Session 20: Into the Deep

General Summary

The party awoke from a well deserved nights rest. During the night Kazagal had used his new glasses to proofread his contract with Gorick and managed to find a small loophole that stated that Gorick had the right to take his soul, not that he had to give it, meaning that if there was no soul to give or if it was protected by an outside force he might be saved. With the smouldering wreck of the Pitched wanker still visible in the distance, Nakor went to watch the sunrise like usual. Kazagal immediately began his training, much to the liking of Sir Horzin. Soon thereafter Jeanne and Dormaruk joined them on deck. Dormaruk had noticed that his belt had now caused him to grow a long, thick beard. Jeanne and Nakor immediately fell into a long-winded discussion about Jeanne's book and the nature of their representative roles. Dormaruk instead spent his time readying the ship for their journey down into the depths. After finishing his preparations and also finishing the political discussion, Dormaruk held a speech for the crew telling them about what was to come and preparing them for the eventual fight that may ensue. Soon thereafter the Swift Mermaid sunk into the depths.   After a long while, passing into the total darkness of the sea as they descended over two thousand miles, they reached the bottom of the ocean. Nakor magically created a light to help them see. With this, they managed to find an underwater hill with an ancient ruin carved into the stone, as well as a large cavernous entrance on one of the sides. The party approached the ruins first. As they approached they found the entrance blocked, but there was a small tunnel that seemed to lead inside. Thus they decided that Nakor and Kazagal would enter to scout for a bit and would then return. Not message back, but actually return to the ship. The captain's orders were clear in this regard. In order for them to be able to breathe underwater, Kazagal gave Nakor his coat which he had modified with a hood and elongated sleeves to aid in swimming. The goliath then donned a pair of gloves with webbed fingers and with a runed knife he carved a pair of make-shift gills into his own neck. This allowed him to also breathe underwater. The tow ventured into the ruin.   Inside they found that the waterfilled hall had doors leading into a wall of air where the water stopped. The first two of these rooms had a door shaped like a face with keyholes where the eyes should be. The duo sent a message reporting back, which angered the captain who couldn't have been clearer with their instructions. Thus they made their way back to the ship. The Swift Mermaid then made its way round to the cave entrance. When they approached they saw a faint light and thus snuffed out their own with a snap. When they were close enough they saw that the giant cave entrance was big enough for several ships to enter at once, and it was also filled with air, creating a wall of water like the ones inside the temple. Wanting to get a closer look, the party sent Nakor ahead as he had the ability to turn invisible and there seemed to be movement inside the cave. The prince cast his spell, but with the emotions flaring he lost control and accidentally grew eight inches taller, growing to one inch taller than he was when they met all those weeks before. He then made his way over to the cave.    When Nakor had reached the water's edge he saw inside the cave a harbour carved into the cave wall, much like the other ruins. There he could see two ships being loaded and unloaded. It seemed like they were dealing in slaves as chained people were brought from the ships further into the ruins. There were also tentacle-faced, long-limbed beings overseeing the work. These fit the descriptions they had received of illithids. This was a mindflayer clan's layer. Nakor swam away a bit to send a message to the rest of what he was seeing. When doing so he once again lost control of his magic and as he was sending his message he looked down and saw the reanimated corpse of a dolphin charging at him. He instantly retreated to the Swift Mermaid. There they quickly disposed of this horrid being.    The party began to make a plan, with only four means of getting into the small entrance into the ruins. They thus decided that Dormaruk, Kazagal, Jeanne and Nakor would enter this way whilst the rest of the crew stayed in hiding. If they needed a quick escape Nakor would message Merturrok a signal. The signal was "Looks like Dormaruk is shaving". They then ventured into the temple ruins. First returning to the rooms that Kazagal and Nakor than been to previously. There Kazagals hammer-amulet fell out of his coats pocket, pointing towards the rubble from a caved-in tunnel. Recognizing this as an uncommon, almost mystical circumstance Dormaruk began to search the rubble where they found the skeleton of a dwarven cleric of Torag. The cleric had been captured by the illithids, but managed to escape and hide somewhere in the temple, but eventually succumbed to some psychic attack. Kazagal picked up his shield, which had Torags hammer on it. He then put the amulet around his neck and felt a warm, humming sensation in his hand as the amulet laid firm on his chest.    The party then continued to explore the temple and found a third room with a dead illithid in it. Kazagal, with his magical glasses, managed to read the scrolls the body had on it. There he found a list of names that were marked, underlined and crossed out. He also found the names of Dormaruks parents, where his mother's name was underlined and his father's name was marked. They then went across the waterfilled hall in search of the keys. Along the way, Jeanne managed to find a hidden room where the dwarven cleric may have used to hide. Across the hall, once more out of the water, the party found the first key in the grasp of a floating mindflayer head made out of stone. They also found the entrance to the large cavernous harbour, and the entrance to a laboratory, outside of which they found Dormaruks father. But there was something off about him and the minotaur feared that he may have been infected by the mindflayers brood. In the laboratory, Nakor, who was still invisible, managed to find three mindflayer. One of these was experimenting on a Frankensteinian monstrosity. He also saw the second key on the opposite end of the room. Knowing that the fastest way to get the key would be for him to sneak inside, he returned to the rest and told them about the situation. They agreed to him giving it a shot and Kazagal gave him a bit of guidance along the way.    As the prince entered the room the experimenting illithid immediately turned towards him, almost as if he could sense him. Then another of the mindflayer stepped in front of the prince and the experimenting one turned back to his work. The prince managed to sneak in and out undetected. Barely. Thus they got the first key. They then returned to get the second key and after a while they figured that they had to touch the head with something. Nakor and Kazagal went back and got the dead mindflayer from across the hallway. With its hands touching the head, they got the last key. They then returned to the door across the waterfilled hall and used the keys to open it. Inside they found a large cave with a lake. In the lake they saw vast riches and magical artifacts. Kazagal was enthralled and stepped towards the edge where he saw a set of armour with Torag's hammer on it. They were than stratled as the lakes denizen appeared. A huge Aboleth.   The Aboleth spoke to them and tried to make them work for it, as well as trying to seed conflict between them. After a lengthy discussion where Kazagal managed to trade his steel defender and his bag of mechanical servants for the rod Gorick had asked for, Dormaruk grew weary of the being. All he could remember was the phrase that had driven Thorpe into insanity. The master always lies. He confronted the aboleth about this and after screaming a bit too much, the aboleth messed around with his mind. Depraving him of the ability to speak. Further discussions ensued, where the abolet singled out Kazagal for his desire for gold and tried to turn him against the rest of the party. The goliath seemed to go along with its orders and asked for a token of service in the form of the armour. The Aboleth agreed. Meanwhile he also telepathically called upon the mindflayers and their approach could be heard from behind them. Feeling trapped and like they were in for a battle they might lose, Dormaruk took his axe and pretended to shave his beard in front of Nakor. The prince connected the dots and sent a message to Merturrok. "It seems like Dormaruk is shaving".    Soon thereafter a booming sound could be heard from the cave, as the Swift Mermaid attacked the harbour. This manoeuvre caught the attention of the illithids who seemed to turn their full attention to this. Enraged the aboleth ordered Kazagal to kill the party to which the Goliath responded:

Yes master, I will deal with your enemies.

He then turned towards the aboleth, now donning the adamantine plate of Torag, and attacked. Dormaruk finally managed break the aboleths control and yelled:

The master always lies!!!

A short fight broke out as the party began to fight the ancient being. Dormaruk threw his javelins at the beast. Nakor realised that they most likely stood little chance against this beast and instead put all of his magical abilities into one spell to try and turn the aberration into a normal man. He reached into the weave itself to help in this endeavour, but the aboleth seemed to resist him. That's when he pushed himself even further, grabbed the magical marble in his pocket and emptied every bit of magical force he had to give it one more attempt. The aboleth roared as it was crushed and reshaped into the form of a regular man. As his shape fell into the viscous slime his former self exuded he turned into a thin-skinned aboleth slave, able to breath underwater, but unable to leave it. As the aboleth tried to leave the lake, Timmy, who had been cast into the lake during their trade grabbed his ankles and refused to let go, giving them time to regroup.   Dormaruk and Kazagal hurried away to see what they could do to help the crew, leaving the other two to watch over the aboleth turned man. Along the way Dormaruk ran into his father again, who seemed to remember him, but was sure that he was in a tavern in Zarastil. Dormaruk lost hope as he realised that his father was most likely infected and left him. When they reached the entrance to the hoarour cave they saw how the mermaid fought a losing battle against the mindflayers ships. As Kazagal hurried to release the slaves who still knew who they were, Dormaruk charged an illithind who seemed to be directing their attack. The minotaur managed to push him off the edge of the ruin and it fell to its death. Meanwhile, Kazagal had managed to find Dormaruks mother, and after reuniting again she asked if they had found her husband. Dormaruk was convinced by his mother that they couldn't leave her father. Kazagal fetched the minotaur and Dormaruks mother then led the people they had rescued towards the Mermaid. Dormaruk and Kazagal went back to fetch the others.   When they returned to the cave they found that Nakor had filled his bag with gold from the lake, as Jeanne kept a watchful eye on the aboleth. As they left Nakor took on his large angel form and yelled a last insult at the aboleth before he flew off. When they reached the cave and saw the sad state of the mermaid, they hurried as best they could. Except Nakor who flew out into the middle of the cave and began to cast fireballs at the enemy ships, setting them ablaze and stopping them from following the party. As the rest of the party finally made it onto the ship which turned to leave, Nakor flew down landing with a thundering clap next to the illitihds and then vanished, only to appear on the Swift Mermaid, somehow bound in rope. Thus the Swift Mermaid left the cave, with the rescued slaves, the ruby clad rod, and with a bronze bearded dwarf who had managed to sneak aboard during the fight.