A Candlekeep Mystery (IC)

[FitzTheRuke]

Hawthorne could not hit with his quarrel, it went off somewhere into the moss. Still, he fared better than Crock Jon, who was holding himself upright using the moss-covered cavern wall for support, and openly weeping (though he hadn't quite noticed it).

Cairn lumbered forward and slammed his fist into the murky pool, but the wrinkled old meenlock simply popped back up as the water slid back after having sloshed out into the drier, but still damp moss around its edge.

Finally, Ethian directed his floating weapon to strike, and it caught the Meenlock as the withered old thing tried to duck once more into the moss. Then the elf sent a searing light that burned the flesh of the bug-eyed fey creature. Unfortunately for Crock Jon (as if he weren't having enough problems, the creature reached out to him with a psychic link, and the half-orc felt the pain that the Meenlock was experiencing, as if it was his own.

OOC: Cairn & Hawthorne missed; Ethian did 16 to elder, who shared 14 of it with Crock Jon. Just @Leatherhead Argenti & @VLAD the Destroyer Kaliban to go. Maybe you can end this?

GM: Horrid Link (1/Turn). The meenlock targets a creature it can see within 30 feet of it. Each time the meenlock takes damage, the target takes 1d10 psychic damage. This effect lasts until the start of the meenlock's next turn.

Spoiler: Rolls

Meenlock
dc15 DEX save vs Ethian's Sacred Flame: 1D20+3 = [4]+3 = 7
Horrid Link damage vs Crock Jon: 2D10 = [6, 8] = 14

 

[Leatherhead]

"It's hurting Crock Jon somehow! HYAH!" Argenti flings a retaliatory rock at the big bug, which smashes into it's head!

OOC: If I have been doing math right, that should be just enough to kill it. And uh, maybe Crock Jon too... Eldritch Blast attack and Damage 2 is bludgeoning 1d6 is necrotic the rest is force: 1D20+6 = [11]+6 = 17 1D10+4+2+1D6 = [5]+4+2+[4] = 15

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

Kaliban moves back closer to Ethian. He realizes he will not be able to close with the creature to attack, the pools hinder his small frame to much. Kaliban then fires off another arrow at the elder creature. The shot actually strikes true this time.

OOC: Move: Will back up to W31 Action: Shortbow attack on meenlock elder: 1d20+5 18 1d6+3 5.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Kaliban shuffled through the moss to get closer to Ethian, whose soothing light was the only source of comfort in this horrible place. He fired his bow, and saw the creature struck by the arrow. Crock Jon moaned and staggered, while the fey creature disappeared into the moss.

Then it suddenly reappeared, behind Ethian and reached out with a twisted claw to grab at the elf, but Argenti was faster - she sent a shining stone, summoned from another plane, hurling with such great force that it struck the fey in the side of the head and knocked it dead.

Their minds were cleared instantly: While the chamber was still a damp, mossy mess, it stopped swirling in their vision and buzzing in their heads. The body fell, twisting and writhing until it lay still, once more the figure of a townsman. A miner who had been trapped in the cave-in, now impossibly old (and dead).

OOC: Croc Jon "only" took 3. So he's still got 4HP. Done the fight, but I'm going to spend a bit of time on an afterword, so feel free to keep posting!

 

[FitzTheRuke]

As the Agents of the Black Dragon Gate Mining Consortium shook off their torment and recovered their wits, the moss that had clung to everything in the tunnels began to shrivel and wilt. Apparently, it had been connected to the fey infestation, and could not live without the influence of the meenlocks.

If there was nothing else that would assure them that they had won, it was this: A large clump of moss fell off the cavern wall as they were working to find their way out of the maze-like portion, and it revealed a sizeable deposit of iron ore. These twisting tunnels had been dug by the meenlocks, and while they had been a terror to the town, their work here would serve to revive it going forward.

Hawthorne made notes. His superiors in Baldur's Gate would be very pleased, which did a small part to recover his spirits.

 

[Leatherhead]

"Is it over? Are the bugs dead?" Argenti asks with a bit of trepidation.

 

[Neurotic]

Cairn steps next to Argenti, a relief palpable in the elemental as stones return to their normal selves and he shrinks back to his normal size.
"Argenti-boss, this one, Hypersthene Cairngorn, did his mission. You lived through the mine of fey corruptors. I will go now, but if you need me, draw this rune with hypersthene on the stone and call me. My name is..."
He lowers his head and murmurs something in Terran that if anyone could hear it would sound like if an avalanche had a cough and sneezed at the same time with the strange click at the end.
"Krrkktnkk A’ktnnzzik’tk!"

"Progenitor Dao Aurumamma calls me, my contract is completed."
Bowing to the warlock, he walks into the wall of the mine, stones finally allowing him to pass.

OOC: if we continue in another mission, keep some rewards/treasures for me too

 

[FitzTheRuke]

With Cairn gone back the earthen plane, the agents made their way out of the mine. It was nearing dusk, which seemed far too long for how far they'd travelled inside the mines, (though on the other hand, it had felt like an eternity inside). The sky was clear and there was a beautiful sunset in the west. A soft breeze prickled the skin with the mountain chill, but was welcome all the same.

Shedrick was outside the mine, too smart to enter alone. He had waited for hours, fearing the worst and he ran to Hawthorne, calling, "You're okay! Thank the gods!"

 

[Steve Gorak]

“Yes, thank the gods! Glad to see you Shedrick! What happened to the creature you were watching?”

Ethian is hoping it may have transformed back to a living townsfolk.

 

[DEFCON 1]

As the party exits the mines, Hawthorne blinks his eyes several times and then takes in a deep breath of fresh air. "By the Gods, that was... well, I don't know what that was. It was something, at least."

As the voice of Shedrick reaches his ears, he turns and sees the young man moving up towards him. Hawthorne can't help but see this sight for sore eyes, and he smiles wide and reaches his arm out to shake hands. "Shedrick! My boy! Shedrick, my man! Shedrick! Sheddy-shed, Shedrick-boy-man. Sir. Shedrick, sir. Sir Shedrick. Rickshed. Sir Shedrick the Rickety Shed."

After a couple second of mumbling as though he was sitting at a desk next to a photocopy machine... Hawthorne shakes his head clear of the fogginess. "Sorry. What? What was I saying?"