"Well, that ain't good." Morga gripes, dismally dismayed at the sight of Vildran's spell vanishing into thin air. Autumn almost has the right of it, but the dwarf is certain this thing would follow them everywhere until it is destroyed. "Vildran, get outta there!"
She tries to attract the ooze's attention to give him a chance to skedaddle, casting Needle Darts at the thing. Perhaps, since the darts are made of mundane metal, they'll get through whatever magical shield it has? She can only hope.
She snaps her shield up, hoping the thing's whacks aren't strong enough to take her out in one hit. She's spent too much time dying already.
Vildran stares at his staff, shocked by the absorption of his spell. He's torn between fascination of the effect and fear of this ooze.
-
-
For its part, the sludge sweeps its pseudopod toward Vildran, this time connecting with a solid blow. Vildran's head rings from more than just the impact though, as a painful headache rises . The sludge follows by wrapping its pseudopod around Vildran's torso, grappling him. Then, the light that shines from it grows bright an envelops the poor wizard...
Vildran's headache intensifies massively and he can feel his grasp over magic begin slipping away from him.
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (Stage 2 Rust Creep)
San
Morga
Vildran (17 dmg, stupefied 1, grabbed, guidance)
Iridescent Sludge (1 dmg, shielded)
"Abyss take us... Alright, lets try this then." San swaps his bow for the warhammer that's been neglected then approaches the slime.
"Curiosity killed the cat." Morga grumbles, knowing that curiosity is partly to blame for Vildran's choices in the last several seconds. And now he's going to die. Well, not if I can help it. Before charging in, however, Morga does a smart thing. Or at least, a probably-Autumn-approved thing: she casts Sanctuary on herself so that she can stay alive long enough to heal everyone from what is bound to be yet another we're-probably-all-going-to-get-too-close-to-really-dying skirmish. She raises her shield again. "Healing's coming, Vildran!"
No... n He can feel his mind starting to slip.
Feeble though his frame is, it's time to struggle visibly.
Looking back over her shoulder, Autumn is frustrated, but not surprised, to see that no one has had the good sense to follow her. With an inward sigh, she backtracks to peek inside the room, and is alarmed to see that there are now two elves trying to commit suicide. With a circular wave of her hand she conjures a thick, protective fog around San, then amends Morga’s reassurance to Vildran: “But you won’t get any healing unless you run away!”
-
Vildran struggles again and again to break free of the pseudopod currently wrapped around him, but to no avail. From a distance, Autumn forms an obscuring figment around San.
The sludge attempts to drain Vildran's magic once more...
and despite his before efforts he finds himself passing out . With Vildran limp in the sludge's grasp, it seems to have had its fill of him, because it releases his body. It goops its way around the less interesting San to get in reach of Morga . A pseudopod swings out at her, but she's able to deflect it with her raised shield.
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (Stage 2 Rust Creep)
San
Morga
Vildran (18 dmg, stupefied 1, dying 1, prone)
Iridescent Sludge (4 dmg, re-shielded)
“Heinous,” Autumn gapes when the sludge sucks away the cleric’s spell. There is no way this magic-user is sticking around to fight a magic-sucking blob. “Be smarter than Vildran!” she urges the dwarf, without a second thought for the unconscious wizard. “Follow me!” Without waiting, she dashes down the hall and opens the door to the larva room. “In here!”
But though the con artist seems focused on retreat, she reveals another side to her plans: with her finger she traces out a path from Morga to herself, then through the door to the north, then sweeping back around to the west, as if suggesting returning to the laboratory through another door.
Seeing yet another spell get devoured, San figures he's their only hope to defeat this thing. Pulling from his experience with the guards at Sandpoint, he stands fast despite Autumn's suggestion. Just as well she runs. Her magic will just get eaten as well. Drawing his newish dagger, he swings the warhammer.
When Morga goes to cast her sanctuary though, the sludge's light gleams around her and the spell melts away, the energies siphoning back into a fresh new shield around the sludge!
"No!" Morga had really hoped that only spells targeting the ooze would be absorbed. Not so much, apparently.
At first, Autumn's commands seem cowardly and heartless, but when Morga glances over to give her a scowling reprimand, she sees the sorceress's gestures. Realization dawns on her: Trap it in the larva room. And it'll follow her because she has the magic it seeks. She nods once at Autumn, then begins slowly backing away from the ooze, shooting an agonized glance at Vildran's motionless body. "Come and get me, you vile pile of sludge!" She growls. Just before stepping out of the doorway, she makes eye contact with San and gives him a wink. Then she hustles after Autumn down the hallway.
The sludge's drain assaults his mind and magical connection, leaving him with a painful pounding in his head and the inability to recall how he would cast ignition. You notice that suddenly the sludge is moving quicker than before, energized by the ingestion of the magical potential.
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (Stage 2 Rust Creep)
San (22 dmg, grabbed, stupefied 1)
Morga
Vildran (18 dmg, stupefied 1, unconscious, prone)
Iridescent Sludge (17 dmg, quickened)
Immediately regretting his decision to stay and fight, San throws off the grasping psuedopod and retreats to Autumn and Morga.
As soon as San catches up to them, Morga slaps a quick poultice on his wounds, then charges into the larva room, shouting: "Over here, sludge bucket!"
“Once it’s in the hallway, follow us,” Autumn whispers once San catches up. “We’ll try to trap it in this room.” She dashes in next to Morga, quickly clears the debris that the dwarf had stacked up earlier to block the western door, and then stands ready to open it once she gets word from San.
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (Stage 2 Rust Creep)
San (17 dmg, stupefied 1)
Morga
Vildran (18 dmg, stupefied 1, unconscious, prone)
Iridescent Sludge (17 dmg)
Hearing the squishy thwack of the ooze just missing San outside, Autumn doesn’t hesitate and quickly opens the door back into the laboratory. “Close it once you’ve lured it into the middle of the room,” she says to Morga, then darts through and down the left corridor. Once she nears the southern door though, she slows to a stealthy tiptoe.
San tries to keep putting on damage in case their plan doesn't work before following after Morga and Autumn.
Morga's torn. She desperately wants to heal San, but isn't sure how far away they have to be to avoid strengthening that ooze. She also won't be able to heal him if he falls in here, with that thing. Autumn's plan will only work if no one else is stuck in here with it. Stubbornly, she stands her ground beside him, eyeing the door.
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (Stage 2 Rust Creep)
San (17 dmg, stupefied 1)
Morga
Vildran (18 dmg, stupefied 1, unconscious, prone)
Iridescent Sludge (25 dmg)
"Now's a good chance to get to Vildran, I'll close the sludge in here!"
San smacks the ooze one more time before retreating to the door and closing it.
As soon as she sees San emerge safely from the room and hears the door closing behind him, Autumn opens her own door and darts down the hall to close the other door behind the ooze.