Song considers. "Let's clear out the dangers from the ruins, and then come back and help everyone with the rocks and brambles."
After spending a day working on the clearing while Ephraim worked on the runes in his wagon, you are ready to explore the wooded end of the valley and seek the keep marked on the map.
However, once you get within a long stone's throw from the edge of the wooded swamp, you notice that there is some kind of black slime coating the fallen tree stump and the centipede corpses from the other day.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Chani takes some time in the morning practicing with the new lockpicks that he was given.
When the group gets close to the centipede infested stump from yesterday, he notices that the slime appears to be alive. He pulls out his deck of cards and looks at the one on the bottom. "A ball of army ants. Mrrr." He looks at the slime again and ponders for a moment. "Perhaps. I do somewhat remember hearing tales of such things. A slime made of more slime. Cutting or stabbing it will just make more. It doesn't seem to be doing much harm here and it may be hard to defeat, but it is quite close to the circus camp. We would need pointless weapons to fight it though." He looks at Ephriam. "Or probably magic."
Clover gives Chani a slightly puzzled look. "Wait, so...what, if you stab this thing or cut it, the pieces just develop minds of their own? Really?? I'm glad that wolf-thing couldn't do that, or those wisps..."
Shuddering at the thought, she reaches down and produces a weapon that the group has rarely seen her use - a light mace. "Pointless, huh? This'll have to do; too bad we don't have more of those fancy runes to put on the rest of our weapons."
“If we wait a day, I could take care of that.”
"So... no bow with a fancy rune on it, but I can throw endless amounts of rocks, or do a sustained animated assault. It might be too dumb to move out of the way of multiple rounds of animated assault."
Clover gives Chani a slightly puzzled look. "Wait, so...what, if you stab this thing or cut it, the pieces just develop minds of their own? Really?? I'm glad that wolf-thing couldn't do that, or those wisps..."
"That is what I have heard, at least. So are we wanting to fight it then?" Chani asks as he pulls his amulet over his head and draws his own mace.
Rulean puts away his pick and gets out a morningstar. “Guess I can use this…”
Looking to Chani, he asks “Anything else we should know before we go in? Are energy attacks useful against it?”
Looking to Chani, he asks “Anything else we should know before we go in? Are energy attacks useful against it?”
"I'm certain that there is more that I don't know about this thing than what I do know. I haven't heard tale of them being resistant to energy. Or reacting strangely to it either."
Chani checks his pockets. "Well, if we are going to fight... something should resonate here..."
"Wait. Let me cast Magic Weapon on some of your weapons first. Clover, Rulean and Chani, do you want the spell? This may be my last time using it."
Rulean moves next to Song and holds out his morningstar for the spell.
Song of Air enchants your weapons while you get into position.
Once his morningstar is enchanted, Rulean moves to where he has a clear line of sight to the creature and waits for everyone else to be ready to attack.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Wait. Let me cast Magic Weapon on some of your weapons first. Clover, Rulean and Chani, do you want the spell? This may be my last time using it."
"Sure," Chani says while holding his mace out. "It couldn't... Actually, the purpose is to make it hurt more, isn't it?" He ponders this for a moment or three while he follows Rulean towards the black sludge. "Oh, I know." He reaches down and picks up a tiny pebble from the ground. "Hard, blunt, and unbreaking." He drops the pebble through the small hole in his amulet and coats his mace and amulet chain in the powder that results.
Prepared for combat, you move toward the pudding.
Pudding. Can you eat it? Round 1.Bold may act.
Ephraim (53/53)
>Mr. Splinters (15/15)
Chani (58/58; magic weapon) (reaction available)
Rulean (58/58; magic weapon)
Song-of-Air (51/51)
Pudding (exploit: PA)
Clover (76/76; magic weapon)
>Snowy (48/48)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
◇ Lingering Performance
◈ Inspire Courage
Song starts up a dance, miming the throwing of many, many rocks as she casts animated assault.
♫ We will, we will rock you! ♫
"Well, that will certainly get its attention," Chani says as he watches both Song's dance and the spellcasting.
Ephie moves closer, then flings a bolt of lightning at the ooze!
Clover is ready, or thinks she is, but is a little distracted by the mere concept of a dividing pudding and thus is slow to react when battle starts!
______________
Rulean is content to do damage at range if it will work.
He calls on Kurgess and a javelin appears in the air above the pudding. It jabs down at it.
He immediately sustains the spell in order to have it attack a second time.
The pudding is pummeled by Song's telekinetic storm. Rocks and sticks whip about wildly over the path. A bolt of lightning suddenly crashes down in the middle of the storm, striking the pudding.
The demigod of competition manifests a spectral javelin for Rulean, which the iruxi directs into the pudding twice in a row .
Pudding. Can you eat it? (Starting to look like it) Round 1.Bold may act.
Ephraim (53/53)
>Mr. Splinters (15/15)
Rulean (58/58)
Song-of-Air (51/51)
Chani (58/58) (reaction available)
Pudding (-59 hp; exploit: PA)
Clover (76/76)
>Snowy (48/48)
Averse to pain, the pudding slumps and surges in short bursts away from the swirling storm of debris. It appears to have sensed Ephraim for it is rolling and reaching toward him.
Pudding on the Move. Round 1-2.Bold may act.
Clover (76/76)
>Snowy (48/48)
Chani (58/58) (reaction available)
Ephraim (53/53)
>Mr. Splinters (15/15)
Rulean (58/58)
Song-of-Air (51/51)
Pudding (-59 hp; exploit: PA)
Rulean says “Think we better spread out!”
Having said that, he moves to spread the group out. He then directs his spiritual weapon to attack the pudding twice.
"Snowy, get back," Clover warns before advancing on the ugly mass, though she does attempt to follow Rulean's advice to fan out a bit. Boldly, she steps up and takes a swing with her mace...
______________
Though bristling and growling, Snowy follows Clover's command and scrambles away from the pudding.
Clover moves in to engage and slams her mace into the pudding. Wispy fumes rise off of the weapon as it strikes. She notices pock marks forming along the flanges.
Kurgess' spear strikes the pudding once.
Pudding on the Move. Round 1-2.Bold may act.
Clover (76/76) (Reflex DC 22 vs. 2d6 damage to mace)
>Snowy (48/48)
Chani (58/58) (reaction available)
Ephraim (53/53)
>Mr. Splinters (15/15)
Rulean (58/58)
Song-of-Air (51/51)
Pudding (-83 hp; exploit: PA)
Chani watches the slime going after Ephie. "Well, plan B then." He walks over to the slime and hesitates for a moment. "I have still heard rumor that some types of these things do other terrible things when hit. But I guess there is nothing else to do at the moment."
He takes a couple swings at the slime.
+4 Exploit Vulnerability weakness
+4 Exploit Vulnerability weakness
Chani looks with a bit of concern at his mace. "Yes. Like that."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Clover is quick to pull her mace from the pudding's...skin?...as she realizes it's having some sort of effect on her weapon. Though her own weapon seems largely unscathed, she notices that Chani's isn't as lucky.
"Uh, that's not good...!"
she notices that Chani's isn't as lucky.
"Uh, that's not good...!"
Chani looks over at Clover. "No, it is not. I'm not sure how much use I am going to be for the rest of this battle."
Ephie drains his bound item, giggling like a marionette as he moves back and then fires off another Sudden Bolt:
CANTRIPS
Detect Magic
Electric Arc
Light
Ray of Frost
Shield
Telekinetic Projectile
LEVEL 1
Jump (1/1)
True Strike (1/1)
Grease (1/1)
LEVEL 2
Glitterdust (1/1)
Scorching Ray (1/1)
Dispel magic (1/1)
LEVEL 3
Sudden Bolt (0/1)
Haste (1/1)
DRAIN
Level 1: 1/1
Level 2: 1/1
Level 3: 0/1
Song moves and throws a rock at the Ooze.
Chani smacks the pudding twice with his mace and finds it even more corroded than Clover's.
Song-of-Air's rock strike the middle of the ooze. Somehow the pudding manages to avoid some of Ephie's lightning bolt.
The pudding lashes out at Chani and smacks into the amurrun. With quick reflexes, Chani uses his amulet to mitigate some of the impact and all of the burning acid--for the moment. The tendril wraps around the catfolk and begins to constrict him.
Pudding on the Move. Round 2-3.Bold may act.
Clover (76/76)
>Snowy (48/48)
Chani (49/58) (reaction available) (mace 12/20 hp) (grabbed; Basic Fort DC 26 vs. 17 damage)
Ephraim (53/53)
>Mr. Splinters (15/15)
Rulean (58/58)
Song-of-Air (51/51)
Pudding (-132 hp; exploit: PA)
+
As the black slime reaches out for him, Chani spins up a protective lattice of energy from his amulet. It holds briefly against the initial attack, but collapses when the slime wraps around him.
"Rrrrrhh," Chani growls a deep low growl of annoyance. He tries to slip out of the grip of the slime.
He then steps back from the slime and checks his cards for any more information about this particular foe. He then looks to his amulet to see the comforting blue sparks that it is still producing.
Seeing that the pudding is staying in place for the moment, Rulean strikes at it three times with his spell. Each strike is less accurate than the previous one.
Giving a little growl of frustration, he says “I need to aim more carefully.”
Song tosses out an electric arc.
◈◈ Electric Arc (DC 20)
◈ Then she re-ups inspire courage with a dance.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Chani wriggles free of the black tendril and looks to his cards. The card is a painting of a boulder capped by snow.
Rulean directs his lance of force into the pudding but either the pudding is getting faster or the iruxi concentration is waning as the subsequent two strikes land nowhere near the pudding. However, before anyone can get too concerned, the pudding appears to have not sensed the incoming lightning from Song-of-Air. The energy strikes it dead center, and the ooze boils and explodes into inanimate, steaming gobbets.
Chani looks at the card for a moment, then back to the slime. "Hrr. So you don't bother with cold or stone."
Two blasts of electricity hit the slime and it explodes, sending goo shrapnel in his direction. Chani flinches a bit, then puts his card away. "Well, I guess that is a moot point now, isn't it? That was certainly a bit more exciting than I thought it would be." He looks at his mace and at the fresh bruises and acid burns that he has. "Is everyone else OK? I may need to repair or replace my weapon shortly."
“Ephraim can probably repair your mace. He is quite skilled at such things.”
As the javelin fades out of existence, Rulean admits to Song “Guess I didn’t need your spell on my morningstar. The black pudding never made it to me.”
Ephie gets out his toolskit; small hammers, pliers, metal brushes, and the like. He seems happiest while he's working with his hands on material and mechanical objects.
"Much appreciated," Chani says as he hands his mace over.
He settles himself and tends to his own injuries.
Afterwards, he looks down the trail that leads to the lake and islands that they were on previously. "Well, shall we continue then?"
Song spends a few minutes concentrating to recover her focus point. "I'm fairly low on regular spells now, but I have arrows and cantrips for days. Lead on, Chani."
You tend to Chani's wounds and continue on toward the keep on the other side of the hill. Chopping your way through the underbrush on the north side of the swamp would probably take days, so you follow the path of least resistance. You walk across the log bridge to the largest island with the old ruined building. You leap over to the smaller island to the east in order to take the log bridge there to the southern shore.
Clover makes it across the bridge just fine. Snowy follows obediently. Rulean's weight, however, proves too much for the old log to bear, and it cracks in the middle. Fortunately, the strong man is quite athletic and leaps from the bridge to the solid ground ask it cracks. It takes a little more effort to get the rest of you across.
Walking across the short log bridge or leaping the narrow stream to the north bank, you find a set of broad stairs carved into the granite hillside. Badly weathered and quite old, these stairs lead upwards.
Heading up the stairs cautiously, Chani suddenly yells out a warning moments before Clover steps on a tripwire. It is a bit of a puzzle as to how to disable the tripwire without setting off whatever it is attached to as it is quite expertly set. Simply hopping over the trip wire might not be the safest option as the stairs are quite worn, but it is one consideration.
After the group stops on the stairs, Chani takes a look at the contraption that they nearly tripped over. "I don't think I have ever seen anything like this." He pulls his cards out and checks the bottom one in what looks more like nervous fidgeting rather than a deliberate action. The card has a nearly exact image of the thieves tools that the group found yesterday and are currently stored in Chani's pack. "Oh, right. Maybe I can do something about this."
"And if anyone wants to help, I would be grateful for it." Chani sits on the steps and sets his cards next to him. He pulls out his toolkit and begins working on the tripwire contraption - frequently pausing to turn one card from the top of the deck onto a face-up pile next to it.
Backing up, Rulean says “I will help by being within range to heal you if something goes wrong while hopefully far enough back to not get caught in whatever that trap is going to do.”
Chani nods absentmindedly as he works. "Probably a good idea, Rulean."
It takes Chani more than half a minute as he nearly trips the trap several times but manages to pull back his mistake before anything catastrophic happens. However, he does finally manage to disable the trip wire. A little further up the stairs, you find two nets holding half a dozen thunderstones against the rockface designed to be released by the trip wire. That would have been loud (and painful).
The trap looks to have been installed only a couple of weeks ago.
Seeing the netting and hearing that the trap was only recently set, Rulean asks “Does anyone see any signs of who might have set it? Are we dealing with more xulgaths or some other race?”
He looks around himself, even though he has no real skill in tracking.