Worthy Core

After something of a grueling ordeal, the Rainlander party found themselves at the end of the Step Chamber generally intact but more than a little battered. While Willowbranch and Tafyaf were both adept at detecting traps and managed to guide the party away from tilting tiles and hidden pitfalls, the slime ambushes were another matter entirely. Vanguard Frudd had taken heavy impacts from leaping blobs of goo twice, and while she had avoided falling into any spikes in the process Combat Medic Goldleaf could only heal the bruises to her body, not those to her ego. More annoyingly, none of the party were particularly well-equipped for taking out the slimes even after they had revealed themselves.

While Frudd's and Willowbranch's heavy blades were entirely capable of hacking a slime to pieces, that wasn't necessarily lethal to slimes unless they could reduce it to less than half of its original body mass. That was, unfortunately, rather difficult to accomplish while the creatures were flying through the air. Tafyaf's arrows and knives did little damage to them, and Goldleaf's handful of anatomy-altering magics were useless against creatures who barely had anatomy to start with. Spirit Mage Choc's magics did prove to be somewhat disorienting to the monsters' senses, at least. When they would splatter themselves against a wall in a missed leap, or fail to jump entirely, the party's swordsmen could take their time hacking the rabbit-eared slimes apart and clearing the way forward.

When they found themselves faced with the slimy webs however their frustration only grew. Frudd groans as she fails to wipe a strand off of her shield. "Blegh. This stuff isn't going to stop us, but I'm not going to be able to avoid it, either. Don't suppose anyone has any fancy tricks to deal with this crap?"

Willowbranch shakes his head. "We were perhaps lucky the slime boss's elemental magics were her own greatest weakness, as unfortunately we don't seem to have much in our arsenal for slime on our own. Mage Ress, I don't suppose there's any other helpful spirits at hand right now?"

The Mage works his magic for a moment, then shakes his head. "Interestingly, I am not sensing any previous deaths on this floor, no. Second floor is not far away, but the magical barriers between floors weaken my connection to the echoes there. Could summon one from there, yes, but shorter-lived they would be."

"We'll hold off until we reach a more challenging combat encounter or the like, then, no point in wasting one on minor annoyances. I'm afraid you'll have to push on through then, Vanguard."

Grimacing, the woman does as ordered, knocking aside the brightly-colored webs with her shield as she moves down the twisting stone hallway. When the equally colorful spiders begin their ambushes, Willowbranch and Tafyaf at least prove quite capable of assisting there, and slay most of the monsters attacking from the sides and rear before they even reach any member of the party. Frudd takes the brunt of the assaults from the front however, given the difficulty for the scouts in covering that direction, and soon finds her boots as slime-covered as her shield. Each of her steps grows slower and more ponderous, and at one point she nearly tumbles over when she attempts to swing her blade at a spider and her left leg refuses to move along with her. The mistake doesn't result in any injuries, but it does manage to increase the coverage of the sticky fluids across her armor.

When the group finally reaches the end of the maze, the combined slowing effects nearly prove fatal. The moment she enters the last room of the chamber half a dozen heavily-armed orc skeletons fall on her, far better equipped than those on the first floor, and it's only her heavy armor and shield that buy her the time needed to fall back without serious injury. Choc's magics manage to stun a pair of the undead, giving Willowbranch time to move forward and cover their tank, but while the man was literally an Expert at melee fighting there's only so much that can be done against four opponents in a confined space. By time the room is finally cleared, not only is Frudd suffering several new bruises beneath her armor but the party leader is bleeding from a number of deep cuts and stabs himself.

As Goldleaf moves forward to provide healing, Willowbranch takes stock of his team. "Hrng, have to say, I much prefer fighting out in the open. ...Frudd, with all that slime on you, I imagine you're going to have trouble dodging any traps that may come our way in the next chamber. Scout Srooll, take the lead until we can find somewhere to clean up, will you?"

"Will do, cautiously, yes." As he begins to move forward however, Choc grabs hold of his shoulder.

"Careful! The traps ahead are not the mechanical kind, no. False dungeon spirits are hiding in the walls, you see?" Chanting and waving his staff, lines of light begin to glow at various points along the wall, indicating snake-like shapes hiding within the stone blocks. "Dungeon ghosts, they are. Harder to manipulate than the real kind, you know, they are not truly made of the same substance as actual spirits. However, I believe I can temporarily put each to sleep as we pass, yes."

Willowbranch smiles. "Good that one thing's gone our way, at least. Do so." With that order the two gnolls take the lead, Choc disabling each Terror Tentacle the group passes, while Tafyaf's scouting abilities come in handy when the pitfall traps are discovered. Eventually the group reaches the moaning door at the center of the chamber, but before anyone can even ask the question, Choc issues a firm warning.

"Many false spirits inside. Many hiding at the door, and others wait disguised, yes. We should not go in, no." As no one in the group is particularly inclined towards taking risks at this point, none disagree, and the party moves on without further discussion. When they exit the maze and find the magical puzzle room waiting for them beyond though, they have little choice but to stop and stare for a while. The hopping slimes, flickering magical barriers, and fire and lightning traps put on a colorful show, but one which only seems to promise serious injury and death.

After holding in a sigh for most of the floor, Goldleaf finally releases it. "Please tell me someone has a shortcut for dealing with magical bullshit."

Willowbranch considers the room before swapping to his longbow. "There may be a trick, but I'm afraid we may have to brute force it. Fortunately, I can endow my arrows with an anti-magic charge, which should at least be able to destroy those traps. We'll move forward as a group when the barriers come down, following my lead. Srooll, Frudd, Ress, cover us and take out any of those slimes that come too close, yes? I'll keep ready and take out the magical defenses whenever I get a clear shot." The group does as ordered, and although the going is slow, they do move forward. Each time a magical barrier turns off, the Wild Sentinel fires off an arrow emitting white sparks from its tip, and although they don't do much physical damage every lightning and flame trap they impact soon sputters to a halt. Once a neighboring tile is safe the group steps forward together, and while the party's defenders have to fend off hopping slimes thrice, with plenty of time to prepare none of the monsters poses much of a threat.

When they finally reach the other end and open the next set of doors, they find themselves in an oddly empty room. Looking around, Willowbranch winces. "This must be a safe room before the floor boss, but with all of the amenities removed before we arrived. Well, we may as well prepare ourselves for a fight as best as we're able regardless. Does anyone require assistance before we move on?"

Goldleaf eyes the party. "I believe I've managed yours and Frudd's injuries well enough. We really need to do something about all that slime on Frudd, though. Don't suppose anyone has any better options than using up some of my bandage supply to wipe her down?"

Willowbranch shakes his head. "If no one's currently injured we may as well. One more fight and we should be through, and should anyone take any wounds in the next encounter we should be able to manage well enough. Take heart, everyone! We've almost reached the exit, despite the dungeon's best efforts otherwise!" There's some halfhearted cheering, accompanied by Goldleaf's grumbling as she helps Frudd wipe off her heavy armor as best as they're able. After a few drinks from their waterskins and a moment to catch their breath, the party leader prepares them for the boss fight ahead.

"Alright, Frudd and I will go in first, Srooll and Ress, watch the flanks, Goldleaf, take the rear. Now, onward!" Willowbranch opens the arena door and heads inside along with Frudd, and finds himself immediately faced with a fight. Two massive sets of armor wait for them inside, but not for long, the pair moving to attack the instant the party shows themselves. The elf only allows himself a moment to analyze the duo, grimacing at the thought of having to take on a double-boss encounter. "Frudd, hold off the heavier armor, we'll need to focus to get past its defenses! The rest of us, we'll take out the swordswoman on the right first!" Raising his heavy blade, the elf charges forward and makes to engage his target in melee combat.

Unfortunately, the armored monster seems to have other ideas. Holding its own massive sword in one hand, the boss hops backward while pulling a javelin from the quiver on its back and throwing it in a single smooth movement. Willowbranch dodges but realizes the move was unnecessary, as he was not the target. Quickly looking behind him, he notices it barely missing their Spirit Mage as the gnoll ducks. "They're targeting Mage Ress! Srooll, keep him covered!"

"Will do as I can!" Tafyaf shouts back with a little more confidence than he actually feels. His small knives would be useless against enemies like this, so he swaps to his shortbow, but he has his doubts about its effectiveness as well. He does feel a little relief as his first two shots do actually manage to penetrate the oversized armor, but that relief soon vanishes when he realizes it doesn't seem to have injured the creature in the least. From there he mostly spends his time dragging the Mage with him left and right, constantly needing to dodge the javelins the monster is throwing in their direction every time they can manage a toss while fighting off Willowbranch. "They do not like you much, no!?"

"It seems I offended the dungeon! But perhaps I it is time I summoned us some assistance, yes?" The gnoll begins motioning with his staff for a spell, but is interrupted by a shout from their Vanguard.

"NO! I can't - Mage, watch out!" Choc and Tafyaf both turn at the sound of Frudd's shouting, only to be just in time to see the heavier armor's massive axe swing down, cutting the Mage in half with a spray of blood. The Vanguard chases closely after him, her eyes wide and panicked, and although she manages to jam her own sword into the back of the armor's neck in turn it's far too late. Slamming into its back with all of her force the boss is knocked to the ground on top of Choc's remains, and as she returns to her feet Frudd pulls at the hilt of her sword as if it were a lever. With a grunt of effort the armor's head pops off, but the panic in the woman's voice doesn't subside. "Aghhh! I'm sorry! He - he pushed me aside and charged right for the Mage!"

"Combat review later, the battle remains in front of us for the moment, Vanguard! I require your assistance!" With their primary target apparently taken care of, the feminine armor seems to now feel free to focus her efforts on the elf in front of her, and sets aside her missiles to focus entirely on her swordplay. Willowbranch is quite talented in his own respect, easily dodging and parrying each swing the boss makes at him, but there's only so much the man can do against several feet of height and reach advantage, not to mention the significant weight and momentum behind every attack.

As Frudd dives in however, the calculation quickly shifts. With her heavy shield blocking the monster's attacks the elf is freed up to flank her, aiming for the weak points in her armor. Even Tafyaf's arrows begin to add up, a few managing to land in joints in a way that manage to interfere with the boss's movements. Eventually, after Frudd manages to pin down the armor's right arm following a swing, Willowbranch is able to sever the limb entirely and the battle becomes a foregone conclusion. Despite the monster's best attempts to dodge, a few more attacks send its helmet rolling across the floor, and as the armor crumples to the ground the party finally has time to take stock of what happened.

More out of formality than any actual hope, Willowbranch turns first to Goldleaf. "Combat Medic - the Mage, is he...?"

Goldleaf frowns. "Killed instantly - head split right in two, along with his torso. You'd need a Supreme healer for a wound like that."

Frudd begins to apologize for her failure once again, but Willowbranch quickly interrupts her. "The dungeon was clearly focusing on Mage Ress as their primary target. If anything, the fault is mine - while you may have been able to engage the boss solo for a few minutes, stealing its attention from a party member it was determined to kill is more than anyone could have managed alone. And this was no coincidence, either. Clearly the dungeon master didn't want us interrogating any more spirits of the place." Thinking for a moment, the man grimaces again. "Damnation! This was perhaps the best lead we had yet for learning the dungeon's secrets, but Spirit Mages are such a rare class...I've never met one before. I'll be sure to request that the garrison is sent another, or two, but such specific reinforcements could take time to arrive."

Standing up from where he was helping Goldleaf with recovering Choc's possessions, Tafyaf raises a point. "Perhaps we should make our exit before discussing our future plans for the dungeon, yes?"

"Yes, good point. The core chamber should be the next room, perhaps we can even bring the Mage's fallen remains...with...us...what the?" Willowbranch's words trail off as he opens the door on the other side of the boss arena, only to find a long tunnel waiting for them rather than the final chamber he was expecting. Although the tunnel's exit is some distance ahead, his elven eyes can clearly see what appears to be a large space on the other side, and perhaps even...a cliff with a waterfall? "Good gods in their heavens..." The man's eyes go wide as he realizes what this means.

"Worthy Dungeon has a fourth floor."