Move 306: Fighting the Big Ugly
Grell Nest--Early, Day 29 (Marpenoth 14)Jana moved Echo, trying to get her to a point of relative safety. The multiple Aloysiuses moved up behind Azrun and peered into the cavern, seeing the situation for the first time. He cast a spell at the hostile monster in there, hitting it with three magic missiles. Azrun dropped his bow and, still blocking the door, cast an identical spell, although he produced four magical missiles.
Blacky suddenly disappeared from the tentacle that was holding him, and some of the light that was in the cavern went with him. Olaf and Renn both attacked with their swords. Olaf was successful in hitting the blob; Renn was not. The monster continued to attack the two priests. One of the mouths biting Renn had released and tried to chomp down again, but it missed. The second bit in harder on the priest's shoulder, and the tentacle smacked him again. Olaf got bit and slapped again as well. The tentacle that had been constricting Blacky did not attack. The one that now had a very large axe in its grip chopped at Olaf with it, but he managed to deflect the blow, barely, with his newly acquired magical shield.
With Echo now near the wall, Jana moved in on the creature as well.
"I think we need to fall back," Jana said. She remained with those on the front line.
The Aloysiuses began casting another spell.
Azrun stepped to the side so as not to block the entrance and then cast another spell.
Renn responded with a quick nod and a "I hear yah" through clenched teeth as he backed towards the doorway, his shield held ready and his longsword set to strike at the tentacles.
Olaf nodded as well, "I'll cover you!"
He placed himself between the beast and the others and used sword and shield to block any attacks sent his way.
A decision was made to make a cautious retreat; the people getting smacked by tentacles tried back away from the bloated monstrosity. Azrun stepped into the cavern, standing near the opposite wall from where Jana had put Echo. He cast another spell at the creature, hitting it with four missiles again. Instead of attacking with its tentacles again, the thing began waving them again in a casting rhythm, but Aloysius' magic missile spell interrupted it. Olaf and Renn were able to back away from the creature, but it began using pseudopodia to propel itself across the floor after them.
"Let's back up to the cavern we rested in," Jana suggested. "If it follows, maybe the bodies will distract it."
"Indeed," agreed the Aloysiuses. "Let us move back and see if it follows."
The mage images starting moving back down the passage, but looked to be sure that everyone else was clear of the nasty.
"If we can get some distance between it and us, I can try to dispell the paralysis which holds Blacky and Echo," Renn said as he continued backing away from the creature.
Aloysius and his copies backed away from the door and headed down the passage. Renn made it to the doorway, out of the approaching creature's tentacles reach. No one else was quite so lucky because the monster got them back within tentacle reach. A long tentacle reached out and entwined the paralyzed Echo now that giving chase had brought it close enough to the wall to reach her. Another tentacle entangled Azrun, who stood on the opposite side of the entrance from Echo. Jana got hit by a tentacle and bitten by one of the thing's slobbering mouths. She got in a hit with her sword on one of the non-mouthed one, nearly severing it. The other two mouths both bit chunks out of Olaf, leaving the old priest looking none too healthy. He tried and failed to deflect one of the bites with a parry from his sword.
Azrun closed his eyes and tried to calm himself, then began to try to cast a spell.
Olaf continued backing up while chanting silently to himself.
Jana retreated back to Echo and started hacking at the tentacles holding her.
From just outside the doorway, Renn began to chant again.
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