Rayne was suprised bt the sudden departure of Ulthok, Maggot, and Sirene. Such precipitous actions of those three had been what surprised her and did not bode well for reaching their final goal intact. Such a division would make two weaker halves/ before she coulf offer her. However before she could ask them to reconsider their plans then took of done the path/ She turned to look at what the others were doing,

All the rest of the party remained. She looked over the edge to watch their progress as they descender. All seemed well until they trio teacher to the edge of that unnatural foliage.

Then the screams began.

Kenji and Conall raced down to assist the strcoicken companions. Rayne regretted the actions they took. However, She would not ever bring it up. It was time to act, not if they wanted to be strong enough to achieve their goal. With an arrow notched she moved with such speed as was prudent.

And here I thought I was being reasonable. Allow the spellcasters to prepare for the situation instead of relying solely on brute force.
The paladin stands once again.

Perhaps this will teach them to act before thinking.
"I had thought we had finished this whole discussion of leadership and division int he party. I suppose this proves I was incorrect. Cor, I will stand with you unless we are needed. It wouldn't do for something to catch us from behind and you be the only one defending our backs."

(OOC: By the way, "little one" has been used as a term of affection not descrimination up until now...)

"Call if you need assistance when ya gt there lad! I will stand guard and ensure no wee beasties come from behind." Cor yelled after the Samurai. Kenji heard the Dwarf yell to him as he rushed down the path, he didn’t bother to reply as he was concentrating on moving as fast as he could and not plunging to his death.

He would have agreed with Cor about it not being prudent to rush down without knowing the situation if he could have read the man’s mind, but he was Samurai and he didn’t abandon companions in danger even when their reckless actions had brought those dangers upon themselves. Yet they were in trouble and he would be there to save them or die trying. It was his way. The only Honorable way!

Cor turned, "Finished the discussion on who was in charge yes; agree on who it was no. Now you know how it felt when I was trying to herd this bunch of cats in one direction. Let's just hope it doesn't get someone killed."

With Sirene’s scream and the attack of the plants a number of party members jumped into action. The first of these to act of course were the two closet to the scene of the attack, Ulthok and Maggot.

Shouting “Burn you” the Halfling Mage/Thief thrust his hands forward and released the spell of burning hands straight into the foliage before him. Though some of the plants started to slowly burn, others flared to life creating an explosion of heat that back lashed into the Halfling throwing him back into the cavern’s wall.

With Maggot’s spell of Burning Hands joining Ulthok’s the sea of jungle before them became a sea of flames, the smoke from the burning plants became quickly thick and highly caustic. So caustic in fact that Maggot and Ulthok, and with his fast arrival thanks to his slippers of speed, Kenji, began to feel their skin burn as if bathed in acid. The acidic smoke easily causing both physical and property damage to the three party members.

Back upon the ledge a few actions took place first Conall hearing a female scream rushed to the ledges edge and switched his sight to infravision, thanks to his Ioun stone, and searched for Ulthok and Maggot. Seeing Sirene flying through the air he tried to watch where she landed but was unable to do so, the thickness of the jungle below denying him. Knowing he was doing no good there he at once turned and started to make his way down the winding pathway to the ground and was witness to the unleashing of fire from both Thief/Mage and Ranger/Bard and its results as the billowing acidic smoke engulfed the other three members.

With the power of the holy sword in his hand his to use, he attempted to Detect Evil but detected none so much as a need by the plants to feed. However with the casting of the two spells of burning that sense of need became a sense of death as the plants died.

Rayne hearing Sirene’s scream had also decided to follow the five to the ground below and she as had Conall before her saw the fire, the explosion, and the cloud of smoke. Her bow gripped in hand she had the choice to continue down hoping to make up quickly the ten minutes needed to join the others, or to hold her ground and cover a possible retreat.

With the rest of the party unsure of what to do next, Haila looking to Alasdair and Cor to act, Cynil thinking of the best form to take, once again it was Althena who brought it all to the forefront.

“Are you really going to stand there and possibly let them die!!? They are our friends!” With that, the lady all in this party had given their oath to protect, begin to make her way to the ground below.


(DM OOC: OK sorry for the day late post but I have been trying to get in touch with Brianna as to a new player for Cynil and have not heard from her as yet. In addition, some family matters and a funeral also caused me into having to delay this week’s post.
Ok Maggot, Ulthok and Kenji though you made your saves for both physical damage and items you have all still taken damage to HP’s. Check the Character thread as to amounts.
Soo there you have it for this week, next post next Sunday. Enjoy.)

Kenji, using his sandals of speed, had reached the bottom in short order, and unfortunately arrived in time to get hit by the blast of backlash from the fire blasts from both Ulthok and Maggot. The acidic smoke had rolled back and slammed into him as he arrived. Choking back the smoke that rolled around them he stopped and looked around and saw no sign of the woman.

“Where is Lady Sirene?” He yelled at the other two looking around for an opponent to fight.

If he had known that she had been taken by the plants and saw where she had been flung he would have rushed headlong into the flaming plants hacking his way through, but he hadn’t seen it so he waited and looked about for an adversary to fight.

" The Lady Sirene was thrown by the plants deeper into the forest," said Conall as he moved closer to the charred plants. "These plants are carnivorous and hungry. I do not know if we could hack our way through. The fire is burning in the direction of the Lady Sirene, could we follow it towards her and then extinguish the part of the fire closest to her?"

Conall is somewhat at a loss. He saw the direction she flew, but not where she landed.

Cor saw Althena start down the path. "Las, ya canna go down there right now. There is naught ya can do for them and with the goal in sight I canna take chances with your life. Of all of us only your life is not expendible." Cor moved to block her path.

A wave of satisfaction wash over Ulthok as the plants started burning from the flames that shot from the Bards and his hands. Suddenly a flame and acid smoke back draft crashed back over the Halfling. The virtuosity of the blast flung him painfully tumbling back against the cavern wall. Landing with a thud the thief lay motionless. He felt the sting on his face and arms from the acid smoke, his ears rung and his head throbbed. Slowly he opened his eyes as he raised up to a sitting position. Staring across the walkway he saw Maggot and Kenji standing a few feet away, both singed and with small tendrils of smoke rising from spots on their clothes. Ulthok let out an uproarious laugh.

“Well Uncle Trapspringer would be proud of that one. Well met there Bard, that went perfectly to plan! Now that we’ve opened the path to Sirene we need to go to her. Draw your swords and I’ll be right behind you.”

(OOC: Ok, I've edited it,you're not swatting anymore.
:HUH

Having been pointed in the right direction by Conall, Kenji wasted no time, the burning plants raged before him but he wasted no time; he shrugged off his backpack and let it thump to the ground. Drawing his two swords, Katana in the left and Wakizashi in his left he charged into the fray hacking left and right. He used his speed once more, and along with his ring of free action hoping it would keep him from becoming tangled in any of the plants and vines to bring him down in the burning mess. He hoped his speed and agility would save him as he weaved his blades before him furiously hacking anything in front of him.

Charging into the plants he moved quickly and called out ahead of him as loudly as he could, “LADY SIRENE!” He vowed that he would find her and if anything here had harmed her it would pay dearly with its life. He just hoped the raging fires were dying down and that none of them had reached to her.

(For the record, Kenji was not swatting at his clothing )

Sirene had been the first to support Ulthok’s idea of continuing, it seemed logical not to waste time, not with their goal in sight. Maggot was a beat behind her in voicing his agreement in accompanying Ulthok and Sirene to the edge of the forest for a closer look.

The scouting party consisted of Ulthok and Maggot walking side by side towards the edge of the forest and was only a step behind the others in the scouting party. Sirene kept her eyes glancing beside her, in front of her and occasionally behind her. While her gaze was back towards the other members of the party who stayed behind, she suddenly noticed Ulthok and Maggot move rapidly out of the way from the corner of her eyes, but by the time she realized what happened the plants had already caught her in their vines. The Enchantress was picked up and tossed over her companions head releasing a loud scream which faded into silence as she became disoriented.

The vines were powerful, and threw her quite a ways from her companions. From what the enchantress could tell, the whistle from the wind caused by the throw forced her to lose concentration on the battle and focus on trying to receive the least amount of damage upon landing. Sirene tried to orient herself to accept the shock of the impact and prevent her muscles from tensing up, which would cause a greater deal of pain. The shock of the impact was not as great as she anticipated it would be, and was quick to gain her senses after landing.

The air smelt of burnt leaves mixed with the nauseating odour of seared flesh; however it quickly changed to the unpleasant smell of acid smoke. A small smile had found her lips when she caught the scent of the burnt leaves, but turned to fear upon smelling the burnt flesh. The smell of acid smoke, helped her return to her present predicament; how to survive surrounded by carnivorous plants, and being smoked out. The heat of the fire was causing the elf to sweat, her fair features dampening, and her attire starting to moisten, Sirene quickly formed a plan together. Thrusting her hands in front of her she called upon the arcane powers within her and used her spell CREATE WATER, aiming it at the base of the fire to open a path towards her companions.

The Enchantress heard the worry-filled voice of Kenji calling her name in the distance “LADY SIRENE!” She drew in a slow breath steadying her heart rate as she replied “STAY BACK, I WILL TRY TO MORPH INTO A GROUNDHOG AND USE THE UNDERGROUND TO GET TO YOU GUYS! GET AWAY FROM THE FIRE AS FAR BACK AS YOU CAN TO KEEP FROM THE FUMES” Despite precautions, she could not help but to start a coughing fit after yelling out, not having realized how dry her throat had been before calling out to her friend. The indigo cloak tightly wrapped around her, she raised the hood to help keep the heat from her face. Remembering where she heard Kenji`s voice she used her spell to morph into a groundhog so she could dig underground. By logic that heat rises, and that unless possessed the toxic air would not follow her into the underground start digging a burrow under the ground heading in the direction that she heard Kenji`s voice.

(if spell is successful)Sirene`s size reduced greatly to being 1/5th of her normal size and now found herself covered in brown hair and short stubby legs. The Enchantress dug as quickly as she could making a tunnel towards the rest of the party. She hoped to follow the virbations of their footsteps as they retreated further into safety.

"Cor is right my love. Stay here with him. I will go down and offer what aid I can."

With that he heads off down the slope towards those who refused to listen to reason and went off ahead without first considering the situation, initializing his Inertial Barrier as he moved.

Upon reaching the bottom he quickly assessed the situation. Seeing Sirene a short distance into the forest with living vines burning and thrashing all around did little to set him at ease.

He quickly steps between the vines and his friends, slashing them down as they flail about with harmful intent, aiming for both him and those he swore to protect.

He glances back to make sure the halfling is alright and then shouts over the noise of the flame: "On you feet!" He guards his friends as best he is able, slicing with his blade and batting at the vines with his shield.

(OOC: If Sirene's attempt to polymorph is unsuccessful I will be casting resist fire, warning my companions of my plan and try to make my way to her.)

To Ulthok’s surprise he saw Kenji actually draw his sword and with a flourish prepared to charge into the flame and smoke. The Samurai seemed to miss his joke. As he approached the jungle’s edge Kenji called “LADY SIRENE!”.

From behind the spreading crackling flame and ominous billowing smoke Sirene shouted back “STAY BACK, I WILL TRY TO MORPH INTO A GROUNDHOG AND USE THE UNDERGROUND TO GET TO YOU GUYS! GET AWAY FROM THE FIRE AS FAR BACK AS YOU CAN TO KEEP FROM THE FUMES” .

Then Alasdair in his heroic zeal rushed past them head long into the acid smoke. As he plunged into the fry hacking at the now dying vines Ulthok jumped up shouting to him, “Whoa there big fella, don’t go adding to mess that has already been created. Come back so we attempt to extinguish that flame. It’s now the smoke that is your greater danger; your skilled sword and Paladin’s magic won’t protect you from it. Perhaps we can pull the heat from that flame and freeze those nasty vines. Haila and I can both cast a Cone of Cold, but I would hate to see you frost bitten in the middle of a roaring fire. Great Sir you need to get back here and stay low under the smoke. Come share a benefit of being a Little One.”

As he waits for the brave Paladin protector to return Ulthok prepares to cast Cone of Cold.

Cynil hurried down to where the others had gone. and found out what had happened. Smoke had began to billow y obscuring the others. She thought about the huge elephant . However, she didn't think that it would work so well in this situation with all the smoke, she couldn't be able to see much, even with infra-vision. she thought of turning into a snake but wouldn't be abe to do much once she found Sirene.

In a moment, she cast air breathing and then anti-plant shell and moved forward in the general direction that had been related to her.

After directing several people in the direction of Sirene, Conall concentrates to see if there are any evil presences that have been attracted by the fire.

*if yes* Conall runs to the nearest companion and whispers to him/her, "something evil this way comes." The paladin then prepares to repel the evil presence.

*if no* Conall walks behind the main group prepared if any vines attempt to spread behind the group or if any creatures emerge attempting to attack.

Cure light wounds is prepared if Sirene needs healing.