"Maybe he was a deserter. Shall we continue? Carefully continue."
The shady trail continues through thorny tumtum trees under the watchful eyes of frumiously feathered bandersnatches. After a couple hundred feet you come across an even more grisly display.
If the last gnoll was a deserter, these would have been the gnolls sent after him. If the last gnoll was a scout, these would be the gnolls he was scouting for. Six gnolls hang from nooses made from their own entrails. They swing in the slight breeze that manages to make its way through the thickening brush.
As before, the ground beneath them seems to be clear of footprints, even their own, as if it was brushed with branches or leaves.
Bandle examines a dead gnoll's wounds, pinching his nose, brows furrowed in disgust.
"They look the same, but that last fellow must have been named Happy, because I think we've found the real Stinky and his Brothers!"
Tallis looks at the hanging gnolls with revulsion. "Who? Why?... How?"
"Oooo. Bad day for them."
Bandle's dark eyes glitter mischieviously as he scans the area, (but then again you can't really remember a time when they didn't)
"Beastmen are not too good at defending themselves...I think they could use a donkey-rat whistle alot more than we can. But no donkey rat's did this...say.... if we're trying to stop the beastmen, and someone is doing this, then someone is also trying to stop the beastmen. By that theory shouldn't that person be our friend? I mean this guy is a beastman destruction machine, couldn't we just wait 3 days for him to kill the rest of the beastmen then go get the reward?"
Bandle winks at Lord Flash.
"Of course if the reward is by beastman scalp" he says a bit lower to Tallis. "Then we have to follow the fellow around for a while to acumulate enought scalps. That means we'd have to find this fellow and follow him. Scalp mining is a funny business y'know?"
The talkative gnoll investigates the gnolls' bodies. He is able to determing that the scratch and bite marks are too minor to have killed the gnolls but can't detect the real cause. Before he can, one of his exploratory probings has a surprising side effect -- the stomach of one of the gnoll's groans and, then, bursts open. The clearing is rapidly filled with toxic spores.
Tallis and Flash:
As the cloud of spores engulfs the gnome, the branches of the trees move of their own volition. What looked to be masses of branches are now leaping down from the tumtum trees and rushing towards you.
"What the?!?"
Tallis hurls a flask of acid at the thing, but misses horribly.
"Uummm," I say, surprised.
"HHHHOOORFF!!" I say also surprised
"HHHHOOORFF!!" I say also surprised
Lord Flash's reaction to the tree, while not in any way speedy, are still fast enough to bat away the reaching branches.
All around the clearing, from every direction, small, densely branched trees pull themselves out of the soil and rush towards you.
One of the plants attacks Flash, scratching him with a branch.
Bandle is knocked around and slashed by several small branches from at least two different plant creatures. It is hard for him to tell how many as he is choking on a cloud of yellow spores. He might have managed to avoid allowing the spores into his lungs if he hadn't been talking at the time.
LJ, too surprised by Bandle's disappearance into a cloud of yellow dust, barely notices two of the creatures until they are almost on top of him. Two of them scratch him.
Tallis is not caught quite as off guard as the others but the plant that attacks him skewers him with a branch.
"Gah!"
Tallis swings his staff at the plant-thing, but misses.
Between coughs and gags Bandle starts gibbering in a strange language
1d20+3=17, 1d20+3=11, 1d20+3=23
dplomacy:1d20+2=5
Fort Saves (x2): (1d20+5=7, 1d20+5=10)
Flurry of Blows: (1d20+6=11, 1d20+6=7)
Fumble confirmation: (1d20+6=17)
Shocked and startled, not to mention surprised, I manage to forget almost all my specialized training as I flail my arms ineffectively.
Lord Flash's reaction to the tree, while not in any way speedy, are still fast enough to bat away the reaching branches.
Lord Flash turns as the plants come to life around him, striking out at the one that stung him with speed and determination, but little effect.
Flurry of Blows against the creature that attacked him. (1d20+6=22, 1d20+6=19)
Damage. (1d6=3, 1d6=1)
Between coughs and gags Bandle starts gibbering in a strange language
1d20+3=17, 1d20+3=11, 1d20+3=23
** spoiler omitted **
He hears one of the walking plants that attacked him mutter "Eat last" and turn its attention to the other monks.
Tallis and LJ both miss in their attacks. LJ barely manages to avoide skewering himself on a sharp thorny branch the plant raised to block an attack.
Lord Flash has better luck, cracking one of the larger branches on a creature attacking him.
LJ feels himself weakening as the scrapes made by the vicious plant begin to swell and burn almost instantly.
The advantage of surprise diminishing, the walking bushes aren't nearly as effective as they continue their attack. Only two of their attacks are successful, one on LJ and another on Tallis.
One attacks Lord Flash, lashing out with a thorny branch, but manages to connect with a tree nearby. It's thorns hold firm and the creature seems to have gotten himself stuck.
Tallis tries to strike the plants with his staff.
Tallis tries to strike the plants with his staff.
"Ooo, thats not good," I say as I feel my strength being sapped, but I continue to try and attack anyway.
"Noisy Cricket!" I shout, trying to focus myself.
Flurry of Blows: (1d20+6=24, 1d20+6=10)
Damage: (1d4-1=2)
"Maybe we should run away," I suggest a bit weakly.
Smiling at Jackie's shout of "Noisy Cricket", Lord Flash once again hammers the plant with two well place blows cracking the creature's wooden hide.
Flurry of Blows on Plant Creature. (1d20+6=25, 1d20+6=23)
Damage. (1d6=2, 1d6=6)
Sylvan:
Bandle shouts in a strange tongue again as he flails with elbows and knees trying to get through the plant creatures and away from the spore infested corpses.
Flurry of blows: 1d20+3=12, 1d4=3, 1d20+3=7, 1d4=4
A loud crack reverberates throughout the clearing as Lord Flash breaks one of the walking bushes in half. You can now clearly see that there are seven of these creatures left.
Dark red sap oozes out of the wound that LJ puts in another.
The thorny shrubs advance again, lashing out with hungry branches.
Three of the shrubs are attacking LJ but they have started to get in each other's way. One of them has become entangled with another making him more vulnerable to attack.
As Tallis feels the burning poison gushing through his veins, he is scraped by another thorny branch.
Although Lord Flash has killed one of the creatures, two step forward to take its place. Neither of them hit.
Tallis once again attempts to beat the plants with his stick.
This has stopped being funny, Invisible Castle. Stop it. Fortitude: I mean it. This has to stop.
Lord Flash sees the creature break apart and a smile creeps onto his face. It is quickly replaced by a look of determination as two more plant creatures step into his gursd zone for the attack.
Flurry of Blows on whichever Plant Creatures wanna take the fury of my fist! (1d20+6=17, 1d20+6=14)
Damage. (1d6=2, 1d6=4)
"Aargh," I shout, striving to beat at the one that looks off guard.
Flurry of Blows: (1d20+6=7, 1d20+6=10)
Confirm Fumble: (1d20+6=25)
As I nearly impale myself on one of the creatures, I decide to move back, away from the attackers.
In a move that Bandle has perfected in countless fights, brawls and altercations in the past, he leaps back while simultaneously taking one of the sharp projectiles that adorn his bandoliers in each hand and flinging them furiously at the plant creature.
Bandle blurts out more of the strange language, and somewhere in there you make out the word "Jakie".
Lord Flash sees the creature break apart and a smile creeps onto his face. It is quickly replaced by a look of determination as two more plant creatures step into his gursd zone for the attack.
Flurry of Blows on whichever Plant Creatures wanna take the fury of my fist! (1d20+6=17, 1d20+6=14)
Damage. (1d6=2, 1d6=4)
Lord Flash manages to break another one of the plant creatures apart. Splinters are beginning to shred his fists, but he hardly notices.
In a move that Bandle has perfected in countless fights, brawls and altercations in the past, he leaps back while simultaneously taking one of the sharp projectiles that adorn his bandoliers in each hand and flinging them furiously at the plant creature.
Bandle blurts out more of the strange language, and somewhere in there you make out the word "Jakie".
** spoiler omitted **
Tallis and LJ seem to have developed an unusual allergic reaction to the poison. Not only is it making them weaker, it seems to have effected their depth perception. Their fists continue to flail at empty air.
The thorny bastards step forward to continue their assault on LJ, Lord Flash, and Tallis. They completely ignore the ineffectual gnome who they are considering using as bait.
Only one of their attacks hits -- Tallis again -- drawing only a little blood but leaving behind the blistering, strength draining, and apparently bad luck inducing poison.