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The Kordovian Adventurers Guild
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 6847205" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 16: COMMUNION WITH THE SEA MOTHER</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 7</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Castillan Ivenheart, elf bounder 7</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Darrien, half-elf ranger 7</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 7</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Gilbert Fung, human wizard 7</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Aithanar Ivenheart, elf fighter 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Ingebold Battershield, dwarven cleric 6 (Moradin)</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 12 March 2016</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>The group had returned to Kordovia, but without any of the normal fanfare; rather, they had avoided Battershield Keep and the castle at all costs, keeping to the back roads and stealthily making their way to the wealthy neighborhood containing Ivenheart Manor. Binkadink and Obvious had broken away from the others and skirted the Vesve Forest along the eastern front of the kingdom, to position themselves at the southern border, where they'd be met later by the others. Obvious - a pony-sized rabbit with two antlers sprouting from the top of his head - was just a bit too obvious for a group wanting not to be noticed.</p><p></p><p>Ingebold pulled the wagon to a halt a block behind the Ivenheart estate. Castillan and Aithanar immediately jumped out. "We'll be back in a bit," promised the older of the two brothers. Finoula pulled up behind the wagon and scratched Daisy behind the ears while they waited. Wrath was enjoying an unaccustomed ride in the wagon, the better not to be noticed, for there weren't too many timber wolves that trotted freely through the kingdom of Kordovia. In the back of the wagon, Gilbert Fung was giving Wrath's tummy a good scratching and keeping the wolf occupied while the elven brothers grabbed up Aithanar's gear without alerting their father, Aroben, of his youngest son's unexpected release from Ravencroft Sanatorium. The fact that Aithanar was still unable to speak without babbling nonsense meant Aroben would rather he be kept out of sight, the better to protect the Ivenheart name.</p><p></p><p>The minutes passed. Predictably, it was Gilbert Fung who first voiced boredom. "How long it take to grab up adventuring gear?" he groused. "Put on armor, buckle on sword - there, done!"</p><p></p><p>"I'm sure he's got more than just that," replied Darrien.</p><p></p><p>"Plus, it's not like they're going to just walk through the front door," added Finoula. "They need to sneak everything Aithanar's bringing out of the manor without running into their father. I imagine that means-- hello? What's this?" As the elven ranger had been talking, a brightly-colored songbird had flown right up to her. It lit upon her left wrist and cocked its head, looking at Finoula expectantly. Taken aback, Finoula wasn't sure what was going on - and then she saw the band of paper folded around one of the bird's feet.</p><p></p><p>Carefully removing the paper from the creature without hurting it, she began unfolding it to see what message had been sent to her in this unusual fashion. The bird, its duty fulfilled, leaped from Finoula's hand and took to the skies.</p><p></p><p>"What's it say?" asked Ingebold.</p><p></p><p>Finoula read the message aloud to the others. "'Finoula - Please return home at once. I wish to see you again one last time. Feron.' It's from my little sister. Guys, we need to swing by my mother's house before we head back south out of Kordovia."</p><p></p><p>"That'll be fine," replied Ingebold. Gilbert just sighed. "This most nonchalant stealth mission ever," he groused. "We supposed to sneak in and out like ninja, not spend time visiting relatives along the way."</p><p></p><p>"It'll be fine," reassured Ingebold.</p><p></p><p>"What's a ninja?" asked Darrien. Gilbert opted not to elaborate. "What taking those elves so long?" he groused instead.</p><p></p><p>"We're here," replied Castillan, dropping a rolled-up bedroll and a backpack into the back of the wagon, then hopping in himself. Aithanar, now wearing a well-made suit of fine leather armor, followed his brother into the wagon.</p><p></p><p>"Any trouble?" asked Darrien.</p><p></p><p>"None," replied Castillan. "Shobba goon," confirmed Aithanar, shaking his head in negation.</p><p></p><p>"Lead on, then, Finoula," said Ingebold, allowing Daisy to skirt around the wagon before giving the mules a flick of the reins. Finoula led the group to her mother's cottage and, as it was secluded off to itself in a small grove of trees at the end of a quiet block, the group didn't feel the need to be as stealthy as they had at Ivenheart Manor - after all, the fact that an <em>animal messenger</em> spell had been cast to send a songbird-provided note to Finoula meant Feron already knew she was nearby. "I'll try to be brief," the ranger promised.</p><p></p><p>"Take whatever time y'be needin'," offered Ingebold. "It sounds like it might be important."</p><p></p><p>"Doubt that," grumbled Gilbert.</p><p></p><p>Entering the cottage, Finoula saw her mother, Feya, through a window sitting outside on a bench in the back yard, sipping tea with Finoula's younger half-sister, Feron. Upon her approach, Feron stood, putting her teacup on the bench beside her, and opened her arms for a hug. The ranger begrudgingly submitted to an embrace. "Finoula," said Feron, "Thank you for coming to see me off."</p><p></p><p>At Finoula's puzzled look, Feron explained. "I've been granted leave by the Sisters of Ehlonna to return here one last time, that I may say my goodbyes to you both. I've been accepted into the Inner Circle and, as such, I'll be unable to visit you here any longer. Once I return to the Sisters, I'll begin a new life – in the same way a caterpillar ends its old life by becoming a butterfly. I will likewise undergo a transformation and be bound, physically and spiritually, to the Great Oak of Ehlonna, the wellspring of Her power here on the Material Plane."</p><p></p><p>She turned to Feya. "Mother, thank you for raising me to be the person I am today. And Finoula, I know we haven't always gotten along as well as perhaps we should have, but I truly wish you all the best in your adventuring career. Believe it or not, I always looked up to you when I was little. And should you ever find your way to Ehlonna's Grove, I'll be there. Perhaps, someday, we can truly be Sisters together."</p><p></p><p>"We'll have to see," replied Finoula, not entirely sure she wanted to spend her life working with her little half-sister - who, as a half-elf, with human blood speeding her development, had already risen to the highest ranks of Ehlonna's service while Finoula was just starting to make a name for herself as an adventurer all these years later.</p><p></p><p>Giving a final hug to her mother and her older half-sister, Feron stepped back by the garden and raised her arms out at her sides. An immediate riot of color exploded behind her as a chaotic swarm of butterflies erupted into the air, their erratic fluttering eventually settling into a circular shape behind Feron. Then, with a sad smile, she turned from her family and stepped through the ring of butterflies, disappearing from view. The swarm dispersed almost immediately.</p><p></p><p>"Showoff," muttered Finoula under her breath.</p><p></p><p>Feya was obviously distraught at her youngest daughter's final farewell, but she bore her sadness with a regal bearing – that is, like an elf. Seeing her mood, Finoula asked, "Mother? Will you be all right? I'm sure I can stay for a bit if you need--"</p><p></p><p>"No," Feya replied, cutting her daughter off. "You have your duties, just as Feron does. Best you be about them. I'll see you the next time you're back in town." And she smiled at Finoula, her "everything-will-be-all-right" smile that had always reassured her daughters in the past. Saying her farewell, Finoula returned to the wagon - and stopped short once she got a glimpse of Aithanar. <em>Idiot!</em> she chided herself. <em>Feron was right here - she could have healed Aithanar of his affliction!</em> But then she realized that once Aithanar was cured there would be no need for him to avoid his father; maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to have him hanging around with the group for awhile.</p><p></p><p>"Everything okay?" asked Ingebold as Aithanar handed Finoula Daisy's reins.</p><p></p><p>"Yes," replied Finoula, smiling her thanks at Aithanar. "Let's go catch up with Bink."</p><p></p><p>Binkadink and Obvious were waiting for them at the designated rendezvous, but the little gnome stood out even more than he would have normally just by hanging around with a jackalope. "Um, what's the deal with the hair, Binkadink?" asked Castillan.</p><p></p><p>"What do you mean?" asked the gnome, clearly puzzled by the question.</p><p></p><p>"It's bright pink!" replied the bounder. "Pinkadink!" declared Darrien, clearly amused at the sight. At that, Binkadink pulled some of his hair away from his head, getting it into his field of vision. "Sunnova--!" he exclaimed, then started looking all around him. "Jinkadoodle!" he roared. "Where are you hiding, lad? I know it's you - come out!" But the gnome's prankster cousin made no appearance, despite Binkadink's threats of retaliation.</p><p></p><p>"Let's just go," he finally snarled, climbing onto Obvious's back and cheering himself with thoughts of retrieving the masterwork glaive he'd ordered from a weaponsmith in Garonis. The others followed, and the group made its way south. After about an hour, the gnome's hair and beard resumed its normal blond coloration and his mood improved significantly, but he was occasionally heard muttering ideas for a suitable revenge against his cousin.</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>The next day the group resumed their journey, after having made camp by the side of the road the night before. It was two hours before noon or so when they heard a voice calling from the other side of the hill they were cresting. "Drunilda!" said the voice, which proved to belong to a human peasant. He wore a worried expression and he approached the heroes as they pulled to a stop. "I beg your pardon," he said, "but have you seen a young woman recently around these parts? It's my daughter, <strong>Drunilda</strong> – blonde, about yea tall, nineteen summers old. She went missing two days ago, she did." The shepherd, <strong>Willem</strong>, explained that after she went missing, the flock of sheep she'd been tending was found wandering alone; furthermore, there were several sheep missing from the flock. He'd been searching for her since. He was terribly distraught, as Drunilda was his only family since his wife died several years ago.</p><p></p><p>"I've not much in the way of payment," Willem explained, "but if you can find her, I'd gladly give you one of my sheep."</p><p></p><p>"Are you sure she was around here when she went missing?" asked Darrien.</p><p></p><p>"Aye," replied Willem. "I found her crook right over here." He displayed the shepherd's crook he'd been leaning on, and took the group over to the side of the road where it had been found. The group spread out, and Darrien found a bit of fleece stuck on a prickle-bush that indicated the flock had indeed been here recently.</p><p></p><p>"Look here," called Finoula. She had been examining the dirt of the road, and found a pair of scrape marks that could have been caused by a pair of feet being dragged. "Was Drunilda wearing sandals?" she asked Willem, receiving confirmation from the shepherd. "It looks like she was pulled sideways right about here. I've got clear prints of her sandals here, and then over here" - the ranger took a few steps towards the side of the road - "the side of her sandal kicked up some dirt."</p><p></p><p>"So she was - abducted?" asked Willem, aghast at the thought. "By who?"</p><p></p><p>"By what," corrected Darrien, pointing further up the hill where a clear print was visible. It was about the size of a human foot, but with indications of webbing between the wide toes.</p><p></p><p>"Girl abducted by giant duck?" asked Gilbert incredulously.</p><p></p><p>"No, but probably some aquatic creature."</p><p></p><p>"The nearest decent-sized body of water is the Velverdyva River," pointed out Binkadink. "And that's ten miles to the west."</p><p></p><p>"Where duck take girl?" asked Gilbert, but Darrien was already following the tracks up the rocky hill. "The trail ends here," he said, standing before an enormous boulder. It was easily too heavy to lift, but Castillan quickly noticed a groove along the entire boulder, near where its weight buried it in the ground. But although he circled the boulder twice, he could find no evidence of hinges.</p><p></p><p>"Maybe it unscrews?" suggested Binkadink. But although the heroes tried twisting it both one way and then the other, they couldn't get it to budge.</p><p></p><p>"Over here!" called Darrien. The young ranger had found another suspicious-looking boulder nearby, this one much smaller - and with visible hinges. "I think it's a hatch." Binkadink strode over and pulled up on the rock, causing it to open up like a clam shell. There was a vertical shaft directly below it, leading down into darkness. A series of indentations along the west side served as a primitive ladder, and there seemed to be a passageway to the south about 10 feet down, although the vertical shaft continued on much deeper than that.</p><p></p><p>"I'll go first," offered Castillan, climbing down and moving cautiously and quietly down the southern passageway.</p><p></p><p>Almost immediately, there was a grinding noise. Castillan froze, but the noise had come from the surface above, so he continued down the short corridor, peeking carefully around the corner when he got there. The noise came from just ahead, and the bounder saw a scaly elbow sticking out of an alcove as the creature it belonged to grunted in its labors at turning a wheel mounted on the wall. With each crank of the wheel, a bit more sunlight came streaming in from a hole in the ceiling further down the corridor. Mentally calculating the distances, Castillan imagined the sunlight coming from the ceiling was right about where the large boulder with the seam on its bottom was located. Topside, this was confirmed by the other heroes, who were surprised to see the top section of the boulder slowly rotating along its northern section, revealing an opening beneath. Finoula approached cautiously, peering over the edge.</p><p></p><p>There was a diagonal ramp angling down from just beneath the boulder, aimed at an enormous cavern below the ground. The cavern was about 30 feet high - or at least the ceiling was 30 feet higher than the surface of the pool of water filling the cavern from wall to wall; there was no telling how deep the water might be. A platform rose up from the water along the northern wall, and atop this platform stood a stone statue of an immensely strange being: a composite entity with the head and claws of a lobster, but a human woman in all other aspects. The statue was about 20 feet tall, and centered directly in the beam of sunlight streaming down from the boulder-hole. <em>It's some sort of ceremony!</em> thought Finoula, as her elven vision allowed her to make out the figures below in the dim light, even as the light steadily increased as the boulder-aperture got bigger with each turn of the wheel in the passageway below.</p><p></p><p>At the foot of the lobster-woman statue stood another figure almost identical in all regards, although this one was unmistakably alive rather than carved from stone. It was a human woman, with the head and claws of a lobster; the lobster bits bright red whereas the woman's skin otherwise conformed to normal human flesh tones. Flanking her on either side were two fish-people, their heads somehow reminiscent of both fish and frogs, with bulging, goggly eyes and webbing between fingers and toes. In both northern corners of the pool were triangular ledges; the one to the northeast held another of these fish-people, this one in ceremonial robes.</p><p></p><p>Finoula headed over to the hatch, where Binkadink and Ingebold were just starting to climb down. "Come look at this!" she whispered, and Gilbert and Darrien followed her over to the large boulder. Gilbert pursed his lips upon seeing the giant statue below. "I think that called 'the Sea Mother'," he said. "It have another name: 'Blippity-Bloop-Bloop,' or something like that. And those fish people called kuo-toa, I think."</p><p></p><p>"That chute's probably where they drop food they've captured from the surface world," surmised Finoula. "I'll bet that's where those missing sheep went - and probably Drunilda, too."</p><p></p><p>"Could be," admitted Darrien.</p><p></p><p>"So what should we do?" asked Finoula.</p><p></p><p>"Let's watch, see what they do," replied Gilbert.</p><p></p><p>That's exactly what Castillan was doing. Once the kuo-toa had finished turning the wheel he rounded the corner, standing in the flat section of the area just beneath the fully-opened boulder. Then he went down the ramp. The bounder - and the trio of heroes just above - heard a loud splash of water from below as he landed.</p><p></p><p>The lead kuo-toa raised her arms in some sort of benediction and spoke a few croaking words in a language none of the heroes had ever heard before, and then the two flanking the lobster-woman gave her a gentle push, leading her to the edge of the platform, and the stairs that led down into the water. She walked slowly and unsteadily, as if drugged.</p><p></p><p>And then all eyes turned to the ceiling - not always at the same time, even in any given kuo-toa head, for their eyes moved independently - as the groaning sound of stone on stone was repeated and the boulder started closing again. Castillan had moved around the corner, thinking that if these fish-people wanted the aperture open, then he'd close it and see if that brought them up here to investigate. But after a couple cranks of the wheel, he realized he was closing off what could be the only source of light in the chamber beyond, which wouldn't help the heroes any. So two cranks later he left it where it was.</p><p></p><p>But by then the damage was done. Croaking out an order, the kuo-toa head cleric pointed up at the opening, where Gilbert was peering down into the cavern, casting an oversize shadow over the statue of Blibdoolpoolp, the Sea Mother. He cast a <em>fireball</em> spell at the northeastern corner, catching not only the head cleric but one of the other kuo-toa flanking the lobster-woman by the statue, eliciting croaks of pain. But then the two kuo-toa clerics joined hands and sent a bolt of lightning up at the heavyset wizard. With a cry of pain of his own, Gilbert scrambled back out of sight.</p><p></p><p>And Gilbert wasn't the only hero suddenly noticed by the assembled kuo-toa. Another, more powerful bolt of lightning crossed the chamber from one corner to the one opposite, as the lead cleric blasted Ingebold on the ladder just above Binkadink. She likewise grunted in pain but didn't release her grip on the ladder - a good thing, too, for Binkadink had just reached the triangular platform at the southwest corner of the pool, and she would have landed on him if she had.</p><p></p><p>"Uh oh," remarked Binkadink, as over a dozen kuo-toa heads popped up above the surface of the water. About half of them started heading his way, and by the looks of it they were armed with shortspears. The other half, upon croaked orders of the lead kuo-toa, lined up on either side of the stone steps leading down into the water. Apparently whatever ceremony was about to begin would continue on despite the heroes' interruption.</p><p></p><p>Darrien and Finoula jumped down into the pit below the boulder, their shadows cutting dark areas from the sunlight's beam. They both started firing arrows from their bows, choosing targets from the heads lined up on either side of the steps. Castillan turned the corner and joined them, snapping his shortbow into existence in his hand as he did so. He chose one of the two kuo-toa on the statue platform as his target and started firing.</p><p></p><p>Up on the surface, Gilbert had cast a <em>fly</em> spell upon himself before entering the pit and walking down the ramp. Pushing his way past the three archers, he leaped off the edge, hovering in the air at the top of the chamber and looking around for the best targets. </p><p></p><p>Binkadink had his glaive out and was cutting at the nearest of the kuo-toa combatants. But there were about eight or so headed his way, and worse, suddenly rising up from the dark waters was the unmistakable form of a chuul. The heroes had encountered one of these lobster-monsters before in the caves of the wall-walking lizardfolk, and that one had nearly killed Castillan. This one snapped its claws at Binkadink, eager to cut the little gnome in half.</p><p></p><p>That made Gilbert's decision easy: he cast an <em>Evard's black tentacles</em> directly on the water's surface at the southern edge of the pool, and dozens of ebon tentacles snaked out, grabbing up kuo-toa targets and engulfing them in rubbery appendages. The chuul avoided this fate and skirted over to the westernmost wall, continuing to snap at Binkadink. Three times it managed to catch the gnome in a pincer, but each time the gnome managed to wriggle out of its grasp before being dragged beneath the water.</p><p></p><p>It was only when the lobster-woman entered the water to her knees, taking her first steps between the waiting kuo-toa on either side of her, that the obvious sudden struck Darrien. "By the gods!" he exclaimed. "That must be Drunilda!" He sighted her along his next arrow, aiming between her breasts, and let fly. By the time the arrow hit her it had become a line of strong spider-silk. "Give me a hand!" he commanded, and Finoula dropped her bow to help him pull the length of silk-line back towards them.</p><p></p><p>Below, Drunilda felt a sudden tug and sprawled forward into the water. She barely registered it, still heavily drugged as she had been by the kuo-toa clerics before the ceremony, when she had a lobster-head mask and claw-sleeves put over her own head and arms. She didn't even feel the two bites that were taken out of her as she was dragged past the line of hungry kuo-toa, eager to participate in the communion ceremony in which they literally became one with the representative of their Sea Mother.</p><p></p><p>Seeing that Finoula and Darrien had the situation well in hand, Castillan snapped his shortbow back into his left glove and decided to try something. Walking to the edge of the ramp, he dangled over the side by his right hand, positioned his feet, and then let go, racing along the wall as gravity sped his fall. He had been aiming for the triangular platform at the southeastern corner of the rectangular pool, well away from the black tentacles grabbing up kuo-toa combatants. He missed, but not by much; his hand snagged the platform as he fell into the water, and he managed to pull himself up before the only two kuo-toa combatants outside the range of the tentacles could get to him. Standing on the platform, Castillan saw a door before him. He opened it without thought and slammed it shut behind him. Fortunately, it could be barred from the inside, so he did so, just as pounding on the door told him the two kuo-toa had followed him and were trying to get in. But they weren't very persistent; after two pounds on the door they stopped, and a pair of splashes told the bounder they'd jumped back into the pool.</p><p></p><p>Popping a sunrod, Castillan looked around. He was in a small living area, some 10 feet by 15 feet, with a door on the far side of the room and a hole in the floor leading into a pool of water -- <em>Uh oh!</em> Castillan scurried around the pool and through the next door as the first of his two pursuers popped his head up through the opening in the floor. <em>Stupid kuo-toa apartment's got another way in on the submerged lower level!</em> he thought. Unfortunately, this second door didn't lock, so the bounder scrambled down the short corridor and turned a corner, where he had to stop short before falling into an octagonal pool of water. This one was filled with what looked like minnows the size of his arm; he imagined this must be a kuo-toa nursery, and these must be baby kuo-toa. But there was no other way out of this room, so with a snap of his fingers the bounder brought his short sword into his right hand and he prepared himself for a two-on-one battle against his pursuers.</p><p></p><p>Still hovering over the pool, Gilbert saw a fatal flaw in the rangers' plan to rescue Drunilda - the path she'd be dragged along would lead her directly into the area of effect of his <em>Evard's black tentacles</em> spell; due to being 30 feet above the water in a sloping ramp aimed directly at the Blibdoolpoolp statue along the northern wall, neither ranger could see the tentacles grabbing up kuo-toa directly below them. So he flew over, dropped down directly in front of Drunilda, scooped her up, and flew her up to the sun-tunnel ramp, barely even noticing she was naked until he'd delivered her to the rangers. Darrien set down his <em>Arachnibow</em> and escorted her around the corner, over by the wheel-mechanism that opened the sun hatch and out of view of the kuo-toa below. Seeing the blood dripping from her left side, just below the ribs, and the outer edge of her right thigh, he pulled off her lobster mask and claws and helped her down a healing potion from his belt. Her eyes were unfocused, her stance unsteady, but Darrien was pleased to see the chunks of flesh heal over after she drank the potion. "Come on," he said, taking her by the hand and walking her over to the vertical shaft. "Let's get you back to your father." He had to balance her over his shoulder to get her up the ladder, but he did so, and Willem was overjoyed to see his daughter alive - although somewhat taken aback to see her naked in the arms of a half-elf adventurer.</p><p></p><p>By this time, Binkadink found himself in dire straits. He shrugged off the effects of a spell cast across the pool by the head kuo-toa priestess, which judging by the way motes of darkness flickered in the corner of his field of vision had been intended to blind him, and concentrated his attacks on the chuul. The creature grabbed up the gnome in its claws for a fourth time, and this time its grip was tight enough to prevent the fighter from squirming away. The chuul swam backwards with its prize in its pincer, and Binkadink guessed what was likely coming so he took in as deep a breath as the crushing claw would allow. And sure enough, the chuul's next act was to submerge itself beneath the water, dragging the gnome down with it while it continued to crush his torso, until Binkadink wanted to cry out in pain. His hands were still free, and there was a healing potion at his belt...but he couldn't figure out how to drink it underwater. He figured his only chance of survival was in killing the chuul before it crushed him to death. And sadly, the chuul seemed to be hurting him much more than he was managing to hurt it.</p><p></p><p>Unseen behind him, a new force entered the combat. A large, round grate of interlocking bars in the southern wall allowed water in without allowing enemies to enter; the kuo-toa kept this closed and locked when not being used to enter the submerged tunnels that led to a vast, Underdark sea continuing on for miles, confident that the mechanism to unlock it from the inside was too far away for any arm to reach from the other side. And they were right, to an extent...but an aboleth's tentacle could reach inside quite handily and open the grate. In an instant, the southern entrance to the kuo-toa communion pool was filled with the aboleth and a score of its skum servants - never mind that half of their number were only illusions generated by the ancient, aquatic beast.</p><p></p><p>A spell cast by a kuo-toa cleric from above brought a trio of fiendish sharks patrolling the pool; it had been intended that they attack the kuo-toa's enemies, but they were distracted by all of the blood in the water and started biting the corpses of the various kuo-toa slain thus far, for not only had the ebon tentacles crushed the life out of a few of the shortspear-wielding kuo-toa by this time, but the archers had slain a few of the noncombatants that had lined up for the ceremony and were now scattered in panic. Seeing this from above, Finoula cast a summoning spell of her own, bringing forth a porpoise to try to hold its own against the sharks, to hold them at bay. And the skum forces, safe from the spell-crafted tentacles by remaining submerged beneath them, stabbed up at the kuo-toa combatants caught up in the <em>Evard's black tentacles</em> spell, slaying them outright.</p><p></p><p>Ingebold, now on the platform abandoned by Binkadink, was doing what she could to save the life of the little gnome. A <em>spiritual weapon</em> in the form of a dwarven hammer slammed into the chuul's carapace; fortunately, the gnome had two <em>everburning torches</em> firmly attached to the antlers of his helmet, allowing the dwarven cleric to help target her enemy. She was blasted again by a <em>lightning bolt</em> from across the chamber, courtesy of one or more of the kuo-toa spellcasters, but she ignored the effects and concentrated on trying to help the gnome. And by now, Binkadink was almost beyond help, his gnomish body taken to the very brink of its endurance.</p><p></p><p>"Can you heal him?" called Gilbert, once again hovering over the pool.</p><p></p><p>"Not from here - I've gotta touch him!" called back the frustrated cleric. Gilbert dismissed his <em>Evard's black tentacles</em> spell - it seemed to have done its job, as those kuo-toa caught in its embrace had been slain - and dove into the pool, glad that the <em>fly</em> spell worked equally well underwater, reached out to Binkadink, and did the one thing he could think to do to strengthen the gnome fighter. He couldn't actually provide healing energy like a cleric could, but he could artificially boost Binkadink's already seriously healthy constitution, giving him the energy to hold out for a few seconds more.</p><p></p><p>About this time the chuul noticed the underwater intruders and it released Binkadink from its claws, transferring the gnome to its writhing facial tentacles so its pincers would be free for combat with the aboleth. One of the summoned sharks bit at the aboleth, but it contemptuously slapped it away with its tentacles, concentrating its mental energy upon the chuul, subsuming the lobster-monster's will beneath its own. Fully <em>dominated</em>, the chuul now obeyed the aboleth's mental commands - and its new slave even came with a free humanoid, suitable for transformation into a skum servitor, given time.</p><p></p><p>Mentally perusing the spells he had left, Gilbert almost tried casting a <em>scorching ray</em> spell at the chuul while underwater - realizing that theoretically at least the spell's fiery energy could be channeled into a blast of superheated steam, although he'd never tried it that way personally - before smirking to himself and reaching for a wand at his belt. He flew over and hit the gnome with a blast from the wand just as Binkadink's consciousness left him for what would otherwise have been the final time - and the gnome's body dissolved in the water, bubbling to the surface to coalesce there as a glowing cloud of gaseous mist.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert rose as well, propelling himself out of the water and high into the air. He looked around and saw chaos all about him. The water churned with combat, as kuo-toa fought skum; the kuo-toa clerics had dived into the water to face this new enemy directly. Finoula had attached a rope to the wheel-mechanism and trailed it down into the water below; Darrien had returned to her side and was picking off targets with his <em>Arachnibow</em>; Ingebold was still on the platform in the southwestern corner, whacking at anything that came near with her warhammer; Castillan was nowhere to be seen, but he had gone through a door alone and was presumably fine. The wizard made his decision. "Ingebold! Climb back up! We leave!"</p><p></p><p>"But what about Binkadink?" she answered.</p><p></p><p>"He be fine! He stay a cloud for another ten minutes or so! We come back then!" Trusting in the wizard's logic, the dwarven cleric began climbing back up the ladder on the side of the wall, feeling less exposed once she reached the vertical shaft it became for the last ten feet. Gilbert flew up to Finoula and Darrien, explaining his logic. "I'll stay here," offered Darrien, tying the rope Finoula had cast down into the water around his waist so he wouldn't fall over the edge, then readying an arrow in his <em>Arachnibow</em>. "When the gnome becomes solid again, I'll catch him up in a silk line."</p><p></p><p>"Good plan," agreed Gilbert. "Now, hopefully stupid elf boy know enough to stay low until we go get him."</p><p></p><p>Castillan by that time stood over the corpses of the two kuo-toa combatants he'd slain in the corridor leading to the youngling pool. He then backtracked the way he'd come, peeking out through the door and taking in the scene before quietly closing the door again. He'd seen Darrien up in the shaft, waiting, and while he wasn't sure what the glowing cloud of mist was all about, he could see that the other heroes had retreated. Figuring Darrien would be in panic mode had the other heroes been captured or slain, Castillan kept his ear to the door and waited for the splashing frenzy to die down. Then he waited another minute, and another one after that for good measure, before opening the door again and peeking outside.</p><p></p><p>Darrien was pulling on a strand of thin silk, reeling an unconscious Binkadink in like a fish on a line. "Hey! Darrien!" called the bounder, holding his arms out wide. "Shoot me next! There isn't any other way out of this area!"</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>After everyone was back topside and had been healed by Ingebold's spells, the heroes determined their best course of action was to re-enter the compound. Binkadink absolutely insisted they retrieve his glaive from the bottom of the pool; it had slipped from his unconscious fingers when he returned to solid form after the effects of Gilbert's <em>wand of gaseous form</em> wore off. Fortunately, the aboleth hadn't been trying to move into the kuo-toa lair - it was just on a raiding mission for slaves and moved on once it had what it had come for. Stripping down to his skivvies, Binkadink had been able to find and retrieve his glaive.</p><p></p><p>And there were rooms to check out in the air-filled half of the complex, even if getting to them was a bit difficult. But a silk-line from the sun-tunnel to the Blibdoolpoolp statue made a handy zip-line to the northern section of the compound, and the decision to explore paid off when they found the kuo-toa treasury, which held some odd-looking coins, a few gems, and an enchanted light crossbow which gave off a bright illumination (the fact it had been draped with a tarp hinted as to why it had been kept here instead of used by any of the kuo-toa combatants; they obviously didn't like bright lights). The group also found a bunch of clothes, whatever the previous Blibdoolpoolp stand-ins had been wearing when captured, including Drunilda's robes and sandals. (The shepherdess, having since overcome the effects of the drug she'd been given, gratefully traded the woolen blanket she'd wrapped herself in while she sat at the back of the mule-driven wagon for her own garments.)</p><p></p><p>"You must return home with us!" offered Willem once the group returned from below for the final time. "We'll get you a hot meal, and a sheep for your payment! I can never thank you enough for what you've done!" Binkadink was eager to get back on the road - there was a masterwork gnomish glaive waiting for him in Garonis - but it seemed impolite to decline the shepherd's offer.</p><p></p><p>"What shall we name our sheep?" asked Finoula as they departed back on the road south some hours later, their woolly payment sitting in the back of the wagon.</p><p></p><p>"Name her?" scoffed Gilbert. "I name her 'Dinner.' We butcher her at camp tonight! I even give your wolf a portion - he been eyeing her since we got her."</p><p></p><p>Finoula looked at Wrath, whose eyes were indeed fixed on the delicious morsel sitting in the back of the wagon, and said nothing.</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>T-Shirt Worn: I have a dark blue T-shirt with several sharks on it (the sharks even glow in the dark), a purchase from an aquarium many years ago. It was the best fit for this adventure, and originally I was afraid it would give away too much - since Kordovia is a land-locked kingdom hundreds of miles from the sea - but eventually I realized any "hint" the players might get from my T-shirt would be a wild guess at best, so I went for it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 6847205, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 16: COMMUNION WITH THE SEA MOTHER[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 7[/INDENT] [INDENT] Castillan Ivenheart, elf bounder 7[/INDENT] [INDENT] Darrien, half-elf ranger 7[/INDENT] [INDENT] Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 7[/INDENT] [INDENT] Gilbert Fung, human wizard 7[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Aithanar Ivenheart, elf fighter 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Ingebold Battershield, dwarven cleric 6 (Moradin)[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 12 March 2016 - - - The group had returned to Kordovia, but without any of the normal fanfare; rather, they had avoided Battershield Keep and the castle at all costs, keeping to the back roads and stealthily making their way to the wealthy neighborhood containing Ivenheart Manor. Binkadink and Obvious had broken away from the others and skirted the Vesve Forest along the eastern front of the kingdom, to position themselves at the southern border, where they'd be met later by the others. Obvious - a pony-sized rabbit with two antlers sprouting from the top of his head - was just a bit too obvious for a group wanting not to be noticed. Ingebold pulled the wagon to a halt a block behind the Ivenheart estate. Castillan and Aithanar immediately jumped out. "We'll be back in a bit," promised the older of the two brothers. Finoula pulled up behind the wagon and scratched Daisy behind the ears while they waited. Wrath was enjoying an unaccustomed ride in the wagon, the better not to be noticed, for there weren't too many timber wolves that trotted freely through the kingdom of Kordovia. In the back of the wagon, Gilbert Fung was giving Wrath's tummy a good scratching and keeping the wolf occupied while the elven brothers grabbed up Aithanar's gear without alerting their father, Aroben, of his youngest son's unexpected release from Ravencroft Sanatorium. The fact that Aithanar was still unable to speak without babbling nonsense meant Aroben would rather he be kept out of sight, the better to protect the Ivenheart name. The minutes passed. Predictably, it was Gilbert Fung who first voiced boredom. "How long it take to grab up adventuring gear?" he groused. "Put on armor, buckle on sword - there, done!" "I'm sure he's got more than just that," replied Darrien. "Plus, it's not like they're going to just walk through the front door," added Finoula. "They need to sneak everything Aithanar's bringing out of the manor without running into their father. I imagine that means-- hello? What's this?" As the elven ranger had been talking, a brightly-colored songbird had flown right up to her. It lit upon her left wrist and cocked its head, looking at Finoula expectantly. Taken aback, Finoula wasn't sure what was going on - and then she saw the band of paper folded around one of the bird's feet. Carefully removing the paper from the creature without hurting it, she began unfolding it to see what message had been sent to her in this unusual fashion. The bird, its duty fulfilled, leaped from Finoula's hand and took to the skies. "What's it say?" asked Ingebold. Finoula read the message aloud to the others. "'Finoula - Please return home at once. I wish to see you again one last time. Feron.' It's from my little sister. Guys, we need to swing by my mother's house before we head back south out of Kordovia." "That'll be fine," replied Ingebold. Gilbert just sighed. "This most nonchalant stealth mission ever," he groused. "We supposed to sneak in and out like ninja, not spend time visiting relatives along the way." "It'll be fine," reassured Ingebold. "What's a ninja?" asked Darrien. Gilbert opted not to elaborate. "What taking those elves so long?" he groused instead. "We're here," replied Castillan, dropping a rolled-up bedroll and a backpack into the back of the wagon, then hopping in himself. Aithanar, now wearing a well-made suit of fine leather armor, followed his brother into the wagon. "Any trouble?" asked Darrien. "None," replied Castillan. "Shobba goon," confirmed Aithanar, shaking his head in negation. "Lead on, then, Finoula," said Ingebold, allowing Daisy to skirt around the wagon before giving the mules a flick of the reins. Finoula led the group to her mother's cottage and, as it was secluded off to itself in a small grove of trees at the end of a quiet block, the group didn't feel the need to be as stealthy as they had at Ivenheart Manor - after all, the fact that an [I]animal messenger[/I] spell had been cast to send a songbird-provided note to Finoula meant Feron already knew she was nearby. "I'll try to be brief," the ranger promised. "Take whatever time y'be needin'," offered Ingebold. "It sounds like it might be important." "Doubt that," grumbled Gilbert. Entering the cottage, Finoula saw her mother, Feya, through a window sitting outside on a bench in the back yard, sipping tea with Finoula's younger half-sister, Feron. Upon her approach, Feron stood, putting her teacup on the bench beside her, and opened her arms for a hug. The ranger begrudgingly submitted to an embrace. "Finoula," said Feron, "Thank you for coming to see me off." At Finoula's puzzled look, Feron explained. "I've been granted leave by the Sisters of Ehlonna to return here one last time, that I may say my goodbyes to you both. I've been accepted into the Inner Circle and, as such, I'll be unable to visit you here any longer. Once I return to the Sisters, I'll begin a new life – in the same way a caterpillar ends its old life by becoming a butterfly. I will likewise undergo a transformation and be bound, physically and spiritually, to the Great Oak of Ehlonna, the wellspring of Her power here on the Material Plane." She turned to Feya. "Mother, thank you for raising me to be the person I am today. And Finoula, I know we haven't always gotten along as well as perhaps we should have, but I truly wish you all the best in your adventuring career. Believe it or not, I always looked up to you when I was little. And should you ever find your way to Ehlonna's Grove, I'll be there. Perhaps, someday, we can truly be Sisters together." "We'll have to see," replied Finoula, not entirely sure she wanted to spend her life working with her little half-sister - who, as a half-elf, with human blood speeding her development, had already risen to the highest ranks of Ehlonna's service while Finoula was just starting to make a name for herself as an adventurer all these years later. Giving a final hug to her mother and her older half-sister, Feron stepped back by the garden and raised her arms out at her sides. An immediate riot of color exploded behind her as a chaotic swarm of butterflies erupted into the air, their erratic fluttering eventually settling into a circular shape behind Feron. Then, with a sad smile, she turned from her family and stepped through the ring of butterflies, disappearing from view. The swarm dispersed almost immediately. "Showoff," muttered Finoula under her breath. Feya was obviously distraught at her youngest daughter's final farewell, but she bore her sadness with a regal bearing – that is, like an elf. Seeing her mood, Finoula asked, "Mother? Will you be all right? I'm sure I can stay for a bit if you need--" "No," Feya replied, cutting her daughter off. "You have your duties, just as Feron does. Best you be about them. I'll see you the next time you're back in town." And she smiled at Finoula, her "everything-will-be-all-right" smile that had always reassured her daughters in the past. Saying her farewell, Finoula returned to the wagon - and stopped short once she got a glimpse of Aithanar. [I]Idiot![/I] she chided herself. [I]Feron was right here - she could have healed Aithanar of his affliction![/I] But then she realized that once Aithanar was cured there would be no need for him to avoid his father; maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to have him hanging around with the group for awhile. "Everything okay?" asked Ingebold as Aithanar handed Finoula Daisy's reins. "Yes," replied Finoula, smiling her thanks at Aithanar. "Let's go catch up with Bink." Binkadink and Obvious were waiting for them at the designated rendezvous, but the little gnome stood out even more than he would have normally just by hanging around with a jackalope. "Um, what's the deal with the hair, Binkadink?" asked Castillan. "What do you mean?" asked the gnome, clearly puzzled by the question. "It's bright pink!" replied the bounder. "Pinkadink!" declared Darrien, clearly amused at the sight. At that, Binkadink pulled some of his hair away from his head, getting it into his field of vision. "Sunnova--!" he exclaimed, then started looking all around him. "Jinkadoodle!" he roared. "Where are you hiding, lad? I know it's you - come out!" But the gnome's prankster cousin made no appearance, despite Binkadink's threats of retaliation. "Let's just go," he finally snarled, climbing onto Obvious's back and cheering himself with thoughts of retrieving the masterwork glaive he'd ordered from a weaponsmith in Garonis. The others followed, and the group made its way south. After about an hour, the gnome's hair and beard resumed its normal blond coloration and his mood improved significantly, but he was occasionally heard muttering ideas for a suitable revenge against his cousin. - - - The next day the group resumed their journey, after having made camp by the side of the road the night before. It was two hours before noon or so when they heard a voice calling from the other side of the hill they were cresting. "Drunilda!" said the voice, which proved to belong to a human peasant. He wore a worried expression and he approached the heroes as they pulled to a stop. "I beg your pardon," he said, "but have you seen a young woman recently around these parts? It's my daughter, [B]Drunilda[/B] – blonde, about yea tall, nineteen summers old. She went missing two days ago, she did." The shepherd, [B]Willem[/B], explained that after she went missing, the flock of sheep she'd been tending was found wandering alone; furthermore, there were several sheep missing from the flock. He'd been searching for her since. He was terribly distraught, as Drunilda was his only family since his wife died several years ago. "I've not much in the way of payment," Willem explained, "but if you can find her, I'd gladly give you one of my sheep." "Are you sure she was around here when she went missing?" asked Darrien. "Aye," replied Willem. "I found her crook right over here." He displayed the shepherd's crook he'd been leaning on, and took the group over to the side of the road where it had been found. The group spread out, and Darrien found a bit of fleece stuck on a prickle-bush that indicated the flock had indeed been here recently. "Look here," called Finoula. She had been examining the dirt of the road, and found a pair of scrape marks that could have been caused by a pair of feet being dragged. "Was Drunilda wearing sandals?" she asked Willem, receiving confirmation from the shepherd. "It looks like she was pulled sideways right about here. I've got clear prints of her sandals here, and then over here" - the ranger took a few steps towards the side of the road - "the side of her sandal kicked up some dirt." "So she was - abducted?" asked Willem, aghast at the thought. "By who?" "By what," corrected Darrien, pointing further up the hill where a clear print was visible. It was about the size of a human foot, but with indications of webbing between the wide toes. "Girl abducted by giant duck?" asked Gilbert incredulously. "No, but probably some aquatic creature." "The nearest decent-sized body of water is the Velverdyva River," pointed out Binkadink. "And that's ten miles to the west." "Where duck take girl?" asked Gilbert, but Darrien was already following the tracks up the rocky hill. "The trail ends here," he said, standing before an enormous boulder. It was easily too heavy to lift, but Castillan quickly noticed a groove along the entire boulder, near where its weight buried it in the ground. But although he circled the boulder twice, he could find no evidence of hinges. "Maybe it unscrews?" suggested Binkadink. But although the heroes tried twisting it both one way and then the other, they couldn't get it to budge. "Over here!" called Darrien. The young ranger had found another suspicious-looking boulder nearby, this one much smaller - and with visible hinges. "I think it's a hatch." Binkadink strode over and pulled up on the rock, causing it to open up like a clam shell. There was a vertical shaft directly below it, leading down into darkness. A series of indentations along the west side served as a primitive ladder, and there seemed to be a passageway to the south about 10 feet down, although the vertical shaft continued on much deeper than that. "I'll go first," offered Castillan, climbing down and moving cautiously and quietly down the southern passageway. Almost immediately, there was a grinding noise. Castillan froze, but the noise had come from the surface above, so he continued down the short corridor, peeking carefully around the corner when he got there. The noise came from just ahead, and the bounder saw a scaly elbow sticking out of an alcove as the creature it belonged to grunted in its labors at turning a wheel mounted on the wall. With each crank of the wheel, a bit more sunlight came streaming in from a hole in the ceiling further down the corridor. Mentally calculating the distances, Castillan imagined the sunlight coming from the ceiling was right about where the large boulder with the seam on its bottom was located. Topside, this was confirmed by the other heroes, who were surprised to see the top section of the boulder slowly rotating along its northern section, revealing an opening beneath. Finoula approached cautiously, peering over the edge. There was a diagonal ramp angling down from just beneath the boulder, aimed at an enormous cavern below the ground. The cavern was about 30 feet high - or at least the ceiling was 30 feet higher than the surface of the pool of water filling the cavern from wall to wall; there was no telling how deep the water might be. A platform rose up from the water along the northern wall, and atop this platform stood a stone statue of an immensely strange being: a composite entity with the head and claws of a lobster, but a human woman in all other aspects. The statue was about 20 feet tall, and centered directly in the beam of sunlight streaming down from the boulder-hole. [I]It's some sort of ceremony![/I] thought Finoula, as her elven vision allowed her to make out the figures below in the dim light, even as the light steadily increased as the boulder-aperture got bigger with each turn of the wheel in the passageway below. At the foot of the lobster-woman statue stood another figure almost identical in all regards, although this one was unmistakably alive rather than carved from stone. It was a human woman, with the head and claws of a lobster; the lobster bits bright red whereas the woman's skin otherwise conformed to normal human flesh tones. Flanking her on either side were two fish-people, their heads somehow reminiscent of both fish and frogs, with bulging, goggly eyes and webbing between fingers and toes. In both northern corners of the pool were triangular ledges; the one to the northeast held another of these fish-people, this one in ceremonial robes. Finoula headed over to the hatch, where Binkadink and Ingebold were just starting to climb down. "Come look at this!" she whispered, and Gilbert and Darrien followed her over to the large boulder. Gilbert pursed his lips upon seeing the giant statue below. "I think that called 'the Sea Mother'," he said. "It have another name: 'Blippity-Bloop-Bloop,' or something like that. And those fish people called kuo-toa, I think." "That chute's probably where they drop food they've captured from the surface world," surmised Finoula. "I'll bet that's where those missing sheep went - and probably Drunilda, too." "Could be," admitted Darrien. "So what should we do?" asked Finoula. "Let's watch, see what they do," replied Gilbert. That's exactly what Castillan was doing. Once the kuo-toa had finished turning the wheel he rounded the corner, standing in the flat section of the area just beneath the fully-opened boulder. Then he went down the ramp. The bounder - and the trio of heroes just above - heard a loud splash of water from below as he landed. The lead kuo-toa raised her arms in some sort of benediction and spoke a few croaking words in a language none of the heroes had ever heard before, and then the two flanking the lobster-woman gave her a gentle push, leading her to the edge of the platform, and the stairs that led down into the water. She walked slowly and unsteadily, as if drugged. And then all eyes turned to the ceiling - not always at the same time, even in any given kuo-toa head, for their eyes moved independently - as the groaning sound of stone on stone was repeated and the boulder started closing again. Castillan had moved around the corner, thinking that if these fish-people wanted the aperture open, then he'd close it and see if that brought them up here to investigate. But after a couple cranks of the wheel, he realized he was closing off what could be the only source of light in the chamber beyond, which wouldn't help the heroes any. So two cranks later he left it where it was. But by then the damage was done. Croaking out an order, the kuo-toa head cleric pointed up at the opening, where Gilbert was peering down into the cavern, casting an oversize shadow over the statue of Blibdoolpoolp, the Sea Mother. He cast a [I]fireball[/I] spell at the northeastern corner, catching not only the head cleric but one of the other kuo-toa flanking the lobster-woman by the statue, eliciting croaks of pain. But then the two kuo-toa clerics joined hands and sent a bolt of lightning up at the heavyset wizard. With a cry of pain of his own, Gilbert scrambled back out of sight. And Gilbert wasn't the only hero suddenly noticed by the assembled kuo-toa. Another, more powerful bolt of lightning crossed the chamber from one corner to the one opposite, as the lead cleric blasted Ingebold on the ladder just above Binkadink. She likewise grunted in pain but didn't release her grip on the ladder - a good thing, too, for Binkadink had just reached the triangular platform at the southwest corner of the pool, and she would have landed on him if she had. "Uh oh," remarked Binkadink, as over a dozen kuo-toa heads popped up above the surface of the water. About half of them started heading his way, and by the looks of it they were armed with shortspears. The other half, upon croaked orders of the lead kuo-toa, lined up on either side of the stone steps leading down into the water. Apparently whatever ceremony was about to begin would continue on despite the heroes' interruption. Darrien and Finoula jumped down into the pit below the boulder, their shadows cutting dark areas from the sunlight's beam. They both started firing arrows from their bows, choosing targets from the heads lined up on either side of the steps. Castillan turned the corner and joined them, snapping his shortbow into existence in his hand as he did so. He chose one of the two kuo-toa on the statue platform as his target and started firing. Up on the surface, Gilbert had cast a [I]fly[/I] spell upon himself before entering the pit and walking down the ramp. Pushing his way past the three archers, he leaped off the edge, hovering in the air at the top of the chamber and looking around for the best targets. Binkadink had his glaive out and was cutting at the nearest of the kuo-toa combatants. But there were about eight or so headed his way, and worse, suddenly rising up from the dark waters was the unmistakable form of a chuul. The heroes had encountered one of these lobster-monsters before in the caves of the wall-walking lizardfolk, and that one had nearly killed Castillan. This one snapped its claws at Binkadink, eager to cut the little gnome in half. That made Gilbert's decision easy: he cast an [I]Evard's black tentacles[/I] directly on the water's surface at the southern edge of the pool, and dozens of ebon tentacles snaked out, grabbing up kuo-toa targets and engulfing them in rubbery appendages. The chuul avoided this fate and skirted over to the westernmost wall, continuing to snap at Binkadink. Three times it managed to catch the gnome in a pincer, but each time the gnome managed to wriggle out of its grasp before being dragged beneath the water. It was only when the lobster-woman entered the water to her knees, taking her first steps between the waiting kuo-toa on either side of her, that the obvious sudden struck Darrien. "By the gods!" he exclaimed. "That must be Drunilda!" He sighted her along his next arrow, aiming between her breasts, and let fly. By the time the arrow hit her it had become a line of strong spider-silk. "Give me a hand!" he commanded, and Finoula dropped her bow to help him pull the length of silk-line back towards them. Below, Drunilda felt a sudden tug and sprawled forward into the water. She barely registered it, still heavily drugged as she had been by the kuo-toa clerics before the ceremony, when she had a lobster-head mask and claw-sleeves put over her own head and arms. She didn't even feel the two bites that were taken out of her as she was dragged past the line of hungry kuo-toa, eager to participate in the communion ceremony in which they literally became one with the representative of their Sea Mother. Seeing that Finoula and Darrien had the situation well in hand, Castillan snapped his shortbow back into his left glove and decided to try something. Walking to the edge of the ramp, he dangled over the side by his right hand, positioned his feet, and then let go, racing along the wall as gravity sped his fall. He had been aiming for the triangular platform at the southeastern corner of the rectangular pool, well away from the black tentacles grabbing up kuo-toa combatants. He missed, but not by much; his hand snagged the platform as he fell into the water, and he managed to pull himself up before the only two kuo-toa combatants outside the range of the tentacles could get to him. Standing on the platform, Castillan saw a door before him. He opened it without thought and slammed it shut behind him. Fortunately, it could be barred from the inside, so he did so, just as pounding on the door told him the two kuo-toa had followed him and were trying to get in. But they weren't very persistent; after two pounds on the door they stopped, and a pair of splashes told the bounder they'd jumped back into the pool. Popping a sunrod, Castillan looked around. He was in a small living area, some 10 feet by 15 feet, with a door on the far side of the room and a hole in the floor leading into a pool of water -- [I]Uh oh![/I] Castillan scurried around the pool and through the next door as the first of his two pursuers popped his head up through the opening in the floor. [I]Stupid kuo-toa apartment's got another way in on the submerged lower level![/I] he thought. Unfortunately, this second door didn't lock, so the bounder scrambled down the short corridor and turned a corner, where he had to stop short before falling into an octagonal pool of water. This one was filled with what looked like minnows the size of his arm; he imagined this must be a kuo-toa nursery, and these must be baby kuo-toa. But there was no other way out of this room, so with a snap of his fingers the bounder brought his short sword into his right hand and he prepared himself for a two-on-one battle against his pursuers. Still hovering over the pool, Gilbert saw a fatal flaw in the rangers' plan to rescue Drunilda - the path she'd be dragged along would lead her directly into the area of effect of his [I]Evard's black tentacles[/I] spell; due to being 30 feet above the water in a sloping ramp aimed directly at the Blibdoolpoolp statue along the northern wall, neither ranger could see the tentacles grabbing up kuo-toa directly below them. So he flew over, dropped down directly in front of Drunilda, scooped her up, and flew her up to the sun-tunnel ramp, barely even noticing she was naked until he'd delivered her to the rangers. Darrien set down his [I]Arachnibow[/I] and escorted her around the corner, over by the wheel-mechanism that opened the sun hatch and out of view of the kuo-toa below. Seeing the blood dripping from her left side, just below the ribs, and the outer edge of her right thigh, he pulled off her lobster mask and claws and helped her down a healing potion from his belt. Her eyes were unfocused, her stance unsteady, but Darrien was pleased to see the chunks of flesh heal over after she drank the potion. "Come on," he said, taking her by the hand and walking her over to the vertical shaft. "Let's get you back to your father." He had to balance her over his shoulder to get her up the ladder, but he did so, and Willem was overjoyed to see his daughter alive - although somewhat taken aback to see her naked in the arms of a half-elf adventurer. By this time, Binkadink found himself in dire straits. He shrugged off the effects of a spell cast across the pool by the head kuo-toa priestess, which judging by the way motes of darkness flickered in the corner of his field of vision had been intended to blind him, and concentrated his attacks on the chuul. The creature grabbed up the gnome in its claws for a fourth time, and this time its grip was tight enough to prevent the fighter from squirming away. The chuul swam backwards with its prize in its pincer, and Binkadink guessed what was likely coming so he took in as deep a breath as the crushing claw would allow. And sure enough, the chuul's next act was to submerge itself beneath the water, dragging the gnome down with it while it continued to crush his torso, until Binkadink wanted to cry out in pain. His hands were still free, and there was a healing potion at his belt...but he couldn't figure out how to drink it underwater. He figured his only chance of survival was in killing the chuul before it crushed him to death. And sadly, the chuul seemed to be hurting him much more than he was managing to hurt it. Unseen behind him, a new force entered the combat. A large, round grate of interlocking bars in the southern wall allowed water in without allowing enemies to enter; the kuo-toa kept this closed and locked when not being used to enter the submerged tunnels that led to a vast, Underdark sea continuing on for miles, confident that the mechanism to unlock it from the inside was too far away for any arm to reach from the other side. And they were right, to an extent...but an aboleth's tentacle could reach inside quite handily and open the grate. In an instant, the southern entrance to the kuo-toa communion pool was filled with the aboleth and a score of its skum servants - never mind that half of their number were only illusions generated by the ancient, aquatic beast. A spell cast by a kuo-toa cleric from above brought a trio of fiendish sharks patrolling the pool; it had been intended that they attack the kuo-toa's enemies, but they were distracted by all of the blood in the water and started biting the corpses of the various kuo-toa slain thus far, for not only had the ebon tentacles crushed the life out of a few of the shortspear-wielding kuo-toa by this time, but the archers had slain a few of the noncombatants that had lined up for the ceremony and were now scattered in panic. Seeing this from above, Finoula cast a summoning spell of her own, bringing forth a porpoise to try to hold its own against the sharks, to hold them at bay. And the skum forces, safe from the spell-crafted tentacles by remaining submerged beneath them, stabbed up at the kuo-toa combatants caught up in the [I]Evard's black tentacles[/I] spell, slaying them outright. Ingebold, now on the platform abandoned by Binkadink, was doing what she could to save the life of the little gnome. A [I]spiritual weapon[/I] in the form of a dwarven hammer slammed into the chuul's carapace; fortunately, the gnome had two [I]everburning torches[/I] firmly attached to the antlers of his helmet, allowing the dwarven cleric to help target her enemy. She was blasted again by a [I]lightning bolt[/I] from across the chamber, courtesy of one or more of the kuo-toa spellcasters, but she ignored the effects and concentrated on trying to help the gnome. And by now, Binkadink was almost beyond help, his gnomish body taken to the very brink of its endurance. "Can you heal him?" called Gilbert, once again hovering over the pool. "Not from here - I've gotta touch him!" called back the frustrated cleric. Gilbert dismissed his [I]Evard's black tentacles[/I] spell - it seemed to have done its job, as those kuo-toa caught in its embrace had been slain - and dove into the pool, glad that the [I]fly[/I] spell worked equally well underwater, reached out to Binkadink, and did the one thing he could think to do to strengthen the gnome fighter. He couldn't actually provide healing energy like a cleric could, but he could artificially boost Binkadink's already seriously healthy constitution, giving him the energy to hold out for a few seconds more. About this time the chuul noticed the underwater intruders and it released Binkadink from its claws, transferring the gnome to its writhing facial tentacles so its pincers would be free for combat with the aboleth. One of the summoned sharks bit at the aboleth, but it contemptuously slapped it away with its tentacles, concentrating its mental energy upon the chuul, subsuming the lobster-monster's will beneath its own. Fully [I]dominated[/I], the chuul now obeyed the aboleth's mental commands - and its new slave even came with a free humanoid, suitable for transformation into a skum servitor, given time. Mentally perusing the spells he had left, Gilbert almost tried casting a [I]scorching ray[/I] spell at the chuul while underwater - realizing that theoretically at least the spell's fiery energy could be channeled into a blast of superheated steam, although he'd never tried it that way personally - before smirking to himself and reaching for a wand at his belt. He flew over and hit the gnome with a blast from the wand just as Binkadink's consciousness left him for what would otherwise have been the final time - and the gnome's body dissolved in the water, bubbling to the surface to coalesce there as a glowing cloud of gaseous mist. Gilbert rose as well, propelling himself out of the water and high into the air. He looked around and saw chaos all about him. The water churned with combat, as kuo-toa fought skum; the kuo-toa clerics had dived into the water to face this new enemy directly. Finoula had attached a rope to the wheel-mechanism and trailed it down into the water below; Darrien had returned to her side and was picking off targets with his [I]Arachnibow[/I]; Ingebold was still on the platform in the southwestern corner, whacking at anything that came near with her warhammer; Castillan was nowhere to be seen, but he had gone through a door alone and was presumably fine. The wizard made his decision. "Ingebold! Climb back up! We leave!" "But what about Binkadink?" she answered. "He be fine! He stay a cloud for another ten minutes or so! We come back then!" Trusting in the wizard's logic, the dwarven cleric began climbing back up the ladder on the side of the wall, feeling less exposed once she reached the vertical shaft it became for the last ten feet. Gilbert flew up to Finoula and Darrien, explaining his logic. "I'll stay here," offered Darrien, tying the rope Finoula had cast down into the water around his waist so he wouldn't fall over the edge, then readying an arrow in his [I]Arachnibow[/I]. "When the gnome becomes solid again, I'll catch him up in a silk line." "Good plan," agreed Gilbert. "Now, hopefully stupid elf boy know enough to stay low until we go get him." Castillan by that time stood over the corpses of the two kuo-toa combatants he'd slain in the corridor leading to the youngling pool. He then backtracked the way he'd come, peeking out through the door and taking in the scene before quietly closing the door again. He'd seen Darrien up in the shaft, waiting, and while he wasn't sure what the glowing cloud of mist was all about, he could see that the other heroes had retreated. Figuring Darrien would be in panic mode had the other heroes been captured or slain, Castillan kept his ear to the door and waited for the splashing frenzy to die down. Then he waited another minute, and another one after that for good measure, before opening the door again and peeking outside. Darrien was pulling on a strand of thin silk, reeling an unconscious Binkadink in like a fish on a line. "Hey! Darrien!" called the bounder, holding his arms out wide. "Shoot me next! There isn't any other way out of this area!" - - - After everyone was back topside and had been healed by Ingebold's spells, the heroes determined their best course of action was to re-enter the compound. Binkadink absolutely insisted they retrieve his glaive from the bottom of the pool; it had slipped from his unconscious fingers when he returned to solid form after the effects of Gilbert's [I]wand of gaseous form[/I] wore off. Fortunately, the aboleth hadn't been trying to move into the kuo-toa lair - it was just on a raiding mission for slaves and moved on once it had what it had come for. Stripping down to his skivvies, Binkadink had been able to find and retrieve his glaive. And there were rooms to check out in the air-filled half of the complex, even if getting to them was a bit difficult. But a silk-line from the sun-tunnel to the Blibdoolpoolp statue made a handy zip-line to the northern section of the compound, and the decision to explore paid off when they found the kuo-toa treasury, which held some odd-looking coins, a few gems, and an enchanted light crossbow which gave off a bright illumination (the fact it had been draped with a tarp hinted as to why it had been kept here instead of used by any of the kuo-toa combatants; they obviously didn't like bright lights). The group also found a bunch of clothes, whatever the previous Blibdoolpoolp stand-ins had been wearing when captured, including Drunilda's robes and sandals. (The shepherdess, having since overcome the effects of the drug she'd been given, gratefully traded the woolen blanket she'd wrapped herself in while she sat at the back of the mule-driven wagon for her own garments.) "You must return home with us!" offered Willem once the group returned from below for the final time. "We'll get you a hot meal, and a sheep for your payment! I can never thank you enough for what you've done!" Binkadink was eager to get back on the road - there was a masterwork gnomish glaive waiting for him in Garonis - but it seemed impolite to decline the shepherd's offer. "What shall we name our sheep?" asked Finoula as they departed back on the road south some hours later, their woolly payment sitting in the back of the wagon. "Name her?" scoffed Gilbert. "I name her 'Dinner.' We butcher her at camp tonight! I even give your wolf a portion - he been eyeing her since we got her." Finoula looked at Wrath, whose eyes were indeed fixed on the delicious morsel sitting in the back of the wagon, and said nothing. - - - T-Shirt Worn: I have a dark blue T-shirt with several sharks on it (the sharks even glow in the dark), a purchase from an aquarium many years ago. It was the best fit for this adventure, and originally I was afraid it would give away too much - since Kordovia is a land-locked kingdom hundreds of miles from the sea - but eventually I realized any "hint" the players might get from my T-shirt would be a wild guess at best, so I went for it. [/QUOTE]
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