[IC]Back to Basics

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 4:25 am

"HOLY SHIT!" Atani shouts

He watches, jaw agape, in mute silence as the scene unfolds before him. Things are well beyond his ken now so he watch and hold his bow silently, only firing if any one of the many plausible threats in this room seem to be coming towards the group.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 9:26 pm

Gilles is left speechless, his typical smile starting to fade out of pure shock. He tries to make sense of what he is certain is powerful magic (Spellcraft check.)

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:11 pm

Flintbeard yells at Tim: "DID YOU DO THAAAAT" while taking a defensive posture, ready to dash for the tunnel entrance if the hydra is not under Tim's full control.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:17 pm

Tim is currently curled up in a ball, holding the amulet tightly as the eight-headed hydra eats the mold men. The vegepygmies have no sense of fear for their own lives, but most go down after only a bite or two, and the tribe is quickly dwindling.

Gilles notes that this looks like a standard (though powerful) summoning spell, and the monster should vanish within a few rounds.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 2:14 am

Flintbeard charges at the veggiepygmies with shield and ax in hand (vaguely hoping the hydra can distinguish dwarf friend from mold man foe)

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 4:27 am

Dorgan, blinking away his shock, makes a beeline for Tim, avoiding the vegepygmies in his path, and attempts to get him back to the relative safety of the tunnel.

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 4:49 am

Atani, jolted back into action, will shoot at any mold men not in melee range with any friends of his.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:29 am

Dorgan manages to drag Tim, who is huddled in a fetal position and muttering, back to the relative safety under the cover of Atani's arrows as the hydra continues to go to work.

Flintbeard encounters a small group of mold men that have so far evaded the savage beast's hunger, and his axe cleaves into the soft flesh of the creatures with ease, leaving bloodless wounds that smell of rot and yeast.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Sat Oct 25, 2014 1:12 am

As the hydra goes to town on the salad bar...

...if the veggiepygmies are all occupied, Flintbeard will attempt to oil-fire the giant bulbous thing

...if the veggiepygmies are coming at Flintbeard or chasing Tim, Flintbeard will join in their withdrawl towards the tunnel.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sat Oct 25, 2014 4:35 pm

In very little time it appears that the hydra has eaten the entire tribe of mold men, and the Wort is blazing, belching thick brown smoke that curls upwards along the salt-stained stair; very soon after the hydra grows hazy and indistinct at the edges, and in a sudden and almost sickening collapse becomes once more a cloud of dark smoke, which streams back in to the golden amulet that Tim still clutches.

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Sat Oct 25, 2014 5:39 pm

Continue firing arrows at the blazing monstrosity if only to hasten it's certain death.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:00 pm

Flintbeard shouts "THANKYOU SNAKE-TOAD" and waves at the hydra as it goes home.

(is there any other path in this chamber other than the one we entered from?)

Flintbeard makes history/stonework checks on the monolith, on the cavern walls (get an idea of what shaped it, magic or by hand?) and what remains of the mosaic on the floor.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sat Oct 25, 2014 8:14 pm

(is there any other path in this chamber other than the one we entered from?)

Only the salt-encrusted stair. And with the smoke, it's sort of difficult to see what's at the top.

Flintbeard makes history/stonework checks on the monolith, on the cavern walls (get an idea of what shaped it, magic or by hand?) and what remains of the mosaic on the floor.

The Monolith is like nothing that Flintbeard has ever seen - it is of a strange material, smooth as glass or porcelain, and ice cold to the touch; a strange glow emanates from within, illuminating the chamber. It is largely colored in red, while the markings - strange, baroque letters vaguely resembling Elvish - are in white. Oddly, it is only marked on three sides - with the "front" being the most densely marked, while the back is a blank black slab covered with frost. On the front, there are three openings - a large slot about a foot off the ground, a smaller slot to the right of it, and a coin-shaped slot at about eye-level for a human which is marked with the ancient symbol for a silver coin in Common.

The cavern walls seem natural, though they have since been shaped by hammer and chisel - though it is hard to see how the Monolith could have been hauled down that stairwell - it possible that whoever crafted this stair simply found the Monolith here.

The mosaic - now somewhat cleared of sand and dust from the bttle - depicts a nude humanoid woman riding on a clamshell, emerging from the sea. But the woman's hands are the pincers of a lobster, and her head is the gangly-antenna'd face of a prawn, and the sea she rises from seems to be in an underground cavern, not on the surface. Very curious - and, if Flintbeard is any judge, very old. Possibly older than the mosaics in the tomb above.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:23 am

Confident in Atani's ability to finish off the Wort (EDIT: assuming the Wort is not completely dead yet), Gilles will make a Religion check on the carvings, since at a glance some of them seem quite familiar to him. He will do the same to the Monolith, and also check for traps around it.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:11 pm

Gilles will make a Religion check on the carvings mosaic, since at a glance some of them seem quite familiar to him.

Gilles recognizes the mosaic as a depiction of the Sea Mother, though he is unfamiliar with this particular part of her mythos.

He will do the same to the Monolith, and also check for traps around it.

The Monolith is terribly strange to him, though the strange, elaborate script is almost-Elven...enough that he can make out one word, an ancient term for "Water" which is only used in the context of potions, next to which there is a round button, worn with the passage of many hands.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Sun Oct 26, 2014 6:16 pm

Flintbeard suggests getting the mushroom bros to show us how the monolith is suppose to function.

Hicks · Post by **Hicks** » Sun Oct 26, 2014 7:25 pm

Agreed, the bros may reward us for burning out the wort.

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 6:39 am

Assuming the Wort is dead I agree to that suggestion. We'll ask the Elder Bro and if he doesn't know I'll just put a gold coin in and press the button.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 7:17 am

I think it needs quarterssilver pieces.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 1:50 pm

Gilles agrees that returning to the bros is a good idea.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 7:29 pm

You return to the cavern-isle of the mushroom men; the air smells sweet and exotic compared to the foulness of the burning Wort. The myconids are in a circle, the spores thick about them, singing some strange song. The Eldest Brother, sitting outside the circle and busying himself with fizzing potions, stands as he sees that the player characters have returned, and greets them each with a rib-crushing hug that leaves traces of spores on their skin and clothes.

*Welcome back, bros! We heard the sounds of battle and were very afraid for our little bros. Are you okay, bros?*

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 10:38 pm

"We're fine, Tim almost died but he summoned a hydra. The mold men have been dealt with and the wort defeated, the monolith now stands alone in that strange chamber."

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 7:56 am

"Would you perhaps guide us in just how to use it?"

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 3:53 pm

Nodding his great cap, the Eldest Brother lifts up his arms - releasing a veritable cloud of strange-smelling spores, somewhere between incense and rotting meat. From all across the "island," the mushroom people set down their tools and begin to congregate; the Eldest Brother himself ducks into one of the strange houses, returning a moment later wearing a large pouch before his crotch.

As they move, their steps fall into a shuffling rhythm, and once more a strange song seems to hum through the air, half-audible from their movements, half carried straight to your minds through the great spore-cloud. As the world goes slightly melty at the edges, you instinctively fall in to the shuffling line.

Within the chamber of the monolith, the fungus-people arrange themselves in three moving, interlocking dance-circles, shuffling in strange time as the Eldest Brother kneels, briefly, before the monolith. Then you see him open the great purse, and withdraw from it an ancient silver coin, the markings on it long since lost, and places it within the coin-shaped slot on the right hand side of the monolith. Strange colors you have never seen before dance through your vision, but you clearly see the great touch the circle - a button, you realize in a moment of incredible clarity - next to the topmost bit of writing.

There is an air of almost frenzied anticipation, the dance speeds up, and from the monolith comes a clunking sound, of metal on metal. Then the Eldest Brother reaches for the bottom slot, and withdraws a strange metal canister.

And the whole circle erupts as each of the mushroom people lets loose their spores at once.

Hicks · Post by **Hicks** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:37 am

*slow clap*