NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 4139146" data-attributes="member: 143">I let him keep his levels (-1 for being raised at the end of book 5), but he took the usual age penalties to his physical stats. And of course he loses all of the benefits of his prestige class, as it had been linked to Valor. In terms of the story, I'm treating his fighting skills as a bit rusty, but still there to call upon when needed. And he's going to need them...  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious    :]" data-shortname=":]" /> * * * * * Chapter 10A BLOODY WELCOMEFalah stood silent without complaint, his chest heaving as blood coursed down his body from the deep puncture wounds in his neck, left bicep, and right hip.  Ghazaran poured healing energy from a wand into the fighter’s injured body, who grew noticeably stronger as the flows first eased, then stopped, the wounds knitting shut as the magic completed its work. “What manner of creature was that?” the cleric asked the Seer.“A bone crawler,” the mage responded, looking around the nycaloth, which was poking around in the wreckage of the destroyed guardian.  The ‘loth had absorbed the brunt of the creature’s initial attacks, but its resistance to mundane weapons had allowed it to weather its assault far better than Falah.  At first they had thought it some sort of construct, a clattering mound of bones knitted together by some forgotten arcane rite, but once Zuur’ka and Falah had really gotten into it, a living creature had been revealed beneath the encrusted armor of bones it had worn.  It had responded with a violent frenzy of attacks, lashing them with tendrils that bore wickedly sharp bone fragments at their ends.  But ultimately it could not withstand their combined assault, especially once Navev unleashed an eldritch blast that tore a gaping hole in one side of its amorphous body.“You might have alerted us to the presence of such a guardian,” Ghazaran said, as he finished healing Falah’s wounds.  The warrior silently took up his khopesh and took up a warding position at the mouth of the passage to the east. “I told you before, that my knowledge of the secrets of this place is incomplete,” the mage replied.  “I have only been in these halls once before, and I was escorted at the time.  That was some time ago.”“Let us hope that your knowledge of the Bloodways is more... accurate.”“I have already made my feelings about this mission clear,” the mage returned.  Ghazaran did not bother to respond.  The nycaloth returned from the niche from which the creature had sprung upon them bearing a golden shield.  Its face had been shaped into the image of a roaring lion, and none of them needed an orison or cantrip to guess that it was likely magical.  “None of you use a shield, so perhaps I will utilize this item,” the nycaloth said.  “That was not within our bargain.  However, should your service prove instrumental to the completion of our mission, and demonstrate a willing support to its accomplishment, then I will countenance a worthy addendum to the reward portion of our contract.”The cleric extended a hand, and the nycaloth turned over the shield with a scowl.  Ghazaran handed it to Falah, who could not use such a device in conjunction with his huge blade, but who slung it across his back, so that the lion’s face looked upon them as he turned back toward the corridor.  Ghazaran indicated that direction, and Zuur’ka clomped off with Falah behind him.  “Let us hope that the next chamber does not contain more surprises.”The corridor sloped down and continued for some sixty feet before ending in a large stone door.  Zuur’ka forced it open to reveal a room that was surprising indeed in its unusual construction.  The floor of the chamber was a great open pit, full of a noxious green fluid that filled the chamber with wafts of toxic fumes.  Narrow paths only slightly above the level of the fluid offered a passage across the acid pools that were tenuous at best, leading to a pair of large doors at the near end of the room to their left, and another barely visible across the chamber at its far end. Ghazaran turned to the Seer, who pointed across the room.  “The doors are traps.  The true exit is another illusory wall on the far side of the room, to the left.  One of the walkways passes close enough to step through.”The cleric turned to the nycaloth.  “Fly ahead and see if the route is clear of threats.”“That is a hazardous duty, worthy of additional reward.”Ghazaran chuckled.  “You are immune to acid, and these fumes will not affect you in the slightest.  Are you genuinely afraid, or merely seeking advantage?”The nycaloth’s stare was menacing, but it complied, spreading its wings and launching itself into the air.  The others drew back from the entry, the acidic fumes already making their heads swim, and threatening their gear with corrosion.  The backblast from the nycaloth’s wings further sprayed them with droplets of acid, until the creature drew clear and flew rapidly across the chamber toward the far wall.The illusory wall was right where the Seer had indicated.  The nycaloth slowed as it approached, wary, but its claws passed through the image, followed quickly by the rest of it. Unfortunately for Ghazaran’s planar ally, something else was waiting right behind the wall.  The companions could not see what was happening, but they heard the creature’s exclamation of alarm.  Before they could take action to intervene, the nycaloth reappeared, its wings flapping violently as it sought to rise back up into the air.The source of its problems was immediately evident: a black ooze clung to its lower body, folded around its legs and lower torso like a tattered cloak.  Part of it vanished through the illusory wall, connected by a thick tendril that stretched as the ‘loth sought to pull free.  The yugoloth was strong, but the ooze refused to release its prey.  For a moment it looked as though it might tear free, but then the connecting strand of ooze thickened and pulsed, and the ‘loth was dragged roughly down, landing in the pool of acid with a raucus splash of sizzling droplets. The bulk of the ooze came through the wall after it, descending onto it like a crashing wave of pure black.</blockquote>

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