"Don't stand and fight, hit and run!" Anklebiter shouts. "We are not here to fish! Sagittae magicae, omne errore vacuae!"
Bolts of magic fly and strike both the hideous fish-monsters.
Kel stands ready to strike any fish things with her morningstar, especially any fish things lurking in the water and preparing to pounce on her.
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13
Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +7
CMD 14
HP 15/15
Divine retribution (DC 13) 0/6; Judgments 0/1
Effects: 2 arrow s
Calla fires another shot into the wall of the cavern as the creature again ducks under it.
Bruendor cries out as the barracuda sinks its teeth into his flesh, and shoves the thing aside. He continues to position himself, this time to give Lefrik a spot to strike at the fish rather than protect himself from being swarmed.
Same as last round. AC=18.
Anklebiter's spell stings both fish, but does little damage. Lefrik is much more effective with his axe, nearly severing the head from one of the swamp barracuda. In retaliation, both fish snap at their opponents. Lefrik and Bruendor evade the bites with ease, having figured out how the beasts move in that first flurry of attacks.
Initiatives :
Anklebiter 7
Kelendra 6
Lefrik 18
Bruendor 16
Calla 11
Enemies 7
The barracuda snaps at Bruendor again, but catches nothing but air. He darts to the side, giving Calla a clear shot at it.
5' step to AR65. Meant to say that last post, but forgot. Same as last round, AC=18.
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13
Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +7
CMD 14
HP 15/15
Divine retribution (DC 13) 0/6; Judgments 0/1
Effects: 3 arrows; Point-blank Shot
Calla snarls as she nocks and quickly fires another arrow at the creature fighting Bruendor.
"Simul clamo, simul moris!" Anklebiter chants, and the fishmonster fighting Bruendor suddenly finds its skull vibrating with an unearthly shriek, which causes blood to trickle from its eyes and ears.
Kel continues to stand ready to strike any fish things with her morningstar.
This time, Lefrik twists and avoids a bite, and then slashes again, "I think dying because of these things would be an embarrassing end to anyone's saga."
Lefrik follows his previous cut's path, and completely severed the fish's head from its body. The other was buried under a combination of flashing blade, biting arrow, and piercing magic. The sounds of combat echoed around the small chamber for a few moments after all was still, then the sounds faded to that of the churning pool of water.
Lefrik cleans his axe, "Ha! Anyone hungry?"
"Yes, because I want to eat the horrible creatures that tried to eat us instead of continuing to follow Saul..." Calla complains as she begins looking to see if any of her arrows survived the fight.
Bruendor flicks the blood off his blade and resheaths it, readying his crossbow again. "Maybe I'll spot the ambush this time before we walk into it. Damnation, that was a green mistake. I used to be better at this. All this time of living topside's made me rusty."
"Hey!" Anklebiter complains as he lopes forward. "I didn't make any mistakes, I did good!"
The next moment, the Goblin's look of indignation turns to one of discomfort. "Wasted my memorized attack-spells on that, though. Only have some attack-scrolls left now. Not good."
"Let's get in a bit of healing before we continue, shall we?"
"I am beginning to think none of us get things done perfectly, but we do get it done." he also nods his thanks at the healing
"That we do, Lefrik," he agrees. "But we need to be careful. Fighting these damned fish means we're not quite as fresh when we meet Saul. We just need to be more careful."
"Everyone ready? Let's see if we can find Saul, instead of standing around and complaining about underground fish-beasts."
"Ready," the barbarian says and follows
"Of course. Ready," Anklebiter says, shrugging.
On the Goblin's shoulder, the chattering Minky actually snaps off a little salute in Calla's direction.
Great, I've got one of the monkeys responding correctly...
"Ready, let's find that scum!"
"Then what are we waiting for?", Bruendor muses, leading the group onward.
About 40 feet up the tunnel leading from the barracudas' lair, Bruendor finds that the tunnel splits. One branch heads north, while the other goes south. The floor is hard stone with little scree or dirt to show traffic.
"Great. Now which way, oh fearless leader?"
"I trust in the guy with the talent in his name, Mr. CaveScouter, which way?"
Bruendor held up a hand for silence, trying to hear if there was any tell-tale signs of activity down either passageway.
Lefrik takes this moment to clean his axe again.
Anklebiter quietly scuttles up to Bruendor and peers down the tunnels as he does, big ears twitching for even a hint of noise.
There are some faint scuff marks in the floor, but they appear to go both north and south. The musty smell is stronger to the north.
"Smells like some of the monkey's cousins are to the north..."
"Well, that settles it for me. A far wiser man than myself once said, 'If in doubt, always follow your nose.'" He begins leading the party towards the southern passage.
"Hmm, I think that wise man followed his nose to fresh air, whereas we're following the stank of monkey-butt Saul, but we've a different mission as well, so lead on, Cave Scouter." Kel follows Bruendor down the southern passage.
Lefrik says as they move, "At least it doesn't smell like more fish."
The southern passage opens into a small cave holding a small pool of water. Unlike the previous chamber, the water here is quite still, and nearly translucent. There are no water marks or detritus on the walls, indicating that this pool keeps a relatively constant level. Slumped against the wall facing the pool is a human skeleton, wearing the tattered remains of a naval coat. Its hollow eyes stare into the pool, where a large chest and another skeleton can be seen. The skeleton's bony hands clutch at a rusty sword blade that protrudes from its rib cage.
"Hmmph," Lefrik says with some disdain as he notices the skeleton "Even here? Is there any room, inn, tavern, bordello, or even cave in this city that doesn't have an assassination in it sooner or later?"
"Careful. It's possible those fools just didn't quite make it back to the surface, but whatever killed them could still be lurking in there. Give me a minute..." Calla says, holding up her hand, her bow still in her other.
The fine hairs on Calla's neck lift as she studies the pool with her magically enhanced senses. A light emanation of evil brought goosebumps to her flesh as she stared at the dark spot just beyond the sunken chest.
"There's something evil hiding just beyond that chest. Be ready if we want to approach!"
"Approach, nothing," Bruendor quietly replied. "We've blundered into enough ambushes already. If there's no way beyond this cave, then we go back and head the other way. We can check this out some other day when we're not hunting Vancaskerkins."
"I don't like the idea of leaving something to attack us from behind. In my experience, the knife in your back is more dangerous than the enemy who comes at you from the front."