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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nebulous" data-source="post: 4779268" data-attributes="member: 31465">Adventure #7: No EscapePART ONE<img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The heroes, newly advanced to 5th level, are ensconced in the cavern beneath the goblin warren of Tallow’s Deep.  The aboleth is slain, her dark blood spurting into the frigid water even now, and as noticed last time, the aboleth bore grievous wounds before the party had a go at her. A few tentacles are chomped off, the flesh rent by claws, and vicious teeth marks visible on the tail.  Other dead bodies bob in the water, the last of Shar-shazaluk’s foul children, but the party isn’t concerned about them.Something else nearly killed the aboleth, and that something is possibly still down here.  They slosh through the cold, knee-deep water, gaining their bearings.  There appears to be two exits from this chamber, a rocky, slippery stream that curves away into darkness, and beyond where the aboleth recuperated, another trickling stream splashes away into gloom.  Other than that, the only exit is the Basin Room nearby, where Jolen and Douvan were first flushed away by the river trap, but reaching the top of that without a rope will be nearly impossible [except, as we noted, in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd edition, by fifth level it would have been easy to fly up there]. The party is severely low on resources and health.  Jolen and Douvan have no surges left at all, while the others have just a few in reserve. But time is of the essence.  Balthazar the magician is waiting for them to return with 10 living goblins, the requisite ingredient for the complacent bugbear stew and the Burger’s Palace menu, and if they have any intention of meeting the curfew – today – then they have to hurry. After some discussion they decide to press on. The tunnel to the west warrants investigation, so Merric and Douvan navigate the hazardous descent while the others guard the top.  The halfing and ranger tie themselves off with rope and take the enchanted lantern with them, comforted by its halo of warm light.  <img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />And Merric is glad for that light, for what it reveals at the bottom of slippery chute is alarming.  He and Douvan hunker down in silence, watching an unnaturally large turtle residing on a small rocky island. <img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no3.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />It is huge, and unmoving, and neither Douvan nor Merric want to risk upsetting it.  However, the lantern light has not disturbed it so far, and Merric fails to discern anything else unusual about the beast.  For now, the duo decides to return the top and search the other watery avenue.  They climb back up and tread down the opposite passage, but this one ends in a sheer plunge off a cascading narrow waterfall.  The light from the floating lantern only extends to fifty feet, and water is echoing off rocks somewhere past that.  Falling from here could be disastrous, and they decide not to search any further.<img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no4.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Back to the turtle then. Douvan and Merric find that it has still not moved, and risking its ire, Douvan takes aim with his bow and sends an arrow into the thing’s hindquarter.   It doesn’t flinch.  Encouraged by this, they swim out to the adjacent island for a closer look.  The water here is very deep and clear, and they can see the rocky bottom of the chamber.  But upon closer inspection, Douvan can easily tell that this is no normal turtle, not even an abnormally huge one, but a much more dangerous beast altogether – a dragon turtle.  And it is undoubtedly dead. Slime covers the corpse, and they can see jellied brains leaking from its nose. It seems as if the aboleth and dragon turtle had a bitter disagreement, perhaps over whose lair this belonged to, with the aboleth barely emerging as the victor.  But then the precious glint of gold catches Merric’s eye.  Scattered underwater are numerous coins, so they send the enchanted lantern straight down.  The resultant illumination reveals many, many more coins, and a hidden shelf and cave beneath the island where the dragon turtle lies. <img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no5.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />They inform the others, but neither Merric nor Douvan want to swim down there. Douvan is in bad shape, and the cold could very well fatally sap the strength from his bones.  But Raven the druid has a Water Walking ritual that she agrees to cast on Nari-lana the sword mage, so she hastily gathers the components and begins the spell.<img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/ritual.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The genasi is in decent shape, and strong enough to swim down and gather the gold. Ten minutes later the ritual is cast, and taking a deep breath, Nari-lana dives into the chilled lake. She now sees that the cave stretches well beneath the rocky ledge, and there are easily a thousand gold coins stuffed into the crevasse.  But even more enticing, she sees a number of odd items placed against the wall, including a bright silver sword, and these are the first things she hauls to the surface. All in all they find a sunsword, several potions of healing, a bag of holding and slippers of spider climbing and two enchanted bracers, and a mysterious potion with a feather in it, adorned by an elvish label that no one can read.  This last potion also bears the illustration of a pair of feet with tiny wings sprouting from the ankles.  Raven casts another ritual, Comprehend Languages, and deciphers the words:  Year of the Pegasus.  That doesn’t mean much to anyone except Jolen, who upon wracking his memory of ancient history recalls that date…as being nearly 400 years old. Long, long before the Spell Plague haunted Faerun.A potion 400 years old could very well be spoiled, or not work at all, or have side effects, but after some more inspection they verify that this is indeed a powerful Potion of Flying. While Nari-lana is retrieving the loot, Douvan busies himself with removing the shell from the dragon turtle.  They have a plan for it – there is a very, very dangerous corridor they must navigate again, the spiked water trap, and they think the large turtle shell will help them bypass it. So the ranger puts his taxidermy skills to the test, cutting into the flesh and tendons of the dead dragon and stripping away the heavy armored shell.  Eventually all of the gold is scooped up and deposited in the newly acquired Bag of Holding, filling it to the brim, and the group contemplates their next move.  They have two options:  retrieve the five goblins captured upstairs and take them to Balthazar, or keep searching for five more to reach the quota.  Ultimately they decide to just take what they have and get the hell out of this miserable place.  Blackjack accepts this, although he warns them that Balthazar will be displeased, but the wizard also didn’t know this domain was a hotbed of goblin deathtraps.  Not that he would have cared.<img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/limestone.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />They backtrack to the limestone stairway which caused them considerable trouble last time, but Merric easily ascends on the return trip and he drops a rope to assist the others.  They tie ropes around the heavy dragon shell to haul it to the top, and then the heroes try to climb the slippery slope.  They fall several times, but are eventually able to reach the top without too much difficulty.  The shell is pulled up after them, and thrown squarely into the middle of the spike trap.  One by one they leap into the newly excavated shell, scuttle across, and jump the remaining distance to the far side of the pit.  Everyone succeeds, and unlike last time, they suffer no horrible damage from snipers behind the walls. And then Merric spots a flicker of movement gone in a heartbeat.  <img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no6.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />He nudges Jolen, and the group immediately sends the floating magic lantern ahead. And then Jolen hears a very faint CLICK.  A trap?  They’re not sure, but they advance and turn the corner to the room with the spawning pool and albino fish.  They thought they had thoroughly searched here before, but a new hunt reveals a tiny portion of wall they inadvertently skipped last time – and a hidden goblin door.This is Merric’s job, scouting out the cramped tunnels, so grasping his daggers, he gently pops the door open.  But it is not a goblin tunnel on the other side but rather a ten foot wide tunnel where his human-sized friends can easily stand.  But seconds after they have all entered they see a scummy goblin peeking around the corner of another goblin tunnel! The little monster squeals and runs, but the heroes don’t blinding charge after it.  The tunnel forks up here, and Merric cautiously peeks around the east branch. The little bastards have the tendency of leading them into traps.<img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no7.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The tunnel bends southward, and Merric, Douvan and Nari-lana decide to investigate while the others guard their backs.  Thirty feet later the tunnel widens again, revealing a shallowly inclined tunnel with a closed wooden door at the base.  But still no goblin.  Nor did any of them hear the door open and close.  Merric takes a step closer, and that’s when he notices the thin sheen of oil – and some other strange substance – on the floor.  This whole tunnel stinks of a trap now, but they decide to search the walls in their immediate vicinity, and are rewarded with yet another clever goblin door.  Indeed, this entire complex is riddled with the damnable things, a huge snaking network of hidden doors, booby traps and secret tunnels. <img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no8.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></blockquote>

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