Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
DM Brainiac's Age of Worms (Mostly Restored 5/12/06)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="ltclnlbrain" data-source="post: 2821416" data-attributes="member: 12882"><p><strong>Chapter 12</strong></p><p></p><p>The night passed without event, and in the morning the party ascended back to the main level of the cairn. The adventurers looked around a bit, noting nothing had changed since last they were here.</p><p></p><p>"Do you think we should call up another passage and see where it leads to?" Davi asked.</p><p></p><p>"It seems to make sense," Carpal replied. "Assuming none of them are trapped, that is. Which one would you like?"</p><p></p><p>"Well, I've always been partial to green..." the halfling replied, clutching the sleeve of her robe with one hand and smiling slyly.</p><p></p><p>"Let's to it then."</p><p></p><p>Carpal and Keira pushed against the sarcophagus in the room's center, and slowly it turned to point down the center of the tunnel that sported the green lantern. As soon as it moved into position, though, a cacophonous creaking of stone against stone emerged from the ground below the lantern. The terrible din filled the chamber.</p><p></p><p>"Fornicate me!" Sardonic shouted as he dropped down to one knee and steadied himself against the roar. Looking on all sides, he prepared for the worst.</p><p></p><p>Carpal frowned as the noise continued, but nothing further seemed to happen. "I guess that one was not as well made. Let's try the next one."</p><p></p><p>The barbarian and paladin tried to push the sarcophagus some more, but they couldn't quite get it to move. It seemed to be caught on something or jammed. They tried again, and this time it started to turn, but it was too late. The mechanisms had taken too much stress, and with a great crash, the stone circle at the end of the green hallway and the apparatus beneath it completely gave way, clattering down the shaft.</p><p></p><p>Davi winced at the noise of the collapse, but as the room grew silent, her ears pricked up. The cleric shoved her hood down and listened carefully, and a look of confusion crossed her face. The confusion soon gave way to open disgust and slight alarm. "Do you...?" she began, but a quick look around noted that the others heard it too. A chittering, skittering noise, distant but rapidly approaching, climbing up the shaft. "I believe we've awakened a nest."</p><p></p><p>"By the tail of the great dragon," breathed Ju'lindra. "How many are needed to make such a noise?"</p><p></p><p>"We're about to find out," grumbled Ezreal.</p><p></p><p>"Quick!" shouted Pyrius. "Who has oil? We'll put up a screen of oil around the hole."</p><p></p><p>"They're almost here! I'll try to slow them down!" Sardonic shouted the words to a spell, and a large swath of the floor by the opening was coated with a thick layer of slippery grease.</p><p></p><p>The chittering noise became louder, echoing around the chamber, and a living geyser of beetles burst from the broken shaft! The swarm trailed a thin coat of bright yellow acid in its wake, but the beetles slipped and floundered on the magical grease, temporarily halted in their advance.</p><p></p><p>Not so the monstrosity that emerged beside them, a skittering aberration with six sharp legs sprouting from a central body that was little more than a disgusting eye. It fixed its malevolent gaze on Sardonic, its clawed forelimbs scratching the ground eagerly.</p><p></p><p>Tash's eyes went wide as he recognized the foul creature. "Everyone spread out! Don't stay together! It's a mad slasher!" He spoke a brief incantation and sent a missile of force into the aberration's body, eliciting a squeal of pain.</p><p></p><p>Keira grinned as she moved to Sardonic's side, dropping her torch to the ground and taking her glaive in both hands her stance firm and steady. "Tash Frelan, a slasher I may be, but I'm not mad."</p><p></p><p>"Not you!" shouted the gnome. "That!"</p><p></p><p>"I wonder who thought of the name," Davi mused as she readied a dart. "I would have gone with Genial Ocular Critter Who Likes Marmalade on its Toast myself; it seems nicer." The halfling took aim and hurled the weapon, and it sunk into the monstrosity's eye. The thing staggered a bit, then charged forward, claws extended.</p><p></p><p>It did not get far. As it closed with Keira, she brought her glaive down hard, cracking its body and drawing blood. Squealing, it continued forward, letting its guard down as it passed through the barbarian's reach, and the woman took an opportunistic attack, tearing open the thing's central eye. It collapses to the floor, its six legs thrashing uncontrollably in its death throes as thick fluid seeped from the broken body. Keira spat on the dying beast, a feral grin on her face, her eyes burning with bloody pashion</p><p></p><p>The beetle swarm recovered its footing, though, and it made its way off the slippery grease, hungrily advancing on Keira and Sardonic.</p><p></p><p>Carpal and Ju'lindra moved to their companions' side, brandishing lit torches low to the ground. "Pull back. If you have fire, now is the time to use it." The two swiped their torches back and forth, warding off the advancing beetles and incinerating a few that had surged out ahead of the main swarm.</p><p></p><p>"How about this?" Sardonic asked, sending a twisting spray of blinding colors out over the beetle swarm. When he saw the spell had no effect, though, he let out a small yelp of terror and began backpedaling quickly.</p><p></p><p>It took Keira a bit to realize what was going on through the haze of battle. When she did, though, she retreated to the sarcophagus and searched through her pack, finding and retrieving a flask of oil.</p><p></p><p>Tash clambered up on the sarcophagus next to her, a flask of his own in his hand, and he made ready to throw.</p><p></p><p>The beetles skittered forward, heedless of the torch before them, and as they closed with it Keira and Tash let loose their flasks of oil. The oil impacted with the torch, igniting a small fire on the floor, and the screech and crackling of burning beetles filled the air. While many were burnt, the swarm mindlessly continued forward at Carpal and Ju'lindra. The paladin and monk swung their torches at the beetles, igniting even more of their number, but hundreds still remained, and they hungrily began crawling all over the two of them, getting under their clothes and armor, biting and burning their skin with the acid dripping from their mandibles.</p><p></p><p>Ju'lindra staggered out of the swarm, several insects falling from her body as she went. She gasped for breath and slapped at her body, trying to get the biting bugs off.</p><p></p><p>"The bugs are everywhere!" shouted Sardonic. "Quick, get her clothes off!"</p><p></p><p>Even through the pain, Ju'lindra rolled her eyes.</p><p></p><p>Pyrius quickly went to the half-elf's aid, helping her get the remaining beetles off of her. He quickly checked over her wounds, but the bites and burns were the extent of the damage; luckily, there was no accompanying poison.</p><p></p><p>Carpal waved his torch frantically, scorching swaths of destruction through the swarm as he backs away.</p><p></p><p>Keira drew another torch and rushed forward at the swarm. Dodging the beetles, she stooped and ignited the torch on the flaming oil. The beetles turned to attack her, but before they could get close, she thrust the torch directly into their mass. The flames quickly incinerated most of the remaining beetles. The few that survived dispersed in all directions as the swarm broke up.</p><p></p><p>Tash let out a sigh of relief as the threat was neutralized. "Carpal, Ju'lindra, are you two okay?"</p><p></p><p>"I am well as can be expected, Tash," said Carpal. "It hurts, though. I am fortunate that Pyrius' healing touch leaves no scars. Who would have expected the beetles to have such a bite?" He stretched, wincing at the multitude of little burns on his skin. "I am surprised the things wouldn't fear the fire. That means they were crazed or hungry...or both. That is a good sign. No one has bothered them in a long time."</p><p></p><p>As Pyrius and Davi tended the wounded, Tash made his way over to the collapsed shaft and peered in, shining the everburning torch for a better view. The light revealed a scarred and pitted shaft, most likely eaten away by the acid from the beetles. The metal cylinder lay broken in a pile of rubble at the shaft's bottom, which opened up into another room.</p><p></p><p>"It looks like we can climb down here. There's another hall below."</p><p></p><p>"I will go first," said Keira, shouldering her glaive. "If there are any more slashers down there, they will be mad to come at me and my blade." She grinned and then burst out into laughter, a deep rumbling laughter.</p><p></p><p>Tash chuckled and shook his head. "Go on then. We're right behind you."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ltclnlbrain, post: 2821416, member: 12882"] [b]Chapter 12[/b] The night passed without event, and in the morning the party ascended back to the main level of the cairn. The adventurers looked around a bit, noting nothing had changed since last they were here. "Do you think we should call up another passage and see where it leads to?" Davi asked. "It seems to make sense," Carpal replied. "Assuming none of them are trapped, that is. Which one would you like?" "Well, I've always been partial to green..." the halfling replied, clutching the sleeve of her robe with one hand and smiling slyly. "Let's to it then." Carpal and Keira pushed against the sarcophagus in the room's center, and slowly it turned to point down the center of the tunnel that sported the green lantern. As soon as it moved into position, though, a cacophonous creaking of stone against stone emerged from the ground below the lantern. The terrible din filled the chamber. "Fornicate me!" Sardonic shouted as he dropped down to one knee and steadied himself against the roar. Looking on all sides, he prepared for the worst. Carpal frowned as the noise continued, but nothing further seemed to happen. "I guess that one was not as well made. Let's try the next one." The barbarian and paladin tried to push the sarcophagus some more, but they couldn't quite get it to move. It seemed to be caught on something or jammed. They tried again, and this time it started to turn, but it was too late. The mechanisms had taken too much stress, and with a great crash, the stone circle at the end of the green hallway and the apparatus beneath it completely gave way, clattering down the shaft. Davi winced at the noise of the collapse, but as the room grew silent, her ears pricked up. The cleric shoved her hood down and listened carefully, and a look of confusion crossed her face. The confusion soon gave way to open disgust and slight alarm. "Do you...?" she began, but a quick look around noted that the others heard it too. A chittering, skittering noise, distant but rapidly approaching, climbing up the shaft. "I believe we've awakened a nest." "By the tail of the great dragon," breathed Ju'lindra. "How many are needed to make such a noise?" "We're about to find out," grumbled Ezreal. "Quick!" shouted Pyrius. "Who has oil? We'll put up a screen of oil around the hole." "They're almost here! I'll try to slow them down!" Sardonic shouted the words to a spell, and a large swath of the floor by the opening was coated with a thick layer of slippery grease. The chittering noise became louder, echoing around the chamber, and a living geyser of beetles burst from the broken shaft! The swarm trailed a thin coat of bright yellow acid in its wake, but the beetles slipped and floundered on the magical grease, temporarily halted in their advance. Not so the monstrosity that emerged beside them, a skittering aberration with six sharp legs sprouting from a central body that was little more than a disgusting eye. It fixed its malevolent gaze on Sardonic, its clawed forelimbs scratching the ground eagerly. Tash's eyes went wide as he recognized the foul creature. "Everyone spread out! Don't stay together! It's a mad slasher!" He spoke a brief incantation and sent a missile of force into the aberration's body, eliciting a squeal of pain. Keira grinned as she moved to Sardonic's side, dropping her torch to the ground and taking her glaive in both hands her stance firm and steady. "Tash Frelan, a slasher I may be, but I'm not mad." "Not you!" shouted the gnome. "That!" "I wonder who thought of the name," Davi mused as she readied a dart. "I would have gone with Genial Ocular Critter Who Likes Marmalade on its Toast myself; it seems nicer." The halfling took aim and hurled the weapon, and it sunk into the monstrosity's eye. The thing staggered a bit, then charged forward, claws extended. It did not get far. As it closed with Keira, she brought her glaive down hard, cracking its body and drawing blood. Squealing, it continued forward, letting its guard down as it passed through the barbarian's reach, and the woman took an opportunistic attack, tearing open the thing's central eye. It collapses to the floor, its six legs thrashing uncontrollably in its death throes as thick fluid seeped from the broken body. Keira spat on the dying beast, a feral grin on her face, her eyes burning with bloody pashion The beetle swarm recovered its footing, though, and it made its way off the slippery grease, hungrily advancing on Keira and Sardonic. Carpal and Ju'lindra moved to their companions' side, brandishing lit torches low to the ground. "Pull back. If you have fire, now is the time to use it." The two swiped their torches back and forth, warding off the advancing beetles and incinerating a few that had surged out ahead of the main swarm. "How about this?" Sardonic asked, sending a twisting spray of blinding colors out over the beetle swarm. When he saw the spell had no effect, though, he let out a small yelp of terror and began backpedaling quickly. It took Keira a bit to realize what was going on through the haze of battle. When she did, though, she retreated to the sarcophagus and searched through her pack, finding and retrieving a flask of oil. Tash clambered up on the sarcophagus next to her, a flask of his own in his hand, and he made ready to throw. The beetles skittered forward, heedless of the torch before them, and as they closed with it Keira and Tash let loose their flasks of oil. The oil impacted with the torch, igniting a small fire on the floor, and the screech and crackling of burning beetles filled the air. While many were burnt, the swarm mindlessly continued forward at Carpal and Ju'lindra. The paladin and monk swung their torches at the beetles, igniting even more of their number, but hundreds still remained, and they hungrily began crawling all over the two of them, getting under their clothes and armor, biting and burning their skin with the acid dripping from their mandibles. Ju'lindra staggered out of the swarm, several insects falling from her body as she went. She gasped for breath and slapped at her body, trying to get the biting bugs off. "The bugs are everywhere!" shouted Sardonic. "Quick, get her clothes off!" Even through the pain, Ju'lindra rolled her eyes. Pyrius quickly went to the half-elf's aid, helping her get the remaining beetles off of her. He quickly checked over her wounds, but the bites and burns were the extent of the damage; luckily, there was no accompanying poison. Carpal waved his torch frantically, scorching swaths of destruction through the swarm as he backs away. Keira drew another torch and rushed forward at the swarm. Dodging the beetles, she stooped and ignited the torch on the flaming oil. The beetles turned to attack her, but before they could get close, she thrust the torch directly into their mass. The flames quickly incinerated most of the remaining beetles. The few that survived dispersed in all directions as the swarm broke up. Tash let out a sigh of relief as the threat was neutralized. "Carpal, Ju'lindra, are you two okay?" "I am well as can be expected, Tash," said Carpal. "It hurts, though. I am fortunate that Pyrius' healing touch leaves no scars. Who would have expected the beetles to have such a bite?" He stretched, wincing at the multitude of little burns on his skin. "I am surprised the things wouldn't fear the fire. That means they were crazed or hungry...or both. That is a good sign. No one has bothered them in a long time." As Pyrius and Davi tended the wounded, Tash made his way over to the collapsed shaft and peered in, shining the everburning torch for a better view. The light revealed a scarred and pitted shaft, most likely eaten away by the acid from the beetles. The metal cylinder lay broken in a pile of rubble at the shaft's bottom, which opened up into another room. "It looks like we can climb down here. There's another hall below." "I will go first," said Keira, shouldering her glaive. "If there are any more slashers down there, they will be mad to come at me and my blade." She grinned and then burst out into laughter, a deep rumbling laughter. Tash chuckled and shook his head. "Go on then. We're right behind you." [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
DM Brainiac's Age of Worms (Mostly Restored 5/12/06)
Top