Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

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AleBelly
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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#141 Post by AleBelly »

Obsessed with the identity of the masked enemy, Pelias nearly forgets to express his gratitude to Ingrid. "Your prayer is strong. Your god favors you, and by doing so favors me. I thank you" says the paladin, bowing his head.

He will not object to Hoom lighting the constable's body on fire and throwing it down the pit, though this act will in no way rehabilitate the paladin's poor opinion of him.

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#142 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Bo physically helps to reunite the group if he is needed to assist with the pulling. He bows to Ingrid to thank her for her healing as he thinks a bit to himself. "If the elf really is a spy, wouldn't he say something just like that, hoping to throw us off his trail?"

"Torches may be dear to us once we get further inside this wet, hellish maw."

The druid carefully removes a few of the phosphorescent toadstools, hoping their light stays with them for a few minutes after they have been picked. He carefully bundles them all together in a tight package and drops them over the side of the ledge into the pit. He watches as they fall to see if he can judge the depth or catch any visual sign of what might lurk below.

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#143 Post by drpete »

Pip will help hold the rope to pull the party members up from the lower ledge.

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#144 Post by ChubbyPixie »

”Guys! Guys! Guys!” yells Telkis.

He’ll let Mouser jump on the proffered rope first, figuring he’ll be the quickest to climb, then will jump on in his turn, hoping the others will quicken his ascent by hauling him up. ”Pull!” he yells when he’s on.

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#145 Post by ravenn4544 »

Mouser sizes up the situation quickly and takes up the rope as fast as he can. He warns the group as he climbs, "Ready fire! There is an approaching ooze behind us. Burn it! Burn it!"

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#146 Post by SocraticLawyer »

Urdur keeps his torch ready, in case the slime gets too close. If he can do so with his torch in hand, he'll help get the others onto the ledge.

Assuming the ooze doesn't attack any of us or jump over to our ledge, Urdur asks "What should we do with them?" indicating the dead cultists. "We don't want them rising again. Grisly though it may be, we ought to dismember or burn them."
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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#147 Post by drpete »

Pip looks back at the corpses as he helps with the rope.

"Not sure, but if that blob eats flesh, we could feed it... or maybe bait it so it falls on whatever's down below..."

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#148 Post by Inferno »

The Rushmoors, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Ten. Early Afternoon. Tuesday, October 25th, 576 CY
Cloudy, damp, cold, foggy








As the sentient puddle of writhing ooze glides over the mud toward Mouser and Telkis, the little thief yells up to the group, "Hurry with that rope! Something nasty approaches fast! Get us out of here!"

Brevos ties his line to the muddy, knotted rope that leads up out of the wet hole. Grothnak throws the other end to the pair stranded on the ledge below.

The writhing black amoeboid suddenly reaches for the two heroes!


Mouser and Telkis grab hold of the line and leap out into the pit to avoid the rippling advance of the liquid horror! Bo, Ingrid and Pip pull up the rope. Mouser and Telkis are hauled up to the higher precipice and the group is reunited (at X).

The creepy, beckoning pipes do not abate.

Brevos treads east into the dripping tunnel, his path revealed by the luminous fungi. The deep wet mud is riddled with footprints coming and going from both tunnel branches, north and southeast.

Pelias drags the slain to the edge of the pit. The grey druid gently plucks some of the verdant fungal blossoms.



Still glowing, Bo drops them and they softly fall down into the pit, illuminating a moving ten foot radius of green light, following the spraying waterfall and the mud chasm as they plummet. The broken corpse of Hoom's fallen cultist, shattered and crimson across a jutting ledge far below is briefly revealed (at C) and then mercifully swallowed up again by the hungry shadows.

The radiant fungi continue their long descent down the hell mouth's shaft and there is the briefest glimpse of movement, far, far below. Its source is vague, indistinct. The distant light of the glowing toadstools dies and the deepest regions of the pit are once more overcome by absolute darkness.


Actions?


Cutaway View:

West is left. East is right.
PCs are near the red "X." The oozing horror is at "O." The dead cultist is at "C."
The area around X is illuminated by glowing mushrooms. All else is from memory.


Map:

One square = 10 feet. X = Dead or Unconscious. H = Held. O = Oozing horror.
Black area to the west of the PCs is the cliff into the main shaft of the hell mouth.






PC Status:
  • Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 23/27
    Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC 5, HP 9/15, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
    Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 24/28
    Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 17/22, Spells: 2/5 1st lvl and 2/4 2nd lvl
    Hoom Feethos, Elven Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC 3, HP 11/12, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
    Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 6, HP: 23/30, Spells: 1/6 1st lvl, 2/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl
    Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(0), HP: 29/30, Laying Hands: 0/1
    Pip, Human Monk 2: Move: 16", AC: 9, HP: 11/12
    Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 21/28
    Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC 6, HP 9/9, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl and 1/1 2nd lvl, Torch
PC Magic: Player Resources:
Last edited by Inferno on Sun Nov 17, 2019 2:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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The Horror at Briarsgate (1e): Lovecraftian Gothic Horror (N1, homebrew)
Lost City of Eternity (1e): Hyborian Age Sword and Sorcery (B4, JG102, homebrew)
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Player:
Agax Gryyg: Gamer of Urth, Ravenloft
Azoth Al-Aziz: Lovecraftian Cultist, Tamoachan
Blodget: Foolish Young 9th Level Hobbit, Dark Clouds
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Elijah Crowthorne: Marooned Prophet, Pirates
Jack in the Green: Ancient Child, Giants
P.T. Codswallop: Larcenous Impresario, Dimwater
Sir Ugghra: Bestial Half-Orc Aristocrat, Brotherton
Swilbosh: Savage Lizard-Warrior, Keep
Tantos Vek: Failed Paladin, Under Streets
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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#149 Post by drpete »

Pip offers up his idea.

"Alright, so... if you want... we could tie a rope around a body, and toss it over to the blob over there. When it grabs the body, we tug it off the ledge. Like fishing!"

Pip thinks about it a bit more.

"We don't pull it up, though... we just cut the rope once it's off its ledge. That'll screw with whatever's down there, yeah?"

If no one is interested, Pip will not be disappointed. Much.

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#150 Post by wolfpack »

The tunnels run north and southeast and traffic in and out is heavy in both. I can't discern if one is more heavily traveled than the other.

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#151 Post by ravenn4544 »

Mouser nods at Pip, gasping a bit at the sudden escape, "That's a clever idea. Whats dead is dead - I doubt they would mind so much, eh? Once that foul thing is on the way down, can we follow it up with a burning body? Let's make sure that thing is out of the picture should we find ourselves down there!"

Mouser proceeds to help Pip execute the plan.

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#152 Post by DadsAngry »

Hoom Feethos:

"I don't know about the rest of you but I'm not going to allow anyone to attempt to push me over the edge again. I'm move forward and I suggest you do the same."
Hoom move next to Brevos as he waits for the others to move forward.

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#153 Post by Zhym »

"Stay focused," says Grothnak. "We have a cult to destroy. The cultists came from this way. We should go that way. Now."

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#154 Post by SocraticLawyer »

"Maybe these two have some answers for us," says Urdur, indicating the two living cultists. "We ought to at least interrogate them.

"And we can't leave the bodies of the slain here. If they rise as undead, then we will have enemies at our front and our back. We must at least toss them over the ledge."
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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#155 Post by AleBelly »

Pelias begins the grim task of decapitating the dead villagers, and if he has time, their arms. "They have suffered enough, yet this contemptible evil requires me to desecrate their memories further. I ask your forgiveness, Heironeus" he mutters as he goes about his work.

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#156 Post by ravenn4544 »

Mouser helps Pelias by setting the bodies alight and sending them over the edge...

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#157 Post by ChubbyPixie »

"It is a good idea, Pip," says Telkis, "though for all we know we may end up down there by way of these passages. And I certainly don't want to run into that thing again." He glances over the side of the pit once more at the writhing, oozing mass below and shivers. "I agree with Grothnak. We should go... eh... as soon as Pelias is finished." Somehow, he can't bring himself to help dismember the dead villagers. After a moments thought he says "Why not just throw them down to that thing? They won't be coming back after it's through with them."

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#158 Post by SocraticLawyer »

"When you feed a blob, it gets bigger," says Urdur to his fellow gnome. "If that one gets much bigger, it might be able to jump over here." Urdur helps with the grim task of making sure the cultists have died the true death. Once that ghoulish task is complete, he follows the others, torch in hand.
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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#159 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Bo agrees that the black blob should not be fed. He does not understand the paladins actions of dismembering the bodies and refuses to aid in that gruesome task, however.

"Did you see that there were other ledges down that shaft? It is possible that this underground complex goes down much deeper than this level. I don't like the idea of repelling down into that hole any further, but that might be an option if we come across a dead end or an indomitable foe on this level."

With that, the druid secures another handful of the glowing toadstools to illuminate his way as he prepares to head out again, following the ranger into the muddy tunnel.

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Re: Chapter 13: Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother

#160 Post by ChubbyPixie »

SocraticLawyer wrote:"When you feed a blob, it gets bigger," says Urdur to his fellow gnome. "If that one gets much bigger, it might be able to jump over here." Urdur helps with the grim task of making sure the cultists have died the true death. Once that ghoulish task is complete, he follows the others, torch in hand.
"Oh... they do?" says Telkis, frowning and peeking once more over the ledge. "Thanks for the heads up. I'll remember that."

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