Underfed Returns! pt9
Good news, everyone!
The CAVE is CRUMBLING. It's unbelievable, given your state, that they should buy it...
...but they do.
"...oh no," yells one, "the cave is crumbling! Everyone out! We gotta go!"
They're turning aorund to get out of here. It's weird, though. None of you present a believably Charnese front -- not even Nasrin despite how convincing she is (and she is very convincing, covered in dirt and blood and being a weird ginger Korite) -- but they just ROLL WITH IT, climbing right back out, in a lot of instances, back to the surace, because 'oh no, the cave is collapsing!".
As far as Asmli is concerned, he isn't about to look a gift pony in the mouth - and Nasrin won't buy a drink in his presence for at least the next month. He doesn't hesitate, lighting up like a gnomish variety show and waiting only long enough to be sure he is behind the group of Charneth they just bamboozled before making a run for it himself. Getting out in the confusion of the camp will take only moments, but moments is all they will have, and he knows it. They need to get back to K'nap, and vanish into the desert night, quickly.
Victor climbs out soon after, looking around to orient himself. "That worked much better than I could have predicted," he notes to Nasrin. "I suggest we make our way out of the area."
"...That worked? Well. Of course it worked." Nasrin pauses for a second. "Definitely. Let's get out of here _now_." Nasrin is prepared to simply leg it, using her long, gangly stick figure body to its best advantage- as best she can while wearing full plate armor, at least. "less talking, more fleeing."
It's totally collapsing, that cave.
(Except for the failure of it to actually collapse.)
Still, you're able to get up out in the open, admist all the chaos and confusion, and make a break for it. Just need to get through the ring of wagons, right?
Just that. Maybe you'll even get out of here alive.
GAME: Asmli rolls athletics: (12)+5: 17
GAME: Victor rolls athletics: (14)+9: 23
GAME: Nasrin rolls athletics: (14)+-2: 12
Now, all of that time spent playing wargames and physical tests of strength and speed among his fellow Angorites is _really_ paying off for Asmli. He dashes through the chaos back towards the ring of wagons, not bothering to answer any of his companions and saving his breath for the run. He looks back only once or twice to ensure that the others are behind him as he darts for a quiet hole in the ring of wagons, as close as he can guess to the direction K'nap lies.
Victor runs along in a stiff yet mechanically efficient gait. He studies the wagons as they approach, and also looks back a few times - but to study the entrance to the dig site for signs of anyone or anything else emerging.
Nasrin will keep running, taking a spot just behind the monstrous, stony gargoyle Victor. Just in case arrows start flying, perhaps. She is less concerned about new arrivals than getting where she needs to be in the first place.
You make a break for it. It's admist all the others, of course, who are going for the wagons. It's bedlam amongst poor morale soldiers who were really just wanting to flee, alongside the workers, but were in the middle of the desert with nowhere to go.
...but you have a destination. That tower, the one you told K'nap to wait at.
You make it into the desert dunes, the wind at your back, the hot sun bearing down on you and threatening to boil you alive in your armors. It's all going quite well until the ground beneath your feet quakes. You nearly lose ytour footing but are able to keep it as sand shifts beneath you.
Bursting from the sand in front of you is a small figure, rising up on a mound ot it, as if the sand itself belongs to him, obeys his command.
It's him. You know it in your hearts as the icy chill of despair grips you. To come so close, but to simply be beat out by his power.
"/Well/," he rasps.
"A fair bit of trouble your lot has caused me this day."
He does not sound pleased.
Uh-oh. Asmli fairly skids to a halt amid the shifting sands, hand going to the harness that holds his urgrosh, his eyes going wide. Still, he stands his ground, and if his heart is threatening to pound its way out of his chest and make a break from it, can he be blamed? "Good. That thing was trouble itself. What'd you want with it, anyway?" Stall for time. Anything.
Victor slows to a stop and then looks at the figure with a hint of unease. "How did you find us...?" He is careful not to look in the direction he thinks the tower to be, in case there's any chance the lich doesn't know that's where there headed. Despite Victor's disappointment in their guide's performance, if there's a chance K'nap can get away the golem doesn't want to spoil it.
Nasrin says, “Trouble? Us? Nooo..." Nasrin waves this off with her left hand then lets out a a weak laugh. "Just, you know. Doing our job. keeping you entertained! No harm done, right? We've kept you having something to do for a few hours so we'll just- go... home..."”
"You can't be serious," rasps the Lord, his tongue accented with age, undeath, and rot.
And being a halfling.
"Do you expect me to give up my plan to you? Who do you think I am? You're going to tell me who you are and what you're doing here and then I will strip the souls from your bodies and feed you to the engine once I repair it. But, first, perhaps..."
He raises his hand before his face and blows on his palm, sand swirling outwards. It takes shape before you, growing, pulling the sand beneath you into itself, as it begins to take on a more humanoid, monstrous appearance.
Oh boy.
"Let's play a little game, shall we?"
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 12.
It is now Victor's turn! Nasrin is next!
GAME: Victor rolls 3d4+3: (6)+3: 9
GAME: Victor casts Magic Missile. Caster Level: 5 DC: 16
Victor still feels weakened and estimates he won't last long in a pitched battle with such a monster. He chants and raises his hands, both telltale signs of a classic spell. Glowing bolts of pure force dart forth, homing in unerringly on the sand monster.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round One - Init 9.
It is now Nasrin's turn! Asmli is next!
GAME: Nasrin rolls weapon12+1+2+1: (3)+8+1+2+1: 15
GAME: Nasrin rolls 1d12+3+strength+2+4+1: (8)+3+3+2+4+1: 21
"Well, a game I can handle. Even if it's... Oh, this game again? Well. At least I know the rules." Grumbling, Nasrin takes up her axe and breathes a sigh. She waits for the sand golem to fully form then launches into a headlong charge, shouting as she throws herself at her foe. Her axe ctually bites deep into the sand. Maybe this is doing something.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round One - Init 7.
It is now Asmli's turn! Sand Golem? is next!
GAME: Asmli rolls weapon2-2: (3)+8+-2: 9
The sand nearly blinds Asmli as it forms, so he doesn't see Nasrin invoke the axe at first, and he lunges at the thing himself with a flaming, gauntleted fist - to no avail.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round One - Init 3.
It is now Sand Golem?'s turn! Edinaz is next!
GAME: Edinaz RAGES!, gaining +2 to melee attack/damage/Will saves and 10 temporary HP
GAME: Edinaz rolls 1d20+15: (11)+15: 26
GAME: Edinaz rolls 1d8+7: (5)+7: 12
Edinaz goes racing forwards, his Korite tattoos flaring with silvery light as he sails into battle. His first sword strike blows through in a gale of sand!
GAME: NEW ROUND!
Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 12.
It is now Victor's turn! Nasrin is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+10: (5)+10: 15
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+10: (9)+10: 19
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d6+5: (10)+5: 15
The Mummy Lord steps back, rising up above you on a pillar of sand, like the earth itself obeys his will.
The golem slasm Edinaz in the chest with a powerful swing while the first merely glances off his armor. The second lands with an impressive crack.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 9.
It is now Nasrin's turn! Asmli is next!
GAME: Whirlpool reverses the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 12.
It is now Victor's turn! Nasrin is next!
GAME: Victor casts Burning Hands. Caster Level: 5 DC: 16
GAME: Victor rolls 5d4: (13): 13
GAME: Victor rolls knowledge/arcana: (3)+11: 14
Victor moves in as well. After casting so many spells he has only a few options left. And none that have the precision of his earlier attacks. It's only because the monster is so large that he can target a portion of it without threatening his own allies. He chants in Eldritch and then points his hands, held flat with fingers outstretch while thumbs touch...sheets of flame burst forth and wash over the selected part of the monster's form. As he lowers his hands a few last wisps of smoke trail off. Victor shoots glance towards the 'Licht' Siuil to try and judge how the latter thinks the game is progressing.
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+3: (17)+3: 20
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 9.
It is now Nasrin's turn! Asmli is next!
GAME: Nasrin rolls weapon12+1+1: (13)+8+1+1: 23
GAME: Nasrin rolls 1d12+3+strength+2+4+1: (3)+3+3+2+4+1: 16
Nasrin chops away at the golem determinedly, scowling as she swings her axe. "Not much like a tree. Which is well enough. The last tree tried to fall on me. Die...!"
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 7.
It is now Asmli's turn! Edinaz is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+8: (14)+8: 22
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d4+4: (4)+4: 8
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d6: (1): 1
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 5.
It is now Edinaz's turn! Sand Golem? is next!
GAME: Edinaz rolls 1d20+13-2: (13)+13+-2: 24
GAME: Edinaz rolls 1d20+13-2: (10)+13+-2: 21
GAME: Edinaz rolls 1d8+7: (8)+7: 15
GAME: Edinaz rolls 1d6+7: (6)+7: 13
Edinaz keeps swingings away, one, two, one, two. He knocks more sand out of the golem.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 3.
It is now Sand Golem?'s turn! Victor is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+10: (14)+10: 24
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+10: (9)+10: 19
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d6+5: (11)+5: 16
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d6+5: (4)+5: 9
"Hmm," is the response from the Mummy as his golem lays into you, and you lay into his golem. The furious exchange of blows blasts sand out its back, leaving great cleaves in it even as it batters you.
"Yes, I do think so. I do think you'll make excellent slaves to me. Very strong. Far better than these local and questionable ones."
He lets out a sigh.
GAME: NEW ROUND!
Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Three - Init 12.
It is now Victor's turn! Nasrin is next!
GAME: Victor casts Burning Hands. Caster Level: 5 DC: 16
GAME: Victor rolls 5d4: (17): 17
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+3: (15)+3: 18
Victor sends another cone of flame washing over the sand golem, possibly turning bits of it into glass. He shoots another look at the monster controlling it. "Undead?" he repeats. "You want to turn us into undead?" Necromancy always the 'school' of magic he had the least affinity for.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Three - Init 9.
It is now Nasrin's turn! Asmli is next!
GAME: Nasrin rolls weapon12+1+1: (16)+8+1+1: 26
GAME: Nasrin rolls 1d12+3+strength+2+4+1: (12)+3+3+2+4+1: 25
GAME: Edinaz ends his rage.
GAME: Whirlpool removes the timestop.
Timestop by Whirlpool has left.
Nasrin lets out another roar, swinging down with the axe with both hands. She chops through the sand, but it reforms, scattering dust and grit into her eyes. So she throws herself bodily into the sandy monsters, knocking bits of it in all directions as she pummels with every available limb as well as the haft of her weapon until it is finally dispersed. Then NNasrin lays in the sand, gaspign for breath, kicking and rolling around on the ground as she makes sure it has been thoroughly patted down.
Edinaz catches his breath, panting, as the monster goes down. His armour looks sandblasted after the fight.
"I can see I won't have to adjust your intelligence down very much," remarks the mummy to Victor when he speaks. "Of /course/ I'm going to make you undead. You're a bunch of noble adventurers. You can hardly be trusted to just accept slavery, hm? Just look at her. I imagine she loves to fight too much to meekly accept it." A gesture at Nasrin, "and he's foaming at the mouth, just about," Edinaz, "and he slapped a golem made of sand with a flaming gauntlet. No, you're better off slaves. Now, if you'd be so kind as to not fight back, I'll make it *quick*." He's pretty pissed off, his voice as raspy as the shifting sands beneath your feet.
He raises his hands, and...
"Ah! There! I have you! Let the expanses contract!" A pillar of flame erupts around the mummy, who lets out an anguished cry.
"That won't hold him for long! Brace yourselves for teleportation!! Your friend made contact with us from the tower, zeroing in on your in proximity to the engine wasn't possible!"
And then you feel yourselves... dissipating.
Back in Alexandria, you reappear, having made severely damaged a Charnese engine of great power... but having made an enemy of a rather powerful undead lord of Charn.
That's going to come back to bite you.
Still, Madame Gelfure is happy to've been able to assist you back to Alexandria, and also, you get to see her newest hat. As the head of the Progressive Arcanists, she's one of Alexandria's more powerful sorceresses.
(Also, she's fabulous.)