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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 4040825" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p><strong>Against Other Halflings!</strong></p><p></p><p>“Look out!” burbles Naomi. </p><p></p><p>A strange, acrid stench rises from the burning, oozing <em>thing</em> that is flowing down the statue-lined hallway towards our heroes. Ari struggles up to his feet and casts a <em>mass cure light wounds</em> to reinvigorate the party after their boulder-battering, and Rush moves to the front of the party to intercept the burning ooze. Immediately, it extends a greedy pseudopod towards him, grasping for him, but he parries with his <em>mind blade</em> and leaps away. He throws his <em>mind blade</em> at it, and the psychic weapon sinks deep into the ooze. It quivers, and a bright orange, burning fluid begins to leak out from where Rush’s blade struck it. </p><p></p><p>“It can be hurt,” he reports to the others.</p><p></p><p>Naomi unleashes a <em>cold energy bolt</em> at it, and Jawbreaker fires his bow. Erasmuz begins summoning allies from another plane, and Ari begins summoning allies from nature. </p><p></p><p>Then the ooze does something unexpected, and Rush warns, “It just tried to use some kind of power on my mind!”</p><p></p><p>“Uh-oh,” mutters Nara. “It’s probably not actually mindless, then.” She begins a summons of her own.</p><p></p><p>The creature flows forward and grabs onto Rush, burning him and trying to hold him. He struggles terrifically, but it is larger and stronger than him, and it overbears him. “Aargh!” he cries, as the thing burns and crushes him.</p><p></p><p>Earth elementals begin to appear, responding to the summoning spells. First a huge one, then several more of various sizes. They pound at the ooze, and Rush manages to take advantage of the situation to break free! He creates another <em>mind blade</em> and hacks viciously at the ooze again, dealing it another incredible blow, before falling back to let the earth elementals finish the work. </p><p></p><p>The party draws back and assesses their position. They are wounded and low on spells, especially healing. The logical choice is to retreat and rest, so they resume their <em>wind walk</em> forms and fly quickly back and out of the place, seeking a small copse of trees a dozen miles away to set up camp within. Ari casts a <em>plant growth</em> spell to ensure that their cover is improved, and Naomi starts rummaging for ingredients to cook dinner with. </p><p></p><p>“Is that good cheese or bad meat?” she mutters, her nostrils flaring. “Oh, it’s just me, never mind!”</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p><em><strong>11/15/372 O.L.G., 9 a.m.</strong></em></p><p></p><p>After breakfast, it’s back into <em>wind walk</em> form and away towards Steeple Mountain again. While they are <em>wind walking,</em> Naomi farts and giggles, “That’s a chunderclap.”</p><p></p><p>“Thankfully, we’re moving very quickly,” Ari retorts.</p><p></p><p>Back into the mountain. Back into solid form. Our heroes advance up the statue-lined hallway very carefully, but no new boulder has been set. At the far end of the hall, they come out into a very large chamber. Faint light is coming from around the corner to the northeast. On one side of the hewn cavern is a strange, 10’ tall... dollhouse?... complete with an overhanging roof. There don’t appear to be any doors or windows into it. On top of the roof is what appears to be a large handle.</p><p></p><p>“What the hell?” wonders Nara.</p><p></p><p>“Voices!” warns Erasmuz in a hushed voice.</p><p></p><p>Indeed: a troupe of goblins comes round the corner!</p><p></p><p>Naomi blasts them with a <em>fireball,</em> killing most of them.</p><p></p><p>Among the screams of pain, though, come the shouts of voices issuing commands from further around the corner- and one of the voices is, quite clearly, that of a halfling. </p><p></p><p>There were initially almost two dozen goblins. Naomi’s spell destroyed half a dozen. Nara follows up with a <em>sound burst,</em> but to her surprise, the goblin she blasts remains on his feet. Then he charges her- and hits! The damage is minimal, but she revises her opinion of this goblin. </p><p></p><p>Halflings come into view, and although our heroes don’t initially know their names, there is no reason why <em>we</em> can’t.</p><p></p><p>The halfling in the apron with the rolling pin is Master Chef Baird Peachtree. He is actually Benjy Peachtree’s great uncle. His daughter Taylee is here, too; she’s the one that nobody sees, because she’s hiding in the shadows. The guy with the morningstar and full plate is her boyfriend, Banjo Hodiddly. Finally, Benjy’s little sister Sarsaparilla is the one with the greatsword and breastplate. </p><p></p><p>“Remember, we don’t want to hurt them!” shouts Naomi.</p><p></p><p>“Too late for that,” Baird Peachtree says grimly. With a gesture, he casts <em>spike stones</em> to impede our heroes’ progress!</p><p></p><p>With that, the battle is joined. Goblins and halflings alike assault our heroes, and for a few moments they are sorely pressed.</p><p></p><p>But then Nara casts <em>impeding permission</em> on Sarsaparilla and refuses to allow her to attack. But she does deign to allow the halfling to retreat. This shifts the balance somewhat in the favor of our heroes. And the goblins are a comedy of errors, missing their attacks on our heroes more than they should. One of them even shoots himself in the foot. </p><p></p><p>The enemy halflings- whom our heroes would really prefer to avoid killing- are another story. Baird blasts Erasmuz and Nara with a <em>flame strike</em>, and Taylee emerges from the shadows to attack Nara as well. But fortunately, the prophet is just beginning to move as she does so, so Taylee’s blow misses. </p><p></p><p>“You fools!” cries Banjo. “You must surrender! This must, must not!!” He seems strangely anguished. He casts <em>hold person</em> on Erasmuz, but the ur-priest’s will is nigh-unbreakable. </p><p></p><p>Naomi’s <em>energy retorts</em> spark out as the goblins throw javelins at her, slaying more of them. She grins and <em>suggests</em> to the enemy halflings that they surrender.</p><p></p><p>With a groan, Banjo throws down his morningstar with a groan. Taylee yields as well. </p><p></p><p>Baird Peachtree immediately begins a retreat. “Hold them off!” he shouts to the goblins. He shoots Sarsaparilla a look, and she begins to withdraw as well. The two of them vanish back around the corner.</p><p></p><p>The hapless goblins are left to oppose the fury of the party. Several of them turn and flee. The rest fall in short order. </p><p></p><p>Our heroes turn to their prisoners. Banjo seems very oddly distracted. </p><p></p><p>“Well,” Naomi says, “why don’t we talk?”</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> Our heroes find Benjy Peachtree at last!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 4040825, member: 1210"] [b]Against Other Halflings![/b] “Look out!” burbles Naomi. A strange, acrid stench rises from the burning, oozing [i]thing[/i] that is flowing down the statue-lined hallway towards our heroes. Ari struggles up to his feet and casts a [i]mass cure light wounds[/i] to reinvigorate the party after their boulder-battering, and Rush moves to the front of the party to intercept the burning ooze. Immediately, it extends a greedy pseudopod towards him, grasping for him, but he parries with his [i]mind blade[/i] and leaps away. He throws his [i]mind blade[/i] at it, and the psychic weapon sinks deep into the ooze. It quivers, and a bright orange, burning fluid begins to leak out from where Rush’s blade struck it. “It can be hurt,” he reports to the others. Naomi unleashes a [i]cold energy bolt[/i] at it, and Jawbreaker fires his bow. Erasmuz begins summoning allies from another plane, and Ari begins summoning allies from nature. Then the ooze does something unexpected, and Rush warns, “It just tried to use some kind of power on my mind!” “Uh-oh,” mutters Nara. “It’s probably not actually mindless, then.” She begins a summons of her own. The creature flows forward and grabs onto Rush, burning him and trying to hold him. He struggles terrifically, but it is larger and stronger than him, and it overbears him. “Aargh!” he cries, as the thing burns and crushes him. Earth elementals begin to appear, responding to the summoning spells. First a huge one, then several more of various sizes. They pound at the ooze, and Rush manages to take advantage of the situation to break free! He creates another [i]mind blade[/i] and hacks viciously at the ooze again, dealing it another incredible blow, before falling back to let the earth elementals finish the work. The party draws back and assesses their position. They are wounded and low on spells, especially healing. The logical choice is to retreat and rest, so they resume their [i]wind walk[/i] forms and fly quickly back and out of the place, seeking a small copse of trees a dozen miles away to set up camp within. Ari casts a [i]plant growth[/i] spell to ensure that their cover is improved, and Naomi starts rummaging for ingredients to cook dinner with. “Is that good cheese or bad meat?” she mutters, her nostrils flaring. “Oh, it’s just me, never mind!” *** [i][b]11/15/372 O.L.G., 9 a.m.[/b][/i][b][/b] After breakfast, it’s back into [i]wind walk[/i] form and away towards Steeple Mountain again. While they are [i]wind walking,[/i] Naomi farts and giggles, “That’s a chunderclap.” “Thankfully, we’re moving very quickly,” Ari retorts. Back into the mountain. Back into solid form. Our heroes advance up the statue-lined hallway very carefully, but no new boulder has been set. At the far end of the hall, they come out into a very large chamber. Faint light is coming from around the corner to the northeast. On one side of the hewn cavern is a strange, 10’ tall... dollhouse?... complete with an overhanging roof. There don’t appear to be any doors or windows into it. On top of the roof is what appears to be a large handle. “What the hell?” wonders Nara. “Voices!” warns Erasmuz in a hushed voice. Indeed: a troupe of goblins comes round the corner! Naomi blasts them with a [i]fireball,[/i] killing most of them. Among the screams of pain, though, come the shouts of voices issuing commands from further around the corner- and one of the voices is, quite clearly, that of a halfling. There were initially almost two dozen goblins. Naomi’s spell destroyed half a dozen. Nara follows up with a [i]sound burst,[/i] but to her surprise, the goblin she blasts remains on his feet. Then he charges her- and hits! The damage is minimal, but she revises her opinion of this goblin. Halflings come into view, and although our heroes don’t initially know their names, there is no reason why [i]we[/i] can’t. The halfling in the apron with the rolling pin is Master Chef Baird Peachtree. He is actually Benjy Peachtree’s great uncle. His daughter Taylee is here, too; she’s the one that nobody sees, because she’s hiding in the shadows. The guy with the morningstar and full plate is her boyfriend, Banjo Hodiddly. Finally, Benjy’s little sister Sarsaparilla is the one with the greatsword and breastplate. “Remember, we don’t want to hurt them!” shouts Naomi. “Too late for that,” Baird Peachtree says grimly. With a gesture, he casts [i]spike stones[/i] to impede our heroes’ progress! With that, the battle is joined. Goblins and halflings alike assault our heroes, and for a few moments they are sorely pressed. But then Nara casts [i]impeding permission[/i] on Sarsaparilla and refuses to allow her to attack. But she does deign to allow the halfling to retreat. This shifts the balance somewhat in the favor of our heroes. And the goblins are a comedy of errors, missing their attacks on our heroes more than they should. One of them even shoots himself in the foot. The enemy halflings- whom our heroes would really prefer to avoid killing- are another story. Baird blasts Erasmuz and Nara with a [i]flame strike[/i], and Taylee emerges from the shadows to attack Nara as well. But fortunately, the prophet is just beginning to move as she does so, so Taylee’s blow misses. “You fools!” cries Banjo. “You must surrender! This must, must not!!” He seems strangely anguished. He casts [i]hold person[/i] on Erasmuz, but the ur-priest’s will is nigh-unbreakable. Naomi’s [i]energy retorts[/i] spark out as the goblins throw javelins at her, slaying more of them. She grins and [i]suggests[/i] to the enemy halflings that they surrender. With a groan, Banjo throws down his morningstar with a groan. Taylee yields as well. Baird Peachtree immediately begins a retreat. “Hold them off!” he shouts to the goblins. He shoots Sarsaparilla a look, and she begins to withdraw as well. The two of them vanish back around the corner. The hapless goblins are left to oppose the fury of the party. Several of them turn and flee. The rest fall in short order. Our heroes turn to their prisoners. Banjo seems very oddly distracted. “Well,” Naomi says, “why don’t we talk?” [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] Our heroes find Benjy Peachtree at last! [/QUOTE]
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