The Necromancer's Guild

[Baphởmet]

After a rough start, the bout seemed to be underway in earnest. All three of the raccoons had realized who exactly their opponent was (not the guy with the sword) and attempted a coordinated attack. They would need a coordinated attack to beat this foe. The coordination was there, the three raccoons attacked in something like a ‘Y’ shaped attacked, two attacked from the rear (the smarter pair of raccoons appropriately) and one attacking from the front, a half berserk barbarian of a raccoon. Nyrrigos could have sworn he saw the creature foaming at the mouth. Instinctively, he took a step back, assumed a more defensive stance in case it tried to attack him again, and tightened his grip on the sword’s hilt.

The spider, it seemed, did not have such apprehension. Quick as lightning, the spider turned the tables on the oncoming attackers, spinning and spraying a blast of sticky web material at the rabid raccoon (the only way Nyrrigos could keep track of which was which). The web didn’t fully encompass the raccoon, hitting him in the chest and knocking him flat on his back in the sand. He wasn’t bound, but it would take him a second to get all the webbing off. With their plan of attack rapidly going awry, the raccoons couldn’t react in time as the spider rushed forward, barely leaving prints in the sand as she moved, within a few feet of them, she sprung, bounding like the tiny annoying spiders Nyrrigos found infesting some of the back rooms of his dwelling. He shuddered involuntarily. She knocked one aside, sending him tumbling in a spray of sand and, with fangs jabbing, managed to nick the last raccoon as he tried to go for her legs. He managed to wrap up a single leg before he was bit though. He was now clinging on for dear life, alone in a direct face-to-face confrontation with the spider.

Nyrrigos felt something slither passed him. He looked down, instantly ready to stab one of the raccoons if they attacked him, but found nothing. That unnerved him. The sand shifted a bit, like an insect or rodent was burrowing into it. His eyes bugged. The sand was already awake? This was going to be rough bout. As casually as he could, he moved away from the cannibal sand as it shivered and stretched itself, already hungry for another meal, spider, raccoon, or human, it made no difference to the sand. Meat was meat.

Round 2:
The Raccoon Brothers @Fuin Elda (missed a 6) – the three pronged attacked failed to result in a hit, Reginald is covered in spider web and must remove it so that it does not impair his movement or attacks. If he does not, the attacks and his balance checks will be at disadvantage. Bob has been knocked across the arena, leaving Hob all alone, grabbing onto the leg of the spider.

Rissud @Call of Cthulhu (hit on a 12) – countering the raccoon attack, Rissud was able to turn the tables and separate her foes so as to deal with them one by one. It’s a smart tactic, but risky as any wrong step can lead to disaster.

Speaking of any wrong step, the Cannibal Sands have awoken and are hungry for flesh. In addition to the attack rolls, I will be rolling balance checks to see if you can maintain your standing position as the sand swirl around you and start to bite (a 10 or higher will keep you standing) so be sure to adjust your fighting styles accordingly.

The Raccoon Brothers – 23 HP
Rissud – 25 HP

[Aduchil]

Aduchil and the Myconid Mead Companion

Aduchil glanced around the room. The entertainment in this place seemed doubtful, as in, the Elf doubted it was real. From what he knew of raccoons, they would have disemboweled their opponents long ago. Touching a scar across his stomach from his tussle with the raccoon garbage disposal mafia, Aduchil had first-had experience of that. Probably this was some pretend affair, where they simulated to leave people stimulated. Pathetic. As a connoisseur of stimulants, the Elf only respected the real thing.

The tiny creature's muffled noises reached him, and in turn, he reached a long arm over to grab it and plop it onto a chair. This also allowed enough time to pass for Aduchil to parse the earlier question. "How can you control others unless you first control yourself? Knowledge is power, francis is bacon," the culinary maestro declared. "You must first conquer inward before you can rule outwards." Words were feeble; how to show this stool for toads?

Absent-mindedly, not just in this moment but in general, Aduchil touched the small package inside the folds of his clothes. What was this? Digging it out, he took a sniff. Even through the package, he knew exactly what it was. Perfect! The Elf had no idea why he had prepared a consigment of his finest wares, but it had to be his incredible foresight; so much fore, he did not even realise he had sighted it. Afore. Was that a real word?

Never mind. To the matter at mind. Hand. Aduchil opened the package. "This, my diminutive dilettante, is what you need." He showed the contents: the most delicate, dried death caps harvested from dank domains beyond Dorwinion. "Dig in."

[Marceline]

Shroomîsh

A large hand lifted Shroomîsh onto a chair. It was not the seat it had hoped for, but it was better than being stuck under the table. It could see part of the tall being’s face, and it could see what was going on in the pit: the vast spider and the three raccoons had begun their struggle against each other. Shroomîsh observed for a moment, wondering when the action would really begin. It scowled. Blood must be spilled! The fight must go faster!

It had no idea what or who Bacon was, let alone why the tall one had invoked their name. But there were some things that Shroomîsh knew innately. “Control myself? Why, I was born ready to control myself. But it is ordained that I should control others as well.”

It stood on tiptoe (did it even have toes?) to peek into the parcel revealed by the tall one. If Shroomîsh had had eyebrows, they would have shot up in shock at what it saw: its distant brethren presented in a shriveled, deathly form. It satisfied itself with a horrified squawk. “What… What happened to them?” Shroomîsh asked, squeaky voice quavering. Was this a threat? An act of war? Is that what a “date” was? A prelude to battle, a dance of dominion?

“Such slaughter is unnecessary when you are equipped as I am,” Shroomîsh sniffed, recovering its composure. Perhaps it had misunderstood the tall one’s intentions. It was still rather new to life, after all. It would give its companion another chance. “Allow me to demonstrate what I mean. Then perhaps you can decide for yourself if you’d like a sample.”

The little mushroom’s face scrunched up in an unmistakable expression of exertion and focus. A shrill “HNNNNNNNNNN” sound escaped its mouth as, with a final, strenuous push, it ejected a large cloud of spores from the top of its head. The cloud floated purposefully toward the spider, which had just attempted to bite one of the raccoons.

“This fight is far too dull,” Shroomîsh intoned. “Let us spice things up a bit. With these spores, I shall make that spider tap-dance, and then its mind shall be so overcome with the power of my spores that it will forget the limitations of this physical world. It will have strength untold!!” For the first time in its short life, the belly button mushroom cackled.

(OOC: GMing of the spider done with Frost’s permission)

[Raisins]

Three Raccoons.

Reginald snarled in rage at the sticky web on his face tearing it off, and a goodly portion of his own fur fortunately that was thick and luxurious and honestly it would not be missed except perhaps the one whisker that had pulled out of his face with the webbing as he ripped it off. Of course his hands were still absolutely covered in the stuff and he worked to wipe it off on the arse end of the spider itself, this time being more careful about where the spinnerette was and where it was pointed he decided as soon as his hands were free of the horrible mess he was going to start tearing the spider apart from that particular appendage first.

Bob for his part tucked and rolled and regained his feet a long ways from the action, his sharp little teeth showing in a snarl before he charged right back in to help his brother who was holding onto the spiders leg, Hob was going to need help soon this spider was trickier than it looked but Bob as on his way back and Reginald it seemed was looking like he too would be back in the fight right away though he was not able to help Hob this round. HOb for his part decided being alone that the best option until Reginald had his hands and face free and Bob was back that he would have to simply hold on for the ride and try to make sure that the spider didn't manage to bite him

Defend

[Baphởmet]

The raccoons were slow playing her now. None of them were going in for an attack. She clicked her chelicerae in giddy expectancy, the closest thing a spider could do to convey its happiness. They’d been reckless before, charging at her without regard for her abilities. She’d taught them a lesson. They weren’t all stupid though. The one she’d blasted with webbing was flying further in a berserk rage, she could sense his screaming through the tiny vibrations along the hairs of her leg. She clicked her chelicerae again and pointed one her limbs at him, challenging the raccoon, hoping to draw him into something reckless once he was free of the web and able to attack again. The second one was watching and keeping his distance. Likely studying her movements, she surmised. She wished him luck. The only concern she had was the raccoon currently in a death grip on one of her forelegs. He was going to be hard to shake off. The more she tried, the tighter his grip seemed to become. She was going to need to pry his grubby little hands off her leg before she would be able to attack again, the angle was all wrong as it stood now.

Then something happened. She took in a breath, but that breath felt different, like she’d breathed in something other than just the musty air of the fighting pit. She paused for a second, trying to figure out what had just happened to her. But when nothing happened, she tried to resume her attack on the raccoon clinging to her leg, when she did something happened and she felt and uncontrollable urge to dance. What was this? Her legs, all eight of them, began to move to the rhythm of something unheard music. What was going on? She was only vaguely aware that something was wrong with her. She lost all interesting in the raccoons, her brain sending her messages to her limbs that she ought to start dancing.

And so she did. Spiders, however, have no natural rhythm. Whatever it was that she had breathed in though, provided the rhythm she required. She began to tap and tap and tap and taptaptaptaptaptap until all eight legs were tapping and clicking to the rhythm of the music. What music? There was no music. But she could feel it. Her brain was sending her messages, telling her there was music coming from somewhere and if she didn’t dance, she’d… her brain was unclear on what might happen. Would she lose out on meal mate? Would a predator fly down and snatch her up? Would she lose out on prey susceptible to hypnosis? She wasn’t sure. All she was sure of was that she needed to dance. Click, tap. Click, tap, tap, click. Click, click, tap. Tap, tap, click. She was full of energy, her feet tapping the sand, alternating jumping from one set of four to the other, from he back legs to her forelegs and back again.

What the heck? Her brain cleared and immediately sent her a message to stop whatever it was she was doing. What had she been doing? She was no in the same place she’d been just a moment before. Somehow the raccoon and been tossed off her leg, but she had no memory of how that happened. Her pedipalps tested the air, sensing anything amiss. There was a strange, earthy odor that she tasted, but nothing beyond that and even that was too odd and obscure for her to understand how it might be connected. She’d have to figure that out later, right now she had a raccoon to savage. Her fangs extended and she went in for another bite.

Attack

[Baphởmet]

A normal fight, that’s all he wanted. Two combatants, beating the every loving pulp out of each other until one of them falls over and gets eaten by sentient, hungry sand. Was that too much to ask for? Nyrrigos didn’t think so. And if that was the case, why in Sauron’s black earth did he have to put up with this nonsense? A fight between a spider and a trio of raccoons was dumb enough, but did he really have to watch the spider tap dance around the pit? What the hell was going on here? The orc squinted and looked out at the audience; from what he could tell, they seemed to be enjoying the fight. No one was booing at least (not that they would, as booing would get them kicked out by Korgrîn before they had a chance to close their mouths). There was an elf and what looked like a mushroom closest to the pit, the mushroom looking very angry and interested in the fight. He rubbed his eyes. A mushroom? Nyrrigos was going to need a very strong drink after this fight.

Once the spider stopped dancing though, as inexplicably as it had begun, the fight resumed in deadly earnest. The raccoons regrouped, well perhaps regroup was the wrong word, reassessed would be more accurate. They’d previously gone headlong into the spider and that had gotten them covered in sticky webbing or clinging to the spider’s leg for dear life. They were smarter now, coordinating their movements with each other to keep out of range of the spider as it performed the strange little ritual dance, but staying close to one another should the spider decide to attack at random. The one covered in spider web looking like he was going to have an aneurysm if he didn’t attack something, Nyrrigos could sympathize with that. He watched as the raccoon tore bits of his own fur out in order to get the spider web off him, a little more than eager to rejoin the fight. Had he ever seen a bald raccoon before? Did he want to? The image in his mind was both hilarious and terrifying. He coughed, better focus on the fight and worry about hairless raccoon nightmare fuel later.

The spider managed to free herself of the raccoon on her leg, shaking it hard enough that the tiny paws of the creature slipped off, it managed to roll out of the way of the clicking feet and not get stomped. The spider went in for the bit as the raccoon rolled away and managed to snag him on the foot. Nyrrigos winced. Spider fangs hurt when they were normal sized, a bit on the foot like that was going to sting. Blood trailed from wound, tiny red splotches on the sand. They only lasted a second though, the sand swirled and skittered and made some sort of chewing sound as it covered the blood stains. Nyrrigos groaned.

Round 3:
The Racoon Brothers @Fuin Elda (no attack; rolled a 2 on balance check, taking 2 points of damage from the sand) – the fighting pit itself seems to be against you right now. Despite having a sound strategy of keeping your distance until you can regroup, the spider manages to snag a bite on poor Hob. The blood awakens the sand right next to him and it skitters up his leg, tearing away part of his hair as it tries to get to his meaty flesh.

Rissud @Call of Cthulhu (hit on a disadvantaged roll with an 11, dealing 3 points of damage to the raccoons; rolled a 4 on the balance check, taking 4 points damage from the sand) – whatever it was that possessed you to dance (despite everyone watching) managed to help you get into a better position to attack the raccoon. Unfortunately, the sand nearby was alert to your presence and nearly chewed through one of your back legs before you managed to shake it off.

The Raccoon Brothers – 18 HP
Rissud – 21 HP

[Raisins]

Three Raccoons

Hob let out a little growl as the sand skittered up his leg and he thought it was just a really bad case of sandfleas which were horrible and itchy things, he jumped away attempting to shake it off the sand and the bite, his brothers had gotten back in the fight though and the Hob lunged at the spider seeing that it as now wounded in one back leg they Hob decided to try to keep the spiders attention on him going back in to try to grab a front leg to try to further lame up the spider not realizing it was the sand that had harmed the creature and not his brothers. If Bob and Reginald could tear off another leg on the same side as the other damaged one they'd probably have a much easier time of bringing the fairly large and tasty looking spider down.

Bob and Reginald were now both on the rump side of the spider and wary of the webbing that had shot out, both had heard Hob yelp, but he was the toughest out of all of them having lost part of his tail to Fang a few years ago, so a spider bite, shouldn't be too horribly bad in the end as long as they managed to kill the spider before it killed them. The sand eating the leg was, a little off, but Bob gave a low chitter to Reginald, noticing the lack of blood and the sand consuming it as it were. If they could get the sand to take down another leg that would be fantastic. They bounded in closing the distance quickly seeing Hob lunge back in at the spiders front legs trying to give them a distraction so the spider wouldn't sense them until it was too late just before them making sure that he had the beasts attention. Both aimed for the same leg, beside the already damaged one in an attempt to topple the spider into the sand so that the sandfleas could eat it and help them out. After all they didn't really want the gooey leg juices... they wanted the crunchy shell.


Attack

[Aduchil]

Aduchil and the Funky Fungus

Aduchil watched his compact companion with scepsis. Only someone of dubious character would refuse an offering from the guru of gastronomy. The Elf checked that his emergency cutlery was in place, just in case this came to blows. For now, he would allow this experiment to unfold. He turned his gaze onto the spider, waiting for the effect as foretold by the tiny tot. It was true; the spider began some manner of charade, which could be characterised as dancing. While digging into a box of snacks conveniently already in his hands, Aduchil watched without being particularly impressed. To someone who had once resorted to the pasodoble in order to escape a tribe of marooned marauders turned cannibals in the icy wastes of Forodwaith, the spider's dancing was amateurish at best. Though admittedly, it was better than any other dancing spider that Aduchil had ever come across; mostly because he had never come across any.

As his fingers dug around his box of snacks, Aduchil looked down to see one slice of mushrooms left. Oh dear. That was probably rude of him to have eaten nearly all of them. Certainly that pink oliphaunt in the corner was sending him death glares. Who was playing the marseillaise, on a trombone no less, and why could he see the sounds? He thrust the box towards the... badger? Whatever creature was at his table. "It's eat or be eaten," Aduchil said; famous last words of a certain frosty cannibal just before the pasodoble had sent him into a coma. With a smile, Aduchil grabbed the last slice of mushroom and threw it in his mouth.

[Baphởmet]

Things had been going well for Rissud, until the sand came to life and nearly gnawed off one her legs. She didn’t scream, not exactly, as spiders don’t have the ability to scream or make any sort of vocalization; but anything close enough to her would have been able to feel in their heads how much that hurt. Giant spiders had a whiff of psychic abilities (how else would the great mother Ungoliant been able to communicate?) and even Rissud, tiny as she was in comparison, would have been able to send out tiny mind knives as she was briefly consumed in the agony of the sand ripping through her legs.

She staggered back, the legs hanging by a few fibrous threads. She was weakened, but she was still managing to hold her own against three opponents. They were again coming at her in a ‘Y’ formation, this time trying to take her from the rear. She clacked her pedipalps together angrily, forcing her broken limb to move in concert with the other seven. Electric bolts of pain seemed to fill her entire body as she moved, but as she tried to reposition herself so that she could at least see all three raccoons out of her periphery the pain shifted into the background. She needed focus. Her lungs took in a full breath of air.

With nothing short of arachnid grace, she danced forward into the middle of the pit, her hooked feet barely touching the ground as she darted back toward the three raccoons. She opened her jaws as wide as she could make them and raised her front two legs so high off the ground that she doubled in height. Recognizing the leader of the trio, the one that had been able to hang onto her leg before that weird dancing interlude had distracted from her focus (thankfully she paid no mind to the critics in the crowd), she aimed a quick stab downward from her front leg into the creatures kneecap, hoping to hobble him enough that he’d have to fall back so she could deal with the lesser two trash pandas. Again, quick as lightning, she aimed her spinnerets and shot a line of her strongest silk toward the opposite wall. Once the web was firmly attached, she launched herself, injured leg and all, along the silk so that she able to find purchase on the wall, away from the hungry, biting sand. She needed no second lesson in how dangerous it could be.

Attack

[Baphởmet]

The sand always made things interesting. When the fight was boring (or it was a bunch of bloody animals putzing about) the sand knew how to turn the fight into something a little more. Instead of a fight between two sets of combatants simply trying to kill each other, the fight turned into a battle for survival, sacrificing one’s opponent to the hungry, shifting, strangely alive sand. Nyrrigos was very happy the sand started moving early in this fight. Spiders and raccoons were stupid opponents and he didn’t want to have to officiate this fight any longer than was necessary. On a scale of one to ten, this bout was a measly two, the sand made it a three. The orc stifled a yawn, and looked up at the private boxes he knew had been filled. There was going to have to be some groveling and apologizing to a certain anise scented eldritch terror later for the lack of good entertainment.

The raccoons were back to their tried and true three pronged attack. Two attacked at once this time, leaving the third as a distraction for the spider. However, their attacks went astray when the spider jolted out of the way. The movement was janky and uneven, and the spider nearly toppled over as she tried to overcompensate for the injury to her leg, the same leg the raccoons had gone for. They hadn’t managed to injure the spider, but their attack did throw her off balance. She jabbed a foreleg into the defending raccoon, the one seemingly meant to distract her and her hooked foot found meat. The attack, however, was off balance and thus the wound itself was only superficial. It was just enough, the raccoon screeched and took a swipe at the spider’s great abdomen. The blow landed but the spider was moving too quickly for the raccoon’s claws to penetrate the thick exoskeleton. The spider then flittered away, using it’s spinnerets to throw a strand of silk to the opposite wall where it clung, out of reach from the sand. The raccoons, too, recovering from their failed attack on the spider were nimble enough to dance away from the sand as it tried to attach itself to their paws.

Nyrrigos shrugged noncommittally and stifled another yawn, his attention to the fight wavivering. At least they were moving around more.

Round 4:
The Raccoon Brothers @Fuin Elda (missed on a 6; rolled a nat 20 on balance roll, taking no damage from the sand) – the spider has managed to get away from you, despite the well planned pincer attack. Thankfully though, you were not distracted by bickering about whose fault it was that the attack failed and all managed to get away from the sand before it start biting into your legs. Reginald though, is a bit hobbled by the spider’s attack. How will you regroup and attack a spider that has remembered it can climb along the walls of the arena?

Rissud @Call of Bearthulhu (hit on a 16, dealing 2 damage to the raccoon brothers; no roll for balance as the character did not end up on the sand) – Still hobbled by the injury, you manage to escape what could have been a very bad situation by the hair on your legs. You managed to do some damage, but again that only seems to enrage your opponent rather than make them fear you. The good news is you’ve remembered you’re a spider and can climb along the walls, but the raccoons have seen you as well and will likely do everything in their power to knock you over.

The Raccoon Brothers – 16 HP
Rissud – 21 HP