[Group 2] The World's Largest Dungeon - IC

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan curses. His instinct is to lure it out of the darkness, but decides he'll take one more swing at the thing with the advantage of the brief light, and give the people behind him time to back up. "Fredric, Tari, step back, maybe we can bring it out of the darkness."

Reflex Save, DC 10: (1d20+6)[20]
If fail, Will Save, DC 17:(1d20+6)[14]

As soon as the opportunity arrives, he'll take another swing:

Concealment roll, >25 hits:
(1d100)[64]
Murky-Eyed concealment roll, >25 hits:
(1d100)[6]

(1d20+3)[8] to hit (Will expend +2 precognition bonus if it's more than 5 but less than 8, and I don't miss due to concealment anyway.)
(1d8+1)[5] damage

[Mr. X]

For Kulkov:

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Turning your back to Taribo's voice, the blast of light illuminates the dead creature rising over you. It's sword jerks over it's head as the light goes out, but you are just a touch faster... Lashing out into the darkness, your axe hits home, and the foetid bag of flesh crumples to the ground.

For Malthos and Murgan:

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In the brief moment when the area is illuminated, you note the mass of scaled tentacles adhered to the wall... You both react as one, but Murgan's bleeding eye blurs his vision, causing him to misjudge his range, while Malthos' identically timed swing collides with Morgan's, causing axe and hammer to become tangled togather... Just before the thing flys flailing at Murgan...

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Due to Malthos' botch, you both are Flat-Footed for the rest of the round, while you disentangle your weapons from each other.

Darkmantle attacks Murgan, DC 13:(1d20+5)[11]
If hit, Take damage: (1d4+4)[6]. And Start Grapple.
Resist Grapple, DC= Above Attack Roll.
If resistance fails, take additional damage: (1d4+4)[6]

The thing slams into Murgan, suckers and tentacles gripping and wrapping around his leather breastplate, but failing to find flesh for the moment.

[SlyJohnny]

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So are you saying it's a new round, and we are flatfooted and cannot act, or it's still the same round, and we take a defense penalty for being flatfooted until we disentangle our weapons at the start of the new round?

If it's the former, could I just voluntarily let go of my battleaxe to escape that penalty and act this round?

[Sucrose]

Kulkav roars with savage glee.

"ZOMBIE DOWN!"

[Mr. X]

@Slyjonny:

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You are at a Defense Penaly(for being put off balance by Malthos' botch), but you may take an action to become disentangled, or you may drop your weapon and take a different action(though this won't take away your penalty). (The Monster got stuck on your armor regardless (Succeeded at Touch Attack, but failed to defeat your total), so you're not in any danger this round. At the top of the next round, the penaltys will be gone, and you may act as normal.

That all being said, Fredric shall hold his action, and it's the Top of the Round. Murgan, it's back to you. There is a squid attached to your chestplate.

[SlyJohnny]

As soon as his axe is entangled with his comrades mace, Murgan drops it, knowing that he has another weapon and this kind of blunder can be all it takes for a dwarf to get a knife between the ribs. He should know, he lives for that kind of opportunity himself.

He starts moving back the way the party came, shouting and reaching for the dwarven axe slung over his back as he does so, "It's grabbed me! I'm coming back on your right, make a hole!"

He moves 20 feet down the corridor, past his comrades, and then attempts to slam his axe into the creature being dragged with him.

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(1d20+2)[13] to hit (will expend +2 precognition bonus if it's more than 5 but less than 8, assuming I don't miss due to concealment anyway.)

(1d10+1)[8] damage if hit.

Not sure whether I'm outside of the darkness or not, depends what object the darkness is cast on. Hopefully I am If I am not: Concealment roll, >50 hits:
(1d100)[97]
Murky-Eyed concealment roll, >50 hits:
(1d100)[9]

[Mr. X]

You run down the hall, Fredric and Taribo duck out if your way, but you fail tbrcheech the darkness. Frantically, you smash your axe into your chest... With mixed result...

Your Axe bites deep. Ickor and slime spray over you as scale and flesh parts beneath your blow, followed by a sharp burning sensation across your chest, where you quickly realize that your blow cut not only through the monster, but also through your own chestplate and chest.

The torches flicker back to life, and you see the writhing mass of tenticles, hanging from your chest, shudder, and go limp.

For Murgan:

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The Darkness was cast on Mathos, who was a step behind you, so 20ft doesn't quite get you out.... Since it's sorta ON you, though, I think we can forget the Miss Chance for you. However, also because it's sorta ON you, (and because you're attack roll beat your own Worn AC) Damage dealt above and beyond that required to kill the creature, shall be dealt to you. ;-)

Take 2 Damage.

For All:

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Nice work. Everyone gain 240xp.

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan snarls, untangling himself from the creature and letting it drop to the floor. He kicks it, hard, hissing a series of curses that would make a dock worker blush.

"Darkness went away when I killed it. Maybe it made it. Like an octopus." He slips a finger between the cut in his vest, testing how bad the wound is. He winces in pain, and delivers another sharp, vindictive kick to the creature's carcass.

He retrieves the axe he dropped, turning it over in his hands, reflexively admiring it's fine craftsmanship. He eyes the zombie, wondering whether to search it and get first pick of the goods, and is surprised to discover that the thought of stealing from the party seems disagreeable to him.

"That's four. Two left, somewhere."

He slowly heads up the corridor towards the place where the creature was bumping it's head, running his hands along the stone, thoroughly searching the wall and floor.

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((Taking 20 on Search.))

[Mr. X]

The stonework is solid, however a quick guess of measurements shows that the room the party slept in is on the other side of that wall...

Loot:

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The Zombie carried a rusted Masterwork Greatsword.

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan creeps on ahead, towards where the zombie was banging it's head. He checks round the corner, and assuming it's clear, he checks the site of the zombies interest, assuming there's a secret door or recently-constructed wall there.

[Sucrose]

Kulkav follows after Murgan, still staying at a sufficient distance to avoid spoiling the scout's stealth.

[Mr. X]

Heading further North, you find the hall opens into a small room, and dead ends.

You cannot find any secrate doors where it was bumping it's head, and the stonework doesn't appear any more recent than the rest...

Returning back down the hall, your eyes now adjusted to picking out the small details in the stonework and carvings, you notice a seam running vertically through all the various carvings. It doesn't take long after that to make out the shape of a hidden door, and the mechanism to open it.

The Map:

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[SlyJohnny]

Murgan points out the switch.

"Secret door, here. Shall we try it, or go hunting those other two puppet-corpses?"

If the vote is to hunt the puppets, Murgan will head back the way he came yesterday, sneaking along and taking point. If the vote is to try the door, he'll cautiously open it and peek inside, then move in to secure the room.

[Sucrose]

"Let's try the secret door; it could be used by more intelligent enemies than the ones we need to hunt down... besides, if nothing else, it could give us a well-hidden, secure room to work from."

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan nods slowly, and then trips the switch.

[Mr. X]

The panel depresses back, and slides to the side... A skeleton collapses outwards from the space, equipped with a chain shirt and a short bow. It's clear it was a goblin when it was alive.

The room beyond is completely covered in a velvety, black, material. Floor, walls, and ceiling, there is no stonework visible beneath the soft mass.

[SlyJohnny]

Oops, double post.

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan hooks the body with his axe, and drags the skeleton back into the corridor. He shuts the door, quickly, and begins examining the skeleton.

He checks over the design of the bow and any other arrows, wondering if they are similar to Meste's. Though he recalled the goblin being garbed in chain, rather than studded leather. He also checks for any signs of fatal wounds on the body

"Mebbe this was just a puppet corpse cornering her, but this don't exactly inspire me to go prancing into that room. Anyone recognize what that black stuff is? Mebbe I should cut some out so Fredric can check it over."

[Mr. X]

For Murgan:

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ack, your right, it was chain... Thought i could get away without checking. Edited above, sorry.

The goblin is definitely what remains of Meste'. There is markings on her shoulder bones where the arrow peirced her, but otherwise there are no signs of violence. All her gear is intact.

Fredric comes forward and looks over the corpse. "A sample would be ideal, in only for certainty's sake.

The Haul:

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1 short bow
30 arrows
1 throwing axe
Small sized Masterwork chain shirt
10 days rations
2 skins of water
3 silken ropes (50ft)
Thieve's Tools
2 flasks of Alchemist's Fire
30 bits of chalk
1 needle
1 whetstone
1 bedroll
1 sack, medium
1 backpack
1 needle
1 whistle
15 gold pieces
5 silver pieces
8 copper pieces

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan is frowning, clearly bothered by something, but from the irreverent way he's yanking the dead goblin woman around it's clearly not out of concern for her ill fate.

"Hrngh. Yeah, it's Meste. She died in there, but... I dunno how. Didn't get cut or bashed. Poisoned? Or strangled.... mebbe one of them jumping octopus things like we killed, waiting in there."

He examines the skeleton, wondering if there's any meat left on it. He looks for any obvious signs it's been gnawed on by many small mouths, or one larger and more powerful mouth, or whether something else caused most or all of the flesh to dissolve away.

He carefully checks through the rations, wondering if rats appear to have got into them.

Murgan will take an even split of the coin (and the food, if it's still good), an extra water skin and 100 ft of silk rope, the thieves tools, and one flask of alchemists fire; or both flasks, if noone is in a hurry to claim them.

Once he's done picking over the bones of his dead companion, he will empty out the goblin's sack, and turn to Kulkov.

"Lend me that pig-sticker of yours. If there's another octopus thing, I don't want to stick my head in there, and I ain't touching that floor muck until Fredric says it's not poison."

Assuming Kulkov hands over the weapon (or wields it himself), Murgan will open the door just a crack and slowly check the ceiling with his steel mirror. Assuming he doesn't see a darkmantle waiting, he'll put Meste's empty sack over the edge of the glaive, and lower it into the room. He'll cautiously cut away a small amount of the strange carpet onto the blade of the glaive, and tip it into the open sack.

Then he'll pick up the sack with the glaive, twisting the polearm so the sack is tightly closed around it, and step back out of the room, turning the polearm north up the corridor. Despite the fact the sack is tightly closed and only contains a small sample, he'll keep the polearm outstretched at a maximum distance away from himself, his head turned away. Then he'll nod to Fredric in an 'all yours, buddy' kind of gesture.

[Sucrose]

Kulkav shrugs, and allows Murgan to make use of his glaive as he sees fit. In the meantime, he draws out his morningstar, in case something suddenly comes up.

[Mr. X]

As the passage opens and Fredric gets a good look at what's behind, eyes bulge, and he pulls a handkerchief over his mouth and nose... Still, he motions Murgan to continue.

Once the door is closed again, he speaks...

"Well, no mystery as to how she died... That's a mould. You get it growing in latrines, and places that are moist and warm. It'll get in your lungs, and start growing there. Usually, it'll only make a person sick for awhile if they're frequently exposed to it, but I've never seen it growing on this kind of scale before... How long has it been since you last saw her?"

[Fates]

Malthos closes his eyes, and mutters a short prayer. Such a pity, to die like that, alone, in the dark. Her spirit has departed to the other realm, I can feel it. Malthos looks a little distant. Should we return here, I will give her a proper funeral.

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan eyes the back containing the sample, handing the glaive back to Kulkov. "Only a few minutes before we made camp in that room, so eight hours or more. Can you do anything with it? If we just... hold our breath in there, will we be alright? If we burn it all, will it get rid of it, or just release spores into the air and make it more dangerous?"

He glances at Malthos as he offers his respect for the dead goblin, and the corner of his lip curls up into a sneer. "Dumb little rat-chewer. She ran off alone and wounded. Probably let out those zombie puppets, and that's why she couldn't leave that room... got trapped, took her chances with the poison. We'll wind up like her too, if we're stupid and weak."

He turns back to the closed door, regarding it.

"No reason to believe there's treasure in there. Maybe we'll skip this room."

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OOC: Did Meste really die that quick, or did her player just go AWOL?

[Sucrose]

Kulkav snorts as he retrieves his glaive.

"There's hardly a call for insulting someone who has already lost their back, along with the shirt that was on it. I hope that she has better luck in her next hunting grounds."

He then sighs, and turns away.

"That said, it does seem unlikely that there would be anything of value left under that carpet. Let's move further to the east."

[Fates]

Malthos nods, looking a bit uneasy.

[Mr. X]

Fredric nods, "Burning it would be effective, but it would also likely throw more of the spores into the air as well. I agree that it's better to simply not risk it."

OOC:

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Heading back east, where would you all like to go?

Also, Meste's player backed out. Apparently his life became too over occupied to keep up with the game. Can't say I don't understand. He sent his well wishes to the party.

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan nods, and turns back towards the southernmost door, retracing his steps from where he met the party.

[Sucrose]

OOC:

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My thought was to explore the next north-facing room that we haven't entered.

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan instead takes point on the way to the northern room, listening at the door, checking it for traps, and then opening it cautiously.

OOC:

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I thought we were going to hunt down the last two zombies, which I was a fan of because they're sufficiently powerful that we really don't want to get flanked by one of them. But now that we know Meste is dead, the urgency of that has diminished somewhat. And judging from the one that was bumping into a wall, we can probably assume that the ones that lost the trail are not currently stalking the party like ninjas and waiting for us to let out guard down.

I'll go with that, new room it is :)