5 Shards
8 XP
"Ah, don't go worrying about me. I can handle a turn or two of whatever is in there if it's scary," you decide. "I even grabbed a potion for just that kinda thing yesterday."
Lona simply nods, "As you wish."
"I have better powers than yesterday too, so if you get hurt, I'll patch you right up anyway," Linnea adds cheerfully.
"I suppose we're really doing this then," Du sighs, "Anyone want their bonuses changed before we go in?"
"I believe the enhancement to my focus should remain," your other mage responds. "The additional power is… satisfactory."
"I'm fine too," you add cheerfully, already striding toward the ominous skull shaped doorway. "Now no more stalling!"
You don't have to wait long, the hallway is relatively short and lacks any traps. The room it opens up into is one already marked by battle though. Strange metal devices that crackle with electricity line the room in place of columns, although two of the six are smashed and broken. Rather ominously, you also spy deep gouges in the floor and several massive bloodstains. The most eye catching thing in the room though is a swimming pool sized vat of smelly green liquid set into the floor that takes up the entire latter half of the room.
"Ugh, it stinks," Linnea mutters as the four of you cautiously walk further inside.
"This is most certainly the lab of a necromancer, we should…" Lona begins, only to be cut off by a loud splash as a gray hand crisscrossed with stitch marks emerges from the water and grasps the side of the pool. That hand is big enough to palm your head.
"Smash the gribbly is what you were gonna say, right," you shout cheerfully even as the rest of the monster hauls itself from the pool. It is a massive humanoid, clearly stiched together from many disparate parts. It has four massive arms, one of which holds a heavy cleaver as wide as your torso, the other, smaller limbs below clutch more 'normal' greatswords, and it's last hand, the one it pulled itself up by, sparks with magic. Of course even that doesn't draw your eye quite like it's distended, squirming belly… which promptly erupts outward, disgorging a half dozen maggots the size of your arm as it roars a challenge.
"Oh what the fuck," you hear someone mutter behind you, but you don't really have time for chit chat, the undead abomination is already moving, and between it's roars and the shrill shrieks of the giant maggots it's kinda hard to hear anything else. You hardly need any more encouragement to charge yourself and meet it halfway. Grinning, you focus your will, and raise your free arm to block the incoming cleaver, comfortable in the knowledge that in this moment, you are unbreakable.
What must be fifty pounds of metal impacts your forearm, splintering your bracer, before reaching your skin and rebounding with an bone tingling crack. You have to laugh as you see the entire massive weapon explode into fragments. "Is that the best you've got!" you call right up into the things ugly heavy browed face.
Then you remember that it has all of those other arms. Still, it's physical blows rebound from your skin as well, though without the explosive results. The blast of nausea inducing magic and the nasty acidic nibbling of the gross things coiling and biting at your legs do their share of harm though.
Of course, Linnea's here, so the warmth of healing magic washes over you shortly thereafter, settling the churning in your stomach and the vertigo inflicted by the things magic, it's followed closely by the sound of Lona's spellcasting. All of a sudden you feel really light and energetic, like you could fight all day and night with nary a rest, and is it just you or is everything moving awfully slow all of a sudden. The big guy looks like he's moving through molasses!
You grin as you pull your club into a two handed grip and bring it overhead for a skullcracking smash right in the face that your foe is suddenly way too slow to dodge. The abomination bellows in slow mo even as its teeth go flying and its head acquires a noticeable crease in the center…. Then you notice the smell of ozone, and it's only due to your enhanced speed that you manage to dodge the first bolt. The second and third impact the abomination, and suddenly it's movements no longer seem so slow. The fourth hits you though, and you bite back a scream as electricity rips through your nerves.
Out of the corner of your eye, you see Du hurrying toward the closest of the lightning pillars, hands aglow with magic, so hopefully that's being taken care of, because tall and ugly isn't going to stay stunned forever. More healing magic soothes the pain of the lightning, and colorful bolts arc and spin around you before slamming home to slay three of the maggots nipping at your heels.
"They will heal the creature given the chance!" you hear Lona call. "Kill them quickly!"
Well, you don't need to be told twice, you plant your feet and bring your club down for a low sweeping blow, splattering the pasty white worms across the room. Of course, the towers are warming up again… but surprisingly, rather than lightning, you see the tower Du was going to mess with blast a second tower with a concentrated bolt of white hot fire… which still leaves you two lightning bolts to dodge.
Unfortunately, even with Lona's spell enhancing you, it seems one lightning dodge remains your best score. Frankly, it's starting to piss you off. You don't much care for the smell of cooked Yuuka. Ugly has his bearing back too, but luckily Linnea is able to get off a heal before you have to take another salvo of attacks… including the pair of additional maggots that writhe their way out of the things belly. You're glad you broke its damn cleaver that's for sure. Another surge of magic passes over your head, and the abominations speed enhancing buff dissipates, leaving it a sitting duck for you to smash it's face in again.
…There isn't much left of its head honestly, it looks like a split open melon at this point, but it doesn't stop the thing from fighting. Another tower goes up in flames, and you see Du, backing away from the now reverted tower, nursing a pair of burnt hands. Reprieve is over it looks like.
You manage to dodge lightning this turn though, and Linnea repairs the damage you took from the things spells and blades in the last round. Unfortunately, one of the newly spawned maggots crawls its way up the things leg and dissolves, repairing some of the damage you've done. This time the fire comes from Lona though, four separate rays of scorching heat that reduce the remaining maggot to ash and carve a blackened swathe across the things torso. Seeing the thing wobble, you take a gamble and channel all the burgeoning fury at your continued harm into another overhand swing.
This time the things entire body spasms as your now glowing club reduces the things head to giblets drives the things spine out and into the ground like a railroad spike, you heave a tired breath right before your world becomes lightning and pain.
Still. It's the last time the Deva's damned lightning towers get a hit on you, and Linnea makes you good as new… even if your still kinda twitchy and your hair buzzes with static.
"I was going to say we should fall back and destroy the Thaumaturgic Turrets from the doorway," Lona informs you dryly once your ears have stopped ringing. "I suppose your way worked as well though."
"Told ya we'd be fine," you huff dismissively. "How'd you change the one tower thing over to fire anyway, Du?" you then ask, turning to look at the enchanter as Linnea takes care of his badly burnt hands.
"I wasn't sure I COULD mess with a magical object like that," he admits. "Changing the enchantment felt like trying to ride a pissed off dire croc. It was two parts, altering the element and its controller. I couldn't hold it very long though."
"It is somewhat impressive that you managed it all, given the timeframe," Lona admits. "I could do the same, but only in my own workshop."
Well, Du seems pretty pleased by that. Linnea finishes healing his hands at that point and pipes up herself, "So what was that big ugly thing anyway?"
"A necrotic abomination," Lona responds simply as you and Du climb back to your feet, "A class of undead that includes all manner of vile things. They have little in common with one another."
Around that time, the smelly remains of the corpse finish dissolving and disgorge their bounty.
45 Deucite Shards
1 Deucite Chunk
Flayed Cloak: A cloak of finely flensed and stitched together fleshleather, smells faintly of formaldehyde. Quality 2 Defense vs Lightning and Necrotic Damage. Accessory(Shoulders)
Black Blade: A greatsword made of black metal, cold to the touch. Quality 3 Cold damage. Greatsword
Necromancer's Ring: A small platinum band forged in the shape of a skull. Provides +2 to power when worn.
+30 XP
Huh… that's a pretty big pile of a loot. The cloak is kinda gross, but also pretty nice… you can tell everybody is thinking of the chunk there. The sparkling hunk of reddish purple crystal is the size of one of your smaller companions fists… and it's the first of the much rarer commodities you've seen.
[] Make your case for Loot.
-1 Arc Smash, -1Skullcracker, -1 Meteor Smash, -1 Invulnerable
(The above is the total the encounter dropped. So yes, you're whole group has one chunk to 'divide' between them. Also, I feel I should note. Elite Enemies and Bosses do NOT respawn.)