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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 3963963" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p><strong>Up the Slither-Ramp</strong></p><p></p><p><em><strong>11/13/372 O.L.G., 10 a.m., the old mines inside Steeple Mountain</strong></em></p><p></p><p>Our heroes return to the guts of Steeple Mountain. They go back to the hell hound kennel (which, you recall, still has one unexplored exit leading from it). Just to be safe, they return to the goblin guard room that they last fought in and search for secret doors, but none turn up. Then they return to the kennel and take the unexplored path. It winds and branches into more mine shafts. Federico groans, “This could take forever.” His tail tucks itself between his legs. They proceed, following the left wall. Shortly, they come around a corner into a lit room. The entire far wall is hewn into an immense, 80’ wide statue of a dagon, rearing up, wings spread, staring down at all in the room. Its eyes have been pried out. In front of it is a gigantic copper bowl, easily 10’ across at the rim and about 8’ high. A great, leaping fire is in the bowl, giving off the light that fills the room. The walls bear intricate carvings. Something in the room smells <em>delicious.</em> Like peaches.</p><p></p><p>A huge figure turns ponderously around to face the party. </p><p></p><p>It smells <em>so tasty...</em></p><p></p><p>It is about ten feet high, and as broad (proportionally) as a dwarf. Yet it is orange and moist-looking and sugary sweet.</p><p></p><p>“It’s a peach golem!” shouts Ari. He steps to the fore of the party and blasts it with a <em>flame strike</em>, but to his surprise, the only effect is to make it smell even tastier. The scent is quite distracting, but all of our heroes are able to focus past it, ignoring what might otherwise be unforunate effects. </p><p></p><p>Rush steps forward, activating his <em>mind blade.</em> Yip flips past him and lands a solid punch on the peach creature, leaving an indentation in it that slowly starts to leak what looks like peach syrup. </p><p></p><p>“Be careful!” warns Yip, struggling for a second before pulling his fist away from it. “It’s sticky!”</p><p></p><p>“That’s perfect!” replies Erasmuz. He pulls out his harpoon. “I don’t care if it gets stuck to this!” He throws- and misses. Shaking his head and clucking his tongue, he reels the harpoon back in for another try. </p><p></p><p>Towards the back of the party, Ari calls up a great snake to attack the golem. It appears and immediately moves in, curling around the golem only to get stuck to it! Since it is a constrictor, it seems okay with this, and it begins to crush the peach golem. Syrup starts leaking out all over the snake. </p><p></p><p>Rush is right on the kobold’s heels. He ignores Yip’s warning, but to his dismay, his <em>mind blade</em> sticks to the creature!* He lets go and steps away, and the blade dissipates, but the monster oozes towards him, trying to engulf him! He jumps back, and it cannot really pursue because of the snake. </p><p></p><p>“That smells so tasty,” Federico sighs aloud, then titters. He fires his crossbow and reloads, then moves to a better position to shoot again. He notes several spells fail to have any effect upon the golem. “Its a golem!” he shouts. “They’re usually immune to most magic- but one or two spells will affect them! If we could figure out what, and what they would do to it-“</p><p></p><p>“Bah!” Rush interrupts disdainfully. “We kill it the old-fashioned way!” This time, when he forms his <em>mind blade,</em> he forms <em>two</em> of them- dagger sized- and he steps up and attacks like mad, hoping to hold on to at least <em>one</em> of his <em>mind blades</em>. Though he loses both blades by the time he is done, he lands several solid blows against the monster. </p><p></p><p>The peach golem vomits forth a mass of sweet-smelling, steaming hot peach-derived gelatinous stuff at Rush, but he leaps aside and it misses him, splattering against the wall behind him in a sticky explosion. Then it starts trying to squeeze the life out of the snake, which is crushing it badly. Chunks of peach are falling out of its body, as well as an ever-widening pool of syrup. The smell is maddeningly delicious. Clearly, the golem is in bad shape. Erasmuz hurls his harpoon again, and this time it is enough to slay the peach monster! It shakes, shudders, spills more peaches, and collapses. </p><p></p><p>Immediately, Erasmuz sits down. “Who wants some peach golem?”</p><p></p><p>Federico joins him eagerly.</p><p></p><p>“No thanks,” Ari replies. “I don’t trust it.”</p><p></p><p>“Are you kidding? The Peachtrees must have made this. It’ll be delicious!”</p><p></p><p>The druid shrugs. “Whatever. No thanks.”</p><p></p><p>“Suit yourself.”</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Closer examination of the carvings on the wall show a multitude of scenes on individual panels. In every panel, the dragon that used to terrorize the nearby town of Bellhold is shown as a benevolent father, overseeing the mining operation and rewarding the faithful. In payment, many offerings are made to the dragon, all put into or near the huge copper bowl. For some reason, one of the panels shows <em>two</em> dragons accepting offerings. Beneath it is an inscription: <em>Worship and praise him, for he is a just and true God. Touch him only with thine thoughts, for he shall not be sullied by thy earthy hand. View him only with thine eyes, if we wish not to face him in judgment alone. His wrath is mighty, and while he descends from the mountaintop to praise, also does he punish the lazy and untrue.</em></p><p></p><p>“Interesting,” remarks Yip. Rush gives him a funny look. </p><p></p><p>“Copperdeath, that was his name,” Federico calls from around a mouthful of peach cobbler style golem. “Ohh, I’m so full.” He sighs and stands up and stretches. </p><p></p><p>“Let us go,” Rush urges. “I wish to kill things, to lessen my debt to you.”</p><p></p><p>“Remember,” Federico declares, “<em>no killing halflings.</em>”</p><p></p><p>“Not you,” nods the soulknife.</p><p></p><p>“Not <em>any,</em>” Federico insists. “We need to patch things up with the Peachtrees, not give them further cause to hate us.”</p><p></p><p>Rush shrugs.</p><p></p><p>Federico sighs. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>There are three exits from the room, but all lead to twisting mine shafts. They follow several of these, only to find that they intersect with the passages leading from the kennel to the peach golem room. They have gone in a circle. </p><p></p><p>They return ot the peach golem chamber and consider their options. Federico casts <em>detect secret doors</em>, and to his delight, he detects one! “It’s behind that dragon statue,” he moans.</p><p></p><p>The party spends some time trying to figure out how to get the humungous statue to move, but they can’t find any kind of mechanism or trigger. After a while, they settle on waiting until after they rest so that Ari can cast <em>stone shape.</em> And then, since they seem to have run out of other places to explore, they settle in to camp.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p><em>Something</em> has felt them in the twisting recesses of the mine tunnels. </p><p></p><p>For now, it waits. It can feel the ground thrumming beneath their feet as they set their camp up. And it can feel the goblins making preparations against them. It will let the goblins try first. </p><p></p><p>If they fail, it will destroy them all.</p><p></p><p>The horrible thing gurgles and spurts up a mass of foul slime that slops back down onto it pustulent surface. </p><p></p><p>It will sacrifice them, in the name of <em>Juiblex.</em></p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p><em><strong>11/14/372 O.L.G., 8:30 a.m.</strong></em></p><p></p><p>Our heroes wake, eat breakfast, limber up and then move over to the statue. Ari applies his druidical magic and <em>stone shapes</em> an opening in the dragon statue’s wing, where the secret door is concealed. Then it is simply enough to open the passage beyond, which is a 20’ wide, damp hallway that curves off to the left and upward. The sound of falling water is somewhere up ahead, around the corner. An empty copper bathtub is pushed roughly against one wall. The floor is covered in tarnished green sheets of copper. </p><p></p><p>The party proceeds around the corner- and runs into a goblin barricade.</p><p></p><p>Ten goblins, one of them better-equipped than the rest, wait behind a mass of wood and stone piled high. Behind it they have built a ramp, and on this ramp is a barrel of oil, which they forthwith light and lever up and over the barrier at the party. </p><p></p><p>They don’t have a chance.</p><p></p><p>Our heroes dodge the oil and slay or drive away the goblins in only a few moments. They seemed to be guarding the base of the great slither-ramp that spirals in an ascent around a falling shaft of water. The ground is slick and the air is full of mist, but at least there is light: the water itself glows. </p><p></p><p>As the party ascends the ramp, they are opposed by more groups of goblins. Erasmuz laughs madly, animating their own dead and having them intercept the barrels of oil with their bodies for the next two groups. The third, final band guarding the ramp is a little stronger than the others, but even they fall quickly and easily to the party (this time Erasmuz himself intercepts the oil barrel, under the influence of a <em>resist fire</em> spell).</p><p></p><p>They step out above, in a nearly circular room about 60’ in diameter. A slice of it is cut into a passageway leading further into the mountain. </p><p></p><p>“Let’s hope we don’t have to kill too many more goblins,” sighs Ari.</p><p></p><p>“Yes,” Rush replies, “they are too easy to kill.”</p><p></p><p>“Hey, buddies, look!” Erasmuz points. The hallway is well-lit by the glowing water behind them; at its end, some 70’ away, there is a wide window into another space. From here, he cannot see into it. </p><p></p><p>*** </p><p></p><p>Behind them, dark amusement rises in the burbling, oozing creature stalking them. It begins to move quickly, ascending the last couple of circuits around the ramp and following the vibrations of the party’s movements. <em>The goblins have failed. Now it is </em>my<em> turn.</em></p><p></p><p>It feels the intruders step off of the ramp and into the hallway. They hesitate- probably having seen the window at the end of the hallway. The creatures surges forward like a wave of effluvia, rushing up the last curl of the slither-ramp with sinister speed.</p><p></p><p>Our heroes are just beginning to advance down the hallway when a terrific stench, like a mix of vegetation, disease and acid fumes, hits them from the direction of the slither-ramp, and they turn as one to see what the hell that is all about. Rising like a tidal wave of sewage is a gargantuan mass of nauseating slime, aswim with baleful crimson eyes. </p><p></p><p>And the wave crashes down on them.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> Our heroes against the nasty sludge-monster of Juiblex!</p><p></p><p>*I know some people might be going “huh?” here, but yes, a <em>mind blade</em> is a physical object (“semi-solid”). We spent a few minutes looking this up during the peach golem fight to check, and both Rush’s player and myself as the dm agreed that it looked like it would be a solid enough object to get stuck, since it can be broken.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 3963963, member: 1210"] [b]Up the Slither-Ramp[/b] [i][b]11/13/372 O.L.G., 10 a.m., the old mines inside Steeple Mountain[/b][/i][b][/b] Our heroes return to the guts of Steeple Mountain. They go back to the hell hound kennel (which, you recall, still has one unexplored exit leading from it). Just to be safe, they return to the goblin guard room that they last fought in and search for secret doors, but none turn up. Then they return to the kennel and take the unexplored path. It winds and branches into more mine shafts. Federico groans, “This could take forever.” His tail tucks itself between his legs. They proceed, following the left wall. Shortly, they come around a corner into a lit room. The entire far wall is hewn into an immense, 80’ wide statue of a dagon, rearing up, wings spread, staring down at all in the room. Its eyes have been pried out. In front of it is a gigantic copper bowl, easily 10’ across at the rim and about 8’ high. A great, leaping fire is in the bowl, giving off the light that fills the room. The walls bear intricate carvings. Something in the room smells [i]delicious.[/i] Like peaches. A huge figure turns ponderously around to face the party. It smells [i]so tasty...[/i] It is about ten feet high, and as broad (proportionally) as a dwarf. Yet it is orange and moist-looking and sugary sweet. “It’s a peach golem!” shouts Ari. He steps to the fore of the party and blasts it with a [i]flame strike[/i], but to his surprise, the only effect is to make it smell even tastier. The scent is quite distracting, but all of our heroes are able to focus past it, ignoring what might otherwise be unforunate effects. Rush steps forward, activating his [i]mind blade.[/i] Yip flips past him and lands a solid punch on the peach creature, leaving an indentation in it that slowly starts to leak what looks like peach syrup. “Be careful!” warns Yip, struggling for a second before pulling his fist away from it. “It’s sticky!” “That’s perfect!” replies Erasmuz. He pulls out his harpoon. “I don’t care if it gets stuck to this!” He throws- and misses. Shaking his head and clucking his tongue, he reels the harpoon back in for another try. Towards the back of the party, Ari calls up a great snake to attack the golem. It appears and immediately moves in, curling around the golem only to get stuck to it! Since it is a constrictor, it seems okay with this, and it begins to crush the peach golem. Syrup starts leaking out all over the snake. Rush is right on the kobold’s heels. He ignores Yip’s warning, but to his dismay, his [i]mind blade[/i] sticks to the creature!* He lets go and steps away, and the blade dissipates, but the monster oozes towards him, trying to engulf him! He jumps back, and it cannot really pursue because of the snake. “That smells so tasty,” Federico sighs aloud, then titters. He fires his crossbow and reloads, then moves to a better position to shoot again. He notes several spells fail to have any effect upon the golem. “Its a golem!” he shouts. “They’re usually immune to most magic- but one or two spells will affect them! If we could figure out what, and what they would do to it-“ “Bah!” Rush interrupts disdainfully. “We kill it the old-fashioned way!” This time, when he forms his [i]mind blade,[/i] he forms [i]two[/i] of them- dagger sized- and he steps up and attacks like mad, hoping to hold on to at least [i]one[/i] of his [i]mind blades[/i]. Though he loses both blades by the time he is done, he lands several solid blows against the monster. The peach golem vomits forth a mass of sweet-smelling, steaming hot peach-derived gelatinous stuff at Rush, but he leaps aside and it misses him, splattering against the wall behind him in a sticky explosion. Then it starts trying to squeeze the life out of the snake, which is crushing it badly. Chunks of peach are falling out of its body, as well as an ever-widening pool of syrup. The smell is maddeningly delicious. Clearly, the golem is in bad shape. Erasmuz hurls his harpoon again, and this time it is enough to slay the peach monster! It shakes, shudders, spills more peaches, and collapses. Immediately, Erasmuz sits down. “Who wants some peach golem?” Federico joins him eagerly. “No thanks,” Ari replies. “I don’t trust it.” “Are you kidding? The Peachtrees must have made this. It’ll be delicious!” The druid shrugs. “Whatever. No thanks.” “Suit yourself.” *** Closer examination of the carvings on the wall show a multitude of scenes on individual panels. In every panel, the dragon that used to terrorize the nearby town of Bellhold is shown as a benevolent father, overseeing the mining operation and rewarding the faithful. In payment, many offerings are made to the dragon, all put into or near the huge copper bowl. For some reason, one of the panels shows [i]two[/i] dragons accepting offerings. Beneath it is an inscription: [i]Worship and praise him, for he is a just and true God. Touch him only with thine thoughts, for he shall not be sullied by thy earthy hand. View him only with thine eyes, if we wish not to face him in judgment alone. His wrath is mighty, and while he descends from the mountaintop to praise, also does he punish the lazy and untrue.[/i] “Interesting,” remarks Yip. Rush gives him a funny look. “Copperdeath, that was his name,” Federico calls from around a mouthful of peach cobbler style golem. “Ohh, I’m so full.” He sighs and stands up and stretches. “Let us go,” Rush urges. “I wish to kill things, to lessen my debt to you.” “Remember,” Federico declares, “[i]no killing halflings.[/i]” “Not you,” nods the soulknife. “Not [i]any,[/i]” Federico insists. “We need to patch things up with the Peachtrees, not give them further cause to hate us.” Rush shrugs. Federico sighs. *** There are three exits from the room, but all lead to twisting mine shafts. They follow several of these, only to find that they intersect with the passages leading from the kennel to the peach golem room. They have gone in a circle. They return ot the peach golem chamber and consider their options. Federico casts [i]detect secret doors[/i], and to his delight, he detects one! “It’s behind that dragon statue,” he moans. The party spends some time trying to figure out how to get the humungous statue to move, but they can’t find any kind of mechanism or trigger. After a while, they settle on waiting until after they rest so that Ari can cast [i]stone shape.[/i] And then, since they seem to have run out of other places to explore, they settle in to camp. *** [i]Something[/i] has felt them in the twisting recesses of the mine tunnels. For now, it waits. It can feel the ground thrumming beneath their feet as they set their camp up. And it can feel the goblins making preparations against them. It will let the goblins try first. If they fail, it will destroy them all. The horrible thing gurgles and spurts up a mass of foul slime that slops back down onto it pustulent surface. It will sacrifice them, in the name of [i]Juiblex.[/i] *** [i][b]11/14/372 O.L.G., 8:30 a.m.[/b][/i][b][/b] Our heroes wake, eat breakfast, limber up and then move over to the statue. Ari applies his druidical magic and [i]stone shapes[/i] an opening in the dragon statue’s wing, where the secret door is concealed. Then it is simply enough to open the passage beyond, which is a 20’ wide, damp hallway that curves off to the left and upward. The sound of falling water is somewhere up ahead, around the corner. An empty copper bathtub is pushed roughly against one wall. The floor is covered in tarnished green sheets of copper. The party proceeds around the corner- and runs into a goblin barricade. Ten goblins, one of them better-equipped than the rest, wait behind a mass of wood and stone piled high. Behind it they have built a ramp, and on this ramp is a barrel of oil, which they forthwith light and lever up and over the barrier at the party. They don’t have a chance. Our heroes dodge the oil and slay or drive away the goblins in only a few moments. They seemed to be guarding the base of the great slither-ramp that spirals in an ascent around a falling shaft of water. The ground is slick and the air is full of mist, but at least there is light: the water itself glows. As the party ascends the ramp, they are opposed by more groups of goblins. Erasmuz laughs madly, animating their own dead and having them intercept the barrels of oil with their bodies for the next two groups. The third, final band guarding the ramp is a little stronger than the others, but even they fall quickly and easily to the party (this time Erasmuz himself intercepts the oil barrel, under the influence of a [i]resist fire[/i] spell). They step out above, in a nearly circular room about 60’ in diameter. A slice of it is cut into a passageway leading further into the mountain. “Let’s hope we don’t have to kill too many more goblins,” sighs Ari. “Yes,” Rush replies, “they are too easy to kill.” “Hey, buddies, look!” Erasmuz points. The hallway is well-lit by the glowing water behind them; at its end, some 70’ away, there is a wide window into another space. From here, he cannot see into it. *** Behind them, dark amusement rises in the burbling, oozing creature stalking them. It begins to move quickly, ascending the last couple of circuits around the ramp and following the vibrations of the party’s movements. [i]The goblins have failed. Now it is [/i]my[i] turn.[/i] It feels the intruders step off of the ramp and into the hallway. They hesitate- probably having seen the window at the end of the hallway. The creatures surges forward like a wave of effluvia, rushing up the last curl of the slither-ramp with sinister speed. Our heroes are just beginning to advance down the hallway when a terrific stench, like a mix of vegetation, disease and acid fumes, hits them from the direction of the slither-ramp, and they turn as one to see what the hell that is all about. Rising like a tidal wave of sewage is a gargantuan mass of nauseating slime, aswim with baleful crimson eyes. And the wave crashes down on them. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] Our heroes against the nasty sludge-monster of Juiblex! *I know some people might be going “huh?” here, but yes, a [i]mind blade[/i] is a physical object (“semi-solid”). We spent a few minutes looking this up during the peach golem fight to check, and both Rush’s player and myself as the dm agreed that it looked like it would be a solid enough object to get stuck, since it can be broken. [/QUOTE]
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