Godhome
Gifts for the God
Returning to the level above to scavenge some additional "iron-metal", the Party managed to locate some cast-iron pots in the kitchen - after a brief altercation with a grey ooze!Returning to Godhome they were met again by Slaagh who cheerfully took them round to a corner and opened a copper coloured door. A huge hexagonal, metallic structure about ten feet wide and almost twenty-five feet tall loomed in the centre of a high-ceilinged room beyond. It emanated a greenish-white light. All kinds of gears and armaments were stuck to its silvery sides, including dozens of weapons, shields, and pieces of armour, as well as lanterns, buckles, and tools. To the north and south of the object stood two large stone statues, each depicting a troglodyte with its arms upraised in adulation. Three other copper-coloured metal doors lead out of this chamber, one from each corner of the room. One by one the Party presented their gifts of metal at the doorway , the offerings were snatched out of their hands by an invisible force and slammed against the side of the structure with an audible clang!
At the sound of a distant grinding noise Slaagh grinned gleefully informing them that the god had found favour with their offerings and led them round to a room where a stairway in the floor led downwards.
The Drowned Level
The Entrance Chamber
The stairway transitioned into a long sweeping passageway that after
about half a mile, led into a dank low-ceilinged room where a blue
skinned humanoid was standing in front of the Emerald Spire muttering
and writing things in a silvery notebook. As they approached the figure
shouted at them irritably in a language none of them understood.
Switching to common the figure shouted at them to go away as their
"negative energies" were disturbing his research.
As the Party continued moving forward, the figure, seeming enraged, abruptly attacked them, badly injuring Tamarie. A strange-looking crab monster appeared next to him from the shadows, joining his attack. As combat was the blue figure also summoned a crocodile, that nearly killed Thyrus as he administered a potion to Tamarie. Eventually the blue-skinned humanoid and his crab-monster were driven off.
Cautiously continuing to explore, after Tamarie healed the wounded , they found a storeroom piled with rotted piles of gear and a short set stairs leading down to a flooded passageway. The water in the passageway was only two feet deep and glowed dimly with the light of luminescent corals and algae growing on the walls.
Yangrit opened the door to the first room after Thyrus confirmed there was no traps only to be attacked by a swarm of crabs. The Party retreated to dry land to consider their options. Seawyr advised he might be able to deal with the crabs, but needed to rest and re-learn spells. Accordingly the Party retreated back up the long winding passageway they had descended, to rest.Elemental Water
After resting, the Party returned to the Drowned Level. They found that the blue-skinned Summoner had returned. This time Thyrus initiated combat, sniping from the stairway, and battle was joined. The fight was initially frustrating as the
Party was blocked from getting into the room. However, once they
had managed to push in to the room, they quickly despatched the
blue-skinned man and his summoned creatures and moved deeper into the
dungeon, descending to the water-logged level.Ignoring the room where the crab-swarms lurked, they moved on to a large room filled with water. The water in this room was mostly clear and smelled clean, and a gentle current flowed south, where a waterfall could be heard. As he went in, Thyrus was dragged under by something. Yangrit immediately dashed forward and dragged the tiefling to the surface. As she did, the attacker was revealed - a water elemental.
With some difficulty the party eventually managed to destroy the elemental, and after pausing for healing, headed out through a passageway to the north. The passage led to a large room where a half-submerged shimmering area shone on north wall which occasionally spurted out water. Sturdy tables stood about a foot above the water level, some stacked with crates, others with bedding. As they moved into the room they were attacked by an even larger water elemental.
Realising they were a bit outmatched, they immediately withdrew from combat and headed back to the dry area at the entrance to the level determined to rest and plan how to proceed.
Mud For The Mudlord
After spending some time pondering their actions, Thyrus decided to explore the only other passage, one that led downwards. He quickly found the passageway became submerged completely, but diving under he surfaced into a large room. The water was about 8 feet deep. two exits led from the room and on one wall he could see water pouring down from a series of vents and on the other a portal that intermittently sucked water out. Teh constant movement of water caused the silt on the bottom of the room to shift constantly, causing the water to be murky and vaguely unpleasant. Suddenly Thyrus spotted something in the murk he didn't like and wisely dived out of the room.
Returning to report the others eventually, prompted by Godfrey decided to try the water elemental room again. This time the combat went slightly better, though Sherm was "killed" and Thyrus once again badly injured, having to be saved by Tamarie. The water elemental despatched they searched the crates discovering food supplies - mostly dried fish and seaweed - but also two potions of water breathing.
Retreating back to the only dry area they had discovered so far, the
Party rested and discussed how to move forward. They had two potions and
two of the snorkels they had found and quickly divvied them up. The
potions eventually went to Seawyr and Godfrey.
Eventually they moved forward into the room full of murky water where as expected they were attacked by a mudlord which rapidly formed from the disturbed silt in the water. In the midst of combat Godfrey managed to open both doors causing water to flood out of the room and reducing the depth by about 2 feet. The mudlord proved a difficult foe, its muddy flesh proving resistant to most attacks, but eventually the combined efforts off the team, especially Seawyr's magic and Thyrus's magical rapier, prevailed.
The Reservoir
Heading forward up the corridor Godfrey had opened the door to, Seawyr discovered a couple of ladders that led up to the room with the portal that spewed out the water that filled the level. Moving on they found two mirrored octagonal rooms where narrow platforms hugged the walls just above the level of seawater filling the lower section. In one of they rooms they were attacked by two enraged bunyips. They managed to badly injure one before hastily retreating. In the other room they spotted disturbances in the water, but nothing attacked.
Returning to the bunyip room they found that the wounded one had been
slain and partially consumed by the other. They were ready for the
attack when the second bunyip attacked and they swiftly killed it with a
flurry of attacks. The southern exit from these rooms lad through
another flooded corridor which contained two empty rooms and a large
door at the end. Yangrit eventually managed to open the large door, only
to cause the water in the corridor to flood out in a torrent - dragging
herself, Seawyr and Tamarie with it, Juntrik somehow managing to avoid
the danger.
Unfortunately, the torrent dumped them into a deep pool containing a giant moray eel! The moray eel proved a formidable opponent, badly injuring Seawyr before they eventually managed to despatch it. They rested briefly before continuing down the southern corridor. The corridor was completely submerged so Seawyr, still using the potion of water breathing, went ahead to explore.
Passing by a door he was unable to open, the corridor led to a huge room, a massive reservoir. He was immediately attacked by a weird looking ranseur bearing construct that appeared to have been retro-fitted with what looked like a shark's tail. The construct also sputtered with electrical discharges that fizzed through the surrounding water. Wisely, Seawyr chose to retreat and reassess the situation.
Unfortunately, as no one else could operate completely under water, Seawyr had no option but to go back in himself. This time as the construct charged forward, Seawyr fired off a scorching ray! As the ray struck the construct, it unexpectedly exploded, the shock-wave sending Seawyr tumbling back through the water up the hallway. Heading back, the hallway opened into a large, flooded room with three isolated alcoves just above the water level. One of the alcoves contained a table and chairs on which Seawyr found pages of notes relating to the various portals in the dungeon. He also found, stuffed under the desk, a large oilskin wrapped package.
The packed turned out to contain a shiny battleaxe, a circular
headband, more scrolls with notes on the portals and some half-finished
letters to someone called “Uzar-Kus of the Circle of Vissk-Thar”. One
scroll case also contained another strange parchment with a curious
green sigil labelled “Eight” in Aquan and Draconic. It also contained
another of the strange green cylindrical token.