Nar quickly found his master and helped him crawl out of the stink.
The creature in the furniture burst forth, surprisingly large wings unfurling as it kept out of the dark. It came at Torgan with tiny claws and tiny fury.
The creature is an Ooze Mephit. They are territorial and malicious denizens of the the elemental plane of water. They revel in spoiling purity and spreading filth.
Ooze Mephits heal quickly and are resistant to non-magical attacks and weapons.
Hallvarðr comes to the edge of the cloud, spluttering and coughing... when he sees SOMETHING attack the halforc.
Unable to do much, and wanting to hurl up his breakfast, he lumbers forward, maybe, to set up an attack that will take some of the pressure off his team mate, and in the meantime, suck in cleaner air.
Creatures with the nauseated condition experience stomach distress. Nauseated creatures are unable to attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action such a character can take is a single move action per turn.
Visions of otherworldly creatures danced before her eyes, scenes of other planes, of vile little creatures spewing slime and defiling water. Their names sounded in her head. Mephit
"The məxluq bir Ooze Mephit edir. Siz əgər sehrli istifadə edin! Tez müntəzəm silah və heals müqavimət!" [/ b]
"Wonder what Lyla is saying, why can't she speak in a language everyone understands!"
Torgan sneaked up on the creature and attacked with his greataxe using all his strength.
He suddenly appeared behind the creature.
"Lyla, I don't understand a word!"
"Mən nə dediyini bilmirəm, lakin mən adını eşitdim edirəm. Bladud tanrıların-batmış lə'nət demək deyil mi?" Lyla yelled back, frustration on her face.
Meanwhile Hallvarðr coughs and splutters.
Lyla how is your group faring? We encountered a giant scorpion in the first chamber. While usually solitary they sometimes live in colonies. There’s a lens picture of the group (Wuntholor in my place) standing before the corpse. No clear indications of when or for what purpose this place was constructed. Be careful.
Very well done. It seems this place is teeming with oversized vermin.
Fala and Bal are beginning construction of a more firmly supported platform over the sinkhole. We should have a lift built by nightfall. That first chamber is large enough to use as a staging point, so our plan is to make it defensible to give you all a place to retreat to should you need it, and use it as a place to transfer supplies and any uncovered relics. Also, if you get hungry, we have a stew bubbling.
"Bağışlayın Nisfeollyn, ən azı .. Bu Nisfeollyn kimi, mən Arrgh. Biz stinking bulud gagging, və əlbəttə siz başa olmayan lil Mephit, mübarizə edirik .... siz dərk edə bilməz səslənir."" Lyla says, kicking a stone in annoyance.
cough cough -nextroundplease- cough
The foul little creature continued to slash at Dorian while everyone was retching and trying to regain control of themselves.
Hal continues to cough and splutter but at least puts his back to the wall.
Incoherently cursing to herself Lyla continues to recover waiting for the nausea to wear off.
Sludge-dweller. What are you doing in this place, and why do you assault us? There are better ways to appropriate food you know.
Dorian slowly backs away from the cloud. While Nár stays close to the Mephit, hoping it might show an opening during a time when the Eidolon wasn't retching.
"Out! Outoutout! You not welcome here! You get out or you die!" the little creature sputtered and hissed in broken English.
Exploration group two, in case you do not know, mephits are servants of powerful elemental creatures. There are many varieties associated with the basic elements. They are resistant to magic, can see in the dark, heal quickly, can cast minor spells, and breathe fire, ice, acid, or another element-associated ‘cloud.’ If you can remove it from, or counteract, it’s preferred environment, it should lose its ability to heal quickly.
Lyla nods vehemently, tapping the tip of her nose with her index finger.
"Or you die" Torgan shouts.
Torgan's swing missed by a hair's breadth and the Mephit flapped up, looping over his head in a sort of winged backflip which ended with the little creature facing Torgan from the other side.
Then, it opened its mouth with a disgusting wretching noise and vomited foul ichor toward Torgan, Dorian and Nar.
"Yougetout! Master no want-"
...and then it poofed out of existence in a cloud of acrid smoke.
Still fighting down the wave of nausea, Lyla's mind played through scenes of similar creatures vanishing in like manner, the realization dawning on her. She takes a moment for her mind to calm, beginning to once again form words in her native language.
"The mephit was summoned, hence the sudden disappearance. That means we're dealing with a spell caster somewhere nearby."
She looks over to her companions, some of them retching anew. "Sorry about the language thing, it happens when I'm stressed, particularly when I'm in a fight. Something....shifts, and my mind can only access Aklo."
Vhot the Hells vas that?
A demon? Some fey imp?, he comes to himself, clenches his axe hard in both hands and looks for it to reappear.
A powerful spellcaster. I myself am unable to call and command a mephit, and I am no novice.
It was a Mephit, Hall. Sort of an elemental flying goblin, with powers over their element. This one came from the divide between the plane of water and acid.
Stinking bastard is vot he was, he says grumbling.
But does that not mean there is a wizard or something down here? Right now? Best warn the others on that magic voice thing.
Fine now... best form up people. We go exploring again. Vhen I get started remember two taps and you move up as quietly as you can. Stay 20 or so feet behind me.
He looks over the passage for traps and then makes to head in.
Lets heal up a bit first, anyone a medic?
Mephits can summon other Mephits.
The doorway in front of Hal was actually a wooden grating made of thick slats bound together with metal bolts and bracings. He could see through it into the hallway beyond. It went for about twenty feet and then turned to the left.
Like this room, it was canted slightly to the south. It appeared the entire ruin had shifted in the partial collapse and now the floors were no longer level.
Taking a moment to retrieve the journal and monacle, Lyla begins the process of chronicling the scene of their arrival, starting with looking up at the hole through which the group had fallen, she methodically moved through the area, using a stick to pick up a sample of the vile sludge that the creature spewed.
She jotted down a few notes, describing the ooze mephit as well as the effects to which they had been exposed, creating expert sketches of the creature and a diagram of the battle.
Perform (sketch)
"We're ok boys, just had a fight with an ooze mephit. The filthy little bastard practically had us all doubled over sicking up. But we're fine." she said over the earcuff, directing her words to both the other team and Jonas.
"Mephits can summon other mephits, so it's possible that it may have been summoned by another one that was already here."she said, turning to her companions in the chamber.
You could have just said so instead of babbling, the dwarf complains, looking over the door for traps as well as looking at the peculiar situation of the stone work shift.
This place is a mess... be careful vhen moving
He then opens the door and moves in.
The door doesn't appear to be locked or trapped, but the mechanism for lifting it is on the other side. To move past it, it would have to be lifted or broken.
Vell.. some of you get your arses over here, gonna need some help with this one
He explains where he wants some of them to get hands around the edges and pull and where he wants others to push, all the while regreting not bringing a block and tackle.
Torgan fell to the ground, retching.
After a moment he got up and looked around.
"Good thing it left when it left. If anyone needs healing, I may be of assistance. I am sure, after what we accomplished here, Loki would not mind to provide us with healing, so that we may continue to entertain him."
Recovering from their nausea Nar and Dorian follow the rest of the group, providing a hesitant rear guard.
Dorian has the words of power to summon forth an ally on the tip of his tongue from now on. Lest he be blindsided and unable to speak them, again.
Vell.. some of you get your arses over here, gonna need some help with this one
He explains where he wants some of them to get hands around the edges and pull and where he wants others to push, all the while regreting not bringing a block and tackle.
Torgan approached Dorian.
"You look like you could use some healing, let me help you." he touched the other half-orc and prayed to Loki.
Then he moved towards the door and the waiting dwarf. "Ok, let's open the portal and unleash more enemies unto us." he winked at Hal awaiting instruction where and how to pull or push.
Engineering
Aid Another Str
The portcullis was slippery with the ooze mephit's excretions. The acid and grime had caked in the groove it was meant to slide in. The combination was making it very hard to move.
After a minute of straining and heaving Torgan and Hal took a step back to catch their breath and reevaluate their strategy.
This thing is going to take a DC 25 strength check to lift up.