Tink really wishes he had prepared another spirit share instead of liberating command. He could stop Loiosh's poison right now! Even another carry companion would help.
Bah!
He pulls a potion of delay poison from his bandolier and prepares to administer it to his friend. He can feel Loiosh's addled mind and really hopes that he doesn't lose a hand while doing it.
"Loiosh, I don't know if you understand me, but take this!"
Veldanis's eyes go unfocused, and he stares off into the middle distance.
"I... I see the sun in the stone. It wears the Crone's face. She is disappointed in me, and mocks me. My ancestors stand in a line behind her, each waiting a turn to flog my soul for my folly."
Panting and feeling a little woozy, Rand stumbles up to V and shakes his shoulder gently. "V, buddy. You... you with us?"
Astrid doesn't quite lower her bow all the way, her brow furrowed. "Stay back, Rand. I think the toxins have addled his mind. There's no telling what he'll do. And, uh. That's... a big damn sword."
[color=maroon]"NO STATUE! CHUNKY BUTT!"[/color]
Psychepore #1 (dead)
Rand (102/105 hp, 7 str damage, 3 wis damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (90/90 hp, wave shielded, grappled, poisoned [4 rounds], confused [1 round], 2 wis damage)
V (125/125 hp, poisoned [4 rounds], 3 wis damage)
Psychepore #2 (dead)
Bold may act.
Tink takes advantage of Loiosh's distracted state to pour the potion down Loiosh's gaping maw. As he is doing so, he calls to the others, "I have another potion that V can have!"
Loiosh snaps at V.
V feels the grip the poison had on his mind finally release.
Rand (102/105 hp, 7 str damage, 3 wis damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (90/90 hp, wave shielded, 2 wis damage)
V (125/125 hp, 3 wis damage)
Tink pulls out his two remaining potions of lesser restoration. "Who needs them?"
Rand, wavering on his feet, makes grabby-hands at one of them.
Rand glares at the empty vial. "I think it was past its expiration date."
Astrid waves away the last potion, but looks concernedly at the monk. "You good?" Then the look passes to V. "You?"
Rand rubs his eyes to make the sparklies go away, which only makes them worse, and sighs. "Better. Technically. Nothing a little sleep won't take care of." He scowls at the grimy, fungal surroundings. "Which we can't do just yet, I guess. Well, whatever. I'll survive."
I hope.
Veldanis pats his friend on the back and also waves away the last potion. "Still kinda woozy, but I'll make do. That was... uh... did I say anything... weird?"
Randall Shadowcrown fights his most fearsome battle yet: against his own big mouth. After a titanic struggle that's plain across his face, he says "NOPE" and continues down the corridor.
Rand finds the end of the narrow corridors housing the fungus farm. Two landing pads of rocky earth open from the sheer stone face of a vast fissure. These entry points quickly converge to form a grandiose chamber of roughly hewn stone. Three small passages lead out from the area to the south.
Oh, and there's some morlocks.
Rand recognizes the destroyers and the creepers; his skin itches and his muscles spasm as he remembers the blightburn poison the creepers' darts carry. He also sees a trio of morlocks that look a bit beefier than the rank-and-file, though not quite as beefy as the destroyers.
The creepers respond to Rand's sudden arrival by scrambling up the walls to the ceiling and readying their spicy darts.
Creeper #1 (0 damage, climbing [15'], swarming)
Creeper #2 (0 damage, climbing [15'], swarming)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (90/90 hp, wave shielded, 2 wis damage)
Advanced Morlock #1 (0 damage)
Advanced Morlock #2 (0 damage)
Advanced Morlock #3 (0 damage)
Destroyer (0 damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Randall (105/105 hp, 7 str damage, 2 wis damage)
Veldanis (125/125 hp, 3 wis damage)
Bold may act.
Tink is on the ball, despite being behind the entire party and Rand having to literally mention that there are more enemies. He rushes Loiosh past the others, just into the entrance of this... enormous chamber. He grins.
"Who's ready for Big Loiosh?"
[color=maroon]"BIG! LOIOSH!"[/color]
Tink laughs, chants a few words, and touches his mount, who grows back to his normal nearly 12 foot height. The magical saddle automatically sizes itself to fit and Tink rides out the whole process, still mounted. Then he leans over and whispers, "Hold here, bud. Let them come to us."
[color=maroon]"HOLD! HERE! BUD!"[/color]
The morlocks seem a little taken aback by Loiosh's sudden growth, but, to their credit, they advance on him anyway. #1 gets a little ahead of the other two as it charges, and Loiosh takes its head (and a good portion of its torso) off in a single bite. The other two momentarily pause, look warily toward the corridor to the south, and continue their advance. They seem to almost merge as they do, becoming what looks like a single being. They are now harder to track with the eye, but that hardly helps them as their clubs bounce harmlessly off Loiosh's tough hide.
The destroyer goes into a frothing rage; spittle and Undercommon curses fly from his lips as he charges the allosaur. He has much better luck than his smaller brethren; the club smashes across Loiosh's jaw, and the crack of bone and teeth breaking is audible even to Astrid down the hallway . The club smashes into Loiosh, and everyone thinks it's going to be a formidable blow, but the blue aquatic energy that has been surrounding Loiosh since the psychepore fight flashes and disappears, and Loiosh is untouched.
The morlocks have the good sense to look worried.
Creeper #1 (0 damage, climbing [15'], swarming)
Creeper #2 (0 damage, climbing [15'], swarming)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (90/90 hp, 2 wis damage)
Advanced Morlock #1 (dead)
Advanced Morlock #2 (0 damage, swarming)
Advanced Morlock #3 (0 damage, swarming)
Destroyer (0 damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Randall (105/105 hp, 7 str damage, 2 wis damage)
Veldanis (125/125 hp, 3 wis damage)
Bold may act.
Rand groans at the sight of more damn creepers, the bane of his existence. But then he looks past the feet of the absolute unit that is Loiosh at the Destroyer.
Well, Hells. Why should V get all the fun? And it's so very, very flankable right now...
Dropping easily into Snake Stance, Randall blinks out of existence and blinks back into existence directly behind the Destroyer, flanking it with a swift jab of his fingers into the nape of its neck.
Magical, Piercing
Astrid sighs and shakes her head. "Next time let me go first, punch-brain."
She strides in behind Loiosh and begins plucking her strings in a frantic, staccato rhythm that gets her allies' blood pumping.
V really wants to let the song juice him up, but he forces himself to keep a clear head for the moment. Those creepers climbing the walls are a huge pain in the ass, and Rand is going to need backup. He's crap with a bow, so...
"Hate doing this," he grumbles. He closes his eyes and emits a deep, low thrum, like the very earth itself is humming deep down in its tectonic plates, and his hands and feet begin to shimmer slightly as if wearing gloves and boots made of congealed air. When he scrambles up the stone walls, it's instantly recognizable what's happened.
With a few quick hops, he's on the ceiling and rushing the creepers, Hoblopper out and ready to do some lopping.
grax hasted
mates returning weapon
When Rand voips out of existence, the destroyer, who only has eyes for the giant dinosaur, immediately forgets about him. So it comes as quite a surprise when pain explodes up his spine and through his head. He just manages to avoid being stunned, however. (Not that that will keep him alive.)
The creepers' eyes go wide as the giant man with the giant sword climbs to the ceiling as easily as they do. They quickly shift the intended target of their darts from Rand to V, even though the big man is a little further away. They each fire two darts, but only one hits since Loiosh's ginormous head is providing nice cover for him.
V feels the poison surge through his bloodstream, but his hardiness minimizes its effect (for now). His hardiness does not help with the smell, though.
Each creeper steps just a little bit further away from the man they probably just pissed off even more.
Creeper #1 (0 damage, climbing [15'], swarming)
Creeper #2 (0 damage, climbing [15'], swarming)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (90/90 hp, 2 wis damage)
Advanced Morlock #1 (dead)
Advanced Morlock #2 (0 damage, swarming)
Advanced Morlock #3 (0 damage, swarming)
Destroyer (24 damage, -2 AC [1 round])
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Randall (105/105 hp, 7 str damage, 2 wis damage)
Veldanis (110/125 hp, 3 wis damage, 1 str damage, poisoned [5 rounds], stinky [10 minutes])
Bold may act.
Tink knows the biggest threat in this room is the poison on those creepers' darts. He chants a few words and points at the "ground" at their feet. A boiling torrent of water erupts from the ceiling, threatening to severely burn the creepers and send them tumbling to the (actual) ground below.
Then he pulls a potion of delay poison from his bandolier and holds it out to V. "Take this! It'll help!"
Loiosh bobs his head in time with Astrid's sick beat. GODS it gets him SO PUMPED!
He goes after the little guys first. He can almost swallow them in one bite!
grax hasted
mates returning weapon
Both creepers grit their teeth through the onslaught of boiling water and manage to stay firmly on the ceiling .
The "advanced" morlocks fare much, much worse. Credit where credit is due, though: #2 doesn't immediately die to Loiosh's bite. He has a split second to revel in his survival before the subsequent claw takes his head right off. #3 also eats a claw, but still lives, barely. It limps into a swarming formation with the destroyer and swings its club ineffectually against Loiosh's hide.
The destroyer's club is much larger and much clubbier, and this time Loiosh doesn't have a magical shield protecting him. The destroyer's second swing hits the ground harmlessly, but his first breaks Loiosh's jaw and sends multiple broken teeth flying .
Creeper #1 (5 damage, climbing [15'], swarming)
Creeper #2 (6 damage, climbing [15'], swarming)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (58/90 hp, 2 wis damage)
Advanced Morlock #1 (dead)
Advanced Morlock #2 (0 damage, swarming)
Advanced Morlock #3 (21 damage, swarming)
Destroyer (24 damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Randall (105/105 hp, 7 str damage, 2 wis damage)
Veldanis (110/125 hp, 3 wis damage, 1 str damage, poisoned [5 rounds], stinky [10 minutes])
Bold may act.
Rand snapss at the Destroyer, "He needs those to eat your corpse, you thoughtless jerk!"
He then unleashes an unholy barrage of stabbing fingers to murder the everloving sh*t out of the Destroyer, all to the beat of Astrid's song.
Magical, Piercing
Magical, Piercing
Magical, Piercing
Magical, Piercing
Magical, Piercing
Veldanis feels his blood pumping from Astrid's song, but knows he should be smart here, especially after seeing what that poison did to Rand. He snags the potion and downs it, nodding gratefully to Tink.
Astrid feels like the lads have it under control, so she continues the song, adding the twang of a few arrows into the mix but never losing the rhythm.
Ignore concealment, Magical, Piercing
Ignore concealment, Magical, Piercing
grax hasted till round 7
mates returning weapon
Things get very bad very quickly for the destroyer and his little swarming buddy. No need to belabor it: they're super dead.
Unfortunately for Astrid, however, the creepers are much harder to hit. Her arrows sail into the chasm beyond them.
However, the creepers--bereft of their protectors--nope right the hell out of there, scurrying across the ceiling, out the opening in the chamber to the north, and up and out of your lives forever.
Just as a hush falls over the enormous chamber (only mildly disturbed by Loiosh's loud chewing), you hear loud grunting and clanking, almost as if an enormous mutant morlock miniboss clad in scale mail and carrying a huge nine-ring bastard sword is squeezing through a narrow corridor. A second later, you discover that it is exactly that (what are the odds?). Her hulking frame pops out of the corridor and into the chamber like a broken tube of Hungry Jack biscuits. Her face is half hidden beneath a spiked metal crown and tangle of black hair, and a jagged row of too many teeth stretches wide as she snarls. Two smaller morlocks cling to her legs and screech in anger when they see their dead brethren.
She doesn't speak, instead rhythmically slamming her sword into the wooden shield the size of an interior castle door.
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (58/90 hp, 2 wis damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Randall (105/105 hp, 7 str damage, 2 wis damage)
Veldanis (110/125 hp, 3 wis damage, 1 str damage, stinky [10 minutes])
BIG MORLOCK (0 damage, swarming)
Mate #1 (0 damage, swarming)
Mate #2 (0 damage, swarming)
Bold may act.
"Well, she seems nice. Time to bring out the big guns." He lifts both hands to the ceiling, screaming an incantation in Druidish, then rips his hands down to his sides. A burst of furnace hot air blasts downward on the newcomers' heads.
"I would advise you avoid that area. Loiosh, stay."
Loiosh whimpers at Tink's command. She is the biggest meal he has seen in weeks!
grax hasted till round 7
mates returning weapon
The big scary lady--with her head a mere 2-3 feet from the ceiling--takes the brunt of the force from the spell, which knocks her to the ground. Her enormous bulk protects her companions from the initial blast, and they manage to keep their feet.
They all look very tired, though.
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (58/90 hp, 2 wis damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Randall (105/105 hp, 7 str damage, 2 wis damage)
Veldanis (110/125 hp, 3 wis damage, 1 str damage, stinky [10 minutes])
BIG MORLOCK (21 damage, swarming, fatigued, prone)
Mate #1 (12 damage, swarming, fatigued)
Mate #2 (13 damage, swarming, fatigued)
Bold may act.
Rand scoffs at Tink. "Well what the Hells am I supposed to do?? I don't have a bow or anything and I can't shoot my fist at her!"
He stands there with his arms crossed looking sullen.
Controlled Inspired Rage (+2 Str, +2 Dex, no Will bonus, no AC penalty)
AC 26 | T 26 | FF 19
Unarmed Strike +16/+16/+11/+6, 1d10+8 plus 2d6 Sneak Attack and 1d6 Electricity
V scurries along the ceiling, making some room between him and the newcomers and waits to see what they do, all the while tapping his foot to the rhythm plucked on Astrid's strings.
Spider Climb (20 ft climb spd, 4 hours remain)
Power Attack (-3 Atk, +6 Dmg 1H / +9 Dmg 2H / +4 Dmg light)
Furious Focus (No atk penalty on first attack with PA)
Controlled Inspired Rage (+2 Str, +2 Dex, no Will bonus, no AC penalty)
AC 28 | 17 Tch | 24 FF
F +13* | R +14* | W +10* (* +2 vs enchantments, +4 vs hot/cold env. effects)
Hoblopper +18/+10/+5, 2d6+19 S, 17-20/x2
Astrid doesn't like the look of this new blood. She backpedals around Loiosh to put the muscle between her and the morlocks, all the while still thrumming her bowstring and chanting low and guttural, but there's a faint, frantic note in it now. She doesn't let her nerves get to her often, but getting startled by a massive armored beast like the new woman definitely did.
She is comforted, however, by the effectiveness of Tink's spell. Maybe they won't be so bad, after all.
She pops off an arrow just to be sure.
Magical, Piercing
Controlled Inspired Rage (+2 Str, +2 Dex, no Will bonus, no AC penalty)
AC 28 | T 17 | FF 22
F +12 | R +13 | W +11
+2 adaptive seeking composite longbow +15/+10, 1d8+10 P, 20/x3, Rg 110
grax hasted till round 7
mates returning weapon
Astrid's arrow slams into the morlock's prone form, who barely seems to notice .
Grax stands and trudges her way out of the roiling hellscape. Despite the carnage wrought in this room by the party, she shows no fear as she moves directly next to Rand and upside-down V (or ∧ if you will). Her two companions scurry along behind her. Once they have swarmed with her--becoming the now very familiar beast-with-three-backs-and-so-so-many-limbs--they each toss their Xena weapon (yep, they have chakrams) at ∧. And they each fail spectacularly. On the bright side (for them), the chakrams voip back to their hands after they clatter to the ground.
Randall (105/105 hp, 7 str damage, 2 wis damage)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (58/90 hp, 2 wis damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
∧eldanis (110/125 hp, 3 wis damage, 1 str damage, stinky [10 minutes])
Chief Grax (38 damage, swarming, fatigued)
Mate #1 (12 damage, swarming, fatigued)
Mate #2 (14 damage, swarming, fatigued)
Bold may act.
Tink looks triumphant when his spell knocks the big one down, and then despondent when all three of them leave the area of affect without further injury.
Will need to immobilize them first next time...
"Okay, let's try this one again then." He points a finger at Grax and says, "Say 'meow'."
When Grax doesn't say 'meow', Tink looks crestfallen. "Nothing is working, Loiosh! Why don't we just go eat them?"
Loiosh doesn't need to be told twice. He skirts his way around the room and tries to find somewhere on the heavily armored beast of a woman where he can bite.
grax hasted till round 7
mates returning weapon
Tink's save-or-suck spell sucks, but Loiosh is always there to redeem the pair, especially with Astrid's banger of a tune hyping him up. The only flesh exposed on her body is the bottom half of her face, so that is what he aims for; he ends up with her whole head in his mouth and refuses to let go, pulling her closer to him (exposing one of her previously swarming mates).
Randall (105/105 hp, 7 str damage, 2 wis damage)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (58/90 hp, 2 wis damage, grappled)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
∧eldanis (110/125 hp, 3 wis damage, 1 str damage, stinky [10 minutes])
Chief Grax (60 damage, swarming, fatigued, grappled)
Mate #1 (12 damage, swarming, fatigued)
Mate #2 (14 damage, fatigued)
Bold may act.
Rand steps into position after Loiosh starts snacking, says "Don't mind if I do," and starts wailing the everloving crap out of Grax . Not wanting anything to do with that huge sword, he keeps his guard up.
Magical, Piercing
Magical, Piercing
Magical, Piercing
Magical, Piercing
Combat Expertise (-3 attack, +3 dodge to AC until beginning of next turn)
Controlled Inspired Rage (+2 Str, +2 Dex, no Will bonus, no AC penalty)
AC 29 | T 29 | FF 19
Unarmed Strike +16/+16/+11/+6, 1d10+8 plus 2d6 Sneak Attack and 1d6 Electricity
Astrid keeps strumming and steps to the side to get slightly better vantage, then fires off three arrows at the little leg-humper that's open.
Ignores concealment, Magical, Piercing
Ignores concealment, Magical, Piercing
Ignores concealment, Magical, Piercing
Rapid Shot (additional ranged attack, all attacks at -2 penalty)
Point-Blank Shot (+1 to attack and damage with ranged weapons within 30 ft)
Controlled Inspired Rage (+2 Str, +2 Dex, no Will bonus, no AC penalty)
AC 28 | T 17 | FF 22
F +12 | R +13 | W +11
+2 adaptive seeking composite longbow +14/+14/+9, 1d8+11 P, 20/x3, Rg 110
V sorry, ʌ is used to flanking with Rand to target weak points in an enemy's defense. All this hanging out by himself is getting frustrating. Unfortunately there's no open space opposite the allosaur--not unless he makes one. He takes advantage of Grax being distracted to move around to the open mate and hacks down viciously at it.
Adamantine, Magical, Slashing
Spider Climb (20 ft climb spd, 4 hours remain)
Power Attack (-3 Atk, +6 Dmg 1H / +9 Dmg 2H / +4 Dmg light)
Furious Focus (No atk penalty on first attack with PA)
Vital Strike (+2 weapon dice, standard action)
Controlled Inspired Rage (+2 Str, +2 Dex, no Will bonus, no AC penalty)
AC 28 | 17 Tch | 24 FF
F +13* | R +14* | W +10* (* +2 vs enchantments, +4 vs hot/cold env. effects)
Hoblopper +18, 4d6+21 S, 17-20/x2
grax hasted till round 7
mates returning weapon
This party continues to prove that they are unmatched in a straight-up martial battle. Rand lands three of four strikes (though Grax easily tanks the stunning fist); Astrid puts all three of her arrows into mate #2; and V (who can just reach the morlock's head) nearly bisects its head.
Bad news: despite being bloodied and clearly close to going down, all three of them still stand.
Good news: Grax's fatigue gets the best of her and she struggles to wield her enormous sword. All four of her vicious swings against Rand slam into the ground next to him.
Mate #2 moves back into a swarming formation with Grax, and both mates swipe their chakrams at Rand rather than throwing them this time around. Maybe if they don't die this round they'll figure out that he is impossible to hit.
Randall (105/105 hp, 7 str damage, 2 wis damage)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (58/90 hp, 2 wis damage, grappled)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Veldanis (110/125 hp, 3 wis damage, 1 str damage, stinky [10 minutes])
Chief Grax (137 damage, swarming, fatigued, grappled)
Mate #1 (12 damage, swarming, fatigued)
Mate #2 (96 damage, swarming, fatigued)
Bold may act.
Tink thinks this is well in hand. He doesn't expend another spell, instead encouraging Loiosh to finish off Grax.
With Grax's head in his mouth, Loiosh squeezes.
He is surprised when the head doesn't come off, so he swipes his claws across her throat to help it along.
Loiosh takes Grax's head off, tries to chew, and spits it out when his teeth can't get through her heavy helmet. [color=maroon]"STUPID HAT."[/color]
The two mates are now fully exposed with their chieftess fallen. From here, the result of this miniboss battle is a foregone conclusion.
Mates:
- 2x +1 chakram (small)
- 2x +1 studded leather (small)
- 2x buckler (small)
- 2x cloak of resistance +1
- 2x filthy silk scarves (worthless)
- 2x gold and ivory necklace (300gp)
Advanced morlocks:
- 3x club
- and that's literally it
Destroyer:
- potion of cure serious wounds
- +1 greatclub
- mwk hide armor
- 4x throwing axe
Grax:
- +1 anarchic obsidian nine-ring broadsword (large)
- mwk heavy wooden shield (large)
- mwk scale mail (large)
- potion of haste
- 2x potion of resist energy (fire)
- jade crown (300 gp)
- a fist-sized, rune-etched stone shaped like a four-pointed star
- hmm, I guess her helmet was flavor because there's nothing on her charsheet