"Excellent work Caius! Good thinking to use the paw as an insulator. Let's see what we have beyond the door."
Verilich will resume his flying scout role and fly into the room, peering into the corners but continuing to follow the right hand rule if it is needed.
Khalid watches Verilich move ahead and says, "My hand hurts more than it should for a burn. I fear its use may be limited without some rest or healing."
"Also, I am also out of mutagens and extracts. We seem to be at a transition from the tower girl threat, to something more ancient. Perhaps this is a good time to rest, record and report before pressing on?"
"We do not have what we are here to retrieve. Retreat is defeat," Caius declares as he begins to bandage his own aching hand.
When Verilich hears the concerns about bandaging hands, he will come back and see what he can do.
"There! That should patch things up. Let's get back to scouting." and he will return.
"I don't think Khalid is suggesting retreat, Caius, but rather pausing in a tactically secure locale to restore some advantageous capabilities. Although I'm not entirely out of spells, that would augment mine as well. Gundar, how are you faring in this respect?"
I am running low, but luckily, I still have the healing wand to help keep you all in the fight! Gundar responds.
With the path forward now open, the group pressed on, stepping into the dust-laden corridor beyond. The vibrant Thassilonian murals lining the walls stood in stark contrast to the age and ruin surrounding them, their preserved pigments hinting at a time when these halls had been more than a tomb for lost knowledge.
Moving cautiously northward, the adventurers soon arrived at a set of stairs descending deeper into the structure. Unlike the perilous shafts they had encountered before, these steps did not stretch endlessly into the abyss. This descent was brief—perhaps a single level, two at most—suggesting that they were merely transitioning to another section of this sprawling ruin rather than plunging into the depths unseen.
The stairs opened into another long hallway, eerily similar to those they had already explored. Time had done its work here as well, though whether through magic or sheer craftsmanship, the place still held firm against the centuries. Dust and cobwebs whispered in the faint air currents, the stillness oppressive, as if the very walls waited in silence for something to stir.
Verilich, ever the scout, took the lead. His footfalls were near-silent as he moved ahead, slipping into the shadows and rounding the corner to the southeast. There, beyond the dim light of the group’s approach, a wide passage stretched northward, its end swallowed in darkness.
Another path. Another mystery waiting in the gloom.
Verilich continues to scout forward....wondering how his footfalls were near silent even though he was flying when he could.
Caius proceeds quietly as well, keeping Verilich in sight but giving him the lead.
Verilich continues to scout forward....wondering how his footfalls were near silent even though he was flying when he could.
It's the corners on the stairwell!
Khalid will try to not bump into Caius too often while only making moderate noise.
Ghaernan follows closely behind Khalid, as watchful and quiet as possible...
Gundar will bring up the rear!
Verilich continues to follow the right hand rule into the darkness, taking advantage of his darkvision.
Verilich moved cautiously, his form blending with the shadows as he edged around the corner to the north. His keen eyes adjusted quickly to the dim light of the ruins—only to find that, ahead, darkness gave way to something unexpected.
A window in the northern wall allowed daylight to spill into the chamber beyond, casting long, slanted beams across the floor. The illumination revealed a large pool of water stretching across the far end of the room, its surface still and murky beneath a thick layer of green scum. The stagnant liquid carried an air of neglect, untouched by time but not by decay.
The chamber itself was vast, its design more grandiose than the narrow corridors before it. The walls and floors, however, bore the unmistakable signs of long-term occupation—dark smears of guano, thick and layered, streaked across the stone like the markings of creatures that had long claimed this place as their roost.
To the northeast and northwest, two corridors stretched away from the chamber, their paths disappearing into shadow. These side passages hinted at further secrets waiting to be uncovered.
To the southeast, however, a more peculiar sight met Verilich’s gaze—a crevice in the wall, narrow and jagged. The opening was impassable for all but the smallest of creatures, a mere sliver in the ancient stone that whispered of deeper tunnels beyond.
The space was eerily silent save for the faint sound of dripping water, the only movement the slow rippling of the scum-covered pool. But the guano-streaked floor told another story—something had lived here, and perhaps still did.
Through the message spell, "Ghaernan, there is a large pool with some exterior light illuminating a large chamber. I believe the pool is occupied by something that lives here. It hasn't yet noticed me that I know of. May need to prepare to cleanse the pool?"
Still within close contact of the others, while just able to perceive the area illuminated by daylight ahead, Ghaernan relays Verelich's message.
"Passing on your message. Let's assemble before checking out the water, a difficult environment for any of us."
The Bard cautiously advances again to Khalid, then waits on the others to move forward...
Khalid advances and looks in the water. Once the others have assembled, he will tap the water with the horse chopper and then step back to see if anything happens.
Verilich launches into the air at an altitude of 20' and orbits over the water looking to see what he can discern when Khalid disturbs the water.
Caius moved up beside Khalid, both warriors standing at the edge of the scum-covered pool, their gazes locked on the stagnant water. The thick green film clinging to its surface shifted only slightly, disturbed by the faintest ripples, betraying a depth beneath that was impossible to judge.
Above, Verilich circled the chamber with cautious grace, his eyes scanning for movement, his wings carrying him over the festering pool below. Behind the frontline warriors, Ghaernan and Gundar stood ready, positioned safely beyond immediate reach of whatever might lurk beneath the surface.
Khalid, gripping his weapon, followed through on his own suggestion. Extending the blade, he gave the pool a firm tap.
For a moment, nothing.
Then the water exploded.
A violent eruption of filth and scum sent murky droplets cascading in all directions as two massive shapes surged upward, their grotesque forms tearing free from the stagnant depths. What had seemed like nothing more than still water concealed nightmarish, living masses of translucent protoplasm, each the size of a grown man.
The creatures were amorphous and shifting, their forms never quite holding shape, pulsing and stretching like semi-solid ooze. Their gelatinous flesh was nearly transparent, revealing the grim remains of past victims—half-digested bones floating within their mass, fractured and disjointed as if trapped in a slow, perpetual descent toward dissolution. A dark nucleus churned deep within each, a sickly core pulsing like a grotesque, alien heart.
The stench of acrid decay rolled over the adventurers as the creatures fully emerged, sloshing forward with a disturbing, fluidic motion, the scum-covered water clinging to their slick, quivering forms.
They had been waiting.
And now, they had found their next meal.
Ghaernan <== Up!
Gundar <== Up!
Khalid <== Up!
Verilich <== Up!
Caius <== Up!
A2
A1
Khalid will study these giant Amoeba for a second to see if he can remember or detect anything that might help himself and his allies.
"These are similar to Oozes. That means they should be immune to critical hits, flanking, precision damage, mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms), paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep, stun, and visual effects. It also means they may be hurt with a horsechopper. Let's see!" Khalid says as he tries to demonstrate via a charge.
Gunnar will keep the wand handy to heal the melee fighters when they need it.
"Perhaps a sling stone would prove a bit harmful as well?"
Ghaernan strides forward, still well out of range of the nasty things, while drawing his sling. Stopping beside one of the chamber's corners, the Bard whirls and hurls a projectile at the leftmost one...
Both Khalid and Ghaernan's attacks hit the oozes, causing full damage!
Ghaernan
Gundar
Khalid
Verilich <== Up!
Caius <== Up!
A2 <== Injured
A1
Caius will advance on the nearest slime slug and strike for the intestines.
19-20/x2 S
Caius finishes the creature off!
Verilich will delay...no reason to let the baddies have a free attack if we can kill them in short order.
Verilich undelays and makes another orbit around the pool.
The second amoeba swims to attack Khalid...
The second d3 is acid
Crit Confirm
As the Giant Amoeba charges, Khalid takes a swing at it.
That hits. Not enough to kill the thing though, so Khalid gets hit.
The party is up.
Ghaernan <== Up!
Gundar <== Up!
Khalid <== Up!
Verilich <== Up!
Caius <== Up!
A1
Khalid will step back and strike it again.
And just like that the other amoeba is destroyed.
Khalid will search the room, including in the water and the dead amoeba's.
There is nothing to find in this chamber, per se, but with a natural 20, I'm going to say that Khalid does spot a whole bunch of bats in the next room to the Northeast. They are hanging from the ceiling and such sleeping, for it is daytime.
Who's hurt? Gundar asks with the wand at the ready...
"I am a bit hurt, but I can tough it out without wasting charges I think."
Gundar nods approvingly at Khalid. Ye let me know when ye need ta be topped off.
Verilich moved cautiously toward the narrow passageway at the southeastern side of the chamber, where the party had just finished off the massive amoebas. Unlike the wide halls and open spaces before, this passage twisted and turned, its tight confines forcing him to rely on foot rather than flight. The winding nature of the tunnel left little room to maneuver, its walls uneven and encroaching just enough to clip his wings should he attempt to take to the air.
Stepping lightly, he followed the passage as it curved through the stone, each step measured to avoid disturbing whatever might lurk beyond. The air grew heavier as he pressed forward, the scent shifting—something organic, something stale.
Emerging into a new chamber, the first thing Verilich noticed was the sheer number of carcasses strewn across the floor. Desiccated fish, their scales dull and brittle, lay in heaps among larger remains, their skeletal forms twisted and drained of life.
Beneath his feet, the ground was thick with sticky webbing, stretching across the room in uneven sheets. Each step brought the soft, clinging resistance of silk, an unmistakable sign of the chamber’s true inhabitants.
To the north, a narrow tunnel led further into darkness, its walls lined with more webbing. But to the southwest, the room opened into a vast, forty-foot-diameter chamber, a silo-like space from which the distinct sound of sloshing water echoed—something unseen, shifting just beyond his view.
And then, movement.
Near the center of the chamber, hunched over the bloated corpse of a dolphin, were two large spiders, their dark bodies shifting as mandibles tore into the soft flesh of their meal. Their long, segmented legs twitched as they fed, their hairy bodies blending into the tangled mess of webbing coating the floor and walls.
For now, they were preoccupied.
But Verilich knew that would not last long.
Through the message spell ”Spiders up ahead we should prepare for combat if we intend to clear all of these corridors.”. Verilich will assess the terrain and determine if this is difficult terrain and whether it would be more advantageous to fight back in the hallway.
This is not difficult terrain, except, of course, actually in the water.
Ghaernan relays Verelich's warnings to the others, and then responds via the message spell as he also steps back several feet...
"Message passed. How many spiders? Can you lure them back up the crevice so we can fight them one at a time?"
"If there are two, I feel we would be at a greater advantage to fight them in the open space where we can bring all our combat power to bear. This has the additional advantage that we may be able to quickly charge and take them by surprise. That's my vote."
"If it turns out there a more and we are threatened with being overwhelmed, we can retreat to the corridor"
"There are 2 that I see."
"Great, let's charge and get them by surprise! I guess I could throw a bomb at them, it doesn't do that much damage, but might burn their webs"
Ghaernan relays the dialog in the Message Spell’s supernaturally quiet whisper, reflecting upon the conundrum…
”I was suggesting bringing ‘all our combat power to bear’ at the top of the crevice against them one at a time, Khalid, rather than into their midst down at the unknown far end, but then I won’t be the one quickly charging them, in any event. Of course, you may not either, if you don’t first deal with the ground ‘thick with sticky webbing’ you’ll need to cross… Caius, Verilich?”
Through the message: "The webs do not appear to restrict movement so far. As for charging in, I would suggest our horsechopper made quick work of the prior room and should be given first chance to charge."
Ghaernan again relays the dialog, skeptical but passing on Verelich's perception...
"Khalid, the Wyvaran doesn't think all the webs will prove difficult, for some reason - perhaps an illusion? He seeks your chance to charge..."