Logger's Peril, part 8
Log Info
- Title: Logger's Peril, part 8
- Emitter: Whirlpool
- Characters: Aimarra, Jozi, Randolf, Rumbo, Smuldur, Vespasian
- Place: Alexandros - Somewhere in Mythwood
- Time: Thursday, November 12th, 2020 11:00AM
- Summary: Having followed the real (so they believe) trail that the abducted loggers were taken on the adventurers stumble into a trap and have to beat off the advances of a nasty tendriculos!
- APL: 2-5
- Encounter 1: A nasty tendriculos tries to entagle the group after they stumble into a trap.
-=-=-=-=-=-= At a glance around Staff: Room of DoooOOooooOoom! =-=-=-=-=-=-= Aimarra 5'1" 128 Lb Half-Elf Female Brown hair and eyes, breastplate, leathers, pointed ears. Jozi 5'8" 148 Lb Half-Orc Female A brunette half-orcess with a sunny disposition. Randolf 4'10" 280 Lb Mountain Dwarf Male A burly, well-dressed Khazad in wizardly robes. Rumbo 3'2" 35 Lb Goblin Male A gun-toting gobber with a wooden peg-leg. Whirlpool Lb Otyugh I am stinky! -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
GAME: Randolf rolls Fortitude+2: (5)+5+2: 12
Rumbo looks aghast at his dragonspitter for a moment before holstering it quickly and plainly. "Trap?" His empty hand signals up in the air beside his head while the Gobber looks to Aimarra before jerking again "I have a cunning plan!" <handspeech>
There's definiitely a .. /very/ fine pollen in the air. Now that you're paying attention, you can see it, aqt least. Barely. Dust in the air.
Ivy is sneezing daintily into their hands. The dryad seems ... unaffected. THey are, after all, part plant.
Right?
Randolf tromps along with the others, gripping his wand at the ready as he glances around warily. The sudden sneeze-fit from Rumbo has the burly dwarf wheeling around, bringing his wand up. But no, it's not a terrible monster come to devour them. It's just Rumbo. Which could, in all actuality, possibly be just as bad. Especially when that wild shot goes ringing out. "Gyah!" He ducks, clapping his hand atop his bonnet. This, of course, puts him close to the dusted foliage. He looks up as Aimarra covers her mouth, blinking a couple times. He doesn't understand handspeech, unfortunately. "Lassie? What are ye--wha... ahh..." His large dwarven nose wrinkles, and he reels back as his face screws up. "YAH-SHOOH!" His explosive sneeze bends him double. He belts out a couple more boisterous sneezes, before snurrking loudly. "Beards o' me... snnf!... beards o' me fathers... the hell -is- this?" he asks.
GAME: Rumbo rolls Knowledge/Nature: (17)+9: 26
Aimarra isn't quite able to answer at once, sneezing into her hands as she is as the fine dust overcomes her as well. "Ha-schoo!" She holds her breath briefly, reaching into her pack in search of a cloth that might possibly be used to cover nose and mouth against this stuff. They've almost certainly been heard.
Jozi moves as quiet as she can, arrow nocked, though the bow isn't held under load. She scans about with her eyes, and actually jumps when the gunshot goes off and she whirls on Rumbo. And then the sneezing starts. Mother's Matronly Mellowness! The half orc does backhand anyone, though there's a ripple of tension along her arm. Instead, she growls and sweeps the area along the line of her arrow, "Alright, damnit, move in , try ta surround it!"
Rumbo glances to his wizarding companion as one hand slips into a coat pocket. "Remember your pipe big friend?" He whispers loudly while retrieving a Tindertwig. Rumbo strikes the head to ignite the twig, waggles it gently under his nose and then sticks it in his mouth like a toothpick with the end still lit as is sticks out from his lips.
The Gobber then proceeds to work at loading his dragonspitter with powder and shot all while chewing on a lit Tindertwig... genius or insane?! <khazdul>
GAME: Rumbo used a Tindertwig.
Randolf's face squinches up as he fights back another sneezing fit. Rumbo is given a look as he muffles his face with the sleeve of his robe. "Well aye, I could kill fer a smoke right now but... this isne the time fer it, is it...?" He peers as the gobber tucks a flaming tindertwig in his mouth. "Er...?" He glances around at the others, still holding his sleeve over his face. "Well... i's a fair bet they ken we're here. So... kick the door in an' go wild?" He grips his wand, looking hopeful. He may be a scholarly sort, but he's a -dwarven- scholarly sort. And dwarves do love kicking in doors and going wild.
That they have.
IVy is frustrated, even as the tinder twig casts more light into the area, to say nothing of start to flare up and burn some of the ambient pollen you've kicked up.
That's when something reaches down aterrible, thorny vine and grabs at them!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ATTENTION -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Whirlpool has dropped a TIMESTOP! Please +init, then cease all roleplay and actions immediately and wait for Whirlpool to instruct you further. You may earn RPP by logging a scene for a GM. For in-combat commands, type: +thelp. -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 22. It is now Aimarra's turn! Rumbo is next! GAME: Aimarra rolls weapon1+1: (5)+7+1: 13 GAME: Aimarra rolls 1d6+2+1: (5)+2+1: 8
By the light of the tindertwig, things are starting to clear a little - and Aimarra jumps back as tendrils loom out of the dust cloud, snapping at them! Without thiking, she snaps off a shot at the nearest tendril, sinking it nicely into the thorny vine. "Company!"
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 20. It is now Rumbo's turn! Ivy is next! GAME: Rumbo rolls ArcaneDragonspitter: aliased to Ranged+1: (2)+4+1: 7
Rumbo jumps as he is startled by the grasping tendrils that lurch and move. He too lurches and fires off a clumsy shot with his draonspitter that barks loudly, sends sparks flying from the barrel and then trails smoke as the Gobber attempts to shoot the vegetation.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 17. It is now Ivy's turn! Dryad is next! GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+7: (4)+7: 11 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+7: (8)+7: 15 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d8: (6): 6
Ivy's bow snaps into their hand and they fires off two shots in rapid succession. They definitely know what they're doing. Only one of them impacts, though, and even then their damage appears to be limited.
There is an uttered curse.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 16. It is now Dryad's turn! Jozi is next!
"...gwah!"
The dryad squeaks, gesturing wildly and yelling at the creature. Confusingly, MORE vines erupt and seek to grab at the ... other ... set ... of vines.
This just got confusing, huh.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 11. It is now Jozi's turn! tendrils! is next! GAME: Jozi rolls perception: (16)+8: 24 GAME: Jozi rolls weapon6: (13)+4: 17
Jozi isn't happy. As the tendrils come down from above, the bekilted Oruch-blooded lass gives a scan up whence they've come and brings up the bow. The wood and horn of her curious recurve creak deeply, the heavy string taut and the arrow flies with a bassy 'whoosh!' into the darkness.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 7. It is now tendrils!'s turn! Randolf is next! GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+11: (4)+11: 15 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+6: (11)+6: 17 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+6: (1)+6: 7 (EPIC FAIL)
Indeed, now lowering itself out of the trees, the creature leans doiwn to grab at Jozi and then AImarra with tentacles and then a ragged, snaggle-toothed maw of sharp wooden spikes and great thorns.
It doesn't succeed. Thankfully.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round One - Init 6. It is now Randolf's turn! Aimarra is next! GAME: Randolf rolls ranged: (7)+2: 9 GAME: Randolf rolls 4d6: (16): 16 GAME: Randolf casts Scorching Ray. Caster Level: 3 DC: 15
Randolf yelps as the vines start swinging down and lashing at the party. His hand strays to the axe on his belt, until he sees Jozi aiming -up-. His gaze follows the arrow, and land on the cluster of vines. "Oh, so -tha's- how it is, eh?" He lifts his hands, his gaze gaining razor sharpness. "RE EX RE ANTU AKH ASCORIUS! HYAAH!" He snaps his hand up, and a beam of searing orange heat lances out to slam into the vines. Foliage crackles and blackens as the magic roasts the vegetation. "HAH! HOW D'YE LIKE -THAT-, YE OVERGROWN SHRUB?!"
GAME: NEW ROUND! Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Two - Init 22. It is now Aimarra's turn! Rumbo is next! GAME: Aimarra rolls weapon1+1: (3)+7+1: 11
Seeing the others shoot straight _up_, Aimarra jumps back and cranes her neck upwards to see what they're shooting at. _Oh._ Swiftly, the bow snaps up to take aim at the thing, but finds only thick tree branch instead. "Damn it," she mutters, blinking the pollen out of her eyes.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Two - Init 20. It is now Rumbo's turn! Ivy is next!
Rumbo grimaces after missing with the dragonspitter and focuses his efforts on reloading it while the others fight with spell and arrow. With a measured pour of powder, a wad and a lead ball Rumbo rams them all down the barrel of his small dragonspitter with the handy rod.
Seeing the others shoot straight _up_, Aimarra jumps back and cranes her neck upwards to see what they're shooting at. _Oh._ Swiftly, the bow snaps up to take aim at the thing, but finds only thick tree branch instead. "Damn it," she mutters, blinking the pollen out of her eyes.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Two - Init 17. It is now Ivy's turn! Dryad is next! GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+7: (5)+7: 12 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+7: (14)+7: 21 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d8: (3): 3
Ivy lands another arrow in the bulk of vines, stepping next to Aimmarra and having trust in her professionalism. It's a stance that says 'I've got your back'.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Two - Init 16. It is now Dryad's turn! Jozi is next!
The grasping vines slow the creature down further as the dryad hides behind a nearby tree, mumbling in the fey tongue.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Two - Init 11. It is now Jozi's turn! tendrils! is next! GAME: Jozi rolls weapon6: (19)+4: 23 GAME: Jozi rolls 1d6+4: (1)+4: 5
With things livening up, Jozi sidles a bit to the side to get a better angle and smoothly nocks and looses another arrow, this time landing the shot, though it's hard a stellar one.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Two - Init 7. It is now tendrils!'s turn! Randolf is next! GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+9: (20)+9: 29 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+9: (20)+9: 29 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+4: (3)+4: 7 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+4: (1)+4: 5 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Whirlpool rolls 4d6+16: (14)+16: 30 GAME: Aimarra rolls knowledge/nature: (13)+8: 21 GAME: Randolf rolls knowledge/nature: (8)+5: 13 GAME: Rumbo rolls Knowledge/Nature: (14)+9: 23
...so, you know, that maw. That maw leans down. It grabs Jozi. It pulls her into its mouth. It crunches her horribly. Those crunching sounds are just ... not ... good.
Then it spits her out. Because there's still more ofr you that need crunching.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Two - Init 6. It is now Randolf's turn! Aimarra is next! GAME: Randolf rolls 1d20+4: (2)+4: 6 GAME: Randolf rolls 1d8+2: (6)+2: 8
Randolf's whiskers twist as he bares his teeth in a furious snarl. He pulls his battleaxe off his belt and grips it, eyeing the writhing vines overhead. "C'mon, grass-arse! Ye want te play, do ye? Eh?! BRING IT!! HRAAAGH!" He cocks his hand back and hurls his axe with all his strength. The weapon whirling end over end and chunking into the vines. He clenches his hand into a fist and pulls it back. The Khazad runes etched into the blade flaring as the axe flies back to his hand. "I CAN DO THIS ALL BLOODY DAY, YE BASTARD!"
GAME: NEW ROUND! Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Three - Init 22. It is now Aimarra's turn! Rumbo is next! GAME: Aimarra rolls weapon1+1: (6)+7+1: 14
Aimarra glances over at Ivy as the sil approaches her, and her smile is a brief acknowledgement. She looks up at the thing, takes aim again, misses again, and peers at it. "It's a tendriculos! It's vulnerable to fire, but so is the forest! Wizard, that spell of yours was good, do it again!"
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Three - Init 20. It is now Rumbo's turn! Ivy is next! GAME: Rumbo rolls ArcaneDragonspitter: aliased to Ranged+1: (7)+4+1: 12 GAME: Rumbo rolls 1d6: (4): 4
Rumbo lifts his dragonspitter and points it towards the tree tops where the others have been shooting. KABLAAM! The dragonspitter barks as he finds something to shoot at and a smile stretches the Gobber's wide mouth.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Three - Init 17. It is now Ivy's turn! Dryad is next! GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+7: (3)+7: 10 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+7: (15)+7: 22 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d8: (8): 8
Another arrow shoots from Ivy's bow and strikes into the mass of the creature. It's withered a bit, now, but it seems to still be 9intent on aggression. Ivy's face is all scrunched up in concentration at this point.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Three - Init 16. It is now Dryad's turn! Jozi is next!
DArting forward, the dryad grabs the fallen form of Jozi and tries to drag her back. She's no terribly strong, but she IS trying.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Three - Init 11. It is now Jozi's turn! tendrils! is next! GAME: Jozi rolls constitution: (18)+2: 20
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Three - Init 7. It is now tendrils!'s turn! Randolf is next! GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+9: (18)+9: 27 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+4: (1)+4: 5 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+4: (7)+4: 11 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d6+7: (7)+7: 14 GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+19: (7)+19: 26
The creature leans forward again, glancing between Rumbo and Aimarra with its bulk turning one way and then the other. It's not smarqt enough to underwstand how Randofl hurt it, clearly, and so it leans forward and snatches the tallest meal: AImarra.
It pulls her into its massive maw, crunching and biting on her painfully.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order. Round Three - Init 6. It is now Randolf's turn! Aimarra is next! GAME: Randolf rolls ranged: (16)+2: 18 GAME: Randolf rolls 4d6: (17): 17 GAME: Whirlpool removes the timestop. Timestop by Whirlpool has left.
Randolf's eyes bug out as poor Jozi gets made into plant food. "Lass! NO!" He trundles over to stand protectively over the half-orc, brandishing his axe in one hand and his wand in the other. Aimarra's call has him glancing over his shoulder at her, then back up to the tendriculous. As she's swept up by the creature, he cries out. "No! Damn you, NO!!" He looks back up at the monster, his face turning as red as his beard. He lifts his wand, sketching a precise pattern with the tip. "RE EX RE ANTU AKH ASCORIUS! HAH!" Again, a bolt of searing orange blazes forth, slamming into the plant-beast. "BURN, YE BASTARD! BURN!" he roars, focusing all his dwarven fury on the beast.
Aimarra had screamed in pain as the thing swept her up, any further words to Randolf lost in its tentacles, but then the smell of green plant flesh roasting rises around her, the heat of the fire barely touching her. The blackened tendrils go limp, and she falls unceremoniously from the tree heights where it had been lairing, slamming into the dirt of the forest floor with a groan. She, at least, does seem to still be conscious.
Rumbo sheathes his dragonspitter after the... whatever nasty forest thing it was... falls to the ground after being burned up by the wizards fiery ray and hurries over towards the Dryad and Jozi. "Dark fey thing dead?" He asks in his rough tradespeak while reaching into a pocket to retrieve his Goblin Army Knife, "Camp ambush bait?"
"Did none of you bring any healing potions?" ask Ivy, glancing between the lot of adventurers. She tuts once and produces her own, aiming to pour it down Jozi's throat.
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d8+3: (10)+3: 13
Jozi's surpine form, ravaged and bloody as it is, at least seems to be stable in the aftermath. With the potion poured down her throat, the half orc gasps in a deep breath as her eyes snap open, momentaril frantic and disoriented. She calms quickly, seeing the others on their feet, she gives a grateful, "Thanks, sugar.... everyone else alright?" "She needs help," says Ivy, giving a nod towards Aimarra. Then they straighten up and step back. The dryad is hiding behind a tree still. Figures. Randolf grunts as the tendriculos flails its last. "Hrmph! Tha's what ye get when ye piss off a dwarf!" he growls, holstering his axe and wand. He looks back to Ivy as the potion is administered. "Suppose I'll need te start carryin' some potions if I'm goin' te be out adventurin'," he grumbles. He goes over to Aimarra, kneeling by her. He reaches down to tear a few strips from the hem of his robe. "Easy, lassie. I'm no healer, but I can bind ye up, at least," he says. Aimarra doesn't answer the comment about potions at once, but instead seems to be focused on gathering her wits and picking herself up off of the ground. When Randolf kneels down next to her, though, she rolls over a little to look up at him. "Well done." The play on words is accompanied by a smirk, despite obvious pain. "Dangerous, tendriculos are. They weren't kidding. Let's ... bind up and see if we can find those loggers. If they're still alive." <pre> GAME: Rumbo rolls perception: (3)+9: 12 GAME: Jozi rolls perception: (6)+8: 14 GAME: Aimarra rolls perception: (15)+10: 25 GAME: Randolf rolls perception: (18)+2: 20
Aimarra doesn't answer the comment about potions at once, but instead seems to be focused on gathering her wits and picking herself up off of the ground, with another harsh sneeze. When Randolf kneels down next to her, though, she rolls over a little to look up at him. "Well done." The play on words is accompanied by a smirk, despite obvious pain and the words sounding a little congested. "Dangerous, tendriculos are. They weren't kidding. Let's ... bind up and see if we can find those loggers. If they're still alive."
Jozi gets slowly, painfully to her feet and shuffles over toward Aimarra, "Here, lemme see ta that." With those words, and a soft groan, she settles to a knee beside the elf and reaches up to clutch something from under her collar. She whispers something to her mother, or something of that sort, and reaches out to infuse her with some healing warmth.
GAME: Jozi casts Cure Light Wounds. Caster Level: 2 DC: 13 GAME: Jozi rolls 1d8+2: (5)+2: 7
...good news!
Once you're all a bit more stabilized, you begin to move on, following the trail you've once again located. It diverts a second time from this area and has left an actual false trail for you to follow in its place, which you do for a time before eralizing your error and geting back on the *actual* trail. Before long, you've located what appears to be a shack in the woods.
Yes, an actual cabin, and in fact, it's rather well concealed, built into qa deeper, darker section of forest as it is.
"... I wonder if the loggers are here? At the very least, whoever's in there knows *something*. Probably dangeroius, too.."