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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Morrow" data-source="post: 3198523" data-attributes="member: 301">Session 24 – The Styes (Dungeon #121)“I just don’t get it,” muttered Nate.  He played a quick tune and felt the enchantment reach out from his magic fiddle to envelope the fish man.  The strange creature wavered briefly, but ultimately overcame the urge to dance a jig in the middle of the battle.  He knew this all had something to do with the Lantern Man killings and their old friend Lucius the scribe, but he was a little vague on the details.Now he had his friends were battling a band of fish men atop a ships hulk suspended from a crane.  He wasn’t too worried about the fish men.  They were skilled, but Sully had already dispatched one and Miranda had effectively neutralized another with a ray of enfeeblement.  What worried him was the crashing and yelling sounds from within the hulk.  Tavaari’s man, Jack, had stayed behind when the others had rushed out to battle the fish men.  It sounded like he’d gotten himself into a little trouble.Queg fired another pair of flaming arrows at one of the fish men, but the missiles flew wide.  The undead warrior snarled in disgust.  He dropped his bow and took up his harpoon, turning toward the hulk.  Jack must be right about… there.  He struck the ship a mighty blow with his harpoon, opening a large hole in the old, damp wood.  Through the hole Nate could see a horrid flesh golem stitched together from pieces of sharks and other large fish.  Attached to its shoulders was the head of a beautiful woman.  The creature was hammering Jack with mighty blows.  The warrior’s rapier seemed to have little effect on his adversary.  The golem was not Jack’s only foe.  A bloated, waterlogged animate corpse stood near where Jack and the golem battled and pelted Jack with vials of acid.Nate took a quick look at the fish men.  Sully had them well in hand.  He quickly moved to stand by Queg, unsheathing his new magic blade, the Corsair’s Cutlass.  The wood crumbled against his blows.  Soon the hole was big enough for Queg to strike the golem, distracting it from Jack.Through the hole Nate saw Tavaari and Bronson enter the room to assist Jack.  The bloated undead turned to the pair and cast a spell.  Tavaari instantly froze, his limbs pinned by the spell.  Bronson regarded his adversary calmly and drew a great golden bell from his backpack, the Ship’s Bell of Yarash.  Bronson struck the bell and his own power combined with those of the artifact.  A look of consternation and fear crossed the undead spellcaster’s bloated face before the power of the artifact seized control of its mind.  Nate noted that Sully had finished off the last of the fish men and was rushing to help her companions.  The golem roared in defiance and redoubled its attacks, but the combined might of Nate’s companions soon took it apart, piece by piece.*    *    *    *    *Mr. Dory attempted to negotiate his release, but with his will firmly under Bronson’s control he  offered little resistance to the party’s interrogation.  He admitted being a member of the Cult of the Yellow Sign, allied with a mysterious figure he knew only as the Whisperer.  The Lantern Man killings were orchestrated to provide some kind of spiritual sustenance to something called the “Spawn of the Unspeakable One”.Dory admitted that Lucius had been under the Whisperer’s control when he performed the killings.  When Lucius was captured Dory was forced to arrange for his quick execution and begin hunting a replacement.  In the meantime the Skum were continuing the killings in the hopes of keeping the fear of the Lantern Man high.“Skum!  I knew those fish men looked familiar!” exclaimed Nate.  “If there are Skum around I guaranty there is an Aboleth involved somehow.”“What’s an Aboleth?” inquired Bronson.“A nasty aquatic aberration.  Big fish who can create illusions and enslave your mind.”Bronson turned back to Dory, “Where can we find this Whisperer?”“The cult has a temple in Scurvytown.  I can give you directions.”Sully had been quiet for much of the interrogation, “Okay.  It is after midnight.  I’ve sent word to Pete to prepare the Albers, but he’ll have to collect the crew and finish restocking the supplies.  We won’t be able to leave for Selba until tomorrow evening.  I say we get some rest and deal with this Whisperer in the morning.  We’ll save Freeport – again – before lunch and still have time to hunt down Dirty Steve.”Bronson nodded, “I’ll take Dory here and lock him up in my temple.  He can spend his time copying Aster’s holy texts.  Maybe he’ll reconsider his alliance with the King in Yellow.  We can decide what to do with him when we get back.”Tavaari added, “I’ll send some of my men to scope out the temple.  Let’s meet at my place in the morning.” *    *    *    *    *The party made short were of the Skum guarding the temple and burst inside.  There they had found a larger room, the air heavy with the stink of rotting fish.  At the far end a set of stairs descended into a pool of dark water.  Suspended above the water by a web of ropes was the rotting body of a great shark, a dozen human heads stitched to its flesh.  Standing before the pool were a trio of robbed figures.  One, a woman who wore heavy armor under her yellow robes seemed familiar.  Her voice took on a nasal whine.  “Oh no, not them again.”  The woman quickly cast a spell and disappeared.  “Batora?” asked Bronson.  The party had encountered the cultist before.  She was making a habit of slipping through their fingers. The corpse of the shark began to struggle and roar.  The ropes snapped and the thrashing form leapt into the center of the room.  The party moved to attack as their robed adversaries began to cast spells.Sully and Nate moved to engage the shark while Tavaari slipped into invisibility and Bronson began to cast spells.  Their cohorts proved largely ineffective.  Queg’s arrows continued to miss their mark.  Jack fired his bow with better aim but little effect.  Miranda seemed to have difficulty juggling her spells.  Her opponents had no such problem, striking her with a volley of magic missiles.  Things only got worse when a lucky spell from one of the cultists succeeded in blinding Bronson.Sully suddenly had an epiphany, “The shark is an illusion!”  To demonstrate the fact she stepped through the thrashing creature to stand between the cultists behind it.  Nate stubbornly ignored Sully’s actions and continued to attack shark.  Queg moved to assist Sully, driving the cultists back towards the pool.Tavaari became visible as he attacked one of the cultists, surprisingly missing his target by inches.  The cultist stepped away, spoke an incantation, and Tavaari, too, was blind.  The half-elf groaned in frustration and backed away from the melee, feeling for a wall.  “Wait.  They’re illusions, too.  What is going on here?” exclaimed Sully, even as she swung another blow at her illusionary opponents.The answer was quick to arrive.  The illusions disappeared as a great tentacled fish surfaced at the edge of the pool.  The creature’s tentacles lashed out, striking Sully and Queg vicious blows.  They were both covered with slime, which had little effect on the skeletal warrior but seemed to be doing something unpleasant to Sully’s flesh.  Her skin was rapidly becoming slimy and translucent.  Nate, delayed by his battle with the illusionary shark, rushed to help his companions.  His cutlass crackled with energy as it pierced the aboleth’s flesh, but it seemed too little too late.  With Bronson and Tavaari blind and Sully undergoing some kind of transformation the battle seemed nearly lost.  Miranda’s flaming sphere singed the aboleth doing some minor damage, but Queg had difficulty piercing the bony plates protecting the aboleth’s hide and Jack seemed oddly timid after yesterday’s beating at the hands of the flesh golem.Then something unexpected happened.  His companions had nearly forgotten Bronson until they heard the blinded cleric speak an incantation in a strong, firm voice.  A white hot pillar of divine flame engulfed the aboleth, missing Sully, Queg, and Nate by inches.  The creature screamed in pain as its skin burned away.  Sully took the opportunity to dive out of the aboleth’s reach.  She snatched a small jade jar from her pouch and began slathering a thick ointment over her skin.  The transformation began to reverse immediately.The aboleth, mad with pain, reached out with its alien mind and attempted to crush Bronson’s will with its own.  He felt his resolve crumble beneath the onslaught… and then nothing.  The protection from evil abjuration he had cast before the battle shielded his mind from the creature’s commands.  Nate and Sully moved quickly to counterattack.  In moments the writhing monstrosity's struggles ended forever.Supporting CastBatora - Member of the Brotherhood of the Yellow signMr. Dory - Reclusive undead merchant and cultistLucius - Scribe (dead)Sgothgah, The Whisperer - Aboleth savant and cult leader (dead)Dirty Steve - Captain of the Red Lady</blockquote>

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