When the party, including Fulk, had rested, replenished and made all preparations for their journey, they set out from the monastery, in dramatic fashion, by flying away. Heading roughly due north from the monastery, they flew for five days into the mountainous wilderness.
After five days, the adventurers spotted a road leading under the mountains. They landed and spelled up, while Edward’s griffon patrolled above them, then followed the road. About a mile along, the road turned sharply to the right and rose steeply upward. The party paused to renew their spells. Green Arrow cast light on an arrow, then shot it at the ceiling above the road. Firiona and Lina shapechanged to solar form. The party noticed rats scurrying about.
About an hour later, the path turned sharply left and continued its upward climb, still about fifteen feet wide and ten feet high, as if it had been cut to a uniform width and height. The adventurers continued onward. Elana cast light on Edward’s armor to illuminate their way more effectively. Edward’s spider climb was still in effect.
Fifty yards or so further along the underground road, the path suddenly widened. Dirt and rocks could be seen about the area, but nothing could be heard. Lina quickly assumed pit fiend form, while Firiona shapechanged to balor form.
Edward and Elana felt something disturbing about the path they were walking on. Their feet began to stick. Suddenly the floor gave way beneath them, and the two fell fifty feet into a pit filled with water. At the same time, a stream of some kind of viscous liquid substance from the ceiling re-sealed the hole they had just made. The party were under attack!
From ahead of the party, two bizarre creatures approached at high speed. They looked insectoid, like some particularly lean (and monstrously large) cockroach. Each ran on its rear four limbs, holding two very long front limbs and two antennae ahead of them. The thorax of the creatures joined the abdomen at a right angle, then bent forward again above the forelimbs. The overall effect was that of an insect built like a centaur.
"Insects?" thought Firiona to herself. "Shouldn't be a problem."
The first of the creatures ran toward Fulk and ejected a stream of a noxious, viscous material at the cleric, then immediately sprang backward ten feet from the party. The material quickly hardened into a cocoon around Fulk, grappling the cleric! At the same time, from a hole in the ceiling above Firiona another spray of the same material emerged, striking and cocooning the wizard! And another of the weird creatures raced toward Lina and sprayed the material at her, but Lina somehow avoided being caught in the spray.
However, the first insectoid creature also sprayed Lina, and this time she was caught!
The second creature moved with amazing speed toward Firiona and struck her with its antennae and forelimbs. Its appearance immediately became stronger and more robust, as if it had somehow gained vitality from the attack. Firiona felt heavily drained of vitality and strength. Lina, meanwhile, shapechanged to ghaele eladrin form, became ethereal to escape from the cocoon, and passed into the nearby wall of the tunnel. From above, the third creature directed another noxious stream at Green Arrow, but the elven archer dodged the attack. In return, Green Arrow shot at the first of the attacking creatures, doing heavy damage.
While the elven archer was firing, Edward spiderclimbed up out of the water in the pit, then used his winged boots to fly up to the newly-solidified barrier above the pit, seeking a way out of the trap.
Back in the tunnel, Arimir cast an empowered chain lightning at the creatures, doing minor damage, then flew back behind cover. As he flew away, the weakened Firiona shapechanged into a dread wraith, then escaped into the tunnel wall and emerged to attack the first of the insectoids. She failed to damage the creature, however.
Back in the pit, Elana swam to the wall of the trap, then cast dimension door and escaped from the pit, ending up behind Arimir. Although she had escaped, Fulk was not able to and remained cocooned.
With astonishing speed and in defiance of gravity, the first creature ran up to the hole above the path and disappeared into the hole, apparently into an upper chamber hidden from view. The second creature advanced ten feet to attack Green Arrow, leaving the elven archer weaker and clumsier, then fled back and upward and also raced into the hole in the ceiling. While the creature was escaping, Lina moved out of the wall, changed to invisible stalker form, then flew thirty feet toward the third creature, which had previously left the hole to attack Green Arrow. Not quickly enough. The third insectoid sped toward Green Arrow and fired the gooey substance at him, cocooning him. The elven archer failed to break out of the cocoon!
While the others continued the struggle, Edward, still in the pit, tried to break through the upper barrier, but was unable to do so.
Arimir cast ray deflection on himself, as did Elana. The airy adventurer then flew up to the hole in the ceiling, but saw no creatures. Firiona, moving through another wall of the tunnel, shapechanged to another invisible stalker.
Fulk remained cocooned.
Suddenly, the party heard faint scuttling sounds from above the tunnel. They could see no creatures, however. Lina went to Fulk, cast dimension door on him, then headed down the corridor, toward the point of origin of the attacking creatures. The third creature, meanwhile, attacked Green Arrow with its forelimbs and antennae, now helplessly cocooned, gaining vigor at the elven archer’s expense. Green Arrow felt even weaker, clumsier and less vital than before, and again failed to escape.
Arimir, thinking quickly, cast dimension door, then flew into the sealed pit to aid Edward, who had again failed to break through the solidified goo blocking the pit.
The third creature came under attack as Firiona cast an admixed acid/fire scorching ray. Unfortunately, she cast so clumsily that one of her rays struck herself! The creature took only superficial damage.
Elana was finally able to reach Green Arrow, then took him with her via dimension door over to Fulk’s location. The cleric too was finally able to cast a spell, endowing himself with freedom of movement.
But things were about to get worse. Another creature suddenly appeared and cocooned Green Arrow again! The arcane archer was unable to break free of this second cocoon. Quickly reacting to the attack, Lina, using a maximized meta rod lightning bolt, fired at the new assailant, but barely scathed the creature. The third creature, rushing a full sixty feet toward Elana, feinted at her, then struck her with its antennae. Elana now felt weaker and clumsier, but managed to step back and cast sonic might at her attacker, doing significant damage.
"I’ll hold on," said Edward to Arimir. "You dimension door me next to the third creature." Arimir did as requested, and Edward, suddenly appearing within striking distance of the insetoid, hit it four times and severely wounded it.
Changing strategies, Firiona quaffed a potion of greater invisibility, then shapechanged to marilith form. Fulk, attempting to repeat the success he had had, cast freedom of movement on Green Arrow, hoping to free him.
This wasn’t enough. The battle became more and more unfavorable to the adventurers.
The fourth creature rushed another fifty feet toward Lina, struck her and drained her of more strength and dexterity, then sprang twenty feet back, out of range of retaliation. The second creature, now returned to the battle by some hidden path, advanced ten feet toward Lina and struck her as well, draining her even more, then ran back sixty feet. Now weak, clumsy and wounded, Lina still managed to shapechange into solar form, and then attacked her tormentors with her greatsword. Unfortunately, she missed. The third creature, meanwhile, struck Edward with antennae and forelegs, gaining vitality at the expense of the paladin. Edward’s strength, dexterity and vitality were devastated by the insectoid creature’s attack. Arimir’s orb of electricity did no more than minor damage to Edward’s attacker.
Nothing the party could do seemed to affect the course of the battle. They could see that the creatures would eventually grind them down. Firiona put her swords away, shapechanged to nightwalker form, then readied greater teleport. The other adventurers joined hands, then Firiona cast the readied spell. The party fled back to the monastery. The creatures had defeated them.
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