Spiked Tentacles of forced intrusion ... If only we had this spell
Leaving they had almost forgotten the hidden spellcaster within the tower but it soon came back into the forefront of their minds when a forest of black tentacles springs up around Pringle and Grembor as they exit the tower. These tentacles wrapped around the pair and started mercilessly choking the life from them.
Zordlan springing into action charges into the tentacles ignoring the fact that they are likely to try grappling him too and seeks to pull Grembor from their grasp; this he fails to do but thankfully remains free of the tentacles grasp. Sayuri starts summoning some creatures to help out while Kat attempts to make her way through the tentacles but gets caught in their powerful grasp
Casting his gaze around Zordlan manages to make out a lean figure just outside of the ground floor that seems to be waving his arms around and muttering arcane words of power. He recognizes the figure as Estovion the late Warden of the Lodge looking decidedly worse for wear as he is sporting some recent bite marks. Grembor and Pringle try to free themselves but neither manages this as the tentacles are very powerful while Estovion finishes off his spell summoning a large Dire Wolf to assist in taking out these powerful foes. However there is a slight miscalculation and he summons the wolf slightly closer to the tentacle spell effect than he should and gets it grappled.
Zordlan tries helping Grembor free himself but the tentacles are too strong even with the combined effort and nearly gets trapped himself. Sayuri finishes off summoning a few Lemures from the plains of Hell which appear close to the party and try helping to free them of their binding tentacles to little effect as they all get grappled as soon as they step from their summoning portals.
Kat’s wolf with direction from Kat sneaks up on Estovion and attempts to bite him in the bum; this fails as its teeth snap together on an errant bit of clothing as he spins around in surprise.
Only finding a wolf he steps back a step and casts a spell on the wolf expecting it to take hold; the spell should make the wolf friendly but for some reason it fails to take. Estovion however does not know this and turns back towards his main goal and that is killing the bothersome group of adventurers that had disturbed his peaceful Lodge
Sayuri in a flash of inspiration quickly casts grease on the area of Grembor and Zordlan hoping to assist in their escape which makes it much easier for Zoldan to extract himself and then grabs the now unconscious Grembor from the grasp of the tentacles and start making his way to the side of the spells area of effect. Pringle still stuck within the confines of the spell struggles weakly to break free but fails.
Estovion looking a little perplexed at the group overcoming his nasty spell sends a bar of flame towards Zordlan which misses and impacts on one of the many pillars holding up the ceiling; a little dust falls from the area around the pillar but nothing more serious.
Zordlan finally makes it out of the reach of the tentacles dragging Grembor with him who is out cold from the repeated assault from the rubbery tentacles. Pringle is still stuck fast with the tentacles wrapping around his throat; with a mighty heave he manages to tear the tentacle free and staggers towards the perimeter of the spell. He does not make it out however before they again wrap around his waist and start squeezing again.
Sayuri casts grease on herself and Kat and they both start picking their way through the forest of tentacles which is hard going but they manage to make it part way through; the tentacles have a hard time getting to grip with them due to the grease covering their supple forms. (Who would have thought we would have a pair of greased up girls and grappling large black tentacles; this is not Manga) Her summoned Lemures are having a difficult time with the tentacles and only one remains which frees itself and attacks the Dire wolf which is still wrapped in tentacles.
Dropping Grembor to the ground outside of the area of the tentacle spell Zordlan whips out his bow and fires a shot at Estovion which misses; Sayuri and Kat make it safely out of the area of the tentacles just in time for Estovian to fill the air with thick strands of webbing in another attempt to impede their approach.
Sayuri ignoring the webbing due to her still greased form which the webs have trouble sticking to casts a quartet of force missiles at Estovian; they streak towards him and before impact hit an invisible shield which absorbs their power. Cursing wizards she folds her arms before her and considers her next option when her favorite spell is denied her. Kat moving to a better position casts an entangle spell on the grass and weeds under the evil wizard which wrap around his feet but also trap her wolf and herself.
Zordlan dropping his bow heads into the tentacle forest to help Pringle out as he has suddenly gone limp; Estovian’s tentacle spell expires and they disperse leaving an unconscious Pringle lying on the floor while Estovian with a thought disappears from the confines of the entangle spell and appears on the other side away from the party. He turns and starts walking away towards the surrounding woodlands.
Kat thinks to follow but looks over the remains of the party and decides otherwise as they need some serious healing. Heading to Grembor she casts a healing spell which brings him from his slumber; Sayuri heads to help with Pringle as Zordlan carries him to them but he is very pale and cold and his breath is rattling in his throat in its final moments. Sayuri scans around looking for something she can do and pulls out a wand of minor healing; concentrating she tries to activate the wand which is something she has not managed previously and she feels it spring to life directing its healing energy into Pringle. With a light cough Pringle is saved from the clutches of death but it takes several more applications of the wand to bring him back to mobility. He is still very pale looking however.
DM Note: This is basically a side kick kicking their ass; Estovian is supposed to be holed up in the room with the surgical instruments but what self respecting wizard is going to let themselves get into that situation. Dimension hopping outside and setting up an ambush is much more effective. Conjurers need space to work with …I like wizards as BBEG’s; have to be very careful you don’t get close and conjurers are great at this.
At the end of this Pringle is 1 point off dead; if Sayuri had not used the wand he would have passed away while Grembor was into pretty high negatives but had eventually stabilized towards the end. This was a tough fight but there is worse to come I’m sure. Couple of mistakes by me with the spells but we can put those down to Estovian not having much need for casting offensive spells so little practice with them. James (Kat’s Player) advised me I had summoned the Dire Wolf within reach of the tentacles which pretty much wasted the spell as the wolf got grappled. Oh well you live and learn. Was a good session and two very close deaths … not had a death in a while …