Sim also ignores the talking sphere, angry at it and blaming it for all this trouble. Knowing his chances of climbing the walls are small with his breastplate and shield, Sim unfastens his armor and secures his shield on his back before climbing down and then trying to climb up.
Once he is on the other side, Sim waits for the others to toss him the end of the rope to he can pull them up. "Mister Raston, it would be better if you come first as you can then pull the others while I don my breastplace once more. Ready?"
"Yes, I will have to wait for someone to get to the top and throw down a rope- my armor is too bulky to climb in."
Sim begins to climb and she feels bad for him being so short and unable to brace. With the others too nervous to climb, she will make the effort to join the halfling up top so he isn't alone and can don his armor while she gets set up for the others.
She will be the anchor and will brace to allow them to climb up easier with her pulling, however, she is not overly strong.
Sim sheds his armor and hands it to Shiv so he can shimmy up the corner of the pit into the room with the table of food, the smell of fresh roasted meat and fresh baked bread wafting into his nose as he pulls himself up onto the floor. He catches a rope Lash tosses up to him and helps her up. The pair takes a quick scan of the room and, with no immediate threats, they help the rest of the party up, one-by-one. With Shiv's hands full of rope and Sim's armor, Marcos wraps an arm around the Croc's torso and rides the rope up together.
While Sim pulls the rope up, those with detect magic detect moderate conjuration magic on the spread of food. Lash takes a closer look at the room and sees solid looking iron door on the east wall. She approaches it and her foot stops, hanging an inch above a stone on the floor that is barely different from the ones around it. She carefully takes a few steps back and warns the others of the trap.
Marcos witnesses the many different things they're doing with the rope. "Honestly, I'd never thought all of these things were possible with just a rope." He's quite bad at climbing, so he takes the last spot of the queue.
A worry grows in her heart as she gets up top that they are about to be ambushed, but eventually, everyone gets up safely and she will help Sim with his armor to put it on quicker.
"I've never seen such a strong looking halfling before..."
She checks the room and using her training, she manages to spot a trap by the door.
"Whew...," she exhales as she almost stepped on it.
After warning everyone, she will bend down to begin working on it.
"Everyone back up at least fifteen feet," she warns, and then once they are ready, she will insert her tools to try to undo whatever devious means the makers of this maze have set in place for them.
Kahli moves up to the table, smelling the food. "Hmm.... A conjured feast? I wonder if that's part of the trap? It conjures up food, maybe poisoned, maybe not. Or maybe it's magical food that transforms back into it's components once it gets into your belly! The meat could be from rodent that then bites and claws its way out...." She grins while saying it, but doesn't touch anything.
Listening to Lash, every stands back, and for good reason. Lash attempts to disarm the trap, but some dust gets kicked up into her eyes, and she catches a brief glimpse of an explosive just before her vision goes white.
She braces herself as she gets blown onto her back. . The iron door's lock blows off and the door swings open into the next room. Their ears still ringing, the party can see a green glow from the next room which appears to be 15 feet across. They can also barely see the edge of a door on the norther wall of that room and green liquid in the floor. There is a subtle heat coming from the room and the party can hear the sound of bubbling.
"Uh, oh, that doesn't sound good..." Marcos thinks aloud, once checked that Lash has got only some bruises.
"That's nasty, Kahli...," she comments regarding the table before dealing with the trap. As she settles in, she puts away her bow to focus better.
Perhaps it was their traversing into the room, but whatever it was, dust flies into her eye as she is messing with the trap. "Ahk!" she thinks in that brief moment. A split-second later, a blast heads her way and all she can do is tuck up and protect her vital organs and her face as she flies backward with it to reduce the impact on her body.
She cries out in pain and discomfort as she slides to a landing. Her clothes seem to be smoking still, but she seems alright. However, with the combination of a beating she's been taking, she begins to show some minor need of healing.
Like someone who's been beaten repeatedly before, she does not submit and rises a few seconds later holding her arm in pain. Blood begins to flood downward from it staining the peach skin at her shoulder before disappearing into the ashen colors of her arms. Within a few moments of pressure though, the bleeding stops.
"Is...is everyone alright?"
She looks to them as she pulls out her bow once more. It is clear that the girl in front of them is a fighter in the realm of the spirit.
As Lash falls, Sim moves forward towards the door, his shield raised. "Stay back... I'll take a look..."
As the trap goes off Kahli pulls her wand from her pouch and advances. "Don't even think about going ahead into battle wounded. Even a little flesh wound could be an opening for diseases, air-born parasites and all sorts of stuff. One charge from my wand should close that nicely...."
Lash dusts herself off with the help of Kahli. Ask Kahli asks Sim if he needs any healing, Sim steps into the doorway. He looks at the door to his left and sees it's still functional, though he's not sure it will latch closed. Before he turns his head, he hears flapping. He snaps his head to face the sound and sees three heads with large, over-sized ears, furiously flapping to stay aloft, all of them facing Sim with a crazy look in their eyes while babbling incoherently to themselves. Running through the floor is a channel of green liquid that bubbles and steams.
It is good to have healing available. The blood that leaks from her quickly stops and she feels right as rain.
"Thank you for the healing!" she will announce to her, as she was starting to feel worn down from all the abuse she's been taking.
As blobs of acid rain down upon her companions, she will surge into the room, finding a place on the northern wall near what seems to be an additional door. There, she will pull an arrow and let loose into one of the hideous creatures attacking them.
Move: C14
Lash slips past Sim and makes her way into the stone room. Getting the whole layout of the room, she sees two iron doors; one halfway down on the western wall and one on the far southern wall. Lash's skin tingles from the heat and causes her arrow to fly wide and land on the far side of the room.
"What are these things? Croc come."
Full actionDouble move to D13
Croc ActionMove to C11 or C12 if Sim has moved forward
"This is madness! Flying heads!" Sims exclaims as he moves forward, raising his shield and drawing his gladius.
Move to D14 and draw weapon
Ready action to attack once enemy is in reach:
Sim runs in and takes the front line, placing himself on the edge of the channel, feeling the full brunt of the acid. He fights the instinct to back away and stands firm.
Kahli hears the words, and runs through Sim to be able to help however she can. Seeing whatever the creatures are she calls on a power from her deity to create a duplicate of herself.
Kahli takes a spot behind Sim, and immediately after, a second Kahli appears next to her, mimicking her every move.
The Chon Chon closest to the group, surprised by the sudden rush of people, backs up and spits a glob of acid at Sim.
Shiv and his croc take their places. Shiv comes to a sliding stop as he kicks pebbles into the acid where they quickly dissolve in puffs of smoke and steam.
The second Chon Chon follows the first's lead, but launches a glob at the newcomer, Shiv.
Lash joins the fun, making sure to dodge the new Kahli, and takes up the spot in the upper corner by the door. She fires an arrow at the disgusting heads, but her shot goes wide and lands on the far side of the room.
The last Chon Chon takes note of the arrow and flaps its ears to float forward and get close enough to launch a ball of green spit at Lash.
Marcos hears the commotion and the babbling and immediately identifies the creatures to his teammates.
Marcos is surprised by the bat-like creatures, taking some moments also to look through his mind archives and identify them.
"Chon-chons! Wel, I don't have a story about chon-chons, but there was this guy who could turn into a bat... Laszlo was the name..."
Sim was not ready for the gob of acid and soon he sees it burning his shoulder!
He then holds his ground, readying himself for another acid attack.
Total Defense
Shiv curses, "I don't think we can cross this acid? I certainly can't!" balancing his Scythe in one hand he draws and throws a short spear.
Move actiondraw short spear
Standard action
Lash bobs and weaves behind the shield of Sim, and as a result, the fiends can't pinpoint her.
"You all are so ugly!" she comments as they vomit their stinky nasty acid her way.
Move: None
With a channel of acid between the party and the Chon Chons, the party begins to unleash ranged attacks at the unsettling flying heads with Sim anchored in front. However, the fluttering freaks dip and dodge out of the way of all the attacks so far.
Since nobody was hurt yet, Kahli reaches to Lash beside her and touches her, granting her a bit of luck.
Given the situation, everyone hunkers down behind Sim's shield. The Chon Chons take note of the party's difficulties and retreat back to a safer distance and lob acid across the room, one each at Shiv, Sim, and Lash.
Sim points out the attacks and the team manages to dodge all of the attacks which splatter against the wall.
Marcos continues to encourage his team from the safety of the room with the feast.
"...so this Laszlo would say 'bat!' and turne into a bat, escaping many problems. What he coudn't escape, though, was..."
Mascos tries to make the group laugh a bit, so their spirit feels at ease when facing danger. It seems he's been succesful so far.
The dodging is affecting her shots, but now that the Chon Chons have moved further away, she can see the attacks coming.
"Now I've got something for you..."
They were still close enough, so she stays kneeling and seeks to shoot off a couple of shots. Kahli touches her, invigorating her in ways she has never felt before. Her mind seems much more attuned to shoot, and as it comes time to take her shot, she is warned by that innate feeling that certain moments will be better to take that shot.
Move: 5ft to C14
(Shooting I15)
(Shooting I15)
It seems the feelings are correct, and one of her shots ends up flying better than the other.
"Swap places with me Kahli, just until my next shot."
Seeing little chance of crossing the acid expeditiously, Shiv realigns his weaponry.
"I hate acid!"
Move actionstow scythe
Standard action Ready heavy wooden shield
As Shiv takes a defensive position next to Sim, Lash fires two arrows at the Chon Chon nearest her wall with one arrow piercing the left ear, causing it to tilt slightly. Before it can level itself, a second arrow lodges into its mouth, dropping it from the air.
The other two Chon Chons briefly look at their fallen friend, but don't interrupt their babbling, and quickly turn back to the group.
Sim continues with the current strategy, seeing it is working!
Kahli swaps places with Lash as requested and touches her again to add luck to her next round.
Kahli and Lash swap places, and for good reason. The remaining Chon Chons move slightly and focus in on the person who killed their friend and launch globs of acid over Sim and at Lash.
Lash is able to take cover behind Sim's shield and the globs hit the wall as the thick viscous acid begins to pile up.
All the while, Marcos' tale rings from the relative quiet from the other room.
Shiv maintains his shield and throws a dagger at the closest Chon Chon.
Move action Draw dagger
Standard throw
Knowing the limitations of the dagger , Shiv makes the appropriate adjustments and, with a flick of his wrist, the dagger tumbles through the air and stabs into Chon Chon 2's head/body, just above its left eye. It falters for a second, blood now pouring down its face, but recovers. Shiv can swear he almost hears it cry out in pain.
Lash's first shot plucks Chon Chon 2 out of the air and its babbling stops. She turns to her aim to Chon Chon 1 and looses and arrow that cuts a hair off of Sim's head as it passes. It plunges deep into the Chon Chon, causing it to flutter and barely stay aloft.
The Chon Chon fires desperately at the party, the acid blob making its way toward Sim.
Sim confidently holds strong as the acid smacks against his shield and he shakes it off. The Chon Chon clumsily flutters over to H13, hoping to find safety on the island.
With only one left, and having potentially permanently deprived himself of two of his thrown weapons, Shiv takes a defensive stance and waits.
Full ActionTotal defense.
Lash knows that halflings are partial to their hair, especially one as attractive as Sim, so hopefully what she severed was so miniscule that he would not notice. Another Chon Chon drops and proficiently, she strings another set of arrows to fire at the last of them.
"Flying there will not help you!"
Move: 5ft to C13
With some flair, Lash lands an arrow in its pupil, pinning the Chon Chon to the wall.
With the jabbering quited, the only sound is the bubbling of the acid. The party sees an iron door on the north wall and another one on the south end of the west wall. There is a wooden door on the far side of the room on the south wall. The stone walls are 10 feet high.
With the bizarre creatures dead, Shiv more closely examines the acid.
Inspecting the wooden table, Shiv figures it weighs at least 200 pounds, and working together, they could lift it to move it. Getting it through the door would take a little maneuvering, but it could be done.
Kneeling near the acid, Shiv picks up a loose stone and drops it in, watching it sizzle and start to dissolve after a couple seconds.
Marcos welcomed the table idea, and happily helps managing the wooden plank around. Everything's better than walking on acid. Well, not everything, but...
Lash will nod victoriously as she downs the last one. Why her companions didn't want to jump over the acid was confusing to her, but then looking to their armors, she understands.
"Before we consider moving this table, is this food safe to eat do you think? Can you detect anything on it or purify it? Will it summon demons to gobble us up if we disturb it?"
Shiv examines the food using detect magic, detect poison, and his knowledge: