Oh snap, you got a dude on the outside safely waiting? I'm out of here, I remember the way back out of this murder hole! Here, you shortys can have these, the oozes didn't get them, try not to die down here.
Parsinum drops off 2 frag grenades II and quickly darts off back down the tunnel to the entrance.
Quonx will continue investigating in the next area.
The determined helpers leave the shell shocked pahtra behind as he heads back to the entrance and delve further into the tunnels. After traveling through more caves, they spot a faint flickering light. Approaching cautiously, they come upon an oddly shaped stone chamber lit by a flashlight with a sputtering
battery. A shallow pool of foul-smelling water has collected here and the unmoving body of a vesk lies next to it. Upon immediate inspection, the vesk is covered with wounds but is breathing shallowly and unconscious.
Nako watches the surroundings carefully while Dakoyo renders aid.
Dakoyo immediately starts reviewing the vesk's wounds for treatment and notes she is covered in scratches and bite marks but they are no longer bleeding. Her breathing is shallow and has a weak pulse.
Nako pulls out her brass blaathorn and her mvindee finger drums and plays some soothing music.
As the healing magic washes over the vesk, her eyes weakly flicker open. As she groggily notes the assembled skittermanders, she gasps in horror and tries to scramble backwards away from them. Almost as quickly as she reacted, she calms down somewhat as her focus sharpens on the rescuers before her.
Oh, you're skitters, not striders. What a relief. Sorry, I saw your furred mammalian faces and thought they found me and came to finish me off. What are you doing here?
"We're here to eat you.... I mean rescue you. At least one of those things. Our captain is outside with one of the other tourists we found. You should go that way, it's probably clear."
You don't understand, the beasts that got us. Stridermanders. Vile creatures. That's what we came in here for and that's what got us. I was taking this group of tourists on a hunt up to the northwest parsec when we passed this newly opened tunnel system. They begged me to take them in here instead. The bosses at the hunting lodge have been riding our asses to get our Yelp ratings even higher and I gave in. We didn't get far before a pack of striders ambushed us. I didn't get a count of how many, these were some particularly cunning beasts and they struck fast. You know how you skitters have your feeding tendrils when you're pups? Stridermanders don't grow out of their's, their feeding tendrils just get bigger and they use them to a deadly degree.
The vesk points to a nasty series of nasty gashes covering her body.
Glad to hear the lodge sent a rescue team. You lot look loaded to bear and I can tell you've seen combat more than once. Good. So you found the one of the clients? There's four of them. Please, keep searching. Find them or find their remains if the worst happened? Here, maybe you can make use of this.
She hands over a carbon steel curve blade.
I'm in no shape to go farther, I'd be a detriment to you. But I think I can make my way back out. Good luck, skitters. And watch out for their feeding tendrils, they don't need to next to you to reach you with them.
The vesk then departs.
The heroic rescuers continue through the tunnel system and come upon a cave containing a grotto filled with bluish-green moss, it covers nearly every surface of this irregular chamber, dotted with large, colorful mushrooms.A tunnel leads out to the northeast. Moisture seeping in from below this chamber feeds the thriving colony of moss and fungi here.
The team takes readings of the spores and find troubling readings regarding crossing through the cave may be treacherous.
Nako takes the curve blade and stows her Dashko.
Walk across the field, will activate the Energy Shield as well
Gaz activates his armors protections and carefully walks forward.
The heroic helpers travel through the fungi packed grotto, stirring up copious amounts of spores as they march through. Quonx, Dakoyo, and Gazigaz, unfortunately, have spores infiltrate their environmental systems.
Gazigaz's aeon stone allows him to hold his breath against the inhaled toxins, he brushes off the putrid powder when reaching the other side of the grotto.
They continue down the tunnel.
Not very far past the mold grotto, the tunnel opens into a larger cave. Several lumpy stalagmites reach up from the floor in the
western half of this large cave, each six feet tall. Near the
southern wall, a pit leads down into utter darkness. A ledge
runs 10 feet above the cavern floor along the northern and
eastern walls, with sloping ramps at either end, the cavern has a 30-foot vaulted ceiling and sloped walls.The eastern portion of the chamber is some kind of lair, with ragged furs and scaly skins arranged on the floor near a small pile of bones. The whole area smells musty.
Four medium sized multi limbed furred creatures dart about the eastern part of the cave, three unmoving humanoid forms can be seen lying on the pile of furs and skins. The multi limbed creatures occasionally snap their jaws or swipe a claw at each other if one of them approaches the forms lying on the furs.
Nako remembers seeing one of these monsters long ago.
Nako double moves in, screaming to draw attention to herself.
Quonx yawns wide, but still manages to move up and close the distance with lightning speed . She then activates her combat tracker on Green, and fires the azimuth laser.
Round 1
The stridermanders hiss and screech at the appearance of trespassers in their lair
The vile evolutionary abominations hiss and screech at the invaders entering their lair and they spring into action against these new snack-sized treats.
Blue whips a disgusting appendage that is reminiscent of a skittermander whelp's feeding tendril at Nako...
...and it sinks its tendril teeth into Nako and yanks her next to it, the tendril chewing as it draws her close.
Black growls at the meal Blue has captured and jumps forward to bite at Nako and attempt to get a piece of the crimson crusader...
... and its fangs rip into Nako!
Green notes it would be outnumbered by its pack mates in trying to get a piece of the red furred prey and sets its focus on the blue intruder, its four legs scrabbling across the stone floor to get close enough to strike Quonx with its feeding tendril...
...and strikes Quonx but fails to fully sink its tendril teeth into her to fully connect and feed!
Nako full attacks her grappler with the curve blade.
Tapping the laser rifle and charging it up, then firing on green again.
Dakoyo and Quonx both land shots on their target, Nako attempts to slash the stridermander holding on to her and lands a savage hit.
The fourth (red) stridermander acts in anger at its other packmates ripping into Nako and savage hunger takes over and it moves to make sure it can attempt to get its part of the surrounded prey...
...and sinks its teeth into Nako!
Gaz scuttles forward and shouts some words of encouragement to Nako.
Gazigaz fills Nako with encouragement to push through the pain.
The stridermander with filthy, matted blue fur attempts to reassert its feeding tendril grasp on the struggling Nako...
...but Nako's fierce squirming does not allow it to grab her again! The blue strider screeches and attempts to bite her...
...and lands a savage strike!
The black furred stridermander howls in anger at its packmate feeding on some prey it also wants and tries to bite Nako...
...and strikes hard enough to get through her armor!
The green stridermander drools and attempts to sink its feeding tendril into Quonx again...
...and hits the marvelous mechanic but fails to fully attach!
Nako, covered in blood and stridermander saliva, strikes back just as savagely as the deadly animals assailing her and rips apart the blue stridermander!
Taking a guarded step back, and then repeating the same actions from last round, overcharging the laser rifle and shooting at green again.
Dakoyo harnesses the ambient energies of the universe to send waves of psychic emanations to scramble and confound the brain of the red stridermander...
...but it shakes its body and gnashes its teeth to fight off the effect!
Quonx steps away and cranks up her rifle battery output and scores a fierce burn on her assailant!
The red stridermander notes there is one less rival for its prey and steps opposite the black strider to attempt to steal the red skittermander for itself and attempts to sink its fangs into Nako...
...and though Nako tries to dodge it, the savage beast still lands a bite!
Black
Green -15 damage
Dakoyo
Quonx, -24/24 SP -4 HP
Nako, -36/36 SP, -2/30 HP
Red
Gazigaz
Gaz boosts Quonx for 13 SP, and continues to direct fire at Green to bring the beast down.
Round 3
The stridermander with the black matted fur screeches at its red packmate for attacking Nako and attempts to get a piece of the contested prey...
...but is unable to sink its fangs into the armored warrior!
The green strider sprays spittle as it hisses at Quonx and then scrabbles forward to strike at her again with its feeding tendril...
...and the tendril teeth solidly sink into Quonx and pull her in closer, chewing fiercely into Quonx!
Full attack on black.
The stridermander with the black fur howls in pain as Nako's backhand catches it and slices it open, foul smelling blood spraying outwards!
[Ooc]Black, -20 damage
Green -36 damage, grappling
Dakoyo
Quonx, -24/24 SP -5 HP, grappled by green, inspired
Nako, -36/36 SP, -2/30 HP, inspired
Red
Gazigaz
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Quonx, with the knife in the stridercave.
Quonx and Dakoyo both do not land hits.
The red stridermander hisses with a jealous rage at black over Nako and snaps forward to bite at the disputed prey...
...and sinks its fangs into the stalwart soldier!
Go for Gazigaz!
Gaz directs all fire to Green and takes careful aim himself.
Round 4
Gazigaz's electric shot misses its nimble target.
The black stridermander continues to challenge its red packmate over Nako...
...and rips a nasty gash into the steadfast soldier!
The green stridermander takes note of its wounds and spits and hisses at Quonx as it releases its feeding tendril and races away, heading down the hole on the south side of the cave.
Nako keeps up her assault.
"Hey Dakoyo! Could you help me out with some of that healing magic? I can't take much more of this!"
Now freed from the clutches of green, Quonx, taking a moment to use the combat tracker on black (or red if black is downed), charges the weapon and blasts.
Nako slashes away at the black furrred stridermander, cutting it once and setting it up with her second cut to make it inch back slightly enough to be perfectly in the bullseye of Quonx's rifle shot.
Dakoyo
Quonx, -24/24 SP -5 HP, inspired
Nako, -36/36 SP, -22/30 HP, inspired
Red
Gazigaz
Go for Dakoyo!