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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Eryiedes" data-source="post: 5168494" data-attributes="member: 88686">With Jelly remnants still sizzling the bodies of Giant Dungeon Rats, the heros tended their wounds and gathered their wits, Quinn had his attention drawn to the goblin captive as he lay bound and prone.Even while gagged is was readily apparent that he wished to say something urgently.With Gorshak's help the mumbling humanoid was proped back on the floating disc and his pleas went ignored.Gorshak: "If I never see one of those things again, it will be too soon."Quinn: "Perhaps Valthrun knew what he was talking about afterall."Mardok: "Perhaps if we talked less..." he hoisted his great axe to the ready position and gave with an impatient snort.The bound Sharpshooter began a cresendo of muffled tones and emphatic weaving that distracted the barbarian from his "zone".Mardok: "What's his problem?"Shaster: "You mean aside from being captured by people who would just as soon kill him as wink at him?"Travis: "What...is it tuesday already?"Mardok: "Shut him up or I'm gonna put a hole in him and let the air escape that way instead."Travis steps back so Quinn can now see the half orc who shrugs in responce and then turns to pull the gag from its mouth.Quinn: "I can only guarentee your safety for as long as things do not become complicated...making all of that noise, REALLY complicates the situation."Verithax: "I will do whatever you say...you want me to go ahead...I will go ahead...but at least untie me and let me walk...let me die on my feet if I must!"Quinn: "I can sence no deception."Mardok: "I don't care if you can sence Angelic Hordes riding to our rescue...shut him up or I bleed him."Motioning to Morgan, the Warlord cuts the bonds on the goblin's feet and the Sharpshooter rises quickly enough that Travis puts the knife to Verthax's throat; "Not so fast...Not so close." and the Sharpshooter simply throws his hands up in responce. Verthax: "You'll see....good choice....VERY good choice....you'll not be sorry-"Gorshak: "I'm already sorry."Mardok: "I'd BETTER not be...so start walking." and he nudges the goblin forward with the point on the tip of his axe.As the tunnels twisted deeper into the cavern, the captive lead the party to a set of huge bronze double doors.They are green with age and are stained blue and purple with a thick layer of fungus.Scratched into the fungus in common speech are the words; "STAY OUT, REALLY"Mardok slaped the goblin on the back roughly and the Sharpshooter began to tremble; "What's in there?"Verithax: "I don't know...only once did I hear of a goblins going in there....they never came back out again."..."It's one of the places we dare not tread."Gorshak: "Not today my friend...today...you are going to be the first one in there!"The goblin began to tremble...as if he were about to cry...till Mardok grabbed him firmly by the collar; "Ready?"Within the sealed room, fungus coated stairs lead down into another natural cavern.Much of the chambre is filled with a stagnant pool of brackish water.A patch of land rises from the foul water at the pool's center.On this little island, bones, spilled coins, and other small objects are visible among the carpet of fungus.Mardok sniffed at the air hesitantly as he looked for signs of movement.Travis held his torch up as he stepped into the room passed the hesitant goblin.Travis: "You wanna live forever?"Verithax: "I was working on it."Quinn came floating into the room on his conjured disc and slowly drifted to the edge of the water.As Mardok looked at the booty on the island and gauged the distance, he took notice of ripples in the pool of calm water as if something moves beneath its surface.Mardok: "What is that?"The dank water suddenly disgorges a blob of blue slime.The amorphous mass pours forward, extruding long pseudopods that end in appendages of dripping caustic goo.Verithax let out with a shrill cry as he backed along the wall towards the doorway.Mardok stepped from the shore towards the island and in the instant he did he discovered that the brackish pool is a lot deeper than it seems and in an instant he disappears under the surface.He broke the surface in the next instant; "Watch that FIRST step, boys!"As the slime seemed suprised to bump into Tenser's Floating Disc, it thrashed and recoiled in response to this newly percieved arrival.The half orc took advantage of its confusion and swam to the little island as fast as he could.Quinn: "Leave walking on water to the deva."Shaster leapt to the bottom of the stairs and taking aim down his arrow...muttering to the Spirit of Fire, he releases his strike into the beasts mass as it trails flame from the bow.Just as Mardok reaches the island the beast begins to thrash.It narrowly misses the cleric but the barbarian is not so lucky and he is struck with nearly the full force of the monster behind the blow.Mardok: "Is THAT all you've got!?!"The abomination before them begins to bubble and swell, growing with each passing second.Travis: "I don't think its gonna stop..."The Large Blue Slime then explodes in an eruption of slime than hits and burns nearly everything near it.Travis reassures himself with old dwarven sayings as he contemplates further action and Douven's teachings bring him comfort and renewed vigor.He then, seeing that the creature is nearly flanked, (providing it even has a back in the first place) barks an attack order to the half orc barbarian but he is unable to get good footing for a swing and does not want to risk stepping into to the water this close to the beast and so the half-hearted swing misses verily.Quinn's softly spoken prayer spreads a gentle silver light that bathes him in soothing warm radiance that invigorates the angelic avatar.As the pitch of his prayer begins to build, a beam of light streaks from the cieling of the dungeon and begins to boil the azure menace as it shifts and looms menacingly before the group.As the slime from the creatures last attack finally stopped reacting with the stagnant air of the grotto, Mardok's half orc Resilience kicks in from a state of bloodied delirium...he is once more able to find focus and summons for the Rage of Tyrants to guide his attack.As his axe cleaves the creatures body, his Assault reaches Furious proportions and he Howls as he Strikes into the formless creatures body of ichor and bile.Charging forward without regard for his own safety, Gorshak punishes the slime with mighty swing of his khopesh...Mardok is able to take a brief repose from the combat as a result and is able to regain his much needed strength.Summoning the strength to continue, he strikes out Valiantly at the slime and sends chunks of its body flying with his swing.Gorshak: "Prepare for the end demonspawn....you may have hid here for centuries, but you die THIS day!"With no one stopping him from flight, Verithax turned heel and ran as fast as he could from the heros to warn his lord and liege, Master of the Shadowfell...Balgron Lardlump...with the sound of screams and the din of combat growing more distant as he fled.Shaster: "Damn it....the goblin ran!"Travis: "I KNEW it."The Seeker nimbly drew and cocked his arrow, sound of ghostly insects already carried on the wind as a whisper of doom to the intended, in this case...a Blue slime of record size that even now bubbled and popped as the phantasmal swarm fought to be free of the body of bile that entrapped it.The massive slime reacted violently then began to bulge and bubble once more.Gorshak: "ITS GONNA BLOW!!"The deluge of slime and acidic dripping goo bathed the cave and water of the pool in an even spray leaving all the players burning and smoking as they cringe in agony from the caustic caldera.With unheard of speed the beast surges forth to slam both Travis and Gorshak but their shields take the brunt of the monter's attack.Travis: "You need to do better than that!"Pointing his sword to the half orc, the Kinslayer completes the thought and brings his weapon down upon the slime with enough force to bury the blade as the liquid lumpy body instinctively tries to creep away from the cold dwarven steel of the great axe.Seeing the beast distracted by the barbarians strike, he launches his own assault but the darkness and confusion of the moment causes him to miss a sure strike.Quinn fixes his gaze upon the creature and golden light blazes forth in every direction scorching the Blue Slime and bolstering his allies strength and resolve in the process.Reaching deep within, Quinn calls forth the will and energy to go on, further aided by his great skill as a healer.Summoning forth divine strength, the deva bathes the Slime in a Sacred Flame that scorches the foul entity while allowing the goliath to recieve a temporary boon of divine endurance.As the barbarian flicks his axe to get some of the caustic sludge from it, a pseudopod lashes out and slams him...he goes to hold the wound but refrains knowing the burning that will await the cradling limb.He instead leaps from the tiny island with the strength of a Tiger to land beside the menacing beastie.With a Howling war cry he attacks the slime in violent abandon and sends large pieces of it flying with the strike.Mardok: "Yeah?...You LIKE that do ya!?!"Seeing the barbarian is wounded worse than most, the paladin's hands channel the power of Kord to heal the bloodied Mardok.Gorshak then hastily inscribes a glowing rune on the ground which provides divine protection to all who ally with the goliath...then attacks the slime without mercy or reprieve and is rewarded for his accuracy with a gift of divine vigor.As the battle continues and Shaster's wounds begin to worsen with the combat, his already animalistic features become more bestial.Appealing to the ancient eternal swarm, the Seeker sends a ghostly swarm to harrow and sting his foe mercilessly as the shaft buries deep in the creatures amophous body.The shapeless form of the creature engulfs everything near it and a massive bubble ruptures beltching forth a cloud of stench and foulness which catches the Mighty Quinn off guard and weakens him.Morgan attempt to reassure himself that victory is JUST beyond their grasp but in just a few moments, it won't be.Before the beast can shift along the shoreline the Warlord orders for Mardok to block its escape.The formless horror tries to lash out at the half orc but a swing of his axe sees the creature lose another of its seemingly endless supply of dripping limbs to the Kinslayer.As the deva moves the magical disc away from the combat to recover from the stench of the creature, the breeze of cave air is enough to clear his sences (in as much as he discovers that there are other things in the cave that smell MUCH worse than the Slime does)With Gorshak to one side and Mardok on the other....the slime was given no reprieve of quarter.Axe and khopesh cut into the creature as though they struck as one...the sound of the blows, echoing into the caverns around them.The creature lashes out at the goliath and lands a savage blow upon him that leaves him burnt and sizzling.With nearly all involved in constant danger of dropping from their wounds it becomes a war of attrition between the beast and the heros.The noise of the Seekers bow sounds in the cave...followed by the sounds of otherworldly buzzing and then the sound of an arrow striking rock wall, followed by the snarled cursing of the bloodied razorclaw shifter.Both Mardok and Travis are hit by the beast and this time Morgan's shield will not protect him as it had in the past and both of the heros cringe from the injuries they recieve.Travis: "Why won't it DIE!?!"Gorshak: "Everything dies."Travis: "Fine...YOU hit it then."Gorshak; "With pleasure..."With that, the paladin wound up and severed a large chunk from the horror's torso as it bubbled and "squealed" in reponse.As the beast recoiled from the Commander's Strike, Morgan was struck by a Flash of Insight and as the beast reared its mass up upon a single boulder, Travis kicked the rock over tossing it into the shoreline.Travis: "Eeeuugghh!!!"Holding forth his Amulet of Battle, he focuses Bahamut's power in a Lance of Faith at the azure enemy that burns the formless abomination without reprieve and it sinks smoldering and popping into the murky depths of the stagnant pool. TO BE CONTINUED....</blockquote>

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