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Post by Spwack on Aug 25, 2020 1:27:47 GMT
So, this space is a large roughly-circular cave, the middle third of the floor is a large circle of iron-banded glass, looking down into a very dark and deep space. There are tunnels leading north, south-west, and south-east (where you just came from).
The smell is definitely coming from the tentacle-creature (which gets to be named by you lot! Yay!)
Grabbing on to the chain with one hand, and flinging salt on a wild guess, I'll roll a CHA check for you to see whether this creature is indeed weak to salt: rg7sy7G21d20+5
It flinches back, releasing that tendril! It's still holding Jaxudyzad by the leg strongly, so he is now flipped completely upside down, strung between his leg and the chain.1d20+5
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jojiro
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Post by jojiro on Aug 25, 2020 2:23:35 GMT
As Jaxudyzad is a Victorian gentleman, as Egg is out of salt, and as this creature flinches when exposed to salt, the course of action is clear: Egg must make Jaxudyzad cry on this Salt-Fraught Starfish (name-pending).
"Jaxudyzad," Egg shouts. "Imagine that you've invited guests over for tea at ONE, but they have the arrogance to arrive at noon! Imagine a wedding, but it is held at night because the couple can't afford a day service! Imagine a wealthy man smoking in the middle of the street! Imagine a lady drinking champagne from a brandy glass, because the host is out of flutes! Imagine a duchess whose dress is hiked too high, yet she does not realize the scandal of exposing her calves to the eyes of men! Imagine Hamlet watching as his sister sunk into the pond! Cry, oh brave Jaxudyzad, for your tears shall save you!"
As Egg shouts all this, he contemplates the absurdity of his existence.
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Post by wingilbear on Aug 25, 2020 2:35:52 GMT
For heightened tremorsense I press my body to a surface using as much of myself as possible to sense movement. "Amateurs." Setting the dial to less than, I use Terrance the mage hand to aim the long sleek shrink ray at Juxadyzad as I recline on the glass and coil my tail around the trigger. "BE READY TO CATCH!" The spiral patterned crystals around the barrel blaze bright then go dark as I fire hoping to shrink the gentleman to free him from the grasp or the starfish to weaken it.
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 25, 2020 7:10:57 GMT
I start to tear up, but will wait with my next action to see if Blerble hits. ((BTW, jojiro "Glint" is a slang term for a hint of an encounter, like finding the tracks of a dire wolf pack rather than directly encountering the pack. We encountered a hint/glint in the form of a strange smell and pressure, and because we didn't run away, the proper encounter begun with me being eaten.))
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Post by Spwack on Aug 25, 2020 8:35:44 GMT
Between the salt, Jaxudyzad going slack and the pressure on the chain, the grip of the creature is already weakened. When the bolt of cerulean energy of the shrink-ray hits it's prey, the creature can't help but lose ahold of it's prey. It makes one last half-hearted slash at Jaxudyzad as he falls: 4R0|7nQB1d4All three of you are now back on the ground. The beast is somewhere up above in the gloom. What do you do? ((The term and some of the mechanics of the glint originally came from Dungeon Robber)) 1d4
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 25, 2020 12:24:46 GMT
I presume I'm tiny now? And I'm down to 3 hp.
Does it look like we would be out of the tentacles' reach if we retreated to one of the tunnels and pelted the beast from afar?
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jojiro
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Post by jojiro on Aug 25, 2020 19:59:55 GMT
Seconding Jaxudyzad's question, and hopefully from my vantage point of "not having been a tug-of-war target" I can better answer that if he can't.
Also, shielding the tiny victorian man with my body for now, in the event of another attack. Can I take a quick peek at the nature of that 3-damage-attack? Was it that the tentacle suction left wounds, or is it literally cutting things by whipping at them?
Finally: throughout this whole ordeal, has the Starfish made any sounds remotely resembling speech, or no?
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Post by Spwack on Aug 26, 2020 1:08:22 GMT
Jaxudyzad is about half his previous height (for now).
If the creature on the roof can't move, then sure, you can easily just back down the tunnel a short distance and be out of the way. That d4 attack was an improvised slap more than a serious cutting threat. And no, the Starfish hasn't attempted anything like speech, the only sound it has made was a pained hissing noise when the salt hit it.
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jojiro
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Post by jojiro on Aug 26, 2020 3:16:51 GMT
Wherever else we go next, Egg will look to the others for leadership (as Egg is still lost and befuddled). But let's all back down the tunnel a short distance just to be safe from the creature?
If another character attacks instead, Egg will join them with the blade of his scythe, though he doesn't have anything for ranged attacks.
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 26, 2020 11:14:10 GMT
We retreat south, towards the cave intersection where we could run further if needed. As we do so, I will take out my bottle of poisonous orange gunk, dip a javelin in it and ready the javelin in my atlatl. If the tentacled monstrosity gives chase or once we are as far as we can go without loosing sight of it, I will throw:
yISAcquN1d81d8
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Post by Spwack on Aug 27, 2020 1:40:43 GMT
Between the three of you, you pose quite a formidable ranged force, especially since Egg finds two more uses of salt left in their bag. The javelin flies! You've shrunk quite a bit Jaxudyzad, but the poison tipping your weapon is fearsome. It scratches the hide of the Starfish, and you hear a squealing noise like a forgotten kettle. It scuttles away to the north as fast as it can, with a sound like a barrel of slugs falling into a belt-sander.
What do you want to do now?
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Post by wingilbear on Aug 27, 2020 2:52:00 GMT
I don’t really feel a need to chase the poor beast unless you wish to see the Skeletal dinosaur eat it. We could go south then cut over to flights of fancy, look into arrows for the crossbows we acquired and then move on to the room with the giant hole in it. North from there is unexplored.
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 27, 2020 6:14:35 GMT
We should probably first finish our rest. Both me and Blerble are hurt. Do you mean the room with a pillar in the middle of a hole? Sure, let's go there. @spwack Can I pre-emptively coat all my javelins with the poison, or will it not last?
Edit: Actually, there was also an unexplored tunnel east from the T-junction south of Flights of Fancy, we could also check that out?
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Post by Spwack on Aug 28, 2020 2:23:45 GMT
"Oh hey, you're back. Here's what I've got for you" says Flights:
* Twin Soul Arrow - Splits into two arrows when fired: one mundane arrow and one incorporeal arrow * Black Arrow - Deals 25% of the targets max HP as bonus damage * Light Arrow - Create a light effect where it hits * Snake Arrow - It's a snake. It bites. It's poisonous
Wherever you want to take a rest, it's still not safe in this area, so you'll have to make another encounter check.
Yes, you can pre-poison weapons, but it becomes a little bit more of a nuisance if you are, say, trying to crawl through a small hole such as the one north of the pillar-hole area.
You're welcome to explore wherever you like, just not all at once. Where do you want to go first?
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 29, 2020 16:58:14 GMT
I will rest here and then continue to the pillar-hole room. What other exits lead from there? A tunnel SE and a small hole northward? What do I see when I look into the hole with the pillar? Would it be possible to climb up/down through the pillar hole?
Okay, I won't poison the javelins for now.
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Post by Spwack on Aug 30, 2020 3:49:07 GMT
That is correct. The hole with the pillar looks pretty hard to climb unless you had hammers, pitons and proper climbing gear, much harder than the cliff you've traversed before.
Encounter check while resting: alKavOBO1d6
((Oh jeez))
Coming from the south-west tunnel (where you've just come from) you hear a slithery rustling noise. It doesn't get closer, you just feel like you're being... watched. What do you do?1d6
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Post by wingilbear on Aug 30, 2020 4:00:24 GMT
I gather close to the others and cover the lantern, use tremorsense and our other senses trying to listen for its approach. « Be prepared to run I whisper. » as the lantern goes out.
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Post by Spwack on Aug 30, 2020 6:49:51 GMT
It isn't coming any closer, and in fact, goes completely still. In the moments before it "sounded"/"felt" the same as the Starfish that grabbed Jaxudyzad. But now... has it stopped moving? Stopped breathing? Or has it completely vanished somehow?
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 30, 2020 7:25:18 GMT
I will poison a javelin and grip it in my hands.
"We should probably move," I whisper and start creeping in the direction of the pillar-hole room.
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Post by Spwack on Aug 30, 2020 9:52:13 GMT
Currently you are in the pillar-hole room, how are you all arrayed?
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Post by wingilbear on Aug 30, 2020 11:35:56 GMT
Huddled together by one of the entrances don’t want to be too close to the hole.
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jojiro
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Post by jojiro on Aug 30, 2020 14:36:59 GMT
Egg is going to stay positioned between Jaxudyzad and any weird sounds, more-or-less, until Jaxudyzad returns to a regular size.
He's interested in keeping this starfish thing at bay, but if it has left or is pretending to leave, Egg will stay quiet and hope that it's truly gone.
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Post by Spwack on Aug 31, 2020 1:57:22 GMT
I'll presume that you are all on the far side of the hole, towards the south-east exit. You came in through the south-west one, and that is where you last heard the noise coming from. You're all huddled together, furtive and vulnerable, rats in a maze, in the dark with only the second-sight of Blerble to tell what is going on.
What do you all do? Nothing seems to be happening at all...
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Post by red_kangaroo on Aug 31, 2020 6:45:53 GMT
"If it's not coming, we can probably loose it if we keep moving. Outrun it, whatever 'it' actually is," I whisper. If nobody objects, I'll go through the hole in the northern wall.
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Post by Spwack on Aug 31, 2020 8:15:42 GMT
In your currently diminished stature, it's simple for you to crawl north through the hole. There are two of you left (or three counting Lil Red). Which of you is going north last?
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Post by wingilbear on Aug 31, 2020 13:15:38 GMT
I can go last. I will uncover the lantern so we can see what we are doing. Any sight of whatever was watching us? I will make sure to scan the ceiling as well.
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Post by Spwack on Sept 1, 2020 4:50:07 GMT
The lantern is uncovered, and you can see a flicker of moving tendrils pluck themselves back out into the darkness. As soon as Egg heads into the tunnel, your tremor-sense picks up again. Something is moving. Coiling. Preparing... but for what?
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Post by wingilbear on Sept 1, 2020 4:57:56 GMT
Hopefully we won’t find out. I quickly chase after egg!
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Post by Spwack on Sept 2, 2020 2:34:26 GMT
There's a loud CRACK as a whip-like tendril lashes out from the darkness! Blerble, you take d8 damage and are tangled up, what do you do? You're half-in, half-out of the tunnel.
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Post by red_kangaroo on Sept 2, 2020 6:09:55 GMT
Are the rest of us still in the tunnel, or already through it? Can we drag Blerble after us?
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