You dream of shaking earth and screams, the smell of rot and dark whispers. Burning eyes glare back at you in the dream. The vision changes with the smell of turned earth and wet leaves and a crushing weight on your chest. You feel warmth nearby and see a source of blurred, yellow light. Then something cracks loudly, followed by a shrill scream.
You wake with a start, still in your bedroll, and realize a thin, black root grasps you by your legs and torso. It’s pulling you toward a large chasm in the ground on one side of what appears to be a ransacked campsite under a looming hillside on all sides except the east. The warm light turns out to be a campfire in the dimness of dawn, crackling as it slowly dies. Other roots reach out through the camp.
You remember that someone else should be here, your travel companions from Vellumis. You recall being sent by the government of Lastwall to investigate strange activity on the Nirmathas-Lastwall border.
Another shrill scream draws your eye to a small form struggling with another vine. It’s a goblin in rather fine clothing and armour for his ilk. Around his neck hangs a wayfinder. His bulging eyes fall on you. “Please help poor Splug! Jhadar!” You and he are about 15 or 20 feet from the edge of the hole. It’s time to act.
Splug looks towards you for guidance
A fan of intense flame erupts forth from Jhadar's hands reducing the closest clump of roots to cinders.
Splug cringes defensively, presenting a smaller target .
This distraction grants Jhadar an opening
The tainted root at is reduced to ashes. The roots further away—although badly burnt—remain a threat.
Jhadar aims the tip of his staff towards as a silvery bolt shoots forth, narrowly missing the corner of the tent and slicing the root on the other side in half!
Spurred on by your arcane display, Splug advances cautiously to E4.
The root at C2 shifts to D3 and tried to grasp Splug.
vs. AC
Splug expertly fends off the grasping tendrils with his longsword.
The one at B1 snakes its way to C3 and tries to grasp Splug as well .
vs. AC
Splug narrowly manages to avoid this.
vs. AC
The root that moved to C6 manages to get a firm grab on Splug and pull him one square to D5 .
Jhadar raises his staff summoning fiery wrath, and uses scorching burst on C2, hitting B1 in the blast.
C2: 1d20 + 4 => (10) + 4 = 14
B1: 1d20 + 4 => (16) + 4 = 20
1d6 + 4 => (3) + 4 = 7
Both tainted roots are not fast enough to escape the burst of fiery wrath and are reduced to ashes.
(The fact that I didn't roll damage for the root that hit Splug, probably gave it away that these are minions.)
A map of the current situation.
Also there is no penalty for firing into melee, even though Splug is grabbed.
If you'd like to attempt knowledge checks you can ascertain the following if you manage to beat DC 15:
The drag marks lead to the edge of the rift. The rift wall ends after about 10 feet down, but it opens into a wider area lit by a green light. The light shimmers on running water about 20 feet below. On the far side of the rift dangles a root that could allow easy climbing. You would need to jump about 10 feet to reach that root. Otherwise, the rift sides look rough, and there’s no reason to risk a jump to the other side of the rift, other than to make use of the root there.
You manage to recover:
- a length of rope (50 feet)
- a healing potion
- your backpack
- your bedroll
- an extra bedroll
- 1 sunrod
- a metal pot
- a metal pan
- and a full waterskin.
You can take any or all of this gear.
Splug shrugs, "You da boss!"
Thankfully the hanging root does not try to attack you, and in fact, seems quite sturdy.
Splug waits for you to descend first and then follows you below.
You’re in a large cave. Ambient green light allows you to see clearly. The chasm is above you now, an opening in the cave roof about 10 feet up. You’re in a luminous green stream of water that flows from a hole in the northern cave wall, and the cave slopes upward toward that direction. The current is pretty strong. Part of the cave to the west is obviously hewn stone, and another stream flows from that passage. From your vantage, you can’t see much of that tunnel.
With a squelching sound, a sickly-looking blue ooze surfaces and starts to approach. Movement in other parts of the cave indicates more creatures, including a couple of those black, mobile roots near the southern wall. The stream plunges into another cavern there, roiling fiercely.
You are standing next to a long, inanimate root dangling in the water, it looks like you could swing on it or hold onto it.
Jhadar shifts to H8, then uses magic missile of the ooze in G8.
Because Magic Missile is a ranged attack you'll provoke an attack of opportunity from the ooze at G8. Do you still want to do this?
It's safe to shift to G10 or H10, though I'll have to let the roots act first 'cause they've got the higher Dex.
From your new position on the battlemap you see that to the north is a clearly artificial pipe, jutting from the wall and spewing water into this chamber. The pipe is carved to look as if a demonic frog is holding it, and the pipe itself looks big enough to enter. The frog’s eyes sparkle in the ambient light, which is brighter in this passage. Where the pipe spews water, a deeper, calmer pool has formed on leveler ground. It’s obvious that water within 3 squares of the pipe is difficult terrain but not a rushing stream hazard. Another vine, similar to the one you clambered down, dangles near the cave wall to the west ().
The ooze at B9 moves to E10 and extends a pseudopod to slam you.
Jhadar is forced to give ground under an acidic onslaught. Another ooze gives pursuit and emerges from under the water at E11.
.
Putting up a valiant defence, Jhadar holds his ground. From this position he can clearly see that the stream he is standing in flows into on open cavern (south of E14 and F14) with light at the other end.
Making its way from I7 to H9 the furthest ooze senses something clamber down the vine
Just as he's about to move back to cast a spell, Jhadar sees Splug shift out of the way and instead unleashes sonic fury against the enemies in front. The force of the shockwave scattering their remains like leaves on the wind.
The frog statue is on top of the water pipe. On closer inspection its eyes appear to be green jewels. The pipe looks big enough for you or Splug to climb into. Water flows steadily out of the pipe, into a rushing stream flowing roughly north to south through the cave. You can see the water disappear into the other cavern past E13/E14 (earlier that's where you noticed light down the end).
Despite the strong current Jhadar manages to negotiate the stream unscathed.
Splug dives in after you and soon you both emerge in another natural cave illuminated by green light. A glowing green stream flows into the chamber at the northwest and flows out again through a gravel-filled opening in the east .
Splug leaps instinctively into the shadows.
A pool of liquid has collected in the south-western corner of the chamber, bubbling and churning as if disturbed from underneath. Other than some rubble, the only other feature is the broken wall to the west, leading to what looks like a landing of worked stone.
Near the pool along the southern wall, you spot a black, plant-like pod with writhing tendrils much like the tainted roots you’ve fought before. A chirping sound, barely audible above the water’s gurgling, draws your attention to sizable green bats hanging on the walls.
Your knowledge of dungeoneering tells you that the room and the creatures within are clearly tainted by magic, and the plant pod here is likely the source of the animated roots you’ve encountered.
From his hiding spot, Jhadar launches a magical bolt at the plant pod sitting on the shore of the glowing pool. The bolt of force chops a few tendrils off and cuts into its plant-like mass.
And cleaves the green bat in half!
Initiative
(S) Splug
(B) Tainted Bats
(R) Tainted Root Pod
From the D4, the bat furthest away launches off the ceiling to F4, banks to the right and flies straight for Splug!
The second bat gets past Splug's guard .