Marcel, looking slightly shaken, emerges from the woods. "Thank you, Robin," he murmurs as the halfling applies his wand to the worst of the party's wounds. Raising his voice, he adds, "I apologize that I was...not the most use in that unfortunate encounter. I did not sufficiently anticipate the possibility of swarms of enemies...what I had prepared today would have done little other than set a single bird on fire, and left us still vulnerable. Well. As you saw..." He pinches the bridge of his nose, looking thoughtful. "I wonder what on earth could have animated these things...?"
I had the same question Marcellano. We have recently been in these woods and saw not a single undead bird. Now there are three swarms of them? What necromantic energies have been released into the world and what might have caused it?
Kizzy dusts away the remnants of filthy feathers from her armor, giving a shudder of revulsion. "Ugh! Who would want to make such disgusting things out of such lovely creatures as birds?" She mutters, shaking her head.
"Thanks for the healing, Robin. You're something of a jack-of-all-trades, eh?"
"Necromantic energies...perhaps something about the area..." Marcellano purses his lips and narrows his eyes, peering around the grove.
Marcellano's scan of the area for magical dweomers reveals nothing, except the items carried by the party. If there is an explanation to the presence of the carrionswarms in the woods, it is not readily at hand. As such, the heroes, after looking around a bit, return to their primary course, the former goblin stronghold of Thistletop.
After little more than an hour of poking around in the Nettlewood, and being stung by nettles, caught on briars, and generally frustrated, the party stumbles across the partially obscured opening to the briar tunnels that lead to the island.
Again you can hear the waves and surf crashing on the nearby rocks, as you part the curtains of thorns and thistles, and hunker down into the tunnels of briar.
"Ergh. Ugh." Marcellano awkwardly crawls through the briar tangle as Narcizia, completely unfazed, flaps from bush to bush above. "Let's get on to that ruin, shall we?"
Nothing seems to have been changed since Robin secured the bridge on the way out. The party crosses the rope swing bridge to the odd shaped island without incident.
Across the others side, the hodge-podge wooden fortress awaits. The main gates, which were closed tight the last time you came, stand open and the place has a still feel about it. It does not appear to have been disturbed in the day since you left.
We best make a quick round of this upper level before heading down. I would not want to be surprised by something that has moved it. Oh, and lets close the gates while we are inside.
Carefully closing the gates, and securing them, the group makes a quick scout trip around the upper floor ruins. Finding little except slain goblin corpses, they are satisfied that nothing much has changed in the night they spent in Sandpoint.
After a quick, but thorough search for intruders, or anyting out of place, the party descends into the middle of the first dungeon level of the place.
Here sputtering torches, which haven't been changed for a while, burn and the corpses of more slain goblins, including one bugbear lie, testament to the brutal fighting from the day before.
In this room, stands one of the doors that was not opened the day before.
Qetsiyah raises an eyebrow, peering at the door to the icky crawly thing. "We don't want to see precisely what sort of icky crawly thing? Or if it's guarding something, maybe?" She grinned, looking from Robin to Cadas. "Are we not clearing all the threats we can?"
Marcellano nods placidly. "By all means, let us explore as much of this ruin as we can..."
He eagerly scans the walls for signs of Thassilonian culture.
Any icky crawly thing worth their salt guards some pile of treasure, right?
The door is not locked or trapped, and when Robin opens it, it swings easily. Directly behind the first door, is a second, and after repeating the operation and finding nothing, the group enters here as well.
Crates, barrels, and mounds of miscellaneous refuse lie heaped against the walls here. To the north the sound of crashing surf echoes through a narrow, dark passage.
This mound of junk and refuse is likely of no value to anyone but a goblin.
"Hmmmm," Marcellano frowns. "Perhaps a passageway leading down to the seaside. Let us press on, but...cautiously..."
Just as Robin bounds toward the path to the north, Marcellano raises a hand. "Ah, Robin...one moment..." Digging into a pouch at his belt, he pulls out a scrap of what seems to be cured leather with a symbol burned onto it. Sketching the symbol with his finger, he mutters something, and his body is briefly outlined in white, shining fire. Narcizia squawks and resettles as the fire fades, but otherwise is unaffected. Turning back to the others, the wizard nods.
"Just ensuring some protection for myself. Carry on."
Cads falls in behind Robin. I hear the waves as well. Maybe a sea cave?
Squeezing through the narrow damp tunnel, Robin leads the others on. Soon the tunnel opens into a wider cavern where the floor seems strangely polished and smooth. To the east, a curtain of vines and nettles hangs down over a wide opening overlooking the Varisian Gulf.
Sitting near the curtained aperture, is a dark blue creature with a conical body covered in angry red eyes. Numerous tentacles, two of which are longer than the rest, dangle out the opening grabbing at sea birds as they fly past.
Tentamort - Round 1
24 Rogar
19 Tentamort
19 Kizzy
16 Marcellano (mage armor up)
11 Cadas
9 Robin
The tentamort senses you as you approach, turning more quickly than you'd expect given its weird shape, and threatens to attack.
"Ah, a tentamort!" Marcellano calls from the back of the party. "Watch the tentacles, everyone--they're predatory, and won't be shy about trying to make a meal of us!"
Rogar pulls a javelin and gives it a toss.
Nope.
Tentamort - Round 1 - continued
Leaping to the fore, Rogar unshoulders a javelin and throws it at the creepy creature, hitting right in the heart...or at least where the heart should be if there weren't a weird aberration. Instead, the javelin pierces the rubbery skin, and black blood slowly oozes out of the wound.
With a cry of pain, anger, and hunger, the tentamort moves back from the ledge and faces the two-legs that dare to attack it. One tentacle armed with a huge stinger, lashes out at Rogar, while the other whips at him, trying to smack and grab him. Warned in advance by Marcellano, Rogar deftly avoids both the waving hazards.
Marcellano advances into the cavern, carefully keeping Rogar between himself and the beast. "Foul little thing, eh? Let's see what we can do..." With a muttered word, two bolts of silvery light erupt from his fingertips and slam into the aberration.
Kizzy moves up, pulling Rainbow from her shoulder and loosing an arrow at the aberration.
Tentamort - Round 1 - continued
Kizzy unslings her bow, and fires an accurate shot straight into the tentamort. Then using her gauntlet, she helps shield any attacks that might befall her adjacent allies.
Marcellano cuts loose with two bolts of arcane energy which slam into the tentacled creature, rocking it backwards.
Robin's whip flicks in and out has he taunts the tentamort, which sees his flippant antics and trembles in rage.
Cadas will cast a bless spell, asking her deity for assistance in ending this aberration. She is tempted to move up, but decides the quarters are too tight to do so.
Tentamort - Round 1 - concluded
Cadas calls for a blessing from Gozreh, as they battle this unnatural beast. Her prayers are answered and her allies are infused with an inspired morale bonus on their attacks.
End of Round 1
Tentamort - Round 2
24 Rogar
19 Tentamort (shaken, 23 hp dmg)
19 Kizzy (bodyguard ready)
16 Marcellano
11 Cadas
9 Robin
Rogar draws another Javelin and throws it.
Tentamort - Round 2 - continued
Rogar reaches for another javelin, and his ranged attack provokes an attack from the tentamort, which reaches out to sting him. The stinger comes perilously close to wounding the dwarf but Kizzy shoves him at the last moment, causing the attack to miss.
Throwing his javelin, he hits the aberration, wounding it once more.
The tentamort then swings its tentacles at Rogar once more, first trying to slam and grab him, then bringing the stinger in after. The tentacles strikes the dwarf's shield is blocked from damage, while the stinger waves about uselessly.
Cadas attempts to use a Storm Burst agains the creature, knowing that if she hits it will further hurts its effectiveness to attack next round.
Tentamort - Round 2 - continued
Cadas directs a mini cloud burst over the tentamort, buffeting it for non-lethal damage and obscuring it vision for the next round of attacks.
Robin's antics get old even for aberrations, and it fails to be distracted by his clowning around this time.
Qetsiyah fires again over Rogar's shoulder, a smile on her face over thwarting the creature's attack on her new comrade at arms.
Tentamort - Round 2 - concluded
Kizzy fires her magical bow once again, and again her shot is true, striking the now faltering tentamort. The creature struggles for a few moments more, then, grows still and falls to the floor, defeated.
With the tentamort out of the way, the room appears to be a natural cavern, rather than a construction. The opening to the outside, hung with a curtain of vines and plants, looks out over the sea about 40' below.
The stone floor here is worn smooth by years of the tentamort's crawling around, and the same smooth stone finish leads into the passage way to the north.
There is little else remarkable in this room, save the carcass of the strange tentacled creature you just fought.
After the defeat of the tentamort, Robin leads the rest of the gang through the remaining passage, keeping an eye out just in case the tentamort had a partner.
The polished tunnel soon opens into a wider cavern. Dozens of strange dead bodies lie scattered about this room. Most are sea birds and ospreys, but there are six dead goblins here as well. Each body is literally skin and bones, as if all the internal organs and muscles have been somehow drained away leaving behind skeleton draped with leathery, slowly rotting, skin.
A pile of inedible armor and weapons lies in one corner. Searching through it you find a fine set of small sized hide armor, a small-sized masterwork horsechopper, and a small-sized masterwork shortbow.
"Yeah... Liquefied goblin, by the looks of things. Yugh!" Kizzy wrinkles her nose in disgust, and shakes her head, clearly disapproving of the sea monster's cuisine.
"Sounds good to me! Lead the way." She fell in step behind the halfling bard, watching the shadows carefully as they go.
Feeling like this level of the complex is now cleared, Robin leads the group to the descending staircase and the 2nd dungeon level.
As noted before the stairs down are still lit by lanterns, and the air here is cleaner and fresher than in the level above. The temperature is a comfortable 60 degrees F. You may also remember, the floor on this level is canted downward a bit from east to west. This has no effect on movement, but an attacking character who is east of a defender may take a +1 bonus on attack rolls for higher ground.
The ancient stone door at the bottom of the stairs here is still slightly open. The door is covered with runes and symbols, many of which have now been defaced by hammer and chisel marks. Most of the remaining symbols are of gemstones or crowns.