184: Stonesaw Chainsaw

## Summary

The battle of Chilchirah's Lair begins! Kek and Mo fly into a fury, followed by their lizardfolk allies and the party launch surprise attacks from their hiding places. Raphina casts a *Fog Cloud* to provide cover, but Chilchirah's shamans retaliate by tangling the rebels up in vicious thorns. The battle rages on and Chilchirah demonstrates his power, even forcing some of the rebels to switch sides to turn back under his dominion.

## Synopsis

The party commence their attack on Chilchirah. Mo charges into the fray and Bilaroth steps in to defend him. Brom is keeping back. Kek gets a whiff of blood and looks to Will who nods approvingly and shouts a command of *"Kek!"* Kek goes into a frenzy and begins tearing into their enemies, who pile onto him. Hilula appears unsure what to do, watching the party and waiting for them to act. Mo's flurry of attacks continues, but a mistep in his rage causes him to hit himself.

Dew has been hiding in the foliage until this moment and casts *Flame Arrows* before firing a pair of arrows at one of the monstrous mutant renders. He then takes aim at the captain lizardfolk and hits with another arrow. One of the party's lizardfolk allies takes advantage of the captain's sudden weakness and bites out the his throat, killing him. Mo shouts *"Death to Chilchirah!!"*

Batthwack throws spears from his place of hiding, but cannot find a target. Raphina casts *Fog Cloud*, looking to provide cover and confuse their enemies. The spell starts as a tiny bean before she blows it, sending it flying out. The cloud settles in a bottleneck in the cave. She also heals Mo.

Their lizardfolk allies attack the render, successfully clubbing and killing him. An enemy lizardfolk manages to bite one of the allies before retreating into the fog cloud. The battle falls strangely quiet as all enemies are now hidden in the fog. Will runs over to Raphina and warns her to keep an eye on Hilula before *Flying* to the fog cloud. Bilaroth asks for orders. Dew listens for enemies and cannot hear anything advancing towards them. Will communicates to everyone that there are no enemy lizardfolk visible in the fog.

Mo and Kek run into the cloud and Dew follows, slipping into the fog out of view. Batthwack orders the lizardfolk allies to move forward and he also disappears into the cloud. Raphina pulls a leaf out of her Lanky Pack, rolls it up into a cone shape and casts *Light* on it (thus inventing the torch) before moving into the fog. Will moves forward cautiously, emerging from the cloud and seeing a group of lizardfolk near where Chilchirah had been sitting, but realises he can't *Message* anyone because he can't see them. Suddenly, on the ground near him and Batthwack, a ring of spikes and thorns grow up out of the ground. Bilaroth moves his squad forward but doesn't notice the thorns, and stumbles into them. Kek and Mo attack a render and Dew follows up the attack with another 2 arrows, killing it. Mo screams *"Chilchirah's next!"*

Dew casts *Healing Spirit* and sends Kirby, his pink, bulbous ethereal being, drifting over to Kek and Mo. Batthwack is angry and runs around the thorns to get closer. He throws 2 javelins at a lizardfolk shaman positioned to the south. Raphina has Hilula behind her and a lizardfolk ally with her. She pulls a lump of stone out of the ground, casts *Stone Shape* to form it into a stone saw and uses it to cut through the thorns. The lizardfolk shaman casts *Heat Metal*, burning Batthwack with his own armour. Will, seeing that Raphina is tackling the thorns decides to fire twin *Eldritch Blast*s at the shaman. The party hear Chilchirah's voice cry *"What was that? Take them out! Take them out!"* Mo dodges an attack from a render but the other shaman sends a ball of flame at him and he's hit.

Several deep thuds echo around the cave as Chilchirah thunders forward into view. Lizardfolk enemies launch attacks against Mo and Kek, but Dew has their back with his *Healing Spirit* and attacks of his own. Meanwhile Raphina is still leading the lizardfolk allies through the thorns. Mo screams *"Luminescent Lobster of Love! Kill Chilchirah!"* and reaches out his arms. Spectral luminescent lobster claws shoot out and clamp shut on Chilchirah.

Dew takes a shot at one of the shaman, the arrow skimming the cave wall before it strikes true and kills him. Immediately Batthwack's armour begins to cool. He takes a second shot and kills the captain. He sends his *Healing Spirit* to Mo. Batthwack casts *Sacred Weapon* to imbue his sword with positive energy and edges his way round the thorns. Raphina, still hacking her way through the thicket finally clears a path out. The lizardfolk allies behind her start to spill out and join the fray, killing a render. Chilchirah turns to the lizardfolk ally who dealt the killing blow, and screams *"You follow meeeee!"*

Chilchirah turns his attention to another lizardfolk ally, shouting *"What do you think you're doing?!"* Mo is suffering in the thick of the battle, but continues completely undeterred. A render stomps towards Batthwack, followed by two lizardfolk, but none of them can claw through his armour.

Will makes a somatic gesture, putting his hand over his mouth, to cast *Sleep* on a group of lizardfolk. A smell of chloroform wafts through the air as two of them fall asleep. He follows it up with an *Eldritch Blast* at another lizardfolk, killing him. As a lizardfolk ally moves up to attack a render, the two lizardfolk allies who Chilchirah had shouted at earlier, turn and attack their comrade. They appear to have been turned and are back under Chilchirah's dominion again. Chilchirah shouts *"Not you too??!"* at the unfortunate ally. Meanwhile, a shaman tries to fireball Batthwack but accidentally hits one of the renders.

Chilchirah sprouts a tiny pair of sparrow wings and swoops over Batthwack and Mo, slashing Mo and knocking him unconscious. Bilaroth realises that Chilchirah has managed to convert their rebel allies back to his followers and attacks him, shouting "Snap out of it!"

Brom and Hilula move up but are still hanging back. Kek tries to leap onto Chilchirah but cannot connect. Mo comes to, thanks to the *Healing Spirit* and then immediately begins to climb up Chilchirah using his dagger. Dew is impressed by Mo's tenacity and shoots at Chilchirah hitting him twice, and an adjacent render, who is asleep. Batthwack spews a green liquid (his breath weapon) on the render and another lizardfolk, waking up the render. Raphina throws her stone saw at the render, it sails through the air and hits him directly between the eyes, killing him.

Raphina heals Bilaroth, Mo, Kek and Batthwack. One of the turned lizardfolk slashes her and another attacks Bilaroth. A render charges causing Batthwack to have to fend off his flailing claws, but a lizardfolk ally is hurt. Will fires off his twin double eldritch blasts. Two hit but the others miss, however by luck (Will's *Luckstone*) the render is unsteadied by this and sways backwards into the missed blast and is killed.

## Trivia

* The episode title was how Eric referred to the saw that Raphina formed out of stone using her *Stone Shape* spell. She later said it was a chainsaw, and after Abby rolled a natural 20 to hurl it at an enemy, Eric went on to say *"So, your stone, saw, chainsaw is flying through the air, hurling end over end..."*

## Gallery

*Main article: The Art of Pork Fried Dice*