Adventure #9: Slime Central
PART TWO
The fighter and paladin take up guard positions on the stairwell, protecting the spellcasters behind them, and Splug who is hesitant to get anywhere near the rats. Brandis raises his weapon, prepared to slaughter more vermin, when he hears the death squeal of a rat. Something is moving out there, something amorphous and orange, flowing around the stalagmites like thick sludge. It quickly reforms into a large undulating mass and rolls toward the warlord.
“Amorphous slime thing!” Brandis screams to his friends, who haven’t seen it yet.
[GM Note: The mini is a mixture of candle wax, tacky glue and colored ink mounted on a Dreamblade base]
The slime thing, an ochre jelly, rolls through the nearest clump of stalagmites and devours the rats hiding there, and then makes a beeline for Brandis. The warlord isn’t even sure if he can hurt this ooze. He’s never seen one before, although he’s heard of such things living in the dark hollows of the world. Does it even feel pain? Wolftooth takes a bite out the ochre jelly anyway, and a chunk of the thing is ripped off. But then a mushy pseudopod forms and slams into the warlord, and he suffers extremely painful acid burns.
Splug is squealing, “That it! That what attack me! THAT IT!”
Kerric leaps into the fray, hacking mercilessly. Acidic pseudopods lash out at both men, leaving steaming marks on flesh and armor. Erevan and Irann throw magic from the top of the stairs, blasting chunks of the thing across the chamber. Helga lands a few blows herself, but if her position were better, she might be able to Bull Rush the jelly into the pit, plunging it into the river. It is quivering and moving in such an unpredictable fashion that it much harder to strike than they would think. But hit it they do, over and over and over…
…until the monster shudders violently and splits in TWO.
Two equally aggressive halves are now alive, and the second jelly skirts around the pit, flanking Helga the Dwarf and rising up to nearly engulf her.
Her axe slashes across the thing, splattering sticky goo on nearby rocks. She’s burned as well by the thing’s touch, but the original monster is soon cut down by the others. It seems to deflate, and then does on its own what the adventurers failed to do: it topples into the pit, destroyed.
The death of the second ochre jelly is not far behind. Helga’s axe splits the thing into two quivering halves that bubble, spurt, and then lie still.
Taking a breather, the group patches themselves up and poke around the cavern some more. There is still the goblin arm lying on the ground. Is this the last of Boss Fatty? They don’t know. They see a bloody handprint on the stone wall, and find that there is actually a secret door here. Inside is a bedroll, a skin of water and wine (the latter of which Helga guzzles), some rations and two sunrods. Taking a few items, they decide to head back to the door marked DO NOT ENTER – REALLY. Why? Because, frankly, it is an irresistible lure for folks who call themselves heroes.
But who is to open it? Discussion turns again to Splug who is volunteered, but his cry of resistance deters them [“I thought you was friend!” he whines]. They still don’t hear anything behind the door. So fine, Kerric opens it, and they all peek over his shoulder, looking down wet, slimy stairs into a dark and chilly room. All they hear is the plop of water.
“Lumos,” whispers Erevan, and his light spell shows them the rest of the chamber.
Stagnant water fills most of the room. There is a small island in the middle, and no other exit. On the island is a shiny metal shield, a few heavy rocks piled atop it. Golden coins are scattered on the island too. As well as some bones.
It looks like a trap if there ever was one.
Kerric sighs. “I’ll go in,” he says.
His footing is unsure on the slick steps, but he reaches the bottom safely. He pauses, listening. Water plops into the black pool. He sees nothing moving. Erevan the Eladrin wizard decides to follow, ready to blast away with magic in case something unwholesome appears. They stand together at the edge of the water, watching curiously as bubbles begin popping on the surface…
…and they’re suddenly overwhelmed by a horrendous stench.
No normal stench, but an ungodly stink the likes of which they’ve never experienced. It invades their nostrils, cramps their intestines, and Kerric vomits from the awfulness of it. Strength flees their muscles, and both men stagger at the edge of the black water…just as it begins to roil and froth.
Something HUGE, blue and slimy erupts out, extending flailing pseudopods that lash at the heroes.
But the luck of Tymora is with Erevan and Kerric. The blue slime misses FIVE times in a row! Someone could have been killed. Ducking and dodging, the paladin and wizard barely manage to scramble back up the slimy stairs, even as the behemoth slime heaves its bulk onto the stonework floor and pursues them.
“Run for it!” screams Brandis Padraig, and just as the paladin and wizard surge through the door, still dazed and weakened from the Stench Pulse, Brandis slams the door shut. The door shudders when the thing slams into it, and everyone takes a few tentative steps away, afraid that the monstrosity will either batter the door down or burn through with acid. But the racket does not continue, and eventually they assume that the slime has returned to its pool of filth.
Kerric wipes puke from his mouth. “Uh…let’s not go in there yet.”
Everyone agrees. They’ll return to the blue slime room when they feel more confident about handling the thing. Maybe, oh, 10th level or so.
With that problem out of the way, they gladly leave the natural caves and ascend back to the keep proper. But now where do they go? Referring to their map being drawn for Merple the Moneylender of Silverymoon, they determine that there are only a few places unexplored: 1) The double doors at the end of the Skeleton Trap Room, where the Shrine to Bahamut lies, and 2) The corridors outside the Skeleton Trap Room.
The group mentions Boss Fatty again. Is the fat bastard alive out here? Did he hole up in the goblin lair? Did he head up to the surface or down to the lower levels? They don’t know, and they don’t waste any time looking for him right now. If Fate wants to put Fatty back into their hands, it will happen.
So, it’s down the steps to the chilly, silent lair where the group was ambushed by zombies several days earlier when they first arrived at Shadowfell Keep.