"Commin!" shrieks the small gnome as he stumbles into the room.
Shoving his way pass his companions, he turns around to assess the situation. "Ack! You don't look good at all Jader....uh....MEDIC!"
Kar slams into the creature, his hand flying in and shattering whatever passed for bones in the creature's weird, rubbery neck. It reels back, dropping Jader in the process.
The creature turns toward Kar, its gangly arms up, though it lists to the side precariously.
Jader still recovering from choking musters his courage to inspire his companions
Jader maintains the inspiring dance and adds a demoralizing display of prowess to the mix
Tess rushes in after the call of her allies, and instinctively scans for the nearest enemy. Ah. Chokers.
Tess rushes in and delivers a wicked slice to the choker on the left, cutting deeply into its slick skin. Even as she does, Kal moves in and rolls past Jader.
Amazingly, he does so, and thrusts his rapier at the choker fighting Kar. Alas, the roll seemed to have knocked the attack off, and it misses its mark.
The choker, about to respond, seems to be a bit taken aback by the abundance of enemies, and by Jader's fierce stare. It steps back slightly and swats at Kar.
The other choker takes a step back and swings with its tentacles at Tessamine. She bats away the first, but the second slaps her and begins to coil around her arm. She is able to slap it away.
With this tentacle wrapped around his neck, his vision going dark, Kar desperately wants to attack his foe. But he can't because it is to far away and he is unable to move. So he attempts to break free.
Jader positions himself to cut the tentacle away from around Kar’s neck.
If Kar is already free then he attacks the creature that is closest. Trying to stay out of the creatures reach he uses his scorpion whip
"KAR!!!! Kar's down!" calls out the gnome, his eyes going red.
Reaching deep, he summons up some more of his magical skills. The familiar dragon shape pops out of his outstretched arm and it quickly finds a foe.
Undeterred by the beast's attacks, Tess pushes forward to corner the choker and strikes again!
Kar breaks free from the grapple, then....falls unconscious. As soon as he does, Jader moves in and sends his whip across, but it just barely misses skimming the creature's rubbery skin. The creature looks about to refocus on Jader, but Posh's dragon slams into it, scorching its skin and sending it to its knees. The creature falls over face first, smoking.
Tessamine slashes at the stroker, trying desperately to stay inside it's funky long reach. Alas, her blade gets tangled up in the mess and misses.
Kar breaks free from the grapple, then....falls unconscious. As soon as he does, Jader moves in and sends his whip across, but it just barely misses skimming the creature's rubbery skin. The creature looks about to refocus on Jader, but Posh's dragon slams into it, scorching its skin and sending it to its knees. The creature falls over face first, smoking.
Tessamine slashes at the stroker, trying desperately to stay inside it's funky long reach. Alas, her blade gets tangled up in the mess and misses.
Kar is unconcious and stable. Did you mean Kal? I promise we didn't do this on purpose.
Kalathiel, seeing one choker down, tries to use Tess as cover in order to get close to the next beast. He attempts to roll into the area beside it to avoid the whipping tentacles. Unfortunately, he times it poorly, and a tentacle slams into him as he moves. Luckly, Kal slaps it aside with his blade, then slides the blade along to attempt to drive it into the beast. Alas, the choker moves at the last second and blade flies aside harmlessly.
The choker, seemingly desperate, backs into a corner and whips its tentacles about at Tessamine, more trying to keep her at bay than trying to make her a victim.
Tess falls to the floor, her last bit of adrenaline lost.
"NOT GOOD! uh....MEDIC!"
Summoning another red dragon, Posh sends it spiraling around the room to explode near the offending creature.
Jader dodges the flailing tentacles and attempts to reach Tess to utter the healing prayer he learned when he was very young
The choker moves aside as the fiery dragon slams into the ground near it. It avoids the majority of the blast, and seems intent upon continuing to try and save its own hide.
Jader dives forward and uses his timely ability to stabilize Tessamine, who was very rapidly bleeding out.
Kar bravely drools into the dirt.
Kalathiel moves in and once again attempts to roll inside the choker's guard. He does so gracefully, the rubbery tentacles swinging though air over his head.
He then stabs at the creature, skewering it with his rapier. The choker, battered, bloody, and burnt, falls to its oddly bent knees, then flat on its face.
Tessamine lays on the ground motionlessly in celebration!
A final dragon soars out of Posh's outstretched hand spiralling towards the ceiling where it explodes in a shower of sparks.
"Huzzah! We did it!"
Somberly, the old man glances towards his fallen companions. "Though at what cost...what cost..."
Moving towards Kar, he gently nudges the prone man with his cane. "We should have a ceremony. They were brave souls. Brave souls indeed!"
Kal wipes the...fluid...off his blade and sheathes it, then looks at the bodies. He nods. Indeed...this will take quite the pyre.
Save your pity and give me your muscles. Neither of our companions are dead. Look they are both still breathing. So if my healing isn’t enough then we will likely need to carry someone
Jader moves to Kar and casts cure light wounds. He follows that spell up with his final spell of his for the day to heal Tess some more
Kar blinks awake, his wounds closing enough for him to be conscious and thinking once again. He stands, still obviously in pain. I presume we won. Thank you all for rescuing me. He nods to each in turn before surveying the room. I had hoped that being so far removed from their kind on the mainland, that a different society would have developed amongst the creatures of this island. With the evidence of the grindylows, the goblins, and now the chokers, I think it is safe to say that is not the case.
Tess groans as she gets up, and listens to Kar's short speech. "It's regrettable. But we have our own people to defend."
She takes a deep breath.
"So... where to next?"
Kal nods, then turns to motion over his shoulder. And what do we do about those rocky crab things? Do you think Ramona will want them...well, you know. He does the "slitting the throat" motion to indicate his implied intention.
Personally I feel like I’ve been trampled by an orc raiding party. Tess, Kar despite my healing for you you both don’t look any better than me. And I know I’m ugly already. So with that said mayhaps we should see if there are clerics to heal our bumps and bloody spots. Before we do anything else
Kar nods at Jader's words of wisdom, There are two priests at the chapel we visited earlier. And we should probably ask Romona what she'll want done with those rock crabs.
You proceed back up the well, and find an anxious Ramona awaiting your return. She stands with Eamon Caranth, the half-elven cleric of Erastil. You can see a few guards standing a distance off, crossbows at the ready and pointed at the well. Ramona clears her throat and motions towards you, particularly to those helping the wounded crawl out of the well. Well...help them!
The guards rush forward, with Eamon, and help you the rest of the way. Eamon begins tending to your wounds.
Ramona watches his ministrations, interrogating you while she does. Do we have anything left to worry about? Please, what happened down there?
"Nope. All good. Got us some mining ter do...dun worry though I'll take care of that as it's needed. Them choker-hugger deals we handled though." announces Posh with a smile, glancing towards his companions.
When Jader realizes that Posh left out mention of the crystal eating creatures he briefly looks at his other companions. Being torn between duty and honor. Thinking that he told the creatures he and his companions wouldn’t hurt the creatures.
Kar unknowingly takes away Jader's dilemma. After Posh finishes, he mentions the crystalline bugs, presuming Posh forgot about them as he has shown that his mind isn't as sharp as it used to be.
We did encounter a small group of semi-intelligent bugs that seem to be made of crystal. They claimed to be content to eat the crystals in the caverns below, crystals that Grandfather claims are very valuable. Icon Stones, perhaps? He looks over at Posh for confirmation on the name before continuing. They didn't seem to pose a threat, but I do not feel confident any longer on my judgement for such things. We thought to leave the decision to you.
Ramona furrows her brows, then nods. I see...thanks for bringing it to my attention; so...you think these things would stay down there, with the stones? What is their nature?
You know that these creatures aren't inherently evil. They just want to get their minerals to reproduce.
We can research these creatures and try and find the best way to deal with them. For now, you should rest and recover. Is there anything you need right now, aside from that?
After that healing I’m feeling a lot better perhaps let’s have a good meal and the get on to the next task at hand
"I'm certainly fit enough to travel on a bit, but I'm afraid my healing is spent for the day. Might I suggest we stick close to the colony for the rest of the day? The boat near the pier and the nearby cave come to mind. Best make sure we can make a swift retreat if necessary."
Kar simply nods his head to signal his willingness to continue exploring the area.
"Oh yes, they are no bother to us. Just dun bother then. I will see to mining of the rocks myself as needed. I have plenty to start as it stands." replies Posh.
"After a good meal, I'm surely capable of proceeding."
"Well...the boat seems like a close and somewhat safe thing to investigate. Why don't we check it out?"
The elf nods thoughtfully. "I wanted to check out that boat at some point regardless," he agrees. "Shall we?"
Out here the the west, the solitary dock extends from the beach into the bay. The construction is solid and looks recent, suitable for tying off a small boat, though as you know, it is not above water. Standing on the pier, you can see the boat, which is little more than a very large canoe, under the water and upside down. The water is clear enough to see it, but not clear enough to make out any details beyond the shadowy form.
Kar will get out some rope and look to Kal and Tessa who have shown themselves to be the best swimmers.
Tess nods to Kar and addresses the group as a whole. "What do you think the odds are of something hiding under that canoe? Call me paranoid, but after the chokers in the well I'd like to be careful. Do we have something of a game plan?"
With a shrug, Posh nods to Tessa. "One way I've got to see..."
Without awaiting any further response, he flicks his wrist and the sounds of violent splashing rings out over the canoe.