"Of course! That's why we're here! Which way do you think they might have gone? Just point us in the right direction and we'll help your friends, too. You should tag a long with us. It's the safest way to get outta here."
No way! I am not going any further in these tunnels! Say, uh, did anyone else come along with you guys? Ambulance, more rescuers, a news crew ready to interview me?
I have an agent, you know.
Gaz's eyes go wide, and he flinches, scanning for hidden camera crews. "News?! I'm not stage ready yet!" he says as he frantically grooms himself.
"Hey, your agent wouldn't be taking on new clients would he?"
Nope, just us. We go further in and HELP! Let's go team!
"So should I tie up fancy pants and drag'em along with us? Or should I knock'em out first? It is safer with us after all."
Oh snap, you shortys came down here with no backup?
Parsinum slumps down and shakes his head worriedly.
Hey, maybe you haven’t been keeping up with current events, but we just got our asses kicked pal!
Game over, man. Game over.
The neurotic pahtra sighs and reaches into a fanny pack.
Those oozes ate the rest of my state of the badass art tech stuff but didn't get these. Maybe you can use them.
He hands over two frag grenades II. He then turns to Nako.
Hey, Red. Have you ever been mistaken for a man?
Nako laughs in more of a sinister manner, "Ha ha ha ha! I don't know about that but I see you've been mistaken for a punching bag, given your current state, but I'm honestly starting to see why." Nako clenches her fists in restraint.
Nako then relaxes and gives a smirk. "I can see why you'd mistake me for a man though, seeing as a man should be able to hold his own in a fight, something you clearly can't do."
Nako then sticks out her tongue.
The party hype man springs into action as the insults go flying, "Daaaaayyyyyyyuuuummmmmmmm!"
Meanwhile Gaz examines the grenades carefully for any agent business cards attached.
The determined helpers leave the shell shocked pahtra behind 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.
Dakoyo will run over and try to help the Vesk with Quonx
Gaz wrinkles his nose at the smell and looks around for whatever injured the vesk.
Dakoyo will try to see if he sees anything in the area.
As the healing serum trickles down the vesk's throat and infuses throughout her system, 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 helping you, silly! Biconiamaca told us all about your little troubles down here, and we volunteered to help. We like helping! Don't we guys?"
The vesk waves off Quonx's held healing serums.
No, I'm fine now, little hunter. You save those, you might need them.
She runs her head and fully assesses the team before her.
Striders. Stridermanders. Vile beasts. That's what we came in here for and that's what got us. I was taking a 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. Have you found the clients? Four of them. If you haven't, please, keep searching.
"Hmm, was one of them a Pahtra names Parsinium? We found him back that way. Nobody else yet though."
Yes, the mouthy one. Three more were in the party. Will you continue the search for them? 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.
Quonx does not discern a pathway through the wet grotto that is not fully choked with the fungi unless one uses flight.
Dakoyo will activate the environmental protections on the armor and will run across to the other side.
"Wait!" Gaz calls out after Dakoyo, "I can help! I have a thing, a magic thing, and it sustains me so I don't have to breathe. It only works on one of us at a time, so we'll have to go one at a time and toss the Aeon Stone back across, but I think it'll work."
The heroic helpers enact their innate teamwork capabilities to assist one another through the fungi choked 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.
Come on guys we have to help them. Hey you over there. Leave them alone!
Yeah! Gaz backs up Dakoyo and readies his pistol.
The stridermanders appear very occupied with their in-fighting over the bodies, hissing and snapping when one of them approaches the figures. The stalagmites certainly look large enough to provide some cover to sneak closer to the savage creatures.
Dakoyo is going to move up and shoot at Green. Leave them alone! We are helping!
Then once everyone is in position I will use Get' Em on green, and then shoot at green.
Round 1
Gazigaz creeps forward and calls out a battle inspiring command on one of the stridermanders and lands a fierce shot on it.
The vile evolutionary abominations hiss and screech at the invaders entering their lair and they spring into action against these new snack-sized treats.
The black furred strider bolts across the room straight for Dakoyo.
The red tinged strider's four legs scramble quickly at seeing its packmate close in on new prey and attempts to get its food first, its horrid feeding tendril whipping forward at Dakoyo...
...and it pierces the marvelous mystic and yanks him closer to the stridermander, keeping a tight grip.
The filthy green furred strider growls at Gazigaz and bounds forward, striking out with its feeding tendril...
...and sinks its fierce tendril teeth into Gazizgaz, gripping tightly and pulling him closer as it chews into him.
The blue tinged strider bares its teeth and takes a more practical action, choosing not to scrabble with its packmates over the same prey and racing across the cave for its own target.
Dakoyo is going to try to shoot the on grappling him with his needler.
bot for Nako
Nako takes out her trusty doshko and runs across the room, eyeing the green stridermander that has been been hurt already....
...and hits the grappling beast with a flash of flames, burning hair filling the air!
Here's some advice, beast: don't get all... fired up.
Round 2
"Don't worry, Dak, ole buddy, you got this! Now could one of you get this?"
Gazigaz says some encouraging words to Dakoyo to make him feel better about being grabbed and having a feeding tendril latched on to him while pointing out tactical weaknesses of the stridermander latched onto him.
The black furred strider howls at its red packmate for feeding on Dakoyo and jealously tries to take a bite of the magical mystic...
...and narrowly manages to sink its fangs into the grappled hero!
The red stridermander hisses back at its packmate and attempts to reassert its grip on Dakoyo...
...and it keeps its grip on him, feeding more!
The green stridermander tries to continue gripping and feeding on Gazigaz...
...and it keeps its grip on him, feeding more!
The blue stridermander snarls at Quonx and whips its feeding tendril at her again...
...but still cannot connect onto the magnanimous mechanic!
botting Nako
Stupid gobblers! Put down those appetizers and get a piece of the spicy main course right here!
Gazigaz, grappled by green, -24/24 SP, -1/26 HP
Black
Red, grappling
Green, 36 damage, grappling
Blue
Nako
Dakoyo, grappled by red, -23/28 SP
Quonx
Dakoyo will cast Mind Thrust at Green, DC16 Will Save
The green stridermander screeches, its cries of pain echo through the cave as its claws at its head before flopping onto the floor with fluids dripping from its ear holes and nostrils.
"Whew! Thanks for your help, my friendly friends. Now quickly, let's help before that thing helps itself to Dakoyo's internal organs!"
Round 3
Quonx's supercharged rifle shot goes wide.
Gazigaz's electric blast sends harmful sparks along Red's body while rallying the charge against it!
The black stridermander hisses at its red packmate, challenging it for feeding on Dakoyo before attempting to bite the magnificent mystic...
...and lands a savage strike on Dakoyo!
Red growls jealously and attempts to keep attached to Dakoyo...
...and its feeding tendril keeps its grip, gorging even more on Dakoyo!
Dakoyo grits his teeth at the fierce attacks as he drops to the ground, drifting into unconsciousness, a prayer to Ibra half spoken.
The blue stridermander snorts in anger and races across the cave after Quonx...
...its feeding tendril snaps forward and sinks into Quonx, yanking her forward and chewing into her.
Go for Nako, Dakoyo, and Quonx
Dakoyo will spend the RP to stabilize
botting Nako
Dakoyo!! Noooooo! My third favorite crewmate! I will rip that stinking strider's fur off and turn it into a tail coozie!!
The red stridermander screeches in fear as Nako lands one savage strike after another!