Following the captain's lead but, obviously hoping for better results, Aghon slogs forward and jabs his trident at the stunned grindylow spellcaster.
And the gods laugh as he misses even worse than Culder.
"How can we miss something that can barely even move!?"
”It mus’ have some kinda magic pertectin’ it!”
Some divine forced seems to be watching over the grindylow spellcaster. Somehow she manages to avoid getting splatted by Culder and Aghon. With a gurgling "Ha!" she draws a dagger and tries to stab Culder, supremely certain her dark god(s) smile on her and protect her. She misses, however, likely bringing to an end the shortest good luck streak in recorded history.
Meanwhile, Jordan stabs at the larger submerged grindylow. A small cloud of blood in the water indicates his blade found the mark.
Vincent continues to struggle against the entangling seaweed, but he and Jarvis move a little closer to the raging battle.
for
for
Having learned his lesson, Culder tightens his grip and puts his back into the next swing of his oar, trying once again to put an end to the spellcaster...
The cloud of blood that Jordan's stab on the submerged grindylow created is put to shame as Culder and his oar pulverize the female grindylow spellcaster. She dies a spectacularly messy death.
Jordan stabs hard with the magic blade gifted him by Captain Harrigan, and it plunges deep into the oversized grindylow. Its already-big eyes bug out even more in pain as the wound leaves it reeling.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the darkness behind you, Vincent finally pulls free from the slithering seaweed and staggers closer to the battle. He doesn't manage to clear the field of the entangle effect, but he DOES avoid getting ensnared again.
for
for
Aghon skirts the edge of the cave and makes his way over to their allies. He starts slicing at the seaweed wraps entombing Sandara with the tines of his trident.
[dice=Trident Slicing Seaweed "attack?"]1d20+3[/dice]
Culder scowls at the creature hiding beneath the waves. Dropping his oar, he dives in and draws the dagger that he hasn't used since it was given to him. His blood boiling with frustration, he stabs at the creature with everything he can muster.
Leaving Culder and Jordan to end the threat, Aghon paddles over to Sandara and starts working to free her from her unauthorized seaweed wrap. Unfortunately, the tine of his trident apparently digs into her flesh some, and the water clouds with a little more blood.
Meanwhile, Culder's long-forgotten dagger finds a new home between the giant grindylow's eyes, sending it in a spasming spiral to the depths of the chamber's pool.
It appears that Sandara and Kroop have both been abused by their captors and are unconscious but alive.
While your group waits for the entangle effect in the tunnel and previous cavern to fade, you get a closer look at the one you're currently in. Dozens of scrimshaw objects litter the chamber in various nooks and crannies carved into the walls. Although many of these items are merely curious, repulsive, or both, a few look like they might be semi-valuable to a collector: the jawbone of a shark carved with scrimshaw images of a vast octopus eating whales and containing a dozen silver and gold rings hammered into it, a huge hooked tooth from some colossal sea creature with a seaweed-plugged cavity containing six small pearls, and a whale skull weighing 25 pounds whose scrimshaw carvings appear to be runes or some kind of magical writing.
With a few quick dives, you're also able to recover some gear off the grindylow spellcaster as well as off the submerged floor of the cavern: a potion*, a wand*, a harpoon* (sized for a Small creature), a lobster pot containing grindylow flensing knives including two daggers, a silver dagger, a rusting masterwork cold iron sickle, a scrimshaw blade of great workmanship depicting an octopus, 12 other blades of varying shape, size, and quality, eight 4-pound silver ingots, four heavy crossbow bolts*, a silver spearhead, an iron bracelet*, 211 sp, and 136 gp in assorted coins. You're also able to recover gear such as armor that you recognize as belonging to Sandara and Fishguts.
* Detects as magical, assuming someone uses the spell.
*can i make a spellcraft check on the potion and wand?*
*can i make a spellcraft check on the potion and wand?*
After hauling everything up from the bottom, Culder climbs up to the shallowest part of the cave and sits down hard. With a long, labored breath he slumps backwards to relax and look over his wounds.
"Anythin' in there we need t'make sure we keep?" he asks those who are doing the sorting.
After examining the magical goodies in the haul, Vincent's only able to identify the potion as being a potion of cure moderate wounds; he's unable to ID the wand, harpoon, or crossbow bolts. The bracer here is the twin of the one found in the previous chamber .
Aghon finishes cutting Sandara and Kroop out of their seaweed bonds. With a wry grin, Jordan asks Aghon if he's going to try to heal them or if the group is going to have to carry them to safety. "I guess this is where being the cook's mate means I'd have to carry Fishguts and leave the damsel in distress for someone else to save, eh?"
A grumpy Culder rises and walks towards the unconscious shipmates. ”Vinny, hide that wand onya somewheres. Ag, take that fork- anyone asks, ye magicked it up yerself.”
Still benefiting from the pungent goop he drank earlier, the hulking sailor hoists fishguts on one shoulder and Sandara on the other. ”Le’s get outta here,” he announces as he begins to head back towards where they entered the cave.
"Aye, aye Cap'n" Aghon says as he grabs the fork in question, stowing it in a loop on his pack. He then summons some of Hanspur's energy into the room to heal his allies, mentally making sure Hanspur doesn't heal their foes.
"If we're gonna get out outta here, let's get to gettin'!" Aghon says after their companions respond to the healing energy.
Aghon's channeled energy revives both Sandara and Kroop; the former, once her equipment is restored, is able to channel even more healing energy, bringing the party back to full strength. The priestess thanks your group for coming to the rescue and is surprised you were able to find her and Kroop; when she finds out the whole thing was a case of lucky happenstance, she praises Besmara for looking out for her. She tells the party that she couldn't understand the grindylow's speech but believes the little creeps wanted to lure as many pirates as possible to the island, both for treasure and to feed the growing giant grindylow in their midst.
"Wanted to eat me, it did!" Kroop comments. "Good thing I be all gristle!" After a pause, the unkempt cook adds, "I could use a drink."
Sandara asks the current state of affairs aboard the Man's Promise and worries that Plugg, Scourge, and their cronies have had over a day to plot and plan while the 'away team' was on the island. She suggests spending the day gathering food and water (as was the original plan) but not reporting to the beach as agreed upon, fearful that Scourge in particular might try something underhanded while the group's short on spells and healing. She agrees to go along with whatever plan you folks feel is best, however.
Vincent gives a smart salute to culder "will do captain, I'll check this all again tomorrow, or whenever i have some breathing room" Vincent will hide the small wooden wand in my boot, using a little bit of string to tie it to his leg.
"alright, where do we go from here gentlemen? i don't believe we're strong enough to continue onward, though I could just be underestimating our abilities"