[LANAI] The Rod of Seven Parts: Into the Crucible

The halfling again throws his walking stick into battle, spinning it toward the third of the slugs. Rowan then quickly moves back away from the range of the creature's spear, Grinai chittering all the way as his head pops out from the safety of his master's pack.


Throw club at Slug 3: attack +6 (1d4/x2), then move to H15.

Arden stows her crossbow and moves carefully behind the rocks, drawing out her melee weapon as she goes. The brown-skinned gnome creeps up behind the stalagmites, stalking the third slug.

Rowan again throws his walking stick into battle, spinning it toward the third of the slugs. The club connects with the third slug for a solid blow that deals 1 point of damage. Rowan then quickly moves back away from the range of the creature's spear, Grinai chittering all the way as his head pops out from the safety of his master's pack.

Wyleck sidesteps to get a better bead on the third slug, and launches another stone at the creature to keep it distracted from stabbing Yssal. The stone lands with a *critically* sharp thunk on the slug's head and deals a whopping 2 points of damage. Much like the slug that Rhys finished off seconds ago, the third slug stops moving, drops its longspear and slumps in on itself. Ignoring any command from Wyleck, Yssal takes off and rounds the corner of the stalagmites to snuff out the last slug. The sound of the dog snarling and snapping its clacking jaws on thin air is barely audible, dampened as it is by the carpet of fungi.

Natural 20 on the attack roll. Rolled a Handle Animal for Wyleck but rolled a 6, inclusive of his +5 Handle Animal check. :\

Phud flushes red with rage. Bird, sensing something new seething within his master, flies from Phud's shoulder to perch in safety atop a nearby stalagmite spire. Something deep inside of Phud erupts as he circles around the backside of the rock formation; swinging his mace in a heavy arc, Phud looses years of pent-up fury on the last slug and immediately crushes the creature with a massive blow that deals 10 points of damage. Bits of grey slug flesh splatter all over Phud, Yssal, and both the stalagmite formation and the wall to the east.

End of initiative, please post at will.

Rhys cautiously steps up to get a better look at the slug creatures. He glances around at the three bodies, looking for any sign of identification or indeed, anything beyond their spears.

"Slime and darkness. Slow moving death for those unaware. What did they seek to accomplish?"

Ar Rhys' words, Rowan casts a look of utter disapproval at Arden. The halfling's voice is stern as he speaks. "We might have found out what they had hoped to accomplish, if someone hadn't acted so hastily." Grinai adds an excited chitter to the end of Rowan's statement. With a brief shake of his head, the halfling recovers his walking stick, and begins to bang the slime off of the crafted wood.

Arden frowns, looking away. "I didn't hear them say anything at all. Plus, they are gross."

"Well, there is nothing for it now, I suppose." Rowan pokes the nearest creature with his stick, examining it. He takes his time, not to be rushed by his companions.


Does Rowan have any clue what these guys are? Knowledge: Dungeoneering +5

"We've no idea of their intentions for good or ill, so lets just agree to give any sentient creatures a chance not to fight from now on, eh?" says Wyleck as he looks over the fallen slime-men. He nudges them over, looking for money pouches and the like.

Rowan doesn't know the slugs' technical genus or species, but upon examination, finds that the creatures basically look like giant slugs with humanoid arms intended to wield tools or weapons. The giant slugs have a vaguely humanoid face complete with what appears to be a crude toothless maw of a mouth with a long coiled tongue and eyes clouded over with cataracts. None of the three slugs has a nose. Rowan notes that the slugs surely were blind and, despite their slow movement, appear to be muscular enough to deal a mighty blow. Aside from their human arms, the slugs seem to have had quite foreign sensory apparati; perhaps they tasted the air, or had some sort of queer ear-like appendage, or simply used tremorsense to locate foes. The slugs certainly smell no better than the moist air of the mushroom cavern.

Wyleck roots around in and by the slugs' bodies and finds no pouch of any sort, but the three longspears look to be very good quality.

Arden looks away and, as she does, spies a crude rack of implements in the northwestern corner of the cavern. The rack looks to be crafted of simple wood nailed together and the tools that hang from it are what one might normally expect to find in a farmer's gardening shed: three hoes, a large pair of shears, three trowels, and three shovels.

"Great, we killed three innocent cave farmers," says Rowan with a frown as he notes the farming tools. "I'm not sure who or what those guys were, but I suspect that we may have trepassed into their garden."

Phud : Male Half-Orc Sorcerer 1 / Barbarian 1

As he returns to normal breathing, Phud slumps a bit. "Phud tired. Need sleep." As if on cue, Bird squawks a reply to Phud's comment and then flies over to land on the half-orc's shoulder.