Though the trashy terrain proves difficult for even Rumble to maneuver across maneuver he does, granting himself a burst of divine favor before cracking Gurva upside the head with Sledge!
Perhaps not used to such resistance from his food, the otyugh is slow to react. But finally, react he does, turning his attention to the dwarf that just volunteered himself as the appetizer.
"GURVA WILL CRUNCH YOUR BONES, PUNY THING!"
And Gurva makes good on his threat as he not only delivers a painful bite to the dwarf but pummels him good with his tentacles! To make matters worse, the second tentacle manages to find a grip in spite of the dwarf's greasy coating and winds tightly around him.
"MMMM, FOOD CAME PRE-SEASONED!"
______________
Effie
==============
Kobold Green
Kobold Red
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Rumble
==============
Gurva
==============
Parison
Hepsubia
Maria
Zithembe
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain - Entire Room
Parison, Hepsubia, Maria and Zithembe are UP!
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Maria raises an eyebrow at Effie's comment, then hears the sounds below of hammer vs. flesh followed with... some sickening schlorps and dwarf grunts. Seeing Effie managing the one decent vantage point up top, Maria dives through the hole and quickly makes her way down the rope, bringing her light to the darkness.
While the battle rages below, Maria is next to descend the rope - bringing some light with her as she does. In an effort to help his dwarven friend Zithembe carefully picks his way across the uneven, trashy ground and tries to jam his dagger into one of Gurva's tentacles - but misses.
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Effie
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Kobold Green
Kobold Red
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Rumble
==============
Gurva
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Parison
Hepsubia
Maria
Zithembe
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain - Entire Room
Parison and Hepsubia are UP!
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Hearing his companions in trouble, Parison makes to try to reach the grate that they've descended down. However, there is a small problem with that. The cleric is on the opposite side of the sewer channel. Had there been room for a running start, Parison might have been able to make the leap. But as he reaches the point where he would elevate himself into the air, he gets launched another way as he slips on a slicky, slimy portion of the walkway.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"
With forward momentum and his feet flying out from under him, the poor cleric takes his second sewage bath in a five minute period via back flop.
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REVISED TURN
Parison suddenly blinks. He finds himself standing near the grate. It feels as if he can't breathe but suddenly realizes that's because he's only holding his breath.
Just breathe, he tells himself and exhales, though he does hear the sounds of fighting coming from below. That is happening and is real. The fall was only in his mind.
Shell shock?
Acting on instinct, Parison moves to the grate and climbs down into the room as fast as he can. He's suddenly conscious of what feels like a layer of sweat covering his forehead, and in that moment, he is afraid for himself, if not his companions.
Apparently someone keeps messing with the time stream because there's some mighty strange things going on - Parison blinks to find himself near the grate that several of his companions have already descended through. How he got there is a mystery, his brain a fog on that particular detail, but it really doesn't matter. The priest takes advantage of the opportunity to climb down the rope after the others.
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Effie
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Kobold Green
Kobold Red
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Rumble
==============
Gurva
==============
Parison
Hepsubia
Maria
Zithembe
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain - Entire Room
Hepsubia is UP!
Not about to let her teammates have all the fun, Hepsubia quickly follows down the rope after Parison. The area around the end of the rope is getting pretty crowded but now the entire group is frolicking among the garbage, except for Effie.
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Effie
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Kobold Green
Kobold Red
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Rumble
==============
Gurva
==============
Parison
Hepsubia
Maria
Zithembe
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain - Entire Room
Effie is UP!
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"Y' know, this amazing smell you've discovered down there reminds me of the great tradition of toilet humour amongst the circus clowns" Effie calls down as she reloads her pistol with a cartridge.
"I'd share some of the gags, but the truth is they're a pile of old crap."
The last one left up top, Effie reloads her gun while offering some witty and amusing commentary on the situation, bolstering the spirits of the group in spite of the unfavorable circumstances.
Down below, the pair of kobolds that have caused so much trouble continue to harry the group. Red steps up in front of the grate that separates him and his buddy from the group and takes aim at Zithembe with his crossbow, apparently confident that Gurva's got the dwarf well in tentacle at this point.
Luckily, it's a miss; the kobold quickly loads another bolt. Meanwhile Green seems to be waiting, possibly because he can't get off a great shot with his buddy standing in front of him.
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Effie
==============
Kobold Green
Kobold Red
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Rumble
==============
Gurva
==============
Parison
Hepsubia
Maria
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage +1/+1
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain - Entire Room
Rumble is UP!
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Rumble groans as the Otyugh's grip tightens around him, blood leaking from his mouth. "HA *cough* HA! Aye've got ye righ' *cough* where aye want ye, beast!" he wheezes. Sledge still firmly in hand, he delivers another smash to its face. "Cease an' desist, fiend, or ye'll *cough* perish by mah hand!"
________
Unwilling to concede defeat Rumble conjures a small bit of divine healing before managing to bash his assailant in its toothy maw with Sledge, leaving Gurva also bleeding profusely from the mouth and missing a few teeth. But the otyugh doesn't fall.
"NO...PUNY THINGS...WILL BE...SNACKS..." Gurva wheezes. The otyugh turns the majority of his attention to Zithembe, who was kind enough to step up and introduce himself previously...
...while attempting to keep hold of Rumble in his other tentacle.
He continues to squeeze the dwarf like a grape!
______________
Effie
==============
Kobold Green
Kobold Red
==============
Rumble
==============
Gurva
==============
Parison
Hepsubia
Maria
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage +1/+1
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain - Entire Room
Parison, Hepsubia, Maria and Zithembe are UP at the bottom of Round 2 and Effie is UP at the top of Round 3!
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| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Parison doesn't have much time to survey the scene to realize that both Zithembe and Rumble are in big trouble. Especially his battle buddy, who has taken some serious wounds.
However, the cleric does notice that with both of his companions 'tied up' at the moment, there shouldn't be any way for the ravenous otyugh to reach out and snag him up. Not wanting to get close enough for Gurva to bite him, Parison holds his ground.
"Goddess, please bless my friend with your healing touch," he murmurs as his body becomes a conduit for the blessed energy granted to him by Sarenrae. When he can hold no more, he releases it to the benefit of his friends.
"You'll find that you're trying to eat some things that will disagree with you," he remarks dryly to the otyugh, drawing his scimitar.
Wisely opting to stay clear of Gurva's reach (for he wasn't able to grab hold of Zithembe and thus has one tentacle free), Parison cracks wise as he channels healing power to help his battle buddy out!
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Effie
==============
Kobold Green
Kobold Red
==============
Rumble
==============
Gurva
==============
Parison
Hepsubia
Maria
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage +1/+1
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain - Entire Room
Hepsubia, Maria and Zithembe are UP at the bottom of Round 2 and Effie is UP at the top of Round 3!
With Parison's healing having bought Rumble some extra time Zithembe once again drives his dagger into the otyugh's nasty hide, blood spurting from the wound!
"UGH...GURVA...GURVA LIE DOWN NOW..."
The otyugh sways and then collapses to the ground with a mighty thud, the tentacle coiled around Rumble finally releasing its grip.
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Effie
==============
Kobold Green
Kobold Red
==============
Rumble
Parison
Hepsubia
Maria
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage +1/+1
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain - Entire Room
Hepsubia and Maria are UP at the bottom of Round 2 and Effie is UP at the top of Round 3!
With the biggest threat a threat no more, Hepsubia turns her attention to the two wily kobolds lurking just behind the nearby grate. Sword in hand, she tries to slash at Red but the corner in the way makes it difficult to do and the kobold easily avoids the strike.
______________
Effie
==============
Kobold Green
Kobold Red
==============
Rumble
Parison
Hepsubia
Maria
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage +1/+1
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain - Entire Room
Maria is UP at the bottom of Round 2 and Effie is UP at the top of Round 3!
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Maria waits a short bit to see if her planar ally begins their spirit dance. She watches as Zithembe instead plunges a dagger into the tentacled monster, dispatching it to collapse to the ground. She nods, "That works even better. Nice work you all."
The elf turns her attention to the kobolds, "I'm sorry, but we need to pass. Hopefully this won't hurt... too much."
Striding out into the middle of the room, she turns and carefully aims a blunt arrow at the front sewer dragon.
Benefit: You must declare that you are using this feat before you make your attack roll (thus a failed attack roll ruins the attempt). You must use one of the following weapons to make the attack: kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, and siangham. You can roll your attack roll twice and take the higher result. If one of these rolls is a critical threat, the other roll is used as your confirmation roll (your choice if they are both critical threats). You may attempt a perfect attack once per day for every four levels you have attained (but see Special), and no more than once per round.
Special: A weapon master monk or zen archer monk receives Perfect Strike as a bonus feat at 1st level, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. A monk may attempt an perfect strike attack a number of times per day equal to his monk level, plus one more time per day for every four levels he has in classes other than monk.
As Effie works on climbing her way down the rope, still cracking wise, Maria takes careful aim at Red and fires a bludgeoning arrow through the grate!
*THWACK!*
The arrow beans Red right in the middle of his forehead, dropping the kobold like a rock. Even with the use of blunt arrows to deal a non-lethal wound there's some blood visible - looks like Maria might've overdone it just a bit.
Green, the last kobold standing, seems to weigh his options and apparently decides that he's not going to get very far by running away again. He drops his crossbow and holds up his hands!
"Bié shā wǒ! Wǒ fàngqì!"
"Don't kill me! I give up!"
The immediate danger now past, you set about gaining access to the two kobolds - one unconscious but stable and the other clearly surrendering. While there's probably some manner of latch to open the grates hidden somewhere among all the garbage it proves easier to simply allow Hepsubia some time to jimmy the eastern grate open. Once that's done, it's little trouble to strip the two kobolds of their gear and bind them up tightly.
And much to everyone's relief, there does seem to only be one otyugh as you're able to do all of this unmolested. And though he took quite a beating, Rumble notes that at least the bite he received from Gurva doesn't seem to be festering.
As far as gear is concerned, most of what the kobolds carry are too small for any of you to make use of - studded leather armor, shortswords, and light crossbows. There are a number of bolts, nearly 40 total, and there are also a total of three milky blue potions. Nearby, sitting in a corner, are two *more* potions of a similar hue but they appear to be just a little more clear in color.
They're all potions of Cure Light Wounds.
These two potions are potions of Cure Moderate Wounds.
As you're looking around the chamber and the two grates you can easily see that the eastern grate where the kobolds took shelter sees much more activity than the one to the west.
Nosing about the trash pile in the center of the room you make a grisly discovery - the half-eaten body of a human male. In his pockets you find a ring, 96 gold pieces, and a wayfinder engraved with a name - Gil Flemish.
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"If we're going to bring back Gil's wayfinder, we should bring back what's left of him for a proper burial, too," Parison adds, looking somberly at the corpse. "Let's get his body out of this garbage for now and if we can make peace with the kobolds, we'll take him back to the Grand Lodge when we return here."
The cleric draws his wand of cure light wounds and makes his way to Rumble. "Effie's got a point. We should have the kobolds take us to where they live," he says as he crosses to his fellow Pathfinder. "And if they have any more nasty surprises for us, we can have them point them out as we go."
"In the future, let's not give any more monsters with gigantic maws a chance to acquire a taste for dwarf, my friend," Parison says, trying to fan his sense of humor against his fear of what could have happened.
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Rumble ties up the Kobolds as well as he can. Their wrists are bound behind their back, their ankles have just enough slack to walk without running, and each has a lead that he ties to his arm. He keeps Sledge out, but forgoes his shield. "Leh's hope this works," he grumbles.
"Ha! If only they 'ad tha chance!"
________
The one kobold that's currently conscious stares blankly at Zithembe as the shabti tries to open up a dialogue, then shakes his head.
"Bù shuō Common. Zhè shì yī zhǒng yúchǔn de yǔyán!"
"No speak Common. It's a silly language!"
Anyone watching closely can get the impression that the kobold doesn't seem to be trying to be tricksy at this point.
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Hepsubia speaks with the kobold
"Wèishéme huì yǒu máfan?" the conscious kobold repeats, looking incredulous. He squirms against his bonds. "Zhídào nín méiyǒu chèng chūxiàn shí, cái yǒu rènhé máfan! Nín zài hēi'àn zhōng mílùle ma? Nǐ zěnme hái zài zhèlǐ nǐ bù yìng gāi zài zhèlǐ!"
"Why the troubles?"
"There weren't any troubles until you no-scales showed up! Did you get lost in the dark or what? Why are you even here? You're not supposed to be down here!"
When Zithembe revives his injured companion - who slowly begins to come to - the lead kobold stops struggling against his bonds and gives the shabti a hard look. Then he looks up at Hepsubia and then around at the rest of you.
"Hǎo ba, kàn...Nín zhēn de yīnggāi zhuǎnshēn líkāi," he says, glancing around uneasily. "Tok's de shíyàn shì jiù zài dàtīng lǐ, jíshǐ wǒmen yǔ nín tóng zài, tā yě bù huì ràng nín zǒu guòqù. Líkāi jiù jiǎzhuāng wǒmen cóng wèi jiànguò nǐ. Wǒmen huì shuō yǒurén tōngguò shā sǐle Gurva."
"Okay, look...you should really just turn around and leave."
"Tok's lab is just down the hall and he's not going to let you just walk through - even if we came with you. Just leave and we'll pretend we never saw you. We'll say someone else came through and killed Gurva."
______________
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"They sound honest enough, aye suppose," Rumble admits with a frown while rubbing his bear. Can't say I'd be able to catch a lizard in a lie though. Elves don't seem bothered by them too much though.
"Are they willin' ta arrange ah parlay? That'd make all this blunderin' abouh much easiah," he suggests.
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Zithembe looks down at the kobolds thoughtfully after Maria has translated. "No. I do not suppose these are interested in smoothing the path. If they do not know of a way around this Tok--that we can fit through--we can try to negotiate with him despite their dire assessment. He may speak other languages," he suggests.
He looks over to their dwarven companion and then back to the kobolds. "Do we drag them along with us or leave them here?" he asks. "They are in no danger, but if they get free, we may find ourselves glued to the floor by a shot from behind."
"Tok, tā shì wǒmen yuàn zhǎng de érzi. Xié'è de cōngmíng rén-tā shèjìle nàgè jùshí xiànjǐng," the lead kobold answers after Effie's question is translated. Then he winces.
"Ń...Duìbùqǐ, wǒ xiǎng."
"Tok, he's the son of our chief. Wicked smart - he designed that boulder trap!"
"Um...sorry about that, I guess."
And now that you mention it, you remember that Yiddlepode had also mentioned someone named Tok when she was giving Maria and Parison the lowdown on what to expect in Sewer Dragon territory.
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"Aye'll tie 'em off tah sumthin sturdy while we get goin'," Rumble says before doing so. "Yiddlepode did ask us nah tah kill 'er brotha Tok. We've gotta defend ourselves, buh aye think, like tha otha Kobolds, we can knock 'im ouh an' call ih ah day!"
Sledge and shield in hand, he is ready to travel east.
"Nǐ de sǐ chái duī..." the kobold mutters as it becomes clear that you intend to press onward. But there's little he or his companion can do to stop you and so you take care to secure them in the trash room, in whatever way seems most prudent.
"Your death pyre..."
With that done, you fall into a careful scouting sort of formation with Rumble and Hepsubia leading the way. The tunnels here are even more cramped than above in the sewers, rough cut but well maintained. You need only travel about 35 feet down the eastern tunnel before you reach a set of stone steps leading upward and to the north. From the top of the stairs a small sliver of light is visible underneath the door at the end of the hallway.