Bedlam winks at Nico.
We be ready ta git down dere? Any traps ye tink, Anzath?
"When we get down there, be cautious. The pooze may have made its way back up the river channel. Or another guardian may have been installed in its place. I would say we should move quickly towards the passage that the ghouls had come up from. By now, they should no longer be on high alert."
Lolygert slaps his hand on the hard rock of the mausoleum wall, "Ah, good ol' Rappan....I missed it! " he says, more than a hint of anticipation in his voice.
He reaches over and scratches Nico's head, "Getting scared, builds character, lit'l one!"
At the mention of the pooze, his nose wrinkles , as if he can smell it , "We really should figure out a way to kill that thing!"
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The party moves swiftly as per Tragershen's plans. Anzath has no trouble with the trap door, now that she's learned that it's best not to mess with such things. You lower yourselves down and head to the cavern.
The level smells incredibly bad. Please roll a DC 10 Fort save when you can--failure means you're Shaken.
As often happens in Rappan Athuk, you run into a small group of ghouls as you head down a narrow hallway:
Talathel sees four ghouls a moment before the ghouls see him. You may act in the surprise round, Tal! And Tragershen, as always. Everyone else is too far back in the line.
Still gently scratching Nico, Adelie whispers, ”We’re going down into the scary place together, Nicothoe. Deep into the ground. You and I can fly, but the others, they can’t, so don’t flutter off, alright? We stay together, we stay alive. If you see something interesting or scary, tell us, ok?”
Anzath has trouble breathing, which puts her in a slight panic.
Bedlam grumpily brings up the rear. The short dwarf does wonder why he is always in the back. Although, it does allow for some shenanigans!
The dwarf breathes easily; wondering what all the fuss is about...
Fort save DC10
Tragershen casts web, DC 16. He centers it so that the ghouls are on the edge of the spell closest to the group, and they would have to fight their way through several squares of webbing to get away from us.
Lolygert takes a deep breath and exclaims, "Still smells bad down here! "
He then sees Tragershen and Tal reacting to something up ahead, "What's that now??!?!?"
Though her face wrinkles up in disgust, Aurora doesn't seem too bothered by it.
"I had some slight hope that Bedlam's wanton use of explosives might have widened them. The mausoleum it is then."
*****************
Reacting in time, Talathel concentrates on murdering ghouls, then braces for a charge.
One of the ghouls avoids the Web spell, but the other three are immediately grappled by the sticky threads.
Two of them react very quickly. Being smart, wise, and charismatic creatures, they try to break free:
...but intelligence, wisdom, and charm don't make you strong. They are stuck.
They scream in frustration. Gelver screams in sympathy. The hobgoblin baby screams loudest, as if to prove a point. Echoes upon echoes rebound upon you all.
Bedlam takes out a sandwich. The calm--in the back of the group again!--dwarf takes a bite. He absently offers some to the hobbaby and Nico.
Mone growls loudly at Bedlam. Remembering the murderous dwarf’s recent actions when they first encountered the harpy chick, she doesn’t allow Bedlam to mess with her.
Aurora lofts her holy symbol before her and utters a blessing. No wading into the thick of combat with a baby on board.
Bedlam grins innocently at Mone. The dwarf then yells out to Anzath.
Me be tink'n dat you be name'n da hobbaby lil'Beds!
The dwarf roars with laughter!
Unimpressed, Mone “grins” back, showing all of her very sharp teeth.
Talathel charges!
Should the still-free ghoul be among those who are nearest, that is the very ghoul he will target.
Otherwise, he will try and skewer the ghoul that is closer - and nearest to him and his very pointy spear.
Talathel expertly punctures the un-tangled ghoul--but it remains standing despite its horrible wound.
Tragershen draws a vial of acid from his pack. He doesn't hurl it, however. Instead, he merely uses its potency to power his cantrip.
Casting acid splash, using acid as a reagent to add damage. Targeting the ghoul that Tal perforated.
To hit . Damage
Tragershen's careful not to hit Talathel--but his care means he doesn't hit anyone at all.
The unentangled ghoul attempts to close with Tal:
It can't make any headway--it roars in frustration as the sticky threads hold it steady.
Adelie casts greater magic fang on Moneduloides.
Mone stays where she is, between Bedlam and Nico, her growl growing louder.
"I'm not sure what smells worse...poo-boy or these ghoulies! Lolygert comments before hacking at the nearest ghoul...
Lolly easily rips his way through the Web spell and dispatches an unwounded ghoul.
Bedlam thinks his friendly stare down dynamic has suddenly changed. Mone seems to have developed those bad and disgusting diseases that dogs get!
Bedlam whispers to the nice druid.
Yer doggie be got'n da sickness.
The dwarf calmly--from the back--chews on his sandwich.
”Mone is fine. Back off.”
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Anzath fires at the ghoul nearest to Tal.
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Despite the overpowering aroma affecting her nostrils, Anz manages to drop the ghoul Tal has been fighting, and she puts and arrow into the next one, too.
Ippolit rushes up behind Lolly and tries to swipe around the jolly warrior with his guisarme:
Ippolit curses.
Gelver curses, too, in a manner of speaking: "I'm cursed! For the LADY NETHEEEEEEYS!"
He wades through the webs, swings, and misses.
The ghoul he swings at gives him a hard look and says, "Are you crazy?"
Bedlam looks at GM Parrot with startled wide eyes, as if not expecting the Teacher to call on him!
The Alchemist smiles. He calmly--and still chewing on a sandwich--struts 20' toward the Web line. Nodding in recognition to each of his fine friends as he passes them, the dwarf absently reaches into various pockets and pouches. Still smiling, as he reaches his destination, the dwarf finishes mixing his concoction.
At 6th level, a grenadier can detonate a bomb so that it splashes in a 20-foot cone rather than affecting a radius. The cone starts at the alchemist and extends away from her in the direction she chooses. The alchemist designates one creature in the squares affected by the cone to be the target of the bomb and makes her attack roll against that creature; all other squares in the cone take splash damage. If the alchemist has the explosive bomb discovery and throws an explosive directed blast, the cone of splash damage is 30 feet long instead of 20 feet.
This ability replaces swift poisoning.
He aims for the closest in the Web.
FWWOOOMM goes the bomb.
Bedlam's bomb cooks off backwards, blasting one front-line friend with a gout of flame and singeing the walls of the cave:
Talathel sees the little object arcing towards the Web--but then a stray strand catches it and holds it fast. The little spout of doom is pointing right at his head, but he manages to twist away from the full brunt of the explosion...
The ghouls try to fight their way out. One is adjacent to Gelver. The other might be adjacent to Lolly:
It tries to 5ft through the Web:
It fails.
The other one unloads on Gelver:
Gelver is wearing his scavenged heavy armor and holding his signature tower shield, and it's a good thing, too: the ghoul can't crack the tough nut despite a flurry of well-placed strikes. When he has time to dress for battle, he's much more effective.
Still darn loud, though.
In a calm tone of voice as he manoeuvres then stabs at the same ghoul as Gelver, Talathel states:
"Bedlam, please be more careful where and when you direct your explosives."
And of course, stabbing ensues.
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Bedlam waves an apology to Tal. The dwarf grumbles and kicks dirt on his way back to the rear of the group....
Wispy air elemental-Adelie squints suspiciously down at Bedlam as the dwarf passes under him. Once he’s relatively sure that Bedlam isn’t going to bomb Mone, he casts guidance on Anzath.
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Talathel quickly kills (rekills?) a ghoul and brings the last to within an inch of its unlife.
Trusting Aurora and Adelie to keep Nico safe for a moment or two, Mone attempts to bite the last ghoul.
The ghouls are double-dead.
The noise, though. What a racket.
Sigh. Nobody heard it.
Anzath holds her breath, to steady her aim as well as settle her stomach. She takes a bead on the last ghoul, studying it as it struggles it the web. But, before she can let the arrow fly, guided by Adelie's touch, Mone runs past her and sinks fang into the undead monstrosity.
"Good doggo," she commends Mone, then quickly looks around, "Ve should keep moving, yez?"
Lolygert nudges Tal, "Got a little close to one of Bed's boom-booms ,didn't'cha, Tal....hoho!"
He then pokes about the ghoulies, seeing if they had any knick-knack that would be of use...
Mone makes a detour on her way back to Adelie to nuzzle Anzath.
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Bedlam--seemingly a bit disappointed--fishes out a Cure Light Wounds Extract for Tal.
The dwarf then walks back to the rear. He absently gives out sandwiches as he passes each person, pet and peewees.