Gemdar looks to Fluuk, who seems to be tilting his head to the left and then to the right, as if his nose is homing in on something. Tabaaac turns away from Gobzilla, and takes a sniff himself.
All at once, Tabaaac, Gemdar, and Fluuk come to the same conclusion.
DC 20 Perception, Smell, check:
The odor is suddenly familiar as the same smell that came from the bizarre machines encountered above the gorge, the same odor that is given off by them when they are destroyed.
Male Goblin Witch 4 | AC 18 T 14 FF 14 | HP 30/30 | F +4 R +4 W +6 | CMD 15 | Init +10 | Perc +14, I +2
Gemdar looks at Tabaaac and then nods while speaking to Gobzilla, "If you can't smell anything Gobzilla, maybe you should head further into the room until you can. But look out for anything that might try and eat you."
Marching forward, Gobzilla soon gets an uneasy feeling. He can sense the walls moving farther and farther away from him as he progresses and the illumination from the small patches of fungi on the ground is swallowed up by the vast darkness.
When he has gone some twenty feet into the darkness, he comes upon the remains of a small machine similar to one of those that was encountered on the top of the gorge. This machine lies broken, and is covered with a few glowing mushrooms. There head that was once attached to the top of the machine is now nothing but a skull (and it doesn’t look like it is a goblin skull this time). Gobzilla can see how the interior of the skull is held in place on the machine by small silvery pieces of metal fashioned into rods and driven, from the machine upward into the inside of the bone of the skull.
It is too dark to see more than a few feet in any direction from a patch of glowing fungus, but as Gobzilla stands quiet for a moment he hears the steady
Male Goblin Witch 4 | AC 18 T 14 FF 14 | HP 30/30 | F +4 R +4 W +6 | CMD 15 | Init +10 | Perc +14, I +2
Seeing that nothing has eaten him yet, Gemdar goes and stands next to Gobzilla to see what he can see as Gemdar likes the dark a little more. Darkvison
Gemdar squints and turns slowly in a circle to get a "look" at this cavern.
He can see the walls of the cavern to the east (sixty feet away), and to the south (twenty feet away), and the floor of the cavern slopes down slightly toward the east. Also, to the east, there seems to be a protrusion in the wall which hides a niche to the north of it.
To the west there is an alcove some twenty feet wide and twenty feet deep (going to the west) and to the north the cavern wall is fifty feet or so away and seems to have at least one, maybe two exit passageways in it.
As Gemdar tries to make sense of the surroundings, Gobzilla summons forth a light.
The light illuminates the area around Gobzilla and Gemdar and throws shadows into the alcove to the west. In the dim light there, Gobzilla now sees the strange lump that has Gemdar’s attention
Gobzilla:
You can clearly make out that this “lump” on the floor, which rises to a height of about three to four feet, is made of some kind of vegetation. You can attempt a Knowledge Skill Check, Knowledge Nature DC 16, for more clues
Fluuk proceeds cautiously, dragging Klobber along. "Whats going on up there? See anything?" He keeps his loaded crossbow ready to shoot anything that appears, but keeps his finger off the trigger. Wouldn't want to trip and fall and accidentally hurt anyone.
Male Goblin Druid (Saurian Shaman) 3 | AC 19 T 14 FF 16 | HP 33/33 | F +6 R +4 W +6 | CMD 20 | Init +9 | Perc +9
"Rawr! That thing over there!" Gobzilla points out the plant. "It's called a Shambling Mound. Plant. Currently resting. Very dangerous enemy. Long reach. Hits hard. Rawr! Gobzilla and friends should avoid."
Gobzilla is explaining the situation to Tabaaac and Fluuk when suddenly the lump on the floor rolls, and a huge green eye focuses on the goblin heroes.
The heap of vegetation rises from the floor slowly, turning in place as it does until what appears to be a large face, with two big eyes and a wide, slightly open mouth are visible.
A tendril like stalk peels away from the body of the creature, making the sound of twigs snapping and leaves rustling as it does. Once the tendril is free it scratches at the stumpy leg of the beast.
The wide irregular shapped mouth opens, and the tendril points toward it as the beast takes one big step toward Fluuk
Fluuk:
You sense that your plea was understood by the beast, perhaps misinterpreted somewhat as the thing seems to think you are offering it a meal, what do you do now? by the way, you were only 1 short of altering its attitude, so I am playing around with its response to you a bit, you know, before it tries to eat you
The beast is not charging, only moving one step toward the party of Goblins. You all have an initiative advantage on it, so I'd like to know what you intend to do
Out of the corner of its mouth to his friends, "I think I have its attention! It wants food! Chef Gemdar, have you anything tasty to feed it?"
"Plant man! We greet you and we will offer you food to feed and nourish you!" Fluuk nods his head at the thing so it knows we are going to give it food.
Male Goblin Witch 4 | AC 18 T 14 FF 14 | HP 30/30 | F +4 R +4 W +6 | CMD 15 | Init +10 | Perc +14, I +2
"Ummmmmm......" Gemdar rummages through his backpack for a second and looks up suddenly, "No I only have these trail rations. Not exactly what I would call good. It usually takes some garlic, salt, pepper, onions, carrots.....Oh yeah. Here ya go plant man." Gemdar throws two days worth of trail rations to the plant thingie.
Gemdar begins heaving portions of two days worth of rations at the shambling mound of vegetation. Some of the food manages to land in the large open mouth, and is gulped down immediately.
The creature stops for a moment, and using its tendrils begins scooping up the rest of the food. You all can see that the tendrils continue to swish and sway across the floor as if the creature is looking for more food.
When it doesn’t find anymore food the creature lets out a low rumble.
The noise seems to come from the action of the creature shaking itself all around and not from its mouth.
It lifts one fat leg high in the air and slams it down in front of itself in a threatening manner.
Male Goblin Druid (Saurian Shaman) 3 | AC 19 T 14 FF 16 | HP 33/33 | F +6 R +4 W +6 | CMD 20 | Init +9 | Perc +9
"Rawr! Maybe this will work!" Gobzilla says as he scurries over to Gaia and takes two packs of animal feed off her back.
He quickly tosses them to the plant; Gaia gives her handler a Look.
"Rawr! Sorry, Gaia. Better the animal feed than us!"
I started with five days of animal feed, but since Gob can forge for food via Survival and since Gaia was a skateboard for much of the trip, I think that he would still have all five packs.
Taking first one and then another bag of feed from his mount, Gobzilla begins throwing food at the beast. The first bag hits the floor and spills its contents all around the ground at the monster’s feet, while the second bag lands softly on the monster’s foot.
There is an uncomfortable pause, and then the monster plops down on its body, by scooting its legs forward, and then using the leafy parts of its tendrils like scoops it begins to shovel the food into its mouth.
The beast seems occupied for the moment – you could make a run for it now. There are three exits, one is just to the north of the alcove where the beast was sleeping (4/D-E), going directly to the west, the second is just north of that, going north and appears to have some standing water in it (B/7-10), then there is a third exit to the east, going to the northeast from the corner of the chamber (B/20-23).
Gemdar takes off at a jog down the dark passageway to the north east and as soon as he does the others follow right behind him. The faint glow of the strange fungus that grows in patches along the floor seems to grow brighter, and the patches grow larger, beginning to move up the walls. The passage twists and turns and grows narrower. It seems almost impossible to determine how far Gemdar has led the group when suddenly the passageway opens up into a huge brightly light cavern. The patches of fungi here shed some light, but the real light in this cavern comes from the enormous glowing eyes of two large machines.
Standing at the far end of the cavern, blocking a passageway that leads to the west are two insect like machines that appear to be part machine and part giant stag beetle. The heads of the beetles look familiar but their mandibles have been replaced with huge metal saw like blades that move back and forth. The faceted insect eyes have been replaced by polished glass orbs that give of bright yellow light. The insect like husks of these creatures appear to be desiccated, and crumbling but are reinforced with riveted metal plates. The feet of the beetles have been modified to have large, round, thick plates of iron.
There are a few pools of water in the room, but the air is dry and has a crackling feel like the air before a lightning storm. The floor of the cavern appears level and covered in sand. You can see that it was once covered with stalagmites some are still seen near the cavern walls, but it now looks as if the stalagmites have been sawed down and crushed into sand under the heavy feet of these monstrosities.
As soon as your party rushes a few feet into the cavern the giant undead machine/insects see you and come at you violently…
The monsters begin the encounter 20 feet to the west of their current position, but move at you in the surprise round
Initiative:1d20 ⇒ 17
Necromechadon Brute:
NE L Undead/Construct | Init +1, Senses; Tremor Sense, Life Sense, Normal Vision | Per +0 | AC 17, t 8, ff 17 (+ 6 Armor, +3 natural, -1 size, -1 dex) | hp 58 (9d8+18) | f +2 r +2 w +5 | DR 5 - / vulnerable to sonic attacks, immune; undead traits, construct traits | speed 20 | bite +10 (2d8+7), + Electric Discharge every second round (all creatures within 10 feet) 2d6 electrical damage, Reflex Save for half, DC 15space 10, reach 5 | s 21, d 9, con -, int 10, wis 10, ch 12 | bab +6, cmb +12, cmd 22 (30 vs trip), feat; toughness | SQ Explode, 30 foot radius, 3d6 electrical damage, Fort Save for half damage, DC 15
Systematically working their way back they way they came while taunting and drawing the attention of the huge dead, but still walking bugs, the Goblins manage to draw the monsters into the cavern where the huge vegetable beast was found.
Soon an epic battle ensues. The undead/machine bugs fight with a lumbering tenacity while the shambling mound is tenacious and cunning.
Soon it becomes clear to the goblins that the machine bugs occasionally emit bolts of lightning. These burst of electricity do not travel far in the moist air of the cavern but the shambling mound is close enough that its body absorbs the static charges. With each burst of electrical energy the shambling mound grows thicker, stronger, and more determined to rip the machine bugs to pieces.
And soon it is all over. The shambling mound plops down among the mangled carcasses of the machine bugs and using its tendrils shifts through the remains picking up pieces of the husks of the creatures or choice dried bits from within the mangled creatures and enjoys the tasty feast.
Male Goblin Witch 4 | AC 18 T 14 FF 14 | HP 30/30 | F +4 R +4 W +6 | CMD 15 | Init +10 | Perc +14, I +2
"At least we didn't have to fight those big things AND the plant. Hopefully we won't come back this way. Lets move back into the room where those monsters were."
While the bloated plant monster snacks on the broken carcasses of the machine bugs, the goblin heroes hot foot it back to the chamber where they first encountered the machine bugs, to examine it for a clue to where they should be going.
Without the illumination of the machine bug’s eyes, it is not so easy to make out the whole of the room. There are several patches of glowing fungi, and a few pools here and there that catch and reflect to strange blue–green light.
After taking a careful walk around the cavern, an exit is discovered in the northwest corner of the cavern.
The air coming from this passageway feels warmer, and drier, and has an acrid odor.
Somewhere in the distant future, The tomb of Queen Axellexa the Excellent
Day 6? (turn 53) , impossible to tell what time of day it might be
Following the twisting and turning passageways the Goblins trudge ever deeper. The way is often slow, as the passageway narrows and the group must scramble over uneven terrain. It becomes impossible to tell what direction they are travelling in any more or which way is north.
Finally after what seems like a long time of searching in the near darkness, the passageway opens up, the floor levels off, and the ceiling rises up overhead.
The goblins have found what appears to be a worked chamber. The walls here look as if they have been worked smooth with master tools, and the floor is dry, no luminous fungus grows here. It is a roughly square chamber, thirty feet by thirty feet in dimensions. Directly opposite the natural passageway where the group entered this area is a small set of double doors. Approaching the doors the first thing that can be clearly made out is that the doors are made of metal, they are smooth, but show small almost unnoticeable marks as if something or someone on this side of the doors has clawed at them repeatedly, without hardly making a mark (the scratches are more the residue of claws than gouges in the mysterious metal).
Male Goblin Witch 4 | AC 18 T 14 FF 14 | HP 30/30 | F +4 R +4 W +6 | CMD 15 | Init +10 | Perc +14, I +2
Gemdar looks around the room, "Yes, doors. And someone was clawing at them but I don't see anyone. Can someone try and open the doors when Fluuk is done?"
