Move 288: Grell Hell
Grell Nest--Early, Day 26 (Marpenoth 11)Aloysius cast a spell and the cloud in front of the group dissipated. Renn took the opportunity to heal Azrun up some.
In the cavern, Blacky was being attacked by a grell near the western wall close to the mouth of the tunnel. Echo was unconscious beside him. Two battered grells lay on the cavern floor, and hail stones were strewn about on the rock. In the southern part of the cave, an injured grell and an uninjured grell hovered near a huge mass of tentacled flesh, thirty feet in diameter, sat atop a columnar pillar of rock. Treasure was scattered around the base of the pillar, many coins, jewels, and other things not identifiable at first glance. In the northeast corner of the cavern, three smaller grells clustered together near the ceiling."No!" Jana screamed. Her sword out and ready, she rushed forward as quickly as the footing would allow toward Blacky and Echo.
Azrun looked to Aloysius, "Thank goodness you had that dispel handy, Aloysius. I'll take the wounded grell and you take the unwounded one, then we'll tag team the big nasty one. How about it?"
Azrun began casting a spell then pointed at the wounded grell.
Aloysius gasped as he saw what was going on in the chamber. He stepped to the side of the tunnel to let anyone by who needed by as he began casting a spell.
Olaf pulled his floating sword under his left arm with his stump and moved forward to the entrance of the cavern. Seeing the seen inside he hurled his small ball of flame at the huge mass of tentacled flesh.
Blacky continued to swing at the grell in front of him. "Arachne, can you get Echo out of here and heal her?! They move their tentacles when they cast, maybe a Web on the big sucker?" Blacky yelled to the group as he tried to take down the monster trying to kill him and Echo.
The group moved into the cavern and swung into action. Aloysius cast a spell on himself, disappearing from sight. Azrun hit the injured grell near the pillar with magic missiles, hurting it considerably. The grell that Azrun countered with a magic missile spell of his own, hitting him with three missiles. Olaf threw a ball of flame at the giant grell on the pillar, but it missed. Blacky and Jana made short work of the grell that was physically attacking. Those with the opportunity to look saw some of Echo's wounds being bandaged by someone unseen.
The giant grell on the pillar waved its tentacles for a few moments, although the noises it made were not necessarily what one might typically associate with spellcasting. Azrun's and Olaf's movements suddenly slowed, almost like they were moving underwater. Blacky and Jana seemed unaffected, however, and there was no way to tell what happened to the invisible people.
The uninjured grell flew toward the group. The badly injured one flew in a slightly northeasterly direction in the cavern.
"They're targeting the spellcasters first! Aloysius, that wand is over here if you want to blast something!" Blacky yelled out and prepared to meet the incoming grell.
"Azrun, Olaf, down!" Jana yelled as she moved forward to engage the uninjured grell.
Olaf continued trying to throw fire at the huge creature, though at a reduced rate.
"Echo will be okay, if she isn't further involved in the fight," Renn said, his voice coming from Echo's side. "I'm going to get her out of harms way," he continued, as the unconscious woman came up off of the floor and moved out the cave entrance the group just ran through a few moments ago.
From within the cavern, Arachne's voice yelled (or what passed for yelling from her),"Something's coming, more than just a grell."
Azrun again began to cast a spell and pointed once more at the grell he had before.
Jana and Blacky prepared to intercept the incoming grell. Azrun began casting a spell. Olaf threw another ball of fire, this time in slow motion. The ball of fire almost seemed deflected by something in front of the grell. The small fireball landed among the scattered coins and baubles at the base of the pillar, causing something down there to burst with a loud pop. The giant grell started waving its tentacles in casting motions again.
The grell flying in attacked Jana, hitting her with a few tentacles. She cut into him with her sword in return. Two more grell appeared, their invisibility spells broken by attacks on Azrun and Blacky. Thanks to Arachne's early warning, no one was really surprised when they became visible. Azrun's concentration was broken as the grell pummeled him, and his spell was lost. When the grell was finished with him, he was in bad shape and paralyzed again. The grell on Blacky, while not paralyzing him, left him looking even worse than Azrun. It was amazing that he still stood after taking the beating from the grell's tentacles following the early injuries he had taken from spells. He looked like a strong breeze, or even a light one, might knock him over. He just managed to summon the power to chop the grell with his axe.
The grell that had been flying northeast away from the group stopped opposite the tunnel they had entered through and began waving its tentacles and chirping. Echo's unconscious body seemed to float through the air towards the tunnel in question. As she, and invisible Renn with her, entered it, it filled up with thick strands of webbing. With what one would presume was some timely backpedaling by Renn, she did not get caught in it.
The grell that had cast the webs now flew back in the direction of the group, seeming to decide it was time to engage in melee in spite of its badly wounded state. The large grell on the pillar continued casting.
Jana hacked twice at the grell attacking her. "Arachne, can you get us outta here? Aloysius, get the wand and do something!" If Jana was able to dispatch her grell, she moved to the one on Blacky.
"Yes," Arachne's voice said.
Olaf chanted and walked over beside Azrun. The small balls of flame disappeared.
Blacky held his axe between him and the grell, looking surprised that he didn't have the strength to swing it anymore. "A little help here, Renn." He managed to croak out as he wobble backward on his feet.
Jana hacked at the grell on her, taking it down with a couple of sword swings. She moved to help Blacky, but she, and Renn moving in that direction too, was too late to keep him from getting hit by the grell on him again and toppling to the floor. The grell swung at Jana with a few tentacles, smacking her a couple of times. The grell that had cast the web spell moved in to join the fray, heading in Jana and Blacky's direction. Instead of attacking Jana, it began swinging at a seemingly empty space and, judging from the noises its tentacles made, hitting Renn.
Olaf made his way slowly over to Azrun, arriving just in time to get pummeled by the grell that had paralyzed the bard. He amazingly avoided being paralyzed himself and cast a prayer that granted Azrun freedom of movement again and released both of them from the slowing effects.
Aloysius re-appeared in the area very close to where Renn had put Echo, near
the tunnel mouth. As the giant grell completed its spell, the floor of the cavern in the area where most of the fighting was occurring began to crack open in places. From the cracks, numerous thick black tentacles grew. They began writhing around as they sprang from the rock.No glowing doorway appeared.
"Shigand's bones!" exclaimed Aloysius. He snatched the wand from Echo's hand and moved to direct it towards the giant grell on the pillar.
A groan escaped Renn's lips in the flailing about Grell's area. He began to chant.
Azrun's face reddend with anger as he dropped back out of the grell's range and began casting a spell.
"Now would be a good time, Arachne," Jana called out. "Can anyone make these tentacle things go away?" Jana moved in the direction of the grell attacking Invisi-Renn.
Olaf chanted while facing the grell.
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