best efforts, the diving ooze ripped Quinn's grip off the ladder and took her with it.
The combination of cold and gooey drove Quinn to want to get away from this ooze as quickly as possible. She immediately stood up and started to fight her way out.
Does this thing roll higher than a 5?
Rex sputtered, as he got a mouthful of the creature. He'd never seen anything like this before, but he knew from his arena fighting that movement was life. Thrashing forcefully, he was able to push his way out of the creature's body. He kicked at the creature as he did, but any effect was lost in his wild movement. "The hell is this thing?" he asked the others, as he spat slime from his mouth.
,
Duncan tried to scream but took a deep breath and closed his mouth.
Luckily, the thing took the brunt of the fall but the summoner still attempted to levitate through it and up the chimney once again.
"Get out of there!" Dizzy called to the others. "That thing will shock you, or scorch you, or who knows what! Quinn, give me your hand!"
The dwarf reached over, trying not to get sucked into the creature, and hauled on Quinn, trying to help her out.
Quinn barely heard Dizzy ask for her hand because she was too busy forcing her way out of the cold and squishy blob. Soon she was standing beside the dwarf who still held out her hand to the rogue. "Umm, thanks. But maybe Rex or Duncan can use your help instead."
Jibril got ready to draw his grim gandasa but suddenly the hallway was full. He stepped back five feet to make room for Quinn and he unshouldered his bow instead.
"It's like a giant cushion!? Slash it if you can! I doubt blunt weapons will have much effect!"
Rex began forcing his way out, but found that his armor was tangled up in the creature.
Quinn managed to fight her way free, her lean form working for her in a way that Rex's muscles didn't. Jibril's arrow impaled in the creature and could be seen quivering inside of it.
The creature seemed to finally recover from the shock of falling. A tall pseudopod reared up, like a shapeless limb, and mashed down on Rex's head. It pushed (or was it pulled?) on the brawler's head, trying to re-submerge him into its gelatinous body.
The pseudopod seemed to drop down around Rex, encasing him in itself. Rex found himself trapped again completely, unable to draw breath. Slowly, the creature started to pull Rex off his feet, so he would be prone within its body, instead of standing up inside the gelatinous sheath.
The entire creature then drew itself up slightly, then flattened out a bit, sending out a blue pulse that shivered through its entire body. Everybody within, or touching it, felt a flash of ice cold wash over them, leaving them pained and shivering.
”Please, m’lady, excuse my foot.”, as gracefully as he could muster, Jibril attempted to run forward, put a foot on Dizzy’s shoulder, and vault over the creature to get to it’s other side.
After a tuck and roll he fired another arrow into the creature.
Duncan concentrated on lifting his body off and away from the glob of... something but the new spell did not seem to be working.
He remained inside the thing and saw Rex close by. [i]why?[/oi]
Not waiting for an answer, he once more concentrated and this time managed to break free.
, fail (surprise round)
, pass, Round 1
Rex thrashed, but the creature seemed to have a tight hold on him. Fine. If I can't push my way out...I'll tear my way out. He thought to himself as he back clawing and kicking at the creature.
Quinn flicked her wrist to release her dagger as soon as she freed herself from the ooze. She slashed at the glob, carving pieces off of it.
Dizzy considered her options. Her mace would do little damage to the creature - she was likely to have it rebound and hit herself with it. "Can I safely zap it without hurting Duncan and Rex?" she cried out. But her only answer was a booted foot, which she tried to help launch Jibril over the creature.
Hoping for the best, she touched one of the many symbols on her breastplate and murmured an invocation. Holding her other hand, palm out, she released a ray of scorching, divine fire directly at the wobbly creature.
Blobs of protoplasmic goo splattered around as Jibril's arrow, Quinn's dagger, Dizzy's spell, and Rex's fist laid into the clear creature. As it didn't bleed or cry out, it was hard to judge how badly damaged it was. But it definitely was splattering about, so they seemed to be harming it.
Duncan concentrated on his levitate spell with all his mental might, and managed to levitate up and out of the clingy goop, leaving Rex alone still caught inside it. He swung and fought while keeping his mouth shut tight against the slushy goo which threatened to asphyxiate him.
Meanwhile, Squishy sent out another pseudopod, this time at Jibril, hoping to draw the arrow-slinging half-elf into its deadly embrace. However, the half-elf was too dextrous and slipped easily away from the grasping tentacle of slime.
The creature then drew itself up again for an energy attack. This time it released a spark of silver light, and sparkles of electricity zapped through it, leaving Rex shuddering in its wake.
Everybody up.
Jibril dropped his bow and drew his question mark shaped axe and started hacking his way towards Rex.
Rex could feel the consistency of the creature weakening, but he also felt acid burning his skin. He could try to escape, but that was not in his nature. It was him or the creature, so he continued trying to tear his way through the creature.
There was something intensely satisfying about making pieces of ooze splatter about. Quinn moved in with her dagger again and shaves another piece of goo off.
Dizzy watched Rex struggle around in the gooey creature with alarm. She desperately wanted to help him break free, but had nothing she could do that would help without being able to touch him.
Instead, she let loose another bolt of fire, hoping to kill the creature that had engulfed him.
The young man floated up and away from the blob of... stuff. His clothes were drenched and his hair plastered on his face. And he didn't smell too good either.
Not knowing what else he could do, he decided to yell encouragement to those below, "Rex, get out of there!"
He also adjusted his hair and looked for the spy-eye in this place.
Squishy wriggled and thrashed, his goop was being splattered liberally around the cavern, and he was starting to loose cohesion. Still, he wasn't down yet, and was determined to take at least one of these pesky humanoids with him.
Lashing another tentacle of goo out, this time it chose Quinn as its target.
This time it had no trouble wrapping a sticky tentacle around its prey, and it began to pull the rogue into its embrace.
This time, a pulse of pure force energy rippled through its body; the concussive force of it rattled Rex and Quinn's teeth in their sockets, and seemed to loosen their joints.
Slacker!
Sure!