Boudra, not even fully conscious of the magic she tried to wield against the other caster, pulls her crossbow off her back and in a fit of desperation proceeds forward toward the fray! Squeezing in among the shriekers, she steadied Cedric.
The remaining troglodyte warrior draws a club and readies itself by the corner of the passage.
The acolyte is still reeling from the thunderstone and has not composed itself enough to act.
Again trying to free Caladra up to move to more important targets, Cedric uses Boudra's guidance to try to finish off the lizard which had, until recently, been gnawing on Caladra's shin.
"Why! Won't! You! Die!" Caladra shouts as pulls her sword free from the lizard and brings it down hard again on it's body.
With the lizard finally dead Caladra grins and looks at the disoriented spellcaster. Ignoring the last trog, she moves towards the spellslinger, scimitar ready to take off the caster's head.
Cedric's spear skewers the lizard, which convulses onto its side with a gurgling growl.
As Caladra passes through the grease without trouble, the remaining trog swings its club, but Caladra ducks under the swing as she moves.
Her mighty swing cuts through the acolyte's robes and scaly hide, leaving a deep gash welling up with blood.
Wracked with pain from sword and thunderstone, the acolyte screeches loudly enough to be heard over the shriekers, likely because it cannot judge the sound of its own voice.
The acolyte gestures wildly for the remaining trog, then towards a tunnel passage on the far end of the cave chamber.
The acolyte drops its crossbow, drawing a spear that seems to glimmer despite the crude nature of its construction. It stabs at Caladra, but the obsidian-tipped weapon only scratches harmlessly against her armor.
Following in Caladra's wake, Thorek sets his sights on the remaining troglodyte warrior, hurling his dorn-dergar at the lizard-man's kneecap with shattering force.
With Caladra menacing the acolyte, Bree tries to shoot the trog behind Caladra to keep it from any flanking attacks.
After the thunderstone, she's finally feeling like she's doing something useful. The surge of confidence continues as she sinks an arrow deep into the troglodyte's shoulder.
Lily slips across the slippery grease to move up behind her compatriots and lets an arrow fly loose.
”He's about to warn others - take him down!”
Cyrioul steps forward and taps Cedric on the shoulder, giving him a mote of prescience. ”Get in there and back up Caladra if you can!”
Boudra manages to move through the pool of grease and, despite not being able to hear her companions' shouted commands, gets the gist of the situation. She raises her crossbow and attempts to fire over Lily's shoulder at the acolyte!
The bolt goes wide and skitters across the floor!
Cyrioul's magic subtly wreathes around Cedric.
Bree's arrow lodges deeply in the troglodyte's chest, and Thorek's strike crushes the creature's ribs, leaving it dying on the ground.
Lily and Boudra's shots miss their mark.
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END IT NOW! Caladra hears roaring in mind. The voice of the rage singing songs of death as she tore through the troglodyte forces.
"Bye bye," She says with an almost eerie calm as she swings the scimitar with sickening strength.
Caladra's swing opens a new, bleeding wound in the acolyte's hide, but the surprisingly resilient troglodyte remains standing.
Cedric tries to move further into the tunnels to deal with the remaining Troglodyte and cut off its escape. As soon as he steps onto the patch of grease, however, he immediately loses his footing and has to catch himself against the rocky wall of the cave to stop from falling on his face.
The acolyte stands its ground despite bleeding profusely, and it thrusts its spear towards Caladra again.
But it's attack misses by a wide margin.
As the last of the trog-priest's minions fall the scarred dwarf keeps moving deeper into the caves, glancing at each tunnel before turning back to help Caladra.
Boudra winces as Thorek's blow takes the troglodyte's head off. Hurrying forward, she signs, Is everyone ok? Anyone hurt?
Thorek's mighty, even blessed strike positively decimates the acolyte, leaving the creature a broken, twisted corpse on the cave floor.
The troglodyte warband has been broken with none escaping. As the party enters the first chamber of the cavern, the shriekers behind them finally cease their wailing.
What else lurks in these tunnels, and how deeply might they go?
As the last trog falls Caladra turns to stare down Thorek.
Enough!
----------
Caladra calms and rubs her head witha groan. "Sorry bout that, she said. She stretched out her back and arms before retrieving her greatsword and longbow.
The grease evaporates like mist, clearing the way through the tunnel.
Just beyond, a cylindrical mass of roots hangs from the exact center of this room. The roots have been braided together to form a cradle holding a giant violet crystal as big as a human head.
Sparkling veins of smaller crystals line the natural stone walls.
Passages wind off to the north and to the east, but no light shines in either direction. With only faint sunlight filtering in through the curtain of vines behind you, much of this chamber is bathed in darkness.
The stench of the caves' inhabitants haunts this place, but it is not strong enough to affect you.
Among the corpses and their crude weapons, mostly spears and clubs, are a few more of those stitched leather bags filled with gas.
The acolyte's weapons are a different matter. In addition to the heavy crossbow it dropped, its spear, despite the primitive materials, is surprisingly sturdy and well made.
The acolyte also carried three small clay jars strung from its belt. One of them is open and empty, but the other two are still sealed. Additionally, it wears a geode bound in ratty cords like an amulet.
1 Heavy Crossbow, 8 bolts
1 jar of strange oil
1 mystery potion
1 Geode Amulet
Giant Amethyst - needs to be retrieved from the ceiling
Crystals in the walls - need to be mined
6 Stench-Gas Bladders (the leather "stink bombs")
Assorted clubs, spears, and javelins.
"Gods above, trogs stink," she gasps, finally able to breathe. Feeling a bit less nauseated, Bree helps examine the room the group is in. With a wave of her hand and a muttered word, 4 torch lights bob up and down at her command. She grabs a couple of the "stink bombs" off the bodies, hoping they will be of some use.
"We'll need to check the tunnels for more of them. It looks like most of us need some light. You may want to take point, Thorek. Does anyone how if we can use light to blind them?"
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"Unless there's something magical we can loot after we've cleared the place. I don't if trogs're that bothered by light, but it might be worth a try." he grins at Bree, his burnscars creasing horribly. "Out in front is where I belong, Miss Fairchild!"
Lily heaves out a sigh. Dry heaving a bit she says,"That was pretty rough. They stunk."
Cyrioul holds up the acolyte’s geode periapt for a further look, then shows it to the others before pocketing it. “If we ever make our way back to Veld, this could be a helpful bartering piece for another spell for my spellbook.”
He looks up to the amethyst in the ceiling. “Once we claim this lair, remind me to use my magic to see if I can pull that down for use later...”
Cyrioul then proceeds to looks at the items with magical sight, hoping that there will be something to use against the coming enemies deeper in the cave...
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The hardened clay jars, or at least their contents, radiate with magic.
One contains a potion meant to increase the imbiber's insight and willpower, while the other is an oil that, when applied to a weapon, temporarily imbues it with magical properties.
The empty jar contains traces of a similar oil, likely the source of the sheen on the acolyte's spear.
Thorek and Bree cautiously explore the left passage, the dwarf noting that the tunnel slopes downward as it goes. Peering around the corner, with Bree's magic torchlights casting their glow, they find a wide cavern stretching before them.
A dark, rippling pool covers much of this sloping cavern. Water drips from stalactites above and tumbles from fissures in the rock wall. An underwater garden of colorful algae and white fish fills the pool.
Caladrsa follows the two as they begin to explore the rest of the cave. She perks up when they find the pool with fish. looks like i won't have to travel as far anymore.
Bree taps the dwarf on the shoulder and whispers in his ear as she points to the ceiling. "Heads up, Thorek. We aren't alone in here." She wonders if there's any chance the creatures taste like lobster.
Boudra also follows the others, then pauses as Bree points to the ceiling. Looking up, she stifles a gasp and raises her crossbow.
"What's everyone looking at?" Caladra says in a whisper, sensing the tension between her companions. When she looked up to she smiled and slowly drew her greatsword, careful to not make any sudden movements until they were all ready.
Lily just stares quietly at the creatures up on the wall. Not knowing what they are or their nature the only word she quietly utters is,"Huh...".
Although they often lair near underground bodies of flowing water to ensure a steady supply of food, Cave Fishers are not good swimmers themselves.
Your classes made no mention of what they taste like, but their filament glands are valuable as magic reagents.
"Huh, what the slag are those things?" the dwarf growls, eyeing the crayfish monsters warily. "Should we fight them or go the other way?"
Bree whispers to her team mates. "Cave fishers. They climb like spiders and can shoot a sticky filament to drag prey to them. If we can knock them down, they may not be so bad. And I've heard their ropes can be useful."
"I think we have to deal with these things at some point, anyway," Cedric agrees. "If we're going to make this place a base, we can't risk people wandering into these things by accident. Or the other way 'round. Do you guys think I should take a stab at one of them while they're still up there? I can probably reach if I grow."
When everyone is ready for the next fight, Cyrioul fidgets with his wedding ring for a moment, then splashes another layer of grease out to trip up the cave fishers...
Lily eagerly moves oout with her bow cocked straight at the fishers. "Not very often we get the drop on an enemy.", she says completely seriously.
After a short while she realized she made an unintentional joke and just chuckles a bit.
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Cyrioul invokes his bonded magic, conjuring a syrupy mass of grease that clings to the ceiling, occasionally dripping into the pool below.
The fisher’s legs scrabble to maintain a hold on the suddenly slippery ceiling, but to no avail. With a hiss, it plummets down into the pool below, thrashing about to right itself and keep above the waterline.
Seeing Lily move out along the cave wall, Thorek follows. "Figure I can screen you while you use your arrows," he offers, planting his feet and measuring out a length of chain.