"Oxygen may be a finite resource down here, Zin... I...I should have prestidigitation cleaned that. My fault for not thinking of it earlier."
Burnt seaweed smelling delicious compared to old fish, he breathes in deeply.
"Oh well, worth it."
Amanorn looks at his now dry socks.
"Fair enough. So, now that we see this place has a motif, what do you think we're dealing with? Gillman? Merfolk? Undies? Ye Gods, I hope not Aboleth! The Skum don't seem the type to run things."
Amanorn recognizes the "bubble" on the entrance as an ancient Aboleth spell known as "Sea Lock", a variant on the classic Wall of Force that allows determined individuals to pass through slowly, but stops omni-directional forces (primarily water) and items moving above a pre-determined threshold of speed (projectiles, primarily, but melee weapon swings as well).
However, it appears to have been set in place on a Permanent basis, and this place IS remarkably old.
Amanorn relays what he remembers to the rest, and then mutters "F***ing Aboleth. So...um...Jones, any potions for upping willpower of people? Because you know those mind bending giant fish freaks love to dominate people, and I would rather not have Sledge pull my spleen out, Zin...get even more aggressive with me, nor Darius turn me into a chew toy or you pincushion my kidneys."
"Hm?"
Jones turns to Amanorn, having been quietly studying the room while everyone was talking.
"Well, I could prepare one more Heroism extract, but I don't have anything else for that sort of thing."
"I can, however, make sure that we won't be ambushed."
He prepares an Alchemical Allocation extract and uses it with his Elixir of Vision.
As if to prove Jones wrong, as soon as he finishes using his Boro Bead (and BEFORE he drinks the extract), you get ambushed.
Two strange, wrinkled, human sized creatures with far too many fingers on its abnormally large hands appear from nowhere in front of you (Spellcraft recognizes this as Dimension Door). Their skin writhes and crawls, and their fingers slither over each other in sickening ways, forming patterns man was not meant to see.
In your surprise at their arrival, your minds are assaulted by the alien presence once again.
Darius (22)
Jones (21)
Sledge (16)
Wrinkly 2 (15)
Amanorn (14)
Zin (10)
Wrinkly 1 (8)
Jones attempts to slip past the creatures without provoking.
Then he stabstudies one.
" Well we were not exactly quiet "
Between Jones, Zin, and Darius, you know basically everything there is to know about Dimensional Shamblers.
They can Dimension Door at-will, and still act normally after teleporting, and like to grab their prey. And then go on little jaunts to other planes with them.
Jones tries to slip by but gets slapped back for his troubles. And Grabbed.
Amanorn grabs his head and starts to freak out just a little.
"Teleporting...mutant...crazy...with the aboleth...ugh...and I'm under here...ugh...what the...Agggh!"
"Jones, if I grab one, and it teleports, will it be able to teleport out of my grasp?"
" These creatures are pure evil! They like to port in and assail people.. then leave with them in their grasp, Like Jones is now! Amanorn himself is acting strange, they must have some other effect. "
Darius moves up to the on grabbing Jones and whips it furiously in the attempt to make it drop him.
Amanorn grabs his head and starts to freak out just a little.
"Teleporting...mutant...crazy...with the aboleth...ugh...and I'm under here...ugh...what the...Agggh!"
Jones shanks hard, and Darius whips it good. The creatures do not scream nor show any outward sign of pain.
Sledge shrugs and hits the one grabbing Jones.
Sledge squeezes into the space next to the Shambler, and the tight quarters cause him to miss.
The Shambler grabbing Jones attempts to lock him down.
Jones is now Pinned, arms pulled behind his back.
Amanorn greases up Jones to give him a crazy good escape bonus...and then moves 30 ft away.
"What are you doing? That spell looks like it belongs in whatever weird stuff you get up to in your bedroom, not the battlefield. Shoot the thing."
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"I am not certain I'll kill it in one shot since even Sledge hasn't accomplished that feat with these things. I am however certain that spell will allow my friend to escape it's grasp, as well as prevent him from being grabbed. If you're worried I haven't left enough for you and whatever debauchery you're alluding to, I can pearl of power it back for whatever idea you had in mind, but it will have to wait, as I may have to grease another man up yet."
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Z sighs at Amanorm before throwing a third Ray absent-mindedly at the creature.
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Zin's second shot staggers the poor, wrinkled bastard.
The third annihilates it.
The remaining Shambler snatches at Amanorn as he flees.
...And fails.
It turns its attention to Sledge.
To great success.
Jones shivers as the Shambler's burnt husk slips off his greased body.
"Hm. Well, I appreciate the effort, Amanorn."
He then begins attacking the remaining Shambler, flanking with Sledge.
Jones shankity-shanks it.
Pearl of Power and now we have a greasy hobo!
"You can't touch this!"
Amanorn's pants are strangely baggy.
Almost...parachute-like.
Amanorn does a surprisingly good running-man.
Rather than break the grapple, Sledge elects to break the creature.
Sledge smacks it hard, twice. He notes a difficulty in damaging this one.
Darius mercilessly ends the creature.
Z snorts at Jones words, "Is it too awkward to thank the one who actually saved you, who you tried to scold less than twenty-four hours ago?"
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" Feh, that would not be you, When they attempted to leave I or Sledge would have ended them as well... Your contribution was noted Zin. Do you need to be thanked for every thing you do? I have spoken to him and need to do so to you as well. "
"I was more looking for recognition from the one who personally objects to my methods."
"But now that you mention it, I have to admit, I probably wouldn't mind some applause every once in a while."
"I mean, I am a little unique. Yourself, Sledge and Jones all fight stuff."
"Ananorm apparently specializes in covering people in questionable fluids."
"And I'm the embodiment of fire. I do stand out a little, if I'm allowed to say so."
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"Standing out is unwise. It makes you a target. Smart enemies target the person who can use magic, because you rarely know what to expect from them. You rarely know what to expect from an experienced fighter, but I don't expect you to understand that."
"Imagine if those things had strategized a bit, and teleported in right by you, fearing your magic - and it is obvious that you are a magic user. They'd shred you. Be subtle."
"And remember, you are not the embodiment of fire - you a human who is unlucky enough to be cursed and lucky enough to be good at a particular brand of magic. We are all mortal. We cannot afford to forget that, especially not here."
"Heyyyyyy" says Z with a pout.
"Don't be so dreary, I was only playing around."
"Besides, trying to find the silver lining in being slowly consumed by fire is probably the only thing keeping me sane."
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