Gogmurt Strikes Back

Rounds 5-7

Two separate battles have developed in the maze. To the north, Shalelu, Gerund and Yola struggle against Gogmurt the goblin Druid and the remaining goblins, while less than twenty feet away, Sasha, Seoni and Poot scramble against the firepelt Tangletooth and a braying pack of goblin dogs.

The goblins push against Gerund and Shalelu who hold the bottleneck. One delivers a nasty cut to Shalelu, but Gerund's heavy armor protects him from harm and his counter attack lays low yet another of the creatures. Before Yola can deliver another blow to Gogmurt, the druid ducks back into the safety of the brier wall. Yola can hear him casting a spell fro the other side, and watches a thrush burst forth from the canopy and fly towards the fort beyond, a small object clutched in its claws. Cursing in frustration Yola pushes past Gerund in an attempt to get to where the druid might be and in passing guts the goblin Shalelu had fighting with almost as an afterthought.

Meanwhile, Sasha struggles to beat off two two rabid goblin dogs. As she pushes one away the other savages her leg. The disgusting odour and dander of the beast covers her and she begins to break out in painful swollen blotches. From behind Seoni blasts another pair of magic missiles into one of the attacking dogs, killing it, and buying her friend a few precious seconds of respite.

Poot continues to scramble away from the big cat that seems intent on eating him. As his back hits a bramble wall he realizes he's rum out of room to maneuver. "This had better work" he thinks as he casts a sleep spell directly at the big cat. Tangletooth blinks but stays awake. The goblin dog chewing on Sasha's leg however, collapses into unconsciousness. "Not quite what I had in mind!" mutters the halfling as he begins weaving away from the cat's renewed attacks, again miraculously escaping with only a few scratches.

***

Gogmurt steps into view of Gerund and Yola in the centre of the chamber the goblins were originally in, and before either of them can reach him he raises his hand up and casts a spell. He cackles in glee as all around the party the vines and brambles of the maze come to life, thrashing and snaring. Withing the bottleneck, Yola and Gerund are immediately snared and held fast ( as is the last goblin ). The thorny briers tear at Yola's skin, but cause no wounds to Gerund through his heavy banded mail. Shalelu jumps back in time to avoid being caught up in the writhing mass, and calmly switches back to her longbow, burying a shaft into the squealing entangled goblin, then pivots and fire two more arrows that sink deep into Tangletooth's flank.

The rest of the party also manages to avoid being entangled in the animated thorns. Seoni jumps to her left and lets of another barrage of magic missiles. One finishes off the wounded goblin dog, the other she sends arcing into Tangletooth, who yelps in surprise. But while concentrating on her casting Seoni strayed too close to the bramble walls and gasps in pain as the vines pull her down and hold her fast, leaving angry scratches in their wake.

Sasha finds herself free of the dogs so rolls in behind the big cat and impales it between the shoulder blades, finally bringing the ferocious creature down. Poot doesn't miss a beat and as soon as Tangletooth lies dead, he nimbly sidesteps the writhing vines around him and finishes off the sleeping goblin dog with his trusty knife.

Yola and Gerund continue to push forward through the punishing vines with agonizing slowness. Gogmurt laughs at their attempts and pulls a wand from his belt. At his command it burst into flames which he hurls at Yola. She is badly scorched by the attack, but in her rage bare;y feels the heat and continues to push ahead, now only scant feet from clearing the punishing vines. Gogmurt's spiteful glee turns to fear as he sees this fury filled longshanks survive his fiery blast and keep coming. He cowers in indecision for a moment then bolts south, disappearing again into the bramble walls.

Gogmurt's entanglement spell will last for several more minutes, and Gogmurt himself is nowhere to be seen, but you can bet he's still lurking around somewhere ( you did just kill his pet cat after all). Poot's Inspire Courage is over, Seoni has 1 1st lvl spell left. Yola will be fatigued from her Raging for the next 4 rounds. Check your remaining HP in the status sidebar - some of you a re pretty beat up. Sasha will be suffering the allergic reaction from the goblin dogs for the next 24 hrs. See your individual character sheets for full status.

So what next?