Unused to effects like this, having only taken stolen sips from his parents before, Akri grinned like a loon. "Wow, just wow," he said, giving a strange giggle. "That feels, like, really good going down. Think we should try to take some of this stuff with us?"
Vinexa -> The liquid is extremely hot and spicy. You feel your temperature increasing, but not in an unpleasant way.
Talindra -> The liquid tastes rather flat and seems to have no taste at all. You feel no noticeable effect although your hair and skin has taken on a strong greenish tint
Harro quickly falls to the floor chortling wildly and pointing at the now 'colorful' drow.
"BWA-HAHA-HA!! A GREEN drow! BWA-HAHA-HA!!
What happn'd? You shtup' a fairy? BWA-HAHA-HA!!"
"It may wear off. Some mushrooms will do that kind of thing you know, but if you survive it wears off quickly enough. If you can live with pink, certainly green is a step up?!"
Pulling himself together, Harro finally calms himself and climbs to his feet with tears streaming down his face and a smile on his lips.
Using his dirty smock sleeve, he wipes at his face to clear it.
"By the GODS I need'd that!"
Turning to the stricken drow, Harro winks at Talindra, and chuckles again.
"Don'a worry ma'am...Tis' an improvement in my 'pinion!"
With a wide smile plastered on his dirt streaked face, Harro heads for the exit, his escape club 'perched' casually on his shoulder.
"Let's Move! Plenty ground to cov'r yet!"
Unless anyone wants to do anything else in this room you are now back in the room with the four arches and the passage leading to what Glabbagool claims is the exit.
"Well, now that you have all had your fun with the green water, let's move on. They are bound to catch up if we dawdle."
Vinexa pulled at the throat of her meager clothing and said, "Mmm, I feel hot." Little wisps of steam seamed to rise from her nails as she lowered her hands again. She watched Talindra's reaction and noticed the drow turning...green? It drew a giggle from her and she smiled before leaning in to try and press her lips to the drow's and then saying, "Don't worry, I'll still take you later."
Feeling extra alert, Micar is ready to move on. He takes a glance down the exit before preceding.
Vinexa was quite happy with the kiss that she was given by Talindra, and even more pleased at the second one. With the end in sight just ahead Vinexa had a disturbing thought. She looked back at Glabagool and asked, "Do you know of anything that would keep you trapped in here? Can you leave and come with us?"
Glabagool hope Glabagool can leave with friends. Exit is high up, too high for Glabagool to reach and escape. But Glabagool believes that with friends help Glabagool can leave, friends are clever and can move stuff better than Glabagool
Glabagool replies to Vinexa as they travel down the last corridor.
Halfway down the corridor there is a ten foot wide pit. It resembles the traps in the previous corridors but is open rather than closed.
As you approach a wet squelching sound can be heard coming from the bottom of the pit...
Being very careful, Harro will try and glance over the edge of the pit to see what is in it without exposing himself too much.
"Whazzit!?"
Obviously perplexed, Harro seems unsure what he's actually seeing.
Tanic joins Harro at the pit, the odd pair making a sight as they both lean over the edge.
With the wet squishing noises coming from the pit, Akri doesn't try to look as he said, "Prolly some -hic- ooze fell down the hole. Hehe, in the hole. -hic- Seems to be a whole mess of those -hic- things here. "
Micar takes a peek down the hole as well.
Her current worst fear realized Vinexa patted Glabagool's side and said, "I'll do what I can to get you out of here, I'm not going to leave you behind if I can help it Glabagool." She realized that the others were looking down at something on the floor but from her angle Vinexa couldn't see it. She decided that they could probably handle looking at the floor and spent her own time looking around for anything that might be of use in helping Glabagool get out of this place and come with them.
The majority of the party cluster around the edge of the pit, peering down. The inside of the the pit is extremely dark and it is difficult to tell how deep it goes or whether there is anything at the bottom. Suddenly Talindra notices that what she had presumed was the shadowy depths of the pit is actually a darkly coloured ooze, one that is now reaching up to attack!
Talindra and Micar both manage to throw themselves back from the edge of the pit and avoid the rising pseudopods but Tanic and Harro aren't as quick and are hit by the ooze.
Vinexa meanwhile notices that there is a fair amount of rubble around the temple. Perhaps it might be possible to build some sort of ramp?
"Ouch! Tanic hurriedly retreats from the pit. Not, these oozes are definitely not friendly. I know a lot of oozes and if you keep them fed they leave you pretty much alone. These oozes must be starving, poor things! And I hate to think what we must be doing to the ecology by killing all of them!"
Tanic casts a Cure Light Wounds on himself.
Leaving just 2 damage.
Glabagool shows a fair amount of distress as seeing his friends injured. Glabagool not notice the pit was open. Glabagool talking to Horned Lady. Glabagool not remember this pit being here before. Glabagool sorry, should have paid more attention.
Staggered by the sudden blow, Harro growls and actually waves off the Cube's comments.
"You got'noe eyes! How's you see a pit, or what's in'nit, anyway?"
"Yes, we forgive you Glabagool. It was my own fault for not being more cautious."
Micar thinks if he read anything about this particular ooze in his studies.
Despite her fondness for Talindra Vinexa glared at the drow a moment before saying, "He has been Talindra, he just missed that one." She turned back to Glabagool and said, "It happens." Her words paused a moment as something Glabagool had said just clicked, "You said this pit wasn't here last time? Has anyone been down here that might have dug it?" As she spoke she eyed the rubble and realized it might solve the problem of their friend and getting him out of here as she let Glabagool answer the question.
Once the cube had responded the half-succubus seemed pleased with herself and said, "I think I see how to get Glabagool out of here so he can come with us. We can use the rubble over there to build up a ramp for him to use."
Pseudopods continue to flail around the edges of the pit as the Ooze tries to reach the victims it can sense.
Snarling, Harro scratches at the burning wound on his arm and barks out a command.
"Ever'body...BACK UP!!"
Taking his new but rusty ring and putting it on his his left hand, Harro points it at the ceiling of the tunnel over the pit.
Once everybody is far enough back, he uses it full blast! Obviously, his intent is to bury the nasty creature without bringing
the rest of the tunnel down...hopefully!?
"See?!" Akri said as black tentacles raised up and hit two of their party. "I told ya -hic- told ya that nothin' good would be in there!" Then, people started backing away as Harro took a strange stance and held out his shiny new ring. "I think I'll...I'll just stand over here now..."
Tanic moves back a foot or two behind Harro but his curiosity doesn't allow him to retreat any further.
Seeing Harro adjust his ring as he tells everyone to step back, Micar does as suggested and takes a few steps back; then waits with anticipation to see how the ring works.
Vinexa moved back from the impending...whatever, and watched with interest as Haro did his thing. Once she realized what he was going to do she was glad to see there would be even more rubble to use to help get Glabagool out of here. She found herself next to Talindra about then and felt her drive to feed getting stronger at the drow's proximity and moved up close behind her. She didn't touch the drowess, but she was just the barest of twitches from doing so.
The ring works exactly as expected and a spectral form bursts out from the front of the ring and flies into the ceiling, bringing down a considerable amount of rubble. Dust fills the air and when it clears the pit is no more. The rockfall has completely blocked off the corridor.
There appears to be some sort of opening above the pile of rubble, it seems that there was a passage above where Harro fired the ring, accounting for the extra rubble, and possibly forming a way out.
"On the bright side, I was getting tired of the same old rooms. On the dark side, I can say that our pursuers won't need a tracker to see that we were here. That and the noise you just made suggests that we leave quickly."
The passage you come out in is fairly wide and you make good time the rest of the day before finding somewhere suitable to camp. As the meal is prepared, Prince Derendil tells stories of his kingdom of Nelrindenvale and how well rewarded you will all be if he ever finds his way home. One story in particular stands out, how as a childish prank Derendil and his younger sister shaved off half of their father's large curly mustache while he was asleep and the next day half of the nobles in court were also sporting half-mustaches, thinking the king was starting a new fashion!
Elves don't grow facial hair.
Micar just chuckles and shakes his head a bit at the story.
As they settled down for the night, Akri felt the last of the strange potion leave him. "That was...odd," he muttered to himself before shaking his head. As he listened to the self-proclaimed prince tell stories about his childhood, he couldn't help but comment, "You was a wild one, huh?"
With the success of the blast in creating a ramp for all of them Vinexa found herself delighted at the results. When she saw Talindra turn to eye her the half-succubus reached out to grab the woman by her shoulders and plant a firm kiss on her lips. When the kiss was done she felt the hunger rise even more but again shoved it back down. It wouldn't be long now before she had to feed. With that done she turned to Glabagool and said, "Excellent! Now you can come with us friend."
When they all reached the top she looked at Harro and said, "You know, if you used a blast on the other side there you might collapse the tunnel behind as well. Not only would our pursuers have to find another way around but they would possibly give us up for dead, crushed in the collapse. At the least it might delay them more while they look for our bodies in the rubble."
Vinexa sat and listened to the prince tell his story and giggled at the image, an image she knew the reality of. Still, it was his story and it was amusing, so she let it be. She found herself sitting next to Talindra during the evening, one wing draped about the drow's shoulders, as she occasionally talked and gave her pet spider Terra some attention.
Harro smiles wide at his surprising success, and the others' reactions.
He then kisses his ring and mutters to himself.
"Gotta' find a way to r'charge the thing 'ventually!"
Once the path up was cleared Vinexa gives her opinions, and Harro shrugs and ticks off his scarred fingers one at a time.
"One: Ring's gotta' lim'ted use here. Don't want'a waste it.
Two: I'bea dwarf enough to know if I keepa' blowing stuff up, eventually this whole section twill' come down, and we dunna' wanna be anywhere near 'dat!
Free': One 'boom' is diff'cult to find. Two 'Boom', maken' it easier!
Fwor': I don't wanna."
Turning on his heel, escape club in his hands, the dwarf continues up the ramp and on with the others.
@Talindra
"Let loose and have fun? How would eat... Ah, yes. Though I've never partaken in that particular entertainment, I have know a couple druids that have. Twins actually. Elves - no beards of course. You know how rare elf twins are? Frankly I suspect there was a little human in their lineage. They grew a crop of this odd looking mushroom that was shaped like an inverted umbrella with blue spots. Lazy fellows said it supported their lifestyle..."
The blathering goes on with frequent mentioning of other unusual or outright impossibilities concerning elves. But you get the idea that he will keep an eye out.
The Quaggoth is pleased by the attention his story received, thinking the smiles are due to his antics rather than the idea of mustachioed elves. Turning towards Akri he responds to his question,
"Wild One? Yes I suppose I was. Used to run my parents and the servants ragged I did. It's funny, I was worried I was losing my memories but sharing these stories tonight helped bring them back. I'd almost forgotten what my father looked like until I was describing his curly mustache and now I can see it as clear as if he was sitting here with us. Strange how memories work, eh?"
The 'night' passes relatively uneventfully although Tanic is woken early by a large spider crawling across his face. The first few hours of walking pass quickly and you maintain a good pace, partially due to the slight downwards slope of the tunnels you take. Shortly before you stop for lunch you reach a cavern filled with slimy, bubbling muck. The stench of decay fills the air and the buzzing of flies can be heard. Dipping a stick into the mud reveals it to be about 3 feet deep. You will either need to wade through the muck or find an alternative route, losing precious time.
You spot a large clump of Galerina mushrooms on an island in the middle of the chamber, known for their psychoactive effects.
Not liking the look of the mud, and his short stature, Harro Nods in the direction around the mass.
"Not likn' this muck. Safer to go 'rond-about. No tellin' wats creepin' n'side it."
Harro quickly begins looking for a safer path.