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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sniktch" data-source="post: 454073" data-attributes="member: 7704">Gel-o wrestlingThe second time they passed through the hall of statues Eli noticed something different.Miraculously, they all survived the battle with the wight.  After they had dusted themselves off and the unconscious members of the group had been roused they exited the chamber to find Bori waiting to congratulate them on their victory.  They then camped a second time in the tomb of the kings, and fortified by the prayers of Jack and Quinn everyone managed to recover the strength the foul undead creature had drained from them.Now, as they exited the crypt area, Eli called for them to halt and moved to examine the middle statue on the eastern wall.“Look,” he said, “the design is different on this figure than on any of the others.  See how the arm is positioned?  It’s almost like you should be able to move it… like so…”A loud click sounded through the chamber as the elf triggered the secret mechanism.  A grinding sound followed as the stone wall pivoted on its axis, revealing a ten-foot wide corridor leading into the darkness.  Unlike any other passage they had traversed before now, this tunnel was clean of dust and debris, the walls, floor, and ceiling were polished until the stone gleamed reflectively in the torchlight.They proceeded with extreme caution and came to a branch in the corridor.  To the right the stone retained the clean, polished look but the left fork was once again dusty and littered with rubble.  They chose the dirty path and after about a hundred feet it ended in a stout oaken door, swollen with moisture and wedged firmly in place.Not for long, though.  Grick backed up about ten feet and rushed the door, leading with his shoulder.  He hit the door with a loud crack and splinters filled the air as it broke from its hinges and split asunder on the ground.  They stood in the entryway of an old forgotten shrine to Moradin that had been desecrated long ago.  An altar stood on a raised dais across the room, spattered with dried blood and other encrusted filth, and the walls were covered in insane scrawling graffiti and demonic symbols.The room also contained three bat-like creatures hanging from the ceiling, which unfurled their wings and dropped from their roost as torchlight flooded the chamber.  The Crow screamed like a little child when he beheld the hideous visages before them.  The resemblance to bats ended with the creature’s wings.  Suspended between each pair was a fiendish head with glowing green eyes, and pulsating tendrils and bumps in place of hair and beard.  The closest of the three monsters opened its mouth and let loose an unearthly shriek and nearly the entire party froze in terror.Only Jack resisted the effects of the supernatural wail.  He charged into the room and brought his weapon around in a wide arc that cleaved one of the flying heads in two and chopped into a second, slaying them both.  Unfortunately, the third monster flew past him and over to Welby and planted a kiss full on the little warrior’s lips.  The halfling felt a silky brush as the beast forced its tongue into his mouth and tore away, dropping to his knees gagging from fear and revulsion, and Jack quickly dispatched the monster before it could seek out another victim.“Ya alright, whelp?” the dwarf helped Welby back to his feet, holding him steady with a concerned expression on his face.  The others were slowly shaking off the effects of the monsters’ powerful screech.“Fwah!” Welby groaned.  “Taste real bad, real bad.  Never taste good again.”  The halfling rolled about on the floor, scrubbing at his tongue with both hands and taking frequent mouthfuls of water that he gargled and spat upon the floor.“Aha!” Ike cried from near the altar.  He found another secret catch that opened a small closet in the wall.  The closet was bare except for an armor stand, on which rested a beautiful suit of well-crafted platemail armor fitted for a dwarf and a large steel shield of fine quality engraved with the symbol of a hammer.  Since Quinn already owned a suit of plate Stumpwater claimed the armor as his own and enlisted the aid of Eli in fastening himself into the heavy suit.Finding no other exits or anything else of interest they left the room and backtracked to the intersection, this time selecting the direction that had been cleared of dirt.  They passed an open archway and Ike stopped to examine the empty masonry arch.“Hmm, this is strange,” he muttered.  “Everybody, look at this.”  Evidently an oak door like the one Grick had recently smashed once blocked entry into the room, although no sign of it still existed.  The hinges were still driven into the wall undisturbed, and Ike could not even find a single splinter stuck in the metal fastenings, which also shined like they had been recently polished.  The room itself was bare and spotless; just a blank, empty, twenty by twenty foot chamber devoid of any other entrances or exits, secret or otherwise.They moved on and the passage dead-ended before another bare masonry arch exactly like the last one.  This chamber also appeared to be empty, except there was a strange shimmering effect in the middle of the room, a layer of distortion that reflected the torchlight.  Eli pushed his way to the front of the group and approached the area of the effect.“Hey guys, what’s this?  Aaaaiiiieeeeee…..”The elf froze as he seemed to suddenly run into a semi-solid object.  The air shifted and a clear membrane of tissue extended and wrapped itself about him.  The gelatinous cube was now plain for all of them to see as it engulfed Eli and continued forward.  The others could only watch in horror while the acidic mass of the ooze went to work on their helpless friend and his clothing seemed to melt away, his skin beginning to bubble and blister as it became nourishment for the scavenger.“No!  Eli!” Jack bellowed and leapt to attack the creature, hacking away furiously with his axe.  He ignored the touch of a pseudopod that brushed against his side and seared the flesh stretched over his ribs.Welby and the Crow moved up beside the enraged dwarf and lent their aid to the assault, while Ike and Grick moved to hit the creature from the side.  Quinn raised her voice in prayer and the companions felt the blessing of Dumathoin guiding their sword arms and steeling their resolve.  Artimas stood in the doorway and pelted the cube with a flurry of magic missiles, then started dipping his crossbow bolts in lamp oil and igniting them before firing the flaming quarrels into the monster’s vast bulk.The gelatinous cube was rapidly diminishing in size under the furious attack, and though it inflicted several grievous burning wounds upon the companions they did not relent.  Jack howled in anguish again and again as he watched his friend being slowly digested before his eyes.  Eli’s hair and eyes had been consumed along with the outer layers of skin, and now the ooze was working on the muscles and softer organs beneath.Jack dropped his axe and lunged forward, grasping the elf by the arm and pulling him free from the now dying cube.  While the others surrounded the monster and methodically pounded it into slimy slush he knelt at his friend’s side and called upon his god to heal Eli one more time.Nothing happened, and as Jack stared into the empty sockets where once the elf’s clear, sparkling eyes had danced with life he realized that his companion was dead.  He hugged the lifeless shell to his breast, ignoring the gore, and burst into tears, his sturdy frame continuously wracked by massive sobs.Welby stared at the dwarf in his grief and reached up to scratch his scalp.  A funny, tickling itch had been building and he rubbed at it furiously to drive it away, then stopped and stared at his hand aghast.  He was holding a large brown tangle of hair that had simply pulled off at his touch.  He reached up and took hold of another handful and it also came free, pulling away from the roots as though it had never been attached.  A feeling of great apprehension overcame him then and he brought his hand up to stroke his chin.  Beneath the surface of the flesh he could feel hard, pulsing lumps, and he knew that the bat creature in the other room had done more than just kiss him; it had inflicted him with some form of hideous curse and he was now changing to become just like it.Jack was too lost in grief to notice, but the others all jumped as Welby let out a horrendous yowl and ran out of the room holding his head.  Praying that his skull would stay attached and not fly right off of his shoulders, the little barbarian held on for dear life and sprinted for the exit.  Even after he rushed from the cave and felt daylight warm his skin he continued, turning towards town as he ran and ran…</blockquote>

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