Quest #29 “Raiders of the Lost Obelisk”

[Urson]

Luther
Luther laughs loudly when he sees the results of his shot. He'll take a bit more time to aim, and fire once. His primary intent is to keep the thing busy, so the rescuers can get Chauncey away from the fountain.

Longbow [1d20+1] = 5+1 = 6
And the energy bolt sizzles harmlessly into the jungle....

[OGRE MAGE]

Grey Ooze Matter(s)
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Hot, Humid, So So Buggy

Heeding Avaala's warning, the group is content to back away, letting the amorphous purple glowing fountain monster flail around its hungry pseudopods. Once all of the warm bodies leave the area around the fountain, the creature eventually settles back down below the rim of the upper bowl. Luther shoots another magic energy arrow from his new bowstring, smiling from ear to ear at his new toy, even though his next shot flies well over the others heads.

With little else he can do other than float around in pain, complaining while the ooze blob on his back continues to burn into his flesh, 3 dam Chauncey is glad to see that Avaala and Paul are there to aid him. The mage pulls at his friends clothing, attempting to get the grey matter off of him. When Paul realizes that it has already burned through his clothing, he uses his sword to scrape the majority of the goo off the mage's back. The blob lands in the dirt with a soft splat before it starts shimmying across the ground in the direction of the fountain.

Still outside the temple's wall, Wes seems to have lost interest in the confrontation, now moving away from the party in the direction of the trees again.

Actions?

Bonnie AC5 17/17
Luther AC3 30/30
Wes AC7 34/34 first 5/6 second 4/4 third 3/3 FF:15
Chauncey AC8 18/26 CL, DM, RM first 2/3 second 1/2 Mount:22 / Lev:38
Mr. Wrenly AC7 4/4
Avaala AC8 12/12 CL, DM, RM first 2/2 second 1/1
Treasure AC2 12/12 35%MR
Cealwyn AC3 17/19
Paul AC6 7/7
Grimm AC5 10/10
overall map: viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6346#p366477

27E85DC0-855C-400F-B6D1-B7333E37EDDB.jpeg (109.81 KiB) Viewed 703 times

[Urson]

Luther

Flush his back with water! Luther yells as he hustles over to lend assistance. He'll keep an eye out for Goopy, in case it decides to chase it's escaped meal.

[SirOwen]

Avaala the Grey

"Good thinking, Paul," Avaala says. "I don't know what that thing might do to steel, but you may want to clean off your sword." Looking at his staff, he adds, "I don't know what it would do to wood, either," before making sure to scrape off any residue of the creature off the end of his staff in the grasses and dirt of the area.

Hearing Luther's advice, Avaala nods and pours some of the water from his water skin over Chauncey's wound, wiping it off gently, and then pouring a little more.

Turning back to Chauncey, he says, "Chauncey, I think we have it all off of you now. I don't have any bandage, but we should get that covered before the insects make the burn worse."

[Karaunios]

Grimm, a wanderer himself, feels curious about Wes' absence, so, seeing nothing that could be done here, he turns back and comes out of the enclosure. He'll join the druid.

"What's up, Wes?"

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

Clear of the fountain and the ooze, Bonnie stays clear of the trauma team attending Chauncey. She watches the oozeling shimmy across the ground, interested in how it works.

"That sucked. I thought something was strange about that fountain, but I didn't expect burning ooze." She shakes her head in disgust. "Altogether too much ooze on this island."

After watching the oozeling return she hovers nearby, making sure Chauncey isn't suffering any lingering effects and keeps an eye on the temple doors.

[Jernau35]

Wes

Wes directs Grimm's attention to the phanaton up in the trees. Then he goes back to his delicate negotiation.

Wes

Wes places his spear on the ground and holds up his empty hands. "Hello Chwee," he says calmly. "I was wondering when I'd see you again."

"You know know how this works. I have to use my magic to talk to you." Wes keeps talking. He knows the phanaton can't understand him, but he tries to act in a warm, non-threatening manner.

"If your friends are scared of me, why don't you just come down here?" They can stay safe up there."

If the situation doesn't change after a minute or two, Wes eventually casts Speak with Animals anyway, since it seems the only way forward.

[ChubbyPixie]

Chauncey seems almost in shock. He visibly gathers himself.

"I had thought the threat to be confined to the lower basin... how I could I have missed... er...'" he says as he hovers there, feet a few inches off the ground, then suddenly realizes he is speaking out loud. "Ahem! Yes. That... experiment seemed to go well. Just according to plan. My plan. The one I carefully formulated. Er... hmmmm."

He turns and pats his fellow wizard on the shoulder. "Thank you, my friend, Avaala. For scraping the goo. I do not recommend getting such a substance upon one. It smarts. I did recover a curious coin, though. We shall inspect it forthwith," he says. "But for now we'd just as well get maximum use out of this casting, shan't we? I'll see if anything might be revealed from a higher vantage point."

Chauncey begins rising into the air, arms outstretched, above the levels of the treetops, to see if he can get a glimpse of the top of the obelisk they seek to the northwest. He rises majestically, arms outstretched, clearly enjoying this novel sensation, this stunning, temporary defeat of the laws that bind him to the Oerth.

As he rotates to face the jungle, his behind and lower back are exposed for all the world to see where the goo burned through his clothing.

"Drafty up here," he can be heard to say.

[OGRE MAGE]

Grey Ooze Matter(s)
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Hot, Humid, So So Buggy

The uninjured members of the party help their friend clean the rest of the goo off of his skin through the gaping hole in the back of his clothing. They also scrape any reside off of their weapons before much damage is caused, though Avaala does see a few spots where his ornately carved staff has already been melted away. Grimm joins Wes outside the wall, watching as he slowly approaches 3 excited phanaton standing on a branch. One of the creatures looks to be slowly approaching the druid, but its movements are cautious and calculated. Bonnie watches the temple doors when the mage assures everyone that this was all part of his plan.

Wishing to get the most from his magical spell, Chauncey starts to float even higher from the ground. The levitation process is a little slow, but once he gets about 10 feet or so in the air, he still cant see much over the surrounding trees. However, those on the ground get a new view of their floating friend, one they probably weren't exactly ready for.

If Chauncey's mount was thirsty enough to take a few zaps to his muzzle, he isn't about to let a little ooze stop him from drinking either. As the others keep their distance, watching the little blob slither its way back to the main body, a rather large slug of the material plops over the edge of the top bowl, enveloping the drinking horse's entire head and neck in mere seconds. Once the purple glowing ooze shows itself, the eel in the bottom bowl keeps its distance, as if it has seen this kind of thing happen before. The horrible noises that the summoned mount makes as it suffocates are difficult to hear, especially for the animal lovers in the group, but luckily they are well muffled from all the ooze. The animal falls forward, it's front legs giving out completely, as the substance slowly dissolves the large creature head first.

Actions?

Bonnie AC5 17/17
Luther AC3 30/30
Wes AC7 34/34 first 5/6 second 4/4 third 3/3 FF:14
Chauncey AC8 18/26 CL, DM, RM first 2/3 second 1/2 Lev:37
Mr. Wrenly AC7 4/4
Avaala AC8 12/12 CL, DM, RM first 2/2 second 1/1
Treasure AC2 12/12 35%MR
Cealwyn AC3 17/19
Paul AC6 7/7
Grimm AC5 10/10
overall map: viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6346#p366477

79270BD7-8BF2-4376-857F-B6DB8A81289E.jpeg (112.55 KiB) Viewed 655 times

[Urson]

Luther
Seeing the mount getting absorbed, Luther snarls something that should kill the weeds around his feet. He puts two of his 'arrows' into the mount, intending to kill it quickly.

[Karaunios]

Grimm gets his weapons back in his belt and quiver, slowly, and watches the situation with the Phanaton develop, looking as calm and inoffensive as he can.

[Paladin]

Cealwyn Blackthorn

The ranger stowes his weapons, watching quietly as the encounter with the tree folk progresses. He glances at the fountain with a grimace as the scene with the magical mount plays out, then back toward the temple. His gaze lingers there in the hopes of catching sight of whatever lurks beyond.

[ChubbyPixie]

"Don't mind him - it's not real! Soon that glob will have a mouthful of mud and clay. Disposable Mule!" says Chauncey as he continues upwards, in spite of the very real sounding sounds of distress from his creation just before it expires.

[Urson]

Luther
Yeah...Don't care. Anything that makes those sorts of noises is in pain.

[SirOwen]

Avaala the Grey

"Yes, Luther, please put it down," Avaala says gently. "I would see it suffer no more than one born in a barn."

To Chauncey, he says, "It bore you nobly, and it thirsted as any animal would. We should think kindly of it." There is no judgement in Avaala's voice, although there is a trace of sadness. "I'm sorry, Chaunce. I was reminded of Rollo. I still miss him."

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

"That's a good question about constructs. Do they exist as normal things, but only for a while, or are they something different, something less than alive?" Bonnie draws upon her past knowledge and then shrugs. "It's dead now."

Once more she feels a slight pang of jealously as Luther fires miniature bolts of lightning. Where do they get those wonderful toys?

She calls up to Chauncey "Hey! I thought the obelisks were invisible!" Before moving to Luther. "So about the trail...going off memory and based on where that obelisk is presumed to be, might it be easier to reach it from the native clearing side? Of course, that deprives us of creating a trail of our own and forces us to go past the Wood of Eternal Lamentations."

[OGRE MAGE]

Grey Ooze Matter(s)
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Hot, Humid, So So Buggy

Though its creator tries to assure everyone that it is not a big deal that his mount is slowly being dissolved into the grey goop, his companions react a bit less callously, with Luther eventually plunking 2 more of the magic bolts from his bow into the suffering animal, quieting it completely. Though, the slopping suction noises the ooze continues to make is disturbing to hear. Bonnie tries to control her coveting mechanism as she calls up to the floating wizard before moving closer to Luther. Cealwyn and Paul keep an eye on the temple, not sure yet if the area should be considered safe.

Wes and Grimm watch the antics of the nervous phanaton outside the wall, Grimm looks back at the group and sees Bonnie heading closer. Wes tries to get the attention of an old friend of his, despite the obvious warnings from his frantic kinfolk. He speaks calmly to the tree dweller, and gets him to come within arms reach, but just before the druid can summon his magic to talk with the creature, he looks through the gate, turns back towards the jungle, and leaps up into the nearest tree again, slipping out of sight with the others.

Chauncey continues to float higher and higher in the air, elevating a full 20 feet over his initial position. He seems to be shaking his head a lot in a bit of confusion, and he either ignores the questions from below or, he doesn't hear them at all up this high. Nearly 40 feet off the ground now, he starts to see over the tops of the trees to the south, but the islands rising elevation keeps his view to the north blocked until he gets a little higher. The mage peers past the island, out over the open ocean that stretches as far as he can see. He can make out the loggers shack clearing, and Beachtown past that. Looking to the east, he sees the Dutty river, ending at the massive black cliffs and the waterfall. He can make out the clearing where he liberated the jungle natives from the tyranny of Bing’s pirates. A short distance away from that huge clearing, he spots another much smaller clearing, nearly due east of their current position. There is something long and thin reflecting light from the sun overhead, and a strange orange shape floating or flying above it. (Can I get a Hard Wisdom check with Chauncey’s next action, please?)

Actions?

Bonnie AC5 17/17
Luther AC3 30/30
Wes AC7 34/34 first 5/6 second 4/4 third 3/3 FF:13
Chauncey AC8 18/26 CL, DM, RM first 2/3 second 1/2 Lev:36
Mr. Wrenly AC7 4/4
Avaala AC8 12/12 CL, DM, RM first 2/2 second 1/1
Treasure AC2 12/12 35%MR
Cealwyn AC3 17/19
Paul AC6 7/7
Grimm AC5 10/10
overall map: viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6346#p366477

[Urson]

Luther
Luther stows his bow, turning away from Goopy as it absorbs the magical mount (or not). He raises his eyebrows when Bonnie asks her question.
"Wood of Eternal Lamentations"? That's a new one on me. Where is it, and why do you call it that?

And for the other- if I understand your question right, you're talking about a LONG backtrack. Why in the 7 heavens and 9 hells would we do that?

[SirOwen]

Avaala the Grey

Avaala listens to the conversation without much apparent interest. His attention seems to be focused on Chauncey. He is uncomfortable with his friend making himself so... visible ... in a place where camouflage and stealth seem to be their most powerful defenses.

[Karaunios]

Grimm

As the Monkoons leave, Grimm snorts. "Bah! Not much of a success. A pity. I wonder why they left." The irony in his last sentence could be cut with a knife.

He goes back to where the others are and catches up on the mule situation.

His beard can't hide his expression of disgust when he looks upward. And goes back to where he was with Wes.