Exsanguination Chamber - Round 6 - concluded
Marnos catches up with the end of the line of heroes, while the derro, know the pursuit is catching up, turns and fires a sonic blast back at the party.
End of Round 6
Exsanguination Chamber - Round 7
21 Marnos
13 Kalvin
22 Crux (expeditious retreat)
10 Tina
8 Travigan
7 Derro (7 hp dmg)
Kalvin powers through the sound blast, keeping his focus on the derro. When he gets close enough, he swings his longsword at the running foe, stabbing him fiercely in the back, but not enough to end the fight.
Travigan hustles toward Tina's cry and the cacophonous sound summoned up by the derro. "Blast these twisted tunnels!"
Tina runs into the intersection and collides with Travigan Keystone Cops style! A giant cake flies up into the air and lands on them!
The derro's spell stuns crux for a moment.
Tina is stunned by the cake falling on her!
Exsanguination Chamber - Round 7 - concluded
While both Crux and Tina are stunned by the deafening sound blast, Marnos is able to move up through them and get a snap shot off with his bow. The arrow finds a true mark and stops the running derro, dropping him where he stands.
End of Combat
Ugh, is it over? Can we leave this place? Um..Just why did these Derro steal the bodies again? Tina still looks rather stunned.
Once Crux comes out of his stupor, he investigates this derro's belongings.
Cast Detect Magic.
The derro has nothing magical on his person. He does have a small hand crossbow, with a wrist quiver. The bolts are smeared in an ugly green butter.
He also has a strange mix between a whip and a club called an aklys that he could've used to trip or snare an enemy.
Okay, let us try to find the rest of the body and get out of here.
Travigan huffs as he and others all find each other again, "Agreed! I've had just about enough o' this dank hole an' these blasted, bald dwarves! Buncha sickos runnin' 'round holdin' good folk captive and choppin' up th' dead ta stitch 'em together into some kind o' unholy mess... how'd these mudsuckers even get in here ta begin with?!"
The party reassembles back in the room where they first met the latest derro. There, the few remaining stirges, which have just finished feasting on the recently dead body, still waddle around fatly contented,
The most recent victim, still lying on table, now fully exsanguinated, is clearly not your Shoanti youth, instead it is an elderly Varisian man, covered with their mystic tattoos.
The wicker wardrobe is the cage for the stirges when they are more active. There are few cruel looking surgical tools in the room, but otherwise there is little more remarkable about this area.
One unexplored passage exits this room to the southwest.
Southwess then, we haven't explored there so might as well.
As you near the southwest passage a nauseating smell begins to permeate the air, growing stronger as you walk the 10-15 feet to the next chamber. Here the majority of the chamber is covered in a nasty-looking stretch of mud- a partially collapsed sinkhole -- kept damp by rivulets of water seeping from the walls. A patch of solid ground extends into the mud to form an island, on which is heaped a reeking pile of body parts. To the north, a rickety wheelbarrow sits on its side, against the wall.
Rolling in the revolting mud is a large three-legged creature. It appears to have three tentacles, two tipped with barbed spikes, the other with eyeballs.
The creature stands at your appearance and calls out in a overly loud voice "WARM FOOD!" and moves to make you its next meal.
Big Yuck - Round 1
24 Crux
17 Travigan
8 Otyugh
7 Marnos
7 Tina
4 Kalvin
Use scroll of enlarge person on travigan.
Big Yuck - Round 1 - continued
Crux whips out a scroll, reading the arcane writing out loud. Soon Travigan is enlarged to large-size, his hammer now quite massive.
Unsure what manner of spell Crux might be bringing to bear against the hideous creature, Travigan throws himself into the fray, his hammer crashing down heavily into the thing's bulk. "Food? I'm not yer food, ya mud-rollin' monster!"
HP: 34/34
AC: 18 (11 T / 17 FF)
CMD: 17
F/R/W: +5/+2/+4 (+2 vs enchant, +1 vs traps, immune sleep)
Rage Rounds used: 8/10
Claw Rounds used: 0/5
Spell Slots used:
Level 1: [X] [ ]
-Ongoing Effects-
crowd control: +1 AC (dodge), +1 to hit when adjacent to 2+ enemies
Big Yuck - Round 1 - continued
As Crux's arcane spell powers up, Travigan leaps into the fray against the big, disgusting creature, smashing it a good one wiht his hammer before the otyugh can react.
"OUCH! THAT HURT!" cries the wounded otyugh, now ready for attacks of its own versus Travigan. Two tentacles shoot out and the large creature spritely leaps at the man, trying to bite him as well. One tentacle scores a hit, while the rest of the attacks miss or are parried well. Travigan mutters a curse as the tentacle strikes, but fails to grab, him.]\
bb
HP 20/31
AC 20/T14/FF16
Saves F6R7W1
Current Effects:Mutagen(+4 Dex -2 Wis +2 Natural AC 30 minutes,+2 ranged Bab)
2/8 bombs
Tina moves until she is just to the left of Calvin and hucks a bomb at the very lower left spot of the Big Yuck so she doesn't hurt Travigan.
Big Yuck - Round 1 - concluded
Marnos fires on target, but his clothyard arrows can't penetrate the rough hide of the otyugh.
Tina moves forward and launches a bomb. While not particularly well-aimed, it doesn't have to be against the large slow-moving otyugh and bomb explodes on the three-legged fellow bursting into flame and burning the creature, which calls out, "ON FIRE! OUCH!"
Seeing Travigan grappled, Kalvin rushes to his side, striking at the tentacled terror with a power stroke from his longsword. The mighty swing cleaves through the tough outer hide, and nearly clean through the otyugh, which loosens its grip on Travigan as it collapses in a mighty heap in the muck.
End of Combat
Tina looks very embarrassed at her performance. Um...Let's check these body parts to see if they are the correct ones.
Crux begins to pick through the body parts to find the one he needs.
Travigan kicks free from the dying creature, giving a parting wallop from his hammer for good measure. He mutters gravely, "I told ya I wasn'a yer dinner," before turning to the others and nodding appreciatively. With the otyugh dispatched, the blacksmith turns to help Crux search through the macabre pile of death. "I dunno if we'll find any more o' that Shoanti boy in this mess. I'm thinkin' all th' other places we found the poor lad's parts were fresh an' bein' used. This looks ta me ta be where those sickos tossed the bad and rotted bits."
With the defender dead, the heroes are able to search the muck-filled room in more detail. Lying in the pile of body parts in the center of the room are the broken legs and hips fo a human -- legs decorated with bold Shoanti tattoos. These legs likely once belonged to Gaehken, the prize you are after.
"Ah! Thank whatever gods're listenin' tha' I was wrong. Let's get th' lad back to his people and get out o' this forsaken pit!"
Ugh..this place needs to be cleansed.
"This is it. Let us return to the Field Marshall."
After searching (or not) the group clambers out of the Dead Warrens into the bright sunlight, finally holding all the parts of the body they came for. As they rise to the surface, another problem strikes them -- how do they transport these bodies parts across the city in broad daylight without attracting undue attention?
|
Crux lays out the spare robe he's been carrying since the group helped the artist girl. He wraps the body parts with the extra medical wrap he keeps then situates the parts on the robe so he can fold it into a bundle for carrying. It is a bit cumbersome but should allow the group to make it to their destination unaccosted. If Desna wills it, they will find a cart to lighten their load.
Tina gets the rickety wheel barrel and uses it to help carry the parts.
Finally emerging from the miserable tunnels and back into the light of day, Travigan wipes his forehead with the corner of his apron, then grimmaces as he realizes he's only smeared more mud from the foul pit of rotted body parts onto his face. "Gah! Let's get this done, quick as we might! I'd like ta clean this filth off'a me as soon as I'm able."
As the group starts to make their way through town to return to the Field Marshall, Travigan takes point and does his best to look angry, hopefully clearing the way and ensuring any other pedestrians give the group a wide berth.
Covering the corpse with a robe, and using the rickety wheelbarrow found near the body site to transport it, the party allows Travigan's natural antipathy for his fellow man to take over and he clears the way easily for them to traverse the city, from the Grey Quarter back to Citadel Volshyenek without incident or encounter.
You deliver the dismembered Shoanti corpse to Field Marshal Kroft and she thanks you profusely, saying she will see it gets to Thousand Bones in time to prevent an incident. The fact that the body is in pieces should not deter the Shoanti death rituals, which only require the component parts
"Have you heard the news, then?"she asks you sheepishly as you sit in her private office awaiting payment for your deeds. "The alleged kingslayer, Trinia Sabor's trial has concluded. It seems she has been found guilty, and the Queen has announced her execution for sunset tonight."
"Something about the whole affair seems fishy to me. I want you to be there to see what happens. I worry that the public execution will only trigger another riot."
She passes over a chest of the same gold ingots she has paid you with in the past, the agreed upon amount of 1000gp. "Will you go and see what there is to see at the girl's farce of an execution?"
"No. We have not heard that, but thank you for telling us."
Crux quickly pockets the coin.
"Nothing odd about it at all. The queen wishes for this ugliness to be put to rest so she plans on sacrificing Ms. Sabor to keep appearances. I presume she will subtly continue the investigation into who actually committed the murder."
Well I guess we can go witness it and see if we can prevent a riot. Tina pokes Crux to make sure the coin is evenly divided.
"Heard the news?" Travigan balks at Kroft's question, looking down at the mud, filth, and blood he's covered in before looking back up at Kressida. "Tha was supposed ta be a joke, right? Beggin' yer pardon yer Field Marshallness, but we've been just a bit busy chasin' bald dwarves and necromancers through some maddening tunnels ta find that poor lad's parts. It's not like we had time ta stop at th' local tavern fer a bite an' a bit o' gossip!"
The blacksmith scratches his chin through his beard as he considers the Field Marshall's offer. "I don't know if there's anythin' I can do that'd be any real help ta anyone at a public execution like tha, but if ye think ye'll need me, then aye, I'll help ye further."
Well let us get healed up before we head out, I'm ready otherwise.
"Aye, aye. But if anyone's thinkin' I mean ta do anythin' else before washin' this filth off they've been struck in th' head a few times too many." The group now having agreed to look into this public execution for reasons beyond his real understanding, Travigan rises with a grunt and excuses himself. "I suppose I'll see th' rest o' ye at the square then." With that, and barring any interuptions, the blacksmith makes a bee-line for the wash house nearest to his simple home and smithy, muttering about bald dwarves and mad necromancers to himself the whole way.