“Wait,” I whispered, as Cambrin made to put his head through the door. “Listen first,” I squatted outside and tuned in trying to hear beyond the scraping of their boots on the dirt and the constant trickle of water through the channel beside us. All the extrenuous sound seem to slip to the peripheral of my senses as I focused on what might be beyond the door.
(Perception: CRIT! 20+2=22)
“There,” I whispered to the others, “do you hear it?” Beside me they both tilted their heads turning an ear toward the crack in the door.
Ceylas tucked her hair behind her ear and leaned in but then shook her head. “Don’t hear nothing but the water,” she hissed back at me.
“No, listen,” I said. I could hear the water, yes. There were sounds of moisture dripping from the ceiling into a pool, the hum of a water churn that made a repetative slap, slap, slap through the sludge, but underneath all that was a slight rumble, like the sound a dog makes when they’re growling from the back of their throat. And there, the creak of leather on metal bindings. “I think there’s someone in there.”
“Danger?” Cambrin asked. I lifted a shoulder. I honestly had no idea if it would be dangerous. It just seemed like it was something alive. But there could be all kinds of mundane things living down here. I mean it could even be a stray dog for all I knew. Leather on metal could be a dog collar.
“I don’t know,” I admitted to Cambrin. “But I guess we ready ourselves, just in case?”
He nodded his head and drew the javelin from over his shoulder. Ceylas drew both of her daggers from her hip sheaths. I gripped my staff a little tighter.
“Marching order?” Ceylas asked. It sounded strange coming from a little rock gnome but it was something my friend Bec had always said as we readied for battle. As Jax, the rogue, I’d usually always been first in the room. As our cleric, Bec had usually hung toward the back ready to bring us up if we went down.
I shrugged again. This was harder. I hadn’t worked with these two before and I still didn’t really know their capabilities. To tell the truth I barely knew my own. I was clearly a melee fighter but I had no armor proficiencies so I’m probably not ideal as a tank. Then again, despite Cambrin’s scale mail and Ceylas’s leather, neither of them seemed like front runners in any kind of show.
“Are either of you particularly stealthy?” I asked. They both wore solid boots rather than soft soles and since Ceylas had used tinkerer’s tools rather than thieves’ tools on the lock earlier I’d decided she probably wasn’t actually a rogue after all. She’d shot magic out her hand. That definitely wasn’t something Jax had ever been able to do.
Cambrin sighed, shaking his head. “Not particularly.” He looked between me and Ceylas then back to me again. “Perhaps you should take the lead, Ceylas after, and I will follow.” I glanced at Ceylas who nodded and fell into place behind me on the narrow ledge.
I drew a breath and crept forward, keeping to the toes of my soft leather boots and watching my steps to make sure I wouldn’t stand on anything that might alert others to our presence. I winced as I heard the chink of Cambrin’s armor (Stealth [armor disadvantage]: 14/2+0=2) and glanced back at what proved to be a terrible moment. My own foot ground on a slimy chunk of something and slipped out from under me. I managed to scramble and keep my footing but my staff cracked against the door (Stealth: 5+3=8). Behind me, Ceylas, who had been the quietest among us (Stealth: 11+1=12) sighed.
Ahead of us a loud rumble sounded and a deep bellied splosh swirled the water in what I realised was a rather large pool. “Croak!” ribbited a monsterous toad with glistening brown, splotchy skin. It blinked with strange see-through eyelids and licked a thick tongue across its nostrils as it tilted its head. It looked right at me.
I froze in place, feeling a strange shifting around us as my mind tried to respond to the threat. We’d been expecting something, but it certainly wasn’t this. A well of panic bubbled through me as a second, even more gigantic toad rose up behind the first. My jaw dropped open as I saw the haphazardly patched leather and copper armor bound across its iridescent green skin.
[https://cdn.midjourney.com/2d807745-8b64-4d4a-90c3-11fcf96734b1/grid_0.png][https://cdn.midjourney.com/0ff17fed-3fd4-4816-aa29-471ceb4da4dc/grid_0.png]
“Damn,” I whispered, awestruck as it pulled itself forward on massive clawed toes. The suit of armor it wore reminded me of deep sea diver suits from back in the day when they’d basically put fish bowls on their heads to breath under water. There were some cogworks in it that gave it a kind of steampunk edge. But the toad was massive and shaped like a toad, so the armor didn’t make any sense at all. “What they hell man?” I asked, not really expecting anyone to answer.
Despite having heard us, and the stall in my own stunned reaction, I moved fast (Initiative: 15+3=18). I glanced between the two giant toads and fixed my gaze on the one wearing armor. I raised my hands, keeping my staff gripped in one palm but not wielding it. “Sorry, man, I mean frog- uh toad, thing.” I instantly regretted opening my damn mouth because I was putting my damn foot in it. “Didn’t mean to bother you.”
I could have moved but I had no idea if I should move further into the room or retreat so I held my ground, hoping the creature was sentient and potentially non-threatening?
The glazed glare of the green toad’s sickly-yellowed eyes didn’t bode well. I gulped, bringing my hands back together over my staff as the brown toad leapt right at me. I took a step back to ground my footing as I lifted my staff up just in time to block its fanged teeth from piercing my skin (Bite: 4+4=8).
“Shit, guys, I think we have a problem,” I called back to the others.
Ceylas was already moving forward. She took a look at the toad that was practically on me and shook her head. “Nope,” she cried, sheathing one of her daggers. She circled around, keeping her back to the wall and her eyes on both toads. Then she thrust her free hand forward and a blast of force energy slammed into the brown toad’s fleshy side (Eldrich Blast: 10+5=15; damage: 5=5).
Behind her, Cambrin moved right in, stepping up to the creature and circling it warily. He flicked a glance at the larger toad over his shoulder but settled in place directly opposite me. He thrust forward with his javelin (Javelin [flanking advantage]: 19+2=21; damage: 1d6=1). Despite nailing the amphibian right in the back the javelin did very little damage through the fleshy hide of the beast.
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Over Cambrin’s shoulder I could see the larger toad eyeing the three of us. Well, really, it seemed he was watching even his companion. Blinking, the creature licked a long tongue over its whole face and croaked again as if issuing a command. The brown toad croaked back and then seemed to growl low in its throat. That was the same dog-like sound I’d heard earlier. I had no idea what it meant but since the other toad didn’t seem to be making any move to harm us I was more confused than ever. This brown toad was most definitely still trying to bite me.
I slammed my staff up into the soft flesh inside the toad’s mouth (Staff [flanking advantage]: 9/10+5=15; damage: 2+3=5) and then stepped forward on my left foot to bring a roundhouse kick up and under the beast’s bloated chin (Unarmed [flanking advantage]: 8/14+5=19; damage: 1+3=4). The fleshy skin of the toad shuddered under my foot as I made contact but I drew back quickly. I grounded both feet and circled slightly around the creature hoping Cambrin would mirror my action so that his back wasn’t left exposed to the armored toad.
Growling low in his throat again the brown toad snorted through his nostrils and bent its legs to ready a jump. Seeing the movement Cambrin stabbed forward with his javelin (Javelin [opportunity attack]: 14+2=16; damage: 4=4) and pierced the creature’s hide as it leapt right over my head and landed behind me. It turned and snapped down at me (Bite: 7+4=11) but I ducked out of the way. A slick of slime trailed from the creature’s jaw down my back as its teeth narrowly missed taking my head off.
Ceylas hissed and tossed another beam of energy from the palm of her hand (Eldritch Blast: 8+5=13; damage: 9=9). It slammed into the creatures fleshy underbelly and dug deep into its gut. “Yes,” I shouted, “great shot.” My moment of excitement over how much the toad seemed to be hurting now we’d all got a few blows in dropped to dread as I heard a low rumble from the armored toad behind us.
Cambrin glanced back at it but dashed away to move past me and circle around the brown toad. Just like I’d hoped he did get back into a flanking position and this time it put him forty feet away from the armored amphibian. He stabbed at the juicy thigh of the toad before him (Javelin [flanking advantage]: 3/5+2=7) but the toad shifted on its feet, kicking the javelin to the side with its plump toes.
I felt the slosh of water up my ankles before I saw the movement of the giant green toad over my shoulder. It had leapt clear across the twenty-foot pool and landed right behind me. With giant fleshy wart-riddled hides rising up either side of me I felt very small and suddenly very constrained between the two hulking beasts. This was not good…
I felt the creature’s jagged fangs pierce into my shoulder (Bite [flanking advantage]: 12/15+4=19; damage: 3+2=5) and instinctively went to yank away but the jaw of the creature clamped down hard, fixing me in its grasp. “Shit,” I shouted. “Guys, this is very, very bad.”
I gasped again as I felt a pulse of venom (damage: 4) inject into the wound where its fangs held me clenched and felt sick to my stomach as my head started spinning. Thankfully, the shock of poison didn’t seem to linger but I knew I was pretty close to passing out. I could try to pull free but even if it wasn’t clamped down on my shoulder I couldn’t risk moving away from them because they’d both be able to snap at me and then I’d be a real gonner. I gritted my teeth and fixed my gaze on the brown toad. If I was going down I was at least going to try taking that bastard down with me.
It was hard to grip my staff with my restrained arm but I fixed it as a counterweight turning into that side as I swung the quarterstaff in an uppercut against the jaw of the brown toad (Staff [restrained disadvantage]: 18/14+5=20; damage: 7+3=10). Its head snapped back, jaw falling slack. I let the jarring slam of the blow carry through my arm to bring my elbow back against the toad that held me in its jaws (Unarmed [restrained disadvantage]: FAIL! 12/1+5=6) but winced as it caused my arm to tug in its socket, my elbow bouncing harmlessly off the toad’s flesh.
The brown toad collapsed in a heap at my feet and I blinked with surprise. Had I actually done it? Taken down that huge monster?
Ceylas and Cambrin were already moving. Ceylas tossed another blast, this time slamming the beam of energy right through the green creatures blinking yellow eye (Eldritch Blast: 14+5=19; damage: 10=10). The pulpy ball splattered with the force of the blast and the creature growled in fury.
Cambrin stepped up right beside me and slammed his javalin up into the beast’s mouth as if trying to unwedge me from its jaws. (Javelin: 19+2=21; damage: 4=4). The shaft of the weapon sank deep into the toad’s mouth and a spurt of blood splattered through its teeth, trailing down my shoulder.
The creature opened its mouth and let out a high-pitched series of blasting trills. I felt the fangs unlatch from my shoulder but slammed my hands over my ears.
I swallowed, suddenly very worried we might be well and truly out of our depth. Especially as the green toad glared its one remaining good eye at Cambrin and, maw yawning, bit down at him. It’s broad jaw took Cambrin’s javelin and whole arm up to the shoulder. Its sharp teeth cinched and Cambrin cried out in pain for only a very brief moment before falling limp and unconscious inside the giant toad’s mouth (Bite: 18+4=22; damage: 9+2=11).
“Shit,” I cried, leaping forward. I slammed my staff into the green toad’s gut shouting something incomprehensible as I tried to ram it up the beast’s throat (Staff: 17+5=22; damage: 5+3=8). I followed up with a kick (Unarmed: 19+4=23; damage: 3+3=6) feeling its bones crunch under my foot as I hit hard into its shin.
In the same second Ceylas shot another blast from her palm and rushed forward to her brother’s side. She didn’t even check to see if the blow landed but the debris of the creature’s brains splattered over us as the shot penetrated the already empty eye socket and slammed right out through the opposite side of the toad’s head (Eldritch Blast: 9+5=14; damage: 7=7).
I immediately reached into creature’s mouth and pulled Cambrin free. As I held him I felt an instinct wash through me. A strange knowing that seemed to come from Lo’Kryn’s self-awareness rather than my own and my fingers tingled, turning warm as a wave of power passed from me into Cambrin (Healing Hands: 1).
He gasped, went to sit up, then groaned and leaned back. Ceylas glanced at me as she swooped in to cradle her brother. “What was that?” she asked, her gaze fixed on where my fingers were still resting on Cambrin’s arm.
I tilted my head and closed my eyes as I concentrated on trying to understand what had just happened. As the quiet fell on my mind I saw a crazed scatter of text at the top right of my mind but the last words that settled into place a moment were the words ‘Healing Hands’. And that sense of knowing came over me again as I realised that was something to do with Lo’Kryn’s race. “Apparently I can do that,” I told them both.
“Do what?” Cambrin said, his voice raspy and pained.
“Heal people.” I lifted my hand, looking at my fingers. “Not much. Just a single hit point, once a day.” They both fixed me with a strange look and I realised they probably had no idea what the hell a hit point even was. “I mean, just enough to get someone back if they’re out of it.”
“Right,” Ceylas drawled as if she didn’t believe a word of it.
I sat back on my heels, then thought better of settling in and rose to my feet instead. “Come on, we shouldn’t linger here. That thing made a hell of a racket before we took it down. I hope it wasn’t calling its friends but I definitely don’t want to wait here to find out.” I reached down and helped pull Cambrin to his feet, wincing as I felt my own aches and pains. We were both seriously wounded.
“Wait,” Ceylas said, as we both made for the door. “We should take a moment to at least see if there’s anything in this room.”
I sighed. She was right.