Malivoire was staring at Barnabus, wondering if the priest had finally lost his mind, when the catacombs began to shake violently.  The elven mage stumbled slightly and reached out to brace himself against the wall, and let out a breath once the tremor subsided.  But then Barnabus spoke again to the unseen, this time in compliance.

"Was..was that earth tremor a warning from the heavens?" he asked incredulously.  For all their divine powers, Malivoire still considered priests to be peripheral to a god's consciousness at best, and many times not even that recognized.  Perhaps he had been mistaken, or at least in the case of Barnabus.

The ebony coffer feels quite heavy when eased out of the alcove where it had been placed.

As the company members step out of the crypt back into the dusty corridor, they are confronted with an odd sight to the west.

Roughly sixty feet down the passageway, it appears that bones and fragments of stone, along with a pair of swords and a few pieces of armor are somehow floating, most of the objects five or six feet off of the ground. The air around them seems somewhat opaque, blurring any details of the corridor further west.

Seemingly of their own volition, the collection of items moves closer, and the adventurers can see that the items are not floating at all, but rather suspended within a large, gelatinous mass, the substance that makes it up being primarily clear, with the merest tint of green in its composition.

As best any can tell, the mass is square in shape and fills the passage completely, touching both floor and ceiling and the walls on either side. Although none of the adventurers see anything resembling eyes, or any other sensory organs on the gelatinous creature, it appears to perceive the company’s presence, the pace of its movement suddenly increasing.

OOC: If anyone plans on attacking the oncoming mass, I will need to make an initiative roll for both sides. Otherwise, the party can pursue whatever immediate course of action they deem wise.

 Oh, no...  Barnabus has lost it!  Dilemma watches the priest, hiding her unease.  While she was a flamboyantly dressed sort who enjoyed chatting with an enchanted house cat who hangs out in her backpack and came to her following a few hours over a braizer full of sheep's fat and herbs, at least Charley talked to her!

 The critter pokes his head out of her bag at the tremor.  Seeing that there is nothing too noteworthy going on, he returns to his resting place.  On top of Dilemma's rations.

 Seeing a giant... wad heading the group's way, Dilemma utters an curse unbecoming of a lawful person before retrieving her remaining flask.

With the route back to the tomb with the naked skeleton blocked (#27), Barnabus ducks back inside the just-exited tomb (#30), ready to strike the gelatinous janitor should it reach that threshold.

Yes, we will need that init roll.
If we win, I suppose we'll lead with sleep. If that works, we'll dispatch it.
If not, we'll light up the floor in front of the door, and attack the cube when it arrives.

If we lose, the same, I guess.

As for the mechanics, I suppose Ishmael could empty the flask of oil and Lampert could light it and then jump back.

Assuming, bless is on its last legs but still on them.

14:27, Today: Labyrinth Lord rolled 4 using 1d6+1.  Initiative - Party.

14:27, Today: Labyrinth Lord rolled 5 using 1d6.  Initiative - Gelatinous Cube.

The cube wins initiative.

The strange, transparent mass continues to surge forward, pressing toward the gathered adventurers.

OOC: The cube can only move this turn, so it is now within forty feet of the adventurers’ position.

It is the party’s turn to act.


The Bless spell remains in effect, but is unfortunately counteracted by the effects of a Curse that the adventurers currently find themselves under. The two workings effectively cancel one another out.

Dax quickly works to remove his shield and slides it into the last room explored. He then sends some arrows toward the cube.

"Get your oil onto the floor quickly! Or throw it at the...whatever that is!"

---

Dax Moonblade rolled 14, hitting AC 4, for 5 Damage.
Dax Moonblade rolled 17, hitting AC 1, for 8 Damage.

I think it is only one arrow per round in LL, but I rolled for two rounds, in case there is time.

Yawning significantly at Dilemma, Barnabus charges the comatose cube and lands a crushing blow with his cudgel.

Timed to occur after Dilemma casts sleep.
B. hits for 9 dmg.
08:45, Today: Barnabus rolled 8 using 1d6+4.  Cudgel damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:27, Mon 07 Nov 2022.

Caine started as Barnabus appeared to be speaking to an invisible listener, then as he left Caine realized what had happened. Shaking his head, he considered them lucky the spirit of the priestess, or whatever entity Barnabus spoke to, had not materialized from the ether like the apparition earlier and attacked them for the theft of the priestesses robes.

He raised a hand to a wall to steady himself as a tremor shook the catacombs, and Caine gazed at the others in alarm. "What was that?" he asked out loud, wondering if it was a curse from the priestess, intent on burying them alive. Thankfully it ended quickly, but as they exited the chamber they were faced by another problem...

"Fall back lest it suck you inside!" Caine called out to the others as the gelatinous mass advanced. Taking his own advice he moved back a few paces, aiming to take a shot with his crossbow as he did so. The sound of chanting caused him to pause, and he noted Dilemma calling upon her magic, and suddenly the gelatinous appeared to slow, stop and then become quiet.

"Good work," he murmured to the mage with a half smile, squeezing the trigger and sending a bolt into the middle of the mass.

---

ooc: 04 on Attack w. crossbow. 09 on Damage (auto hit due to sleep on jelly) Caine will also move a few feet back from the advancing cube, behind Dax but remaining in front of Dilemma and Malivoire
This message was last edited by the player at 16:24, Mon 07 Nov 2022.

Cursing the party's bad fortune, Ishmael tosses his only flask of oil, aiming to smash it low on the southern wall a few paces ahead of the creature.  He then turns his attention to opening the door leading to the Breldiln crypt.  If he is to die, he'd prefer it near his kin.

Malivoire checked his pack twice and was frustrated to discover he had no oil left, not even a pint hiding in the bottom corner under his frayed apprentice robes.  He briefly considered tossing a dart at the thing, but worried he'd be throwing the weapon away for good.  So all he ended up doing was standing ready, in case something in their plan went horribly awry and he had the means to help at that point.

 "Pray to your gods that this works."  Dilemma, handing her oil to Lampert or whomever wants it, begins instead to cast a spell...

 "May I have the powers I desire..." She begins the finger-waggling and gesticulations common to spell-users casting spells...

Casting sleep on the gelatinous cube.
13:12, Today: Dilemma rolled 5 using 2d8 ((3,2)).
Hit Dice affected.  I was one in excess!

 "...to bring upon them their slumber."  With a strong gesture at the gelatinous cube, Dilemma finishes her spellcraft.

Rushing forward alongside Barnabus, Ynes raises her axe above her head, bringing it down on the body of the transparent mass with tremendous force.

18:52, Today: Ynes rolled 10 using 1d8+2.  Damage - Battle Axe.

Lampert obediently takes hold of Dilemma’s remaining flask of oil as she begins to work her spell. As she weaves unseen symbols in the air, a faint blue haze briefly manifests within the shadowed corridor.

Although the gelatinous mass has no features to show that it has fallen prey to the mystical slumber, its forward motion slows, then halts. The top portion of the cube sags, pulling away from the ceiling of the passageway. Moments pass, but the odd creature moves no further, convincing the members of the company that it has indeed succumbed to sleep.

As a flurry of attacks against the creature ensue, Ishmael pushes open the door to the dwarven crypt at the eastern end of the hallway. The chamber beyond the doors is roughly thirty by thirty feet in size, the walls adorned with murals depicting a group of dwarven warriors’ heroic stand against an onslaught of lizard men. Four sarcophagi, each built from dark stone, are evenly spaced from one another in the room. None appear to have been disturbed. On the northern wall, there is a single stone door, which is closed.

As Ishmael takes in the sights of the crypt, even above the noise of battle behind him, he hears the distinct sound of a hammer striking metal. It repeats twice, ringing though the gloomy chamber, then is subsumed by silence.

Outside, the adventurers’ blows and missiles strike unerringly. For an instant, the cube seems to find consciousness once more, pulling up to its full height again as the last of the weapons strike it. Absorbing the blows, the translucent mass begins to shake violently, its sides visibly swelling as they become increasingly convex. Then…

…it pops.

A stream of green tinted goo sprays in both directions down the corridor, coating all of the adventurers save for Ishmael, who is sheltered by his kinsmen’s crypt. Apparently, any corrosive properties the gel possessed dissipated with the weird creature’s death, though a sharp, acrid scent overtakes the passageway, becoming briefly overpowering.

OOC: Combat over.

 To no one in particular, Dilemma says, "I didn't think that'd work."  A paw can be seen smacking her in the back of the head before retreating inside of her backpack.

"Do gelatinous cubes dream of electric corridors?" muses Barnabas as the custodian succumbs to Dilemma's sorcery.

Winsomely, the priest avers to Dilemma that "you don't know your own strength; none of us do. We must act as if it there, in great reservoirs, waiting to be discovered."

Then, ever the opportunist, he scrapes up enough green gel to fill one of his specimen jars for presentation to their patron. Surely, his eyes would light up at such an offering.

Though sorely tempted to investigate the four sarcophagi, he knows they must first run the robe back to the immodestly exposed skeleton.

Assuming the cube left nothing behind.
To 27 to return the robe and then to Ishmael's tomb.

Once there, the priest considers their next move.

"I think we should check out the chamber beyond this one before we take a peek into those sarcophagi."

How large are they? What is the metal?

Returning to the priestess’ tomb, the adventurers encounter no danger along the way, though they do leave a discernible trail of translucent goo within the corridors they travel. The crypt itself is quiet and the gown is returned to its owner without incident, though several of the adventurers notice the presence of a sizable webbed cocoon on the chamber’s ceiling as they move to depart.

Making their way back to the crypt where the dwarves of the Breldiln Clan rest, the adventurers observe that each of the sarcophagi appear to have been artfully crafted from solid obsidian. Standing roughly three feet high, the sarcophagi are unsurprisingly smaller in length than those in which humans or elves are interred, the lid of each one carved with a likeness of the warrior who rests within it, three males and one female. The same runic inscription is chiseled onto each lid. [Language unknown: ”Tin ni wa pralpa actooupema, o mincnc ortruthat e on Andreaentnot Dihis, anpraste i ove Ro Hatratdintha. M ekhe ieweiv sialha ith.”] As best any of the company members can tell, each sarcophagus is sealed.

The crypt remains quiet. The adventurers hear no noises in the vicinity. Lampert, his stomach apparently upset over the explosion of gelatinous matter, holds the lantern with an unsteady hand, his face unusually pale.

 "Hey, are you alright?" Dilemma turns to the sicklier Lampert.

Barnabus turns companionably to Ishmael, "What do those inscriptions say?"

He then mentally reviews his knowledge of the burial customs of dwarven clans, specifically with respect to any curses for those who might take it upon themselves to do some redecorating.

Door routine for the northern exit. Let's get some space to breathe should we look beyond the obsidian.

”I’m…I’m well, ma’am. Nothing to concern yourself with,” Lampert stammers, managing a smile that appears more strained than sincere.

A moment later, the lantern bearer bolts out of the crypt into the hallway the party entered from, where he can be heard vomiting violently.

Lampert’s abrupt departure deprives Barnabus and Ynes of the light they need to see, but it presents no obstacle to Ishmael inspecting the door at the north end of the crypt. It only requires a few moments for the dwarf to determine that the portal is not trapped in any fashion, and that it is unlocked.

Pushing the door open, the adventurers can see that it leads into a corridor which travels fifty feet northward before turning to the east. No doors are visible anywhere within the passageway.

Halfway down the hallway, within an iron sconce mounted on the western wall, a lone torch burns brightly.

 Dilemma sighs.  "Well, if anybody's got some oil, I've got a lantern."  She taps the lantern that has been hanging from a leather strap on her bag, and smacking her every once in a while against her hip.  "But, umm... would you like me to check on him...?"

While Barnabus restored the decorum of the Green Man's devotee, Malivoire kept a watchful eye on the webbed cocoon.  That surely had not been there before, and all the mage could think of was another eight-legged monstrosity crawling out to attack the party again.  He hustled nervously back out into the corridor as soon as it was practical, glad to be away from the crypt.

The dwarven sarcophagi were another matter entirely, and Malivoire studied the carvings closely while Ishmael proceeded through his typically careful routine at the door.  It was a shame that for all the languages he knew, the dwarven tongue was not among them, meaning the inscriptions were nothing more than a jumble of carved lines to his eyes.  Hopefully Ishamel would have time to read and translate them, for understanding if nothing else.

The Lampert and the light fled, and Dilemma made her offer of another lantern.  "I think we're about out of oil," Malivoire replied, reminded again how he hadn't thought to bring any, "but you are right to worry about our linkboy.  Why don't we both go retrieve him?"  He gestured toward the hallway, intending to walk alongside Dilemma and go see if Lampert was simply overcome by the horrors of the catacombs or whether the goop from the translucent cube was having some ill effect.

 "Charley, do me a favor and watch our backs." Her special dagger a-draw, Dilemma makes her way with Malivoire to look for Lampert.  Charley's head pops out of a flap in Dilemma's backpack, where he keeps watch for anything coming from behind.

 Dilemma begins speaking in Elvish to her companion.

 [Language unknown: "Prwemi tho p manrutore omsi meweun n n noti."] Dilemma lets out a "harrumph".  [Language unknown: "Tonot homoas no tailof... on ainverrut ncro staineted es eich."]

 Well, her pronunciation is good... but her dictation is poor.  Dialect is unplaceable!

As Barnabus does his best to replace the robe on the skeletal remains of the priestess Dax looks at the webbed cocoon with Malivoire.

When the wizard advised that it likely held a spider egg, the ranger was fine to leave it be, as long as the door was closed behind them!

Returning to the dwarven tomb, the ranger watches patiently while Ishmael examines the door facing north. "What the...!" Dax exclaims as the light in the room abruptly disappears. Whirling about, he sees Lampert dash from room and Dilemma and Malivoire follow.

"Not a good idea to get separated down here!" Dax mutters as he moves the corridor and tries to keep an eye on those that left.

ooc: sorry for the delay, kids came over for dinner tonight

ooc: Ishmael has a torch as well.

"It says ta leave them alone."  The dwarf says, his voice a bit reverent.  "That be, Gremmar Breldiln, Ragkam Breldiln, Hurdan Breldiln, and Brulmora Breldiln" he adds pointing to each in turn.  He then returns to his place in the rear.