Jie also falls into formation, ready to fight.
The noise and challenge the party makes draws the troglodytes into view. The center trog is clearly bigger and tougher than the others, and wields a stone warhammer.
It hisses in defiance, hefting the heavy warhammer and daring you to approach!
Amélie steps forward and sends two shafts whistling past Grum's ear and toward the troglodyte on the right (her left).
Her first shot sails past the trog, but the second one buries itself deep into his side.
"Zis is fine!" she says with a fierce grin as she nocks another arrow.
Amkarang begins whirling his meteor hammer, ready to attack one if it draws within range. He smiles fiercely and roars at the troglodytes, ”Come on you oversized lizards! We haven’t got all day!”
Jie concentrates fire on the same one that Amélie just shot.
The pair of arrows from the archers drop one of the troglodytes.
The big troglodyte hisses in anger as one of her companions is dropped by the archers. She doesn't seem to understand Amkarang's speech, and neither seems to be goaded into the room. She shifts her warhammer to her off-hand, then draws a javelin and throws it at Amkarang.
The hard-thrown spear sails well wide of the Unsinkable, striking the stone wall behind him and embedding itself quivering in the rock.
The powerful troglodyte also releases a fresh bout of its stench, which is stronger and more foul than anything you've encountered before.
The other troglodyte throws a javelin as well.
Amkarang mutters, ”If you want something done you must do it yourself.” He advances on the lead troglodyte and swings his hammer at it.
"Amkarang!" Benedict shouts in vain.
Benedict can't get in there with his glaive so he delays.
Actually, instead of delaying, Benedict will use his Alter Self SLA to take the form of a human who looks almost exactly like he does.
This gives him +2 Str.
Jie delays her action until she can get a clear shot.
Benedict will also shout, "Grum, trust me! Hold the line!"
Amélie takes another step forward and unwittingly gets a nosefull of the troglodyte's stench.
Despite her gagging, she sends two more arrows at the center troglodyte.
Despite the cover provided by Amkarang, her second shot manages to catch the big trog in the side.
The two surviving troglodytes step forward to attack Amkarang.
The big one swings her warhammer, then follows up with a bite.
The other trog has to contend with a protrusion of rock in the way, granting Amkarang cover.
He's not very effective.
"Amkarang, fall back! We can't get in there!"
Amkarang says, ”All part of the plan! Drawing them towards us!” He then steps back and tries to ensnare the bulky troglodyte to pull it towards him.
Amkarang's attempt catches the tough troglodyte briefly, but she knocks the chains away and is unmoved by his attempt.
Have to improvise the plan a bit. But now we can have the trog in the choke point instead of Amkarang.
Benedict steps up and prepares to trip the tough troglodyte after the archers attack.
"Archers!"
Once they have shot, he makes his attempt.
If successful, he shouts "Grum!"
Amélie attempts to shout an affirmative, but the foul stench burning in her nostrils turn it into a choked cough. Still, her trained hands fly to her quiver to rapidly send two more arrows toward the troglodyte.
Unfortunately, neither arrow is able to find its target.
Jie lets loose another arrow when Benedict yells 'Archers'.
Amkarang's trip attempt fails as he steps back to clear a shot for the archers. However, neither are able to land a significant hit. Benedict then moves in and is able to catch the trog's feet and send him sprawling.
Grum hits the troglodyte hard, but she seems to be in a rage that is giving her additional tenacity. The other trog hisses as its leader is tripped up, and it jumps in to her defense, trying to grapple the powerful half-orc.
It fails to get him into a grapple.
The big trog stands up, snarling. She then brings her hammer down upon Grum in retaliation.
The swing is wild and completely ineffective.
|
After attacking the downed Trog, a second ran at him in an attempt to grapple. Grum turned, and momentarily forgetting his nausea, he swung out his blade. It was an attack made completely on instinct...and it landed squarely on the Trog's neck.
He barely had time to revel in this victory, as the other Trog, which had been tripped, got back up. Nauseated beyond belief, he barely had time to bring his bloody blade around to parry the blow, taking a step back in the process.
"Nice going, Grum!"
Benedict follows up Grum's attacks with one of his own, trying to drop the big troglodyte.
Amélie sends two more arrows at the remaining troglodyte, now that it is standing again and an easier target (though the front line new melee fighters continue to make it difficult.
Her first shot is incredibly close, but just off target. Her second shot lands and does more damage.
Jie moves up to get a better shot.
The stench is powerful but not overwhelming as she sends an arrow into the lead Trog.
Amkarang tries to trip the troglodyte again, attempting to wrap the chain around the bulky lizard person's ankle.
This time, Amkarang successfully uses his meteor hammer and upends the troglodyte. On the ground once more, she roars in defiance and tries to stand.
"Stay down!"
Benedict swings the glaive at the frustratingly resilient troglodyte.
Benedict's strong thrust finds its way to the troglodyte's heart. It shudders a moment more, then slumps back to the ground.
The caves are silent once more.
"Amkarang, are you okay?"
While Amélie and Grum try to recover from the stench and get the wand to work on Amkarang (or use a potion if they can't), Benedict will search the bodies of the trogolodytes, and also the room to the south.
"I should be alright, especially thanks to our comrade's magic stick. Let's keep moving though."
A search of the big troglodyte reveals she was wearing well-made hide armor with spikes, a necklace of wolf fangs that looks valuable, and she had three potions along with her impressive-looking warhammer.
Countless bones jut from the clay walls of the next chamber. Grinning skulls peer down over the ends of femurs and ulnas sticking out at odd angles. Most of the bones are from animals -- some as large as stags and bears -- but some are undeniably human.
Within the bone-littered cave, several other trophies line the walls, including a finely-balanced quarterstaff, four thunderstones, two gems of onyx, and a scroll case containing three spells on the parchment within. Benedict's eye catches sight of several smaller objects hidden in recesses and underneath rib cages. He finds a silver locket containing a braided length of blond hair, two rings made of platinum, a battered wooden flute in a silver and velvet case -- the flute appears worthless but the case is valuable -- and a pearl.
The bone cavern has another passage leading out, this one dark and sloping steeply into the ground. The corridor slopes down at irregular angles and reeks of dampness. The walls are jagged and covered with sharp stone barbs. Mossy growths spread across the floor and walls, old bones lying pale against the dark moss.
The bone cavern has another passage leading out, this one dark and sloping steeply into the ground. The corridor slopes down at irregular angles and reeks of dampness. The walls are jagged and covered with sharp stone barbs. Mossy growths spread across the floor and walls, old bones lying pale against the dark moss.
"If Sir Kingston is willing to venture forth again, he did a stellar job last time. But I can also take the lead."
Benedict gathers up the items from the bone cavern. He then switches out the glaive for his axe and shield again, unsure if the dark sloping passage will afford enough room for the polearm. He awaits a report from the magic hedgehog...
The hedgehog crawls along the dank corridor several dozen feet until he spots the end of the tunnel, then returns signaling the all-clear.
"Zis corridor is quite dark," Amélie says, picking up the lantern and shining the light down the passageway as everyone heads down it.
As the group move down the damp corridor, a pair of dark somethings detach from the ceiling and drop upon Amélie and Benedict.
Despite the surprise attacks, the clumsy creatures do not find their way through the armor of their victims. Now that they've revealed themselves, they appear like a cross between a bat and a stalactite. Nasty claws had allowed them to cling to the ceiling and drop down on unaware prey.
These are darkmantles, underground ambush predators. Slow once on the ground, but relatively deadly if they manage to grab ahold of their prey and constrict.