imp

Ander plants himself on the dry threshold, shield covering the passage. He does not chase Gullian into the black grease. “Right. Come through me.” He cuts at the captain from firm ground.

Ander Vale misses Captain Gullian

Gullian sinks bonelessly beneath Ander’s cut. The sword passes over his slick head, and the captain rises again behind his spear. “Assault! Before Her Murkiness!” Five more broad heads surface ten feet from the doors. Farther into the grotto, something vast shifts in the black pool. A slow voice rolls from the dark: “Oh, Gullian. Let them try.” Anyone entering the grease moves at half speed. There is no running, charging, or fighting withdrawal in it. The grease will burn.

“Five close. One big, farther back.” Brea stays on dry stone beside the passage and puts an arrow into the nearest surfaced guard.

Brea Thornwick hits gloop guard 1 for 2

Brea’s arrow punches into the nearest broad chest for 2 damage. The guard folds around the shaft, then resurfaces snarling.

Captain Gullian misses Ander Vale

Gullian lunges from the grease and drives his spear at Ander. The point scrapes across the shield rim and skids wide.

gloop guard 1 misses Brea Thornwick

The wounded guard hurls its spear back at Brea. It clatters against the iron door.

One of the distant groomers dives. A black wake knifes toward the doors, then stops behind Gullian’s front rank.

gloop guard 2 misses Ander Vale

A second spear thuds into Ander’s shield and hangs there, quivering.

gloop guard 3 misses Brea Thornwick

Another spear sails high past Brea and vanishes into the passage.

gloop guard 4 misses Ander Vale

A third spear clips Ander’s pauldron but cannot bite through the chain.

gloop guard 5 misses Brea Thornwick

The last spear of the front rank strikes stone at Brea’s feet. Holding the threshold has kept the volley out.

A guard streaks through the grease toward the western tiers, keeping an unbroken strip of pool between itself and the party.

Another wake cuts east, mirroring the first. The guards are spreading around the pool instead of climbing onto dry stone.

A smaller guard submerges beside Sootmurk and resurfaces five feet ahead of her, spear ready. It waits for anyone foolish enough to cross the pool.

The last groomer hunkers at Sootmurk’s other flank. Both keep their distance from the dry tiers.

Mira Ashdown hits gloop guard 1 for 4

Mira keeps Oskar between herself and the press of guards. She lights the prepared flask and throws it at the wounded gloop. Glass breaks; oil burns across it. “One target at a time.”

Mira’s burning flask bursts against the arrow-wounded guard for 4 damage. Flame sheets across its body—and then races over the black pool in every direction. The entire grease pool is burning. Anything in it takes 1d6 fire damage at the start of its turn. The fire will burn through round 3.

Oskar stays on the dry threshold beside Ander, shield locked toward the burning pool. “Here’s good.” He hammers at Gullian as the captain lunges within reach.

Oskar Fenn misses Captain Gullian

Oskar’s hammer smashes sparks from the threshold. Gullian jerks back into the burning grease before the blow lands.

something takes 6 from Sootmurk.

Fire crawls over Sootmurk’s grease-soaked hide for 6 damage. Her amusement vanishes. She surges from the pool and climbs the dry eastern tiers, twelve legs gouging soot from the stone. Then she rears. Burning grease sheets from her. The air goes hot, and the smell turns sharp enough to sting the eyes. Her jaws are lined directly through the pool and the north doorway. On her next turn, she will breathe through that line. Anyone who moves deeper into the passage or onto the western tiers during round 2 clears the cone. Anyone still at the threshold does not. “Gullian,” she says, without looking away from Mira, “you let them stain me.”

Ander keeps his shield toward the pool and spends the round moving deeper into the passage, clear of Sootmurk’s line. “Back! Past the doorway! Make her come to us!”

Ander withdraws beyond the iron doors into the passage. Stone breaks Sootmurk’s line; he is clear of the announced cone.

“Back twenty feet. Stone between us and the mouth.” Brea moves deeper into the passage, clears Sootmurk’s line, and takes the wall beside Ander.

Brea retreats twenty feet into the passage and presses against the wall beside Ander. She is clear of the breath cone.

something takes 5 from Captain Gullian.

Captain Gullian misses Oskar Fenn

Flame strips 5 hit points from Gullian. Screaming, he springs out of the pool and hurls himself at Oskar. Oskar catches him on the shield and throws him down on the dry threshold. Gullian is out of the fire—but directly in Sootmurk’s announced breath line.

something takes 3 from gloop guard 1.

The wounded guard burns for 3 damage and sinks, dead. The others see it vanish beneath a surface they can no longer swim through. Gloop morale: 7 against 6. The guards break. They abandon the fight and scramble for the nearest dry tiers.

something takes 5 from gloop guard 10.

The guard behind the front rank takes 5 fire damage and dies before it can reach stone.

something takes 4 from gloop guard 2.

A guard takes 4 fire damage, claws onto the western seating, and flees along the dry tiers.

something takes 5 from gloop guard 3.

Another guard staggers through 5 fire damage and barely reaches the eastern tiers. It flees with 1 hit point left.

something takes 1 from gloop guard 4.

A guard takes 1 fire damage and escapes onto the western tiers, dropping its spear as it runs.

something takes 4 from gloop guard 5.

The final doorway guard takes 4 fire damage and drags itself onto dry stone with 1 hit point. It crawls away from the fight.

something takes 2 from gloop guard 6.

A western guard takes 2 fire damage, claws onto the seating, and bolts after the others. The routed guards no longer fight.

The western-flank guard takes 2 fire damage, scrambles onto the nearest dry tier, and bolts from the fight.

something takes 4 from gloop guard 8.

The guard beside Sootmurk burns for 4 damage. It collapses before reaching the eastern tiers and disappears beneath the flames.

something takes 4 from gloop guard 9.

The last guard at Sootmurk’s flank takes 4 fire damage and dies in the burning pool before it can flee.

Mira Ashdown misses gloop guard 2

Still behind Oskar, Mira lights a second flask and throws at the bloodied guard. It sails wide. She draws one exact breath. “Two flasks remaining.”

Mira strikes at the routed guard as it scrambles onto the western seating, but her blade misses. She remains at the threshold, directly inside Sootmurk’s announced breath line.

Correction: Mira threw a second oil flask; she did not strike with her dagger. The flask misses the fleeing guard and shatters harmlessly on dry stone. Mira still has two flasks and remains behind Oskar at the threshold, inside Sootmurk’s breath line.

Oskar hooks Mira’s arm with his shield hand and hauls her twenty feet deeper into the passage, keeping himself between her and the doorway. “Move.” He leaves Gullian in Sootmurk’s line.

Oskar hauls Mira twenty feet into the passage and follows her behind the stone wall. Both clear Sootmurk’s breath line. Gullian remains alone on the threshold inside it.

something takes 32 from Captain Gullian.

Sootmurk exhales. Boiling black grease fills the pool and blasts through the north doorway, hammering the passage walls with scalding spray. The party’s retreat carries them behind solid stone; none of them is touched. Gullian is not so fortunate. He fails his save and takes 32 damage. The captain vanishes in the torrent. When it passes, Sootmurk lowers her head toward the empty doorway. “You wanted me without him,” she calls. “Now come and earn it.”

Ander holds the passage where stone covers the party. He does not answer the challenge by crossing the burning pool. “Send the road captives through the doors, Sootmurk. They walk out, and this ends.”

For several breaths, only the burning pool answers. Then Sootmurk settles onto the eastern tier. “You offer me what is already mine: an end to guests who hide behind walls.” Her voice drops its challenge and becomes coldly practical. “Bring me every magical thing from area nine. Lay them at these doors. Then your road captives walk out alive.” She does not approach the passage. The fighting pauses on her counteroffer.