Dimir's Out of the Abyss

Oak’s wisdom save: 5 

Eldeth Wisdom Saving Throw:14

Eldeth begins to babble in gibberish, and will be for the next 9 minutes.

Topsy Wisdom Saving Throw:9

Topsy falls unconscious, and will be for the next three minutes.

Stool Wisdom Saving Throw: 5

Stool, Oak, and Aimon are unaffected.

What do you do?

As the party talk about this-escape-plan, and that-escape-route, Oak lines up his next shot... ...just as an absolutely enormous creature rises out of the water. Even in his rage, Oak just stares for a second, dumbfounded, and his bow arm goes limp... 

As it lumbers out of the water and stares at the village, he feels something assail his mind. He puts his hands up to his head. It feels like someone is trying to pull his horns in two different directions and tear his head right in half!.... Somehow he resists the effects and he comes back to himself, seeing some of his party members still reeling and gibbering from the effect.

He grabs up his axe, and reaches for Trill and Caelynn, like you would with stubborn children, and tries to grab their sleeves or under their arms and pull and manhandle them behind the nearest hut, away from this thing! He calls, "Come on, we have to get away!...".

((rage fades = exhaustion #2 = half movement... ))  

Something monstrous grabs her arm and the pebble falls from Trill's hand as she begins hallucinating, the immediate area becoming shrouded in impenetrable dark.

Aimon feels a brief tug at his mind when he first sees this monstrous demon but he quickly shakes it off and jumps over and picks up Topsy. 

“Stool,” Aimon calls over the noise. “Can you lead Jimjar after us?”

Looking at how exhausted Oak is, he thinks Stool should be able to keep up.

Once he’s sure Jimjar and Stool are following, Aimon follows after Oak and the others. Once behind the hut he looks for the next bit of cover that will lead them out of the village and continues that way.

Caelynn feels Oak tugging on her arm, but can’t force herself to follow him. Her legs take a few stumbling steps of their own accord before her foot catches, her knee buckles, and she ends up leaning awkwardly against his side. “I can’t..... don’t......” She desperately tries to right herself, but her limbs refuse to move. “...help”

(Can’t move or take actions)

Oak feels Caelynn stumble against him. She’s not lifting her own feet. He’s dreadfully worried about her, following that painful mental assault...

”You’re okay m’Lady...” he reassures her “Come on, soldier.. It’s okay...”.

He turns slightly towards her; he dips his shoulder against her tummy; wraps his arm around her waist; and (if he can) he’ll ‘firefighter’s lift’  her, onward and onward, slowly, between buildings as they go, tugging Trill along with his other arm ((unless she looks like she needs more help too?))...

In the sphere of darkness emanating from her dropped pebble, Trill sees shapes looming out of the dark to grab at her, horrid tentacles and dripping orifices and she slaps them away frantically, keening in a high, frantic sound of an injured animal.

Oak feels Trill pull away from his grasp and slap his hand away. He bundles her up under his other arm like a football, and tries to keep pushing forward, away from the water and that terrifying monstrosity behind them...

“Trill...... s’okay....” Caelynn mumbles what little reassurance she can offer, though it doesn’t quite sound like she believes it. Her mind is still clouded over with fear and unable to fully process what’s happening.

Trill tries to evade the vibrantly colored, pulsating tentacle that is sweeping for her!

Acrobatics: 25

She ducks it, and runs away!

((A 25 with disadvantage!  I can't recall if she's tested it before, but does her enhanced darkvision from the Tear allow her to see through the darkness created by the Tear?))

"....Trill?" She calls out a bit louder, seeing the kenku running the opposite direction of the rest of them. She doesn't quite know what's going on, but Trill seems like she's fighting something that isn't there. Maybe she can't see? "....it's Caelynn.......follow...voice...."

Oops, forgot Jimjar.

Jimjar Wisdom Saving Throw: 6

Jimjar is frightened, and will be for the next seven minutes. He must use his action and movement to move away from his source of fear.

The Tear doesn't let you see in magical darkness yet.

The party with the exception of Trill and Jimjar take shelter behind another building. Jimjar runs screaming at the top of his lungs away from the demonic entity. Trill stumbles around shrieking at unseen assailants. A DC 12 charisma skill check of any kind will calm her down enough to be somewhat rational, but she will still be hallucinating.

Stool hops out of Caelynn's backpack and follows Oak, his diminutive nubs pattering against the stone. 

Leemooggoogoon casually tears a stalagtite from the ceiling with his powerful tentacles and tosses it in a gentle, underhand throw. It gracefully sails through the air before it smashes into the crowd of awe-frozen Kuo-toa. It crushes at least 30 fish people, bodily fluids spraying through the air as they are pulped. This breaks the hold over the villagers, and they begin fleeing, screams of terror replacing fervored calls.

Leemooggoogoon laughs throatily as it comes closer.

In a half hearted attempt, this not really being his specialty, Oak growls at his companions, “Jimjar!... Trill!.... what do you think you’re doing?! Get over here!!...”.

Intimidation check(?) (disadvantage due to exhaustion): 14 

((I guess he IS pretty intimidating!...))

He looks over to Aimon, desperate,... “Should we put them in the chest??!...”. And as if to punctuate his sentence, a part of the cavern is thrown into the crowd with an almighty crash...”We’ve got to get out of here!! ...do we just go?”...

Trill drops into a fetal position as the looming monster bellows at her.

"I'm sorry Daddy, don't hit me, it's my fault, I promise I'll be good!"

"Me.......'n'Topsy........chest." It's a struggle to even get these few words out, and Caelynn is quickly becoming frustrated with her uselessness. She's become a burden to the others. Maybe it would be best if they just left her behind. Then they could escape and she would die but that's okay because it's what she deserves... Wait, what? Those aren't her thoughts. What's happening to her? Will she be stuck like this forever? Screwing her eyes shut, she tries to clear her head.

Oak is heartbroken over the state of his friends... but they have to get away!!

“Come on Trill... everyone.. we’ve got to keep moving...”.

He tries to manoeuvre everyone further away, from building to building, from cover to cover, gradually further from this apocalyptic scene!...

Aimon pause to look back and sees Jimjar racing off, screaming. It's all he can do to not to the same. The size of that creature and it's monstrous appearance is enough to drive anyone crazy. He doesn't want to go after Jimjar, but Oak already has his hands full with the others, though it looks like he might be getting through to Trill. Aimon looks towards the relative safety of the edge of the village and then back to Jimjar.  It's days like this that a shade more selfishness would be an asset he thinks.

Aimon sighs and takes off after Jimjar to try and catch him and bring him back to the others.

(Would y'all say it makes sense for Oak to be carrying the chest? While it isn't very heavy, it is large and awkward. Oak is the biggest, so it would be the least burdensome for him.)

"Can....go.......in....easier......run." Despite her mind-addled state, Caelynn is painfully aware of one fact - time is of the essence if they want to escape the looming demon in the background. She vaguely hears screams and a loud crash, but from her position she can't really see what's going on.

Trill is still terrified, and Oak's features swim in front of her, horrid faces forming and disappearing across his flesh. Enough gets through that she understands the need to run, but keeps jumping and twitching at things that only she can see.