It Ate
You find yourself deep in the forest, following what so far has been an easy trail of corpses. The bodies are a mix of decomposed and still fresh; which makes it clear that whatever has been killing these animals is still around. What you have not been able to find as of yet is a trail that is still warm. So many of the tracks are layered over one another that it is difficult to tell where this creature is compared to where it was going. The tracks are however quite clear. It is something massive, with long dragging claws.
"Well....this could prove to be quite tricky." Foxx says as he looks at all of the bodies. "Should shoot this dang thing ad be done with it." he leans up against a tree and smokes his cigar though. He ain't a tracker.
GAME: Kruulvog rolls Survival: (6)+11: 17 GAME: An'thirya rolls 1d20: (20): 20 GAME: Rishi rolls Survival: (15)+7: 22 GAME: Foxx rolls survival: (15)+8: 23
Kruulvog has no qualms about poking and sifting through the carcases, seeming to go about his investigation with merry eagerness. The gangly green half-orc mutters to himself.
An'thirya's looking at the tracks, trying to figure out where the creature went. By luck or skill, it seems she's doing a decent job in spite of her relative lack of wilderness knowledge.
GAME: Azteg rolls survival+3: (16)+8+3: 27
A slip of hands into the sleeves of the opposite arm, and a look down toward the tracks. Rishi gives a shrug and glances off to the side at Foxx and the others. Her staff on the leather cord that kept it upon her back. The blue eyes seemingly as curious about her companions as the signs of the creature's movements.
Azteg left his dog behind and lopes around almost on three limbs as he checks the ground, unlit pipe gritted in sharp teeth as he examines twigs, branches, leaves and dirt. If he can get a direction he'll gesture with a knife hand in that direction, along with how far behind he thinks they are behind the creature.
You find more recent tracks in spite of the mess made by the tracks overlapping one another. They lead deeper into the forest and toward what to at least a couple of you, a familiar location. A place where a pool once lay. You find the creature before reaching the pool however, and you are amazed by what you see. It looks something like a great grizzly bear. If a grizzly bear were black from snout to tail and had writhing tentacles on its back which reach out to grab what looks like some poor defenseless deer. The deer is already lost, strangled by the tentacles and the bear viciously eating away at its middle. The tentacles drop the deer and the bear begins to feed on it ravenously.
GAME: Olav rolls survival: (13)+8: 21
Kruulvog chuckles nervously to himself at the sight of the monster. A green-scaled snake sticks its head out of his shirt where the top buttons are open, and hisses as it smells the air with its forked tongue.
GAME: Azteg rolls survival+3: (20)+8+3: 31 GAME: An'thirya rolls Survival: (10)+0: 10 GAME: Foxx rolls survival: (5)+8: 13
Olav has been here all along, honest, and showed no significant squeamishness as he joined the others in rummaging through the bodies, although he was respectful of the corpses just the same. Following the tracks with everyone else, he comes up short at the sight of the tentacle-bear-deer-eating-thing, pulling his axe out of its scabbard on his back.
GAME: Olav rolls survival: (8)+8: 16
Foxx says, "Ah....think we found what we're looking fer, guys."
Attempting to reach for her greataxe with as little noise as possible, An'thirya is staring at the mutated bear intently. It seems her intentions are, "Put the creature out of its misery" or at least, "Purge the corrupted beast". It's hard to say, but she does look over to Foxx and nods.
"Ah, here we are, yes," says Azteg cheerily as they come into the clearing. "Black bear, yes? But altered, as I suspected. Strength, speed, cunning. And most importantly, yes, those distinct leaves with the sharp edging and curled angles indicate that those tentacles are in fact blackened Assassin Vines. So beware of those, yes?" He has the clipped, almost Polish hard consonants of the Hobgoblin enclave.
Kruulvog, seeing his companions preparing for a fight shakes his head, but the only words he speaks are to invoke a magical shell of force to serve as armor.
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+6: (4)+6: 10 GAME: Kruulvog casts Mage Armor. Caster Level: 1 DC: 14
A look toward the other again, Rishi had given way to the prowess of others in tracking once it seemed that she wasn't needed for it. Keeping her eyes up and about, looking toward the trees and - "Well..." A rippling of pops as she cracks the knuckles on one hand and then the other. "Looks like a fun fight alright." A reach inside of herself, metaphorically speaking, "Let's not keep it waiting, yes?"
GAME: An'thirya RAGES!, gaining +2 to melee attack/damage/Will saves and 4 temporary HP
Gripping the handle of her axe tightly as she brings it over her shoulder, An'thirya snarls at the mutant bear as her muscles tense and nails grow out to claws. Nevertheless, she seems to have a solid grip on the axe as she rushes the bear and slams the axe down with a cry of rage!
GAME: An'thirya rolls Melee+1: (4)+6+1: 11 GAME: Rishi rolls 9+2-2: (20)+9+2+-2: 29 GAME: Rishi rolls 9+2-2: (8)+9+2+-2: 17 GAME: Rishi rolls 2d8+10+8: (5)+10+8: 23 GAME: Kruulvog casts Daze. Caster Level: 1 DC: 13 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+2: (12)+2: 14
Rishi felt her skin already hardening as the woman ran off toward the bear-thing. Bear-onster? Mon-bear? Whatever.
She gave a narrow of her eyes a shift of her stance as she started to close the distance, intending to adopt the Dragon style and swoop down upon it. "Here we go!"
She followed the raging on, the quiet to the wave of axe and ferocity. She used the other as a bit of a distraction, shifting to one side and with a leap, crossed behind An'thirya as she swung with the axe crashing down with a strong hit to the creature's head as her stance instead dropped low. "Well, that's one way to start a fight. Does the yelling help?"
Kruulvog casts a cantrip on the bear, then facepalms. He mutters, "Ugh! I forgot, that doesn't work on monsters!"
GAME: Azteg casts Doom. Caster Level: 2 DC: 14
Azteg situations the small wooden shield that's expertly crafted better against his left forearm and begins to gesture and chant under his breath in his native tongue. Light swirls around his hands and the symbol at his shoulder, light spiraling from his hand to erupt towards the tentacle-bear, seeking to shake it's emotional resilience and leave it spiritually sundered.
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+2: (17)+2: 19 GAME: Foxx rolls weapon1+1: (4)+7+1: 12 GAME: Foxx rolls 1d8+1: (1)+1: 2
Foxx trots his way forward after everyone else pretty much charged it. he takes the cigar out of his mouth, tosses it to the ground and stamps on it. "Well....time to put it out of its misery." he then just flat out shoots it, but he only wings it....
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+7: (20)+7: 27 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+7: (13)+7: 20 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+7: (5)+7: 12 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d6+5: (1)+5: 6 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d6+5: (1)+5: 6
The bear roars out in pain and lashes out at the one who caused the bulk of that pain. It hits Rishi in the side, claws digging in but its second attack misses as it's first pulls her out of the way.
GAME: An'thirya rolls Melee-1: (5)+6+-1: 10
"Hey!" An'thirya calls out to the bear sharply. "Don't you look away from me you fuzzy abomination!" she says, giving another mighty swing of her axe that lands straight into the dirt and scatters some topsoil. She gives a growl of frustration, but ultimately doesn't think too much of it.
GAME: Rishi spends ONE point of KI POOL. GAME: Rishi rolls 9-2: (11)+9+-2: 18 GAME: Rishi rolls 9-2: (9)+9+-2: 16 GAME: Rishi rolls 9-2: (8)+9+-2: 15 GAME: Rishi rolls 1d8+5: (3)+5: 8 GAME: Rishi rolls 1d8+4: (2)+4: 6 GAME: Rishi rolls perception: (14)+9: 23 GAME: Azteg rolls perception: (20)+10: 30 GAME: Kruulvog rolls Perception: (3)+3: 6 GAME: Darius rolls perception: (17)+5: 22 GAME: An'thirya rolls Perception + 2: (10)+6+2: 18 GAME: Foxx rolls perception: (10)+2: 12
Rishi makes a sort of grunting noise as the bear rips into her side, a grimace to follow. There's the ring of shots, the chanting of spells all around her, and she just stays in her low stance as she watches that bear. A slide away from the axe swing as An'thirya makes her attack and a raise of her eyebrows, "Woh there, I don't think Ea did anything to you yet."
And then Rishi moves in, her first strike a jab to the beast's head, followed up quickly with a pivot and an elbow of her left arm. The last, a rising knee that would catch it right in the - whiff! And the knee coasts right over the bear-thing's head as it stumbles to the side and collapses in the dirt.
Kruulvog strolls confidently over to the carcass of the newly-fallen teddy, muttering nonsense to his snake familiar.
GAME: Azteg rolls melee: (1)+2: 3 (EPIC FAIL)
His heart is in the right place, "Outta the way!" bellows the small three foot tall Gobber. In his heart of hearts, he's surging forward, taking the Rishi down at the ankles and saving her from that oncoming bear. The reality? Two steps forward and he hits an exposed root and he goes tiny butt over tea-kettle, his words muffled by the leaves that are shoved into his face as the Gobber is face down in the dirt.
GAME: Foxx rolls weapon1+1: (16)+7+1: 24 GAME: Foxx rolls 1d8+1: (1)+1: 2 GAME: Darius rolls weapon5+2: (18)+12+2: 32
Foxx finds the new bear and fires a shot at it too. He hopes to discourage it, but he wings that bear too.
GAME: Darius rolls damage5+2: aliased to 2D6+10+2: (8)+10+2: 20
Darius noticing the newest threat calls out, "Fluffy, stay back for now, you're no match for this!" and with that said, screams a war cry and rushes the bear, slashing it hard, giving it a nice scar to turn its attention to on him.
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+13: (2)+13: 15 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+13: (10)+13: 23 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+13: (13)+13: 26 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+19: (13)+19: 32 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d6+7: (5)+7: 12
With a roar the bear charges Rishi, but Darius's attack turns that rage on him. Immediately it bats him aside with one claw and grabs him with a tendril that immediately starts to strangle him.
GAME: Rishi rolls 7: (12)+7: 19 GAME: Rishi rolls 7: (18)+7: 25 GAME: Rishi rolls 7: (16)+7: 23 GAME: Rishi rolls 1d8+9: (3)+9: 12 GAME: Rishi rolls 1d8+8: (7)+8: 15 GAME: Rishi rolls 1d8+8: (2)+8: 10
Rishi /heard/ the beast before she turned to see it, it was coming up at her from behind after all. Just recovering from the last attack she quickly turned on the spot and dropped low only to see Darius intercept the /new/ bear. A slip to one side and she quickly leads with a fast right then left step.
A straight jab into the side of the bears jaw, then a pull up of her leg and the kick lashes out with the heel to take the bear in the ribs. As she's putting that right foot down her right elbow crashes down into the bear's shoulder.
“Hey, fuzzy wuzzy that's not so fuzzy... Over here." Rishi grins.
"Why are you laying around anyway?" Rishi adds to the face-planted Gobber. "Bear's big enough for all of us."
GAME: Kruulvog casts Ear-Piercing Scream. Caster Level: 1 DC: 14 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+12: (1)+12: 13 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Kruulvog rolls 1d6 sonic: (2 sonic): 2
Kruulvog is caught unawares by the second bear, and reacts when he sees Rishi's attack by pouring witchcraft into a terrorized scream heard only by the new bear.
GAME: An'thirya rolls Melee-1: (2)+6+-1: 7
An'thirya gives another chop of the axe towards the giant, and possibly vengeful bear but it lands into the side of a tree as she yanks it out, splinters and bark flying around a bit.
GAME: Foxx rolls weapon1+1-2: (7)+7+1+-2: 13
Foxx winces as Darius starts to get strangled by the vine, so he turns his gun towards the vine to make it let him go. He misses horribly though....
GAME: Darius rolls cmb: (19)+10: 29 GAME: Darius rolls weapon5: (3)+12: 15
The bear withstands the attacks delt to it dazedly, its eyes glazed over.
GAME: An'thirya rolls Melee-1: (6)+6+-1: 11 GAME: Rishi spends ONE point of KI POOL.
And another hefty swing of the axe towards the bigger bear!.. And another miss as the blade lands into the dirt yet again. "Oh, COME ON!" An'thirya calls out.
GAME: Rishi rolls 7: (10)+7: 17 GAME: Rishi rolls 7: (19)+7: 26 GAME: Rishi rolls 7: (11)+7: 18 GAME: Rishi rolls 1d8+8: (3)+8: 11 GAME: Rishi rolls 1d8+8: (2)+8: 10
With the bear being all dazed and what not, Rishi takes advantage of the moment the bear is dazed to start throwing a few more blows into the mix. A kick lashed out to the bear's leg, pulling her knee to her chest before shooting it straight out to hit with the heel. Unfortunately the bear's thick hide stopped that one from connecting solidly. Rishi didn't pause, as she moved to the side, her first foot planted and a half turn to slam an elbow down into the bears ribs with a last punch to follow it up in the same spot.
"Hey, you-" she jerks her head at Darius, "-let's try and work together to flank this thing."
GAME: Kruulvog spends ONE use of STORM BURST. GAME: Kruulvog rolls Ranged: (11)+2: 13
Kruulvog conjures up a little burst of stormy weather to throw at the bear, but his aim is slightly off and the flash of wind and rain dissipates harmlessly.
GAME: Foxx rolls weapon1+1: (3)+7+1: 11
Foxx finds his luck isn't getting much better, as his shot goes wide again. "An I just got you, too...."
GAME: Darius rolls weapon5: (10)+12: 22 GAME: Darius rolls damage5: aliased to 2D6+10: (6)+10: 16
Darius turns and as the rest are attacking the bear, he turns and slashes it, hurting it this time.
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+13: (3)+13: 16 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+13: (4)+13: 17 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+13: (16)+13: 29 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+19: (17)+19: 36
The bear growls and attacks Rishi, suddenly moving. It still seems partially dazed and misses her twice. The vines on its back have better luck, wrapping around her throat and pulling her off her feet.
GAME: An'thirya rolls Melee+1-4: (10)+6+1+-4: 13
Seeing Rishi get apparently strangled and grabbed, An'thirya leaps into the air and delivers a mighty blow to-!.. The air actually, as she completely whiffs. Thankfully she doesn't hit Rishi in the process, but she does roll her eyes at the miss.
GAME: Rishi rolls acrobatics: (7)+9: 16
And thus Rishi is grabbed! She feels herself flung about hither and yon as she claws at the vine-thing wrapped about her neck, trying to wiggle her way free of its grasp but to no avail.
GAME: Kruulvog spends ONE use of STORM BURST. GAME: Kruulvog rolls Ranged: (9)+2: 11
Kruulvog conjures up another little cloudburst, but still can't seem to convince the magic to deliver it close enough to affect the bear before it dissipates harmlessly.
GAME: Foxx rolls weapon1+1: (14)+7+1: 22 GAME: Foxx rolls 1d8+1: (4)+1: 5
Once Darius is free, Foxx turns his gun back to the Bear and fires again. This time, he doesn't wing it, but does manage to catch a shoulder. "There we go...."
GAME: Darius rolls weapon5: (7)+12: 19 GAME: Darius rolls damage5: aliased to 2D6+10: (6)+10: 16 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+13: (18)+13: 31
Darius grins as blood is flying and manages to once again take a bite out the bear with his greatsword.
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+13: (3)+13: 16 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+13: (15)+13: 28 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+19: (16)+19: 35 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d8+7: (6)+7: 13 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d6+7: (4)+7: 11
The bear-thing is slowly choking the life out of Rishi with its tendrils, and while she gasps for air the bear turns its attacks on Darius, hitting him solidly and grabbing him with a second vine that starts to treat him in the same unkind fashion as it had before.
"Oh just... GRAH!" An'thirya seems to be making one last concerted effort, "So help me if you don't DIE in the next few moments you're going to get the business end of my claws!" she shouts at the bear who likely doesn't care too much.
GAME: An'thirya rolls Melee+1-2: (13)+6+1+-2: 18 GAME: An'thirya rolls 1d12+5: (9)+5: 14
And the axe cleaves a gaping wound into the bear's chest, as it looks to be moments away from death. "See? See?! I TOLD you to... Die... Thisistiring." she says, falling forward as she leans on her axe to catch her breath. "That's rage for you..." she pants out.
Foxx sighs and puts his gun away. "Blasted bear."
Azteg will sprint his way to Rishi - to provide aid, healing, stabilization, that sort of thing, his little legs churning and dirt coming from him as he rises from the ground.
Darius pants and holds his bleeding chest, and flicks the blood off of his blade and says, "That... wasn't so bad... now was it?"
Landing in a crouch, Rishi stands up, dusting herself off with a bit of a raised eyebrow. "Hey, that was a a good hit." A rub at her throat, "You know, you make a very good distraction." She grins at An'thirya still.
Kruulvog returns to the carcases of the bears and closely examines the vine/tentacles, feeling them, smelling them, even biting one. He lets his snake go exploring them as well.
Azteg finishes checking out Rishi - squad medic, check, and rounds on Darius, looking at the bigger man's wounds and applying his healing kit as necessary. "What are the odds, yes, that this bear turned before we emptied the lake? Is it possible another lake formed or another area?" he asks as he works. He calls to Foxx and An'thi, "How fare you, friends, yes?"
"I mean... Yeah, it's possible but I don't know WHEN it changed. Maybe there's a magical sort back home that we can ask about this." An'thirya says, "Get a sample or something, see if they can figure out what it's magically connected to or... I dunno. I'm not a cerebral sort of magic user really."
Darius growls, "Personally, I say we burn the forest and let the gods sort it all out... this place has been nothing but trouble for a long time."
Foxx says, "Thas never a good idea, no matter how practical it may be, Darius." He says as he walks over to one of the bears.....and shoots it in the head...again. "Making sure the bugger's dead." And doing the same to the other bear."
Kruulvog plucks the vines from the bears and coils them up around his arm like one does with a rope. At Darius's suggestion he says, "How would your cat feel about that?"
"There's a chance I could maybe track the bear back from it's patterns," says Azteg as he finishes checking everyone for wounds and making sure people are good to go, then washing his hands with some water and drying them on his trousers. "If that would be helpful, yes? It seems unusual that this bear survived in the woods for so many nights after our fights with the water creatures, yes?"
Darius looks at Kruulvog, "Kruulvog... Fluffy didn't COME from here, she ran away from that stupid stuck up noblewoman who was all, ‘Oh Fluffykins, I wub wub wub you! <3’” and yes, Darius even manages to make that heart symbol audible.
Kruulvog listens to Darius and shrugs. "To each their own. For me, this vine is like candy. And I'd love to find more. If this is what comes of black pools, then I want to go swimming in it and grow my own vines." He make a creepy grin that's entirely too eager for comfort.
"Provided you had your own mind intact following an escapade like that. But if you want to, it's your funeral. Maybe even literally, if you do turn out to go crazy following that." An'thirya observes, "Or we could just cut out the middleman now."
"We were hired to hunt down this creature. That implies, nay, yes, requires, that we guarantee no other creature be created. I recommend, nay, insist, that we try to make sure no other pools exist like these," says the three foot tall Inquisitor with his hands on his hips, looking as stern as one so small can. "There was a contract, yes? An order to things."
Kruulvog looks at An'thirya and says, "It is hard to make a preemptive strike from the moral high ground."
"True, but it's still roughly the same level of suicidal." An'thirya observes. "I mean, you going into a pool of magical corruption... That can only end one way, really. But it's hypotheticals, let's not get caught up in unpleasantness."
Kruulvog nods and acquiesces to the prevailing logic.
GAME: An'thirya rolls survival: (14)+0: 14 GAME: Darius rolls survival: (5)+0: 5 GAME: Azteg rolls survival+3: (9)+8+3: 20
Foxx says, "Azteg.....one moment." He says putting another round into his gun. "Before you go off onna tear through the forest to get rid of the rest of these pools, keep in mind that many of us don't have magical weapons, or even ways of defending ourselves against somethin like that. Yeah, ah heard about it...and the trouble those pools gave more experienced folks than us. Perhaps it would be a good idea to head back and report this to the guild, and perhaps let people who CAN handle these snotballs look into it, hmm?"
GAME: Foxx rolls survival: (6)+8: 14
Foxx says, "Otherwise....I'll go, but don't expect me to give my life if it starts layin waste to the party."
"Recon, then, yes? Explore. Enough to gather some intelligence, enough to report back. If necessary we leave someone to watch as the rest run back to get assistance. I do not intend for us to die this evening, friend Foxx. Not at all. However, this is the third or fourth time in a fortnite I've fought creatures like this, much like friend Darius there, and while I would not want to put words in his or anyone else's mouth I for one, blessed be His name, am damn tired of fighting these new creatures. Yes? So information, first. Then a decision." says Azteg. "That is fair, yes?"
Kruulvog grins at Foxx.
Darius mutters, "Again, burning the forest to make sure that there's no slime monsters left is an option..." He glances around and says, "Just saying"
Foxx says, "Many of those slime monsters are quite resistant to fire, Darius. So you'd be burning the forest down for nothin..."
Kruulvog volunteers, "If it is decided that we need to leave one of us behind to mark the place for those more qualified, I would be glad." Then to Darius, "The idea is to save the wilderness, no? Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater, eh?"
With that Azteg leads the rest of you into the forest, following the tracks of the bears. It's a bit circumvential, but you eventually end up at the location of the pool that changed Fluffy into... well Fluffy. The very same one that was drained by several of this parties members not so long ago. And there it lays. Not empty but full once more. A pool of pure black water shimmering as though filled with glitter. Innocent, and yet ominous.
Seeing this, Darius hangs his head, "You've GOT to be kidding me..."
Azteg leads the group through and grunts as they arrive, clearly surprised. "Well. That is ... less than ideal, yes. I agree with you, friend Foxx. This exceeds our capabilities I believe. If nothing else, we should leave one or two persons behind to coax the wildlife away from the pool. We've already fought water creatures made from the water, a cat turned into a panther and those two bears."
Foxx takes a deep breath and sighs. "Well.....that is not ideal, boys. Lets head back and report this." he then looks to Azteg and Kruulvog. "Before we head back....you two make maps to here, and we tell them we need specialists against these things....pronto. Or this'll only get worse."
Kruulvog says, "I am no writer, nor sketcher. But I can employ my witch hexes and druidic talents to make animals uncomfortable at this pool."
-End-