Harmony cries out as the spear glances off her arm, but steels herself with a grimace and moves forward to try and strike one of the creatures with her own spear in return.
"I am starting to think there are a bit too many." Esmarelda stated before she tossed another ball of acid.
Sliding in behind Rizz, Cueta stabs at the nearest fooker, hoping to send it to a watery grave...
Sadly, her wet hands slip on the pike's haft, sending her thrust high.
"Blast and avast!"
The stream of expletives that pour out of Rizz's mouth is only stifled by the sprays of water that wash over her face from time to time.
She is not a happy gnome.
She swings desperately, knowing hitting something will make her feel better.
"Get! Over! Here! And! Die!."
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
Harmony's leaps into the water and while her strike is on point treading water prevents her from landing a killing blow.
Arty steps away from the wall and strikes down another foe!
Es' spell slays the Grindylow that she had already struck with one acid spell.
Cueta and Rizz are having a harder time perhaps due to their desire to stay close to the wall where the water is not so deep, neither lands a blow.
Gall continues to rush up the passage, "Follow me! Let's regroup where there is less deep water!"
The two grindlylow nearest to Arty dive into the deep water and are out of sight!
They have not though given up as Arty can feel but not see the strikes they send towards him from underwater! Both attacks though miss the cagey combatant. What is not clear is whether the little green fookers stabbed at Arty or threw javelins at him.
Likewise two near Harmony also dive and strike from the murky depths of the cave. One strike ripples the water near Harmony but misses while the other stabs her in the calf.
The remaining three throw javelins at Es, Cueta, and Rizz. Es and Cueta are just missed by narrow margins, Rizz though is struck once more this time the javelin pierces her mid-section.
G1 South 5/5 HP - Arty Does Arty Parry? High Parry - Low NOT - Damage
G2 South 5/5 HP - Arty - Damage
G3 South - DEAD
G4 South - DEAD
G5 South - DEAD
G1 North 5/5 HP - Cueta - Damage
G2 North 5/5 HP - Rizz - Damage
G3 North 5/5 HP - Es - Damage
G4 North 5/5 HP - Harmony - Damage
G5 North 3/5 HP - Harmony - Damage
"ARGH!" Harmony cries out as one of the grindylow attacks tears up her calf pretty badly, leaving a trail of blood in the deep water she's in. She manages to stay afloat and tries to stab back with her spear.
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
It is clear to see that Harmony is struggling as her attack only splashes in the water, while she is treading water that may be all she can do...
"Damn it all! Gall, Harmony won't be able to make it!" Esmarelda called back to him as she summoned more acid.
"Crueta! Think you and Arty could get her out of here? I'll hold them off!" She suggested.
Aqguazula notices a large figure entering the grotto.
'This could be their meal ticket, maybe there are others with him? Maybe he can help me?'
"Giant! I'm an Aquatic Elf warrior prince, help me and I will aid you in battle. The queen and her brood plans to eat us. Release, let me arm myself to fight!"
Aqguazula begins to thrash about, suspended by his four arms.
Harmony, swimming in the water, lashing out with her spear, was one of the most baller things Cueta had seen the woman do in their short time knowing each other. Cueta knew the Goddess of Pirates would agree. Reaching out, with a quick prayer, Cueta touches Harmony's leg, staunching the bleeding.
Rizz attacks again, confident that after a few more tries she might actually be able to hit something.
"Who is Arty?" I shouted as we thinned their numbers. I pressed forward, cutlass slashing at the remaining grindylows.
"Okay, stay with me on this Artevious." Esmarelda said with a smile. "Artevious is a bit long to call out in battle, so I've shortened it to Arty. It's my pet name for you!"
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
Even with his foes underwater Artevious will not be denied! His strike slays yet another of the grindylow whose body quickly floats to the surface.
Es meanwhile fires at one of the Grindylow still out of the water, though her attack does little to dampen their enthusiasm.
Rizz leaps forward despite what Gall suggests and slays another of the foes!
Cueta assists Harmony but it is clear that Harmony needs to get clear and soon...
Arty can feel the remaining creature beneath the foul water trying to stab at him, the pressure of the water against his leg warns him where the attack will be coming from. He parries it but cannot land a solid blow as riposte.
Once again, Harmony's foes strike at her this time both score against her thighs, the loss of blood is making her woozy...
The Javelin thrown at Es in retaliation for her latest spell fails to find its mark.
Meanwhile, Rizz's foes draws a dagger and rushes at her its appendages making a big splash in the water but so does its dagger as the attack misses badly.
G1 South 5/5 HP - Arty Does Arty Parry? - High Parry - Low NOT - Damage
G2 South DEAD
G3 South - DEAD
G4 South - DEAD
G5 South - DEAD
G1 North 5/5 HP Draws a Dagger - Rizz - Damage
G2 North 5/5 HP - DEAD
G3 North 4/5 HP Last Javelin - Es - Damage
G4 North Underwater - 5/5 HP - Harmony - Damage
G5 North Underwater - 3/5 HP - Harmony - Damage
He steps into the cave and from the depths rises a beast as large as the half-giant. You can hear the cackling of the brood mother echo off of the cavern walls though it sounds like mere background noise compared to the roar of the behemoth Grindylow attacking the Half-Giant!
The behemoth locks his jaws on the shoulder of the Half-Giant who goes right down into the water crying out in pain...
Hmmm, that rescuer it seems will need a further rescue himself!
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
Harmony tries to use the Withdraw action to minimize attacks of opportunity as she tries to pull back, heavily wounded.
She tries to position herself in the tunnel between Gall and Esmarelda, and listens.
"Gall's in trouble too...I can hear him" she wheezes. "We may be surrounded."
I do have to spend Panache, but I regenerate panache every time I slay an enemy or confirm a critical hit. Since I think I've been dropping these guys every time I hit, my panache has been regenning. Also, I think I only have to spend the panache when I actually do the parry. I've declared the parry/riposte on a number of occasions where they haven't attacked me at all. Therefore, I haven't counted that as a time where I have to spend it (since it's an immediate action).
"Ah," I responded to Esmarelda's explanation of her name for me. "That's... nice," I supposed.
All of a sudden, I heard the voice of Gall cry out. "No! I called out. The big man was far too much of a warrior to succumb to these creatures. "We shall not fall this day! Have at them!"
'F+$# F!#~ F%+@! Why must I be cursed by the gods?! I need to escape while my rescuer is being eaten.'
Aqguazula looks up and down at his bonds, trying to determine if he could break the bonds at his wrists and feet.
"We need to regroup!" Esmarelda called out. "Head to Gall and no more splitting up!" She told them all before she headed for Gall.
"Give me a sec!" Rizz shouts as she pulls and twists her greatsword out of hte grindylow's guts and tries swimming after the others.
"Let's go big guy!" she shouts at Arty, water washing over her.
She then does her best dying goldfish impression.
"Fall back, Rizz, fall back!"
Frowning as the gnome flounders in the water, Cueta swings her pike over Rizz's head and at the closest fooker, missing wildly as she stabs into empty water...
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
Harmony dives backwards and swims out of trouble. She feels teh rush of water near her legs, its seems that she was just able to avoid the attacks of these little creatures who are clearly more dangerous under water than out of it.
She heads halfway up the dark cavern and can see Gall being dragged in!
=======
This time, Arty fails to contact his underwater foe.
Rizz pulls out his sword and begins floundering even with the wall for assistance, he is able to get only to the edge of the passageway to the cavern.
Cueta's swing is more of a warding swipe than a real strike as the foes are staying back away from melee as best they are able.
Aqguazula, another invader enters the cavern, hopefully there are more where she came from! You can find no way to get unlatched at this time.
Es' spell misses as she heads past Harmony and into what feels like a cavern based on the change in air flow. As she enters the cavern light flares up!
Hundreds of remains float in this large bowl of water, which churns with bones, scraps of flesh, and the carcasses of strange, almost alien fish. Just visible through the roiling stew are humanoid bodies floating in the water, wan corpses drifting near the bottom of this cauldron like sleeping guardians.
Despite the horrorshow that is this cave, Es only has eyes for Gall who is being dragged into the middle by something large that lurks under the water.
Still Es' eyes take in the entire room including three figures hanging from the ceiling above the churning water, bound hand and foot with thick strands of seaweed and sinew. Two you recognize as Sandara and Conchobhar. They are hanging there held by a rope that connects to the far end of the cavern right next to a female Grindylow colored grey instead of green cackles, "Welcome to your doom interloper. Watch as your friends drown as you too shall perish!"
She uses a harpoon to cut all three loose! Your two friends hit the water and begin to sink as if they are weighed down!
---
Meanwhile, out in the ambush cavern, Arty attracts new enemies now that he is the only one submerged!
G2 South DEAD
G3 South - DEAD
G4 South - DEAD
G5 South - DEAD
G1 North 5/5 HP - HOLD
G2 North 5/5 HP - DEAD
G3 North 4/5 HP - HOLD
G4 North Underwater - 5/5 HP - Arty - Damage
G5 North Underwater - 3/5 HP - Arty - Damage
Aqguazula Initiative
the Queen
the Whale
Arty can feel the water pressure all around him from the thrusts of these creatures in the murky water of the cavern, none find purchase in his flesh though.
The last two above water both hold daggers and wait at their respective entrances or are they exits?
=======
Struggling to break his bonds to no avail.
"You wretched whore!" Yells Aqguazula before plunging into the foul pool.
As soon as Aqguazula hits the water, his electroreception kicks in, sensing all life within of him.
Feeling bolstered by the salt water and the blood that accompanied it, the four armed malenti uses this instinctual fury to break his bounds.
Aqguazula now free of his bonds heaves the rope with all of his arms, dragging the other into his grasp.
Holding them to his body, he swims with great speed towards entrance. He uses his momentum to breach out of the water, landing on his feet standing before whomever. "Thank you for coming to my rescue, arm me with a spear and I will see we make it out of here." He said in a blunt manner while still holding the other captives in between his arms.
"What is this new devilry?" Harmony's eyes go wide as she sees inside the cavern. So much blood and guts, and on top of that, the situation is dire. Gall is being dragged by something, Sandara and Conchobhar are drowning and Harmony herself is gravely injured. And more enemies keep appearing on top of those who had already overwhelmed her. "Calistria, preserve us." She summons her magic to start healing herself back from death's door.
I formed the rear guard as the others plunged off in order to help Gall with whatever danger he had found. My spirit longed to charge off and lend my assistance as well, but that would leave our flank unprotected.
I decided to back up to the most solid footing I could find and readied my cutlass to strike at any grindylows that attempted to rush me.
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
Harmony, you see the form of Gall stop speeding away and begin to simply float as if whatever was pulling him released him. The water near him ripples momentarily though the water in the cauldron as a whole is splashing around pretty vigorously.
The Queen brandishes a wand and speaks words of power!
"The grindylow -- that one!" Harmony points a finger at the Queen, not knowing her name so pointing is the best way to indicate who she means. "She's magically summoning a creature of some kind -- be prepared for anything!"
Taking stock of the desperate situation, Harmony tries to think how they could possibly survive now. It's clear to her that one of them will have to hold the narrow passage to keep the mass of grindylows from reaching the battle. "Artevious! Hold the passage! Keep the grindylows from reaching us! Esmarelda, you're with me, let's try to save Sandara and Conchobhar before they drown! Cueta, Rizz, take the fight to the leader!"
Harmony eyes Aqguazula warily; the beast looks fearsome -- Harmony has no idea what a malenti is -- but it *was* in bonds when they arrived, so maybe, despite the monstrous appearance, this could be an "enemy of my enemy" sort of situation. She considers giving up her spear when Aq requests a weapon, and may do so on her next turn.
"Ayeaye!" Ceuta shouts, and dives into the water, moving as quickly as she can down the tunnel. Bobbing up for breath, Cueta spies the mayhem in the cavern and the swab's stomach turns. Skirting along the wall-line, Cueta grips her pike and offers a quick supplication to the Pirate Queen.
"Mother of Pirates, give me the strength to overcome this most foul of your creatures, this twisted mother of sea monsters."
Rage, her goddess' grace, builds within the swab, and gritting her teeth Cueta prepares to slay this motherfooker.
"I'm going to try and stop her spell! I'll be right behind you!" Esmarelda said to Harmony before she began her own spell. She summoned up two bolts of force and aimed them at the casting grindylow.
After send the spell off Es followed Harmony into the water.
Rizz will concentrate on moving forward, despite the tide of water working against her.
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
As Aqguazula breaks the surface, both Sandara and Conchobhar are in tow behind him, both are severely injured but alive and in shallow enough water that they need not be held.
Cueta dives into the water making a beeline for the Queen but the cavern is large. She does manage to get close to Gall who is (luckily) floating face up.
Rizz dives into the water but is unable to push past a conglomerate of offal, body parts and skeletal remains, that have linked together in a large pile.
Es strikes first with a magic missile! The Queen appears enraged but cackles and waves a wand at her to show that her will shall not be denied so easily!
Art moves to a section of the tunnel to cut down on the number of Grindyow who can strike him!
G1 North 5/5 HP - Close In
G3 North 4/5 HP - Close In
G4 North Underwater - 5/5 HP - vs. Art - Damage
G5 North Underwater - 3/5 HP - vs. Art - Damage
Art sidesteps the first attack and parries the next his riposte bringing the second foe low and forcing it into his third companion which forces it to adjust its attack and it to misses!
The last two close in now, wary of the highly skilled warrior...
Harmony tries to move as close as necessary to pass her spear to Aqguazula, and then move close to Conchobhar and Sandara to watch over them.
"Take my spear! I don't know who you are, but you seem an enemy of our enemy, so fight with us!" she tells Aq.
Aqguazula standing well above the waterline, still hold the two in his arms out of the water.
Placing them down towards to woman who offered her spear up.
He looks down at her and nods."I will avenge your friend." He said gruffly.
The malenti, holds the spear in two of his hands, with the other two he begins waving his fingers, making sigils and clicking his teeth.
closing up with wounds were the little bastards were eating him. He walks along the shore getting closer to their vile Queen.
"Huzzah!" I cried as I kept the creatures at bay and even managed to send one to meet his maker. I again slashed at the foes surrounding me, my trusty cutlass turning the dark water red.
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
Harmony hands the spear to Aq.
Aq holds the spear and moves to swim back across to the Queen.
Before he can arrive, the fearsome foe he saw strike Gall rises from the water! A behemoth as large as Gall attacks Aq but misses leaping over him.
The Queen's creature, an Octopus, appears next to Cueta and strikes! It's bite fails to lodge onto Cueta's leg.
The Queen laughs and activates her wand once more...
---
Meanwhile, Art fights off the smaller Grindylow. His next strike though misses high.
----
Stumbling backwards, Cueta curses under her breath as the Queen's octopus lashes out at the swab. Another monster!
Giving the creature a quick appraisal - tentacles, moves in fits and starts - Cueta stabs into the murky water, hoping she pierces the creature's heart. Just like fishing off the Bloodcove docks!
Esmarelda did her best to make her way over to Gall. "Gall! Come on big guy!" She called
Rizz will keep trying to make her way over to her comrades, possibly putting herself next to Gall and readying herself for battle.
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
===
Cueta is able to push away from the summoned Octopus and simultaneously hacking at it. Her strike hacks into it viciously and it bleeds profusely but it is not out of the fight yet.
Es is unable to tread and has to pull back to the wall for fear of slipping under. Her calls to Gall do not rouse him.
Rizz finally manages to find her stroke and reaches Gall legs and arms pumping furiously.
G1 South 5/5 HP vs. Art - Damage
G1 North 5/5 HP vs. Art - Damage
G3 North 4/5 HP - Close In
G4 DEAD
G5 North Underwater - 3/5 HP vs. Art - Damage
Surrounded? No problem, even in their natural habitat these creatures are no match for the swashbuckling Artevious! None can lay a spear or short sword on him, not even the one who moves forward to take his dead comrades place.
Now that Aqguazula is armed and Sandara and Conchobhar are out of harm's way, Harmony's attention turns to the floating Gall. She tries to discern whether he's dead or alive, but is too far to make an accurate judgment. The Whale is a large threat right in Harmony's face and the water is making movement difficult (preventing a five foot step), so moving next to Gall would risk getting attacked by the enemy. With a deep sigh, Harmony grits her teeth and decides to go on the offensive. She calls for the Whale's attention, and begins waving her arms hypnotically, "Over here! Have you seen anything like this before?" Pinkish-purple glittering lights and sparkles begin flowing from Harmony's hands as she traces patterns of light in the air, trying to reach the large enemy's mind and make him drowsy.
I had thus far managed to go unscathed, but I wasn't doing a very good job of reducing these creatures' numbers. Again they swarmed me. I slashed again, while keeping my defenses up.
Aqguazula makes eye contact with Harmony, unsure of spell she was casting.
"Allow me to help"
Aqguazula hops backwards, placing distance between himself and the foul brood. Holding Harmony's spear above his, he waves his other two hands in strange patterns, clicking his teeth.
Placing a curse upon the foul creature.
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle - Riptide Cove - the Final Encounter
Harmony call out to the beast who turns back for a split second.
That split second is more than enough as its eyes close and it slips beneath the water like a rock...
-----
Aq curses the beast as it creature slips under the water.
The Queen screams out, "No! No! You killed him NO!!!" The creature she summoned, another octopus, appears right next to her, she then turns around and slips into a crack near her position. Disappearing out of sight.
The newly summoned creature remains in place while the previous creature strikes at Cueta once more.
The bite fails to land and thus the tentacles are thrown off as its perception of where the enemy is proves to be incorrect.
-----
Meanwhile, Art's blade claims yet another victim among the Grindylow.
-----
Aqguazula snarls and yells,"they started eating me and your mates. Let me slay this whale of a beast."
Snarling and backed in by the octopus and her unconscious comrades, Cueta takes one hand off her pike and draws her dagger. Flipping it around in her palm, the swab stabs down on the octopus, sending the tip of her blade into the creature's rubbery hide.