Tesswyn stumbles and narrowly dodges the crushing pillars. The keening noise nearly overwhelms her, but she shakes it off with a supreme effort of will. She looks around for the source of the maddening noise.
"What the f**# is that?!?" Tesswyn shrieks, pointing to the carpet of stitched together faces crawling across the floor!
Not wanting to get close, she keeps her distance, switching weapons as she moves.
"Relax and react, trying to anticipate how the pillars move will just make it harder to...."
Drot is interrupted by the piercing noise and his face contorts into one of conflict and pain.
OW! OW! OW! MAKE OW GO AWAY!!!
Drot grabs his head and reels, narrowly getting crushed by a pillar while he's distracted.
"I... Can't..." OW! SMAAASH IIIIIT!
"What in blazes is that thing!?"
The stout-legged and hearted knight charges the monstrosity and slices into its flesh. Pillars rise and fall around him, but cannot stop his advance. The dwarf's blade slices through the creature with ease, as if were little more than dried paper.
Gärwin keeps his eyes focused on the horror before him and yells, "Billy, there's got to be a way to turn these blasted smashers off! Look for an mechanism of some kind!"
Using Fortune.
Yes, Sir Gärwin! Be right there!
Billy sidesteps Pellius and attacks the face thingy.
Charles began to struggle against the crushing pillar but Tesswyn managed to grab onto him and pull him free with surprising ease.
He looked at her for just a moment moving with her as the pillars shifted.
As he moved, he began motioning to everyone to get close to him.
Gather back together, hurry! Just as he spoke, the horrible wailing sounds began, causing him to shake but he gritted his teeth and told himself to move.
No! I've seen worse this thing isn't shown itself yet. I can't falter because of nothing!
Then as Tesswyn began to scream, he couldn't help but take note of where the problem was. The horrible roiling mass of faces in the room with them. He reached out putting a hand to her back to steady her.
"It's alright, Tess. Strike with the power of the Martyr." there was a small flash of power.
he managed to tear his gaze away as he heard Padraig get crushed.
"Focus on me. May the New God's grace watch over us all." Finally, a familiar flash of brilliant white light coursed through him as he transferred it to everyone.
Round 2 conclusion:
Charles invokes the power of the Martyr to aid everyone in surviving the horrors of the room.
Pellius and Billy dodge columns while withstanding their minds against the wailing. Billy charges forward to aid Tesswyn and Gärwin, while Pellius has difficulty wrapping his head around the living sheet of faces.
Tesswyn and Gärwin step in to try and destory the odd collection of faces.
Drot, though he dodged a column, has difficulty with the wailing and succumbs to its effects.
At the end of the round, the faces creep away. A column smashes them, but they seem completely unaffected by it.
Round 3:
Everyone declare your actions and state fast or slow initiative.
Damage Tracker:
30
Once more, Tesswyn's psychic senses seem occluded in this cave. She dances away from the pillars again, and her next arrow barely finds her target.
Charles nearly outstayed his welcome on that particular floor space by casting his spell as he barely managed to get out of the way of crushing pillars.
He moved around the room and tried to get the Halfling unstuck.
He was succeeding but only, he knew, because of the grace of the New God. But as he was struggling, he saw Drot'ook
"Drot'ook! Power through this, I believe in your ability!"
"It's gettin' away, we can't let it escape!" The knight continues his charge into the fleeing creature. By some miracle, he avoids the crushing pillars and cuts into the creature once again, causing a nasty tear in its stitched flesh.
Gah! Billy cried out as he's hit by a column.
Billy is knocked down and Immobilized for one round.
Drot moves around the pillars making he way toward Pell, his upper body jerking unnaturally as the conflict inside of his head continues.
Gärwin destroys the last if the bowling faces before it can cause any more harm. The puddle of faces breaks apart and falls silent.
However, the moving columns are still moving. Up and down. Up and down.
Round 4:
Everyone make an agility challenge roll. Failure means you take 1d6 damage, fall prone, and become immobilized for one round.
Billy manages to drag himself as the pillar moves, before it slammed down on him again.
Tesswyn stumbles but determinedly rolls away before the column can crush her. She switches back to her staff as she moves to the door that Pellius found. "I'll get it open!" She bashes it with the shillelagh!
Seeing nothing change, Tesswyn growls with frustration. She darts to the nearest column and smacks it!
As Pell moves toward Drot; he pauses, but only to allow himself to lean against a newly erected column. As Pellius looks at him, Drot's eyes seem to be a blaze of fury and pain. It suddenly dissipates and the orc is immediately aware of everything going on around him. He follows Tess' lead and swings his hammer, with both hands, at the pillar next to him.
"Fine now Pell, thanks. See what she's doing? Let's find out if she's right!"
Gärwin sheathes his weapon and runs to the crippled halfling's aid, throwing the man over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.
"I don't think this old man is going to last much longer in here, let's get goin'!"
Charles dodged to the side.
"If we can just break one of those pillars, we can get figure out what else to do here."
Everyone sets to attack the pillars, and they stop moving. As they stop, the "doors" open up.
There is a tunnel ahead. This time, the ground is soft and squishy; a markable difference to the ceramic-like floor and walls in the current chamber.
This hallway round in shape and with veinlike tubes several inches across running along the walls. It’s all a purplish-black and noticeably warmer than previous chambers
Tesswyn wrinkles her nose at the disgusting organic tunnel. "Ugh, what is this place? It's almost like it's alive or something."
"I'm not exactly keen on jumpin' into the gut of some giant creature. Let's head back a bit, I don't think it's safe to keep this draggin' this old man with us."
The dwarf motions to the old man hanging limply over his shoulders.
"We haven't seen hide nor hair of the little ones since we got here, I think it's time to question this madman a bit further, somewhere safe."
Charles looked at the tunnel with trepidation.Then he glanced at the rest of the group.
"Is everyone okay?"
"I didn't see any blood and this place feels too dangerous to have kids have made it through this last room unscathed, especially with that creature. So unless things were quiet down here... how did they make it past all of that?"
He looked at the Halfling.
"So what was it Padraig, did you bring those children down here or did you throw them off the edge?" his voice was hard but he didn't have much hope for the Halfling to answer his questions despite what they had survived.
"What the...? This does give the appearance of being alive."
Though fascinated by the seemingly living walls of the room ahead, he had to refer to Gärwin and retreated with the group.
"Very right... I simply don't know what to make of this place. I think we can all agree that we might make sure it's all purged by fire..."
Drot takes to writing in his notebook while the old halfling was questioned by the others, drawing some of the things he'd been seeing.
"Maybe let him breath a moment, Charles? He'd just recently been crushed several times."
I..uhh.. Padraig stumbles. He then goes on to tell the entire story, but he mumbles the entire time and is completely unintelligible.
Suddenly, the "doors" close again.
Gärwin, Pellius, and Padraig are in the ceramics room. Charles, Drot, Tesseyn, and Billy are in the squishy hallway.
In addition, a strange creature is extruded from the walls.
Glistening trails of slime mark its passage. It looks purposeless, strange, and utterly wrong.
This hulking brute is headless but sports wide, vertical slash down the center of its fleshy bodies. The slick opening is filled with rotten, brown teeth, the gaps clotted with bits of rotting flesh and caked with yellow-white plaque. It lumbers about on elephantine legs and swings club-like appendages ending in three-fingered hands that grab creatures and stuff them into its maw.
This Large sized creature is horrifying. Make a Will Challenge Roll or gain 1 Insanity and be Frightened a total number of rounds equal to your new insanity score. All attacks against horrifying creatures are made with 1 Bane.
Everyone make a Strength Challenge Roll. Failure means you fall prone and are moved 2d6x2 yards down the hallway. If you are already prone, make this roll with one bane.
If you're prone, you can make an agility challenge roll to stand up. Failure means you slip and fall.
Tesswyn maintIns her footing as the hall starts to ripple. "Shit! It's trying to swallow us!" She uses her staff for balance and readies to help anybody who falls.
"What?! Garwin, Pellius!" Charles shouts in surprise as the ground begins to undulate. Somehow he manages to keep his footing.
Looking down at Tesswyn, his eyes widened. "Are we in a mouth?! This is insane, but if it's alive that means we can hurt it!"
Drawing his Icy shortsword, Charles began to attack the mouth.
"Damn! We're seperated! Pellius, try and keep that coot safe."
Gärwin positions himself between the two and the monster and swings at the closest pillar with the pommel of his blade, hoping to smash it.
Wish a packed a hammer for this, not sure if my sword's up to the task.
Standing with his feet staggered in the wrong direction, Drot was thrown off his feet!
He pops up tonhis feet and grabs his hammer, poised to start mining the "veins" in this cave.
None
None
Gärwin moves to place himself between the monstrosity and Pellius, while striking a column.
Pellius moves and picks up Padraig.
The Monstrosity goes after the one damaging the columns. It uses its giant maw to try and bite Gärwin.
The columns stop moving and the doors open. On the other side of the door you can see Charles, Billy, and Tessy. [/ooc]
Rounds of Column Stop: 1
Billy is moved 14 yards down the hall; he tries to get up, but slips and falls.
Drot is moved 6 yards down the hall.
Charles attacks the walls. He slices a vein open, and red-orange liquid pours fourth, splashing Charles. Chunks of meat flesh come with it.
Within moments, a large bubble forms on the wall. It rapidly grows and the *pops.* A large thing stands.
Glistening trails of slime mark its passage. It looks purposeless, strange, and utterly wrong.
This hulking brute is headless but sports wide, vertical slash down the center of its fleshy bodies. The slick opening is filled with rotten, brown teeth, the gaps clotted with bits of rotting flesh and caked with yellow-white plaque. It lumbers about on elephantine legs and swings club-like appendages ending in three-fingered hands that grab creatures and stuff them into its maw.
This Large sized creature is horrifying. Make a Will Challenge Roll or gain 1 Insanity and be Frightened a total number of rounds equal to your new insanity score. All attacks against horrifying creatures are made with 1 Bane.
Suddenly, the door opens to the ceramic room. You can see Pellius carrying Padraig, and Gärwin fighting one of these creatures himself.
The hallways is still waving; strength rolls to see if you're moved; agility to stand up again.
Total Movement down hall:
Billy: 14
Charles: 0
Drot: 6
Tesswyn: 0
Monstrosity: 0
Tesswyn's eyes bulge at the sight of the monster, but she barely manages to keep her wits about her. "Great f@+%ing idea, Charles!"
She feels the fetid air flowing around her, picking up the signs. She swings her staff at the thing but comes up short.
She maintains her footing.
"How the hell was I supposed to know that would happen?!" he shot back.
"Alright Tess, we'll have to deal with this thing."
Covered in the red-oragne liquid, Charles was unable to keep his footing as he started to move forward and slipped.
"Gah!"
The knight wrests himself free from the maw of the abomination and yells out to his young companion, "Now Pellius! The door's open, flee to safety!"
Steel flashes and the creature is wounded, but something is strange... Thoughts race through Gärwin's mind and something clicks. "Pellius, you need to leave, keep running until you leave the entire cave! This entire place is not safe!"
Seeing the boy hesitate, he yells, "Damn it boy! Move!"
Billy gets knocked another 12 yards down the hall.
Keeping upright this time, Drot reluctantly runs toward the Monster and attacks.
It's all too much for the orc and he stops too short, swinging at air.
Pellius runs away, dropping Padraig along the way. But the halfling gets up and they prepare to leave the room.
Gärwin hits the monstrosity hard.
It hits back. Fortunately, the blow grazes off Gärwin's armor.
Charles gets knocked down the tunnel, while Tesswyn and Drot avoid the waves and strike at the monstrosity.
Unfortunately, both are unable to hit it.
The strange creature bites Tesswyn.
The waves stop undulating down the hall.
Distance:
Billy: 26
Charles: 10
Drot: 0
Tesswyn: 0
Tesswyn shouts as the thing bites her arm. She shakes it off and attacks!
Gärwin focuses on the creature before him, determined to at least buy Pellius and Padairg time to flee.
Ducking beneath the creature's heavy swing, Gärwin slices upward as it stumbles. His sword sinks brutally into the creature's chest, gushing blood.
"Come get me, beastie! I hear you're allergic to steel!"
"Ingenii, Impetus!"
Drot rears back with both hands and swings at the monster again, his arms pulsing with a white and purple glow!
"Run back here, boy! RUN!"
Charles stands with a moment of confusion as the undulating stops.
He calls down the path. "Billy, are you alright?! Get back to us if you can."
As he calls back to the squire he moves to catch back up to the others.
Gärwin slams his sword into the monstrosity.
The thing swings it's club-like arm back at Gärwin, bouncing off the dwarf's shield.
The columns start up again and the doors close.
The creature gets knocked down by a column and it is immobilized!
Total damage: 29.
F!~! that orc, Billy thinks to himself. He turns and walks the other way, further down the tunnel.
The monster shudders. Four slimy miniature replicas pop out of its skin, attacking everyone nearby.
Then the creature slams its fist into Tesswyn.
Suddenly, the door to the ceramics room slams shut.
Damage Tracker: 17
Distance:
Billy: 56
Charles: 10
Drot: 0
Tesswyn: 0
Tesswyn avoids the mini-maws, but the big one's fist clocks her on the side of the head. Blood dripping into her eyes, she swings her staff around again, barely managing another hit. "Charles, Drot! Help me, dammit!"
The dwarf blocks the horror's heavy blow but stumbles backward, directly into a crushing pillar.
Well, at least I wasn't the only one.