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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Demetrios1453" data-source="post: 9553920" data-attributes="member: 6801060">Curse of the Azure Bonds (Part 29): Yûlash (Part 3): Yûlash complete!Time to head out of the Red Plumes' safe area, and go to the Pit of Moander.We head south, out of the compound. The guards have apparently been informed of our business and let us pass.[ATTACH=full]392533[/ATTACH]We travel a short distance to the south, and, curious, take a peek into a building as we pass. Apparently, we aren't the only groups in this ruined city![ATTACH=full]392534[/ATTACH]Since they aren't immediately attacking we parlay and choose "NICE"[ATTACH=full]392535[/ATTACH]Journal Entry 34:[ATTACH=full]392536[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]392537[/ATTACH]As they give us some nice info, we let them go...[ATTACH=full]392538[/ATTACH]...A kindness they repay rather rudely!At least Buffy had the least amount of money on her (and the game mis-genders her for some reason, even when the whole section with Silk shows that the programming could handle determining gender).[ATTACH=full]392539[/ATTACH]Eh, we didn't lose much, and we'll be able to regain it soon enough...We head to the south, and then turn east. Suddenly...[ATTACH=full]392540[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]392541[/ATTACH]Three mages and a cleric this time. And those wizards will still have the same annoying protections...So, time to break out the 4th-level spells...[ATTACH=full]392542[/ATTACH]Both of my magic-users start casting ice storm.[ATTACH=full]392543[/ATTACH]We definitely need to start damaging those in the rear, where my melee can't reach them. The good news is that here shortly, I'll have access to magical arrows (and finally have something to spend all the money on), which will make them vulnerable to my ranged characters[ATTACH=full]392547[/ATTACH]Bragir damages the back group, while Brin aims a bit further up.[ATTACH=full]392550[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]392551[/ATTACH]Being in the center of both spells, and having been hit by Bant, the cleric goes down.Brother Baltor attempts to help out...[ATTACH=full]392552[/ATTACH]But to no avail...[ATTACH=full]392554[/ATTACH]Bant rushes forward to finish off the bottom two mages...[ATTACH=full]392555[/ATTACH]While Baroness Bella takes out the top one.[ATTACH=full]392556[/ATTACH]But now the survivors start running...[ATTACH=full]392557[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]392558[/ATTACH]They annoyingly get pretty far over...[ATTACH=full]392559[/ATTACH]But my melee are able to catch up, and between the two, the remaining foes go down...[ATTACH=full]392561[/ATTACH]Bant has been taking some hits, compared to everyone else.[ATTACH=full]392562[/ATTACH]So I have Baroness Bella use her Lay on Hands, which heals him a bit.[ATTACH=full]392563[/ATTACH]We continue east...[ATTACH=full]392564[/ATTACH]Weird, it's only supposed to be dwarves and thieves who can detect these, but, sure, my half-elf cleric/ranger saves the day on this one for some reason.A bit further on, we see some friendly faces...[ATTACH=full]392565[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]392566[/ATTACH]We turn to the north, towards the Pit of Moander. We move along briskly with no real issues until...[ATTACH=full]392569[/ATTACH]We advance closer...[ATTACH=full]392570[/ATTACH]Interesting, I wonder what that item is.[ATTACH=full]392572[/ATTACH]We chose combat, for a reason that will become clear very quickly.[ATTACH=full]392573[/ATTACH]Shambling mounds are a pain. They are immune to fire, take only half damage from cold, and lightning actually heals them. And, beyond that, regular weapon attacks only do half damage. Looking back on this, I should have broken out more of the cold spells and magic missiles, but I was wanting to go down into the Pit without having to take another rest. That was poor planning, as will become apparent...What dissuaded me from using more cold spells was this...[ATTACH=full]392574[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]392575[/ATTACH]Yeah, Brin was not impressed by that at all. But ranged attacks are hardly better...[ATTACH=full]392576[/ATTACH](Most at least get 1 point of damage, but I took that as an example of the worst case scenario)Poor Bant is having a really bad day, literally getting mauled since they are dishing out a significant amount of damage compared to us. The real problem is that the shambling mounds can engulf him, causing extra damage and stopping him from attacking until he's freed by the foe being damaged or killed. He uses a healing potion while being unable to attack, but that's barely a speed bump on the downward trajectory of his hit points. Brother Baltor throws out a healing spell...[ATTACH=full]392578[/ATTACH](Remember, Bant's maximum HP total is currently 135)[ATTACH=full]392577[/ATTACH]But, again, that's only a very temporary. Thankfully, we've been slooooowly wearing them down, so there are only three left now.My ranged give up, and charge in with their melee weapons at this point. They might get hit, but their minimal ranged damage really hasn't been very effective at all in this battle...[ATTACH=full]392581[/ATTACH]Finally, we take the last one down...[ATTACH=full]392582[/ATTACH]Ugh. That was messy.[ATTACH=full]392583[/ATTACH]But... it was all worth it for this.[ATTACH=full]392584[/ATTACH]We pick up the wand and examine it.[ATTACH=full]392585[/ATTACH]A wand of defoliation does 6d6 damage to plant creatures in a 3-range cone, with no saving throw. That's a lot more effective than what we were doing. And, curiously, we're about to meet all sorts of plant creatures coming up. This fight with the shambling mounds was just a taste of what lies below...(The other wand is a wand of lightning, which is a bit of a joke, since it will actually heal the shambling mounds coming up. But while useless in the short term, it will obviously be handy later on)As we're near the entrance to the Pit now, we move on, as resting here is going to be difficult. A short distance to the north, we see some suspicious figures.[ATTACH=full]392587[/ATTACH]We wait, and they flee. We really aren't in any shape for a battle at the moment.A few steps further...[ATTACH=full]392590[/ATTACH]At least this time, it was the dwarf, fittingly, that noticed.Just beyond that is the final Red Plumes check point.[ATTACH=full]392593[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]392592[/ATTACH]And, at last, we've reached the entrance to the Pit of Moander.[ATTACH=full]392594[/ATTACH]At this point, we rest up, although we were interrupted by further cultists, who we let run away again...[ATTACH=full]392595[/ATTACH]Rested up and ready to go, we again approach the Pit of Moander. What horrors may lay below?(Map of Yûlash. I skipped most of it, as it's just more pits, looters, Zhent patrols, plus some damaged walls, with nothing much of interest. I could have ground out some XP I guess, but no one is that close to leveling, so I just moved on quickly to the far more interesting areas below)[ATTACH=full]392600[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

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