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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cinerarium" data-source="post: 985553" data-attributes="member: 9349">Hammer 16 Rested and recuperated, we again talked of the dwarven spirit in the pit below.  We now knew him as Malgudon, the betrayer of Durgeddin’s people.  I no longer felt any remorse at challenging his prohibition against exploring that layer, after learning of his past from the other spirits, and their attitude towards him.  If anything, I was eager to lay his soul to rest, ending an unnecessary servitude on his part.  After all, he was really the one betrayed, and did not deserve to spend the rest of eternity in torment.We headed back to the pit where Fineon had talked to the dwarven spirit two days ago.  At the bottom, we nervously waited to be challenged by the spirit, and I readied a spell to hallow the area against undead.  Distantly we could hear the water pounding through the room above, but we saw no sign of the spirit. Cautiously, we moved through the archway, down a passage into another large cavern, this one only partially worked by dwarven hands.  The ceiling reared over forty feet overhead from what Toth told me, and numerous ledges, stalactites, and rock formations glistened on the walls and ceiling.  The floor had been worked by dwarves, massive flagstones making a level path, and leading to a bridge over a swiftly flowing channel of water.  As we crossed the bridge, we heard ear-shattering screeches from above as bestial creatures fell on us out of the darkness!  Flapping foul wings, these half-humanoid, half-bird abominations clawed at us with their wicked talons.  Scrambling for cover we fought back, and sent their corpses one by one into the river below.  As the last one fell, I distinctly thought I saw some large shape in the water swallow the corpse, suddenly dragging it under the water.  I quickly checked the party’s wounds, but we seemed to have fared well.  It was then I heard what sounded like a bird chirping, from up on one of the ledges.  Could these creatures have young?  I shuddered at the thought, still disgusted by the ragged flesh that hung from their humanoid torsos.More cautiously now, we proceeded along the water’s edge across the bridge.  The path ended at another bridge that crossed the river a second time.  Curiously, I thought at the time, this bridge appeared pitted, like the face of a pox survivor, as though something had eaten away at its surface.  Across the bridge, a narrow path guarded the wall to our right, the stream to our left having opened wider into a subterranean lake.  We moved further along the path, to a point nearby where it became broken in places, and I knew we would have to jump, one or two at a time, onto multiple stone ledges rising out of the water.  A hoot from Zazu made me turn my head towards the water.  There, swiftly moving towards us over the still water, was another dwarven ghost.  Unlike the ones above, the eyes of this ghost glowed red, its beard ragged and its nails curled into sickles.  “You were warned not to return,” it rumbled, extending a translucent, bony finger at Fineon.  “The rest of you may leave now, and live, but this one dies.  Beware the Sleeper in the Depths!”The betrayer’s eyes glowed more brightly, like coals stoked in hellfire, and it swiftly flew to the attack.  Toth stepped in front of Fineon and hacked with his greataxe.  The specter seemed unfazed and raked its ethereal claws through Toth.  He groaned in agony, his face seeming to shrivel and wrinkle before our eyes.  “Momma!” I cried, and quickly hallowed the area and blessed my companions.  Unfortunately that was nearly the extent of my help to the others during the combat, as Kazir’s spells, and Fineon’s and Toth’s blows quickly tore the creature’s insubstantial essence into nothingness.  We paused to take stock of our situation.  We were still relatively healthy, though Toth had been somehow drained by the creature’s attack.  He shook off the unholy feeling surrounding him, and proceeded to hop to the next stone, followed by Fineon.  Two jumps away, he called back.  “There’s an island in the lake this path is leading to.”I looked into the darkness, trying to see the island in our feeble light.  I could not see the island, but I thought I saw something else… eyes!  Large, round eyes out in the darkness, just above the level of the water, and moving towards us quickly!  I let a crossbow bolt fly harmlessly in its direction as Toth yelled, “Eyes!  Out in the lake!”Black as midnight, it rose up partly out of the water, a huge draconic head, horns the color of ivory though tipped with purplish ebony.  Its maw parted, claws raised as it darted snakelike in at the attack.  A bite and strike from its wing spun me round as I tried dodging its claws.  Fineon and Toth hurried back to our sides as I ran across the bridge, hoping for safety as the creature disappeared into the water.  I quickly healed myself and hurried back to Toth’s side, where he was hacking at the creature’s head as it reappeared, unleashing a gout of acid at Kazir who rolled safely out of trouble.  More vicious combat followed as I used a combination of spells and crossbow bolts to help our cause.  The dragon would disappear beneath the water, leaving us to wait in terror before it would rise its head again, unleashing another gout of acid that burned my flesh and also splashed onto Toth.  I heard Fin chanting a prayer to his strange elven god, and with a sulfurous bubbling of water, I looked to see a wickedly-ridged dorsal fin rising out of the water near the dragon.  Soon enough the maw attached to the fin rose out of the water, the anarchic shark Fin had summoned biting viciously into the dragon’s flank.  Now we had the dragon between us and the shark.  Fin’s new chain whirled out again and again, trapping the creature whenever it moved forward to attack.  Kazir’s spells slammed repeatedly into it, causing arcs of lightning or fire to explode over its surface.  With a roar that shook the cavern, the dragon dove a last time into the water, and sped rapidly down the river away from us, badly damaged.  The anarchic shark disappeared, and we collected ourselves on the far side of the pool.  We were all badly wounded, the acid still eating at my skin and burning holes in my clothes.  We decided to retreat to the elemental room one last time, before returning to seek whatever was on the island, and finish off the dragon when we are back at full strength.</blockquote>

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