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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 1204586" data-attributes="member: 6294">"Bounty Hunters" by Jim Gillispie's Module Workshop - Part 5Fortunately, the rogue's exclamation echoes back into the main corridor, and this - coupled with the sudden jerk of her feet - alerts the rest of the group to her trouble."Something's happened!  Quick, get her out!" the Padre snaps.  Stormstrider reacts with equal speed but more effect.  Dropping his quarterstaff, her crouches low and thrusts his arms into the hole.  Grasping Briar's ankles, he braces his feet against the wall on either side of the crevice and yanks back sharply.For a moment, there is a tug of resistance, but the ranger's muscles bunch again and he hauls the rogue out bodily, dragging her assailant along for the ride.The creature is a centipede-like monstrosity nearly six feet in length.  It has sickly green-white hue and a bulbous head surrounded by eight tentacles, each over a foot in length.The beast makes a burbling squeal of irritation and releases its grip on Briar.  Red welts mark the rogue's face where it had grappled her, though the lack of other injuries suggest it has not yet had a chance to bite.Elspeth and Anastria leap forward, each landing blows on the creature, but it hisses and lashes back with its tentacles, paralysing both as efficiently as it did Briar."Keep away from it and try to use ranged attacks!" Mantreus follows his own advice by taking several steps back and sending a magical bolt of force into the creature's side."Someone has to keep it busy or it may try to drag one of them away." The Padre moves in and delivers a crushing blow with his mace as he speaks, then dodges aside of the creature's probing tentacles.Stormstrider doesn't bother to explain his actions, he simply charges in, gathering up his quarterstaff as he does so and bringing the iron-shod tip crashing down on the creature's back.  The beast staggers, squealing, and grasps at the elf with its tentacles.  One strikes bare flesh, but Stormstrider seems more resistant to the creature's toxins than were the others, and shrugs off any symptoms of paralysis.This effort proves the creature's last.  It is already moving more slowly after Stormstrider's blow, the rear half seeming to drag helplessly on the ground, and the Padre capitalises on this weakness, landing a heavy blow just behind the beast's head.  It emits a noise that is something like a choking gurgle, then slumps to the ground, green ichor slowly pooling around it."What do we do now?" Mantreus asks, gesturing at their three paralysed companions."We move them all into the same place, so that they'll be easier to protect if any other creatures come along, and we wait for them to recover." The Padre shrugs, "We don't really have much option.  We can't take them with us, and we certainly can't leave them behind.""What if it takes a long time?  We've got a deadline here.  Emphasis on the 'dead'.""We'll give it ten minutes.  If they haven't recovered by then, we'll take them back the others and continue on alone."In the end it takes only five minutes for the three victims to begin recovering some movement in their limbs, and by the time the Padre's ten minutes is up, they are all moving freely.  Despite her earlier experience, Briar once more volunteers to enter crevice.  Some people might question her sanity at this, but not the intrepid Company of the Random Encounter: they prove more than willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.  Thus, she crawls once more into the crevice, returning after a few seconds to collect a rope."There's a body in there, but it's too heavy for me to move." She explains. "I'll tie this 'round it and you can drag it out."In no time at all ("It's nice to see that someone finally bought some rope.") the group have pulled the body from the crevice and thoroughly looted it.  The corpse - the badly decayed and partially eaten remains of a human male - bears a finely-crafted longsword and a full belt pouch, but is lamentably free of diamonds.Lacking other options, the group press on, travelling through further tunnels until they reach a chamber that is overgrown with vegetation.  There is a gap in the ceiling of the chamber, and occasional patches of starry sky can be seen through a dense tangle of root-like vines, which cascade down through the hole and then run all around the walls of the room, creating a number of thick clumps and tangles.  Dead and dying vines litter the floor, much of which is buried under a thick layer of decaying vegetation."This place is going to take ages to search." Mantreus grumbles. "And by the end of it we're all going to smell like compost.""Nothing for it but to fan out and each do a separate part of the room." Elspeth shrugs, "That will speed things up a bit."The group does as the ranger suggests, each adventurer poking through the vegetation in a separate part of the room, some exhibiting markedly less enthusiasm for the search than others."Uh, guys?" Briar straightens up suddenly, looking around with a worried expression, "Is it just me, or are some of these vines moving?"</blockquote>

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