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Company of Chaos - All Around Golarion
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<blockquote data-quote="Lwaxy" data-source="post: 5997641" data-attributes="member: 53286"><p>This part took some weeks to do over email. Everyone will be back home middle of September or so. </p><p></p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------</p><p></p><p></p><p>They had been following a sour looking Poltur down to the lock doors of the lower canal which was currently dry. The channel was running off into the darkness, with a narrow ledge alongside several feet high. Poltur hadn't said much, and the party guessed he would have preferred to see them killed by that hellcat – although the purpose of calling them here just to be killed wasn't clear. </p><p></p><p>Pojali had tried to engage the man in conversation to learn more, but it had not worked. Teltz had been little more successful by asking if Poltur was a follower of Asmodeus, thereby playing his part as a newly converted from the Baron's men quite well. By the evasive answer it was clear he was not, in fact, a follower and neither would he consider becoming one. </p><p></p><p>The ledge above the channel widened soon to form an open platform about 50 feet long and 20 feet deep, and the steel cleats and bitts, as well as several coils of old rope, testified that this was once some type of dock for traffic in the channel. A pair of ten-foot-high iron double doors were set into the stone wall in the center of the landing, and three short iron levers sprouted from a foot-square iron plate set in the wall to their right. A cave-in from above completely obstructed the channel some distance to the south.</p><p></p><p>Poltur hesitated. Teltz had the feeling he was waiting for them to do something stupid, but eventually he walked over to the levers. With a quick move, he pulled the top and the bottom lever at the same time. With a screeching sound, the doors opened. "Hurry on," he shouted. "There's a trap that'll come down in a few seconds."</p><p></p><p>Pojali took a moment to determine if the man was speaking the truth – a gift from her god, so she had explained on the way here. She nodded and ran on, followed by the others. It was only when they were through the doors and in a narrow tunnel that they realized Poltur was not following. The trap, spikes coming down from the ceiling right in front of the doors, had not caught him either as he had taken a stap back. He was positively smirking. Then he grabbed one of the spikes, or so it seemed, and the spikes retracted and carried him upward. Before they could get out again, the door closed again. </p><p></p><p>Teltz, who had been carrying the light in form of a piece of wood with a spell on it, cursed something vile. "He tricked us," Pojali simply said. "Though he had not been lying. I can only guess that this way holds something dangerous which might kill us while he can claim we were simply stupid."</p><p></p><p>Bjön sighed. "I believe that is a pretty good guess. Any way to open the door from this side?"</p><p></p><p>Teltz ran the light over the area. "Not a single mechanism."</p><p></p><p>"Right, then, the only way is forward." The paladin took the lead, weapon at the ready. "Just remember, I'm one of the few dwarfs unable to see in the dark so don't stay too far behind with the light." </p><p></p><p>The tunnel soon widened again and sloped downward into a small cavern. The floor and walls here were coated in a thin film of slime, and a few inches of still, briny water covered the floor. At the far end, several gaff hooks and other maritime detritus were lying in a pile.</p><p></p><p>"This room gets flooded regularly," Teltz mentioned the obvious. "And someone has used all the rubbish to keep that part of the cavern open. To drown the water or flood more area?"</p><p></p><p>"I'm much more interested in how this trap is triggered. Maybe... uh oh!"</p><p></p><p>Teltz turned around from his inspection of the ground and walls. He stared, like the others, at the chimera suddenly popping out of the rubble. Its black dragon head rumbled, and for a moment it looked as if it would attack right away. But then it jumped into the middle of the cavern, causing a loud grinding sound.</p><p></p><p>"I guess that answers my question," Bjön shouted. "We'll be flooded if we aren't dinner before."</p><p></p><p>"Chimeras can't live in water. Look at it, that thing is undead." Pojali was getting into a spell already. </p><p></p><p>Bjön drew out his sapphire amulet and groaned. Not expecting any undead was the main reason people died of them, he had so often been told. The amulet was glowing something fierce, which probably meant more of them asides of this hideous creature. "I can deal with this," he assured them and took a deep breath, quickly wondering how much time he would have left to breathe seeing how the water was rushing in from several points in the walls. He also tried to remember what type of breath weapon a black dragon had but he couldn't seem to remember in this situation. </p><p></p><p>The others watched with interest as the paladin lifted the amulet to his forehead and began mumbling some sort of prayer in his dwarven tongue. The priestess was somewhat disappointed she could not understand what it was exactly, but they didn't have much time and she could ask later. "We need to move," she shouted to Teltz while her spell hit the monster, which immediately moved at half speed. "Through the rubble and around that thing."</p><p></p><p>"Are you mad?" the bard snapped. "I won't leave Bjön, and it would put us right under the thing's noses."</p><p></p><p>"Trust me!" she demanded. "Bjön has enough trouble to watch out for himself so he can't worry about us." Grabbing him by the shirt, she more or less pulled him into the rising waters and over to the other exit. </p><p></p><p>The Varisian stumbled through water now reaching his shins. The woman had a point; if they would hesitate they wouldn't make it through to the other side before the water would toss them around like toys. He had to watch how he moved already, and he literally kept his eyes on his feet, but them bring and more obscured by sea foam, he decided he would just have to hope he wouldn't fall over anything. </p><p></p><p>Looking up, he knew they should be right next to the monstrosity by now and wondered if the thing would change its attack and have a go at them. However, as he looked up, he couldn't see the priestess anymore, although he still felt her dragging hand pulling him along. He could still see himself but it seemed the monster missed both of them. Obviously, the woman had managed to make them invisible somehow. He could slap himself that he hadn't thought of this option himself. After all, he had a tattoo for it. But then, he would not have been able to include anyone else. </p><p></p><p>Behind them, a sapphire light grew stronger, and there was the impression of music in the air, though none of them could actually hear something. It was a strange feeling. The bard had no time to think about it though, because they had reached the rubble on the other end of the cave and he needed to be careful not to fall into the churning waters, which were now up to his waist. Pojali let go of him, needing both hands to climb over, and Teltz decided he could worry about Bjön later. Right now, the rising water was beginning to terrify him, thanks to an old childhood memory he had thought overcome. His arms and legs were shaky, part from exhaustion and part from fear. He had long lost the wood with the light spell, but some sort of light emitting algae provided basic illumination. </p><p></p><p>Somehow, he made it to the other, still mostly dry side. Water was leaking though, of course, but not in a substantial amount yet. As he was about to take a deep breath, he noticed the creatures. To the left and right of the exit to this cave, humanoid shapes were waiting. At first sight, in the greenish he thought them to be normal humans, but then he recognized the blank eyes, the partial decay, the seaweed stuck to them. Another pair of undead, though not as dangerous as the chimaera behind them. </p><p></p><p>For a moment, he froze. Then he took his sword – which somewhat stuck to the scabbard thanks to the wetness – and sneaked up on the one closest to him. He had no idea where the priestess was, but the surprise of his invisibility was to be used. And it seemed Pojali had had the same idea. Right as he decapitated the strange undead in front of him, he heard a piercing cry and a slashing sound. Turning just in time to see two short, curved blades in the woman's hands, he couldn't help to notice how attractive she looked when she was in such a fierce mood. The head of the second abomination joined that of the first, and Pojali, spell broken by her attack, actually chuckled. "Now that was a good way to get rid of them." </p><p></p><p>"Nice timing," Teltz commented. </p><p></p><p>"I could still see you. It was my granted prayer allowing us to pass unnoticed, after all." Putting her weapons away, she pointed to where the water rushed in quicker now. "Those are strange undead, nothing I ever saw or heard of before. So maybe Bjön needs help after all... or not," she finished, sounding amused. </p><p></p><p>Again, the bard turned to see a certain dwarf, still bathed in the glow of his sapphire pendant, being washed over the rubble together with what looked to be the tail of the chimaera. The wave carried the paladin way into this tunnel before he rested in a large, growing puddle, coughing and gasping. Then the glow disappeared and Bjön started shivering. </p><p></p><p>Only now the others noticed how cold they were. While the sea water had been warmer than expected, probably kept from freezing temperatures by some underground heat source, it was still far from comfortable, and the air in here was not much warmer than it had been outside. Being soaking wet in their winter clothes was not a good thing. </p><p></p><p>The bard reached into his wet shirt and pulled out a marble pipe, an instrument unaffected by most elements. I had done a good job staying alive over the years. It could store simple arcane spells, and the Varisian usually used it for only one type – mendings of various natures, partly invented by himself. It had no great sound but it didn't need to. Unless you had very sensitive ears, the slightly off sound didn't bother. Gathering the others around himself, Teltz started playing a repetitive waltz-like melody. One downside of this spell storage was that it took a few minutes to work, which was why the flute wasn't of much use in action, but he felt they had a moment. </p><p></p><p>Bjön, looking slightly cross-eyed, held his head while he kept on shivering and coughing. He seemed to have swallowed a lot of water. Pojali winced a bit – likely her ears were quite good – but waited patiently. The water seemed to be drawn away from them, including what was still in the dwarf's lungs as it seems. The dry out bout, as Teltz called this little melody, did a good job removing wetness that was not supposed to be there. There was still water rushing in, though, and would soon be knee high, so they kept moving in haste. </p><p></p><p>"What happened there?" the priestess asked as they rushed went on to the next cave.</p><p></p><p>"I'm not sure. The amulet did its job but it was as if something was binding the chimera to this place, something strong enough to temper with this kind of divine magic. It touched me with it's tail and bumped me against a wall despite being so slow, then it pinned me there and suddenly my lungs filled with water. I had to hack its tail off to be able to breathe again. A bit longer and I would have drowned. I think all that protected me was the amulet. And I lost my axe in the fight, too!" Still shaken, the paladin managed to look very angry about that. He hadn't noticed until now that his utility belt had also been torn from his waist. It caused a growl none of them had heard from him before. But there was nothing to be done about it, the chances to find the lost items were slim even if the water would retreat.</p><p></p><p>The floor of the next cavern was already submerged beneath several feet of standing water. Fresh water from the cave they just left began to slowly tickle in. It appeared that something lived here, as the tops of several crude tables stood just above the water’s surface. Rusted and barnacle-encrusted weapons, armor, and other odds and ends were stacked in corners. "My guess is this is where the other undead came from," Pojali said. </p><p></p><p>"Other undead? Humanoids?" When they nodded, Bjön's face took on a thinking expression, but whatever it was that he seemed to almost recall, he could not bring it up and shook his head apologetically. </p><p></p><p>"They looked somewhat like those," Teltz said drily and pointed to where 2 of the same sort of undead emerged from under one of the tables. </p><p></p><p>Luckily, even without the help of the weaponless dwarf, the two of them had no problem with the clumsy and somewhat unfocussed foes. They knew not to let them touch them, but that was a general rule with all undead to begin with. But when they were done, the cold water was quickly filling up the cave. They had to press on and find dry ground before it would make sense for Teltz to play his flute again.</p><p></p><p>Getting out of this cavern was not so easy. The only other exit was a dwarf length up and slippery from the algae of this stagnant pool. They ended up pushing Bjön up, then the priestess and then pulling up Teltz last. After that, the tunnel soon went left, then right, then left again and they found themselves in need to wade through a puddle of foul smelling water before entering another, more rectangular space. </p><p></p><p>This large cavern’s floor was dotted with small, muddy pools, none more than a foot deep. At least a dozen wooden boxes and chests could be seen in the dry areas, most open, with coins and weapons clearly visible within. "Now, what do you say to that," the dwarf beamed. "I might just find a replacement weapon. Even a sword or a mace would do." </p><p></p><p>"I wouldn't trust that," the bard cautioned. "It's not like we haven's seen other traps before."</p><p></p><p>"Good point." Bjön scratched his head while the bard played his flute once more. "What type of trap could this be?"</p><p></p><p>"I'd look up," Pojali pointed. "Not sure but doesn't this look like something heavy is designed to fall down?"</p><p></p><p>The eyes of the other rose up, but before they could deny or confirm the woman's suspicions, several things happened. A terrible stink was suddenly around them, making Teltz and Pojali retch. Bjön just held his nose, looking surprised. Something acid smelling bumped against the dwarf, hissing and burning a hole into his cloak but being stopped by his armor. A second such missile found the back of the bard's leather armor after burning through his cloak and shirt. The leather got damaged and stopped the rest of the attack. Pojali had been in the motion of stepping sideways to allow the others a better look, and suddenly found herself sliding on very slippery ground that had not been there before. Mocking laughter came from somewhere, and there was the sound of a strange language being spoken rapidly. </p><p></p><p>Teltz reacted on instinct more than anything else. They were under attack, and he had no idea by who. None of them could see well in this light. He didn't want to be seen if he could not see them. Unable to cast any spell or play one of his special instruments due to the retching, he reached into his clothes and for the invisibility tattoo. A moment later, he vanished from everyone's view. Stumbling backwards to one of the walls, he tried to get out of the range of the stinking cloud. </p><p></p><p>The paladin jumped forward, trying to avoid the area Pojali had pointed out so no9thing would fall on him. He needed a weapon to fight whoever attacked, and the chests in the middle of the room at least had some form of defense. But he slipped on the grease as well and, instead of reaching the chests, bumped into the wall close to where Teltz now was. A bump was quickly forming on his forehead and he felt slightly dizzy. </p><p></p><p> Pojali barely managed to avoid the trapped area, but then lost balance completely and fell to the ground. Her eyes caught 2 strange looking creatures chuckling and pointing at her. But before she could make them out clearly, they disappeared behind some crates again. Some liquid substance hit the puddle close to her and vanished in a hiss. </p><p></p><p>Bjön ducked a similar attack, gliding to the floor in the process. He heard a familiar voice next to him. "I think those are mephits." He couldn't see the bard but he was glad someone had managed to get out of range of those things. "Don't care what they're called," he huffed, holding his nose. "They are the enemy. If I just had a weapon." </p><p></p><p>"Here." A short sword was pressed into his hands. "I can't fight well while invisible. I have another idea though."</p><p></p><p>Grunting, the dwarf looked around and found one of the strange winged creatures appearing from behind one of the crates, targeting Pojali with a spell, as it seemed. With a dwarven battle cry, he pointed the sword at the back of the thing and lurched forward. He gave it ample warning to turn around, but the spell it had tried to weave was interrupted. Instead, it was knocked out with the broad side of the dwarf's sword a moment later. Bjön had no intention to kill if he could avoid it, maybe those... mephits, or whatever they were, were just trying to defend their homes. </p><p></p><p>Pojali had managed to roll out of the way of the grease spell effect, lest she wuld tirgger the trap after all. The stinking cloud was dissipating, but she felt still too sick to do any spell, or to pray for more help from her deity. She noticed that the attention of the leading creature seemed to be focused in the dwarf now. A thudding sound on the other side a moment later was evidence of where the bard had gone to. That she could still not see him must mean his way of becoming invisible was superior to hers. </p><p></p><p>A few whispered words later, the last of the creatures tried to wiggle its way out of a net spell from the bard. From the way his words now sounded, it was quite angry. But they could still understand nothing. The paladin seemingly ignored the trouble and finally went over to the crates in search of a new, hopefully somewhat good, weapon. </p><p></p><p>Carefully getting up, Pojali flinched. Her backside hurt, and the lingering stench still made her eyes water. "Well done, you two," she coughed. </p><p></p><p>After a moment, the bard became visible again. "I wish we could open a window in here," he grinned. </p><p></p><p>"What do we do with those now?" the woman wanted to know. "If we let them go they will bother us again later, I worry."</p><p></p><p>"Good question. I have no idea. Maybe..."</p><p></p><p>"Hah, praise Desna! Look what I found. A dwarven cold iron axe, if I have ever seen any. And a rapier that looks to be alchemical silver but I'm less sure about that. The rest is a bit of money I took and mostly rubbish." Beaming, the young dwarf showed his new treasures. "Any objections to keeping both for now?" He had some trouble stowing the axe handle into his normal belt which luckily had enough hooks for such purposes. The rapier he kept in hand for now, tossing the sword back to the bard.</p><p></p><p>"No, but I'd not mind exchanging that sword for it eventually. I'm better with a rapier," Teltz explained. "And it looks to be a good weapon. I wanted to switch weapons a while back but we never got the chance to do so." </p><p></p><p>Bjön nodded. "Sure thing. I just want to try it out for a while."</p><p></p><p>"Guys?" The woman smiled sourly. "Your new toys are all fine, but what do we do with those creatures now?"</p><p></p><p>"I'd say run for it. If they are only defending their home, they'll leave us alone once we're gone. Those two will wake up eventually and... how long does the spell hold?" </p><p></p><p>"15 minutes, maybe," Teltz answered the dwarf's question. "I augmented it with something." He didn't want to define "something" obviously, and no one asked. </p><p></p><p>"Then let's go." The paladin went ahead to what was, again, the only other exit. Teltz quickly cast a new light spell on one of the otherwise unusable rotten torches in one of the crates and they followed. </p><p></p><p>This time, they didn't have to climb although the tunnel went up until they reached another puddle of stagnant water where it evened out. A bit after that, they could see yet another cavern. With a sigh, wondering for how long they would have to wiggle their way through the undergrounds of those islands, Bjön continued leading them into it. His stomach suddenly growled somewhat fierce, but he ignored it and the bard's jokes about it. </p><p></p><p>This roughly spherical chamber was mostly dry, and the stone walls appeared to be unworked. A passage in the east wall wound away to the northeast. They were about to just pass through, away from the mephit cavern, when suddenly an insubstantial human figure appeared in front of them. Taken aback by the ghost at first, they quickly deducted that it was harmless. Its features were continually shifting between those of two men - one was stern and stooped, while the other was young and energetic and dressed in sailing attire. The two share common traits and it took no genius to realize it was the same man, once as a strong youth and once as old geezer. </p><p></p><p>"Who are you?" Bjön and Pojali demanded at the same time. </p><p></p><p>“Greetings, sailors. My name is Pelastour, and I built this place. I am ashamed to say that I am also the grandfather of Poltur, who seeks to sell our family’s honor to the highest bidder. My only hope is to help you destroy him.” With a grim face, the ghost rushed through an explanation of the Terraken, including mentioning it as shielded from scrying. </p><p></p><p>Teltz cut the tale short by telling the ghost they had already gotten information from the villagers and mentioned that they were in a hurry. "Where's your treacherous grandson now?"</p><p></p><p>“Yes, yes, you must make haste. He is very close, as the spirit flies. He is in a chamber known as Fluxhold, almost directly above us, and he remains there because Fluxhold offers a view of the Terraken and other locations within the islands through a scrying pool. An elemental is bound into the magic of Fluxhold, required by magical oath to lower and raise the water in the cove and the locks in response to certain signals. The scrying pool allows it to do this while remaining in Fluxhold. Take the passage to the north, through the chamber, then northwest, then climb, and you’ll be there.” </p><p></p><p>The ghost looked as if he would disappear again,but Teltz called out. "Wait! Where is this Terraken now? Why isn't it under Poltur's control?"</p><p></p><p>"Just where I left it 50 years ago - trapped in the oubliette, and unable to climb out as long as these tunnels remain dry. There, too, lies the amulet which controls it - the treasure Poltur is undoubtedly seeking even now. This may be my only success with Poltur to date. He has yet to locate the amulet that controls the Terraken, and is reluctant to make any further moves until he’s done so. Instead, he monitors the situation, too close to his goal to take a step back and find new allies, too concerned with you nipping at his heels to give the matter his full attention. The stage is set for you to confront him in Fluxhold." A smile appeared on the ghost's face. "Hurry, now." </p><p></p><p>While the other two rushed on already, Bjön hesitated for a moment. "Is there no way to destroy the beast?"</p><p></p><p>"It is hopeless to fight it directly. Its defenses are too strong and its weapons too dire. Retrieving the amulet from the bottom of its prison and taking control is probably the only hope if it escapes, although it would need to be sequestered in some new hideaway, or it would undoubtedly eventually find its way back to its Chelish masters.” A grave and frightened expression appeared on the shot now. "I'm worried all my work was for naught, so please hurry." </p><p></p><p>The dwarf was already on his way, having trouble to catch up with the others thanks to his shorter legs. It didn't help that the tunnel went up again after he turned right. Soon enough though, he heard first voices, then some commotion from the next cavern. This one was filled with a roar every dozen heartbeats, similar to the sounds of surf, but amplified. A large pool of water filled the southern half of the chamber and extended shallow fingers almost to the northern wall.</p><p></p><p>In front of Teltz was one more of those strange undead, clearly a female this time, and clearly this one had her senses together and was not in any way mindless. Teltz and Pojali were talking to it, and the cause of the commotion seemingly was Pojali being hit by a spell from her. The Vudrani looked confused and seemed unable to move, leaning against a wall for protection. Teltz was berating her for it, claiming they worked for the same side. Bjön was about to ask, but then decided to leave the words up to the bard and just listen. </p><p></p><p>"Look, she's the baron's mistress, so yes, she is clearly on the same side. The whole plan to conquer Andoran hinges on being able to get a strong sea presence. Either you help us regain the Terraken or we'll find a way to destroy you."</p><p></p><p>"You can't control it without me! I'm bound to it, it is my magic that controls it!" the undead shrieked. The latter was clearly a lie. </p><p></p><p>Bjön grimaced, then composed himself and decided to play along with the charade. Anything better than having to waste time in a fight. "You aren't the best liar," he began in a grumpy voice. "We know about the amulet. In any case, that old spirit will give us no trouble no more. Can we deal with this and move on?"</p><p></p><p>The undead turned to face him, then relaxed. "Prove you are Chelish!"</p><p></p><p>"Look, we have no time for that. That fool traitor Poltur took money from the baron and now wants the Terraken for himself," Bjön grumbled. "Can you get out of this pool and stop him? No? See!" </p><p></p><p>"The baron doesn't suffer traitors," Pojali said, still sounding weak. "I'll need to kill this man for him."</p><p></p><p>Undead eyes went from one face to the next. "Alright, but don't you forget that you need me to control the weapon, with ot without the amulet." </p><p></p><p>"I'm sure you'll be a great help when the time comes," Teltz bowed, the n moved towards the next exit. </p><p></p><p>"Quick thinking there," the paladin chuckled once they were in the next tunnel. "I may have to go back and destroy her later."</p><p></p><p>"If she is bound to it, maybe it'll do to destroy the Terraken," Teltz suggested. </p><p></p><p>"Yeah about that... the ghost said we wouldn't be able to..."</p><p></p><p>"A shame. But look, there we are!"</p><p></p><p>Radiance pouring out of a giant water droplet suspended from the roof filled this chamber with more light than a noon sun. The fat droplet was fifteen feet in diameter and just as long, and quivered slightly in the still air. Within it, something serpentine and translucent undulates slowly. "The water elemental," Pojali said in disgust. "Binding lower creatures like that is despicable."</p><p></p><p>Ten feet below the giant droplet was a shallow, square pool 10 feet across and perhaps 3 feet deep, bounded by a stone walkway 1 foot wide. Images of other places appear on the pool’s surface and then were quickly gone. Passageways opened to the chamber from each of the four corners of the room, and a narrow stone path lead to the central pool, with four trapezoidal pools formed by the intersecting pathways. The walls and ceiling were smooth, worked stone, glistening with moisture. All of it reflected the brightness. And they had to squint. Teltz dropped the old toch. </p><p></p><p>"Where's Poltur?" The paladin's eyes searched the room. "I thought he was supposed to be here." </p><p></p><p>Pojali was making her way to the scrying pool and the elemental already. She did ignore a giant, 2 headed snake showing up right next to her. The snake seemed to sniff the air, then seemed to consider her no thread. Instead, it turned to focus on the two men. With an aggressive hiss, it rushed over the walkway towards them. </p><p></p><p>"Elemental, can you hear me?" Pojali shouted. "If you can stop the snake, please do, we intend no harm. We just want to help. Don't you want to get out of there?"</p><p></p><p>Bjön mumbled something about the naiveté of some women, when the snake did indeed slow down and finally stop. "Thank you," Pojali bowed. "Where is that bad man named Poltur? He is at least as bad as those who bound you. We want to stop him."</p><p></p><p>The voice of the elemental was like a mixture of rushing water, falling raindrops and blubbering bubbles. Pojali listened intensely, then nodded. "Yes, I believe we know how to free you. But would you please help us first?"</p><p></p><p>Again the weird language, then the scrying pool showed a new image. Bjön and the bard had made their way over, around the snake, and could see it showed Poltur, who was seen standing with his face to a wall that looked half fallen in. "What's he doing?" Pojali wondered. </p><p></p><p>"He, uh, is taking a leak, I think," Teltz said. </p><p></p><p>"Using watercraft on the stones. Splashing the dust," Bjön helped out as the woman looked confused. "Everyone heed's nature's call eventually."</p><p></p><p>"Oh." The priestess blushed slightly. "But that's good, as it gives us a few moments. Pelastour?" she called. "I know you are around." </p><p></p><p>The old ghost manifested again. "I heard. I'm sorry." The spirit was talking to the water elemental. "My mage assured me we had a fair deal. I had no idea you didn't want to be down here. You are released from your bounds once my grandson is dealt with. And we'll find a way to reward you."</p><p></p><p>Irritated, the two men looked at each other. Not having understood even half of the elemental conversation, they could only guess the ghost could speak its language and that it had complained about its lot. Teltz swore to himself to find a way to understand, if not speak, more languages. </p><p></p><p>Right then, the man in question came out of the north east runnel, adjusting his garments. It took him a moment to realize he wasn't alone anymore, and another moment to understand that the ghostly shape in the chamber was his grandfather. That was a moment too long, as he could suddenly not move anymore.</p><p></p><p>Pelastour's ghostly face showed immense concentration. "Quick, bind him!" However he did it, he was holding his grandson in place. </p><p></p><p>Teltz didn't hesitate and rushes, without even being in danger of slipping on the wet surface, over to the shocked foe and grabbed a semi-dry rope from his pack. It took mere moments and a special knot to bind the traitor. "Shall we kill him right here or give him a trial?" he asked, and it sounded as if he was in favor of the first. </p><p></p><p>"I know not what will happen if he dies," the ghost explained. "This all may start to crumble, but then, it also will when the elemental is gone."</p><p></p><p>The elemental's voice started up again, even quicker now. "Yes that would be good if the Terraken could be destroyed. But it cannot..."</p><p></p><p>"Never say never." The paladin's face had taken on a serious impression. "I am positive I can do it – with the help of Desna and this." He held up his sapphire amulet. "Where do I go from here?"</p><p></p><p>"Follow me." Pelastour went right through a wall before he remembered the dwarf couldn't do that. Looking a bit sheepish, he reappeared and followed a corridor leading back to the lower canal. Teltz ran along, but Pojali shook her head and pointed to Poltur and the elemental "I'll stay with Shirqual and the prisoner."</p><p></p><p>"The elemental has a name?" Bjön wondered as they rushed on. </p><p></p><p>"Well, it's intelligent, why wouldn't it have one?" Teltz gasped, beginning to feel the day's stress on him now. "I hope it isn't far." </p><p></p><p>It wasn't. The channel opened into a huge pit at least one hundred feet across. It was almost dry save a shallow puddle. At the bottom of the pit drifted the partially decomposed corpse of an enormous beast. It hardly stirred, lacking the drive to do anything, much like a zombie. </p><p></p><p>Before he could be asked what he wanted to do, the paladin lifted the amulet up again, and its eerie glow filled the area. This time, he wasn't speaking dwarven. "Desna, Light of the World, grant us the power needed to destroy this abomination. Guide with your divine grace and undo the machinations of evil."</p><p></p><p>The light intensified and grew brighter than in the pool room. Teltz had to close his eyes; the ghost was, of course, not really affected. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the Terraken beginning to disintegrate, the sapphire light all around it. There was a crunching noise, as if the un dead material was crushed together. Despite the wetness, the bard could see dust falling to the ground. </p><p></p><p>And then it was over. The area fell dark, and none of them could see anything for a while, except the shimmering form of Pelastour. Bjön's amulet was completely dark, something the bard had never seen before, there had always been at least a little light. Bjön seemed dazed, so Teltz carefully guided him back, closely following the ghost. </p><p></p><p>"We saw it!" Pojali pointed at the pool. "That was magnificent. Absolutely stunning. A victory for the good in the world." She kissed the surprised dwarf on the cheek. Poltur was weeping in the background. All he had worked for had crumbled in just a few hours. </p><p></p><p>"No matter what you do to this failure of my family now," Pelastour said, "my time here is over, nothing holds me anymore. I can finally move on. Thank you all..." With that, he simply faded away. </p><p></p><p>They decided to think about the man's fate later. Dragging him back to the surface was a bit of a problem, but taking the short way out above the doors, they managed in time to avoid the coming flooding of the caverns. Shirqual had agreed to wait until they were at the edge of his scrying area before he would leave. It had sent the old snake with them, too, which had become something of a pet, as it seemed. They would leave it at the village so the elemental could find it again. Pojali said she wanted to talk to it again later, but the others truly didn't care. A hot meal, some ale and some sleep was about all that was on their minds. </p><p></p><p>The weather was still very bad, so they had to use a second installment of the priestess' Mists of the Seawind. Darkness didn't mage navigating any easier, but the village had light, so they did not lose their way. The villagers wanted to celebrate their great victory right away, but asides from the woman, who didn't seem to tire, none of them felt like relating the story now. The men went to bed in one of the village hut's roof chambers shortly after. </p><p></p><p>"Say Bjön?" Teltz asked before he blew out the candle. "The amulet, will it recover? I never saw it dark before." </p><p></p><p>"Me neither. I don't know. I hope so. It is a useful tool to someone mainly out to destroy undead. Although..."</p><p></p><p>"What?"</p><p></p><p>"When Desna told me that I should use the amulet, she also said that my destiny was more than hunting undead. So I guess if it matters, it will recover and if not... I'll find something else. Just like my lost axe."</p><p></p><p>"Desna spoke to you? In the caverns?" Teltz bumped his head at the low ceiling in surprise. All the answer he got was a loud snoring, and he had the feeling it would be a while before his paladin friend would share any more details than that. But he could not help but feel a slight pang of jealousy.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lwaxy, post: 5997641, member: 53286"] This part took some weeks to do over email. Everyone will be back home middle of September or so. --------------------------------------------------------------- They had been following a sour looking Poltur down to the lock doors of the lower canal which was currently dry. The channel was running off into the darkness, with a narrow ledge alongside several feet high. Poltur hadn't said much, and the party guessed he would have preferred to see them killed by that hellcat – although the purpose of calling them here just to be killed wasn't clear. Pojali had tried to engage the man in conversation to learn more, but it had not worked. Teltz had been little more successful by asking if Poltur was a follower of Asmodeus, thereby playing his part as a newly converted from the Baron's men quite well. By the evasive answer it was clear he was not, in fact, a follower and neither would he consider becoming one. The ledge above the channel widened soon to form an open platform about 50 feet long and 20 feet deep, and the steel cleats and bitts, as well as several coils of old rope, testified that this was once some type of dock for traffic in the channel. A pair of ten-foot-high iron double doors were set into the stone wall in the center of the landing, and three short iron levers sprouted from a foot-square iron plate set in the wall to their right. A cave-in from above completely obstructed the channel some distance to the south. Poltur hesitated. Teltz had the feeling he was waiting for them to do something stupid, but eventually he walked over to the levers. With a quick move, he pulled the top and the bottom lever at the same time. With a screeching sound, the doors opened. "Hurry on," he shouted. "There's a trap that'll come down in a few seconds." Pojali took a moment to determine if the man was speaking the truth – a gift from her god, so she had explained on the way here. She nodded and ran on, followed by the others. It was only when they were through the doors and in a narrow tunnel that they realized Poltur was not following. The trap, spikes coming down from the ceiling right in front of the doors, had not caught him either as he had taken a stap back. He was positively smirking. Then he grabbed one of the spikes, or so it seemed, and the spikes retracted and carried him upward. Before they could get out again, the door closed again. Teltz, who had been carrying the light in form of a piece of wood with a spell on it, cursed something vile. "He tricked us," Pojali simply said. "Though he had not been lying. I can only guess that this way holds something dangerous which might kill us while he can claim we were simply stupid." Bjön sighed. "I believe that is a pretty good guess. Any way to open the door from this side?" Teltz ran the light over the area. "Not a single mechanism." "Right, then, the only way is forward." The paladin took the lead, weapon at the ready. "Just remember, I'm one of the few dwarfs unable to see in the dark so don't stay too far behind with the light." The tunnel soon widened again and sloped downward into a small cavern. The floor and walls here were coated in a thin film of slime, and a few inches of still, briny water covered the floor. At the far end, several gaff hooks and other maritime detritus were lying in a pile. "This room gets flooded regularly," Teltz mentioned the obvious. "And someone has used all the rubbish to keep that part of the cavern open. To drown the water or flood more area?" "I'm much more interested in how this trap is triggered. Maybe... uh oh!" Teltz turned around from his inspection of the ground and walls. He stared, like the others, at the chimera suddenly popping out of the rubble. Its black dragon head rumbled, and for a moment it looked as if it would attack right away. But then it jumped into the middle of the cavern, causing a loud grinding sound. "I guess that answers my question," Bjön shouted. "We'll be flooded if we aren't dinner before." "Chimeras can't live in water. Look at it, that thing is undead." Pojali was getting into a spell already. Bjön drew out his sapphire amulet and groaned. Not expecting any undead was the main reason people died of them, he had so often been told. The amulet was glowing something fierce, which probably meant more of them asides of this hideous creature. "I can deal with this," he assured them and took a deep breath, quickly wondering how much time he would have left to breathe seeing how the water was rushing in from several points in the walls. He also tried to remember what type of breath weapon a black dragon had but he couldn't seem to remember in this situation. The others watched with interest as the paladin lifted the amulet to his forehead and began mumbling some sort of prayer in his dwarven tongue. The priestess was somewhat disappointed she could not understand what it was exactly, but they didn't have much time and she could ask later. "We need to move," she shouted to Teltz while her spell hit the monster, which immediately moved at half speed. "Through the rubble and around that thing." "Are you mad?" the bard snapped. "I won't leave Bjön, and it would put us right under the thing's noses." "Trust me!" she demanded. "Bjön has enough trouble to watch out for himself so he can't worry about us." Grabbing him by the shirt, she more or less pulled him into the rising waters and over to the other exit. The Varisian stumbled through water now reaching his shins. The woman had a point; if they would hesitate they wouldn't make it through to the other side before the water would toss them around like toys. He had to watch how he moved already, and he literally kept his eyes on his feet, but them bring and more obscured by sea foam, he decided he would just have to hope he wouldn't fall over anything. Looking up, he knew they should be right next to the monstrosity by now and wondered if the thing would change its attack and have a go at them. However, as he looked up, he couldn't see the priestess anymore, although he still felt her dragging hand pulling him along. He could still see himself but it seemed the monster missed both of them. Obviously, the woman had managed to make them invisible somehow. He could slap himself that he hadn't thought of this option himself. After all, he had a tattoo for it. But then, he would not have been able to include anyone else. Behind them, a sapphire light grew stronger, and there was the impression of music in the air, though none of them could actually hear something. It was a strange feeling. The bard had no time to think about it though, because they had reached the rubble on the other end of the cave and he needed to be careful not to fall into the churning waters, which were now up to his waist. Pojali let go of him, needing both hands to climb over, and Teltz decided he could worry about Bjön later. Right now, the rising water was beginning to terrify him, thanks to an old childhood memory he had thought overcome. His arms and legs were shaky, part from exhaustion and part from fear. He had long lost the wood with the light spell, but some sort of light emitting algae provided basic illumination. Somehow, he made it to the other, still mostly dry side. Water was leaking though, of course, but not in a substantial amount yet. As he was about to take a deep breath, he noticed the creatures. To the left and right of the exit to this cave, humanoid shapes were waiting. At first sight, in the greenish he thought them to be normal humans, but then he recognized the blank eyes, the partial decay, the seaweed stuck to them. Another pair of undead, though not as dangerous as the chimaera behind them. For a moment, he froze. Then he took his sword – which somewhat stuck to the scabbard thanks to the wetness – and sneaked up on the one closest to him. He had no idea where the priestess was, but the surprise of his invisibility was to be used. And it seemed Pojali had had the same idea. Right as he decapitated the strange undead in front of him, he heard a piercing cry and a slashing sound. Turning just in time to see two short, curved blades in the woman's hands, he couldn't help to notice how attractive she looked when she was in such a fierce mood. The head of the second abomination joined that of the first, and Pojali, spell broken by her attack, actually chuckled. "Now that was a good way to get rid of them." "Nice timing," Teltz commented. "I could still see you. It was my granted prayer allowing us to pass unnoticed, after all." Putting her weapons away, she pointed to where the water rushed in quicker now. "Those are strange undead, nothing I ever saw or heard of before. So maybe Bjön needs help after all... or not," she finished, sounding amused. Again, the bard turned to see a certain dwarf, still bathed in the glow of his sapphire pendant, being washed over the rubble together with what looked to be the tail of the chimaera. The wave carried the paladin way into this tunnel before he rested in a large, growing puddle, coughing and gasping. Then the glow disappeared and Bjön started shivering. Only now the others noticed how cold they were. While the sea water had been warmer than expected, probably kept from freezing temperatures by some underground heat source, it was still far from comfortable, and the air in here was not much warmer than it had been outside. Being soaking wet in their winter clothes was not a good thing. The bard reached into his wet shirt and pulled out a marble pipe, an instrument unaffected by most elements. I had done a good job staying alive over the years. It could store simple arcane spells, and the Varisian usually used it for only one type – mendings of various natures, partly invented by himself. It had no great sound but it didn't need to. Unless you had very sensitive ears, the slightly off sound didn't bother. Gathering the others around himself, Teltz started playing a repetitive waltz-like melody. One downside of this spell storage was that it took a few minutes to work, which was why the flute wasn't of much use in action, but he felt they had a moment. Bjön, looking slightly cross-eyed, held his head while he kept on shivering and coughing. He seemed to have swallowed a lot of water. Pojali winced a bit – likely her ears were quite good – but waited patiently. The water seemed to be drawn away from them, including what was still in the dwarf's lungs as it seems. The dry out bout, as Teltz called this little melody, did a good job removing wetness that was not supposed to be there. There was still water rushing in, though, and would soon be knee high, so they kept moving in haste. "What happened there?" the priestess asked as they rushed went on to the next cave. "I'm not sure. The amulet did its job but it was as if something was binding the chimera to this place, something strong enough to temper with this kind of divine magic. It touched me with it's tail and bumped me against a wall despite being so slow, then it pinned me there and suddenly my lungs filled with water. I had to hack its tail off to be able to breathe again. A bit longer and I would have drowned. I think all that protected me was the amulet. And I lost my axe in the fight, too!" Still shaken, the paladin managed to look very angry about that. He hadn't noticed until now that his utility belt had also been torn from his waist. It caused a growl none of them had heard from him before. But there was nothing to be done about it, the chances to find the lost items were slim even if the water would retreat. The floor of the next cavern was already submerged beneath several feet of standing water. Fresh water from the cave they just left began to slowly tickle in. It appeared that something lived here, as the tops of several crude tables stood just above the water’s surface. Rusted and barnacle-encrusted weapons, armor, and other odds and ends were stacked in corners. "My guess is this is where the other undead came from," Pojali said. "Other undead? Humanoids?" When they nodded, Bjön's face took on a thinking expression, but whatever it was that he seemed to almost recall, he could not bring it up and shook his head apologetically. "They looked somewhat like those," Teltz said drily and pointed to where 2 of the same sort of undead emerged from under one of the tables. Luckily, even without the help of the weaponless dwarf, the two of them had no problem with the clumsy and somewhat unfocussed foes. They knew not to let them touch them, but that was a general rule with all undead to begin with. But when they were done, the cold water was quickly filling up the cave. They had to press on and find dry ground before it would make sense for Teltz to play his flute again. Getting out of this cavern was not so easy. The only other exit was a dwarf length up and slippery from the algae of this stagnant pool. They ended up pushing Bjön up, then the priestess and then pulling up Teltz last. After that, the tunnel soon went left, then right, then left again and they found themselves in need to wade through a puddle of foul smelling water before entering another, more rectangular space. This large cavern’s floor was dotted with small, muddy pools, none more than a foot deep. At least a dozen wooden boxes and chests could be seen in the dry areas, most open, with coins and weapons clearly visible within. "Now, what do you say to that," the dwarf beamed. "I might just find a replacement weapon. Even a sword or a mace would do." "I wouldn't trust that," the bard cautioned. "It's not like we haven's seen other traps before." "Good point." Bjön scratched his head while the bard played his flute once more. "What type of trap could this be?" "I'd look up," Pojali pointed. "Not sure but doesn't this look like something heavy is designed to fall down?" The eyes of the other rose up, but before they could deny or confirm the woman's suspicions, several things happened. A terrible stink was suddenly around them, making Teltz and Pojali retch. Bjön just held his nose, looking surprised. Something acid smelling bumped against the dwarf, hissing and burning a hole into his cloak but being stopped by his armor. A second such missile found the back of the bard's leather armor after burning through his cloak and shirt. The leather got damaged and stopped the rest of the attack. Pojali had been in the motion of stepping sideways to allow the others a better look, and suddenly found herself sliding on very slippery ground that had not been there before. Mocking laughter came from somewhere, and there was the sound of a strange language being spoken rapidly. Teltz reacted on instinct more than anything else. They were under attack, and he had no idea by who. None of them could see well in this light. He didn't want to be seen if he could not see them. Unable to cast any spell or play one of his special instruments due to the retching, he reached into his clothes and for the invisibility tattoo. A moment later, he vanished from everyone's view. Stumbling backwards to one of the walls, he tried to get out of the range of the stinking cloud. The paladin jumped forward, trying to avoid the area Pojali had pointed out so no9thing would fall on him. He needed a weapon to fight whoever attacked, and the chests in the middle of the room at least had some form of defense. But he slipped on the grease as well and, instead of reaching the chests, bumped into the wall close to where Teltz now was. A bump was quickly forming on his forehead and he felt slightly dizzy. Pojali barely managed to avoid the trapped area, but then lost balance completely and fell to the ground. Her eyes caught 2 strange looking creatures chuckling and pointing at her. But before she could make them out clearly, they disappeared behind some crates again. Some liquid substance hit the puddle close to her and vanished in a hiss. Bjön ducked a similar attack, gliding to the floor in the process. He heard a familiar voice next to him. "I think those are mephits." He couldn't see the bard but he was glad someone had managed to get out of range of those things. "Don't care what they're called," he huffed, holding his nose. "They are the enemy. If I just had a weapon." "Here." A short sword was pressed into his hands. "I can't fight well while invisible. I have another idea though." Grunting, the dwarf looked around and found one of the strange winged creatures appearing from behind one of the crates, targeting Pojali with a spell, as it seemed. With a dwarven battle cry, he pointed the sword at the back of the thing and lurched forward. He gave it ample warning to turn around, but the spell it had tried to weave was interrupted. Instead, it was knocked out with the broad side of the dwarf's sword a moment later. Bjön had no intention to kill if he could avoid it, maybe those... mephits, or whatever they were, were just trying to defend their homes. Pojali had managed to roll out of the way of the grease spell effect, lest she wuld tirgger the trap after all. The stinking cloud was dissipating, but she felt still too sick to do any spell, or to pray for more help from her deity. She noticed that the attention of the leading creature seemed to be focused in the dwarf now. A thudding sound on the other side a moment later was evidence of where the bard had gone to. That she could still not see him must mean his way of becoming invisible was superior to hers. A few whispered words later, the last of the creatures tried to wiggle its way out of a net spell from the bard. From the way his words now sounded, it was quite angry. But they could still understand nothing. The paladin seemingly ignored the trouble and finally went over to the crates in search of a new, hopefully somewhat good, weapon. Carefully getting up, Pojali flinched. Her backside hurt, and the lingering stench still made her eyes water. "Well done, you two," she coughed. After a moment, the bard became visible again. "I wish we could open a window in here," he grinned. "What do we do with those now?" the woman wanted to know. "If we let them go they will bother us again later, I worry." "Good question. I have no idea. Maybe..." "Hah, praise Desna! Look what I found. A dwarven cold iron axe, if I have ever seen any. And a rapier that looks to be alchemical silver but I'm less sure about that. The rest is a bit of money I took and mostly rubbish." Beaming, the young dwarf showed his new treasures. "Any objections to keeping both for now?" He had some trouble stowing the axe handle into his normal belt which luckily had enough hooks for such purposes. The rapier he kept in hand for now, tossing the sword back to the bard. "No, but I'd not mind exchanging that sword for it eventually. I'm better with a rapier," Teltz explained. "And it looks to be a good weapon. I wanted to switch weapons a while back but we never got the chance to do so." Bjön nodded. "Sure thing. I just want to try it out for a while." "Guys?" The woman smiled sourly. "Your new toys are all fine, but what do we do with those creatures now?" "I'd say run for it. If they are only defending their home, they'll leave us alone once we're gone. Those two will wake up eventually and... how long does the spell hold?" "15 minutes, maybe," Teltz answered the dwarf's question. "I augmented it with something." He didn't want to define "something" obviously, and no one asked. "Then let's go." The paladin went ahead to what was, again, the only other exit. Teltz quickly cast a new light spell on one of the otherwise unusable rotten torches in one of the crates and they followed. This time, they didn't have to climb although the tunnel went up until they reached another puddle of stagnant water where it evened out. A bit after that, they could see yet another cavern. With a sigh, wondering for how long they would have to wiggle their way through the undergrounds of those islands, Bjön continued leading them into it. His stomach suddenly growled somewhat fierce, but he ignored it and the bard's jokes about it. This roughly spherical chamber was mostly dry, and the stone walls appeared to be unworked. A passage in the east wall wound away to the northeast. They were about to just pass through, away from the mephit cavern, when suddenly an insubstantial human figure appeared in front of them. Taken aback by the ghost at first, they quickly deducted that it was harmless. Its features were continually shifting between those of two men - one was stern and stooped, while the other was young and energetic and dressed in sailing attire. The two share common traits and it took no genius to realize it was the same man, once as a strong youth and once as old geezer. "Who are you?" Bjön and Pojali demanded at the same time. “Greetings, sailors. My name is Pelastour, and I built this place. I am ashamed to say that I am also the grandfather of Poltur, who seeks to sell our family’s honor to the highest bidder. My only hope is to help you destroy him.” With a grim face, the ghost rushed through an explanation of the Terraken, including mentioning it as shielded from scrying. Teltz cut the tale short by telling the ghost they had already gotten information from the villagers and mentioned that they were in a hurry. "Where's your treacherous grandson now?" “Yes, yes, you must make haste. He is very close, as the spirit flies. He is in a chamber known as Fluxhold, almost directly above us, and he remains there because Fluxhold offers a view of the Terraken and other locations within the islands through a scrying pool. An elemental is bound into the magic of Fluxhold, required by magical oath to lower and raise the water in the cove and the locks in response to certain signals. The scrying pool allows it to do this while remaining in Fluxhold. Take the passage to the north, through the chamber, then northwest, then climb, and you’ll be there.” The ghost looked as if he would disappear again,but Teltz called out. "Wait! Where is this Terraken now? Why isn't it under Poltur's control?" "Just where I left it 50 years ago - trapped in the oubliette, and unable to climb out as long as these tunnels remain dry. There, too, lies the amulet which controls it - the treasure Poltur is undoubtedly seeking even now. This may be my only success with Poltur to date. He has yet to locate the amulet that controls the Terraken, and is reluctant to make any further moves until he’s done so. Instead, he monitors the situation, too close to his goal to take a step back and find new allies, too concerned with you nipping at his heels to give the matter his full attention. The stage is set for you to confront him in Fluxhold." A smile appeared on the ghost's face. "Hurry, now." While the other two rushed on already, Bjön hesitated for a moment. "Is there no way to destroy the beast?" "It is hopeless to fight it directly. Its defenses are too strong and its weapons too dire. Retrieving the amulet from the bottom of its prison and taking control is probably the only hope if it escapes, although it would need to be sequestered in some new hideaway, or it would undoubtedly eventually find its way back to its Chelish masters.” A grave and frightened expression appeared on the shot now. "I'm worried all my work was for naught, so please hurry." The dwarf was already on his way, having trouble to catch up with the others thanks to his shorter legs. It didn't help that the tunnel went up again after he turned right. Soon enough though, he heard first voices, then some commotion from the next cavern. This one was filled with a roar every dozen heartbeats, similar to the sounds of surf, but amplified. A large pool of water filled the southern half of the chamber and extended shallow fingers almost to the northern wall. In front of Teltz was one more of those strange undead, clearly a female this time, and clearly this one had her senses together and was not in any way mindless. Teltz and Pojali were talking to it, and the cause of the commotion seemingly was Pojali being hit by a spell from her. The Vudrani looked confused and seemed unable to move, leaning against a wall for protection. Teltz was berating her for it, claiming they worked for the same side. Bjön was about to ask, but then decided to leave the words up to the bard and just listen. "Look, she's the baron's mistress, so yes, she is clearly on the same side. The whole plan to conquer Andoran hinges on being able to get a strong sea presence. Either you help us regain the Terraken or we'll find a way to destroy you." "You can't control it without me! I'm bound to it, it is my magic that controls it!" the undead shrieked. The latter was clearly a lie. Bjön grimaced, then composed himself and decided to play along with the charade. Anything better than having to waste time in a fight. "You aren't the best liar," he began in a grumpy voice. "We know about the amulet. In any case, that old spirit will give us no trouble no more. Can we deal with this and move on?" The undead turned to face him, then relaxed. "Prove you are Chelish!" "Look, we have no time for that. That fool traitor Poltur took money from the baron and now wants the Terraken for himself," Bjön grumbled. "Can you get out of this pool and stop him? No? See!" "The baron doesn't suffer traitors," Pojali said, still sounding weak. "I'll need to kill this man for him." Undead eyes went from one face to the next. "Alright, but don't you forget that you need me to control the weapon, with ot without the amulet." "I'm sure you'll be a great help when the time comes," Teltz bowed, the n moved towards the next exit. "Quick thinking there," the paladin chuckled once they were in the next tunnel. "I may have to go back and destroy her later." "If she is bound to it, maybe it'll do to destroy the Terraken," Teltz suggested. "Yeah about that... the ghost said we wouldn't be able to..." "A shame. But look, there we are!" Radiance pouring out of a giant water droplet suspended from the roof filled this chamber with more light than a noon sun. The fat droplet was fifteen feet in diameter and just as long, and quivered slightly in the still air. Within it, something serpentine and translucent undulates slowly. "The water elemental," Pojali said in disgust. "Binding lower creatures like that is despicable." Ten feet below the giant droplet was a shallow, square pool 10 feet across and perhaps 3 feet deep, bounded by a stone walkway 1 foot wide. Images of other places appear on the pool’s surface and then were quickly gone. Passageways opened to the chamber from each of the four corners of the room, and a narrow stone path lead to the central pool, with four trapezoidal pools formed by the intersecting pathways. The walls and ceiling were smooth, worked stone, glistening with moisture. All of it reflected the brightness. And they had to squint. Teltz dropped the old toch. "Where's Poltur?" The paladin's eyes searched the room. "I thought he was supposed to be here." Pojali was making her way to the scrying pool and the elemental already. She did ignore a giant, 2 headed snake showing up right next to her. The snake seemed to sniff the air, then seemed to consider her no thread. Instead, it turned to focus on the two men. With an aggressive hiss, it rushed over the walkway towards them. "Elemental, can you hear me?" Pojali shouted. "If you can stop the snake, please do, we intend no harm. We just want to help. Don't you want to get out of there?" Bjön mumbled something about the naiveté of some women, when the snake did indeed slow down and finally stop. "Thank you," Pojali bowed. "Where is that bad man named Poltur? He is at least as bad as those who bound you. We want to stop him." The voice of the elemental was like a mixture of rushing water, falling raindrops and blubbering bubbles. Pojali listened intensely, then nodded. "Yes, I believe we know how to free you. But would you please help us first?" Again the weird language, then the scrying pool showed a new image. Bjön and the bard had made their way over, around the snake, and could see it showed Poltur, who was seen standing with his face to a wall that looked half fallen in. "What's he doing?" Pojali wondered. "He, uh, is taking a leak, I think," Teltz said. "Using watercraft on the stones. Splashing the dust," Bjön helped out as the woman looked confused. "Everyone heed's nature's call eventually." "Oh." The priestess blushed slightly. "But that's good, as it gives us a few moments. Pelastour?" she called. "I know you are around." The old ghost manifested again. "I heard. I'm sorry." The spirit was talking to the water elemental. "My mage assured me we had a fair deal. I had no idea you didn't want to be down here. You are released from your bounds once my grandson is dealt with. And we'll find a way to reward you." Irritated, the two men looked at each other. Not having understood even half of the elemental conversation, they could only guess the ghost could speak its language and that it had complained about its lot. Teltz swore to himself to find a way to understand, if not speak, more languages. Right then, the man in question came out of the north east runnel, adjusting his garments. It took him a moment to realize he wasn't alone anymore, and another moment to understand that the ghostly shape in the chamber was his grandfather. That was a moment too long, as he could suddenly not move anymore. Pelastour's ghostly face showed immense concentration. "Quick, bind him!" However he did it, he was holding his grandson in place. Teltz didn't hesitate and rushes, without even being in danger of slipping on the wet surface, over to the shocked foe and grabbed a semi-dry rope from his pack. It took mere moments and a special knot to bind the traitor. "Shall we kill him right here or give him a trial?" he asked, and it sounded as if he was in favor of the first. "I know not what will happen if he dies," the ghost explained. "This all may start to crumble, but then, it also will when the elemental is gone." The elemental's voice started up again, even quicker now. "Yes that would be good if the Terraken could be destroyed. But it cannot..." "Never say never." The paladin's face had taken on a serious impression. "I am positive I can do it – with the help of Desna and this." He held up his sapphire amulet. "Where do I go from here?" "Follow me." Pelastour went right through a wall before he remembered the dwarf couldn't do that. Looking a bit sheepish, he reappeared and followed a corridor leading back to the lower canal. Teltz ran along, but Pojali shook her head and pointed to Poltur and the elemental "I'll stay with Shirqual and the prisoner." "The elemental has a name?" Bjön wondered as they rushed on. "Well, it's intelligent, why wouldn't it have one?" Teltz gasped, beginning to feel the day's stress on him now. "I hope it isn't far." It wasn't. The channel opened into a huge pit at least one hundred feet across. It was almost dry save a shallow puddle. At the bottom of the pit drifted the partially decomposed corpse of an enormous beast. It hardly stirred, lacking the drive to do anything, much like a zombie. Before he could be asked what he wanted to do, the paladin lifted the amulet up again, and its eerie glow filled the area. This time, he wasn't speaking dwarven. "Desna, Light of the World, grant us the power needed to destroy this abomination. Guide with your divine grace and undo the machinations of evil." The light intensified and grew brighter than in the pool room. Teltz had to close his eyes; the ghost was, of course, not really affected. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the Terraken beginning to disintegrate, the sapphire light all around it. There was a crunching noise, as if the un dead material was crushed together. Despite the wetness, the bard could see dust falling to the ground. And then it was over. The area fell dark, and none of them could see anything for a while, except the shimmering form of Pelastour. Bjön's amulet was completely dark, something the bard had never seen before, there had always been at least a little light. Bjön seemed dazed, so Teltz carefully guided him back, closely following the ghost. "We saw it!" Pojali pointed at the pool. "That was magnificent. Absolutely stunning. A victory for the good in the world." She kissed the surprised dwarf on the cheek. Poltur was weeping in the background. All he had worked for had crumbled in just a few hours. "No matter what you do to this failure of my family now," Pelastour said, "my time here is over, nothing holds me anymore. I can finally move on. Thank you all..." With that, he simply faded away. They decided to think about the man's fate later. Dragging him back to the surface was a bit of a problem, but taking the short way out above the doors, they managed in time to avoid the coming flooding of the caverns. Shirqual had agreed to wait until they were at the edge of his scrying area before he would leave. It had sent the old snake with them, too, which had become something of a pet, as it seemed. They would leave it at the village so the elemental could find it again. Pojali said she wanted to talk to it again later, but the others truly didn't care. A hot meal, some ale and some sleep was about all that was on their minds. The weather was still very bad, so they had to use a second installment of the priestess' Mists of the Seawind. Darkness didn't mage navigating any easier, but the village had light, so they did not lose their way. The villagers wanted to celebrate their great victory right away, but asides from the woman, who didn't seem to tire, none of them felt like relating the story now. The men went to bed in one of the village hut's roof chambers shortly after. "Say Bjön?" Teltz asked before he blew out the candle. "The amulet, will it recover? I never saw it dark before." "Me neither. I don't know. I hope so. It is a useful tool to someone mainly out to destroy undead. Although..." "What?" "When Desna told me that I should use the amulet, she also said that my destiny was more than hunting undead. So I guess if it matters, it will recover and if not... I'll find something else. Just like my lost axe." "Desna spoke to you? In the caverns?" Teltz bumped his head at the low ceiling in surprise. All the answer he got was a loud snoring, and he had the feeling it would be a while before his paladin friend would share any more details than that. But he could not help but feel a slight pang of jealousy. [/QUOTE]
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