Anatoly stands watch over his companions, bow ready and arrow on its string.
Reflex
Finnegan falls in the water with a great SPLASH!
Saul gasps softly and shakes his head. "You lot seeing this? I'd say those are stairs, some with gold running through them. And that must be a door they lead to. How long has this been here I wonder?" He moves closer to the odd door, examining it and running his hand over its edges before experimentally pushing to see if it would open.
"There's a thing," Isabella says, wobbling a bit but managing to keep her footing. "More pressing question: does it lead anywhere dry? 'Cause sweet as golden stairs sound, they're not preferable to dry boots."
Saul approaches the strange moss and algae covered door, looking around for signs of trouble or an unseen enemy. His hand reaches out and grasps a thick vine to help him up over an unseen obstacle from below the water line.
As his hand tightens around the vine, he feels an odd shift in the vine, as if it moved itself. Looking up, he sees a strange bundle of vines as they descend from within the heavy brush surrounding the door.
Saul! LOOK OUT! Anatoly and James scream out in unison, seeing the subtle flex of vines higher up in the trees. But, Only Anatoly is quick enough to raise his bow and fire off an arrow at the lethal foliage.
Kicking backwards, Saul attempts to dodge the falling vines, only to have several of them hammer into him, driving him below the water line, encircling his body.
"Maledizione!" Isabella swears.
The Elf yanks her sword out of the sheath and splashes forward, slashing at the killer vines, trying to cut them loose of Saul.
"Help me!" she calls to the others.
"First Vampires? Now vines!?" Finnegan complains as he tries to get up from falling in the water.
"Yes, our enemies come in alphabetical order!" Isabella shouts. "Next it'll be Xolotls, Y-Y-birds and rabid Zebras! Now get over here and help me before he drowns!"
"I can believe Y-Y birds...but, Zebras? They can't possibly be real!" Finnegan exclaims as he goes over to Isabella to help drag Saul out from the grip of the vine.
Aid Another:
Will am rushes forward and attempts to grab Saul and pull his head above water.
James rushes forward and tries to chop the vines to free Saul.
Whagguhle!!" Saul protests in surprise, his yelp cut off as she disappears beneath the surface. Desperately, he writhes and grips at the vines, trying to tear free.
Isabella rushes forward and swings at the vines hard, but the sinewy material bends instead of breaks, causing her blow to be deflected without causing harm.
Finn and William grab onto Saul and pull his head above water, much to the relief of Saul.
Saul, with his lungs full of air, attempts to wriggle out, but cannot do so.
James steps up and swings hard as well, only to miss the vines.
Suddenly, all of the vegitation within the area seems to come alive. tree branches, algae, weeds, all grasp and cling at the people around saul and the strange attacking vine.
The vine, with its hold upon Saul, begins to squeeze.
"" Isabella shrieks as she bats away the fronds and vines reaching for her. "Glah! Stupid shrubbery! Somebody light a fire!" The next instant, she slashes at the vines holding Saul again.
Finnegan becomes entangled as he spits out the living algae, "This does not taste like chicken...or beef...or any food, for that matter."
Seeing that Saul is still covered in vines, he tries to rip them off of his friend
William keeps pulling at Saul.
Assist:
Not wanting to waste time slogging through the water, time Saul may not have, Anatoly draws his bow once again, aiming at the vines choking Saul.
Cursing as the rest of the vegetation in the area comes to life, Anatoly fires again.
James hacks at the vines.
Saul goes limp in the grip of the vines and ceases to struggle.
Seeing that Saul fell to the vine, Finnegan holds his head above water so his comrade does not drown.
two arrows streak past everyone, and embed themselves into the thickest part of the vines. Isabella, avoiding the mass of roots and branches seeking to slow her down, swings wildly, but fails to do any damage to the creature.
Finn helps william pull at saul, in an attempt to break him free of his restraints. Looking down, they both see that saul is unconscious, with blood flowing from his mouth and nose.
James chops, but doesnt connect.
the vine drops its grip upon the unconscious Saul, and fails itself at William...
and finds its grasping vines lacking the ability to connect with the stalwart ranger.
William pull s Saul away from the vines towards the boat.
Seeing that Saul is being taken care of, Finnegan takes out his dagger and stabs at the ridiculously deadly plant. "This shouldn't be happening." Finnegan cries in disbelief!
Attack
Damage
ok
James helps William free Saul from the vines.
"Nevertheless, it is!" Isabella growls as she hacks at the recalcitrant plant once again. "Deal with it!"
Anatoly lines up his shot and fires..
The arrow flies through the air and as Finnigan shears off a large chunk of vines from the main stalk, the arrow strikes a large purplish bulb high up in treeline. All the vines suddenly quiver and lash out, but do not have the strength to do damage.
Finally, all the vines and vegitation within the area falls limp to the ground. the large purple bulp quickly withers and bursts open, a large cloud of fungi sprouting from within.
with a groan and a loud moan, Saul struggles up to his feet.
What hit me? he mutters, rubbing his head as he attempts to remember the last 20 seconds.
A mosquito. Big, size of an eagleisabella replies with a smirk, holding her arms out wide.
Looking at the large stone outcropping, you begin to feel a strange sense of doom come up from your toes. Here is something that predates european settlement upon north america, and looking at it, could predate the drow expansion onto the plains, rumored to have occured several thousand years ago.
From far away, the green moss and shrubs obscured the overall size and shapes of the stonework, but up close, and with the death of the strange attack vine, you begin to pick out strange features upon the surface as you scrape away the moss (keeping an eye out for another vine). What you see startles you. It is perfectly quarried stone. Each block comprising the outer shell, or perhaps walls, is the size of a human chest, but cut perfectly square, and each one appears to be connected to the other without mortar. They just seem to rest upon the one below it.
How...? someone mummers out loud as you all inspect it.
Moving on to the middle section, you scrape more moss and algae off and see a strange pertrusion upon the center. you get to the bottom, but see that it rounds out, and then seems to come up into a hollowed area. Not one, but two, each side of center are the hollows. Below that, a strange ridge patter, running vertical on the wallface.
Another person scraps higher up, and sees a narrowing of a carving. scraping more back you see pick up on lines, and then a circular shape. A broad stroke reveals a strange circle shape with a hollowed out center.
The other side its the same.
Ill be dammed. TIS A FACE! anatoly screams out from his vantage point 10 feet away.
everyone pauses in their work adn steps back and looks. Two eyes, a nose, what appears to be a mustache....
Finnegan attacks the vine with his entire muster and it finally goes limp and dead. Exhausted, Finnegan falls to his knees. Mud seeps through his clothing and into his boots. He looks to the ground, completely defeated.
Is this what has become of me? Finnegan thinks, Have I escaped New York just to be food for some strange, carnivorous plant? Why am I in this place filled with monsters from my childhood nightmares? What hope do I have – any of us have – of surviving a land where even the dead and the plants roam, hungry for food?
Totally, distraught, tears fall from his stubbled face. He then does something he hasn’t done since he was a boy; since his parents were alive. Finnegan prays. He prays for strength, for hope, and for survival. But most of all, Finnegan prays to make a passage through this inhospitable wasteland, no matter the cost.
As the tears flow, he begins to feel stronger, his senses more acute. He hears something whispered off in the distance, were those words for him? He feels more in control of his surroundings. He now senses things that were once blind to him. He feels warmth on his shoulder, did someone just touch him? Now he begins to feel…power. Not the power that comes from immense strength, but, the power from absolute conviction of knowing. He knows that he will prevail. He KNOWS that his words, his guide through the wilderness, will be used by others. He KNOWS that he has been given a great gift to rid the land of the nightmares.
With new vigor, Finnegan wipes the tears from his face. He looks towards the forest and it is a blur. The white lily just beyond the tree-line is no longer distinguishable from the bushes that surround it. Frantic, he rubs his eyes again. Still, he sight does not return. Again he clears his eyes, but, no change. And then he remembers the faraway whisper, the warm touch on his shoulder, and Finnegan is relieved.
He smiles. After all, sight is such a small sacrifice.
William steps back and shakes his head before shaking out his hat and placing it back in its customary position. "Well I be damned. Ugly sum batch aint it?"
Saul grunts at Isabella's antics with the 'mosquito' and shakes his head. "If even the mosquitoes get that big around here... we're in trouble." He sloshes a few steps then looks about frantically. My hat! Where's my hat? He peers about until he spots it tangled in some brush.
Retrieving it, he fidgets with it in his hands as, wet and bedraggled, the man frowns up at the ledge then at his companions. Most soaked through, no telling how much powder ruined, and ... by god, is that man crying?
Saul makes a quick, confused sweep of the area. Everyone seems alright, we didn't lose nobody, though I do feel like I got chewed up and spat out. His gaze returns disbelievingly to Finn for a long moment, then he turns his head away. What the hell did I get myself into? We are in trouble, mosquitoes or no.
Fingers tighten on the hat that had been with him since Santa Fe. Saul lifts it, sets it on top of his head, water sluicing down his already soaked face and body, and pulls it down tight. All was right again. Ignoring Finn for now, he didn't know what was wrong with the man and thought it best not to draw attention. Give the Northerner a chance to pull himself together. "Well, what are we waiting for? That brush isn't going to clear itself."
*****
He tossed some brush aside and grunted, the parts of him where the vines had constricted worse than first thought as the bruising tightness set in.
Ill be dammed. TIS A FACE! Saul looks up puzzled at Anatoly's shout, then steps back for a better look with the others. His jaw drops. "What the hell?" He exclaims, then scratches his head. "That's.... different." As 'different' as possessed vines trying to drown people...
James takes his handaxe and starts clearing the vines.
I sure didn't picture this when I woke up this morning.
Spending the next hour clearing away the moss and shrubs, you finally reveal a strange face to be seen. It looks human, but not. If this is a factual representation of a human, then the proportions are all wrong. but that isnt what keeps drawing your attention to the face. its the hair, just massive amounts of it, on the face, the head. Large braids run through this strangers hair and down the sideburns to below the waterline.
As if the face isnt striking enough, the stonework adds to it. The square cuts of the blocks on the walls are surprising enough, but the solid slab of stone that the face is carved upon is a strange type of rock. Red in color, dark, glinting with embedded crystalins, the rock looks solid and resolute, having rebuffed the attempts at erosion from the river and sand for long periods of time.
Even the grand master builders in Italy, france, and england couldnt come up with something this perfect. Something else did this.
Hey guys, there is something here...kinda weird looking...
James points out the odd space.
-Posted with Wayfinder
help! I NEED HELP lamquee shouts suddenly from her grounded river raft. You all spin around to look for her, and see her jump into the water. As you begin to question her sanity, your eyes spot movement further upriver. beige in color, floating, you suddenly realize that you see a body floating down river.
movement catches your eye and you see another body floating, further upstream. But this body has movement, but seems to be struggling to remain floating.
"Somebody grab a rope we need to help! William trudges through the water trying to go down river of the bodies in an attempt to cut them off.
James gets his rope out and tosses one end to William.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Finnegan takes the rope and ties it to a sturdy tree to anchor it.
Saul jumps in to try to aid Will, one hand on the rope so as to not get swept away.
Anatoly gets a rope out, ties one end off to the barge, and then ties one end off to himself. He stands on the barge, poised for a running leap in case his friends miss the person or need rescuing. He shouts to the others, "I not much of swimmer, but I try if need be! Who among you is good swimmer?"
Lamquee reaches the first floating person. she grabs him by the hair and begins to pull him in.
how bout you hop in and help me?! lamquee shouts loudly at anatoly, seeing him as the closest to help her.
the other body floats, but appears to be struggling.
With the rope securely tied to the tree, Finnegan runs over to Lamquee to see if the body is breathing...or a corpse.
Anatoly growls slightly, then takes a flying leap into the river to try and reach Lamquee.
"Here, hold these!" Isabella shouts to James and tosses him her coat pistol and gunpowder horn, then her coat before she leaps into the water and strikes out for the thrashing body. She feels stronger for all her recent experiences, somehow, more in tune with the natural world around her...
James may be startled to find out just how heavy the Elf's coat is; there is actual armour plating sewn into the lining!
Anatoly growls slightly, then takes a flying leap into the river to try and reach Lamquee.
Finnegan tries to find a pulse again...