Onward then! Where to next?
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"What? Oh, thanks." the warrior replies wiping the blood off of her face from the earlier battle.
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"Let us leave this place. Shall we explore the eastern shore and the land to the east of here before we make our way back north? Perhaps then we can resupply in Elkmark and see how far we can take this thing upstream from there?"
Deciding that the tower may be more troublesome than the party can currently deal with, they return to the Arrow.
"Back already?" Godwin calls out from the deck of the small ship. "Alright, where to?" with the plan of action explained to Captain Wahl, you set sail from the island at the center of the Candlemere toward the eastern shores.
It takes longer to find a suitable spot to dock the Arrow along the rocky shoreline, than to actually get there, but eventually a suitable spot is found.
Disembarking from the ship, you begin your scouting and exploration of the rocky, hilly region east of Candlemere Lake. Just after lunchtime, you discover a strange, 20-foot-wide pool of bubbling mud sitting in a narrow defile between several hills here. The mud is heated by geothermal activity. While it warm and sticky enough to make it uncomfortable, it is not enough to physically harmful. The stench evolving from the bubbling mud on the otherhand is foul enough to cause your stomachs to churn.
Large mounds of fungus and strange mushrooms thrive on the mud bowl’s banks, and in the noxious air, several of the fungi grow to heights of ten feet or more.
Oh wow, uh... that stench is really bad. I think I am going to be sick.
Azen backs off, hoping to get back to somewhere the smell is less rank, trying hard not to vomit.
"By the Gods that's awful," Tove decries, "let's not linger here too long."
Despite her words, the Stag Lord, having held her stomach, takes a brief look around the mud pools and their strange fungi.
Tove chokes back her instinct to vomit from the smell, trying to examine the fungus in question. The mud splatter makes identification difficult, but more importantly - she notices a large, fifteen foot in diameter specimen, begins to stand.
Rhiannon makes a face, and a tiny sound of disgust, but otherwise seems unaffected by the vile stench of the bog. " This is....different."
Kalaman immediately starts wretching, (maybe not even being able to id the shrooms or bubbling pit, because of it
"Ew."
Celebeth backs up a bit and waits for the rest of the crew to get their bearings.
The elf does not do well this new experience. "I think I'm going to be sick."
Whatever it is that he thinks he knows does not comfort him.
Half of the party begins wretching, and the other half wants to, as the large plant creature lumbers toward you.
As it approaches, you see the plant’s thick trunk is capped by a crown of wide leaves, whipping vines, mushrooms, and a ravenous purple maw.
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"$#!+ a tendriculos!" Rhiannon hisses, eyes widening as she realizes the danger. "This thing's some kind of fey horror plant-monster. Wicked bite, acid and it paralyzes you. Heals from damn near everything but blunt force and fire!"
Stepping forward to protect the others, she draws the cold iron warhammer from her belt, setting herself for what would likely be a painful fight.
" If anybody has fire magic, now would be the time." she says grimly over her shoulder, eyes on the enemy, weight perfectly balanced, ready for action.
'Come and get it ugly' she thinks, trying not to focus on how much fighting this thing up close, while half of the others were busy vomiting was likely to hurt.
Azen backs off further, knowing she can't help right now, and if (hopefully) she gets over this sickness, she can still shoot.
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The hunter moves as far away from the Tendriculos as he can and continues to vomit in Elven.
Kalaman backs away with his nauseated companions, hoping to be of use in the near future.
The massive plant creature lurches toward Rhiannon, lunging at the warrior-woman with a bite, but the creature misses its attack.
The hunter attempts to summon the aspect of the Bear to help get over his nausea, but is otherwise unable to act.
Azen circles, still supposedly looking for a good place to shoot from, but she knows it is just an excuse. She is useless in this state.
She tries to start singing, but even though she still has a voice, she has to pause every few seconds and concentrate on not throwing up, so what eventually comes out is just a low chant "please don't throw up, please don't throw up" which would likely not even be catchy to the very drunkest bar crowd she had ever faced.
Celebeth backs away—she has no fire magic—and tries her trusty ol' magic missile spell.
Tove debates whether moving in close enough to touch the lumbering creature would be worth the chance to subject it to a Trial by Fire and Acid but ultimately decides against it as she watches it lunge at her fellow Ulfen woman.
Instead she opts to bless her comrades with a simple Prayer.
Sidestepping the evil tree's first clumsy lunge, Rhannon begins pounding away on the plant-monster's tough bark.
Krezzik pulls the drum on its strap around front and with a flourish starts to roll out a battle drumbeat.
Krezzik begins pounding on his wardrum while half the party is still dealing with the ill-effects of the smell of the fetid mud pit.
Rhiannon slogs her way into the mud pit, taking a pair of heavy swings at the plant creature, with one of the pair landing a meaningful blow. Sickly, brownish-green fluid oozes from the creature's trunk where the hammer blow fell.
The tendriculous lashes out with tentacle-like vines twice, one hammering home and wrapping around Rhiannon. The warrior woman is able to get her hammer up and in the path of the incoming bite.
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(Forgot to roll this before)
Krezzik continues the ripping drumbeat.
Tove casts Searing Light, focusing a ray of divine power on the hulking creature.
Azen continues to circle, wondering why she can't shake this sick feeling. She needs to help her... >urrgh< ... friends.
Maybe she should stop circling and go and take some of the attacks that Rhiannon is taking? She considers this in between additional bouts of nausea.
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Shrugging off the worst effects of the plant creature's poisonous vines, Rhiannon continues to hammer away at the monstrosity.
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Tove burns away some of the creature's bulk with a beam of light.
Rhiannon manages to fight off the creature's paralytic poison, but is not able to land a meaningful blow on the tendriculus.
Celebeth next casts a grease spell to try to slow the tentacle monster down.
Kalaman for his part manages to regain his composure and begins to move back toward the fight.
Celebeth greases the area around the creature, hoping to make it fall to the ground and almost to her surprise the creature does fall, dropping Rhiannon in the process.
The creature stands and bites at Rhiannon again, tearing into the woman's side, but failing to hold onto her.
Celebeth casts mage armor in preparation for the ill-advised move into melee combat.
Krezzik continues his ripping drumbeat and waits for another chance to use timely inspiration.
Tove draws her bow and follows up her spell with an arrow.
Feeling a little bit better, Azen manages to get off a shot at the creature.
(luck bonus from Tove)
... it was a miserable failure, but it was theoretically better than being able to do nothing. She strode forward, trying to shake off the weakness so that her next shot might actually help her friends.
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Landing nimbly on her feet as the plant creature falls, Rhiannon drives home a perfectly timed blow as it scrambles to get up, accepting the vicious bite in return with a stoic grunt of pain.
Surrendering to the burning fury inspired by Krezzik's drumming, Rhiannon continues pounding away at the creature.
"THAT SUCKED." Garethane angrily mutters under his breath as he fires off two arrows at the beast and slowly (5' step) closes the distance.
And kalaman is still sick,
Celebeth prepares for what is likely to be ill-advised close quarters combat with the plant creature, while Krezzik continues his manic, droning drumbeat.
Tove sinks an arrow into the fungus covered trunk of the beast, while Rhiannon rains down a series of blows with her warhammer.
Azen's arrow is fired off errantly, a bit of the mud from the area clinging to the tip of her fingers. The arrow narrowly misses Rhiannon, but fortunately misses her nonetheless.
Finally regaining his composure, Garethane fires off two arrows that both strike home hard, but Kalaman is not so fortunate as his stomach still aches with nausea, as he begins to dry heave.
The tendriculous continues its assault on its closest foe, Rhiannon, slapping at her with tendrils and biting into her with massive, razor-sharp teeth.
Rhiannon lets out an inarticulate scream of rage as her body refuses to succumb to the paralytic toxins.
Celebeth casts shield and moves into combat range, drawing her blade as she goes.
Krezzik continues his inexorable drumbeat.
The elf continues inching closer to the ghastly thing, firing as he comes.
Azen, feeling a lot better, moves forward and shoots, trying to help Rhiannon.
... she was still failing though. She had to get it together.