Dungeon in Dran (Part 5)

The doors open silently to any effort to open them, and inside you find a massive room. Easily larger than any other in this place, and a pair of minotaur statues standing on either side of it. They are remarkably lifelike. Almost as though the basilisk had gotten them.

"Minotaurs," Donna groans, drawing in a long, deep breath, and letting it out in a heaving sigh. "Welp. Never punched a minotaur in the nose before, guess I'll see if the fact that it' a big nose will help, yeah?"

Glancing over her shoulder, the brawler looks to her sister, eyebrow rising, her whole bearing asking her twin, beneath even the need for words; 'We doin' this?'

"Well, that oughta be fun then. I don't think I've ever cast anything at a Minotaur before, either." She catches her sister's look, and quirks an eyebrow before nodding her head. We doin' this.

"How do you want to kick this off, since they're... all the way over there. Should I just start blasting 'em, and make them come to us?" She lifts her hands, eyes and brands glowing blue. "I'm ready. I feel good about this."

"We go in," Donna says, reaching out a hand. "C'mon. Jus' like always; together or not at all. With our luck, they'll turn into the real thing when we get halfway across."

"Just like always," Delilah agrees. "Alright, let's get on with it." She takes Donna's hand, though she keeps a step behind the brawler, seeing as how she's the squishy, soft one of the pair. "If anything in here misbehaves, I'm blowing it up, no questions asked."

GAME: Delilah casts Mage Armor. Caster Level: 9 DC: 16

As the two women step into the room, the minotaur's shake to life and move forward ponderously but with surprising speed given that they are made of stone!

GAME: Delilah casts Haste. Caster Level: 9 DC: 18

"They moved! See? They moved. Told you we should've blasted 'em."

This is, by Delilah's tone, not a 'told you so' moment, however. The sorceress simply gets to work; she releases Donna's hand and weaves a quick spell, and instead of the glowing runes in the air coalescing into an explosion or something like she might normally do, instead they simply fall about Donna's shoulders and bestow their benefits upon the brawler, who promptly finds herself moving... faster.

GAME: Donna RAGES!, gaining +2 to melee attack/damage/Will saves and 18 temporary HP
GAME: Donna rolls finesse+1+1: (1)+13+1+1: 16 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Lyme rolls 1d20+17+2: (12)+17+2: 31
GAME: Lyme rolls 1d10+12+6: (1)+12+6: 19
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+9: (20)+9: 29

Lyme goes barreling through the door as the minotaurs come to life, sword swinging at one of the stony bulls (da bulls) -- it hits, but the edge alignment is terrible, and it's more of a steel slap than a cut.

GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+9: (4)+9: 13

"Mmmmmhm," Donna says, as the minotaurs move off their spots, and advance. Tilting her neck to one side, she grins as her sister's magic settles around her, and slams an armored fist into an open palm. "Let's do this."

Mystic script flares to pale-blue life on her arms, eyes burning with a similar fire. Then, the twin seems to step...

off her shadow

...and lope forward, leaping over the minotaur's sweeping fist, as her shadow seems to duck beneath.

Her answering punch is, apparently, rather badly aimed, and only seems to bounce off the statue's hide with a dull *clonk*

"Ow, sonovabitch."

GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+4: (14)+4: 18
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+9: (10)+9: 19
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+4: (16)+4: 20
GAME: Aftershock rolls 3d6+6: (11)+6: 17
GAME: Aftershock rolls 3d6+6: (12)+6: 18

The two minotaurs swing their huge weapons in practically unison. Both manage to hit their targets once, and miss once. Though on opposite attacks. Blood splatters on the stone in the wake of their attacks and they continue to move like mindless drones.

GAME: Delilah used a Wand of Enlarge Person.

Delilah follows through with making her sister more powerful, albeit after a wince seeing both her and Lyme get, well, punched. "Alright! Get ready to get BIG, both of you! Starting with Donna!" The sorceress produces a wand she'd been keeping tucked away for just such an occasion; a flick of the wrist and a pink beam of energy makes contact with Donna, growing the brawler to a much larger size. "You're next Lyme!"

GAME: Donna rolls finesse+1+1-2: (19)+13+1+1+-2: 32
GAME: Donna rolls finesse+1+1-2: (18)+13+1+1+-2: 31
GAME: Donna rolls finesse+1+1-2: (17)+13+1+1+-2: 30
GAME: Donna rolls finesse+1+1-2-5: (6)+13+1+1+-2+-5: 14
GAME: Donna rolls finesse+1+1-2-5: (5)+13+1+1+-2+-5: 13
GAME: Donna rolls 1d6+1+1d6+2+3: (4)+1+(2)+2+3: 12
GAME: Donna rolls 1d6+1+1d6+2+3: (3)+1+(5)+2+3: 14
GAME: Donna rolls 1d6+2+2+3: (5)+2+2+3: 12
GAME: Lyme rolls 1d20+17: (2)+17: 19
GAME: Lyme rolls 1d20+12-2: (20)+12+-2: 30
GAME: Lyme rolls 1d20+12-2: (11)+12+-2: 21

"Oh, YEAHAHAHAHAAAAAH," Donna says, as her perspective on the giant stone monster gets... closer to eye level. "THAT'S THE WAY TO DO IT."

And while her blows aren't quite as accurate as they could be, given the sudden transition to fetcher-off-the-high-shelf, the punches that land chip and crack at the bovine art installations quite nicely.

GAME: Lyme rolls 1d10+18: (6)+18: 24
GAME: Lyme rolls 2d10+36: (19)+36: 55
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+9: (13)+9: 22
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+4: (10)+4: 14

Lyme voids the minotaur's strikes, then lunges quickly, putting his point on the beast before transitioning to a quick downward cut that smashes through it front shoulder to hip -- stone shards scattering as it structurally fails.

GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d100: (76): 76
GAME: Aftershock rolls 3d6+6: (10)+6: 16

The remaining minotaur continues to mindlessly attack Donna, attacking her and smashing her solidly.

GAME: Donna rolls finesse+1+1-1-2: (18)+13+1+1+-1+-2: 30
GAME: Donna rolls finesse+1+1-1-2: (19)+13+1+1+-1+-2: 31
GAME: Donna rolls finesse+1+1-1-2: (10)+13+1+1+-1+-2: 22
GAME: Donna rolls finesse+1+1-1-2-5: (4)+13+1+1+-1+-2+-5: 11
GAME: Donna rolls finesse+1+1-1-2-5: (17)+13+1+1+-1+-2+-5: 24
GAME: Donna rolls 1d6+1+1d6+2+3+1: (2)+1+(6)+2+3+1: 15
GAME: Donna rolls 1d6+1+1d6+2+3+1: (3)+1+(3)+2+3+1: 13
GAME: Donna rolls 1d6+2+2+3+1: (3)+2+2+3+1: 11
GAME: Donna rolls 1d6+2+2+3+1: (4)+2+2+3+1: 12

"HEY YOU BASTARD THAT *HURT.*" Donna roars, wiping a thick streamer of blood from a mashed lip, and launches into another blurring series of strikes. Her fists crash into the statue from all sides; a left hook to its notional ribs, a right to the hip, an overhanded haymaker to the top of its head, followed by an uppercut to center mass. Her last punch meets with some resistance, then the statue crumbles to rubble around her hand, allowing the brawler to, as every fighting coach says, punch *through* her opponent.

As shards, chunks, and gravel clatters to the ground, Donna rests her giant hands on her massive knees, catching her breath. "OKAY. COOL. What's next?"

That's the end of it however. No more rooms, no more monsters, just a pile of treasure hidden behind a false wall where the statues had been. You dig and haul it out. Then, weary, but wealthier for your travels, you head out!

-End