Upon coming out the other side of the darkness Suny quickly scampers down towards the sound of the voice(s).
Corum quickly finishes his analysis and speaks to Suny.
"Let's upgrade those bracers of yours to these milady and have you wearing one of these rings."
Corum hands Suny a set of bracers from the witches with a ring.
"This other ring should go to one of our scouts or front-liners. I will take your other set of bracers and see if we can buy a useful wand."
*Skippy, skippy, skippy, skip...*
Hearing the voice, Gromsch stops and listens trying to make no noise.
After handing over the bracers and ring to Suny, Corum begins to summon another creature to lead the way.
This stocky, muscular mammal is the size of a badger, its snarling lips revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth.
Wolverine CR 2
XP 600
N Medium animal
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +10
Defense
AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 22 (3d8+9)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2
Offense
Speed 30 ft., burrow 10 ft., climb 10 ft.
Melee 2 claws +4 (1d6+2), bite +4 (1d4+2)
Special Attacks rage
Statistics
Str 15, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +4; CMD 16 (20 vs. trip)
Feats Skill Focus (Perception), Toughness
Skills Climb +10, Perception +10
Ecology
Environment cold forests
Organization solitary
Treasure none
Special Abilities
Rage (Ex) A wolverine that takes damage in combat flies into a rage on its next turn, clawing and biting madly until either it or its opponent is dead. It gains +4 to Strength, +4 to Constitution, and –2 to AC. The creature cannot end its rage voluntarily.
Wolverines are territorial, especially when it comes to food, and have been known to defend their kills against much larger predators, such as black bears. They are fearsome opponents, launching into a frenzy when wounded. They tend to give off a very strong, unpleasant musk smell when angry.
Armed with powerful jaws, strong legs, and a thick hide, wolverines are remarkably strong for their size. They are reckless in battle and throw themselves at their foes, clawing and biting furiously.
As Sunny descends, she sees a large circular room. The spiral stair ends in a ramp which wraps around the perimeter of the room, and above a pool of iridescent blue goop. There is a large humanoid - who appears to be made of stone, currently fishing a wet and wounded hag from the pool with a mancatcher polearm.
The hag struggles weakly.
The others above hear the voices, but can't make out the words.
"Free me... free me at once... "
"You have been offered. You will replace the collapsed minds of those who hold the Crone within."
Zed falls in right behind Sunny, examining the ritual. We need to stop this, now
Sunny tilts her head..."Whut da faq..." She mutters....
The stone figure is nearly eight feet tall.. the edge of the pool comes up to his waist. The mancatcher in his hands clamps around the hag's body. He lifts her up out of the goop, and she continues to struggle - though with little strength.
Gromsch follows Sunny
Corum moves downstairs behind his ferocious Wolverine.
He looks for the source imprisoning the spirits.
The wolverine wants to bite the big stone man and moves toward him.
Corum creates mirror clones.
"Statue man--step away from our crone!! Or are you the crone?"
The large stone figure turns toward Corum and his illusory copies. He does not immediately show signs of noticing the others.
It speaks without emotion, and is not immediately hostile.
It continues to hold the injured - now unconscious hag clamped in its mancatcher.
"I serve the Crone. I attach what vessels fall from above. I protect all memories.
You.. have not fallen from above.
You.. have not been offered.
You.. are not the Crone... the memories are forbidden."
Definitely an arcane creation. More interaction may be needed to determine what it is exactly, but it likely shares physical (structural and defensive) similarities to a stone golem.
Through an archway to the north, you see a structure like a giant baker's rack. You cannot see the entire size of it from where you stand, but there appear to be dozens of unmoving humanoids lying on the racks next to each other.
Corum continues to detect magic.
"You have new orders. You serve me now."
Corum attempts to remember all he knows about these constructs.
Gromsch whispers: This gooin the pool seems to be the same substance I found in the water. But several times more purer.
Varian slips down the spiral staircase to join the others... Sees the monster with the hag, and waits to hear the outcome of Corum's attempt to control the creature..
"This pool is related to harming an entire town. These people that fall from above, what happens to them when they are drained? Do you replace them and throw them away?"
The six Corums dance and speak to the stone man.
Corum asks out of curiousity.
"How many of me do you see? One or six?"
Corum's magical research warned about using illusions on constructs.
"They hold the memories of the Crone's hundred lifetimes. The vessels are destroyed when their minds collapse."
The stone man takes a step toward Corum.
"I see six of you."
As the stone man moves closer, Corum sees the faint glint of a grey gemstone in his forehead.
Seeing illusions, and the gem in the forehead suggest this creature is or is like a living monolith... born as a flesh and blood, these humanoids (and usually human) are turned into guardians of stone, and bound into service upon creation
*Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky, sneaky...*
"The Crone has lost the right to command you and steal bodies. If you act now, you can help undo the horrible things you have done."
"I still serve the Crone.
I am without free will. I am without choice.
I will listen no more. Your presence interferes.
Further disruption of my duties will lead to hostile action."
He turns, and carries the limp hag in his mancatcher toward the north room. He does not react to the presence of anyone but Corum... whether or not he saw anyone, you don't know.
"Someone push him in the water."
Corum gestures and patch of grease appears under the construct.
The nasty wolverine waits to do it if no one else wants to risk it.
Varian charges forward and tries to push him in with his lucerne hammer...
Zed charges in behind Varian, trying to set up with a flank and help in the push.
"Now we need to grab that hag body!"
Varian's strike has little effect, and Zed's push does not knock him into the pool. The stone man does lose his footing in the grease, and falls to the ground. He retains his grip on his weapon, and the hag within its clamp-like end remains motionless after dropping to the ground.
Sunny quickly scampers over and begins to try and get the Hag out from the grip of the pole arm.
"Come on luv, we's out'a here!"
Zed draws his morningstar and activates bane. "Surrender!" He swings down once, then waits for the creature to try and stand and swings again.
Varian takes a step back and strikes with his hammer at the fallen creature.
Gromsch moves nearer to the strange Golem (H10) and throws a bomb at him.
Zed's swing misses as the stone figure falls. It is slammed hard by Varian's weapon, but still struggles to stand. "I am forbidden to surrender."
As it focuses on getting to its feet, Zed's morning star strikes hard at the base of its neck.
"Hostile actions permit a hostile response."
As Sunny frees the unmoving witch from the mancatcher, the stone man grips the shaft tightly, and thrusts it at Sunny.
The curved bands clamp around her midriff.
The hurled vial from Gromsch explodes. Though your foe appears to be skinned in stone, you smell some flesh burn.
"Eeep!" (O_o)
"Okeys! A little help here!" Sunny calls out.
Even as she wriggles about in the grip of the pole thingy.
Varian takes a step to H5 and tries again to slam his hammer into the construct. "Coming, Sunny."
Corum smiles:
"Biggus Makus!"
The arcane words trigger growth in Zed.
Corum sends his wolverine into action.
The claws miss, but the bite is accurate.
Zed takes a step closer to his half-orc comrade, crying out to Sunny "Stay on the offensive!" As he brings his morningstar up again.
Gromsch shortly recaps if he can throw his next bomb without hitting any of his comrades then he yells: STAY WHERE YOU ARE TILL IT DISSIPATES!!
Then he throws a bomb. The emerging cloud of fumes is covered with small air pockets where his friends stand.
"I DUN'T THINK I HAS THA' OPTION!" Sunny shouts back at Gromsch as she wriggles within the confines of the pole-thingy.
The stone creature stumbles as it continues to be pounded.
A vial from Gromsch shatters.. grazing across the towering figure's chest, and ripping flame across him. The point of impact seeps and sizzles...
It's stony skin loses the coarse texture, and becomes glossy black.
The creature loses it's form completely, drops and empties like a bag of oil.
The mancatcher retains it's grip on Sunny. The hag is still unmoving.
"Eeewwww!" At the poor critters demise....
"Let's grab that hag, save Sunny, and get out of here. Gromsch, any way to stop this pond for contaminating the whole town?"
I must experiment. Hm, it is a fungus. That means, that it is a living thing. Maybe we can try to deaden it with heat or with alcohol. Maybe Acid would help too.
Though it does not grip her painfully tight, Sunny is still unable to free herself.
You find the substance coagulates when alcohol is introduced... it would likely break it down completely in time with enough alcohol.
You try heat, and at first it seems to thrive... until you pass 120 degrees fahrenheit. It then darkens and greys within seconds.
You find the substance foams when acid is used. The resulting vapor feels like it is shredding your nasal passages.
We have 2 Options:
We can poor enough alcohol in it the brain mold will coagulate or we can heat the pool then the brain mold darkens and precipitates.
I think the second possibility will be easier to achieve. We can heat big rocks in a fire and throw them in the pool.