= INTO THE HIVE =
• When the party is ready, moving into the room reveals two passageways, one that opens up into the north and one previously unseen to the east. For the likes of MAJUBA, his excessive height is once again allowed to be vertical once he is able to climb out of the tunnel. However the other passages appear as small as the tunnels before it.
Darkan is standing outside the room where Mak had grown, the kobald having barely gotten out of the way in time before the room was filled with nothing but giant limbs everywhere.
"Mak? Ya ok in there big guy?" He calls nervously before giving the nearest limb a poke with a claw.
• MAK found himself in an uncomfortable position inside one of the carved out rooms in the tunnels, crunched up with his arms tucked between his chest and legs, he feels a tiny claw prod his foot and grunts trying to get himself moving,
With a few rumbles the giant Arcanist prepares to cast a spell, eventually...!
"Two passages and we're still down a few, how do we want to do this? If the bugs down these passages are as weak as the others I can probably take a whole passage of them myself Wolfrager says with an arrogant grin her present success in eliminating the rust bugs bolstering her ego.
"Well, you may be good but I am bleeding quite a bit. I can go fetch the others and bring them here. If there are eggs, you can bet some very angry momma is going to be nearby. Though, rust monster pets...I can definitely see as a bonus against the humans. We should consider taking them."
Sheathing her sword she would go back to fetch the others letting them decide to proceed ahead or not.
The kobald ducks down the narrow passageway, avoiding stepping on the dead bugs where he can, although he would check if anything was dropped by them.
"Greez? Are ya alive big guy?" The kobald calls, rounding the corner to be confronted with a wall of furred flesh blocking the route.
"Alive but stuck. And annoyed." He says with a grumble mixed in. Little shifting was done so would not become even more wedged in then already was.
• As the group moves into the first chamber there are two paths, one up ahead seems to have a lot of chittering going on down the hall while the other to the left seems to be glowing something quite fierce.
• MAK eventually casts the spell required to contain his form, shrinking down to the size of a Dwarf for another period of time. Dusting himself down he waddle through the tunnel to meet up with DARKAN and GREEZ whose face was twice as large as the little hole he was peering inside,
"Aha! You're alive, I'm very relieved to see this. Just hold on one moment while I give you some room"
MAK casts the spell again, and soon GREEZ is small-sized again as he once was.
Karol follows him, club in hand.
Catching up with Mak, Darkan, and Greez. "This way guys. We found the egg chamber. Hurry the others have probably entered it. Anyone got healing left?"
> THE BRIGHT HALL <
• At MAJUBA's initiative, the route taken is towards the one that seemed to glow a little from within. The fairly small hallway was tough to fit for the tall Orc however venturing to the other side the reason for the glow was clear! This lead to a large cavern in which some part of the ground were lava pools, understandably lethal to the touch and even a bit dangerous to go near. Some little clusters contained eggs but there were far less of them than in the previous room, you wouldn't want your younglings being burnt to a crisp either.
There is enough room for most of the group including a couple of giants but the way to navigate around the pools would require some finesse, the intense heat on some paths could cause some harm if you venture too close to them.
[Actions]
• If you decide to navigate around the pools quietly and safely, you will suffer 2d6 convection damage due to the duration and proximity to molten magma.
• If you decide to navigate around the pools as quickly as possible, you ignore the convection damage but must pass a DC 15 Acrobatics check, failure means falling over and suffering convection damage or worse, a result of 9 or less results in falling in the lava itself. That's 20d10 damage.
Since everyone ignored her comment about healing she knows she couldn't stay in there long. Blood had already been dripping down her arm.
She waited though for the others to cross
Being the hyper active orc that is known for, the normally large guy decides to just rush past. Perhaps even doing some flips or cartwheels at same time.
• After casting Infernal Healing, TIGERWOLF recovers 10 hit points.
• MAJUBA crosses the lava pools slowly, accumulating damage on the way across.
• GREEZ moves quickly across and keeps his footing, he makes it past without incurring much heat damage.
• MAK is more cautious and attempts to cross slowly, trying to shield his face from the heat
[THE MAIN CHAMBER]
• Those who walked across the pools find themselves in a small path next to a ridge where to crouch to, although the bigger party members like MAJUBA would need to get down on hands and knees to make use of it. Above the ridge they find several larger Rust Monsters including one giant one resting in the back of the chamber, plenty of eggs here too; glowing dimly with the thermal energy of the environment. It's unlikely the problem here will be solved unless this chamber is dealt with.
Tigerwolf would make her way slowly through the pools after everyone else.
Once looked around the area had reached, simply just sat down as waited for the rest since had made a fast move to get past. Though staying very alert in case was trouble at all.
Karol would do the same
Darkan frowns, not even chancing the fast route. "It'll be just our luck if these things all hatch at once" The kobald complains, sweat dripping from his brow.
He jumps as the lava bubbles, hot liquid splashing his leg, the kobald scraping it off quickly, but left with a hole in his trousers and a raw red burn underneath.
He hurries over to join the others, wincing a little.
• Just over the rock ledge measuring approximately nine feet high, the group were just hiding below the ridge underlooking the heart of the Rust monster nest, with one very large and gnarly looking monster right at the back which in more tasteful words was potentially pooting more of it's kind out of the end which the sun doesn't shine. There appeared to be quite a sizable defense force but it seemed one for one in regards to the party members present.
• BATTLE RULES: First post first serve, you currently have the advantage of surprise thus any of you can go first. Any character who take their turns should expect the enemy forces to act as many turns as our group.
Will wait patiently even if itching to do some battle until everyone is ready. Or even wait till mentioned which to go after even. Since in a way knew had the movement speed advantage over most. Knuckles cracked lightly to ready self.
Tigerwolf motioned to the giants to the *north*. There was no element of surprise she could really offer here but she motioned to be careful of the lava/hot zones.
Pulling her club up she waited on the southern side of the ledge still in hiding.
Start singing (+1 weapons, flaming to all)
• Amongst the party members, KAROL's bardic singing is what causes the rust monsters to react first. They hiss and chitter as they turn around to hone in on the sound.
• A wave of RUST BUGs and RUST MONSTERS approach the rampart's edge to spot the group from down below but their movement stops here.
> NEXT ROUND
Will move a 5 foot forward and do a Flurry attack.
Darkan curses under his breath as the bugs rush in, having hoped to sneak up a bit closer. He summons himself a Force mace (Instant weapon spell) to replace the metal one he usually carries.
Before moving into the fray, the kobald decides to glance around one last time in case they missed anything.
He finishes by moving up behind greez, ready to help out.