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Somewhat relieved that there were not immediate threats from the fungi forests Art takes a step back at the appearance of the small devel and tries to recall more about the diabolic creatures.
Well, if you are asking I'd first know what type of performance you intend, and I think it would be quite uncouth to watch a performer and not know his or her name. Art responds. Can you enlighten us all with that small bit of information? How are you to become renowned if you do not properly introduce yourself?
Art's familiar, Lyr, pokes her small head out of his robes and glares unfriendly at the imp.
The imp turns to Artemus with a smile, replying. "That is a most excellent question indeed! Now let us begin!", the imp bowing once more to the party.
Lyr informs Artemus that there is a presence of evil!
The imp then points its conducting rod at the ground underneath the floor the party is on at stage level and speaks, "Bravisimo!", the rod firing a line of lightning straight ahead until a space underneath the party.
Horrendous screams of torment are heard, dozens of voices lashing out out in pain!
"Yes, yes, such wonderful music!", the imp exclaims, performing a small jig.
Init Order (bold = up)
Faeros
Artemus
Imp
Thunderstealer
???
Nilfyr
"But my musiiiiii-", the imp disappearing as it fades away.
Faeros moves into the room, but looks around and sees nothing immediately other than the horrible wailing. His bow at the ready, he stands guard to pop an arrow at the first visible threat.
Init Order (bold = up)
Faeros (readied arrow)
Artemus
Thunderstealer
???
Nilfyr
Thunderstealer, unsure of what just happened other than some light conversation, an electrifying explosion, and some other noise, waits in anticipation.
Nilfyr steps back, polearm ready as he sees a massive blob of flesh with over a dozen eyes and nearly as many mouths ooze from underneath the seating floor . Artemus and Nilfyr recognize it as a gibbering mouther, but larger than any one they have seen before. The creature looks almost searchingly at the missing imp and cries out in maddening anguish, spitting something at Nilfyr in the process.
Thunderstealer, Nilfyr, and Faeros maintain their senses, but Artemus, Lyr and Belcher now have a confused, glazed look in their eyes!
Init Order (bold = up)
Faeros
???
Artemus (confused)
Lyr (confused)
Belcher (confused)
???
Thunderstealer
Nilfyr
Nilfyr cuts into the mouther, although its flesh somewhat reforms around the swing. The second fails to get close enough to wound, though.
Init Order (bold = up)
Faeros
???
Artemus (confused)
Lyr (confused)
Belcher (confused)
Gibbering Mouther (21 damage)
Thunderstealer
Nilfyr (blinded 2 rounds)
Thunderstealer moves in...
But it fails to penetrate the dinosaur's enchanted thick hide. Meanwhile, the druid's claw rips into the beast, causing it to howl out in pain throughout its many mouths.
Faeros' keen eyes allow him to strike with abundance at the foe, reading its movements before unleashing a volley of arrows.
All three of Faeros' arrows strike, the shrieks of pain louder than ever.
Interspersed with the gibbering cries of terror, a shadowy form moves through the wall, babbling incoherently along with the mouther: an allip!
Belcher tilts his head, stuck in a strange hypnotic loop which staves off its confused state temporarily as it focuses mostly on the shadowy form.
The form then turns to the dinosaur below it and reaches out...
Thunderstealer's head hurts somewhat, but he retains his faculties otherwise.
Artemus's logical tendencies keep his thoughts from straying as he decides on a course of action. Lyr though tries to scratch itself, but with little effect.
Init Order (bold = up)
Faeros (studied mouther)
Blue allip (over Thunderstealer)
Artemus (confused can act)
Lyr (1 nl, confused self harm)
Belcher (fascinated confused)
Gibbering Mouther (96 damage)
Thunderstealer (4 Wis damage)
Nilfyr (blinded 2 rounds)
The allip however doesn't seem to know where the brain of a dinosaur is and Thunderstealer resists the attempt to be robbed of his sanity.
Amazingly, the allip avoids the attempt to be stuck in the sphere which now hovers over Thunderstealer.
Almost in retaliation, four more allips appear from other locations in the wall and continue to babble chaotically, the sounds mixing with the cries of the mouther.
Only Lyr and Belcher seem affected by the constant babbling that echoes through the chamber.
The allips then begin to swarm the party and reach out with their touches.
Only Nilfyr is both successfully struck and loses some of his mind from the strike, feeling a bit confuddled.
The mouther continues it constant babbling...
The pets which were already fascinated seem to be still subject to the confusing gibbering.
The mouther then moves to engulf all of Thunderstealer with a swarm of teeth!
Only one bite leaves a lasting mark on the huge dinosaur.
Init Order (bold = up)
Faeros (studied mouther)
Blue allip (over Thunderstealer)
Artemus
Lyr (1 nl, confused, fascinated)
Belcher (fascinated, confused)
Gibbering Mouther (96 damage)
Thunderstealer (2 damage)
Nilfyr (blinded 1 round, 2 Wis damage)
Nilfyr swings blindly, and feels his blade sink into something on the first pass. The audibly screams confirms that hit his mark, but the follow up fails to strike anything.
The saurian druid makes a flurry of strikes at the mouther!
The maddening cries end after Thunderstealer's fury, although the babble of the cacophony of allips still echoes through the chamber.
Faeros steps back through the doorway and uses his magic bow to take out the allip that tried to harm him!
The allip over Thunderstealer tries to touch the dinosaur again...
But it misses horribly!
Init Order (bold = up)
Faeros (studied black allip)
Blue allip (over Thunderstealer)
Artemus
Lyr (1 nl, confused, fascinated)
Belcher (fascinated, confused)
Black allip (27 damage)
Red allip
White Allip
Yellow allip
Thunderstealer (2 damage)
Nilfyr (2 Wis damage)
Both of the allips remain stuck, trying to reach Nilfyr but now contained with a bubble of pure force willed by Artemus.
The allips continue their attempt at an assault of the senses.
While both ghostly entities reach their targets, Faeros and Thunderstealer's devotion to their deities keep them safe.
Init Order (bold = up)
Faeros (studied black allip)
Blue allip (over Thunderstealer)
Artemus
Lyr (1 nl, confused, fascinated)
Belcher (fascinated, confused)
Black allip (27 damage)
Red allip
White Allip
Yellow allip
Thunderstealer (2 damage)
Nilfyr (2 Wis damage)
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Thunderstealer attacks starting with blue and switching to yellow if blue goes down.
for
for
for
Also, as a single attack would have taken down the mouther, I'd like to do last turns remaining attacks as well (just take off the ones that were needed to kill the mouther and apply the rest to blue)
for
for
for
for
for
Both Thunderstealer and Nilfyr remove their foes, leaving only the ones trapped in the sphere remaining. The party moves into position and alpha strikes when Artemus dismisses the barrier, removing the rest of the undead from the battle.
The party searches the room thoroughly, making sure there aren't any more surprises. They do not find anything else of value in the room.
Returning to the top of the garden balcony, everyone looks out wary of what may be lurking in the thick foliage.
The party slowly makes their way down the stone steps into the garden. The green light from the spire core illuminates their way as Nilfyr takes the lead, Thunder-raptor right behind.
The dense foliage makes it hard for the Desnan to move forward although Thunder-raptor finds himself at ease. To the right of the steps, yellow flowers somewhat lead the way to a stone passage way while massive fungal growths are tucked against the back wall leading towards the spire core.
The towering Emerald Spire dances with light in the center of this cavern. A basin carved from stone surrounds it, and green-hued water sprays from several fissures in its surface, collecting into a pool within the basin. A stream flows westward out of the pool, and a small building of yellow marble stands on its banks. To the north, an alcove and a flight of stairs lead out of the main cavern. To the southwest, another cave mouth opens in the south wall.
Finding it more secure, the party engages towards the right.
Faeros can barely move when he notices that one of the large masses of yellow flowers begins moving...
A large bulbous mass of plant mass moves first, firing a cloud of pollen at Nilfyr!
The dust hits the half-elf and he feels his mind getting foggy. Yet, he keeps his wits about him and stays in the fight!
Alongside the large flowery plant, a half dozen forms rise from the undergrowth, husks of beings that seem to be consumed by the yellow plants and now surrounded by numerous thorns!
This is some massive variant of the yellow husk creeper. It makes victims helpless through its pollen then feeds on their brains using its tendrils.
Yellow husk creepers create zombie-like creatures after sucking out all of their brains, new spawn to support its plant-father. These zombies are different though; they seem more powerful thanks to the infusion of eldritch magic... perhaps corruption from the spire core?
Init Order (bold = up)
Artemus
Yellow plant mass
Flower zombies (black, blue, green, red, white, yellow)
Faeros (surprised round - 1 action)
Nilfyr
Thunderstealer/Belcher
Trusting his melee allies to hold the zombie line, Faeros targets the large plant creature, firing a single arrow.
The arrow rips apart several vines, obviously wounding the plant mass.
Init Order (bold = up)
Artemus
Yellow plant mass (21 damage)
Flower zombies (black, blue, green, red, white, yellow)
Faeros (studied yellow plant mass)
Nilfyr
Thunderstealer/Belcher
With a greater a number of enemies, Artemus casts a spell to make up the difference with volume of strikes.
The large plant mass once again fires pollen at Nilfyr...
But Nilfyr will not be swayed!
The horde of plant-zombies press forward, but the half-elf's polearm strikes repeatedly...
The zombies swarm in, Nilfyr tripping a pair of them leading to a powerful combo of follow-ups from him and Thunder-raptor. However, one still reaches Thunderstealer, its thorny arms leaving lasting marks on the druid's skin.
Init Order (bold = up)
Artemus
Yellow plant mass (21 damage)
Black Flower zombie
Blue Flower zombie
Green Flower zombie (prone, 49 damage)
Red Flower zombies (prone)
White Flower zombie
Yellow Flower zombie
Nilfyr
Thunderstealer (9 damage)
Belcher
Belcher joins his friend and attacks (also provoking from the huge creature)
for
Belcher moves in, the viney tentacle too slow to reach the dinosaur effectively, but distracting it enough to throw off the talon strike.
Nilfyr's blow strikes true, sending plant matter oozing all over the place.
Faeros' first two arrows finish off Nilfyr's work; he then finishes off the wounded zombie with his last strike.
However, before the zombies can react, another large plant creeps from the other side, lashing out at the floating dinosaur up in the air with one of its massive maws!
It bites down on the dinsaur, the fails to leave a lasting wound.
The zombies then continue to move in, swinging underneath the rest of the party.
Init Order (bold = up)
Group buff - haste (9 rounds remaining)
Faeros
Artemus
Giant flytrap
Black Flower zombie
Blue Flower zombie
Red Flower zombies
White Flower zombie
Yellow Flower zombie
Nilfyr
Thunderstealer (9 damage)
Belcher
The party makes quick work of the giant flytrap, Artemus' rays scorching the last of the life out of the gigantic plant. This leaves Faeros to slowly pick apart the zombies one by one over the course of 30 seconds.
The chamber is now mostly quiet other than the sounds of leaves rustling from the artificial wind blowing in the cavern. Near Thunderstealer is a narrow passageway that leads to a door, while a large stone building lurks near a pool of water past the center of the room.
The party trudges forward, looking to make sure no other threats will sneak up on them. The large stone structure has closed doors that at least seem to be uninhabited, so the party moves to clear out the rest of the side tunnels.
The chamber south of the building has a starry night sky hides the ceiling of this side cavern. The flowers and vines in this cavern are much less overgrown, and several stone statues are scattered about in random poses. The path continues around a bend in the chamber.
Wary, Nilfyr peeks around the corner, noticing that a large part of this cavern’s southwest corner is a strange enclosure made from transparent crystal. It seems to be a pen or terrarium with carefully arranged flora inside. Several more stone statues nearby seem to be adventurers or explorers with looks of surprise or horror on their faces. Inside the enclosure, a large, reptilian creature glares with terrible, yellow eyes.
Nilfyr feels his body tremble slightly then stop.
The reptile paws at the crystal wall, but seems unable to make its way through.
Init Order (bold = up)
Faeros
Artemus
Reptile
Nilfyr
Thunderstealer