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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 6623144" data-attributes="member: 9546">The Storm Tower5 Erastus, 4715 "Are you sure about this, Boris?" Zula asked. "You don't need to be taking unnecessary risks."The goblin waved her off."This what Boris do. He very sneaky. He sneak over bridge and inside tower. Then, he come back and tell you if safe. No problem!"The thunder-caller looked dubious, but she had to admit that the plan made sense. The companions were standing on the shore of the lake of black slush that surrounded the immense tower, and the wind whipped around them with gale force. The snow storm was blinding, limiting their visibility. "Ok," she nodded, "but we need to keep you in sight, so we're going to follow along behind at distance."Boris shrugged."Just be quiet!" he shouted over the howling wind. "Boris not want to get killed because you clanky-clanking everywhere!"The little goblin turned and began hopping nimbly across the broken, crumbling causeway that led from the lakeshore to the base of the tower. When he was about halfway across, Zula motioned for the others to follow. The distances between the fractured pieces of the bridge were not large, but the blowing wind and icy conditions made the crossing hazardous nonetheless. By the time the rest of the Scions reached the halfway point, Boris had already reached the large, hexagonal opening in the tower's wall. He stepped cautiously inside, and immediately felt an oppressive sense of unease, but at least the wind wasn't blowing in the entry hall. Windblown snow had drifted into the corners and along the walls of the trapezoidal chamber, piling up in deep drifts. Identical hexagonal openings exited the room directly ahead of him, and to his right and left. Strong wind blew from the opening in front of him, and some sort of crystal panel was affixed to the wall beside it. Boris moved in a little further, trying to see what might lay in the adjoining rooms. To his left, he saw a large room with pale white mushrooms growing in profusion along its walls, popping out of more snow drifts. To the right was a similar large chamber, but with a tangle of roots and leaves covering the floor beneath more drifts of windblown snow. Something about the vegetation intrigued the goblin, and he moved in that direction to get a closer look.Zula cursed when she saw Boris disappear around a corner once he'd entered the tower. She didn't like being exposed out in the open, but she also didn't want them to wander blindly into a potentially dangerous situation. Just as she was preparing to tell the group to keep moving, she caught movement out of the corners of both eyes. The causeway was only five feet above the surface of the dark slush, and from both sides Zula saw a total of three wakes moving towards them, their sources invisible below the surface. "Incoming!" she shouted in warning to the othersAt that moment, three creatures, still over fifty feet way, lifted their heads above the slush, their fanged maws dripping black bile. Each of them in turn spat viscous liquid towards those gathered on the causeway, striking Mazael, Haroldo, Piotr and Zula. They flinched in anticipation of being burned, but all they felt was a mild tingle on their skin. "Thanks again, friend!" Mazael laughed as he patted Suishen's blade, grateful for the magical protection from extreme cold it had granted them. Mongo was not the beneficiary of Suishen's gift, and when he saw the cold bile-spitting creatures closing in, the absolute last place he wanted to be was stuck on the narrow causeway between them. He got a running start and leaped across the final gap and through the tower's opening. As he landed in the entry hall, he saw Boris disappearing around a corner in a room to the left, where a large pile of leaves and vines lay. The Mwangi man turned abruptly when he heard footsteps behind him, and was relieved to see that Zula had followed him. She wasn't looking at him, however. Her eyes had gone wide as she looked around the room at the snow drifts, and then into the chamber where Boris stood peering at the vegetation."Run!!" she screamed, and then leaped back out of the tower and onto the causeway.Mongo's brow furrowed at her odd behavior, but before he could process any further, the piles of snow exploded as figures leaped out of them, quickly surrounding him. Mazael turned towards the splashing sound to his right, just as a four-armed horror, its body armored in bony plates, erupted out the slush and flung itself into him. The war-priest staggered back, lost his footing on the icy causeway, and then tumbled off the edge and into the black ice. At the back of the party, another of the creatures sprang out of the lake and collided with Lucian. The oracle's arms pinwheeled, and he had just managed to regain his footing when a second charda hit him, and forced him over the edge. The creatures that encircled Mongo looked similar to the frozen dead they'd faced earlier in the day, but more savage and bestial. He held his pole-arm out before him like a shield, but there were too many of them...a half-dozen at least. They began feinting in on all sides, and as the Mwangi turned to fend off one, another would come at his flank. Three times their filthy claws struck and raked at his bare skin, and each time they did, a numbing cold flowed from the wound, and Mongo felt himself growing steadily weaker. Just then, he saw a blur of motion as Boris cartwheeled into the room and between the legs of several of the wights, rolling to his feet with blades in both hands and grinning. Mongo knew that was his chance. He reached into his belt pouch and crushed a dry, brittle leaf within, instantly vanishing from sight."Hey!" Boris cried, his jaw dropping. "Why you leave Boris? Now what Boris supposed to do??"Despite his heavy armor and the viscosity of the slush he swam in, Mazael somehow managed to tread water and still hold on to Suishen. He grabbed the edge of the causeway and heaved himself, dripping, out of the lake. No sooner had he regained his feet, however, than the chard lunged for him again, this time going for his legs and sweeping his feet out from under him. Mazael landed hard on his back, but at least he didn't roll back into the water. He didn't have more time to think or react, for the little beast was upon him, slashing and tearing at him with its multiple appendages.Lucian wasn't faring much better. He also managed to haul himself back out of the slush, and even got in a solid swing with his cudgel against the charda waiting for him, since his bow was useless in the high winds, but then the creature knocked him flat on his back and began to pummel him relentlessly. Then, a gout of flames burst over the little beast, and it screeched and recoiled, spinning towards its new opponent. Piotr stood behind it, his fingers laced together and still smoking. Lucian took the opportunity to snatch a snapleaf from his belt and crush it. As he faded from view, he leaped to his feet and retreated.Mongo fled through the chamber with mushroom-covered walls, only stopping when he'd reached the far side. Still invisible, he paused to catch his breath. After a moment, however, he held his breath altogether. He'd heard something...a faint scrape of claws on stone. He wasn't alone in the room. Then he reeled to one side as something heavy hit him, and tooth-shaped punctures opened in his side. Another blow struck him from the opposite side as another bite appeared. As he looked around for his attackers, he saw a faint outline of three creatures that looked like four-legged walking mushrooms with large, fanged maws...just before they disappeared from view again. Boris backed slowly away as the six wights advanced on him, his swords held before him. "Boris not afraid of you," he taunted, though in truth, fear was making his hands shake slightly. Suddenly, two of the creatures in the back literally exploded into pieces as Haroldo leaped into the room, his great-sword cleaving them asunder. "Boris love you, crazy-man!" the little goblin crowed as he darted forward and jammed his blades through the spine of one of the wights who'd turned to look at Haroldo, dropping it bonelessly to he ground. "He make you special stew tonight!!"Zula's thunderous voice echoed down the causeway and across the lake, causing the chardas to grab their heads in agony. Mazael swung Suishen while still on the ground, and the flaming sword cut down the creature that stood over him. Leaping to his feet, he drove the katana through the skull of the one that had been menacing Lucian before he'd fled. Then Piotr sent a barrage of magic missiles into the last one, and as it stumbled back, Zula loosed her thundercall again, and the charda crumpled.Mongo thrust blindly with his pole-arm towards the place where he'd last seen the phantom fungi, and felt it connect solidly with something. Then they were upon him again, biting and buffeting him from all sides. He swung about furiously, but landed no further blows. He felt himself weakening from blood loss."Help me!!" he criedBoris turned towards the sound of Mongo's voice as Haroldo cut down the remaining wights. He saw the big Mwangi man bleeding profusely from multiple wounds, and then abruptly, he fell to the floor, unmoving. The goblin could no sign of who or what had attacked him."Hey!" Boris called to his companions. "Jungle-man asleep...maybe dead! Boris think something in there with him, but Boris can't see.""Leave this to me," Piotr said as he jumped into the room from the causeway. The sorcerer cast a spell, and a bright flash of light erupted over the fallen form of Mongo, followed by a glittering cascade of gold-flecked dust showering from out of thin air. The dust settled on the forms of three creatures that looked like shambling, four-legged mushrooms."Oooohh!" Boris gasped. "Boris could make nice soup with those!"He leaped into the room, and the walking fungi turned to follow him. One of them managed to nip at him as he darted past, but Haroldo was right behind him and hacked the mushroom to pieces before it could turn on him."Behind you!" Zula shouted at Mazael as she entered the tower.The war-priest turned to look into the room behind him where, when he'd last looked, there had only been a pile of dried leaves and roots. His eyes went wide when he saw the pile of vegetation rear up, revealing a massive white flower beneath it. The bloom suddenly pulsed with blinding white light, and he felt his eyes burning as his vision burned away. Piotr managed to turn his head and shut his own eyes at the last second. When he opened them again, bright spots danced before them, but he could see that the huge plant was sliding towards them, squeezing its bulk through the narrow doorway. Acting mainly on instinct, he hurled a fireball towards it, engulfing it in flames. Zula followed that immediately with her thundercall, sending shivers through the plant, but it recovered quickly and lunged forward, seizing Mazael as its fronds snapped shut around him. 'Do not panic, warrior,' Suishen spoke to him. 'Calm your mind.'Mazael took a deep breath and focused. If there was one thing Desna despised, it was for her adherents to be hindered from moving in any way. He whispered Her name, asking for Her blessing, and then he simply slipped free of the plant's grip. Though still blind, he allowed Suishen to guide his hand, and swung with all his might as he dropped to the floor. The blade tore through root and stem, sending fluids spewing in all directions. Then, another fireball  from Piotr set the moonflower completely ablaze, and it quickly shriveled away to ashes. Boris darted among the remaining two phantom fungi, stabbing and feinting, diverting their attention from Haroldo. Though he suffered another vicious bite for his efforts, they paid off when the blood-rager slashed first one of them apart, and then the other. Then everyone stood still, catching their breath, waiting for the next threat. None came. The only sound was the howl of the wind coming from outside the tower, and another rush of wind emanating from the central room around which the other chambers circled. Mazael, rubbing at his eyes, his vision slowly returning, hurried quickly over to Mongo. The Mwangi was still breathing, though just barely. Mazael knelt to tend his wounds as the others began to fan out through the rooms searching for more threats. Boris approached the central core of the tower. There were two hexagonal openings on either side of the chamber, and the room had no ceiling. It formed a smooth-walled shaft that rose through the tower's center, and a crackling blue sphere of energy hung in the air high above. Boris peered closely at the crystal panel inset in the wall next to the shaft, and then reached out to touch a few buttons there in a pattern that seemed to make sense to him. To his surprise and delight, a hexagonal platform of blue light formed on the floor of the shaft. After a moment, it rose into the air until it reached a height of about one-hundred feet. It paused there briefly, and then disappeared. Grinning, Boris turned to his companions."Boris find way up!" he said. "This going to be fun!"</blockquote>

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