#105 - Stalagmites and Stalactites

From the Analects of Simel, veteran of Karrnath 

Zarantyr 24th, 999 YK

This was no place to rest.

The burnt and blasted bodies of the gnolls, the undead orcs, the skeletal minotaur, and Halbazar lay, not where they had fallen, but where fire and ice had tossed them. The air thick with smoke and spent magics. We were, none of us, ready to face a new threat, but we had made too much noise and needed to make haste.

Cypher immediately began to recover Rungo from the ceiling where she had been stranded when Magnus's mace-powered ice storm had incapacitated her. Magnus, who seemed to have finally come to appreciate reach during battle, took the best gnoll bow he could find. I collected the salvageable arrows and stowed all I could carry in my pack. Wynn, who had been the target of a disproportionate amount of undead aggression, consumed healing potions and steeled herself for worse than what we had already seen.

During this process, a swarm of bats came screeching into the cave from one of the tunnels—the one in the direction of our primary foes—and seemed to divide in two. One group exited the tunnel toward an alleged chasm Talor had spoken of; the other exited in the direction we were going, toward the nagas. We didn't know what to think of this event.

Aww, c'mon.
This kobold surely wouldn't
hurt a fly,

We formed a single file and advanced down a rough stone passageway toward what we believed would be the prison of Arafin the Guardian Naga. Aleae and I led the column since we could see the best in the darkness, she with her eladrin eyes and me with my treasured night goggles. After a short march we came to a naturally-shaped cavern filled as far as we could see with stalagmites, scattered bones, and three natural wells. A particularly large stalagtite jutted from the ground at the opposite end elevated by a ramp, with two small humanoid bodies prone before it. The ground looked like it had once been filled with stalagmites but they'd been long cleared away.

Given a cave filled with the remains of the dead and our previous experience with deadly tentacled cave beasts that wore the shape of innocent cave features, none of us were ready to advance. I loosed two arrows at the large stalagmite formation to no effect. When I noticed that at least one of the small humanoids was still breathing, Aleae attempted to send a magical message of assistance in the Draconic tongue into its mind.  It took that opportunity to spring to its feet and dash up the ramp behind the giant stalagmite, revealing itself to be a kobold and very much alive and well.  Convinced that they intended to bait us in, I shot arrows at the second kobold and Aleae finished him with an icy blast.

"No, I'm totally a regular stalagmite."

If we were about to face a tribe of kobolds, I would give them something to think about. I altered the appearance, texture, and shape of my body, assuming a kobold-like form. While I could not reduce my stature to that of a true kobold, I would at least appear to them to be a giant of their kind. I should probably have informed my companions of my strategy as they are not yet used to my changes and were startled.

We were unwilling to test the dangers that awaited us in the cavern just yet. Magnus and Clarion both prepared magics of different sorts. I have never before seen the kind of ritual Magnus performed, but it seemed wise not to interrupt his meditation. After some ten minutes Magnus emerged from his inner world to tell us that he sensed that the chamber was filled with creatures shaped as stalactites—but not actual stalactites—and one large stalagmite beast hidden behind a bend in the wall. As one who can pretend to be what he is not, I could not fault them this strategy.

The suspicious formation at the end of the cavern was what it appeared—mere stone—but behind it was an exit tunnel. Much beyond that he couldn't ascertain as the natural stone of the tunnel gave way to crafted stonework which blocked his sight. I had only heard of earthly magics of this sort, but had been surprised to find my barbarous companion enact it himself.

With a clear picture of the dangers ahead sketched by Magnus and wary of the immobilizing tentacles we would surely face, Aleae volunteered to go first. With her ability to teleport short distances, an immobilizing tentacle would be less dangerous to her. She sprinted the length of the cave, dodging several stalactites that plunged from above and landing with organic thuds. The rest of us followed her path, avoiding being impaled by the the smaller cousins of the large stalagmite creature that came into view at last, tentacles whipping towards us. Aleae, Clarion, and Cypher were entwined by the sticky tendrils and held fast, then reeled in quickly after.

"Hi. I am, I believe, what the kids call a mofo."

I ran directly into the beast, smashing it with my shield. While my own strength would have been insufficient to the task, my shield's dwarven magic knocked the creature to the lip of one of the pits. I realized my mistake as my entwined comrades were dragged toward the pit with the toothy tentacled horror. If I had been more successful in my effort to push it fully into the pit, I am afraid my friends would have found out just how deep it was.

The creature's high pitched screeches didn't fit its rocky demeanor as its tentacles and body absorbed our blows. Seeing an opportunity, I stabbed at the beast's maw, but lost my footing. It clamped down, pulling my rapier from my hand. Switching to my bow I manage to plant an arrow deeply in its single livid eye.

"Okay, now this is a little awkward. No hard feelings?"

Cypher followed my arrow with a bolt from his armbow that discharged a dark energy into the creature, silencing it at last. The tentacles fell to the ground as the bulk of the creature sank into the pit. We were released, and quickly sprinted the remaining distance up the ramp and out of the cave. It took some effort to avoid the remaining the stalactite creatures above, which slowly shifted about in an effort to drop down directly above their prey. Those that had already hit the ground wriggled slowly, working their way back towards the wall, unable to attack again.

I would not leave without my rapier, so Cypher had Rungo retrieved it for me before we advanced up the continuation of the tunnel that had led us to this cavern.

After only a short distance the rough hewn tunnel smoothed before opening into a larger chamber of worked stone. Two more pits opened on either side of the walkway, while steps up to a door were flanked by a sort of raised balcony. Two more thresholds on either side of us led off into darkness.

I had hoped we would find a place to rest here, but before we could discuss our options a purple-black serpentine form slithered into view on one of the balconies above. This might have been one of the nagas we had encountered yesterday. If so, it had found time to rest as we had in Talor's chamber.

The naga looked disdainfully down upon us with its too-humanlike face. Then it spoke.