From all over the area mud erupted as small bits of rust colored ore came from the ground and landed near the thing. Along with the ore was a vast cloud of the lichen that carried the Rustblight. Any bit of the taint that was in the glade flew to the base of the 'neck' and started to combine. The grass and moss nearby were beginning to turn red as a carpet of Rustblight infected plants spread outward.

Cham pulled out his twin adze. "Who knew that the honorary title of Protector of the Glade would get us into trouble so soon?"

The two lumberjacks charged the strange monstrosity. Cham attacked the stalk leaving large dents in the metal, and causing the head to swing back and forth. Jon tried for a shot at the eye, but missed, hitting the sphere instead and leaving a long crease.

Their next attacks did no damage at all, the iron weapon heads rusted to dust, leaving them holding the handles which only counted as default weapons. After slamming the wooden handles of the ruined weapons into the creature Cham backed off and ran to get his Stone Bladed Axe from his backpack. He warned the people running up about the problem with rusty weapons.

The head spun to look in Jon's direction and the eye began to glow. Having seen his fair share of low-budget monster movies, Jon immediately dived out of the way. A sickening red ray flashed out from the eye, missing Jon by a foot. Where it hit the ground, the vegetation died in a ten-foot circle and strange, red plants began to grow. From the growths on the head of the creature grew larger stalks that produced huge flowering growth resembling a ring of a lilies, pointing in all directions. The stalks beneath the flower heads began to swell ominously, expanding and contracting but each expansion was larger than the last.

Suzette and Libby moved into spell range to hit m'fargle with force blasts and glowing arrows. Suzette unleashed a Solar Arrow from her staff as she ran up, doing over 200 in damage. Seeing the red growths catch fire, she followed up with Frost Blaze as she got closer. The blue flames roared down doing fire damage, burning off the crimson growths on the head and burning the surrounding grass down to bare earth.

Libby unleashed two beams of pure force and prepared to shield herself and Suzette if the head turned their way.

Ahh ah m'fargle's mgepnah gof'nn mgehye'bthnk against h' gifts? ymg' ah nafl impressed llll ya ye'bthnk? Y' ymg' ephaigoka gift ot mgr'luh M'Fargle ph'volve h' ep stage. Rejoice!

M'Fargle mgep evolved l' m'fargle! level 15 epic boss!

The ground around M'Fargle moved aside as more of it came from the ground. The neck split into a half dozen long tentacles made of shiny metal that acted like legs of some walking, metal squid. It steadied itself on the uneven ground and twisted it's head in the direction of the mages that had attacked it. Libby just had enough time to put up a second Force Shield when the eyebeam struck. Suzette was knocked to the ground as the shields shattered. The beam went through both of Libby's Force Shield spells and then put a six-inch wide hole through her chest. She fell over backwards, her body twitching.

"NO!" Barkroar took two giant steps, scooped up Libby's inert body and dumped it into one of the vats of acid, plunging his own limbs in afterwards. "Beware! Those killed might rise as creatures under the Star Spawn's control. Bodies must be burnt, or cleansed with acid."

A pounding of hooves and heavy feet announce the arrival of Ozzy and Ben. Ozzy was hanging off the side of Mudhead, holding onto the saddle horn and making long leaps. He dropped beside Suzette as Ben rode at M'Fargle. Only twenty-feet away from the creature, the horse took a sharp turn to avoid it, and Ben unleashed he most potent spell: Phoenix's Firestorm. He had only just reached level 5 in Flames of the Phoenix and had yet to use it. A blaze grew up around M'Fargle, causing the creature to scream in pain. Anyone within a hundred feet also screamed in pain as the terrible sound of the things voice cut through their brains.

While normal flames only annoy one who has soared through the empty regions between stars, your magical fires are hot enough to cause it damage.

You have dealt 1000 points of damage to M'Fargle and will do another 50 points each round until the flames are extinguished.

You have gained insight into the creature. Its voice has cause 100 points of trauma damage, and it will haunt your dreams for a year but you know that its goal is nothing less than infecting all life in the area and claiming it for its own!

You have gained +1 Perception. Is that a fair trade for a year of bad dreams?

As Ben dodged tentacles and an eyebeam Ozzy ran forward. Suzette had only been knocked down and bruised. He knew she'd get right back up and start hurling spells. He decided to give the thing something else to worry about.

M'Fargle tired of shooting at Ben. One eye was insufficient in this new form. He opened two more and saw a larger-than-average humanoid running forward with open arms. M'Fargle knew of this form of greeting! O'oof'tlips had told him of it ages ago when they shared a meal after killing a Void Whale. It was called a 'Hug'. A cheerful greeting between loved ones. As the large humanoid wrapped its meaty tentacles around most of its own, it wrapped its one loose tentacle around the human’s torso. O'oof'tlips had stressed the need to hug back when rewarding minions.

This was so convenient. He could convert this one and send it to kill the others! It would become 'First Thrall' if it survived. They would be friends!

The new friend was hard to convert! The fires that burned M'Fargle also burned the spores it created. The new friend was also squeezing very hard! And the way he was swaying back and forth made it hard to harm the other little friends. M'Fargle decided he didn't need a friend!! OFF!! DOWN!!! SHOO!!!

Ben couldn't use his best spell again, but as Ozzy wrapped the thing in a Bear Hug and swung it back and forth, he was able to spray it time and again with Flaming Hands. Suzette was throwing spell after spell at M'Fargle, with much better aim. She was able to time Ozzy's swings of its head and hit the monster with two out of three Solar Arrows, putting out one of its eyes. M'Fargle made odd gurgling noises and the damaged eye retreated inside its head. Ben had a bad feeling as its other two eyes looked down at Ozzy.

One tentacle wrapped around Ozzy's waist and broke his Bear Hug. Another slapped him in the head three times and then he was thrown towards the tree line.

If one needed any proof that an unleashed Star Spawn could cause insanity, one would only have to watch you charging the thing with your bare hands and hugging it!!

You have crushed M'Fargle, Emissary from Yog'fmll, and your beloved friend for 340 damage!

You have crushed M'Fargle, Emissary from Yog'fmll, who is anxious to convert you, and a little uncomfortable with hugging for 240 points of damage.

M'Fargle hugs you back for 100 points of crushing damage.

You have crushed M'Fargle, Emissary from Yog'fmll, someone you used to know, for 60 points of damage.

M'Fargle hugs you back for 200 points of damage to discourage your hugs.

M'Fargle has broken your Bear Hug. You will be disciplined later. Go kill your friends if you want forgiveness.

M'Fargle is tired of your shit and Bitch Slaps you three times for 500 points each.

SHOO! Bad Thrall! M'Fargle throws you for 800 points of damage and is done with you!

Health Remaining: 1300/3670

Ben rode to see if there was anything left of Ozzy while chugging down mana potions. Seeing Ozzy get beat that way worried him. He'd gotten used to his friend being the strongest thing around. This was a good reminder there was always a bigger monster waiting around the corner.

M'Fargle turned one of his good eyes towards his future-thralls only to be pummeled in the head by several hard thrown Ironwood Nuts hurled by two of the treants.

"Deez Nuts in your face!" The smaller treant put one expertly thrown projectile into another eye.

"Mine are Bigger!" Barkroar bounced his larger projectiles off of the Star Spawns head, but couldn't match the others accuracy.

This distracted M'Fargle enough that Dot and Charlene could attack. Dot was using a set of magical daggers made from a boar's tusks. They had cost her quite a bit, but were worth every gold. Especially when she could use her Backstab attack. This thing didn't have a back, but it was focused on the two treants. She barely looked at the critical hit notice as the magical tooth penetrated a tentacle and she ripped downwards, leaving a gap that bled a sickening, foul-smelling goo. Her other attack bit into the same spot, widening the gap and nearly severing the last four-foot of the tentacle.

Charlene wasn't having as easy a time. Her large wooden club made a dent in the metal, but that was about it. Neither woman noticed two other tentacles that came from behind them, and grabbed them. M'Fargle raised them high in the air and smashed them together several times. Then they were thrown at the ground near Suzette. Suzette had actually been the target, and it was a very annoyed M'Fargle that watched his projectiles hit an illusion as the real target appeared twenty feet away.

Jorges was walking up carefully with two large glass jars. He poured a bit on each of the bodies, shuddering. Then charged at M'Fargle. Jorges didn't have a throwing skill. But he had a sharp mind, loved to improvise on the fly, and was terribly accurate when using a siege weapon. He just pretended he was a catapult and threw the first glass jar at M'Fargle, followed by the second.

The powerful acid washed over the creature, destroying any of the lichen that had grown on it, and sent it reeling in pain, the huge head swing side to side. That was the moment that Cupcake entered the battle. The little pink lamb had obeyed its 'mommy' and stayed away from the fight. But seeing Mommy beat to death in front of her made something in the lamb snap. The little pink ball of wool ran forward until she was directly under the Star Spawn, and then exploded!

A large amount of hydrogen gas had been created as the acid dissolved the metals the Star Spawn used for its skin. Just as it had in the Battle for Sedgewick, mixing acid, metal, and fire caused explosions. The small explosion that Cupcake had set off was nothing compared to the mushroom cloud of fire that enveloped M'Fargle. Trotting out of the fire as if nothing had happened was a cute little lamb shorn of all its wool. Suzette made a hasty mental note to explain to Charlene just what kind of aberrant herbivore her little Cupcake was, and to make sure it stayed out of her tavern!

The flames had just begun to slow down when M'Fargle was struck by a large oak log thrown from the edge of the forest, flipping end over end. It was followed by another, and another. M'Fargle turned to unleash its eyebeams, (Wondering all the while what in EEak'l's name was a caber?), but the range was too great. Ozzy had a large supply of oak logs, and treants were bringing him more. One very hard strike caught M'Fargle in its head, knocking it down.

That was enough for Jon and Cham. They ran at the head, Jon hoping he could play target for just a second to give his friend a chance to strike. Cham raised the Stone Bladed Axe over his head and yelled out "NOT WOOD!" This was a weapon that had severed the limb of a Fallen Angel, it had no problem severing the thin neck of M'Fargle. The neck spewed an ugly green liquid that smoked when it hit the ground. Seeing the tentacles go prone, Jon took a log and knocked the head away from the body. From M'Fargle came a scream of unintelligible pain, slightly mirrored by anyone near him.

Jorges started piling the logs Ozzy had tossed at the creature on to the tentacles. Others helped. The remains of the explosion were enough to light the wood. More wood was thrown on the head, but even as it burned, the ground nearby was turning crimson.

Ozzy came limping up. Ben and Suzette were alternating tossing a small fire spell at the head and then drinking a mana potion as the other cast a spell. Jorges stood nearby with the last two jars of acid.

Jon looked at the head. "It's not melting like the other metal is. What do we do with it? Roll it into a dungeon? Maybe Hungry town would like it?"

"Don't you dare do that!" Titania came running up to Suzette. "Didn't I warn you about the worst thing that could happen? And you and your idiots are about to do just that. I swear, I have to do all the thinking around here."

Suzette crossed her arms and stared at the older witch. "You actually decided not to talk about it. And I wasn't going to piss off a dungeon by tossing trash inside, especially one of mine. I take it that would be 'the worst thing'?"

Titania cocked her head thinking back. "Yep, it would be disastrous. At least that's the theory. Elvannion was a beautiful island, once the homeland of the Celestial Elves, and known for its meteor showers. They had trouble now and then with them when a chunk of cursed ore came down, but it was worth it to gather up all that Cursed Metal."

"Something worse came down one year though. An alarm was raised when a Star Spawned critter appeared and heroes were sent to deal with it. None returned. And then a large dungeon suddenly started spewing out blighted monsters. It was impossible to fight them all, let alone enter the dungeon. The blight was contagious. Eventually they evacuated who they could, and a powerful circle of mages buried the island. And I don't mean 'sunk'. They opened up the earth somehow and buried the island underground. The fissure shut, and tidal waves destroyed half the ports in the world. Spells like that are bad things to mess with."

Jon tried to put a wise look on his face, and failed. "Right, no dungeons." Cham hit him from behind with the haft of his axe.

Suzette looked at the head of M'Fargle, a ball of solid metal ore, more than a yard in diameter that wasn't melting in the hot oak fire. "So, what do you suggest?"

The witch looked around at the assorted workers and players. "We need a hotter fire. The hottest, most magical, most blessed and destructive fire that can be created. Probably can't be done here. There's a Dwarven Forge in the Northguard, but no way in hell can we teleport there, nor would they let us. The experimental college in the capitol would take it, if we could smuggle it to the capitol somehow.

Ben considered the problem. "A small cart, a fast horse, and a daring courier could do it. Can you turn the cart into a swimming pool and fill it with acid? It's 6 days to the capitol. Of course, if I fail, a lot of people die." He reconsidered. "Let's make that plan Z."

Ozzy looked at M'Fargle. "Only a few people are tough enough to even get near the thing The sound of its voice is horrible."

Ben agreed. "Like amateur night at the Bard College."

Jon laughed. "So, get a Bard to drown it out." Titania looked at him. "And just when I really decide you’re an idiot, you get smart. Go fetch that Bard from town. I bet he can play a counter melody." Jon shrugged and ran off. Coglin was often at the tavern, and the tavern had beer.

Ozzy made a decision. "Yeah, let's get Coglin here to save everyone's brain. I've got an idea, but we need a way to transport the thing a couple of miles. It needs to be kept in acid to prevent it growing that red crap. What do we have that can hold the damn thing? I like Ben's idea of an acid bath?"

Jorges brought up one of the tubs they used for holding the diluted acid. "This will work for an hour or two. Aliester put a coating on the tub to resist acid. The potent stuff will eat through it in a couple of hours though. When Coglin gets here, we can move the head into the tub with a couple of limbs and not touch it. Then get the tub in the cart and douse it in the strong stuff."

Ozzy liked the plan. "Sounds good. When you get that done, bring it around to the back of where my pit is. I have to go talk to Joe and get some loads of Screaming Coal burning. Then we get creative."