The cannibals scream in terror as the magical tattoo on Mephos' arm becomes a real scorpion and bites one on the foot! Fort save....
How!? How did it come to this? I underestimated these delectable little things.... They are dangerous to me....and now I lose everything because I sought sustenance? If i must desist, then I shall take two at least with me!
The Lido Beach Horror scuttles after Lakra, snatching at the young mutant with its immense claw.... Snip!!
Lakra is crushed, and falls limp.
Before the monster snatches him, Lakra plunges through the water with his axe, letting his crossbow fall into the tide....
dmg
.... But the axe blade is turned by the monster's rough chitin!
Get your dirty meat hooks off my passengers, you nasty, two-person-eating, stinky son of Cthulhu!!
Cpt Kermit lays on the trigger of the .50 cal.... RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!
The monster is clipped by a bullet from the burst....
Derrik reloads his crossbow jamming bolt into the mechanism and firing off a shot trying to end it before it slaughters the rest of the crew. Yelling at the group..
" Focus on it..! If we can drop him fast enough I can take care of the wounded.. WE HAVE TO BE QUICK!"
He steps up a bit getting a small breath and firing off another shot
If firing off once again
" Dammit! "
The cannibals can see that they face no normal human foe, destined to be their next victims--Team Lido are mighty heroes in the dawn of a new and terrible age in sore need of heroes!
As the bright flare of flame from Dr Grimm's fire bomb lights the scene of carnage at the bottom of the stairs--8 burnt and mangled cannibals, with Dr Grimm, Koran "The Hammer", Mephos, and Kate standing resolute and fierce--the cannibals recognize that they have been conquered.
Please!! Don't hurt no more of us! We'll be good, I swear! It's the Thing Under the Balcony that makes us eat people! It'll eat us if we don't eat them! Please!!
The cannibals throw down their clubs and cower before the land team.
Please, help us! We.... We don't wanna be slaves to the Thing Under the Balcony anymore.... We wanna eat pizza, and chicken, and drink beer instead of blood....
Perception check vs DC 15 to hear its title spoken from its perch under the balcony of the third-floor beachfront suite and take notice of the skirmish by the stairs....
So.... New meat.... Tough new meat.... Might be too tough.... Then again.... Might not be tough enough....
Hissing syllables of eldritch power, the Thing vanishes from human sight, and scuttles closer to these new creatures that have caught one of its eyes....
You, bring us beer, food, medical supplies and weapons and we will kill it.
We will also need a way to carry these new supplies. Get the stuff, then we will solve your monster problem.
You, bring us beer, food, medical supplies and weapons and we will kill it.
Beer? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!
The few cannibals still standing seem to find this somehow hilarious, as they break into gales of delirious laughter....
You say you want food? HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE!!!!!!
The rough, jarring laughter of the cannibals echoes in the tennis court and pool area....
Me too! I want some real food.... not a finger, or a toe.... Some f@%!in' Taco Bell for Christ's sake! I will never call Taco Bell dog-food again.... HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!!!!
The cannibals laugh like braying mules....
Oh, my God.... These people are bat-shit crazy....
She squeezes Dr Grimm's shoulder anxiously.
We ain't got no food, mister! We's eating ourselves.... "Scraps", that's what the Thing Under the Balcony calls it.... "You may eat the scraps," he says.... And.... And.... And.... And we eat the scraps, 'cause that's all there is to eat. So please, don't hate on us, or think we're crazy or less than you.... 'Cause.... 'Cause.... 'Cause.... 'Cause....
We ain't got no food, mister! We's eating ourselves.... "Scraps", that's what the Thing Under the Balcony calls it.... "You may eat the scraps," he says.... And.... And.... And.... And we eat the scraps, 'cause that's all there is to eat. So please, don't hate on us, or think we're crazy or less than you.... 'Cause.... 'Cause.... 'Cause.... 'Cause....
Oh.... Oh, no.... I think I'm gonna throw UUrrrrrrk.....
Kate doubles over and vomits on the pavement.
For several seconds, she keeps her head down, hands on her knees, spitting the taste of vomit and fear out of her mouth....
Haven't you ever wondered what barbeque monster tastes like. You had several rifles, you should have just shot it from a distance and then served it up.
Haven't you ever wondered what barbeque monster tastes like. You had several rifles, you should have just shot it from a distance and then served it up.
How do you shoot what you can't see, mister? The Thing just says some mumbo jumbo with that prickly voice, and BAM!! It's gone! If its feeling nice, it'll just put ya out of your misery with a bolt of lightning, and THERE IT IS AGAIN!!!! But if it's feeling ornery, it might stay invisible and play with ya for a little while....
Why, that crafty old Thing! HA! HA! HA! It's.... It's probably listening to us r-right now....
The topless skank smiles an insane smile, her hands falling away from her breasts....
Right, Thing Under the B-Balcony?
Of course I'm listening, my sweetling.... The voice is dry and rasping, and somehow .... prickly. It seems to be carried on the sea breeze and to echo oddly in the air above.
I am always listening. I hear your every whisper, and your every scream. The voice seems somehow to be getting clearer. Closer.
The cannibals gawk in wide-eyed terror at the balconies on the second and third floors of the hotel. All are still and quiet, as if spellbound by the raspy voice in the air....
So! Fierce ones have come to the island to play.... Fierce ones with fire and sinew, ones who know the elder secrets.... Ones who play with death, perhaps?
The dry, raspy voice grows closer....
The fierce ones hunger? The fierce ones would quench thirst? The fierce ones would value poisons and medicines, weapons, secrets, perhaps?
.... closer ....
Fierce ones have needs. I also have needs. Perhaps we can strike a deal?
A foul stench, of which the sweet reek of rotting meat is the only familiar part, seems to leak out of the very air....
Kinyama!
Rad!Ooh! Ooh! Ah!
What kind of deal would tha be?
[dice=attack]1d20+5[dice=damage]1d8+4
Kinyama's gun roars and the monster spasms as it crashes in a heap in the surf, it's life snuffed by the kitsune's fatal bullet! Prue and Lakra fall from the monster's claws into the surf beside the horrid thing.
The Lido Beach Horror shudders one final time as the kitsune's bullet pierces a vital artery, and it collapses with a great splash, freeing Prue and Lakra from its horrible claws.....
Derrik barrels forward with all his might as he sees the creature finally fall, half-relieved ;half-saddened he was not the one to avenge the innocents from before. But that did not mean that the threat was over; In a matter of seconds Derrik arrives on the scene his first act to save lives.. a small light shooting from his hand and stabilizing the fallen by force of his will. The Helmeted, resonance-voiced Man in plated armor looks upon what the creatures actually were and.. is wary. Especially upon seeing a fox.. a frog.. and Monster-boy.
" I.. mean you no harm.. if you mean me none.. I believe we had a similar enemy. You have helped me... end it, for it had killed many a survivor"
Pulling out an Axe and cleaving the creature's head off..
"IF.. you are however.. not monsters.. and survivors.. I could assist your... friends.. more"
Looks like lobster's the main course tonight, eh, boys?
All PCs receive sufficient XP to level up!
Kinyams walks over to derrik morphing into a human as he does so.
Thank you ser for helping save my companions
Derrik looks to the fox turned human with curiosity and wariness, his crossbow stored on his right hip and axe in his right hand while his shield adorns his back. Being approached with kind words was not uncommon for Derrik, anyone can try to fool you. When he is sure that the creature was sincere and meant no harm to him, Derrik nods.
" In this land there are many types of monsters; I am part of the few that was not, luckily for you. I could attempt to raise them up, your allies. What.. are you all? Creatures.. that talks ..half-monster yourself? "
His left hand seeming to glow as he talks..
we come from a government facility out in the Everglades called pandoras box. we are on a salvage mission to get supplies. there are four more of us farther inland.
I am bound by ancient protocols.... Which prevent me from moving directly against that most insipid of fools, The Crawler Between Dimensions....
The raspy, disembodied, prickly voice of The Thing Under the Balcony seems to sizzle with hatred as it utters this title....
If the fierce ones kill The Crawler Between Dimensions, in the course of their exploration, and bring me it's ugly head as proof of the deed, they shall have sweet sustenance, and other rewards, if they wish it....
" That seems... far-fetched to say the least.. but If I didnt see what you were before and the place didn't go to shit, I wouldn't believe you. But I did. I call myself.. Derrik.... I am one of the few survivors that was too stubborn to let this hell overcome us and in the process I have been blessed for my efforts little though I asked for such gifts. If you are looking for supplies you will be hard pressed. There are deranged individuals everywhere and I would have introduced you to more survivors but.. But.. I was not able to protect them. "
Derrik looking over the creatures body and giving it a swift kick in frustration before continuing
" What do you call yourselves and I shall assist your..allies when you have told me so "
What name does this Crawler between dimensions go by and what does it look like?
What name does this Crawler between dimensions go by and what does it look like?
It has no other name, and it looks much like what you would call a spider, except it is much bigger.... And it has an ugly head that looks like the head of a man with a shaggy mane!
It is a very sneaky, very tricky old blighter, that Crawler Between Dimensions.... It slips between worlds, and hides like a coward in the Ethereal Plane....
Where do we find this creature?
Where do we find this creature?
It dwells at the Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel, very near by....
How can it be killed? Or do we have to guess?
Where is a law's rocket when you need one?
How can it be killed? Or do we have to guess?
It' s a tricky beast, the Crawler, not apt to be caught by surprise.... A trick of your own to lure it out, perhaps? It likes to ambush it's prey.... Let hunter become the hunted! Once it has been blooded, it will likely slip off to the Ethereal Plane, only to appear again when it sees some advantage....
Cpt Kermit supplies Derrik with a first aid kit from a stowage compartment in the pontoon, and assists him in tending to the unconscious Prue and Lakra....
Aid another Heal check ....mostly getting in Derrik's way....
After Prue and Lakra have been stabilized and safely laid on the deck of the pontoon, Cpt Kermit pulls a toolbox out of the compartment and gets to work helping Derrik with repairs to the pontoon....
Aid another Craft (blacksmith) check ....again, mostly getting in Derrik's way, offering bad advice, cracking annoying jokes, etc.
The arrogant Crawler believes its little trick of dashing off to the Ethereal Plane makes it invulnerable--that shall be it's undoing, for it does not know a secret of mine....
A vicious peal of prickly, tinkling laughter cuts at your nerves like the teeth of a rusty saw blade....
I have surreptitiously collected the dried husks the Crawler leaves behind after feeding, and have even stooped to the unsavory task of collecting the blighter's droppings, and from these remains and spoor, I have been able to distill a unique and wondrous oil with magical properties that mimic the Crawler's power to shift between this world and the Ethereal Plane, but only for a brief duration....[b]
The sound of the raspy voice grows closer and the stench becomes almost overpowering....
[b]I will give each of the fierce ones a vial of this oil sufficient to make themselves able to shift as the Crawler Between Dimensions does for no longer than what you would call ten minutes of time. Use them with wisdom, and bring back the head of that detestable Crawler, and in return, I shall not only reward you with items treasured by your kind--gold, bullets, medicines, and poisons--but I shall also tell you a wondrous secret that you might be very interested in knowing.... A secret that would be....dangerous....to His Abominable Malignancy....
Grimm is not totally trusting of the vile creature's words.