Chp. 6 - Deeper and Harder

[Grognardsw]

You're Always On My Mind - Deck, Round 1



The adventurers stream onto the ship deck and sight the inky blackness. Torch light does not pierce it. The grunts of Groyn sound within. "Aim high, don't hits me!" the dwarf yells. 

Gagel the thief trusts his senses, enters the darkness, listens, swings several times and connects! His sword blade slashes a tall form. He hears a quasi-reptilian hiss. Groyn, having been in the darkness now for several minutes, thinks he knows where the monster is. The dwarf swings his battle axe and hews slimy flesh!

Asherrion the elf wades into the blackness and attacks.  His sword strikes air. Wulfhart of the Watery Form hears the slice and feels the breeze of the passing blade. Thinking it the enemy, the barbarian strikes Asherrion (3 HP.) Bene the dog is confused by the darkness and stumbles over a dead body. 

Niles the spiky knight remains outside the darkness. Also outside the circle of darkness Porphyry the satyr directs the dead mind flayer he reanimated. It shambles in and out of anyone's sight.

Then the darkness starts moving northwest to the edge of the ship.

Fingal the thief stays down below deck, trying to staunch his wounds. Eryndir the elf keeps him company. They hear combat above.

Actions for Round Two!

- Initiative: Monsters [1d6] = 6, Party [1d6] = 6 Simultaneous, except for the zombie Mind Flayer which goes last.
- Zombie mind flayer attack [1d20] = 9, [1d20] = 19, [1d20] = 8, [1d20] = 20
- Bene fumble - bites a friend? 1-50 [1d100] = 62. No
- Asherrion and Wulfhart misses hit others in darkness? 1-30 [1d100] = 43, [1d100] = 15 Wulfhart hits Asherrion
- After the few rounds in his watery form from the ring, Wulfhart realizes he can move and strike normally, but when he wishes to he can move as water moves. He thinks he could still be damaged by weapons, though he figures a blunt weapon would hurt more than a bladed weapon.
- Niles in his spiky form from the ring wonders if all those spikes would make it tough for a mindflayer to attack his head with tentacles.
- As you may have guessed, the zombie mind-flayer doesn't have ESP to use to locate minds/people inside the darkness. However his roll included a 19 and 20. Being in the darkness, no one can see what he hit, though you know its not you.

[Pulpatoon]

Porphyry follows the moving blot of darkness, maintaining his concentration on his flayer so that it can continue its attacks.

[greyarea]

Asherrion (not knowing who hit him) exclaims, Watch out, this one has tentacles and a sword!

He slashes again in the dark!

Long sword attack [1d20+1] = 7+1 = 8, dmg [1d8+1] = 4+1 = 5
Well, that's not going to do it!

[thesniperknight1]

Gagel swings again feeling confident after hitting the beast last time, "Dodge again everyone".

Attack: [1d20] = 1, Damage: [1d8] = 8

ummm.....really dodge.......sorry

[AleBelly]

I noticed that the rolls for determining whether Asherrion's and Wulfhart's misses hit allies was guaranteed to return a yes answer (1d30, 1-30 means yes). Was this intentional?

[Grognardsw]

I noticed that the rolls for determining whether Asherrion's and Wulfhart's misses hit allies was guaranteed to return a yes answer (1d30, 1-30 means yes). Was this intentional?

Opps, no. Not sure to chalk that up to a Freudian-type slip or being sick

Asherrion and Wulfhart misses hit others in darkness? 1-30 [1d100] = 43, [1d100] = 15 So Wulfhart does hit Asherrion.

The post has been edited, with some additional notes in spoiler also. The HP chart has been updated: viewtopic.php?p=59033#p59033
.

[doughx99]

Niles will circle around and try and get in front of the way the mind flayer is headed

[AleBelly]

I noticed that the rolls for determining whether Asherrion's and Wulfhart's misses hit allies was guaranteed to return a yes answer (1d30, 1-30 means yes). Was this intentional?

Opps, no. Not sure to chalk that up to a Freudian-type slip or being sick

Asherrion and Wulfhart misses hit others in darkness? 1-30 [1d100] = 43, [1d100] = 15 So Wulfhart does hit Asherrion.

The post has been edited, with some additional notes in spoiler also. The HP chart has been updated: viewtopic.php?p=59033#p59033
.

OK, thanks! Sorry for hitting you, Asherrion!

[AleBelly]

Wulfhart attempts to slay the creature in the middle of the darkness.

Attack w/Fang of Cuthbert(THAC0 18) [1d20+2] = 10+2 = 12 damage [1d8+2] = 7+2 = 9

[Grognardsw]

You're Always On My Mind - Deck, Round 2

The adventurers test their skill and luck as they battle the monster within the darkness. The inky blackness moves northeast, leaving a few of the party outside the darkness. Suddenly the darkness is lifted. The still-guttering torch on the floor is now casting flickering light in a 30' radius. The adventurers hear something retreating down the side of the ship and out the northwest corridor. They quickly peer over the edge of the ship and see a retreating, wounded Mind Flayer!



Revealed now are the dead bodies of Boddin the hobbit, Easia the cleric and Vorkath the paladin. The heroes stand on the deck, most heavily wounded. The dangers down here, they feel different than those of the higher caves above. Perhaps this is why the Norkers refused to follow them.

Below deck, Fingal and Eryndir hear it go quiet above.

The party considers next steps.

-Initiative: Monsters [1d6] = 2, Party [1d6] = 1 Monster wins
- HP status: viewtopic.php?p=59033#p59033

[Pulpatoon]

Porphyry inspects his pet Flayer. "I really am absolutely fascinated with this anatomy. Such a shame to have lost the chance to gain a second specimen. Do you think we have time for me to preform a little exploratory study?" The satyr removes a sickle and seems to be considering the Flayer's skull, when he suddenly takes notice of the fallen members of the party. "Oh. Yes. Right. I suppose I should preform the Rites of the Psychopomp, help their souls along their way. This is exactly the sort of miserable place where souls get befuddled, and end up as angry ghosts."

The satyr sits among the bodies, quietly for awhile, Eventually, he says, "Anybody have any myrrh?"

[thesniperknight1]

Gagel approaches the dead bodies, "I am afraid I don't". He looks at the two dead bodies with a clear smile, "You fought nature bravely, but everything must perish at a certain point. You gave it your all and that's far more than enough, sometimes nature is just way too strong. I wish lady death would take good care of you", his voice filled with anger everytime he mentions nature,yet his grin grows bigger. "Can we bring them back?"

[Pulpatoon]

Porphyry: "Had I not raised our tentacled friend, I might have been able to ask their remains to walk back themselves, but I have exhausted that particular grace. As it is, we certainly can, but arms used in carrying will not be available to fight. Those of you who have had the privilege of having left this hellpit: how close is the nearest safe exit? How long the journey back to... where did you come from, anyway?"

[thesniperknight1]

Gagel laughed, "I don't remember how I got here to begin with. I am from this great world, never settled in really, all over the place". He carries Easia's dead body on his back, "Let's hope for a quick exit before the smell gets worse, say, can't you ask your new friend for directions?"

[dok-el]

Eryndir heads up top. The cool cavern air soothes his newly ventilated brain somewhat.

"Graarrr," he growls thoughtfully, as he looks over the bodies of the fallen, "Me hungry. Halfling's got a little meat on him. We should build fire pit. Waste not want not..."

Without any further word to anyone else, he starts picking over the corpses, looking for any useful gear that could maybe be recycled. This rather mercenary reaction to events at least lends an air of ambiguity to his comments.

[Pulpatoon]

"Let's hope for a quick exit before the smell gets worse, say, can't you ask your new friend for directions?"

Porphyry: "Oh, it's little more than a puppet. I could peer into his mind, but only to learn about the circumstance immediately before his death, and I already know about those and would rather know the taste of Eryndir's scalp."

[thesniperknight1]

Gagel looks at Porphyry then laughs once more, "You are one weird fellow my friend, are you undead or do you simply love brains.....now that I think about it, you have horns, might you be a devil? You are really interesting", he laughs harder.

He gets off the ship, carrying easia on his back and looking left and right for the injured beast, not to finish it but to try and avoid it. He checks the two routs, he tries to see if there is a gust of air coming from either routes, or if there are any distinct sounds that can be heard without delving too far in.

Listen: [1d20] = 15

[greyarea]

Asherrion

Why do we leave the ship? We need rest and recovery. We should stay here and regain our strength and spells. This is as defensible or better than any place we've been so far, I'd say.

[Hotgoblin]

Groyn and Bene the Irish Wolfhound both need healing but...Me and the dog need to rest, but this ain't the safest places to be...that mind sucker may come backs with its friends. I ain't wanting to be heres if it does!!!! What's you others think??

[thesniperknight1]

"I do understand your concerns Asherrion but like Groyn says, the injured beast is still out there and might come back with reinforcements"