Dragon of Icespire Peak ***CLOSED***

Vaxis looks back and grins.

"A storm brews on the horizon, and a dragon stalks the area. The only place they can go is in for now. Whether the bearded ones profit from it is irrelevant. I would be having much guiltiness if something happened due to my inaction. Besides...aren't you the least bit curious whats inside here?" 

Tabesha'l has remained silent during the debate between Vaxis and Connak, but as the group delves into the ruins she stops by the dwarves and says with a soft smile:

" Just so that things between everyone are clear, I shall take it upon myself to keep anything of a magical nature that can be found inside these ruins... for the purpose of study only, that goes without saying. As for things of more immediate monetary value, we will apply our regular rate of 60%." Her smile widens sweetly, but her eyes are as cold as cobalt ice as she continues: " ... Another 25 % will be applied to the further defense of Phandalin, including sending materials and troops to protect thy mining concession here. The rest we will generously donate towards the education of thy numerous offspring. No need to thank us, of course."

As she prepares to catch up with the rest of her team, she turns once more towards the two miners: " Please do note that we also respect our given word and the contract shall be honored on our part. Be safe and keep away from open ground in the meantime, we shall see thee both shortly. Namàrië !"

With that, the elven maiden raises her hood with a small flourish before vanishing into the darkness, following the already receding light of the torch. 

Connak scoffs hearing Tabesha'l and whispers to Vaxis, "Let it be known that I'm not the greediest of our lot.  Those dwarves won't die by dragon or storm, they'll succumb to apoplexy instead."

Vaxis chuckles, a sound that almost sounds scary coming from a creature of his stature.

"Duly noted, friend. She drives a hard bargain. They will be having perplexed indeed."

Dazlyn and Norbus furrow their brows and cross their arms at the female elf’s tough negotiations, but with no better options for clearing their excavation site of danger or an immediate way to return safely to Phandalin, they quietly accede to her demands.

”Moradin guard ye then witch,” Dazlyn calls out as he and Norbus resume their meal of rations and post guard at the temple entrance.

Torchlight floods the temple illuminating a large room directly ahead as well as two side passages. One is filled with un excavated rubble, the other is extremely narrow and curves off several feet ahead. The room is deathly quiet except for the sound of water dripping from the ceiling to the floor somewhere off in the distance.

Stacked up behind Brutus and Vaxis, the two elves can peer a little further into the darkness than the others and notice a stone alter at the far end of the large room. Connak, with his keen senses for danger notices two massive yellow blobs clinging to the ceiling, one above the alter and another at the south portion of the room...

...an image of Vaxis shoveling crackers topped with ochre jelly remains into his mouth and subsequently heaving them back out with force enters his mind and he chuckles a bit to himself.

Connak finishes chuckling to get down to business.  "Vaxis, back up.  Lets use this doorway as a choke point.  Vaxis, Brutus and Barric can stand in a line in this hallway and all attack into the door.  The rest of us can attack from behind.   And while they're just sitting still over there, I can take my time and get a good shot off."

Connak waits to see if the others agree and re-position themselves.

Brutus follows orders, and positions himself on the side of the door as to not have anyone have to shoot over him.

Barric, confused, glances back. The two dwarves are just a few feet behind him, watching. He has a bad feeling about this, but does not want to show his fear to the rest. He moves beside Brutus, slowly drawing his second blade and settling into a defensive stance. 

"Shoot at what? I can't see much of anything in here but dust and stone."

The lilting, sing-song speech of Tabesha'l rises softly behind Barric, as she makes her arrival:

 " I do understand thy predicament, Private Barric. Maybe this will help ?"

The elf raises her right hand and whispers a few unintelligible words of power as she opens her fingers in a spreading motion. Instantly, the tip of her staff becomes bathed in a magical bluish aura that shines its cold light on the room ahead.

** Tabesha'l casts the Light cantrip on her staff's headstone. **

As she surveys the monstrous yellowish slimes ahead of them, she says almost absent-mindedly: " ... so these are the jellies our draconic friend planned to use to break his fast ? Methinks even a reptilian palate as well-hewn as his would find the meal somewhat... hard to digest. We should firstly consider how we're going to get rid of them, I seem to recall these substances are difficult to deal with at times."

** two random checks to determine what she can recall about Ochre Jellies: Nature 8 - Arcana 19 **

Connak is instantly upset at Tabesha'l for potentially giving away the element of surprise with her light, grumbling in elvish, "Damn you!" and releasing his arrow at the ochre jelly hanging above the altar.

(Assuming I am an unseen attacker, I get advantage and sneak attack.  Adjust as necessary if that's not the case)

Short Bow Attack: 19 Damage: 6

(12 Initiative, 13 Perception, as a torch and light spell are going off, I may be able to see it.)

Vaxis looks off to the left, seeming to hear something, and spats.

"Be silent, whore of Orcus! I will protect these people with my life!"

Initiative: 19

Seeing his party begin to attack Brutus will do what he can to charge towards the front of the group.  Wielding his axe in both hands.  Following Vaxis’ lead shouting “Begone, Whorcus!”

ROLL INITIATIVE :

• Connak: 17
• Vaxis: 4 (manual roll)
• Tabesha’l: 7
• Brutus: 19 (manual roll)
• Barric: 10

Initiative Order:

1. Tabesha’l
2. Brutus
3. Ochre Jelly
4. Barric
5. Ochre Jelly
6. Connak
7. Vaxis

(OOC: Concerning Tabesha’l’s Intelligence (Nature) check on ochre jelly lore, she is able to recall that they are slow-moving and have poor defenses but can take a while to destroy due to their physical resiliency.)

 As the party braces itself for their first combat, the elven mage raises her right hand and points it towards the yellowish mass on the other side of the hall. Her lips are clenched firmly together, but a bizarre, throaty hum emanates from her and soon fills up the room. Small specks of dust fall off the ceiling as the distant sound of a great gong fills the air, making everyone's hair stand on end for a second . The sound seem to gather in power, resonating ominously under the arched ceiling, before subsiding progressively.

** casting Toll the Dead on the Jelly ahead of them. Necrotic Damage 7 or 11 **

Preparing himself for battle, looking at the abominations of natural balance the slip before him.  His breath becomes heavy and muscles flex as he goes into a frenzied rage.  Taking a javelin and throwing it ferociously, teeth bearing like an animal.

Javelin Attack against East Jelly.

Attack: 25 Damage: 11

The grotesque, viscous yellow mass recoils as Connak’s arrow finds its mark (13 piercing damage) and begins to pool onto the floor below it. Tabesha’l’s dolorous tone fills the room, but appears to have no effect on the mysterious creature (WIS save: 16 vs. spell save DC 13). It begins moving towards the party, forming and reforming itself across the stone floor in a strange display of alien locomotion.

Another lurching yellow mass at the south side of the room begins dropping to the floor as Brutus’ javelin buries itself deep into the amorphous blob (11 piercing damage).

As the light spell illuminates the room things begin to happen fast. Brutus and Vaxis push ahead, and realizing there is no room for him, Barric quickly sheathes the swords and gets his bow ready, though he does not like using it in these tight confines. As he sees the jellies, Barric is even more confused.

Is that some type of mold? What is going on here?

An arrow and a javelin disappears into the jellies as Tabesha'l utters an incantation. They begin to quiver and move. Not sure what to do, Barric feels his heart racing, a surge of adrenaline, and quickly fires off two shots.

Not moving. Action, attack the jelly straight ahead. Attack: 22 Damage: 8

Action surge, attack the jelly again. Attack: 25 Damage: 17

Two more arrows penetrate the disgusting yellow blob as it flattens onto the floor (13 piercing damage, total) releasing a raspy squeal that the horrified onlookers imagine must be the sound made when a ochre jelly screams in pain.

The other mindless adversary extrudes its vile body towards the southwest corner of the room.

Connak will take 2 steps back to give the fighters room to retreat if they need to (2 left) while saying, "Use the doorway as a choke point.  Don't let both of them attack at the same time!".  Then he will hold his action to shoot an arrow once he sees an opportunity for a perfect shot.

(IE: waiting for the ochre jelly to move forward, hoping to add sneak attack to the shot).

Short Bow Attack: 14 Damage: 4

By some miracle, if that hits, and if the ochre jelly is adjacent to one of our party members, then add 4 sneak attack damage.