Dot in here when ready.
You begin together in the Central Market around Adayenki Pavilion, at the heart of Kibwe. You have come to an open-air shop belonging to a seller of rare wood named Kendi Laughs-Long, who stocks some of the city’s most intricately carved darkwood. Here you are probably looking for some rare weapons or materials, or maybe you are here for some other reason, maybe you want to see what they have compared to other cities. Maybe, you are comparing prices, or meeting someone here, but you are here.
Ah, not one buyer, but many! cries Kendi Laughs-Long, the
proprietor of this spacious stall in Kibwe’s bustling Central Market. His expansive gesture draws attention to his many skillful carvings of rare wood, including darkwood. “Please, all of you, browse my wares and feel free to ask me...[/b] Kendi pauses for a moment and doesn't feel well he bends over his hand below his belly while bending over like he wants to throw up. I'm alright, I....think.
dot
Browsing the wares at the stall is a small, stout gnome woman. She has bright pink hair done up in pigtails, and wears goggles on her head. Numerous tools, trinkets, and gadgets adorn her belt and bandolier. Beside her stands a human-sized construct made of metal, wood, and gears.
When Kendi begins to groan and hold his stomach, the gnome frowns. Luckily, the dwarf that moves to assist him claims to be a healer. "Get that gas out, man! Burp, fart, whatever you gotta do! Better out than in, I always say!" the gnome chirps helpfully.
The grippli puts down the darkwood box he had been examining, "I too have something that could aid you Kendi, even if you didn't eat anything strange," he says, twisting to the side and patting his backpack. His voice is deeper than expected for such a small humanoid, with a slight croaking undertone. Standing on his tip toes, and using the table for support, he watches Kendi with concern.
He is wearing leather armor and a floral-pattern sarong, so most of his skin is displayed. It's multi-colored, with orange-speckled black of his arms and legs to the yellow-bands on bright blue running from the edge of his face down his torso. Turquoise eyes and yellow-spots on black complete his face.
The large brutish orc dressed only in a ragged loincloth and sporting a number of strange fetishes about his body and a small pouch attached to the rope belt he uses to hold his loincloth in place, leaps over the table of goods and sniffs, animal-like, at the sick merchant.
"Mok smell sickness on you. Mok know healing herbs that may help..."
He looks quizzically at the others for direction as to what they should do.
Thanks, but... I... should be alright gasping for air.
He stares plaintively as his eyes droop and then liquefy. Within seconds, the merchant has become a quivering pile of dark goo in his stall. The goo suddenly ripples, extrudes a pseudopod, and slithers forward. perception ooze, it is 10 feet from you all.
A slender iruxi moves through the crowd, stopping often to chat with merchants and other locals. As he nears Kendi's stall he calls out, "Hey Kendi, is that cane ready? I can't wait ..." He trails off as he gets a closer look and sees how he looks. "Are you alright? You look like half the troupe the morning after a good show."
He's wearing leather armor and a flowing scarf, both in bright colors that somehow don't clash with his own bright green scales. No visible weapons on him except for a dagger at his belt.
He's too shocked by the sudden collapse to do anything other than gasp "Kendi! No!"
Mok jerks back and snarls as the man turns into a puddle of toxic goo. His eyes widen as the puddle seems to gather and produce flail-like appendages.
"Well, that's not good!" Lani declares as the merchant melts into a vile ooze. "Uh, Mecha-Man! Don't let it hurt anybody!" She makes some twists and adjustments to its gears, pushing it into overdrive!
She then commands it into battle as she raises her shield.
The construct rolls up to the ooze and attacks with a fist!
Lani gets her construct ready and it punches the ooze hard, causing some of its material to spill out and dissolve. She would have crit the thing, only the ooze can't take crits.
Mok
Almaka and Mok are up
Eegkokirro cries Kendi!" as the man transforms into an ooze. The grippli grabs the closest thing on the table to a club that he can find and prepares to defend himself. His mind races as he thinks of what could have changed the man so quickly. Magic of course, but is there an ooze that reproduces like this?
eegkokirro tries to figure out what the ooze is, but can't
Mok, having never seen such a weird occurrence, takes a step back to see how the metal creature's attack works against the slime.
The black pudding tries to attack the construct that attacked it.
if hit take all blunt damage. last 2d6 is acid
Eegkokirro has two actions left, Kishkarn and Mok are up for round 1. Almaka and Lani can also take their round two actions
Lani winces as the ooze batters her construct companion, leaving it badly damaged. "Mecha-Man! Smash and retreat!" she calls.
Mecha-Man punches the ooze before falling back to Lani's side. The gnome calls upon her innate powers to zap the ooze with electricity!
Kisharn sees the acid etching into Mecha-Man's body and glances down at his own claws before launching himself forward, tumbling past the ooze into Kendi's stall.
Or rather he intends to, but instead slips on a puddle of slime and barely keeps from going head first into the ooze.
Off-balance, he'll make a completely futile attempt to appeal, "Kendi, if there's anything left of you in there, stop struggling. We're your friends. I'm sure there's a way to get you back.
Meanwhile, he's scanning the back of the stall to spot the new fancy cane he'd come here to pick up.
Eegkokirro winces seeing the jelly-like creature strike the construct . He is reluctant to engage the creature at a close distance. His preferred method of fighting is to focus on the joints and pressure points of his opponents. He doubts this creature has any. If only I had met with Abunza already, I could have that lethargy poison ready, he thinks. He thinks about the poisons and toxins he does have in possession and isn't sure. This could be an illusion as well.
"Can your companion use the table as a barrier to pin the creature in the stall?" the grippli asks the gnome, demonstrating with his hands what he means as he backs away from the creature.
"Danger! Caution!" he calls out to the surrounding vendors and shoppers.
Eegkokirro finds a club and grabs one.
Lani's construct punches the ooze once causing more ooze to spit out.
Kishkarn messes up but finds out the ooze does not have an aoo. He then tries to talk to it, but it doesn't respond.
Mok and Almaka are up
Mok, not having any other type of weapon, grabs a handy hunk of wood and throws it at the blob.
Interact: grab a weighty object from the table
Attack (Ranged):
Damage:
Move out of reach of the blob's attack (15' Minimum...and sticking with staying off the ground)
or take acid
Almaka surrounds the ooze.
The ooze moves to attack, triggering Almaka's flurry.
doing this alphabetically. mok, it hit you, you are last alphabetically. 2d8+7 is blunt, and last 2d6 is acid, the acid damage also damages your armor if you are wearing any.
All heroes are up, plus Almaka's flurry triggers.
almost missed the reflex save from Lani oouch, it crit failed.
Reflex save: FAIL
Mok takes 7 acid damage
SO that would be 10 acid and 17 blunt....ouch!!
Current HP: 41/75
Having gotten his feet back under him, Kisharn leaps gracefully over and past the ooze, scooping up his new cane and spinning back to attack with it.
Lani hangs back, zapping the ooze with lightning again!
Seeing Kisharn leap past the ooze, Eegkokirro croaks in excitement. He remembers the few times fighting alongside him, both using their acrobatic nature to outflank and confuse the enemy. Striking where they didn't expect it.
He hurries towards their enemy, attempting to use a table leg to swing himself over the table and land on the ooze's opposite side from Kisharn.
The grippli tries to pound the ooze with his borrowed club as if beating a drum.
He pulls his short sword from its sheathe, calling out "Kendi, fight the magic!"
Kishkarn hits the thing once causing more ooze to splatter out onto the floor and dissolve, while almalka's tail takes two good chunks out of it.
Eeekokirro hits it with a club
This time it is ready for it and dodges some electric.
Mok is up
Still feeling the burning sting of the creature's touch, Mok moves away from the ooze and looks again for something to throw at the creature while out of its splash range.
Almaka hits it twice splashing lots of muk out.
Kishkarn dodge all the muk he splashed as he turns to the side
Eeeg jumps having half the muk he splashed miss he takes half of this, acid.
It goes, trying to get back at Almaka who did the most damage to it.
this damage is doubled
All heroes are up, ooze is nearly destroyed
Lani zaps the ooze once more!
"Eegkokirro! Just like old times, except the old times were bandits and not acid blobs that used to be friends."
Still flanking with Eegkokirro, Kisharn whacks the ooze until it stops moving.
"It's like you're reading my mind," Eegkokirro replies. He again attempts to whack the ooze, two quick strikes sweeping from side to side, aware of the danger from the ooze landing on his skin. It stung when it splashed on him moments ago and he doesn't want to repeat the experience.
He retreats fifteen feet afraid the creature may explode in its death throes.
Heroes finally defeat the black ooze and no more exists of it, or the person who once was. Merchants fully covered in clothing congratulate them. Phew, thanks, but don't touch anyone for now, non-humans are carriers, they can't turn, but you can and will get sick and pass it on. We will summon the council at once.
Fort Save:
Mok remains skeptical of the remains of the blob as the other merchants come towards them. He takes whatever cloth he can find to rinse the remains of the black goo from his skin before further damage can be done.
"Why?! Why this happening?"
"Well, that was gross," Lani mutters. She takes out a cloth and wipes the splatters of ooze from Mecha-Man, then gets to work with her tools to fix all the dents and bangs in his body.
"This is something that's common around this city, is it?" the gnome asks the merchants. "Somebody ought to do something about that, yeah?"
With the fight ended, Kisharn spends a silent moment looking down at the remains of what used to be Kendi Laughs-Long, before saying a few formal sounding words in iruxi. Then he turns to the others and the approaching merchants, wiping his weapon clean as he does so.
"Apparently I've been a little too isolated, preparing for the new show. This has happened before? Often?"
Eegkokirro looks at the upturned table and the darkwood objects scattered on the ground. He shakes his head in frustration and loss. "His poor family. How will they deal with this tragedy?"
The grippli attempts to wipe off the remnants of the ooze from his armor and shorts. He looks at the gnome and answers her. "This has never happened during my many trips to Kibwe...but it sounds like there is a problem here now. Thanks for the help. I'm Eegkokirro by the way. Well met despite the circumstances. Good to see you again Kisharn!" The grippli waves a hand.
He sighs and looks at the crowd of people discussing the incident. "When did this start happening?" he asks a person at random.
Know about this, it is new, but is has been happening, why or how, we don't know, but it has been happening for a few days now. Sorry we couldn't warn you in time, the virus is new and the word is just spreading. We still don't know much about this virus. Others think it is a hoax or exaggerated. We just now saw what happened here and if ain't no virus, we want to know what exactly did happen.
Just then Abayone Munme arrives, a female politician, who knows more about it then them.
A middle-aged Zenj woman dressed in colorful fabrics hails you from a few stalls away. “Ah! Heroes! I would speak with you!” When the woman gets closer, she bows and introduces herself. “I am Abayone Munme, and I have the pleasure of serving on the Representative Council that administers Kibwe. Might I bother you for a moment of your time? That unfortunate transformation you just witnessed was, alas, not an isolated event.”
“Many rumors are circulating about these ghastly transformations in the city; other than myself, however, most are inclined to dismiss them as foolish jokes or the effects of too much alcohol.” She smiles grimly, tapping the side of her nose. “At first, so did I. But this is no joke. I would hire you to investigate. I can offer a stipend of ten gold pieces per day for expenses, but also the Representative Council’s gratitude, which you may find quite valuable."
Kisharn step up with a bow and bit of a flourish, playing as much to the audience as to Abayone Munme.
"I cannot speak for these others, but my talents are at the Council's disposal for this matter. Kendi is a great loss and if there have been others, I don't like to think on the possibilities."