Move 358: Getting FreeSmooth Caverns--Early, Day 37 (Marpenoth 20)
Azrun took careful aim at the roper trying to catch some prey, but his arrow shattered against the tunnel wall instead of hitting its mark. It shot another strand at Jana but missed again. Jana cleaved the strand that was pulling Blacky forward. The roper that had been holding him countered by striking the big man with another tentacle. Blacky, already in midswing with his axe, cut himself lose of that one before he got reeled in any closer.
Jana looked at the all-too-near ropers. "Oh, shit," she muttered. "We need to get out of here. Fast." She pulled Blacky beside her. "Keep your shield to the front and side. I'll keep mine on this side. We need to move..." She moved backward, as fast as the footing allowed. "If it grabs your shield, let it go and run."
Azrun took careful aim at the roper trying to catch some prey, but his arrow shattered against the tunnel wall instead of hitting its mark. It shot another strand at Jana but missed again. Jana cleaved the strand that was pulling Blacky forward. The roper that had been holding him countered by striking the big man with another tentacle. Blacky, already in midswing with his axe, cut himself lose of that one before he got reeled in any closer.
Azrun cursed and pulled another arrow to his bow. He drew back slowly and aimed once more before letting it fly.
Azrun fired another arrow, shattering it off the wall in a similar manner to the one moments earlier. The roper finally seemed to take that as a cue and started creeping in the direction of the man shooting at it. It seemed to be coming down the wall as it crawled forward.
Jana stood next to Blacky and prepared for the two of them to retreat together. Before Blacky, who had abandoned his shield earlier, could get anywhere, he proved that he was quite the roper magnet by getting hit with yet another strand. Thus far, he seemed to be avoiding the weakening effects that had been so problematic during the last encounter with ropers.
"Screw this, we need to kill these things while we still have our strength." Blacky said hacking at the latest strand that hit him.
Azrun groaned as the arrow missed and shattered, "So much for that idea." He grabbed his slab of wood and dropped back again. He reached back into his quiver and grabbed 2 arrows out and prepared to fire at the approaching roper again, "Ummm...Renn...Echo...I'm almost out of arrows here. Could one of your drop a quiver for me?"
"Certainly," Renn said from behind the three people in front. "Behind you, Azrun, one of my quivers," Renn added as a score of arrows appeared on the tunnel floor behind the bard.
Azrun backed up again and the roper kept following him, although it moved much more slowly than he did. The bard was now well out into the tunnel before the fork, backing up towards the unexplored territory the group had left behind them. A quiver of arrows appeared near him, indicating that Renn was back there with him too. Azrun fired again, hitting the roper with both arrows this time.
Blacky and Jana were still in the tunnel where the ropers had been encountered. Blacky cut himself free one more time. The roper began crawling back in the direction from which it had come.
Jana tries to cover both herself and to an extent Blacky with her shield. "We need to regroup with the others. Come on." She moves toward the others.
Azrun grabbed his shield and the quiver that Renn had dropped, "Pretty soon I'm going to be back where we left Arachne....geez." With that he moved back again to fire 2 more arrows at the Roper that was chasing him.
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