Conner babbles in response to Luther.
Luther responds: "Banana bana fo fana, Luther buther fo futher."
"Fee figh fo muther!"
A pair of effervescent bolts slam into the creature's amorphous body as Drusellia starts her arcane assault upon it... Symon, preferring a more mundane form of combat, climbs upon the table and stabs down upon it...missing...
As battle is joined, the cacophony of voices from the creature seems to get worse - it almost sounds as if it is arguing with itself although, with the range of dialects and languages being shouted, you will never know what it is debating...
And then, with lolling tongues and snapping teeth, a swarm of mouths attempt to feast upon the front line of attackers...
In amongst the flurry of attacks, Symon feels the creature bite flesh twice...but neither time maintain it's grab - whilst Luther ends up with the fleshy blob gnawing on his wrist...
If Luther breaks out of his babbling after being grabbed by a mouth, he attempts to break free of the creature.
Luther desperately tried to break free of the abomination.
Grunting in pain, Symon tries to stab the creature again.
Attack-melee:
Damage:
Luther suddenly sees the light and, clawing his way back to reality, finds himself being chewed by the terrible creature... With a heave, he wrenches himself free...
Meanwhile Symon and Dezco both strike at the abomination...Symon misses wildly whereas Dezco, muscles pounding, slashes down with great strength...tearing a chunk from the beast - a puddle of fleshy tissue, eyeballs and teeth slopping to the floor - but the wound is quickly closed over by the flowing flesh.
Whilst, back at the entrance to the room, Conner - lost in madness - takes his blade and starts cutting.
(+2 if this is an enchantment)
Dru scowls and launches another volley of missiles.
Spells Remaining: 4
Tremors Remaining: 7
Luther looks at the creature and his morningstar.
"Dez, I think this will work better!"
Drusellia lets a second barrage of unerring bolts of energy loose – slamming into the amorphous creature, they explode in polychromatic bursts…
…and still the creature continues to babble and burble…
For a brief moment, the creature seems to hesitate in it’s assault before, lurching, burping and heaving, the mouths which had previously tangled with the apparently unpalatable Dezco move their focus on to Luther and Symon…
Her eyes narrowing dangerously, Dru hurls another two magic missiles at the amorphous entity.
"Keep at it, but the protection has expired."
The divine protection ends as Luther breaks free.
Looking down at his leg in horror, Conner jerks his sword sway and stops sawing at himself.
"what the hell....."
With a dark look on his face, he limps into the room, looking for something to kill.
More disgusted than hurt, Symon continues to stab at the mass of mouths and eyes.
Attack-melee:
Damage:
Drusellia lets a third barrage of sparking energy fly - twin bolts slam into the amorphous creature, creating clouds of smoke as flesh vapourises. Dezco is also accurate with his blade, lopping another slice of liquefying flesh to the floor...
…and, with the creature visibly weakening, it continues to shout, scream and laugh...hundreds of little mouths snapping away at Luther and Symon...
Luther sees Symon injured, and realizes Conner injured himself, Luther channels to heal all but the monster. As he grabs and concentrates, A precise yet melodious jingling sound fills the air (associated with keys of the City from Abadar). Those affected momentarily feel as if they are encompassed and sheltered within some vast structure that towers around them. There is a visible outline like a door-frame around Luther, with warmth and light streaming in from behind Luther, casting him in shadow.
Being worn down by all the bites, Symon is too slow to escape the creatures grasp. Struggling he attempts to break free of the monsters grip.
Escape attempt:
"Gah!Ugly!"
Exclaims Conner as he moves forward and swings at the pile of mouths and eyes!
Unable to gauge how wounded the aberration is, Drusellia unleashes another two missiles.
Spells Remaining: 2
Tremors Remaining: 7
Symon manages to break free just before Dezco's powerful swing narrowly misses the creature - whilst Conner, moving quickly to the fore, misses with a little more panache... Drusellia's unerring bolts once more slam into the failing creature - it's jabbering mouths nearly quietened as it moves in against Conner and Symon - in one final desperate attempt.
As the creature clings to life, Luther's healing energy washes over his friends.
Luther decides to bash with his Morningstar.
His swing is on target!!
And with a final crunch of smashed teeth, the mad creature falls silent...it's boneless body slowly drooping into a wide puddle of grey flesh.
Taking the opportunity to look around the room, you find little of note - the door to the north leads to a privy and the other cell is empty.
Luther uses his new wand to heal.
"Thank you Luther, for killing that thing, and the healing! I feel much better now." Symon says as he edges around the grey mass that was recently attacking him.
"Hey, that was a tough abomination. But we are fine, let us continue or search pattern to mop up this level."
Luther hustles them along.
Although the speed for Dezco will soon wear off, the skin of bark should last a good long time.
"Aaagh! It's got me!"
Conner cries as he gets grappled.
"Thanks Luther. That was disgusting."
Cleaning himself off, he will grip his longsword and nod to the group to continue.
"Thank you as well, Dru. Your spells were timely and needed."
"Indeed Dru, your magics turned the tide against this..this...thing! Thank you!"
Symon then moves forward to check the next door the party reaches.
Perception:
Moving along the corridor, you arrive at the small side passage that leads to a simple wooden door. Symon listens for a few moments and, once he has confirmed all is quiet beyond…he gently pushes the door open. Opening into a relatively small room, it is clear that this is someone’s personal quarters. A comfortable bed stands in the southwest corner whilst the shelves that line the walls are empty. A door to the south leads to a latrine.
There are also several leather bound journals...mostly they show sketched maps of Echo Wood, Fort Inevitable and a few other unrecognisable locales, lists of items / provisions and, perhaps more interestingly, lists of trade goods recorded against dates and prices...these lists are generally accompanied with notes as to whether it is a good price, whether it is / was a good deal and suggestions as to when new shipments may be 'coming in'. The initials 'TL' feature quite predominantly within these lists.
The lack of clothing and personal effects beyond the journals suggests that this room has been abandoned.
With nothing further to investigate, the party move along the corridor - again Symon listens for a while before confirming that the way forwards is safe. The door is opened into a room - the double bunks and footlockers in the alcoves of this large room suggest it serves as a barracks. The walls are decorated with simple paintings and murals, which include sketches of building, temples, and ruin layouts along with notations suggesting how to get past obstacles and traps. There is a single exit from this room...leading to the northwest.
...again, there is a lack of personal effects suggesting that this room has also been abandoned.
Luther points to the murals.
"We will copy this down on our way back. If we run into any of these buildings, we may have to return before then."
Luther wants to keep Dezco in barkskin.
"Let's go in the door."
Beyond the northern door of this room, a corridor runs east to west...at the western end, a wall of arrow slits (with a heavy wooden door) looks southwards towards the glow of the emerald spire whilst, to the east, a set of double doors heads northwards.
Consulting your map, you are fairly sure that the double doors heading north connect with the cave area and, after checking for noises and traps, you swing the doors open and confirm it.
Investigating the room at the northern end of the corridor first... This room is choked with tables stacked with stills and alembics, flasks, vats, and crockery. The eastern wall is fitted with stout wine racks filled with empty bottles of various sizes and shapes. Notably there are no bottles with any liquids within them and there is no small amount of broken glass on the floor... Almost as if someone tidied up and left in a hurry.
And then, when you have confirmed there is no threat from the emptied room, you move to the room at the eastern end of the corridor - this room had, the last time you were in the Spire, a cacophony of animal noises emanating from it - but now, it is silent... Trusting nothing, Symon listens and checks for traps before opening the door to a room filled with cages... The smell of animals - canine, feline and who knows what else, is overpowering but, so far as you can see, the room is now abandoned and devoid of life.
Luther looks at the destruction.
"North!!"
Moving back through the double doors and into the cavern, you find yourselves at the single door next to the temple. Symon listens carefully at the door and, finding it quiet, pushes the door gently open. The room is well decorated and maintained - a finely woven rug with a subtle tan and moorit pattern covers the floor of this bedroom. A garderobe enclosed by a wall is in the northeast corner, and to the west of it stands a large wardrobe.
"Let us grab everything of value, including the rug. Search carefully, this is a classy room."