Malls of America: A Post-Apocalyptic D&D Adventure - GAME Thread

Nothing useful. The room has been thoroughly ravaged by time and the elements.

She then moves through the next door.

Tolr'ax wrote:She then moves through the next door.

[Unless otherwise specified, I'll assume the Sidekick is always within 5ft of you.]

Nirotia's elven graces do not betray her as she crosses the shattered floor. However, the Dog Duo couldn't agree which paws to place where and slipped. The sloped-floor turned rocky-hillside offered little in the way of purchase, and Grim and Reaper plummeted.

From the darkness beyond the precipice, Nirotia hears a sickening thump and a pained whimper.

And then something else moving through the trees below.

She will call out to the dog "Reaper, Grim, are you hirt my love?"

Tolr'ax wrote:She will call out to the dog "Reaper, Grim, are you hirt my love?"

No response. Either they can't hear, or can't answer.

How far is the fall? Or can she tell? There are trees below?

Can't tell the distance, but yes, pine trees can be identified in the faint Moon and star light. Maybe 30 feet?

So is she looking outside? Like the room was on the outer part of the structure and collapsed?

She will attempt to climb down to help her pup. "Can't do anything without having to help you two."

Tolr'ax wrote:So is she looking outside? Like the room was on the outer part of the structure and collapsed?

She will attempt to climb down to help her pup. "Can't do anything without having to help you two."

She succeeds in her attempt... until the last few feet - darn darkness and not seeing well - slipping and falling for 3 damage (15/18).

Grim/Reaper are* nearby, and their trip down was clearly less forgiving. There's a deep gash on their right flank, having taken 9 damage (21/39). But, curiously, they aren't paying any attention to you... or anything at all for that matter, except what in the scant moonlight appears to be a pile of rubble nearby.


(*I've decided since it has two heads, it is not a singular creature, but to be addressed as a plural. I might slip from time to time.)

"Grim! Reaper!" She quietly yells at them. "What in the hells are you doing you clumsy oaf." She walks over and investigates the rubble, with firebolt readied for hostility.

Tolr'ax wrote:"Grim! Reaper!" She quietly yells at them. "What in the hells are you doing you clumsy oaf." She walks over and investigates the rubble, with firebolt readied for hostility.

Well, it appears to be just a lump of rock and dirt. Weird.
Grim/Reaper doesn't trust it.

"What is with you and this pile of debris? Let's get on with our exploration." She scoffs at the dogs.

Grim and Reaper go to the debris and dig into it a bit.

Tolr'ax wrote:"What is with you and this pile of debris? Let's get on with our exploration." She scoffs at the dogs.

Grim and Reaper go to the debris and dig into it a bit.

As if ravenous, once started the Dogs will not rest until they reach whatever is within. And Nirotia soon learns why. Buried beneath are the remains of some humanoid. From long ago, it would seem. Grim bites onto a femur and pulls it loose, Reaper delving for some morsel of his own, but recoils suddenly with a whimper. Grim drops his bone as they back away a few steps.

"Found something now, did you?" Nirotia will investigate the remains, pulling the femur off the corpse and throwing it to the dogs. "What have we here?"

Tolr'ax wrote:"Found something now, did you?" Nirotia will investigate the remains, pulling the femur off the corpse and throwing it to the dogs. "What have we here?"

A twisted mangle of bone and forgotten sinew, wrapped in a cloth that at one time might have been an expensive garment. Beneath is a book, in remarkably good condition, all things considered, and a curiously carved staff. Nirotia's heartbeat races as she draws nearer the staff.

She picks up the book first and studies it, then she cautiously takes the staff.

Tolr'ax wrote:She picks up the book first and studies it, then she cautiously takes the staff.

The book is a journal in a language Nirotia doesn't understand. But there's scribblings of Elvish in the margins and between lines. In time, she may be able to decipher it.

The staff on the other hand...

As soon as Nirotia's hand touches the haft, her skin freezes and her blood feels as if it's boiling inside her. She cannot breathe, she cannot let go; her knuckles turn white, her eyes blood red. It is over in just a few moments, but it feels as if days have passed. Light-headed and heart-racing, but Nirotia is otherwise apparently unharmed.

She sets her pack on the ground and sits lightly on it. Brearhing heavily. She looks to Grim and Reaper. "That was intense. What the hells is this staff?" She takes a moment to collect herself and straighten her clothing. She pulls out her spellbook and flips around in the pages. She reads by the moonlight and holds the staff in her roght hand and her spellbook in the left. She reads an incantation and casts Identity as a ritual (10 min)

Tolr'ax wrote:She sets her pack on the ground and sits lightly on it. Brearhing heavily. She looks to Grim and Reaper. "That was intense. What the hells is this staff?" She takes a moment to collect herself and straighten her clothing. She pulls out her spellbook and flips around in the pages. She reads by the moonlight and holds the staff in her roght hand and her spellbook in the left. She reads an incantation and casts Identity as a ritual (10 min)

This staff of impossibly dark wood pulses with what might be a life of its own. It will not easily reveal its secrets. It is known as the Staff of Sanguine, and it will grant power for blood. Nirotia just isn't exactly sure how.

Yet.

...

She will strap the Staff to her back and pet Grim as Reaper nuzzles her hand. "Come on boys. Mother got a new toy." She then tries to climb back up, the boys will do the same.

Tolr'ax wrote:She will strap the Staff to her back and pet Grim as Reaper  nuzzles her hand. "Come on boys. Mother got a new toy." She then tries to climb back up, the boys will do the same.

Above Nirotia, figures move in the darkness. Several of them. They appear to be coming down. They do not move like humanoids... not exactly, anyway.

She stops her attempt to climb, assuming she never actually got off the ground, and pulls out the new staff and readies chill touch.

Tolr'ax wrote:She stops her attempt to climb, assuming she never actually got off the ground, and pulls out the new staff and readies chill touch.

Three of the creatures reach Nirotia's level, and there are four more behind. They are close enough to identify as some sort of living-plant-based humanoid. Myconids, probably. The closest is 15 feet away.

She casts

Scorching Ray:

on the 3 on her level. She then retreats her full movement away from the area. Grim and Reaper will follow her without attacking.

Tolr'ax wrote:She casts

Scorching Ray:

on the 3 on her level. She then retreats her full movement away from the area. Grim and Reaper will follow her without attacking.

One creature collapses under the flames, and another shrieks and falls to its knees. The others share the shriek as spores release from their bodies in a thick cloud, partially obscuring them as they continue to approach. They are, however, tragically slow.

Nirotia is able to flee, with her Dogs, thirty feet down the ravine to the southwest. It's about 2 hours by foot back to her estates, should she continue at this pace and return to the roadside perhaps a hundred yards to the northwest.