Tina zips across the room away from the tentacles, shuffling her hands as she does so, She points at the floor, and a human with a longbow suddenly appears there. "Hi Gerog, It's been a while. I know, I should have called. Anyway, I need you to go kick that wizard in the chest. Wait, who are you?"
The ranger looks wide-eyed at the fracas in the room, as the leaves falling off his coat drift towards the ground. He raises his bow, but is unsure whom to point it at. "Georg was my grandfather. He told me tales when I was a boy of being suddenly transported into combat by an evil spirit. He said he often died, but none of us believed him!"
Tina points at the wizard. "Excellent, so you know what's going on. See that wizard? go push him into those writhing tentacles, and we'll take it from there, yeah? Don't hurt the little dragon, though. It's on your side." The ranger looks wildly confused, but has little choice to obey, as he runs towards the wizard, but as he drops his shoulder in line with the wizard's chest, he trips over a piece of broken table, and loses his footing.
The wizard's iron mind shakes off all of Cindy's attempts to make him fear and in fact is no longer shaken by her intimidation. The tentacles continue writhing violently, holding onto the monsters and squeezing again (7 bludgeoning). The wizard steps away from Snowball, draws a wand, and casually fires a scorching ray at Snowball but the small dragon manages to twist out of the way in mid-air.
Gorthug brought his axe down again, crushing the offending tentacles which were grabbing at him. Free once more, he stalked towards the mage. Truth be told, he didn’t know why he was there, who he was fighting, or who his comrades were. But it seemed clear which side he was supposed to be on.
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"Bit of Bob are flying everywhere! Launch-Bob does not like these things!"
For the first time in his created life, Bob is taking more damage than he can heal and doesn't know what to think about that.
"Launch-Bob is... angry!!!!" His mind sparks and a rush of visible strands of force swirl about him and flow into him, and he throws another heavy tome at the wizard.
HP: 39/46 (16 damage, healed 10. 1 non-healable Non-lethal.)
As the wizard draws his wand, Snowball snaps at his hand.
Her bite only manages to make his aim slightly worse, however.
When he tries to cook her with his magic, Snowball not only avoids the ray, but also pounces!
Goldslip struggles again to escape the grasp of the black tentacles...
But she remains stuck!
"Quickly now, Gorthug! Help Snowball finish that man!"
Running short of magic for the day and unable to free herself from the tentacles, Cindy makes one more attempt at disabling the wizard.
Tina yells at the ranger, "Georg, Kick the wizard! Do it!" She looks around at the fracas around her, and notices a curious rhythm in the clanking of daggers, and the chanting of the incantations, and begins to sync her voice to it, "Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it now". Her words have unnaturally good timing to all who would listen to her.
The ranger steps over to the the wizard, and while kicking him in the chest, yells "My name is Gustav! Georg was my grandfather! Curse you, foul trickster!"
Growling in frustration at seeing Ripper hurt she throws a blob of acid at the wizard. If her looks could kill he'd already be dead.
Ripper struggles against the tentacles and comes very, very close to freeing himself but can't quite manage it. Bob keeps throwing things accurately at the wizard while Snowball hits him once. The wizard shakes off Cindy's spell but then the ranger shoves him into his own tentacles, which grab him!
He tries to escape but fails.
"Good work, uh, Gustav! Now kill the Cleric! Clerics are dangerous!" As the ranger turns around and draws his bow towards the cleric, Tina takes another good swig, and continues her song, "We are ready, we are ready for the floor." Another glob of grease appears in her hand and she chucks this too at the cleric.
”You bore me, Mage. This is pointless. Let. This. End!” Gorthug grunted as he swung his axe and then sought to brutally pummel the Wizard.
Goldslip still struggles to escape!
Bob, the ranger, and Gorthug all miss the well-defended wizard but then Gorthug hits him with his follow up attack because the grappled wizard cannot move very well.
Xeria watches Ripper struggle and she feels both angry and helpless to help her. She fires another blob of acid at the wizard.
Ripper squirms in the tentacles but can't quite manage to get free.
"Cleric danger?" Snowball asks, turning from the now trapped wizard.
She takes several big hops to arrive under Piedmontina.
"Is cleric like wizard? Like mam- like Ma'am?"
Finally realizing that she can just hit both of the ones on the ground, Snowball breathes out before Tina can answer.
Cindy tries to break out of the tentacles but can't quite make it.
Xeria's acid damages the wizard while Snowball slightly hurts the cleric. But the ranger misses his shot. The cleric's attention is temporarily drawn to the east side of the room where he sees his grappled ally and snaps his fingers. Immediately, the wizard springs free of the tentacles and moves off to the side (provoking from Gorthug).
The wizard then casts a spell and a ball of water drops from the ceiling over Snowball and Piedmontina!
Gorthug prepared himself for the Wizard’s attack..and actually felt insulted at being ignored.
He swung his axe yet again, seeking to cut the Wizard in twain. Each blow carried with it the chill touch of his curse, enough to sap the strength of even the strongest of foes.
Tina flits out of the way of the water, yells "Wizard" at the ranger, and keeps singing, "You're my number one guy..." Gustav looks deeply concerned, but dutifully draws his bow, and lets loose a shot at the wizard.
Tina dips down and taps Snowball on what passes for a shoulder.
Gorthug swipes his axe at the wizard who attempts to dodge out of the way but Gorthug tracks his movement with Goldslips help and his axe cuts deeply into the wizard's neck, dropping the human to the ground, dead.
Without the wizard pestering her or buffing her enemies, Lucian whirls through the air, hurling lighting and fire in all directions and enchanting the fighter to attack the rogue, which ends in a bloody mess. She descends to the ground afterwards and smiles slightly at all of you. "That was... helpful... You may go now." She looks past you "Sevren! Stop cowering loosely in that hallway and come clean up my study!" She mutters under her breath "Useless boy..."
Snowball dodges the aqueous orb. She then attempts to keep out of the way of all the fire and lightning mama throws around.
"Yes ma'am!"
Snowball replies before running away and glomping Cindy.
"We were helpful!"
Her words took hold of him, and for only a fraction of a second was Gorthug able to resist. Dutifully he marched away, compelled by her curse to obey.
Xeria flies over to Ripper and hugs her around her long neck, "I'm sorry that nasty wizard hurt you baby. Let's go and get you comfortable and I'll bring you some nice red meat."
She goes off with Ripper to their private little island.
"You were helpful..." Cindy pouts at Snowball, but still gives her a small hug before wandering back towards her new 'lair' near the cave entrance. "I didn't help at all. We should have brought a bear."
When she reaches her spot, she takes out the couple trinkets that she obtained from the bandits and carefully places them into her pouch of treasures, then heads out of the cave into the woods to search for useful bits of wood.
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Bob does not leave rapidly. It takes a bit longer for the tentacles to disappear, and after they do he sidles up to the Master.
”Great and powerful Master, why did you not name Bob? Bob is not Bob’s Yer Uncle, and Bob was Hat Bob but for only a very short time then Bob became Not Hat Not Bob. Bob is now Launch Bob because Bob is quite good at launching. Master, Launch Bob is feeling something inside that makes Launch Bob’ quivery insides feel more quivery. Who is Launch Bob? What is Launch Bob?”
Tina zips over to the Ranger, "Okay, Gustav, you did good today. We don't have a lot of time before the spell ends, and you go home. You grandfather, Georg, Is he still alive?"
Gustav looks around at the destroyed room, and in shock mutters, "N, N-no, his spirit crossed over a few years ago. Honestly he seemed surprised."
Tina smiles, "Oh yeah, after all the times I made him die for me, he probably thought he was immortal. Well, let that be a lesson to you, You're only allowed to die when I've summoned you. Oh, do you happen to have any children?"
Gustav begins to glow and fade away, but the look of horror and shock on his face before he disappears lets Tina know that the answer is probably yes
Well, it appears that I've still got some stuff to figure out. I should call up the rest of the old gang, see how they're doing. She heads over to the crystal room, and shouts, "WHO'S BEEN IN MY BOOZE? but she notices how light her flasks are, and quietly offers, "Nevermind, it was me."
Cindy stands outside the cave and sees woods and a river.
Lucian looks down her nose at the telepathic ooze and shrugs "You were an experiment gone wrong. Now you're an intelligent ooze. It seems you have developed telekinetic powers to complement your telepathic powers. Very interesting indeed... Come by my study in a few hours... I f you need a designation, I suppose Launch Bob is quite appropriate."
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"Yes Master, Launch Bob will attend to your every need; Launch Bob is quite pleased that you like the name that Launch Bob picked..."
Happy enough for the moment, and feeling his queasy insides stop being so queasy-ee, Launch Bob decides to attend to another matter... It is time to visit his arch nemesis... villian of villians... the door.
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"Oh... you don't like that, do you? Launch Bob will show you a thing or two.
Slam! Slam! Slam!
Standing in front of Door, Launch Bob uses his telekinetic powers to turn the handle, push it open, and then slam it again.
"Not so tough now, are you Door? Launch Bob can open you at will. Open! Close! Open! Close! Door, Launch Bob has made you his b!%&$."
Feeling cocky, Launch Bob heads to the cave opening to continue moving dirt, five pounds at a time, to help build up the barrier. Having some experience now, and some door-inspired confidence, he feels a lot more effective than ever.
Hours later after you've had a chance to fully rest, Lucian sends Noxious to call you all back to her study. The area has been cleaned and re-organized with magical tomes and arcane ingredients back on the proper shelves and in the proper boxes. In the middle of the study, a metal clamp holds some sort of shiny funnel that is about eight inches long. Lucian stands next to it, her robes pristine and showing no signs of the recent battle. "Welcome, my minions. You served me well recently so I will let you see my greatest accomplishment. This artifact took me decades to perfect." She points to the funnel, which has rubies inlaid in spiraling patterns on its exterior. "This inter-planar funnel will allow me to channel the power of extraplanar creatures, beings older and stranger than a typical mortal can understand, and use them for my purposes."
Noxious hovers cheerily behind her master, cackling quietly and respectfully at key moments. Sevren stands next to and behind his mother, his face downcast.
Lucian begins slowly weaving her arms through the air and chanting while consulting a large, open book on a nearby table. You hear a faint humming coming from the funnel that grows louder and louder. Suddenly, a massive shadow bursts from the funnel and twists and writhes as a great, corporeal cloud over the heads of Lucian and Sevren. In a commanding tone, Lucian exclaims "You are a tortured creature of pain, chaos, and destruction! That is all you have known and all you seek! But you will bend to my iron will and serve me!" She clenches her fist, a ring with a clear gemstone on her finger, and the dark cloud begins compressing and shrinking toward the gemstone. It writhes and tries to twist away but is drawn inexorably toward Lucian's finger. But when it is inches from her finger, it twists suddenly away and rushes inside Sevren's chest. His head jerks upward, a shadowy aura forming around him, and his eyes fill with blackness.
A deep voice issues from his mouth "This vessel suits me perfectly. Now it will be so much easier to enjoy this plane." Dark tendrils of shadow shoot from his fingers towards Lucian, who throws up a shield of arcane force to deflect them. Before you can blink, the two are whirling about in the air, lighting and black shadow clashing all across the newly-cleaned study. Noxious moves to help when a black tendril whips through the air and cuts her in half, banishing her back to the abyss with a puff of smoke.
Suddenly, the two stop moving and Lucian's falls to the ground, her neck torn open and oozing blackened blood. Lucian hovers in the air on black, nebulous wings and chuckles. "Now to have my fun here..." He flies out through Lucian's secret exit, tearing great gashes in the stone as he departs.
Not remembering who Sevrn was, Gorthug watched impassively. The human shaman was powerful to bind such spirits, and obviously proud of her abilities. She had, afterall, bound him. The thought was galling, but it was the only logical conclusion.
As the demonhost flew away, Gorthug wondered if it thought itself free. It would likely soon learn the limits of its leash. Maybe then it could be an ally? A foolish thought, he knew. But it showed how little chance of freedom he had if that was his best bet.
Tina watches the proceedings with her flask in hand, and when she sees Sevren's body fly through the secret passage, she finishes it off. "Bother. I didn't mind that kid. She pursues the parasite through the passage, "He better not be messing with my town." When outside, she looks for Sevren, in particular in the direction of Trogsdale.
Goldslip shuffles nervously as Lucian talks of controlling incomprehensible beings. As the shadow cloud appears, she flinches. Then, her awe of her mistress increases as she sees the shadow controlled, pulled toward the gemstone ring. But she gasps in shock as that shadow twists and writhes and enters Sevren instead of the ring!
In mere moments, Lucian falls to the ground with a great wound, and Goldslip just screams.
Goldslip screamed and Gorthug looked down to see the wizard’s corpse. The Draugr stared...and slowly started to laugh. It was a chuckle at first, but it grew into a loud wheezing sound as air was forced out of his long dead throat. ”Hahaha..free...ahaha...
Snowball watches most of the ritual and fight with an open mouth and an amused look. When Lucian's corpse hits the ground and the possessed Sevren makes his escape, though, she looks confused.
She waits a moment before approaching, remembering all the times she was kicked away for getting too close. Eventually she realizes that the evil spell slinger is no longer moving.
"Mama...?"
Coming closer to her mom-turned-meat, Snowball cries out "MAMAAAAAAAAAAAA-!"
After tugging at Lucian's clothes fruitlessly a few times with her teeth, Snowball follows after Tina and Sevren.
The great wizardess lies immobile on the ground, her wound growing blacker by the moment. After a few seconds, her entirely blackened corpse and robe dissolves in a shadowy dust.
Outside the dungeon, Piedmontina sees Sevren, or what was Sevren, flying away far faster than she can explain or match. Soon, she can't make him out anymore.
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"Master? Master, you are very dusty.... Hmmm... Launch Bob is be thinking that Master is dead as door. Who be new master now, Snowball... er...Little Tina... emmm... friend Goldslip....scary zombie thing.... er...freaky doll thing....ummm... maybe Ripper."
Launch Bob gives a big inward sigh and looks around. He doesn't know what to think. This is all very strange, and he feels empty inside. Lost. Like the direction has been taken away from him.
"Maybe Launch Bob be his own Master. Master Bob."
Looking around the study, you see that most of the items here have been destroyed beyond your ability to use them. But maybe you can find something valuable here...
You find one lesser minor magic item of your choice.
You find 1000 gp worth of various odds and ends (sale value).
Gorthug decided it was best to leave the Wizard be. Who knew what kind of dark magic lingered? He would have spat on her if he were able. Rather he stood there, watching to see if she would rise...and wondering what would become of him now that the necromancer has fallen.