Down with the Dead Men - Chapter 3
Down with the Dead Men – Chapter 3
OOC Notes:
Exp for 22 is 3600, for 23 is 2650.
This Week’s Adventure:
We made some final tactical preparations before setting off for the Deathvent. Lord Gelban sent us a group of four bronze dragons for additional support, and the Temple of Wee Jas offered us fifteen tatterdemelions. Unfortunately we could only take ten due to problems transporting them all.
We skimmed across the surface of the sea flying by various means. (I should note that our draconic companions seemed to be rather put out by Scorch and Bolo taking dragon forms for the trip.) Even without a map, it would have been simple to find the Deathvent – we were heading into the teeth of a large, stationary storm with dark clouds and mounting winds. Here and there, dead fish floated in the choppy sea, their frequency increasing as we moved closer. The winds mounted steadily to the point where flying became difficult and we made the decision to move into the water.
I hate the water. I hate being wet. Of course that’s more in the “damp and sticky” kind of way. In this case being totally submerged creates a very different sensation. But there was no help for it and no point in dwelling on it.
As we descended, we could start to make out the contours of the ocean floor. It was a strange landscape and seemed more at home on another plane than it did here. The dim light made it all the more surreal. Coupled with the strange creatures (natural and otherwise) the entire scene made me hard pressed to believe I was still on the Prime.
In the distance I caught sight of a school of fish. Or so it seemed at first. When I looked harder, I could see something horrific – it was a school of disembodied hands, each swimming around with an eye attached. After the initial disgust, I realized these were just the first in what would surely be a series of scouts. Guided by the bronzes, we slipped lower in the water and went beneath them apparently unseen.
The patrols picked up. More schools of hands as well as squads of Drowned led by wights. They were many such groups but with so much territory to cover, there were many gaps in their lines. Combined with Dravot’s enchantment rendering us unseen to the undead, the gaps let us make steady progress.
The ocean floor gradually became littered with pieces of broken stonework. Most of it was marble with some other stones here and there. But with the stone, the water also became cooler and we saw less and less vegetation. Above us we started seeing dark shapes – rays on slow circling patrols. Some were eight feet across, but they were dwarfed by others that covered four times that span. As I watched them, I could start to make out faint glowing markings. There was definitely some kind of pattern to it but I couldn’t understand the meaning. I suspect they were in the service of the drow and the markings showed different individuals or squads.
We were swimming along the bottom and crested a rise and stretched out before us was the Deathvent. The terrain descended into a large bowl and in the middle was the gaping maw of the vent. Easily 500 feet across, the edge was rimmed with some kind of stone or dark metal. The tunnel itself descended at a shallow angle into darkness, but near the top were white-ish honeycomb structures. Surrounding the vent were large lava tubes, much as we’d been told to expect. They varied from ten feet across to upwards of sixty. Bubbles and steam showed there was some kind of volcanic activity in the area, and the water had a slightly sulfuric taste to it.
At the edge of the drop was the wreckage of a sailing ship. It was the largest I’d ever seen, and according to Dravot was on the order of 400 years old and could carry two hundred men. I made a note of the location as a possible fall-back point. Off to the east was a structure. It was covered in moss and coral but the telltale signs of elven construction still showed through. It was some kind of ancient fortress, and while there were sentries dotted on the parapets, there was no other sign that the structure was in use.
We continued creeping our way forward. Our discovery was inevitable, but we were determined to avoid it for as long as we could. Peering over a closer ridge, I could see the Deathvent sloped gradually at first, then suddenly descended sharply. Inside there were five globes of the whiteish stuff with tubes connecting them. Inside were undead moving around. I suspect this is the central hive or air bubbles that are being created for this meeting. Suddenly there was a flash of light from the central dome, and a beam of light shot off into the distance. Just after that, a wave of negative energy radiated out in all directions for miles. This second pulse came from the hive area but between the globes – perhaps in one of the tunnels. The magnitude of the effect was very small but it amazing for how far it reached.
To the north I saw two shapes hovering in the ethereal. It took me a moment before I realized they were Judges. Their reach extends to even here – something I found comforting.
Before I could debate talking to them, several of the nearby lava tubes shattered with a sharp crack. The tops fell away while the sides just exploded in slow motion in all directions. From one large tube, something began rising out of the opening. It snaked its way out and kept going and going, its rainbow scales shimmering in the dim light. As it came more fully into the water, I could see all manner of hooks and barbs stuck in its flesh – the remains of all those who had failed to destroy it. Finally the head spun around, her eyelids pulled back with hooks. One eye was missing and there was only a strange green glow in its place. She was a naga unlike any we’d seen. She tasted the water with her forked tongue and turned in our direction.
As she glared, the forms from the other lava tubes moved towards her. They were metallic and seemed like large lobsters, but moved in a mechanical precision. They took up positions circling her.
Many of us were mind blanked but Dravot was not, and he could hear her voice in his mind.
Greetings. I am known as Shalthis Who Serves. Set to guard this place against your like. Thought I may not live through this day, it is my task to kill you if I can. You are the one they call Dravot?
Dravot did not reply. Shalthis Who Serves arched one eyebrow slightly, and a storm of lightning exploded in our midst. The lightning was potent and she was a skilled wielder of magic. The electricity hit many of us, but was hardest on the tatterdemalions.
The creatures were about five hundred feet from us so it took some amount of time just for us to close the gap. My bow may as well be a sword for as well as it would work underwater so I was advancing carefully with the others while spells were exchanged at long range. Shalthis loosed another chain lightning, this one much more potent than the last one. Most of the tatterdemalions were destroyed and Bolo very nearly joined them.
Dravot attempted a fire storm, which had only minor effect. In return, Shalthis tried to dispel the enchantments on Dravot but since he had none at the time, it was an amusingly wasted effort. Shalthis also brought many mirror images into being in her many-layered defense.
But her primary defense was the other creatures. They were some kind of strange shield guardian, and the four of them were circling Shalthis protecting her. Aethramyr finally closed with one and began destroying it, knowing he would need to in order to reach Shalthis.
The battle went back and forth for a few moments, with neither side making much headway. The guardians were delivering a pounding to Aethramyr, who for his part had nearly destroyed one of the guardians. But then the tide shifted, and not in a good way for Shalthis. After much whittling down of mirror images, Valanthe snatched the tiara off Shalthis’ head. It was this tiara that let her control the shield guardians. Suddenly Shalthis was without her primary means of protection and had enemies all around her and her most powerful spells spent. I had finally gotten close enough for arrows to have some effect and dealt the first of what was surely to be a bloody retribution. Valanthe had the shield guardians grab the massive naga, and they easily wrapped their arms around her long body. With Aethramyr readying his first stroke, Shalthis Who Serves decided to serve herself, and did so in a rather innovative way.
She mazed herself.
“She did what?!?” I asked.
“She put herself in the maze,” Scorch replied.
“You’re sure about that? Does that even work?”
Scorch considered it a moment. “Well… hm… I never really thought about doing it… sixth valence… binding… hm.. yes, yes I’m sure of it. No doubt. She’s gone. And if she doesn’t actually try to find her way out, she can stay there as long as she wants.”
“Well,” I pondered “if we had more time, we could leave some very nasty things behind for her when she finally does. Certainly I’d rather not have to fight her again. But let’s just get moving for now before we attract more attention.”
And with that, our group of adventurers, three tatterdemalions, four bronze dragons, and three shield guardians all set off, as discretely as possible, towards the Deathvent.
