Harmony sees whatever it is Cueta saw and tries to help clear out the seaweed to free up whoever is underneath.
"You guys alright?"
Rizz bounds over as quickly as she can.
EDIT: Was reading the wrong thing. Apologies.
Whatever was under the water was decidedly not friendly. Rather than contest the grasping hands, I did a bit of grabbing myself, pulling Cueta away from their sinister clutches. Once we were away from their arms' reach, I surfaced and shook the water out of my face. "Don't bother! Something foul and sinister lurks beneath the waves. Best we give it a wide berth rather than risk whatever it is grabbing us and holding us underwater!" I told everyone.
"You guys alright?"
Rizz bounds over as quickly as she can.
EDIT: Was reading the wrong thing. Apologies.
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
Arty pulls Cueta away just before a grotesque green clawed hand reaches up through the water to swipe at her. Whatever the thing is, it is trapped beneath the water by the grate.
Gall sniffs in disgust, "Agreed Arty. If even these little green bastards thought these things were a danger releasing them will just give us more headaches.
The question now is, which way to find our friends? I would think the western cave would lead us back in the direction we came from had we taken one of the tunnels to the north from before..."
Cueta shivers in the damp cave. Despite the heat of the Shackles in general, the swab was tired of being wet. Nodding thanks to Arty, Cueta shrugs. "I never saw what it was, Harmony. Thanks to our avid reader here, it all worked out OK. Shall we continue on to the right then?"
"Well, I can't rightly say what it was myself, but suffice it to say, when you happen upon an underwater, grasping undead horror and you can avoid it, I think good sense and prudence would encourage you to do so," I explained, though I made note of this particular chamber and resolved not to fall victim to the creature if we had to come back here again.
As Cueta motioned us to continue right, I nodded and began heading in that direction.
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
As the group steps into the vast chamber it is clear that the water in the middle is rather deep and the group needs to stay to the sides to avoid going to deep into the water. Gall is able to step closer to the middle due to his height.
As he is halfway across the chamber the water near him churns and a creature lunges from out of the water at him!
Gall is struck by the wicked barbed tentacles of this large creature and is clearly injured as his blood splashes into the water, he is able to pull the tentacle off of himself to avoid being pulled deeper into the water.
Esmarelda
Artevious
Cueta
Gall
Harmony
Rizz
Here fishy fishy fishy
Bonewrack Isle - Riptide Cove - Aqguazula
You look down in a large cavern, hooked above the water cruelly. Hundreds of remains float in this large bowl of water, which churns with bones, scraps of flesh, and the carcasses of strange, almost alien fish. Just visible through the roiling stew are humanoid bodies floating in the water, wan corpses drifting near the bottom of this cauldron like sleeping guardians.
Two figures hang from the ceiling above the churning water with you, bound hand and foot with thick strands of seaweed and sinew and weighted with heavy ingots of silver from what you can tell. You suspect you are bound the same way. One loos near death the other little better.
Jetting around the cavern is the vicious Queen of the brood. She berates a few of her smaller followers, "How have they penetrated so far.." The Queen has not heard it!
Aqguazula let's out a groan.
'Dagon have me be damned.'
Aqguazula addresses the Queen," So tell me, how do I taste? You know what I am? If you did, you would set me free, my people will have have this island surrounded. They're going to feed you to the nastiest shark in these seas or worse, me."Grining, showing off his razor sharp teeth all while thrashing.
Separated from the new foe by a few friends, Cueta scowls and draws one of her diminishing supply of arrows, watching for an opening to fire.
We had hardly stepped into the next large chamber of this network of grottos before we were again beset by a foe of the depths. This time, a large tentacled creature lunged at Gall, seeking to drag him down to the bottom of the pool, but fortunately the big man resisted its pull. My cutlass ever-ready, I slashed at the thing and readied myself for a counterattack.
"Gall!" Esmarelda cried as she drew her rapier once again attacking the creature.
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
Arty and Es both wade through the water and take stabs at the creature its tentacles block their strikes and they cannot find the target.
Gall turns on the foe and brings down his terbutje down on it.
Steel Terbutje Attack - Damage .
Rizz pauses considering the apparent depth of this water and holds back looking for an opening.
Harmony steps forward with a splash and thrusts her spear at the thing. Spear Attack - Damage .
Unfortunately, only Gall and Arty are able to injure the thing with a large overhand strike.
It continues to concentrate on the biggest meal present, namely Gall!
The strikes push the creature back further in the water and it misses on its wild set of tentacle strikes aimed at Gall!
Bonewrack Isle - Riptide Cove -
As she states that the water in the room churns, that water is deep and something large is beneath...
She cackles with laughter, "Soon, we will capture these interlopers and you will all feed my son!"
As she turns you see a symbol lying above her exposed bosom.
"Finally! Something we can EAT!"
Rizz takes a running start feet pattering and splashing against the submerged floor as she hefts her greatsword at the large fish.
The creature ignored me at its own peril, I resolved. It continued to attack Gall, and thankfully failed to harm him following its ambush. My cutlass slashed again.
Unfortunately, my foot slipped on the rocks and my attack went errant.
Harmony continues to attack with her spear...
...to little effect.
Aqguazula's eyes dart to the large shadow underwater and back to Queen, some symbol on her neck.
'What deity can that be? To hell it, Dagon and Ovonovo are the only ones that rule this sea.'
Aqguazula will smirk,"Sahuagin have warred with Aquatic elves till the seas turned red. When I get free, my people will hunt your kind to extinction, by Dagon and Ovonovo."
Looking up at his bound, they looked simple. He could easily breakout with his four arms.
'I could break their hold on me, but blood in the water attracts all sorts of predators.'
"Devilfish!" Cueta blurts, letting one arrow fly, and then another. "From the abyss an' just as mean! Stay clear its bite, it'll poison you!"
"We're never going to catch a break are we?" Esmarelda asked in and annoyed tone.
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
Rizz, literally, plunges into the deep end of the pool. Her sword manages to draw blood from the creature.
Aryu and Harmony simply cannot get past the writing tentacles of the devil fish! So named by Cueta who fires a few shots at it her arrows strike only water as the splashing in the pool alongside the furious melee make it hard to get a shot.
Es' spell does hit home scoring some damage against the creature.
Gall swings at the foes once again with all of his might, after all it is trying to eat him first! Steel Terbutje Attack - Damage .
The Terbutje smashes some of the teeth of the creature but it does not yield!
Once again it strikes at Gall.
Clearly weakened the beasts attack is more of a flop than a strike...
Rizz is thrashing in the water still as the beast begins to sink into the water.
Gall breathes heavy, "Well... That was a close one eh?"
The irony didn't escape Aqguazula, hanging above the water little more fish bait.
"Maybe, in death comes glory. My ancestors are smiling upon me Queen, Dagon will embrace into this oceanic realm. Can you say the same about yourself and your lineage when they get torn apart?"
Aqguazula will remain quiet, binding his time.
"Devil...fish? I've never heard of that before. Devils, sure, fishes, sure, but the two combined? How does that happen anyway, is it the offspring of a devil and a fish, and do I even want to...oh no, I didn't want to go there. I need to find something to scrub my mind now", Harmony groans as she lowers her spear and takes a few deep breaths, coming down from the adrenaline exertion of the combat.
Esmarelda returns her blade to its resting place at her hip before crossing her arms. "Don't think about it too hard Harmony, else you'll have me thinking on it and you don't want that." She smirked.
Cueta grins, "I'd bet you'll make it into a riveting tale, Harmony! I can't wait to hear it. An' if you don't I'll try my hand at The Bawdry Birth O' The Devil's Fish!"
Stooping, Cueta begins shuffling along the cavern, and then smiles triumphantly as she pulls an arrow from the muck. Not bothering to wipe it off, the deckhand puts the arrow back in her nearly empty quiver.
Then, hoisting her boarding pike, Cueta turns to lead the way.
Rizz sputters and coughs as the sudden absence of air catches her by surprise. Combined with the large weight of her oversized weapon (which refuses to let go), she starts to panic like a cat in a pet-washing machine.
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Noticing that Rizz was having a bit of difficulty trying to swim while holding on to her oversized sword, I reached down to give her an assist.
"Easy, Rizz, didn't you hear? It was a devilfish, so likely not good for one's digestion."
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
Gall is looking pretty beat up. "I wonder how deep the water gets in here?" The half-giant asks no one in particular.
Gall Swim Assist Rizz -
Arty grabs Rizz to try and pull her up but Gall's steady hand is the one that fully pulls her from the drink.
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
As the crew heads through the upper passages from behind you all hear the sounds of a few Grindylow splashing towards you up the tunnels. The creatures there are two of them, throw a few spears and charge back the way they came!
Neither spear finds the mark they threw them in such haste.
"A part of me says we should be running after them post haste." Esmarelda said as she pointed to the two creatures. "All agree?"
Rizz raises her oversized blade in one hand in agreement,and starts running forward.
"Stupid island! Can't eat anything here!"
We had just finished dispatching the devilfish when we were attacked again by more of the grindylows. However, they stopped short of engaging us directly and only threw a couple poorly-aimed spears at us before retreating. I frowned, concerned they may be baiting us into a trap with a classic hit-and-fade. I was about to voice those concerns when Rizz, eager as always, started her pursuit.
"Mind a trap!" I shouted after her. "They could be more cunning than they look!"
I exchanged a worried look with Esmarelda and Cueta, then splashed after the diminutive barbarian.
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
The crew gives chase to the grindylows and close within thirty feet when they hit the cavern where the devilfish were encountered. They abandon running for swimming and race into the north western passage with haste.
Rizz at the least will need to swim to the other side to catch these little buggers.
"They're making their way through another net trap! Don't pursue, half of us can't make it through and you'll be alone on the other side!" Harmony grips her spear with tense, white knuckles.
Cueta draws to a stop, watching the green fookers retreat. "Aye! Harmony's right. Let 'em go, I suspect we'll find them soon enough!"
"Cueta, could you wrap the trap up again?" Esmarelda asked. "So that we could all get through with ease?"
"Ahh, Esmarelda, such a good call", Harmony smiles, patting the Varisian on the shoulder with her off hand. "Any traps we can disarm now are ones that won't be getting us later. After all, we're probably going to have to check every nook and cranny here to find our friends, so we'll have to go there eventually anyway. Cueta?" she looks the inquisitor's way.
Cueta stoops and looks at the trap more closely. "Help me with the big fish." Turning, she makes her way back to the cavern where the devilfish lay dead, intending to push the gigantic creature into the trap with the butt-end of her boarding pike - once she's dragged the fish back here...
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
As the crew wades into the pool, they find the water quite deep, 6' in the middle of the room! Gall lifts Cueta and holds her steady so she can disarm the netting with the body of the devilfish which is already starting to smell rotten down here. Closer to the walls the water is not quite so deep 3-4' and the rest of the crew can stand there, wet and uncomfortable but not neck deep or underwater as in Rizz's case.
Now one her feet where the water is only a foot deep, Cueta notices yet another net 10' farther into this northwestern passage.
Before she can alert the group to the second net, from the northeast and the southwest passage swarm more of the Grindylow! They have maneuvered you to fight through them or flee through the passage that Cueta has cleared halfway.
Artevious
Cueta
Gall
Harmony
Rizz
Esmarelda -
"Fine! We'll fight from here!" Esmarelda said as she summoned up acid once more and threw it into a Grindylow's face.
My instincts had proven themselves correct. The grindylows had tried to bait us into an ambush, and although we managed to not blunder into more of those seaweed traps we were again beset by a fresh horde of the creatures.
My cutlass ever-ready, I stepped forward and slashed at the nearest one, then prepared to parry and counterattack any others that got close.
Rizz, ever eager, steps up to Join Artevious hoping the sloshing of the water not wash her off her feet.
Cueta continues to work, trying her best to wrap the nets up quickly while ignoring the melee going on around her...
Day 7 - Early Morning - Bonewrack Isle -
Es flashes a spell at one of the creatures and it snarls in return. Arty steps forward feet sloshing in the water and stabs another it slips into the water, if not dead then dying.
Rizz's swing is wide and splashes into the water.
Meanwhile, Cueta disengages the net with the body of the devilfish once more.
Gall clearly struggling a bit nods and heads forward down the tunnel calling back to his allies, "I will clear the way, we should retreat from these numbers!"
The Grindylow it seems have learned from their past mistakes and do not head forward, in fact, they step back and they only throw their spears!
G2 South 5/5 HP - Es - Damage
G3 South 5/5 HP - Arty - Damage
G4 South - 2/5 HP - Arty - Damage
G5 South - DEAD
G1 North 5/5 HP - Rizz - Damage
G2 North 5/5 HP - Rizz - Damage
G3 North 5/5 HP - Rizz - Damage
G4 North 5/5 HP - Harmony - Damage
G5 North 5/5 HP - Harmony - Damage
One spear misses Es but the other strikes her in the shoulder.
Arty's bladework allows him to parry both of the spears that are directed at him.
Rizz has a pair of spears splash in the water before her but another strikes her in the thigh.
Harmony also has spears thrown her way one skitters off of the wall while the second glances her left arm.
I stepped forward to press the attack. These creatures had learned to to engage me in melee, but they still remained close at hand.
"There's plenty for all of us! We're not helplessly outnumbered! We just have a lot of targets, is all!"