"Don't forget," Mitsuru says, yawning, "we're owed a bounty."
Returning the next day to the now deserted Licktoad Village, you find the beginning of the trail, and start following it.
"It feels...odd...turning in severed ears for a bounty but with this gold we could pick up more supplies. No telling what is waiting further in the swamp." he says counting their payment.
---
Talios helps lead the way once they find the trail, using his time in the wilds nearby yo guide them.
”Can’t imagine why anyone would want to live in this muck,” the shepherd remarks irritably as he picks twigs out of his hair and scrapes webs off his face. ”Disgusting.”
Rin woke up bright and early to complete her morning exercises before joining the others for another trek into the swamp. She hadn't found a good excuse to leave and rejoin as the Red Oni, so she hoped the others wouldn't question things too much when the masked warrior joined them.
"It has...privacy." The Red Oni replied to Emili, unable to find any real reason to live in the muck.
Talios finds the trail and is easily able to lead you through the swamp. It gets harder each time the path crosses water (a common occurrence in the Brinestump), but the skeletons (or whatever they are) were obviously not trying to cover their tracks.
A fifty-foot-high cliff rises along the marsh’s southern border,its face a thick tangle of jutting rocks and bright green vines and nettles. A curtain of these thick nettle vines partially conceals a cave opening at the base of the cliff.
The entrance to this cavern is covered with nettles that partially obscure the entrance.
"Cute. Homey, even," Mitsuru says, as they approach the cave entrance. "I can take a look inside, scout around a bit while you all get yourselves ready. How's that sound?"
"That may be wise but don't take too long, we don't know what could be lurking inside." Talios says pulling the bow off his back and waiting near the entrance, with an arrow ready to knock.
"If you need our help whistle." he whispers.
As Mistsuru begins into the cavern, the nettles she finds in her way.
She is able avoid them, but can tell that they would be painful if touched.
A few feet in, you can see the two paths- one leading off to the south where you can hear the trickle of running water and amuse that you would need to cross it to continue, but the other curving south after starting west out of sight.
Kage Kurai looks around, trying to get a sense of the area.
"Back in a flash!" Mitsuru says with a wink, before her form shifts and blurs, leaving a fox in her place. She turns and bounds her way into the cave.
Once inside, Mitsuru decides against trying to swim across an unknown, underground river, and heads down the tunnel to her right.
Kage cannot see that far into the area from outside the cave. bit as Mitsuru gets into L2 she starts to see spider webs. . . finally her eyes catch a glimpse of movement- some sort of much larger than average spider is definitely in L2.
Mitsuru decides not to press her luck, and heads back to the cave entrance. There, she resumes her human guise and calls through the plants to the others. "Careful of the nettles, but otherwise the entrance is clear. There's definitely giant spiders further in, though, so be ready!"
"Hmm, I don't think spiders were what gave the goblins trouble. I wonder what else lurks within." he asks while preparing to work his way through the nettles, he turns to Tenchi.
"I worried of these getting in our way if we need to retreat, will your blade cut through them?" he asks, unsure if it is insulting for the warrior to use his blade for...gardening.
Testing it, the blades do easily cut away the nettles- but at the risk of catching them.
Crack! Emili's whip deftly cuts through a handful of nettles and the shepherd grins cheekily. "Oh don't mind me - just testing a theory."
Emili easily clears away about half of the nettles, leaving them harmless on the floor where your boots protect you.
Taking a look around the area, the Red Oni agreed with her allies' assessment that the way was clear besides the nettle. With her blades already drawn she joined Emili in clearing the obstacle.
"Thank you." Talios says with a smile as Rin helps Emili with clearing the nettles away.
He steps into the cave, bow at the read, to rejoin Mitsuru.
"Should we deal with these spiders first? So they don't surprise us later." he asks peeking down the path she returned from.
"If something forces us to retreat from deeper within the complex, I would certainly not like to encounter them on the way out!"
As you creep into the webbed area, you see a single giant (size medium) spider in its mass of webs.
Round 1
Turn order:
1. Red Oni
2. Kage
3. Mitusuru
4. Spider
5. Talios
6. Emili
[ooc]There are webs about, but not enough to actually affect movement in any square currently[/ooc[
"Why did it have to be spiders!?" Rin screamed internally as she charged charged forward. With a quick display of acrobatics, the Red Oni flipped over the spider and lashed out with her blade. Leaving her positioned to flank the beast with her allies.
Mitsuru charges in after the Red Oni, taking advantage of the vigilante's theatrical acrobatics to stab the monster in the back.
Kage dashes after the two women.
Round 1
The Red Oni rushes forward and deals a dangerous blow to the spider.
Kage moves forward.
Mitsuru narrowly misses, and the spider bites back at the Red Oni:
hit!
Turn order:
1. Red Oni
2. Kage
3. Mitusuru
4. Spider
5. Talios
6. Emili
Status:
Red Oni: 6/10, pending DC 14 save vs poison for 2 STR damage
Talios weaves through the narrow tunnel with his bow, reaching the opening before trying to identify the arachnid. Then he fires his bow into the melee, careful not to hit allies.
Talios shot strikes true, and the arrow pierces the spider's body, slaying it!
Status:
Red Oni: 6/10, pending DC 14 save vs poison for 2 STR damage
You see a creature wrapped in spider webs, that looks like it was just about to be a meal for the giant spider.
The lizard is immobilized and near death, if you leave it alone it will die on its own.
"Nice shot!" Mitsuru says to Talios, before turning to the Red Oni. "Are you feeling all right? That bite looked bad."
"Thanks, little more room to move around in this cave compared to the goblin village! Let me check your wounds, Red." he says offering to heal her wounds.
"This creature is a giant gecko, we can't leave it to just die. Fascinating creature that can climb sheer walls with ease thanks to the hairs covering their toes." he gets ready to cut it down but pauses for a moment.
"I am not skilled with actually handling animals, I am not sure if it will lash out in fear. May be best to step back." he says working on the webs with his dagger.
"Fair enough, though I usually just work with sheep and dogs," Emili answers. Slowly he approaches the gecko, trying to get a sense of what might scare it before offering it a broken spider leg. They eat bugs, right? Pretty sure the little ones do... he tries to reassure himself.
"Nice shot!" Mitsuru says to Talios, before turning to the Red Oni. "Are you feeling all right? That bite looked bad."
"Yes, thankfully it's fangs just scrapped me." The Red Oni replied as she held the wound for Talios to examine. Glad that her mask hid the utter fear she had of the creature.
Emili cautiously approaches the gecko, and carefully extracts it from the webs. The creature appears docile, though very scared.
As you reconsolidate and start moving forward, Mitsuru catches a glimpse of some kind of crystal lying in the passage to the west, reflecting the scant light in the cave.
Mitsuru gives the Red Oni a relieved thumbs up before leaving to scout ahead again. She pauses for a moment to take in what Emili is up to, then gives him a broad smile once she realizes what he's up to. "Tell me what you decide to name him, eh? she calls over her shoulder, as she moves on again. Eventually she catches a flash of light in the corner of her eyes.
"Oh, what's this?" Mitsuru says to no one, her voice taking on an intrigued tone. Turning back to the others, she points down the tunnel toward the crystal. "Spotted something interesting, be right back!"
With that, she resumes her fox guise and heads down the tunnel, as stealthily as her excitement will let her.
As you get within about 10 ft. the crystals become clearer. They are submerged in the water and would require entering the waist high pool to retrieve.
With her keen eye for treasure, Mitsuru quickly realizes the crystals aren't nearly as interesting as she'd hoped, and she bounds her way back to the others. Returning to her human appearance, she lets out an exasperated sigh before reporting in. "False alarm, just some crystals. Worth a little bit of money, but nothing earth shattering. Might be good to grab them on our way out, though."
Talios smiles as Emili is able to keep the animal calm, "Have a trained gecko in this cave might just be a true blessing." he remarks as he looks over the creature.
When Mitsuru heads back to the group with the news he nods, "Definitely, I don't think anyone will nab them and easier not to lug them through here."
Emili smiles, scratching the underside of the gecko’s chin. ”I suppose we could call him Spot until we come up with something better,” he says slowly. ”He is rather spotted, after all. But he’s quite likely to flee at the first sign of danger, so let’s keep him out of harms way as much as possible.”
As Mitsuru reports back on the (relatively) low value of the gemstones, the shepherd laughs. ”Gold is gold, after all. And you said the water didn’t even go over your head? Let’s retrieve those now in case we have to leave this place in a hurry. I don’t mind getting wet.”
As Emili steps into the water, he sees motion- a creature has formed itself from a seemingly shapeless and nearly invisible state and is moving to attack!
[Spoiler=Knowledge Dungeoneering DC 10]This is a Giant Amoeba, a type of essntially mindless ooze. It has acid on it that inflicts with its slam and can grab and constrict.
Round 1
Turn order:
1. Emili
2. Talios
3. Amoeba
4. Red Oni
5. Kage
6. Mitsuru
"Whoops, looks like somebody's home!" Emili glances at his boots stowed against the wall, then sighs and draws his dagger. "Oi, folks, anybody want to burst this thing's bubble?"
Talios hears the commotion and rushes through the tight, seeing the odd amoeba creature. He tries to identify it before firing off an arrow.
Round 1
Emili and Talios both hit, the ooze being very immobile.
Then it slimes forward and tries to slam into Emili:
hit!
and it grapples him!
Turn order:
1. Emili
2. Talios
3. Amoeba
4. Red Oni
5. Kage
6. Mitsuru
Status:
Amoeba: -4
Emili: 5/12, grappled
Red Oni: 6/10
"What the hell is that!?" Mitsuru exclaims, her tone both surprised and disgusted. All the same, she draws her dagger and steps up, putting herself between the creature and Talios.
"What the hell is that!?" Mitsuru exclaims
"That's what I was wondering!" The Red Oni replied to Mitsuru as the two women ran towards the slime. As Mitsuru placed herself in front of Talios, The Red Oni maneuvered to flank the creature.
"It's too busy digesting my legs to attack you, Oni!" Emili yells as he watches the agile warrior fly through the air. "Stop showing off and just stab it already!" He cuts it again with his dagger, trying to stave off digestion long enough to break free.
Round 1
The Red Oni easily moves to the other side of the slime.
Mitsuru moves forward and readies to strike.
Round 2
Emili manages to stab the thing even as it keeps squeezing him.
Turn order:
1. Emili
2. Talios
3. Amoeba
4. Red Oni
5. Kage
6. Mitsuru
Status:
Amoeba: -5
Emili: 5/12, grappled
Red Oni: 6/10
"Some type of living slime? I have no idea." Talios says exclaims trying to fire off an arrow past Mitsuru and not hit Emili at the same time.
Kage chases after the others, squeezing in between Talios and Emili.
"Stop showing off and just stab it already!"
Again Rin was thankful for her mask as a smile spread across her face that someone would consider her skilled enough to show off. "Positioning is vital!" The Red Oni replied as she lashed out with her blades.
Round 1
Kage moves forward.
Round 2
Talios hits with his bow.
The Amoeba tries, but fails to maintain grapple!
The Red Oni swings, hitting twice, but the amorphous anatomy of the blob makes her unable to find key points for vulnerability.
Turn order:
1. Emili
2. Talios
3. Amoeba
4. Red Oni
5. Kage
6. Mitsuru
Status:
Amoeba: -15
Emili: 5/12
Red Oni: 6/10
Emili shakes the last bit of slimy tendril stuff off his leg, cutting off a few persistent pieces that continue to try to pull him back into the creature. "Disgusting," he adds dryly, his confidence returning quickly now that he's no longer engulfed.