The ghostly dwarven hero, or at least the floating armor of the dwarf, hovers about thirty feet south of the party, moving slowly closer all the time.
Rall's arrow fly's towards the armor, just missing it, but yet... as the arrow sails the the air, it begins to slow as it hits the air near the armor and then the shaft of the arrow begins to smoke and melt as it hovers just beyond the armor.
Arla produces a flame.
Clover's divine energy pulses through the air but the armor continues forward unfazed.
And then Bowen's arrow acts in a similar fashion to Rall's, its flight stopping in mid-air near the armor, the wooden shaft and the feathers burning and melting.
Round 2 - The Ghost of Glitteraxe
Rall - Initiative: 18
Arla - Initiative: 15
Chloe - Initiative: 15
Bowen - Initiative: 13
'Glitteraxe' - Initiative: 4
Ash obeys and guards the children, along with the halfling, in the room behind the fighting.
Perception check... (1d20+2=10)
Chloe backs away to rejoin the others, her eyes widening with horror. As Rall and Bowen's arrows melt away, she can't help but imagine the same might have happened to poor Savram.
"What kind of fiend is this?!" she asks over her shoulder, taking up a defensive position in case one of the others might have somethng to stop the apparition. "It's not of the living dead! Desna's power has no hold over it!" she announces, "And our weapons seem little use!"
She flings her other hand outward, mentally directing a magical charm to slow down the ghost.
Rall whispers to the others, "Get back. I'll get it to follow me. You find the children. I'll catch up."
Again Bowen takes aim with his bow and fires again at the armor, then back pedals with the others.
Arla stands frozen with indecision.
Rall and Bowen Only:
Bowen:
Arla: Arla's attack strikes a spot of air some few feet in front of the floating armor, scorching something.
Bowen:** spoiler omitted **
Arla: Arla's attack strikes a spot of air some few feet in front of the floating armor, scorching something.
Rall does not shout or scream but waves his hands at the ghost while backing up slowly.
As the little ball of fire leaves Arla's hand, another flame bursts into existence in her palm. When the first flame hits what seems like empty air in front of the ghost, the druid seems taken aback. If the magic did not affect the ghost, she expected it to just continue through the apparition and harmlessly strike the ground - not just.. stop.
"..What did I just hit..?" she mutters to the rest of the group. "Did you see?"
The armor floats closer to Rall even as everyone else moves back into the room containing the tables and the dead kobolds. Rall, now standing in the doorway of the room, begins trying to attract the attention of the dead dwarf onto himself.
As the armor draws ever closer to the deupty sheriff, something, perhaps a tentacle of ectoplasm, perhaps an arm of transparent slime, lashies out towards him.
Attack against Rall: (1d20+2=6)
A shimmer in the air gives Rall enough warning to leap back out of the way and the blob of matter misses him.
Rall:
Round 3 - The Ghost of Glitteraxe
Rall - Initiative: 18
Arla - Initiative: 15
Chloe - Initiative: 15
Bowen - Initiative: 13
'Glitteraxe' - Initiative: 4
As soon as he realizes what the creature is, "That is no ghost get back Rall!"
As soon as he realizes what the creature is, "That is no ghost get back Rall!"
"No ghost?!" Chloe asks in confusion, "What do you mean? What else could it be?"
Still keeping her distance from the dwarven ghost, and seeing it lash out at Rall, Arla hurridly hurls the next little ball of fire at the creature.
"What is it, if not a ghost!?" the druid calls to Bowen. The flames do not reappear in her hand this time.
As soon as he realizes what the creature is, "That is no ghost get back Rall!"
Rall hesitates, 'No ghost? Surely the Ranger doesn't think it is real!' but then decides to follow the advice and retreats quickly.
Chloe continues to back away from the oncoming 'ghostly' armor. "If it's not a ghost, do you know what it is?" she calls out to Bowen, "What can we use to hurt it?"
She notices Arla's flame zip past to impact again on something in mid-air. "Will fire hurt it? Is it invisible?"
She moves further into the room with the dead kobolds and stops to search the bodies to see any of them have another weapon she can use from range to hopefully hurt the creature. After arming herself further, she then kicks one of the dead kobolds into its path, hoping it might stop to investigate that rather than chase Rall or anyone else.
"It is a gelatinous cube, a type of hall cleaner. Normal weapons will damage it though best to try from a distance."
Bowen accentuates his point with another arrow.
Another arrow is lodged in the nearly invisible creature. The magical flame, again scorches it and now the front side of the creature is visibly marred with a scorch mark about the size of a hand.
In the back corner of the room, the small halfling can be heard muttering soft words of comfort to the children (and the dog)
As the companions scramble away from the thing, it moves forward until it encounters a table. The outstretched hand of one of the kobolds falls under the transperent cubes area and before the eyes of all it begins to dissolve, skin and blood boiling away.
The kobolds were armed with javelins and short spears for the most part. They are all small sized however.
Another arrow is lodged in the nearly invisible creature. The magical flame, again scorches it and now the front side of the creature is visibly marred with a scorch mark about the size of a hand.
In the back corner of the room, the small halfling can be heard muttering soft words of comfort to the children (and the dog)
As the companions scramble away from the thing, it moves forward until it encounters a table. The outstretched hand of one of the kobolds falls under the transperent cubes area and before the eyes of all it begins to dissolve, skin and blood boiling away.
The kobolds were armed with javelins and short spears for the most part. They are all small sized however.
Rall starts reaching into his backpack while retreating. He's looking for a flask of oil.
(1) Make sure there is no one nearby.
(2) Pour the oil on a patch of floor.
(3) Retreat leading the cube over the oil.
(4) Hoping someone has something to light up the oil with.
The floor to the west of the cube is open, wide enough for the cube to move along it. There is a table to the north of the cube, a wall to the east and the hallway to the south.
Round 4 - The Ghost of Glitteraxe
Rall - Initiative: 18
Arla - Initiative: 15
Chloe - Initiative: 15
Bowen - Initiative: 13
The Cube, aka. 'Glitteraxe' - Initiative: 4
Stepping back as the cube advances, Arla reaches for the sling wrapped around her belt. Shaking it loose, she then takes a round stone from a belt pouch, all the while unable to take her gaze off the grisly sight of the kobold being dissolved by the cube.
"..I'd say keeping a distance is a good idea..." the druid says, visibly grimacing.
The floor to the west of the cube is open, wide enough for the cube to move along it. There is a table to the north of the cube, a wall to the east and the hallway to the south.
The kobolds were armed with javelins and short spears for the most part. They are all small sized however.
'Small-sized or not, these will have to do,' Chloe tells herself. She retrieves the first of the javelins and shortspears that she finds and then turns to launch one at the oncoming monster.
Chloe's makeshift spear hits. Rall continues to back away. Arla draws a new weapon. Everyone continues to move to stay out of the monster's way.
The mindless creature does not seem to want to bother trying to flow over the stone tables, so they actually act as a buffer for the northern half of the room, which everyone now notices is actually a little dirtier than the southern third of the room.
This means that the children and the halfling are safe for the moment.
Again Bowen lets another arrow fly into the cube.
Bowen's last arrow strike the cube. Like the others, and even like the Javelin, it almost instantly begins burning away. But this time the arrow has left a sort of trail through the cube, like a floating series of bubbles. Its possible that the cube's cohesion is growing weaker.
The cube begins to move towards the western wall of the room. Now that the party knows what it in fact is, only one real question remains - how does a gelatous blob of matter propel itself without actually appearing to move any part of it's substance? Regardless, its movement is slow enough that there should be no problem in keeping your distance from it.
Round 5 - The Ghost of Glitteraxe
Rall - Initiative: 18 [
Arla - Initiative: 15
Chloe - Initiative: 15
Bowen - Initiative: 13
The Cube, aka. 'Glitteraxe' - Initiative: 4
Rall throws a vial of oil aiming for a space just a bit in front of the cube.
"Anyone have a light?" he asks hopefully.1d20+3=16
Rall's flask strikes the floor in front of the cube, shattering, splashing oil and glass.
Arla shakes her head. "I used mine.. unless a flint will do." Dropping the stone into the sling, she whirls it around her head before releasing it towards the cube.
Arla shakes her head. "I used mine.. unless a flint will do."
"I've a cantrip that might work to strike a spark with flint and steel at a distance," Chloe suggests as she launches another of the kobold's javelins at the thing.
Attack... 1d20+2 = 15 to hit
Damage... 1d4+2 = 4 hp
The stone and the spear tear new paths through the gelatinous substance. The javelin starts to smoke almost at once but the stone buries itself inside the cube, floating just inches above the armor.
Bowen again sites the creature and releases yet another arrow.
"I've nothing but flint and steel."
The cube glides atop the glass and oil, covering it as it continues to move towards the western wall.
Round 6 - The Ghost of Glitteraxe
Rall - Initiative: 18 [
Arla - Initiative: 15
Chloe - Initiative: 15
Bowen - Initiative: 13
The Cube, aka. 'Glitteraxe' - Initiative: 4
"Well ... okay ... that was poorly thought out on my part, I admit," Rall says while looking around the room for a torch or something big and flamable like a blanket.
"My bedroll! Bowen, do you have anything flamable?"
Having little else she can contribute against the monstrosity, Chloe launches another javelin.
Attack... 1d20+2 = 21 to hit
Damage... 1d4+2 = 4 hp
"I'm running out of things to throw at it!" she yells, "Somebody do something!"
Yet another javelin strikes home as Chloe continues to move from kobold body to kobold body. There is, unfortunately for her, only one more of the javelins within reach to throw.
Rall notices the clothing on the kobolds. Their rags are about the only thing flammeable in the whole of the ancient stone room.
Knocking another arrow Bowen again lets fly into the mass of gelatinous goo.
"I have bandages we could use but will have to dig them out."
As Bowen's arrow flows into the cube's mass, it is clear that the monstrous thing is beginning to lose it's cohesion. The armor within begins sliding lower through the acidic substance as do the stones, arrow heads and axe.
The cube is still moving mindlessly towards the western wall, but whatever holds it together is in danger it appears of falling apart.