It is basically impossible to avoid touching the fungus that lines the walls in these narrow corridors, but, as V suspected, it doesn't seem to be hazardous. Rand is navigating his way through a particularly tight section when he catches the slightest of movements on the ceiling ahead. Some creature is definitely lying (dangling?) in wait at the next intersection for intruders to subsume. In the dim glow of the fungus-lined cavern, the creature resembles a massive, oozing pinecone fused with a grotesque tower of leathery fungal caps--its surface slick with moisture and faintly pulsing as if breathing.
Knowledge (nature) DC17:
This creature is known as a psychepore: a symbiosis of two different plant creatures—a lurching bit of undergrowth distantly related to the shambling mound and an intelligent cluster of hard fungal growths that possess a malevolent hive mind. On their own, the shambling undergrowth is an unintelligent creature, barely aware enough to move itself to new sources of sunlight and water, while the fungal conks, for their part, are intelligent but immobile. The two pose a serious threat only once the psychic fungus infests the shambling undergrowth, and the creatures transform into the horrifying psychepore.
It can launch razor sharp fungal growths as a ranged attack. The attack carries a poison that damages wisdom.
It is resistant to fire and physical attacks other than slashing.
Same roll DC22:
Anyone who fails the poison save needs to make a secondary save or be affected by visions of alien intent (mechanically: confused).
The first two slam into the wall (i.e., he had significant cover from the narrow passage) but it has refined its aim by the third shot and the razor conk slams into his neck (11 damage). Randall feels the spores enter his bloodstream and his head goes all woozy.
Rand feels like he was awful close to losing his mind there for a second, as awful visions of madness teased his peripheral thoughts. He girded his brain loins, though, and pushed through it. It definitely feels as if it's not over, though.
It's hanging from the 15' ceiling but is approximately 8' tall, so reachable for melee from the ground.
ROUND 1
Creature (0 damage, hanging from ceiling [15' up])
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (90/90 hp)
V (125/125 hp)
Rand (102/105 hp, poisoned [5 rounds], 7 str damage, 3 wis damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Tink isn't sure, but V thinks this area looks like a fungus farm. He doesn't recognize the specific varieties of fungus, but given that they are meant for consumption, it is unlikely they are toxic to the touch--even despite the fact that they have probably been mutated by the blightburn.
Tink is technically out of carry companion castings but I don't want to get bogged down in minutiae so I'm hand-waving it.
As you reach the bottom of the chasm, you feel the tiny barbs in your hands and feet retract, and you know you might have to get clever to find a way back up to the magically locked door. Now that you are looking at the wall, though, you can see it is craggy enough that it wouldn't be too hard to climb mundanely (IOW, DC15 climb check).
You take a look around. Fungi cover the walls of this chamber, some of them with an oddly putrescent, violet glow. The light travels up along the walls, where it is eventually swallowed by the darkness of an open ceiling.
Several natural fungi-covered corridors lead off to the south and southeast.
Rand weaves and knits the magical tendrils to his will. He doesn't exactly understand what he is doing or how he does it, but his training makes the actual actions second nature. With a final magical snick, the trap is disabled.
Now that the trap is dealt with, Rand examines the locking mechanism. The lock itself is strongly magical like the trap was, and he is pretty sure the star-shaped recess accepts a magical keystone. He could probably pick it given enough time, or maybe there is a keystone hidden somewhere around here?
A ten-foot-wide stone door stands within an excavated wall of stone on the east side of this basalt-walled rectangular chamber. The door is embellished with imagery of two stout humanoids barring the path with crossed axe-headed polearms. A recess just below the crossed weapons--shaped like a four-pointed star--appears connected to a deeper mechanism. A passage departs north from the excavated door, while a similar hallway leading south has completely collapsed.
Rand's keen and practiced eyes immediately notice the danger: if the door is tampered with (either by attempting to pick the lock or force it open), a particularly nasty trap will trigger. He follows the tendrils of magic from the locking mechanism to the chamber entryway to the north, and he determines what would happen: a wall of stone would spontaneously erect across the entryway, trapping anyone in the chamber. Then, predictably, some sort of fog effect would be released into the room. He can't tell exactly what the fog would do, but chances are it's nothing good.
In any case, he can use his knowledge of magical traps to disable it, though he knows it will be a delicate process.
Rand and Astrid's paranoia may not be misplaced down here, but in this particular case, everything seems to be on the up-and-up. The treasure is as it seems: just some treasure, perhaps found during the excavation and discarded as not useful to morlocks. And the doors are fine--old, but fine--dwarven craftsmanship. The morlocks' amateurish excavation has probably sealed them permanently, short of some extremely heavy lifting, machinery, and/or magic.
The corridor to the south leads off into the darkness.
Astrid takes a step forward and is immediately dragged into the water by a giant mantis shrimp. It's a CR9 creature in a CR12 dungeon, though, and the party handles it with ease. Burn a few wand charges and we'll call it even.
At the bottom of the pool, otter!Tink finds a few shinies!
- an angular golden crown (1200gp)
- 12 large amethysts (150gp each)
- minor ring of cold resistance
- 1112gp
---
Moving the party to the northwestern chamber to keep things moving.
A visible chasm in the northwestern floor of this ragged cavern leads down into darkness, while the remainder of the room curves to the west and south. A massive, tarnished-bronze door is set into the partially collapsed southwestern wall, and piles of rubble line the remaining walls.
You've seen chasms like the one to the northwest before; it clearly leads deeper into the complex. The natural stone of this clearly excavated chamber gives way to worked stone again off to the southwest, and a corridor leads into the darkness to the south. The crumbled masonry work around the bronze door looks like it has wedged the door shut, but you would need to investigate more closely to know for sure.
There is also a small pile of treasure unceremoniously discarded in a corner:
To the west, Astrid sees a circular room. A cylindrical torrent of water rushes down from the ceiling into a 40-foot-wide cistern of water, creating a deafening racket. Colorful mineral formations cover the walls both above the water and below. She doesn't pick up any magic, but Astrid knows that, at her current angle, she wouldn't be able to detect anything at the bottom of the pool.
V finds nothing but empty space and bones, presumably the remains of the centipede's meals.
Rand sees a long corridor leading off to the west. The worked stone of the room they are currently in ends after about 20' and transitions to natural rock. It looks as if there has been some excavation work here, but you would need to head further down the hall to investigate further.
None of you hears anything over the roar of the waterfall.
(Tokens are now in the lower left portion of the map in roll20.)
You reach the bottom of the chasm and quickly regroup. Several walls of this old, massive storehouse have collapsed, and rocks, detritus, and large, chitinous plates litter the floor. The ceiling rises to thirty feet here and has partially collapsed, exposing a large fissure leading up to a faint, green glow. The sound of rushing water echoes from the west. The only visible exit is a partially collapsed tunnel to the northwest.
Oh, and there is a gigantic, bisected, and partially exploded centipede corpse filling almost half of the enormous chamber.
The creepers scurry off up to higher levels, presumably never to be seen again.
One of the destroyers and one of the creepers are dead-dead, but one each are unconscious and stable if Rand wants to make sure they stay alive. On the bodies, you find:
- amulet of natural armor +2 x2
- small mwk blowgun x2
- small mwk short sword x2
- small padded armor x2
- bloodbrain venom dose x4 (luckily for you, they only had two pretreated darts each)
- blowgun darts x? (if you care, I can count how many are left)
- potion of cure serious wounds x2
- +1 greatclub x2
- mwk hide armor x2
- throwing axe x8
I don't remember if I flavor texted this room, so:
A soft green glow emanates from arm-sized shards of crystal studding the rocky walls of this bulbous chamber. The cavern roof here reaches thirty feet at its highest point. A deep fissure mars the floor in the center of the chamber, roughly ten feet wide and running from the north to south. Tunnels snake out to the northwest and southwest.
Now that the fight is over, you all once again become aware of how terrible these glowing green crystals make you feel. It might not be a bad idea to leave this chamber ASAP.
I'm pretty sure you've cleared this floor. All the enemies congregated in this room when they heard TINK! and you found the immovable rod and spectacles of understanding so, unless there's anything else you want to do up here, we can move downward?
Rand, Loiosh, and V let the centipede know what they think about it taking Rand downstairs for dinner. V's desperate swing almost goes wide, but the centipede was slowed just enough by having to schlep Rand's body around that his strike landed true (i.e., he only hit because the bug had the grappled condition).
(Okay, so things are about to get crunchy. I'm estimating the centipede to be about 70' long and it had Rand grappled in its mandibles, so near the front of its body. It was crawling downward in the 100' deep chasm when V killed it, so Rand will definitely not take 10d6 falling damage; probably more like 4d6 or 5d6 at the most. However, he's also falling next to a big squishy body, and he is a monk, AND he has the slow fall ability. It's going to be a reasonably high DC, but I'm going to give him an acro check to reduce his falling damage.)
rand acro:1d20 + 21 ⇒ (7) + 21 = 28
(If there are specific rules for this, I wouldn't even know how to begin googling for them, so I'm going to call that 2d6 ⇒ (5, 1) = 6 damage and prone. Not bad for falling down a good portion of a 100' chasm. If you somehow know of rules that would apply more specifically to this situation, I'll retcon! Also, I don't have the map for the next floor built yet, so I'm also going to assume that his first priority will be to get back upstairs. If you decide that he's going to explore down there--by himself--I'll build out the lighting and put him down there. As it is, he's 100' down so we'll call it two rounds of double move climbing for him to get back.)
Rand feels the centipede's mandibles loosen their grip on him, then feels more than sees the back 15' or so of the centipede fall past him to the floor below. In the split second before the now dead centipede's remaining feet lose their grip on the chasm wall, he begins preparing himself for the fall: he scrambles up the segmented body to put more of it between the floor and himself, then tucks himself into the flesh. He knows the sudden stop will still be painful, but at least the bulk of the creature will soften his fall.
Unfortunately, he didn't have time to consider inertia; when the centipede's body hits the floor a split second before he does, it stops. He does not. It's... messy. As he is crawling out of the creature's thorax, bruised up and absolutely dripping with viscera, but otherwise unharmed, he congratulates himself on another winning idea. He finds himself in a very large room that just happens to have some flavor text:
Several walls of this old, massive storehouse have collapsed, and rocks, detritus, and large, chitinous plates litter the floor. The ceiling rises to thirty feet here and has partially collapsed, exposing a large fissure leading up to a faint, green glow. The sound of rushing water echoes from the west. The only visible exit is a partially collapsed tunnel to the northwest.
Meanwhile, up top, the creepers have seen enough. #5 and #6 scurry to the opening to the north and then turn upward. #3 and #4 do the same, but out the southern opening.
Neither group is out of reach, but the fact that they went up rather than down suggests that no longer want to f@+% with these intruders (so MEAN) and intend to get the hell out of dodge.
I'm experiementing with a new init tracker style that keeps peeps in the right order through round transitions. LMK what you think.
Astrid autopasses the knowledge check in this post though there really isn't much to learn. Take a look though!
Ugh, so so so dumb. Creepers 3 and 4 full withdrew so Rand shouldn't have gotten those AOOs. Whatevs, I'm still giving you the damage.
The centipede roars in surprise and frustration when Astrid escapes; it isn't using to losing a meal once it has captured it! Then, within a few seconds, its day goes from frustrating to life-threatening as V severs multiple legs at the hip (shoulder? I don't know bug anatomy). Rand swung at air again.
On the bright side, it now has SO MANY CHOICES for a different meal. It unwittingly chooses the hardest person in the world to grapple, but even Rand's insane CMD isn't high enough for this hefty boi. It snatches Rand off the ledge and turns to carry him down the crevice. Rand gets an AOO because it doesn't have improved grapple. Then it provokes from Loiosh and V as it descends. I don't think the movement provokes from Rand because it's not leaving one of Rand's threatened squares?
Actually, let's pause there. Rand/Loiosh/V AOOs could kill it.
Tink tries to help Astrid escape, then fails to turn the big bug into a house cat. All three of Loiosh's strikes hit, sending centipede blood and gore spraying all over Astrid, but, unsurprisingly, he doesn't manage to become the primary grappler.
ROUND 4/5 Astrid (39/93 hp, raging song, 6 str damage, very stinky [10 minutes], grappled)
Veldanis (49/125 hp, inspired)
Creeper 1 (79 damage, unconscious and dying)
Creeper 2 (dead)
THAT'S A BIG BUG (49 damage, climbing [level with the chasm edge], grappled)
Creeper 3 (56 damage, climbing [15'])
Creeper 4 (39 damage, climbing [15'])
Creeper 5 (17 damage, climbing [15'])
Creeper 6 (38 damage, climbing [15'])
Destroyer 1 (132 damage, unconscious and dying)
Destroyer 2 (142 damage, unconscious and dying)
Randall (97/105 hp, 11 str damage, very stinky [15 minutes], climbing [15'])
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (56/90 hp, inspired)
Creeper #6 tanks Astrid's scream and, though a small trickle of blood leaks from one ear, it remains decidedly undazed.
Now that he's up close with the creepers, their swarming ability confuses Rand's aim and his strike travels through the spot #3's head had been a moment before.
V has much better luck, swiping destroyer #2's head off with a single swing. He moves to the east to prepare for his long jump.
The four remaining creepers look at each other nervously. It doesn't take a sense motive check to see that they are cowardly; with their burly protectors down, they don't stand a chance against these very mean people who invaded their home. They seem eminently close to dropping their weapons, but then an absolutely enormous creature arises from the chasm, snatches Astrid up in its mandibles (I didn't give her an AOO because I don't see snap shot on her sheet, but please let me know if I missed something), and turns to carry her back down to what you presume is its lair.
(Worth noting: this creature is mechanically colossal in size, but is currently using its compression ability to fit in the chasm so it "only" appears to be mechanically huge.)
Knolwedge (nature) DC19:
This is a titan centipede. It's not very complicated; it's colossal so it doesn't have to be. It has a trample attack and its bite delivers poison that does dex damage. Its bite doesn't have the grab ability, so in this case, I just rolled a CMB check. It is more than likely planning to poison Astrid till she can't move and then dine on her still living flesh. NBD.
Emboldened, creepers #3 and #4 withdraw around the edge of the cavern, passing too high above V's head for him to swipe at them. #5 and #6 scurry along the wall away from Rand, turn, and fire their blowguns at V. Only one of the two darts finds its target (6 damage).
ROUND 4/5 Astrid (39/93 hp, raging song, 6 str damage, very stinky [10 minutes], grappled)
Veldanis (49/125 hp, inspired)
Creeper 1 (79 damage, unconscious and dying)
Creeper 2 (dead)
THAT'S A BIG BUG (0 damage, climbing [level with the chasm edge], grappled)
Creeper 3 (56 damage, climbing [15'])
Creeper 4 (39 damage, climbing [15'])
Creeper 5 (17 damage, climbing [15'])
Creeper 6 (38 damage, climbing [15'])
Destroyer 1 (132 damage, unconscious and dying)
Destroyer 2 (142 damage, unconscious and dying)
Randall (97/105 hp, 11 str damage, very stinky [15 minutes], climbing [15'])
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (56/90 hp, inspired)
Ugh, I screwed up again. Bloodbrain venom only requires one save, so both Rand and Astrid are out of the woods and I just wasted Loiosh and Tink's turns. Oof, my bad.
Without warning, Astrid drops a fireball at her and Rand's feet. Rand barely has time to yelp in surprise as the explosion's concussion fills the chamber and the resulting shockwaves bounce and echo off the walls and floor. Rand is certain everyone's ear drums would be blown out if this had been a closed chamber; as it is, the chasms to the east and north allowed the blast to dissipate.
The impact on the morlocks is immediate and spectacular; while Astrid can tell that about half of them were able to rely on their preternatural reflexes to dull the blast's impact, the rest took the full force of it to the face. The acrid smell of burning morlock flesh was already nearly overwhelming from Tink's flame strike; now that all eight morlocks in the room are some degree of flame-broiled, it has grown to unbearable.
Creeper #2 and Destroyer #1 both succumb to the flames; while the destroyer--still breathing ragged breaths--simply slumps to the ground, the creeper falls 15' to the cavern floor below, its body a barely recognizable smoking husk.
V and Rand recover their senses faster than their respective opponents. Rand's strike takes down creeper #1 before he has a chance to realize that his swarming buddy is already dead. V's foe is tougher and isn't quite dead, but it won't be long.
The sudden onslaught over, the morlocks realize that the odds have swung wildly in the party's favor. They look wide-eyed at each other, but, to their credit, they continue to fight. They know that two of the party's number are poisoned, and with any luck, they just have to wait for them to fall helpless...
... or not. Undeterred (okay, maybe a little deterred), the remaining creepers all step further away from the now climbing Rand and take aim at Rand (#3/#4) and Astrid (#5/#6).
Creeper #3's first dart strikes Rand (1 damage), and he braces himself for the new surge of bloodbrain venom entering his veins; however, it seems the creepers may have used up their supply of poisoned darts, so now he only has to deal with the compounded poison already in his system! Yay!
Astrid is not as nimble as Rand (i.e., she takes sneak attack damage from the swarming creepers) and cannot prevent the two darts that hit her from finding vital areas of exposed flesh (29 damage). And, like Rand, she doesn't seem to get more poisoned.
Destroyer #2 is barely standing, and his swarming buddy now lies in a heap at his feet. His frothing rage prevents him from thinking clearly, however, and he swings his greatclub twice at V's head. V's head remains unscathed.
Okay, let's move things along here. The next few rooms aren't super interesting other than some treasure.
You move northeast through the corridor leading out of the guecubu chamber. In the first chamber, broken stone shelves and half-open cabinets line the walls of a small alcove in the western wall. In one of the cabinets, you find the following:
Continuing along the hallway to the northeast, you enter a larger chamber, where niches line the northern and eastern walls, empty save for a few ancient rags and a discarded boot. You find a dark blue gem stuffed into the toe of the boot.
There is a hallway leading to the west out of this chamber. Following it, you come across a large-ish room. Half a dozen alcoves run along the northern wall here; stone sarcophagi occupy the two furthest alcoves to the west. Faint carvings of humanoid figures can be seen within each alcove. A corridor exits to the east, and part of the southern wall has collapsed to reveal a passage to another chamber.
I don't remember if I shared the DCs, but the checks you need to pass are kind of insane for your level, even if Argus wasn't totally gimped right now. Don't beat yourself up too much; I think it's intended to be hard. (Not sure about 'borderline impossible', but, well, here we are.)
The loci spirit exudes a warm energy as you attempt the ritual. The soothing voice again manifests in your minds. "Thank you for attempting to free us. We sense your weariness and hold no ill will. Return to us at a later time; until then, we will protect this sacred cemetery from the fell creatures that seek to enter."
As if on cue, you catch the slightest hint of movement through the broken buildings in the distance: surely a Whispering Way patrol. The loci spirit still lingers, but at least it practically guarantees that you will get no surprise attacks from behind.
Do any RP you like here, but in the interest of expediency, I'm moving roll20 back to the room where the guecubu cursed Argus.
Of COURSE three of four creepers made their saves. Loiosh hit on both claws. Rand is up if he has anything he can do to counteract the poison, then on to A+V.
Astrid and V both land their attacks; these morlocks are easy to kill individually, but the true danger comes from their numbers. The battle of attrition has begun.
The poison coursing through Rand's veins nearly knocks him on his ass. He manages to remain standing, but even his light crossbow has become difficult to lift. He won't be able to stay upright much longer. One of the creepers cackles in triumph. (So yeah, this got bad quick. 2 more str damage and he falls unconscious.)
Jesus Christ these creepers are the best dice rollers of all time. I'm really sorry.
The creepers release an onslaught of poisonous darts on Rand and Astrid. Four (FOUR!) darts hit Rand (4 damage). His blood is becoming positively saturated with the bloodbrain poison.
(Okay Jesus, here we go. That's one failure, which increases the duration by 50% and the save DC by 2. Fortunately, his subsequent saves were high enough, but this str damage is probably going to take him down...)
str damage:1d6 ⇒ 3
Rand drops unceremoniously to the ground, utterly overcome by the bloodbrain venom.
Not to be outdone, Astrid is pierced by three darts of her own. Unlike Rand, whose preternatural perception and reaction time prevents him from exposing vital spots on his body, Astrid is confused by the creepers' swarming nature (ie, she takes sneak attack damage from 5 and 6; total of 1+14+13=28 damage).
Destroyer #1 rips his head free from Loiosh's maw (nat 20, wtf is happening) and screams in defiance. Then, something finally goes the party's way, as destroyer #2 utterly fails to come anywhere near V with his greatclub.
The night passes quietly. Even after Griffin winks out of existence, the party isn't accosted, thanks to the loci spirit keeping the nasties outside the graveyard.
Calistril 24, 4719
Morning arrives, though the dark green aura in the sky becoming slightly less dark is the only way to really tell. Roslar's "Tomb" awaits a second attempt.
Creeper #3 shoots #1 a dirty look and cries "traitor!" in Undercommon. The other creepers wonder what the hell he is talking about.
All six creepers scuttle along the wall to get closer and then take aim at Randall (who they think they've gotten the jump on; joke's on them!) with their blowguns.
Assuming Rand's AC is 29 and fort is 10. Please correct me if I'm wrong!
Against all odds, two of the creepers manage to find openings in Rand's considerable defenses (2 damage). Rand immediately recognizes the pungent odor of bloodbrain venom.
Dude I wrote and rewrote some flavorful stuff about how he's weaker and stinkier now and I just couldn't get it right. Ugh.
Rand is weak and smelly.
Nailed it.
Destroyer #2 looks like he would really like to swat at V as he soars by, but he's just too slow. Meanwhile, #1 moves next to #2, so close that they become a weird, hard-to-follow amalgamation of limbs, greatclubs, and spittle. Occasionally, a club flies out of the mess of limbs.
The onslaught is too much for V to follow, as he takes a couple of vicious greatclub strikes to the head and ribs (holy crap, these things are no joke when they're raging; 35+32=67 damage). The morlocks whoop in triumph.
I'm going to roll everyone's fort saves against the radiation all at once each round, just to keep it simple. Rand is immune.
All four of you are pretty sure something bad just happened.
Heal DC 22:
This is blightburn sickness, a completely separate thing from the bloodbrain poison, even though they come from the same source (the crystals). It's basically radiation sickness. 1d6 con, 1d6 cha, once per day, 2 saves to cure. Fortunately, continuing exposure doesn't actually make it worse, so I don't have to worry about rolling any more saves. You know, till tomorrow.
Go ahead and take everyone's turn. We'll move straight into round 2.
A soft green glow emanates from arm-sized shards of crystal studding the rocky walls of this bulbous chamber. The cavern roof here reaches thirty feet at its highest point. A deep fissure mars the floor in the center of the chamber, roughly ten feet wide and running from the north to south. Tunnels snake out to the northwest and southwest.
As you enter the enormous chamber, a couple of things happen. First, you all suddenly feel ... something ... settle heavily into your bodies and threaten to sap your very essence.
Knowledge (nature) DC22:
The crystals are called brightburn crystals and they emit radiation in a 60 ft radius that causes blightburn sickness (con and cha damage). Successful saves do not render a creature immune, so you'll be making fort saves every round while you're in here. Morlocks are, naturally, immune.
Also, don't touch the crystals. You really don't want to touch them.
The bone talisman that hangs around Tink's neck suddenly flashes bright white, momentarily blinding everyone's dark-attuned vision. Once you can see again, the talisman looks the same as it always does, as if nothing had just happened.
Spellcraft DC20:
It's a charm of fate and Tink must have just failed a save... uh oh.
Everyone else feels fine (though the strange heaviness you feel in this room does not recede). Everyone, that is, except Randall.
Wait. Monk. Duh.
Actually, Randall feels just fine! Lucky him!
The other thing that happens is that you discover where all the morlocks went. There are six of the creeper types clinging to the northern wall, about 15' off the ground. They are clumped impossibly close together and only the party's superhuman powers of perception is able to distinguish them into six individuals. Additionally, two of the destroyer types stand on the edge of the fissure, wielding their greatclubs and screaming invectives in Undercommon at the party.
Fortunately for the party, these creatures don't have competent enough leadership to have planned an effective ambush, and some of the party gets the jump on them.
Roll20's status token system is clunky and I was too lazy to assign a 'climbing' token to each of the creepers. They won't leave the walls, though, so just assume they're always at least 15' up.
A morlock can cling to cave walls and even ceilings as long as the surface has hand- and footholds. In effect, a morlock is treated as constantly being under a nonmagical version of the spell spider climb, save that it cannot cling to smooth surfaces. This ability doubles the normal +8 racial bonus to Climb checks normally afforded creatures with a climb speed to a +16 racial bonus.
Jando nods along as Amanteia speaks, then realizes that her question was directed at him as much as Song. His eyebrows raise and his hands go up. "Don't look at me. I understand animals. People baffle me." He stops short of saying and s!!+ like this is why.
Ray's first swing is wild and off the mark, but the second is true. The moment the head of his hammer connects with Kadraz's skull, the skeletal champion's red gleaming eyes wink out. There is a satisfying crunch as his skull shatters into tiny shards, and then the entire skeleton collapses in a shower of bones. He had 3 hp left.
COMBAT OVER
Amanteia (16/42 hp, PfE, hasted)
Raybin (33/36 effective hp, 2 con damage, shield [+4 AC], PfE, hasted)
Song (15/46 hp, SoF [+3 AC], hasted)
Jando (47/49 hp, 6 dex damage, PfE, hasted)
Argus (40/61 hp, cursed [-4 to yes], SoF [+3 AC], hasted)
Jando can sense that things are about to get awkward, so he mumbles something to the effect of "Well struck, Ray," and begins searching the bodies for valuables.
Griffin lands next to Amanteia and begins licking her wounds. All animal companions are dogs, shut up.
Nothing, that is, until he tries to put the rod back into the red liquid (or, more likely, into his pack). As he moves his hand in the appropriate direction (toward the pot, or, y'know, his pack), the rod doesn't follow. If he tugs on it a few times (assuming he doesn't make a DC 30 strength check), it doesn't budge. And if he lets go of it completely, it hangs there, suspended in the air, in the exact position it was in when he pushed the button.
If he pushes the button again, it moves and behaves like he would expect a 5ish pound iron bar would. Button depressed, however? It stays where he puts it.
Randall is certainly no wizard, but he's been around the block a time or three. He knows an immovable rod when he sees (and plays around for a few minutes with) one.
Amanteia and Griffin bring Kadraz within mere inches from his final death; unfortunately, they don't get quite all the way there.
If Kadraz had lips, they would be pulled back in a sneer of defiance and he fires arrows at Song completely unopposed. Sure, the "warriors" that surround him try to stop him, but his will is stronger. He will be taking the woman with him. Two of his three arrows slam into her shoulder and abdomen (13 damage). His unnatural red eyes glare at Raybin, daring him to end it.
Oh lulz, right, combat reflexes would be important. Thanks for keeping me honest.
Also, I totally forgot to have Amanteia take her turn. I'll keep all the rolls for Kadraz's turn and come back to him if he is still alive after she and Griffin go.
Tink has a belt of mighty constitution, so Rand should take the pink rhomboid. Astrid should take the cloak.
Also, gonna save some time here and go ahead and move you into the northwestern chamber. There are no enemies there.
Carvings cover the curved walls of this cavern. Dimly lit candles rest underneath these carved frescoes, giving off greasy smoke and granting the carvings the illusion of movement. The images depict humanoid figures within sketchily rendered domed cities replete with spires. A wide passage leads out to the east.
This appears to be a shrine of some kind. Below the wall carving, there is a small cache of treasure, probably made in some sort of offering. Randall suddenly (and temporarily) finds himself with the ability to identify magic items and finds the following:
- 3265gp, 5464sp
- circlet of ridged silver and gold (980gp)
- spectacles of understanding
- +1 returning hunga munga
---
Aw hell, might as well go into the eastern chamber too.
After gathering the loot (I'm assuming he decides to plunder the morlock shrine), Randall keeps moving to the east. Two funneling paths lead to the southeast and southwest from this open cave. To the north, the chamber opens into a vast crevasse descending deep into the earth. Darts and holes pock several wooden stakes erected at the chamber's eastern end. Basins carved into the stone hold a variety of red fluids that bubble lazily.
Rand also finds something which perplexes him: no enemies. Since loudly fighting Iuwlas, this floor almost seems to have cleared out. Unless it was already empty? In any case, Rand has no idea what the red liquids are, but he does notice the particularly fine-looking rod the morlocks are using as a stirring stick. It has a button on one end. Weird.
Even with the skeleton's natural defenses, Song and Jando do significant damage to Kadraz. Pieces of his body litter the ground beneath his feet, but he still stands.
And, now that he is surrounded, he has nowhere to go. If he was still alive and/or had any friends left and/or could escape this cemetery and/or it didn't seem like that guy they keep calling Ray seems like he'd definitely kill him anyway, he might give up at this point. But none of those things are true, so he raises his bow and tries to take the female archer out.
That provokes from Ray and Argus three times each. I have his rolls, so go ahead and roll your three AOOs, then I'll resolve everything in combat order.
The carved stone walls of this large chamber bear the grim, stylized faces of a half-dozen leering dwarves, all of which have been defaced with smears of foul-smelling refuse. A passage leads off to the northeast. A vertical shaft goes up through the partially collapsed ceiling of the southwest.
Rand is fairly certain he has stumbled upon the morlocks' latrine.
Knowledge (dungeoneering) DC 20:
The vertical shaft probably leads up to the crude living quarters in the southwest corner of the previous level, which would explain why the majority of the morlock s&## is piled up in that area of this chamber.
Kadraz eats Amanteia's missiles, but has apparently completely figured Griffin out; the beast's beak and talons come nowhere near making contact with the skeletal champion.
He takes a step to the southeast and suddenly realizes that he has somehow allowed himself to get cornered. Oops. He won't be able to step away from the griffon anymore. On the other hand, the griffon has not demonstrated any ability to hit him so maybe it's not the end of the world.
Still... with his Coffer Crew friends dead (again) and him trapped here in this cemetery, is there really any reason to win this fight anyway? Maybe he can take one of them with him. He takes aim at Song, now a mere 10 feet away.
Of the three arrows he fires in quick succession, however, only one finds its target: it lodges in her hip and it HURTS (11 damage).
Argus fights his way through the curse-imposed clumsiness and puts Trondus down for good. For as long as you all live, you don't expect you'll ever forget the stench.
Did you decide on a distribution for the items? I'll update my copy of the HL file so I have everyone's correct stats!
Iuwlas slinks away, not looking back as he ascends up the well. You don't expect you'll see him again, but, even if he tried to ambush you later, at least he would be somewhat neutered without his magical items.
Distraction gone, you take a look around the chamber. A well at the eastern end breaks up the geometric architecture. Water rushes down from the hole above and into the well, coating the tile floor with rippling puddles. Candles line the surrounding walls, casting a dull glow through the chamber. A passage leads out to the southwest.
So far -- and somewhat surprisingly -- you haven't heard any reactions to Tink's booming elemental voice (and footsteps!) outside of this room, but it is a near certainty that anything else on this level heard the commotion.
I'll save you a perception check; there's nothing here. WDYD?
Ray lands a strike but does minimal damage, and Trondus stays up despite being on the edge of redeath. He finally wises up to the fact that he is completely unable to hit Ray, so he steps toward Argus and gives his defenses a try instead. His genius strategic decision pays off, as he lands three blows in quick succession (21 damage), expertly placed to take advantage of weak points where the plates of Argus's armor meet.
argus fort:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17
Argus is pleased to realize he can still move.
ROUND 5
Amanteia (16/42 hp, PfE, hasted)
Griffin (42/42 hp, -2 AC [1 round])
Kadraz (25 damage)
Raybin (33/36 effective hp, 2 con damage, shield [+4 AC], PfE, hasted)
Song (39/46 hp, SoF [+3 AC], hasted)
Jando (47/49 hp, 6 dex damage, PfE, hasted)
Cythriel (destroyed)
Trondus (44 damage)
Argus (40/61 hp, cursed [-4 to yes], SoF [+3 AC], hasted)
Iuwlas's expression darkens as Tink relays the terms of his surrender, but he doesn't protest. He descends to the chamber floor and begins setting his equipment on the ground.
Amanteia's missiles slam with full force into Cythriel, who shrieks her last shriek. It almost sounds... relieved?
Griffin continues to struggle against the skeleton. One of his claws hits, but again it merely scrapes away a little bit of the bone. He is a proud, mighty beast! This foe frustrates him.
Kadraz, having learned that he can just ignore the enormous griffon next to him, steps casually aside and fires three more arrows -- nearly point blank -- at Song. Much to his frustration, he makes another contribution to the increasingly sad theme of this fight, as all three of the arrows fail to find their mark.
Poor Argus. He is just not himself. His glaive does in fact pass through Cythriel as if she wasn't even there, but none of his swipes draw blood (or, more accurately in this case, ichor).
Iuwlas has dropped his quarterstaff to the ground and is currently holding his arms up in the universal gesture of surrender. He is looking expectantly at Rand and V, pointedly avoiding Astrid's gaze.
Iuwlas's eyes go wide when he sees a) Tink get swole and b) Rand and V climb up the wall. Rand's attack lands easily, partially because the morlock was already raising his hands in surrender. He points at TINK! and speaks desperately in Undercommon, looking from Rand to V and back with wild eyes. He clearly knows he has lost this fight, but neither of you can understand what he is saying.
Ray may be frothing at the mouth, but it is effective; both of his sword strikes spill even more of Trondus's rotting insides. The zombie is not long for this world... again.
Song sends another arrow through Cythriel's ghostly form, which is increasingly 'ghostly' and decreasingly 'form'.
Cythriel is clearly frustrated. Nothing she is doing is working, other than magic missile, but now that the sorceress is invisible, what's the f#*&ing point? She flies down next to Trondus, putting the beefy zombie between herself and Song's magical bow, then she reaches her hand into Ray's chest.
ray will:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23
When yet another attack fails to do anything (it was a critical threat, too), Cythriel screeches her incredulity: "What the F~*$!?!"
Trondus continues to demonstrate the definition of insanity; he pummels his fists uselessly against Ray's magical defenses. It's almost sad at this point.
It's insane to me that there isn't an appropriate status token for 'climbing' in all the sets I've purchased on roll20, so I'm just using a pink circle. Pink circle = climbing.
It doesn't appear that Iuwlas even noticed that Astrid was casting a spell on him (+15 to fort). V's arrow is on target but you see a ghostly hand (similar to those that erupted from the ground to tear at your collective flesh) swat it away at the last moment.
Now that he is out of reach and everyone seems to be having trouble affecting him, Iuwlas's panic wanes a bit, replaced by a (probably unearned) haughty bravado. He points a finger at the creatures most likely to hurt him from range -- Tink and Astrid -- and screams an incantation, punctuating it by violently whipping his arm to the side and pointing at the opening to the yawning abyss. Tink and Astrid suddenly feel as if they are being pulled toward the void.
Tink's feet stay planted where they are but Astrid cannot resist the pull; her legs are yanked from underneath her and she is thrown across the chamber like a ragdoll.
Okay so yeah, it's a long way down. But I notice that Astrid has feather fall and, at the risk of playing your character, I'm going to assume she uses it to avoid a zilliond6 in falling damage. She still has spider climb active so if she can get near a wall, I'll say she can stop her fall. Since the chasm wall is irregular, I'll leave it up to the dice how far she falls before she grabs the wall. You fall at 60 ft/round with ff so this will also determine how many rounds she is falling. I think it makes sense that she would fall at least 20 feet before she could get the spell off so let's go 2d4 * 10 + 20.
how far?:2d4 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3
Astrid disappears over the edge. Iuwlas whoops in triumph, not realizing that he just defenestrated the one person here that could easily save herself. She doesn't panic and manages to grab the wall before she tumbles too far down the pit. (She loses a round to falling, but only the one since it's only 50'. We'll say she still has her bow in one hand, but you'll need to stow it to climb up.)
If you decide not to use ff, I'll retcon all of this!
