Rest in Peace?

When last we saw our intrepid adventurers, they were at the bottom of a pit, under relentless attack by flaming bats and crystalline scorpion-like creatures. They had come in search of some information left behind by the great mage Merlin after he disappeared some 1500 years ago, but things had gone horribly wrong.

After correcting for some DM oversights from the previous week, the party was hurting, but not in such dire straits as the week before. The bats were not that hard to kill, but there were a LOT of them, and once they attached themselves, their burning bodies did continual damage until they died. People were reluctant to start shooting at bats that were attached to their friends, so it tended to be every man for himself (plus Mary). The crystalline creatures were much harder to hit, took more hits to kill, and did even more damage than the bats, so they tended to attract a lot of attention. Chuck cast a Sticks to Snakes spell and his snakes began to harrass the creatures, doing a little damage but also distracting them. They even tried attacking some of the bats attached to Phil (who did a drop-and-roll) but discovered that it's hard for a constrictor snake to squeeze a bat attached to a person without also squeezing that person. Whoops.

However, the party began to turn the tide. Only one of the bats remained, and only two of the crystalline creatures were still attacking. Just then, a wave of mist began to pour out of the fissures in the walls of the pit. This mist gradually resolved itself into two groups of figures. Four were vaguely humanoid, semi-transparent and wraith-like. The other four had clouds of mist at their center, but extended tendrils of mist that quickly solidified into long, talon-tipped tentatcles.

Chuck turned (literally) to confront the new threat as any good cleric should, attempting to turn the four wraith-like creatures. He rolled well, and it looked like his attempt had worked - the creatures seemed to recede quickly away from him. And then they smacked him. Apparently they had glided smoothly forward while simultaneously shrinking in size, creating the illusion of moving away while in fact moving in to attack. Chuck now had four wraith-like creatures in his face. He attempted to turn again, and Phil pitched in with a turn of his own, but the creatures appeared unfazed. When one of them hit Chuck, he fell shivering to the floor from its chill touch.

Meanwhile, the other creatures began attacking with their tentacles. Each had four tentacles that they used to try to ensnare party members, and then drag them towards their central body of mist. With the crystalline creatures still in the fray (the last bat finally fell), the party was hard-pressed. To make matters worse, it  quickly became apparent that none of the misty creatures could be harmed except with magical weapons, and the tentacled monstrosities apparently needed very magical weapons. Mary made quick quick work of one with her +2 longsword, but then was felled by the chill touch of one of the wraith-like beings, and started to be dragged away. Ice picked up her sword and managed to free her, but options and hope were shrinking fast. Jerry tossed a rope into the air, hoping to escape into a Rope Trick, but it fell back limply at his feet.

It was his last hope. Jerry was the first to die, and was quickly dragged into one of the mist-creature's bellies. Phil followed soon after. In desperation, James tossed a hand grenade at a couple of the creatures, but only succeeded in deafening himself and his comrades. Joe and Mary continued to hack away, Joe becoming almost a blur of flashing blades. It almost looked as if at least a few of the party might survive as the last of the mist-creatures evaporated, but then new threats appeared. A flock of giant moths descended from the ceiling, while simultaneously a group of disgusting looking giant worms squeezed out of the crevasses in the walls. Caustic venom dripped from their mandibles, and the remaining party members quickly learned their acidic poison was deadly. And the moths emitted a strange pheromone that sapped the characters' strength. One by one, they succumbed, and breathed no more ...

Next week we're back at Rich and Joette's.