Adjusting his map as they go, Molasbar suggests they go to the northeastern door in the cube's room (assuming north is up on the map). It has a black square in front of the door? He mutters something about organized search patterns and grids... stands back to let Bryce do his cursory examinations, but stays close enough to cast feather fall on Bryce if the need suddenly arises.
Reginald decides to go through the portcullis archway. He tries the door on the other side of it, and if it's locked, he attempts to force it open.
Olofire winces as he hears Reginald bellow out and move forward loudly. Whenever he begins to think that the human is just a little "rough around the edges" he acts like this and leads Olo to believe that no, in fact, he is crazy. Ssss...you...ssss...others crazy...?
He falls into step as they move forward, bringing forth lights again as they wink out. Occasionally he looks over Molasbar's shoulder to see how he is doing his mapping. When they reach the new doorway he sends one forth to hopefully illuminate what stands behind it when they do get it open.
Reginald leads the charge towards the unknown, throwing open the door with such force that it's almost knocked off its hinges. The route beyond is another short corridor leading to a doorway, which the rumbustious warrior proceeds to promptly deal with. He steps forward into the room beyond, only so far ever glimpsed from a distance in his battle with the gelatinous cube.
The walls of this room are made of weathered, mortared stone, distinctly different to that which has been present in the rest of the dungeon. Fossilised human skeletons are encased in the walls, and to some degree protrude out from the stone in a rather grisly display. In one place, a skeletal stone hand pokes out from the wall, as if grasping for something; in another, the skull and ribcage of a stone skeleton protrudes from the wall, mouth open in a ghastly, eternal grin.
A small archway bordered by bone fragments leads into a second bone room which appears to be in the same state as the first. One arm extends along the wall, a sword still in its grasp, held firmly by the skeleton and the stonework alike. In another place, fully half of the skeleton protrudes from the wall, its limbs hanging flat in the dead air, although they rattle somewhat when you walk past it. You estimate that between these two rooms there are at least a dozen skeletons, if not more, encased in the stone.
Apart from the grim fossils, a single door exits this room towards the south. A skeletal head is affixed into the wall above the door, staring down at those who pass through.
As they walk into the grisly room, Raseri shivers.
"T-this place is horrible."
The fighter is visibly unnerved by the sight.
"Hey! This one's got a sword. That might come in handy later."
Reginald starts swinging his flail at the protruding skeletal stone arm holding the sword, hoping to eventually knock it loose with a series of blows.
Using his flail like an awkward and impromptu hammer, Reginald sets out trying to smash the stone and bone encasing the sword in the wall. After a couple of minutes of work and with a loud crack he finally snaps through the ulna of the fossilized arm bone, sending the sword loudly clattering to the ground. The skeleton's hand still grasps around the sword hilt, but is easily removed.
Reginald picks up the sword, rips off the skeletal hand clutching it, and tosses the bony remains on the ground with profound irreverence for the dead. He gives the blade a few swings through the air before sheathing it in his belt.
"Alright! I'm ready to go! Let's see where this door leads."
The fighter marches over to the southern door of the room and looks it over for anything suspicious.
If he doesn't notice any obvious traps or locking mechanisms, he attempts to open the door.
Molasbar follows Reginald, wincing a litle at his declaration. He tries to think of a diplomatic way to ask him to be more descrete. Failing to formulate the ask, he shrugs to himself and instead moves into place to support him.
The door opens up into a 40-foot long corridor, thankfully free of the fossilised bones. At the end of the hallway and through another door is a roughly octagonal-shaped room. A stairway not unlike the one in the entrance hall leads down into the darkness, flanked on either side by two large metal statues crafted into the shape of serpents. Each of the statues sits upon a short, stone pedestal about six inches off the ground that then becomes a handrail for the stairwell.
Seems we have a couple choices. Down further or we can work our way back and explore more of the doors leading off of the entrance. I think it might be best to head down and then next time we leave and come back, explore those other areas, but if you all would prefer to see if we can investigate this entire level first, I won't object."
"That idea seems solid to me, Ninivic. Let's make certain that we have adequate light sources and we properly scout ahead. I feel like the deeper we delve, the more likely we are to to encounter unsprung traps."
"Is anyone opposed to going down?"
"Maybe we should see what else is up here. I don't like the idea of having a choke point that the bandits can use as our only escape."
"Until now, I knew Raseri had both beauty, as well as strength to protect it. Now I see that along all that, she has wisdom also. Wisdom which we lack sometimes..." - letting his voice trail for a second or two, Bryce casts a glance towards Reginald.
"I too do think that we should leave no choke points behind us. When it hits the fan, and it sure will, sooner rather than later, we want to have at least one or two escape routes."
Reginald's rebuttal:
"Grow a pair, Bryce."
Whether through coming to an agreement or otherwise working together to physically drag Reginald with the rest of the group, a decision is made to check out the rest of this floor before daring the lower levels of the dungeon. The party retreats back to the main hall and has a quick look through the three remaining entrances.
- The north-eastern door is another fake entrance, much to the displeasure of the individual tasked at balancing over the chalk-marked pit trap in order to try and open it. It swings inwards to reveal a graffiti of a cackling, demonic face drawn in crimson paint on the wall.
- The south-eastern door opens into a hallway that continues further than you can see from the door frame. Towards the end of your vision it appears that another hallway intersects it and continues north and south.
- The southern door leads to another hallway, although this one connects with a number of rooms rather than another corridor. You count five doors along what's visible down this hallway from the barest exit from the main hall.
Reginald groans, grumbles, and grouses the whole way back.
"I think we should look through the southern hall. I was just going to knock on all the doors and smash anyone who answered, but I feel like the rest of you would rather take the "slow and methodical" approach. So, I'm going to keep watch. Yell if you're getting killed."
With a loud , Reginald rests his back against the wall and keeps an eye on the entrance chamber for any suspicious movements.
"Someone give me a couple of torches."
"What's tha matter Reggie? Afraid of the dark?"
Raseri teases her fellow fighter as she moves to the front.
Raseri leads the group into the leftmost door that branches off from the southern hallway. The room beyond is a strange triangular shape, and the angled north-western wall features an intricate mosaic depicting numerous different kinds of plants and animals. Most are immediately recognisable - common flora and fauna like rabbits, elk, oak, and daffodils, although there are a few species here and there that are quite remarkable at a glance. The central figure of the mosaic is a dark, human-like figure that was once carrying something, but the glass tiles of the carried object have all been broken away, revealing the plaster behind them.
Wet plaster has given way in several other places, most of which are near the ceiling. In places where the plaster has begun to rot and fall away due to seeping water, you can see the signs of small tunnels burrowing away through the wall and into the soft ground beyond. Not long after you enter the room to investigate it, a rounded, insectoid head pokes out from one of the holes, antennae twitching in the air as they detect the presence of prey - lunch! A many-segmented giant centipede about as large as a dog writhes its way out of the mosaic and crawls down the wall, clacking its mandibles in the empty air. Two more centipedes emerge shortly thereafter, and all three appear to be very interested in you!
Initiative: Centipedes | Reginald | Molasbar | Bryce | Ninivic | Raseri | Olofire
Dancing lights duration:
OOC
The enemies win initiative! FINALLY. :P Everyone can go in any order.Status
Molasbar: 4 points of strain.
Raseri: 5 points of strain.
Bryce: 5 points of strain.The three of you must make a DC 13 Fort save or be poisoned and take Dex damage (plus potentially more on subsequent rounds).
The centipedes crawl out from their nests and skitter on their many legs across the floor towards you. Their unexpected quickness takes you by surprise, and all three of the centipedes begin crawling towards the closest targets, mandibles snapping and dripping with obvious poison. Molasbar, Raseri and Bryce find themselves pinched and nibbled at, the giant centipedes' bites doing little in terms of physical wounds but causing a deep and burning ache from the quick-acting poison.
Hit Molasbar.
Hit Raseri.
Hit Bryce, crit threat...
Failed.
Ninivic lowers his pistol and pulls the trigger with the weapon right in the face of the centipede next to him. The crack of the pistol firing echoes in the small chamber and a bright flash momentarily lights up the centipede.
Raseri feels her muscles tighten and her joints stiffen as the poison starts working its way through her body. She pushes past that and attacks the centipede that bit her.
There isn't any finesse, nor the grace she showed yesterday, but the power behind the attack is undeniable.
Fort save
Molasbar stumbles back from the surging insect attack and, almost entirely reflexively, let’s go with a dart of pure arcane energy. The nearly transparent missile curves around his allies, striking true into one of the massive insects. He presses one hand against the wall the keep his balance as numbness starts to take over a growing portion of his body.
Steps to G6 and fires a force missile, damage
If one of the centipedes was wounded but not slain, he’ll target it. Otherwise, an unharmed one.
Something about the scittering vermin seems.... comforting to Olofire, and that thought is what disturbs him. He sees the vermin all latch on to his companions and whatever fleeting thought he had is replaced with disgust as the centipedes' legs begin to flail with excitement. For a second his mind goes numb as he wonders what to do, but then he hears it, although it is different this time. There in his mind that familiar hiss has changed to the mimic the chittering of the insects. Is it toying with me? . The half-elf focuses and raises his hand, slowly closing it in mid-air around the centipede (C6) as his mind reaches out towards it.
"Eugh! ", Reginald yells in his usual harsh, booming voice. Wasting little time, he pushes past Olofire and Ninivic and crudely swings the flail down towards the carapace of one of the disgusting creatures.
Initiative: Centipedes | Reginald | Molasbar | Bryce | Ninivic | Raseri | Olofire
Dancing lights duration: 1 round
Status
Molasbar: 4 points of strain, 2 Dex damage, poisoned (5 rounds).
Raseri: 5 points of strain, 2 Dex damage, poisoned (5 rounds).
Bryce: 5 points of strain.Centipede (Red): 3 points of damage.
Centipede (Blue): DEAD!
Centipede (Green): 7 points of damage, misfortune (2 rounds).Molasbar and Raseri must make a DC 13 Fort save or take Dex damage.
Ninivic, you regain that grit point.
Reginald brusquely pushes past Olo and Ninivic to slam his flail into the hard carapace of the centipede's body. His blow squelches and crunches through the centipede's exoskeleton, leaving it with a painfully cracked and fissured segment. Molasbar retreats back into the hallway and fires off his trademark quasi-invisible bolt of force, blasting off one of his assailant's antennae - the long and curling sensory organ twitches around on the floor for a few moments before going still.
Bryce leaps over a curling centipede tail to try and stab it from behind, but he can't quite manage to pierce through the tough exoskeleton. Ninivic tries to blast a hole through the same centipede, but has to quickly leap out of the way of the centipede's snapping mandibles; the action sends his shot askance. Luckily, Raseri's no-nonsense attitude prevails and she neatly slices the offending centipede's head clean off. The body squirms and writhes around on the ground for some time, ichor spurting all over her and Bryce's boots. Finally, Olo inflicts a terrible curse upon the nearest centipede, almost uncontrollably laughing in delight as he briefly touches upon the not-mind that is the centipede and feeling his patron chitter with joy in the back of his mind.
While all this is going on, another centipede pokes its head out of one of the damp tunnels and tastes the air in front of it, attracted by the movement and sudden warmth in its territory. It writhes its way down the wall and lashes out at Bryce, half of its limbs still vertical and clinging to the mosaic. Luckily, his leather armor is enough to protect him from another nasty bite. The other centipede, injured and cursed, rears up over Bryce, but seems to freeze up mid-way and does not continue through with its attack. Raseri likewise has no difficulty deflecting the third centipede's bite with the flat of her greatsword.
Reginald sidesteps around the back of the centipede he just smacked and whips the flail around for another carapace-crushing slam!
Raseri shifts her stance to face the other centipede and brings the sword up trying to split it's head. Her movements are slowing, and her face is contorted in pain, but she presses forward.
"Damn bugs."
Dex: 11
Ref: 0
Seeing Bryce surrounded now by the arrival of a new vermin, Molasbar reaches out with his arcane gift to try and help even the odds.
Force Missile at the yellow centipede. Damage
As disturbing as it is to hear the slight-framed half-elf's laughter, it is likely more distracting that it stops just as abruptly. Olofire is happy to let Reginald past and it almost seems as if the half-elf is trying to hide behind the larger man.
Not wanting to leave his companions in darkness, he put 4 fingers into the air, chanting a few words and immediately the lights appear. Just as he finishes, he begins to chortle to himself, a combination of giggling and almost choking sounds which seem to press his curse even further.
"Sure hope they're not going to keep pouring out of there..." Resisting the urge to look closer, Ninivic instead reloads his pistol and fires again.
Bryce steps aside hoping not to get caught between two bugs, mere moments before Reginald kills one of the centipede threatening him. Unhappy that he was not able to find a better position (flank the creature), he takes a swing with is short sword, trying to imitate in a way Reginald's furious attack.
Fail.
Initiative: Centipedes | Reginald | Molasbar | Bryce | Ninivic | Raseri | Olofire
Dancing lights duration: 10 rounds
Status
Molasbar: 4 points of strain, 3** Dex damage, poisoned (4 rounds).
Raseri: 5 points of strain, 3 Dex damage, poisoned (4 rounds).
Bryce: 7 points of strain.Centipede (Red): DEAD!
Centipede (Blue): DEAD!
Centipede (Green): DEAD!
Centipede (Yellow): 5 points of damage.Bryce, Molasbar and Raseri must make a DC 13 Fort save or take Dex damage.
** Molasbar, you didn't make your Fort save for last round, please make two now! (1 Dex damage for a failed DC 13 Fort save for round 2.)
Reggie finishes off the job on his target, completely splattering the centipede's innards across the stone floor tiles. Molasbar peppers the new arrival with a bullet of force, the magic giving the insect a very noticeable indent in its protective carapace. Bryce steps up beside the mosaic, his shoulder brushing against it when he furiously lashes out and deflecting his strike completely. The rogue's sudden ferocity, mimicking Reginald's rather inspiring antics, puts Ninivic off his shot and his bullet skims over the top of the centipede and smashes a small assortment of glass mosaic shards onto the ground. Raseri once more manages to completely eviscerate the nearest centipede, splitting its softer stomach open with an upwards-angled slice of her sword. Olofire, noticing his lights beginning to dim, mutters a frequently-heard spell to reinvigorate the shimmering orbs for another minute.
Ninivic's fear appears to be not too far from the truth, or otherwise oddly prophetic, with yet another centipede crawling its way out from the nest behind the mosaic and squirming towards Raseri. Despite the fact that her limbs seem almost partially locked in place, she manages to step back away from this newest threat's bite and avoid any damage. Bryce, however, is not so lucky, and his clumsy blow opens him up to a piercing bite on his sword-bearing arm. Once again, the centipede's mandibles penetrate with barely more force or depth than a needle, instead letting their vicious poison do the work for them...
Perhaps it's time for us to run!.... No! No! Olofire opens his mouth, about to suggest retreat but decides against it. His companions are capable and he can't express cowardice at every turn or he will be useless here. Instead he reaches into the swirling madness in his mind, focusing his self-shame into rage and reaching out towards the vermin.
For the briefest of moments, Bryce actually considers turning his back and "hightailing it" back, but he changes his mind. He leaves the way open for Reginald to come at the vermin near to him using his shrewdest and most cunning tactic (charge!), so he simply swings once again with his short sword, and greets his teeth trying to weather the pain from the substance spreading through his body.
The bites were having a big effect on the fighter. She was moving stiffly, and breath was starting to come fast and shallow. Her voice is still calm though.
"Molsabar, Olo, do you have anything that can take care of the nest?"
She doesn't let up on the attack, though. She pushes forward and drives her sword down at the centipede next to her.
Steel flashes and rips through chitin and sprays ichor on the ground. After another brutal blow, she slides over the corpse of one of the centipedes and gets ready to renew her assault.
Dex: 9
Strain: 5
"Guess I should have gotten alchemist's fire instead of holy water. Any more in there?" Ninivic listens for the telltale sound of more scrabbling legs.
Ninivic isn't sure if there are more in there or not. It's too difficult to hear over the sounds of combat.
Fort save
Fort save
Molasbar grimaces as he tries to fight back against the poison, and slumps hard against the wall as numbness continues to wash over him. Still, his eyes dart across the holes in the wall, alert for more centipedes to show themselves.
Ready an action to use a force missile on anything crawling out of the holes.
Status
Molasbar: 4 points of strain, 3 Dex damage.
Raseri: 5 points of strain, 5 Dex damage, poisoned (3 rounds).
Bryce: 7 points of strain.
Reginald walks over the still-twitching corpse of his first victim and smashes the second centipede into the mosaic wall, splattering its guts everywhere. Raseri likewise eviscerates her third bug in as many seconds. The others hold their weapons, preparing for what seems to be an endless stream of centipedes - one more emerges, but the group's collective bared weapons cut off its head before it can injure anyone further. Holding your breath for a minute or two, the nest behind the mosaic seems to have emptied... for now.
Dex damage
Dex damage
Dex damage
Reginald breathes a sigh of relief as the last centipede falls.
"You guys don't look so good. Maybe we should take a breather."
"Yeah, glad you two were able to finish them with those swords. Sorry, I couldn't hit a thing. I agree with Reginald. We'd better get you guys a rest or we're going to run into trouble."