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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 2607634" data-attributes="member: 1210">Fwaigo “Goer” Smith huffs as he works his way up the hill in the early morning light.  The sun is barely peeking above the eastern horizon.  As he crests the ridge, Goblin Gorge comes into view for the first time in his life.  He has heard of it, of course; it is infamous in town.  Occasional trade happens between Whitewater and the goblins, but usually relations range from tense to hostile.  Goer is shocked to see the southern half of the land above the physical gorge itself- through which the Roaring River runs- is almost completely burnt.  The stubs of the goblins’ huts are like burned-out torches, and something odd appears smeared on the ground, but at this distance he cannot identify it.  Goblin Gorge is still probably a mile or more away, but Goer feels a deep sense of satisfaction.  The place he is seeking is in sight.Then he pulls his eyes down, to the bottom of the slope before him before the land starts to rise again along the edges of the gorge, and he grins.  There are his friends below him, just beginning to stir!  It’s a good thing I’m an early riser, he thinks to himself, and starts to scramble downslope towards his friends.***Cur groans.  His ankles throb.  The pressure of the cage door pressing against them- if he can’t free himself, or at least pull his legs free, they will surely snap soon.  He glances again at the seething pool of flesh-colored fluid into which Otis, moments ago, was plunged, and shudders. Then, to his shock, the cage rises from the pool.  Otis lies immobile on the floor of it, covered with fleshy stuff  the consistency of cottage cheese.  “Otis?” croaks Cur, but there is no response. The fear that has been running through him since he was dragged into this chamber is exhausting him, but he cannot free himself of it.  Cur gasps as he tries to shift his weight against the cage door crushing his ankles.  He draws himself near it and tries to use his head and shoulders for leverage against the weird resinous bars of the cage.  The cords on his neck bulge as he exerts his strength, somehow drained by the terror of this experience, and slowly he manages to shove his legs further through the gap until the skin and flesh starts to tear.  But in a way, this helps; the pain gives him focus, and the blood helps lubricate his efforts.  His jaw clenches and he lets out a snarling grunt as he pushes again, and suddenly he’s slipped out of the cage!He is still bound by the taffy-like straps, though, and when he struggles against them they only seem to pull tighter.  After a few gasping minutes, he lets himself collapse for a few moments, breathing deeply and trying to recover his strength, his courage.  But it must be something about this place.  He cannot calm himself; his heart pounds in his chest.  This place, this cyst on the earth, is awful.  He cannot bear it.  And poor Otis!  What happened to him in the fluid?  What must that have been like?Again, Cur squirms against his bonds, but to no avail.  Again, after a few moments he surrenders to the exhaustion.  If he cannot break his bonds, he will be helpless if he is found by his captors!Then his eyes steal across to the base of the cage he is slumped near, and he glances at its splayed feet.  Each ends in seven sharply-pointed toes.  Cur hauls his body into position and begins sawing at his bonds on the sharp toes.  Soon he has freed himself.  His head swims and his ankles throb as he drags himself up.  Sweat pours off his brow; it is hot and humid, and he feels ill from all the vapors, the fear tearing through his mind, the pain in his ankles.  He stumbles towards Otis, who is moaning on the floor of the cage.  “Otis?” Cur whispers, but his only answer is a moan.  Cur tries to break the bars on the doors, to no avail.  There is no visible lock; there is no key that he can see anywhere.  He grits his teeth in frustration, wondering how he can possibly free his friend- and then he experimentally gives the cage door a simple tug, and it opens easily.  “Come out,” he says softly, beckoning to Otis.  Slowly the wizard pulls himself up and stumbles forward.  Otis looks like he is on the verge of running; he looks wildly about, searching for escape, and immediately starts staggering towards the exit.“Wait!” hisses Cur, grabbing Otis’ arm.  “There are more of them!  Follow my lead- we’ll have to sneak out of here.”So Cur, shaking with fear and fatigue, limps forward.  He can already feel his ankles swelling, and they send waves of agony through him as he puts weight on them.  His breath rasps in his throat; all he can do is step carefully and try not to make any noise.  Slowly he leads Otis into the large room they passed through on the way in, the room with the clutch of eggs and the crawling thing.  The creature is not in evidence, but the eggs are- strange, rubbery-looking things, several of which have burst open.  There are nearly two dozen of the intact eggs, each the size of a man; and another seven are burst, with empty husks of horrific creatures with stingers on their tails hanging from them.  Only one burst egg has no husk; Cur hopes that that means that there is only one crawling thing.The two steal past the chamber, skirting it in the shadows of the eggs, and Cur leads them to the part of the wall that opened for their captors.  Otis is clearly frightened and wants nothing more than to flee, but he has nowhere to flee to.  His eyes bulge in terror as Cur probes the wall.  Suddenly, a gap in the wall opens, sphincter-like, and they steal through into the chamber with the vapors.  They step through; there are several exits, but the white- normal- like of day comes from only one of them.  Immediately Otis gives a little yell and rushes out, finally having somewhere to run away to.  “Wait!” Cur cries, then curses.  What if there are guards? he wonders.  He pauses, listening, but hears nothing indicating that Otis has run into trouble.  He takes a step towards the exit-Then, suddenly, the floor gives off another burst of vapors.  Nausea and disorientation come swimming through Cur’s head, and he crashes to the floor, unable to take any more.*Next Time: Will Cur survive?  Will Otis find the rest of the party?  And what other terrible things lurk inside the cyst??*The vapors, which had already affected Cur once, did both int and con damage on a failed Fort save; and when Cur failed this one, he took enough damage from con loss that it put him below zero hit points.  Then it was just a matter of rolling to stabilize, especially since Otis was frightened and couldn’t go back to help him.The vapors, by the way, were emitted on a timer- every four rounds.  Unfortunately, Cur waited one round too long in the chamber.</blockquote>

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