Session 49 - Surface Bound

General Summary

1st Harvest - Contd.

After poking around for a bit longer, Rankunkel asked, "I think we've gotten just about everything in here, is there anything else to explore or is it time to leave?" Looking up at the ceiling he added, "Unless we wanted to check out the hole that thing came down from?"

The rest of the party followed his gaze, but in the dim light from the glowing lamps on the walls it was clear that the once empty hole was empty no longer, a solid looking adamantine plate now blocked it. Jilken picked up a piece of scrap and threw it at the plate, which clanged when it hit. The Aiel muttered, "Well it's not an illusion."

Denye, who had been studying the plate with careful eyes shook her head, "I don't think I have anything that will move that. There doesn't appear to be any seams, I think it's all one piece."

Janora grunted, "As far as I'm concerned we've got what we came for. Let's get out of this underwater prison."

As the party headed back toward the stairs, Denye said "I do want to do a second sweep of the lower levels, might as well make sure we didn't miss anything, we probably won't be coming back here any time soon."

"Well I think we dealt with most of the active threats," agreed Janora, "as long as we don't stumble onto any more traps we should be safe."

In short order, the party stopped at the door to the third floor. "We looked around most of this floor I think. We left those ragdolls in the vault, Janora if you want to take them."

"They were left with good reason!" barked Janora, "If anyone thinks they are going to take those cursed poppets out of this space, they will have to go through me."

Denye glanced at Ell and beak grinned, "Ell, that's not a challenge."

The young man's face displayed shock and chagrin and he was about to say something in return, but Jilken spoke up, "I dunno, if those things bother you so much, maybe we should destroy them."

Janora shook their head, "No, this is old witchcraft, we should just leave it alone."

"Fair enough," said Jilken with a shrug, "What about all those crates, Ell do you want to go open some more up?

Ell shook his head, "A lot of them were empty and those with stuff inside were all low value. I'd rather just keep moving."

The party stopped briefly on the second floor, but they had done quite a through job there and moved back down to the lowest level. Coming out into the hall Denye suggested, "Before we go back through the lock, I want a second look at that conference room, I feel like we didn't really look around much."

That seemed as good a plan as any and the porty headed down in that direction. Janora stopped out in the hall and began ritually casting Summon Steed, calling up their Husky. Back in the conference room, Denye and the others surveyed the tossed chairs, the broken crystal screen at one end, and the name Meldoh written on the wall in large rust-brown letters. There wasn't a lot to be found, but Denye did find two broken slates. One was clearly broken, with spiderweb cracks across it's face while the other appeared whole but was unresponsive, even with a fresh crystal. The wizard pocketed both for later study.

"Was there any place else we haven't looked?" asked Ell.

"There was that other bulkhead in the flooded hallway," said Denye, "That should be just on the other side of this wall."

"It's just stone," said Ranunkel, "I can pass through and take a look if you want."

Ell nodded, "And if he sees anything interesting, I can make a door for an hour."

"I could also just turn part of the wall to mud," suggested Janora, "then we don't have a time limit."

Vellikar asked, "Do we even know what's on the other side?"

"Not yet," replied Ranunkel, "but just give me a moment," Invoking his Stone Glide ability, the dwarf stuck his head through and found a squarish room filled with what appeared to be instruments of torture as well as what appeared to be a doorway heading north. Pulling his head back, he said, "It's mostly torture devices, somebody had a bad time, I dunno if there is anything of interest to us, but there was a open hall leading north, maybe there's something more interesting up there."

"Was it air or water?" asked Denye.

"Oh, air definitely," replied Ranunkel.

Janora suggested, "Could you do that again, but out in the hall? Maybe you could see into that other area. Ranunkel did so and announced that there were a half dozen cells, some with broken doors.

Heading back down to the board room, Janora cast Transmute Rock and turned a section of the wall to a thick mud. For several moments, it held it's shape but slowly began to collapse, spreading out on the floor.

"Before we go in there." asked Denye leaning against a wall, "can we sleep? That fight with Davrox took a lot out of me."

The others agreed and Janora cast Tiny Hut within the board room so the party could use the table as a sort of bunkbed. Jilken was leery about sleeping next to an unknown space and watched for a good long while before trancing out.

2nd Harvest

Janora led the way into the Inquisition chamber, it was much as Ranunkel had described it. Dark blood stains covered the rough stone floor and various torture instruments stood around; a set of stocks, a rack, and an iron maiden. Against one wall, there was a long table covered with several dozen metal tools, all of which looked designed to harm someone.

As Janora walked around, their barghast alerted to something down hall by the cells and they called a warning to the others. Which of course, peaked Jilken's curiosity and she began making her way down the hall, checking the cells as she went. Nothing was in the first two. The third held nothing more ominous than thick dried bloodstains, but as she turned to check the fourth, the blood began move and congeal into an oozing mass that attempted to grab the elf. The Aiel dodged the pseudopod and muttering the words to make it a Banishing Arrow, shot the blob. The arrow vanished into the mass of congealed blood and it quivered for a moment or two before reaching out again.

Ell started running forward and threw himself against the wall, but not seeing any threat, summoned a pair of Eldritch Blasts and held them, yelling for Jilken to get out of the way. Janora on the other hand, urged their husky forward to stand next to Jilken. Lifting their hands Janora laced their fingers and casting Burning Hands and sending a wave of fire to burn the gloopy mass. "Well, fire doesn't seem to work."

Vellikar growled, "I can't see anything, stupid darkness." With a quiet phrase, the Firbolg druid WildShaped once more into a dogmole, vanished, and rushed up to the side of the passage, waiting for his allies to draw them out. Ranunkel meanwhile rushed forward as well and pointing his staff at the Blood Ooze sent a lightning bolt coursing into the thing causing it to spasm. In response, the Ooze slid forward between the broken bars and lashed out at Ranunkel with a psuedopod, hitting the dwarf in the shoulder and making the arm go numb for a moment. A second Blood Ooze on the ceiling, slid around the corner from further up the passage and lashed out at Jilken. The blow was dead on, hitting the elf in the side of the head and causing her vision to black out for a moment. Almost instinctually, the Aiel fighter sent a jolt of electricity back into the Ooze.

Shaking her head to clear it, Jilken whipped out the lightning spear and slashed down twice at the thing that had hit her, leaving deep cuts that sizzled and smoked from the lightning. In a burst of speed, the Aiel spun the spear around to deliver a third slash to the original ooze as well as she yelled out to the others, "Keep your distance, these things pack a punch."

Denye ran forward, to the edge of the hall and wings already raised, claws moving in arcane patterns, she called, "Cover your eyes!" With a few more magical phrases the hall and the cells beyond light up brightly as the wizard cast Dawn, shaping it around her friends. Both of the Blood Oozes shuddered and shrunk slightly as their outer edges began to boil.

Ell moved around to stand behind Denye, but with the others crowded into the hallway it was impossible to see either of the creatures. Not being shielded from Denye's spell, he did not wish to run into the hall and simply continued to hold a pair of Eldritch Blasts, in case he got a shot at one of the creatures. Janora, not wanting to get hit, backed the husky 10ft down the hall. As the dog moved, the witch pointed a finger and muttered something incomprehensible, sending a Witchbolt into the Ooze, which promptly exploded, send sticky congealed blood over the three in the hall.

Vellikar, still invisible, rushed up into the hall, the light from Denye's spell burning as he ran. The druid pushed past Ranunkel and Jilken to leap onto the Blood Ooze, coming visible as he ripped and clawed the thing into pieces. Sensing no more threat Denye dropped the Dawn spell as Jilken muttered, "There better be something good in these last two cells."

Janora groaned, "I am so tired of this fucking place, but at least our magic is working more consistantly."

"All in favor of leaving the sea cube?" asked Ranunkel. Ell only snorted a laugh as he started heading back into the conference room, Tear of Midnight Sorrow on his heels. Janora and Ranunkel followed them as Jilken and Denye started looking around. Denye took a few minutes to ritually cast Detect Magic, but nothing rang in her mind. Jilken searched the cells carefully, but there were no scraps of bone or cloth to be found.

Annoyed, they followed the others out into the hall and found everyone gathering outside the closed doors of the airlock. Denye used her keycard to unlock the doors as Janora cast Water Breathing on the party and everyone trooped inside. Flipping the lever the room began filling with water and once the other door opened the party easily made their way back out outside. Avoiding the blood coral, Janora began looking for the warm water spots that marked the path out of the column of disorienting magic. It took a bit of searching, and a couple of dead ends, but in less than an hour the party was into the open lake.

Ready to be dry and back up in the sun, Janora cast Water Walk on the party and everyone began shooting up towards the surface. About the time the spell ran out out, Ranunkel caught sight of something dark in the water above, Denye and Tear spotting a number of strange shapes in the water ahead. Long sleek bodies like sharks, the creatures had the heads of polar bears and were covered in short white fur. As the party got closer it was easier to see that the creatures seemed to be hunting some sort of smaller animals, possibly otters.

Not wanting to get involved with if it was simply animals attacking other animals, Veillikar cast Pass Without a Trance on the party and they all began swimming around so as not to attract the hunters. As the team swam away Jilken looked back just in time to see two of the otters torn apart and the third shimmer for a moment before turning into a small halfling child who beat at the mahoru with pudgy fists. The Aiel elf sent a wordless cry of alarm through the telepathic earrings, causing the others to stop short. Denye muttered in astonishment, "They are people?"

Janora muttered and swore, "They must be selkies, relations of the Truwaters."

Jilken hadn't even waited, as soon as she saw the small child, she sent two crossbow bolts into the mahoru that threated the kid. Both bolts struck home and were quickly followed by a pair of Eldritch Blasts from Ell...which pushed the hunter away from the child! Ranunkel sent a Lightning Bold through a pair of the beasts as Denye began swimming toward the child and threw her own Storm Sphere around him, before sending a bolt of her own into the dazed mahoru, streaks of burnt hair covering it as it howled in pain. Meanwhile Veillikar swam towards one of the pairs ripping apart one of the victims and threw an Ice Knife into a flank, drawing the monster's attention as Janora cast Chill Touch, grabbing hold of one of the creatures with a large, skeletal dog paw.  

Ell swam up near Tear of Midnight and sent two more Eldritch Blasts at one of the creatures, throwing it backwards in the water. In response the mahoru rushed at Ell as two more engaged Tear and Denye.  The small goblin managed to avoid the sharp teeth, but Ell and Denye weren't quite so lucky. Blue flames erupted in the water around one of them as Ell cast Hellish Rebuke on the one who got him. Another pair swam toward the party but they were to far away to do more than close. What the team couldn't see was that the final mahoru, enraged with bloodlust, threw himself into the sphere fighting the wind biting off the child's lower half and releasing more blood into the water as the Truwater selkie went still.

Jilken, seeing her friends all threatened fired two bolts into the most injured of the monsters, calling, "Are we having sushi for dinner tonight?"

Ranunkel swam up beside her and grumbled, "I hope not, these things would taste horrid." Pointing his staff once more at one of the creatures, the dwarven druid sent another lightning bolts coursing through the water. With the mahoru gathered close now, Tear pulled out his Shatterglass Scimitar and left two long cuts in the beast's flank.

As the blood from the third selkie began to swirl around within the Storm Sphere, Denye realized that there was no one left to save. Screaming in anger, frustration, and sadness, the wizard dropped a huge Fireball on top of the party and the attacking creatures, shaping the spell to protect her friends and killing one of the monsters. As the inferno vanished Denye swam up to the edge of the storm and sent another lightning bolt at the mahoru in the spell.

Vellikar swam forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ell and Tear. Lifting his sickle the firbolg druid swiped at one of the creatures, cutting into it's flank as Janora sent the husky forward. For themselves, the witch locked eyes with one of the creatures and glaring darkly, cast Withering Gaze. Unfortunately it did not seem to have any effect of the beast and Janora cursed in annoyance.

Cursing himself for the pain in his leg where the mahoru had hit him, Ell slammed a fist into the creatures snout, casting Vampiric Touch. The fur under Ell's hand went black as he siphoned off life force, the bite marks in his thigh closing.  Roaring in anger, the bear shark lunged forward, catching Ell's arm in it's razor-sharp teeth. Another of the beasts lunged at Vellikar and caught him by the shoulder. The other two closed, one swimming up to take a bite at the husky, but the dog was too quick. The other mahoru let out a deep, reverberating roar. A wave of Fear rushed through the party leaving Jilken and Tear stunned and unable to act. The other monster, still in the storm sphere attacked Denye as the winds and water battered at it.

Ranunkel, not wanting to get too close, fired off another lightening bolt at one of the creatures. Tear followed it up with two quick strikes of the scimitar and cut the head off of the mahoru. Denye meanwhile screamed into the face of the mahoru who had bit here and sent another zap of lightning into the creature and it began to fall deeper into the water the body spasming. Retreating into  the protection of the storm, the wizard threw out another Fireball, catching two of the monsters in flames. 

Janora roared back at the mahoru who had ignored the glare and cast Witchbolt, weaving a curse of pain into the spell. The husky tried to go in for his own bite, but the other bear shark dodged the attack. Vellikar still unsure of what exactly to do, cut at the mahoru in front of him as Ell tried for another Vampiric Touch but the beast evaded him. It tried to return the attack with another bite, but this time Ell got his arm out of the way in time. The other two remaining mahoru rushed at Jilken and Janora, but both avoided the attacks.

Jilken, no longer stunned or frightened roared back at the mahoru and shoved her spear straight into the beast's heart. As it went limp and began to drift, she spun the spear around and struck deep in the flank of the one that had tried to bite her. It was followed quickly by a scimitar strike from Ranunkel.

Tear yelled a Goblin battle cry as he swan up and stabbed deep into the other mahoru's flank. The single strike was enough to kill the beast, but the sword got caught on a rib and the goblin warrior lost his grip as the bear shark began to convulse.

Seeing only the one creature left, Denye sent three Scorching Rays at the mahoru, and followed it up with a lignthing bolt from the storm sphere. All four attacks hit the same spot and the force of the lightning blast caused the thing to explode. Dropping the storm sphere, Denye screamed, "That's what you deserve for killing children!"

Denye and Vellikar spent some time trying to collect the bodies of the selkies to take them back to the surface for burial, but Janora convinced them to let them remain in the water. Denye spent a few long moments imprinting the face in her memory so she draw it when they got to the surface once more.

Now tired, saddened, and anger the party gathered around Janora and the witch cast Water Walk once more, sending the party shooting for the surface. As they rose the water began to get lighter and lighter, and a little less than an hour later, the team found themselves once more in air, standing atop the waves.

From the look of the sun, it was mid-afternoon. Glancing about, the group was pleased to find that Zardok's boat was only a few hundred yards off. They got within fifty feet of the boat before the Water Walk spell ended and the party dropped once more into the water. Swimming the rest of the way over, the group began to clamber up the sides. They found the old halfling asleep on a pile of rope, with a large floppy hat pulled over his eyes and a large clay jug next to him that smelled quite alchololic.

As the party boarded, Zardok woke and was quite astonished to see them, "Oh my, you're back, I really didn't think you'd be coming back. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Well," said Denye with a sigh, "we found quite a lot...not much of it was pleasant."

"Lady Panna said you would be back," said the old man, "Zardok, she said, you go back out there tomorrow. It that group didn't come back today, they will tomorrow. And here you are, let's get you back to Foxhall." Turning to his work, he released his immoveable anchor and began trimming the sails.

The ride back was somber. Zardok attempted to engage in conversation a few times, but no one seemed to have much energy or desire to engage. Denye spent a good part of the trip, sketching the face of the child. Arriving back at the docks as the sun was being to vanish behind the trees of the Pelagris Forest, the party thanked Zardok for his help and began making their way toward the Glittering Cup.  

As Denye was stepping off the boat she recalled something and asked Zardok, "Your last name is Truwater, correct? Do you know a Lonlos Truwater?"

"Oh aye," nodded Zardok, "Young Lonlos is my second cousin's son, Runs a boat out of Port Frost last I heard." 

Without comment, Denye handed Zardok the sketch of the selkie boy. At his look of confusion she explained, "We met him swimming back up, along with two others that I assume were also Truwaters. I'm very sorry, we didn't get there in time to stop them from being killed by some sort of bear/shark hybrid."

"The mahoru?" asked Zardok, "Vile beasts, they shouldn't have been on this side of the lake."

Denye shook her head, "I don't know, but you won't have to worry about that pack at least."

Zardok ran a hand over his face, "Thank you and thank you for bringing this news. I will make sure to reach out to his parents."

Unable to say anything else, Denye turned and fled after her friends. Arriving at the inn, the party quickly procured rooms, hot baths, and food before calling it an early night and drifting off into sleep.

Report Date

29 May 2022