vs. AC
Somewhat rattled by an enemy with no appreciation of poetry or personal insults, Darwyn backs off and fires an arrow randomly at the insects. It pings harmlessly off the vat.
Spectral insects meet the scarabs head on and devour many of them. Greatly diminished, the swarm yet lives, but the end cannot be far now.
Norrin moves to F14 and launches two arrows to drive the remainder of the swarm away from his friends.
Norrin's arrows skewer the remaining scarabs and they drop writhing to the ground.
The group step through the portal and find themselves in a ruined laboratory. Fungus hangs in sheets from the walls and another type of oily black fungus spreads over the floor, eating into the remains of equipment and overturned tables. Three large vats, the endmost also filled with black fungus and the two nearer liberally adorned with green mould of some kind, also draw the attention. The whole chamber stinks, but torches sit in walls sconces, lighting the area.
"Unpleasant enough in here," Lyan grunts.
Then, seeming to realize something had been omitted, the hobgoblin turns to the human woman. "Not that we don't appreciate your help, but who are you and what are you doing here?"
The ranger looks for the lost piton near the brown door-like thing.
Among the mess of destroyed equipment on the floor, Norrin finds Private Piton, noble volunteer. The piton is still attached to a short length of rope.
The girl takes off her mask, to reveal an attractive (if somewhat puzzled) young woman.
"I... can understand your speech..." she says carefully, "I speak your language! I - of course. She made it possible."
She continues, "I am Akemi, servant of the kami of knowledge." she looks away for a second, "Ioun. That is what she is called here."
"What is this place?"
"Moil," Lyan says bluntly. "Or somewhere hooked to it. Welcome to the flower gardens.
"Knowledge, eh? Perhaps you can tell us more?"
"'Moil'? What is 'Moil'? I know nothing of this place. I was about to defend the monastery from the oni attack, and I found myself transported here."
The hobgoblin grunts. "Well, it was an idea."
Lyan shows no inclination to continue the line of conversation and starts peering around the tapestries near the exit. "You went back here, right?"
Darwyn brushes himself off after the battle. Then beams at the newcomer.
'Good day Akemi, you are our cavalry I suppose? A pleasure to meet you, a fine servant of what we call Ioun! Shall you be accompanying us for awhile? It will only get more dangerous, though you seem well equipped for that!'
Akemi blushes at the eager young man's praise, "I thank you, sir. But I am not 'the cavalry', I do not generally ride." she says seriously.
After a briefly holding the piton up in the air in triumph, Norrin goes over to welcome Akemi.
"Ah! A fellow practitioner of the chopping arts! Don't worry, rides aren't terribly useful here..."
The ranger ponders for a moment, "unless we could get our hands on some sort of giant cave gecko."
He wanders off in search of stuff.
'Well I rather meant- The suppor- Nevermind! A pleasure to have you with us! You find anything interesting Norrin? I'm eager to not stay in one place for too long. I don't like the idea of things finding us here.'
The floor is littered with debris, but there might be salvageable ritual components here. Without further investigation it is impossible to tell if the vats hide anything of value.
Lyan gruffly reiterates his question to Akemi. "Ride, fly, or tunnel -- what was around that corner, and is it still kicking? You came back a bit battered."
Norrin peers into each of the vats in case there is something Darwyn could use.
Norrin gropes through the fungal coating on the nearest vat and feels his fingers close over a small object. Scraping off the coating, he finds he is holding a mithril key topped with the familiar skull of the Devourer.
The other two vats contain nothing of interest beyond an exciting array of fungus. The floor is more rewarding. Searching reveals enough 500gp worth of arcane residue.
Darwyn collects the residue with great care and turns to his companions.
'Right! Lets get out of here, I'd rather not stay near the fungus for long!'
"The corridor contains purple fungus covering at least one pit, bakemono-san; I had to fly to avoid it." Akemi replies to Lyan.
"Hrnh. I'd ask if you saw what was past it, but with no other exits it doesn't much matter." Lyan digs a crowbar out of his pack. "Unless anyone's got something better for poking, or any better ideas . . ."
"Hearing none," Lyan mutters.
He enters the area of purple fungus, prodding ahead with his crowbar for treacherous footing.
Lyan drops neatly into the ten foot deep pit left by Akemi's exit and ploughs into the fungus. Unable to avoid inhaling the spores, he gulps and falls unconscious, landing on the hidden spikes beneath.
Lyan's constitution saves him from the worst effects of the fungus.
Lyan swats at the fungus and realises it is probably destructible with weapons, although doing so will provoke another attack from the flying spores.
To the east, he can see a further stretch of corridor which looks mercifully fungus free.
Rev:
Lyan calls out, "To the southeast -- I'll check it!" Suiting action to words, Lyan crouches and his powerful legs propel him to the far hall.
Samson grits his teeth, joins Lyan in the pit and swipes around the hobgoblin to clear the next fungal square with his spear. Spores fly, but Lyan remembers in time to breath in and takes no further damage.
Coughing, Lyan croaks out, "Wait. Let one person at a time get clear."
Suiting action to words, Lyan crouches, then leaps clear of the fungus into the hall beyond.
Lyan's powerful legs and athletic muscles take him into the clear hallway. Down it he sees what looks like an innocent wooden door.
'Stand back! I'll try and burn the fungus out of the way.'
Darwyn calls on his magical reserves and unleashes a pillar of flames appears in the hallway.
Darwyn's nature skills are not particularly strong, but even he realises that wet fungus will not burn. Blowing it away with force may be an option however, as Norrin is quick to spot. The half orc also thinks that remembering to hold ones breath might be a good plan.
Akemi adopts a silent stance. Glowing wings of light emerge from her back and she is borne aloft.
Lyan nods approvingly as Akemi alights nearby.