| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Corvus dims his lights and tries to not look tasty as the group spills into the room beyond at Axutain's lead. The group makes no noise over the sound of the gentle waterfall from the north side of the room that gently flows into a basin at the bottom.
The ant barely gives any hint of awareness of the group and instead fully decides to crawl back into the hole it came from. You see shifting and movement from inside that looks like another three of the big bugs are in the space as well, but it seems that the bugs don't see you at all.
Nature continues to surprise and amaze me. Corvus watches the ants crawl away. He's glad they didn't have to fight. Too much fighting already.
That basin reminded him of one of the few books he was allowed to read while in prison. Maybe a sign? Maybe someone dedicated lived here.
S.B. and Corvus both remember that Captain Renlock's third most passion in this world (behind Cawlo and piratin' respectively) was his devotion to the god of the sea and sky, Gozreh, and the leaf shaped fountain in here is definitely a homage to the dual-natured deity.
They also remember that the Captain, like all who ply the seas and rightfully fear the fickle Gozreh would often make some offering or sacrifice to the seas before moving on. Peeking into the fountain, there seems to be a few things of value that have been offered up as well. Rising up from the water is a mold-encrusted stone statue of a woman who appears to emerge from a wave, with seaweed for hair and her arms held high in supplication to the sky above.
Cawlo , having hitched a ride into the room on S.B.'s shoulder flits up to the statue and spends a moment preening himself despite his feathers having nothing on them.
At the mention of an offering, your mind flicks back to that piece of paper you got earlier from Cawlo when he gathered you all here in the first place.
|
Axuatain takes a second look at the basin from a different angle and his tongue flicks out tasting the air for just a moment. He pulls a small scrap of paper from his bag of holding, which thankfully keeps all his things nice and dry.
"Ahh warm-friendsss perhapsss I may be of assissstance once more." He shows them all the clue.
"Whoa, does that say we are gonna face a storm after an offering? Thought that was the kind of thing that is supposed to protect us." Gryndle says almost beginning to yell but remembering the ants. He looks around suspiciously at what could cause a storm in here.
Gozreh. Of course. Corvus checks the statue. Not too bad. He spent so much time reading the texts of Gozreh in prison. And he worships the storms anyway.
What's the best thing to sacrifice, here? Some herbs, some tiny vermin, or maybe he can send a spark of lightning at the statue?
Corvus has the distinct feeling that he should spark the statue. He remembers reading a story in prison about how someone facing a storm of winds and waves called upon Gozreh by casting his own lightning bolt into the waves themselves.
"Hmm, maybe some thunder would help?" He looks to his friends and prepares to cast Tempest Surge on it.
"Perhaps a small offering first, before we start throwing lightning around."
S.B. will toss a gold coin in the offering bowl.
S.B. and Corvus are both able to point out that something is likely to pop out of the fountain if a proper offering is made. Axutain leads the group a little ways away from the fountain and tries to keep them quiet, as S.B. tosses in a coin, and scrambles back.
As the offering lands in the water, a booming voice rises from the statue. “Those who seek the blessing of the Wind and the Waves must face the storm’s fury!”
As the voice fades, the water from the pool explodes, blasting the chamber with brackish filth. The explosion reveals a towering creature made from the purest azure water. It scans the room and then sights on the party hiding from the ants but not hidden from the moving waterfall. Like a living tidal wave, the creature surges forward to attack!
With all of the commotion, the ants start to crawl out from the hole in the wall ready to fight to defend their nest.
The waterfall gets the drop on the group as he pulses a wave of water over S.B.
The water proves to extra effective as it pushes S.B. back 10 feet and nearly drowns the surgeon. The waterfall gives chase, but slows as it leaves the water not getting a chance to attack again.
++++++++++++++++
Waterman
Axutain
Gryndle
Corvus
Ants
S.B. -44
++++++++++++++++
Current map
"Ah, the fickleness of Gozreh strikes again."
Corvus takes a moment to recall knowledge on the living wave and the ants.
"I don't have time to calm those ants down. Let's see if I can burn this offering down." He flicks a spark of flame at the wave.
"Oh, toss some lime and rum into it. I'll drink it like a living grog!" Gryndle smiles as he advances on the elemental and chomps his teeth attempting to startle it.
Then swings his blade into the watery form.
"Waaaaaiiiiiit? Can I even cut something made out of water?" he asks looking back to Corvus.
He also realizes that the elemental looks like its made of water, but is truly an ethanol elemental and especially weak to fire but resists electricity.
Corvus pauses to see what he knows about the ants and elemental before confidently firing off a flaming fist of energy at the elemental. It fizzles into nothingness as it hits the elemental, to the puzzlement of the fairy.
Gryndle tries to scare the waterfall and fails to prove scary to an elemental twice his size. He rushes forward to try cutting the waterfall but the thought that maybe cutting it wouldn't work interferes with his swing making him miss terribly.
Axutain preps by thinking about the enemies around him and then preparing his spear as well.
You recognize the ants as being a variety of Giant Ant that have a nasty poison in their stingers, but also can drag people away if the grab them in their pincers.
The waterfall looks like an elite living waterfall, that can swing for lots of damage, as S.B. demonstrated with his body. The elemental also can readily put out fires as well as making any water nearby hard to swim through.
The ants swarm out of the next and start to attack the nearest and scariest things in the room. One ant goes for Axutain, trying to grab him with its pincers.
The ant's mandibles slash the lizard folk and then grab him holding him in place.
The other three ants then head for the waterfall.
The first ant misses with its mandibles and then whips around to stinge the elemental. The sting hits but the poison seems to be pointless. The second ant misses with all attacks, but the third is able to wrap its mandibles around the elemental and slash it some.
++++++++++++++++
Waterman -18 Grabbed
Axutain -6 Grabbed
Gryndle
Corvus
Snakes
S.B. -44
++++++++++++++++
Current map
Badly injured, SB Steps back and casts a two-action heal on himself.
"Huh. I thought fire would work." Corvus ponders as the flames poof. "It's not a water elemental, it's made of ethanol. I'll skip the chemistry lesson and say fire works well and thunder doesn't."
He turns to Axutain. "Watch out for that poison stinger!"
S.B. takes a step back and heals himself from the massive wounds he took from the waterfall.
The ethanol elemental, instead of giving chase, takes a few punches at the ants near him instead, targeting the one trying to hold it into place first.
The black-limbed ant dies in a flush of alcohol.
++++++++++++++++
Waterman -18
Axutain -6 Grabbed
Gryndle
Corvus
Black
Pink
White
Red
S.B. -9
++++++++++++++++
Current map
"Oh Gozreh! Please grant Haste upon Gryndle so he may help pass your test of alcohol, or whatever this is." Corvus reaches out and taps Gryndle by the webbed toe.
He then fires a bolt of flame at the ant harassing Axutain. Silly bugger, you're supposed to go after the living wave."
"Oh I can feel the wind in my fins now!" Gryndle says before attempting to tear into the Elemental.
◆: Dueling Parry (+2 AC)
◆: Strike
◆: Strike
◆: Strike
Axutain fails to be intimidating to the ant harassing him and only hits once for minimal damage.
Corvus misses with his fire fist.
Gryndle hits the ethanolfall twice.
The ethanol elemental doesn't any hits from the ants (the three attacks directed its way missed) but does get dragged back towards the cave. Seems the ants are wanting to drink well tonight.
Axutain stays clamped in the pink ants mandibles and has to fend off a stinger.
The ant misses but drags the lizard folk towards the ant nest. Looks like the ants want a snack with their drinks.
++++++++++++++++
Ethanolfall -34 Grabbed
Axutain -6 Grabbed
Gryndle
Corvus
Pink -4
White
Red
S.B. -9
++++++++++++++++
Current map
S.B. takes a moment to let his curse tell him about the ethanolfall, but doesn't find any weaknesses at all, contrary to what Corvus is saying about fire, but does find a weaker will than he'd expect from such a terrifying thing. He then fires an extremely accurate small boulder at the creature splattering some of the liquid making it up.
The ethanolfall then takes one lashing wave at the ant with dried red splotches.
The wave hits and deals massive damage as the ethanolfall pushes the ant away from itself, breaking the grapple. He then takes another push at the ant, hoping to end the insolent little insect.
The red ant dies in the deluge of liquid, quickly being washed back into the tunnels of the nest. Now standing in a pool of liquid, the ethanolfall seems to liven up as it sucks in the what is surely water, and takes a third and final swing at the ant in white.
It leaves a nasty dent in the ant's carapace and pushes the ant away.
++++++++++++++++
Ethanol man -46
Axutain -6 Grabbed
Gryndle
Corvus
Pink -4
White -18
Red
S.B. -9
++++++++++++++++
Current map
"Hey, leave Axutain alone!" Corvus flutters after the lizardman, and loosens a Tempest Surge after the Pink-Tinted ant.
"I almoooost feel bad since it is helping with the ants but I got a score to settle for Corvus." Gryndle says as he continues swinging wildly.
◆: Dueling Parry (+2 AC)
◆: Strike
◆: Strike
◆: Strike
Corvus fires off a big electric blast at the ant harrying Axutain
It flattens itself some as the electricity flies overhead, shocking the ant some but not enough to kill.
Gryndle steps up and tries to hack and slash at the living liquid, hitting once and then missing his next.
++++++++++++++++
Ethanol man -58 or -66
Axutain -6 Grabbed
Gryndle Lose last attack or Parry?
Corvus
Pink -19
White -18
S.B. -9
++++++++++++++++
Current map
Axutain is able to fianlly cower the ant, causing it to try slink away from with his leg alone, but before the ant can take a step, it gets skewered on the lizardfolk's spear, its mandibles tearing off as he lifts the body of the ant over head.
Gryndle hits with his third strike as well and gives the ethanolfall something else to worry about.
The last ant, missing a few limbs scuttles closer and takes a nip at the ethanolfall.
The mandibles fail to find purchase on the liquid form and instead of risking a less accurate send attempt, the ant decides to go with trying to weaken the target with poison instead.
Both stabs with its stinger fail to connect with anything but air.
++++++++++++++++
Ethanol man -66
Axutain -6
Gryndle
Corvus
Pink Skewered on a spear
White -18
S.B. -9
++++++++++++++++
Current map
SB will draw and throw a bottled lightning at the elemental.
for
The elemental is flat-footed if that is a hit.
Then cast shield.
S.B. lands a bottle of lightening on the ethanol man dealing a tiny amount of damage, but also making the creature shudder and shiver some at the electrical charge, while the ant, elemental and Gryndle all take a little damage as well.
The wave then slams a wave of liquid at the last ant with sparse white hairs.
It then pushes the now dead carcass of the ant up against the wall, and then turns its sights on Gryndle
The creature gives a rumbling roar reminiscent of water washing boulders down a canyon in a flood, as the small man dodges all of his swings.
++++++++++++++++
Ethanol man -68 Flat footed
Axutain -6
Gryndle -1
Corvus
White Washed away
S.B. -9
++++++++++++++++
Current map
"Sorry ants, we tried not to get you in this mess." He takes a moment before turning back to the elemental. SB's tiny bottle of lightning did that, but Corvus's fiery fists did nothing? Corvus must have been misinformed.
So he instead fires a Ray of Frost at the ethanolfall, to see how it reacts.
Corvus picks a splinter of wood from his Necklace of Knives and it forms into a wooden dagger.
|
|
"I shall see you gone back to the place which summoned you!"
After spouting nonsensical noise at the elemental Axutain throws his Ant laden spear at the elemental only for it to catch on some sort of near-invisible cord and rapidly return to his palm for him to throw it a second time before it returns to him once more.
"Oooooh, that made my hairs stand on end and now I got this things attention." Gryndle says shaking off the shock and raising his blade in a defensive stance.
◆: Dueling Parry (+2 AC) (Current AC is 25)
◆: Strike
◆: Strike
◆: Strike
Corvus starts to realize he may have mistaken the elemental for another, and fires a test shot of freezing energy at the thing. It quickly freezes at a temperature that he's fairly sure ethanol wouldn't freeze at.
The elemental levels a flat look at Axutain, shouting some odd nonsense in Aquan, and then angrily shouts back in the language of water crashing on rocks.
It's pretty clear that he's not intimidated at all. However the small jolts of lightening on the elemental are slowing it's movements and makes it easier to hit a vital looking band of energy in the waves causing some noticeable damage when Axutain tosses his spear a second time.
Gryndle puts up his defenses and then goes to town on the ethanol?fall. The Slicing Seadog gets one hit, one miss and then another hit as it shaves off chunks of liquid that fall to the ground inanimate.
The thing is down to nearly no liquid left and wavers on the few strands it has holding it up right as if a good gust of wind would blow it over.
++++++++++++++++
Ethanol man -104
Axutain -6
Gryndle -1 Parrying
Corvus
S.B. -9
++++++++++++++++
Current map
"Hmpf. What... is this thing?" Corvus watches it shudder some more from the lightning bottle.
SB will launch a rock from the cave floor at the creature.
for
"I'm more practiced at keeping things alive, truth be told."
S.B. fires a projectile of a pointy rock at the ethanol?fall, but fails to hit anything vital.
The possibly not ethanol creature then sends a wave of liquid lashing out at Gryndle.
The wave catches the goblin by the chest and thrust him back a few feet as he feels the air being nocked from his lungs.
The elemental then steps up to the others in the group. Thinking that Corvus looks like a tasty morsel to snap up, it sends a wave swirling behind the small fey man.
Corvus is however able to flit out of the way of the crude wave, though in passing he realizes that the liquid does not smell of alcohol.
++++++++++++++++
Ethanol man -104
Axutain -6
Gryndle -15
Corvus
S.B. -9
++++++++++++++++
Current map