Baleiro winds back, his tattoos flaring red as his targeting protocols finally gets him a lock.
His attack is powerfully driven, and strikes a critical point.
Baleiro's targeting protocols do a perfect job - he feels like his body has fought similar creatures before, in a different life and perhaps on a different world. By sticking the nodachi in the right point and applying the leverage at the right angle, he cracks the creature's shell into pieces like a huge walnut, and pierces the center of the writhing tentacled mass within, causing it to become still and lifeless.
Rur approaches Fifteen and touches her shoulder. "You are wounded, my good chum. I can help with that." A wave of positive energy bolsters Fifteen's nanites, which swiftly help to close the wounds.
Ahead of you lies a vast lightless desert, stretching as far as your eyes can see in the darkness. Cracked shells similar to the one before you litter the landscape, though you don't see any more intact ones.
As her wounds close, thanks to Rur, Fifteen nods in thanks before stepping lightly onwards into the desert. Knowing that her companions eyes will have little trouble in the dark Fifteen disdains a light source - simply choosing to move quietly ahead.
You vaguely recall a name for the creature - Ghelarn. They secrete a special fluid that binds the sand around them, making it sticky and dangerous like quicksand, and then feed on the prey that gets stuck via underground bloodsucking tentacles. You have seen these creatures before, indeterminable time ago, on a desert world under a red sun. When or where exactly it happened and how or why you ended up there you have no idea, or was it all even real - you reckon that this type of vision is something humans might call 'remembering a dream', though you have never experienced anything like that before.
Rur discovers a trail of multiple humanoid tracks going from the entrance to the desert heading east, and begins to follow it, motioning you to come along. However, just after you take a dozen or so steps, your path is blocked by yet another enemy! From behind one of the fractured shells, a four-armed skeleton with an inhumanly big, oblong head, steps out. It takes a step towards you, then pauses awkwardly for a moment, stretching all of its skeletal arms. Supernatural blue sparks light up in its empty eye sockets as it resumes the attack with renewed vigor.
Meanwhile, in Torch - a lonely android with a mug at its belt is looking for a tavern and is directed to "the Foundry". Upon arriving he finds the distressed tavernkeeper Val, who informs him that her father is missing and the tavern is closed until he is rescued, except for those who participate in the rescue mission. She further tells him that a trio of androids, one of whom is somehow her sister - this bit doesn't make a lot of sense to Kolsch - have mounted a rescue attempt this morning and she eagerly awaits their return. She knows that her father went missing while exploring the underground caverns, the entrance to which is flooded, but doesn't know how to get inside. The town council is funding the rescue operations so perhaps the councilmen can provide some guidance on how to reach the caverns.
"Thank you mistress. I will endeavor to find your father. " and he goes straight to the town hall to find some information.
At the town hall, the surprised secretary waves Kolsch away. "What is it with you androids today - not a single one was interested in saving Torch up until Councilor Baine went missing, and now you come here like flies to honey! Councilor Freddert has no time for you right now, she sent the previous group to Joram Kyte at the temple of Brigh, so you would do well to follow."
"Thank you. " he replies in a very dry voice. He then heads over to the temple of Brigh.
Fifteen glances swiftly back at Baliero and Rur, noting the tensing in their muscles she breathes for a second and springs alongside them.
Baleiro will move alongside Fifteen and split in the other direction when they get to the target. He understands her combat protocols enough to assist in flanking.
Baleiro's attack misses, but distracts the skeleton enough that Fifteen is able to hit it from behind.
The store clerk at the temple of Brigh informs Kolsch that Joram Kyte has left for another attempt to restart the water purifiers at the Crowfeather Palace, which are not working since the torch on the Black Hill went out. After making the trek across town to the Crowfeather palace, Kolsch is told that Joram Kyte has descended downstairs to inspect the sewage pipes.
As Kolsch descends through the trapdoor, he finds himself in a relatively standard but cleaner-than-average sewer tunnel. But cries for help and sounds of battle echo from somewhere ahead!
The tunnel ends after a couple of bends, opening into a relatively raw chamber with a sewer pipe coming out the opposite end. Near that sewer pipe, an elderly man dressed in a many-pocketed leather apron is beset by three semi-transparent gelatinous blobs, lashing out at him with their pseudopods! The man attempts to fight his way through the hazards with his light hammer, and another glowing hammer hovers in the air near him and strikes on its own, as if wielded by an invisible warrior. Upon noticing you, he cries out "Hey - help me out here! There are too many of them!"
"Hold on sir! I'll try to handle them!"
As a swift he will cast shield of faith on himself, then move up and attack a blob.
Kolsch's rapier pierces the amorphous blob almost without resistance and reaches a dark spot inside. The ooze loses some of the control over its shape, becoming more puddle-like, but remains active.
The old man swings his own hammer at the blob, with the magical tranclucent weapon repeating the motion almost synchronously.
"Praise be to the Whisper in Bronze, together we stand a chance!"
Parts of the ooze splash around but it is not quite down yet. Two of the blobs try to get the old man with their pseudopods, while the one hit by Kolsch lashes out at him.
Kolsch is unharmed, but one of the blobs manages to hit the old man in the face, leaving a swollen acid burn on his cheek.
"Argh... Get away, you filthy parasite..." he sputters.
"Yes, I do believe we can dispatch them. " in a fairly dry monotone
and he pokes away again at the same target.
swift action to cast divine favor.
Fifteen keeps ducking and dodging, attempting to strike again at the skeletons joints.
Fifteen's kick hits the skeleton at the base of the skull, sending it flying away into the sand like a macabre rugby ball. The undead crumbles to a heap of bones, only for the next one to step out from behind a nearby rock outcropping and charge at Rur!
Caught off-guard, Rur is not able to deflect the blow and attempts to retaliate:
Rur hits the skeleton, but his longsword glances off the sand-polished bones, failing to do any damage.
Kolsch destroys the blob which dissolves into a puddle of goo. The man and his hammer direct their wrath at one of the remaining oozes, while beginning to slowly circle around the chamber.
The heavy blows liquefy another ooze, but the magic has reached its limit and the tranclucent hammer disappears. The last blob lashes out again:
But fails to hurt anyone.
He shifts to the remaining blob and pokes away again.
Fifteen, seeing her kick being much more effective than her weapon had been, morphs her bladed machete into a much more blunt weapon - a vicious looking club. With Rur distracting the creature she moves in behind and aims for the neck!
The skeleton's elongated cranium makes the neck hard to reach, and Fifteen misses even despite the flanking advantage.
Kolsch hurts the blob but doesn't bring it down yet. The man attempts to finish the job:
His hammer strikes true and you both are safe from danger. The man chants a short prayer to Brigh, and his wounds heal. He steps closer to you and offers his hand for a handshake.
"I am Joram Kyte, the town healer and in these troubling times, emergency plumber.", he says with a chuckle.
Oh my, you're a constructed one, aren't you? Truly, it is an blessing of the Whisper in Bronze to have you find me here in such a moment! You see, as the techno-magical water purifiers designed by Khonnir Baine - and installed not without my help, I'm proud to add - went down together with the torch, the taint from the Weeping Pond infects the waters once again. It alters and twists everything living in the waters, including the tiniest of jellyfish and algae, which sometimes grow to such a size as to block the pipes completely. Usually I was able to clear up any pests by myself, but the longer the torch stays down, the bigger and more numerous they get... Thanks a lot for your help, I am very obliged. Without you, I could have been overwhelmed by those things.
Kolsch takes off his full helm, confirming the man's suspicions.
"Yes, I am of that race. I do follow Cayden the happy drunk in memory of a friend. Do you happen to know where I might find Councilman Blaine? There were some of my type in search of him who might have talked to you earlier. "
"I take it you're new to town, then? Everyone around here would want to know where they might find him. Somewhere under the Black Hill is all I can tell you - don't even know if he's alive.
Indeed, a trio of androids, Baine's own adopted daughter and a local teacher among them, have endeavoured to find him earlier today. But they are already the sixth expedition to try and get him out. It is not safe to go there.
Still, you look like a capable sort, judging by how you dispatched those amoebas. To get into the caves, you will need to swim underwater. I have one more casting of a spell prepared that will help you do that today. I can tell you where the cave entrance is, but not what awaits inside."
"Thank you sir. May the blessings of Cayden be upon you. I will see if I can find the group of which you speak. " again, the monotone.
He spends his time wandering around under the lake looking for the entrance.
Kolsch manages to endure breathing in the foul-tasting lake waters without significant impact on his vitals. His darkvision allows him to locate an underwater tunnel fairly easily, and about 40 feet later he emerges onto a cave beach littered with faintly glowing carapaces of dead fire beetles. He sees two paths forward - one is over a 5-foot ledge and into a stalagmite-filled passage , the other is through the waist-deep water around the protruding stone wall.
You notice track marks on the ledge - a group of people has gone this way not too long ago.
The water is faintly illuminated by a greenish light, coming from somewhere behind the stone protrusion.
He decides to climb the ledge because he's a bit concerned about the odd light.
Baleiro's attempts to defeat this foe falter. His targeting systems report numerous faults in the system and he grows concerned he will have to reboot them soon.
The skeleton unleashes a barrage of strikes with all of its bony arms.
However, none of them have any effect apart from raising small whirls of sand like a windmill.
Rur strikes back: but is no more successful.
Kolsch clambers up the ledge and notices a dead female half-orc lying among the stalagmites. The body has wounds in the back and has been looted.
Further on, the passage opens up into a cavern with the lake water collected into a small pond along the northern edge. A stocky frog-like vaguely humanoid creature rises up from the pond!
The grotesque creature leaps at Kolsch and attempts to bite him:
But miscalculates the jump and its jaws only catch the air a foot away from Kolsch.
Somewhat surprised at the unprovoked attack, Kolsch moves to defend himself.
"I do not know why you have attacked me, but I will not permit it. "
Baleiro and Rur make a spectacular, if thoroughly ineffective, distraction and Fifteen does her best to take advantage.
She manages to land a solid blow, although not as effectively as she would hope.
Fifteen's club cracks the skeleton's skull. Its eyesockets go dark and it collapses onto the sand, motionless.
You regroup and continue moving along the trail , however as you pass the large cliff overlooking the trail, you see yet another undead coming at you from the sands to the right - and another one stepping out from behind the cliff's edge to the left!
Kolsch's attack hits a nerve - the creature emits a loud croak and suddenly its large eyes spark with a blinding light flash!
It then attempts to hop and dive back into the water, in an apparent belief that Kolsch is blinded - but actually his shutters contract just in time to preserve the image sensors, and the beast opens itself up for a counterattack:
Now heavily bleeding, it reaches the water and attempts to hide behind something like a log floating in that pool, but the slowly expanding crimson cloud gives its position away.
"I don't not know why you started this creature, but I will finish it."
and he will walk/wade over and try to strike the creature again to finish it off.
but apparently he doesn't work as well wet.
Fifteen takes the opportunity and charges the nearest skeleton, hoping to end it before it gets a chance to act.
As Kolsch enters the waters, he recognizes that the thing behind which the creature took cover is not a log but a mostly-eaten human body, with some bits of clothing thankfully remaining around the waist, including a belt with a pouch on it.
The frog-creature, now cornered, jumps up from the water and its milky-white eyes illuminate the cavern once more!
Repeated exposure is too much for Kolsch's retinal sensors and he can only see white with some randomly coloured dots floating around.
Kolsch registers pain as the creature bites his arm, and instinctively steps back, saving himself from the flailing claws through sheer luck.
The south skeleton is destroyed by Fifteen's charge.
Suddenly without his topical sensors Kolsch finds himself on the defensive tries to strike back and end the threat.
hight is good (always do that)
Baleiro will move to strike the north skeleton. His tattoos flare at his targeting protocols come back online.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Once again Baleiro's combat subroutines give him some insight about the skeletal creature's weaker points, and even though his nodachi can't cut through the weathered bone, he leverages the weapon's long haft to thrust it into the ribcage, applying the full force of the impact to the shoulder blade, dislocating it and causing two of the skeletal hands to fall off.
The skeleton still manages to pull off one punch with one of the remaining hands, before losing its balance and crumbling on the ground.
"The trail leads on, my good chums" says Rur plainly, continuing to move forward in the darkness.
Kolsch sticks out his rapier just as the creature attemtps to jump at him again, and accidentally impales it. Slowly, he wades out of the water, only to find himself held at several sharp points from all sides at once. A hoarse, not-quite-human voice whispers into his ear.
"You killed our pet. Now you have to pay. Forty silverdisks - or your life."
"Your pet attacked me. I only defended myself. "
"Of course it attacked you - you invaded its home. Wouldn't you do the same? But it is not brave enough to fight to the death, we could never train it. You could have either killed it in one hit - but you wouldn't be blinded then - or you have been chasing it. Either way, you invaded our home and killed our property. You have a debt to us now. Why do you keep coming today? Who sent you? What does your master want with us?"
"Well I am looking for someone and was told to find him here. I also do not have the sum of coins you request, so I cannot give you satisfaction in that way. I don't know what you mean about my master. I came looking for a tavern owner. "
Fifteen follows Rur onwards into the darkness. She doesn't let her weapon dissolve though - the sheer number of skeletons that rose up has left her somewhat paranoid.