Session 4: The Tide Rises Report

General Summary

The session began with the party deep in the Temple of Thar Ashaela looking to find their way to the hidden diadem of the sea goddess. Following the clues they'd collected from exploring the temple, the party made their way into the Singing Hall, where the siren's song momentarily drove Skreech and Brakmat mad, causing them to attack their allies. Droknar figured out the key to solving the room's puzzle and Rinrin found the switch to activate the flow of water through the room, which ended the mind-controlling effect of the siren's song. The party opted to make camp in one of the temple's living areas for the evening, where Dacha was contacted by Nasse with more information regarding the strange symbol they found on a stone left in the fields outside of Donborough; that it related to an old god named Yogwilesh, whom Rinrin knew as the god traditionally worshipped by ratlings. Skreech received a message from Shoku asking him if he and his allies had found an old book, alerting the party that the ratlings may have uncovered Deleth's old workshop. Rinrin summoned her familiar for the first time, a spider that she immediately attempted to run away from before instructing it to watch the doorway while the party slept.   Just as the party laid down to sleep, Droknar and Brakmat suddenly felt themselves hoisted into the air by two Cave Crawlers looking for a meal. The party quickly dispatched of the hungry monsters, but not before Brakmat was almost killed by one of them, and the party finally went to sleep to recover.   The following day, the party continued their exploration of the temple, discovering a small study contaning a well-worn manuscript which revealed the growing madness of one of the clerics that had once maintained the temple. In an adjacent room, they encountered a wall of water and three statues. The message written on the floor of the room informed them they would have to give up some items in order to solve the room's puzzle, but Dacha attempted to trick the room by placing an oar on the statue instead of the intended trident. This triggered the room's guardian, a water elemental, to emerge from the wall of water and attack the party. The elemental managed to obliterate Skreech's golem Francis with two heavy attacks and nearly took down Dacha before finally being subdued by the rest of the party, who then proceeded to solve the room's puzzle as intended, unlocking the switch to open the water flow through the room.   The party then made their way to the golem's room to the north of the temple. Rinrin used her phantom grapple to pull herself up to where the key was hanging, then manifested an iron file to break the chain that affixed it to the ceiling. They inserted the key into the golem, which gave her control over the creature, which was strong enough to pull the switch in the room that rerouted the last water flow and open the way to the diadem.   Back in the main hall, the party had just recovered both the diadem and the hidden stash of treasure when Djeran, one of the commanders of Shoku's ratlings, appeared demanding they hand over both the loot they just recovered and the book that Shoku wanted. He revealed his disdain for Shoku, whom the party had assumed was the unquestioned leader of the ratlings. Djeran declared both she and the party blasphemers in the eyes of Yogwilesh and engaged the group in combat to attempt to wrest the book away from them. An already severly injured Dacha used quick thinking and summoned a fog cloud, nicknamed "Fort Kickass," which hid the group from the many snipers who had set up positions around the hall in order to quickly bring down the group from range. The ratlings opted to leap into the fog cloud and engage the party in melee combat.  Several of the party members dropped to very low health before Droknar got a killing blow on Djeran, severing his head from his body in an attack that intimidated most of the remaining ratlings into abandoning the fight.   Just as the fog cloud cleared and the party had a moment to catch their breath, they began to hear the sound of tiny footsteps echoing throughout the temple. A moment later, Skreech heard a very angry voice in his head, as Shoku asked pointedly, "Where. Is. My. Book?!"

Rewards Granted

Topaz gems worth 10gp
Seashell Torque
Trident of Fish Command
Diadem of Thar Ashaela
Mantle of the Storm Hag
5pp 45gp 50sp

Missions/Quests Completed

Recovered the Diadem of Thar Ashaela

Character(s) interacted with

Shoku
Djeran
Nasse