The Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom (Game Thread VII)

[JadedDM]

Babushka swings her weapon at her opponent, but it blocks her week blow with its arm, then slaps the staff from her hands. It clatters on the ground at her feet. The podman then grabs her by the shoulder and slams its free fist into her mouth. She staggers and tastes blood, but remains standing. Her peripheral vision goes blurry, however, and she feels she can't take another hit like that.

Locky thrusts her hoopak's point into her opponent, only narrowly missing its heart. Or where it's heart should be...if it even has a heart. Locky isn't positive. In any case, the podman staggers and almost lets go, but manages to pull through. It appears to be on its last legs, however. It swings at her, weakly, and she easily evades.

Ulster takes aim and fires another couple of shots at the Shroom, but both of them miss again. "Damn it, I had better aim when I was still trapped in that cage!" he laments.

The Shroom snears at him. "I should have tossed you in the grinder when I had the chance, human! No matter, I'll take care of you now!" He begins chanting, then hurls an arrow of fire right toward Ulster. Realizing he's in trouble, Ulster hops into the pool with a yelp just before the flame arrow strikes. This saves him, and he quickly resurfaces with a sigh of relief.

Frustrated that it missed, the Shroom nevertheless takes the opportunity to stomp out the torch Ulster had thrown, thus once again shrouding itself in total darkness.

======================

Babushka attacks Podman 04 with the Fungus Staff (1, critical fumble). She drops the staff.
Locky stabs at Podman 03 with the sharp end of her hoopak (22, critical hit) for 6 damage.
Jerrard bleeds for 1 point of damage.
Ulster fires his bow at the Sinister Shroom (1d20-2): 7, miss. He fires again (1d20-2): 3, miss.
The Sinister Shroom casts Flame Arrow at Ulster. (1d20): 6, miss.
Podman 03 attacks Locky with its fist (1d20): 8, miss.
Podman 04 attacks Babushka (1d20): 19, grab. It then swings its free fist at her (1d20): 14, hit for (1d6): 2 damage.

Round 7!

Party's Initiative (1d10): 8
Enemy's Initiative (1d10): 4

(Enemy wins!)

The Sinister Shroom stomps out the torch.

(Party's turn!)

.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.
.X.X.X.p._._.p.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._._.S.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._.1._._.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._._._.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._._._.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._.w.w.X.X.X.
.X.X.X.3.4.2.w.X.X.X.
.X.X.X.L.J.B.U.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._._._.X.X.X.
.X.X.X.X._._.X.X.X.X.

X – Wall
S – Sinister Shroom
w – Water (pool)
p – Hanging pod
1-4 – Podmen
L – Locky
B – Babushka
U – Ulster
J – Jerrard
t - Torch

(OOC: Not going so well. Babushka and Locky both suffer a -4 to hit while grabbed. Ulster cannot see anything. Jerrard is bleeding out.)

[Breila]

Babushka reaches for Shay's knife on her belt and tries to stab the podman grabbing her (if she can)

17-4=13, hits AC 4, for 3 damage

(ooc: if all my rolls had been like this, we would fare better!)

[Jenara]

Locky stabs at the creature in desperation, she hated this, her friends were dying... wiping a tear she shouts out at the shroom.

"Silly Shroom, did all the other Shrooms taunt you for having a small head? You couldnt hit me if you tried." She starts to taunt the Shroom, trying to get his attention.

1d20+2=15-4 = 11, hit AC8.
1d4+1=4 4 dmg

[JadedDM]

Babushka whips out the little knife Shay loaned her, and slices off part of one of the podman's fingers. This avails her not, however. The podman merely balls up its bloody fist, then slams it across the gnome's face. The entire room spins, then goes black, as Babushka falls unconscious.

Locky stabs her opponent once more, this time not missing the heart. The podman shudders, releases its grip on her, and collapses onto the cavern floor before going still.

The Shroom merely laughs at her taunt. "Is that the shrill voice of a kender I hear? How desperate the surface-dwellers must be to send one after me. Such lowly creatures they are, I never even experimented on them! Any I captured were immediately killed and put in the grinder. Haha!"

Ulster gets back to his feet and takes a deep breath. He can't see a thing, but he can hear the Shroom's taunting. He fires two arrows in that general direction, but has no idea if they hit or not. "This is bad," he mutters to nobody in particular as he realizes he is beginning to run out of arrows.

====================

Babushka attacks Podman 04 with Shay's knife (17, hit) for 3 damage.
Locky attacks Podman 03 with the pointy side of her hoopak (11, hit) for 4 damage. Podman 03 falls.
Locky taunts the Sinister Shroom. The Sinister Shroom's saving throw (1d20): 19, pass. The Sinister Shroom is not taunted.
Jerrard bleeds for 1 damage.
Ulster fires his bow at the Sinister Shroom (1d20-6): 7, miss. He fires again (1d20-6): 0, miss.
Podman 04 punches at Babushka (1d20): 16, hit for (1d6): 4 damage. Babushka falls.

Round 8!

Party's Initiative (1d10): 1
Enemy's Initiative (1d10): 9

(Party wins!)

.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.
.X.X.X.p._._.p.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._._.S.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._.1._._.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._._._.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._._._.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._.w.w.X.X.X.
.X.X.X.3.4.2.w.X.X.X.
.X.X.X.L.J.B.U.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._._._.X.X.X.
.X.X.X.X._._.X.X.X.X.

X – Wall
S – Sinister Shroom
w – Water (pool)
p – Hanging pod
1-4 – Podmen
L – Locky
B – Babushka
U – Ulster
J – Jerrard
t - Torch

(OOC: Is this the untimely end of our adventurers? We could use a miracle right about now.)

[Jenara]

"Ulster take up Jerrards sword, use it!" Locky shouts, as she charges past the last podman, aiming a her last stone (and anything else she can find) straight for the shroom.

Locky fires a stone, and the bottle with the horse on the side at the Shroom.

1d20+5=25, 1d20+5=25 Two Criticals!
1d4+1=3, 1d4+1=2 6 & 4 Damage

(Btw I have been using the wrong dice for her spear all this time! its 1d6+2 not 1d4+1. oh well)

(OMG! OMG!)

[JadedDM]

Locky fires her last pellet at the Sinister Shroom, which impacts right in its ugly face. It staggers back, outraged, and whatever spell it had been casting is lost as it covers its face with its hands. Not even thinking twice, Locky pulls out the bottle she found earlier, loads it in her hoopak's sling, and lets loose.

Locky had no idea that the bottle was, in fact, magical. For that matter, neither did the Shroom. He had found it, ages ago, thought it looked nice, and used it to store liquids in. Neither the Shroom nor Locky could know that the horses painted on the bottle were more than just pretty pictures, but part of a complex summoning enchantment.

When the bottle smashed against the Shroom's big head, the spell was released. Two riding horses, a beautiful black stallion and a graceful white mare, complete with saddles, bridles, and horseshoes, materialized in mid-air, just over the Shroom's head...where the bottle had been broken.

The Shroom did not even have time to shout out as the two horses, whinnying in surprise, dropped on top of him, crushing him. The Shroom's last thoughts were of utter disbelief, that after everything he had done, all the work and all of the preparation, all of the schemes hatched and plans plotted...he had been completely undone, by the blind, dumb luck...of a kender.

Ulster, however, did not see any of this. He heard Locky shout at him, and he heard horses whinnying. "What the Abyss?" he says, fumbling around in the dark. He nearly trips over Babushka and Jerrard before finding the last podman. He swings at it, getting a lucky hit. But the podman retaliates by grabbing his left arm and holding on tight. "Hey, leggo! It's got me!"

=======================

Locky fires her last pellet at the Sinister Shroom (25, critical hit!) for 6 damage. The Sinister Shroom's spell is disrupted. Locky fires the bottle with painted horses on it at the Sinister Shroom (25, critical hit!) for 4 damage. The bottle breaks, releasing two riding horses that crush the Sinister Shroom for 24 damage. The Sinister Shroom falls.
Jerrard bleeds for 1 damage.
Babushka bleeds for 1 damage.
Ulster attacks Podman 04 with his long sword (1d20-3): 13, hit for (1d8+2): 6 damage.
Podman 04 attacks Ulster (1d20): 7, miss. And again (1d20): 13, grab.

Round 9!

(Initiative not needed, podmen always lose. So party goes first!)

.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.
.X.X.X.p._._.p.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._.H.H.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._.1._._.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._._._.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._._._.X.X.X.
.X.X.X.L._.w.w.X.X.X.
.X.X.X.3.4.2.w.X.X.X.
.X.X.X.U.J.B._.X.X.X.
.X.X.X._._._._.X.X.X.
.X.X.X.X._._.X.X.X.X.

X – Wall
H - Riding Horse
w – Water (pool)
p – Hanging pod
1-4 – Podmen
L – Locky
B – Babushka
U – Ulster
J – Jerrard

[Jenara]

"What pretty horses! Did you see that? Oh no, you couldnt.." Locky mutters, turning her hoopak towards the final podman she smacks it on the head, then heads to help her friends.

1d20+2=19 hit
1d6+2=4 4 damage

(wow! How very cool, Locky has a great story to tell soon, she is rather good with that sling)

[JadedDM]

Locky finishes off the last podman casually, stabbing it from behind while it's grappling with Ulster. The podman collapses, letting go of the warrior. Confused, Ulster looks around blindly and asks, "What happened? Did I kill it?"

=====================

Locky attacks Podman 04 with her hoopak's point (19, hit) for 4 damage. Podman 04 falls.
Jerrard bleeds 1 point of damage.
Babushka bleeds 1 point of damage.

(OOC: Haha, who will believe her? Jerrard and Babushka are unconscious, Ulster is blind...no witnesses! Heh, heh!)

[Jenara]

Locky binds both members wounds.

(Will be a story like Tas's woolly mammoth or getting teleported to the tower... "One time i fired a bottle at a big mushroom and two horses appeared..!)

(Have to sleep, 2am..)

"Well, no, I did but you should have seen it, can you light one of those torches and help me with these two?" She asks binding wounds, "I fired a bottle at the Shroom and two horses appeared, they squashed him! The Shroom is quite dead, and we have two horses here..." She grins.

[JadedDM]

"You can't be serious," Ulster says. He fumbles around for a torch, lights it, and holds it aloft. He can now see the dead podmen and his unconscious teammates. After helping Locky bind their wounds, he heads north to investigate the Shroom. "Yikes!" he says in surprise upon seeing the trampled Shroom and the two horses.

The horses seem a bit spooked. "Wish Thuskar was here," Ulster mutters. "He was always good with horses." Gently shooing them away, he inspects the body of the Shroom. After confirming it is dead, he searches it, finding a book, a broken stick, and a potion. He ignores the stick and collects the book and potion, then returns to Locky.

"Are they going to make it? We can't exactly carry them all of the way back."

=======================

Jerrard and Babushka are stabilized but unconscious.

[Jenara]

"Well, I will help Babuskha, she has a skill with Animals. Then we rest." She smiles at Ulster, grinning. "I get my spells back, we get the group back, and rejoin the others."

Locky casts cure light wounds on Bab, Stroking her hair, "Hello, are you any good with horses?" She asks, pointing to the two spooked creatures.

[JadedDM]

Babushka regains consciousness, although she's still in considerable pain from the beating she took. Looking around, she can see Locky kneeling over her, Ulster holding a torch and on the other side of the cavern with two horses of all things. Jerrard lies unconscious near her, bandaged up. She finds most of her wounds have been bandaged, as well. All of the podmen and the Shroom appear dead.

"What about this potion?" Ulster asks. "Maybe it will revive Jerrard."

====================

Locky casts Cure Light Wounds on Babushka. Babushka is restored to 1 HP.

[Breila]

"wh.. what?"A little disoriented, Babushka regains her senses. Once again, the kender had saved her...

Taking a deep breath, she sits up and looks around. "You said horses? How can they come here?" As she sees the animals, her eyes widen and she slowly gets up, accepting help if it's offered. She looks at Jerrard and asks Locky: "Will he be OK?"

After a positive answer, she slowly walks over to the horses, her eyes gleaming. Softly speaking words of tenderness in Gnome, she approaches to befriend them, doing her best to bestow attention equally on both.

[JadedDM]

Whispering softly in her own tongue, Babushka quietly approaches. The horses seem to calm down considerably, and even allow the ranger to reach up and touch them.

"Wow, she's good," Ulster comments to Locky.

======================

Black Stallion makes a saving throw vs. rods at a -2 penalty (1d20): 11, fail. The black stallion is now friendly towards Babushka.
White Mare makes a saving throw vs. rods at a -2 penalty (1d20): 14, fail. The white mare is now friendly towards Babushka.

[Breila]

Babushka is enjoying a moment of peace with the two horses, caressing their tender muzzles, softly blowing out her breath to mimic their snorts.

Then she lets them go and walks over to Ulster and Locky. "What do we do now? Can you heal Jerrard, too? We don't have enough light to stay here if you have to sleep beforehand, do you think it would be safe to lift him on one of the horses if we can do that?"

No, wait, there's that steep passage that's hard on the horses even if they don't carry any weight. And we have the ladders and waterfall... we must find another way out for them! Babushka looks concerned.