250107 A fishy tale
General Summary
So, here we are once more. Sailing our story-telling ship into the open waters of the world, collecting tales of high adventure, heroism and terror. There may be rocks, whirlpools and monsters along the way dearest reader, so lash yourself to the mast and let’s go forth into the unknown.
“Bugger!” said Drogon as he noticed tracks on the Main Road. There were a large number of indeterminate creatures travelling either one way or the other on the road, whilst the team had rested. Drogon could probably do with a bit of a refresher on his tracking skills it seemed.
Either way, the party moved into the left-hand passage way and proceeded to walk at a brisk pace as the road surface was good and well maintained. Drogon performing “point” position as always, using the mental link they all had to keep in touch with his band-mates. After a day or so, they camped in Sentinel’s Magical Mansion and ate a hero’s feast, provided by Jude. Feeling well-rested and full, they set off with a bounce in their step and a song in their hearts.
After a further half a day’s travel, Drogon began to see a change in the shape of the tunnel they were travelling down. The tunnel eventually opened up into a chamber with a pool of water in its centre. There was a lot more fungi here and also some new luminous types growing on the walls. Standing around the pool was a group of humanoids that Drogon was too far away to make out, so he crept closer.
As he got closer, the group resolved itself to be a mix of races; dwarves of some type, Bugbears and Humans. All were wearing loin cloths and looked in very bad shape. They were possibly slaves, as each wore a collar about their necks and a chain linked them all together. Each appeared to be in a trance or catatonic state as they didn’t move from their spots.
The group moved up and Jude examined the slaves, but could elicit no response. Her medical training led her to the conclusion that they had been lobotomised somehow. And nothing came to mind that would help her restore them.
The pool was pitch black and of an indeterminate depth, so Jude cast light on a copper piece and dropped it in. The light faded into the darkness, showing that the pool was incredibly deep with no discernible bottom.
Luthiel cast invisibility upon Sentinel and the bard crept forward to join her brother-in-arms. On the far side of the pool were a series of containers of various types. The slaves had obviously been carrying them at some point and were now just standing still. Sentinel went around to the far side of the pool to investigate the chests. A number contained sea food of many types, from lobster to octopus. Three pots contained sea shells from various known and unknown creatures.
As Sentinel finished looking through the last container, she suddenly involuntarily froze, unable to move at all. The surface of the pool began to ripple, then boil and froth, as a group of humanoids burst through the surface. Ten of the fishmen joined the nine slaves on the pool bank.
In the centre, stood a fishman of a different caste, slightly larger and dressed in finer drapery, as they didn’t wear clothes exactly. Without a pause Thorg blasted this centre figure with a firebolt, which the figure more or less shrugged off.
As if the current predicament wasn’t bad enough, five more of the fish-headed men joined the fray. These new antagonists looked much brawnier than the others and they carried strange implements in their hands, sort of staves with pincers on the end.
Many things happened at once and a number of revelations were made. Firstly, and foremost, the fishmen turn to surround Sentinel meaning that they could see through her invisibility. Secondly, it was clear that the team could never get to Sentinel in time and she was about to be pounded to a pulp. But this didn’t stop the team closing the gaps. Jude fired off Spiritual Guardians and walked into the nearest group to have these miniature cherubs chew at the fishy-flesh. The centre Fishman then did exactly the same.
Ahah! He was a cleric then. Sentinel, clearly faster than her enemies, quickly cast Dimension Door and extricated herself from the mess she’d found herself in. She reappeared next to her band and grabbed Luthiel, to retreat a bit behind Team Heavy Metal. Swords, spells and song were thrown with abandon. Two of the brawnier fishmen used their pincer-staves to grabble Drogon and Jude and then began to drag them back towards the pool. This was not going to end well as neither of our heroes could break free.
It was Griff’s turn again to test the breadth of his spell-casting and colossal intelligence. He took a risk and cast a new spell converting the pool to a piece of sandy desert. At least that’s what everyone thought, for it was an extremely complex illusion. The illusion was so strong that all could walk upon the surface without falling through it. The gods howled at the creativity and of foiled plans of drowned heroes. Another time they promised.
Kurog and Thorg laid into the fish-meat in front of them cutting swathes, but the enemies were many and they were all in danger of being surrounded again. Jude spotted a pattern in the fishmen, they were in a circle surrounding their priest, so she cast Blade Barrier in the same pattern catching most of the fishmen in that most awful and dreadful of spells. Either her aim was off, or sadly she was being influenced by the darker elements of the band, for she hit three of the slaves as well, chewing them into bloody chunks. Perhaps she saw it as a mercy, time will tell.
Thorg teleported himself inside the circle of rotating blades and took on the cleric one on one. It
was an uneven fight and one that soon concluded with Thorg standing with a foot on the dead fish-clerics chest, his eldritch power leaking from his eyes like black tears.
Kurog dispatched the others quickly and efficiently and with more than a little flair. Drogon firing his bow with deadly precision into the clumps of fishmen, wreaking havoc. And soon the fight was over.
Searching the bodies, the team found little. A number of strange tools and devices with functions that defied anything they knew. One thing was for sure, was there was now a new enemy in the Underdark. Something that the team seemed to be collecting like trophies these days.
Griff found that the salves would do as he commanded, basic functions like walk, carry or stop. It was decided that they could help in the ongoing disguise as Drow, plus Jude had a hope that she could find a cure for their ailment.
The party set off further down the path they were on.
Report Date
07 Jan 2025
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