Session 22: The tower of blinking lights Report

General Summary

After a brief rest in the cave, the party moves on through the reef, and after an excellent choice by muk yuk of going up left instead of down right, they make it to a dead end and see large shapes flit across the entrance of the coral tunnel they are in. Never one to be deterred Soren tries to talk to what turns out to be several massive, horse sized, mantis shrimp. these do not listen, and Thordunn throws a bomb as an introduction. These beasts boil the water around them with super sonic claws and the shockwaves of cavitating bubbles take a hard toll apon the group, but in the end they have more shrimp meat than they could possibly hope to carry. Thordunn and soren take a club each, due to the specialyl hardened material it is made out of, and they backtrack to follow the other path.   This path also leads them to a dead end, a large open room with a tremendous round rock blocking what must be the path forward. Around the rock are four alcoves which appear empty. Some invetigation reveals that there are several unique branches of bioluminescent coral around them, and by putting three into the alcoves the rock slides aside, while a fourth closes it again. Armed with this knowledge, and the extra coral, they navigate their way through the maze, and soon appear in a large circular room with a large shimmering portal above them, behind some magical barrier, they instantly recognize the shimmering corals in the room as being similar to the last, though one of them is taken away the instant they appear. A group of Lizardfolk and several of their pet hound-eels appear from the numerous entrance and exit tunnels to the room, and the most decorated one warns them to leave now, while fast swimmers make their way to the other corals, clearly trying to thwart the groups advance. a battle begins, and the group are quickly engaged. Soren makes a houndeels turn on its master, MukYuk whips several lizard people around, while freezing a houndeels trying to bind him. Killian expertly blocks all incoming attacks from adjacent Lizardmen attacking him with clubs and teeth, while he sends out psychic lances, stopping the runners trying to capture the corals. As always Thordunss massive cleaves from the ax, and reckless disregard for bombs exploding in his hands leads to a battered but victorious encounter. Curiously no shades appear at their deaths.    They place the corals in the appropriate slots and the barrier dissolves, sucking them all up into what turns out to be the tower, in a massive water spout. The Floor they are in is made of mainly grey stone, with what appears to be tribunal seatings all around the hole in the floor they came in through. Thordunn discovers a device similar to the one Alrund used in the Emerald Rest , that requires inserting you hand to activate.   He does so, assuming it is the mechanism to come further up the tower...