Into the Belly of the Beast IC

[Jarian]

Darkness. Complete darkness. You awaken slowly, bodies bruised and heads pounding. In the distance, something large splashes into a pool of liquid, the sound loud in the stillness of this place. It is followed shortly by a booming, echoing double beat, filling the pungent air around you for several seconds before fading away.

Suddenly, there is light. It is faint, barely enough to see by, with a decidedly green hue. It illuminates the broken remains of the second story of the inn you were staying at - aside from three rooms at the very end of the hall, the entire building seems gone. The floor is twisted at a sharp upward angle, ending in a jagged mess of splintered lumber after some fifteen feet, with the three of you piled against the back wall as if it were the floor. You must have been thrown down the hall during the upheaval - whatever that was. Looking up the length of the floor, you can see other, distant sources of the green light, great spires of softly glowing illumination. The sky above seems to glisten, as if looking at an upside down pool of black water, soft green reflections scattered here and there.

There is silence for a time, then something splashes into another pool of liquid, closer this time. The double beat comes again, loud enough to hurt your ears for its short duration. Memories flood your still-clouded minds; screams of the end coming, of a great monster in the sky, followed swiftly by a thought: where are you?

[Eurus]

Waking up somewhere strange and dark had never been one of Sarah's favorite things, so she was less than thrilled as she slowly pulled herself up and looked around. The inn was... probably the second-most trashed inn she'd ever woken up in, so that wasn't good. The fact that she and her friends seemed to be mostly unharmed, on the other hand, was a surprise, but a fortunate one.

Finally reaching a roughly standing position, she stared up the slanted floor at the strangely glistening sky and sighed. "I thought we were supposed to be looking for trouble, not the other way around..."

From underneath where she had been laying, a small sphere of jade about the size of an eyeball hovered slowly up to head level. It "spoke" in a telepathic hum, a voice like running a finger around the rim of a crystal glass, speaking the obvious without a trace of irony as it was inclined to do. <It seems we are alive. That is good.>

[tonberryking]

"Move over you lug!"

It took Smoke alot longer to wake up and realize she was pinned than she'll later admit, and a bit longer still to try to get her large, sabertoothed companion to let go of her. "Get your paws offa me; the inn ISN'T attacking me and Momma'll be fine if you don't stop crushing me to death!" In this final moment of exasperation her tiger Fire, which is nearly 15 times the size of the diminutive yet rather buxom halfling, lets go and gets up, having shielded her from whatever crap had been falling around them when the Inn split apart.

Smoke huffs, and brushing her dark skin off of dust she vaults onto the saddle constructed into Fire's barding; her normal perch.

"The hell happened? I didn't drink anything and you ladies," this marks her umpteenth joke at Pinkerton's expense, Weren't bombed enough to level another bar..."

Smoke doesn't make many more jokes, though, the halfling realizing something is very, very wrong and likely wasn't caused by drunken debauchery. Urging her tiger to dig his claws in, she starts him to stretch up against the slant, slowly. "Hang on, I need to see this.." she explains, crawling over Fire's stretched neck in an attempt to see over the rim.

Moving a little ways up the slant and attempted to see what the hell's up: Spot and Listens: [roll0][roll1]

[Jarian]

As Fire reaches the lip of the shattered 'floor', Smoke looks out over a stomach-lurching sight. Beyond the ragged edge, the ground falls away in a drop of at least a hundred feet. The ground below, like the sky above, seems to be a field of slick blackness occasionally lit by highlights of green, like a midnight moon tinging the tips of ocean waves white.

A line of glowing green spires trails across the distant horizon. Oddly, some seem inverted, growing down from the sky, like so many upside down trees placed in between the normal ones. A quick glance to the right and left shows Smoke that the remains of the inn are lodged between two similar spires - growing the correct way, these - though she can't make out much more from this vantage point, due to the sheer size of them blocking off the rest of her view.

[00110111]

A tail appears. It looks left, then right. The coast seems clear. A very frazzled white cat in a jacket, slacks, and fine shoes falls to his feet. He leans forward, straight as a board, scoops up his favorite ivory-topped cane, then straightens up in a ruffle.

"I want to state, for the record, that I had nothing to do with whatever just happened. But I must admit, this new skylight is the best I've ever seen." He angles his furry feline head to the side and looks up and out, mesmerized by the shifting green pattern.

"Oh well! No harm done!" He springs back into motion. He straightens his tie and whips a small square handkerchief from his front pocket to sweep the dust from his jacket. "Tallfellow!" His tail appears straight as a flagpole over his shoulder. "Remind me to speak to the proprietor. The facilities are positively frightful! My Goodness! Imagine! What if someone actually fell from all the way up there?" He clucks to himself, smiling.

"Now, it's high time for bed. You and I have a long way to go in the morning. Off to Silvetta!" his tenor comes to life. "Silvetta, my Darling, my Love! *seductive chuckle* And you, Loquacia, fairest! Dance with me! Haha!" Eyes closed, he holds his cane close. They waltz up the walls and down until at last he finishes with key in hand and leftmost door open.

[Jarian]

The room beyond the door is an absolute wreck. It ends roughly four feet in, right where the bed and nightstand would have been just a day before. In their place, a massive, glowing green spire juts up, forming an ever-so-slightly curved wall. It's hard to tell, but beneath the green glow, you think the spire might have an ivory color to it.

The room contains nothing of further interest, save a few thousand splinters.

[00110111]

"Ah, please forgive the intrusion, Sir! Silly me, I must have the wrong room." He calls inside cheerily before hastily slamming the door back shut. "Oh My God!" His jaw drops as though he's seen the hugest monster ever! He creeps away slowly at first, then scampers back behind the tiger.

"Hullo, friends! What the hell happened?" he echoes Smoke's query. "Obviously, Smoke is concerned that Sarah doesn't develop any bad habits. What a dear!" "You will _not_ believe what I just saw in there!" His voice hushes to a whisper. "I swear I saw a Giant's you--know--what." Giggling, he jabs his finger toward the door to the left several times. "Fancy a look?" he queries slyly.

Pinky follows Smoke to the edge, but not before helping young Sarah to her feet. The light comes on in his head. Likewise, a light comes on above his head. It zooms down along the nearest spire, then illuminates circular patches of ground directly below.

Dancing Lights (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/dancinglights.htm), 1 torch, moves 100ft per round, range 200ft, 1 minute duration.

Spot & Listen [roll0] [roll1]

[Jarian]

The floating ball of light zips down along the spire, along the slope of a small hill leading up to the spire, and then finally into the crevasse between the two spires suspending the remainder of the inn.

The double thump sounds again as you watch the light, which illuminates the black, wet ground below it. And then you hear it: clicking, clattering, like so many insects rubbing mandibles together, only a thousand times louder, a thousand times larger. Something scurries along the shadowed rim of the lantern light, moving faster than your eye can follow, disappearing back into the darkness. You think you saw a hint of its form, but you're not quite sure...

...perhaps it was nothing.

(Openable, rolling to save time.)
Sarah spot: [roll0] <- Oblivious
Pinkerton spot: [roll1] <- Poked self in the eye
Smoke spot: [roll2] <- Preoccupied with something else

[Eurus]

Sarah is only a short distance behind Smoke and Pinkerton, thanks to the felinoid's assistance - she could probably have passed him, had she not been overcome with morbid curiosity and taken a quick peek into the room that the cat had just checked.

Her psicrystal sat perched delicately at her shoulder on spidery threads of ectoplasm, trying to help with the scouting effort. At the ominous sound of something large and insectile, Sarah grimaced and reflexively reached for the polearm strapped to her back.

<I think I heard something, masters.>

"What would we ever do without you, Jade."

Drawing the weapon, a magnificent shaft of black metal covered with all manner of nasty-looking blades and spikes, she took point at the edge of the former floor in case something emerged.

"I suppose we could be in hell, although what that poor inn would have done that it would be here with us I can't imagine."

[Jarian]

Shadows of creatures continue to rush past the light, always staying just outside its illumination. The double beat continues its steady rhythm as you watch, threatening to induce a headache before too long.

As you watch, the entirety of the hallway lurches suddenly, tipping forward with the loud protest of timber on bone. The remainder of the inn drops out below your feet, falling some twenty feet before becoming lodged in between the spires once more. A shower of debris rains down on what little remains of the roof; looking back, you can see that one entire section of the back wall was ripped free, apparently as the adjoining room buckled under the stress of your movement. All that shows there now is a large swath of glowing green ivory.

It doesn't take an architect to tell you that this place is hanging by a thread, yet the inn gives you one final hint as to its condition, letting out an ominous creak.

[00110111]

"Mrow!" Pinky claws eight new furrows into the edge of the plank as his light gives merry chase to one such shadowy creature below. He seems ready to pounce as it zips from corner to crevasse, hovering behind and just a few feet above the creature's shoulder.

But alas, the fates grow weary of his game of cat and mouse. The hallway lurches forward with a screech that, it turns out, issues primarily from his own mouth. But the fates grant him one favor yet. The hallway does not yet plunge into darkness. He extricates himself from his companions' arms, clears his throat with a minor tie adjustment, and declares authoritatively, "I do believe it is time we are on our way. Ladies, would you do me the honor?" He offers them each a velvety paw.

"Take heart, my friends! We embark on yet another adventure through the unknown," (stop me at any time) "lands of... Outside-the-Inns-Ville-Ton."

"Know that you are the green fields and precious jewels of my heart."

"On my honour, as a man of unblemished quality, of utmost decency, of unwavering faith, without fear, without compromise, without deception, in times of danger, of peace, of passion (both or all of us, your choice ^^), of victory and that other thing; as a cat of poise, of pride, of unmatched magnificence; I do hereby renew this pledge. Until the fates see fit to see me to Elysium, I will forever put my life, my body, and my soul between you and the evils we've sworn to vanquish."

"I, Pinkerton Marvin Samuel Escher Horowitz Hobbes, Esquire, son of Roberto-Suavo, son of Everhart III, son of Joahim, son of Lord Aurondach, son of Lord Ilvenbaum, son of Prince Eggbert, son of King George II, do ask for your hands in company BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T WE'RE GOING TO PLUNGE TO OUR DEATHS IN A DARK WET MILDLY SUGGESTIVE CAVE IN A PLANE OF EXISTENCE OUT OF A FICTIONAL NIGHTMARE, AND I'M MUCH TOO PRETTY TO DIE!"

Spot for a description of the creepy-crawlies down below. [roll0]

Standard Action: Ready to Jump once hands held. Cue Wilhelm.

Swift or Immediate Action: Feather Fall for the whole party, fall gently 60ft per round, 10 rounds.

[tonberryking]

Smoke rolls her eyes and reaches over to tug at the catboy with a fluid motion she's done before. "Fine, pretty boy, get on. And if you grab what you're thinking about grabbing to hold onto, I will feed you face first to whatever's down there." If Fire doesn't get to him first, the much bigger and manlier cat shooting the smaller, foppish cat a warning glance. Though the saddle was made only for Smoke, there's enough room for two at least on the mage-breds back. Meanwhile, Smoke herself clasps her hands together, fingers unbending and fiddling in what seem like empty gestures until both she and the tiger glow in a pale lavender for an instant.

( to DM/Seven: )
Casting Spider climb, 100 minute duration for both Smoke and Fire. What kinda ride check is Pinky gonna need to keep seated, and will I need a jump check to hit the emerald wall?

[Eurus]

Were the circumstances different, Sarah would have politely applauded the speech. As they were, however, she settled for shaking her head in amusement as she re-sheathed her glaive, climbed aboard Fire, and held on tight. While she was not a petite woman by any means, Smoke was tiny enough that her steed would be more than capable of carrying both. "You can spare us the theatrics, Mr. Drama Queen."

[Jarian]

The overburdened Fire pads slowly up to the edge of the floor, then with an ungainly leap that nearly unseats all of his passengers at once, transitions to a vertical position on the spire, face-first toward the ground below. Ephemeral wisps of lavender mist leak out from under the tiger's paws as he slowly descends toward the light of Pinkerton's spell far below - which promptly goes out, its duration expended.

The ambient light is still enough to see by, if only barely, and Pinkerton thinks he can make out three forms waiting near the base of the spire, skittering around in a wide circle where the light was only moments before.

Before he has a chance to form an adequate picture of the creatures, Fire takes another leaping bound forward - down - and a wave of sudden, incredible nausea washes over the entire party. Three red orbs appear in the darkness below, as one turning to look up at you.

(Everyone, roll three will saves, then we'll get this party started. Don't forget to roll for Fire too.)

[Jarian]

The creatures below were apparently unaware of your presence until you drew near, at which point they immediately began to make rapid, loud clacking noises, like giant pincers snapping together. At this distance, all you can see of them are disembodied, unblinking red eyes staring up at you, a hint of an alien form blending into the shadows.

The party wins initiative, acting first.

Map:{table=head]_|A_|B_|C_|D_|E_|F_|G_|H_|I_|J_|K_|L_
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e=eye-things. Ground level.

Party is currently on Fire's back, 55 feet above ground level, on the side of the spire at A-10/B-10.

Lighting is almost total darkness, imposing a 35% miss chance with normal attacks unless you possess darkvision or another means of detection.

[Eurus]

Looking rather green around the gills, Sarah shakes her head in an attempt to clear it. Invisible to the naked eye, a wave of psychic energy pulses out from her, the only indication of any combat action on her part. "Ugh... it feels like I ate a Mind Flayer."

Swift action: Manifesting Hustle, expending focus to use Linked Power with Synchronicity.
Hustle Move: Regain psionic focus.
Standard: Manifesting Schism, expending focus to use Linked Power with Share Pain.
Move: Regain psionic focus.

PP used this round: 14
Linked Powers pending: Synchronicity, Share Pain targeting psicrystal.
Active effects: None

[00110111]

"Oh dear. Please take no offense, but I'm afraid that riding in this fashion leaves me in some substantial discomfort." He dismounts rather wobbly and bow-legged. He retches into his pocket handkerchief and blows his nose. An inconspicuous and totally inconsequential ball of bat guano appears out of nowhere and floats groundward.

"Normally, I'd be the first to greet our eager hosts, but a first impression can only be made once. I'll be there in a jiffy."

Oh Look! Stuff for Everyone:
Free Action: Activate Slippers of Spiderclimbing
Free/Move Action: Attempting Fast Dismount, Ride DC 20, to move around the side of the pillar and hide after casting his spells; otherwise just dismount. [roll0] [roll1]
Standard action: Fireball (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fireball.htm) to D8/E9, Reflex DC 20 half [roll2]
Swift Action: Lucky Surge, 1 point of luck, (Haste (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/haste.htm))
Conceal Spellcasting, Sleight of Hand vs Spot [roll3]

[Jarian]

[roll0][roll1][roll2]

A short-lived ball of fire erupts on the ground below, temporarily pushing back the darkness and allowing all to see the forms of the creatures.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM5_Gallery/106285.jpg

One of the creatures is badly burned by the flames, another mildly inconvenienced as it dodges the worst of the fire in a quick three-legged pirouette. The one at the center of the blast simply remains still, the flames splitting to move around it, unable to touch its body.

[tonberryking]

"You're not gonna like this, Sarah..." Smoke whispers before disappearing.

No really.

As soon as she starts to feel ill, the shadowy druid disappears and slaps Fire's sides with both feet, causing the tiger to run down the spire for a few steps before leaping out into the air. Trusting in Pinkerton's magic, the druid and tiger both hope to have a guided landing towards the less-injured of the pair of inflamed monsters. Upon touchdown, Fire hooks one of his claws at the thing, trying to drag it closer for a good shredding:


Fire's Claw
[roll0]
If it hits, it's grappling time:
[roll1]

Damage:[roll2]
Rakes:[roll3][roll4]


And Smoke's keeping herself busy, flinging out her invisible arm and letting fly a very visible stream of wooded splinters which hiss in passing, aiming to bury themselves in the more damaged monster.


Ranged touch for each splinter bolt:
[roll5][roll6]

Damages:
[roll7][roll8]
Sneak attack damage:
[roll9]

[Jarian]

[roll0] [roll1] [roll2]
[roll3] [roll4] [roll5]
[roll6] [roll7] [roll8]

Potential: [roll9] [roll10]

[roll11] [roll12] [roll13]
[roll14] [roll15] [roll16]
[roll17] [roll18] [roll19]

Potential: [roll20] [roll21] [roll22]
[roll23] [roll24] [roll25]
[roll26] [roll27] [roll28]

Pinkerton's magic flares around Fire in a puff of brilliant white smoke before fading away. The tiger floats slowly to the ground, bearing it's passengers along with it. It lashes out with a claw, barely connecting with the blow; the creature easily dances away from Fire's attempt to pull it closer, minus a few small rips in its flesh.

Smoke's bolts fly true despite the darkness, colliding squarely with the southernmost creature. A sizable portion of each bolt splinters harmlessly away, deflected by the creature's exceptionally thick hide, but most of the damage goes through without issue.

The creatures hesitate slightly, seeming to confer amongst themselves, then as one lash out in a violent flurry of attacks, each trio of mandibles stretching out impossibly far, driving through flesh and fur alike before detaching, anchoring their victims in place. The creatures regrow their mandibles a mere second after detaching them.

Sarah is struck by three of the mandibles, which are driven through her body and down into the ground. She nearly manages to twist off of one of the spikes, but fails half an inch from tearing her body free. Sarah takes a total of 34 piercing damage.

Smoke nimbly dodges two of the mandibles, but is struck clean through the side by another, which is likewise driven down into the ground, rendering her unable to move. Critical! Smoke takes 28 piercing damage.

Fire tries to avoid the attacks, but is too slow. One grazes his thick hide, deflected harmlessly, but two are driven straight through him into the ground, one penetrating his stomach, releasing a small fountain of blood. Critical! Fire takes 27 piercing and 13 piercing damage, for a total of 40 piercing damage.

Map:{table=head]_|A_|B_|C_|D_|E_|F_|G_|H_|I_|J_|K_|L_
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e=eye-things. Ground level.

Sarah, Fire, and Smoke are currently Immobilized. Immobilized characters are incapable of moving from their current square, but are not otherwise hindered.

Each mandible may be removed by making a DC 21 Strength or Escape Artist check as a move action, which will deal an additional 1d10 damage. A character can have a mandible removed without taking damage with the assistance of an ally, who must make a DC 21 Heal check as a standard action to remove it.

Lighting is almost total darkness, imposing a 35% miss chance with normal attacks unless you possess darkvision or another means of detection.

[tonberryking]

Squawking, Smoke reels though it's more from outrage of her 'baby' being injured. Nearly uprooted from her saddle, the druid subscribes to two playing at the same game, her hands gesturing with traces of greenish...uh... smoke wafting down into the ground below the eye booger she pelted with splinters. Smoke has something more probing than wood flecks for this one, as a wide mass of the floor, looking like bone, gristle and nature only knows forced into a conical spike, shoots up out of the floor below it. If it doesn't kill the thing outright, it'll keep it busy, she hopes, eyes burning tears from the pain.

Okay, 10d6 damage, DC 17 on reflex to get half. Otherwise, I just impaled the thing and it'll not be happy: [roll0]

[Eurus]

Sarah roars in pain - and it is indeed a roar - as the spikes pierce through her, pinning her down. A rush of delayed psychic energy fills her only a moment later, though, protecting her lifeforce with that of her psicrystal and giving her momentary insight into the web of fate.

With the horrific sounds of crackling sinew, squelching tissues, and groaning bone, the figure that was once Sarah quickly grows in a nightmarish eruption of flesh. The mandibles piercing the creature provide enough support to keep it from crushing Fire, but its fleshy base drapes across the tiger's back. A second figure splits off of her, landing beside the tiger. Both finally stabilize into rocklike pillars, resembling stalagmites were it not for the massive unblinking eye, toothy maw, and thrashing whiplike tentacles (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG215b.jpg).

The one beside Fire howls like a tornado, and lashes out with its rubbery tendrils at the more distant enemies even as it tries to bite the closer one.

Share Pain activates, targeting Sarah's psicrystal. Synchronicity activates, granting her a free readied action (and sharing it so her crystal gets one too). Triggering condition is "right now."

Readied action: Manifesting Vigor for 9 pp, 45 temporary hit points. Shared with psicrystal. Using Linked Power to attach another Synchronicity.
Move action: Regain psionic focus.
Standard action: Manifesting Metamorphosis. Form of... Roper! Linked to Synchronicity.
Schism action: Regain psionic focus.
Swift action: White Raven Tactics on Pinky

So Sarah's psicrystal gets to move, then. And since she shares all of her beneficial powers with it, it currently benefits from Vigor, Metamorphosis, and Synchronicity.

Psicrystal readied action: Move off of the tiger in a hurry to C-6/D-7 before it gets crushed by a 1-ton abomination of nature.
Move and standard: Full attack. Strand attacks are ranged touch and hits deal no damage, but force a DC 18 fortitude save or take 2d8 points of strength damage and also latch on.

Targeting E1:
[roll0]
[roll1]

Targeting E2:
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

Targeting E3:
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]

Stats:
Sarah's HP: 66/100 (+45 temporary)
Psicrystal HP: 50/50 (+45 temporary)

PP spent this turn: 18

Current effects: Immobilized x3, Metamorphosed into Roper (shared with crystal), Vigor (shared with crystal), Share Pain with Psicrystal.

[Jarian]

Smoke's conjured spike of whatever-the-ground-is fails to catch its target off guard. The creature leaps aside, taking only a glancing blow from the stalagmite, further deflected by its exceptionally thick hide.

Sarah's psicrystal bites one of the creatures, though its teeth barely manage to penetrate its skin, then whips the remaining two, managing to attach one tentacle to each. They don't seem any weaker after the attacks, however.

[00110111]

Tallfellow waggles disapprovingly at the three-legged cyclopses. Meanwhile, Pinky cowers and squeals, peeking from behind his paws and wincing half a dozen times as the ladies and the tiger get poked, prodded, and impaled again and again. Only after repeated attacks from Tallfellow does he spring ooze into action.

Cautiously, he makes light steps most of the way down when, upon further consideration, he backtracks a few steps and a few steps more up the spire before he begins casting one spell after another. Tallfellow begins to spin and swirl and grow until the battle is engulfed in a lethally silky vortex of furry force.

If the battle persists through his onslaught, Pinky flattens a couple strands of wayward fur before disappearing around the spire to the left.

Move Action: Hasted. Hop/Drop down in 5ft increments to avoid falling damage. Tumbling to avoid AoOs from 15ft long spikes [roll0]

Standard Action: Tails of Flurry, 30ft radius burst centered on Pinky, allies safe; Reflex DC 21 half, dazed 1 round if save fails. Defensively Cast vs DC 19. [roll1] SR North to South [roll2] [roll3] [roll4], Damage [roll5]

White Raven Tactics: If one or more eye-guys are still up:
Standard Action: Tails of Flurry, 30ft radius burst centered on Pinky, allies safe; Reflex DC 21 half, dazed 1 round if save fails. Defensively Cast vs DC 19. [roll6] SR North to South [roll7] [roll8] [roll9], Damage [roll10]

If one or more eye-guys are still up:

Lucky Surge (3 luck): Glitterdust, 10ft radius burst, catching the ones that are still in the fight and avoiding allies, e2 and e3 together preferred; Fort DC 19 vs blindness. Defensively Cast vs DC 19. [roll11] SR North to South [roll12] [roll13]; Mobile Spellcasting DC 24 (1 luck for +7 to skill check) [roll14] to move around the spire and hide [roll15]

[Jarian]

Pinkerton's first spell splits harmlessly around the northernmost eye-creature, but strikes the center one hard enough to leave it reeling. The southern eye-creature dodges and weaves, managing to avoid the worst of the attack, though its body is still in tatters regardless. Pinkerton's next spell splits around both the center and the southern creature, but slams into the northern one with full force, leaving it wobbling atop its tripod of legs.

The sole remaining eye-creature capable of taking action at present whips its body around in a rapid circle, untwisting itself from its bonds, then skitters forward and begins climbing the spire toward Pinkerton. Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on the viewpoint - it makes only a little progress before realizing that it has no idea where the elusive catfolk went to.

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e=eye-things. Ground level. e3 is currently at +15 elevation on the side of the spire.

Sarah, Fire, and Smoke are currently Immobilized. Immobilized characters are incapable of moving from their current square, but are not otherwise hindered.

Each mandible may be removed by making a DC 21 Strength or Escape Artist check as a move action, which will deal an additional 1d10 damage. A character can have a mandible removed without taking damage with the assistance of an ally, who must make a DC 21 Heal check as a standard action to remove it.

Lighting is almost total darkness, imposing a 35% miss chance with normal attacks unless you possess darkvision or another means of detection.

[tonberryking]

Forgoing any spells, Smoke just tries to escape, though it causes some pretty intense pain in the process. Oh will she owe the unicorns favors after this...

Escape artist check: [roll0]

[Eurus]

The two tentacle beasts behave like any good tentacle beasts, whipping the air around them into a flurry with their strands. The one that used to be Sarah does its best to maul the top and middle one, while its weaker companion focuses on the southernmost creature.

So two Synchronicity castings trigger, giving RoperSarah and RoperJade two standard actions each. The middle enemy gets dragged up next to RoperJade as a free action.

Sarah's actions
Readied action 1: Bonesplitting Strike against the middle enemy.
Readied action 2: Dazing Strike against the top enemy.
Schism action: Manifesting Force Screen, unaugmented.
Full-round action: Full attacking with strands.
Swift action: Manifesting Hustle linked to Synchronicity.
Hustle move: Regain psionic focus.

Jade's actions:
Readied action 1: Aid Another on Sarah's Bonesplitting Strike.
Readied Action 2: Aid Another on Sarah's Dazing Strike.
Full-round action: Full attack with strands.
Move action: Roar menacingly.

Too many rolls:
[roll0]; [roll]2d
[roll1]

[roll2] (targeting e1)
[roll3] (targeting e1)
[roll4] (targeting e1)
[roll5] (targeting e1)
[roll6] (targeting e1)
[roll7] (targeting e1)
DC 19 to resist weakness.

[roll8] (targeting e3)
[roll9] (targeting e3)
[roll10] (targeting e3)
[roll11] (targeting e3)
[roll12] (targeting e3)
DC 18 to resist weakness.

Sarah's HP: 76/100 (+45 temporary)
Psicrystal HP: 50/50 (+45 temporary)

PP spent this turn: 5

Current effects: Immobilized x3, Metamorphosed into Roper (shared with crystal), Vigor (shared with crystal), Force Screen (shared with crystal), Share Pain with Psicrystal.

[00110111]

Mr. Red-Eye pursues Pinky with inscrutable intent. But unbeknownst to it, Pinky finds himself in similar situations on a weekly basis if not more. While it skitters about below, it hears, "Halloo! Looking for me?" some ways up. They lock gazes with Pinky's bottom waving in the air, much to Tallfellow's consternation, and vanishes again behind the curve of the spire.

Move Action: Hasted. Creep higher at full speed.
Standard Action: Readied action to hide (at full speed, -5 penalty to hide) behind the spire after the creature begins to pursue him. [roll0]

[Jarian]

Sarah and her psicrystal are much more accurate with this volley of attacks than their last; Sarah smacks one of the creatures, cracking something inside of it, then bashes another hard enough to leave it reeling. Not satisfied yet, she whips the dazed creature with six tentacles, sapping its strength away in a single second, leaving it limp and helpless.

The psicrystal is nearly as effective, wrapping two tentacles around the creature pursuing Pinkerton; the creature, already burned, half-flayed, and nearly impaled on a spike, now falls limply from the wall, twitching spasmodically.

Smoke struggles against the spike, nearly managing to free herself, but fails with a few inches of spike to go.

Pinkerton draws a wand, not willing to taunt a man - or creature, as the case may be - when it's down.

The sole remaining creature attempts to impale Sarah's psicrystal, but simply ends up clattering its mandibles against the psicrystal-Roper's curiously thick hide.

Map:{table=head]_|A_|B_|C_|D_|E_|F_|G_|H_|I_|J_|K_|L_
1|=|=|=|=||||||||
2|=|=|=|||||||||
3|=|=||||||||||
4|=|||||||||||
5||||||||||||
6||e1|Ps|Ps||||||||
7|||Ps|Ps|e2|||||||
8||Sa|Sa|F||||||||
9|=|Sa|Sa|Sm||||||||
10|=|=e3||||||||||
11|=|=|=|||||||||
12|=|=|=|=||||||||
13|=|=|=|=|=|||||||
14|=|=|=|=|=|=||||||[/table]

e=eye-things. Ground level. e1 and e3 are currently strength-drained into a helpless state. e2 is currently entwined with one Roper tentacle from the psicrystal.

Sarah, Fire, and Smoke are currently Immobilized. Immobilized characters are incapable of moving from their current square, but are not otherwise hindered.

Each mandible may be removed by making a DC 21 Strength or Escape Artist check as a move action, which will deal an additional 1d10 damage. A character can have a mandible removed without taking damage with the assistance of an ally, who must make a DC 21 Heal check as a standard action to remove it.

Lighting is almost total darkness, imposing a 35% miss chance with normal attacks unless you possess darkvision or another means of detection.

[roll0] [roll1] [roll2]
[roll3] [roll4] [roll5]
[roll6] [roll7]

[Eurus]

Form shapes thought, one of the first lessons of any aspiring Egoist. And right now Sarah and her psicrystal were in full-on monster mode. The prone figures are dragged toward the two ropers, each of whom open their mouths impossibly wide and begin messily devouring their prey with no concern for the still-standing creature.

Coup de Grace x2, one on each.

[roll0]

[roll1]

[Jarian]

*chomp!*

Sarah finishes off one of the creatures with a swift bite - and receives a gush of acid in her mouth for repayment. Sarah takes 15 acid damage.

*chom-!*

Sarah's psicrystal tries to imitate its master, but can't quite fully penetrate the thick hide of its prey. The creature clings to life by a thread, refusing to die without a fight.

Acid damage: [roll0]

[00110111]

"Well Done!" Pinky appears out of nowhere behind Smoke and Sarah, clapping politely. "I applaud your resourcefulness against something so bizarre. I admit you had me worried; a smidge, mind; what with -" He mimes mimes a swooping and chomping motion with his paw.

"Now that such messy business has concluded; come, allow Dr. Pinkerton to see to your wounds." With a flourish, he touches Smoke on the shoulder with the wand. Nothing happens. Nonchalant, he taps her shoulder again. Same. His triangular snout crinkles. His tongue escapes, his sleeves roll up, and the wand raps her vigorously every which way that the wand becomes a blur of teak.

Move Action: Hasted. Hop/Drop down in 5ft increments to C10. Tumble DC 15 to avoid AoOs [roll0].
Standard Action: Use Wand of Lesser Vigor on Smoke. UMD DC 20 [roll1] Fast Healing 1, 11 rounds.

[tonberryking]

Trying very hard not to murder Pinkerton, Smoke growls at him with her softish halfling voice, and in a moment Fire mimics the growl only with his deadly, meanish roar of a voice. But enough talking! The druid/ninja figures she's out of the fight and tries once more to escape so she can set about freeing herself and her tiger, whom, by the by, is ready to murder something after being trapped for so long.

[roll0] escape artist check on herself, and a strength check from Fire for the same: [roll1]

[Jarian]

[roll0][roll1][roll2]
[roll]

[roll3] [roll4] [roll5]

[roll6] [roll7]

Smoke pulls herself free of the mandible at last, feeling something tear inside her as she does. Smoke takes 9 damage.

The last remaining creature capable of fighting does its best. Seeing Smoke tear herself free, it lashes out with a trio of mandibles again, impaling her through a leg and a glancing blow through her side. Smoke takes a total of 20 piercing damage, and is Immobilized twiceover.

Sarah and her psicrystal, having subdued the other creatures, lash out in a flurry of twelve tentacles. Smoke's attacker is wrapped entirely in rubbery, strength-sapping lengths of flesh. When Sarah at last releases her grip, the creature falls to the ground, twitching helplessly.

---

Final tally:

Smoke, 58 damage + one casting of lesser vigor, fast healing 1 for 11 rounds.
Fire: 40 damage.
Sarah: 34 damage.

[Eurus]

Sarah seems to be on the verge of devouring the last creature, before she pulls herself together and dismisses the shape, leaving her hanging limply in the air with acidic blood all over her face and a queasy expression. "Oh my... I think I got a little carried away there."

She manages to extract the spikes from her body over the course of a few minutes, revealing wounds that, while painful, are thankfully less serious than they appeared. "Wherever we are, it's dangerous... I think in the future we might be better off avoiding the local fauna whenever possible."

[Jarian]

The party spends a few tense minutes removing spikes and healing wounds, all the while surrounded by the clacking of mandibles growing louder and louder. It appears that, while the other creatures may not know exactly where you are, they are intelligent enough to form search patterns. The booming, echoing double beat is, as always, present, disrupting thoughts and making communication difficult.

When the last spike is extracted and the wounds mostly seen to, the group strikes out away from the glowing spires, hoping that abandoning the light sources will make it more difficult for them to be found. You aren't sure exactly where you're going, since everywhere seems to be the same - dark, slick, and loud. In the end, you wind up traveling toward the opposite line of glowing spires, though not with the intent to see them up close. It is simply the shortest path into the darkest area of the cavern.

Before ten minutes have passed, you find yourselves climbing a progressively steeper incline, made all the more difficult by the fact that everything is covered by the same viscous liquid that somehow manages to be frustratingly slippery. The going is slow, but you are spurred onward by the sound of several hundred - or thousand - sets of mandibles behind you.

Finally you reach the top of the incline, and as the ground levels off, you notice that it is scored by knee-deep ravines as far as you can see. The ravines come together to form roughly ovoid plateaus, making the going difficult as you continuously climb in and out of the deep trenches. Thankfully, the creatures do not seem to patrol this far from the spires, for the sound of their clattering soon dies away.

Suddenly, the world lurches downwards. You stumble to your knees, hearts in your throats as you experience what feels like several minutes of freefalling, but which is probably more like ten seconds. A horizontal crack of daylight appears to your right, easily a mile away, and the glow from the spires dies away rapidly as the light touches each one.

The crack widens, and you can see that the spires are in fact ivory in color. The implications of this are lost as you begin sliding toward the horizon, the entire cavern seeming to tilt further and further downwards. Your fingers flail about for a hold, trying to grasp the edge of a plateau but failing due to the slickness. You start to fall, and as you look down, you see a massive city of stonework below you. Colossal blue and gold pennants fly on city walls some two miles below you - an interesting sight, to be sure, if you only had time to think about it.

Before you can fall more than a dozen feet, the ground curls around you on all sides. Like a black tsunami racing toward you, the ground curls up, up, father and farther, blocking out the ever-widening gap in the horizon, reaching up and over your heads. Your fall is abruptly halted as the ground slams into you, hurtling you back the way you came and farther, tumbling you head over heels as the ground races upwards, away from the world as you know it, but also away from a fall to your death.

How often you strike plateaus or pull a muscle as a portion of your body gets caught in a ravine, you can't even begin to guess. There is only the tumbling and the pain as the world heaves around you. At long last the ground stops rolling upwards, and with a final heave, throws you out into open air.

Pinkerton reflexively releases a spell, slowing your fall. As you shake your heads to clear vision and thought alike, you look down and see that this day only gets worse and worse.

You are falling slowly down a shaft nearly half a mile wide, of unknowable depth, ringed by wide ledges every few hundred yards. The entire shaft seems to be illuminated in the same manner as the spires previously. The walls around the ledges occasionally pulse outward, leaving only a few feet of footing on each of them. This information, while potentially useful, is made less valuable by the knowledge that Pinkerton's magic has a decidedly finite duration, after which you can look forward to a long, long, long fall.

[tonberryking]

The smallest of the companions finds herself flung about like a child's ball for what feels like forever, Smoke having been uprooted from her saddle in just a mere split second. She yells in three different languages, once each time she bounces off something before finally feather fall takes hold and her sense of what's up and down is restored.

...Though she wishes it wasn't.

"Hells bells," she squeaks, trying to 'swim' in the air towards Fire, the largest reason she hasn't wild shaped herself over to one of the ledges. "Everyone, hold onto Fire, I've got a spell we can trust!" Once she grasps the pommel of her saddle, the druid begins casting something as wisps of green smoke paint their way around herself and her tiger, the druid casting a nice, reliable Air Walk to keep the long fall from being too dire.

[Eurus]

After the chaotic whirl that led to their current situation, a nice peaceful fall was almost welcome. Sarah actually seems to be enjoying herself, oddly enough, assuming a spread-eagle skydiving position while Jade clings anxiously to her back. Then again, at least nothing was attacking them right now, making this an overall improvement.

When Smoke calls out for them, Sarah tilts her body and angles her fall to bring her closer to the tiger until she can grab onto its side. "Did you see that kingdom earlier? What was that crack, do you think? Some kind of portal?"

[00110111]

Pinkerton emerges from the briars caterwauling in panicked protest, having increased in fur volume by at least 16%. Tallfellow buries himself away in a convenient pants pocket, wishing away his worries like an ostrich in the sand. Meanwhile Pinkerton reflexively slows everyone's descent with an instant's spell. His breaststroke towards Fire makes questionable progress.

[Jarian]

Before the party can get well situated on Fire's back - not that such is truly possible, given the number of creatures attempting to pile on the tiger's back at once - your sense of down shifts abruptly. The shaft you are in tilts rapidly, the sides becoming the floor and ceiling, forming an extremely long tunnel. Before you can so much as gape in wonder, the shaft begins to return to its previous position, once more giving you a lurching feeling in your stomach.

That's when you hear it. Between the double beats, there is the sound of something massive grinding against something else. It sounds like stone - like a rockslide, but a hundred times larger than anything you've ever witnessed before. It seems to be coming from... above you?

You look up, just in time to see half a peaked stone tower hurtle by you, pointed downward like an enormous conical arrowhead. The tip of the tower bears a torn blue and gold pennant, which streaks up alongside the tower, flapping madly.

Fire roars in alarm suddenly, and you rip your gaze away from the tower to see what looks to be a mostly-intact church wall falling toward you. Smoke reacts with instincts she didn't even know she had, spurring Fire forward, deeper into the center of the shaft, watching as the wall rockets down toward you.

Something crashes above and around you, and you feel a hundred - no, a thousand - tiny lacerations across your body. Through scrunched eyes you can see bits of multicolored glass flying through the air beside you. You look to one side and see a carpeted floor, some pews, then a rush of gray rock and all is back to normal. If a slick blackness with an ever present green glow could be called normal, anyway.

A quick glance down reveals the remains of the church freefalling down the shaft, one wall completely torn away - presumably how you managed to pass completely through it without being crushed to death.

Hearts thumping madly, Fire growling like he's about to have a fit, you look around. No more buildings seem to be falling, though there is an ominous grinding noise coming from somewhere far above you.

Suddenly a gap opens in the shaft just below you, and you feel a great rush of air hurtle back up the shaft, though much of it seems to rush out of the sudden gap.

As soon as it appeared, the gap is gone, but another one opens just below it, slightly to one side of the first, and another rush of air fills the tunnel. Then another, and another, until Fire has to struggle to keep his place in the air. Even further below, the shaft goes on for an unmeasurable distance, slowly fading into deeper and deeper darkness.

[tonberryking]

A dream. it all feels like a dream were it not for the shrapnel and debris lacing her exposed skin with cuts. Smoke's going to have fun mending them later. And she WILL, too, she forces herself to admit, lest she succumb to any sense of unabated fear.

She can't come up with any jokes about any of this, though, because, really, how the hell can one joke about what looks like an entire populace just been eaten--

...Wait a damn minute...


"If I didn't know any better, I'd say something, something we're STUCK in, was eating everything in sight and it's damned big enough to do so!!"

Not yet landing her flying tiger, Smoke keeps to the air for a few moments, looking everything up and down, as if in appraisal. She even affords to ignore any choice comments from her passengers, so deep is the druid ninja in study...

Okay, trying to perform a knowledge nature check. Not to figure out what the hell ate us but to look around and see if this interior actually resembles anything biological, like a throat or an esophagus or something. If we're in some big damn body, she may be able to get an idea of things:
[roll0]

[Jarian]

Smoke peers about, studying, thinking, while bits of debris continue to float down. Most of the debris is small, ignorable, bits of brick or a shingle here and there. On occasion, something larger falls past, but nothing comes close enough to pose any particular danger. Though, there is still that unsettling grinding coming from above...

But Smoke is intent on her study, and none of this distracts her. Yes, she's seen things like this before - on a far smaller scale, to be sure, but the resemblances are there. The double thump, the way the walls above the ledges move in time with the beat, as if to shove things off... the holes and their rushing air. This is a throat of some kind, but not the sort Smoke is used to seeing in many creatures. Rather than separate sections for breathing and swallowing, this seems to serve as a combination of the two; food goes down, air goes up, brought in by a multitude of passages.

The realization that this thing is alive is quickly dwarfed by a second thought: if this is its throat, how big is the rest of this thing?

[Eurus]

Sarah had a similar realization at around the same time, prompted by the recognition of the architecture falling past. Things suddenly started to make sense, in an intensely disturbing sort of way. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she winced.

"...Gods. What if there are more people in here, other survivors? If this beast likes to devour entire towns, it seems likely... and I doubt most of them will last long if they run into more of those things. We need to move fast."

[tonberryking]

"We're either the lucky or unlucky ones..." Smoke explains as she moves Fire away from something else that's falling around. She explains (in very small, easy to follow words for Pinkerton) the situation of the party being stuck in some big nasty monster... That's very big, and very nasty.

"God only knows how big the damn thing is, but we can't stay here. Either my spell will run out and we'll be falling down with whoever else was consumed, but we risk being squashed by the throat or something in it..."

Still circling the esophagus, Smoke looks to the others. "What d'you guys think? We can't wait here for the thing to open its mouth, but I sure as hell don't wanna go deeper... Much. We may have to if only to camp out...

[Eurus]

"Like I said, I vote we head down to the stomach... or whatever equivalent this thing has. If there are any other survivors, they'd probably be there."

[00110111]

"Into the depths we march!" Pinky crowds the girls from behind as he points them onward. "Tonight we discover the secrets of the Eater-of-Inns! And on my honour as a gentleman and a scholar, we will free all survivors and vanquish all enemies, large or improbably-ginormous!"

"Hear the Lion of Gnuberton roar!" With squared shoulders, his defiant bellow falls short of any measure of masculinity, but Pinky's confidence refuses to waver. Pinky raps Fire on his flank despite Tallfellow's desperate efforts to restrain him about the elbow.

His yodeling battle charge echoes long after he disappears into the unknown.

[Jarian]

The overburdened Fire flies downward in a large spiral, circling near the outer edge of the esophagus to avoid the majority of the falling debris, which shows no sign of letting up, though much of what falls comes in smaller and small bits, accompanied by occasional torrents of slimy gray grit, which turns out to be thumb-sized bits of rock loosely held together by a viscous liquid that you'd rather not think about.

Even with this lessened danger, Fire still has to veer sharply to avoid bits of crenelated walls or towertops from sending you to an early grave. His aerial acrobatics would be more appreciated, were it not for the sickening feeling of something growing in your stomachs.

Down, down, down, Fire flies, moving swiftly yet still consuming minute after precious minute of Smoke's spell. Try though you might not to think of it, you are forced to wonder which will happen first: finding this thing's stomach, or freefalling your way there.

Your only measure of time in this place is the steady double beat, that loud thudding already beginning to give you a headache. How many thousands of times it sounds on your way down, you can't begin to guess. Yet it is thousands, surely, for the flight takes a lengthy period of time. In fact, you are about ready to begin plans for an emergency landing on one of the ledges of the esophagus, prompted by Smoke telling you that her spell is nearly exhausted, when you see what you hope is the end of this particular bit of anatomical exploration.

The quarter-mile wide hole below you opens and closes in time to the double beat - thu-thump - open - thu-thump - closed - unimaginably powerful muscles contracting and relaxing in a steady rhythm. Beyond this opening you see a yellow-green glow, mottled in places by a purple so dark as to be nearly black, though the source of the illumination yet eludes you. A noxious vapor wafts up from the hole, smelling of sulfur and something worse.

Having nowhere better to go, and the air walking spell nearly expended, Smoke urges Fire on, hesitating just above the opening for a few moments, waiting for the perfect opportunity. The hole contracts, leaving only a pinprick - well, what would be a pinprick to a creature of this size - opening five feet wide at its center. It expands with a muted rustling, reaching its full quarter-mile size in a matter of seconds. Fire rushes through, running as fast as he is able on the noxious air. A few heartbeats after he is through, the double thump sounds again, sealing off the passage above.

As your eyes adjust to the brighter illumination of the area, two massive things become very obvious, very quickly. The first is that, despite the size of this area - you would guess it to be nearly three miles from any given side to center - the vast portion of free space is taken up by a roiling, translucent orb of black and purple, seeming to exist and yet not exist at the same time, like a creature of shadow conjured by a wizard. The orb occasionally spawns a mile-long tendril, which whips about wildly, seeming to have neither rhyme nor reason. As you watch, you see the tendril collide with a falling bit of masonry - and the stonework vanishes. It is not disintegrated or consumed, as far as you can tell; it is simply gone.

The second - and perhaps even more troubling - discovery is the sea of glowing yellow acid below. And a sea it is in truth, replete with crashing waves that start at the edges of the sea whenever the double thump sounds, rushing inwards to come together in a grand explosion in the center of the sea, gushing upwards some quarter-mile, like the legendary geysers of the old world. Yet the sea of acid is the least of your worries below: a massive yellow-green shape slinks across the top of the acid sea like a soap bubble atop a bucket of wash water, occasionally moving with great rapidity to catch of bit of falling debris that avoided the shadowy orb above, a loud hissing noise reaching your ears whenever it does so.

Without time to consider either of these issues further, Smoke guides Fire to one of the many ridges lining the sides of this area, and not a moment too soon. As soon as the tiger gets his front paws over the ridge, the spell ends, its risidual effect allowing him to glide the rest of the way onto the ledge.

But if you are happy to have found a solid piece of ground to stand on, it is not happy to have found you. Four holes open in the ledge above you, each releasing a small glob of acidic slime. The globes strike the ledge around you with a wet splat, spreading out like a burst waterskin, then rapidly reform into a hemispherical shape and begin oozing toward you, leaving a trail of bubbling acid behind them.

Map:{table=head]_|A_|B_|C_|D_
1||||
2||||
3||S1||S2
4||||
5||Sm|Sa|
6||Fi|Pi|
7||||
8||||
9||||
10||||
11|S3|||S4
12||||
13||||
14||||[/table]

Initials = party, defying all riding rules and everyone atop Fire's back.

S = Slime-things. Medium-sized.

Lighting is full normal illumination.

Mind that you're still sickened from the previous encounter.

To the "west" is a solid wall extending way, way, way up. To the "east", a sheer drop down into the acid sea below. The ledge extends as far as you can see to the north and south.

[00110111]

"Aha!" Pinky crows as the claustrophobic tunnel opens up with a whoosh into a bright cavern. The blare of trumpets and snare drums break out in a bouncy tune with more than a little pomp, usually reserved for the return of victorious generals and their armies. All the while, Pinky conducts the fanfare, wand in-hand, with a pronounced aire of snootiness.

As Fire lands, he dismounts twirls his whiskers and bows at the waist to his adoring audience. How could they not?! "Oof!" he nurses a stitch in his side. "Tallfellow!" His tail stands straight as a poker but for a crooked salute at its tip. "Remind me to stretch before my next symphony, Old Boy."

"Aah!" he gasps at the sight of the acid bursts popping from the wall. He hops away on one leg, scrabbling for Sarah to shield him.

"Back, you little devils!" he shrieks from behind her shoulder, wringing his hands. "Shoo!"

In a flash, he's up the wall, careful to avoid pores along the way.

EDIT: Changed order of actions; readied spell instead of casting it. Fanfare = Ghost Sound
Move up 20ft _unless_ all of the acid-thingies are whoosh'd away, in which case he'll stay beside Smoke and Sarah.
Shoo = Readied Action: Telekinesis on as many of the 4 acid-thingies as possible; Will DC 22 or be hurled out over the acid sea 100ft toward the orb. Action triggers when they come within reach of the PCs.

[Eurus]

Sarah glares at the slime creatures, and slinks behind her allies to interpose herself between them and the two southern creatures. Her body hums with vitality as she funnels psionic energy into every cell, and she brandishes her glaive at the beasts.

Sarah will move 10 feet south and manifest Vigor for 4 pp, linked to Expansion for 1 pp, shared with Jade.

[tonberryking]

Smoke, though aware of how many digestive systems basically work, seems to have run out of smart-ass things to say regarding this and is instead massively cautious. Though Fire would as soon as leap over and try to claw at one of those things, Smoke decides to give the surrounding interior a sudden, violent kidney stone.

So, with such clever wordplay the Druid ignores that her cohorts are behind her, because dammit, her flesh and Fire's fur suddenly solidify, as if replace with greenish marble that is still just as mobile. Fire, furthermore, remains on guard, preparing to attack if anything gets too close to him and his 'momma'.

[Jarian]

Pinkerton scrambles off Fire's back, jogging toward the fleshy wall - and then up it. Once there, he waits for the creatures to start moving toward Smoke and Fire, then makes a shooing gesture. Both creatures fly away, off into the wild yellow-green yonder, eventually beginning a descent toward the sea of acid below.

The southern globs, on the other hand, have no such problems. They slide toward Sarah, leaving bubbling trails of acid in their wake. Once near her, they shudder violently, cracks appearing in their semisolid surfaces. Clouds of acidic fog escape the cracks, burning Sarah's flesh. (Sarah takes 19 and 14 acid damage from the released clouds, and the clouds linger, still burning at her flesh.)


Map:{table=head]_|A_|B_|C_|D_
1||||
2||||
3||||
4||||
5||Sm|Fi|
6|Pi|Fi|Fi|
7|c|c|Sa|c
8|c|S3|S4|c
9|c|ac|ac|ac
10|a|||a
11|a|||a
12||||
13||||
14||||[/table]

Initials = party. Pinkerton is at +20 elevation, Spiderclimb boots activated.

a = acid trail. Looks pretty nasty.

c = acid cloud. Feels pretty nasty.

S = Slime-things. Medium-sized. S1 and S2 were wooshed away, never to be seen again.

Lighting is full normal illumination.

Mind that you're still sickened from the previous encounter.

To the "west" is a solid wall extending way, way, way up. To the "east", a sheer drop down into the acid sea below. The ledge extends as far as you can see to the north and south.

[00110111]

Pinky hugs himself in glee as two of the advancing blobs whiz off into the giant cauldron. He hops down to the very edge with a puerile grin fixed aface. He leans way, way farther than any sane mother would allow, cupping his ears to hear the impact.

*slip!* *pinwheel* *whee!* Over the edge, he goes!

Moments pass. "You too, Boys! Hop to it!" he calls.

Actions
Slippers of Spiderclimbingly, hop down 10ft, move to D6, drop down 5ft, come back up

3 Luck -> cast Telekinesis: Violent Thrust on the two remaining slimies. Will DC 22 negates being shot out over the edge like the previous two.

[Jarian]

One of the remaining acid slimes whizzes away after its companions, shooting out farther, farther, until it finally begins a descent toward the sea below.

The other trembles visibly, ripples appearing in its surface, clearly on the brink of being torn away, but it manages to hold itself to the ground.

Map:{table=head]_|A_|B_|C_|D_
1||||
2||||
3||||
4||||
5||Sm|Fi|
6||Fi|Fi|Pi
7|c|c|Sa|c
8|c|ac|S4|c
9|c|ac|ac|ac
10|a|||a
11|a|||a
12||||
13||||
14||||[/table]

Initials = party.

a = acid trail. Looks pretty nasty.

c = acid cloud. Feels pretty nasty.

S = Slime-things. Medium-sized. S1, S2, and S3 were wooshed away, never to be seen again.

Lighting is full normal illumination.

Mind that you're still sickened from the previous encounter.

To the "west" is a solid wall extending way, way, way up. To the "east", a sheer drop down into the acid sea below. The ledge extends as far as you can see to the north and south.

[Eurus]

Sarah hollers in pain as the acid burns her skin, but the wounds are only superficial as her buffer of psychic energy absorbs the damage. Shifting around alongside the creature as she swiftly grows in size, she plants her glaive against the ground like a shovel and attempts to plow the creature straight off the cliff. The acid puddle that she steps into proves deeper than anticipated, however, and after melting a few layers of skin off her leg she beats a quick retreat.

"Ow ow ow ow... you guys can finish this one without me."

Sarah takes 17 damage and Jade takes 16, subtracting from their temp HP. Expansion kicks in, and Sarah shifts around to the creature's west side then attempts to bull rush it off the edge. Improved Bull Rush means no AoO.

[roll0]

Sarah retreats like a sissy girly man to A3/B4.

[tonberryking]

The marbled druid seems to stay on the defensive rather than allow Fire a chance to acid wash his own fur. Smoke flicks out both her hands elaborately, the motion mimicking scooping up something like sand or water and as she 'hurls' the invisible mass it coalesces into a spiraling bronze ball of energy that goes careening into the remaining Slime (S4) with a crunch. Imagine the sound that the contents of a rock tumbler would make if you up ended it all onto the floor and it's close to that.

Using Hate Spike Nature's Wrath on S4 [roll0] Which is probably what I should have been firing alot more instead of my other things that have more of a finite ammo supply. also if it HAS to attack another target, aim for one of the acid puddles rather than Sara or Pinkerton (...for now)

[tonberryking]

Sorry about the delay, aside from working full time this week, I had to go back and re-check what spells I'd already cast; some of them weren't marked

Oh yeah, Smoke also summons fire. As if preparing for oncoming darkness, the short druid keeps her tiger back but she also throws more crap at the acid; in addition to the wrath spike: fragments of her newly formed flame of greenish tint get lobbed at it.

Took me a moment to find something not-overkill, but here it is: ranged touches: [roll0] [roll1] Damages: [roll2][roll3]

[Jarian]

Smoke flings three spheres through the remaining slime, cutting a trio of circular holes clean through its form. The surface of the creature's body bubbles - perhaps a sign of pain, perhaps not - then it collapses in on itself, splashing down into a puddle before bulging back up minus the holes in its form. It seems... smaller, you think.

The slime surges forward, still trailing acid, and cracks appear in its surface again, releasing another cloud of acidic fog. (Fire and Pinkerton take 19 acid damage.)

Map:{table=head]_|A_|B_|C_|D_
1||||
2||||
3|Sa|Sa||
4|Sa|Sa||
5||Sm|Fi|
6||Fi|Fi|Pi
7|c|c|S4|c
8|c|ac|ac|c
9|c|ac|ac|ac
10|a|||a
11|a|||a
12||||
13||||
14||||[/table]

Initials = party.

a = acid trail. Looks pretty nasty.

c = acid cloud. Feels pretty nasty. Currently in spaces occupied by Fire and Pinkerton too.

S = Slime-things. Medium-sized. S1, S2, and S3 were wooshed away, never to be seen again.

Lighting is full normal illumination.

Mind that you're still sickened from the previous encounter.

To the "west" is a solid wall extending way, way, way up. To the "east", a sheer drop down into the acid sea below. The ledge extends as far as you can see to the north and south.

[00110111]

"Oi! Tiny Tim! On your toes, Boy! Don't make me come over there!" Hacking and wheezing as he reels from the cloud, Pinky waves his cane at the little jelly like a riled up old codger.

You guessed it! Telekinesis on the spud. Will DC 22 or go zoom zoom like the others.

[Jarian]

The last of the slimes goes flying out into open space, its trajectory slowly becoming an arc toward the sea of acid below. The party stumbles out of the clouds of noxious gases into the relative safety of the ledge.

Nothing has changed since the fight began mere moments ago - the orb of purple-blackness still pulses in the air, tendrils whipping about it seemingly at random. Below, the enormous hemisphere still slowly floats about on the sea of acid, occasionally jetting around with incredible bursts of speed.

Given the initial reaction of your arrival, continuing further along the ledge seems foolhardy - there will surely be other, similar defenses along the way, and the journey would accomplish nothing so far as you can tell.

[tonberryking]

Still with skin of stone, Smoke reclines a little though she doesn't relax. Assuming this is a stomach of some sort, she wonders where the hell the rest of the days meal(s) are as there should still be *something* left.

spot check, followed by knowledge nature, trying to figure out if a safe passage to some *nicer* organs are readily available
[roll0][roll1]

"Dammit. somehow this is your fault Pinky; but we can't stay here long..." she says, wondering if a stone stuntie like herself can even sweat with nervousness...

[00110111]

Pinky splutters indignantly. He jabs his finger at the ceiling, mimes stabbing with a spear, flies his hand through the air, and oozes like a jelly-thing. Exasperated, he poofs a door in thin air and sulks in the corner of his hidey hole.

[Jarian]

Pinkerton/Smoke:After a very unfomfortable night spent nursing rebellious stomachs, you emerge to find the situation identical to the way you left it. Carefully climbing down the rope, Pinkerton tests the ledge with a careful toe to see whether any more nasty surprises awaits, then declares it safe.

After a bit of finagling, the party manages to extract a very green-about-the-gills Fire from within the extradimensional space, followed quickly by Smoke and Sarah. Smoke's first priority is to finally purge herself of her stomach affliction, which she does while laying a hand on Fire at the same time, allowing the magic to wash away the residue of whatever foul creature kept writhing within their bellies.

After some discussion, the party decides on a course of action. Smoke plans to dig a path through the wall of the stomach, to broaden their exploration options beyond two very daunting prospects. Though objections are raised regarding natural defenses, in the end it is decided that the plan is as sensible as any.

As Smoke prepares herself for the necessary transformation, the entrance to the stomach opens again. Instead of releasing yet another torrent of debris, however, this time it admits a single, very ragged airship. The ship's main balloon appears to have been all but completely deflated, and several of its secondary floats have burst. The ship streaks down toward the acid sea at a nearly forty-five degree angle, moving with alarming rapidity.

As the ship draws near the great, writhing black mass suspended in the air, a single tendril whips outward, slicing across the top of the ship. Instantly, the masts, rigging, and primary balloon vanish, utterly gone. The ship whirls helplessly through the air, apparently devoid of any flight control. The removal of its primary air sac changed its flight course, spinning it about to fly as straight as an arrow toward the wall of the stomach.

You watch in amazement as the ship draws nearer and nearer, drawing level with you, then slipping further down. The outcome is inevitable, yet you find the impending disaster oddly fascinating. Flying inexorably toward its target, the ship streaks onward, faster and faster. Tiny figures dot its deck, two at the wheel, a third spread-eagled on the rear of the deck. If they had the means to, the sensible thing to do would have been to abandon the ship a while ago. Perhaps they have a plan, perhaps the-

Crrrrunnnnch!

The ship rams into the stomach wall at full speed, dealing terrible damage to its structure, then rebounds back out toward the sea of acid.

A quiet moment passes. The worst of the accident seems to be over.

Suddenly, the ledge beneath your feet gives a mighty heave, throwing you violently outward. Smoke, Fire, and Pinkerton are all thrown in generally the same direction, but Sarah is launched almost straight up, in a completely different direction. She lets out a brief shout of surprise, then collides with a section of the stomach wall, and her voice is cut off abruptly.

Pinkerton looks up at Sarah, then to Smoke and Fire, and finally down at his feet - and the deck of the ship some three-hundred feet below. With a wry shrug, he allows the trio to descend another few hundred feet - a matter of heartbeats - then shouts a quick word of magic and slows your descent to a manageable speed.

You touch down on the deck with three soft thuds. The inhabitants of the ship - a halfling with golden skin, a seemingly human woman with a shaved head and unsettling eyes, and an aasimar with a streak of gray in his otherwise brown hair - all stare at you with shocked expressions. Before anyone can speak, however, the ship crashes into the acid sea with a hiss and a spray of caustic liquid.

In the distance, a massive hemisphere surges across the surface of the sea, straight toward you.

"Ohgood,wemadeit." The halfling says cheerfully.

Pillyn:"Ohmygodsohmygodsohmygodsohmygods! OHMYGOOOOOOOODS!"

You waken to the sound of Darnn's frantic shouting, your head throbbing, surrounded by darkness. Gingerly, you raise fingertips to your bruised skull, then grope outwards and feel first one wooden step, then another. You must have cracked your head on the stairs when the ship lurched. The ship... Darnn...

Sudden realization floods your mind, and you scramble blindly up the stairs on hands and knees, awareness that the lanterns belowdeck were lit when last you saw them thrust aside in the face of more pressing concerns. Your eyes adjust to the darkness in a matter of moments, allowing you to see where you are going just in time to duck under a splintered beam of what once was the ship's deck, now thrusting down at a sharp angle toward the flight of stairs leading from the belowdecks.

The ship lurches again as you clear the staircase onto the main deck, nearly sending you into the rails. A quick glance upwards shows that the main compartment of the ship's air sac has ruptured, releasing its precious cargo at an alarming rate. Liban appears to already be working on the problem, the surprisingly nimble dwarf all but gliding across the rigging, a patch of canvas under one arm.

Pillyn!, a voice calls in your mind. Turiath. The link she set up earlier must still be active. The metal urging comes again, stronger, and you whip your head toward the prow of the ship.

A faint glow surrounds the ship's wheel. Darnn, the excitable golden-skinned halfling shipmaster, has the wheel in both small hands, while Turiath stands behind him, her hands on his head and her eyes closed.

"Yourcrystalcan'tseeathingmorethanIcanTu - BRACE!" Darnn says, the complaint turning into an alarmed shout. The halfling hauls on the wheel, spinning it to the left. The ship responds with a groan of soarwood grinding against soarwood, lurching slowly to the left - but too late. There is a crash from near the front of the ship, and suddenly the deck jerks out from beneath your feet, and you're tumbling backwards.

Tumbling, tumbling... you crash into something solid, lurching to a painful halt. The rear mast? It must be. The ship gyrates madly, spinning out of control while Darnn frantically works the wheel. Turiath appears stricken, and a flash of anxiety floods your mental bond.

"Ican'tseeanythingTuriathwhere'sthatblastedcrystalo fyoursgoneto?" Darnn demands, pounding a fist against the wheel in frustration.

It was on the prow... which appears to be gone, Darnn. Turiath's voice sounds in your mind again, anguish lacing the mental words.

"Well, what're ye gonna' do about it? Ye kin get another crystal later, if we ever get out of here!" Liban shouts from above you, directing his exasperation to the front of the ship. "We 'aven't got much gas left, and that'll be none soon enough if I can't get this patch in place! To that end, ah'd appreciate it if ye'd stop ramming into things in an att'mpt to throw me clear, unless ye fancy falling the rest o' the way! Now, if I kin just put in one stich without ye - DAMN YE T' THE HELLS, DARNN, STOP HITTING THINGS 'AFORE I PUT AN EVEN BIGGER TEAR IN THIS 'ERE AIR SAC!" Liban's complaints become a tirade as the ship strikes something solid yet again, bringing with it the sound of cracking timber.

"DoyoureallythinkIwouldevertreattheMerryweathersopo orlyifIcoulddoanythingaboutit,Liban? IamdoingthebestIcanwithnorudderandauxilliaryairsac sonly! NowwillyoupleasebequietandSEW?!" Darnn retorts, spinning the wheel this way and that in his deft hands. Despite his best efforts however, the ship continues to respond with agonizing sluggishness, crashing into things left, right, and center. Half of the crashes bring with them the sound of an air sac exploding, and an accompanying lurch as the ship tilts further and further downwards, until it all but races downward at a sharp incline.

"Ifyouwereeverinclinedtodoso,nowwouldbeaverygoodtim etopray,gentlemen." Darnn says somberly, as yet another crash ruptures the third of five air sacs on the starboard side of the ship. With the Merryweather now fully out of his control, Darnn is left spinning the wheel to no avail, as the ship plummets down, down, down, faster and faster.

Suddenly, a great, wet noise surrounds around you, and brilliant illumination floods the open air below, painting the bottom of the rapidly deflating air sac above you with a yellow-green hue, splashed here and there with trails of purple.

A mere moment later, the wet noise sounds again, and something rushes closed above you, though the air sacs blot out the exact details. A noxious, sulfuric smell reaches your nose, threatening to gag you - until you forget all about the smell as the ship lurches to one side suddenly, spilling your across the deck again. Your vision is filled with the sight of an ocean of yellow-green liquid as the ship rolls until it is almost completely horizontal, throwing you against the rails.

Liban shouts something from above, unnaturally panicked for the normally stoic dwarf.

THOOM.

Something indescribably massive sweeps past, a tendril of pure blackness. As it nears, you feel as though your heart will tear itself free from your chest, and your lungs fail to work for several moments.

Then you are falling rapidly - not like before, which could perhaps be described as a controlled descent. No, this is more akin to a freefall, with only the most minor of floatation devices to keep you aloft. The ship lurches back to its normal bearing, and as you roll across the deck yet again, you see that the entire main air sac is gone. Not ripped free, as from a violent storm, simply gone, with almost the entire length of all three masts, cut as cleanly as a glass pane.

"IamstartingtothinkthisentiretripwasaVERYBADIDEA!" Darnn cries from the front of the ship, still holding the useless wheel in his hands. "Ohno.OhNO.BRACEYOURSEEEELVEESSS!"

With an almighty crash, the Merryweather collides nose-first with what seems a solid black wall. The force of the impact ripples through the entire ship, cracking timber and sending splinters flying fifteen feet into the air. The ship rebounds off the wall, whirling through the air, any semblance of control over its descent now completely lost.

Thunk. Thunk. THUD.

Three forms land on the deck a moment later, looking as surprised to see the ship as you are to see them. The trio - a busty halfling woman, a dignified catfolk gentleman whose clothing appears to have seen better days, and a white-and-black-striped tiger wearing slime-covered chain barding - all look about in astonishment.

Before either side can speak anything in the way of introduction, the Merryweather splashes into the acid ocean with a hiss of rapidly dissolving wood, sending a torrent of caustic liquid some twenty feet into the air.

In the distance, a massive hemisphere surges across the surface of the acid sea, straight toward the Merryweather.

"Ohgood,wemadeit."


Map:Link. (http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/4386/bellyship1.jpg)

The massive hemisphere of acid is moving pretty darn quick from the "north". At a guess, you'd say you have maybe two rounds before it reaches the ship.

Oh, and the ship itself is disintegrating rather quickly. It's not an immediate concern, but it could become pressing sooner rather than later.

Take your actions however you like for the next round.

[tonberryking]

"Have fun explaining this, Pinky Pie," Smoke offers, nudging Fire to move over towards the edge of the boat. The dark skinned halfling peers over the side to guess at how long the acid will eat through everything, before looking over towards the hole in the stomach.

" I hope nobody's in the basement. How many airmen are on board? I dunno if we'll have time to make many trips..." Smoke ponders aloud while mentally going over what wildshape this or magic air floaty spell that she'll need...

And it's off to work for me but first, some spot checks:
[roll0][roll1]

[Amnestic]

"Bugger me." is pretty much all that's going through Pillyn's mind as he picks himself up off the deck clutching his head as he did so. "Notes to self: First find a drink, then find Darnn and hit him to shut him up."

Not even looking around he sticks his hand into his bag and tugs a full bottle of wine out. Just as he's about to uncork it he finally notices the newcomers; the tiger is the first thing he sees, followed swiftly by the other two. He looks at them, then back to his wine, then back to them, then back to his wine, before finally stowing it back into his pack. "Dar, Tur, it appears we have some guests onboard. One of them is a tiger." There really wasn't another way to put it. He eyes the newcomers warily, not really sure what to make of them. Still, for the moment they weren't attacking him which was a start. Regardless, he makes a small gesture with his hand and feels a rush of energy surge through him and flow out into his surroundings, covering Darnn and Turaith.

Swift Action: Activate Devotion Aura. Allies in 60' gain DR 3/-

[00110111]

"Poookieee!" Pinkerton wails. "Nooo!" His paw reaches feebly after Sarah and her mushroom cloud impact. His caterwauls fade into the distance as he, Smoke, and Fire rocket away.

In the last few seconds before a similar fate, Tallfellow taps Pinky on the shoulder and indicates the rapidly growing deck below. Pinky seems to snap out of his reverie. He fluffs his shirt, straightens his jacket, and glows toothily.

With a wave of his paw, he and his companions swoop down amidst the Merryweather's crew. Pinky's heels click together as he glides to a stop, poised and magnificent.

"Ah, a damsel in distress!" he offers both his paws to help her to his feet. But as he does so, he places her hand upon his shoulder. He drinks in the depth of her eyes as he synchronizes their movements in time to metaphysical music.

"You dance wonderfully, my dear." he lavishes in her ear, whiskers brush her cheek. "But alas, our time together was not meant to last."

The acid sea churns as the acid colossus rushes upon them.

"Tallfellow!" His tail dutifully stands at attention over his shoulder. "Prepare to disembark on my count. Three... two... one... Up!"

Tallfellow becomes a spinning blur, which lifts him by the rump high into the air. Ghostly replicas of Tallfellow likewise bear everyone else aloft and out of reach of the spherical tsunami below and the death star above.

Pinkerton would've cast Greater Mage Armor before disembarking from the Rope Trick just in case slimies were waiting outside.

He casts Mass Fly (SpC) on everyone present. Fly 60ft (good) for everyone for 11 minutes. The spell description stipulates that all targets must remain within 30ft of each other. I think that part is kinda dumb and virtually unplayable if everyone must delay and act on the same initiative to go anywhere. What do you think, Jarian?

[Jarian]

The massive bubble of acid rushes closer, gliding across the surface of the acid sea with no resistance. You would expect something of its size and speed to create a veritable tsunami as it moves, but it seems to be a part of the sea, rather than something within it.

"Ohmygodsthat'samazingjustlookathowfastit'smoving.I ncredible!" the halfling babbles excitedly. He turns, regarding Pinkerton, Smoke, and Fire briefly, then grins broadly. "Appreciatethespelltheremistercat,butit'sabitlatefo rthatnowIthink.Thisisagoodwaytogothough,Ithink.Ver yadventurous.Dadwouldbesoproudofme!"

The halfling bounces on the balls of his feet, still grinning. The bald woman looks at him sharply, and he lets out an exclamation of "Oh,right!" before shouting several words of arcane power. At once, a thrill of energy rushes through everyone gathered, suffusing your bodies with speed.

(Everyone gets the benefit of a haste spell. Map remains unchanged except for any movement you opted for in your last turn. The acid-bubble is drawing close with incredible speed - you guess it will reach the ship within the next few seconds.

Smoke is no shipwright, but the rate of decay is alarming even to an untrained eye. The number of minutes the ship has left at this rate could be measured on one hand.

Have one more round to do as you will.)

[00110111]

Pinky veritably zooms as he tailcopters away, but he stops short as Tallfellow points back at everyone else. No one else has seemed to budge.

"Come, come!" he whistles shrilly. "Oh, dear!"

The speeding blob bears down upon them with frightening speed.

Instinctively, Pinky closes his eyes and lets fly with a flaming barrage.

"Oops!" He motions for Tallfellow to enter into Stealth-mode.

I decided against any more actions for last round, including spending any luck. I'll save it for later.

Standard Action: Fireball the Sluggish Bullet, Reflex DC 20 half [roll0]

Move Action: Hide w/Darkstalker [roll1] Move Silently [roll2] about 50ft from the blob-side edge of the ship and 10ft above the deck.

Oh, and Pinky peeks.

[tonberryking]

Smoke wonders what the other halfling puts in his daily coffee for a stupid moment before recalling that they're all in it but deep. Wheeling Fire away from being right next to the edge of the boat soon to be occupied by a large acid bubble, the druid castes as many spells as she can in the short but extended moment she now has to help save her own ass. Once more she and Fire are encased in what appears to be living marble, and a slight purplish glow surrounds them for a moment beforehand; something else takes top priority to ensure they're further unable to be acided to death.

Casting stoneskin and acid resistance on myself and Fire, moving as far away as I can from the side of the boat in preparation for something involving fangs and thunderbolts.

[Amnestic]

I apologise for the delay. I was waylaid by a banking error not in my favour and had to return to my mother's home to rectify the situation. Back at home now, thank Haruhi.


"Dar, Tur, I think it best we beat a hasty retreat our ship appears to be...ah...coming apart at the seams and that big thing looks a little menacing. Best we abandon her while we still have legs enough to do so." Pillyn turns to the others - who each appear to have the same idea. "I don't know who you people are, but for the moment I think its best we team up." He was motivated more out of necessity than real trust. The big...thing coming their way was not particularly welcoming, doubly so considering their location. Pillyn holds his hand outstretched above his head; everyone on the ship will find themselves illuminated with blue light, almost coming from within rather than without, and feel stronger, more adept, perhaps even a little smarter than they did before. With that done, he moves towards the stern in the hops that putting a few extra feet between him and the big thing will make a difference.

Empowered Blessing of Kings upon everyone- Each person gets a +15% enhancement bonus to their ability scores. Also you gain +4 resistance to all energy types, which stacks with all other sources.

Swift Action: Activate Vigor Draconic Aura (Fast Healing 3 to anyone below 50% HP)

Move from U21->U29 (35'. Thanks Haste!)

[Jarian]

Before any more preparations can be made, the massive bubble of acid is upon you. The Merryweather is constructed of exceptionally light materials however, and, while they lack the lift necessary to allow the craft to fly, the secondary air sacs lining the outside of the ship provide a significant increase in buoyancy. The Merryweather surges up the side of the bubble - right up to the point where Pinkerton lets loose an explosive assault.

The ball of fire erupts inside the bubble, sending massive shockwaves rippling throughout its entire form. Ripples - or what would be ripples on a smaller scale, though they more closely resemble ocean waves now - surge across the bubble's surface. One collides with Merryweather's prow, and a colossal spray of acid spews through the air as the prow dips under the surface with a hiss of dissolving wood and canvas.

"HoldonthereMerryweather!" the halfling exclaims, giving the ship's wheel an energetic spin. If the Merryweather responds to the guidance, you don't notice it.

The halfling looks up as the wave crests above the ship's deck, and a look of almost comedic horror crosses his face. Moving almost faster than the eye can follow, he draws a mandolin from somewhere on his person, then tumbles backwards through the air.

Bits of spray land on the deck, forming bubbling pools. Where large quantities land, they shudder and slide toward one another, forming into miniature versions of the thing which spawned them.

I will join you if the situation appears lost, Pillyn, Turaith's mental voice flickers across the bond between them as she floats through the air, repositioning herself. Though I fear Darnn may resist our efforts in a fool's attempt to save his ship.

One of the slimelike creatures forms itself below Turaith. With a stern look and a wave of her hand, she causes the offending creature to vanish in a flash of silvery light. "It will return shortly." she announces, voice calm and perhaps a bit more detached than appropriate for the situation at hand.

Map:Map. (http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/4769/bellyship2.jpg)

I hope everything on the map is clear, and I hope the reasons for my delay are justified by the complexity of the situation. If you have any questions, just ask.

Wherever there are bits of green spray on the ships deck, it is equivalent to stepping into an acid trail from the slimes you have previously encountered in the stomach to step on them.

The wave is continuing back over the ship, and is some fifty feet high.

[Amnestic]

Pillyn finds himself at a bit of a crossroads. On the one hand, he should move forward to attack the weird slime things that were collecting in huge globules on deck. On the other hand, that meant going towards the enormous bubble of nastiness. Needless to say, he didn't much fancy that option, though he fancied turning tail and fleeing even less (though by the size of the monstrosity in front of them, that may just prove to be a necessity).

Grimacing and grumbling, he makes his decision and moves forward, tapping his feet on the deck shortly before 'lifting off' into the air, drawing his sword as he does so. The light shines out from the blade, illuminating everything around the ship, shining as a beacon and a warning. That's why he got the crystal. Doesn't serve any real purpose beyond the aesthetics. Having taken position in the air, he points his sword towards one of the odd slime creature things and launches a burst of holy power against it, hoping to do...well, anything really.


(From last round: Activating Blessing of Kings costs 19 mana)

Move action:
Fly up 10' and move forwards to R24. Draw sword as part of the move action.

Swift action:
Activate Seal of Insight (Costs 14 mana)

Attack Action:
Judgement (of Insight) on the slime at R20.
Attack: [roll0] (Ranged Touch Attack)
Damage: [roll1]
Hit: Regain 15 mana.

Current Effects:
Haste
Mass Fly
Devotion Aura
Draconic Vigor Aura
Seal of Insight

Mana Pool:
131/164, +4 from Meditation, +possible 15 from Judgement assuming I hit.
=
150/164

Edit: Damn! Only one off a critical. Still, I wouldn't have thought a medium-sized slime has a touch AC higher than 45, right?...right? ;p

[00110111]

Pinky wraps himself into a ball of cringing wincing fur as his spell goes terribly wrong. "Oh my! -- Ooh! -- Sorry! -- Look Lively There, Old Chap!"

The halfling bounds away moments later. The Pinkycopter zooms

"Jolly Good! Now, don't poke them, mind. They get downright noxious when irritated. Just shove them off politely, like this!" Pinky twirls his cane, leans forward, and rests the tip on his thumb like a billiards cue.

*click!*

*squeal!*

*zoom!*

*a-badeep!*

Move: Fly to X29 via X23, 30ft above the deck.
Standard: Telekinesis (Violent Thrust) at a non-Pillyn-damaged slimy; Will DC 22 negates
3 Luck -> Standard: Telekinesis (Violent Thrust) at a non-Pillyn-damaged slimy; Will DC 23 negates

The first slime zooms toward the second and overboard. The second slime arcs upward in a tall parabola, likewise overboard.

[tonberryking]

Smoke is more practical about acidic matters, once more keeping back rather than charging the front lines with a ferocious tiger despite how much sense it would make.

However, it soon becomes clear what she's cooking up; Fire is urged to only move ahead slightly, remaining on some handy stairs and preparing to spring at the first mobile puddle that tries to hit his rider, while Smoke herself casts one of the high level druid's hallmarks: a call lightning spell. And maybe a shot of something else too.

Spending my round casting Call Lightning, Fire is moving to the foot of the steps (S/T 23/24) with a prepared attack. He also moved there to get within 15 feet of the (R/20) acid bubble so Smoke could lob some Nature's Wrath at it for 11 damage. If it's possible to take this swift action and then prepare me some thunderbolts.

[Jarian]

The great wave of acid surges forward as you combat the slime creatures aboard the deck of the Merryweather. Pillyn's divine judgement hammers his target with a blast of light, nearly flattening the creature under the weight of his wrath, though it quickly reforms itself into a bubble. Fire bounds forward, muscles tense as the tiger readies himself to take further action. Smoke waves a hand with a quick gesture, and several gashes appear in the surface of the slime that Pillyn struck, slicing through it like a hot knife through butter. It shudders visibly, struggling to keep its form together, though it manages to do so.

Pinkerton zooms about the deck, gesturing with his cane as he goes. Two of the three slimes shudder violently, then fly far, far away, on a trajectory to land in the sea after some time.

"Ooohtrytoburnholesinmydeckwillyou?I'llshowyoubutgo od!" the halfling shouts, strumming the mandolin quickly. Tongues of fire ripple through the air, accompanying the music, notes lingering long after they should have died away. The halfling tumbles through the sky, drawing a tiny hand crossbow as he goes and firing a series of equally tiny bolts - bolts that are surrounded by a nimbus of fire the moment they leave the bow.

Pok! Pok! Pok! Pok!

Four bolts pierce the slime's form, pinning it to the deck as the supernatural flames ravage its form. The volley, combined with Pillyn and Smoke's earlier efforts, destabilizes the ooze entirely. It gushes across the deck, once more a mere puddle of acid.

Turaith floats closer to the battle, eying the oncoming wave critically as Merryweather's prow breaks through the wall of acid. Abruptly, she and Darnn disappear in a flash of silver light. Pillyn, Smoke, and Fire all feel a psychic pull on their forms, though they can resist if they like.

Map+stuff:Turaith is attempting to Time Hop (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/timeHop.htm) everyone except Pinkerton forward to avoid the wave. If you would rather avoid it in some other way, you can resist the time hop.

Everyone benefits from Dragonfire Inspiration. Add +6d6 fire damage to any physical attacks you make until further notice.

Map. (http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/6140/bellyship3.jpg)

[00110111]

With a tickle of glee, Pinky watches his pair of acid bubbles rocket into the sky and wink out in the distance. And as the last slime sags, the ship is once again free!

One by one, top-heavy Miss Smoke, Fire, lustrous Miss Baldy-locks, and the others vanish. Pinky puzzles this for a moment. Tallfellow seems pensive as well. They look to each other for answers, but they can only shrug.

The ship grows dark. A wall of green eclipses the moon-like orb. Pinky's jaw drops, but at least Tallfellow has the presence of mind to Pinkycopter them sky high.

Move Action: Fly 30ft up to a height of 60ft above the deck. The wall should pass a comfortable 10ft below him.
Standard Action: ??? I guess this depends on what's on the other side.

[Jarian]

Pinky flies above the wave of acid. Despite his nature, even the normally unflappable catfolk might be taken aback to see a veritable army of slime bubbles forming on the deck in the wake of the wave.

(One slime for every four squares touched by the wave, every square is now covered in sizzling acid.)

[Amnestic]

"That...is bad," is pretty much all Pillyn can say as he stares up at the wave. He's rather resigned to his fate on the whole, until he feel the tug of Turaith's powers tugging him forward, and yet to the same place. It was an odd sensation, but he trusted Turaith to set him on the right path, and didn't resist, though he did silently cross his fingers.


Mana total=154/164

[00110111]

Pinky moves to O22 to get a better look at where the wall of acid came from. But at the sight of the acid droppings, he stretches his face in exasperation.

[tonberryking]

As Fire rears back on his hindlegs with fore claws flailing, Smoke kicks her legs into the tiger's side and he takes off into the air, literally riding it. With a few hard to follow hand gestures she flails her fingers in a wild pointing motion towards the bubble, and lightning bolts sink into the bubble's surface. Not only that, Fire, in a defiant display of being right sick of not fighting or eating anyone, rakes a couple of claws at the bubble in passing.

Obligatory 3d6 from lightning: [roll0]

Fire's two swipes: [roll1][roll2]

Damages: [roll3] [roll4] [roll5][roll6]

[Jarian]

Smoke and Fire unleash an assault against the wave as it crashes over them, and as the lightning strike and fiery claws sink into it, it reverberates like a living thing. Yet the attacks, fierce though they may be, are not sufficient to disrupt the wave. The roiling wall of acid rolls over Smoke, tumbling the tiger and his rider through the air, carrying them with it. Though Smoke's protective magic alleviates the worst of the caustic onslaught, the waves still batter and bludgeon, bruising flesh and threatening to crush bones. (Smoke and Fire each take 32 nonlethal bludgeoning damage, reduced by any applicable damage reduction. Between your spell and Pillyn's aura of resistance, the acid damage from the wave is negated.)

The wave passes over the ship's deck. Turaith, Darnn, and Pillyn slip back into the time stream with a flash of silvery light. Turaith seems disoriented, but shakes her head as if clearing her thoughts, then regards the growing army of oozes on the ship's deck with a critical eye. Suddenly, a wall of fire springs into being, running the width of the deck, radiating heat toward the prow.

"Ohmygodsthere'smoreofthem?" Darnn cries, dismayed. He looks back at the wall of acid, still undulating from the force of Fire's attacks, then zips through the air to the edge of the ship and unleashes a flurry of fiery bolts into the bubble of acid below. The bolts sink deep, supernatural flames racing through the acid, turning green liquid to black dust as they go, like so many necrotic veins. The bubble ripples in response, small geysers erupting across its surface, spraying acid some twenty feet into the air.

Map:Reminder: all physical attacks add 6d6 fire damage to them from the Dragonfire Inspiration until further notice.

Turaith's energy wall is radiating toward the top of the map. Approaching from the lower squares is safe, but entering the affected squares or those just above will subject you to fire damage.

Fire must succeed on a DC 20 strength check to break free of the wave of acid. He may attempt one check as a free action, or further checks as a move action. If he does not escape the wave, he and Smoke will be subjected to its effects again.

Map updated. (http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/8016/bellyship4.jpg)

[Amnestic]

Pillyn looks back at the wave which passed them by, breathing a sigh of relief as he does so, only to then notice that not everyone avoided the wave. His second sigh was not of relief, but annoyance. They were too far from his healing powers and until they broke free of the wave, he didn't dare approach to help them. Turning his attentions back to the ooze, he follows in Darnn's footsteps of moving over the side of the ship and unleashing a hail of holy energies into the sloshing ooze below.

Move action:5' step to the left. R24->Q24
Swift Action: Holy Shock on the uberslime. [roll0]+20% Holy Damage. DC23 Will save halves damage. Generates on charge of Holy Power.
Roll Denounce proc (Activates on 51-100): [roll1]

Attack Actions:
Judgement: [roll2] (Ranged Touch) on the uberslime.
Damage: [roll3]

Holy Wrath: [roll4] Holy damage split evenly amongst all enemies within 20'

Mana: 145/164
Holy Power Charges: 1

[00110111]

"Well done, young lady!" Pinky claps enthusiastically while tailcoptering nearby. "Now that we're all safe, I suggest that you take to the air. Your ship is no longer safe for human and feline habitation."

"Where is Smoke?" Pinky puzzles, scratching his head. He zooms away, then zooms back.

"That's that!" he shines his claws on his jacket.

Move: Move closer to Smoke/Fire
Standard: Dimension Hop on Smoke and Fire (teleport up to base land speed); Mobile Spellcasting Concentration DC 23 [roll0] to move back
3 Luck -> Standard: Polymorph Fire into an 11-headed hydra
Swift: Bloodwind on Fire: Natural attacks become thrown weapons w/20ft range increment for 1 round.

[tonberryking]

With a highly undignified squawk of protest at seeing her beloved furry murder machine get turned into a multiheaded scaly mudererER machine, Smoke weighs the option of lightning Pinkerton's sorry self with the majority of her remaining called bolts. Fire himself, all 11 of him, seems only slightly less confused, but it's (surprisingly) not the first time someone turned him into something non-tigery. This time has the most heads award however.


Still, this presents a decided opportunity for the druid and in the instant she becomes outraged she also knows of a way to put this power to use. Rather than fling lightning at the bubble, the druid hands on for dear damn life while pumping the hydra full of a curious red energy, giving the center head a quickly formed set of plates and a pair of saurian horns. Likewise, all the other heads seem to have more of a plate quality to thickening scales, before every single last one of them launches itself at the bubble... And then the halfling bravely tries to ride her flying hydra away from the harm a gigantic acid bubble can bring

Hoo boy. Let me know in the OOC if Smoke still needs to make a ride check but my attack plan is pretty clear: Horn up the hydra.
[roll0][roll1][roll2][roll3][roll4][roll5][roll6][roll7][roll8][roll9][roll10] All 11 heads...

[roll11] and one gore attack

Damages:
[roll12][roll13][roll14][roll15][roll16][roll17][roll18][roll19][roll20][roll21][roll22]
Heads

Gore: [roll23]
And... holy smokes, can this even work: [roll24][roll25][roll26][roll27][roll28][roll29][roll30][roll31][roll32][roll33][roll34][roll35]

[Jarian]

Pinky zooms. Smoke & Co. teleport forward out of the deadly wave. Fire becomes... a hydra?

Without losing stride, Smoke casts a spell, causing one of Fire's ten new heads to sprout a pair of horns. A quick word from the druid is enough for Fire to dive his heads toward the acid bubble below, the warding spell and Pillyn's aura sufficient to stave off any acid damage the attacks might otherwise have inflicted upon Fire.

In the same moment, Pillyn lashes out with a barrage of golden-white radiance, streaks of light flying from upraised hand and outstretched palm, sinking deep into the form of the enormous slime below, leaving deep trails of black dust in their wake.

Effective as Pillyn's magic is however, it pales in comparison to the damage wrought by Fire's onslaught. Fire-wreathed teeth and horns sink into the surface of the acid, the flames licking out as each head in turn makes its attack, searing a wider and wider area of the slime's surface, until a pool some sixty feet across is nothing more than black dust.

The surface of the slime ripples madly, rocking the Merryweather from side to side, though none still stand on its decks to feel its effect. From the pool of blackened acid, a cloud of yellow-green mist springs up with an audible hissss, like cold water dropped onto a heated pan, rapidly expanding. Smoke and Fire endure its effects without trouble, warded as they are, but Pillyn is less fortunate, not having shared in Smoke's preparations. (Pillyn takes 14 acid damage after resistances)

The many smaller oozes scattered across the deck surge toward the party, though landbound as they are, they have no noticeable effect. Where the creatures touch the wall of fire, they recoil, forms bubbling, though those already burned by the wall press through, surfaces developing a black patina that is quickly absorbed by the rest of the slimes' forms.

Turaith flies away from the expanding cloud of acidic fog, maintaining her fiery wall. Darnn likewise vacates the area, firing another volley into the massive bubble of acid below, yet more streaks of black dust following in the wake of the bolts.

Map + Stuff:Map (http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5480/bellyship5.jpg)

Pinky uses Polymorph! It's super effective!

The megaslime is beginning to show signs of decay, becoming obviously unstable.

It would be nice if people would use grid locations for their movement. As it is, I simply guessed for Pinky and Smoke/Fire.

[Amnestic]

Pillyn grimaces as the acid cloud strikes him. It was bound to happen eventually, given their current predicament, but it was no less pleasant with that knowledge at the forefront of his mind. He flies out of the large, unpleasant acid cloud and begins to focus on his primary cause in life: Healing the injured. Though some might call it pride, he was happy to say he'd gotten rather good at it on the whole.

Move Action: Q24->T24

Free Action: Beacon of Light on Fire.

Swift Action: Word of Glory on Smoke. Heals 5(+10%)=6 HP. Heals Pillyn for 11 from Protector of the Innocent. Heals Fire 3 HP from Beacon of Light.

Standard Action: Holy Light on Smoke. Heals [roll0]+10% HP. Heals Pillyn for 11 from Protector of the Innocent. Heals Fire 1/2 Smoke's Healed amount from Becon of Light.
Roll for Daybreak Proc though I lose nothing if I don't make it (Activates on 81-100): [roll1]

Mana: 133/164.

Total HP Healed this round-
Pillyn: 22HP, back to full health.
Smoke: 35HP.
Fire: 17HP.

[00110111]

Pinky zooms about in a victory lap, crowing with glee as Fire's explosive assault burns a massive crater into the side of the crater. He sidles up beside Pillyn and queries, grinning sharp-toothily. "Fancy a go, my good man?" He thumbs Fire's many-headed burning frenzy. His four-fingered milky white cat's paw crackles with eldritch energy.

Move Action: Move to U25, 5ft above and adjacent to Pillyn
Swift Action: Bloodwind on Pillyn
Standard Action: Ready to cast Polymorph (11-headed hydra or a requested form) on Pillyn if he consents (a free action on anyone's turn). Mobile Spellcasting, Concentration DC 23 [roll0] to fly to T30 (30ft above the deck)

[Amnestic]

After pausing for a moment for consideration, his eyes glancing between the hydra and Pinky, Pillyn consents. "Yes, that seems like a good idea."

Just confirming my acceptance to the Polymorph. Hydras everywhere! :)

[tonberryking]

Bolstered by a quick heal and the super effective polymorph, Smoke kicks her heels against the sides of the hydra tiger's main trunk. Fire somehow manages to register the order and once more all the heads plunge themselves at the bubble. Not only is this delivering more hurt, the druid finally gets a chance to fire another salvo of lightning which she aims for the biggest blistered, damaged space she can find.


Wheee~ [roll0] Calling lightning, [roll]1d20+6[roll][roll1] Horns, and 11 frikkin head attacks:

[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]
[roll8]
[roll9]
[roll10]
[roll11]
[roll12]

And damages:

[roll13]
[roll14]
[roll15]
[roll16]
[roll17]
[roll18]
[roll19]
[roll20]
[roll21]
[roll22]
[roll23]

And more owies:
[roll24][roll25][roll26][roll27][roll28][roll29][roll30][roll31][roll32][roll33]

[Jarian]

One final flurry of attacks from Fire, a single bolt of lightning from out of a clear sky, and the massive slime below bursts, its thin 'skin' destabilizing in a series of ever larger ripples. Tears appear in its form, great rents that release billowing clouds of noxious gas. Wave upon wave rocks the Merryweather from side to side, spinning it about and nearly capsizing it on more than one occasion.

Finally, the acid creature's form can no longer hold itself together. Like an enormous dam giving way, the blackened patch rips apart, an awe-inspiring geyser of acid spewing forth, launching some five-hundred feet into the air. As it goes higher and higher, the stream of acid becomes ever clearer; when it falls back toward the sea in a torrential rainstorm, it does so as nothing more than normal - if slightly sulfurous-smelling - water.

At the same time, the smaller slimes aboard the Merryweather shake violently, forms distorting, becoming more and more liquid. As one, they shake apart in a spray of yellow-green liquid globs, which become droplets of water before they hit the deck, splashing across the soarwood planks and running over the side.

Below, the great acid sea slowly becomes clearer as the bubble of acid deflates. Clear water spreads away from the bubble, rushing through the sea like a spreading ink stain, impossibly fast. Within moments the sea around the Merryweather is free of acid altogether, and the rest seems to be headed for such a transformation as well.

Turaith dismisses her wall of fire, revealing a line of scorched planks running the width of the deck. Water streaming down her bald head, dripping from nose and lips, she addresses Pillyn and Darnn, though the fact that she speaks the words aloud instead of using their mental link is indication that she means the words for all present.

"It seems we were able to save the ship after all, though how long this transformation can last, I could not say. I doubt it is permanent, yet still it seems a great blow." She pauses, directing her gaze to the undulating sphere of darkness far above. "I had thought Liban lost when the ship was struck, but I do not think it so anymore. Just now, I felt a flicker of thought come from him; it seemed distant, muted... but it was still recognizable. His thoughts are... quite distinctive. He is in great peril, perhaps near death. I am certain he could make repairs to the Merryweather with the supplies belowdecks, if we could bring him back somehow. I can take us there if you wish... yet who can say what we would bring upon ourselves to do so? That... thing... has a power beyond any I have encountered before. What effect it would have upon us, I cannot say. I do not know the answer to this quandry." She shakes her head, spraying droplets of water in all directions, then looks at Pillyn. "What say you, Pillyn?"

[Amnestic]

Pillyn doesn't shake the water off. Honestly it was a fairly nice sensation (even if a bit smelly) after the acid he got covered with. Wasn't the easiest decision, he'd seen good men and women die from going off on some fool rescue mission when there was little-to-no hope of survival, and that seemed pretty close to the situation they were in now. But..."The Merryweather will likely provide a decent shield against other creatures or hazards here. It won't if we can't move it. Liban may be the only one with the skills to give us that shield." He looks up at the dark sphere hovering overhead. "Besides, if killing that giant acid-ooze did this..." He makes a wide expansive gesture, indicating the water all around and over them. "Just imagine what destroying that thing would do for us."

If my calculations are correct, Fire is the only one of us still injured (at 70/85). I'll fire off another Holy Light ([roll0]+10%) to rectify that. There we go. All fixed up.

Mana: 123/164. Gonna pop a Divine Plea at the start of the next encounter so try not to get yourselves killed too hard for the first two turns :P

[00110111]

Pinky dances a lanky jig in the backdrop as Baldy-locks speaks while Hydra-Pillyn can only look meaningfully at her in return. It's comical as he tries to spell out letters with each of his long necks.

Pretty soon he swings by, riding a small whirlwind and singing Mahna-Mahna (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4114397127563559102#). The whirlwind buffs moisture away until everyone is squeaky-clean and smelling fresh. Pillyn and Fire shrink to their normal forms.

"That was WONDERFUL!" he praises, paws victorious and waving to his imaginary audience as he alights on the deck among his friends and admirers. "Let's do it again with the Really Big Guy this time!" The Cat unloads a fistful of Pinky-power into the air, dodging and weaving like a prizefighter.

"Wait, who is Liban, and where did you say he was?" he queries rather quickly, shaking off his delusions of grandeur for a moment as Turaith's serious-talk takes him by surprise. "Where do you suppose this ship can take us once we get it fixed?"

Pinky casts Prestidigitation.

[tonberryking]

Smoke seems more held by a question that goes unsaid, but is still spoken rather well as all eleven heads peer down about Pinkerton's shoulders. He IS going to dismiss the spell, right?


Regardless, the druid doesn't feel like flying away on her own.

"I'd prefer the safety of an operating ship, so I'd have to consent to this..."