Round 2
"Thanks" Dejah said in lower tones to Cade.
Seeing that Cade killed the closest beetle, who moments earlier had tried to take a bite out of her but missed, Dejah swiftly called upon Fortune's Favour once more (swift action to kick in AL), and with her reach weapon stabbed at the beetle in front of Val.
Unfortunately for Tabitha, she isn't able to pierce the bug's carapace with her weapon.
Fortunately for her, Cade & Dejah decisively finish off the bugs around her. Only one remains!
Viorec performs a deep thrust before twisting and pulling the blade out.
Viorec skewers the last beetle quite decisively.
Val takes a moment to catch her breath. "Well... that was new for me."
Dejah used the sand to wipe the beetle remains from her pike.
Stowing it on her back, she looked to the others and quietly added, "As we proceed, we must be quiet and watchful." Her gaze lingered longest on Tabitha who had drawn the beetles with her pitiful climbing skills and loud falls. "Do not venture on your own without some discussion as to what needs to be done and who is the most capable of performing the task." Again, Dejah's mismatched look burned holes into Tabitha.
Cade pats Viorec on the back. "Well done." He moves over to Dejah and bumps her playfully. "You weren't too bad either. Remind me not to cross you." He cleans his hammer as well.
Cade's bump to her person shook her from the hard stare she levelled at the female wizard and Dejah turned to him and smirked, "Thanks. I'm pretty easy going, though."
"You're good with your large weapon. Mayhap we let you do most of the killing", she proceeded still in lowered voice.
"If no one is injured, we must keep moving."
Val shakes her head. "I'm alright--following the water, then?" She says, starting down the watery passage before stopping herself. "Er--after you."
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Tabitha looks over the beetle's remains. She is glad they were dispatched quickly.
Turning to the group, she sees that Dejah is glaring at her for falling down the ledge while to get to the rest of the group. ...What? I was just following her... Why is she so angry with me? As she wonders.
Seeing that the way to proceed is by water, she stands by Val while waiting for someone to take the lead. She speaks quietly to Val. "If you are hurt, just let us know. Alright Val. I'd hate to see you injured, and have Master Khonnir see you that way too." She puts a hand on Val's shoulder and gives her a soft smile, reassuring her if she is a bit shaken from the combat.
Val nods at Tabitha and pats her on the arm. "Just so long as you don't get hurt either."
Proceeding through the brackish water, the party heads north.
The cavern beyond smells even worse than the pond outside. A shallow creek runs through the middle of this cavern, while to the south a stony bank rises up from the water. Thick carpets of green and grey mould and fungus grow on the bank, particularly around a trio of three-foot-high mounds, around which the reek is the strongest.
Namely, that there's something slimy glistening on them.
At the increasing loathsome smell, Dejah lifted her kerchief and placed it over her nose and mouth, as she had earlier. No need to be breathing anymore of it than she had to.
Following closely behind Cade, who was leading the party, she noted something unusual about the piles of mould on the bank and noted that Cade had, too.
Lifting her hand to halt the others from moving further/closer and then slightly turning and pressing her finger to where her lips would be under the kerchief hoping they understood to be quiet, Dejah faced forward again and pondered what the glistening substance/thing could be, not drawing any closer until she was certain what they were facing now.
Viorec shrugs once Dejah outburst is finished. Careful and quiet is fine but there are times when action is needed and only through the eyes of hindsight that we find which is folly. with these words spoken Viorec cleans his weapon of the ichor left from the fight as he continues to speak. but as you say we should keep moving, lead the way. with the blade cleaned Viorec does not resheath the weapon as he takes his place within the marching order.
She tossed quietly over her shoulder to the priest, "When one is walking or climbing, then one is in action, and still requires a certain carefulness and quiet to succeed without immediate notice." And then she said no more to him.
Cade waits as Dejah inspects the strange mold.
The cavern is still as Dejah approaches quietly.
Dejah, keeping her eyes on the three young slime moulds, through the kerchief around her nose and mouth, quietly advised Cade and the others of their presence, their strong resistance to fire and not to touch them directly.
She whispered to Cade and the others, "Strike them hard and true with your weapon before they can act. No fire."
Quietly drawing her pike from her back, Dejah struck out at the nearest young slime mould (the one within 10ft of her).
Dejah's pike skewers the mould before her, causing it to shake violently before breaking apart.
Val moves forward a few feet before stopping in the cavern. "Eww! Gross!"
Dejah moved in front of Val, and calling upon Fortune's Favor , struck out at the next/nearest young slime mould with her pike.
Dejah's pike strikes the pile of mould, but doesn't appear to have hurt it.
Viorecs feet seem to move as if the muck wasn't even there until Viorec stops next to Dejah and with a simple prayer provides Cayden's blessing.
The slime moulds creep off of their mounds and slither across to engage the archaeologist and the priest!
One swings a pseudopod at Dejah and misses...
...while the other manages to smack Viorec with a slimy appendage.
Cade steps up and takes a swing at the closest mold.
Cade's hammer comes crashing down, but unfortunately the mould proves to be quicker than it looks.
Val stays where she is and nervously fiddles with her knife.
Round 2
No sooner had she thanked the priest for his spell but the remaining two young slime moulds moved and attacked both her and Viorec. She proved more resilient than its attempt, but Viorec suffered from the attack.
Grabbing her pike in both hands, and calling upon Fortune's Favour once more , Dejah thrust the pike at the slime mould closest to her.
Dejah's aim proves to be more effective this time, piercing the centre mass of the slime and causing it to break apart in the foul water.
Viorec try's to keep the slime at bay with his rapier making a couple of feeble slices with it, while also attempting to slog his way around the creature.
Viorec's rapier misses the slime mould completely--all he manages to do is kick up a lot of water.
The slime swings at him again...
...and manages to hit him just as strongly as it did with its last swing. Except this time, it strikes him in the thickest part of his armour without hurting him.
Tabitha manages to slice away a portion of the slime mould with her dagger throw!
Cade's hammer crushes the puddle of slime into a gooey mess.
Upon closer inspection, one can see three pairs of hairy humanoid feet sticking out from under the mounds of mould...
Once the last young slime mould was despatched, she noted the hairy feet sticking out from beneath the dead moulds. Look like Halfling feet.
Dejah then looked to her companions and addressed them quietly. "Good work. Fortunate for us they were only young. Although Viorec was hit by one of them when he tried to assist me with his spell. Do you require healing before we continue?" she posed her low-toned question to the priest.
The garnet in the vest pocket of the dead Halfling under the mound caught her eye and she quietly pointed it out to her companions.
"There is a garnet on the dead Halfling, there. Would you like me to retrieve it or leave it in the mould mound?"
She couldn't remember hearing about any Halfling expeditions. So, where did they come from?
Looking to Tabitha and/or Val, Dejah asked, still speaking in low tones, "Did Khonnir ever speak of bringing Halflings with him on his expeditions?"
Val shakes her head. "Not to my knowledge. I focused more on my studies while Dad went off on his expeditions."
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"Master Khonnir didn't have any halflings with him on either expedition" As Tabitha replies in a quieter tone.
She looks over towards the three pairs of hairy feet sticking out of the mound. "I wish we could know who they are. Then maybe we can tell the Mayor to let their families know." She then looks towards where Dejah points out where the Garnet is. "Might be a good idea to take the gem with us anyway. Who knows if it is owned by them or something they found."
Dejah gave a nod, "Alright, then" and went to work carefully retrieving the garnet from its resting place and looked it over to discern its value. She also cast Detect Magic on the garnet to satisfy her curiosity before placing the gem inside her belt pouch for sakekeeping.
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"Your pretty handy with a dagger Tabitha."
Cade leans over and watches as Dejah carefully removes the garnet from the mold.
Cade looks for tracks near the halfling or anything else that could give a clue to what happened. "Any of you have any idea if the mold killed him or if it was something else? Or how long he has been dead?"
Cade gives Dejah a crooked smile. "Good eyes Dejah."
Dejah noted Cade's compliment and responded with a quiet quip, "They are fine eyes", before completing her examination and appraisal.
She quietly notified her companions, "There's no magic in the stone, but it is worth around 20 gold pieces."
"Are we ready to move on?"
Cade responds to Dejah. "Yeah. I am." He picks up some dirt around the dead body and rubs it between his index finger and his thumb. He smells the dirt for a second before dropping it and wiping his hands on his pants.
"He's only been dead for about three days. When did the last known expedition supposedly start?" He looks at Val.
Hearing Cade say he was ready to continue, she listened as he then shared his findings regarding the time of death. "So all three Halflings died then as these slime moulds would have found the smaller Halflings much easy to grasp/trap."
Val bows her head and thinks. "Huh... the last expedition that took place happened about six days ago. That was Parda's attempt, may Brigh rest her soul..."
Viorec looks down at the wound from the slime. Yes I was wounded. I should probably heal myself with a moment of concentration Viorec summons Cayden's healing light though the light does not seem to touch where the slime's fell
When Caedmon mentions looking over the dead body Viorec offers his skills I do have some limited skill in healing let me have a look. before looking over the body Viorec offers a quick Prayer to Cayden for guidance