The Cube (IC)

[hexonxonx]

The creature looks up at you all with what would, on a normal creature, correspond to it's head. It obviously sees you, but you have no idea if it understands what you said, and, as it has no mouth, you have no idea how it would respond to you anyway.

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst keeps quiet, as he's very dissapointed with himself about not knowing what that could be. He stares down at it uneasily from somewhere more to the side of the chasm. He has a grease spell ready in case the thing tries to climb up.
Meanwhile, he slowly loads his crossbow.

[Taffimai]

Linon

"Perhaps we could send someone to get Lady Deidre? I've seen druids talk to all sorts of weird things, from animals to plants and trees and even stones. Who knows, she might even be able to tell us what it is."

She's still looking at Loretta, remembering how she seemed to feel most at home navigating through the wilderness.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Loretta racks her brain for anything she knows about this creature. A being made of scattered roots and vines, or alteast covered with them.

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(1d20+8)[12] knowledge Nature
(1d20+8)[11] knowledge Dungeons (if it applies)

I didn't use rollv, so I don't know if I got 4 and 3 +8 each, or 12 and 11 without adding +8. I hope it's the latter, but I doubt it. so I have a 12.

"I really couldn't tell you Linon, maybe we can show it a flame and scare it off? Most plants are rather against being burnt alive."

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

"You know, maybe it's just surprised to see us," suggests Ru. "We are invading its home, after all."

((he's visible now))

"Do we even have to go that way? Maybe we can get to those other doors by another path? Or, maybe I can sing it a lullaby and we can just sneak by?"

(( ))

[hexonxonx]

Loretta: You rolled correctly. It's not enough to determine what the thing is, specifically.

[Halna LeGavilk]

As the others are talking, John keeps watching the creature. He readies his shield, just in case the thing attacks.

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(1d20+1)[12] Knowledge (Nature)

[Taffimai]

Linon

"Allright then. While you try to find a way to sneak around it, or scare it off, I'll go and ask Lady Deidre whether she knows what this thing might be and how we might talk to it. After all, even if it turns hostile, I couldn't do much except shout at it or jump in its arms. I don't think either of those would be very helpful."

Linon walks back to where the druid should be waiting for them.

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst follows Linon, glad to have some distance between him and that Thing. The facts that it is less smelly outside, Linon is ok, and the druid might offer some knowledge, help too.
He keeps quiet, regularly looking back for any charging monsters, the crossbow tightly in his hands and a grease spell on his lips.

[webgem]

Jarek

"If anybody happens to have a torch on hand we could toss it near the beast and see if it retreats, I only have a magical light, but I suppose we could lower it on a rope and see how it reacts."

Jarek reaches into his backpack and pulls out and everburning torch. He waves it back and forth in a wide arc to see what the beast does.

[hexonxonx]

To Linon:

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you tell Lady Deidre about the creature, and she thinks for a moment before answering. "It is obviously intelligent. I don't know exactly what kind of creature it is, but I know that I could tell it to simply leave, if I wanted to. I do have powers over nature that none of you have. But I won't. It is a very ill omen that you turn back on the first problem you face. If that is the case, I might as well join you in clearing every room, and that is not my task in this endeavor. I am your rear guard, here to assure you that none molest you while you are down there. If I left my post here I could not defend you in this way.
"Even the simplest of creatures have needs, and fears and wants. Figure these out and I'm sure you will get past the creature."

[Taffimai]

Linon

"Thank you for shedding your light on this, Lady. I understand that you cannot come with us, but by sharing your knowledge you have helped us nonetheless. I would urge you not to see our coming to you as an ill omen, but rather as a reason to take heart.

We could probably have fought our way past this creature, most likely killing it, but I doubt we would bring our mission to a good end if we blindly attacked everything we encountered. I believe that to be truely successful we must make clever use of all available resources, and your wisdom is one of them."

While walking back to the Cube, Linon discusses the druids words with Hynerst. What needs, fears and wants could such a creature have? Suddenly, a thought hits her.

"Mister Whistkingstone, do you believe that maybe that creature could be trapped down there? What if the solution to our problem is as simple as getting it back up?"

When they get back to the party, she tells them about what Lady Deidre has said and about her own idea, and asks them what they have found out.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John looks on in astonishment while Linon tells her story. "You want to bring that thing up here? No. We haven't even established it's intelligent. Let alone not gonna eat us. "

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Her hand patting Hoots, Loretta stands near the edge, the plant thing still under her gaze. It can't reach them, and she isn't inclined to reach it.

Maybe it's hungry, granted i've no idea what it eats. Maybe he's getting claustraphobic... nah, plants usualy wouldn't get phobias. Loretta sighs, as she scratches Hoots ear. Least we didn't mindlessly jump the thing again, I might get lucky and not break my toes again this time. Though I will admit, if we're gonna take every fight this calculated we should have brought more wizards, so one of them could cast haste and we'd get this done faster.

OOC: Don't mistake character bordom with player bordom, I'm actually enjoying this.

[Bender]

Hynerst

While meeting with the druid, Hynerst doesn't get very close, just close enough to hear everything she says. Discussing with Linon:
"I don't like us to bring it up, it looks angry and dangerous. I like us to kill it while we are safe.
If you do bring it up, I have a safe place to hide where it can't reach us."

Back with the others, he stands there a little bit, thinking, out of reach of the chasm. Then he asks to no one in particular "Do you know Sylvan, the language of the woods? Maybe it speaks Sylvan?"

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek also looks at Linon in surprise, "That thing is gigantic, I have doubts as to how we might haul something that big up here even if we could get ropes around it."

OOC: Any reaction to the light?

[Taffimai]

Linon

"I don't know how we would manage to get it up here either, let alone how it would squeeze through the entrance, but it just wouldn't be right to slaughter a defenseless creature simply because it is in our way. If none of us can talk to it, and we can't scare or lure it to one side with a flame or food so that we could pass, then... I guess I'm going to have to ask you to lower me down to see if it attacks. After all, as I said before, if we have to take it down I'm pretty useless up here."

[hexonxonx]

The creature does nothing in particular to the light.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John sighs. Damn stupid paladins..... John looks at Hynerst. "Hynerst, what spells do you have prepared that would hurt this thing?"

[Bender]

Hynerst

"I can probably hurt it with magic missiles, unless it somehow resists magic, which is possible for powerful creatures. I can also shoot arrows of acid at it, but that has a similar problem and neither do a lot of damage. I can also prepare a great ball of fire, which does a lot of damage, unless it is resistant to either fire or my magic. Regretfully, we do not know what this is or what to expect."
He shuffles a bit with his feet, staring down uncertainly.
"Instead of wasting magic when we are safe, can we not stone it, or throw burning branches at it? Then at least we know whether fire affects it."

[Taffimai]

Linon

Obviously annoyed now, Linon walks over to the edge of the chasm, all the while venting her frustration without addressing anyone in particular:

"I can't believe that all that time Mister Whistkingstone and I walked over to Lady Deidre and back you have just been standing around gawping at this creature. So it doesn't react to light, but what about water? Or those plants we cut down at the entrance? Or just plain earth? And how about actually trying to establish whether it is intelligent or not?"

Reaching the edge, she bows over it, looks the creature squarely in the face (or wherever its face would be) and says slowly:

"IF - YOU - CAN - HEAR - ME, - PLEASE - STEP - BACK"

If the creature doesn't react, she takes a moment to contemplate the unthinkable - that she would attack it unprovoked.

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She's wearing her Phylactery of Faithfulness, so if attacking the creature would change her alignment or her standing with St. Cuthbert, she'll know.

[webgem]

Jarek

"Well actually, I did try to comunicate with it, it doesn't seem to have a way of communicating, and I don't have a torch other than this light to see how heat affects it, but if you want to try earth..."

Assuming the creature doesn't back up when Linon speaks, Jarek grabs a clump of debree and throws it fairly near to the creature.

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(1d20+5)[24] ranged touch attack at a 5 foot square adjacent to the beastie

[hexonxonx]

It responds to Linon's question by simply looking up at her with it's "face." When Jerek throws a clump of dirt down near it, it instantaneously flails at the ground where it landed with it's whiplike appendages. Then it flails it's arm-branches in the air like a tree in a heavy wind.

[webgem]

Jarek

""Well I wouldn't place heavy odd's on survival for whoever might go down there."

[Taffimai]

Linon

"Well, I guess it is just a monster after all. Still, I don't want to watch this, I'm going to wait outside. I'd feel like a band of hobgoblins barging into a farm and murdering the farmer."

She walks outside, distraught because she was unable to help the creature.

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst checks whether there are stones on the ground outside or dry branches.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John shakes his head. "I was only going to suggest covering whoever went down there with the magic, but I guess we are not doing that. " John looks around and sighs. "Well, let's get this over with" He begins to look around for branches or something that can burn.

[hexonxonx]

You can find all of the dry timber you want outside. Everything inside this room in The Cube is slimy with mold and probably won't burn.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Without letting go of her axe and hammer, Loretta takes a seat at the edge of the chasm. Her little dwarven legs hanging over the lip.

Well... aren't we the most effective party ever. We're already asking for help, dealing with problems seperately, and taking forever to do it.

Loretta smiles.

We sound like a real party. Heh, I bet we stop and heal after we deal with this guy.

"Come on big guy, if you don't wanna be burned alive you might wanna try something." she says as she kicks her short legs.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John looks over at Loretta. That doesn't really seem to smart. "Loretta, I really don't think that teasing that thing is a good idea. You're gonna piss it off." John calls out, heading for the exit to gather some wood.