Urzok tries to slip his longsword behind and to the side of the fleeing fishman, hoping to have it cut itself along the razor edge as it turns to flee.
As the next fishman leaps upon him, he cuts it deep in retaliation!
"Run?! But all the bloody action is here!" he whines back to Jevar as he trots away from their foes, grinning.
________
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Shakur will swing his dagger of force at whatever enemies remain, starting with the closest to him.
"I thought we wanted to keep 'em in the hallway! That way they're only attacking the angry orc, not a squishy half-elf, human, or gnome!"
IF one is still standing at this point, Shakur will Jealous hex them.
Urzok embeds his sword into the fishperson’s back, sending it to the ground!
Jevar throws a burst of flame at the remaining fishperson.
Urzok then chops at the fishperson, his sword going halfway through its stomach before it collapses!
As the adrenaline exits the amnesiacs’ bodies, they put some stuff away, taking the time to patch up their wounds, fix a broken shield, and play on a jaw harp to Refocus.
However, not long after the last fish-person fell—no more than 2 minutes—there is the sound of a nearby door slamming open, followed by the sound of squishing and sloshing!
Round 1
============
Boodiddly
Jevar
Shakur
Urzok (-43)
???
!!!
============
"Shit!" Urzok whispers angrily, pulling his sword from the ground. "I'm not doing so hot right now, we've got to play this one carefully."
Taking the blade in two hands, he gets ready to slug the first fishperson to rush him.
________
”Shh!” Boodiddly shushes unnecessarily. Slipping his instrument back into his belt, he pulls out his crossbow and slowly slides a bolt into the notch.
In direct reaction to Boodiddly's "shh", Shakur shouts a prayer to Pharasma after stowing his healer's tools.
[A]Stow Healers Tools
[AA]Heal Urzok
"How's that feel? Go get 'em tiger."
And here, I never gave this back to you before when I'd repaired it. In case it comes in handy now...
At that moment, several squishing sounds echo as suddenly another “puddle” rounds the corner. Almost immediately afterward, the sound of several footsteps erupts followed by horrified, gurgling shrieks! Just then, another fishperson rounds the corner and closes the distance with Jevar. Then another. And a third and fourth. Only the two in the back Make an attempt to attack, as they both chuck half-eaten chunks of fish at Jevar!
Round 1
============
Boodiddly
Jevar
Shakur
Urzok
Ooze
Red
Yellow
Green
Blue
============
Jevar starts in fright when the fishperson appears in front of him.
Not that you likely understand me... but how many of you are there?
He doesn't wait for an answer before attempting to burn this one and then backing up to make room for others to surround the new entrants.
"Not enough, Human!" Urzok responds gleefully. He hacks at the latest fishperson with his sword, clearly having missed his true calling as a butcher.
________
Boodiddly whistles a few notes, and Bernard answers with a hearty bwarp bwarp. Feeling better with that done, the gnome grabs a bit of broken stone and hurls it at the nearest fish-person. "As long as they're not spawning from somewhere, this is a rather defensible position," he suggests.
Seeing his allies obliterate the frog people, Shakur simply shrugs and joins in.
Shakur then draws his Wand of Bless as he looks to Boodiddly. "Switch to defense. He's probably going to need it. I've got the offensive help."
Jevar throws a bolt of fire at the nearest fishperson.
Urzok swings and completely decapitates the closest fishperson.
Boodiddly magically chucks a stone that strikes the Red fishperson square in the head, leaving a massive dent in its skull! But it nevertheless is still standing.
Shakur magically chucks one of his daggers, but narrowly misses the fishperson.
The ooze then pounces forward as it moves to the front line and swings a pseudopod at Urzok!
Red grabs at the dent in its head from Boodiddly’s stone. It points at Urzok and speaks in a croaking voice, and to the amnesiacs’ surprise—while it takes a bit of mental work to determine what is being said—they can actually understand what the creature is saying!
”YoUr ToWn WiLl DrOwN iN tHe FlOoDs Of FaThEr DaGoN!”
Red then retreats and grabs one of the barrels in the next room.
Blue and Green likewise drop their half-eaten foodstuffs and move to grab the other two barrels before closing the distance and moving into the hallway.
Round 2
============
Boodiddly
Jevar
Shakur
Urzok
Ooze
Red (-30)
Green
Blue
============
Oh! They speak common! Dagon?
Jevar thinks on the name for a moment before trying to burn the next one up.
"Remember, the ooze can't be cut or poked easily," Boodiddly cautions as he changes his tune. "Clara, let's do something more steady." The toad obliges with a series of even bworps that the gnome embellishes with his own bwarps.
Shakur walks up behind Urzok and uses the wand in a plea for help, "Pharasma, accept these creatures into your domain."
[A] Move
[AA] Cast bless.
"Unless you're hiding a club under your clothes, cutting and poking are all I'm going to be willing to do to this thing!" Urzok calls back. Reinforcing his point, he hacks into the Ooze with a mighty roar.
________
The amnesiacs all pelt the ooze with various forms of attack, including managing to set it on fire!
The ooze then lurches forward as it moves to Strike Urzok with its pseudopod!
Blue then chucks a barrel over the ooze and toward Urzok!
Blue then moves back and grabs another barrel.
Green then Steps forward and similarly chucks a barrel at Urzok!
Green then retreats back to the barrels.
Red does the exact same thing as Green: advance forward, chuck barrel, retreat.
And while Urzok is hit by two flying barrels, Boodiddly’s song prevents some of the damage.
Round 3
============
Boodiddly
Jevar
Shakur
Urzok (-13)
Ooze (-61 from “1” attacks [before resistances]) {3d4 persistent fire}
Red (-30)
Green
Blue
============
"Keep it up!"
Shakur maintains bless, extending the range to include everybody, and uses telekinetic projectile on the ooze.
Ah, this makes sense. Dagon is the demon lord of deformity, and sea creatures. His followers do tend to be evil denizens of the deep.
Jevar moves to the opposite side of the well for a slightly clearer shot.
"I suppose I can't really argue with that." Boodiddly chucks another stone at the ooze while Debussy continues holding down the bassline.
"Yikes, what does someone have to do to be the Lord of Ugly?" Urzok asks, following up with a vicious glare at the middle fishperson. With the Ooze continuing to defy death, he continues to hack at it.
________
Shakur just…can’t hit the ooze for some reason…
Jevar chucks a bolt of fire that hits the ooze!
Boodiddly magically throws a stone that pierces through the ooze, causing it to pop like a water balloon!
Urzok yells at the fishperson, and it seems that the half-orc’s words hit a little too close to home… Urzok then advances forward and embeds his sword deep into Red, breaking that fishperson’s spine and sending it into unconsciousness!
Blue looks at Urzok in pure terror, but nevertheless drops the barrel in its hands and attacks the half-orc!
Green likewise stops what it’s doing and attacks Urzok!
But Urzok manages to out-maneuver most of the fishpeople’s attacks.
Round 4
============
Boodiddly
Jevar
Shakur
Urzok (-21)
Green
Blue {frightened 1}
============
Frowning that his teammate is moving back through the tunnel, Jevar advances just enough to get the immediate fish-man in his sights.
Urzok, we're supposed to surround them back here, no go get surrounded there! the gruff wizard hollers down the hall.
"How many barrels do I have to take to the face before it is ok to charge them?!" Urzok counters. Nevertheless, he swings at the mortified fishperson and doubles back.
________
Jevar’s and Urzok’s efforts manage to down the Blue fishperson!
Shakur Steps forward and uses telekinetic projectile.
Since there’s only one left, Boodiddly will forgo continuing his performance to instead advance and use telekinetic projectile.
And with that final rock, the last of the fishpeople falls. The amnesiacs hold their ground for some time, expecting some more trouble. But when trouble doesn’t arrive after several minutes, they choose to settle down and handle some minor stuff.
As the amnesiacs search the fishpeople they find nothing on their persons save that one of them had a key on them. As Jevar returns Urzok’s fully-repaired shield to him, the amnesiacs move on to the room where the first wave of deep ones were.
The many wooden shelves in this room are stacked with wooden crates, paper-wrapped packets, and small clay jars sealed with wax. Smoked trout and other dried fish hang from metal hooks fixed to the ceiling. A number of boxes and containers have been emptied and smashed, and now lie in pieces on the floor, along with discarded fish bones and other refuse. A search through the area reveals little besides the various foodstuffs in the room, so the amnesiacs continue through the now-open door to the north.
The walls of this cool and surprisingly dry subterranean room are lined with sturdy shelves laden with chopped wood. A couple of axes sit propped in the corner, and a small hatchet is driven into a stump used to split smaller logs and make kindling. To the north is an open doorway that leads to a stairwell that leads upwards. To the east is a closed and locked door.
The key that the amnesiacs got off of one of the deep ones’ body fits in the locked door to the east.
This dark hallway leads to a row of three doors along the northern wall, each fitted with a small grate in the middle. A single door stands in the southern wall.
A trio of deep ones stand in this room, all seemingly conversing with one another. When the amnesiacs open the door , all three of the deep ones leap a foot off the ground in pure fright as they shriek and attack anything that moves!
Round 1
================
Boodiddly/Shakur
Urzok
Yellow {frightened 1}
Green {frightened 1}
Blue {frightened 1}
Jevar
================
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Is anybody getting their language yet? Urzok, say "Dagon be with you, and also with you" before you beat them this time.
"More frog things? Sure hope the leader here isn't secretly ALSO a frog."
Shakur telekinetically throws a dagger at the green frog.
He then casts Guidance on Urzok and says, "After you, orc!"
"Thank you kindly, sir!" Urzok says in what can only be his most pretentious (and terrible) Elven accent.
Walking into the room, he points his sword at the closest Deep One. "DAGON BE WITH YOU!" he shouts before cutting it open.
________
Shakur’s dagger embeds itself in the deep one’s chest, distracting it long enough for Urzok to move up and slice it in half!
Boodiddly casts inspired defense followed by telekinetic projectile.
And the chucked rock dents the creature’s skull!
The two deep ones look at one another and nod. Blue sprints forward to get between Urzok and Shakur!
And even though Urzok leaves a long gash along the creature’s stomach, it makes it to its position and bides its time.
Yellow then Steps to the south to flank Urzok, and as soon as it does, the other deep one lashes out at the half-orc with its bite!
Yellow then bites and claws at Urzok.
And the deep ones get over their nerves, though they are still clearly outmatched.
Round 1/2
================
Shakur
Boodiddly
Urzok (-15)
Yellow (-28)
Blue (-24)
Jevar
================
Shakur yawns a bit as he practically flicks another dagger at the blue one after using guidance on himself.
*2 = 34
Jevar frowns at the fishmen, and muses. Are these as strong as they get, or is something "bigger" in store for us...
Then after a brief pause to mutter his incantation...
Urzok! Lean to the side!
Shakur and Jevar quickly dispatch the remaining two deep ones.
With the jailers dispatched, the amnesiacs search through the cells—well, as much as they can without opening them; neither of the deep ones had a key. Thankfully the barred slots in the doors allows for being able to see into it.
The three cells are dirty, and the smell of waste and rotting flesh fills the area. The leftmost cell has its door ajar and is empty. The middle cell has two occupants: humans that have been mangled and butchered past the point of plausible survivability. The rightmost cell has a single occupant: a young adult human man who is curled up in a corner, lying on his side and facing away from the door, and his body unmoving.
Peeking into the final cell, Jevar exclaims There's someone in here, and he's alive! Shakur, can you treat him?
"These things are gross," Urzok comments while cleaning off his sword. "I'll stand guard over here."
Moving to the other side of the door at the end of the hallway, the Orc leaves the others to deal with the only surviving occupant of the prison cells.
The amnesiacs quickly enter the rightmost cell and help its occupant—a malnourished human man in his early 20s. As the amnesiacs loudly open the cell door, the man slowly looks up and turns to look at them, his voice weak. ”Who…are you?”
As they quickly fill up the cell, Jevar moves urgently to restore the man's health. Fumbling into his belt pouch...
Here! No, not that... those are blight bombs... it's somewhere in here...
He finally draws a days worth of rations to shove into the mans hands.
My associates are going to want to ask you some questions, so replenish your energy quickly!
With a sudden surge of energy, the man grabs the rations from Jevar and begins to quickly devour them.
Very good, take your time and eat.
He gives the man several minutes to eat before beginning with the questions.
Firstly, what is your name?
He pauses, waits, and then introduces the party.
Where were you brought here from? And were you alone or captured with others? Did they make their intentions for you clear?
Firstly, what is your name?
He pauses, waits, and then introduces the party.
Where were you brought here from? And were you alone or captured with others? Did they make their intentions for you clear?
Through mouthfuls, the man says ”My name is Sholn. I, uh…I’m from Thrushmoor. I was resting under a bridge where me and my sister Holissa live. She went out to get some food and before long I was just being beaten by some people in black. When I regained consciousness I was here, with those things,” he motions to the deep ones. ”Standing watch. I…I don’t even know where ‘here’ is. Those things seemed to understand me when I tried saying something to them—where I am and what they’re going to do—but they just ignored me. I…I’ve lost track of how long I’ve even been here…”
"Ha! Didn't think we'd actually be able to cash in on that one. Won't she be pleased," Urzok calls in from the hallway. "Hey, Human, ask the kid if he has any idea how many of those Deep Ones there were."
”I can hear you, you know.” Sholn calls back. ”And I only ever saw the three that were in here. Are you…are you going to take me out of here?”
Jevar frowns on behalf of the orc yelling from outside of the cell, then responds to the boy.
Yes, we should get you out of here quickly, before we found out just how many more of them there are.
The wizard leads him to the well-room.
"Heading out then? We should be quick about it, no telling how long before another shift comes in or something," Urzok warns.
________
"Here!" Boodiddly tears off the bottom of his bookmark. "I made a map of the tunnels on our way in. Well, tried to at least. Don't go down any of the paths with the red X's - those were dead ends. Or wrong ways and we had to double back. And, uh, ignore the lyrics. They're not finished yet." He passes the young man the map and give him a thumbs-up. "We have to see if there's more folks in here that need rescuing, but you should get out while the getting is good."
Sholn takes the makeshift map from Boodiddly and looks it over. ”Well, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to trek through an unfavorable area. I think I can manage.” He turns to begin descending down the well before turning back to the amnesiacs. ”Thank you.” Sholn climbs down the well.
Returning to the jail, the amnesiacs find that the only remaining direction to go on this floor is a doorway to the south, but the doorway is locked.
Crit; counts as 2 successes
Success; lock’s open.
In mere seconds Boodiddly takes out his lockpicks and opens the locked door.
Motes of dust hang heavy in this room’s stale air. Crates and barrels stand along the damp stone walls. A plastered portion of the wall in the southwest corner of the room has begun to crack.
It is clear that this room has gone unused for a long time, as a heavy coat of dust lies on sealed crates full of old clothing, out-of-fashion furniture, outdated militia uniforms, disassembled weapon racks, broken furniture, tapestries in need of patching, extra bedclothes and chamber pots, and files that date as far back as the late 4670s.
Boodiddly and Jevar notice that the cracked portion of the wall in the southwest corner appears to have once been a corridor that was sealed up with stone blocks and plastered over long ago—though the job was overall quite hasty.
Jevar points at the crack in the wall.
Urzok, it looks like there's a passage there that was hastily and shoddily sealed up long ago. Do you think you could bash it open?
"Damn right I can," Urzok says, pulling his old longsword out. With the pommel, he starts bashing at the latest addition to the room.
________
It takes a few minutes for Urzok to beat down the wall, but it breaks easily—the dampness of this room combined with the hasty stonework has caused the plaster to crack, and when subjected to force, the wall falls with relative ease.
Behind the wall is a short hallway filled with bales of hay. At the end of the hallway, barely visible through the bales of hay, is a door with a small grate in the middle—similar to the cell doors in the previous room, save that this one has a keyhole rather than a deadbolt lock.
From amid the bales of hay crawls several insects—cockroaches—that seem to stare at Urzok. What was at first three or four of the bugs soon becomes dozens as they continue to emerge from the hay. Then, like liquid pouring from a facet, dozens upon dozens more cockroaches spill forth from the grate in the far door, adding on to the accumulating swarm in the bales of hay!
Urzok: Using the Athletics roll above of 28
Round 1
==================
Shakur
Urzok
Jevar
Boodiddly
Cockroach Swarm
==================
Urzok, this looks like something you burn in an area. Whatever you do, make sure to back away so I can throw some fire at it and not have it splash you.