L: Several hours of ups and downs and all arounds (mostly downs) later and we'd arrived at Hairy Scary Rock: a twenty meter tall stalagmite which stands in a massive chamber.
"That is an ugly rock, says Maraja, "Its shape is... yonic?"
"Stop gawking and keep moving," says Ling, "We can't stop here."
"Why?" asks Maraja, condensing vapor for her to drink, "What's here?"
"Stop using that spell," Ling pulls a bottle out of her little magic pouch, "Use this."
J: Always with the bottles, Mum. L: Hydration👏 is 👏 important!
"What's the harm?" Maraja continues using her spell almost spitefully. "And what's here?" she asks again, irate.
The ground begins to shake. Ling seethes, "Creatures that are drawn to changes in the air and water." The rumbling nears.
"Iss thhat a giant worm?" Kalyani readies her staff as the tremors intensify.
"Giant worm," Ling nods.
D: Giant worm!? L: Giant worm.
On command, the giant worm bursts from the ground. It's thick dark grey hide etched with purple scars. It is about twenty-four meters long and three meters wide. It's open maw spews forth purple goo which the trio scatter to dodge.
"Strewth, a purple-stuffy!" shouts Ling, "Watch it, that goop is highly basic."
D: What does basic mean? L: Usually it means it's slippery and can burn you very badly.
Maraja draws her sword and readies herself, as the beast slides along the ground. She dodges its maw as it lunges and cleaves her blade through its side. A mix of blood and goop bleeds from the writhing mass. She resists the urge to blast the slime away with water.
Kalyani dodges the worm's venomous stinger tail and fires a bolt of electricity into it. This barely phases it. "Any idea what it'ss weak to?" she asks.
"No idea," says Ling, pulling a tuning fork from her pouch, "But I got this!"
As the creature lunges at the wizard, she slaps it in the side of its face with the fork while rolling past it. The worm's jaw spasms and it begins convulsing.
L: I call that spell "Nervous Veer"; it disrupts the target's nervous system, redirecting body commands all over the place. Try to bend your arm and twist your foot instead.
Maraja runs forth and brings her blade down upon the creature's slack-jawed face. The creature brain oozes out of it's open head. The body continues to squirm about.
D: EEEWWW!
"Shhield your eyess," shouts Kalyani, as she lights the entire area it occupies in holy flames. "BURN! DIE! BEGONE!" In a blink, it's roasted. A bitter aroma fills the air.
In the calm, the trio reunite a safe distance from the corpse.
"Anyone harmed?" asks the priestess, "Do you need aid, dearss?"
"Clean as I came in."
"I'm fine, but- Gross, it's so sticky," says Maraja, using a cloth to wipe her sword clean. "Why was that thing here?"
"These are their breeding grounds," says Ling, preparing to rant.
Maraja began marching suddenly. "Let's get the hell out of here."
"F*****g right" says Ling, suddenly calm again, "We can roast your a**e later."