Tychi leans over and grabs Carran.
Then Nike uses her action to move the whole group 30 ft back, away from the Gugs.
The younger Gugs run after the retreating party...braying and barking in a bloodlust...it is as much as they can do to keep up with Nike.
The Gug carrying the staff, raises it high and, intoning something entirely unintelligible, causes the moisture from the very walls of the tunnel to close in around Nike, Tychi and Carran. The fog created around them is grey, cloying and dank...
Carran will Withdraw back behind the trap as far as possbile.
Nike carries Tychi and, somewhat unceremoniously, Carran along the tunnel…away from the Gugs, not stopping until everyone is safely beyond the precariously held deadfall trap. Galloping on all fours, the Gugs pursue…
I will ready to take a 5' step and smack the first Gug that comes into range. My goal is to put myself in front of the rest of the party so that the creatures focus on me and they can move and engage as they see fit.
The juvenile Gugs race after the retreating party...closer and closer to the waiting trap...as they run, barking in excitement, the groups splits ...
In the thrill of the hunt, the Gugs are not actively looking for hazards along the tunnel,
Seeing it in the nick of time, one of the Gugs bays a warning to it's siblings...but it is too late. Figwidget releases the trap and the mass of broken metal falls upon two of the charging creatures.
Seeing his opportunity, Carran lets loose with an arrow, further wounding the Gug that had been caught in the trap.
If successful, attack also counts as a bull rush with same check result.
Carran will unleash a volley on Gug 1 if nobody blocks his shots, if someone does he'll 5-foot step and shoot at Gug 4 instead.
"Nice, got 'em!" Figwidget exclaims, when the trap catches a couple of gugs. He quickly throws a bomb at the trapped gugs, hoping to finish them off.
If that hits, splash damage is 12hp; a DC22 Ref save reduces that to 6hp. The direct hit damage is
Tychi and Nike turn, see that Carran and Luke are blocking them from reaching the gugs, and the two wait patiently for either an opening to attack, or for someone to need healing.
Major Luke Rand roars forward into the closest Gug, his shield catching the off balance creature, smashing bone and pushing it backwards...
Figwidget's bomb sails over everyone's head catching the most heavily injured Gug. Alchemical flames lick over the monstrosity and it finally succumbs to it's wounds.
Carran lets loose another flurry of arrows, this time hitting the nearest Gug twice.
With Major Luke Rand bundling into Melee, the Gugs blindly fall upon him in a rage of teeth and claw....
At the same time as the young Gugs are mauling Major Luke Rand, the staff wielding Gug at the rear steps forward and, once more raising his staff aloft, barks alien words into the dark...immediately you experience a familiar yet unwelcome feeling, as moisture begins to dribble from the roof of the tunnel...and the rock above you turns to mud...and collapses down upon those at the rear of the party...
As the attacks from the gugs come in, The Major's shield is everywhere, blocking the majority of the attacks, but the sheer number of them mean that some will still get through. After the hurricane of claws and bites, the major is still standing, and then chuckles and says "My turn."
flurrying into gug #2 until he drops, then will 5' diagonally into number 3 and finish my attacks on him:
Serkel takes half damage and then flies away from the mud, shaking it off as he goes.
Carran only grunts as he again is buried underneath a pile of earthen goo and curses as he steps out of the muddy mess.
"Alright you dirty Gug mage, try and do that again."
Carran readies his bow and aims for the mage, watching for any signs of him casting another spell.
"Gah, mud!" Figwidget cries, as he struggles to avoid the worst of the fall.
Although he avoids the worst of the damage, he's still covered again in mud. He pulls an infusion out of a pocket and drinks it. () He then hovers up just enough over the mud. He won't be able to throw a bomb this turn, so he doesn't want to make himself too appealing of a target, but he gets his feet free so that he can move freely the next chance he gets.)
When the gug begins to cast, Tychi/Nike move farther back the cave, not wanting to give it a good fireball target.
Major Luke Rand retaliates against the relentless Gugs...smashing hard into the closest one, killing it stone dead and then moving up to the next target and hitting it once.
Figwidget and Carran work themselves loose of the mud, the latter positioning himself to let fly if the Spellcaster attempts another attack... Meanwhile, Tychi and Nike, having the sense to realise they have been isolated from the combat, move backwards towards safety...
The juvenile Gugs continue to batter against Major Luke Rand, perhaps encouraged by landing a few blows.... this time they also heed the threat posed by Carran....
The staff wielding Gug shouts something in an unintelligible dialect towards it's compatriots and, once more, raises the staff towards the roof of the tunnel...this is enough to provoke Carran to let an arrow fly...hitting the Gug in the shoulder.
...and, somehow, the fourteen feet high creature...disappears....
Carran steps to the side so either Figwidget or Tychi has an opening to fire or walk in if they want, he then raises his bow again and fires arrows into the most right of the two still standing Gugs.
"Open wide little monster, I'll pay you back that claw arrow by arrow."
"Whu...?" Figwidget exclaims when the staff-wielding Gug disappears. He tries to identify the spell the Gug cast, to see if it was an Invisibility spell ().
He pulls another extract out of a vest pocket and consumes it. ()
Luke continues his advancing offensive, attacking the closest creature then moving forward to attack it's companion.
Whilst Carran's attacks are wild, his curse of misfortune diverting his aim, Major Luke Rand lands three blows on one of the Gugs...it is bloodied and battered under the relentless beating, it's attacks too wild... Meanwhile, it's sibling manages to find a gap in the defences of Major Luke Rand and of Carran.
As the creature leans down and bites him, Luke says "Hey! your mouth shouldn't be on the top of your head!" He will then proceed to beat it mightily, stepping up to it's brother/cousin/podmate if he defeats his current target.
Major Luke Rand's continued flurry finally brings results with a third Gug falling to the floor...
"Staff Gug is retreating down the hallway, invisible!" Figwidget calls out to the ohters.
He flies forward as far as he can without getting entangled in the Major Luke/Gug fight in front of him. ()
If, at this range, he's within forty feet of the retreating gug, he'll throw a bomb at it.
Carran takes another step south and readies an attack if the Gug moves to him.
Figwidget's bomb sails over the heads of Carran and Major Luke Rand, apparently thrown in hope, until it shatters in thin air...the resulting sparks and embers outlining the towering Gug retreating away from you.
The last remaining Gug stands amongst it's fallen siblings and, taking a brief glance back up the tunnel, drops to it's knees...it's inky black eyes flitting between Carran and Major Luke Rand...soft mewling noises coming from it's perversely positioned mouth...
"Very well monster. I accept your surrender." Turning to the rest of the party, he asks "Does anyone have any rope or manacles?"
"I've got a long piece of silk rope you could use Luke. How much do you need?"
"Though I'd rather not keep this thing tied up behind us with that spellcasting Gug still on the loose. This creature might come back and bite us in the back, literally."
[b]"I don't know about that. He surrendered with the intent that we wouldn't slit his throat, and I respect the sense of self necessary to not fight to the death. besides, maybe it will reflect on all the decisions that brought it to this point, and change it's actions I the future; perhaps, even, it may have been forced into engaging us."
The Gug makes little attempt to resist being bound although it takes a significant length of rope to securely tie all of it's arms and forearms… Rendered immobile, the creature slumps against the side of the tunnel and sits there, a low keening noise coming from it's upturned mouth…
There is no sign of the other Gug returning…
Tychi waits for the magic that made the mud to end, then he and Nike move forward. "Well well, it appears the big one left the small one, that's a shame." He shakes his head. "Well, shall we continue searching the mines, or check the steps?"
"We should probably go find the one that ran. The invisible one."
"Agreed, though I could use some healing again. A ton of mud still hits like a ton of rocks if you can't get out of the way."
Carran says looking at his bruises and his cuts again.
"I'll stay at the back for now."
Figwidget says, "I'll chase a bit further to see if I can find the invisible one!" as he continues flying down the hall. He pulls out his ioun torch and sets it orbiting about his head to provide himself with light. He'll go another 120ft down the hall to see if he can find the fleeing Gug before coming back to his companions.
Flying down the tunnel, ignoring the side tunnel with the stairs leading to the metallic legs, Figwidget moves back towards the position from which the nest of Gugs was successfully baited.
From his position, there are several directions in which you could proceed...to the north, you can see that the rail tracks lead in various directions as the tunnel opens up into a large cave. Behind you a small tunnel leads to the west and then turns from view... To the south, there is a tunnel that disappears into darkness....
And, directly ahead, the Gug nest...yet, of the invisible Gug, there is no sign...
Nike taps Carran on the shoulder with her horn. Blue sparks leap between the two.
Then she continues to hold the horn against him, and more blue sparks leap.
Then she taps Luke on the shoulder with her horn.
"Thank you Nike."
Major Luke Rand, Carran and Tychi - ahead of you, Figwidget hovers at the junction in the tunnel…considering which way to proceed. Importantly, he appears to be completely safe…no-one or nothing attacks him whilst he surveys the area.
Luke will move up to join figwidget. Just not as quickly, as I have to walk.
Nike and Tychi trot up as well, as long as the cavern size permits it.
Carran follows Luke, Tychi and Nike after Figwidget.
Joining shoulders with Luke he waits for what Figwidget has to report, Serlek flies close behind him, trying to keep out of any trouble for the moment.