BONDEN
Grabbing the bag thrust at him, Bonden looked aghast.
"But miss Sunny, don't you want us ta fight with ya?" He said, looking forlorn.
AVNER
Avner just smiled at Sunny, dodging the sack thrust at him and kicking his rapier up into his hand.
"Sorry, Sunny my girl, but I am a noble of Port Sasserine; and GLORY AWAITS!" He shouted before charging after the others.
MARIUS
"...Marius, keep an eye out for if anything breaks through that ice."
Looking dubious, Marius just nodded.
"Aye captain." He said, turning his gaze to the ice plug overhead.
Charging up the corridor, Bryson passed a couple of reinforced doors before stopping suddenly at a large cargo chamber.
Here a huge section of the hull has rotted away, leaving a stinking pit with walls of writhing green and brown vegetation.
These walls writhe with horrible half-formed life, semi-human shapes twisting and spasming from thick tumescent stalks like anthropomorphic fruits ready for harvest.
The pit before you drops away into a noisome, unseen depth, certainly far deeper than the sea level, into an unknown hell below.
Bryson feels it here, and realized that he had been feeling it all along; the mental call, welcoming embrace, the desire for you to surrender to it. The others feel it here as they come up to the lip of the Maw.
Whatever IT is, it is down below, at the bottom of the pit.
It calls to you... Will save DC13 or throw yourselves into the green embrace of the pit far below...
Bryson Devil Cat uses the spell Defoliate to try to free Annie.
Defoliate]You hurl a tiny ball of negative energy, destroying plant life either in a line 60 feet long or a 10-foot-radius spread. This effect removes the cover and concealment provided by trees and undergrowth, eliminates the movement penalties associated with undergrowth, and so forth.
Sunny stands upon the edge of the green abyss and wrinkles her pert nose.
"Eeeeew! Icky."
Burian lets out a plosive grunt as he lands hard from the fall, and a pained groan as gets to his feet. He takes a moment to murmur and gesture until a pale light rings his hands which he places to his chest.
He is slow to approach the monstrosity of plant life after shaking off its beckoning.
Keeping his fear in check, he reaches Ghirrak and Sunny, and asks "Where is she? Is she here?"
Bryson's Defoliation spell erupts, and a five foot wide swath of the thrashing vines blackens, withers and dies as it plows sixty feet straight down.
In your minds, you hear a soundless shriek of pain as the rest of the plants thrash about.
You see the swath is short however, at the furthest point straight down, there is a forty foot gap to the very bottom.
At the very bottom of the maw, you see a viney bulge from one of the pods as something very Vine Horror-ish starts growing.
You realize that the very bottom of the Maw is about 100 feet.
Sunny scampers forwards and leans forwards to look down the hole.
"Oh! Peoples!" She exclaims, pointing down into the green void. She looks at the writhing fronds that comrpise the place for a moment before simply beginning to climb down the wall of plants.
AVNER
Avner ran up to the lip of the Maw.
"Annie! Where are..." He got out before looking down and freezing.
He does not throw himself into the Maw.
Ignoring the dark call, Ghirrak turns to looks at what Sunny notices. "There we go, move everyone!" he shouts beginning to climb down.
Was Annie freed?
Bryson runs down to Annie. If he needs to, he'll change back and flies down to her.
Marius had been a tad dubious about staying behind. After all, he liked to think he could contribute to killing whatever horror lurked at the heart of it all.
Still, making sure the others weren't swarmed from behind had its merits as well. And he could always change his mind if it seemed warranted. Say, by shouts for help or suspicious silences. Thus far, the level of noise seemed about right.
Of course, watching for reinforcements only took so much attention, particularly with the ice wall holding fast, and there was a rather large pile of treasure he could at least cast his eye over in search of quality artworks or anything obviously magical.
BONDEN
Bonden looked over at Marius as he scooped stuff into the packs.
"Ya better go sir, sounds like they need ya. I'll handle the rest of this stuff."
"Yell and retreat if anything does break through," Marius advised Bonden. On balance, it seemed unlikely, and killing the Heart would only improve their situation.
Leaving his haversack with Bonden, Marius followed the others into the northern room, peering into the gaping maw.
Acting decisively, he cast a flight spell and stepped off the edge, flitting swiftly down into the pit. If he could get some good hits in early, before those pods burst open, that would make their lives easier. All while hovering out of reach, of course.
Burian murmurs and pats himself again with a faintly glowing hand, then begins his descent.
As you all start down into the Maw, the pile of human vegetation at the bottom walked into the side of the pit and disappeared.
At this moment:
Bryson had leapt down to about the fifty foot level, withering plants all around him.
Marius had just flown down also to the fifty foot level midair.
Sunny, Ghirrak, Burian and Avner had climbed down to the 20 foot level.
Right next to Sunny, a mound of vegetation erupted out of the side of the Maw.
This dislocated sack of foul smelling vegetation is wreathed in screaming humanoid forms that struggle to free themselves from the foul flesh.
A vast distended belly bathed in foul green mucus hangs from the vaguely humanoid form.
Infantile cries echo from the hideous passengers that slowly pull themselves from their mother.
Twenty feet tall, this grotesque hybrid of woman and plant is a nightmare of mucoid arms and clustered eyes.
It is a deviant thing of rot, a pyramidical bulk that rises to a head of eyes and barbed, thorny teeth.
Immediately, the Mother of All lashed out to Bite at Sunny.
for a possible piercing damage.
A spiny vine lashed out at Burian.
for a possible slashing damage.
A spiny vine lashed out at Ghirrak.
for a possible slashing damage.
Round 1______________
Players take their turn in order of Posting, enemies will go last.
Babbling Young: The Mother of All is constantly in the process of spawning dozens of vine horrors. The immature vine horrors produce a cacophony of wailing that inerferes with spellcasting. Any creature witin 60 feet of a Mother of All that attempts to cas a spell must first succeed on a DC15(+1/spell level) Concentration Check or lose the spell.
Well, that had been unexpected. Though in hindsight, why wouldn't their enemy come bursting out of the wall, rather than waiting at the bottom of the pit?
Marius backed up as best he could and hurled a scorching ray at the Mother.
Finally the source of his distress has shown itself. The reason that Annie is in trouble. Bryson launches himself at it.
Bite: pounce, gtr magic fang
Claw: pounce, gtr magic fang
Claw: pounce, gtr magic fang
Right next to Sunny, a mound of vegetation erupted out of the side of the Maw.
This dislocated sack of foul smelling vegetation is wreathed in screaming humanoid forms that struggle to free themselves from the foul flesh.
A vast distended belly bathed in foul green mucus hangs from the vaguely humanoid form.
Infantile cries echo from the hideous passengers that slowly pull themselves from their mother.
Twenty feet tall, this grotesque hybrid of woman and plant is a nightmare of mucoid arms and clustered eyes.
It is a deviant thing of rot, a pyramidical bulk that rises to a head of eyes and barbed, thorny teeth.Immediately, the Mother of All lashed out to Bite at Sunny.
Bite vs Sunny29 for a possible 17 piercing damage.
(O_o)
"GAH!" Is Sunny's immediate response as the wall sprouts a gnashing, bity mostrosity.
The plucky Elf simply scrambling across the greenery seeking to put some distance between herself and the emergent horror.
Deflecting the attack, Ghrirrak unleashes a blinding flurry of attacks against the demonic plant creature.
Burian growls in frustration and pain as he is struck, but continues his descent.
Round 1 complete______________
Marius Hawk_____
Still descending, Marius turned and hurled a scorching ray back up at the Mother from the -75 foot level (just out of range of the gibbering).
Bryson Deepwinter_____
Finally the source of his distress has shown itself. The reason that Annie is in trouble. Bryson launches himself at it.
.Suny._____
The plucky Elf simply scrambling across the greenery seeking to put some distance between herself and the emergent horror.
A spiny vine lashed out at Burian.
for a possible slashing damage.
Ghirrak Ironfist_____
Deflecting the attack, Ghrirrak unleashes a blinding flurry of attacks against the demonic plant creature.
Burian Faldaeral_____
Burian growls in frustration and pain as he is struck, but continues his descent.
Avner_____
Avner leapt down to lash out with his rapier at the Mother, but missed the strike.
At this moment:
Bryson had leapt back up to about the -25 foot level, withering plants all around him as he tried to shred the Mother.
Marius had flown down to the -75 foot level midair.
Sunny and Burian had climbed down to the -50 foot level.
Ghirrak and Avner were in close combat with the Mother at the -25 foot level.
The Mother of All lashed out at Ghirrak, Bryson and Avner.
Bite at Ghirrak.
for a possible piercing damage.
A spiny vine lashed out at Bryson.
for a possible piercing damage.
A spiny vine lashed out at Ghirrak.
for a possible piercing damage.
A vine horror emerged out of the Maw wall and attacked Marius Hawk.
for a possible bludgeoning damage.
for a possible bludgeoning damage.
Round 2__________
Players take their turn in order of posting, enemies will go last.
At this moment:
Bryson is at the -25 foot level, withering plants all around him as he engages the Mother in close combat.
Marius is at the -75 foot level midair, engaged with a Vine Horror.
Sunny and Burian had climbed down to the -50 foot level.
Ghirrak and Avner are in close combat with the Mother at the -25 foot level.
Babbling Young: The Mother of All is constantly in the process of spawning dozens of vine horrors. The immature vine horrors produce a cacophony of wailing that interferes with spellcasting. Any creature within 60 feet of a Mother of All that attempts to cast a spell must first succeed on a DC15(+1/spell level) Concentration Check or lose the spell.
Bryson, Ghirrak, Avner, Sunny and Burian are currently within range.
Sunny tries to free the person trapped within the greenery.
Sunny tries to keep an eye on everything that's happening around her, though getting people free is her first concern. Not getting filleted being a close second.
Bryson uses his tenuous hold to tear into the Mother of All
Bite: pounce, gtr magic fang
Claw: pounce, gtr magic fang
Claw: pounce, gtr magic fang
Bite, Confirm Crit: pounce, gtr magic fang
Mother's third attack was vs. Avner.
Sunny needs to drop another 50 ft straight down to get to Cody.
Sunny needs to drop another 50 ft straight down to get to Cody.
"Jeremmy on'a boat!" Sunny exclaims as she leaps/drop down the writhing plant mass to get to where one of the creature's victims lays.
Slapping aside the bite Ghirrak keeps the Mother of All occupied with his unrelenting assault. "It can't heal from the fire! Keep burning it, we can take this thing!"
Rather than staying to fight the horror, Marius continued his descent, accepting another swipe from the plant as an acceptable price for getting clear.
Marius alighted gently at the bottom of the pit next to Annie's pod. Not exactly something he'd planned out, but as he was here, he pulled out his dagger and set about trying to cut the pod open.
With a bit of luck, the others would keep the Mother distracted for a few crucial moments, and the vine horror above wouldn't decide to maliciously fall on him. Add a couple of pods which might set loose fresh horrors at any moment, and he might just be in a slightly precarious position. Still, he was committed now.
Burian tsks, and scrambles toward the Mother of All. Once within ten feet, he levels a palm at the monstrosity and mutters an arcane phrase.
Glints of silver fly at the beast.
Round 2 complete__________
'Sunny'______
"Jeremmy on'a boat!" Sunny exclaims as she bounces from vine to vine, slips down through grasping tendrils and escapes from clutching fronds before she makes an elegant three point landing right in front of Cody’s bulging pod covered in scratches and plant sap.
Bryson Deepwinter______
The miasma Bryson puts out continually browns and withers all the plant life around it, but it keeps continually growing new vines and tendrils; especially the Mother, who’s coloration continues to cycle around between Bysons withering and her regeneration.
Bryson uses his tenuous hold to tear into the Mother of All, causing enormous damage to the Mother, but she still stands strong as she returns the favor.
Ghirrak Ironfist_____
Slapping aside the bite Ghirrak keeps the Mother of All occupied with his unrelenting assault. "It can't heal from the fire! Keep burning it, we can take this thing!"
His fists do less damage than Bryson, but he still delivers damage to the Mother.
Marius Hawk_____
Rather than staying to fight the horror, Marius continued his descent, accepting another swipe from the plant as an acceptable price for getting clear.
for a possible slam damage.
Marius alighted gently at the bottom of the pit next to Annie's pod. Not exactly something he'd planned out, but as he was here, he pulled out his dagger and set about trying to cut the pod open.
Marius’ cut produces a jet of green liquid as he starts to cut through the bulging membrane.
Burian Faldaeral______
Burian tsks, and scrambles toward the Mother of All. Once within ten feet, he levels a palm at the monstrosity and mutters an arcane phrase.
Glints of silver fly at the beast, who doesn’t dodge it. The darts fly through the vines holding the Mother together, fraying and cutting as they go.
Avner_______
Avner hacks away, doing no appreciable damage. You think it may be that it isn’t magical enough to harm the Mother.
The Mother of All lashed out at Ghirrak and Bryson. She seems to be ignoring Avner now.
Bite at Bryson.
for a possible piercing damage.
for a possible extra piercing damage.
A spiny vine lashed out at Bryson.
for a possible piercing damage.
A spiny vine lashed out at Ghirrak.
for a possible piercing damage.
You see that several of the pods that were about to disgorge juvenile vine horrors have been reabsorbed by the Mother. None emerge to attack this round.
Others of the carried progeny lash out at those in combat with her.
for a possible piercing damage.
for a possible piercing damage.
for a possible piercing damage.
for a possible extra piercing damage.
With a cry, blood jets from Avner's mouth as he is knocked free by a powerful blow and falls down the shaft.
for a possible piercing damage.
Vine horror tries to land on Marius…
But missed, landing with a splash right next to him. It quivers helplessly for a moment, then starts to gather itself together again.
Round 3___________________________
Players take their turn in order of posting, enemies will go last.
At this moment:
Bryson is at the -25 foot level, withering plants all around him as he engages the Mother in close combat.
Marius is at the -100 foot level.
Sunny dropped to the bottom (-100)
Burian had climbed back up to the -25 foot level.
Ghirrak is in close combat with the Mother at the -25 foot level.
Avner is falling free at the -50 foot level.
Babbling Young: The Mother of All is constantly in the process of spawning dozens of vine horrors. The immature vine horrors produce a cacophony of wailing that interferes with spellcasting. Any creature within 60 feet of a Mother of All that attempts to cast a spell must first succeed on a DC15(+1/spell level) Concentration Check or lose the spell.
Bryson, Ghirrak, and Burian are currently within range.
Takes out a couple of pointy things and begins to try cutting poor Cody out/free.
Sunny glances around as she works at getting Cody free.
Bryson Devil Cat keeps up the pressure against the Mother of All.
Bite: pounce, gtr magic fang
Claw: pounce, gtr magic fang
Claw: pounce, gtr magic fang
Sunny slashed at the bloated sac containing what looked like Cody McCool. One slice and the sac split, pouring out several tuns worth of green liquid and a human body.
Sunny adroitly dodged out of the way, avoiding getting any of the liquid on her.
The body twitched. A face turned up to Sunny, and an arm veined with dark green tendrils reached up towards her.
"Sun-nee..." It whispered. "Hhelp meee..."
Burian hangs tight, and whips his hair at the Mother of All.
Though as effective as a strong sword strike.. it is meager compared to Bryson in a frenzy.
"Here now. I got ye." Sunny reassures her crew mate.
Sunny braces and pulls to get Cody free enough so that she can at least settle him some where so she can go help the others. But ends up loosing her grip and plopping awkwardly down in the muck.
Ghirrak continues to press the attack, giving the creature something to pay attention to as the rescuers work to get the crew members free.
Swearing softly to himself at the sight of Avner falling, Marius took to the air again, angling to intercept him and forestall what would be a sharp and very possibly fatal impact.
A featherfall spell seemed like the best option, rather than a flight spell. That way, he could be sure Avner would stay at the bottom of the pit and help Sunny free the captives.
"Ach! Ye all... icky..." Sunny grimaces as she tries to haul poor Cody free.