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: 4141545" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 11THE EBON OOZEThe nycaloth did not go down without a fight.  The ooze had fairly engulfed it, now, driving it under the surface of the acid, but it seized hold of the nearest of the narrow walkways and pulled itself up, tearing at the ooze’s substance with its free claws.  Fortunately it was immune to the deadly caustic touch of both the creature and the acid pool, so it could focus its attention on the foe. Falah had started toward the narrow pathway as soon as the monster had appeared, but Ghazaran forestalled him.  The cleric looked at the mage, who shrugged and incanted a spell.  Rising into the air, he drifted across the room, hovering high near the ceiling to give him as much distance as possible from the heavy vapors rising from the pool.  Navev remained well back.  Ghazaran turned to the mummy.  “Perhaps you would like to contribute?”The creature’s voice rasped from deep within the faded cowl.  “From this range, I would be more likely to strike your ally than the ooze.”Ghazaran shrugged, and turned back to watch the developing battle. The nycaloth could not gain advantage, but at least it was keeping the ooze from pushing it down under the surface of the water.  The stalemate was broken a moment later as the Seer arrived overhead, and unleashed a cone of cold upon both the yugoloth and the ooze.  The amorphous black thing was stunned by the spell, its outer layer freezing over into a brittle crust.  The nycaloth, shielded somewhat from the wizard’s spell by the ooze and by its own considerable resistance to cold attacks, took full advantage, tearing free and digging huge gashes in its “body”.  Gobs of ooze fell away into the acid, where they dissolved into black streaks that lingered atop its surface.  The ooze, mindless in its attack, continued its efforts to overcome the fiend, but its opening had passed.  The Seer peppered it with a series of scorching rays that burned away long swathes of the creature, and Zuur’ka finished the job, emerging from the acid to stand dripping and furious at the edge of the illusory wall.  With the creature dispatched, it was a trivial matter for the others to make their way across the narrow causeway and join the nycaloth and wizard at the far end.  Ghazaran conjured water that they used to wash their gear clean of the lingering droplets of acid.  While most of their mundane gear would need eventual replacement, the damage was not sufficient to reduce their effectiveness for now. The nycaloth was not pleased.  It hurled its greataxe down upon the floor.  “My weapon is ruined!” it cursed.  “I do not appreciate being used to trigger traps, or to serve as the target for area-effect spells.”“I will heal your wounds,” Ghazaran said, drawing out his wand.  “And your sacrifice is noted; for now you may use the axe I gave you, and when the mission is complete I will grant you the shield as a bonus.”That mollified the ‘loth somewhat, but there was still more than a bit of tension present when the group, restored once more to full health, set out again.  They made their way through the unremarkable chamber that had housed the ooze, and then down a set of stairs that deposited them in a larger chamber below.  The tomb was considerable and smelled of decay.  Large stone sarcophagi lined the chamber to either side of the central aisle, a full score on each side.  The companions gave them a wide berth, all save Falah, who stepped close to examine one briefly.  The lids of the sarcophagi bore exceptional carvings, presumably of their inhabitant.  The warrior gave a start as he recognized the figure depicted on the lid of the one he was looking at. It was himself. The Seer chuckled as the fighter drew back in alarm.  “A minor illusion,” he said.  “Of more concern is the next chamber.  There is a potent enchantment effect there, capable of driving the minds of weak men insane with lust.  I would suggest that you protect yourselves, and we should pass through swiftly.”Ghazaran nodded, and placed protective wards upon himself and Falah.  Navev, of course, needed no such protection.  The chamber of which the Seer warned was located at the base of a shaft that descended for twenty feet straight down.  A ladder of iron rungs offered an easy route down, although the Seer merely drifted down using his overland flight spell.  The nycaloth led them into the lushly decorated chamber, which included plush cushions, diaphanous silk screens, flickering oil lamps that oozed a sweet smoke, and other rich appointments.  A faint music seemed to stir on the air, and a hint of laughter could almost be discerned at the edges of their perceptions.  “This could be one of the pleasure chambers in the palace of a Razhuri sultan,” Ghazaran said, with a raised eyebrow as he looked about.  “The illusions here are rather... compelling.”“Orcus had a sick sense of humor,” the Seer said.  He directed them quickly to the hidden door on one side of the room, and they made their way through at once to another corridor that led deeper into the complex. This new tunnel grew rougher as they progressed, and eventually it opened onto a vast natural cavern.  Brightly colored fungi grew along the walls and in great spongy masses in the center of the place, some of them giving off a phosphorescent glow that rivaled their own magical light sources.  The nycaloth started forward, curious perhaps, but the Seer raised a hand in warning. “There are guardians here,” he said.  “If we move quickly we may avoid them, but if we are challenged, we must strike quickly and decisively.”Falah abruptly drew his sword.  As the group grew silent, they could all hear the sounds of movement in the darkness ahead. “It would seem that they already know we are here,” Ghazaran said.  He lifted his hand and invoked a daylight spell.  The brilliant radiance revealed the approaching figures: a trio of shambling, animated toadstools, each over ten feet tall, with several long tentacles twisting down from their bulging heads.  They were accompanied by a quartet of awkward, stumbling forms, things that had once been humanoid, but were now clearly nothing close to that.</blockquote>

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