Taecuss whip coils around the ankles of the remaining spriggan, and a sharp tug sends it sprawling. Unfortunately, even in this exposed position, it is still too mobile for Alarien to strike and her thrust strikes the stone floor instead.
Goodluck moves into the room and uses his electrical trident as a touch attack! for electrical damage!
Goodluck moves up besides Caelin and Alarien to assault the prone spriggan. The trident-shaped lightning in his hand connect with the bramble-covered skin, which immediately blackens in a nasty electrical burn.
Positioning himself as best he could in the now-crowded chamber, Caelin thrust mightily with his sword.
Caelin hissed at Aumgwe to keep him away from the swirling melee.
The prone spriggan's luck finally runs out, and it dies screaming as Caelins greatsword descends to cut it in two.
As the echoes of the spriggan's death cry fade, an eerie silence fills the chamber, only broken by Taecuss magic song and the occasional cry from one of the birds.
"Search the bodies...perhaps they have something of use", Caelin said as he wiped some of the spriggan's gore from the side of his face. "I'll check the exits to see if anyone heard us."
The immediate threat ended, Alarien goes against her better judgment and rushes to the side of the body the spriggans had been removing from their torture implements. A feeling of dread washes over her as she looks the body over, as she fears that it is Tessarda.
Alarien needs only a brief glance to identify the naked and mangled body as Tessarda. The unfortunate wizard appears to have died in great agony.
The two spriggans have little of use or value.
Alarien murmurs quietly, "Oh, Tessarda...."
She blinks back angry tears and looks for a cloak or something to drape over the body.
Round 1
As Caelin moves towards the northern door and the rest of you continue the task of removing Tessadras body from the rack, the door to the southern room suddenly bursts open. A pair of spriggans rush out and grow to large size, each brandishing battleaxes dripping with green ichor.
Behind them, a slender grey creature appears.
It is playing a large flute, and the melody is so hauntingly disturbing that you literally feel as if simply listening to it could overwhelm you with dread.
The strange creature moves into the corner behind the spriggans, pauses for a moment to regard the group, then lifts the flute and blows a particularly high-pitched note. A fine dart flies from the flute and strikes Taecuss in the neck.
Initiative
Meycho/Falling star - 28
Taecuss - 22
Alarien - 19
Goodluck - 13
Caelin/Aumgwe - 10
Spriggans - 5
Jaxir - 5
"Watch the flautist in the back! He's the head jailor!" Alarien calls as she catches sight of the one she heard referred to as Jaxir.
[retcon]Meycho places a comforting hand on Alarien's arm, as she mourns over her dead friend. I'm sorry for your lose, and I swear, it will be avenged.
[/retcon]
Knowledge Nature 1d20+13
Will save, 1d20+7
Tae is shaken.
Which is fairly inconvenient for him, considering he still has to make a Fort save with a pretty steep DC.
Recognition flooded Cealin's mind. He shouted quickly, "Banshrae! Get close and use cold iron!"
Hefting his massive sword as indication, he tried his best to suppress the fear the creature's music was calling forth in his mind.
Gritting his teeth in triumph, a fierce growl began to crescendo in his throat.
Goodluck nods and readies his trident.
Taecuss hardly feels the dart as it hits him in the neck. Just a slight prick, no real injury. But then an itch starts to spread out from the wound, growing in intensity as it radiates down over his arms and torso.
Then, he feels his skin start to bulge and writhe, and the itch turns painful, as if thousands of tiny claws are raking him from the inside in an effort to escape.
A heartbeat later, the first bulge on his skin splits open, and a large insect wriggles out and takes to the air with a high-pitched buzzing. Taecuss just has time to identify it as a locust before he spasms over in agony as hundreds more burst from a dozen other parts of his body. Within seconds, both he and Meycho are caught in the middle of a thick swarm of locust, all of whom seek out every exposed scrap of organic matter to devour.
Meycho activates his fast healing judgment and fires twice at the jailer.
With inhumane speed, the fey jailer slaps the first arrow away before it can hit him, but he is not fast enough to deflect the second too. He hardly seems troubled by the grazing wound it leaves, though.
Alarien speaks a quick incantation, at the end of which the odd mark on her breast seems to briefly pulse with a bright yellow light. A wave of positive energy radiates outward from the cleric, healing her allies' wounds while leaving their foes unaffected.
Elyin took a sip from his mug of ale and leaned forward to continue his tale to the crowd gathered around his table at the Drunken Treant Inn in Bellis.
Aye, Taecuss dyn Bru, now there's a remarkable elf if I ever did meet one. Always a weird tale to tell you and always cheerful - 'cept when there's bees round, mind you. Ever since that incident back at my wedding, he can't stand the sight or sound of bees or any other bug or vermin. Just the slightest buzz, and he gets sick to his stomach, poor fellow.....
Caeilin silently cursed this newest swarm of insects, mightily concerned with Aumgwe's safety. He hoped drawing the bird towards the nearest spriggan would keep him away from the bees.
He let out a deep squak and pointed at the western spriggan, stepping forward at the same time and then setting his grip for a swing.
Goodluck attacks with his electrical trident!
for electrical damage!
Caelin, Aumgwe and Goodluck all lay into the nearest enlarged spriggan, and the giant, thorn-covered plant-creature staggers under the onslaught but remains standing.
Recognizing the greatsword-wielding ranger as the most dangerous enemy, both spriggans swing their battle axes at Caelin. The nimble elven ranger easily avoids the clumsy chops.
Then Jaxir surges forward with otherworldly grace. In a series of leaps and twist, he closes with Caelin, slams a fist into his solar plexus, then spins and takes off down the hallway to the north. Although Caelin manages to twist so the blow glances harmlessly off his armor, the banshrae moves far too fast and confusing for him to counterattack.
As the banshrae moves out of sight, the mournful tune from his pipes can still be heard.
The locust swarm seems content to chew away at Meycho, tearing hundreds of tiny pieces out of his exposed flesh.
Round 2
Initiative
Meycho/Falling star - 28
Taecuss - 22
Alarien - 19
Goodluck - 13
Caelin/Aumgwe - 10
Spriggans - 5
Jaxir - 5
Locust swarm - 5
Barely able to keep his cool, Meycho dodged out of the swarm and sent two arrows at the nearest foe.
Meychos first arrow drops the heavily wounded spriggan, and the second struck the one behind it.
(EDITED)
Alarien vaults over the torturer's table, shouting defiance in the face of the dread washing over her and closing with the remaining spriggan. Still unused to her blade, she ducks under a swing from the nearby spriggan and jabs him in the gut.
The spriggan does his best to hack down Alarien before she can close, but the nimble elf cleric easily dodges under the swing and thrust her borrowed rapier into the thorn-covered brute, causing him to sneer in pain.
Ducking under the spriggan's wild swing, the elven cleric disappears, vanished from the spriggan's sight. An instant later, he feels the prick of her rapier as she reappears to the hulking giant's side.
Caelin was able to pick out Taecuss's melody from under the banshrae's haunting dirge and used it to keep the feeling of dread at bay.
As the strange fey fled down the hall, Caelin glanced at his chest where the creature had punched him. What? You just hit me and ran away?! Great Gozreh's hairy...
As Alarien appeared beside him, distracting the spriggan, Caelin charged after his enemy, anger starting to glow in his chest.
"Won't get away!" he announced to everyone, and then chirped at Aumgwe to help Alarien.
He got close to the creature at the northern door. He thrust his mighty greatsword forward...
Aumgwe fluttered, flapped and clawed around the thorny spriggan's eyes, like he was trying to pull a sparrow from a rose bush.
Caelin catches the elusive fey by the northern door, and lays a nasty cut across his back. The banshrae's eerie tune only wavers for a split second as the head jailer spins to face the elven ranger.
In the mean time, Aumgwe's talons tear a deep gash into the face of the spriggan.
for electrical!
Goodluk presses the attack!
Surrounded and heavily wounded, the large spriggan swings his axe in a blow borne of desperation and barely manages to break though Goodluck's ice armor. The cut is deep, and Goodluck also feels a burning sensation start to spread out from the wound.
The banshrae gives Caelin a scornful stare, then dodges under his arm to smash a balled fist into a nerve cluster on his lower back. Caelin feels rivers of fire shoot up his back as his greatsword drops from suddenly powerless fingers. Jaxir calmly steps back to the door and turns the handle. The door swings open, revealing a large circular area with a stair leading up, as well as a door on the opposite side. Jaxir pauses in the doorway to play another handful of notes on his enchanted flute.
Finally, the hungry locusts swarm over Meycho and Taecuss, adding further bites to the dozens they are already sporting.
Round 3
Initiative
Meycho/Falling star - 28
Taecuss - 22
Alarien - 19
Goodluck - 13
Caelin/Aumgwe - 10
Spriggans - 5
Jaxir - 5
Locust swarm - 5
Ignoring both the stinging insects and the haunting melody, Meycho once again steps out of the cloud and unleashes two arrows on the only remaining Spriggan, his shoots bolstered by the inspirational tunes from Taecuss.
Despite the buzzing insects and the intense fighting in the crowded room, the enlarged spriggan makes an easy target, and both arrows strike him, causing him to sag notably. He is now bleeding heavily from several wounds.
Looking for an opening in the enlarged spriggan's defenses, Alarien feints and jabs. Two arrows streak through the air and thunk into the enlarged spriggan's chest and side, and the cleric sees her chance, thrusting with her borrowed blade at the overly-large gnome's back.