His eyes regaining functionality, Argor squints to take in the scene. Seeing Nyugusk trying to recover, he floats ahead and taps him with his wand as well. He takes in the sight of the fleshy monstrosities ahead, and instructs the elementals to take up a defensive front line until they could recover the fallen combatant.
Following his companions, Hrim dives toward Nyug and cures him.
Cladissa looks up from tending to Nyug's injuries and past the half-orc. She makes a strangled noise in the back of her throat as she sees the fleshy blob and shudders.
Hrim's bad feeling with the plant gets worse when he sees the blobs. "Wh-wh-what are those things, Argor?"
Nyug flinches (still blinded) as he feels himself be touched--imagining his end is at hand--and then blinking finds his vision returning and looks up to see that Thrassk has dealt the plant its deathblow, and that Cladissa, Hrim, and even Argor had come rushing to his aid.
"Ooooohhhh. Ahhh!" He groans, "Thanks, my comrades! I'd not have survived that one without you. Still feeling a bit weak, I'm afraid." He uncorks one of his homemade potions of Cure Light Wounds and chugs it down.
While his body magically stitches back together, he follows Cladissa's gaze and grimmaces. "By the Blue Hand of Irori, there are at least a half dozen of those things!"
The creatures appear to be quivering piles of tumorous flesh. They leave trails of slime as they hungrily search for sustenance. Each pile is constructed from what appears to be partially melted bits of prehistoric animals that were on display, and some kind of shifting, morphing silver powder that is also liquid.
Argor has never seen or heard of anything like this, but he deduces that they probably fit into the ooze category of monster taxonomy.
An ooze has the following features.
d8 Hit Die.
Base attack bonus equal to 3/4 total Hit Dice (medium progression).
No good saving throws.
Skill points equal to 2 + Int modifier (minimum 1) per Hit Die. However, most oozes are mindless and gain no skill points or feats. Oozes do not have any class skills.Traits: An ooze possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature's entry).
Mindless: No Intelligence score, and immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects). An ooze with an Intelligence score loses this trait.
Blind (but have the blindsight special quality), with immunity to gaze attacks, visual effects, illusions, and other attack forms that rely on sight.
Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning.
Some oozes have the ability to deal acid damage to objects.
Not subject to critical hits or flanking. Does not take additional damage from precision-based attacks, such as sneak attack.
Proficient with its natural weapons only.
Proficient with no armor.
Oozes eat and breathe, but do not sleep.
Argor furrows his brow as he gazes on the creatures advancing towards them. "While these particular creatures are not one that I have come across in my studies, they do share properties similar to that of an ooze, and as such I can deduce some facts about them. They are likely mindless creations seeking only to thrive on whatever sustenance they can acquire. As such, charms, illusions, compulsions, and the like are all useless against them. As they lack proper orbits and ocular facilities, other visually related effects are just as futile. They lack a proper organ system, per se, and as such you will find it impossible to stun them, put them to sleep, or poison them, nor can you paralyze or polymorph them. Many of these types of creatures rely on acid to break down their nutrients, and as such, tend to harm their targets with it," he says bluntly as he hovers behind the front lines.
He lifts up his spellbook and says, "If you can give me but a moment, I may be able to buy us some more time."
His eyes begin to glow red as he flips through his spellbook, settling on a couple of pages around the middle of the tome. After a few quick moments scanning the page, he snaps the book closed and his eyes cease to glow as he turns his gaze once more back to the horde of gelatinous flesh advancing on their position.
__________
Cladissa looks nervous as Argor recites the oozes' immunities. Her wings unfold and twitch, ready to take to the air if the quivering masses begin to move toward them.
"If we don't have any area effect magic, we'll need to bottleneck them to fight one at a time if possible." Hrim's suggestion comes out louder and more excited than you've ever heard before. First plants, now oozes. He would rather fight demons and devils than these things.
"That is precisely what I have in mind, Hrimnagel. But I suggest we bypass these mindless things for now if at all possible, so as to not waste anymore of our precious resources or time that could be better put to use against our primary adversary here, who- and wherever they may be."
__________
The pit itself will be 30 feet deep, and will last for 7 rounds.
Nyugusk nods. "I don't relish the thought of connecting with those things at all...but at least a bit more breathing time would be appreciated...and if you can divide and conquer, that much the better."
Hrim flies around to recon options. When he returns, he has recentered himself and speaks in his usual small, thin voice. "The cooridror back here ends in a dead end, but it might be good to bottleneck them. The big guys will have to squeeze, so we might to investigate a one of the five doors. Or we could check out this door here and bottleneck them in the doorway. Going the other way just leads to the waiting ambush robots and traps. What do you think?"
After the monstrous plant falls, Cladissa rushes up to Nyug and hits him with the wand.
His eyes regaining functionality, Argor squints to take in the scene. Seeing Nyugusk trying to recover, he floats ahead and taps him with his wand as well. He takes in the sight of the fleshy monstrosities ahead, and instructs the elementals to take up a defensive front line until they could recover the fallen combatant.
Following his companions, Hrim dives toward Nyug and cures him. Cladissa looks up from tending to Nyug's injuries and past the half-orc. She makes a strangled noise in the back of her throat as she sees the fleshy blob and shudders.
Hrim's bad feeling with the plant gets worse when he sees the blobs. "Wh-wh-what are those things, Argor?"
Argor furrows his brow as he gazes on the creatures advancing towards them. "While these particular creatures are not one that I have come across in my studies, they do share properties similar to that of an ooze, and as such I can deduce some facts about them. They are likely mindless creations seeking only to thrive on whatever sustenance they can acquire. As such, charms, illusions, compulsions, and the like are all useless against them. As they lack proper orbits and ocular facilities, other visually related effects are just as futile. They lack a proper organ system, per se, and as such you will find it impossible to stun them, put them to sleep, or poison them, nor can you paralyze or polymorph them. Many of these types of creatures rely on acid to break down their nutrients, and as such, tend to harm their targets with it," he says bluntly as he hovers behind the front lines.
He lifts up his spellbook and says, "If you can give me but a moment, I may be able to buy us some more time."
His eyes begin to glow red as he flips through his spellbook, settling on a couple of pages around the middle of the tome. After a few quick moments scanning the page, he snaps the book closed and his eyes cease to glow as he turns his gaze once more back to the horde of gelatinous flesh advancing on their position.
Nyug flinches (still blinded) as he feels himself be touched--imagining his end is at hand--and then blinking finds his vision returning and looks up to see that Thrassk has dealt the plant its deathblow, and that Cladissa, Hrim, and even Argor had come rushing to his aid.
"Ooooohhhh. Ahhh!" He groans, "Thanks, my comrades! I'd not have survived that one without you. Still feeling a bit weak, I'm afraid." He uncorks one of his homemade potions of Cure Light Wounds and chugs it down.
While his body magically stitches back together, he follows Cladissa's gaze and grimmaces. "By the Blue Hand of Irori, there are at least a half dozen of those things!"
Cladissa looks nervous as Argor recites the oozes' immunities. Her wings unfold and twitch, ready to take to the air if the quivering masses begin to move toward them.
"If we don't have any area effect magic, we'll need to bottleneck them to fight one at a time if possible." Hrim's suggestion comes out louder and more excited than you've ever heard before. First plants, now oozes. He would rather fight demons and devils than these things.
Meanwhile the oozes continue trundling forward.
================================
"That is precisely what I have in mind, Hrimnagel. But I suggest we bypass these mindless things for now if at all possible, so as to not waste anymore of our precious resources or time that could be better put to use against our primary adversary here, who- and wherever they may be." Argor casts a spell, creating a pit under three of the advancing oozes. They slop helplessly into the pit, like blobs of jam down the drain of a washbasin. There is a wet splorching sound when they hit bottom a second later.
Nyugusk nods. "I don't relish the thought of connecting with those things at all...but at least a bit more breathing time would be appreciated...and if you can divide and conquer, that much the better."
Hrim flies around to recon options. When he returns, he has recentered himself and speaks in his usual small, thin voice. "The cooridror back here ends in a dead end, but it might be good to bottleneck them. The big guys will have to squeeze, so we might to investigate a one of the five doors. Or we could check out this door here and bottleneck them in the doorway. Going the other way just leads to the waiting ambush robots and traps. What do you think?"
_________________________________________
As Argor cants his spell, the elementals begin driving their stone fists into the gelatinous forms of their foes, creating a sickening splorching sound.
Argor folds his arms and floats in the periphery, smiling as he watches the blobs slide helplessly into his trap.
__________
Cladissa steps forward from where she was attending to Nyugusk, and unleashes a gout of fire that burns the front two blobs, but also incorporates one of Argor's summoned minions.
[ooc]Casts burning hands
fails
saves, takes half
fails?
A bit hesitantly, the Transmogrifying Lotus braces himself, steps slightly forward, and begins to rip into the piles of oozing metal and flesh (starting with the one that looks most burnt).
Argor's summons smash into the fleshy oozes.
Cladissa burns the oozes badly, which they seem to react negatively to.
Nyugusk begins clawing at the oozes, which regenerate in response to his attacks. He manages to rip one apart faster than it can heal itself. The second weathers his assault and looks a bit larger for it.
Hrimnagel heals Nyugusk.
Thrassk moves up behind Cladissa and bites the ooze over her shoulder. He destroys a chunk of it, but what's left heals a bit and seems to grow a bit larger.
______________________________
Cladissa falls back behind Thrassk. "The fires certainly hurt them! I'll need a moment to recall that spell, so hold them off!" she says as she dips her hand into a pouch and closes her fist around a simple pearl. Instantly, the spell energy recharges and flows back into her head.
"Yes, but claws and fangs only make them stronger! Try to avoiding slashing them if you can! Argor calls out as the elementals continue their assault.
__________
Nyugusk shakes his head. "I don't think it's as simple as that. Look, I managed to drop that one." he gestures. "I just think we need to concentrate our attacks. Thrask, lets focus on double teaming one at a time.
"We should definitely keep an eye open to see if they keep regenerating after they've been destroyed...and if fire changes that equation at all."
With that, he steps forward and tries to again shred the blob before him, before it can recover from his blows.
"What happened to the idea of 'bypassing these mindless things'?" Hrim asks the group.
He draws his bow and whispers a silent prayer to Count Ranalc. He targets the most damaged ooze.
"They're disgusting, fleshy abominations, and I for one would be glad to rid the world of them!" she answers Hrim, unable to hide the disgust in her voice.
Cladissa falls back behind Thrassk. "The fires certainly hurt them! I'll need a moment to recall that spell, so hold them off!" she says as she dips her hand into a pouch and closes her fist around a simple pearl. Instantly, the spell energy recharges and flows back into her head.
"Yes, but claws and fangs only make them stronger! Try to avoiding slashing them if you can! Argor calls out as the elementals continue their assault.
Nyugusk shakes his head. "I don't think it's as simple as that. Look, I managed to drop that one." he gestures. "I just think we need to concentrate our attacks. Thrask, lets focus on double teaming one at a time.
"We should definitely keep an eye open to see if they keep regenerating after they've been destroyed...and if fire changes that equation at all."
With that, he steps forward and tries to again shred the blob before him, before it can recover from his blows. He manages to finish it off.
"What happened to the idea of 'bypassing these mindless things'?" Hrim asks the group.
He draws his bow and whispers a silent prayer to Count Ranalc. He targets the most damaged ooze. He sinks two arrows into ooze behind the pit.
Thrassk advances forward and replies to Hrim. "There appears to only be one way forward, and the oozes were coming for us before we had time to act. Argor, can you dismiss your pit please? It's done its work."
The elemental takes an opportunistic jab at the ooze, while Argor retrieves a scroll from his side. He mutters the magic contained therein and sends a beam of fire towards the creature.
"It cannot be dismissed, and will remain for several more seconds. I suggest we take the opportunity to bypass them to save our strength for the primary adversary."
__________
Nyugusk grins at Argor, "Claws making them stronger, eh?" and then tears into the final one before them, attempting to lay it to waste as well.
As they continue to wade through the fleshy oozes, he pauses to add "It's odd though. Have they been attacking us? What's going on with them? Have we just been dropping them before they were able to make contact with us?"
_______________________
Hrim shrugs disbelieving that he actually agrees with Argor and targets the most damaged ooze.
Her fire spell recharged, Cladissa moves back up towards the fray. However, the close press of bodies and the singular target causes her to hold off and wait for a more opportune moment to unleash the spray of flame.
"Should we trust the oozes to not advance upon us once the pit spell expires? If the pit will be only seconds, why not prepare to eliminate these fleshy abominations now?"
Argor rolls his eyes. "Very well," he acquiesces. "But while they are trapped, try not to expend too much of your arcane gifts and abilities. As I have said, those are potent resources better reserved for more dangerous foes."
He then hovers over top of the pit, near the ceiling, and begins sending several frigid rays of icy energy towards the trapped creatures below...
__________
Cladissa gives Argor a deferential nod and a sly smile. "Wise counsel, Argor. I shall remain poised to use my fire spell in case it is warranted."
The Pathfinders surround and destroy the trapped oozes in a matter of seconds, using Hrimnagel's arrows, and the extended reaches of Thrassk and Nyugusk.
The robots Hrimnagel noticed earlier still lurk in the east wing, unresponsive to the combat across the museum.
Gesturing towards the stairs up, Argor says, "Shall we?"
Cladissa stares at the robots lurking in wait for a moment, then moves away from them. "I agree. The automatons' instructions seem to hinge on a threat moving into their zone of defense. We shouldn't let them linger after the main threat is dealt with, but our first goal should be to resolve the originating threat," she states.
She steps forward, slinking along the walls as quietly as she can manage.
Argor nods towards his elementals to advance, then follows behind them and the other warriors as they advance up the stairs.
A gigantic reptilian beast is on display in the center of this expansive gallery, ferociously leering over the collection of taxidermied animals and monsters (which have been partially cannibalized to form the oozes).
Many exhibits have been smashed or torn apart, scattering limbs and sawdust across the basalt floor. A small door at the eastern end of the room is labeled“Private Events Only.”The door to the east leads up a curving staircase. It was once locked, but has been smashed to flinders.
Cladissa's ears perk up and she spins around before they start heading up the stairs. "Wait a moment!" she announces before spinning on her toes and rushing back to the servant's stairs. "Gerva! We've dealt with the main threats up here! We could use your assistance identifying these robots?" she calls down to the Technic League soldier they encountered earlier, trying to coax her up.
Hrim offers to scout per usual but isn't heard. He stealthily flies over everyone trying to get in front.
B18. Museum Library
Most of the museum’s rare or dangerous books are kept
in the basement or Aldain’s office, but this small, wellstocked research library exists for donors and visiting
scholars to use. Nearly a third of the shelf space is
dedicated to cataloging the museum’s collection.
Gerva comes in from the entrance, and up the stairs to where Cladissa is calling her. "What do you need? Did you find the thing that escaped from the crate?"
You fly up the stairs cloaked in shadow. At the top there are two of the gearsmen robots standing guard. A mosaic of the night sky and winter constellations covers the domed ceiling of this circular chamber. Rich embellishments fill the walls, and a plush carpet covers the floor. Heavy antique furniture has been overturned or broken, much of it incorporated into a series of sparking devices which take up the circle in the center of the room.
Across the chamber a creature waits, it is man sized and shaped but appears to be covered in a thin silvery film of some kind, which constantly shifts and moves about on the its skin.
None of the creatures seem to notice you.
Cladissa shakes her head. "Not yet, but we found some other stuff. An awful, alien plant and some kind of fleshy goo. But we've dealt with that. There are robots in that chamber over there that are guarding the main stairs. I wouldn't go in there unless you're really good at hiding, or if you have some way of shutting them down. We're going upstairs, now, but I was hoping you could watch for those robots and give us a yell in case they activate?"
"Yeah, those look like retriever bots. Not the most dangerous things, but not exactly weak either. I'll keep and eye on them for you, sure. But if they attack, I'm running after I yell."
Cladissa smiles genuinely. "Thank you!"
Then she turns and moves back to the base of the steps, sniffing to detect Hrim's return from scouting. "What'd you see?"
Hrim returns to the group and smiles at Cladissa's guess, "At the top of the stairs are two of the gearsmen robots standing guard. Across the chamber a creature waits, it is man sized and shaped but appears to be covered in a thin silvery film of some kind, which constantly shifts and moves about on the its skin. Heavy antique furniture has been overturned or broken, much of it incorporated into a series of sparking devices which make up a circle in the center of the room."
"Interesting...it sounds like this substance has wholly subsumed the physicality of Pendleton. We need to determine a method of separating it from its host. Most of these things that are robotic in nature are negatively affected by electricity. Perhaps a suitable jolt would release Mr. Blakros from his predicament?"
"I don't know how strong it is, but maybe if we were to grab him and restrain him it would willingly part from his body?"
"I could always try to put him to sleep," Cladissa offers.