S11: Unforeseen Circumstances

To the second floor -- the group unanimously decides -- and into a den of spiders. Luckily for our heroes, these spiders had not had a steroid shipment in some time and were relatively easy to dispatch with metal, magic, and a semi-out-of-control burn. A few items of interest were found including a pair of potentially magic bracers of which Nom quickly (and with little thinking) adorned. In return, a sharp pain pulsed throughout her body. 

Back on the first floor the party strategically decides to leave one of their own alone, while the rest of the group goes to check out a hole. Where they find Gruddy fully engaged in this newly found orifice.

** Strategically speaking, splitting the party almost always works out well for adventurers. It allows them to cover more ground in less time (in game-time, not so much in real-time), creates a more intricate story (a.k.a. confusion and multiple simultaneous stories), and always -- easier battles for the DM (picking off single characters is typically fast and avoids the need for preplanned battles). **

Seeing great hole potential the crew decides that having Nom around is a good idea and head back to the first floor… a Nomless first floor… totally void of all Noms. A search commences to find their missing party member to no avail, even with their go-in-a-straight-line-for-20-minutes-in-the-woods tactic, which almost always works. Nom is gone as is Alejandro (Jojo for short).

The team seems moderately concerned about their loss, but not concerned enough to stop them from spelunking, and forcing Gruddy to do the same in a persuasive manner. The group finds a maze of dirt, rock, and wall salimava (slime and saliva combined, you’re welcome). With very little reward, except for the scorn of Gruddy because of a slightly less than friendly interaction between herself and a handsy Alora, the group traverses through the labyrinthine tunnels. A dog barks in the distance as a worn-out Jojo approaches the group -- Lassie he is not and Timmy is very much still down the well. Always going left, the group finds themselves going in circles with the occasional rat-fight until they enter a large room partially submerged in water where their less-than-stealthy approach has awoken sleeping centipede-like creatures of enormous size.