Alenka whirled around as pain radiated throughout her back. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on the skulk. In Undercommon she spits back, "I will make you feel real pain. Finally, something I can truly enjoy."
She launched herself down the ladder with her cleaver out before her, hoping to embed it in the skulk's head.
Then she yells in common, "The skulk called the others cowards for surrendering. They know each other and aren't innocent in all this."
Vard's head jerked around as the new voice rang out. Peering past the cart behind him, he could make out the unmistakable form of a skulk - but one apparently not beaten down like the previous ones.
A split second hesitation as he glanced up at the man up on the crates, but the skulk was clearly more important. He raced towards the other side of the warehouse, skidding around the corners.
Pushing past the surrendered man, she grabbed Thrym's hand and clapped it over the sword wound in her ribs. "Heal me. Now."
While the words made little sense to him the gesture was clear enough and exactly what he had inteneded to do anyway, now that the enemies in the immediate vicinity were pacified but new sounds of battle had emerged. This was no time to be hovering on death's door.
Nodding, Thrym murmured an invocation to the spirits, nodded to the withered, bent ancient whose skin was covered in softly glowing tattoos from head to toes who stepped froth from the ranks to lay his wrinkled hand on top of Thrym’s and gift him the power to heal. Briefly, a purple light with a heart of pure white flared around the bloodied hand, burning and chilling the half-orc even as it mended her torn flesh.
What??? What's goin' on now?! Fain couldn't see what was happening around crates to the ladder's base so he tried to leap to the floor to find a better position.
Then she yells in common, "The skulk called the others cowards for surrendering. They know each other and aren't innocent in all this."
His eyes darted back and forth trying to espy invisible skulks - which he assumed were everywhere!
As everyone rushed to healing or the new assailant, the man on the crates took the momentary distraction to jump down from the crates and ran into the room where Luk Luk was struggling with the slimes. He ran past her and opened up the door to the west. Meanwhile, Luk Luk managed to burn away some of the swarm, but they still climbed up her arms reaching towards her mouth.
Alenka all but landed on the Skulk at the base of the ladder. She missed the creature's head, but her cleaver still caused a painful gash on his shoulder. He shrieked, as he slashed across her abdomen, returning pain for pain.
Seeing the skulk slash Alenka, Vard charged forward with a shout, but his hammer whizzed past the skulk and slammed into the ground.
Having made his way down the crates, Thrym landed just in time to see a dagger down Jenni's learned friend. Growling in anger, Thrym brandished his axe and shield and advanced cautiously, banging the weapon against the shield to force the enemy to turn his attention to him instead of finishing off the fallen foe.
Once within reach, he hunkered down behind his shield for a spell, fending off a flurry of cuts from the light blade before he saw his opportunity. He stepped forward, using his shield and body to force the dagger-bearing arm wide and slashed at the Skulk with his axe, intending to disembowel the opponent but managed only a surface cut across its abdomen as the creature reacted quickly and sucked in its stomach just in time to avoid splattering the floor with its intestines.
"Du kan klippa," the shaman snarled. "Nu låt oss se dig blöda!"
Fain peeked around the corner to see the mad exchange of slashing, and watched as Vard charged in. He ran to the far wall leaned around, and, with his tongue sticking out just a little to the left, fired an aimed shot into the mess.
Luk Luk snarled out "I hate slime!" before retching to get the horrid taste from her mouth.
Jenni growled with the pain of Thrym's healing, but didn't whine this time. Instead, she allowed the very worst of the damage to heal, then she followed the warrior and jumped down to the crates, and then to the floor. Heedless of the danger, should she take another hard hit, she slashed at the skulk, ready to kill the creature that had hurt Goggles.
Alenka felt weak from blood loss and she didn't like it. She withdrew behind Thrym and reached for her healing extract.
"There should be another skulk somewhere." Her breathing was ragged due to the wound in her back, "Make sure you watch your backs."
Fain's arrow struck the skulk in side of his neck, causing the creature to sputter. Yet, still it snarled and gripped it's sword. However, Thrym blade cut across it's stomach, causing it to double over, just in time to Jenni to fall from above, landing her greatsword into its back. The skulk hit the ground hard, his eyes slowly drooping closed.
Meanwhile, in the reception area, the fleeing warehouse worker slammed the door behind him. Luk Luk thrashed and was able to fling the slimes off of her temporarily, but they seemed determined to attach to this new moving target. They crawled along the floor and began to congeal around her legs.
Fain takes a big breath, knowing that more danger must certainly be coming ... or preparing itself for the team to come to them. He bends over and grabs his knees. I guess we'll be on the run soon ... better check out this last room
He opened the door to the northeast room.
Alenka sagged in relief as the skulk went down. She then pulled out her last extract and gulped it down. The healing elixir repaired cells and knit skin back together which allowed her to continue their fight.
As the skulk went down, Vard heard the door slam.
"What was that? Where did the other worker go?"
He glanced around, but couldn't see him.
"Ugh, make sure those two up there don't try to scarper." Vard took off again towards the office.
Being unable to do much, Luk Luk tries to move away from the slime. But can't.
As Luk Luk began to be covered in the slimes, she felt her mind starting to feel fuzzy. It was almost as if she felt giddy.
Meanwhile, Fain moved to explore the northeast door. Inside was nothing but a small room. A cot and a footlocker rested against the south wall. In the opposite corner was a chair with a tray of food.
Standing over the body of his enemy, Thrym scanned the warehouse with his eyes. Of enemies, none still stood to challenge them, although one worker was unaccounted for. But then again, with all the piled crates around them, Thrym realized he could hardly the whole room so the missing man might well be lying in a pool of his own blood somewhere. As for Thrym's allies... Jenni, despite her severe wounds, had followed Thrym down, to finish off the Skulk with a mighty plunging strike. And the Queen's friend, Alenka, was downing a vial of some elixir that was visibly bolstering her strength. Thus, all seemed well for them.
"Ugh, make sure those two up there don't try to scarper." Vard took off again towards the office.
"You heard him, scum!" Thrym roared, not bothering to look up to the rafters. "Kick down your weapons and come down quietly, and you can join your master in the Lawkeeper's cell! Resist again or try to run, and you will be joining your ancestors! The choice is yours!"
Without another word the shaman turned his attention back to the Skulk. He still wsan't convinced just how much the hired help in the warehouse knew of what was truly happening, but this creature... it might well be one of those their earlier prisoners had said had been chosen as go-betweens, carrying the masters' orders back to the rest of their kind. Thus, it would know things worth hearing. He knelt next to it, took a moment to remove any obvious weapons from its body and then took inventory of its wounds. Grave, but not quite yet fatal.
"Alenka," he grunted. "Your attention, please. This one's life is fading, but we still have use for it. Help me, and it may let live to share its secrets."
Vard raced the corner back into the office.
" Did the other guy.. whoa, what happened!? Hey guys, little help, the red mucks on Luk Luk now! "
"ok.. ok. Let's try to get it off you. " He started scraping at the ooze, trying to free Luk Luk.
Fain rushed as quickly as he could to Luk Luk's position. "Umm? What about alcohol? Does anyone have any alcohol?" He ran about the room in a panicked way looking for a fire bucket of water or any crates labeled wine or such.
Jenni patted Alenka's shoulder, seeing that she'd wisely taken her potion. He half-orc then lumbered over to Luk-luk, and used her long claws to start scraping and cutting at the ooze blobs.
Alenka was still feeling a little unsteady on her feet but at least she was no longer bleeding everywhere.
She moved over to the skulk to help Thrym but also to get a sample of its blood before it possibly died. Alenka pointed at a few places on the skulk's body. "If you apply pressure in those two places, he'll probably live." While Thrym attended to the wounds, Alenka took a vial of its blood. Maybe she could isolate the property that allowed it to camouflage itself into its surroundings.
Seeing Jenni take off to help Luk Luk with the ooze caused Alenka to yell after her, "You probably don't want to touch the ooze. It'll just start crawling on you too."
"Try FIRE!
Luk Luk held back from the giggle fit the feeling of the slime wanted to invoke. Now she had to get the thing OFF!
Shaking it off, Luk Luk moved away from it. She was going to burn this slimy piece of...slime to ashes.
Shaken off of Luk Luk, the slime began wrapping around Jenni's sword.
Fain, having seen Luk Luk thrash free of the viscous slugs of ooze, runs full tilt for the double doors. He crouches low and gets ready to stalk his way over to the nearby building.
Jenni dropped her sword and backed away, glad that the ooze was off the elf. "What do I do? Stomp it?"
Alenka pulled out another vial and strode over to the office where the ooze was. "No, don't stomp it. Don't touch it." She then tossed it on the red slime. "Hopefully that will kill it."
Fain called out to the room, "Is there anythin' to truss up the two on the catwalk?"
Fain took a peak out of the doors and, if the way is clear, he will sneak out and head to the other building.
Unable to do anything against the ooze, and seeing the others handling it, Vard opened the door and looked into the next room.
"Did that worker run through here? ", he asked Luk Luk
As Alenka poured acid other the slimes they seemed to writhe and wither, leaving burnt red gunk on the floor. No longer did the tiny globules move towards living bodies.
Fain did not see anybody outside of the warehouse doors. Sneaking quietly over to Robella's shop. He saw a sign on the door indicated that the shop was closed. However, he was sure that the sign had said open not a few minutes back when they had been scouting the locations.
Feeling more than a little woozy, Jenni retrieved her sword and stared around the warehouse. "Did we loose somebody? Who do I need to stab next?"
Vard went to investigate the room that the man had run off to. He found a small storage room with boxes of files in one corner and a half dozen brooms and cleaning supplies in the other. What was nowhere to be seen was the man who had run, despite the room having no other doors and no windows.
"Thanks Alenka and yes Jenni," Luk Luk points towards the door one man had fled through, "one human ran that way. That Vard went I think," Luk Luk looks at the man on the ground, "He dead? Better question," Luk Luk looks to the two humans that surrendered, "WHO GAVE YOU THAT SLIME?!"
Before roaring out "Si nishka valignat astahi ekess wer drihli ihk batobot!" as she knelt down to see if the secretary was still breathing.
Through here? You sure? Looks like a storage closet - no other way out." He does a cursory look around for any hiding place or hidden exits.
"There's some files which might have something in them, but I don't see the guy."
Fain gently tested the front door to see if it was locked. Shut tight or no, he went around the building counterclockwise to the small side door and did the same - all the time he crept like he was trying to stalk a crow.
now dear boy, don't let your curiosity get the better of you. you're jus' checkin the doors and waiting to see if the others come, then you're heading back ... absolutely no peaking ... maybe jus' a listen
Alenka grabbed Jenni's arm, "You don't go stabbing anyone next because you're too hurt yourself. Take care of yourself. If you go charging in anywhere, you probably won't come back out. Stay here."
The alchemist then followed Vard. "It is impossible for someone to just disappear. There must be another exit from this room. Look harder." She joins in searching for trap doors or hidden doors.
"I'm fine," Jenni said. But as she released the rage that had been sustaining her, she staggered. "Maybe not quite fine." Moving back to Thrym, she said, "Your gods are weak. They barely stopped my bleeding. More healing. Please."
"We didn't know what it was! We were just told to kick it over!" One of the men responded defensively, though they did not see too scared of the slightly slimy elf.
Luk Luk drew her crossbow, "You two? Do not run. I think the secretary is still alive but I am no healer." She turned and walked over to check on Vard. Peeking into the room, "Vard? Have you found where he hid?"