[LANAI] The Rod of Seven Parts: Into the Crucible

[Rhun]

"Interesting. I believe this creature is what is known as a piercer. And seems to be a fairly large one at that." He looks around at his companions. "We should be careful as we continue on. They are hard to detect, and are quite dangerous. Once they strike a foe they secrete a powerful acid to dissolve the flesh. If any of us are struck, we should do all we can to remove the thing before it can cause a lot of damage."

Those words spoken, the halfling stands and dusts off his pants. Walking stick safely back in hand, he uses it to indicate the passage beyond. "Shall we continue?"

 

[Brain]

Arden keeps an eye on the ceiling, talking to her companions without looking at them. "I wonder if we can go back north and up that other passage without setting off that fungus that screams. If we can, I think we should, to catch these piercers."

 

[pallandrome]

Wyleck nods, "And if not, at least we know of a place to lay down for the evening that has a natural alarum attached to the back door eh?"

 

[CanadienneBacon]

The party heads out through the northern passageway with everyone save for Yssal carefully watching the ceiling overhead for scuttling stalactites. Finding no tracks at all to indicate which way the piercers might have gone, the companions follow Phud and Arden deeper into the network of caves. The dripping of water resumes and grows louder with each footstep til at last the group enters a much larger cavern than the two caves and network of narrow warrens they've seen to date. The ceiling in the new cavern opens up to a 20 foot height, the floor is smoother, and five clusters of fat stalagmites litter the floor, obscuring vision to the south. The rock in here has the look of being worked, though is still in its natural state. Someone has taken tools and dug and scraped in a rough improvised manner until the worst of the drop offs, holes, and ledges are made even. Though damp, the air in the big cavern reeks like a barnyard on a hot day. The floor of the cavernous space is spongy with spoor and offal, out of which sprout a patchworked carpet of mushrooms. There are normal specimens a few inches in height and giant varities as tall as both Rowan and Wyleck. Yssal starts to sniffing at the mushrooms with great curiosity.

Movement on the north and east side catches Arden's, Wyleck's, and Rowan's attention. Yssal, not to be disturbed from his mushroom-snuffling, appears not to notice, and Phud is busy trying to peer past the stalagmite formation that guards the southern end of the cavern. Rhys busily stares at the ceiling, hoping to find a piercer before one finds him. Arden, Wyleck, and Rowan spy several pairs of vacant white eyes clouded with film on the far eastern and northern side of the cavern in an alcove. The eyes take turns blinking, then one of the creatures haltingly slithers forward, a crude polearm in its grasp. The thing resembles a squat humanoid with a slug-like tail that it uses as locomotion. Slimy looking, with gray skin the same color as the mushrooms growing in the cavern, the thing silently snakes closer to Rowan, and the three note a set of humanoid arms holding a longspear.

Initiative
Arden 17
Slugs 15
Rowan 10
Wyleck 10

[sblock=Status]
Right now, Rhys, Yssal, and Phud are unaware of the slugs. This is the surprise round.[/sblock]

 

[Rhun]

Since the slugs act before Rowan, can I hold off until you post to decide on an action?

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Yes. Anytime any of you want to hold off, that's fine.

 

[pallandrome]

Wyleck backs off, holding his hands before him in a warding gesture. "Hey there, we arn't looking for any subterrainian trouble!" As he backs up, he nudges Yssal with his knee and butters under his beath, "Ixnay on the ufflestray."

 

[Brain]

Wrinkling her face to show her disgust, Arden reacts quickly, firing her crossbow at the slug in the lead, hoping to catch it off guard. "Heads up, we've got a slug problem!" she calls out, for the benefit of any who haven't realized the situation yet.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Arden fires off a crossbow bolt and narrowly misses. The bolt arcs past the slug and slams into the rock wall behind the thing, sending a spray of dirt cascading down to the floor. The slug with the longspear slowly turns to regard the crossbow bolt in the wall, then turns back to face the companions. The creature grasps its polearm and makes straight for Rowan. Even at its fastest, the slug is very slow. Several long seconds tick by and the creature hunches forward only five feet. Still the distance covered is more than enough for the slug to level its longspear and jab at Rowan. Rowan hops out of the way but the miss is a narrow one and the halfling sees that the slug's body and arms are roped with thick beefy muscle.

Rowan, Wyleck, and Yssal still have their turn.

 

[Rhun]

"Eeep!" Rowan lets out a small squeal as he dodges the thrust of the longspear. He had hoped to communicate with the thing, to maybe find a peaceful way to get out of this situation, but Arden's quick use of her crossbow made the chances of that happening quite slim. Backing away from the creature, the small wizard begins a quick chant and points his free hand at the slug, releasing a blast of scintillating, vibrant colors.





AC 14, HP 12/12
Cast Color Spray, DC14

[sblock=Memorized Spells]
Level 0 – Mage Hand, Detect Magic, Acid Splash, Daze + Acid Splash
Level 1 – Sleep, Summon Monster I, Color Spray + Grease
[/sblock]