Niaou’li was glad to be liberated from the weight of the young Khord, but was still worried about the others hanging down from the white stem of the mushroom. She heard Berodin commanding Crellin to use his magic, only then she noticed Baldorf falling down from a hazardous height. Nothing happened for a while, but then Crellin responded by casting a spell. Now what should I do.. Obviously I am not able to carry the Khords to the boulder because of their weight.. she mused.

She started focusing on her human form, imagining her giant paws to become toes, her talons to become long legs, her wings to become arms and hands with 5 fingers each, and her feathers to become smooth skin, covered in the gracious blue dress with waving layers of fabric she was wearing at the wedding. She was aware of a whirling feeling, like the one that started the wildshape initially, felt the warm rush again, imagined splendid rays of coloured light surrounding her and continuing to focus on her human appearance. The heavy whirling inside continued, and just before she saw her familiar self being reflected in the eyes of her companions she felt a little nauseous.

She turned to the cleric, saying ”Berodin, we should command the Hippogriffs to take the other Khords down as well, since we are not capable of doing so ourselves in a safe way” Then, turning to the others as well: We must hurry up, before this stone creature or something even worse returns from the darkness above!

OOC: If we manage to save all Khords and if they are conscious, we can take them with us. If not, or if they are not capable of joining us, we should order the hippogriffs to take them to the Spores to be taken care of. Meanwhile we can continue following the dotted tracks that led to the shroom and the goo in the first place. Firenze, who is still standing at the edge of the black pool but who can walk around it, will come with us.

Oh, and I really should shorten the party dress when we continue our quest

Baldorf knew as soon as he was back in physical form, it wasn't a good thing... He fell, holding the limp Khord in his hands. Maybe, just maybe, he could put the body underneath him, to cushion the blow or something...

Suddenly though, he felt the Khord snatched from his grasp, and there was a massive hippogriff holding the body. Baldorf reached out, but missed, and kept falling. Too quickly.

"Figures... I come up with an idea to save my skin, and then some magical creature takes it away... Why me... why is it always me?"
Baldorf continued to plummet to the ground, seeing the ground come closer and closer...

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Over his own screaming, he heard Crellin say something. Not that it mattered, it probably didn't regard him. Suddenly though, Baldorf stopped falling, then fell down softly, and surely. Coming to rest on the boulder, he sat there, dumbfounded as to what happened, but nevertheless happy.

"... Um, what just happened?"

It was chaos in the air around the giant Stinkhorn, even if it only lasted a few seconds. But if Crellin knew one thing, it was that he abided quite well in chaos. So, while his brain was trailing off to another direction, the rest of his body had performed the magics to create a Feather Fall spell.
For a moment an orange spark sprang from his fingers and fizzled into emptiness, and Baldorf kept falling down.
Then the spell took, and the now substantial Khord slowly whirled onto the rocks at the bottom of the enormous mushroom.

The hippogriffs returned carrying the Khords from the stem and they were joined by Niaou’li, still in eagle form. The druid landed and changed back to her Khordaldrum form; a sight that could still take anybody’s breath in wonder.

But now they were standing there, on the rocks in the middle of the pool of black slush. The hippogriffs went up again and collected the final Khords that were stuck to the white stem. The bodies of the former captives were hanging limply over their broad backs.
”Berodin, we should command the Hippogriffs to take the other Khords down as well, since we are not capable of doing so ourselves in a safe way” Niaou’li said. The cleric nodded, and instantly, two of the creatures flew away. One stayed to provide passage over the black mucus. “We must hurry up, before this stone creature or something even worse returns from the darkness above!” The druid added, but it was as if her words triggered what happened next.

The boulders they were standing on began to shake, and the pool of goo started to bubble. The black surface became a waving sea that splashed over the circle of mushroom the bordered it. It bulged, then split open like a jelly cut in half and from it rose a huge, segmented, insectoid head. A wide shell held two black eyes the size of their heads, which slowly started to focus on the Khords at the bottom of the stinkhorn. Two enormous mandibles protruded from its jaw and they dripped the black goo like vicious blood running off a knife. Up it went, and a body was uncovered with long, slender legs ending in a sharp claw. The ground was shaking so heavily now, that the group of Khords had a hard time keeping their balance. Then the tremors ceased and they faced a creature at least four times as high as their tallest member.

The monstrous insect towered over them and held them sharply in its cold gaze.

Many days had past ever since Gyviar had spoken to any creature more intelligent than his bat Fler. Before and behind him stretched the vast and seemingly endless space of nature. Away from the so-called civilised world. He loved it. He was in his element.

For days he had been travelling through the mushroom forest now. He was not sure what his destination this time would be. He never knew, but yet he always arrived there. Day after day he wandered through this rather strange and rough scenery, however, this day was different. There was danger in the air. Not the normal, sometimes even sophisticating danger of the forest, but a more present one, like he was closing in to something. Suddenly he heard a high pitching sound and a skweek;

"Hippogriffs? What in Kith-jora's name are hippogriffs doing so far from the Chindari Plains?"

He made a quick note that he really should stop talking to himself aloud and swiftly climbed the small rock formation in front of him. At the top, he saw quite a sight to behold. Just a few hundred meters in front of him, there was an enormous black lake, with in the middle of it one of the strangest mushrooms he had ever seen. It looked like one of the giant mushrooms he had seen before, a long time ago, during his travels in the north. Yet this one was even bigger and more impressive. Not to mention the smell that come from it..

Flying above the mushroom, he could distinguish multiple people, probably Khord he thought, and some hippogriffs. They seemed to be rescuing other Khords, who, well, seemed to be stuck on the surface of this astonishing organism. It certainly looked like they could use some help.. He needed to find a way to the other side...

"You need to help me, my little friend", he whispered to his bat Fler. Almost directly, the bat flew into the air and disappeared. Only seconds later, it returned and kept hovering in front of Gyviars head. "Lead on!". The bat sped away and Gyviar followed. Years of experience on rough terrain made him quite agile on unstable ground. With small and fast steps he ran towards the spot the bat was leading him to. Suddenly Flet stopped and Gyviar could just prevent himself of falling down a gaping black hole emerging in front of him. "If this goes wrong it is your fault!" Gyviar said to the bat while he swiftly climbed downwards.

He arrived in a cave, seemingly leading towards the strange island. Everywhere around him grew small bright illuminating mushrooms which guided him the way. After a few hundred meters, his trained senses began to sense a small shiver in the rocks. Danger. Approximately 60 meters in front of him, he saw an enormous insectoid creature swarming in the cave. With a surprising speed, it was making its way upwards, probably towards the surface.

"Weeks full of nothingness and now this. These folk certainly are in big trouble..." At least they would be, if he would not interfere. Gyviar had to think fast. With one big leap he jumped of the rock he was standing on. With quick and agile movements he jumped from rock to rock. The creature did not seem to notice him. When he was almost by the creature, he grabbed his spiked chain, jumped and struck it in the thick hide of the monster, just tiny seconds before it disappeared into the black earth above them.

Then, all became black. Gyviars sense of direction told him that the creature had lost none of its momentum and sped with high speed towards the surface. It seemed to be in a hurry, not wanting to miss whatever was waiting there above them. Diner, perhaps. Wonderfully enough, the creature digged an almost perfect hole, which softened his improvised hitchhike effort. Suddenly, the monster submerged and Gyviar was launched into the air.

Completely covered in dirt, cracked rocks and squashed mushrooms, he landed on stable ground. Looking up, he saw he was only a few meters away from the party he had seen before. They did not notice him, for the creature stood now, in its full height, before them.

He stood up and cracked his aching bones. Softly his spiked chain began to glow with the fires his ancestors had carved into it.

"Just like in the old days", he thought. "Owww, this is going to be fun, mr. Ankheg"

Standing in the middle of the black pool of goo, close to the white ‘shroom but far away not to stick to it’s stem, Niaou’li noticed the appalling creature emerging from the pool. It’s eyes were huge, they were as black as the matter surrounding them, shining bright and reflecting their terrified faces. The ground quivered, making it difficult for Niaou’li to keep her balance. Then the trembling stopped, and she witnessed an animal as high as the tallest tree she ever saw, as broad as a small hut and as gruesome as the most gruesome thing she had ever seen, but twice.

It turned its head towards the Khords, keeping an eye on their every movement, looking as if it would attack any moment now. The druid turned to her companions, whispering “What should we do now..? We are trapped on this godforsaken island.. We could try to make the hippogriffs ferry us across the pool, but maybe the creature will attack us then.. Or we could let them attack this monster, of we could try to fight it.. Or we cou..” Suddenly she felt the heavy weight of the Grent’yl book in her travel sack.

She found the book years ago, when wandering the lowlands. It had been covered in dirt, and she accidentally noticed its binding reflecting the sunlight when a little breeze moved some of the dirt away. There had been something strange, something magical about that breeze. It had been like a female voice, whispering. Niaou’li hadn’t been sure if it was really a voice, until she became aware of the words. Standing at the pool of goo, looking in the eyes of this monstrosity, she remembered the song:

When one is in time of need
Call for help to the Grent’yl book
But make sure to remember
It’ll take something in return for its deed

Niaou’li slowly turned away from the beast, and started to reach into her travel sack. She took the big, leather bound book out of it, and started turning over some pages. Then, a breeze made the pages turn even faster, and all she could do was wait for something to happen..

Crellin was still bewildered as Beordin came softly to a halt upon the boulder’s below, even as his mind raced to catch up with his actions. Then still, the boulders around him started to shake, and Crellin fought to keep his balance as the black goo bubbled and sputtered as the earth split and from it came the largest Caterpillar Crellin had ever seen.

“Soo that becomes a flutter fly? Fascinating, I do wonder where it’s gonna keep dem wings, but oooh if it isn’t gonna want to eat us to sustain its metamorphosis."

Once more, even as the deranged mage spoke, his fingers twitched and pilfered his pouch, pulling forth a small shard of a long ago broken mirror, even as he stepped back to place at least one other Khord between him and the massive bug.

“Hmm getting eaten would be most unfortunate, as I have so very much to do today..”

With that, Crellin fell into chant, calling forth the powers of chaos to bestow a negative fortune upon the creature before him, as the shard of mirror hummed and floated between his outstretched hands, as he spoke the verbal jibberish of an Unluck spell.

Berodin stared up at the creature before him, girding himself with all the courage of his holy god. Even the darkness is not dark for me, for the Lord of Lights watches over my ways.
"Quickly, friends!" he urged his companions. "We must distract this beast long enough for our injured brethren to reach safety!"

Turning towards his lord's agents, he spoke to the hippogriffs, "Fly, servants of my lord! Return these poor folk to Spores Tavern." And with quick instruction, he gave the beasts directions to the tavern and released them from his service.

Giving his full attention to the huge beast before him, Berodin withdrew his hammer, grasped it with both hands and threw all his weight behind it. "Back to the abyss with you, beast of the earth!"

Scratching his bottom, Baldorf shook his head. He still didn't know how he was alive... Magics weren't his thing, but it would seem like he did receive magical aid. And it saved his life.

But then the ground started shaking. "Oh crap... Saved my life for now, that is..." Baldorf was scared to look behind him. But as the earth shook violently. Things were not looking good...

But just when Baldorf thought nothing could get worse... They did. He turned and looked behind him, only to see the massive insect behind him. He felt like he wanted to vomit. And it seemed like a very likely that if this was coming down to it, Baldorf would be torn asunder.

"Gotta run! Run away, hide, if only there was something to hide me... But nothing anywhere! If only there was something... Oh, I'm a goner..."
Baldorf began to stumble away from the massive threat, but as he did, a cloud seemed to be forming around him... his vision was disappearing, and quickly. A cloud of mist seemed to be coming from him, but he didn't get why... Strange things were happening today... He just hoped this wasn't his last.

-----------------------

OoC: Using the Obscuring Mist template power.

The darkness around the adventurers seemed to intensify with the rising of this monstrous insect. Rocks and dirt flew of his enormous bulk as he rose from the ground, and at the same time, the pool of black goo sank down into the hole that was left in the earth.

In the chaos, nobody had noticed how one of the pieces falling from the creature landed not far from them. It was covered in the remains of the cave’s floor mixed with the black sludge, and it was moving. They noticed it when it was running past them to attack the monster, and only then recognized that it was a Khordaldrum. In his hands he held a spiked chain which erupted with flames as he passed by.
He was fast. And so was his chain as it came down upon the insect’s leg. It slashed away a chunk of chitinous hide, and scorched the flesh underneath. A spot of black goo that clung to the monster’s exterior caught fire. The monster screamed and jerked its leg up. Then Gyviar became aware of the fact that he himself was on fire as well. His arm, covered in sand and goo from the pool around the giant mushroom, had caught a flame from his own weapon, which was now spreading quite rapidly.

Crellin wasn’t one for running either, and he knew just the trick to tip the scales to their advantage. Within his mind a spell began to form. It whirled and twitched and splintered. It took some concentration to keep from getting distracted by the chaos it embodied as it grew. Then the mage flung it at the insect’s head.
For a moment the creature seemed dazed, with as far a cross-eyed expression as insects can form. Then it focussed its attention on its prey again with renewed interest.

Down came its head, and the two giant mandibles that hung from it opened with vicious anticipation. It was faster than you’d give such a bulking creature and it snapped remorselessly at Gyviar, the annoying pest that had attacked it so anxiously. It’s insect brain felt a slight joy as the mandibles snapped around the ranger and sliced him up. But most of its thoughts were aimed at the consumption that would follow. Fortunately, Gyviar knew to pry himself loose from the monster’s strong grasp. He was heavily wounded, on fire, and still covered in dirt and goo. This was not as fun as he had imagined.

Berodin didn’t hesitate either. There was no time to stall. He sent the hippogriffs to the Spores Inn; a mental command enough to send the steeds into the right direction. Now he could focus on the creature before them. Their new companion seemed heavily wounded, but he would have to wait. They had to keep the creature occupied so the hippogriffs would be able to get away. Not aiming at an exact spot on the monster’s body, the cleric just threw his full weight into the attack. It came down hard, and dented and cracked the chitinous shell on the creature’s head, which was still low from its attack on Gyviar. With a cry of pain, the enormous head was flung upwards. Green spittle was starting to form around the jawbones of the insect as it pranced like a wild horse.

Meanwhile, Niaou’li was desperately searching for a way to aid her companions in the battle. Her mind raced over the spells she had learned over the years. She considered the use of her weapons, but in her indecision there was something clawing from the darkness of her consciousness: the book she had found long ago.
She flung her backpack on the ground and in a wild guess took out the book and cast it open. Pages fluttered and then the book dropped still on an ancient text with a print depicting a tree with a face. The image started glowing and rose from the book. For a second it hovered in mid-air and then jolted towards the giant stinkhorn, where it planted itself upon the white stem. Instantaneously the great mushroom began to shudder and bulge. From its side grew long tendrils that interwove and braided themselves into something resembling arms. Near the giant black hood the adventurers could see how two eyes opened themselves and with a wet crack a mouth tore itself from nothingness. A deep voice bellowed from it.

“For too long have you burrowed under my roots, you crawling bug. Now I will make sure my offspring will feast upon your flesh.”

As the mushroom came to life, another change was happening. Niaou’li felt her hair thicken and stretch. It itched like nothing she had ever felt before, and when she scratched her head she felt like her fingers ran through a pile of leafs. And indeed, small buds were forming on the strands of her hair, some of them burst open already and sprouted small, leathery, brown leafs.

In the chaos of the fight, and it was becoming rapidly more chaotic, Baldorf stood hoping for a way to escape when suddenly a solution provided itself out of thin air. All around him a cloud of mist began to form. The vapour seemed to come from his own body, as if he was once again becoming a gaseous Khord. This time, however, he appeared to remain solid himself.
The cloud spread faster and faster, and became so thick that it obscured him and his companions completely. They could vaguely see the form of the giant mushroom rising up into the air. They could almost see the giant insect as it readied itself for another attack. But the small island of rocks they stood on was now a sea of whiteness, and as far as they could tell, it stretched on forever.

(OOC: LOTS of things have happened this round so I’m going to stop here. The situation now: you can’t see anything beyond 5 feet around you. There is a giant insect ready to snack on your bodies, there is a giant mushroom that has come alive (Berodin and Crellin both recognized the workings of an ‘Awaken’ spell) and there is a new member to your group who has lost about half his HP in a single strike from the monster. Oh yeah, and he is on fire. Good luck!)

Looking at the glowing image in the Grent’yl book, Niaou’li felt more and more connected to the surrounding nature. Suddenly the image rose from the book, hovered towards the big white mushroom and transformed it into a gigantic tree with the face of a 200-year-old. It did not seem very pleased with the creature menacing them, and started speaking:

“For too long have you burrowed under my roots, you crawling bug. Now I will make sure my offspring will feast upon your flesh.”
Meanwhile Niaou’li noticed the monster being attacked by a bouncy.. Khord? Where did this guy come from? He was trying to smash the monster, but meanwhile was setting himself on fire. Niaou’li admired his enthusiasm and devotion, but he did not seem to be very handy. At the moment he seemed pretty severely injured and flames were all around him. ‘Someone really should help him’, she thought.

When the tree had finished speaking, Niaou’li felt something itching on her hair. She touched it, in need to scratch really bad, and then she felt some changes in her hair. She noticed several leathery leaves coming out of the buds that had formed at the strands of her hair. Her hair itself was thickening, like it was becoming a knot of branches.. ‘Now what should I do.. I’m turning into a tree!’ She though shocked. ‘I should act fast, ‘cause who knows how far this mutation will go!’
Unfortunately the sight started to blur because of a thick mist and she was afraid the monster would attack any minute now, penetrating its fangs into an innocent Khord.. Herself or one of her companions. Waiting for the giant tree to attack, she run towards their new companion, bend over him and started the healing process.


OOC: Niaou’li usues the Cure Serious Wounds spell to cure Gyviar.

Berodin felt the reassurance of Solanis vibrate within him as the head of his mighty hammer connected with the armored flesh of the beast before him. A renewed sense of hope washed over him as he caught a glipse of the hippogriffs flying away, unhindered, towards the Spores. Lord,keep them, he prayed.

A fog suddenly rolled in which limited his vision, luckily he was close to the beast and able to see his target. "Hopefully that 'shroom watches where he's going!"

Charging ahead, the brave khordish priest moved along the beast's body towards its rear, hoping to avoid the creature's vicious bite while using his body's momentum to slam the warhammer even harder against the creature's hard shell.

[OOC: I'm looking to use the charge action, but am not sure I can. Regardless, I'm looking to change Berodin's location, moving down the length of the body, before slamming the warhammer into the beast. We'll power attack again as well, -2 to attack, using the warhammer two-handed (so, +4 damage, I believe)... plus the bonuses and penalties for charging (if I'm able).

I'm making an assumption though... I'm assuming that the black goo has drained away and is not a real hazard any longer so entering into the "pool" is actually entering into dry land. If that is not the case, then Berodin will stay put and hammer away at the creature from his current location.

A second assuption... I'm assuming the ground is "dry", i.e. there's not a significant chance of Berodin slipping while he moves and/or charges forward. If that is not the case, again Berodin will stay put and hammer away at the creature.

Thanks!
Ayrn

p.s. Players! Time to update! Saturday is nearly here! ]

"Cripes!"

The Catterpillar Crellin envisioned struck a vicious blow, to the newcomer, another being appearing from nowhere to join their cause. And then a fog rolled in, and Crellin couldn't see much past his hand in front of is face.

"Well we won't be killin much if we can't see a darn thing!" He cried, his stubby nose twitching against the enchanted fog. He so terribly wanted to just let fly a lightning bolt, but the risk was too great, and he didn't want to risk turning another brave Khord into a crispy Khord kabob. So instead, that portion of his brain that still grasped some semblance of sanity took over, and he waved his hands, ... and then Sneezed, completing the components for a "gust of wind" spell. Trying to clear the fog from their midst.

(As Next week is going to be Uber busy... I'll post his next attempted moves as far as combat is concerned presuming he's alive to do so lol..

Able to see as combat continued against the monstrous insect, Crellin's sanity took back a back seat once again to the part of him that revelled in chaos. Casting a Spider walk" upon himself, he ran along the side of the beast, and then straight up it, his enchanted step sure against the chitinous armor until he stood directly upon the creatures head. (one round.) There, atop the moustrous beast likely flailing in an attempt to dislodge or attack the mage, Crelling ran his hands together vigorously before finishing the "Lightning Bolt" spell with a clap, a "CLEAR!" and a small jump that momentarily dislodged him from being grounded along with the beast before landing once more atop a 'hopefully' much less threatening charbroiled insect.)

Baldorf smacked himself in the face, which had turned bright red from embarrassment. Why does it always seem to come from me? There was now a cloud of mist everywhere, blocking his vision... Just a huge mushroom seeming to loom in the distance. Well, this sounded like it was going to be fun...

Baldorf figured that he at least better not go in unarmed... He reached back to his belt and pulled out his dagger. He still wasn't entirely sure what was happening around him, or anything that was happening, but he'd come too far to die now... especially without even one braid in his beard. He needed to get that. So he couldn't die here.

He also decided that it would be best to remain silent, and wait for anything to come to him instead of blindly venturing. He gripped his dagger tightly, waiting for someone to come into sight so that he may see who it is, and if they are threatening, lash out at them.

-----------

OoC: I'm readying an action to attack an enemy that come within range.

Gyviar ran towards the Ankheg, while he was starting to swing his spiked chain above his head. In a blur he past the flabbergasted Khord and with one big leap he swung his chain towards the foul beast. The inflamed weapon struck a mighty blow on the creatures leg and a piece of its hide flew away. At that moment, Gyviar realised the flaw in his plan. The black goo, which he could not identify before, seemed to be some kind of - highly flame-able - liquid. The good thing was that the goo that covered the bug caught fire and scorched it badly. The bad thing was, Gyviar himself was also completely covered with the goo. Within no-time his left arm caught fire. With a quick movement Gyviar grab his robe and tried to extinguish the fire that was spreading rapidly on his arm.

However, for that tiny second he had forgot that he was still facing the enormous Ankheg. Unfortunately, the beast had not forget him. With dazzling speed its head came down and grabbed Gyviar with its mandibles. The pain was immense. It felt like the creature was squashing him before it would swallow him up. With a big exertion, Gyviar managed to loosen its grip and he felt onto the ground again, feeling pain everywhere and still slightly on fire. “Damn, I am getting old.. “

Gyviar would love to become even a few days older, so he had to act fast now. Lying on the gound, he quickly rolled out of the creature's range, still trying to extinguish the last flames by rolling over the hard ground. All of a sudden he heard a loud unnatural voice say something and seemingly at the same time, a vast impenetrable mist was appearing out of nowhere. In no-time Gyviar could not see more than a few feet around him. Even the giant insect and the mushroom disappeared in the mist.

Right in front of him, there appeared the contour of a strange looking creature, walking right towards him. The creature did not seem to mean any harm, and as it approached, Gyviar recognised the features of one of the Khords he had seen earlier. Only now, there seemed to grow brown, 'things' out of her head. Gyviar guessed that the smack from the Ankheg had not served him well..

“What is going..” Before he could finish his sentence, she bowed over him and started to mutter strange words and sounds. All of a sudden Gyviar felt his wounds and scorched skin heal themselves. “I thank you, milady”. Gyviar stood up and wiped the last remnants of the goo and dirt of his body. Then, he grabbed his spiked chain again and stood with his back to the newcomer, ready for whatever would come next...

In the foggy darkness the fight continued. Gyviar was trying to put out the flames on his arms by rolling over the ground. The flames didn’t go out very easily, but rolling on the ground not only doused the flames but also mixed gravel and dirt into the black goo, which reduced its flammability. Still, it took some time to extinguish the fire, and he couldn’t do much more at the time.

With the visibility reduced to practically nothing, Crellin couldn’t do much at all. He had lost sight of the giant insect, and could only vaguely spot the enormous mushroom that had come alive. He needed to see in order to be of any help. He felt the magic burrow its way up from within his being. It crawled through his stomach and up his throat to find an exit through his nose. He sneezed hard, and as he did so, the fog started to spread thin.

Their vision returned, the group had now a better view of what was happening. The newcomer was on the floor in an attempt to put out the fire. The giant mushroom was slowly but gradually making its way towards the insect.
But where their awareness of what was going on was getting better, so was that of the Ankheg. It spotted Berodin standing in front of him and attacked with its giant mandibles. Still, in the thick fog, the attack missed all form of precision and Berodin could easily step aside as the external jaws came down. The cleric wanted to charge the creatures back, but noted that by doing so he would have to cross the slope where the puddle of goo had been. Now the puddle was gone, but the rocks were still covered in a substantial layer, and would most likely be very slippery. He changed his mind and brought his hammer down upon the creature’s mandible as it come close. He hit it, but not fully, and it didn’t do much but chip off a small fragment of chitin.

Niaou’li, recovering from the realisation her hair was becoming a variety of twigs and leafs, noted Gyviar’s attempt to kill the flames. She also noted the blood that was flowing from his body as he twisted and twirled on the ground. Not taking any chances regarding the safety of their new aid, she moved over to his side and placed her hands on his abdomen, where the wounds were deepest. She mumbled a quick series of words towards Kith-Jora, God of nature, and felt an earthy energy seep from her fingers into the warrior’s body. His wounds closed and he instantly felt revived.
“I thank you, milady” he said, and got on his feet, ready for another attack.

Meanwhile, Baldorf had found a way to stop his body from spreading the vaporous substance. He felt ashamed, but now he could see what was going on once more, he drew his blade. He held it in front of him, waiting for somebody to make a move against him. He would be ready.

The mushroom had reached the giant bug at that moment and slammed one of its newly formed fists into the monster’s head. It crashed hard into the Ankheg’s skull, and where they collided, small strands of white mould clung to the insect’s hide. The monster was flung backwards, crashed into a bed of mushrooms and shot up again in fury.

Gyviar was on it before it could recover completely. He crashed his spiked chain onto the exterior armor and carved a big chunk away. The monster shrieked on the impact. Crellin called forth more of his magical powers and started to climb the monster’s hide. Confusion was visible in the monster’s reaction as the Ankheg noted a regular Khord (as far as the term regular could be applied to the mage) was climbing its body like a spider would climb a wall. It could do nothing as the mage crawled upwards.
It was starting to panic. What should’ve been an easy catch, was rapidly turning against him. Things shouldn’t have happened like this. He had to think about himself and get out of there as quickly as possible. Regretting the failure of his actions he opened his jaws and spewed a foul green acid over the group of Khords and the giant Stinkhorn. They all caught a splash of it, except for Crellin, and felt the horrid burning of their gear and flesh. A sickening smell washed over them and while they tried to compose themselves, the Ankheg turned to flee.

Berodin was fast though, and as the creature moved away, the cleric knew to hit it one last time. The giant mushroom also tried to slam it once more, but did not hit successfully, nor did Gyviar who tried to take advantage of the sudden retreat.

Niaou’li was already busy grabbing her crossbow and noted that it now came in extra handy. She loaded a bolt and let it fly quickly. It slammed hard into the back of the monster and stuck there as it fled.

Through and over the mushroom forest Crellin went on the creature’s hide. But the monster didn’t come far before the mage had reached its head and let a lightning bolt bury its way into the monster’s skull with a small jump and a loud ‘Clear!’.
Blue and white lightning seared over the Ankheg’s body and it twitched violently. Smoke sprang from its wounds and down it went. Crelling fell down as his base collapsed under him. His landing didn’t go very well, for the Ankheg’s charred chitin was still very hard.

The others saw the monster go down a few yard from the edge of what had been the black pool. It crashed into a bed of mushrooms and lay still there. The giant stinkhorn moved over to its body and planted itself on top of the Ankheg. White strands began to grow from his roots and from them spread more mushrooms. A satisfied snarl was forming on the stinkhorn’s face.

(OOC: Monster has been defeated. I took the liberty of assuming some actions to make sure this battle was over. I felt like it would drag on too long if I posted just one round.
Most of you have taken a bit of damage from the Acid attack. This is the current HP situation:

Niaou’li 39/48
Baldorf 36/54
Crellin 45/45
Berodin 35/53
Gyviar 39/60

Otherwise you are now free to continue the adventure. )