Tink is thoroughly enjoying the show, punctuating every punch, sword strike, and arrow hit with a hoot, a holler, or an "attaboy!" This group is impressively competent.
Loiosh moves into range and goes to town on poor, poor #2.
And poor, poor #2's head now has a new home in Loiosh's tummy. He burps.
Rand actively elects not to take advantage of #2 standing up, and easily sidesteps the clumsy shove attempt, watching in morbid curiosity as Loiosh eats the morlock. He sort of feels like he's walking past a four-wagon pile-up; it's horrible, and there's so much blood, but he just can't look away.
With all the morlocks on the ground dead, V drops Hoblopper, pulls out his bow, and takes a single shot at the remaining creeper.
When rhe creeper on the wall sees half of its final comrade disappear into Loiosh, its eyes go wide. It turns away from the party, clearly about to try to flee along the wall to the south. Unfortunately (for it), V's arrow catches it directly between the shoulder blades, and it falls to the ground below with a resounding -thud-.
V and Astrid hear some commotion behind them and turn to see a half dozen run-of-the-mill morlocks -- probably from the group Randall saw lounging in the chamber to the south -- rushing in to join the fight. As soon as the leading morlock sees the carnage the party has wrought, it stops dead in its tracks, turns, and runs the other direction. This recurs five more times as the morlocks get close enough to see what is so scary, and the party is left in silence and relative peace.
On the destroyers, you find:
- 3x +1 greatclub
- 3x mwk hide armor
- 3x potion of cure serious wounds
- 12x throwing axe
On the creeper, you find:
- +1 padded armor (small)
- amulet of natural armor +2
- mwk blowgun (small)
- mwk short sword (small)
- 4x bloodbrain venom
- 10x blowgun darts
A ledge leans out over a great break in the earth, which descends into blackness. Streaks of white coat the walls and floor of the cavern, and tangles of weeds and dried grass poke out from every cranny in the stone. A tunnel breaks off to the southeast.
Tink laughs and claps his hands. "Well, that was bracing! You are quite the fighting force!"
He seems completely unbothered that Loiosh is loudly and messily finishing his meal.
Astrid (who is very pointedly looking away from the gnashing, wet, ripping noises of the dinosaur and humming maybe a little louder than is strictly necessary) shrugs noncommittally as she looks over the bodies for anything useful. She's not usually one for looting corpses, but she's aware of the severity of their mission and is too seasoned to let a quibble like that stop them from gaining every edge they can.
V grunts bemusedly as he holsters his bow and picks up his massive blade. "Rand and I have previous experience with large numbers. But always glad to have more capable folks by our side. Freyja and Katia were great, don't get me wrong. But even seasoned veterans need a break from the horrors of war, y'know? Rand and I have missed the major fighting by weeks or even just days, so far. It feels good to finally be able to step in and do our part. Right, Rand?"
Randall, who was clearly not listening at all, is hunkered down a safe distance from the gnashing frenzy of dino teeth and staring in horrified fascination at the gruesome spectacle.
"Dude. Do you even chew, or do you just... swallow?"
Once the hideous chomping noises are over, Astrid glances around. "Where to next?"
Veldanis glances down the tunnels, to where there appears to be worked stone east of the morlocks' filthy sleeping area. "Might as well take a look that way," he says, and starts moving in that direction. Not wanting to lug a massive sword around in hand if he doesn't need to, he sheathes Hoblopper on his back and keeps his hands empty; while it takes time to pull the huge blade out in combat, it does brutal work quickly once it is, so he'd rather have his hands free in the meantime.
Rand walks near his friend, eyes peeled for trouble and traps.
Loiosh bares his bloody teeth to Rand. The viscera hanging from his jaw makes it hard to tell for sure, but it almost seems like he's... smiling? He reaches down with his snout, pushes the morlock's remaining leg in Rand's direction, and says, [color=maroon]"Want some?"[/color]
Rand totally checks the Northeast corridor and not the room they came down in because he's much smarter than his dumbass player.
This passage is completely nondescript and empty. Rand is almost ready to lead the party through it when he notices a small sigil on the floor in the middle of the room. It's definitely a magical trap of some sort.
With Tink's help, Rand determines that the trap would have transmuted a significant amount of the ceiling into mud, dumping tons of earth on the corridor's occupants (and almost certainly alerting anything nearby). He easily renders the trap inert, then leads the party along to the east.
Dark, gruesome stains mar the floor and walls of this thirty-foot-wide chamber roughly carved into the southern face of the fissure. Tunnels veer off to the west, south, and southeast. Bits of gore and bone line the walls, and the chamber reeks of rot -- a stench that would be overwhelming if not for the enormous opening into the crevasse.
There are six morlocks here, two of which are the destroyer type the party has already encountered. The other four look to be normal morlocks, but more advanced? They attack at the sight of the party, and the massacre is not really worth going into .
The morlocks carry only clubs, but the destroyers are outfitted a bit better:
- 2x +1 greatclub
- 2x mwk hide armor
- 2x potion of cure serious wounds
- 8x throwing axe
There is nothing else interesting here.
After getting the party back to fighting fit and gathering the loot, Astrid peers over the edge to the north and makes a face. "Lotta dark down there. Have we been going downward at all?"
V shakes his head as he wipes Hoblopper clean with a rag from his back pocket. Flakes of caked blood crumble off the cloth as he mops up fresh crimson. "Not appreciably. I'm guessing the morlocks have some way of traversing all these chasms, though. We'll probably find either a sloped tunnel, or some kind of rudimentary ladder. Maybe even a pulley elevator if they're particularly clever, but based on how they seem to be living, I kinda doubt it."
Rand purses his lips. "Best keep moving then. I'll take a peek ahead. Stay put."
He slips off down the southeastern tunnel, quiet as a shadow, eyes peeled.
(+2 vs traps, +1 vs ambush)
"Morlocks don't need ladders or elevators; they can climb the walls as easily as we walk on the ground. It would give this place a significant defensive advantage, but makes it hard to have guests over."
Rand finds himself in a terrible, horrible place. A stack of animal corpses leans against the southern edge of this cave chamber. The mound of bodies is rank with the stink of decay, and hundreds of buzzing insects move about the heaped bodies. Tunnels exit to the north and south.
He doesn't see anything of interest here, unless he wants to go digging through the bodies.
Despite a slight avaricious streak, Rand decides he does not, in fact, want to dig through the bodies. Instead, he returns to the others and motions everyone forward.
Astrid frowns at Tink's information. "Well, if we need to do some climbing, I might be able to pull together a spell. I was hoping to use it for a secure encampment tonight, but we could probably just take shifts. Unless somebody else has something to help?"
Rand shrugs. "I can survive the fall, if I can fall straight down next to a wall. It's hard to explain, easier to just show you. If it comes to that."
Veldanis shakes his head. "I have a spell to let someone climb with ease, but it's not potent magic. I can only give it to one of you, and it will only last about 40 minutes. Assuming we're not climbing down more than a mile, you should be good. Beyond that..." He shrugs helplessly.
"And I don't know what the rest of us will do to follow. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's finish checking out these caves; could be there's a natural tunnel that goes down and this is a moot point. Rand?"
Happy to have an excuse to get away from the stink of rotting animal carcasses, Rand gives a sardonic salute to the Chernesardo and creeps off to keep exploring.
*
Down south, he decides to scope out the narrow tunnel to the north first.
*
Tink nods at the others. "I know that spell as well." He pulls out the extend metamagic rod and holds it up. "And with this, I can make it last quite a while." He drops his voice to a whisper and dramatically leans away from Loiosh. "Loiosh can go into the statue."
[color=maroon]"I heard that."[/color]
The narrow corridor is super boring; nothing there. The worked stone room is a bit more interesting:
Lines of thick, red pigment cover the southern wall of this partially collapsed dungeon hall. The paint depicts countless figures, albeit without any refined artistic skill. Gnarled, disfigured creatures stand atop a virtual carpet of prostrate human forms. At the apex of the vast mural looms a coiled serpent that has a woman's face.
Though the depictions are crude, the creatures standing over the humans are clearly meant to be morlocks. Further, Rand can tell that those images are much older than that of the serpent, suggesting that the morlocks have occupied these tunnels for a long time, but whatever the serpent represents is a recent addition.
It's a naga -- specifically a dark naga, as evidenced by the telltale crest and spines. Dark nagas covet luxury, wealth, and power over others. With bodies covered by shimmering, eel-like black scales, dark nagas slither deftly through forsaken lands and abandoned ruins, scouring such places for treasures and weaker creatures they might force into service. Their forked tongues spread only lies, and others whom they can’t manipulate they destroy with their insidious poison and destructive magical abilities. A typical dark naga measures approximately 12 feet long and weighs upward of 300 pounds.
Arrogant and sybaritic , dark nagas seek to dominate lesser creatures, relishing the fear they inspire and power over other beings. While some manage to carve indulgent fiefdoms from tribes of goblins, orcs, lizardfolk, or other barbarous races, the luster of cosmopolitan fineries proves enticing as well, leading some to infiltrate city sewers and slums to gather an urban following. They particularly relish morbidly crafted jewelry and treasures, often adorning themselves with jeweled bands or taking their ease atop piles of treasure.
Dark nagas hate others of their kind, especially other dark nagas, seeing their brethren as deadly opponents to be dispatched swiftly and mercilessly—often rightly so.
Rand peeks down the stone hallway to the northwest and immediately recognizes it as the area with the well; in other words, you've made a circle and are back where you started. You found no "easy" ways down from this level, but it is obvious that down is the direction that you must go. However, this party is lousy with magic and descending either further down the well or down one of the open chasms to the northern end of these tunnels should be equally effective.
Rand makes a face at the weird painting and gathers the others in the worked stone area. "Full circle. Tink's got the magic. Do we climb down the well or the chasm?"
V takes a moment to study the mural before answering.
"Who draws a lady face on a snake? Morlocks got some f~+%ed up fetishes."
Astrid sighs patiently. "It's a naga, Veldanis. A dark naga, to be precise. They're greedy and murderous. Anyone they can't manipulate into worshiping them, they slaughter. Naga are no joke; some of them are noble creatures, but not these. You'd best hope this mural is just some morlock's vivid imagination and there isn't one down here waiting for us. If you do, have some antivenoms ready."
V clears his throat and straightens a little. "I knew that."
"Tactically, I think the well is smarter. It's too narrow for anything to launch a particularly strong attack on us while we're climbing. The pit is just way too open for me to feel comfortable. Thoughts?"
Rand snorts. "Yeah? I disagree. If something can attack us in the well, it's likely to have a serious advantage while doing so. And in those cramped quarters it can literally just pick us off one by one. At least on the walls of the pit, we'll have room to maneuver if we do get attacked."
He then looses an involuntary shudder. "Plus. I uh. Don't like tight spaces." He scowls at the others, as if daring them to make fun of him.
Astrid, who would never mock someone for their phobias, does something arguably worse and pats him pityingly on the shoulder. "I understand your fears, Rand, but I think I'm with Veldanis on this one. The well is probably safer." She turns to the druid. "What do you think, Tink? Well or chasm?"
Tink looks apologetically at Rand, then says, "Well is the way to go." He goes to a corner of the chamber, pulls a straw mat from his pack, lays it on the floor, and sits on his knees, facing the wall. "I need ten minutes of meditation to prepare the spell. Please watch my back. Loiosh, quiet."
Without another word, he closes his eyes and almost immediately falls into a trance.
Loiosh is clearly accustomed to Tink's meditation sessions; he lazily reclines against his massive tail and looks around the room. He yawns, then looks at the party. [color=maroon]"Snacks?"[/color]
Astrid looks flustered at the dinosaur's request. "Uh. What... kind of snacks?"
Veldanis grimaces. "I mean we did leave some morlock bodies nearby. It's not, uh. Not hobgoblin. But it's meat."
He leaves to the spot where they fought the morlock patrol, does a little grisly work, and comes back with two moderately-sized flanks of meat. At Astrid's aghast face, he shrugs uncomfortably. "He was literally just eating their corpses ten minutes ago. I don't think we have room to be offended at this point."
He tosses the bloody flanks to Loiosh. "Dig in, pal."
Rand watches the snack consumption with a face like he ate a bag of razor blades eight hours ago and is expecting the BM any moment. Of course, whether that's from the gross display in front of him or the prospect of going back into the cramped quarters of the well, it's hard to say.
Tink completes his meditation. As he comes back to the present moment, he notices that Loiosh has been eating more morlocks and shakes his head. "Are you quite done? It's time for the statue." Without waiting for the allosaur's protest, he touches Loiosh's flank and whispers under his breath. There is a sound of rushing air as a Loiosh is replaced with a small stone statue. Tink stows it in his pack, then pulls out the rod and gestures for the others to gather around. "Even with the rod, this spell will only last an hour, so we shouldn't dally down there in case we have to go deeper. Are you ready?" Once he has everyone's assent, he completes the spell. Miniscule barbs appear on everyone's palms, fingers, and boots.
He looks up expectantly. "Well? Lead the way."
The old but sturdy ladder you used to reach the first level ends abruptly where you exited earlier, but the frigid waterfall continues deeper down the well. The stone walls are slick with wet algae and moss; it would be nearly impossible to descend here without the assistance of magic. As it is, though, you all climb down with ease. It is about sixty feet down to the next level, and you exit into another finished stone room, cold and soaked, but safe.
You take a look around. The well in the western end of this room breaks up the geometric architecture. Water rushes down from the hole above and into the well, coating the tile floor with rippling puddles. Candles line the surrounding walls, casting a dull glow through the chamber. Passages lead out to the southwest and southeast.
Just as you realize how strange it is that there are dozens of lit candles in this chamber -- the morlocks certainly don't need them for illumination -- you notice a creature standing in the corner. It has clearly been waiting patiently for you all to exit the well and gather yourselves; it could easily have fled or attacked while you were distracted. It is obviously a morlock, but it seems... different? Its eyes have an uncharacteristic intelligence behind them as it studies you, hands raised in the universal gesture for "hey, we're cool". It wears a makeshift cloak that has been stitched from the remnants of numerous capes, and it holds a gem-encrusted club down at its side. Perhaps most strange of all, it has no fewer than SIX ioun stones orbiting its head.
Once all of you have noticed his presence, it flashes an unnerving smile. It begins to speak in Undercommon. "Ah, so here are the intruders that have the rabble all worked up. I suppose you killed everyone up there?" It doesn't wait for an answer, instead waving a hand dismissively. "Good. They are all fanatics. Blinded by the false goddess that has replaced Lady Zanathura! But I am not blind! I see what is going on!" Anger flashes across his dimly-lit face, but then he tilts his head, as if struck with an idea. "Perhaps... would you be willing to deal? We could help each other." He smiles again (you wish he wouldn't) and awaits your answer.
Seeing as none of the men seem to know what to say (or even have any interest in talking, perhaps; the monk is especially hard to read) she clears her throat and greets the morlock. Not for the first time, she wishes she could cast a spell that did more than just allow understanding of other languages, but also let her speak it. Someday, perhaps.
She asks Tink to relay that she is casting a spell on herself to allow her to understand the morlock, though she still won't be able to speak Undercommon. She doesn't want the first non-aggressive creature they meet to get jumpy.
Once done, she says, "My name is Astrid. This is Randall, Tink, and Veldanis. May we have your name?" Once he answers, she replies, "Well met. I hope you can understand that we are... wary. All the morlocks we've met in here have been hostile to us. Would you be so kind as to give us some more information? To start, who is Lady Zanathura, and who has usurped her?"
The morlock rolls his eyes impatiently as Tink translates. He looks a little less annoyed once Astrid can understand him, but he would clearly rather be speaking to an Undercommon speaker directly. Once Astrid's questions are finally asked via Tink, he points at himself and says, "Iuwlas. Zanathura is our goddess, and I am her champion! And I don't know what that thing calling itself Zanathura down there is, but it is not my Lady!" He pauses, looking at the party as if sizing you up. "I know these caverns better than anyone. I don't know why you are here, but if you kill her for me, I can help. Do we have a deal or not?"
Astrid's lips thin at Iuwlas's tone. "We are not assassins for hire. The only reason we have used violence thus far is because violence was acted on us first. If we could pass this place without further bloodshed, we'd prefer it, and that includes... what is this? Regicide? Deicide?" She waves a hand impatiently. "Nevermind. What has this creature done, exactly, to make you believe they are an impostor?"
Rand remains outwardly relaxed, but he can sense tension in the morlock's tone. He's getting irritated, and Rand is willing to bet an irritated morlock is a violent morlock.
To be fair, we did kinda bust into their home. For a good purpose, but they don't know that.
He decides to use non-lethal force from now on, if he can help it. Obviously the big guy doesn't have that option, and you can't really knock someone out with an arrow from a composite bow, unless it's from blood loss, but he can konk people easy enough. They left too many bodies upstairs for him to feel comfortable.
While leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed, he quietly tenses his feet, ready to spring into action the second Iuwlas tries anything.
Randall's read on Iuwlas's patience -- or lack thereof -- proves to be correct, as the morlock simply screams in rage in response to Astrid's continuing skepticism. His hands begin to glow with a crackling electric energy and it's time to roll for initiative mofos!
And, somehow, despite having advance warning of the party's approach and having had the time to completely prepare himself for the probably inevitable encounter, Iuwlas still fails to get the jump on any one of the party.
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (90/90 hp)
Randall (93/93 hp)
Astrid (93/93 hp)
Veldanis (125/125 hp)
Iuwlas (0 damage)
Bold may act.
Tink places Loiosh's figurine on the ground. "Should have done this sooner, but better late than never!" He utters a command word and Loiosh instantly returns to his normal size and consistency. Tink has a chuckle to himself at Iuwlas's surprise and calls over in Undercommon, "He's normally even bigger than this!"
To Loiosh, he says, "Loiosh. Still hungry?"
Loiosh doesn't need to be told twice. And he is pleased to see that Tink has given him a clear path to his quarry for once; it's always more fun to see their faces when he hits full speed before he eviscerates them.
He charges across the chamber and leaps into Iuwlas's grill.