Who shall carry the stone of silence and the dream catcher? Nnn'tkklik'l? Safia? I?
<<I have one claw empty>>
The kreen stands with the agafari spear in one main claw, the crossbow in the other. He uses a secondary claw to reload the crossbow and the other is currently empty.
A pair of tari warriors - including your guide from earlier - meet you when you are ready to go. They lead you through the columned hall to the trapped passage the elder show you earlier.
Concentrating for a moment, the guide again establishes a telepathic link.
<<Sun show in crack above. Gith sleep soon. Tari fight-eat gith by firepit, you fight-eat gith by trap hall.>>
The guide then leads you through the columned hall and to the south, where a makeshift door opens into the trapped hall. Ropes and bits of bone again hang from the ceiling and are strung across the sandstone passage, creating a hazard for the leaping gith. You can see that most of the traps have been disengaged, but the rubble is still littered with bone and wood spikes.
<<Tari find some traps and turn off. Don't touch spikes. Use egg from elder so big girl not make thunder-quaking like at firepit. Get to other side, wait 'til tari fight-eat with gith.>>
He pulls out a small clay sphere filled with liquid. As you watch, a small drop of water forms at the bottom of the sphere and drops into the tari's hand.
<<Take ball. When all water gone, time to fight-eat.>>
The kreen waits for the more martially-minded members of the party to lead the way, and takes a place somewhere in the middle of the group.
Raun sits quietly through the discussion of the plan, slowly ruminating on the task before them. If corridor was full of traps she cauld try to break them, or if she changed to one of her other weapons she could use shield to protect against flying things and stabby spikes... If she used shield then she could use spear in other hand, and poke ground ahead with spear to find anything on the ground and set it off before they reach it... While the others discuss the items and the non-combatant Gith she pulls her pack off and rummages around, stowing the earthbreaker and removing a couple spears and strapping her shield to her arm. By the time the others are done talking she is ready and follows their guide to the trapped hall. They had to go right, then door on the right again.
When the guide opens the door she pauses to peer ahead for a few moments, giving the others a chance to take it in as well (and toss the egg), before moving ahead, in a fighters crouch, shield raised, poking at the ground five feet in front of her, and generally anything else that looks suspicious, pausing if necessary to remove obstacles or avoid something she can't get rid of.
Safia took her time following the others. Finding things wasn't her forte so she'd leave that for the others. her only boon was that she now had four extra pairs of eyes to watch the room.
Gorkhan quietly moves in and peers around, looking for any unsprung traps or hidden spikes. Where a trap is found and is unavoidable, he crouches over it in an attempt to disable it. He nimbly tries to avoid other dangers.
An eerie silence descends on the group as Nnn'tkklik'l smashes the lizard egg on Raun's chest. Unsure of how long the spell will last, the half-giant wastes no time moving down the hall.
Peering this way and that, the half-giant seems to have an uncanny sense for where the tari overlooked poisoned spikes or an old tripwire. Using her shield to bridge the gap, Raun leads the party across a rotten section of stone floor covering a spiked pit. When the way is blocked by pressure-sensitive plate, she motions Gorkhan forward. Using a few lengths of blackened bone as spikes, he manages to disarm the trap and the group proceeds to the door at the far end.
Built of scavenged wood and bone and covered with tightly-lashed hides, the door doesn't seem to be made to open -- hide strips on each side tied tightly to bone rings anchored in the stone. Gorkhan's blade slices through the leather thongs easily, however, and Raun eases the door back a few inches so you can see into the hall beyond.
The columned hall is as Chech-Ka described it. Torches line the lane path between the columns, leaving the areas along the walls - including your position - in shadow. You settle down to wait, watching as the water drains out of the tari's clay sphere drop by drop.
After half a minute, you are startled by the sound of your own breathing - the egg's magic has expired. Less than a minute later the last drop of water drips from the sphere. Almost immediately a crash echoes from the passageway to the south and the doors to the east and southwest fly open as armed gith rush out, crying the alarm. The hallway empties as quickly as it filled, however, and soon the staccato sounds of battle echo from the southern passage.
Grit pauses to activate his Offensive Presence before moving down the hall quietly and watchful. His animal companion pads silently along beside him.
When they reach the end of the trapped filled chamber Raun takes the time while they wait to stow her shield and the spears once again, changing back to the earthbreaker. Her action is proved wise as a short time later sound returns to them, Raun might not be stealthy at the best of times, but the shield was a definite liability.
She peers through the door after the sound of rushing Gith is lost amidst the sounds of the conflict, before opening it fully, taking the dreamcatcher from whoever had been carrying it and blowing gently through it. Once the torches are extinguished she leads the way once more, hugging the right wall.
Gorkhan taps Raun on the side, indicating that he will move ahead of the rest of the group, the colors of his skin and clothing rippling to match his surroundings. Taking cues from both his own senses and the whisperings of his psi-crystal, Gorkhan makes his way along the northern wall to the door they were told was the location of the gith leader. At the same time, he relays his movements back to the party via the telepathic bond they had.
The Mul holds up the dreamcatcher and looks questioningly at the others?
The flames lining the corridor gutter and die as Raun blows into the dreamcatcher, her breath transformed into a gust of wind that sends bones and bits of detritus skittering down the hallway to the west. Darkness descends on the columned corridor, concealing your approach.
With his psicrystal serving as his eyes, Gorkhan inches along the wall toward the door Chech-Ka had indicated on his map. Dim light seeps out along the edges of the thick wooden door, which is hung with hides and decorated with the skulls of several tari.
Silently, Gorkhan puts an ear to the door. He can make out the rustle of movement in the chamber beyond - at least two creatures stand near the door - before a more distant voice barks an order of some kind in the rasping Gith tongue, followed by whispered replies from perhaps a half dozen creatures.
Roaring like a baazrag, Raun charges forward, battering down the door to the chieftain's chamber with a thundering blow from her hammer. Continuing through, the half-giant pulls up short as a pair of burning braziers block her path. Before her the gith chieftain gazes down from a raised throne of bones. Black eyes burning in a gaunt face the color of an old bruise, the gith draws a steel sword with a wide, curved blade and barks a command to the guards flanking the throne.
Obviously prepared for battle, the guards thrust their obsidian spears at the half-giant, attacking over the coals. Raun knocks the first away with the haft of her hammer but the second connects, sinking into her thigh and drawing a spurt of blood.
Behind them, the gith chieftain straightens on his throne, his eyes losing and regaining focus as he appears to activate some mental power before readying for the attack.
Grit move into the room and to the right, taking the corner before summoning his flaming sphere onto the gith chieftain and motioning for his Tigone to attack the guard on the right.
Raun lets out a roar as she is stopped short of her targets by the braziers, pulling back her mighty hammer she swings over the guard's heads to strike at the chieftain, before shuffling to the side to allow the other's entrance behind her.
<<Ware the corners,>> Gorkhan warns as he notices the chieftan's glances. He is wary as he slips past Raun, moving towards the southwest corner as he makes to run the perimeter of the western side to get to one of the guards.
The kreen moves so he can see the chief through the doorway, giving him a hard stare and trying to force him into the collective. Dc16 will negates
As Raun subtly opens the door Safia's shape shifts to match that of the three-eyed man they had seen several statues off. She held her spear at the ready but clearly wasn't using it yet.
Blazing embers illuminate the room as Raun swings her hammer low into one of the burning braziers, spraying flaming coals across the gith in front of her. Turning swiftly, the guards catch the majority of fiery debris on their armored backs. The chief shields himself with a pale gray cloak - obviously not of crude, gith manufacture - then drops to his knees to avoid the roiling flames of Grit's spell.
Side-stepping the flames, Grit's tigone companion darts forward to tear at the legs of the guard on the right.
On the left, Gorkhan slips past Raun and advances along the western wall. <<Something lurks there, I am certain>> his psicrystal thinks, but neither it nor the assassin can see anything in the corner. Moving past, Gorkhan strikes at the western guard, his enchanted blade carving a bloody wound across the beast's shoulder.
Advancing to gain a better view, Nnn'tkklik'l clicks his mandibles in satisfaction as he envelops the gith chief's consciousness into the collective.
Safia then steps in front of the kreen, her features shifting into the likeness of a man with a third eye.
The change appears to surprise the two gith guards, who chitter in fear as they swing their spears at the closest attackers. Gorkhan easily sidesteps the clumsy blow aimed at him, but Grit's tigone isn't as quick as the gith it bit earlier jabs its obsidian spear into the beast's flank.
Staying low to avoid the flaming sphere, the gith chief scuttles off his throne and straightens. His black eyes grow wide at the sight of Safia's new form, but the creature reacts quickly - and violently - drawing in a breath before hurling a jagged bolt of lightning at her.
Using her spear as a grounding rod, Safia diverts a portion of the crackling energy but the impact throws her back into the hall where she smacks into one of sandstone columns.
As the blinding light of the bolt fades, the shadows near the southern corners of the room flicker as two more gith appear as if from thin air. Their feral, twisted faces break into jagged-toothed grins as their arms extend into long, multi-jointed limbs tipped with scythe-like claws.
Taking a quick step toward Gorkhan, the one to the west slashes once at the alert human - who dodges - before clawing and biting at Raun. Both blows tear flesh, and the claw wound continues to bleed freely..
To the east, another of the mutants ignores Grit's wounded tigone, instead focusing its attention on the mul. Backed into the corner, the druid's thick armor and quick reflexes prevent any of the blows from landing, but just barely.
Nnn'tkklik'l takes hold of the vitality of the chieftain, and uses it to mend as many of Raun's wounds as he can.
Grit mentally moves the flaming sphere over to the chief again and then pulls his scimitar, attacking the newcomer.
The wounded cat full attacks his attacker.
Raun grunts in pain as the monstrous gith appears and takes a chunk out of her leg causign blood to start flowing freely down it's unarmored length. She spins around to face the new, seemingly more dangerous foe, staring the creature down, before bringing her hammer to bear, and hopefully crush the thing up against the wall.
Gorkhan steps to the north and slashes at the wounded gith.
The gith chieftain winces in pain as its life force is drained and repurposed to seal Raun's wounds. The pain is soon doubled as Grit's flaming sphere rolls over the creature, adding to the stench of burning flesh in the room.
Grit, meanwhile, attacks the gith that just appeared to his left, scimitar slashing into the thing's rubbery arm. A few steps away, the guard that had stabbed the mul's tigone companion goes down in a flurry of emerald fur as the tigone hooks a claw into the gith's chest before ripping out its throat.
Buoyed by psychic energy, Raun roars in the face of the gith who earlier ripped into her with its claws. The creature flinches from the raging half-giant even as her massive hammer slams into it. Although badly injured, the weirdly flexible creature remains upright.
Leaving the mutant to Raun, Gorkhan shifts north before leveling an unsuccessful blow at the guard there, who appears unaffected by the poison on Gorkhan's blade. Snarling, the guard stabs at the human with its spear, but the attack is clumsy and easily avoided.
Battered by Raun's hammer, the shaken mutant on the west launches itself at the half-giant again. Only one claw strike connects, but blood again flows freely from the wound.
Grit fares even more poorly, as the mutant attacking him opens a deep gouge in his thigh that erupts with blood, then sinks its teeth into the mul's shoulder.
Sputtering in rage, the gith chieftain blasts Grit's tigone with the same bolt of electricity it used on Safia earlier. The cat manages to dodge out of the way of the bolt, however, taking only minor damage and maintaining its balance.
The flaming sphere burns at the chieftain again before winking out.
He motions for the cat to move to and threaten the chieftain.
While the cat attacks the chieftain Grit goes full defensive against the mutant, hoping he gets some healing this round.
Raun takes advantage of the mutant's hesitation, raining hammer blows down upon the creature, barely flinching as the creature opens another small wound.
Nnn'tkklik'l will pull still more life from the chieftain, the crystal in his head shifting from a neon yellow towards amber. This time, he shifts most of the healing to Grit, sending only a slight bit Raun's way to cover her deepest wounds.
Gorkhan swings at the nearby gith once again.
Pushed back out of the other room Safia instead chooses to focus on herself, infusing herself with the essence of the Grey. Grey mist seems to come out of nowhere and seems to seep into her altered form as she steps into the room behind the mutant that is attacking Grit.
Standing behind the deformed gith Safia lashed out with her spear. Both magic and tactics were at her side, and she noticed it as the spear hit it's mark.