Wiggily wobbly

Several city guard have gathered up on the eastern edges of the Alexandria lands, bordering the desolation. Several sand dunes can be seen in the near distance. The guards are busy digging trenches and carting in alchemical fire. As the adventures come up a captain approaches them. "Hail and well met, thank you for your joining us in helping. Our scouts report the maggots are nearby and will be coming into view soon. The trenches are not quiet ready yet and we need to hold the maggots off a bit longer while we get them ready to burn. So ummm..." he pauses, 'you willing to distract?"

"Maggots," exclaims Vomitdreg, "Is this an eat-what-you-kill sort-of situation?!" Tiny hands rub together with enthusiastic anticipation, "I remember the time the animated river of mashed potatoes attacked that outpost and all the humans were gorging on its corpse. I said to myself, 'what if, maggots did the same thing'?!"

Now he's looking at the group gesturing furiously with his hands, "Dream come true!"

"Does anyone have a fork?"

Shizin nods low to the city guard, blue eyes looking over the odd situation. Then glancing - bit paler - at the one who had suggested eating them. Wordlessly draws a bow and violin from within the folds of long robes and watches the horizon with expectation that does nothing to hide the mild sense of horror that the thought of eating these things brings to mind.

One of those guards who is helping all the guards get all the things in order, pauses in his task and salutes at the captain. "Sir!" he offers. "I request to be allowed to assist in this endeavor!" Yeah, he's just another one of the random guards around here, but apparently this particular 'rando guard' wants to help by doing something else than digging trenches and pulling carts.

"Maggots?" This query comes from the slight form of a Traveler. One that is in the very not-slight form of...what looks like Artificer armor. Khazad styled armor too. His eyes are bright and his grin broad as he looks around. "I mean that really doesn't sound like a great heroic start for an adventuring career but you know I'll take what I can get! I mean what if they are /huge/ maggots! Then you can ride them right? Oh oh I wonder if you can make armor for them. I mean really you can technically make armor for anything right?"

His topknot bounces as he nods furiously to his own statement.

"So is this huuuuuuuuuuge maggots or lots of normal maggots or somewhere in bettween. I mean...and what made them crawl all this way. I mean they are really small if they are the small ones and if they are really small I bet they are really tired."

A longer pause.

"I bet it's magic!"

He makes the statement with such faith. He knows he's right.

"...wait eating them? I mean..." A longer pause. "Double wait! Animated mashed potatoes?! How does that even work?!"

Hanging around since the very idea of maggots was spoken, a tall basket-headed being had been near. Now that adventurer's seemed to be coming to assist, Whuridred simply stood with them, as if she had supposed to have been there the entire time. The smells in the air seem to incite the bag she carries on her back, its burlap writhing and squeaking. She doesn't speak, but her interest does seem to focus on Vomitdreg's own.

One of the guards huhs as he looks out east towards the sand dunes, "uhh captain. I swear that sand dune wasn't there a few minutes ago." Pointing towards a dune, which if people watch it will notice that the sand dune is very white, and moving closer towards the group. Around the dune are giant maggots the size of horses wiggling their way along towards the guards and trenches.

Several of the guards have stopped digging for a moment to stare at Vomitdreg and look a bit pale. One of the guards, a goblin seems excited, "I wonder how they taste, save some for me!" Then goes back to digging.

<OOC> Shizin says, "Can I roll a knowledge nature on them?"
<OOC> Astaren says, "Yes"
GAME: Shizin rolls Knowledge/Nature: (14)+10: 24
GAME: Whuridred refreshes spells.

For a long moment, there is silence from the lovely dawn elf, holding bow and violin in hand. Eyes wide in shock at the sheer volume of creatures which they face. It is clearly unnatural. Clearly enough so as to make one's stomach roil with wondering how nature could be perverted in such a way. "Oh my." The sound is soft, so quiet as to barely be considered words but Shizin still moves. Still walks quickly to where the horde of maggots can best be 'distracted' from. Then; begins to violently play the violin being held in hand.

<OOC> Shizin says, "Will play to incite action in my comrades then."
<OOC> Astaren says, "ok!"
GAME: Whuridred casts Entangle. Caster Level: 2 DC: 14

...

"Oh!" Keldin speaks up helpfully. "Both kinds! Big ones and little ones! Oh maybe the big ones carried the little ones here! That would make sense! And then they deployed them like a great ugly white wave!" A pause. "Or tasty white wave if that's your thing! I mean it's not my thing but if it's your thing I'm totally not judging!"

Still he clicks on the systems of his armor, eyeing one of the larger ones with a grin. "Finally! I get to test out my smashfirst mark 1!"

The basket woman pulls the bag off her back, its wriggling excited with the chance of escape. Dark burnished hands reach into the bag, fishing about for a moment before making a sharp grab. Drawing forth from the bag, a cephalopod like creature wraps tentacles around Whuridred's wrist as if trying to prove strength, but it is too small. Closer examination would show it was actually a plant.

Whuridred scoops a shallow hole in the ground, and sets the thing in it. "Shhhh," she coohs, and coaxes it down. After gesturing to the coming swarm, she pours water upon it, and its tentacles disappear into the ground. A soft rumble is heard and then is quiet. Three blinks later a forty foot mass explodes forth from the ground before the swarm, vegetation swirling and grabbing to slow its progress.

The massive hill of maggots has the entangle wraps around it, and it doesn't just slow them down, but brings the mound to a complete stop. The maggots wiggle and wobble for a couple of minutes, then starts to move again. Turns out they completely ate the vegetation from the entangle leaving nothing behind. The guards continue to work furiously at digging a trench, some of them are starting to pour oil into parts of the trench that are completed. "We need a few more minutes! Keep slowing them down like that!" calls out the captain.

Well, he hasn't really been given leave yet to leave his post, but those maggots are massive, and they're coming in fast. So he picks up his sword and shield, and stands before the place they're trying to fortify. He'll do what he can to help with the others' methods.

<OOC> Vomitdreg says, "How wide a spread of magots?"
<OOC> Astaren says, "from one end to the other, roughly 400ft. With a few giant maggots trailing at each side."
GAME: Whuridred rolls knowledge/nature +2: (2)+10+2: 14
<OOC> Whuridred says, "Blarg..."

Vomitdreg has a fork!

He moves to the crest of the hill with the companions and watches the wave annihilate the overgrowth, "Oh," he says with a pang of worry, "That's too many to eat alone.." hooked-nose wrinkles and he seems to consider the situation for a long moment. He then begins to pat himself down with his free hand. Chest. Torso. Belt. Pouch. Ah, yes.

Vomit dreg pulls out a small wrapped candy. He begins to work the wrapping off before popping it in his mouth. He sucks upon it viciously for a moment and then swallows it whole.

"What if, the wasn't candy. Instead it was an egg. No, wait, it was an egg-sac. It was a sac full of spiders. Not just normal spiders but the kind of spiders that really like to eat maggots. Like that's their sole purpose in life is to hunt down and eat maggots. Except they are in my stomach where there's no maggots but they can /smell/ the maggots outside of me and so.." he sort-of gags here, doubling over in pain, "the maggot eating spiders. They, they, they want out!"

• PUUUUUUUUUUKE* he begins projectile vomiting. A foul blackish green mass splatters in a cone in front of him. It's disgusting. The mass quivers and what appeared to be chunks of food are actually spiders. Hundreds? Thousands? A LOT of spiders! They set course for the spiders. Their favorite meal.

<OOC> Astaren says, "the grossness of my maggots just got 1 uped..."
<OOC> Shizin says, "Agreed"
GAME: Vomitdreg refreshes spells.
GAME: Vomitdreg casts Vomit Swarm. Caster Level: 3 DC: 17
GAME: Aegis accepts a meet and will arrive momentarily.

The spider swarm meets maggot swarm, and a feat begins! Spiders eat maggots, maggots eat spiders. This brings the swarm to a stop for several minutes, but in the end the maggots win by sheer numbers. The swarm slowly starts to crawl its way towards the group again.

The guards on the other hand have stopped working for a brief moment as well, some of them puking up their lunches from what they saw Vomitdreg to. The captain barks at them to get back to work, but is clearly very pale himself, and trying his best not to look in Vomitdreg's direction. He does nod to Whuridred, "got any more of those entangles, seemed to work well in slowing them down."

Crunching ground can be heard, as a couple of giant maggots dig their way out of the ground around Shizin!

Whuridred watches with apt curiosity as the gobber vomits forth the swarm. She runs her hand under their many legs as they escape, and watches them charge forth. Straightening, she looks to the guard and shakes her head sadly. Rubbing her chin, she thinks. Back to the bag, she opens it wide and ducks her head inside. Wrestling with something large, she drags forth a long flat creature. Its hundred legs writhe, and its fangs snap snap snap! She points the giant centipede at the maggots, and then lets it go. The process is repeated, and the size of her bag is greatly reduced as the two giant hunters charge.

GAME: Shizin casts Solid Note. Caster Level: 2 DC: 14
GAME: Whuridred casts Aspect of the Falcon. Caster Level: 2 DC: 14
GAME: Whuridred casts Flare Burst. Caster Level: 2 DC: 14

Shizin's music changed, becoming a solid thing around the bard as the elf pushed backwards and offered in a startled tone, "Here!"

The giant centipedes rush into the maggot swarm, and start to eat their way into it. The maggots though return the favor unafraid as they start to eat the giant centipede back. The larger maggots actually seem to take notice and turn towards the giant centipedes and dive into the swarm clearly hungry for the larger creatures. For now, the maggot swarm is not moving. One of the maggots on shizin gets crushed by the solid note, the other one stops pursuing Shizin and turns on its fallen brother and starts to eat it.

Vomitdreg has managed to vomit on himself. A little bit. Spider's dropping off of his chest and then scuttling to join the feast.

"Oy," he's still doubled over midway gripping his mid-section, gagging, spitting, sometimes projecting a spider, "that'll make some room for maggots."

"Oh, oh no," eyes widen in terror, "I'm not done."

• PUUUUUUKE* it's coming in waves now. More spiders. It's mostly sickly yellow bile now but the bile is full of spiders. Spiders that are hungry for maggots. Vomitdreg collapses to the ground gagging. Drooling, spiders, erupting clambering out of his mouth and nose.

GAME: Vomitdreg casts Vomit Swarm. Caster Level: 3 DC: 17

Keldin blinks as others come up with various ways to stop things.

The little traveler grins easily as he pulls a strange contraption from his back, eyes flicking over to Shizin's problems as a bright grin finds its way to his face.

His weapon, long and thin barrel filled with runework and glowing tubes of different kinds, aims downrange.

"Kill the big ones!" He calls out helpfully. "It'll distract them!"

Adjusting something on the rifle-like weapon he fires, stroking the trigger with care. A green beam erupts from the muscle of the weapon to streak towards one of the bigger maggots going after the centipedes. The beam writing around it, slowing it, sticking it to the ground as he concentrates fire.

<OOC> Keldin says, "Deathray, and it has the tanglefoot bag effect on the maggot!"
<OOC> Astaren says, "Ok!"

The maggot gets bound, and quickly becomes helpless. Some nearby maggots seem to detect this, and decide that the giant maggot is their next meal! The spiders go to war with the maggots, seeing who can eat each other the fastest. The guards seem to be getting used to this crazy and continue to dig and fill the trench with oil. "Almost done! Just a few more minutes!"

<OOC> Shizin says, "How close now?"
<OOC> Astaren says, "Oh the swarm, a good 20ft from you."
<OOC> Whuridred says, "Ha!"
<OOC> Whuridred says, "The trench and oil is behind us?"
<OOC> Astaren says, "... yes"
<OOC> Whuridred says, "Ah!"
<OOC> Astaren says, "Got something in mind shizin?"
<OOC> Shizin says, "Yes, but they need to be a LITTLE closer :3"
<OOC> Astaren says, "YOu could five foot up to them to make it 15ft, or mvoe even closer if you date"
<OOC> Shizin says, "True!"
GAME: Shizin casts Chord of Shards. Caster Level: 2 DC: 14

"I don't feel so well," Vomitdreg explains, "What if, that big maggot feels as bad as I do. Maybe it vomited up all of those maggots and so its stomach hurts. So now it's feeling bad. Like if you had been drinking all night and then woke up. It's mouth is dry and it's a bit dizzy.."

Shizin moves forward just a little, music quickening and sharpening into a deafening whine. The sort of sound to make the ears bleed, but the sound centered, aimed at the mass of maggots which came toward them more and more. The crescendo of music crashed down on them like a million shards of glass.

With the swarm so close, and everyone giving it their all, Whuridred must dig into her secret stash. Her shoulders rise and fall in a sigh. Reaching up to the nest atop her hat, she digs around under the fat sleeping bird. It squawks and protests as she pulls forth a pearlescent egg. Cracking it, she pours it upon the plant from earlier. Its leaves turn green again, and once again vegetation bursts forth beneath the maggots. She then turns and runs and jumps to the safe side of the trench, a hand waving at the others accompanied by a high pitch whistle.

<OOC> Vomitdreg says, "I use an evil eye hex on the big maggot's Saving Throws. DC 16."
GAME: Astaren rolls 1d20-1: (11)+-1: 10
<OOC> Astaren says, "Failed"
<OOC> Vomitdreg says, "-2 to saves!"
<OOC> Whuridred says, "For those not in my pages. Pearl of power to refresh and recast entangle."

The sound shards cut into the swarm, killing hundreds easily. The maggots swarm start to eat their own and slow down even more. the new entangle proves to be a great source of food, and even more maggots turn their attention onto that. The guards start to shout, "Get back over the trenches quickly!" A couple of wooden bridges being thrown down, "Or get caught on that side."

"Okay, okay, okay," Vomit says rapidly, "What if," he starts to stand, "That the big maggot feels so bad that it's just terrible at everything. Like it should have just really stayed home today because it's going to have a hard time doing anything productive.." the little gobber begins backing up, "in fact it would go home but it's maggot boss wanted a sick note and it doesn't have enough money to make the deductible and so it goes to work anyway and its job is attacking the city. So here it is but its not going to be successful."

He starts running back towards the trenches, "What if, What if..."

Shizin runs over the bridge without question or delay; having no desire to watch the horde devour itself.

Whuridred pulls her last trick out of her hat, literally reaching up under it and pulling out a bowling ball of a bullfrog. Its skin is bright red, and it seems to give off a heat about it. She pets its back, speaking to it in sounds. Coohs, and caws. Its eyes flicker, and its belly seems to expand. She waits, ready, a hand hovering over the bullfrog's back. Should she give the little guy a squeeze, what might occur.

Whuridred holding action. "When all are across, and the maggots first hit the trench. Some big ones in that mess. Burning hands."

"Oh nice a bridge!" Keldin exclaims happily. "I mean I could totally have jumped that but I hate fire on my boots. It just never ends well and then my teacher, he's a dwarf, my teacher he goes and shouts about how I never take care of my things. Which is totally a lie I take fine care of my things! They hardly ever explode or stop working. Mostly. For the most part."

He says all this without taking a breath, backing over one of the bridges as he fires again, the green beam tangling round a second large maggot like a live thing.

Then a pause.

"Can maggots get dry mouth? Like...do they have mouths?"

With the group over the bridge, the maggots for a while appear to be focused on eating themselves, but still continue to inch closer towards the trench. as they hit the trench Whuridred cast burning hands, and everything erupts in flames. The maggots then start to rush into the flames in a frenzy, either driven by the burning flesh thinking its food, or some other force. A good half hour goes by as maggots feed themselves to the flames. The smell for most is atrocious from rotten flesh to sweet apples. Everything the maggots have eaten is burning right now.

Shizin's music dies off, both in sound and in heartening. There is nothing lovely about this destruction, so the elf tucks the violin away and backs from the flames slowly. It is horrific really, and yet in that way almost impossible to not see.

The bullfrog belches loudly after having spit forth what looked to be a wave of fire. Whuridred petted the creature tenderly before tucking him back up under her hat. She spins to face her companions, long thin arms folding across her chest. Beneath the brim of her hat she smiles at the group, unbothered by the smell.

GAME: Whuridred casts Burning Hands. Caster Level: 2 DC: -87

Tilting his head and wrinkling his nose, Keldin just frowns slightly at all the smells and the burning, but then brightens again. "Well!" He finally says after some minutes of watching. "That is a good job done I think! ...too bad we never found out /why/ the maggots are coming. I mean...that...seems to me it would be important..."

-End-