Move 343: Oh, There They AreTunnels--Early, Day 36 (Marpenoth 20)
After a brief pause to look around, the group decided to move forward. The tunnel, which felt more like a hall, narrowed slightly to a width of about fifteen feet, and after a couple of hundred feet, it opened into a cavern. There was a six foot high ledge, made of the same marble-like material as the floor and walls, skirting the edge of the cavern. On the ledge was a series of pillars, uniformly eight feet tall with the appearance of smooth, elegant, fluted stone vases.
As the first two people in the marching order cautiously stepped into the cavern, two of the pillars showed their true colors by shooting sticky strands at Aloysius and Blacky, ensnaring them both and dragging them forward slowly. Luckily, the other pillars that could be seen were less animated; they still appeared to be unusually shaped stone.
"Damn," Jana spat. "Remember the plan, she said as she pulled her sword. She ran up to Aloysius and started hacking at the strand(s) holding him, holding her sword with two hands for maximum power.
"The WHAT?" Arachne's voice said, immediately behind Jana. There was a pitter patter of little feet behind Jana as the mercenary ran forward. "Want me to remove anyone?" a panting voice close to the ground inquired.
"The plan," Jana groused, putting a grunt of frustration into her swing. "If I can't free Aloysius, then get Blacky," she said.
Echo started casting a spell.
Azrun seemed frozen in place as two of his friends were hauled off to be chewy Roper Snacks(tm).
Olaf leapt towards Blacky with his sword drawn and hacked at the sticky strand.
Jana and Olaf rushed forward to assist Aloysius and Blacky, respectively. Jana cleaved the strand holding Aloysius. Even though it was no longer attached to the unfriendly rock, it remained stuck to the mage. The section where Jana had sliced adhered to her sword. Olaf tried to cut Blacky free, but his sword failed to penetrate the thick sticky rope. Two more strands, one from each of the same two pillars, came shooting across the cavern, but both missed whoever their targets were.
Echo cast a spell, producing three magic missiles that injured the pillar that had produced the strand that held Aloysius. Renn unshouldered his long bow and fired at the other one, hitting it with an arrow.
Blacky slumped slightly under the weight of his armor and equipment as he was drug slowly across the floor.
"Arachne! Grab Blacky and take him back about 100 yards behind us. That should get him clear and give us enough space to fall back into. Jana, do we fall back when he's safe?" Azrun began casting a spell.
Olaf tried to sit on Blacky, adding his weight to that of the large fighter, hoping to slow the strand down, while continuing to hack at the strand ferociously.
"Crap," Jana groused, twisting her sword this way and that in an attempt to free it without touching the strand itself. "Aloysius, fall back. Once everyone's free, fall back and we'll hit 'em with arrows." She waited to see if Arachne was successful before speeding up her slow retreat, during which she stayed between Aloysius and the roper.
Aloysius fell back as directed.
Echo started casting again from her position near Renn.
"Can't ..." the gnome's voice announced, from somewhere in the cavern not very much in front of Azrun. "Got to get out of here ..."
Azrun's eyes grew large, "Arachne!!! Where are you?" Azrun dropped to a knee in front of him trying to find Arachne.
"I'm OK..." the voice said softly. "Just need to leave's all..."
Azrun reached for the voice in front of him, "C'mon. I'm getting you out of here."
Renn plucked another pair of arrows from his quiver and continued to aim for the roper which held Blacky.
Olaf tried to use his weight to keep Blacky from being pulled to the roper and simultaneously chop at the strand pulling him. He was still unable to cut the strand, and this time, another strand flew from the pillar, striking the priest, pulling him slightly away from Blacky and towards the roper itself. At the rate they were being pulled, it looked like the roper would pull them up to it very soon.
Jana positioned herself between the other roper and the retreating Aloysius, who suddenly looked a little tired. The roper shot a strand at Jana, but it missed again. After its unsuccessful attempt to snare another victim, it appeared to be inching forward slowly, attempting to come down off the small ledge is was resting on.
Echo and Renn provided missile fire, magical and mundane. Renn hit the roper that now had both Blacky and Olaf with an arrow, but Echo's magical missiles failed to do any additional damage to the other creature.
Azrun left off casting a spell and dropped to a kneeling position to paw around at the spot where he last heard Arachne's voice. From the looks of it, he did not immediately find her.
"Well, crap," Jana grumbled. She raised her strandless sword and ran to hack at the strand on whoever was closest, Blacky or Olaf. "Can your magical arrows hit the strands?" Jana called out.
"I am out of here --" Arachne's voice said behind him. She was sounding marginally more coherent... or less distracted... More together, maybe. "As out of here as I need to be, anyway. Something in that cavern does NOT agree with me. But I'm OK now. Please get back to doing something about Blacky or Olaf -- something NON-magical, if you're not sure what to try....Maybe I _should_ take a shot with my sling," the voice mused. "Then I might be able to get back into the cavern, albeit as a target. But Ido have other magical stuff..."
Aloysius stumbled back a short ways and then turned and began casting a spell in the direction of the roper that was reeling in Blacky and Olaf.
"I don't have another spell like that," Echo called back. She took out her crossbow and tried to get into position to fire it.
Renn loosed another pair of arrows at the roper which had Blacky and Olaf in it's grip.
Azrun stood and pulled his bow loose, "Sorry Arachne, I was just worried about you...I'll get to the ropers now." With that he nocked an arrow and let it fly toward the Roper that had Olaf and Blacky. As soon as it was on the way toward his target, he nocked and let loose with another.
"Help Blacky!' Olaf shouted. "I'm still fighting!" Olaf yanked both flasks of lamp oil out of his back, one at a time whileletting the creature pull him towards it. He pulled off the stopper of each with his teeth and hurled it at the roper. "Someone find a way to light that!" he shouted.
Jana directed her attacks on the strand holding Blacky.
Blacky pulled a hand ax from his belt and weakly hacked at the strand pulling him.
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