Wellstone starts at the arrival of the swarm of...things. My word! he says. And yet fascinating at the same time...
Move action to draw pistol, standard to fire.
What are these things?
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Deldhindon pulls from his vast knowledge, and knows something of the nature of this pallid wriggler swarm.
Wellstone takes a more direct approach, drawing his new discovery and putting it to use. The shot from the pistol rings out, but is somehow muted by the mist. It is also ineffective, as it only manages to strike a handful of the thousands of diminutive creatures.
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Deldhindon knows that attacks over an area spread are most effective.
He's also aware that their indescribable nature makes them particularly horrifying (which your GM forgot about). It's enough to drive a mind to distraction.
Lastly, he knows that they target indiscriminately. Getting some distance from the swarm should minimize their interest in him.
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ALL: I need Will saves please. DC 13 or you are Shaken.
Johari prepares to throw at the swarm, successfully suppressing the heebie-jeebies it tries to elicit.
Zadok looks on with well controlled horror.
Will Save:
Arryn controls his fear.
The slayer lobs his firepot at the nasty swarm of nastiness.
Ack!
Deldhindon backs away from the swarm towards the fierce Johari. He shouts out what he knows of the little beasts. Then, he wracks his brain for what to do, as his spell selection did not account for such a foe.
If I cannot harm them directly, perhaps a big enough threat can smash them to death.
Enlarge Person on Johari
TORCHES!! I've got torches! Light one!! Hell, light TWO!!
do they do more damage when I'm bigger??
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In a panic, Johari throws a flask at the swarm. Unfortunately, it slips from his grasp and hits the ground, only splashing a few of the creatures.
Deldhindon begins a magic to enlarge his ally
The swarm moves towards... (1=Arryn, 2=Zadok, 3=Wellstone) ... Arryn. He's quickly engulfed by the creatures!
Round 1
Deldhindon: Enlarge (Shaken)
Johari: Throw
Wellstone: Shoot
Swarm: Swarm!
Zadok: Go
Arryn: Go
Fort Save:
Arryn can do little but heave and cough. He moves from the swarm.
HELP ME LIGHT SOME TORCHES!!!
"Fighting retreat!" Move and take out a torch. Will post move shortly.
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Arryn struggles against the monstrous distraction, only managing to get out while throwing off as many of the creatures as he can. Zadok meanwhile pulls out a torch and flint and steel, moving into a better position.
Deldhindon's magic completes, and Johari suddenly doubles in size!
Round 2
Deldhindon: Go (Shaken)
Johari: Go
Wellstone: Go
Swarm: TBD
Zadok: TBD
Arryn: TBD
ROUND 2
The huge Johari pulls out 2 enormous torches. He stares at the swarm intently, and holds the torches out. LIGHT 'EM!! LIGHT 'EM!!!
Deldhindon shrugs, pulls out some flint and tinder and lights the torches.
Wellstone double moves back to the door. Let us away! Leave these things to the darkness and mist itself!
the slayer is able to hold his nerve against these horrors...for now.
*blargh*
"We should retreat! Get out of here!" Zadok double moves in with his torch.
Arryn recovers and moves away, toward the door. But... These are animals. Creepy crawlies to be sure, but animals. Arryn spends the round watching them, trying to sense what they want and how they are behaving. It's possible we disturbed them, or that they're frightened.
Knowlege: Nature? Sense Motive? If you need a check I'm here for you, Game Master.
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@Arryn: Knowledge
Looking over the strangeness of this swarm made up of pallid, wriggling things is enough for Arryn to realize that the creatures have simply responded to a disturbance in their territory.
Having been close enough, he can tell that each creature's wormlike body is supported between anywhere from two and six wings, four to eight legs, and possibly a collection of tails. Each creature lacks a head, and instead has merely a pair of grotesque nostrils, which create the trademark sound that both aids it in hunting and overwhelms its prey’s senses.
They definitely seem keen on getting close and smelling you all... to potentially deadly effect.
Round 3
Deldhindon: Go (Shaken and Nauseated)
Johari: Go
Wellstone: Go
Swarm: TBD
Zadok: TBD
Arryn: TBD
The slayer takes a step out of the swarm, and his usual shout becomes a vast roar from his enlarged throat & lungs! And the "whip" of the torches becomes a great WHOOSH as he swings both at the swarm, hoping to disperse the horrors.
<--1 is fire (unless you want to give the Slayer damage bonus to the fire damage...) :-)
<--1 is fire
Feeling the swarm is too much for him, with his stomach about to revolt on him, Deldhindon retreats behind the others.
Let us away! Wellstone cries. He readies an action to step through the door and shut it once all of his friends are through it.
Zadok and the others run away, then regroup. The regrouping gives them an opportunity to touch base, review the situation, and regain their momentum in exploring this "hospital" and what happened within.
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As a group you each rush back inside, avoiding the swarming horror as best you can. Johari slams the door closed, though the sound of many insects striking solid wood can be heard. This was a close thing.
The room you inhabit is a striking contrast to the outside. The same inviting furnishings and warm fire greet you. The yellow mist blocks the view through the windows, giving you all a merciful reprieve from the unpleasant sight outside.
For the moment, you have been stymied though. The path forward is through that door, and through the one on the opposite end of the pathway. But... how do you proceed?
Zadok, frustrated, thinks through the party's options, "We either need a weapon that can hurt it really badly, a way to trap it, or a way to avoid it."
Trap it. With fire.
I like the trap + fire option (although rest soon would not go amiss!!) Could all wield enough torches/flaming material in a concentration/formation to keep the swarm at bay, or destroy it?
"I was thinking that we take some matresses from the hospital beds, put them together like a child's fort, lure the swarm into the fort, then set the whole thing on fire."
Ha! Love it. I'll be bait.
Johari sets to work, helping Zodak carry out the plan. He gathers up something (like a sheet) to block the upper part of the doorway. Then, he directs the piling up of a "flammable funnel" that Johari himself could crawl through quickly. Finally, he gets something solid that can block off the far end, into the room, after he leads the swarm into it.
I crawl through this end, open the door, lead them into this thing. ONce I jump out, you guys block it off, then we'll light it up.
Hmm! Wellstone says, brightening. I had thought to offer the notion of using blankets as a way to trap these...well, whatever they are. But the thought of eradication is a much more agreeable one! I shall ponder this. Deeply.
Splendid plan, Zadok. You all seem to have the construction of the trap well in hand. I can perhaps help with the lure. I can use a little magic to make the interior smell a little more enticing, perhaps?
"Not a bad plan at all. Let's do this my friend."
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As a group you head back to the chapel, exchanging a few words with Winter Klaczka on what materials you need and why. Eventually, she shrugs. "I can't say I fully understand what you're trying to do, but just knowing that you've made progress... I'm hopeful. Take what you need."
It takes two trips to gather the wood, extraneous bedding, and oddments to make your makeshift tunnel. The intentionally flammable contraption covers over doorway leading out, and has a tiny 'hatch' to exit back into the room proper. You can't help but feel like, were you children, that this would have made a marvelous fort to play in. The make-believe adventures would have been wondrous.
With several torches lit and ready, Johari opens the door to the outside. He is greeted with eerie silence.
Cautiously the slayers steps outside, each stride tentative, nervous even. The swarm of pallid wrigglers seems unlikely to stir. But then he hears it: the droning, snorting sound from before.
Johari races ahead of the swarm, barely keeping outside of their nimbus of death. He races through the door, into the contraption, and closes the trapdoor. When the droning, snorting sounds seems to hit a critical mass within, the group lights the death trap on fire.
The whole thing crackles and burns, flames leaping about and smoke filling the room. Awkwardly, the group manages to keep the fire from spreading through a combination of magic and clever engineering. All that's left in the aftermath a crumpled, charred heap of burnt wood.
And all is silent...
"A well crafted plan executed with aplomb. There is power in a plan.... Now, let us see what lies beyond the door."
Back to the door.
"A well crafted plan executed with aplomb. There is power in a plan.... Now, let us see what lies beyond the door."
Back to the door.