Seres keeps his bow drawn and ready, in case an open target appears.
Connor moves to engage the remaining creature, but is unable to connect with his axe. Aldarion turns and retreats back up the tunnel but is quickly halted by the feral eyes of a another small blue skinned humanoid. The creature is accompanied by three immense giant centipedes! The druid's plea for peace elicits an angry snarl. Aldarion doesn't understand the creature's specific words, but it is clear that she is commanding the centipedes to attack.
Ezekial moves to a flanking position and efficiently dispatches the remaining creature. Turning, he sees more blue creatures swarming in from the opposite tunnel.
Connor spins addressing Zeke, "I'll hold the tunnel, help the others."
He steps up and attacks, fighting defensively
"Oh dear, we seem to have angered them," Seres says as the masses close in. He retreats into the cave. Seeing multiple inbound from the southwest, he casts a spell in their direction.
Alarmed by the lack of cooperation he receives from this blue fellow and his vermin pets, Aldarion resigns himself to what seems to have been inevitable from the start.
With a sigh, he declares, "Very well. You leave me no choice..."
The druid closes his eyes contemplatively. Raising up his free hand, he faces his palm upwards. His fingers wriggle, like serpents dancing...
And as the centipedes approach him menacingly, the roots which criss-cross the tunnel begin to wriggle in sync! Roots of all sizes and shapes tear themselves from their nourishing soil, and wrap around the three creatures and the blue one.
The gardener then moves closer in to see how he might help the others with the new threats coming from up ahead.
Adarion raises his hand and the roots wrap around the feet of the mite and two of the centipedes. The third centipede races forward into the cavern and attacks the druid and manages to sting him ().
Connor steps up to block the creatures surging through the tunnel, but is unable to hit the lead attacker.
Ezekial attacks the lead creature but narrowly misses him. Seres targets the first four creatures with a sleep spell - three of the four drop.
The lead creature attacks Connor with its dagger, but is unable to penetrate the cavalier's defenses. The remaining two creatures move up and begin chanting. The entangled creature also begins chanting.
;1=Seres
; from front
;1=Connor
;1=Connor
;1=Connor
;1=Seres
Connor will continue to hunker down behind his shield, lashing out carefully with his axe.
Aldarion momentarily ponders which is worse: to engage in what has become a bloody and deadly assault, or to have to chase down Bessy and the other horses for the rest of this day after the bloody and deadly assault. Aldarion is a man of great patience, but this great chore is really beginning to wear down his resolve...
"Ouch!" he shouts in surprise and alarm. The gardener quickly withdraws his wounded arm from the creature. Sloughing off the pain, he quickly sucks the poison out of his wound and spits it out.
He decides to focus on the problem at hand for now. Especially after waking back to the present moment with that venomous vermin's sting.
With a sudden and surprising uppercut, the druid smacks the vermin under what passes for its chin. His fists now seem oddly wooden in composition, with what appear to be rose-like thorns protruding from his knuckles and base finger segments. Unfortunately, his lack of boxing skills shows, and his attack goes wide.
"Perhaps," he sarcastically says to Connor, "you can teach me to fight as well as the horses." The wounded middle-aged gardener with his inconveniently-occurring arthritic flare up now cautiously withdraws into the corner, reaching into his pouches...
Seres realizes suddenly that he is left alone with the giant centipede, and, with back against the wall, has nowhere to retreat. He frowns, "So be it... but my charms don't work so well on the insects."
;
Maintaining his guard, he casts a simple evocation, sending an arc of electricity at the centipede. It strikes a nearby root instead.
"Uh oh... help?"
Aldarion resists both the centipede's poison and the invocation of doom, but is unable to hit the centipede with his wooden fists. Connor continues to fight defensively but is unable to score a hit.
Ezekial slashes twice and is able to bring down the lead creature with his steel kukri. Seres attempts to ward off the centipede with a spell, but is unable to hit the insect. Retaliating, the centipede darts in and stings the sorcerer . The next blue creature moves up and attacks Connor, but the cavalier is able to easily turn its dagger.
;1=Connor
"Not doing much better over here!"
And then quieter to the man standing next to him, "Zeke, think you can remove the threat to our sorcerer? "
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Ezekial spins and decapitates the centipede with a single fluid motion. The two remaining blue creatures in front of Connor withdraw screaming down the tunnel where they came from. The entangled female in the tunnel behind you glares at you sullenly while her centipedes continue their futile struggle to break free from the tree roots. Three of the blue creatures snore loudly in the other tunnel.
From the tunnel you entered you hear the echoes of someone screaming for help in broken common.
Swallowing a couple of berries, the sage offers more to Seres and the others, "Is everyone okay?" He gives a quick once-over of the sorcerer to detect signs of infection from the vermin.
Hearing the common cries, he motions for all to immediately but cautiously proceed.
"Just a little poison," Seres says, swooning slightly.
"I'd rather not leave unbound enemies behind us, but let's see what the fuss is about."
Connor lowers his shield and creeps along ahead, motioning the others to follow.
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Cautiously you step over the sleeping blue creatures. Aldarion, as you approach the creatures, you realize that these are mites - evil fey with a penchant for wicked cruelty.
The tunnel steeply descends another 100' and then opens into an egg shaped cavern. The walls of this chamber are obscured by thick tangles of long, pallid roots. To the east, the chamber opens into a wide, root filled chasm. Along the south wall a black scaled kobold is bound by the roots penetrating the wall. Three other bloody kobolds lay slumped near his feet. The kobold's eyes squint at the brightness from Ezekial's torch. "Help! I beg you - help! Quickly - they are coming!"
The sage is captivated for a moment as he passes over one of the blue beings. Recognition dawns upon his face.
"Ah. They're mites, I believe. Nasty creatures, by reputation. " He thinks a moment, "And confirmed by personal experience, now."
...
In the chamber, Aldarion spots an opportunity to be both compassionate and help their agenda with the kobolds.
"But of course, hang on." He draws a farmer's sickle from his belt. "Hold still, friend." The gardener trims back the roots holding the kobold bound, doing so with apparent expertise, efficiency, and without doing significant harm to the plants.
Connor checks the kobolds on the ground to see if they are alive, and then heads to the eastern side and the chasm to see if there is a threat lurking.
"Ugh, unseelie vermin. We would be wise to put them down. They will only cause mischief and suffering should we leave them."
Aldarion, you are able to to cut the kobold free while minimizing the damage to the tree roots. As you examine the roots, you note a vibrancy not evident by the dying edifice of the trunk and branches visible from the surface. Perhaps if the cancer of the mites can be removed from the root network, this once magnificent tree may yet be returned to its former glory.
The kobold drops to his knees before you and pleads in chirping common. "Run for your lives! They kill us all!"
Connor, you find that the three kobolds are dead - victims of cruel torture. Walking to the end of the cavern, you see that a deep and ominous chasm splits the passage. The chasm is a few yards wide, and twice as deep, but thick ropes of tangled roots fill the entire area. The passage continues on the far side of the chasm, and between the two ledges, numerous loops have been tied into the roots to serve as hand- and footholds. You hear a rasping sound coming from the darkness of the northern chasm.
The kobold calls out to you, "Death waits for you there human!"
From the tunnel behind you the echo of rapidly approaching footsteps can be heard.
Noting the vibrancy of the great sycamore, Aldarion closes his eyes and places his hand calmly upon a great root for a moment. Meditating thus without a hint of distraction from the chirping kobold beside him, the druid opens his eyes once more.
"Yes, I see now." He speaks to no one in particular... at least, no one that is visible. The tree perhaps?!
He continues, now clearly to the others. "Though I prefer to give all a chance, the mites... they and their evil must be swept from this place. Their malice has brought great suffering to this ancient and very old sycamore." He speaks as if the mites are now to be considered as a disease to be cured, "It can regain its former health and magnificence once the pestilence has been removed."
Hearing the footsteps, at last the peaceful druid regains some sense of the need to make haste. He glances around at everyone to ascertain their well being, "Shall we stay and fight, or flee to heal, regroup, and return with full strength?"
"Not sure where we would flee to. They are coming down our escape path. There's something in this chasm as well."
Turning to the kobold. "You. Can you fight? Get a weapon." Connor will toss him a throwing axe if we have nothing else.
The cavalier goes to hold the front of the tunnel, as before.
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Connor, you see that the kobold has been grievously wounded by the torture that he has endured. Still, he catches the axe in mid air with a gleam in his eye. "Long have I suffered. Aye, Mikmek will fight for you!"
The sound of angry snarls and hisses becomes increasingly audible from the tunnel. Connor, as you move to take a blocking position, you see that the tunnel is full of feral red eyes approaching you.
From the chasm, to your horror, a gigantic centipede partially emerges from the darkness, squeezing through the narrow confines of the chasm with it's gigantic mandibles clicking.
What am I doing here?! I'm not a brave warrior, I'm just an aging gardener!
Resisting the urge to flee, Aldarion quiets himself with a few deep breaths. His enlightened instincts flow through his body now, his mind regaining stillness. Opening his eyes, they flicker a greenish-brown hue as he mutters a brief incantation.
He raises his free hand up towards the centipede. As he thrusts it forward, the roots of the old sycamore shudder in sync... one thick root in particular begins to free itself from the dirt and emerge from the ground between the gardener and the great vermin.
Seres holds out his bow and imbues it with a fey phrase.
"That centipede reeks of pure badness. We should focus on burning it down quickly. I can plug this whole for a while."
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Connor chops down the lead mite with his battleaxe. Ezekial turns and launches a dagger at the emerging centipede and lands the blade deep within one of the beast's eyes. Mikmek steps next to Connor and attacks the next mite in line and manages to wound the fey. Aldarion begins a summoning spell.
The lead mite attacks Connor but is unable to hit. The centipede squeezes into the cavern and snaps at Ezekial with it's great mandibles but narrowly misses the rogue. The mite in the tunnel behind the lead mite chants an invocation of doom. .
;1=Aldarion
Connor shrugs off the mite's bug eyed freakiness swinging his axe as he does so. "Not twice, bug lover."
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Seres sidles behind Aladarion and lets fly an arrow at the centipede.
;
Connor again cuts down the mite in front of him. Seres fires on the centipede and lands a heavy blow against the giant vermin. Ezekial steps to the centipede's flank and delivers a long gash that sprays green ichor. Mikmek attacks the next mite that steps up to Connor, but is unable to hit.
The centipede squeals and lunges once again at Ezekial with its mandibles, while at the same time slapping at the rogue with its great tail, but misses both times. A third mite steps to attack Connor but cannot hit the cavalier. The next mite in line again chants with its eyes bulging .
"But do these creeps bug you?" Seres jokes, nocking and firing another arrow.
;
...and the thick root of the great sycamore at last forms into a roughly humanoid form. A nearby, discarded orange peel happens to cap its head. Short, thin, and green, this small plant-person wields a spear, formed as well from the sycamore's root. Tendrils of fungus dangle from its arms, midsection, and legs.
The creature turns its head to one side, blinking a couple of times as if judging the situation carefully. It then readies its spear, and charges into melee... thrusting upwards as best it can into the side of the great vermin.
When the sage opens his eyes once more, he is alarmed and surprised to find the centipede right next to him. He steps a bit back and lets his summoned friend stab the large beastie.
Contemplating his next move, the gardener whips out his sling and loads it. "Hope this works better than the last time..."
Connor, visibly shaken by the mites, is unable to hit mite in front of him. Mikmek likewise misses.
Seres fires his bow at the centipede but the arrow is deflected by the creature's chitinous shell. Adarion's summoned vegepygmy successfully stabs the centipede. Ezekial then lands a death blow with his cold iron kukri. The creature begins violently flailing in its death throes.
The remaining mites turn and withdraw back up the tunnel.
"Well, shall we hunt them to extermination?"
The green spearman does a brief, and rather awkward and jerky, dance of victory as the centipede's life force escapes. It then reverts back to its former form, transmuting into the great root of the sycamore tree. It seems the tree has regained the slightest hint of rejuvenation, though it's so subtle a change, perhaps it's simply wishful thinking on the gardener's part.
With a contemplative expression, Aldarion answers the horseman's query. Gazing at the kobold, "Normally, I hold out hope for the chance to learn and grow for all peoples." Looking down the tunnel of the retreating mites, "Yet, though it grieves me greatly to say so, the mites are a pestilence upon this poor sycamore."
Patting the tree roots with loving kindness, "Yes, it would be best to rid this place of their foul affliction." Nodding to Zeke, "Agreed, though. We have a mission to fulfill here for the sake of the entire realm."
"The world will be a better place without them," Seres agrees.