Gilley nods and smiles that his prodding got them getting along a bit better. At Nacesh's wave, he goes to help the sorcerer move Marduk's body, glancing aside at Betimi. "Come to think of it, a proper burial still fertilizes potential food sources eventually. Grass grows over the top. Deer eat the grass. We eat the deer. Circle of life. We become part of everything around us." Trust a ranger to get into detail about what happens after decomposition. He motions his head toward the tunnel the spider disappeared down. "Toe, you mind keeping watch while we're doing this? Wouldn't want Unrest getting the jump on us while we're busy." The incorrect name is entirely on purpose.
"At the risk of upsetting everyone, can we cut these captives down and see to them before your burial rites? the living must come before the dead."
As she says this she continues to hack her way across the bridge trying to get beneath one of the kobold captives.
"We have similar beliefs in soul, howver once the body is dead it is not but meat, the soul is no longer attached to it. In fact were it not for the existence of such things as souls, i would not be able to draw on their strength and bind them. And a dead body can be used as a weapon, by being returned as undeath. It is far better to let the dead feed the living, even if that is food for mushrooms."
Tomeal was busy working his way though the walls of webbing so he wasn't paying much attention to the conversations going on behind him. With how little time they had to pursue the creature, Tomeal hoped they weren't going to have a long drawn out service for a man they all pretty much detested.
"I am here as repayment for you saving my life." Tomeal calls out to those who fuss over Mardak's body.
"But I must point out the longer we take to catch up to the creature, the more time it has to prepare a counter attack. Some how this beast has spells at it's disposal. Who knows what other magics or tricks it has waiting for us deeper in its layer." A little frustrated by the situation he takes it out on the webbing and
blasts though another five feet of the sticky wall. [Wow rolled a 20 for a total of 29]
Betimi notices that Tomeal has already broke through the webbing at the foot of the bridge. More web clings to the wood and rope but not enough to cause any trouble if she wants to cross over.
Jonath searches for traps but doesn't find any. Piper could have been lying but Jonath decides to take another shot at looking for anything suspicious and
finally finds it! [Roll 27. I gave you a +2 on the check since Piper told there was a trap and I think he even told you what it was...] Jonath finds that a Log was camouflaged in the ceiling to swing loose when the door was opened. The log would have swung right through the door hitting anyone who is on either side of the door either in the back [on this side] or in the face if opened from the other side. Jonath then tries to figure out some way to disable the trap and when he thinks he's figured out the mechanism he
tries to sabotage the trap."
"OOPS!" Is all everyone hears Jonath say,
when suddenly the log releases. Jonath dives to avoid the heavy log. It just misses him and EXPLODES through the door, blasting it to splinters! [The trap missed Jonath. Rolled a 13 but needed a 15]
Moments later, Piper peeks through the shattered door and cheerfully says,
"You found the trap!"
Selina's eyes go wide as Jonath nearly kills himself. Dammitall!
"Master Jonath! I do hope this does not become a theme. Master Tomeal, I understand your concerns, but that creature already has us at a disadvantage. Our current resources are at their lowest ebb while it, as you mentioned, can cast spells and has control of location. We need to regroup, regain our capabilities, and re-plan our approach. If we can find the captives and other kobolds, so much the better."
"Selina is right Tomreal, you and I may be at full strength, but everyone else is depleted. Besides if we return after I bond with Aym, these webs will no longer be an issue. They will burn away like wisps."
Betimi ties a rope around her waist, and hands the other end to Selina and Nacesh.
"If you would , please feed me slack as I cross the bridge. I do not trust it."
She then cautiously begins to cross.
Piper gingerly steps over the shatter threshold and runs into the cavern. He frowns when he spots his leader strung up on the cairn and then his eyes narrow in anger. "Where's Unreth? I want to defile its corpse as revenge for its wicked transgressions against my people!!"
Betimi begins to move across the bridge. It seems recently built and fairly sturdy. When Betimi gets about half way across she feels a trickle of pebbles fall on her shoulder. Quickly looking up to see where it's coming from, she sees the canopy of webbing suddenly rip open as rocks fall through and shower down upon her!
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Selina has no time to yell out Betimi's name. Instead, she has to pull on the rope as hard as she can to TRY to pull her companion out of harm's way.
Betimi tries to backpedal as fast as she can, allowing Selina to pull on the rope and hopefully get her clear before she is crushed.
"Ahem, yes, well.." Jonath says, picking himself up and brushing the dust off. "No worries my lady, this is my speciality after all!" he says to Selina, his back stil to the rest of the group. It's then that he turns around and sees Betimi crossing the bridge, tied to Selina, and his eyes go wide. "No wait, the bridge might..." he starts to yell, but too late as rocks begin to pour from the ceiling. At least she had the good sense to tie herself off first, but he hadn't had a chance to properly inspect the bridge for traps - he only hoped she wouldn't be seriously injured.
[OoC: We have a few people sort of doing multiple things at the same time. Selina and Nacesh were preparing Mardak's body for a funeral service. The posts said they were moving him and positioning his body before starting. So all this would take a few rounds to perform. Then at the same time Betimi throws a rope at both of them to have them hold in case things go bad. They can't do both things at the same time. Are they stopping what they are doing to help Betimi or is Betimi going to have to wait until they are finished performing the service? I am going to assume the Former but in the future try to keep in mind who is doing what. Because in more complicated situations it can be a mess to untangle especially when character's lives are at stake. ]
[OoC: For Betimi's situation I'm going to make strength checks to Aid another. I will also give them +4 on that check because I'm assuming they would ready an action and they have done the necessary things to give them the best chance of saving her if something happens, like anchoring themselves etc.
Rolls: Selina 23 and Nacesh 9 ]
The rocks start raining down upon Betimi. Selina's grip doesn't fumble but Nacesh gets momentarily distracted by Jonath yelling for them to wait for him to check the bridge out.
[Betimi gains +2 bonus to AC] [Attacking in groups of two:
Grp1/3: Rolled 21 and 16. Hit once for 2 damage.
Grp 2/3: Rolled 19 and 16. Hit once for 3 damage.
Grp 3/3: Rolled 13 and 6. Missed twice. Betimi takes a total of 5 damage. ]
As Betimi gets pummeled by two rocks she happens to glance upward and notices a group of Kobolds about 40' in the air. They are peeking over the edges of a ledge they stand upon in the ceiling. Apparently some kind of room was hollowed out of the roof of the cavern with a hole in the the floor so they can spy on, hide from or rain rocks down upon, attackers. Betimi manages to move [at half speed] backward off the bridge and back to her companions.
At the same moment that the rocks are raining down, Tomeal takes another go at the Webbing and
smashed though the last 5' of web blocking your group's path. [Wow! I wish Tomeal got all these great rolls went he was shooting at the spider!! He has likely used up his good rolls for the week so he will just fumble through the next encounter.
]
Piper will yell,
"What are you doing???"
21:
Betimi = Purple [Taken 5/19]
17: Nacesh = Red
16:
Mardak = Black [Taken 32/17 (-15) DEAD!]
10 : Jonath = Grey
9 : Gilley = Green
8 : Spider = H5 [Taken 24/??] {[7+][8+1+8]=24]}
7 : Selina = Blue
6 : Tomeal = Orange