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THE ECOLOGY OF THE DEATH KISS (unpublished Monster Hunters "Ecology" article)
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 4097848" data-attributes="member: 508"><p>Buntleby, meanwhile, was pinned face down to the cold stone floor by the tentacle on his back. He had his dagger in hand but couldn't reach the offending appendage, nor could he get a sufficient view of the hovering aberration to target it with one of his readied <em>magic missile</em> spells. Ozzie came to his rescue, however; seeing his master under attack, the faithful osquip ran right up Buntleby's back and onto the offending tentacle. Biting down hard on the rubbery gray appendage with teeth that could eat through solid stone, Ozzie chewed the end off of the tentacle in no time flat. The rest of the severed tentacle whipped back into the creature's body,<strong>[15]</strong> while the grip of the detached tip loosened and it slid off of the wizard's back onto the floor.</p><p></p><p>"Thanks, Ozzie," said Buntleby with gratitude, before rolling on his side and spouting off the arcane syllables that sent a single <em>magic missile</em> streaking toward the hovering death kiss. It struck the beast with a satisfying sizzle of energy.</p><p></p><p>Buntleby staggered to his feet, woozy from the loss of blood and still bleeding down his back from the open gash inflicted by the beast. His instinct was to help Rhionda, but as he approached her on wobbly legs she pulled herself free with a cry of pain and practically landed in his arms. "Are you okay?" asked the wizard, eyeing the trickle of blood spilling down Rhionda's left arm.</p><p></p><p>"Better than that thing's going to be," vowed the fighter as she resumed the attack with her sword.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, on the other side of the death kiss, the older Battleblades were making some progress of their own. Rather than the act of cowardice that it first appeared to be (or perhaps merely in spite of it), Kip's headlong flight down the corridor was actually tactical in nature: fleeing just far enough to be out of range of the monster's tentacles, Kip spun around and let fly with a dagger. His aim was true; the steel weapon pierced the death kiss' red-pupiled eye with a wet thud, and an arc of electricity jumped from the point of impact.<strong>[16]</strong></p><p></p><p>"Got him!" cried the halfling in delight, drawing a short sword from his side as he ran back to what he hoped was now a defenseless monster.</p><p></p><p>"Ye 'n me both!" yelled Frollick, finally severing the tentacle that gripped his neck. "Let's kill the sucker!" The death kiss suddenly found itself under assault from all sides, for as Frollick pushed the flailing tentacle aside and made a dash for the creature's spherical body, Kip leapt up at the tentacle holding his brother and started hacking away at it with his sword. Meanwhile, at the creature's rear, Rhionda had fought her way to the death kiss' body and was quietly and efficiently slicing it up as well, while Buntleby flung another <em>magic missile</em> at the beast. Even Ozzie got back into the action, chomping down hard on a tentacle that swung past his leathery head on its way to attack his master. Only Skip and Jasper were still somewhat ineffectual, the former still bound up in the tentacle that held him and the latter having somehow managed to tie the tentacle attached to his leg into a complicated knot all around him during his frantic thrashing around.</p><p></p><p>Feeling the pain of the osquip's powerful bite, the death kiss reflexively retracted that tentacle, but that only sent Ozzie flying through the air to land on top of the monster's spheroid body. "Ozzie!" cried Buntleby in alarm, but he needn't have worried; the osquip could take care of himself. In fact, Ozzie managed to get a good six-limbed grip on the top of the death kiss' body, moving only when the monster attempted to pierce him with the tip of a tentacle that stabbed his way. Ozzie skittered away just in time; the death kiss actually penetrated its own skull<strong>[17]</strong> with its wicked, curved claw in an attempt to gut the multilimbed rodent. Red blood spilled from the gash and dripped to the cavern floor.</p><p></p><p>Things didn't go very well for the death kiss after that. It took a bit of time, but the Battleblades finally managed to extract both Jasper and Skip, and then the blinded monster had no one with which it could drain blood to heal its wounds.<strong>[18]</strong> It struck out blindly many times with its tentacles, but the Battleblades had finally learned their lesson and fled out of range, only to strike with hurled daggers and the halflings' innumerable sling stones, flung with uncanny accuracy. Buntleby cast the last of his <em>magic missiles</em>, while Ozzie gnawed determinedly at the root of one of the tentacles growing from the top of the death kiss' body. Under his ratlike feet, the osquip could feel the creature's breathing become more and more ragged as life gradually slipped away from the beast.<strong>[19]</strong></p><p></p><p>"We've got it on the ropes, Battleblades!" cried Jasper triumphantly, watching the erratic weaving of the death kiss' body as it teetered drunkenly in the air, staggering under the heavy barrage of ranged weapons. Frollick took the opportunity to cast healing spells on those wounded by the bloodsucking tentacles. Everyone else, all out of ranged weapons, merely watched as Kip and Skip finished the creature off with a fusillade of stones.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, the death kiss crashed to the stone floor, its remaining tentacles flailing about helplessly as bolts of electricity darted about from its body in all directions.<strong>[20]</strong> Ozzie gave a squeal of pain as he was zapped by a jolt of energy and slid off of the death kiss' body, landing on the stone floor in a tangle of twitching limbs.</p><p></p><p>"Ozzie!" cried Buntleby, rushing to the osquip's side and scooping him up in his arms. A tentacle twitched spasmodically nearby, slowly inching its way toward the wizard, but he didn't even notice out of concern for his rodent friend. Ozzie was quite the worse for wear: a substantial patch of his leathery yellow-gray skin was scorched black, and smoke wisped from the burn area.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 4097848, member: 508"] Buntleby, meanwhile, was pinned face down to the cold stone floor by the tentacle on his back. He had his dagger in hand but couldn't reach the offending appendage, nor could he get a sufficient view of the hovering aberration to target it with one of his readied [i]magic missile[/i] spells. Ozzie came to his rescue, however; seeing his master under attack, the faithful osquip ran right up Buntleby's back and onto the offending tentacle. Biting down hard on the rubbery gray appendage with teeth that could eat through solid stone, Ozzie chewed the end off of the tentacle in no time flat. The rest of the severed tentacle whipped back into the creature's body,[b][15][/b] while the grip of the detached tip loosened and it slid off of the wizard's back onto the floor. "Thanks, Ozzie," said Buntleby with gratitude, before rolling on his side and spouting off the arcane syllables that sent a single [i]magic missile[/i] streaking toward the hovering death kiss. It struck the beast with a satisfying sizzle of energy. Buntleby staggered to his feet, woozy from the loss of blood and still bleeding down his back from the open gash inflicted by the beast. His instinct was to help Rhionda, but as he approached her on wobbly legs she pulled herself free with a cry of pain and practically landed in his arms. "Are you okay?" asked the wizard, eyeing the trickle of blood spilling down Rhionda's left arm. "Better than that thing's going to be," vowed the fighter as she resumed the attack with her sword. Meanwhile, on the other side of the death kiss, the older Battleblades were making some progress of their own. Rather than the act of cowardice that it first appeared to be (or perhaps merely in spite of it), Kip's headlong flight down the corridor was actually tactical in nature: fleeing just far enough to be out of range of the monster's tentacles, Kip spun around and let fly with a dagger. His aim was true; the steel weapon pierced the death kiss' red-pupiled eye with a wet thud, and an arc of electricity jumped from the point of impact.[b][16][/b] "Got him!" cried the halfling in delight, drawing a short sword from his side as he ran back to what he hoped was now a defenseless monster. "Ye 'n me both!" yelled Frollick, finally severing the tentacle that gripped his neck. "Let's kill the sucker!" The death kiss suddenly found itself under assault from all sides, for as Frollick pushed the flailing tentacle aside and made a dash for the creature's spherical body, Kip leapt up at the tentacle holding his brother and started hacking away at it with his sword. Meanwhile, at the creature's rear, Rhionda had fought her way to the death kiss' body and was quietly and efficiently slicing it up as well, while Buntleby flung another [i]magic missile[/i] at the beast. Even Ozzie got back into the action, chomping down hard on a tentacle that swung past his leathery head on its way to attack his master. Only Skip and Jasper were still somewhat ineffectual, the former still bound up in the tentacle that held him and the latter having somehow managed to tie the tentacle attached to his leg into a complicated knot all around him during his frantic thrashing around. Feeling the pain of the osquip's powerful bite, the death kiss reflexively retracted that tentacle, but that only sent Ozzie flying through the air to land on top of the monster's spheroid body. "Ozzie!" cried Buntleby in alarm, but he needn't have worried; the osquip could take care of himself. In fact, Ozzie managed to get a good six-limbed grip on the top of the death kiss' body, moving only when the monster attempted to pierce him with the tip of a tentacle that stabbed his way. Ozzie skittered away just in time; the death kiss actually penetrated its own skull[b][17][/b] with its wicked, curved claw in an attempt to gut the multilimbed rodent. Red blood spilled from the gash and dripped to the cavern floor. Things didn't go very well for the death kiss after that. It took a bit of time, but the Battleblades finally managed to extract both Jasper and Skip, and then the blinded monster had no one with which it could drain blood to heal its wounds.[b][18][/b] It struck out blindly many times with its tentacles, but the Battleblades had finally learned their lesson and fled out of range, only to strike with hurled daggers and the halflings' innumerable sling stones, flung with uncanny accuracy. Buntleby cast the last of his [i]magic missiles[/i], while Ozzie gnawed determinedly at the root of one of the tentacles growing from the top of the death kiss' body. Under his ratlike feet, the osquip could feel the creature's breathing become more and more ragged as life gradually slipped away from the beast.[b][19][/b] "We've got it on the ropes, Battleblades!" cried Jasper triumphantly, watching the erratic weaving of the death kiss' body as it teetered drunkenly in the air, staggering under the heavy barrage of ranged weapons. Frollick took the opportunity to cast healing spells on those wounded by the bloodsucking tentacles. Everyone else, all out of ranged weapons, merely watched as Kip and Skip finished the creature off with a fusillade of stones. Suddenly, the death kiss crashed to the stone floor, its remaining tentacles flailing about helplessly as bolts of electricity darted about from its body in all directions.[b][20][/b] Ozzie gave a squeal of pain as he was zapped by a jolt of energy and slid off of the death kiss' body, landing on the stone floor in a tangle of twitching limbs. "Ozzie!" cried Buntleby, rushing to the osquip's side and scooping him up in his arms. A tentacle twitched spasmodically nearby, slowly inching its way toward the wizard, but he didn't even notice out of concern for his rodent friend. Ozzie was quite the worse for wear: a substantial patch of his leathery yellow-gray skin was scorched black, and smoke wisped from the burn area. [/QUOTE]
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THE ECOLOGY OF THE DEATH KISS (unpublished Monster Hunters "Ecology" article)
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