Erik Soong's Call of the Netherdeep

Ylis feels Frekor has always been a slippery git. She turns her eye to Verin and her fur begins to grow longer, limbs sprout from her torso and she pulls out a bottle to hold in her chelicerae. Crouching her white spider body and pointing her butt at Verin she sprays webbing at him! Ylider chomps her Critmas Cheer and burns her Heroic Inspiration to capture the Drow and keep him connected to her. Then she shoves the party like a white multi-armed bowling ball into the hallway dragging the town leader behind her, pulling him in with her back legs!

SIlvery Barbs!

Re-roll attack on Frekor, give Frekor Advantage on save!

Quote from Erik_Soong >>

Grasping vines burst from the cut and tangle her up. Her wings crumple and her tail lashes only once before it is pinned against her body. She hisses desperately against the constricting, thorny vines as they dig and scrape against her flesh.

DM: Nat 5 Strength Saving Throw. A failure.

Desu struggles against the bindings and manages to wrestle her tail free. She blasts it at Frekor’s chest.

DM: With Disadvantage due to being Restrained, she strikes at Frekor for 25 19 to Attack. 12 Piercing Damage and Frekor is thrown 15 ft to F11.

She then pulls an arm out and claws at the air. Another three fissures open in the earth and blast at Frekor.

DM: Dexterity Saving Throw please, DC 16 or take 7 Fire Damage and 10 Acid Damage.

DM: Heroes go.

Quote from Wysperra >>

SIlvery Barbs!

Re-roll attack on Frekor, give Frekor Advantage on save!

 (Dex saving throw: 17, 9+8. 9, 1+8. Success)

(OOC: Will wait for the rest of the party to post Frekor's turn.)

DM: Ylis' Silvery Barbs causes the new roll to be a 10. A miss. Frekor is still adjacent to Desu at the time of her attempt to Attack him. 

(OOC: Who is in the hallway?)

DM: Morgan, Sky, and Nivi.

Sky quickly casts Cure Wounds on Nivi for 9 healing and maintains his concentration on the Shield of Faith on Frekor.

"I'll heal you next, Mr. Morgan," he says quietly with a little shy grimace, unhappy with how limited his healing ability seems to be.  "And I can heal Frekor a little, too, if we ever get him out of there," he says to anyone listening.  "But after that, I'm not sure what else I can do except swing my weapon."

Sky will move 10' further back in the hallway, behind where Morgan is now, to make room for the others.

(For flavor) Nivi's DEX Save to avoid Spider-Ylis' bowling ball shove and maintain her position just outside the door:  17 + 1 from Bless = 18

Nivi stands pressed against the wall at the threshold to the forsaken room, staring back at Desu, unable to take her pale green eyes off the dark mirror of herself who had forsaken it all for the fiendish fate of her own choosing.

Almost absently, she thanks Ylis (and then Sky) for their healing (Nivi is no longer bloodied - 32/48), though by the time she does, the Killer Bunny has turned into a rescue arachnid, barreling in and back out of the chamber with the Taskhand in tow.  She spares a concerned glance for Frekor, still in melee with Desu with just moments remaining, but knows the Tracker is a High Elf, just as she is, and has the same trick she does (Misty Step species ability).

Yet in truth, her attention remains on Desu the Descended, restrained in place as the lower planes lay claim to her and everything around her.  Unable to look away, Nivi is reminded of her annoying, bright-eyed sister quoting some crusty philosopher at Nivi, Tara's dark words belying her tone.

For when you gaze too long into the Abyss, the Abyss gazes back into you...

Sheathing her rapier, Nivi takes aim almost absently with her Crossbow, Light for a final parting shot at the descended one before retreating, holding the door open for Frekor with her invisible Mage Hand until the last instant.

Free Action and Action:  Switch weapons to shoot Desu with her Crossbow, Light, at advantage as Desu is restrained, 3d20s due to Elven Accuracy.
Crossbow, Light to hit Desu:  18 + 1 from Bless = 19
Crossbow, Light damage:  12 (base) + 5 (Sneak Attack) = 17 piercing

Bonus Action:  Nivi casts Mage Hand (which is invisible for her), holding the door to the convulsing chamber beyond open until Frekor arrives.

Movement:  Only when sure that everyone is out does Nivi tear her eyes away from Desu and retreat 30' back north up the corridor.

(OOC: Ending a grapple is a check, not a saving throw, so if I’m reading things correctly, the Mind Sliver penalty should still be affecting Desu).

Worried that Desu might pursue them into the corridor... and after everyone has already benefited from his Bless one last time... Morgan decides to gamble (again).

He points toward the fiend and casts Sleep (DC 17 + 1d4 from Mind Sliver). He knows the chances of such magic working on a creature like Desu are slim… but at this point, slim is enough.

"Wish you good night, Desu." A crooked smile appears despite the exhaustion. "May your next morning be in Hell."

And he runs, runs as if the devil were at his heels.

DM: Great catch!

A 17 Wisdom Saving Throw before subtracting the 1d4 penalty which was... *drum roll* a 4!, reducing the total to 13. 

Desu twists in her bindings, snarling, raging, and then... she simply stops, stupefied (Incapacitated) by the Sleep spell. Potentially falling asleep on the next turn. 

Frekor noticing that Desu couldn't move after his attack and Morgan's magic, realiced that he didn't need to stay in the room anymore.

"Is everyone out?" asked before dashing to the exit.  (Action: Dash.    Movement: all of his movement towards the door.)

After making sure everyone gets out of the room, he closes the door and locks it for good measure. (Free action: Closing the door.   Bonus action: locking the door.)

Randa checked that Ylis was out of the room then dashed down the corridor away from the charnel house....

As Frekor slams the door shut, there is a terrible ripping sound of twisting metal and stone. The heavy iron door before him is ripped off its hinges by some powerful vacuum, and the door is crumpled like paper and pulled partway into what is now a dirt and unworked stone wall.

A muffled cry of rage and despair can be heard only for a moment before it is cut off.

DM: Combat has ended.

Verin Thelyss finally allows himself to pass out from exhaustion.

DM: The party advances to level 6. 

Quote from Erik_Soong >>

DM: The party advances to level 6. 

 OOC: YAY!

Nivi nods imperceptibly to herself as Desu and her cursed chamber are torn away to the lower planes.  Turning back, she looks unusually introspective.

As she kneels to reclaim the dagger she had lent to Taskhand Thelys from his unconscious form, despite her quiet demeanor, her voice is conversational and matter of fact.  As if the mind-rending horrors of the last half minute had not just happened.

"All right.  Job's not done yet.  Let's get back top side.  Who's toting the Taskhand?  You got the size for it, Sky.  Maybe even heal him a little first?  Take the middle with Spider-Bunny and Pretty Boy.  Tracker and me in front to scout like before.  Straight Arrow behind to cover our rear?"

It feels almost incongruous when Nivi remembers that for her part, she had promised the others information on where Aloysia had been headed last night, and with who.  She figures if no one asks first, she'll tell them once they're back.  If they even still care.  For all the good it would do.

Quote from Erik_Soong >>

DM: The party advances to level 6. 

 (OOC: Nice!)

Quote from Erik_Soong >>

As Frekor slams the door shut, there is a terrible ripping sound of twisting metal and stone. The heavy iron door before him is ripped off its hinges by some powerful vacuum, and the door is crumpled like paper and pulled partway into what is now a dirt and unworked stone wall.

A muffled cry of rage and despair can be heard only for a moment before it is cut off.

Verin Thelyss finally allows himself to pass out from exhaustion.

 Frekor feels confused by what happened with the room since there was no explanation for it right now, but he decided to not dwell on it. They'll get their answers eventually.

Seeing Verin fall, Frekor quickly gets close to him and casts Cure Wounds. "You will not die today." said the ranger in elvish while his hand is on the drowns chest. (Casting: Cure Wounds: 18 hp. 8+8+2.)

After making sure that Verin is stable, Frekor puts his hand on Randa's shoulder and casts the same spell again. "Let the wounds on your body disappear ." says in elvish with a smile. (Casting: Cure Wounds: 6 hp. 2+2+2.)

(OOC: @DM, if you think that I shouldn't be able to cast Cure Wounds twice then Frekor wouldn't cast it on Randa. But I could make it so that Frekor waited for his "next turn" to cast it on Randa.)

DM: You’re outside of combat so I don’t get persnickety over action economy. If it were to trigger combat or you were in a major time crunch where a PC could only reasonably perform a single action, then it would matter I think. 

You heal both! 

Ylis lies on her back panting while her body shrinks. Giant spider limbs once draped over people pull inward to her body and she once again is a bunny girl.

"Maybe we should avoid demon temples in the future."

Although exhausted, Morgan is over the moon just to still be alive. He goes around patting everyone on the back, offering breathless congratulations and loudly reminding each of them how amazing they were.

Eventually, he drifts closer to Nivi.
"Hey, Stabbystabby," he says with a tired smile, trying to counter her nickname game. "Hope you’re alright. That whole thing felt… personal."

He glances at her for a moment before looking ahead again.
"Just hoping you’re doing okay."