Session 7: Rell's Log
General Summary
Saman’s shout of warning shocked us all, the sound echoing around the room and back to where I’d been studying Elirith a moment before. My hand tightened around my glaive once again, eyes widening and searching ready for whatever unknown threat he’d spied. Elirith high-pitched scream rang out and without thinking I began to race forwards, but I was far too slow, been too lost in my own thoughts.
Elirith was still mirroring me as she stumbled backward, fear setting a copy of my own mouth agape as she flung frost at some threat as of yet unknown to me. Saman was closer than I was, and his heavy footfalls reverberated around the walls of the small chamber as he charged to meet the foe. Why was no one telling me what it was, did they not know. I strained my ears, but I couldn’t hear anything and my blood ran cold. It couldn’t be.
There was a noise I’d heard only once before, a horrific slurping sound, like releasing trapped water or pulling a boot stuck in mud. I knew what it was, I knew but the gnawing in my stomach told me I was already far too late. An arrow flew past me and the same audible suction confirmed it.
As I finally reached the room, another ray of ice hurtled from Elirth who’d back herself into the far corner. If only Saman had followed her lead. There it was, almost transparent, quivering slightly as it rested in the corner of the room. A Gelatinous Cube.
I’d encountered them before whilst with Mesh and every instinct inside me told me to run, but I couldn’t. It had already swallowed Saman, consumed the Warforged whole and he now floated within its glutinous core. Elirith’s ice had cracked its surface slightly but other than that it appeared completely unharmed. Saman did not. Gelatinous Cubes were entirely acidic, devouring and digesting anyone that happened across them.
There wasn’t enough time to think. Wood was already disintegrating, crumbling away from the metal. Fuck. I offered a prayer to The Shepherd as I passed my glaive into my left hand, fighting against all my training as I moved as close as I dared.
The air left my lungs in one long jagged exhale before I shoved my hand inside, hissing against the blinding torment. My flesh was ablaze as I groped for a handhold on the Warforged. The texture of the creature pressed back against my skin, sucking and oozing against me as I fought to free its prey. After what seemed like an eternity, I grasped something solid and I pulled with everything I had, teeth gritted so hard my jaw hurt.
Saman thudded to the ground with a gigantic squelch and perhaps the Shepherd was indeed watching over us as I found the extra willpower to lug his smouldering frame away before the Cube could repeat its previous action.
With its meal stolen, it lunged instead at Liv but she dodged expertly before releasing a spell in counter. It struck the creature and I was glad that she followed my lead, retreating rapidly away into the corridor.
Robyn and Elirith both attacked again as I struggled with Saman. My arm was throbbing in time with my heartbeat but the Cube continued advancing on us. I glanced around to be sure but it was as I feared, Elirith was now trapped, we couldn’t run, couldn’t abandon her. Ignoring the scorching pain, I lashed out with my glaive, using the blade to carve a section clean off my target. It shuddered quite satisfactorily, as well as seeming to lessen in size.
Even though I’d weakened it, it wasn’t enough, and I returned to heaving Saman’s dead weight back towards where we’d slain the goblins. The Cube encroached on Robyn, who bounded into an impressive somersault back and upwards to rest on the makeshift goblin throne. I’d had clapped had my hands not been full.
We continued in the ridiculous if effective cycle of attacking and retreating. I called out to Elirith and was immensely glad when she moved back into sight, adding her wonderous ice magic back into the bombardment.
It’s Liv who finally slew the abomination. In the same perfect form as she’d attempted earlier that day, she lunged, thrusting to embed her rapier deep within its centre, before flicking her wrist to draw the thin blade up and out the top of its body. The Cube wobbled slightly before collapsing in on itself, losing its structure as it sloshed into a puddle at our feet.
We all paused in elation that we were still alive, even Saman and though he was clearly severely injured, a dim light shone in his eyes that we hoped meant he was stable. Elirith re-joined us and I asked her kindly to change back to herself, careful with my words with Robyn so close. She adhered and if the situation hadn’t been so dire, I’d have smiled. Perhaps she’d learned the perils of being me.
Deciding it was better we rested to recover our strength, Robyn and I hauled Saman back into the room before propping him up to rest against the wall. I’d been trapped in such rooms before and insisted we double check the door before shutting ourselves inside. Liv agreed and once I was sure it was safe we set the watches as Robyn, Elirith and then myself.
Liv lit the shield and we gathered around its soft glow to recuperate. Carefully rolling up the chainmail on my arm, I grimaced at how the acid had eaten through my padded sleeve entirely. My skin itself was throbbing, burns lacing their way almost to my elbow and as Liv wrapped it, I enquired with worry whether it would scar. I guessed the answer before she confirmed, but she promised to look at it further once we were home.
Lying back, I fell asleep almost instantly, dreams full of goblins and endless corridors and I startled as Elirith woke me, shorting and grunting at the alarmed elf. Muttering apologises, Elirith was quick to confide that Liv had suffered a nightmare and although she’d comforted her, she was still quite upset.
Glancing to her small form, I knew from her breathing she wasn’t asleep, and a few teasing terms made her relent, shuffling over to join us. As though sensing we wanted to be alone, Elirith retreated and to my surprise curled up next to Saman. I felt my lip curl as my nose crinkled up of its own accord, but Liv had to be my focus now.
Tenderly I pulled at her arm, encouraging her to follow me to the doorway, not wanting any prying ears to the concerns she might divulge. Wrapping an arm around her and drawing her close, I probed gently at what she’d seen. She was still shaking slightly as she tried to explain how she’d dreamt of a field, knee-high grass rolling endlessly in all directions as was described in some old books. The sky had been perfect, radiating warmth down on her as she reveled in the wildflowers growing amongst the green.
She had faltered, biting her lip before continuing to describe how suddenly dark clouds had rolled in, casting the world in grey as a voice had reverberated inside her head. It had spoken of “Hope” and “Liberation”. Squeezing her shoulder to try to ease some of her worries, I had to ask if she’d seen anything like that before or even if her mother had. Shaking her head to the contrary, she focused only on her lap. I knew what I had to do.
Nudging playfully against her, I praised that she’d struck the final blow against the Cube and I mimicked the textbook stabbing motion into the empty space ahead of us. I’d received a fraction of a smile, but it was enough, and I’d dragged her up, demanding that we spar. Liv couldn’t out maneuver me, but she lost herself in the game and that was all that mattered.
We all seemed much cheerier after a full rest, Robyn had even found some boots in the gooey remains of the Cube. She’d apparently spent the night cleaning them, as the leather gleamed and after some study by Elirith and then Liv, my friend pulled them on. I voiced my concern as they clearly held magical properties, yet she seemed convinced they’d assist her out in the Wastelands. Rolling my eyes but trusting her specialties I suddenly remembered my own treasure.
Retrieving the box from where I’d shoved it yesterday, I inspected the wax seal closely before cracking it open. Nestled inside was a small book, clearly archaic with no titles or markings to indicate its contents. Flipping through the pages, I could make out some Dwarven letters and words, but the dialect was far more ancient than the current language used with the city.
I shook my head slightly, hand working its way through my hair before I noticed that Elirith was quite curious about seeing the tome. Handing it to her she shot me an adorable smile and although both Robyn and Saman showed interest in translating, I promised Elirith we’d take a look together sometime.
We were ready to move on and after a thorough listen at the door by both Elirith and then myself, I reopened the mechanism and marched back into a thankfully empty space. As the others disarmed the remaining traps, I poked apprehensively at the quite pungent corpses of the goblins. Not wanting to look too closely, I found nothing of interest.
Deciding I’d better check on the goblin I’d restrained, Elirith followed close behind me as I hopped over the barricade and into the righthand room. Only ropes greeted us and if the nearby table leg was anything to go by, the goblin had spent the better part of the night freeing itself. I chuckled, and not wanting to hurt the creature I called out a warning just in case it was still within earshot.
Liv, Robyn and Saman were inspecting the tunnel the goblin king had escaped through and since it was our only passage left unexplored here they were deciding the best course of action. Strangely Elirith volunteered to go first and I tossed my head back, taking her arm and advising it wasn’t the best idea.
Our veteran Skirmisher went in the end, circling a rope around herself before trying to adjust her bow in line with her frame. With a hand on my hip and an outstretched hand, I’d offered to keep it safe and although reluctant, she had little choice. As she disappeared from sight, I scooped up an arrow from the ground. Cocking and aiming at the distant throne, I loosened the string so that the arrow flew in a high arch, anchoring itself into the backrest. No one else had been interested of course, but I ran my fingers fondly up the exquisitely carved wood, wishing it was my own.
When Robyn finally re-emerged, covered in an alarming amount of dust, she informed us that the tunnel was set with another trap. Supports had been rigged to collapse should they be disturbed and looked to be so unstable she’d not wanted to pass. We all decided it was too risky and that it was best to trigger the cave-in ourselves.
Rocking on the balls of my feet in anticipation, I let out a gleeful chuckle as Liv disturbed the wooden beams with her magic and a huge boulder segregated the passage in two. At least that was one trap we avoided, and I span, marching towards the exit without a second glance.
One foot placed firmly in front of the other, I clasped my hands together above my head until, mid-stretch, I noticed the arrows still wedged firmly into the door frame. Deflating, I dropped my arms and turned to wait for my companions to catch up. I had sworn to be a little more careful after all.
No goblins attacked us however as we re-traced our steps to the murky water. Saman agreed to scout ahead just as before and I sighed at the enforced lingering, even though I’d spent countless hours in the Wastelands doing just that. Utilize your time. Meditate.
Muttering curses under my breath at a person who wasn’t even there, I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes, quietening my mind.
Splashing water broke my tranquillity as the hulking Warforged returned. He’s clearly been unsettled as he hurriedly explained what he’d seen. After swimming along, the tunnel had veered to almost vertical and he’d followed it to the top, emerging into a ginormous chamber. He’d described how there’s been water all around him, as though it were an underground lake, the room itself so big that he could barely make out the distant walls. From the domed roof, a vast stalactite reached down to almost breaking the water’s surface. He mentioned that from where he’d been, there appeared to be blue lights flickering all around the structure, some even seeming to disappear and reappear on a whim.
Saman moved on to explain how a dozen of bridges had connected the stalactite to the chamber’s walls, the largest of which seemed to act as a pathway, a concentration of lights marking its connection to the hanging rock formation.
We’d all formed a tight circle by this point, listening attentively to the Warforged’s tale. He finished by saying how the water had rippled near him and a huge quadruped had leaped from the lake, up onto the wall before launching itself onto the largest bridge. Saman had shaken his head as he confirmed he’d not been able to tell if was the creature we were pursuing but that it was more than likely. It had somehow disappeared inside the stalactite, the blue flames parting for it.
I’d reached up to rub my chin before sighing out a note of frustration. We’d come so far but perhaps that was the problem, now we were at its lair and as much as I loathed the thought, we might not have any chance at all against it right now.
Previous: Session 5: Rell's Log Next: Session 8: Rell's Log
47 Acadi
- Encounter with gelatinous cube.
- Rest in tunnels
- Liv dreamt of a field, knee-high grass rolling endlessly in all directions as was described in some old books. The sky had been perfect, radiating warmth down on her as she reveled in the wildflowers growing amongst the green. A voice spoke of Hope and Liberation.
- Robyn found magical boots in the cube remains and cleaned them, Liv put them on.
- Rel opens ornate box and find's Acolyte of Lilliana Diary
- Scout further down the tunnel; its been rigged with another trap, and we set it off deliberately from range.
- Saman went swimming to see what was under the water, found a large quadruped that had leapt from the lake onto the largest bridge.
Report Date
06 Mar 2019
Original Disclaimer: Written from Rell’s PoV and any opinions on character’s or npcs are her own and may not be a true reflection of a character’s intended actions or intentions. Any missing content is due to Rell’s selective hearing or poor memory. Although I have attempted to keep information on Rell to a minimum, please note that you may read some content/opinions that aren’t common knowledge to your own characters and therefore it should not influence your interactions with her.
Additional Disclaimer: This article is ported frpm old blogspot articles for reference, and pertinent bullets and dates added to timelines.
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