Gaz seems to be having a hard time seeing in the dark - he can make out a long passage, that is all.
Dakoyo casts light!
...and then realizes he doesn't know that spell, and turns on his beacon instead.
Dakoyo turns on the lights, giving a clearer view into the passage. It goes on for quite a bit, but Dakoyo also notices that part of the passage is weakened, and looks like its close to collapse. It's probably not safe to walk under there.
Seeing in the dark, Nako moves in and starts helping making the area safer.
Helping!
Knowing that he can't talk the broken area into submission, Gaz-i-Gaz once again acts as a cheerleader for the rest of the party.
"You can do it guys! Stop that passage from collapsing!"
Ayoka manages to stabilize the ceiling, making the corridor safe for passage.
Thick stalactites laced with ribbons of dark metal hang from the ceiling of this expansive chamber, and patches of the floor are oddly smooth. Shelves in the eastern half of the cavern are raised five feet from the ground. A pair of passageways exit to the west and another tunnel leads north.
There's a badly wounded pahtra in a corner of the cave, and standing between the skittermander and the pahtra are two ooze-like creatures that look like piles of metal scrapings
---
Nako
Gaz
--
Ooze
Ooze
---
Ayoka
Dakoyo
---
Without more thinking, Nako moves while drawing her doshko and once close to the creature she strikes!
Attack!
Gaz-i-Gaz walks into the room, and smiles at the pahtra.
"Don't worry! We are here to help!"
He then points at Blue.
"Get 'em!"
Nako unhestitatingly strikes at the ooze as Gaz-I-Gaz points at it to encourage his friend to bring it down first. As Nako strikes, she feels a strogn magnetic force that is pulling her doshko off-target.
The two slimy ferrofluidic creatures strike out at Nako with pseudopods that smell or iron filings.
---
Ayoka
Dakoyo
---
Nako
Gaz
--
Ooze - Blue (18)
Ooze
---
Dakoyo doesn't think they have minds to bother with, so he runs in and shoots the bluish ooze.
"It's not that bad, Nako! Just a little bump!"
Gaz-i-Gaz points at Blue again.
"Get that one!"
Thanks for the help! I'm better now. says Nako after Gaz-i-Gaz encourages her.
Nako keeps her doshko firmly in her hands and strikes twice at the already wounded creature.
Dakoyo's needle homes in on the heap of ferrous material as if it's attracted to it, and does some damage, but it's the shooting stars of Ayoka that do it is, splattering the heap over the cave floor.
Nako then goes full-out on the last ooze, but only hits one
Already weakened, the last ooze amplified its magnetic field, and promptly becomes completed attached to Nako, covering the hapless skittermander in ferro-fluid.
---
Ayoka
Dakoyo
---
Nako
Gaz
--
Ooze - Blue (DOWN)
Ooze - Red (17 - Attached to Nako)
---
Gaz-i-Gaz moves forward, prepared to help.
"Get that one!"
Eeek! says Nako as the creature wraps around her.
She strikes again to get rid of it.
Out, out, out!
"Let go of Nako!"
"Or I might actually hit you next time!"
Ayoka's missiles makes short work of the ooze, covering Nako in inanimate black goop that clings to every pieces of metal.
The badly wounded pahtra, who sits on a higher ledge, looks to be outside of mortal danger an explains There was an ambush, four-legged humanoidshapes emerging from the darkness. I couldn't even count how many they were before I was knocked out. There were three more in my group, they must be deeper in the cave. They were still alive the last time I saw them, so I think there's still hope...
Ayoka's precision missiles make short work of the last ooze, covering Nako in blackish, inanimate goop.
Gaz-i-Gaz favors the pahtra with a smile.
"Don't worry! We will help them, too!"
He then goes to peer down one of the other corridors.
The group explores the cavern system further. The lowest tunnel widens to an unremarkable cavern with rough walls and then continues on, the other tunnel ends up in same place, converging on a small and oddly shaped chamber. A shallow pool of foul-smelling water has collected here.
A sputtering flashlight, in the hands of an unconscious vesk, lights up the cave with intermittent flashes, giving the place and eerie glow intermixed with darkness.
Gaz-i-Gaz's face lights up.
"Someone else who needs help!"
Oh no! says Nako seeing the uncounscious Vesk.
She moves closer to the body, her doshko in one hand and her pistol in another.
Dakoyo is ready to rush in... and then Ayoka gets there first.
When did Nako hire a second medic?
Ayoka revives the Vesk, who begins to explain I'm Syvatsolex, I'm the guide. I was guiding a group of four pahtras when we uncovered this new tunnel. Stridermanders... I've only ever seen them from afar, and I was unprepared for their attacks. I can't even tell you how many they were, but they took the other pahtras and left me here.
I'm too weak to continue with you. Let me make it back to the surface. Don't waste your healing on me, you'll need it down there.
"Okay!"
Gaz-i-Gaz cheerfully goes for the left tunnel.
The left tunnel leads to a save covered by a thin layer of sand
Dakoyo sees a faint glimmer somewhere halfway, and uncovers a previous gemstone. Other than that, the chamber is empty.
The other tunnel leads to another cave.
Bluish-green moss covers nearly every surface of this irregular chamber, dotted with large, colorful mushrooms. The tunnel complex continues on on the other end.
Gaz-i-Gaz attempts to check to see if any of the mushroom are dangerous.
If everything looks okay, he will fearlessly stride into the room.
Gaz-I-Gaz thinks the mushrooms are fine, but the moss would release some soporific spores, tiny enough to make it through even environmental protections.
Turning on his environmental protections, Gaz-i-Gaz runs through the area.
Gaz-i-Gaz yawns, but still manages to move through the area.
"I think I will need a good nap after this!"
Seals up, Dakoyo proceeds.
"Can't be helpful if you're not well rested *yawn*."
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 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.
There's a quartet of four Stridermanders in the far end of the cave, bickering over who gets to feed off their prey: three unconscious pahtras.
They haven't noticed the skittermanders yet.
Gaz-i-Gaz tries to sneak forward.
Nako activates her environmental protection et follows her comrades.
Agreeeeeed says Nako in a yawn.
She tries to be stealthy, following Gaz
The structure of the cave helps a lot, and Dakoyo, and Gaz-I-Gaz manage to sneak up quite closely, until Nako starts clanking in and draws the attention of the stridermanders.
---(Surprise round)---
Gaz-I-Gaz
Dakoyo
---(Round 1)---
Nako
Dakoyo
---
Strider
Strider
Strider
Strider
---
Ayoka
Gaz-I-Gaz
---
Gaz-i-Gaz hustles into the room.
Dakoyo hustles behind a pillar and shouts, "Cover me! I have to go help!"
Dakoyo runs out into the open using his move action from hyper and then healing channels as a full action to restore their health.